It isn't until you get to the end of a trip that you realise where you have been.  So, now we are at the end of this trip, where have we been?&n…

We sometimes get asked by fellow travellers - "Has travelling changed you?"  To which I've replied "No."  Travelling has, however, been a h…

Well all year, our flights have gone on time, without incident.  Mmm. We set off at 3am Saturday morning.  We got on our plane from Cape T…

Our last bit of sightseeing.  Today we set out on a trip to Cape Point, that in the summer would be fantastic, but we unfortunately didn't pick …

Six weeks ago when we arrived in Cape Town we saw the traffic and the speed that they drive, plus we were preoccupied with the media based&…

Today we visited the waterfront to do a little shopping and managed to accumulate a few bags, credit cards come in very handy at the end of long trip…

We arrived in Cape Town this morning after coming from Jo'burg on the greyhound.  This time the city looked much more appealing than the first t…

Yesterday we travelled from Maputo to Johannesburg on a Greyhound bus - we were not used to such luxury - we nearly fell off our seats when we were o…

Today we unfortunately had to leave for good, despite Steph tempting us with sticky toffee pudding.  We wandered into town and found the minibus…

The plan today was to leave here and start to make our way back down the country.  However, we ran into a bit of a problem.  Last night whe…

We have spent the last few days in and around Vilankulo and the Bazarruto Islands.  Two of those days have been spent diving.  We were keen…

Yesterday, we swapped accommodation and settled in at the 'Zombie Cucumber,' certainly the most original name for a hostel we have come across. …

Another day of travel, but it proved to be one of the more memorable ones.  As we were eating a leisurely breakfast outside the hostel, a large …

Yesterday we left Maputo and travelled 8 hours up the coast to a litle town called Inhambane.  This morning we enjoyed our free breakfast o…

A day exploring the bustling capital on foot.  We were back to Cape Town standards of personal safety, so our money was split and hidden in al…

At 7.30am we got the shuttle from the hostel to the small village nearby.  From here we crammed into a minibus taxi (rucksacks on knee) to Man…

We headed into the capital, Mbabane, this morning to return our hire car.  It was a bustling place with a really good atmosphere.  We wer…

Today was shopping day;  Swaziland is well known for its crafts, in particular its candles, so we headed to Swaziland Candles.  We couldn't…

Up early and ate breakfast outside - our toast and eggs cooked on the fire.  As it was still quite cold, Emma braved the Swazi porridge, ma…

We checked out of the crumby hostel this morning and waited for our hire car to arrive.  It did eventually - 90 minutes late, but it didn´t mat…

First job today was hiring a car for tomorrow so we can do a bit of independant exploring. Then we went on a mission:  to go and get our Mo…

At lunchtime, it was back on the Bazbus for the last time and we headed off to Swaziland.  It was one of our more relaxed border crossings, very…

Up early today to go for a walk in the local area.  We explored the estuary and walked down to the beach, and had a drink whilst watching the hi…

 

This morning we ate a hearty breakfast in preparation for our walk to the 'Hole-in-the-wall.'  Our hostel tries to employ as many local people a…

The last few days have gone something like this: We have usually been woken as the sun has come up with a family of monkeys playing on our roof.&nbs…

We spent yesterday in Port Elizabeth, and as we were staying close to the beach we didn't stray far from there.  It was a lovely, warm day so we…

Spent the last couple of days beach walking, admiring the coastal scenery and generally relaxing.  We have discovered a lovely restaurant called…

We have spent the last couple of days exploring the local area. The weather wasn't brilliant yesterday, but today we couldn't ask for better - clear …

The weather was just showing no signs of improving in Cape Town - Robben Island Ferry was cancelled, Table Mountain was constantly in mist and the ca…

Here is some shocking news that everybody needs to know about - Africa is officially the coldest continent in the world!  Well actually just Cap…

Well it feels quite amazing to have landed in such a special continent.  After a fairly good flight, we landed in Cape Town…

Visit Clarkes Quay area, its great at night when the bars are all open - its really lively, some places have live music and the whole area has a real…

