Trip: European Experience - 20 days
Date: 14th June - 3 July 2008
Tour Manager: Mecha
Bus Driver: Stew

Tuesday 10th June 2008 - Day 1 London

I have finally arrived in London! The flight was very very very very long. 8 hours from Brisbane to Singapore, and then another 13 hours from Singapore to London. But it was okay because I flew with Singapore Airlines and they are excellent. Flying is not too bad I suppose - they feed you, they entertain you, and they get you drunk.
My fight in a nutshell:
Brisbane to Singapore - chatting with the British couple beside me, playing Super Mario and consuming Singapore Slings
Singapore to London - falling asleep on the guys shoulder beside me and trying not to crave my bed too much.

After arriving at Heathrow airport I managed to grab a tube map and buy an Oyster card without too many problems. I swear to god, these two items did not leave my hands over the next three days. Tube map - check. Oyster card - check. Excellent, lets go. Since my flight arrived at around 6am, the tube was pretty empty so I was able to sit and watch in amusement as everyone avoided eye contact and read The Metro. I thought that was pretty funny at the time, but two days later I was doing the exact same thing.

I took the tube to South Kensington station and switched to the Picadilly line (changing lines is goddamn confusing the first couple of times because the lines are on different levels or different sides of the station... blah! You get used to it) and continued on to Great Portland Street station where I got lost trying to find my hostel. But after pulling out my map, asking for directions and having my first 'where are you from?' question, I managed to find YHA London Cental, store my luggage and immediately set out for my first day in London.

I started off with the Big Bus Tour... well no, I'm getting ahead of myself because first there was my adventures on the tube!... oh the tube, the good ol tube... where to even begin?

First of all, let me just say, I love the tube, I think its a brilliant form of transport and I used it constantly while I was in London. Its quick, it comes every few minutes and its relatively easy to use once you get the hang of it... that being said, peak hour on the tube is quite the experience. I swear to god, I have never seen so many freaking people on a platform! It was so bizarre for me because I'm from the Sunshine Coast where everyone drives and public transport is barely used. So to me, the shere amount of people standing on the platform was amazing! Everyone just sort of crams themselves in until the doors can barely shut!

I found it endlessly amusing because there's such an unspoken code of conduct on the tube. You get on, and a nice voice tells you where you're going and that the doors are closing, you sit and avoid eye contact with everyone else... in the morning you read The Metro, and in the afternoon you read The London News, then you reach your destination and the nice voice tells you where you are and to mind the gap and you get off. Ta da.

Anyway, first on the agenda for me was The Big Bus Tour. It had been recommended to me by my buddy Tyrone because it really gives you an overview of London and helps you get your bearings. So as soon as my luggage was in the luggage room at YHA London Central I headed off to do this. I think the tour is only meant to be 45minutes or something, but traffic was awful so I was on there for a while. My random thoughts while driving around was that St Paul's Cathedral and Big Ben were a lot bigger than I thought they would be, while the London Eye was smaller.

Once I finally got off the bus, I headed to Buckingham Palace and caught the end of the Changing of the Guard and had some lunch (hot dog and water) in Green Park (which does live up to its name). It was stunning sitting there in Green Park. The weather was perfect. By this stage I just wanted to sit and reflect for a little while because I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that I was actually on the other side of the world. It just felt like I was in Melbourne or something because everything was so familiar. Even seeing all the famous monuments on the Big Bus Tour felt surreal, like I wasn't actually there looking at them in reality. I think mainly because everything until this point had been such a whirl and it wasn't until now that I had the chance to sit and take everything in.

I ended up sitting in front of Buckingham Palace for a while and thinking that I should be realising something really profound. But really... its just kind of a big slab of rock. I didn't have any connection to it whatsoever which was strange because I thought I would.

It was cloudy all morning up until this point, but then the sun came out and omg it was boiling! My piece of advice for London weather, take a pashmina scarf. I used mine all the time because it was always chilly when the clouds came over, but then the sun would come out and it would be hot! So just take something light to throw around your shoulders from time to time.

Next up, after a quick walk around St James Park I headed over to the London Eye. I got burnt and lost on the way... but can you really get lost when you don't know where something is in the first place? I did a lot of preparation for my trip, so I knew which tube station I needed to get to so I could see something... I just didn't know the directions from the tube station to the attraction. I generally just kind of got off the tube and walked randomly hoping for the best haha. Then if I'd been walking a while, I'd just ask for directions.

Anyways, the London Eye was good. Basically its just a photo op. You pay 15pounds for a nice view and a chance to take some photos. My feet were killing me by this stage (yes, like a typical Australian I was wearing thongs) so I spent practically the entire loop cooling them on the air vents. Ahh heaven.

Once I got off the London Eye I decided that cooling my feet on the air vents had been a bad idea because they were in agony! It was kind of bizarre because I do a lot of walking back home and I wear thongs 24/7 so I didn't think I'd have any problems - I was wrong. The balls of my feet were screaming at me. So I decided to stumble back to the hostel and take a shower... if you can call it a shower - it was one of those extreme water saving showers and had absolutely no water pressure. I think I stood there for hours just trying to rinse the shampoo out of my hair. Other than the shower, I had no problems at YHA London Central. It had just opened in February so everything was brand new.

I was asleep and dead to the world by 6.30pm. In my defence, it was 3am Australian time.

Wednesday 11th June 2008 - Day 2 London

Its 5am and I can't decide if I'm awake because I'm jetlagged, or awake because I was up this time yesterday. Hmmm...

By 6.30am I'm on the tube and by 7.15am I have walked through Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus and am now sitting at McDonald's on Regent Street eating a muffin, drinking a thick shake (my London food of choice) and trying to work out my bearings long enough to find the large fountain I saw on the Big Bus Tour yesterday. I spoke to my mum as I walked and was beginning to wonder why everyone was looking at me funny before I realised I was speaking with my bogan Australian accent :) Its so easy to forget I'm in London because like all cities it's so multicultural. I think I've heard more international accents than British ones.

Turns out the fountain I seek is right near the National Gallery. Excellent. I'm in Trafalgar Square... I think... London is massive - but nice. My random thoughts so far:
The weather has been perfect. There are no bins anywhere - you have to walk for ages to find one which is odd to me because in Australia there is one every couple of meters. London is cleaner and greener than I expected and there are heaps of trees like Melbourne. You can't see or smell the polution, but I know its here because last night I blew my nose and it was black... I'm glad I brought lip balm because my lips have been so dry since I got off the plane.

As I'm sitting I spot Big Ben in the distance and decide to go for a walk to the Houses of Parliment. This is the best thing about travelling by yourself - whatever you want to do, you do. If you want to get up at 5am and walk the London streets then you do, if you want to throw away your entire days plans to walk to Big Ben, then you do.

