TravelStream™ news feed for member finian on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/finian en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:28:45 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1225771080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1225771080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1225771080/tpod.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:28:45 -0500 ...The Australian leg of the journey...

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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I lived here for 5 months. Of course I've a load of photos!But it's gonna take time to upload photos, especially when some PC's won't work with the fast uploader!
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Ah yes. Jason & Kurt. From 'near Ashbourne' or something like that. Funny funny guys. Thanks for the laughs...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1226360400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1226360400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1226360400/tpod.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:25:40 -0500 One man's journey into the depths of his soul... only to find a used tea bag & a kit-kat wrapper.

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New Plymouth, North Island, New Zealand

Sunflower Lodge, like being back in Burke's in Taupo... home away from home! (although Burke's is now called Blackcurrant Backpackers... I believe)Friendly staff are just the best. No doubt about it!
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Hamilton, North Island, New Zealand

On to Hamilton to meet Todd, then Raglan for some actual surfing (as I had a cold in Mt. Maunganui, and didn't feel like getting wet...)Stayed in Eagles Nest Backpackers in Hamilton (only did a day-trip in Raglan so didn't stay there overnight). Eagles Nest is run by an a lovely older couple. Quiet and relaxed, let's say.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1206979200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1206979200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1206979200/tpod.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:19:13 -0500 One man's journey into the depths of his soul... only to find a used tea bag & a kit-kat wrapper.

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Napier, North Island, New Zealand

There were teary eyes. But I had to say goodbye to Judith, Beth, the gang, and to Taupo. It was time to see the rest of NZ. So I departed on a jouney that would take me from Napier in the north-east through:- Gisborne- Mount Maunganui- The Cormandel peninsula- Hamilton & Raglan- New Plymouth- Palmerston North- Te Anau & the Routeburn Track- The CatlinsFinishing up in Christchurch, from where I would eventually leave for Australia.But while in Chch, I would see Hanmer Springs and Arthur's Pass.A hectic schedule, methinks, but sure life is for living... is it not?!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1226359020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1226359020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1226359020/tpod.html Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:35:29 -0500 One man's journey into the depths of his soul... only to find a used tea bag & a kit-kat wrapper.

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Mount Maunganui, North Island, New Zealand

Mt Maunganui - surf-central for NZ, and The Coromandel with beautiful Cathedral Cove and the (in)famous Hot Water Beach.I say infamous not cuz its dangerous, its cuz everyone knows about it. Secluded it is not!In Whitianga, in the Coromandel, I stayed in the Cat's Pyjamas Backpackers.Both places are highly recommended. Clean and a good atmosphere. What more do you want?Free Massages? Yeah, that'd be nice. Oh well!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1224332100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1224332100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1224332100/tpod.html Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:51:27 -0500 ...The Australian leg of the journey...

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Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

