Tetapkan semula carian
Travels
  • Izzi and Tom
Sedang dalam perjalanan
Okt 2018 – Sep 2025

Travels

Here we go!!! Baca lagi
IkutiRingkasanKalendarKongsiKongsiSenarai baldi
Paling lama dahulu
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 44/72: North to South!

    10 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We woke up early in Wellington and got up with everyone else who was going on the morning ferry over to South Island. It was a nice quiet night and the ducks were back in the morning. We headed over to the ferry after breakfast (surprisingly expensive ferry!) and did the whole queueing for ages in long lanes. We ate breakfast to pass the time.

    The ferry was a ferry and the 3 hours were spent playing cards, looking at the view, reading and going out onto the deck to marvel at the hills and cliffs around us, whilst we turned blue in the cold wind.

    We then drove up to Motueka, the place where Izzi was booked to do her skydive (more on that later). We made 2 stops on the way, one for cherries from one of many orchards/plantations that we passed along the route, covered in vast netting that protected the plants from birds, and another for a very scenic lunch overlooking what seemed like a lake, but was actually the sea surrounded by interlocking mountains and hills.

    We drove all the way through Motueka (and made a note to explore it a little more the next day) and ended up in a place called Marahau. Here was a campsite overlooking the sea and we set up the van, applied lots of sun cream, donned santa hats and went for a run along the coastal path. The run was great and just what we needed after a day of sitting. We contented ourselves with some chicken and tomato pasta for dinner, and read until the light faded on the day.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 43/72: Wellington

    9 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Today we travelled from the Tongariro National Park to Wellington. It was a long drive, so we set off early in the morning, with a stop at a bakery for breakfast. We got stale bread, barely defrosting but sopping wet banana cake, and carrot cake that even Tom didn't finish, and decided that New Zealand is too far from France to have good bakeries.

    The drive was beautiful, watching the mountains fade in our rearview mirror. Wellington seemed like a very cool city, plenty of surfing and skate shops for us to look around at length. We had the most awful milkshakes from a café (like drinking a pint of warm whipped cream with some cookies crumbled in) and bought plenty of Christmas decorations for the campervan. We got to the campsite and cooked the first meat we've cooked all the time we've been in NZ (steaks) and settled in for the night. Unfortunately not a good photo day, but the sun was shining and we were both smiling a lot, I'm sure.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 42/72: Tongariro Crossing

    8 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We woke up early to get the shuttle bus to the start of the Tongariro Crossing! It was a cold morning and we were walking up to over 1800m so we wrapped up warm. We wolfed down big bowls of cereal, made some ham and cheese cobs and set off for the bus.

    The bus was full and we arrived at the crossing with about 40 other people. There were already lots of people there, it was a beautiful Saturday after all and the weather promised to stay clear and dry. We began the walk pretty much as soon as we got off the bus, interestingly the driver who took us there becomes responsible for anyone who they bring to the crossing, and has to ensure that they are finished by the end of the day and if not the driver has to go and find them.

    The scenery was fantastic, mountains right in front of us and snow capped peaks looming up from the lava rock that we were walking across. The crowds had come in droves though and at the start it felt a lot like quick queueing instead of hiking. But as Izzi marched on ahead, overtaking people as if she had somewhere to be, the crowds thinned out and walking became much more pleasant. The first section was all uphill and before long we'd stopped to take off all our layers, change into shorts and layered on the suncream. The scenery was brilliant all the way: you'll see in the pictures.
    The path was decent too, gravel and staired, and then we came over a ridge and for about a mile it was completely flat with mountains to our left and right. It felt like a huge crater on the moon (or what you'd imagine that to look like if you walked across it). We then had to scramble out of the crater on the other side, and at the top stopped to have a waffle and an apple, and sit looking over the rolling hills and mountains around us, truly spectacular! We carried on up the hill and below the top of the peak we saw 3 lakes steeply below us, with steam rising from random points in the ground. The walk down there was tricky, patches of loose dry mud that sank under your feet, and gravel on top of very hard dry rock which made you skid. At this point we felt sorry for the people struggling in trainers and plimsoles, and we slightly wondered at the end if they had fallen or not. It was tough going and the steam began to drift across the path, filling out heads with the smell of badly rotten eggs (this won't quite translate in the pictures). We walked around the lakes, taking lots of photos and then left quickly as the stench was getting to us.

    The hike from that point was all downhill, and the landscape below us began to reveal itself. It was stunning, and we were walking towards it and could see for miles. What a great hike! The further we got down, the more the landscape changed. The greener the plants got and the higher they grew. After a few hours, we'd gone from walking through barran desert to walking through a lush green forest. It'd taken us 5 and a half hours of walking, and we sat at the end waiting for the bus to take us back to the campsite, feeling very fulfilled and thinking about the views we'd just seen. Unfortunately, we had done it a bit quicker than expected, and the first bus back wasn't expected for at least another hour, so we sat in the sun and baked for a bit.

    The entire walk was dotted with signs of what to do if the volcano erupts, and "Caution- you are now entering a lahar flow zone- move quickly and don't stop. If you hear noise from upstream, run." which made it interesting.

    After a good half an hour on a bus, we realised just how tired we were and read for the rest of the afternoon and evening in the dappled sunlight split by trees over our campervan. It was a fab day!    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara
    2

    Day 41/72: sledging and Tongariro

    7 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We woke up, as promised by Peter (who ran the campsite) with a loaf of warm bread outside the door. It was wonderful. After the fun of rafting the day before we had signed up to do sledging with the same company. It was just me and Tom and 2 guides in a group, and we hiked to the same stretch of river that we had rafted the day before, only just below the huge waterfall. We watched a few rafts come down the waterfall: one flipped over and no one managed to hold on. Amateurs.

