New Zealand

North Island

We arrived in Auckland on the 20th of March and booked into "K Road City Travellers." The following day we went on a free tour of the city which was actually really good! They took us to the sky tower, the marina harbour, the park that looks over the city then after lunch we got to climb the bridge and a Japanese guy that was on our tour did two bungee jumps off the bridge! After the tour had ended we went back to the hostel and made our tea. The next morning we got picked up by the Stray bus so we could start our tour of the north island. Our first stop was Raglan, we were meant to go Hahei but it was flooded from all the rain they had been getting. The weather in Raglan was really sunny so we headed down to the beach which was made up of volcanic sand but the views from the top of the beach were amazing! We stayed at "Kai Ori Lodge" which was in the middle of know where. We only stayed one night then we made our way to Hahei.

Bridge Climb in Auckland

On the way to Hahei we stopped off at the Waitomo Caves where you could see glow worms. We went through the cave where Planet Earth filmed an episode on glow worms which was really cool. When we got to Hahei we went to the supermarket and bought some things for a BBQ so we could cook one when we got to the hostel. The hostel was called "Hahei Holiday Park" and was like a caravan park. After we cooked our BBQ we had a few drinks then went to bed.

Glow worms

The next day we went and stopped off at a few towns on the way Rotorua, which were nice. One of the towns had an event on called "Beach Hop" where people with old style American cars meet up and show off their cars. When we got to Rotorua is was quite late so we just made some dinner then went for a few drinks at the bar next to the hostel. The next morning we had to be up early to go white water rafting. A bus from the rafting company picked us up and drove us to their office which was about 20 minutes away from the town. We had to sign some forms when we got there then after that we had to get into our wetsuits and were fitted for our helmets and shoes. After that we got back onto the bus and headed to Kaituna river. We were the first group to get into the water. The guy said the river was famous for its large eels which scared me, then he told us to jump in the water and hold onto the raft. None of the other groups had to jump in the water they just got straight into the raft, he must have just wanted to wake us up because it was still really early in the morning. I was a little scared going down the first few rapids but after that I was fine. We came to the 7m drop which is the worlds highest commercially rafted rapid, we were all scared because we didn't want to fall out. When we came to the edge of the water fall Morgan screamed like a girl then we were suddenly under the water and after that we popped back up onto the surface, we had all managed to stay in the raft which we were very pleased about! Mine and Tabea's nose's were hurting, I forgot to put my head into the life jacket going down the waterfall so I think the pressure and water had gone up my nose! After we had finished the rafting we went back to the hostel and had to get back on the bus to Taupo.

Rafting

We got to Taupo late afternoon and checked into "Urban Retreat Backpackers" which was a really nice hostel. It rained most of the time we were in Taupo so we just stayed around the hostel then went for a walk round the lake which is New Zealand's largest lake. After Taupo we headed across to the Tongariro National Park and stayed at "The Park" which was a lovely lodge in the middle of no where. We went for a two hour walk around Taranaki Falls then went to Gollum's pools (from Lord of the Rings). We then went on a ski lift up Mount Ruapehu which had lovely views of Mount Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom) and the other volcanoes.

The next day we were up early to do the Tongariro Crossing, which is a 19 km walk and  apparently is voted the world's best one day walk! We had heard from a lot of people that the walk was tough so I was dreading it a little. We got picked up by a bus and the driver of the bus looked very much like Dobby out of Harry Potter which was funny! He dropped us off at the start of the crossing and told us a bit about the walk. He said it would take us about 7-8 hours which is the longest I have ever walked for. The first 3 and a half hours I really enjoyed, there were some really steep steps to walk up which lasted a good hour which I didn't enjoy that much but after we had done that the views from top were amazing. You could see the 3 volcanoes, Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe

Tongarriro Crossing

The next day we left for Wellington which took a few hours on the bus. We stayed at the YHA hostel. We went out for a few drinks in the night to the basement bar which did cheap $4 glasses of wine and beer! The next morning we had to be up at 6am to get the ferry across to the south island. The Ferry ride took about 3 hours which went quite quick compared to the 22 hour one we did in Fiji! 

