Sydney and Melbourne

We can hardly believe that we are sitting here writing this, the last blog of our trip. Today is our final day in Melbourne before we embark on a horriby long series of flights home. So here goes...

Our first couple of days in Sydney came as quite a shock for two reasons
a) It was pretty cold and we needed hoodies for the first time
b) The Sydney opera house is actually pretty ugly when the sun isn't shining!
Luckily there are some amazing coastal walks around Sydney, where a bracing wind adds to the experience. We chose to visit Bondi beach on one of these cloudier days and were pleasantly surprised by how nice it was - almost free from tourists and quite unlike the overcrowded commercialised place we were half expecting. The walk from Bondi to Coogee beach was quiet and beautiful, just a few keen runners for company. 

We also enjoyed our trip to Manly, via the famous ferry, to catch up with an old friend we haven't seen since the year we met. What a great place - we could see why Sydney is one of the most popular, and expensive, places to live in the world. Going to work by ferry in the morning and heading to the beach for a few hours when you get home is something we could get used to! Great view of the opera house on the way back too...

The Sydney harbour bridge turned out to be a lot prettier in the sunshine too, and we were glad to have some lovely sunny days before we had to leave. The botanical gardens were really impressive (and we are almost experts now, haing seen a few) perhaps even better than Singapore's. Definitely another place on the list to come back to one day. 

We managed to squeeze in a few days in the Blue Mountains national park, a couple of hours from Sydney, for a short escape from the city. What a beautiful place, like a greener version of the Grand Canyon. It has forest stretching as far as the eye can see, and miles of tracks to walk along the cliffs or in the forest. Not normally too impressed with birds, even we were quite excited to see a kookaburra and gold crested cockatoo. There are also lyre birds which mimic the sounds around them, even if that happens to be a telephone or siren!

We had a great time exploring the park and quirky town of Katoomba. The only down side of all the walking were the sore legs for the following few days. But a fantastic reward for our efforts was the discovery of a cafe with the most amazing hot chocolate where you heat the milk up with a candle then add chocolate pieces to it... delicious.

Final stop of our trip is Melbourne, the most European of the Australian cities which is apparently known for its cafes and restaurants, not to mention outlet shopping malls. It has made us slightly better prepared for the British winter, which sounds like it has been vile so far, as it's quite a lot colder. Though it can vary from 40 to 25 degrees in one day during summer! We've enjoyed the laid back way of life here and taken advantage of the cafes and shops. It's also been quite nice to have a few slower days, giving the feet and legs a rest. We're just about ready to come home now, missing some of the creature comforts and of course friends and family.

So finally it's just left to say a big thank you - to everyone who has been reading this and for all the generous wedding presents which helped make this trip possible. We've had a brilliant time...

Singapore and Brisbane

The clean efficiency of Singapore, and the cost, came as a bit of a shock to us at first but how nice it was to be back in an airconditioned room with a few more creature comforts. I was nursing a rather upset stomach from Bali so couldn't enjoy the delicious food for a few days but we still made the most of our first evening at Marina Bay, assured that evening was the best time to visit. 

 Armed with lots of recomendations from various friends and contacts, we set out to see as much of Singapore as the budget and time would allow. We did a lot of wandering around and looking in the vast array of shops. Even managed to fit in a visit to a gymnastics club to see how they do things in singapore. The city is getting ready for Christmas but we never could quite get used to seeing Christmas decorations in the sunshine, it just looks wrong.

 The highlight had to be the singapore zoo and night safari. The zoo is really well designed with very few cages, lots of open exhibits so it feels a lot more natural. You can get a lot closer and see the animals more clearly and it was fun to have orangutans swinging from the trees above you. We love this picture of the giraffes in the fading light, the next best thing to a wild safari.

We were also pleased to see a komodo dragon at last, though thankfully it was a safe distance away and quite sleepy looking. Wouldn't fancy attempting a James Bond style run across it!

 The night safari was our favourite thing in Singapore, where a tram takes you around the park giving commentary about the different animals you can see as you go around. It's dark so it feels very atmospheric and the animals are a lot more interesting away from the heat of the day. Hopeless for taking photos, but it meant we could really enjoy just looking. I particularly liked the fishing cats who wait at the side of the river peering at the fish and hoping they come close enough to strike... but sadly they didn't. Also saw a 'flying' squirrel which seemed quite happy to walk and climb instead! But all in all a fantastic place, the only place like it that we've seen.

Another great day was spent exploring the botanical gardens and orchid garden. An army of groundsmen keep it is immaculate condition so it's a lovely place to walk around. Lots of very foreign looking plants and flowers, though Steve did draw the line at paying to see orchids so I went on my own!       

