Travelling Post No. 60 - Around the World in 424 days!

Whilst it might not quite be so impressive as 80 days, and I didn't visit as many countries as Jules Verne's hero, it is still impressive by my standards.

I have been home for over 3 months now, and yes, you lucky readers, I have finally gotten around to finishing my blog.

Before I tell you the highs of my trip it is it time to tell you how I arrived home. On 29th December I flew from Vancouver I flew to LA, from their I flew to London arriving n 30th December; then after a long wait at Heathrow I boarded my final flight to Manchester where my Aunt Catherine (with whom I am indebted) picked me up and drove me to her house. It was one long trip!

As far as I knew the only people that knew were my Aunt and a couple of others; I was aiming to surprise not just family but friends. My plan, since August, was to arrive the day before, get a good nights sleep and surprise people on New Years Eve, sadly a certain brothers girlfriend keeps secrets as well as a sieve holds water, so most of my friends knew as did my brother. What is that phrase? - Best laid plans and all that! The secret had been kept from most of my family though, my mum's shrieks as she saw me proved that, and I had a great return home NYE.

So now onto the best bits of my trip. Like all good awards I have left my reasoning unexplained, for the most part anyway.

Best City

Sydney

Runners Up: Vancouver, San Francisco, San Diego and Portland

Worst: LA


Best Country

New Zealand

Runner up: Australia

Worthy mention: Hutt River Province for just being so Australian without actually being part of Australia. Even though the Australian government doesn't recognise you I do.


Best trips within the trip
(my coach trip around NZ doesn't count)
3 day Ayers Rock tour

Runner Up: Seven day tour of Australia's West Coast

Worst: Fraser Island - what was the point of going there?


Best Day Trip
Swimming with Manta Rays and on the Ningaloo Reef

Runners Up: Hunter Valley Wine Tour, Ice climbing, Milford Sound

Worst: Great Barrier Reef, just because it was so disappointing, avoid and go to the West coast if you can

Best activity that wasn't quite a day trip, thus does not count for that category

A two way tie between the 10 second Bungee jump and the 5 minute Skydive

Runner Up: White water rafting, Sheep Shearing

Best Museum, as visits to these do not count as activities or day trips they are 'visits'
Musical Project & Science Fiction Museum, Seattle

Best Hostel

The Green Turtle, Seattle
(Free all you can eat breakfast of fruit, brownies and more every morning)

Runner Up: YHA Cairns
(When I arrived after 3 days of being on a coach I had sausage butties ready for me, thank you Lucy & Ruth)

The Worst: The Fat Camel, Auckland (lets hope that isn't classed as libelous)

Best cinema

The open air cinema in Sydney of course.


(some of the) Best photos that I took (so none of me)

Hong Kong Gardens, Nov '06

Sydney Opera House at night, Nov 2006

Hillside cemetery on the path from Coogee to Bondi, Jan '07

When England gloriously beat Australia, Jan '07

At the butterfly palace in Melbourne Zoo, May '07

Dolphins at Monkey Mia, Aug '07

Yardie Creek Gorge, Aug '07

Mindil Beach, Sept '07

Jumping Crocs, Northern Territories, Sept '07

Uluru at Sunset, Sept '07

Sunset in the Outback, Sept '07

Opera House and Bridge, Oct '07


Sydney at night from the Skytower, Oct '07


Rotorua Mud Pools, Nov ,07


Waiotap Thermal Wonderland, Nov '07


Gollum's Pool, Nov '07


Pancake Rocks, Nov '07


Lake Matheson, Nov '07


Wanake, Nov' 07


Mirror Lakes, Nov '07


Milford Sound, Nov '07


Stewart Island, NOv '07


The steepest street in the world, Nov '07


Random lake on the way to Christchurch, Nov '07


Balboa Park, San Diego, Dec '07


San Francisco, Dec '07


San Francisco in the rain, Dec '07


Alcatraz, Dec '07


Seattle at night, Dec '07


Vancouver, Dec '07

Vancouver vs Calgary, Dec '07