Two Travel Bugss Blog on RealTravel

Cambodia journal: Kampuchean Adventures

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:09:11 GMT

Victoria Falls journal: Victoria Falls

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:07:13 GMT

The train from Bulawayo to VIc Falls was ok, nothing flash, just two small bunks in a very small room, an unlockable door and a window blind that kept shooting up. Still, it made a change from having to drive on the truck all that way. We arrived at Vic Falls at 7am, tired and hungry, to find that bread wasn't available anywhere in town that day. We had a great, but expensive, time there. I went on an amazing microlight flight above the falls, we both did the "Sundowner Cruise" and watched the falls from both the Zimbabwean and Zambian side, getting really wet in the process. We also ...

Okavango Delta journal: Okavango Delta

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:04:33 GMT

From Victoria Falls we headed into Botswana and the Okavango Delta. We went on a three night Mokoro (canoe) trip into part of the delta. It wasnt quite how we imagined it would be. We were poled to a camp on an "island" and did morning and afternoon walks from there. The water was really low, the rains have only just begun in Angola and the water hasnt reached the delta yet. We saw the usual giraffe, impala, jackel, badgers and elephants, some up quite close, and remember that we were on foot. We also went to a hippo pool one evening and watched 13 or so hippo watching us. We are hoping ...

Istanbul journal: A little bit of Turkey

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:16:56 GMT

We are back in the UK again now, back to the cold! But back to a decent hot shower as well. Turkey was good, we'd love to go back again and look round properly. This trip all we had time to see was Cappadocia and Istanbul.

We stayed in Goreme, Cappadocia, in a room that was part real cave and part concrete cave. The area is known for its weird and wonderful rock formations, cave houses, and some underground cities. We tried to see a bit of everything. The first day there we took a bus tour of the highlights, getting a feel for the surroundings. We saw plenty of rock formations, a ...

Hama journal: Syria and Lebanon

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:14:31 GMT

Well, we are nearly at the end of out trip, we fly out of Istanbul on Thursday. We have not had nearly long enough here, only really in Jordan and Syria did we feel that we had seen enough. We decided not to spend much time here in Turkey as we would only get frustrated at not being able to see what we want, we'll just have to come back again!

Anyway, what have we done since the last blog. I know I labelled this one as being in Syria, but it makes the map flow a bit better! Theoretically, I should have blogged from Damascus, Beirut, Hama and Goreme, but...

We left Jordan and ...

Amman journal: Ruins and the Desert in Jordan

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:11:58 GMT

We are currently in Amman and are off to Damascus tomorrow afternoon. The boat across from Nuweiba, Egypt to Aqaba, Jordan was fine, it was a nice, newish catamaran. The trip was so smooth, you hardly felt like you were moving at all. Passport control at aqaba was strange, our passports were collected from us as we got off the boat, then we were bussed to the arrivals hall and had to wait for our names to be called out so we could collect our passports with the visas stamped in them. We had to wait until the end while all the easier Arabic names were called first. We caught a taxi ...

Luxor journal: Karnak and the Valley of the Kings again

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:08:31 GMT

Karnak is a place that is hard to describe. Huge. Grand. Visually astounding. Its a massive complex (over 100 acres all up, but you only look at a part of it) which you enter down a short avenue of sphinxes with rams heads and 'holding' statues of Ramses II - remember that avenue of sphinxes from Luxor temple? This is the other end. The further you go in the "main" part, the bigger things get, more and more grand. The columns in the hypostyle hall are awesome, huge round decorated pillars, all the walls have a different story to tell, of battles fought and always won. Even our photos, ...

Luxor journal: The West Bank - Tombs of Kings and Queens

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:06:04 GMT

The tour we were booked on this morning didnt turn up. After hassling the guy in the hostel for a bit - he wasnt bothered that we had paid already! - he spoke to someone on the phone then wandered into the street and flagged down the first passing minibus full of tourists. This he claimed was our tour, but... still, it was going where we wanted to go.

