V&Robs Blog on RealTravel

Singapore City journal: Last few days of our adventure: Stop off in Singapore to eat, and meet Santa!

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 10:35:32 GMT

It was a bit of a shock to land at 7am after a cramped overnight flight to fog and a rainstorm - where was the famous Singapore jungle humidity we had been warned about?! Being to early to check into our hotel, we dodged the rainstorms for breakfast at the excellent tcc (www.the coffeeconnoisseur.com) before wandering over to Chinatown for a look at the scenery.

Chinatown's cramped streets, extreme humid conditions and general hustle and bustle were so different from the wide open spaces of Australia and New Zealand, and as the temperatures rose to 38 degrees with extreme humidity we ...

Fremantle journal: Citybreak in Perth and Fremantle

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 10:33:55 GMT

A very late flight from Broome to Perth meant that we had to navigate to our flat in Fremantle in the dead of night, and after a quick detour (not lost!) we found a small and very green studio that was to be our home for the next few days.

Fremantle was a separate city to the South of Perth, but over the years development seems to have slowly combined the two. However, its town centre has retained some small town appeal, and the Little Creatures brewery, whilst not our main reason for being based here, proved a pleasant enough detour for a couple of the evenings.

We spent the first ...

Heathrow Airport journal: ...And HOME!!!!

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 10:32:19 GMT

Having dreaded the 14 hour flight back to the UK, we were delighted to board the plane with less than 50 other people - a row each! As such we arrived reasonably refreshed at Heathrow, where a grey, cold rainy November day greeted us.

Much warmer was our wonderful welcome - Rob's parents and V's Mum and Sis had all arrived to greet us in wonderful fashion. Rob's mum had even made a little banner - v cool!

Well, we've had the most amazing adventure. 30,000 miles, 6 countries, 11 flights, ownership of 2 cars, borrowing of 2 cars, hiring of 4 cars, 3 yachts, and even a couple of dog ...

Christchurch journal: Brunches, Boulders, Boats & Backcountry : NZ South Island Road Trip #2

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:17:11 GMT

Having done a mini-loop of the South Island (see previous blog) there was still a lot left to see - and as the car was still roadworthy we thought we'd try!

We sadly left Nicky in Queenstown airport and retraced our route northwards towards Christchurch, stopping to meet some more of V's rellies, Howard and Tricia, on the way. We spent a wonderful couple of days with them, Howard showing us around the area including Peel Forest and the amazing Mesopotamia High Country Station, as well as his plane project and the site of their new house. Thinking we needed feeding up (!) he cooked the ...

Margaret River journal: Return to Oz: SW WA

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 03:24:26 GMT

Aha - Australia. Land of Fosters, cork hats and a million UK gap year students.

We had it on good authority that for Generation X, "west is best" and so we headed to Perth and environs for the last month of our adventure. After hiring a small car for a huge amount of money (the same as the differential between buying and selling our NZ car, and we had that for 4 months!) we headed northwards towards Cervantes and the Pinnacles.

Not an inspiring start to our "big Oz roadtrip", to be honest. Whenever we opened the car door we were greeted by Australia's full population of nagging ...

90 Mile Beach journal: Water,water everywhere - further adventures in the North Island

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:41:28 GMT

This entry is all about the wet stuff - in the past few weeks on the North Island we have been in it, on it, or beside it almost every day!

We took the "long way round" up North from Napier, heading towads the North West coast. After a refreshing (some might say scalding) hot pools, and deciding not to visit the permanently erupting Volcano at White Island, before dropping down to Cathedral Cove for a quick hike.

The highlight of this area is something I don't think exists anywhere else in the world. "Hot Water Beach" is aptly named, as underwater hot springs travel through the ...

Hawkes Bay journal: Onto the North Island: Wellington, (more) wine, waterfalls and weird goings on...

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:30:54 GMT

We had the most wonderful couple of months in the South Island, but all good things must come to an end, and so on the 18th September we said our last goodbyes to Lynn at Tombstone in Picton and boarded the early ferry, Wellington-bound.