After taking some photos of the Houses of Parliment (the walls are so intricate), I walk across the road to Westminster Abbey. As I wait for it to open, I'm once again glad to have my pashmina scarf because its chilly when the wind picks up. After checking out Westminster Abbey I walk to Buckingham Palace and wonder what in the hell is going on because there is so many freaking police on the streets! I don't think I've ever seen a gun before so I'm oddly intrigued when two walk past with them strapped to their chests, then I see two army guys escorting two guys in suits and a carriage pulled by two horses with the windows blacked out... what in the world is going on? Is this a common occurance for London? I assume it must be for the Changing of the Guard because when I get to Buckingham Palace its packed with tourists. I can't see a freaking thing, but the atmosphere is nice.

After another a hotdog and water in Green Park for lunch, a quick peek in the National Gallery and the realisation that my feet are aching again, I end up taking the tube to Victoria St Station to see the 2.30pm session of Wicked. This is a musical I've been wanting to see for ages, but it hasn't come to Australia yet. So its a good opportunity to see an amazing musical and more importantly rest my feet because its been a huge walking day and I feel sweaty and disgusting.
After seeing Wicked (fucking amazing! Definately want to see it again) I head back to the hostel (the first time I make it without getting lost!) because I'm buggered and my feet are killing me. I suppose thats understandable because I've been out and about for 12 hours!

I'm in bed, dead to the world by 7.30pm.

Thursday 12th June 2008 - Day 3 London (Stonehenge & Bath)

It's 5.30am and I'm up once again. Jetlagged or not, at least I'm getting some early starts :) When I wake up this morning its raining, but thankfully its all cleared up by the time I'm ready to leave because today I'm doing a day tour with Anderson Tours to Stonehenge and Bath.

I'm at the pick-up point an hour early. Gah! Why do I have to be chronically early all the time? The pick up point is a bit further out of the city and you can tell because its broken down and dirty unlike the pristine tourist areas. To pass the time, I put on my ipod and listen to some music. Eventually some other people from my tour rocked up and I immediately get talking to fellow Aussie Katherine who is from Melbourne.

At some stage our bus arrived and we all drove the hour to Stonehenge. We stopped at a service station along the way which I was amazed by because it was so high tech. It was like a little serve yourself cafe. I think I had coco pops, but I can't quite remember anymore.

Stonehenge was good. Kind of unremarkable though. Its kind of like a museum in the sense that you know that you're looking at something thats very important but its just so old and ruined that you can't get any emotion from it, so instead of it being spectacular its just... normal. Stonehenge was like that. It was amazing to see. But its just a ruin, and with the dozens of tourists running about it's not really a sacred destination. Its just a photo op. The tourists kind of take away the beauty.

Another thing about Stonehenge... it was fucking freezing! My pashmina did not cut it. If you're going, take a jumper because the wind picks up and it gets very chilly. It got worse when it rained briefly. But luckily Katherine had an umbrella which I huddled under as we raced back to the bus.

The Roman Baths were kind of the same. The actual baths were awesome, but all the museum section didn't really interest me. My brain just cannot get any emotion from a bit of rock in a glass case.

That being said, the city of Bath was beautiful! Gorgeous location. All the buildings are the same sand stone colour and its such a beautiful place. Actually, just the entire English countryside is beautiful. Flat and green with all these cute little towns with narrow streets and houses with vines growing all over their walls.

Katherine and I had lunch and drinks at this little pub. My first English pub experience :) The food was gross - who thought someone could fuck up nachos?

Back in London that evening I ended up meeting with a friend of mine who has been living in London for a while. We ended up... yep, you guessed it... seeing Wicked again :)

I got back to the hostel around 11.30pm. The sun sets around 10pm, so I was pratically racing through the darkened streets trying to get back safely :) But I made it home okay, updated my travel journal and went to bed.

Friday 13th June 2008 - Day 4 London (Last day)

6.30am... wow I practically slept in! Today is my final day in London, so I'm keen to up and about to cram as much into my day as possible before my contiki meeting tonight.

First things first, I need to check out of YHA London Central (which has been excellent - not that I've done anything except sleep there) and make my way over to the Royal National to check in there for my last night in London. I caught a taxi to the Royal National, I suppose I could have taken the tube, but dragging your suitcase up and down stairs is damn annoying (probably should have gotten used to it, because my suitcase would go up and down a lot of stairs over the next 20 days).

After dropping my suitcase at the Royal National (you can't miss it, its the one with all the Contiki buses getting ready to leave) I headed to Kensington Gardens for a look around. I spent a stupid amount of time trying to find the Peter Pan statue without any luck so decided to leave because my feet were already hurting. Note to all readers: thongs and Converse are not particularly good walking shoes - but they look good and go with any outfit :) After giving up on Peter Pan I walked to the Victoria and Albert Museum - I walked in thinking I would standing and look seriously at each display but I ended up collapsing on the couch in one of the rooms to rest my feet lol.

After resting my feet I walked down to Harrods and picked up some super moisterising lip balm because my lips were still super dry from the plane and bought a bag for mum. After sitting and resting for a little longer I walked back down to the Natural History Museum where I spent longer in the temporary butterfly display than the actual museum :) I think I walked into one or two rooms in the museum before deciding my feet hurt too much and left. The butterflies were cool though, it was really hot in the room and there was butterflies flying all around you. I took some good photos in there.

If you haven't already gathered... this was a really bad feet day for me. Very very sore feet that were protesting my four days of walking. But for some reason I decided it would be an excellent idea to head over to St Paul's Cathedral. Okay cool, its my last day in London, why not? St Paul's Cathedral is beautiful and I got there at the perfect time because the choir was singing. I'm not a religious person, but I really enjoyed St Paul's. It was the most beautiful cathedral of the trip - and believe me, after making my way through Europe, I saw a lot of freaking churches.

Anyways, after sitting, resting my feet and enjoying the choir, I decide I'm energetic enough to climb the 400 or so steps to the top lol. Let me just say that the view from the top was stunning and I'm so glad I did it, but I swear it almost killed me! When I got back down my legs were shaking! I'd step forward into a lunge and my back leg would tremble like mad! My poor body doesn't know whats hit it. Its not coping very well with all this excessive walking :)

I walked at the pace of a turtle back to the Royal National. By the time I got up to my room, all I could do was collapse onto my bed and wriggle my toes as my feet screamed at me. Luckily my feet got used to the walking over the course of the tour, but they hated me in London. I had blisters everywhere.

I lay around and rested all afternoon. My tour meeting wasn't till 7pm so I just had a shower and tried to get some feeling back into my legs and feet. The Royal National is an okay hotel. The shower sprays water everywhere though. I had the shower curtain on the outside of the tub so I kind of flooded the bathroom. I basically dozed all afternoon and sat around reflecting on my time in London.

