Whacky Races

Well Bangkok is certainly banging there's no doubt about that!

We are not staying in the Backpacker side of town which is Khao San Road, we are in the "better" side of town, where dare I say it's a bit quieter??

Yesterday we took a taxi to The Grand Palace, it is easy to see where it gets it's name from, it is an absolute splendid sight, and well worth a visit. It was a blistering hot day yesterday around 32c with not a breath of air. Matt had been going on at me about appropriate dress for the said Temples and told me that I should dress respectfully (as if I don't normally!!) So with that in mind I opted for a long cotton skirt, a vest top and a jumper to cover my bare shoulders with when we went into the Temples. Matt went along in shorts and a t-shirt. As soon as we tried to walk through the gates we were shouted at through a loud speaker and told that we weren't dressed appropriately and that we would have to go and "borrow" some clothes from their office. This didn't prove to be a real problem as there were 100's of Westerners there all with the same problem, us Westerners seem to have no regard for other countries culture. We were wondering what the particular problem was with our dress (or lack of) as we really thought we had it covered (no pun intended) anyway it only turned out that Matt was showing too much leg!! He was handed a beautiful pair of pea green elasticated waist trousers for the tour. Well I just fell about the place laughing at him, he looked ridiculous, especially as he was wearing a trendy blue t-shirt and flip flops, he wouldn't let me take a photo. I was in hysterics, it was one of those "you had to be there" moments! Anyway we took lots of snaps, we went to see the Emerald Buddha and a few other bits and pieces but because it was just soooo hot we cut our visit short. Matt couldn't rid himself of his newly acquired pants quick enough he he!!

After that we walked to the Khao San Road, it was full of Westerners and pervy old men. It was more like home than Bangkok. We went for a beer and half a Pad Thai which was horrible and then had a walk around some of the shops/markets. We didn't do any shopping though as we aim to do it before we fly home so that we don't have to cart it around with us. There are lots of bargains to be had though!!!!!

The traffic here is like Whacky Races, there are about 3 lanes on the road but with 8 lanes of traffic, it's mayhem in places. There is also a constant smog about the place and difficult to breathe in places where there is a lot of cars and buses. A lot of the locals wear the masks over their noses/mouths. If the locals think it's bad you can imagine what it's like for tourists. It is much cleaner than I expected though, a lot cleaner than Kualar Lumper, although the stench of rotting food and sewers does not escape you!!

The buses here are like something from a Bollywood movie, they are painted in bright gaudy colours and have the same interior as a tacky Indian restaurant, with tasseled curtains, red and orange lighting and dodgy piped in back ground music. The only thing is you can't order a curry on one!!

Today we went to one of the many shopping centres as it really is too hot to be wandering around the streets aimlessly. We ended up in the cinema to see I am Legend. It was really funny at the beginning as the Thai National Anthem comes on and you all have to stand up and pay homage to the king. Can you imagine that at home with all the cheeky little brats, they'd all be swearing and shouting out obscenities! It was a great film though.

I'm not too familiar with the Thai religions although I know it's mostly Buddha and Hindu. One of the things that the Thais do though is have a little temple of worship outside their property, whether it be a shop, house, cafe etc. The only way to describe these little temples is to compare them to a bird table. On them they have a little Buddha and lots of flowers and crosses and other paraphernalia, they also leave food and gifts out for whoever it is the table is set up for. They believe that if they feed their God that it will keep any evil spirits away. It is quite funny actually, if you could see some of the crap they leave out. In Ko Samui they had a bottle of cherryade with a straw in and a pack of 10 cigars. I thought it was hilarious. I thought with it being Christmas that they may leave a glass of Sherry, a mince pie and a carrot for Rudolph!!

We fly to Chang Mai tomorrow so will post more then and let you know how the cooking lessons are going.

Happy New Year!!

One night in Bangkok..

... actually you better make that 3!

Well we are unexpectedly in Bangkok, we arrived at our lovely beach resort on the 27th only to find that there had been a mix up with our reservation and that there were no rooms left!! The rest of the resort was also busy as it is now a popular time for Thais to holiday, and the resort we had chosen was popular with Thais not Westerners. Anyway I'm not going to bore you with the whole fiasco, suffice to say it was just that.

We got on the bus for Bangkok yesterday, another 6 hours on top of the 14 hours we had done the day previously and we are now here until 1st January, when we will fly up to Chiang Mai for about 8-10 days. It is much cooler in Northern Thailand, which will be a welcome relief from this heat. Bangkok is as busy as you would be expect, we haven't seen too much yet as we only arrived late afternoon yesterday, but we are going to see some sights today, including The Grand Palace, so watch this space for an update and some pics.

We are staying in a lovely hotel, totally blown the budget, we seem to have forgotten that we're backpackers since we arrived in Thailand, oops!! I am loving the country so far, the only thing that annoys me about the Thai people is that they think Westerners have a licence to print money and try to rip us off at every opportunity. We are trying to stand firm but we have found ourselves in a situation that didn't leave us any room for bartering, or bantering for that matter and as a result we were taken to the cleaners!! It's a long story and one which I can't be bothered to go into, you will lose the will to live if I go into any kind of detail.

Food here has been superb, which we always knew it would be especially as it's my favourite cuisine anyway. When we get to Chiang Mai we will be both going on a 4-5 day cookery course, it is hosted by a top Thai chef who has been on lots of BBC cookery programmes!!! So no doubt our folks will be the first to sample our Thai culinary skills when we get back!!

We aren't going to Cambodia now, instead we will enjoy what time we have left in Thailand, Matt has a friend that he is due to meet in CM and we will also try and do some trekking, riding elephants and other Thai touristy nonsense before we fly home, date TBC!!

So that's it for now, just a short one, will update on Banging Bankok in a few days!

Homeward Bound

So Christmas is as far away as ever now, hope you all got lots of lovely pressies!

Today is our last day in Koh Samui, tomorrow we leave for Prachuap Khirikhan, where we will spend new year. It is apparently the best beach in Thailand and much quieter than all the touristy beaches. So that is why we chose it as we don't like new year. We will be there for 5 nights so we still have a bit of beach left yet!

Christmas day was weird, there has been a Christmas tree up in our resort with decorations up too but there is no Christmas vibe. Christmas eve all the young party goers went to the full moon beach at the next Island (forgotten the name) we contemplated going along too but decided against it in the end. We've heard a lot about these "party's" so we opted for a quiet one instead. You're probably thinking what a miserable pair of gits we are but it is difficult getting excited about it all with no friends and family about.

Christmas day we got up as normal and had breakfast by the beach, which is a bonus obviously. We then spent the rest of the day lounging about, drinking beer and eventually had a Christmas lunch of vegetable Pad Thai. We rang our families later in the afternoon and I managed to compose myself, I couldn't help thinking about them all sat round though enjoying the festivities.

Last night there was a party at our resort with some live music and a BBQ so we were looking forward to that, it was packed too with a good atmosphere, everybody wishing each other merry Christmas etc, some people wearing party hats and silly earrings so it did feel better. We also got chatting with a few Brummies so we spent the night with them, we didn't get in til 2am this morning. The band were appalling I have to say (Matt will agree) it was 2 cockney blokes of about 50 years old, dressed in checked shirts that you buy from Florence and Fred at Tesco, chinos with creases down the fronts and boating shoes. The 3rd guy was a Thai kid of about 25, now he really looked the part with long straggly hair, faded denims and a vest, with a fag dangling from his mouth. So you can imagine it was a bit of a strange combo. There was no drummer, it was all backing music run through a PR system. Well the 2 older guys were an absolute joke, talk about wooden. Their opening tune was The Shadows, Apache. Let's just say you had to see (and hear) it to believe it. We just took the proverbial out of them all night, they were that belligerent though that they didn't give a monkeys and just turned the music up even louder! I'm sure Hank Marvin would have had something to say if he'd have heard them...

Today we didn't get up until lunch time, easy life. The weather has been pants today with lots of rain and cloud so we haven't been on the beach or by the pool. We have spent it playing Scrabble and watching cheesy T.V.

