The Incavenous Trail – A tough time in Peru; Sarah and James’ Travelblog

Hi All,

Well you are probably wondering what the title is all about, well let’s just say we have had a complete change of plans and didn’t end up doing the Inca Trail which we are both so disappointed about.

So here’s what happened….

We arrived in Cusco from Lima after our very bumpy flight through the mountains where we landed at 3,400 metres above sea level. As soon as we were out the plane we both immediately noticed the thin air, especially as it is the highest either of us had ever been. It was hard work to even lift our bags off the baggage carousel.

We were picked up and taken to our hotel which was a lovely simple hotel called Los Ninos which had a great cafe in the courtyard which served all sorts of healthy food like veggie lasagna and yummy museli cereal so we were quite happy.

We were both feeling quite light headed from the altitude and had dull headaches so we immediately went to the cafe and drank some Coca Tea which is supposed to help with altitude sickness. The tea itself tasted a bit like grass but definitely did the trick as the next day we were feeling a lot better.

We had 4 days to chill out in Cusco as we had heard that it is best to do as little as possible before the trek to allow your body to acclimatise and also not drink any alcohol, boohoo for James.

So we spent our time looking round the markets and stocking up on awesome alpaca treats as some of the clothes were really wonderful. We were also very impressed with Cusco, apart from the very annoying street sellers who wouldn’t leave you alone, there were loads of impressive buildings and churches and lots of cobbled streets and narrow alleyways.

We were due to start the Inca Trail on Wednesday and Tuesday morning came and James unfortunately started to have quite bad diarrhoea. However, this didn’t seem to dampen his spirits too much as we still went to our Inca Trail briefing and a walk around the town, also he had no temperature so I wasn’t too concerned at first.

However, about 4pm that day he did start to get alot worse and was now being sick quite regularly and by 7pm we had both pulled out of the trail as James was starting to get dehydrated. I also started to get quite worried so I decided to ask the hotel if they could get the doctor. I simply thought the doctor would come by and prescribe some antibiotics and that would be it but when he arrived he asked how many times he had been to loo and was completely shocked when James said (it really was alot) and said I think you need to come to hospital and be put on a drip.

So that’s what happened, off we went to a hospital and James was put on a intravenous drip for hydration and anitibiotics. Although, it got quite scary when they couldn’t even find a vein to put the drip in and James was still being so ill, to be honest, this was the lowest point for me on our whole trip so far and I couldn’t have wanted to come home more.

Fortunately, James had his own room and bathroom so this was better for him, although I later found out why this probably was. After many tests James was diagnosed with amoebic parasites which is highly infectious and probably explained why he had his own room. It is picked up by contaminated food or water and is very common in South America and can also take quite a while to build up in your body so we really are not sure where he picked it up from. It was 1am by the time we got the results and so the doctor switched the antibiotics to some stronger ones and I got a taxi back to the hotel.

I can definitely say I didn’t sleep a wink that night.

As we were due to check out the next day for the Inca Trail, I negotiated with reception to extend but we had to move rooms. As checkout was 11am, I had time to go to the hospital first and check on James. When I got there, James had a lot more colour and went through the night without being ill, which we were both so pleased about. The doctor said if he could keep food and water down all day he could be released that evening.

So I went back to the hotel and moved rooms and then went to the tour company to see what they could do for us. The tour company said that if James was better we should try and get to Machu Picchu on Friday and stay over night in time to meet the group we would have trekked with on Saturday. I said that would definitely not happen.

By the evening James was feeling much better and had managed to eat so the doctor said he could be released. I wasn’t sure and wanted him to stay one more night but James was keen to get out of there as soon as possible which I totally understood and so we went back to the hotel together in a taxi.

The next day James was feeling even better and wanted to have a walk round Cusco. We also went back to the tour company to see if we could go to Machu Picchu some other time but when we arrived they strongly recommended to go the following day as our entry to the Machu Picchu was still valid and our transport etc. So reluctantly we agreed and hoped that James would be well enough. We both also worried whether I might get parasites as the doctor said I should show symptoms within 3-7 days of James being ill. We both just had our fingers crossed.

So we were picked up by a driver the following day and taken to a town about an hour and a half away, called ollyantambo which was where the train leaves to another town called Aguas Calientes which is the closest town to Machu Picchu. James was getting much stronger and to be honest I couldn’t have been more pleased that he went to hospital as they obviously knew exactly what they were doing as James’ recovery was unbelievable. What was even better was our insurance company picked up the bill without us even needing to really do anything. Amazing!!! I can definitely say we have totally had our money’s worth (as we claimed for alot in India as well).

The train journey was spectacular as it meandered through the Andes and past the start of the Inca Trail. The trip was only 27 miles but took 1 1/2 hours. Aguas Calientes was a lovely little town but obviously very touristy This area of Peru is prone to earthquakes and James and I could not believe the state of some of the houses in this town that literally looked like they would topple over with just a slight bit of wind. There was not alot to do in Aguas Calientes but eat and drink which was a bit tricky as no alcohol, fatty foods, caffeine or dairy produce for James. Certainly a good way to loose weight.

Our bus trip up the mountain the next day to get to the Machu Picchu was a bit hairy but all was organised as met our guide and the group we should have been with at the top. As we had met a couple of people from the group before in the briefing back in Cusco everybody was instantly sympathetic towards us. We were expecting the group to be feeling exhausted and dishevelled after the hike but they all looked pretty well and as high as kites for having completed the trek which although James and I were pleased to do at least the Machu Picchu we were even more gutted for not doing the trek. But….at least we both have our health and James is getting back to normal as that is far more important in my mind.

The Machu Picchu was really incredible and probably the bizarrest thing we have ever seen. It is basically the ruins of a city built on the side of a huge mountain and whichever direction you looked there was always a long drop down the valley, quite scary. We were given a 2 hour tour from the guide who had done the trek with the rest of the group where we discovered that if you look at the famous Machu Picchu photo on it’s side, it is actually the silhouette of a face of a man. Hopefully you can see it in this picture here on the right.

After the tour we had some free time before meeting the rest of the group for lunch back in Aguas Calientes. We got chatting to some of the people from the group and there were 2 girls who were sisters and had 7 children between them and were from England and had various family members looking after the kids whilst they did the trek. There was also a 62 year old lady in the group so James and I feel that there is still plenty of time for us to come back and do the trek or perhaps do a different trek somewhere else in the world.

After lunch it was time to get on the train back to Ollyantambo but before we arrived back at Ollyantambo the train stopped and all of a sudden the music on the train got alot louder and everyone started to look at one another and wonder what was going on. Well from behind the curtain a man in a very scary mask started to dance up and down the isle of the train. So weird!!!!! but a traditional Peruvian dance apparently. This was then followed by the train staff using the isle of the train as a catwalk as they modelled various items of Alpaca wear, trying to tempt us to buy some. It was the weirdest thing we have ever seen and certainly made everybody laugh.

We were picked up in Ollanytambo by a van to take us back to Cusco which was driven by the most suicidal man who decided to over-take going down the mountain on blind corners, quite regularly and it was pitch black. It wasn’t for the faint hearted!!! In the short time we were with the group we thought they were a fab group and we all passed the time on the way back playing 20 questions. Great fun and took our minds off the journey.

So we’re back in Cusco now and we now have another 4 days here which we had planned in case we needed recovery time after the Inca Trail. We are pretty bored of Cusco now so are hoping to do some day trips to pass the time before our next flight to Mexico on Friday.

There is still chance I can catch the parasites as the 7 days is not up yet but I am remaining positive and we know exactly what to do if I do get it.

James and I are now 1-1 on the illness front, NO MORE PLEASE!!!!!

