Day 89 - UK

Thanks to British Airways it's taken me 89 days to get round the world, but I've finally made it to London... and so have my bags which is a miracle! Time now to do some serious research whilst I wait for my flight to Edinburgh and catch up on all the celeb gossip.

Day 88 - USA... Again

Good old British Airways. The earliest they could fly us out of Vancouver was tuesday, so instead they've driven us down to Seattle to get flights from there. It appears that they couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and despite knowing they had an extra 300 passengers to cope with, check-in was an absolute nightmare. But 23 hours after I was supposed to leave Vancouver I finally leave Seattle. I don't think my bags have made it on to the flight though!

Day 87 - Vancouver Airport

I know I've joked that I'd like to stay here but I promise that I had nothing to do with the pilot ending up in hospital! So the flight's been cancelled and now we've all been moved to a hotel for the night. BA have no idea when our flight will leave. Jude Law is apparently on the same flight so I'll keep an eye out for him tomorrow! I hope MWH didn't mean it when they put in my contract that they'd sack me if I'm not back in work on monday!

Day 83 - Vancouver Island

I came over to the island on sunday and spent some time with my sister in law's family. Today I hired a car and drove over to the west coast which is beautiful. I got pretty cold watching the sun set over the beach but it was worth it. Now I'm warming up in my luxury B&B with a glass of wine. Snow is forecast for tomorrow and I'm going bear and whale watching!

Day 80 - Whistler

Can you spot which one is me?! Sarah and I drove up to Whistler to check out the snow. We didn't actually do any skiing though. They're busy preparing for the 2010 winter olympics. I tried out the bobsleigh and won a gold medal.

Day 75 - Vancouver

It's bloody freezing! I was greeted on saturday night with sleet and snow... a big difference to Vegas. The sun's out now though and whilst I don't think I'll get to improve on my suntan it's still nice to see mostly blue skies, even if it is only 5 degrees C. Vancouver is beautiful though. Two weeks today I'll be back at work. Bugger! 

I've really enjoyed my relaxing week in Vancouver.  I've taken it very easy and even had a day off where I did no travelling and no sight-seeing!  That may not sound very exciting to you, but after 11 weeks of constantly being on the go it was really nice to just chill out (and get a manicure!). 

Day 70 - Grand Canyon

WOW!!! We took a quick, but expensive trip to the Grand Canyon this morning with a 40 minute helicopter ride. I wasn't too scared and I wasn't sick. It was certainly worth it for the views and the obligatory champagne. I think Mum & Dad enjoyed it too.

Day 69 - Las Vegas

It rocks! I didn't think I'd like it but it's brilliant fun. We've been here 2 days and have only seen about half of it, partly because we were kidnapped by Klingons for a while. The fountains at the Belagio were amazing. Tomorrow we're going to the Grand Canyon. So far we've gambled a massive 1 dollar.

Day 65 - Palm Springs

After a few days of visiting theme parks, the Queen Mary and various shops we tired of LA and decided to head to Palm Springs. It's a lot hotter here - hurrah!! We went on the cable car up Mount San Jacinto and enjoyed the 20 degree drop in temperature. It was quite strange to be walking through snow in my sandals. After cooling off we headed back to our hotel to warm up by the pool. Tomorrow we're going to the Joshua Tree National Park and then making our way to Vegas - yeah baby!

Day 59 - Hello USA

After 12 hours flying and a confusing 19 hours time difference I finally made it to LA. First impressions... what a dump! Mum and Dad are with me and we're staying in a very luxurious hotel... not! I might go and see if the Beckhams have got a spare room!

Day 59 - Bye bye New Zealand

After 5 weeks of travelling around NZ, admiring amazing views, seeing lots of interesting flora and fauna, sampling the local vino, checking out the rugby talent and jumping out a plane it's time for me to leave Jen AND Jai in New Zealand. There were a few tears.

Day 52 - Dunedin

Dunedin was originally going to be called New Edinburgh but it was decided that would be too confusing so they called it by Edinburgh's gaelic name instead. Many of the street names are the same as Edinburgh and sometimes it has felt as cold as home!

OK, so there was a slight technical glitch there and I somehow ended up with numerous copies of the same thing. Sorry! Dunedin was good, but not that good!

Day 47 - Abel Tasman

According to the guide books this place is idyllic and stunning with golden sandy beaches lapped by crystal clear waters. When we went here it was bloody freezing! I'm actually warming my feet up in the water as it's warmer in there than out. The catamaran trip was good fun, despite the cold and getting wet. At least I didn't throw up this time.

Day 44 - Half Way

What better way to celebrate the half way point of my trip and our last day on the North Island than by watching a bunch of fit men running around in shorts. Heaven! The Wellington Hurricanes won 39-19. We even got a couple of autographs! Not quite as exciting as a sky dive (have I mentioned jumping out of a plane?!) but enjoyable for different reasons.

Day 41 - Oh My God!!!