    Then we jumped in the water with our sledges and flippers and kicked our way down the huge rapids. It was so much fun, diving under the rapids and getting pulled around. Our guides pushed us into the insane bits of the waterfalls and cruised ahead to catch us when we eventually got spit out.

    At the end of the stretch of river they announced we were going to do some river surfing. This involves going straight for the rapid from underneath, and balancing on the bit where the water falls down the short waterfall on your sledge. Absolutely great, and we both nailed the flip the first time, something the guides were impressed with.

    One near drowning incident and one swollen and huge nose (Toms- very amusing) later, we got back on the bus and headed back to our van. After buying Tom a bag of peas to put on his face, we started the drive to Tongariro: the mountain area we are walking from tomorrow to do the Alpine Crossing. The drive was beautiful; going past Lake Taupo and the mountains in the background.

    When we got to the campsite we both decided to go for a shorter walk to warm up for tomorrow, so headed out on the trails to a waterfall about 2 miles away. The trail was beautiful and the sky was blue and cloudless.

    After a huge dinner, we settled in early for the night. Another action packed day ahead of us!    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 40/72: Zorbing, Rafting, Pools

    6 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    We did a lot today, it's a good read but wanted to get it all in. Enjoy!

    Having booked zorbing the previous night, we woke up early, breakfasted and headed off to the zorbing place. For those that may be unfamiliar to what zorbing entails, it is an adventure activity, where one sits in the centre of a large inflatable ball (if you imagine a hamster in a ball for relative size) in a small pool of warm water, and is then pushed off the top of a large hill, where one proceeds to roll down, either on a straight line course or on a zig zag course, being thrown about and generally slipping and sliding until it reaches the bottom. It's one of those activities you see around and never do, so we gave it a go.

    And you know what, it was a great laugh.

    Completely pointless, with no skill involved whatsoever. We opted for the zig zag course, got driven to the top of the hill, both dived in to the big ball, got told to hold onto each other or it'd all end up in tears, and then got pushed down the hill. It was hilarious and we laughed all the way down, uncontrollably being thrown about. We clambered out and then spent the next 20 minutes in the hot tub, as people started to arrive for the day. Glad to have missed the rush, we headed off feeling a lot more awake than we had before!

    It was raining hard by that point so we drive to a supermarket to get supplies for the next few days. Then headed to the rafting centre!

    We'd been tempted by the rafting a) because neither of us had rafted before (not sure how weve avoided it over the years of various adventure activities) and b) because you can raft over the highest commercially available waterfall the world has to offer. Just to clear it up, the rafting we did is where 6 people sit in an inflatable boat with an instructor at the rear, and paddle down a section of a river with rapids and waterfalls, not the rafting where you build one out of wood, rope and barrels. Anyhoo, the centre was brilliant as you can imagine a NZ adventure centre to be. Everyone was unbelievably cool and there was a collie with relentless enthusiasm for playing fetch. We got kitted up and hopped on a bus to the start of the river section.

    Little bit of info about the Kaituna River (Kai stands for food, tuna for eel). It was a great source of food in old tribal Mauri days and tribes would often battle the current tribe who claimed the river (who still own it to this day). The river was a blessing to the tribe, as it provided them with food and water, so tribesmen who fell in battle would be lowered into the river to be devoured by the eels. They were then carried to the caves that the river flowed over and buried in these tombs. Therefore, before you enter the river and go over a certain waterfall that a tribal king was buried under, they do a Mauri prayer/chant to the elders that says thank you for allowing us to enjoy the river and please don't hurt us along the way. Great addition to the activity and we felt honoured to be a part of it.

    So we set off. The rapids were great and the first waterfalls a great laugh. We then came to the big waterfall and got told there'd be 4 scenarios. 1) everyone stays in the boat and the boat stays upright. 2) The boat stays upright but some people fall out. 3) The boat flips upside down and everyone is holding on around the edge underneath the boat in the water. 4) The boat flips upside down and everyone gets thrown out and dragged down the river. There was no guarantee of any of them as each scenario is as likely as the other. So we paddled towards the edge of the 6m cliff and hunkered down as we dropped over the edge, plunged into the water and came up surprisingly in scenario 1. It was brilliant fun! We then went down the river, going over smaller waterfalls and messing around in rapids. Izzi volunteered to kneel at the front of the raft, and we paddled hard upstream into the flow of the rapid. The water flowed into the raft and drenched us all, and Izzi forgetting to hold on, got flipped in slow motion over the front and under the water. Having visions of her being barrelled under the rapids at centre parks, it was a great relief to see her bobbing along down the river. We pulled her back in and made our way down to the finish, and back to the centre. Brilliant activity!!!

    We got dressed and finished off lunch before heading to check into the overnight stop. It was in the front yard of a house, and a gentleman came down from his workshop to greet us. He was very welcoming, showed us around and told us about features of the local area, and told us he'd bring out a loaf of warm bread in the morning for breakfast before we left. Really nice guy! We took his advice and went down to some hot spring pools that he'd recommended.

    These pools were a great mixture of relaxing and weird. It was a shallow lake about the size of a large swimming pool with a couple of tributaries coming into it. The water was muddy and scummy but apparently very bathable so we got in and hoped for the best. It was the temperature of a hot bath, heated only by the springs beneath it. There were patches of really hot and really cold water, and some areas around the edges that were well above 50°C that were avoided even by the most seasoned, local leathery bathers. We spend a decent time in there, taking photos of the scenery and trying not to get burned by the hot sections. A very relaxing afternoon.

    After we'd got out and sprayed the orange sheen we'd acquired off, we headed for the town to meet 2 of Izzi's old school friends who happened to be in New Zealand at the time in the same town. Such a small world! We met them on the main food street (called Eat Streat) and had a nice evening catching up and having. All in all, a very busy day!