Bye for now

Sarah and James

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Che Guevara, Salta and Iguazu Falls; Sarah and James’ Travel Blog

As sarah mentioned at the end of our last blog we were about to set off on another bus journey from Cordoba to Salta as we made our way north through Argentina. The bus set out late in the evening from Cordoba so we took the opportunity to head to nearby Alta Gracia for the day. Alta Gracia is a pretty town about an hour from Cordoba, but the main attraction for tourists here is that it was home to Ernesto “Che” Guevara during his more formative years. After being dropped at the bus station in Alta Gracia with no map or any idea where we were, we eventually found a map in a very poorly signposted tourist office and set out to find “El Che’s” old house. On the way we stumbled across Alta Gracia Golf Course, and as it was lunch time, and we had been recommended the restaurant as a place to eat so we dived in. After a lot of pointing and grunting (as the waiter didn’t seem to understand our poor Spanglish) we received what is probably the best meal that we have had in Argentina to date. Sarah had a spinach stuffed chicken breast with roast veg which looked amazing, and I had peppered steak with potato gratin. I actually got two huge fillet steaks which had more flavour than any steak I have ever had in my life, and the view over the golf course topped lunch off brilliantly. At first we were slightly apprehensive about the cost of the meal as we realised that there had been no prices on the menu, but when the bill came we were astounded to see that it cost £10 each, but I guess that is quite an expensive meal here.

After lunch we headed to Che’s house which was just around the corner, and had a good look around. Unfortunately everything was in Spanish so we did not learn much about his life. We both agree that if Argentina is to attract more English speaking tourists they do need to improve the bi-lingual signage and information at attractions such as this. After this we have a walk through the town before heading back to Cordoba to get the overnight bus to Salta.

We arrived in Salta after a reasonably comfortable 11 hour ride. We arrived at the hostel at 7.30 am and it took quite a lot to rouse the staff again, the Argentinians just don’t seem to be early risers! We checked into what we thought was a hostel as we had booked via Hostelworld, but Posada de las Nubes turned out to be more like a hotel as we had a en-suite room which was really nice. After catching up on some sleep we headed out to explore the town and quickly realised that it was going to be our favourite town in Argentina. There are lots of nice squares and cobbled pedestrianised streets lined with bars cafes and restaurants. Our first day was, as ever just spent recovering from the journey really, but the next day we set off early to head up the small mountain at the edge of town which provides a fantastic vista over the plains which stretch for miles. We opted to walk up the mountain, rather than take the cable car as we need the exercise to prepare us for the Inca Trail. We had lunch with a fantastic view at the top before exploring a little and looking at the various christian statues that adorn the peak. After getting the cable car back down we headed to the office of MTB Salta to book our mountain bike tour for the following day. After a bit of a rest back at base (well we had climbed a mountain) we headed out to the very cool street lined with bars for some dinner. We headed out at about 8pm expecting things to be livening up, but soon realised that we were the only ones about. We chose a restaurant and ordered our food and Sarah was delighted to find that they served Singapore Slings! There was a stage set up with a band at the end of the bar and we asked the waiter what time the band would start. When he replied that things started at 1am we realised that we really did not fit with the Argentinian timetable! As we had an early start for our mountain bike tour of the area the next day we decided we had best not try to stay out until things started to get more lively!

The following morning we were picked up from the hotel by Francisco, our guide for the day and headed out into the national park in his 4×4 with the mountain bikes strapped to the roof. After a short journey we got kitted up and headed out to explore. Francisco had great english and was very knowledgeable about the area. We navigated our way along the tracks, competing for space with the wild horses and a number of cows before returning to the car. On the way back to Salta the car broke down 4 times, a loose wire under the bonnet that Francisco seemed to know how to fix, but on the outskirts of the town unfortunately it gave up the ghost. We now know why he had a for sale sign on the 4×4 and was telling us that he was looking for a new one! Francisco offered to get us a taxi but as it was a nice day, and I knew how to get back I said it was fine and that we would walk, which was a bit of a mistake as we were both starving after the tour! We eventually got back and had great lunch in the restaurant across from our hotel. In the afternoon we chose to rest as we knew what was coming the next day; we were booked on a 26 hour journey by bus from Salta to Puerto Iguazu on the border with Brazil.

We got settled into our seats on the bus, and made ourselves as comfortable as possible and the 26 hours passed a lot easier than we had expected and we both got a lot more sleep than we were expecting. We arrived in Iguazu and found our hostel with no problems before heading out to find some real food (after the stuff that we had been served on the bus). Puerto Iguazu reminds Sarah and I of Kerala in India, the landscape is very similar, and there are just as many dogs roaming the place. In general the dogs are quite friendly and don’t seem to bother with you, but when we were heading to get food one seemed to take a disliking to us and ran along yapping at us until he was happy we were off his territory, which I found more annoying than anything but Sarah didn’t like it at all! Obviously our reason for visiting Iguazu was to see the world famous waterfalls, which we were going to spend 2 days doing as you have to see it from both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides of the river.

After a leisurely start we decided to see the falls from the Brazilian side on Tuesday. We took the bus across the border and got our stamp out of Argentina and into Brazil. As soon as we entered the national park that surrounds the falls we were struck by how much wildlife there was! Firstly there were butterflies everywhere, you could not walk around without them flying into you, and they were all sorts of different sizes and colours. As we walked along the paths that lead to the falls there were also all sorts of insects, including lizards and stick insects. But by far the most interesting animal we saw was the Quatis, which is a large racoon with a big bushy tail like a ringtail Lima. While they were very cute to look at and definitely not afraid of people we were constantly reminded not to touch or approach them as they can apparently be aggressive and are known to carry rabies. We could walk directly up to the falls on the Brazilian side but realised that they are not as spectacular here as on the Argentinian side. After a few photos we got back on the bus and returned to Argentina, looking forward to visiting the Argentinian side the next day as we could tell it was going to be a much more up close experience. That evening we headed to a restaurant that we had spotted from the bus, and after we sat down we were astonished as in walked a couple that we had met in Vietnam back in January! They did not notice us and I did not recognise them at first but Sarah was adamant, so I approached them and sure enough it was the same couple. What a small world!

The following day we set out earlier to visit the Argentinian side of the falls as we knew that this was a full day and there was more to see and do. We got to the park, and got on the little narrow gage train that ferries you through the park to the different parts of the falls. We immediately headed to the area from which you can catch a boat that takes you on the river and up to the falls. Sarah and I had taken our rain coats with us expecting that they would shield us from the spray, but I soon saw people walking in the opposite direction who looked like they had just stepped out of the shower, fully clothed! I suddenly realised that my waterproof may not be so useful. We were provided with dry bays for any stuff we didn’t want to get wet. We boarded the boat with our coats on under our lifejackets and set out on the boat. It headed up one section of the river and had a good look at the falls, and got a little wet fro the spray, at which point I was thinking that this wasn’t so bad. Then the driver said ‘Are you ready?!’, ready for what? I thought. Then we headed for another section of the falls and the driver took the boat right up to the falls, all I can say is that it was like being hit full on by a water canon. I could not keep my eyes open for the intense spray and despite my waterproof jacket there was not a dry patch on me! Sarah and I could not stop laughing, it was hilarious! When the boat docked again, and I stood up, water was pouring down the inside of the arms of my jacket.

We headed to a cafe to sit in the sun and dry off, but Sarah was wearing denim shorts and there was no way she was drying off very quickly. After half an hour or so in the sun we got back on the train and headed for the main attraction, “The Devils Throat” is the point at which the most waterfalls converge. There is a walkway across the top of the falls and a platform overlooking the edge of this immense spectacle. The volume of water cascading over the falls is just unbelievable and although the drop is hundreds of feet, the spray that is thrown up reaches high into the air above the lip of the falls. It is one of those things that just makes you stand and stare! We caught the last train back to the park entrance and returned to the hostel, where we cooked in for the first time in ages!

We are now in a hostel in Rio having flown up from the Brazilian side of Iguazu (we have now crossed this border 3 times in the last 48 hours and have lots of stamps in the passports), and after 2 weeks getting used to the language we have no idea what is going on again as it is all Portuguese now!

It is now only 2 months and 2 days until we are back but we still have 6 countries to visit. Its going to be a busy few weeks!

Life On the Other Side of the World; Sarah and James’ Travel Blog

Hola!!!

We have arrived in South America!!! Yippee!!

Geoff if you are reading this, you were right we were very sad to be leaving Sydney and generally Australia as we really felt at home there. Oh well time to move on.

We embarked our longest flight of the entire trip, Sydney to Buenos Aires, Argentina. After 13 hours and ALOT of turbulence (which made it interesting when drinking tea), and a beautiful view over the Andes, we arrived in the mad city.

When we arrived at the airport we somehow figured out a bus to our hostel. Our hostel was in the Tango Area of town and we were unbelievably jetlagged when we arrived and we were so pleased to see a bed. I have never seen James so eager to hit the pillow, there was no stopping him, no words, just shower and bed. We managed to sleep from 3pm that day through til 5am the next day when hunger woke us up so we resorted to eating what little rations we had on us, vegimite and plain crisps. Hmmmm yum!

