A rough start to the travel to Chiang Mai, little did we realise that wouldn’t be the biggest night behind us…

Thankfully Chiang Mai saw us going to some incredible places.

We landed to the bustling city of Bangkok in the early evening. After a short ride in to our hotel, we awaited out friends to arrive from Australia before hitting up a 7/11 for some snacks and then heading to bed for an early night.

The second half of Taipei was equally packed and we got to discover more of this amazing country. A bus tour around many of the popular areas was excellent, as was discovering some more of the cuisine and drinks available.

Getting to try our hands at making it was a delicious bonus!

The trip to Taiwan started with a very early morning start for our international flight. We, being the rule abiding traveller’s we are, planned that we would be at the airport 2 hours before the flight as most international flights require. We pulled up in front of the dark, empty airport with not a person in sight. We soon realised that the 2 hour rule does not apply for the first flights of the day as the airport only opened an hour before the flight, a fact neither of us thought of to check.

Okinawa was going to be our tropical island relaxation at the end of our Japan tour. Plenty of pool, beach and hopefully some SCUBA dives!

Well, there was plenty of water but that unfortunately rained out some of our plans for Okinawa. We managed to have plenty relaxation though and the hotel was fantastic.

We arrived in Hiroshima after some beers and bento boxes on the bullet train, I must say it was the bougie-ist train ride we have had so far.

Not in Hiroshima for long we had a lot to cover in a couple of days, including the much looked-forward to giant floating torii gate!

A strange stop in our Japanese tour, but an unforgettable one!

One of the shortest planned stops on our trips with one of the best restaurants so far. Also managed some much needed downtime.

We arrived in Kyoto with an almost 100% uneventful trip from Osaka on the bullet train. The entire 15 minute train ride flew in comparison to the walk that followed with our packs! But when we arrived arrived at our hotel it was worth it: Beautiful bamboo sliding doors opened up to a peaceful Bonsai garden and main reception. It was like we had stepped in to one of the “Visit Japan” brochures.

The second major stop in our Japan tour was Osaka. Bright lights, delicious food and some incredible temples and shrines, it had it all! Not that the rest of Japan has or is going to offer any less.

Well, we finally made it Japan.

Landing after a lovely 9 hour flight from Brisbane, we quickly boarded our bus to take us on to Shinjuku.

Did you know that Kiwi birds have the second largest ratio of egg to body size in the world? Neither did we, and those eggs are huge!

Just finishing off our first stop on the tour: New Zealand’s north island, Te Ika-a-Maui. From lunch in Hobbiton, to Polynesian spa’s to racing downhill on tiny luge carts, it’s been a great start!

The count down is on, only 4 weeks to go!! With us both being jobless and having no fixed address, it is all starting to feel real.