The Big Adventure

Gallery: Tas - On tour in Bernie

mike-annie — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:14:00 GMT

Gallery: Tas with the rellies

mike-annie — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:50:00 GMT

Gallery: Sky Diving over Lake Wanaka

mike-annie — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 21:19:00 GMT

Gallery: New Zealand - South Island Continued

mike-annie — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 12:09:00 GMT

The Wonderful Land of OZ

mike-annie — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 22:28:00 GMT

After being told that our biggest journal fans were wondering where our write up on Australia was I am now shamefacedly writing it up a few months late.....Pete and Sheila, this one's for you!

As Oz is a very large place and we spent 7 weeks on the mainland this may also be another bourban biscuit and tea session, so get ready.

After getting fat and contented on Auntie Lyn's beautiful meals we alighted from the ferry at Melbourne onto mainland Australian soil. Fortunately, to cure us of our upset at leaving our new family, Kelly, Jon and Laura were at that moment on a plane from Trethomas to come and meet us for 2 weeks of crazy cross country driving from Melbourne to Brisbane.

Melbourne was fab and we did some touristy things like going up the Eureka tower and being shoved out of the side at the top in a glass box. Not good for the old vertigo. We then spent a day driving down the Great Ocean Road looking at the fabulous coastline and much travel sickness was had by all thanks to the Greenaway's hire car. Whilst driving along we saw lots of people stopped up on the side of the road and were amazed to discover about 4 koalas having a siesta in the trees above us. We were really luck to see them in the wild.

A tour to the Neighbours set was compulsory of course and after a slight mix up at Kels travel agent, me, Kel and Laura were also given a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The poor jet-lagged eight year old held up pretty well considering. The Neighbours tour was indeed cheesy yet fabulous and me and Kel worked ourselves into a frenzy deciding what to wear to meet the lovely 'Dr Karl'. Dr Karl was obviously having a day off the day we decided to go which was sooo disappointing but at least we got good pics of us at Ramsey Street, which is really really small when you see it in real life. A stop at Ned Kelly's last stand was also a must do and where we all bought matching cowboy style hats,

After many, many hours of driving our next port of call was Sydney where we stayed in an amazing campsite set in a nature reserve. We had a fab barbie and It was great for Laura to see a possum up close - until it bit her foot! The Opera House and Harbour Bridge were of course beautiful and a must do. It would have been nice to spend more time there but we were on a tight schedule and with me as nominated map nazi we needed to make progress, progress people!

So with Victoria and New South Wales crossed off the list it was on to Queensland and time to do some fun things for Laura who was feeling decidedly deprived of Gladiators and Pokemon. Sea World was the chosen fun filled destination and she had a fab time. This was the point where me and Mikey decided to give it all up and become dolphin trainers.....until the next cool thing came along. Kel and Jon paid for us all to have a helicopter ride over the Gold Coast which showed yet again how beautiful Oz is. A trip to Hooters Bar by Mike and Jon was also necessary apparantly, where they had to pay strange women in hot pants and tight tops to have a photo taken with them 'for charity you know'. At least me and Kel got a Hooters t-shirt out of it!

To finish off the trip the last day was spent at Australia Zoo, home of the famous Irwin family. The crocoseum and the show held in it were fab and it was so sad seeing Steve Irwin up on the big screens. Me and Kel got to hold a Koala too and he showed his appreciation all over my t-shirt. Nice. Mikey held a baby alligator aswell and much photo evidence was taken. After a long satisfying day Laura decided she didn't want to leave Australia, especally her new best friend uncle Mikey who she was attached to like glue and it was so sad to leave them at Brisbane airport the next day. We were treated to a posh hotel the night before and became babysitters for the night so that Kel and Jon could celebrate their wedding anniversary. A free hotel room was a fair exchange!

After a very sad goodbye with Laura sobbing in the check-in ailse and me and Kel being manly and holding back the tears, we were on our own again.

Being map nazi and location planner was hard work (work, what's work?) so we drove back to the Gold Coast for a little rest and some body boarding at Surfer's Paradise before headingfurther up the coast to Fraser Island. Most people spend a few days on the island which is the biggest sand island in the world but we opted for a day trip after hearing horror stories of constant rain and gigantic spiders. Once there we swam in the very cold but very beautiful Lake McKensie which is supposed to have the best exfoliating sand anywhere due to it being so fine it was like glass. Our tour guide recommended rubbing the sand all over yourself including your hair and we gladly obliged. It really does work you know, I dont think he was having us on...The island is also famous for having the purest bred wild dingoes in all of Oz and we saw one. It was just a dog really, but I wouldn't want to be in the way of a hungry one.

From sand to sugarcane as we moved onto Bundaberg, the place of one of australia's most popular drinks. Now, if it was whisky or the good old vods me and/or Mike would have been estatic. Bundaberg is famous for rum though which would have been fab for Mike's mum or cousin Nic (both heavy rum drinkers ;-) We did the factory tour anyway and got to sample the goods which wasn't all that bad after all.

Rockhampton, famous for its cowboys and bull rodeo, was the next stop where we saw many people in cowboy hats and got called 'darl' a lot. Lack of political correctness was the order of the day. A tour to the local crocodile farm was also necessary due to Mikey's obsession with anything that can kill or maim you and we got to hold a tiny baby crocodile and were taught how to avoid them in the wild as we were now in crocodile country. These instructions were of course twisted by Mike into 'how to FIND a crocodile' as he was desperate to see one in the wild. Typical. Luckily they are actually very hard to find so we were saved from having a limb dismembered on a jaunt by any rivers/streams or watery areas.

