Before leaving Australia we had just enough time to venture out of the city into the Blue Mountains; so called due to the blue haze hanging over them, allegedly due to eucalyptus oil they give off (or something like this, that may not be completely factual but that‘s what I‘ve been told so I‘m sticking to it). We had Nic’s friend Dan as our chauffer and guide and he took us on a lovely walk through the mountains, passing waterfalls, with great views, but with far too many climbing steps at the end for my liking. A very enjoyable time in [View Full Entry]

---

---

I have just about got over the excitement of Ramsay Street now, but it took most of the long drive down the Hume Highway to Sydney to come back down to earth. I don’t mean to brag but Dr Karl and Toadie in one go?! Amazing. The drive east was not as hard work as we had anticipated, mainly due to the lack of traffic on the smooth highway and the variety of places and landscapes we passed. Our trip from Melbourne started off on a sombre note as we unsuspectingly drove up to the main freeway through some of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

We left Perth last week on a hair raising Virgin Blue flight across half the continent to Adelaide, where we had just a day to check out the capital of South Australia. The city is so easy to get around, with the centre consisting of a grid of perfectly designed avenues surrounded by a belt of parkland. Like Perth, it has a free bus loop for the lazy tourists and we jumped on board with the rest of them. The friendly driver personally welcomed each of his guests onboard, and provided a friendly and informative running commentary. He absolutely loved his [View Full Entry]

---

---

Nic has been on at me to write another blog entry for a few days now so thought I better before I got into trouble! Where did Nic last leave you?…Changi airport wasn’t it?….So we arrived to torrential rain that night in Bali; which apparently isn‘t a country but an Island in Indonesia which obviously is a country, am I the only person who didn‘t know that? We were staying in Kuta and after the dump we stayed in in Melaka I was pleasantly surprised. OK, it cost a bit more than 4 squid a night but the rooms were lovely [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ah, the sweet smell of Singapore! We are back in Changi airport, where we lived for four days after our plane from Heathrow was diverted due to those pesky protestors at Bangkok. At the time we didn't really appreciate it, but today we have been taking in the sights, scents and sounds prior to our flight to Bali. We couldn't help but go into the lobby of the Crowne Plaza hotel, just to take a whiff of the distinctive musky but sparkling clean smell of the place. It is one of those smells that always reminds you of a time or [View Full Entry]

---

---

After the Phi Phi experience, Koh Lanta was great - our bungalow right next to the virtually private beach was idyllic, so much more laid back and less crowded than it's Andaman neighbour. We did make it to the beach party for a bit and I managed to prove to myself that I am excellent at beach volleyball. Too much relaxing is always a bad thing, so we moved on to Penang after a couple of days. The 12hr journey was not as painful as I had expected, but all that way in minibuses with low seats and a serious lack [View Full Entry]

---

---

Some dodgy boat took us across a choppy Andaman Sea this morning to Koh Lanta, off the east coast of Thailand. We came here from Koh Phi Phi and were pretty glad to get out of that place after a couple of nights. We've managed to find ourselves a bamboo bungalow about 20 metres from a quiet white sand beach and a clear blue sea. The trip south after Chiang Mai has had its ups and downs, first stop being Bangkok, which was brilliant. We'd expected it to be totally 'in yer face' but it was not so crazy as anticipated [View Full Entry]

---

---

Not too sure where Nic last left off, but I'll start from New Years Eve or so, oh that reminds me - "Happy New Year everyone"! We booked ourselves, from Chiang Mai, onto an 'Elephant Safari' for the day. We got to go for an elephant ride, ox-cart ride and bamboo rafting, which was all a bit tame and cheesy, but still fun! I was even forced into getting out of the seat, jumping down on the poor elephants neck and bare-back riding him for half of the journey...no-one else seemed to be doing this, I obviously looked like the adventurous [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our travels have now taken us up to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, where we arrived by plane yesterday afternoon. A bit of poor poor planning on our part meant we were too late to book an overnight sleeper train so the more expensive option had to be taken. It was good to get a birds eye view of Thailand on a really clear day, and pretty much hassle free. Since the last proper blog entry we have 'done' Cambodia and in the end it ended up doing us. We left Saigon and travelled up the Mekong through the border and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Merry Christmas from Cambodia!! We were up before dawn this morning, not because we couldn't sleep as we were so excited, but to welcome in Christmas day at Angkor Wat. We watched the sunrise over the amazing structure then sat down (on the grass) for a civilised picnic of bread, olives, Camembert and nutella. All local Khymer specialties, apparently. We'll put on a full entry soon but we hope everyone has a fantastic day. We're off to find a good bar that is showing the Queens speech in surround sound. May give the Eastenders double episode a miss though. Nic & [View Full Entry]

---

---