Jade & Scott Travel Diary

Girls Night Out

2007-05-06T18:00:00.000+09:30

Well Megs arrived in to Adelaide and we decided to hit the town for a girls night out...and what was supposed to be a civil affair ended in the wee hours of the morning and not feeling too well!! The photos taken where early on in the evening... was a good night though! :-)

Marion Bay

2007-04-15T19:41:00.000+09:30

Evening all - hope you all had a nice Easter last weekend :-) We waited for the crowds to leave and spent the weekend up at Marion Bay and got home a few hours ago. The boys did a lot of fishing and as you can see by the pics got some nice snapper and heaps of snook! Was a nice relaxing weekend and was good to see Phil back in Adelaide too - even if it is only for a short time!

Asta's 21st!!!!

2007-03-25T16:07:00.000+09:30

Hello - well what a night!!! Last night we went to the Cumby to celebrate Asta's 21st and we had a awesome night!! As you can see by the pics it started off nicely and ended up a with hugs and kisses as it usually does!! I am sure a lot of the boys have some very sore heads this morning.....

Whats been happening?

2007-03-19T16:03:00.000+10:30

Hello :-) Well not too much has been happening - just work and studying! But we had a few people around on the Adelaide Cup long weekend and here are some photos of... well boys being boys! Also went around to Alys newly renovated house last week so have attached some pics of the girls and guys from that night too!
So hope you are all well and will catch up with you soon! xox

Baily and bands

2007-03-03T09:19:00.000+10:30

Hello - here are some more pics of our little girl - although she is growing so she isnt as little as she was a few weeks ago! The boys also went to see Thrice on Thursday night and helped celebrate Scott's 27th Birthday so below are some pics from their big night out!

Feb News!!

2007-02-08T19:33:00.000+10:30

Well it has been a very busy couple of months!! Scott has a new job; we have moved house; and we bought a beautiful border collie who we have called Baily and she is adorable!! Here are some photos and we will be posting more soon!!

Victor Trip over Christmas/New Years

2007-01-01T14:23:00.000+10:30

Hello :-) Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and New Year celebrations! We headed up to Victor and stayed in a nice little place and as we do - drank lots, dribbled lots of shit, ate too much and played card games! Oh of course we went for nice long walks along the beaches and a bit of fishing was done too - although nothing was caught!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-12-21T15:16:00.000+10:30

Just want to wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous party hard New Year!! So that goes to you Jas cause I dont think anyone else reads this HAHA!! :-)

Speak to you in 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last day of work today!!!! YEAH!!!!!

Hello Heloo

2006-12-14T08:33:00.000+10:30

Hello

Not much to report but just felt like writing something!! Not long till Christmas so hope all you people in the UK at the moment have the best white christmas and New Years and we will be thinking of you and missing your antics!!! Hopefully there wont be too many drunken overseas phonecalls on NYE haha :-)

I have finally sold my pulsar - what a sad event and scott has a lancer wagon now that is keeping him on his toes - its nothing special but its better than driving the little buzz box!

Work is going really well - keeping out of trouble so far hehe :-) Cant wait to have 2 weeks off for Christmas to just chill out and start January with a bang! As you probably know we are heading to Victor for NYE so that will be really nice :-)

Well - must get back to it - Im out on the road for the rest of the day - doing the Christmas cheer to my clients!!! Bring on next Friday for big work party!!!!!!!!!!!!

Langhorne Creek Racing Day

2006-11-21T19:14:00.000+10:30

Hello! Well a good time was had by everyone and a nice bottle of wine was drank by myself haha :-) so was a fun day watching the horses and looking after little kiddies! So take a look at the photos!

U2!!!!

2006-11-17T09:49:00.000+10:30

Just a quick one to say that we went to the massive U2 concert last night and it was absolutely awesome!!!!!!!! They played all the best songs for us to sing along too and sounded fantastic live!!!!! So glad we went and I'm going to Kylie in 2 weeks so she has a lot to live up to now!! :-)

November 2006

2006-11-14T18:13:00.000+10:30

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well it has now been 3 months since we got back to reality and I have quit one job and started another where I have been now for 2 months and thats about as exciting as it gets - how sad huh!! Scott and I went up to the gores shack at Marion Bay on the weekend with his sister Sarah and her hubby Steve so thought I would put some photos up of that as the beaches there are amazing :-)

Not much else to report on the SA front - life is just plodding along as it did before the big holiday and we are just trying to pay off as much of our debts as we can to afford Christmas and then save for a new house...fun fun fun! Oh and we are so desperate to get a puppy that this is motivation for us to save! haha!

I have decided to update this website as much as we can - when something fun happens anyway! We are off to the Langhorne Creek Racing Carnival on Sunday with the Ball family so hope to get some good shots there to show you all!

Speak soon
Jade xox

Good Times Tour 06

2006-07-29T00:25:00.000+09:30

Check out some more photos of the Good Times Tour 06 through Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

Some More Photos

Paris!!

2006-07-28T23:44:00.000+09:30

Bonjour once again!