Today was our last day in this continent as tonight we head to Changi airport and fly to South Africa.  After being woken up early with two Germ…

This morning we got up and headed out of the hostel with absolutely no intention of what to do.  So we headed to the Little India MRT station an…

This morning we left our wonderful guesthouse and found a bus to take us to Singapore.  It didn't take as long as we thought it would, just 4 ho…

We are coming to the end of our trip in Malaysia and reflecting on a country that was not part of our original itinery, but almost an afterthought.&n…

We spent a little more time exploring the touristy side of the river today and visited  the Istana Ke Sultanan - a contemporary wooden pala…

Melaka was once the bustling heart of Malaysia before Penang and even Singapore were established as urban centres.  Nowadays its main draw is to…

We have tried over the last couple of days to get an internet deal for one of the posh hotels in KL but no luck, so decided to move onto Melaka today…

Number Twenty is described as budget accomodation, but its more like a boutique hotel. It's a 17th century Dutch mansion that has been renovated int…

This morning we got on the monorail to Bukit Nanas and walked over to the Petronas Twin Towers.  This time we went to the other side to view the…

This afternoon we headed over to Bukit Bintang, or the Golden Triangle, to explore this area of the city.  It supposedly is one of the plac…

After breakfast at the hostel we headed off to explore some more of the sights of Kuala Lumpur.  We got onto the monorail and a train up to see …

After a very lazy morning following a very late night we finally managed to get out of the hostel and see a part of what Kuala Lumpur does best - sho…

After a delicious breakfast of roti canai we got into a boat and headed out of the jungle.  It was certainly one of our more preferred ways of t…

Up early with the roosters today - we had a boat to catch.  We had splashed out and hired a sampan to take us deep into the jungle, away from al…

First stop today was the Canopy Walkway, followed by the Bukit Inda Trail.  We arrived at the start of the walkway, to be greeted with the sight…

Taman Negara is spread over 4343 sq. kms and contains some of the oldest rainforest in the world - at 130 million years old, it is older than the Ama…

Today we are on the move again, having decided to spend some time in Taman Negara, Malaysia's premier national park.  After a long, hot day of t…

Emma had a really good idea today.  "Let's hire some bikes and cycle up one of the highest peaks in Malaysia."  "Hmmm,"  said Diane.&n…

Today after a lazy morning we decided to go for a walk in the forest.  There is a waterfall not far from the town so not wanting to do anything …

Breakfast this morning was a bit of a treat: we ate at our guesthouse and had a cheese and baked bean toastie, with a mug of tea.  A grand start…

Well there's only so much heat two girls can take.  After more than two months of sweat and humidity, we decided it was time for a cha…

We spent today walking around the city soaking up the sights and sounds of the various areas.  After a Thosai Massala (pancake stuffed with vege…

Well after a very strenuous day yesterday we decided to just stay around the city today and soak up the sights.  After quite a late start and a …

Last night we arranged with Liam and Sarah for us to go up Penang Hill today.  So we caught a local bus to the foot of the hill.  We then g…

The Thai people, as all South east Asian people, seem to have an aversion to staying in bed in a morning, and being on a train they are no different.…

This morning we packed our bags, checked out of our little bungalow and waved bye bye to the beach on the wonderful island of Ko Tao.  We w…

We have spent our last few days on the island of Ko Tao in pretty much the same way have we have the previous.  You will be pleased to know that…

Our last few days have fallen into an easy routine of sunbathing, dipping in and out of the sea, and relaxing on the balcony late afternoon - reading…

On arrival at Scuba Junction dive centre, we met Seth, an American dive master who would be looking after us today.  By 7.30am we were clamberin…

Now just to keep you updated on the weather situation - it has finally stopped raining!  Yippee!  Today we awoke to blue sky and sunshine.&…

Day seven of thunderstorms.  Yesterday we moved location on the Island.  We had really liked in the south of the island - it was so chilled…

Our fifth day of rain - what's going on?  We want our money back.

