Bek and Sams OE

Snow in London

2007-02-04T17:18:00.000Z

Wednesday 23 January 2007

It snowed today, so magnificent, woke up to complete coverage, well Kirsty woke us up screaming about the house, was such soft powdery snow, fun.

Waitangi day circle line pub crawl

2007-02-04T17:15:00.000Z

Saturday 03 February 2007

What an experience, kiwi unity at it’s best, despite being unwell throughout the long tiring week, we woke Saturday morning to find it was the most beautiful day, blue skies, sun shining, and almost warm, we couldn’t help but hang out for a drink at 11.00am.

Sam had a bit of a nightmare with his new computer, and a very tight deadline for a freelance job (not same as contract at the moment, tried to decline the job, but they were desperate for him to do it, so burning the candle at both ends, anyway long story short, Sam only joined us for a bit, before returning to his computer dramas).

The deal is, you are suppose to only use the circle line, get off at each stop around the line, no holding on in the trains, so packed you don’t need to, and people get lots of shit if they are seen getting on or off a district line train. We just walked around different places, loads of people congregating in popular squares, Slone, Victoria etc. Everyone dressed up and in the spirit of it all, heaps of fun, end up at the Abbey at 4.00 for the performance of the haka.

We (the kiwi’s) managed to close off West Minster Abbey square for a few hours, took many, many police officers to regain order (they had to form a wall), so proud! We carried on until last tube, I sadly lost my voice at about 10.00pm, pretty much no voice today, hopefully I will find it again soon! Don’t know how I will communicate with the children otherwise?

Trish has been wonderful and found us new tenants for our house, they move in next weekend, really pleased about that.

London Life Continues...

2007-02-04T16:55:00.000Z

Sunday 28 January 2007

Trying my best to keep up with this blog, sorry have been half busy, and half slack. Lots happening over here, but really just settling in to same old, in regard to work etc. Meet up with Sheena and Sam for drinks on Friday night, was so busy in town, Lester Square was manic, hard to find anywhere to sit, but eventually found somewhere. (Australia day) Later we went out the Liverpool street to meet others, but not to much happened, went back to ten bells pub for a drink, and caught last tube.

Work is going well, Sam just got offered a two month contract, which is great, they said they would extend it, depending on Sam’s plan, travel etc, so good to have something sorted, we’re both really pleased, great work environment for him.
I’m off to Berlin with Sheena next month, and then we are planning a trip to Turkey at the end of March. John and Trish are coming over in May, and we’re off to Italy, can’t wait to see everyone Well that’s enough of a catch up for now. Love to all.

London Life

2007-02-04T16:53:00.000Z

Kue Gardens Sunday 21 Jan 2007

We went to have a look around, very nice, but didn’t have enough time to have a proper look around, so big, would also be nice to come back in Summer.

Amsterdam

2007-02-04T16:50:00.000Z

Amsterdam12-15 Jan 07

This was our first near miss with flights, arrived at gate 4 mins before it closed, our one hour taxi ride, took two! Great to get away though, we arrived at the airport and took a cool double decker train to the central station, we got in around 11pm, so were keen to get straight to hotel, which wasn’t far from there. We had a couple of drinks down in the lobby bar. Nice hotel, but breakfast was nothing like Spain!

Sam and I wondered around, we visited a diamond factory, and then decided to buy tickets for the hop on hop off canal boats, which was great, went to all the main attractions. We visited Anne Franks house, although didn’t quite make it inside, cost too much. We found an amazing little place called panoramic café, great food. After wondering about, and having some trouble with our credit cards, and sorting that we headed back to the hotel, to meet up with Claire and Simon, who had also come away.

We had a great night, did a pub crawl, made it around quite a few, enjoyed some local product (while in Amsterdam and all), and accidentally came across red light district!! Not as seedy as we imagined, quite shocked at how young and beautiful the girls looked, but they seemed happy enough, certainly no taboo’s here in regard to that sort of stuff, loads of young guys, egging each other on to go down to the doors!

Did some shopping next day, and more looking around. I loved the little buildings, so ornate, like little dolls houses, lots of them looked like they were on a lean, quite possibly sinking! Sam and I had a picnic dinner outside the movie theatre, we nearly froze! So cold here, much colder than London.

We had a final wonder around on last day, Sam had sore feet, with new shoes on, so tried not to do too much walking. Went to the Van Gogh museum, had an exhibition on, Expressionisme, we both enjoyed looking around, but both very tired. We arrived back late Monday night, and both worked rest of week, so quite tiring week.

New Years Eve 06/07

2007-02-04T16:48:00.000Z

New Years Party 31 December 2006

Arrived back in London and it was raining... took us 2 hrs to get home to Tooting Broadway where everyone is staying and where the party is, anyway arrived home to find Simon had shaved all his hair, and everyone was wearing black from head to toe, had the old tunes on, Led Zep, Doors, Korn etc.. two 10 litre buckets of punch (of course alcoholic).. fun night, but, lots of wine spillage on the ground. The night finished around 5am, although Sam and I went off to bed a bit before that.

Beautiful Spain

2007-02-04T16:27:00.001Z

Spain 26 December 2006

Well.. Sam, Kirsty, and I arrived to beautiful weather, it seems we brought the nice weather with us! sunny as! poor Simon, all he got was shit, cloudy and cold a week earlier. Didn’t do much the first night just had some local sangria and watch the sun set, brought some wine and vodka and went to our hotel, (which was very nice) to have a few.. Didn’t have a late one though.

We had a comp breakfast with at the hotel, the most amazing we have ever seen, so much food, so hard to decide what to eat! Kirsty, Sam and I spent the day wondering around, we went into town, and visited landmarks, such as the cathedral. We stopped in at a lovely café on the water front, very nice. Dan and Mo arrived in the afternoon, we meet up and went back to the boat to find everyone on the piss in the galley. Andrew is working on a boat called Integrity, a super yatch, so needless to say, we spent a lot of time there!

I think this was the night we got incredibly drunk, we went to an Italian restaurant, and finished many bottles of wine, for some reason, Sam, Kirsty, Johnny and I continued on, ended up at a pub with live band, dancing to music, not sure what it was about? Some was in English though, had a very fun night, felt very average the next day!

A bit more sight seeing, we got a hire car and headed out to this amazing “lamb restaurant” up in the hills, about a 45 minute drive up, very rustic, and appeared to be all locals coming in. The service was interesting, appeared to be a family owned business, not much if any English spoken! Had some wine and most had the speciality "lamb shoulder", Kirsty and I opted for the fish casserole, very nice, couldn’t bear the thought of eating the lambs, bleating around outside, it was kind of like when you go to order a cray fish, and choose one out of the aquarium! Everyone was very impressed! Had a quietest one again, although bought 9 bottles of wine from the restaurant before we left, managed to get through 3 of em and the other 6 were for the boat.. Johnny finished up everyone's dregs... Simon the food vacuum cleaner, Johnny the Wine vacuum cleaner.

