As epic adventures go, the Southern Cross journey across South America is right up there. Within 45 days, it manages to crunch through more icons than you ever thought existed, and cram in more adventures than most people would experience in an entire lifetime.

I’m talking sand boarding on the Ica Desert; marching your way along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu; observing the ancient Nazca Lines; tracking wild condors; white-water rafting, horseback riding and mountain biking; visit a working silver mine; wetlands of the Pantanal; the incredible Iguassu Falls; party on Copacabana; and did I mention the dinosaur tracks?

But hey, what do I know; I haven’t journeyed along the Southern Cross, but I know a couple of people who have. STA Travel Southampton‘s Assistant Manager, Ben Hendry, and Travel Expert, Meranda Boldy from our Oxford Road store in Manchester have both been lucky enough to journey from Lima, on the continent’s west coast, right the way across the Andes and beyond to the heady world of Brazil’s party capital, Rio de Janeiro.

I caught up with them both this week, to gain a little more information about their own experience along one STA Travel’s most popular adventure tours.
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“Twinkle twinkle little STA(r), how we wonder what… you… are.” All together now! “Up above [Ant: one second, just popping over to Google]… the world… so high; like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle twinkle…”

That’s right, folks. From a very early age, we’re instilled with a beautiful sense of allure towards inky night skies, generously speckled with stars.

Did you know, more than half of Mongolians live in felt-lined tents, called gers. But can you name them all? | Photo by laihiu

But with street lights creeping across the lands and staining the darkness with an eerie orange glow, are there any accessible places left on earth where you can still kip under a thick night blanket? You can bet your bottom twinkle there are, and ode to your year of travel, I’m about to share with you some of my darkest secrets.
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As competition prizes go, a pair of tickets to Bangkok is a pretty nice way to set you up with an adventure through one of the world’s most popular destinations.

That’s exactly what happened for Elle Makower, who struck it lucky following a chance visit to the opening of our new Clapham store in South London.

We caught up with Elle recently, to find out how her adventure in Thailand played out, and to discover more about her experience.

Elle, atop on of Thailand's most iconic residents; the Asia Elephant.

How did you hear about the competition and what made you enter?

I was walking down the street in Clapham and I saw that there was a new STA Travel store opening. I’d been into other stores before so I recognised the brand, and, since I was planning on booking some flights to Malaysia in the near future, I popped in. It was the store’s first day and there was champagne and chocolates to celebrate, and I was asked if I’d like to enter a competition to win return flights to Thailand. All I had to do was write my name on a card, so I didn’t see the harm. Thank God I did!
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Things are really warming up for the Roundhouse Rising 2012 music festival, which kicks off tomorrow with the Roundhouse Showcase, a mix of exciting new music, fresh from the Roundhouse Studios. One of the headline artists this year, is East London’s very own Azekel.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Roundhouse Rising, it’s a fantastic event and one that we’re really excited to be backing this year. Featuring exciting line-ups of emerging music from the UK and around the world, plus workshops to inspire the next generation of creative young musicians.

Roundhouse Rising 2012 takes place over the upcoming half-term, between 9th and 18th of February, and has expanded from 2011’s week-long festival with several events moving outside of their legendary Chalk Farm venue, to some of East London’s most exciting stages.

For more information, and to secure your tickets from just £5, visit the Roundhouse Rising website.

Before we dive into Azekel’s interview, get acquainted with his sound.

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Welcome back to the High Five, a weekly roundup of the most exciting, fulfilling and inspiring experiences in any given place. If you haven’t guessed this week’s destination already, then you obviously didn’t read the title: it’s Australia. Or ‘Straylia to those more familiar with the lands down under.

So how would I split and splice the whole of Australia, in one humble blog post? Well, in true journalistic style, I’m going to bait and switch; and scrape off the country’s most suitable activities, for an unforgettable year in Australia.

Of course, you can sprinkle these with liberal amounts of goon, and your time Down Under might take a whole different direction. But let’s get started, and slap Austown with a High Five…
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