    Sadly all the photos are on the GoPro which I haven't downloaded yet, so wait out for those!    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara
    3

    Day 39/72: Glow worms

    5 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We woke up early and drove for an hour to Waitomo- a tiny village which is famous for a huge labyrinth of caves underneath the hillside, absolutely full of glow worms. We had signed up to do 'black labyrinth', and as we got into our wetsuits and picked up a huge rubber ring, we learnt this was going to involve going through the cave in the rubber ring while looking at glow worms.

    The caves involved a lot of scrambling to get into, and were incredibly dark in places. The water was freezing cold, and we both ended up shivering. The sections of the cave (once we had ducked under stalagtites and jumped backwards off waterfalls and paddled along freezing stretches of river) where we lay on our backs and formed a train and looked up at the glow worms shining above us were absolutely magical. About 5 minutes from the end they got everyone to turn off their helmet lights and we all played a game called 'guess the way out' - if you can't see the glow worms then you've gone wrong.

    The experience left us slightly numb, in awe, and so ready for the soup and bagels at the end of the trip.

    We drove on to our next stop: Rotorua. A supposedly beautiful huge lake, however it just has huge cities around it and we couldn't get close enough to the lake to see it properly. The campsite we were at felt like someone's back garden, however had hot pools heated from the ground underneath--rotorua seems to be a massive source of geothermal activity. We went for a walk and a quick run up in a forest of redwoods, which was lovely.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 38/72: Raglan

    4 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Our day started with thunder and lightening over the campsite! Tom decided to go for a beach run in the rain, and when he got back we both went for a swim in the sea, approximately 10m from our campervan. The water was cold, and the rain didn't do much to warm us, but the black sand beach and the hills surrounding the water was spectacular.

    We had breakfast in our campervan, and headed to the village of Raglan to wander around the shops and contemplate how we could get either surfboards or skateboards back on the plane to the UK.

    We got pulled pork sandwiches for lunch and then headed to one of the world famous surfing beaches and sat in our camper van and watched the surfers while eating. The waves were consistently big and incredible to watch.

    After a walk down onto the beach to play some tictactoe on the sand, we sat in our campervan and played a few games of cards while we waited for our surfing lesson. The lesson was great! The waves were big, and we are both improving a lot, and eager to get back in the water. It hurts a lot less to fall off a surf board than a wakeboard (at least on small waves anyway)! The instructor was absolutely great, but bizarre: very much a surfer dude.

    We drove to a pub and had a ridiculous amount of food for dinner, our eyes were somewhat bigger than our stomachs, and we got an early night.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara
    2

    Day 37/72: Hot Water Beach/Cathedral Cov

    3 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    The rain was on its way out as we got up and breakfasted this morning. An exciting day was ahead! The plan was to go to Hot Water Beach in the morning, head over to Cathedral Cove, and then drive to Raglan for a day of surfing the next day.

    Hot Water Beach was brilliant, and we're so glad we went all this way to see it. We arrived and parked up, rented a little spade and headed for the beach. At low tide, there in an area on this beach, which must be a couple of hundred metres long, where hot springs bubble up through the sand. This only happens in an area of about 40x20m and some areas are much hotter than others. You'd step on one bit of sand, cool under your feet, and then the next stride you'd jump in shock as you scalded the bottom of your foot! We found an area not currently occupied and dug our waterhole, mixing an area of very hot water and cold water. It created a nice bath like temperature and we settled down, watching the sea and taking photos, laughing with everyone else at how bizzare this experience was and trying not to rest our heels in the boiling part of our hole. As the tide came up, the water got cooler and we abandoned our morning bath. As we handed back the spade, the cafe owner said that today was a great day for it, as there was only 30 people or so in the area. On some days, if the tide falls at a popular time, the beach is known to have thousands of visitors in one tide, all crowding around this small area of sand. Very pleased, we went on our way to Cathedral Cove.

    Cathedral Cove is a beach with a huge rock archway leading to another beach, all in a cove. Its very impressive and we got the impression that you could only really get there by boat or kayak. As the water was choppy, neither were running but we found out you could do a few hour round walk and get there along the coast. We prepped with suncream and a couple of cheese toasties, and walked along the cliffs, admiring the scenery and jumping at goats that stuck their heads out of the bushes on the sides of the track. The cove was impressive, with huge waves crashing on the sand and against the rocks that stood resolutely in the middle of the bay. We walked along the sand, taking photos, walking through the archway and being blasted by wind and salt off the sea. It looked like a beach you might see someone stranded on, on a large desert island. The walk back was just as enjoyable and by mid afternoon we were back and ready to drive to Raglan.

    The drive was easy and apart from a landslide that blocked the road we were on, high above a raging river, very safe. The driving was just as good as the day before and we saw the best rainbows of our lives, so clear! We arrived at Raglan and booked to have a surf session the next day. We again were situated right next to the sea so went for a walk along the black sand beach past people fishing and a woman playing the diggerydoo as the sun fell over the land. We made tortellini for dinner, and as it started to drizzle (learning more and more not to predict NZ weather) we got ready for bed with Buble's Christmas album playing through the van.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 36/72: Kayaking and Driving

    2 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We woke up in our campervan feeling very chuffed with ourselves that we'd had a good night's sleep. The sky was clear and sunny and the day beckoned. We had our cereals of choice, museli and cocopops, and packed up the campervan ready for the off.

    We wanted to kayak around the bay of islands as it looked very beautiful, however the kayak tour place said the tour around the islands had been cancelled due to waves and weather, so we could only rent kayaks that day. Not to worry though, we duly hired a kayak and after assuring the guide that we weren't going to drown, paddled out into the bay, and upstream along a shallow estuary towards supposed waterfalls. As we paddled we sang and looked at the wildlife around us, herons and black and white cormorants flying around. We caught up with a huge tour group of people from a cruise, going in all directions over the river and as we paddled by we felt very glad we hadn't spent double the money on that particular tour.