The next day we made the most out of having a car and went to the caves, "Coves de Genova" some caves that were discovered in 1906, really quite cool, the guy that ran the thing had setup different coloured lights to show off each of the different stalagmites and stalactites all made from different elements and some were shaped like different things, the tour guide couldn’t speak brilliant English, but he could speak the words of the shaped things, like Disney land, chicken, bacon... oh and if he wanted you to imagine, it was "fantasies" so like for the bacon, it was "fantasies bacon", also a really cool thing in the caves were the hollow stalagmites and he would play a tune with his fingers, and listen to his "echo" I think he was quite proud of the echo as he insisted to show us his hand and say "echo, echo" and we couldn’t speak till it had stopped :) .. Lots of really amazingly clear water in the caves where the stalagmites were (Not sure if I’m spelling that right, but I’m sure you understand).. yeah so the stalagmites filtered the water, which explained why the water was clear :)

The tour went for about 30 minutes, but defiantly worth it! After the coves, the tour guide pointed to a lookout looking over Palma, so the 6 of us got into a hatchback car (we had to do two trips to get there in the first place) so yup.. 6 in the hatchback with Johnny in the boot, wasn’t the best of rides for him, lots and lots of pot holes, and lots of hitting his head! Got to the top, views were wicked!! Can see a lot of Palma from up there. There was also a restaurant up there so managed to order a tinto vino (red wine) and also a blanco vino (white wine) had that then headed down to the castle, very beautiful.

Got back to the boat and because it was Kirsty's last night and because we didn’t do much for Andrew's Bday, which was on the Thursday... Can you guess what we did?? Yup.. drunk again.... went out to a few pubs and drunk lots.. was good fun!!

We spent the last day, wondering around again, Mo and I did some more shopping, and went back to the Cathedral, which she hadn’t been to, a quiet night, stayed a while on the boat, and then Sam and I headed back to back, as we left early in the morning, just as well we had a quiet night, because next day New Years Eve!! Good bye Spain.

What a mission to get home though, welcome back to London, cold and shit public transport, took us so long to get home, due to train problems, had to get in the mood to party.

Life in London

2006-12-09T12:51:00.000Z

Wednesday 18 October 2006

Well, we have been away from the home land for 12 weeks now, has gone incredibly fast. We have been in London for 9 weeks. We arrived on 10th October, and stayed at Sheena's for two weeks, and then moved in with Dan, Mo, Kristy and Damien on 26th October.

I did my first day teaching today, I had to travel to a little place called Goldbeaters! Quite a full on school, my first insight to the education sector over here. Great to get into it though, I'm pleased to be earning some pounds.

Thursday 26 October 2006
We are really enjoying living with friends, always things to do and entertainment! Sam and I have been on the go, and when we get occasional down time, we quite enjoy the momentary relaxation, which is inevitably short lived.

We are living up in the loft, which is actually fantastic, we have our own space, and although we can't unpack, we are so appreciative that we have somewhere out of the way to tuck ourselves.

I've been getting loads of work, from nursery though to year six, I'm really enjoying the challenges of work over here, many schools are tough, I seem to be getting sent to the more disadvantaged areas, and often am told I have the most challenging class of the school, some kind of supply conspiracy! I find behaviour management the most difficult, and have discovered a louder voice than I knew existed, not that I enjoy that, but I love the teaching aspect, and being part of different teams.

Sam has been very fortunate to have walked through an open door, in regards to finding a company who would give him a break. It appeared to be a case of right time, right place, as people had informed as would more than likely be the case. They have taken a liking to Sam's talent, work ethic, and ability to work quickly to deadlines, and so call him back, which is great. He's really thriving in that environment, and although he is happy to have had good experience in N.Z this is really what he has always wanted to get involved in. Sam also worked in Dan's job for a couple of weeks, while he and Mo went back to N.Z. So that was good, although it was work, which was completely new to him, so it took a while to get the hang of it.

Saturday 28 October 2006
Sheena and Aaron got back from there holiday, and Sheena took me out to a few wine bars, and we managed to drink and talk our way through the afternoon, into the evening, how time flies when you're having fun, and having a great catch up!

Friday 10 November 2006
Sam and I quite enjoy our Friday night after work drinks, and continue to frequent different pubs, depending on where we have been working. We were both working in central London. I met Sheena at a bar in Lester Square, and we enjoyed a few wines and Sam joined later on.

Saturday 11 November 2006
We went to Helen's for a party, the guys stayed behind to watch the rugby and joined us later. Great to meet new people, although most people we meet here are either NZ or Aussie!

Sunday 12 November 2006
Sam and I eventually found our way to the Natural History Museum, one hour before it closed! It was well worth it though, Sam particularly enjoyed the dinosaurs exhibition, so we had to race though the other exhibitions.

Saturday 18 November 2006
We met Mike and Becks, and some of their friends at the Lester Square walkabout to watch the rugby.

Sunday 19 November 2006
Shannon, Kristy and I went out to Hampton Court Gardens and Palace, quite a mission to get there, but well worth it. We strolled around the gardens wondering what it was like back in the day.

Friday 24 November 2006
Yah, off to Edinburgh, early start, and bit of a disaster to start, as Helen's train was canceled, and so couldn't make it to Kings Cross on time for the train, unfortunately she also had Kristy's ticket, and so both had to pay to catch another later train! So I was off to Scotland all by myself. It was a great trip, got to see some country side, and get my bearings a bit.

I enjoyed some lunch and a glass of wine when I arrived. Then decided to wander into town for a look around. My jaw dropped to the ground when a walked around a corner to see the main street and what it had to offer, I'm sure I was standing there for a while just staring with a smile on my face, another one of those, 'oh my god, I'm here' moments.

The girls joined me later and we settled in and then went out for a drink. People here are so friendly, such a lovely place. When I've got more time I'll write some more about my time here, It's so hard trying to think back about all of the things we have been doing, so many, just picking out a few things to comment, and thought it was about time I did a catch up!

Saturday 02 December 2006
Sam and I joined One million other people on Oxford street tonight, to do a spot of shopping, although we really just went for a look around. The street looked incredible, so many pretty lights!

Sunday 03 December 2006
I went ice skating with Sheena and Friends at Summerset house, so much fun, my first time! Big Christmas tree, and music, clear blue skies, and very cold! After we had lunch, and then went to Harrods to have a look, and shop.

We are looking forward to Christmas, although will be strange being away from home. Friends are joining us here on Christmas day, which we be nice. We leave for Spain, Majorca on boxing day, Johnny is already there, as is Andrew. Me, Sam and Kristy leave on the 26th, and Dan and Mo we be there as well. We will come back on the 31st, to celebrate New Years in London.

Sam and I have also booked tickets to Amsterdam on the 12th January for his Birthday, so that should be fun.

We move into our bedroom this weekend, so excited... Can't wait to unpack.

London Calling

2006-10-19T23:43:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 10 October 2006

Left for airport at 11.00am, Johnny feeling pretty bad, glad we had a quiet one. We left for Frankfurt, and upon arrival were told that our flight had been cancelled due to explosives or something? Luckily it was just a scare, however the whole of terminal 2 had been evacuated, so we waited for about an hour to get boarded, and then had to sit on the plane for a further half hour while they waited for approval to leave, extra fuel was added, in case we had to circle or land somewhere else! We were one of the first planes to land at that terminal in Heathrow, so airport seemed quiet, we were told that our luggage could be in a couple of places, but found it eventually.

