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what the heck is this blog about?

This blog is for me to share with you all about the exciting adventures I am having while spending all my money on travel. When not sleeping in train stations and lugging a pack around you'll find me wishing I was, in the garden city of Christchurch, New Zealand. I'm an 20-something, wishing-I-still-was-one student, worth around 100 camels according to that guy in Morocco. Lucky enough to have already been on lots of global adventures but still looking for more countries to go to with unpronounceable names. On the right you can see my progress around the world. Blogs posts are grouped in countries and in different trips. The first block is from my 2006/2007 RTW trip, below that is my 2008 'overland trip', then lay travels since then. There is also links to all my photos, video's and trip expenses. Have a look around and please leave me a comment if you like what you read! *update* I am now living in London with a job that I love and taking a break from the travelling life, one day I will return but till then...

Eastern delights

October 20th, 2006

Just a quick post to say Hi and I am still around just getting lazy at posting! Am in Budapest about to head to Poland tonight, been in Slovakia which was great and Hungary was also very fun. Will put up some nice long posts sometime when Ive got some time because right now Im moving country every 3 days! Right off to catch yet another overnight train!

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Vienna; the big wedding cake

October 17th, 2006

Photos from London to now are here:

Eastern Europe

Well it was back to Austria for a couple of nights this time to check out the capital. Apparently the place to be for all your cultural needs. Had a quick walk around the town after a long overnight train ride, checked out the big palace that dominates the town where the monarchy ruled from until it was dissolved in 1918, kind of cool place with beautiful gardens and things. Checked out a museum there which had a whole lot of info about one of the empress’s who was very well known and ended up being assasinated. Also in the museum was all this stuff from the palace, like all the cutlery and dinner sets…my goodness I could not think of much more boring things to look at. Got a free audio guide…”Notice the ever popular fiddle and stick engraving on the knives….this dinner set was given to the royal family in 1901 by the Queen of so and so…”

Hmmmm not the most exciting topics but neverless still an interesting museum. By the afternoon I was shattered so went back for a nap then that night headed out to the Opera with a few girls. Basically you can get really cheap tickets about an hour before so we payed 9 euros and got amazing seated tickets right up the front in little boxes. Very cool building and all very flash. The opera itself was all sort of ‘modern’ and in english…a bit strange…but was a cool experience just going.
Spent the next day checking out this market which is always good and just walking aorund the city which is actually really beautiful, lots of nice buildings and horse and carriges everywhere. So Vienna was a nice place not super exciting but good to visit. Only an hour train ride to my next stop Bratislava in Slovakia…why? why not..I had hardly even heard of the country before I got to Europe but why not visit for a few nights!
inside the opera house…

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can we see your relics?

October 17th, 2006

So the trip to the Vatican Basilca turned out to a be far more funny than I imagined. As both Abby and mzself have christian backgrounds we both had a few opinions on the catholic church and prettz much spent the entire time in theological debate and of course laughing uncontrolably at some of the stuff that was going on. Like the queus of people lining up to touch some statues foot and all the people filling past tombs and having their photos taken with them. The whole idea of this weird religious tourism all seemed a bit..wrong…but we were there so I guess we cant say too much. Probably the best bit was after a bit of a conversation about how catholics seem obsessed with physical things and relics, like someones bones, a cup that Jesus touches, bread from the last supper etc etc. And Abbys guide book said that this Basilaca had a piece of the true cross and the spear that pierced Jesus. Well we had to find them of course and ended up asking one of the staff there about what relics we could see….”so where abouts is the cross?, and what about the spear…you know that pierced Jesus side?” I guess maybe you had to be there but trust me it was funny….
After we escaped the hoards of pilgrims and tour groups we climbed the stairs up to the dome and got a great view of the city. Unfortunately the stairs up there had been built in the 70s so it didnt feel that original climbing these orange and brown stairs, however it was worth it for the view.

After our sightseeing list had been fulfilled we went out for tea to this cute little place down a side street and had pizza, it was all verz italian and even had a cool band playing. Perfect birthdaz dinner. Spent the evening in the hostel bar having a few drinks and meet a whole lot of cool people including some kiwis (I knew there were some out there somewhere)

Headed back to the Vatican the next day to do the museums, so saw the sistene chapel and lots of other cool buildings and religious themed things. Got stupidly lost heading back to the hostel but made it eventually, grabbed some takeaway gnocchi and jumped on an overnight train to Vienna, verz short but sweet visit to Italy and defnitily will be back to do the country properly.

youll have to excuse the grammer in this post as am on the dodgist computer in Sovakia….obviouslz getting a bit behind on posts but will catch up over the next day or so…but for now its off to Hungary..