We finally got up and were delighted that the hostel provided free breakfast in the cafe downstairs which was our 1st Argentine culinary experience, “cafe and medialunas”, Coffee and the most amazing sweet croissants. This was also our first conversation with the outside world since we had arrived, fortunately, I was still able to get my cup of tea which seems to be the same translation wherever you are in the world but James and I soon realised that English was not a common language AT ALL in Argentina. As we had heard this on the grapevine we had come well prepared with a Latin American Lonely Planet phrasebook. We also realise that unlike other foreign cities, we actually blended in with the crowd quite well with most people assuming we were Argentinean and it was not uncommon to be stopped to ask for directions where James and I just look at each other and had no idea what to say other than “no”.

After breakfast it was time to explore the city and this was made a whole lot easier with the Buenos Aires subway. With a stop right outside our hostel it was a great way to get around, it’s a great system, you pay per trip and it’s only 15p a nd it’s super efficient. I think the London Underground needs to learn some lessons. As per the LP we thought we would explore an area called Palermo Viejo but not before a trip to the bus station to book our onward journey from Buenos Aires for a few days time. As with all major bus stations, probably not the nicest looking place to be and almost was a case of buying our ticket and “getting the hec out of dodge”. Palermo Viejo was on the other hand a completely different story and we were totally gobsmacked as to how nice it was. Full of funky shops and cafes and although it was cold, the sun was out and the trees were a lovely autumn colour.

We grabbed a spot in a deli for lunch and had lovely food whilst we watched the world go by. We were little put off by the security guard pacing the street outside where we were sitting but Buenos Aires does have a reputation for it’s crime so better to be safe than sorry I suppose. We wondered around the area for a while afterwards before jetlag took it’s toll again and we headed back for a short snooze before we were going to head back out again, however, the short snooze turned into sleeping through until the next day. Whoops!!

James had found a free tour taking place in the city centre the following morning so we thought why not. The tour was fab, we had a great tour guide called Teo, although he seemed a bit hungover he spoke perfect English. Teo took us to the main sights within the main city, all within walking distance. The city has some great architecture, many being government buildings or monuments relating to their independence from Spain 200 years ago. The city is also completely crazy with mad traffic and lots and lots of people, it has a population of 13.5 million and the whole of Argentina only has a population of 40 million so considering Argentina is the size of India, I think there is alot of spare land here!

During the tour Teo stopped outside a place called Cafe Tortoni and said it was a great place to go for a “submarino”.  As we were not sure what this was but were very intrigued, we went there after the tour. OMG! It was right up my street, a submarino is a cup of hot milk served with a bar of chocolate which put two and two together makes an awesome hot chocolate. It was also a great way to warm us up after standing outside in the freezing cold all morning. I can definitely say I have had a fair few Submarinos since then. Susie, you would love it!

Teo also told us the best place to watch the FA cup final. So the next morning we checked out of our hostel and headed for a pub called the Gibraltar, an expat run pub. We were very excited about watching Stoke play all the way from Buenos Aires, so we walked all the way there only to find it was closed!! Too early!!!! to be fair it was 10am. So it was back to plan B, we hurried back to the hostel and flicked on the TV in the communal area and just prayed it was going to be on fox sports. 11am (3pm GMT) came and went, no football!!! Ok well there was, but it was Blackburn vs Bolton. So we frantically turned on the internet and streamed it from some random channel. Phew!!! It got to half time and I said to James “I might just see if it’s on another channel”. Of course they were showing it on ESPN so we were very pleased to watch the second half on TV with a cup of tea in hand. We weren’t very pleased with the result though. To commiserate we went back to the Gibraltar and drank.

We painfully waited around until 10:30pm for our night bus to a place called Cordoba, northwest Argentina. To kill time though we went to a Tango Milonga which we thought would be a matinee Tango show. Unfortunately we were wrong and it was just the general public dancing Tango in a big hall. Quite strange actually, the men would wonder round and keep their eye out for a women they wished to dance with and then the music would begin and off they went. I got very nervous when anyone came within a few metres of me as I wouldn’t have a clue what to do, but I knew I was safe due to my attire being not very tango-like.

The night bus wasn’t took bad. It took 9 hours to get to Cordoba and the bus was a lot better than the buses we have in England. Comfortable seats which are pretty much fully reclining AND you even get food served on the bus, not particularly edible to be honest, but the bread was good.

We arrived in Cordoba at 7am and as we walked the streets trying to find our hostel we noticed that everyone was just coming out the pubs and clubs and there were a fair few drunk people around. I just don’t know how the Argentine’s do it! We couldn’t actually find the hostel and had to actually resort to the iPhone to get us there. Doh!!! That’s gonna cost alot, and it’s annoying as we were literally right outside the hostel it’s just the sign wasn’t very good. We rang the buzzer, no answer, we rang again……..again and again and then all of a sudden in the corner of the courtyard a man popped his head up from the couch. It was quite funny as he was clearly the owner and he clearly had pretty much only just got to bed. He managed to introduce himself as Mike and he let us drop our bags off while we waited for our room. I also took the opportunity to sit in the very inviting hammock which was actually one of my ultimate wishes of travelling but not quiet on the scenic beach but was still very relaxing.

Mike, the owner of Pewman Che hostel was great. Once we had had some sleep (it turns out we had missed one of his famous Saturday night asados) he basically gave us an itinerary for the few days we were going to be there. One of the things he really recommended was to go horseback riding at the foot of the hills, the Sierras. I was quite reluctant at first but James had never been horse riding and so I agreed.

So this morning we were up early to be picked up by Marcelo, the owner of the land and all the horses. He spoke great English and was actually a  professional Polo player and had spent 4 years playing Polo in the UK and has met members of the Royal Family. He said the culture of playing Polo in the Argentina is very different to that of the UK, in that in Argentina it is associated with the hard working “Gaucho” whereas it is more of an upper class sport in the UK.

Anyway, we arrived at the Ranch which was just fabulous, 357 hectares!! First thing first was to eat cookies and drink the traditional Argentinean drink, “mate”. However there are rules to drinking Mate, there is only 1 cup and it is drank in turns among a group of people from a metal straw, known as Bombilla. It tasted ok, but not my cup of tea.

It was then down to the important stuff, horseriding. Now I think there might be a story out there about me maybe screaming a little bit last time I was on a horse. Errrrr……just a bit. Basically, last time I didn’t enjoy it but I was determined to overcome my fear. My horse was named Renga and she was Marcelo’s 1st professional Polo horse. Therefore she is now quite old. I was first up on the horse and I had visions of me screaming the house down again, but actually that would have been quite embarrassing so I kept quiet. Marcelo gave us a few instructions and then it was time to go. It was amazing, Renga was amazing. She was such a good horse and after a while I wasn’t frightened at all. We went through fords, up hills, down hiils and over very rocky terrain but me and Renga managed e verything. We spent 3 hours out among the hills. James was fab, and Marcelo said that James looked very confident and as there was all girls in the group this time James didn’t get chance to really go very fast but he is definitely keen to try again.

Afte r the 3 hours I had a very sore bum, but actually got quite attached to Renga and was sad to say goodbye. We celebrated as a group afterwards with a famous “asados”, BBQ cooked by Marcelo’s father. Hmmmm…..what did we have on the BBQ?? I wonder…..lots and lots of steak and it was yummy! And topped off a great day

Back on the road again tomorrow with another overnight bus to a place called Salta.

Adios Amigos

Sarah and James

Back to Civilisation – The East Coast of Oz: Sarah and James’ Travel Blog

Hello Again,

In the end, we were quite pleased to be getting out of the Red Centre (well I was), or should I say away from the mice, and across to the East Coast.

After our flight over pretty much nothing but bare dessert from Alice Springs, we arrived in Brisbane. This was actually the third time I had been to Brisbane and I must say this time it was quite different from the other times as it was no staying in nice hotels or going out for nice meals as mummy and daddy were no longer paying. So, it was a couple nights in a hostel and cheese for dinner.

