matt & trace's travels

Being back...

2007-09-18T11:31:00.000Z

... so, its been just over a week since we got back to the UK where we have been trying to make our 'travel bubble' last as long as possible...

We've been recovering from a stinking great amount of jet-lag, heading out to Manchester to buy some new, warm clothes... as its bloody freezing here, catching up with family and just generally trying to get our heads around being back. And, we're kind of getting there...

Its been a tricky transition from getting up everyday with no real pressure or expectations to having the question 'what are we going to do now?' and having to think about how we are going to get some cash coming in.... instead of the opposite direction...

Its also been funny coming back and having nothing but the bags we went away with... we have no car, no house, no phones... its all very nerve racking this starting again lark... but its quite exciting too.

But it isn't the end of the travels... we have fallen in love with seeing the world and we will deffo be heading out again at the earliest (and most convenient) opportunity... but initially we have other fish to fry (not a great analogy coming from 2 vegetarians)...

Anyhoo, thanks to those who kept in touch during our travels and hopefully the blog was an easy way for folk to see where we were up to.

For now, this is Matt and Trace signing off... but watch this space

Byeee mwah x

p.s - I (TB) would just like to say a huge 'Thank You' to Matt. I've absolutely had the time of my life over the past 13 months and i couldn't have done it without you. You've been the most fun, caring, energetic, patient and just all round amazing person and I've felt very lucky to have you all to myself! I'm already looking forward to spending the next 13 months with you, whatever we may be doing... xxx

the end... for now

2007-09-18T10:49:00.000Z

Yes that's right, our travels are over and we are now back in Blighty!

Although this may seem a little sudden, our flights were actually booked a while ago but we couldn't mention it on the blog because a certain Miss Parker was having a very important Birthday and we wanted to surprise her!

But from the last blog, the final journey went something like this...

We flew from Hanoi to Bangkok where we shopped ourselves silly and enjoyed the Khao San Road hospitality before we headed off to what we thought was going to be a nice relaxing beach break in Pattaya. Ohhh how wrong we were....

We'd heard it was a little bit seedy but we thought it'd just have it's 'little area' like most places we'd been to and the rest would be for families and couples, but no, it was the capital of seedy places and if you weren't an ugly single man with at least a few young Thai girls... or boys for that matter on your arm then you stood out like a sore thumb. We don't think we're the prudest people in the world but that place is just wrong! So, we cut our stay short and headed back to the bright lights of Bangkok... and how nice it felt to be back. We indulged in lots of cheap food and even more cheap beer before setting out on a 24 hour train journey to Malaysia.

It was our first over night train journey and we were actually quite excited, especially when the guy came round at 8pm to transform our seats into cute little bunk beds (little being the operative word!). The views from the train throughout the day were just so captivating - from shanty towns set up along the railway tracks to the rolling green fields and crossing the border to Malaysia it all completely transformed again into jagged cut off mountains and hills....it made the stinky toilet very worth while!

24 hours on the train and another 5 hours on a bus later we arrived in Kuala Lumpur (again!) and headed to our hotel in China Town.

I'm just going to point out at this point that the reason we had to back track to places we'd already been was due to the fact that the only flight we could get on our tickets was from Singapore. Whilst it seemed a pain going all that way back it was actually very nice to revisit the places and this time be familiar with where to go and to just enjoy being there rather than worrying about making sure we saw it all.

After a lovely few days in KL we caught a bus back to Singapore where we spent a fab weekend shopping, eating, drinking and just generally enjoying our last few days together on our little adventure...

Then, home...

Vietnam (Part 2)

2007-08-27T12:01:00.000Z

... it's been a while since the last blog, and in all honesty, apart from just namedropping where we have been we have actually done very little! We have chilled, chilled and then chilled...

It all started with a not-so great time though. We headed out to Dalat, which was meant to be this great cultural place full of things to see and do... except there was nothing to see or do... we couldn't even find a decent place to have a brew! Gutting! We spent about 10 hours on a really dreary coach journey only to arrive in rain (which persisted for our whole stay!) and be dumped in the middle of a pretty bleak hole! Eventually, we got to our hotel and it was OK... no great shakes or anything, but OK... that is until we were awoke every morning by the loudest group of Chinese Tourists and Schoolchildren(!) who seemed to use our corridor as a place to scream, shout, play games, play the drums... OK, so the last one was a lie but you get the idea that they made a lot of noise.... It wasn't even us being lazy either, because we checked the time and it was 5am!!! My God! We had to leave... we cut our stay there short and got away as fast as we could book the coach and do one!

Next stop was Nha Trang... the beach destination of Vietnam. We loved it! It was such a lovely place with loads of chilling to be had! It had a paradise beach about 6km long (so plenty of private chill space), loads of ace restaurants and bars (ask Trace who is the World Champion at Pool? hehehe), good shopping, a quiet hotel and even a rather splendid waterpark! Yep, we had a great time in Nha Trang just dossing about really :)

However, we chilled just a tad too much and suddenly realised that we had spent longer than we should have as we only had a limited visa of 1 month... so, we had to cut out a little bit and decided to fly straight to Hanoi.

... and we were dead organised and everything. We booked a hotel and even a taxi pick-up from the airport... oh, and how lovely did our hotel look on t'Internet! Plush as you like with ace reviews!

However, the taxi dropped us off outside a right hovel with about 100 kids playing on the entrance steps. 'Oh well' we thought, 'it may be nice inside'... hmmm... it still looked a bit of a sh*thole once we got in as well actually... still, the room might be really nice- just what we need after a horrible flight... Somewhere to chill, have a bath, watch some TV... um... well... it was awful! This was not the place advertised on the Internet at all! It was a dump... in fact that is a compliment! It was so bad it made bad look good! So, in no uncertain terms we told them we were not going to be staying there as it was not the place we had booked and we picked up our bags and wandered the streets of Hanoi (just like the littlest Hobo- except he wasn't under threat of being eaten) to find somewhere new... we did, it was nice and we enjoyed Hanoi thoroughly! It's a great city full of fab buildings, nice cafes and lots of artsy little things to do, like the Water Puppet show, which was a good chance to hear Vietnamese music and see the crazy instruments they play! One such instrument plays one chord only and can only be played by men as it does funny things to women- who are also not allowed to hear the instrument until they reach a certain age or else they are bound to fall in love with the player... !!

We also walked around the lake in the Old Quarter (which was on BBC World today!) and visited the Pagoda there too... yep, we had fun and chilled a lot in Hanoi :)

Vietnam (Part 1)

2007-08-08T04:47:00.000Z

Leaving Cambodia was really sad and although we managed a couple of lovely relaxing days in Sihanoukville by the beach, we could deffo have spent longer there! However, Vietnam is a country quite strict on its visa policy and we gave the date of entry as Aug 1st and so had to either be there by then or start losing days of our one month allowance. So, to Vietnam it was...

Getting through customs and the journey were really painless for once (except a 45 min wait in a mentally humid room!) and we got to Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon) early afternoon- just in time for a brew :)

We originally booked to stay here for 5 nights, but after falling in love with our cushy hotel and the area, we have eventually stayed for 8 nights :)

In all honesty, there hasn't been too much to do here, but we have enjoyed the relaxing and messing about because we know that on the next leg of Vietnam we have quite a lot of ground to cover in a pretty short amount of time. However, we have been up to a little bit...

It all started with a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which were fab! I'd read about them in a book I stole in Malaysia so knew how invaluable they were to the Vietnamese during the war against the US. We had a great guide for the day who explained loads of stuff about them, and we even got to crawl through some... well, we tried... Trace kinda flipped out and just couldn't get her head round why they didn't have any electric lights in them... LOL! But, they were pretty darn scary... and considering they had been enlarged slightly to about 80cm wide by 120cm high, they were still a VERY tight squeeze. And, they were very dark (the old couldn't see your hand in front of your face jobby), very hot and sticky and apparently sometimes full of mozzies or even snakes! We managed to do 30 metres out of a possible 100 metre tunnel before exiting at the first opportunity!

However, the highlight of the tunnels for me was getting to do something I had been quite excited about... firing a gun! I had heard that you got the chance to fire an AK-47 or M-16 or even some full-on automatics at the tunnel grounds... However, as we were doing our tour and I could hear other people shooting... I actually started to get quite nervous! The sound was really like nothing I'd heard (or felt before)... It's difficult to describe, but it is a powerful sound if that makes any sense....

... and as we got closer, it just got scarier, louder and more powerful...

So, I started to prepare for bottling out and talking about what a rip-off it would be (hehe)...

Then we got there and it was literally deafening every time a shot was fired from the range. The cost was $1.3 per bullet and you had to have a minimum of 5... I was ready to forget about it (not the cost, I was really, really nervous!)... but Trace wouldn't let me.... and the old male ego took over...

So, I paid and picked the AK-47... we headed to the range, with my 5 bullets in hand (which I'm sure can't be that safe for a clutz like me!!!). And, it was ace! It was really scary- I had the bullets put into the magazine by my own little personal soldier dude and he pointed me in the right direction... So, I pulled the trigger and had no idea where the shot went! It was so frickin' loud that you are deaf for a second or two after firing! Even with the mufflers on, it was scary! Then I had my second shot and started to relax a bit... and this time I could see where the bullet went... wide of the target, but not too far off... same with the third too, but I was getting the hang of it! On the fourth and fifth shots both hit the target and my little soldier dude kept telling me they were good shots! Wow! It was an amazing experience but really scary too...

As our last blog mentions, we also celebrated our first year on the road (thanks for the comments and emails!) and so knew that a drunken night would be in order! Luckily, it was also the same day as the Community Shield and we got a chance to watch United beat Chelsea... YEY!!! (Sorry Gary!) Then, we stayed at the bar, drinking, eating pizza and realised that the music being played was on a PC a bit too close to us... so, feeling leery, we grabbed the mouse and started changing the tracks being played... before you knew what was happening the bar was being bombarded by classic tracks from Alice Cooper to The Beatles! ACE! We ruled the roost... people were making requests and everything... we were right little DJ's...

Next day, we recovered and did very little... except, I finished the last Harry Potter book... wow! I was and still am so sad when I think that it is all over..... Trace is reading it at the mo, so I won't say too much.

Then, it was time to become tourists again and so we headed out the the War Remnant Museum, which had some amazing photographs from the conflicts and also some awful ones of the victims of Agent Orange.

... and that pretty much brings things up to date... we leave for Dalat tomorrow, which is supposed to be lovely and full of waterfalls and walks. So, we're looking forward to the waterfalls... :)

Oh, and a final pic just to show you that we get rain out here too sometimes... :)

Happy Birthday to us...

2007-08-04T10:53:00.000Z

... well, its been a year today since we hit the road and started this travelling stuff... and I'm not sure quite where it's gone... that is until I read through some of the old blog entries and realise its been a pretty eventful year.

Its been a really strange, but amazing experience. We've missed a lot of things about home and there have been times where we have both been really pining for just being back. But of course this is balanced by the times when we just don't want what we're doing to ever end. It isn't always as easy as it sometimes sounds on the blog, and what occasionally gets a brief mention in an entry is sometimes a really stressful time. Albeit a stress not like any we have ever had in our UK lives. Travelling is a false reality and we both appreciate that- its not like selling a house, studying to pass your degree or raising a family... But obviously, everyday isn't roses and there have been times when we have felt a bit low or wondering where we will ever fit back into the UK... but the one thing that has helped us and reminded us that we do have a place is when we hear from anyone back home. We love getting the emails and catching up with what everybody is up to. Its a nice feeling to know that when we get back there is a place for us. And, its just nice to know that we are in your thoughts. Thanks all who have kept in touch you really have made us realise just how lucky we are to have the family and friends we do.

Also, another great help in the travelling has been the people we have met out here and on the road- we really have made some great friends who have helped and augmented good times and experiences. We hope you have enjoyed the shared times as much as we have. Thanks :) and we will be in touch for a long time to come yet! You will never get rid of us gypos.....

Please do not think that we are saying travelling has been bad or anything- we have loved it! But, we just thought that it should be mentioned that travelling is really different to having a holiday. And, after all, we have now been on the road for 1 year, which means travelling has become our job. We catch buses, planes, book hotels etc... for a living... weird! But awesome!

We have seen 7 countries in the last 12 months and as the blog shows we have done things ranging from walking on glaciers to visiting orphanages. I'm not trying to 'big us up', but it is an amazing feeling for us because we are so proud of everything we have done. And, we've enjoyed sharing it in the blog. We hope you have enjoyed reading it, and thanks to all those who have taken the time to comment or again keep in touch through it.

... and, finally, I (Matt) would just like to say that after 12 months of being with the same person day in and day out, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week... I love you Trace, more than ever :) x

Cambodia (Part 2)

2007-07-23T04:28:00.000Z

Sorry, this may take some time....

Before leaving Siem Reap we decided we should take a trip to the Land Mine Museum. Initially, we thought it was quite close to where we were staying- but our book was a bit out of date and it had actually moved nearly 2 years previous to about 25km's out of town. So, we negotiated a price with the tuk-tuk driver and headed out there. WOW! During the 1 hour journey we were both sitting there with our mouths just gaping! The sights, the scenes, the colours... just everything! It absolutely blew us away. Cambodia is such a beautiful country- especially when you get out to some of the more rural areas and see it 'raw', so to speak.

The Land Mine museum itself was rather small and quite uninformative- a few grisly pics, horrible stories and lots of UXO's lying around! But, the journey alone made up for it and we both came away feeling really, really pleased for taking the trip out.

The next day we jumped the bus to Phnom Penh with apprehension.... after the journey into Cambodia we just weren't sure how bad it would be. However, we got on the bus and it was really nice! We had a great 6 hour journey there, and again, saw some amazing scenery en route.

When we arrived in Phnom Penh, we were shocked at just how mentally busy it was- it was seriously crazy! It made Bangkok look like Nantwich Town!! Crossing any road is a serious hazard to your health- you really do just have to step out and hope that everyone is going to swerve around you- or, you'll never cross... or end up squashed!

The first night we headed down to the Quay and had a bit of an explore around the river- where it meets the Mekong. It was a brilliant area and just sitting there letting it go dark and watching the craziness of everything around you was ace! However, there were some really sad sights- lots of mothers with very disabled babies, amputees and very hungry looking children. It puts everything and anything into perspective. We've heard so many different things with regards to the begging situation out here- you shouldn't' give them money as it encourages them to not work, never give children money as it makes them not go to school, the amputees have done it to themselves on purpose as it gets more sympathy from tourists.... However, even with all these stories (and obviously some make more sense that others), once you are here and see everything it is so hard to just be cynical and turn a blind eye. It really does make you wonder what you can do to help.

