Berlin, Germany.

Berlin has been on the top of my 'to visit' list for a while now so when given the chance to choose where we went this summer it was an easy decision. For years I'd heard tales of Berlin's rich culture, vibrant society and emotional presence... I couldn't wait to indulge myself.

The S Bahn journey offered us our first glimpses of the many sides to this amazing city. We passed large construction sites, old buildings scarred with bullet holes, breathtaking architecture and hippy communes on the river side before arriving at our destination in Friedrichshain.

For those of you who don't know Berlin, Friedrichshain is part of former East Berlin and is home to a thriving artistic community. But as we all know where there is culture the capitalists are not far behind so the area is slowly getting more developed and rent is going up, pushing a lot of the creatives out. Thankfully though Friedrichshain is hanging on in there for now with some amazing wee cafes, bars, shops and markets to explore. A must see in this area is the artists community down by the Warschauer Strasse line where there is a collection of galleries such as Urban Spree, a printmaking studio, climbing wall, skate park and collection of nightclubs where we spent one night partying in til the very early hours one day. This area also houses some amazing pieces of street art and graffiti so is well worth a visit for that alone. 

Across the bridge from here you are only a short walk away from East Side Gallery which is a free exhibition of murals painted on a remaining part of the Berlin Wall. A great example of Berlin's community taking something with negative memories and doing something positive with it in order to bring history alive and at the same time nurture their cities creativity. Ok not all the murals are mind blowing but it's still well worth a look, especially as big business is threatening to tear down this site and replace it with another generic office block of car park. From the end of the wall you can then cross the Oberbaum Bridge in to  Kreuzberg and you're now in West Berlin.  Kreuzberg is a pretty awesome part of the city to explore and is quickly taking over Friedrichshain's title of artist district. It might not seem as pretty, clean and outwardly welcoming but I urge you wander around and get lost. You'll discover some great wee eateries, riverside parties, amazing examples of street art by artists like BLU and a rich, diverse community that gives you a real insight to local life in Berlin.

History is everywhere in Berlin and it's hard to visit, explore or discuss the city without touching upon it's past, especially when there are so many visible reminders scattered across the city. The Berlin wall obviously still stands in sections which is impossible to experience without feeling a sense of how tough life behind it must have been. The centre of Berlin also seems like one big construction site, although some of this is due to what some are calling vanity projects this is also because they are still rebuilding parts of the city after it was pretty much flattened during the end of WW2. Bullet and shell holes are visible across many structures in the city as a powerful reminder of the conflict that once took place. Look down when you walk around the many areas of Berlin and you'll come across lots of small, brass cobbles which commemorate a Jewish person who died during the war placed in front of the building they used to live in. This all might sound very morbid but I think it's so important to experience these sights in order to learn, understand and feel emotion towards some of the darkest points in not just Berlin, but Europe's history. 

Another section rich with history and culture and probably one of our favourite areas visited was one of the last remaining artistic communities in Mitte in Rosenthaler Straße. This part of Mitte was the cheapest area to live in once the wall came down so many creatives set up camp and it grew in to a thriving, buzzing community which quickly attracted the big businesses and pushed the less wealthy out. In Rosenthaler Straße however one street has survived and houses a collection of galleries, studios, pubs, a cinema and cafes that are run by the residing artists. The area has survived capitalism due to the fact local hero Otto Weidt's workshop, where he saved many Jewish people during the war, is on this street and so the street is listed. Walking through entrance you are blown away by the amount of amazing street art and the friendly buzz of this place. There is an amazing art shop featuring work by local artists where I could have spent hundreds in and the Otto Weidt museum is also well worth a visit to learn about this amazing man, his family and friends. 

Berlin has everything you could possibly want to discover in a city. A thriving creative culture, determined and passionate locals, diverse communities, a rich history and exciting future. It's arrogant but humble, liberal but capitalist, poor but sexy. No matter what your background or interests there is something for everyone and I'm 100% convinced you will have a blast letting this city take you along for the ride, and if you're anything like us you really wont want to leave. 

Koh Samui & Koh Tao, Thailand.

Our original plan wasn't to go to Thailand, we were supposed to go to Japan but due to the earthquake and tsunami hitting and devastating Japan a few weeks before our intended arrival we had to re-plan our original route. This was done with a heavy heart as we really wanted to see Japan and help them out with our tourism but sadly our trip there will have to wait til another time.

