The Guild of Merriment

Weatherboards

2015-04-08T10:01:00.001+01:00

When we were Help X'ing in France my love for the romantic french window shutters was replaced by a deep resentment after spending a month sanding them in Bordeaux. I fear the same may be happening with the fabulous Australian weatherboard!
We have embarked upon the task of removing and repairing all of the weatherboards so that we can insulate our freezing little house that is built like a shed. With some epic help from our wonderful friends we are almost there, 2.5 walls kind of finished and the front left to tackle before winter sets in.

The fabulous French

2015-01-29T21:43:00.001+00:00

Over the last month or so we have had a fabulous Frenchman called Fred living with us and helping with the house. We have now managed to sand the floor, paint all of the walls and almost get the kitchen in - we love you Fred!

Party time

2014-12-22T10:53:00.001+00:00

So we managed to patch up the house enough to hold a christmas party and what a lot of fun it was!
The day before we had big holes in the floor and the old kitchen was in the garden. For party time we put the kitchen back in the house, fixed the holes and distracted people with food (that they brought) tunes and some sunshine.

Bricks

2014-12-07T11:15:00.001+00:00

Today we ripped off some more plasterboard, found some new bricks and almost ordered a kitchen.
Our help x'er Gabriel is fantastic and worked with Dan to remove a load of plasterboard while I bought a load of wrong things from Bunnings and failed to buy a kitchen!
Finished off with curry number 6 with Aileen McSparkle.

Empty wall space

2014-12-03T10:33:00.001+00:00

So the walls are down and the new window is in! The carpenters Will and Luke are quite lovely and almost finished.
Next job is unexpected rewiring.... that starts tomorrow and then the plastering, floors, kitchen and paint. Phew.
My commute to work is pretty nice, the cycle path is lined with palm trees and agapanthus, feels a little bit Californian.

Goodbye walls

2014-11-30T23:45:00.001+00:00

Lathe and plaster be gone.
We spent today with sledgehammers and crow bars whacking plaster off the walls in between the kitchen and living room.
The carpenters are coming today to fix the mess!
After the demolitions and to Dan's delight we found an amazing dosa curry place around the corner. It's kind of like the places you find in malls in Delhi, crazy fast food chaos.

Move day

2014-11-29T01:58:00.001+00:00

Goodbye Leicester Street....

It's move day today and another hot and sunny one! Hamish has been banished into the garden after scoffing an entire almond croissant from on top of the bureau.

Than has almost finished restumping the new place and the floors are now level.

Thank you Dhiraj you wonderful helper.

Chateau Limon

2014-11-28T11:43:00.001+00:00

Our new house in Preston is being patched up, propped up and sliced. Here are some pics of the progress...

Melbourne Life

2012-03-12T10:29:00.002+00:00

The poor blog has been neglected for the past couple of months as Dan and I have settled into our new life in Melbourne. Come back soon for lots of lovely pics and ideas for cheap things to do in this fantastic city.

Melbourne: a hot(ish) Christmas

2012-01-03T08:36:00.000+00:00

A huge thanks to Sophie and Rob for hosting a hot Christmas in Melbourne for Christmas orphans from the UK and beyond. It was certainly a day to remember!

Throwing another shrimp on the barby

Our second course amuse bouche vodka jelly from Sonny & Jules

We had a day of true Melbourne weather - sun/rain/hail/sun again...

Our pom pom style snowman created by Pete

Sophie & Alaric our little christmas reindeer

The fantastic Sophie, host extraordinaire

Our fish course, created by Dan, Tim, Sasha and I

Secret santa time

With a Scottish father christmas

ho ho ho

Thailand: Bangkok

2012-01-02T08:06:00.000+00:00

Oh Bangkok how I love you.....

Bangkok has to one of the best places in the world for a vibrant streetlife - the food, the shopping, the people watching, the wandering. For me, there is nowhere better.

We stayed at the fantastic Cosy Bangkok which I would highly recommend, also if you are looking for a tailor Harry's tailor in the Basement of Narai Hotel on Silom Road is great.

The obligatory visit to the Golden Temple, so bling! We had Thai massages in Wat Po and ate lots and lots of street food. Who knew deep fried omelette could taste so good!?

