Strut World Tours Advice Centre

Junior

I spelt Centre correctly.

Holla. I am off on a travelling adventure for a couple of months from December onwards which has changed significantly from the original plan but now contains the following locations:

Cambodia
South Vietnam
Aussieland (East and south coast)
New Zealand south island
Hawaii
San Fran
Iceland

I think I have a reasonable amount of Australia time planned out up but have failed to do any real research so far on Cambodia (beyond Angkor Wat) or where best to go in South Vietnam. As the Stutter massive are a well travelled group of individuals I thought you may be able to drop some knowledge?

I also know zilch about Hawaii and am there for a few weeks, likely based on Maui, would gratefully take advice here. I think the only Strutter who lives there is/was Brian?

Needless to say if any Strutter is living in any of these locations and is free I would be delighted to say hello and share a beer or two, time permitting.... 

Duderonomy

The big 40 prompting a midlife crisis Junior?

My brother lives in Cambodia and has a small place he rents. Otres Beach.

I might be able to put some connections together in Bangkok too.

Memphis? Barcelona?

Junior

Ha ha! But of course, my whole life is just a series of staggered crisises crisisisis crises. 

I did not expect you to have connections in Cambodia, but that sounds promising. Have you been there? Any recommendations? We'll likely be doing more adventuring than sunlounging.

Mainland USA visit is a whistlestop this time round with plans to visit more states another time. Barcelona is also sadly not on the agenda for this trip but am hopefully going to get there in the next year  or so. They even have a bus direct which only takes about 24hrs.....Please to have the slammers lined up for when I come calling.

Duderonomy

Last time I was in Cambodia was 2001 - I expect it's changed a lot. Otres is not far from Phnom Penh and the nearest town is Sihanoukville, and there is probably a bus to Angkor Wat either from Otres or definitely from Sihanoukville. My brother's been there 2 years and loves it. I can ask him about bus connections as I haven't visited him yet and my girlfriend would also like to see Angkor. He may also be able to recommend other excursions (boat trips to little islands and shit).

Lonely Planet gives Otres a good write up https://www.lonelyplanet.com/cambodia/sihanoukville/attractions/otres-beach/a/poi-sig/441770/355898

Junior

Ah that would be excellent if you could Duder! Reading that is the first time in a while I have been able to put the stress of organising everything to the side for a bit and actually be excited about the trip again.

I shall add this to the beers I am due purchasing for you....(if you ever come to Cologne I can stack them up).

ketan

Junior said:

I also know zilch about Hawaii and am there for a few weeks, likely based on Maui, would gratefully take advice here. I think the only Strutter who lives there is/was Brian?

I've only been to Kauai, and it was gorgeous and full of great hiking.  I've heard from others who have traveled around the isles that Kauai is the least developed/most scenic. We found a place to stay on the beach using AirBNB or whatever was going at the time.

If you're into soundscapes, make sure to visit Audium when in San Fran: http://www.audium.org/

Okem

i have nothing constructive to add

Duderonomy

What dates are you thinking of Cambodia A*i?

Almost forgot, I could ask my dad about South Vietnam, but Ho Chi Min City was called Saigon when he was there  

johnblack

Can field any NZ / South Island questions.

Junior

Duderonomy said:

What dates are you thinking of Cambodia A*i?

Almost forgot, I could ask my dad about South Vietnam, but Ho Chi Min City was called Saigon when he was there  

I'd hate to be responsible for your Pops going into flashback meltdown.....

We arrive in Cambodia on the 7th of December and then will be spending time there and subsequently Vietnam before flying off to Oz on the 29th December. So probably a couple of weeks in Cambodia before crossing the border. Hmm, I'm beginning to suspect that this is possibly all a bit too laissez-faire. 

Surely there must be a Christmas in Nam song?

John, I would be highly grateful for any recommendations for NZ. Definitely planning on checking out the glaciers and have a place to stay at weekends but no other plans apart from travelling around a bit so very happy to have places to check out.

Flomotion

Ironically, people there say Saigon again these days - full circle. Saigon's worth 2/3 days but it's also the starting point for various Mekong Delta tours, anything from a few hours to a few days. Recommended, although not sure how I feel about the ones where you get to fire machine guns while your ex- S. Vietnamese army guide looks on. Vung Tau is just south - beaches, bars etc or you could take the sleeper train north to Hoi An. Vietnam's beautiful. Well, Saigon's not but it is fun.

johnblack

With the South Island, I would rent a little camper
www.jucy.co.nz
http://www.spaceshipsrentals.co.nz/
www.wickedcampers.co.nz
and do a lap.
starting wherever, but from Christchurch for example:
head north up the east coast and go through Kaikoura, Marlborough Sounds, Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park, Golden Bay.
Zig back to Motuaka and head down the middle and head over to the west Coast (Westport) and roll down the coast to the glaciers.
Head inland at Haast and get some Mountains and Lakes in to you, do Queenstown and then south to Invercargill and head back to the east coast for the Catlins area.
then back up the coast Via Dunedin and the awesome Otago peninsular and back to Christchurch.

Junior

johnblack said:

With the South Island, I would rent a little camper
www.jucy.co.nz
http://www.spaceshipsrentals.co.nz/
www.wickedcampers.co.nz
and do a lap.
starting wherever, but from Christchurch for example:
head north up the east coast and go through Kaikoura, Marlborough Sounds, Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park, Golden Bay.
Zig back to Motuaka and head down the middle and head over to the west Coast (Westport) and roll down the coast to the glaciers.
Head inland at Haast and get some Mountains and Lakes in to you, do Queenstown and then south to Invercargill and head back to the east coast for the Catlins area.
then back up the coast Via Dunedin and the awesome Otago peninsular and back to Christchurch.