So there we were in Melbourne, a couple weeks visa left and no real plans set in stone. We had two options; go home early (which we were already doing by three weeks for a wedding) or find an alternative option in Asia. It was a no brainer. Vietnam and Cambodia were our original focus as the idea of Thailand had never really appealed to me. From what I had heard it sounded completely over run with westerners and that western culture was creeping in. Our new flights were sorted out thanks to Kerry at STA (we owe all our limbs to for her incredible help) who had arranged a reroute to Singapore instead of Tokyo which was awesome as it's so cheap and easy to get around Asia from Singa. So with our flights booked it was just a matter of deciding where we'd be heading for. A late night binge of internet due to insomnia was to seal our fate. During the night googling I stumbled across a volunteer marine conservation programme on a small tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand. Knowing that Ryan loved diving it was perfect so we threw caution to the wind and booked our places hoping that the island would be as small and isolated from western culture as promoted.

Within a week we were scooting our way to Thailand landing in Koh Samui where we were to spend two nights before our placements on our “tropical island” (Koh Tao) began. Koh Samui is probably one of the better known islands in the gulf of Thailand as it's the biggest and most developed. That's if McDonalds, Tesco, fake clothes shops and English pubs are your idea of development. There's no harm in biting the bullet and absorbing yourself in the tacky lady boy, buckets of booze culture that Thailand has become so well known for. It is a great night out but just remember, there's more to Thailand than what the tourist industry has marketed it to be. Hire a scooter and you will find some awesome parts of Samui that represent a more realistic view of the Thai way of life. Some beautiful beaches, wee fishing towns and amazing temples are but a few things to explore and zipping around on a scooter is also a great way to shake off that Samsong bucket hangover. Just don't be a douche and pay to ride around on the backs of the mistreated and ill kept elephants that get promoted in a couple places on the island.

After a couple days of drinking Singha, eating Phad Thai, driving precariously around on a scooter and sweating our own body weight thanks to the high humidity and heat it was time for us to get the ferry across to Koh Tao. If you don't like sailing, don't go to Koh Tao. Unless that is you like watching a family of Chinese people vomiting throughout the entire journey due to the large size of waves and small size of the boat. It's also a bit disconcerting when you see sunk ship's masts sticking out the top of the water. Apart from all this we quite enjoyed the journey as it gives you an amazing view of Koh Phagnam and Koh Tao when you pull up to it. All these islands I should mention have become pretty famous thanks to 'The Beach' which was written whilst travelling around these islands and so making them the massive tourist attractions they are today. When you see these green, forest covered islands appearing on the horizon they fit the image that's been pumped in to your head by films and the media. They also reminded me a bit of Rio's green mountain landscape. Anyway point being, they are a strangely familiar yet spectacular site.

When we arrived in Koh Tao it was straight on to the back of a pick up truck which drove us, along with other people, to the dive school where we were to commence our volunteer work. We arrived, were briefed, shown our accommodation and were left to settle in. Our room was under £10 a night and was complete with a fan, toilet and shower. Cold sea water shower and no flushing toilet but it was so cheap you can't really complain about that and the cold showers were actually pretty nice in the high temperatures. For the next two weeks Ryan worked under the sea and I worked on land, both of us helping to make Koh Tao environmentally cleaner. Koh Tao is a beautiful island and we soon became really good friends with the crew on our volunteer team and these guys really made our stay amazing. Many laughs were had in the Sea Bar where we widdled away our nights on the beach and under the palm trees drinking Singhas, Mojitos and smoking shisha. Many more laughs were had in the Rasta bar but this was due to something else entirely. God bless the Rasta Bar and it's amazing bunch of barmen who never failed to keep us entertained with connect four, shithead, pizzas and home grown produce. Deisha also had the pleasure of inking a few of us up before our departure and I think myself, Ryan and Claire can honestly say we wouldn't have wanted anybody else to take a bamboo to our skin.

Our two weeks flew by on Koh Tao and we couldn't bare to think about leaving so we decided to extend our time there for another week. Well after a cheeky night out in Koh Samui to bid farewell to Claire and Rosie that is. Our last week on Thailand and last week of our year out was spent soaking up the sun, snorkelling, hanging out with great people and living the life some people can only dream of. It was the perfect way to spend our last week travelling and it made us realise how totally lucky we were to have experienced such a lifestyle. It did also of course make us dread heading back to the cold, industrial life of the UK but all good things must come to an end.

