Quality Times in Queensland

Where do we start? The last state in Australia has certainly left us with a good lasting impression of this country and contained some of the highlights of our trip so far.

We have spent the past 3 weeks being spoiled by Norman and Annette. It’s amazing the things you miss when your ‘hostelling’ it…your own space for a start, a big wide open kitchen to cook in, nice home-made meals, we definitely made up for it here in Brisbane, spoiled we were!

During our first week in Brisbane we caught up with the family which was nice and got the City Cat around the city centre and took in some of the sights. Bryan was also bitten by a spider and was left with a nasty mark; at least we’ve taken in the whole Ozzy experience now. We finished up this week by watching the Old Firm with Gemma, Sam and Amy at O’Malleys Celtic Supporters Club in the city and had a great night – what an atmosphere, shame about the result eh! We still sang though.

After just over a week in Brisbane we got the bus up to Rainbow Beach in preparation for our 4X4 adventure around Fraser Island. In sum, Rainbow Beach involved me sharing a room with a 2 cross-dressing males (1 was Bryan - dressed as a bunny, he won a prize though) and a smurf! Not an ordinary night, it was a fancy dress contest. Sorry to disappoint, but Bryan hasn’t turned to the dark side! After a few good nights at Rainbow Beach, we met our group for Fraser – Team B, and what a group it was. We had a ball and cracking weather too. The guys we were with were a great laugh and much goon was consumed. We seen some of the most amazing beaches and lakes and bumped into some dingoes. For anyone who hasn’t done this trip, and is coming to the East coast of Australia, Fraser is a must see. I think that we both agree that this was the highlight of our trip so far.

Upon our return to Brisbane, Norman and Annette took us on a couple of day trips. We visited the coastal town of Scarbourough and took a trip inland to Toowoomba, both were great days out. To top off our Queensland experience we visited Australia Zoo – the home of the late Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. Again, this was amazing, we fed the elephants and kangaroos and got to get a picture with a koala – it was soooo cute, wanted to steal it. We kept our distance from the crocs though, wanted to arrive in New Zealand with our limbs in tact, or else skiing wouldn’t be much fun.

So, there you are, the Australian leg of our trip is almost over. We’ve had an absolute ball here, and there is just so much to do. A lifetime in Oz wouldn’t be enough to see everything it has to offer. So, as this chapter comes to an end, a new one begins...

Until next time…Speak to you from NZ!

To view pictues of our trip through Queensland CLICK HERE

‘Sunny Sydney’ – Tales from New South Wales

After catching the over-night bus from Melbourne, we arrived in Sydney at 7am on a Sunday morning and we were greeted by torrential rain. Strolling about a deserted city in the pouring rain after a 12 hour bus journey is a surreal experience. However, after a few rainy days, things cleared up and we explored the city. We visited the Opera House and walked over the Harbour Bridge (the free one, not the 200 dollar one) and took in the sights which the city and its surrounds had to offer. Strolled down the infamous George and Pitt Street (that one’s for you Martyn!) and visited a few watering holes.

After a few days in the city itself we took the train to Katoomba and went to the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters. It was really cool there; the climate was similar to Scotland – cold and rainy, but it is going into winter after all… :-( After a few days at the Blue Mountains we caught the train back to the city and made our way to Coogee Beach, and the good weather seemed to follow! Here, we did the Coogee - Bondi coastal walk and had a couple of nights out with some people we met. Really enjoyed this part and it was pretty relaxing. Sydney was a really nice city and it was cool seeing the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, as these are things that you see on T.V, but actually seeing them is kinda weird.

After Sydney we caught the Greyhound and thought that we’d explore another couple of places in NSW on our way to Queensland. Our first stop was Coffs Harbour – a cool coastal little town. Again this was pretty chilled and not to spoil tradition and few more drinks were had with some French/Germans we met! The language barrier seemed to vanish when the drink was flowing. After Coffs Harbour, we travelled up to Byron Bay and spent a few nights there. The weather wasn’t amazing, but we seen a really beautiful sunset, sunrise was too early! Really enjoyed it here too – pretty chilled hippy atmosphere. Seen our first spider too, but still no sharks…

We really enjoyed NSW and packed quite a lot into our time here. Our last stop in Australia will be Queensland where we are going to catch up with Norman and Annette in Brisbane, will defo be nice to have a break from the hostels and catch up with the family…

N.B. There is no need to explain any of the photos this time around, as they are pretty self-explanatory and possibly less controversial than the last entry.