Excellent, this sounds like a plan and a half - I will start plotting it out when I get home this evening. Cheers John!

Thanks as well Flo, I think I'd skip anything involving weapons of any kind but the tour sounds interesting,

Big_Stacks

Hey Junior,

Kauai is beautiful!!!  If you go there, make sure you go see the Waimea Canyon and the Napali mountain range (the site of the mountains from "Jurassic Park."  Clearly, Kauai is the most remote and lovely island of the Hawaii island chain. If possible, then check out the 'Road to Hana' tour on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  It's harrowing yet beautiful at the same time.  Enjoy your trip!!!  I took the pictures below when the wife and I visited Kauai (and Maui too) back in 2014.


Waimea Canyon (the 'Grand Canyon' of Hawaii)


Napali Mountain Range

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

Junior

Big_Stacks said:

Hey Junior,

Kauai is beautiful!!!  If you go there, make sure you go see the Waimea Canyon and the Napali mountain range (the site of the mountains from "Jurassic Park."  Clearly, Kauai is the most remote and lovely island of the Hawaii island chain. If possible, then check out the 'Road to Hana' tour on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  It's harrowing yet beautiful at the same time.  Enjoy your trip!!!


Waimea Canyon (the 'Grand Canyon' of Hawaii)


Napali Mountain Range

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

Hey Stacks,

Thanks for the advice! Starting to really regret going for Maui over Kauai at the moment based on this thread so going to see if I can fly over there for a few days (as it looks like they got rid of all the ferries).
Having said that, the Road To Hana looks amazing so that has gone to the top of my to do list while visiting the islands.....

klezmer electro-thug beats

allow me to  johnblack on the south island, that route covers the bases and then some. if you aren't spending as much time, I'd still try to hit both coasts if possible, the west coast with its glaciers is pretty unreal, and Otago Peninsula good too.

I like Dunedin a lot but most tourists don't bother with it much. Moeraki is the beach nearish Dunedin with the perfect smooth spherical boulders, that's pretty cool, and there's a cute railway through the Taeri Gorge I like.

North of Dunedin, on the harbour:


West coast w/pohutakawa tree:

Junior

Thanks KETB, those pictures are actually getting me excited about the trip again. I also just looked up the railway and it's leapt onto my must-experience list.

Re: Hawaii, you guys have convinced me. I'm actually going to look this weekend about the possibility changing my flights to also include Kauai as it looks too good to pass up.....

Now I just need to also extend the trip by 3 months as well.

white_tea

Can I say this one? 

Is that a world tour or your girl's tour?

kicks79

Holla if you want to hang out in Sydney.

vintageinfants

Junior said:

Duderonomy said:

What dates are you thinking of Cambodia A*i?

Almost forgot, I could ask my dad about South Vietnam, but Ho Chi Min City was called Saigon when he was there  

I'd hate to be responsible for your Pops going into flashback meltdown.....

We arrive in Cambodia on the 7th of December and then will be spending time there and subsequently Vietnam before flying off to Oz on the 29th December. So probably a couple of weeks in Cambodia before crossing the border. Hmm, I'm beginning to suspect that this is possibly all a bit too laissez-faire. 

Surely there must be a Christmas in Nam song?

Junior

That is a rather lovely slice of deep soul. Quality bit of Jack Taylor.

Kicks, only in Sydney for a long weekend but would love to hang out if there's time. Will holla once I know what the plans are!

Duderonomy

PM'd Al*.

trzakhstan

I like Hawaiian food, plate lunch loco moco with extra scoop of macaroni salad.

johnblack

Aaaaaand, half the routes in the middle of the south island are toast, and the beautiful Kaikoura coast has been changed forever.
a truly wild 7.8 quake has hammered all sorts of things in NZ.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Kaikoura_earthquake

Junior

Yeah I've been following this closely, not only from a selfish vested interest in the places I will no longer see but also due to the friends I have in Christchurch and the unbelievable destruction it has wrecked on the island as a whole. Absolutely devastating - my only relief is that the actual fatalities were so low.
I hope all friends and family out there are ok and getting support.

johnblack

Luckily CHCH escaped ok, all my family and friends are there and when i found out where it was i was freaked.
we felt it up in Raglan and I assumed it was either Wellington or Taranaki... never thought the shake we felt could have been that far south.
I hope your friends in CHCH are all good, i know first hand what a shake is like there and how far it can set your recovery back.
I still have friends in Kaikoura that I have not heard from, can only assume their lives are now upside down.

Junior

Glad to hear your family are all ok John. Yeah my friends are freaked out but all seem to be physically ok which, in the long run, is the most important thing. Think it's going to be a very different experience travelling round the area now then when we first started planning the trip.

Junior

Flying out tomorrow so just wanted to thank you all for your help and advice (L** I spoke to your brother for a bit before he went strangely silent on me). See you on the other side.....

the_dL

you set for Southern Aussie stuff?

Duderonomy

Junior said:

(L** I spoke to your brother for a bit before he went strangely silent on me).

I did say he's gone beach mode. Sorry.

Junior

Ha ha it's all good, he got back to me this morning. Your bro is a funny guy (compliment-r  not Pesci-r).

Hey dl, In Australia from 30th Dec to 17th Jan. Straight south east coasting. Where you at? Kicks I will hopefully holla when we have some semblance of a plan...