We arrived safely to Paris after leaving the guys in Amsterdam - they were staying there to party on for a few more days! I love Paris and could stay in France for a while. There is so much to see and do here. When we arrived we checked into our hotel, which was hot and smelly! So decided we didnt want to hang around so headed out straight away and walked a few kms to the Eiffel Tower. We had a packed lunch there and sat on the lawns there for about 3 hours qnd at 11pm headed up the tower for a night view. It was so relaxing just chilling on the lawns then seeing the views. Not quite so romantic though as there was thousands of people doing the same as us!
The next day we spent at the fashion central Champs Elysse and I spent up on some great clothes so was happy hehe!!! From here we decided we really hated our hotel room-jas,gore,dave if you are reading this the heat was way worse than the room in copenhagen!! So we ventured in search of a nicer hotel which we found so checked out of the old place and checked in to a much more expensive but much nicer; and cooler room! For dinner we went to Montmarte which is at the top of a hill with great views of Paris and the SacreCoer church. With our typical luck though, after we ate and started walking around another freak storm hit and it was another run to the train station and an adrupt end to the evening!! Getting used to the storms though!!.
Yesterday was a great day and one Scott was looking forward to - DISNEYLAND!!!!!! It was so great to go there - and I went on every single ride with Scott and screamed my little lungs out!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was an awesome day and at the end we wished we had kids to share it with, and also to buy the, clothes as the disney clothes are just too cute!!
Today we went to the famous cemetary and visited Jim Morrisons grave. Didnt look like it did in the pictures so a little disappointed but at least we went. From here we spent the afternoon at Musee D,Orsay and had an arty cultural afternoon, and now here we are on the net for our last day in Paris! Scott is downloading photos so hope you like them and we will be back home in less than a week-what a scary thought and not sure how we will cope heading back to cleaning, cooking, washing and all that boring stuff!!
Merci, Au Revoiur for now xox

Last Day in Amsterdam!

2006-07-24T19:07:00.000+09:30

Morning all :-) Well the last few days have been good fun and pretty busy. There is something for everyone here..from museums, women, beer and drugs! Whatever tickles ya fancy!
When I last wrote the blog we headed to Heineken which was a pretty interactive place and we spent a few hours there which was cool. And we decided to go to the Van Gogh Museum which was down the road...while walking there we got stuck in a freak storm and one minute sunshine, then cloud then it just started pouring and huge thunder and lighting cracking right above us! So we ran for shelter and after about 30 or so minutes it calmed down and we ran to the tram and headed back to safety in the hostel till it wenT! Apparently the guy from the hostel said he has never seen anything like that before! So that night we just chilled in the area and the boys kept drinking as they do best...
Yesterday we headed to Anne Frank's house and after just over an hour of lining up - it was worth the wait. I have read the book since Ive been away and so meant a little more to me than the others who had never heard of her before but was great to see where it all happened and also quite emotional watching videos of her friends and helpers as to what occurred during those times. After this we went to Van Gogh Museum which was pretty cool. They let you so close to the paintings which is unusual but good to see the detail of his paintings. After this we headed back to the hostel and chilled for a bit before heading out for a big one to celebrate Daves Birthday (His b'day isnt for another week but since we were all together decided to pretend it was last night!) So we went to a few pubs and in typical Amsterdam style we had a good laugh in a sex show! Wasnt quite as good as the one we went to on Contiki which was hilarious but was still amusing! So while I dont drink and Scott doesnt get a hangover..we are up and about while the others are still passed out in bed at 11am haha ;-)
Well that is an essay for you - we are off to do some last minute shopping and maybe have lunch in the park here today so just a chilled one before we head to the lovely Paris for some quiet times together after 9 weeks of travelling with other people!
PS - still struggling to find a place that will let us connect up our camera to download photos which is a bummer as we have some great shots with all of us in them for you to see! Hopefully we can get some up before we come home!!!!

You have to love Amsterdam

2006-07-22T18:22:00.000+09:30

A place where you can get away with so much...has to be a great place! I enjoyed the day spent here on Contiki and enjoying it again now. It just has a good atmosphere and buzz to it. We arrived here about 830 last night - after a 12 hour train ride that felt like it took forever! And after a shower to freshen up we took Dave, Gore and Jas into the red light district for some eye popping experiences haha and eye popping they did!!! It was pretty funny and its just hard to believe why some attractive females do this to themselves but at the same time...they are earning about 800Euro a day so why not!!!!
Today we are heading to Anne Franks House and then the Heineken Brewery before no doubt...heading back to the red light area for dinner.
We have been trying to download our photos but this internet place wont allow it so hopefully soon we can get it sorted!
Speak to you soon!
Jade xo

Copenhagen

2006-07-20T23:57:00.000+09:30

Well well well...not sure what to say about Copenhagen...I had some high expectations of greenery, rolling hills. romancing with Frederick and Mary....and its just a disappointment really! ITs heaps expensive here...dirty...and not green at all! There are a few nice places that we have checked out but overall its certainly not a highlight and not a place we will come back too which is disappointing really! We did spent yesterday at Carlsberg Brewery which was a pretty good place and you get 2 free drinks which the boys thought was great!!! We went out of Copenhagen today and headed to a town called Roskilde and it was quite nice there - on a harbour with lots of expensive boats and was good for taking nice photos which we did! We havent really done a lot here but just walk the streets actually! Our hotel is downtown...so its a bit scary at night so we dont venture out too late haha :-) Dave and Scott did on the first night and came back scared...but thats not a story for the internet so have to save that one for later but its a laugh now!!
We are on the home stretch now...we have 4 days in Amsterdam with the guys, then Scott and I finally get to spend some romantic times together in Paris for 4 days before heading back to reality and I cant wait! Im looking forward to wearing some new clothes-sleeping in a decent bed and having a nice shower!! No kidding...its the small things that you miss!!! Even getting a TV is a luxury haha!! Its pretty hot here as well - Amsterdam where we are tomorrow is having a heat wave and its sitting around 37 degrees!
Anywayz - keep sending those emails as we enjoy reading about what is happenign at home and we will be seeing you all in 2 weeks! For those that dont know we get back on Thursday 4th August about 6 or 7am :-)