We drove about 7km from Luxor until we reached a bridge over the Nile. Then of course, we had to drive all the way back again as the tombs we were going to are pretty much across from Karnak.

We went to the Valley of the Queens first, ...

Cairo journal: Cairo - museums, mummies, mosques and pyramids

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:02:33 GMT

From a chilly September morning in the UK to a "warm" 40C in Cairo - it was a long day getting here. The flights were all ok (even if the first one did leave Heathrow at 6.30am and we got up way earlier than that!) and got us safely to a hot and dusty Cairo. The ride from the airport to the hostel, by a driver / car organised by the hostel as part of a 'deal', was kind of fast and hair-raising. Horns blared non-stop...lane markings are ignored as is anyone else who may be in the space you want to occupy...three lane roads mean at least five lanes of cars...and as for speed limits, what ...

Khartoum journal: A brief account of our time in Sudan

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:19:16 GMT

When we finally got to the border after a couple of very long days driving, no one there had heard anything about fighting, and our trucks had already crossed. Argh!! We crossed into Sudan on our own, very easy, the Sudanese formalities took 4 hours, 3 1/2 of those we were waiting for people, the rest was actually doing something. As soon as we got over the border and found our truck had taken off, we went into El Geneina to find an airline office. In an effort to either fly to Khartoum or catch up with our truck, we ended up on a local truck to a place called Nyala. It took the best ...

Ndjemena journal: Chad without SIFCAS rations

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:17:44 GMT

Leaving Waza, we flew along decent roads till we got to Kousseri, the last town on the road to Chad. We stopped here for food, partly as Cameroon is meant to be cheaper than Chad, but also that Chad is meant to have less food available. Which I guess are tied together - less food makes what is available more expensive. Not that we used many SIFCAS rations either, just a few tins. At least, not while we were on the truck, but more on that later.

Crossing the border was easy enough, actually leaving the border was harder. Lunch time prayers had started and the road was full of worshipping ...

Easter Island journal: Rapa Nui

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:37:49 GMT

We travelled back in time like Marty McFly, leaving Auckland at 5pm on Monday and arriving on Easter Ialand at 10am the same day. Of course, we werent going back in time to save the world or anything.

We were hit by the heat and humidity as soon as we got off the plane. A change from NZ, but probably nothing like the changes in weather we'll experience in the coming year. First stop was the YHA to put up our tent, then the necessary trip into town to get some money to pay for everything. Only the could we start looking for what we had come to see. Only we didnt see any Moai for a ...

Rarotonga journal: More diving and walking!

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:25:17 GMT

Last day today.

Since we last wrote, we’ve had a couple more dives and done some more walking.

The first dive was at some caves, not overly exciting but we did see a huge octopus swimming around before backing into a hole to hide from us. The last one was back at the Mataora for another night dive. This one was badly organised though with some very inexperienced divers kicking up silt, dropping torches, swimming into people…not that I am saying we are experienced or anything, but we are better than that!

Between those dives we took the bus round to Muri beach/lagoon. ...

Rarotonga journal: Been diving!

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:22:48 GMT

We’ve done five dives now; one was called off because of rough seas. The first was a wreck called the Mataora, outside Avarua harbour. The wreck was broken up, and in places was little more than a pile of twisted metal. We didn’t see heaps of fish, but it was a good and interesting dive. The water was reasonably warm (24C) and visibility was good. We saw angel fish, damsel fish, some big lionfish, cod, crown of thorns, triggerfish, rainbow wrasse, threadfin butterfly fish, anemone fish, clownfish, checkerboard wrasse, blue spotted grouper and trumpet fish. The coral around the wreck was ...

Whangarei journal: Home again

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:19:13 GMT

Just to finish this trip off, we are home again, safe and sound. What a great time! We hope we got everything across in these blogs. Sometimes they sound a bit dull and boring, maybe we were tired those days from doing too much?!?!

Anyway, thats it until our next trip. We'll open a blog for around New Zealand so we can share a few places around home too.