    As we rounded a bend and came across the waterfalls which were surprisingly big! The water crashed over the rocks and made for great watching from the bottom as we hid behind a boulder and took photos. After we'd looked our fill, we paddled back against the tide in equally good spirits. We dodged the tour group again and came across a Maori boat, headed by a couple of huge Kiwi's in full tribal gear, grunting and calling to the 30 or so tourists paddling. As we passed by, the captain bellowed and as all paddles raised into the air, everyone turned their heads in unison and gave us a war cry!

    The kayaking finished, we got changed and got back in the van. A long drive of around 5-6 hours was ahead, so we set off, initially for the campervan hire place to pick up the satnav charger they had neglected to give us the day before. The trip was uneventful, the roads a motorcyclists paradise, and the scenery constantly keeping us alert and interested. It can be best described as driving through a mix of Scotland and Wales. Either winding mountain passed or dead straight over flat plains, they made for great driving. We picked up the cable without a hitch and carried onto next destination, Coromandel and hot water beach /Cathedral Cove. They're a long way out, as you'll be able to see on the map, but well worth the drive.

    We arrived at the chosen campsite and had a spot high up looking over the sea. We had a quick wander on the beach, and then made a dinner of spaghetti and tomato sauce (there may be a theme to our meals for a while). By then, night had already fallen, so we set up for the night and listened to the pitter patter of the rain, and the crashing of the sea as we drifted off to sleep.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara
    1

    Day 35/72: campervanning!

    1 Disember 2018, New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    This morning we left the hostel and picked up our campervan! It is really well equipped, with a bed that folds down in the back and chairs and tables and cooker and sink (and portapotty but we are ignoring that). The drive north was wonderful, very similar to driving through the pretty parts of Wales. Sheep galore, and plenty of rolling hills for good views. The van is automatic, which takes some getting used to, but at least they drive on the right (left!) side of the road here.

    A few hours later we had arrived at the Bay of Islands. We drove along the beach and checked out a few campsites before landing on one with incredible views across the bay.

    The afternoon consisted of wandering down the beach and marvelling at the number of sand flies and at the wonderful view over the islands. A wonderful evening of cooking pasta and drinking cups of tea next to the water later, we are tucked away inside our van feeling very cosy (and the night looks to be threatening rain so glad to not be the people in the tent right next to us!).    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 34/72: another day in Auckland

    30 November 2018, New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We woke up to our whale watching trip having been cancelled due to the weather, which was drizzly and windy and cloudy- probably fair enough to cancel the trip. We spent the morning sat with the person on the travel desk at the hostel discussing what we could do around New Zealand- some very exciting activities planned now!

    For lunch we got bacon and cheese pancakes from a Korean pancake stall- absolutely incredible, and ate them in the park. We window shopped for a bit along the expensive highstreet, and thought about buying jumpers and hoodies, as we aren't packed particularly well for rain and cold...

    We both got quite restless so decided to go for a run through the parks and up to Mount Eden- a dormant volcano just outside the city centre. The views were incredible, if slightly foggy.

    Auckland have a system kind of like Boris bikes in London where you can pick up an electric scooter and unlock it with an app and drop it off anywhere by the side of the road for the next person who comes across it, so instead of running all the way back home we hopped on 2 scooters and rode back down the hills.

    We went out for a nice pasta meal for dinner and finished the evening with tiramisu. Unfortunately when we got back to the hostel a girl decided to start throwing mattresses around and swearing at everyone because she didn't want a top bunk but it was the only one without someone sleeping in it... It was about 2 in the morning when a different guy came in and asked why she had put his bed on the floor, so she found another room!

    Looking forward to not being in a hostel tomorrow as we are picking up our campervan!    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 33/72: A day in Auckland

    29 November 2018, New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    After the events of the night before, we managed to get into the hostel and sleep at about 0400! Blimey we were tired, and ended up crashing until about midday! We decided to head out for some lunch, which was more of a breakfast anyway, lots of eggs and bacon.

    After breakfast, we headed to one of the cities parks to sit and plan some of what we were going to do in NZ. This was a great idea as the park was lovely and felt/smelled very British. We sat in the sun and moved quickly to the shade as it was a very hot day. We planned our 10 or so days in the North Island, before planning where we were going to stay over Christmas and NY. Everywhere around Queenstown was booked, and after ringing around, we got some advice. The site receptionist said "right, I can hear you're not from here so let me tell you how the Christmas thing works. Through the year we limit our site to 100 guests. Over Christmas and NY, ie the NZ summer holidays, we have over 5000 Kiwi's decend on our site alone, and spend it there with their friends and families. If I can give you any advice, get out of the most popular areas, you'll be swamped by people if you try and stay in these places, and tbh most of them will be booked up months in advance" (she was right). "If I were you, book somewhere quiet with fantastic scenery inbetween the coast and the city, so you can still move around, but enjoy Christmas at the same time!" Strong words, but we took heed and hopefully it'll pay off!

    Feeling much better after having some structure to the next couple of weeks, we headed down the main street looking in shops and generally taking in the city. We wandered down to the harbour and had a look at what day trips Auckland had to offer. We were enticed by the whale watching safari, something we were both really keen to do, so booked that for the following day (writing this in retrospect, it was sadly cancelled due to weather conditions, but not to worry, we have something planned for later in the trip!). We then headed back to the hostel, a strange place where the reception and pool/table tennis area is occupied by loads of people, not just hostel guests. We had a few games of pool, then trash talk turned to bowling so we went up the road and had a game. Interestingly enough in NZ, the barriers can only be raised for under 12's no matter how hard you protest, which put Izzi at a great disadvantage.

