Tripping with Chav and Lou

New York

bixxie — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:38:00 GMT

We met up with the girls from work after getting a greyhound bus from Wilmington in Delaware to New York Port Authority bus terminal. There was nearly a riot on the bus when the driver took a very scenic route instead of going on the freeway.

On Sat night we ate in an American diner, and were amazed at the size of the food portions. After we went ice skating in Central Park, and all managed to get around the ice rink a few times.

Sunday was shopping day and we got a coach to Woodbury Commons outlet centre and bought loads of stuff. In the evening we went to Little Italy, had a nice meal and found a cocktail bar that served some very strong and dodgy tasting cocktails. Jackie amused us by getting quite drunk!!

Macys was top of the list on Monday and we had a few hours shopping in there. Then went to the World Trade centre site and Ground Zero, and looked around the visitors tribute centre that was very moving and interesting. We lost Kate and Jeaninne, and continued to the Staten Island ferry terminal where we caught a ferry to look at the Statue of Liberty.

In the afternoon we had a look around Bloomimgdales around randonly bumped into Kate and Jeaninne who had arrived the same as us. Bit spooky considering how big NY is, and their phone batteries had run out so we couldn't contact them! We had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

On Tues we checked out of our hostel and hotel and went up the Empire State Building. The views from the top we pretty good, as it was a clear day, although it was really windy. Did a bit of shopping, and then went our seperate ways to get flights home. Unfortunately we were't flying from the same terminal as the others.

Now we are back home and catching up on sleep.

Stuffed Turkeys!!!

bixxie — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 22:13:00 GMT

We are now staying with Charlies step brother David and his wife Kimberly who live in Delaware. We flew into NY at 0100 on Tues morning and managed to find an airport hotel to crash in till 0630 when we got a shuttle bus back to JFK airport to catch the coach into NY to the port authority bus terminal. We had been planning to get a greyhound bus to Delaware at 0900 but due to rush hour traffic missed this by 15 mins and had to wait 4 hours in the bus terminal for the next direct service. Finally caught the greyhound at 1345 and arrived in Delaware at 1700 where Kimberley picked us up.

We have been chilling out and relaxing at Dave and Kimberlys which has been nice after some manic days in San Francisco and catching up with much needed sleep! Have had 2 thanksgiving dinners - one at Kimberleys parents on Wed night, and another at her brothers house on Thurs afternoon where the whole family came. We have had enough turkey until Xmas now!!

Today we went to Lancaster in Pennsylvannia with Kimberly and her mother, to see the Amish people and look around an old Amish house. The tour was really interesting, and we saw a few Amish buggies being pulled around the town by horses. For those of you who don't know, the Amish dont use electricity or drive cars, and lead very simple lives generally living off their land by farming.

Black Friday is a big shopping sales day after Thanksgiving and we got some very cheap bargains in a Gap outlet centre. Hopefully the sales will continue over the weekend, as we are meeting a few girls from work tomorrow in New York, who are joining us for the last few days of our trip. Flying back on Tues night and arrive back in UK on Wed morning.

Forgot to mention in earlier blogs that we have been stitched up big time flying out of LA and San Francisco airports, and have been 'randomly' selected at check in for a secondary and more thorough search going through airport security both times. This involves having our hand luggage searched by hand and being swabbed for explosives traces, going through a detector that puffs air at us to try and detect explosives and drugs traces, and being patted down. Be interesting to see what happens when we go through security at JFK on Tues night!!! At least we now know what to look for on our boarding passes that indicates we will have problems when we pass through security. We don't know if we get picked on because we have visited several countries, or because we changed both of our flight times. Hardly anyone else got special treatment at San Francisco!!!

This may be our last blog before we go home, as we will prob be far too busy with the girlies to have time to play on the internet! Will do a last update and add photos when back at home.

See you at the end of the week xxxxx

Celebrity Stalkers!

bixxie — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:05:00 GMT

Now been in California a week. Stayed with Lou's uncle who she hadnt seen for 15 years, and met his new wife. Then got taken to her cousin Chris's house and saw his daughter for the first time.

