Where did 6 months go???

Well well well... sorry for neglecting you all, we're still here and going well. Settled into London life very well in fact. michelle was working straight away, but it took me a few months until the work started coming in. Initially a long term contract in Southgate, and then a Permanent job at Haagen-Dazs out in Uxbridge - that was back in August.

We celebrated Craigs birthday in June in true Kiwi style at Toast New Zealand. It was a stunning hot day and summer frocks were out. There were lots of wine tastings, which we participated in whole heartedly, and the day was topped off with a fantastic performance by Dave Dobbin who pulled out all the hits, supported by 20000 Kiwis singing at the top of their lungs.

A couple of months ticked along as we settled onto our new routine, Michelle took up a full time job in Kingsbury and we booked our first trip to the continent.

In October we went to Barcelona with Jared, Arina and Leigh. It's a vibrant and exciting city with lots of history and culture, as well as the famous Tapas. Photos here.

Back to London, and things we're starting to get chilly! Not a problem though as we've been wrapping up warm as you'll see.

Christmas was approaching and so we planned our next trip - this time to Paris. Meantime we experienced all the joys of a northern hemisphere yule season. While to a couple of Kiwis the shortening days and below zero temperatures (as well as occasional snow) are a bit of a shock at this time of year, to the locals its all part of the fun. We loved the excitement of christmas shopping on Oxford Street, as well as the Hyde Park Christmas Markets. Its something you really don't get in NZ, and hot mulled wine and roasted chestnuts are a real delight when its freezing.

Just before chrsitmas, as we were readying to catch the Eurostar to Paris there was a huge dump of snow and the trains broke down! We had a couple of worried days thinking we weren't going to be having a holiday after all (strangely echoing last year). The day we were due to travel everything opened up again, and we went to St Pancras with thousands of other people! Well, we eventually got there.

Paris was a really fantastic city, beautiful sights, lots of art and culture, amazing food, great wine... Perfect at Christmas time too when the crowds are slightly less (we walked right into the Louvre, when we'd been told to expect queues of up to an hour) and the atmosphere is festive, with Christmas lights along Champs Elysees. We both loved it and are already thinking of how we can fit in another visit.

Well that catches us up quite well for the time being. Mostly we just tick along day-to-day catching up with friends, enjoying London life. We'll try and keep this blog updated a little better, but for the latest its probably best to track us down over facebook, or by e-mail.

Anyway, time to go - Happy New Year to everyone, all the best for 2010!

Landed, getting settled...

Hi all, sorry for the big gap between posts. So we arrived safe and sound, if a little tired into London - quite a good flight actually; no personal movie screens to keep us entertained, but there were a few trashy Poms having nicotine withdrawl domestics to keep us entertained...

Settling into London life, Michelle got work practically immediately (3rd day here) but I'm not having so much luck. Like the NZ job scene, things here are fairly slow, and given that every role I'm applying for has maybe 400 other applicants, its slow going.

Loving the life over here though - London is crazy, hectic, fun, exciting and constantly on the go, except for today - theres a Tube strike!

Will endevour to keep this blog updated with what we're up to, and still planning on doing a SE Asia wrap up, as well as post a bunch more photos... ok theres a lot to catch up on!

Hope all is well in Kiwi-winter-land. Rest assured that the British summer was incredable - all 4 days of it. I think it was warmer in Auckland yesterday than here... seriously.

Anyway, must away - love to all.

In Ammendium

Just in addition to my previous post...

!) 1 hour on the internet at standard Koh Phagnan rates is equivalent to about 6 beers in NZ. So hopefully you appreciate every word, in much the same way as I appreciate each and every drop of that delicious golden nectar.

2) On the train down to Surat Thani, Michelle had an allergic reaction to something. Shes fine now, but it meant that we got to visit our second hospital in SEA. (Rash and swelling on her face, the poor thing! Probably caused by something she ate... great help) Unlike a NZ Hospital, we were in and out in about an hour an a half, the nurses were attentive and it only set us back about $60. Yay for second world medical care.

3) I kinda skimmed over our Ha Long bay trip, and it deserves more... We did a 3 day/2 night trip, one night staying on a beautiful and fairly new Junk in a cute wee cabin. We were served fresh fish, beautiful fresh squid (which tastes kinda like NZ Calamari, but pretty much melts in your mouth) various stir fries and soups and it was really very good. We explored a huge cave (really, HUGE - the little things in the middle are people!)
...kayaked into a hidden lagoon, then on Cat Ba Island, we climbed a muddy, trecherous path up a mountain (where the video from an earlier post was taken) stayed in a rather upmarket hotel and generally just awed ourselves with Ha Long's mystical, mythical history and absolutely stunning scenery.

