Gallivanting students George and Claire are camper vanning around Australia - and their drive to Adelaide and Melbourne sounds like a scary road movie!

After a Groovy Grape wine tour, sampling the likes of Jacobs Creek with some kangaroo steaks to soak up the booze, the girls promptly get stuck in a massive storm on the way to the coastal town of Robe:

our petrol gauge was on emergency low. million miles from anywhere, no towns in sight, no cars, no people, no light for miles and miles, was like somethng out of a horror movie… finally came to a petrol station, which was a huge sigh of relief except for the wierdo in a orange boiler suit!! horror movie!

Surviving unscathed to enjoy Blue Lake, the Grampians mountain range, Ballarat, and the Sovereign Hill olden-days re-enactment town, the girls then unbelievably get stuck again on the Great Ocean Road. You’ve got to admire their cool in a crisis:

So what did me and Claire do, we got in the van and ate chocolate laughing at our drama and traumatic situation. We put bright pink legwarmers on and tied our hair up, after all digging wheels with a spoon is hard work.

Thankfully, the girls were rescued by some grumpy Aussies, and went on to see koalas at both Wilsons Prom and Healesville Sanctuary, not to mention making time for another wine tasting at Domain Chandon. Now happily arrived in Melbourne, they have a final piece of advice for STA travellers in Oz:

Our latest STA Explorer will be seriously interesting to those of us who dream of knocking out that Nobel winning novel one day. 19 year old Richard Milburn is already a published writer, and he’s just embarked on a 3 month journey through Kenya and East Africa:

to get more inspiration and atmosphere to improve the draft I have written for my second novel, and to meet up with a great friend of mine, Isaac Ouma, a tour guide and conservationist… he has an amazing ability to show people the other side of things and the hidden depths of Kenya and its culture in a way few others can. With the recent crisis there was in Kenya I’m also interested in seeing the aftermath and the effect it has had on the landscape and people of Kenya, as well as venturing further into Tanzania

His blog Karibuni Kenya promises to bring us all the higlights from his creative African quest, along with weekly reviews of the best books and music from and about the region, and his opinions about how STA Travel handle the trip. His latest posts include a review of peace campaigner and reggae artist Lucky Dube; a summary of useful African phrases; and his experiences booking the holiday with STA Travel, which seem to have been very positive so far:

Not only are they efficient and cheap, they are also very helpful and genuinly do seem to want you to have a good trip and enjoy yourself. All my friends who have used STA have said the same thing, and so I would always highly recommend using them for any booking you may be making

Richard’s just returned from Amboseli National Park and posted about his incredible tour spotting lions, jackals and a rare kudu. He’s actually a member of his university Officer Training Corps, so if you want a mixture of creative musings, anthropological and political insight, and good old adventuring, Karibuni Kenya will be a blog to watch.

Ever since an early understanding that Point Break is, without exception, the best action film ever made, I’ve accepted that surfing is pretty much the coolest way to spend your time.

So when the opportunity arose to cover a few web based travel morsels on the subject, including World Surf Travel Blog, I stepped up. Sadly this site looks a little dormant, no posts since June. Nevertheless, there is plenty of insight (see Inca Cola’s slogan, Peru’s favourite drink - ‘With creativity, anything is possible’) all punctuated by wave walking escapades.

Next up is this short thread from LonelyPlanets’ Thorn Tree Travel forum that ties nicely in with the above, as folks give up their picks for the best Peruvian breaks. Before tackling these though, it’s probably best, in my case at least, to admit beginner status and do as Andy Brook did, have a lesson.

Once up to scratch, the World Reviewer’s Best Surfing in the World page will offer more than just rich pictures of dudes doing their thing in spectacular board and water based scenarios. It’ll be a site full of places for you to get in touch with the ‘source‘.

STA Explorer George has finally arrived in Oz (despite nearly being detained thanks to a mouldy apple in the bottom of her travel buddy Claire’s bag) and has posted an update about their first week exploring around Adelaide.

The girls go into great detail about the hostels they stay at, as well as the tours they take. They particularly loved the ‘absolutely wicked amazing tour’ around Kangaroo Island, where they got to cuddle a joey called Millie, chill with the sealions in Sea Bay, sandboard at Little Sahare, spot baby penguins at night in Vivonne Bay and hike in Flinders Chase National Park (it makes me feel knackered just writing this!)