We caught our first tube, Johnny had to continue on a few more stops. Seemed pretty straight forward. Once we got to the tube station we found somewhere to eat, and found out where we could get a cab, thought we would save ourselves from wondering the streets with heavy packs.

We meet Sheena and Aarons flat mates, they seemed very nice. We were pleased to have our own room, and catch up on some sleep.

Wednesday 11 October 2006

We were up early for our bank appointment, although we were running slightly late, we found our way with ease, and accounts were sorted very quickly. It begun raining, and Sam was on a mission to find a cell phone, and our jackets are water proof! However our legs and shoes got drenched. We were told that it was unusual weather, so we were pleased.

Thursday 12 October 2006

My interview was today, it went well, although I’m beginning to get a bit nervous about supply work. Later we meet others at tube station and went for a big walk around the city, we thought we would save some money and walk the tour bus route.

Pleased we walked as we got to see heaps. We started at Marble Arch, and walked past Hyde gardens to Buckingham Palace, next to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, London eye (which we’ll do another day) past the Tate museum and many others, and stopped at a little pub along the Thames, where others meet up with us.

Went into White Chapel to a pub called the ten bells, this was where Jack the Ripper used to Frequent, freaky little place, it had old articles screen printed onto wood on the walls down to the toilets. Many places here have very narrow little stair wells, you have to duck your head to get under the door.

We had a few drinks, had a look around White Chapel and then went down brick lane to find a good curry house. We left before midnight to catch the last tube, and managed to get lost from the tube station, we had been cutting through the cemetery during the day, and as it was closed, we had to make our way around it, which isn’t as simple as it seems.

During the day as you walk through the cemetery you can see little squirrels everywhere, very cute, but apparently rats with furry tails. Anyway it took as near two hours to get home, went completely the wrong way, and although we had the A to Z we were a bit tipsy and couldn’t seem to read it. At night the fox’s come out to scavenge, so bizarre.

Saturday 14 October 2006

The day of the infamous pub crawl which Dan organised. Dan made up little booklets explaining the history of the places we would be visiting, we went to many historical places. Sam and I arrived at 1.00pm, it started at 12.00pm. We walked quite far between some pubs, and caught a ferry to later pubs, all fun, great to have another look around. One pub we visited ‘The Town of Ramsgate’ had an execution dock at the back where convicts were condemned and hung. They were chained to posts on the wall by the river (Thames), the tide rising over them three times before being removed, a mock gallows is there as a reminder. The next ‘the prospect of Whitby’ had a hangman’s noose swinging over the river, as a reminder of the gruesome times.

Caught up with other people who have been living here for a while, so many kiwi’s over here.

Everywhere we go have buildings dating back over 100 years, some back to 1500’s, just blows my mind! Oh what a sheltered life I’ve lived.

We’re having such a great time so far, but sneaking into my mind is the reality of having to work and find a place to live, quite daunting.

Sunday 15 October 2006

Very slow day today, feeling a little home sick for familiar things and people, mum called this morning and Sheena later in the day great to hear from them. Tomorrow we might go on the London eye, and have another look around. Cat left today to head back to New Castle, and Nigel leaves on Wednesday. Natajlia and Ryan head back to Perth on Wednesday, and Andrew back to Spain, as been so good seeing everyone, thank goodness still lots of friends here though, still have people to catch up with yet though, busy, busy!

Tuesday 17 October 2006

Today we meet up with the others for a bit more sight seeing, we decided to go up on the London eye, expensive, but had to be done. Unfortunately it was quite, foggy, or ‘smoggy’ so couldn’t see too far a field, but still very cool, Sam started to experience a little vertigo!

Afterwards we found another little bar, the ‘White Lion’, trying to get around them all I suspect! Us girls went off and did a spot of shopping, so amazing how cheap clothes are, even with conversion rates, one pound fifty racks, etc. I had to get some boots for work, but a part from that mainly window shoppingL but certainly looking forward to developing some London style over here! The boys went off to do ‘boy things’ aka audio central, and we meet up for dinner and drinks, surprise surprise! We went to Wagamama, a Japanese style restaurant, which came highly recommended, quite expensive at the moment, but we will definitely be going back. Nige’s last night.

Wednesday 18 October 2006

Bek’s first day of work, a day of firsts, first time on the tube by myself, and first day teaching at a school in London!!! I quite enjoyed the challenge actually, managed to find my way, however travelled approximately for an hour. Pretty much thrown in the deep end, and was later informed I had the ‘naughty’ class in the school, great first impression, wasn’t too bad. Morning with Year 3’s and pm with Year 1’s. Lovely afternoon. Am starting to get bookings for week after the holiday’s (next week), so have decided to sit back and enjoy my last week before getting into it. Great to have made it through my first day of teaching.

Dan and Mo’s for drinks, Ryan and Nat’s last night, we got into the absinth tonight, no hallucinations, but felt rough in the morning. We didn’t want to face the night buses and stayed in the loft.

Tomorrow Sam will go job hunting, and we will start looking at accommodation options.

The Prague Reunion

2006-10-19T23:06:00.000+01:00

Thursday 05 October 2006

Up early this morning, and over to the pier to prepare for our trip back to Phuket. My turn for travel sickness, although we all felt a bit dodgy at stages. I spent about 1 ½ hours of the journey on the wooden floor at the rear of the boat by the door way! Every time someone walked in or out, I would be bumped, and the flumes from the boat where gassing me out, and making me feel worse, I shouldn’t complain too much though because people were vomiting into red bags everywhere on the boat.

We were pleased to see land, and quickly ordered a taxi to take us directly to the airport. We had a few hours to wait for our flight, and we were all exhausted, Sam found a cosy spot on the floor, and Johnny and I pulled seats together to make a bed, woke up and many people had arrived at the terminal!

We arrived into the new Bangkok airport, so huge, apparently the biggest in the world, and we managed to lose Sam once, and then almost Johnny, what a mission. We foolishly thought we would have plenty of time to check in our luggage and make our way to the tailor to pick up the suits and then stop in at Kosan road and shop! However, we where not able to check our bags in until two hours prior to flying, this posed the first problem, because there’s no way we wanted to take our luggage along to the markets. We then realised that the Tailor closed at 7.00pm, and it was already 6.40pm. We went out to get a taxi, and were told it would take us one hour each way to get to town, not as we were told!

We couldn’t work the pay phones, which keep taking our money, and even with help, could not get through, after a bit of a panic, we managed to convince someone to ring the number on their cell phone and request that the tailors come to the airport to meet us, which they did.

Mean while we begun check in, Sam held back a bit to keep an eye out for the men. I told the lady about my legs getting sore, and she thought I might not be fit to fly, I reassured her I would be fine, but a bit extra leg space would be great. Because we were there earlier than most, we were able to get seats at the front of the row, which was great.

Well I suppose a good way to kill time, our 5 hour wait, went by very quickly. We were pleased to get on the plane though, at the end of a very tiring and stressful day.

