tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41402902012-01-07T21:54:28.420Z<p><b>The story:</b> Stephen and Anne, both in their late twenties, quit their jobs and left London. They took a year off. They first travelled to Australia, with a week in Tokyo on the way. After living and working in Sydney for three months they toured Australia for five months. They then spent two months exploring New Zealand using rental cars. They ended the year with two weeks of sun in Fiji, and a short jaunt in LA and San Fran. They then returned home, to a new life!</p>Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comBlogger2681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1075454409898164732004-01-30T09:20:00.001Z2009-05-20T13:53:20.582+01:00

(If you're looking for our current blog, post Big Adventure, it's here.)The book of this blog is available here.Well, it's all over. We arrived in Heathrow on Tuesday morning to be met by my mum and sister. It was odd to be home, largely, I suppose, due to our tiredness.What we did rightWe made lots of good decisions during our travels. We've done a lot of "assessing" of the Big Adventure lately

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1075450626219921562004-01-30T08:17:00.000Z2004-01-30T08:18:41.826Z

We've uploaded the last of our electric photos to Yahoo photos. They on Big Adventure Photos 8 (link to left). The new ones begin with the one of the Hindu Temple.

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1075365604438137692004-01-29T08:40:00.000Z2004-01-29T08:41:38.763Z

We've updated the blog for the last days of our Big Adventure, but the blog's not quite finished yet. We'll post a final entry of two in the next few days, and then it will all be over, and all our lives will be that bit more empty. Sob.

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1075360689746312752004-01-29T08:39:00.000Z2004-01-29T08:39:49.950Z

We flew Air Pacific from Fiji to LA, and the film choice was poor. There was only one film that we fancied, and that was quite old: Ice Age. We dutifully watched it, and it was OK but not up to the standards of Pixar. The brightness on my screen was up far too high and couldn't be adjusted, so it looked rubbish too! Two and a half stars. We saw Paycheck (Paycheque) at the flicks in LA. This

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1075365141827803512004-01-29T08:32:00.000Z2004-01-29T08:33:56.263Z

On Saturday morning, after our disaster, we took the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. This journey was slightly more successful and cost just $1.25 each. The bridge was good, we took lots of photies and had a walk on it. After the Golden Gate Bridge, we took the bus back to Lombard Street - the crookedest street in San Fran. Then we had a successful lunch and went back to the hotel. In the

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1074976948238824002004-01-24T20:42:00.000Z2004-01-24T20:44:40.700Z

Friday started well. On Thursday, we tried to trade in the ten or so old books we'd been lugging around Fiji, but the 2nd hand bookshops didn't want them all. So, on Friday morning we went to Union Square and left them spread around benches for people to find. We weren't being litter bugs - we'd registered them at bookcrossing.com, so whoever finds them can go to the website and register their

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1074881647205102482004-01-23T18:14:00.000Z2004-01-23T18:21:06.793Z

Me: Anne, do you feel like the crew of the Enterprise in Star Trek IV? Anne: No. Me: How about Nicolas Cage in The Rock? Anne: Are we doing this again? Me: What about that wet lawyer (Harrison Fox) in Crazy Like a Fox? Anne: Just get on with the blog. That's right, we're no longer in LA, but we're still under Govenor Swarzenegger's juristiction. We're in San Francisco. I've been here before,

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1074881192194816962004-01-23T18:06:00.000Z2004-01-23T18:08:01.390Z

I both love and hate the US. The TV is so crap, and yet also has some of the best dramas in the world. Even the ads on telly, usually notoriously bad, can sometimes be short, sharp and witty. The people can be obnoxious and dumb, or really kind and intelligent. George Bush is still a tw*t though.

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1074632194430407862004-01-20T20:52:00.000Z2004-01-20T20:58:00.090Z

Arriving in LA was very exciting. Everyone we know who's been there has been disappointed, so I think we were well prepared for it. A quick check of The Lonely Planet in a library in NZ had convinced us that Santa Monica would be a good place to stay (avoiding grotty Downtown and Hollywood) and this decision paid off. On the bus ride from the airport I was very excited. Anne, less so. Me: Do

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1074631492401744082004-01-20T20:37:00.000Z2004-01-20T20:53:39.530Z

Well, we arrived in Santa Monica on Saturday and had a little look round the shopping area, which looked rather nice, and then it was back to the motel room for takeaway pizza and beer! Sunday, we had time for a proper explore. After doing our washing in a real American laudromat, we spent the rest of the day looking in book shops and drinking coffee. It was excellent. Monday we thought we'd do

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1074465193187073422004-01-18T22:29:00.000Z2004-01-18T22:34:37.373Z

On Saturday 17th January at 4pm, Anne and I were walking on the beach in Fiji. We had seven hours until we had to get on a plane. On Saturday 17th January at 4pm, Anne and I were checking into a motel in Santa Monica. We'd landed in LAX three hours earlier. Stephen - you've gone mad! Everyone knows you can't be in two places at once. I'm starting to lose faith in your Blogging abilities Ah

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1074215591770591592004-01-16T00:54:00.000Z2004-01-16T01:15:53.590Z

On Monday we were taken by boat out to Waya Island. We'd booked three nights at the Octopus Resort there (click to see web site). We'd have liked more, but it was expensive! We had a garden bure (a bure is a traditional Fijian building, made of sticks and things). The resort is quite small, but they have lots of activities and some good facilities. We did hardly anything there. We went to

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1074214180289529492004-01-15T23:53:00.000Z2004-01-16T00:55:28.013Z

On Saturday it was back on with our packs, and onto a bus to Lautoka (on the West coast, just north of Nadi). It was a long long bus journey - five hours! The novelty of the local bus rides soon wore off and we got very bored. We were please to arrive in Lautoka and check into the hotel we'd booked. We had a nice room (if all a bit seventies in decor), and best of all it had air-conditioning.

