So Laura and I will be heading off to Turkey in a few weeks. While Laura has been to Turkey twice previously, this will put a tick in the “done” column on my travel bucket list. The more people we talk to about Turkey, the better it sounds - I haven’t met anyone yet with a bad story, and actually all the stories I have heard sound fantastic. It will be a reasonably whirlwind trip this time, about 11 days in total made up of 2 days in Kuala Lumpur on the way over, then the rest of our time in Turkey being mainly concentrated in Istanbul with an overnight trip to Gallipoli (to see the ANZAC war memorials and battle fields) and historic Troy. ...

So we are back on dry land after 7 nights aboard the the Pacific Dawn - why are we still rocking? Sailing out of Brisbane about a week ago, all seemed fine… the sun was out, the Brisbane river was calm, as were the waters off the Queensland coast line. Time for the group to start relaxing with a few refreshing beverages (long island ice tea’s became a favourite) up on the pool deck - what a life… ...

By this time next week we will be cruising in the middle of the South Pacific - sun, sea breeze, and the obligatory beer/cocktail. The cruise will take us on a whirlwind 7 nights through the South Pacific visiting Vanuatu, Noumea and the Isle of Pines on the way. Cruising is a completely new experience for us and can’t wait to leave dock next Saturday. No doubt we will have some great photos to share from the cruise, so I will post them once we return. ...

Well the long weekend is over, and we survived the weather… Paradise Valley was great. What better way to relax than sitting by the camp fire, drinking a few cold ones with mates. Can’t wait until the next long weekend.

We made it back to Bangkok from Phuket, and are ready to board our flight back home to Australia!It’s hard to believe that after 4 months it’s finlay home time… It had to happen, and we are both ready for it. I think our flight is about 8 or 9 hours to Sydney, where we get a domestic back to Melbourne - and onto the final stage of our trip, Bairnsdale. ...

After a long flight (11 hours) from London, we touched down in Bangkok, collected our bags, and exited the airport to our awaiting hotel transfer. On exiting the airport, you immediately notice the humidity (it’s not as if its hiding!) - this place is hot and humid, luckily the south of Italy at this time of the year is also pretty humid and hot at times, so we have been fairly well acclimatised over the past weeks. ...

Let me start by saying - This place is ace! We landed into Gatwick from Naples, almost a 3 hour flight, and had to make our way to Heathrow Terminal 4 - which nothing seems to go to directly! We converted our left over Euro’s into Pounds which was almost exactly enough to buy our bus ticket from Gatwick to Heathrow - luckily its a free ride for BA travellers from Terminal 5 to Terminal 4 on the bus. ...

We arrived into Benevento by train from Naples, and were greeted warmly by Laura’s relations Sandra and Lorenzo Ciaglia. We then drove for about 30min up into the hills to our destination, the small town of San Lupo. We arrived right at the beginning of the three day festa, where the town honors its patron saint - San Lupo. During the festa the town comes alive, and is dressed up with lights all up and down the main street and through the main piazza in front of the church. ...

After our adventures in Rome, our next stop was Napoli. We headed to the Termini train station to reserve our seats - two seat reservations in 1st class came to 10 Euro. In recent times, having traveled a fair amount on the trains in Italy, we had noticed that the train conductors were not overly concerned with our Eurail pass - it was always the reservation (which looks almost exactly like a regular ticket), that they were interested in. ...

We made it to Rome after a pleasant few days in the Cinque Terre. Almost immediately we noticed that it was a little warmer here in Rome, away from the cooler comfort of the coast that Cinque Terre offered. We are staying in a simple B&B - its not quite what you would classify as a B&B in Australia, but I guess it meets the necessities, we get a bed, and we get breakfast. To be honest, its actually quite nice. The room is huge, and while there are no cooking facilities we do have access to a fridge. ...