All around the world ..

On the road again_ the South Island flying and skiing

jessikat — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:52:00 GMT

After Christchurch we headed off down south. Leaving the city behind and heading along the road towards the snow capped mountain was a good feeling, after sitting in Cairns for all those weeks dying to get moving again. From the start the driving in New Zealand was good at least in that the scenery was interesting and not always the same as it oftern felt in Oz, I can't say the same for some of the kiwi drivers, Crazy Madpeople with overtaking manouvres on blind hilly corners a speciality!

With a rough idea of where we were heading, partly influenced by planning to meet up with Sam's cousin. We spent our first night was spent at the little town/village of lake Tekapo where the water was supposedly really blue due to sediments in the water (i have to question the guidebook here though). It was really stunning at the lakeside especially near the landmark little church right by the water. I think what we will both remember most though is dinner at the little pizza place. Sitting next to the big open fire it was the first time that we had heard of seen, let alone eaten a pizza with venison on it or one with lamb and mint sauce and they tasted amazing. The next morning we got up and went ice skating at the outdoor rink overlooking the lake. Good fun until the blisters that rental boots always cause got a little too painful.

After Tekapo we made our way through some more outstanding scenery to the laid back Wanaka where we were to meet Sam's cousin Matthew. After one night in Wanaka we headed to Queenstown for a night and yet another yummy dinner of NZ lamb. From here we wanted to go to Milford sound and made it there after a sleepover on the way down to try and break the journey up a bit. The drive was once again stunning and thankfully we did not have to use the snow chains that we had been told were essential to carry at this time of year. The weather was good, well at least it was until we crossed the mountains to the milford side where it started to rain, unsurprisingly for milford apparantly. Our cruise boat was the smallest one operating and in the end there were only around 12 people on the boat. I was grateful for that especially after seeing the other boats and later on the way back all the dozens of coachs heading to where we had just left, phew, i think that the beauty of the sounds is best appreciated with as few people as possible. It is certainly a stunning place, there were dozens of waterfalls some we were told are the highest in the world although they don't count as they are not permanent features, the sheer rock faces meeting the water and while we were there the mist that clung to the rocks in places adding to the sense of enormity and awe inspiring atmosphere.

We drove back to Queenstown after our morning cruise on the sounds where we settled ourselves in for a few days to try out some of the things that the famous place had to offer. We did not go as all out as some people mainly due to budget and the fact that i am such a wuss there was not much that i would dare do! We did have a go on the shotover jet boat which with its 360 degree spins as close calls with the gorge walls was a good hangover cure! Sam being a bit more adventurous than myself and beind egged on by me had a go on the unique fly-by-wire. It is like a little plane you are strapped in which is powered by an engine and then is steered by the occupant through a valley trying to get as high and fast as possible it works a bit like a pendulum. It is harder to explain than some of the other things that sam could have chosen but we have photos so people can see for themselves and we don't confuse people. Anyway. We enjoyed being able to wander around queenstown for a couple of days taking advantage of happy hours and deciding where to go next. With the weather being not so good one morning we went to the crazy caddyshack crazy golf where we battled with volcanoes and fairgrounds to try and get a respectable score, my patience definately let me down and after a good start i lost concentration and it was all down hill from there. And Sam would have got a very good score if it was not for getting a score of 8 on one hole! One of the last things we did was to go up the Gondola which was just up the road from the campsite, nice views but we wanted to go on the luge, too late though!

While we were in this centre of adventure we decided we were going to blow the budget a bit more and go skiing for a couple of days. Being near the end of the season it was not too busy and we only had a small group for our lessons which we felt were definately needed me being very rusty and Sam not having been before. It was a lot of fun and i think that it has encouraged us to go skiing again maybe not on this trip though. We stayed in Wanaka and drove up to the slope at Cadrona. No mishaps unless you count leaving the lights on and getting back to a flat battery. Thank God for geordies and scots for that matter_ they helped us get started again, luckily as otherwise it would have been a little more difficult as we were the last car in the carpark!

Christchurch, New Zealand

jessikat — Sun, 9 Sep 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Well we have made it to the next place on our around the world trip, the beautiful country of New Zealand. I will probably repeat how amazing and beautiful it is many times in my stories but believe me it is for good reason. Our first sight of the South Island where we currently are was the snow capped mountains visible from the window of the plane as it started its descent into christchurch and from that moment i think we both decided that it must be as stunning as everyone had told us.

