TravelStream™ news feed for member chris_and_kelly on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/chris_and_kelly en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 20 Dec 2005 07:22:47 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1134378900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1134378900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1134378900/tpod.html Tue, 20 Dec 2005 07:22:47 -0500 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Sydney, Australia

Hello again, it's seems so long since the last update!

We arrived in Melbourne after a very bumpy flight, the weather so far has been great but there are millions of flies everywhere. They swarm around your face and like to do a kamakazi in to your ear hole!!! Not nice at all. We have adopted the Australian Wave very quickly.






We are staying at the Greenhouse Backpackers. It's right downtown and is one of the best yet. Melbourne is very cool and it reminds us of Vancouver. We spent the first few days exploring and sorting out our travel and accommodation plans as they have somewhat changed.



The city has the Yarra River running through it, so we took a water taxi to various places of interest.



The aquarium is quite good and worth a visit. They have massive rays and numerous large sharks which you can even dive with, but we are hoping to dive with wild ones in a couple of weeks.....more about this later!!!!





The city centre is quite small and is getting ready for Christmas with lots of huge decorations dotted around. The whole place has a great feel to it and some interesting characters like this guy!!!!



He is 72, stands on stilts and hula-hoops all day for change. He was shot fifty years ago in the leg during the Korean war and for a little extra cash he will show you...we declined the offer.

One of the main area's is Federation Square, it cost over 400 million dollars to build and is close to Flinders Street train station.



This is Flinders Station at night...quite beautiful for a building that is!!!!



We spent 5 days in Melbourne and enjoyed every minute, being a small city it was very easy to feel right at home.

As it is nearly Christmas, we have put a couple of seasonal pics in for you.

This is the tree at Federation Square!



After an early start and a short flight we arrived in Sydney. We will be here for two weeks over Christmas. Our hostel is something else......not in a good way!!!

The weather is quite a few degrees warmer than Melbourne and on the first day we took a stroll downtown to Circular Quay.



Both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House are situated here. The first thing that strikes you is how small the Opera House is....you imagine it to be much larger.



It has around 1000 rooms inside so it's quite deceiving.

The bridge on the other hand is huge!!!!



Built in the 30's it joins North Sydney to the central business district.

After a couple of days here we met up with Del and Sophie. We met them in New Zealand and they are living over here near Bondi Beach.



This is the world famous Bondi Beach. Normally you would be fighting for elbow room but Australia has recently experienced a few racial problems and the beaches around Sydney are very quiet. It is such a shame. We hope all will be reconciled over the next few weeks. After a few mandatory beers with Del and Sophie we headed into the city for a few more.

We ended up watching a really pants band called WILDCATZ....the clue is in the name. So we invented the Wildcatz dance.



During one of the breaks, we managed to talk a drunk girl into playing a game of poke the Wildcat....the base player found it funny the first two times then started getting really annoyed as the poking intensified. We were falling around laughing.

Another area of Sydney is Darling Harbour. This is a major waterside development, full of bars, restaurants and nightclubs.



There is one thing we haven't mentioned yet and that is that Sydney has massive shopping malls on every street. There are hundreds of them, if your into shopping this is the place for you.

We have been here 4 days now and we took a harbour cruise around the many bays. Here are few pictures of Sydney from the water!





We have another 10 days here and there is still so much to see and do.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!!!

We will leave you for now with a picture of Sydney Town Hall. At night they use a projector to paint it all seasonal!!!!


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1132136400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1132136400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1132136400/tpod.html Sat, 26 Nov 2005 03:45:06 -0500 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Rotorua, New Zealand

Hello everyone!!!


It's been a while since the last update where we left you in Hanmer Springs.



We have travelled quite a way and now are back in the North Island and we have condensed most of it into this update.






After relaxing in the hot pools we headed to Kaikoura for a couple of days. This place is famous for swimming with wild dolphins.


As it was Chris's birthday we decided that a quick dip with the marine life would a great way to take his mind off being a year older.



We had to get up at 5:00 am ...yes 5:00 am!!!! This apparently is the best time to see the dolphins as they return from deep ocean after a night of feeding.

As you can see the weather was amazing!!!



So yet again it was on with the wetsuits for a 20 min boat trip to find the dolphins.



The water was a cool 13 degrees....we quickly found the dolphins and around 20 people jumped in. It was just amazing!!! We had a pod of about 200 Dusky dolphins swimming around us. They were very curious and we all made lots of noise through our snorkels to attract them.