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073709211475669732004-01-10T04:06:00.000Z2004-01-10T04:34:47.043Z

We've had lots of time to read in Fiji - it's very relaxing and we're making the most of it, as we'll soon be home and looking for jobs (see countdown on left - thanks to our man in Archway for that). I've recently read: Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - like the first book, a lightweight but hilarious book. I hope the film turns out good, though am sick of reading about

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073707243761873662004-01-10T04:00:00.000Z2004-01-10T04:05:03.890Z

Stephen's towel is disintergrating under the pressure. After a year away, followed by a week of sun, sea, sand, showering and sitting in a soggy heap, it stinks! Today, we arrived a Lautoka to find a bathtub in our room (in the bathroom, the bedroom had beds in it). So I put the towel in the bath, with hot water and Persil and got in with in. Imagine me crushing grapes as though to make wine.

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073706752143762812004-01-10T03:52:00.000Z2004-01-10T03:59:37.186Z

We were back on the local buses on Wednesday morning to travel from the Coral Coast (and Stephen's paradise on Earth) to Suva, the capital of Fiji. The bus into the city took a couple of hours and then we caught a local bus out to Colo-i-Suva, where we were staying. Raintree Lodge was very nice. However, it boasted in it's literature that there were no mosquitoes. This was proved to be untrue

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073519303805896022004-01-07T23:48:00.000Z2004-01-08T14:45:12.186Z

We did a silly thing on Monday morning. We were so intent on sending stuff home, to lighten our load, that we went down the post office with tunnel vision. The choice was to send the stuff surface mail or air mail. The first option would have taken 4-5 months, so we chose the second. It cost us $111. When we left the post office we realised that it'd probably have been cheaper to throw the

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073519053593443352004-01-07T23:44:00.000Z2004-01-07T23:57:43.233Z

The internet services here in Fiji are a bit rubbish, so I'm having trouble here. I will, however, valliantly attempt to educate you all abot the place. We were too tight to splash out on a guide book, so travelled in ignorance for the first few days. We've now found some info though, so no longer have to make up facts about the place to amuse each other. Population - well, that was around

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073190680337312922004-01-04T04:31:00.000Z2004-01-04T05:01:55.796Z

After a good Turkish meal out on Friday night, we were up early on Saturday morning and hopped into a taxi to the airport. We were ridiculously laden with bags, since we couldn't post stuff home in Auckland due to National Holiday issues. Grrr! We treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast at the airport. Unlike in British airports, Kiwi airports's main aim isn't to rip you off, so a cooked

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073024512965920122004-01-02T06:21:00.000Z2004-01-02T06:23:00.670Z

The new year scares us a bit. 2003 was very much our year off. Now it's 2004 we're thinking more and more about what happens now. As I've said, we intend to continue to rent out our flat in Ealing, and have decided to try to live in Cambridge. This means starting all over again, in rented accommodation for six months or so, and each of us has to find a job. A whole new adventure! At least

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073024342516149052004-01-02T06:19:00.000Z2004-01-02T06:20:10.263Z

Now we've dropped off our last rental car of our Adventure, we no longer have to worry about other drivers (except when crossing the street, obviously). This will be good, as New Zealanders aren't very good at driving. Like people in the UK, they see speed cameras as an infringement on their personal freedom. However, it's not necessarily their speeding that bothers me. It's the tailgating.

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073004935801590032004-01-02T00:55:00.000Z2004-01-02T06:20:32.140Z

We saw The Return of the King at the Megascreen cinema in Auckland. I think it's an Imax screen, though a lot of the screen wasn't used (different ratio, you see). It was very big though, and another bonus was we got to see a good trailer for Spiderman 2 before the film. I enjoyed the long, third LOTR film. A common complaint is that it goes on a bit after the climaxes, but I think that's

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1073003949689618532004-01-02T00:39:00.000Z2004-01-02T00:50:35.076Z

After our trip to the far North and Paihia, it was time to return to Auckland. We spent a couple of days driving down, stopping at a small place called Matakohe overnight. Matakohe has a kauri (type of tree) museum, but we didn't venture in. Besides, on the drive down we had stopped to visit a real, live kauri tree, that is the oldest tree in New Zealand. Ahem. We arrived in Auckland early in

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1072913356868814482003-12-31T23:29:00.000Z2003-12-31T23:30:23.326Z

I've added 27 photos to Big Adventure Photos 7, and created a new folder, predictably titled Big Adventure Photos 8. Enjoy!