Thanks for reading. Karen & Colin

Bandar Seri Begawan journal: The last 24 hours

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:17:48 GMT

On the way back to NZ we stopped off in Brunei for another 24 hours, to see more and to break up the journey.

We had one thing we wanted to see, and that was some Proboscis Monkeys. We were planning originally to take a regular water taxi, as the tours were expensive. But then we found a company with a special on in February, and persuaded them to let us have that same price in January (well, it was close to the end of the month!) This meant we still paid a bit more than with a regular water taxi, but had longer out, a better guide, and a better chance of seeing monkeys. If there ...

England journal: Last UK blog

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:15:26 GMT

We had a great time, driving around some of the countryside visiting people and places. We went through some ancient areas, Woodhenge near Salisbury, and Avebury (Long Barrows, Stone Circles) on our way to see a friend in Cheltenham. As fascinating as the barrows and circles were, it was about 4C out, with a wind chill taking the temp way below zero.

We also stopped at Bletchley Park, home of the Enigma and former home of GCHQ. Although some rooms and huts were closed for winter (open weekends only) what we saw was really interesting. Colossus, the first computer, was up and ...

England journal: It's Getting Colder!

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:14:26 GMT

We had a restful start to our visit here, but the past few days have been getting busy again.

So what have we been doing since I last wrote... The Saints game was good, even if we could only manage a 0-0 draw. We won yesterday though, and are still fighting for promotion. We had a lovely meal out for Mum and Dads birthday last Saturday night. We went to a local pub/restaurant and had some good food and local ale. Smoking is still allowed inside pubs here!

The beginning of the week we just relaxed, our first real break since before Christmas, what with working nearly all the ...

New Milton journal: Just arrived in the UK

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:12:40 GMT

It was really windy coming into Heathrow and the plane rolled all over the place, and we landed fast and hard. We got down to Southampton quickly by bus, and were met by an friend, Karry, who kindly drove us the rest of the way to New Milton. We spent the day at my Grans house, waiting to surprise Mum and Dad in the evening. Despite it being quite mild out, Gran had the fire lit and we were all very sleepy by the time Mum and Dad came round. I think we managed to surprise them nicely. It took a while for it to sink in that we were there! We stayed the night with Gran and moved up to ...

Bandar Seri Begawan journal: Pre Season Training

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:08:17 GMT

We've had a busy couple of days in Brunei since the last post. After writing that, we went to Gadong night market, spending a whopping NZ$2.50 on dinner for two. Deep fried vegetable bits and pieces and this thick pancake thing full of chopped nuts, sugar and chocolate powder.

Yesterday we went on a trip to Ulu Temburong National Park. It was a 45 minute water taxi ride from BSB to Bangar (mangroves, some jungle, crocodiles, herons & egrets, monkeys), then 20 minutes drive to the tour company "lodge" where we had morning tea. From there we took off in a traditional longboat, only ...

Bandar Seri Begawan journal: Perpetual Sweat

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:03:28 GMT

The flight over here was long and boring. We love reading and watching movies, but there is only so much of either we can do, especially when stuck in cattle class.

We were met by our Hospitality Club host ,Paul, and went back to his house briefly before going out for dinner. Colin and Paul has beef and chicken skewers - satay - from a street stall. I was full from plane food - not the best food but there was plenty of it. Even at 9pm, it was 27C outside and drizzling.

Today we headed into downtown Bandar Seri Begawan (capital of Brunei, population about 100 000 out of 350 ...

Whangarei journal: Cyclone Becky

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:56:48 GMT

Just a few photos of the effects of Cyclone Becky on Hikurangi Swamp as seen from our house or from below us in the valley. POSTSCRIPT - that 150 year storm was followed three months later by another one! Similar views that time too, but with more trees down as the wind was very strong second time around.

Northland journal: To Russell along the old coast road

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:52:27 GMT

Here is the first NZ entry - a brief description of our trip the other weekend up to Russell.

We decided to spend the last Sunday before the football (soccer) season on a day out. You know, go for a bit of a tiki tour, have lunch somewhere...314km later!

