Had a great time at Byron Bay and actually got one day of sunshine which was amazing!! Walked up to a lighthouse where you could see some beautiful views of the beaches and some groups of dolphins surfing the waves! Met some great people in the hostel and had some great nights out at the infamous Cheeky Monkeys where you dance on these giant metal tables! Next I took a bus to Brisbane just for one night before heading up to Caloundra, a smaller town on the sunshine where I stayed with my dad's cousin Jean and her husband Pete who have retired out here in a beautiful house right overlooking a river! It was absolute luxury to have my own room and ensuite bathroom with an amazing view and Jean and Pete did a great job taking me to look at lots of the local area. Went for a walk in the rainforest where I saw 3 Paddymelons (little kangaroos!) which were v cute! They are spoilt for choice with the beaches in the area and inland there are beautiful mountains too! After spending a few days with them I jumped back on the Greyhound bus to Rainbow beach to start my 3 day tour of Fraser Island!
I was very lucky to have a great group of people in my 4 x 4...6 girls and one boy (bless him!) and we had such a good time. The tour group get split into cars which you take turns driving across the beaches, sand dunes and through the rivers around the island. It was such a beautiful island and I would really recommend to anyone thinking about it to do the self drive tour rather than going in a big tour bus...the driving was part of the whole experience especially our dj skills...so much backstreet boys! While we were there we went to Indian's head with a great view over the sea (we didn't see any sharks though), a ship wreck that's half buried in the sand, the champagne pools where huge waves crash over the rocks to make the bubbles and Lake wabby which is a lake contained by the biggest sand dune I've ever seen!! We stayed for 2 nights in dorm style accomodation on the beach and had parties on the beach the 1st night and a bonfire the 2nd night...fuelled by plenty of goon!
Now I'm back in Rainbow beach waiting to get a bus up to Airlie beach to go to the Whitsundays, then up to Cairns for a trip out on the barrier reef and then New Zealand on thursday! Time is zipping by but really looking forward to everything coming up!!
Big Love
x x x x x x x x
Friday, 27 April 2012
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Sydney and Coffs Harbour
Arrived in Sydney and it was 13 degrees!! Bit of a shock to the system after 30 degrees and humidity of Singapore. Checked into my hostel and went for a little wander around the city, along to the Botanical Gardens and round the harbour to see the Sydney Opera house and the harbour bridge! Was a bit breezy but in the sunshine it all looked pretty stunning! Walked through town and Hyde Park back to Kings Cross where my hostel was. It’s really odd to see so many English names of places as you wander around! The next day I walked over the Harbour bridge (bit scary but great views) wandered around the rocks and some of the more touristy bits of the city. The following day I got up early to catch the train to the blue mountains which are about 2 hours outside the city. You get off the train in a really quaint town which feels a bit like its still in the 1960’s and get a hop on hop off trolley bus which takes you to the main interesting spots. The blue Mountains are beautiful and although not as high as the grand canyon it, the views were similar and equally stunning. I did a one hour bush walk (turned into 2 hour as I got a bit lost!) along the cliff to a waterfall and then hopped back on the bus. The next stop was Echo point which gives the famous view of the ‘3 sisters’ rock formation and from there you can continue the bushwalking depending on how brave you’re feeling (one takes 2 days!) I just did a ½ hour one! When I got back to the city they were having a bbq night in the hostel which was very tasty. Went out that night in the ‘interesting’ area that is Kings Cross but had a good time despite the sleaze!
The sun was just about shining the following day so took the subway to Bondi beach which was beautiful. Unfortunately, it soon got cloudy again so walked along the coastal path to Bronte beach and back again stopping off at the little beaches along the way whenever the sun came out! Checked out of the hostel the next day and spent some time in the botanical Gardens again (avoiding the giant spiders) and then in the courtyard of the hostel. That night I got the Greyhound bus over night up here to Coffs Harbour where it did rain a lot and it’s the type of seaside place where it’s hard to do things when it’s raining! Did meet some lovely people from the west country there randomly and tried a 2 hour surf lesson. Turns out I’m definitely not a natural surfer (more of a surfing disaster!) but I did manage to stand up for about 2 seconds!! Now I’m in Byron Bay for a few nights and then up to Brisbane at the weekend! The internet is really dodgy in the hostels I've stayed at which is a pain as you have to pay for it!! Hopefully will be able to upload some pics in a minute though....fingers crossed!!