Leaving Koh Tao was an emotional experience. I'm not sure whether it was because we were leaving such good friends and a great way of life, were utterly hungover or because we knew this really was the end. Perhaps it was a bit of everything. The year had seemed to fly by and on the flight back to Singapore I felt a total sense of denial that it had even happened. It's like my brain wanted to forget the amazing year I had experienced in order to cope with the fact it was over. A very strange sensation and one that left me feeling pretty melancholy during the entire flight. Thankfully Ryan was his usual amazing self and had booked us in to the Raffles Hotel for our last night in Singapore. After living the year in shared dorms, on floors, in vans, in tents and in rooms with salt water showers we were now about to spend the night in one of the most famous, expensive and posh hotels in the world. It was utterly amazing and probably the best way to cheer us up and finish our year off. And to top it all off we had a flushing toilet!

Our last day was spent consuming more than an acceptable amount of Singapore Slings before catching our over night flight to London. We were walking out in to the rain at Aberdeen Airport before we knew it and we hadn't even touched down when we were already scheming our next trip away.

It has been a fricking amazing year, that's all we can really say to sum it up. We've seen and done so many awesome things, met so many awesome people and visited so many awesome places that it's hard to believe it all really happened. Without a doubt the best time of our lives was had and the best thing is knowing we're going to do it all again some day, once the bank balances have evened themselves out again. One thing's for sure, we arrived home just as lost and broke as we were when we started, and we wouldn't change that for the world.

Melbourne, Australia.

When we arrived in Melbourne we couldn't believe how cold it was. We'd spent so many months bumming around in shorts, vests and no shoes that the sudden twenty degree temperature was a shock to the system. Jeans, shoes and jumpers were now a staple and we spent the first couple of days adjusting to the weather. Luckily though we were staying with Ryan's great aunt and uncle, May and Eddie, who provided us with a nice warm welcome, room and plenty of hot meals to keep us toasty and happy.

Our first week in Melbourne was spent catching up with Ryan's family and checking out Melbourne city. Our Aussie friend Mike also lives in Melbourne so we spent our first weekend bush camping with him and a couple of mates. It may have pretty scary but we had a blast and enjoyed a proper Aussie BBQ as well as an exploding rock fire and some cheap but nice wine.

The next weekend the three of us went to the Rip Curl Bells Comp at Bells beach in Torquay. Much goon was consumed and we got to watch the women's quarters, semis and final which was just epic. It was a great way to spend the weekend kicking back with good people, good food and not so good but acceptable wine.

Melbourne is a pretty cool city. It's a lot more fun to explore than Sydney and has a slightly nicer buzz about it. You are spoiled for choice with awesome little eateries, pubs and restaurants. Take a wander down the back streets and alleys and you'll soon stumble across some real gems in the form of independent shops and cafes serving the most delicious food. Melbourne also has an incredibly vibrant arts scene with a scattering of galleries and venues waiting to spoil you with an abundance of art, music and live acts. I know I've said this before about Perth but Melbourne really does have something for everybody. The culture is so diverse that no matter what you feel like watching/eating/drinking you'll soon find something to devour.

If you're thinking of going to Australia and want to go somewhere exciting, a bit different but contemporary then go to Melbourne. You wont be disappointed.

We Like Whale Sharks. West Coast Australia.

Unlike the East Coast of Australia I'm just going to do one big clump blog for the West Coast. This is not because the West Coast is any less deserving, it's mainly because we followed a similar pattern in each destination; drive, arrive, swim and drink. It's amazing though how this never becomes dull and I have come to heavily admire the life of a beach bum, however swollen their livers may be.

Our West Coast adventure started by meeting Jenn and Cal in Perth where we stayed for a couple of nights to pick up our camper vans and to watch an Australia Football League match. For those of you who are not familiar with AFL, get familiar! It is possibly the only team sport I can bring myself to watch. I'm not going to get in to any detail as to why you should watch it, figure that our for yourself.

After Perth we began our epic journey and headed North up the coast. Our first stop was the Pinnacles. The Pinnacles, for those of you who don't know, are a variety of rock formations that span for a good few kilometres. This may sound pretty boring but they are actually quite interesting and it's good to get out and have a wander around them all, admiring their different shapes and sizes. This was also to be our first encounter of one of the most annoying species on our trip, flies. It's hard for me to describe how many flies there were without sounding melodramatic so all I will say is this; I felt like one of those orphans you see on TV with flies all over their face. This may sound a little bit harsh and yes I had food and access to clean water but I have found a new sympathy for these children and will be donating to oxfam as soon as I get home.

