We Are Hitting the Road Again – July to October Plans

Over the past few weeks I have been hinting at my up and coming plans. Certainly if you follow me on twitter I’m sure you will have read about flights being changed and more being booked. I have already majorly changed my plans once, if you recall from our original plan when we left the UK our flight home was booked for May 31^st 2013. As expected that didn’t happen and the flight to New Zealand in March hasn’t been taken yet either. It’s June now and those flights run out in October, so yes that means we will be on the move again VERY soon.

Decisions like ‘do we come back to Australia for the second year?’ and ‘can we go to the Singapore F1?’ have be answered. So here it is our new plan from now until October.

July 21^st – We will be leaving Melbourne on a very early morning flight to Sydney to spend three days hanging out in Manly, heading to the Blue Mountains, maybe getting a surf lesson and of course seeing those ‘oh so iconic’ places of Sydney (again).

Auckland Skyline image credit

July 24^th – We will be boarding yet another early morning flight this time to AUCKLAND. Where we will board our Kiwi Experience bus and be driven all around the North and South Island on the Zephyr route (AUD$650). Stops include: Bay of Islands, Hot Water Beach, Rotorua, Waitomo, Taupo, Tongariro National Park, Wellington, Abel Tasman National Park, Westport, Lake Mahinapua, Franza Josef, Queenstown, Milford Sound and Christchurch. We have three weeks to complete this trip and despite knowing how cold it is going to be I am so excited to be able to explore a new country. Of course I will be working to tick off those bucket list items!

The Budget for this trip is AUD$95 a day or AUD$2000 in total for the three weeks. With the bus ticket already paid for I am hoping this will be enough money to do a few exciting trips.

Christchurch in 2013 Image Credit

August 14^th – We will fly out of Christchurch and leave New Zealand behind for a much warmer climate of SOUTH EAST ASIA. This trip has been on my ‘to do’ list since I first caught the travel bug all those years ago. We will fly in to Bangkok and then from there we have five weeks to explore Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia before we fly to Singapore.

Thailand Islands Image Credit

Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Krabi, Ko Phi Phi, Koh Mook, Khao Sok, Koh Rok, Ko Tao, Ko Phangan
Full Moon Party – 21st August or 19^th September – Neither dates fit in with our plans greatly so dossing this idea around. What do you think I should do? Go? Or not?
Ko Kut, Ko Chang, Ko Samet
Luang Prabang
Vang Vieng
Vientiane
Hanoi
Halong Bay
Hoi An
Saigon
Phonm Phen
Siem Reap

Hopefully five weeks will be long enough…

Singapore Image Credit

19^th or 20^th – We will fly down to Singapore for a weekend of Formula 1 Grand Prix action and then a night at Marina Sands Bay hotel. Yes the one with the infinity pool – it has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember so I have gone all out on booking a room there for our last night of the whole trip. Both the F1 tickets (S$300 for a three day grandstand ticket) and the room at Marina Sands Bay Hotel (city facing and breakfast S$575 for two of us) have been purchased.

With the expensive things booked up our budget for this trip is AUD$2000 in total for the six weeks of being in Asia. From everything I have read about budgeting in Asia I’m hoping we will spend around AUD$35 a day, allowing money for the extras like riding an elephant, taking a junk cruise off Halong Bay, visas and two flights.

24^th September – After two months of travelling we will be taking an overnight flight home to London where we arrive in at 5 am. My body clock is already dreading the flight and time difference that I will need to overcome being back in the UK.

I have then applied to start at Primary School Teaching degree from September, yes a degree that I have to commit to for three whole years.

I’m not sure if I have gone slightly crazy or just suddenly decided what I want to do with my life and feel now is the time to start. So watch this space to see if I get offered a place or if I will need a new plan for October.…