Flashpacking in Thailand...

Hi all Su here. As Pete said Malaysia was great but was a bit of a flying visit. We are here in the wet season and along with the rain it brings the the heat.  It hasn't rained that much so far and if it does it's normally just 1 or 2 very heavy showers and that's it for the day, it's a God send really because it cools the air down a bit.  With the temps in the high 30's and humidity in high 80's we are in a constant sweat, it makes city living a bit sticky and the Thai beaches were calling, so what's one to do? 

After a 10 hour journey of 3 buses and 2 ferry rides with a few manic but speedy transfers in between we arrived on beautiful Koh Lanta and after a bit of haggling with the local travel agent we were checking into Paradise.  Nakara Resort to be more exact but paradise none the less..

  don't you think?

More Flashpacking then backpacking....

So needless to say after being here for a week already we are still here and will be for another week to come.  Its beautiful and at €12 a night who could complain??  Yes, that was €12 a night and it's €10 a night for our 2nd week!  When we asked at reception if we could stay for another week they somehow picked it up that we wanted a further discount and gave us one.  Much to our delight of course we're obviously getting good at this haggling thing without knowing it.   Here's our home for 2 weeks....

On top of all this we have a beautiful bungalow with our own loo which is a welcome change, air con, fridge, WI FI and TV with movie channels.  Great! Here's a picture of our room the mess in the corner is all mine....

 

Now if you're looking for party central this is not the place for you since we practically have the place to ourselves.  At it's busiest there may have been 10 or so people about at any one time and the neighbouring resorts are the same.  But if you want to sit back, relax, top up the tan, eat and drink to your hearts content this is the place for you! We even have our own resident dog lovingly named "Stinky" for obvious reasons. He hooked up with us, or should I say Pete,  on the way to the shops on our first night and has been mans best friend ever since, he even sleeps at our door at night, he's Pete's biggest fan...

The beach is a bit rubbishy which is the norm for monsoon season but the view is beautiful. Here's the view from the restaurant you can just about see the Phi Phi islands on the horizon.  So that's it for now, stay tuned for more.................

East coast Oz and onto Asia

It's still VERY VERY warm where we are now but at least the air-con is cooling us down so we've managed to get a bit of life into us and it's time to update the blog again. We've a lot of catching up to do so without further ado...

We made our way further down the east coast of Australia to Surfers paradise, Byron Bay and back again to Sydney. Surfers was a really nice place to kick back and enjoy one of the better hostels we've stayed in. It was run by an Irish guy who couldn't do enough for us so (and this is becoming a habit) we pottered around and didn't do a lot. This is quickly becoming the lazy mans guide to a round the world trip. Su, being the energetic one, did take a few photos. Here's one to prove that we actually were there:

After a short stay in Byron Bay, which was great, we then hit Sydney again and met up with our good friend Niallo, and my friend Massey and his wife Bella who I knew from my days in Copenhagen. We stayed 5 nights in Manly to catch up with Niallo again and had a right good booze-up. We then went out to Balmain and stayed with Massey and Bella in their gorgeous house. Even though they had to work they gave us a key and let us wash our clothes, have a bath, and basically gave us the comforts of home. How good is that!? Niallo even treated us to a dinner one of the nights. Free food! We were on a roll!

So we flew out of Sydney to Singapore, looking forward to seeing what Asia had to offer. Not without one look back while in the plane and managed to snatch one last glimpse of the sky tower through the clouds - the photo is a bit fuzzy but you'll get the gist:

We soon found out what Singapore had to offer, and it was this: THE HILTON! Yes! Su's wonderful parents had booked us in for two nights of luxury as a birthday present to Su and boy, did we lap it up! This was our room:

 

I can't imagine it getting much better than this on our travels so we made the most of it and hardly left the room. I know I know, there's no point travelling the world and not seeing the sights but have you seen the room above? And we're backpackers - there's no way we could afford to actually do anything in Singapore except eat and enjoy the luxury. We did make it to the swimming pool at one stage and we wandered around the hawker stands to buy cheap but very nice local dishes. Many thanks again to Larry and Rose for a fantastic 2 days! Su, of course, was in her element...

It wasn't to last though as we flew on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and stayed here:

Can you spot the difference? It's subtle I know. Here's the hallway outside our room:

Mountjoy eat you're heart out. Still, at 7 euros a night what can you expect? It was grand really. And Kuala Lumpur was a great place - we stayed in Chinatown and were right beside the China market where you could get everything from cheap knock-off Gucci bags to cheap knock-off Bolex (or is that Rolex?) watches. And of course then there's the Petronas towers - which used to be the tallest building on the planet. Tallest or not, they're still a sight to behold:

Really, photos don't do it justice. It's amazing!

