Fi wasn’t happy about being forced to get up at 8am on the part of the holiday that was supposed to be all about relaxing, but we had a boat to catch! We wolfed down some breakfast and wandered down to the beach, where the Lady Sarojin was bobbing gently at the end of a jetty. There were twelve of us all heading out for a day of snorkelling in the waters of the Similin Islands. The boat powered away from the shore, heading for the islands. Fi did her normal thing of falling asleep as soon as it started moving. [View Full Entry]

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Our final early morning dawns with a grumpy sleepy Fi stumbling towards the bathroom. We got the car back to the airport and as we drove I worked out that we'd only being at the hotel for ten hours in total. Still, it was worth it to visit the Scirocco and the Sky Bar. We had a short flight to Phuket and were met at the airport by Top, our driver. As we drove north towards Khao Lak he offered us cool beer (our first ever Singha) and cold towels. If the hotel was as good as the journey we were [View Full Entry]

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Felt a bit hazy this morning, maybe slightly too much wine last night. To recover we went up to the pool on the roof and sunbathed for a few hours. Then it was time to pack and head off for the airport - next stop Bangkok! The flight was uneventful, Fi spent most of the flight watching crazy Japanese game shows. I think it was called Beautiful cooking and it was a bizarre mix of Blind Date and Ready, Steady, Cook. After out little transport adventure in Hong Kong we were glad to see someone holding a sign with our name [View Full Entry]

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Today was a full day touring Hong Kong, doing all of the touristy things that we could cram into a day. First off it was a ride down to Tsim Sha TSui on the clean, efficient and quick MTR (day pass about £5). This area seems to be far more touristy than Mong Kok. Within a minute of coming out of the station i was being assailed by people wanting me to get a new suit fitted. We walked down to the harbour and caught the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island. I know it's a cliche, but the trip [View Full Entry]

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Yet another early start for us this morning, as we had to rush back to Sydney to catch the plane to Hong Kong. The hotel had made us a packed breakfast, which was huge - everything from freshly made tea and bacon rolls to fruit salad and pastries. You could have found a grassy hill and fed 5000 with it. The traffic getting into Sydney was terrible, as there was a jack-knifed truck that had closed the motorway. So we ended up crawling our way through Botany, glancing nervously at the clock. We made it with little time to spare and [View Full Entry]

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We woke up this morning and the weather had improved a lot - at least it wasn’t raining. We’d planned a full day walking in the Blue Mountains, so first off we drove into the centre of Katoomba ( be aware if you’re staying here, the town is a good way from Echo Point on foot). We got some sandwiches and headed off along the cliff path. Once we were away from Echo Point we only saw a couple of people on the path. We stopped at the viewpoints along the way to admire the view and get some photos - [View Full Entry]

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Got a nasty surprised this morning as we were getting ready. Fi was in the shower (that’s not the nasty surprise) when I saw a huge brown spider crawling down the wall towards her. I did what any Brit would do when his lady was in peril (no, not run away screaming - though the thought did occur), I grabbed a glass and piece of paper and snared the beast. We left the Hunter Valley and headed off towards the Blue Mountains. As we were leaving, it occurred to me how different the Hunter looks to the other wine regions we’ve [View Full Entry]

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We picked the car up this morning and headed north along highway 1 towards the Hunter Valley. We got to our accommodation at the Hunter Country Lodge quickly enough and then freshened up ready for an afternoon’s private wine tour. The weather had been overcast all morning, but when we stepped out of the car the humidity in the valley was oppressive. It was hot, and damn, it was sweaty as well (and not in a good way). The valley was also hazy due to the bush fires burning nearby. Our guide arrived promptly and whisked us off to our first [View Full Entry]

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We had a lie-in this morning before getting up and going for lunch in the Rocks at an Italian. Then we had a wander through Circular Quay and the Botanical Gardens. The weather is superb, 30c and sunny. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for a night out at Aria, which overlooks the harbour bridge and opera house. We wandered down to the opera house intending to get some drinks at Bennelong (a bar / restaurant in the smallest of the opera house’s sails), but we were disappointed to find that it was closed for [View Full Entry]

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We didn’t get the peaceful, uninterrupted night’s sleep that our bodies were desperately in need of. About 1.30am, Fi woke me up saying that an alarm was going off in the room. I sat up and tried to wake up, without much success. I checked the interactive, touch screen phone that controls everything in the room to see if I’d accidentally set the alarm - no. I checked my phone alarm - no. I even checked my PC, to no avail. I dialled 0 to get someone to tell me how to switch it off - no answer. Fi said she [View Full Entry]

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