We enjoyed Singapore, especially the wide range of delicious food and endless shopping malls. There's a lot to see and do here and plenty left for another visit - perhaps when we have a bit more time and cash!

Brisbane in southern Queensland was our next stop. It's a very scenic city with a nice promenade along the river and plenty to keep us occupied for 6 days. This is the view from Southbank, where there's a surprisingly nice man-made beach, jungle walkway and lots of nice cafes and retaurants. Nothing quite prepared us for the cost though. Two beds in a shared dorm cost the same as our luxurious hillside villa in Koh Tao. Just to eat and sleep put us over budget. But we figured we might not come here again, at least not for a long time so have to make the most of it and not be too tight with the purse strings!



My favourite day, possibly of the whole trip so far, was a visit to Lone Pine Koala sanctuary. They have 130 koalas in nice open areas as well as kangaroos, wombats, tasmanian devils and even a platypus. We were amazed that you can go in with the kangaroos, feed and stroke them. They were very lethargic though as it was 40 degrees that day - a 10 year record high for december apparently! 

 

I certainly got my wish to cuddle a koala - luckily we went to queensland as it's the only place in the world where you can. You put your hands out and they just plonk it on you, then it cuddles you to hold on. They're surprisingly heavy and this was only a baby girl. Loads of dense, quite course fur but they're still lovely and soft. Yes, it's touristy and a bit of a money spinner but a great experience all the same. 

The Gold Coast is famous for it's long white sandy beaches so we thought a day trip there was a must. Surfer's paradise was, as expected, full of surfers and high rise development. Some pretty big waves and a surprisingly quiet stretch of beach made it a very scenic place to spend a few hours. Gorgeous weather too, about 29 degrees with a nice breeze.

We're off to Sydney this afternoon and pleased to be flying since the greyhound was more expensive and took 8 hours! Brisbane has been a great place to visit, though we think we may be getting too old for a shared dorm! Hopefully the people we're sharing with in Sydney won't be able to afford to do too much partying and we can get some sleep!

Bali and Lombok

A worryingly bumpy flight to Bali (having read about the dangers of Indonesian transport) thankfully only took a couple of hours and we arrived excited about our ten days in Indonesia. Sanur was our first stop, with a lazy day on the beach where we realised how powerful the Bali sun can be, both looking rather red despite spending most of the day in the shade.
Having hired ourselves a driver for the following day, we made the most of him and explored as much of Southern Bali as possible. The small roads can't really cope with the volume of traffic, especially around the airport, but our time in the car gave us a chance to admire the wonderful scenery.













The temple of Ulluwatu was our first stop, set high on a cliff top with amazing views of the waves crashing in. Reminded us a bit of Cornwall, though with added aggressive monkeys which we'd happily have done without! Little did we know there were plenty more to come in Bali...

A surfer's hangout was our next stop, with Padang Padang beach. We could see why Bali is famous for its beaches! The water is warm and clear and the sand lovely and soft. No time to try surfing, maybe next time, though I think we'd have to work on the look a bit before we could blend in with them!
Tanah Lot was our final stop of the day, a temple build out to sea which is only accessible at low tide. Rather a lot of locals there as it was a national holiday, who seemed obsessed with endlessly posing for photographs on the rocks. We got away from the crowds a bit with a walk along the coast, as we weren't that impressed with the temple itself or its 'holy water'!

We ended the day in Ubud, a very picturesque town towards the centre of Bali and some lovely accommodation which felt a real treat. Lots of Frangipani trees, buzzing insects and a little swimming pool. The little frog in the bathroom was a bit random but it wasn't doing any harm...

 We happened upon this lovely view walking along a path which took us into the middle of rural Bali, complete with rice paddies, ducks and a very rustic little cafe. Even some thatched cottages which reminded us of home. We weren't, however, so successful when hiring bikes this time. Steve's chain snapped and we ended up pushing them back for a few miles which wasn't much fun in the heat! We did get to visit monkey forest though, which probably speaks for itself. We were expecting tame and inquisitive monkeys but got a little more than we bargained for when one spotted a couple of shells in the pocket of my rucksack and decided to climb up me to reach them! The people who bought bananas to feed them didn't get much choice over who, or when they got fed! We didn't like the look of their big teeth, especially the mothers protecting their babies, so we didn't stay long!

A very slow slowboat took us to the island of Lombok which we were very much looking forward to. It sounded like a less touristy version of Bali, though perhaps slightly less friendly. We met a few great locals, keen to talk about their country and practice their English with us. There were, however, just as many people wanting to sell us something, usually for a great deal more than the locals would pay. It is understandable though gets a bit tiring and tedious! We were very keen to go diving whilst in Lombok, having heard great things about it. The Gili islands sounded like the best place so we signed ourselves up for an all inclusive deal with Lombok dive and made our way there after a couple of nights in Sengiggi.

