Pom_Chch

Yes, I think you make a good point at the end there Snap Shot. It does all depend on personal interests. For me I would like to do some sky diving, rafting, visit some of the dive sites in NZ, do some (or all!) of the great walks, sail around the Marlborough Sounds and Milford Sound, do the Alps to Ocean cycle trail, head down south to Steward Island, experience some more skiing... eek I could go on but I'll stop there! I haven't yet done whale watching but that is something I've been wanting to do for ages. Oh and a helicopter/hike trip over the glaciers. As well as the things to do in NZ I'm also looking forward to exploring the South Pacific Islands and Australia. A brand new mortgage has put the kibosh on overseas trips until at least next year though!

I would be inclined to agree with you about Queenstown. I guess it all depends what you want. Whilst Queenstown is beautiful I personally prefer the surrounding areas - Arrowtown, Cromwell, Wanaka, Alexandra. I too find it overly touristy and a bit too busy.

Am I right in thinking the Tongariro Crossing is near(ish) you Snap Shot? Have you had any experiences with it? I'm planning to do it when I head up to the North Island in March

Snap Shot

Yeah, the T.A.C. is just over a one hour drive from where we live. We did it in October, over the Labour Day weekend. We walked it on the Saturday. It was very good but not for the faint hearted. OK, it's not very steep but 19.6km of undulating terrain is quite tiring. It seemed to take forever to get to the end of it too, once we were descending out of the alpine scenery towards the forest.

scottishstacey

I thought Id pop back on and see how everyone is. It's so weird reading my old posts even though it wasn't that long ago. The bad news is my grandad died, it was so weird reading my replies about him. He wasn't even very Sick at that point, it all went downhill quickly and he was in hospital for 5 weeks before he died.

The good news is that's me booked up for my travels. I leave scotland at the start of November and head to singapore for a few days. Then I arrive in sydney on the 6th of November. I wouldn't say I was excited yet... Just stressed at the moment haha!

Tom H

You arrive on Vino Paradiso day Hope you are not too jet lagged to get yourself down the harbour for the international wine and food festival. It's brilliant


Are you just touring Australia and if so how long for??? I remember you mentioned a year, may be two?


If you have the money, book yourself for one night at the Marina Bay Sounds hotel in Singapore. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!!

Sorry to hear about your Grandad by the way

scottishstacey

Ah I've never heard of that, I'll have to google it! Sounds good though. Would just be like me to get straight into the food and ignore the jetlag lol!!

I've got a years visa for australia, going to try and stay the full year and then move onto New Zealand for a minimum of a month but this all depends on money. I could end up without a job and come back with my tail between my legs!

I really wish i could afford a lovely hotel but im booked into a hostel already. I think I should have went to thailand instead so I could get a nice hotel for cheaper haha.

Thanks, it was very sad seeing him waste away for 5 weeks. Cruel. He's not suffering anymore now though which I guess is what we have to remember. My mum and gran are still struggling though. Im dreading christmas for them, I feel really guilty for leaving before then too

Tom H

You'll easily stay the full year

Does your passport have a little rectangle with a circle in the middle at the bottom? If so, congratulations!!! You can avoid queuing for immigration clearance. I bypassed queuing for immigration at Melbourne when I went recently. Thank goodness, especially since I arrived the same time flights from Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai - you can imagine how busy it was at the airport that day

Remember to fill your passenger arrival card out correctly. Please include ticking for any food etc. I don't want to see you on Border Security being fined...

You've chosen wisely to do Australia for a year. Have a great time there! Make sure you visit Alice Springs whilst there. Trust me, its such a unique place - well worth visiting. Better to do it during the winter months unless you are prepared to put up with severe temperatures.

scottishstacey

I'll have to check it once I get home, I think we tried to do that last time we went on holiday but it didn't work. The immigration people in America were scary, I would rather avoid the australian ones as much as I can! I watch those border security programs quite often!

Yeah the year should be good. Hoping to find work and stay in sydney till around March or something like that and then not sure what my plan is after that. Once it's cooled down im going to do the east coast. I want to see WA too. Then once I've been there I want to come to New Zealand. I think I might try and do a week in Bali too but all of this depends on money!! I really hope it all works out though, I've waited such a loooooong time to travel

MrsFychan

sorry to hear about your Granddad Stacey and I am sure that your mum and Grandma would not want you to miss out on this opportunity and they will still have each other. Just see if you can arrange that you are able skype them regularly with all your news. that may mean helping them to work it before you go or they may tech savvy (?)

Really excited for you, to be honest since we have moved I feel that most younger people should take the possibility of getting out and seeing some of the world before they settle down as feel it would be amazing for them. Trying to get my son to try it but he's not budging at the moment, his precious motorbike is all that matters

anyway you must keep us up to date with all you are doing x

scottishstacey

Thank you! Im not much better with the technology lol I've never skyped someone before but I'll give it a go or i can FaceTime them when they are at my aunts, going to do that on xmas day. My gran comes down to stay with us most weekends now so it should be quite easy to see her at the same time as them.

Yeah I done everything in the wrong order lol settled down, got the house etc too early instead of travelling and now I'm in some sort of quarter life crisis haha! Least im going now though. Never been proper travelling, not even interrailing. Just the standard holidays and a last minute random 5 days in london last year alone in a hostel which seemed to make the travelling urge worse. So least that's me giving it a shot now.

Oh does he not want to go, I guess not everybody does. My best friend got married recently and she would never do this kind of travelling. Neither would most of my friends, I only have one friend who would and she's going to asia for a month but nothing long term so far. Maybe he'll decide to go somewhere one day. Men do like their bikes and cars though lol.

I will! I would have loved to come over to new zealand to escape some of the australian summer but im going to have to try and stay in one area to save up first x

Pom_Chch

My partner and I saved hard, quit our jobs and bought the cheapest one way ticket on Sky Scanner. One year later we touched back down in the UK! Has the time of our lives and would do it all again in a heart beat

You'll have a blast Stacey. Sorry to hear about your granddad, I hope he is at peace now x

scottishstacey

Hello! Yeah your adventure sounded amazing! I got a really good deal - £510 for a one way with a stopover in Singapore. i'm spending two nights there. I'm hoping Qatar airways are ok x

Tom H

I presume you'll be flying via Doha airport? I hope you have an early morning flight from the UK and not an evening one. The only negative about night time flights to the middle east is that you rarely get anytime for sleep.

Qatar were voted the worlds number 1 airline in 2011 and 2012 I think, so you shouldn't have any issues with them. It's a shame you couldn't get a direct flight to Singapore on Singapore Airlines. Even if it was an extra 100 quid or so, it would be well worth it

scottishstacey

I leave edinburgh at 1.55pm for Doha.

I actually was originally going to go straight there with singapore but I wanted a stopover. Which im slightly regretting but the singapore airlines was awkward. They were not going me something like 60 or 80 mins up get through everything at Heathrow. Didn't feel like I needed that stress.

I've read some bad reviews - mostly about leg room. Im 5ft 3 so I shouldn't struggle

scottishstacey

Hi everyone.

I've been in Australia for roughly 5 weeks now I think! How's everyone doing?

Snap Shot

I'm ok, thanks. Are you enjoying yourself ? I bet you didn't think December could ever be this hot !