    After the bowling, we headed for dinner and came across a very small pizza place, tucked away in a corner. They served brilliant pizzas though, and we enjoyed an extra cheesy margarita and a carbonara pizza, they were lovely. We then headed back to the hostel and played another couple of games of pool to finish off the day.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 31/72: A day on the Gold Coast

    27 November 2018, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Today we went down to the Gold Coast for the day, an area known for its extremely long beach and surfing. We didn't know exactly what we were going to do there, but got the train (equipped with questionable savoury muffins) there to have a look around.

    The journey took just over an hour, and from the train we took a tram which went down the coast, about 1km from the beach front. We got off early and walked to the beach. It wasn't something we'd seen before. Dotted along the coastline, right on the beach front, were areas that looked like major cities, with skyscrapers, but were really the size of large towns! It was quite odd, walking along the soft sand, watching the waves crashing and being disturbed by the wind, and then looking right and looming above you a 70 story building. It's always nice to be back on a beach, and we wandered along the sand towards the city. The sea was relatively choppy and the weather cool, so there were very few people surfing but we could see how the beach would be ideal for it.

    There were areas of swimmers, so after a while we put down our stuff and jumped in. The waves, however choppy for surfers, were great for swimming and diving around in, and we spent a good while body surfing and diving through the waves.

    After we'd got cold and hungry, we got out and the sun came out to dry us off, we sat and read our books for ages, until about 3 when we went to a beach front cafe to have burgers and iced tea/coffee. The burgers were fab and suitably full we went back to the beach to do some more reading. The sun began to drop behind the buildings so we gathered our stuff and as we walked back up the beach towards the tram, we had a mini photo shoot in the light between the gaps in the skyscrapers.

    We got the train back to Brisbane and as we were heading back to the hostel, decided we needed something small to get us through to breakfast, so stopped at a churros cafe we'd seen the day before and had, well, churros. They were very good with the dark and white chocolate dipping sauces and we sat on the street, reading and watching the world go by. We ended up staying there, getting more iced teas, for a good hour and a half and left only when they were closing up the cafe!
    A very relaxed day overall, our last full day in Australia! The time has flown by and it seems so odd that we're going onto NZ already! We've had a fantastic time in Australia though, and before the flight tomorrow we're going to do some more wandering, and look around Brisbane for the morning/lunch.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 30/72: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

    26 November 2018, Australia ⋅ 🌬 32 °C

    The day started with a debate about whether we should got to the Australia Zoo or to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We decided that Lone Pine was probably more our thing- our reasoning being that it was probably more like the Owl and Hawk Conservancy (one of our favourite days out back home).

    We got an uber to the sanctuary and made it in just in time for the wild lorikeet feeding! We held up plates of oat mixture and the little colourful birds came down and sat on the edges of the bowl to feed. Izzi got pooed on, but that's lucky isn't it?

    After a clean up we went into the Kangeroo enclosure which was like a large park, and wandered around their huge paddock watching them lazily hop around and eat food that people were giving them, very similar to the stuff you'd feed animals at a family farm. We walked past the enclosures for loads of Australian animals- they had freshwater crocodiles (smaller, thankfully, than their saltwater cousins), they had dingoes and tons of koalas!

    We went to a sheep dog show which was really good: the border collies they used to use in Australia found it a bit too hot working on the farms, so they bred their own type of sheep dog which is 15% dingo. The dog was great, and when the sheep were in a tight enough enclosure would get up on the sheep's backs to run across them- much safer than being on the ground with them. We spent a while talking to the farmer about sheep farms in Australia and the training process for the dogs.

    After getting some iced teas to cool off we went to hold a koala. They were surprisingly heavy, soft and quite complacent with being held! They all seemed completely nonplussed by the days activities.

    We went to the snake keeper talk, who taught us basic first aid if you are bitten by a snake; not something we get taught in first aid classes back in the UK. The sanctuary had two of the most venomous snake in the world, and luckily the keeper told us that there was no way to tell which snakes were venomous or which aren't unless you're amazing at telling apart every type of snake. But there is a universal anitivenom so no need to bring the snake to the hospital, and if you put a compression bandage over the bite and lie down, you can salvage yourself 9 hours where if you ran to a car and didn't compress the wound, you'd be in a coma in 3 minutes. Wow!

    The next talk was the koala keeper talk, they sleep for 20 hours a day and eat nearly 1kg of eucalyptus each day each. The eucalyptus cutters have to cut more than half a ton of eucalyptus a day for all the koalas at the sanctuary. They only like 40 of about 800 species of eucalyptus and of that only eat the juiciest leaves at the very top, fussy animals!

    The platypuses (platypi? Help!) were really cool- they are nocturnal and lived in a dark house thing. They weren't blue, nor did they look like they solved crime very well. The males are venomous though! They have a venomous spike on their heel which can cause excruciating pain in humans that morphine can't subdue. Also, they're an egg laying mammal, so don't have teats but secrete milk through the skin of their stomachs so that the babies can drink it out of a furry milk pool on the mother!

    The Tasmanian Devil talk was good- it started with the handler giving them half a rabbit and the next 1/2 hour they fought over the best bits. They are named this way because they scream, so people thought they were devils or ghosts.

    We went on a quest to find the wombats next- a pretty tough task because they are nocturnal. We spotted one asleep in a tube in his enclosure though. He was huge! Much bigger than you'd imagine, about the size of a large pillow! As a defence mechanism, wombats have a large flat bottom that they can use to crush anything against the sides or ceiling of their homes if say a snake was to slither in unawares when they were asleep.

    After some more feeding of the kangaroos (the grown up males were huge and muscly, the joeys were all so cute), we headed out for the day. Interestingly, any marsupial gives birth to a joey, which is about the size of a jelly bean. The joey then crawls it's way up into the pouch, and latches onto a teat and stays there until it is fully developed. It's more than likely for a kangeroo to have more than one joey in its pouch at once, one tiny one and one nearly fully developed one.

