Tuesday 10 June 2008
Beautiful New Zealand
Hi!! Hope everyone is well? We are having a fantastic time in new zealand! The weather is very cold but that just adds to the beautiful scenery with the snow capped mountains! Our last blog was from Melbourne. In melbourne we didnt do loads but we did go to a neighbours tour and a neighbours party!!! It was sooooo much fun! We got to meet susan and Karl kennedy (what legends!!) Stingray, Michelle Scully and Steve parker (a new bloke neds brother!!) Karl kennedys band played and it was just so much fun!! WE LOVE NEIGHBOURS HAHA!!! Me and becks went up the ulreka tower at night to see the city lit up which was very pretty! Oh and laura also got picked out the crowd by a street performer to take part in his show it was very funny!!! He was a gymnast which is quite bizarre because she was to!!! We met back up with rob in melbourne so the four of us are back together now untuill the end of NZ. We went to the casino a couple of times but we are so tight with our money we just watched others loose!!!! haha! On 17th May we flew into Christchurch NZ. The weather was a bit of a shock VERY cold! (well compared to what we were used to!). Our first night in christchurch was amazing went to a really good club where we saw people we met in Aus so that was good! Our hostel is right next to a cathedral called canterbury Christchurch cathedral which not surprisingly is twinned with canterbury cathedral in England! On the 20th started the kiwi experience our first stop was Kaikoura which means to eat crayfish!! We were only there for one night we had a trip to swim with dolphins but it was cancelled as the sea was to rough, so insted we went and visited the seal colony had the best fish and chip dinner then went to a pome pub quiz (obviously run by a english person pome stands for prisoner of mother england and aus and kiwis call brits pome's!). Next day we left for Nelson on way there we stopped of for some free wine testing at the marlborough vineyards (a massive group of backpackers given free wine!! Good times!!). In nelson we stayed for 3 days we done a trek that led the the centre of NZ and visited the field where the very first rugby game was played! After Nelson left for Westport. On way stopped of at lake Rotoiti where there is a famous kiwi pic of people jusmping of end into the lake now normally in summer it would be lovely but it was freezing but me and nat were determined not to let that stop us so we jumped in!!! It was so cold it was hard to breath in the water!! We also went to buller gorge for jet boating! Was a lot of fun and again got very wet! After westport left for lake mahinapua. On the way we stopped off at cape fowlwind and toronga bay for treks and also pancake rocks which is rock formations which resemble stacks of pancakes! Lake mahinapua is home of the poo party!! Its called a poo party as many people cannot pronounce the name of the place which the ending is pronounced 'poo' and the kiwi experience arrange a big fancy dress party called the poo party we stayed at a pub that has the oldest publican in NZ he is over 80 years old! He fed the us best bbq dinner with massive steaks, venison stew and loads of pastas and salads! The theme for the party was anything beggining with 'P' becki went as a policewoman and me and nat went as a pair of pink pants!! We got pink wrapping paper and cut them out in the shape of pants and decorated them we then tied them together and put it over us so we were stuck together all night!! haha. It was a really funny night. Next day we left for Franz Josef On the way there we stopped of at a museaum however me becks and nat went to do our skydive! It was absolutly amazing we flew over fox glacier and mount cook and mount tasman. It was so beautiful then we jumped out the plane!! The next day we done a full day hike on franz josef glacier it was amazing going through ice tunnels seing blue ice and all the different formations! It is a very unique glacier as it is in the middle of a rainforest so technically should not be there!! The next day we left for Wanaka stopped of at lake matheson with has a beautiful reflection of mount cook and also the blue pools and waterfalls! After wanaker we arrived in queenstown!! whooo!!! We love queenstown the home of extreme sports and amazing nightlife!!! This is where Laura and Rob signed up for the thrillogy (3 bungee jumps) the kawarau bridge bungy which was the very first bungy ever, the ledge bungy which is the only bungy where u are harnesed around your waist so u can do anything of the ledge and the Nevis the highest bungy in new zealand (134 metres 8.5 seconds freefall and within top 5 highest in the world!!!) We done them on seperate days to keep the excitement!! We had the best time doin the bungees becki and nat think Laura is weird because she didnt really get nervous at all only a bit on the ledge because she decided to do a somersault of the end!! Rob has now done 6 bungee jumps in aus and NZ. We also went on a day trip to milford sounds which is one of the most beautiful places in NZ where u go on a cruise through the sounds. However it was so foggy we didnt see anything!! haha but we did get an amazing free buffet lunch! We also went to an underwater observatory in milford sounds. After Queenstown we left to go back to christchurch. Here we meet up with two friends from home kris landegg and dan herbert. We had the most amazing night it was so good to meet up with people from home on the other side of the world! After our night out we managed to get 2 hours sleep then it was up early to catch the bus to Picton then the ferry to Wellington in the north island. Here we had a slight panic as we forgot to book accomodation and the all blacks were playing ireland so most hostels were booked! Whilst on the internet looking for places to stay we were asked if we wanted to be extras in a film!!! How kool is that! Anyway we all said yes so we got free food and alcohol. The funniest thing is Laura and Natalie wer asked to do a speaking part!! (we are rubbish!!!) Heres the funniest thing the film was about a dog and me and nat had to talk to the dog!!! yes thats right talk to a dog!! haha it was so much fun but so imbarasing! we were all in the party scenes dancing and stuff! The director of the film was the sound editor for lord of the rings! The next day we picked up our campervan!! Its a bit of a beast! It has a double bed and a fold out double bed a kitchen, toilet, shower,. We have all had a go at driving its really easy just have to remember how wide long and tall it is!!! We have decided to freedom camp so not use campsites first night we slept in tongario national park village next day we drove around the national park through mordor (used in lord of the rings). We also went up to whakapapa ski resort. We spent that night in Taupo. Today we spent all morning in Taupo natural miniral hot springs the water was 40 degrees. Air temp is approx 10 degrees. We then craters of the moon walk which is where geothermal activity is so it looks like the earth is smoking! Pretty amazing! In this spot u can also feel mini earthquakes as it rests on two tectonic plates! After this we went to Huka falls waterfall. We are leaving for Rororua tomorow after we spend the morning in hot water lake!! On saturday we have tickets to see the all blacks play england in Auckland. WE ARE VERY EXCITED!!!
Thursday 1 May 2008
NATS ANNOUNCEMENT!
While Rob and I were in Brisbane together we had time to think about our travel plans! We were going to go to tazmania for 3 weeks in a campervan but after research realised it was a bit expensive....also because of the fact i couldnt bare to be parted from my amazing friends who are like family to me now! We decided to leave 3 weeks earlier than planned and go to new zealand with laura and becks on the 17th may!!!!!! We are all very exited now and we might get a camper van in the north island for 2 weeks! Rob is in cairns at the moment doing diving and us girlies are leaving tonight for sydney! bye for now, lots of love to everyone x x x
Wednesday 30 April 2008
Halfway through Oz!!!!
