TravelStream™ news feed for member pdaboy on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/pdaboy en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:06:09 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1182982980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1182982980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1182982980/tpod.html Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:06:09 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Arrived in Queenstown yesterday morning after a 1 hour 45 minute flight from Wellington. It has to be said, the most entertaining flight I've probably ever had too! The pilot took great delight in banking and weaving around the mountains and lakes in the South Island to give us all the best photographic opportunities. Mount Cook and it's surrounding snow capped ranges looked spectacular from the air.

After checking into the Rydges Lakeside resort, we bought ski gloves, goggles and thermal socks and pre-booked the following days ski-lesson and lift passes.This place has to be one of the most picturesque places on earth that I've personally ever visited. Lake Wakapitu sits right outside our front door and with the mountains and pine trees as a backdrop, it's pretty special.

The winter festival in Queenstown started yesterday after being delayed from Friday last week after heavy snow, to our gain really. Stood drinking mulled wine, watching the fireworks and listening to live music both outdoors and in every bar was most entertaining. Our theory of eating three square meals a day finally took it's toll yesterday and prevented us from drinking pints and buttoning our jeans so from now on, we've decided to knock starters and desserts on the head with all meals!

An early night then in preparation for a stupidly early start this morning to meet with our shuttle bus up to Coronet Peak. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and great visibility. Our personal ski instructor for the day - the lovely Sophie from Switzerland - quickly sorted us out with skis, boots and all the essentials for our first ever day's skiing. By lunchtime we had it sussed and were all confident enough to tackle the blue slopes (that only Franz Klammer and Eddie the Eagle would go near!).

A truly memorable day on the slopes. A few aches and pains all round (me groin, Chris shoulder and Carl knee) after some minor hiccups during the post-lesson action. I have asked if any of them are prepared to massage my groin (with or without ski gloves) but to date have had very little interest. Shame cos I thought I'd built quite a relationship with Chris after our double-bed share in Rainbow Beach!

Off out on the town tonight for Apres-ski and a Chicken Caesar salad - no chips.

Back on the piste tomorrow (injuries permitting!)

C
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183722240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183722240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183722240/tpod.html Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:44:45 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Leicester, United Kingdom

Holiday Over!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183567980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183567980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183567980/tpod.html Wed, 04 Jul 2007 13:33:41 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Bangkok, Thailand

Our "drinkathon" across the globe has just about come to an end, save for a 12 hour flight back to London which we're presently waiting for in Bangkok's glitzy new yet somewhat inferior airport terminal.

Our driver Monkom turned up as planned at 11.00am this morning to take us 160km North back to the Capital in the humid 36 degree heat. After leaving our bags at the airport for the day, we continued with the services of the cheeky chirpy Thai chap for a drive into the city. It's a sprawling mass of skyscrapers, unfinished buildings and desperate shanty towns in truth. Not that much to shout about.

We were in search of fake designer gear, convinced that the stuff we'd checked out in Pattaya was of lesser quality and the real good stuff would be in the big city.

Incidentally, Mark had purchased a Breitling copy watch earlier in the week for an extortionate 20 quid (Chris got one later that morning for less than half the price which sat uncomfortably with the South African!). To make matters worse, it transpires that the visibilty on Mark's watch will not be good in humid, wet or steamy environments. On the way to the airport in the sweaty heat of Monkom's minibus, Mark happened to look at his watch which by this time was full of condensation! Oh dear. B'elzebub has had your pants down again old mate!

After struggling to explain to Monkom what we seeked, he promptly called on the services of his sister who out of the blue pulled up alongside us in her taxi minutes later! She spoke great English and we hopped into her cab instead. En-route to visit the Arthur Daley's of Bangkok, we made a stop at the Grand Palace, the most popular tourist attraction in the whole country and home to the green buddha (a little green statue that apparently has caused wars between Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam for years). The Palace is quite spectacular and offered lots of photo opportunities. Check out the "tight" over trousers we all had to wear in order to get in as a mark of respect!