Highlights: Wicked!
Lowlights: Sore feet
Glad I... Brought comfy clothes, took the tube everywhere
Wish I... Bought less thickshakes from McDonalds
Grafeful for: Lovely weather, feeling safe everywhere, YHA London Central

Eventually it was time for the tour meeting at 7pm. I was oddly nervous. It kind of felt like the first day of school or something. I wished I had someone to walk down with, but luckily I ran into a couple of girls on the way down so we walked in together.

Your tour meeting is basically just the time to meet your tour manager and driver (Mecha & Stew!), hand over your documents, show your passport and meet some of your group. A couple of months before my tour I was speaking to some fellow tour mates on facebook and the contiki forums so it was good to see some familiar faces straight away. Typically a whole bunch of us ended up at the pub which was great because it really broke the ice to sit around, have a few drinks together and really start bonding. It was kind of funny at first to look around the table and just laugh because all us Australian's had ended up at the pub - but we were joined by some guys from Chicago soon enough and we all sat around together drinking.

I made it back to the room around midnight, very happy with my group, and very excited to start my European adventure!

Saturday 14th June 2008 - Day 1 - London to Paris

Meet up with your Contiki Crew. Ferry across the English Channel to France. Journey past World War I battlefields and into the glittering "City of Lights." - See the White Cliffs of Dover, evening tour of illumiations, see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Champs Elsees and Notre Dame Cathedral.

It was a very early start this morning. I set my alarm for 5am to get down to the meeting point at 6am. However, I woke up to look at my mobile and it reads 5.30am! Apparently I didn't set it too well - thank god my internal alarm is still jetlagged and set early. So I race around packing, slap on some makeup and make it down to the meeting point with enough time to greet everyone I had met the night before and enquire as to what time everyone actually got to bed :)

We all got on to the bus, and I sat down with Bec who I met the night before and on our way to Dover Mecha gave us the welcoming talk. It was a long talk but Mecha and Stewie our bus driver seem really cool. At some stage Mecha had everyone in an asile seat move back a seat so soon we were sitting next to someone different. So for the second half of the trip I was sitting with Bryan from Chicago.

It didn't take too long to get to Dover, then we boarded the ferry to cross into France! The ferry ride was good, we all went up onto deck to take photos and had breakfast. It went pretty fast.

From the ferry we all got back on the bus and the rest of the trip into Paris consisted of Mecha giving us a talk on France's history. I'm pretty interested in history so I listened closely, but I know a lot of people snoozed.

My first thought on Paris was "gross!" The hotel we were staying was in the middle of nowhere. Practically in the slums. Driving there was rather disheartening because there was graffiti everywhere and all the buildings looked like cell blocks. The room in itself wasn't too bad, it was just the location and my initial dissapointment because I had such high expectations for Paris.

We had dinner at 6pm (some pastry thing, lasagne and pie - very nice) and then at 7pm we all boarded the bus to go on our driving tour of Paris. My initial disapointment with Paris flew out the window because Paris in itself is gorgeous! I take back all my gross thoughts because thats apparently just where we are staying haha. Paris is hard to explain, but a picture says 1000 words. The driving tour was great because we got to see a bit of everything and plan what we wanted to see tomorrow. The Eiffle Tower... omg, its the first landmark I've seen that I've been blown away by. It was just plain beautiful - vast and magestic. The symbol of Paris. I'm so excited to be here. We also drove by a lot of other landmarks that I'm excited to see in more detail tomorrow.

We got back at the hotel around 9pm, and for the first time since arriving in Europe I have the time to actually be tripped out by the fact that the sun sets so late. It was 9pm and it was like 5pm. Very odd. Back at the hotel, the bar had decided to shut early - I'm pretty sure the owners took one look at all us ready for some fun and went "no way". So everyone started drinking on the front steps of the hotel instead :) Me and some of the other Aussie girls went looking for a pub - we walked for ages and ended up with gelati for our efforts and the chance to try out our French for the first time. The guy serving there just laughed at our efforts. Oh well. We ended up back at the hotel where I chatted with everyone for a while before heading up to bed - or that was the plan. I was intercepted by the Canadian girls and we ended up back downstairs a bit later to find everyone had gone. Apparently everyone was told to go to bed by management - hmm. So we had our own little party for a while before heading to bed just after midnight.

Sunday 15th June 2008 - Day 2 - Paris

Indulge in sophisticated Paris where you'll find magic, romance and history amongst the cities legandary icons

Not a very nice morning. I woke up, opened the curtains and Bec and I are like... shit... because it was so dark and cloudy. It was cloudy all day, but never rained. Bec and I were up and about early this morning. We went downstairs to wait for breakfast and she fell asleep on the couch while I went out and had a chat to two of the NZ boys I hadn't met yet. While we were sitting, I watched a couple of the guys embark on their morning run... crazy. The only thing I'm crazy about is lip balm - I'm addicted to it - my lips are still so dry!

After breakfast we all got on the bus for our day in Paris. I spent the day exploring with Clarry, Alana and Bec. We started at the Eiffle Tower where we waited in line for about half an hour for tickets. This half hour was the longest I waited in a line for practically the entire tour. I ended up purchasing a little Eiffle Tower keyright for a euro while I waited - later in the day I got a pack of postcards and a keyring for a euro, so I was clealy ripped off. The view from the top of the tower was excellent. Very good experience.

Next we caught the Metro (so much more confusing than London!) to the Arc de Triomphe. Yesterday our bus driver Stewie had taken us on a drive around it, which was awesome. He like sped onto the roundabout, slammed on the breaks with all of us clinging to our seats laughing. I think the only rule is to give way to people coming on. Crazy. Anyway, after taking some photos we went for a walk down the Champs Elsees. No one in our small group were very big shoppers (plus there was still so much we needed to do today) so we ended up just sitting at a random little cafe and having a bite to eat.

Next up was the Louvre! Which is absolutely massive and just beautiful inside and outside. Since we had so much left to do, we planned just to head in and see the Mona Lisa before leaving. Note to self: come back to Paris with a week of spare time so I can further explore the Louvre. I got oddly emotional seeing the Mona Lisa :) As I was walking down the hall towards it my eyes teared up and I got all nervous. I have no idea why I had such an intense reaction - perhaps it was seeing something thats just so famous. Aside from the Mona Lisa we also snuck a peak at Venus and the headless angel (which I had really wanted to see) before heading outside and sitting for a while to take some pictures.

After the Louvre we went on the hunt for nutella crapes (yum!) and after lunch I went to get some money out of the ATM where my card was sucked in, which was annoying and momentarily stressful. Luckily I had come prepared with about three different forms of money. I had my ANZ debit card, my CBA savings card, my ANZ travel card (with a back up card), plus my mums credit card for emergencies (which got sucked in). So basically I had one less money source.

After freaking out for a bit we headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral which was lovely on the outside and rather dark and sparce on the inside. By this stage it was around 4pm and we had to be back at the bus for pick up at 5.15pm, so we start walking back for a little while before realising we weren't going to make it. We went down to the metro, which we thought we had gotten rather good at using throughout the day, but we couldn't find the right line so we ended up getting a taxi back.