    After we got back into Brisbane, we went to the cinema to watch Fantastic Beasts and had a burrito. Both were good but interestingly enough they don't have sweet popcorn in Australia! After the film we wandered around to some lagoons by the river and then headed back to the hostel.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 29/72: Airlie Beach back to Brisbane

    25 November 2018, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Sunday was a lazy day. We got up and checked out of the hostel, as we were flying back to Brisbane in the evening. We spent the morning lying down at the lagoon - really cool pools in the middle of the park for swimming in just off the beach! It seemed to be the thing that everyone does ona Sunday, loads of people lounging about. After some very relaxed swims, and a lot of sunbathing we wandered back past all the surf shops (not without buying some essential shorts and swimming stuff).

    We even saw Bella (one of our really good friends from LHS) which was lovely and it was so odd to see someone so close to home so far away! We then got picked up and taken by a bus back to the Airport to fly back to Brisbane.

    The evening in Brisbane was relaxing - we went to a Chinese restaurant and got dumplings and a beef soup, all really tasty and surprisingly cheap! We then got back and finished our books, and now Tom has to read my sisters keeper and Izzi has to read the beach.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 28/72: Day 2 on the Reef

    24 November 2018, Great Barrier Reef ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    What a day! We woke up to the light from the sunrise coming through the fly sheet on our swag. It was about 0445, so we pulled up a chair and sat on our pontoon, looking over the reef, drowsily saying hi to our fellow reefsleepers who'd also woken up to catch it. We watched the sky turn from deep red through to blue as the sun that we had watched set the night before, rose to announce another day in Australia. While the sun was rising over the reef we happened to see a reef shark swimming along the edge of the reef! A very rare sight that close to the pontoon! It was such an experience, and we got another hours happy sleep before breakfast.

    We packed up the swags and headed for a breakfast of toast, bacon and eggs, yoghurt (yo-gurd), and fruit. Delicious! After our breakfast a turtle decided to join us by the edge of the pontoon. We then chilled out and read in the morning sun, feeling the wind slowly pick up before our morning activity; a surprise snorkel safari! The staff were kind enough to try and make time to take us out, although I'm sure they enjoyed the trip just as much as we did. They took us on a boat to the other side of the reef to experience something different. There were less fish on this side of the reef, but a much greater variety of coral which Katie the guide was very excited about. As everyone else got left behind in the strong current, we followed Katie along listening to her describing various aspects of the coral, how if you see blue tips it's good as that's growing coral, however if it's all blue it means it's stressed and is on the brink of bleaching (for example). It was very interesting stuff, and the more we slowed the more we saw. It was hard work swimming against the tide, a large one as it was the full moon, and we were almost glad to reach the pontoon for a break. Before long we were back in the water though, for a last swim before the day trippers arrived.

    The day followed similarly to the previous one. We snorkelled, daring to go deeper and swimming with a great variety of fish and turtles. We dived, and had Flic the same dive instructor as the day before. This was great as she let us off the leash early on, and we had a brilliant dive searching for baby lion fish, puffa fish, and swimming with Maggie who is about 1.5m long (insert her fish type when I remember). It was fantastic and got us hooked on diving, so much so that Izzi made contacts and got info about coming back and working on the reef to get diving qualifications! We had a lunch and one last snorkel (with turtles!!) and then it was time to say a sad goodbye to our little pontoon. We sat on the boat and watched the pontoon grow ever smaller, thinking back over the past couple of days dreamily as we made our way back to Airlee Beach.

    That evening we went for some pizza and banana/oreo milkshake, and returned to the hostel, shattered after a couple of the best couple of days of our lives.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 27/72: the best day ever!

    23 November 2018, Great Barrier Reef ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We woke up early and walked down to Airlie Port to board our boat out onto the Great Barrier Reef. The reefsleep guests (people spending the night on the reef) had their own tables reserved, and we spent some time filling in forms and getting our itinerary from a guide. During the beautiful 3 hour boat journey to the reef there were lots of presentations by the photography team (telling us how to order both the above water and underwater photos they would be taking through the day) and the diving team (giving us a demonstration on how to dive...) which we ended up booking straight away.

    Once we got to the reef, all the day guests and us scrambled onto the huge pontoon sat on the edge of the reef and we quickly put on our stinger suits and flippers and went for a snorkel. The reef was incredible, so many fish we couldn't count, and so many different types of coral.

    After morning tea and a buffet lunch, we were feeling sufficiently like we wouldn't float any more, and headed to the diving team for our dive. They set us up with weight belts, oxygen tanks and all the gear, and explained that we would go down into the moon pool (!) and practice kneeling underwater and breathing. Because it was an introductory dive, our guide explained she would be holding our hands, taught us some hand signals, and how to clear our ears every 1/2meter we went down. They also taught us how to inflate our life jackets if we ever found ourselves on our own or anything.

    The sensation of breathing underwater is absolutely bizarre, and concentrating on your breathing that much just feels weird. After a few minutes we ended up getting used to the feeling, and she grabbed both our hands and led us under the ledge out of the moon pool. After 5 minutes or so she asked if we were okay to let go of our hands, and we swam along side her, staring around in awe of all the coral and fish we were seeing. It was surprisingly hard to control whether we were sinking or floating, and more than once she ended up pulling us up or down to keep us at the right depth.

    We came back up absolutely buzzing, it was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life. She congratulated us on being quick to stop panicking, and spoke to us while we took off our tanks about how she'd ended up moving from London to Aus to become a scuba diving instructor.

    We snorkeled again until we had to get out to wave the 158 day passengers off on the boat back to the mainland, and the 14 of us reefsleep passengers had the pontoon to ourselves! We met the team who would be there over night, and quickly found a turtle nibbling at the seaweed growing on the edge of the pontoon. When the boat had safely got away we went snorkeling again with the turtle, who was completely unphased by us being there.

