Best Bits

March 20, 2016 ~ L&D ~ 1 Comment

After travelling for four months we wanted to pull together our highlights. Obviously there were some hairy moments along the way (e.g. being interrogated by Vietnamese immigration 😧) but we really did have the time of our lives! It certainly was a trip of a lifetime and one we shall never forget thanks to this blog, so here goes the list (in no particular order)…

Hoi Ann, Vietnam – Exploration day on a basket boat, visiting local herb and fishing villages etc.

Cairns, Australia – Hot air balloon ride

Fox Glacier, New Zealand – Heli hike ice walk

Wanaka, New Zealand – skydive

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Fraser Island, Australia – Scenic flight over the islander and off roading for the day

Yosemite, California – National park visit

Whitehaven Beach

Wahikee island, New Zealand – Wine tasting tour

Grapes on Waiheke, NZ

Mudbrick vineyard, Waiheke, NZ

Carmel by the Sea, California – I want to retire here!!!

Whitsunday, Australia – Whitehaven beach is just stunning

Hollywood, USA – Universal Studios day visit

Cairns, Australia / Huka Falls, New Zealand – jet skis and jet boat rides

Huke Falls, NZ

Nha Trang, Vietnam – Mud bath and thermal springs

Even us tubbies floated in the mud!

Santa Monica, Los Angeles – getting engaged!

Meeting some of our wonderful friends and family along the way…

We think the blog has been a great way to keep a record of everything we did / all our photos as well as keeping our friends and loved ones informed of what we had been up to. Going forward we are going to keep it live for future holibobs etc. Watch this space!

Reykjavik, Iceland

March 20, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

We arrived in Iceland very early in the morning and checked into our hotel (Radisson Blu 1919) which was perfectly situated in the centre of the capital Reykjavik (the world’s most northerly capital). Unfortunately we hadn’t done our homework and foolishly jumped straight in a taxi for 40 miles to Reykjavik. It was ridiculously expensive and unsurprisingly most people get on coaches for a much more reasonable fare (we learnt our lesson for the return journey!)

Size wise Reykjavik is similar to a town at home, but is very cosmopolitan with museums, art and lots of restaurants and funky cafes that turn into bars in evening (the streets were busier at 1-2 o’clock in the morning than they were in the the middle of the day!)

We only had two days in Reykjavik which would not have been enough time had the weather been good. However, we were unlucky and it was snowing, cloudy and very windy! As a result we were pleased to head home!

We really wanted to see the northern lights but sadly the trips got cancelled both evenings. We also had a trip booked to the Golden Circle which is meant to be the ultimate taster of the Icelandic countryside, but due to a storm this too was cancelled 🙁. As a result we spent our days pottering around the streets and moving from one cafe / restaurant to another (yes more food!) Food wise we really enjoyed the soup in a bread bowl (pic below) so much so I think this could be a future business idea!!

Out of the all the places we visited Iceland is a must to go back to. Next time we will everything crossed that we can do the trips and actually see more of this country.

New York New York, USA

March 15, 2016March 15, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

In NY we met my brother David in our AirBnB apartment around the corner from Little Italy in Nolita. It was a great central location and in a very lively area (so much so we felt the subway below us and kept the windows closed at night!) Whilst in NY we spent time with our good friends Louise and Lloyd who live in the Upper East Side area which was a short subway ride away. They live right by Central Park so a slow walk was much needed to recover from our first nights drinks!

As we have all been to NY before we didn’t need to do all the usual touristy things again so luckily for us we had Louise and Lloyds local knowledge and David who is is the most organised person we know with list upon list of bars and burger joints he wanted to try out!

Together we all went to the ice hockey at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn to watch the NY Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was a great atmosphere and we had brilliant seats thanks to Lloyd. The middle aged American fans behind us really made the experience as they were extremely vocal about the opposition (‘let’s go Islanders’!)