We had decided to stay in Christchurch for a few days to have a look around and to start acclimatising (it is cold!) before we picked up our campervan. After spending a while looking at options for where to rest our heads at night we decided on a jail! It was actually a very comfortable place as suprisingly enough it is not actually a working jail anymore but a hostel. We had a nice cosy cell which even had a tv and dvd player as well as a cell alarm button and the original solid metal cell door. In Christchurch itself we did not do much more than wander around the centre which is not very big.

We discovered some good places to eat and some good places to drink too. There were some good deals to be had in both fields! So with cheap drink and food we were happy not to do a lot except for take advantage of these and stay warm with some nice wandering in the city in between. One of the highlights was our experience with a stone grill meal which we came across by accident after being tempted by a sign for half price meals. A big hunk of fillet steak to cook how i liked it on my sizzling hot plate what could be better than that mmmmmmmmm.

We did do other things apart from discovering that there are some nice places to eat in Christchurch although this may sound suprising given what i have written so far. The Botanic gardens provided a much needed walk (to burn off all those tasty meals) and it was nice to see a botanics that was not all tropical plants, daffodils and snow drops were a reminder of home, another thing that added to the perception of England. Walking along the river Avon, in the aptly named cambridge area you could be punted along the river which is banked by weeping willows and daffodils, you can't get more 'English' than that! We went to the very modern and un-english, New Zealandy even Christchurch art gallery also known as Te Puna (maori). The big glass gallery building itself is impressive especially in Christchurch which does not really have any other really modern architecture, it was worth going just to have a look around.

After a couple of days, which was enough for us in the city, we were ready to get on the road. We were picked up from jail and taken to get our second campervan (technically no.3) of our trip. And so Jan Van joined our company ready to take us to see some more of New Zealand next stop some mountains and lakes down south.

melbourne the end of australia

jessikat — Tue, 4 Sep 2007 05:10:00 GMT

Our final day in Melbourne was spent doing another couple of Melbourne sights. We had a walk to the Victoria markets, it was not quite what i had expected but a good place to stock up on cheap clothes and trainers (Sam bought a bargin pair for $15) and Australiana tacky souvenirs. I was tempted by a kangaroo skin rug or maybe a big yellow and green australia hoody but i managed to resist!!

What we could not resist in Melbourne though was the official neighbours tour. How could we come the city that is the home of that famous show and not go and have a look at the street! After a bit of a drive out in the very busy (mostly with English tourists) neighbours bus we reached Erinsborough. Am I the only person who never realised that the name for the area came from an anagram of the word neighbours with another r and o added, i can't be! Anyway we drove to the street being shown some of the locations where some out of street events were filmed such as the funeral home where stingray was laid to rest (although i never saw that so i did not know what she was on about). At the street we took the photos with the sign and all of those sad things that you have to do when you are a neighbours fan. We did only get 5 minutes on the street because they were filming 'stock shots' which meant there were no actors there. We did get to meet one of the cast at the studio but i was a bit dissapointed! I was hoping for a harold or a paul what we did get was a fraser. Ok could have been someone totally unimportant like ringo! after a bit of a chat and some photos with him and of the garage and grease monkeys it was back on the bus and back to town. We got to see some classic episodes like harolds wedding and some deaths and disasters and we found out some possible happenings. I will let all you fans in on what we are told, Susan gets MS, falls asleep at the wheel of her car and knocks down new girl bridget who then ends up in a wheel chair. Libby comes back again to help look after Susan because Karl can't cope as he is working. I can't remember anything else right now but if i do i will add it in.

We decided to have a look at the Casino on our around and about walk back to the hostel. After winning nothing but only losing $10 between us in this huge casino i think we are ready for Vegas!

Last meal in Oz was tapas yum yum from the little lane next to the hostel and then to celebrate a good time and to toast our travel to New Zealand we had to go and redeem our neighbour drinks voucher at an Irish pub where we ended up staying most of the night drinking and watching Kareoke, not quite how i remember Oz but a good night all the same. A good send off in the amazing city of Melbourne.