So, off to the market. Apparently, we were informed that Sukhamvit Road used to be the place until the police authorities realised a chance to make a bit of cash and shut them all down, relocating them to a building in the West of town for a "fee".

An anti-climax to say the least. The watches albeit good copies were far more expensive than we anticipated at 40 quid each. I picked up some bargains on the "ladies hardware and accessories" for my beloved but all in all, very disappointing.

So that was Thailand. In fact, that's the end of an amazing trip really. We've had extremes of temperature, snow, rain, sun, bustling cities, quiet beaches, ski slopes, jungle, amazing scenery, temples a plenty but most of all a fantastic time. On occasion it was frustrating - particularly with the distances involved but on the whole it was the cliched "holiday of a lifetime". I couldnt have picked a better bunch of lads to do it with although I wished others could have made the trip to.....you know who you are!

Next stop London. This time tomorrow I'll be home....this time on Friday I'll be at work...bugger!


C
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183569300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183569300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183569300/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:39:33 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Pattaya, Thailand

Our last night of a truly remarkable holiday is upon us. It's a shame in some ways it has to be in Pattaya but then again, it could be worse i suppose....like Mansfield or something similar!

A lazy day spent by the pool and a trek around the market to nail the final rip-off bargains was in order mid afternoon and a very low key evening out. We had a great meal at Siam Elephant Resort (Thai Chicken green curry with Pad Thai for the record) - I wish we'd have stayed there in hindsight for the extra 4 quid each per night.

We're off to Bangkok in the morning courtesy of Monkom, our driver (if he turns up that is - we've seen nothing of him since he dropped us off in the early hours of Monday morning!).

Here's a few more photo's. This time tommorrow we'll be boarding for the final leg of the flight home. Heathrow Airport promises to be a painful experience upon arrival on Thursday morning I suspect (rubber gloves et al) after the car bombs we've been seeing on tele over here.

Nighty night!

C
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183221660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183221660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183221660/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:27:08 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Our New Zealand adventure is almost over. I'm sat in Queenstown airport at the moment waiting for our internal flight to take us onto Auckland and then in turn to Sydney to meet up again with the portly squat one tomorrow morning.

We ski'd again yesterday, although the weather wasn't as good (in fact it pissed it down all day both up the mountain and in town!). Not enough to deter us though. Tried the Green longer slopes and then the Blue slope right at the end of the day. Christ - 'bout shat myself when I stook my head over the slope at the top. Just tried to keep remembering what the lovely Sophie from Switzerland had said "stand up straight, dig your heels in, turn, turn, turn....". It was hard work and really takes it out of your knees and thighs. I don't think months of darts practice really prepared us for the gruelling experience that is downhill skiing!

We hit the bars of Queenstown for the last time last night and managed to stay awake until 1am. Stumbled across a bar called Buffalo with an extremely ecstatic happy hour (three pints for 3 quid! Awesome!)

Chris and now Carl are suffering a bit from colds and have stocked up well on the local version of Lemsip to get them through the final 6 days of the trip. I'm sure the 36 degree heat of Bangkok will help sweat it out of them.

I suppose finally it has to be said - if anyone ever visits New Zealand for any reason whatsoever, they would be absolute fools to miss Queenstown. It really is one of the most spectacular and fun places on earth that I've personally ever visited and moreover with all best intentions, I plan to come back again not before long, but next time with my kids. I reckon I can teach them everything Sophie taught us in 3 hours about skiing!

Later

C
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Pattaya, Thailand

Pattaya. Well, exactly as it says on the tin really. Open sewers running down the sides of the road, stinking dirty streets, filthy dingy hotels, reportedly 60,000 prostitutes.......

What a great introduction to Thailand eh! We all felt deflated after a little walk around earlier today but decided to just get by the pool, close our eyes and drink as much Singha beer as was physically possible over the course of the next few days to get us through it. Shouldn't be too difficult should it???