We stayed in the YHA in Brisbane after a scary moment of turning up at the place we had booked and being told that our credit card could not be charged so therefore they gave the room to someone else!!! Apparently “all hostels do this”??? Hmmmm we’ve been travelling a while now and have never heard of this!!! But we walked up the road to the YHA which was actually pretty awesome in the end. It had a roof top pool and an great view over Brisbane from the kitchen/eating area and actually we had some pretty decent weather. So we decided to make the most of it and book ourselves onto the Brisbane City Lights tour. 

We were on a 20 seater bus and only 6 of us on the tour but it was actually quite good. Again, like Coober Pedy we had a very quirky tour guide who was pretty passionate about his city. We went up Mt Coot-tha which had some stunning views over the city and also did a cruise along the Brisbane River.

After a very short visit we decided to head up north to a place called Noosa. I had been here before with my parents and as I remember it was stunning and a great place to stay so I wanted James to see it. We hopped on the greyhound bus which was actually quite a refreshing change from all the driving we had done but about an hour out of Brisbane the clouds came in and it started to pour down and actually that set the tone for our stay in Noosa which was quite different from the beautiful sunshine we had when I was there last. 

However, our stay was made all the better with our accommodation called Noosa Flashpackers!  Yep, as the name describes amazing! for just $60 a night we had a really nice room even with bed side lights! (yeah!! we never get those), and the showers were proper rain showers and it was very clean AND they gave away free breakfast, free wifi, free sizzling sausages on fridays and free surfboard/body board hire AND a free shuttle bus to take you into town.

James and I made the most of the body board hire and decided to head down to Main Beach in Noosa Heads and try and catch a wave or 2 and the sun had come out. I started off pretty well where I literally felt like I was flying and I would turn round and see James bobbing round in the water not having much luck. Then my luck changed and I could not really seem to do it and the weather had turned a bit and it had started to rain. Also, the waves were actually quite dangerous and the force of them was flipping me over and then the sand scraped all down my back. Yes there was blood Ouch!!!! A good scar now.

Our hostel helped us with booking a day trip to Fraser Island which I did with my parents all those years ago. It was a very early start as we got up and 5:30am to head out on a 20 seater 4 x 4 Warrior! (That’s what the tour company called it. It really was powerful). The weather started off promising, until on our route there the driver of the Warrior radioed in to the entrance of Fraser Island and there was a big black cloud over the island and just as we were driving onto the barge a rainbow appeared over a beach called Rainbow Beach. Despite the weather we still had lovely morning tea on the beach once we got there and James was loving the cruising along the beach which is basically the main roads around the island.

After tea we turned off from the lovely flat smooth beach onto EXTREMELY bumpy surface. Basically you can’t go anywhere near the island unless you have a warrior or equivalent. Our next stop was Lake Mackenzie which I remember very well. From what I remember all those years ago Lake Mackenizie was very cold and I think there is video footage of Alastair, Caroline and myself running in and then very quickly running back out. he he!!! Well as I knew this I stood on the sidelines and watched James run in. The cold didn’t seem to bother him as he gleefully swam all around. I think I was being a whimp and also the weather was looking quite threatening.

After the swim we had a lovely gourmet lunch sitting under a canopy which the tour guides had set up whilst it lashed it down all around us. We were quite happy though with our free beer and yummy steak.

After a short walk through the rainforest which was swarming with leeches from all the rain, it was time to head back. It was touch and go on the way back to get back along the beach because of the forced tide they were having from all the bad weather. The last stretch of the beach before getting back on the barge to get out of the lsland was swarming with driftwood and the tide was really high which meant our warrior driver had to nail it for a section of it then try and squeeze in among the driftwood whilst he waited for the waves to go back down again and then he would nail it again. Quite fun, but a bit scary.

When we returned back to our hostel I was extremely pleased that on the big flat screen tv in the communal living room the build up to the wedding was on. So I grabbed prime spot at 5:30pm (8:30am UK time) and did not move until 10pm. It was fab. There was a few Brits around us and the atmosphere was great, ESPECIALLY the huge gasp from all the girls when William struggled to get the ring on Kate’s finger. James did well, the only male on the sofas and pretending he wasn’t interest by reading his book but secretly watched the whole thing.

The following morning we had arranged to meet Michael and Teifi a couple we met on the Milford Track who live in Brisbane. They picked us up from Flashpackers and we headed to The Emundi markets which was fab for tasting the local food. We then piled back in to their 4 x 4 and headed down the coast towards Maroochydore where we stopped for fish and chips along the way.  We then headed up into the mountains where there were great lookouts over the glass house mountains. We also did a wee rainforest walk where we saw really cute little Wallaby’s that had come out in search of food. Another Australian wildlife to tick off the list. Now where are those Koalas?

After a long day sightseeing we headed to Michael and Teifi’s house just on the outskirts of Brisbane and they lived up to the Australian tradition and cooked up an awesome BBQ. The following morning it was back on the road again to head south towards Byron Bay. Michael and Teifi are outdoor pros and had a really well e quipped  4 x 4, it even had a fridge in the boot. we headed into the Border Ranges national park which is great fun for a off road vehicle and as the name describes was the border between Queensland and NSW. There were some fantastic lookouts along the way with breathtaking views.

We stayed over in a pretty cabin in the middle of the rainforest just outside Byron Bay. The following morning we headed into Byron Bay for some breakfast before Michael and Teifi had to do the long drive back to Brisbane. James and I were so grateful to be dropped off in Byron  Bay and even better that we got to do a scenic route. Thank you so much Michael and Teifi.

So James and I explored Byron Bay a bit and checked out the beach as the weather was really nice. We had booked the greyhound bus the next day down to Port Macquarie which we were basically just using to break up the journey towards Sydney but actually it was really nice. We spent just one day there and hired some extremely dodgy bikes (mine had no brakes, James’ had no gears) and cycled out to the Koala Hospital. James has kept saying all through Australia “I really want to see a Koala” so as it was free to go to the Koala Hospital we jumped at the chance. On the entrance to the hospital there was a list of all the patients and what was wrong with them, most of them had a disease or recovering from bush fires. But as we walked around it really was like a real life game of “where’s Wally” as the Koala’s were tucked up in the trees quite camouflaged. Most of them were asleep but were still very very cute!!

That evening we joined in Pancake evening in the hostel and the hostel had put on a Star Wars drinking marathon where they were going to sit and watch all 6 episodes of Star Wars in a row and there were some intriguing drinking rules to go with it. I think James would have loved to take part but as we had booked a 5am bus the next morning it was never going to  happen.

So 4am our alarm went off and we walked about a mile through Port Macquarie to catch the greyhound to Newcastle hoping to meet up with some other people we met on the Milford Track. Anne and Lindsay live just outside Newcastle in the Hunter Valley the wine region so we were very pleased to be going there.

As James is the wine connoisseur he’s going to tell you all about it.

We are coming to the end of our time in Australia with just Sydney to explore.

Just 82 days until we are home. Arghhh!!!!

The (not so) Red Centre: Sarah and James’ Travel Blog

After 3,800 kilometres Sarah, Hobbit and I have reached Alice Springs. Since we last blogged in Halls Gap, we have covered a lot of long straight roads and had some long days travelling, but it has definitely been worth it. We have travelled a route that is not known as a popular tourist route due to the long open stretches of nothing, but we are glad we have done it, and as you will hear later, there is more here at the moment than there normally is.

We left Halls Gap and headed to nearby Horsham to have Hobbit’s windscreen fixed. We were planning to head all the way to Adelaide that day, thinking that the replacement windscreen would take maybe an hour at the most. We arrived at the windscreen repair place where we were told that it would take 4 hours from when they started it, and all the workmen were heading off for there lunch break as it was approaching 12pm. This meant that Adelaide was out of the question as it was nearly 500Ks to get there. We were a little annoyed as it meant that we would be put back by a day, but we made the best of it and spent some time looking round the town of Horsham, which we would not have even stopped in if it were not for this un-planned interruption. Eventually we were back on the road with a couple of hours light left, so we decided to make as much headway into the journey to Adelaide as possible, and chose a town called Dimboola (population 1495) as our overnight stop. From the description in the Lonely Planet we were expecting quite a quaint rural Australian town, which apparently has both a play and a film (of the same name) about it. I haven’t seen the play or film, but having now been to Dimboola I think that the film is of the ‘Zombie’ or ‘Slasher’ genres and the play was probably a tragedy in all respects! Enough said.