Fantastic weather, calm seas and the sighting on dolphins on a normally bumpy passage put us in good spirits for our first day "up North". A quick look round Wellington town, together with a couple of hours well spent at the great "Te Papa" national museum, meant we headed towards Plimmerton in a great mood.

This was dampened slightly when our car ...

Abel Tasman National Park journal: Last few days in South Island: Abel Tasman at last!

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:31:02 GMT

Having exhausted ourselves on the Queen Charlotte Track, we decided that a couple of days exploring the northernmost reaches of the South Island would be fun, before we headed onto the ferry and across to the North Island.

Unfortunately, the weather knew better, and whilst we headed up towards Farewell Spit, the only spitting we could see was from some particularly ferocious rainclouds.

Undeterred, we holed up in Nelson for a few days, where V found what may well be the world's biggest rucksack (even bigger than hers! - see picture), and watched the kiwifruit vines enjoying the ...

Marlborough journal: Hiking the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:38:09 GMT

The Queen Charlotte Track, located at the top of New Zealand's South Island in the Marlborough Sounds, offers a spectacular trip through the Marlborough Sounds, from the historic Ship Cove through to Anikiwa in the Grove Arm giving unsurpassed views of Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru Sounds over the 70-plus km, 4 day walk.

We were really looking forward to stretching our legs on this classic Kiwi tramp, and V was especially pleased that her poor back would not be taking the strain of any huge tramping rucksacks as the water taxi kindly transported our packs each day.

Monday morning ...

United States journal: Top travel tips for the USA

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:47:24 GMT

1. Buy a tent! We got ours in Walmart for 26 dollars (13 pounds) and spent 30 nights in the most amazing wilderness locations.

2. Get a National Parks pass. For 80 dollars (40 pounds) this allows you entry into all of the US's national parks and pays for itself if you visit more than 4.

3. When you're fed up with camping, Motel 6 does reliable usually clean budget accomodation. Their handbook (which can be picked up free from any of their Motels) is great for route planning.

4. If you're the outdoors kind, almost all adventure kit (from snowboards to tents to hiking boots etc ...

Picton journal: Wildlife and Wine: heading north on South Island

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:22:54 GMT

It was sad to leave Lisa and the Christchurch team, but quite exciting to be heading Northwards for the first time in a couple of months! We headed up the coast road to Kaikora, where there are supposed to be whales (none for us though - the sea was too rough to launch the boats!) but also a huge seal colony and cormorant nesting area. V is not going to make a new career out of being a wildlife photographer in a huge hurry, but even she was quite impressed with some of the photos she managed to take to accompany this entry.

All that wildlife watching was making us a bit thirsty, so it ...

Fox Glacier journal: Ice Climbing at Fox Glacier

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:17:33 GMT

So, deterred from snowboarding slightly by the lack of snow and pricey lift passes (they're getting a little cheaper as the Kiwi dollar slides but still, more expensive than Whistler for a resort with 2 lifts? what?) we decided to set about seeing some of the sights the south island of NZ had to offer.

On the advice of Rob's Bro Tom, we decided that going on a glacier track was a must do activity, but on seeing that you could do more than trek - you could actually ice climb on them - our minds were made up. After being helicoptered onto a glacier to snowboard down it in Alaska I thought ...

Queenstown journal: Powered by TimTams: NZ South Island Road Trip

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:17:40 GMT

We were delighted that our friend Nicky, an Aussie girl we met in Canada, could join us for a couple of weeks in NZ. Nicky flew into Queenstown on 1 August to fresh snow, and with a scratch free snowboard we were hoping that the piste rocks would get covered! She had decided that she couldn't survive without some Australian "timtams" (like UK Penguin Biscuits) and arrived with a good supply.

Our first week was based in Arrowtown (20mins from Queenstown, but a world away from the "bungy madness" with heritage buildings and a lot of peace and quiet) where we explored the local skifields, ...