The plane was huge, certainly the biggest Sam and I have been on, quite exciting. We were pleased with our seats, although many people seemed to be stretched out across seats. We all had half a sleeping tablet, so were able to get at least a four hour stretch of sleep. Although this flight was longer than the last, it was more comfortable and better in general.

Friday 06 October 2006

We arrived in Frankfurt at 5.00am, we had a quick look around and then boarded another plane to Prague, about another hour flight, we were really pleased about getting on another plane, as you can imagine. Just before boarding, we remembered that we had no idea were our accommodation was in Prague, luckily Johnny had an old email with the details, and when we had finally figured out the internet pay as you go system, we were fine.

We got in to Prague at about 9.00am, we noticed that the reception wasn’t very friendly, the lady assisting us in getting a taxi, was very rude, so we got out of there asap.

We were amazed at how beautiful Prague was, particularly as we got closer to the city, we found the apartments and were anxious to have a look around. They drive on the wrong side of the road here by the way, very strange.

We had a few issues trying to communicate with the men at the apartments, regarding our booking, we thought we were in the wrong place for a while there, but another person came out with much better English, and we got it sorted. Luckily we were able to take our bags straight up, I think we arrived right at check in time. As we walked up the stair well we were taken back by the damp musky smell, and wondered what the rooms would be like, but to our surprise it was very nice, all had been refurbished recently by the looks of it. We showered, chose our beds, and then crashed out for a few hours, we thought we should prepare for the big night ahead, we weren’t sure what time others would arrive though. After our kip, we found the local Tesco market and brought some supplies. We realised that communication was going to be a real barrier here, very few seem to speak any English, and Euros are not accepted everywhere, so had to find somewhere to get Crones.

As it turned out the first to arrive, Ryan and Natajlia didn’t get there until about 9.30pm. We sat around and caught up for a few hours until others arrived at midnight, due to delayed flight. We had a few more drinks, and a few went out to explore the night life, Sam came back and told me about the pub they had found, it was like a series of underground brick tunnels, each area with different people, and music.

Saturday 07 October 2006

We had a quiet start and didn’t really stray to far from apartment, with the exception of dining out which we are becoming well accustomed to.

We started our drinking session early, and set in for a long night. We all had a great night catching up etc etc. Early hours of the morning we decided to head into town, we went to the little underground pub, it was very cool, but Sam and I didn’t stay for long, I was getting a little claustrophobic.

Didn’t get much sleep at all, others came home in wee hours and continued! I think we drew the party apartment, good bye precious sleep!

Sunday 08 October 2006

Slow start this morning, but an amazing afternoon, we went for a big walk around, we walked over Charles bridge, (very historical walking bridge which takes you up to the 1000 year old castle) which was a real experience, many little stalls littered either side of the bridge, I could have spent a few hours making my way across. Amazing statues along the bridge, some people would line up to rub, and say a prayer, not to sure what that was about, for luck maybe?

When we got across the bridge we made our way up a winding path through the old township, everywhere we looked there were amazing buildings to look at, very impressive really.

We got up to the Presidential building which was in front of the cathedral and castle, apparently the President actually lives there, and some friends saw a women President from another country who was visiting.

We were quite taken back when we saw the cathedral, so amazing, and the interior wow! We got in for free as it was about to close, so pleased we got to have a look though. Stain glass windows told stories made from tiny fragments of coloured glass.

We made our way back down after having a good look around, and found a floating bar/cafe on the river, the sun was going down and we thought we would have to go and have a quiet drink, once again we took over the place, pulling chairs and tables together.

On our way back to the apartment we stood from a far admiring the beauty of the bridge and castle lit up at night, I felt like I was looking into the pages of a fairy tale book. It was hard to take photos at night without it blurring, so I hope I can keep the image of it in my head, truly magical.

Monday 09 October 2006

We had an earlier start today, we had to be at the train station to head out to Kutna Hora, about 40mins form Prague. The main attraction here was the ‘bone church’. Quite a different feel about the place here, not many tourists at all, very small tiny township, I had an uneasy feeling here. In 1318 the community were struck down by the plague 30,000 corpses were buried at the cemetery. The skeletal relics have been made into pyramids, a chandelier and other structures. At first I felt as if they must be fake, very unusual feeling.

We had stopped off at a little pub on the way out, and then had a quick wonder. We had pizza for dinner, and we all put in for an authentic bottle of absinth, (not available in most parts of the world) which has Van Gogh’s face on it, apparently what made him go mad, and cut off his ear. We thought we would just have a little sample each.

It started to get dark, and we tried to find our way out, very strange, all of a sudden nobody about, felt like we were in some kind of twilight zone! Caught a dodgy little train to the main station, and then it took us close to two hours to get back, took the wrong train, but most were armed with beer etc.

Phi Phi Island Thailand

2006-10-06T18:56:00.000+01:00

Monday 02 October 2006

Quite hot in our rooms, sit waiting for the fan to oscillate in our direction for temporary relieve of heat, no not really that bad! Johnny is out neighbour as of today, and quite pleased to have water that doesn’t smell like an un-cleaned toilet.

We have been hanging out around the beach, and bars, had a walk around, some real extremes, in regard to living conditions around here, interesting smells about the place, as Sam keeps reminding us.

Sam is finally feeling better, and also eating properly, although none of us have much of an appetite, due to heat.

We are very interested in the different insects, last night was scary making it back to the room, up quite a dark and windy path, after rain snails were everywhere, and not like the little ones in N.Z. these ones are giant, about the size of a golf ball, and really pointy, like ocean snails, I was freaking out at the thought of crushing them! Giant slaters too, and many other over sized things, must be the heat here.

The weather has been strange, rains often in the evening, can see and feel it coming about five minutes prior, but still so hot, even when it’s raining you still feel calmly.

We all had authentic Thai massagaaaaageeee today, talk about roughing it! I thoroughly enjoyed it, one hour full body, Sam and Johnny found it a bit painful, wusses! I even got talked into a facial, very relaxing way to spend an hour and a half.

Went around the other side of the Island and had dinner, very nice out look, so many beautiful things to look at, taxi boats all lined up along the shore line.

No tuk tuks here, although main transport appears to be bi-cycle, they usually give about 5 seconds warning before passing on very narrow roads, the people without horns, simply say, beep beep, or make up some other bell noise.

We went to Johnny’s and now our favourite bar on the beach to find it was closed!! Earlier in the day Sam had made a compilation of NZ music for “Cop” to play, remember “Cop”? well anyways, went there and it was closed but Bex and Johnny bought a local “Chang” beer, love it!!

Thought I’d add a few words Johnny has recorded in his little paper dictionary..

“Sa Wa De Cup/Ca” Hello Man/Woman
“Cap Kun Cup/Ca” Thank you Man/Women
“La Gone” Goodbye
“Nung, Sung, Sam, See, Ha, Oo, Jet, Pom, K something, Sing” 1-10
“Roy” Hundred.

There are more but I forgot my dictionary  We have been trying to use some phrases when appropriate.