We got a nice VIP bus to Georgetown in Penang. Su tells me that Penang is north-west of peninsular Malaysia. Our room here was 4 euros a day so as you can imagine, cats weren't being swung. We didn't even bother with photos. Our days in Georgetown were spent watching the European cup final, visiting Little India, drinking more beer, and chatting with the locals. It's really a melting pot of different cultures so we had a great time.

And that's it really! Malaysia was great and now it's on to Thailand and Koh Lanta. Su is going to do the next part of the blog so tune in!!

On holiday....

We're here in Kuala Lumpur and it's too hot to post a good blog. We will update you all about the remainder of our Australia experience, our two great nights in the Hilton in Singapore (thanks to Su's parents), and our stay in Kuala Lumpur, when we stop sweating.

Sunny days on the East Coast

Hey all Susan here again, so after our adventures on the Whitsunday Islands we headed south to Rockhamton, "The Beef Capital of Australia". A great, big steak dinner was our goal and a great, big steak dinner is what we got. After checking out the various steak restaurants in town each bearing slogans such as "Best Steak in Australia", "Worlds Best Steak", "Best Steak in Queensland" etc. we had our work cut out for us.  We eventually settled on the restaurant below our hostel (handy) Which was "World renowned for it's unique Stone Grill 'Acton Super Beef' Steak".   This meant that your steak (Acton Super Beef, no less) was served raw on a 400 degree Celsius, plate size volcanic basalt slab. Once the waiter delivers your steak to your table you turn it (as you would on the pan), slice off a few pieces and cook it to your liking on your slab, divine.. And that's coming from an ex-veggie!!

So with full bellies we continued south to Fraser Island, the worlds largest Sand Island. Fraser is beautiful and is filled with fresh water lakes, rainforests and amazing beaches.  We took a drive down 75 Mile Beach - Actually only 72 miles long!

We passed by the Maheno Shipwreak, once a massive cruise ship, which was stranded on the shores of Fraser in 1935

But by far the highlight for us was swimming in the stunning Crystal clear Lake McKenzie  which is surrounded by white silica sand just like Whitehaven Beach

As you can see from the different shades of blue the bottom of the lake drops all of a sudden and if you swim from light to the dark blue under the water with your eyes open it feels like you have vertigo!!

So next stop Noosa. Noosa is great, it has a fabulous beach, amazing restaurants, great shops, stunning hotels and everything that's outside the backpackers budget. So, if myself and Pete ever win the Lotto, we're going back...

Brisbane was next on our agenda where we enjoyed a few sunny days.  It's a great city with a really chilled out feel to it.  We stayed in a cool backpackers with an Irish Bar (how Australian!) and free Internet which was great for our South East Asia research..

Well that brings us up to date and also to Surfers Paradise where we are now.  We arrived yesterday and will be here until the weekend so you'll hear all about it on the next blog............. stay tuned................

Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands

Hello again! We've just returned from doing a three day and three night boat trip around the Whitsunday Islands and it was pretty darned good. Beforehand we stayed a night in Airlie beach to book our trip for the next day, and that is where we are again now.

We stepped aboard the 120 foot yacht the "Anaconda 3" at 7 in the evening and after a quick safety briefing and a glass of champagne we sailed off into the night. We picked this boat because we could get a private room and we were told that even though it's a bit more expensive, the food is excellent and although you can't bring your own drinks on board, they will be supplied at a cheap price. What more can you ask for??

Well, we got our private double room which was compact but you're on a boat so what are you going to do? It suited us down to the ground as we had our own bathroom and shower - luxury!!! As we were to find out, the food was indeed excellent - especially considering the size of the kitchen (or is that galley?). We even had roast chicken with mash, peas and gravy one night!! I went up for thirds! The drink situation was a little less satisfactory though - they had a fridge full of cans alright but were charging 4 dollars apiece - considering you can buy them in a bottle shop for a little over a dollar apiece it was very cheeky. As well as that we were told that each persons name was on a clipboard and we had to put a tick against our name when we took a beer and we settled up at the end. The crew would be doing the same thing. THEN we were told that if there were any discrepancies (i.e. some thieving git was taking beer without ticking off his or her name) it would be up to everyone to bear the cost of the missing beers. Alarm bells were ringing! As it turned out at the end, 20 or so drinks were taken without anyone ticking the sheet so we were all asked to compensate for this. When myself and Su asked were the crew expected to chip in for this, we were told that they weren't. When asked why it was explained to us that the crews names were on the sheet as well and they put a tick against their names when they took a beer.