It was getting close to my birthday and after the skydiving extravaganza that was Mikey's birthday, I demanded something equally great. We found a cattle ranch/farm that did homestays in the outback and booked for 2 nights and 2 days. It was the BEST birthday I have ever had as we rode horses, for the first time for both of us, across the outback. My horse for the 2 days was called Betty and she hated me! While everyone elses horses were trotting away happily she insisting on showing up my new equestrial skills by refusing to budge several times. I'm sure I wasn't that heavy. Mike's horses Gadget and TJ were a lot better behaved though and Betty even perked up as we rounded up the cattle from one field and herded them back to the farm. Apparantly the bulls almost stampeded me as they were legging it towards the back of my horse but I remained very calm - I was too busy posing for photos to notice! We really enjoyed riding but dont think we will take it up as a hobby, having a big creature beneath you who could bolt at any minute was a little bit scary. My next birthday treat was to milk a cow, something I have always wanted to do. I have high goals in life, I know. It was definately not like helping a woman to express milk!! I was so upset when I couldn't do it straight away as it's a skill I pride myself on back in the Heath! to round off my day, mike had secretly helped the farmer's wife to make me a birthday cake which was lovingly decorated by him and brought out in front of everyone around the fire. FAB!

The farm was amazing and had a big outdoor campfire where the dinner for everyone was cooked each night in big pots over the fire. Each morning a wallaby and a young kangaroo took up residence in front of the fire and came for a cuddle if you had a nice cup of tea or some toast. Making tea and toast over an open fire with the kanga next to you was an unforgettable experience. We also learned how to lasso and fed the baby calves who head butted us in mistaken thinking that our delicate knee caps were their mother's udders! To continue with Mike's quest in eating weird and not so wonderful things - he ate a witchetty grub in a 'i'm not a celebrity get me out of here moment'. He claims that it tasted like wood! The farm stay was absolutely one of the best things so far and we felt so rested and immersed in nature and red dust that we didn't want to leave.

Townsville was the next stop and a visit to Mike's mother's cousin was also in order. It was lovely meeting even more family and hearing all the stories and history that go with it. A free lunch didn't go amiss either! Ken and Nell were lovey and we really wished we could have spent more time with them but we were off to the Atherton Tablelands. Here we wne to a place called Kuranda and found the didgeredoo that we had been searching for for weeks. It was just right and we can't wait to perfect our skills at it when we get back. So far we can make lovely loud parping noises from it, not the kangaroo jumping sounds the instruction book promised. In the town we also saw amazing aboriginal dancers and had pictures taken with them and explored their beautiful art galleries.

The quest for crocodiles then continued up to Port Douglas where we at last saw some in the wild with the help of a tour guide and a sturdy boat. The archer fish were even more fab as they came to the surface and squirted us in the face!

Cairns was our last stop in Bernie and where we were to leave him at the airport to be picked up by a friend of Rob and Lyn. Sob.

Whilst there we took a tour boat out to the Great Barrier Reef and Mike scuba dived and we both snorkelled. We saw really big sea turtles and swam with them which was again absolutely amazing.

So after waving farewell to Bernie, our new best camper and friend, we took the plane to Alice Springs to visit Uluru/Ayres Rock. With a 5 hour drive there then back it was a long old day but worth it. The rock was as beautiful as it looks on tv and we got some fab pics as we watched the sun set whilst having champagne and a BBQ. An amazing end to our Australian adventure as we left the next day for Singapore.

My hands hurt now, sorry it's a long one!

Tasmania

mike-annie — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 21:07:00 GMT

After 5 months of living off rice/pasta and showering in the not so cleanest of places, we were more than happy to be making our way to Tasmania and the comforting arms of family. Mike's uncle and aunt, Rob and Lyn and his cousin Nicola were to provide us with bed and board for the next 6 weeks. Hurrah! Neither of us had seen them all for about 3 years so there was lots of catching up to do which mainly included lots of very good food and lots and lots of red wine. We were given the pool room to sleep in which was bigger than our whole house was in Thornhill and had a great big pool in it - obviously (!) It was there that we both just crashed out completely. After all that moving around we couldn't believe our luck at receiving regular meals and baths!

Unfortunately, Nana wasn't there to meet us but we went to her house and to the cemetery which brought back loads of good memories for Mikey of when he was there when he was 6 years old.

Whilst there we became intiated into the Hash House Harriers where the main aim is to do a run and then get bladdered by downing drinks for various misdemeanours you may or may not have carried out. We soon learned that we have a very weak constitution compared to the hardened drinkers of Australia who could down half an off-license and still get up with the sunrise the next day. I think we earned ourselves a reputation, but not one to brag about! Attending a party thrown by HHH member 'Giggles' set the precedent of us being hard drinkers but absolutely rubbish at handling the after effects. Much dancing occured with me apparantly slapping lots of bottoms (innocent until proven guilty) and teaching random dance moves to strangers whilst Mike and Rob polished off a WHOLE bottle of Jack Daniels. Luckily we were invited back so we cant have been all that bad.

To top it all off, Rob and Lyn offered to buy us a campervan to tour around Tas and the mainland in, which was the best thing to happen to us so far. After all my meticulous financial planning, for some reason - called a slight diversion to New Zealand - we were broke. So began the hunt for a camper resulting in the purchase of Bernie, a much swankier and cleaner version of Dick. Thank you!

With Bernie we were able to travel around Tas and set off for a trial run before the mainland to make sure that everything worked. Tasmania is beautiful and we were so glad that we could explore it even more. Our favourite spot was called Bakers Beach as there were wombats, wallabies and possums all hanging around outside our van all night. It's a shame they dont export wombats to the UK because we would so buy one. They are built like the proverbial poop house and could probably write off your car if you hit one, but so loveable. We also visited a Tasmanian Devil conservation park where as well as watching these strange creatures attacking each other, we saw and hand fed kangaroos for the very first time. FAB. Wineglass Bay was another stop which was beautiful and has one of the top ten beaches in the world. Unfortunately it was autumn so the water was freezing to the point of turning our feet blue so a swim was out of the question. We also went to a national park that had the second biggest trees in the world and walked across the immense Gordon dam, which was several hours down a one way road in the middle of nowhere. The abundance of wildlife - excluding roadkill! - was probably the main highlight.

Another interesting stop was a visit to Mike's Nana's old house/shop where she grew up, a bit of family history for Mikey to discover.