South Island

We arrived in Picton then travelled though Marlborough where we did a bit of wine tasting. It only cost us $2 which was a bonus! We arrived in Abel Tasman in the evening and stayed at "The Barn" We cooked a lovely meal with Tabea who is the healthiest backpacker in New Zealand! The next day we decided we wanted to do a sky dive so we got picked up around 2pm then got taken to the small air field. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be but when we got the the tiny plane I started to get nervous. The views from the plane were amazing! You could even see Mount Tarinaki from the North Island and all the other mountains surrounding Abel Tasmin. when we got up to 13,000 feet a 14 year old lad jumped out and I got even more nervous seeing him fall out of the plane. We were going to 16,500 feet which is the highest sky dive in New Zealand and it was so high by the time we had reached it I was scared about jumping out. There was only me and Morgan left in the plane so I was the first one to jump out. When you get to the door of the plane you have to tuck your legs under the plane and put your head back and then suddenly we fell out the plane. We free-falled for 60 seconds which went very fast, it was so cold when we first jumped out but after he pulled the parachute it was a lot warmer. We glided down taking in all the scenery which looked like a model village. When we got to the bottom Morgan said it was funny when I fell out of the plane because he could just hear me screaming!

Me hanging out of the plane

Morgan hanging out of the plane

Skydiving

The next day we got up early to leave for Barrytown which in my opinion is the worst place we have stayed at in New Zealand and isn't worth writing about!

The following morning we left to go to Franz Joseph. We stayed at "Rain Forest Retreat" which was a nice lodge in the middle of the small village. Morgan did the glacier hike the next day but I didn't want to do it so I just walked around the town with Kim and Tabea and went in the hot tub at the lodge. In the evening we went to the bar next to the lodge and had a few drinks with the "mums" from the bus as it was one of their birthdays. She was 68 and was the oldest traveller on our bus. The next day we went to Makarora, on the way there we stopped off at some "blue pools" which is basically a cold glacier lake. The scenery from Franz Joseph to Makarora was really stunning. We played a game on the bus where we had to guess how many one-way bridges there was between the Franz Joseph and Makarora. We guessed 27 but there was actually 29, we were so close to winning about $60! when we arrived at our hostel we stayed in these "A" frame units which were actually quite nice. The next morning we left early to go to Queenstown, on our way there we stopped off at Wanaka for a couple of hours. The town was really pretty and had a nice lake surrounding it. We stopped off at a bungee spot and a few people from the bus did a bungee jump. We got to Queenstown at 4pm and checked into "Adventure Queenstown Hostel and Chalet". In the evening we went to "Fergburger" which is famous in Queenstown for its burgers. They were huge and were a meal in itself, but they were really good. After our burgers we played some drinking games in Nomads then went out to the World Bar which was good, we ended up staying there the whole night.

Glacier Hike

Wanaka

Fergburger

The next day we met up with our friend Jess who we met in Oz. We went and sat near the lake because it was a sunny day and then we went to watch a charity music event round the corner which was in aid of the Japanese Earthquake. In the evening we went to the Revolver bar and had a BBQ there which only cost us $3 and it was really good. The following day we decided to walk to the gondola station on top of the hill instead of getting the gondola up there. It was an hours walk uphill which nearly killed me but the sense of achievement I felt when we reached the top made it worth it. The views from the top were amazing, you could see all of Queenstown and beyond. We had a ride on the Luge at the top which is a race track where you sit in a go-kart powered by gravity and you race down the track trying not to fall off the edge, it was really fun! In the evening we met up with the Swedish girls Marie and Elin and drank in the hostel because we couldn't be bothered going out!

Luge

View of Queenstown

The next day we went to the park to play Frisbee golf which is like golf but you play with a Frisbee. In the evening Kim made us some dutch meatball soup which was really good. The next morning I decided I wanted to get my tragus (part of ear) pierced so we went to the piercing shop and got it done. In the evening we went to Buffalo's bar and had a quiet drink. The next few days in Queenstown included going to the park, doing a bit of shopping, watching films, eating another Fergburger and chilling out. We really liked Queenstown, its probably one of my favourite parts of New Zealand.

Frisbee Golf

Cowboys

After spending a week in Queenstown we decided it was time to leave to go to Mount Cook. It took a few hours to get there and when we did we decided to go for a walk for 2 hours as there is not much else to do there! We walked to Kea Point which has a good view of Mount Cook, however it was very cloudy so we couldn't really see it which was a shame!