It's safe to say now that we're looking forward to getting home, Christmas aside we are just weary from been on the road for 8 months. So we have brought our flight dates forward and we will be flying home in 3 weeks instead of 5. We still have a lot to see in that time though as we head off to Cambodia and up to Northern Thailand so don't give up on the blog just yet.

Christmas - Thai Style

Hello All, you must all be buzzing now with the anticipation of Santas arrival this evening and what he will bring all you boys and girls that have behaved this year. He will be mafted when he gets to Thailand I hope he has his swim wear with him :o)

Well we have had a very exciting couple of days as you can imagine, Matt's proposal and my Birthday yesterday, I'm on cloud 9. Thank you all for your lovely messages and well wishes it means a lot to us both. My engagement ring at the moment is a stainless steel band bought from the lucky lucky man on the beach, we're going to shop for a real one when we get back so I'm looking forward to that, not sure Matt is ;o)

We have had a really relaxing time since we arrived in Koh Samui and the weather has been superb. The resort that we're at is full of westerners and chavvy Brits which is a bit of a come down after 8 months on the road, but I guess it conditions us a little for return home. It is really touristy here and is not like travelling now at all, it's more like being on holiday. Thailand is beautiful (what bit I've seen) but I can't help but notice the seediness that consumes the place. There are so many fat, balding old men here who are just out for the Thai girls and there are also lots of the same kind of men married to the Thai girls. It's shocking to think that these beautiful women are exploited in this way, but as Matt said it's the life they choose and they don't see anything wrong with it. The men are just sad pathetic old perverts who can't form a relationship with a woman because she loves him, it's all to do with the size of his wallet.

Yesterday we spent another day relaxing by the pool and then late afternoon we decided to start my Birthday celebrations early. We had a wander along the Lamai Beach taking in the other resorts, some of them really luxurious and others not quite so. The beach here has surprised me, while the sea is that beautiful aquamarine colour and the sand is white, there is litter strewn everywhere, plastic bottles, fag ends, numerous shoes and flip flops, drinking straws, and there are loads of random dogs wandering up and down. No I'm not referring to the ugly women I'm talking the 4 legged variety. Not the sort of thing I was expecting. Having said that there are some parts of the beach that are spotless. Luckily for us we stay by the pool on the loungers, it's easier to get to the bar!!

So we went in the 1st pub yesterday, a Swedish pub and ordered a couple of Singah Beers, to be told the distressing news that they weren't serving alcohol that day as there were some presidential elections taking place, and it was against the law to serve alcohol. It didn't seem to have a negative effect on the prostitution laws in Thailand just the drinking ones. So we order a fizzy drink and made off back to the beach to our resort where we knew they were serving beer as it is off the main road and out of earshot of the police. As we were heading back we heard some Reggae music and saw some candles flickering away at some beach side bar so we parked our butts and spent most of the evening there, watching fireworks and sipping ice cold beer. We also bought a kind of balloon to celebrate my B'Day. You light it inside and then it takes off into the air and drifts off into the Thai night. It was quite romantic actually he he. After the beer we went to a nice little Thai/Italian restaurant for some food, we had been there a couple of nights previously and enjoyed a great Thai curry so we agreed that we would go back.Matt told the lady that owned it we would be back on Sunday as it was his girlfriends birthday, I didn't think she was paying much attention to us crazy westerners but last night when we had finished our meal she came across with a big cocktail of ice cream and fruit covered in chocolate sauce with two dessert spoons and wished me Happy Birthday. What a lovely gesture.

Today has been much the same as any other, we have been laid by the pool listening to Brits bickering at each other, touts trying to sell us sarongs and pancakes, and crazy kids diving about in the pool, with some dodgy 80's music playing in the background. It does not feel like Christmas at all. We are enjoying it though, we have had no stress of getting up the M1 in rush hour traffic, no Christmas shopping to do, no planning of our logistical Christmas between Droitwich and Hull, and to top it all it's sunny and we're in a lovely little resort on a Thai beach.

There are no signs of a Christmas lunch anywhere on the menu here for tomorrow so it will probably be red and green curry for lunch, at least the colours are seasonal :o) Tomorrow night we are having a BBQ and there is a live band playing so we think(!) we're looking forward to that. If it's rubbish we are heading to the 7/11 for a bag full of goodies and beer and will barricade ourselves in our room and watch some trash TV, it will be just like home!!

Well you must have known it was coming...

Well lets get straight to the point, I've just proposed to Michelle! Yes, that's right we're going to get married, not sure where, when or how yet but I'm sure most of you who are reading this will be invited to the special day. That's it really, nothing else to say, but again have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Adios until 2008!

Lifes a beach

We're now in Thailand, the Island of Ko Samui to be more specific, it is lovely!

We arrived in Thailand on Monday direct from the Cameron Highlands, it wasn't planned that way. We jumped off the bus in Butterworth after about 7 hours and thought that we would stay the night there before going across the border to Thailand, but as we got off the bus we were mobbed by touts all trying to sell us bus tickets for our next destination. We were a bit weary after 7 hours on a ram shackle bus but we were on travelling mode so rather than mess about trying to finds digs for the night we decided to hop on a mini bus to Hat Yai instead (another 4 hours!!)

We had an hour to kill before the bus departure so we went to an indoor food market for a cup of tea. Well I had been spoilt in C/H as far as tea goes, the one we had here looked like tomato soup with some white stuff floating at the bottom. It turned out to be condensed milk it was vile!!

The mini bus into Thailand was a bit of a white knuckle ride, the driver stopped for no man. We made the border crossing and got all the necessary stamps before setting off again. Once across the Thailand border the Malaysian standard of living (such as it is) came to an abrupt end, much the same way as Singapore did when we left there for Malaysia. Thailand is very raw and reminds me very much of Bolivia (at least that part of Thailand did) in fact I'd go so far to say that it made Bolivia look like Hollywood!! It was hustle and bustle everywhere and a certain sense of frenzied mania everywhere.

We were dropped in Hat Yai at about 7pm in the midst of typical Thai life. We had been on the road since 9am and were in a totally new country, it was also extremely humid and we were both knackered and a bit tired. We picked out the first hostel in the Lonely Planet and went in to make enquires about a room for the night. Well words fail me. The hostel was a pit, there was a HUGE corridor that we had to walk down to get to our room (similar to the kind you would see in One flew over the cuckoos nest, but dark instead of sterile) we opened the door to our room and I was almost floored. It was basic and just a little bit on the shabby side. BUT it had a beautiful clean bed,and after 10 hours on the road I would have slept in the gutter, so we dumped our bags and hit the town for a few beers and a lovely Phad Thai!!

We stayed in Hat Yai for two nights, it is a really busy, noisy place with nothing much to do there but eat and shop. Its not very touristy and is only a stopping off point for the border crossing with Malaysia. It is an absolute shit hole if I'm honest and there are as many rats there as there are people. It is a smelly run down place, not too dissimilar to say, Bosnia??

Anyway we had a decent couple of days there before getting another mini bus yesterday (and ferry) to where we will now spend Christmas. Ko Samui. We have blown our budget and are staying in fantastic beach side resort. We couldn't have found anywhere nicer and it has exceeded our expectations by far. So much so that we are staying an extra 4 nights, so we will now be here until 27th before we go back to the mainland beach for New Year.

This morning we ate our breakfast by the sea, sat in our shorts and t-shirt. It must make you shiver at home when you think of such attire ;o)

So that's us for the moment. You must all be wondering are we feeling home sick? I'll be honest with you and say yes I am particularly so, Matt is but not as much. But we know that we are home in 5 weeks and back into the rat race and all the last 8 months will be a memory so we intend to make every minute count.

This is my very first Christmas away from home and as much as I have known all along that it would be difficult I didn't realise just how much. So make the most of yours at home with your loved ones and try not to worry too much about us laying at the beach side sipping cocktails to numb the pain he he :o)

Merry Christmas everybody, have a good one Michelle and Matt xx

It's proper Boh I tell thee!!

For all you non Bo Selecta fans you wont have a clue what the title of this blog means, oh well.

