RAKIRAKI On the way out from Vatia Beach we didn't leave anything to the chance and pooled a taxi to the main road. From there it is a short bus ride to Rakiraki and then a few minutes on a local bus to our resort. I couldn't find anything 'budget' on a short notice, but I've decided that we deserve a treat and booked us in for a couple of nights at Wnanawu Beach Resort. Still not too expensive, definitely worth the buck. Beautiful room with ocean view terrace and a bathroom

NADI F@*! Fiji!!! This is going to ruin the rest of our trip and dry up our budget! Yes, first thoughts were not promising at all. It has appeared to me like we have landed in a ridiculously expensive up market destination, where you can't simply get out of the claws of chain hotels. My AirBnB homestay in Nadi town has cancelled on us upon arrival on the airport, so we were forced to seek a hotel while we find ground under our feet. Booking.com turned out to be a good bet and

AUCKLAND 'Well, this is a big village!', was my first thought and possibly the first words too when we've arrived in the suburbs of this New Zealand metropolis. Truth to be said I've Airbeeandbeed us a room quite far off the city centre, but they could have turned some street lights on! The thrill turned nightmarish when our autumn evening stroll has been interrupted by rain and we have arrived on our hosts door step soaking wet. Must have been quite a sight. Auckland looked

SYDNEY It was a difficult but quick goodbye from our hippie. Both of us enjoyed the somewhat gypsy lifestyle a bit too much, but we have arrived to our next destination, Sydney. I'm looking forward to stroll around in a city and Majka is looking forward to a civilised bathroom. We are renting a room in an apartment just a few minutes walk from Coogee or Bondi Beach in an apartment with ocean views. Pretty cool if you're asking me! Our first visit the next morning took us stra

AUSTRALIAN ROAD TRIP She was a Mitsubishi LS300 'Hippie Camper'. With purple and yellow flower and butterfly 'tattoos' on her white body. We have picked her up in the suburbs of Cairns and drove her south immediately after a short introductory to the driving cabin, living space, kitchenette and battery charging instructions. We drove past the city one last time and stopped for supplies in a local supermarket. BBQ food will be on the menu for the next 16 days, so we are shoppi

NUSA LEMBONGAN We have left Amed hoping that my Australian Visa will arrive in time we get to Denpasar. Majka's, of course, was in time while mine must raised some alarms and I had to send in additional 'paperwork'. The plan was to wait out our early morning flight on the airport. Once in Denpasar, it was obvious that we needed a new plan as my Visa was nowhere yet. Denpasar was not an option, Nusa Lembongan however is a small island close enough and sounding good enough to s

UBUD Bali is not that large of an island but it doesn't make it really easy for you to travel on your own. Renting a scooter is one way, but it would have had to be one with a sidecar in our case as the 2 of us with 2 backpacks would look quite funny on the back of a Honda Scoopy. So this is how we ended up getting the not at all popular in Indonesia, Uber. Yes. With all the hustlers this arrangement works out the least hurting for our budget and mental health. I do realise I

KOMODO ISLANDS Once we run down Kawah Iljen and returned to the parking lot by 8.30 am, it already felt like a good days work has been done. But the day has just started. We still had to catch a bus, cross to Bali on one of the infamous Indonesian ferries and then ride to the 'capital' city of the island, Denpasar. On paper all looked doable and I hoped that we can still enjoy the afternoon in the city. Wrong! We got to our desired accommodation no sooner than 6pm, tired and

KAWAH IJEN We have changed cars twice before lunch and the last driver ditched us just after lunch break stuffing us into a almost full minivan with another group on same itinerary. In one hand that was more fun, but it was definitely less comfortable. This time we have arrived to our accommodation for Kawah Ijen still by daylight, but it was getting dark quick. Sempel is an unassuming little village and it was pretty much deserted the time we got there. There was however a c

MOUNT BROMO Since we were the only ones signing up for the Mount Bromo tour through our agency, we have enjoyed a private mini van for ourselves. Can't be good for our carbon footprint, but it was definitely comfortable. We both could take up 6 seats each although no matter how hard I've tried I could only take 3 at a time. By the time we have arrived in Cemoro Lawang, that was our base for Bromo, it was already well past sunset. At this time of the evening the village didn't