    We had to stop snorkeling by 5pm because it started to get dark, and the staff could no longer be on look out and rescue because they had jobs to do to prepare dinner. The staff always have one person out on look out and if the helicopter (that was doing trips all day) sees a shark on the reef (a scary one, not a reef shark) then they radio to the staff and they get in tenders and scare away the shark. They also have huge fish (about 2-3m long) living around the pontoon which are very territorial and gang up on any shark that comes into their territory. (or that's what they tell us to make us feel better, still slightly scary swimming over the 50m depth around the pontoon to the reef).

    The sunset was absolutely beautiful, we all had showers and had our antipasti platter and drinks while watching the sunset over the sea. The moon was very nearly full and the tides were quite big, the reef was really out the water. One of the boat guys took us on a trip up to where rivers run through the sea when the tide gets that low: a phenomenon that only happens every 6 months or so for one night. They seemed to think that a tide drop from 3.2m to 1m was big, I told them they hadn't seen Guernsey tides.

    Dinner was served, huge fillet steaks and a butter bay bug (some big shrimpy thing). Dessert was lovely; chocolate cake and lemon tart. One of the staff them took us down into the underwater observatory and helped us identify coral, sea snakes, crabs, and all kinds of fish floating past the windows.

    We headed up to our swag quite early, it had a clear panel where we could see the stars while lying on the comfy mattress, although it did get warm without any ac.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 26/72: Brisbane to Airlie Beach

    22 November 2018, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Today was another travel day! After an awful night's sleep at a hostel above a nightclub in Brisbane, Tom went for a long run in the morning around Brisbane, which was great and loads of runners/cyclists were out at 6 in the morning! We got the train to the airport, where our flight was delayed due to thunderstorms over the airport. We finally boarded our plane and arrived in Proserpine. A quick shuttle bus (with a very enthusiastic driver who told us about the places we passed through) to Airlie Beach and we found our hostel and got settled in. We grabbed burgers for dinner, and went for a walk down on the beach front where we ran into some friendly guys who were also staying at the hostel who invited us to come and join their barbecue on the beach. They served us completely raw chicken, which we ended up cooking for them so that it was edible, but the conversation and company was nice, and the beach was lovely.Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 25/72: Singapore to Brisbane

    21 November 2018, Australia ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    Today was a travelling day: a 8 hour flight from Singapore to Brisbane. Not the most exciting but we are finished with the southeast Asia part of our trip! Very sad to be leaving such a wonderful part of the world but looking forward to the weeks ahead!Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara
    2

    Day 24/72: Singapore day 2

    20 November 2018, Singapura ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We woke up and had a lazy breakfast at the hostel this morning, enjoying the cake we picked up from a bakery late last night. We got the MRT to the botanic gardens and spent an absolutely beautiful and very hot and humid morning wondering around the gardens. The gardens are huge, with so many different areas, lakes and trees, with rainforest sections, fountains of all kinds and English country garden sections to make us feel slightly at home in the sweltering heat.

    The really impressive part of the garden was the orchid gardens, which cost about £3 to enter, and were absolutely huge and gorgeous; crammed full of the most beautiful hybrids of orchids in the world. There is a whole heritage and vip section of the orchid gardens, where famous or influential people who come to Singapore botanic Gardens get an orchid hybrid bred and named in their honour. A special favourite of ours was the Princess Diana orchid, which was absolutely beautiful.

    The heat in Singapore is very different to the heat in Thailand. In Thailand the heat is the first thing you notice when you walk out the door, whereas in Singapore the heat kind of sneaks up on you, to the point where you don't realise how hot you are until you find it impossible to try to cool down. We walked around the orchid gardens baking in the heat, wishing desperately that there would be the slightest lick of wind to soothe us, and standing slightly too close to the fountains to try and get the cool water to possibly splash on us a tiny bit.

    Once we had exhausted the gardens we headed to Chinatown where we enjoyed a huge lunch at a Chinese restaurant. The lunch consisted of egg fried rice, sweet and sour pork and kung pow chicken, and was absolutely incredible. We were very obviously the only tourists in the restaurant and the only people who had no idea how the whole premise of sharing large plates of food worked, but luckily the waitress was very friendly and explained it all as she gave us forks instead of chopsticks...

    We spent a while wondering around the shops in Chinatown, marvelling at inner painted bottles. Our next stop was the Gardens by the Bay. This time we paid to go inside the Cloud Forest: a dome very like the Eden Centre, in that it's an environment inside a dome where many plants are grown. It's quite incredible, huge waterfall in the middle and clouds hovering to create environments for many different types of plant, including lots of carnivorous ones. The centre had lots to do and learn about, and at the end had a huge portion on climate change and how to do better.

    The next dome we went to was the Flower Dome, which wasn't quite as impressive as it seemed to be mainly dedicated to Christmas decorations... But included a lot of roses which smelt incredible.

    We walked across a very impressive bridge past part of the F1 track and wondered into a very expensive shopping centre and got an enormous chocolate brownie and dark chocolate cake from a chocolate shop called The Dark Gallery. It was incredible; the richest brownie, but still incredibly light and fluffy!

    Right now I am writing this blog post while Tom gets his hair cut at a very expensive barbours, and absolutely raves about having a head massage while they are washing his hair; 'I'm never washing my own hair again!'    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 23/72: Singapore

    19 November 2018, Singapura ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Woke early this morning and got packed ready to go to the airport. On the way in, Phuket airport was stressful so we gave ourselves plenty of time to check in etc. Luckily though, we passed through breezily and changed our 1000's of Baht for a disappointing amount of Singapore Dollars (the days of bartering in hundreds are behind us). We stepped off Thai soil, the feeling of leaving Thailand for good not quite sinking in, and flew on to our next stage of the trip, Singapore.