This place is exactly as you would imagine after hearing and reading stories of Gary Glitter, etc on the news. Hundreds upon thousands of old western men walking the streets with the most beatiful Thai girls on their arm. A very sad existence for all concerned I reckon. By day the constant (every 30 seconds) stream of Thailand's answer to the "lucky lucky men" of the mediterranean try to sell either watches, sun glasses, jewellery, etc. Needless to say, all of us have started collecting the massive haul of rip-off gear that we intend to take back to the UK. Starting with Oakley sunglasses, 2 pairs for a fiver! bargain! LCFC wristbands, a ring, watches, Shrek 3 on DVD for 50p! Place your orders now ladies and gentlemen!

By night the place is unimaginably manic. Moreso than Tokyo during a Friday rush hour I'd say. "Walking Street", their version of Coalville's "Marlborough Square" is just full of bars, bars and more bars with a few extra bars. Scantily clad Thai girls sit in the droves waiting for unsuspecting western blokes to come in for a drink. We humoured them, bought a drink and moved on to the next one and then the next one, etc, etc. Cheap as chips here though. 4 beers for 3 quid in most places. I can see it's going to be a heavy couple of days - but then again did you expect anything else?

Oh, and I got sunburnt today after some poor sun tan lotion application. Never again.

Oh and also I've got the mother of all colds now. Carl managed to shake his, Chris's still suffering but Im on a mission to drink it out of me before the next and final epic flight on Thursday!

I'm gonna drink my own (ever increasing) body weight in Singha Beer!

C
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183342380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183342380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183342380/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:30:16 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Auckland, New Zealand

We spent last night at a hotel come motel near to Auckland Airport, deliberately so that it would make it easier to catch our early morning flight today. However, after arriving, it was clear there was not a lot around in the way of finding an evening meal, etc and as such headed off to a suburb close by for tucker. Google maps made Papatoetoe out to be a mini Whitwick, just like home! with a few bars etc but we were to be sorely disappointed. As we walked up the bronxlike main drag, we felt more than a little out of place. Some ill advice from a local further compounded our misery as we headed off in another overpriced cab to Manakau. The only watering hole being a "red-neck" type irish bar full of obnoxious locals. We cut our losses and took the 20 quid cab ride into the city which is what we should have done in the first place. Rad Trav comes unstuck for the first time!

In a Saturday night theme which has been pretty much the case in our journey across the southern hemisphere, we holed up in a bar to watch tri-nations rugby again. This Time the All Blacks against the Wallabies - massive game!

It's difficult to really explain the passion of this nation when it comes to rugby (or sailing for that fact) unless you're actually amongst it but to be in a busy bar in Auckland's America's Cup village whilst their national team performs "the Haka" was something else.

So that was New Zealand....in 10 days almost. In a nutshell in future I'd say get in and out of Auckland as quickly as possible, it's quite a dull city. Spend time in the nicer parts of the North Island (Rotorua, far north, etc which we didnt have time to do), go to Wellington, definetly Queenstown. Christchurch is also supposed to be a chilled sort of place too but it felt like the real New Zealand when we were down South.

Anyway....I'm back off to Oz!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183344000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183344000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183344000/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:23:32 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Bangkok, Thailand

What a mammoth journey. We always knew today was gonna be the hardest day of the whole trip and it certainly didn't disappoint.

I got drawn the window seat next to Carl and some bint on the aisle. Bad draw in hindsight. As soon as they'd both fallen asleep I was imprisoned in seat 36A for 10 hours or so. Before I die, I am definetly going to treat myself to (or get someone else to pay for) an upgrade on a long haul flight. It's the future.....

So onto Thailand and Part 3 of a day that takes us about half the way back home. Before departing England, Mark had arranged transport via a local fellow by the name of "Monkom" to take us from the airport by minibus a further two hours to Pattaya, a coastal resort 100km to the South. We all walked through immigration excited at the prospect of a little slanty chap holding a sign saying "Corin Ladford"....but sadly, this wasnt to be!