Having fallen so madly in love with Cambodia (I hope I'm making that really clear!), we were not looking forward to going to the Genocide Memorial at Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields) and finding out more about the disgusting atrocities that befell the country in the 70's and 80's by the Khmer Rouge.

Again, it was a lovely ride out there- as the monument is about 14km's out of the city- but as you near and start to see the signs, it suddenly becomes a terrible reality what you are about to visit. We entered the grounds, and the silence that would normally be a welcome relief having come out of such a mad city, was really, really eerie.

We went inside the stupa (that holds thousands of skulls) to pay our respects and to try and truly feel the magnitude of the horror that occurred here.

Words cannot really say the right thing about all of this, and hopefully the pictures will speak for themselves.

Whilst the Killing Fields were a very sad place to go- we had a nice encounter while we were there. As we were walking around the area, 2 children ran up to a fence and started singing a song to us- 'one, two, three... smile!' They wanted us to take their picture- obviously once we did this we knew they would want some money, and no matter how difficult it is to try to listen to the 'apparent' right thing to do (and not give them any)- it is hard in reality. We spoke to them for a couple of minutes and their English was really good, and Trace asked where they lived. They pointed to a decrepit little hut about 1/2 mile away. Anyway, the little girl told us we could take a picture of them and 'I can look sweet.' We think she did a good job :)

Our next stop was to head to the Tuol Sleng Museum, which was a former Khmer Rouge prison (the most famous one formerly known as S-21) where the prisoners were sent before being taken out to the Killing Fields. We thought that we had already visited the most harrowing place- but we were so wrong. From out of the 30,000 prisoners that passed through the gates, only 7 lived to tell. All in all, it is estimated that up to a quarter of Cambodia's population were killed during the Khmer's rule, and it is really true that you do not see many 'old' people here.

The place itself was on the outskirts of the city and whilst wandering the grounds you could hear the noises from a nearby school and chants from a nearby monastery. It created a very surreal ambiance. We saw thousands of photos of prisoners who were brutally murdered- with no real favouritism towards male or female, young or old. Seeing face after face of the people- some of whom you could see knew their fate by looking at their scared eyes, and others who managed a smile- perhaps through not knowing or just hoping. Again, words cannot do any kind of justice to the magnitude of the events that took place in Cambodia, and I could never claim to have really understood the situation before coming here- I still don't understand why it all happened, and I doubt I ever will. I do know how it made us both feel though.

It was a very sad day, but also a day that made us realise just how special Cambodia and its people really are to have been able to come through so much and still be smiling.

The next day we wanted to try and do something positive and so went to a local orphanage with some food, pens, paper etc. for the children. It was fantastic! The orphanage is called The Lighthouse Orphanage and receives no support from the government whatsoever. It is managed by a Cambodian called Mr Lee who gave us a tour and introduced to some of the naughty little things! He told us that the children were there because maybe their parents were dead, too ill to look after them, had HIV, or simply just couldn't afford to take care of them. How kids with so little could be so happy was just unbelievable! They really were amazing!

As soon as we got there the whole classroom turned around and shouted 'Hello' to us. Then, we made friends with a few who held our hands and showed us where they slept and convinced us to wear bracelets they had made. It was brilliant and they were just so damn cute! I've always been a major cynic when it comes to the whole Brad and Angie thing- but having seen an orphanage and met some of the children, I can completely understand it! We wanted them all!

If you get time have a look at the link above, it tells you a little more about it and how to help etc. Its not advisable to send money for obvious reasons and also you're not always sure where or who it goes to. If anybody did want to donate anything you could let us know because we'll be making another visit before we leave Cambodia in a weeks time and we could buy the food, toys or toiletries etc for you. It's just a thought...

Cambodia (Part 1)

2007-07-23T03:03:00.000Z

Our first impression of Cambodia was SCARY!

We'd just spent 4 hours on a barely air-conditioned bus, with seats the size of postage stamps only to be told that we had to walk (with all of our bags!) a 1km stretch between Thailand and the Cambodian border of Poipet. So, we headed through Thai customs and had our passports nicely scanned on the latest state of the art technology in a lovely new building. Then, we walked out the other side and through the gates to the 'Kingdom of Cambodia' to be met by hoards of children, beggars, carts, dirt, rubbish and the occasional scally type looking person. So, clutching onto our bags just that little bit tighter, we headed to the immigration area in order to get our visa sorted. We were met by a friendly person who told us what to do and passed us the relevant forms, which we filled in. We took them back to him and he asked for an extortionate amount of money so we could get our visa.... however, there was sign behind him telling us how much we should have to pay! We eventually brushed past him after telling him we weren't going to pay him and would only pay an official (who was seated just behind the scammer and obviously knew what was going on!!). The official eventually acknowledged us and took our payment and told us to sit in the waiting area. We did.... and we suddenly thought Cambodia may be a mistake....

It was so different to anywhere we had seen so far. The roads were mud... the children (and some adults) were barely clothed and dirty, and it was a scene that felt so mayhemic it was surreal. However, we had been told that this was the worst border crossing in Cambodia and that we shouldn't let it jade us. We tried.....

Eventually, we got our visa and headed off to try and find some transport to take us to our hotel in Siem Reap (about 130km away). There is one road between Poipet and Siem Reap and it is common knowledge that a particular airline pays the government to 'delay' construction on it, and keep it rather bad. Well, bad is an understatement! We opted for a taxi in the end (thank god) because a bus would have taken some 7-8 hours to do the journey and we could do it in apparently 3 (it turned out to be 4 though!). And, the road was seriously the worst thing we have travelled on since we arrived in... well, anywhere in all honesty! It was mud, sand, water, holes (sometimes 3-4 foot deep!) and it looked like it had been bombed constantly for about the last 100 years! How it could even be hailed as a road was a serious question! It appeared that there was no rule to driving on it, except to avoid damaging your own vehicle, and so you would be careening all over it and heading towards, trucks, people, dogs, goats, cattle even children on bikes! It really was a very scary and uncomfortable experience.

But, when you weren't busy peeling your face from the roof of the car, the views outside were pretty special. There were small shanty towns backed by amazing stretches of green, which were met by mountains in the distance. We even got to watch a storm breaking in the clouds miles away. The paddy fields were really pretty and seeing people wading in them and working, or even washing was a really different scene to what we were used to. Already, it made Malaysia and Thailand feel positively futuristic! The difference was astonishing!

Eventually, we arrived at the hotel in Siem Reap... and after travelling for 4 hours through scantily populated areas, it was a welcome relief to see street lights, shops and especially tarmac! We checked in, were served with our 'mocktails' and cold towel (did we mention it was a 5-star hotel :)), and headed up to our plush top floor suite... hehehe, we only booked it because we knew the journey may be difficult. Still, its a good job we did because the journey had taken its toll on poor little Trace and she was really, really crook! We're talking projectile stuff here! But, we thought we may both need to eat, so, I offered to head out and try and get us a takeaway from across the road. I set out, and stepped outside the hotel. Before I even crossed the road, I had been asked if I wanted a woman, drugs, a massage... and even approached by a rather 'nice' male, who asked me my name and kept smiling... oddly, and looking me up and down :( But the one thing I actually wanted, a pizza, nobody could help me with!!!!!

So, our first day in Cambodia had been mental... and we were a bit nervous about where it would go from there.

After a day chilling and letting Trace recover (we think it may have been a 24 hour bug probably caught off dirty backpackers on the bus!), we decided to head out and explore Siem Reap a little. Pleasantly surprised, the town was nothing we imagined it would be and everyone was friendly and in good spirits, which seemed a complete contrast to what may be expected with such a tragic recent history. Bartering was fun and the stall holders would joke with you and the tuk-tuk drivers were cheeky with their prices- but really harmless. And it just felt like an innocent, almost unassuming place when compared to the sometimes tourist hardened Thailand. Most of the locals have fantastic English and, again, it is their humour that really shines out. The children will be cheeky and instead of direct begging they will play games with you (for example, I got thrashed at noughts and crosses by a little boy who was selling postcards. He told me if I won he would give me some for free... but, if he did, I'd have to buy them, and if we drew, he would leave us alone). We also saw a group of landmine victims who had formed a band and played music on the street- for entertainment, rather than just expecting money from tourists. It just seems a happy place and the people seem to have a real sense of pride. Suddenly, we felt very different about Cambodia and booked an extra 3 nights in Siem Reap.

Anyway, we couldn't come to Siem Reap and not visit the temples of Angkor Wat. We were both quite excited, but having seen a few temples now, we weren't sure how much it would all hold our attention. We could not have been more wrong- words cannot describe how amazing, significant and vast it all was. Hopefully, the pictures below will give some sort of idea. We cannot recommend Angkor Wat enough to anyone (especially Bayon in Ankgor Thom and Ta Prohm- where some of Tomb Raider was filmed)!

Cambodia is definitely no longer thought of as a mistake or scary... at least not for the moment.

Thailand (Part 3)

2007-07-14T05:23:00.000Z

Well, leaving Bangkok felt good- not because we'd had a bad time or anything, but the city is quite mental and to be there for a longer stint takes its toll eventually... we needed to recuperate.

So, we got us a nice cheap flight to North Thailand and an area called Chaing Mai, which is renowned for traditional Thai relaxation, culture and hospitality. The flight went well (considering it was Friday the 13th) and we got to our booked accommodation to find it was no longer booked and we had been bumped! So, we crossed the road and tried another guesthouse who had a room for nearly a third of the price we were going to pay! So, our new place cost us a wallet-stretching 3 quid a night!

We knew from the guide books we had a lot to do here in Chaing Mai, so, we hit the ground running and booked ourselves onto a couple of jaunts.

The first was to head out into the hills/ jungle and visit some traditional Tribes. Well, kind of traditional, as the ones we went to see had actually been forced out of Burma (Myanamar) and were living here under a kind of refugee status. Anyhoo, we opted to go and see the Long-Necked Karen Tribe and the Big-Ears Tribe. It was brilliant and we got to have a meander around their little village and see them making the most gorgeous scarves. We also learnt why they do the long neck and big ear thing and it was just generally a brill thing to do! Oh, and as the pics show the little nippers are well cute! :) Even though we have seen different ways of life throughout S.E. Asia so far, this was really different and pretty special.

Next up was one of the things we had both been excitedly waiting for.... a Thai cookery school! It was ace! We got picked up in the morning and taken to a market to purchase all our ingredients with our teacher (Wendy). The market was crazy and it was pretty cool seeing all these odd food type things... like 'Ear' mushrooms, Rattani (I think that's what its called... a crazy prickly fruit that when peeled looks like an eyeball... tastes well gross too!), and there was also a rather bad cow lung... it was jet black... sick!

Anyhoo, from the market we headed back to Wendy's house and the BIG open air kitchen that would be our home/ workplace for the day. We had already chosen the meals we were going to cook and they consisted of faves like Pad Thai, Spring Rolls and Sticky Rice and Mango. The class started with curry though and after compiling all the ingredients we had to batter them in a pestle to make the paste... it was harder than it looked, but the smells were amazing!

It was all starting to make us quite hungry but we knew with 6 meals to eat before the day was out we had better pace ourselves. After curry we made up another 2 meals each, and once I stopped burning my cashew nuts, for which Wendy gave me a quite fierce ear bashing in front of the rest of the class, we managed some nice Thai Fried Rice, Sweet and Sour Vegetables, and Black Bean Noodles before stopping for dinner, by which time it felt to my belly as if my throat had been cut.

However, after eating our lunch meals we both agreed that a siesta may be a nicer way to spend the afternoon rather than being a slave to the kitchen. Still, with another 3 meals to eat we needed to work up an appetite somehow. So, back to the grind it was and whilst the morning meals had been a bit more obvious(?)/ normal (?), the afternoon brought some stranger (and ultimately really disgusting ones!) like Tofu soup (blurgh!) and Glass Noodle Soup (that turned into a pukey Jelly type mixture...) However, the session was saved by some amazing Fried Banana and Spring Rolls...

It was a top day and we'd both definitely do it again at another point. But, if we get back and for some reason offer to cook you a meal... make sure Tofu Soup is NOT on the menu!!

The next day was spent recuperating (and, not eating anything until about 8pm as we were still stuffed!) and watching DVD's. We saw some ace films (probably really old in the UK now, but still pretty new out here) like The Illusionist, Pan's Labyrinth and Freedom Writers. We also hit the Sunday Night Market, which whilst not as big as the nightly Bazar, was still quite cool. However, all these markets resulted in a trip to the Post Office to send back home our 5th box... so far...

Chaing Mai has been a gorgeous place and we would recommend it to any Thailand visitors, but unfortunately our time here is nearly over and tomorrow we fly back to Bangkok before getting the bus to Cambodia. So, next stop Siem Reap and the Angkor Watt Temples.

Thailand (Part 2)

2007-07-13T03:28:00.001Z

So, we eventually arrived on Koh Samui safe and sound and checked into another very nice hotel... there's plenty of time for cheapo hostels and guesthouses in the rest of the trip but for now, we're still officially on holiday! We stayed in Chaweng on the East coast of the island which was lovely, although still very touristy and Spain-esque. While we were here Matt was quite crook- we think he caught a bug from the diseased backpackers on the bus (urgh!) and so he was confined to bed pretty ill for a couple of days until the antibiotics kicked in. Then, we spent sometime relaxing on the beach in the day and checking out the main strip of bars, restaurants and shops at night. We came across a pretty cool rock bar (called 'Rock Nights')- more authentic than the last one, and spent an ace night listening to rock classics from a funky local Thai band... and it was here Matt discovered he actually liked Oasis and he even requested they play more, which left us feeling very nostalgic about home and everything British... and even the Gallagher brothers... odd!

After a good week or so in Samui we decided we'd had enough of beaches and headed for the bright lights of Bangkok. I'd liked to say that this time we had a smooth uneventful journey but I think that's pretty much impossible here. It took us over 17 hours and it went something like this - minibus to coach, coach to ferry, ferry to coach, coach to bus stop, Tuk Tuk to another bus stop then overnight coach (which stank of pee) to Bangkok with at least fours hours of the fast and the furious film series blasting out of the speakers right by our heads! We eventually arrived in Bangkok at 5.30am the next morning to another hoard of taxi drivers trying to con us. After tracking one down who's meter wasn't 'sleeping' we had another trek to get to our guesthouse which he couldn't find. We finally checked in but couldn't get into our room until after 10.00am (it was now 6.00am and we were VERY tired) so we went to find somewhere for breakfast, which was when we witnessed the pretty horrific aftermath of a road traffic accident where a poor bloody motorcyclist was having a car pushed off his head!

