Category: Travel

Four Hours in Amsterdam… and Boogie on the Boat!

On Friday 6th April the Forth 1 team took almost 800 listeners took a voyage from Newcastle to Amsterdam on the biggest party of the year – Boogie on the Boat!

I had just finished the breakfast show with Grant on Clyde 1 on the Friday morning and so I headed straight down to Newcastle from Glasgow after my 4am rise (hardcore) with my boyfriend, Callum who was DJing on the boat so I was really sleepy by the time we boarded the King Seaways, but because of the excitement of the party, the anticipation of heading to Amsterdam and of course the brilliant (and very loud) crowd we were with, I could only manage a wee 20 minute nap! After a few drinks, we headed down to Deck 9 where the bar and dance floor are to meet everyone on the boat and have the welcome meeting with the one and only Boogie, Arlene and Marty from Boogie in the Morning! It’s always great fun and the best way to start the party. Breakfast and dinner on the boat are in a buffet style and there is loads to choose from, which is amazing for a total foodie like me and perfect for lining your stomach for a night on the sauce (and not the Heinz kind)!

January trip to Portavadie

When driving the winding roads to get to Portavadie, you will be stunned by the breathtaking Scottish scenery that surrounds you. Snow-topped hills like iced buns proudly protect the hidden gems of nature underneath, evergreen trees stand vibrant against a sapphire sky and lochs mirror these views creating a spectacular scene. On the road up from Tighnabruaich, you come to a little parking spot beside a large cliff where a viewpoint lies – and what a viewpoint it is. We were so lucky that after being knee-deep in snow for a fortnight with blizzards and ice-cold sleet showers that on that January day, the Scottish sun was shining and although the air was fresh and nippy, with temperatures of 3 degrees, the drive was beautiful and there was not a cloud for miles. Cold, crisp winter days have always been my favourite.

What to keep in your Emergency Winter Car Kit

Wow! What a day and night on the roads around Glasgow and the West. Today at Clyde 1 we were inundated with calls from you all telling us of roads that were closed, icy, snowy, slippy and everything else in between! So thank you for that. As much as I have access to lots of travel information around our local areas which includes maps, data and cameras to build up a picture of what is happening round Glasgow and the West, it’s impossible to stay on top of every single road and especially on days like today because of the sheer number of problems on roads that are usually running well or that are very small. So I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting Grant and I know what was happening this afternoon as well as telling George and Cassi this morning, your calls and tweets really help to piece that big travel jigsaw together!

Camp Thailand

When I graduated from university last year, I wanted to travel, learn about a different culture, have fun and make a difference at the same time. The problem I faced was that I was in a brilliant job that I loved and didn’t want to have to leave and I had nobody to go with. This is when I found Camp Thailand and realised that it was the perfect combination of everything I wanted to do.

Camp Thailand is a 3 week programme (with an additional week island hopping if you wish) that provides the opportunity to teach English to children in schools and at summer camps, look after formerly mistreated elephants and have the time of your life embracing Thai culture, activities and night life.

Should you do it? YES. Don’t hesitate, jump in. Here is a little taster of why you should…

Koh Phi Phi Islands in September

Okay, so when I first decided to go to Thailand everyone was saying to me – you HAVE to go to the Koh Phi Phi Islands and visit Maya Bay (where ‘The Beach‘ was filmed in 2000 – no, Leonardo Di Caprio was not there!). I was desperate to go and taste my own little bit of paradise. Unfortunately the first few days I spent in Phuket – as you may have seen from other posts, were wet and miserable and I started to lose hope. So when I woke up on a beautiful clear, sunny day I knew I had to catch the speedboat to the islands that are so famous. And they did not disappoint.

Phuket in September – FantaSea

Hallelujah! No rain meant a fun-filled night at th Phuket FantaSea – a cultural theme park and spectacular show. I don’t want to post too many pictures and spoil it if you want to go because it’s amazing, but I had mixed feelings on the theme park, and I’ll tell you why.

Let’s start with the positives – you arrive by bus and it’s magical, ike Thailand’s own little Disneyland. Bright and multi-coloured lights above you, men and women dressed up in vibrant cultural clothing and the most extravagant gold and turquoise elephants surrounding a pond with bright orange fish – and that’s just where you purchase tickets!

Phuket in September – Big Buddha, Wat Chalong and Tiger Kingdom in the rain

Okay, l’ll cut to the chase here, for most of the time I was there it was wet. The fact that I totally ignored the stories I had heard about Phuket being at its wettest and most humid in September didn’t help either, because I never really expected it to rain 4 out of the 6 days we stayed there! On saying that, I have heard loads of good stories about weather in September in Phuket and so it really just must be your luck, but from my personal experience I had 4 wet days, 2 dry nights and honestly the 2 days I got of uninterrupted sunshine were absolutely worth it and enhanced my stay there in so many ways.

We stayed in Patong, and on most of the days, it looked like this…

I fell in love…

… with Thailand.

After spending two weeks in the country in September, I realised that it was just absolute paradise and I seemed to just fit in perfectly. I am going to blog about a few things including places to go in Phuket and Koh Samui in the rain and the famous Maya Bay.

To start I just wanted to ramble on about how amazing the country is in general, I know it’s a huge country but the areas that I covered are so beautiful, and the culture is wonderful, so here are my 5 favourite things;