OH! I have realised I have forgotten to mention a few things - firstly in Prague Jas and I ran into Daniel Johns from Silverchair so we had our photo taken with him. And secondly...on our first night in Berlin the Love Parade was happening which is a MASSIVE event with DJs from all over and its like a mardi gras...but with a million more people and Djs around! We spent a few hours here and it was just a laughing fest for us to see so many freaks wearing out-there clothes...one chick was just wrapped in gladwrap...some old man had some sexy leather outfit on..you get the drift! So that was entertaining for us! Also in Czech we headed to the Pilsner Brewery and this alone was quite an adventure...we caught about 4 wrong trains to get there...and when we got there...it had shut! We had one of those days but it is funny now..but at the time we were all pretty peeved off!!!
So there you go...my blogs havent been all that detailed so I apologise...Im generally tired after a long day of walking when Im writing them and everyone knows how shocking my memory is that when Im doing so much its hard to think of what I did this morning let alone a few days ago!!

Prague to Berlin

2006-07-18T07:30:00.000+09:30

After spending 5 days chilling out in Prague we headed to Berlin. This is a great city and a place we will come back to one day. We realise now we should have spent more time here and less in Prague!! Last night we went on a pub crawl organised by the hostel, and this afternoon we all hired bikes and hiked around the East and West towns and saw the Berlin Wall and other monuments that relate to there extensive history! It was pretty good fun :-)
Yesterday Scott and I headed to The Story of Berlin Museum and we spent about 3 hours here reading up on more historical events - kinda makes you realise how young Australia is compared to this part of the world....and also how lucky we are to not have to go through the events that they have!
Anyway- we are on a train at 7am tomorrow morning and heading to Copenhagen - the home of yummy icecream!!! When we get there we hope to download more photos of our time in Prague and Berlin too!
We will be home in 2 weeks so look forward to seeing you all!!!!!!

Prague and our mates

2006-07-13T01:20:00.000+09:30

Gday from Prague everyone!! After a loooong day spent at airports to get to Prague we arrived to the greetings from Dave, Gore and Jas and it was so good to see them!!! Its pretty damn hot here though so the cold from Ireland and the heat from here was a killer and it has taken me 2 days to get used to the heat again but all good. The first night we were all up till about 4 in the morning just catching up on the last 5 months with what everyone has been doing and it was so good. The boys got pretty drunk and Jas and I just laughed at them (not with them hehe). The 2nd day here we went on a big hike up to the tower to check out the view which was decent, although I was so knackered I nearly passed out - no sleep and heat didnt go well for most of us - Dave was a bum and stayed in the hostel and didnt even come out with us! Last night we found a local swimming pool and chilled there for a while...quite an experience though - Jas and I have some funny stories to tell from here! You had to walked through the showers to get to the pool...and none of us have ever seen so many naked bodies..it was funny stuff ;-)
Today we went up to castle and then wandered around the main shopping street. The boys are currently playing cards and we are just relaxing - After 28 days on Contiki, and then full on through Ireland - its been good to just sit back and take our time and not rush around - plus we are here for 5 days so got plently of time to do what needs to be done!

Well thats probably enough for now - this computer is in the hostel and its free but you cant download photos so when we get to another internet place the man will bring you some new photos ;-)

Megan and Bally - the boys love the photo you took for them - its by the bed and its so cute! Its good to see you are looking so well Megan - cant wait to get home and see you and everyone else xoxox

Farewell to Ireland

2006-07-09T21:40:00.000+09:30

Today is the last day in Ireland and as beautiful a place it is - I am looking forward to getting back to Europe just to defrost!! Its been a good time with Bev and Peter and we have been all over starting from Dublin and ending up at Belfast. A lot of history in Ireland and some places have only over the last couple of years recovered from those riots and IRA etc...so still a bit eerie but interesting for us to look at! We are over half way in our trip now so only 3 weeks remain. Tomorrow we will be seeing Jas, Dave and Gore which will be great and I am sure we all have lots of stories to share over a few too many beers which we are both looking forward to!
Check out the photos - there are a few as it has been a while since we have been able to find a internet cafe that lets you download photos so check them out. Look forward to boring you all with the thousands of photos we have taken when we get home! Hope you are all well and keeping warm - My mum has been telling me its freezing there (probably like Ireland really - there is a similarity between the 2 countries!). So all is well from our end and still having a great time and cant wait for the next 3 weeks to see our mates and see more new places and learn new things!

