Arrived in Auckland from Sydney and first impressions were..."I wish I was back in Sydney!!!" It is a nice enough city, but does not thrill me...maybe the place will grow on me. Spent the day looking around the city, whent up the sky tower to have a meal in the revolving restaurant, then spent the afternoon in Parnell which reminded me of mid West America...lots of small wooden houses and churches...was really nice. Headed back to the hostel and me...

After Sydney I headed over to central Australia to spend a couple of days at Ayers Rock. I had been given varying advice about the place ranging from 'Its a blood rock in the middle of nowhere, why are you bothering' to 'its a wonderful area with amazing history and spirit'. Well for what its worth I had a great time. Spent a day at the Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), walked the Valley of the winds with a family I met who took me round. Also went to Uluru (Ayers Ro...

Spent the last few days in Sydney...As soon as I arrived there I absolutely loved it and that stayed till the minute I left. It is a lovely City, clean, spacious, lots of gardens, people are chilled out and there is a really happy, smiley feel to the place. The sun has been out which is a bonus and the current temperature of about 27C is perfect for me...I could live in this!! Spent a couple of days sightseeing, doing the Opera House, Manley beach, Bondi, the ...

Spent the last few days in Bangkok which was an experience...Decided to push the boat out and stay at a really nice hotel. Was in a five star luxury suite which was huge with a bathroom as big as my flat, a living area, a kitchen and huge bed...all that for about 50 quid a night...It would have cost a fortune in the UK so I thought I would live it up while I can!! The hotel was on one of the main roads in Bangkok (Silom) which also houses one of the 'Entertainm...

For the last 3 days have stayed at the Nature Lodge on Sungai Kinabatangan river in Sabah. I was a little unsure about how much I would enjoy this as I am not typically the 'in touch with nature' type...I absolutely loved it!! We stayed in wood huts right on the river and each day had 6am boat ride down the river, a 3 hour trek into the jungle and an hour or so night trek. During the stay we came across a couple of Orang Utan, lots, maybe 7 or 8, pygmy eleph...