It was fantastic! When you made eye contact with one they circled you and if you tried to keep up with them they would swim faster and faster till you could't keep up anymore. We were in the water with them for 40 minutes but it seemed to end so quickly.



This is one of the best things we had ever done in our lives. What made it even better was great was that they are totally wild and could leave at anytime.



Kaikoura was great and we really enjoyed our couple of days there. We then travelled up to Blenheim which was only a short drive away. We saw a seal colony one the way and some more great views!!!



This is Mount Tongariro!!! This is the start of Tongariro National Park. There are three volcanoes and you can just make out the second one on the left of the picture.



We stayed in Blenhiem for one night as the next day we would be taking the ferry from Picton back to Wellington on the north island. On the way we saw someone moving home....literally moving home!!!



This is a photo of Picton harbour!!! The sun was shining and the beach front was full of people.



After the ferry crossing we travelled up the west side of the island and ended up at Waitomo. We came here to go black water rafting!!!

Black water rafting entails wearing another wetsuit.....is there a pattern here??? You then get a rubber tube and take it through a crack in the mountain to travel down an underground river!!!

Aagin this was great....there was a few times where you had to jump backwards off waterfalls in the pitch black...quite scary but great fun.



As you travel down, turning off your light reveals millions of glow worms on the cave ceiling...well to be precise GLOW WORM POO!!!!

The glow worm's poo glows in the dark and attracts mosquitoes that get stuck in a sticky line hanging down...very clever!!

As you can see we do the most attractive activities!!!! Check out the shoes!!!



Looking good!!!

We left Waitomo and headed for Rotorua, a hot bed of geothermal activity. Rotorua is very similar to Yellowstone park in the USA.

A tip for you all....don't go to Hell's Gate (geothermal area) with a hangover!!!



The sulphur smell is really bad and Chris struggled around heaving most the way!!



This is a hot water waterfall!

A visit to Rotorua is not complete without a cultural visit to a Maori village.



We spent a few hours at Tamaki village and saw how Maori's lived before Europeans came.
We were also treated to traditional dances and food that was cooked in the ground. All in all is was a worthwhile experience.



We are now in Auckland for a while and have a couple more trips to make before we leave for Australia.

Before we go Chris is thinking of taking up a new hobby.......what do you think ?!?!?


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1131427620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1131427620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1131427620/tpod.html Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:57:14 -0500 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Hanmer Springs, New Zealand

Hello everyone again!!!!



After we left Milford Sound and killed as many sand flies as we could we headed south to Invercargill on our way up the east coast. The weather was atrocious and it rained hard all the time we where there. We stayed overnight for a stop off just so we could travel up the Catlins Coast to Dunedin.




This is lovely Invercargill high street in the rain!!!!





As we traveled up the coast the weather did get a little better and we saw some great beaches!!!



We stopped off at a few points of interest like the Purakaunui Falls and if you can say that after a few beers I'll buy you a few!!!



We arrived at Dunedin, which means "Edinburgh of the South" in Gaelic. It's not on the same par as Edinburgh but still worth a visit no the less.

Our adopted beer since being here is Speights (unless it's free, then anything will do) and we took a tour of the Speights brewery.



It is one of New Zealand's oldest breweries and still use's traditional methods. The brewery uses water from an underground spring and there is a tap on the outside of the building where locals can fill up containers to take home.

The best bit of the tour is the tasting at the end.......uuummm.



The main town square is the Octogon and is where a statue of Robert Burns stands proud...although not always wearing a seagull as a hat!!!!



There is some nice architecture here, this is the train station!!



We set of to Oamaru which is home to two penguin colonies, the Blue Penguin and the larger Yellow Eyed Penguins. On the way we stopped to take a look at the Moeraki Boulders and here is a picture.



These boulders weren't washed up by the sea or fell from the sky but were hidden in the mud cliffs. As the sea eroded the cliffs the boulders fell out.



We went to watch the blue penguins arrive home from the sea to feed their young. Over 200 returned by climbing up a small ramp and crossing in front of us to their nests. We weren't allowed to take any pictures as they become temporarily blinded by white light. It was fantastic to watch them and we highly recommend it!



The next day we headed for Christchurch, the biggest city on the South Island. We decided to take a tram ride around the city center to see all of the sights.



Christchurch is very much like an English city. You can even go punting on the river Avon.



This is Cathedral Square were Christchurch Cathedral and the Millennium Monument stand.



Hanmer Springs was our next destination. This is an example of the scenery along the way.