Overall impressions of Paris by the end of the day:
Lovely. Very big. Very rich. Very posh. I had fun speaking the language (the few words that I knew).
Best thing: Taking photos of all these amazing locations and doing everything that I wanted to do
Worst thing: Paying 3 euros for a bottle of water and my credit card being sucked into the ATM

Once everyone was back at the pick-up point (all gushing about our days) we all got back on the bus and were taken to the Louvre to get changed for our group dinner and caberet show! We were taken to the carpark of the Louvre to go find toilets to get changed - of course, we couldn't find any toilets because they were all locked, so all us girls ended up getting changed in an alcove with all these Japanese tourists walking past lol. Its the contiki way :)

Once we managed to get dressed up, we drove to the Montmartre area for our dinner. I was stoked because I got to see the Sacré-Coeur Basilica and I didn't I would be able to. Dinner was good, lots and lots and lots of photos were taken. I had snails (which were actually really nice) as an entree and duck for my main. Wine was flowing freely - but I'm not a huge wine fan so I avoided it. After dinner, our very merry group headed to the Novelle Eve for our caberet show. The show was okay - I did dancing for 13 years so I thought the dancing and choreography was awful. But there was a lot of boobs so I think all the boys were happy :) There was this one acrobat lady who I swear was 60 years old! It was weird!

We got back to the hotel around midnight and the party continued on the front steps for a while before everyone ran out of alcohol and went to bed. Extremely good day all round.

Monday 16th June 2008 - Day 3 - Paris to Beaujolais Wine Region

Travel through Burgundy's wine country and the Beaujolais vinyards to Contiki's very own 16th century Chateau. See Chateau Fontainebleau, taste local wine and see Chablis, Burgundy and Beaujolais vinyards

Today we have a very long drive from Paris to the wine region. I'm looking forward to a nice long sleep on the bus - too bad I lost my travel pillow somewhere in London. After some breakfast, we all said goodbye to Paris and boarded the bus. We drove a couple of hours and stopped at Chateau Fontainebleau (I had a damn good baguette with cheese, onion and herbs!) then a few more to a service station and then a few more to our new home - the Contiki Chateau. The trip passed pretty fast because everyone had to come to the front of the bus, take up the microphone and introduce themselves. I'd kind of been dreading this, but it was fine - a lot of people were very nervous.

At the Chateau we gave a nice big welcome to our camp rep by stripping him down into his boxers :) According to Mecha we need to play a prank on the rep's at every campsite we go to. There is a lot of pranks like this in contiki. Another one is that whenever we pass another contiki bus on the highway we have to do something silly like pretend we're all asleep, or shut all the curtains, or pretend to row the boat etc etc etc. I like to call it inter bus rivalary. All the contiki staff are up for a good time - at dinner this evening Mecha and Stew came in to serve us naked in aprons and wigs :) You should have heard the noise in the room! Everyone banging the tables and yelling. Its good fun.

But anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself. Upon reaching the chateau and dumping our luggage, we all pretty much just bought drinks and sat around drinking until dinner (ribs & chips). I think there was a wine tasting somewhere in there - but I didn't mention it in my travel journal so now I can't remember. After dinner Clarry and I got out our sleeping bags and lay around. It was cold! I didn't want to move - but we both got up eventually because there was an 80's Party going on in The Cave. I just wore one of my more colourful dresses, but a lot of people went all out with their costumes. It was a pretty crazy night, lots of drinks and dancing in the boiling hot cave. I think this night was the night that half the tour decided streaking was a good idea - I'm not sure where I was and how I missed this... but I hear it was a sight to behold :) I collapsed in bed around 1am.

Tuesday 17th June 2008 - Day 4 - Beaujolais Wine Region

Relax at the Contiki Chateau and immerse yourself in the rural French countryside on a scenic walk and picnic

Day two in the Beaujolais Wine Region consisted primarily of a huge big walk. The idea was to leave at 10am, and go to what Contiki call "Top of the World" aka. a place in the mountains for us to have lunch. Well we left at 10am (myself, Clarry, Alahna, Matt and Bryan) and we walked and walked and walked and joined up with some other groups and walked and walked and walked and lost some people and then walked some more. Pretty much we all just got lost together. We ended up like a km down the road in the wrong direction and took the long way through all this mud (my jeans are now disgusting!) and passed these crazy barking dogs. Overall it was kind of excellent - very amusing to bond with everyone while lost in the middle of France. The whole walk ended up taking like four hours. It was crazy, but a lot of fun. I'm now used to walking so much and the scenery was beautiful. The rolling hills etc.

Once we finally made it back to the Contiki Chateau we just chilled for the rest of the day. Watched the guys play some soccer, played some Uno, had dinner (chicken, vegies & sorbet) and had some drinks. I also washed! My dirty clothes bag was getting ridiculous so I took it all into the bathroom and washed in the sink lol. Its the Contki way.

After lazing around all afternoon there was another party in the Cave. The entire tour was divided between having another big night or falling into bed - the result was everyone lingering around the hallways trying to decide what to do and the result of that was a bigger party in the hallways than in the Cave lol. I went down to the Cave at some stage in the evening and it was dead, so I ended up in bed by midnight.

Random note on the Contiki Chateau: Bring power boards! The rooms don't have any powerpoints and there was only two in the hallway of the floor we were staying on. Many conversations and spontaneous meetings occured around those powerpoints lol. Also the showers were annoying because they are those ones that automatically shut off after like a minute or so.

Wednesday 18th June 2008 - Day 5 - Beaujolais Wine Region to French Riviera

Travel through France's charming rustic Provence region to the glamorous French Riviera. Tonight, rub shoulders with the rich and famous in Monaco and Monte Carlo

Today was a very long drive to the French Riviera. It was so amusing once we got there though because the climate change was so noticeable. Until this point everyone had been wearing jeans and light jackets because France and London were both a little chilly. But getting off the bus in the French Riviera was like whooooaaaa, take off the jacket, put hair into ponytail lol.

Cannes is stunning. Our hotel here is beautiful - it only has three rooms (lounge, bath, bed - I'm not sure why, but Clarry got the bed, whilst myself, Alahna and Kristina camped in the lounge) but it has a pool and overlooks the beach. In fact, the entire south of France is beautiful. The north of France is very flat, but the south is all rolling hills with all these little towns built right into the mountains.

Needless to say, the entire tour loved the French Rivivera. No wanted to leave. We definately should have had more than one day here just to lay around and relax on the beach.

Anyways, after arriving and checking out the beach, we all got dressed to head into Monaco! Monaco is stunning. I definately want to go back one day to have a better look around. Its a very pretentious little country. Apparently it costs a million euros to apply for a passport - according to Mecha anyways, but he bullshited us a lot through Europe. My favourite was that Stewie wasn't allowed into Rome because he once shot the Pope with a nurf gun (the entire tour believed him for days) and another was that the cows in Switzerland had evolved to be born with two legs shorter than the others so that they could stand on the hills comfortably (that one the entire tour raised an eyebrow at - we learnt eventually lol).

