‘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...