Speak to you all soon!
Love Ro
X x x x x x
The sun was just about shining the following day so took the subway to Bondi beach which was beautiful. Unfortunately, it soon got cloudy again so walked along the coastal path to Bronte beach and back again stopping off at the little beaches along the way whenever the sun came out! Checked out of the hostel the next day and spent some time in the botanical Gardens again (avoiding the giant spiders) and then in the courtyard of the hostel. That night I got the Greyhound bus over night up here to Coffs Harbour where it did rain a lot and it’s the type of seaside place where it’s hard to do things when it’s raining! Did meet some lovely people from the west country there randomly and tried a 2 hour surf lesson. Turns out I’m definitely not a natural surfer (more of a surfing disaster!) but I did manage to stand up for about 2 seconds!! Now I’m in Byron Bay for a few nights and then up to Brisbane at the weekend! The internet is really dodgy in the hostels I've stayed at which is a pain as you have to pay for it!! Hopefully will be able to upload some pics in a minute though....fingers crossed!!
Speak to you all soon!
Love Ro
X x x x x x
Kuala Lumpur and Singapore
About 2 weeks ago now I left Thailand on the night bus over to Kuala Lumpur. Stayed in a lovely hostel while I was there with very swish beds with your individual light, plugs, shelves and curtain making your own little private bedroom! The 1st day I was there I did some sight seeing around the Chinatown area and the old colonial buildings. In Chinatown you can buy just about any fake designer goods including tiffany jewellery, Cath Kidson everything and fake dvds in their hundreds! The next day I did a tour organised by the hostel which took us to hindu and muslim temples (for the latter you had to put on a full muslim outfit covering everything including a burka on my head…I was boiling!) and the kings residence. We also went to the Batu caves where you walk up over 200 very steep steps to reach the thousand year old caves hidden in the mountain with its Hindu temples inside, v. cool! That evening I had some drinks on the roof top terrace of the hostel that looks over the whole of the city. The next day I walked over to the Petronas towers to have a look around and take some pics. Then walked over to the Orchid Gardens for a wander before getting very lost on the way back to the hostel!
The next day I flew to Singapore nice and early in the morning. Absolutely loved Singapore though and it was such a nice change from the rest of Asia, everything is so clean and there are shops and malls everywhere!! Did one of the standard hop on hop off bus tours which was really useful in the rain (it rained everyday I was here!). Took me round all the sights including the most ridiculous hotel I’ve ever seen called the Marina Bay…3 skyscrapers with a giant ship shaped building on top of them! The architecture in Singapore as a whole was amazing and I’m not normally interested in that sort of thing. You couldn’t help looking up from the bus in awe! On the 3rd day I was there I went to Singapore Zoo which is just north of the city. It’s an open plan Zoo so a lot of the animals roam free (including the orang-utans!) or are just separated by water rather than metal bars. They have some really rare animals there including white tigers which were beautiful and a little terrifying!
In my last day in Singapore I did a bit of shopping and then made it back to the subway station as the heavens opening and it chucked it down!! Getting back to the hostel and then back to the subway with my backpack was definitely interesting! When I got to the airport there were problems with my plane to Sydney so it was delayed by 3 hours! They decided to change planes to this new 2 floored plane which was half empty so I had 3 seats to myself which was very nice! Said goodbye to Asia with a Singapore Sling cocktail and some fried rice before falling asleep!
