Choza and Roza

'Bula' from Fiji... Purely by luck we were told at the last minute about a resort in the Yasawa Islands, north of Viti Levu (the main island). The island was Waya and the resort Octopus. When we got booked in I thought great, play some tennis, eat in one of the few restaurants they're bound to have, walk round the resort, maybe use the gym and obviously the pool....oh no, no.. the boat rounded a corner and in front stood the tiny beach resort of about half a mile long by 60 yards deep at the base of some hills. The boat stopped 1/4 mile off shore and the 'locals' came out to fetch us on a little wooden boat! Talk about simplicity - a beach, a toilet and shower block and a covered food area ... read more

Hi everyone! We are back to fill you in on the past week or so's adventures exploring this breathtaking island .. so kick back relax and enjoy! We left you in Wellington or rather we left 'us' in Wellington.. from there we took the 3 hour crossing to the ferry port of Picton. From here it was straight on to the bus, and after a quick stop to pick up the bags that fell out of the open boot onto the carpark, we resumed our journey to the Abel Tasman region (NW tip) via our fist stop - Wine Tasting time! Always a good way to start the day when at about 10.00am someone offers you 8 bottles of wine to 'sample'. Good fun and intersting too. Needless to say that the remaining 2 hours to ... read more

G'Day all.. Sorry, but i promise that's the first and last stereotypical Aussie reference... So, two weeks in the land of funny bouncy things and small furry animals - and the wildlife's great too!! Promise that's the second and last bad reference... Seriously, a great place though.. you can see the attraction for upping sticks and heading down under - as some of you have already considered.. Unfortunately we will be heading home, so don't start the fireworks just yet....apparently there's something in August that we're needed for.. Luckily some of you have decided to call this place home, so right from touchdown our whole 15 days were spent in the lap of luxury compared with the SE Asia leg. Our first destination was 1.5 hours south west of Melbourne, almost at the end of the ... read more

Hello everyone! Sorry to bombard you with emails but following our visit to A'Loui, home of Fueng, our sponsored child, we just had to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard if you will.. We were picked up in Hue at 8 by World Vision, a driver and Huang, the female interpreter and Social Development Leader. The drive was 5 hours until a year ago when completion of 2 bridges reduced it to 2 (thank goodness - done enough 'bums on seats' already). A'Loui is a town based in the foothills of the Loas/Vietnam boarder, site of the infamous Hamburger Hill massacer of the VN war. This area is striclty off limits to any foreigners unless accompanied by an international organisation such as W.V. Consequently we were only the 6th and 7th westerners (and only ... read more

HI Guys! OK where did we leave you last? Oh yes, Chid was about to take me on a romantic evening to Thai boxing .... much to his dissapointment the place was closed .. much to my delight it was right next door to the night markets which were very much open!! We spent a couple of hours there until Chid could stand no more shopping and decided to venture to 'Pat Phong' (!?!) Our last site seeing stop was The Grand Palace and well worth it too even though most of it was shut off as the Singapore President was in town. (he was staying there ... lucky bloke!) A mixture of gold leafed Buddah's (more than you can imagine!) and impressive temples coated by hand in ornate glass and gemstones. I am already thinking ... read more