On Tues Chris took us sight seeing in LA and we went to find the Hollywood sign up in the Hollywood hills. Then went for a wander around Hollywood, and looked at the Kodak theatre where the Oscars take place, and Grahmans chinese theatre where all the stars hand and foot prints are in the concrete outside. We booked onto a tour that drives round Hollywood and Beverly Hills area and shows where all the stars live. Unfortunately they were all camera shy, and we didn't see anyone, but nice houses anyway!

In the afternoon Chris took us to Venice Beach, and we strolled along the beach front checking out the local freaks that try and con money out of tourists! Went to see the body builders at muscle beach but it must of been steroid time, as noone was there!!!! Took some really cool photos of the sun setting over Venice Beach while we had a beer in a beach bar.

Flew to San Francicso on Wed morning and had our first slight disaster in missing a flight! Not a problem though so we booked onto the next one 2 hours later, which gave us time for a Starbucks.

The first hostel we had booked into was in a really dodgy part of San Francisco, despite the website saying it was in the city centre. We didnt feel at all safe walking past drunks, homeless and probably drug dealers to get there. The actual hostel itself was quite nice. Managed to find a nicer way to get into town by taking a large detour!

We have been to Fishermans Wharf, Alcatraz, Lombard Street ( very twisty road!) and Golden Gate Park - where we attempted roller blading and gave up after 10 mins and Lou falling on her arse twice. Ouch!!! Also been on the trams which are like roller coasters going up and down the steep hills.

Today we hired bikes and went on an 8 mile bike ride which included cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a shame it was a very foogy day and we didnt have much of a view from the bridge. Caught a ferry back from the other side back to Fishermans Wharf. Saw a bloke taking an iguana for a walk on a lead this afternoon - very strange!

We ahave changed hostels and are now in the downtown area which is much nicer, although didnt get much sleep last night because of all the traffic outside. Trumpton like to use their sirens and air horns 24 hrs a day which gets quite annoying during the night. Sharing our room with a woman who looks like Whoopi Goldberg and doesn't stop talking!

Going into a time warp!

bixxie — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 14:36:00 GMT

Not much has happened over the past few days. We have just been chilling out in Auckland. We went a bar called minus 5 on Friday night, where everything was made out of ice including the glasses. Had to wear 2 pairs of gloves and a very classy eskimo type jacket, and could only stay in there half an hour cos it got so cold. The ice sculptures were really good, and last about 6 months before they have to be replaced. We weren't allowed to take photos unfortunately and they charged a fortune to take some of us so we didn't bother! Were told if we broke anything we would have to pay for it, so we were very careful not to drop a glass or knock over any sculptures. Had a very nice cocktail and then went into a bar next door to warm up.

Spent yesterday wandering around Auckland and went for a drink in our favourite irish bar that we have visited every day we have been here. Might be able to fit in a roast dinner there before we fly to L.A this evening. Neither of us are looking forward to the flight as its going to totally mess up our body clocks. We leave Auckland at 1940 on the 11/11 for an 11 hour flight to L/A and arrive in L.A at 1030 on 11/11. So get there before we leave!. At least we get an extra days holiday out of it!!!!!!!

On the road

bixxie — Fri, 9 Nov 2007 16:52:00 GMT

Had a manic 9 days trying to fit in everything we wanted to see before giving the van back today. We went on on a coach trip to Milford Sound from Queenstown which was really cool as we got to see a pengiun and seals on a boat cruise on the fjord. Stopped off on the way at Te Anau bird park and Lou got attacked by a nasty NZ bird! Quite glad we didnt attempt the drive to Milford ourselves cos the roadfs were really dodgy and there had been avalanches during the week before we went!

Lou sailed on an Americas Cup racing yacht in Queenstown on Lake Wakatipu and had to help getting the sails up and down, had a go at helming and managed not to crash the yacht! Did get a bit hairy a few times trying to turn it before we hit the harbour wall!

We had 3 days to get from Queenstown to Picton where we caught the ferry back to the North Island on Tues eve. Stopped off at Dunedin and Christchurch. The highlight of our trip back up the coast had to be seeing wild penguins and a big seal colony. Wicked! We also visited the International Antartic Centre in Christchurch, where they recreate a blizzard with a wind chill factor of -18. Bit chilly!