Once back from our trip, the alcohol and food began flowing again and we resumed our seats at the kitchen table where the red wine miraculously appeared every night before Mike and Rob retired to the sofa to watch AFL and sort out all the world's problems. We also managed to ruin our reputation one more time by attending the HHH Annual General P*ss Up and creating drunken dance floor havoc before crashing out back home and being unable to speak to anyone for the next day. I dont think Ros and Grizzle (Hashers) will ever think of us the same again.

Knowing all this, Rob and Lyn still put on a pool party the night before we left with much drinking and gladiator style fighting on a pole suspended over the pool.

Tasmania, above all was the chance to get closer to Rob, Lyn and Nic and they made us feel so comfortable and at home with them. Nic will forever be in my heart for making me tea and toast after a very heavy night! Cleo the cat also won us over and made us want a cat when we get home. Really??!!, I hear you cry.

After a very very sad farewell to them we boarded Bernie and got the ferry to the mainland. Thanks Giggles for getting us a cabin.

Rob, Lyn and Nic - thanks sooooooo much, please come to Wales so we can repay everything you did for us. You might have to wait about 10 years though as we have no house....no car....no money etc etc!!

On on......

Gallery: New Zealand - South Island

mike-annie — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:18:00 GMT

Gallery: New Zealand - North Island

mike-annie — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:52:00 GMT

Gallery: Thailand - again!

mike-annie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

New Zealand - from North to South

mike-annie — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 13:32:00 GMT

After a lengthy journey and a stop over in melbourne we finally arrived in Aukland, New Zealand. Originally we weren't going to NZ but Pierre 3 (the car, in other words) got sold so that he could kindly pay for our flights. Thanks Pierre 3. Anyways the first thing we had to do was pick up the campervan we had booked online for the duration of our trip - 5 weeks in total. The company that we got it from are famous in NZ for spray painting their vans with all different themes and colours. I was determined to get the 'Kermit' which had a massive Miss Piggy and Kermie on the side and Mike was praying all the way there that it wasn't available. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending which team you are on, the Kermit was gone and we ended up with the 'Superheroes' van which was even better anyway. On one side was painted Spiderman and the Silver Surfer and the other side had Wolverine and The Joker. Cool? Damn right we looked cool! We decided to name him Dick as in Dick 'Van' Dyke and the three of us began our journey together.

Starting on the North Island we went from top to bottom through the middle. There is just too much of NZ to do in 5 weeks so we had to be a bit picky. The north island is covered in mountains and volcanoes and thermal pools with geysers going off all the time and is simply amazing. Apart from those things it looks just like Wales but larger and with a lot less people and definitely more sheep. One beautiful place we stayed was in Rotorua which is like one major thermal pool. All the water there is heated from the pools so every motel room had a hot spa in it! Dick, however did not so we had to make do with paying to get into a pool centre and luxuriated in 40 degree water. As Rotorua was kind of like thermal central it had that lovely bad egg / someone's cut the cheese smell which you couldnt get out of your nose for ages. But the scenery more than made up for it. We also visited Waimangu Volcanic Valley and got to see volcanic activity up close which was amazing but again, very smelly.

After a few days there we moved on to Tongariro National Park and parked up for the night. As the clouds cleared while we were cooking our dinner we realised that from where we were parked we were surrounded by three massive mountains, one of which was a volcano! It was awe inspiring and Mikey had a photo frenzy and got all excited. We decided we'd better do some of this walking malarky that people do in NZ and did a 17 km hike the next day and thought yet again how it was just like Wales, so so beautiful. We had, however come from 40 degree heat in Thailand so a splurge on hats and gloves and thermals and hoodies was required which buggered up my budget no end. It really was like being back home, all rugged up and freezing cold!

Mikey decided he wanted to see the volcano up close so we set out to climb up to the ridge and look down into it. This involved taking 2 ski lifts up to the starting point. Neither of us have been on one before so it was really good fun, after I screamed at Mike to stop rocking the seat of course, coz 'I dont want to die on some frigging mountain you moron' etc etc! About 20 minutes in I had a tantrum and decided I wasn't going to do it as I was too slow and we had to be back by 4pm to get the ski lift down or we would be stranded halfway up the mountain. So Mikey found a nice old man to walk with who was fitter and faster than him and I drank hot chocolate in the lodge. I did end up doing half of the walk on my own while I was waiting as I was so annoyed that I gave up and had a fine old time scrambling up rocks and following Mike's tracks. Anyway Mike got some amazing pictures of the volcano and the volcanic pool which was at the top and was one happy chappy.

Our next stop was Wellington so that we could catch the ferry down to the South Island. If me and Mikey had to move somewhere else in the world it would definitely be Wellington. The city centre is about the size of Cardiff and a really buzzing little place. We visited the New Zealand museum there and learnt lots about Maori life both past and present. Interestingly the Maori's use the same word for 'land' as they do for 'placenta' as they believe that life is a circle and we should give back to the land what we have taken from it. Beautiful, I thought.

The ferry to the south island was uneventful but as we came into land we passed through lots of fjords. Yet again - this country is beautiful! The south island is where our adventure really began. Our first stop was Kaikoura, a fab seaside town with a very quaint atmosphere. Here we had a blow out and went whale watching. It is one of few places in the world that you can see the Giant Sperm Whale so close to land because there is a giant gorge under the sea just off shore which contains giant squid which they feed on. Luckily after the captain tracking it down with a complicated thing on a stick shoved in the water, we got to see a Giant Sperm Whale. He was amazing and absolutely huge. Also luckily due to some sporadic photo taking we got the money shot of the tail up in the air as it was starting to dive down deep. As no more whales were around the captain then took us to see a massive load of dusky dolphins who swam all around the boat performing an array of flips and spins. Amazing. We also booked to swim with seals in the sea but due to weather conditions it got cancelled and we had to move on which was bogus. We did get to see some lounging around on some rocks though and got up close and personal with them for some photos so it wasn't too bad after all.