Having successfully avoided the endless scams, hassles and badgering at the harbour, we got onto the 'public boat' to the Gili islands. This involved wading into the sea with big rucksacks and clambering onto the boat (or being hauled on in my case). The boat designed for 18 people had quite a few more than that and sat rather low in the water at a worrying angle, but we were kept from thoughts of sinking by a local celebrity who happened to be on the boat. There's no accounting for taste, but I think it's fair to say his excessively camp persona wouldn't go down quite so well at home!

Gili Trawangan was our home for the next three nights. Wonderful to be somewhere with no cars or motorbikes, where people get around on bikes or in horse and cart! Our rustic accommodation had only a cold saltwater shower which somehow seemed quite appropriate. The garden was complete with hens, cats and the odd goat who wandered in from next door. Only a few km long, we cycled around it comfortably in a day, racing away from a huge thundercloud which surprisingly never ended up leaving Lombok.

The highlight for us was a wonderful day diving. We'd heard tales of sharks and sea turtles and were lucky enough to see both. The wonderful visibility came as a shock to us after Cambodia, where it was only a few metres on some dives. We're still laughing about the sea turtles, who just don't look like they belong in the sea, swimming up to the surface then back down again. The sharks turned out to be very small and not quite as scary as the 'Jaws' type we'd imagined!

Gili Trawangan on our last evening

If we have one regret from our time in Indonesia, it's not climbing the volcano in Lombok - Mount Rinjani. But two 8-hour days trecking to the summit seemed a bit ambitious for this time. Hopefully we'll be back with better shoes, warm clothes and a lot of determination.

Thailand and Malaysia

It's been a while since the last blog - problems finding reliable internet places again. We're in Little India in Singapore and not sure if that counts as reliable but fingers crossed...

Well a very brief stay in Bangkok was enough to remind us why we're not massive fans of the Khao San Road so we booked our bus ticket to Koh Tao as quickly as possible. Judged to avoid the hoards of people making their way to Koh Phangan to the full moon party (we decided we're too old or just not cool enough for that) we made our way to the bus stop looking forward to our bit of relaxation time. Amongst stiff competition from Vietnam, this may qualify as the worst journey yet! First, we were left at the side of the road for an hour and a half with only rats and cockroaches for company. But the bus, when it came, looked nice so no harm done we thought. At 3.00am we woke up to shouts of "Koh Tao, Koh Tao" so hastily got off the bus. Another wait at the side of the road where we witnessed some poor sod who mistook the stop for a toilet break and saw the bus leaving without him but with his bags! A pickup truck eventually came and took us to the harbour where a bench and extremely spicy pot noodle was all we had to keep us entertained for 2 hours until the boat came. But we made it to Koh Tao, phew, 14 hours after leaving Bangkok!

We stayed for 4 nights in a lovely hilltop villa, looking over Sairee beach, which was a lovely break from some of the less than luxurious places we've been staying in. This was taken at one of the beaches in Koh Tao, on a day when we hired ourselves a scooter to explore the island. Some amazing, remote places we'd love to come back to, especially shark bay. Our stay was slightly marred by the fact Steve started feeling ill, which we think turned out to be Dengue Fever, probably caught from a mosquito in Cambodia! High temperature, aches and pains and most worryingly for Steve, no appetite! Just as we started worrying enough to think about seeing a doctor he started feeling much better and apart from feeling a bit tired sometimes he's fine now.

We headed over to the Andaman coast next in search of better weather. This is one of the islands, Koh Hong, just off the coast from Krabi where we had a fantastic day snorkeling and relaxing. Steve didn't feel quite up to diving but the visibility even just snorkeling was amazing. We got quite excited spotting big tropical fish. No sea turtles yet, we've got fingers crossed for Indonesia...

Our first stop in Malaysia was the island of Penang - not quite the same as Koh Tao - it's like a city with a population of 1 million. We'd read it was a fantastic place for food and experiencing different cultures and it certainly turned out to be just that. 

This was a lunch stop in Little India where we had to do a lot of pointing and gesturing and somehow ended up with this great feast. They bring you a banana leaf and pile on rice, popadom...and that was the end of the things we recognised! Decided eating it with our hands as the locals do was a step too far, much more enjoyable with a fork! We made the most of our time in Penang, visiting lots of temples and the botanical gardens as well as treking in the national park. For me, I'll remember Penang for the heat, the hoards of monkeys and the excellent Chinese, Indian and Malay food. Though perhaps we missed out as we didn't feel the need to try fish head, bull testicles or frog curry! 

