Don't close your eyes...

Dutch windmill.

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:25:10 +1000

Dutch windmill.

Waffles with Nutella, cherries and chocolate sauce. These bad...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:23:39 +1000

Waffles with Nutella, cherries and chocolate sauce. These bad boys were delicious #nofilter

Amsterdam!

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:22:24 +1000

Amsterdam!

Hey! I saw that you are in Amsterdam and I just wanted to wish you a great time :) I live in Utrecht, but Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities. It's so full of life and there is always something to do. How long is your trip going to be? Also, I saw that you're going to Vietnam in 6 months. Awesome!! I spend about a month there last year and had such a good time. If you have the time I really recommend visiting Cambodia as well :) Safe travels and have fun!

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:43:15 +1000

Thank you so much! We only have 2 nights in Amsterdam, not nearly long enough. Today will be our first day to explore :)

Day 6: London to Amsterdam

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:30:49 +1000

When they say don’t be late for tour departure, they really mean it. We left bright and early, minus one member who failed to make it downstairs in time. We drove from London to the white cliffs of Dover to catch the ferry across to France. Our ride was fairly choppy so if you get sea sick come prepared. From the port in France you spend about 3 hours on the coach, in which time you pass through Belgium, through to the Netherlands where we stop for a break. They had a self serve restaurant and a McDonalds. If you need to us the bathroom it’ll cost you €0.50, so make sure you have coins as well as notes on you. Following our stop its another 2.5 hours to our hotel in Amsterdam. The hotel is really nice, and tonight dinner is included. Half the group has head into Amsterdam for a surprise tour extra - a sex show. I’ve already managed to catch a cold so it’s an early night for me. Tomorrow we’ll have a chance to explore.

Days 1-5: London

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:20:03 +1000

The first 5 days of our trip were based in London.

Day 1:
We flew Etihad, which was pleasant enough. The overnight flight worked well, especially adjusting to the new time zone. We arrived mid afternoon but were so tired we checked in to the hostel, found food and headed straight to bed. For first four nights we stayed at the Clink 78 hostel, located near Kings Cross. The hostel itself is well located, about a 5-10 minute walk to Kings Cross underground station. In terms of value for money the hostel was good. A basic breakfast is included, their showers are hot/clean (although you need to push a button every 30 seconds to activate the water, which is really annoying) and they have a good size tv room. The thing that really let us down was the inconsiderate people in our dorm. If you’re after a good nights sleep definitely pay extra for a private room, or perhaps consider paying extra to stay elsewhere.

Day 2:
Today we booked a bike tour of London with Brakeaway Tours. It cost £18 each (£20 if you don’t prebook online) and the tour is about 4 hours long, with a 20 minute break. Honestly, this has to be the best way to see all the main iconic sites of London. You ride between the sites, which is a lot quicker then walking (so you can cover more in less time) and better then the Hop-on Hop-off buses that are at the mercy of the traffic (when is horrible at the best of times).

Day 3:
The weather was pretty bad so we decided to spend the day at the British Museum. This is worth the time if you have it and are interested in history, particularly ancient Egypt, Rome or Greece. It took us perhaps 6 hours to see everything. Entrance is free (you only pay if you want to see the limited feature display).

Day 4:
We booked a day tour out to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter studio. You must prebook this tour and you’ll be allocated a time. Since we booked before we left Australia, we paid extra to have return bus transfers from London. This cost us £57 each, the studio tour itself is £28. You can make yourself there by the tube, and the studio offers a bus to and from the studio to the station.

Day 5:
We checked out of the hostel this morning and moved to the Royal National Hotel, where we’ll stay the night before our tour. Today we headed down Oxford Street to shop. There are plenty of stores worth looking at, I didn’t really find anything to buy. The Royal National really isn’t as bad as everyone goes on about. It’s clean and comfortable. The pre-departure tour meeting gave us a chance to meet up with the group and check in. Tomorrow our European Inspiration tour starts.

A few iconic London sites, photos taken on the bike tour.

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 03:52:07 +1000

A few iconic London sites, photos taken on the bike tour.

Welcome to Hogwarts #nofilter

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:04:39 +1000

Welcome to Hogwarts #nofilter

#nofilter

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:04:08 +1000

#nofilter

Butterbeer tastes amazing :D

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:03:03 +1000

Butterbeer tastes amazing :D

WB studios are amazing! #nofilter

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:01:48 +1000

WB studios are amazing! #nofilter

Satisfying my inner nerd. The British Museum is amazing....

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:12:05 +1000

Satisfying my inner nerd. The British Museum is amazing. #nofilter

Cleopatra’s mummified body.

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:10:04 +1000

Cleopatra’s mummified body.

Mexico display #nofilter

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:06:32 +1000

Mexico display #nofilter

Inside the British Museum #nofilter

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:05:54 +1000

Inside the British Museum #nofilter

I wish it was Sunday already! #travel

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:32:57 +1000

I wish it was Sunday already! #travel

So close,

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:00:17 +1000

7 sleeps remaining. This time next week I’ll be flying out to London! I have so much to get done this week, hopefully time will fly.

Contiki documentation has arrived! 23 days, and 2 x 3,000 word...

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:19:54 +1000

Contiki documentation has arrived! 23 days, and 2 x 3,000 word papers left.

"Travelling offers an education like no other. It allows you to reinvent yourself and be adventurous."

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:08:36 +1000

“Travelling offers an education like no other. It allows you to reinvent yourself and be adventurous.”

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the..."

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:57:27 +1000

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure.
There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”

- Jawaharial Nehru