Ok... back to present... Koh Phagnan is a great place to wind down from all the long travels (although getting back to Bangkok from here is one heck of a mission!) chilling by the beach drinking cocktails (and beer), swimming in the pool, spoiling ourselves with Air Con, renting a moto and exploring the hard to reach, but beautiful eastern beaches and just psyching ourselves up for the UK.

Jeepers but the time has flown for us, its hard to believe that 5 months ago we were in Auckland with all this before us, it seems to have whizzed by... even the epic bus journeys.

Will do more of a wrap up of this leg in the near future, then it will be all on for our UK and Europe adventures!!!

Catch up...

Getting to the internet is never as easy as you'd imagine, what with all the obvious distractions, and the often crippling high price of an hour of cyber-fun (more than a couple of beers... hence many beers, no blog updates!) but rest assured we're still here...

So, I see that my last proper post saw us in Nha Trang, Vietnam. At the time I was quite ill with a tropical cold, and we left Nah Trang on a so called "Sleeper" Bus... well unlike the sleeper bus in Laos, these ones just constituted long reclining chairs that folded down. Unfortunately we got the back row. Now while Dave, Christine, Michelle and I might not have slept much, the cuddly Vietnamese man sleeping next to me did! Good job too because with the air-con set to "freeze your balls off" I needed his body warmth.

Anyway, we arrived in Hoi An, and after resting most of the day we did a little exploring...

Let me just say, that if you're ever in Vietnam, you have to get to Hoi An. Very cute, rows of little Chinese shop-houses, narrow streets, lanterns and a million Tailors and Shoe Makers... Michelle and I succumbed to the lure very quickly, both getting several items of clothing and some shoes made. For that alone its worth visiting this place, but its just so darned cute!

After several days there, it was off to Hue, the ancient Imperial Capital... I say ancient but although the various Dynasty's that rules Vietnam did so from Hue, most of the interesting sights are only a couple of hundred years old. That aside, the imperial city was unexpected and stunning...

For the facebookers, photos here

for others... uh, sometime soonish...

Then it was up to Hanoi - strange city, suicidal drivers, but it certianly has a lot of energy. We went out and saw the famous Water Puppets - an amazing experience, then we bid farewell to David and Christine as they headed off to Halong Bay and we took care of a few errands (getting our insurance claim from Southern Cross sorted FINALLY!!!) and rested up after the 2 weeks of hectic and constant travel.

Then off to Ha Long Bay... utterly stunning! We payed a little extra for a "Deluxe" Junk and weren't dissapointed. It was a great group of people, and a very enjoyable time exploring the limestone islets, caves and the famous Cat Ba island.

Finally we bid farewell to Vietnam (for now, we're definately going back!) and caught our flight into Bangkok, and undertook our most epic journey so far...

Taxi to Airport, Airplane from Ha Noi to Bangkok, Taxi to Hualumphong Train Station, Tuk-Tuk to MBK to get some food, Tuk Tuk back, then on the train for the overnight trip to Surat Thani, Taxi and Minivan to the pier and Ferry to Koh Samui, and finally Songthaaw to Mae Nam beach. That's Planes, Boats, Trains, Tuk-Tuks, Songthaaws, Vans and Taxis all in one trip.

38 Hours later we finally collapsed onto the bed in our Bungalow.

Koh Samui is beautiful and interesting, we stayed on charming Bophut beach most of the time, but rented moto's for a few days and explored the entire island, including the famous (and energetic night spot) of Chaweng, then it was off to the famous backpackers party island of Koh Phangan.

Which is where we are now. Maybe not quite as spectactualr as Koh Samui, it makes up for it with a laid back atmosphere and very cheap food and drinks.

At this stage I can't quite believe its all drawing to a close so quickly! In under 2 weeks we'll be in Blighty, watching the Beeb, and since the Permiership League is on at the moment, supporting Liverpool. All very exciting apart from having to find work...

Anyway, thats it from me, net time is up and a beer is calling my name!

Shout outs to Kyle, Darren, Tamsyn and Fran - wassup you guys, hope you're still getting in a few last BBQ's. Big HI and hugs to David and Chirstine, for coming half way round the world to see us, and for sharing some of the adversities!

Ok till next time!

