Auckland, New Zealand (Oceania)

Hi, the 31st country of the 33 country World tour and the last new country of the around the World trek as the next two countries are the USA and Spain which I have been to. I come to the country that brings me to the closest I am ever going to get at being around the other side of the World. New Zealand lies just west of the International Date Line.

The only thing I really knew about Auckland is that they had a big tower called the Sky Tower so I decided that this would be the place where I would rest, save some money and relax. I have big plans for Los Angeles and I am knackered so time to get my thoughts together and rest.

On Monday I went to the Sky Tower and went right up to the Sky Deck and saw all of Auckland and that was about all I did apart from going to a Japanese restaurant and eating some weird and wonderful food. Did a bit of shopping and walked about a bit but nothing major. I lost AU$600 at the hotel in Sydney so I rung them up and they said it would cost me AU$110 to send them to my hotel in Auckland so I asked for the codes of the cheques rung American Express and claimed them back from a bank in Auckland with no cost.

Next will be Los Angeles where I hope to get flights to New Orleans and Mexico City but might just do New Orleans depending on how I feel and the availibility. I emailed a good hostel in Mexico City and reserved a room for two nights and they actually emailed back to confirm so thats promising. I will ask at the hotel reception and ask to book a night in New Orleans or go there and find some where but I have asked other hotels before and I got the feeling they couldn't be bothered. See what happens It's coming to an end now with only 2 weeks,book some other jaunts when I get back home.

Take care.

Robert

Sydney, Australia (Oceania)

Hi, this is the 30th of 33 countries in the World tour. It brings me to the continent of Oceania and the one of the most recognised city in the World. There is so much to see, do and enjoy.

I got to Sydney at 6:25am on the overnight plane from Singapore which was good as I had the rest of the day to go book tickets and get a general feel of the city. My hotel was on the same street as the Bridge Climb offices so I went there first and booked a ticket for Tuesday. Next I went to the Circular Quay to see if I could book tickets for the Taronga Zoo and they said I would have to come on the day and buy a ticket. I then went to the Sydney Opera House and booked a tour of the Opera House for Wednesday. Next I went to the Sydney Tower to book a ticket and they had a deal running for Sydney Tower, Sydney Aquarium and the Wildlife World which aren’t far from each other so I booked that and the ticket lasted 3 months so I could go any day I wanted up to when I leave for New Zealand which was good. As I was walking back to my hotel I saw a sign for Sta Travel and I had heard they were quite cheap for tours and I wanted to go to Canberra. I booked a tour for Saturday. All I needed to do now was go to each place, Bridge Climb on Tuesday, Sydney Opera House on Wednesday, Sydney Tower and the Aquarium and Wildlife World on Thursday, if the Wildlife World was no good then I would of gone to Taronga Zoo on Friday, Canberra on Saturday and fly to New Zealand on Sunday.

I started my tour of Sydney on the Harbour Bridge. It lasted 3 and a half hours but was worth it. The only disappointment was that they would not let you take a camera with you so I did not get any pictures but bought the pictures that they took. First of all you got changed into these overalls which were quite comfortable. They put a radio on you so that the guide could talk to you as you go up and you had to be attached on to a cable which ran from the bottom to the top and back down again so that you didn’t get lost. You climbed all the way to the top of the Harbour Bridge on one side and then went down the other side. There were some great views of Sydney and the Opera House and the whole experience of walking up one of the most famous bridges in the World was fantastic.

After being on one of the most famous bridges in the World on Wednesday I went for a tour of one of the most famous buildings in the World, Sydney Opera House. We went around the theatres and concert halls and the guide told us all about how the Opera House was built. The Sydney Opera House is two buildings in one, the exterior made of concrete and designed by Jorn Utzon, the interior is made of granite and wood and designed by Peter Hall after Jorn Utzon resigned. The Opera House looks white but is actually made up of cream tiles stuck on the outside of the building. The building is meant to symbolise the harbour in its shape and colour. The Sydney Opera House was opened in 1973 by Elizabeth II, still the Queen of Australia and her head is on the five Australian dollar note. They are currently refurbishing the Opera House and Jorn Utzon has come back and designed the changes. After the tour I felt I had to see a show so I booked tickets to see the Vertical Hour, it was a bit boring but it was good just being there.