Running out of time now, we made our way to Kuala Lumpur for a 3 day flying visit. This is Batu Caves, which is also an Indian Shrine. Thankfully we visited the day before Deepavali when it apparently gets swamped with visitors, celebrating the new year.

Also managed to drag Steve around the bird park which turned out to be a great place. It's the largest free flight aviary in the world so you are surrounded with some very foreign looking birds as soon as you go in. A huge blue pigeon was our favourite but thought this picture was quite funny...

Perhaps our favourite day so far included a trip to the 86th floor of the Petronas towers, once the tallest building in the world. Amazing views over Kuala Lumpur... and quite hard to photograph as its so high!  

The Chinese Thaen Hou temple in the afternoon was a great place to escape the rain and read about characteristics of people born in the year of the rat and the tiger. The best part of the day was a meal in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Menara KL tower, another skyscraper. Wonderful buffet from oysters (which we weren't too keen on) to sea bass and chocolate brownies. The view kept changing as you rotate around and this was our favourite view of the Petronas Towers. 

We're now in Singapore for one night before catching our flight to Bali, where we have 10 days before coming back to see a bit more of Singapore. Hopefully won't be so long til the next blog :)

Cambodia

Sorry Thailand, but Cambodia may now be our favourite country so far in South East Asia. Thanks to a very convincing salesman in Sihanoukville, we decided to do our PADI open water diving course a little earlier than expected, on the island of Koh Rong. What a refreshing change to find somewhere that still only has electricity for 6 hours a day and not a concrete tower in sight! Koh Rong is earmarked for development so we are very pleased we could visit while it is still so unspoilt and beautiful. We really loved our night spent in a treehouse (below), though going to the loo down the steep ladder once the electricity went off was a scary prospect! The diving course turned out to be a pretty intense three days but we really enjoyed it and now can't wait to do some more diving in Thailand. Though we worried about sharks, jellyfish and, of course, drowning, the worst injury sustained was a cut to the leg climbing back on the boat! An instructor to ourselves was an added bonus so we really felt in safe hands. Probably our favourite place so far, and as always we wanted to stay longer.



Next stop was Phnom Penh, and we managed to find ourselves in a rather unsavoury (not according to Steve) part of the city with places such as 'horny bar' and lots of older men with Asian women. Still, it was cheap and a good base for visiting the killing fields and genocide museum. A very upsetting day and shocking to think how recently the Khmer Rouge genocide took place  - in the 1970's. We kept looking at people after that, like the Tuk Tuk driver, thinking they probably lived through it and lost members of their family.

 During our visit to Cambodia we heard that the King's father had died and were quite surprised what an impact this had on the country as a whole. There were three days of mourning where everything pretty much shut down. Apparently, the king was a very popular and important figure who helped bring about Cambodia's independence from the French in the 50's. This picture is of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh which was still closed to visitors a week later, with local people gathered outside bringing flowers and lighting incense as a mark of respect.

A very bumpy bus journey later, we arrived in Siem Reap. A recommendation from Paul and Lisa took us to a lovely guesthouse with hammocks, free bikes and 30 minute free massage. No free T shirt anymore though!

This was our first view of one of the temples of Angkor, during our sunset Tuk Tuk ride. The following day we didn't quite make sunrise, but set off early on bikes to explore the other temples in one day. It really is a beautiful and impressive place, like a national park dotted for miles around with amazingly preserved temples from as early as the 8th century.

The classic view of Angkor Wat, saved for last and we just about made it before the rain! A very tiring day with 30 miles on bikes and lots of walking, but a truly great place, despite the huge amounts of tourists. A ten hour bus ride to Bangkok the following day proved quite a welcome rest, though we did fear for our lives at some points! Our driver seemed to think he was Michael Schumacher, even in the heavy traffic of Bangkok! Off to Koh Tao tonight and very happy to leave the Khao San road of Bangkok behind.

Na Trang to Cambodia

First of all, sorry for the long delay. We weren't just being lazy, the internet has been pretty scarce and unreliable so finding somewhere to upload pictures has been tricky. This first photo is a cute mum and baby monkey we saw on a rather bizarre island tour which included a monkey and bear show, ostrich rides and performing elephants. It all left a rather bad taste in the mouth but the monkeys roaming wild around the island cheered us up. And I was strangely impressed by a handstand from a bear!

Next stop, a little beach resort called Mui Ne. Not the most exciting place but we did get to try lobster for the first time for the princely sum of $20! They even cut it open for us to save any embarassment on our part from having to disect it. Very tasty indeed!