Prior to our trip to the ice hockey we spent the day exploring Brooklyn. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge in the sunshine and through Prospect Park to Prospect Slope where we stopped for lunch and a potter around the local shops. We also stopped by Williamsburg to try out one of David’s well researched list of bars before heading to Dumbo where we had an ice cream and admired the views from the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

It was 8 years ago since we were in NY last so we all wanted to return to Ground Zero, the 9/11 memorial as it was a building site when we were there last. It was moving to see what has been done in honour of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

We took David back to a restaurant for breakfast called Stardust near Times Square which we had been to previously. The staff are all wannabe Broadway stars so they sing as they are working. Its a fun place but the food was not great.

Another day we walked along the Highline which is a disused train line from 1934 that originally went through the centre of blocks. It’s now a public sky garden and is unusual as you are surrounded by views of the city and the local buildings. After this we took a yellow cab to South Sea Street Port but there is a total refurbishment going on at the moment so we had a pit stop in a local cafe instead.

We were so lucky with the weather that we took the subway to Coney Island, a seaside resort with an amusement park and beach. We enjoyed fish and chips and I even paddled my feet in the freezing water! It was a bit like Margate but what we liked about it was that you can get the tube to the beach from the city centre in an hour!

New York is a great first timers place, there is lots of tourist attractions to visit and tons of shopping to be done! Second time around our friends and family made it for us.

Chilly Chicago, USA

March 14, 2016March 14, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

Wow! Chicago was certainly a shock to the system in terms of temperature! It was absolutely freezing. We started the week with a respectable 10 degrees before dropping to -6 by the end! Topped with the wind factor it felt even colder so we purchased two big winter coats in the sale (we looked like Mitchelen men but needs must!)

Chicago, USA

Chicago is a real ‘foodie’ city, when we asked the locals about the best things to do, the food came first. There really is everything on offer from food trucks to posh nosh. As a result we made sure we tried out a good selection (!) which included Lou Mitchels famous breakfasts, Lou Malnati’s for the best deep dish pizza in town, Indian House for a curry fix and Ghirardeli’s chocolate cafe for a huge desert!

We also made sure we tried out some of the recommendations we had for cocktails. So first off we took the lift up to the 96th floor of the John Hancock building where we enjoyed the impressive city views. Next up was Match Box a tiny old school bar followed by Three Dots and a Dash (secret entrance that Google told us about!), oh and a fancy hotel bar at The Peninsular.

Matchbox, Chicago

Three Dots and a Dash, Chicago

Matchbox, Chicago

Three Dots and a Dash, Chicago

The Peninsula Chicago

Three Dots and a Dash, Chicago

Views from the Hancock tower, Chicago

Hancock tower, Chicago

After visiting Alcatraz in San Fran we wanted to stop by Al Copones Valentine’s Day Massacre site (his men dressed up as police to kill 7 people in an opposing gang) but the building has now been removed, so in all honesty it was an empty space and not worth the taxi ride.

Once in our warm coats we did take a potter around Millennium Park where there is lots of outdoor art including the famous Bean (giant looking coffee bean that reflects the skyline) and glass boxes with local people’s faces projected onto it. On the arty front, Lonely Planet informed us that the number one thing to do was the Art Institute of Chicargo, so we paid an expensive visit ($25pp) and strolled around the vast museum. If your seriously into art it’s worth it, but if not (like us uncultured people) then save your pennies.

Lincoln Park was also within walking distance and whilst it too looked a little sparse with lots of bare trees due to the time of year it did have a free zoo. The rehabilitation of chimps and gorillas made our day!

We stopped by the Federal Reserve Bank which was down the road from our hotel (Allegro – a 1920s styled boutique) as they have a free Money Museum. The museum is only small and we joined a guided talk which believe it or not was really interesting! The Federal Reserve bank is the central bank of the US (bank of banks) and is responsible for price stability and long term economic growth (like the Bank of England except in the US there are 12 of these reserve banks across the country).