Stayed with Lous rellies on Tues night near Wellington and then had a really long drive to Hamilton where we had a nice evening out with Paula John who used to work for BHAPS and has emigrated to NZ to work as a para.

Yesterday (Thurs) we decided it would be a good idea to go black water rafting and looking at glow worms at the Waitomo Caves. The brochure made it look quite tame but we were starting to get a bit concerned when we had the safety brief and had to put a load of equipment on. We ended up walking through caves with quite fast running water in them and then had to sit in a rubber tube and get carried along with the current. We were told we would be floating along but it was more like a rollercoaster trying to stay upright and not crash into the cave walls! Both ended up swimming for our lives and trying not drown! Also had to jump backwards off a waterfall in the dark. We had some very annoying high maintenance American women in our group who whinged the whole time and we nicknamed them the desperate housewives! The glow worms were amazing and we got to gently float along the caves in pitch darkness. A welcome relief from the rapids! We both decided that we were glad we did the trip but prob wouldn't do it again! Chav said it was worse than sky diving!!!!!!!!!

We are now back in Auckland and took Johnny the campervan back to the depot this morning. Got a few days to chill out and and prepare for our 11 hour flight to LA on Sunday eve. Not going to be pleasant as we cross the international date line and arrive in LA before we leave Auckland time wise! Going to be messed up with jet lag for a few days!

Travellers Tales

bixxie — Thu, 1 Nov 2007 22:20:00 GMT

We have just had a very amusing conversation with 2 girls from Finland who we are sharing a room with tonight. They are on the same wave length as us about swapping stories with other backpackers and the ritual that goes with it! We had difficulty explaining what we did for a job as they didnt understand ambulance or paramedic so we ended up doing hand signals for driving like a lunatic complete with ambo sound effects! But it did work even if we felt like five year olds!

The introductions go something like this:

!) Hi,where are you from? Chav generally gets asked if she is Aussie or German!

2) Been here long?

3) Where else have you been?

4) Where are you going next?

5) You must go and see ...... cos its awesome or beeeautiful and its the most amazing thing I've ever seen

6) What do you do back home? God- that must be very stressful, you must see some horrible things? We now tell people that we work with old people as it saves a boring conversation!

7) Are you staying in a dorm or a private room? This generally shows how rich you or your parents are, or far you are into your travels if you can still afford a private room! You can usually tell how long someone has been at the same hostel by the amount of carpet space that is left for you in the dorm, after all their stuff has been spread around the room and the odour of it!

Have heard some very funny things from other travellers

-Oh my God I'm having a cardio attack!

-watch out for the grey nomads (old gits)who still think they are 20 and can run up mountains or drive their camper vans at 50km/hr in a 100 limit!

-beware of the rev heads/hoons about town

-check out the Tasmanian bogans (seriously inbred blokes wearing flannelette shirts )

-listened to a wind up live radio show where a bloke had to say if famous people were a puff or a legend!

-Lets go for a wee dander (an irish saying which we had to have translated as lets go for a walk)

The well travelled backpacker has a certain look.

1) Creased up well worn baggy trousers with a few rips at the bottom

2) Off white stained shabby t shirts

3) either wearing flip flops or bare foot and you can usually determine how long they have been travelling by the colour of the underneath of their feet and the state of the quaver toe nails!!!

4) Wearing their youth hostel key round their neck like a Jim'll fix it medallion in case they lose it and therefore forfeit their key deposit!

5) Going for the Worzel Gummidge look with greasy matted twisted hair. You can save dollars not buying shampoo!!!

6) A long term traveller is easily identified by the lingo - awesome, beeeeautiful, sic, sweet as, no worries, alrighty, you're welcome

7) It is a status symbol that the later you get up in the day,the better night you have had. Or you have just run out of money and cant afford to get out bed!

