The End

• The flight home was filled with film watching and no sleep. We got into terminal 5 at 8am and where picked up by mu mum and dobsons parents. It was so strange seeing them, and a bit awkward, what do you say?
  
  Anyway we drove back along the M4 telling some of the stories of the last 41/2 months. It is so weird being back, people keep asking what was your favourite bit / country / thing you did. They are really difficult questions. I will share my highlights:
  
  
• Bungy jumping and Sky diving in Queenstown on my birthday
• Ko Tao in Thailand, an amazing tropical island
• Scuba Diving on the great barrier reef
• Meeting loads of people, other travelers and local Fijians on the Yasawa islands, particularly White sandy beach resort.
• Shark cage diving and snorkeling with turtles in Hawaii.
• kayaking in the Abel Tasman national park (NZ) and camping on the beach.
• Riding elephants and holding tigers in Chang Mei.
• Flying over Fraser Island on a tiny plane
• Sand Boarding on the Coromandel Penisnular (NZ) and spending time with Meg and Makaela
• Body Boarding in Byron Bay
  
  So we have visited 7 counties in:
  
• 130 days
• on 60 different boat rides
• 51 bus / minibus rides
• 32 train / subway rides
• 16 taxis
• 11 plane flights
• 7 tuk tuk rides
• 1 Jet ski ride
• and 1 elephant ride we have made it round the world.

(yes i did just waste half an hour of my life looking at my diary working them out)

Looking forward to catching up with you all! Thanks for reading.

New York: Up the Rockerfeller, statten island ferry, times square and more

After a long jet lag induced lye in we headed to the train station and got a week pass for the train system so we could go wer ever we wanted. We then headed into downtown Manhattan getting off at time square. Its so crazy, so many people and cars and taxis. We3 wandered around for a bit and then got another train to the rockerfeller building. We went up the 67 floors to the top. There wer amazing views over the whole of Manhattan, central park and the empire state and you could just see the statue of liberty. We stayed up ther for quite a while. We then got the train back to our hostel and cooked some yummy tea.

After another long jet lag induced lye in we headed downtown to the statten island ferry. We crossed the harbour with views of the stature of liberty and the Manhattan skyline. There wasn't much to do on statten island so we got the ferry back half an hour later. We then headed to the site our the world trade centres. its just one massive building site, they are making another big tower and a memorial but there is nothing there yet. We then headed back uptown to a cinema near our hostel where we watched star trek which was really good. Due to our messed up sleeping and eating times we weren't hungry enough to cook our spaghetti bolognaise so we just got a slice of yummy takeaway pizza.

This morning we got up early (well 10.15) and went to the cinema again, it was $6 before 12pm. We saw dance flick which was quite funny. This afternoon we went back to times square and to m&m world which was awesome, some much random stuff all to do with m&ms. We then headed to the bottom of the empire stet building, we didn't go up as it cost quite a bit and would be the same as the Rockerfeller.

This evening we cooked our last supper of spaghetti bolognaise and later we are going back into town to see the city all lit up.

2moro we go home!!! We fly at around 8 so will chill out in central park for the day.

see you all very soon! this is probably my last blog from out trip! thanks for reading them even if it is just my dad! haha

LA to NEW YORK

Again we woke up early to get to an airport, this time LAX. The flight was pretty good, after we realised it was leaving from the international terminal as it had come from Sydney and LA was a stop off. This did mean it was a massive jumbo jet with TV screens on the back of each chair. We all spent the whole flight watching films, I watched Mall Cop which was quite funny, and the Australia which brought back memories of a few months ago.

We then got a long shuttle bus ride into Manhattan stoping off at each of JFK's 8 terminals at least twice to get more people! We are now at the massive hostel just near central park and also Harlem, we were told to only walk left when walking out of our hostel, to avoid this area.

We now have 3 full days in New York to do all the touristy things. Then on Monday evening we fly home! It feels so weird to be going home, its been such a long time, but we are all definitely looking forward to it!

LA: Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel air, Venice Beach and Universal Studios

We had an alright flight over from Honolulu sleeping and watching a film, once there we got a shuttle to our hostel near Beverly Hills. That evening we went out for a burger (we would of got a free beer but wer too young) and then went to bed very early.

The next day we went on a tour of LA. We started off on Hollywood Boulevard, looking at the stars on the pavement, taking pictures of the most famous ones, also the Chinese theatre and a load of other cinemas. Next we went to a few famous peoples houses in Beverly Hills, the fresh price of Bel air house and the x-men house. We then went for lunch on Venice beach and wandered along the promenade, trying to not get sold hip-hop Cd's. In the afternoon we went to a posh street with shops on wer all the famous people shopping. unfortunately we didn't see anyone we had heard off, but there wer a lot of famous looking people! In the evening we watched a big basket ball game on TV and then again went to bed early.

Today we went to universal studios. First we went on Shrek 4D, with the seats moving and water spraying at you when donkey sneezed etc. We then went on the studio tour. Seeing sets from Jaws, war of the worlds, King kong and loads of other films and TV programs. After that we went on the mummy ride and the Jurassic park ride, and also to the special effects show, which was cool. In the afternoon we went on the Simpson's ride which was probably my favourite, it was basically a simulator again full of special effects. We finished off the day at terminator, water world and the animal show (with a very funny orangutan!)

So we have fitted a lot in in LA and spent a bit more than planned too. Off to New York early 2moro morning. We have four nights there - and then home!!!

See you soon.

Josh

Last Few days in Hawaii

We've spent the last couple of days chillin on Waikiki beach. We also went to pearl harbour for the day, we did all the free stuff which included a short video, a boat trip out to the USS Arizona memorial, you ca still see the ship under water and also to the museum. In the afternoon we went to the cinema to see Wolverine, it was really good.