A few facts we learnt include;

$100m gets delivered to the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago each day and on average $35m gets destroyed due to the poor quality of the notes
The Federal Reserve building we were in stores between $6-8 billion on any given day
Dollar bills are made from cotton and linen and once the old dodgy ones are destroyed it gets composted (for visiting we got a free bag of shredded notes worth $364!)
1/2 to 2/3 of all American Dollars is estimated to be used overseas, meaning the demand for cash is relatively flat
A new $100 bill lasts on average 15 years, $50 9 years, $1 22 months

On a lighter note, we went to a comedy show called The Second City’s Fast, Loud & Funny. We were not sure what to expect (only that we hoped we would not get picked on), but it was really good and full of lots of short sketches including some hilarious improvisation. It was very reasonably priced and well worth it.

Chicago is a cool skyscraper filled city and definitely worth a visit but we believe you can do it in 3 days. Depending on whether you like the cold or not maybe the summer would be better time of year to go.

Sassy San Fransisco, USA

March 2, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

I met Dean and Julie (Dean’s Mum) in our Airbnb apartment based in Hayes Valley after a week in Vegas with the girls. They had already been there a week so knew where all the basics were via a hop on hop off bus tour and were so organised they had even booked our trips for the week ahead!

In that first week Dean and Julie went on a wine tasting tour to Napa and Sonoma Valleys. They both said it was a great trip with a good group of people but it was not like the cultured wine tours we had both previously done in New Zealand, nor for Julie in Melbourne, instead it sounds like a complete piss up!

The first of our trips together was a short coach journey to Muir Woods, which is a Californian National Monument. Whilst we can’t work out why they call it a ‘monument’ it is essentially a protected ancient forest made up of the famous Redwood trees, which live up to 2,000 years and grow up to 379ft. After this we had a stroll (and dinner of course) around Sausalito and managed to catch the sunset in the village situated in the bay of SF.

Yosemite, California

Sausalito, SF

Scoma Restaurant Sausalito, SF

Next up was our evening trip to Alcatraz. This is probably the most famous tourist attraction of San Fransisco and is located in the centre of the bay with great views of the city skyline. Alcatraz served as an army fortress / military prison before the Department of Justice used it as a maximum-security federal prison until 1963 when it closed due to high operating costs. We took the short ferry ride over to the island where we had an audio tour as we walked around the eerie prison with former inmates, correctional officers and residents as they talked us through life on Alcatraz. The most interesting bits were about the 1962 ‘dummy head’ escapees and renowned gangsta Al Capone! We all left Alcatraz with a feeling of hope that the escapees made the 1.5 mile swim after all the effort they went to!

Sausalito, SF

We were lucky enough to explore California’s rugged coast on a day trip that took us down Highway 1. This was a stunning drive where we got to see the beauty of the Pacific Ocean, Santa Cruz (just amazing) Monterey (little seaside town), 17 mile drive (mansion alert) where we stopped in at the creme de la creme of golf courses, Pebble Beach, and finally Carmel by the Sea. Carmel by the Sea is defiantly where I see us retiring (best get back to work to afford a house here though!!)

Carmel by the Sea

Carmel by the Sea

Pebble Beach Golf Course, 17 mile driv, California

Pebble Beach Golf Course, 17 mile driv, California

Pebble Beach Golf Course, 17 mile driv, California

Carmel by the Sea

In between the delights of American ribs, fish at the port, chocolate from Ghirardelli’s and yet another Cheesecake Factory we managed the odd spot of shopping at Union Square, a go on the old school cable cars (including getting stuck half way up a hill), a stroll down Lombard Street (one of the worlds windiest with 8 turns in it), an ice cream in Golden Gate Park, a look at the Sea Lions parked up at the pier, a stop off to see the famous ‘Painted Ladies’ (style of houses known to San Fran) and a final trip to Yosemite National Park. When they say this is the ‘crown jewel’ of national parks it really is! The park is rather large with 1,200 square miles to call its own and is best known for its stunning waterfalls, deep valleys, grand meadows and ancient giant sequoias groves (huge trees). What we particularly loved was the blue sky (it is in California after all) combined with the snow capped mountains, it was truly beautiful. Overall it took 4 hours via coach to get there but it was well worth it, however our recommendation for anyone with a little more time would be to stay a little longer (there are Centre Parc style cabins available).