Still missing you all!

Stay tuned…

To view some pictures from our trip through New South Wales CLICK HERE

The Melbourne Chronicles

Our next stop on the Australian leg of our trip was Melbourne, Victoria. This place was eagerly anticipated and didn’t fail to disappoint! After leaving Perth, note; which was still 30 degrees, we arrived in Melbourne to a 15 degree drop in temperature – freezing, felt just like home. The first hostel we stayed in was in St Kilda – really cool place, hippy-chick laid back atmosphere, plenty of alfresco dining and vintage clothes and record shops in the area too. We also met up with Gemma and co at their hostel (Faulty Towers, but priceless banter) and a few good drunken banter-filled nights followed and we met a really cool group of people. It was nice to see a friendly face from back home. We also had our first experience of tasting the ‘GOON’ – never again. It’s wrong that 4 and a half litres of “wine” should cost a fiver, cost effective nonetheless…

We went to our first Ozzy Rules match – Geelong Cats vs Collingwood, this was a good experience and we kinda got the rules by the end, definitely prefer football though, it’s a lot less complicated. Also, the fans sit together; can you imagine that at an Old Firm game? After ticking the Ozzy Rules match off of the list and exploring the city centre and some of the surrounding suburbs (visited some family too), we bought a tent, hired a car and hit the Great Ocean Road. This was a great drive and some of the sights were amazing! We also stopped off at a few nice places along the way (Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Fairy) and got to see a lot of the Australian countryside and finished our road trip in Halls Gap in the Grampians, before heading back to Melbourne to take the car back. Seen some kangaroos bopping about and a couple of dead ones too – that upset me (Cheryl) :-)

What we seen of Victoria was really cool and Melbourne is a really nice city, plenty to see and do and really cosmopolitan – very European feel to the place! After feeling satisfied that we had made the most of our short time here we booked tickets for the overnight bus to Sydney…

To view some pictures from our trip through Melbourne and its surroundings CLICK HERE

N.B. I’ll just explain a couple of the blog photo’s in more detail…
Picture of Gemma and I with the infamous ‘Goon’
Gemma and I pay homage to Barry Ferguson and Alan McGregor (I’m sure most of you will get it if you’ve been following the news)…

‘The Wild Wild West’ – Adventures in Western Australia

We touched down at Perth airport on a sunny afternoon at the end of March. The first hostel we stayed in was located in Northbridge – which is a popular backpackers area and a really nice suburb. The first thing which overwhelmed us was the sheer size of W.A. (as the Aussie’s call it). You can fit Japan, UK and Germany into this state alone, so hopefully that gives you an idea of how big it is. We decided that due to time and financial constraints we would stick to Perth and the surrounding coastal areas, although I think that we both agree even spending a year in W.A. alone, you’d struggle to fit everything in!

Perth as a city has a lot to offer – it’s cosmopolitan, but soooo relaxed, not like your typical big city. Plenty of pubs and clubs (although pub prices are not the cheapest over here), so we stuck to ‘the Goon’ (cheap wine) – only joking, not that desperate, yet! We had a few lazy days strolling around King’s Park feeding the ducks and fighting off the crows and did some of the Botanical Garden walking trails. The views of the city from here were amazing. In addition to this we ventured out to one of the suburbs for a true Aussie/Scottish style BBQ and a few beverages.

After spending a few days in and around Perth, we travelled a bit further south of Perth to Fremantle – this place is a definite must see. A lovely coastal city with a lot of character and history, plus there was plenty of day trips to do from here. We visited Rottnest Island for the day - stunning scenery and we got to meet the local ‘Quokkas’ – sooooo cute! (Bryan wanted to add that in). We hired bikes and cycled around the entire island, now that was a sight. I resembled Mary Poppins with my dress and satchel on the front of my bike and Bryan was like an advert for safety wear (the helmet)! This was a great experience and a superb way of getting around, although our backsides were aching for a few days after words with all the cycling.
We headed back to Perth at the weekend for the V-Festival and this was a great laugh. Different to the festivals back home (much smaller), although good all the same, and a great way to end our time in Western Australia.

Overall, we had a great time here, great weather and plenty to see and do. If we had more time in Oz, we would have definitely tried to fit in a trip to Broome and perhaps see the Northern Territory, although in and around Perth left us with a good lasting impression of what Australia has to offer. Next stop – Melbourne, the home of Neighbours…

N.B. we haven’t seen any snakes or spiders yet, although there are a few questionable insects flying around, massive bee-sized flies which sting. Ouch!