Whitsunday Islands
We started our Whitsunday Islands 3 day tour on the 2nd of march. It is a tour of the group of 74 small Islands off Airlie Beach on a sailing boat. On our first day we sailed into the protection of the islands where we stayed for the night. The water was so calm it was beautiful. We helped with the sailing and put the sails up, we actually learnt a lot about the boats we could so be skippers!!!!!! In the morning we went to whitehaven beach! This beach has been rated the second best beach in the world. The sand is pure white and is 99.9% silicone! This means it is as fine as flour and you can polish your silver jewellery with it! The sand also stays cool unlike other sand thats gets really hot this is beacuse it reflect the sunlight back up so when walking on it it squeeks and you have to be extra careful with suntan lotion as the rays are reflected back up onto us! The aboriginies call it whispering sands as the squeeking sound like it is talking to u! Clever sand!!! We had to wear stinger suits in the water as there were lots of jellyfish around and got in the sea for a bit but it was freezing! That afternoon we went to the most amazing snorkelling site Hook Bay, we saw hundreds of fish and the coral! It was very beautiful. The next day we also snorkelled at Mantaray bay which again was very beautiful but absolutly swarming with jellyfish and Natalie managed to get coral stuck in her knee. The skipper was really good though and got it out with tweezers!! We were really sad to leave the islands as we had a fantastic time. Laura and becki also booked a dive on the great barrier reef and nat came for the snorkelling after three attempts at gettin there (the boat had to turn around for two days as weather was to bad) we finally got there and the dive and snorkelling was amazing we saw a family of nemos with baby nemos so cute! We left Airlie beach for a town called Agnes waters the town of 1770. The town was named after the date that captain cook first arrived. In 1770 we done a wave sunset kayak whcih was so much fun its like surfing in a kayak whilst at sunset. We alsdo done a surf lesson the next day which was so much fun and harder than the surfers make it look! Laura and Nat also done scooteroo which was a tour of the town on harley davidson style motorbikes the tour lasted 4 hours and we watched the sunset on the beach. Very beautiful we also saw wild kangaroos on the tour. We left 1770 for Rainbow beach to start our Fraser island three day self drive safari. Fraser island is the biggest sand island in the world and a national park. On the first day (we had a group of 11 people and a four by four car) we visited lake mckenzie which is a fresh water lake. Its the highlight of fraser island the water is so fresh yu can drink it. We then set up camp. The next morning we visited a shipwreck which has been on the beach since 1935 and then went to Indian head where u can climb a cliff and watch out of shraks and mantarays. Fraser island is strictly no swimming as the water is shark infested. Unfortunately we didnt see any sharks but they were around as others did! We camped on the beach that night and had to cook burgers and sausages with water!!!! Was funny! On fraser island there are loads of dingoes which are wild dogs that can be aggressive. we had four come into our campsite that night and we had scratch marks on tent the next morning where they had tried to get into our tent!! Quite scary! On our last day we visited Eli creek which was pretty and rainbow gorge which is a sand dune which has loads of different coulour sands, black, white, yellow and orangey red sand. The next day after arriving back form Fraser island we were meant to do a kayak with wild dolphins but the sea was to choppy so it had to be cancelled.
We left Rainbow beach for noosa heads. In Noosa we visited Australia zoo home of the crocodile hunter! It was the most fun day the zoo is amazing and the tributes to Steve Irwin were so sad! He is a legend! We watched the croc shows in his famous crocoseum. There was a wombat called laura!!! (i see the likeness!!!!) The zoo has many workers who bring the animals out so people can touch and hold them they even bought tiger cubs for a walk. We loved the zoo!! We also done a noosa everglades canoe trip. It started well but about half way in our canoe to the camp site it absolutly poured down and didnt stop for two days!!!!!!!! We were drowned rats even our tent leaked so we were laying in puddles. On our second day we thought we would risk the weather and try and do a walk which led up to a sand dune where you could see a really good view. However again it poured so we ended up having a picnic in the toilets and heading back to camp again looking like drowned rats!! We thought our canoe would sink at one point as the back was flooded!! haha!! We did have fun though with our group just a shame about the weather! After leaving Noosa heads we went to Brisbane for 4 days. Here we met up with Rob and he told us all about his trip in western australia. We liked Brisbane but it is just a big city so not loads to do apart from shop!!! We left Brisbane fr surfers paradise which we all really loved! The beach is so pretty but surrounded by high rise buildings its quite strange to look at! Everyone is so friendly in surfers we really enjoyed it. We had another party bus night out there which was sooooo much fun!! The clubs in surfers are really good!! We went to wet and wild theme park which was really fun!!! We went to Byron bay from surfers paradise Yesterday we done a tour to a hippy town called NIMBIN it is the strangest town ever. It looks like it is stuck in time as all the buildings are wooden with old hippy men singing outside!! Nimbin in aus version of amsterdam!! We also visioted a hippy mans botanical gardens and Minyan falls which it a waterfall on top of an extinct volcanoe. Was really pretty. Today we are doing a lighthouse walk which leads the to the most easterly point of australia and tomorow we leave for sydney. Pictures will follow as this computer doesnt allow photos to be uploaded!! xxx
We started our Whitsunday Islands 3 day tour on the 2nd of march. It is a tour of the group of 74 small Islands off Airlie Beach on a sailing boat. On our first day we sailed into the protection of the islands where we stayed for the night. The water was so calm it was beautiful. We helped with the sailing and put the sails up, we actually learnt a lot about the boats we could so be skippers!!!!!! In the morning we went to whitehaven beach! This beach has been rated the second best beach in the world. The sand is pure white and is 99.9% silicone! This means it is as fine as flour and you can polish your silver jewellery with it! The sand also stays cool unlike other sand thats gets really hot this is beacuse it reflect the sunlight back up so when walking on it it squeeks and you have to be extra careful with suntan lotion as the rays are reflected back up onto us! The aboriginies call it whispering sands as the squeeking sound like it is talking to u! Clever sand!!! We had to wear stinger suits in the water as there were lots of jellyfish around and got in the sea for a bit but it was freezing! That afternoon we went to the most amazing snorkelling site Hook Bay, we saw hundreds of fish and the coral! It was very beautiful. The next day we also snorkelled at Mantaray bay which again was very beautiful but absolutly swarming with jellyfish and Natalie managed to get coral stuck in her knee. The skipper was really good though and got it out with tweezers!! We were really sad to leave the islands as we had a fantastic time. Laura and becki also booked a dive on the great barrier reef and nat came for the snorkelling after three attempts at gettin there (the boat had to turn around for two days as weather was to bad) we finally got there and the dive and snorkelling was amazing we saw a family of nemos with baby nemos so cute! We left Airlie beach for a town called Agnes waters the town of 1770. The town was named after the date that captain cook first arrived. In 1770 we done a wave sunset kayak whcih was so much fun its like surfing in a kayak whilst at sunset. We alsdo done a surf lesson the next day which was so much fun and harder than the surfers make it look! Laura and Nat also done scooteroo which was a tour of the town on harley davidson style motorbikes the tour lasted 4 hours and we watched the sunset on the beach. Very beautiful we also saw wild kangaroos on the tour. We left 1770 for Rainbow beach to start our Fraser island three day self drive safari. Fraser island is the biggest sand island in the world and a national park. On the first day (we had a group of 11 people and a four by four car) we visited lake mckenzie which is a fresh water lake. Its the highlight of fraser island the water is so fresh yu can drink it. We then set up camp. The next morning we visited a shipwreck which has been on the beach since 1935 and then went to Indian head where u can climb a cliff and watch out of shraks and mantarays. Fraser island is strictly no swimming as the water is shark infested. Unfortunately we didnt see any sharks but they were around as others did! We camped on the beach that night and had to cook burgers and sausages with water!!!! Was funny! On fraser island there are loads of dingoes which are wild dogs that can be aggressive. we had four come into our campsite that night and we had scratch marks on tent the next morning where they had tried to get into our tent!! Quite scary! On our last day we visited Eli creek which was pretty and rainbow gorge which is a sand dune which has loads of different coulour sands, black, white, yellow and orangey red sand. The next day after arriving back form Fraser island we were meant to do a kayak with wild dolphins but the sea was to choppy so it had to be cancelled.