The massive feet of the sleeping Buddah

Duck tongues on the street. This was one of our favourite street vendors on the corner of Rama IV and Rama VI. Steaming claypot soups which you can add your own bunches of sweet basil, lettuce and meat.

Chatuchak weekend market is unbelievable. We had to rush around before catching our flight but I could have spent the whole weekend wandering about the hundreds of stalls selling everything under the sun

And onwards to Australia

Malaysia: Penang

2011-12-27T11:17:00.000+00:00

We took the overnight sleeper from KL to Butterworth and then a quick ferry across to Georgetown on Penang. Georgetown is a world heritage site and famous for its plethora of amazing places to eat. It's a melting pot of Indian, Malaysian, Chinese and Thai cuisine.

Our train from KL to Butterworth

Kevin's last stop before he got sent on his merry way ...

An indian sweet shop in Little India

We took a trishaw trip around Penang with a brilliant guide who showed us the sights and sounds of Georgetown - Chew Jetty, Little India, Chinatown, Temples, gardens, old colonial buildings and many many places to eat

The Chew Jetty in George Town in a water village which was built in the mid 19th century on stilts out into the sea by Chinese immigrants. A lot of it was destroyed by the tsunami. Our trishaw driver showed us the three Chinese temples and the narrow watery lanes of the village

Rubbing the lucky lady dragon

There is a fantastic foody streetlife in Penang, the food is unbelievable cheap and fantastic and street vendors fill the roads with sizzling pans and plastic furniture every night.

Walking through the streets of little india felt like being back in Delhi, tunes were blaring out from the DVD shops and delicious smells permeated from every corner

A huge paper dosa with masala potatoes and other delights for 90p!

The brilliant spice gardens in Penang. Penang, a British colony was a major Pepper Port and part of the fabled spice route.

More fantastic curry, we ate some of the most delicious Indian food in Penang - one of the standout restaurants was the Woodlands vegetarian Indian place in Little India, fantastic!

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur

2011-12-13T02:58:00.000+00:00

We flew into KL from Bali with dreams of clay pots, peanut pancakes and mysterious Malaysian drinks. We were not disappointed! Malaysian food is cheap and delicious and KL has it in bucketloads, along with some great shopping in Chinatown and a plethora of Christmas decorations to try to get is in the festive spirit.

Lovely ladies in the Wheelers guest house saying goodbye to Kevin as he sets off on his long journey back to Scotland.

One of the many foodcourts filled with hawker stalls. Each stall specialises in one or two dishes and does that particular dish really well.

Claypot noodles with egg

and peanut pancakes!

The iconic Petronas Towers

More amazing food

The night market in Chinatown is full of genuine fakes - bags, watches, trainers and Mr. Bean's teddy bear !?

Indonesia: Seraya Island, off Komodo island, West Flores

2011-12-12T02:46:00.001+00:00

Our boat Bees dropped us off on the tiny Seraya Island which lies to the north of Laboan Bajo off the north west tip of Flores. 12 wooden bungalows, perfect white sand, electricity and fresh water between 6pm and 8pm.

Bye Bees

Don't ask! (Happy birthday Matt)

Sunset over the Flores sea.

Perfect turquoise waters with hardly any current, pristine coral, turtles and millions of multicoloured fish.

The fishing village on the other side of Seraya island.

Boat building by hand

Indonesia: Laboan Bajo, Flores, Rinca & Komodo

2011-12-11T01:31:00.002+00:00

After our epic journey from Gili T arriving in Laboan Bajo was a delight, it has an awesome shabby pirate bay feel about it with a half moon harbour filled with colourful fishing boats and big wooden white sailed boats moored beside craggy outcrops. There are some drop dead gorgeous sunsets and hip places to eat and drink.

We stayed in Gardena Bungalows where the bamboo huts creep up the hill offering some great views across the harbour.

From Gardena we organised a 2 day 1 night cruise around Komodo and Rinca to see some Komodo dragons and stop off at a few snorkelling places along the way

Our boat was called Bees and was perfect, captained by Mr Captain with Marco his son cooking and helping out. We dined like kings and slept under the stars.

Our first stop was Rinca island which is part of the Komodo national park.

Trekking around Rinca on the hunt for the dragons.

I took about a million photos of these beasts trying to get a picture of their long forked blue tongues.

Check them out in action - they are massive!

