JaM

May 2012 - Sydney and Home

2012-06-30T18:50:00.001+12:00

PHUKET TO SYDNEY

We had a short flight from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The airport was very modern and had a funky "rainforest" in the centre of it where you could go outside and walk through. It was pretty tiny and didn't feel quite real but at least it gave us something to do while waiting for our next flight. It wasn't too long and pretty soon we were on the longest flight we had been on for a long time. It was a night flight so we hoped to get some sleep as we winged our way to Sydney, Australia.

SYDNEY - DAY 1

Our flight arrived early in the morning at Sydney International Airport. It was a long time since we had been in an English speaking country and it was all a bit a unsettling. We were now very close to home. We caught the train from the airport and into town. Our hotel was not far from the station and fortunately we were even able to check in early. Although we had some sleep on the plane, it hadn't been good sleep and we were happy to get a couple more hours. Marcus was still feeling terrible so stayed in bed for the rest of the day. Jess got up and had a look around the neighbourhood, but didn't venture too far, other than to grab some food.

SYDNEY - DAY 2

We only had a couple of days in Sydney so no matter how Marcus felt we were going to have a look around today. Jess had managed to do it across half of South East Asia, so Marcus could do it here. We found a local cafe and got some breakfast. It was still very disconcerting to have everything in English. It felt like it was all too easy.We continued on down George Street towards Circular Quay, popping in to the odd shop along the way, including a walk through (but no money spent) in the old Queen Victoria Building, a Victorian style covered shopping arcade.

We arrived down at Circular Quay and took our obligatory photo of the Sydney Opera House. We then walked back around the waterfront and out to the point around the Opera House and looked back towards the Harbour Bridge. We carried on around and into the Botanic Gardens which run up along the side of the CBD. We sat down and watched children playing amongst the bushes and sculptures and then went for a bit more of a walk. We cut back into the city again and paid a visit to the big David Jones Department Store. There was plenty for sale but nothing that caught our fancy, so wandered back through the centre of town for a a bit of a rest at the hotel in the afternoon.

We ventured out again at dinner time on the hunt for a meal. We went for a walk in the other direction down to Darling Harbour. We had a look at the restaurants along the waterfront, but with Marcus' stomach still pretty delicate we didn't see any point in having a fancy dinner, even if this was our last night away...We eventually found a restaurant in the shopping centre overlooking Darling Harbour which served some nice but not too fancy fare. It was a quiet walk back to the hotel before tomorrow...a very big day...

SYDNEY TO WELLINGTON

It was with great apprehension that we arose today. Only a train ride and a plane ride and we would be back in Wellington, with our family and friends who we grew up with. Our big adventure would be over. The train took us to the airport, we check in our bags and waited for our flight to board. It was fitting that we had left New Zealand by Air New Zealand and that our flight back to New Zealand was going to be Air New Zealand too. We were actually paying for this flight with the airpoints earned on that initial flight out.

As soon as we boarded the plane we could tell that we were surrounded by New Zealanders. The familiar (yet a little forgotten) accent and that relaxed look that comes from living somewhere with lots of space. We were both feeling pretty anxious on this flight. It had been a long time since we were going home. This was the end of a long journey. Would we enjoy being back in Wellington again? Would it be the same as we remembered it? Would people be the same as we remembered them? Would landing at Wellington airport be like a roller coaster?

After a few short hours we would have answeres to these questions and more. The plane came in over Makara and through the strait over a glorious, sunny and calm day in Wellington. It touched down without incident, we made our way through Customs and before we knew it we were exiting into the Departures Lounge to see our smiling parents waiting for us. We loaded up our bags into our parents cars, Marcus with his parents, Jess with hers and seperately drove out to Marcus' parents in Lower Hutt. There was the odd new building in Wellington, but in general it was all just as we remembered it. We arrived at Marcus' parents, tired, sick and thinner, but home. Before long we were joined by the rest of our family for an afternoon of catching up.

The next day we decided to make the most of being in another new (but old) city. After catching the train into town we wandered the streets, checking our Lambton,, Cuba, Courtenay, Frank Kitts and all the other neighbourhoods around the CBD. We signed up for cellphone numbers and we were back in society again. A proper coffee and a (expensive) beer and we were integrating ourselves back into what it was all about to be in Wellington. The next month was spent catching up with our friends and family, and all the babies they had made since we left, Marcus returning to work to pay off our trip, Jess finding a new job and then finally returning to our house. Once we moved back in we felt we were really home and we had decided we were happy to be here. Once we got used to the fact that things run a bit more slowly and people need their personal space we knew that this was where we wanted to be. And so, after three and a bit years of adventure it was time to settle down and see what kind of life we could make for ourselves here.

May 2012 - Thailand

2012-05-28T18:55:00.001+12:00

BANGKOK - DAY 1

Our plane touched down in Bangkok, the start of so many backpacking adventures for many young people, but for us was close to our traveling coming to an end. After grabbing our bags, we went hunting for a taxi to take us into our hotel, but before we found a taxi a lady found us and before we knew it she had whisked us off to the taxi stand and negotiated a price for us with the driver, including her commission. We then zoomed off in our bright pink taxi through the busy streets, past the King's residence to the Banglamphu area, where our hotel was located.

After chilling out a bit we decided to go check out the neighbourhood. We weren't very far from
Bangkok's famous Khaosan Road, perhaps the world centre of backpackers (having done plenty of travel and met plenty of backpackers, we aren't too sure whether this is a title to be proud of...) It is a reasonably short street full of shops, stalls, restaurants, bars and white people. We hadn't seen so many white people in one place for a while and it was a bit disconcerting...

We checked out the street food vendors before deciding we could probably go for something a bit nicer for dinner so find a marginally nicer place in a small restaurant which looked out over the street. A serving of Pad Thai and a green curry later, all washed down with a couple of Chang Beers, and we were feeling full but not yet amazed. After another wander up and down the street to walk off our dinner we made our way back to the hotel where we hit the hay.

BANGKOK - DAY 2

It was a day of sightseeing ahead so, as is our way, we set off on foot towards the Grand Palace. We had heard a couple things about visiting the Grand Palace. The first was that you needed to have your legs covered if you were going to visit as it was also the site of a number of temples. The second was that you might get approached by people telling you it was closed and instead trying to sell you an all day tour. We expected this might come from Tuk Tuk drivers, but were very surprised that ever person we met along the way, stall vendors to simply people walking along the street, told us the Grand Palace was closed. They certainly had us doubting ourselves, but we carried on determined to see for ourselves. This turned out to be the right thing to do, because the Grand Palace was opening and operating and in fact there were loudspeakers announcing that you should ignore anyone who tried to tell you that the Palace was closed because it was in fact open for visits. The Palace is a complex of various grand buildings built under the reigns of various Thai Kings. There were many huge buildings with massive Thai style spires on top stretching into the sky. There was also plenty of gold around. Very opulent. You couldn't go into many of the buildings but one which you could visit was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which houses a little Jade Buddha, seated high above you, looking down on the worshippers.

After stopping for an ice-block (Marcus went with red bean..perhaps not the best choice...) we left the Grand Palace and walked down the road to Wat Po, a Buddhist monastery and site of a massive gold reclining Buddha. It is 43 metres long and as it is inside a building with lots of tourists looking at it, it is pretty difficult to see one end from the other. We also checked out the grounds which are a bit quieter but had some cool statues of men in robes and top hats. Not sure what the story was but it was nice to see something different than a Buddha statue.

We were still up for some more Buddhist temples, so we made our way down the street to the river and caught a ferry across to the other side. There were ferries all over the river going in all directions but we ended up on the correct one. Directly across the river is the temple of Wat Arun. This was a really tall temple. We didn't go inside this one, rather we climbed up the steep outside where we got an amazing view across Bangkok along the river and all over the city. It was really hot and the climbing up in the beating sun helped us work up a pretty heavy sweat. After making our way down the temple we found some cold drinks, which we quickly drained, and jumped on another river boat which took us down the river again back to Khaosan Road. It was pretty packed so we didn't get to see much out the windows but it was definitely a good way to get from one part of the city to another.

We wandered back down Khaosan Road, checking out the stalls, before heading back to the hotel to cool down a bit after being out and about in the heat all day. Once dinner time came around we headed back out to Khaosan Road where we found a restaurant down a side street. We had a table in the middle of a courtyard and got some tasty Thai curries for dinner. It was nice and peaceful and the light was low. It was a nice break for us from the hectic city that is Bangkok.

BANGKOK - DAY 3

For our third day in Bangkok we decided to do a bit of shopping. As it was the weekend we were able to head out to Chatuchak weekend market. After a bit of studying we found out that there was a local bus that would take us straight there from a nearby bus stop. We weren't really sure what we were doing, but we managed to find the bus stop and before long a bus with the number we were expecting came along. We boarded, bought some tickets and we were away. The bus was pretty basic, with wooden floors with plenty of holes in them, but we managed to find some seats and after quite a long drive and a few head shakes from the driver when we looked to be getting off at the wrong stop, we made it to the market.

We followed the crowds and entered through one of the many gates. The market was huge. There was basically a path that went in a circle around the middle with stalls as far as they eye could see on either side. Like any good market it was divided up into different sections, clothing for locals, clothing for tourists, food, souvenirs, pets, home wares. If you needed something you would be able to buy it, or some version of it here. The place was also teeming with people so it was slow going through some parts. We wandered our way amongst the stalls, buying the odd thing but mostly looking. We grabbed some tasty street food for lunch, all finished off with a beer and chocolate and hundreds and thousands coated banana.

Much of Bangkok is connected by the Skytrain, a monorail system which travels above the roads. There was a station nearby, so we decided that once we were done with the market we would jump on the skytrain and head down to another shopping area around Siam Square, in the centre of the city. There are a number of big shopping malls around the square selling all manner of legitimate and knock off goods. It was nice to be in some air-conditioning after all that time in the hot sun. There were floors and floors of shops and stalls selling all manner of items, although a day of shopping was starting to take its toll on us and everything started looking the same. There were only so many Pikachu's, iphones and t-shirts with Tuk-Tuk's on which you can look at in a day so we decided that having done a good job on the public transport today we would stop while we were ahead and we took a taxi back to the hotel. All that walking around and looking at shops had taken its toll on us. We were pretty tired, Jess especially, so Marcus had dinner by himself at the hotel while Jess got a couple of hours extra sleep.

BANGKOK - DAY 4

We weren't 100% sure how we wanted to spend our last day in Bangkok so we started out by going for another walk to visit the temple of Wat Saket. It is a reasonably new Buddhist temple built on the top of a hill, which was the remains of a collapsed old temple. There is a path which runs around the outside of the hill, through pretty gardens with statues dotted throughout. Along the way there are places where you can stop and admire the craftsmanship. The temple is right at the top and you can walk through from one side to the other. Wat Saket is known as the Golden Mount and from the top you get a good view out around surrounding Bangkok and in particular to the huge skyscrapers in the distant business district.

It wasn't too far from Wat Saket to China Town, so after walking past a bunch of car part shops we finally manged to come across a series of narrow streets, packed full of various cheap wares, including food, shoes, plasticware and everything else you could imagine. It didn't look particularly Chinese so it took us a while before we were sure we were in the right place. We wandered up and down look at what was for sale, but not buying as nothing tickled our fancy. We came close when we came to the funeral paper area, where you could buy anything you could imagine made from paper so you could burn it at your funeral and it could accompany you to the next life. There were little houses, ornaments and even pineapple! We decided that that was a bit too morbid a souvenir, so instead we start on the walk back to the hotel.

After resting our weary legs we decided to have a drink down at the hotel bar. There was a nice garden bar outside where you could sit in the warm and enjoy a refreshing beverage. We got talking to a Thai guy who was there about our travels and where we were from. He said that he was friends with the owner of the hotel. Apparently he sells them all their carpets. After talking for a while he invited us to go with him to experience some proper Thai street food, not the stuff at Khaosan Road. He seemed nice enough so we went with out into the Bangkok night. Before long we reached a street full of food stalls with tables all around and not a white person to be seen (except us of course). He ordered us some authentic Pad Thai, the best in Bangkok, he said. Before long it arrived and unlike what we had had before this was wrapped in an omelet. It was amazing! So much better than any food we had had in Thailand so far. About half way through our meal a man from a neighbouring table started talking to us in English. He told us about his daughter who was studying in Australia. It looked like our host was starting to get jealous. I wouldn't have thought white backpackers were a novelty in Bangkok, but was nice to be popular.

After a yummy dinner our host encouraged us to go and visit another Buddhist Temple. This one was less on the tourist track. We weren't sure but thought we shouldn't be rude as he had been so welcoming. The temple was a bit more modern than many of the older ones we had seen but still had steps leading up to the door and there were a lot of people worshiping, rather than a lot of people taking photos. We were welcomed with smiles from many of the people who made space for us to sit down on the mats and worship. We felt very humbled and welcome. This made up for all the people who had tried to trick us the day before. Our host was keen for us to continue touring around Bangkok with him, but we had an early flight out of Bangkok on the meaning so had to bring our impromptu exciting night to an end.

BANGKOK TO PHUKET

We got picked up early in the morning by a taxi to take us to the airport. It was a domestic flight this time down to the south of Thailand, another popular tourist destination, the island of Phuket. We hadn't arranged any transportation from the airport to our hostel in Phuket, but we didn't need to worry because we had only been off the plane for a few seconds when we were being bundled into a minivan shuttle. The shuttle filled up with people and then zoomed off through rather uninspiring countryside along wide main roads. After a while the van pulled into a travel agent and took turns to take people off the van and try to sell them holiday activities. We were looking quite grumpy by this point and they knew to give us a wide berth. The van eventually got going again and we had the long trip of stopping at people's accommodation. We had decided to avoid the tourist mecca of Patong, instead deciding to stay at the quieter beach of Kata, a bit further south. What this meant is that we were the last ones to be dropped off, but we did get there eventually.

Jess was still feeling a bit poorly, so decided to have a sleep, while Marcus went for a walk to try and see

what the neighbourhood had to offer. It was about a 15 minute walk to the beach, along paths past people's houses and then alongside a stream that went out to the beach. It was a nice long beach as Marcus walked past all the Swedes and Danes (apparently it is a popular north European holiday spot). There was a resort at one end but clouds forming in the distance heralded the afternoon monsoon rain. Marcus made his way back to the hostel to see how Jess was doing.

After the rain had subsided we both made our way back down to the water for a walk along the beach together. We took our time to get to the resort end where we had a look around. There were a few shops around the place but nothing that sold more than tourist fare. We stopped for a drink and some Pizza at the resort bar on the beach. We sat back watching the sun set and then slowly wandered our way back to the hostel.

PHUKET - DAY 2

We slept in the next day before rising, packing our towels and heading down to the beach for a lazy day lying on the beach. We went for a few swims in the sea but otherwise it was a nice lazy day. We thought about doing some travel around the island on the local bus network (mini trucks with open backs filled with seats) but decided we had traveled plenty over the last while. We had to retreat for the afternoon monsoon, but after that we came out again in hunt of a restaurant for dinner. We found a place that served seafood and after some yummy prawn curry (with MASSIVE prawns) some delicious fresh fish we made it to bed satisfied with our day.

PHUKET TO KO PHI PHI

It was another early start as we met our transfer to the port in Phuket town. It was a bit of a gray and overcast day as our taxi wound its way around the central hill in the middle of the island to the town of Phuket, a relatively drab town where it was clear that people lived, but it didn't look like there was much reason to visit. We climbed onto a packed ferry with loads of other backpackers and a handful of locals and after waiting for a while we were on our way to the island of Ko Phi Phi.

The sea was pretty rough on the way out and there were plenty of passengers rushing to the toilets with green faces but after a couple of hours we came up on the small dock on Ko Phi Phi island. We disembarked and went hunting for some transport to our resort. We were staying on Long Beach, which was one bay away from the main part of the island. Apparently it was only 10 minutes ride away on a long boat. We figured it would be a bit nicer and quieter. Unfortunately we soon discovered that with the rough weather there were no long boats willing to take us there. Apparently it was too rough to land there. A little disheartened we eventually found a boat who was willing to take us to the far side of the main bay. It was closer to our resort but we would still have to walk over the hill and back down again to get to Long Beach.That was easier said than done. With our heavy packs on our back we made our way across the soft sand and then up the muddy rutted path trying to avoid the puddles and trying not to get stuck in the mud. We followed the signs and got to the top of the path before heading off down a side track. We met a guy who pointed us in the direction of a rope which was tied to a tree and then dropped down a steep path towards the beach. Apparently that was how we got down to Long Beach. It was pretty steep and slippery. Thankfully the guy helped Jess with her bag and we were pleased to get to the bottom. We made our way along the sand until we found the first resort where we got onto firmer ground and made our way to our resort, about halfway along the beach.

By this time we were pretty hungry. Unfortunately the restaurant at our resort was closed for the off season, but luckily the restaurant at the first resort was open so we grabbed a table by the beach and got some sustenance. It was warm but not tropical, so after unpacking our stuff into our beachfront bungalow we went for a walk along the beach. It had been a bit of an effort to get there but we certainly felt like we were away from it all on our tropical island. We tried for a swim in the afternoon, but before long the pouring rain came pounding down and we retreated back into our bungalow. Fortunately it passed after an hour or so and we were able to head back down to the beach.

After chilling out for a couple of hours it was time to do a bit of exploring. We made our way up beach
and climbed the rope we had come down earlier. Unfortunately the 10 minute long boat road to the town wasn't an option so we had to settle for a 45 minute walk. After climbing across some roots, walking along a couple of beaches and traveling through some other resorts we finally found a concrete path which we were able to follow to take us into town. Town was a series of concrete buildings with concrete paths in between. The rain decided to come back again just as we arrived in town so we stopped at a bar on the beach for a couple of drinks. Apparently they did a fire show there at night but we couldn't really see it happening with the wet weather. The rain eased off a bit so we went in search of dinner. After avoiding the Australians who were trying to force us into booking a dive tour, we found a place that served cheap and cheerful Thai curries. The surroundings were pretty basic, but the food was solid and just what we needed. We did a bit more exploring around town but there wasn't a lot to see so we started to make our way back to town. However, along the way we got waylaid by a shop full of fish tanks and tiny fish. We had seen this at Camden Market and thought it looked a bit unhygienic, but figured we had earned ourselves a foot massage performed by little fish. Our worries about hygiene were unfounded as the woman who ran the shop actively scrubbed our feet clean before letting us anywhere near the fish. We then plonked our feet into one of the fish tanks and the little fishes came flocking to eat the skin off our feet. We couldn't help but giggle as they tickled between our toes, but we could feel them gently massaging our feet too. It was a relaxing experience, even when the drunk Chinese man came blundering into the shop and tried to put his feet into the nearest tank. The Thai lady struggled to sort him out but managed to get his feet clean in the end. Our feet feeling clean we then made the long walk (often in the dark!) back to our resort for some sleep.

KO PHI PHI - DAY 2

We decided to make the most of the beach front again and hung out on the beach for the morning. Some reading and swimming and relaxing was what we had in mind for this part of the trip. After a few hours of this we checked out the map of the island and saw that there was a path from the edge of town which led to a viewpoint on the top of the island. We made our way around the path to town but then turned off at the edge and went looking for paths up. We found the right road and carried on into the jungle. By this time it was pretty hot and the road was actually pretty steep in places and there wasn't much shade to keep the sun off us. After about an hour of walking we had a good sweat on, but fortunately it was at this point that we could turn off the road and onto a path into the jungle. The paths were not every well marked, but we kept heading up and eventually, after climbing up and around and over logs, rocks and dirt we came across the viewpoint which gave us a view out over the town and the bays on either side of
it. Like any good tourist spot there was a shop where we could buy some drinks to replenish some of the fluid we had lost on the way up. We decided to head down the path which took us into the middle of town. After 20 minutes of climbing down steep stairs and watching people puffing their way up we were pretty pleased that we had chosen to go down this path rather than up it.

The clouds were coming in at this point so we jumped into the nearest bar and grabbed a drink and some food to eat (burgers, very un-Thai...) and sat back while the rain wore itself out. We checked out some of the tourist shops before the walk back to Long beach. We chilled out for a couple of hours and decided we had done enough walking today so visited the restaurant at the resort at the end of the beach for some dinner. It was nice and quiet, unlike the busier town which was a nice way to end the day.

KO PHI PHI - DAY 3

We had hoped to go on a boat tour today, but the sea was looking pretty rough in the morning so we decided to put it off and put up our feet for the day, hanging out on the beach, doing some more reading and generally taking it easy, dodging in and out of our bungalow into between rain showers.

Having had a lazy day it wasn't too bad walking to the town to find some dinner. We found a place with bright orange walls down a quiet side street. The menu looked good and as it turns out, it was, with amazing fresh noodle dishes. Other than the street food in Bangkok this was definitely the best meal we had had in Thailand.

KO PHI PHI - DAY 4

It was our last day in Ko Phi Phi so regardless of the weather we would be going on a boat cruise today. Fortunately it was looking reasonably settled in the morning, so we made our way off to the town to get some of the included breakfast and meet up with the Long Boat for the tour around all sorts of exotic locations, including Ko Phi Phi Lei, the island we had been looking at in the distance (it is the island from the Leonardo Di Caprio movie, The Beach) and Shark Bay. The breakfast was nothing exciting, but that wasn't why we were there. It was a big long boat but it was still full of various young people and one older couple. We had decided we wanted to take the long boat rather than one of the bigger ferries. We piled into the boat, grabbed our seats and then we were underway. It didn't appear that our driver an older Thai man, or his assistance, a younger Thai guy who scampered all over the boat trying to impress the girls, spoke any English so it was up to us to work out what we were up to during the day.

The boat ride was OK as we made it out through the bay, but as soon as we got out into open water the force of the waves got stronger. There were some anxious looks on people's faces and some tight knuckles holding seats as the boat slow made its way towards Ko Phi Phi Lei. We rocked back and forth but eventually arrived at the island and entered through the entrance to the bay which was our first stop. There was a white sand beach with jungle behind it and cliffs surrounding the bay. Disappointingly there were also about six other boats, all bigger ferries who were also visiting the bay at the same time and whose passengers were teeming across the beach.

Our boat went further in to shore but the driver didn't want to go right in to shore for fear of getting stuck. So we had to leave our bags on the boat and then drop into the water in our togs. This meant no camera as we didn't want to risk losing it to the sea. The old Australian decided to stay on the boat with the captain. We swam in to shore, walked along the beach and then went back into the water again for a paddle around with the crowds.

We had only been in there a few minutes when the sea around us started sucking out towards the mouth of the bay, black clouds were forming outside the mouth of the bay and people started running out of the bay. We were struck by strong winds and rain and decided out of the water was the right place to be. Then BOOM! The heavens opened and it started to pour with rain and the winds blew a gale around us. We desperately looked for shelter. Most people were huddling under the nearest cliff. There was a tiny shack just up from the beach and we ran for it and hunkered down behind it along with a bunch of other people. The rain continued to pour and the wind continued to blow, battering our exposed flesh with sand from the beach. It actually seemed to be getting worse rather than better. After a while the wind started pulling away parts of the walls from the shack. This was a worry and before long, one of the tour guides from the other boats told us to get away from the shack because it could collapse at any second. We joined the masses under the cliff which was much more exposed to the sand and the rain and tried to wait it out. The wind and rain did let off a little but it was still coming at us pretty hard. While we had been hunkering down the boats in the bay had been moving around to try and combat the big waves. Some had left the bay to avoid being smashed against the cliffs. Unfortunately one of the boats had ended up stuck on the beach and members of the crew were trying to push it out into the water again. Marcus joined a bunch of other men to help push the boat back out into the water. It was hard going with waves pushing the boat back into the beach every time they managed to get it out, but eventually the boat got turned around and they put it out into the bay.

The weather had settled down a little but was still pretty rough, so we decided to move from the "safety" of our cliff and made our way into the middle of the island. There were big muddy puddles everywhere, but there was also a building where we could get out of the rain and wind. There was no power in there though so it was pretty dark and cramped. We were also starting to feel pretty cold. We had our towels (which were soaking wet) but our bags were still on the boat. Marcus decided to head back down to the beach and see what he could do to get our stuff back. He got to the beach and our boat was now also stuck on the beach. It had come ashore to let the old couple out, but then they hadn't been able to float it again. The captain and his man were trying to push the boat out but weren't really getting anywhere. Marcus had a look over the side of the boat and could see why. It was half full of water. That boat was not going to float again. The captain started handing Marcus bags, shoes and anything else that was loose in the boat. Marcus took as much as he could carry, and took it back to the building before making a few more trips with other people's stuff. The boat was listing dangerously on the beach and the captain was

trying to move it from inside but was getting thrown around like a rag doll. He was looking pretty dazed and it was likely that he had hit his head more than once. A few of the other men from the boat had come down to the beach and we started pushing on the boat in the hope that we could get it back into the water in the same way as the ferry earlier. Unfortunately after a long time of pushing and pulling and stripping out everything from the boat to lighten it (including the seats) our boat was not going anywhere. Ironically we should have known that a boat called "U Rip" was probably better called "U Rip Off."

By now the weather had settled down some more and the ferries had started coming back and taking away their passengers. We weren't quite sure what was happening with us, but the impression we got was that we weren't going anywhere, and we might have to stay the night on the island. With a flight out of Thailand the next day, we weren't very happy with the situation. The captain was still wandering around the place trying to encourage people to eat the rice and shrimp lunch which was in the chilly bin from the boat. Marcus decided to tuck in. Might as well get something out of the day. We waited around for a while longer and then all of a sudden one of the other passengers told us to come to the other side of the island because a boat had come to pick us up. Hooray! We grabbed our bag and barefoot (our jandals were long gone) made our way through puddles and pools to the other side of the island. We came to a pool which we had to wade through to get to some stairs on the other side. The stairs took you up and over a stone wall. However, you had to time your trip up the stairs properly, because every time the waves crashed on the other side of the wall a massive blast of water came through a hole, soaking whoever was unlucky enough to be on the stairs. We made it to the top without getting blasted, but what greeted us was not something we had expected. We were at the top of a stone wall where waves were crashing against it below. We were told that if we wanted to get back to the main island the only way was to jump into the thrashing sea and grab a rope which was tied to a boat about 50 metres out in the water. You then had to use the rope to swim across to the boat and haul yourself over the side. The other New Zealand couple from the trip and the old Australian couple weren't having a bar of it. With our flight leaving the next day we had not choice. Fortunately they had a waterproof bag we could put our backpack in to hopefully keep it dry as we swam out to the boat. The sea was thrashing around us as the rope ducked under the waves but eventually we each made it our to the boat. The boat was full of the other passengers from the trip, many of them crying or vomiting over the side as the boat rocked in the rough seas. Eventually the boat started to make its way back to the main island. Fortunately it was a speed boat so it could make it back to the main island in reasonable time. Unfortunately the boat captain was an idiot and decided that this was the best time to be pulling doughnuts in his boat. This did not do anything to help the crying and the vomiting.

We arrived back at the main island, disembarked from the boat and all the people from the tour wandered off. There were no apologies or even acknowledgements from the tour operator of what had happened. We tried to explain to them that there were still people stuck on the island and that they should be doing something to get them back, but the man who must have been the head of the tour company was busy getting his legs massaged and his lackeys weren't interested in talking to us. Eventually we had to give up and made the walk, barefoot, back to our resort. We spent the afternoon feeling pretty annoyed that our multi-stop tour had barely been a one stop tour but pleased that at least we should be able to get to the airport the following day. The weather was still pretty average so we chilled out for what was left of the afternoon, before making one last trip back to the main town for dinner at the place we had eaten the night before. It had been an exhausting day and we had had enough of Ko Phi Phi, so made our way back to our resort to pack our bags for the early ferry ride the next morning.

KO PHI PHI TO PHUKET

We awoke to some pretty miserable weather on our last morning in Ko Phi Phi. There was a steady drizzle and unfortunately the long boats were still not picking us up from our beach, so we had to make our way to the port by foot. Fortunately we could wear shoes for the trip. We made it without event to the port and piled in the boat. It was pretty full of people, but we managed to find some seats on the lower deck. The boat eventually got underway, but the rain and wind had picked up by now. We were pleased for our downstairs seats. Unfortunately the rice and shrimp dish from the day before was a bad move on Marcus' part. After all these weeks on the road travelling and eating foreign food, the stomach bug had finally caught up with him with a vengeance. We were keen for the boat ride to go as quickly as possible. Unfortunately there was another storm which had built out in the main sea and the ferry had to go slowly to safely travel through it. That didn't stop the boat from rocking up and down and left and right. Marcus wasn't the only person on the boat feeling queasy. It didn't help when the water from outside started dripping in through the roof. Our hopes that we would at least stay dry were also in vain. An hour and half longer than it was supposed to be, the ferry finally arrived in Phuket town and we gladly disembarked. We managed to get ourselves onto a shuttle which took us to the airport. We had a long time until our flight left, but with the way Marcus was feeling and the disaster of the last 24 hours we weren't up for any more sight seeing. Instead we hung out at the airport, reading and sleeping until boarding the plane too get us out of Thailand...We weren't in a hurry to come back...

May 2012 - Cambodia

2012-05-18T18:54:00.000+12:00

HO CHI MINH CITY TO PHNOM PENH

We were leaving Vietnam today by our least favourite form of long distance travel, the bus. However, once we arrived at the bus station we were pleased to see that it was a large air conditioned coach that would be carrying us over the border into Cambodia. It was pretty quiet going until we reached the border at which point we all had to get out and hand our passports to the bus driver before entering a large wooden building. We waited on either side of a barrier as slowly but surely they read out the names of everyone who had provided their passports and you were allowed to make your way through to the other side. Cambodia was one of the places we had been unable to get a visa for in the UK so that was what they were doing with our passports. We piled back on to the bus again and traveled along the noticeably bumpier road towards Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The driver decided it was time to put on a Bollywood movie now so we watched a confusing story about a bad boy motorcycle driver and the girl who he couldn't get. It was confusing but colourful.

We arrived in a hot and sticky Phnom Penh late in the morning. We all piled out of the bus and were immediately surrounded by tuk tuk drivers keen to take us wherever we wanted to go. We picked/were picked by a nice young looking guy with a spacious looking tuk tuk. He drove us through town so that we could drop our bags off at the hostel. We were pretty hungry so asked the driver to find us somewhere to get some good Cambodian cuisine. The tuk tuk driver took us along the river in the centre of town and stopped in front of a Khmer restaurant. We encouraged him to join us for lunch so that we could get what he recommended and learn a bit more about Cambodia. There were lots of other tuk tuk drivers waiting outside, and along the streets, so ours was pretty lucky to have someone to drive around for the day. Our driver encouraged us to try the fish amok. It was spicy and creamy and very delicious. Turns out our driver was studying English and had gotten a scholarship to study at an Australian school. If he did well he would get to study in Australia. The tuk tuk driving was to pay the bills for his family.

