What a year 2009 has been!

It was the 30th birthday of STA Travel which was celebrated in many ways, but most spectacularly in the return of the £10 Pom. We did our bit marking the occasion by going crazy around the world with out ever leaving London, assisted marvellously by @fillingthepages, @curiouscheese, @alice_walkabout and @spintheglobe.

The STA travelbuzz meet-ups kicked off too. On a monthly basis we got together to discuss anything and everything on travel. Most of the time we did attempt to keep to a theme, thanks in part to the expert speakers from STA Travel divulging their insider knowledge on locations they love.

Equally as impressive was the stream of travelling experiences from across the globe from the many wonderful peeps we’ve met and befriended through the STA Explorer programme. There are too many to mention, but you know who you are - you’ve all been brilliant!

If this wasn’t enough, to cap it all, STA Travel also won Best Use of Social Media for the third time in a row at the Travolution Awards!

And I could go on. But that was then, and now is about to be 2010 where we’re going to be doing even more. Can’t wait to have you all involved. Thanks guys, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Sam and Cam. x

If you want to know some things about Sydney then our STA Explorers Our Little Jaunt are just the type you need to read about.

The list is most informative, including details such as,

“Swim between the flags – they are there for a reason… and the likihood of dying in the sea is significantly reduced when you have the Baywatch boys on standby.”

And,

“Get a Tax File Number – It is again really simple: Do it online here.”

It’s valuable stuff for anyone heading to Sydney, or indeed in general if you’re travelling to Australia. I mean where else would you find out the invaluable warning that,

“Some of the spiders can live underwater for over 24 hours… don’t presume that they are dead!!”

You’ve been told; read A and V’s post about Sydney and feel prepared for any eventuality, safe and a little warm inside.

This is a quick check in with STA Explorer Laura who has done a bungee jump in Queenstown! It’s on the ‘must-do’ list of a lot of travellers so if you want to know what it’s like first hand then look no further.

Laura did hers at Kawarau Bridge, the original AJ Hackett Bungee jump site. It was about 47 metres high, though is actually a location 400m above Queenstown, which gives it some spectacular views. It is also the only jump where you wear a harness as opposed to an ankle strap.

So how did she find it?

“The bungee itself was the scariest thing I’ve done, almost stopped on the run up so instead of the elaborate star jump I had planned, I half fell off instead, screaming my head off as I went! Seeing all the trees rush up at you is insane, a lot scarier than the skydive! But was amazing, I wanted to do another one straight away!”

It’s a recommendation for sure! There is also plenty in the post on where to party and what to do in Queenstown, so if you’re heading that way then it is worth a read. Especially if you’re into mini-golf and crepes…

The last time we heard from POMbear (aka George) he was struggling to sleep on his long haul flight to Aus, but that is clearly a distant memory as his most recent post is about his Hong Kong experience.

“When flying over Hong Kong the views from the plane window was something out of Sim City. There were so many tower blocks, too many to count through a tiny airplane window. I hadn’t ever been this far away from home and neither my friend Sam who I was traveling with; this was going to be a great experience.”

His time there took him on a trip up Victoria Peak on the safest tram in the world (a bold claim surely asking for trouble? It hasn’t had one reported incident in a 100-year history), gambling at Happy Valley Races where he finished the evening up and visiting the markets to pick up knock-off goods.

This was only half of it though. George’s favourite experience came discovering the Chi Lin Nunnery and the Nai Lin Gardens,

“I found that this place was what traveling was all about, discovering hidden gems away from tourists.”

Has anyone else been to the nunnery and gardens? The final night saw George trying to watch the sunset across Hong Kong, unfortunately the evening was overcast, but this didn’t hamper the photography as the view of the lights coming on throughout the city was most impressive.

And George’s final thoughts on his Hong Kong experience,

“Leaving Hong Kong for Australia was hard […], as there were still many more things to do, see and find. Perhaps I could live there one day…. in the fantastic Chi Lin Nunnery!”

Laura, our STA Explorer known as Having a Ball from NZ to SE Asia (might need to abbreviate that…) has trekked the Franz Josef glacier!