The next morning we left for Rangitata, we were meant to be staying in Christchurch but the bus doesn't stop there any more due to the earthquake. We stayed in "Rangitata Rafts Hostel" which was in the middle of know where. We first checked into a 10 bed dorm room which had 3-tier bunk beds right up to the ceiling, you couldn't sit up properly on the bed at the top because it was so close to the ceiling! So after seeing that and how small the room was we decided to pay a bit more and go into a double room. It was raining all day so we just sat
round the hostel playing connect 4 and then made our dinner. It was another 7.30am start the next morning to Kaikora. We got there about lunch time then checked into our hostel the "Adelphi Lodge", which probably hasn't been redecorated for 30-od years. Morgan decided to go fishing for the day so me and Tabea walked around the town in the afternoon. When Morgan got back he showed me a crayfish and some other fish he had caught. In the evening we played a bit of free pool then had a drink and then watched Angels and Demons.

Morgan and the Crayfish

Back to the North Island

The next day we left for Picton to get the ferry back up to the North Island. Our ferry was at 2pm, so we had an hour to kill in Picton and it was a nice day so we had our lunch on the small beach near the port. When we boarded the ferry there were some problems with the engine on the ferry so we sat around for 3 hours while they tried to fix the problem which was annoying! The ferry should have taken 3 hours but ended up taking 5 so we didn't get into Wellington until 10pm, we were so tired when we finally arrived! The following day we went to the Te Papa museum as we had been told it was really good. We walked around the museum for about 2 hours seeing all the different exhibitions, it was probably one of the best museums I have been to and it was free to get in which was even better! In the afternoon we walked around Wellington city then in the evening we got a Domino's pizza ummm! The next day we got the bus at 6.45am to go back to Auckland so we could catch our flight to Chile!

Bye Bye New Zealand!

Fiji

Nadi

We flew into Nadi and stayed at Bamboo Hostel for 2 nights. We were undecided which islands to go and visit because there is so many of them! We spoke to a guy called Rico who told us about an island called Qamea, which is on the other side of the island near Taveuni. By what he was telling us it sounded like paradise, clear blue water and white sand. When we asked him how long it would take and he said 24 hours it put me right off going. By this point we didn't know what to do, we spoke to a French girl who told us that she had just come back from Maqai (Qamea island) and said that it is definitely worth the ferry journey because it is the most beautiful island she has ever visited! So that made the decision for us, we were going! We went back to our room and Michael from Australia had just checked in. He was saying that he was a keen surfer and that he didn't know which islands he was going to visit either so we told him that Maqai was meant to be good for surfing and we convinced him to come with us!


The next morning we got up early so I could skype Lindsay and meet baby Faith! She was adorable but it wasn't the same as seeing her in real life! After we had finished our skype session we had to get ready to leave for the epic journey. We met Eric, Masume and Sam who were also travelling to Maqai with us. We then met with Henry who's father owns the resort and he wrote down the instructions on how to get there. First we had to get dropped off at the bus station in Nadi, then from there we had to get a bus to Suva which took 4 hours. Then we had to go to the ferry ticket office and buy a ticket and then we had to wait to board the ferry for about and hour. We were a bit skeptical about the boat because it only cost us £16 for a 20 hour journey!! We boarded the ferry and the first thing that came into my head was if I'm ever going to die on a ferry it would be this one! The ferry was very rusty and the amount of trucks and Lorry's they were fitting on there made me think we weren't going to make it! We headed to the top of the ferry where there was wooden benches outside. To pass some time we played a lot of games of Chase The Ace, a local Fijian kid joined in with us too because he couldn't sleep. When we did finally go to sleep it was so uncomfy but we did manage to sleep for a few hours which passed away a few hours. When we finally got to Taveuni we were so tired and hungry but the journey wasn't over yet. We then met a guy called John who was to drive us to the other side of the island. we made a supermarket stop so that we could buy some snacks and alcohol as there is no shop on the island. It was about a 50 minute drive to the other side of the island, when we finally got there we had to get on a small boat that would take us to Qamea. When we finally got to Qamea the boat couldn't pull up outside the resort because the tide was too low so they had to pull the boat up round the corner from the resort! This meant that we had to do a jungle trek to get to the side of the island we needed to be on and after that we then had to walk through the shallow part of the sea to reach the resort. We were so exhausted when we finally got there, so after we checked in I went and got a shower straight away after not washing for a day and a half! We had some dinner then got an early night, I couldn't wait to sleep in a proper bed!