on the road again starting in marvelous melbourne

jessikat — Mon, 3 Sep 2007 05:38:00 GMT

This place is definatley a breath of fresh air after being stuck in Cairns for what seemed like an eternity. I may be exaggerating a little bit but for those who have been to Cairns and stayed there for more than about 2 days let alone the 7ish weeks that we were there you have to agree that the town/city does not have very much to offer. We did get out for a day to Green Island where we could relax on a real beach, go snorkelling and generally escape the monotony of the town. The snorkelling was good a lot better than i expected although at the time we decided to go in the tide was out which made it a little difficult as there was less than a foot of water over bits of the reef, definately not comfortable for us or the coral. We saw some pretty impressive big fish including one grouper type thing which myst have been around 4 foot long with a huge big mouth that looked capable of swallowing small children! It is a shame that it did not swallow some of them especially the one who kept swimming up behind me right into my flippers forcing me into the coral on one side and Sam on the other, he would have been a tasty treat for the fish! We also took the glass bottom boat tour, it was actually really good something worth doing. And we did not get sea sick despite the 'captain's' warnings and the numerous sick bag dispensers located at easy reach intervals. The coral around the island is so shallow, it is not the most colourful but there were a lot of fish, big mouthed fish, weird sucker mouth fish, little multi-coloured fish, in fact there were all sorts but unfortunately no turtles, i think because it was the wrong time of year. We did see some whales though, not when we were snorkelling! but a little bit away (well quite a long way away but they were there all the same!) while we were sitting catching the sun on the deck on the way home. This day was really the only exciting thing we did while we were in the far north. That is unless you count washing cars or washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms fun!

We that is enough about Cairns now because we are not there anymore we are free, back on the road (well just about) yippee. Melbourne is brilliant. I think that it might just have bumped Sydney off the Australia top spot! We are staying right in the city centre here next to Flinders street station. It is cheap and the beds are comfortable but it has to be said it is really noisy. On our first night sleep was impeeded by someone who could probably be a top contender for loudest and most unusually irritating snorer on earth, probably the worst i have ever heard (well maybe i have heard some pretty bad snoring i won't mention any names!!). It is probably something to do with the fact that the rooms only have partition walls that do not reach the ceiling. It is however not a bad place despite the noise. And there is one good thing (at least in my opinion) about the weather being a bit colder and that is we get duvets again instead of horrid sheets.

So far we have had a good wander around up the little laneways with their pavement cafe's and chic little shops selling everything from cupcakes to jewelery and shoes. We went to the botanic gardens and along the south bank stopping to have a look at an interactive modern art exhibition and to the craft market along the river where we saw some ''circus dogs'' and some hulahooping!. In St.Kilda we had a good wander around through Luna park and along the pier before going to the espy where we had a good few drinks and listened to some live music played by a band of ageing rockers, they definately looked like they had been around to see some interesting things as did there accompanying man on the air-guitar, a very good night all in all. Lygon Street was another place we liked a lot with all those italian restaurants and shops who could't like it so we stayed for pizza and pasta after a few pints in the not so Italian, Irish pub down the road, mmmmmmmmmmm. That was not the end of pizza eating either with a visit to Fitzroy's brunswick street and the attraction of $4 pizza with yummy toppings we could not resist in fact we ended up sharing 3 in one night (they were just baby ones though so it is not as bad as it sounds), we had a bit of a pub/food crawl which resulted in this mass of pizza_it was something we had to do though to check out a few of the streets establishments. We did go back the next day too, to another place for more food though this time we resisted the pizza going for good old pasta also very good and for less than $10 with a glass of wine it tasted even better. Another good food experience was prahan market, it was soooo good, lots of nice fresh food, fruit and veg, meat and fish and olives and cheese etc. I think the bit we enjoyed most was the tasters though, so many olives and cheese and dips and sausages and for sam and oyster too. We ended up getting 3 tubs full of olives which were all gone by the end of the day, that would have never happened if Sam had not had a change of taste and decided olives were as amazing as i had said! thank god.

Not everything we have done so far in Melbourne has revolved around food/bars/shops though we have seen some other stuff. We went to the melbourne museum where we looked at some dinosaurs, watched some 3-D films, made faces in the fun-fair mirrors, i beat sam in the reaction time test!! haha, and we had a look at an old neighbours set the old skully kitchen. It was a lot better than i thought and i am glad that we got over out indecision and went in. We are off to go to the neighbours studio tomorrow to see the real ramsey street, a bit of tv culture! just what we came to melbourne for, it is going to be a good day!

