tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70459022011-04-22T02:03:45.272ZA log of holidays and the development of psoriases...JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.comBlogger1171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-45173704974328543492007-06-28T13:28:00.000Z2007-06-28T13:39:30.726Z

I have just returned from my first visit to the Le Mans 24hr race with a good mate of mine, plus a few of his. I must confess I am not a petrolhead in any shape or form, but the opportunity to spend a week camping with a group of blokes getting merry on beer sounded like too good an opportunity when I agreed to go last June. At the time, the sun was shining as Europe baked itself through one of

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1158664196578679572006-09-19T10:37:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:02.512Z

Well, our 6 months of travels are officially over. Soon it will be back to job-hunting, finding a new place to live and a return to the normality of a five day working week. However, in the past 6 months Heather and I have been lucky enough to:see waterfalls cascading off Ayers Rock, dived with turtles on the Great Barrier Reef, mingled with other backpackers in Bangkok, relax on the beaches

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1158661936018263802006-09-19T10:28:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:02.439Z

During our stay in Fjærland, I got it into my head that we needed to visit the Arctic Circle. After a fair amount of research, we figured out a route that would get us there (taking about a day and a half) by a combination of bus and train. We looked in to the idea of flying, but unfortunately the cost was too prohibitive – a great pity because the last part of the flight would have been in a

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1158661614461972342006-09-19T10:17:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:02.358Z

After Oslo, we boarded yet another train and headed north. The first stop was the town of Flåm, on the coast of Songefjord fjord (sort of an appropriate name really). On arrival there, we spent a few hours lazing in the sun admiring the beautiful scenery that one expects amongst the fjords. Eventually, our ferry turned up and we crossed the fjord to Ballestrand, a small village where my father

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1157038386970280162006-08-31T15:28:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:01.400Z

After our couple of weeks in Sweden, we caught a day-train from Jönkoping to Oslo, arriving at around 7 in the evening (another day of travelling!). We checked in to our hostel, and wandered off to eat a traditional Norwegian meal of pizza.The following day, Heather’s mum was off on her own tour of the Norwegian fjords, however Heather and I decided to spend a bit longer in Oslo to check it out.

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1157037968891860432006-08-31T15:17:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:01.336Z

Our final week in Sweden was spent at a campsite in the town of Jönkoping. Although a reasonable-sized town, it does not normally attract much in the way of overseas tourism and as such doesn't even rate a mention in the Lonely Planet Scandinavia guide. As such, I will try to write this in the style of a Lonely Planet entry.About JönkopingJönkoping is a small town located almost equidistant from

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1153492733225886622006-07-21T14:26:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:01.267Z

After arriving by train Örebro, we checked in to our new hostel. It appeared that it was miles from the centre of town on the map, so we ordered a taxi but it only took about 5 minutes. Hmmm, next time we will look at the scale.For our first full day in Örebro, we decided to do a walking tour of the town. The Lonely Planet has about a 3 line entry for the town, so it was left to us to figure

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1153491938879264742006-07-21T14:12:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:01.196Z

After our short time in Turku, we said goodbye to our friend Dan and boarded the ferry back to Stockholm. Unlike the outgoing leg, this boat was not quite so comfy (air conditioning on overdrive didn't help) and even worse than that, it was full of Moomins! Apparently, they are still big in Finland, to the extent there is even a Moominworld. After 11 long and painful hours, we arrived in

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1152886165314904142006-07-14T13:19:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:01.121Z

After Helsinki, we caught the train back to Turku and checked ourselves into a hostel (that's enough camping for now). Turku is the former capital of Finland, and is seeking to be the European City of Culture in 2011. All this was wasted on 2 Australians and an Englishman though, as we had a much better plan.One of the highlights of Turku is that along its river there are a number of boats

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1152883094039174962006-07-14T12:29:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:01.043Z

After attending Jon & Sini's wedding (thanks guys!), we returned the car to Turku (sniff, sniff - I was liking it) and caught a train to Helsinki.We spent a short time with Sarah, Dan & Tommy - wishing bon voyage to Sarah and Tom as they were returning to Australia. The rest of the time in Helsinki was spent doing the rapid itinerary sight-seeing that we have perfected over the last few months

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1152880157414762512006-07-14T12:03:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.954Z

On arrival in the port of Turku, we picked up our hire car from the rental agency. I had booked a VW Polo or similar as it was the cheapest option, but they gave us a free upgrade to an Audi A3. Nice one! Then it was off for a 300km drive to a tiny town called Siipy in the north of Finland, where our friends were getting married.We eventually arrived at midnight (we had set off at 9pm),

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1152122705410878592006-07-05T17:58:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.890Z

Well, we have just finished a week in Denmark, where most of it was spent at the Roskilde Rock Festival.The fesitval had about 160 bands playing (not all at once) including some famous old ones (Guns & Roses), famous current ones (Franz Ferdinand, the Streets) and some not quite so well known outside Scandanavia (Kashmir). One of the highlights for me were the Bellowheads, which are a group