After lunch our driver took us around the city showing us the sights before dropping us at the Royal Palace, which is a series of ornate structures which has served as the home of the King of Cambodia, although he doesn't actually live there now, because he has a big house in town. As you would expect the buildings are ornate with lots of statues, high gold pointed roofs and surrounded by beautiful gardens. You can't actually go in to most of the buildings so just need to enjoy them from the outside. One exception is the Silver Pagoda, which houses the Emerald Buddha, a small green Buddha situated high on on a ledge. There were a lot of people worshiping when we came to visit so we paid our respects for a while before continuing to walk around the complex, past ornate painted friezes and a miniature model of Ankhor Wat. We were perhaps a bit hasty in leaving the Silver Pagoda. All of a sudden the clouds rolled in and it started to pour. The rain was bucketing down. We fortunately found some shelter pretty quick but we saw plenty of other people drenched to the bone. The only ones who seemed to be enjoying themselves were the big toads who were coming out for a swim. The tiled squares had turned into swimming pools.

We finished up at the palace and went out looking for a driver. We couldn't find him but as we hadn't yet paid him anything so didn't want to just go with one of the many other drivers who we were waiting for business. Eventually our driver turned up again and we got him to take us to the Central Market, an art deco French dome with four arms that stretch out and lots of tarpaulins keeping the stall holders somewhat dry from the rain, which had now dropped to a drizzle. Lucky it was hot so the drizzle was a welcome relief. The market sold pretty much everything you could imagine, fruit and veges, fish, clothes, jewellery, cleaning products. It was clear that although there was some touristy stuff this one was for the locals to get their day to day needs. We didn't find anything that we were particularly interested in so got the driver to take us to the oldest building in Phnom Penh, Wat Phnom, a Buddhist temple on the top of a hill with a park surrounding it. It was a bit of a climb to get to the top but luckily there were plenty of stairs with Buddhist lions and Naga, seven headed serpents, escorting you up. As expected there are a series of Buddha inside but unlike the Silver Pagoda this one was relatively empty. We journeyed down past a huge Naga weaved from Bamboo and met our driver. He was keen to continue driving us around but we were pretty tired so got him to drop us back at the hostel.

After a bit of a rest we needed to get some dinner. It was still raining pretty heavy, but we decided to go and check out some market food at the night market. The rain meant the place looked like a giant tarpaulin house and had seemed to keep people away because it wasn't too busy. We found a place to order some food and sat down at the little tables to eat our dinner. It was a all a bit grim to be honest. The food wasn't great, being just greasy and relatively tasteless. There were also a lot of children begging which made us sad. After a quick look around the market we decided to carry on, stopping for a drink at a local bar, where there were too many old white men with young Cambodian women, before heading back to the hostel to hit the hay.

PHNOM PENH - DAY 2

Unfortunately Cambodia is probably most famous for the oppressive regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge who oppressed and murdered their people like no other regime in recent history in an experiment in instantly transforming the country into an agrarian community with no major cities and no intellectual elite. Today we decided we would visit some of the sites that still remembered those dark times. Our driver from yesterday picked us up and took us to S21, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former school which became a prison for political prisoners during Pol Pot's rule. It has been left more or less intact as to how it was discovered when the Khmer Rouge were overthrown. There are empty rooms containing bed frames, leg irons and pictures of the many victims who had lived and died in the prison. It was all pretty basic which just added to the sense that not even a coat of paint had gone on this place for the tourists. They also showed a documentary all about the prisoners who had been there, with a special focus on one woman and her life and the fact that the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime are still on trial nearly 35 years after their regime was overthrown and many of them still deny any wrongdoing.

After that grim experience we returned to our driver only to find that there were other people in the Tuk

Tuk. It turns out that while we had been visiting the Palace yesterday, our driver had gone off and gotten another fare. Fortunately there were four seats in the Tuk Tuk so there was enough room for anyone. We weren't in any great hurry so were happy to share. Maria and Louis were a couple who lived in Switzerland. She was Swiss and he was Mexican, but they both spoke English in their day to day work so could easily converse with us. Our next stop was in infamous Choeung Ek, better known is the Killing Field. Another horrific site of oppression from the Khmer Rouge regime. Over one million people were executed here with bodies being tipped into mass graves. It was brutal with guns rarely being used, instead rocks and branches were smashed into people's heads and babies were even thrown against trees. Truly sickening stuff. Now it is a peaceful field which you walk around, listening to an audio guide which tells you about all the horrors which had occurred where you were standing. A sad and surreal experience. The tour finishes with a large tower which houses many of the bones and scraps of clothing which rise out of the ground every time it rains.

After a grim day we got our driver to take us somewhere where we could unwind a bit and have a bite to eat. We seemed to have timed things well because before long the torrential monsoon came in again so we spent the next little while eating some more Khmer food and having a couple of drinks. It had been an emotionally draining day so after chilling out at the hostel we stepped out again, grabbed a small bite for dinner and went to bed. It was an early start tomorrow.

PHNOM PENH TO SIEM REAP

We checked out of our hostel early and after getting a present of a piece of money wrapped up to look like a suit and tie our driver took us to the bus to Siem Reap. We had hoped to travel by ferry on the Tonle Sap lake through the middle of the country but eventually we had given up on that idea as everyone told us that at this time of year the water wasn't high enough and the ferry's often ended up stranded on sand bars. That didn't sound to appealing so eventually common sense prevailed and we decided to book the bus. We met our friends from yesterday and piled on to the bus. This wasn't one of the fancy coaches we had had to date. It was a reasonably basic but we had a seat each and there was room for our bags so no complaints. The journey itself was relatively uneventful. The consistent theme from the city to the country where we were now traveling was still the poverty. Life in the country was pretty basic. Shacks on sticks to keep things dry and pest free. Existence for these people must be pretty tough. We stopped along the way for a toilet and snack break. We decided to play it safe and bought some chippies rather than a bowl of fried bugs, which seemed to be the other main option.

It was mid-afternoon when the bus pulled in to a dusty lot in Siem Reap. Our driver from Phnom Penh had arranged for his brother to meet us and be our driver in Siem Reap, so before long we were on our way to our hostel. After arriving at the wrong place (who knew there would be two hostels with banana in the title?) we eventually got ourselves sorted and checked in. It was pretty fancy, with buddhist and hindu statues throughout the garden at the front and lots of dark wood paneling inside. It was hot, so the complimentary drink was very welcome. After dropping our bags upstairs and freshening up we met out driver again to go check out the famous sunrise over the temple of Angkor Wat. It was a fair drive out of town and the clouds seemed to be rolling in pretty quickly. Our driver assured us we had nothing to worry about so we continued on. We stopped at the edge of the

Angkor Region to buy our passes to visit over the next few days. By this stage the clouds were thick and before long at started to torrentially pour down. However, as we were almost there we decided to carry on and check out Angkor Wat. After taking advantage of the person selling rain ponchos we made our way into the temple. We seemed to be going in the wrong direction, with people flooding out and us being the only ones to be going in. Despite the downpour it was still very impressive, with its huge stone walls, long causeways and giant towers. The rain meant we didn't get to see any of the famous sunset but we did make it to the temple. After a bit of poking around we were advised by a monk that it was time to go so we made our way back out to where our driver was waiting. The rain was still pretty heavy. We happened to see our friends from Phnom Penh so got our drivers to drop us in Siem Reap for a beer. After a drink we were pretty hungry so went looking for something to eat. We found a restaurant in Pub Street that served Cambodian BBQ, so decided to check it out. You get a charcoal brazier with a metal cone on top and sliced meat all around it. As is often the way with these sorts of things you get your meat, dip it in some sauce and then fry it on the cone. We had the usual chicken and beef, but we also had more unusual meats like ostrich, crocodile and snake. This was the first time we had eaten snake. Although perfectly edible it all ends up tasting much the same. It was enjoyable social dining but after a few hours we were knackered, so we bid farewell to our new friends and took a short walk back to our hostel.

SIEM REAP - DAY 2

After last night's sunset debacle we decided we would give the sunrise a miss too. However, by the time we got going it was a pretty clear morning so we were happy with our choice. After breakfast we met our driver who took us out to Angkor Wat again. This time we had all day but we also had a lot to see. We made our way back into Angkor Wat and along the causeway to the main temple. There were still plenty of puddles around from last night's downpour. A close look in some of the puddles revealed that we didn't want to step in them, not because we were worried about the water but more because they seemed to be a favourite place for scorpions to have a swim...The temple itself is a huge square and along each of the walls are intricate carved friezes depicting various events from Khmer history. Keeping watch on the temple were many monkeys, mothers and babies watching you hoping you would give them some food. They were pretty cute but we didn't get too close. In the middle of the temple you climb up to a plateau where there are three towers that you can climb. It was pretty hot already and there were people sitting in the shade wherever it could be found. After a bit of water we climbed up the towers to get an amazing view of the surrounding jungle. Scattered around the temple were a number of Buddha statues, each of them draped with an orange robe and incense surrounding them. Even the damaged and broken Buddha statues were revered.

Many people end their tour at Angkor Wat but we decided to get our driver to take us around some other temples too. Next stop was Prasat Kravan. This was a much smaller temple of one big central red brick tower and several smaller towers all in a line. After that we visited Banteay Kdei. This was a bigger temple complex, although not nearly as tall as Angkor Wat. You entered through cool gates topped with Buddha heads. We felt a bit more like explorers in this temple. Much of the complex had not been restored and many roofs and walls were collapsed. Across the road is a man made lake Srah Srang. We had a look out over it and stopped at some of the stalls nearby to pick up souvenirs. It is a hard life for the people who live in the region, because they aren't really allowed to use any of the land to make a living so a lot of them have to resort to selling souvenirs around the place. We then carried on our way to visit Ta Prohm which made us feel even more like Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. Again it was full of collapsed walls and roofs. The jungle was also present throughout with trees having grown in and around the walls giving a cool contrast against the stone walls and carvings. We spent quite a bit of time here peeking in and out of the nooks and crannies. Next up was the temple of Ta Keo. This one was like a pyramid with a flat top that had three towers on top. It was pretty hot now and with no shelter around it was hot going climbing up all the stairs to get to the top. As usual there were Buddha to be found in the towers.

We stopped at a place across the road for lunch which the driver recommended. The food was pretty basic but it was tasty and kept us going. A lady and her children were doing the cooking. At one point chaos erupted and the children started running everywhere. The lady had a bag full of frogs and it had split with frogs going everywhere. The children were trying to catch them, our driver joined in and we even had a go although we aren't sure we were much help. One thing that was also prevalent, and sad, throughout the temple complex were little children, some of them maybe only 3 or 4, who had baskets full of souvenirs and had been taught a few English phrases to try and sell them. Some of these children were around where we were having lunch. We couldn't buy souvenirs from everyone but a few plastic tikis seemed to put some smiles on the kids faces. We carried on around the Grand Tour (that is the name of the route we were taking) and stopped at Chau Say Tevoda, a small complex of interconnected buildings across the road from Thommanon, a single tower temple with a couple of little buildings off to the side. It was also the site where we saw a big green snake. Fortunately it was dead and the ants were working at removing any evidence of its existence. Got to watch where you stand around these parts though.

Although Angkor Wat is the most well known temple in the region the biggest complex is Angkor Thom, which used to be the capital city of the Khmer Empire. You approach the huge walls along the road, which is guarded by statues on either side. You then enter through the massive gates and carry on through the jungle, with small buildings on either side until you come to the centre of the complex.There is a wall/walkway which runs down the centre of the complex. We climbed up onto the Leper King Terrace and carried on to the Terrace of the Elephants, which has many sculptures and carvings along it. We were pretty darn hot and tired after a long day, but we kept going along. We decided to skip the Royal Palace, but carried along the terrace until we got to the Baphuon Temple. There was a raised terrace to access this so we decided to check it out. It was another raised pyramid style temple which you could climb up and walk around the outside. The late afternoon clouds were starting to come in but we still had one more temple to see today. We were pleased that we did as the Bayon temple was one of the coolest ones we had seen all day. You climbed up through the entrance an into the upper terrace, where you were watched by 200 Buddha faces covering the towers all over the terrace. It was pretty amazing how they were able to make a structure that also had Buddha faces everywhere. As we were satisfied we had seen enough, the rain started to come down on us, so we scurried out of the temple and back to our driver to take us back to the hostel.

It had been a massive day and we were truly exhausted. Fortunately we had had some foresight and booked a Cambodian massage at the hostel. It was very welcome as they massaged out the hours of walking and clambering from the day. Weary and relaxed we had dinner at the hostel before a well earned sleep.

SIEM REAP - DAY 3

After a good night sleep we were up for some more temples. Our driver picked us up and away we went. Last night's rain was a thing of the past, but there were still some clouds around to keep the temperature a bit cooler. First stop was the temple of Pre Rup, another pyramid type temple in red brick with three towers on top. It was good to give our legs a stretch early on as they were a bit stiff from all the walking and climbing yesterday. Down the road we got another chance to climb at the temple of East Mabon, which was pretty similar to Pre Rup, although a bit more run down.

These were the first stop on the Small Tour, but we decided to take a break from that and head off on a long 45 minute drive on the Tuk Tuk to Banteay Srei a temple away from the rest, but still a huge draw for the tourists, as the buses and visitor centre proved. It was pretty impressive, with red bricks and was almost like a mini version of some of the other temples we had seen, with mini towers, mini walls and incredibly detailed carvings and statues throughout. It was surrounded by nice green forest and although the place was busy with tourists it still felt peaceful.

After the look around we jumped back on the Tuk Tuk and travelled back to the main part of Angkor, past children riding bikes and little wooden huts where people lived. We stopped along the way and our driver picked up a soft drink bottle full of brown liquid from a bamboo rack outside someone's house. You wouldn't want to drink this one though. Instead it was for pouring into the Tuk Tuk. It was petrol! After stopping for lunch, we carried on down the road where we got another chance to climb at the temple of East Mabon, which was pretty similar to Pre Rup, although a bit more run down, although one of the terraces had some cool Elephant Statues along it.

We crossed over the river in the Tuk Tuk and visited the temple Ta Som. This was another small temple with a Buddha Head entrance gate. It was kind of like a square house inside with a tower in the middle. These smaller temples were much quieter so it was nice to just wander around and soak up the history and culture. Next up was Neak Pean, a very different temple than what we had seen so far. You walk along a long path with wetlands either side (probably full of snakes and scorpions...) until you come to a gate. On the other side of the gate was a moat, although with no water in it when we were there so they could undertake restoration work. in the middle of the space was a little tower which acted as a temple and hospital when it was built. You couldn't cross the gate but it was nice to see something different.

We jumped back in the Tuk Tuk and it took us further along the road to Preah Khan. The grounds of this temple are nearly as big as Angkor Wat but not nearly as high and grand. We walked down the wide path with statues along it on either side, politely declining to buy the books that boys were selling along the way. You walk through the tower gates and greeted by long Nagi on either side as the path continues. There is a sprawling house/temple complex on the other side. It is still not that restored so there are a lot of ruins that you have to clamber over to get around. The forest has made its way into this complex too. We spent some time walking around and then made our way back out to the driver.

We headed back down towards Angkor Thom, but we had visited that yesterday so just drove straight through, past the temples and terraces we had walked all over. Our next stop was Phnom Bakheng, but unlike the rest of them it wasn't just a case of driving up to the door. This temple is atop a hill, so you have to follow a path that winds up and around to get to the top. The temple is another pyramid style temple (these are actually mountain style, but you get the idea). Once you reach it you can climb up the stairs and as we climbed higher and look out we got a view over all of the temples that we had been visiting over the past couple of days. Apparently it is a popular place to watch the sunset over Angkor Wat. We hadn't timed it right for that but it was still impressive. This was the last temple we were going to visit and was a really nice way to wrap up our visit to Angkor.

By this time it was early afternoon. Our driver had encouraged us to go see a Khmer cultural performance and dinner, so we agreed for him to set it up for us. As we had a bit of time, he took us to a local monument to the many people who had died when the Khmer Rouge had ruled. Phnom Penh wasn't the only place that had suffered.

The cultural performance was in a large hall and as you expect at these sorts of things there was a large buffet dinner with plenty to choose from, both Western and Khmer. It was pretty tasty. Marcus tried some of the gooey noodle stuff in thick milk, which seemed to be a popular dessert, but Jess wasn't game. We watched the dancers and singers and performers twirl and twist their hands with elaborate tall headdresses as they moved around the stage before our driver picked us up and dropped us back at the hostel for a well earned rest.

SIEM REAP - DAY 4

We woke on our last day in Siem Reap and after having breakfast at the hostel, we went to check out a cultural crafts centre across the road. It was a series of buildings that operated as both a craft school for local young people to learn how to perform traditional crafts like wood carving, leather work, metal work and jewellery making. We walked around each of the rooms to watch people working on the crafts before visiting the shop. There was some amazing stuff for sale but it was all outside of our budget at this stage of the trip so we decided to head into town and check out the local market to see what they had instead.

We walked along the river and crossed a traditional bridge. We went to a money machine to get some

cash before visiting the market when we were stopped by a pregnant woman with a baby in her arms asking for us to buy her baby formula from the local supermarket. We decided that we would help her out and Marcus accompanied her to the shop where she bought a tin of infant formula. After that sad detour we wandered a couple of blocks until we reached the local market. It was similar to many markets we had seen on our travels although each of the stallholders had a little shop, rather than simply a table like we had sometimes seen. You could buy all sorts, from fruit, veges, meat, counterfeit books and of course many many souvenirs. We had a particular souvenir in mind, as it was an image we had not seen in any other country, the Naga. We searched high and low and although there were many cool Naga statues they were all too big and there is no way we would have been able to fit them in our bags.
Eventually we compromised on a small Buddha statue with a series of Naga around its head.

We were happy we had seen what we needed to in Siem Reap, so after grabbing some lunch at Pub Street, watching the world pass us by, we made our back to the hostel where our driver was waiting to take us to the airport. We had decided to fly to Bangkok, our next destination, as we had heard that the roads across the border were really windy and horrible to travel. We passed under the King of Cambodia and his parents before boarding our plane and winging our way to Bangkok.

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/May2012Cambodia

May 2012 - Vietnam

2012-05-13T18:54:00.000+12:00

Chengdu to Hanoi

After finding a local bakery for breakfast we packed up our bags and then jumped on the Metro for a couple of stops and then onto the bus to the airport. We were concerned when they kept pushing our flight back, as we had a connecting flight in Hong Kong but eventually our plane was underway. As we landed in Hong Kong it felt like we really were getting closer to New Zealand. Hong Kong had been the first place we had visited on our trip. The fog and low cloud were exactly as we remembered them. The plane arrived in time for a quick (expensive) sandwich and then we were boarding the plane to Hanoi.

We arrived in Hanoi and waited for our luggage...and waited...and waited and after a while it became clear that our, along with about 20 other people's, luggage was not arriving. We joined the baggage queue and what should have been a simple exercise took an eternity as the five different English women shouted and gesticulated about how completely unacceptable this all was and how put out they all were, without actually letting anyone else near the front to provide their details. Their husbands stood by flacidly, looking defeated. We finally made it to the front to lodge our details. They told us we would have to wait a day...so we made our way out into the main airport hoping our transfer had not left. Luckily he was still there and he whisked us away along with two Canadian girls who were teaching English in China. We knew we weren't in China anymore as the roads were much emptier coming into the city, however once we got into the city they became more and more packed with people riding scooters. The closer we got to our hostel the denser these scooters became. Our driver started to stress out as we weren't really moving and time stood still when his car clipped someone...Luckily everyone was OK and we got to the hostel without further incident. The hostel was concerned that we might not be coming and that we seemed to be traveling light (perhaps we really liked Vietnamese Fashion?) . We explained our luggage troubles and they immediately understood. After a long day we decided we weren't in the mood to go out so immediately collapsed into bed.

HANOI - DAY 1

We didn't really enjoy changing back into our dirty clothes from the day before but after a good breakfast and friendly hostel staff we got going. We were staying close to the Hoan Kiem Lake, the heart of old town, so decided to spend the morning going for a stroll around it. (This did not take that long as it is more of a pond than a lake.) There are a couple of islands on the gate. One of them has a multi-tiered gate, with the tortoise tower on top of it. The other houses the Ngoc Son Temple which you can visit across a bridge. It is full of Buddhas and sacred objects as well as people worshiping them. We then went for a wander in the streets of the old town looking for lunch. Along the way we were stopped by a guy with a basket and before we knew it he was gluing up Marcus' shoes. It must be a bit of a scam because before long there were another four trying to glue up Jess' shoes. We kept them at bay but allowed the first guy to continue on Marcus' shoes because they actually had some quite major holes in them. He got his twine out and was carefully stitching away, gluing up all the holes. Eventually his work was done (more than he bargained for we're sure) and he quoted a very high price for the work. We assumed this was part of the game and offered him a price we thought was fair. However, he wouldn't budge and when he nearly started to cry we felt uncomfortable and paid him what he asked.

Newly hoofed and starving we found a restaurant where they served us some sort of mixture wrapped in steamed parcels of noodle like material. They were incredibly tasty and we were happy that the hostel had recommended the place to us. Nice and full we walked back to the lake, where we had tickets for the performance of the water puppet show. We didn't know what to expect so came with open minds. The stage was a pool of water with curtains at the back, through which came a series of puppets of all sorts of things, from peasants and fish to water buffalo and dragons. The whole thing was very entertaining with lots of swishing and splashing. Turns out it was invented in the countryside and initially performed in the rice paddies to entertain the farmers. By this time all the walking around in the heat in grubby clothes was making us feel yuck. Our bags had still not arrived so we went and bought some new clothes and essentials like toothpaste so that we could clean ourselves up. Might as well use our travel insurance eh? There wasn't a lot of choice but we managed to find what we needed. Getting a receipt wasn't always an option so we will see how the insurance claim goes...After getting cleaned and changed we felt much better.

Refreshed we went out again and checked out the local night market. It stretched block after block but all the wares were pretty standard. We decided that dinner was more tempting to went hunting for 'Cha cha la vong'. After wandering a few streets and alleys we eventually found a cha cha la vong house. We sat down and they handed us cards telling us they only served spiced fried fish so we knew we were in the right place. Soon they brought us out a hot brazier and frypan filled with fish and various bowls filled with noodles and veges. We had looked around when we arrived and saw that you throw everything into the pan and get cooking. (The other white people who arrived later needed to be shown what to do...) The food was tasty and it was pleasing to see that our tip was all given to the young pregnant waitress by the other ones. After stopping for a drink we made our way back to the hostel, happy with our first day in Vietnam.

HANOI - DAY 2

Happy having checked out the old town in Hanoi we decided to venture further afield. We headed in the direction of Ba Dinh Square, the main square of Hanoi. We met a couple from Singapore who were also going to the square, but they were heading in completely the wrong direction. We walked with them after setting them the right way round and then left them to visit the Temple of Literature, Van Mieu, a huge Confucian Temple built 1000 years ago, and Vietnam's first university, hence the name. It was busy, but not packed like in China, and as always very peaceful. It was full of statues of scholars and floral representations of books and scrolls.

We grabbed a water to combat the heat and went in hunt of lunch. Across the road is a restaurant called KOTO, a restaurant in the style of Jaimie Oliver's Fifteen. It was set up to help disadvantaged young people. The food was great, tasty, fresh Vietnamese rolls and noodle dishes. It also felt good to know we were doing something to help the people who the restaurant supports. Full of food and a bit cooler we continued on to Ba Dinh Square.

We passed a random statue of Lenin and passed the Hanoi flag tower before arriving at the square. The main feature of the square is the large Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, containing the body of Ho Chi Minh, preserved like Lenin and Mao. We didn't complete the trio though because it was closed for Vietnam Independence Day (Independence from America). Behind the Mausoleum is the Ho Chi Minh Complex which was also closed but we did get to look at the One Pillar Pagoda, so named because for some reason it has been built on the top of a pole.

A trip through the square to the tunes of "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh!" with the guards sparkling in white looking on and we wandered up to West Lake, a much larger lake which looked to be a site of some prime real estate in Hanoi. It is also the site of another temple, this one, Chua Tran Quoc, was multi-tiered and full of Buddha statues. It was nice to check out but the heat was starting to get to us so we decided to wander back to the old town. It was a bit of a walk past pro-Vietnam statues, risking our lives as we stepped into the streets full of scooters. They don't stop, even at a red light, so you just have to step out in the middle of them and pray that they will drive around you. We decided that we had earned some "Fanny." That is the name of the ice-cream shop just down the road from the hostel. Green Tea and Mango flavoured ice-cream did the trick. The place was packed, and with the heat we understood why. The lady at the hostel was sad that we hadn't brought any back for her however.

With it being a public holiday, half of Hanoi seemed to have come down to the lake by our hostel. Whole families, Mum, Dad and kids were all packed onto scooters (the same scooter) and were busy doing the laps around the lake. There were also a series of stages set up where performers were busy entertaining the people. We wandered around for a bit before stopping for some dinner. It was time for an authentic Vietnames Pho. That is noodle soup with meat. Then you add your own chilli and salad. It was hot hot hot but tasty tasty tasty. You get it like you would buy McDonalds but it was definitely better for you. After checking out some more of the performances we decided it was time to rest our weary legs for another day.

HANOI - DAY 3

We had looked into going on a day trip out to Halong Bay but experience had taught us that day trips out places far away usually involved a lot of time on a bus and not much time at the place you were going so decided to give it a miss and have another day in Hanoi. We decided to check out a landmark which had been made famous by Americans and the Vietnam war, the "Hanoi Hilton". Contrary to its name it was actually a prison called Hoa Lo Prison, although now serves as a museum. In fact it had been set up by the French and used to house Vietnamese revolutionaries before being used by the Vietnamese to house American POWs. There was a lot of information and as always some of it was pretty grim but interesting to see how people can behave to each other. You had to take some of the presentations with a grain of salt because according to them the Vietnamese were perfect and always treated the prisoners well and it was the French and the Americans who had behaved terribly. We expect the truth is somewhere in the middle.

We wandered back to Old Town. It was a pretty quiet day again so lots of things were closed, but we

saw the French style Hanoi Opera House. We then had a look at the big statue of Ly Thai Tho, a former Vietnamese emperor. The square where the statue was situated also seemed to be a popular place for kids to drive around in little battery powered cars. Unlike in China there were children and families everywhere. We managed to find a restaurant that was open (and air conditioned...phew!) and got some tasty fresh prawn rice paper rolls and a sweet Vietnamese curry. After that we were pretty happy with what we had achieved in Hanoi so decided to sit down by the lake and read a bit in the sun. After a rest we found a local supermarket and then picked up some supplies for the next leg of out journey. We were back on the trains again.

We made our way to the train station and waited for our train to arrive. It looked similar to the trains we had taken across Russia, Mongola and China although perhaps a bit older. We were sharing our cabin with two English women who were traveling through Vietnam with one of the women's 3 year old son. Braver than us. This train had trolley service with a man selling snacks and drinks. It was still stinking hot so we grabbed some cool beers and chatted with our cabin companions as the train made its way out of Hanoi before eventually deciding to call it a night.

HUE

It was a bit of a rough sleep. Where the cold train in Russia had overdone the heating the hot train in Vietnam overdid the air conditioning so we had spent the night freezing. Our train came in to the ancient imperial city of Hue and we left our cabin companions who were continuing on to Hoi An. After being selected by a taxi driver (they fight over you) we made our way to our hostel and checked in. Although it was early our room was ready so fortunately we were able to check in and pick up a couple of hours sleep before heading out to see what Hue had to offer.

We had big plans to see the Purple Imperial City and then head down the river to check out some Emperor's Tombs. We had not reckoned with the heat. We walked down to the Perfume river and then across the bridge to the Imperial City. There were lots of Cyclo drivers offering to give us a ride, but we stubbornly continued by foot. The Imperial City is a big walled Citadel with a number of residences and temples throughout and had been where the Emperors had lived from the early 1800s until the mid 1900s. Much of it has been destroyed following the Vietnam war but there are steps underway to restore it. We walked around in the heat finding shelter where we could. The buildings were impressive but with the heat it was hard to take it all in. We stopped for an ice-cream but it was so hot that the freezer wasn't working properly so our ice-creams were pretty soft. After several hours walking around in the heat we came to the conclusion we would be mad to try and go see the temples too so retreated back to the air-conditioned safety of our hostel for a couple more hours sleep.

We ventured out again to try and find some dinner. There was one straight a couple of blocks away that seemed to be packed with restaurants and ladies dressed in long Vietnamese dresses encouraging you in. We picked one which looked good and found ourselves a seat. The food was a combination French Vietnamese fusion and we had some tasty spicy seafood and Vietnamese greens. Jess decided to get into the swing of things and ordered a cocktail made in a hollowed out coconut. One way of combating the swelter.

We wandered back to the hostel for some more sleep. Unfortunately something in Jess' dinner (or possibly the cocktail) had not agreed with her and after weeks of traveling we finally appeared to have out first case of food poisoning. It didn't help things when a giant flying cockroach managed to find its way into our room and we had to chase it around until eventually managing to get it out the door. So much for another good night sleep.

HUE TO HOI AN

After breakfast at the hostel we shared a taxi with an American couple to the train station. It was only a few hours on the train today so we were traveling in seats instead of beds this time. The train was packed full of people heading home for the holidays. We were a bit worried when our seats seemed to have a Vietnamese man in them, however, after some gesticulating and talking to the guard we worked out that he was in the right seat but there were two Australians in our seats, so we managed to get them to move. There was no room for bags so we had to pack them in around us. It was also stinking hot again which didn't help with Jess' delicate tummy. This stretch of the train journey is apparently famous for its coastal views on one side and mountain views on the other. We had managed to score coastal side seats and got some great views of the beaches and little fishermen huts on poles over the water.

The train pulled into Da Nang and we were happy to get up and get some fresh air. As we exited the station we were again selected to take a van on the half hour drive to Hoi An. We shared the van with the Americans from the morning and the Australians from the train (no hard feelings). We were the first to be dropped off, which suited Jess as she still wasn't feeling great and decided to have some sleep. Marcus had some lunch next to the pool before going for a walk to see where the nearest shop was. After walking around many local streets he managed to find a place with soft drinks and local chippies. It was lucky he made it back because the clouds quickly gathered and all of a sudden it was pouring with rain. We decided that it was a good sign that we should take it easy for the rest of the day and leave heading into to town till tomorrow.

HOI AN - DAY 2

Jess was feeling a bit better the next day so we decided to get up reasonably early and caught the hotel van into the town. If there is one thing that Hoi An is famous for it is tailors and when you go there you really appreciate why. Every second shop seemed to be a tailor. We had done a bit of research before coming and settled on Mr Xe. Marcus had intended to get two suits and some shirts. We wandered the streets for a bit resisting the requests from other tailors to come into their shops until we got to Mr Xe's. We went inside and the ladies swarmed around us asking us what we were after. Before we knew it there were fabrics out and pictures of suits and shirts all over the place. While Marcus was selecting his fabrics and designs, they had taken Jess next store and she was working out which dresses she would like to get made. Once it was time to get measured up they got on the phone and five minutes later Mr Xe showed up on his bike. He whipped out his measuring tape, slapped Marcus on the bum and before we knew it he had the measurements he needed and then he was off again. We left the ladies to carry on with their day and we went for a bit of an explore around Hoi An.