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Rome if you want to, Rome around the world

October 12th, 2006

You may have noticed by now that I have a bad habit of getting lost incities and spending disproportionate time wandering around with my pack on. Rome was no exception. Didnt help I didnt have the hostel address but I couldnt find anyone to help me at the train station….I dont know but things like SIGNS are a good idea. And not putting the tourist info counter right at the back of the station hidden away…anyway after awhile I finally found the hostel but surprise surprise they run 2 hostels in Rome and I was staying at the other one!!

Rome is a strange city, theres a bout 2 main roads then hundreds of little tiny backstreets which buses seem to think driving down is a good idea, basically its very easy to get lost and not very easy to place yourself on a map so walking around takes me about 5 times longer than what it should. Also Rome drivers…the worst! How do they get away with driving like this! its mental! Heaps of scooters that speed around corners and cut people off, I even saw I guy driving his scooter while talking on a cell phone and smoking a cigerette! Crazy italians. Im still unsure of whether I like Rome, I mean it has really cool stuff to see but it fels kind of disjointed as theres no really central area and the building are all so high you cant really get a perspective on things. But like I said a crap load of ridiculously famous things to see so it was straight to work ticking them off my list.

Fist day was the Colosseum. You know like the thing from the movie Gladiator? Just a bit older. A big areana where they used to have crazy fights with exotic animals. Hugely impressive and set in this valley full of all these cool old ruins. I splashed out and got the audio guide for the Colosseum and spent a bit of time wandering around there then checked out the ruins. Its super cool to think about what it would have been like way back then. So that took up a good part of the day, checked out the Trevi fountain on the way home, which is this awesome fountain. I couldn’t beleive how busy it was there though, this is supposed to be low season and its still packed, so glad I wasn’t here in August. Of course I got lost on the way home and ended up back at the Colosseum instead of the hostel so needed a bit of a rest when I eventually got back. Ended up going out for dinner with 2 guys from my room, a mexican and a brasilian. The Mexican was at the end of his trip and wanted to go out for celebratory dinner and well since it was my birthday the next day I thought I could afford it. He did want to go to a stupidly flash place which cost far too much and obviously aimed at tourists…but he really wanted to go and didnt seem interested in my idea of finding some little place tucked away that actually serves italian food. So we ended up in a crazy flash place and we definiitely stood out as backpackers! It was a nice meal though and a cool evening. Not too late a night as lots more sight seeing to do the next day.

So day 2 in Rome and it was my birthday!! Happy Birthday to me! 21, Im so old now! Gave home a ring and had a talk to family which is always good then it was off to the Vatican to take in some religious education. The Basilica there is very beautiful, you can see it from a bit of a distance and just looks incredible, wednesday was the day the Pope meets people so had to wait for a bit until that was all over to be allowed in and while waiting happened to bump into a cool English chick from my dorm. So Ally and myself had some icecream then headed into church.

to be continued…when I dont have a train to catch! Vienna tonight!

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Where else would you find a leaning tower other than Pisa?

October 10th, 2006

Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for Pisa, I mean everyone goes for like 2 hours to take a photo then leaves. However on arriving I did discover that its actually quite a nice city and for the most part seems relatively unconcerned about the tower. Which may contribute to not finding it super easy….I thought all roads would lead there, but not in this case. Eventually I did stumble across one of the worlds most famous landmarks. Only an hour train ride from Florance the Leaning tower is really quite beautiful, set next to another couple of beautiful buildings and surrounded by grass it is a bit smaller than I thought and true to all European landmarks; coverered in scaffolding. Well not covered but you know, I actually laughed out loud when I saw it, of course there is scaffolding!!

I just chilled out on the grass for awhile in the very warm sun gazing up at it and doing a bit of people watching. Now it seems the only thing better than taking funny photos with the tower is watching other people take photos. Especially when your on a different angle and all you see is groups of people in strange poses, arms everywhere holding up…well nothing. So I took more photos of funny looking people rather than the funny looking tower.
I did of course join in the stupidity that is tourism and do the cheesy pushing the tower over photo but you kind of have to. So that was that, Pisa tick, done in about 3 hours. It was nicer than expected though and enjoyed just hanging out in the sun. Picked up my bag from the storage and waited for the train to Rome. Which was late and as always full of strange looking gypsy girls and a weird guy that stared at me. Excellent.