To view some pictures from our trip through Western Australia CLICK HERE

Singapore Slingin’ It

After spending the best part of 2 and a half weeks travelling between Thailand and Malaysia, we reached the last stop on our tour of South-East Asia – Singapore. We had heard sooo much about this place before we left and weren’t disappointed, although note; for those of you who haven’t been before, you definitely need a huge pocket full of cash to take full advantage of this place! Cheap Chang beer and cocktail buckets were no more…

Our first hostel in Singapore was top notch, well classy place with a nice roof-top terrace to lounge around on and you get free internet here! The things you take for granted back home. Plenty to see and do, even for the budget traveller if you plan ahead carefully. We had a Singapore Sling cocktail at the Raffles hotel – which was very posh, the drink cost 27 Singapore dollars (about £13) though, so you had to savour every last drop! We also took a walk along Clarke Quay which is the hub of activity in Singapore; hundreds of bars and clubs, place was packed over the weekend and we also visited the usual tourist sights, did a night safari at Singapore Zoo (well recommended, although you aren’t allowed to take pictures, as the flash frightens/angers the animals), walked down Orchard Road (shopping district) and got pics of the Merlion (half lion/fish thing) which is a national emblem here. There was even a Hooters bar, which Bryan was pleased about. Sadly our tour came to an end after spending two days here and we said our ‘goodbyes’ to some of the people we met, hoping to keep in touch with most of them though.

Bryan and I had booked a few extra nights in Singapore and moved to another hostel in Little India – definitely a lot cheaper down there and although we’ve never been to India, it gives you a good idea of what it would be like. We visited Sentosa Island for the day – definite must-see, although we got well-burnt! They are in the process of building a Universal Studios Resort over here and it looks like its going to be massive. Our last day in Singapore was on my birthday which was nice to be away for, but a little strange all the same not having family and friends around. The best and cheapest way of getting around here was using the MRT (similar to London underground) – so efficient and fairly cheap too.

So there you have it that about sums up our goings on in Singapore, would recommend this place for a stop-over for a day or two in order to see the main sights and be able to splash out a little. One thing to note though is that you get fined for everything here – jay-walking; not using pedestrian crossings to cross the road, eating and drinking in the MRT stations and chewing gum in the street, unless you have a medical reason to do so, madness! With the South-East Asian leg of our travels complete, next stop Down Under!!!

To view some pictures from our trip through Singapore CLICK HERE

Stop 3: Malaysia

After a few more long bus journeys we crossed the border into Malaysia. However, I (Cheryl) must point out that I was not impressed with the staff at border control, tried to say that I had over-stayed my time in Thailand and wanted to charge me 500 bhat per day (about £500 in total). After pointing out that we were still in the month of March and not April they soon apologised and let me leave Thailand/enter Malaysia – aye nae bother!!!

Anyhoo, our first stop in Malaysia was a city called Penang (used to be the capital before Kuala Lumpur). We crossed the 3rd longest bridge in the world, and also walked up the Penang hill. The view from the top was awesome, definitely worth the aching limbs for the next five days! After Penang we made our way up the winding roads towards the Cameron Highlands. This was a totally different place from anything we had seen before-hand, was almost like a setting from a Steven King novel. It didn’t feel as though we were in Asia, similar to Scotland, pretty cool. We just generally chilled out here and went to the local boozer to have a few drinks and watch the football. Next stop was the capital of Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur. Our hotel was right in the middle of Chinatown, so as you can imagine, it wasn’t the most enjoyable walk, trying to get through the market crowds with the massive backpacks with locals trying to sell us watches and ripped-off trainers! Nonetheless, we got to our hotel eventually and then took a walk around the city. We went to the world’s largest indoor theme park and went to see the Petronas towers (which were the world’s tallest buildings until 2004) – they were some sight, only thing was we couldn’t go up them at the time we went to see them. After seeing the sights of Kuala Lumpur we made our way towards our last Malaysian stop – Melaka.

Melaka was probably our favourite stop in Malaysia. The town used to be a port during WW2 and was a really nice place. There was a rooftop Jacuzzi, which we certainly made the most of and we also did a river boat cruise. Had a couple of good nights here and seen some crazily decorated tuk-tuk’s (you’ll see the pics). Malaysia was really nice to see, but certainly won’t miss the squatting toilets or the sweet bread!!! The tour has been great so far and we’ve meet some really cool people along the way. Next stop Singapore…normal toilets at last!!!