The town centre is quite small but it has been done up quite nicely for the tourists with lots of shops, restaurants and, of course, tailors. We decided to check out the Diep Dong Nguyen House. It is a private house which is open to visit and was originally built for a Chinese Merchant in the 1800s. It was very black inside and had furniture and ornaments from its history. We also got introduced to our Vietnamese Star Sign, which was very close to the Chinese zodiac. Marcus was still a monkey and Jess was still a doggy. We wandered down to the waterfront which was lined with palm trees and full of traditional fishing boats before we grabbed some lunch.

Hoi An has a lot of Japanese influence and the most known symbol of Hoi An is the Japanese Bridge

(Chua Cau). It is a covered bridge with a Buddhist Pagoda in it. There is also a statue of a Monkey at one end and a Dog at the other so we felt we had a special relationship with it. (Hope you were paying attention earlier). We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out various other Buddhist temples, where the shade was a welcome respite from the heat, and we checked out some cool features like paper lanterns with moving shadow figures, Buddhist drums, beautiful garden sculptures and detailed murals, all very much open to the beautiful weather.

After heading back for a relax at the hotel we came into town again for dinner. It was the celebration of Buddha's birthday so the place was humming with people. We walked along the river and there were lots of families selling paper lanterns. Apparently the idea is that you buy from them so their family will get good luck and then you light the lantern and send it down the river, which brings good luck to you. Everyone is lucky. It was pretty cool watching all the lanterns drift off into the night. We wandered back into town where we had arranged to meet our friends from the train for dinner. Unfortunately they didn't show up but we still had a tasty Australian/Vietnamese fusion meal. The food in Hoi An is definitely catered towards the tourist market rather than the local market. There was still plenty going on in town after dinner so checked out what appeared to be some sort of live game show going on in the street. This was geared to the locals with singing and audience interaction and all sorts of jokes from the presenters. The jokes were in Vietnamese so we didn't get them but it was cool to see everyone having such a good time. We also went back to the river where many more people had sent out their lanterns and the river was full of little lights floating away. Magical.

HOI AN - DAY 3

We still had plenty of time in Hoi An so decided that we would just take it easy. We had to make another trip back to Mr Xe's to see how our tailoring was coming along. It was stinking hot again and even hotter in the tailors shop, even with all the fans cranking away. The shop ladies had the right idea as they sat around in their Pyjamas. Marcus tried on his shirts and suits but he was all hot and sweaty so not sure if they fit properly or not. To make extra sure they got him to jump on a push bike and, with a Vietnamese lady sitting on the back, he rode a couple of blocks to the suit making factory for another measure up. The men were all working away at sewing machines, cranking out the suits, all of them just wearing shorts. In the heat that was a smart idea. Then it was back to the main shop again to talk to the ladies, where they convinced him even though he had ordered two suits he actually needed two more. Who were
we to argue at that price?

Although the central part of Hoi An town was geared towards the tourists , after only a couple of blocks you were in locals territory again. There was a local market with low hanging tarps everywhere keeping the sun out off the vendors. We ducked our way through, finding a few souvenirs, but otherwise not looking to buy the local produce.

Deciding that we didn't need another whole day walking around in the heat we decided an afternoon reading next to the pool at the hotel was the way to take it easy.

HOI AN TO DA NANG

We were pretty happy we had seen all there was to see in Hoi An by our last day. However, we still had to pick up our suits. One last sweaty try on and we were happy with the fit (although there wasn't much room to put on any weight). They even shipped them back to NZ for us. Beats lugging them around in our packs.

We had a last wander around the town and a visit to the old fashioned wood panelled post office to send some postcards before making our way back to the hotel to chill out a bit. We had a car booked to take us back to Da Nang. When we got to Da Nang, we booked into our hotel before taking a wander around the city. You could see why most tourists went straight to Hoi An, avoiding Da Nang altogether. It was a big city without the pretty old world charm of its neighbour. We wandered the streets, helping some students with a marketing survey, before coming down to the river. The riverbank had been done up with a promenade all the way along. This was busy with people walking, running, dancing or just relaxing. We took our time people watching for a while before heading back in hunt of some dinner. We found a restaurant just around the corner that served a tasty platter of Vietnamese dishes. They also had great service and air conditioning so we were left happy and full.

DA NANG

The Hotel arranged a driver for us for the day to take us wherever we wanted to go. Fancy eh? After having some breakfast we made our way in the air conditioned car to check out the Marble Mountains. They are five marble and limestone hills just south of the city named after the five elements, metal, wood,

water, fire and earth. The locals had certainly been making the most of the resources. There are hundreds of shops selling marble statues, from tiny little items to go on the mantlepiece to gigantic statues bigger than a person. We weren't there for souvenirs though the Marble Mountains are also apparently home to a number of Buddhist and Hindu temples. It was a hard climb in the heat up the steep stairs that had been carved into the side of the mountain. It was a welcome relief at the top and fortunately there were benches for us to rest and have some water. The temples were ancient but still in use with the Buddhas well looked after and draped in fine silks with incense burning. Our favourite was definitely where you go through a stone gate and into a tunnel where stairs go down into the mountain. When you reach the bottom you come into a big cave and across from the stairs is a big Buddha carved into the side of the cave wall with the sun streaming down through a hole in the ceiling just like you are Tomb Raider. Up and over the top of the mountain and back down the other side were more temples, this times more Chinese in style with hexagonal towers and pointed roofs. The other side seemed to be a bit less well used and there were beggars asking for money. In fairness they weren't exactly beggars because before they asked you for money they took you around through the temples and showed you where all of the Buddhas were, even if you didn't want them to.

After a couple of hours climbing it was time to descend back to the air conditioned coolness of the car. We got the driver to take us to My Khe, also known as China Beach. Before chilling out on the beach it was time to get some lunch. There wasn't a lot of restaurants around but we eventually found one that looked like it was geared for the big Chinese tour buses, with row after row of tanks with live fish you could choose before eating. We went for an old fashioned ordering off the menu but it did the trick. We then found a guy to rent us some chairs on the beach where we caught some sun and went for a swim. The beach stretched for miles but it was pretty empty. The car took us back to the hotel and we went for a last walk along the riverfront before heading to the train station for another night in the sleeper. This time were sharing with all Vietnamese people and they were already in bed so we climbed straight into our bunks and hit the hay. Fortunately today they seemed to have the temperature about right.

NHA TRANG - DAY 1

Another early arrival, but after a short taxi ride we checked into our hotel. Fortunately we were able to get our room on arrival so we caught up another couple of extra hours sleep in a non-moving bed. Nha Trang is a beach town so we decided that the best way to deal with the heat was to grab a lounger on the beach, get some sun and relax. The town itself didn't look to be very picturesque with big multi-storey buildings that you could see in any other city around the world so we didn't feel like we were missing out
on anything by hanging out on the beach. The beach was nice but when you got up to the water it wasn't the cleanest, with bits of rubbish around the place. If you wanted some refreshments there was a local lady doing the rounds with her chilly bin along with calls of "Pineapple! Mango! Happy Hour!". We think that was probably the extent of her English but we were happy for the cool drinks in the hot weather.

It looked like there were a few streets which had some restaurants, so when the sun went down we went wandering looking for somewhere to eat. You could tell it was a tourist town because most of the restaurants seemed to sell standard fare or be bars geared towards going out and getting drunk. We stopped at one place and had a drink but decided to move on and managed to find a restaurant that donates a lot of its money to the local orphanage. They brought us out a bucket filled with hot coals and a grill for us to cook our own dinner. There was a tasty selection of seafood and meat and some yummy fresh salad. We finished our first day in Nha Trang very happy.

NHA TRANG - DAY 2

We had booked in a boat tour of the islands off the coast for today. We were picked up after having breakfast on the roof of the hotel and taken to the port. There were lots of boats and lots of tourist, both foreign, like us, and also Vietnamese. Everyone started piling on to the boats and before long it was our turn. We were a bit worried we might be on the wrong tour as we were the only white faces but the boat guides were happy to have us and they spoke English and by then the boat had left the wharf anyway.The boat headed out under the gondolas to Vinpearl Resort on Hon Tre Island.

Our first stop was a little island where the boat docked and everyone came ashore. The idea was that we go snorkelling so we grabbed the gear and took to the water. There were a few small reefs and some fish swimming around. It was no Great Barrier Reef but it was good to get into the water, it being another scorcher of a day. There weren't a lot of people swimming, with most of the boat passengers just hanging out under the shade of the trees on the beach. After swimming around for a while we spent some time drying out on the rocks before it was time to head back to the boat.

The boat journeyed out again and the crew brought out lots of bowls with various Vietnamese dishes and massive bowls of rice. The old ladies on the boat encouraged us to try the local specialties of yummy meats and veges. After lunch it was time for some entertainment, so the crew brought out a full band kit, including drums, and before long they were rocking out. The young tourists seemed to be enjoying it, but the older tourists and Buddhist monk on board looked bored. We docked at a floating wharf along with another boat from the same company. All of a sudden things stepped up the next level when one of the crew whipped off his shirt, threw a towel around his waist, somehow stuck some cups of jelly to his

nipples and started dancing like a crazy person. He flipped over some benches in the middle of the boat and boogied away, pulling up members of the audience to dance with him, including Jess who was lucky enough to be chosen to shake her groove thing. Apparently the next part of the cruise was the swim up bar. We weren't quite sure how that was going to work, but the crew threw a piece of plastic with metal handles in into the water and then dived in after it. One of the crew jumped up on top of it and continued to dance and then told everyone who wanted to to jump into the water. An American Vietnamese lady grabbed Jess by the hand and before long she was swimming in the water and swimming up to the bar where they were handing out cups of some orange soft drink mixed with some unidentified booze. Marcus joined them before long and took part in the festivities. We met another New Zealand couple who were heading off on their OE, as opposed to us on our way home so it was nice to share some experiences travellers wisdom. We assume it was welcome...

After that surreal experience the boat carried on to another island, this time to what was basically a private resort, with a pool, bar and beach loungers. After the craziness we had just been through it was nice to find a lounger, sit back and get some sun. It was still hot though so it wasn't long before we were swimming in the sea again and then drying out again on the lounger. Before long we were off again to the last stop on our tour, Trí Nguyên Aquarium. It was sure a different sight as we came into the bay where the aquarium was. There was a giant shark and other giant sea creatures all along the shoreline and the boat carried on past them to a giant pirate ship, which housed the aquarium. The whole thing was carved in the concrete inside and out and the tanks were filled with all manner of fish, some of the massive, and there were even albino sea turtles, which were pretty cool. There was also a big pool outside where you could buy food to throw in. We didn't buy any but plenty of the other people were and as the feed hit the water the turtles came up to grab some, but before long they wandered off and were replaced by sharks who were feeding with frenzy.

We piled back onto the boat after a great day out and made our way back to Nha Trang before being dropped back at out hotel. We changed out clothes and ventured out again looking for dinner. Nha Trang seemed to be a popular destination for Russian Tourists, with many of the restaurants having menus in both English and Russian. Marcus was wearing a white short sleeved that night and must have been looking Russian because a number of people tried to speak to him in Russian. Unfortunately his limited vocabulary he had picked up in Russia meant he couldn't say anything back. The various menus weren't exciting us though so we did something we rarely do and went back to the same restaurant as we had last night (SIN!). It was just that good and again it didn't disappoint as we had some more tasty seafood for dinner before going for a nice stroll and then off to bed.

NHA TRANG - DAY 3

We decided that we should probably try a bit of sightseeing on our last day in Nha Trang. It was still hot but we figured we could walk where we wanted to go. Before checking out the sights we decided that we would go and get breakfast at the Banana Split Cafe. We had read that it was the place to have a tasty breakfast. We got a good appetite from walking to where the Banana Split Cafe was supposed to be, unfortunately we walked all around checking where we thought it was and looked high and low until eventually we had to give up and just grab something to eat from a local bakery. Not what we had in mind but at least we were fed.

We carried on in search of the Dragon Mountain/White Buddha Pagoda to check out the giant white
Buddha statue there. It was a long walk but at least we found it this time. It was pretty quiet by the time we arrived but we were met by local "students" who told us we needed to buy some postcards to support their studies as an entry "fee". We were pretty sure they weren't students and it wasn't an entry fee but they were pleasant enough so we played along and bought the cards. We carried on toward the Buddha only to discover that it was closed with no visitors for another two hours. There wasn't really anywhere to wait that wasn't in the sun and the monk on duty was adamant that we weren't going in.

Disappointed with the lack of success we decided that this was a sign that we were trying too hard and instead we should be taking it easy. We made our way back to the beach and grabbed some loungers at the Sailing Club, a bar and restaurant on the beach. This was much better, with shade, cool drinks and food. They even served banana splits! We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, drinking their locally brewed beer and reading our books in the shade. This was definitely a better way to spend the rest of the day. Our friend from the other day Pineapple, Mango Happy Hour! was still doing the rounds. There were also other people selling various trinkets and we did end up buying some artwork off a man who said he had a gallery but liked to meet the people on the beach to sell it too.

After dinner at the Sailing Club we packed up our gear and made the way to the train station for the last night on the reunification express. We were joined in the waiting room by some people who seemed to be on an Intrepid Journey tour. We were pleased to be on our own as much like the other group on the train in Mongolia, these people seemed to be stressing each other out and generally having a much harder time than they needed to. We got onto the train no problems and gently rocked ourselves to sleep.

HO CHI MINH CITY - DAY 1

Our train rolled into Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest city in Vietnam. We were well into our trip now, so not so excited about the adventure. Instead we jumped in a taxi to our hotel and they took us through the streets to get there. We were able to check in and catch up on some sleep again before heading out the streets. The streets were bustling with traffic and people and the buildings were much taller than what we had seen in other Vietnamese cities. We came across the Tran Nguyen Han Statue in the middle of a huge roundabout. He was a Vietnamese General and the statue has him riding

on a horse, nothing like Chingis Haan though...The statue is outside the Ben Thanh market so we decided to check out what was going on inside. It was the usual wares, cheap clothes, electronics, general souvenirs etc. If we hadn't been to 100 markets already on our trip it would have been great but there wasn't really anything we hadn't seen before. We carried on through the city checking out the Opera House, and the Buu Dien Central Post Office, which felt more like a train station inside but had a big picture of Uncle Ho looking over everyone and the Notre Dame Cathedral which shared a square with the Post Office. It was impressive, although not like its Parisian namesake. We continued to walk through the streets, avoiding scooters and Cyclo drivers trying to take us for a ride. The usual shoe fixers and coconut sellers were around although not as active as their counterparts in Hanoi. Probably because it was that much hotter down here. Nearby the hotel there was a park, so we decided to go for a walk through it to catch some shade. There were various playgrounds and the bushes made up to be like animals. Not always sure what type of animals but still pretty cool. After grabbing a cold drink we continued on back to the hotel. Our timing was pretty good as the rain decided to make itself known, so we chilled out a bit before heading out again for some dinner. We found the local Pho restaurant and grabbed out tasty broth where we showed up the other tourists by knowing to add your own herbs chilli and nuts. The rain was still coming down outside, so we made our way back to the hotel to turn in for the night.

HO CHI MINH CITY - DAY 2

There wasn't actually a lot that we wanted to see in Ho Chi Minh City but there was still on major sight on the agenda, the Reunification Palace, formerly the home of the South Vietnamese President during the Vietnam war and French Governors before that. It is now a museum to the Vietnam War. After entering the ground you travel around a huge fountain the front yard to go to the entrance of the palace. It is a strange collection of meeting rooms and offices on the inside, almost identical to how it was when the

last US helicopter fled from the roof as a North Vietnamese tank crashed through the gates, marking the end of the Vietnamese war. There is even a helicopter on the roof although this one is for show rather than evacuation. In the basement are all manner of listening devices and spying equipment. It all looks a bit dated now but was cutting edge at the time. Outside there are jets and tanks on the lawn although they don't let you drive them.

After our visit we continued wandering around the streets of the city, but there still wasn't much we wanted to see so once the heat got to us we retreated to the hotel again for a relax. The rains came again in the evening so we decided to head up to the roof bar and restaurant of the hotel. It was nice to have a drink and something to eat and look out over the lights and roofs of the city.

CU CHI TUNNELS

For our last full day in Vietnam we decided to head out of the city on a tour. They picked us up at the hotel before driving around the block a couple of times and then dropping us at the tour bus. Sometimes it might be better to walk? Our tour guide was reminiscent of the tour guide we had at the Great Wall of China. Round and jolly. The first step on the tour was a lacquer factory staffed by victims of Agent Orange and land mines left over from the Vietnam War. It was pretty sad seeing all the people with missing limbs and deformities but they seemed to be happy and getting on with their work. We spent some time looking around their shop but just couldn't find anything that we liked or that we thought would survive the remainder of our journey in our packs.

The bus continued on to the Cu Chi district. This is another Vietnam War museum, only this time is outdoors and demonstrates all the ingenious inventions the Vietcong used to defeat the USA in the

Vietnam War. There was some nasty stuff, with pits filled with spikes where not only do you get stuck on the spikes but the roof of the pit continues to spin around, bashing you in the head and pushing you further down onto the spikes. The area is also full of tunnels. The Vietcong were renowned for appearing out of nowhere, raiding the US troops and then disappearing into thin air. One of the ways they did this was by having a complex network of tunnels under the ground that they could travel around in and holes in the ground with lids covered in dirt so they could hide till the US troops had passed.When you see the holes you wouldn't believe you could fit a person down there. Certainly not a big burly American soldier. There are tunnels which whitey can go through, although they have made them substantially bigger to fit our hulking frames. We decided to give it a go, duck walking our way along. It was still pretty tight and apparently it got tighter the further you went along so there were escape tunnels throughout for the claustrophobic, when the top of Marcus' head was touching the roof and each of his shoulders was rubbing along the side of the tunnel he decided to pull out. Jess was tougher and made it through until the end. There was an opportunity to go off and shoot machine guns at targets, but we decided to spend our money on a cool drink instead while we drunk it in the shade.

The bus took us back to the city again where we found a place for dinner before a cruisey last night in Vietnam.

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April 2012 - China

2012-04-28T18:53:00.000+12:00

ARRIVING IN BEIJING

It was pretty clear we had left Mongolia and entered China. The wild empty plains had been replaced by evidence of people everywhere you looked, whether it was fields ready for planting, buildings, factories, retaining walls and people. Even in the middle of the countryside there were still people every few minutes. The train entered into a more mountainous area and, as we were on the tourist carriage, space at the windows came at a premium. A few choice words were exchanged between people on the other tour group. It didn't impact on us though as we were happily chilling out in our compartment. We arrived in the afternoon and met our next honcho Snow. She directed us through the people and the traffic to our van which drove us to the hotel. Our van driver was good at using his horn, but as he had learned in Mongolia and continued to learn in China that is just how you drive around here. As per our usual activities when we arrived somewhere new, we rested and showered before meeting the group again.

We agreed to check out the Donghuamen night market which is just for tourists (both Chinese and foreign). The booths are full of crazy food. Jess thought we should be adventurous so she choose something for the group to share. She didn't go for the scorpions or dog that were also on offer but choose a caterpillar kebab. It was perfect as it had 5 pieces and there were five of us. Jess went first, it wasn't to bad if you can get over the texture of the skin which gets stuck in your teeth. The taste wasn't too bad. It was kind of like roast chestnuts. The boys all managed to eat theirs too but Ellie freaked out

and spat hers on the ground.

Dinner was a bit more appetising for everyone. We wanted to try the local specialty Peking Duck. We also had some other dishes with pork chicken and beans. The restaurant was pretty cool, with ingredients under glass panels under the floor and big fake trees. The duck was good but not that dissimilar to what we could get in London with the same pancakes, cucumber and sauce. Yummy though. You also get a soup made with the left over bones, a nice idea but it pretty much tasted like duck fat. Being in China we drank tea with our meal. After dinner we tried to check out another night market up the road but due to the heavy rain it looked pretty closed so we called it a night.

BEIJING - DAY 2

The last day on the tour we all wanted to see Mao's mausoleum so we caught the bus bright and early to Tianemen Square, the biggest city square in the world. Although we didn't get there quite early enough! There was a big crowd so we joined the queue and hoped to be in in half an hour or so. Turns out the crowd was actually the queue which wound its way back and forth across the whole square. We spent a good 2 hours waiting in line getting pushed, shoved and used as shields by the Chinese. Not good queuing practice like the English and its the old ladies that are the worst. Without the wardens blowing whistles and shouting through megaphones at people it probably would have turned into a free for all to the front. Everyone else seemed to be part of some tour group or another - all with matching hats. Once we got to the front of the queue we showed our IDs. The Chinese just hold them above their heads - "Here's my ID!" We passed through the security checks and declined to buy him flowers. We queued a little more and spent around 5 minutes seeing him. Like Lenin it was all a bit creepy. Mao sure is a lot more popular than Lenin though. To be honest we're not sure it was worth the wait but at least we can say we went.

It was Sami and Ellie's last day in Beijing so they headed to see the Forbidden City while the rest of us would have a more leisurely day checking out some the temples. First up we jumped on the metro to see the Lama Temple, a Buddhist temple and former Royal residence. The street leading up the temple was packed with foodsellers selling from shops, stalls, trolleys and bikes. We dodged past them all to get to the temple which was busy with people burning incense and worshipping throughout. Considering China is supposed to have no religion there were a lot more people worshipping than you would see in NZ or the UK. Snow showed us through and explained all the important bits such as the amount of animals on the edge of the roof signified who lived there. The most is 10 at the Forbidden City. We also saw the competing world's tallest standing Buddha (18 metres I think) so the Mongolian one may be taller as it was built later despite the Chinese one having the Guinness World Record (In 1990 according to the sign.) Both impressive nonetheless. It was good having Snow to show as around as you could easily get fooled into paying a lot of money on things that look like they should bring you good luck and the Chinese were throwing lots of money at. Snow showed us the genuine article which should bring good luck so we gave some small money into a box that had a strange looking animal in it.

For lunch we went to a cafe in a nearby Hutong, a narrow alley which Beijing is apparently full of. We enjoyed our selection of Chinese dishes and cold teas overlooking the Hutong from the roof terrace. Snow explained that most of the Hutong's had public toilets as many of the houses didn't previously (and some still don't ) have their own bathroom. Chinese people don't seem to need as much privacy as we are used to as many of the Chinese ladies wouldn't bother closing the toilet door and one set of toilets only had dividers. No doors at all. The Hutongs are disappearing from Beijing, being replaced by apartment blocks. China seems pretty determined to plow forward with progress at any cost.

Next we headed to the Temple of Heaven which is actually a series of different temples within a large park. It is where the Emperor used to go once a year to pray and make sacrifices for a good coming harvest. As in most parks in China it was full of penisoners enjoying their free time, playing cards or mahjong, singing, dancing and playing badminton. The Chinese seem to work pretty hard so it must be some well deserved leisure time once they retire. The size of the buildings was very impressive, but the size of the crowds of tourists was a bit oppressive, so after checking it all out we made our way back to the metro.

We stopped on our way back for an early dinner of noodles (really cheap and way too much, but yum) and turtle jelly (apparently it doesn't directly translate but its chinese medicine and they eat it instead of icecream). You mix it with fruit and it was really yum. That evening we frantically took the metro and some buses to a Kung Fu Show. We have to say we were disappointed. They were no shaolin warrior monks that's for sure. It would have been much better without the cheesy story line and some of the Kung Fu seemed to be dance moves rather than fighting moves. The hordes of middle aged Australian tourists seem to love it though.

We farwelled Sami and Ellie over a final Chinese beer that night while watching Chinese "Take Me Out" and rested up well for our next day's adventure - the Great Wall of China!

BEIJING DAY 3

It was a big one today. We met Pete that morning to head on to a tour of the Great Wall of China. It's one of those things that's difficult to do without a tour but we managed to get one without the compulsory tourist trap shopping.

Before heading out we decided to try some local breakfast. We weren't really sure what the place served but after some gesturing and pointing and before long we each had a plate full of breads. Probably should have had some stew or something with it but at least it kept us going.

The bus stopped around to pick up groups from their hotels which didn't take too long for us to get our way. We were heading to Mutianyu which is not the closset to Beijing so apparently it is better as it is not so rammed with people. It was apparently a decent stretch with more guard towers. Our tour guide was a good sport, telling us about the history of the wall, the cultural revolution, the one child policy and the current situation for people living in China. We found it interesting although the rest of the group seemed relatively indifferent.

After about an hour and a half in the bus we pulled into a carpark, looked up and saw that we were in fact below the Great Wall. When we arrived we had a choice of gondola or luge and Jess convinced the boys that we were here to see the wall not do something we could do anywhere else so after much dilly dallying from the group and making our way past the mandatory hawkers stalls we finally got our tickets and were on the peaceful gondola ride up to the Wall. We arrived at one of the watchtowers but couldn't see very far along the wall in either direction. It wasn't until we actually got on top of the wall that the sheer scale and awesomeness of it struck us. Stretching off as far as the eye could see in either direction as far as the eye could see is the amazing feat of engineering that is the Great Wall of China. We had a choice of walking uphill or downhill on the wall and for some reason decided to go with the uphill section. It was the weekend so there were plenty of people around still, so we were happy we hadn't gone to the more touristy part of the wall. As we climbed the wall the haze began to clear and the temperature began to rise. We continued on our quest from tower to tower, stopping for water and shade along the way and a view back of where we had come from and beyond. The wall sharply became steeper and although it didn't look too bad from the bottom, our lungs and legs were screaming by the time we were only a quarter of the way up. Our heads and wills prevailed and we arrived at the top short of breath and covered in sweat. This was the end of the part which was safe for tourists and as keen as we were to continue along the wall, time was against us so we had to turn back so as not to miss the bus. (It had nothing to do with the next section of the wall being even steeper than the last and, at times, cliff like...) Conscious that we had to get back to bus, we started along the wall the way we had come. This was pretty hard going so as not to fall down the hill, but we made it and caught the gondola down the hill. The Great Wall lived up to expectations and we enjoyed climbing up the steep stairs and wonky path along the wall. After a ridiculously overpriced soft drink we met at the bus where we waited for the Italians, who couldn't be bothered getting back on time.

The ride back was slow going, as we must have hit rush hour. The rest of the bus were getting foot massages so we got the bus part way before the guide arranged a taxi back for us. We were rather tired so just as well. We said our good byes to Pete, who was off on his next tour of China. We were now back on our own left to our own devices. Out came our faithful Lonely Planet again to help us decide on dinner - this time dumplings. We ordered too much but managed to eat the lot, fortunately a helpful lady stopped us before pouring vinegar on them - which we had mistaken for soy sauce. We weren't sure what was in them, but knew they were fresh because we saw them being made.

That night we headed back to the night market which was in full swing with lots more wriggling insects on kebabs and plenty of demanding sellers. "Lady you look!" One the way back we stopped to pick up a spare camera battery. The lady also tried to sell us the fakest I-Phone ever for £35. We declined.

BEIJING DAY 4
Now that we had reached the warm weather we were tired of carrying our winter coats and boots around,
so we packed them up in a box we had bought the day before to send them back to NZ. The post office was much more efficient than in England and they could speak English too - that helps especially with all the paperwork in Chinese! Not long before we were sorted and out of there (let's hope that our things arrive safely back). Today we planned to see the other big attraction in Beijing - The Forbidden City. We walked back to Tienanmen Square (still packed) and as it is no longer forbidden for visitors we entered the grounds of the Forbidden City with many other tourists and resisted the many offers of tours and trips to the Great Wall. The Forbidden City is so huge we stuck to the central path. The gates and buildings were pretty impressive and the place was just immense. We decided that with the heat and crowds we would just focus on the main parts. There are basically a series of huge courtyards with gates or temples in between We found it strange that there was so much pushing and shoving to look inside each of the temples when there was only some fancy chairs in there. Worth a look though. The nicest part was definitely the garden at the end. It would have been relaxing in its planned efficiency and gnarled trees, if it wasn't so chock full of people.

After the visit we went on a search for a nearby tea house, but Lonely Planet let us down so instead we jumped on the metro to the silk market, a seven storey building full of vendors selling their wares (both real and fake). First stop lunch which was some tasty noodles in the basement. We worked our way up the floors, past people trying to sell us clothes, jewellery, bedding, toys and souvenirs. We managed to buy a few things but its tough to look sometimes without getting coerced into buying things. We had plenty of time before our overnight train so took a leisurely walk back stopping at Ritan Park for a rest. It was full of sculptured rocks, trees and lakes and is where the Emperors used to make sacrifices to the sun. There were also lots of blossoms blowing through the air like snowflakes, which was very sweet. After making our way through another part of the city geared towards Russian tourists (fake fur etc) we arrived back at the hotel.

After a mission trying to find a cash machine which would accept our card (which was a failure) we had asked the hotel to arrange a taxi to take use to the train station but apparently that was too difficult and we had no choice but to catch two buses. Fine for us normally but they had let us believe it was much better to get a taxi. It was more difficult with our big packs and the first bus was way too full as it was rush hour so we walked to the next bus stop. Grumpy and tired we made it in pleny of time for our overnight train to Xian. The train station was huge. The waiting room we were in was bigger than Wellington railway station and was packed with people. We decided when planning the trip we might be sick of travelling on trains by now so we treated ourselves to first class. It was worth it! Our private berth came complete with comfy lounge chair and even our own bathroom. A beer from the trolley topped things off. After problems with lights were sorted we were on our way....

XIAN DAY 1
The train arrived in Xian on time. We had a free pick up from the hotel so after going past the sleeper buses (we knew they were sleeper buses because instead of seats they were full of bunks) we took a ride in the hostel van - although there was some confusion over whether we were at Hang Tang House or hostel. When we arrived our room was ready so we had a quick nap before venturing to explore the town. Although an ancient imperial seat of power there is little sign of that in Xian anymore with most of the city given over to modernisation. However, it still felt more Chinese than Beijing.

We stopped for some street side pork buns on our to the Bell Tower (which was situated in the middle of a busy roundabout) - we just missed the performance but had a good look around and got a view of the city which helped us with our bearings. This was much bigger than any bell tower we had seen so far and was in fact several stories high and covered in bells both inside and out. Wherever you find a bell there is usually a drum not far away so our next visit was up the road to the Drum Tower. It was equally as big and equally as full of drums. This time we made it to the perfomance and watched
some very talented drummers banging out some rhythms.

After exploring the tower we went to the Muslim quarter and enjoyed looking at all the different foods being sold. We tried a deep fried orange thing which had nuts and dates inside. Not bad but we weren't going out of our way to have them again. We then visited an old village house, which was actually a series of buildings and courtyards where a merchant had once lived. It was nice, but a bit run down. The highlight was a Chinese tea ceremony. A lady explained all about it and served us two types of tea; a green one and a lychee concubine tea. She had a special table which looked like a tree stump and which she poured water all over to clean. She talked us into buying some tea but we resisted the urge to buy the magic tea pot. We grabbed a snack of random meat on stick and as we were still in the Muslim area we decided to visit the Great Mosque. It was different than other mosques we had visited, looking more like a Buddhist temple and its architecture is both Chinese and Islamic. It was very peaceful considering it was bang in the middle of the city.