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1152121461051827282006-07-05T17:29:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.811Z

Just a quick posting to vent: we have just suffered the misery that is Charles De Gaulle Airport. I have been through some dodgy airports (the one in Lanzarote springs to mind) but seriously this CDG is the worst by miles, or more accurately lightyears.On arrival at the airport station, you are presented with 3 choices of terminal to go to but no information as to which airlines fly from each

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1152120295965490992006-07-05T17:08:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.739Z

After our all too brief stay in Germany, we caught an express through to Paris. Although this was not originally in our plans, a good friend of ours had a business trip there and it seemed like a good chance to get to catch up and watch a couple of world cup matches.At this point, let me be frank: France is the capital of love and a cultural & fashion centre etc, however Heather and I had both

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1150901929091687032006-06-21T14:25:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.672Z

We boarded our overnight train in Prague; fortunately we had a sleeper to ourselves so were able to relax a little. By 10pm however, we were both pretty tired having watched the Australia vs Brazil game earlier that evening. We turned the light off and looked forward to a good night´s sleep.At around 2am, we were woken by the noise of our door being repeatedly bashed in and a harsh voice telling

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1150899877309729282006-06-19T14:02:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.613Z

After Slovakia, we got back aboard another train and headed to the UNESCO-listed city of Prague.On arrival, our first task after checking in was to find a suitable tavern to watch the next couple of days of football matches, including two particularly important games: England vs Trinidad and Australia vs Brazil. The one we eventually decided on was an Irish bar that had sattelite feeds from the

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1150205210143373152006-06-13T13:26:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.552Z

After Slovenia, we stopped off in Bratislava in Slovakia for a couple of days. We caught the train from Slovenia to Vienna, and then from Vienna to Bratislava, taking about 6 hours all up and arriving on Sunday afternoon.First impressions were not favourable, we were in this dump of a city with no local currency, no where to change any of the Euros we had and our bank account would not let us

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1150205194976412882006-06-11T13:26:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.488Z

After Italy, we headed (by train) in to Slovenia, where Heather had worked for a year when she left University. We were greeted at Ljubljiana station by Heather's friends Darinka & Natasha, along with Natasha's husband Jernejy (I hope I spelled that correctly!); we would be staying with Natasha & Jernejy for the first few days, before staying with Darinka in her apartment.The following day, we

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1150205168583224682006-06-10T13:24:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.426Z

We had a one day stop over in Milan, in order to see our good friend Audrey. Milan is an interesting city, and pretty expensive to boot. So expensive in fact, pubs in Milan provide free food when you buy a drink, in order to encourage people to drink in town. When I say free food, I do not mean peanuts or similar, I mean salads, chargrilled vegetables, pizza and pasta dishes. May be it's just

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1149935237391556472006-06-10T10:14:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.365Z

After Pisa, we boarded another train (there's going to be a lot of train in this holiday) and headed to the Cinque Terre (or Chinky Terry as I christened it, to Heather's disgust). These consist of 5 villages built along the Tuscan coastline that have been UNESCO listed as they use agricultural methods that were being lost over time; getting the UNESCO status gave them the motivation to keep

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1149933888407276812006-06-10T09:43:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.304Z

We only had the one full day in Pisa, so we naturally spent it looking at the sights of the city. We headed straight to the Piazza Miracali where the famous leaning tower is located, although much like everything else in Italy, it is not the only thing in the piazza and there are generally more impressive (and less well known) buildings, statues, etc. In common with the leaning tower, the 2

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1149931617124850432006-06-10T09:22:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.243Z

Following Florence, it was back aboard another train and off to the small town of Siena. We had intended to stay in Siena, but there was no room in the inn (or hostels). As such, we only spent a day there - leaving our backpacks in a left luggage store (we weren't going to lug them around the town). Siena is generally off the tourist route as it is a small town, with not an awful lot there.

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1149931271530317942006-06-10T08:58:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.178Z

Following our five days or so in Napoli, we got back aboard a train and headed to Firenze, commonly known as Florence. The ride itself was pretty much like the last in that the compartment that we were in was filled to capacity and a few down the corridor, it was empty. Our carriage was pretty cosmopolitan in that the occupants were Alaskan, Argentian, Italian, Australian (Heather) and English

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1149503843608779512006-06-05T10:09:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.115Z

Following our all too brief stay in Rome, we caught a train to the Southern Italian city of Naples (Napoli to the Italians). For the train, ride we were in first class compartments (I had bought the Eurail pass before finishing work) and each compartment had took six occupants. A requirement of inter-city trains is that seats must be reserved, so it came as a bit of a suprise to us for our

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1148318777473246362006-05-22T17:05:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:22:00.052Z

