Dan and Claire's Excellent Adventure
In and around World
As our friend's Bell and Becky are getting married in Australia at Christmas, we thought it would be a perfect excuse for a round the world jolly - and another reason for Claire to put off getting a proper job for a few more months!
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Dan and Claire
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1
Touchdown
Hi folks! Arrived in Bangkok on the evening of Thursday 2nd Nov.We were dropped off at the wrong hotel and had to carry our backpacks for a good 45 mi... Continue reading » -
2
Elephants and Waterfalls
Our first experience of Thai public transport took us on the no. 81 bus from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi (site of the bridge on the River Kwai). Apart fro... Continue reading » -
3
Here Comes the Sun
Just one restless night's stopover in Krabi before we caught a longtail boat bright and early to Rai Leh beach in search of some sun. The boat dropped... Continue reading » -
4
Khao Sok National Park
Khao Sok National Park is jungle/rainforest - we still aren't quite sure which, or what the difference is. Nonetheless there were lots of trees and an... Continue reading » -
5
Looking for Leonardo
After being kidnapped by the PP family maffia disguised as a reputable tourist agency, we finally arrived at Phi Phi island, having endured a full day... Continue reading » -
6
Beach no. 3
Ko Lanta is a much bigger but less 'touristy' island 1.5 hrs South of Phi Phi. The accommodation situation was in stark contrast to that on Phi Phi, t... Continue reading » -
7
Pinang
We waved bye bye to Thailand and headed South in a rickety old minibus to country no. 2, Malaysia. With the drizzling rain, driving on the l... Continue reading » -
8
No Koalas in Kuala
We set off on an early bus from Pinang to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur. Preparing ourselves for another five hour, butt-busting minibus ride&nbs... Continue reading »
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9
Singapore Charlies
Arriving in spotless Singapore was quite a shock to the system after travelling around Asia for the past month. Public lashings are still carried o... Continue reading »
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10
Bali Hai
We thought we'd ease ourselves back into backpackers accommodation gently having spent a few days in Vicky and Rich's luxurious apartment in Singap... Continue reading »
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11
Byron Stingley Bay
After two very long nights of volcano scaling and intercontinental flying we had finally arrived 'down under' in Brisbane where we were once again... Continue reading »
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12
No Surf in Surfers
We somehow managed to time our visit to Surfers to coincide with schoolies' week, making us the oldest swingers in town! We also realised that for the... Continue reading » -
13
Nudies in Noosa
Once again we found ourselves in a plush self-catering apartment, this time owned by an Aussie olympic gold medalist for ladies hockey back in 1988. M... Continue reading » -
14
Dingo Dodging
We had an early morning start for the 3 hour drive from Noosa to Hervey Bay, with Dan at the helm. Here, we caught the ferry for our ... Continue reading »
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15
On a Cassowary Mission
We awoke to the sound of rain pounding on the roof of our steamed up car, with numerous aches and pains resulting from our unconventional... Continue reading »
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16
Merry Christmas
We arrived in Cairns for the next stint of our trip, where we would be staying for the next 8 days while Becky and Bell make final preparations f... Continue reading »
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17
Great Barrier Reef
Christmas Eve! and what better way to spend it than snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. We boarded our boat bright and early to sail out to Mich... Continue reading »
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18
Wedding Bells
With Christmas Day over the wedding of the year was now upon us. The service and reception were to be held at the 'Angsana Chapel' &... Continue reading »
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19
Happy New Year!
We flew in to Sydney at about 8pm on New Years Eve and caught the train to the North of the harbour where we would usher in the New Year with two o... Continue reading »
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20
Camping it Up in Oz
We were due to leave for New Zealand on Sunday, but we felt that there was still so much of Australia yet to explore. As a result, we extended our... Continue reading »
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21
Day 2 in the Big Brother Camper Van
Days 2 and 3:
Leaving the Blue Mountains behind us we set off in the direction of Canberra. We did a whistlestop tour of the... Continue reading »
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22
Bashing the Bishop
Day 4:
The highlight of the journey down to Wilson's Promontory was when we saw a little grey bundle of fur... Continue reading »
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23
Everybody Needs Good Neighbours
Days 5, 6 and 7:
Next stop, Phillip Island, which seems to have fashioned itself on the Isle of Wight. Unfo... Continue reading »
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24
There's Gold in Them There Hills
Day 8:
The main attraction in Ballarat is Sovereign Hill, a recreated gold mining village of the mid 1800's. Actors were roa... Continue reading »
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25
The Great Ocean Road
Days 8, 9 and 10:
Like the littlest hobos we were back on the road again heading for Torquay and the start of the Great... Continue reading »
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26
South Australian Blues
Days 10 and 11:
We crossed the border into South Australia, heading towards the volcanic landscape of Mount Gambier. Th... Continue reading »
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27
El Vino did Flow
Days 11 and 12:
En Route to the Barossa Valley we stopped briefly in Lyndoch at the 'Whispering Wall', a dam which has becom... Continue reading »
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28
Opal Fruity
Days 13 and 14:
We left behind the lush vineyards of South Australia and headed North towards the arid regi... Continue reading »
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29
The Red Centre
Days 15, 16 and 17:
From Coober Pedy we set off on the mammoth drive towards the Big Rock at the... Continue reading »
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30
Who the **** is Alice?