Anyways, point being, Monaco is a very rich little country. Its reflected everywhere. Lots of expensive cars, everything was very clean and very groomed. The idea was to go to the Monte Carlo casino, but all us girls ended up having cocktails and dinner. I think I spent like two seconds in the Sun Casino before heading off to explore some more with Clarry and take photos.

Back in Cannes, most of the tour group ended up down at the beach just chatting and having a few drinks. I got to bed around 2am (after getting lost in the labyrinth that is our hotel and having to be shown the way out by a security guard).

Ohhh! And also, I need to tell everyone my Monaco story. Okay, so myself and Clarry were hanging around the Monte Carlo casino, just having a look at everything. So, out the front of Monte Carlo there are about eight or so parking spaces. Anyways as we stand there, two guys and a valet parking man come out of the casino. So I'm standing there wondering what in the world is going on because don't valet guys usually bring cars around from the back? So I stand there watching as the valet parking man, gets into this really fancy looking red car, starts the engine, pulls the car out like half a meter, then gets out and the two guys get in and drive away. And I'm like *mouth drop* was that even necessary? That, is basically Monaco summed up for you.

Thursday 19th June 2008 - Day 6 - French Riviera to Florence

Stop and check out Pisa's famous architectural wonder before arriving in Renaissance Florence

Today was another long day on the bus. We drove all the way from the French Riviera, (stopped randomly to visit a perfumery where I proceeded to fan my nose and try not to breathe the entire time) and crossed the border into Italy where we stopped at a random truck stop and had our first pieces of Italian Pizza (they're massive!) Our next stop was Pisa - the best part of Pisa was the markets. You should see them! So much stuff, and all so cheap! I wish we had more time in Pisa but our time was cut down because breakfast ran late.

Then after Pisa we drove aaaaaallllll day until we finally reached the Florence campsite around 7 o'clock that night. The cabins here are cute. After dinner we headed out to a pub called the Red Garter which is an awesome kareoke pub with cocktails you can buy in massive jugs! Needless to say, we all sang and danced around like idiots and had way too much to drink. Fantastic night - one of my crazier ones. I believe the cocktails I consumed were a Sex on the Beach and Sex on the Table... hmmm. We left the bar around 11pm, but the party continued back at the campsite where we all danced on the tables and had a great time. I crashed and burned around 2am, but not before we realised we had locked ourselves out and had to climb in through the window.

Great night. On a more awkward note, the clothes I so happily washed in the sink at the chateau never dried so now I have a suitcase of smelly clothes... hmmm.

Friday 20th June 2008 - Day 7 - Florence

A local guide gives you the inside track on striking buildings and sacred art in one of Italy's most atmospheric cities. Later on, enjoy exploring at your own pace.

Today was a full day exploring the city of Florence. About a 1/4 of the tour group opted to stay home nursing their hangovers from last night which I think is crazy. Although I can't really talk because I'm functioning rather well despite last nights heavy cocktail consumption.

Its freaking hot in Florence! Our first stop in the city is a leather demonstation and guided tour, the later which was awesome because I don't know a thing about Florence. It's a pretty city, but overall I didn't find it very spectacular. I don't know enough about Florence to be like, I want to see this this this and this. But at the end of the day I was pretty confident that I had seen all there was to be seen. And if not, well then too bad because its way to hot here. We didn't get picked up till 4pm, but most of us ended up at the pick-up point an hour or so early just to sit in the shade and rest our feet. Way too hot.

After getting back to the campsite, showering and changing we all packed back onto the bus for an optional dinner. Dinner was a strange affair because we assumed that there was only the one course, so we all tucked into it. But then there was a second course and a third course, and by the end we were all sitting there just wondering if it was ever going to end! lol. Dinner was a 2 hour affair. Too long by my standards. After dinner we headed out to another optional which was a disco. I think I was there for maybe half an hour before Clarry and I decided to take a taxi back to the campsite. We were over it.

Back at the campsite I bought some tokens and tried to do some washing. Ended up accidently putting my purple pashmina scarf in, so now all my white underwear are lilac. Lovely. To top it all off, I can't be buggered waiting for everything to dry in the dryer, so I just shove everything back into my suitcase wet and fall into bed around 1am. Will I ever have clean clothes?

Saturday 21st June 2008 - Day 8 - Florence to Rome

Pass through rural U,bria's pretty rolling hills and terraced vineyards on the road to Rome.

The first line in my travel journal today reads - "The heat in Rome is punishing. The sun is scorching!"

Today we travelled from Florence to Rome. We hit up Rome literally as soon as we arrived because the Vatican isn't open on a Sunday, so Mecha pulled some strings and got us all there today (Thanks Mecha!) As soon as we were inside Clarry and I went back to second grade and had so much fun taking photos with all the statues :) We kind of rushed through the Vatican Museums because we didn't have a lot of time. The Sistine Chappel was rather unspectacular. You have to go through the entire Vatican to get there and it was just... drab. No way near as good as St Paul's.

Next up, we did a walking tour with Mecha to the Trevi Fountain (which I really wanted to see) and the Pantheon. They were both great, but it was too damn hot to appreciate them properly. Plus I had thongs on *face palm*. We had dinner right there in the city. I had carbonara which I thought would be amazing, but it was bizarre - had a lot of pepper on it and then after that we all met up again, got back onto the coach and headed to the campsite aka. our next home.

The good news about the Rome campsite is that it has a lady who washes your clothes for you. As soon as I was off the bus I took practically my entire suitcase to her lol. It cost 10 euros (about $20) but I would have paid 100 or more just to finally have a suitcase full of clean dry clothes. The bad news about the Rome campsite is that the cabins are like little sweat boxes. They look like a sauna, feel like a sauna. And the bed sheets are scary looking.

But oh well it will do. I think the whole tour is planning to have an early night tonight - everyone is starting to get a little run down and a few people are even starting to get sick. I'm doing alright so far. My feet are in desperate need of a pedicure and I think my ankles are swelling, but at least my lips finally have some moisture in them for the first time since getting off the plane. Thank god because I've gone through so much lip balm. Lip balm, hand sanitizer and sunscreen are the big three at the moment.

Things are good actually. I'm loving this tour. I so don't want to go home, I'm dreading the return to normality. Its so awesome to get up everyday and do something new and exciting.

Its an early night tonight. I crash into bed after a very long shower.

Sunday 22nd June 2008 - Day 9 - Rome

Tap into 'La Dolce Vita' of the Eternal City and explore this living museum of history. Get a feeling for Imperial Rome's glory on an optional tour of the Roman Forum and Colosseum.