Vietnam Jungle

Just a quickie - have uploaded photies to FB, will post again soon (hopefully tomorrow when we arrive in Bangkok) but for the time being heres a wee vid of the Vietnamese Jungle, in Ha Long Bay. The audio is all natural...




PS - Don't worry about the stuff you're seeing on the news about Thailand - totally out of proportion, in typical media style...

Super Mega King Size Bonus Bonus Super Update

ALRIGHTY! Finally some internet time on a computer that works!!!

First up - Photos from the first leg in Vietnam...

Michelle relaxing on Long Beach on Phu Quoc Island - well earned after the supreme mission to get there.

Some boats at An Thoi Islands

Us enjoying the picturesque little bay

FISHIES!!!! Snorkelling.

Coral


Michelle catching a Fishie! They kept that one.

The first ever fish I've caught. Had to throw it back...

Beautiful beach at Phu Quoc

Floating Market on the Mekong Delta... which coincidentally looks nothing like a Francis Ford Coppola movie...
The infamous Saigon Traffic!

Ok, new stuff...

From Ho Chi Minh City we headed out to the Cu Chi Tunnels, where the Viet Cong had their base, only 70kms from Saigon. Although the trip was very touristy, we still enjoyed seeing the tunnels and having a crawl through, as well as learning about the VC resistance to the US war. It was very interesting seeing some very clever home-made weapons that the VC developed while remaining hidden from extensive US Army searches. Again a sad reminder of the horror and pointlessness of war.

Onwards north, we headed to Mui Ne (no idea on how to pronounce that one, everyone has a slightly different take on it!) where we were greeted with the surprising sight of a Desert, in the middle of Vietnam. We hired a jeep (Ginny - the only method of transport we haven't used so far is Cyclo, which we're saving for Ha Noi) and hit the dunes, explored the red canyon (which on closer inspection turned out the be caused by the drain off in the wet season), checked out the beautiful Fairy Streem, and watched dozens of Vietnamese tourists gape in awe and pose awkwardly for photos in front of the giant sand dunes.

Then it was a bery bumpy 4 hour mini bus ride to the Hill Station of Dalat. At 1500 meters elevation it gets rather cool there - something which after 3 months of steamy south east asian heat Michelle and I really enjoyed. It was even cool enough to warrant putting on long pants! Yes the chilly 27 degrees was welcome relief.

The next day we embarked on a tour of Vietnamese Kitch - Dalat is home to about the cheesiest set of attractions you could imagine - beautiful waterfalls decorated with Fibreglass Deer, Giraffes and Elephants. Elephant and Ostrich and Pony rides, Wooden frames to pose for photos in. Yep, to a Kiwi, whose appreciation of nature tends to be.. well... NATURAL, it was all very fake, though enjoyable and humorous none-the-less. So, 2 waterfalls, a gorgeous Gondola ride over the hills, the "Valley of Love", a strange flower garden, a so called Embroidery Village which turned out to be a complete tourist trap and a Tacky Art Deco palace and Michelle and I were ready for the next adventure...

Which brings us up to present.

Currently we're sitting in Nha Trang - killing a few hours before our overnight bus to Hoi An. The bus here was amazingly bouncy - sometimes we were jolted more than 10cm off our seats as our driver hit every pothole on the 120km journey with as much speed as he could muster. Its going to be a very long day, but hopefully (and without doubt) Hoi An will prove to be as enjoyable as the rest of Vietnam.

Since my last lot of Shout Outs were so well recieved, and its my blog, I'm going to go right ahead with round 2...

a big WASSUP to Paul, Scotty and Brendan. Missed the bbq's and beers a lot. Talking sh#t with myself doesn't cut it. Wassup also to your respective wahines, for putting up with you b#stards. A big YO (which is also Vietnamese for "Cheers") to the Courtier's, old and new. Hi to Mum and Dad, hope mums birthday went well, looking forward to updating you in August. Word up to Niv - Happy birthday to you also bro, see you in just over a month...

Ok thats me.. much love till next time...

Delays...

Sorry, sorry, sorry...

I'm really trying to update and get some photos up, but the internet is unfortunately so sh#te that many hours of attempts have yielded nothing...

Rest assures though, we're still alive and well, Michelle is feeling much better, Vietnam is exciting (though a little touristy) and we have amazing photos! If only the internet would co-operate long enough to get some uploaded!!!

We've shortened our trip, but we're very excited to be heading to London on the 8th of May.

Will update ASAP, as soon as I can find an internet cafe with reliable connection!

Take care... thanks to the response from the shout out - we love hearing from you all!!!