There are two updates on what she’s been doing in New Zealand (Sunshine and sand flies in Abel Tasman and ‘P’ Party at the Poo Pub) before we get to the hike, a hike that was nearly called off – a case of rain stopped play, but not quite. Despite torrential rain and biting cold Laura and boyfriend Jamie donned the waterproofs and set off,

“It’s in between two steep cliffs, and because of the rain there was dozens of waterfalls running down which looked amazing. The hike itself wasn’t too bad, much harder on the way up obviously but got quite a few breaks while our guide cuthas steps into the ice for us to walk up! Didn’t stop raining the whole day and was absolutely freezing, but I was glad we did it as the ice looks amazing - a mix of white and deep blue.”

The bad weather didn’t ruin what for them was a once in a life time opportunity. On returning from Franz Josef a dip in the hostels spa pool thawed them out before they headed to the bar to celebrate their ‘glacier triumph!’ Awesome work.

STA Explorer Alice has sent a hearty “G’day mate” from down-under updating everyone on what she’s been up to since making it to Oz.

It turns out that since witnessing her first Australian sunrise (and getting her RSA) she has managed to get two jobs. One is at a restaurant in Dee Why and the other is at Liquorland, which to me sounds like an alcohol based theme park… I pretty sure it isn’t though. When Alice isn’t working she’s making the most of her new surroundings by chilling on the beach and attempting to tan; although the bronzed look isn’t arriving as quickly as she’d like :(.

She has also got to meet her boyfriend’s, handsome Geoff, cricket pals who turned out to be a lovely bunch of guys. She’s also hooked up with fellow STA Explorer and £10 Pom Marianne on Manly beach and is looking forward to meeting up with Chris, Hang 10 and Party next weekend. It’s like we have our own branch of travelbuzz in Oz.

She’s also sent out some STA Travel love focusing on the £10 Pom promotion, the queuing experience and the team that helped her sort the trip,

“The queue brought together people from all walks of life but who shared one common goal; the desire to travel. Everyone was extremely dedicated and we had a whole heap of fun. The queue was more like a festival and when I made it in the staff were extremely helpful and really could not do enough for us.”

It sounds like Alice in down-underland is settling in just fine to life in Oz and we can’t wait to hear more about it. Be sure to check back for further updates or just go straight to her site Alice Goes Walkabout.

Marianne took on the arduous task of checking out the Sydney beaches for the benefit of all her, and our, readers. The three beaches in question are Bondi, Coogee and Manly.

First to get the Maz treatment was Bondi,

“Last week I hit Bondi Beach with a few friends to spend some time on Sydney’s most famous strip of sand. It’s not huge, especially after you see Manly, but it’s big enough and it’s PACKED mostly with the likes of us, i.e. backpackers, and surfing aficionados, i.e. not us… The surf is KILLER.”

She might not be a surfer but she did attempt swimming for three minutes. The surf though was pretty tough, and despite being a strong enough swimmer to cope her bikini was faltering,

“[…] after a couple of minutes I decided that was enough indecent exposure and headed back to shore. Not to self: buy more secure bathing suits…”

A friend did also attempt to surf, but after a ‘handful of near death experiences’ the rented board was returned to the shop – so play safe kids.

Next up was Coogee for a free barbeque. The odd thing about Coogee was it was full of Australians,

“Okay, sounds crazy – Australians on an Australian beach?! What?! But honestly, after Bondi Backpacker Heaven, it was actually strange coming across so many locals.”

The final sandy escapade was on Manly and it turned out to be Marianne’s favourite of the three. Partly because it is on north side of Sydney, partly because it is in a nicer part of town but mostly because,

“[…] for chilled out afternoon lying on the sand. Manly is the way to go.”

There you have it, a quick guide to Sydney’s beaches, the main ones at least. If you’ve got any questions let Marianne know, I’m sure she’ll be more than willing to help out. And if you know of any less well known beaches worth investigating in the Sydney area, get in touch and we’ll see if Maz is willing to continue her research…