On Thursday I relaxed in the hotel and went to the local pub for a tiger prawn pizza which was nice and that was about it.

On Friday I used my ticket and went to the Sydney Aquarium, Wildlife World and the Sydney Tower. The Wildlife World was good and I got my picture taken at the side of a Koala Bear which was nice. Wildlife World was quite small but had spiders and all kinds of venomous animals. Sydney Aquarium was a bit boring but I think aquariums often are. The Tower was good as you could see all of Sydney but the most famous sights were covered by buildings so it was hard to see them. After all that then I went to the Circular Quay and got a boat to Taronga Zoo. The Zoo was very big and had all sorts of animals in it, nice to walk around and very interesting.

On Saturday I went on a tour of Canberra from Central Station at 7:20am. A man turned up in a car and there were only three of us so the tour was better. We went to Canberra and it took us about 3 hours to get there. We first went to the National Museum which was split into 3 sections, land, nation and people. It was quite interesting to see the history of Australia and learn about the Aborigines and what the government did to them. After that we headed for Parliament House and I could not believe how open everything was and how you could go in the Houses of Parliament with out too much hassle. It was good to see and compare the Parliament to the Parliament in Britain and there are some definite similarities. Next we went around the embassies and consulates and you could see from the outside that the buildings were designed to represent the country that had the embassy or consulate. Next we went to the Australian War Memorial which was very interesting and they had light and sound shows to show what war was like. At 5pm when the Memorial closes a man plays lament on the bagpipes at the closing ceremony. We then went back to Sydney and I got a train from the station to my hotel.

Sydney was superb and I really enjoyed my stay here. Next for me is Auckland, New Zealand and I want to have a rest because I am tired not feeling good so I had better get myself fit for my plans for Los Angeles.

Take care.

Robert

Changi, Singapore (Asia)

Hi, the 26th of 33 countries in the World tour brings me to the first hot country of the around the World ticket. 30 degrees celsius a constant with sweat pouring from the brow. A country that has great travel links and some very nice and beautiful people.

The first thing I did when I got there was to get on the MRT to Tanjong Pagar and walk down to the Singapore railway station which is the southern most point on the Malaysian railway system that runs from Singapore, through Malaysia and on to Bangkok. I booked tickets to Kuala Lumpur and needed to book tickets when I got to Kuala Lumpur. I did not get to go to Bangkok by train as the tickets were not available but I got to go by plane instead.

I went to Kuala Lumpur by overnight train going and afternoon train coming back. The next day I went to the airport and asked about tickets to Bangkok, I also knew that I could get to Indonesia so I asked about getting to Jakarta. I ended up buying tickets to get to Bangkok from Tiger Airways and Jakarta from Garuda Indonesia. As I booked the tickets going one day and coming back the next so I had to book accomodation complex near the Lavender MRT station. I went there straight away and the first shop I went into had the hotels so I booked 2 hotels for 1 night in Bangkok and Jakarta. I went to both of the cities and came back on the 3rd February 2008.

The next 2 days I just relaxed in my hotel room and went in the gym for an hour and a half session and thought of where I could go for the rest of my time in Singapore. I thought I could go around Singapore, go to Kusu Island (Turtle Island) and go on the cable car to Sentosa Island.

On Wednesday I went around Singapore City for the day going to the sights such as Raffles Hotel, Parliament House and the City Hall. It was hot and sticky but very nice. I stopped in a bar, had a drink and it was really nice and relaxing. It was good not to have to wear a coat when going out. I stayed up until 3 o clock on Thursday morning to watch the England game but fell a sleep as it was not the most exciting game and I don't think the team did any better. I'd better give him a chance though.

On Thursday I got the MRT to Ang Mo Kio and the bus to the Singapore Zoo which was very good and quite interesting. They had all kinds of animals including orangutan and the white tiger. I walked around there for a couple of hours and got the bus back to the Ang Mo Kio MRT station. I then took the MRT to Harbourfront for the cable car to Sentosa Island at the bottom of Singapore. I got there and all the streets were lively with a band playing music and a man with a snake, all good fun. Went on the Carlsberg Tower and saw all of the island which was very good, took plenty of pictures. The I got the cable car back and the MRT back to my hotel as I was very tired.