The next day I flew to Singapore nice and early in the morning. Absolutely loved Singapore though and it was such a nice change from the rest of Asia, everything is so clean and there are shops and malls everywhere!! Did one of the standard hop on hop off bus tours which was really useful in the rain (it rained everyday I was here!). Took me round all the sights including the most ridiculous hotel I’ve ever seen called the Marina Bay…3 skyscrapers with a giant ship shaped building on top of them! The architecture in Singapore as a whole was amazing and I’m not normally interested in that sort of thing. You couldn’t help looking up from the bus in awe! On the 3rd day I was there I went to Singapore Zoo which is just north of the city. It’s an open plan Zoo so a lot of the animals roam free (including the orang-utans!) or are just separated by water rather than metal bars. They have some really rare animals there including white tigers which were beautiful and a little terrifying!
In my last day in Singapore I did a bit of shopping and then made it back to the subway station as the heavens opening and it chucked it down!! Getting back to the hostel and then back to the subway with my backpack was definitely interesting! When I got to the airport there were problems with my plane to Sydney so it was delayed by 3 hours! They decided to change planes to this new 2 floored plane which was half empty so I had 3 seats to myself which was very nice! Said goodbye to Asia with a Singapore Sling cocktail and some fried rice before falling asleep!
Monday, 2 April 2012
Ko phi phi, Tonsai beach and Krabi town
So another fun filled week in Thailand has passed! From Phuket town (wouldn't recommend!) got the ferry to Ko Phi Phi island last monday. A really beautiful island and everyone I met there was so friendly! The 1st night got upgraded as the 18 person dorm was full so got the aircon 8 bed dorm for no extra money!! lovely! The next day I had to move though so stayed at Rock backpackers in the 18 person dorm...what an experience!! I'd heard really good things about the Rock from lots of people I'd met along the way and it was a great place to meet people! The walls were covered in writing of people who've stayed there over the years with some interesting anecdotes! Not a lot of sleep to be had (as expected in Phi Phi!) and the bed bugs ate me alive...not so good! But a really fun place overall and I'd recommend it if you want the social phi phi experience. The 3rd day I was there I went on the 1/2 day snorkeling tour over to Maya bay (where they filmed 'The beach'), its now swarming with tourists everyday and no leo in sight but very beautiful all the same. Saw some beautiful fish while snorkeling and even managed to get a few pics with them in!! The next bit of the trip was slightly more traumatic...as a fishing boat crashed into our longtail boat in the middle of the ocean!! Wood flew everywhere but luckily no one was hurt. Our boat then started sinking (not so good!) so we waved down a speedboat with some Japanese tourists who very kindly rescued us and took us back to the pier. We all managed to get our money back for the tour and had lunch to celebrate how lucky we had been to get back safely!
So after a few fun filled nights at Slinky's on the beach and plenty of lethal buckets I left phi phi after 4 nights and went to the much more chilled tonsai beach. You can only get there by longtail boat and there's no electricity until after 6 at night so no wifi or cash machines to be found!! Theres a very hippy feel to the beach, with rasta inspired tiki bars with cushions on the floor and huts in the trees! I shared a bungalow in the woods with a lovely girl I met in Phi Phi in the nicely named 'jungle hut resort'. Very cheap with ice cold showers and only the occasional cockroach!! It was a lovely place to relax for a few days. Had to take an interesting trek over the rocks to Railay beach in search of a cash machine but other than that no hiccups. Yesterday we went on a 9 island tour where you got to snorkel, walk on some beautiful beaches, have dinner and see the sunset over the water and the best bit of all, go night swimming with the plankton which lights up and seems to sparkle when you move! Amazing! It felt like something out of a movie!
Today we left our jungle hut and headed over to Krabi town to stay one night. Staying in Pak up hostel which is pure luxury after the last few places I've stayed! Wifi, hot showers, duvets, lockers under the bed, actually clean...and for £4.50 a night not bad! Getting a few bits done before heading down into Malaysia tomorrow by bus! Still pretty pale thanks to my epic suncream applying! Burnt in a few places on phi phi which I missed so now trying to be better! Still having an amazing time and can't quite believe how quickly its going...flying to Aus in just over a week!