We left Rainbow beach for noosa heads. In Noosa we visited Australia zoo home of the crocodile hunter! It was the most fun day the zoo is amazing and the tributes to Steve Irwin were so sad! He is a legend! We watched the croc shows in his famous crocoseum. There was a wombat called laura!!! (i see the likeness!!!!) The zoo has many workers who bring the animals out so people can touch and hold them they even bought tiger cubs for a walk. We loved the zoo!! We also done a noosa everglades canoe trip. It started well but about half way in our canoe to the camp site it absolutly poured down and didnt stop for two days!!!!!!!! We were drowned rats even our tent leaked so we were laying in puddles. On our second day we thought we would risk the weather and try and do a walk which led up to a sand dune where you could see a really good view. However again it poured so we ended up having a picnic in the toilets and heading back to camp again looking like drowned rats!! We thought our canoe would sink at one point as the back was flooded!! haha!! We did have fun though with our group just a shame about the weather! After leaving Noosa heads we went to Brisbane for 4 days. Here we met up with Rob and he told us all about his trip in western australia. We liked Brisbane but it is just a big city so not loads to do apart from shop!!! We left Brisbane fr surfers paradise which we all really loved! The beach is so pretty but surrounded by high rise buildings its quite strange to look at! Everyone is so friendly in surfers we really enjoyed it. We had another party bus night out there which was sooooo much fun!! The clubs in surfers are really good!! We went to wet and wild theme park which was really fun!!! We went to Byron bay from surfers paradise Yesterday we done a tour to a hippy town called NIMBIN it is the strangest town ever. It looks like it is stuck in time as all the buildings are wooden with old hippy men singing outside!! Nimbin in aus version of amsterdam!! We also visioted a hippy mans botanical gardens and Minyan falls which it a waterfall on top of an extinct volcanoe. Was really pretty. Today we are doing a lighthouse walk which leads the to the most easterly point of australia and tomorow we leave for sydney. Pictures will follow as this computer doesnt allow photos to be uploaded!! xxx
Tuesday 25 March 2008
The three girlies hit OZ!!!!
Hello everyone!!!!
Hope you are all well and that you all had a lovely Easter!! So us three girlies are back together again, and are now experiencing the wondeful world of OZ!!! We arrived in Oz on the 17th March in Alice Springs as all four of us had booked an Ayres Rock Trip for two days one night!! Nat and Rob arrived slightly before us but we all met up at our first hostel Heavitree Gap! This was a really nice hostel and our first hands on experience of the 'real' outback!!!!! Had a really early start the next day 4:45am!!!!!!!!!! We travelled for 3 hours to our first stop which was called Kings Canyon. When we got here the weather was around 38 degrees which was HOT HOT HOT!! We were only allowed to do the short walk round the canyon because of the weather which was a slight dissapointment. Laura got attacked by flies as she cut her leg!! There were sooo many flies all the time and they always buzzed around your ears and nose not very nice at all!!! We all really enjoyed it here and were all looking forward to getting to Uluru (Ayres Rock). We faced another 3 hours from Kings Canyon to get to Uluru and we had to hurry to catch the sunset. We finally arrived at our campsite and the first thing we did was watch the sunset which gives the illusion that the rock changes colour which was really impressive!! We had the best night in our campsite, first we had a proper Aussie BBQ dinner with sausages, steak and salad (veggie burgers just for Nat!!). After dinner we all had the oppurtunity to sleep in authentic Aussie Swags (a mattress attached to a sleeping bag that you can zip completely up!) under the stars. This was a totally amazing night as you could see soooooo many stars and even the milkyway, they were so clear we could almost touch them. Another early start as we wanted to watch the sunrise at Uluru, this was another amazing sight as was the base walk that we did after the sunrise! The rock was so impressive and we all got a little snap happy, Laura got so excited she had to hug the rock! We werent allowed to climb the rock as it was a pretty scary and dangerous route up with only a rope to pull yourself up! we didnt realise how vertical it was and apparantly over 30 people have died attempting to reach the top! Even daredevil Laura decided that she wouldnt be able to do it!! After we left Uluru we visited Kata tjuta which was another huge rock but very different to Uluru as it is made up of 36 different boulders! On the 5 hour jouney home we stopped to look at the salt lakes, this is where Nat decided to swallow a fly!! or it decided to make home in her tummy!! The next day Rob caught a flight to Melbourne (nat was very sad to be leaving him after sooo long :( where he was going to go camping with some Aussie mates and us girlies caught our flight to Cairns!
CAIRNS- Arrived at Gilligans on thursday night and had our first experience of sharing a dorm which was quite exciting!! The next day was Good Friday and the whole of Cairns turned into a ghost town. Everything had shut, we werent allowed to drink or buy any alcohol only if we were having a meal, they wouldnt even let us have a coke!!!!! So quiet night for us!! Saturday night was far from quiet we booked ourselves onto a party bus which was amazing over 150 people were on this double decker open top bus and it took us too 5 different bars around Cairns! We met some amazing people that night. We also saw hundreds of bats that night (Becki was not too impressed) we never new Cairns had sooo many and they were huge!
The next day (sunday) we had booked a Cape Tribulation trip which took us on a river cruise along the river Daintree, a baby croc, a 5 metre croc called scarface, a tree python and some owls. We then did a rainforest walk which was really interesting, we saw some weird looking trees and some massive golden orb spiders which were bigger than our hand!! We also visited Mossman Gorge which was like a waterfall which you could swim in! We then visited Cape Tribulation which is a beach where Captain Cook first landed and lastly we visited Port Douglas, which is a small rich town. Our tour guide for the day was called Lisa and was off her rocker and made the day very amusing! Monday night we had another good night at the Woolshed. This is where we witnessed England actually win something...we came first in GOlDFISH RACING!!!! haha was quite an event! Wednesday we left on the Greyhound ( OZ bus ) our first stop was Mission beach and we stayed here for a few hours. It's a really nice beach and we watched some skydivers which got us all excited about doing our own one! We also saw wild dolphins and swam in the stinger net, the water was lovely and warm (stinger nets are huge nets set up which allows us to swim safely and not get stung by the hundreds of jellyfish that swim in the seas) on every beach they have loads of warnings about the marine stingers and have constant supply of vinegar on all beaches. We then carried on travelling and spent the night in Townsville. We planned to stay here but then saw brochures about Magnetic Island and it sounded a really nice place to visit and we ended up staying here for 2 days!