Cairns

jessikat — Fri, 6 Jul 2007 03:00:00 GMT

Well we have made it to Cairns in our adopted home, our camperman campervan. It has been a long drive up from Sydney and we have finally escaped the cold and the rain. However, it is a shame to have to give up the van it has been good to be able to do things at our own pace taking our little house with us everywhere. It is now time to settle down at least temporarily to try and get some money together for the next 4 months (i can't believe that is all that is left!).

We handed the van back this morning, no problems. I want it back though. It was definately worth getting i would not have liked to travel up here any other way. We are making some progress at least in that we have got somewhere to stay. We have a room in a shared house which is only costing $70 a week because i am working for my share of the rent by cleaning for 10ish hours a week. We moved in today but have yet to unpack, i think i need to start the cleaning in our area first and try and move along some of the ants from the kitchen! Sam has found himself a job already doing painting and stuff at a house/hostel nearby, hopefully it will turn out to be more than a couple of days. It is not as easy to get a job here as we thought, everyone is looking and it is only a small town. I don't know if it is worth getting an RSA or whatever it is you need to get a job in a bar. I would prefer just to do something where i do not need anything. I am looking but it is not to urgent as we are not splashing out much money on rent and Sam is earning a bit.

Today is the first day that i have had to amuse myself with sam being at work. So i am spending it walking around in the sun looking for a job (although i just realised that i left my CV's somewhere) and shopping, its not such a hard life! I don't have to do any work until monday so i when i am done with town i can go and sit by the pool, although i think i will probably be cleaning when i get back anyway!

Cairns is such a small city i think i am going to get to know it very well especially as it looks like getting a job may not be very forthcoming.

I can't wait to get to New Zealand. It will be cold and wet, and we have been trying to escape that, but at least it will be different. Australia is a beautiful country but i am looking for a change. Maybe i will be thinking differently once i get a job but who knows.

Cairns

jessikat — Fri, 1 Jun 2007 05:44:00 GMT

We arrived in Cairns in the dark and were dropped off at our accomodation straight from the airport. Everything was silet and dark and there were no visible signs of life in the surrounding area. It was not a particularly good start especially when the room was not what we had expected and was not suitable. It will all be better in the morning or so we hoped and thankfully it was. We got a different room with a proper bathroom and no bunkbeds and we could see where we were which is always a good thing. The weather was not perfect but it was good enough to have a walk down to the beach and have a swim. Being stinger season meant that swimming in the sea was not advisable and there were nets up which took some of the fun out of swimming but at least the evil jellyfish can't get in. The one plus about the slightly grey and windy weather along with the jellyfish meant that there were not many people about. The main noise in the area, which is primarily residential was the cockatoos squarking.

It was decided to rent a car and we took a drive up to Cape tribulation (well nearly to the cape). It is a beautiful drive particlularly the bit along the coast to port douglas. On the way we stopped at Port Douglas, the daintree and mossman gorge. We got as far as crossing over the river on the vehicle ferry and then to a lovely strech of beach called thornton beach. We spent some time just walking along it up until the sand ran out replaced by the rainforest, this area was especially beautiful being covered in a light mist drifting out into the sea. As it was getting late and we had all had enough driving we headed back from here.

Another day we drove up the winding road to the town of Kuranda. It all seemed a bit run down, due to the weather and the season i suppose. We had a look around the market and we were lucky enough to have phil and judith buy us an aboriginal painting to go up in the flat when we get back. I would have loved to get the sky rail but sadly it was closed for maintenance.

While in Cairns there was another visit to be paid. This time it was a cousin of Judiths who had moved to Australia 40 years ago, she still has her local uk accent after all those years. Cath happened to live very close to where we were staying Clifton beach so we went around for a short chat and a drink and ended up there quite a bit longer. Understandable i suppose as there was a lot of catching up to do not to mention the fact that Cath is a bit of a talker anyway. She seemed to think i was the double of her daughter even going as far as saying we have the same hands, which she promptly took a photo of. It was nice to see some of the photos her daughter had taken of christmas island among other places, many of wildlife especially sea birds. She was especially animated when talking about her passions of diving and her daughter.

From cairns it was another plane back down to brisbane. To start our road trip to Sydney.

G'day Brisbane

jessikat — Fri, 1 Jun 2007 05:42:00 GMT

You could say that it was a bigger culture shock coming to australia that going to asia. Having become used to life in Asia, the cost, the colour, the people i don't think that either of us were thrilled by Brisbane. We had been excited about Australia but that soon began to evaporate (at least for me). The city was just like i remember it from when i was in Australia years ago, that is grey, industrial with a bit of an empty feeling. I know that not everyone feels like that though and i know it is not really a bad city i am just not a fan.