Today we went on the tour, we had a cracking day out eating and drinking our way round the C/H. We were picked up about 9am in a little mini bus we then went around the local hotels picking up other tourists, most of them were Malaysian. Our first stop was to a Rose Garden! We weren't particularly excited by the prospect of trailing around some poncey roses but I think it's safe to say that we both enjoyed it. It wasn't just roses there were hundreds of different types of flowers and cacti. Anyway not much to tell other than we took lots of snaps (see Flickr)

After the rose garden we headed to the Strawberry Farm, this I was looking forward to as Strawbs are one of my favourite fruits so I couldn't wait to get my grotty hands on them. We were allowed to go inside one of the green houses but were advised not to "pluck" the strawberries.We never even got the chance as it seemed other tourists had beaten us to it, the plants were bereft of any fruit :o( Luckily there was a small row of shops selling souvenirs and all strawberry related products, these included (to name a few) fresh strawbs, milkshake, waffles, jam, ice cream, scones and jam. I was like a woman demented, wondering what to try first. We tasted some of the jam, it was sooooo sweet with a bitter twist to it, delicious. After that we opted for some fresh ones, these too were really sweet, although we were told that because they had had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks, that the strawbs weren't as sweet as they normally are because they hadn't had enough sun. Lack of sunshine aside they were still better than the English ones we get back home. We washed all that down with a milkshake which was more like a smoothie, absolutely spot on and well worth a visit.

We left the Strawberry Farm and went to see some butterflies amongst other things. Other thing's being a tarantula, lots of snakes and hundreds of insects. I'm sure you know me well enough by now to know that I didn't enjoy this part one bit, they should have left me with the strawberries. In the tank with the tarantula was a little mouse, obviously the spiders Sunday lunch. There was also a snake with a rat hidden away in the corner looking so unhappy, obviously aware of it's fate. I hate stuff like that and made a quick exit. I don't mind butterflies too much but there were hundreds of them all fluttering about so I never went in there either, although Matt did and he took some stunning pics. Again we were told not to touch the butterflies (as if I would!) but you know what tourists are like, they're not to be told and there were loads of dead butterflies on the floor where people had grabbed them for photo opportunities.

After the butterflies we headed for the tea plantations, it was great. We drove round the windy roads through the plantations, the scenery was amazing. It just looked like a sea of green velvet from a distance, and you would think that if you touched it it would feel the same way, but the leaves are actually quite brittle to touch with absolutely no trace of tea? We then had a tour of the tea factory where all the rolling and drying of leaves takes place. It was really interesting and the aroma was lovely, all you could smell was tea! The factory that we visited belonged to a company called "Boh" and is owned by a Scottish family who live in KL. Boh alone produce enough tea each day to make the equivalent of 5.5 MILLION cups!!! That is a lot of washing up!! The factory was really basic too using lots of old fashioned methods and machinery, none of this high tech state of the art stuff. There wasn't a computer operated piece of machinery in sight, hard to believe they produce so much tea using such methods.

After the tea factory we went to the Boh Cafe for a bit of tea tasting, we opted for a mug of Cameron Gold Blend. Now if there is one thing I hate it's a pissy cup of tea, but this stuff is strong enough to put hairs on your chest. It is orange in colour and no matter how much milk you dilute it with it stays the same colour. My kind of tea. We were told that they use the tea dust off the floor to make Tetley Tea which is why it's like piss. We also had a home made coconut pie, it was just like been at my Nana's house where we would ALWAYS have a cup of tea and a home made coconut bun, yummy.

After the tea factory we were taken to a honey farm, but we had eaten and drank that much by this time that we weren't particularly interested in seeing some bees and a pot of honey. We had a quick look round the local market, bought some lovely juicy sweetcorn for our lunch and hopped back on the bus back to Tanah Rata.

Tomorrow we will leave here unfortunately back to the humidity and lowlands of Malaysia. We will head to Butterworth and then possibly across to Penanag for a quick overnight stop. We want to get to Thailand now as we hope to spend about 3 weeks on the beach, before we head further North to Chang Mai, where we hope to take a Thai cookery course. We will then make our way back down to Bangkok and into Cambodia for a week or so. We were going to do Vietnam but there simply isn't enough time to do the place justice.

Maybe next time...

Tea and sympathy

Hi All, we're now in the Cameron Highlands enjoying the cooler temperatures and lack of humidity. It is about 20c here so compared with the mid 30 temps we've being experiencing it is really pleasant. We will stay here for 3 night's before we head to Butterworth for a night just as a stop over ready for our border crossing into Thailand, whoopee!!

All the time we were planning our trip Thailand was THE one place that I was really looking forward to, and now almost a year later we're nearly there. It is rainy season in most of Asia at the moment so it's not glorious sunshine every day as you might be expecting. We have had our fair share of rain this week but it soon clears up once it stops. We have experienced all elements the last 7 months so rain to us is like water off a ducks back ;o)

The couple of days we spent in KL were a bit hectic. It is an extremely busy and noisy place with lots of built up areas and sky scrapers, it is also a filthy, smelly place too. The drains are just full of rotting food and stagnant water, and in the kind of heat they experience you can imagine the effects. All that aside though it is a really exciting place to spend a couple of days although I don't think I could manage any more than that. It is also extremely humid here and even just ambling around the place was hard work. We did get a great deal on a hotel room though, 10GBP for an A/C room with our own bathroom and T.V. Where in London could you get that kind of deal?!

The bus station in KL was very similar to those in Sth America, you are pounced upon as soon as you walk in and everybody wants to know where you're going and to sell you a ticket. We were ushered to one of the many ticket desks and told how much it would be, what time the bus leaves etc. Anyway Matt being the worldly wise traveller that he is now decided to try his hand at a bit of bartering, and told the guy that is was too expensive (4GBP each!!!!) and that we would try another operator. We went to the next desk only to find that it was exactly the same price there too. We paid our money and scuttled off embarrassed that we had tried to get one over on the locals. It's all part of the fun though!!

The drive to CH was pretty spectacular once we got off the main highway, the road was one of those full of hair pin bends and right at the edge of a massive drop (if you dared to look!) It was just like driving through the jungle as all we could see for miles and miles was trees and forestry, with a few indigenous communities scattered along the way.

CH is a busy little place, with emphasis on the little. It is full of tea shops (surprise surprise) and curry restaurants. Needless to say we have no complaints, it's like we have died and gone to heaven. Tomorrow we will go and visit the tea plantations and go find out what it's all about (Alfie) There are also lots of strawberry fields, and cactus farms so we will be taking in some of those and sampling anything that is going, although I don't think the cactus is necessarily for eating, I'm sure it's more common for it's healing properties? No doubt I will find out just what you can do with a cactus tomorrow.

We're in an internet cafe at the moment and again they are just like the South American ones, full of young kids who would be better placed in a classroom, but instead playing beat me up games aimed at 18+'s. They can't play these games quietly either, they screech at the tops of their voices while they pound away at the key board. So I'm now sat with a pair of Mickey Mouse earphones on listening to some "banging choones" on Facebook (AC/DC Whole lotta Rosie) and as noisy as this song is it still can't block the little blighters out.

We have both really missed listening to decent music while we've been away. We decided that we wouldn't bring our ipods as it was just one more thing to keep our eye on in addition to money, camera, passports etc. But I think it's safe to say that next time we travel our ipods will be high up on our list of things to bring. Matt has already been chatting to Ben about going to a music festival at Benicassim in July next year. It's like "a posh version of Reading" apparently. Anyway hopefully there are two tickets with our names on, posh Reading or not we need a fix of loud music. If it is like Reading I'll be "Dancing with tears in my eyes" (Only old people will know that song)

Gary we're looking forward to a noisy weekend at your place when we get back too ;o)

Have a nice weekend all!

Mafted in Malaysia

We arrived in Malaysia on Monday after a 5 hour bus trip from Singapore. I was sorry to leave Singapore as I really did love it, but the temptation to shop was killing me, so we left there more for my own safety than anything. I would love to visit the place again and take my mum, she would LOVE it and would make an ideal shopping companion.