After Nanjing, we caught a train back to Shanghai and then it was straight on to a plane to Singapore, where we had a couple of hours to kill before we got our flight to Rome. We arrived at the hideously early time of 7am after having flown overnight - Heather had managed to sleep, but as we were flying Singapore Airlines there was just too many movies for me to watch so I didn't get that much

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1148317502026317402006-05-22T16:56:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:21:59.984Z

After the cruise along the Yangtze, we overnighted in Shanghai and caught a train the following morning to Nanjing. This place is a bit (actually a lot) off the beaten trail, and the only real reason we were visting it was to visit an English friend of ours (Pete), who was teaching English at a Police College there.Having spent several months in dorms and budget hotels, Pete had booked us in to

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1148316966663196822006-05-22T16:35:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:21:59.912Z

After our few days in Shanghai, we grabbed a flight to the city of Chongqing and boarded our cruise ship that was going to take us down the Yangtzee River through the 3 Gorges and the now infamous damn.The cruise itself was really relaxing, and in typical Chinese efficiency (and over-management) they had allocated us tables in the dining room with like-minded countrymen. Unfortunately when

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1147707738401654732006-05-15T15:41:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:21:59.830Z

After Hong Kong, we flew directly to Shanghai arriving there on 2 May.Unfortunately, when planning our holiday we didn't bother to research public holidays and it turns out that May Day is a public holiday in China that that lasts all week. As such, Shanghai was teeming with local tourists that had travelled in to the big city for what is known as Golden week. The population had swelled (

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1147707648693151552006-05-15T15:34:00.000Z2006-10-24T22:21:59.765Z

Unbeknownst to a large number of people, Hong Kong actually consists of a number of islands of varying sizes, most of which are connected with bridges spanning the harbour. One of these is Lantau island, which contains a 3km beach and is actually the island that the new airport is based on (in reality, the local authorities built an artificial island attached to Lantau). It also contains (I

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1147706837069485012006-05-15T15:12:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:35.368Z

Having spent a day exploring Hong Kong island, we decided a trip to Kowloon was in order.Kowloon is the home of the Hong Kong film industry, and is also the mecca for most backpackers coming to Hong Kong. The reason for this is that is where you can find cut price tailors, knock off DVDs, watches, etc. We took a commuter ferry across the water to get there on a Sunday and the place was heaving,

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1147700188416702742006-05-15T13:27:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:35.302Z

We arrived on Hong Kong island at the new airport in a thick layer of fog; however we never really planned to do any sunbathing in HK so it wasn't a drama.Rather than catch the MRT (the new train line built to service the airport), we caught a bus as it is significantly cheaper and headed towards Causeway Bay where our hostel was located. So far everything was running smooth...On arrival, we

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1147699635212588122006-05-15T13:23:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:35.233Z

Well we have just arrived in Changi Airport after spending a couple of weeks in China. Unfortunately, Chinese government restrictions restrict the use of blogging services (we don't want to give the dissidents a voice now, do we?) so I have been unable to make any recent updates. Hotmail for me was also blocked for about 10 days, as I am on the Hotmail beta and the Chinese government didn't

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1146289454188666922006-04-29T05:32:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:35.168Z

Before arriving there, Vietnam was a bit of an unknown for us. We only knew a couple of people that had been there, so we didn't know what to expect.Having experienced it, Vietnam is probably the nicest place that we have visited so far in South East Asia. The towns offer so much for the tourist, the surrounding landscapes are beautiful - the bus ride from Dalat to Nha Trang was just amazing,

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1146288639427049302006-04-29T05:10:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:35.100Z

Once back in Hanoi, we did some further investigation and found that one of the receptionists had found our video camera and locked it in the safe. When she gave it to us, she said "you owe me thousand dollars" and burst out laughing. Then, whenever we saw her she said "you still owe me thousand dollars". It became a running joke between us for the last couple of days that we were in Hanoi.We

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1146287088851496032006-04-29T05:04:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.971Z

Hello one and alll, Hope this email finds you well, and that you have enjoyed your Easter, and ANZAC Day (for all you Aussie's), and St George's Day for all you poms. It has been nearly five weeks since my last email (almost sounds like a confessional .) In that time we spent two weeks in Phuket before heading for Vietnam, starting in Ho Chi Minh City with a side trip to the Mekong Delta, bus to

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1146287420758287272006-04-29T04:34:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:35.035Z

The day had come for our trip to Halong. We dragged ourselves out of bed at 6am and wandered down stairs with our backpacks. The main backpacks were going to be stored in the hotel and the day sacks had overnight things in them. We also had a fresh disposable camera and the video camera ready for recording the sights of Halong Bay.Halong Bay is another UNESCO World Heritage site, which

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1146285218084377462006-04-29T04:17:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.908Z

On arrival at Hanoi, we grabbed a taxi to the old quarter where we staying. Before arriving at Hanoi, we had spoken to a young couple from Melbourne who told us to avoid the quarter as they had stayed there and hated it. Hmm, not sure how this was going to go...Things didn't start to well, when they confused me with someone else who had the same first name but a different surname. They kept