Then off to the capital of Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City - which we enjoyed a lot more than expected. Anywhere would have seemed great, though, after the vilest bus journey yet. Back seat, no aircon and five seats in permanently reclined positions. Enough said! There was a very informative war remnants museum with some pretty grim photos but we certainly feel more informed about the Vietnam war now. We met some more super enthusiastic students wanting to practice their English and a scarily well-informed teenager who could discuss everything from David Cameron's politics to Cheryl Cole's X factor exploits!

Here is the Can Tho floating market, which takes place in the mekong delta in Southern Vietnam. Boats float past offering you everything from coffee to mangos for 10,000 dong, about 20p. Each boat seems to only sell one thing so you see them piled high with pineapples, posting them through little windows to potential customers. Our Mekong Delta tour finished with us finding our own way onto Phu Quoc Island, still largely tourist-free and undeveloped. All would have been well had we not stumbled into a huge festival crowd blocking our way to the port and left us in serious danger of being crushed or missing the ferry! The Vietnamese proved to be slightly less polite in a queue than we might have hoped, pushing past us and laughing at the silly sweaty westerners. Made it in the end and it was well worth it. Yet more beautiful beaches and wonderful food from the night market.

We are now big fans of red snapper and seafood hotpot! Having food caught fresh that day is something we would love to get used to. We were sorry to leave the island, though we wont miss the horrendous roads (workers have been too busy building the new international airport to repair, or maybe even finish, the roads!)

A memorable crossing into Cambodia, with a ''corruption charge"' to pay by our guide and a dollar for not having a vaccination card,or even if you did! Not the best welcome but Kampot was a lovely place to continue or travels. A visit to Bokor National park gave us some wonderful view but we were saddened to see a luxury casino has been built at the top and plans for a 5 star hotel as well. Luckily, most of the national park is protected but apparently not all.

We've now moved on to Sihanoukville which is slightly like the Costa Brava but nice to have reliable internet, laundry service and postbox for a change! Here's Steve relaxing this afternoon by the beach with a local beer. Next stop, Koh Rong or one of the other surrounding islands...

Vietnam - Hanoi to Nha Trang

Watching the sunset over Halong Bay from our boat

 We decided to reward ourselves for all the overnight buses and very 'budget' accomodation by doing a 3 day trip to Halong bay. Pleased to have survived the crazy motorists in Hanoi, we set off to the coast and went aboard our boat. A wonderful lunch of fresh seafood (more giant prawns yay) awaited us, then some kayaking around one of the islands. Halong bay just takes your breath away. It's beautiful, enormous and nothing like anywhere we've been before. After sleeping the night on the boat we arrived at Cat Ba island which is the largest inhabited island in Halong Bay. A pretty serious trek took us to the top of a mountain, with wonderful views of the island.

Enjoying the view from the bungalow

 Next stop was monkey island where we we did, indeed, see monkeys on the beach. We were lucky enough to get one of the bungalows which overlooked the beach and made the most of that view. A rather early start was much improved by a quick dip in the sea. Just wished we'd had longer there to enjoy the peace and spectacular scenery.

Monkey island beach

 As we travelled down the coast to Hue the weather took a turn for the worst. This is rainy season we kept reminding ourselves but after 4 days of torrential rain we were getting a bit fed up! Made the best of it though, armed with raincoats and umbrella. Lots of temples, tombs and other historic sights to keep us busy. Somewhere in all this Steve has managed to hurt his leg, so I'm getting a bit of a rest from all the walking while he is less mobile!

Making the best of the rain

 We manged to coincide our next stop in Hoi An with the Autumn festival where local children dress up as dragons and march around the streets, banging big drums. This photo shows the main road running through the town, absolutely heaving with people enjoying the festivities despite the appalling weather. Managed to fit in a trip to a tailor while we were there and got some clothes made. Steve now has a very nice dinner jacket and a dress for me, and even with shipping back home, not a fraction of the English price.

Crazy main high street in Hanoi

The worst sleeper train so far took us from Hoi An to Nha Trang on a 13 hour journey - bumpy, smelly and no toilet so had to use the pretty vile loos on route. Not the nicest journey at the best of times but made worse by Steve's sore leg - no wonder people take Valium! Made it to Nha Trang, a seaside resort with very cheap accommodation and nice food so we're happy. Weather much better today so we've had a lazy day on the beach, telling ourselves it's to give Steve's leg a rest. Delighted to find a traditional Italian restaurant and get some western food for one of the first times all month. Much as we love the rice and noodles it's a nice change. Happy times.