We started off quite early (luckily!) and took off up State Highway One. The plan was to go up the old coast road to Russell. This we did do, but our couple of stops along the way took a lot longer than we'd planned. First stop was at Mimiwhangata. What a stunning place. The road in was narrow (very much one lane) ...

Changara journal: Mozambique - too brief, must come back again

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:46:25 GMT

From the idle beach life of Malawi we spent a day in Lilongwe then crossed Mozambique. The road we drove along was the worst for ages, back to West African standards. We couldnt even leave the road for toilet stops because of the risk of land mines. We bushcamped on a piece of dirt just off the side of the road that had an abandoned shack on. We woke to find ourselves surrounded by shy kids from the houses scattered all around us. We'd pulled off in the dark and hadnt been able to see a thing. We didnt stop in at apart from overnight in Mozambique, another country that we'll ...

Stone Town journal: Now we've seen some big cats!

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:39:59 GMT

Yes, we have now seen some cats! Lions, a cheetah and a serval so far, but the leopard is proving elusive. We saw most of our lions and the serval in the Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania), the cheetah between there and the Serengeti and more lions in the Serengeti NP. The Ngorongoro Crater was amazing. It was a horrible day when we got up, raining, low clouds and we weren't expecting to be able to see much as driving up to the rim of the crater we couldnt see much further than the front of the landrover. As we went over the crater rim and started going down inside, the clouds lifted ...

Nairobi journal: We're having a rhino of a good time!

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:35:19 GMT

Hello all, Hope you all had a good Easter break, and those that are allowed, plenty of chocolate! We had two small marshmallow "eggs" each, eaten while on a game drive round Lake Nakuru NP. But back to the beginning, or the last place we wrote from. Jinja was our last stop in Uganda, the source of the mighty Nile. Colin spent a day rafting the "source" of the Nile, not really the actual source as theres a big dam that you cant raft over, but more like 6km from the source. There was a mixture of grades 3, 4 and 5 rapids, and they managed to get wet on all of the them except for ...

Kampala journal: Have you ever...

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:32:01 GMT

...had a 200kg Silverback Gorilla throw a tree at you? No?! Well, we have.

You want more details?!?! Well, OK then... We spent an awesome hour watching a family of gorillas in Ugandas Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. There was the mighty silverback, blackbacks, females, juveniles and a three month old baby. They were wandering round the undergrowth feeding, and we were hacking our way through the undergrowth trying to watch them. There were three people in our group (a maximum of six are allowed to watch any one group per day), along with a guide, three trackers and ...

Addis Ababa journal: From Ethiopia with love

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:29:08 GMT

Dear Everyone!Firstly thank you very much for all the great emails you've sent us. We are sorry that we cant always reply to you all, the internet is unbelievably expensive in Ethiopia, if we could, then we would. Now on to what you are really reading this for, where are we?!?! Addis Ababa. And as for getting here....read on. We took a mix of public transport to the Sudan / Ethiopia border, including a luxury bus (video, food and drinks) and another truck, this one smaller with both of us crammed in the back with numerous people, bags, freight and donkey trailers. Crossing the ...

Ganvie journal: Stilt Village

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:12:02 GMT

Benin was much the same as Togo, only a 48 hour transit visa but we did do a little bit more. We went to Ganvie, a stilt village on a lake just outside Cotonou. We took a pirogue trip out for a look around. That was ok, except that the first few places in the village we stopped at were tacky souvenir shops! The village was interesting, all the houses, churches, shops, schools etc on stilts about 2m above the lake. The market was great, all these women in their canoes floating in the "market place" selling their wares the same as in the markets in dry land. We saw fuel stations, ...

Lome journal: Togo very briefly

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:09:47 GMT

Since Accra, we have been back to paradise (beach resort - good food, beer, waves, sun, palm trees...) for a few days more R & R, then we headed out of Ghana to Togo. We only had a couple of days in Togo, we only got a transit visa on the border. We did not do a lot there, we drove along the coast rode, stopped in Lome, went round the market, artisan stalls, supermarket (olive oil and wine!), a cafe for some bissap juice (yummy), camped by the beach, swum, lazed around, and drove on to Benin. Togo was ok, Lome is a dump, crowded, hot, sweaty, dirty... A bit of a short entry, but ...