The Canberra Story. Part One.Ingredients: 3 men - 2 Sri Lankan, 1 Irish. 1 brand new Nissan (just off the truck), 700kms of road and 15 hours of driving. Oh.... And 24 hours in which to do it all.Well, if I didn't know how big of a country Oz really is, after Canberra I'm in doubt... its feckin massive.So there's me, Kaveesh who I work with, and Kaveendra who lives with Kaveesh. So fair enuf, we didn't actually check the distance from Melbourne to Canberra, I mean Jaysus, they're virtually beside each other on the map. So I'm up outta bed at 6am on Saturday morning to meet the lads at 8pm at the train station. Being me, I'm 15mins late. Fashionably of course.Kaveesh has the world's smallest camcorder and tells me he's making a home video of our day trip. He shows me the brand new Nissan that we've rented. The bleedin glare off it'd blind u. So we set off from Melbourne. It's about 8.30am.Kaveendra is d co-pilot with all the maps and fair play to him; he gets us out of Melbourne without any fkk ups. It takes ages just to get out of the city!We're all there telling each other "yeah, it should take us about 4/4½ hours to get to Canberra". We settle into the journey ahead. We discuss things like what we're gonna see first and whats the easiest way to get around Canberra.We agree the Parliament House is No1 on the list, followed by the War Memorial, and then the museum if we have time. And the 2 lads want to visit the Sri Lankan embassy. I'm cool with that.After a couple of hours, it's time for a pit-stop. A bit of food at a roadside lay-by. We got sandwiches and water, and then these cheesy-puff things (which are addictive like Pringles, leading me to believe that they're full of MSG - but they don't seem to label it down under... the bastards. There's Coca-Cola and Cadburys 'Jamaican Rum' chocolate, which I have to say is a bit rich or me, but Kaveesh loves it. Seeing as it's the only chocolate going, I eat the stuff but I think Kaveesh is a bit miffed that I'm not keen on it. And who said choc was an aphrodisiac?We check the clock, looks like we're a bit behind schedule but it's difficult to make out where exactly we are on the map. We assume we're not too bad. We tidy up and get back on the road. I should say at this point that, roughly, the first 6 kangaroos I've seen in my life we're all road kill. They're dotted all along the roadside. Poor things... sometimes there was a trail of guts and shit. Although I'm betting that was a quick death.So the next item on the agenda is a re-fuel. It takes a while before we get somewhere with a filling station, in a town called Albury on the Victoria-New South Wales border. It takes us a good 10 mins scooting around town to find a filling station. (I swear to God, little ol' Cavan has better services than this).It's around this time that we figure out just how much we are off-target. Y'see, Albury is on the map. We know how long its taken us to get there. And we can judge roughly how far we've got to go. We've been on the road for 3½ hours. We're not quite half way. Ohhhhhhh shit. Kaveesh cant actually believe it. "Man we cant have that far to go?!" he asks. We show him the map. We show him where we are. We show him where we need to be. It doesn't look good.But Kaveesh is one headstrong mofo. That ain't gonna stop us. Goddamn it... we'll get there if it kills us. So we're back on the road. No more pit-stops. Its non-stop to Canberra from here on. Kaveendra argues that perhsps we should consider abandoning the idea of Canberra, as we may have bugger-all time there. I must say, it sounds like a realistic idea from I'm sitting. "Maybe we can go somewhere close-by and have a few hours quality time there instead", I ask. Kaveesh has made his mind up. He says we'll get there and still be able to see the most important things and that our plan was to see Canberra - we should stick to it. He's a really hopeful guy, keeps the chin-up almost all the time. So we stick to the plan.We arrive at Parliament House, the centre of Canberra, at 4.35pm. It closes at 5pm. The tours have already finished. So we get about 15mins to wander around indoors before we have to leave. I race up there to maximize my time inside. It's free entry thank God, or else I sure as hell wouldnt pay in for 15mins. Have to say, the grounds were very pretty, as was the interior - I gotta cool snap of me and a statue of Queen Lizzy herself. We look like the Fun Lovin' Criminals.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1213392600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1213392600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/2/1213392600/tpod.html Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:21:56 -0400 ...The Australian leg of the journey...

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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

It's "goodbye" New Zealand (I'll miss you) and "Hello" Melbourne, Australia and I'm broke (almost). So there's no time for fun & games (or not much, anyway). Nope, it's down to the hard slog of earning a few buckeroonies for the long road ahead: East Coast, West Coast and Outback Aussie and even a few weeks around S.E. Asia before heading back to the 40 shades.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1213286400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1213286400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1213286400/tpod.html Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:58:36 -0400 One man's journey into the depths of his soul... only to find a used tea bag & a kit-kat wrapper.

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Arthurs Pass, South Island, New Zealand

Arthur's Pass, pretty much the last bit of sight-seeing I did in NZ before leaving for Oz. A wintery wonderland.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1208905380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1208905380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finian/new_zealand_07/1208905380/tpod.html Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:30:51 -0400 One man's journey into the depths of his soul... only to find a used tea bag & a kit-kat wrapper.

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Te Anau, South Island, New Zealand

So on to the big trek. 3-and-a-half days through magnificent landscapes, "the Routeburn Track traverses 32 kilometres of Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks, part of Te Wāhipounamu - South West New Zealand World Heritage Area" (www.doc.govt.nz).I tramped with Emilie, my fantastic French-Canadian friend - who was a tower of strength and , generally, had a lot of "cop-on" - so I was in safe hands...We camped the first night. Oh God was that tough! It was freezing, it took us ages to get a fire going (the wood was damp). When we finally did it was like we'd won the lottery... funny how the simple things become so important when you take on Mother Nature. But that was the coldest night I've had the (dis)pleasure of experiencing in NZ. Still though, it was totally worth it, if only to remind me that I really do live in luxury back in the 'big smoke'!After that we stayed in the DOC huts... much better. We had a really good time. I know it's an easy walking track, but it's not called a 'Great Walk' for nothing. I'm pretty pleased with myself, as I'm not the outdoors type (unless you count sunbathing on a beach) so to complete this was truly a first for me, and hopefully not the last.The Routeburn Track has provided me with some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen in my life. Like when we left the Mackenzie Hut, trekked uphill for, like, ages and then got around the corner of the mountain to see the Hollyford Valley unfold in front of us, all the way to the ocean. And to see the Darren Mountains towering over the valley in the background. Absolutely breathtaking!And a message for Larry Foley:Larry I finally got to the Harris Saddle, inspired by reading the book 'The Happy Isles Of Oceania' by Paul Theroux... a book that you gave me when I was staying with you and Elish. So thank you - that book definitely pointed me in the right direction!
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