However, they do have a reminder that our summer is their winter:

Australia is not hot, it is not all sun and bright skies. Adelaide is cold and dreary …We have our hats our A$10 fleaces, gloves and wet soggy uggs boots - which are NOT cool here, aussies wear uggs as slippers so we do get some looks sent our way…

But they take refuge in wine, toasted marshmallows and layering, not to mention the occasional nice meal. The girls may be hardy adventurers, but they don’t believe in backpacker snobbery:

George asked some of the guys on the tour ‘are there any nice restaurants around the Adelaide Festival Centre?’ much to the shock of all the others, their response was ‘backpackers don’t eat in restaurants, but we can tell you where to buy cheap food!’ haha, we never asked again! Yes ok, we are splashing out but dam it we’ve worked hard for this all year so deserve to!! nice restaurant for lunch and dinner, why not?!!

Ask them questions, give them suggestions, and generally enjoy more of their Aussie adventures here.

Over in Lonely Planet forums, Nick is ‘planning on going to India from Bangkok and traveling up into Nepal’ and has asked other wanderers on the web for their advice so he can make the most of his time oop north in India:

what would be the best city to fly into (cheapest) in order to then travel my way up into Nepal. The train system would be the best way of doing this right? and what places would be a must to see in India. I have been there 3 times before as a kid (i am now 18) and i would like to spend most time up north as i enjoy the cooler climate and the whole “hill station” vibe. so any advice on towns to see, places to visit and just general advice for a trip across india. i hear its a tuff gig.

Go and read the advice of the other members on the board and lend your own. For our part, STA Travel kindly lent the services of one of their Sheffield staff and an old hand at Indian travel, Simon Rocchi, to give some insider insights into the best way to make the most of such a trip… (more…)

STA Explorers Neil and Megan have reached the ’summer holiday’ part of their round the world trip - the bit where they relax in the sun after all their energetic globe-trotting - and Naples, Florida is obviously an excellent place to do it.

Before completely chilling they packed in a last bit of culture on the west coast, discovering native American history at the Ah-Tah-Tee-Kee Museum in the Seminole Indian Reserve, and taking a ‘Billie Swamp Safari’ tour by both boat and air, fending off alligators and spotting bison, water buffalo, deer, pigs, wild horses and ostriches.

However, now they’ve hit the beach and recommend Naples to any travellers looking for a restful pit-stop. On a solo walk along the shore, Neil had a close encounter with a dolphin; Megan has been checking out the shops and the personal trainers at the Ritz;and they’ve both been para-sailing in tandem. Not to mention Neil’s first ever pedicure, after which

I did, however, still have to make myself feel more manly by reading ‘Sports Illustrated’ and other manly magazines whilst having my feet done

Head over to their blog and 91-photo Picasa photo album if you want relaxing recommendations for Florida-based fun.

Our intrepid round the world STA Explorers Neil and Megan have posted about a real highlight of their trip: watching sunset over Kata-Tjuta, and sunrise over Uluru - and they recommend shelling out a bit extra for the experience:

Whilst in England we booked our outback tour through STA Travel so this is something that has been planned and we’ve been looking forward to for a long time…I’m glad we paid a little extra and went on a proper tour than a cheap, budget backpacker one. We didn’t have to worry about anything but enjoying the amazing experience of exploring Uluru and Kata-Tjuta.

Their two-day safari in the Australian national park, meaning ‘many heads’ for its distinctive rock formations, gave them a chance to explore ‘how it was formed, wildlife and aboriginal beliefs’ from their tour guide. It’s true that such awesome natural experiences are difficult to describe without sounding like a hysterical idiot or a greeting card - as Neil says, ‘what we saw is difficult to put into words’ - but it’s worth visiting the post as he gives it a damn good try, and you do get a sense that it’s ‘an incredible feeling to stand and watch something so famous across the world for myself’.

And if you’re interested in travelling in Oz in general check their previous posts for tales from Sydney, Tasmania, Cataract Gorge, Alice Springs and ‘A Perfect Day in Melbourne.’