Accra journal: Paradise, Ghana

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:51:12 GMT

Burkina Faso is a pretty small country and we didn't get to see a lot of it. We headed south from Ouaga through some national park (didn't see any wildlife except the usual ant and mossies) to the Ghana border. Again this was a quick crossing. Initially the border guys wanted to see us individually with our passports, but when 23 of us showed up outside his rather cramped office, he changed his mind! For those following on maps, the nearest big town is Bolga something.

Ghana again appeared different from BF pretty quickly. More trees, friendlier people, the kids would jump up and ...

Ouagadougou journal: The end of Mali and into Burkina Faso

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:33:40 GMT

Hello and a Happy New Year to everybody!

We had a big New Years Eve at a free camp outside of Sevare (near Mopti) shared with the 40 or so people travelling on two Economic Expeditions Trans Africa trucks we met up with. There was plenty of eating, drinking and making merry, including some fireworks.

Before that, we had a day trip on a pinasse along the River Niger from Mopti. Nine of us organised this ourselves on one of our free days. The boat only just held the nine of us, we were a bit squished. We poled (rather than rowed) along the river for a few hours until we came to a ...

Bandiagara journal: Christmas in Mali

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:26:25 GMT

Thanks for all your messages, sorry that the weather in the UK is not good, its really hot and sunny here!

We are of course still having a brilliant time. Christmas day we spent in a campsite near the small town of Bandiagara in Dogon Country (50 people and one toilet!!) We did a huge cooked breakfast without the meat, a light lunch then a massive dinner. We'd bought a pig and a goat that the campsite slaughtered and cooked for us (and upset people by bringing in the live goat on the back of a moped, draggin it “screaming” round the back of the camp, and then...silence...one ...

Bamako journal: Tarmac and Desert

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:21:36 GMT

We have now arrived in Bamako, the capital of Mali. It is roasting here, up to 37 C in the shade, and I am sure that things will get hotter. Thanks for all the mail you've been sending. From Nouakchott to Nema the road was newish tarmac and we drove a good 400km each day. We didnt stop really for anything other than toilet stops, lunch and a quick stop in any towns for food etc. The scenery started off as typical desert, rolling sand dunes, flat sand as far as you can see. The second day out we drove through a bunch of huge escarpments, pretty impressive, and a nice change from ...

Waza journal: Cameroon highlights

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 23:30:38 GMT

We pretty much drove straight from the border to Limbe, stopping once for a swim/wash in a roadside creek. The first night we camped at Mile 6 Beach, our two trucks plus two from Economic Expeditions (four toilets and four showers between us all!). Despite all the people, it was a beautiful beach, and when we got up in the morning the trees were full of Mona monkeys who quite happily posed for us.

In Limbe a few of us went to the Limbe Wildlife Centre, run by the same organisation that ran the places we went to in Nigeria - Pandrillus. This place in Limbe was more like a zoo than the ...

Calabar journal: Friendly people - and our first wildlife

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:05:16 GMT

From Benin we crossed into Nigeria and we have spent the past few days driving almost non stop to Abuja, stopping only for eating, sleeping and buying food. It was a long few days! Nigeria has been great so far, not that we've seen much. The people are awesomely friendly, especially the kids, but the adults too, shouting and waving whenever we drive past, kids jumping up and down, its great!! The kids would stop whatever they were doing and run to the side of the road, screaming and waving at us.

We stopped in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, stuck in the never-ending quest for ...

Luxor journal: Luxor Temple

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:44:54 GMT

There is so much to see and do around Luxor, and we took so many photos, that we are going to try and write a separate entry for each place ie Luxor Temple, Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens...

So here goes, our first day in Luxor...