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1146283734009368422006-04-29T03:58:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.834Z

After spending a couple of days in Hue, we caught a bus that took us to Hoi An, which is UNESCO listed. To describe Hoi An, I would say it is most like Pingyao (read my first blog posting for details about that :), except rather than being Chinese it is obviously Vietnamese (as we are in Vietnam at the moment).We arrived at a slightly more expensive than normal hotel ($12 a night instead of $9)

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1146133643457091402006-04-27T10:15:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.759Z

After a few days in Nha Trang, it was on to the SE2 train for a trip to Hue (which is actually pronounced Way). Although it was a day time trip, our start time was 4am so we made sure to book a sleeper so that we could do some catching up on our sleep. Fortunately, we had a 4 berth cabin to ourselves, so we were able to crash out without disturbing anyone.On arrival in Hue, we were met by the

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1145511264318302652006-04-20T05:12:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.699Z

This morning we had a snorkelling trip in the bay surrounding Nah Trang, with Rainbow Dives. As it was our third one, we were pretty used to it. It was very enjoyable, but to be honest nothing outstandingly different, except that one cove we were in there were a school of fish feeding in about 6 inches of water, as they were on top of a coral reef.The real highligt of the day was the afternoon

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1145095040558279932006-04-15T09:46:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.638Z

Today we arrived in Nah Trang after a 6 hour bus ride from Da Lat. We set off at 8am and hunkered down for the excrutiating pain of the bumpy Vietnamese roads. It was however worth every jolt, as we passed down a narrow winding road, right through some of the Central Highlands. If anyone has seen any Vietnam War movies (in particular Hamburger Hill) where the helicoptors are shown flying over a

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1145094359185533892006-04-15T09:19:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.578Z

Over the last couple of days, we have been travelling to a remote town called Da Lat, which is in South-Central Highlands of Vietnam. We had not originally planned to come here, however we had a met a backpacker who had done it and recommended it, as it is on the way to Nah Trang.The cheapest option for getting there is by local bus, so we paid the $5US each and booked a place on the 2pm bus.

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1145090428774430832006-04-15T08:37:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.514Z

Just finished 2 days cruising the Mekong Delta on a number of small boats. It was a great to laze back in the sun and watch the world float by. As part of the tour, we stopped off at a small village where they made (and served) honey tea and honey wine. Naturally, we partook of this and was pretty nice, all in all. They also made "Snake Wine" which is something (can't think of a more appropriate

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1144671661654977692006-04-10T11:54:00.001Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.453Z

I surrender my will as of this date.Well, we have just done a bit of a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels and the War Remants Museum and it was a bit of an eye opener. Obviously, as the old saying goes "to the victor goes the spoils" and therefore with it the opportunity to influence how history is taught. Western culture pretty much glosses over the effects of the Vietnam war to the Vietnamese and

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1144670068956332332006-04-10T11:28:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.320Z

Our first day in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) was spent dragging ourselves around town.The first activity was to book all the tours that we were going to do for our time in HCM, as we wanted to ensure that we would be able to get on them. The tours that we are doing are:1/2 day in the Cu Chi tunnels tomorrow - these were primarily used by the Viet Cong to hide from American (and South

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1144409901524733192006-04-07T11:30:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.251Z

It's our last night in Phuket (and the last night of our 4 star resort *sniff*) and Thailand, as tomorrow we'll be jetting off to Ho Chi Minh city (formerly known as Saigon). We have 3 weeks all up in Vietnam, and although we have accomodation booked in HCM and Hanoi for a week each, we are going to be travelling flexibly - jumping on and off trains as the moods take us, etc. The Lonely Planet

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1144409411349867832006-04-07T11:01:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.184Z

Today we had our Thai cooking classes. The course was held in Patong with a kick-off time of 3pm. As such, we were told to be at our hotel lobby for 2:30 for pickup. Ever the cautious pair, we arrived at 2:20 and waited in the lobby. And waited. And waited.After waiting 40 minutes, we decided that the course had started and we should go to the tour agent that booked our tickets and get a refund.

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1144407699597069622006-04-07T10:39:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.114Z

Ok, wrong movie quote but it still had Leonardo De Caprio in it...Today we went to Phi Phi island (pronounced pee pee) which was used for filming the movie "thee Beach". Phi Phi actually has two islands Phi Phi Don, which is the main island with all the tourist facilities (and was absolutely hammered by the Boxing Day tsunami) and Phi Phi Low, which is an unhabited, and was where the Beach was

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1144399700018917212006-04-07T08:31:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:34.054Z

The resort that we have been staying in is located on Karon Beach in Phuket. This is a quieter area than the most popular destination on Phuket (for backpackers) which is Patong Beach. We decided however, that we were going to need to see some of the island otherwise we would spent the entire time lazing by the pool - nice and relaxing but necessarily a good use of our time.The hotel where we are

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143789137414226602006-03-31T07:00:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.987Z