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Italia!!

October 10th, 2006

The idea was to head to Italy to catch some of the last of the sun in Europe before we all ddecend into wintery whitness (which for the worst I will be long gone!): First day in Florence didnt really go to plan with overcast grey skies! But not to worry as weather has been improving and even got a bit sunburnt yesterday…ahhhh for the days of being tanned back in France!
My first morning in Florance ended up being a bit of a walking tour looking for a hostel that was free…I thought everyone would have left by now but no…Italy is always busy! Eventully found a place after waiting a few hours to see if people checked out then headed into town to have a look around. Now Ive heard from everyone that Florance is amazing and beautiful etc etc…I dont know maybe it was the overnight train, feeling sick…but I was just over it…whatever “it” was, well I was over…it. I mean its a nice place just not all that exciting, the queues to get in anywhere were stupidly long, then it started raining, did have nice pizza for lunch but by 2 I just went back to the hostel and slept all afternoon! Meet up with a cool chick in the evening and cooked up a bit of pasta with her, and hung out in the hostel with some other randoms for awhile which is always fun. Especially when one of them was a crazy american guy who blamed his stupidity of everything of being from American and never having been out of the country before….while he nursed his bottle of wine and got drunker and more stupid….very entertaining for the rest of us.

Right day 2 and the sun is shining, detirmined to make use of the day so tried to make it earlier to get in line to see the David statue. Well it was longer than the day before but after 2 hours waiting with a whole lot of cool aussies we were in! and thanks to my british passport for surprisingly cheaper. And well I think it was worth it, David is amazing! He’s huge!! Such a detailed statue, its incredible! so spent a good while admiring that and that was about all this art gallery had to offer. Tried to go line up for th Uffize gallery which has some of the worlds best paintings but couldnt face another long wait. Instead just wandered through the piazza’s and very thin streets, dodging tourists and pidgeons. Ok so I guess Florance is nice…but still not as amzing as I’ve heard. In the late afternoon I walked up to this Piazza which overlooks the city then went in search of a church which apparently had singing monks at 5.40…also on the search I meet 2 other guys whose eventually turned up at the right place as the monks were finished! I did get to see some of it though, they were just conducting a service in a little room in a cathedral, but very cool to sit and listen to them sing. Ended up watching the sun set over the valley outside this beautiful church. I have to admit it was pretty amazing!

Exploiting the fact its my birthday soon the guys said theyd take me out for dinner which proved to be an interesting experience. One Amercian, one Canadien late 20’s and just meet at the hostel. American super nice, well travelled, photographer. Canadien…well he was lovely but just interesting. Basically loved his guide book so much that we trekked to the other side of the city to find this restaurant which apparently was good. Finally arriving we couldnt find it but another one was there and while me and the anthony waited to be seated this guy went round and round looking for the other place comparing the price and finding other places that were close. Trying to explain that just because its not in a guide book doesnt mean its bad went unnoticed as we ended up just having to laugh as he clutched “Let’s Go Italy” with religious fervour. Interesting guy…nothing funnier than a person who explains that they ARE funny and that “I actually do a bit of stand up comedy” right…luckily Anthony was chilled enough just to laugh and once he stopped trying to hug me and make innapropriate jokes it was OK and we had a good night …mainly at the other guys expense. Which may be a bit mean but sometimes you’ve gota laught right?

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The Hills are alive….

October 9th, 2006

With the sound of music…ahhhahhhahh….
For those of you who dont know (but come on we all secretly love it) Salzburg in Austria is the home of the sound of Music, so what better chance to go all out for the cheesyist tours ever. The hostel that I stayed at plays the movie every day as well as very much promoting the tours. I didnt arrive untill late so it was pretty much straight to bed for me after giving my pants a wash in the sink…the water was so disgusting….pretty much all my clothes and my shoes were compleately wrecked. The next morning I of course still fel like crap, couldnt stop coughing and felt like I was swallowing knives because my throat hurt so much….writing this in Rome and still not feeling that great!

The plan was just to spend the day there then overnight train out but wasnt up to it so stayed and extra night, spent the morning in bed but managed to drag myself up for the afternoons tour.