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1072844509481645462003-12-31T04:21:00.000Z2003-12-31T04:53:32.780Z

We had a bad day driving up the coast to Paihia - the Bay of Islands. First, I found that I'd left my shower gel in the shower room at the hostel overnight and someone had nicked it. Grrr! I wanted to be home. I hate sharing a hostel with a bunch of bloody theives. To be fair only a small minority of travellers are theives, but that's all you need. We're all on tight budgets here, so

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1072661177090121322003-12-29T01:26:00.000Z2003-12-29T01:54:28.420Z

On Boxing Day afternoon, the weather turned nice and sunny. We'd finally managed to get through to our families on the phone in the morning, and drove out to Cathedral Cove in the afternoon. Cathedral Cove is a pleasant, picturesque beach, with a large cathedral-like gap in a rock, through which you have to walk to reach the beach. It was a 20 minute walk from the car park, with good views,

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1072472385609226062003-12-26T20:50:00.000Z2003-12-26T21:02:01.576Z

As I said, we didn't wake up until 10am on Christmas Day. We were very surprised to have slept so late, but it was a nice treat. We decided we better have a shower and get dressed and then have breakfast before presents. We had a festive breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon (with bucks fizz). Then it was present time! We hadn't bought anything for each other, deciding to spend the

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1072471688750389012003-12-26T20:41:00.000Z2003-12-26T20:49:34.296Z

As Stephen has mentioned, on Christmas Eve I did my annual craft. I am not the world's most artisitc person, but I feel I ought to try, so I went to the local bone carving place, to carve my own necklace. I chose the pattern and then traced it on to a piece of beef bone. The man in charge cut out the general shape and then let me loose with a drilly thing, to carve out the details. After that

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1072225440804481332003-12-24T00:24:00.000Z2003-12-24T04:34:24.810Z

We left Taupo and drove to Tauranga. On the way we stopped of at Wai-O-Tapu, the other geothermal area we'd missed (due to bad weather) on the way south. It was really good - the colours of the rocks were amazing. Looking at steaming ground loses its novelty after a while, but there was enough here to keep our interest up. (Expensive though!) At 10.15am we were told we had to drive on to see

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1072055452535162612003-12-22T01:10:00.000Z2003-12-22T01:22:15.950Z

After our adventures in Napier and Stephen turning into an old, old man, we continued on our journey to Taupo. We bought a driving guide that described the road from Taupo to Napier, although we were doing this journey in the other direction which made for interesting reading. The guide was hilarious. It began "May we describe the SH5 (road between the two towns) as a rainbow? If so Taupo and

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071715236106440752003-12-18T02:40:00.000Z2003-12-18T02:42:23.560Z

I turned 29 on Tuesday. Crikey! I'll be 30 next year. 30's really really old! (Apologies now to anyone reading this aged 30 or over. But it is old.) The day started well, with Anne making me a cooked breakfast in the hostel in Wellington. Bacon, mushrooms, scrambled eggs, toast, tomatoes, juice and coffee. Yum! We then began the five hour drive to Napier in a balloon-filled car. Weather

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071468725241294712003-12-15T06:12:00.000Z2003-12-15T06:15:13.546Z

Being away from home at Christmas will be odd. I'm trying to help Anne keep in the spirit though. I've bought her a big plastic bowl. Each day of December, up until Christmas Eve, I get her to punch a hole in the botton of the bowl using a spike. Eventually, with 24 holes in the bowl it'll be suitable for draining boiled vegies and pasta. Despite her initial scepticism, I think Anne likes

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071468435846873392003-12-15T06:07:00.000Z2003-12-15T18:02:34.966Z

This afternoon, as I've said we would, we saw The Two Towers (Extended Version) at The Embassy (where the premiere was held). The cinema was lovely - an old one that's been restored - and we had luxury seats, leather ones with big arm rests. We splashed out on this as a birthday treat for me (29 tomorrow!) It was loads more expensive than the cinema usually is here, and costs us thirteen quid

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071444868378624002003-12-14T23:34:00.000Z2003-12-14T23:41:09.390Z

We drove to Wellington on Saturday. It was quite a long drive south. Our next stop, Napier, is another long drive north again. Wellington really is quite far from everything. If it weren't the capital I think we wouldn't have bothered. I suppose it's down here so the South Island doesn't feel too left out. On Sunday we went to the National Museum - Te Papa - and have a good butchers there.

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071444190425303862003-12-14T23:23:00.000Z2003-12-14T23:24:00.060Z

Following Anne's fall during our walk on Friday, she got two bruises on her hand, and two on her bum. It's very funny (though I must also show sympathy). (Obviously I haven't seen the bruises on her bum - she told me about them. Anne says I can't see her bum until we're married.)

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071302439699767552003-12-13T08:00:00.000Z2003-12-13T08:10:16.513Z

We left Rotorua on Thursday morning. The sun had decided to show itself, but we had already rescheduled plans to go to Wai-O-Tapu (a geothermal area) due to the expectation of rain. We set off it the car, with my soaking wet trainers sitting in the back. We arrived in Turangi a couple of hours later. We had come to Turangi in order to go to the Tongariro National Park and do the Tongariro

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071299110374053862003-12-13T07:05:00.000Z2003-12-13T07:12:02.000Z

Anne's a little obsessed with making good, healthy, varied meals. When we lived and worked in London we didn't have a lot of time to make meals from fresh ingredients, so often made pasta and curries using sauces from jars. We thought this was OK, until Anne's sister Kerry made us feel thoroughly ashamed of ourselves. Just before we left for our year away, we visited Kerry and her boyfriend,

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071024114439876612003-12-10T02:41:00.000Z2003-12-10T02:43:26.436Z