The next day we got up and got some breakfast which consisted of home made donuts, papaya and a banana, best breakfast in a while! For the rest of the day we just chilled out and sunbathed because we were still tired from the journey the day before.

Maqai Beach

Traditional Fijian Meal Cooked Under Ground

Rope Swing

Our Fijian Family

Nanuku


The following day 9 of us from the resort decided to take an over night trip to Nanuku, which was meant to be even nicer then the island we were staying on and it was! The Chief's son from the island took us along with Doh, Benny and the resorts chef, Anna. They took us there in 2 small boats and the journey took about 2 hours. On the way there we drove past the 7 star resort owned by the guy who owns red bull and we were chased away by there private boat because they don't like boats driving near the resort! When we got to Nanuku we couldn't believe how aqua blue the water was, was like a beach you see on a postcard. It was by far the nicest beach I have ever been too! Anna made us some lunch just after we got there then we went snorkeling. As soon as I jumped off the boat the first thing I saw was a reef shark which scared me a little bit but they aren't dangerous but I still kept close to Morgan the rest of the time. Doh, one of the Fijian guys swam down to the bottom of the sea bed and picked up a huge clam which he then put in the boat for their dinner later on, we couldn't believe the size of it! They took us to another snorkeling spot where we saw more reef sharks and lots of fish, Morgan saw a turtle swimming around but I missed it! After about 3 hours snorkeling we went back to the island. Anna the chef cooked us an amazing Fijian style curry then after that we had some cava with the Fijian guys(traditional Fijian drink a.k.a mud water!). We were just about to go to bed when Masumi got a text off her mum saying that an earthquake had hit Japan and that a tsunami was on its way through the pacific and that we should be careful! So everyone started to worry that it was going to hit Fiji. The guys who worked on the resort phoned the main resort and asked if it was true, they said it was and that it was expected to hit at 4am! Everyone went into panic mode! The Fijian guys reassured us that if it did hit the coral would break the wave up but we weren't convinced, the fact that you could walk around the whole island in 15 minutes made us panic even more. So we stayed up pretty much all night because we were too scared to sleep! When 4am did arrive there was a big thunderstorm but no tsunami just a higher tide! We were so relieved! After that we managed to sleep for about 3 hours. The next day we couldn't leave the island till 3pm because the tsunami warning lasts 12 hours. We were so relieved to get back to Maqai beach, the others who had stayed there said they slept in the jungle because that was the highest point of the island if the tsunami had hit they would have been safe!


The next few days we just sunbathed on the beach. On our last day we went scuba diving around the back of the island we were staying at. The coral round there was amazing, there was walls of soft and hard coral and lots of small fish! In the evening a few guys from the local villages came with their guitars and ukulele's and played local music for a few hours which was really good! It was a nice way to remember our last night at the island!

Nanuku

The next day we had to do the day and a half journey back to the main land on the horrible ferry! The journey felt so much longer on the way back and I couldn't wait to get back onto the main land.

AUSTRALIA

Melbourne


Due to the cyclone hitting Cairns we changed our flight so that we flew into Melbourne instead, which probably in the end worked out better for us. Baz said that we could stay at his place in the city which was very kind of him. When we arrived in Melbourne we took the skybus to the centre then met Baz at the Imperial pub near his place. We dropped our bags of at Baz's apartment then went for a walk around Melbourne city. It was still Chinese New Year so the street's around Chinatown were packed full of people. In the evening we went to the park near the grand prix track pit lane and had a walk around while Baz was at footy. When we got back Aya made us some dinner which was very nice!


The next day Baz took us around Melbourne. We got on the free tram and stopped off at the waterfront and then walked along the river. We had a drink at this bar that was in the middle of the river which was cool and took advantage of the beautiful weather. When we got back to the flat we played tennis with Aya while baz cooked up a BBQ, which was our first BBQ in Oz and it was very good! After dinner we booked the Great Ocean Road trip for the following day.
The following day we went around the city again to see a few things we hadn't got round to seeing the day before. We went down a street that is full to the brim with graffiti which was cool and apparently Banksy had graffiti-ed there. In the evening Baz and Aya cooked us another lovely meal and then they took us to a few roof top bars which were really cool and the views were amazing from the top of them.