The final day of our dive course, and we had hoped for some brighter weather, but it was still grey, cloudy and showery.  We had an early start,…

A slightly later start today - 10am.  After a little more theory in the morning we did our final exam.  Then after lunch we went to do our …

Today we properly started our diving course.  We had to set the alarm (which was a bit traumatic) and get to school for 9am.  It was a bit …

The last two to three days have been spent in a very lazy manner indeed.  Our little restaurant by the sea is very good, and Emma has discovered…

The train journey last night was probably the most comfortable so far.  We had booked sleeper tickets so managed to get some sleep before gettin…

As we had opted for in staying the shopping area of  Bangkok we felt we should do it justice and so spent the last 2 days looking…

There are many regional variations where transport is concerned (some better than others) eg. we only came across 'cyclos' in Vietnam.  In and a…

Last night at the Smoking Pot we had noticed some good western style breakfasts so headed there this morning.  Unfortunately it didn't open unti…

We had arranged yesterday, through the guesthouse, to leave Siem Reap by bus and go to Battembang.  At 6.45am, we went down, as instructed, to w…

It's our last day of relaxation today before moving on tomorrow.  We are coming to the end of our trip in Cambodia, which has proved really inte…

Today was our last day at the temples, and we were out by 7am as we are convinced it's getting hotter by the day.  We took another look at …

Yesterday, Sunday, a day of rest.  A day on which, for once, we took great delight in being typically English.  We had beans on toast …

After checking out at 12pm, we had to say our sad goodbyes to Carol and Nicola, who were catching an afternoon flight back home.  It has been gr…

We had arranged for the tuk-tuks to pick us up at 5am so that we could watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat.  When we got there it was still dark.&nb…

Up early to discover that Carol had been ill during the night too.  Must be the hectic pace of the last couple of weeks catching up with us all.…

We took the Mekong Express bus service to Siem Reap this morning, and it was the best bus in Asia so far; our bags were checked in, tagged and we wer…

After a leisurly breakfast we found a tuk-tuk man and agreed a price for a day at the markets.  About 5 minutes into our journey as we were trav…

First stop today was the S-21 Tuol Sleng Museum, and we all took a deep breath.  Tuol Sleng had originally been a school, but in 1975 it was tak…

We were leaving Vietnam today, so another early start.  We caught a slow boat from Chau Doc that took a couple of hours to reach the border.&nbs…

After a quick breakfast, we hailed two Xe Loi and got dropped at the bus station.  From the minute we stepped off, we were mobbed by crowds of V…

As we surfaced from the guesthouse at 5.30am the first fingers of light were just beginning to streak a still dark sky.  The local streets were …

We hired a car to take us back to Saigon as we were hoping to get on a cargo ferry to My Tho in the Mekong Delta.  These plans didn't work as it…

Needless to say the last two days have been spent doing very little.  Getting up, having some breakfast, finding a sunbed, lying on it, occasion…

We had booked ourselves on an open tour bus this morning to the beach town of Mui Ne.  Another early start (although even earlier for Carol and …

All April fools opportunities were missed this morning as none of us had a clue what day it was!  We got up early for breakfast before going to …

This morning we went to the airport to meet Carol and Nicola who are joining us for the next two weeks.  We were there for 10.30am, just as they…

We left Hoi An yesterday and got the train from Danang to Saigon.  The train pulled up and looked old, dirty and ricketty from the out…

After consuming a few mojito's last night we both felt a bit rough this morning but a good breakfast aided our recovery.  Had the usual morning …

... and get a new suit! Hoi An is famous for its many tailor shops and the sound of sewing machines can be heard humming away throughout the town.&n…

After a deep breath, we made our way to the bus station and tried to find a public bus that would take us to Hoi An, especially after one or two mini…

Up early once again to search for a tuk tuk to take us to the bus station.  After trying unsucessfully with a driver that spoke no English we go…

Up early to avoid the heat later on.  Found a place for breakfast; the food was ok but the coffee was grim, despite lao coffee being excellent s…

Gradually the buses we travel on are getting worse.  Whilst in Vientiane we tried to book seats on a VIP bus to Savannakhet - but nobody seemed …

We arrived in the capital yesterday after a short but interesting bus journey.  When we got on the bus we thought there were no seats left - but…

