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Cheeky Round The World Trip

a travel blog by Priya&Tim

The time has finally come, for Mister Brown and his sidekick, the wonderful and brilliant Miss Patel to embark on their travels. So, to keep you informed with what we are up to and where we are going, here is what is essentially a diary for the next few months! Enjoy!

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Airlie Beach and The Whitsunday Islands

Mackay, Australia

Despite their reputation and the slating we just gave them on Hervey Bay; we stayed at Koalas because its more of a resort and is the best place to stay at in Airlie. Their units all have a kitchenette and a bathroom and air con and a TV, so again we felt we were back in South East Asia! Just as Hervey is the gateway to Fraser Island, Airlie Beach is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands.

However, instead of a sailing trip around the islands which is what everyone does, we thought we would do something different went fishing. This alternative to sailing is also thanks to our travelling companions, Stace and Kirst who gave us a voucher to use with the best fishing charter there is town! The great thing was that we were also able to still see some of the islands while we were fishing. The views are stunning and the islands again reminded us of Vietnam. This was also my (Priya's) first fishing trip, so I found it to be a great day, if not a little smelly as we were using pilchards and squids for bait! We saw some turtles and beautiful eagles so that was quite cool! We caught five fish between us but unfortunately we could only keep one for cooking as we were fishing in the protected waters of the barrier reef. It cost $5 to get it prepared, cooked, and served with some chips at a local Fish & Chippy which was definitely a tasty bargain. We had to buy Priya's fish but we shared them both out so we could both enjoy "our" fish. It was a really good day out and we did something that we may not have otherwise got involved with.

The next day was Valentines day, so on the day of lurve....we spent some time on the internet and got our laundry done! We did make a little effort and went out for a meal at one of the indian restaurants, but to be fair, we had our treats the before and it was certainly worth it! Anyway, we couldnt have a late night, as we needed to get up at 4.30am the next day to get our backsides on the bus to Cairns; our final destination up the East Coast.

permalink written by  Priya&Tim on February 15, 2007 from Mackay, Australia
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Cairns and The Great Barrier Reef

Cairns, Australia

Cairns on first impressions doesnt seem to be much of a grand city, but I guess thats the feel they were going for! Or at least we would like to think so! There is not a single highrise corporate or residential building in sight which isnt a bad thing, but then there isnt anything else which stands out either! However, Cairns does have a great chilled out atmosphere if not for the rowdy locals in pubs and bars, where you are guaranteed a shout out of "Alright Darlin!" every time you pass by! Classy! We are staying in a very chilled out guesthouse which seems to have everything under one roof except for a grocery shop, and as its just on the on the outer city suburbs it is very quiet and relaxed. Its called Dreamtime Travellers Rest, and is very reminiscent of Melaka and Cameroon Highlands.

Anyway, we sorted out our reef tour with them and went on a boat that came highly recommeded by the guesthouse and other travellers, called Ocean Free. It rained all the way to the reef and the pinnacle that we were mooring up to ( very near Green Island - a resort island with tourist attractons and resort villas), but then it did clear for most of the afternoon which was nice! Tim did two dives and I also managed to do a medium difficulty dive even though I had not passed my certificate - basically I explained what I had done in Thailand and that I was confident at medium depths, but I just needed some confidence. So as it turned out, the crew and the main diving instructor guy were incredibly professional and friendly, and he took just me and Tim out first on a dive 12-14 meters depth for just over half an hour. He helped me so much and we got to see just some of the most incredibe waterlife there is that exists! Giant clams, twice the length of me, and coral of all colours and shapes and sizes, great big tuna fish, and plenty of nemos! Countless of other species of marine life and we even got to see some seahorses and pick up sea cumcumbers! Unforgettable! We were so happy with what we got and it was for such a good price. The crew were simply outstanding and paid attention to you, and even ensured that the non-swimmers amongst us had a great day out, and got to snorkel with aid for a bit! Tim had an individual guide on his second dive too, this time for 45 mins, so it was definately worth it. This has definately inspired me to get certified in the UK so that I can enjoy it even more in the future.

Next stop - flight back to Sydney!!!

permalink written by  Priya&Tim on February 20, 2007 from Cairns, Australia
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Back in Sydney, but not for long

Sydney, Australia

We left the rainy season in Cairns and landed into a beautifully sunny Sydney. Unfortunately we were unable to spend any time enjoying the weather as we had a lot of tasks to complete. Amongst other things we; closed our bank accounts, applied for our Australian taxback, bought me (Tim) a book (arguably the most important), booked accomodation for Christchurch, and managed to meet up with a friend from university who'd recently arrived to Sydney and say a final farewell to our housemates. All in all a well spent 48 hours.

As previously mentioned we hooked up with a Mr Ryan Martin, who Priya lived next door to in the final year and I spent a year in Amsterdam with in the third year. He is in good form, and enjoying Australia and we managed to catch up over a few pints and a meal in chinatown..... I like that stuff!