Ah ok.... hang on... that's what we did!!!  Total swizz I reckon. Luckily we had the good sense to sneak two bags of wine in with us so our tally of beers wasn't too high. Check-mate Mr. Bond.

Anyway, onto the trip itself. And some photographs! The plan was to visit Whitehaven beach on day 1, check out a few more beaches and reefs on day 2 for some snorkelling and diving (for those who wanted to) before heading out to the outer Great Barrier Reef that night so we could spend day 3 out there. We got to Whitehaven beach on the morning of day 1 after a bit of a bumpy ride (some pale looking faces around the boat after that trip). Whitehaven beach sand is comprised of over 80% silica so is pristinely white and squeaks when you walk on it.

We were lucky to get this photo as 5 minutes later the rain started and pretty much didn't stop for 24 hours. Disaster!!

So we got back to the boat in the rain, tried our best to dry off and spent the night and most of the next morning eating, reading our books, and watching a DVD (one of two on the boat). The dive people did go diving, and some people braved the driving rain to snorkel, while the rest of us were made feel guilty by the crew for our lack of enthusiasm. It looked like things were going down hill real fast when at last the weather got better and the sun came out again. Time for some more lounging - this time up on deck!!!

See, we're much happier now.

That evening we sailed over to another island and hit the beach to watch the sun go down:

That's our boat in the background. This was the night we got the roast chicken dinner. Did I mention that I had thirds! The food was so good.

So that was pretty much it! We spent the next day (which was a scorcher) up on deck getting some sun while the captain sailed us home. They got the sails out on the way back and it was all nice and relaxed. All in all it was a good trip - aside from a few points - the overcharging on the drinks, the attitude of some of the crew, and actually one of the girls in another cabin got eaten alive by bed-bugs and sadly wasn't given an apology or even any alternative. 

We're off to Rockhampton tomorrow! I hear they have great steaks there! Hmmmmmmmmm...... steak.

Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef and Mission Beach

Ok Ok - sorry for the lack of updates (says he hoping that people have been on the edge of their seats waiting..), but we've been had a very lazy weeks lately - well, it's hard work this backpacking business!! Not really. The truth is that after Su's amazing blog last time that I thought it would be a hard act to follow - but time is a great healer so you're stuck with me again. I will convince her to blog again but she's a busy woman so it's me this time...

So we're on the east coast of Australia now after flying from Perth of Cairns via Melbourne (Melbourne was cold!!). Cairns was lovely and tropical though and we booked a day on a boat called the Tusa 5 (sounded a bit Irish) where we did some diving on the Great Barrier Reef (the only living thing viewable from space so they say!). It was pretty cool but we don't have a lot of photos seeing as we were on our lazy period. Well listen, it's hard work finding Nemo but Su managed it:

Hair raising experience it was too. She told me where the little guy was hiding all this time was and I got in there aswell:

We were under water as this stage if nobody has realised which is why we are looking a bit strange.

We spent about a week in Carins and  moved on to Mission Beach where we spent a few days by the pool - I'm sorry but the only photo we took was of an insect that looked like a leaf. Maybe it was a leaf - it didn't move too much and we had a few glasses of wine. We were convinced it was an insect though. It had legs (we think). I'm sure the people in Mission Beach won't be too upset that we didn't get too many photos - it's sold as a place to relax and unwind and that's what we did. I know I know, surely five months of unwinding is more than enough but we're going for a record.

So now we are in Airlie Beach, further south on the East coast - great place - the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands where we'll be hopping on a boat tomorrow for a 3 day and 3 night cruise. We will definitely take some more photos and break out of this slacker mentality that we fallen into. Bear with us - the blog will get better... I'll get Su on the case again!

Hot and Sticky in Western Australia

G' day All, Susan here. Yep! Well I have finally gotten off my backside to make a contribution to Pete's fabulous blog.  I can't guarantee it will be as funny or as informative as his, I may ramble on a bit or have a quick chat with the girls half way thru so bear with me...

So we picked up our campervan and headed North, happy to be on the road again.  It's a 'Him' this time and is called 'Morris' (lovingly named after the first 'Box' of wine we had in him).  Our first stop was The amazing Pinnacles Desert, This is made up of thousands of limestone pillars, up to 4 metres tall rising out of golden sand dunes

It's pretty spectacular, even more so considering the surrounding earth is a rich red colour and the neighbouring beaches are snow white...