After breakfast, we joined the queue in the centre of town for the popular backpacker activity of tubing. This involves sitting in a tractor inner tu…

Today we left the beautiful Luang Prabang and headed south to Vang Vieng.  The bus journey took us through some fantastic mountain scenery and a…

We spent the weekend soaking up the atmosphere of Luang Prabang.  Saturday morning we changed guest houses for a better room.  We were at L…

Today we decided to get into the spirit of the Laos people and we had a relaxing, laid back day.  We are realising just how laid back it is here…

The day started with us having to swap rooms due to a leaking bathroom sink and a dripping air con unit.  This was done with no problem and we h…

Yesterday: Day 1 of our boat ride down the Mekong River. We boarded our slow boat just after 10am, and it was already crowded and somewhat chaotic. O…

Up early this morning and into a tuk tuk to the bus station.  Chiang Mai rush hour was wonderful - darting into back alleys, causing traffic…

Today being Sunday we thought we would take it easy!  After breakfast and a read of the Bangkok Post we got in a tuk tuk to the bus station to p…

Today we were booked onto a Thai cookery course at The Chiang Mai Cookery School. First task was to go the local market.  This was really inter…

The day started well with a sumptuous breakfast of fresh fruit and pancakes, omlette and coffee. Fortified for the day, we set about exploring the ol…

Up early to catch our train to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand; we seem to be making a habit of 12 hour train journeys. We were quite happy to le…

For some bizarre reason we were up very early this morning and were down eating breakfast at 8.00am!  The breakfast buffet was interesting.&nbsp…

After a 9 hour flight on the wonderful Thai Airways (comes a close second to Singapore Airlines) we arrived into the brand new airport in Bangkok.&nb…

Our last couple of days in Australia. We visited Watson's Bay on the super fast ferry, and went to Sydney Aquarium where we walked down a tunnel enab…

We had read in the guidebook that in order to get a good spot for Mardi Gras, it was necessary to pitch up at 10am. This offended our sensibilities, …

We got back to Sydney on Tuesday and it was great coming into a city you know.  No wondering around aimlessly trying to find the right train or …

Not really much done this weekend as the weather has been poor and we have spent much of the time reading.  So, we thought we would take this op…

This morning we checked out of "No 14" and checked into "The Mountain Lodge'" our home for the next four nights.  It is a comfortable place, but…

We decided to do the 'clifftop' walk to Leura today, so we headed to Echo point where we would start our walk.  'Clifftop' is a bit missleading …

The hostel "No 14 backpackers" is probably one of the best we have stayed in so far.  It is wooden and very homely with a long veranda filled wi…

Got on the weekly "Outback Explorer" countrylink train today which goes to Sydney.  We weren't going quite that far, just as far as Katoomba, ju…

We had to return the car this morning and did so with no problems - we hope, despite having driven on unsealed roads when told not to.  We had m…

We had the car again today, so we all decided to go down to the market in South BH. When we arrived, we found it consisted of two stalls! Needing som…

We picked up the hire car this morning, and there was a great deal of amusement due to the fact that we'd asked for the smallest and cheapest car. We…

Our first task for today was to book a car for the weekend with Thomas and Sabina, the Austrian couple we first met back in Mildura. The rest of the …

Yesterday we got on the bus to Broken Hill.  It was a 300km journey and once we had left Wentworth (a small town not far from Mildura) there was…

Yesterday was a day of jobs.  It's funny how we have got into this routine of having a 'jobs' day before we leave each place.  Laundry, pos…

This really was a lazy weekend, we haven't done a great deal of anything constructive.  At one point Emma observed that the most useful things s…

Over breakfast this morning we chatted with the Austrian couple who we had arrived with, about Asia, they had done a similar trip a couple of ye…

Yesterday we made the journey from Bendigo to Mildura, passing hundreds of kilometres of grapevines and fruit trees.  We booked into a hostel th…

Well we were much cooler during the night, but still had a disturbed night's sleep due to the hostel manager arriving at 1.30am to evict one of the p…

