Dan's Adventure

The second half of my Australian adventure begins with the journey from Darwin to Cairns. I think flying is my best bet, there are flights daily and there are several budget airlines so getting a cheap flight shouldn’t be a problem, especially if I book a week or so in advance. From Cairns I will be travelling down the east coast to Sydney over about three weeks.

The Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world, is sure to be one of the highlights of my visit to Australia. …

As a child, my knowledge of Australia primarily came from films and TV. Crocodile Dundee introduced me to the outback, Aborigines, and crocodiles while Skippy brought kangaroos into the picture. It wasn’t until I was a bit older that I saw the beaches and surf on Neighbours and Home and Away. Those first introductions have obviously made a lasting impression as my plan for Australia is filled with wildlife, nature, surf and learning about the Aboriginal people.

I will arrive in Australia at the start of February when I fly from …

On Saturday morning my Dell XPS M1330, which I have only had since last February, passed away. A failure of a component on the motherboard has resulted in a short circuit which prevents it from turning on. The cost of repairing it is ridiculous, as it is out of warranty, so I made the decision to replace it.

I have opted for something more suited to travelling, a Samsung NC10 netbook. Its quite a bit smaller than the M1330, 13″ vs 10″, about half the weight, and the battery life is …

Applying for an India visa by post couldn’t be simpler, well it could, the form is overly complicated, but thats beside the point. To apply for a tourist visa (if you’re a British passport holder) all you need to do is:

Fill out the online application and make your payment at the end.

There is no need to book accommodation in advance of applying, for address in India simply put NA in all the fields.
In the references in India section you can enter “Booking accommodation on arrival”.

Print out the completed form and …

Despite saying over a month ago that I had to sort out my travel insurance asap, I’ve only just got around to buying it. After comparing the policies of lots of companies, I’ve ended up going with World Nomads. Their policy is most suited to my needs as its covers almost all of the sports and activities that I am likely to do, allows claims to be made online whilst travelling, covers my high value items such as laptop and cameras, and perhaps most importantly, the reviews that I have …

I’ve bought several books to help me research my trip, but the only ones I find myself actually reading are those with lots of pictures! Some may use this as an opportunity to mock my reading skills, but the fact is, books such as Lonely Planet’s The Africa Book and The Asia Book are truly inspiring. They are filled with pictures that make everywhere look amazing and descriptions to accompany them that provide just enough information to make you want to go there even more. Another that I’ve been unable …

South of Thailand lies Malaysia which has two distinct parts, peninsular Malaysia (West) and East Malaysia. The peninsular shares a border with Thailand to the north and Singapore to the south and is the only part of Malaysia that I will have time to visit on this trip. I will be in Malaysia towards the end of January which means that the east coast of the peninsular will still be in monsoon season, I therefore intend to stick mainly to the west.

If I cross the Thailand/Malaysia border by boat I …

At the beginning of January I will arrive in Thailand at Chiang Khong after crossing the Mekong river from Laos. The visa situation for Thailand is a bit frustrating. Until the start of this year, it was possible to get a 30 day visa exemption when entering Thailand over land from a neighbouring country. This has now been reduced to 15 days which would necessitate a visa run to one of the neighbouring countries if I want to stay longer. My current plan is to spend three weeks in Thailand …