We decided to head south and out of the city walls to visit the Little Goose Pagoda. Our maps were not the best but we had a vague idea of where to go. We set off through the streets and quite some time later found the entrance to the park where the pagoda was. Unfortunately it was closed. At least we could see it off in the distance. A little disappointed we set off down the road to see the Big Goose Pagoda. Alas it was a very long way down many streets and in the hot sun we were feeling very frazzled by the time we finally arrived. This was a shame as the Pagoda was actually very impressive, many stories high with big fountains in front of it. Exhausted and no longer interested in sightseeing we started walking back in the direction of the city walls, hoping to find a bus to take us back to the hostel. We never saw the bus which we knew went past the hostel, so ended up walking the whole way back (via KFC for toilet and food). We rested for a few hours but something from the day had not agreed with Jess' stomach so she didn't feel like going out for dinner. Marcus made his way back to Muslim street again for some more random meat on sticks (not as tasty as earlier in the day) and picked up some supplies before heading back to the hostel for a well earned sleep.

XIAN DAY 2
Today was the whole reason we wanted to visit Xian - the Terracotta Warriors! Jess was feeling better in the morning so we caught the local bus to the train station and then were encouraged into a bus that was apparently going to the Terracotta Warriors. For some reason the Chinese queued very nicely for the bus. Some things just can't be explained... We followed the crowds to the ticket office, which was nowhere near the entrance, so had to navigate the many hawker booths in between the two. We arrived at the complex, which was a square with big concrete buildings surrounding it. Again we resisted the offers of tours so before visiting the pits of warriors we walked around the museum to get a bit of history - in a nutshell a farmer was digging and found some warriors so he kept digging and there were loads. 3 pit fulls in fact. The museum was mostly statues which had been excavated from some of the smaller tombs. It was things like servants and animals. We had heard it was best to the visit the three larger tombs in reverse order so started with tomb number three. It had three pits which seemed to be largely excavated with soldiers and horses lined up in formation. Some seemed to be largely intact but many were badly broken. There was also an opportunity to have your photo taken in amongst a set of fake soldiers.The Chinese tourists were loving it. We decided to pass.We moved on to pit number two. This one was substantially bigger, but there wasn't that much to see as only a small part of it had been excavated to below the roof of the tomb. What had been excavated was quite badly broken. There was an opportunity to see the different types of statues up close. Once there was a gap in the Chinese hordes we managed to catch a glimpse. Then it was time to move off to the big one, situated in a huge building the size of an aircraft hanger. There were plenty of soldiers in the pits as you entered but as you got around the outside you quickly saw that a large part of the pit was yet to be excavated. There were more soldiers in the back who were in varying degrees of being reassembled, but our expectations of being met by rows and rows of terracotta warriors were not met. The reality had not met the hype this time. We made our way back to the bus station, stopping on the way to haggle and purchase five little terracotta warriors (we had only intended to buy two) and got some random meat wrapped in dough for lunch. We were again whisked into a bus which we were promised went to Xian only this one was smaller and seemed to stop and pick up people at every chance. There was a lady shouting out the window for people to come on board. Once the bus couldn't fit another person on it it did manage to make the journey back to Xian. We were happy as we had some concerns for a while there.

We had read that you could climb the city walls and walk around them. We could see people up there so it seemed like a good idea. However, after following the wall for half an hour and seeing no sign of how to get up there we abandoned that plan and returned to the hostel for a rest instead of having another day of wandering for hours.

We made our way out again for dinner, but after Jess' tummy the day before didn't want to get too adventurous on the street food. We ended up wandering around in a big underground mall until we found a Sichuan hotpot restaurant. Basically you have an element on your table and they bring you the food in oil and it cooks as you eat it. It was a big meal with loads of chilli, but still very tasty. Full to the brim it wasn't long until we hit the hay.

CHENGDU - DAY 1
After breakfast at the hostel we caught a taxi to the ariport and spent alot of time waiting for our delayed flight before finally arriving in Chengdu - Home of the Panda. A quick trick on the bus and the local metro and we were at our hostel.

No time to visit the Pandas on our first day we arrived so we arranged a trip to go early the next morning.

We went for a walk to the main square and saw a giant Chairman Mao statue looking out over everyone. After a bite to eat we decided to escape the heat in the shelter of the People's Park, where there were old people doing ballroom dancing and lots of little lakes with tea rooms around them. We decided to spend some time at one of those tea houses. You don't order tea by the cup or even by the pot. Instead you make your choice, Bamboo Tea for us, and then they bring you a glass or cup along with a thermos of hot water and you can keep drinking for as long as you. Men come around as you sip on your tea and offer their ear cleaning services. Gross eh? We though it might be worth a try but we saw one girl clenching her boyfriends hand almost in tears which put us off. We were amused, well not really, by a busker doing tricks such as balancing bottles. It was a nice way to relax in the sun. When we were done we walked back to hostel.

For dinner we decided to go to the local restaurant across the road. As soon as we came in the girls serving scooted to the back of the restaurant and avoided eye contact. Luckily one brave lady found us an English menu and we were away. The food was very tasty and full of Sichuan spice. After dinner we went to the Chinese Opera which is quite different to western opera. We watched drumming, puppets and a lady twirling chairs, tables and pots with her feet. We enjoyed the shadow puppets. Before we didn't really understand what the big deal was by someone making a bird with their hands but this was really clever; dogs, cats and owls and matching sound effects too. The highlight of the show however was definitely the face changing. The dancing come out with one mask on and then a flick of their face and they are wearing a different one. We don't know how they change their masks so quickly but that's what makes it magic.

CHENGDU - DAY 2

It was a very early start for us today as we had a trip to the panda sanctuary and the pandas sleep during the day. We jumped in a van with two Chinese girls on our tour. You could tell one of them really loved pandas as she was wearing a panda t-shirt. When we arrived the first pandas we saw were the red ones. As we had already seen them at Wellington Zoo we weren't too excited although they seemed to be enjoying themselves playing around in the trees. Then we turned a corner and came upon the real thing - Giant Pandas. Well quite small ones actually. There were two youngsters playing and falling off the branches of a tree. They were very cute and soon there were plenty more to see. A lot were scoffing their faces with Bamboo. They have to eat a huge amount each day as it doesn't have much nutritional value and they're not lazy they just have to save their energy for breeding.

One looked like he was very hungover as he was holding his head and moaning . Do you know what noise a panda makes? ek eeek ek - Yep just sounds like squeaks. We saw some more younger play fight and climb all over an older one who was not amused. They are so cute!

We also watched an informative video about the breeding centres work. We weren't there at the right time of year to see the new born babies but from the video it was probably just as well. They look kind of like hairless rats. We learnt that it's quite common for a mother to kill one of twin babies at birth because its too hard for her to look after two. No wonder they're an endangered species. There was a museum which looked pretty out dated including pickled baby pandas in jars. Yuck! The sanctuary was such a great place over all though. Highly recommended.

Since we started early we still had plenty of time in the afternoon. First we saw the Wenshu Buddhist Monastery, It was quite nice but not as good as some of the ones we had seen. It was always interesting to see how quiet they were as they were situated in the middle of busy cities. We had heard there was a good vegetarian restaurant there, however, it was no where to be found so we headed in search of some food. A combination of pointing and help from some French people got us fed. We ended up having some random steamed dumplings which were pretty good although we were getting a little tired of dumplings. Bellies full we then went on a long walk across town to visit another temple - this one Green Ram Taoist Monastery. It took a while to find but we made it through a park. It was similar to a Buddhist monastery but with more animal symbolism and historic figures featuring heavily. There were a few buildings and intersting statues of dragons.

As it had been a busy day we decided to head back to the hostel for a rest before an event we had been waiting for all trip. That night it was time for Dumpling Party! At the hostel everyone learns to make dumplings. We sat with people from China, Korea, France, Italy, Israel and of course NZ. Ours weren't looking the best but Jess got the hang of it. Marcus' ones didn't really look proper; more like a Stegosaurus. They all tasted good though and it was nice talking to some people from around the world. A nice finish to our last day in China.

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April 2012 - Mongolia

2012-04-19T18:52:00.000+12:00

Train to Ulan Bataar

The train was much the same as the previous one, but a new cast of people made for a more interesting train ride. There were a lot more foreigners on this train. We were joined by Spaniards, Italians, Swedes, grumpy Germans and plenty of Mongolians. No Russians this time but the train was full. Pete was sharing with the Spaniards and an older Mongolian man. Pete had been told he was very important, but his card suggested he was some sort of mining consultant. Pete had also been told not to give him any vodka. Unfortunately nobody had told the man in the leather jacket and hat (who we think was responsible for all of the fruit hidden in every nook and cranny of the train.) He spent the day plying the "King of Mongolia" (can't get any more important than that) with vodka. When he left the King started getting into the Spaniards vodka supply too. As would be expected after too much vodka, the King was sick all over the floor of Pete's room. We were very pleased it was not our room. Not everyone we met on the train was a problem. There was a lovely Mongolian girl of about 7 or 8 who took an interest in Marcus' t-shirt (New Zealand of course) and stopped to talk every time she went past. (She didn't speak English and we spoke no Mongolian so talking is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration.) She seemed very happy with the little tiki which we gave her and immediately found some string so she could wear it around her neck. The other major event of the day was the crossing of the border from Russia to Mongolia. We aren't sure why. but this exercise took 5 1/2 hours on the Russian Side and 2 1/2 on the Mongolian side. The process involved a lot of sitting on the carriage (with the toilets shut the whole time.) Every now and then someone with an official looking uniform would come through and take your passport, check your passport and search the room. The man in the leather jacket and hat seemed to follow these officials around very closely. We assume he was working out how much bribe was necessary to get his fruit (and who knows what else) across the border. This whole exercise took much more out of us than our usual traveling. Luckily there was plenty of noodles and instant mash potato to keep us going. We hit the sack pretty early. We were due to arrive at 6am the next morning!

Ulan Bataar - Day 1

After a terrible sleep we were awoken the usual hour before arriving in Ulan Bataar, Mongolia. The Mongol attendants were fortunately much better than the Russian Babushkas. The train traveled through the valley and we watched the sun rising in the distance. The first signs of civilisation were Ger tents which became more and more clustered, eventually with their own fenced sections and satellite dishes. These were increasingly replaced by buildings until we arrived at the train station. We loaded into the van which was waiting for us with our honcho, Gerlee, and quickly arrived at our hotel. It was a proper hotel with separate rooms, en-suite bathrooms and TVs. Luxury! Unfortunately the hot water was broken, so a shower was not currently an option. More sleep was necessary, so we went back to bed for a couple of hours before trying to find some breakfast. It being Sunday morning, Ulan Bataar was pretty closed and with a chill wind blowing it wasn't long until we retreated back to the hotel for some very tasty pancakes.

We met up with our honcho who took us to the post office and then to the main square of the city. The square has the Mongol Parliament on one side and in front of it a huge statue of Chingis Han (that's the Mongolian way to say it) in the middle, with smaller ones of his son and grandson (Kubla) on either side. Genghis Khan is an English version of his name but it is not correct. There is also a big statue of Sukh Bator, the founder of modern Mongolia, in the middle of the square. Gerlee also explained the meaning of the Mongolian flag, I've forgotten most except the blue is for the forever blue sky in Mongolia. Which proved to be pretty true (apparently 260 days of clear sky a year) - blue sky doesn't mean its warm though. What seemed out of place was the ultra modern skyscraper (referred to as the pregnant building due to its curved front.) It reminded us a little of Warsaw as the city seemed to have very modern buildings next to dingey dives.

After that we caught the bus out to the monument on the hill overlooking the city. The bus stopped at the bottom of the hill so we still had to climb up it. Before we did we checked out a large Standing Buddha statue. Mongolia is 90% Buddhist. The climb up the hill was hard work and we needed to stop half way to catch our breath and check out the giant falcon. Pretty cool but we weren't game for him to sit on our arms. The view was worth it once we reached the top. It was much more compact than we would have expected for 1.4 million people, 60% all live in one area which doesn't have plumbing. The monument had been erected by the Soviets and showed how much they had helped Mongolia over the years. Propaganda was still alive and well. After catching the bus back we stopped at a local bar for lunch. It was meat wrapped in pastry and a beef and noodle stir-fry. Very tasty. Maybe our blog should be called the dumpling trail or perhaps the pancake trail? After lunch we took another break and spent some time showering (hot water was on), reading and napping before heading out for dinner. Still pretty full from lunch, sandwiches did us just fine and then it was back to the hotel to sort our bags before going to bed.

Ulan Bataar to Ger Camp

After a very tasty breakfast of savoury and sweet pastries at the Korean Bakery we met up with Gerlee who was taking us to visit the Gandantegchenlin Monastery. The trip was on the public bus and the bus driver only had two speeds, stopped and full speed which sent Marcus flying down the length of the bus. Pride injured more than anything else we walked past run down buildings until we reached an ornate gate which marked the entrances to the temples. Gerlee gave us a crash course in Buddhism and we went into the temple. It was buzzing with monks chanting and people coming and going to perform their rituals. We didn't really understand what was happening but there were all sorts of things going on. Gerlee was lucky enough to take part in a ceremony where there is a scarf which is draped over lots of people's shoulders. By joining together this increases the strength of everybody's prayers. After this we entered another temple, this one the site of a 26.5 metre tall gold standing Buddha (there is some dispute about whether this is the tallest standing Buddha in the world). The sheer size of the statue combined with the people worshipping really gave you a sense of how spiritual the place was.

After a less dangerous bus trip back to the hotel we met our driver and piled into the van for the trip to the Ger Camp where we would be staying in traditional Mongolian style. As we drove through the city we got a good sense of what a ramshackle place Ulan Bataar is. There are brand new glass skyscrapers, big concrete communist blocks, ornate Chinese style buildings and completely run down hovels, all situated within spitting distance of each other. The roads are an even sorryer state of affairs, full of potholes. Driving in a straight line is not an option and our driver did an admirable job of dodging holes, other cars and pedestrians to get us out of the city in one piece. As we left the city on the main road things got even more dire. Potholes were the size of tables and in some places the road had simply crumbled away altogether. We bounced away along in the van and were very pleased at the opportunity to step out at a shamanist prayer mound. It was a pile of rocks decorated with colourful material. It is a cross between an ancient shamanist (pagan) religion and buddhism, both of which are prevalent in Mongolia. We circled the mound three times while making our prayers and then piled into the van to bounce our way to the Ger camp.

We had imagined ourselves all staying in one big tent but instead we had a whole Ger to ourselves, and it wasn't what you would call basic, with ornate carved wooden furniture, a sink and a fireplace to keep us warm. The dining Ger was even more luxurious, with a TV, Karaoke and even a chandelier. We ate a hearty meat rice and vege lunch and then jumped in the van again for a rattly ride out to Turtle Rock, so named because it looks like a giant turtle. After that we visited a local lady who was living in a Ger in the traditional style. She told us, via Gerlee, about Ger life and Mongolian practices. She served us milky, salty tea, fried bread, curd and shared some snuff with us. She then took us out to see her 3 newborn calves, all of them less than a week old. Cute but a little disconcerting when their moos sounded like baas. It was a lovely experience and we were pleased to have had the chance to do it. Still needing to work off all that food and drink we went for a walk up the nearby hillside. London flatness meant we weren't at out best but we made it as high as we could without having to do proper rock climbing. We got a good view into the neighbouring valley, with more Ger camps and rock formations. However, the wind was blowing hard so we scrambled down and chilled out before dinner. Dinner was another hearty meal and then Gerlee opened a bag of magic. Ankle Bones! We were captivated for hours, flicking, throwing, balancing and racing sheep ankle bones. After all that excitement it was time to retire to a luxurious and warm, thanks to the fireplace, Ger.

Ger Camp

There was trepidation as today started. We were off on a pony trek, but with Ellie being the only one who had ridden a horse before there was a risk it could all go wrong. Luckily when the horses arrived they were pretty small, and many of them were sporting 80s glam rocker hairdos. Jess managed to get Bon Jovi. Marcus scored a ride with Double Brown. Sami just looked terrified. A talk between Gerlee and the herdsmen and we were off, dressed in our silly helmets and shin guards. Our fears proved ill founded as the horses plodded down the hill and across the nearby paddock before turning around and coming back. The Mongolians sing to their horses to let them know it's race time. We weren't game enough to try singing even when our attempts to speed up the pace with shouts of "Choo Choo!" were met with indifference by the horses who went at their own pace until we got back.

We left our horses to carry the second Vodkatrain, who had arrived that morning, and chilled out some more by taking a walk up and down an even steeper hill before lunch. After lunch it was time to dress up in Royal King and Queen costumes. The girls looked very cool. The boys looked ridiculous. Nonetheless, all dressed up we tried our hands at Mongolian archery. Unfortunately none of us had the knack to hit the target. Luckily we didn't have to try it from horseback. Back in our normal clothes we had some more time to chill out for the rest of the afternoon. Our attempts to find somewhere sheltered from the wind to read and write but nature foiled us. Jess retreated to the Ger and Marcus had a long chat with Gerlee about life in New Zealand, life in Mongolia and everywhere in between. We all met before dinner to get our appetites up with a few rounds of ankle bones before tucking into some tasty dumplings. After checking out the unobstructed night sky we made our way back to the toasty (or some might say stifling) ger for our last night at the camp.

Ger Camp to Ulan Bataar

The other group had already left by the time we got away in the morning.Their honcho seemed to be a bit

of a task master, barking orders left right and centre. We were pleased that ours was more relaxed. We took the van on the bumpy road past (and through) fields of cows, sheep, goats, horses, yaks and ground squirrels to arrive at a seven storey high statue of Chinngis Han mounted on his horse. It is intended to be the middle of a large tourist centre. Right now there is nothing else nearby. Gerlee had done some preparation over night and gave us a lot more information (what an effort!). We didn't feel the need to climb to the top, as there was nothing to see. Instead we rumbled our way back to the Ulan Bataar while Gerlee tried out the jokes she had Googled. She wasn't sure what was funny or not, must be hard to understand humour when English is your second language.

We did a quick trip around the Museum of Mongolia to get some history through the stone age until now. Not quite enough time but that is how it works sometimes. We met Gerlee for a trip to UB's largest market, the Black Market. It was certainly big, and filled with anything you could want from sneakers, jeans and traditional Mongolian attire to seafood batteries and fake watches. We didn't buy anything but it was good to look. We caught taxis to and from the market. In Mongolia anyone can be a taxi. You just wave down any car, agree a price, and they take you where you want to go. We had time for a quick trip to the State Department Store for train supplies and souvenirs and then we were off again, this time to a Mongolian cultural performance. It was cool to see traditional Mongolian dancing, music and singing including the somewhat freaky traditional throat singing. No idea how they do that. Also somewhat mind boggling was the contortionist who bent in ways you couldn't conceive. Are you able to sit on your own head? Sufficiently cultured it was time for dinner. Mongolian BBQ. Actually it was an American invention but the Mongolians love it. Pick your meat, veges and sauce and they cook it all up for you. Marcus ate too much but there was so much to try!

Train from Ulan Bataar

We left Mongolia in the early hours for our final leg of the Trans-Monoglian Railway. This time the train would be 1 night and 2 days. An hour and a half on the Mongolian side of the border and around 4 hours on the Chinese side because of the bogie (wheel) change. There was some inital confusion over berth numbers but once I swapped with Pete we got the set up we expected. So much for vodka train's promise that you would always be with the person you booked with. Luckily there were no oranges to be seen. The train was a little older with harder bunks but not too different from the other trains.

The trip was relatively uneventful and as departed UB we tried to spot some more yaks. We moved through the Gobi Desert and there was not much to see except for the dust storms which were blowing hard outside and somehow managing to get the sand through the windows into our compartment.

That evening we went through 2 sides of the border, fairly quick and efficient on the Mongolia side. The customers weren't a problem on the chinese side either but we had to stay on board for 4 hours while they changed the bogie. For some reason the size of the tracks/wheels are different between Russia and China. We watched the men working and I think they were pretending to argue for our amusement by using animated hand gestures. For 4 hours weren't able to use the toilets, we were prepared for it but obviously some of the other passengers weren't.The change completed about 1am so after a quick rush to the station toilet we boarded on the train again for some sleep, waking the next morning in China.

The landscape was different in China with power plants and fields that Paul Thereoux described well when he said that you couldn't go for 5 minutes without seeing someone do something. The scenery was nice as we got closer to Beijing through a series of tunnels which meant being in pitch black - not able to do anything and then stunning cliffs and valleys. We weren't able to see the Great Wall though. Didn't stop the other Vodka Train people from fighting for the best spots for taking photos. We were pleased we weren't in that group.

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/April2012Mongolia

April 2012 - Russia

2012-04-13T18:51:00.000+12:00

VILNIUS TO ST PETERSBURG

We rose early, pleased we hadn't stayed out all night the night before. Lina and the Japanese man were up. When she asked him why he needed to be up so early he replied "I am an old man. I get up early" like it should have been obvious. We left the hostel to catch a bus to the airport. A full day of travel to St Petersberg via Tallin in Estonia. It was a shame we couldn't spend a couple of days there as well but there was only so much we could do. We did meet a jump Norwegian man at the airport who insisted on calling Marcus Kiwi, but seemed offended when Marcus declined his chewing tobacco. We were pleased not to be flying RyanAir. Their flight was delayed for six hours due to a mechanical fault and they weren't allowed to leave the tiny transit lounge.

The airport at St Petersburg was packed. It reminded us of Heathrow with the inefficient line through customs. Our tour documents recommended getting a taxi from the airport to the hostel but we read that these could be very expensive if it hadn't been pre-booked. We stuck to the public transport a bus and 2 metrolines. It wasn't very difficult but we guess our time in London made catching metros much easier. We arrived on the main road, Nevsky Prospekt and found our hostel nearby.

Our accommodation for our first 2 nights in St Petersburg had been changed at the last minute. We arrived

to discover the hostel spoke very little English (and our Russian was none existent) and that we were sleeping in single sex dorms. After the initial shock we settled in and headed off to explore the city. We stuck to the main street and caught our first glimpses of some Russian Architecture that we were planing to visit later in our trip. The Kazan Cathedral, the Church on Spilled Blood, the old Singer building and the Winter Palace. At a distance St Petersburg was a grand European city but up close the paint was flaking and the grime was building up.

We were getting pretty tired and hungry so started heading back searching for some local cuisine that a) we knew what it was and b) did not cost a fortune. We settled on a place from the Lonely Plant Guide (usually quite questionable when it comes to food) - Teremok. We enjoyed our first taste of Russian Potato Pancakes. On this occasion we choose pork and mushroom as we could point to a picture. It was very tasty. Full of energy again we managed to find a nearby supermarket where we stocked up on snacks and supplies. Back at the hostel we managed to chat to a couple of Russians who spoke some English. Sergei was in Marcus' room and Nadia in Jess' room. Nadia asked if it was true that no-one in New Zealand was depressed because of the beautiful landscape. Jess said that was probably an exaggeration but it seems many Russians view NZ as being an idyllic paradise. We joined the students and families in the TV room for some confusing Russian TV before making our way to bed.

ST PETERSBURG DAY 2

With the early start the day before it was a more leisurely start to the day. After breakfast we headed back down Nevsky Prospect towards the Hermitage. On the way we stopped to look in the window of a fancy looking department store/cafe which had giant Macaroons in the window. No eating any for us here though as we had already had our fair share when visiting France.

In Palace Square we looked at the Alexander Column before heading into the Hermitage Museum which is in part of the old Winter Palace, former home of the Tzars. Some of the exhibits were very similar to what we had seen in the British Museum and the Leuvre (except this time it was the Russians doing the pillaging) but interesting nonetheless. We have definitely become more cultured by the amount of museums and gallaries we have visited in the last 3 years. It was nice to see some Russian stuff though. There was also an extensive collection of art from famous painters such as Picasso and Matisse. After a few hours of this the hunger started to get to us so we decided to stop for some Teremok for lunch.

After that we walked down to the river. There was still plenty of ice on it and a chill in the air as we wandered along and looked at the famous Bronze Horseman Statue of Peter the Great. When she was reading the book of the same name Jess never realised she would see it one day. We walked back along the river and crossed the bridge to Birzhevaya Point, the site of a small park and the Rostral Columns, symbol of St Petersburg's port status.

We saw lots of people walking around on the ice so we decided to have a go too. The ice seemed to be melting fairly quickly though so we didn't stay on too long. We saw one man walk almost all the way across the river but we felt as we didn't know what we were doing it wouldn't be a good idea to try. It was almost disastrous for one of Marcus' hands as he dropped a glove onto a ledge which we couldn't reach. We finally got it back by finding a stick to pull it up with. Phew!

In the evening we visited a supermarket and tried out some local noodles in preparation for the train trips. Not too bad.We watched some Russian Gangster films and what appeared to be Youtube videos on TV before going to bed confused.

ST PETERSBURG DAY 3

Another leisurely start as we shifted hostels (just around the corner) and arranged for our visas to be registered (which we probably should have done already too). Then we moved onto look around Gostiny Dvor an old shopping centre filled with standard mall shops before having a day of churches.

First church was Kazan Cathedral which looks similar to St Peters Basilica in Rome on the oustside however it looks quite different inside. It is a Russian Orthodox church. It was very dark but pretty and full of many worshippers opposed to many of the churches which we have visited that were full of tourists.

Next on our church visit was St Issac's Cathedral. We didn't go inside but instead we climbed outside of the

golden domes to get a 360 degree view of St Petersberg. We also visited the Church of the Spilled Blood which has the colourful onion shaped domes you expect to see in Russia. Inside it was filled with lots of colour and gold having been beautifully restored. We took the back streets to our new hostel, the Missis Hudson. It was loosely based on Sherlock Holmes....not what we were expecting in Russia.

Back at the hostel we met up with Pete the first other member of our tour group. An Australian but we tried not to hold that against him. Tim, our Honcho for the city also met us and took us for a walk around the river and to the eternal flame of the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. The highlight was throwing a coin up to a little cat statue on a building which is meant to bring good luck. We stopped at a bar on the way back for a drink and a snack of pelmeni (a dumpling thing) before heading back and meeting a young English couple Ellie and Sami who were the final members of our group. We had a couple of Vodkas with Pete. Ellie and Sami had been traveling all day so we figured we would get to know them tomorrow.

ST PETERSBURG DAY 4

The first proper day of the tour we rose early to start a full day around the city. We decided to check out the Peter and Paul Fortress which is across the river. Our Honcho Tim didn't seem to enjoy walking as much as we do so insisted we get the metro part way and we arrived at a station which was only a couple of years old and looked like a flying saucer (Gorkovskaya).

Although grey on the city side, the fortress was actually a rich red brick colour. We arrived just in time to hear the midday cannon as we crossed the bridge into the fortress, looking at the cute ducks walking on the icy river. The fortress wasn't really what we expected. There were many different things inside including a wax museum and dragon exhibition, both which we chose not to attend.

We did however see the first ever Russain ship and looked at the cathedral where many Tsar's were burried but only from the outside. We walked along the Fortress walls for another good view of St Petersberg and the river. The river seemed more frozen on this side so we all ventured out a little further and were surprised to see men stripped down to their undies and sunbathing by the river. Well it was a tropical 0 degrees. We also checked out the creepy statue of Peter the Great. Someone hadn't gotten the proportions quite right.

After another Teremok lunch the others of our group went to check out the churches so we headed back to the shop to pick up some Russian nesting dolls (Matryoshka). There were hundreds to choose from but we settled for a traditional red and yellow. We then went for another walk by the river and looked at the less than impressive summer palace. Maybe it needed to be seen in summer? It was tiny compared to its winter counterpart.

We meet up with the others and also Ashley an Australian girl doing a Sundowners trip through the stans (Central Asia and the Caucuses) for a pre dinner drink. Jess had a 'Shaky Pig' (we think this may have been a mistranslation of a fluffy duck...) We had seen a Bear advertising a restaurant near the hostel so we headed there. Jess had Beef Stroganoff and Marcus had some sort of pie. We all tried some kvass. It is a bread drink which was thick and brown but pretty tasty. We were also lucky enough to be treated to some traditional traditional Russian dancing by the waitresses. With full bellies we made our way back to the hostel for a few rounds of Rummy, before heading off to bed.

ST PETERSBURG DAY 5

It was our final day in the city before moving on to the capital. Sami and Ellie were keen for a full day at the Hermitage so we left them to it and headed off with Tim and Pete to visit the Alexander Nevsky Monastry. We had seen so much in one direction that it was time to check out what there was in the other direction. Tim didn't want to look around the graveyards so the 3 of us did. We didn't have much of a clue at what we were seeing as our cyrillic wasn't very good. Apparently Dostoyevsky was buried there though. They also had an interesting exhibit of mini sculputures many of which were statues we had already seen around the city. We walked around the monastry and into the cathedral. It was again dark and full of people worshiping. Alas, the queue for monk bread was too long so we gave up on that idea and visited the crypt (full of famous Russians we hadn't heard of) before moving on. Tim took us to a 60s American diner for lunch which had pictures of Marilyn Munroe and Elvis - not really what we were expecting to see in Russia. Tim was quite interested in America and it was quite funny when he asked Marcus if he called his friends 'homeboys'. Jess decided to have one of the only Russian items on the menu - a Russian Salad, which is a type of potato salad. The others stuck with toasted sandwiches and burgers.

Pete had already visited St Petersberg and seen the Hermitage but wanted to see it again so while he and

Tim headed there we went for a walk to another part of the town and saw the Smolny institute and cathedral. The institute was where Lenin and his group planned and executed the Socialist Revolution. The cathedral was pretty in blue and white which was meant to give the illusion of the sky. We think the illusion would have been successful if the sky had been blue instead of grey.

We wandered back into town, stopping for a drink and some yummy cake along the way. We met up with the others for dinner at cafe before heading to catch the train on a transfer which took around 3 times as long as it would have to walk. We had a better idea of where we were meant to be going than our honcho so we only managed to get on with enough time to say goodby before we were on the rails in our cabin with Sami and Ellie. Pete, being the only single had to share with random people. After having a bit of a chat, we settled in for a good sleep. Our trip on the Trans-Mongolian Railway had begun.

ARRIVAL IN MOSCOW

We were kindly woken by our attendant in the train which gave us around 40 minutes to prepare to disembark. We weren't certain it was the right stop when we arrived but after checking it was we alighted the train and met our next honcho, Anna. Within 10 minutes we realised she had much more knowledge than our previous guide.

We headed down to catch the metro through a luxurious station with fancy chandeliers and pictures. Beats London any day. The crowds could rival London too, as we got pushed and shoved through a sea of people. Wouldn't have been so bad usually but much more difficult with a huge backpack. People didn't seem too bothered by us though. They let us through without complaint. Anna yelled at us to hurry up getting on the change of the metro and we all made it safely on to both of the metros we needed. Around ten minutes walk through the snow and we arrived at the hostel. too early to check in once again, so we dropped our bags and went to a cafe for some coffee and pancakes with jam.

We then went on a well planned walking tour around Moscow past statues of Pushkin and Yuri Dolgoruky

the founder of Moscow. Anna was a mine of information but not enough to bother us.We passed the Russian Parliament, an ugly towering building and the famous Bolshoi Theatre, but alas this was outside of our budget to visit. We made our way under the arch between the State History Museum and Kazan Cathedral before heading into the famous Red Square. Red has two meanings in Russian both the colour and also meaning beautiful. We took in the Kremlin and St Basil's Cathedral with its multi-coloured onion domes from the outside before visiting Lenin's Mausleom. A bit creepy as you had to make your way past sombre armed soldiers to the middle chamber where a waxy, but real, Lenin is bathed in low light for all to see. Outside there were grave of various people too, but once again we weren't sure who was who.