Fianlly we went back to our old stomping ground at 97 William Henry Street for a final hurrah. Nitya and Vidya were both in good form, as was Tharany; unfortunately, we didnt get another chance to spend time with John as he was already back in San Fran....look out, there mght still be hope! We enjoyed seeing the house again and catching up with our former housemates, and even in those few hours we were reminded how lucky we'd been. Still, we had been in Australia for FAR too long (especially as the cricket was generally so dreadful) and it was time to set off for pastures new. Next stop, Lord of the rings country, New Zealand.


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on February 21, 2007 from Sydney, Australia
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Country number 9 - Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud

Christchurch, New Zealand

A short flight but a whole different country. After a three-hour journey from Sydney to Christchurch, (roughly the same duration as Sydney-Cairns), over the Tasman Sea and the Snow-capped mountains we landed in New Zealand. On the way to our centrally located Guesthouse, the first thing that struck us was how British Christchurch looks, especially compared to Sydney. Half of the trees and plants looked like they'd been stolen from England, which in fact they have. The weather as well was decidedly cooler than what we'd been used to for the previous 10 months, so it really felt like our first steps home.

The other thing that amazed us after our arrival was how many tourists there were in Christchurch. We went to the public information centre to enquire about further accomodation and we were basically told we'd find it difficult (we'd only booked our first night). What followed was about three hours spent walking, phoning, and enquiring as to availabilty for accomodation which was the first time we'd experienced anything like this in all of our time travelling. Anyway, thanks to I-Site (NZ tourist info office's) we had somewhere to base ourselves for the next few days and instead of really 'explore' Christchurch this experience led to us planning the following 30 days of travel.

In all honesty, we did manage to see some of Christchurch and it struck us as quite an attractive town (though i think it qualifies as a city in NZ) with its own unique personality. However, with our (now) 26 days left in NZ we had to hit the road, with the first stop Te Anau..


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on February 23, 2007 from Christchurch, New Zealand
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Te Anau - A large lake in a beautiful area

Te Anau, New Zealand

After nearly a full days travel we arrived at another I-site office (a re-occuring theme throughout NZ) at 18.30 to a beautiful lakefront surrounded by mountains. A quick twenty minute walk to our guesthouse later, followed by the realisation that the shops were due to close soon followed a mad dash almost back to where we'd come from in order to buy supplies. Our first night in Te Anau was spent enjoying a Tuna-Tomato Pasta dinner and fighting the cold. We were just glad we were prepared for the coldness and had just about enough layers to keep warm; at least the guesthouse had heaters too - not something we've been used to so far in our travels!

Lake Te Anau is New Zealands second largest lake and the largest in the South Island, and it is beutifully surrounded by some great mountain ranges of the Southern Alps. With the daytime weather a lot warmer than night-time we took some pre-prepared sandwiches and made off for a walk around the lake. An afternoons walk with a lakeside picnic was a great day to spend our first full-day exploring New Zealand countryside, the only downside was the knowledge that we walked to the entrance of one of NZ's most famous walks (a meagre 4 days) without the time to do it as we had to depart for our next destination Milford Sound the very next day. Still, it was great to see the lake, and experience New Zealands tramping grounds.


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on February 27, 2007 from Te Anau, New Zealand
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On the Move

Te Anau, New Zealand

Before we arrived into Milford, we were lucky enough to get a scenic tour on the bus as we were travelling.....so just to share this with you, here is one of our favourite photos of the mirror lakes; amongst the stops we made at various pools, waterfalls, lakes, and Gertude's Saddle, a mountain peak.


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on February 28, 2007 from Te Anau, New Zealand
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Its a Fjord not a Sound - Duh! 28/02/2007

Te Anau, New Zealand

I(Tim) have to be honest and admit that I was a bit worried about Milford Sound. We both wanted to go there but did we want to stay at what is basically and literally the last stop in the road in South East NZ. The answer was in the end...yes. The guesthouse was lovely, in a setting which was a mixture between Vang Vien in Laos and Krabi in Thailand; though the Sound/Fjord was not visible from our location, we still had fantastic views of the mountains surrounding us and of the river runnng into the fjord. And even though the electricity generator turned off at 11.00pm the place had all of the luxuries we were used to, even that age-old classic battleships (Minus half of the battleships) which Priya very luckily beat me on a number of occassions. Now, the main reason we were here of course was to see Milford Sound itself, which as the title of this entry suggests is actually a Fjord not a Sound - If you wish to know the exact difference between the two I suggest you use your exstensive internet ability and run a google search.

