My holiday of a lifetime
My holiday of a lifetime
thanks everyone for your advice in my other thread. I'm sorry i didnt reply on it but some stuff came up and i have been mad busy organising things and chatting to loads of people about it.
Ok... here's my plan.
Leaving Dublin sometime mid May.
Dublin fly via London to HongKong.
three days in HongKong, need long break due to health reasons :rolleyes:
Fly to Sydney, hopefully stay with my oldest mate for a week-10 days.
Work my way up the coast to Cairns using Oz-Experience bus and car hire etc, stopping in a place called Dingo to work on this ranch type place for about 10 days, two weeks. Been on to them and loads of work for "someone with my skills" around that time. Will take about 5-6 weeks doing all that, stopping of at my leisure etc.
Fly from Cairns to Melbourne, around 10 days-2 weeks in Melbourne, will rent a car etc, have a room to rent with a bagger (maybe-hopefully) and will tour around and relax. Have ALWAYS wanted to see Melbourne, have some friends of friends there and will want restful time before NZ.
Train or car or bus or whatever to Sydney, couple of days there saying goodbye to good mate and then fly to Christchurch to see my cousin who lives there with her hb and kid. Stay a week there and then catch the NZ-Experience bus around NZ for apr 10 days, finishing in Auckland and then fly to Bangkok. Meeting with my ex (who recently lost his gf - if you read that thread) and maybe travel to Bali or somewhere for a few days/weeks R&R and then home to Dublin.
I have gotten all the flights and the two bus tickets for around €1500 (which is think is a very good deal) The only flight that is fixed date is my Flight from Dublin to HongKong. After that i can change any of my dates for a €5 in case i decide to stay longer somewhere or leave earlier, which i am "known" to do :p
I've had a long chat with my doc too and i need the breaks between flights for various reasons. I have to organise a lot around my diabetes and co-agulation disorder (they'd shoot me if i was a horse) but its all TOTALLY doable and my pal in Sydney has a spare mobile phone i can use while travelling. My best mate here has the rucksack she used when she went travelling that i can use and she is even thinking about coming out to meet me for about three weeks somewhere along the line.
I'm really pleased with these plans. I would like to do more but i think i have to leave something to do when i'm older :D
I havnt booked me ticket yet, doing that on Tuesday...
What do you all think ????
Thanks so much in advance !!!!!!!!!!
xx
a VERY excited Redblond :yay:
Answers:
It all sounds brilliant Redblond. :yay: A nice balance of catching up with friends/family and travelling by yourself. I'm sure you'll find plenty of new friends during your single travels as well.
I can well understand any nervousness and the need for planning around your health issues. The last thing you'd need is an emergency situation when you're on the other side of the world. Having said that, I hope you don't have any qualms about letting other people know what they have to do if you have worrisome moments. I'll always remember travelling on a night train from Berlin to Ostend and a girl on the couchette below me informed the rest of the compartment as we were getting ready for bed that she might need assistance in the night. Apparently she'd done her blood tests, had a borderline result (her type of diabetes required she get more sugar into her system), and had eaten something to hopefully control it. However, she took the precaution of making sure everyone else in the compartment knew what might happen and what help would then be needed, although she was pretty sure she'd sorted the problem. Anyway about 4 hours later, I awoke to the sound of this girl writhing and thrashing about on the couchette below, got down and she needed help. Fortunately, her forethought in letting us know what action to take and what effect it would have, meant that I spent 15 minutes feeding her orange juice and biscuits, waited 10 minutes and she recovered. It was very alarming to see, but I was so glad we'd had warning and knew how to help. (Mind you, feeding biscuits anyone can do; it might have been far more tricky if someone had had to administer insulin injections!).
As for your three day flying break in Hong Kong, they'll whizz by. There's so much to see and do there. It's my favourite 'non-home' city. If you do a search on here, you'll find lots of information on things to visit.
Sorry, gone on rather - but I'm excited for you. I really hope you have a fantastic trip! ;)
Answers:
:jealous smiley:
GG
Answers:
Augusta.. thanks for the post and the PM. :p
That story is actually a really nice one... nice that you all took the time to help her. I carry tubes of glucose syrup and its really easy to squeeze into my mouth. I always tell someone nearby that i'm diabetic, but have rarely needed assistance. But there's a first time for everything.
What has been recommended for me to do is that when i arrive in Sydney, to go to a GP with a letter from my GP and hospital and get a prescription for all my insulins and other medications (or the nearest to it) and then if all my stuff goes missing or whatever might happen i can easily stop at a pharmacy and stock up. I think its a fab idea. I'm not pesimistic at all, but i feel much better if i'm prepared cos then i dont worry that if something goes wrong it'll spell a huge hiccup (or the end) of my trip !!
Do you think i should aim to spend more time in HongKong ??
Thanks Gannet ... :hug:
Answers:
Ooh you lucky thing!
My sister did something very similar this time last year, for 5 months, but she included Cambodia and Vietnam as well.
Anyway, she had a fabulous time, and has only just finished making a scrap book of her travels - she took over 1000 digital photos, so it took her some time just to go through them all!