I was in Singapore for the Chinese New Year so it was very busy. I was watching the TV and it showed the Guangzhou Railway Station being packed with people trying to get home but because of the bad weather no one was going any where. I was in that station 2 weeks ago when I went there from Hong Kong so I thought myself very lucky.

For the next two days I just thought about my next destination and what I would do. I fly overnight to Sydney, Australia in a Boeing 747-400. Sydney is where I am going next which I will enjoy as there's many famous landmarks such as Sydney Opera House and Harbour bridge. All being well I can take a tour of the Opera House, do the bridge walk on Harbour Bridge, go to Taronga Zoo and see the Koala Bears, go for a day trip to Canberra and go up the Sydney Tower. I will let you know how I get on.

Take care.

Robert

Jakarta, Indonesia (Asia)

Hi, this is the 29th of 33 countries in the World tour and it brings me to the island of Java and the capital of Indonesia. If you have watched the news in the last couple of days Jakarta has been flooded and I only got to know this when I got on the plane and they showed me the news so I didn't know what I was going to face.

I booked this trip at the same time as I had booked Bangkok only using Garuda Indonesia instead of the budget airline Tiger Airways as they didn't go to Jakarta. My flight was at 10am so I got there at 8am to check in. I got a taxi to the airport and left my flight documents and hotel voucher in the taxi. From that moment on I just knew it would be a bad day. I checked in at 8am and waited until 10am then the flight was delayed until 12:55pm. I got speaking to a Canadian woman called Patricia. We had a chat and I bought her a coffee, she was going to the same island but getting a connecting flight to another place on Java. I waited until 12:30pm and the plane was delayed again, the reason being because of the flooded airport, the plane which was meant for Singapore couldn't take off as there was only one runway in operation. The plane was delayed until 4:30pm and as time went on I was getting annoyed as I was only spending one night in Jakarta and would not have a lot of time to look around. I decided to ask for a refund and after going through all the procedures of immigration and customs I went to the Garuda Indonesia desk for a refund and they said they would not give me a refund as it was the weather to blame and not them so I said at 4:15pm get me on the plane for 4:30pm. Thankfully the plane had been delayed again to 5:30pm so I got the plane.

It takes one hour and twenty minutes to get to Jakarta and time flew. I got there at about 7pm and after getting a visa and going through customs and immagration I finally stepped foot on Indonesian soil, I was happy. I then got a taxi to the hotel which was near the centre of Jakarta, usually it would take thirty to forty minutes but because of floods it took three hours and at times you were driving through water it was that bad. The driver took me through all the residential areas and you saw people on the side of the street with no shoes on there feet, homes flooded and people wading through the water to get to where they want to go. I finally got to my hotel at 10:30pm. Had something to eat and went to bed. I was very tired.

Next morning I had very little money and only travellers cheques on me so I tried to change some money and because it was Sunday no banks were open. The so called money changers wouldn't change travellers cheques which I thought was strange. I was limited to what I could do so I decided to get a tour for a couple of hours and then go back to the airport as I didn't know how long it would take me and I didn't want to miss my flight, I just had enough money for this. I drove around the city and the driver showed me Chinatown, Sukarno era statues and the National Monument. After this the driver drove me to the airport which took only one hour so I think the first driver didn't know where he was going.

I got to the airport spent up and ready to come back to my nice hotel in Singapore. I went to check in and the man got me an earlier flight which would get me back to Singapore for three. He then said I had to pay 100,000 rupiah for airport tax. I had no money left as nobody would exchange my travellers cheques so I had to go to the ATM machine and draw some money out then go back to the check in desk and get my boarding pass. Everything else went smoothly and I got back to Singapore at 3pm. All's well that ends well.

Take care.

Robert

Bangkok, Thailand (Asia)

Hi, this is the 28th in the revised 32 country World tour. I couldn't get there by train but I could get there by plane. The phrases where there is a will theres a way and if at first you don't succeed try try try again were ringing in my ears.

