Oceania
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[story time] My exchange semester in Australia: Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne & Adelaide (Travel Diaries) 2/2
I told you that life was not so good for me as an Asian student in Sydney, but I still took advantage of my 4 months exchange in Australia in 2009 to travel a little bit. Part 2: My travel diary in Australia My habits in Sydney I often went to the Sydney Fish Market where sashimi was sold by the kilogram. I was so greedy (I often bought 500g of salmon to eat on my own) that I was often photographed to illustrate travel blogs I read a lot of women’s magazines. They contained fewer ads than the French version and were more expensive (8$AU). One of my tweets…
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[story time] My semester exchange in Sydney (Australia): Between expectation and reality (1/2)
This month, you will be entitled to the old journeys made before the round-the-world trip. Today, I am going to tell you about my stay in Australia in 2009 as an exchange student. Part 1: Between expectation and reality Part 2: But it wasn’t all bad: my travel diary in Australia Part 1: Between expectation and reality At that time, I was developing a passion for Australia. I enrolled in the “Australian Cinema” course at my business school, the course consisted of watching every Monday afternoon Australian cult films and dreaming of an exchange in Sydney. One year later, after a year off in Norway, I was at the top:…
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Opinions on Spaceships Beta S2 (New Zealand): Mini-van rental for 2 people
On the occasion of a colleague’s imminent departure for New Zealand, I reread my own articles about this beautiful country and realize that I forgot to write a review on Spaceships, the company where we rented a van for 24 days Note: I take this opportunity to tell you that this article completes our guide about New Zealand: 27 days in New Zealand: itinerary, guide and budget and I have also added the photos for all the articles about New Zealand Background We visited New Zealand during our first world tour in November 2016. In 27 days, we criss-crossed the country (South Island + North Island) aboard our van rented…
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Papeete (French Polynesia): when the car doesn’t start anymore
I have not yet told you about our last day in Papeete.After leaving Moorea by ferry, we are at the port with our suitcases, waiting like VIPs for our rental car to be delivered to us. For 45€/day, frankly, the service is royal.Our plane is at 2:30 am the next day, so we have the car for us until 10 pm.After lunch, a small passage at the Post Office and the visit of the 3 waterfalls (1 only because the access to the 2 others is closed since the flood), we stop on a semblance of parking on the side of the road to admire the surfers. 20 minutes later,…
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Moorea (French Polynesia): snorkelling with Sharks and Rays
Dear reader, what I will share with you here is HUGE! I just spent 2 days in Moorea so extraordinary that, as usual, I will not be stingy in descriptions, words and pictures. If you are also going around the world, don’t hesitate to stop over in French Polynesia, even if it’s expensive, it’s so worth it. Part 1: Travel Diaries Day 1 : From Papeete, we take an early morning ferry to Moorea. In 40 minutes of extremely pleasant journey (where I slept), we arrive at the ferry station of Moorea, where a 4×4 is waiting for us for a 4h excursion. Tom, the guide, welcomes us warmly and…
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Papeete (French Polynesia): more beautiful than expected
It still took us 6 hours to do Auckland – Papeete. We left on November 24th and arrived on November 23rd, one day earlier. We gain in efficiency I tell you! Doesn’t that remind you of another very famous round-the-world trip? AirTahitiNui takes good care of its customers On all the forums, everyone advises to leave Tahiti Nui island, limited as soon as you arrive at the airport (lol), to go to Moorea, Bora Bora… so I didn’t have a lot of expectations for this island. In the end, it is much more beautiful than expected. Part 1: Travel Diary Day 1 : The arrival in Papeete corresponds to all…
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Orewa, Karekare, Piha and Auckland (New Zealand): last days in the land of kiwis
After the visit to Cathedral Cove, we spend long hours on the road to come to Orewa where we spend the night in a Top 10 campsite. It rains a little in the evening but the weather is splendid the next morning. JB jogs on the long beach next to the campsite (Orewa Beach). It is also one of the favorite beaches of the “Aucklanders”, or “jafa” = jargon to say “Just another fucking Aucklander”. When you live in the 2nd most pleasant city in the world, well, it attracts jealousies Part 1: Travel Diaries Waiwera Thermal Resort & Spa If we flee Auckland it is to enjoy the last…
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Road Trip New Zealand in 27 days: Itinerary, Travel Guide and Budget
This article gives you our detailed 27-day itinerary to show you that it is possible to visit all the must-see places in the NZ in less than a month. For a brief description (and photos) of the cities visited, I invite you to consult the itineraries made by the pros of the NZ, Kiwipal as this article is already quite long. We took inspiration from these itineraries(even if they are unfortunately poor in terms of travel time estimation) to establish our own. We started our journey in Christchurch and ended up in Auckland (the van rental is cheaper in that direction). The total journey by car is 5500km, the equivalent…
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Hot Water Beach, Cathedral Cove (New Zealand): nice if you have some time
Not very far from Hobbiton Movie Set (1h30), it is Hot Water Beach that we visit this afternoon. It’s a dangerous beach (if we swim) but fun if we just make a hole in the sand and sit in it to enjoy the hot thermal water Part 1: Travel Diaries Hot Water Beach Nobody tells us concretely how it works until we read the sign near the parking lot. There are 2 springs (2 holes of 10cm that we can only notice, from which a burning water spouts out). It is necessary to dig a hole in the sand certainly, but also a system of viaduct to make enter a…
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Hobbiton Movie Set (New Zealand): a dream come true
From Waitomo, we drive to Hobbiton Movie Set and sleep in a campsite next door. If we first visit Waitomo and Hobbiton before going to Coromandel, it’s because the weather forecast indicates that there is more chance of good weather if we go to Hobbiton right away (the shortest way would be, from Rotorua, to go first to Coromandel and then Waitomo) Visiting Hobbiton in the rain? Never of the life! If you’re not a fan of The Lord of the Rings, forget about this article, as it will focus “oh” and “ah” on the beauty of the location, the attention to detail and anecdotes that only those who have…