Travel Guides

From April 10 to 13 this year was the Easter long weekend. This is a time when many people go on a holiday, often camping or in a caravan. Wan, Brenton and I went camping the Flinders Ranges, a large set of mountain ranges in central South Australia considered the start of the Australian Outback.

On Thursday Wan and I drove from Kongorong to Adelaide (about 5 hours), picked up Brenton from his work about 3pm, organised our camping gear and supplies at his house, then drove another 2 hours north of Adelaide to Clare Valley. This is a good place to stop on the way to the Flinders (which is another 3 to 4 hours drive, not because it is one of Australia's many popular wine regions, but because our friends Rob and Meg live there and we get free camping. We set up our tent at their place, enjoyed a BBQ dinner, and got on the road again by about 11am Friday. [Rob and Meg have a nice simple setup on their 100 acres, and about a week after visiting them they had their first kid, Willow. Check out their journey).

We drove via Jamestown, Orroroo, Carrieton and Craddick to Hawker and then arrived at Wilpena Pound (the heart of the Flinders Ranges) about 3pm. There are two caravan/camping parks: Wilpena Pound and Rawnsley Station. Both are pretty good - this time we stayed at Wilpena Pound for $27 per night (unpowered site, 3 people). You can also stay in the National Park, especially in places like Brachina Gorge, which is much more peaceful bush camping.

The weather was perfect for the trip. Everyday was about 28 degrees, with the occasional cloud. At night time it was not too cold, especially with the fire. What did we do there? A lot of time was spent relaxing with a beer at the camp site. On Saturday we went on an easy 3 hour trek up to Hill's Homestead and then to a lookout with a great view of Wilpena Pound. On Sunday we drove up through Bunyeroo and Brachina gorges, and then back towards Wilpena via Stokes Lookout. There are plenty of other places to go and things to do, but this weekend we all wanted to relax a bit. So after a couple of boxes of Coopers and half a dozen bottles of red we made our way home to Adelaide on Monday (and then back to Kongorong on Tuesday).

Photos are available in the Gallery, as well as at Brenton's Facebook page.

On arrival to Australia, we had four nights in Adelaide, staying in the city at the Country Comfort Motel on South Terrace. Adelaide is a quiet city. Although the population is about 1 million, the centre of the city is small and everyone is quite laid back (to the extent that the city is almost dead on weeknights and Sundays).

Staying on South Terrace, within 5 minutes walk of King William Street is great because there is a free tram running from South Terrace to North Terrace during the day. Most shopping, cultural and entertainment venues are near North Terrace. Some of the things we did while in Adelaide included:

• Shopping (or at least window shopping) in Rundle Mall
• Visited the South Australian Museum (free entry)
• Wandered down North Terrace admiring the statues and old majestic buildings, and through Adelaide University to the River Torrens
• Lunch and shopping in the Central Market, which includes Chinatown and some good Asian grocers
• Tram to Glenelg Beach
• Coopers Pale and Sparkling Ales, as well as red wines at the Austral and Exeter on Rundle Street
• Dinner at the Red Ochre Restaurant (see me separate review), as well as at pubs and restaurants around Adelaide

On Friday we borrowed Brentons Pajero and drove up to Cleland Wildlife Park. Here is a great collection of Australian animals, most of which you can get close to and feed. We saw: kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils, emus, echidnas, bandicoots, wallabies, wombats and all sorts of birds. There is also a snake farm. Well worth a visit if you are in Adelaide.

On Saturday morning Mum and Dad arrived in Adelaide and we all went up to Barossa Valley for some wine tasting. The first stop was Chateau Barossa, a new winery built by the guy who owned Chateau Yaldara. The wines were not special, but the highlight was the large rose garden outside. It was opened by the Queen Elizabeth II on here previous visit to Australia. Lunch was at a snack shop in Tanunda (Wan tried a Hamburger with the lot and was full after 1/3 of it). Then on to Jacob's Creek Winery which had some nice wines.

Back on Adelaide we had dinner at the Gilbert Hotel. It was great food and atmosphere until I noticed the last couple of mouthfuls of my chicken schnitzel was uncooked. Not sure how much of it was uncooked but luckily there were no side effects the next day.

On Sunday we made our way to Mum and Dad's home in Kongorong near Mt Gambier (about 450km south of Adelaide).

