TravelStream™ news feed for member eloavc on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/eloavc en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:47:30 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eloavc/rtw_-_2008/1220078220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eloavc/rtw_-_2008/1220078220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eloavc/rtw_-_2008/1220078220/tpod.html Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:47:30 -0400 My Gap Year - Adventures Around The World

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Los Angeles, California, United States

Right guys - very probably my last entry until i get home!!!!!!!!! although you may get a quick one from nyc
hope you are all enjoying the summer
arrived in LA wednesday feeling very very weird as i had just undergone a form of time travel - and they said it was impossible! (if you don't understand...Left fiji 10pm wed 27th arrived in LA (after a 10 hour flight) at 1.20pm wed 27th! - the trick; to cross the international date line :) )
I was really good actually, as it meantthat I got to re-live wednesday without the hangover I had the 1st time!!!
the hostel is really good for organising activities - have done a walking tour to the Runyon canyon park where the celbs walk their dogs and also a trip around bel air and beverly hills (OMG the houses are incredible around there!) we saw the playboy mansion and talked to "the rock" (all 3 of Hugh Heffners houses actually!) the Brad Pitt/Jenifer Aniston house, danny devitos house, and we saw courtney cox (monica from friends) in her car. + we then went shopping on Rodeo Drive (well window shopping anyway - still living on a backpackers budget i couldn't quite afford to buy anything - but it didnt stop me looking!!
up to the hollywood sign tomorrow before i fly to NY for my last few days - see if i can force myself to do any more shopping - my bag is already HUGE (and no doubt overweight - all Issy's fault by the way!- i wouldnt have bought so much if she hadn't sent me shopping in the 1st place!)
SEE YOU IN 3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(who wants to come get me and force me on the plane?!?! cos otherwise I may not get on - just accidently get on one to sydney instead!! haha)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Beachcomber Island, Mamanuca Islands, Fiji

wicked 3 days; amazing weather, beautiful beach, a lot of partying, snorkelling, fish feeding, 84 bed dorm!!, really relaxing and on fiji time (+amazing food!)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eloavc/rtw_-_2008/1220077800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eloavc/rtw_-_2008/1220077800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eloavc/rtw_-_2008/1220077800/tpod.html Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:35:27 -0400 My Gap Year - Adventures Around The World

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Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji

Hey
We have just finished the Feejee experience which was really good fun. WE had an awesome driver and tour guide and although we travelled just around teh main island of Viti LEvu and not some of the smaller more beautiful ones, we learnt alot about the culture and got to really experience life as a Fijian - and I have to say that it would be pretty cool! Eveyrone is so friendly and so chilled out - i now get what they mean by Fiji Time!!
Activities included visiting a village and having a traditional kava ceremony, a 4hr trek through the rainforest, tubing down the river, bracelet weaving, mud and hot pools, visiting an orphanage, and a fancy dress party at the hostel in VoliVoli which was a good laugh everyone got really into it (theme: anything but clothes!! - we had a present, a tv, a baby, someone wrapped in toilet paper, in clingfilm, grass skirts. I got a big sugar bag from teh supermarket and went as a bag of sugar!! - a great time!)
not such good weather - hopefully it will be better on Beachcomber island!
home soon :(
see you then!!
xxx
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Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji

hey guys,
i have just arrved into Fiji -it is so nie and hot compared to Christchurch which was freezing for the day that I was there. Was feeling terrible when i arrived (a tip to all -NEVER fly after a 12 hr drinking session!! it is possibly the worst feeling ever! haha)
especially as I had to leave so many awesome people back in Sydney. Just chilled at the hostel with the people in my room and played cards - didn't want to go anywhere near any alcohol!!
Spent last night sleeping at the airport as i was being to cheap to pay for a hostel and shuttle that cost more than $5 haha. ONly got an hours sleep but slept realy well on the plane so that was all good.
Staying in a nice hostel right on teh beach starting over with my tan which had all but gone since Oz as NZ has been so so cold!!
Gonna start the Feejee experience tomorrow which should be cool - have already met people who i will be ding it with and they seem like a cool crowd (unfortunately they all already know eachother from the kiwi exp so have loads of stuff in common and can talk about the drivers and the best times they had - i havent met very many other strays but oh well!)
gotta run - the beach is calling :)
see you all in 2 1/2 weeks ='( - i really dont want to though (sorry!!)
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Sydney, Australia