We were originally quite worried about Bangkok because we'd heard lots of people who really didn't enjoy it and recommend you get out of there as soon as possible, but we absolutely loved it.
We started with checking out the most important thing... the shopping of course! The malls and the night markets are just too big to describe - we'd spend hours in them, stop for refreshments and go again and still not be anywhere near seeing it all. We had lots of fun bartering with the stall holders though and ended up having to post two huge boxes of stuff back with still more to go.

Next stop was the Grand Palace home to the Emerald Buddha and the King for some formal occasions. This place was like my dream come true - it was all just so shiny and colourful - definitely my perfect idea of a house with all the mosaic mirrored glass and gold leaf. It was kind of like finding the lost City of Gold!

Then, the Big Buddha which is apparently the biggest reclining Buddha in the world was again pretty impressive.

We also managed to fit in a visit to the Bridge over the River Kwai the Death Railway and the floating markets, all of which were darn fine excursions! The floating market was a good, mad and hectic turn all by itself!

However, our highlight came when we went to visit the Tiger Temple. This is a rescue centre run by monks for animals that have been mistreated or just generally rescued from bad times in the wild. It was here that we got to stroke real life big ass tigers! Wow! It was amazing! They are so big and gorgeous and we even managed to get a play with a little cub! Absolutely brilliant!

And, of course we couldn't visit Bangkok without a visit to Patpong, which was recommended to us by a fair few people for some reason, including my good friend Miss Slater (a primary school teacher no less!). For those of you who haven't already heard of it, it's the famous for it's Ping Pong shows... not the kind played on tables... We went expecting something well, I'm not sure, but a bit more of a family show... if that makes sense? Or, perhaps a bit more cabaret? I've no idea why, but that's definitely not what we got! Somehow we managed to find the seediest place on the strip (well, kind of behind the strip down a dark soi and up some stairs!) with a fair few lady-boys, which by-the-way, we were promised there wouldn't be by the man touting for business on the street?!! Anyway we were greeted by the first act bursting a balloon by something flying out of one of the woman's, well... erm... front bottom!! Sorry, i don't quite know how else to describe it?! Anyway, it was like clay pigeon shooting for pervs!! It was far from the big stage show we were expecting and we far too close to flying debris for comfort!!! The rest of the show consisted of similar acts including, smoking a cigarette, blowing a horn (which everytime we hear one now we think the crazy woman is following us down the street!!), pulling out razor blades, popping ping pong balls into a glass etc etc... All very business like really and it ended up feeling quite normal... until we woke up the next morning and wondered if we'd actually dreamt it! Very surreal..... Oh, and no, they wouldn't let you take a camera in, so no pics :)

Thailand (Part 1)

2007-06-29T12:33:00.000Z

Malaysia was amazing, but both of us had really high hopes for Thailand and so were VERY excited at the prospect of arrival...

However, our first stop on the old agenda was at a lovely named place called Krabi. After taking the ferry out of Malaysia (and discovering it ridden with cockroaches and ants... urgh!) to Satun, we passed through border control with relative ease. Then came the lovely adventure of trying to get a bus to take us to Krabi... after being manhandled by odd men and virtually shoved into booking offices and quickly deciding that 'scammers' were crawling out of everywhere, we joined forces with a UK couple and Swedish couple to take what we were told was a taxi to the main bus station. Ha! Taxi! We finally agreed a price and in the blistering heat lugged our bags toward the 'taxi' driver. We were met with a basic pick up truck with two planks running on either side of the flat bed at the back.... and a little canvas roof. Hehehe... it was actually really cool and more fun than a normal taxi. Anyhoo, we got to the main bus station, which was actually a crappy little side-street with a woman selling bus tickets. We figured this was another scam because the woman could sell the tickets at whatever price she liked- unlike if it had been the main bus station where there is more competition. So, we all staged a protest and remained sitting in the van telling the driver we were only paying if he took us to the main station... and he laughed. Hehe. I think he was happy for a little rest and all we were doing was slowly cooking in the back of his wagon now we were stationery. So, we gave up the fight and bought tickets, which were really cheap anyhow (we are just tight travellers) and got on the bus. A few hours later we got Krabi and were dumped at the bus station (this time a main one). Another 'two planks' driver was hassling us to go with him to our hotel- which we hadn't actually booked yet. We agreed a price of 40 Baht (about 80p) and set off. He dropped us in the centre and then asked us for 80 Baht, trying to say that he meant 40 for each of us! Everyone is a scammer! But hey, we were getting wise to it all now :)

Anyhoo, we found a lovely guest house with a nice Irish bar (!) next door and had a nice vegi-burger and beer for us tea.

Next day was another ferry, this time to the island of Ko Phi Phi. We were planning on having a bit of a holiday starting from here and hoping top stay in places a bit longer and soak up some sun. The ferry journey was great and upon arrival we found out we had to take a longtail boat to our accommodation. How very exciting! The sun was shining and the sea was crystal! Gorgeous! This was what its all about! So, the driver (is driver the right word?), pulled up as close to the shore as possible and we had the lovely task of trying to struggle with our bags from a moving boat into quite harsh waves, without getting everything drenched. We failed pretty dismally and the only saving grace was that there weren't many to witness our crappy attempt at a beach landing :)

The place we stayed at was great and again we were right on the beach and in a secluded area called Long Beach. We had everything we needed there and the little town was great! We went for drinks, chilled in hammocks and generally began the holiday in stylee!

After a couple of days we decided to extend the jollies some more so headed to the mega- touristy Phuket. We stayed right in the main town Patong- after a BIG hassle over hotel rooms! Again, people trying to scam! However, we pulled a good un this time and managed to get a deluxe room for less than the standard... well, we think we did... there may be more to this story at some point.

Anyhoo, we became tourists and did nothing but shop, eat (mmm, at the Hagan Daas shop!) drink, get facials and watch the lady boys (blimey! they're a bit raunchy!)- sorry, no pics at it would just be a boob-fest and me mum reads this don't you know! :)

Also we took a night out to watch some bands at a place called 'Rock City'. Hoping it was going to be like its Nottingham counterpart, we settled down to enjoy the music... and it was rubbish! The band were cak and we spent more time just watching the old men and their little Thai ladyfriends (well, we think ladies?!?!?!) So, we supped us drinks and headed out into the night to check out the night markets and shop some more! Its cheap here but not as cheap as Malaysia- but we have been told Bangkok is mega cheap, so, we're holding out for that one.

But, as with all good things it had to come to an end and we boarded the bus. After about an hour on the bus we had a guy (the conductor type person) come up to us and ask us where we stayed in Patong. When we told him he said that they had been on the phone and that we owed money! 'Err, I don't think so' I told him. 'We checked out and they said nothing.' He looked puzzled, as did we and then he laughed, patted me on the arm and went and sat at the front again. When we thought about it we thought it odd that the hotel should call the bus company when they had no idea where we were heading to! So, yet another scam... well, possibly, if there was some possible mistake and we do owe them money we may have a little jaunt in Thai jail when we try and leave the country if we are listed at Border Patrol as dodgy crims... hehehe, but hopefully it won't come to that :)

So, after this we decided to have a little nap as it was a long coach journey. Arr, everything was lovely, all relaxing, dozy, dozy, doze.... Then someone yells 'THE COACH IS ON FIRE!' Yikes, I woke up sharpish and looked behind to see sh*tloads of smoke pouring into the coach from the floor! The bus driver took emergency actions and slammed the anchors on and ran out of the bus... us (all the passengers), just kind of looked at each other and laughed! Even the ones shrouded in smoke! Eventually, we decided we should maybe get off in case it blew up or summat- but after 10 mins of standing in the heat we soon got back on- deciding we'd rather take our chances with toxic fumes than the heat treatment! Anyhoo, after a couple of hours of the driver throwing water all over the engine and scratching his head, another bus came and we jumped aboard to finish the trip to the ferry that was taking us to Ko Samui, our next little island getaway.

Malaysia (Part II)

2007-06-20T08:23:00.000Z

The next bus journey from CH to Penang wasn't quite as plush as the first class one we got from Singapore... this was a little skenky and the driver insisted on having a fag hanging out of his mouth for pretty much the entire journey even though there was a no-smoking sign above his head?!?! Still, 5 hours later we got thrown off on into the strange and dirty place of Butterworth... hmm... we somehow had to find the ferry to get to the island and it suddenly seemed that all the signs (the few that there were) were in Malay.... tricky....

After hassling a German couple we saw and following them like stalkers we managed to get to the ferry crossing and get our ticket. So, seated on the boat we looked forward to a tranquil crossing over to Georgetown (Penang). It started great- the sun was setting and the city across the water was lit up lovely.... then we saw the first of the rats on the boat... then we saw another... and then another.... and then it suddenly seemed like there were more rats than passengers.... and there were a lot of passengers. They were running above our heads and in and around the food kiosk- thank god we didnt get that cheese butty that had looked so tempting not 5 mins ago....

Still, we got there safely and without getting the plague or any other rat related diseases... and, after negotiating a taxi rate with the driver (ie. How much? 10 Ringits. Erm, Ok then) we got to our hotel, which was very nice. We were based in Chinatown again- there's a theme here, right in the middle of pretty much everything.

The next day we headed into the city with the best of intentions at walking around and seeing everything- however, after 15 mins in the manically intense heat we found ourselves hiding in the shade and supping a diet coke whilst re-thinking the days activities. It really was stifling!

Still, we managed to get to the waterfront and get a pretty good feel for Georgetown, which was much more like we imagined the mad cities of Malaysia to be like. Early evening we decided to take a trip to Penang Hill as we heard that there were some pretty fab views of the city to be had at nightime. We decided to take the public bus as it didnt sound too hard from the description in our little yellow bible (Lonely Planet guide to S. E. Asia). Getting on the bus was easy- however, we werent told when to get off so when the driver realised we should have gotten off a couple of stops earlier he shook his head at us as if we should have realised!!! Yeah, because we live here dont we... derr!!

Anyhoo, after a trek through a decidely dodgy part of Penang we found the railway that takes you to the top of the hill. And, it was really worth it- it was a great view of the city lit up and you were (it seemed) above cloud level so it appeared that you could actually see most of the island. Also, at the top there was an amazing little cafe (proper posh English jobby) that served afternoon tea (Devonshire stylee)- so, as it was 8pm how could we refuse!! It wasnt cheap either- it cost us a fiver (which is REALLY expensive over here!)- in fact, a fiver is our normal daily food budget! But it was an amazing brew and a fab scone with Jam and clotted cream... mmmmm..... then, it was the railway back and the bus... err, no... we got a taxi and went out for tea :)

The next day we had an early start as we were taking the ferry across to Langkawi- a tropical island off the mainland and very close to the Thai border. The ferry journey was due to take about 2 1/2 hours but ended up taking nearly 4 due to delays and really bad crossing conditions. People were being VERY violently sick all over the show! So, Trace and me put the iPod on and listened to some Ricky Gervais podcasts. Hehe... lots of folk puking into bags and then us two just giggling our heads off... the journey was bad and we actually arrived at the island in the middle of a typhoon, which at first seemed very exciting- but then as the taxi driver took us to our accomodation and the island looked seriously wrecked with trees dropping like flies, it became quite scary! The rain and wind were howling and within seconds of getting out of the taxi we were soaked! We got into our room, which was lovely little beachfront chalet and within seconds of sitting down in the safety... "Matt, I'm hungry"... However, Trace did manage to hold on for about an hour by which time the downpour had stopped and the clean-up had begun. So, we headed out for dinner into the town and to one of the duty free shops to stock up on Beer and Choc- just in case we got hit again by another bout of bad weather...

Anyhoo, today we got up and the weather was amazing! It has been gorgeous blue skies all day and we have just lay in it slowly cooking ourselves to oblivion! Its great having our accom just on the beach cos it means we can just pop back anytime we need the loo instead of nipping in the sea ;)

And, finally, we went for a proper bosh curry to say goodbye to Malaysia! mmmmmm :)

Anyway, enough for now, tomorrow we have another boat journey- this time across the border into Thailand where the next leg of the journey begins.

Also, we have been having some problems with the blog (lots of spam etc) recently so are going to change the address- if you would like to be kept abreast of this please email us at traceandmatt@hotmail.co.uk and we will forward you the new address once it is up and running. Thanks :)

Malaysia (Part I)

2007-06-14T08:44:00.000Z

Kuala Lumpur

The 1st class coach was amazing! It was 5 hours of pure luxury! Its called Aero-travel because they offer you the same service as being on a plane. So, we got to our seats, which were huge big leather jobbies, and fully reclined with leg and foot rests and were then waited on for the next 5 hours with meals, drinks, magazines etc. There were even screens to watch films on!! Well impressed, especially considering it cost us 15 quid each!

So, we got to KL in great shape, which was good because it was crazy the moment we left the coach! A taxi driver met us and took us to the Chinatown district where we were staying. He gave us a brief city tour en route so we could see the Petronas Towers (second biggest in the world) and KL Tower and then told us that you couldn't actually drive through Chinatown as it is all pedestrianized. Hmmm, we weren't sure if we were being scammed or not... so, we said that was fine and just drop us as close as he could. Well, he did and it wasnt a scam. It turned out that the road our hotel was on was the same one where the night markets took place. And it was now late afternoon and they were setting up for the night markets so the roads had been closed and it was CRAZY busy! So, we left the taxi and towing our bags in a suffocating heat tinged with lovely smog, headed off towards the masses. After about 10 minutes of walking through the crowds and every stall holder trying to get us to buy something and then nearly tripping over some guy lying on the floor bleeding from his face... we eventually found the hotel. And it was ace! We had a brilliant location and the hotel was really quiet, clean and had cable TV! Yipppeee :)

So, we dumped the bags and headed straight back out into the night market, which without the luggage was one of the funniest things we have experienced. Crazy just doesn't cover it! The stall holders are funny and desperate to get you in and will say just about anything to attract you! However, when Trace saw the bags on offer they didn't need to say too much really ; )

We spent an ace few days in Kuala Lumpur, exploring the city, Chinatown, the colonial district and Merdeka square, shopping in the huge malls, eating lots of tasty meals in the food courts and visiting the amazing Batu caves with the biggest (seen in the pic below) having 292 steps to climb, little wild monkeys jumping about and a temple inside...crazy!