We stayed in the city just down the road from the hotel that Sam's parents were in. It was a pretty souless place but the location was good and the price was not too bad on the Oz scale. I am going to have to make a point of not complaining about the cost of australia as i know it is boring so just need to get it out my system, it is expensive at least by backpacker budgets. I don't know how people spend so long here. Anyway now on with the trip.

We went out for a few drinks our first night in brisbane and ended up in one of the hostel bars in town. We met some interesting people, drank some free beer and lots of not so free beer and had a good night. It did lead to a not so good morning though, i was definatley feeling the worse for wear. It was not a good day to be sick either because we were off to meet some of Phil's family (i think). I made it there although the car journey was a bit hellish and i am sorry to say that i did have to leave the company for a bit to go and lie down or to go to the bathroom all in the name of recovery. I was sorry not to be able to really enjoy the lovely lunch that they cooked mmmmm. I was definately glad to get back to bed that night!

We all spent some time just wandering around brisbane getting a feel for the place. Sam and myself took it easy and did not really see a lot unlike judith and phil who got up early and did it all. I think it was partly the initial 'asia sickness' that made me a little despondant in this city but getting out definately helped. Out in this case was to Buderim to stay with some old Uni friends of Phil and Judith's. We stayed at their house nearly a week. We arrived to a beautiful sunset and the evening was improved further sitting on their balcony with its beautiful view over the countryside and over to the east the sea.

We spent the week with Pat, Bill and Sam the dog looking around the local area. Sam and his parents went to fraser island (i have been too) on one day while i stayed with sam the dog and tried to update some of this journal. We went to Australia Zoo, which was really good well worth spending the day there. In the hinterland we drove to the glass house mountains and the small towns of malaney (with its famous cheese) and some of the other quaint, artsy towns recommended to us by Bill and Pat.

Bill and Pat took us to Noosa, Maloolaba and the famous and fantastic Eumundi market. At Noosa we went for a walk along the coast where we saw a wild Koala much to my surprise, i thought bill had just made it up as a ploy to try and get us to walk for miles! That was something i will remember, it was worth the short walk i am glad we saw it then as soon after seeing all the koalas in australia zoo i decided they were not that interesting after all, all they do is sleep! We also saw our first Kangaroo's on this trip, outside the university where bill works.

We were treated to some great food while staying in Buderim. Thai food in Maloolaba and a roast cooked on the BBQ as well as lots of dips and all sorts of good things. From the start any weight lost in asia had a hard chance in staying lost!

After an enjoyable week in Buderim we were off to Cairns. We made it to the airport despite the heavy traffic at the end of a long weekend and a few other obstacles and were soon on the plane to the tropics.

singapore

jessikat — Wed, 2 May 2007 02:34:00 GMT

We certainly managed to fit in a lot of places and activities in our few days in Singapore. We arrived in the morning on the train from KL which had really comfy beds and pillows and even a window on the top bunk, i don't know what the seat belts were for though! After missing a few buses with the number we had been told to get we ended up on a bus of another number which said it was going to the street near our guesthouse. This was a mistake though as it turned out that this street was very very very long and it actually did not go anywhere near where we wanted to be. Luckily we managed to work this out before had gone to far and were within walking range. Phew. It took a little longer to walk than anticipated as we had our big bags and it was raining and rain and flip flops don't mix, we managed to go a little faster withour them. It was such a relief to get to the guest house especially as it was such a bargain by singapore standards at $25 (singapore) for a double room, it was only a minor dissapointment to end up with bunk beds. After a couple of rounds of toast we went out to explore our local area of little India.

It was nice to walk around despite the weather although it did influence our first choice of destinations. We went to have a look around the huge 24 hour department store near by. It is a massive and very confusing place that seems to sell everything that you could wish for and more. We only lasted about 20 minutes the first time as it was all a bit crazy more so because it was full of people everywhere all the time, it was a bit of a challange getting through it and even more so trying to get out of the maze of overflowing lanes. After escaping we were happy to find ourselves confronted with lots of shops selling dosa and as to be expected loads of cheap indian food. We had thought that KL may be our last chance to stock up but we were proved wrong.