Lunch on board Bees

We moored off the coast of Komodo for the night and hawkers appeared in canoes selling their wares

Giant flying foxes circling the mangroves

A wee guy called Kevin canoed over to us with a giant wooden Komodo for sale, I fell in love and we are now the proud owners of Kevin the Komodo.

The second day took us to Komodo Island for more trekking and dragon spotting.

Jo our guide on Komodo, he had a pretty keen eye for distant birds and flying lizards.

Thank you Captain and Marco, Bees was brilliant

Travelling overland from Lombok to Flores

2011-12-10T01:12:00.001+00:00

After the brilliant Gili T we decided to make our way towards Flores and Komodo. This is an epic journey across Lombok, Sumbawa and the seas that separate. There are a couple of ways to get to Flores, you can fly from Bali or take a 4 day 3 day night cruise from Gili T which involves some snorkelling and visiting places along the way. We decided to go for the cheap option which was a bus and boat combination that was supposed to take 24 hours.

The journey: a boat from Gili T to Lombok where we would spend 1 night in Sengiggi then a bus to the eastern side of Lombok, a boat to Sumbawa, a bus across Sumbawa and then a final boat to Flores!

We bought our tickets from Sengiggi in Lombok for around 275,000 Rp and were told to be ready for 10.30am the next morning. We were picked up the following morning in a minibus and taken to Mataram where we were told that the bus would not be leaving until 3pm!? The minibus driver then tried to sell us a variety of medicines/flights/tat for a couple of hours before giving up.

There was a comedy fish carrying man to keep us entertained for a few minutes!

The first bus took around 2 hours to cross Lombok and we drove straight onto the ferry to Sumbawa.

Where we played lots of poker with some interested locals

The next bus journey was a test of nerve, the roads across Sumbawa are dire. Worse pot holes than Glasgow and thats saying something! About and hour into the 10 hour journey people started throwing up - it was contagious starting with little kids and ending up with massive blokes throwing up and then wiping their faces with the bus curtains. We were hemmed into our seats with sacks of rice in the aisles and a box of live crickets twittering away behind our seats!

We then transferred onto a second smaller bus for the last part of our journey across Sumbawa. We arrived at the port at 8.30am to find that the ferry had left 30 minutes earlier - surely the only mode of transport to leave on time in Indonesia. We were told the next ferry would arrive at 5pm.

The ferry arrived at 6pm and set sail at around 10pm.

We slept on a carpeted stage thing and arrived into Labuan Bajo in Flores at 7am the following morning. The journey was epic but there was some fantastic scenery and it felt like we had battled to get there making it feel really satisfying and like we had done some 'proper' travelling :)

I made sure we flew back to Bali

Indonesia: Gili Trawangen

2011-12-09T10:39:00.000+00:00

After a week in Ubud we took the fast boat from Padang Bai to Gili Trawangen. I was quite excited about getting to Gili T after reading this article comparing it to Ibiza in its 1960's and 1980's haydays. The boat took around an hour and a half from Bali and sailed towards the Gili islands, which sit just off the north eastern coast of Lombok. From the boat islands looked like three perfect white sand palm fringed droplets in the turquoise sea. We landed on the most popular Gilli T where there are no cars or motorbikes only push bikes and horse and carts to navigate the island.

We hired bikes to explore the island, you can cycle around it in an hour or so, mind you some pushing is required through the deep sand.

The development is concentrated along one main strip and a stroll or short cycle north or south will take you to deserted beaches with views over to the volcanic silhouettes of western Lombok.

Dan admires his rasta paint job

We came across a cute little warung on the north side of the island and we all piled in desperate for some water or juice. We tried to order some big bottles of water as we hid in the shade. Sorry no water - only beer or magic mushroom shakes!! This is Gili T...

A pretty awesome dining arrangement

Coconut shells are used as charcoal with fresh fish BBQ's at every corner

Gili T has some fantastic snorkelling with a coral shelf around 70m from the beach, there are loads of turtles to find and follow

Massive speakers being transported on horse and cart

I want this bike!

Tim and I sampling some local Arak

Zul making bracelets on the beach

Happy 30th Sasha, what a birthday! Swimming with turtles, inventing 3D, finding Scarborough on Gili T....