Love to everyone at home and missing you all tons!
x x x x x x
So after a few fun filled nights at Slinky's on the beach and plenty of lethal buckets I left phi phi after 4 nights and went to the much more chilled tonsai beach. You can only get there by longtail boat and there's no electricity until after 6 at night so no wifi or cash machines to be found!! Theres a very hippy feel to the beach, with rasta inspired tiki bars with cushions on the floor and huts in the trees! I shared a bungalow in the woods with a lovely girl I met in Phi Phi in the nicely named 'jungle hut resort'. Very cheap with ice cold showers and only the occasional cockroach!! It was a lovely place to relax for a few days. Had to take an interesting trek over the rocks to Railay beach in search of a cash machine but other than that no hiccups. Yesterday we went on a 9 island tour where you got to snorkel, walk on some beautiful beaches, have dinner and see the sunset over the water and the best bit of all, go night swimming with the plankton which lights up and seems to sparkle when you move! Amazing! It felt like something out of a movie!
Today we left our jungle hut and headed over to Krabi town to stay one night. Staying in Pak up hostel which is pure luxury after the last few places I've stayed! Wifi, hot showers, duvets, lockers under the bed, actually clean...and for £4.50 a night not bad! Getting a few bits done before heading down into Malaysia tomorrow by bus! Still pretty pale thanks to my epic suncream applying! Burnt in a few places on phi phi which I missed so now trying to be better! Still having an amazing time and can't quite believe how quickly its going...flying to Aus in just over a week!
Love to everyone at home and missing you all tons!
x x x x x x
Saturday, 24 March 2012
Bangkok, Siem Reap and Chiang Mai
So lots has happened over the last week! Second day in Bangkok I went to see some of the temples. I got the ferry along the river to the old part of Bangkok which was fun and you got to see all the fancy hotels along the river! Went to Wat Pho 1st which has the reclining Buddha which was huge and covered in gold! Had a wander around the grounds which were amazing and then had a thai massage from the massage school there....an interesting experience!! They literally pull you in all different directions but I did feel better afterwards, if not very relaxed! I then went to the Grand Palace which was amazing! So much gold everywhere!! That night I had dinner on the roof top of the hostel with a few people staying there, gave a really good view of the city and I was almost cool in the breeze!! The next day, as recommended by a German girl staying at the hostel I went to the Chatuchak weekend market which was absolutely huge! They sold anything and everything, from pet dogs to fake handbags, to expensive art and furniture. Was very restraint and only bought a few things including some fake Dior perfume for 40p!! It was so unbelievably hot so I went and sat in a really nice park to have some lunch and cool down a bit!! After lunch I got my 1st tuk tuk....so scary! They drive so fast amongst the Bangkok traffic but was cool to see a bit more of the city from that level! Walked round Koh San Road for a bit in the afternoon and then back to the hostel to get ready for the bus the next day!
Got the bus from Bangkok to the Cambodia the next day. Had heard so many stories about scams for fake or very overpriced visas so was being very cautious, so much so I actually walked past the official Visa office and had to go back!! Got to Siem Reap at about 7 that night and checked into my hostel. Met a Canadian girl who was going to see the sunrise the next day over the temples so joined up with her and a girl from Brazil and shared a tuk tuk for the day. Got up at 4.30 that morning (nice and early!) and got the tuk tuk in pitch black to Angkor Wat. It was really eerie as all you could see were the little lights of hundreds of tuk tuks driving along the road in front. Was absolutely amazing to see the sun come up over the temple and I'm so glad we did brave the early morning to do it. Walked around the temple while it was still quiet and got some amazing photos! Saw lots of different temples throughout the day which were all really different in their own ways. My favourite was probably Ta Prohm which was the setting for Tomb raider. The trees had sort of grown into the temple and were really cool! By that point there were lots of tourists around and we kept being caught up in the Japanese tour groups!! By about 2pm it was so hot and we'd been there about 10 hours so called it a day! Absolutely fantastic day and I would recommend it to anyone.