It is so fucking hot here in Rome! Its bloody gross! Today was a sightseeing day in Rome - I got back to camp around 3pm and have been sleeping ever since (I was so tired I had my eyes closed and was falling asleep at lunch). I woke up at some point this afternoon and had to change from my rolled up skinny jeans into my skirt and its still hot, even with the door and window open in the sweat box. If I ever come back to Rome, I'm coming in a cooler month.

Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself. Today in a nutshell - tour around the Roman Forum.

Tour around the Colosseum.

Bone Monks (this random place with bone shrines, totally weird), lunch (carbonara, this time it was too gluggy), then a quick peak at the Spanish Steps, some shopping - at which stage we ran into some of the boys from our tour and I went back to the campsite with them. To freaking hot! Rome is great, and seeing everything was awesome, but its just too hot to appreciate it. At somepoint in the day Clarry and I invested in little Japanese umbrellas being sold on the streets. Best thing I ever bought - it kept things a little cooler.

This evening was another quiet one. I had a cold shower and got in to bed hoping for a full 8 hours sleep. My body is starting to wear down. As is everyone elses - Clarry is coughing and blowing her nose already.

Monday 23rd June - Day 10 - Rome to Venice

Soak in the changing scenery of Italy as we drive past golden plains, vineyards and quanit hilltop towns to Venice, our home for the next two nights.

Its a huge driving day today. But I'm just stoked to be out of the Roman heat and in the air conditioned bus. The day is largely uneventful aside from a brief stop in some random little water-side town that I can't remember the name of. It was pretty though. Most of the tour elected to do a little boat trip, but myself and a couple of others just explored the town for an hour or so, ate gelati and took photos. Not much else to describe today - it was literally a 12 hour driving day. I just listened to my ipod a lot and the whole bus played some bus games while in traffic.

Finally after getting stuck in some awful traffic we arrived in Venice... well I assumed it was Venice anyways because our campsite isn't on the main island. Aside from the location our campsite is great! The cabins and very clean and very spacious, still hot unfortunately but anything is better than Rome! This evening there was a beach party at the camp bar. I don't think I made it to the party... a whole bunch of us had some drinking games and I crashed into bed around 11pm. I assume it was a good night though because I kept waking up to rowdy drunk mates yelling and shouting till the 3am hour.

Oh and a quick note about the Venice campsite. Bring your aeroguard, there are mosquitoes everywhere!!! It was nuts! I was literally slathered in aeroguard the whole time.

Tuesday 24th June - Day 11 - Venice

A short boat ride takes us into the historial centre of Venice to see St Mark's Square, the Doges Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. See glass and lace making demonstrations and why not treat yourself to a gondola ride?

The idea was to sleep in till 9am because we didn't have to take the ferry into Venice until 10am - but loud music from the breakfast tent wakes us all at a bright an early 7am. Lovely. Its hot and I wake up sweating. Gross. Today marks the halfway point of the tour and I'm starting to miss my own bed, shower and normal eating patterns but I'm having too much fun to think about it. I think I want to keep travelling forever. After showers and breakfast we board the ferry (right across the road from the campsite - how convenient) to Venice!!

Venice is hot. Stunning, beautiful, unique with plenty of good shopping... but freaking hot! Its really gross to walk around sweating all day. The day started off with a glass and lace demonstation following by free time (aka. shopping time). I spent the day walking around with the girls trying to get lost - its apparently the best way to see Venice and it was. I love Venice, I love the little alleyways with the buildings that loom above you, the flowers on balconys, the random little water passages and the shopping is excellent. We went to this random little market place and all bought cups of fruit - cold fruit on a hot day is sooooo good!

That afternoon we had a gondola ride which was great - very relaxing :) I took so many photos. Venice is so picturesque.

Back at the campsite we find our bus driver Stewie royaly drunk. Picture this, Stew clothed in his shorts, half a watermelon on his head, a green crate in one hand, a broom in the other, pretending to be a Sparten lol! Clarry and I have a few drinks with him and then head back to our cabin when he gets distracted jabbing a new Contiki bus that has just arrived at the campsite with his broom lol. Its a relatively early night for most of the tour. Thank god we are leaving Italy tomorrow because its way too hot here. If I ever come back, I'm coming in Winter!

Wednesday 25th June - Day 12 - Venice to Austrian Tyrol

Today we leave Italy and travel over the spectacular Brenner Pass. Take the opportunity to go white water rafting in the heart of the Austrian Alps before a special welcome awaits at Contiki's own Gasthof.

Another long driving day today, but thats okay because the scenery in Austria is beautiful! There was a brief stop along the way for the Water Rafting optional. I didn't do this one, so Clarry and I hung around at the little club house thinggy and went down to feel the water (icy cold - it comes straight off the glacier!).

Our home for the next night or so is Contiki's Gasthof. I like it a lot here - the showers are excellent. I had a very long and very amazing shower - it was warm, the temperature remained the same and the water pressure was good :) Best shower of the trip so far! Aside from my excellent shower, this evening we had a White Out party aka. wear white. It was hot in the bar - what is with contiki and hot bars? But we all drank and danced and I was in bed just after midnight.

Thursday 26th June - Day 13 - Austrian Tyrol

The picture-postcard village of Hopfgarten is an excellent base to make the most of the beautiful countryside. Experience a vast range of outdoor activities: hiking, mountain biking, paragliding or perhaps trout fishing

Day 13 - I am now sick. I was doing so well not catching the contiki cough, but I suppose when 90% of the bus is coughing and spluttering then my odds aren't too good. So now I have a cough and runny nose. Good news is that is cooler here! Excellent. My random thoughts today, contiki is great, kind of like one huge messy party around Europe. My favourite places have been Paris and Venice and I would most like to go back to the French Riviera. Gossip and sickness spread like wildfire and I'm very glad I had insect repellant in Venice because mosquitoes were bloody everywhere! Italy was hot - I think I got a tan and I'm very excited to go to Switzerland.

Today we have an optional extra to go bike riding. When I signed up for it I didn't really think twice - I just thought it would be a good opportunity to see some scenery. Well... I saw some scenery but the ride wrecked me! Wrecked is a term I have been using a lot on Contiki and it means "exhausted and unable to function." Usually wrecked is a term used in conjunction with alcohol, sleepless nights and long days on the bus. Today I am wrecked from the 20km long bike ride! Sitting here, looking back, it was an awesome ride - the scenery was gorgeous and it was great excerise. But while I was actually on the stupid bike - I thought I was going to die! It was a continuous incline up a freaking mountain and I'm not the fittest person in the world so the whole experience to the top was utterly brutal.

I do recommend it though, because up the top of the mountain you stop for lunch and then its all downhill from there :) Despite the discomfort, its actually one of my fondest memories from the entire trip :) I had a couple of "Omg, I'm lost in Austria" moments because eveyone kept stopping to take photos so we all kind of lost each other. At one stage I was mountain biking in the Austrian countryside all myself - very strange, but very peaceful.