She had an amazing time, and she visited basically all the places you are going to, I think, so if you have any queries, you can PM me, and I'll ask her, if you want!
thanks everyone for your advice in my other thread. I'm sorry i didnt reply on it but some stuff came up and i have been mad busy organising things and chatting to loads of people about it.
Ok... here's my plan.
Leaving Dublin sometime mid May.
Dublin fly via London to HongKong.
three days in HongKong, need long break due to health reasons :rolleyes:
Fly to Sydney, hopefully stay with my oldest mate for a week-10 days.
Work my way up the coast to Cairns using Oz-Experience bus and car hire etc, stopping in a place called Dingo to work on this ranch type place for about 10 days, two weeks. Been on to them and loads of work for "someone with my skills" around that time. Will take about 5-6 weeks doing all that, stopping of at my leisure etc.
Fly from Cairns to Melbourne, around 10 days-2 weeks in Melbourne, will rent a car etc, have a room to rent with a bagger (maybe-hopefully) and will tour around and relax. Have ALWAYS wanted to see Melbourne, have some friends of friends there and will want restful time before NZ.
Train or car or bus or whatever to Sydney, couple of days there saying goodbye to good mate and then fly to Christchurch to see my cousin who lives there with her hb and kid. Stay a week there and then catch the NZ-Experience bus around NZ for apr 10 days, finishing in Auckland and then fly to Bangkok. Meeting with my ex (who recently lost his gf - if you read that thread) and maybe travel to Bali or somewhere for a few days/weeks R&R and then home to Dublin.
I have gotten all the flights and the two bus tickets for around €1500 (which is think is a very good deal) The only flight that is fixed date is my Flight from Dublin to HongKong. After that i can change any of my dates for a €5 in case i decide to stay longer somewhere or leave earlier, which i am "known" to do :p
I've had a long chat with my doc too and i need the breaks between flights for various reasons. I have to organise a lot around my diabetes and co-agulation disorder (they'd shoot me if i was a horse) but its all TOTALLY doable and my pal in Sydney has a spare mobile phone i can use while travelling. My best mate here has the rucksack she used when she went travelling that i can use and she is even thinking about coming out to meet me for about three weeks somewhere along the line.
I'm really pleased with these plans. I would like to do more but i think i have to leave something to do when i'm older :D
I havnt booked me ticket yet, doing that on Tuesday...
What do you all think ????
Thanks so much in advance !!!!!!!!!!
xx
a VERY excited Redblond :yay:
Answers:
It all sounds brilliant Redblond. :yay: A nice balance of catching up with friends/family and travelling by yourself. I'm sure you'll find plenty of new friends during your single travels as well.
I can well understand any nervousness and the need for planning around your health issues. The last thing you'd need is an emergency situation when you're on the other side of the world. Having said that, I hope you don't have any qualms about letting other people know what they have to do if you have worrisome moments. I'll always remember travelling on a night train from Berlin to Ostend and a girl on the couchette below me informed the rest of the compartment as we were getting ready for bed that she might need assistance in the night. Apparently she'd done her blood tests, had a borderline result (her type of diabetes required she get more sugar into her system), and had eaten something to hopefully control it. However, she took the precaution of making sure everyone else in the compartment knew what might happen and what help would then be needed, although she was pretty sure she'd sorted the problem. Anyway about 4 hours later, I awoke to the sound of this girl writhing and thrashing about on the couchette below, got down and she needed help. Fortunately, her forethought in letting us know what action to take and what effect it would have, meant that I spent 15 minutes feeding her orange juice and biscuits, waited 10 minutes and she recovered. It was very alarming to see, but I was so glad we'd had warning and knew how to help. (Mind you, feeding biscuits anyone can do; it might have been far more tricky if someone had had to administer insulin injections!).
As for your three day flying break in Hong Kong, they'll whizz by. There's so much to see and do there. It's my favourite 'non-home' city. If you do a search on here, you'll find lots of information on things to visit.
Sorry, gone on rather - but I'm excited for you. I really hope you have a fantastic trip! ;)
Answers:
:jealous smiley:
GG
Answers:
Augusta.. thanks for the post and the PM. :p
That story is actually a really nice one... nice that you all took the time to help her. I carry tubes of glucose syrup and its really easy to squeeze into my mouth. I always tell someone nearby that i'm diabetic, but have rarely needed assistance. But there's a first time for everything.
What has been recommended for me to do is that when i arrive in Sydney, to go to a GP with a letter from my GP and hospital and get a prescription for all my insulins and other medications (or the nearest to it) and then if all my stuff goes missing or whatever might happen i can easily stop at a pharmacy and stock up. I think its a fab idea. I'm not pesimistic at all, but i feel much better if i'm prepared cos then i dont worry that if something goes wrong it'll spell a huge hiccup (or the end) of my trip !!
Do you think i should aim to spend more time in HongKong ??
Thanks Gannet ... :hug:
Answers:
Ooh you lucky thing!
My sister did something very similar this time last year, for 5 months, but she included Cambodia and Vietnam as well.
Anyway, she had a fabulous time, and has only just finished making a scrap book of her travels - she took over 1000 digital photos, so it took her some time just to go through them all!
She had an amazing time, and she visited basically all the places you are going to, I think, so if you have any queries, you can PM me, and I'll ask her, if you want!