Arrowtown journal: Welcome to New Zealand...

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 19:38:16 GMT

The palm trees and crystal clear beaches of the Cook Islands were pretty gorgeous, but what a girl really needs in July is...SNOW!

Yes, the lure of being wet, cold, and bruised as V falls over on her bottom for the 60th time snowboarding has proven too hard to resist, so we have headed to New Zealand to enjoy the Southern Hemisphere's "winter". It does seem a bit strange to be wrapped up in 2 jumpers as we head into August, but there you go...

We landed to an early morning drizzly and freezing Christchurch and headed over to V's distantish cousin Helen and her hubby Bruce who are ...

Vancouver journal: Return to Hood River...kitesurfing and goodbye to Ernie

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:38:39 GMT

It was great to return to a town we had already visited, after staying in nearly 50 places on our trip so far, the familiarity was most welcome! We rented a great little house with Tom and Linda (friends from Seattle) for a long weekend on our way back up to Vancouver to sell Ernie, the faithful car that has been our "home" for the past few months.

Hood River was buzzing - it was the 4th July weekend when many Americans take holidays and the sheer number of kite and wind surfers zipping up the Gorge in 30knots of wind was a little intimidating! We had booked ourselves in for a 3 day ...

Christchurch journal: People's signs - part 1

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 16:46:39 GMT

This blog is really just a collection of photo's, not much to say about them but if one's yours you might like it! The location is christchurch just because that's where I'm writing it from, the photos have been collected from various places on our trip so far.

The World journal: People from home

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 16:40:17 GMT

We've seen a few signs on our travels that have reminded us of friends back home - these are a few photos that dont really have any other link than that...

Cook Islands journal: The Cook Islands Weather Forecasters....

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:50:26 GMT

....couldn't have got it more wrong. At this time of year (winter in the Cooks, as we have just crossed the Equator), I guess that they could be forgiven for being a little "off the mark", but 2 tropical rainstorms in 4 days?!

Nevertheless, we have managed to have some great fun in this stunning Robinson Crusoe like place in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Rarotonga is the main island of many scattered around the region, and with four days here we thought we would just visit this one to get an idea of what the country is like.

We lucked out, with our hostel being on the beach and ...

Los Angeles journal: LA pitstop

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:14:04 GMT

After the tour of possibly all the second hand car garages in Vancouver, it was good to have LA to look forward to...

Well, to look forward to may not have been entirely true, as many people we knew who had visited this city before had warned us off staying too long, citing urban sprawl, pollution and cars ruling as some of the many reasons not to hang around.

However, we could not have been more suprised with our arrival. Having arrived late at night and thus staying at a hotel near to the airport, we moved more central the next day to stay at the Orbit Hotel, a hip place in the ...

Santa Cruz journal: Surfing Santa Cruz

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:50:14 GMT

Having left Moab after a morning's mountain biking, we had 21/2 days and the small matter of 990 miles to travel before going we got to surf Santa Cruz... The story of that journey is for another time, but suffice to say we allowed 4 hours to complete the last section of the drive that we thought would take 2 hours, and we used up every last minute - highway 1 winds along the tops of cliffs and alongside beaches all the way up the coast. it's beautiful but doesn't make for a quick drive!!

On arriving at the Club-Ed Surf Camp, it would be fair to say that things were a little ...

Florence journal: Drive through trees, Tsunamis and Sand Boarding

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:30:26 GMT

And so on into Orgeon, and the land of the Giant Redwoods.

Before any Californians get upset, I KNOW that you have these beautiful, ancient, enormous trees yourselves, but it is Oregon that can claim the dubious attraction of the "drive-thru tree". Hmmm. As you can see from the photo, we tried to take Ernie the car though the tree, but I think that it must have been made for sleek 1950's motors rather than our Flabby Ford Wagon. That didn't stop some folks behind us trying to get their massive truck through - with some interesting last minute reversing as they realised that if we ...