After an afternoon at the cinema watching the first Lord of the Rings film on Sunday, we went to Middle Earth proper on Monday. We picked up our new rental car (a very old Nissan Bluebird) and drove to Matamata. This is where the Hobbiton scenes were filmed. You couldn't drive to the Hobbit holes yourself, but you could pay $50 each to go on a tour. We looked at the literature and deduced (

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1071024595872655992003-12-10T02:39:00.000Z2003-12-10T02:51:55.733Z

I've read a few books lately. The first was Claire Tomalin's Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self. I'd got this a while back but had avoided it thinking it may be too highbrow and hard work. It wasn't at all, and was a very entertaining look at the life of the first Blogger. Next up, the third volume of Spike Milligan's war memoirs, Monty: My Part in his Victory. At about 120 pages, including

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1070746815413847232003-12-06T21:40:00.000Z2003-12-06T21:42:22.293Z

Well, we're off the South Island now. It really is a beautiful place. Our flight from Christchurch to Auckland was at 11.35am. Given it was only a domestic flight, we probably didn't need to check in until 10.30am. However, Anne and I are both nervous people so like to be there a bit early. The buses to the airport were only once an hour though, so we decided to get the 8.30am bus, which

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1070590286771325022003-12-05T02:11:00.000Z2003-12-05T02:12:06.840Z

A few more photos added - Big Adventure Photos 7 (link on left). Some Bungy Swing ones, and a couple of my Cadbury "beard snood"!

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1070587448932881182003-12-05T01:24:00.000Z2003-12-05T01:25:45.686Z

We left Timaru on Thursday morning and drove to the town of Akaroa. This is a little French colony on the Banks Peninsula, East of Christchurch. It was a glorious day and we enjoyed driving through the winding countryside. The hostel at Akaroa was very pretty and we sat in the garden and had a nice lunch. In the afternoon we had a small walk around the town and stopped at the lighthouse to

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1070412828983577482003-12-03T00:53:00.000Z2003-12-03T01:06:16.716Z

Well, we saw some penguins in Oamaru, and they were great. We saw Yellow-Eyed Penguins, which live only in New Zealand. We drove to the coast and watched some penguins come out of the sea, then joined a tour. A guy who has been looking after the reserve for 22 years showed us two penguin nests and we got dead close to the mothers and babies. They were great. We saw them poo and everything!

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1070157222923576442003-11-30T01:53:00.000Z2003-11-30T02:01:55.110Z

On Saturday we took a trip from Dunedin along the Otago Peninsula. The peninsula is famous for its wildlife and we were hoping to spot a few animals. The drive out was very pleasant, the peninsula is just a stones throw from the city and would be a lovely place to live. We ambled along looking at the scenery across the water. This must be very annoying for the locals. At one point a motor

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1070155996020047322003-11-30T01:33:00.000Z2003-11-30T01:39:27.060Z

Our hostel in Dunedin, Elm Lodge, had loads of videos to keep gusts company in the evenings, and we made the most of this. First up was Bridget Jones's Diary, a very funny British comedy which puts Love Actually to shame. We laughed out loud quite a few times and it's a good adaptation of a funny book. Four stars. Next, an old one we'd not seen before: Oliver Stone's Wall Street. This film

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069983431771273382003-11-28T13:14:00.000Z2003-11-28T03:34:12.140Z

On Thursday we drove from Te Anau to Dunedin in the rain. We've generally had great weather on the famously wet West Coast, so it's funny that we should hit rain as we head east again. The drive was notably for the fact that the milometer (kilometer-ometer?) in the Orca went round to 50,000km on the way. As you can imagine, that got a big "Oooh" from both of us. Dunedin is very hilly. I

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069899994867048402003-11-28T01:14:00.000Z2003-11-28T01:14:44.513Z

On Tuesday morning we drove from Queenstown to Te Anau. Anne, who is no longer in her mid-twenties but in her late-twenties, was bemoaning her lost youth. The weather was glorious, and the lady at Te Anau YHA told us that it was the first nice day they'd had in five months! We were there as a base for our day trip to Milford Sound the next day. SO, Wednesday morning we were up bright and

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069899976215038622003-11-27T02:26:00.000Z2003-11-27T02:39:24.716Z

Happy Birthday...Happy Birthday IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Well, it was three days ago. I am now the ripe old age of 28. A better number than 27, I think. Stephen cooked me breakfast (baked beans and sausages on toast) and then we went for a drive. It was baking hot. Hooray! We went to Glenorchy, about 40 minutes from Queenstown, and then on to Paradise. Paradise is a paddock at the end of a road. The

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069898645898295632003-11-27T02:04:00.000Z2003-11-27T02:12:58.606Z

An update on my reading material of late. I read Joseph Heller's Catch 22, which seemed to take me an age to get through. Whilst it was interesting and funny the disjointed style of writing stopped it from being a page-turner. My fifth year English teacher tried to get me to read this at school as she thought I'd appreciate the humour. I gave up after a chapter or so, so I'm glad to have

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069537932653316942003-11-22T21:52:00.000Z2003-11-22T21:57:45.920Z

We arrived in Queenstown on Friday morning and it promptly began to rain. It then continued to rain heavily for the rest of the day. We were annoyed and decided Queenstown was the worst place in the world, ever. Saturday morning was glorious sunshine. Queenstown is brilliant! We went for a walk around the lovely lake and looked at the beautiful snow capped mountains (the aptly named Remarkables)

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069537519663403552003-11-22T21:45:00.000Z2003-11-22T21:46:44.983Z