The island reminded us of Thailand as it was so tropical! Our first night we stayed at a place called bungalow bay where they had a koala sanctuary in the grounds. Here we were able to hold a baby croc called Barbie, a carpet python (which Nat stayed well away from), cockatoos (Becki stayed well clear of these birds), lizards ( Nat became one with the Lizards!) and a koala called Dexter. Laura was the only brave one who held everything!! The next day Laura and Nat had a lovely time riding horses for 2 and a half hours through woodland and the bush and there were lakes, creeks and streams which the horses rode through. They managed to do a trot and a canter (Becks is very impressed). They then rode on to the beach where Becki met them to take photos as they rode the horses right in to the sea (geared up in stinger suits) this is where they did tricks on the horses, like around the world and a back somersault of the horse into the sea! Nat didnt do these tricks but Laura was a pro!! Then we decided to do the fort walk (something to do with world war 2) which is a 1 hour n half trek up to a lookout where you can see the entire island. We did this walk at the totally wrong time of day (midday) it was all up hill and all 3 of us were really really really sweaty!!! (YUK) we did see some wild koalas which made up for some of the sweatiness. That night we went to Australia's own full moon party (which was a total rip off of the famous one in Thailand!) This was another really good night, we even met some ppl we had been on the party bus with in Cairns! We also bumped into people that had seen us in Thailand (Koh Phagnan, Koh Samui) Singapore and now Oz (its a small world). This night Becks decided to get as many pictures of different hats as she could ( I got 24 different hats in total not too bad).
On Saturday after only 2 hours sleep we got the Greyhound to Airlie beach (6 hour journey) at the moment we're just relaxing here. Preparing ourselves for Wednesday when we go on our 3 day sailing trip round the Whitsundays which will be really good!
Hope you are all well and that you all had a lovely Easter!! So us three girlies are back together again, and are now experiencing the wondeful world of OZ!!! We arrived in Oz on the 17th March in Alice Springs as all four of us had booked an Ayres Rock Trip for two days one night!! Nat and Rob arrived slightly before us but we all met up at our first hostel Heavitree Gap! This was a really nice hostel and our first hands on experience of the 'real' outback!!!!! Had a really early start the next day 4:45am!!!!!!!!!! We travelled for 3 hours to our first stop which was called Kings Canyon. When we got here the weather was around 38 degrees which was HOT HOT HOT!! We were only allowed to do the short walk round the canyon because of the weather which was a slight dissapointment. Laura got attacked by flies as she cut her leg!! There were sooo many flies all the time and they always buzzed around your ears and nose not very nice at all!!! We all really enjoyed it here and were all looking forward to getting to Uluru (Ayres Rock). We faced another 3 hours from Kings Canyon to get to Uluru and we had to hurry to catch the sunset. We finally arrived at our campsite and the first thing we did was watch the sunset which gives the illusion that the rock changes colour which was really impressive!! We had the best night in our campsite, first we had a proper Aussie BBQ dinner with sausages, steak and salad (veggie burgers just for Nat!!). After dinner we all had the oppurtunity to sleep in authentic Aussie Swags (a mattress attached to a sleeping bag that you can zip completely up!) under the stars. This was a totally amazing night as you could see soooooo many stars and even the milkyway, they were so clear we could almost touch them. Another early start as we wanted to watch the sunrise at Uluru, this was another amazing sight as was the base walk that we did after the sunrise! The rock was so impressive and we all got a little snap happy, Laura got so excited she had to hug the rock! We werent allowed to climb the rock as it was a pretty scary and dangerous route up with only a rope to pull yourself up! we didnt realise how vertical it was and apparantly over 30 people have died attempting to reach the top! Even daredevil Laura decided that she wouldnt be able to do it!! After we left Uluru we visited Kata tjuta which was another huge rock but very different to Uluru as it is made up of 36 different boulders! On the 5 hour jouney home we stopped to look at the salt lakes, this is where Nat decided to swallow a fly!! or it decided to make home in her tummy!! The next day Rob caught a flight to Melbourne (nat was very sad to be leaving him after sooo long :( where he was going to go camping with some Aussie mates and us girlies caught our flight to Cairns!
CAIRNS- Arrived at Gilligans on thursday night and had our first experience of sharing a dorm which was quite exciting!! The next day was Good Friday and the whole of Cairns turned into a ghost town. Everything had shut, we werent allowed to drink or buy any alcohol only if we were having a meal, they wouldnt even let us have a coke!!!!! So quiet night for us!! Saturday night was far from quiet we booked ourselves onto a party bus which was amazing over 150 people were on this double decker open top bus and it took us too 5 different bars around Cairns! We met some amazing people that night. We also saw hundreds of bats that night (Becki was not too impressed) we never new Cairns had sooo many and they were huge!
The next day (sunday) we had booked a Cape Tribulation trip which took us on a river cruise along the river Daintree, a baby croc, a 5 metre croc called scarface, a tree python and some owls. We then did a rainforest walk which was really interesting, we saw some weird looking trees and some massive golden orb spiders which were bigger than our hand!! We also visited Mossman Gorge which was like a waterfall which you could swim in! We then visited Cape Tribulation which is a beach where Captain Cook first landed and lastly we visited Port Douglas, which is a small rich town. Our tour guide for the day was called Lisa and was off her rocker and made the day very amusing! Monday night we had another good night at the Woolshed. This is where we witnessed England actually win something...we came first in GOlDFISH RACING!!!! haha was quite an event! Wednesday we left on the Greyhound ( OZ bus ) our first stop was Mission beach and we stayed here for a few hours. It's a really nice beach and we watched some skydivers which got us all excited about doing our own one! We also saw wild dolphins and swam in the stinger net, the water was lovely and warm (stinger nets are huge nets set up which allows us to swim safely and not get stung by the hundreds of jellyfish that swim in the seas) on every beach they have loads of warnings about the marine stingers and have constant supply of vinegar on all beaches. We then carried on travelling and spent the night in Townsville. We planned to stay here but then saw brochures about Magnetic Island and it sounded a really nice place to visit and we ended up staying here for 2 days!
The island reminded us of Thailand as it was so tropical! Our first night we stayed at a place called bungalow bay where they had a koala sanctuary in the grounds. Here we were able to hold a baby croc called Barbie, a carpet python (which Nat stayed well away from), cockatoos (Becki stayed well clear of these birds), lizards ( Nat became one with the Lizards!) and a koala called Dexter. Laura was the only brave one who held everything!! The next day Laura and Nat had a lovely time riding horses for 2 and a half hours through woodland and the bush and there were lakes, creeks and streams which the horses rode through. They managed to do a trot and a canter (Becks is very impressed). They then rode on to the beach where Becki met them to take photos as they rode the horses right in to the sea (geared up in stinger suits) this is where they did tricks on the horses, like around the world and a back somersault of the horse into the sea! Nat didnt do these tricks but Laura was a pro!! Then we decided to do the fort walk (something to do with world war 2) which is a 1 hour n half trek up to a lookout where you can see the entire island. We did this walk at the totally wrong time of day (midday) it was all up hill and all 3 of us were really really really sweaty!!! (YUK) we did see some wild koalas which made up for some of the sweatiness. That night we went to Australia's own full moon party (which was a total rip off of the famous one in Thailand!) This was another really good night, we even met some ppl we had been on the party bus with in Cairns! We also bumped into people that had seen us in Thailand (Koh Phagnan, Koh Samui) Singapore and now Oz (its a small world). This night Becks decided to get as many pictures of different hats as she could ( I got 24 different hats in total not too bad).