We have been travelling none-stop pretty much since 2 February, with only a couple of days respite here and there. When planning this trip, we figured that after 2 months of backpacker accommodation, we would need something to make us feel a bit chilled so I had booked us in to the Thavorn Beach Resort, in Karon Beach, Phuket for 14 nights. As such, since arriving here nearly a week ago, our

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143788428983030912006-03-31T06:47:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.922Z

Just wrapped up our last 2 nights in Bangkok. The first of these was spent visiting Patpong, which is the seedy end of town where there are numerous clubs designed to take the money of single Western males - as we went together, I wasn't hassled that much. The bars in Patpong vary from standard pubs, to pubs where bikini-clad women wander around and dance on stage, to the more "exotic" where

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143114698405674112006-03-23T11:25:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.857Z

Today was our first full day in Bangkok, so Heather had us going to all the temples in the city - as tourists tend to do. The question was how we were going to get there, there are many transportation options available in Bangkok (taxi, buses, tuk tuk, etc) however Bangkok used to be known as the Venice of the Orient because it has a network of canals running through it. Running through these

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143113015050255922006-03-23T11:22:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.793Z

The trip from Singapore to Bangkok was our major activity for the day, and it proceeded nice and smoothly until we arrived at immigration and I handed over my passport. My photo has me at the height of a grade 2 crew cut and wearing contact lenses; I currently have 3 months of growth (Afroboy I have been referred to more than once) and was wearing glasses at the time. The girl behind the counter

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143112945299388222006-03-23T11:20:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.726Z

Today (20th March) was spent at the Singapore bird park. This consisted of around 3,500 birds covering about 900 species. Although a lot of these were in open spaces (e.g. flamingoes, which when I saw them, I got the inexplicable urge to play croquet) there were also a number of aviaries.One, which recreated a rainforest, has the largest man-made waterfall in the world - there's a challenge for

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143112809564765722006-03-23T11:16:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.644Z

Our first day in Singapore didn't start until after midday, as we spent the morning catching up on a lot of lost sleep.We started off by exploring Chinatown itself. It is best described as a cacophony of smells, noises and people. There are stalls selling clothes, food and bric-a-brac (i.e. junk) and just about everything imaginale except dodgy DVDs as the Singapore government has cracked down on

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143112606433446282006-03-23T11:15:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.580Z

Another summary posting as we have spent the last week catching up with friends and family.The first four days were spent staying with our mate Jay in Brisbane. In a fit of enthusiasm, Heather had put together an itinerary of things to do for our stay there. All of that though was thrown out of the window in preference for something a lot more favourable: watching movies, chatting and drinking :)

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143112492606360272006-03-23T11:13:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.515Z

Not made any updates since arriving in Port Douglas, so thought I would do a quick wrap up:We arrived at the Port O'Call lodge, which would be our home for the next 4 nights and realised we had made a good choice. Friendly staff and good facilities (although no Internet) can do a lot to make a stay more pleasant.Our first major activity was to visit a crocodile farm. This was pretty interesting,

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143112384799190792006-03-23T11:12:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.457Z

Today was a quiet one as it was raining, and when I say raining it was absolutely chucking it down. I reckon you would be drier standing under a bathroom shower.With little to do, we found ourselves a pub that was playing the A League Grand Final (Australia's football tournament) and propped the bar up. For some reason, we didn't get to bed until 2am, after several drinks and a drunken SMS or 3...

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1143112273273060922006-03-23T10:55:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.395Z

It's been nearly a month since I have made any blog updates. The reason for this is that it has proven impossible to find anywhere to upload my entries from my pocket pc, and the language barrier is not exactly helpful either...By way of apology, please find some pictures from Australia for your enjoyment... Port Arthur church, TasmaniaThis was taken at the penal colony of Port Arthur and was

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1142232310656521442006-03-13T06:29:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.332Z

Today started with the alarm going off at 6am (so in need of a lie in after a 4am start yesterday). After we were ready, we stumbled to the car for the 5 minute drive to the docks where the highspeed catamaran would to take us to the 70km to the Great Barrier Reef (outer suburbs). During this journey, we changed in to our swimwear and liberally applied sun-repellant, as it was forecast to be a

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141359905648855322006-03-03T04:21:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.273Z

Just posted for all the days since my last (just over a week I think) so feel free to read them at your leisure. Feedback is always welcome :)Tomorrow we have a day of snorkelling and an introductory dive course, so I expect my underwater camera case to get a good workout and do not expect to be posting much. As before though, I will be creating entries on my Pocket PC and posting manually when

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141359676227900592006-03-03T04:19:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.211Z

After a day of touring Litchfield park, we spent today touring Darwin itself. The day was due to start with a visit to Aquascene. This is a closed off bay where (for $7 each) we get to feed hundreds of large fish that virtually beach themselves in order to get fed. The only problem is that it is dependent on what time the tide comes in, for example the other day it was a very unreasonable 5:45am.