Clearly Stephen is now rather blase about the beautiful scenery in New Zealand. At Wanaka the rather lovely ski-lodge-esque hostel looked out across the lake and on to snow capped mountains. Stunning. We sat outside in the sun, one afternoon, drinking a beer and looking at the lovely view. We also had this view from our room, bonus! I'm not sure whether Stephen has conveniently forgotten this

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069533480182711592003-11-22T20:34:00.000Z2003-11-22T20:55:18.890Z

We watched two videos in Franz Josef. The first was The Recruit starring the ubiquitous Colin Farrel and also Al Pacino. The video box said that there were so many twists you never knew who to trust. That just makes me think the whole way through, "I bet he's a baddie" whenever someone looks not to be the baddie. Inevitably one of the guesses is right. And it's not that clever a film. It is

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069286881922739342003-11-20T00:08:00.000Z2003-11-20T00:09:13.750Z

The glacier hike really was a highlight of our trip so far. As Anne said, she loved the equipment. Whenever I made an hilarious joke or got confused between my life and the first act of The Empire Strikes Back she eyed her ice-pick thoughtfully. She's made noises about getting herself one, even though she's not bothered about going glacier hiking again. We lazed about exhausted on Monday. We

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069283956424943322003-11-19T23:19:00.000Z2003-11-19T23:53:46.043Z

At last I've found an internet cafe that will let me upload photos. I've added a couple of photos from our quiz in Sydney to the Big Adventure Photos 5 folder, and started a sixth folder for our NZ photos.

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1069021813149545422003-11-16T22:30:00.000Z2003-11-16T22:33:01.420Z

We left Greymouth on Saturday morning and continued our journey down the West coast to Franz Josef. Franz Josef is a small village, with a thriving tourist industry, due to a nearby glacier. Sunday morning, we were therefore up bright and early to go walking on the glacier. We met up at the guide headquarters at 8am and got kitted out with waterproof trousers, socks, boots, waterproof jackets,

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-106878011750701432003-11-14T03:21:00.000Z2003-11-14T03:23:28.640Z

I've just read a book by British MP Austin Mitchell about New Zealand. Apparently he was a "pundit" over here before becoming an MP over there. It's a follow up on a book he wrote about NZ thirty years ago, and it's called Pavlova Paradise Revisited. (I wasn't aware that pavlovas were a Kiwi thing.) It's a good introduction to the country and the changes over the last thirty years. It's

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1068778920543489132003-11-14T03:02:00.000Z2003-11-14T03:16:33.326Z

On Thursday morning we left Nelson in The Orca and started our journey down the west coast. I call our rental car The Orca after Quint's boat in Jaws, as when we picked the car up and tried to put our backpacks in, I said, "We're going to need a bigger boot". We've had great weather so far in New Zealand, better than we expected. The West Coast of the South Island, however, is notoriously wet,

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1068615330421610692003-11-12T05:35:00.000Z2003-11-12T05:45:46.123Z

After we arrived in Nelson and the mussels had made me ill again, we had to decide what to do the next day. The plan was to do a walk of the Abel Tasman National Park, but I wasn't sure whether my tummy was up to it. In the end we decided to chance it and booked our water taxi for the next day. Tuesday morning we were therefore up bright and early (6am) in order to drive to Marahau, ostensibly

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1068613767852753042003-11-12T05:09:00.000Z2003-11-12T05:12:08.570Z

We've just watched The Matrix Revolutions at the cinema. I said when I reviewed the second film that the third film might change my opinion of the second, by making it make sense. Well, the third film made the second look good, but not for the right reasons. I'd read some bad reviews of the film, and a friend had also told me it was bad. It's probably good to see this film with low

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1068441467320691182003-11-10T05:17:00.000Z2003-11-10T06:00:45.353Z

First, I've put a link to a map of NZ to the left of the blog. Now you can see where we are. From Kaikoura we drove to Picton. Again, the weather was great, and again the scenery was too. Picton's further north than Wellington (the capital, on the North Island). We'd not realised this as our map shows the island separately. The ferry leaves Picton to go to Wellington, but we weren't there

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1068088424876120362003-11-06T03:13:00.000Z2003-11-06T03:16:39.496Z

We picked up our new rental car on Wednesday morning. As Anne said, I won the argument and we're touring the South Island by car, rather than being sociable and getting the "Magic Bus", a backpackers' touring bus. I've bought a converter enabling me to plug my CD player into the cassette deck, which means we can travel through lovely countryside listening to I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. We

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067902990975079882003-11-03T23:43:00.000Z2003-11-03T23:43:09.186Z

It was odd visiting my friend Simon's old house and school. We learnt that his school, Christ's College - though apparently Christ never actually went there, is the most prestigious school in New Zealand. Wow! Simon - I'm looking at you in a whole new light. I'm starting to realise what a step down it must have been for you to come to Monk's Walk in Welwyn Garden City for your A Levels. For

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067902482558159282003-11-03T23:34:00.000Z2003-11-03T23:39:09.580Z

Well, we began our New Zealand adventure in style, as you will have read. Saturday evening, after arriving, we checked in to the hostel and did the obligatory supermarket shop (where we met a mad man who was buying 12 kilos of carrots and had to talk to us for five minutes). We then got to actually cook dinner, something we couldn't really manage in the last place we stayed in Sydney. Sometimes

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067727215113945082003-11-01T22:53:00.000Z2003-11-01T23:34:11.983Z