Next we went inside St Basil's cathedral, the typical bright onion style catherdral you associate with Russia. You imagine it being a huge open church with a huge domed ceiling inside. It isn't. Rather it is a series of small chapels around the outside with another small chapel in the middle, a bit like a maze trying to get around. It was interesting inside too with all the different rooms painted and decorated differently. Upstairs a choir sung which gave it a nice feel as we wandered through the church.

Also by the red square is the GUM shopping centre which was previously the premier peddler of soviet wares but now is full of designer stores. It was quite nice inside with many blossom trees and sculptures. We weren't tempted to buy anything though. We then walked around the outside wall of the Kremlin and up the hill to the Church of the Christ of the Saviour, Russia's main church. It was quite a modern church being only build in the 90's. It was built in the style of the church which had been there previously but had been demolished by Stalin to build a swimming pool. The interior was resplendent with gold and colour and of course worshipers. We were keen to climb up it for the view however the only option to do this was through a tour and it was going to cost us around 6000 roubles (about NZD$230). So we settled by just having a look around inside.

We then headed down what used to be Moscow's main shopping street but now seemed to be full of souvenir shops and cafes. We stopped for a lunch at an Uzbek place where we had a yummy Ughar soup and a meat pastry thing which tasted a little like wontons. We wandered back towards the hostel and in the afternoon we visited the Moscow Museum of Modern Art which had some interesting sculptures of Soviet Workers on the outside, but nothing more than standard stuff on the inside. One room was not lit and you needed to use the light of a mobile phone to see the work and to ensure you didn't fall over.

After an early start and a full day we were exhausted so we headed back to the hostel for an easy dinner and spent around 3 or so hours doing washing (not a very good system Godzillas) before hitting the hay. Unfortunately the drunk who showed up halfway through the night meant the sleep wasn't uninterrupted. Fortunately it took him a long time to find his way in so he spent most of his time in the hallway.

MOSCOW DAY 2

Our Honcho Anna had suggested the day before that we should head out of town today so we decided to visit Kolomenskoe which is an Unseco World Heritage site as it is the site of a former Romanov Palace. The sun was out and it was a lovely day as we walked through the snow. We saw pretty archways and a pretty little church full of people praying. Anna took us for a walk up the stream and we visited some spiritual rocks one for the boys and one for the girls If. you sit on them your wishes were more likely to come true. The rocks were interesting looking as they had a slight red tinge. Next we visited Peters Cabin, built and lived in by Peter the Great thousands of miles away and then reassembled here. For some reason the doors were tiny, even though he was supposed to be really tall.... More Russian pancakes for lunch. This time there was a smaller variety. Marcus had salmon and Jess tried the condensed milk (a russian favourite), yummy but a bit sickly.

Back in the centre of Moscow we visited a monastery/nunnery. It had some pretty churches and a couple of exhibits full of Russian Icons, mainly Madonna and child. The first one was interesting but the second was a bit samey.

The group split again after that as the others were keen to visit one of the galleries which we didn't have much desire to see. Instead we headed over a bridge full of trees with padlocks where some wedding photos were being taken. We wandered along the river towards the humongous ugly statue of Peter the Great and his ship. Apparently it was originally a gift to the USA of Christopher Colombus but they didn't want it so the artist just changed the face. He must have run out of the same material though because the face is a slightly different colour. In its shadow there is a sculpture park which had a combination of modern statues as well as many unwanted Soviet leaders such as Stalin and Lenin and all the boys. There was even one exhibit which was a box full of only Stalin heads.

After a very long walk back to the hostel in search of a bigger supermarket (which was a failure) we made another easy dinner at the hostel and went for a drink at the local bar, Elephant. Seems like we were the only people there from out of town as we drunk our cloudy, banana tasting Elephant Beer. The other patrons were downing shots of vodka, and various other liquids so we assumed they were local (also, they were all speaking Russian) but we weren't gain to challenge them to shots.

MOSCOW DAY 3

As we couldn't visit the Kremlin on our first day so we headed to it in the icy cold rain today. We found the ticket booth but they wouldn't sell us tickets for another 15 minutes by which time a massive huddle (not

queue) wanting tickets had formed. We were pushed to the side but fortunately a lady who saw we were foreign let us in. We passed through the metal detectors and passed under the wall to the centre of Russian government for many hundreds of years. We saw a giant cannon (which had never been shot because the cannon balls were too big) and a giant bell (which had never rung because it had cracked shortly after being made It was a welcome relief from the rain to look at one of the small churches surrounding a small square. Again they were ornately decorated painted across the walls and ceilings. it was then time for us to enter the the Armoury. After dropping our coats at the coatcheck and picking up our Audioguides we made our way into the museum which housed Russia's jewels, armour, clothes, carriages, silverware and Faberge Eggs. Audoguides normally fill us with bored dread, but this one was actually pretty good. Jess' favourite was the jewelery, and we both liked the Faberge eggs and the gospel covers.We checked out another couple of the churches before the cold started to really get to us and it was time to move on.

We stopped for lunch at a cafe in a nearby mall and found the big supermarket we had been looking for yesterday where we stocked up on instant meals for the train before heading back to the hostel and then went down the road to visit the State Museum of Gulag. It was different to the others we had seen in Russia. The Gulags were prison camps set up by Stalin to house 'enemies of the state'. To be an enemy all it took was one disagreement with Stalin. It focused on not only sending people to the camps but also how history had been changed with the doctoring of photos to remove people from them where they had previously been there supporting Stalin. There was also a mock up of what a typical Gulag cell might look like. It was interesting but a bit hard to understand as there wasn't really any background for non-russian speakers. One last dinner in Europe (pizza?) before heading to the metro with our packs again. Fortunately it wasn't quite as busy as last time. Before long we were on the train that we would be spending the next 4 days on.

ON THE TRAIN FROM MOSCOW TO IRKUTSK

Day 1 - 1 million Birch trees with snow.
Day 2 - 1 million Birch trees with snow.
Day 3 - 1 million Birch trees with no snow.

That was about it for the scenery although we also saw some shanty towns and frozen rivers The time on the train goes surprisingly quickly as we enjoy our writing, reading, playing games and the excitement of whether we are to have smash or noodles for dinner. We made use of the stops during our waking hours although we were a bit confused on which times we should follow as the train runs on Moscow time which can be up to 5 hours different from the local times. We stretched our legs at Kirov but there wasn't much to see besides a smattering of traders trying to sell mostly giant stuffed animals. I guess its for the kids when the parents get home. The train is quieter than we expected and doesn't seem as full as it could be. We suspect this may be due to no hard class on this train (luxury oooh yeah). Before we set of we though we would try the restaurant car at least once during each service (Russian, Mongolian and China). After walking through the car in Russia we weren't even tempted to stop for a drink as it was very greasy and dirty and appeared to be falling apart.The chef didn't seem to have any food but he was happy to drop the ash from his cigarette anywhere you please.

We also got off the train at Perm 2 where traders greeted us at the door trying to sell a variety of things including salads, fish, beers, bread, trees and cowboy hats. We weren't tempted to try any of the local stuff though as we had overstocked on food in Moscow. It was hard to stay awake on our first day as the temperature in the carriage was a stifling 24 degrees (pretty hot considering the outside temperature was less than 0).

In the evenings we taught Pete, Sami and Ellie to play backpackers over a few vodkas before a decent
sleep.

The second full day on the train we woke just in time to get out at Esheem. Again not a very exciting station but the sun was shining and there wasn't any need for our coats. We had predicted much colder weather throughout the whole journey so probably didn't need half our winter clothes.

The temperature in the train was a more tolerable 21 degrees. We also departed the train at Omsk - a bigger city where the Russian writer Dostoyevsky was exiled. Other trains prevented any views.

At night we saw a beautiful sunset and the sky glowed pink and purple. We also saw some fires along the way but we think they were deliberate as they were in lines. Smash again for dinner and some vodka for a digestive.

On the third day a little bit of snow around again today but not as much as on the first. We out ventured at Krasnoyyarsk station to see a mosaic featuring Lenin, a statue of a lion and an old steam engine. We ran most of the way as we didn't want to miss getting back on the train (we were surprised how punctual the trains were running but we guess they've had around 140 years practice). Back on the platform we still had plenty of time so we picked up some fresh water as the cooled boiled water although safe tasted a bit potatoey.

Day 3 was also the point which we passed the halfway point between Moscow and Beijing (3932km).

LAKE BAIKAL DAY 1

We arrived at 6am in Irkutsk with no honcho in sight. Fortunately it wasn't long before hr arrived. Bleary eyed we all piled into a van and left for the natural beauty of Lake Baikal, the deepest freshwater lake in the world. We drove through the forest until we arrived at the lakeside town of Lystyvanka. Our accommodation was very spacious. We even had a room to ourselves! Showered and shaved we felt alive again. We went for a walk along the shore of the vast frozen lake. Although frozen the ice was starting to melt so wasn't safe to cross. After our walk we were pretty hungry and it was about lunch time so today's meat wrapped in pastry was particularly welcome. Jess' fish pie was particularly tasty. Refueled we visited the Baikal Museum for a bit of history and science. Kosta was a very knowledgeable tour guide. The lake is home to about 20% of the world's freshwater and could supply the world with freshwater by itself for 40 years. There was an aquarium at the end of the museum that showed some of the unique fish who live in the lake including some weird prawn like creatures who filter the water, keeping it pure. At the every end there was a surprise in the form of two freshwater seals, swimming their chubby bodies around a tank. Very cute.

We couldn't watch the seals all day though so we went for a walk up the hill behind the museum. There was a chairlift but it wasn't in use and we needed to walk off the lunch pies anyway so we hiked up the hill trying not to get stuck in the snow.There was a good view of the lake from the top although the low cloud obscured the distant mountains. The hilltop was also covered in ribbons which people had tied there as gifts to the local spirits. We took a different, more direct route down the hill and walked back to the hostel. Back at the hostel we had a treat, an authentic Russian Banya (Sauna). We drunk some tea and then sat there sitting in 80ºc heat (he kept it cool for us...)Then we each took our turn at being lightly beaten with hot wet tree branches before being doused by a bucket of cold water. A refreshing and different experience for us. After the Banya it was a home cooked Russian meal of salad, beef stew and cake. We had certainly eaten well today. To see out the night we attempted to build a bonfire and failed miserably due to our inability to collect decent sized kindling in the dark.. Instead we retired to the common area for some vodka and a round of Uno before calling it a night.

LAKE BAIKAL DAY 2

After a breakfast omelet we went for a walk the other way around the lake, up onto some cliffs and and then

down onto the lake front where we got up and close with the compacted ice which had built up on the shore. After some time sitting by the lake we came back and Kosta took us to meet some guys who were taking us quad bike riding. There was plenty of snow around and we had plenty of fun zooming through the ice, slush and mud. Marcus managed to get properly stuck so that the guide had to rescue us, but that is all part of the fun. We were running short of time so Jess didn't get much of a drive, which was a shame but might have been lucky as the bike conked out completely only a few metres from the end. All revved up we stopped for tea and a banana wrapped in some sort of doughnut batter before making our way back to the hostel to get the mud cleaned up ourselves. All clean we wandered down to the local market to try some shashlyk. Turns out it is basically a shish kebab but the Russians have adopted it as a dish of their own. Full of meat we had another crack at the bonfire. This time we had the help of Kosta in chopping up the wood and setting up the fire (basically he did everything) and before we knew it the fire was roaring. All we had to do was keep it alive, which we managed to do for a couple of hours before the wind started getting too cold and we extinguished the fire and went to bed.

LAKE BAIKAL DAY 3

For our final day at Lake Baikal we caught the bus/van out to an open air museum where they had taken traditional wooden buildings from other parts of Siberia and rebuilt them. It was interesting to see how tight

living must have been. After Blini (pancakes) with condensed milk we caught the bus back to the lake. The weather had warmed up quite a bit and you could see that the ice was starting to thaw. No chance of us walking out over the lake but a little hovercraft seemed to be doing good business. We checked out the local market where we bought some bread and smoked Omul, a fish native to Lake Baikal. This fish was tasty but the bread was a bit stale. We made our way back to the hostel to pick up our gear and get into the van for the trip back into Irkutsk. It was a dozy bumpy ride into town. Kosta took us for a walking tour, but other than the Cathedral there wasn't really that much to see. Papa Johns was an easy choice for dinner, although our communication with the waitress didn't all go smoothly. Our food arrived in the end and we ate plenty. We played a couple of games of pool to pass the time, picked up some supplies and before we knew it we were on the train again. This time the train was older and more along the lines of what we had expected the Trans-Mongolian trains to be like. It was dated but functional. It took us a while to work all this out as when we arrived there were people in our cabin. They were gracious about moving as it was a mistake, but when we did manage to get in there and tried to store our bags we discovered that the storage space was full of bananas, oranges and wine....none of it ours. Tired and weighed down by luggage, Marcus had a few short words with the carriage attendant and after some rearranging we managed to get our stuff in, but it was a lot tighter than last time. A vodka from Pete was a well received way to unwind and after some chatting and looking what was to come over the next few days it was time to try and get some sleep. The old train proved less comfortable then the new train. We decided to put that down to authenticity....

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March 2012 - Germany, Poland and Lithuania

2012-03-31T14:55:00.000+13:00

LONDON TO BRAUNSCHWEIG

After three years to the day our time in London came to a close. After bidding goodbye to Aimee and Lucy some last packing and cleaning we were on the Overground to Highbury. It was much sadder this time than when we had left Wellington. We knew we would be coming back to Wellington one day, but this place which had been our home for the last three years, who knows when or if we will ever return...A trip on the Victoria Line and a switch to the Piccadilly Line and we were on the way to Heathrow Airport, leaving London from the same place we had entered. Boarding was on time, but a 45 minute delay (tsk Heathrow...) meant we were worried we might miss our train from Hamburg to Braunschweig. Further delays on the S-Bahn in Hamburg had the stress levels higher than they needed to be at this stage of the trip but fortunately we arrived at our train with about 5 minutes to spare. We had plenty of space on the train and dozed our way to Hannover. A Brezel at the train station had to suffice for dinner and then we were on the local train to Braunschweig. We caught a glimpse of a possible future now that we were unemployed backpackers. There was a couple with long dreadlocks, scruffy clothes and a dog companion. Fortunately we both decided that wasn't the path for us. The train arrived on time in Braunschweig on time and Christian was there to greet us, having only just finished work. We packed into his car and back to his apartment for beers, Brot, Wurst and Kase as well as catching up on what we had been up to. Before we knew it it was 1am and we were off to bed on the air mattress.

DIE HARZ GEBIRGE / THE HEART MOUNTAINS

After a leisurely rise and a trip to the Backerei for Brotchen we had a full breakfast before deciding on a trip to the Harz Gebirge for some walking in the forest. With lots of city trips to come we figured we should get some nature in while we could. There was still plenty of snow around so we had to be cautious as we made our way up the Brocken , the highest mountain in the region. Our lack of fitness wasn't doing us any favours, but after two hours following the tank road, and passing the witch path signs we made it to the top. The top of the mountain had been an East German military base during the cold war. The buildings had been converted into a hotel and information centre and there was a train station at the top for those who didn't want to walk up. Pleased with ourselves we were treated by Christian to a Thuringer Bratwurst, a local beer and a small bottle of schnapps each. We now felt nourished (and tipsy) and made our way down the other side of the mountain with mountain bikers racing past us. There was less snow on this side but it was steep the whole way down. We were pleased we climbed up the other side. At the bottom we had the choice of going around the reservoir or cutting back to where the car was. Always willing to try something and thinking it wouldn't take much longer we decided to go for the walk around the reservoir. The views were impressive and it was a lot quieter. We crossed the dam, which was formerly a border between East and West Germany, and still had the border marker showing, before continuing on our walk. After we had been walking for another couple of hours we started to wonder if Christian still knew where he was going but his German determination kept us going. As 6pm came around and the sun was going down we were still walking. Fortunately we knew we weren't that remote when Christian received a call from his parents just to make sure we were OK. Just as it was getting so dark we could only see five metres in front of us, but fortunately the lights from the car park came into view, and after 7 hours we had finally made it back to the car. We were going to feel it in our legs tomorrow. After the drive back to Braunschweig, Christian took us our to a local bar for dinner. A surly but friendly waitress (who Christian seemed to have his eye on) served us up a generous portion of pork. Hot for Marcus, cold for Jess. Having earned our dinner we wolfed it down, along with some local beers before walking back to Christian's for some more beer followed by sleep.

BORDER AND BRAUNSCHWEIG

It was a late start the next say, which wasn't helped by the start of daylight savings in Germany. We did manage to finally get going, and Christian took us to Marienborn, the site of a border crossing between the former East and West Germany. It had been kept as it was with former buildings being turned into a museum. It was crazy how paranoid the whole thing was with cars being searched and dismantled with owners the being left to put them back together. There were also lots of stories of people trying to flee and smuggle which ended in tragedy. It was hard to get a feel for what the place looked like in full swing other than it must have made NZ customs look like nothing (even if you did have an apple.) After visiting the border we went to a town called Hotensleben, which was a border town which had kept the border territory during the split between East and West.

We then made it back to Braunschweig to drop off the car before Christian took us for a walking tour of his current home. Most of the town had been destroyed during the war and rebuilt. A former palace in town was now a shopping mall. You enter into one end, which is like a normal shopping mall. come out the other end turn around and be struck by an impressive facade at the entrance, complete with horses on top. We carried on through the town, checking out churches, palaces and statues along the way. We checked out the interior of the cathedral and then climbed the tower in the Lutheran church to get a view all around Braunschweig. We climbed back down and walked along the river and back towards Christian's place via the park. A last quick beer at Christian's and then we bundled into the car arriving at the station just as the train was pulling in. Couldn't have timed it in closer.

We had a few trains to catch between there and our next destination of Warsaw, and some of the connections were pretty tight. The further we got the more uncertain we were about whether we were going the right way, particularly once we arrived at the station in Poland to change to the sleeper train. However, following the crowds and showing our tickets to the guards managed to get us to the right place. We were pleased not to be one of the people rammed into the six seat compartments for the night as we tucked into bed for the first of many nights sleeping on a train.

WARSAW - DAY 1

We were awoken with an early morning knock on the door as the train guard asked whether we wanted tea of coffee. Shortly thereafter the train pulled into Warsaw Central Station and we made our way, bleary eyed, out into the early morning. Our judgment wasn't the best as we walked in the complete wrong direction. Luckily we discovered our error and corrected it before we got too far. Something just didn't feel right. The hostel was where we expected it to be but 7am was too early to be checking in. Nonetheless the tired looking "Hostel Hero" took our bags, gave us a map and showed us the main sites around town. Sufficiently armed it was a quiet and cold Warsaw we ventured out into. They were doing a lot of work on the Underground system so many of the places that looked to be main roads on the map were inaccessible, but we still wandered our way towards the tourist heart of any European city, the old town. We wandered our way down the Royal Road toward the Palace checking out the statues or musical themed benches along the way, but the ice cold weather was getting the better of us. We carried on through the main square past Sigismund's column and through some of the side streets to the Market Square, site of the mermaid statue, one of the symbols of Warsaw. Keeping moving we exited the tiny old town through the Barbican and went past the rather stunning Monument to the Warsaw Rising. The cold start and early morning was starting to get the best of us so we found a place to sit down for a coffee and a biscuit. This helped us thaw our bones and gave us some energy to keep going. We crossed to the other side of the bridge to the Praga area. This was supposedly the alternative/arty area and apparently a lot of buildings were still standing from before WWII, unlike much of the rest of the rest of the city, which the Nazis had destroyed when they retreated. We had been told a couple of streets to check out but weren't really that impressed. Turns out we had it wrong and if we had gone a couple of blocks further it would have been more interesting. Unaware, we made our way back to the main street and wandered up the Holy Cross Church where Chopin's heart is buried. (They hadn't permitted his whole body to be buried in Poland.) Just up the road was a statue of Copernicus the astronomer which we went and saw. We had managed to achieve all of this before midday. It was definitely time for some well earned lunch. We made our way back to the Market Square and found a restaurant which served up traditional Polish pierogi, meat filled dumplings. The waiter helped us find some local beer and before long we were wolfing down the yummy dumplings. After all that eating and walking we were starting to feel it all catching up on us. After a short rest in the park we made our way back to the hostel for a much needed shower and nap. A few hours sleep was just what we needed to feel a bit more balanced. After making the most of the hostel's 2 for 1 happy hour it was time to go find some dinner. We bought some food at the local supermarket with plans to cook our own pierogi. Unfortunately the ones we picked were filled with some sort of cottage cheese and not nearly as good as lunchtime. It had been a long day and we had achieved a lot so it was back to bed for a proper night's sleep.

WARSAW - DAY 2

We had big plans for our second day in Warsaw, but alas things don't always go according to plan. After a late breakfast we made our way to the main train station to buy tickets to Vilnius, Lithuania the following day. The Man in Seat 61 had told us it was possible. The lady at the international ticket counter didn't speak English but she knew what we wanted. Unfortunately the only way to Vilnius was via Minsk in Belarus, a paranoid dictatorship who thinks every foreigner is a spy, and more importantly a country we did not have a VISA to enter. We knew there was an overnight bus, so decided to go back to the hostel to see what we could sort out. Flights were going to set us back about £200 so we asked the hostel staff if they could help us with bus tickets. After a few phone calls we had an address for a travel and after a bit of a search we had in our hands two tickets on the overnight bus from Warsaw to Vilnius.

With much of the day now past we needed to do something touristy. We walked for about 45 minutes to the Warsaw rising museum, only to be told by the friendly guard that it was closed today...Somewhat disheartened we wandered back to the hostel. An unmissable landmark in Warsaw (as in you can't help seeing it because it so huge) is the Palace of Culture and Science, a gift to the city many years ago by Josef Stalin. It is a big ugly building which towers over Warsaw. It now contains theaters, restaurants and a multi-plex movie complex. We caught the lift up to the top floor, supervised by the lift attendant. There certainly were good views out over the city in all directions. However we had to battle with the ice-cold winds which were blowing around us, so we didn't last too long before retreating back down the lift. It had been a tiring day so after a trip to the supermarket we went back to the hostel to chill out a bit and have a couple of beers. After an unspecified sausage dinner it was time for another well earned sleep.

WARSAW - DAY 3

Determined not to be outwitted again we checked out of the hostel and made our way through the modern high-rise buildings juxtaposed with the crumbling Soviet Era concrete blocks, back to the Warsaw Rising museum. A number schools seemed to have the same idea as us so we spent a fair bit of time dodging bored looking teenagers as we made our way through. The museum is all about the failed attempt by the Warsaw resistance to overthrow Nazi occupation in 1944. There is a lot of detail, some of it very tragic. All of it was well executed but we often found ourselves jumping around in time.

As the museum had not sufficiently depressed us we headed north in hunt of the Jewish Cemetery. Like many European and Nazi occupied cities Jewish people had been confined to their own quarter. The area occupied by cemeteries in the city was huge and having spent a lot of time wandering around the protestant and catholic cemeteries, for free, we decided not to pay to go into the Jewish Cemetery. Instead we cut down some of the back streets past row after row of big square Soviet apartment blocks. It had warmed up a lot so we sat in the park before doing some souvenir shopping in the old town. We went for a stroll back down the main street but didn't really see anything of note.

Having satisfied ourselves that we had seen what we needed to in Warsaw, we packed up our bags, found the local bus and made out way to the coach station. We were quite early and coach stations are some of the grimmest places in the world. It didn't help that we couldn't read the departure board so didn't know when or if our bus was coming. Luckily a shiny yellow double-decker coach arrived, they let us on board and we got comfy for the 9 hour ride to Vilnius.

VILNIUS - DAY 1

Another early arrival into our next city. We found our way to the hostel in the early hours along the snowy and icy streets to be greeted by a very sleepy owner, Lina. We knew how she felt. We drank some coffee, ate some Soviet Bars (probably not the real name) and warmed around an hour before venturing into the old city through some snow and rain.

The old town isn't very big but there were plenty of pretty old buildings and statues. We started through the Gate of Dawn, an old part of the city wall containing a tiny church, through the old town past the town hall and many brightly coloured churches (but we didn't go in any), past a university and towards the river. We made our way through a large square containing the Cathedral, the former palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and looked up towards the castle on the hill above. We were then rather cold and wet so we stopped off at a local cafe to warm up. Even in the rain we could see that the old town was a beautiful place with picture postcard streets and churches. People all seemed to dress well and the shops were all filled with high quality goods.

Once we had dried out we headed to the museum of genocide victims, in the old KGB building. The museum was a very grim account of the persecution of the Lithuanian people by the Soviet Regime. The most interesting part was the prison located in the basement including a visit to the execution room. There weren't many other tourists visiting at that time so it had quite an eerie feeling. The other information was also interesting and created more of a story than other places we visited.

We were pretty hungry by this point so checked out a restaurant recommended by the hostel which served traditional Lithuanian cuisine. The place seemed a bit kitch on the inside but the beer and food were really good. Marcus had tasty meat and potato dumplings and Jess had potato pancakes both with sour cream and pork crackling sauce.

Re-energised from our food we journeyed out the town centre to the suburb of Uzupis. This suburb was a haven for artists and independent thinkers. They had even declared themselves an independent state in 1998 and even had a constitution put up in the main street for all to read. You could get your passport stopped on 1 April but alas we would be gone by then.

We headed back to the hostel via some cute back streets but got caught in some hail on the way. Time for a nap. Once refreshed we socialised with some other guests over Lithuanian wine which was made with choke-bery or blackcurrants. Quite tasty seeing as no one new Lithuania made wine. We played a guess the country flag game which we were terrible at before turning in for some well deserved rest.

TRAKAI CASTLE

As we had seen most of the old town yesterday we headed out of town to a village called Trakai on the bus. The bus was more an elongated van with extra seats but it got us there. We walked through the town past its partly frozen lakes towards Trakai History Museum which is situated in Trakai Castle in the middle of one of the lakes. It was the seat of power when Lithuania ruled all the way to the Black Sea 600 years ago. The town seemed a bit quiet but you could tell it would be much busier in summer with plenty of adverts for spas.

We walked along the shore and across foot bridges to reach the island. The castle was very pretty but was not the original and you could tell the red bricks it was made out of now was not the original colour scheme. It had been rebuilt from ruins in the early 1900s. It was interesting to learn more about the history of Lithuania as we didn't know much before we arrived. Back in the days when the empire was vast the king had recruited an elite band of Crimean fighters. They and their families had left their homeland and come to live at Trakai. They were a religious sect similar to the Knights Templar and their story was very interesting.

Next we went on the search for the local specialty Kibinai. We found a place and ordered some. They turned out to be pretty similar to a Cornish pasty - so not very exciting but tasty none the less. Then we were back on the bus to town. Back at the hostel again our host plied us with more Lithuanian wine before insisting that we go out to some local bars. We were joined by a Finnish backpacker and a 62 year old retired Japanese schoolteacher this time. He was traveling while he visited his daughter who was studying in Helsinki. We were also joined by an Iranian metallurgist who was working in Denmark.We felt a bit strange about her leaving her young child on his own but the area seemed safe and she insisted. We headed to a cool bar with a slight goth/rock theme. A Japanese, an Iranian, a Fin, two New Zealanders and a Lithuanian walked into a bar - no its not some bad joke it's just what happened! We had a few beers and talked about traveling. Then Lina convinced us to walk up a hill and climbed up a wall to get a great night view of the town. All very nice but we were getting tired so we bailed at the next bar for some rest. It was an early flight for us in the morning. It was nice to go out with some other people for a change as we tend to stick to ourselves when traveling.

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March

2012-03-23T22:50:00.000+13:00

We started March by jumping on the train to Sheffield to visit Rae and Viola. They picked us up from the station, drove us back to Rae's place and we dropped off our bags. After a cup of tea we were back in the car again and heading north to the Yorkshire Sculpture park. It is a former stately home, Bretton Hall, the grounds of which have been filled with various sculptures. The weather was looking a bit worrying but we still set off wandering the grounds, checking out the various modern sculptures which you could look at, climb on and climb through. We would be lying if we pretended we knew anything about modern art but we do appreciate a good walk and it was interesting to see all the different ways that artists had used the space at their disposal. The clouds had also decided to break up a bit too so we had some nice spells of blue sky too. After lunch at the cafe on the grounds we wandered down into the valley and then up through the paddocks on the other side and along the ridge looking back over the grounds where we had been walking.The sculptures up here were much bigger, like a whole building made out of steel mesh. It got pretty tight moving between some of the walls. We wandered back down again, through more sculptures along the way, enjoying the sun, until we got back to visitor centre. There was time for a cup of tea and some cake before jumping in the car and making our way back to Sheffield. We stopped in town and had a drink at a pub which backed on to the movie theatre. The Artist was all the rage at this time so we decided to check out what all the fuss was about. It was entertaining and there were some clever parts to the way it had been done, being in the style of a 1920s silent movie, but we didn't come out of it blown away. It was then back to Rae's for some dinner before heading off to bed.

The next day we rose mid morning and it wasn't looking too good outside. There was a bit of rain about but we were keen to go for a walk through the woods and weren't going to let some bad weather stop us. So we piled into Rae's car and she took us up the road for a short walk along the river as part of the town belt. The weather wasn't letting up any and in fact was getting worse, with sleet and snow coming down on us. Luckily we were rugged up warm and had our jackets to keep us dry. We walked for a while but eventually the weather got the better of us and we decided to head back to Rae's for some warm soup for lunch and an afternoon spent looking at our travel photos. It was nice just having a relaxing time but we needed to get back to London again, so it was back on the train and away we went. At least it wouldn't be too long till we saw Rae and Viola again as they would be visiting NZ at Christmas.

The following weekend we were on the train again, although not as far as last week as we caught the C2C out to Leigh on Sea to visit Karla, James, Harry and Ella. Their house was looking pretty good since we had last seen it, although we didn't spend too long at the house before heading out for lunch at a lovely local country pub. The place was really busy people with local people enjoying lunch, a pint and the nice weather. We enjoyed some tasty lunch, some pints of ale and cider and then a walk in the woods and a play at the playground with the kids. Karla was doing pretty well considering she was now very pregnant with another baby on the way. This was a bit of a sadder goodbye as we weren't quite sure when we were likely to see them again although hopefully it would be for their wedding in NZ. That wasn't it for the day though. We had been invited to Darryl and Beverly's for dinner and Settlers of Catan. Ian and Amy were in too. We hadn't played the game before but it is a strategy game where you build roads and settlements and try to get the most points. We spent most of the time confused (the beer probably increased the confusion) but had a good time anyway.

The following week was a busy one. We caught up with Emma and Tim for dinner. It was a tasty thai dinner at Rosa's across from Spitalfields. Not really a brick lane curry but actually we think it is better. We then grabbed a few pints at the local pubs before another goodbye. Hopefully not too long before we see them in NZ. We are sure Mrs Wise agrees.

Jess caught up with Laura and Emma for dinner and a drink. Even though they hadn't caught up in London quite as much as they would have liked it was nice to see each other before we were gone.