It was also the place where we managed to get rid of Stig of the Dump and find Matt again! Yes after 10 months of not cutting his hair or buying any new clothes (The pockets on his shorts were being held together by safety pins!), Matt bought a whole new wardrobe and had his 'best haircut ever' including a head and neck massage all for next to nothing. We came away feeling like we'd stolen it all, as with everything we do here because it's just so cheap!

Cameron Highlands

We left KL on Thursday morning and headed for the cooler climes of the Cameron Highlands, which is famous for it's tea plantations and 'afternoon tea'... nice! We stayed at Father's Guest house - a cosy little place on a hill above the main town of Tanah Rata. We booked into a tour of the area the next day which included; a tour of a chinese temple, rose centre, local market, strawberry farm, honey farm, tea plantation and butterfly centre, which was actually just a place that housed various kinds of creepy crawlie things such as Rhino Beetle as modelled by Matt, Cat-Eyed Gecko as modelled by the lovely Trace and Scorpions... as modelled by neither of us!!!

The journey through Malaysia continues with a bus journey and ferry crossing to the Island of Penang...

Singapore

2007-06-14T08:15:00.000Z

Singapore is an amazingly odd, eclectic place! We arrived late on into the night and took a taxi to our guest house in Chinatown. The driver was trying to convince us that we were staying in the 'red-light' district... We think he was trying to put us off so he could recommend somewhere else to us that he would get commission for - scams we'd been warned about before we arrived, so we told him we'd booked and it was fine.

When we woke the next day we headed out of our guest house, which was actually nowhere near any kind of red-light district, and straight into Chinatown for a wee exploration. It was amazing. Whilst not having been to China yet so not being completely sure, it looked pretty authentic and we really got a nice feeling from the decor, stalls, people and place in general. It was so different to anywhere we had seen so far. We bought lots of really nice bits and bobs for next to nothing from some of the market stalls and also managed to take a look in a couple of temples. The highlight was a 5-storey Buddhist one that has only recently opened. Crazy! They had a floor with 10,000 encased Buddhas! And they each get cleaned everyday before being put back into their place...

We also caught the MRT to Little India, which is like Chinatown only Indian (durr!). And once we left the station and got into the main throng of it, it was mental too! Again, completely as we would picture India. We couldn't believe how different both places were yet only a couple of km's apart! To top it off we took the MRT into the main CBD/ shoppping area, Orchard Road, and were completely overwhelmed by just how mega cosmopolitan, clean and busy it was!

In one day alone we saw 3 different worlds all in one city! So, at night we headed down to Clarke Quay for a nice chill out and a slowboat ride down the river. We caught the boat at night and it was very pretty as it was lit by little Chinese Lanterns. Seeing Singapore itself lit-up by night was also an ace experience.

Originally, we had planned about 3-4 nights in Singapore, but we ended up staying 5 as it was so much fun and there was more than enough to keep us occupied. Other highlights included Singapore Zoo and Night Safari where we saw all sorts of crazy animals! But the White Tigers and Polar Bear were the best... so gorgeous! And we also took the cable cars over to Sentosa Island... which was VERY scary. A lot scarier than both of us actually thought it was going to be oddly enough.... Sentosa was nice, if not a little bit plastic-fantastic.

We also found time (in-between Matt's stinking cold!) to pop into Raffles Hotel and check out what that was all about. A really nice colonial building with lots of history. However, the shopping plaza across the street was more fun and had a cool foodcourt full of Asian delicacies.

After the first couple of nights we moved from Chinatown and stayed in Little India, which was a really good experience. We went out at night and looked in the shops, night markets and found some ace places to eat. We found an all vegi-Indian fast food place (really like McDonalds!) called Komalas where we got loads of help in what to order and had the best meal so far! As usual we ordered far too much, but it was well worth it :) and, we even ate with our fingers (right hand only), like you are meant too... what a mess! It may take some getting used to :)

Its a really nice experience to be not traveling in the van for a change after having done it for so long, and to have the luxury of guest houses/ hotels... we even managed to watch a bit of TV!

Anyways, I think that just about covers Singapore. Next stop is Kuala Lumpur via first class coach.... should be interesting :)

Goodbye Australia!

2007-06-05T04:22:00.000Z

Byron Bay was lovely! Kirsten (one of our friends from NZ) came to spend some time exploring it with us and we had a great 3 days just chilling about and visiting the beaches, most eastern point of Oz and the Lighthouse... oh, and Bully and K did a lot of bead shopping and jewellery making.... :)

From Byron we headed down the coast to Coff's Harbour... and after spending a great day at 'The Big Pineapple' we were really excited when we stumbled across 'The Big Banana'. Whilst it was really nice and there was plenty of fruit action, the choc-dipped banana didn't quite live up to expectation and we were not as impressed as the Pineapple place...

Coff's Harbour was a lovely little town though and after enjoying a chippy tea we took Kirsten to the train station where she caught the night-train back to Sydney.

So, all alone again in big ole Oz, Bully and me headed further down the coast and found an amazing place called Port Macquarie. It was off the beaten track a little and so whilst the scenery and breakwater were beaut, it wasn't tourist-ridden at all. We spent a great day shopping in the town and then headed out for the cinema and a couple of drinks.

However, it was now unfortunately time to bring the Oz travels to an end and make the final stretch back to Sydney. The journey was great and really tranquil (except for the hoooge python we saw attacking cars and trucks!!) until we hit the metropolis of the big city! Having gotten used to driving in the outback and small beach towns it was a mighty big shock to be driving across the Harbour Bridge in rush hour with a gazillion cars coming from all directions and mass high rises all around! Very scary....

Still, we eventually managed to find our way to Kirsten and Alec's new flat (woohoo!), which is amazing! Its in the Glebe area in the centre of the city on a kind of Bohemian/ quirky stretch full of cafes, lovely shops and the like! We were in heaven, and have been for the last few days! Milling about, popping out for brekky and then just crashing at the flat.... I think Kirsten and Alec are a tad afraid we may never leave.... but who can blame us with Kirsten cooking roasts and vegi lasagnas.... mmmmmmm!

Oz has been a great place and with 11,000 kms under our belt we felt we have seen enough to feel like we really came and explored. The van life was great and we had some fab times with each other, people we met and folk we met up with from previous travels. 10 months in and we're loving it more each day and have made some great friends. We still miss everyone from home though.

But, tomorrow the Asia journey begins! We think we have got everything sorted and whilst we are mega excited, its a little scary as this is going to be the start of hardcore travelling..... Singapore here we come....

Crikey!

2007-05-22T04:25:00.000Z

The Sunshine Coast beckoned and who were we to let it down ;)

Hervey Bay was the first port of call and we had glorious weather so headed the nearest bottle shop to treat ourselves to a couple of cold ones. We sat on the beach, enjoyed the heat and gazed on as the sun began to set... lovely !

Continuing south, we spent plenty-a-day just chillin' on beaches and taking the odd wander into little townships to enjoy the coffee shops, locals and of course the lolly bags! We are sooooo addicted to them :0

We met some lovely folk en route, especially Mel & Kate who were kind enough to share a big box of red wine with us... needless to say, a thick head and early night was had by all, but nothing that porridge's the next day couldn't cure! Big hi to M&K :)

In order to break the sun worshipping up a bit we arranged a couple of little excursions for ourselves. The first one was the extremely kitsch 'Big Pineapple', which, is basically a pineapple and macadamia plantation with a hoooge, big pineapple outside!!

However, we heard it was meant to be pretty cool so we tootled along and it was! We started with a rain forest tour in a giant macadamia nut (!) followed by a steam train journey through the pineapple plantation.

We then stopped at the sites little farm and got to stroke a koala and hand feed some kangaroos, goats, llamas, sheep, geese and donkey! It was brill, if not a little bit messy :) However, it wasn't as messy as the lovely big parfait we slurped on later at the on-site cafe ;)

And then, CRIKEY! we were at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo!We had both always really admired Steve Irwin and when we heard of his death 10 months ago we were really, really gutted. However, we were both so excited to be heading to the zoo, but we were quite worried about how saddening it may be too :( But, on leaving the zoo at the end of the day we were both unanimous in saying that it was one of our best days so far in all our travels!

Whilst we had some amazing moments watching the croc shows and the SI video funnies, holding a giant 4 metre Burmese Python, stroking a baby alligator, hand feeding elephants etc, we were just amazed at how fantastic the zoo and everybody's passion for it was. Steve Irwin deffo lives on at Oz Zoo and his work is continuing, which is Ripper! Still, it didn't stop us feeling a bit bleary eyed when we saw all the condolences that had been sent in for the family from all over the world. Awesome day though and we can heartily say... CROCS RULE! As indeed does Steve Irwin :)

Next, we headed onto Brisbane and whilst very nice was just another city really. However, we still found time to catch up on UK gossip from various magazines over a coffee at Borders.

Then, we were on the Gold Coast and our first stop was Surfer's Paradise. We had heard that it was built up around there, but the high rise backdrop was still a bit of a shocker and made it akin to being on holiday in Spain a little, which wasn't a bad thing as we enjoyed a night out like real tourists :) with some old NZ friends Gary and Joanne. However, the curse of Gary and Jo continued as after a few drinks Matt was rather ill... again!

We're currently in Byron Bay which on first sights looks lovely and we're looking forward to exploring some more....... soon be Asia though, and we cant wait :)

Aliens, Toilets & Nicole Kidman!

2007-05-22T03:19:00.000Z

Sorry it's been a while...we've been so busy relaxing into the Aussie lifestyle, but with 10,000km's on the clock and still two weeks to go there's plenty to tell...

Whilst in Alice Springs we made a stop at the West McDonall Ranges taking in Simpson's Gap and Standley Chasms - as you can see from the pics both were very impressive.

From here our trek back into civilisation & the East Coast beaches began, and whilst we were expecting a mundane 4/5 days solid driving we actually stumbled across some corkers!

First stop Wycliffe Well - Australians answer to Roswell. So donning out Mulder & Scully hats we grabbed the deckchairs, picked a field and sat in utter darkness heads craned skywards... and... we saw absolutely nothing! Except of course a gorgeous, starlit, Aussie outback sky.

Next stop Tennant Creek. On first sight TC may have seemed a dull and rather 'hick' place, but it actually turned out to be one of our highlights so far. The people we met were so genuinely friendly, helpful & not too mention interesting. Non more so than Bushtucker Jimmy - a resident on the campsite who spent most of his adult life living in the outback under a Gum tree whilst trying to strike rich mining for gold. We spent a good few hours round a campfire, drinking bush tea and eating damper bread (genuine bush tucker) listening to Jimmy's poems and stories. Another great night under the stars.

Then after another 3 days solid driving we finally reached the coast and Townsville in North Queensland. After days of dryness we were quite excited about having a dip in the sea only to find it was home to the deadly Box fish Jellyfish, so we could look but not touch! Boo :(

Anyhow, the beach bug hit us & so we decided to head to a nice quiet spot to relax and celebrate the 1/2 way point of our Oz journey. We found the perfect location at Mission Beach (Wongaling), and what was planned as a 1 night stop over quickly turned into 3. Whilst there, and in between lots of sunning and relaxing we managed to fit in a night time Crocodile Safari! This involved heading up river whilst the sunset & then back down in absolute darkness to spot the crocs! We spotted a few & they were mainly babies...which was actually quite relieving as the dark and other sounds were a tad scary...

However, even scarier was the next day when we were sitting chilling by the van when a huge (and we mean huge!) Lizard just sauntered right past us - full on blue tongue and everything, it put all the crocs to shame!! : )

We then continued north & finally hit Cairns...Great Barrier Reef time... we booked it, did it and loved it! It was mind blowing! The Reef really is the most amazing thing and to know we snorkelled it is something that will be with us forever. Amazing!

Our next major stop was Airlie Beach so we could sail the Whitsundays. However, on the way we diverted to a tiny town called Bowen as we'd heard that Baz Lurhmann was making a movie there starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, called 'Australia'. So using our detective skills, we snuck around the town until we found where it was all happening only to find that we were 2 days early and they were still building the set! Oh well, we got a great insight & tour of the set from a local volunteer who also gave us a copy of the press release from old Bazza himself.

Anyway, the Whitsundays, whilst supposedly having one of the worlds Top 10 Beaches (Whitehaven Beach), which was lovely - white soft sand, Crystal clear waters etc, was a little crazy with backpackers and tourists for us. Even so, we did a full day cruise, including a trek to Hill Top lookout, Whitehaven Beach and more snorkelling of another of the islands...which Matt opted out of after visiting Vic Hislop's Great White Shark Expo the day before! Vic Hislop is Australia's 'Shark man' & has dedicated his life, it seems, to putting the fear of god into anyone thinking of going into over 30 centimeters of water, i.e. shark infested canals and all the horrendous shark attacks around Australia etc. And as if that wasn't enough the expo houses a frozen carcass of a HUGE Great White Shark. He's a strange man with odd beliefs, but in a morbid way it was fascinating to see a shark in the flesh..and really quite terrifying.

Talking of which, the other night we had another of our scary wildlife experiences. On our bedtime trek to the camp loo, we saw the wildlife equivalent to a Mexican standoff. On opening the cubicle door we were met by a huge frog who we realised (after a slight squeal from TB and a wee step back) was intently staring at an equal sized Gecko on the toilet. And as if this wasn't enough to keep the stall theirs (we had a very appealing bucket in the van) we looked up to see a snake... yes, big and slimey (maybe venomous?!) snake, watching the frog watching the Gecko. And, guess who bought the farm first... we have absolutely no idea, we were halfway to the bucket after catching sight of the snake!

Anyway, that's enough of our wussy-ness for now. We hope everyone is well and we'll update again soon.

The Rock... and the journey there...

2007-04-27T05:43:00.000Z

...well, we left Melbourne in a blaze and headed down the Great Ocean Road towards Adelaide. The GOR was pretty fantastic with lots to see... i.e. The 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge etc... very nice :)

From GOR we headed further north towards the Fleurieu Peninsula and Adelaide. Excellent beaches, nice city, great meal out and lovely sunny weather :) but then... the big trek was to begin.... THE OUTBACK!!!!!

OK, it started well... but then came the flies... the intense heat, the rotting carcasses of everything from Kangaroo to Camel, and a drive for 4 days sold just to get to Uluru (Ayre's Rock)... but it was worth it :)

The huge emptiness of the outback is crazy and scary- but also really, really beautiful. The colours, the changing landscape... just everything. We are both really glad that we have driven so far instead of flying to the centre. The things we have seen and the experiences it has given us are amazing!