The train ride down wasnt anything special. When we got the tickets we asked for two seats next to each other, but the tickets came back with two seat numbers no where near each other. We questioned this and we assured that they were right next to each other, several times as we did keep asking! So what happened when we got on ...

Luxor journal: Luxor Temple

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:44:26 GMT

What can we say - one of the reasons for going to Luxor! Try and go shortly before dusk to see the place in daylight (but not too harsh light) and dusk and dark, the changing lights really does change the feeling of the place.

Nouakchott journal: Out come the sand mats

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:18:03 GMT

As you are not allowed to take alcohol out of Morocco, and Mauritania is almost a dry country (upwards of US$4 for a beer, who is going to pay that!?) we spent the last night in Morocco/Western Sahara burying all beer, wine and spirits deep inside the truck hoping they wouldn't be found. On all previous trips apparently the trucks had been searched and alcohol removed (lucky border guards!). So after all that effort, we didn't get searched at either border, all we lost was a jar of coffee (Tesco value instant coffee!) and a few tea bags to the Mauritanian guards. As soon as we left ...

Dakhlah journal: Western Sahara

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:57:29 GMT

I seem to be missing a lot of stuff out, about the camping, the trucks, our new friends...We have camped on rocky football pitches, sandy hollows, in wind, rain and beautiful starlight, on a range of 'proper' campgrounds, and have slept in the truck (cook group privilege). We are part of a cook group of three - teamed up with a neat girl from Holland called Lous. When our turn comes round, we have to shop for and prepare lunch, dinner and breakfast. We have had to dig the truck out a couple of times already, once from mud and once from sand. Its hard work, but fun so far. I'm sure ...

Dahab journal: Swimming with the fishes

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:10:57 GMT

I think last time we wrote, we were going to take a bus to Hurghada and then take the boat to Sharm El Sheik and on to Dahab. About 10 minutes before the bus left, we changed our minds and bought tickets to Suez instead, with the idea of staying there one night and catching another bus to Dahab, saving ourselves about 200 Egyptian pounds each. It meant more time sat on a bus, but we got to Dahab just after the people that took the expensive option. We didnt have any time to look round Suez, at the canal or anything, as our bus arrived late and the next one left early the following ...

Gibraltar journal: The Rock - Starting the Trans.

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:36:39 GMT

We are traveling from Gibraltar to Cape Town in a large truck with 22 other people, none of whom we knew before we started this crazy venture (well, apart from Matt and Hanna from Southampton who we met up with a little bit before.) After much debate and perusing of brochures, we picked to do the trans with. Why did we pick them? I guess they seemed to provide the best deal, seemed like value for money, looked a decent company, and passed the gut feeling test. Why are we doing the trans? We want to see Africa and this is cheapest and easiest way we found.

We all met up at Luton ...

Marrakech journal: Rainy days and nights

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:35:20 GMT

All I can say about Morocco is that the weather this time of year sucks. On the coastal side of the Atlas mountains it is very wet; we have had some amazing thunder storms. The desert side has been hot and sunny during the day, but cold at night. Morocco has been interesting though, Colin has found it better than he thought (based on a previous trip), not as much hassle from touts etc. We have mostly been round cities so far, Rabat, Meknes, Casablanca, Fes and now Marrakesh. We stopped at the Roman ruins of Volubilis, walked around Todra Gorge, had a camel ride in the desert staying ...

Argaka journal: Nicosia (and home)

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 01:21:08 GMT

Going to Nicosia was a long day. We all went as far as Larnica, where we had a look around the paleontology museum. It was small, but ok, and we were lucky to get in as it was about to be closed for a clean-up following flooding a few days ago. We couldnt get into the municipal museum, in the same building, as that had already been closed.

Mum and Jo stayed behind in Larnica while Dad, Colin and I went another 1/2 hour or so along to the divided capital of Nicosia. We parked just outside the odl city walls, had a quick lunch, then set off for our afternoons exploring.

We ...