Melbourne

Great Ocean Road


After an early get up we were on our way out of Melbourne. We stopped off at various points of interest along the Great Ocean Road throughout the day taking in the sights it had to offer. We stopped at Bells Beach for our first stop where we had some tea, coffee and biscuits whilst taking in the view.  In between this and the next stop we visited the Great Ocean Road sign and also passed the lighthouse they used to film Round The Twist at. All the way down the road the guide was giving us a commentary of the places we were visiting and was full of useful snippets of information like this. For our 2nd stop we got out at Kennett River where we got the chance to spot koalas in the wild. There were also some colourful birds around an about which seemed to love the Chinese tourists. After stopping for a huge lunch in Appollo Bay we were back on our way and heading towards one of the main highlights of the GOR, The Twelve Apostles. The place was absolutely heaving with Chinese tourists taking up all the  best viewpoints and getting the most ridiculous photos in the world. We eventually managed to get some good shots and were soon our way to Loch Ard Gorge our next port of call. Here was the highlight of the day when some guy went for a walk to the edge of the beach,underestimated how far the wash would come on to the beach and got completely soaked. Even funnier was how he repeatedly tried to jump to avoid the wave thinking he might be able to somehow hover above it. No chance. Next was our last stop for the day, London Bridge. Original name. After a brief visit here it was time to head back to Melbourne. It had been a long day and we were absolutely shattered and we had to be up early for our flight to Sydney the next morning. All-in-all it was a good day and well worth seeing.

Great Ocean Road

Sydney


We stayed at "Base backpackers" which was in the centre of Sydney. It wasn't the best hostel we have stayed in but the location was good. We had to wait till 2pm to check in so we waited around then went to Woolworth's supermarket. We didn't really do that much the first day, just took a wonder around the city.


The following day we went to Coogee beach for free drinks and a BBQ that was organised by the hostel. A party bus which looked like a school bus pulled up outside the hostel and it was a fight to get on because there was so many people and not enough seats but everyone got on in the end but I'm sure it wasn't legal because there was so many people on the bus. When we got to Coogee beach we had a few glasses of goon then went into the sea. The water was so cold at first and the waves and the current were really strong so we just stayed nearer the shore. The people who worked for the hostel cooked up the BBQ which was nice. The bus picked us back up at 4pm, we had a really nice day that didn't cost us anything!


The next day we went to Peterpans and booked our Fraser Island and Whitsundays trip with them. We also booked the Oz Experience bus from Sydney to Cairns which is very  similar to the Greyhound bus but you get a tour guide and a more personal experience. We spent most of the afternoon in there because they arranged everything for us for the next 3 weeks. In the evening we walked down to the harbour and took some night photographs of the bridge and the opera house. The harbour is very pretty and has some lovely bars and restaurants, but we couldn't afford to go in them!


On our last day we met up with Eve who I met in America. It was nice to see her after 3 years and have a catch up. She took us to Bondi and we went for a drink at Bondi Juntion. After that we went back to our hostel and went for a few drinks to the Scary Canary bar which was next to our hostel.

Sydney Harbour

Byron Bay


After a 12 hour bus journey we arrived in Byron Bay. We stayed at "Nomads" which was a really nice hostel right near the beach. We didn't really do that much on the first day because we didn't get there till about 6pm and we were tired from the journey. The next day we got up and went to the beach, we weren't there that long then it started raining so we went back to the hostel. When it had stopped Morgan went back to the beach for a swim and I had a nap. In the evening we went to a backpackers bar called "Cheeky Monkeys" we got a huge meal and a glass of wine for $5 which is very cheap for here! We got fish and chips and it was delicious, not a scratch of English fish and chips though! We sat on the Oz experience table and got lots of free jugs of beer and wine. They had different games on where you could win prizes and for the first game
I was chosen by the man to participate. All I had to do was to spin the wheel which had numerous prizes on it. I wanted the cash prize but ended up winning a t-shirt, pillow case and towel which was pretty random! One girl won a trip to the Whitsundays but basically took her clothes off for it!