From day 1, it was our intention to chill on a beach or around a pool for three whole days after skiing, etc and Pattaya had been picked really as the most easily accessible resort. However, given my time again and knowing what I know now, I would have gotten straight on a plane to Phuket even with the limited time available.

The bumpy roads from the Airport to Pattaya made in difficult to sleep and they seemed to go on forever and ever. We eventually arrived at the hotel at 2.00am in 30 odd degree heat, some 20 hours or more since we'd left Auckland in the morning. Shattered is an understatement.

The initial impression of Pattaya was also quite disappointing and we were thinking that maybe we'd made a massive mistake coming here. After checking into the hotel, I took a brief walk around the close vicinity to get water. etc and it certainly felt like the the sort of place you wouldnt want tobe out on your own after dark! Hasty retreat to the Beverley Plaza and a sleep of all sleeps for me then!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183343280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183343280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1183343280/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:12:16 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Sydney, Australia

Our 3 and a half hour journey to Sydney was largely uneventful save for noting that the legroom and comfort on the Qantas 767 flight was the best we'd had yet. But then again, they're not really competing with much are they? BA, Japan Airlines (shite) and Air New Zealand....

We met with the portly squat one again in the terminal building and queued to check his bags through. Our bags been checked all the way through to Bangkok....so thats the last we're gonna see of them then!

A taxi into the heart of Sydney offered us the chance to snap the sights of the city. Particularly Opera House (tick!) and Harbour Bridge (tick!). And of course the obligatory fridge magnet....back to the airport after an icecream in the sun and onto the next city in this monumental day of travelling!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1182832800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1182832800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pdaboy/wpdaworld/1182832800/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:04:53 -0400 Japan, Australia, New Zealand & Thailand

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Wellington, New Zealand

This city is nicknamed "Windy Wellington" and I can assure you, Chicago is merely playing at it! Christ, it's enough to cut you in two!

It's rained most of the day today too which is a shame cos the city is so nice and we didn't really do as much here as we could have done. Never mind. If or more to the point when I come back to New Zealand, I will definetly make sure I fly into the capital rather than Auckland. It's so much more relaxed, cosmopolitan, cleaner and far less threatening after dark.

After breakfast, we did a little clothes shopping to prepare for our next four days in Queenstown. We stumbled upon a great shop and to continue the tone of this trip, all three of us bought matching Oakley jackets for 40 quid each. Couldn't really leave 'em on the hanger for that price could we?? I'm sure there's gonna be a team foto with us sporting our matching jumpers, coats and rucksacks posted on here before too long!

A trip on the Wellington cable car to the botanical gardens preceded a few pints of Guinness and lunch at the Black Harp in Wellington's CBD - highly recommended on both counts!

And then off to Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. Soak up the culture and the history eh boys!

A quiet and cold night out in Wellington included trips to numerous sparsely populated bars but the highlight of the evening was "Chow", an Asian cuisine serving 2 for 1 in Courtnay Place. Fill your boots gentlemen!! I don't feel as uncomfortably full after last nights culinary extravanganza but nevertheless, it was quality tucker! Incidentally, we've now managed to book no less than 11 taxis, 2 takeaway pizza's and 3 restaurant tables in the name of "Fennell" from Japan to New Zealand and we didn't sour on any of em! So Paul - your name is clean in all the places we've visited so far should you visit them in future!!

We're on a flight at 10.00am in the morning to Queenstown for the next part of our adventure - 4 days skiing, sky diving and bungee jumping. However, the snow has been falling heavily down there in the South Island for the past few days and there is a chance that the airport might be closed. Fingers crossed for no more cos they've had 500mm since Saturday and it's all over the news here.

Until then.......adios (or whatever the Maori's say)


C
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