Next stop was a big old drive over to the other side of the island to get to the glaciers. We stayed at Franz Josef Glacier town and were able to explore both Franz and Fox glaciers from there. Not a single Fox's mint in sight I might add, so disappointing. Franz Josef glacier was amazing and we had yet another splurge and went on an organized ice climbing trip. We trekked up onto the glacier and one of our guides set all the guide ropes into the top of ice walls whilst the other guide instructed us on how to climb. To hang on to the great big wall of ice you have spikes sticking out of the toe of your boots and an ice pick in each hand and thats it. It actually looks like you are just resting your toes against the wall not climbing it! We both climbed various walls with the highest being 15 metres and both absolutely loved it. It was one of the best things we have done so far and climbing through ice tunnels on the way there and back topped it off.

Next stop was Queenstown were all the action takes place but by this point we were running low on funds so just had a look around instead. We finally got me an engagement ring as well - a beautiful south pacific pearl with diamonds set in white gold. Yummy. Moving on we headed for Mount Cook National Park so that we could do a climb of some sort there. Giant snow covered mountains and glaciers awaited us and Mikey was in heaven. We decided to climb Mount Olivier which is next to Mount Cook and stay overnight in a cabin at the top. The 3 and a half hour walk to the top - just under 2000 metres high - took us 5 hours and I accept all the blame for that. It was exhausting but when we finally got over the ridge at the top it was breathtaking in a different sense. The views were out of this world and as we approached Meuller hut at the top (accessible only by foot or helicopter) we saw a load of avalanches go off. It was amazing, we just sat out on the deck and watched massive avalanches occuring all around us. You really do hear them ages before you see anything happen. There were only 7 other people staying in the hut and it was the last night of the season before they turned the gas off so luckily we were able to cook some food. The hut was just a wooden building with bunkrooms and no heating of any kind and a long-drop 20 metres walk away. We were not in for a comfortable night, especially as we didn't have any sleeping bags and it was minus something degrees. Funnily enough there was another welsh couple staying up there who were from Tenby and who also know my mate Sarah from work. Its a small world when you are up a mountain in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand and you meet someone who knows your mate! The absolute stillness when it was dark was something else and going out for a wee at 3 in the morning and looking around at ice capped mountains all around you in complete silence was sensational. After a freezing cold night with no sleep whatsoever but much giggling at the absurdity of it all we began our descent down which only took 2 and a half hours and treated ourselves to a pint or two with the guys we met up there.

It was now approaching Mikeys birthday and Mr Barclaycard allowed us to book into a B&B for the weekend to celebrate in Wanaka and also so that we could get some rest in a real bed before we did our skydive as Mikeys birthday treat. We decided to do it on the day of his birthday which meant that the first half of his day was spent in nerves! Once we got to the place though both of us lost our nerves completely and we were so excited. We each got another guy to jump with us as well as our jump buddy so that they could film the whole thing from before we jumped until we landed. I didnt realise how welsh we both sound or how much I look like my sister Emily until I saw my DVD. We ended up jumping from 12,000 feet instead of 15,000 as the weather was turning but at the point that you are being thrown out of a plane you really dont care how high it is just that its bloody high! It was the most amazing feeling in the world and we both definately want to do it again. Having a DVD of each of us is fab too, I just hope they aren't worn out before we get home as we cant stop watching them!

It was a fab end to an amazing time in NZ with our lovely Dick who we said a sad goodbye to. Our favourite place so far and by far. Now, on to the Land of OZ............

Thailand - again!

mike-annie — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 12:16:00 GMT

This time in Thailand we decide to head south to the islands and all the gorgeous beaches we've heard about and so caught a flight to Phuket. Being me and Mike the day we got there was Lunar New Year, a highly celebrated festival in Thailand, Vietnam etc and so after the first night there wasn't anywhere available to stay! So much for exploring Phuket.... Luckily it was a bit too 'spanish beach holiday' style for us with a million tourists and everything 3 times the price so we didn't mind too much. The only solution was to catch a 5 hour mini bus to the other side to Krabi town and decide what to do from there. When we got to Krabi town we realised that it was 40 minutes away from the beach with p*ss all to do. I was beginning to think we should have stayed in Cambodia...So, with me all stressed and buckets of sweat literally running down between my back and my backpack, I gave up. For once, I was letting Mikey choose the route. This proved to be very interesting as at Krabi town we hailed a truck and threw ourselves on in the 2 seconds it stopped on its was past. Mikey then chatted away happily to the two other people on there while I sulked in the corner. The two men happened to be getting a boat to somewhere called Railey and needed more people to bring the price of the fare crossing down. With Mikey now in charge you can guess what happened. So we followed these guys to the pier, caught a boat with them and another couple, got off the boat at Railey then followed the couple across the town to another beach and then followed them over a gigantic cliff top and climbed down into the most amazing secluded beach ever. It was like something out of a film but with less nudity and no serial killers, David! We ended up in a mini paradise called Ton Sai. Maybe I should listen to Mike more often ;-).

Ton Sai is really famous for rock climbing and climbers come from all over the world so we would spend all day swimming in the sea then watch the climbers as the sun was setting before going to watch the wild monkeys migrate across the jungle to find their evening resting place. It was really a hard life I can tell you! Unfortunately Mikey got sick again for a few days but we managed to find some medicine - written in Thai so god only knows what is was - which made him all better. In the 15 nights that we were there we just basically swam and snorkelled and did a bit of sea kayaking. Mikey was very excited as he saw a Lion Fish whilst snorkelling but didnt realise that there was a great big reef shark just behind him, spotted by someone else!

Eventually we thought we had better move on and see the rest of the islands so we caught a boat back to Krabi town in order to do a visa run. Our visas were gonna run out before we wanted to leave so we had to catch a bus to the border of Malaysia and walk into Malaysia and straight out again. We were officially in Malaysia for about 3 minutes! An extra stamp for the old passport though is always welcome.

Then onto Koh Samui where we brought the British weather with us. There were mini monsoons nearly everyday which at least made the 36 degree heat a bit more bearable. Koh Samui was not an amazing place for us as again it was too commercialised and very tourist orientated. We did however hire a scooter and drive up into the mountains to see a couple of waterfalls and found some elephants and baby tigers to feed and saw our first wild snake on the road.