Byron Bay

Brisbane


The next day we set off from Byron Bay to Brisbane. The journey didn't take too long and we were in Brisbane by lunch time. We stayed in a place called "Bunk" which was near Chinatown. There was two funny lads from Yorkshire who later told us how they smashed a window at there last hostel to get there beer from the fridge and are currently waiting to go to court because of it. In the evening we went to the bar in the hostel for our dinner and some drinks. It was open mic night and there was a few dodgy singers who got up
and thought they could sing but they couldn't!


The following day we went and had a look around the city. It is a very quiet city and is mainly full of business people and is less of a touristy place. It was a nice place to visit but there is not much to do if you plan to stay for more then a couple of days. We saw some signs of what level the floods got to in the previous years. We didn't really see much damage from the floods but we heard that a lot of the shops on the other side of the river were still closed because of the recent flooding.

Brisbane

Noosa


We took the bus up to Noosa which is a little beach town and one of the main gateways to Australia Zoo. We stayed at "Nomads" but it wasn't as nice as the one in Byron Bay. We took a walk to the beach and spent a couple of hours there.The next day we had to be up early as we were going to Australia Zoo which is run by Steve Irwin's family. The zoo was really good and allowed you to be hands-on with a lot of the animals. I wasn't feeling the llama petting though. There was so much to see including Steve's first croc which he caught at the age of 9. Personal highlights included the Koalas, the Kangaroo enclosure where Morgs got a nip from a hungry Roo which looked as if it was blind, the Tiger Temple and the show in the Crocoseum. The Giant Tortoises were pretty interesting as well.  It was a bit disturbing how much Bindi-Sue stuff there was though. We were there for the whole day which was a bit of an effort as it was about 35 degrees so we were pretty much done in by early afternoon but it was still a good day although we didn't get to get a picture holding a koala as we couldn't find the photo spot, we did get to stroke one though!

Australia Zoo

Rainbow Beach


After about 3 hours on the bus we arrived in Rainbow beach. We stayed at "Dingo's" hostel where we were doing our Fraser Island trip from. The next day we had to attend a briefing about the trip because we were hiring out 4x4's and we were going to an island that was just made up of sand! We were put in our groups for the trip, our group consisted of an annoying German girl called Anna, a dutch guy called Diamond, a Swiss guy called Pascal and 3 girls from England, Jess, Steph and Zara. The tour guide showed us a funny health and safety video which showed you what to do if you came in contact with a Dingo.


Fraser Island


The next day we had to be up and ready for 7am, the hostel put on free pancakes for breakfast which was a nice change from toast! After we checked out we were given another briefing about the 4x4s we were going to drive, basically showing us how to drive in 4 wheel drive. After that we had to pack our cars and check that we had everything on the list including tents, cooking equipment, food etc. After all that we left the hostel about 9.30am. Morgan was the first one to drive because nobody else wanted to. The weather wasn't the best and when we got to the barge to get across to Fraser Island it was going everywhere because the sea was very choppy! I was scared about driving the jeep onto it but Morgan managed to do it well. When we got to Fraser Island we drove for about an hour to our camp. When we got there we had to set up our tents, which was pretty straight forward. We then made some lunch then headed to Lake Wabby. The lake was really nice, the fish kept sucking on peoples feet for the dead skin which I didn't mind but some people were scared of the fish! After that we headed back to the camp and got on the goon pretty much straight away. We cooked steaks for tea then kept drinking. I can't remember much after we had our dinner and was in bed by 9pm because I was very drunk. We ended up sleeping in the jeep because it was so uncomfortable in the tents.


The next day, feeling slightly fragile we went to Eli Creek which is a fresh water creek right next to the sea. We took the opportunity to have a quick wash as there are no showers on our camp. After that we drove to the next lake which was the most scariest car ride I have ever been on. Diamond was driving and nearly crashed into a tree! I felt really anxious when I got out of the car! We arrived at Lake Allom which is black as a result of the tannin from the trees. It has natural oils in it so it moisturises your skin. There are also turtles in the lake which come up to the surface when you put your hand in the water. After that we headed back to the camp and cooked a chicken stir fry and ate lots of fruit cake!