8) Having the bottom bunk in a large multi share dorm is a status symbol as to how long you have been there to achieve this privelege

We should just like to point out we have achived some of the above, but can still afford shampoo and washing powder!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glacier Girls!

bixxie — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:04:00 GMT

Had a great time with Lous rellies and her dads cousin took us bush walking and then to a really nice pub overlooking the beach. We stayed the night with them and left for Wellington early the next morning. Had just enough time to look around the Wellington museum before catching the ferry across to Picton in the South Island. The ferry trip was awful-really rough seas, and the journey took and extra hour as the captain changed course to try to avoid a heavy swell. We were very glad to get off at the other end! Our plan of action for the South Island changed as we were disembarking when a friend we met in OZ on our Great Ocean Rd trip phoned to see if we wanted to meet up with her in Nelson. We tanked it there to get to Nelson before it got dark, and had a nice evening with her in an irish pub and then stayed the night at her house. Our campervan is bloody freezing at night so we take up any offers of accomodation going!

Covered nearly 500km on Sunday to get to Franz Josef where we did a really cool glacier walk and climb on Monday. Looked very classy wearing crampons!

We are now in Queenstown and are going to stay here for a few days and chill out. Have booked into a hostel for a few nights decent sleep and are meeting up with one of Lous mates from Harpenden tonight so no doubt things will get a bit messy!!!

Kiwi Adventures

bixxie — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:36:00 GMT

We are now in New Zealand and have started our camper van road trip. We picked the van up on Tues only to discover that they didn't have any manuals left at the depot so were stuck with an automatic. As neither of us had ever driven an automatic before we were a bit nervous, but actually found it really easy to get the hang of. Although we do still keep trying to find the clutch pedal when starting it or stopping!
After fuelling up and getting important food/drink supplies we were on the road and Lou drove from Auckland to Rotorua. Stayed at a campsite that had its own thermal mud hole and hot pools, and there was a large thermal area right in the middle of Rotorua town centre. Very smelly though! We were invaded by a mother duck and her 8 ducklings the next morning, who were obviously quick to catch on that cute ducklings are likely to get fed by tourists. Lou was right at home as it was just like standing by on FRV at London Colney duck watching!

Chav drove to Taupo on Wednesday morning and we stopped at Huka Falls on the way, to look at really cool waterfall. Then went to the airport where she did a 15000 ft skydive!!!!!!!!!!! We watched the DVD afterwards and the look on her face as she was about to fall out of the plane was priceless! Fair play to her for doing it though. Lou has a mad adventure idea she wants to do when we are back in Auckland- more on that later! Had a slight panic when we could'nt get the fuel cap off the campervan, and it took the bloke at the petrol station quite a while to release it too! Also couldn't get the key out the ignition but some German bloke who looked like a caveman with very attractive greasy long hair came to our rescue!

We are now heading towards Wellington where we get the ferry to the South Island on Saturday. Going to visit one of Lou's dads relatives on the way and staying at a campsite in Wanganui tonight.

Hanging 10 in Paradise!

bixxie — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:02:00 GMT

Met up with Nicki and Griff in Brisbane yesterday and had coffee and cake and a good old gossip in a cafe by the river. We took a sight seeing bus tour of the city and learnt many interesting facts such as the bus building factory manufacturing a new gas powered bus every 2 days. Thrilling! we went back to Nickis who is kindly putting us up for 2 nights.

Nicki felt a sudden impending dysentry attack about to occur this morning, and decided that for the sake of her poor patients she had better phone in sick and spend the day with her visitors. After a slight nightmare working out the logistics of getting to Surfers Paradise without getting stuck in the traffic heading to the Indy car racing which is also happening at Surfers this weekend we were off to the beach to have a surf lesson.

We chose Cheyne Horans school of surf as he one of Australia's top pro surfers. After putting on a very classy looking rash vest we were ready to start our lesson. Waves were massive and there was a lot of dumping going on. But we perservered and after a few minor injuries we all managed to stand up. Chav nearly lost her bikini bottoms, and Lou and Nicki nearly started a full moon party in the surf while being filmed by a cameraman for the surf school company. We were very proud and totally knackered when we received our certificates and a CD of our surfing efforts which you may get to see the photos of, after we have airbrushed any excess and unwanted flesh that was unwittingly displayed!