Hopefully the weather is suitable for boat trip tomorrow, today 4 foot swells.

Tuesday 03 October 2006

Weather wasn’t prefect, but we decided to do boat trip anyway, so glad we did, we all had the most amazing day, although rough start on the boat, about 3m swells at some points and many people throwing up in black bags all around us! Heaps of people on the boat, so many beautiful things to look, Islands everywhere. First stop was at the Viking Cave, over two hundred years old, we weren’t able to go in and look, as too dangerous.

It was too choppy to stop at Ma ya Bay, so we had to swim about two minutes to a dodgy little entrance through a cave. The guides neglected to tell as of the danger getting to the cave, the numerous rocks, and the ropes that were there to grab! And of course we were the first to jump of the boat and go for it. I got washed over the rocks about four times, to and fro with the tide, the current was so strong, and sweep us in and out of the entrance like rag dolls, fortunately someone had found the ropes, and grabbed out for us. I saw bleeding from elbows, shins, feet, arms, hands etc. Very sore and bruising came up almost immediately. Then we had to cross over sharp rocks bare foot to get to a path way leading through the bush to get to the beach. Not many people live on the Island, saw about two little huts, may have been more.

When we got to the beach, and after all the pain getting there, we weren’t over whelmed at all, more of a ‘we’ve been there thing’ than anything, was worth going to see though, lovely little beach, but very small, quite deceiving camera work on the movie.

We snorkelled around the boat, was so amazing hundreds of fish swimming right past us, could nearly touch them. It was first time snorkelling for all of us, and all so pleased we had this experience. We stopped off at a few other places to snorkel as well, so amazing seeing such beautiful tropical fish everywhere. We did get a little freaked very now and then when out deep, and had to swim far from the boat to swallow water, and schools of fish came by, we wondered what was chasing them. At some points we couldn’t see anything below us!

We swam to the shore at Bamboo Beach, quite a swim in, and then had to swim back, were really exhausted by this stage, such a tiring day, being out in sun, and lots of swimming. Had the most hideous lunch, baguettes that smelt disgusting, similar to smells around the Island, pass! Note, always pack own water and snacks.

We stopped at Monkey beach, some people when in on kayaks, we went for another snorkel, and decided to swim to the shore when we saw about thirty monkeys along the beach, so cool. Old monkeys and tiny little babies, they weren’t bothered by people at all, obviously use to it, and quite happily came and took food out of peoples hands. A shame we didn’t have camera with us.

Sam, Johnny and I, despite applying sun block during the day, all got very burnt. We decided to have one last night out drinking, we started with a bucket, which was shouted by Cop. Then meet different people, meet two very nice Irish couple, Rob and Elaine, we had a total of nine buckets, and all were very happy. We went to the local ‘night club’ Apache Bar, and then to the Hippies Bar, very cool there, we stayed for quite a while. Sam and I got temporarily lost on the way home, but eventually got there.

Wednesday 04 October 2006

Very quiet day, all recovering from big night. Had swim, walk around, late breakfast and spend most of the day relaxing. Had dinner at Ciao Bella an Italian restaurant by the Beach Bar, our local hang out. Packed up tonight, getting quite good at that. Early night, big day tomorrow, we leave by boat at 9.00am back to Phuket, then fly to Bangkok at 4.45pm, and then fly out to Frankfurt at 11.55pm.

We are going to pick up the suits and visit Kosan Road, night markets to kill some time.

From Aussie to Thailand

2006-10-01T08:28:00.000+01:00

Monday 25 September 2006

In the morning we had a tidy up, Sam and I took Jessie (their gorgeous spoodle) for a walk to find a dairy, and then we packed up and ordered a taxi. The driver tells of heavy rain in Bangkok and how the secret to surviving Thailand is to stay wetter on the inside than the outside, we figured we would stay hydrated on Vodka and mixers, as so far so good!

We arrived at the Brisbane airport at 12.30pm to leave for our flight to Bangkok at 3.20pm. The flight was long and tiring, at took 9 and a half hours. We arrived at 9.30pm Thai time. My legs were very swollen and sore by the time we landed, very unusual, but came right eventually. The reception at costums was less than friendly, no greetings what so ever, Johnny and Sam began to freak a little! We were overwhelmed by people trying to get us in their cabs outside the airport, and the humidity, it was like walking into a sauna. We went with the safe option of going to the taxi stand, where they take your details and give you an amount to pay before going in a marked taxi. This is great for knowing the exact amount of the charge, and also knowing you will get safely to your destination, however once you have paid, they drive like bats at of hell to get you there as fast as possible. It appears that there is a general understanding of the road code here, not much indicating, and don’t jay walk, because you will get run down, some very scary moments.

We were all in oar looking at the huge bill boards, amazing old buildings and sights. The traffic moves very fast, long drag pretty much straight to the city. Also all taxi drivers here lock the doors while you are inside the taxi, very odd.

When we arrived at the Royal hotel in Bangkok we were taken inside very promptly, there were some dodgy looking characters out on the door steps. The service is very good, but everything comes at a hidden cost, we are trying to figure out the protocols such as tipping also the service charge that is slipped onto the bill before you can blink. I am still getting my head around the money system, 24 bahts to the NZ dollar, so everything is relatively cheap.

The hotel room was relatively tidy, although the air con wasn’t the best, kinda a damp smell was all about the room, luckily enough for Sam and Bex there was a double bed, and also a large single bed for poor old Johnny. We went down stairs for a drink or three, Johnny and Sam bought Chang beer which was the local beer for 120 baht, it was a 750ml bottle and got us rather smashed...

We met a worker who was on the piss and introduced us to the local snacks, dried mango, some nuts not quite sure what they were but tasted good, kinda like seeds. also some raison thing which was kinda like a ball surrounded by some white stripes, hard to explain... a lot of unmarked bar snacks which actually to our surprise tasted quite good, Sam and Bex consumed a large number of the nuts we were all hoping they had some type of effect.. but unfortunately for us, they were just nuts or seeds... The local tried to have a conversation with us, although it was mostly sign language and smiles that got us through, their were also a lot of local’s singing at the bar and was followed by about 15 other workers doing a dance which they looked like they thoroughly enjoyed performing, we staggered off to bed approx 2am, 5am Aus Time) and prepared for the morning’s adventures… We give the hotel a 2 star rating, good for travellers with a budget, close to Kosan road where the local markets were, which don’t really kick off to 6pm.

Tuesday 26 September 2006 (John’s birthday today)

We all had a pretty good sleep, and only just made it to the complimentary breakfast at 9.15am, which finished at 9.30am, so we were all looking very pretty, having got straight out of bed to the dining room, great feed however, all had far too much to eat, but figured it would last us most of the day.

We went outside to see what Bangkok looked like in the light of day, very muggy but beautiful things to look at. We were quickly greeted by a local who had an un marked vehicle, and began telling us about the family he had taken around the city, “Where are you from?” he asked, his English was pretty good, although being a tourist central most know some English to get by (bonus for us). He told us he would take us for a two hour tour for 120 Baht, we decided it would be good to see some of Bangkok before leaving later in the day. So glad we did. We quickly went and showered and meet him out the front.