The next day we hit Adelaide and stayed in a really good camp site within walking distance of the centre of the city. We explored the city a bit, and found that it was really nice and had a really modern and young vibe. It is a university town and reminded us a lot of Newcastle upon Tyne, with a lot of large impressive red brick buildings. After a couple of days in Adelaide we set off on our journey north towards Alice Springs, with a short detour via Ayres Rock. There were some long days of driving and we stopped at some towns for the night just to break the journey, and because it is not advisable to drive at or after dusk due to the abundance of wildlife that comes out to play, and has little regard for the Green Cross Code.

After leaving a town called Port Augusta where we had stopped for a couple of days to break the journey up, we hit the Stuart Highway which is a road that connects South Australia with the Northern Territory and and is the main route up to Darwin. This is a good tarmac road through the desert, long and straight, and at this point we were entering the desert proper for the first time, and the area known as the ‘Red Centre’. After 100 k’s or so I started to get a little confused as the ‘Red Centre” wasn’t looking so red, in fact it was looking rather lush and green! Certainly the ground is very red but there is a lot of shrubs and grass meaning that as you look across the long flat plains, the visage is more lush pasture than barren desert. We were later to find out that due to the exceptionally high amount of rainfall that Central and Eastern Australia has had this year the flora has literally spread like a weed across the whole central area, meaning that the “Red Centre’ really isn’t at the moment. We quickly realised as we were driving long that everyone coming the other way seemed to be waving at us. Sarah read the Lonely Planet section about driving in the Outback and found that it is customary to greet passing drivers with the ‘bush wave’, a simple matter of raising the index finger off the steering wheel as you pass.

850 kilometres north of Adelaide we stopped at Coober Pedy, pronounced ‘Peedy’, for a couple of days. Coober Pedy is a town sprouting up in the middle of the flat desert, seemingly for no reason, until you learn what all the mounds of sand and rusty machinery everywhere is for. in the early 1900′s Opals were found in this area of the desert and since then prospectors have flocked to the area seeking to make their fortunes. The town is now hot to a population of over 3500 with schools and all the amenities expected of a town, and even has 2 supermarkets, and a restaurant proudly boasting the best pizza in Australia! Anyway we stopped here to find out more about the Opals that brought the people here. We joined a tour run by the holiday park that we were staying at the next morning which took us to see all the sights that Coober Pedy has to offer, which were actually quite interesting. Due to the extreme temperatures experienced here; soaring close to 50 degrees in the summer days, and below freezing at night, over 70% of the population lives in ‘dugout’ homes which as the name suggests are houses burrowed into the sandstone. The temperature in these dugouts remains at a constant 23 degrees year round. On the tour we visited a dugout Serbian Orthodox Church, an old opal mine, and a dugout home. Our tour guide and driver was Rudy, a comical 76 year old former opal miner who has lived in Coober Pedy since the early 60′s and obviously knows everything there is to know about opal mining and the town. Coober Pedy also has the most obscure 18-hole golf course I have ever seen. You can only tell that there is a course because of the greens, which aren’t actually green (as they can’t grow grass very easily), but black due to the sump oil that has been mixd with the sand to create a putting surface, very environmentally friendly! After the tour we heading to the piazza restaurant to sample Australia’s best pizza, it was good, but I’ll take Pizza Express any day.

After another overnight stop we got to Yulara, which is the settlement closest to Uluru or Ayres Rock, and feels a lot like Centre Parks in the middle of the desert. After a night in Yulara we got up very early to head into the national park to watch the sun rise over Ayres Rock. This was simply stunning, and one of the best sights I have ever seen. After this we took a guided walk around part of the rock and learned about the Aboriginal history of the area and the rock itself. We also headed to another rock formation which is probably equally as spectacular as Ayres Rock called the Olga’s, which is a series of smaller dome rocks in a small range. At sunset we decided to go for the double and headed out to see the sun set, and see Ayres Rock as it is lit up by the glow of the sun. We both agreed that sunrise was the more spectacular. Remarkably while we were in Yulara, the most middle of nowhere place that we have been yet, we got a (weak) internet signal, but as Stoke had played in the FA Cup Semi-final on Sunday we had not yet seen the score so we were ecstatic when we saw the score on the BBC website. Well done Stoke! Shame we’ll miss the final too!

The next day we set off to Alice Springs. Sarah started the days driving and we saw the most road trains that we have seen on our whole journey in this one day. I should explain that road trains are the biggest and longest lorries that you have ever seen. Think of one of our articulated lorries, put it on steroids and then put 4 of them together so that it is over 50 metres long! These things basically power along the roads at 120kph and do not slow down or stop for anything. So if one is coming up behind you you pull over, and if one is coming towards you, it’s probably safest to pull over, not that we did most times. When they are coming in the opposite direction and they go past you it is like a gale force wind knocking you sideways, this is of course worse because we were in a tall camper.

We arrived in Alice Springs, unfortunately with another huge chip in Hobbit’s windscreen, probably from one of the aforementioned road trains. We made our way to the camp site and set up. The weather was noticeably warmer here and we chilled out outside the camper while our dinner cooked inside, leaving the door open so I could check that the spuds didn’t boil over. That evening I was reading my book in bed and heard a rustling underneath the bed. It seemed odd, but I put it down to the shopping bags which were stuffed under there settling down as they do. Then a few minutes later I was joined on my pillow by a mouse. Well you can imagine my surprise (an probably his) needless to say it darted back to where it had come from. I immediately put my book down and tried to work out where it had come from. Soon I heard noises coming from behind the fridge and microwave, and my heart sank. I realised that this was not going to be easy. Had I had a Rambo style bandanna to hand it would have been swiftly affixed to my forehead, this was war! Thankfully Sarah was blissfully unaware and fast asleep, which is how I was hoping she would stay until I had at least trapped the little blighter. I set up a cunning trap made of tupperware box, peanuts and a pen lid. Despite some rustling behind the fridge I saw and heard nothing more of him, but was determined that I had to see this through to the end. Unfortunately Sarah stirred and woke and wondered what the heck I was doing at 2 in the morning with my head hanging over the feet end of the bed. I have to say I was expecting a much more hysterical reaction, but I think that she was just glad it wasn’t a spider. After another half hour or so we conceded that we were not going to catch it and had to go to sleep. I fell asleep no problems but Sarah had a few more issues with the little thing scurrying around.  

Next morning we decided to try to flush it out. We caught fleeting glimpses of it, and when all went quiet decided that we must have annoyed it enough to make it leave, and just hoped that we didn’t hear anything the next evening. Unfortunately About 7pm we saw it dart from one side of the van to the other. While deciding on a cunning plan of action we could hear it rustling in one corner. Suddenly Sarah grabbed my leg and said that she could see another one in the other corner of the van. We swiftly realised that we didn’t have only one mouse, we were infested. We had to find somewhere else to stay. Unfortunately the reception of the camp site had just closed and we could not rouse anyone so that we could move into one of their cabins. We made a swift call to the nearby Alice’s Secret hostel and got a room there. When we got in the front seat and we could hear rustling behind the dash board, god knows how many there were in there! When we arrived at the hostel we were greeted by the manager and some other people and had a drink by the fire that was burning in the courtyard. After explaining our mouse problem, the manager of the hostel disappeared for 10 minutes and returned with a bucket half full of water and an empty wine bottle, he then proceeded to make a home made mouse trap that looked quite ingenious. We popped it into the campervan overnight and hoped for the best. It was a relief to know that we had a mouse free room for the night. We found out here that one of the problems associated with the rain, flooding, and new abundance of grass is that Alice Springs has been overrun by mice since late December. We woke this morning, and unfortunately no mouse were swimming in the bucket. Tonight we have returned to our camp site but are in a cabin and Hobbit is outside playing host to Micky and his family. Sorry Hobbit.

Tomorrow we give Hobbit back, perhaps a little less reluctantly than a few days ago, and fly from Alice over to Brisbane to explore the East Coast. We are really looking forward to this after what seems like ages in the arid desert.

Speak soon.

James (and Sarah)

The Hobbit; Sarah and James’ Travel Blog

Well after our very busy time in New Zealand (and also very expensive) we have spent our 1st part in Australia chilling out a bit more. Although we have still done lots.