We had arranged to meet Vinod who was in Singapore on business having driven down from KL a few days before. He took us to a restaurant he knew where we once again indulged in some comforting Indian fast food. It was nice to see him again and to be given another mini tour (this time very small just around little India) which was nice as he showed us some things we might have had trouble finding, like the pub! Unfortunatly he was very busy with work and he did not manage to meet us again but i suppose that is what happens when you have a proper job!

We managed to make ourselves comfortable using the fantastic underground system, we were lucky enough to have a stop near our hostel. And explored a little further going to china town and to the river around the historic district. As we seem to have been doing everywhere we did a lot of walking there is always so much to look at.

After we had been in Singapore a day or two we went to meet Sam's parents who flew out to meet us and who we were to continue on to Australia with. We arranged to meet them at there big posh hotel on Orchard road, a little different from our accommodation! it was a good place to wait making the most of comfortable seats and airconditioning. This was when the real sightseeing began. We definately all managed to see Singapore and i think to do it justice.

We all went to little India for a cheap dinner in our side of town to give Phil and Judith a taste of how we had been living. This meant more dosa for me and everyone else had something different, puri, roti and i am not sure of the name of the type of bread phil had but it looked like a puffed up cushion/balloon. We also went to have singapore slings in Raffles which was a little more expensive (!) than our dinner the night before. I am not sure that everyone was impressed by the bar with its peanut shells all over the floor and a few pigeons taking it upon themselves to make themselves at home. The hotel itself is beautiful but the drinks it is so famous for were not so good (soapy tasting was one thought on them).

We spent some time walking around various areas of the city taking it in, all of it very clean, which is one of its claims to fame as is the fact it is very safe. We spent an evening at the night safari which was good but not as good as we had been led to believe. We went to eat at one of the food markets which had been recommended to us by one of the cities friendly taxi drivers and after walking around being accosted by every stallholder we decided on one which looked good (although they were probably all very similar) we chose a tasty looking crab from a cage at the front of the stall. The chilli crab was really good as were the vegetables and the other dishes we had. The beer was very cold as we had been assured by a man selling drinks next door. A meal to be remembered.

Our flights were at the same time (just about) so we went to the airport together and departed to our different terminals ready to see each other at the other end in the next stop and a world away Brisbane, Australia.

From tall towers to white sands

jessikat — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:17:00 GMT

Arriving in KL i was struck by the size of it and some of the 'modern' amenities such as the monorail/underground system. This is certainly a city a world away from some of the places we had previously been. One of the most striking differences was also one of the most obvious and that was the number of skyscrapers and other high rise buildings, the most famous being the Petronas towers one of the worlds tallest buildings.

We arrived in the centre after a long taxi ride from the airport which we shared with a woman travelling from Australia. After being dropped off in town we managed to find our hostel which as it turned out was actually pretty good as well as being the cheapest we had managed to find. On our arrival we were shown around by John who very thoroughly showed us around and told us about the area. After settling in we headed out to meet our new Aussie friend to get some dinner. As we had no idea where to go we were reliant on our new friend who had been before. We ended up in the nearby market area in the nearby Chinatown where we had some noodle dishes that were tasty although i am still not sure what was in them.

It was quite nice to experience the hustle and bustle of a big city that we had not experienced for a while, probably since Bangkok. I always feel strangely at home in big cities even though i would not wish to spend a lot of time in them.

A lot of our time in KL was spent walking around pretty aimlessly getting a feel for the place or at least for the area that we were staying in. We explored the area around Merdaka square and the petronas towers. We took the underground to the towers and then in the cause of saving money we walked back via the KL tower. I have to admit that i did not go up, i am far too scared of such things! Sam did though so i did get too see the photos of the extended views all over the city, which i admit were impressive, but not that impressive that i felt i had missed out.

There was a lot going on in KL while we were there due to the Grand Prix which was being held there (in the nearby track). We went to one of the grand prix pre-event things held by BMW just next to the petronas towers, there were demonstrations of their cars and about all sorts of things about grand prix cars and drivers, it was especially good as it was free although it was a bit hot. Sitting directly in the sun i could almost feel my feet face melting and it was too hot for the cars too so we did not really get to see much. If only we owned a BMW then you got into the air con vip bit with free food and drink too!

After spending most nights not doing very much (due to the fact we were usually to knackered after walking around all day and also that we could not find much to do around where we were staying) we were suprised to get a knock on our door one night. This was an invitation to a party on the roof with free food, cheap beer (we never saw any cheaper anywhere else in KL) and music provided by one of the guys at the hostel. The music; guitar playing and singing gradually got more and more confused as the night drew on and he was not the only one who had a good night.