After I got back from Kuala Lumpur the next day I went to the airport to see if I could buy some air tickets. I manage to get a return air ticket going to Bangkok on 30/1/08 and going back to Singapore on the 31/1/08. I also booked some tickets to go to Jakarta and I will put a separate post for that. I caught the free airport shuttle from the hotel to Changi airport at 4am and got to the airport at 4:30am for the 6:30am plane to Bangkok. It only takes two hours so I got to Thailand at 7:50am Thai time. I read books and looked on the Internet before I went about the safety of Bangkok and they said it is safe apart from people trying to con you with trips, excursions and gems so when I got to the airport I was wary of people and paid quite a lot to make sure that I got to the hotel alright and booked a good excursion.

I thought as I was in Thailand and people have said that it is the best place for a massage I would pluck up the courage to have a full body oil massage and it was excellent. The woman that did it was nice and everything was done properly. She gave you a massage from head to toe and it was one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. It was so good I got it all done again the day after but all day this time, a must in Bangkok.

I went on the excursion I had booked at 2pm and a woman picked me up from my hotel. They do one on one tours so there was only me. She took you round Bangkok to see the Palace and all the temples. There is some really nice and shiny buildings both religious and for the royal family. After that they took me on a boat ride through Bangkok and you got to see the wooden houses on the edge of the river. When on the boat there was a chance to feed fish with bread. After that the tour guide said she was going to take me to a gem factory and I knew that it was a con so I said I wanted to go back to my hotel and they dropped me off.

Bangkok was very nice and I think the reviews it gets about it being dangerous is a bit too much. Alright you will get the odd person at the tourist places trying to flog you something but apart from that they are all quite friendly. The weather was nice even though when I got there it was pouring it down but that stopped and it went to a sunny 32 degrees celsius. I didn't bring my digital camera as I thought it made me a target so there is no pictures but I got a disposable camera and hopefully I can scan the photos in to the computer when I get back and put them on.

The next place I have booked to go to is Jakarta, Indonesia and then I will rest and relax going through Singapore and think about Sydney, Australia. If I can fit it in I will go to Hanoi, Vietnam before Sydney.

Take care.

Robert

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Asia)

Hi, the 27th in the revised 31 country World tour. The train took me overnight up from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur where in the end you can get to Bangkok, Thailand but because the tickets were sold out I only got as far as Kuala Lumpur but I have plans to go to Bangkok later in the holiday. I got on the overnight train to Kuala Lumpur and the train wasn't the best I have ever seen but had clean sheets and could get you there. Had 4 hours sleep in total due to the bumpy track and after the 9 hour trek I was knackered. I got a train back in the afternoon so I didn't have a bed to sleep so I was bored and tired. Got back to the hotel at 10:30pm after jumping the queue for the taxis outside the station.

Kuala Lumpur was very hot and humid and I really felt the sun come down on me when I was walking around. With sweat pouring off the forehead, aching legs to the point of agony and dehydration setting in I got the metro to the highest twin towers in the World, Petronas Twin Towers. When it comes to building this is only beat by the Taipei 101 in Taiwan. Quite amazing to stand at the bottom and look up and I wanted to go on the walkway in the middle but guess what, the ticket office is closed on a Monday and guess what day it was, Monday. I didn't luck was on my side with not getting the train tickets to Bangkok but I soldiered on. The metro is very good but only goes to certainplaces in Kuala Lumpur and doesn't cover it all like in Tokyo or London.

I found that there was not that much to do in Kuala Lumpur apart from the KL Tower which is the 4th largest tower in the world. I went to the top and saw all of Kuala Lumper in 10 minutes so that was easy. I also got my mum a fridge magnet. I get her one from eachplace I go and she is getting quite a collection. I then went to a restaurant for dinner which was really nice. Walked about a bitmore before giving into the heat and boredom and finally getting the train back to Singapore. Kuala Lumpur is a nice place but with not a lot to do and limited but excellent transport.

Take care.

Robert

Hong Kong, China (Asia)

Hi, the 25th in the 30 country World tour. Hong Kong is a very beautiful city and I enjoyed going round all the sights. The people are very friendly and most of them talk English which makes it easier. Hong Kong continues my travels in the far east which will eventually take me to Australia and New Zealand.