Vienna to Ireland

2006-07-06T03:34:00.000+09:30

It has been 11 days since the last post so been doing too much to put on here - so here is a very brief overview! From Vienna we went to Tyrol and went white water rafting. Spent a night in a beer hall in Munich and also ventured to the FanFest for the World Cup Soccer - only to have a massive thunder storm so there wasnt much to see! From Munich we spent 2 nights at the highest hotel in Europe at Mt Pilatus and it was an amazing place and took some great photos. Scott went and had a play in some snow and also had a beer at the highest beer tap in the world.
From Switzerland we ended up in Amsterdam....what can we say about this place!! What an eye opener thats for sure. We went to a sex show...which after 2 beers I relaxed and found it quite amusing than disgusting but Amsterdam isnt a place where you feel safe...especially when you are walking in a big group of 40 people!
Contiki finished in Amsterdam and then we headed to Dublin to meet Scotts parents which was great to see a familiar place. So far where we have travelled in Ireland reminds us so much of Adelaide - so really bizarre! Its a beautiful place and so green and the beaches arent too bad. At the moment we are in a little town called Dingle for one night.
Thanks to all the contiki people reading this for a good trip = we had an amazing time and I am sure we will all catch up again in some part of the world!!!

Some Photos

2006-06-24T19:22:00.000+09:30

Venice and Vienna

2006-06-24T18:54:00.000+09:30

Hello
I cant remember how to write good morning in german so its just a boring hello! Hope you are well. We survived the cruise to Venice and what a beautiful place it was. Apart from suffering from a hangover and/or bug in the morning so I was quite ill.. i still managed to see most of the city! We went to a glass blowing demonstration which was pretty cool and then a lace factory...which wasnt that exciting! Then just wandered the streets and got lost which is what you do in Venice! For most people on tour it was a massive shopping daz - but Scott and I have actually not bought anything so far apart from magnets from the countries for our fridge at home!! We are just enjoying the places we go to and taking hundreds of photos for memories instead!
We left Venice and headed to Vienna and arrived here yesterday and yes it is another amazing and beautiful place. Scott is trying to download photos but is having problems so if they dont work we will get them up soon!
SO just a quick one today - go you Socceroos!! It is soccer mad in europe and we are caught up in the chaos and its been great. We go to Munich tomorrow and it will be mad!!!!

What can you say about the Greek Island??

2006-06-21T15:34:00.000+09:30

Morning all
Well we are currently on a 24 hour cruise from Corfu to Venice. Corfu is a tropical island of Greece and its beautiful. We spent 3 days there chilling at the beaches and the hotel pool and it was what we needed and it was finally good to see a beach with sand and not pebbles!! Funny thing about Europe though is that you have to PAY to sit on the beach - crazy really! Another crazy thing is that hardly anyone goes in the water and most people sit naked sunbaking....

On the 3rd day we had a contiki boat trip around 3 islands with a really funny guy called George. A real character and he made the day really enjoyable for everyone. This was definetely the highlight of the tour so far for Scott. He went parasailing over the islands while I sat back and got a tan. But for those that know how much i freak out at deep water you should be proud - we had a stop along the way and I jumped off the boat into the water!!! Scott was very proud of me - took me about 10mins to get the guts to do it but glad I did as the water here is so clear and warm and I figured with 40 other people around me if I started freaking out someone would rescue me!

So the Greek Islands have been a blast - everyone on tour is starting to get sick though which is a bummer - Scott has been struck down and there is also a few people with 24 hour stomach bugs so Im trying to keep away from everyoen! Although Ive been attacked by bed bugs and look gross with lumps over my whole body so I think people are trying to stay away from me anyway!!!!

Scott would like to mention that he loves the crows and is really happy with how they are travelling as well but whats going on with port and how on earth did they get into the 8??? ;-)

Hope all is well back home. We have enjoyed getting everyones emails to catch up on the goss on whats been happening as I have my homesick moments and enjoy reading about home. Happy Birthday to Steve and Andrew and the presents in the mail ;-)

Anyway must be off - the boat docks to Venice in 1.5 hours at 1030am so we need to go get some breakfast and then meet everyone up deck to see the apparently awesome view coming into Venice.

Again - sory no photos - didnt think they had internet on the boat so didnt bring our camera cables - as soon as we can get to another internet joint we will download quite a few pics from the last few blogs!

PS - Megan B - hope all is going well with junior ;-)

Days 10-15

2006-06-15T22:46:00.000+09:30

Ciao Bello/Bellas

Yes in case you havent figured it out already - we are in Italy!!! But let me start from a few days ago when I last posted when we were in Spain. Which of course was another awesome place. From Spain we headed back to France and spent 2 gorgeous weather days in Nice and also a dinner at Monaco - one of the richest places in the world and you wont see so many la-de-da cars parked in a row anywhere else in the world I dont think!! Was pretty cool to see-even for a non car person like me!! But we have been having such a good time- we are so tired as Contiki days are very long with little sleep and thats with not drinking!!
But from Nice we went to Florence - now the weather has really picked up since we arrived in London and its at least 30 every day so we are sweltering walking around all day. Florence was good - we had a walking tour around the city with a guide. Then onwards to where we are now in Rome. This is our 2nd day here- yesterday was total chaos! It is a public holiday here today for St Peters day so the Vatican and sistene chapel are shut- so every man and there dog was there yesterday but we jump the queue and pushed our way to the front to only have to wait 30-45mins instead of the 2 hours! Was another amazing place (they are all amazing places-its our new word!!haha).
Today we have visted Colosseum and spend a hour or so there which was decent. Its so hard to imagine what life was like back in the days...it spins you out really.
Anyway the next 3 days will be in Greece relaxing on a beach in Corfu WOOOHOOOO!!!!
We dont have our phone cables with us so cant put any photos on but as soon as we get to another computer we will post some. Its week 3 and already taken at least 500 pics so will be plently to see!