So after our very late flight into Melbourne we were pleased to check in to our very nice YHA hostel just on the outskirts of the city. Melbourne is now our new favourite city!! (Singapore has been relegated). It reminded me of a mini San Francisco as it has got a tram running through the city, but also of a mini London as it has an area called the Southbank with lots of restaurants and bars backing onto the Yarra River. We treated ourselves to lunch there and it was marvellous and very atmospheric.

We had planned to save some money and not do much especially as Australia is seriously expensive……..nearly £4.00 for a cup of tea!!!! It’s way more expensive than London, but it doesn’t help that the exchange rate is only $1.5:£1 whereas as our lonely planet (published Nov 2009) says $2.5:£1. I suppose a lot has happened to our economy since then. However, we couldn’t resist the signs around our hostel saying $20 to see an Aussie Rules match at the world famous MCG, so we signed up for it.

The match was on a friday night and there were 24 of us that met in the hostel lobby. We were taken there on the tram by an avid AFL fan who was a member of staff from the hostel. The match was 2 Victoria teams, St Kilda vs Richmond. At 1st we had no idea what was going on, but eventually we were told the rules and it all began to make sense. The MCG has a capacity of 100,000 and we were right at the top, so the players looked like pins. The most bizarre thing about the game, is all the people running on and off the pitch all the time. There were 2 people dressed in bright yellow running around like headless chickens between the dug out and the field. We found out they were a messenger between the coach and players. Also, apparently due to the fitness required for the game (that I can understand) players were subbed constantly. The final score, can you believe it was a draw 95-95. Apparently this never happens, so it was all quite exciting in the last quarter.

The following day we were picking up a campervan. Yes another one!!! We loved it so much in NZ and it is such a great way to get around and see places so we picked it up in Melbourne and we have it for 3 weeks and we are making our way to Alice Springs (proper scary Outback). 

I have named this camper, Hobbit!! This is because it is much much much smaller than the one we had in NZ, but proper cosy. Which means, no toilet on this one, which is fine, EXCEPT when you have to go outside in the dark to the loo. This was fine in NZ, but here, there seems to be ALOT of bugs about at night time. I have seen all sorts of things so far, which is my idea of a nightmare. I am so scared of spiders, so when it gets dark James and I do team toilet sessions.

So, James, Hobbit and I started our journey with a little visit to a friend from home. Clair (my brothers fiances’ sister) lives just on the outskirts of Melbourne in a lovely suburb called Mitcham. Clair, cooked us a lovely lunch and we met her 2 little boys James and Lucas, who are now quite a bit bigger than when we last saw them and they enjoyed having a look round The Hobbit (pictured right). After a good chinwag and Clair directed us to the nearest supermarket, we were on our way.

We had decided our 1st stop would be Philip Island as we had heard this is where you can see penguins! So, when we arrived we went to the visitor centre to buy our tickets for the evening as basically, just after sunset the penguins come out of the sea to find a place to sleep for the night.

It was the most bizarre thing. There were doors out to the penguin viewing area and we were allowed through from 5:30pm. The viewing area was right on the beach and was literally like a cinema with rows of seating, you could even buy popcorn to watch the penguins come in. It got to 6:30pm and it was getting dark and very cold as the beach was completely exposed, I was even wearing 2 fleeces. As it got almost pitch black, we could see to the right a group of penguins just on the tip of the water looking quite scared. Then to our left, there appeared another group. As it was so dark you could only just see them because of their white furry fronts. 100s of little penguins starting coming out of the water and the crowd started to get all excited. Once they had run past the viewing area, you could get up and walk around a boardwalk to see them waddling to their homes. You could get really close to them and they were really cute. Unfortunately, you couldn’t take your camera in which was disappointing. Oh but it’s ok you could have had your picture with them and pay a fortune for it. Errrr…..no thanks!!!

Afterwards when we arrived back at our campsite, we were startled by a Kangaroo looking for food. It was huge!! James was quite excited as it was the 1st Kangaroo he has ever seen in the flesh.

After just one night at Philip Island, it was time to start heading west so the 3 of us started heading to a place called Sorrento so we could catch the 45 minute ferry across the mouth of Hobson Bay just south of Melbourne. On the other side we pulled up at a place called Anglesea for the night. We had a walk to the beach and watched the surfers as they tried to fight the waves.

The next morning we started our real trip on the Great Ocean road. But just before we left Anglesea we came across the lighthouse  that was used in the children’s TV programme Round The Twist. Afterwards, I did some of the driving here and there was loads of twists and turns that Hobbit struggled with a little bit but the views were great.

We parked up for the night at a place called Apollo Bay and the weather was very cold so we went for a run to try and warm up. From our campervan we had great views over the Ocean (and could even hear the waves)  so it was wonderful to wake up in the morning and have our breakfast overlooking the sea.

We continued our journey along the Great Ocean Road after breakfast and we eventually reach the famous Twelve Apostles which is the rock formations just off the coast. There was 12 of them sticking out the sea but now after lots of erosion, there are only 6.

We stopped at a place called Warrnambool for the next 3 nights as the weather had suddenly turned alot warmer!! 26 degrees (our warmest weather since Singapore). It was also a great spot for my birthday as I can safely say I had never been to a beach on my birthday before. We found a lovely little spot of white sand that at 1st didn’t look like a beach you could sit on as it was full of seagulls and no one was on it. But, we went to a lovely little place for a lunch (which James paid for) and then on the way back we spotted a few people lying on the lovely white sand so James and I followed suit. It is probably the nicest beach I have been on as it was so quiet and secluded.

After our 3 nights we decided to head to a place called The Grampians, a national park inland. We also noticed that absolutely everyone else in our caravan park also was leaving. It seemed very odd as it was a Saturday, we later found out why. The weather was so fickle. As we started heading for the Grampians it starting to rain and also get quite cold. When we arrived at a place called Halls Gap the rain was alot worse and it had started to get really cold. So bizarre, we went from lying on the beach on friday and fleeces, Jeans and raincoats on Saturday.

That night in Halls Gap, was a bit scary. The wind was so strong it was making Hobbit sway all over the place. Also as it had got so cold in the night the glass on James’ watch had shattered and we also woke up with a big crack on Hobbits windscreen!!!!! To be fair I do think we were hit with a stone yesterday but I think it was made loads worse by the cold. It feels like we have gone through Winter and Summer in 2 days.

Yesterday, the weather was horrendous, from 2pm onwards it rained really really heavy. It was also absolutely freezing and unlike NZ we had no heater so we had to resort to sitting in our sleeping bags.  Around dusk time the Kangaroos’ came out to play around the campsite so it was quite nice to watch them from inside the Hobbit (as we did the night before last) as there was no chance of going outside. Well I didn’t go outside…but James found a fantastic camp fire and put a couple of Jacket Potatoes on the fire for 3 hours so they were just amazing to eat!!Also with no internet and no TV, we resorted to good old fashioned cards and book reading oh and of course valuable off line blogging time.

Fingers crossed the weather improves a bit in Adelaide

TTFN

Sarah (and James)

New Zealand is AMAZING; Sarah and James’ Travel Blog

Wow, we have only been in New Zealand 4 days and it is by far my favourite place, although it is a tough call between here and Vietnam.

Yes, as everyone says it is very Englishy, reminds me very much of the Lake District or as James puts it: “a Victorian Wales” but on a grander scale. Considering the population of the whole of New Zealand is the size of greater London, there has already been times when we have seen no-one for ages.

We arrived in Auckland on Wednesday after 2 flights from Singapore (via Brisbane). For some reason, neither of us got any sleep en route so we were very jetlagged when we arrived. We stayed in a hostel called Verandah’s which was perfect, right next to the restaurant and bars of Ponsonby road. I managed to sleep for 17 hours straight on the 1st night, I must have needed it.

We had a mooch around Auckland on our 1st day and went down to the harbour and found a great place to hang out and have a drink and watch the sail boats go by. It reminded me a bit of the harbour in Seattle.

The next day, we picked up a car so we could drive up north to a place called Bay of Islands. We picked up a route map and found a couple of places to stop on the way. We stopped at a place called Warkworth for lunch. So far the food has just been amazing in New Zealand, far better than that of Asia, or should I say, very similar to food at home but potentially alot fresher here, AND you can drink the water here!!! Woohoo!!! We ate at a place called Riverside and Shark Bar which was a perfect setting.