I stayed at the Renaissance Kowloon Hotel which was in Kowloon near to Victoria Harbour. The hotel took a deposit of HK$3500 which took half of my moeny to start with and because the prices in the hotel being so expensive I wanted to go to cheaper places but because of this had to use some of it for meals but got my laundry done which I needed to do anyway so not all bad. Instead of walking around with a map I decided to book some tours to different places and on the Tuesday have a stroll around the harbour. I booked to go to Lantau Island in Hong Kong, a tour around Hong Kong, train tickets to go to Guangzhou, tour of Macau and a tour of Shenzhen. I would have liked to have gone to Shanghai or Beijing on the train but it was about HK$4500 return just for a few hours or pay out for a hotel to stay the night so I thought it wasn’t worth it and I would be most of my time on a train when I can be exploring other places.

The tour to Lantau Island set off at 8:25am. The first place they took us to were the Avenue of Stars which is an avenue dedicated to the Hong Kong film stars with hand prints, a little bit like Hollywood. They then took us on a boat cruise to the other side of Lantau Island which wasn’t very good as all you saw was grass and hills. They said we would see dolphins but nobody saw any. When we got to the other side of Lantau Island we stopped off at the Tai O Fishing Village which is a big fish market where they sell all types of fish and other products. The market was very old and the guide told us that the fishing villages are getting fewer due to modernisation in Hong Kong so in a few years the village will have probably been built over. The next place we went to was the Po Lin Monastery which has the biggest Buddha statue in the world called Sakyamuni Buddha. We had a vegetarian lunch in the monastery which was quite nice and then we went to the Ngong Ping Village which has the 360 ̊cable car. We went on the cable car which lasted 25 minutes and took you over Lantau Island. You could see over the entirety of the airport and all the apartments that was on the island. You could also see people walking on the path that went over the hills directly below the cable car. I got back to my hotel at about 5pm. The day was quite good but I felt as if I still hadn’t really seen Hong Kong. Also I had to give my passport in to get a Chinese visa so I can go to Guangzhou which I thought was a bit strange as Hong Kong now belongs to China.

I went on another tour on Tuesday around Hong Kong itself. Firstly you went to the Man Mo Temple which literally means Literature and Martial Arts. The temple is well known for burning lots of incense which people did in handfuls. I could hardly breathe. Next we went to Victoria Peak on the steepest funicular railway in the World. We went to 428 metres in the air and I thought we were going to get some great views but because of the so called haze (smog) we couldn’t see hardly anything which was a shame. After that we went to the Aberdeen Fishing Village which is like the Tai O Fishing Village but for HK$55 you could go on a cruise round the Fishing Village in a sampan and see all the boats and fishermen at work. The tour said we should drive through Repulse Bay but we only got a catching glimpse as we came down a hill so I think that was a bit of a con. Next we went to Stanley Market which was very nice and probably a highlight of the tour. Nice shops with nice people that didn’t hassle you to buy things which is a bit different to what you get in Africa. The tour was alright but nothing special. After this he was supposed to drop us off at our hotels but I got off earlier and decided to walk to Victoria Harbour and go on the Star Ferry. I took a photograph of the clock tower and waited for the boat. I could not prepare myself for what was going to happen next. They called it “A Symphony of Lights” and it is probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Music, lights, Victoria Harbour and some of the best buildings in the World. Just amazing, you would have had to have been there to really take in the brilliance of it all. Probably the highlight of the whole holiday. If you ever go to Hong Kong do all the sight seeing at night as it is quite amazing how all the buildings are lit up.

On Tuesday I decided to go around Hong Kong and take the MTR to Hong Kong Island which is at the other side of Victoria Harbour, I was staying in Kowloon. I squashed myself onto the train as there were lots of people wanting the same train. I went around the 3 most interesting buildings in Hong Kong which are the Central Plaza, Bank of China Tower and the International Finance Centre which is the tallest building in Hong Kong. I went up to the 56th floor in the Central Plaza where there is a city view. I then went back to hotel and relaxed and watched a film. After that I had my dinner and that was my day over.