Koh Tao was our next port of call and it was the most beautiful place we have ever been. We began our stay there by being approached on the ferry over and offered 4 free nights accommodation if we did a scuba diving course with that company. Seeing as Mike was planning on doing a course anyway we got ourselves a bargain! The course started as soon as we got there with us attending classroom lessons. The only reason I was doing the course as well was so that I wasn't on my own for 4 days while Mikey did it. After a full day of lessons we finally went down about 5 metres and all sat on the sea bed learning all the tricks. Breathing through a little mouth piece and sitting on the sea floor is the most strangest feeling ever, especially when you are told to take your mouthpiece out. We actually coped with that ok but one of the skills was to take your mask off and put it back on again. The mask covers your nose as well as your mouth so when I took mine off I would immediately panic and breath in a load of sea water up my nose which meant I had to be taken up to the surface each time to calm down. Its very embarrassing for me not to be the very best at something as some of you well know. Anyway Mikey took to it like, ahem...a fish to water so to speak and was in watery heaven. To complete the course we had to do 5 dives including one deep dive and pass an exam. By the 4th dive I was so freaked out about my mask coming off that I stayed on the boat and had sea sickness over the side instead, it's called 'feeding the fishes', fun huh. Mikey however went down to 27 Metres and saw 2 sharks, baracuda and a mornay eel so he was overejoyed to say the least. On the last 2 dives - with me absent and puking - a videographer went down too and filmed everyone so now we have DVD evidence of Mikey twirling and spinning his way through the deep blue sea with all the fishies. So because I wimped out I only qualified as a Scuba Diver and can go to 12 metres whereas Mikey is an Open Water Diver and can go to 18 metres but I'm just glad I dont have to do it again! We both got 100% on our exam though so that made me feel much much better.

We also found a bar playing the rugby and screamed our way through the Wales v Ireland match to get the Triple Crown. There was only 4 of us welsh in the whole bar and a million irish, one of whom was calling us various names to do with sheep and the C U next tuesday word. Anyone who knows my temper after drinking beer will be glad that I was very restrained and acted like a lady whereas Mike, friend of the world, was shaking everyone by the hand. Come on Wales!!!

This brings us to March 13th. Mikey went off on a dive all day and was gone for about 7 hours. Since we started our trip we have only been apart for about 2 hours maximum in the 24 hours, 7 days a week and 3 and a half months. It was traumatic I must say. Anyway when he got back we were so excited that we bought bottled beer and girlie drink and went and sat in the sea to watch the sun set. When it got dark people were setting off lanterns on the beach and they were floating over us and off into the distance. Anyway I dont know if it was the beer or what but Mikey got down on his knee - the left one I think! - and asked me to marry him. The fact that I was sat on my butt on the sea floor and a lot lower than him didn't matter and after confirming that he wasn't pulling my leg, I happily said yes! At bloody last! And to make things even better we were meeting Tashie and Danny 2 days after that.

The Sherwen Browns flew all the way from Abu Dhabu Darling to meet us on Koh Phangan for a week of vodka and fun. This was also to be our final week in Thailand before flying to New Zealand. The guys surprised us by booking us all in to a luxurious resort called the Green Papaya. It was sooo clean! And we had a shower that wasn't going to make you dirtier just by stepping in it! The free breakfast and infinity pool also made our week. But most of all it was being with Tash and Danny that was the best. If you know Tash, you will know that a lot of alcohol was involved as well as a lot of laying by the pool. Bliss! We also all hired a jeep and explored the island and got to feed more nelliephants. One evening we went to a Reggae festival which had no Reggae. It did however have a photographic - and I mean graphic - display of haemorrhoids! Very very bizzare! And of course lots of dead bugs to eat. By this point Mikey has eaten deep fried grubs and crickets, eww. We also went sea kayacking to the next beach and in all saw an octopus, lobster, baracuda and a blue stingray! Amazing. There was also a weird naked man but we'll talk no more of him. On our last night together we went to the Full Moon Party at Hat Rin. By the way, the version of Red Bull in Thailand has got something very strange in it.....which makes you a bit loopy, so not much of the party was remembered afterwards. The beach was crowded with about 20,000 party goers and and we managed to meet up with Bonnie and Tyler, you know, the Canadians, for one last time before we might never see them again. The six of us and B&T's friend got rip roaring drunk on buckets and I think we must have had a good time. I can remember Mikey sitting on Danny's shoulders like a child does and a very crazy Thai lesbian with wandering hands stalking me! Tashie is gonna go back and beat her up apparantly!

The next day once we had left the place I realised that someone must have come into our room whilst we were at the party and stolen all my knickers out of my backpack. Our passports and credit cards were in the room just sat there saying 'steal me, steal me' but no, the pig took ALL my knickers. Very very strange!!

Anyway thanks Tash and Danny for an amazing week and a fab end to our time in South East Asia. We love you! xxxx

And goodbye Bonnie and Tyler, we'll miss you so.

So, on the move again with a truck, a ferry, a 13 hour coach, a 9 hour flight to melbourne, a stop over at the airport for one night then 2 more flights to get to NZ finally arriving at midnight followed by a sleep on airport chairs til 6 in the morning when the bus can take us into Aukland to pick up our hire campervan at 8am!! All this with a massive hang over too!! Phew!!!

Gallery: Cambodia - Siem Reap

mike-annie — Thu, 3 Apr 2008 10:50:00 GMT

Gallery: Cambodia - Phnom Penh

mike-annie — Thu, 3 Apr 2008 10:31:00 GMT

Cambodia

mike-annie — Thu, 3 Apr 2008 10:09:00 GMT

Before I start on Cambodia – we forgot to tell you that Mikey fired an M60 machine gun at the Cu Chi tunnels which he was very excited about! Anyway back to Cambodia....... so after a relatively easy border crossing we made it to Phnom Penh safe and sound. The first major difference between here and Vietnam and Thailand was how poor everyone is. There are beggars everywhere, mainly women and babies or small children wandering around on their own. They are absolutely desperate and will beg for the bottle of water out of your hands. We couldn’t help but give them any food and drink we had on us or buy them baby milk. They were, however the most friendliest people we’ve met and so much nicer than the Vietnamese. The other difference was the temperature – reaching 40 degrees most days with 90% humidity and we could only afford fan rooms not A/C rooms – yuck!