Where's Nemo?!

bixxie — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:42:00 GMT

Went on a trip to the Great Barrier Reef on Monday. The sea appeared quite calm in Cairns harbour, but as soon as we got out into open water the rollercoaster ride started. It was like being on a bucking bronco, and before long Lou's breakfast reappeared. The fish were impressed with it anyway! The first place we stopped to go snorkelling looked very picturesque in the brochure, but slightly different with 25 knot winds. Struggled to get our flippers on while being battered by waves. Lou's snorkel was broken and leaked water, but this wasn't noticed until she had taken in a large breath and straight afterwards a large mouthful of sea water. Yuck! Strarted puking again and decided she had had enough and got taken back to the big boat in a rescue dingy. Chav went in for the second snorkelling stop and saw quite a bit of marine life but Nemo wasn't anywhere to be seen.

On Tues we went caught a bus to Palm Cove which is a nice beach north of Cairns, and spent a few hours there. It was our last day in Cairns so we went out for a meal with our room mates and played night frisbee ( with a frisbee with LED lights in it), nearly taking out a few of the locals in the process!

We are now in Brisbane, and are really looking forward to seeing Nikki and Griff tomorrow. Meeting them for coffee and cake by the river. Then going back to Nikkis to spend a night or two with her. Unfortunately she is working from Fri so we will probably head to Surfers Paradise for the day. Off to New Zealand on Sun and booked a campervan to explore the North and South Islands. Hoping to find somewhere to watch the rugby final, but as its on at 5am over here,may not have much luck. Had to watch a replay of the semi-final on Sun night in an irish bar in Cairns as nowhere was showing that game live.

Free Willies!

bixxie — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:27:00 GMT

Had a nice few days chilling out in Byron Bay and not doing alot. Despite us both saying that we had done far too much walking on our trip and had no further plans for such energetic activities, we ended up walking to Cape Byron light house as loads of people had recommended it, and we were on a money saving day. And on the way up there we saw.........humped back whales!!! Borrowed some binoculars at the light house from a bloke who tells visitors about the marine life, and whale watched for about half an hour. Was really cool. They thought that one of the whales had got beached near some rocks and were about to go on a Greenpeace mission when it swam away! Also saw a bush turkey which wasn't too pretty on the way back down to the beach.

Had an evening playing pool and getting pissed at the hostel with our room mates and getting high from the various substances we were passively smoking that other travellers had probably bought from Nimbin. We did consider going there ourselves,but the only free day was before we went to the airport and decided flying with clothes smelling of cannabis wouldnt have been a good move! (knowing Lou's luck. At least she didnt get pulled for an explosive trace test like at the other airports we have been through!!)

Went for a bike ride in the morning before we left and got a bit lost. Nearly ended up on the Pacific Highway. Not many places you can ride round Byron Bay that doesn't involve going up big hills.

We are now in Cairns and staying in a really good family run hostel with big rooms and cheap rates. The 2 other girls in our room are German and Irish and very nice.Only downfall is they don't have internet at the hostel so it might be a few days until you hear from us again. (unless we randomly find another internet cafe!)

Gallery: World Adventure 2007

bixxie — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:19:00 GMT

Crabbing it up!

bixxie — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:58:00 GMT

Left Bondi on Monday morning and returned to Sydney for a day of sightseeing. Managed to fit in the Botanical Gardens, Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge, a ferry trip to Manly, walk around the rocks area, browsed around an art gallery that had drawings by Nelson Mandela in, and then went up the observation tower for a birds eye view of the city. Knackered after all that in about 6 hours! Then went back to Railway Square YHA where we had left our big rucksacks overnight and checked in for one last night in Sydney.

One of the backpacker bars was advertising cheap drinks and crab racing. We both had crabs named after us -Chav and Loopy- but unfortunately they didnt win cos the prizes were really good. Never seen so many people get excited over 19 crabs! Got chatting to some other travellers and had a really good night.