    We expected a change but even so, the difference between Thailand and Singapore is significant. We got on the train that runs above the streets of the city and looking down, saw what looks like those CGI make-ups of new building developments you see outside building sites, or on the internet. It's such a clean looking, modern city. Best compared to a large, well looked after European city like Brussels, with a distinct air of business. We got tourist 3 day underground/overground rail passes, and everyone speaks English so we arrived at the hostel with ease. We'd just set ourselves up on the bunk beds and decided to head out to explore, when the rain came down and the streets were suddenly rushing with water. We decided to wait for another 10 minutes before borrowing an umbrella from the hostel and making a run for it.

    The first stop on our exploring list was the long bar at Raffles Hotel, famous for making the cocktail the Singapore Sling. In this very bar in 1920, men would frequent to have a drink or 5 and observe the women walking along the street below. The women, who were not allowed to drink in those days, were given fruits and juices to drink. The barman at the time then came up with the idea of making a drink that looked like juice but adding clear spirits so the women could drink alcohol without being caught. It worked a treat and over time, dispelled the social norm that it was bad taste for women to drink alcohol. It's a gin based cocktail with cointreau, benedictine, pineapple juice, lime juice, grenadine and cherry liqueur. Extremely tasty! The bar itself was bizarre too! It had bamboo fans that wafted lazily overhead, and sacks of peanuts that you could eat and then drop the shells on the floor, so that it looked like the ground of a very chic monkey's house.

    The second stop was the Gardens by the Bay. We found these after going to the wrong station and having to walk through constriction site Singapore but that was soon forgotten. The beauty of the gardens in the post rain haze was incredible and they have these huge "trees" that help the environment in some way. We're returning tomorrow to find out more, as there are 2 glass houses, one with a huge flower garden and the other with a forest in a cloud. We aren't sure how they managed to catch the cloud yet...
    It was really quiet, which was strange as we were sure Singapore was a fairly touristy spot. We wandered around the gardens, taking photos of the trees (which as night fell had been lit with a bedazzlement of lights) and nature and generally getting lost. Then, as we were making our way back to the nearest station, we came through the main tree area and saw a huge crowd crammed in together, all looking at the lights. Feeling pleased that we'd somehow avoided all the crowds, we headed up towards the station. As we got higher, we turned back to look at the trees from a different vantage point and saw that a light show had begun. The LED's flowed and colours burst up and down the branches and trunks! It was brilliant to watch and a real treat to end a very good day.    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara
    1

    Day 22/72: Mai Khao

    18 November 2018, Thailand ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    After a hot walk around the block this morning to attempt to find a restaurant that didn't exist, we got brunch at the hotel and rented a scooter for the day. We headed down to Mai Khao beach; a 10km long beach at the north of Phuket which is famous for being directly next to the runway.

    Our afternoon consisted of sitting on the beach until it was too hot to sit anymore and swimming in the sea to cool off, then sitting again. We got really good coconut ice cream and sticky rice from a stall at the top of the beach, and then got some more when I decided I didn't want to share mine. From where we were sat on the beach the planes pass awfully closely overhead, practically begging for photos to be taken.

    We mopeded down to the far end of the beach and found a restaurant to have some dinner; Tom yum (vegetables and chicken in tomato and cream spicy sauce) and fried rice, and thought mournfully about it being our last non-airport meal in Thailand as we leave for Singapore early morning tomorrow.

    We headed back to the beach to watch the sunset, which was slightly marred by the solid bank of cloud over the horizon, but still beautiful, and a few hundred meters down the beach there was a couple getting married which was very cool to watch.

    After filling up our moped from a petrol vending machine (honestly one of the coolest things about Thailand) and getting rid of all our spare change at the same time, we got back to the hotel and enjoyed a late evening in catching up on blogging!    Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 21/72: Phuket easy

    17 November 2018, Thailand ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    We woke up at the wake park and tried to get up but it felt like we'd managed to pull every muscle in our bodies. After struggling out of bed and getting our stuff together, we went down for the free wake park breakfast (1 pancakes with sour cream and jam, 1 eggs, sausage, bacon and chips) and ordered a taxi. 15 minutes later, someone from fast and furious arrived in a pimped out Toyota Yaris, featuring go faster flames and petrol coloured rims. We then took the hour or so journey to our next place, a bungalow near the airport with a beach nearby. We arrived and relaxed for the rest of the day, had dinner of carbonara pizza and chicken fried rice, played cards, swam in the pool, did some much needed washing of clothes and did some reminiscing of the trip so far, as this leg of our travels draws near to the end.Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 20/72: more wakeboarding

    16 November 2018, Thailand ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

    Another day of wakeboarding, finishing off all the x-men films and learning new tricks. A few days ago my dearly loved Nana died so we took a few days off island hopping to relax for a while. The plan was wakeboarding and chilling: which is very much what we have done!Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • Izzi and TomTravelsPengembara

    Day 19/72: Back in Phuket

    15 November 2018, Thailand ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

    We woke up after a night in civilisation once again, at Phuket Wake Park. A very chilled day was had. We went down to the lake and had some breakfast, then hit the water! Wakeboarded for a little while, then had a break and chilled out for an hour or so until lunch. Had a lunch of Pad Thai and chips (not in the same dish) and then went back on the water again. This trend generally carried on throughout the day, wakeboard, rest, eat, repeat, all the way until it got dark and the floodlights lit up the lake and we were night riding! After we finally became too tired to do anything more, we headed back to the room and had an X-men marathon before calling it a day! Another day like this and then we head back to the beach!Baca lagi

    Lihat terjemahan
  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Utama
  • Mengenai kami
  • Penjejakan kumpulan
  • Akhbar
  • Terma
  • Privasi & Cookies
  • Pusat Bantuan
  • Cetakan