We headed from Adelaide up to Coober Pedy- a crazy Opal mining town... rather in-bred... and, well, odd! We were pleased to get back in the van and scoot! That is until we saw the roadkill and things got even hotter!

Next stop, Uluru and the Olgas. As we drove to Yulara (the Ayre's Rock Resort) and Uluru came into view, it was an excellent experience- the thing seemed to glow luminous... and this was in broad daylight!! Trace described it as iridescent. It was just this huge, amazing thing on its own in a wilderness of flat, barren land. Really strange and you can understand the Aborigines affiliation and belief in its spiritual powers.

As usual, pictures just cannot do it justice, but the changing colours of it throughout the day and as we sat and watch the sunset over it were unbelievable! We cant really say anymore on it except it is amazing and definitely worth the drive :) Oh, and 45 mins further down the road is the Olgas, which are nearly (but not quite) just as mesmerizing as Uluru...

We are currently in Alice Springs... and it is soooo hot its just nuts! We thought we'd get this updated and then go for a little explore :) So, hope you like the pics and we'll update again soon after our 5 day trek out of the desert towards Cairns :)

An apple a day...

2007-04-21T04:52:00.000Z

Obviously doesn't work... Dr Karl still managed to get his hands on us! Oh and the Irish guy called Connor - I knew who he was still being an avid Neighbours watcher (well kinda) but Matt didn't have a clue!

The Neighbours tour was really good fun and we got to see Erinsborough High, the studios (from outside behind a bush!) and most importantly of all Ramsey street. It was so exciting actually physically standing in front of the house that Scott and Charlene lived in!!

And as a little extra and much to Matt's pleasure, we also got to see some of the set of Prisoner Cell Block H.

From the tour we made our way to see Melbourne get slaughtered by Geelong in an Aussie Rules football game at the MCG Stadium.

Anyhow, onwards and upwards, the Great Ocean Road and Adelaide calls...

Kangaroos, Spiders, Ants.... oh, and views!

2007-04-14T05:07:00.000Z

Cool... Oz is amazing! We left Sydney in a blaze... well, about 90km's per hour in the van :) and headed south towards Jervis Bay. The sun was shining and the van was running like a dream. And, once we arrived at Jervis Bay we thought we had hit paradise and things couldn't get any better! Crystal waters, gorgeous sand and background views to die for! Absolutely gorgeous!

We spent the day on the beach just lazing around before heading off for our campsite on Durras Beach. When we got to Durras we pulled up at the campsite to be greeted by LOADS of wild kangaroos! Very weird! And they are soooo darn big its crazy! Very, very, very cute tho! We went for a walk on the beach and watched the sunset before fighting our way through the kanga's back to the site for our tea :) We tried to light the BBQ next to the van but my Bushtucker skills are somewhat limited and we ended up with a pile of glowing embers...... hmmm....

So, the next day we started for Canberra... it had been a bone of contention as to whether we ought to go there or not. After all its inland and not on a beach... However, we decided to give it a go, and it was deffo worth it! The place is amazing! It's a purpose built city that became the capital so as to stop squabbles between Melbourne and Sydney.... I think... Again, the sun was shining and for a city, it was pretty quiet which meant getting around was really easy. For the first stop we headed to Parliament House (like our Houses of Parliament) and went for a walk around both the grounds and inner sanctum of the place. It was surprisingly interesting.... even Trace agrees.... :)

We then headed out to the Captain Cook Memorial Fountain on Lake Burley Griffin, which was also amazing. And, finally we headed to the Australian War Memorial and Museum... not exactly 'party times', but again, it was absol brill!

But then, things went scary.....

We got into the van and began the jaunt to Melbourne... having decided to do a spot of freedom camping I thought I'd check from the outside of the van to see how lit up it was... as I checked around the back window I saw the silhouette of the biggest, dock off spider shape I have ever seen!!!!! 'Please let it be on the outside' I prayed! Unfortunately, it wasn't! So, after telling Trace we had a problem.... we slowly peeled back the curtains to see what we were going to do with the big blighter.... Once we saw it properly, I'm afraid it wasn't much better... It was hooooge... and to add to the scariness, we just didn't know if it was a poisonous one or not! It was fat, hairy and can only be described as Tarantula in appearance!!!! We now think it was a baby Huntsman spider.... but still cant be sure.... however, we manged to coax it into a mug and ever so slowly make our way out of the van........... and threw it as far as we could before slamming the door and screaming!!!!! We know... what a pair of babies.... what will we do in the bush..... ???? :) Anyhoo, after tearing the van apart to check that the big b*st*rd had no brothers or sisters we finally settled down to a nervous sleep.

The next day everything was hunky dory... daylight does that to you... and we continued the trek towards Melbourne.... By the end of the day we got there and decided that we would freedom camp again as it was late in the day and we didn't want to pay for just a night :) gypos we know.... So, we pulled up on a lovely quiet beach and headed through to the back for a brew and some tea (dinner for you posh readers!). We opened the cupboard to be faced with a shedload of ants!!! Goddamn it, this van was an insect magnet!!! And we were freaked again for the second night on the run! Well, we cleaned them out and sprayed lots of stuff (not very vegetarian of us we know... but needs must) and eventually had tea.

Again, the next day made everything better again and we found a cool campsite in the city and are currently exploring the centre as we finish this....

Tomorrow we are booked onto the 'Neighbours' tour, and have been told it will be a special meet and greet one... oooooh, who will it be??? Please let it be Harold!!! And, then in the afternoon we are hoping to get to an AFL game (Aussie Rules Football) at the MCG ground.

And that's it for now... we'll try and update soon...hopefully, with Harold pics :) doh, Madge......

The land of Rolf

2007-04-06T04:31:00.000Z

This is us in front of Sydney Harbour Bridge, which means we're here in Australia!

After just one day in Sydney we knew we'd definitely made the right decision to leave NZ early and move on - it's so exciting starting a new adventure and also a little daunting...especially as Australia is so big!

We spent the first three days staying in the centre of the city and seeing all the sights and just really enjoying exploring such an amazing city.

On our second night here we met up with friends from home Han, Katie and Han's boyfriend Andy who are all currently living in Bondi and after LOTS of catching up it turned out they were all going away for the Easter weekend and had a lovely beach front apartment going spare.... how very convenient...

We picked up our camper a couple of days later and signed a rental agreement for the next 63 days! It's not exactly luxury, but we do have loads more space than in our little Road Runner and a cooker, fridge, sink etc, it's just a little worn round the edges, or 'Shabby chique' as we like to call it.

All vanned up and ready to go we drove a whole 6kms down the road to Bondi Beach as we were having Dinner and staying with Han, Andy and Katie for the night. We had a lovely meal and were made to feel very welcome. It was great to catch up with girlie friends from back home and to see them so happy in their Ozzy life! Unfortunately though, with the wine flowing, such tasty food and good company we forgot to get the camera out so no photies.... boo!

We woke up the next morning to a beautiful day and decided to test the van out by taking it on a little trip to the Blue Mountains which is just 2 hours West of Sydney.

Here we visited Katoomba, home of the 'Three Sisters' rock formation, rode the worlds steepest railway, saw a dusky blue mountain sunset from Echo Point, stopped to view Govetts Leap and spent the first night in our new little camper.

We're now looking forward to relaxing in the apartment in Bondi for the Easter weekend and planning our route for our Australian adventure!

Homeward bound....

2007-03-28T04:29:00.000Z

Well, not quite, but it is about 3 hours closer :)

Things have changed quite a lot! Since the folks left and we did our 3 separate tours of the South Island we realised that we had actually finished doing everything that needed doing in NZ. We came, we saw, we enjoyed, we met some great people who have become dear friends and we have some amazing memories that we will take on with us for the rest of our lives.

However, this isnt the end... after much deliberating (as we were offered our old job back at Bamber for our remaining visa time), we finally booked tickets to Sydney. And, in typical stylee, we did it for as soon as possible.... which means we leave NZ on Sunday!

All of this meant we had a lot to sort out... and although we found it a hard thing to do, we had to sell RoadRunner. He was just too big for the suitcase :( He served us well (ish), and it was actually very difficult to turn around and walk away... he had been our home for our time here and whilst we were seeing NZ he was working like a trooper for us. But, we think whilst our NZ travels are over for now, RoadRunner will still be cruising the Islands for a good few years yet... and we're sure the new owner Israeli Benni will take good care.

So, this is the last time we'll be reporting from New Zealand and there's not much else to say apart from this is the most beautiful country we have seen to date and if you ever get the chance it's definitely worth a visit. So, Aroha Nui (goodbye).

Meet the parents (part ll)

2007-03-26T08:58:00.001Z

....So, Mummy & Daddy Bullock finally arrived, and then they left again..! Or at least that's how it felt - time really does fly when you're having fun!

We spent a couple of weeks touring round the South Island in a luxury camper... which definitely put our little Road Runner to shame!
Again, we did and saw so much that it is really difficult to mention it all, but the highlights include:

The Antartic Centre, Whale watching in Kaikoura (we saw 2 sperm whales amongst dolphins, albatrosses, seals etc..), Hot springs in Hamner whilst looking up at the snow peaked mountains, Beer tasting in Richmond, BBQ on Rabbit Island, Buller Gorge swing bridge, Pancake Rocks, terminal walk to Fox Glacier (Fox's glacier mint eh Dad), breakfast on Lake Hawea, Jet boating in Wanaka, and for us, a surprise stay in the Sudima for two nights at the end, just as we were about to make the bed up in out little van.... life savers!!
More than this though, we spent lots of time chilling, eating, chatting and generally enjoying the scenery. We also got to celebrate my mums big 50 with her on the 17th March, with a bit of a shopping expedition, a lovely meal and a scorcher of a cocktail! We can't begin to thank you both for such an amazing holiday and being able to experience our current (and slightly gypo) way of life.... hiding in the van so we only paid for two people and not four ; ) with us.

It was so hard to say good bye and we did feel a little lost for a few days after you were gone....

Love you both loads and really appreciate everything. See you soon ; ) XXXX

The road to Hell....i-hike

2007-03-24T00:02:00.000Z

After Matt's parents left we were a little down and needed a wee pick-me-up before mine arrived, so we decided to head back to Lake Hawea for some sunshine and a relax before doing a Heli-hike on Fox Glacier on the West coast of the South Island.

Lake Hawea was absolutely gorgeous, just as we remembered when we passed through with Matt's folks and we managed to get a perfect spot on a campsite right on the lake where we spent a whole day chilling out, making brews, reading and just being in awe of the amazing view.We spent the next night in Fox ready to do the Heli-hike the next morning. It was our first time in a helicopter so we were a little nervous but it was pretty amazing - especially when we saw the huge glacier in front of us. We were kitted out in boots, cramp-ons and a walking stick and spent the next 2.5 hours on the glacier, exploring ice caves etc...

We both agreed that it was definitely one of the best if not the best experience of our trip so far!!

Meet The Parents (Part I)

2007-03-04T23:34:00.000Z

Yey... the day came! The folks arrived!!!! We waited for over an hour at the airport for them to come thru the arrivals gate.... we knew something had gone wrong.... and it had! Both of their bags had gotten lost in transit! But it was all irrelevant! There were hugs and tears and we were all really pleased just to see each other. Plus, the bags turned up in the end... after 6 days for poor Al though :(

Anyway, the fun began immediately... and even with no bags we managed to get through Christchurch and take in so many things such as the Gondola, food and drink :) Botanical Gardens, Tram and more food and drink... It was great to be on hol and relaxing with the folks!

We did so much over the 3 weeks that it is just impossible to talk about it all but the highlights included; a scenic flight over Milford Sound in a little Cessna followed by a cruise of the Sound, a visit to Akaroa with a boat trip to see the Hector Dolphins, Hamner Spring Thermal park, a Cruise of the Abel Tasman (where we got a beach to ourselves to enjoy a picnic), Vineyard and Brewery tour (mmmm), Clutha River Jet, Queenstown (Gondola and Luge- yes, you were very brave for doing it twice mum :))

We also had plenty of times just being together and going out for meals and coffee. We even had our own BBQ...

All of the times were really lovely and we were EXTREMELY sad to see them go. They are currently in Hong Kong waiting for their flight to Heathrow and we wanted to have this done for when they get back... hence, it is a little bit short. However, the rest of the pics will be up as soon as poss so you can remember just how much we managed to fit in... but just wanted to say thanks Ma and Al, it was brilliant to see you and we had an amazing time. Love you both and will speak to you soon :) M&T xxx

To see pics click here

the holiday begins... at last!

2007-03-04T23:12:00.000Z

Well, it was goodbye to the White Elephant, Motueka and all things Abel Tasman... at least for a little while :) and we also got to celebrate our 6 month travelling anniversary with a brew and some fries in Hot Mama's cafe... mmm

So, the holiday began with us heading to Nelson to stay with our old muckers Gavin and Mags. We enjoyed the sun, the beaches and the ice cream... and when that all became too unbearable we nipped inside a cool cinema to watch Rocky Balboa... which for those of you who know me (M@) you will know how much I was looking forward to and dreading this release... anyhoo, it was amazing and we both came out teary eyed and agreeing it was a great finale to the series of films... and Sly is back... :)

The next big event for us was the Marlborough Wine Festival, which was a fantastic day and we really started to find out what we enjoy about wine... except for the drunken antics it leads too :) The weather held out and having parked ourselves with our first glass at about 10:00 am we didnt move until 6pm except to refill... which happened a lot! In fact, in some cases (MAGS!) far too many times.... it got messy :) But it was a top time!

And, it came to pass that we had to leave Nelson and head off into the big NZ on our own again... and so the journey began to meet my folks in Christchurch. We spent the first night in Kaikoura, which blew us away before finally getting to Christchurch and settling into a little spot near Hagley Park near the Botanical Gardens. And, we finally reached the most gypo point of our travels so far... we went to the swimming baths just so we could have a shower and avoid having to pay for a campsite- we are officially pikeys! And, we even managed to get a free phone charge up by standing in the supermarket pretending we were looking at flowers... when in fact there was a plug behind the stall that we were connected too :)

Anyhoo, the waiting for the arrival of the folks began (part I)...

North to South

2007-01-25T02:38:00.001Z

After a very drunken last weekend in Auckland with Max, thanks to lots of free drinks from Sebastian at the local Belgium pub on the Saturday night, which didn't help with our plan of winning enough money at the casino to fund the rest of the trip....the fact that we could barely stand may have had something to do with our much lighter pockets at the end of the night... Anyway, our time at Bamber House, on the North Island and with Max came to an end on the Monday morning when we left to travel down to Wellington to catch the ferry across to the South island.