San Francisco journal: The Bay Area and beyond

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:13:35 GMT

A hectic week of surfing toned our bodies and generated pain in muscles we didn't know we had, so we were ready to get out of the tent and into a hotel bath in San Fransisco, possibly one of the prettiest cities we have visited so far on the US trip.

A wonderful drive up the coast was a bit hairy in places, due to the thick pea soup fog that seemed to waft in without warning, but we reached the city by sunset on the Friday night and had a traditional diner meal on the waterfront. V's coke float (coca cola with icecream) seemed very decadent after a week of eating healthily!

Saturda ...

Moab journal: Adventures in Utah

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:38:51 GMT

It was tough to leave the Canyon but once we realised that the sun had really set and that it was now to dark to see anything it was time to go!

We drove into the night, trying to find a place to stay, but for a couple of hours found nothing but desert. Thus we were pretty relieved to find tuba city, a tiny Navajo Indian settlement in the heart of the reservation. A fine welcome at the only hotel for probably 100 miles in any direction and with a room for us was a bit of a relief!

We carried on the next day through Monument Valley, a bizarre collection of huge sandstone columns and ...

Grand Canyon National Park journal: Gettin' our kicks at the Grand Canyon

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 11:47:48 GMT

A long drive from the Hoover Dam led us to Williams, a charming town (with Wild West accessories such as a "live" cowboy gunfight every night!) which was on Route 66, the classic American roadtrip location. After driving the route 66 loop (the 80mile stretch is the longest continuous section left, with great views), we had a good evening in Rod's Steakhouse (where V attempted and failed to eat a the largest rack of Ribs she had ever seen!) before spending the morning looking round the town.

The South rim of the Grand Canyon is about 90 miles from Williams, and we decided to leave it ...

Las Vegas journal: Death Valley, Vegas and Sailing

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:55:06 GMT

Continuing south we stayed at the town of Fresno (I think it's famous for something?!) and then turned left....and towards the desert. We arrived in the arid zone via the enormous Techapi wind farm, to Mojave, where a number of planes take their first test flights (and indeed spaceship1). Our first night in the Mojave was an interesting experience, with gale force winds rocking the motel 6 and making the train whistles sound very eerie.

The winds continued the next day, and as we headed towards Death Valley these turned to sandstorms with dust clouds more than 2 miles long. In the rare ...

Exeter journal: Yosemite, Kings Canyon & Sequioa National Park... and Exeter

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:08:54 GMT

We have continued in quite a convoluted fashion, zigzagging across the Sierra Nevada mountains from Mammoth towards the North Yosemite entrance. The drive up to the pass at the top of the mountain range tested the poor car to the limit, so we were pretty glad to get to the entrance in one piece. After a drive through the north of the park, which is noted for its domes - sheer granite boulders 250ft tall; we continued down into Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite being one of the most popular parks in the US is known for its volume of visitors, and having visited many national parks that were ...

Mammoth Lakes journal: Rock Week at Mammoth

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:43:42 GMT

As we had spent a great day climbing at Smith Rock, we decided that it would be good to learn a bit more about the sport, and Mammoth was selected as a good spot for the variety of different areas if offered.

We arrived in Mammoth to see the ski lifts still in operation - gutted that we had sent our snowboards home! But 4 days of excellent climbing in 4 different locations soon cheered us up. Tim of Sierra Rock Climbing School was a great instructor and we both progressed v fast under his guidance.

Day 1 was spent at Iris Slab in the Inyo National Forest - not the easiest area to ...

South Lake Tahoe journal: Bend to Mammoth

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:07:44 GMT

Having recovered from Smith Rock (see previous entry) we continued Southwards, stopping at the deepest lake in the US, Crater Lake. The electric blue colour was intensified by the contrasting white snow melting gently on the steep slopes. Beautiful.

Passing back down into the Sierra Nevada (the range of mountains we have been criss-crossing pretty much since Mount St Helen's), we spotted a bald eagle nest on the electric wires above us...a brave spot for a nesting site!