Hey :)
Well I am still in Sydney writing this on a very full stomach having just cooked and eaten a massive roast dinner with Gem, Soph, Lauren and Jo. It was amazing - so good after 7 months but now we are just vegging out infront of Cold Feet for the rest of the evening which seems to be the best way to spend a hungover Sunday!
I have now been working for Select Education for 3 weeks now - working in a few different day care centres and kindergardens. It has been a lot of fun and has kept me occupied as well as giving me some extra spending money for when I get to Fiji. I have been having a great time - all of the kids I have had to look after have been really cute and really good.
I am gutted that I only have a week left. I really want to live out here as I love Sydney so much but I know that I have to come home at some stage unfortunately! Hopefully I will be able to come out again - maybe once I have finished uni.
I am looking forward to getting back into the whole backpacking life in Fiji as I have been so setteled in the place I am living.
The house that I am living in has been so much fun - full of real characters although it is very quiet now that everyone has left! We had some amazing nights out together (photos when I get home!) and hopefully we will have a few more in the next week.
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer (if you are reading this and getting exam results in the next few days/weeks good luck!!)
speak soon
xxxxx
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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Hi Hi,
Well, as you can see, I'm back in Sydney and having a wicked time! I feel so at home here it is crazy! I have moved into a shared house - I think that there are about 10 or so other people living here at the moment. It is so much cheaper than a hostel and it is so nice to have a little bit of space to myself and finally being abel to unpack!
Hopefully going to be starting a childcare job in the next couple of days which will be really good :)
only here another month before heading off to fiji and america for a week each - the time is going wayyyyyy too fast! I will be home before I know it. At least I know that I have stuff to look forward too when I get home - namely the fact that we are having a massive stray bus reunion and my trip to Italy :)
hope you are all enjoying teh summer (is it hot? over here it is like 20 degrees even though it is supposed to be winter - i'm loving it!!)
chat soon
x x x x
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Queenstown, New Zealand

Hey :)
Well, it is now 6 weeks since I arrived in Queenstown and I have been having a complete blast the whole time (especially at night!)
Snowboarding was SO much fun - ended up with huge bruises but had a wicked time on teh slopes with Charlotte. We did 1 day skiing and then 2 days boarding as all the lessons were included with our pass and also the snow on teh main slopes wasn't great as it was the very start of the season. Infoact, we were really lucky as the slopes closed for about 3 weeks 2 days after we finished as it got too hot to use the snow guns and all of the snow melted!
On the 20th Charlotte and I went down to Christchuch for the weekend to watch the All Blacks/England rugby match - it was so much fun and the atmosphere was amazing even though England lost.
Haven't done so much since we got back just been chilling out really.
I was feeling a little lost at the end of last week as it finally came to the time that everyone I knew had left Queenstown and there is almost no hope of getting a job down here as everyone under the sun want one. But I have finally made up my mind about what to do and I am leaving Queenstown tomorrow for Chrischurch from where I am going back to Sydney for about 5 weeks :) - I can't wait.
anyways, better be off - coming home Sept 2nd for certain!
looking forward to seeing you all
lots of love
x x x
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Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand

Hey!
Again, sorry it has been so long. Since I last updated I have just been having so much fun - and like Stray promises it took us so far off the beaten track that I have had very little internet or mobile reception.
Wellington was awesome :) It was the last time that the original bus would all be together as some had time to only do the North Island so it was full of crazy shenaigans day and night.
It was really sad to say goodbye to some of the group but we will definately all keep in touch which is great.
The ferry ride over to the South Island was fairly uneventful made only slightly more interesting with everyone having badddd hangovers!
Our 1st stop was the Abel Tasman National Park where we spent 2 nights at Old McDonald's Farm. It was a beautiful area and Mona and I went for another 7 hour (20km) walk which was really nice - so good to get some exercise after so long!
Barrytown was a crazy mess - it is a very small place where we stayed in a pub and had a fancy dress party - the only rules were that guys had to dress as girls and girls had to dress as guys - needless to say it was an awesome night and much fun was had by all.
After Barrytown we moved onto Fraz Josef for 2 nights - here we did a walk over the glacier which was amazing. It was a full day walk but really good fun and we had awesome views. Being the crazy person that I am, Harriet and I jumped into a pool of water 1/2 way back down (the max temp was estimated at about 3 degrees =/ - I did get a free drink out of it though!) The glacier that we walked over is one of the few that is still advancing as they get more rain at the top than melt at the bottom. At the top, the amount of rain they can get in a day is more than England gets in a year!!! (We had perfect weather though)
The next morning I had to be up early for my 2nd skydive which was over Fox Glacier. It was beautiful although the adrenaline rush wasn't as great as from Taupo where it was 3000ft higher and was also my 1st one.
Makaroura wasfairly uneventful -- we had a Karaoke night and Kerry cut my hair (it is awesome travelling with a hairdresser!) but everyone was pretty worn out from partying so hard for the last 3 weeks so it wasn't such a big night.
Just over 1/2 the bus got off in Wanaka for 2 nights but the rest of us carried straight on to Queenstown where I still am a week later. I love this place - I think that it is probably one of favorite places of my whole trip so far. It is so pretty situated in the mountains and most of them have snow on (which is a good thing as Charlotte and I are going skiing for 3 days from tomorrow which will be ace!)
You can't come to Queenstown and not have a Fergburger - probably one of the best burgers in the world - my favorites are the codfather and the cockadoodle oink! (the best time to eat them though has to be at 4 in the morning :) )
Have done the Nevis bungy jump which was so so so scarey (I looked down which was a big mistake.) You jump off a pod suspended 134m above a gorge by 2 wires. It was AMAZING! probably even better than my skydives. Hopefully I will have some money soon to do the canyon swing but I am not sure as funds are running very low at the moment.
Really looking forward to skiing this week - will keep you updated :)
hope you are all well
lots of love
x x x x
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National Park Village, North Island, New Zealand