He was a pretty crazy driver, he tells us that there aren’t many accidents, and everyone seems to be considerate of each other. He had no air con in the car, and keep apologising to us, we didn’t mind too much, we just wound down the windows and looked at all the crazy things. Street stalls and markets everywhere, mopeds and tok toks everywhere. Many people sitting 2up often side saddle, and not wearing helmets at 60kmph+ weaving in between speeding traffic, awesome!

This is the exact moment our honest new friend suddenly became just another Tourist scammer, as he lead us to a one hour tour along the river on some crazy DIY drag boat looking machines, They seemed to be large wooden canoes powered by huge exposed car engines spinning a prop, on which I’m sure was another rip off but had to be done.

Also waiting to prey on the naive un-tanned Tourists, were countless others peddling their umbrellas and postcards for ridiculous prices, this is where Rebekah makes the mistake of saying “I’ll be back” as they don’t forget a face, lol.
The boat takes us along the Chao Phraya River, seeing the submersed shacks, barges, water posties and houseboats was quite an experience.
We are taken to the Arun Royal Temple, while an amazing site was obviously another popular Tourist spot, as after posing behind a traditional Thai costume cut-out for a pic (with our own camera) a random girl comes out when finished asking for 40b per person, another cunning trap. The temple was pretty amazing, covered in pieces of broken crockery.

On the way back we are taken to a spot to feed some giant river Karp, which come to the surface to be fed bread by the tourists, on way being fleeced again by a floating river dairy guy, but it’s all good.
Once returning to the shore, Rebekahs promise of “I’ll be back” came back to haunt her, the umbrella was once again thrust in her face to cries of “you said you would buy!”

We explain how it was just to big to fit in our already bulging packs but he insisted on the 480b price tag, then 400b, then 350b then 250b, as the situation gets more heated he starts pushing Rebekah a little saying “you say you be back” as we walk away the final time, the umbrella is bought for 100b, less than ¼ what originally asked for (however still no room in the pack) that’s Thailand in a nutshell really.

We then return to our guide’s car, which has since overheated and is sitting with the bonnet open. We get on the road passing the lines of tanks and the smiling machine gun wielding soldiers (which looked about 15) and get a photo, He explains the need to get his air-con fixed, and we are then taken to an upmarket suit Tailor in town (James Fashion International), our driver explains we need 15mins for the air-con repair so we go and have a look, but within 15mins we are being measured up for our own top quality Tailored suits, good preparation for London job hunting but likely another planned stop, we think we got a good deal but who really knows.

We return to the hotel where another driver is ready to take us to the airport for our trip to Phuket. After a short flight we arrive in Phuket, and have the feeling our holiday has really just begun, the place has a far more friendly feel (and odour) and we quickly get a cab sorted to get to the hotel, but the driver informs us of a “compulsory stop” at a convenient travel agent trying to sell over priced tours to the islands, one time only limited deal and we had to pay then to get the “special” price but sounded like a rip so we politely declined.

The hotel is just past Patong beach which is a popular tourist spot in Phuket, and we are checked in to Patong Lodge Hotel which is a very cool laid back spot with the all important pool bar. We get some tea at the restaurant with an authentic pineapple Mai Tai which blew our heads off and cost about $4.

We headed off along long the shore line and got quite a buzz looking at the beautiful beach and little inlets along the way. This is a real tourist spot, there are restaurants and bars everywhere. It took us about 15 minutes to walk down to the little township. You can’t just go into a shop and have a look, you are hassled from the minute you walk in, and “they appear to believe” that their merchandise is authentic, and they spot you from a mile away, I was looking at the Gucci bags, I got price from 450 Baht down to 300 Baht, then next door was told 1500 Baht for the exact same bag, so funny. Sam was trying on different shorts in the shop, he was a bit shy and asked me to hold a sarong around him so he could change, five changes later he finally found a pair that fit, the Thai girls were trying to perve. Diesel all the way!!!

Then came the fun part, trying to get a good price… The local grabbed the calculator to show how much of a good price he was offering, pretending to do discounts, Johnny saw him type in 1150 then cancelled and press 1550, sooo funny.. Johnny and Sam laughed our heads off with the local staring at us with discontent and a local girl mocking Johnny’s laugh! Sam finally managed to get the price down after a few turns at negotiating to 500baht, a third of the original asking price. By the way, nothing in the shop has any prices... all of them are by negotiation only, don’t ever take the first offer, we are figuring so far that a third of the asking price isn’t bad. I guess us NZ’ers have a funny laugh, although she did ask if Johnny was single and offered him a friend of hers… very funny!!!

After Sam Finally decided on the shorts he was going to buy and also the singlet, we decided to head down the road to see a few of the sights along Patong beach, we ended up going to the first pub which we saw, which is the hard rock café, we were about to buy a drink when the dude at the bar, which was Australian… bloody Australians… always trying to get a quick buck… offered to have us in the pub, which had 3 live bands and some “bad girls” for 700 baht, we said no as we wanted to have a look around and see what else there was to offer, plus we didn’t want to get pissed for the first night in Phuket, the Australian came down to 600 baht a person, but we decided we wanted to carry on down the road to check things out, poor Australian missed out on a sale…

We then carried on to a place down the road, checking out the beach bars, and the temperature of the ocean, it was honestly like bath water!! So damn warm!!! We carried on down and found a bar where we brought a pina carlada which cost more than Sam’s T shirt and Shorts!!! But hey! We got free bar snacks… Carried on down the road to get some mix’s for all the duty free we brought, haha it almost costs us more to drink our own booze than buying it at the bar!!!

While drinking at the bar, you get whistled by the locals to sell stuff, like a wooden Harley!!! Also all the took tok drivers would toot trying to get you to catch a ride with them... so funny... We finish spending our $2NZ dollars on mixers and headed back to the hotel to have a few vodka’s… although we ended up just crashing…. The tired travellers…

Wednesday 27 September 2006 – (not that we keeping track, time is losing all meaning).

We started with a hearty breakfast, again got us through most of the day, though we have just ordered our first room service meal, it is 3.00pm, we have been by the pool (so nice) and enjoying liquid meals, nearly finished a l litre vodka in just a few hours, we realise that we are all piss heads, it must be true what they say about kiwi’s!

Well has been nice reflecting on our trip thus far, a shame we haven’t actually made it out of the complex today to see the landscape during the day, but we feel we needed a day of relaxation after such a tight schedule. All very burnt form the pool, and feeling really tidily!!!

It’s strange to think we would welcome the rain on holiday, we it’s really quite nice, we are all sitting around pissed, and laughing at each others burn marks! The rain drops are big, warm, and juicy, I guess its monsoon season, it only lasts a while, but quite nice to cool everything off. We’ve put some Kiwi music on the laptop, speakers are crap, but can have some familiarity of home. Its happy hour soon, we are over looking the pool bar, and a small crowd are gathering. Sam and Johnny are trying to figure out the sexual orientation of some foreign speaking tourists, they think they are from lesbiania! Amazing little creatures everywhere, Sam just consumed some alcohol with ant mixer. Crazy butterflies and wasps everywhere, and the biggest ants we have ever seen.

