Jo's Journey

Gallery: New Zealand Road Trip

jo — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:27:00 GMT

The Road Trip Ends

jo — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:14:00 GMT

And it was such a good road trip. We crammed loads into our 4 weeks in New Zealand. I managed to parasail and paraglide in Queenstown, swim with seals in Kaikoura, abseil into gloworm caves and rockclimb out of them again after floating through them on a huge tube in Waitomo. We ate New Zealand´s famous Bluff oysters in Bluff, saw dolphins at Porpoise Bay, drank cocktails from teapots in Queenstown´s World Bar and ate amazing food cooked in the ground at a Maori hangi in Rotorua.

We climbed the Franz Josef Glacier and drank in an ice bar in Queenstown. We bathed in thermal springs for free at Kerosene Creek and partied at WOMAD Festival in New Plymouth.

We drove 5600km around mountains, past lakes, over bridges, along the coast, through forests and saw hundreds of possum roadkill!

I am in Santiago, Chile now and enjoying being back in a bed after 4 weeks of camping.

See some of the photos from the road trip in the gallery entitled ´The Road Trip Ends´.

The Roadtrip Begins

jo — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 21:12:00 GMT

As I sat in Sydney Airport waiting to be called to board my flight to Auckland, I could have been back in the UK.... this was because the rain was pouring outside and what started as a sunny morning turned into a grey and wet day!

I felt quite strange on the drive to the airport. Australia had become my home for the last 6 months and I have grown pretty attached the place - I have been to some amazing places, met some cool people and had loads of good times.

My worries of leaving Oz disappeared as soon as I arrived in Auckland. Got a shuttle straight to the backpackers in the city centre and met up with Mia who had arrived that afternoon from Fiji.

It was St. Patrick's Day and Mia (being Irish) was ready to celebrate it. So after a couple of Fijian gin and tonics we headed into town to an Irish bar. After loads of singing and dancing we fell into our bunks and crashed out.

Next morning, we got up to collect our car, the tiniest car in the world - we managed to squeeze our gear into it and headed for New Plymouth. About 6 hours later we arrived and went straight to WOMAD armed with more Fijian gin and tonic and thermals!

Had a wicked night - saw a Maori band called Wai, Manchester DJ - Mr Scruff and ate curry sat under the trees! Mr Scruff was great and had everyone up and dancing. There was some kind of crazy dance-off going on at the front which was hilarious. I'll post photos in my gallery soon.

Headed back to our luxury accommodation for the night. Yep, the tiniest car in the world also doubled up as our bedroom. We had to avoid the millions of cowpats on our way to the car but Mia managed to attach one to her shoe which she then removed with her fingers!

Got up early this morning and made the drive down to Wellington after ringing our mums to say Happy Mother's Day and buying a much needed I Trip - New Zealand radio isn't that great!

Arrived in Wellington 5 and a half hours later and have pitched our tent. Getting an early night tonight in preparation for our early ferry trip to South Island and our journey to our next overnight stay - Old Macdonald's Farm!! E I E I O!

Gallery: Mardi Gras

jo — Fri, 9 Mar 2007 14:11:00 GMT

My trip to the Mardi Gras with Mia, Manuao and Murray

Me, Manuao, Mia & Murray do Mardi Gras

jo — Thu, 8 Mar 2007 15:41:00 GMT

It was hotter than hot on Saturday 3 March, the day of Sydney's biggest and glitzyest (is that a word, i'm not sure?) parade. Mia and I met outside Paddington Market and after a feeble effort of shopping we headed back down toward the action to stop for a couple of drinks. You see the hardest thing about backpacking for me is that I am still getting to grips with the fact that I am not allowed to shop as I did back in the UK, so it is best if I just don't go near them in the first place. It has got to the stage now where a trip to the local Coles, Woolworths or IGA is exciting.

After a couple of drinks, we met up with Murray and Manuao, dropped into a bottle shop to grab a few drinks and then went to find a suitable place to catch the parade.

We managed to find a really good viewpoint on Flinders Street, only problem was, we were about two and a half hours too early so we had bit of hanging around.

Mia and I went to buy pizza and came back with deeley boppers. They were great additions to our Mardi Gras accessories which also included whistles and glowsticks that had been handed out earlier.

The hanging around was worth it though - we had plenty going on around us to keep us entertained including Bob Downe flying past on wheels in a rather fetching pair of bottom hugging yellow slacks. If you don't know who I am talking about then check this website out... www.bobdowne.com.au. Rupert Everett also made an appearance and so I can now add them to my list of celebs I have spotted in Sydney - the last being Paris Hilton. Oh and how could I forget the cast of Home and Away!

I have posted some of the Mardi Gras photos in my gallery for you to have a look at!

Gallery: Perth to Exmouth Trip, Western Australia: 31 January to 6 February 2007

jo — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 23:19:00 GMT

My brilliant trip in WA

Back in Sunny Sydney

jo — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:30:00 GMT

I'm trying to now get with the programme and have been brave and attempted to start my own online travel journal so that you can see where I am and what I am doing.

Have just done a mini road trip with my lovely Irish friend, Mia. Actually, she is one of many lovely Irish friends I have met along the way.

We had a very funny night in the strangest hostel in the history of hostels at a place called Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The building had once been used as a nursing home and was next door to a funeral parlour - very handy! The guy running the place was almost doing it single handedly and was so desperate for staff that he basically offered us a job there and then. He had the help of one poor girl to look after 30 dorm rooms. The place won't last long! And by the way, I didn't take the job.

On the way back from our trip up into the Blue Mountains we took a wrong turning and ended up in Chinatown where the Chinese New Year was being celebrated to the max. Managed, by complete fluke, to get parked right in the main street which we couldn't have done if we had tried! Turned out to be a very cool night. Ate Peking beef and drank Chinese tea in a tiny little restaurant over looking all the action, saw (and heard) firecrackers and drummers, watched lion dancing and had a Chinese massage for 6 Aussie dollars each - that's about 2 pounds and 40 pence and you know how much I love a bargain! Oh yes and we saw a fight and an arrest but that was nothing to do with the celebrations!!

FYI, 2007 is the year of the pig!