Ignoring the flies, which was pretty much impossible. Oh Jenn actually sneezed one out that's how bad it was. But yes ignoring the flies, next we headed towards Kalbarri National Park which in a nutshell had lots of pretty stunning views of the coastline. The sea really is beautiful in Australia and it's almost like every coast you go to beats the one before. Which seems rather impossible at the time. After Kalbarri we headed up towards Shark Bay and Monkey Mia where we got to see some pretty antisocial dolphins, grown men getting picked to feed to the before said dolphins and yet again more awesome scenery. I loved Monkey Mia as it had an awesome campsite right on the beach so you could basically roll out of your van and in to the sea. You can't ask for much more than that can you?

Next on our trip was Coral Bay where we arrived just in time for sunset and WOW what a sunset. Because we had been on the East for so long we hadn't seen a sunset on the beach (as the sun rises from the sea on the east) so it was a pretty awesome sight to behold. We spent a couple days chilling here and basking in the water where we saw a large sting ray and that's about all. On our last night we drank in the sunset by having a BBQ right on the beach which was pretty special to say the least.

After Coral Bay it was time to head to Exmouth which was to be as far as we were going to go on this trip. Exmouth is famous for it's whale shark diving and swimming tours. As soon as you drive in to the town this is made apparent with whale shark statues and drawings for as far as the eye can see. This isn't the prettiest wee town but it caters for what it's main demand is – diving tourism. We had a couple of days to wait before our whale shark charter so we spent a day or two chilling at the pool and snorkelling Ningaloo Reef from Turquoise Bay. Remember what I said about the beaches getting better and better? Well Turquoise Bay pretty much took the biscuit. This has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever laid my eyes upon. When you lie on the beach and stare out at the crazily turquoise coloured water your eyes struggle to soak it all in, it's almost too perfect to compute. The snorkelling here is unbelievable, within a couple of minutes paddling you come across the most beautiful, vivid and lively corals just buzzing with sea life. We all saw some pretty amazing fish and it was pretty surreal having them swim around us so calmly. You can only hope that Ningaloo doesn't reach the same fate as the great barrier as that would be a great shame and loss but going by the amount of dead coral washed up and the amount of uneducated snorkelers getting completely unrestricted access to this natural paradise I fear it won't be long before tourism and humans take their toll on this delicate ecosystem.

After much lounging, turning in to prunes from excess water exposure and a few bad cases of sunburn it was finally time for our whale shark charter. Myself, Ryan and Jenn were beyond excited about this and getting up at 6am seemed less daunting than it should when we had the thought of a whale shark pressed on our minds. Whale Sharks are sharks, not whales, and are the biggest fish on the planet. They are pretty elusive and we don't know much about them but we do know the congregate in certain areas at certain times of the year, usually coinciding with coral spawning as they feed of this. Ningaloo, luckily for us, is one of the places in the world where whale sharks are regularly spotted and we had pretty much been promised a sighting of one of these amazing creatures. After a wee briefing and reef snorkel our charter boat set sail full speed ahead to go on the hunt for some whale sharks. The water around Ningaloo is so clear and sitting on the boat alone we saw giant turtles, spinner dolphins, black tip reef sharks and a bronze whaler shark. The latter of which is not the most comforting sight when you're about to jump in the water with ten other people and splash around. After half an hour or so our captain had caught word of a whale shark spotting and before we knew it we were in the water swimming along side on of these awesome creatures. They are MASSIVE, very beautiful and faster than they seem! We got to snorkel twice with three different sharks and each time was just as amazing as the first. If you ever get the chance to swim or dive with these sharks you really have to grab it because it will be one of the best things you ever do.

Whale Sharks were the highlight of our tour and the marking of the end being close. We packed up our things and headed back to Perth where we stayed a few more nights, ate some amazing food and got the opportunity to join a 6am beach walk and swim with my mum's friend Helen. The West Coast and Perth are pretty cool indeed. There's something for everybody and so much to explore! We were gutted not to make it down to Margaret River so that's a must for next time. Now it was time for us to hit up Melbourne and visit many friends and family for some very good times!

Maroochydore, East Coast Australia.

Not drastically different from Noosa, Maroochydore is a more industrial feeling town that sits slightly lower down on the east coast of Australia. Surf is yet again one of the locals main focuses and this is probably to do with the fact Maroochy boasts some of the best beaches on the coast. Like many other beaches on the east coast we have found the water temp warm, the sand white and clean and the presence of surf life savers high. Not to mention the sight of those lone paddle boarders who seem to appear suddenly in the line up as soon as your tempted to go for a paddle, a nationwide problem.