It had been a very hot night so we had both had a disturbed nights sleep.  To add to this there had been some mozzies trapped in the room during…

Yesterday we travelled from Melbourne to Bendigo on the train.  The heat as we stepped onto the platform was the first thing we noticed, with a …

....everybody needs good neighbours" We succumbed to the ultimate cheesiest tour this morning - The Official Neighbour's Tour.  We were picked …

We headed to St Kilda today as we wanted to do the coastal walk to Brighton Beach.  It was a scenic walk passing various sea related things.&nbs…

We were up, packed and out of the student accomodation in half an hour today; we can now pack a rucsac in world record time, and it's unfortunate tha…

We were actually up very early this morning - out of the hostel by 9am in order to chat with a few people on messenger - I hope you all apprecia…

First stop this morning was the YHA travel shop to sort out our future plans.  We have decided to stay in Melbourne until Saturday and soak up s…

First stop today was China Town, an interesting street that has a low rise, narrow laned historical character.  It has many restaurants offering…

We had to check out of the YHA this morning as when we tried to book extra nights they were booked up.  So we are heading to some Halls of Resid…

Its a public holiday today to celebrate Australia Day.  We left the hostel late morning and wandered through the city to the river to see what w…

We decided to go along to the tennis today to see if we could get ground tickets for Melbourne Park, so that we could soak up the atmosphere of the A…

Emma was in charge of the map and today's tour of Melbourne on foot. We walked past the Victorian Markets (making a mental note to return) and contin…

We got up at 5am this morning.  We reluctantly left Narooma YHA - it was an excellent hostel and we had grown quite attached to our room - an en…

Our last day in Narooma so we thought we would spend it on the beach.  Chris and Wendy dropped us off and pointed us in the direction of where t…

We had decided to treat ourselves to brunch this morning, leaving the hostel at 10.30am and walking down to the marina.  As soon as we stepped o…

Today we took advantage of the hostel's offer of free bikes and headed off towards the beach.  A boardwalk has been built along one of the sides…

We booked our bus to Melbourne for Tuesday next week - the bus leaves at 6.05am, so it will be yet another early start - there is just no rest for us…

Up early today as Emma was due to play squash at 10am.  She played a woman who part owned the local squash club and had a good game despite it b…

Up and checked out by 10am, having had a bug free night (we think, we hope).  A guy called Chris from the YHA came to pick us up and gave us a q…

We spent the morning pottering around Berry before catching the bus at lunchtime to Narooma, another coastal town further south on the NSW coast.&nbs…

Booked into the hotel at the other end of the main street. We have to stay another night due to the buses being booked up until tomorrow. Had a wande…

Woken by children once again (a few families are staying here for the weekend), this time a 4 year old boy running around the courtyard singing "I'm …

Yesterday, we tried to recover from our battles with creatures by relaxing on the beach. This proved not to be. As we approached the beach it felt a …

After a reduced amount of sleep we awoke and had to reluctantly get out of bed as we were going into Berry today and had to catch the morning train.&…

We spent today on the beach.  Werri Beach is the main beach in Gerringong and it is very beautiful, quite a long beach with a rock pool at one e…

We left Sydney today and got the train a couple of hours down the coast to a small town called Gerringong.  It took us a while to find where we …

Our plan for today was to get up early and walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee beach.  We wanted to do it early to avoid the midday heat. …

After another lie in (we are getting sticky bed syndrome) we eventually got up and out of the hostel and headed down to the Rocks for the first of ou…

After breakfast, and packing sandwiches into our newly acquired cool bag, we headed out. Bought two more bus passes and hopped on a bus down to the e…

We had a very early start this morning, the alarm went off at 4.45am.  Pam and Dave were going home today so we got up to wave them off.  T…

Yesterday we went to the pictures and watched Happy Feet - a fantastic animated film full of dancing penguins, had a good message with it also. Toda…

Spent horizontal.  Well Diane and Dave were. Emma and Pam went into the city to Paddy's Markets for some bargain hunting.