After a couple of days in the city of giant towers we left to fly to another malysian city but one altogther different. We stopped at kota bharu for a couple of days before moving on to travel to the much anticipated perhentian islands. We arrived at the jetty to take us to the islands after a drawn out journey in an ancient mercedes taxi which was late for the ferry but luckily for us the ferry was running late too. The weather was stormy and the sea was more than a bit choppy and this was pushing things behind. When we did get on board we did with all our valubles in plastic bags and ready to get wet- we had seen the bedragled state of the people who had just got off! It was soon time to leave the shelter of the harbour and move out into open water. From the start we were tossed atound and sitting on the sides of the boat we were soon drenched. The boat and our bodies often feeling the drop from crest to trough of the large waves. This jarring was definately not for anyone with bad backs, one of the older passengers looked to be in particular pain and unfortunately the journey took over and hour. It started off quite exciting but towards the end i think we all wanted off. After another 20 minutes or so of trekking across the island after being dropped off by another smaller boat and another RM4 we reached our chosen destination of long beach. I think it took others a bit longer in particular a couple of british girls dragging huge suitcases along the muddy and narrow jungle track- crazy! Now it was time to escape the rain and find somewhere to stay.

I was suprised to find that it was more expensive than i had thought but we got a nice room on a hill over looking the beach it had a bathroom and rare for the island 24 hour electricity. The reason we ended up on long beach was because it had the most facilities but unfortunately that does also mean the most people. It was more built up than i had been led to believe but then it has also obviously changed a lot since the people who recommended it to us in India had been. We spent our time just chilling out on the beach swimming Sam went diving, i signed up to dive but once again got hit by the curse of sickness and we took a boat and went snorkelling. The most interesting thing about the place was probably the people we met especially Vinod who was staying in the room next door. We were lucky that the next room along was also occupied by someone who we also got to know, john.

It turned out that Vinod (i might have spelt this wrong, i apologise in advance) was from KL and was having a short break from working hard for medicines sans frontieres. He told us all about his work and all kinds of other things and he invited us to meet up with him in KL when we got back saying he would show us around. Nights were spent watching movies or sitting around talking at the bar. There was also a fair bit of money spent eating in the restaurants (overall the food was all terrible) and buying nasty cheap vodka!. We failed to bring any alcohol with us due to a lack of planning and forgetfullness. This was a big mistake as it was more expensive and the stuff we ended up drinking was pretty horrible, definately leading to feeling worse the day after.

The island is so small and so with any news of a party there was quickly a crowd made up of what seemed like the whole area, at least this seemed to be the case at the party they had at our accommodation. It was a good laugh, very busy, very load and with some very crazy dancing!

I have to admit i was bored though after being there a week. I don't think i am a tropical island kinda girl. I start to feel a bit trapped and impatient, i am not the kind of person who can just sit on the beach and sunbathe. The swimming was good, at least it was until i got caught in a rip and ignored the rules it felt like there was definately cause to panic! (although i know it is the thing you are not to do) and i had to be rescued by sam, after that i was not so keen on swimming. So when it was time to go we were definately ready although some people staying there had gone for a week and were still there months later. We got back to kota bharu after a nice calm but very fast boat ride and a very fast taxi. It was then decided to go for the slow bus to the airport after it was an hour late and the bus was still not there i have to admit i was a little worried we would miss the flight. So just as i was trying to force Sam to get a taxi it arrived and we did get to the airport on time despite my misgivings! next time i will just keep my mouth shut!

So after a quick flight we were back at the KL airport, which as i think i mentionned before is not particularly near KL.

from white sands to tall towers (2)

jessikat — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 04:11:00 GMT

So after a quick flight we were back at the KL airport, which as i think i mentionned before is not particularly near KL. The plan had been to get a bus straight from the airport to Melaka but unfortunatley this was scuppered by missing the last bus by about half an hour. So our options were to get a different bus to another place and then another bus to melaka but it was getting pretty late and the directions were not too good. We could also go back to KL, stay the night and then get a bus the next day. The final option was a taxi, this was also the most expensive (just) and seemed like an unneeded splurge for us. This was however the way we chose in the end. After much haggling with some man at the airport bus station (who knows if he was anything to do with taxi's!) a price was agreed and a taxi appeared. As i mention above i am not convinced that the service was being provided by an actual taxi service. The 'taxi' was bright green, with blacked out windows, a massive growling exhaust, lowered suspension- a proper boy racer car. The guy driving was very nice and so was his friend who he went to pick up to come along with us for the ride. It took a little longer than we thought and even when we had 'entered melaka' according to the road signs it was another 30 minutes along a road which had the most petrol stations i have ever seen in one area and lots of trees sparkelling with white fairy lights until we got to the centre. Whoever they were we got there alright and they were nice enough to drive us around the city for ages asking directions to make sure we got to the right place.