SUP's aside, Maroochy is yet another pleasant place to widdle away some time. We were pretty broke while we stayed there and constricted to a $20 a day budget so most activities we pursued were of the free kind. Going for walks, lazing on the beach, swimming in the sea and eyeing up the surf for a wee paddle were generally all we did during our week here. I should mention that the weather and humidity levels were extremely high during our stay so lethargy was a big problem. Our hostel, although nice, lacked any sort of air conditioning so our nights were sleepless and our days sleepy. When the weather is suffocating like that the best thing to do is to spend all day in the sea which really never gets boring, even if you are just sitting collecting sand and seashells in your bikini bottoms. Or you could do what we did and try and perfect the art of body surfing. Be warned you will scrape your body to bits and flash your norks to the entire beach as you surface realising your bikini top has been blasted off you, but it's good way to cool down and whittle away a good few hours. It really does never get boring, honestly.

I'm sure something else exciting must have happened while we were there but to be honest I have been a bit lazy on the blog front of late so my memory is a bit like candy floss. In a nutshell Maroochy is good and we'd go back if we were ever in the area again. How's that for a travel review?

Noosa, East Coast Oz.

We were looking forward to heading to Noosa as so many people we met had told us how epic it was. I personally liked the name so that was enough to sell it to me. Noosa's not too different to Byron or Yamba, I think it's a little bit bigger but it's spirit is the same; chilled out and beach orientated. We lucked out again with a super nice hostel so settled in on our first night and looked forward to not having to move our heavy bags for the next five nights.

In Noosa you're spoiled for choice with beaches and surf spots. We accidentally timed our stay during the surfing festival too so the water was full of longboarders waiting to fight over the scraps of sets coming in. We seem to be cursed when it comes to good conditions and arrived in Noosa for their worst week (according to the local surf shop man) all summer. The waves were ok for longboarders but not so fun with our shortboards, we were pretty much two of a handful of people not on fishes or longboards. Sunshine beach would have been a bit more promising had the winds not turned it in to a hectic mushy mess. So the first couple of days were spent chilling at our rad hostel and just cruising about town. The weather was nice and everybody in Noosa is super friendly so we coped fairly well despite the lack of the surf.

When we finally got in the water, it wasn't the best but it was good to get a paddle in the super warm water and ride some of the local waves. The beach and surf comp had been evacuated out the water the day after our arrival due to two great whites but thankfully we never came across them during our time in the water. I bet they're gutted about that one, we would have made two tasty snacks after munching on fish and chips.

One of our highlights of our time in Noosa had to be Australia Zoo. It was simply epic. It's more like a safari park than a zoo as all the animals are pretty much left to roam around in massive enclosures that are acres large (the zoo is over 72 acres in total and still expanding as they create a massive Africa land). Some animals aren't even enclosed and are left to freely roam around the park interacting with other animals and all the tourists. The fact that loads of the animals could easily escape but choose not to said a lot about the place. Highlights of the zoo had to be holding a baby Tasmanian devil, being able to walk around and feed kangaroos in their fields and getting to feed the giraffes. We weren't allowed too close to the giraffes as they are easily scared, skittish and can kick or lash out easily but it was still an awesome experience. It's probably the first zoo we've ever been to where we haven't felt sorry for the animals or felt that they are hard done by. On the contrary many were rescued animals or severely endangered species that were the result of a breeding programme.

We were a bit gutted that Steve Irwin wasn't there but he still has a massive beyond the grave presence, appearing on every animal information plaque, on all information leaflets and even plastered on the side of the bus you take the zoo. You even watch Stevo films on the one hour journey to and from the zoo. It's Stevo overload but I think he's a legend so it kept me amused throughout.

Noosa seemed to attract a lot of mellow people so we had good times just hanging around the hostel in between visits to the beach and food shop. There was also a sun melted ping pong table that we utilised during our ciders, just a shame there was no champagne on offer to indulge in cham-pong. When it came to our last night we begrudgingly packed up our bags, which by the way seem to be no lighter despite sending home about 20kg of clothes each. We woke up early and pulled our heavy shells on to our backs and trudged to the bus where we met our first arse of a greyhound driver and headed back down the coast to Maroochydore. Again I liked the name of this place so I had a good feeling some good times would be had. The theory had worked out so far.

Surfers Paradise, East Coast Oz.

Yeah, it's a dump.