We got on the city rail to the city this morning and headed to the Chinese Garden in China Town.  China Town itself was a bit naff to be honest …

We visied the Rocks again this morning - it is a really intersesting part of the city, with it being old it has many nooks and crannies and lots of i…

Into the city once more - there is so much to see and do in Sydney that we could easily spend most of our time here. Pam and Dave went on the hop-on …

This morning we headed out to an area of Sydney called Glebe (Dave went to see Rushcutter's Bay), which is quite a bohemian/studenty part of town, wi…

We decided that a bit of exercise was the order of the day after so much eating and drinking. Up early to catch the ferry to Manly. This is the class…

Headed into the city this morning to see if we could watch the start of the Sydney-Hobart race, but we then found out that it sets off further round …

We wish you a merry Christmas.... etc etc Well today was Christmas day in the sun, we had been expecting it to be cold and rainy but it wasn't to be…

As Emma and I are doing Xmas dinner tomorrow we had a few last minute preparations today.  After morning coffee at a cafe on the front we went a…

We headed up to Bondi Junction to do a bit of Christmas shopping today.  It was nowhere near as busy as it is at home just before Christmas - we…

 We quickly settled into our apartments at Bondi Beach which we think will be quite luxurious, expecially as we have been upgraded to a studio f…

Arrived back in Sydney after a three day train journey. During the first two days, Pam and Dave had been in the posh end of the train (complete with …

Today we  were going to find Nemo - we were going snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. We arrived at the marina just before 8.30am, and after …

Another early start to the day - it is beginning to feel as though we have jobs - never has an alarm clock been needed so much.  Today we are go…

Today was spent doing not very much at all.  We mooched around Cairns for most of the morning.  In the afternoon we went to the nearby wild…

Today we had a trip out to Green Island which is just on the edge of the GBR. Booked in at the pier, and then boarded our boat at 10am. After a quick…

We met the parents after breakfast, and walked down the Esplanade and had a look at the lagoon, where we will probably have a swim later. We walked o…

Both woke up quite early, had managed to get a good few hours sleep, despite it being the rockiest train ever - a long way from a smooth ride. After …

Up at 7am today in order to check in for the 9am train.  It takes us two days to get to Cairns on the train and we have booked a cabin for this …

Had a great breakfast at the hotel, Pam and Dave's treat, they must have thought we needed feeding up! First job of the morning was to catch a C…

Up and out of the hostel by 5.45am, passing a few Saturday night casualties on our way out.  On the streets we were expecting it to be quiet at …

Todays plan was to walk to the Harbour and see the part of Sydney that it is famous for.  It was a good walk through the quite posh area of Pott…

There were many shenanigans in the hostel during the night, people coming in at all hours, people who had forgot their key banging on the door at 5am…

As we boarded the plane we noticed we had a celebrity on board, the Hollywood actor Sam Neil.  The plane was a pretty small one a…

This morning we packed up our stuff and just about fitted everything into the rucksacks.  Early tomorrow morning we fly to Sydney, so tonight we…

It was quite a stressful day today as Diane had made an appointment at the hair dressers for 11am - not used to having to be anywhere at a particular…

We left Arthurs Pass early today (well about 9.30pm) and finished the drive through the mountains and into Christchurch.  We dropped our car off…

Being Sunday we felt we should relax a little, so after having a walk around Franz Josef we went for brunch before starting our drive to Arthurs Pass…

After a cold night in the tent we awoke to a sunny morning.  We spent the morning in Wanaka.  Santa was visiting the town today, it is quit…

Today is officially the 1st day of summer in the southern hemisphere - yeah!  We spent the day today just chillin in Wanaka - its another town, …

Neither of us could get to sleep even though we were warm in our bags.  At one point during the night there was a brilliant flash and a crash of…

Up early at 7.30am to finish packing and make sandwiches for today.  We parked the car and got on the bus that took us to the start of the Route…

The morning was spent cathching up with emails and wandering around Queenstown.  We got our supplies for the Routeburn Track which we start tomm…

After a snug night, we reluctantly packed up and were once again on our way. Today we were heading for Queenstown, the adventure capital of NZ. We co…