After the bikeride, Clarry, Julie and I rode our bikes to the gondola to take a look from the top of the mountain. The trip was in three legs - a gondola, a three seater ski lift, and then an individual ski lift. It was awesome because I've never been on a ski lift before. I found it really scary at first - jumping onto this moving lift and then trying not to look down as your legs swing freely - but you get used to it. The coolest part was travelling through the clouds! I seriously think its the coolest thing I have EVER done. Just sitting on this chair, travelling through clouds so thick that you can't see anything at all. It is so surreal! I loved it. At the top (1800 meters up) we had some food and hot chocolate and then went down again.

The funniest part of the whole experience was when Clarry, Julie and I were on the three seater and the whole lift just suddenly stops halfway up and we're all like... ummm... and it was so bizarre because the ski lift was utterly deserted so its just us three hovering in the middle of nowhere for like 10minutes freaking out and having giggling fits and wondering if we should call Mecha in between Clarry making escape plans lol.

After we finally got back down to ground level, Clarry and Julie went off to go trout fishing while I headed back to the Gasthof and hung around the common room all afternoon. Its a relatively early night for the tour tonight, everyone is sick. One of the guys from NZ went to the doctor and found out he had bronchitis. Hmmm.

Friday 27th June - Day 14 - Austrian Tyrol to Munich

On to Bavaria's lively capital Munich, home to the Oktoberfest. Our orientation tour includes the town centre with its historic Glockenspiel. Maybe join us this evening at one of the city's traditional Beer Halls.

It must be coming towards the end of the trip because my stamina and motivation is very low by the end of today.

This morning we drove into Austria and had a brief stop in Swarovski Crystal World which was cool. It kind of reminded me of Infinity on the Gold Coast but less fun and more jewellery haha. I bought myself and mum a pair of earings before running out before I could buy anything else.

After that brief stop we crossed into Germany and went to a concentration camp. It was... I don't know. Both a good and bad experience. Good to see, but also very sad and depressing. I thought it was strange to see tourists walking around taking photographs - why in the world would you want a photo of something like that? A concentration camp isn't really something you gloat to your friends about. Thats a personal opinion of mine anyways.

After rather, a more subdued tour headed into Munich where we had a couple of hours to explore. Its a pretty place, but by this stage I've seen so many places that they're all starting to blend together. My highlight of Munich - I had the best nectarine from one of the stalls on the streets! Lowlight - the clock. We sat there and watched it on the hour and it was the silliest thing I had ever seen. The whole tour was like "Mecha... what the fuck?" lol.

This evening we head to a beer all for dinner. I don't drink beer so I consume a liter of coke instead - not a good idea as I'm on a sugar high for the rest of the evening. Its a bit of a crazy night which comes to an end with all of us very rowdy singing our day song and dancing in the asiles of the bus on the way home. Back at the hostel, a whole bunch of us head down to the Olympic Stadium because we heard there was something going on there - so we rock up and find all these fireworks and German guys playing those long horns that I don't know the name of. It was so random because we had no idea what the festivities were for - turns out it was the Summer Music Festival. So that was very cool to see. Very German. We all got to bed at stupid o'clock.

Saturday 28th June - Day 15 - Munich to Swiss Alps

We stop for lunch in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein. Enjoy time to shop and see the sights in Lucerne before reaching our idyllic stop in the Swiss Alps.

Today we left Munich and headed into Switzerland. I lost my voice for most of the morning as a result of the contiki cough, but it returned sometime in the afternoon. We stopped for lunch in Vaduz (pretty little place) and then had a chance to explore Lucerne a bit before heading to our next home. The scenery is beautiful in Switzerland. Everything is very green and very clean and the weather is perfect. I like the Contiki Swiss Chalet a lot. The location is beautiful.

The evening is spent hovering around in the hallways playing drinking games and avoiding the bar whose drinks are apparently very very expensive. I had a quick peak inside on the way to the shower - it was dead quiet. Tonight I'm starting to look forward to going home, everyone is starting to piss each other off which is the result of being tired and run down I suppose.

Tomorrow we head up Jungfrau mountain - something I am very very excited about because I've never seen snow before!

Sunday 29th June - Day 16 - Swiss Alps

A spectacular day where you can choose to hike the many trails or maybe enjoy a trip up the snow covered Jungfrau mountain on a cog railway that passes through the Eiger mountain.

I saw, touched and played with snow today! Woo! My first snow experience, it was very exciting. I went taboganning! It was absolutely hilarious! Very strange to slide down a snowy slope at stupid speeds thinking you're about to fall out. It was awesome fun! I loved it. I definately want to go on a snow holiday sometime. Perhaps back here to Switzerland. Its beautiful here, and today was perfect. I had a lot of fun up Jungfrau - between the snow, the snow palace and a nice lunch it was an all round good day. Also watching Paul run around in a t-shirt and shorts and Brooke run around with baggies on her feet was pretty funny.

Back on level ground my ears a blocked for most of the afternoon from the train ride back down and they wont pop. Meanwhile my jeans and converse are soaking wet. That night there is a hall party and we all sit around playing drinking games. I have a really really long shower at some stage before crashing into bed.

Monday 30th June - Day 17 - Swiss Alps to Rhine Valley

Heading north we re-enter Germany and visit the university town of Heidelberg on the banks of the Neckar River. Tonight we stay in the picturesque Rhine Valley after seeing the famous Lorelei and hearing how German beersteins are crafted in St Goar.

We drove pretty much all day today to the sleepy little town of St Goar, Germany. We stopped in Heidleberg where everyone proceeded to buy gummi bears and we also stopped at somewhere else I can't really remember to buy beer steins. Not a particularly exciting day, I snoozed and listened to my ipod a lot and tried to sleep with one eye open to stop tour mates taking photos of me with my mouth open :) Our hotel this night is nice. The beds squeak but the drinks are priced relatively well and there's a nice lake across from the hotel where Clarry and I sat for a while just enjoying the view.

Tuesday 1st July 2008 - Day 18 - Rhine Valley to Amsterdam

We cross the border and make our way towards Amsterdam. Visit a cheese farm and see how clogs are made. Cycle through the countryside and the village of Edam and enjoy the famous Amsterdam nightlife.

Welcome to Amsterdam! I sit writing this on my bunk in our very small hotel room (2 sets of bunk beds with no floor space) which is very interesting for four girls with large suitcases. But whatever, this is our last accomodation of which has generally been very good. So I'm happy.

Today we drove from St Goar to Amsterdam. The ride was uninteresting, but we stopped in Edam for a bike ride which was very mellow and relaxing in comparison to the one I took in Austria! We also stopped for a cheese and clog making demonstration where I proceeded to purchase mini blue clogs (and later regretted when coming home and going through customs).