Today I jumped out of an plane from 15,000 feet!! Absolutely amazing!!! We'd been kayaking on Lake Taupo this morning and met an English couple, one of whom fancied sky diving and for some reason I said I'd do it with her. Before fear struck, we'd paid our money and had 10 minutes to drive over to the airport. I decided to go for 15,000 feet, rather than 12,000 feet as I thought I'm only going to do this once.

Of course, I wasn't going to jump out of a plane on my own, so I was strapped to an Aussie called Mike who's done over 10,000 tandem jumps so I figured I was in safe hands. I also decided to splash out on getting the DVD and photos done, hence you can see me looking completely gormless as I flap around in the air.

I was absolutely petrified but when you're strapped to someone else who's going to jump out of the plane, you don't really have much choice! So off I fell into the sky and it was the most amazing feeling. I tried to scream but I didn't really have much breath! The view was incredible and with my extra 20 seconds of free-fall due to jumping from 15,000 feet I got to have a good look around.

Suddenly we're flying back up into the sky as Mike's pulled the parachute and then everything gets a bit calmer as we float back down. I wasn't too keen when he did a few spins, but I'm not going to argue with the guy who's in control of my life. All too soon we're coming in to land and all I want to do is go up in the plane and do it all over again!

Totally, totally, amazing :o)

Day 38 - Wine Tasting

We went on an afternoon's wine tasting trip around Napier. We visited 3 wineries and tried various white, red, rose and dessert wines. We also went to a brewery where we sampled ciders. The other people on the tour were a good laugh so we stayed out with them and drank more beer and vodka. Amazingly, I wasn't sick! We have had a rather quiet day today though with an afternoon nap!

Day 33 - Happy Birthday to Me!

Jen and Jai managed to make this cake in a campervan that has no oven... AMAZING! We had a lovely day at White Island, watched dolphins & flying fish, swam in the sea, ate massive ice creams and polished off a bottle of champers. It's great being 30 again!

Day 33 - White Island

Today we went to a volcanic island. It was a bit smelly!

Day 29 - Bay of Islands

Apparently this place is really beautiful with over 100 islands to admire from your boat. It didn't look quite so nice when I was there.

Day 27 - Happy Birthday Jai!

A couple of days after I arrived in New Zealand it was Jai's 30th birthday. We celebrated with champagne in our lovely little campervan after a long drive north. Don't worry, I've another bottle ready for my birthday next week!

Sydney

I finally saw a real koala today... cos we went to the zoo! I had my photo taken with one but I wasn't allowed to cuddle it. We also got some great photos of the lions being fed.

After the zoo I met Rosie and went to see the Australian movie premier of "Black Water" at the open-air cinema at Bondi beach. Now, when Rosie invited me to this I had visions of it being warm and dry in Sydney. I wasn't expecting it to be pissing down with rain, really windy and the odd flash of lightning. The movie still went ahead though and we kept mostly dry under our ponchos. It certainly made for a memorable evening!

The weather didn't improve the next day but I still went ahead with my plan to go to Manly Beach... which was closed as the weather was so bad! There were still some surfer dudes out there to watch though. In the evening we had another outdoor even to attend - the Waratahs v Crusaders ar rugby. Thankfully we had seats under cover this time!

I've not really seen Sydney at its best, but I've also managed to explore the shops (good old credit card!), wandered round the Botanical Gardens (lots of bats, but no drop bears) and caught up with old friends. I'm definitely going to have to come back when the sun is shining, but for now I'm looking forward to going to New Zealand where the sun is shining!

Guess where I am?

Yes, I'm in Sydney! They very kindly put on a fireworks display to welcome me to the city. Rosie and I sat and watched it whilst finishing off our bottle of bubbly. It's a hard life.

Red Centre

G'day again! I've spent the last four days touring the Red Centre. Luckily for me, those of us on the 4 day trip got upgraded as there were only 3 people doing a "Safari In Style" trip. So that meant we had a cook who made all our meals which were served on proper plates AND we had wine. We also had tents with proper beds, linen, a light and a fan. Luxury! It probably doesn't sound too exciting, but you appreciate things like that out here. Our guides were really good fun and full of amazing facts and stories.

Uluru (Ayers Rock) was a little disappointing as it was too cloudy for both the sunrise and sunset. But at least it meant it wasn't too hot when we walked round it. The flies were bloody annoying, so thanks to my brother for the fly net I got for Christmas. Kings Canyon was probably the highlight. We were at the top before 7am to avoid the heat! We were lucky enough to see pygmy koala's at the top - they're extremely rare and don't move much.

Last night I slept under the stars in a swag. It was a bit risky as I was lying there watching the lightning in the distance, and after the previous night's dingo attack I was a wee bit apprehensive. But it was nice to lie there under the stars... there's so many of them out here!

I'm back in Alice Springs now and in need of a shower (the air con broke on the truck!). Off to Sydney on tuesday...

Dingo Attack!!

Last night a dingo ate my shoe. Luckily I wasn't wearing it at the time, but it's left some nice teeth marks. Moral of the story... don't leave your sandals outside your tent. Always remember to stay 'Dingo Safe'.