Diane awoke at 6am to look at the sunrise over the ocean. Emma didn't even lift her head off the pillow, just muttered something and went back to sle…

After a chilly night in the tent, we left the campsite at Oamaru and set off for the day, our destination today being the Catlin Coast, the rugged an…

Situated in Curio Bay, a remote settlement on the Ocean.  It is really quiet and peacful here and this accomodation is absolutely perfect. …

We left Ashburton at about 9.45am after a leisurly breakfast sat in the sun.  We met up with the Pacific Ocean again in Timaru a little further …

Up early, as a long drive ahead of us. Had our breakfast out on the veranda, the sun shining through the trees. It is a lovely hostel and we are sorr…

After breakfast of tea and toast, we were off to Blenheim at half nine so we could be back in time to do our wine tour. Found the place where we had …

Yesterday we spent the day travelling to Wellington, staying at a campsite just outside of the city.  Today we were up at 5.30am (!).  We a…

Both got up at 7am to check the weather forecast.  It looked cloudy and misty, and we had made up our minds that we weren't going to do the walk…

Emma got up and went to reception at 7am to see if the forecast was good enough to do the crossing.  It wasn't so we went back to sleep until ab…

We got up early and were out of the hotel by 8.30am, we had many jobs to do today - mainly washing - we had both totally run out of our limited suppl…

Woke again to a rainy morning, warm but rainy.  Breakfast was quite a traumatic start to the day.  After packing everything up we were sat …

We woke to rain this morning, but it was still warm so it didn't matter.  We headed into the town to decide what we would do today, we were goin…

After flying 10,500km, we landed at 4.30am.  It was very smooth going through customs, they were even friendly.  We had the tent taken into…

This day was lost in space during the flight - have no idea how or where it went!

It was our last few hours in San Francisco today as tonight we fly to New Zealand.  Up early for breakfast and after packing and checking out we…

After another great (and free) breakfast we headed down to Powell Street to get the Cable car, this time we got to hang onto the side for dear life, …

Up early to make the most of the day. We walked down to the bottom of Powell Street to catch the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf. Its a grea…

We spent much of yesterday at the airport in Vancouver, was quite interesting as we had to go through customs before we got on the plane - that saved…

Yesterday we decided to try out the city's public transport system - you can only judge a good city by its transport!  We got on the skytrain, w…

We have spent the last few days not really doing much - getting up late and then just mooching around.  It just keeps raining which doesn't real…

When it rains in Vancouver it really rains!  Yesterday we just hung around the hostel for much of the day  - stayed in the lounge reading.&…

 Yesterday after a relaxing morning wandering around the city, we got in a bathtub to Granville Island.  The bathtub is what the local's ca…

In our room we have a television, which isn't good.  Reading has gone out of the window and we are now hooked on C.S.I!  Canadian televisio…

Sunday again today so a day of rest.  Headed to the waterfront today and walked up Robson St, one of the main streets through Downtown.  It…

Today we went for a walk around China Town. Its the biggest China Town we've ever seen - it's the second biggest China Town in the world, after San F…

Up and out of Ocean Island Backpackers with the aim of getting the 11.40am bus to Vancouver.  We were there early and managed to jump on on at 1…

Yesterday was quite a lazy day as it rained! We did, however, go out for a fantastic meal at a restaurant called 'The Black Olive.' Best me…

In Victoria is the Royal British Columbia Museum which we have heard and read is supposed to be fantastic so today we went there.  We wandered d…

Yesterday was just spent mooching around Nanaimo, a lazy day reading and strolling along the water front. Up early this morning to get ready for our …

So much for normal roommates - the San Francisco girl is ok but at the bottom of Diane's bunk seems to be the local Nanaimo drunk!  She came i…

We didn't get murdered in our beds - although Japanese girl did continue to be weird, scurrying around the hostel running in all the rooms, making …

Another early start today as we had to get the 9am bus to Nanaimo, just over half way down Vancouver Island.  It was a long journey, about 6-7…

Last night we got on the ferry at about 6.30pm.  All was well and we settled down into our sleeping bags for the overnight crossing.  How…