Ciao for now amigos ;-)

Days 5 - 10

2006-06-11T18:30:00.000+09:30

Bonjour everyone

Man you would think touristy places like europe would have good internet places but they are very few and far between!!! So i could write a novel about what we have been up to the last week but ill keep it short and let the photos do the writing for me!!!
We started Contiki and have so far been to Paris, Spain, Nice and tonight is dinner at Monaco before heading to Italy tomorrow with Florence being first call. No place has disappointed us yet - hotels arent anything special but we go to bed anytime after midnight and up again at 6am so yes tired and sleepy is our key word at the moment!!!!
But Spain was pretty cool and so different to Paris! The food everwhere has been awesome so been enjoying the foods and then walking miles all day to burn it off so all good!!! Bought a decent leather jacket in Spain with the promise to scott that i will wear it when i get back!!!
The trip to Spain from Paris took about 10 hours and on arrivial we had to catch 2 trains to get to the centre of town with the promise from our guide thats its worth it- and for all the hassle at 10pm he took us to the most amazing water feature we will ever see. For 15mins there is a fountain with music and its so lovely. Check out the photos and hopefully it will give you an idea of how awesome it looks!!
So we are having a good time and the people on tour are nice. We arent the oldest either much to Scotts delight! There are 4 of us couples, about 5 guys and then the rest are chicks - and minus about 5 americans, and 1 new zealander - we are all aussie bogans so its pretty funny!
anyway thats all for now - hope everyone is well and enjoying the cold weather today while i will now head for a private beach on the mediterrean sea with a waiter to serve me cocktails hehe now dont get too jealous and enjoy work!!!!!!

xoxox

Day 4 and 5 in London

2006-06-04T22:32:00.000+09:30

Yes we are back again - time to download more photos from the last couple of days. Yesterday we spent the day at Hyde Park which is where Kensington Palace is situated. We had lunch at the Princess Diana shrine waterfall which was really nice and HOORAY the sun was shining and it was a nice day! So we spend the morning walking around the park and then in the afternoon went to the palace - not quite as extravagant as the others we have seen but still nice. They have a special memorial to Princess Di there of never before seen photos and we spend a bit of time there which was nice too.
After walking around the park for most of the day (its a pretty big park!!!) we wandered the streets in search of Harrods - after getting lost and ending up down who knows where i decided to ask directions and we were back on track! And what a shopping centre! Massive!! So then spend an hour or so wandering through wishing we were rich and buying designer labels haha maybe one day we will come back when we strike it rich! ;-)

After Harrods we jumped back on the underground (what a great thing that is!!) and went to NOtting HIll. I was really looking forward to coming to the 'famous' place but was disappointed...wasnt at all like I expected and was dirty and scruffy. We wandered down Portobello Road Markets as well and was told by a guy that the blue door from the movie is no longer there and was sold to some guy who owned a boat...so fair enough - travelled all the way here to see and its gone!!! We had tea in some restaurant and then went back to the hotel for some much needed rest and gave our poor feet some rest!!

Today was the day Scott has been looking forward to - we went on a tour of Lords Cricket Ground (yawn for us girls!!) Scott thought it was awesome and he was in awe of it all but didnt really do much for me though! The tour took 2 hours and we went to the famous Long Room and then in the Media Centre and finished in the museum and had photos with the ole Ashes. And now here we are on the internet downloading photos and then we will be meeting our contiki group before boarding the bus at 7am tomorrow morning and off we go to Paris! So not sure when the next blog will be but stay tuned!!

What have we been up too?

2006-06-02T23:34:00.000+09:30

Well we have been bloody busy!! Jetlag aside we are still trooping on doing a million and one things!
Yesterday we went to Tower Hill and visited the Tower of London and Tower Bridge and did a river cruise to Westminster along the Thames. The history here is amazing and there is so much to take in. Scott is downloading the photos as I am writing this so check them out - some good shots - I think hehe! Last night we went to see a band called Thursday at the Electric Ballroom. Was something different but enjoyed it - although by the end we were both falling asleep - not because it was boring but still suffering from the time adjustments!

Today was another full-on day. We got the underground to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guards - once in a lifetime thing there and it was awesome! The palace is MASSIVE and the surrounding gardens of St James Park also is great. Everything around here is so well maintained. We also checked out Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and we have just got back from going through the Westminster Abbey. We spent about an hour or so walkign through with audio commentry and it was a beautiful place. Quite amazing the history...Its currently 3pm here and at 5 we are on the London Eye...im not keen on the heights bizzo but see how I go - hopefully I dont freak out! But Ive been good on the underground so should be fine. I dont think Ive ever caught so many trains before in my life but they are so good over here! Who needs taxis or cars when you have a system like they do!

I miss my mate Cougar - I know Mik is looking after him but sounds like he hasnt left the bedroom so I know he misses me too hehe ;-) poor little thing = how dare I go away and leave him huh!

Well tomorrow we are off to Hyde Park and going to check out Marble Arch then Harrods. So another busy one - our legs and feet are killing but hopefully getting stronger so by the time we get back we will be fit and fabulous! ;-)

Must be off - time is ticking away so hopefully we will be able to upload the photos for you to look at.

Thanks
Jade & Scott xox

We have arrived!!