On Saturday after only 2 hours sleep we got the Greyhound to Airlie beach (6 hour journey) at the moment we're just relaxing here. Preparing ourselves for Wednesday when we go on our 3 day sailing trip round the Whitsundays which will be really good!
Saturday 15 March 2008
Darwin Australia, Kakadu National Park!
When me and rob got to the airport i had my bag searched at customs! although we think it might have just been for their training purposes, not sure! they searched my bag completely taking everything out and then they found my badges that i got to put on our rucksacks, which are wrapped in newspaper which we think is why they searched. Anyway darwin is such a pretty little town, it has a main road with mostly bar/restaurants and seating areas outside and other shops down it, it is about 35degrees here! its tropical this time of year is the end of the wet season so not as much rain but is perfect for our trip to kakadu! because the flood plains are smaller and not completely flooded waterfalls and roads, but then with the wet there is more wildlife and wetlands and plenty of crocs mate! we went on a jumping crocodile tour! it was a cruise down the adelaide river, so beautiful. There are crocodiles and marshlands down and off the river. The crocs know the boats now they come out if they here it (sometimes as they are shy animals and they have to be very hungry) and they hold sticks with string with meat at the end and splash it in the water the crocs watch it for a while and then they lift the stick so they have to jump for the meat and u get a fantastic view of the croc! the biggest one we saw was 4 meters long! but they can get up to 6 meters usualylly if they are old. we learnt about the history of crocs in oz. and then we went to a snake farm and rob held a black headed snake really ugly thing, i just stood tkaing loads of pics! then we went on our four wheel drive adventure! which drove over 3 rivers, the adelaide river, mary river andsouth alligator river (called that coz of something to do with explorors to oz as there are no alligators in oz). there is 3 bridges which go over each river, we drove over each bridge, at this time of the year all rivers were submerged! and on some parts the river overflowed on the road but the 4wd made it through! we saw a rare type of heron birds feeding in the river which there are also crocodiles in we couldnt get out of the car incase the crocs jump out as they can jump very quickly and fast and to the side! we had lunch in the park. then our leader told us a story about a tribe "waramol" who are now extinct because of the arrival of white men in (the coal mines in kakadu which take up 2thousand km of the 20 thousand km national park) they needed the aboriginals to work for them in the mines, and as they could not offer them money, food or land they offered them opium, alcohol and cigaretts. basically this is evil in their culture but eventually it took over the tribe which culture of hunting etc quickly fell apart and there was only one person "baramundie charley" who did take any opium and he was the last survivor. as the culture is that when the tribe dies, the knowledge stays with the tribe and goes back into the land forever, as only people who gain the respect of the tribe can know about them. he did not say hardly anything about the tribe but he did do aboriginal rock art of the stories that were important to the tribe to preserve the stories forever was most important to him. some of the paintings we do not know what they mean, it can only be guessed at. they are so beautiful, some are 20,000 years old. 2 paintings baramundie charley said were done by the spirits the meemee spirit, if this is true it wud be up to 50,000 years old which skeptics and some scientists say is impossible as as the painting was done in white paint it wud not be able to last that long as white paint is the least durable. there is one of a gun which is 150 years old when white man arrived in kakadu killing the animals. there is also x-ray rock art which is e.g a fish skeleton and insides to keep knowledge of how to kill and eat food etc, then there is decoratiove such as head wear, and detailed, and descriptive which is art that tells the story of a significant event in their tribe. but it also tells moral techings for the tribe. there is also handprints which are left by visiting tribes who may need food from other tribes land, or generation hand prints., tere is one rock that has 85 hand prints on it (generational) as it is everytime a boy turns to man his handprint is put on it. They would put the paint in their mouth and spray it out like spray paint. We also learnt about kinship laws as incsest was very wrong to them and forbidden in the tribes. They carefully planned who to marry by keeping generations in their mind, as no written language and it was never recorded by baramundie charley who beleived it dies with the tribe. Then we went to nourlangie rock, which was beautiful. Out of a group of 12 people only 4 people made it to the top, i was the only girl to make it to the top! We camped in "yellow water" we had nice tents. Where we were camping was right next to one of the rivers where crocs are found. Our leader once got in the river for fun and pulled out a 2 meter baby croc! he was crazy!we drove in the moring and it took us 2 hours to get to Yurmikmik in kakadu. We went to the marrawal plateau the area of stone basically, huge stones! cant really describe, and we went trecking for an hour to find a waterfall, we went through kurramundie creek, to get to motar car falls and motar car falls creek! A HUGE WATERFALL! We all got in and had a swim! it was pure freshwater you can actually drink the water is a it is so pure.we had to climb over huge rock boulders to get there. We then went to another waterfall that one was a bit dirty water only because there were trees roots in the water as they grew up from the lagoon at the side. that one was called marlins rockhole which is not on the map as they dont want people to know about it! but everyone seemed too! it was funny as i took a pic of the sign outside the waterfall area which said caution crocodiles!!!!!! but our leader said he doubted there would be in that bit coz they wouldnt go over rocks they preffered marshlands! at this point we were right at the south point of kakadu and had to drive way back up north of kakadu to get transferred back to darwin. on the way back we stopped for petrol and there was a wallaby (a smaller kangaroo) at the side of the road. as everyine was waiting at petrol station, i snuck over there and got so close to it i just sat there while it munched on grass and i took pics of it, it was a young one and was so cute!!!!! then rob came over and got close but it got scared and hopped back into the bush! that was amazing to be so close to wildlife. then on the way to see termite mounds in the bush our group leader got out his diggeredoo and played it while driving!!!!! he was very good! slightly scared, but the roads are so straight that it wasnt hard for him! then we saw termite mounds which were huge!! and learnt about them. then our leader started eating them saying they tasted like pepper! yum yum! haha rob had one so did a few others. we took pics of each other by the mound. then justin the group leader went into the bush looking for green ants to eat saying they tasted like lime!!! he came back and ate a few then so did a few others and rob did it was funny. While waiting for our transfer 4 wheel drive back to Darwin our leader played the diggereydoo for us, he was so good at it! We leave tommorow for Uluru Alice Springs!
Singapore!