The border crossing into Malaysia was really plain sailing, and we got yet another stamp on our already bursting at the seems passports. I know we have only been in Asia for a few days, but already it is evident that when we started our trip in South America we really were throwing ourselves in at the deep end. Travel in Asia is extremely easy, in part as there is no language barrier, but also because the route were taking is also so well travelled. It makes me more proud of myself though when I think of some of the situations we found ourselves in, within a few weeks of leaving the safety and comfort of our lives as they were then. Within 3 weeks of leaving home we were on a 40 minute flight in Ecuador (speaking no Spanish at all) that would get us to a connecting bus into the Amazon for 5 very hairy days. Pretty impressive even if I do say so myself.

We have both agreed that next time we come travelling (we're aiming for Matt's 40th) we will miss out westernised countries and stick to places like South/Central America and more of Asia. It is far more interesting and challenging, and you learn so much about different cultures, religions and it also gives you such a greater geographical and political understanding of the world.

I wasn't the most academic of pupils at school, in so much as most of the time I didn't even go to school as I hated it that much. I actually left school having taken no exams at all and got a job working on a YTS in the local supermarket for 27.50GBP a week. But ultimately your future isn't about academic achievements and what grades you passed at school. The best education I have ever had is this trip around the world. It should be compulsory. I have learnt so much these last 7 months and met so many interesting people, and none of these experiences can be learnt through a book or a classroom. It's about getting out there and living life among the locals, it is priceless.

We are in Kuala Lumper now, we will probably stay here for a few days as it is a big place with lots to do (including shops) Melaka was a great place, the Malaysians are so laid back it's untrue. There are also many different religions here but they all seem to live harmoniously with no undercurrent of bad feeling.

The hostel we stayed at in Melaka was a bit of an eye opener, although it is no worse than some that we stayed in in Sth America. It was that bad that I did actually attempt to clean the bathroom (I am my mothers daughter) but to no avail. It was always going to be difficult with a tin of vim and a nail brush, but at least I tried. The toilet didn't flush, it was the sort where you have to fill a pan of water (or any other receptacle you may have to hand) and do the job yourself, which if it were your own toilet at home may not be too much of a chore. But when you consider there were about 30 other guests sharing this toilet, well I don't think I need to go on!! Mind you it was only 5GBP a night for both of us so you can't grumble eh??

We're heading up to the Cameron Highlands after KL and will do a few days touring the tea plantations. It may sound quite dull to you office folk but we're actually looking forward to it, I'm hoping that we actually get a decent brew while we're there too. One thing I have missed about home is a decent cup of Yorkshire tea at my mum and dads (one of life's simple pleasures ;o)) The only thing about the Cameron Highlands is that they are in a kind of, dare I say it "jungle" kind of area. So as much as I'm looking forward to the tea, I know it will be a tense couple of days and will really push my reserve to the limit. But as I said earlier, that's what we came for and that is what it's all about.

After the CH we're not sure whether to go up to Penang or head straight into Thailand, we will play it by ear for now and see how it goes.

Matt has posted our first Asian pics today so do enjoy them from the comfort of your arm chairs in the freezing cold he he!

It's not a question of curry...

Well hello there, as you can probably tell by the flag, or maybe you can't as it looks similar to the last one, we are now in Malaysia. We crossed over the border yesterday to Melaka (or Melacca depending on your spelling) which is/was a very important port city on the west coast which has been conquered by the Portuguese, Dutch and of course the English at various stages throughout it's history. It's still bleeding hot, before you ask, but we seem to be coping with it ok and only need to stop for a drink every hour. There's an old fort and palace that we visited today and hopefully I'll post some pictures within the next few days.

So on to the subject of food. Anyone reading this who knows us will know that we are both partial to the odd curry be it Thai, Indian, Chinese. Michelle can stomach even hotter curries than me which is a bit embarrassing really but hey ho. Now being in Asia it's not a question of whether you're going to eat curry (when I say curry I'm really referring to anything that's mildly spicy really, I know that's a bit of a culinary stereotype but as I've said before it's my blog and I'll write what I want to!). Sorry where was I, yes it's not a question of whether you're going to eat curry (I actually typed that out again I should have cut and paste) it's at what time of the day you are going to eat your FIRST curry and then how many subsequent meals that day will consist of the stuff. Do you skip breakfast and have an early lunch of curry? Do you have curry for breakfast but of a sufficient portion to last you through to teatime? Do you go for the triple whammy and have breakfast, dinner and tea (breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the southerners) of curry and then spend the rest of the evening in the W.C. Incidentally we bought 20 (twenty!) packs of tissues earlier from the chemist as none of toilets here have toilet paper in. Plus if they do they are the toilet of the squat variety and you have to take your shoes off when you go. That's not some religious rule it's just that your ankles end up getting covered in ..... anyway that's enough of that!!

Talking of food we made a bit of a food faux pas yesterday. Michelle ordered a bit of a curry medley and it's served on banana leaves in this particular restaurant. You don't get knives, forks and eat with your hand(s), specifically your right hand as the other one is used for doing the business in the toilet if you don't have twenty packs of tissues; seriously it is. So there we were eating away with our right hands when the waiter bought over a little silver cup of water. Now being thirsty I started to drink it and after a while Michelle had a few sips too. Strange I thought why he didn't bring one each. What we can only guess today, after both having crippling stomach cramps for about an hour yesterday, is that the water is used for washing your fingers in. Obviously the water would have come out of the tap rather than from a bottle of drinking water so God only knows what sort of parasitic filth was in it. Still we're all right today and even went back to the same restaurant tonight so it can't have been that bad. We didn't drink the water today though!!

We're off to Kualar Lumpur, the capital, tomorrow so will probably be away early as it's only two hours from here and we can spend most of the day sightseeing and eating. The south of Malaysia is predominantly Muslim and so there are quite a few Mosques around. In fact, there's one about what sounds like 10 feet away from our room, as this morning the "Call to Prayer" aka "Early Morning Alarm call" blasted out at 5am. It's actually a recorded voice these days but in the old days the head of the Mosque I presume would climb the tower or Minaret as it's called, next to the Mosque and start wailing at the top of his voice. God knows (or should that be Allah knows) who they've got to record this wailing as it sounds like a cross between Barry White and Roadrunner, it really is awful, the last thing you need at 5am that's for sure.

So that's me, I better stop now as it's getting late here,

See you Soon,

Shopping galore in Singapore

We have had a fantastic, wet couple of days in Singapore, it really is something special this place. Matt had warned me previously about all the shopping malls, but nothing could have prepared me for the amount and the immensity of these places! They're that bad that once you get inside one, it's very difficult to find your way back out again. It really is a shoppers paradise and I would recommend it to all my girlfriends. Stew and Kirsty spent a couple of days here on their way to Oz and Kirsty told us how much she loved it (Kirsty loves to shop!!) but Stew really struggled with the humidity which we can relate too!!

We have visited some really exciting cities on our trip, but Singapore is something else. It screams efficiency. We have completely exhausted the underground (MRT) which is so simple to use and 100% reliable. Everywhere is really clean and there is just a really positive energy about the place, I love it!!

The one thing I do hate though (oh yes there's always something you must be thinking) is the humidity. We have the luxury of A/C in our hotel so you can have a nice shower, blow dry your hair put on clean clothes, but the minute you step outside the hotel the place just steals the air from your lungs and you are damp in an instant, and remain that way for the rest of the day, which is why they probably have so many A/C shopping malls. I swear to God I have never seen so many shops. I don't even think Buenos Aires can compete, and that is another huge shopping city.

But we're backpackers and so whatever we accumulate, we have to carry, which kind of spoils things a bit. That said I am going on a shopping rampage when we get to Bangkok (where we fly home from) and will be doing all our Christmas shopping. I think I can get gifts for my whole family and friends for about ten quid, it is soooooo cheap!! The only thing we have bought today is a fake G-Shock watch (1.70GBP and it's still working 7 hours later!) and an umbrella for Matt as it seems to rain every 5 minutes here. No let me re-phrase that, it teems down!!