On our last day we went to the Maheno shipwreck and took some pictures then we went to Lake Mckenzie, which looked like a beach but the lake was made of fresh water. It started to rain not long after we got there so we made some lunch in the car from the scraps we had left. After lunch we headed to Indian head which is basically a big cliff you climb up to get a nice view of the beach. The winds were so strong when we got up there I thought I was going to blow off, so we only spent about 5 minutes up there then made our way down followed by me slipping over! After that it was time to go back to Rainbow Beach, it took about an hours ride to get to the ferry crossing. When we got off the ferry all the 4x4's stopped because dolphins were swimming up to the shore, it was amazing so close you could touch them! That was a brilliant end to the trip!!

Fraser Island

1770, Airlie Beach and The Whitsundays


We had a brief stop over in 1770 for one night at "Southern Cross" hostel then headed to Airlie Beach early in the next day. We arrived in Airlie Beach about 5.30pm and checked into "Nomads" hostel which was nice. The following day we were due to board our racing yacht at 2pm. The yacht was called "Boomerang" and apparently won some of the racing competition in the late 80's which was pretty cool. That afternoon we sailed to the Hamen Islands and did some snorkeling there. We had to wear stinger suits because there is lots of deadly jelly fish in the water. The part where we snorkeled was the beginning of the Great Barrier Reef so we saw lots a nice coral and loads of tropical fish. One of the crew members threw bread by where we were snorkeling and loads of bat fish came to the surface, you could tell Morgan was scared so I took a video of him!


When we finished snorkeling we got back on the yacht and the crew had mad up some nachos which were amazing. In the evening we had a BBQ on top of the deck and then we had a few glasses of goon.


The next day we sailed to Whitehaven beach which is apparently the 4th best beach in the world. The sand is made from 98% pure silica so it is like flour and it never gets hot from the sun. The beach is amazing. We did a jungle walk up to the view point which was good but saw far many too many spiders for my liking! We also went for a swim in the sea and saw a massive sting ray which was good, we couldn't believe how big it was! We spent most of the day there then we headed back to the yacht in the evening. The next morning we were able to do some snorkeling before we headed back to the main land.

The Whitsundays

Whiteheaven Beach

The Racing Yacht

Cairns


The evening before we were due to get the bus up to Cairns there was flooding again and some of the buses had been cancelled that day because the roads were shut. So we were a little bit worried our bus wasn't going to leave in the morning. Luckily the roads cleared so the bus left the next morning. On the journey up to Cairns we saw the damage the cyclone had caused to some of the small towns, forests had been completely ruined and lots of houses had no roofs. When we finally got up to Cairns we checked into "Gilligan's Hostel". We went out for our dinner to "The Woolshed" because the meals only $6.50, we got burritos, i couldn't finish it because there was so much on the plate!


The next day we had to catch a flight to Brisbane because we were flying to Fiji from there. When we arrived at Brisbane Airport Mark Ronson walked passed us with his posse so we followed him for a bit because I wanted to get a photo but I felt stupid asking him for a photo so I just left it!


Next stop Fiji!!!

MALAYSIA & SINGAPORE

Penang

After a long bus ride from Thailand we arrived in Georgetown about 8pm. We were starving from the long journey and there was a KFC just opposite where the bus dropped us off, so we decided to get one after nearly 3 months of no fast food. Cheesy wedges and a chicken burger, it was good just what we needed! After we had something to eat we went to get a taxi to our hostel. There was a man with a passenger bike standing next to the taxi rank, he said to us "where do you want to go?" we ignored him at first but when no taxi's were coming we had to go with him. He wanted a high price for a short journey, we said what we wanted to pay and then finally he agreed. By looking at his bike there was no way 2 of us and 2 rucksacks could fit on it, but he managed to get it all on and cycle. It must have been heavy but he managed to cycle all the way to our hostel. We checked into our hostel and went straight to bed.


The next day we got up and looked for another hostel for the next night as ours seemed to be expensive. We managed to find a room at "Banana Guesthouse" which was on Love Lane where all the backpackers stay. The room only cost 5 pounds but it was horrible. We didn't check the bathrooms and the toilet was a squat one with a shower above it, it was disgusting. Luckily we only stayed one night. In the day we went to The Botanical Gardens, lots of monkeys there but I found it boring because it was just trees and plants! In the night time we got a bus to Batu Feringgi which had a night market on. It was a really good market but I resisted buying anything.