Hanmer Springs is famous for having a number of thermal pools. As the weather was fantastic we spent the day lounging in the pools.





It was very cheap, only $10 to get in, but felt like a Sheraton resort.
So this is the end of this update and a bit of a whirlwind tour of the east coast. The next update will feature Kaikoura where we swam with wild Dusky dolphins!


Bye for now.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1131069480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1131069480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1131069480/tpod.html Mon, 07 Nov 2005 23:20:33 -0500 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Milford Sound, New Zealand

As you may have guessed already, New Zealand has an amazing and diverse landscape/seascape, and Milford Sound is no exception. Many say it is the best that New Zealand has to offer and we wouldn't argue. Milford Sound is special in a number of ways. In fact it's not a Sound at all, it's actually a Fjord. It was carved out by a huge glacier and then flooded by the rising sea level. It was a four hour journey from Queenstown to Milford and here are just a few photos of the journey there!!!







Jack has been getting a little lonely lately so we introduced him to a nice looking bird.



This update is really more about the photos but we will try to inform you of the various points of interest. We parked up at Milford Lodge just 2 minutes from the tiny town of Milford and booked to take a boat cruise the next day. We had been warned about sand flies here and they weren't kidding! If you stayed still for about 30 seconds a swarm of tiny black biting flies would surround you. They were not nice at all and we had to dash between the van and the lodge because they were so horrible. We had planned to stay a few days but the flies put a stop to this.



The day of the cruise was glorious and as the final few clouds burnt off we set off.

Here are the photos of the boat ride.



This is Mitre Peak, the tallest sea cliff in the world at about 1 mile high (or so we were told). It's amazing how you lose a sense of perspective here as giant mountains dwarf you.



This is Fairy Falls, the third highest in Milford Sound.





As you can see from the above picture the Sound has a concealed entrance. In fact Captain Cook sailed passed three times but it was a Welsh captain (John Grono) who whilst in a storm was blown towards the rocks and was sure they would sink. As they got closer he saw the opening and took refuge in the Sound. He named the bay Milford Haven after his homeport in Wales.

Here's another picture!!!



This is Stirling Falls the second highest.



And just for perspective!!!



Another shot of Mitre Peak.



Milford has up to 9 metres of rain a year and because of this a layer of fresh water sometimes up to 8 metres deep floats on top of the salt water. As the fresh water flows over the mountains it is stained brown and has a filtering effect for organisms.

There is an underwater observatory that we visited. The station is there because something happens here that happens nowhere else in the world, Deep Water Emergence.

What this means is, due to the conditions in the Sound creatures that would live in deep (40m+) water can been seen at only 10m. Things such as Black Coral are found here which is extremely rare!!! The reason it looks white is a colony of white anemone-type creatures cover the black skeleton.




Here is a picture of a tube anemone.



If you look carefully you can see the change in the water color as you go from fresh water to salt water.



Just a couple more pics to go and we are done.



The last one is of Lady Bowen Falls, 160 metres high and the highest in Milford.



You really can't appreciate the magnitude of this place from the photos but it is spectacular.

So there ends today's lesson, our apologies for any inaccuracies but you now how I have a tendency to make stuff up. Well it sounds about right!!!!!

Lots more pictures at the top...take a look!!!

Bye for now and take care!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1130721540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1130721540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1130721540/tpod.html Sun, 06 Nov 2005 00:20:49 -0500 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Hello everyone and here is the next update from New Zealand.






After we left Franz Joseph it was a short drive to the next town of Fox Glacier. This town also has a glacier that is easily accessible and we wondered if the mints where named after this place!!! We still don't know!! The car park is quite close to the glacier so we drove up and took this picture!







At the car park we had our first of many encounters with Kea's. They are a bright green alpine parrot and are protected. They can be very mischievious and people often find their windscreen wipers missing when returning to the car park. Farmers used to blame them for attacking sheep and would shoot them but no more!!!



We were heading for Queenstown with an overnight stop at Wanaka. Again as before the scenery was great, here are a few examples!!



(A little like highway 1 to Mendocino don't you think)



The Southern Alps and Lake Wanaka!



There is not much in the way of things to do but go to Puzzling World. We met up with Del and Sophie who we had seen a couple of times throughout the south island and went with them.

This is a place with various puzzles, a maze and optical illusions. This is the Hall of Following Faces.



Chris couldn't resist it!!! People have always said he needs a rocket up his bum!!!



We had a fun couple of hours and agreed with Del and Po (sorry Sophie couldn't resist it)
to meet in Queenstown for a few beers and stuff.