Now we are in Byron Bay for some rest and relaxation. We have both had curry cravings for the past few days and went out with the other girls in our room and found a curry house. V nice. Its good to escape the madness of city life for a few days and go at slower pace of life. Flying to Cairns tomorrow to get some sunshine and top the tan. Planning on visiting a few islands on the barrier reef and doing not much at all. The last 2 weeks have been manic and we need a rest!!!

Sweet Chariots and Stuffed Aussies!!!

bixxie — Sun, 7 Oct 2007 19:20:00 GMT

We are now in the Sydney area for a couple of days. Met up with our Slovak friends for a couple of hours at Darling Harbour last night as they are flying home today. Then went to find somewhere to watch the England v Australia rugby and endede up in a totally rammed irish bar called Scruffy Murphys in the centre of Sydney. The atmosphere during the game was absolutely awesome, and the english were yelling out Swing low, sweet chariot at the tops of their voices throughout the game. When we won the place erupted with English travellers jumping up and down, chucking pints of beer around and high fiving each other. It was mental! The Aussies took it in good spirit but we did have abuse shouted at us from cars as we proudly staggered back to the hostel wearing our England rugby shirts with pride! We would like to apologise for the drunken texts and phone calls that were made to various people back home but we wanted to spread our happiness across the world.

Today we could of had a nice lie in as check out of our hostel wasn't untill 11am, but unfortunately had run out of clean clothes to wear so had to have a mad washing and drying frenzy to try and get everything done. As from 10am we were very kindly reminded every 15 mins over a loud tannoy system that we had to check out by 11am. It was like being at a hi de hi camp! Our hearts we racing- was the washing going to finish in time before the final announcement? Unfortunately we had to pack our bags in the communal area as the washing machine was on a go slow, so everyone got a glimpse of our Primark undies!!!!!!!!!

We are now at Bondi Beach and spent the day admiring the view of the surfer dudes and lifeguards in between power naps! Spending the night at a hostel in Bondi just chilling out, and returning to the same hostel that we were in Sydney for tomorrow night so were can do all the sightseeing stuff before flying to Bryon Bay on Tuesday for a few days R and R. Very cunningly left our big rucksacks in storage so were didnt have to carry them around Bondi today. Had enough of looking like Ninja Turtles carrying all our stuff on our backs!

Tasmanian Devils

bixxie — Sat, 6 Oct 2007 12:45:00 GMT

Had a good afternoon being shown round Cascades Brewery in Hobart on Wed. We were told its better to drink beer out of a glass than a bottle cos you get more of the flavour. Give anything a go once especially if it involves alcohol! After the tour we were given some tokens for free beer, cider and soft drink tasting, and as some people had to leave in a hurry they gave us their tokens too. A very pleasant afternoon was spent sampling the local grog, and watching the rain chuck it down outside. We asked if they exported to the UK as some of the beer and cider was really good, but they tend to only send stuff to Oz or keep it in Tasmania as they are only a relatively small brewery. Shame! Might get hold of some in a Walkabout pub back home.

Apologies to anyone who may have been expecting a postcard from Chav-whilst having a blonde moment she posted the cards complete with stamps but with no addresses on! Some things never change even on the other side of the world.

Yesterday we went on a tour with "Bottom Bits Bus company" to Wineglass bay and Freycinet national park. The views from various lookout points were totally amazing. We also made friends with some other travellers on the bus and went out for dinner with Jo, a girl we met on the tour who is staying in our hostel which is called the Pickled Frog!

We spent this morning looking round Salamanca Market and it was packed. When we have been out in the evenings the streets have been deserted, to the point that we expected a tumbleweed to come blowing down the road (or a polar bear as its been so cold!)It was 6 degrees C on wed and thurs night. Pubs shut at 10pm weekdays, and the town comes alive at the weekend.

We are flying to Sydney this afternoon and looking forward to some warmer weather.