2006-05-31T18:31:00.000+09:30

Hello all

Well it is 10am UK time - we are tired and in the same clothes we left Adelaide in!! We cant check into our hotel until 2pm...so just wandering the streets and seeing what this place is all about! Its certainly a busy place - I personally find it a bit dull - not much colour and its sooo cold here!!!

Anyway - just wanted to let you know we have arrived safely! After checking emails etc we are heading to the National Gallery and British Museum. Just local things around town and at 2pm we will go check in and have a shower and probably have a early night!! PS - I am writing this on the famous Oxford Street ;-) Oh and scott has said to say that everyone here is so quiet - not as friendly as in Australia. We went to McDonalds earlier and you could have heard a pin drop in there...quite amusing!

Speak to you soon!
Jade & Scott xox

Party Time

2006-05-14T10:36:00.000+09:30

Morning - well last night was spent celebrating Yammies 18th and Babbage's 21st. I am feeling a little seedy this morning :-/ Happy Mothers Day to our Mums too!!
So Dave - these photos are for you especially - know how much you wanted to be there but I am sure you are having a good time in LA and Vegas anyway ;-)
Scott and I have 2 weeks to go until we depart....freaking out!!!!

Wow!

2006-05-09T08:14:00.000+09:30

Wow....how time flies....we only have 13 days left at work!!! It is crazy....so much to do in so little time now! Its hard to concentrate when the head is full of holiday things to do!
Been a few minor changes to the itiniary - but wont post them on here...just going to skip Brussels now - had some feedback that its not the best place and not worth going to - so going to skip there and spend more time in Paris YEAH!!! Ever since I was in my early teens I wanted to go to France so looking forward to spending a bit more time there!!
Looking at organising our Eurail passess tomorrow as well - and slowly looking at accomodation in a few places - typically being world cup time and peak season a lot of places are already close to booking out so we had better hurry!!!

Anyway I am at work and a candidate of mine has just walked in the door - so will speak to you later!!

Anzac Day Celebrations

2006-04-25T19:22:00.000+09:30

Good Evening (or Day depending on when you are reading this!!) Well not long till we go now...Our last day of work is the 26th May YEAH!!! Counting down hehe ;-)

I hope you all enjoyed celebrations on Anzac Day. My family gathered at my parents house for a nice bbq lunch and it will be the last time I will see most of them until we get back in August! So was great to catch up with everyone. Check out the photos - especially the ones of my cousins cute little kids - you have to admit - we are a damn good looking family haha ;-) Good luck to Sharon as she is due with #3 on the 24th July so look forward to seeing them all in August!!

Well everyone - back to work tomorrow - how depressing but for us - its only just over 4 weeks to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speak to you later!

Not long now!

2006-04-03T08:10:00.003+09:30

Just counted the dates and Scott and I have 37 days at our work desks to go before we pack up and get organised to go away! Means my birthday is coming up soon too hehe :-) Bought my backpack last weekend which is awesome - love it so just need to get used to carrying a heavy load on my back now!! Ive worked out my clothes to take now so in a couple of weeks ill start packing and unpacking and wearing the pack on weekends! Look like a dork but at least Ill be prepared haha!

Dave & Gore are going well - if you want to look at there adventures go to http://www.myspace.com/pandafiles. They are having a fab time in Thailand by the sounds of it and have heard that Phil H is having a ball in Canada as well so looking forward to seeing them again in July!!

Also - some news - Congrats to Megan & Mike for the little bundle that will be delivered around late September...so much happening in 2006 to all of us so Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Farewell to the boys ;-(

2006-03-07T08:05:00.000+10:30

Well the time has come...Dave left to Melbourne on Friday - and Gore leaves today before they emark on there big adventures on Thai Airways at 1:30am tomorrow morning. Good Luck guys - hope you have a fabulous trip around the world over the next 12 months and cant wait to meet up with you in July!! I'll be at the airport this afternoon - just to make sure Gore gets on the plane hehe ;-) Until we cheer our beers again - farewell boys!

Final Itiniary

2006-02-20T10:46:00.000+10:30

Hello - Well here is the final list of what we are doing. Took a while to organise but we have now decided HOORAY! Flights are being booked and some accomodation is as well! So all happening and there is about 95 days till departure hehe!

