Berlin / Amsterdam / London - Egypt!!

Hi sports fans,

Well after we last left you we headed back to camp in Warsaw for some dinner, before joining the majority of our group in a spot of tenpin bowling. It was a team event, with total scores counting.... when our time was up (for some reason in that part of the world you pay for time as opposed to per game) our team was a measly 30 pins behind. However it must be noted that the opposition had completed all 10 frames, while our team was only half way through our 8th...so while technically we lost...it was a hollow victory for the other team!!

The next morning we boarded our faithful stead for the trip to Berlin. Upon arrival we did a driving tour with Robbie, before heading to camp for an early night in preparation for the following day. First up the next morning was something that we had been particularly looking forward to, a 3rd reich tour with a local guide. The guide was absolutely superb and we had a brilliant time exploring the history of Nazi Germany in the countries capital. The tour took us up until lunchtime, and once we had finished lunch we set out for what was one of the true highlights of our entire time away for Arnoux.... a trip to the world renowned Berlin zoo!! We spent about 7 hours exploring this massive place, seeing everything from baby Orangutan's to a vulture tearing apart a rat for dinner!! They even had Bison, which are extinct in the wild, as well as baby everythings since it was that time of the year... Arnoux was simply beside herself. Bianca and I were not even allowed a rest stop for fear of missing something!!! I must admit though we all had an excellent day, and it really does deserve its reputation as one of the worlds great zoos!!

After dinner with the group at a local restaurant we headed back to camp. There was not a lot of sleep had that night by at least one of us.... as the following morning we were headed to Amsterdam!!! The group has never packed up so quickly....admittedly I was running around helping people take their tents down, and generally making sure that things were done in an orderly fashion. It felt like the longest drive day ever, but eventually we arrived.... First stop was at a little shop outside of town for a clog making demonstration and a spot of cheese tasting.... the guy was a little strange to say the least, but we all made it out alive so no complaints here.

From there it was off to set up camp at the busiest campsite in the world!! Luckily we had a spot reserved for us so there was no problem there, and once everything was set up we could finally head into town. When we got there Robbie did a little walking tour of the city, Arnoux and I ran ahead to a coffeeshop, and met up with the rest of the bunch as they walked past...feeling much more relaxed for some reason.....

After a spot of dinner, which for Arnoux and I consisted of fries drowned in mayo, we headed off for an evening of 'cultural education'.... or a sex show as it is more commonly known. We had prime seats for the spectacle, and a couple of lads from our group even got on stage to lend a helping hand. Being the well behaved chap that I am I politely declined an invitation to join the second lady, so I let Grant have my seconds since he had spent the previous 3 weeks striking out with girls of every nationality you could possibly imagine!!!

Once our education had come to a close, a few of us decided to delay our ride back to camp in favour of a few more visits to the local coffeeshops, with a stroll through the red light district thrown in for good measure. Eventually it was time to retire, so we made our way back to central station for a tram back to camp.

The next day was a free day, so we spent the first part of it catching up on our souvenir / present shopping, as well as a few return trips to a coffeeshop or 2....just for a bit of variety. When lunchtime rolled around we met up with Bianca for a visit to the pancake bakery, which we had discovered on our previous trip sells the best pancakes on the planet!! They did not disappoint. From there we made a visit to the sex museum, which was also just as entertaining the second time around, before meeting up with the group for dinner. After dinner it was time for our farewell canal cruise. Thankfully the price of this cruise included all you could drink for the 90 minutes that we were on the water!! Needless to say once we returned to dry land, nobody was ready to head back to camp so we found a local bar and boogied the night away! You all would have been rather impressed with the performance put in by our beloved Arnoux...she was truely on fire..... dancing her little heart out, smiling non stop, and taking approximately 843 photos for everyone to remember the evening by... they certainly came in handy the next morning!!!

The packup the next morning had a rather sombre feel to it, the fact that it was our last day together had a tough one to swallow. Nevertheless we set off for Calais for our ferry to dover, and our drive back to London. We all said our goodbyes and most people managed to keep in the tears. Luckily a few of us were staying at the same hostel, so we got to sign off on our journey with a convincing pub quiz win in the hostel bar!!!

After 7 amazing weeks our europe adventure finally came to a close. It is impossible to pick one highlight, there were so, so, so many. All we can really say is that it was an experience that we will never ever forget, and Robbie, Jimmy, and Marissa / Mari / Marge...... if you are reading this, thank you so so much for everything. We truely could not have asked for a better crew, and we will always owe so much of our experience to you!! If anyone out there is thinking of doing a tour of europe, we can 150% reccommend Topdeck, they are awesome!!! www.topdecktours.co.uk

I SAY TOP, YOU SAY DECK!!

The next morning, we had to hit the bricks early, as we only had one full day in London, and we had plenty to sort out. But we managed to get it all done, sent all our souvenirs etc home, picked up a few things from Deanne and Davides place, paid a final visit to our wonderful travel agent Olivia to get our travel documents for Egypt and Africa, and caught up with most people that we needed to for one last goodbye.

The next day was departure day, and after lunch with Uncle Neil and Aunty Helen, we set off for Heathrow. The plane trip went without a hitch, and miraculously BA didnt lose our luggage. When we arrived in Cairo, the On the Go rep was there to meet us, and we set off for our hotel. We finally crawled into bed at 2.30am and Im pretty sure that we were both asleep before our heads even hit the pillow!!

The following morning was one that we had both been eagerly anticipating for a very very long time!! We paid a visit to the pyramids and the sphinx at Giza. Nothing can ever really prepare you for the sheer enormity of them. I mean, you know that they are big and impressive, but just how big and how incredibly impressive they are still takes your breath away!! Both Arnoux and I were not terribly excited about going inside, as the tunnels are rather a tight squeeze, but no way were we missing out, so we sucked it up and got on with it!! After we picked our jaws up off the sand, we headed for our next stop, the local Papyrus museum. It was a great oppourtunity to get some genuine Papyrus ( which is a type of paper made from the papyrus plant that is used as a canvas) instead of getting ripped off in the markets buying banana leaf versions. After a spot of lunch we set off again, this time to the tomb of Ptah-Hotep from 2400 BC. The detail of the carvings was truely amazing!! Given that it was about 40 degrees, I dont think that there was a single person in the group that wasnt delighted when we found out that our next stop was a resort where we could swim, drink beer and relax. You could actually swim right up to the bar and order your drink too, which I think is a facility that should be much more common in NZ.... just a thought. After a simply devine dinner at the resort restaurant, followed by a spot of sheesha, we headed for the train station to board our overnight train to Aswan. We both got a lot more sleep than we thought we might, it was actually pretty comfortable aside from the heat which is of course nobodys fault. When we arrived in Aswan we transferred to the hotel for a freshen up and some lunch before heading out again. After being presented with our free tshirts we set off for our first stop, the high dam of Aswan. This is the home of the largest artificial lake in the world, the Nasser...you learn something new everyday...I thought something like that would of been done by the bloody Americans!!

From there we jumped on board a boat for the short trip out to the Temple of Philae. This was impressive enough as it was, until we found out that they had completely relocated it in the 70s to avoid it being lost to the rising level of the lake!! After a breif stop at the Aswan markets, where we picked up a new bag for Arnoux to replace her pack that had given up that morning, it was back to the hotel for a well earned swim and some dinner.

This morning we have some free time to enjoy the sun, and most likely the pool, before we board our Felucca this afternoon for 2 days and 2 nights sailing on the mighty Nile river!!

For photos of the above adventures, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shananjames/BerlinAmsterdamLondonEgypt