So we have spent much time on Orchard Road which is where a lot of the big malls are, we did Raffles, we've spent more than our fair share of time in Little India, Bugis Village (more shops) we have been along Circular Quay where all the trendy restaurants and bars are, and lots of other places in between. James we didn't get to the Zoo as we only had two full days here and half of one of those was spent trying to get out of the shopping centre!!

We also booked our bus tickets today, and tomorrow we get the bus for a 4.5 hour trip to Melaka, Malaysia. I think we could have quite easily spent more time in Singapore but the urge to shop is just too much to bear any longer. Today we also booked some accommodation for the Christmas period, and we will be staying on the Island of Ko Samui in Thailand. We arrive on the 23rd December and will stay until 27th, it will be so strange been away for Christmas, we are both looking forward to celebrating ours late with family and friends when we get back in Feb.

One thing I really envy of Asian women and that is their poker straight hair, it totally defies humidity. I've spend most of my time here with a gaping jaw wandering how it stays so straight in all the humidity and rain. Unfortunately my hair does not tolerate humidity and I am looking more like Bonnie Tyler every day. I'm going to get my mum to book me an appointment for Toni & Guy for the day after I get home, I am in desperate need of some serious cutting and colour. I used to have my hair cut ever 6-7 weeks at home, it is now 10 MONTHS since my hair saw a professional pair of scissors. Initially I did try to "keep it tidy" using the scissors from our first aid kit but it was like trying to fit a new carpet with a butter knife so I gave up.

It's all girls talk this hair and shopping stuff!

Missing you already

We're now in Singapore and it's ace!!

Yesterday we packed our gear away after 6 easy weeks in Oz, ready for some more hardcore travel through Asia. We took the van back to the depot, which was almost as stressful as when we picked it up. Despite my bragging at how good we were getting at driving around the cities, nothing can prepare you for the roads in Sydney, it's a nightmare to drive round/through. We agreed that I would drive and Matt would be chief navigator (damage limitation!) that way if we did get lost (or should I say when!) it wasn't my fault, I was simply following instructions ;o) Anyway we did get lost, a few times. We eventually stopped at a petrol station and asked a taxi driver where the address was, as always when you're lost we were practically right by it.

We got our full deposit back too which was good news, as obviously coming to the end of our trip we need all the financial resource available to us. We jumped in a cab back to the airport and apart from a slight delay (1.5 hrs) due to an electric storm in Sydney we had another good flight on a Boeing 747! We saw the new Airbus at Sydney airport, it is HUGE. We took a few pics so will post them on Flickr soon.

As you will have probably gathered I'm not too sorry to have left Oz. I don't know why I didn't take to the place, I can't really put it down to any one thing, all I know is that it feels great to be in Singapore where nothing is familiar (apart from Mcdonalds) and nobody has yet told us where to go(!) and what to see.

Our last few days in Oz were spent at the campsite where we started off, Lane Cove and it really is a lovely park with lots of trees and greenery, it's almost like camping in a wood. The other night I was on my way to phone my dad to wish him a happy birthday. The phone box is a few minutes walk from the camp site, but it is pitch black down the footpath and there are LOTS of insects, beetles, flies, moths you name it, and they all come out at night. So me being the arachnophobiac that I am, you can imagine what an ordeal it is for me venturing out in these conditions. I went fully armed with a tin of fly spray much to the annoyance of Matt whose patience is quickly running out with my obsession of creepy crawlies. Anyway there is no real reason for me telling you all this, other than to say when we got to the phone box (unscathed) we realised that we had forgotten the phone card (I say we!!) so we had to go all the way back to the van, at which point Matt decided that he wouldn't come back with me so I had to brave it alone. Yeah thanks for that!! When I got back to the phone box, trembling, there was somebody in it, so it was another wasted journey. I wafted and swatted my way back to the van (God only knows what I looked like to passers by) and decided to text my dad instead. Much easier and insect free ;o) We did see a MASSIVE spider though on our first attempt, and I'm not exaggerating it was the same size as a small tarantula, obviously being in Asia now for the next 7 weeks means that I'm not out of the woods yet either!!!!!

We arrived at Singapore at about 1.30am this morning, totally cream crackered and probably half cut, thanks to the complimentary beer and spirits on the flight. We exhausted their supply of red wine and had to go onto the white in the end, we only drank to help us relax though ;o) We got a taxi to our hotel which took about 15 minutes, we had a bit of banter along the way with the taxi driver, who now wants to work for Comet as they pay well enough to allow us to go travelling and they even allow you to have 10 months off work and keep your job open for you.

The hotel we're staying at is on the outskirts of the main city so we are just making our way in now, on foot at the moment, and then we are gong to get the tube for the rest of the journey. It is 5* luxury to be back in a hotel, with our own bathroom, a T.V and A/C, I felt a million dollars this morning getting ready surrounded by such comfort and luxury. As much as we loved camping in NZ and Oz, it has been a bit much after 13 weeks. We are in Singapore for 3 nights altogether so we will get to Malaysia on Monday, all being well. We will head to Malaka for a couple of nights and then to the capital Kuala Lumper. I can't begin to tell you how exciting and challenging it feels again to be back in the thick of travelling. I think that is what we have missed since leaving South America.

So look forward to a lot more happy blogging and a lot less moaning from me. I am loving it already and we've not even seen anything yet!!

Up close and personal

We're now back in Sydney after a very relaxing few days at Batemans Bay and more recently Kiama. For our avid fans who remember the nightmare day we had when we arrived in Oz, well you would be impressed if you had seen us get to Sydney today. We drove straight to the camp site, we never even broke a sweat.

We stayed 4 nights in Batemans, we had a really nice spot by the beach and the weather picked up too, we got chatting to an Ozzie (Bill) who insisted on showing us the interior of his newly acquired caravan. We oooohd and aaaahd a bit before getting back to our van. He was a nice old bloke, just a bit lonely, so much so that he asked us to go to Surfers Beach with him, hmmm. Matt made some excuse though and we managed to let him down lightly.

KIama is a great little sea side place too where we spent three nights. We popped into the local while we were having a wander round the town, to receive the welcome news that it was Happy Hour!! So we indulged in 6 pints of Tooheys (not each) and left an hour later with a slight swagger. She knew we were hard core Brits when we ordered proper "pints" instead of the poncey schooners that the Ozzies drink ;o)

We went back to the pub on Friday night as there was a live band playing, we made enquiries at the bar about them and were told that not a lot was known about them as they hadn't played there before. Anyway we went down there Friday night and got among the locals, it was a typical working class pub, loads of big hairy fellas in the work gear spending all the house keeping money on ale. There were also a few groupies gathering around the front, bleached blonde permed hair, skin tight black leggings and cerise pink stilettos (that was just the fellas). Their trotters left a lot to be desired. So as you can imagine we blended in quite nicely ;o)

It turned out to be a good night, the band were really good although they played a lot of Ozzie stuff that we're not too familiar with, they also did some Police, Snow Patrol etc. I could tell Matt was chomping at the bit to get up and have a go on the guy's Les Paul. We were a bit worse for wear when we left there and had a bit of a hike back to the camp site. I don't know how we started but we were throwing our flip flops down the street and brawling like a couple of yobs. It was an expensive brawl though because Matt's flip flops snapped!! He has now started wearing a pair of mine, and has taken on a feminine air all of a sudden ;o)

Last night we were having a BBQ for tea, so we got all the stuff prepared and went across to the communal area. As I mentioned previously we don't make much eye contact with people now for fear of a full on Ozzie lecture, so we probably look quite sheepish. Anyway we got some fodder on the hot plate and we heard "you wont cook them on there" (No it wasn't Matt's old flip flops we were cooking) we turned round and it was a big Cockney/Ozzie (Cozzie??) our worst nightmare. We gave a pleasant little snort as we usually do and carried on. He then said "go and use the other BBQ in the kitchen" we insisted that we were fine with the one we were using, to which he just grunted (how could we have minds of our own!) He then started asking where we were from, we went through the rigmarole of Worcester/Yorkshire. He told us he's from England "Oh yeah, what part?" Wait for it.... Essex! surprise surprise. Anyway I can't be bothered to bore you with the details but he did say "what would anybody want to live there for" (England) He is one of the patriotic Ozzie wannabe's that we just don't like. Once our food was cooked he asked us to join him and his wife at the dining table, I told him I'd left a pan on and we made a hasty exit back to the van and slagged him off.