Before we knew it it was our wedding anniversary again. This year we decided we wouldn't go out for a meal at a nice restaurant. Instead we made dinner at home and then made our way down to Great Portland Street to see our friends Darryl, Beverly, Ian and George performing in their band Lost Lands. It was cool listening to their psychedelic rock tunes. Not a lot of singing but Beverly held a tune on one song. Most importantly Marcus had let it slip that it was our anniversary so the band even did a shout out to us. We have good friends.

And just like that it was our last weekend in London. We had organised leaving drinks up the road at the Duke of Wellington. We figured it was appropriate that we say goodbye to London from a pub with Wellington in the title, seeing as our final destination was going to be Wellington too. There was a great turnout of people from all over London and we were touched to see all the people who had made our time in London so great. It was good fun but sad at the same time because we knew that once this night was over our world would get much much smaller again as these people had been the major part of our world for the past three years. Thank you everyone for making our time in London fantastic and we can't wait to see all of you again somewhere...

And so we continued to pack our bags, pack our boxes and work out which of our meagre possessions from the last three years could go to charity (Super Hero Costumes?) As it would be a long time until we would be earning money again we decided to work up until the last minute, with Marcus finishing his job on the Tuesday before we left and Jess finishing on the Wednesday. Marcus had been there almost the whole time we had been in the UK, so it was pretty sad to leave his great team Simon, Alistair, Graham and Jas. Fortunately a mid-week leaving drinks meant that the next day hangover didn't mess up his plans of moving the boxes downstairs for the shipping company to pick up. Our world became smaller yet again.

That only gave us one day in London before our Visas expired and we officially became overstayers. We decided to spend that day in the same way we had spent our time when we first came to London, as tourists. Fortunately, London wanted to support us in our endeavour with a calm reasonably clear day. Perfect weather for exploring. We headed down to the Tower of London and wandered down to the Thames. Although we had crossed it before we had never actually explored Tower Bridge so seeing as this was our last chance to lined up with the tourists. We were on a lucky streak as the bridge even decided to open for us to let a boat through. We climbed the north tower, checking out the history of the bridge on the way up. Then we wandered across the walkways at the top of the tower, checking out the great view east and west along the Thames. The pedestrian walkways were originally intended to be that high too. People sure would have been fit climbing up and down those to close the river every day. (There is a lift which takes you most of the way now...) After coming down we checked out the pumphouse. We continued along South Bank, stopping at Marcus' favourite market, Borough Market, to pick up some eats and continued along past the Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge until we got to Waterloo Bridge when we crossed back into the City and stopped at the Wellington Pub on the Strand for some lunch. Sausages and mash, a steak and ale pie and a couple of pints. Good English fare that we wouldn't likely be having the same again for a while. We wandered up through Covent Garden and then back along the Strand until we arrived at Trafalgar Square. As usual there were plenty of tourists around as well as the Olympic Clock counting down to the London Olympics, one event we would have to be satisfied seeing on the TV. London would regularly have different themed artistic items scattered around the city. We had seen the elephants and today we were seeing eggs painted up all throughout the city. They were to celebrate a Faberge Egg exhibition which was on. We wouldn't be seeing that but we might just see some other ones on the way home. We continued up the Mall, stopping to frolic in the daffodils in St James' park. There was even a little squirrel there to say goodbye to us. We stopped by Buckingham Palace to say goodbye to the Queen but were feeling pretty tired after all that walking so caught the tube back to Islington and then the Double Decker Bus back to Dalston. Lucy was staying so we had arranged to go for one last Meat meal. Aimee had been working very hard lately so we hadn't seen much of here but we were pleased she was able to come and join us too. It looked like we might not be going anywhere for a while there as Marcus decided that he didn't need to chew and proceeded to choke on his meat. We will spare you the finer details other than to say he managed to get his throat clear again. After a busy day and fun night we went back to the flat to make sure we were properly packed and for our last night sleep in the UK for the forseeable future.

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February

2012-02-29T22:49:00.000+13:00

We had had a very mild winter so far with temperatures not getting too low and no real sign of snow to date. That all changed at the start of February as the mercury dropped and we got our first look at Dalston covered in a layer of snow. One night we looked out the window and we could see that there was some slow gently making its way down and it got thicker and thick so that by morning there were a good couple of inches everywhere. Enough to be pleasant but not enough to cause any trouble. Nonetheless London was a ghost town that day. We made our way down to Spitalfields, normally buzzing with people and there was hardly anyone to be seen. (Just to keep things in perspective, hardly anyone in London is still way more people than you would see in Wellington on a normal day...)Shopping without the hustle and bustle of the crowds just wasn't quite the same.

The cold weather stuck around and Marcus was lucky enough to not only have the day off work for his birthday but it snowed that day too. First time he had ever had a snowy birthday. Jess made him a tasty late breakfast and it was a lazy morning before we went out into the snow. While we had been in the UK we had become mildly obsessed with the UK version of Masterchef. One incarnation of the series in the UK was Masterchef: The Professionals were young real chefs would compete against each other, not just the usual home cooks. The head judge was a Michelin star winning chef called Michel Roux Junior and Jess had booked us in for lunch at his restaurant, Roux on Parliament Square.We entered through the main door, had our coats taken and were taken to our table. It was a small restaurant converted from an old terrace house so we weren't sharing our lunch with too many people. Never one to pass up multiple courses we treated ourselves to the seven course degustation. Mmmmm. Degustation....We felt very fancy and very full with yummy food. Good job Michel Roux Jr. We made our way back the flat for a bit of a rest after all that eating before round 2. We were meeting our friends at the Railway Tavern in Dalston (not the one across the road from the apartment, or the one next to Dalston Kingsland Station...the other one...) Our friends had secured a nice corner with tables and a booth so we grabbed an ale to warm us from the cold night. After comfy and settled in we upped sticks and walked through the freezing night to Mangal Ocakbasi ("Meat" for the well informed). We had a great big table booked and lined up for the Turkish goodness. It was the same chef as last time, slaving away. Everyone ordered far too much food, so there was plenty for everyone, including the vegetarians amongst us. After all that meaty goodness even the cold couldn't get through us as we waddled our way back to the flat/ An excellent birthday all round.

That weekend we decided to check out a sight which we didn't know much about but had spent plenty of time going past, the British Library. We weren't sure if it was just going to be a bunch of books or there was something more. Turns out there was, with an excellent free exhibit containing all manner of historical documents from original works of Shakespeare, to all types of ancient Bibles and even the Magna Carta. Who would have thought that looking at a bunch of books could be so interesting? We had ourselves some lunch at the cafe before finding a spot to sit back and read our own books. Alas, you had to have a special pass to go into the various reading rooms so we didn't get to see what was behind the big wooden doors....

London is packed full of gigs going on somewhere every night. We hadn't exactly taken advantage of that too much but thanks to Tree we made a little journey into the city to see some North London DJs, the Next Men. We met for a drink at Electricity Showrooms before wandering down to the bar where the Next Men were playing. We were a bit worried when we got there and it looked to be some sort of crazy futuristic lounge bar with plenty of silver and people in skinny suits and small dresses. Fortunately we discovered that down in the basement there was a great big room with a DJ booth at the front and a bar along the side and the Next Men pumping out the tunes. Just what we were looking for. They started with some funky reggae tunes before moving into the hip-hop beats and then rounding it out with some dance music. We had some great fun dancing (even some of the rest of the London crowd got into it for a change). We couldn't help smiling seeing Keith from the Office up there DJing away. (Not really him but we think the resemblance is uncanny.)

One of the things we like to do when we visit a site is to climb the tallest structure and get a view around the place. Now with the advent of Skyscrapers there are monstrous buildings that loom over the City of London, but for hundreds of years one of the tallest things you could climb was the Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as the Monument. A column designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built in the 1670s to commemorate the Great Fire of London and the rebuilding of the City. After climbing the stairs around and around and around we had a great (although chilly) view of some of the great sites of the East End, like Tower Bridge, St Pauls, the Gherkin, the City of London Corporation building and London's newest (and incomplete) high rise, the imposing Shard. We made our way back down again before nipping across to Covent Garden for a cup of tea and some lolly cake.

Jess' parents had got her a voucher for a cooking class for her birthday which we had managed to find time to book in at L'Atelier des Chefs in Wigmore Street. We arrived plenty early and checked out some of the fancy cooking equipment you could buy in their shop a the front before it was our turn, along with all the other Gordon Ramsay and Nigella Lawson wannabes. We were teamed up with three other girls and rather than each of us cook the whole meal we each had a task to do to get the overall job done. We were cooking crispy duck breast on a bed of cabbage and celeriac with a berry sauce followed by a gooey chocolate fondant. There was chopping and frying and simmering and sauteing. We weren't quite sure how it was all going to turn out but were very impressed with our efforts. Then came the best part of it all, we got to enjoy our efforts and wolf down our tasty lunch. Although we were feeling pretty full we still managed to make it around to Ian and Amy's for dinner. They made a yummy dinner with some fancy Artichoke and plenty of wine all round.

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/February2012

January

2012-02-01T02:09:00.000+13:00

January

We eventually woke up in our little Cornish cottage in 2012. It was looking a little clearer than it had the day before so we decided to head a bit further afield, to one of the modern attractions of Cornwall, the Eden Project. It is basically two massive dome glasshouses filled with plants from all over the world. Once we finally got through the car park (which is huge) we found we weren't that far from the attraction. The middle of winter isn't exactly peak visit time. Before heading down into the pit where the domes are located we stopped for some tea, scones, jam and clotted cream for Jess and another pasty for Marcus while being entertained by the automated puppet show about what would happen if we didn't have nature in the way it is now. We descended into the pit past gardens and giant bees before entering the first of the domes. There were signs everywhere warning us that it can get very hot in there but they are probably more for the summer guests as we found it was just pleasant. We wandered past the various tropical plants and checked out the artwork interspersed throughout and even read some of the signs to get better informed. There was a viewing platform up above the middle of the dome so we climbed up the many stairs until it was our turn to go out and have a look. It was pretty high and interesting to get a view of the rainforest from above rather than below. We made our way back down to the dome entrance. Between the two domes was another building where you could buy eco-souvenirs but more importantly you could buy lunch. There was a big area with long tables and all sorts of organic cooking to order. An organic bacon and lettuce roll, a leek and blue cheese pastry and two pieces of Victoria sponge later and we were feeling pretty good. We made our way across to the next dome. This one was more temperate with plants from places like the Mediterranean and New Zealand. It was clever the way they had constructed it so that different parts of the dome catered from slightly different climates. We particularly enjoyed all the different varieties of chillies. There must have been about 30, from mild to having to be behind glass because they were so potent. There was one more building to visit. This one was a big concrete construction with a giant concrete golf ball like shape in the middle. It was so big that they had built the building around it. There were all sorts of educational exhibits but we found the winning entries in the international nature photography competition the most amazing. There were six year olds taking pictures a million times better than our holiday snaps. We were happy with all the we had seen today so jumped back into the car and drove back to the cottage for a well earned rest.

We weren't quite sure what to do with our remaining day in Cornwall so decided to just head out and see what we could see. We started with a drive out to Britain's most southerly point, The Lizard.When we arrived there wasn't much there, a lighthouse, a cafe (closed) some fields and plenty of wind. This was much more what we were expecting to see when we had visited Lands End so were pleased we made the effort today. After a bit of a wander we climbed back into the car and wandered our way through countryside and little villages skirting the coastline and then cutting our way back in again. We had no real plan about what we were wanting to do but were just happy to check things out along the way. Cornwall is apparently full of country gardens which you can visit and although it wasn't exactly the right time of year we decided to check one out. Trebah Garden filled our requirements (being nearby and able to be found.) We parked up and made our way in to into the grounds. It wasn't at its best but was still a nice green calm walk through the grounds. There was a combination of trees, plants, ponds, bridges, sculpture and even the odd Punga to remind us of home. We stopped for lunch in the garden cafe, checked out the garden shop (alas no garden to bring things back to in London, and then meandered our way back through the countryside to Penzance. We dropped off the rental, did a last wander around the streets of Penzance and then made our way to train station for the slow trip back to London.

We took it easy through the middle of the month before it all got busy again towards the end. Jon and Lobke were in town so we caught up with them for a drink at the Citte of Yorke, and old style pub with the same owners as Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It was good to see them, even if only for a short time.

The next day was the big one of the month, Jess' 30th birthday. It was on a Saturday this year so we could spend the whole day celebrating. It was champagne, fruit and croissants for breakfast. Jess then got to play with her new Kindle for a while before we caught the bus to Highbury and Islington and a short trip on the Victoria Line to Green Park and we were out in Mayfair. We had been enjoying the classy food you could eat in London but hadn't yet been anywhere that was the holder of a Michelin Star. That was about to change as we had a booking at Hakkasan, Chinese Cuisine with a modern take. It looks relatively inconspicuous from the outside with a glass front and some tables and a bar. However, then you go through and down the stairs into a whole different world. The lights are low and all the furniture is black or dark brown, but there is blue lighting around the place so you can see where you are supposed to be going. It has a good effect which means you don't really notice the people around you. After being seated by the waitress, wearing a funky Chinese style dress, we grabbed a mixture of dumplings to get us started. We were treated with ingredients like seafood, rabbit, duck and a whole range of exotic herbs and spices. These were easily the tastiest dumplings we had ever had, and we do like dumplings. For the main Marcus had king crab in the shell and Jess enjoyed a Peking style duck but done with plump sauce. The mains were also tasty but nothing could beat those dumplings. It was then back home for a bit of a rest and a round of Happy Birthday before Jess blew out the candles on her Red Velvet with cream cheese icing birthday cake. Marcus would like to pretend that he had been baking but this masterpiece was well beyond his expertise. The day wasn't over yet though. We walked up Kingsland Road to Stoke Newington where we had invited everyone to celebrate Jess' birthday at the White Hart, a trendy but spacious local pub where had a big booth reserved. There was a really good turnout from all our friends from all over London, both North and South. Everyone seemed to be having a good time although Ian got a bit out of control and made sure Jess had more than her fair share of shots.

It felt like a long time since we had been to a West End musical (Panto doesn't count) so we decided to make up for it by going to see THE west end musical (no, not Shrek) The Phantom of the Opera! With a round of Yo Sushi for dinner and passing the stars getting out for a movie premiere (Polish movie so nobody we recognised) we made our way to the theatre (which was actually pretty small), found our seats and readied ourselves for some Andrew Lloyd Webber magic. It wasn't Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford but was still very impressive. The power of the music of the night....

While we had been away lots of our friends had been growing their families. Babies everywhere. Not so much with our London friends, so when one did it was a pretty big deal. We jumped on the District Line and made our way out to visit Kate and David and their new addition, Mae. She was ultra tiny but ultra cute too and Marcus even held her for a while as she slept away. Mum and Dad were very proud and it was great to see them all.

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/January2012

December

2012-01-01T02:09:00.000+13:00

As always December was a busy time with plenty of people to see and things to do. We decided that we needed to do some exploring around the East End which we had decided to call home. Apparently the East End is well known for its markets so what with Christmas coming we thought we would see on offer. We went for a wander down to the canal and headed east until along it until we reached Broadway Market, at the foot of London Fields. It was full of trendy young people hanging out, checking out the stalls and sampling the many food stalls which were spread up and down the street. We felt like a drink, but as happens in London on the weekend the pubs were packed so no chance of that. We had to settle for a warm mulled wine from one of the stall holders set up around the corner in the school yard. We checked out London Fields, which were your standard London green space. Bit chilly for a picnic though. We wandered back through the market and picked up some big tasty looking veges before wandering back to the apartment. There is a roof terrace on top of the building so we tried our luck at getting up there. Alas, the doors were locked so the best we could hope for was to stare through the windows.

London is full of museums to all sorts of things. Down the road was one of the more obscure ones, the Geffrye Museum of Interior Design. Marcus passed it every day on the bus to work. It wasn't really something we would normally check out but they had a special exhibition on of Christmas through the ages. There were basically about 7-8 rooms showing what a typical family living room would look like at Christmas. It was actually pretty cool and gave quite a good insight into what life would have been like for people over the past several hundred years. There was also a funky shop in the museum where we picked up a Battersea Power Station Bookend for Marcus (he had wanted a Battersea Power Station souvenir for ages but had never found the right one. We also got a surprise in the basement of the museum. There was a small drawing exhibition, done by a local artist, all about the construction of Dalston Square, the place we were now living in. It was cool to have that personal connection with it. Outside the museum, formerly almshouses (retirement home) was a great big Christmas tree and tiny little men who someone had placed around the grounds. They had little signs asking to be returned home but we decided to leave that adventure for someone else.

One of the cool things about London is you get little ghettos of different ethnic communities around the place. Hoxton is just down the road and it is chocka full of Vietnamese restaurants. We hadn't had much Vietnamese before so thought we would give it a try. After a tasty meal of fresh spring rolls, crab and curry we were pretty happy and keen to try it again.

Somehow we had managed to spend our whole time in London without visiting one of the major tourist attractions, Westminster Abbey. So we decided to make amends by queuing up with the American tourists to check it out. It is a Gothic cathedral so, unlike St Paul's which is quite light and airy it is quite dark inside with lots of stone and wood. It is also hard to get a feel for the Westminster Abbey you see in the Royal weddings on TV because you enter through the side door and there is a big artificial wall dividing it all up. We wandered around checking out the final resting place of many famous people such Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots and Rudyard Kipling. By this time we had seen a lot of churches but this one still ranked as one of the most impressive, if just by famous bodies buried under it alone.

Another East End market that we wanted to check out was the Columbia Road Flower Market. It was just a short stroll down the road and we found it without too much of a problem. First things first we headed to the money machine which gave us the option of English or Cockney...so after a bit longer than usual we walked away flushed with Sausage and Mash and wandered through the narrow lanes into the market. It is pretty small, stretching down Columbia Road and into some of the side streets, but is packed with people buying their flowers and plants and young people hanging out in the cool pubs, cafes and shops along the road. We wandered through the crowd listening to calls of "Two for a Tenner!" "Lovely bunches!" "Beautiful Darlin!" checking out the bright bunches of flowers everywhere but we had our eyes set on something else today. We were after a big green bushy Christmas Tree. There were plenty to choose from but they were going just as quick as the vendors could put them out. Fortunately we were quick off the mark and managed to pick ourselves up one that looked pretty good. Marcus hoisted it on to his shoulder and we managed to get halfway home before needing to jump onto the bus....We got it safely back to the apartment and then Jess added the decorations and we couldn't help feeling more festive as a result.

It wasn't just new markets which we checked out. Camden was always a great place to go for Christmas shopping and just 10 minutes away on the Overground it was easy to get there (and much more interesting than the massive Westfield Stratford in the other direction.) It's also a great place for street food. Mmmm, tasty curries. We also made a trip to Ridley Road market in Dalston. It's straight out of Eastenders but more a source of day to day wares than special things for Christmas.

Another English tradition which we had yet to experience was the Christmas Pantomime. There were plenty on around the place so we got ourselves some tickets to see Cinderella at the Hackney Empire one night after work. We weren't quite sure what to expect but were actually quick surprised at the enjoyable singing, dancing, cross dressing, audience interaction and general silliness. They had us shouting "Look Behind You!" and "Oh No He Won't!" along with the rest of the crowd. Although many of the adults seemed to be enjoying it all a bit more than the kids. We played along but spent most the time feeling a little bewildered by the whole thing. Must be a cultural thing.

As Christmas grew ever closer it was time for each of us to go to our work Christmas parties. Jess unfortunately got stuck with the traditional work lunch fare of cold stodgy roast in a lifeless chain hotel dining room. Marcus was a bit luckier this year. His work had decided to go for something different. A bus ride down to Richmond and Chinese food for Christmas lunch. Couldn't help thinking of the movie "A Christmas Story". It was very good Chinese though. That was a little bit different but then it reach a whole new level when an Indian guy dressed as Elvis turned up halfway through the main course and started belting out Elvis' classics. Not sure if it was the combination of the surreal Chinese Christmas but everyone was loving Indian Elvis and wouldn't let him leave. He ran out of Elvis songs to sing but luckily knew a bit of Cliff Richard and even some Queen too. (It is possible that all this enthusiasm from everyone was also the result of the free flowing wine too...) Marcus was also pleased with his Secret Santa gift of a big beard to replace the one he had recently had to let go.

Christmas time was a perfect opportunity for the Dalston Square community to get together again. The residents association had arranged an evening get together. Bring a Plate. Being Kiwis we liked that way of doing things. So armed with homemade gingerbread men we made our way across the square and up into another building in search of the festivities. Turns out there was a great big deck, perfect for get togethers filled with random people, some of whom we had met before but many of whom we had not. It was pretty darn cold out there, but we met a bunch of new people who shared the same area with us and shared in their food as they shared in ours. In such a big place as London it is great to find some community.

It was nice to have Christmas Eve on a Saturday so we used the opportunity to to catch up with Anna and Perry at the Cole Hole in Covent Garden, a good old fashioned pub with some tasty ales and roasts on offer. We enjoyed a Christmas themed ale or four...and some good conversation and Company before letting Anna and Perry be on their way before the London public transport ground to a halt.

Aimee had gone home to Jersey for Christmas so we were able to get up in our PJs and have our annual Mum and Dad Skype chats. We didn't overdo it for breakfast. There was plenty of time to do that the rest of the day. Instead we packed ourselves up with food and drink and walked down to Tree's place. No public transport to get us there today, but still only a 45 minute walk. This year we were celebrating with Tree and Ash in a Christmas Feast Extravaganza. Tree had already been slaving away all morning by the time we got there, but we all pitched in to deliver one of the tastiest meals of roast lamb, veges, potatoes, brussel sprouts and stuffing that we had ever had. Mouth still waters thinking about it. With no driving the wine was flowing pretty freely too. After breaking to adjust our belts another round of tasty pav roll (a la Jess) ice-cream and fruit was not needed but still enjoyable. As is traditional we weren't really in much of a position to move by this point so retired to the lounge for something Tree had been wanting to share for a while. The Room. It is a movie, but more than just a movie...it is probably the worst movie you will ever see...and yet enjoyable for that very same reason..."Oh Hi Guys" Anyone fancy a game of football in the alley while wearing tuxedos? This all finished up in time for us to be joined by the the rest of the London crew who were finishing up at their various own Christmas lunches (which clearly were not as good as ours was...) General merriment and Never Mind the Buzzcocks the board game (which was ridiculously difficult and unsurprisingly lacked the wit of the TV show) ensued, before eventually all that eating and drinking took its toll and we decided to head home for some Christmas sleep.

The transport was back again on Boxing Day, so we made our way a bit further (but not much further) afield to Ian and Amy's (along with the rest of the London crew) for a relaxing afternoon of snack eating and movie watching. There was fun with Rio, fear with The Shining and silliness with Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. It was the perfect way to spend a lazy Boxing Day with friends.

Jess decided to go into work over the Christmas break for a couple of days so Marcus just chilled out a bit at home and caught up on some sleep. We hadn't really been anywhere since getting back from our van trip so we had arranged a trip to the southernmost part of England, where people talk like Pirates. Yaaaargh! Cornwall. We tripped across to Paddington Station (no direct route alas) before jumping on a train for the 6 hour journey down to Penzance. It was a grey day that greeted us as we reached Penzance. We loaded our bags into the rental car and then went for a walk around the town. The main road wasn't much to talk about, with a few more Pound Shops than we were keen to visit. We wandered along some of the side streets till we found the Morrab Gardens, a nice place to wander. It wasn't in full bloom, being the middle of winter but still very pleasant. We followed the hill down until we reached the waterfront and then wandered around trying to catch glimpses of St Michael's Mount (the cousin of Mont St Michel) but alas the cloud was too low so our glimpses were only fleeting. After all that working we had worked up an appetite and we managed to find a place to stop for a tasty Cornish Pasty, in Cornwall...We stopped in at the supermarket and picked up our Cornish Ale and Cornish clotted cream ice-cream. Sufficiently stocked we made our way back to the car and with the help of Tom-Tom journeyed out into the country lanes of Cornwall. They got progressively narrower until we had large mounds of grass on either side and no room to escape if we came across another car coming the other way. Fortunately we found our way to our pretty stone cottage without incident. It was part of an old farm with a big stone house on the other side of the courtyard (which we accidentally drove into at first...) We parked the car, got the key from our hosts and went to explore. It was getting dark so we were pleased to get there before it was so dark that we couldn't see the way...No street lights around these parts. The cottage was lovely, with stone walls snuggly couches and a big roaring fire place with plenty of wood to keep us warm.

The weather was still a bit dodgy as we awoke on New Years Eve with fog, rain and patches of sun all rolled in. We weren't down in Cornwall to stay inside though, so we jumped in the car and off we went. We weren't as lucky as the day before, when we met someone coming the other way along the narrow lane, so had to reverse backwards up the hill till we could find some space. To give you an idea of how narrow the road was, the someone that we met was a lady pushing a pram...We headed out towards the south coast to see what was to be seen. First stop was the Minack Theatre. An amazing open air theatre built into the cliff overlooking the sea. It had been a labour of love for its creator Rowena Cade. The exhibition about her and her life building the theatre was very interesting. There was no play on so we could scamper around the seats and the stage with the crashing waves many feet below. We made our way down the path behind the theatre to the yellow sanded beach below. Bit cold for us to swim. Marcus thought he saw a dog coming out of the water but Jess knew better, it was seal coming up for a bit of a rest from the raging sea. After walking back up the hill to the car we carried on around the coast (having to make our way slowly as we got caught in the middle of a fox hunt we think) our next stop was the famous English landmark of Lands End. We didn't really know what to expect other than it being the westernmost point in England. When we arrived there were two words to describe it..Tourist Trap...The place was crawling with tourist shops and even had theme park rides. We found the famous Lands End sign (which you couldn't stand next to without paying) and then were quickly on our way again. We headed north in hunt of some more Cornish history, a tin mine. Much of the old Cornish economy had been built on the back of the now defunct tin mines. We drove following the signs until we arrived at the Levant Mine on the coast. It was closed but you could still wander around the chimneys and ruined buildings and take in the rugged countryside. The fog and the rain were starting to come in so we cancelled our plans to go stone circle hunting (didn't want to get lost) and made our way back to the cottage to warm up again and change our clothes. The weather had settled well in by now steady rain coming down, but we had reservations in St Ives for dinner. St Ives was famous at New Years for dressing up, so we recycled our cowboy and saloon girl costumes, found a park up above the town wandered our way down through the narrow cobbled lanes, doing a couple of laps of the town centre before finding our fish restaurant (couldn't pass up fresh fish) for dinner. The place was packed and we were out of there pretty early and after a couple more laps around the town we decided it was too cold and too wet to wandering around in fancy dress. Instead we jumped back n the car and drove back through the fog to the cottage where we sat in front of the fire and watched the London fireworks on TV. Yes we are lame, but at least we were warm and dry.

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/December2011

November

2011-12-01T02:09:00.000+13:00

Happier having found a home (brand new apartment in Dalston Square) and Jess once again working we launched into November. It was Liamś birthday early in the month so we joined him for an after work beer in Camden before he made his way on to a hip hop gig and we slunk off home.

We also got introduced to "meat" via Aimee, her boyfriend Steve and our part time flatmate Lucy (who spent the rest of her time at her actual house in Jersey.) There are loads of Turkish restaurants in Dalston and they reckoned they knew the best one. It was basic but packed with one man cooking the meat over a hot coal stove in the centre of the restaurant. Watch out for stray coals! There was more than enough meat to go around and after feeling sufficiently full we retired to a proper local East End boozer for a few drinks before wandering back home.

The next night there was a meet the neighbours event in our apartment block so we decided it would be rude not to go along and meet some people over a couple of wines. As it turns out the complex was full of young people, all whom seemed really nice and laid back. It was also bonfire night so Steve and Aimee took us out to a local fireworks display at Weavers' Fields. With many of the Councilś canceling their displays due to budget cuts we weren't expecting too much and although it was nice enough it wasn't the most spectacular thing we had ever seen. We then found a spot at the local pub, the Marquis of Cornwallis, another East End boozer and apparently a former haunt of the notorious Cray Twins. We chatted with the locals and had a great night. The night ended with sprint races down the hallway and sparklers on the deck. We agreed that a move east was the right thing to do.

We also had a chance to meet more of our neighbours the following weekend. One of the people we had met the week before was having a flatwarming and had invited us along. We hoped it hadn't just been the wine talking so we took him up on his offer. Turns out there were a few other people from the building there so we got to put some names to people we might otherwise only see in the lift or at the gym (not much chance of that though...)

Social outings continued as the following weekend we were lucky enough to get to see our friends Daryl and George performing in Piccadilly with their band Throwing Needles. We had missed their previous gig as we were on our van trip so it was great to get to see them live. It was also great that all of the local troops had come out in support too. It was a fun night listening to them play and they were easily the best band playing that night (in our biased opinion anyway.)

The next night we were out with the same crew again for Tree's Birthday at the Queen's Head in Camden. We had never been there and assumed it was a bit of a standard big pub. Turns out it is one of the most popular places in Islington with a big dance floor upstairs. It was a good night out but we took our leave before the party really started cranking and there was no chance of us getting away.

It was back to Islington with Tree again that week for an old hobby, the pub quiz. Tree had a group of friends who were meeting and had invited us to tag along. As usual our lack of British Sport/TV/History knowledge ruled us out of any chance of winning something but it was still good fun anyway.

We ended the month on a more serious note, heading down to the New Zealand embassy to participate in democracy by casting our votes in New Zealand National Election. It was a bit weird being surrounded by so many New Zealand accents but we took it all in our stride. The next day we joined some of our friends to watch the results live on the big screen via the internet at a pub in Kentish Town. It being a Green Party event (not any indication of how we voted) there was a sad mood in the air from some of the attendees but it was still good to be with other Kiwis as the results came in.

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/November2011

October

2011-11-01T03:01:00.000+13:00

It was somewhat like deja vu as we returned to London after our long trip. We had arrived in London 2 1/2 years ago looking for somewhere to live and somewhere to work. This time it wasn't all new and exciting however. Also, sleeping in a van on the streets of London wasn't nearly as pleasant as the various campsites we had been staying at around Europe. We were fortunate that even though our old flat only had one person left who we knew, they allowed us to shower and cook and keep warm there. We were also fortunate that Marcus was able to go back to his job. Jess was not so lucky and had the unenviable task of trying to find somewhere to live and somewhere to work.

It wasn't all doom and gloom though. The world seemed to be intrigued by the beard that Marcus had grown on our time away. Even our bearded friends were impressed with the sheer size and bushiness of it. It was starting to itch however, and eating anything with cream in was impossible, so after a week (enough time for people to see it) Marcus got out the neglected razor and off it came (in stages of course, to show what is possible if he ever tries to grow facial hair again.)

In that first week back we made the journey down south to Wandsworth to catch up with Anna and Perry. The temperature was cold but they took us out for some very tasty Thai food. Was good to see them again and tell them all about our adventures away.

We also managed to coax a few people away from the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest to come and meet us for welcome back drinks at the Camden Head. When people stopped freaking out at the size of Marcus' beard we caught up for a good natter. Unfortunately they stopped doing food early and with a group that size the only option was a round of decidedly average Nandos. At least it was warm...