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141359573283386012006-03-03T04:18:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.142Z

We only have 2 full days in Darwin (some would say that is enough), so today was spent on a tour of the Litchfield National park. Whenever anyone thinks of Darwin, they mostly think of the Kakadu National Park, which is larger. However tours to this are normally 2 to 3 days, which we obviously don't have the time for, and require you to supply a sleeping bag, which we didn't bring along. So the

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141359468791578912006-03-03T04:16:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.069Z

This is going to be a 2-day entry as we are spending most of it on the Ghan again, so I don't think much will be happening.Our morning was spent in Alice doing mundane stuff like packing and returning the hire car. After that we lazed around the pool waiting for our 3pm pickup to take us to the station. When we arrived, I ran up to the front of the train to get a photo of it (stupid idea in 40°

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141359357829490632006-03-03T04:14:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:33.001Z

Quiet one today. We had planned to go to the desert park, to see some animals we hadn't seen (e.g. Dingos) but at $19 each, forget it! Instead we went to the reptile park here (a more reasonable $7 each :) and checked that out. Not too bad value, and we got to hold a couple of lizards and a snake (photos were naturally taken). Other than that, I just went online and caught up with some of my

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141359233537836472006-03-03T04:12:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.940Z

After yesterday's driving marathon, we had another one today. Instead of driving on sealed roads however, today was spent driving about 250kms on dirt tracks through the middle of the desert. In preparation, we had filled up the petrol tank, filled up all the water bottles we had, bought a 10 litre container of water and stocked up with non-perishable foods. All these precautions are necessary in

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141359152911847242006-03-03T04:11:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.872Z

The alarm went off at 6am today, that was painful... The reason for the early start was that most of the day was going to be taken up with the drive to Kings Canyon.First stop of the day was at Kathleen Springs (Alice's little sister?) for a walk in the Outback.Instead of a town, it had been a cattle stock yard in the pioneer days; I'm not sure if it is still used at all, it certainly didn't look

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141359009682556692006-03-03T04:09:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.781Z

What a way to wake up: we got to bed at 4am after consuming a rather hefty amount of alcohol only to be woken up at 10am by one of the resort staff belting on the door demanding to know where our Japanese roomates were, as they were supposed to check out. We explained that we didn't know as they had already left.Unable to get back to sleep, we decided to head off to the Olgas, which is the other

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1141358950305801932006-03-03T04:08:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.714Z

Today (22 Feb) started with the alarm clock going off at 6am. My normal behavior is to keep hitting the snooze button, but as we were sharing a place, we thought it was politic to get up.The plan was to get up and watch the sun rise over Uluru. However it was absolutely p*ssing down, so we chucked that plan. Instead we decided to spend the extra time doing mundane stuff like breakfast and after

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1140931440028152432006-02-26T05:09:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.653Z

This morning, we checked out of the YHA and headed for Uluru/Ayers Rock. Over the last couple of weeks, I had been checking weather reports for the red centre, and to be honest I was a little wary of the temperatures I was seeing: up to 45 degrees. However the temperature was a more manageable 29 degrees, according to the car's external temperature gauge. The reason for this is that it was

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1140930587549132952006-02-26T04:53:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.594Z

Today we had a few days to kill before we got on the Ghan, so we decided to check out Casanova at the movies (actually, Heather decided it would be Casanova - I wanted to see Jarhead). I guess the movie was ok if you like romantic comedies, about 4 out of 10.Eventually we boarded the Ghan, and what a revelation as I think I have found the missing link between Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens; I

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1140929625585987522006-02-26T04:49:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.538Z

Actually, I am not too bad really.Today, we went on our wine tasting tour. You know how whenever you go on one of these, there's always one couple that seems to get drunker than anyone else, always keeps the bus waiting while they work through the wine list and plays childish games loudly with each other? Well, that was us :)After the tour, we found out that there was a free concert happening in

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1140621496872246172006-02-22T15:12:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.469Z

Time to wrap up the last few days methinks.In my last post, we had arrived at Halls Gap and I was raving about it. We ended up staying there for 2 days, as it was really charming.What sold it for me was as we were walking down the street on our first day there, a mother and baby kangaroo stopped on the oppposite side of the street, paused a few seconds to make sure that no cars were coming and

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1139901383192779712006-02-14T07:09:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.409Z

Just a quick update today as I have not been doing any daily entries on my Pocket PC and I only have 7 minutes left!The last week was spent flying from Hobart to Melbourne, and overnighting in a hostel there. We did catch up with Kristina, whom is a Sydney friend who moved to Melbourne about a year ago. It was good to see her after such a long time.We then drove over the space of three days

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1139554761169808692006-02-10T06:49:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.342Z

Ok, we have now been travelling for one week (sniff, sniff only 25 left) so it's probably time for first thoughts...Tasmania is a gem of an island, although it is pretty easy to feel isolated if you are a techno-nerd (like yours truly). Internet access is limited, and there for expensive and we spent most of the first week outside a mobile phone zone.Highlights were the Cadbury's chocolate