The next day I hung out in Siem Reap. Our hostel had a pool (amazing but freezing!) so chilled there for a bit and then wandered around the market and went and got some dinner and drinks with Ilena (the Canadian) and one of her friends.
The following day I flew up to Chiang Mai for a few days. Staying at a really fun hostel here called Deejah Backpackers (would highly recommend it!). It has a tikki bar in the garden and have met so many people while I've stayed here. The 2nd day I was here I went on a one day trek into the mountains which was really fun! Did a one hour trek to a waterfall and then went swimming which was really refreshing after the hot walk!! Then went white water rafting which was really fun. It's a bit tame at this time of year apparently because the river is quite low at the moment but it was scary enough for me! Our guide was hilarious and loved his job so much. He had some excellent phrases including 'how are you tomorrow' and 'where you from? I'm from my mother'.
The next day I went with a group of Canadians to an Elephant training camp which was such a fantastic experience (thanks for the recommendation pace!). We learned the commands the Mahouts use to control the elephants and got to ride them bare back through the jungle (bit uncomfortable but really fun!) Then got to ride them into a waterfall and bathe and wash them. Such a fantastic thing to do (shame they kept pooing in the water though!) and can't wait to see the photos (they put them on a disk for us). There were two baby elephants as well which were soo cute. Last night we went to a few bars which was really fun and then today I'm just going to walk around the city for a bit before flying to Phuket tonight to go to the islands! So excited for some beaches.
Having an amazing time and have met lots of lovely people! Still v. pale and not used to the heat but hoping that some time on the beaches will cure that! Hope all is well at home at missing you all! Must try and update the blog more often!!
Love Ro
x x x x x x x x
Got the bus from Bangkok to the Cambodia the next day. Had heard so many stories about scams for fake or very overpriced visas so was being very cautious, so much so I actually walked past the official Visa office and had to go back!! Got to Siem Reap at about 7 that night and checked into my hostel. Met a Canadian girl who was going to see the sunrise the next day over the temples so joined up with her and a girl from Brazil and shared a tuk tuk for the day. Got up at 4.30 that morning (nice and early!) and got the tuk tuk in pitch black to Angkor Wat. It was really eerie as all you could see were the little lights of hundreds of tuk tuks driving along the road in front. Was absolutely amazing to see the sun come up over the temple and I'm so glad we did brave the early morning to do it. Walked around the temple while it was still quiet and got some amazing photos! Saw lots of different temples throughout the day which were all really different in their own ways. My favourite was probably Ta Prohm which was the setting for Tomb raider. The trees had sort of grown into the temple and were really cool! By that point there were lots of tourists around and we kept being caught up in the Japanese tour groups!! By about 2pm it was so hot and we'd been there about 10 hours so called it a day! Absolutely fantastic day and I would recommend it to anyone.
The next day I hung out in Siem Reap. Our hostel had a pool (amazing but freezing!) so chilled there for a bit and then wandered around the market and went and got some dinner and drinks with Ilena (the Canadian) and one of her friends.
The following day I flew up to Chiang Mai for a few days. Staying at a really fun hostel here called Deejah Backpackers (would highly recommend it!). It has a tikki bar in the garden and have met so many people while I've stayed here. The 2nd day I was here I went on a one day trek into the mountains which was really fun! Did a one hour trek to a waterfall and then went swimming which was really refreshing after the hot walk!! Then went white water rafting which was really fun. It's a bit tame at this time of year apparently because the river is quite low at the moment but it was scary enough for me! Our guide was hilarious and loved his job so much. He had some excellent phrases including 'how are you tomorrow' and 'where you from? I'm from my mother'.
The next day I went with a group of Canadians to an Elephant training camp which was such a fantastic experience (thanks for the recommendation pace!). We learned the commands the Mahouts use to control the elephants and got to ride them bare back through the jungle (bit uncomfortable but really fun!) Then got to ride them into a waterfall and bathe and wash them. Such a fantastic thing to do (shame they kept pooing in the water though!) and can't wait to see the photos (they put them on a disk for us). There were two baby elephants as well which were soo cute. Last night we went to a few bars which was really fun and then today I'm just going to walk around the city for a bit before flying to Phuket tonight to go to the islands! So excited for some beaches.