The pier & food market, SF

Famous Garlic restaurant, SF

Cable car, SF

Golden Gate Park, SF

Cable car, SF

Lombard St, SF

San Fran

Golden Gate Park, SF

San Fran

Lombard St, San Fran

Bay Bridge, San Fran

San Fran

Lombard St, SF

Golden Gate Park, SF

Peri 39, San Fran

San Fran

Golden Gate Park, SF

Lombard St, SF

Golden Gate Park, SF

Painted Ladies, SF

So many Sea Lions, SF

Yosemite, California

Oh and we spent our final night as dinner guests of the newly married and local residents, Sarah and Nick!

San Fransisco to us is a beautiful hilly city full of wonderful Victorian homes (I wish I could pick one up and bring it home!) We really loved that there is so much to do within a relatively short distance from the centre! This trip certainly confirmed our love for the sunny state of California! The only downside to us would be the large number of homeless people in the Tenderloin area, we can only hope that this will change in the future.

Viva Las Vegas, USA

March 1, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

After meeting the bride to be and other hens at Caesars Palace Hotel we started our weeks holiday in Vegas! The first night happened to be my birthday and we began with a classy meal at Mr.Chow. The food was delicious and despite our tiredness from all the travelling the night continued into the small hours for a few of us (start as you mean to go on!)

We dressed up as Power Rangers to have a go on the Sand Buggy’s in the desert. This was brilliant, both Vicky and Louise had a go at driving whilst Lauren and I were backseat passengers. The driving was harder than it looked over the soft sand but the girls did a great job!

Whilst exploring Downtown we had a go on the Zipwire which was a laugh a minute getting the harness on when I was wearing a dress! Once all strapped up it was over pretty quickly but was certainly an experience!

When in Vegas we had to try our luck on the slots and roulette (the only things we really knew what to do on) and luckily for us we won on the number 26, Lauren & Dans wedding date (clearly meant to be!)

The five of us had a romantic ride on the gondolas at the Venetian which was a must! Vicky and I also had a go at one of the Oxygen Bars to give ourselves a little boost before Alison joined us for the hair raising rides at the top of the Stratosphere!

We managed to get tickets to see none other than Britney Spears! The classic hits were fab and we sang our hearts out but we were not so sure about some of the unknown ones! A few of us also went to see a Cirque du Soleil show called Zumanity which was hosted at the New York New York hotel. The show was hilarious, a mixture of adult humour and acrobatics that had the whole audience oohing and ahhing!

For the last few days we were lucky enough to stay with Laurens Aunt, Jo, who lives not far from the strip. She was very kind as her house was invaded by five girls with far too much stuff in tow! We spent some time with their family, Lisa, Stephen and the man of the holiday little Charlie (Laurens little cousin!)

I think anyone who has visited Las Vegas would agree it’s unlike anywhere else in the world! Literally anything goes and it’s a lot of fun people watching! The trip went so smoothly because Louise had organised the group (not an easy task!) and Lauren was a good sport about the silly bits we made her wear!

LA LA Land, Los Angeles, USA

February 22, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

We travelled back in time arriving in LA from Fiji. LA is 20 hours behind Fiji and the flight was 10 hours, so we re-lived Monday afternoon again which was a bonus!

Our Airbnb studio apartment was situated just off Hollywood Boulevard (where the stars walk of fame is) which was a great base for us to get around. We jumped on a hop on hop off bus tour to give us an idea of the city, which is huge, everything is so spread out the bus route alone has 5 lines which take 2 hours each so we only managed the main ones!