After a final night out in Sydney with Andrew and Shae, we woke early on Saturday and got a shuttle bus to the airport. Anne was all sad about leaving Australia. I tend to be ready to leave once we're done somewhere, which can be a handy trait. Even on a two week holiday I'm ready to go home at the end, even when I've had a great holiday. Besides, I was excited about New Zealand. Anne's

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067563182536493022003-10-31T01:19:00.000Z2003-10-31T01:30:05.576Z

Today's our last day in Sydney, and our last day in Australia too. It's sad. We've been here now for almost nine months. Blimey. Strange to think back to a night in February 2002, when Anne first suggested we abandon our plans to work in the US and go travelling instead. We were having a Valentine's meal in Tiger Tiger in Haymarket, London. We were pretty drunk. I don't think Anne really

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067472436467127982003-10-30T00:07:00.000Z2003-10-30T00:07:14.463Z

Yesterday, whilst walking into town via Kings Cross (the dodgy red light area), we came across a man who collapsed in front of us. Two English girls were there too, and another man called an ambulence. We tried to help him and get him into the recovery position, but our efforts were hampered a little by him having a syringe in his hand and us not fancying getting stabbed by it. The two English

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067472001290512782003-10-30T00:00:00.000Z2003-10-30T00:01:21.656Z

I'm in a bad mood this morning. Anne mentioned the other day that my bed keeps collapsing, and it's been happening more and more. It disturbed my sleep a lot last night, and the lady who runs the place didn't care when I complained. I ended up finding a hammer and nails in the laundry and having a go at repairing it myself. It was a little strange doing DIY in a rented room like that, but I

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067471827095357362003-10-29T23:57:00.000Z2003-10-30T00:12:01.083Z

Lots and lots of people have emailed asking for an address to which they can send us a Christmas card. Well, for the benefit of both of them here's where to send your cards: Anne Glazier and Stephen Kent-Taylor (Guests arriving 24 December 03) On The Beach Backpackers Lodge 46 Buffalo Beach Road Whitianga New Zealand It's important that you put the date we'll be arriving. Please - no large

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067471273191373642003-10-29T23:47:00.000Z2003-10-29T23:48:55.650Z

Anne and I have noticed that a lot of things in Australia are a bit backwards. The West Australians seem to be the most backwards, and seem proud of the fact - resenting the rest of Australia for being so advanced, and resenting the federal taxes they pay. (That said, we didn't go to Tassie, which may be even more backwards!) Oz is certainly 20 years behind the UK in Government, since they

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067320079379805322003-10-28T05:47:00.000Z2003-10-28T05:48:27.570Z

We left Bondi on Saturday morning and got the bus back to Sydney. We are staying in Darlinghurst, near where we used to live. The room is cheap, but the luxuriousness reflects the price. The slats on Stephen's bed keep collapsing and he quickly follows them, through the bed, on to the floor. (Double room = two single beds shoved together.) It was funny the first time. The next day we went to

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067224302769211892003-10-27T03:04:00.000Z2003-10-27T03:11:42.483Z

In Manly we hired a second video - Chicago. This had won so many Oscars that we thought we'd give it a try. It was OK, but I reckon it was too much of a stage show still. It hardly seemed like it had been adapted for the screen. Most of the song and dance numbers took place with a black background and might as well have been on a stage. I suppose that's inevitable, since they were mostly due

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1067053547702922822003-10-25T04:45:00.000+01:002003-10-25T04:54:41.536+01:00

I've uploaded some more photos to the end of Big Adventure Photos 5. Annoyingly I've deleted a good photo from the PC I'm using. The lizard we saw on Mount Ainslie (of which there's one photo in the album) fanned out its neck and growled at us. I got over-excited and deleted that photo. And the recycle bin's been disabled on this PC. Grrr! I still have the photo on my camera, so I'll have

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1066977418178616842003-10-24T07:36:00.000+01:002003-10-24T07:37:44.533+01:00

Thursday morning was our last in Manly. I started off the day badly, by waking Anne from a dream about Noah Wyle (Dr Carter from TV's E.R.). She was annoyed with me, and made that clear. Still, we soldiered on and packed up our stuff. We've got rather better at packing our rucksacks, which is just as well since I was very bad at it at the beginning of our travels. However, I'm having trouble

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1066804465073423252003-10-22T07:34:00.000+01:002003-10-22T07:35:52.623+01:00

Well, we arrived in Manly on Friday morning after a 2 hour train journey from Bundanoon. We caught a city train to Circular Quay and then took the ferry across to Manly. Just like old times, crossing the harbour, looking at the opera house and bridge.....sigh! We settled into Shae and Drew's flat and then went for a jacket potato at the food court. Excellent. We ran around the supermarket

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1066717455453623222003-10-21T07:24:00.000+01:002003-10-21T07:25:02.340+01:00

We watched two films in our luxurious Canberra apartment. Of course, these were on network TV, meaning they were littered with ads and lasted twice the time they ought. The first I'd seen before, the all-star A Time To Kill. This is a long John Grisham adaptation and quite competent. It was odd, coming so soon after watching Rules of Engagement which also has Samuel L Jackson in court for

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1066362391622155902003-10-17T04:46:00.000+01:002003-10-17T04:59:48.880+01:00

We left Canberra on Wednesday, after an enjoyable week. The city gets a bad press, and I think a lot of it is justified, but we saw some great stuff there and had a good apartment so we left happy. As a final reminder of just how backward the so-called city is, we caught a train from the only station: a tiny station from which three trains a day go to Sydney (usually) and no more trains go

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1066097310707272542003-10-14T03:08:00.000+01:002003-10-14T03:17:53.333+01:00

Monday was our trip to Parliament. Or rather Parliaments. We started off at the Old or Provisional Parliament. When Australia federated in 1901, they needed a capital and a parliament. To start with the politicians met in Melbourne, but after much wrangling and argument between Sydney and Melbourne as to who should be the capital, they chose a sheep station half way between the two places.

