Having left the 'sea of churning milk' behind in Cambodia we set out for sunny days in Laos. From Siem Reap we flew to the capital of Laos, Vientiane. A lovely place in its own right, the highlight being That Luang temple, which is pretty darn shiny on a sunny day being painted in gold and all. However we were on a mission and nothing was going to stand between us and a little place on the well worn backpacker trail known as Vang Vieng (insert angel chorus here). Vang Vieng is a beautiful little village in the mountains of central [View Full Entry]

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Having left Sihanoukville we caught the local bus up to Phnom Penh, and then on to Siem Reap. Siem Reap is a major tourist destination as it is home to one of the wonders of the world, the Angkor temples. In Cambodia it is hard to escape this fact. Angkor Wat- the largest of the temples- is on everything from beer to washing powder. It is a sense of national pride and now we know why... Wow. The grandeur of these amazing feats of man has to be seen to be believed. The temples (dozens in total) are still in suprisingly [View Full Entry]

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Asia is great. Carissa and I have hit the ground running. After 2 nights in Ho Chi Minh City we checked out the Mekong Delta with a crazy cunuck named Jeremy (see photo). We tried some snake and scorpion rice wine which burnt all the way down. They work hard for the tourist dollar. I felt guilty having these tiny Vietnamese women paddle us around in the canoes while we got to kick back and enjoy what was an almost Disneyland like ride through the small canals. I was waiting for Mickey Mouse to pop out from behind the bushes. From [View Full Entry]

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After 6 weeks of work and saving our pennies it is time to move on again, Karuah is a laid back quiet place so in search of adventure we must go. We have enjoyed having friends and family wander up the highway to visit and have met some real characters in this neck of the woods. Lawn bowls and trivia nights (even managed a win) at the local RSL have been a highlight. We wandered into Nelson Bay via the ferry on the Aus day weekend and rode our bikes to Stephens lookout followed by fish and chips on the beach. [View Full Entry]

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Well a lot has happened since TI, Christmas at home with friends and family, road trip to Qld for the Woodford folk festival, new years in Noosa, scuba diving in Byron Bay, surfing in Forster, and finally landing in Karuah, Port Stephens. The common theme over the Christmas and new years period was rain, rain and more rain. Unfortunately the beach day Carissa was hanging out for never did arrive, however the wild weather did make for some great surf up and down the coast. A special shout out to Kyle at this point who was unable to make Woodford but [View Full Entry]

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This will be our last blog entry from the beautiful Torres Strait, as in a few short days we wander home for Christmas. Carissa and I have really enjoyed Thursday Island and would highly recommend a visit should you have the opportunity to venture this far north. We’ve enjoyed the friendly people here on TI, and despite having had to initially adjust to ‘TI time’ have found plenty to do with some great fishing, camping and general hang’n out. * A note on the fishing side of things: a friend of mine (Benjamin you know who you are) managed to somehow [View Full Entry]

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The tip of Oz A very early start was required for our day trip to the tip of Australia, Cape York. We met Vince, our friendly charter boat operator, down at the jetty at the crack of dawn. Our group of seven consisted of Thursday Island hospital staff and med student friends we have met since arriving. After a relatively quick trip we arrived to beautiful weather, and after a short walk we were standing at the very northern most point of the Australian continent. After the obligatory photos and group shots, we jumped in for a quick swim just to [View Full Entry]

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Welcome to the annual TI Raft Race 2007 - think of the Big Day Out on water. The aim being local groups construct rafts out of scrap materials and then endeavor to be the first to sail/float/drift across the crocodile waters of the straight between Horn Island and TI. Carissa and I knew better than to raft it across and do battle with the crocodiles, so I did the next best thing and went waterskiing. I figured the crocs wouldn’t be able to catch me that way. The raft race is an incredible day. The whole community gets behind it with [View Full Entry]

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After finishing work at 5pm on Friday we made a beeline for the boat ramp to meet Homer (TI resident pharmacist) who was to take us and 12 others (mainly doctors and associated hospital staff on TI) out to Prince of Wales Island for the weekend. Our destination was Dubbo’s shack- a long time weekend destination for many residents on TI. Unfortunately Dubbo passed away this year, but an ongoing agreement between his family and the locals means for a bottle of rum the place is available to anyone so long as it is booked in advance. Dubbo’s shack is an [View Full Entry]

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Hello,Carissa and I have arrived in one piece after a days travel to the extreme north of Australia after a brief tour via Cairns. Thursday island is as predicted pretty warm with high temperatures and humidity, having said that you do however get a sea breeze most of the time and mangos grow on pretty much every tree in time and they are just about to come into season which is just aswell seeing as food and produce on the island is pretty much double that of what you pay at home. Our digs are quite luxurious consiting of a 2 [View Full Entry]

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