Along our bus tour we stopped at Santa Monicia pier which reminded us of Brighton (with the exception of sand and the bright blue sky!) We spent a while in amazement at the outdoor gym equipment were real muscle types were swinging themselves from all sorts! Oh and it made Dean’s day to see a hot roller chic whizzing around! We also jumped off the bus at the ‘must do’ Rodeo Drive where we managed some window shopping at the excessively expensive shops!

Santa Monica Peir

Santa Monica

Santa Monica Peir

Santa Monica

Rodeo Drive

We also spent a day at Universal Studios Hollywood which we absolutely loved. We weren’t really sure what to expect but we did so much. Universal is the biggest and oldest movie producer and has 400+ acres of land at the site. On the studio tour they took us out of the theme park and showed us around the amazing life size sets which included real streets, an aeroplane crash and the lakes where Jaws was filmed! We learnt some interesting facts about the stunts and tricks film makers use and loved meeting some of the famous characters including Shrek (just big kids at heart!)

Universal Studios, Hollywood

Chineese New Year celebrations @ Universal Studios

Universal Studios, Hollywood

Chineese New Year celebrations @ Universal Studios

Universal Studios, Hollywood

Last must not least we went on a beautiful little sailing yacht where we boarded at Marina Del Rey for dinner followed by a sunset sailing trip overlooking Santa Monica and Venice Beach. It was stunning and it was here Dean popped the question. I said yes, of course!!!

Although LA was not as upmarket as we thought it would be it is a really cool place with lots happening, there is anything and everything on offer! Overall we loved our time here and struggled to resist the oversized American sweet treat temptations of cookies, cheesecake, milkshakes of all flavours (must be what dreams are made of) oh and ice cream of course!!!

Bula Fiji

February 11, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

As soon as we got off the plane the heat hit us and we loved it! As well as it being hot we were over the moon to arrive at our hotel the Radiison Blu, Denarau. The idea of a prober bed and space to spread ourselves out was a dream compared to life in a campervan!

Fiji is made up of about 332 islands but only 110 are inhabited. Viti Levu (where we stayed) and Vanua Levu are the two largest islands and have 87% of the Fijian population.

We spent the first few days relaxing around the pool, trying out paddle boarding (standing up on a surf board with a paddle) which I loved and improving out kayaking skills. We also used the local Bula Bus (Bula is an all encompassing Fijian word meaning hello, goodbye, how are you, welcome, happiness etc.) to get to the port which housed a handful shops and lots of restaurants.

We went on a trip which saw us stopping by the Nadi Hindu Temple which is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, a fruit and veg market where we tried Fijis traditional drink, Kava (yuk!), The Garden of the Sleeping Giant (named this way because of the shape of the mountains) where we walked through the tropical rainforest and saw the famous orchids (in all honesty it was bloody hot and the orchids were small and not as impressive as we were hoping!) last but not least we stopped by the natural hot springs located in one of the villages. We were given a tub of mud and told to paste it all over ourselves, we then walked around in the sun until it dried before washing off in a hot spring. All a bit rustic but its meant to be good for your skin and our guide told Dean he looked 10 years younger so we thought it was worth it!

We also set sail for a day on a beautiful boat which whizzed us around some of the stunning islands. One of these was where Tom Hanks filmed Castaway. We got to snorkel in the clear blue water, which was great until I spotted the jelly fish amongst the coral and that was it I was out! We also stopped by at a remote island village. The Chief welcomed us with a traditional service but luckily only he had to drink the Kava!

Overall the Fijians are the happiest bunch of people we have had the pleasure of meeting. They say ‘Bula’ with a huge smile to everyone and are just so friendly. We put this down to the sunshine, beautiful surroundings and a simpler way of life, we’re not sure they would like London very much at all!

Dunedin & Christchurch, New Zealand

January 29, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

Dunedin is immensely proud if its Scottish heritage (the first permanent settlers were Scots who arrived in 1848). Apart from the local tartan and haggis sold in a few chip shops the weather was the only real giveaway of the link to Scotland from our perspective! We did visit NZ’s only castle, Larnach castle, which had a very interesting story behind it (we won’t bore you) and spectacular gardens.