Only 5 more days now before Singapore, our RTW tickets are nearly finished :-(

Sun, Sea and Sand

We only stayed one night in Eden, the weather wasn't great and the camp site was deserted so we decided to get some mileage covered instead. We headed along the coastal road and stopped at a very small town called Tathra, again there was very little to do there but we were right on the coast and about 100 yards to the beach. The sun managed to break through too after 3 days of showers so we were more than happy.

On our second day there we decided to drive to The Mimosa Rocks National Park which was about 5k from where we were staying. We took the camper van "off road" onto a little winding dirt track, which we shouldn't have done really as our insurance only covers us for sealed roads, but you know what Backpackers are like. We weren't really sure what to expect as we had only seen the name place on the map, after a while we started to see lots of tents pitched in the trees and caravans and then people milling about, and we realised we had stumbled upon a little metropolis of campers. It isn't a camp site as such and is really only for the hard core of outdoor people, in that the only facilities that are available are two outdoor toilets, so you have to be fully self sufficient. But that is not a problem for Ozzies 'cos they are into their camping BIG time.

So we parked up next to what looked like a football team of male campers, there was camping gear and fishing rods strewn everywhere, it was obvious that they had been there a while and enjoyed themselves judging by the amount of stuff they were surrounded with. It was almost like an expo for camping and fishing. We caked ourselves in sun cream and headed off to find the Mimosa Rocks. Well unbeknown to us the rocks are on the beach and we found them by chance really as we ambled for about a mile along the most stunning piece of coast line. The sea was the colour of something you would expect to find in a cocktail glass and the sand was like gold dust, it was lovely. It was also a great spot for surfers (apparently(?)) although we did only see the one.

The rock formations were great too, I think Matt is uploading the pics now, lots of jagged edges and different colours, which against the green sea and golden sand back drop was amazing. By the time we got back to the van about an hour and half later the campers we had parked next to had gone, as if by magic, they had left without a trace, unbelievable. I don't even think a decent forensic team would have found any trace of their having been there.

After that we headed back to the camp ground for some R&R, it's hard work all this ambling about and lazing around on beaches ;o) and spent a lazy afternoon in the sun.

The next morning we got up and I headed to the toilets (we hate not having our own like we did in the "posh camper") as soon as I walked through the door I saw it, as my sixth sense kicked in. It was a cricket or stick insect on the door frame of the toilet, the only thing was it was the size of my hand!! I let out a gasp and a few expletives and didn't know what to do, obviously first thing in the morning I was desperate to use the loo but I was gripped with a fear that this "thing" would vault over the toilet door and land on me (as if) Anyway I braved it and went in, I left the door ajar ready for a speedy getaway, should we find ourselves occupying the same cubicle. I have never pee'd so fast, I never even washed my hands I just shot out of there and back to the van to tell Matt. By this time the insect was twice as big as my hand, ( needed a bit of sympathy ;o)) I sent him back to have a look for himself, but as always when you see something big etc,it had gone! Needless to say I never went back for a shower!!

So we had breakfast and headed along the coastal road (towards Sydney) and are now staying at a place called Batemans Bay, it's a lovely little seaside town with lots of fish and chip shops and fresh fish from the locals who go out on their boats. We've got some Ozzie cod for the BBQ tonight so we're looking forward to that.

Oh one last thing, JH never won the election, he was defeated by the labour leader Kevin Rudd, every radio station we tune into now is about politics.

Strewth!

Hi All, we're now back in the state of New South Wales at a place called Eden, just on the coast. It's pi$$ing down and is now our 2nd day of rain, we are even back to full clothing, i.e jeans and t-shirts!!

We left Mount Gambier all Ozzied out, but since then we have mellowed a bit, I think the blog helped us vent our spleen and we both feel much better for it. That said we do still walk around with a permanent scowl just to put people off talking to us, it's helping although it doesn't deter everybody.

After Mt Gambier we drove to a place called Ballarat, which is just outside of Melbourne and is a famous old gold mining town, there are some quite old buildings by Ozzie standards, dating back to the 1800's, one of them was an old weighing house were the miners used to take their gold to be measured, they also had a rather palatial cinema there so we indulged ourselves and went to see Elizabeth (with the Ozzie actress Cate Blanchett) The film wasn't much cop to be fair, but the cinema itself was like I would imagine the rooms at Buckingham Palace to look like. It was really grand and ornate and really luxurious. At AU$28 though I suppose that's what you would expect?!

We stayed in Ballarat for a couple of days, the weather was glorious so we spent the next day being idle, we're getting really good at it. After Ballarat we headed past Melbourne and down to a place called Waratah Bay, as we were heading onto the Wilsons Promontry(?) National Park the next day. There wasn't a great deal to do there and it was a maftingly (is that a word?) hot day, which meant there were 1000's of flies, nightmare! We did have direct access to the beach there though which stretched for miles, with hardly anybody about. In the evening we went down to watch the sunset and there was a couple of guys fishing. One of the fellas had a seagull taffled up in his fishing wire, so Matt being the good Samaritan that he is went and gave him a hand and managed to free the seagull who had become quite distressed.

So the next day we headed to the National Park, it was probably our hottest day in Oz so far, 30c+ there wasn't a cloud in the sky and Matt was insisting we do a 3k hike to see Squeaky Beach (it squeaks when you walk on it) I wasn't happy to say the least and I was like a sulking child getting my things ready, tying my shoe laces etc (my parents will be familiar with the scenario!) We had had the A/C on in the van on the way down so didn't have any real concept of just how hot it was, it almost stole the air from our lungs when we jumped out the van. So caked in SPF15 with 3 bottles of water we headed off for Squeaky Beach, with me squeaking about how unhappy I was about it. We were covered in flies the whole time, there was hardly any shade at all and the whole hike was a real effort. I have to say though when we climbed the hill and eventually saw the beach and the sea it was definitely worth while. The only thing was we couldn't sit down on the beach long enough to truly appreciate it due to the lack of shade and the flies. We dipped our toes in and made our way back to the comfort of our A/C van, luxury! (Pics of Squeaky Beach not on the blog yet)

After Squeaky Beach we hit the road again and headed to a small town called Lakes Entrance, again there was nothing much to do here it was more a stopping off and resting place, we stayed for 2 days before getting to Eden this lunch time.

I know I have mentioned the flies previously but believe me when I say they are now even worse, even the locals are complaining about them and have said they have never been this bad before. We have given up on the fly swatter and have invested in some heavy duty fly spray. Swatting them usually results in instant death, where as fly spray is a long slow and painful death for them, and when you have been plagued by them like we have then it seems like a small victory seeing them wriggle around helplessly, awaiting their doooooom!!!
God only knows where the saying comes from "I wouldn't hurt a fly" well I bloody would and will be hurting a lot more before I depart in 2 weeks.

As we left Ballarat we had to drive into Melbourne to get to Wilsons Prom, we were about 70k (approx 45 miles) outside of the city and we could see their impressive sky line. It kind of puts NYC to shame.

So the rain is due for another day I think before we can carry on enjoying the typical Ozzie blue skies and sunshine. I know we complain about the rain but Oz really do need some, the land is really parched and in some places there is no greenery at all it is so dry. They also suffer extreme water restrictions when there is a drought and prices of fresh produce like fruit and veg shoot up in the super markets as a result. It has a big impact on the wine business too as the vineyards suffer. We do what we can though and are buying up as much as we can, you've got to do your bit haven't you!!!

It's the General Election over here this weekend and voting is compulsory (not for tourists luckily) so we have been listening to the radio and all the fighting talk from Johnny Howard and the opposition leader Kevin Rudd. It looks like JH is probably going to get back in, one thing the Ozzies do love to bitch about is their government and immigration.

Any road that's about it for now, we leave Oz 2 weeks tomorrow for Singapore, we then have 7 weeks left of our trip to see Asia. As Muse sang "Our time is running out"

Aussie Aussie Aussie!!