One of the many rather swanky cafes. Gili T has a mix of shabby backpacker places, mushroom shacks guaranteed to send you to the moon, cafes that could be in Paris or Ile de Re with perfectly shabby chic interiors and really posh resorts. It feels like its at a tipping point towards polished package holiday - hopefully it will retain some of its haphazard and hedonistic vibe.

Bali: Gunung Batur

2011-11-26T01:05:00.001+00:00

Another trip from Ubud is to the volcano Gunung Batur. There are loads of organised tours leaving at hellish hours in the morning but we decided to rent mopeds and drive up to the volcano and spend the night. As we were nearing the volcano we were flagged down by a guy with no teeth at the side of the road who warned us that there were police up ahead who would stop us - we throught 'aye right' and continued towards the volcano. As it happened there were police up ahead and we were stopped, they asked to see our international drivers licences (which we did not have) and proceeded to try to scare is with their talk of fines and courtrooms. We eventually managed to palm them off with Rp100,000 between us, which is about £7. It put us all in a bit of a bad mood as we continued towards the volcano expecting to be hustled at every turn.

The Lonely Planet does a fine job of making the climb to the top sound pretty horrendous with talk of guides hassling you and being ripped off but we managed to amble up the volcano without any problems whatsoever (thanks to Dan and Tim's reccy of the right paths to take) and were rewarded with this utterly gorgeous view.

Sasha and I beside the crater

Spot the boys?

Great steaming clouds of vapour erupting from the core

The volcano in the distance

Bali: around Ubud

2011-11-25T01:52:00.001+00:00

The countryside around Ubud is really spectacular, terraced rice paddies, palm trees, jungle and rivers strewn with giant boulders - it almost looks too perfect like it might all be made from styrofoam and concrete.

Tim you will regret the day you did not purchase the sequinned christmas hat!

We went for a wander to the west of Ubud centre and met the great Wayan on the road, he showed us his bridge he had made and his rice field and we got chatting. He offered to take us on a walk through the paddies and jungle and what a walk it was....

Wayan leads the way

Some cotton

and some rice

and a wee game of poker using torn pieces of dragon fruit for chips

Bali: Ubud

2011-11-24T14:43:00.000+00:00

I was really looking forward to coming to Ubud mainly to get away from the beach but also to explore the rice paddies and jungle that surround it (and also the shops!). Ubud is brilliant, it has a great mix of friendly faces, drop dead gorgeous scenery and some amazing places to eat - just watch out for all of the Elizabeth Gilbert wannabes.

Ubud, home of the spa. The only thing I managed to get Dan to do was get his feet nibbled by fish.

Sasha and I spent the day at Spa Hati, rice paddy views and amazing massages with all of the profits going back into community projects.

We stayed at Ubud Terrace on Monkey Forest Road, £10 a night for a room in a bungalow with a pool and breakfast - bargain!

Some of the many offerings that get made every day, there are offerings everywhere to ward off the naughty gods. In front of shops, at the beginning of roads, on bike seats, on statues....

The monkey sanctuary in Ubud is quite comedy, Sasha got robbed of her water bottle by a monkey which wrapped itself around her legs.

One of Bali's specialities - suckling pig mmmm

Lots of colourful temptations at the market

Our favourite restaurant Bendi's where they serve a mean homemade wine (Brem) and distilled palm syrup (Arak) with whole smoked duck and really good tofu.

Indonesia: Nusa Lembongan

2011-11-24T00:43:00.001+00:00

Our next stop after the brilliant Kuching was Nusa Lembongan which is a small island off the east coast of Bali. There are lots of little boats which leave from Sanur. When we first arrived in Bali I was really surprised by the nature of the development, I had romantic notions in my head but the reality of Sanur was somewhat different. We had read some reviews about Nusa Lembongan as it being the place you are always trying to find in Bali but never do, so you can imagine what we thought when the boat passed this......

A gigantic floating flume thing! There were loads of dodgy flume filled pontoons anchored in the bay making this supposedly idyllic island look more like Tenerife. As it turned out, the fun flumes and daytrip packages keep themselves to themselves and Nusa Lembongan is actually a really chilled out place to spend a few days.