Just before Queenstown we visited Arrowtown, a former gold rush settlement.



We met the guys out for a few beers in Queenstown, it was quite cold in one of them as you can see!!!



This is Minus 5, a bar constructed totally of ice. Literally quite cool!!!



You are only allowed in for half an hour which is long enough anyway.



We spent the first night in Bumbles backpackers and they had given me and Kelly a red stamp on our hand for free beer at the World Bar. Sophie and Del gave themselves hickies on their hands and like magic free beer for all.



Oh by the way did we mention we were in Queenstown.....there are a few pictures in the album above. We really lucked out with the weather!! Here is one of our favorites.



We all took a gondola to the top of Bob's Peak for a great view of the city and Lake Wakatipu.







We also took a few rides on the Luge. It's a concrete twisting track which was very fast and great fun. Here is Chris and Sophie crossing the finish line.



Queenstown is the world capital of stupid and extreme things to do. Anything from Bungy, Canyon Swing, River surfing, Paragliding, White water rafting and Jet boating....you get the idea. And all the above come in various levels of madness.

The four of us had decided to Jet Boat along the Shotover river at speeds of up to 80km/h, then take a helicopter ride to the start of the Whitewater rafting site.



The whole day was fantastic, Kelly almost pooed her pants in the helicopter as the pilot took us straight up over a mountain and manuevered a sharp left between a canyon. We couldn't take any pics of the helicopter or the rafting because cameras and water don't mix very well.

The day after we all went out for karaoke...(Chris wouldn't let it lie), but we ended up winning about 25 free drinks. It was worth it in the long run.

We really enjoyed Queenstown, the campsite was great (nice organ), weather nice, we found the best burgers in the world..the Fergburger, and we had a Fergtastic time with Del and Po....the best beer is free beer!!!!

The next update is of Milford Sound and some of the best scenery you can see anywhere in the world but just as a taster here are the Remarkables mountain range in Queenstown. These were used in the Lord of The Rings as Mordor!!!



Next update in a few days!!!! Bye
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1130377920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1130377920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1130377920/tpod.html Sun, 30 Oct 2005 22:59:49 -0500 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Franz Joesph Glacier, New Zealand

Hello all,


Since arriving in the South Island the weather has been great. After Nelson we visited Kaiteriteri a lovely little place just on the southeast edge of Abel Tasman National Park.


The beach here was voted in the top five in the world by the Guardian Newspaper and even a little out of season you can see why!!!








The campsite we stayed on was massive and just across a small road from the beach. It was nearly full of locals as it was Labour Day weekend. Also there was a "Little People of New Zealand" conference going on which was a little (pardon the pun) strange.

The main thing to do here is take a water taxi up the coast to various parts of the national park to walking treks only accessible by boat. The weather started out fine but then we had four seasons in about 2 hours.



This is Split Apple Rock, one of the many natural features......



There is also a resident seal colony in the area.





We only spent one night here and headed to Greymouth. The drive was again amazing and passing through Buller Gorge was saw sights like these.





As we neared Greymouth we stopped off to look at a swing bridge.



Kelly didn't like it much!!!!



Greymouth itself is just a small town situated at the mouth of the river Grey and quite uninspiring but it was just a stop off to our next destination. This is also where we met an English couple called Del and Sophie and who we would seem to be following for the next few days or so.

It's quite funny as you keep bumping into loads of people you meet at various campsites. It seems as everyone is doing a similar route like yourselves.

So it was off to Franz Joseph, which is home to Franz Joseph Glacier. Again some great sights along the way, here are a couple.





We had a great view of the mountains from our campsite.




One of only a handful of glaciers of this type and what makes it special is, you can access the glacier at only 240m above sea level.



It actually descends into a temperate rain forest. Most glaciers end around 2000m so it makes it ideal to climb and walk on, so that's what we did.

It's a 2.5km hike to the base of the glacier, which took about 1 hour.



We walked along a riverbed right up to the face of the glacier.



The guides come out here at about 7.30 every morning and cut steps into it to make a route and various guides keep cutting and maintaining the route throughout the day.

Next day they have to do it all again as the route has melted or broken down.....not much fun!!!

It was a very steep climb up the face and the sound of cracking ice and falling rocks made you feel uneasy, but the group of 13 slowly made headway till you come to the first of two bridges.



It looks worse than it is. The glacier was amazing and we walked through tight crevices and looked down big crevasses. Here are a few pics.