We were going to wait for our second day in the place before we got ourselves involved in a boat tour but the weather forecast was ominous so we departed the afternoon we arrived for a 2 hour and thirty minute cruise of this unbeleivable scenery. Words cannot really do it justice, but Priya took that into account and took approximately 1 billion photographs (some of which are very good, I have to admit!). The weather was fantastic, but still very windy and incredibly cold as we were on an opening to the Tasman Sea - notoriously cold like the North Sea; and the scenery was stunning so it was proabaly the best 150 minutes we've spent since travelling. One of the highlights was when the boat maneuvered its front under a waterfall and gave everone the experience of getting sprayed by the ice-cold pure mountain-fresh springwater - truly fantastic.

Our second day was spent relaxing, reading, eating, walking and packing for our next destination, the Adreniline capital of New Zealand...... Queenstown.


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on March 1, 2007 from Te Anau, New Zealand
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We like Queenstown we just can't really afford it!

Queensbury, New Zealand

Queenstown is another lake-set town surrounded by mountains, the differance here is the plethora of extreme sports one can partake in during your stay. Now, the initial plan was to do a Bungy jump here, they have the largest in New Zealand or maybe a skydive. After a number of days in New Zealand it was decided that the budget could not cope with any of the "optional extra's" on offer. This, however did not stop us from enjoying the place, it was a good opportunity to have a meal out, to catch up with Laundry and shopping, and even send some e-mails at a cost of less than 3 pounds an hour. But our over-riding feeling was that Queenstown is probabgly best enjoyed with a massive budget, failing that, Queenstown would excel during the ski-season, where you can enjoy some amazing skiing and some excellent after-ski, in a town which has everything you need on offer (including the full range of cafe's, fast food chains, and high class resteraunts).

Our next stop after Queenstown was Franz Josef, which is named by the Austrian explorer who was the first to traverse the area on foot, and named the Glacier and thus the township after his king at the time. Another incredible sight in store!


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on March 3, 2007 from Queensbury, New Zealand
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Franz Josef Glacier, pretty impressive really!

Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

After another days travel (I wish that New Zealand did overnight buses) we finally arrived in Frans Josef in the late afternoon. The most important issue for Priya and I was how we should see the Glacier. Should we do a guided tour on the Glacier, a heli-hike on the Glacier or just see the Glacier terminal face (where it stops). Finances dictated once again and we decided we'd get a shuttle bus to see the Glacier terminal face the next day.

Frans Josef is one of the worlds more remarkable Glaciers as it is incredibly fast moving as it is capable of advancing or retreating by 5 metres a year. The terminal face of the Glacier is located in a very temperate climate so you have the strange pleasure of walking through rain-forest like growth whilst being able to see a giant frozen Glacier. As I have already stated Priya and I chose to simply see the Glacier and partake in some of the walks around the area. I do not regret this decision at all as we spent most of the afternoon on a quiet walk to lake wombat. It is amazing how few people you see during a 3 hour walk in New Zealand, and this just gives you a pleasant feeling of seclusion and adventure. Once we'd finished at the Glacier we had to get back to the guesthouse and pack our things in preparation for one of the highlights of our time in New Zealand - 2 consecutive days of travel, on arguably two of the most scenic rail journeys in the world.


permalink written by  Priya&Tim on March 4, 2007 from Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
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Train 1 - The Transalpine from Greymouth to Christchurch

Greymouth, New Zealand

After leaving Frans josef at 9.00 in the morning we got to the train station in Greymouth 20 minutes before our train was due to leave at 13.45. Amid a hussle of tourists trying to check in luggage and buy souvenirs we calmly waited for the train to pull up.
The first thing we noticed once the train arrived was that it was a simple diesel locamotive pulling 8-10 carriages which were attractive enough but hardly world class, the seats however were comfortable and we were granted ample legroom and the windows are designed to give near-panoramic viewing. With everything in place the only thing we were worried about was the atrocious weather outside our windows restricting visibility to about 3 metres (weather our bus driver had earlier informed us was "the worst he'd seen in three years").

Was our train journey of a lifetime going to be ruined by the weather? The answer was no. The first half of the journey was spent winding through hills and making our way up to arthurs pass which is the centre-point of the southern alpes.

At this point the weather was hardly any better but during our brief stop at this point there was literally light at the end of the valley. We'd been told that the weather on one side of the valley was always differant to the other so we would be very unlucky to get rain for the entire journey. Well at Arthurs pass we took photo's, one behind us which was grey and grim and foreboding and one in front of us which was clear blue and inviting. Needless to say the second half of our trip (The more visually spectacular half) was spent on the viewing platform taking in some incredible sights. Once again I armed Priya with the camera and she managed to take some excellent photo's from the train among the 7 billions or so she took this time.

Overall, a fantastic journey but a long day, and we more-than deserved the two quiet pints of guiness in Christchurch and jumbo potato wedges! One journey dow, one to go but would it be better?

permalink written by  Priya&Tim on March 6, 2007 from Greymouth, New Zealand
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