We stayed in Phnom Penh for 5 nights and because of the heat could not do too much. Also Mikey got really really sick. Sick as in vomiting, delirious ramblings and feverish shaking. In 10 years I have never seen him so ill. The worst was his temperature in the heat and trying to bring it down. It was very scary and all I could do was pour cold water over him repeatedly. I thought if he was still alive by the morning I would have to take him to hospital, luckily his fever broke overnight which saved us tapping our medical insurance!

(Jakey and Little Annie may not want to read the next part......)

Anyway so that kinda took up 2 days which meant that we didn’t see a lot of the city apart from the Killing Fields and S21 torture museum. They were definitely an eye opener, especially as all that happened not too long ago. The Killing fields is a great memorial to all those who died and the tower of skulls is an emotional testimony to the brutality that took place there. The skulls were labelled in age and sex which made it more real. Around the fields bits of clothing and fragments of bone of the dead were just lying around where they were left. The most upsetting part was a really large and old tree where the Khymer Rouge would smash the babies and children against. It was awful but we think it’s good to see these things so that their deaths are acknowledged and respected and it really makes you think about life and how lucky we are. That day we also went to the S21 torture museum. This was an old school turned into a prison and torture area where thousands of innocent Cambodians were sent before being sent on to the Killing Fields. Out of all those thousands and thousands, only seven were found alive at the prison when the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia. What was worse, which we found out afterwards, was that ex prison guards were the tour guides there! How crazy to be showing people around the place that you tortured and killed people, considering that graphic photos were on display everywhere showing what they did.

Anyway, enough horrible stuff!! We were going to explore a whole lot more of Cambodia but by this point we were extremely travel weary and I especially was getting fed up with the dirt and grime. So instead of moving all around we took the typical travellers route and went next to Siem Reap. On the bus ride there we stopped at a small town for a wee stop and encountered one of the grossest things ive ever seen. Ladies were walking around with big trays of deep fried crickets and cockroaches and stuff which was fine, I can deal with that. What I couldn’t deal with was the great big trays of TARANTULAS! There were hundreds of them all piled on top of each other, and to top it all off, the ladies had buckets of live ones too which were crawling all over them. Oh My God. One stupid lady was blocking our way back onto the bus and I was freaking out so some nice one legged beggar went and shouted at her to move away and let me on. Mikey gave him a dollar for his kindness! Although I was freaking, Mikey found it very exciting and had to get back off the bus to go and buy one of the tarantulas! A dead one of course but that is still disgusting. His plan was to eat it – after eating snake he thought he was fab – but when we got to our hostel he opened the bag and discovered that the evil crone hadn’t given him a deep fried, honey coated one but just a dead spider! With all the hairs still on its legs and everything! And it stank! So basically he didn’t eat it which I was very glad of. Before we got to the hostel however, we arrived into Siem Reap and were dropped at the bus station. As our bus pulled in, about 50 Cambodian Tuk Tuk drivers / hostel pushers ran straight for our bus and surrounded it like a deranged mob. As we got off about 20 surrounded us shouting ‘Tuk Tuk’ and ‘stay at my place’. They were really desperate for us to go with them and jostling us until Mikey did his big deep voice and told them all to shut up. Astonishingly they all did shut up! It was really bizarre and felt like we were in the middle of a riot. If it was dark I would’ve been well scared.

The only real reason to go to Siem Reap is to visit the temples at Angkor. We did this over 2 days and hired a nice little man called Cheang and his tuk tuk to take us around all the temples. First we did a sunset tour beginning at Angkor Wat which was beautiful and huge. We then went to Bayon where there are massive stone faces all over the temple. The best was the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed and we have pictures of us standing under the tree that Lara Croft fell under. We then watched the sunset from the top of a really high temple on top of a hill. There were hundreds of people sat on the ancient ruins waiting for the sun to set and everyone clapped when it went down, it was a bizarre experience!

The next day we did a sunrise tour and watched the sun come up over Angkor Wat. This meant getting up at 3am to wait for our driver. Early mornings are not good! The drive there in pitch black was fun though except when we stopped somewhere in complete darkness I didn’t know where we were and then saw a car pull up next to us and what looked like a man with a machine gun stepped out. To put it politely, I almost pooped in my pants and thought that this was it, we were gonna die in the middle of nowhere and no-one would know. Then he stepped in front of the car headlights and I saw it was an old man with a crutch! Mikey was totally oblivious to my near death experience! We were actually right outside the temple and completely safe! To get through the temple we had to stop and pray to the Budda and light incense, it was really cool. The sunrise wasn’t all that great but we had a little Cambodian boy bringing us chairs and hot chocolate while we waited so that was fab! The rest of the day was spent visiting various temples – we are now all templed out! Angkor was truly amazing and it felt like we were at an Indiana Jones film set the whole time. Certainly an experience we would recommend.

We also spent time down ‘Bar Street’ where buckets of Mekong Whiskey became our friends and managed to catch up with Bonnie and Tyler again (the Canadians) which was great and watch traditional Khymer dancing shows – very graceful.

That sums up Cambodia really, apart from the most painful massage we have both ever experienced – which will never be repeated! After 2 weeks there we took a very cramped and painful bus ride to the border where the aisle was filled up with bags and people and my seat didn’t have leg room so my knees were under my chin for 6 hours on the worst road ever with the biggest ditches. Lots of squealing pigs tied to the back of scooters kept passing us too - very strange and not animal friendly! We heard that the road is kept so bad so that a certain airline makes more money from flights between Siem Reap and Bangkok. Once we crossed the border though we knew we were back in Thailand especially when a nice comfortable coach with a toilet rolled up to take us into Bangkok. So, back to Thailand we go.................................

p.s. mummies and daddies may want to look at the pics first coz some are a bit grim xxxxx

Gallery: Viet Nam - Dalat, Saigon and Mekong Delta

mike-annie — Mon, 4 Feb 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Gallery: Viet Nam - Hue, Hoi An and Nha Trang

mike-annie — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:39:00 GMT

Gallery: Viet Nam - Ha Noi and Ha Long Bay

mike-annie — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:07:00 GMT

Viet Nam

mike-annie — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:31:00 GMT

Sorry its been so long since we last wrote - about a month - especially to dad who I know has been checking frequently but all I can say is that the internet in Viet Nam is pants. Which means this is gonna be a long one so make sure you are sat down with a nice cup of tea and a biscuit......preferably a Bourbon.