Cleanly shaved we caught up with an old friend of Marcus' from law school, Fionna, who had been living in Cambridge but happened to be down in London to do her citizenship test, just around the corner. The sun was out so we spent the afternoon at the the Lord Clyde catching up over a few drinks. It was a very enjoyable afternoon and a reminder that we should catch up with people who we like more often.

The rest of the month was spent tripping from flat to flat trying to find somewhere that would have us. The novelty of van sleep was well and truly wearing off. As the last week of October arrived we were seriously considering calling it a day in London, when it all came together. Jess managed to score a job working for Brent Council and we also secured a very nice apartment with a very nice girl called Aimee in Dalston. We were off to Hackney!

In typical October fashion the end of the month came and our old flat was having a Halloween party. Never ones to say no dress ups the grim reaper and the corpse bride made their appearance and Tree even made an appearance (being the flatmate of our old flatmates brother...don't think too much about it...) There were zombies and vampires and tigers and ghouls, all seeing in all hallows eve. There were some sore heads the next day...some more than others...

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/October2011

Van Trip Part 7 - Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands

2011-10-10T02:01:00.000+13:00

Lake Bled

Although we had done and seen a lot in Italy we were pleased to be moving on to somewhere new. As we headed North from Venice we could tell we were leaving Italy. The road began to climb as the mountains grew higher around us. We came to the Austrian border and the mountains continued to rise. Spectacular and green all around us. We headed through the mountains and before long we were joining a queue to enter the Karawanken tunnel. We weren't sure why traffic was still but before long it was moving. The tunnel was down to one lane for Roadworks bug we slowly made our way through and eventually came out the other side in the former Yugoslav country of Slovenia. It was definitely Eastern Europe with big concrete buildings filling the valleys as we passed along beside them, however once we got off the motorway and into the hills we passed through pretty villages on our way to Lake Bled. The roads became narrower but all of a sudden we came around a corner and the pretty lake opened up to our left. We followed it round before arriving at the camping ground. The camping ground even had Glamping (Glamourous Camping) although we decided to stick to the trusty Iceberg. It was a lovely sunny afternoon so we decide to go for a walk around the lake. Apparently it only takes about an hour and a half to walk around. It isn't very big. We started off on the lakeside path stopping to admire the clear fresh water from the various vantage points around the lake. It was all very serene and relaxing. In the middle of the lake there is a small island with a church on it. The only way to get there is on an ornate wooden boat which they pull along a rope which stretches from one end of the lake to the other. However the boats left from the other side of the lake so we decided to admire the island from afar. Jess had heard that there is a famous cake in Bled so, never one to pass up cake, we found a place serving the famous Kremsnita. We sat down with all the tourists and they brought us each a.....custard square. The famous Lake Bled cake is a custard square with a layer of cream in it and it was delicious. Lucky we were out for a walk cause we had just packed on a fair few calories each. We continued around through the small town on the lake front under Bled Castle, perched on the cliff above town and slowly wandered our way back to the camping ground. It was sunny (although not exactly hot) so we decided to try a dip in the lake water. It was fresh but nice not to covered in salt when we came out of the water (which wasn't that much longer after we went in. Brrrrr.) We grabbed some smoked Slovenian sausages and pickled beetroot for dinner and very happy with our day at Lake Bled we wrapped up warm and went to bed.

Konigsee

A shame we didn't have longer to spend in Slovenia but with dew on the grass we set off in the van back towards the Karawanken tunnel to Austria. There was not much of a queue this time but the man in the Booth told us we would have to wait before being allowed through. Our attempts to find out how long were not successful. Luckily we had plenty of German language learning podcasts to keep us occupied for the next hour. The queue built behind us but before long we were away and back into Austria again. Austria was not our final destination however as we motored along the wide Austrian motorway through the middle of the country, up into the mountains with remnants of snow around us, cows in the fields and traditional wooden houses with pretty flower boxes watching us drive by. Eventually we came into the Alps and crossed the border into Germany. We wound our way through some country roads over the hills and eventually found our way to the beautiful lake of Königsee, much larger than the day before. After getting a bit lost we found the camping ground. The sign said to park up and they would be around later to collect payment (all those years of German pad off.) We followed the nearby river down to the lake. You could see this place was a tourist haven/trap. Before we even saw the lake there was a large car park, stalls selling cowbells and hats with feathers and of course Würst, which Marcus made the most of. You could catch a ferry out across the lake and past the St Bartholomä church. We decided that we would instead go for a walk past the boatsheds along ghetto lake edge and then up into the hills around the shore of the lake. There was no prospect of us walking around this lake like yesterday and we weren't up to the task of climbing the mountainous path the whole way, so after a while of walking and checking out the view across the lake we made our way back to the camp ground. After a quick break we decided to walk up the river the other way in search of supplies for dinner. We found a supermarket, stocked up on meat and beer and made our way back to the van. Outside eating was no longer an option though as the cold in the mountains set in once the sun set.

Innsbruck

The next day we dropped back down out of and then along the foot of the Alps before crossing the border into Austria again. This time we were planning on staying. We followed the motorway as the mountains rose around us, the steepest yet. Before long we were passing the ski resort city of Innsbruck. Our camp ground was up on the hills above the valley but was pretty empty again so we had our choice of places to park. Once we were set up we wandered down the road till we found the bus stop to take us in to the centre of the city. The town centre is quite compact with picturesque mountains on one side, a river running through it, typical old Austrian buildings and plenty of areas for walking around. We wandered up the pedestrianised street, stopping to watch kids playing with a fire hose until we arrived at the Golden Roof, a building built in 1500 with a gold tiled roof. We continued to walk through town, which was busy with locals and tourists alike enjoying the sun. We found a local food market where we picked up some Knödel (dumplings) and Strohm (sweet grape juice made when they make wine) for dinner. There was a market outside too so we planted ourselves on a bench and grabbed some Würst and beer and soaked up the sun. After wandering around town some more we picked up some Apricot Schnapps and when found the bus back to the campsite. As we were up in the mountains it didn't take long for it to get cold after the sun went down so we were pleased to have dinner early. Warming up with a Schnapps was not the best idea (it tasted dreadful) but at least it got the job done before we snuggled up tight in the van, pleased that it was lined with bats.

Lichtenstein

Nestled between the mountains on the border of Austria and Switzerland is the tiny tax dodging principality of Liechtenstein. After a few wrong turns we finally found the correct road to take us through the capital of Liechtenstein, Vaduz, catching a glimpse of the palace on the hill above town but carrying on our way to the other side of the country where we managed to find a camping ground. As usual now the office was closed but there was a note telling us to park up and we could pay later. Fortunately there was a restaurant at the same place so we treated ourselves to some Spätzle, little fried potato things kind of like gnocchi. It was served with venison (the thing from the mountains with horns), tasty sauce and some yummy local beer. We were up for a walk after lunch but rather than head up into the mountains we ventured along the back roads back towards Vaduz. After about an hour we decided we would probably run out of sun before we got to Vaduz so jumped on the local bus which got us there much quicker, along with local school children reading out the bus stops along the way (they weren't in the bus. Their voices had been recorded.) We arrived at Vaduz and checked out the town square including the stone marking the centre of the country (which had been moved to make way for a building before so probably not the middle any more.) It was pretty quiet but there was some activity going on with ladies and huge balls of yarn. They were all over the place but we never quite worked out what they were all about. The palace is somewhat uninspiring but architecture in general across Liechtenstein is not particularly interesting. The views landscape across the valley is pretty spectacular, although actually it turns out that that was Switzerland...we picked up a bottle of wine made from grapes grown by the royal family and then jumped on the bus back to the camp ground as it was getting dark.

Lucerne

It was a quick trip to the border today and we were in Switzerland. We weaved our way over hills and around mountains until arriving in the lakeside city of Lucerne. We had to travel through the middle of the city which was pretty busy for a Sunday but we navigated the traffic and made our way around the edge of the lake until we arrived at camp ground which was located just out of the centre of town and just near the lake. The sun was shining and the sky was blue so after getting parked we wandered our way along the edge of the lake back towards the city centre. There were boats out on the lake and people walking along the lakefront or just sitting back enjoying a coffee in the sun. Before long were in the picturesque city centre with it's old buildings, cobbled streets and the Reuss river running through the middle of it. There are plenty of bridges crossing the river, one of which is a covered pedestrian bridge made out of wood, the Kapellbrücke. It curves over the river and up in the roof are a series of paintings depicting all manner of things from Lucerne's history. We make our way through the bridge, wandered up the river and then crossed back over bridge on the hunt for some food. Unfortunately, it being a Sunday, most of the shops were closed. We did manage to find ourselves a bakery so grabbed some cakes and bread to keep ourselves going. After soaking up some sun on the river bank as we ate we wandered up the hill past some wee Swiss kuhs and proceeded to walk along the city wall. You can walk on top of the wall and also go up into some of the towers along it. Each of the towers has a story but we liked the little man statue tower. After checking out the Swiss Army knives in a shop that was open we journeyed across town to see the Lion Monument, a sad looking statue of a dying lion which was carved into the cliff face in 1820. It was impressive and interesting go see something a bit different. We visited the bakery again to get some food for dinner before making our way back along the lake front to pick up our books for some reading in the park by the lake. Once the sun went down it was cold, but we filled ourselves on tasty bread before going to sleep.

Basel

Our next destination was the city of Basel. We didn't know much about it other than it was close to the border with Germany. We found a camping ground and managed to get in before they closed for the middle of the day. After leaving the Iceberg we found the nearby tram station. A friendly local man changed our money so we could buy tickets and before long the tram was weaving it's way into central Basel. As in any European town we made our way to the main square. This one had a big red brick town hall on one side and pretty painted stone buildings on the others. It also had a food market so we got ourselves some cake and würst to keep us going. We strolled down to the river and crossed to the other side. We grabbed a drink and planted ourselves on the steps on the shore of the river and watching the people swimming by. That's right there were people swimming down the river. We weren't quite sure of the whole deal but it seemed to be that people would jump into the water with a buoy further up and then let the current carry them down a ways, passing all the old buildings and under the bridges before coming back to shore further down. The sun was shining but it was still a bit chilly for us to consider jumping in. We walked along the river, past cafes and parks before climbing up another bridge and across back to the other side. We wandered through old town and checked out the local churches and painted buildings, but didn't go in to any of them. We found a local supermarket where we stocked up on supplies and then wandered back through the town again to the tram stop. We checked out a crazy fountain along the way with moving statues that sprayed water all over the place out of various pipes and hoses. We jumped on the tram and it carried us back to the campsite as it was getting dark before snuggling in for our last night in Switzerland.

Lake Constance

We discovered in Basel that we had an extra night we hadn't planned for before we were due to visit the Black Forrest so after a bit of research we decided Constance was worth a visit just a quick jump across the border into Germany. We drove through town on the hunt for a camping ground. We did manage to find one right on the lake. Like all grounds lately though it didn't seem to be attended and was more or less just a big field. After grabbing a spot for the van we crossed a row of trees between the camping ground and the lake shore. There was a heavy fog sitting over the lake so we couldn't really tell how far away the other side was. There seemed to be a path around the shore so we set off in one direction in hope of finding something. After walking for about half an hour we found a ferry terminal. This also appeared to be the end of the path. There was a queue of cars stretching back up the road but no sign of a ferry. Hunger was starting to set in so we cut back away from the lake in hunt of food. We wandered through pleasant green suburbs with wide roads until we were on our way back towards the town centre. We crossed a bridge and before long were in the town centre with cobbled pedestrianised lanes and old fashioned stone buildings. There seemed to be plenty of options for food. Before long we arrived at the main square, which was full of tables from the restaurants surrounding it. We grabbed one of the tables in the sun and ordered some hearty German fare, washed down with some German wine. We now felt much more relaxed so after sitting for a while we continue on through the town. There were a fair amount of people around enjoying the various shops or just sitting in the sun. There wasn't really much in the way of sights to check out but it was just nice wandering around the town. We had trouble finding a supermarket so see decided to try out the organic supermarket. We came away well stocked with fruit and veges, meat, bread and wine. The sun was still shining so we made our way to the lake and walked back to the campsite along the lake front. We passed people walking, children playing and sunbathers, some getting the most sun exposure possible (if you know what we mean...)

The Black Forest

It was a bit of a longer drive today as we headed north into the roads winding their way through the hills of the black forest. There didn't seem to be many camping grounds.around but we eventually found one up a narrow valley, far from the nearest town. After leaving the van to deal with the formalities later we began walking through the countryside up the valley in search of that nearest town. There was a small track which followed the road, crossing over a stream and past fields with cows in them and big houses with bright flowers in their windows. We came to bigger roads and a bigger river which we followed until we arrived at the small town of Wolfach. There was a pretty main road which showed the aftermath of a market having just finished, although there weren't too many people around. We managed to find a restaurant by the river. I think it was Greek, but we tried the Flammkuchen, a type of German Pizza with creme fraiche, onions and Bacon. Yummy but no Margherita from Naples. We checked out some woodcuttings which a history of the region (unsurprisingly lots of forestry) and then meandered through the back streets into the town again. We had nothing else we wanted.to see so decided to stop for a drink and a massive slice each of black forest gateau. Lucky we were walking back to the campsite to work off all that cream and chocolate. Mmmmmmmm. The sun was still out as we went back to the campground. We got the lowdown on what to come the next day before catching the last of the sun from our camp spot on the hill.

The Black Forest

As there was no public transport for miles our only way to get further into the forest was to take the van. So we packed up our things and made our way back down the valley before heading south again on the hunt for cuckoo clocks and Germany's longest waterfall. We passed through a few small towns and past clock factories. Clearly geared up to receive tour buses full of people until we reached the town of Triberg. The town made its way up a hill which we followed until we came out the other side. We were looking for the world's largest cuckoo clock. We found it, a house shaped like a cuckoo clock in the middle of a street of normal houses but unfortunately for us it was closed. We took some photos and then ventured back into town where we took a walk up the hill alongside Germany's longest waterfall. Being the New Zealanders that we are we decided to try the difficult walk up as opposed to to the easy one. However the 6 year old who skipped past us in the other direction made us wonder about the signage. It was certainly nice to be out in the forest and we got some good views as the path crossed back and forth over the waterfall as it made its way down the hill. It was more of a steep downhill river than a dramatic waterfall but was still pretty cool. We climbed up a path above the waterfall and got a view out over the valley before making our way back down again in hunt of some food. We found ourselves a coffee house where we went for another Black Forest Gatteau. Mmmmm, chocolately. On our way back to the van we checked out the local tourist shops but unfortunately our budget didn't stretch far enough to pick up a cuckoo clock but we didn't make our way back empty handed as we picked up some heidelberry wine on the way back, complete with black forest "Hexe".

Heidelberg

We continued north and into the interior of Germany to the picture postcard perfect city of Heidelberg, sitting in a valley on the river Neckar. We easily found a camp ground just out of town, and down on the river. It was another beautiful day so we walked a way up the river before crossing over and catching a bus into town. Once in town we walked down the longest pedestrianised street in Germany. It was quite long... Again there were plenty of people checking out the shops. We picked up some tasty Brezel and had a wander around the huge Kathe Wohlfahrt shop, specialising entirely in Christmas Decorations. It was all very festive but as we knew what it was actually like at German Christmas we decided not to get any decorations. After the shop we wandered back up the street and looked at the markt platz and kornmarkt. We then wandered up the hill behind the main town to the castle looking out over the valley. It was pretty steep getting up there but nice enough. There were plenty of tourists around the place and we joined them checking out the grounds of the castle including the world's largest wine barrel. It was quite large...After checking out Heidelberg we caught the bus back to camp ground via the supermarket. It was a nice afternoon for reading in the sun. Marcus also used the time to call Ulrika, his host mother from when he was an exchange student just to remind her that we were coming to visit the next day. Lucky he did because she didn't know anything about it!! All sorted, but only by the skin of our teeth...

Neunkirchen am Brand

Moving on we headed to meet up with Marcus' German host family - the Schramms. Although Christian couldn't be there and through some misunderstandings they only knew the day before that we were arriving they seemed pleased to see us. Things started becoming more familiar to Marcus as we got closer to Neunkirchen although the TomTom still managed to take us through some random back alleys to arrive at the Schramms' house. Marcus observed that it wasn't as white as the last time he was there as we caught up over brautworst and Saurkraut in the sunny garden. We went for a quick wander around the town of Neunkirchen so Marcus could do some reminiscing. There wasn't much going on in the town except what looked like it was going to be a fair but that was still being set up. After our walk Ulrika took us to the nearby town of Erlangen, which is the major town in the area. Marcus enjoyed looking around trying to remember what it was like but memories were all pretty vague. We stopped and had a drink in the sunny square before returning to the house to collect Helmut, who had been busy doing chores, and on to the beer cellar. Earlier he had asked us if we knew the difference between a beer cellar and a beer garden but we did not. A beer cellar is where cave cellars have been built into the side of a hill where they used to bring ice from the nearby rivers to keep the beer cold. They have tables outside and serve beer and local food. Ulrika talked them into letting us have a look in one of the caves before we settled town with our big beers and some local food. We had a keller platter, some pork stuff and some cheese eggy thing. It was very cool to do something local and we were lucky to be able to do so as they were only open in summer and usually would have been closed the week before. Julianna joined us back at the house for a drink after her long drive from Switzerland which was a nice surprise.

Wurzburg

The next day we had a traditional German breakfast with the family - meats, cheeses, bread, fruit and of course cake ( a yummy plum one). Then we went for a drive to Wurzburg where we looked around the town with a bridge with lots of statues on it and a monastery which we climbed up the many stairs to, stopping to look at the Stations of the Cross along the way, like when we were in Portugal. We had a drink and some snacks at a restaurant in an old pump house overlooking the river. It was then back in the car and we went to look at a house (more like a vineyard) which was a brightly coloured building by the Austrian architect Hundertwasser. It was quite cool we thought it wouldn't look out of place at a Vineyard in the Hawkes Bay. It was then a short drive to a little town where the Schramms like to buy their wine. We enjoyed having a Feder Weisser (white) which is like strom - somewhere between juice and wine. For food I had a yummy smoked trout and Marcus had crab. The place was humming with people, some of them even dressed in traditional clothes. Afterwards we sampled some of the wines from the winemaker before purchasing a few bottles to take home with us. We would have bought cases full if we had had room in the van. Before heading back we headed around the corner to another winemaker for some traditional onion cake and another Feder Weisser. Back at their house we discovered that on his first visit to Germany is favourite word was Bademister (life guard, although he couldn't for the life of him remember why).

The Rhein Valley
After another tasty breakfast and stocking up on Meat and Bread (turns out it was a national holiday so all shops were shut) we bid farewell to the Schramms, thanking them for a great weekend before heading back West again towards the Rhein river. We had a few plans to try and find a camping ground in the Rhein Valley near the river. Unfortunately the first place we found looked awful and we weren't sure if it was a camping ground or a paddock full of squatters. We decided to keep moving and try another one nearby but when we reached that one it was a caravan park, with fences and gardens and even street names. Again, not the place for us. Getting frustrated we decided that maybe we should at least drive along next to the river so that we could see the Valley even if we didn't get to stay there. It certainly was picturesque with the river running down through the middle of the valley, vineyards up on the hills on either side with villages and castles scattered along. Eagle eye Jess managed to spot a sign pointing to a camping ground so we thought we would give it a try. We pulled off the main road and through some tiny narrow streets until we arrived at a camping ground right next to the river. We managed to secure a site right next to the river itself here we parked up and didn't move for the rest of the afternoon. After all that driving back and forth all morning we just needed to chill out and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. There was a restaurant and bar at the camping ground and although we decided not to go there there were plenty of German people enjoying the long weekend.

Luxembourg

It was time for another small principality in Europe. This time, in between Germany and France is the small kingdom of Luxembourg (although it is significantly larger than the other ones we had been to.) We found a tidy but quiet camping ground on the outskirts of the capital city, also called Luxembourg. There was a bus stop just outside and before long we were on our way into the city. The main part of the old city is built up on a hill with a little gorge in between it and other parts of the city, including the Royal Palace. We started out in the shopping area where we grabbed some baguettes for lunch in the main square. With the hunger demons safely at bay we carried on through the shopping district. There were plenty of nice shops and old but well kept buildings. We weren't the only tourists in town but we did our best to try and avoid the big groups traveling around the place.We made our way out to the ruins of the city walls. There isn't that much above ground but there is a whole network of tunnels under the ground where the army used to house themselves and protect the country from foreign invaders. You had to use your imagination a little bit because the furniture and decorations were all long gone but it was lit up pretty well and just kept going down and down and got narrower and narrower. There were some points where you didn't want to run to anyone else because you knew you would have to go all the way back to squeeze past them. We eventually emerged back into the light. The caves looked over the old town down in a little valley, but we were getting tired and we weren't sure about the large clouds which were starting to loom over the town so instead we wandered back up the hill and along past the palace before cutting back into town where we found a supermarket to stock up before catching the bus back out to the camping ground again.

Maastricht

The rain had come overnight so it was a damp start to the day as we headed north through Luxembourg until we crossed the border into the Netherlands to visit the town of Maastricht. Again we were struck by a case of closed camping grounds, but we did eventually find one after the TomTom took the Iceberg on a crazy back country tour through tiny villages with narrow lanes. We discovered that that was completely unnecessary as there was a great big main road that took you directly into town so we jumped on the bus to see what Maastrict had to offer. It is a university city and you can tell, with all the young people everywhere, trendy shops and cafes and an overall fun vibe. The rain was still spitting on and off so we had to duck in and out of shops to avoid getting too wet. The city is either side of the Meuse river but there are plenty of bridges to get you from one side to the other. The old town was across the river and there were cute cobbled streets free of cars but full of people checking things out. There was also a big market in the main square where you could try all sorts of food. We went for some tasty sandwiches to keep us going. We visited the Saint Servitius Basilica which was Gothic and pretty but not dissimilar to hundreds of other churches we had seen by now. We cut back into the town and did some more wandering around the streets, all of which seemed to curve rather than go in straight lines. After a few more shops we wandered back to the bus stop and caught the bus back out to the camping ground. Back at the camping ground we watched people successfully (and less successfully) knock the ripe apples off the trees which were peppered about the camping ground. We were staying the mountain region of the Netherlands, however we thought the odd hill didn't really count as a mountain. The Netherlands is FLAT.

Utrecht

We continued north to the city of Utrecht. Marcus' parents had spent some time here so we had high hopes. Also, we were going to have come company on this leg of the trip as Jon and Lobke had generously offered that we could stay with them. We made our way into town without too much trouble and found a place to park the Iceberg outside of what we hoped was Jon and Lobke's place. We wandered up the road to the train station. We missed the train but luckily a bus came along and before long were arriving at the central train station. We misjudged our directions at the station and came out at what appeared to be a pretty dull looking square. A check of the map and we turned ourselves around and came out to the other side which was a much nicer city, again with old fashioned buildings and cobbled streets and pretty of people wandering around. We stopped for some Frittes and wandered the streets, checking out the buildings, the shops and the canals, all the while dodging the cyclist. We knew we were in the Netherlands. It was a nice place where you could happily wander the streets without feeling you had to rush around and see all the sights. Nonetheless we went and had a look at the Utrecht Central Museum, which was a little away from the centre of town. There was a mixture of historical artefacts, like a massive wooden boat which had been excavated from under the city, and artwork. The whole reason we went there, though, was across the street at the Dick Bruna House. It is the house where he lived. Who is he? He is the creator of that beloved cartoon character, Miffy! (Nope, she isn't just friends with Hello Kitty.) The house has been converted into a shrine to Miffy with books, toys, statues and an exhibit upstairs about the history of Miffy and Dick Bruna's other books. There was even a Miffy fashion show. We picked up our obligatory Miffy book and wandered back along the canal into town. We had some time up our sleeves before meeting John and Lobke so stopped in at a bar where we had some local beer and some local cake. Mmmmmm. It was then time to meet up with Jon and Lobke who were finishing work (work? What's that?) It was nice to see them and they took us out to a cool restaurant in the basement of a building. It had stone walls, wood furnishings a low ceiling, live music, menus on old record covers, Dutch beers and tasty food. It was a really fun night and was great to be spending some time with friends. We caught the train back to their place (while Lobke rode her bike) and had a few more wines with them before going to bed.

Utrecht Day 2

Lobke was away visiting her family in her home town the next day and Jon had to work. But they had drawn us up a list of places nearby which we should go see. So after grabbing some breakfast (Biscuit Spread!) we were off to check out what was around. There was still rain on and off around the place but we couldn't let that deter us. Our first stop was Castle de Haar, a big red castle with gothic tours and arches all surrounded by a moat. It was very cool and the sort of place you imagine from fairy tales. As we had seen the insides of plenty of castles by now we decided we would just go for a wander around the gardens, taking in the woods, the lakes and gardens. There was a mixture of wild and manicured and it was a nice place to stretch our legs, although the rain eventually drove us back to the van. We carried along our way to the town of Breukelen where we stopped and went for a wander around the local market. We had some very tasty waffles that the man made fresh for us. All gooey and warm. Much better than the boring hard ones you buy in the supermarkets. We then went for a walk along the canal, the other side of which seemed to be best place to buy a mansion around these parts. Clearly a popular place for the rich and famous to live. We returned to the Iceberg and continued on our drive. There were plenty more mansions lining the streets as we drove toward the Loosdrechtse Plassen, a lake around which many villages are gathered and where the rich go to sail their yachts. Not only did we drive toward the Loosdrechtse Plassen, we also drove through it (sort of...). An artificial road had been built up over the lake by way of a narrow land bridge that traveled through the middle with the odd building scattered to the side when there was room, before sharply turning left and then sharply turning right where the land narrowed out slightly so that there could be buildings on either side of the road. This was the town of Old Loosdrecht. We parked up here and went for a walk past the mixture of thatch roof cottages and ultra modern buildings bunched up tight together. It was very pretty but the buildings made it a bit hard to get a good view of the Lake. We carried on driving heading along the road where it took us past houses built on stilts over the marshes around the lake. These weren't the little huts you imagine when you think of stilt houses, but probably four and five bedroom jobs with the Mercedes parked in the driveway. We continued on driving through various little towns to the town of Bilthoven, where there were rowboats tied up on the river through the town and on the outskirts of town we found some proper Dutch landscape...Windmills! We drove through a little country lane to get a good view. It got narrower and narrower until eventually we got to a point where we couldn't go any further, even though the road we wanted to reach was only the other side of a paddock. Not wanting to risk getting stuck in the mud the Iceberg managed a hundred point turn around and we were on our way again. Happy with what we had seen driving around we made our way back to Jon and Lobke's for a rest. Jon joined us later and cooked us a yummy dinner, including some tasty syrup cake, and then had us work the dinner off with some playing on the Xbox 360 Kinect. We made proper fools of ourselves kicking soccer balls, filling holes in diving tanks and dancing around. All recorded by the built in camera....After all that working out we were happy for a well earned rest.

Bruge

The next morning we big our host farewell before he journeyed down to see Lobke's family too as we continued on what now felt like the very end of our journey. It was goodbye to the Netherlands and hello to Belgium. After all those new sights we had been filling our senses with we needed some familiarity so drove to somewhere we knew we had enjoyed the first time round, the town of Bruge. There was a camping ground a few kilometres from the old town, so we parked up the van and set on walking into town. As we had been here before it was nice to take a bit of trip down memory lane and do some of the things we had enjoyed the first time around. Although it was much chillier than the first time we had been there we still enjoyed some frittes from the square (not as good as last time) and a glass of Garre at de Garre (just as good as last time). We got chatting to some people from Birmingham at de Garre and it really started to set in that we were not far away from London again. Did we want to go back?! We went for a bit more of a walk but the weeks on the road were catching up with us so we wandered back to the camp ground for our last night on the road...

London
We awoke on the last day of our trip to pouring rain. We piled in to the van and set off towards Calais. The rain poured around us, almost a sign that Europe had had enough of us. We arrived at the ferry in plenty of time and queued up with all the other cars waiting to board. The French border control were easy to pass, but the woman at the UK border seemed like she had something to prove. "What's in the back of your van?" "Um, a bed, some clothes some food...it's a campervan..." "Sure it is....Go park over there. My colleague is going to search your van." Her colleague was much more relaxed. He opened the door, looked inside for about 3 seconds and let us go on our way. We boarded the ferry and headed up to settle in for the trip across the Channel. Again, another sign that it was time to be returning, the rain was left behind in France and the blue sky was out over the white cliffs of Dover. We exited the ferry, back on the left side of the road, and took the motorway back to Londontown...back to the real world....

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/September2011VanTourSloveniaAustriaSwitzerlandGermanyNetherlands

Van Trip Part 6 - Italy

2011-09-23T08:40:00.000+12:00

2/9 Genoa

Today we left France and moved on to Italy. The Tom Tom was misbehaving which made the journey difficult and challenged Jess´navigating skills to the max as we spent time driving round and round Genoa trying to guess the way. We did eventually arrive at the campsite in Bogliasco, to the east of Genoa, around 1 ½ hours later than planned. We decided not to venture into Genoa itself so enjoyed a swim at the beach. It had nice crashy water and very hot stones for sitting on. We then went for a walk around the town which had some pretty views along the coast and stopped for a nice beer in the sunshine before heading back to the campsite for a chill out and dinner of local specialities, foccacia, pesto and ravioli with walnut sauce.

3/9 Lake Como

The TomTom decided to work this morning (yay) so we were back on track on our way to Lake Como. Unfortunately we were stuck in a traffic jam for ages due to road works closer to our destination,Unno on the Lecco side of Como. The first campground we found was full but there was another one 1km down the road where we got a pitchright next to the lake! We had a stunning the lake and mountains. We chilled out in the sun until we were brave enough to go for a swim in the lake. It wasn't too bad once we were under(although as usual it took Marcus a little while to get in). There were a lot of fish in the water trying to nibble our toes. After our dip we walked to the next town, Vasenna, along the road with no footpath. It was a little scary with the Italian drivers zooming around the narrow roads. We got our nights supply of pasta and wine before heading back to camp. Luckily we didn't plan a night out on the town as there were massive thunder storms. We think there were about 4 separate storms that we were in the middle of. We enjoyed our dinner in front of the van nice and dry inside as the thunder and lightning roared and flashed around us lighting up the lake and the mountains in the distance.

4/9 Lake Como Day 2 - Bellagio

As there wasn´t much around where we were we decided to head to the down of Bellagio further along the lake. The bus seemed to come at irregular time (maybe about every 2 hours) so we decided to walk.In hindsight this probably wasn't the smartest idea as for most of the way we walked along a windy narrow road with no foot path and pushy Italians in cars, trucks and on motorbikes and bicycles. We walked 9.5km in around 1 hour and 40 minutes which we think was alright. Bellagio was very nice and fancy but also very touristy. We walked around the town and had lunch. Jess had an anchovy pizza while Marcus had a quarto stuchious (ham, cheese, onion and capsicum panini). Marcus also decided that while in Italy he should do as theItalians do and have a coffee. Jess suggested a latte while she had espresso. Marcus thought it tasted like coffee and didn't feel the need to have another. The rain started to comedown again so we walked around the shops in town and brought some yummy food in the deli before heading to the bus stop to get the bus. Luckily we were early as the bus driver tried to explain (not so pleasantly) that we needed to buy tickets before we boarded from a shop. We tried 3 shops before finding the right one and raced back to the bus to sit for another 15minutes before he decided to depart. It continued to rain for the rest of the afternoon so for the first time on the trip we felt compelled to watch some programmes on the laptop before having an early night.