On Wednesday I went to Guangzhou in China and I could not believe that you had to get a Chinese Visa as I thought Hong Kong now belonged to China but I daredn't complain. They checked your passport coming out and going back in. You had to fill out and immigration card both ways. I got to Guangzhou and I was quite disappointed as the only good thing I could find was the park at the side of the railway station with the high buildings around it Every where else seemed to be closed or dangerous.

On Thursday I went to the Chinese city of Shenzhen which has a population of 12 million people and 1 in 3 mobile phones in the world are made here. The city is full of factories that make cars, mobile phones and other items. The factory workers do a 12 hour day and sleep in dormitories next to the factory. As well as that there are some nice parks to look at. I got on the tour bus at 12:15pm outside the hotel and that took me to the ferry terminal in Hong Kong. We all then had to go through all the procedure of immigration even though we was going to a city in the same country. It took us 2 hours to reach Shekou by boat and then we got on to another coach which took us to the Nuwa statue. The statue is of one of the first Chinese Gods with a lower body of a dragon. Next we went to the Mangrove Forest which was nice but a bit boring as there was nothing there and no real reason why we were there. The we went to Splendid China which is two parks stuck together, one half of the park shows China's different cultures and the other half is a miniture size of the famous places in China such as the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. I found the park very interesting as it showed all of China in the different houses people live in and what there is in China. After looking round the park we had Dinner which was a really nice Chinese buffet. After dinner we went to see the Dancing with the Dragon and the Phoenix Show which was superb and probably with out it the day would of been quite flat and bland. After that we got the train back to Hung Hom, Hong Kong and a coach was there to take us back to our hotels.

On Friday I went to Macau, the city with 28 casinos. The first thing we did was go and see the ruins of St. Paul's Roman Catholic church that got burnt down so many times that they gave up rebuilding it but still stands the facade of the building with original carvings in it. Next we went in the Museum of Macau which was boring to be honest but I am not a museum person unless there is something famous in it. It had sketches and drawings from the artists that lived in Macau. As well as that there was information about the culture and people that live in Macau and the history and what kinds of people lived in Macau when it was founded. On top of the Museum there is an old fortress that Macau used from 1617 to 1626 as a primary defense position as it covered 10,000 square metres. Next we went to the Temple of A-Ma which like all the other temples they burn incense and give offerings. Next we went to the highlight of the tour which was the Macau Tower. We went to the 58th floor which is 223 metres from the ground. I also went even higher to the 62nd floor which has an outside observation deck but because of the haze (smog) you could not see anything. You could see most things on the ground from the 58th floor but you could not see into the distance because of the haze (smog) which was a shame. There was also some glass floors so you would be walking for a few feet and then it would seem that the floor had vanished. Scary. We had a lovely dinner on the top floor of the Babylon Casino in Macau before going into the Casino and seeing some people lose some money which was fun. We then all went back to our hotels and I got back to mine at about 7pm.

Hong Kong is a very nice city and so is Macau but I think that is because it has been westernised. Mainland China is a different ball game completely.Hong Kong and Macau are in China but it is like they are different countries to China with checking passports, going through immigration and the way that you are treated differently in Mainland China than in Macau and Hong Kong. People tend to stare at you, may be because they have been so isolated for so long and haven't seen anyone from other parts of the world. I definitely felt threatened by the gangs of people on the street and the police didn't look very official. I would advise if you go to China on your own to go with a tour or only keep to the big cities such as Beijing or Shanghai as there are tourist spots and things to do there. All the other places really are just for shopping and don't have really anything for a tourist. Hong Kong was superb and I would advise anyone going there to go to every part of the city because there is something every where you go. Macau was alright but there is nothing there really apart from casinos so I would recommend that to all the gambling people. The tower is good but that alone would make you visit Macau but not stay in it.

Next is Singapore for 15 nights so I have the time now to do what I planned to do which is go to Pulau Bintan, Indonesia - Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth (Penang), Malaysia - Bangkok, Thailand. After that I will go around Singapore itself and then hopefully I will have some time to relax as the last 3 weeks has been quite hectic. I will let you know how I get on and put a separate post for each new country.

Take care.

Robert.