I've always loved to travel to far away places but have been a little restricted since meeting Paul due to his phobia of flying. Just before my 40th 5 years ago he said that I could book anywhere I wanted for a holiday. I went straight online to book for Australia as that is where I always wanted to go. Within the hour I had booked a round the World trip.
We were due to go to Hong Kong, Sydney, Fiji, Los Angeles and New York. Round the World the wrong way
2 days before we left Hong Kong was cancelled and changed to Singapore due to SARS.
Singapore was little more than a stopover really but what hit me was the heat and humidity and the cleanliness of the place. I don't think I've ever been anywhere so well cared for.
We arrived in Sydney at 6am on the Tuesday and headed straight to bed. An hour later we decided we were not tired and when out exploring the city for the day. We headed to bed at 6pm for a couple of of hours before dinner and woke up the next day at 8am so that was the jet lag sorted.
The city itself and the botanical gardens are amazing and vibrant. Anywhere you go on leaving the city centre you are struck by awful grafitti.
We spent a day at the Sydney Zoo and the Darling Harbour aquarium. Both are well worth seeing. The area around Bondi beach was a little grubby and we preferred the much smarter Manly beach (cue the jokes). We spent a day in the Blue Mountain which get their name from the haze from the Eucalyptus trees. The scenery is breathtaking. One of the highlights for me was a half day in a sea plane where we flew low over the city and explored the Northen beaches. Totally awesome.
After Sydney we flew to Fiji and stayed at the
Warwick hotel. We arrived in the middle of the night and headed straight to bed. In the morning we noticed we were next dor to an amazing suite which appeared empty. We rang reception and asked about an upgrade which we took for £15 a night each. From that moment we were treated like royalty.
Fresh towels fruit etc etc 3 times a day. All meals in a private dining room and a free cocktail bar before dinner.
The highlight in Fiji was a day in a yacht exploring uninhabited Islands. Totally awesome and my photos do it no justice. We also spent a day in the Capital Suva but found it very dirty and seedy. We felt unsafe there but everywhere else in Fiji you'd be hard pushed to find more friendly helpful people. We also got an upgrade to first class between Fiji and LA.
Our next stop was Los Angleles for 1 day only. We arrived at 9am which was 12 hours vefore we took off due to crossing the International date line. We spent some time in Santa Monica and Venice beach before doing a tour of Hollywood and downtown LA then heading back to the aiport.
Our last stop was in New York where we spent 4 days. 2 of my cousins from New Jersey joined us at the Hotel. We stayed just off Broadway and never stopped in 4 days.
24 days after setting off we arrived home totally exhausted but extremely happy. Paul was all but cured of his phobia too so we got away a lot more after that.
About our round the World trip in 2003 
Linear Mode