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1139554061923477122006-02-10T06:46:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.272Z

After a day of waterfalls and a day at the beach, today was a day of wildlife. We started the day leaving our hostel for the drive to Bicheno, which took us a couple Of hours.Once we decked into ow hostel (separate bunk beds :( ), we got back on the road again and headed for Coles Bay and more specifically Wineglass Bay. This is an area of amazing beauty but to get from the car park to the bay is

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1139553960734254242006-02-10T06:45:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.202Z

After yesterday's day of waterfalls. We decided to have a day at the beach. The first beach we Went to was Binalong Bay. This was quite a popular beach with the locals (there were about 15 of them in 1Km of beach). the main attraction was the crystal azure sea breaking over powdery white sands. It Was easy to see why the area is rated so highly.After facing the crowds at Binalong, we decided to

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1139553893361670912006-02-10T06:43:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.133Z

Today, we woke up early with the intention of heading to St Helen's on the North-east corner of Tasmania. Before getting there however, we decided to have a day of visiting waterfalls.The first of these was Lilydale Falls, just outside the town of Lilydale (funnily enough). The tourist guide showed that it was easy enough to get to, so it should come as no surprise that we got hopelessly lost and

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1139553778925240102006-02-10T06:41:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:32.058Z

Today started off with a lie in until about 10:00, which was sorely needed. After facing the communal showers, we wandered into town to sort out breakfast. We still haven't got the idea of this backpacker lark yet and so spent $20 or so on a couple of foccacias and some coffee. Fortunately, the foccacias were too big, so we left them for later.We returned to our car, and set off on the first trip

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1139553671459117942006-02-10T06:40:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.995Z

Our first full day in Tasmania started with a tour of the Cadbury's chocolate factory, just outside Hobart. Naturally, this is not the original (which is in Birmingham) but does supply the Australian chocoholics with their fix.We spent a couple of hours on a tour of the factory and helped ourselves to whatever free samples came our way. At the end of the tour, we were given the opportunity to buy

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1139553501194164052006-02-10T06:37:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.940Z

After a long wait, the day has arrived - we are about to start our 6 months of travels.After bumming around Mike & Hazel's place for the morning, Heather's dad gave us a lift to Sydney airport at 1pm for our 2:30 flight.The flight itself was uneventful, flown with the world's worst airline. However, untypically the flight & the cabin staff were pretty good; maybe it's just long haul where they

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1138764009406062202006-02-01T03:13:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.882Z

Well, tomorrow is the start of the big trip. Been spending the last few days saying au revoir to all our good friends, and clearing up last minute details.Vacating our apartment was a surreal experience, as our shipper had done all the packing for us. Heather was at work, so I was sitting around as an unemployed layabout watching a team of 8 scurrying round our apartment as our lives for the

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1136431435636922712006-01-05T03:17:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.827Z

Another month, another post.Things are starting to get a bit manic now. It's our last few weeks in Sydney, so Heather and I have been phoning around cancelling services, writing inventories, etc. Shouldn't really be doing this as there is so much to do...A slight problem was noticed in our travel plans as neither of us had arranged for transport from Shanghai to Singapore. Could have been

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1135300077814506052005-12-23T00:57:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.762Z

And the credit card bill is getting fat...Things are progressing nicely at the moment. Our passports have gone away for visas to get us entry in to Vietnam and Heather has booked our Yangtzee cruise. She has also booked hire cars for the appropriate Australia legs using her staff discount, so we've saved a bit of money there as well.For my part, we now have accomodation booked everywhere in SE

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1133761976999773502005-12-05T05:45:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.692Z

Well, it's been over a month since my last post, so time for an update.As previously mentioned, all Australian flights have been booked. Added to that, all accommodation (except Tasmania and some of Alice) has been done as well. As a newly-enrolled member of the YHA, we are going to be staying in hostels, although not in dorms but double rooms with ensuites (we still have to maintain certain

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1129603651611766462005-10-18T02:24:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.623Z

Well, the dents to the credit card have started... At long last and after much procrastinating, I have started the first of the purchases for our holiday. So far, I have booked tickets for:Sydney to Hobart (cheapy frequent flyer, all those years with the world's worst airline are paying off)Hobart to Melbourne (more frequent flyers)Adelaide to Alice on the GahnAlice to Darwin, again on the

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1128057321878244662005-09-30T04:58:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.556Z

But to quote Idi Amin it could be "the middle of the end part of the beginning". This is because today marks the last day that I am working at my current employer full-time.What does that have to do with travelogues, which is the raison d'etre for this blog, you ask? Well, on one of my days off, I will be planning a major holiday for Heather and myself taking in parts of Australia, SE Asia and

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1123636481480440242005-08-10T01:06:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.296Z

Just a quick update (because, God knows I have really been putting them out recently).Today I sent off for my new UK passport to Canberra as my current one was about to expire. Kind of worrying in that I have send my current one with it, as it contains my Australian permanent resident visa.I can feel the need for an overseas holiday coming on...