The next day we moved to a cheaper guesthouse (there were no cheap rooms left in the one we checked in to first) which was good except for the mystery water which leaked under our door one night and soaked everything. It was then about time we started to explore Melaka. One of the best things we found in melaka apart from all the historical stuff was the food. Roti Canai, masala dosa, thali's and all of our favourite things. It was a bit like being back in India in that department and it was cheap too. After all the crap food on the perhentians it was heavenly.

We found that in the city you could walk around just about everywhere in Melaka at least all of the 'sites' although i was tempted by the brightly decorated multi-coloured cyclos, especially at night with all the neon lights and music (CD players). We went to the Stadthuys museum, a history museum covering the history of melaka in the oldest dutch building in the East. I can't say we were very impressed, i am definately glad that we did not have to pay full price (we went in the afternoon where you pay less as you do not get the full day to use the ticket). It just seemed a bit dull and in places run down, it was also hard to read the descriptions as they all seemed to be placed at knee height, who knows why?!. We spent some time walking around by the river/canal and the old houses nearby and then into china town. The market in China town was great we did some shopping, had a few beers while listening to some terrible karaoke (some people just kept getting back up and i swear they just got worse!) and then some live music in the form of a man and a guitar which was not too bad once he got the mic to stop screeching. All this was accompanied by a huge thunder and lightning storm which was impressive to watch, the rain which we and everyone else seemed to be expecting did not come till a lot later on much to ours and the stallholders relief.

We also made the most of the airconditioning in some of the big shopping malls on a couple of occasions and ended up going bowling as well as shopping to try and replace some of our disintegrating clothes (indian washing processes are not always the kindest).

We saw some amazing sunsets while in melaka unfortunatly the one we witnessed after climbing to St.Pauls church (now just a shell) at the top of the cleverly named! St. Pauls hill was not the most spectacular, although it was still worth the climb.

Our exit from melaka was not as exciting as our entrance. After wandering the street we were told to get the bus from looking for a bus stop (it was really hot) we discovered that there were not any and you just stick your arm out, we got to the bus station. At the bus station we met an Irish guy who we had met looking for beer in the street near our hostel and then gone for a meal with we bought our tickets and within 10 minutes we were on the bus and leaving. Back to KL. The bus started off pretty empty and I still had two seats to myself at the end of the 2 hours it took to get back. After a short walk we were back at the good ole' travellers home where we were once again welcomed by john and the boys. We have left them a very nice review which i think they were pleased with.

In Kl we met up with Vinod as planned and he gave us a chauffer driven tour of the city. He also took us for lunch, a proper Indian thali, which was really good, we were the only tourists there and i don't think that i will be able to find it again. We went all over the place, to the national mosque, the big war memorial sculpture near the government house, we drove through merdaka square, went to modern out of town shopping centres, drank some chinese coffee accompanied with bread and i think condensed milk (which i love as it seems do the malaysians) yum yum. Vinod was also a knowledgable tour guide and gave us a running commentary about where we were passing and a bit of a history lesson. It definaley helps to have a locals eye view of a foreign place. After our sight seeing we went for a drink, to watch the football (can't remember which game arsenal vs ?) and to try some of the local version of greasy after club food i think he said it is called mamak (?) and is maggi noodles with lots of stuff mixed in, very greasy and very good.

We also met up with one of Sam's old flat mates from Uni who is living in KL. Vinod drove us to the bar to meet him but then unfortunately had to go. So we had some more beers and a catch up and then we met up with some of darrens friends and went to another bar. Where they were buying bottles of whiskey accompanied by carafes of mixer (it was a nice bar). At about 2am after some good catching up and more than a few drinks we got a taxi back home. After a much needed lie in we looked around the city again, ate some more dosa and this is what we did until we left to singapore on the very comfortable train.