Well hello there, it's been a while. Michelle is also posting too, so some of you probably won't bother reading this as it won't be as exciting as Michelle's! Well we're in a place called Mount Gambier which is famous for some crystal blue volcanic lakes apparently; we haven't seen them yet, but we've just been told by "the local friendly campsite neighbour" , more on this subject later. We were hoping to hire some bikes tomorrow and ride around them, but unfortunately can't find a bike-hire shop so looks like we'll be doing it on foot.

We spent last weekend at my cousin's house thanks again Andy and Lisa for a great (and heavy drinking!) weekend. They live in a gorgeous part of the country right on the doorstep of the Barossa Valley, home to Jacobs Creek amongst a multitude of other fine wines. They've recently moved into their new house, the size of which would put most houses in the UK to shame. Not only does it have 4 bedrooms, 2 lounge rooms, study, double garage it also has a fantastic alfresco (patio to you and me) area which we made full use of. In fact we probably spent all our time out there, either drinking, eating BBQ or recovering from drinking and eating BBQ. Friday night was a quiet one in the local pub with what seemed like all the locals all of which we're now on first name terms with. Saturday night was anything but quiet and we had a mammoth BBQ and drinking session with the same locals from the night before plus about 500 others! There was a constant stream of people coming and going, eating and drinking, laughing and shouting and generally having a good time. I made the mistake of mixing my drinks and had a pretty bad hangover, (the first one since drinking with Kirsten in Auckland) and spent most of the next day trying to stay out of the sun and drinking copious amounts of water. I don't know how Michelle did it but she seemed unaffected by it, even though she drank at least 10 bottles of Coopers Pale Ale, and that's just what I saw her drink! Sunday was really hot so once it had cooled down enough for us to start moving around, about 5pm, we took a drive to Mount Crawford forest and then through the Barossa to Jacobs Creek retreat, where Andy and Lisa will be tying the knot next March. One thing I have to mention also is that we saw some live kangaroos, as opposed to dead ones in the side of the road. Now some of you may know they I spent most of 2001 in Australia and in that time only saw one live kangaroo and that was in Tarango Zoo in Sydney.

So that was the weekend that was. Since leaving there we had a very relaxing 3 days in Robe on the South coast below Adelaide, mainly not drinking and definitely not driving.

Onto the subject of Aussies (I've just been reading what Michelle is typing next to me, so apologies if this is old ground). Now before I start this rant I just want to say that the majority of the Aussies that we've met have been extremely friendly, very hospitable and generally great folk (especially Judy and Snow in Melbourne, Wayne and Jan in Robe and of course Andy and Lisa in Williamstown although Andy isn't really an Aussie yet!). However there is always a bad apple(s) in the bunch who seem to go out of their way to annoy us by interrupting whatever we are doing and giving us not only their life story but every single route to anywhere in Australia. It starts off with a "where you from?" quickly followed by "where have you been?". "Sydney to Adelaide" is usually my response and then that triggers off a tirade of "You didn't wanna go that way", "Did you go here?", "Why didn't you go to this place?",etc., etc. This goes on for about 30 minutes and ends with either the Aussie either passing out from over exertion or me just walking off muttering under my breathe something along the lines of "why don't you just mind your own business you friggin know all". Now most of you are probably thinking it's just the Aussie's being friendly, but believe me when you get it day in day out for 3 weeks you start to get a bit fed up. The two worst examples have been a knob from Sydney who we bumped into at Wagga Wagga. He actually got the map out and showing me the best route to go to Darwin from Perth, which we're not even going to whilst breathing cigarette smoke in my face. The second worst offender was about 30 mins ago here in Mount Gambier. This guy didn't even bother asking where I was from but just launched into "have you been to Port Victoria" or something along those lines. I had a mouthful of tuna sandwich at the time so I couldn't respond appropriately with "Why don't you p*ss off you big fat nonce". Anyway, that's how we feeling at the moment, both of us, just a little bit "aussied out". As I said these people are in the minority so sorry if I've offended anyone with this but it's our blog and I'll write what I want thanks.

To end on a positive note though, we are enjoying the aussie BBQ and have probably had about BBQ for the last 5 nights now! The steaks are to die for (although I'm sure Michelle won't agree) as is the seafood.

Well I best be off now as I've just seen a guy in the window of this Internet cafe and I'm sure he's eager to give me some directions.

Good on Ya Mate.

The English Reserve

We are now in a town called Mount Gambia, in South Australia, we arrived this morning and will stay a couple of days.

We left Williams Town on Monday morning, it was a great weekend. On Sunday we drove by some of the wineries in the Barossa Valley, we saw the huge Jacobs Creek vineyards, there are acres and acres of them. It was quite late by the time we got out though so wine tasting was out of the question, especially after the late night on Saturday.

After we left Williams Town we decided to head to the coast as the heat in the Adelaide region was unbearable for us, the sun beats down all day with not a cloud in the sky and temperatures of over 30c. All you can do is sit in the shade and try to keep cool (no real hard ship there!)
After some research in the Lonely Planet we headed for a place called Robe and we were glad we did. It is a very small and very quiet town, but the cost line is stunning. Aquamarine waters and white sands with a lovely cool breeze, it was just what we needed after a full on Ozzie weekend. We managed to get the best pitch on the camp site too and access to the beach was maybe 30 metres away, heaven.

We booked in for 3 night's and was even going to do a fourth we were enjoying the peace and quiet so much, but yesterday the peace and tranquility came to an abrupt end when an Ozzie mother and her two young kids invaded the pitch opposite. I'm not totally anti kids, in fact it wasn't even the kids that were the problem it was the grown up. She was one of those loud types, that has to talk the children through everything that she's doing, do you know the sort? She NEVER shut up and was extremely loud, constantly telling the children off, threatening to take them home if they carried on mis behaving, all this was going on while she was also telling them what she was doing. "I'm putting the tent up now, then were going to have some tea, then maybe we can go into town and have an ice cream, if you do that one more time Joshua you will sit in the car, Mummy just needs to get the chairs out, Joshua what did you have to do that for, you have destroyed it (God knows what she was referring to?!). Anyway this went on and on and on, she never paused for breath. We knew then that we wouldn't be staying a 4th night.

I mentioned in my previous blog how friendly the Ozzies are, and believe me they are, but they are friendly bordering on irritating. No matter where we go or who we meet along the way, we are bombarded with information, it kinda goes like this:

Ozzie:where ya from
Us:England"
Ozzie:how long ya got in Oz?
Us:6 weeks
Ozzie:Where ya going?
Us:Not too sure really, no concrete plans

Then it starts and we get a tirade of instructions of where to go, how to get there, where not to go, why did you go there, how do you plan to get here, what do you want to go there for. This goes on and on and on until we eventually lose the will to live. Were quite polite people me and Matt and wouldn't dream of offending people, but the fact is we are two pretty intelligent, independent, well travelled individuals, who have just travelled half way around the world to get to Oz, do you think we are the kind of people who welcome this inane advice day in day out. It is getting to the point now where we keep our sunglasses on for fear of making eye contact with anybody and having to go through the whole damn charade again.

I asked Matt if it was me that had a problem as I have to admit I'm not the most patient of people (ask Stew!) but Matt is as dog tired of it as I am, the only difference being that he is much more laid back than I am, which is probably just as well!

We leave Oz 3 weeks tomorrow for Singapore, we really are looking forward to getting back to some proper travelling and getting hot and sweaty with our back packs again. We are culture vultures at heart and unfortunately Oz does not tick all the boxes for us. It is a lovely country to visit, the climate is superb and their alfresco living is also good, but there is something lacking that I just can't put my finger on.

On the road..

We're now in a place called Williams Town which is about an hours drive from Adelaide, we have been staying with Matt's cousin Andy and his fiance Lisa since we arrived on Friday. It is great to be staying in a "proper house" and sleeping in a comfy bed :o)

On Monday morning after a weekend in Melbourne we left for the Great Ocean Road. We both really enjoyed our time in Melbourne, despite the weather which was quite cool and quite a bit of rain. We spent a lot of time in the City which is lovely, we enjoyed it far better than Sydney. They have a great cafe bar culture there and there is a really good vibe about the place. We decided to blow our entertainment budget while we were there and went to see Priscilla Queen of The Desert at the Regent Theatre, it was worth every penny. The soundtrack to it is all 70's disco music and it really was a great show, there were over 500 hundred costumes used in total. If it ever comes to England I would definitely recommend it (as long as you don't have a problem with gays and cross dresser's?!)