Depart Adel Tuesday 30 May 2006

31 Wed May Arrive London
1 Thurs June London
2 Friday June London
3 Saturday June London
4 Sunday June London
5 Monday June Start CONTIKI TOUR night in Paris
6 Tues June Paris
7 Wed June Bordeaux - France
8 Thurs June Barcelona - Spain
9 Fri June Barcelona - Spain
10 Sat June French Riviera – Nice (Gore’s Birthday)
11 Sun June French Riviera - Nice
12 Mon June Florence - Italy
13 Tues June Florence - Italy
14 Wed June Rome - Italy
15 Thurs June Rome - Italy
16 Fri June Over night cruise to Corfu
17 Sat June Corfu – Greek Island
18 Sun June Corfu – Greek Island
19 Mon June Corfu – Greek Island
20 Tues June Over night Cruise to Venice
21 Wed June Venice - Italy
22 Thurs June Venice - Italy
23 Fri June Vienna - Austria
24 Sat June Vienna - Austria
25 Sun June Munich - Germany
26 Mon June Tyrol – Austria
27 Tues June Lucerne - Switzerland
28 Wed June Lucerne - Switzerland
29 Thurs June Rhine Valley - Germany
30 Fri June Amsterdam - Netherlands
1 Sat July Amsterdam - Netherlands
2 Sun July END CONTIKI TOUR night in London
3 Mon July Leave London Stansted 935am and fly to Dublin (arrive 1050) to meet Scott’s parents
4 Tues July Dunmore East
5 Wed July Dingle Peninsula (Jasmine Arrives in London)
6 Thurs July Galway
7 Fri July LondonBerry
8 Sat July Belfast
9 Sun July Belfast (Harvey’s Birthday)
10 Mon July Depart Belfast at 930am and fly to London Stansted arrive 1045.
Depart London Stansted at 1335 to Prague arrive 1635
11 Tues July Prague (Megan H Birthday)
12 Wed July Prague
13 Thurs July Prague
14 Fri July Prague
15 Sat July Depart Prague to Berlin
16 Sun July Berlin
17 Mon July Berlin
18 Tues July Depart Berlin to Copenhagen
Meet up with Gore, Dave & Jas...
19 Wed July Copenhagen
20 Thurs July Copenhagen
21 Fri July Depart Copenhagen to Amsterdam (Mums Birthday)
22 Sat July Amsterdam
23 Sun July Amsterdam
24 Mon July Depart Amsterdam to Brussels - Belgium
25 Tues July Brussels - Belgium (Megan’s Birthday)
26 Wed July Depart Brussels to Paris
Leave Gore, Dave & Jas
27 Thurs July Paris
28 Fri July Paris
29 Sat July Depart Paris and go back to London
30 Sun July Depart London to Malaysia
31 Mon July Arrive Sabah (Daves Birthday)
1 Tues August Sabah
2 Wed August Depart Sabah to Adelaide
3 Thurs August Home Sweet Home at 6am

105 Days To Go!!

2006-02-14T11:18:00.000+10:30

Its only 105 days left...how quickly has that gone! Hard to believe Dave & Gore leave in 3 weeks as well!

We moved into our new house at Happy Valley on the weekend - its a huge place so lots of cleaning :-/ but will be good once I am used to it! Scott and I have made some amendments to our trip...we dont have enough time to do everything we want :-( But have finally decided after many long nights and research that after spending the week in Ireland with Scotts parents, we will go to Germany and arrive in Frankfurt for 2 nights, then head to Prague (Czech Rep) for 3 nights, then Berlin for 3 nights, Copenhagen for 3 nights, Amsterdam for 3 nights, Brussels for 2nights and finally back to Paris for 3 nights - then its head home to Adelaide! We really wanted to go to Poland and Sweden but we cant do everything and are happy with the decision to go through Germany and Denmark and Belgium which we dont do on Contiki. So all getting closer and more exciting as we are now trying to organise if its planes or trains and hostels or hotels! Never ending organisation....see how we go!

Speak to you soon!!

New House!!

2006-02-07T07:43:00.000+10:30

Well Scott won the battle and we are moving house BEFORE we go on holidays!! We have rented out our unit to a 30 something guy named Peter, and we are heading off to the southern end of Happy Valley! Big move starts Thursday night and if all goes well we will be settled and organised by Sunday night! Its a lot bigger house - nearly brand new with 3 bedrooms + study so lots of space to spread out which will be nice.
Also - being the 7th of Feb I think it is now only 4 weeks to go before Dave and Gore head off on there adventures....Gonna be a big 12 months for our group of friends - engagements; marriages; babies and lots of travelling - what a year!!

Happy New Year!!

2006-01-03T11:06:00.000+10:30

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. Hope you all had a great break and that santa bought you lots of goodies - and you werent too hungover for the first day of the new year! Scott and I had a very busy time but managed to get a lot done in the 10 days off work! For those needing a laugh - check out the pics from NYE. We spent the night at the Grand at Glenelg on the ballroom balcony and had a pretty good time ;-) there is about 50 or so photos so keep on clicking the arrows at the bottom to make sure you see them all!!

We have now sorted out where we are most likely to be going after Ireland...so scroll back down to earlier posts to check out the updated edition yet again of our itinerary! We are most likely to be travelling with Dave and Gore through Germany, Sweden, Denmark (not totally confirmed) but that will be great to have some fun with them at some point! ;-)

Speak to you soon! xox

Update on travel plans

2005-12-08T07:59:00.000+10:30

Morning! Just an update on our itinerary - we have confirmed our travel with Scott's parents through Ireland. So scroll down to our first entry of our trip info and see the updated version!

Thanks :-)

All done!

2005-12-01T09:53:00.000+10:30

Morning all - well we had a tiring weekend at the cricket on Saturday which was great fun, followed by another great time at the bands on Sunday night! Hope you all enjoyed your weekends and its nearly another one coming up - lots of work christmas parties coming up - gotta love the free alcohol hehe

GOOD NEWS!! We have paid off the trip - so no turning back now!! Went to see Tash at Edwardstown Harvey World Travel and gave her a nice cheque to payout our flights and contiki trip ;-) YEAH!!! So....we are departing Adel Tues 30 May at 1500 and arriving in Kuala Lumpar at 2100. Then departing KL at 2340 and arriving at Heathrow Airport at 0550am!! Going to be a very long day on the Wed 31st May I'm thinking.....