We climbed for about two hours and eventually got really high up.







It was hard work but worth every minute but next day we suffered a little.



Ok so that's is for this update but our next one will be quite soon as we have been in Queenstown (the land of extreme anything) for a few days. We've done some great activities that we'll tell you about and we're heading off for Milford Sound tomorrow.

Bye for now!!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1129951020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1129951020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1129951020/tpod.html Mon, 24 Oct 2005 01:45:37 -0400 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Nelson, New Zealand

Ok so we are finally off on our New Zealand leg of the journey. We had been in Auckland for about 10 days already with Rob, Mary, Ian, Katie and the kids taking it easy but it was time to get on the road. We picked up our Limo which is going to take around both islands, not just any limo but a Super Extra Limo......






What is this Limo I hear you cry.....is it a stretch Limo.....well here it is.



More like a squashed limo.


We left sunny Auckland and headed south to Lake Taupo, which is about 280 kms away.

The countryside is very similar to England, what do you think.....?






Three hours later and just before Taupo we pulled in to take a look at Haku Falls. The water is running so fast you wouldn't want to fall in but rafting it would be fun!!




We found our campsite, (this brings back memories) which is a Top Ten, similar to KOA sites in the states. The place is very good and better than any we had seen before. The facilities are fantastic and very clean (Kelly liked that). There was a huge bouncy air pillow for the kids which we couldn't resist having a go on.



We drove in to town (5 mins) and took a look at Lake Taupo. The lake is huge and looks great and there happened to be a little bar that looks out over it so we had to have a quick pint.



We then returned to the campsite and prepared for our first night in the sleepervan.
The area is a hotbed of geothermal activity and as the sky darkened and the air cooled large plumes of steam can be seen all around the campsite. The sleepervan is quite small and cosy as you can see.




We had a very interesting nights sleep and after stretching for a while we set off to catch a replica steam boat across Lake Taupo to some Maori carvings only accessible by boat.



The ancient carvings were carved in 1979, so not so ancient at all and were basically done by a local artist. It was still interesting and any excuse for Kelly to take a boat ride.








We headed out after lunch for Napier about 2 hours away to the east. Napier was flattened by an earthquake in the 1950's and was rebuilt with lots of Art deco architecture.

Again we stayed at a Top Ten which was good.

There is not much to Napier really (ok Ian you were right) but it was a stop off before we headed down to Wellington.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and we liked it a lot. We were staying just outside in a place called Lower Hutt and on the way we had another tyre incident.




Another flat tyre right on a mountain pass road with nowhere to stop so we had to drive on a flat for about 10 mins...not good...and to top it off it was raining too.

We visited the Te Papa museum in Wellington, one of my favorite exhibits was a cow made out of corned beef tins.




The museum is at the wharf which itself is a great place to see.



After a quick wonder around town we took a cable car up to the botanical gardens.



There is also a cable car museum at the top.




The view of the city is great from up here!!




That night it really rained heavy and we thought we hadn't pack any wet weather gear when we remembered that Mary had put a couple of rain coats in for us. We search for the coats and Kelly had a red one as seen here...



And I had a green...SHOWER CURTAIN!!!!!!!!

After we rolled around laughing for a while we made our plans for the next few days.

We had booked the ferry across to the south island for 7.45 am and only just made it in time...the last car on!!! The ferry crossing was very rough.



But as we entered the Marlborough Sounds the water calmed and we took some great pics from the boat.






We arrived in Picton about 3 1/2 hours later and drove to a little place called Havelock. It became apparent very quickly that the south islands scenery is much more dramatic than anything we had seen so far. Here are some photos of the journey to Havelock.





We arrived about 2 pm and found a local pub called The Clansman and started chatting to Emma, from Gibraltar. We ended up staying there all day watching a rugby match and getting a little drunk.



On our way home we popped in to another pub for a final beer and ended up there till 12 as karaoke was on. Needless to say I got up a few times, and all in all it was a good night.

After a slow start to the morning we headed off to Nelson only 1 hour away to meet up with Emma again. The 200 years celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar was on and the opening of Nelsons new provincial museum. The road to Nelson also provided us with some great views.





There were lots of people in period costume and I got picture taken with Lord Nelson himself.



He wasn't the only famous person there.....



The Prime Minister Helen Clarke was there as well.

And this person should be famous for the worlds worst comb-over.




Nelson is very pretty and it been our favorite place so far, Christ Church Cathedral is lovely too.



The celebrations went on into the night with music, the firing of cannons,




all culminating with a fireworks display.



