Hels and Chris

We spent 4 days on Koh Samui, followed by a few days in Bangkok, before we headed off into Cambodia & Laos for two weeks. THAILAND (part 1) We had a "fun" 15 transfer from Penang to Koh Samui: (i) the ticket for our "minibus shuttle from Georgetown to Koh Samui" was actually a ticket for three minibuses - ie. 3 changes, with waits of up to 2 hours in between! (ii) on arriving in Surat Thani we were told that we had to pay an extra 200 baht each to make the 4pm ferry, as we had arrived "late" (hardly our fault when we are not driving!) and had "just missed" the next minibus. (The alternative was waiting for 6pm ferry, and arriving on Koh Samui after dark, which we were not keen on given ... read more

We have spent 2 weeks in Japan,　soaking up the atmosphere and visiting a number of different places. We spent: - 3 nights in the capital city of Tokyo, where Hiroko (ex-work colleague from Chris' Japan office) gave us an insider's tour of the city & showed us some of the good restaurants - so many thanks, Hiroko!! - 2 nights north of Tokyo, on Lake Chuzenji, and spending the days exploring the temples/shrines　of Nikko. We managed to cross the language barrier and stayed in a traditional Japanese inn (a "ryokan"), and were served traditional dinner & breakfast - and yes, rice & broth do come with both of those meals!!! - 2 nights in Hakone, exploring some of the lakeside towns in the area, and getting a misty view of the top slopes of Mount Fuji ... read more

The first phase of our month in Australia was spent in Sydney, and then driving from there into the Blue Mountains (staying in Katoomba) for a few days, and then driving down to visit the (much-forgotten) capital city of Australia, Canberra. Highlights included: - making use of 'Campbell Tours' to see some of the cool places & the beaches in the Sydney area, and taking us for Yum Cha (a chinese brunch) in the busiest place in town (about 1,000 people all choosing chinese dishes from waitresses going round with trollies of different dishes) - many thanks, Tim!! For those who don't know, Tim used to live with Steve & Rox in London, and was usher at their recent NZ wedding. - doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb at twilight, with spectacular views over the city ... read more

Despite all of the Lord of the Rings hype about the beauty of New Zealand scenery, I have to say to say that I still was unprepared for the reality - it is an amazing place to visit, and the natual beauty on south island is particularly fantastic, even from the moment that you arrive through the Sounds on the ferry from Wellington!! We have had almost 4 weeks in New Zealand, and have had a great time (despite C having to contend with the in-laws for a week of that!!!) The highlights have been: NORTH ISLAND: - a few relaxing days in Whangarei, catching up with Helen's family & friends over for the wedding; - Steve (Helen's brother) & Roxanne's wedding, amidst the glorious views of the Kari Kari peninsula, with 270 degree views of ... read more

The third module of our Tucan trip has been travelling down from Antigua (Guatemala) to San Jose (Costa Rica), via Honduras (Copan, Tela and Roatan in Bay of Islands), Nicaragua (Granada, Ometepe Island) and finally down to San Jose itself. Acquired another group of people on this section; but including us, 7 of the 19 from our previous module are still here, so not as many new names to learn this time. However, we still have more people to annoy with the fact that we are away for 5 months, and they only have a few weeks!! The highlights to date have been... - getting our exit visa stamps from Guatemala, but having to hang around for 30 mins to get actually get visa-d into Honduras, as the border officials decided to have an early lunch ... read more