So, Viet Nam. We are used to not wearing our shoes in shops and guesthouses and cafes by now. We are also used to weeing squatted or in Mikes case, standing over skybomber toilets. But Viet Nam takes the biscuit. Most public toilets dont have doors and anyone walking past can see everything. Sometimes theres not even a pair of bricks for you to squat on just a drain in the corner of the floor. Nice. The other thing I love about Viet Nam is that its a long thin country which means that we have spent in total nearly 100 hours on a bus. The worst bit about travelling is the travelling! The thing I do like though is that they seperate all their words by syllables so that our names would be Mi Chael and An Na Bel from Car Diff. Quirky huh?

Anyway, we left Laos the day after boxing day after spending a nice drunken xmas with Bonnie, Tyler, Emma and Andy [Canadians and Australians respectively] Unfortunately the only affordabke route for us was by bus from Vientienne to Hanoi and this took 24 hours. 24 hours on a sitting bus is not my idea of a fun trip at the best of times but this was something else. It comprised of the most beaten up coach you can imagine with ripped seats and stains I dont want to think about. We decided to sit on the back seats so that we could at least spread out a bit and try and sleep. Not possible. A local family decided they were gonna move their entire house to Nam and put it all on the back seat next to us so not only was there us and our backpacks but also several huge bags of rice, household goods, portable fans and massive bags of metal next to us. This did not make for a comfortable journey. You can imagine my face, and when they asked us to move over a bit more for more of their crap I gave them one of my looks which was enough for the little man to bugger off. So not only were we crammed in but because there were some spaces on the bus the drivers constantly flagged down locals all the way to fill the seats so that they could get a back hander. Yet more crap filled the bus and I seriously wanted to never travel again. Anyway, the worst part was at the Laos/Viet Nam border which was so scary. Being a Communist country there was about a million soldiers with guns and sniffer dogs. Then, because my passport is so old and battered from years of being I.D this horrible soldier decided it was a fake and started picking it apart with his horrible long, yellow fingernail. He kept staring up at me then pulling the corner off. I had images of being carted off to jail which prompted me to get my hair off a bit which Mike said made me look even more guilty, I felt like a drug runner or something. Scary. We eventually got through and carried on to Ha Noi all battered and bruised from going round steep mountainous roads on two wheels.

So to Ha Noi - the most craziest city in Nam. We stayed in the Old Quarter which is a popular backpacking haunt and have now learned what crossing the road means. Every road is jammed with the Vietnameses favourite form of transport - the motorbike. I didnt even think cars existed there for ages. When 50 bikes are coming straight for you the key is to walk really slowly and stare at them in the eye then they manage to swerve at the last minute. Otherwise you would stay on one side of the road for your entire stay or be dead. We had a nice hostel there with tv for 5 quid a night which was good seeing as the hostel we pre-booked and paid a deposit for didnt actually exist. Whilst there we visited Hoa Lo prison where the French imprisoned the Vietnamese and where later, the American POWs were kept. Not a pretty place, especially the nice big guillotine with pictures of what it did next to it. It was an eye opener thats for sure. We also went to the Ethnology centre and climbed around tribal village huts and stuff and watched loads of people getting their wedding pictures taken there in traditional Vietnamese dress. For New Years Eve we treated ourselves to a boat trip at Halong Bay which involved two days on a boat looking at caves and pearl farms and Kyacking - how do you spell that? - in the sea. In the evening the boat crew threw us a NYE party with champagne and kareoke. And yes I did sing, and yes it was out of tune Mrs Morgan. The funny thing was, because they have a separate new year they didnt really understand the concept of ours which meant that every hour on the hour they opened more champagne, said Happy New Year, shook everyones hands and played Abba 'Happy New year', a song we shall never forget. At least they tried and it meant more and more champagne for us so we didnt mind really. I did drunkenly swap Mike for a bottle of Vodka with one of the little Vietnamese ladies but when she said she was gonna ring her father to arrange the swap I came quickly to my senses! Mike wasnt bothered either way I think!

So after 5 nights in Ha Noi we bought an open bus ticket to enable us to travel the whole way south and left for Hue. We actually paid extra for a sleeping bus after the 24 hour nightmare and managed the 14 hours in relative comfort. We wish we hadnt bothered. Hue was a dirty, grotty place with rain. The only saving grace was a cafe called Mandarin run by a man named Mr Cu. He is a famous-ish photographer in Nam and we bought two pictures, one for our imaginary bathroom and one for our imaginary stairway. He also signed them for us which was really sweet. As soon as we got to Hue we booked our coach out of there and just spent a day wandering around the Imperial City where the Emperor used to live and saw somw old war tanks and guns which we happily clambered over despite the do not climb sign.

After only a 4 hour bus trip this time we got to Hoi An, one of the most beautiful places in Viet Nam. Its a little oldy worldy town with a beach 3km away and little cobbled old streets. Its also THE place in Nam to get clothes custom made. Mikey got a fitted shirt made and I got 2 pairs of trousers, a dress and a pair of trainers. I am a lady, I am allowed more. Anyway we loved it so much there that we stayed an entire week and ate gourmet meals for 1.50. We made Tam Tams, a bar, our second home and cycled back and for to the beach. Bliss.