After lunch we decided to come off the main road and visit a place called Mangawhai Heads which has glorious views of the ocean and had a huge sandy spit. We took a walk around some of the viewing points and went down to the beach front to watch the surfers in action. The weather is very sunny although quite a bit colder to what we have been used to over the last few months but we are not complaining as the sun is lovely and warm.

We drove round very windy roads to get back to the main road and made our way up to Paihia at the Bay of Islands. We had booked 3 nights at Twin Pine campsite where we had booked a little cabin. The campsite facilities are great with the showers and toilets right near our cabin so we don’t have to walk too far in the dark. Paihia is a beautiful little seaview village with lots of restaurants on the sea front and gift shops. It also would have been perfect here for sailing as the weather has been fantastic with quite a bit of wind. If we had more time I would definitely have learnt to sail here.

On our 1st day we made a little picnic and did a wee walk starting at our campsite to Haruru Falls. It was a great little walk where we also walked through a Mangrove. We also saw loads of the famous fern trees that is an iconic symbol of NZ (photographed above).

We spent the evening at a great restaurant called Scala where James couldn’t resist the Lamb Shank. We were startled half way through out meal by a very loud sound of a WW2 air raid siren. We weren’t too worried as all the locals in the restaurant continued to eat their food. We later came to realise that it was the sound of the firestation calling for volunteers as there was a fire to attend to. Paihia feels like a very tight community (with a populations of just 7000) where everyone helps each other.

The following day (today actually) we booked in to go swimming with dolphins. When we booked they said they cannot guarantee dolphin sightings, but to our delights after about an hour cruising around the bay in a catamaran we saw a huge pod of them. The crew on board assessed whether it was ok to swim with them (they have to check if there are any babies in the pod 1st, as it is illegal in NZ to swim with baby dolphins) and then said the 1st 10 ready at the back of the boat get to go in 1st. So I quickly stripped and then jumped into the water with a snorkel on. James on this occasion had to miss out due to a rash on his skin that would have bee made worse by the saltwater .

So we were told to keep swimming as apparently the dolphins like all the splashing and they try and swim with you. I put my head under water and there were 2 that brushed just under my feet. It was an amazing feeling and actually quite scary as the dolphins were HUGE!!!  I am in the bottom right of this photo looking at the dolphin!!

After 5/10 mins we were told to come in as the wind was getting up and the dolphins were starting to swim away. They were everywhere. It was soooo ace!!!

We followed them in the boat for a bit and then 2 or 3 other big boats came to the area so it got really busy in the water. Afterwards we headed for an Island where we had ice creams and then it was time to head back. I totally recommend it, it’s the best thing I have done so far. We also met a couple from Teeside who were in Christchurch at the time of the Earthquake. They said it was very scary they experienced 3 aftershocks whilst they were there. They seem to think we won’t be able to get near the place anytime soon.

Tonight we cooked on the BBQ outside our cabin and watched the most amazing sunset whilst drinking beers. Just perfect.

Tomorrow, we head back to Auckland and we are staying one more night at the Verandah’s and then the next day we pick up our campervan. Yey!! we have been looking forward to this for so long. We have seen loads on the roads so it is definitely the thing to do here. We are due to drop it off in Christchurch in 2 weeks so fingers crossed Christchurch is looking up by then. We send lots of prayers to all the families affected.

Ok, that’s all for now. Will keep you updated.

Love

Sarah (and James)

Malaysia, Singapore and an earth quake!; Sarah and James’ Travel Blog

Just for the avoidance of doubt we are not in New Zealand yet and nowhere near the quake, but we are currently sitting at the airport waiting for our flight to NZ.

Since Sarah last blogged we have done quite a bit of travelling, and been to two more countries, but before I get to that I need to tell you about the rest of our stay in Au Nang (Krabi). As Sarah mentioned we did the 4 islands tour, and were treated to a day out in the “fastest speedboat in Krabi” which was powered by 5 225BHP engines, and I can safely say it was the fastest boat I have ever been on. It was well worth doing just for the ride in that boat, never mind the islands! But the islands were very pretty, and were catered for completely with a generous portion of spicy Masaman Curry for lunch before we relaxed in the sun on one of the beaches, and we got to go snorkelling, and Sarah was loving it, I struggled a bit with the mask that they had given me, so spent more time trying to sort

myself out than seeing any fish, but Sarah assures me there were lots down there! That evening we realised that we had been in Thailand for a month but had not sampled the famous Thai massages, so we headed to one of the many massage spas in the town after dinner. I had a back and shoulder massage, while Sarah had a foot massage, It was certainly a better experience than the massage I had in India and thankfully very relaxing, I think I actually fell asleep at one point. The following day we left Au Nang after a fantastic stay at Supsangdao Resort.

We caught the plane from Krabi Airport to KL, not really knowing what to expect of the city. The Lonely Planet proved as useful (and useless) as ever but was perfectly right about one thing; while the city has a good verity of options in its transport network repertoire, the various lines and modes are extremely poorly integrated. It could be a fantastic system, to rival the best in the world, but it just doesn’t. Once we had got used to this it was bearable, just. KL reminded us very much of other cities we have stayed in (as they say over here, Same Same, but different) such as Bangkok and HK, however it is by no means as developed as HK. Our hotel, as it seemed to be with a lot of the big hotels, was attached to a huge shopping mall, ours being ‘Megamall’ in Mid Valley, which is certainly worth a visit. Sarah and I both made use of this, Sarah found a Topshop, much to her delight and was able to replace some of the clothes that she has been wearing for the last 3 months. She also picked up some really nice Levis at a good discount to what we would pay in the UK. And for me it was inevitable, one look at the prices in the Apple shop and I am now the proud new owner of a MacBook Air fully equipped with ‘Aperture 3′ for my photography. Our hotel was great though, very cheap and had a fabulous view of the city.

On Wednesday morning we headed to the Petronas Towers and queued for our tickets to visit the Skybridge and capture the view of the city from 44 stories up. Although we were there early to get our tickets, we still had to wait until 1.40 in the afternoon to actually go up. We killed the time having breakfast and visiting the ‘Petrosains’ museum, which is similar to the Science museum, but focussed on oil and petrol production, and, much to my delight motor sport. When we eventually got up the towers and onto the Skybridge, it was quite impressive, and I really enjoyed taking photos, with the assistance of Sarah who was pointing out some good shots. The next day we headed to KL’s other main attraction which is another tower called the Menara KL, which provides a fantastic 360 degree view of the city. Just as we got to the top and entered the viewing deck at 276m above the city, the heavens opened and a huge thunder storm rolled in. This was brilliant as we got to see the lighting striking all around us as if we were in the clouds ourselves. Once the storm rolled away, we were left with the most fantastic orange hue from the setting sun. The Menara KL gave us a fantastic viewpoint of the Petronas Towers.

The next day we set out early to KL Central Station to catch the train from KL down to Singapore, part of the route of the famous Orient Express. Although we had 1st class tickets, I can safely say that it was nothing like the Orient Express!! It was quite a nice journey through Malaysia, which is a very green country, and finally after 9 hours we made it to Singapore.

We were really excited about Singapore for two reasons; not only had we heard that it is a fantastic city, but it also means that it is our last stop before we leave Asia and head to New Zealand. Our plans for Singapore involved a bit of shopping, a bit of sightseeing, and eating lots of nice food, but we have also managed to fit in a Night Safari, which was very interesting, and a little scaryfor Sarah.

We have met up with another old school friend, Charlie Porter is in Singapore working for HP and seems to be enjoying the very nice lifestyle over here. We had a few drinks down by the water at Boat Quay which is a very cool area of the city, which it seems comes to life at night. We have also had dinner at Raffles, don’t you know, and we’re heading back there this afternoon for a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar before we catch our flight. Dinner in the Long Bar Steakhouse at Raffles was a little extravagant compared to what we are used to, but it was a nice little treat for Valentines Day as we were actually travelling from Thailand on Valentines Day so didn’t get chance to do anything special.

Last night we went to the Night Safari, which was something I had never heard of, but basically is a night zoo! Well what can you see at night? Under the dim lights we got to see a whole host of nocturnal animals from all over the world, and it was well worth going to. The scary bit for Sarah came when we reached the bat enclosure. I went in alone, and saw the biggest bats I have ever seen, easily the size of cats, and they were flying about all around me. After this we had some food and watched the live fire show, which was pretty amazing, with lots of fire breathers and fire juggling.