Days 18, 19 and 20:
We arrived back in civilisation (of sorts) to the town of Alice Springs. The first item on the agenda wa... Continue reading »
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31
Katherine Gorge - ous!
Days 21, 22 and 23:
Another huge drive up the Stuart Highway to the Top End, passing through Ti Tree (the m... Continue reading »
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32
Too Darwin Hot
Days 24 to 27:
Leaving Litchfield behind we followed the Stuart Highway to its end on the North coast. After 24 days of... Continue reading »
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33
Jailbirds
We arrived in Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island, and to our horror we were thrown straight in jail! It wasn't because of the wooden chopstick... Continue reading » -
34
Kia-ora Kaikoura
First stop on our Kiwi Experience tour was Kaikoura, where there's a huge undersea canyon abundant in krill and plankton, attracting all sorts... Continue reading »
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35
The Divorce Boat
Next stop on our tour of New Zealand’s South Island was Nelson – home of the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park.
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36
Bonfire Buddies
We were all up early this morning for our bus to Westport – home of nothing much in particular - driven by the lovely J... Continue reading »
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37
The Poo Pub Party
Back on Jackie’s bus again and off to Punakakaiki, stratified limestone stacks nicknamed Pancake Rocks. We munched thro... Continue reading »
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38
On the Rocks
A very hungover Kiwi bus made its way to today’s first stop, the BushMan’s Centre – a museum dedicated to deer stalking... Continue reading »
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39
Willy Wanaka
Today, we were heading south from Franz Josef towards the township of Wanaka in Mount Aspiring National Park. We paused... Continue reading »
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40
Crazy-town
Today we arrived in Queenstown – the adventure capital of New Zealand and the birthplace of bungy jumping. A list was p... Continue reading »
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41
The Sound of Romance
Today we were off on a day trip to Milford Sound, which is an area of outstanding natural beauty in the heart of the Fi... Continue reading »
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42
Gum Boot City
After retracing our steps a little back up the East Coast of the South Island (stopping for a quick swim with the seals... Continue reading »
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43
Taupo Triathlon
Next stop on the Northern circuit was Lake Taupo, the largest lake in NZ. Taupo is apparently one of the cheapest place... Continue reading »
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44
Rotten-Rua
Rotorua earned its nickname ‘Rotten-Rua’ as a result of the distinctly eggy smell that lingers around it, owing to the... Continue reading »
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45
Waitomo Worms, Wapids and Wabbits
Today we boarded the Waitomo Wanderer bus, which took us on the 2 hr drive to the Glow-worm caves of Waitomo. The main... Continue reading »
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46
JAFA’s
After a quick visit to Hobbiton (of Lord of the Rings fame), we arrived at our nasty smelly hostel in the centre of Auc... Continue reading »
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47
The Top Bit
Onwards and upwards to Cape Reinga, the most Northerly point of New Zealand. Here we drove along a 90 mile beach (anoth... Continue reading »
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48
Beaches and Baches
From Auckland, we took the 35 minute ferry ride across the Hauraki Gulf to Waiheke Island. One of our Kiwi friends from... Continue reading »
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49
The 'Real' Fiji
We decided to spend our first week touring Fiji's main island, Viti Levu, with the Feejee Experience (sister company to the good old Kiwi Experienc... Continue reading »
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50
Shipwrecked and Starving!
Time for our two week island-hopping adventure where we would spend 2 nights each on 7 different islands in the Mamanuca and Yasawa groups to the N... Continue reading »
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51
Sweet Dreams my LAX
Having crossed the International Date Line, we landed in LA before we'd even left Fiji. We collected our hire car, which turned out to be a massive... Continue reading »
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52
Going Disco down in Frisco
We took the not-very-scenic route straight up Interstate-5 to our next destination, San Fransisco. After a spot of shopping in Macys, we walked aro... Continue reading »
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53
Yozzermite
Escaping the city life once more, we travelled into the wilderness of Yosemite National Park, to our tent in Camp Curry. We were surprised at how c... Continue reading »
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54
Death Valley and Diamonds!
We had to take the long and tortuous route from Yosemite to Death Valley as many of the roads at higher altitudes were still closed due to the wint... Continue reading »
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55
The Palm Springs Proposal
The final stint of our journey took us past the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon, and along historic Route 66 to Palm Springs. We spent the last two... Continue reading »
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56
The Homecoming
We were met at Heathrow airport by Dan's sister Hannah, wielding a 'Mr and Mrs Patterson' sign to greet the newly engaged couple. The last six mont... Continue reading »
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