But we conquered it and had a fantastic holiday. We will strive to keep this updates to highlights only but we have 18 days to fit in, so happy reading!
24th May – we landed in KL where we were met by Terence and Caitlin. We went off to the condo to unload, say hi to Melissa and Hayley and then went off to a Japanese Buffet for dinner. Some food was familiar, but others totally different, like green guavas. Gwyn tried raw fish, which was a milestone!
We spelt in a hit the next day, but still managed to fit in a lot of sightseeing. Terence, Melissa and kids accompanied us to the Petronas Towers (Twin Towers), up the KL tower and to a Chinese Temple. At the KL tower, Lawrence received a strange request from some Indian Tourists who wanted a photograph with him. Not for him to take a photo of him, but rather to be in the photo. Lawrence pretended not to understand and we took our leave rapidly. We were flying out that night, but before we left, we went to a local Chinese restaurant. Melissa ordered in rapid fire and we feasted on sweet and sour chicken, different rice and noodles, fantastic sweet breads and fresh fruit juices. Completely different to Chinese food found in SA or the UK. It is wonderful to go out with locals.
26th May – we arrived in Sydney at 8am in the morning and managed to take the underground to our hotel without issue. We were too early to check in, so dropped our bags and went exploring instead. We walked through the city to the Rocks and Circular Quay, were we had a fantastic view of Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We then took a public Ferry to Darling Harbour were we had a bite to eat (tea for the first time in 4 days) and then made our way back to the hotel. Once there, jet lag set in, but we managed buy some groceries (the hotel was self catering) and then did some laundry, but managed an early night)
The next day was sightseeing! Botanical gardens, Bondi Beach, Coastal Walk to Bronte Beach and Coogee. Eventually we got back to the Circular Quay were we took a ferry to Manly Beach. A little bit of shopping and cocktails at sunset and then made our way back to Sydney. Half way back, we realised that we left our shopping at the restaurant, but the helpful ferry staff put us right back on the jet cat (free of charge) and we were surprised to find that the restaurant still had our shopping…no theft! What a helpful nation.
The 3rd day in Sydney was a full day tour into the Blue Mountains. It was a guided tour which took us past the Olympic site, Kings Table, Wentworth Valley, Sublime Point, a small town called Leuna and Scenic world. We saw kangaroos and bird life, including a lyre bird, which is apparently quite rare. The return journey was via a ferry, and we managed to get some night photos of the opera house (in the rain…what a wife)
29th May- Next city and we were on our way to Brisbane. It started raining as we left, which was great for Australia but rubbish if you are on holiday. We made our way to our hotel and then contacted Charlene, my friend from SA who recently moved to Brisbane. We had a quick cup of coffee and then decided to go with her to pick up her daughter, meet the friends that she is staying with and have some dinner in the suburbs (Albany Falls). Once again, great to see how the “locals” live and wonderful to meet little Chloe for the first time.
Day 2 in Brisbane we did as much sightseeing as we could in the rain, such as the hop on hop off (we did not hop off much as we were enjoying our tour guide who finished every sentence with “its nice to see how it all fits in”) We finished with a ferry ride to the South Bank were we had dinner in a very vibe part of town.
Day 3 in Brisbane, we made our way to a Koala Sanctuary where we finally viewed koalas, dingoes, wombats, kangaroos and wallabee. Gwyn got to cuddle a koala which was very cute. That night, we had pizzas with Charlene and her fiends, a great way to spend our last evening there.
1st June – off to Melbourne early in the morning, made even longer by having to wait for our hotel transfer for 2 hours, but not too bad I suppose. We were taken straight to our guesthouse in St Kilda, Annies. The guesthouse was lovely, and we were the only guests. We decided to take a tram into Melbourne to book some tours. Melbourne was buzzing on Sunday afternoon, lots of live jazz and drinks. We walked around quite a bit and ran into a market, serving Dutch poffertjes, which we could not resist. Had dinner in St Kilda and back to the guesthouse.