After I grew fat we decided it was best to move on and got the 12 hour sitting bus to Nha Trang. Nha Trang is a beachside resort with lots of water activities and beach side bars - all of which we could not afford but it was fun to walk around. We met up with Bonnie and Tyler again and along with 2 of their friends we went to the local mud baths where you just literally sit in a big bath of mud and pour it all over yourself porn star style. You then let it dry in the sun and wash it off with mineral spa water. Its really hard being us! The next day the 4 of us went on a boat party cruise where we were able to snorkel in the sea and saw massive blue starfish and even a little Nemo! The coral was amazing and now Mike wants to do his diving certificate when we get back to Thailand. After snorkelling the guys on the boat threw a little party where self proclaimed Vietnams best boy band played songs from all the countries of the people on the boat. For us he sang Yellow Submarine because he said Wales was Same Same as England. The Cheek!! Anyway he got Mike and Tyler up on stage who then performed a very nice dance for us all. Hee Hee. Me and Bonnie were in tears of laughter. We then all jumped in the sea and lazed in floats while the guy set up a sea bar and gave us all disgusting red wine with a bit of pineapple floating in it. It was fabulous! On a serious note we went and ate at a place called Crazy Kims which takes kids off the street who have been victims of peadophillia and by doing so we contributed to helping the cause. See, its not all fun and alcohol.

Onto Da Lat, an 8 hour journey on yet another bus. Supposedly a place like the Alps with fir trees and mountains. More a rainy little place with nothing to do. We spent 2 nights and one full day only in our cheapest place yet - 2.50 a night - and just wandered around the local market which actually felt like real Viet Nam not commercialised Viet Nam. On one stall a lady was selling sweets made from fruits which tasted like crap but because she gave us some Vietnamese tea we felt we should buy some. A short while later we both sat down to dinner and started feeling awfully weird and spased out. Im convinced she drugged us but Mike said it was dehydration and that I shouldnt say this in case the folks get worried. We also visited a really random place called the Crazy House which does what it says on the tin. Its a mass maze of rooms with plastic creatures in it such as a giant spider web and a great big kangaroo with glowing red eyes. Very Vietnam, not! So after just one day we got the 10 hour bus to Ho Chi Minh City.

Ho Chi Minh City or Sai Gon as everyone still calls it, in defiance, was not what I thought. For some reason we thought it would still be effected by the war but its a big bustling crazy city. The only place we could find to stay had a room on the 6th floor with no lift.There was also no means of escape in a fire which greatly distressed my Health and Safety officer and he lay awake the first night planning how we would get out. I can see your face clearly as you read this Phil! It was so high up that they had to hoist our bags up on a great big winch! Whilst there we were hoping to see more things related to the war or the 'Anti American War' as they call it here. So we went to the War Remenents Museum which was a shocking experience. The walls were lined with hundreds of photos from the war of torture, blown up bodies and women and children who had been shot by the Americans. It really brought it home and made us look at all the older people in the streets with more respect and wonder about what they have been through. We also didnt realise that the Americans used chemical warfare called Agent Orange which cause a large number of physical disabilities and limb loss. It was a sombre day and opened our eyes a lot. The next day we went to a local market with local people but right in the bowels of it was a section for westerners with old war memrobilia for sale. Mike got a lighter used by the North Vietnamese and I got a medical corps badge. To brighten up our day we went to see the Water Puppets in the evening. Its an ancient tradition where the puppeteers hide behind a bamboo screen and the puppets emerge out of the water. We laughed like 2 year olds and it was fab. The best bit about Saigon was the day trip we made to the Cu Chi Tunnels where the American Tunnel Rats fought against the Viet Cong. The tunnels which have been widened for the public were really small and actually look larger in the photos than they were. Both being claustrophobic it was not a good idea but we both made it through 90 metres of the tunnel system on hands and knees at times with not a single panic attack between us. We are so so proud! How they lived like that for years and years I do not know. We also saw the booby traps they set for the Americans and God it makes you glad that no-one you know was there and had to experience that madness. A very properganderous - is that a word? - video was also shown praising the 'American Killer Hereos' and completely making the war look like it was just about America against the whole of Nam. Very communist video me thinks. Look at the photos though they are fab.

Our next step was to get into Cambodia and we decided to travel via the Mekong Delta which is where the largest amount of rice is made in Nam and after Thailand the place with the largest export of rice to the world. This consisted of a 3 day, 2 night trip through the delta with another slow boat to get us across the border. There is just too much to say and the pics say it all. Basically it was an amazing time with little boat trips through islands, visiting fruit orchards, drinking rice whiskey and eating rice honey. We also held a giant python which gave me the willies coz it was wrapping its body up under my armpit and around my back. The double chin on the pic is most embarrassing but Mikes gloriously happy face more than makes up for it. Which leads me to tell you what he did next. Mike ate a SNAKE! with its scales on and everything. I was only eating noodle soup at the time but I retched my way through it all the same coz he was chewing on a goddamn snake next to me for christs sake! He said it was nice... Moving on.... we also did a homestay and stayed with locals on the side of the river and slept in a big spider and mosquito infested room with holes everywhere. A bit basic but it meant we had food with the family and got to go to the local school in the morning and chat to the children. A visit to the local floating market was fab too with fresh pineapple bought off the boat next to us. Before crossing the border we finished up with a trip to a crocodile farm, a fish farm and a visit to a local minority village where they dressed us both up in local clothes, veree attractive! The slow boat took 7 hours but lots of the local people of Cambodia were out on the riverside bathing and washing their oxes and things and all the children were waving and shouting 'hello, goodbye' from the riverbank. Mike, after consuming a good amount of rice whiskey thought this was fab and spent the entire time stood at the edge of the boat waving and waving his arms off. We actually had a nice cross at the border and nobody threatened to jail me and we are now in Cambodia.

So sorry this has been so long, I told you to have tea and biscuits with you and you were also allowed toilet breaks too.

Oh and just to finish, well done to my brother Brian and Lisa for having Libby Watson this month, their second little girl and for Lisa being so brave having Brian deliver her! xxxx

Also good news, Jon Kel and Laura are coming out to meet us in Melbourne for a road trip. YEAH! so if any of Mikeys friends have got the travel itch you are free to meet us anywhere.

Happy birthday to Jakey for tomorrow too xxxxx

Gallery: Laos - Vang Vieng and xmas in Vientiane

mike-annie — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:10:00 GMT

Gallery: Laos - slow boat to Luang Prabang

mike-annie — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:31:00 GMT