We leave London on Sun 30th July at 1200 and arrive at KL at 0725 on the 31st July. Then fly out of KL at 0935 to arrive at Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) at 1210. Which will be 2 nights of 5 star luxury pampering and relaxation before coming back home to reality and washing and cleaning...... We arrive back home on Thursday 3 August at 610am!!

So now the hard thing of starting to save for spending money/accomodation....not going to be easy but certainly needs to be done! Thinking that when the New Year hits us...we will be having many quiet weekends at home!

Well what can I say....

2005-11-16T11:28:00.000+10:30

Well just tell me how good I am haha :-) After winning Consultant of the Month in September I thought goody! But I've managed to follow through and win it again for October! This sort of stuff will look great on my resume haha - best consultant in Aust 2 months running - cant do much better than that huh! So just thought I would brag on work time ;-)

Hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was very family focused - rellies down from Melbourne who I havent seen in about 4 years so was really good to catch up with them and have a nice ole chat over far too many vodka's and red wine :-/ and a happy birthday to my Aunty Rob who we partied with at lunch for her 50th on Saturday. Hopefully will get some photos but not sure if mum quite knows how to email them to me just yet!

Paying off some money this week toward our trip WOOOHOO!! 6 months and about 14 days to go haha but who is counting!!

Photo Gallery

2005-11-11T09:31:00.000+10:30

Hello! Well after some blood, sweat and tears and sheer hard work - we have all the photos from Chris and Emma's engagement party up and loaded onto the website. All you need to do is click the link under galleries on the right hand side and away you go!! Have a good laugh....some great ones...and not so great ones! AND....wait theres more!! We have also loaded up our photos from the recent trip to Langkawi and Scott decided to throw in his 2 bobs worth by adding on some totally shocking photos from Oakbank!

PS - to see all the pics in each gallery make sure you click the arrows at the bottom right hand corner of the large photo - there is a min of 20 photos in each lot!

The trip planned so far......

2005-11-10T13:55:00.000+10:30

For those interested (and you must be if you have checked the website!!) This is what we have planned so far - the few breaks with no plans we hope to catch up with Scott's parents in Ireland and also find where Dave and Gore are hiding (and also Jas, Harvey and Chad and anyone else who is planning on heading over but not booked to confirm yet!!) to have a few drinks with them!!

Depart Adel Tuesday 30 May 2006

31 Wed June Arrive London
1 Thurs June London
2 Friday June London
3 Saturday June London
4 Sunday June London
5 Monday June Start CONTIKI TOUR night in Paris
6 Tues June Paris
7 Wed June Bordeaux - France
8 Thurs June Barcelona - Spain
9 Fri June Barcelona - Spain
10 Sat June French Riviera - Nice
11 Sun June French Riviera - Nice
12 Mon June Florence - Italy
13 Tues June Florence - Italy
14 Wed June Rome - Italy
15 Thurs June Rome - Italy
16 Fri June Over night ferry to Corfu
17 Sat June Corfu - Greek Island
18 Sun June Corfu - Greek Island
19 Mon June Corfu - Greek Island
20 Tues June Mini Cruise to Italy
21 Wed June Italy
22 Thurs June Venice - Italy
23 Fri June Vienna - Austria
24 Sat June Vienna - Austria
25 Sun June Munich - Germany
26 Mon June Tyrol - Austria
27 Tues June Lucerne - Switzerland
28 Wed June Lucerne - Switzerland
29 Thurs June Rhine Valley - Germany
30 Fri June Amsterdam
1 Sat July Amsterdam
2 Sun July END CONTIKI TOUR night in London
3 Mon July Depart London and Fly to Dublin
4 Tues July Travel Dublin - Cork
5 Wed July Cork - Killarney
6 Thurs July Killarney - Galway
7 Fri July Galway - Donegal
8 Sat July Donegal - Belfast
9 Sun July Belfast
10 Mon July Belfast back to Dublin
11 Tues July Germany
12 Wed July Germany
13 Thurs July Germany
14 Fri July Denmark
15 Sat July Denmark
16 Sun July Denmark
17 Mon July Sweden
18 Tues July Sweden
19 Wed July Sweden
20 Thurs July Sweden
21 Fri July Amsterdam
22 Sat July Amsterdam
23 Sun July Amsterdam
24 Mon July France
25 Tues July France
26 Wed July France
27 Thurs July France
28 Fri July London
29 Sat July London
30 Sun July Depart London
31 Mon July Arrive Sabah around lunchtime
1 Tues August Sabah
2 Wed August Depart Sabah at 2:10pm to KL. Depart KL at 4:45pm
3 Thurs August Arrive Adelaide at 6:10am

Back to work Monday 7th August

Chris & Emma's Engagement Party 05/11/05

2005-11-10T09:29:00.000+10:30

Jade, Emma, Chris & Scott

This great pic ;-) was taken at our friends engagement party. Congratulations to Chris and Emma!! We had a fabulous night and we look forward to another big party at the wedding!! Now we are in the process of downloading all the photos from this night so stay tuned and check back here in 24hours and hopefully we will have had it organised!! xox

Countdown begins

2005-11-10T08:43:00.000+10:30

Well it has taken some time - but finally we have booked our long-awaited trip to Europe. 10 weeks of excitement and drama!! We leave on May 30th 2006 so cant wait!! Keep your eyes peeled to this page as the countdown to take-off occurs and the dramas that unfold in between!