Penang

Langkawi


We took a catamaran from Penang to Langkawi which took about 2 hours. When we arrived in Langkawi we shared a taxi with a Dutch guy who had been travelling up South East Asia. None of us had booked accommodation so we had the laborious task of finding one in the humid heat. We asked around a few hostels but a lot of them were booked up because it is a popular holiday destination for the Malaysians and it was the holiday season. We managed to find a room at "Daddy's Guesthouse". The room was very old fashioned and the bathroom was basically a small cupboard so we decided to stay one night and then look for somewhere else later in the afternoon. However, after asking down the whole strip of guesthouses all of them were full or were really expensive so we decided to stay at Daddy's. We took a look around the duty free shopping complex as it is a duty free island and then went to the beach for sunset. We ate at a Indian restaurant called "Tomato", we had amazing tandoori chicken and butter chicken masala.


The next day we got up and got ready to go and get some breakfast. As we were leaving Morgan picked a cushion that was on the floor and was greeted by a Scorpion and shouted "oh my god!". So I went to see what all the fuss was about and couldn't believe my eyes. It was quite big and had massive pincers and a sting! I told Morgan to get a stick to try and get it out because there was no way I was touching it! After about 25 minutes Morgan finally got the angry little bugger out, it went into the grid outside our room which didn't put me at ease about sleeping that night! We spent the rest of the day at the beach. When we got back we told the owner about the Scorpion and said to him that it had gone into the grid, so he lifted it up and it was still there so he got a peg and a box and picked it up with the peg then he told his wife to get some scissors. We wondered what he was going to do with them and then he held it up with the peg and cut its sting off from its tail. Probably not humane but at least the poison was gone! After that we booked our ticket to the Cameron Highlands for the next day because I had had enough of Langkawi and just wanted to leave where there would be no scorpions in my room!

Scorpion

Langkawi

Cameron Highlands


It took 1 ferry and 3 buses to get to the Cameron Highlands so when we got there in the evening we were knackered! We hadn't booked anywhere so we decided to check out "Father's Guesthouse" which had been recommended. The didn't have any more beds in the dorm room so they asked us if we would like to stay in there apartment. At first we didn't really want to, but the owner drove us to them after a bit of waiting round. When we got there they didn't look all that from the outside, the buildings reminded me a ski chalets you have in ski resorts. When we got into the apartment we couldn't believe our eyes. Everything was brand new, it had a flat screen TV, cable, a suede "L" shape couch and it had about 6 bedrooms coming off the living room. We immediately said we would  take the room. It was by far the best room we had stayed in!


After a good nights sleep we went to get some breakfast and then walked back to the The next day we decided to visit a tea plantation as the place is famous for its tea and strawberry farms. We decided to get a taxi near to where it was then walk the rest of the way. What we thought was going to be a short walk turned into nearly 2 hours walk mostly up hill! By the time we got to the the cafe at the top of the plantation we were so tired, but the passion fruit tea and scone was worth it! The view was pretty amazing too.

Banana Leaf Dinner

Cameron Highlands

Kuala Lumpar


We got a coach to KL, there was no one else on the coach so me and Morgan had it all to ourselves which was a bit weird! The cockneys recommended "Suzies Guesthouse" as they had stayed there before and it was only about a week old so everything was brand new! The first night we stayed there me and Morgan ended up top and tailing on the top bunk bed. The people in our dorm were a Japanese quartet with a difference...a beat boxer was also part of the group. We later found out that he was the Japanese beat box champion which was cool.
The next day we moved into a smaller room which had a bed for both of us woooo! We had a look round China town then visited a few shopping malls because I wanted a new camera.
The following day we got up early so we could visit and go up the Patronas Towers as they only give a certain amount of tickets out per day. We went with Danny and Sara as they had also come to KL for a few days. The view from the walk bridge was amazing, from the outside it doesn't look high but when you are up there your taller then most of the buildings.

In the middle of the Patronas Towers

Singapore


We stayed in Little India in Singapore at a hostel called "Footprints". The hostel was nice and we got free breakfast but there was a really bad snorer in our room so I didn't have the best nights sleep there! We walked around most of the city for the 2 days we were there. We liked it as it was a very clean place and very efficient (Yan from Germany would like!).

Next stop Australia...