We were quite sad to leave all of the above for may different reasons:

The North Island because it was our first destination of our travelling expedition, not to mention the fact that it's a gorgeous place & we've visited so many amazing places and some great times. Some of the best being -

PIHA - we spent our first month here pet sitting. It is by far one of the most stunning places on the N. island with the KiteKite Falls, Lion Rock, Waitakere Ranges....also our first experience of a long drop loo!
AHIPARA - and Endless Summer Lodge...lazy days baking, cooking, eating, drinking, surfing (kinda), meeting lots of new and now good friends. Definitely the best hostel so far with great hosts Anna and Blaine, not to mention the funniest pets - Billie and Jamie. Our day out for a picnic and sandboarding was one of the funniest yet!
Bay of Islands - We had a lovely couple of days here with Kirstin & Alec - again another gorgeous place.
Coromandel - Best beaches of the North Island - Hahei, Cathedral Cove and the crazy Hot Water Beach.
Mount Maunganui - a bugger to climb but well worth it when we got to the top! Late night BBQ on the beach with friends Katerina and Nao.
Rotorua - bubbling mud - what more do you need??!!
Napier - Sunniest place on the North Island. Our first week there was cool starting with the cycling wine tour for Matt's Birthday. Also our first experience of stacking shelves in a supermarket which wasn't so cool!
Taupo and Tongariro National Park - Volcanoes, sailing, Huka jet and superloos....

Then to Bamber House. - our first experience of managing a hostel, and not a small one at that. Although it was long days and quite tiring, we met lots of friendly backpackers and the work was actually very rewarding (we got good bonuses for a full house!!). We also got to live in the flat, which although was very small, it's the most comfort we've had since leaving home with our very own kitchen with fridge!!
It was also the place where we got to spend an ace few days with our lovely newly wed friends from home Rach and Mat - we miss you guys!

The last of the above brings us to Max.... Since meeting him back at Endless Summer he's been a big part of our North Island travels and has become a good friend. We had lots of fun times and created many happy memories of our travels so far. A fair few of them involving Max 'Brewing up' (meaning of the tea variety, not the 'pull my finger' kind), namely at 2 in the morning for us when we finished our night shift at Pak'n'Save! The rest of them involve food, drink, films, coffee shops, magazines and lots more food and drink. So thanks Max, it's been a pleasure!

Anyway, back to the matter in hand..us travelling to the South island...

The ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton is renowned for being pretty rough, but lucky for us we woke up to a perfect day which meant a nice smooth crossing & stunning views from the sun deck of the Marlborough Sounds.

Not thinking it could possibly get any better, we followed the Queen Charlotte Track from Picton on our route to Nelson, which proved us wrong - we just wished the pictures could do it justice.

We stayed with Mags and Gavin in Nelson for our first night and went Quad biking the next day. Razzing round a Muddy track with amazing scenery and a picnic half way through - nice!

That night we went to our destination for the next 3 weeks - the White Elephant backpackers in Motueka, just on the edge of Abel Tasman National Park where we're working for our accommodation.

We're just coming to our last week now and have so far managed to see most of the Abel Tasman, which again is gorgeous! We went sea kayaking to Split Apple Rock with Kirstin and Alec last week, which was a tad scary further out in the rougher water but still pretty cool and we managed to see the seal colony at Tonga Island from the water taxi.

A couple of weeks ago we had our first outdoor cinematic experience. The local park in nelson was showing 'Rebel without a Cause' starring James Dean which was good fun. We went with Gavin, Kirstin and Alec and everyone took along blankets, picnics and alcohol, one group even took a sofa...!

We've now got one week left here at the White Elephant before we get to stay with Mags & Gavin again in Nelson ready for the Marlborough Sounds wine festival (free wine, food and entertainment...), then we'll be travelling down to Christchurch ready for the arrival of Matt's Mum and Al on the 14th February - Can't wait!

For more pics...

left a good job in the city...

2007-01-13T06:28:00.000Z

well, its true... it was a really nice job at Bamber House. Nearly all of the people we met were great and truly nice. It was fun, but lots of hard work... ask Bully... she was near breakdown by the end of it :)

However, the next stage of adventure begins. We travel to the South Island on the Interislander Ferry on Tuesday morning and our first port of call (apart from Picton where we dock) is Nelson for a night to catch up with our friends from Ahipara, Gavin and Mags. We are then bound not too far away from them as we begin our next job, cleaning for accommodation in Motueka at the White Elephant lodge, which looks lovely.

We think we may also have a chance to meet up with old pals Kirsten and Alec too, who are now also on the South Island, which is always nice.

Our moving on is also tinged with some sadness as it means we'll be leaving our crazy German friend Max for the last time in New Zealand. Since meeting him in Ahipara 5 long months ago we've had many goodbyes but we always knew that they wouldn't be for long, or at least we came to realise that after he managed to find us again for the 3rd or 4th time... ; ) But this time it's for good as Max is leaving NZ in Feb. We've had a weekend of goodbye celebrations...or commiserations... which consisted of a cinema night on Friday, a very drunken pub and casino night last night and we're having a last meal at the hostel tonight.

Not to worry though, we're planning on popping in to see him in Germany on our way home before Christmas and he'll be coming over to us for New Year.... so prepare yourselves!!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-06T05:51:00.000Z

Wishing you all lots of Love, Happiness, & fun times for 2007!

Blimey, we can't believe Christmas and New Year are all over...it always goes so fast.

Christmas actually turned out to be much better than we were expecting. Everywhere here was so un-christmassy that we just didn't feel in the mood....that is until we finished work for our Christmas lunch and started digging into the 3 huge chilly bins of fruity vodka punch...that certainly raised our spirits!! The big BBQ, the sun, and the packages of Christmas cards and presents from our lovely friends and folks also helped!

Next, was New Year's Eve, and more importantly of course...Trace's Birthday....couldn't come round quick enough for us as it also signalled the arrival of some friendly faces from home...the newly weds, Rach & Mat.

I (TB) was treated to a lovely Birthday lunch by Matt and Max which consisited of my favourite meal... chip butties with mayonnaise (not very sophisticated i know!) and a homemade Birthday cake from Max. I also got lots of lovely cards and presents, texts and emails - thanks loads to everyone who sent them!! But the biggest thanks goes to Matty who worked for me not only on my Birthday, but also the day after which as you'll soon find out was no mean feat!

We had a reservation at the Orbit (revolving) restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower for NYE, which has the most stunning views over the whole of Auckland and we even managed to catch the sun setting just as we took our seats. The food, drink, atmosphere and live music was all just perfect and before we new it it was midnight and the fireworks were going off all over the City as well as off the top of the Sky Tower.

After the meal we decided to head for the casino, where after a few dutch courages and a small loss on the Roulette table, Rach and I decided we were brave enough to have a go on a Black Jack table. Explaining to the croupier that we'd never played before and didn't know the rules, we were left feeling a little red faced when she suggested we should start on the smaller tables.... we'd sat down at a $25 minimum table....

Not to worry though, we got Rach a space at a $10 table and after building up a very friendly rappour ; ) with the Little Britain Hypnotist look-a-like Rach came away V. Happy after winning over $100!

After a few more drinks in another casino area and lots more catching up, we were moved on, as everywhere was closing, and so decided to have another go on the tables. Rach and I joined forces and after putting $20 down came away with over $200... not bad for our first time (well, Rach's 2nd), and of course we had a lot of help from the boys!

We decided to quit while we were ahead and make our way out to get a taxi. When we stepped outside it was daylight and the birds were singing... we looked at our watches and saw that it was 6.30am.... poor Matt had to start a 12 hour shift at 8.30am.... ! He got through it though, and didn't complain....too much! ; )

On New Years Day, after a lot of recovering by most of us, and hard work by Matt, Rach & Mat came to the hostel where Max cooked us a 3-course meal that we were still trying to get through at lunch the next day!

Here comes the sad part...

On the 2nd Jan it was Max's Birthday (we went to a Belgian pub for a dram and then to the cinema to watch The Prestige) and Mat & Rach's last day in Auckland, so after a quick detour up to the top of Mount Eden, we popped into the village for some goodbye/ birthday drinks before Mat & Rach drove off into the sunset in their luxury camper!

We'd had such an amazing few days with them that when it came to them leaving, it felt like we were back leaving Manchester Airport on August 6th again... : (

Have a great trip guys!

**more pics**

Season's Greetings!

2006-12-20T23:46:00.000Z

... its CHRISTMASSSSSSSSS... MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sorry, we can't send everyone Christmas cards this year as the postage would financially cripple us! But, we just want to wish everyone a really excellent Chrimbo and hope you follow it with a fantastic New Year!! Take care of yourselves and we look forward to seeing you all this time next year.

Love

M&T

xxx

p.s. Cheers Lee for the piccie :)

city life...

2006-12-20T23:43:00.000Z

... so, we're back in Auckland... and as far as city living goes, its actually really nice! We are staying in an area called Mount Eden, which those 'die-hard' blog fans will remember, has a volcano that we visited earlier in the year?!? In fact, from where I am sitting now I can actually see the peak of the thing! We're close enough to the city so that you can walk in, but far enough out so that you don't get the city noise and hassle. Perfick!

We are currently managing a backpackers hostel called 'Bamber House' (www.hostelbackpacker.com), and it is really nice. We are working pretty hard- we both do 12 hours a day for 7 days a week- but split this up between ourselves. In return we are getting a small apartment (which is absolute heaven after living in the van for 6 weeks!!!!!), and we are getting paid too! The job is nice and we are getting to meet some really friendly and nice people... also a few nasty ones.... but there's the good, the bad and the ugly from every country...

But overall, things are pretty darn tops!

The weather is starting to pick up just in time for Chrimbo (hehehe, thought I'd mention that... are you all wearing your winter woolies yet?), but it doesn't really feel that merry. Its all quite surreal in fact.... December.... sun.... BBQ's???? Hmmmm..... don't get us wrong, its nice and all, but it just isn't Christmas.... sorry NZ, but when it comes to seasonal tidings the Brits do it better :) Where's the trees? The Carols? The ace stuff on TV? The biggest Christmas song in NZ is called 'Snoopy'!!!! and, its not even about Charlie Brown's dog??? I mean, what's all that about!!!!! Its actually about a cowboy.... what???!!?!?!?

Anyhoo, we've ventured out into the city a few times- we went to the big Auckland 'Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park' celebration, which had bands and famous NZ celebrity type people on (who we'd never heard of... lol), we've done the normal tour of Queen Street... but, the best place we have found so far is this really old Graveyard where the trees are opening all the graves up.... a bit macabre we know, but its ace!

*click here for more pics*

Also, as its Christmas and we haven't seen him for a while... we let Max join us again!! In typical Max stylee though- we met up to find out he had a date in court and had written his car off! So him and me (m@), headed to Auckland Court to find out his punishment... for driving on the wrong side of the road and having a head-on crash! He was fined $430... hehe... oh how we chuckled... until we arrived at court... at which point we were actually VERY scared... bad people everywhere!! Still, got a few good pics of the event :)

the road to Mordor... ish

2006-12-18T08:50:00.000Z

Yey! We finally finished the nightfill at Pak'n' Save, which whilst we'd love to say was a great job.... it really wasn't.... unless of course you mean great 'job' in a Billy Connelly stylee.... but, it served its purpose and got us on the road again in a newly re-vitalised van... in fact, it is now the van with the attitude of a huge, big truck! It kicks ass! OK, so things got a little embarrassing when we were told we'd actually been putting in the wrong fuel.. but hey, you learn from your mistakes! We now get double the mileage from a full-tank... yes, not the most interesting topic...unless you are about to run dry between Rotorua and Taupo for example! Which, incidentally....

After leaving Napier (click here for the last few Napier days...), we headed out to Taupo, which was a great place- it has the biggest lake in the North Island, and is actually a huge volcano crater, which is still active! We slept on the side of the lake and found a great thing called a 'super loo'... amazing! It means you don't have to book into a campsite or anything, because you can get a shower for $2.... (about 70p).... amazing for gypos like us (wanna buy some pegs mister?)....

Anyway, less of the loo- we were in an amazing place, and all we can discuss is the bog and shower facilities..... we woke up on the first morning there and could see Mt Ruapeho and 2 other active volcano's (with names I could not ever type!) across the lake.... It was absolutely brilliant! It was quite scary too as the volcanoes had last erupted in 1995 and 1996 ... so, they could blow again anytime!

Not content with being at arms length, we actually took a drive up Mt Ruapeho, and managed to get 1/3 of the way up it in the van... it was here that Mordor for the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed. It was pretty desolate and barren, but still had a beauty of its own.

The next day in Taupo, we seriously considered doing a skydive... but money stopped us... really, we weren't scared in the least ;) Instead, we went on a sailing boat (previously owned by Errol Flynn, which, he apparently won in a card game!) over the lake and out to the Maori Rock Carvings. They were really good, and the sailing experience was amazing! I felt like Simon Le Bon in the Rio video (for those old enough!)... and Trace even got a chance to steer the bloody thing while the skipper made us a brew! Captain Bull, at your service.....

We followed this by a ride on the HukaJet (www.hukajet.co.nz) at Huka Falls... 360 degree turns in a speed boat! Awesome! And not actually that scary... until the guide told us that the water was so rough near the falls themselves that there was nothing but air in the water (!) and so if we got too close we would just sink! Luckily, we didn't get 'too' close... although a 360 spin right on the border was enough to concern us a tad......

Then, we headed back to Rotorua because we just couldn't get enough of that bubbling mud! Its great! Its kind of like the insides of a big intestinal system... lots of gurgling, farting, spluttering, and mini-explosions of the poo variety... except with mud and egg smell.... but its great and you can watch it for hours and chuckle like a kiddie at the noises...

And, finally, before we headed back to Auckland, we went out to Raglan to meet up with our Scottish pals Kirsten and Alec, who were now traveling having finished their cushy number in the Bay of Islands :) It was really nice to see them again, and we had a great time getting drunk on 1/2 a bottle of wine and playing cards until the moths became too much...

So, off to Auckland it is to start working again (for 'the man'- as Jack Black would say) and try to earn a living.... in another type of job we haven't had before... fingers crossed it'll be ok :)

*click here for more piccies*

... new pics at last...

2006-11-07T04:40:00.000Z

Hey again, just to quickly let you know we now have some pics finally uploaded....

click here to view them

m&t

... a new arrival...