It was very funny, listed in guidebooks as the best and the worst thing about Austria, you definitlely needed to not take yourselves seriously as the guide was just a compleate nutter. We learnt an amazing amount of information about the movie, such as Austrians dont like it because it was a amercian rip off of a German film and when they filmed they did things like hung Nazi flags without permission and at the end of the movie the VonTrapps are actually going the wrong way, into Germany not to Italy. Also saw the locations of the house, the gardens, the pavillion then headed out (yes on our big wanky tour bus, mainly full of older amercians) to the lakes region this beautiful area where they shot lots of the scenery shots. It really was amazing to see all the mountains and lakes with little houses. Would be pretty amazing in the winter I imagine with snow and ice skating. Last stop was the church where Maria and the Captain were married, a little town that could have come from a travel guide. Had meet some cool australian chicks so we stopped at a nice little cafe and had apple strudle with custard, yum! On the way back into Salzburg we listened to the sound track and sung along of course, all ending approprately with the “so long, farewell” song. So it was great, did get loads of info about Salzburg and the movie so all good! Did make me realise that Salzburg is in a pretty amazing area and theres a lot to do.

That night I had a great bunkroom who all meet up with these other great people and all wanted to go out…but I was just too sick so went to bed about 9….so boring…and a shame because would have been a fun night but have to make sacrfices! Watched the sound of music the next moring and spent the afternoon in the Mirabell Gardens, which are the most beautiful gardens/park Ive seen and where they shot all the scenes for do-re-me. So that was the end of my brief Austrian visit, may be back for a night in Vienna if time permitts but will see how we go…so into Italy on my favourite overnight trains…no sleep..arriving in Florance at 6am! perfect!

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too much time at Oktoberfest

October 6th, 2006

I think 4 days was probably enough as I didn’t end up sleeping hardly at all for the whole time in Munich and now am sick and exhausted! but it was fun, did walk a little bit around Munich one day and it is a beautiful city, some really amazing churches and things. The last 2 days of Oktoberfest were similar to the first 2, dancing and singing along with the band, buying up on pretzels and all sorts of yummy food. I had to move hostels on the last night and stayed a quite a nice place where I went down to the tents with a cool Brazilian guy. The last night just as we were leaving the grounds it started pouring down with rain! Was with a couple of Aussies so we had to run back to the hostel and got compleately soaked…not cool and it was freezing! I looked like such a wreck when arrived back the staff gave me a free drink! But is was great, meet some really cool people and had a lot of fun, also actually meet Germans which doesn’t often happen when your travelling as normaly I only meet other travellers. So it was cool to hang out with some awesome Germans who tried to teach me all the words to the crazy songs (so they’re not just saying ´laaaalaaaalaaa blahh blah`), looking forward to getting back another year!

The day after it was all over I headed out to this big castle called Neuschwanstein built by some crazy king a few hundred years ago, apparently the Disney castle was based on it but I’ve heard that said about lots of places. Spent the day with a cool American who I meet and we went for a nice big walk up to the castle and then all the way back to the village to get the train because the bus wasn’t coming for ages. Beautiful area…all these hills and lakes, very German/Alpine looking with little houses that look like gingerbread. On the was back to the village we saw cows that actually had cow bells! I couldn’t believe it! It was so awesome, I even took a photo!

after the day out at the castle I jumped on a late train into Salzburg, Austria the home of the Sound of Music to get a good dose of cheese…..

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Oktoberfest

October 2nd, 2006

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Munich’s a city? I thought it was just beer tents

October 2nd, 2006

I really do need to actually see more of Munich other than just the Oktoberfest grounds! Maybe tomorrow….it really is crazy times here, unlike anything Ive ever seen, its just massive! so many people and soooooooo much beer, I cant beleive how much people can drink, one guy I was talking to drunk 20 litres of beer yesterday! One of those steins is enough for me Its a very fun atmosphere though, everone is friendly and Ive meet cool people. A few times havnt known anyone and just find randoms to hang out with, its great! First night crashed this guys hotel room and we went out with some cool germans to this huge club after Oktoberfest closed down. Was an awesome night out, Germany is great!! Yesterday spent a good 10 or so hours in the beer tents just dancing and singing along with the big bands that play. When I find a computer that works Ill upload these videos which give a little bit of an idea of what its like. So halfway through my Munich time, heading back to the grounds now for another long afternoon/evening! and must get up and go see more of Munich tomorrow….

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