Having an amazing time and have met lots of lovely people! Still v. pale and not used to the heat but hoping that some time on the beaches will cure that! Hope all is well at home at missing you all! Must try and update the blog more often!!
Love Ro
x x x x x x x x
Friday, 16 March 2012
Bangkok!!
Never fear, I am alive! Arrived in Bangkok last night after over 24hrs of travelling and not a lot of sleep! After picking a taxi driver who was very sweet but evidently had no idea where my hostel was I eventually made it to the very bargainous HI Sukhumvit with its huge bathrooms, free breakfast and dorms with air con! Air con definitely needed as its about 5000 degrees outside!
Didn't sleep very well even though I was shattered so got up quite late and braved Bangkok city! To ease into the sticky weather I took the skytrain to Siam square and wandered and window shopped in the 3 amazing aircon'd malls that are decorated in the same lavish style I can only compare with a Vegas hotel! Next I braved the food court (as recommended by the lonely planet) which was about the size of a small supermarket and got a delicious lunch for less than £2...lovely!
I then decided I should really be a bit cultured and walked around the area before making my way to Jim Thompson's house. He was an American Architect who fell in love with Thailand after WW1 and built a traditional thai house with a beautiful garden and filled it with thai artefacts. He then got lost in the Cameron Highlands (they never found the body!) so the Thai Government decided to preserve his house for the tourists! It was very pretty and much more tranquil than the traffic logged streets round the corner.
I then went back to the hostel and booked some of my internal flights for the next few weeks. Had some delicious Pad Thai from a little street vendor...so far everything I've had the eat has been delicious, even the plane food!
The one thing I can't get over is how calm and collected the thai people are. They look so pristine even in this heat as they totter around in their heels, whereas I on the other hand have huge hair a red face and am seriously melting!! I'm hoping that in a few days I'll have got used to the heat and will look just as pristine...will let you know!
Hope all is well with everyone! Speak soon!
Love
Ro
x x x x x x
p.s. blogger has decided to put everything in thai even though I've asked google to translate it so if this comes out a bit all over the place that could be why!!
Didn't sleep very well even though I was shattered so got up quite late and braved Bangkok city! To ease into the sticky weather I took the skytrain to Siam square and wandered and window shopped in the 3 amazing aircon'd malls that are decorated in the same lavish style I can only compare with a Vegas hotel! Next I braved the food court (as recommended by the lonely planet) which was about the size of a small supermarket and got a delicious lunch for less than £2...lovely!
I then decided I should really be a bit cultured and walked around the area before making my way to Jim Thompson's house. He was an American Architect who fell in love with Thailand after WW1 and built a traditional thai house with a beautiful garden and filled it with thai artefacts. He then got lost in the Cameron Highlands (they never found the body!) so the Thai Government decided to preserve his house for the tourists! It was very pretty and much more tranquil than the traffic logged streets round the corner.
I then went back to the hostel and booked some of my internal flights for the next few weeks. Had some delicious Pad Thai from a little street vendor...so far everything I've had the eat has been delicious, even the plane food!
The one thing I can't get over is how calm and collected the thai people are. They look so pristine even in this heat as they totter around in their heels, whereas I on the other hand have huge hair a red face and am seriously melting!! I'm hoping that in a few days I'll have got used to the heat and will look just as pristine...will let you know!
Hope all is well with everyone! Speak soon!
Love
Ro
x x x x x x
p.s. blogger has decided to put everything in thai even though I've asked google to translate it so if this comes out a bit all over the place that could be why!!
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Helloooo
Hello there, my name is Ro and from next wednesday I will be embarking on a round the world trip for 3 months! I will be using this blog to post photos and update everyone on my progress, please follow me so you can see what I get up to on my journey across the earth,
Ro xxx
Ro xxx
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