Mine and Robs last day in Singapore was amazing, in the words of Steve Irwin "Singapore Zoo is the best Zoo in the world" and it sure is!!! It is like no other zoo i have ever been too as the animals are so free. They are not in cages at all, aprart from the snakes and there are some animals that cant be totally free. It is such a big zoo and as you walk around it feels like you really are walking around the jungle as it is set pretty much in the jungle! There is even a lake there that is so big you can hardly see the other side, it is so beautiful. We saw polar bears which are kept in an ultra cool tank with a big pool to swim in, and asian elephants which we saw bathing in a huge pool. We saw monkeys baboons orang utangs giraffes, tigers , lions (which were practically walking around the park) i was a bit cautious! And there is an australian outback section so they even had kangaroos! They had a reptile section with frogs in it and snakes, this lead to a bit about the environment which explained about how the worlds jungles are under threat and the animals in them as some are close to extinction. There was an amazing part of the zoo which lead to a jungle experience! It is a huge jungle area under a canopy so you are enclosed with all the animals! There were brids and all kinds of little critters that kept brushing past me! then it lead up some stairs to the top of the canopy where there were parrots flying around and there were bats hanging of the top of the canopy. We videoed it as some bats were fighting! We left the zoo as it started to rain like a monsoon and had to rush back to our hostel to get the flight to Darwin!
Tuesday 11 March 2008
malaysia!!!
Me and Rob left thailand on the 6th march for malaysia. we got a night boat which was about 100 people on the boat, about 30 lined up along the floor on thin mattresses on each side. it was like being in the army! it took 9 hours to reach surri-thani from ko tao, then from surri-thani we got the bus to penang island malaysia which took 12 hours! we had to change busses alot. and i was scared for my life as the driver was driving like a maniac! and we saw 4 major accidents on the motorway of crushed cars and busses. We stayed in Chinatown in Georgetown. penang was so different from thailand. it is like a bowl of ingredients of chinese, japanese, indians, and thai, there didnt seem to be as many malaysians there as in singapore. There is such a mixture of cultures, for example Harmony road is a road in penang which has mosques, temples and a huge anglican church down it. It shows the diversity of cultures there, and the fact that everyone is at peace there i found really amazing. It rained sooooo much when we were there!!! We went on a tour around the island, we saw where the first chinese settlers built houses in penang on sticks by the river and saw fort cornwallis and other english buildings and there is a lot of history between english and penang. We went for a curry and had a good talk to an indian man about the history between india and england, people love the english there!! We went up ''Penang hill'" which was over 7000 meters up! ( i got a bit sick and nearly blacked out on the way down!) There were indian girls who asked us for a picture with them! they must have thought we were celebrities! and people kept stopping us to ask us "where are you from"? People are so interested in you, and i find that really endearing. We visited a snake temple, but i wasnt scared as i think the snakes were doped up or fed a lot as they didnt hardly move! And also visited many temples high in the mountains which were beautiful and very moving, one with 10 thousand gold buddahs in.There is a statue being built high in the mountains which we saw up close it is of such religious importance we felt privelaged to see it. We left penang on monday the 10th and got the bus to singapore (another 12 hours)! We went during the day so got to see kuala lumpar!! It was a very busy place, in some ways similar to singapore. Today we went into the heart of singapore, and realised there is one thing they love to do here and thats shopping! There are hardly any westerners here either, but they dont stare at you like they do in malaysia. It is very modern here and seems to be a lot like america. Tommorow we are going to hopefully go to singapore zoo and on a wheel that is just like the "london eye" to see all of singapore! We fly to Darwin on the 12th march! Lots of love to everyone, from nat and rob x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Friday 7 March 2008
Thailand!!!
Hi everyone hope you are all well! We are all very good and loving Thailand! Sorry it's been so long since last blog but we have been non stop moving about so we have now made time to update it!! Heres the story so far Nat and Rob arrived in Thailand on 10th feb spent four days in Bangkok where they saw the grand palace, got a tuk tuk around bangkok where nat had to hold her nose all the way as the fumes are baaaad!! They stayed near Ko San road which is backpacker heaven although its also quite dirty and very noisy!Its an experience jus walkin down it!! They also went to pat pong famous for the lady boys of bangkok!! They then travelled down to Krabi where they done kayaking elephant trekking through the jungle and stayed in a hut in the jungle! Rob held this massive spider which made a web outside their door!! They then went to Phi Phi where they had beautiful beaches but they werent majorly impressed as since the tsunami the land has been taken over by Americans so its very americanized! Rob dived in Phi Phi they then went to Phuket for couple of days then travelled to Koh Samui to meet becks n laura!! whoo!!
Me n becks got to Bangkok on 17th feb we were met at airport by my auntie Pauline and cousin Allen! We had a fantastic week with them we saw the grand palace, ancient city, MBK shopping mall, snake and crocodile farms, temple of dawn, boat ride along the canal, Pat Pong, a theme park and a water park on top of a shopping mall!! Auntie Pauline made us the most amazing food i had pancakes every morning!!! YUMMY!! GOOD roast potatoes too!!!! After Bangkok we travelled down to Koh Samui to meet nat and rob!! After missing the night train we had to get on a motorbike taxi half way accross bangkok to get to the next stop with big backpacks and all!! I loved the ride but Becki was not so impressed!!! haha!! After arriving in Samui we had a great meet up party that night where i stubbed my toe and half the nail came of!! oh dear!! We visited the waterfall. We only stayed in Samui for two nights then we travelled to Koh Pha gnan (the party island) In Koh Pha gnan we had a pool party on our first night which was interesting!!!!!!!!!!!! the next day it started raining very heavily so our uisland tour was cancelled! When we finally got to do the tour the got stranded on an island because our boat engine blew up!!! It was so funny we made friends with a great bunch of people two canadian men called Paul and Brandon, A Canadian girl called Megan and two english girls called Jo and Chaz After ghettin back on land we had our own little pool party and ended up having the most amazing day! We went to the half moon party which is a rave in the jungle its amazing partying on a dancefloor that is surrounded by the wild jungle!!! made friends with an aus called mark, we were a little disapointed though because of the rain the island practically closes down so we couldnt visit Ang Thong national marine park which is where the beach was filmed! Me nat and becki went exploring 1 day when rob was diving and found the most beautiful secluded beaches AMAZING.