We headed down to the bar for “Happy time”, unfortunately we got the time wrong and only had one hour left, never mind, we were all very merry at this time anyway. Again no one around, this place seems very deserted, and although being told by dodgy travel planners that this was the high season, and very busy and expensive, it appears relatively quiet. We made friends with the bar tenders, one man in particular, he was very nice, and even let us play music from Sam’s ipod, he said he liked the kiwi music, but most probably just being polite. We had a couple of drinks, and the nicest kebabs ever, then decided to head back into Patong Township.

We took a tok tok into town, 100 Baht, quite a fun experience. Once there we discovered an art gallery, very cool, the artists sat along a wall, with their oil colour palates and created the most beautiful paintings. The big canvases were going for around 8000 Baht. Many of the paintings were replicas of famous paintings and photographs, however some were painted especially from tourist photographs and requests, and many were also from original photographs which the artists had taken themselves. Sam and I decided on two different paintings which we were partial to. I was so close to purchasing one in particular, so beautiful, the artist tells us that he took the photo when in Chang Mai. I’m still deciding whether to purchase it, he came down to 6000 Baht, but seems cheeky to barter the price of someone’s hard labour, took four days the paint the one I was interested in. However there is also the issue of luggage, we are all just under the limit, but may be able to post home.

We decided to walk further than previous night, and discovered a whole new side to Phuket, we thought it was quiet and respectable, however we were exposed the red light district. There were bars, and markets littered everywhere in the streets, so amazing to see this place come to life, every day here seems like the weekend. Go-Go dancers everywhere, and lady boys! While sitting at the bar, person after person approaches to sell random little items, they don’t take no as an answer, and often stand around waiting. Sam was quite amazed at some of the merchandise, in particular the giant sized lighter, which he wanted to purchase for Toby, very funny.

I got to hold an Iguana on my arm, it was about 1m long, the man took a photo, which I have, such amazing reptiles, I kind of felt sorry for it, but Sam said it looked pretty relaxed. There were men everywhere with them in the streets. Unfortunately we didn’t take our camera, so have no photos, but might go back tonight.

We were all pretty disgusted at the amount of older men that were prancing around with Thai women 1/3 their size, and probably age. Appeared to be prostitutes everywhere, trying to get men into the bars, they just sit at the bar not drinking, and waiting to prey on men as they come in, so gross. So many Australians here, they have lots of dedicated Australian bars, we often are approached by comments such as, “gidday mate” we quickly reply, “New Zealand, not Australia”, I so don’t want to be associated with seedy Australians that come over here for “good time”.

Were quite sad hearing stories from the locals about the Tsunami? One bar we were in had a solid wall of water above the bar, they told us they were happy that the photographs on the wall, were “luckily” not damaged. It’s so strange to think that such a disaster happened here, there is really not much evidence that it happened, everything seems new and clean, we did notice the trees on the beach were held in with huge steaks though, and a few empty lots along the shore line, lots of construction work happening.

On the way home we went to the beach, we sat thinking about how terrifying it must have been, and weird sitting along the spot the wave came in, quite scary really. But was also quite claming sitting there at mid night listening to the nature, so we figured we might as well have a quick dip, well Johnny and I (don’t worry mum, we just paddled) actually the undertow was quite strong, so we were very careful. Sam was amazed to watch the little crabs stroll along the beach.

We caught a tuk tuk back to the hotel, and all crashed out.

Thursday 28 September 2006

All very hung over today, Sam especially, but we managed to make breakfast and head to the pool for a refreshing swim, Sam and Johnny are having a nap, so I thought I catch up with diary entry, we’ve all been enjoying the narration of our journey, it’s quite nice reflecting on our experiences, so many first time things happening all the time, so much more which we haven’t recorded, but Sam says it’s getting I little wafflely, sorry.

Oh, dear, “Where’s my eftpos card?” Johnny asks. We all remember stopping to use ATM night before, and freak, Johnny searches pockets and various places in a panic, then calls parents to cancel card. Johnny then takes off to re trace steps, and luckily discovers that his card had been pulled back into the machine, how lucky is that!

Going to head into town today, and have a look around, we will catch a bus, then will need to organise a ferry to Phi Phi Island, and accommodation there. As we thought it is not going to be as expensive as the lady’s on the stop over tried to tell us, scare tactics!

After a swim we walked to Patong Township to organise our trip to Phi Phi Island, 800 Baht each for open return ticket, they will pick us up from the hotel tomorrow at noon. We then head off to town (Phuket) away from Patong for a change of scenery. The bus we caught was very old, we were surprised it made it up all the long winding roads. At one point the bus was travelling so slow it almost came to a stand still, and we thought it might roll back down the hill. It was loud and made random noises, scary, but also quick exciting to ride the local transport. Was interesting to see all the little villages along the way, quite different from Patong beach, a lot more poverty it appeared. Quite funny to see the tuk tuk drivers, many of which were young ‘boy racers’ some in souped up vehicles, you could see that they would properly race along the roads for fun, not so dis-similar from home!

We stopped at what we thought might be ‘town’ a big random flash shopping mall in the middle of no where, so when we asked the locals, “Shopping?” They nodded, “Yes, shopping”. Unfortunately this was not actually where we wanted to go, town was another 20 mins away, however it worked our well in the end, as the bus we were on was the last for the day, so by the time we had, had a quick looked around the multiplex, the bus was back, however we nearly missed it, and had to run across two three laned roads to get to the bus, which was about to leave us stranded! The shopping complex was obviously for tourists who want to buy ‘authentic’ things, everything here is actually priced, and much higher, and no movement on prices. Sam found his third Sony store for the trip, and had to compare prices for ipod speakers, Sam dropped his lip when I suggested that we didn’t really need them, and had no room any how!

Once back in Patong we walked along the beach to take in the beautiful surroundings, interesting watching the locals throw out their fishing lines etc. I collected some strange rocks and stones being washed up on the shore, many look like pieces of concrete, perhaps still washing up from Tsunami debris.

Once back we jumped straight in the pool, so hot here, sweat dripping off us, quite un bearable at times, thank goodness for the occasional air conditioned shops. Sam was exhausted, and nearly asleep, but decided to come as well.

We decided to head back to the markets we found last night and do a drop of shopping and find somewhere ‘authentically Thai’ for dinner, however this would come back to haunt Sam! We all needed an early night, so headed back to hotel around midnight.

Friday 29 September 2006

Poor Bek and Johnny woke to unusual sounds in the bathroom this morning, rather poor Sam, very un well, we are trying to figure out what would be the culprit. We try to get hold of tour person, and explain that only Johnny would go today, and to come and get us Saturday at noon, Sam not able to go anywhere. We decided the best place for him was in air conditioned room with toilet at his disposal. I think they will come back and get us tomorrow, hopefully Sam will be feeling better. We also hope they will still honour our tickets!

Sam and I stayed inside all day, very early night, I think our bodies where telling us we needed it!