2006-11-05T23:46:00.000Z

For those of you who don't already know, Trace has become an auntie again with the arrival of baby Louie, born to eldest brother Leigh and his girlfriend Emma. Pics to follow soon... when we get cheaper internet access!

... just a quick update on all things.. well, us... :)

We have moved on from Great Barrier as we had the opportunity of work in the Hawkes Bay area and are getting in need of funds... too many tea and cakes according to Trace :) So, we are now living in Napier, which is an art deco city/ town also known as the Chardonnay capital of the world... :) It also has the best weather in NZ, which is a bonus!

We are currently working at NZ's version of Kwik Save (called Pak'n'Save), and we are working on the nightfill 5 days a week. The hours are cool as we are doing from 7pm until 2.30am, which means we get all our days free to explore, drink coffee, eat cakes and lounge around in the sun.

My (m@) B-day passed on the 29th Oct and we hired some bicycles and headed out for a vineyard tour. We covered about 20 kms and nearly the same in liters of wine! It was a really nice day and some of the wine we tasted was amazing! Also, en route we came across a chocolate factory which was an unexpected treat! :) We finished the night off with a lovely meal at a little Italian restaurant and had our first NZ pizza! It passed the test with flying colours!

So, all is well and we are still having a great time. We will get some pics on soon... honest!

M&T xxxxxxxxxxxx

onwards and... well, onwards...

2006-10-14T03:00:00.000Z

... well, we are nearing the end of our little break and we are destined to take the ferry from Auckland on Tues 17th October to the Great Barrier Island. The place looks amazing and we are both really excited. Since the Bay of Islands we have travelled through Auckland and followed the Coromandel Peninsula nearly all the way around until Tauranga and Mount Maunganui.

We climbed the mount last night and witnessed the most gorgeous sunset! Although we were both very red-faced and tired!

We are currently in the cultural centre of Rotorua and are destined for a Hangi tonight (which will include a traditional meal, welcome to the village, a tour of glow worm caves and traditional performance in Maori stylee).

Tomorrow we are going to Hell's Gate which sounds pretty awesome too!

Anyhoo, much to do and little time left on-line, more pics soon and in case anybody wants to write, send pressies (money appreciated), or hate mail :) then our address from the 17th October for 6 weeks is as follows....

Stray Possum Lodge, RD 1 Tryphena, Great Barrier Island, 0991, New Zealand

Laters, M&T :)
XXX

Pastures new....

2006-10-07T21:03:00.000Z

... well we have left our job at the Endless Summer Lodge in Ahipara and we are now in the Bay of Islands. Leaving was difficult because we had such a nice time there and the owners of the Lodge (Anna and Blaine) were so nice!!!

As a thankyou and a goodbye, they took us all out for a picnic around the Point... it involved Blaine tackling some scary terrain... well, it was to us anyway!! However, once we finally got through the sea.... lol, it wasnt quite that bad... we ended up in a lovely place with some really big sand dunes! So, after a gorgeous picnic (we were both stuffed!), out came the sandboards! It was great fun and the winner was the one and only Trace, who after complaining that she was scared and didnt want to do it managed to hold on right to the bottom and beat us all!

We then headed out to the Seaweed Picker's Huts further around the bay... en route, Jamie, Anna and Blaine's cute little dog (who we dubbed Santa's Little Helper), firstly, jumped from the window of the moving car... and, then when we got her back in she threw up all over the backseat leaving poor Blaine with a rather dirty job!!

On our final day at the lodge we headed to Cape Reinga and along 90-Mile Beach for a trip out around the Northern Most point of NZ. It was really nice and our first real tourist trip!

From there, we left the lodge (in very sombre mood) and headed off to Paihia (via Cable Bay Whangeroa and Kerikeri), to stay with 2 friends, Alec and Kirsten, who soon cheered us up with a mega nice (and rather hot) chilli!

Our first day in Paihia (the Bay of Islands)', we went to a place called the Lookout and also took a trip to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, which was really nice. We followed this with a view of the Harura Falls...

The next day we booked onto a cruise of the Bay of Islands, and so with an early start we hit the high seas... It was gorgeous! The trip took us out to the Hole in the Rock, Cape Brett and all the really nice sights... we even had a few dolphins join the cruise, which made it even more memorable!

Unfortuantely, today we have to leave the Bay as we have an interview in Auckland. But, we will then be taking a weeks holiday (within a holiday of course!), where we head to Coromandel, Gisbourne, Roturua and possibly Napier.... however, best laid plans and all that... so, we'll see where we end up :)

For pics of the last days in Endless Summer Lodge, Cape Reinga, the picnic, dog sick and the Bay of Islands cruise ... click here

Wahey... some pics... at last!

2006-09-25T01:48:00.000Z

Sorry, we were in a bit of a rush yesterday... so forgotted too mention some other bits and bobs.

In all the tradition of Vietnam (as we're in NZ!!), we all decided we needed to have a birthday at the Lodge... So, Nao made a cake and Angie got her best decorating hat on and we all celebrated a hoooge birthday... each!!! It was tops!

We have also had many nights of chocolate fondue to celebrate various other... erm, well, made up things...

Our English classes are going really well, and there are now some crazy Japanese guys travelling around NZ saying 'Sweet Baby Jesus' and 'Brew up Lass'.... amongst other things :)

Max, the German loon, has some excellent catch phrases and would now fit into any role on Phoenix Nights! Hopefully, you'll all get to meet him as he will deffo be heading over to the UK to visit us at some point in the future.

there are finally some pics of life so far at the lodge.... click here
Laters :)

Lazy Days

2006-09-23T22:01:00.000Z

... Well, we're still at the Endless Summer Lodge in Ahipara and our days basically consist of...
wake up, have brek, start work at 10 (which usually lasts about 1.5 hrs), have lunch, surf/relax/sunbath/stroll along the beach/read/have an afternoon bathe in the huge tub, afternoon tea (bitty Mr Hancock), shower, chill some more, dinner, drink, chill, play cards, supper, then retire to bed after a long hard day.... As you can imagine, we've ballooned!

However, inbetween our bouts of hard work we have managed to explore a few of the surrounding areas. We wandered up to Shipwreck Bay and took a stroll along the first part of Ninety-Mile beach, which were both gorgeous. We also took a drive to the KariKari peninsula and came across Matai Bay which is the most amazing place we've seen so far!

We've got loads of pics, but unfortunately the internet is still really expensive so we'll update ASAP.

Hope all is well in blighty!

TTFN,
M & T
xxx

Endless Summer....

2006-09-11T04:04:00.000Z

Well, we've arrived at our next destination, the Endless Summer Lodge in Ahipara, and it is amazing! The Lodge itself is just beautiful, and we are right on the beach front!! We spent 2 nights in the van on the way up and they were fun (if not uncomfortable at times... especially when the air mattress sprang a leak! We managed to kind of fix it, but it meant that whenever one of us moved, the other was catapulted about 6 foot up in the air.... hmmm...)

Our first night was spent at the Kai iwi lakes, and we were the only campers there! We made a brew on a little beach area with our camping stove and watched the sun go down! It was fantastic! Once it got dark though, it was a tad scary... Friday the 13th kept springing to mind as we were parked by a big lake with nobody else around... but it was very exciting :)

We saw some amazing scenery en route too and followed the West Coast all the way to our current destination. The most amazing views were around every corner and we could go from a rolling English countryside view to a Canadian Rockies type view in literally 30 seconds! The most breathtaking place we saw though was Hokianga Harbour. We got out of the van and just couldn't believe it! There was sand, forest, lakes, crashing waves from the ocean, mountains, hills... its the first time a view quite literally took my breath away... maybe I'm getting old :)

Sorry, we cant put any pics on this entry (but the cafe we are at hasn't got very good facilities and it costs quite a lot too! Also, sorry for the slow response to emails... its for the same reason), but hopefully we'll be able to soon as we have some great ones!!

So, anyway, Ahipara... its a great place and we are enjoying our job- we are making beds and cleaning and stuff and for the first time in my life, I don't mind it.... still, it helps that it all only takes 2 hours and then we can chill and sit in the sun or go for a surf....

In fact, we went for our first surf yesterday!!!!! We both have the wetsuit chaffs to prove it too!! It was a lot more difficult than we both thought and the waves were really quite bad too... Trace couldn't get on the board and hated the waves coming at her... she said she had a near death experience.... and my board hit me in the head at one point when I stupidly tried to lift it above the wave... doh! Everything went very bright and suddenly I was being pulled along by my leg rope... lol, still, it taught me a valuable lesson..... never to surf again! Only kidding, I'm hoping to go again later. However, Trace may take a bit more convincing.

We've met lots of folk at the Lodge and we are helping a German guy called Max with his English... talk about the blind leading the blind... LOL, he'd reet fit in up north now tho I tell thee.

Anyhoo, we'll write more soon and hope all is well in Blighty.

Laters

M&T x

the first month comes to an end....

2006-09-03T00:31:00.000Z

well, the first month has come to an end... we leave Piha bright and early on Tuesday morning and follow the east coast as best we can up to Ahipara and Endless Summer Lodge. En route we get to spend 2 nights in our lovely, newly furnished, van! We're both excited about spending some time in the van, but I reckon this will be pretty much short lived when we wake the next day aching all over and have no toast or TV :) nah, should be cool..........

we had a great week now that we're mobile and we have finally managed to get some of the stuff we wanted to do done! We headed off to Mount Eden (big volcano type thing with great views of Auckland).... the little black dots down the slopes are kids from a 'naughty' school sliding down....

we met a kiwi at the top who pointed us in the right direction for our next jaunt, which was One Tree Hill, which was so named because of its one tree... which is no longer there and has instead been replaced by an obelisk. Our new friend also advised us to visit Devonport, which is a quiet suburb of Auckland that you can either get a ferry across to or drive over Auckland bridge... we opted for the latter, which I soon regretted as the wind was mental and the views made it a pretty surreal driving experience! Still, we survived and it was a really nice, quaint little place.

Our next stops were Kitekite Falls, which were about a 40 min tramp but well worth it! We were both really surprised by the size of them! We were expecting a tiny little stream.... but, this was what we got!

And we also managd to get to Karekare Beach (where 'The Piano' was filmed), which again was awesome! Pictures just don't do it justice.... so, you'll all have to come on over for a bbq sometime :)

Anyhoo, this may be the last blog for a week or so while we begin the next leg of the journey and get settled in our new digs. Thanks for the comments and while we are still undecided on a name for the van all suggestions are welcome.... 'Road Runner' is so far in the lead :)

catch u all soon :) m&t xxx

btw, more pics here...

Van-tastic!

2006-08-28T23:00:00.000Z

Yes - we're finally sorted with our very own little van after lots of trials and tribulations, inluding buying a station wagon and finding out it was a lemon (even after we had a mechanical check) then having to sell it again - what a pain!! Now we've bought a funky little Nissan Vannett off Pam & Mike (Our Petsitting employers). It needed a little bit of work in order to make sure it'd last for the next 12 months, but now it's sorted and we just need to buy some camping gear and make it nice and cosy... just so it looks cool of course while we're staying in our nice, warm lodge!! No, really, we are planning to stay in it....

Our Petsitting job came to an end on Friday when Pam and Mike came back from their Apartment in Oz- which is available to rent by the way! They threw us & Jamie & Kyle (the Canadian couple we've been working with) a 'Thank you Woofers' BBQ on Sunday at their 'Bali Bar', which was really nice - good food, drink and conversation all whilst watching the sun go down... perfect!

Now we have a week staying in the cabin until we move up North to Ahipara and the Endless Summer Lodge, so we're going to make the most of it by seeing as much of Auckland and the surrounding areas as possible in our new wheels. There's a bungy jump set up off Auckland Harbour Bridge on Friday which looks interesting, we might go along and, well..... have a look!! You never know we might be a bit daring.....

Apart from that, all is well in NZ, Matt has a bit of a cold because it is pretty chilly here at the moment, although we are having a few good days and we've been told spring is just around the corner.

You can see more pics from the last couple of weeks here. We've also finally got a new camera sorted thanks to Matt's Mum and Al, so they should be better quality from now on...

Kia Ora...

2006-08-12T02:09:00.000Z

...from New Zealand!

Well, we got here safe and sound... but raggy and shattered after a 24 hour flight - a stop over is definitely called for next time! Singapore airport looks pretty cool too although we didn't get much time to look round.

When we finally arrived we spent the first night in Auckland, which was suprisingly very British! Our first day was quite busy going to orientation's, sorting bank accounts and phones etc... Incidentally we now have a kiwi phone number - 0064 210 275 2023 - don't forget though, there is a 12 hour time difference - no 3am wake-up calls please!!

Monday night we arrived at Pam & Mike's in Piha in the middle of a storm which was a little bit scary as we are staying in a small cabin on a hill with a tin roof! But as the sun came up the next morning, the view was absolutely amazing - something that no amount of rain could dampen!

The cabin is ace - we have a gas stove, microwave, heater and a TV, which we really weren't expecting - Shortland Street is so addictive! We have running water outside on the veranda for washing up etc... and our toilet facilities are what is known as 'the long drop'!! (i.e. a hole in the ground.)

Tuesday, we met Tim, Anna and Scott (Pam & Mikes, son, daughter and partner) who are all really friendly and helped us settle in loads. For example, pointing us in the direction of the RSA (local pub), which does beer for just over a quid a pint and ace veggie food.

We also met the pets - sheep (Snowy and twins Lulu and Lulu), the dogs (Bossie, Bailey, Roxy and Spike) and cat (Millie), who are all gorgeous, but more about them another day...

We're job sharing with another couple - Jamie and Kyle from Canada who are really nice - they've already got a van sorted so they've helped us out with lifts and advice (they've been here a couple of months already) which, again, all really helps!

We're doing day on day off shifts so managed to do some exploring on Wednesday which was absolutely amazing. We didn't have to go far, just a 10 minute walk down to the beach and then a trail up a hill which took us to a view point that blew us away.

We're in Henderson today - the nearest town and hopefully tomorrow we'll get a car or campervan sorted... Yey - we'll be mobile in NZ!

It's scary to think our first week is already over - there's so much to see and do here and we're already looking forward to the next 51...

To view our pics so far, click here.... oh, and btw... our camera broke nearly as soon as we landed in Auckland, so the pics quality isnt great unfortuantely as we're relying on phone cams for the time being... boo!

our last goodbye...

2006-08-04T10:47:00.000Z

Well at least until tonight's get together for Big Al's Birthday get together and tomorrow's convoy to the airport!