So now we are off towards the west coast to a little place called Kaiteriteri and work our way down to Queenstown for Chris's birthday.

So bye for now and keep your emails coming we really appreciate them.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1128514980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1128514980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1128514980/tpod.html Thu, 13 Oct 2005 03:06:05 -0400 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Nadi, Fiji

Bula from Fiji.

Hi everyone, well this leg of the trip was definitely a tale of two halves.

The first five days was spent in and around Nadi, on the main island Viti Levu, and the last five was spent on Mantaray Island, which was like being on survivor but without the tasks.

Nadi is the capital and quite different to anywhere else we have been up to now. The area is quite rundown and it is not very safe to walk around at night (even in groups), but it was interesting nonetheless. It has a high concentration of Indo-Fijians all wanting to sell you anything and everything. Like the good old Quality Grog Shop!!



We landed at 4 o'clock in the morning and took a cab from the airport to Beachside Resort, which was about 15 minutes away. We started to get worried when the driver pulled off the main road and onto a dirt track with no lighting. We proceeded for a while on the unpaved roads and the hotel appeared out of the gloom. The hotel pleasantly surprised us and we started planning what to do over the next few days. Due to the location we realized we needed to rent a car and on the hotels recommendation we chose Khan's Rental.

The car turned up and we thought how nice it was of the guy to be cleaning the floor mats for us. The car was a fairly old Japanese import and we quickly realized why he had been cleaning the mats. Depending on which corner we took depended on whose feet got wet from the leaking aircon.

We decided to head north to Raki Raki, which is about 130km away. The road conditions varied from bad to worse as we meandered through various villages all of which are very poor.



One of the main industries is still the sugar cane. Huge fields and cane trains can still be seen everywhere. On average a worker gets US$30 for three weeks work, and hard work it is.



There was not that much to see and as we approached Raki Raki the left rear tyre blew out, a few choice words were said about Khans Cars I can tell you. We changed the tyre and decided it would be silly to carry on so we headed back driving as carefully as possible so we didn't blow out another tyre. We called Khans on our return and told them politely to pick up their hunk of junk and refund us the next four days hire. We finally got our refund over a week later.

As we moaned about what had happened we mainly hung around the hotel for the next few days and the heavens opened for the next 3 days straight. It wasn't cold, just wet so we spent most time in the pool. The rain did bring out lots of Cane Toads from the nearby fields and apparently if you lick their backs you can hallucinate. We didn't try it!



Beachside Resort was not bad at all. Our room had everything that we needed and it was clean. The food at their restaurant was fantastic and we enjoyed a wide range of foods over the week. There just wasn't much to do at night except for our last night there when they had a singer on. We met this lovely Irish couple, Elaine and Ollie, and had a great time with them, as you can see by the picture!!



After a mixed start to Fiji we headed off to the Yasawas group of islands for 5 days at Manta Ray Island Resort. We had to take the Yasawas Flyer catamaran to the Naviti Group, which took about 3 hours.



The first day was overcast but from then on we had bright blue skies and very hot temperatures.



The snorkeling there was amazing. We thought that Tahiti and the Cooks were good but this place was unbelievable! We were snorkeling twice a day for two hours each time. Once again we saw a white tip reef shark and a sand ray. We went for a dive with the dive company there, Reef Safari, which was okay. We saw some beautiful corals of all shapes and sizes but to be honest we saw more when we went snorkeling. We had booked two dives with them but we felt that their safety standards weren't up to scratch so we left it at that. We even told them that we thought the dive wasn't that great and the visibility was crap. Pete, the guy who went with us, got a free dive because he had complained which ticked us off just a little because they didn't even offer us one.





Our room was a small hut-like structure that was right on the beach. There was a double bed inside and some shelves. The only thing that we didn't like was that there were no locks on any of the doors.



The main bure was great. There was a fantastic sunset deck from which some of the pictures you see were taken from. The cocktails and the food were pretty good too. When it was time to eat they beat on a drum that could be heard from anywhere on the island. Breakfast was at 8, lunch was at 1 and dinner was at 7. Lunch was the best meal of the day and dinner wasn't too bad either. (The only problem with dinner was that you couldn't see what you were putting on your plate!) There was an array of dishes and all the fresh veg, fruit and fish that you could want. We never went hungry!



After a few days we had our day pretty much planned out - breakfast, snorkeling, lunch, more snorkeling with a bit of kayaking, happy hour and then dinner.