This evening we all got dressed up and headed into the Red Light District for a sex show which was... um... very full frontal haha. I kinda thought that it would be artistic, but it was just full on sex right there in front of you. Very odd. I sat there 90% of the show giggling like a 12-year-old girl and enjoying my little red mini penis lollypop haha. Before and after the sex show we walked through the district and got to see all the girls in their windows. There are heaps of them! Streets upon streets. All I could think as I walked through was how in the world all these girls ended up here. It was... well... a different sort of evening.

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Amsterdam. The actual Red Light District is a freaking seedy place. Actually, to be honest I found all of Amsterdam dirty and seedy - there is trash all over the streets and everyone is weird. I wasn't expecting Amsterdam to be disgusting... Paris and Venice I thought would be dirty but they're spotless compared to Amsterdam. But aside from the trash on the streets, everyone rides bikes! You should see them all! Whilst on the bus we drove past a bike car park - levels upon levels of push bikes! It was nuts. Good way to get around though because everything here is dead flat.

After the sex show I headed back to the hotel with a few other people because I had no interest in getting stoned in the freaky Red Light District. I felt horribly unsafe in Amsterdam - the only place in Europe that I had my guard up. We ended up at a little pub near the hotel where I had a vodka and orange juice that was 90% vodka... hmmm.

Wednesday 2nd July 2008 - Day 19 - Amsterdam

This morning why not take a canal bike ride to further explore Amsterdam? In your spare time perhaps visit famous sights such as Anne Frank's house or the Van Gogh Museum. Tonight we celebrate our last evening together.

Today we have a full free day in the city before a cruise and our final night dinner. As amazing as this entire tour has been, I can't wait to get home - I feel disgusting and all the clothes in my suitcase are gross. All I want is to get home, dump my entire suitcase in the laundry, have a five hour shower, have a pedicure and change into some clothes that haven't been sitting in my suitcase for a month. I have no idea how people do 45 day Contiki tours - that is just nuts! Where in the hell do they get the energy? Contiki tours are great and overall I have had a fucking brilliant time and LOVED every second, but 20 days is enough.

To give you an overview of the day - exploring the city, come home, change, canal cruise, chinese dinner, pub, home. I have to admit... I hate Amsterdam. Its dirty and seedy and filled with nothing but sex and drugs. The guys leer and when Clarry and I were walking around the city we literally couldn't go down certain streets because they just looked waaaaayyyy too dodgy. Definately my least favourite place that we've visited.

Despite all that, my day in Amsterdam was good. We went to the Ann Frank house which I wasn't going to do initially but am definately glad that I did. shopped (I bought hand cream - I swear all this travel is making my hands look like old lady hands) and then when it started to rain we caught the tram back to the hotel without even getting lost. Go us!

The night was basically a great big picture taking session. I suppose we were all feeling sentimental and decided photos were necessary even though we already had millions of each other. The cruise was nice, and dinner at the Chinese restaurant was good. I love Chinese food. After all that we headed back into the Red Light District and went to some pub where I drank vodka and coke (yuck). I have no idea what time I got to bed that night... sometime stupid probably.

Thursday 3rd July 2008 - Day 20 - Amsterdam to London

Time to swap addresses and email contacts as we travel through the Belgian countryside and back to Calais for our ferry crossing to England.

Last day of the tour consists of a long drive back to London. I'm torn between whether or not this tour has gone fast or slow. On the one hand its gone soooo fast, yet on the other it feels like forever since the pre tour meeting. I guess thats what happens when you see so much and do so many things in such a short period of time.

We're a pretty subdued tour on the trip home. The whole bus is sick with the contiki cough and a good portion of us are nursing hangovers. Its even worse when we miss the ferry from France and are stuck at the port for two hours... oh well...

Back in London, I make the most of my last night by going to see Wicked again. As I'm sitting there watching it I had the biggest "I don't want to go home" moment! It was so strong I thought I was going to cry! Despite all my "I'm ready to go home" moments, its only now that the tour is done that all I want to do is go back on tour. My whole tour group was so awesome and I already miss the energy and cohesivness of doing everything together. I really don't want to return to work and normality with the same old friends and places. Its the atmosphere of contiki that I'm going to miss - the randomness, the parties, the exhaustion, the sickness, the people, Mecha and Stu who make Europe so awesome, see something new every day, random chats, new countries... did I mention I don't want to go home? But I suppose its inevitable, especially since my flight leaves at noon tomorrow - sickness and exhaustion is clearly wrecking havoc on my emotions.

Friday 4th July 2008 - Back home to good ol Australia

I can't decide if I want to go home or not. On the one hand I want to travel forever, but on the other I'm looking forward to my own room, bed, shower, car, the beach and all my stuff. The past four weeks have been amazing! I love travelling. Words can't even express how amazing this entire trip has been.

The flight home is pretty much awful. My ears were blocked by the time I arrived in Singapore and I coughed and sniffed the entire trip. Stupid contiki cough. To make matters worse there was turbulance - I ended up sitting in the toilet with my head in my hands till I felt better and emerged to a waiting line that extended down the asile... whoops. My contiki cough was bad in London, but by the time I got off a 24 hour flight it was HORRIBLE! And the it stuck with me for at least two months before leaving completely. A quick word to future travellers about the contiki cough... its inevitable! I read a lot of stuf before I left about keeping it at bay... but trust me... it will get you regardless! Just take a lot of tissues and you'll be fine. The contiki cough isn't awful, you don't feel sick or anything, you just have this annoying cough and your nose won't stop running. Its not horrible, its just all a part of travelling with contiki :)

Anyways... so thats my travel journal :) If you have any comments or questions feel free to email me at jodiellewellyn@gmail.com and I'll be happy to help you out.

Here's a couple of things I was really glad I took/did that might be good for you to do/take too:
- So glad I took my purple pashmina scarf. I took it everywhere. It was just perfect to use on the bus as a blanket or as a scarf when it got chilly. Really really really useful.
- Take lip balm!!! Take tubes upon tubes of it! My lips were so dry from the flight and the climate throughout Europe is so different to Australia.
- Invest in a tube map and Oyster card if your staying in London - they're so essential.
- Try to get some sleep each night. We had a good mixture on my tour, some people partied till dawn every night, others went to bed early. My stand point was to party as much as I could, but still be sensible enough so that I could get up and explore the next day.
- Take moisturiser. I started rubbing it into my feet because they were so gross from wearing thongs all the time. I got a really moisturing one for my hands too because they started to look all old.
- Bring tissues! Bring lots of tissues and then buy more! If you don't use them in the toilets, then you'll definately go through them with the contiki cough kicks in.
- Take an ipod. Its great for the bus when your awake and everyone around you is sleeping. Or if you just want to tune our for a while.
- I'm so glad I only did a 20 day tour. I don't know how people do any more that that. I was so worn down by the end. I was a wreck.
- If you have the time and money to spend time in London, do it. Its a gorgeous city. So much to do and see.