Today we have a late flight and will ultimately end up in Aukland NZ after a short transfer in Brisbane! Yey! We are really looking forward to New Zealand, however we have woken up this morning to news that Christchuch has been hit by a series of earthquakes, and there is quite a lot of damage, and a few people have been killed. We are not going to Christchurch for a few weeks so hopefully things will have settled down a bit by the time we get there. We may even head down there and help out if there is anything to do.

We are expecting that the internet won’t be that easy to access in NZ, especially as we are going to be bimbling about in our camper van for 2 weeks, but I’m sure we will be able to find a Starbucks, or equivalent to log on at.

Hope everyone’s well.

Love James (and Sarah)

Northern Vietnam so far; Sarah and James’ Travel Blog

So as per our last blog we arrived
in Hanoi on the 21st December. It was dark when we arrived and our
taxi ride from the airport was a little bit scary as our driver
seemed to be in a real rush and drove like a maniac.

Taking in the area in the dark was a bit difficult but I
had this horrible feeling it was going to be like India, i.e. hard
work. But to our delight we woke up the next morning and with our
map walked around and found many people just like us with maps
looking rather lost. We felt comfortable straight away. The local
people didn’t seemed bothered by us and we were not hassled at
all.

On that 1st day we plunged straight into
the Vietnamese food, eating bun cha (meat with white noodles and a
dipping sauce) and rice pancake rolls (basically like spring rolls
but nicer) and not to mention the famous Vietnamese Pho
(hmmmm……noodle soup!).

We had 5 nights
in Hanoi so we spent the days just mooching round and eating nice
food. We also were sucked in by all the fake goods you can buy. Row
after row of fake stuff. You would see one shop of fake designer
sunglasses and then there would be a whole street of them and
everyone would refer to it as sunglasses street, then there was
shoe street, and The North Face street. I couldn’t resist a new
fake North Face jacket and I even bought a fake version of the
book: Eat Pray Love.

We found a backpacker area
where there was a bar called “Soho Pub”. We got to know the owners
and they were called Lucky, Rocky and Happy. James found this
hilarious and after a few beers asked Lucky where Sleepy was and
they weren’t impressed (more like didn’t have a clue what James was saying). We
also found an amazing ice cream place called Fanny Ice Cream (he
he) and we have to say we have been there a fair few
times.

Christmas Day was quite different for
James and I compared to what we are used to. We organised to go to
Christmas lunch at the backpackers hostel. We turned up a little
late and managed to grab a seat among 50 or so very merry
westerners. The guys running the show were great fun but James and
I felt a little old among the 19 year olds. We stuck with it for a
while and went to a few bars afterwards but I can safely say that
Christmas in England is a lot more fun. We did go to a church that
is just next to our hotel as we had heard the Christmas Eve service
from our room, and the carols sounded amazing. Unfortunately when
we got there we realised that the amazing female voice we had heard
was taped.

So boxing day was going to be a great
day for us as we had booked a 4 night trekking trip to a place
called Sapa through the travel agency within
our hotel. Two of these nights were taken up with getting there and
back on an overnight train. Our train didn’t leave until 9pm boxing
day night, but when we arrived in our cabin we were pleasantly
surprised. It was a 4 bed cabin and we shared our room with an
Irish couple. The train was 100% nicer than the ones in India. It
was quite hard to sleep though, through fear of bed bugs or having
our stuff nicked (even though out door was locked from the inside).
Although half way through the night there was a huge bang and sound
of lots of glass shattering. Yep, someone had thrown a brick
through the window just outside our room. A regular occurrence
apparently, just glad it wasn’t in our cabin.

When we arrived we headed up a
mountain to Sapa. Sapa is a beautiful town that reminded 
me of a French ski resort, except without the snow, although it was
absolutely freezing. We needed at least 4 layers on to keep warm.
The French did actually establish the town in 1922, so it totally
makes sense that there were many French restaurants and bakeries.
It is situated on the side of a mountain and the views are just
unbelievable. We looked out into the distance and saw miles of
rolling hills and through the mist suddenly realised that what we
thought was sky was actually a huge towering mountain range topped
with cloud. The highest peak in the area is called Fansipan at a
lofty 3143 metres and is known as the roof of Vietnam. We soon saw
the views that the area is famous for; if you have seen photographs
of rice paddies which are terraced up the sides of the hills, this
is where it wasJust before we set out we were
waiting for our guide and there were many hill tribe
people  standing with us. These are women who carry a
basket on their back which has all the handicraft gifts they have
made and try to sell. But before they sell anything to you they
actually invite themselves on the trek with you and very cleverly
offer to help you when the trek gets tricky. They are tiny people,
and with wellies or plastic sandals on no terrain is too difficult
for them. Unfortunately, there was a tricky bit on our walk where I
couldn’t resist their constant offers of help. We had to cross a
fast moving river barefoot which also meant we had to carry our
shoes and socks. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t so cold,
but it was great fun.

We continued on our trek and took in
some once in a lifetime sights before stopped for lunch where the
tribal women coerced me to buy something. One of them was only 9
years old and another lady had been carrying her baby on her back
all the way so I bought a few bracelets at a good price, which was
fine as we would have given them something for their help
anyway.

We then headed towards our accommodation
for the night which was going to be someone’s home. I had heard
through the trekking grapevine that it was very basic and when we
arrived we were shown to our room. We shared an attic with everyone
in our group and few other fellow trekkers. It was just a load of
mattresses on the floor and no heating and no hot water. At 1st I
was a bit shocked but fortunately James and I had our sleeping
liners with us so we knew that we would be safe from bugs. Quite a
few people were very unhappy with the standard that they left and
found another house to stay in. 

The great thing about the homestay
was the very very very very cute 2 week old puppies they had. Wow!!
I really wanted to steal one. The house was also situated right
next to the river so it was just lovely. We were very well looked
after and beer was only 50p so we drank a few to keep us warm and
we also drank the traditional rice wine with the guides which was
of course very potent, but as it was going to get to zero degrees
that night, we needed our rice wine coats. In the end I didn’t get
much sleep as I was actually too hot and put far too many layers on
but it was soooooo dark that I couldn’t see anything to take
anything off. Quite funny really.

We woke up the next morning to
breakfast by the river, plus playing with the puppies and then we
thanked our hosts and set off on our final trek through some
villages and a bamboo forest. As it was winter and there had been
quite a bit of rain, in the forest it was thick with mud. It was
past our ankles in some places and I very nearly lost my shoe. I
have never trekked through so much mud before but it was really
good fun. We also went to a local school where the kids were on
playtime, their English wasn’t good but they were happy to play
with us, and we managed to video them, which you can watch by clicking here.
One thing we noticed is how developed the young children are in the
villages. They seem to be walking very early, and we even saw one
little boy pushing a wheelbarrow with his little wellies in up a
rocky path bare foot, and he was determined that he was going to
make it!

We headed back to Sapa to catch our
train back to Hanoi. We arrived back at 4am yesterday morning and
James and I feeling brave, decided to walk back to our hotel
without a map. We were knew it was close and should have been about
a 15 minute walk north of the station. We met an English guy who
also had no map and was trying to find his hotel. So the 3 of us
spent half an hour chatting away walking in the dark, following
James’ compass north. We were soon to realise that we were going in
the wrong direction (James’ compass seems to be showing north and
south the opposite way round?!) as the street lights ran out and we
were not getting closer to the centre of the city. In the end, as a
last resort  we got out our iPhone and used the map to
help us back to our hotel. Whoops!! it took 2 hours!! It is the 1st
time we have used our iPhones though, and we are now glad we have
them!! I think it may have cost a fortune though.

Anywho! Adventure over and we are now
back in our lovely hotel called Rising
Dragon 3 (which we would highly recommend if you are ever
in Hanoi) where they were able to check us into a room this morning
so we could have a shower as we seriously stank as had not showered
for 4 days. Nice!!!

We are heading to a place
called Halong Bay on New Years Day and then
going to head south for some sunshine (fingers crossed!!!) as I
have caught absolutely no sun yet!!.

Happy New
Year everyone, and a big congratulations to our friends Leandi and
Rudi who just got engaged! Yey, wedding in South Africa in
2012!!!

Sarah (and James)