Larnach Castle, Dunedin, NZ

We also stopped by the Cadbury factory in Dunedin, quite frankly it would have been rude of us not to! So we had the hour tour and nibbled on the freebies dished out on the way! Our only qualm was that we were both lucky enough to visit the Cadbury factory in Birmingham as kids which was truly brilliant. We remember actually seeing the factory workers in action and not just the touristy bits. Maybe health and safety rules have meant changes these days? Also (yes another gripe) the NZ choc bars are not the same, obviously we gobbled down all that we were given but a marshmallow fish and pineapple bars just don’t cut it (not in my book anyway!)

Dunedin, NZ

As you can probably guess the chocolate tour was mainly for my benefit so in return we booked ourselves onto a Speight’s Brewery tour for Dean (fairs fair). It was actually pretty interesting walking around the ancient factory (they have been churning out beer since the late 1800s) with a guide that was utterly mad (must have been an alcoholic!) Dean obviously sampled enough types of beer for the both of us (just to make it worth while!)

Dunedin, NZ

Finally in Dunedin we walked up the steepest street in the world! I can’t imagine living on this street but people do, I had a back ache just walking up it! Apparently once a year Cadbury sends 100,000 Jaffa balls (yuk!) down the hill for charity.

Dunedin, NZ

Christchurch is our last stop in NZ and where we leave our temporary home (the camper van) for a flight to Fiji (we can’t wait and are hoping to enjoy some vitamin d again). Christchurch is a city in transition coping creatively with the aftermath of two earthquakes (2010 & 2011). As you can imagine there is A LOT of building work going on, but we liked it and think one day it will be great once again. We managed to entertain ourselves in the beautiful rose filled gardens of the local park and a touch of shopping at the famous Ballantynes department store!

Crazy Wanaka & Quirky Queenstown, New Zealand

January 28, 2016 ~ L&D ~ Leave a comment

Both Wanaka and Queenstown have beautiful lakes and mountain settings. The main difference is in size and buzz. Wanaka was our first stop and had more of a laid-back, small town feel but still had plenty to offer with the outdoor activities that we have come to expect from NZ. In this vein we decided to book our first skydive! We spent a few weeks umming and ahhing about it but decided to bite the bullet, so off we went and jumped out of a little plane at 12,000 feet! Whilst Dean loved the experience and his favourite part was the 45 seconds spent free falling at over 100mph before the stranger your strapped to gets the parachute up, I on the other hand was not a fan and enjoyed it more knowing we were floating down rather than falling as such! We celebrated after with a pub lunch (needed as we had not managed to eat breakfast due to nerves) before moving onto Queenstown.

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In Queenstown it continued to be grey but the silver lining was that we stayed in a lovely campsite close to town where we made more friends with the local ducks and their babies (they loved us all the time we had bread to feed them!) Queenstown had the most energy of anywhere we have visited in NZ so far. It’s made up of tourists but is also known as the ‘global adventure capital’ with every kind of adrenaline inducing activity you can imagine from bungy jumping to paragliding. After our skydive we decided enough was enough and we chose to enjoy the buzz of Queenstown in the array of lovely restaurants and bars as well as admiring the stunning views via a trip up the Skyline Gondola. It was in one of these restaurants (Coyotes) that we met up with Stephen (Lauren’s brother) where we enjoyed a delightful Mexican meal followed by one of his cocktails of the month!

Queenstown, NZ

From Queenstown we drove for 4 hours to Milford Sound. Here it is all about the waterfalls and the scenery which is made up of huge rocky cliffs, lakes and forests clinging to the steep slopes. Unfortunately for us the weather was terrible, but I think you need to be lucky as on average the area gets 7m of rainfall a year, although it’s this very rainfall that creates the cascading waterfalls.