We then left for Ko Tao which was not the orriginal plan but we heard so many good thing about it we had to go! Me n becks enrolled on our padi scuba diving course which we have now completed!! WHOO!! we have seen sharks, barracudus, sting rays, angel fish, pirate fish, sea snakes and nemo fish and loads more! Its amazing down there its another world! Rob has done 4 dives here ko tao is known for its great diving Rob managed to see about 12 sharks all swimming around him! Whilst we were diving nat was with the the rest of the group (canadians) and she went around the island on a motorbike and saw some beautiful beaches. Nat and Rob left for Penang islands last night and me n becks and the group went to an amazing party on the beach to celebrate our scuba diving! We are leaving tomo for Krabi. Hope everone is well miss you all xxx
Me n becks got to Bangkok on 17th feb we were met at airport by my auntie Pauline and cousin Allen! We had a fantastic week with them we saw the grand palace, ancient city, MBK shopping mall, snake and crocodile farms, temple of dawn, boat ride along the canal, Pat Pong, a theme park and a water park on top of a shopping mall!! Auntie Pauline made us the most amazing food i had pancakes every morning!!! YUMMY!! GOOD roast potatoes too!!!! After Bangkok we travelled down to Koh Samui to meet nat and rob!! After missing the night train we had to get on a motorbike taxi half way accross bangkok to get to the next stop with big backpacks and all!! I loved the ride but Becki was not so impressed!!! haha!! After arriving in Samui we had a great meet up party that night where i stubbed my toe and half the nail came of!! oh dear!! We visited the waterfall. We only stayed in Samui for two nights then we travelled to Koh Pha gnan (the party island) In Koh Pha gnan we had a pool party on our first night which was interesting!!!!!!!!!!!! the next day it started raining very heavily so our uisland tour was cancelled! When we finally got to do the tour the got stranded on an island because our boat engine blew up!!! It was so funny we made friends with a great bunch of people two canadian men called Paul and Brandon, A Canadian girl called Megan and two english girls called Jo and Chaz After ghettin back on land we had our own little pool party and ended up having the most amazing day! We went to the half moon party which is a rave in the jungle its amazing partying on a dancefloor that is surrounded by the wild jungle!!! made friends with an aus called mark, we were a little disapointed though because of the rain the island practically closes down so we couldnt visit Ang Thong national marine park which is where the beach was filmed! Me nat and becki went exploring 1 day when rob was diving and found the most beautiful secluded beaches AMAZING.
We then left for Ko Tao which was not the orriginal plan but we heard so many good thing about it we had to go! Me n becks enrolled on our padi scuba diving course which we have now completed!! WHOO!! we have seen sharks, barracudus, sting rays, angel fish, pirate fish, sea snakes and nemo fish and loads more! Its amazing down there its another world! Rob has done 4 dives here ko tao is known for its great diving Rob managed to see about 12 sharks all swimming around him! Whilst we were diving nat was with the the rest of the group (canadians) and she went around the island on a motorbike and saw some beautiful beaches. Nat and Rob left for Penang islands last night and me n becks and the group went to an amazing party on the beach to celebrate our scuba diving! We are leaving tomo for Krabi. Hope everone is well miss you all xxx
(more group pictures too come in the next few days so keep checking!)
Tuesday 12 February 2008
LAURAS BIRTHDAY!!
Hi everyone
Hope you are all well? We are both fine still loving Goa! I had a fantastic birthday so I thought I would tell you all about it! Had a bit of a worry as the day before my birthday i got ill! I got Delhi belly three weeks late, haha butthankfully i was alright for my birthday! In the morning i got three cards one from bec one from the guesthouse staff and the restaurant staff (as its so small we have made friends with all the staff they are lovely! They also bought me some flowers, a CD and a handmade diary and Becki has bought me an anklet! So i felt very lucky! I spent the day on the beach drinking cocktails, we met two nice Canadian men and they bought me birthday drinks!! In the evening we watched the best sun set we have had so far and had dinner on the beach then met up with the Candian blokes and sat outside a bar where we had a table next to the sea so we could see all the stars and some fireworks!! It was amazing! I had some random people sing me happy birthday and i was loving all the freebies!! haha! My highlight though had to be talking to family as its first birthday away from them, miss you all! Yesterday we went to the waterfalls (which we were meant to go on Sunday before i got ill!!) That was amazing went swimming in the waterfall, we then went the the spice plantations Becki washed an elephant and we visited a temple in old Goa. It is our last day in Goa today so of course it has to be spent on the beach!! We fly to Kolkata tomo morning then to Thailand on Sunday. Nat hope your having a great time so far we see u on the beach in couple of weeks!!!!!! If i dont get online before HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL FOR THE 18TH AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN FOR THE 22ND, HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY AND GET LOTS OF LOVELY THINGS!!
Hope you are all well? We are both fine still loving Goa! I had a fantastic birthday so I thought I would tell you all about it! Had a bit of a worry as the day before my birthday i got ill! I got Delhi belly three weeks late, haha butthankfully i was alright for my birthday! In the morning i got three cards one from bec one from the guesthouse staff and the restaurant staff (as its so small we have made friends with all the staff they are lovely! They also bought me some flowers, a CD and a handmade diary and Becki has bought me an anklet! So i felt very lucky! I spent the day on the beach drinking cocktails, we met two nice Canadian men and they bought me birthday drinks!! In the evening we watched the best sun set we have had so far and had dinner on the beach then met up with the Candian blokes and sat outside a bar where we had a table next to the sea so we could see all the stars and some fireworks!! It was amazing! I had some random people sing me happy birthday and i was loving all the freebies!! haha! My highlight though had to be talking to family as its first birthday away from them, miss you all! Yesterday we went to the waterfalls (which we were meant to go on Sunday before i got ill!!) That was amazing went swimming in the waterfall, we then went the the spice plantations Becki washed an elephant and we visited a temple in old Goa. It is our last day in Goa today so of course it has to be spent on the beach!! We fly to Kolkata tomo morning then to Thailand on Sunday. Nat hope your having a great time so far we see u on the beach in couple of weeks!!!!!! If i dont get online before HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL FOR THE 18TH AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN FOR THE 22ND, HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY AND GET LOTS OF LOVELY THINGS!!
Thursday 7 February 2008
Mumbai and Goa!!
Hello everyone!!!
Firstly HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUTIE GILL FOR THE 2ND!!! Hope you had a great day xxx
We are still having a fantastic time in lovely India! Our last few days in Chandigarh were good! We visited the Golden Temple in Amristar which was really beautiful! We arrived in Mumabi on the 1st Feb, had a really nice flight!! Saw the sights of Mumbai on a 2 day tour we didnt realise Mumbai had so much to see!! The highlights were visiting some ancient buddha caves, going to Gandhi's residence which is now a museum, and seeing a huge outside laundry where over 15,000 people work!!
Then we headed to Goa on Monday evening on an overnight bus which was incredibly long and tiring!! We finally arrived and found a nice small guesthouse to stay in (Our bartaring skills are paying off as we got the room rent down from 700 to 550 rbs!!) We are both loving Goa especially the beach which is only a 5 minute walk from where we are staying! We have spent the last 4 days on the beach so we are definately working on the tans!!!! We are hopefully going to be doing a waterfall trip on Sunday which is bound to be amazing!!! Wait for the pictures!!
Hope you are all well and are not missing us to much!! Love to you all L & B
xxx
Firstly HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUTIE GILL FOR THE 2ND!!! Hope you had a great day xxx
We are still having a fantastic time in lovely India! Our last few days in Chandigarh were good! We visited the Golden Temple in Amristar which was really beautiful! We arrived in Mumabi on the 1st Feb, had a really nice flight!! Saw the sights of Mumbai on a 2 day tour we didnt realise Mumbai had so much to see!! The highlights were visiting some ancient buddha caves, going to Gandhi's residence which is now a museum, and seeing a huge outside laundry where over 15,000 people work!!
Then we headed to Goa on Monday evening on an overnight bus which was incredibly long and tiring!! We finally arrived and found a nice small guesthouse to stay in (Our bartaring skills are paying off as we got the room rent down from 700 to 550 rbs!!) We are both loving Goa especially the beach which is only a 5 minute walk from where we are staying! We have spent the last 4 days on the beach so we are definately working on the tans!!!! We are hopefully going to be doing a waterfall trip on Sunday which is bound to be amazing!!! Wait for the pictures!!