Wet and windy!

bixxie — Wed, 3 Oct 2007 19:05:00 GMT

We both had horrendous hangovers on Monday morning and spent about an hour dying on a park bench. Got accosted by a local tramp/drunk who was "just checking we were OK". When he didn't like the reply we gave him he called us "a pair of cheeky bitches". How rude! Met up with Anja and Mathia who were on our Great Ocean Rd tour and spent the day with them. Then went to a pub to meet Kirsty and Tim ( 2 of Lous mates from Harpnden who live in Melbourne) and who kindly put us up for 2 nights in their house. It was great to relive our youth and teach Tim who is Australian, the finer points of Cockney slang and the proper meaning of crisps and trousers. Strange Aussie language!

We are now in Tasmania until Sat and its cold, wet and windy. Going on a tour of a brewery tomorrow to keep warm and sample the local grog.

Ramsey Street

bixxie — Tue, 2 Oct 2007 12:55:00 GMT

While we were staying with Kirsty and Tim they took us out for a drive to look at the local area. We went to find Ramsey Street or Pin Oak Road as its actually called. As we were driving towards the road Kirsty noticed that the end of it was cordoned off and dived out of the car before it had stopped thinking that they were filming. Unfortunately the security guard wouldnt let us into the road and said it wasn't opened to the public during the night and we would have to come back tomorrow. We did say it was our one night in Melbourne but he wasn't having any of it. So we went to see where Kirsty and Tim got married instead!

Great Ocean Road

bixxie — Mon, 1 Oct 2007 01:53:00 GMT

The second and third day of the tour was mainly about the views of the Great Ocean Road. This is split into 2 parts, the shipwreck coast and the surf coast. The ship wreck coast had some really wild sea and waves yesterday-our tour guide hadn't seen them so high for ages. We stopped at London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge and the Twelve Apostles yesterday, and although the weather wasn't great, the views were spectacular. The highlight of the trip was a helicopter ride over the twelve apostles which was amazing. Went shopping for surfer bargains in Surf City today which is a massive shopping area in Torquay with all the surf shops shops and outlet centres. Cant wait to get to Sydney for warm weather so we can get the shorts out again!!!!!!!!!

We have also seen loads of wildlife in its wild habitat- koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, emus, kookaburras and the rare Otway snail which can eat themselves and your toes if you aren't careful! Luckily the weather wasn't right for flip flops so we were OK!!!!!!!

Been out tonight with some people who were on our tour and got quite drunk. If you can make sense of this Lou can't be as pissed as she feels, but still has to navigate her way to the top bunk which will be very amusing!!!!!!!!!!!

Meeting up with Kirsty and Tim in Melbourne city centre tomorrow night for drinks and a meal and then heading back to their house for 2 nights. Hopefully will get some photos on the blog. Looking forward to some R and R after some mad days of getting up at 6.15am. Need sleep!!!!!!!!!!!

Fraggle Rock

bixxie — Mon, 1 Oct 2007 01:42:00 GMT

Not quite sure what we expected booking an adventure tour of the Grampian mountain range and Great Ocean Road but we are fairly sure it didn't mention tramping up mountains and scrabbling up rock faces! However the views from the top were well worth the taxing walk. Did 3 walks in the Grampians- up Hollow Mountain, to McKenzie Falls ( a really cool waterfall) and to Reids Lookout on Fri, to the Pinnacle on Sat, and the Otway Fly which is a tree top canopy walk today. The weather has been been crap the last few days- rain, sleet and cold for the last 3 days. Met some really nice nice people on our tour who we intend on keeping in touch with and may be staying with or meeting up with later on in our travels.

Blue Galahs

bixxie — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:25:00 GMT

We are now in Adelaide for 2 days. Lou had her bag swabbed for traces of explosives at Perth airport! Must be a good terrorist cos they didn't find anything. Staying in a really nice hostel right in the middle of Adelaide city centre. Booked a twin room and got one with 2 sets of bunk beds in, so have loads of space to spread our junk around for a change! Spending this morning sorting out our rucsacks and washing and drying clothes as we are going on an adventure tour of the Great Ocean Rd for 3 days from Fri to Sun. Finishes in Melbourne on Sunday evening and we are staying with Kirsty (mate of Lou's from Harpenden) and her husband Tim, for a few days while we explore the Melbourne area.

Not much to report from the last few days, and we probably won't have internet access until we get to Melbourne.