At this stage I think I should point out that for the last few weeks the average temperature has been between 35 & 39 degrees which is pretty darn hot in the middle of a desert, oh and while I'm at it I may as well mention the Flies.....  Oh yes 'THE FLIES' when people talk to you about Australia the mention the stunning landscape, the  tropical turquoise seas, the great friendly people, they even mention the nasty, nasty, horrible, HUGE (as big as my hand HUGE) spiders!!!  but no one warns you about the flies,  while in the middle or western Oz, as soon as you step foot outside at least 40 flies land on you (it's like a race) luckily for me they get to Pete first due to a certain height factor-poor Pete) then the flies that haven't landed on you are flying AT you, mainly into your mouth, into your ears, up your nose and even trying to balance on your eyelashes... Not good!  Ok that's my rant over for now... Well not quite just a quick word about the spiders.. I seem to have a special gift of seeing them everywhere and they seem to be getting bigger.. and they're always in the jacks, normally Pete would go in and inspect them for me (what would I do with out him he's the best) but the other day I ventured into one (unchecked by my main man) trying to be brave,there was huge spider in it, his body was the size of a meatball!! no kidding, I nearly passed out. Other than that I love Australia....

   Next stop was 'Shell Beach', well when I say next stop I actually mean 3 days later after a very long drive, this is Australia you know.  Shell Beach is one of the longest shell beaches in the world, it is made up of tiny, white cockleshells up to 10 meters deep in some places and the water is luke warm and crystal clear, a great spot for the daily bath...

The beach was almost deserted when we got there, it was beautiful...

From there we when to 'Monkey Mia resort' in Shark Bay to see (yep you've guessed it) Dolphins!!! Go figure? Every morning for the past 10 years wild Dolphins come right up to the shore line and interact with people, of course a few buckets of fish might have something to do with.  It's a bit of a circus during the morning feeding session

 

but is a great opportunity to see wild Dolphins up close..

The resort itself was beautiful, fab beaches, a cool swimming pool where we spent most of the day working on our tans, which are coming along just nicely thanks to the searing heat and the scorching sun!! We even managed to fit in a romantic stroll along the beach for sunset..

The next day it was back on the road again heading north for our final destination Exmouth and the Ningaloo Reef, home to Logger Head Turtles, huge Manta Rays and the amazing 18m long 15 tonne Whale Sharks.  Our plan was to head out on a boat and go snorkelling for the day over the reef in the hope of spotting some of the above... however, this was not to be.  Upon our arrival the clear blue skies quickly changed into dark black clouds, gale force winds, torrential rain which resulted in 'Cyclone Pancho' (No we didn't name it, that'd be the Aussie weather people, wonderful imaginations the Aussie's have).. The eye of the Cyclone was 200km off shore so no real damage was done but the roads were closed due to flooding and the winds were too strong to drive so we were van bound for a few very wet and very hot days, Morris let us down by leaking but then again maybe he was sweating as much as we were in the 80% humidity..  Sorry I've no Photos of the storm but if you saw it you wouldn't get out of the van to take a picture either.  

So that brings us up to date, we are now on our way back to Perth to give leaky Morris back, he's served us well but it's time to move on... in a few days time we will fly to Cairns (pronounced 'Kens' with a high pitched voice) on the East Coast to begin the last leg of our Amazing Australian Adventure... Stay tuned... There are loads of really BIG SPIDERS there so I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about all that...

Now for the girlie bit... Happy Birthday Mam on the 1st April hope you have a great day, lots and lots of love.. Su+Pete. Dad hope your enjoying your well earned rest by rebuilding the house maybe? or just building another one or two for fun? Mmm very relaxing... Daisy Mae so sorry haven't written lately, promise to write soon, hope all's great with you and writing away like a mad thing.x Gillie Gorie thanks a mill for the great email, I'm lovin' all the goss promise to mail you back soon, Jeannette, likewise promise to mail soon, any more thoughts on an early hol???  Maevey Baby any wedding news for me?? Suzy Mogs, how's it going? any goss? Bar and Su, Neal and Gabreilla give Aaron, Zak, Ginavera, Lorenzo a big kiss for me, Pete and Patricia 'how's it goin' bud!, Mr +Mrs Owen+Ruth MaGee (to be) congratulations that is wonderful news,  Eoin and Lucy, nice one on the job front!! Lavinia hope alls well with you,Marco and baby Lucca, Niallo, see ya in Sydney, Martin and Dee, howyanow! Thanks for the Grays Anatomy! A big hello to Pete's parents in Tuam, the Lyons' and Monica in Dunmow, Paul in Auckland (well done with the job), John, julie and kids in Glanmire, Martin and Catherine, hope you're well, how's lovely Sam? taller then his uncle Pete yet? ... Lots of Love Su+Pete. xx