Saturday 30 September 2006

Sam feeling better today, but still not eating, we packed up and were picked up at noon. Very over crowded mini bus, very hot, and had to travel about half an hour to the pier. So the ferry wasn’t anything like the picture, typical, been caught out a few times by this ploy. Very choppy, poor Sam feeling very sea sick, we first went down to bottom of boat, didn’t stay long, so strange yellow fluid was dripping on me, and giant sized cockroaches passing by my head. Up top was a bit nicer, but many people jet vomiting outside window, yuck. Trip was not 1 hour 15 min, so we were told, more like two hours, but we made it.

Johnny was waiting for us, although very hung over from night before meeting locals, and chicks from Ireland! As we came in on the boat, I saw (Sam head down) the most beautiful cliff formations, so beautiful here, just like a post card, unbelievable really.

Found place where Johnny booked in, lucky for us only one room left, not air con. But brand new bungalow with amazing views and flushing toilet (bonus, trust me). Johnny is gutted because we got it very cheap, not much more than what Johnny paid for a grotty old bungalow with what appears to be raw sewage coming out all taps, he’s trying to up grade, but no rooms as yet.

All toilets here are as grotty as I’ve seen, no toilet paper, and if use your own it can’t go in toilet, has to go in un lined waste basket, the flushing system is scooping water from rubbish bin along side, nice! But shouldn’t complain really, this place was hit hard by Tsunami, a lot of construction happening everywhere. This place feels less like a tourist stop, although are many, very under developed, but good to see the ‘real’ Thailand, not that we’re roughing it that much in our beautiful little bungalow!

Johnny took us to a little bar right on the beach, couldn’t stop looking at the views, hard to believe we’re actually here, so amazing, like nothing we’ve ever experienced. Johnny ordered a bucket, ‘a bucket? Yes a bucket of Thai concoction, Thai whiskey, red bull and others? And it actually comes in a bucket, one with five straws, Sam still not eating/drinking, so Johnny and I shared, two! My god, very drunk after that! Sam decided to have early night, and Johnny and I continued, saw some night life, very cool, lots of fire dancing, incredible experience, very talented, some boys looked only 14/15 years old.

Meet some very nice people, our neighbours are form Holland, and Cop a local at the bar, is very taken by as, first New Zealanders he has meet. He told us about the Tsunami, obviously very hard for him to recall, he lost many friends, one of which was running up the mountain with him, and was taken from behind him, quite terrifying hearing his first hand account.

Sunday 01 October 2006

Early start, Johnny arrived to have ‘clean’ shower. Walked around, had breakfast, and organised a tour for tomorrow or Tuesday depending on weather. One day trip around many Islands, Viking cave, Monkey beach, Maya Bay (where the beach was filmed) and many others, kayaking, snorkelling included and food etc. Can’t wait.

Well we have finally found somewhere to use internet, quite a few places here, unlike Phuket, sorry taken so long, but as you can see, we have been keeping a journal of adventures. Wish you could all be here, we definitely would recommend this to anyone, experience of a life time.

Mum, Dad and Shane Hill...
Hello, missing you all very much, mum, dad I can understand how much fun you had on your holiday, so fantastic being exposed to so many different things, real eye opener, and great to be out of comfort zone. How’s my baby, I hope rats is being kind to her, I hope you’re letting her stay on your bed!!! Or on her ruggy, Sam and I are missing her very much. Were quite home sick other night when Sam was sick, only place you want to be is home really!

Allena
You so have to do this one day, miss you heaps, and wish you were here. Hope studies are going well. Is there anything you want me to get, some nice Gucci bags, wallets etc?

Jo and Brent
Only been a week but feels much longer, times stands still when on holiday. I’m taking your advice Jo and picking up bits and pieces, to remember my time here, so many wonderful things, hard to decide what I want. Hate to look at bank account, seem to be spending a lot of money, but hard to no, because have to convert everything. Jo hope you’re keeping well, missing you.

Maria, and Aubert teachers and children,
Far out, so many things I wish I could bring back to show you all, just looking at bugs in glass cases, quite scary seeing huge bugs, beetles and spiders, hope I don’t see any of those ones, so interesting to look at though. We’ve seen some really interesting insects here, just saw tiny black frogs all over pavement, the size of pinkie nail, very cute, but was scared I would stand on them, so I got left behind, trying to avoid them. Huge big millipedes everywhere, like great big fat worms with feet! I hope you got my postcard from Aussie, another on the way. You might like to print out some pics for children to look at, all decent I think. Love to you all, missing you all very much, hope all is well, be in touch soon.

Steve, Amanda, Blair and Kate,
Hello, hope everything is well, wow, it’s so hot here, but so beautiful. Blair we will hopefully go on an elephant ride soon, will be fun, but scary being up so high. I had a big Iguana on my shoulder the other day (like a giant lizard), was so cool, you would have liked it, I’ll send you a photo. Big crabs on the beach here too, the size of dinner plates!!! I’ll have to watch my step. Love to all xxx

Mum, Dad and Toby Wells
Hey guys! Sorry contact has been very limited as we have found it hard to find time and secure places to get online. I am loving it so far (except for the 36hrs of stomach terror) and can’t wait to see all this Phi Phi has to offer, by far the best place we have been to, wish you guys were here to experience it. Hope to talk soon once we figure out how to make reasonable priced calls, I will be in touch, SFW.

Hazards:
Taxis
Water and ice, trying to avoid.
Mosquito’s
The sun (Johnny tells us, “we are right on the equator, well just above it”, no wonder so hot)!
Most food, especially meats, avoiding at all costs.

Welcome to Aussie

2006-10-01T08:21:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone, All is going really well so far, really tired though, been really busy sightseeing, shopping, socialising and drinking!!! We went to Wet and wild today, was heaps of fun, but got over waiting in lines very quickly, the weather is so hot here, it's wonderful. I managed to hurt my hip flexor this morning so limping more than ever, I think I've weaken muscles in my right leg from limping because of my foot injury, so funny Sam and I are both limping, at least I can keep up with him now, hopefully his shin will come right soon. Mike and Marika took us along the Brisbane river on the ferry on Friday and then we went into town to have a look around, we stopped of at the pub and had a drink, Sam and Johnny had no shoes so they had to go off and buy some ugly USA jandels which were too small but matched! We had a party here at Mike and Marikas the on Friday night, they decided to have a open flame B.B.Q, we were visited by the fire department, who were quite amused to see the "out of control fire" which was reported by a neighbour, we didn't actually use it to B.B.Q, but it was good fun to sit around (and it was well in compliance). We have met some really nice people, many of whom have travelled, and offered more advice and ideas. Last night we had drinks here too, and then went into the valley to see the night life, however we were all quite tired, so just enjoyed looking around, got home around 1am and then continued having quiet drinks. We went to the Gold coast to have a look around on Saturday, everything is so close here, great to have a look around. Tonight we're going up to the look out Mt Cootha look out, which will be nice. We have to be at the airport at 1.20pm tomorrow and have a nine hour flight to Bangkok, hopefully we will be able to get good seats, since we're sore and all! Well, will send another message soon. Maria hope all is well, say hello to the children and teachers for me, I'll send a postcard soon. Love to all, Bek and Sam