Hope you are all well and are not missing us to much!! Love to you all L & B
xxx
Wednesday 30 January 2008
Our second week in beautiful India!!
Hello!!!!!!
Arrived in Chandigarh early Sat morning after a lovely comfortable train ride!!! We were given tea, newspapers and breakfast all for free!! English train services could sure learn something from the Indian train service!! We enjoyed the 3 n half hour trip we saw some very interesting views!! haha! have been made to feel very welcome and at home at number 1537 (Pochi's house! Becki's relatives)! Everyone is lovely and we are especially enjoying the home cooked food!!! YUMMY!!!!!! Daal especially is going down a treat! The first thing we noticed was how very quiet Chandigarh is compared to Delhi!!!!!
Sunday we had an early start travelled nearly 4 hours upto Shimla which is a town set in the base of the Himalayas. Was a spectacular view from here! ( see our pictures to see for yourself). Due to the cold both of us had to have a few desperate interesting and amusing toilet breaks!!! We also saw snow here!!! And we mean real snow not like the pitiful stuff we get at home!!!! haha Monday we had more of a relaxed day we visited the Rock Garden which has been created by Nek Chand who used rubbish and broken household objects to create beautiful pieces of artwork!! Was amazing!! (Mark you would have loved it!!) we also visited the huge lake of Chandigarh which was very peacefull.
Tuesday we were taken to a town called Patiala where Ram's sister used to work in the school. We visited the institute of sport and looked round the national sport museum. After this we were taken round a very prestigious Indian school where we were treated to lunch with the pupils and the teachers. This was really lovely the children were really interested in us and kept coming upto us saying hello and asking us our names and where we were from. We also had a long discussion with the headmaster (its been a long time since either of us have spoken to a headmaster haha!!) The lunch was also very yummy! much better than any of the school dinners we ever had!! We also experienced the real India by walking round a bazzar and also treated to a vip visit to a house that made the very pretty punjabi shoes!!! Today (wednesday) we visited the art and history museum, the archaelogical museum (which explained how Chandigarh was created) and also the Natural history museum! After another excellent lunch by Neelam we visited the nearby zoo which again we really enjoyed!!! Tomorrow we are planning on visiting the Golden Temple!!! which should be very good and very pretty!!!Friday we will be flying in to Mumbai so our next post will be from warmer locations!!! (they pray!!! lol)
Hope you are all well and are not missing us too much!!! Love to you all
L & B xxxxx
P.S Mark you smell too!!!! lol
Arrived in Chandigarh early Sat morning after a lovely comfortable train ride!!! We were given tea, newspapers and breakfast all for free!! English train services could sure learn something from the Indian train service!! We enjoyed the 3 n half hour trip we saw some very interesting views!! haha! have been made to feel very welcome and at home at number 1537 (Pochi's house! Becki's relatives)! Everyone is lovely and we are especially enjoying the home cooked food!!! YUMMY!!!!!! Daal especially is going down a treat! The first thing we noticed was how very quiet Chandigarh is compared to Delhi!!!!!
Sunday we had an early start travelled nearly 4 hours upto Shimla which is a town set in the base of the Himalayas. Was a spectacular view from here! ( see our pictures to see for yourself). Due to the cold both of us had to have a few desperate interesting and amusing toilet breaks!!! We also saw snow here!!! And we mean real snow not like the pitiful stuff we get at home!!!! haha Monday we had more of a relaxed day we visited the Rock Garden which has been created by Nek Chand who used rubbish and broken household objects to create beautiful pieces of artwork!! Was amazing!! (Mark you would have loved it!!) we also visited the huge lake of Chandigarh which was very peacefull.
Tuesday we were taken to a town called Patiala where Ram's sister used to work in the school. We visited the institute of sport and looked round the national sport museum. After this we were taken round a very prestigious Indian school where we were treated to lunch with the pupils and the teachers. This was really lovely the children were really interested in us and kept coming upto us saying hello and asking us our names and where we were from. We also had a long discussion with the headmaster (its been a long time since either of us have spoken to a headmaster haha!!) The lunch was also very yummy! much better than any of the school dinners we ever had!! We also experienced the real India by walking round a bazzar and also treated to a vip visit to a house that made the very pretty punjabi shoes!!! Today (wednesday) we visited the art and history museum, the archaelogical museum (which explained how Chandigarh was created) and also the Natural history museum! After another excellent lunch by Neelam we visited the nearby zoo which again we really enjoyed!!! Tomorrow we are planning on visiting the Golden Temple!!! which should be very good and very pretty!!!Friday we will be flying in to Mumbai so our next post will be from warmer locations!!! (they pray!!! lol)
Hope you are all well and are not missing us too much!!! Love to you all
L & B xxxxx
P.S Mark you smell too!!!! lol
Thursday 24 January 2008
Our first week in India!!!!
We are both loving India and everything it has thrown at us!! This country has so many beautiful things to see and we have seen loads and we have only just begun!!!
We have already experienced:
Jantar Mantar - astronomical observatory
Lakshmi Narayan Temple- very ornate and beautiful hindu temple.
Qutab Minar- largest tower in India.
The Lotus Temple- built to resemble a lotus flower.
Red Fort- built by the same dude who built the Taj Mahal also saw the sound and light show here!
Rajghat- Ghandi's crematorium site.
Humayun's tomb- prototype for the Taj Mahal- very beautiful!
Akshadam- THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE!!!!
The Taj Mahal- Words cannot describe.
The Amber fort- really lovely and they had elephants!!
Palace of wind - named because of all the windows!
Water Palace- in the middle of a huge lake
We are both loving the food and as of yet neither of us have been struck down with delhi belly (touch wood) toilets are an experience of their own!!! We are totally loving India and are embracing every moment of it! Its sooo different from being back home, its hard to describe you really do have to be here to believe it!!! When in England do you see camels, elephants, goats, donkeys, horses, monkeys, snakes, boars when you step in to the car??? Every day is an experience and we cant wait for what India has in store for us next!!
xx
We have already experienced:
Jantar Mantar - astronomical observatory
Lakshmi Narayan Temple- very ornate and beautiful hindu temple.
Qutab Minar- largest tower in India.
The Lotus Temple- built to resemble a lotus flower.
Red Fort- built by the same dude who built the Taj Mahal also saw the sound and light show here!
Rajghat- Ghandi's crematorium site.
Humayun's tomb- prototype for the Taj Mahal- very beautiful!
Akshadam- THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE!!!!
The Taj Mahal- Words cannot describe.
The Amber fort- really lovely and they had elephants!!
Palace of wind - named because of all the windows!
Water Palace- in the middle of a huge lake
We are both loving the food and as of yet neither of us have been struck down with delhi belly (touch wood) toilets are an experience of their own!!! We are totally loving India and are embracing every moment of it! Its sooo different from being back home, its hard to describe you really do have to be here to believe it!!! When in England do you see camels, elephants, goats, donkeys, horses, monkeys, snakes, boars when you step in to the car??? Every day is an experience and we cant wait for what India has in store for us next!!
xx
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