Sorry, we haven't updated the blog for a while, we've just had so much going on over the last few weeks which has included lots of goodbye meals, curry's and lunchs etc - needless to say, we're feeling a little worn out and very podgy at the moment!

This may be a long one, so be prepared....

I (TB) finished work at CNBC on the 21st July which was a little sad as i've made some great friends there, but as a wise 'young' man called Pip once said 'Don't worry these are the type of friends that you'll have for life.' Parky, Slater Girl and Pretty Polly Perkins - thank you for all the fun girly nights over the last couple of years and for my leaving present- a special edition of the CanCan all about ME... perfect!

My department organised an English tea party for me which was so lovely and very unexpected!! Then a load of us went into Nantwich for a meal at the Crown and on to Nakatcha's for more drinks. Thank you to everyone who came it was much appreciated, I had a great night and I really appreciated all the lovely cards and of course the collection! Which, by-the-way has helped to buy a new camera for our travels.

We took our parent's out for a meal at the Dysart Arms in Bunbury on Sat 22nd to say a big thank you for all their hard work on the house, the leaving party and everything else they've done for us over the last year or so. We booked a mini-bus so we could all relax and have a few drinks and it was a really lovely night which was enhanced by the lovely food and atmosphere at the Dystart. Click here to see more pics.

30th July was the Nantwich Acoustic Festival at Dorfold hall, which Matt's Mum and Al very kindly paid for us all to go. we had a top time and Hayseed Dixie stole the show by far!! Pics of us gradually getting drunker and drunker throughout the day can be seen here....

And finally, we ended the blitz of food, beer, and... well... food... with 2 curries!! One with Matt's Dad and the other with Smackwater Jack (Matt's Band) and partners. Incidentally... to hear Matt warbling and the SWJ boys playing, head over to their band site (www.smackwaterjack.co.uk)

A couple of pics from the band gathering are also available here...

But thats it... we're finally off tomorrow. So, we'd both just like to say a huge thanks to everyone for their lovely cards and well wishes... and we will be back to bore you all with our tales one day :)

Keep watching this spot and we'll speak again from NZ

Ooooohhh Betty....

2006-07-18T11:22:00.000Z

Blimey, everything is coming round so quickly - Saturday night was our leaving party which we set the date for months ago thinking we would be flying a little sooner than we are and I can’t believe it’s been and gone already.

I’ll start by apologising for my pathetic attempt at a speech. As Matt pointed out whilst saving me and taking over, I was a little drunk and as you all heard, for some reason, turned into Frank Spencer?! Now I am sober though, I would really like to thank everyone for coming and for your lovely cards and presents. And a special thank you to both our parents for, well... everything!

Also, a huge thank you goes to DJ Mat Mabe, who played the funkiest of tunes and kept everyone strutting their stuff ‘til the early hours of the morning. Although, I must say i do think you have a little gap in your collection Mat - no Pussy Cat Dolls, what was that all about??!!

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who came, Matt and I really enjoyed ourselves and we hope you did too.

Click here to see more pics.

graduation time...

2006-07-14T11:38:00.000Z

Wednesday 12th July was Trace's graduation ceremony at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. It was a really nice day and everyone was dead proud. The gowns looked great and the ceremony went really well (nope, she didnt trip... even though the walk did look particularly long and scary!)

After the ceremony we all went to Manchester Town Hall for a wee dram and then headed off for dinner... while Charlotte slept in the car :)

At night we went out to Curshaws for a meal, which was really nice and left us all feeling suitably stuffed and drunk! (well, I was anyhoo...)

Well done again Trace, you deserved it and worked really hard to get it. We managed to get lots of nice piccies of Trace with both family and friends who she studied with. Click to see 'em

child's play... NOT!!

2006-07-14T10:40:00.000Z

Just a quickie... last Saturday was the Nantwich Family Fun Day and we decided to take Jack and Angel (Trace's other nephew and niece). It was a nice day, with lots for the kids to do; fairground rides, big massive slides (bigger than a house according to Jack), bands, candy floss etc... However, the day turned into a couple of hours because we were worn out! I salute all parents now and in the future, and apologise if I ever had as much energy!Luckily, just as Trace and me were about to lose consciousness, Jack came over to us and said he felt tired... PHEW! Unfortunately, whilst we thought Jack had merely taken pity on us, he was actually coming down with a really bad bout of chicken pox, which has absolutely covered him from head to toe in lurgy!! Poor little thing!! Get well soon :)

We had a really nice time and as the pics show, they really are the cutest pair!

Click here for pics

Hi Ho, Hi Ho....

2006-07-10T09:20:00.000Z

It's off to work we go.....

Yes, we've sorted our first job in New Zealand - Pet sitting!

We saw a post on the backpackers board asking for pet sitters and thought it sounded too good to be true, but we emailed it anyway and it turned out to be even better than we expected.

We're looking after 4 dogs, 2 cats and 3 sheep for a lovely couple called Pam and Mike Jolly who live in the most gorgeous place called Piha which is about 50 minutes drive from Auckland.

We're job sharing with a couple from Canada and we get 4 weeks free accomodation in exchange for 18 days work looking after the animals whilst they're away in their apartment in Oz.

Pam has been kind enough to send us some photos and the one above is 3 of the dog's we'll be looking after - how cute - i'll never want to leave!

This will be our accomodation whilst we're there - Cabbage Tree Cabin!

We arrive in Auckland late on the 6th August and we'll stay in a hostel for the night, then travel to Piha the next day to get started.

We really can't wait now, especially when we've been lucky enough to fall upon such a nice start to our trip.

You can see more photos of where we'll be staying etc here. There's also a gorgous photo of Snowy the sheep - he has twin sisters called Lulu and Lulu!

Also, this is a link to a website decicated to Piha - as well as Pam and Mike's own website

Only 4 weeks to go now!!

Just one more photo for you, for now anyway... this was taken by Pam and Mike as they were flying over Piha to Australia -

up... up... and away.....

2006-07-02T08:03:00.000Z

This week has been brilliant! Tinged with a couple of sad moments...

Thursday was my (m@) last day at Alive Network and I have to say, it really was a sad moment. Although I'd only been there since October, the fact that the company is so young and friendly made it really easy to settle in quickly. Its not often that you can work somewhere and genuinely say that you think highly of everyone!! I'll take away some great memories. Everyone made my last day really special, and although I've said it before, if it wasn't for the fact of the opportunity to travel, it would honestly be the place I could see me retiring from (many years from now of course!). So, from me to Alive Network, I just want to say thanks for being the most funky, friendly and creative company I have ever had the pleasure to work at, and this is all down to its people!

On the flip-side... I got some fantastic leaving gifts (again, proving what a top lot of folk they is!)... They got me a digital hand-held camcorder (with 1Gb memory) that literally fits into a shirt pocket! Awesome! (Check out the balloon pics below)...and, they got me the AA guide to New Zealand, which is the guide we have used for all our other travels, but were just too tight to buy this time...
They really thought about what to get and I couldn't have asked for anything better :)

Again, Saturday was a good news, bad news scenario... Firstly England plummeted out of the World Cup to Portugal... on Penalties again! Devastating... 'nuff said!
However, the balloon flight went ahead!!! We took off from Cholmondely Castle and flew for over 1 hour before coming down with a BANG! Even the pilot agreed it was a particularly bad landing... Still, it was worth it! So, thanks Ma and Al for the pressie, it was amazing!

click here to see them all...

baby you're a rich man....

2006-06-25T08:40:00.000Z

yippeeee! Ding dong the house is gone! After months of waiting, surveys, solicitors letters and paperwork, the house is finally nothing to do with us! Everything exchanged on Friday and a nice fat cheque was received on Saturday :) It really does feel like a huge relief!
The week has been spent ferrying back and forth between the old house and my mums (m@) trying to get all the last bits sorted and moved. Everything was sold in the end and the house looked pretty good when we left it.... certainly better than the day we first got there... we both just looked at each other and said 'What have we done!'

We nipped to Auntie Saggy's on Friday to see little Beth and check that Jet was doing OK... and of course she was... sleeping away on the sofa and acting like she owned the place! Beth was soooo cute too!

Mum and Al have gone on hol to Crete for a week so we chilled out with a bottle of wine and some nice food... and of course the football.

And then on Saturday, we headed into Crewe to pay our cheque in and look for flights.... how crap are travel agents! It was seriously a case of 'computer says no...' rubbish!

So, we headed home, got on t'interweb (well, Trace did, Germany were playing Sweden you see 2-0... the Germans look scary... I digress...), and booked everything ourselves (flights and insurance). Got a smart price and we are now all set for heading out on August 5th!

Today is Sunday and England are playing Equador in the second round of the World Cup... it's a match we should win, but we haven't looked pariculalrly convincing so far... so who knows... Anyhoo, we have aranged a BBQ for the match so i'd best go and wake the Bulk so we can go shopping for the bits we need.... COME ON ENGLAND!

the smartest arse in town...

2006-06-20T11:54:00.000Z

... and, somebody forgot to mention that they have just had their degree mark back too!

Well done Trace on getting your 2:1! You really deserve it and I know how hard you have worked for it.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Love yer and Im really proud!

Matt
xx

what's new pussy cat?

2006-06-19T14:38:00.000Z

This weekend was a biggy as we finally moved out of our house and into Matt’s Mum & Al’s. Although this is good news because it means we’re getting closer to our goal of travelling, it was also really sad because we had to leave Jet…

We took her to Sal’s on Saturday and we were really quite upset – this was for purely selfish reasons of missing her of course because she was absolutely fine and settled in almost straight away.

Sal said she had a bit of a shock when Beth came home from her grandparent’s and wanted to play, but luckily Jet’s used to this from Matt and knew to run and hide far away… or at least under the sofa!

We’re also a little bit sad over leaving the house. It’s strange because we’ve moved a lot over the last 6 years and it was always the plan to renovate this house and sell it as quickly as possible, but with all the blood, sweat and tears put in to it over the past 18 months it actually feels like a bit of a wrench.

Just to mention also that it wasn’t always our own blood, sweat and tears either – we’d never have been able to do it without the help of both our families who have all been absolutely amazing and given up their weekends to help us strip, clean, wallpaper etc without ever giving it a second thought so Thank You!!

Just before I go, Matt got his full visa through last week which is ace news and means we can book the flights this weekend...

party on dudes...

2006-06-11T08:18:00.000Z

just to let everyone know... we're having a leaving party! Click on the pic below to go to the invite site and let us know if you will be coming! hope to see you there!

monkey business

2006-06-05T09:06:00.000Z

OK, so this is my first ‘blog’ - Matt’s done all the work so far so I thought I’d better chip in.

Here goes…

First things first - Our BBH cards came this weekend along with Matt’s form for his visa which was all very exciting – that is until he realised how big the form was!

Saturday afternoon was spent getting a beer garden tan at the Barbridge before going in to watch the England game. Can I just say - how cute is Crouch!! Is it just me or does anyone else agree? I know, I know Matt you rated him from the beginning (for his football skills of course) and ‘in your face glovesy’ for thinking he was a waste of space (yes I was listening on Saturday and no I still don’t understand how all the leagues and tables work).

Because we’re off in just under two months we’re trying to spend as much time with our family as possible, so on Sunday we took my nephew Jake (Jason’s little boy) to the new monkey forest at Trentham. If you haven’t already been it’s definitely worth a visit. Jake seemed to enjoy himself anyway as you can see from the photies…

Next week it’s Jack and Angel's turn, we’re not sure where to take them yet though….

We’ll hopefully have a date to move house by the end of this week too.

and the beat goes on....

2006-05-30T18:34:00.000Z

...so, we are both on our notices at work and have both paid for our visas... this is suddenly very real... and pretty ace!
I (matt) gave my notice in last Thurs and it works out that my last day will be June 30th. Pretty cool as the next day we can celebrate (or die) on our hot air balloon trip over Cheshire.
Trace has got her visa pretty quick, but cos i'm such an audi I have to go through the whole Bunac hassle of form filling and more expense. That'll teach me for being born too soon.
Had a cool weekend of relaxing and watching Scrubs. Also, managed to fit in a trip to the beach to see the sea. It was freezing!
We sold the last dregs of our bits at the car-boot on Sunday. Once we move out of the house we will own the clothes in our bags and that will be it!

keeping on top of the little things...

2006-05-13T08:17:00.000Z

... i like this blog stuff, its a handy thing to keep all your important bits of info together. For example, the links at the side are great cos we can just put anything up there and get to it quickly instead of surfing.

The BBH one is a great site and I think we'll be using their accommodation quite a bit. Especially, when some of the hostels are like this...

We've also got our travel email address sorted now, which is traceandmatt@hotmail.co.uk

Incidentally, to stop you losing this site (Alan and Tony!!), when you first load it up by typing in the address we gave you... hold down the 'Ctrl' key and 'D' together and it will be saved to your favorites, or bookmarks. Then you won't need to type it again.

But apart from messing with this and trying to get bits in order, everything is *touch wood* going well. We had the work done on the house that was needed so hopefully next week we will have a date to move out...

Whilst this is brilliant for us and what we have been working and waiting for for the last 18 months, there is one downside. When we go we have to give up our little Jet...

We know she is going to a good home and will be looked after by her Auntie Saggy and Cousin Beth, but it still won't be easy. I know from the first moment we brought her home and she shit (diarrhea too, not just normal cat crap!) on the bed a bond was forged that would be difficult to break.

However, knowing that she is going to be raised at the finishing school of Saggy and Beth, does somewhat make things easier.

welcome to the start...

2006-05-11T15:13:00.000Z

... well, today things have really started to happen. Trace has given her notice in so there's no going back now. We are off to New Zealand at the end of July for sure!

... anyway, the beginning. I'm Matt, 33, and from Nantwich, Cheshire. Trace is 24 and from Crewe, Cheshire. We met over 6 years ago whilst working together at the cinema in Crewe (the Apollo Cinema.... blurgh!).

Since we got together we have always talked about going away and doing some traveling, but due to degree commitments and work stuff we just never got around to it. But now, after loads of hard work, we're nearly debt free and the time has come that our plans reach fruition.

The plans so far are starting to look like a year in New Zealand on a working visa, followed by a year in Canada on a similar scheme. We are then hoping for 10 months in the USA, which, if everything goes my way (m@), will be followed by 12 months in China working as teaching assistants on a little island apparently very similar to Hawaii. Which, would then leave us Europe, South America and of course Oz.

However, these plans are likely to change as we are forever finding new things to distract us! All we know for sure is that 1 year in New Zealand will be happening... hopefully, from the end of July.