Another fantastic meal at Ketuts Thai Place, Tuna curry - delicious

After doing my best to hide from the sun I managed to burn my bum while snorkelling, check out those lines

Seaweed harvesting

And onwards to Bali

Malaysia: Bako National Park (Sarawak, Borneo)

2011-11-20T00:39:00.000+00:00

Bako National Park is around an hours bus ride from Kuching and home to the fabled proboscis monkey. If you are planning on visiting beware of the tides as the boats are only able to reach the park twice a day at high tide. The boat journey to the park is great fun, riding the incoming surf past fishermen, mud flats and lush jungle.

We trecked through the jungle in search of the proboscis monkey, it was so incredibly hot and steamy with deafening jungle noises.

At dusk, as we were making our way back from the beach, we heard rustling in the trees on both sides. We stopped and waited quietly and two proboscis monkeys swung out from the trees and crossed our path to the other side of the jungle. Now, these aren't your average monkeys they are the most bonkers looking things - I tried to make a video of them but alas I was not fast enough so check out the you tube clip below for a glimpse of this fabled beast.

The transport to and from Bako national park

Again, check out Sasha and Tim's blog for some great pics

Malaysia: Semenggoh (Sarawak, Borneo)

2011-11-19T12:16:00.000+00:00

Another day in Borneo and another monkey (ape) hunt, this time for our furry orange cousins the Orangutang!

Semenggoh national park is a quick public bus ride away from Kuching, there are plenty of tours you can take which will pick you up from your hotel and take you straight to the park but the public bus is a fraction of the price and gets you to the park before the crowds arrive which means......

it's possible (with a bit of luck) to see these magnificent apes in peace! The four of us were sitting around reading about what goes on at Semenggoh when we heard rusting coming from above, we turned to see this mama and her baby swinging down through the trees.

It was something else, and all for the grand total of around £2. As the apes were swinging and eating the hoards began to arrive and we moved on to another feeding point further into the jungle.

The big daddy of the park is called Ritchie and we were hoping to get a glimpse of this enormous boy, while he didn't show we did get to see another of the females with her baby.

A you tube clip of Richie the 28 year old dominant male in action

A gigantic moth, identified by the wonderful Martin Wainwright as the Atlas moth - this biggest in the world!

Malaysia: Kuching (Sarawak, Borneo)

2011-11-18T11:36:00.002+00:00

We flew from Singapore to Kuching, which is in the Malaysian part of Borneo to meet up with Sasha and Tim. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't the laid back metropolis that we found! Kuching lies to the West of Sarawak on the banks of the Kuching River. The people are amazingly friendly, the food is incredibly cheap and super tasty and there are steamy jungles to explore and orangutangs to find a simple bus ride away.

Sasha and Tim's photos are way better, you can find them here

The folks of Kuching seem to have a passion for crazy colours of paint, all at once - a different colour on each wall/post/bollard/ceiling....

At a hawker stall near the large pink mosque behind the bus station. Incredible food for around 80p each

The famous Kek Lapis of Sarawak, crazy multi-coloured multi patterned layer cake

Tiny little boats on the Kuching River - the guys crouched into them with their bums hanging over the back and skimmed them up and down the river.

Drinks you can eat! The Malaysians seem to love a wee surprise in the bottom of your fanta

We stayed at the Nomads guest house which was fab, clean rooms and great hosts

One of Sarawak's famous dishes - Laksa

Asia: Singapore

2011-11-14T06:49:00.000+00:00

Our Asian adventure started in the super green and super clean Singapore, which was a lovely calm transition between our rural life in France and the great hectic delights of South East Asia. Thanks to Laura and Steve for putting us up and showing us around it was very much appreciated!

Singapore has a wealth of new and interesting architecture with plenty of green walls and trees growing part way up buildings within the storeys, these green facades (along with plentiful street trees and planting) give the city a steamy jungly and exotic feel.

Concrete shuttering on the school of art building which looked like timber from a distance.

Bit of landscape architecture geekery - the ramp was integrated within a series of black and white walls which worked really well within the geometry of the plaza in front of the school of art.

The gorgeous multi stemmed street trees studded with epiphytes create a tropical urban jungle

The food of south east asia is one of lifes great pleasures and we made sure not to miss Singapore's famous chilli crab

Some colourful buildings in china town

We made the obligatory visit to Raffles for a Singapore Sling and luxuriated in the colonial surroundings while brashly throwing our peanuts in the floor - brilliant, but damned expensive at £30 for 2 drinks!!