Hey there!
wow, the last week on the Stray bus has just flown by!
I spent a fairly uneventful night over on teh corromandel peninsula at Hahei which was beautiful. We got up early the next day to go and see the sunrise over the east coast (very close to the international date line so one of the 1st in the world)
We then moved onto Raglan over on teh west coast where I took a surf lesson - this was far more successful than in Sydney and i got hooked. I ended up staying at the hostel and hireing a board for 4 days which was great fun.
THen we went to the Waitomo caves for some black water rafting and caving. This involved going underground in very small caves and floating along water in a rubber tube! It was so so cold but really fun - especially seeing all the glow worms :)
Over to Maketu that night for a Maori culture show which was put on by Uncle Boy and his family. This involved having a hangi meal and then a performance by his family. The boys then went to learn the Haka and the girls learnt the Poi (spinning a little ball on a rope - way harder than it sounds!) We all slept (for all of 2 hours for some of us!) in a comunal room that night. It was really interesting and a great laugh.
Then on to Rotorua for its disgusting smell and white water rafting - amazing fun - we went down the highest comeciually rafterbal waterfall in teh world (7m) it was so so cool although did get kind of scarey when the boat tipped up!
then onto Taupo where i was going to sepnd a few days but I have such a great group I want to stay with them for a bit. Well, they were good until i got talked into doing my 1st skydive from 15000ft!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS AMAZING!!! one of teh best things I have ever done :) and I will be doing another one over the fox glacier (money permitting of course!)
I was on such a high all night however we all know we had to leave taupo for the tongariro national park at 6.30 in the morning. Stupidly (or not cos it was a wicked night) none of us (except manybe 2/3 sensible people) got back until 4am so waking up was very hard indeed! And all this for a 8 hour, 18.5km walk over volcanos!! the scenery was breathtaking but it was so much hard work we are all exhasted now so I think it will be an early night (well maybe anyway!) We were on the volcano next to the one used am Mount Doom in the Lord of the RIngs Trilogy.
gotta run but will try to update more frequently from Wellington where I am heading next.
hope you are all doing good - sorry for no photos - you will just have to see them when I get home in september - there are WAY too many now it has got out of control!
lots of love
x x x x x
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Paihia, North Island, New Zealand

Hey :0)
Well autumn is nearly over down here and winter really is starting - it is getting so so so cold!! Finally we have some beautiful sunshine but it is not at all hot! (and if any of you comment how London is having a heat wave I will be so unimpressed as I am very jealous!)
Allana and I have spent the last 3 days up in Paihia in the Bay of Islands and going up to the far north at Cape Reigna which was beautiful. We had such a great 3 days especially as the weather was amazing (at last!)
On the tuesday we were supposed to go on a dolphin trip but unfortunately due to too few people booking teh trip it was cancelled. It was even more dissapointing as there were Orca in the bay but oh well! We went for a nice walk along the beach with Lauren too (she was on our bus up there) and then went back to the hostel where I spent the evening chatting to crazy people from a different tour in the bar.
Wednesday was our full day tour up to the cape. It started wayyyy to early considering the fact we stayed up chatting until about 3 in the morning but it was still really good fun. We stopped on teh way up to look at teh Kauri trees some of which were 45,000 years old and HUGE! then it was up to cape reigna to see the meeting of the Tasman and Pacific oceans which was really cool - you could really see the difference between the two. We then went down to a small beach where we had lunch - I was the only one brave enough to swin even though it wasn't actually that cold! and then on to sandboarding (boogie boarding down sand dunes at about 45km and hour!) it was AMAZING!!! but so tiering getting up the dunes in the 1st place!
Thursday was the time to do our dolphin cruise - the weatehr was perfect - i even go a little sun burnt =/ Thursday night was just full of crazy madness which had us laughing so so much and that wasn't even at the comedy festival that we went to when we arrived back in Auckland.
Friday unfortunately I had to say goodbye to Allana - it is going to be so weird travelling without her now even though it was only a week it was so nice to see a face from home after almost 4 months away!
Saturday and Sunday were just spent chilling back at Andy's place and getting myself organised for exploring the rest of the North Island before I head back up here to watch the England/All Blacks match next month :)
Hope you are all well.
lots of love
Elo
x x x
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