Just over the border from Orgeon in California (Dr Dre serenading us across the line) we entered the spectacular ...

Bend journal: Climbing at Smith Rock

Thu, 31 May 2007 17:18:17 GMT

So, the only option when visiting Bend (apart from drinking their extremely nice local beer) is to visit Smith Rock, reputed to be the birthplace of sport climbing in the US.

When I agreed to spend my first ever day climbing there, I was in for a bit of a shock. The world's hardest climb till the mid 1980's is there - and although we didn't attempt it I was sure that most of the routes we attempted were pretty difficult!

Luckily we had met up with brilliant instructor Jim Ablo of Chockstone Climbing Guides http://www .chockstoneclimbing.com/ who patiently and calmly taught me the ...

Seward journal: Elk, Bears and Helicopters

Sun, 20 May 2007 15:56:16 GMT

So Alaska.

Snow, ice and seals.

That was pretty much all I knew before arriving in this beautiful state, nearer to Russia in places than the rest of the USA. Having flew up from Seattle across numerous snowcapped peaks to a very interesting landing (!) in Anchorage, we hired a car and took off to Aleyska for the last week of the ski season. The hill was pretty cool with good corn powder snow and we spent and enjoyable couple of days getting around the mountain in pretty overcast skies.

Saturday 21st dawned bright and clear, with bluebird skies in places. Pretty much perfect ...

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument journal: Kayaking Seattle, Roses in Portland and Helen's Volcano

Sun, 20 May 2007 15:25:52 GMT

After 3 days on the ferry it was great to be back on dry land. And Tom and Linda's wonderful hospitality in Seattle was very very welcome! We spend a fantastic few days in the city, in the market, the original Starbucks, the Museum of Flight and the old underground city (Seattle was raised around 10 feet about 80 years ago, meaning the old ground floors in the old city are now underground!). Aside from many good eats and beers, one of the highlights was a day kayaking round the main city with Tom and Linda - a great way to see the famous Frasier view and also nose around the many house boats ...

Juneau journal: The world's most snow and the Alaska Marine Highway

Sun, 20 May 2007 14:28:32 GMT

Unfortunately we didn't get to go iceclimbing on the Medenhall Glacier, as the access path was thigh deep in snow! We had to content ourselves with just viewing it, which as you see is pretty spectacular in its own way.

Hmmm - back to that thigh deep snow. Locals tell us that Juneau has had the greatest snowfall in the WORLD this year - so we thought we had better take a closer look at this ourselves! The hike up the eagle creast mountain (the lifts were shut) was pretty testing, but we were rewarded by some awesome snow at the top and some pretty scary jumps which Rob decided to test ...

Juneau journal: Mountain Huts and Random Dogs

Sun, 20 May 2007 14:02:11 GMT

The title of this entry may be a little random, but the Alaskans are kind of dog crazy and so I thought that it was kind of fitting!

After a great trip through the Kenai Peninsula (Homer and Seward) and then Northwards to Talkeetna to try to see Mount McKinley (covered in cloud) we stayed in the deserted Hatcher Pass Cabins. http://www .hatcherpasslodge.com/ Struggling through snow up to our hips to get to the front door, we were rewarded with the most awesome views and true solitude and quietness. After we had decided that the front door was bear-proof, we had the most amazing time ...

Alyeska journal: Rob's Heli Day

Tue, 01 May 2007 18:33:04 GMT

Right, this is actually my first piece of writing on this blog, so you may notice a couple of style changes, spelling mistakes etc, but i thought it was worth writing a bit about my 30th Birthday present Heli day!

After checking into the Alyeska hotel and riding a surprise powder day on the Friday where we got some great first tracks in Alyeska resort, rumors were it was supposed to be clear for Saturday, (my flying day) but to be honest it didn't look too good (you need clear weather for the Helicopter to fly) so i was very excited to get up at 6:30 on Saturday to clear blue skies - ...