Uluru

Too cloudy for a decent sunset, but the champagne's good! We'll be back in the morning for sunrise. My trip's been upgraded so we're camping in luxurious style!

Australia Day Bank Holiday

Saturday (26th) was Australia Day. We were in the metropolis of Northampton, staying on a farm. In the evening (after our dinner of roo stew) we headed for the town and one of the pubs. Our tour guide assured us it would be a great night, with everyone out celebrating. We passed two empty pubs and stopped at the third. We joined the three other customers in the pub and stayed for a couple of drinks, enjoying The Empire Strikes Back which was playing on the TV. Maybe all the Ozzies stayed in to celebrate?!

So this monday was a bank holiday and my friends and I headed off to Fremantle to chill out on the beach. We were going to go to an island, but had left it a little late in the day. Unlike the UK, there was no travel chaos and the beach was practically empty. It was rather windy, so maybe the locals don't like getting sand everywhere. We relaxed on the beach and went for a swim (no sharks, turtles, dolphins or fish this time) and had a wander round the town before getting the train back to Perth. Despite the factor 30 sunscreen we were all starting to feel the tingle of sunburn as we headed home. It's very obvious when you've missed a bit with the sunscreen!

But now it's farewell to the west coast as I fly inland to Alice Springs. Oh boy, it's going to be hot!!

Skippy

I was feeding him up so that the roo stew would go further.

My bonza mates

Fiona, Dan, Ronan, Steve, Faye and Helen.

I'm back in civilisation now (aka Perth) after a fantastic trip up the west coast. Australia is bloody huge!! On the map it didn't look that far to Exmouth, but it was probably the length of the UK. As you may have noticed from the pictures, I've been to some amazing places and met some great people. Apologies for some of the photos being the wrong way round, I think I've worked out how to avoid it happening again, but I can't change the ones that are already there.

I'm in Perth for another day or so and I've been hanging out with people from the west coast trip, but there's only 3 of us left now (there were 18). There's been a slight problem with my trip to Alice Springs... it's been cancelled!! But the tour company have been great and I'm flying to Alice Springs tomorrow and then doing a 4 day trip to Uluru, Kings Canyon, etc. So it's all good!

I've got too many good memories to write them all here. But in summary, I've seen, eaten, fed and stroked kangaroos, swam with a manta ray, reef sharks, a turtle and a gazillion fish, been up close to dolphins, held several snakes, seen a red-back spider (very dangerous), taken hundreds of photos, laughed till I cried, seen some amazing scenery and made lots of new friends. And I've only been here two weeks!!

Happy Australia Day!

We celebrated with a roo stew... Yum!

Ningaloo Reef

Totally, totally AMAZING! I swam with a manta ray, reef sharks, a turtle and loads of fish. We're all rather sunburnt tho!

I woz here!

We crossed this today on our way north. Australia is bloody huge!

Monkey Mia

This morning we had breakfast with some dolphins!

Nature's Window

Helen, from the group I'm travelling with, admiring Nature's Window.

Kalbarri Gorge

It was hard work walking up and down here in the heat, but well worth it in the end.

The Pinnacles

This was our first stop on my trip up the west coast. Very hot and sandy! I saw my first real kangaroo today and some flaming gallahs.

I'm in Australia!

The kangaroo's are suprisingly tame!

OK, so it's not a real one, but it's the closest I've come to native Austalian wildlife so far.

I've been in Perth for a few days now and it's ok, not somwhere I'd want to live... it's a bit boring. The highlight was King's Park, where I fell asleep for two hours under a tree. I think I was suffering from jet lag! Today I took the ferry to Fremantle, just down the coast. It's much nicer than Perth and I might try and go back there when I return to Perth in a week's time.

Tomorrow I'm off on my first trip, up the west coast. I've just met a girl who's come back from the same trip so she's been telling me all about it. The only scary bit was the huge spider and other creepy crawlies she said she saw in the last place they stayed. Something tells me I won't be sleeping well that night!!

So far I have six mosquito bites (they're big, lumpy and itchy), one blister (I walked about 6 miles yesterday!) and just a wee touch of sunburn on my shoulders.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my Blog! If you're reading this you'll know that a few months ago I decided to take some of the hard-earned cash from my extensive property portfolio and spend it on a wee trip... round the world! So after months of planning, the trip is only a few days away and I've still loads to do. Panic would have set in today, but I was a little bit too hungover from my farewell drinks... damn those Cock Sucking Cowboys!!

In case you need reminding, my rough itinerary is: just over three weeks in Australia, five weeks around New Zealand in a campervan, two weeks in LA and Las Vegas and then two weeks in Vancouver and Vancouver Island visiting and / or travelling with various friends, family, friends of friends and distant relatives along the way.

I'm hoping that I can send photos from my mobile phone straight to this Blog, so even if I can't get internet access you should be able to see plenty of pictures of what I'm getting up to.

Well, that's enough for my first post. Watch this space for more!!