The next day we explored Melbourne via the free tourist bus and then took a tour to Philip Island, were we watched the penguins come ashore. No photos allowed, so none of you can see these unfortunately, but it was a worth while trip. The following day was an early start as we took a full day tour along the Great Ocean Road. This was a fantastic trip and we saw things like Toquay, Apololo Bay, Bells Beach, wild Koalas, wild parrots (no doves, only parrots), kangaroos, rain forest walk and the 12 apostles. We took a helicopter ride over the twelve apostles as well, which was fantastic.
The next day was our last in Melbourne, so we walked around in St Kilda which is renowned for their cake shops (has to squeeze some tea and cake in), then slowly made our way to the airport for our flight to Sydney.
5th June – back in Sydney and we spent some time exploring the North Shore, seeing where the Unilever office in Sydney was and ended the day by cooking two juicy steaks and a mountain of vegetables.
The next day was our last in Sydney and we went up the Eureka Tower for a last look at Sydney before making our way to the airport. We had an 8 hour day light flight to KL, which was a bit frustrating, but what can you do….
Terence met us at the airport in KL again, we went straight back to the condo for a quick dinner and long chat with Terence and Melissa. The next morning, we were flying to Phuket, so needed to get some rest at least.
7th June – Phuket today. Melissa took us to the airport (Caitlin and Terence were going with us). We flew from the LCC airport (Low Cost Carrier) which was a very busy airport, but the flight with Air Asia was fine. We arrived in hot, sunny Phuket, but had to wait for our transfer to the airport as there was some confusion about our arrival time. Nevertheless, we got our transfer and drove through Phuket to Kata Beach and our rest, Karon Beach Resort. We were give connecting, sea facing rooms right on the beach front and we wasted no time in getting the cozzies on and going for a swim in the sea. We followed up with drinks and pizza at the pool before going for a walk along the streets and then took a tuk tuk to the neighbouring beach. It was pumping with restaurants and live music, with a huge table of fresh seafood. We picked a restaurant with a live band and treated ourselves to rock lobster thermidor, 2 tails each for under £8.
Day 2 in Phuket and we wanted to go snorkelling. Our hotel told us to go to Nai Harn Beach for some good views, and we negotiated with a tuk tuk to take us. Chicken, the driver, gave us a deal of 900 bhatt for 4 hours, he would wait for us at the beach, which was a good idea. Snorkelling was not great, so we made our way back to our hotel, which ended up having some great sea life for snorkelling. The afternoon as spent on the beach. Gwyn got a Thai massage and the guys boogie boarded, Caitlin played in the sand and surf. Dinner was at a local restaurant, tiger prawns and pineapple juice…mmmm….
We woke up to rain the next morning, but it was just a quick shower, so we were still able to have a last swim in the sea and pool before going to the airport and back to KL. The fun did not stop there, as Terence took us to a night market in KL where we saw all sort of food and fruit in an open air market. Something completely foreign, but so interesting. We then went to collect Melissa and Hayley before going to a local Chinese Restaurant for crab. Something that we have never eaten before, hammers and everything. Woke up earlyish to take Caitlin to school and then breakfast out with Terence. We then collected Melissa and Hayley and went to the Central Market for a spot of souvenir shopping. Lawrence got a bargain for his new tripod and we got the obligatory fridge magnet. In the afternoon, Terence, Gwyn and Lol went to the Batu caves, which is an Indian Template, Very interesting, completely different to what we are used to. L&G cooked risotto for the Le Granges before going to the airport for our 9th and final flight back to London.
Typically, this is the only flight that went wrong when our takeoff was aborted due to an engine failure. We only left at 3am (3 hours late), so it was an exhausting flight and we spelt most of Wednesday before going back to work on Thursday.
KL Pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/the.bowenz/20080523Malaysia
Aus Pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/the.bowenz/20080523Australia
Phuket Pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/the.bowenz/20080523Phuket
Thanks to everyone that we spent time with, it was an unforgettable holiday.
Love
L&G