So our first stop along the Ocean Road was a small seaside town called Lorne, the camp site was just beside the beach and the sun came out, so we hit the shops stocked up on supplies and had a day in the sun with a BBQ in the evening, bliss! We left there the next day and headed to the next resort Apollo Bay, it was nice here but not as busy and pretty as Lorne, the weather was a bit cloudy again too. After Apollo Bay we set off again taking in the 12 Apostles along the way, these are rock formations in the sea that have been worn away by the salt water. The coast line here is stunning with golden sands and green sea. We took lots of pics which we will post soon. After Apollo Bay we had to start getting some driving done as we had about 500k to do to get to Williams Town. We stayed at a place called Warnembool (I think that's right?) the camp site here was fantastic, it had a large indoor pool and jacuzzi which we made full use of, we were the only people in there! After W we stayed at some place that I can't even remember the name of (it's the drink it's killing off my brain cells!) and then our drive on Friday to here.

We have done a lot of driving since we arrived and not seen a great deal in between stops, Australia is HUGE and until you visit the place it's difficult to comprehend just how big it actually is. Luckily there are very few cars on the road so travel is easy but the distances are so vast, it's really tiring, especially in the temperatures were experiencing at the moment 30c+!!

We leave here tomorrow morning and we were going to head to Broken Hill and take in some of the outback, but we have decided (with some gentle persuasion from the locals) that our time would be better spent seeing more National Parks and beaches than some barren desert with nothing to see except flat red dusty landscape, dead kangaroos and emus in the scorching heat.
So we will head back inland and take in the Grampians, back towards Melbourne where we will take in some of the Melbourne shoreline and work our way back up towards Sydney. Everybody we speak to tells us to visit a different place, it is nigh on impossible to visit all these places. We will have to come back!!

We have had a great weekend with our hosts Lisa and Andy, it is a really small town where they live and everybody knows each other. We have been made to feel so welcome that I almost feel like one of the locals. We have met a few "poms" while we've been here too. Last night we had yet another BBQ, and Lisa and Andy invited round some of their friends. We started about 5pm and got to bed at 3am this morning, it was a heavy one!! I only have to look at the recycling bin for confirmation. A good time was had by all though, including Matt who has gone back to bed as he feels so ill!!

Oz is pretty much as I expected it to be to be honest, just a lot bigger. Everybody is really friendly and loves a drink ;o) It is a very relaxed, chilled out way of life that they live and they are big into the alfresco life style. Obviously it's so hot that you can't stay in for any period of time. There is so much wildlife too, all the birds and animals that we have to go to a zoo to see back at home you can see in the country here. Parakeets are like the sparrow back home, they are everywhere, also red and green parrots everywhere. We have also seen lots of reptile type creatures and lizards when we have been out walking. Luckily no snakes though, although we were briefly introduced to a Red Back Spider by Andy as he cleaned the BBQ yesterday. It was on the underside of the cooking tray, which could have been quite nasty if he hadn't have seen it as a bite from a Red Back can kill you. Nice eh to think that these kind of spiders can turn up in your house at any moment!! My sixth sense is on red alert, looking out for anything big and hairy with more than 2 legs...

G'Day Possom

Hi all, We're now in Melbourne after some pretty hefty driving the last couple of days, we have already clocked up a 1000 kilometres in the camper.

We spent a day in Sydney, although I have to be honest and say that we didn't really do much, it was a really overcast, humid and sultry day and we were still both tired from the previous days travel and events. We had a wander round, visited the Paddy Market, Opera House etc took lots of snaps (see Flckr) and then jumped on the bus back to the camp site for some more R&R. We fly out of Sydney though to Singapore in December so we hope to feel more energised on our next visit there, where we will spend a couple more nights to really do the place justice.

After leaving Sydney we decided to head to the Blue Mountains, we were both dreading the drive out of Sydney for obvious reasons, but we observed the map before heading out and made sure we had a clear idea of what roads we needed and when. We never took one wrong turn and drove out like a couple of locals, strewth!

It's about 100k to the Blue Mountains so it only took us a couple of hours to get there, we stopped off at Echo Point on the way and took in the stunning views that stretch for miles, we also saw the Three Sisters Rock. The reason they are called the Blue Mountains is because there is a constant blue haze in the air from the millions of Eucalyptus plants in the area. We then drove to the nearest town, Katoomba and chilled out for the afternoon. Well I say chilled out, we were plagued with flies, so after 30 minutes of fly chasing we decided to lock ourselves in the van out of harms way. The flies are an absolute nightmare, they last for around 6 months of the year and there is no escaping them. The rolled up newspapers we had are almost in tatters where we have bludgeoned them to death, it's actually quite rewarding knowing that you have just spread one of them the entire length of the camper van (even though it is quite small!)

On the way to Katoomba an extremely large insect came hurtling towards us while we were driving, it was like the planes going into the twin towers, I think it was a kamikaze beetle. Anyway it hit the windscreen and almost rocked the van over, it was so BIG. It split in two and what I can only describe as yellow custard started to spill out of it, all over the windscreen. Matt put the wipers on but all this did was spread the custard like substance across the windscreen. It is still there now despite Matt's best efforts to remove it. God only knows what it was, I kid you not when I tell you it was the size of a small bird, anyway it's dead now.

After Katoomba we decided to start heading towards Melbourne which is a long long drive to do in a day, which is why we didn't. We stopped off after 6 hours of driving in a place called Wagga Wagga which is a half way point. We also chose Wag as they have a great Indian restaurant there, and yes we went in and had a lovely curry after sinking a few of the local ales. After Wagga we carried on our journey and did another 5 hour drive yesterday and got to Melbourne mid afternoon, and without getting lost. We were both really pleased with ourselves, there was no shouting and screaming, but it was really stressful as we came in the main highway, and all the lanes turn off and merge etc, there were cars and lorries all around us, but we held our own and made it unscathed.

The campsite is 9k outside of the city so we got on the bus this morning and left the van "at home" I have actually done some of the driving whilst we've been in Oz, it's a breeze on the country roads as there are not a real lot of cars once you get out of the city, if you get out of the city!! Credit to Matt though he has done the stressful driving.

Yesterday once we had got the van powered up, been to the supermarket for some supplies and had a shower we got chatting to our Ozzie neighbours (no not Madge and Harold) Snow and Judy. They live just outside of Melbourne, when I say just, its about 1.5 hrs drive, but Oz is just so bloody big that a 1.5 hr drive really is nothing. Anyway we got chatting, Snow cracked open a few cold ones and the night went from there. We had a BBQ with them, drank copious amounts of wine and beer and fell into bed about midnight. When I say fell I mean literally!! It is quite a task trying to put the bed together when you are under the influence, there's probably a law against it somewhere. We both woke up this morning with a really thick head. We're feeling much better now though after a hearty breakfast and some fresh air. Snow and Judy are a really nice couple, about the same age as our folks, it's really interesting chatting to the locals about their way of life, their politics and their take on current affairs and the world in general.

We are staying in Melbourne until Sunday after that we will head down to The Great Ocean Road and start making our way across to Adelaide to see Matt's cousin Andy and his girlfriend Lisa, so were looking forward to that.

The weather is a bit dull today although the sun is trying to get through, it rained yesterday too, which was met with relief by the locals as rain is very scarce here. It is blatantly obvious too when you are driving through the country side and all the trees and the grass is scorched and everything is really dry, it is easy to see how bush fires spread so rapidly.

We have seen loads of Kangaroo's since we arrived here, which I didn't expect at all, the only thing is they're all dead ones at the side of the road. Apparently there is a book available to buy in Oz called Roadkill, in it are lots of different recipes for animals that you scrape up off the road and BBQ, Nice!!