Yesterday afternoon we said goodbye to the two Beckys who we have been travelling with for the past week. This morning we went to Hanuma bay which is a old volcanic crater. The snorkelling was supposed to be amazing but it wasn't anything special, we did see a turtle though. We are a bit spoilt for coral ad tropical fish by now!

Tomorrow we may got to Diamond head, which is another old volcano with good views over Waikiki beach. The next morning at 4am we have to get up to fly to LA. We arrive at about 5pm LA time so probably wont do much on that day. Then we have two full days there.

Hope all is well at home, see you soon!!

Josh

Turtles and Sharks

So we traveled up to the northshore with Becky and Becky who we met on the plane and wer also ion our hostel in waiki beach. We had a cabin by the coast with its own kitchen and lounge, it was really nice.

The day we got there we chilled on the beach, i went snorkeling and saw an eel or a sea snake! in the evening we had a BBQ, played cards and chatted. The next day we went to this beach with loads of green turtles on. It was awesome snorkel ling with them and swimming with them. We then headed to Haiewa and bought a shave ice, it was way to sweet with ice cream! The girls and Dobson then walked to the lost set (a tv program) and will, tom and i sat on the beach.

This morning we got the bus to Haiwa again and went on out shark cage dive! t was awesome, 30 sharks all swimming around you sooo close! We also have bought the dvd between us, so that should be good.

2moro we head back to waiki beach, and then the next day we may got to pearl harbour!

hope everything is god at home. less than 2 weeks left!! I'm defiantly looking forward to home now.

Josh

May 8th - the longest day ever

May 8th started by getting the bus into nadi town and doing a bit of shopping, i bought a bulabong shirt and a fake Fiji rugby sevens shirt. We also got hassled a bit and by the locals trying to get money out of us. In the afternoon we headed back to our accommodation, swam in the pool and got a pizza. we then headed to the airport at around 7pm.

When checking in our luggage they said we needed a number for our USA visa which we did about 5 months ago in England! we ended up buying some Internet with our last pennies (also having to borrow 25c of the king lady ion the shop) to buy some Internet and fill ion the visa again! The airport staff werent very helpful!

Once on the plane we got a little bit of sleep and watched a film. We arrived i Honolulu at 6am Hawaii time on 8th of may. once at our hostel we got some free breakfast (peanut butter sandwiches) and headed to Waikiki beach. It was very hot and we all got a bit burnt. in the evening we made some pasta and chatted for ages. may 8th was finally over!

the next day chilled on the beach and swam in the sea. in the evening we went out for a steak with a group of English people who were all on our flight from Fiji.

Today we are getting a bus up to northern shores.

Hope your all gd.

Josh

The Fiji Mainland

The next day after coming back from the islands we got went on an half our bus journey up to a Loutuka, a city north of Nadi. We wandered around looking in shops anbd buying a few things. It wasnt that touristy there so we saw a bit more of the real Fiji.

The next morning we got a cab to Pacific Harbour, along the coral coast. It has been very wet here the whole time so we havent really done anything, tom and I also couldnt do the shark dive because it was full :( We did make the most of happy hour yesterday evening though!

We get the bus back to Nadi this afternoon and then fly to Hawaii tmorow evening. We arive in hawaii at 6 in the morning the same day! So that will be well wierd!

Josh

Yasawas - Fiji Islands

So we just got back from our 14 day Bula pass hopping between different islands and resorts in the Yasawas. All the resorts wer different and some were better than others. These are the highlights.

Nabua Lodge: Our first resorts some great people including a guy from yate, and a really nice guy from canada called denver. We went on a boat trip to the blue lagoon and went snorkeling. Back at the resort we had a good BBQ, played touch rugby on the beach with a load of Fijians which was really fun and played volleyball. The guy who was in charge was called Lulu and he was really funny.

Gold Coast: This was a very small resort, just us four and a danish couple. We walked over to the blue lagoon from here and did some snorkelling and also jumped into the sea off the boat.

White Sandy beach: We arrived to all the Fijians singing and playing the guitar on the beach, we also got some coconut juice! The people here were really nice and friendly, both the staff and the guests. In the evening there was lots of dancing and we learnt the bula dance! We played volleyball, sat in hammocks reading books and went snorkeling. On the Sunday we went to the church which was a bit of a disappointment. It was set up for tourists and was very cheesy.

Coral view: This was quite a big resort, we had our own 4 bed bure which was nice, there were kayaks and snorkeling equipment etc. We spent a lot of time in hammocks and also chatting and playing cards in the evening with the other guests. Tom and I kayaked to the blue lagoon in glass bottomed kayaks which was cool.

Wayalai: I pretty resort, tom and I got up at 5am and climbed up a mountain in the dark to watch the sunrise, it was really cool. I also became Bula king in the evening with my dancing skills during the stick dance!

Manta Ray: This was a really nice resort with really nice food. We played volleyball and went snorkeling (this was the best place for snorkeling). I also went on a trip to see manta rays, i got really close to one snorkeling it was awesome!

Kuata: Again played volleyball, made friends with some danish guy and a Brazilian guy, went snorkeling and sat in hammocks! I also went on a village trip to see Fijian village and also watched a rugby match between two villages.

South sea: A tiny island, played volley ball, went sailing and snorkeling.

Bounty: This was where celebrity love island was filmed. Good snorkelling, sitting in hamocks, made friends with and English girl, and an irish and Swedish guy.

We are now back in Nadi and a fun filled 2 weeks. We are here for 4 days and not quite sure what we are going to do. Tom and I may do a scuba dive and we may also try and find some markets to get some cheap stuff! Then we are off to Hawaii!

hope everything is well back at home.

Josh