To view some pictures from our trip through Malaysia CLICK HERE

Tales from Thailand

So Bonnie Scotland and London were left behind and we boarded our flight to Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok late afternoon on Wednesday 4th March and found our taxi transfer through the hoards of drivers greeting us at the airport. First impressions - totally chaotic! The roads were mayhem and we caught our first glimpse of the infamous ‘tuk-tuk’s’, or as I came to aptly rename them – death cabs! We whizzed by the families of 4 packed onto mopeds, had a few near crashes (no road sense over here) and got to our hotel eventually, in one piece.

First night in Bangkok was pretty cool. Had some local food and a few drinks and we turned out to have a really nice hotel. Next day we took a walk around the entire city, it was entertaining to say the least. We gave in and got on a ‘tuk-tuk’ – never again!!! After­­­­­­ seeing every type of Buddha imaginable, sleeping, lucky, standing, dancing (well, not the last one), we asked the driver to drop us off at a temple and the guy wasn’t for having it. Wanted to take us to his mate’s shop to get measured for a suit – that would be a good look with our flip-flop’s! After a few heated words were exchanged between both parties, we got out and decided that walking was definitely the better option. Seen the sights and visited the infamous Koh Sahn Road and that was definitely enough of Bangkok. Visited the bridge over the River Kwai (famous during WW2) and took the overnight train with our tour group from Nakhon Pathom to Surat Thani – the train even had a disco kart, almost resembled the last Glasgow-Stirling train on a Saturday night, without the chip butties! I think that Bryan and I both agree that our favourite part of Thailand was Ao Nang, Krabi – the Thai beaches were amazing! We did a tour of the Phi Phi islands, fed some monkeys and did some snorkelling in the tropical waters – some of these beaches were definitely close to what we’d imagined paradise to be.

After a few days lazing by the beach and drinking some Chang beer, we made our way with the tour to Malaysia. Thailand is overall a really friendly country and pretty cheap too, which is definitely a bonus for the budget traveller. I think we both agree that we both preferred the chilled out coastal areas of Thailand to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. So with the Thai leg of our tour complete, off to Malaysia it was…

To view some pictures from our trip through Thailand CLICK HERE

London Calling

At last, we have finally had 5 minutes to sit down and put the past 3 weeks into words - this may take some time, so bare with us. Officially, our trip started in London, so it would be wrong of us not to reflect on this weekend, as it was certainly a weekend to remember. Just to clarify things, I (Cheryl) will be doing the writing side of the blog (Bryan was never very good with spelling) and Bryan will do what he's best at and be in charge of photography, and as you all know I do like to go on...;0 so I'll try and stick to the point, although forgive me if I start to go off on a tangent.

Here it goes then,

Chapter 1; We said our goodbyes to friends and family on Saturday 28th February 09 (after many leaving nights, a party and leaving lunches) and Bryan and I, my mum and dad (John and Celia), and Bryan's mum (Anne) flew down to London for the long weekend. After an easyjet-easybus-underground train, we finally arrived at out apartment in Bayswater, next to Hyde Park. Very posh, defo great value for money and a great location! The Saturday was relatively chilled, although a few drinks were had. The fun and games officially started on the Sunday. We all hopped on the London sight seeing bus, laugh, laugh...I thought I'd never stop (that one's for you Dad). I don't feel that words will reflect this experience entirely, just look at the pictures (link below) and hopefully you'll get the gist of things. We had Big Ben growing out of my dad's head, not to mention a few suspect snaps later in the night! There was a trek round Harrods and again we visited a few public bars. I was trying to get as much cider as possible in my before hitting Asia. We all met up with Barry and Katie later on, had a lovely meal, lots of vino, more drinks at Barry and Katie's and Bryan and I even had to do the walk of shame the next morning - the shame! I must also mention that London has one of the best Primark stores that I have ever been too! All in all this was a fantastic weekend, couldn't have thought of a better way to say 'farewell' to the UK and the 'old folks' certainly know how to party (as most of you will probably know)! We said our final, final goodbyes to our parents - wasn't as emotional as expected, maybe the alcohol poisoning concealed the tears (only joking), and then Bryan and I made our way to Heathrow to catch our flight to Thailand.

To view some pictures from our trip through London CLICK HERE

Till next time...