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1127802088231755932005-04-25T05:49:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.491Z

Well, the 25th is ANZAC day itself and traditionally, following the march through town, all the retired servicemen head off to the local watering hole and play two-up. Being averse to gambling, I was not going to rob some OAP of their life savings, but was more than happy to partake of the alcoholic beverages. Sadly, I had to drive us home (I really must get Heather a driving licence), so

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1127799999641447822005-04-24T05:39:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.429Z

Once we had recovered from the previous night (plenty of Coke needed), we headed into the main strip of the Kangaroo Valley to check it out. The style of the buildings reminded me of a town in the wild west, so feeling all inspired and arty, I took a number of photos. The plan was that I run the pictures through Photoshop and make them all old fashioned (sepia tones, grainy, etc).Following the

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1127799391948324002005-04-23T05:34:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.353Z

We had decided to spend this ANZAC weekend in the Kangaroo Valley, which is a couple of hours south-west of Sydney.We picked up our hire car (a Holden Commodore -aah! I am turning more and more Aussie!) as I didn't trust our wreck Xoe to make it without several phone calls to the NRMA. After an inordinate amount of time spent packing, we headed off to the M5 using the route plan that I had

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1108355521551481722005-02-14T04:12:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.175Z

I have just found out about Wiki Travel, which provides free information on travelling to any destination on the planet (they even have information about Farnborough!). The link to the main page is here.However, in true economic theory there is no such thing as a free lunch. A Wiki, for those that are unaware can be considered a freely accessible database that relies on users to contribute. Thus,

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1108269109657366762004-10-16T04:55:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.115Z

This entry is being made several weeks after the event, so detail may be lacking.The day we both dreaded had arrived, Saturday was here: the last day of our honeymoon. Our flight however wasn't until late in the evening so we did have a final day in Singapore. Just like our last full day in Santorini, we spent it wandering around looking at various local attractions. Once we had checked out a

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1108266731685662722004-10-15T04:27:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:31.059Z

This entry is being made several weeks after the event, so detail may be lacking.Friday was the last day of our cruise but we didn't leave the ship until the afternoon, which gave us several hours to kill. After packing our suitcases and giving them to the porter, we headed to the pool and lazed by it for a little longer, as we had not quite done enough of that during the cruise. By this point,

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1108015034050785342004-10-14T06:36:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:30.997Z

This entry is being made several weeks after the event, so detail may be lacking. Having set off in the middle of the night, the Superstar Virgo arrived in Kuala Lumpur home to the some of the tallest buildings in the world and hundreds of temples. Heather and I however decided to stay on board and laze by the pool. Don't shake your head in disgust, we have to have something to do when we go

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1107496248115178352004-10-13T06:33:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:30.813Z

This entry is being made several weeks after the event, so detail may be lacking.This morning we woke up with the mother of all hangovers, vaguely recollecting singing bad Beetles songs, drinking lots of cocktails, smoking cigars and various other things associated with a big night.The day was highlighted by the ship returning to Singapore port, and if we wanted, we could have explored the city

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1108012272714246242004-10-12T06:10:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:30.940Z

This entry is being made several weeks after the event, so detail may be lacking. Tuesday was our second off boat excursion and we went to Phuket. Actually, we went to a Pha Nga bay which had an array of beautifully idyllic islands. Phang Nga is famous for having be the location of the secret headquarters to Francisco Scaramanga, the former KGB assassin turned freelance. It was great to

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1108010869992214922004-10-11T05:34:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:30.881Z

This entry is being made several weeks after the event, so detail may be lacking. Monday morning we sailed in to Penang, Malaysia. This was the first day of excursions that we had booked, so we headed down (after breakfast) to the on board theatre to await the transfer to the docks (the Superstar Virgo is too big to berth by the quay in Penang). The excursion we had booked on was a mad shopping

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1107494474593788802004-10-10T05:51:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:30.750Z

This entry is being made several weeks after the event, so detail may be lacking. Sunday morning, I had to wake up early to get a replacement camera. So it was a mad rush to the Funan shopping centre to pick a decent model before we had to leave at 11:30. After a bit of hunting around, I decided on a Canon A75, but becuase I was feeling slightly frivolous, I bought an adapter that could take

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7045902.post-1107492629713403032004-10-09T05:33:00.000Z2006-10-24T21:59:30.689Z

This entry is being made several weeks after the event, so detail may be lacking. Saturday was our only full day in Singapore city, so we spent most of it relaxing. We did however do the tacky tourist thing and had cocktails in the Long Bar, I naturally had a Singapore Sling but Heather had something else. The Long Bar is very pleasant, and it is possible to visualise Noel Coward et al sipping

JamesFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06900925584217263616noreply@blogger.com0