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1066030441089382852003-10-13T08:12:00.000+01:002003-10-13T08:35:35.153+01:00

On Saturday afternoon (after a morning spent washing clothes) we went to the Canberra Museum and Gallery. I was hoping for some information on the decision to make Canberra the capital and on the building up of the capital. Not here sunshine. This was more a gallery than a museum, and the factual stuff that was there seemed mostly to be apologising for Canberra being rubbish. Shame. That

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1065762077503741282003-10-10T05:47:00.000+01:002003-10-10T06:11:35.006+01:00

We're staying in Canberra for a whole week. Most backpackers wouldn't do this. Australia's capital has a reputation of being dull. Partly this is due to lack of nightlife, which many backpackers crave, but we eschew. We're here a week because we got a great rate on a $110 a night apartment! All the backpackers' hostels were full of school groups, so we looked elsewhere and found an apartment

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1065668252435129072003-10-09T03:57:00.000+01:002003-10-09T03:59:38.753+01:00

As Anne said, we went to the pictures in Albury and watched Bad Boys II. We'd thought of going to see Matchstick Men (or, as Albury Cinema called it, Match Stickmen) which would probably have been the respectable choice (Ridley Scott does LS Lowry). However, I decided that we'd get more bang for our buck with the Bruckheimer vehicle. (If only because it's 150 minutes long. 150 minutes!!) I'd

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1065667700658393172003-10-09T03:48:00.000+01:002003-10-09T03:48:51.963+01:00

We had to get up very early to leave Melbourne. 5am. Yet again, we were on the Greyhound. However, this time when Stephen looked at the four hour journey we had to do, he just said "Pah, four hours is nothing". How things have changed. We arrived in Albury mid-morning. We were staying in the YHA which was located for maximum inconvenience 5km from the town. This is because the other backpackers

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1065344029996111242003-10-05T09:35:00.000+01:002003-10-05T09:55:59.443+01:00

We're currently in Melbourne again. That's the third time this trip. And the last time (this trip). We leave tomorrow at the crack of dawn. We're getting a bus to Albury, just over the border into New South Wales. We're still suffering from our colds (but gradually getting better) so haven't been overly active here. We've done a fair bit though. We've booked our Christmas and New Year

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1065342703072856522003-10-05T09:30:00.000+01:002003-10-05T09:34:57.990+01:00

We've done well for breakfasts lately. A lot of the hostels we've stayed in have given us free breakfasts, so we've saved a little cash there. Better stll, Eagle-Eyed Anne spotted an offer in a backpackers' magazine which gave us a free cooked breakfast every morning in the Phillip Island hostel! I was SO proud of her. This on top of the fab cabin we were given. As I've said, we were both

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1065230106322831182003-10-04T02:15:00.000+01:002003-10-04T02:24:59.200+01:00

I've uploaded more photos. There's a new album - Big Adventure photos 5 (link on left). Some of Ramsay Street and me holding a wombat. Also, Anne on a bike! None of my rock climbing, since I took Anne's APS camera rather than my digital one. Also, none of the Little Penguins, since you're not allowed to photograph them (flashes upset them). To see the penguins go to the Phillip Island web

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1065154435908413692003-10-03T05:13:00.000+01:002003-10-03T05:15:20.390+01:00

It's as well we got a nice, luxurious cabin here on Phillip Island, since we've both been ill the whole time we've been here. Anne and I both have bad colds and feel really grotty. Being able to cook in our cabin, and not having to use communal loo and showers is a godsend! The weather's been a bit poo too, so we've spent a lot of time in the cabin with the heater on. We've watched TV, we've

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1065051407170766362003-10-02T00:36:00.000+01:002003-10-02T00:37:23.870+01:00

Hello! Well after all the adventures in The Grampians we had a sedate journey back to Melbourne on Monday. Two buses and a train and five hours later we were back in our hostel. Just one night in Melbourne and then off to Phillip Island, 125km south. We were going on a Duck Truck Tour and got picked up at 9am for our trip. We drove out to Phillip Island, stopping to play with some wombats and

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064796163153603092003-09-29T01:18:00.000+01:002003-09-29T01:44:43.916+01:00

We've had a great time in Halls Gap. Lots of walking and exploring The Grampians (the area we're in), and the weather's improved greatly. Saturday afternoon was really sunny, as was the whole of Sunday. Just as well, for on Sunday I spent a lot of cash and went rock climbing and abseiling. Yikes! As I said a month or so ago when I climbed a big big tree, I'm not great with heights. I like

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064573423414928862003-09-26T11:26:00.000+01:002003-09-26T12:05:22.716+01:00

Well, we're exhausted! This morning Anne and I went on a 10km trek up and down a mountain. Phew! I played Frodo Kent-Taylor and Anne was Anne-wise Gamgee. We didn't have a Gollum. We treked and treked and saw some great scenery. However, it started raining, and Anne-wise and I looked for a Hobbit hole in which to hide. We found one, but a couple were already hiding there (for the purposes