On the Friday night the local villagers came and sung and danced for us. The women did theirs dances and then the men did theirs. The singing was really good and we both really enjoyed it because we hadn't seen much culture since being in Fiji. When they left some of the hotel staff asked if we wanted to try kava. We all sat around on a grass mat and drank this stuff. It was bloody awful! It looked like muddy water and tasted like it too! Fijians drink this almost every night and more so on special occasions. After that experience we thought that we wouldn't try it again. The staff at the resort were all from the local village and they couldn't do enough for you. They were all so happy and were always singing and loved to hear anybody else sing, so you know I had to! We sat around drinking kava and singing along to a guitar. (It wasn't the same as being at Hanrahan's though!)



We had decided that we were going to go on a village visit so we left the resort by boat and headed toward the village. We didn't know that it was Sunday and that we would be going to a church service so the lady that worked at the resort took us to her house and dressed us for church. Walking to the church we looked around at the houses, which were mostly one-room homes or tin shacks. Everyone we saw in the village was smiling and saying hello. As we went in the children were reciting their Sunday school homework and kept shushing us because we were talking. The choir came in from the outside and it was the most amazing noise that we had ever heard. An old lady even gave us her hymnbook to read along with the singing, which was nice.



We reluctantly left the island and had to spend one more night in Nadi before we flew to Auckland.



New Zealand will be our home for the next two and a half months and that's where we are now.We have spent 1 week with Rob and Mary and will be heading for the South Island on Monday.

Lots of sunsets photos at the top again....check them out!!

Jack is back and will be traveling with us to look after the sleepervan so keep a look out for him!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1127597580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1127597580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1127597580/tpod.html Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:09:08 -0400 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Kia Orana from Rarotonga, Cook Islands!!!

If there is one place on Earth you need to go it is here. We fell in love with the island straight away. The people are so friendly and its natural beauty is breathtaking!!

Rarotonga is the main island in the group and has a radius of about 37kms. A road circles the island and most of the people live off this road. The interior is lush with vegetation and quite mountainous, very beautiful.





We arrived at 6am after a 12 hour wait in Tahiti and was taken to the first place we would be staying, Rarotonga Backpackers.



This place is well above average for a backpackers place and we stayed in little self-contained bungalow for a week. It was set back off the main road and had great views.

After settling in and having a quick nap we headed in to Avarua, the capital and main town (well, the only town) for the Saturday market.

About 80% of the population and tourists ride mopeds which are quite safe as long as you keep an eye out for the stray dogs. So we hired a moped and we headed to the police station to take my driving test. The test consisted of paying $15 and driving around the block in a complete circle while an officer follows, I was quite nervous and Kelly watched on as I took off.......3 minutes later I was back, fully qualified and was issued a Cook Island licence.

This is the mean machine herself...........!




After town we had to visit Dive Rarotonga to pick up our course work which had to be completed before we started.



On Sunday we got up early to attend a local church service. This was a great experience and we really enjoyed it. The singing was fantastic and the local women really belted it out!!!



What I thought was nice was how laid back it all was and the kids seemed to enjoy it too. Both the Boys Brigade and the Girls Guides were there in force donning their appropriate uniforms. After the service all the guest are invited to lunch at the local village hall. The hall was quite close and we followed the Sunday Parade.



I saw a little girl who so desperately wanted to join in but couldn't...she's not impressed!!!



We started our PADI Open Water course on the Monday and we really enjoyed the experience, although we were both nervous. The staff was great and after 4 days and 4 open water dives we were qualified divers. We hadn't really had a drink during this time as hangovers and diving don't really mix so we celebrated passing our course and our 1st wedding anniversary at Island night.



The dive centre invited us to join them on the annual reef clean which was great fun and our first dive as real divers.....and it was free!!!



It was very successful and we made front page of the Cook Island Times.....that's Chris's back you can see on the left!!!!



We also moved places to Vara's on Muri beach for the rest of our stay....this is the best beach on the island....judge for yourself.....





The island is great for getting around and by the end of the first week you know where everything is, how it all works and met many people both locals and travellers.

Here are the girls we met and hung out with the second week!!!



Left to right.....Serpa, Lynette, Rachel and Sarah. The last two are from New Zealand and we will be meeting up with them in Auckland and Wellington!!!

As well as hanging out at the beach and driving round the island we decided to take our diving to the next level, Adventure Diver. This allows us to dive to 30m and meant we had to do 2 more dives.