Argaka journal: Less ruins and more mountains

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:52:22 GMT

We took a well maintained secondary road over the hills at the base of the Akamas peninsular. The road wound almost straight up, across a small plateau then straight off the other side, with some good views all the way. We stopped in a village called Agios Georgios where there is a 6th century basilica and other ruins with some more mosaics. The site was smaller than we’ve seen already, but the foundations had been reconstructed better and it was easier to see what was what.

From there we went up to the Avagas Gorge. We walked along a gravel track for about 1km before actually ...

Argaka journal: The first few days

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:28:27 GMT

We (Mum, Dad, Colin, my sister Jo and I) left Stanstead early on a typical charter flight. We were all squished in for the 4 ½ hour flight to Paphos, watching the movie in silence as we didn’t pay the extra for the headphones.

England was wet and chilly when we left, but Cyprus was a lovely warm, sunny 26C. We picked up the hire car (a Citroen Berlingo - underpowered, ugly, but fitted us all in with our bags) and headed off for the villa.

The villa is just outside a village called Argaka, north of Paphos. It had three bedrooms, a good size living area, and a pool - great ...

Cyprus journal: A Week in Cyprus

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:24:26 GMT

Notes and pictures from the week we spent in Cyprus (the Greek part) with my parents and sister.

Rarotonga journal: Diving and Walking

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 22:41:56 GMT

More diving of course. Friday we had a morning off and went for a long walk along the old inner ring road and back along the beach. The afternoons dive was back at Paradise Reef for a navigation dive. That went well, and we even had time after all the compass work and counting kicks to just swim round and look at the reef and fish. That was our last course dive, and we are now advanced open water divers.

Saturday we had a day off from diving, but didn’t sit back and relax. We went into Avarua in the morning for a look around the big Saturday market. Plenty of fruit and veges, ...

Rarotonga journal: Arriving and organising some diving

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:40:21 GMT

London to Rarotonga in one go is a long flight. We stopped for a few hours in LA, what a hassle! We had to go through customs and passport control just to get to the transit lounge. Mind you, it wasn’t really a transit lounge, we did kind of enter the US and then leave again, we could have taken off into the night if we’d wanted to. Next stop was Papeete; we always seem to stop in Tahiti to change planes, never to visit.

Finally we made it to Rarotonga, landing early Sunday morning. We were met in a van and were out at the hostel (Backpackers International Hostel, West Coast, ...

Cook Islands journal: Rarotonga

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:39:42 GMT

A last break before having to find work and a place to live. 10 days diving, exploring and relaxing (although diving and exploring are our ways of relaxing!)

Heathrow Airport journal: We havent actually left yet, but...

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 21:56:09 GMT

...whle we were wandering around heathrow, we had a nosy at the bank of computers, and someone had left some credit in one. So here we are, not having left the country yet, and making our first entry. Heathrow Airport - big and right now, really boring! Its too early for much to be happening.

More later (once we have been somewhere and done something).

Whangarei journal: Nearly time to leave!

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 22:18:54 GMT

1 day to go! Then we're off, our first trip for a while. Lets hope its a good one, full of exciting places, interesting people and fun things to do.

Keep reading folks!

New Zealand journal: Around New Zealand

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:39:31 GMT

Welcome to New Zealand. This is not a travelogue as such, this is to showcase this beautiful country of ours. We'll add entries as and when. Keep checking back - this travelogue will never close.

Dubai journal: No easy internet access so here is Dubai all in one go!

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:45:36 GMT

We'd liked to have written a bit sooner about Dubai, but the place we were staying had all these controls on the internet, and our host was never there for us to get him to relax some of them. So here we are, now in the UK, writing about what we got up to in Dubai.

Despite all the internet controls, we stayed with a great host, Michael, in an awesome apartment by Dubai marina. We were on the 38th floor with awesome views along the beach, about halfway between the Jumeira Palm and Jebel Ali Palm developments. Luxury I'm sure we could become accustomed to!

We managed to see ...

The World journal: Brunei - Dubai - UK January 2007

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:46:29 GMT

A trip home for family birthdays, stopping to explore Brunei and Dubai along the way.