Wan was visiting Bangkok over the past week, so I took the opportunity to get out and about, both to some new places around Bangkok as well as back to some visited too long ago.

Photo Gallery

Wat Phra Keow

This area is the main tourist destination in Bangkok, and for good reason. Many excellent buildings, the emerald Buddha and royal palace. It was hot with plenty of tourists, but definitely worth a second visit.

Wat Pho

The giant reclining Buddha is the star attraction here, but I took more notice of the maze of pagodas and buildings around the complex this time. This is a good place to walk around for an hour or two (bring an umbrella), then eat across the road at one of the small street restaurants and finally get a massage.

The Wat Pho massage is well known, mainly because they have classes for learning how to massage. I had a body massage which was ok, but not as good as Hua Hin, nor Zeer Rangsit. At 360 Baht it is bit on the expensive side as well.

Saxophone: Jazz Bar and Restaurant

A few of my friends go to Saxophone quite often, so I figured I would check it out. Its a farang-oriented jazz place at Victory Monument. Its got a nice dark pub atmosphere (similar to English/Irish pubs in Australia), some ok food, good music and plenty of cocktails. As you may expect for this combination, its a bit pricey, but worth a visit. Apparently it gets very crowded after 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

Cowboy House

An outdoor pub/restaurant in Klong Luang, Pathumthani, about 5 minutes taxi ride from Thammasat Rangsit. Has some good food, beer and often a guy playing popular English songs on guitar. Almost opposite the nightclub/restaurant/live band place which I think is called Bang Pleeng.

Talad Thai

I have been 3 or 4 times already. This time we went about 6am and bought some prawns to cook for breakfast. I must go more often, as it takes about an hour (and 80 baht) to go there, buy some food and get back to my room. It will be even more convenient when I get my car ...

Buddhamonthon

Also known as Phutthamonthon, this is a large religious site and park in Nakhon Pathom, with the main attraction being the 16 metre standing bronze gold Buddha. The park is very nice, and there is supposed to be some excellent flower gardens somewhere (I think they had just been removed when I went). We caught a taxi there, which is a problem because its such a large park that you need a bicycle (there are none for hire) or car to cover all of it. Although there was a cafeteria, I recommend going with a picnic hamper.

Don Whai Riverside Market

After wandering around Buddhamonthon, we went to the nearby Don Whai Riverside Market. It was a very popular market, selling a mostly fresh food, snacks and small knick-knacks. We went on a 1 hour boat tour up the river, viewing some of the riverside homes (both old style and new three storey houses), eating fresh ice cream and feeding some fish. There are some restaurants on the river, and duck is a speciality.

Not a very imaginative name, but a nice place to stay while in Hua Hin. The Guest House Hua Hin is in Takiab beach, about 5 km from the centre of Hua Hin. I stayed there fore 5 nights over New Years 2007, along with 11 other friends (although not all at the same time).

My friend Brenton is visiting Thailand again, this time with a group of his friends from Japan. For the first few days of his trip he made plans to go to several tourist attractions in the provinces of Khorat (นครราชสีมา) and Buriram (บุรีรัมย์). Once I knew Brenton would be travelling alone for these three days, I decided to keep him company. This is an overview of our trip, starting Friday 21 December 2007 and ending on Monday 24 December.

The Honey Inn is a family run guest house in Nang Rong, Buriram. Brenton and I stayed there for 2 nights in December 2007.

Brenton found this place via the Lonely Planet Guide (I think). I booked via the phone about 1 week prior to arriving. Booking was easy as the guy who runs it speak perfect English (he is Thai), and if his mother answers she puts him on the phone immediately. I would expect most times you wouldn't need to book, but I think on the weekend we were there it was almost full.

World and country statistcs compiled from various sources such as CIA, UN, OECD etc.

Large number of resources on Thailand run by a local Thai school. Includes links and info on most of the tourist regions in Thailand.

Populations of regions and cities across the world. Includes interactive maps.

Thai Embassy in Australia

Consulate information from Australia including Visa information and application form

Lot of detailed information on living and working in Thailand.

Information on visa and work permits in Thailand

A short survey of teachers living in Thailand (mainly Bangkok), how much they earn (range from 30000 Baht per month to 150,000) and what they spend it on. Very good read.