Seattle journal: Last week in Fernie and off to the USA

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:21:01 GMT

We have had the most amazing few months in Fernie, and it was a real wrench to say goodbye to everyone. Snow continued for the last weekend and the final race of the season, the Powder, Paddle, Pedal relay was excellent fun to watch.

Left Fernie bound for Seattle, to catch up with Rob's friend Tom. Crossed into the border at Cranbrook - the border guard was quite interested although a little confused with our adventure plans! Stopped over in Spokane on the way, and arrived in Seattle Tues in time for an epic 3 hours at the huge REI adventure shop (R in kit heaven!) and dinner at a great ...

Fernie journal: April Fool = Powder Snow

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:26:19 GMT

We had a great April fool's day surprise earlier this week, when over the first and second it snowed nearly 50cm over 48 hours! Powder days in April are thin on the ground, yet as I write this it is still snowing and is forecast to do so for most of the rest of this week - the hill closes this Sunday but there's no danger of the snow running out.

Celebrated my 30th birthday a couple of months late this week with a day "mushing" in the Elk Valley. Something that I've wanted to do for ages, it was the most amazing experience to speed along the mountain trails with ten huskies pulling each ...

Fernie journal: CASI and Hotdog

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:22:46 GMT

A very strange fashion trend of a past era hit Fernie this wednesday. Hotdog day, in honour of the great 1984 ski movie , was held and many strange outfits appeared on the mountain in homage of the luminous ski costumes of the period. Straight skis, snurfers and 80s techniques all surfaced, culminating with a massive deck party on the hill. Here is the (edited) photographic evidence!!

We have been busy back at school this week (although it's much more fun with the mountain as the classroom) and I'm delighted to say that Rob and I have both qualified as Snowboard Instructors. It was a ...

Rossland journal: Road Trip to Red

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 14:36:44 GMT

Just returned from a few days exploring nearby (well, "nearby" in Canadian terms meaning 6 hours drive!) hills. Having been based in Fernie for nearly 2 months, it was great to find some new scenery.

We had a great day in Kimberley with blue skies and hard packed snow, and had the pleasure of watching the Canadian ParaOlympic Skiers competing in the slalom. They were hurtling down the mountain at amazing speeds that I could never reach on my snowboard - watching from 10 feet away as opposed to on the telly is a real experience.

Headed up to Rossland at the end of the day, via the ...

Fernie journal: Griz days and Avalanche training

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 14:03:13 GMT

Happy Griz days to all! This weekend is carnival in Fernie, in honour of the local legend, the Griz who guarantees good snow to Fernie. Find out more about the legend at http://www.skifernie.com /news-and-info/the-griz -legend.aspx , but in a nutshell it's a good excuse for a few days worth of parties! Excellent amusement in the form of the "dummy downhill" where a special downhill race track and jump is built for some specially built model skiers. See pictures for some examples!

We have been keeping ourselves amused over the past few weeks by going back to school - V to learn how to ...

Bristol journal: Trip preparation

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 14:11:56 GMT

Offsets = Each time we heat our homes, take a flight or drive the car, CO2 is added into the atmosphere. Climate Care offsets CO2 by funding projects around the world. These can be in: Renewable energy – this replaces non-renewable fuel such as coal

Energy efficiency – this reduces the amount of fuel needed

Forest restoration – this absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere as the trees grow

We have used Climate Care to calculate our flight emissions and have made a donation to offset this. Find out more at

http://www.climatecare .org

Ticket = Star Alliance ...

Fernie journal: Life in minus 17.........

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:39:31 GMT

We have made it to our first stop on adventure! After relatively painless journey to Calgary (although taking two huge snowboard bags on the tube in the rush hour not recommended) we met up with our landlord Graham for a few beers and the lowdown on the small town of Fernie where we are to spend the next few months. Keys exchanged, we headed up on a four hour boneshaker bus across the Rockies to arrive in Fernie late Sat 4th.

The last week have been spent getting to know the town (charming, turn of the century place with pretty much all you need) and the mountain, a series of 4 bowls off ...