On our deep dive we saw White Tip reef sharks. One of them stayed with us for about 12 minutes and was amazing to see, just wish I had the camera with me!!! All in all the diving was excellent and we would highly recommend Dive Rarotonga.

Here are the two dive masters, Steve and Jason!!!



Jason again, the self-proclaimed Divemaster General, best diver in the Cooks (apart from Eric) and he drinks a lot too!!



We saw quite a lot of interesting things...and here are a few!!







Yet again we have been treated to some fantastic sunsets...I bet your all getting bored with them by now...but here's another one anyway!



So it has been an exhilarating 2 weeks and we don't want to leave...we fell in love with Rarotonga almost immediately that we nearly changed our flights twice... but the adventure must continue.

So onwards to Fiji it is, but we would like to say thanks to everyone we met on the Island and to the ones who we'll meet again in New Zealand.

Thanks to Kat, Ed, Jason and Steve at Dive Rarotonga for starting us off on a life of adventure and the most unflattering sport in the world (and not forgetting Britney and Amy).

There are a lot of photos in this update so try and check them out.

Bye for now!!!


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1126322340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1126322340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chris_and_kelly/rtw-2005/1126322340/tpod.html Tue, 13 Sep 2005 02:01:01 -0400 From London to Thailand - The long way round.

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Moorea, French Polynesia

We have just spent the last 9 days in Moorea, an island 9 km's off the Tahiti coast.

We flew from Los Angeles and landed in Papeete at 2 in the morning. Papeete is the capital of Tahiti and is very busy, built up and not what you would call paradise.

We waited at the airport 3 1/2 hours for daybreak and caught the local bus to the ferry port. Well I say the bus, they are actually called 'Le Truck' and are converted flat bed lorries painted in local style.



Did I mention how expensive French Polynesia is? $12 for 2 cans of Coke and a bag of crisps.... This was at the airport but it wasn't much cheaper in town.

We arrived in time for the 6:20 am ferry to Moorea. The 1 hour 15 minute journey was quite bad and Kelly watched me change color from pink to pale green with every dip, roll and rock of the boat but it was worth every minute for what lay ahead.

We disembarked and caught another 'truck' to Camping Chez Nelson, where we would spend the next 9 days. This was the cheapest place on the island and it showed. The communal kitchen was quite dirty as were the bathroom, but our fare was fine and cosy.



Camping Nelson comprised of a dorm block, 8 double rooms, 4 fares and plenty of room for tents. The best bit was the beach, the great snorkeling and the amazing turquoise sea being only 10 steps from our door.



There were a few backpackers around and made friends very easily and settled in quite quickly. The first three days were overcast and rained, but it was still warm enough to snorkel and explore the local area. On the fourth day the weather changed for the better and from then on we were treated to spectacular sunsets every night.





We made good friends with a German guy named Tim and a French guy named Christophe. They were both nutters with a great sense of humor.



Although most nights were spent drinking the local brew at the camp, the next few days we explored with Tim and Christophe.

We hired a 'Bugster' for the day and toured the island which has a road that is 67 km's long that circles the island.



We were late for a Sunday service at the local church so we listened to the fantastic voices from outside. The local kids loved having their picture taken and happily posed for us.



Moorea has 2 bays, Cooks Bay and Opunohu Bay. This is the view from the lookout at Cooks Bay. The huts you can see belong to the Intercontinental Hotel. $650 a night.......nice!!



The whole island is unspoilt as only locals can own the land so no commercial companies have any control.

The next day was the highlight of the trip. The four of us hired kayaks and paddled out to a sandbank where we swam with stingrays and black tipped reef sharks. The rays would come up to you and brush against your legs, they felt like velvet and were very graceful. The sharks were about 1 meter long and although it was initially scary we were soon chasing them to try to get a little closer. The most satisfying thing about this was that these were wild and could have left at any time. We wish we had an underwater camera as the pictures would have been fantastic.



The guy who we hired the kayaks from told us about a great snorkeling spot between two motu's (islands) around 1/4 mile swim from shore. There we had 3 hours of the best snorkeling ever in our lives!!



The rest of our time there was more of the same, great weather, great people and we were really sad when we had to pack to leave.



People had been arriving and leaving all week and for some it was the last stop on their trip and for others their first and now it was our time to leave.

So now we are at the airport were we have a 12 hour wait for our 4 am flight to the Cook Islands and you know we couldn't care less. Even though our ATM cards never worked and we have no cash, we know tomorrow will be another day in paradise.



So it's Au Revior from Tahiti and we'll update soon.
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