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064477072050179902003-09-25T08:56:00.000+01:002003-09-25T09:04:32.130+01:00

We've just spent two nights in Ballarat - a town famous for gold mining. In the 1850s gold was discovered and a rush ensued. We stayed in a hostel on the grounds of Soverign Hill "museum". This is one of the "living museums" where staff are dressed in period costume and pretend they're living in the past. There were recreations of various parts of Ballarat's history, and I was a little

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064268820264600822003-09-22T23:03:00.000+01:002003-09-22T23:15:06.190+01:00

Whilst looking in the lolly (sweet) shop yesterday, on our Neighbours Tour, I realised that such a shop can now only be a disappointment. Sure, in the past one might have been excited to enter, thinking that perhaps one might find a sweet (lolly) more tasty than one had already tasted. Not now though. Not since the invention of The Chunky Kit Kat - surely the final culmination of years and

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064220206693304272003-09-22T09:33:00.000+01:002003-09-22T09:43:26.206+01:00

Today we arranged a day trip to Glen Waverley and visited Blackburn English Language School and Pin Oak Court. Sorry, don't you know what I'm talking about?? Ahhh, well, what if I said we went to Erinsborough and visited Erinsborough High and Ramsay Street. Because that's what we did. Yes, today was Neighbours day. We set off in the mini-bus at 10am and drove to Global Studios, where Neighbours

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064130066537247982003-09-21T08:23:00.000+01:002003-09-21T08:43:04.683+01:00

Another lovely sunny day, and we went to the sea-side. We took a tram to St Kilda, where TV's The Secret Life Of Us is set. We've never watched the show, but keep hearing about it. ("Secret Life" they call it. Very natty.) After a walk along the sea-front, we took a look at the Sunday craft market. I think Anne would have bought some stuff if it weren't for lack of funds and lack of room for

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064030193514483962003-09-20T04:53:00.000+01:002003-09-20T05:09:59.793+01:00

A freind sent me a link to a great site. The guy who runs this site listens to people talking on the London Underground, and jots down choice quotes. It's called The Man Who Fell Asleep. Very funny - makes me sad to leave London!

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064029745871448432003-09-20T04:44:00.000+01:002003-09-20T04:52:01.546+01:00

Apart from wanting to see the world, we also left our jobs and came away to take time out to think about what we wanted to do with our lives. And we've not been (all that) idle. We've made the decision to move out of London when we return! The tenants in our flat in Ealing asked whether they'd have to move out in February, and we said they wouldn't. Decision made - simple! It shocked us a

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064029416983301222003-09-20T04:33:00.000+01:002003-09-20T04:43:36.506+01:00

Sydney and Melbourne are rivals for the title of Most Bestest City In Australia. We've seen a lot of this rivalry on our travels. Newspaper articles often talk about which is, say, the most cultural of the two, and use odd measurements (e.g. How many people saw Russian Ark in each city). Sydney is undoubtedly prettier, and the harbour is hard to beat with the brilliant opera house. Melbourne

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1064028521717433562003-09-20T04:19:00.000+01:002003-09-20T04:30:47.063+01:00

We saw American Splendor at the flicks on Wednesday night. This film about underground cartoonist Harvey Pekar is really interesting, both in content and presentation. Paul Giamatti (also good in Man on the Moon) is great as the main character, and the real Harvey Pekar also pops up in interview segments. Four stars - recommended. As for the American Splendor comics, I struggle to see the

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1063869452868037492003-09-18T08:04:00.000+01:002003-09-18T08:17:32.773+01:00

A really really really odd thing happened to me on Wednesday morning. I never sleep well when I've been drinking, and following our quiz over-indulgences on Tuesday evening I was awake early, and eventually got up to read in the hostel common-room at about 7.30am. I'd not looked round the hostel properly, so once I'd made a coffee I wandered into the reading area which has a bookshelf

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1063857190092221972003-09-18T04:36:00.000+01:002003-09-18T04:55:25.850+01:00

Regular readers will know Anne and I were regulars at our "local" pub quiz in Sydney when we were living there (Feb to May). We won most weeks, though the turnout wasn't always strong, so sometimes we won almost by default. It helped that there were lots of movie questions and few sports ones. We've found no trivia nights on our travels. This is disappointing, since we were hoping to

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1063855959275260882003-09-18T04:22:00.000+01:002003-09-18T04:32:38.966+01:00

Well, we can all see from Stephen's blog how awful I am and how much I should apologise to him publicly. Firstly, I have to apologise, after showing him the planned route and agreeing between us it was the best way to go, I failed to design Melbourne's traffic system. I also failed to realise that the trams prevent you from doing a U-turn before 9.30am Monday-Friday. This too is my fault. It

Annenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4140290.post-1063776601418693552003-09-17T06:22:00.000+01:002003-09-17T23:49:42.606+01:00

We left Geelong early on Tuesday morning to drive to Melbourne. We had to return the hire car by 10.15am else pay another day's rental. The race was on. The stress started as we left Geelong and realised we'd need to get some more petrol soon. We had to leave the tank as empty as possible when we returned the car in order to get the maximum value from the hire. That's a bit of a logistical

Stephen Kent-Taylorhttps://profiles.google.com/106142744548300002964noreply@blogger.com