On Monday 7th April 2003 our round the world
journey began. We travelled by train from Birmingham to Warsaw with stopovers in Brussels and Berlin. After a week in Poland we headed North
to spend a month in the Baltic states, staying in Vilnius, Klaipeda, Riga and Tallinn.
After a day trip to Helsinki we moved on to
Russia taking in St Petersburg, Moscow,
Irkutsk, Lake Baikal and Vladivostok. This was achieved by using the
Trans Siberian Railway, the longest timetabled continuous rail journey
in the world.
From Vladivostok we made a ferry journey to South Korea. In the 5 weeks we stayed in Korea we saw Sokcho, Seoul, Gwangju, Jeju Island, Busan and Geongju before heading to China.
We spent just under 6 weeks in China visiting Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu,
Chongqing, the Three Gorges along the Yangtze River, Yichang,
Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Yangshuo, Guilin and Nanning.
We spent 24 days in Vietnam passing through
Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Dalat and Ho Chi Minh City. We left Vietnam for the Kingdom of Cambodia
and visited Phnom Penh, Battambang and Siem Reap in a week and a half. After that we crossed over to Thailand
and spent time in Bangkok, Ko Samet, Ko Chang, Ko Pha Ngan, Ko Samui and
Hat Yai before going to Malaysia to get a
new visa. In Malaysia we stopped over in Penang
and Kuala Lumpur with a 3 day visit to
Singapore.
We succumbed to the call of the Thai beaches and
returned to meet up with Adam, Carl, John and Russ on Ko Phi Phi.
We returned to Ko Pha Ngan for the full moon party via Pha Nga in
our last week in Thailand.
We met up in Penang in Malaysia after Liam and Matt had completed their diving course for our last couple of days all together. Rich and Liam got a coach to Singapore and then flew to Sydney to start looking for work and a flat. Matt and Phil caught a ferry to Medan in Sumatra and then made their way to Lake Toba. After a few days on Samosir island they headed to Bukittingi for 4 days, exploring the region, then got a 40 hour bus to the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta. A day was spent there before exploring the historic sites of Yogyakarta for 4 days. Bali followed, but only for 2 days as a ferry was needed to be caught to reach West Timor in time to find a passage to Darwin.
Three days were spent on the ferry before arriving in Kupang and just over a week in Kupang with a couple of days on the island of Rote before boarding the yacht Queeyai. Two and a half days at sea and they had made it to Australia. After a couple of days in Darwin the two then endured a 3 day bus journey through to Brisbane and finally to Sydney, where they met up with the other two in our new flat.
Five months of work in Sydney was endured before purchasing a 1985 Ford Falcon Station wagon and driving up the East Coast. Stops were made at the Blue Mountains, Nelsons Bay, Taree, Coffs Harbour, Nimbin, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Surfers Paradise, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island and Bundaberg. We worked for 2 weeks in Bundaberg picking fruit and veg, tough work but decent enough money. After Bundy we visited Rockhampton, the Whitsunday Islands, Airlie Beach, Cardwell, Mission Beach, the waterfalls of Atherton Tablelands before ending up in Cairns.
From Cairns we embarked on a long drive towards Tennant Creek, stopping in George town then Cloncurry via the Gulf of Carpentaria. After a trip to the Devils Marbles we headed north to Daly Waters and the oldest pub in the Northern Territory before a stop over in the spectacular Katherine Gorge then a small place called Pine Creek and eventually Darwin.
From Darwin we travelled to Kununurra where we worked for 10 days on a farm doing corn de-tassling, before leaving we hired canoes for 3 days and explored the Ord River. Next was Broom via Fitzroy crossing where we stayed and relaxed on the magnificent Cable Beach. We then headed South to Exmouth with a stop over in Port Hedland, the 2 days there were spent exploring the amazing Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range Park. Monkey Mia was next and we met the famous Dolphins there before a short stay in Geraldton followed by a visit to Cervantes and the strange Pinnacles there. Then it was Perth to get some more work for a couple of weeks before heading East.
From Perth we visited Kalgoorlie Boulder and the country´s largest gold mine before hitting the longest stretch of straight road in the country - Nullabor. We cut North before Adelaide and visited the strange mining town of Coober Pedy, then on to Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Watarrka and Alice Springs. We returned South past Coober Pedy and made it to Adelaide. Next was the Great Ocean Road and Melbourne before a trip to the capital - Canberra. From Canberra we returned to Sydney to sell the car and get some more work.
Unfortunately Sydney was the end of the line for Four on Tour and we went separate ways. Liam and Rich stayed in Sydney working, while Matt and Phil paid a visit to New Zealand for 3 weeks. Matt returned to Sydney before jetting off to Thailand and a teaching job, Phil flew to Buenos Aires to learn Spanish and explore the rest of South America.
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