Emma had the bright idea that today we would walk to the ferry terminal to book our tickets for tomorrow, so after breakfast that is what we did.&n…

Pioneer Hostel is located just two minutes away from Cow Bay - a very scenic bay in the town/city of Prince Rupert.  Its also very close to ever…

We found out last night that the next ferry to Vancouver Island is on Tuesday so we booked into this hostel until then, giving us a few days in Princ…

Yesterday was the last of our time in the Rocky Mountains.  It was good to be on the move again.  We boarded "The Skeena" at lunch time.&nb…

Last night we stayed at jasper Youth Hostel in our boarding school style dorm.  As soon as the lights came on this morning at 8am, the whole pla…

Decided to head up the Icefields Parkway and find accomodation as we went along.  We stopped at the Columbia Icefield, to do the short walk up t…

It was good waking up in a normal friendly hostel.  Our room mate was a French Canadian girl from Quebec.  Had gruel again for breakfast (E…

We have spent the last two days exploring the area in and around Banff.  Yesterday we went to Lake Minnewanka which is apparently the largest la…

Well its been confirmed that this isn't the best hostel to get a good nights sleep.  Once the hostel bar shuts at 2am its really noisy throughou…

Had a leisurely drive down to Banff arriving about 14.00.  We booked into the youth hostel which is supposedly one of the top ten hostels in the…

Today we headed out to see another Lake.  About 13km from the village is Lake Moraine.  This lake again was spectacular, it had snowcapped …

Having gone to bed with just one man in our room, we awoke with another - who looked a bit crusty!!  We had breakfast in the hostel cafe, Emma h…

Had a leisurely breakfast, chatted some more with Maud and Sally.  We decided to make our way to Lake Louise today - we had had enough of "rusti…

It was a bright, cold, clear morning with ice on the car. We said our goodbyes at the Edith Cavell hostel and headed up the road to the start of our …

The first glimpses of Saturday came very early in the morning.  Emma was having bear fears at 2am.  Later we had a visit to the toilet whic…

We were woken up by the lights being automatically switched on at 8am this morning, it felt like we were on Big Brother - we half expected them to pl…

Yesterday should have been a leisurely start to the day ie. a lie in, however the previous night we acquired a room mate, an elderly Japane…

Well we are now on day 3 in the City of Winnipeg.  Yesterday we spent our time walking around.  It is a nice city  - has a good&n…

Our weekend began by grabbing a quick breakfast on Saturday morning.  We got chatting with an Australian guy in the kitchen, who found our accen…

Canada being a huuuuuge country takes some getting across. Having decided not to fly we chose to take the train that goes from East to West. We did…

We headed back to Toronto on the train yesterday, pretty uneventful journey, we did get some views of Lake Ontario though once we were nearing Toront…

Another lazy start to the day, finally out of hostel at 10.30.  The weather looked good so we decided to walk up Mont Royal.  This is a hil…

Yesterday we spent the day travelling from Toronto to Montreal on the train.  It was a pretty uneventful journey with not much to look at apart …

We had the best breakfast yet this morning - a Mulberry Tree special - Mulberry Crepes!  Even Diane ate them all!!  We met a couple from En…

It was very cosmopolitan at breakfast today, there were people from Germany, Switzerland, France and Britain.  We decided to spend today explori…

Down for breakfast early at 8am, Emma got moneys worth but it was wasted on Diane - much too early for her!  Our host booked us onto a trip to N…

It was a very traumatic start to the trip saying goodbye to our families at the airport.  It felt like we were leaving forever, although a year does…

Well, now only 3 more pay days(thats 2 1/2 months) to go until we set off, so we're now up to the saving every penny stage (although feel like we've …

I'm still in Oldham. Ok, so its only April and we don't go until September but, like i said i'm killing time! So far we have booked the tickets…

September 14th - Fly to Canada, Early Nov - New Zealand via 2-3 days in San Francisco, Early Dec - Austrailia, Early March - South East Asia (Thai…

Well, after much indecision and wondering which travel insurance to go with we have finally decided which company to go for. After getting many peop…