5/9 Milan

We left Como and drove to Milan and found a camping ground next to a water slide park (although not open), The campsite also had apetting zoo which had a huge ugly sheep and goats and birds. We caught the bus and the metro into Milan where we looked at the Duomodi Milano, a massive cathedral which we thought was really impressive- probably our favourite traditional cathedral so far. We particularly liked the stained glass windows. Next we went to the Galleria, an old fashioned shopping arcade, which had a cool glassdome. Marcus did as the practice suggests and spun on his heel on the bulls' balls to gain virility. Although plenty of women did this too Jess thought it made more sense to leave it to the men. Then we walked round the town a bit more before getting a gelato. Jess had raspberry and lemon, Marcus campari (ooooh yuck says Jess) and white chocolate. Refreshed we had a look around the outside of the palace before taking a break in the park. Once we regained our energy we headed off to look at some shops in the area which was meant to be not so expensive as all the designer shops in town. We didn't manage to buy anything as many were closed and a market was just packing up.We did see some nice apartment buildings with lovely courtyards.Although it has some nice sights Milan seems to be a place where people either live or come to spend lots of money at the shops. Not necessarily our sort of place but nice nonetheless.

6/9 Levanto - Cinque Terre

We decided to skip our scheduled stop to Parma and went straight to the Cinque Terra which Jess had particularly been looking forward to. We stayed at a campsite nearby in Levanto which had a horse and lots of bugs. That day we decided to look around the town and planned a full day for the next which we discovered was just as well as that day there was a train strike. So we enjoyed a wander to town to the waterfront and beach as well as picking up some train tickets for the next day. The beach was plenty busy but we decided to leave taking a dip for another day.

7/9 Cinque Terre

We head off early and caught the 9.30 train to the Cinque Terre(aka the 5 lands). The Cinque Terre are five villages that used to be only accessible by water and were famous for their rugged beauty, We decided to start with the furthest village away - Riomaggorie and walk back through each town. The first walk was the Della Amore - the walk of love. It was nice although there were a lot of tourists and the path was paved the whole way (we wanted some proper walks). The walk took us to the next town Manrula which we looked around. The towns are all perched on a series of cliffs over the water although the building of the railway and roads means that now it is mostly little restaurants and tourist shops. The next part of the easiest walks was closed so we had the option of taking the train back to the next town or do the hard walk (2 1/2 hours). After the first was was an easy 15 minute walk we were up for the challenge. So we headed up many steps (1 hour continuously uphill) giving our muscles a good work out and then we got to walk along through vineyards with stunning views of the town. This was (pant) more (pant) what (pant)we (pant) were after (gasp!). Where's the water? Maybe all the local food and drink we had been sampling had affected our fitness. It was all worth it though and we felt very satisfied at the end of it,particularly as we didn't have the walking poles that all the other tourists felt were necessary. Corgnilia was the town we next arrived in where we stopped for a snack and a sugary drink in front of a freaky mermanish statue. Back to the blue route we then walked to Vernazza. It may be that our muscles were feeling the pain from the last walk but this definitely was harder than the first with uneven paths and hills. At Vernazza we stopped for more water at the waterfront and were envious of the people swimming at the port. The sun had really come out now so it was rather sweltering. The final walk was to Monterosso which was another 2 hours of walking, again with some very step paths but we made it! We think we did at least 5 1/2hours of proper walking that day before reaching the campsite at 6.30pm. Pretty decent compared to the exercise we get in London. Exhausted back at the campsite we ate a well deserved Gnochi for dinner before collapsing into bed.

8/9 Pisa and Florence

Next on to Pisa where we are glad we decided only to stop long enough to see the leaning tower as there were many hustlers and we were very concerned that our van might not still be there when we got back as we didn't give any change to the lady who was begging by the parking meter. It was good to cross another obligatory tourist attraction off our to do list before moving onto Florence.

We got caught in a traffic jam on the way to Florence due to an accident, probably due to the Italians erratic driving. But it was worth the wait as the campsite was nice with views out over Florence.Chores were done; Jess - washing and Marcus - fixing the van door. We also met an English couple (we were not very good at meeting people on our trip) from the West Midlands who were nice to chat to. Turned out they had travelled the world in campervans and modified vans into campers for a living. We then headed out to have a look around Florence and Marcus bought an Italian Leather Belt (a belated anniversary present). We walked through the main square, checking out all of the imitation statues (although they are all still old in their own right) and the pont de ververe (a famous bridge with buildings on it, like in Bath and took the long way home up and down a hill next to a big wall. Once it was dark we headed back to Piazza Michaelagelo (where we had earlier seen a copy of David) to get a night view of Florence and all its pretty lights. It was just next to the camp ground so was an easy trip home to bed (although the Contiki at the bar above had other plans as the music went all night.)

9/9 Florence Day 2

Today we headed off early to see the Statue of David at Retiat'Accademia. The queue wasn't too bad (although perhaps we have just go used to all the queuing in England). He was rather impressive. Much bigger than you expect. Most of the other work at the gallery was ok but not amazing. Maybe we have just seen too much fine art? Next we walked around the Dumuo which is white, red and green marble on the outside. The queue was massive so we decided we had seen enough cathedrals and not to bother going inside. We explored the town some more and looked around some markets. Jess rubbed the nose of a hog at the leather market which is meant to bring good luck. It sure helped her buy a new wallet at the market (also a belated anniversary present) before we tucked into some lunch. Florentine steak and capperchio sword fish, of course with a Chianti to wash it all down.It was very good considering there were a lot of really touristy restaurants around. The food and service at the one we found was great. We then wandered through the streets of the city again before heading back to camp for a restful evening.

10/9 San Gimigano

Today we travelled into the Tuscan countryside to visit the town of San Gimignano. It is a nice town with heaps of olive groves and vineyards around it. It is typical picturesque Tuscan countryside so of course it is heaving with tourists. After heading the wrong way on the bus from the campground we made it into town. It is a walled city with various towers, built by the medieval families competing with one another to have the best. Many have gone to ruin over the years but there are still about a dozen dominating the skyline. It didn't take long to get our full of the town but we enjoyed looking around and get a few gifts and some tasty artisan chocolate before heading back to camp. We had a beer in the sun and thought it might be noisy night as there was a Royal Enfield motorcycle reunion happening, however we didn't have any trouble and all the noise had stopped by a reasonable hour. (Yes, we are getting old.)

11/9 Sienna

Today was a short drive up the road to the town of Sienna . Once there we caught the bus into town again a walled medieval city. We were impressed with the ornate light fittings with red white and blue patterns. We later discovered that the whole of Sienna wasn't the same. We walked towards the centre of town where we saw a group of locals all wearing yellow scarfs with yellow and blue tights, they were all chanting and drumming. We weren't sure if this was some type of religious festival or what. We later discovered that Sienna is split into 17 different districts and this was one group of them. In each area of the town they display their local flags and the street signs and street light fittings each match the colours. It is to do with (we think anyway) the bare back horse races and the yellow people were celebrating a win. Marcus decided to buy a flag to join the winning team although none of them were particularly interested in sharing their winnings with him. We continued to wander around the town and we went into a large cathedral decorated all in brown, white and black tiles - Duomo di Siena. It made an interesting change from the usual cathedrals we had seen during our travels. We went and satin the main square, Piazza del Campo, the site of the bareback horse race and had some sandwiches. Sufficiently impressed with Sienna,but feeling the Italian heat we went back for a swim at the campsite´s pool (along with many other people.) We met another lady who had heard our accents and used the opportunity to offload her book which she had finished on us. She said her husband would be pleased. He would have probably been less pleased that we gave her four books we had finished in return...

12/9 Rome

Onwards to a big city today, Roma. We decided to stay at camping Tiber which was to the North but with transport into the centre. We didn´t quite realise that the road to get there was a popular stopping place for truck drivers looking for...company... Once we arrived at the campsite (pretty empty as the end of the camping season was now upon us) we headed into town by train for a look around. We made our way to the Spanish Steps - however no writers or artists wanted to make either of us their muse and the only attention we got was from the hawkers. On to the next site, the Trevi fountain(the real deal, not the one we had previously seen in Las Vegas.) It was much busier and bigger than at Las Vegas. We were impressed. Jess managed to squeeze in between the masses of people in order to throw her coin over her shoulder to ensure her return to Rome. Marcus didn't do it this time as we think a second coin means you will getan Italian lover - which Jess decided her husband did not need. Next we walked through the streets to the Pantheon a big roman temple which had been converted into a cathedral. The artist Rapheal was burried (although they had to dig him up once to prove it to non-believers). Through Rome we stolled along to a piazza with a statue with the man in the red blanker... We continued along the river before looking at an Egyptian Square and picking up some food for dinner. Pretty good going for our first day in Rome.

13/9 Rome Day 2

Today we decided to head to Vatican City for some religious enlightenment. We were expecting a huge queue but we were inside within 15 minutes. The Vatican museum was rather overwhelming with alot of art to see. Jess particularly liked the map room with all sorts of ancient maps of the world and it cities (at least the ones they knew about. The Vatican Museum is kind of like the British Museum in that it shows all of the “treasures” pillaged by the catholic church over the years. It is worth getting to the end of it though, as that is the famed Sistine Chapel, with Michaelangelo´s famous masterpiece painted on the ceiling. 4 painstaking years of hard work. It has recently been restored, so the colours are bright,but the crowds make it difficult to get a proper look. After some authentic(ish) Italian for lunch we wandered down the road to St Peter´s Cathedral. (Sorry St Pauls, but it is significantly more impressive with the massive square out the front.) We got inside and decided before visiting the inside of the Cathedral we would climb up the dome to have a look around the city. You could get a lift up halfway, but being cheap and determined we decided we would walk the whole way up the spiral staircase. The first half wasn´t too bad,with a wide spiral staircase and plenty of room. However the higher we got the hotter it got, the tighter it got (walking on a lean) and the more crowded it got with the pace moving at a crawl. However an hour or so later we were at the top checking out the impressive vie wall around the city of Rome. The fresh air was also appreciated on our sweaty bodies. As always the trip down was quicker and before we knew it we were visiting the inside of the Cathedral we had just been on top of. The place is huge inside, being barely able to see from one end to the other, but what more would you expect from the home of Catholicism. Even the alter covering the remains of St Peter(apparently) is huge. Somewhat exhausted and feeling sufficiently spiritualised we made our way back out to the campsite and collapsed into bed.

14/9 Rome Day 3

It was a big one to start our final day in Rome, the Colosseum.The queue we had been waiting for had finally arrived so we stood dutifully under the arches waiting for our turn to buy tickets as other people shoved and pushed in around us. It was worth the wait, however, as we emerged into the sunlit amphitheatre, home of many gladiatorial combats of the past. The place really is huge and although you have to use your imagination to see what it would have looked like in operation (as it is really only the stone part that is left) that isn´t too difficult a task. We did the circuit and then checked out the exhibitions inside. Nero seemed to be the man to read about at the moment and although he was famous for fiddling while Rome burned, in fact he was responsible for much of the building work which is now considered of historical significance.After our visit to the Colosseum we crossed the square to the Roman Forum, the centre of life in ancient Rome. This area is full of ruins of various temples and other important buildings of ancient Roman times. The area it takes up is pretty massive and there are all sorts of columns and arches to keep a historyphile happy. As some of the ruins are very ruined you do have use your imagination more than a little to guess what it was all like though.

After our trip around the forum in the blazing sun we ventured up the Palatine Hill, the area on the hill above the forum now populated by the ruins of the homes of the rich and famous during Roman times, including Nero. As interesting as this all was we were starting to suffer some ruin fatigue, so after looking at the main buildings (and a few more because we couldn't find the exit) we left the Palatine Hill, grabbed a Gelato and jumped on the train back to the campsite. It was now the perfect time for a swim at the campsite pool before settling in for an early night.

15/9 Perguia

Today we bid farewell to Rome and made our way North again to the hilltop town of Perugia. We were a bit worried on arriving to find that our planned campsite had closed for the season, but fortunately we were able to find another one further up the road. It must have been close to closing with only us and one other person staying there. We managed to catch the local bus and this took us into the town and up the hill to where Perugia's old centre was located. Unfortunately we arrived right when everything was closed, so we did a few laps of the town, looking at the nice old buildings and streets and churches, but couldn't help feeling it was more of the same that we had already had. We checked out the view over the countryside, indulged in some local cakes and generally took it easy. The bus didn't run either for several more hours so we didn't have much else to do but chill out. When the bus did come people were starting to appear into the town again, but by this time we had had our fill of Perugia so instead made our way back to the campsite.

16/9 Bologna

Having learnt our lesson from the day before, we waited around at the campsite for a while before heading into Bologna so that we would arrive a bit later in the day. What a difference a few hours makes. Upon arriving in the city centre the place was teeming with activity. After checking out the bookshop where we bought some English language classics we wandered down the main road toward the centre of town. It was full of designer shops, and markets in the side streets, and had cool little archways which covered the footpaths in places. This was very welcome as there was a touch of rain around the the place. The main square featured the impressive Fountain of Neptune and had pretty buildings and lanes all around it. We made our way down one of the little lanes and it was full of shops selling all sorts of local food. Our mouths dripped as we stared through the windows but our budget only stretched to a couple of Cannoli each. Yum! One of Bologna's landmarks are two towers next to each other which tower above their neighbours. They could be cool, but unfortunately are situated right in the middle of a roundabout with power lines all around them so you don't get much of a view. They are nearby the university so we had a quick look around the ancient university buildings. They were a hive of activity as this was the start of the university year so there were people selling books, looking for flats and generally hanging around. We ventured back through the middle of town to St Dominic's Basilica which has a statue high on a pillar in front of it and has a beautiful white interior with ornate paintings throughout. Happy that we had spent our afternoon well we sat back at a restaurant on the main square for a couple of drinks before finding the bus to take us back to the campsite.

17/9 Verona

We continued our trip north. We had intended to visit Verona but a mistake in TomTom programming meant we ended up at Lake Garda. However, after driving around the town of Peschiera del Garda for a while and not finding anywhere to stay we decided that our initial plan was the one to go with so carried on down the motorway to Verona. We were a bit concerned upon reaching Verona, driving along the beautiful riverside, up the hill above town to where we thought the campsite was, only to discover that it was closed. Fortunately it was only closed until 2pm when people could check in. We parked up next to the various other campervans that were there and took the short walk down the hill to the river and then across the beautiful old bridge which took us through the city walls and into the old town of Verona. Verona had many more tourists in it than other places we had visited, but the place was definitely picture postcard material, with narrow streets, balconies looking over pretty squares and people trying to sell you stuff. It was still nice to wander around within the city walls, taking in the atmosphere. We reached the main square, full of people and with a big old Colosseum in it. Unlike in Rome, this one is still in regular use, hosting concerts and other events for locals and tourists alike. Instead of joining them we found ourselves a local cafe to sit down for a drink and watch the world go by. We saw every second person was drinking a bright orange drink out of wine glass. It looked a bit like Fanta but we assumed it had to be something else. Turns out it was something called Aperol Spritz and we thoroughly enjoyed ours. Conscious of the time we made our way back to the camping ground where we were able to check in. The place was really built for tent campers so we squeezed our van between two trees, wondering how we would get it out again in a couple of days...After some dinner we went for a walk to the citadel up the hill where we got a fantastic view of the city all lit up at night. Very pretty and you can see why Shakespeare chose this as the setting for his most famous love story.

18/9 Verona Day 2

As Verona is the setting of Romeo and Juliet, the city has taken this opportunity to capitalise on it from a tourism perspective. All the major sites from the play are represented somewhere in the city and we decided to take ourselves on a tour around them. Most of them are just pretty buildings which had previously been lived in by their various namesakes from the play, so Romeo's house, although pretty, was not open to look around. Juliet's house is something different all together and the tourists were there in their droves. As you enter through the archway the place is full of graffiti from lovers writing messages to each other. Jess was keen to profess our love. Marcus felt defiling of private property was not really romantic...In the square pas the entrance way there is a statue of Juliet, situated below the 'famous' balcony. It has had its fair share of hands rubbed across, the bosoms seeming to be the most popular point. We made our way into the museum which, considering the hordes of people outside, was very empty. It was pleasant enough, giving us some insight of what life must have been like for people living at that time, interspersed with the fiction of Romeo and Juliet around the house. Jess stood out on the balcony, but with nobody serenading her she had to stay with Marcus. We made our way away from Juliet's house checking out the city walls and the ancient Roman ruins along the way to Juliet's tomb. We weren't really sure what this was going to be, but it turns out it is an old monastery that has been rebuilt after being largely destroyed in WWII. It now houses a collection of Italian religious artwork, both old and modern which we had a look around. At the end of the tour is a downstairs crypt with an empty tomb in it. This was Juliet's tomb. We weren't sure it was worth the walk but at least we saw some art. We wandered back into town and through the main square again to check out the city walls on the other side of town, by the river. They were pretty impressive, with fortifications to keep invaders at bay. There was something in the air though, rain, and lots of it. It started pouring down and eventually we decided we were not gong to see any more so walked back up to the campsite. The rain stuck around all afternoon so we passed our time in the common room. The campsite was packed out with people looking for somewhere dry. We met any American family who were big Flight of the Conchords fans and couldn't believe they were meeting real NZers. Their kids seemed a bit disappointed that we were not personal friends with Murray though...

20/9 Venice Day 1

The rain was lifting in Verona in the morning but it was time to move on to our last destination in Italy, Venice. The drive wasn´t too far and before we knew it we were setting up camp at Camping Fusina (Marcus had some vague memories from last time he was there.) After a few chores we were in the ferry and on our way across the water to the magical city. There were ominous clouds in the distance so we crossed our fingers that we wouldn´t get too drenched. The ferry pulled in and we started weaving our way through the narrow lanes and squares of Venice. We didn't really know where we were going but just followed the crowds past all the little shops and over the canals until.we reached St Marks Square, the centre of Venice and site of the round domed St Mark's cathedral, the Torre dell'Orologio and many many pigeons. We carried on a little further until we got to the market on the Rialto Bridge but those clouds were getting ever closer so we decided to instead pick up some bread, prosciutto and Fragolino (yummy Strawberry wine) for dinner. After a few wrong turns we made our way back to the ferry to the mainland before the rain arrived. There were a few spots of rain on the ferry ride, unfortunately the storm had beat us back to the mainland and we had to make a dash from the pier back to the van through the pouring rain. We were well and truly soaked by the time we arrived, as was the washing we had put out before going out. After putting the clothes and ourselves through the dryer we put together some dinner and watched the storm continue to erupt over Venice from the safety of the van.

21/9 Venice Day 2

Fortunately the rain had cleared by the morning so were able to get on the ferry again and have another go at looking around Venice. As we were not in a hurry today we took the roundabout way to get through town, stopping at the shops and galleries along the way. We wandered along the canals and through the market on Rialto bridge to take us through the quieter area on the other side of the Grand Canal. It was still very touristy but somehow Venice is so magical that it gets away with it. We stopped at an Italian restaurant we had read about and although it was chock full of tourists the personal attention from the owner helped it feel authentic. He recommended us some very tasty local white wine and we tucked into excellent seafood pasta, complete with squid ink which ended up all over Marcus' face...This was easily the best meal we had in Italy. We did eventually have to leave and carried on deeper into Venice, now into the Jewish quarter, which was a bit more normal, being largely devoid of all the tourist trappings. Jess attempted to befriend a cat (on advice from Marcus) but the cat wasn't having any of it, and Jess wondered if her stance against cats was still the right one. We pondered getting a ride on a Gondola, but the price and obvious lack of interest of the Gondoliers made us decide to spend our money elsewhere. Satisfied with our time in Italy, we wandered back through the streets, a bit more leisurely than the previous day, and caught the ferry back to the campsite.
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Van Trip Part 5 - South France

2011-09-02T01:14:00.000+12:00

29/8 Carsaconne
As we descended down the mountain out of Andorra and back in to France we decided to stop off along the way at a prehistoric park. There were loads of signs around which seemed to be suggesting prehistoric cave paintings. Alas, we made a bad choice on the place we went to. It was designed more for children and had a museum and you could do your own cave paintings. Everything was a modern artificial version of what the actual prehistoric sites looked like. Not really our cup of tea but at least we got to stretch out legs. Back in the van we headed on to Carsaonne which is a walled fortress and medieval town. It was a nice town, although was a bit packed with tourists and the shops were for the tourists too. We headed into le cite, wandered around on the walls and saw the castle and the church. As we were back in France we had a crepe and wandered around the narrow streets before heading back to the van. It was tinned cassoulet with toulouse sausage back in the van. A step up from baked beans and sausages but possibly not the most authentic cassoulet anyone has ever had.

30/8 Avignon

Next stop Avignon where we stayed at a little shady campsite across the river from the old town. St Bernades Pont was our first call. Apparently there is a famous nursery rhyme about it. It is a half bridge (ie. half of it is gone) with a lot of history some of which was interesting, such as the town folk thought St Bernades had been influenced by fairies as he believed he was destined to build a bridge.Most of which was the standard audioguide stuff though. Too much detail. We lasted through it all though because we wanted to hear the nursery rhyme. Unfortunately after all that listening we didn't remotely recognise the rhyme about dancing on the bridge when we heard it. After coming back off the bridge we decided to go to the Palace of the Popes. Apparently there were 7 or so popes who had previously lived in Avignon when there had been trouble in Rome in the past. The palace was very big and came complete with another detailed audioguide. Some of the massive rooms were pretty impressive, and the view from the top of the castle on that sunny day was great. But after an information overload we decided we needed to buy cake from a boulogerie and sit by the river to eat it. We then headed up the hill to the gardens where we got another lovely view of the town and beyond. By then it was time for dinner back at the campsite and then we went for a walk along the river which was very pretty with both the town and the bridge all lit up.

31/8 Nice (via Marseilles)

Today didn't quite go according to plan. We were aiming to stay in Marseilles but the city proved much too big and after a long time stuck in traffic and unhelpful directions from the TomTom we found ourselves in a tunnel and by the time we got out the other end we were miles out of the centre of Marseilles. We took that as a sign that Marseilles was not the place for us and decided to move on to our next destination, Nice. Hopefully that would be a bit Nice-r.... We took it easy at a campsite we found near the beach west of Nice. As the man had explained to Jess when we checked in that men had to wear undie togs to go swimming at the pool we decided we best go to the beach for a swim. The current at the beach was strong and the beach itself was very little (all the nice beaches on this part of the Mediterranean tend to be private) but we nonetheless enjoyed our swim although it was a bit on the cold side.

1/9 Nice Day 2 & Monaco

The next day we caught the bus into Nice itself to have a look around the old town where we saw a market and some churches. We treated ourselves out to lunch but weren't very impressed (that's what we get for cooking yummy meals in the van). Nice itself is a funny collection of narrow streets and wide boulevards pushed up against the hills on one side and the sea on the other. It was pretty but not somewhere we really felt like spending a long time. So after we checked out the promenade we decided to try out luck in Monaco. There is certainly a lot of money there and the casino buildings were rather impressive from the outside. We didn't try our luck inside and instead we kept moving along the waterfront into the old town where we saw the palace which used to be a monastery but Grimaldi had tricked the monks by dressing as a monk and then stabbing them all - so his family became royalty. Not the most auspicious of beginnings and its probably not worth the risk trying that now. Get yourself shot. Monaco overall didn't much appeal to us either. Big apartments built up against the mountains with giant yachts in the harbour you just couldn't help thinking it was trying to hard...It was a slow trip back to Nice and the campsite with traffic backed up for miles and miles but after a combination of walking and finding a bus that was moving we finally made it back in time for sleep.

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Van Trip Part 4 - South Spain

2011-08-29T00:59:00.000+12:00

19/8 Seville

The next day was a long day of travel to Seville. It was a little disappointing and very hot (47 degrees one thermometer said!) It was disappointing because the only thing we really wanted to look at was the cathedral but when we got there we were told we were too late even though the Lonely Planet book said we had heaps of time. We couldn't have gotten there any earlier because the buses didn't run in the middle of the day. So we looked around the outside of the cathedral and then looked at the Alcamara Palace. It was really really hot so we were pretty slow moving but the palace was nice. It was built in the Moorish style with nice gardens and a fountain. It was certainly good to be inside in the shade. We then continued on a walk around the shopping area of town, the river and the tower (which is the only part remaining of the old city walls). We stopped in the Maria Luisa gardens to get rehydrated with agua. In those sorts of temperatures even sitting down was a sweaty affair. After a short rest we moved on to the Plaza de Espana which was built for the world fair in 1929. It is a massive half square building with a lot of tiled details respresenting the different major cities and regions of Spain. Our stomachs were empty and we thought by now it might be a reasonable time to have tapas so we headed along to Calle Santa Maria la Blanca for tapas and sangria. We enjoyed baby squid, anchovies and some yummy roll thingies and in the sweltering heat the jug of Sangria went down a treat. We got the train back to the campsite. Mmm airconditioning... However we needed to sleep with the doors to the van wide open because despite being night it was still in the high 30s...

20/8 Granada
The following day we drove up and over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Suffice to say in over 40 degree heat the Iceberg was feeling a bit worse for wear by the time we arrived at the campsite. The Sierra Nevada mountains are stunning though. Very bleak and stretching on for miles. Different than the sort of mountains we are used to. After stopping at the campsite we got the bus into Granada. We got slightly lost and took the long way to the Alhambra Palace, which involved climbing up a steep hill in the hot weather, and as a result we arrived 2 people too late to get into the palaces but were still able to look at the gardens. Again according to the guide book we had plenty of time, but they seem to do things however they feel like it in Spain. So we looked around the gardens in the still scorching heat (only 44 degrees today). The gardens were pretty, intricate and large around the 3 palaces which looked pretty interesting from the outside although in the heat we aren't sure. We got the bus back into town and had a wander around and saw a church and bath houses by the river before getting an icecream and heading back to camp. Unfortunately when we got back to camp we could see that pushing the Iceberg in the hot weather hadn't done him any favours and he had preceded to leak the contents of his radiator onto the ground. Luckily Marcus had remembered a thing or two from the days of the Singer Vogue and even more luckily there was an auto parts store across the road from the campsite. We managed to get some Bars Leaks (or the Spanish equivalent) and after running it through the radiator and taking a few drives around the block it was as good as new. Never leaked again.

21/8 Playa Charco
Next we headed to Playa Charco (which is on the Cabo De Gato coast) from where we had a beautiful view of the mountains from the beach. Marcus was unimpressed with some of the beach goers beach attire - not just the topless women which we had become used to but there were both men and women wearing less than that. We went for a swim and the water was much warmer than in Northern Spain. We enjoyed our swim so much we had another one at sunset. We slept in the van on the beach where the mosquitoes enjoyed their dinner - us.

22/8 Campello (near Alicante)
Today we headed for Cato de Gato to a beach near Alicante. We had a few hitches along the way with one of the tyres valves stopped working so Marcus needed to put his manly skills to the test by changing a tyre with a jack which was too short as well as helping a lady who only spoke Spanish fill her tyres with air. The tomtom also decided to play up today but we managed to stay on track and reached the campsite. We chilled out and took a much needed shower before heading to the beach for another warm and this time dumpy wave swim. Jess had to hold on very tightly to her swim suit as she wasn't keen to brave it all like the locals. Paella again for dinner and then some after dinner entertainment as the French children performed a dance for their parents by the pool..

23/8 Valencia
Today we drove to Valencia where we stayed at a campsite near a beach just out of the town. Once we arrived and got set up we caught the bus into town and wandered through the cathedral (Paleta De los Apostoles Miguelete). We enjoyed the audio tour but as usual it had slightly too much information to take it all in. The highlight was seeing the Holy Grail (the only one recognised by the Vatican). Not sure why Indiana Jones went to so much trouble when it was just sitting there in Valencia. We then though t it was time for a gelato and found a place that was in the world records for having 365 flavours of icecream on display. They didn't have that many today but probably about 100. Jess chose pina colada and violet while Marcus enjoyed donuts and mojito. We then walked through to a square Plaza del Ayuntamiento - which was surrounded by large, impressive buildings. It was then time to go back to camp via the super mercado.

24/8 Valencia Day 2
The next morning we set off to check out the a big food market. It was quite impressive and had a lot of interesting seafood - although we didn't buy any as we planned to spend the day out and were concerned it would go off. Instead we had some pastry treats. We also tried Horachetta with fartons. Horachetta is a milky drink made out of tiger nuts and the fartons are sweet bread sticks (as well as being hilarious to ask for...) The drink is famous in the area and what Valenicians drink to cool down on a hot day. It certainly helped with that. We also bought our very own paella pan and picked up some fruit for later in the day. We then headed to the newer part of town where there are many huge aesthetically pleasing buildings surrounded by parks. It was quite a contrast to the old town. The housed museums and events centres and the aquarium but we decided we didn't need to go inside, despite the lure of animatronic robots. As Valencia is the home of paella we thought it was time we tried an authentic one. So we went to Las Arenas (via a rather long walk) which is near the port (and the America's Cup area) as well as the beach. We found a nice restaurant where we had sangria and seafood paella. Very tasty with prawns, mussels and things like prawns with big claws (which we now know to be langostines. It was very nice and relaxing with a seaview. Exhausted by the day we headed back with a tram and a bus.

25/8 Barcelona
Next on our trip was Barcelona so we headed there and found another beachside campsite around 20k outside the city centre. The drive was quite long so we relaxed in the afternoon. Marcus put up the awning to shelter us from the sun and Jess went for a swim at the beach. It was quite warm but a little strange having planes flying over head.

26/8 Barcelona Day 2

Today we decided it would be a Gaudi day. Gaudi is a famous architect from Barcelona who designed buildings inspired by nature. First we got a bus and metro in to the city to see La Sagrada Familia (a huge church). It was a very long line all the way around the block to get in but luckily it moved quite quickly. It was really different than any other church we had seen. It was really cool and impressive. Construction started in 1882 and is still not finished! There was also an interesting exhibit in the basement all about how it was designed and Gaudi's inspirations. We then went to one of Gaudi's other designed building, Casa Mila, this time an apartment building. It didn't look like much from the outside but the roof top was very cool. It had lots of figures and different shapes similar to the church but still worth seeing as well. We also wandered through an apartment within the building. This was more subdued but you could definitely see that it had flourishes of the nature inspired design in it to. Lots of curves and smooth lines. We checked out some more Gaudi buildings up the road but didn't see the need to go into these ones too. As if that wasn't enough we then headed out on the metro to Park Guell which was planned to be an independent village for the rich but never got completed. Again very cool sculptures and buildings - even a lizard and again all designed by Gaudi. An interesting walk up to the park as there were even escalators on the foot path. Back to the campsite just in time as a storm was brewing. It didn't last long though and we enjoyed a nice walk along the beach after dinner of potato cake, chorizo and salad.

27/8 Barcelona Day 3
We started our next day by heading to a market famous for cheap clothes but it was rather disappointing. They were renovating the building so it was in a temporary area. The food area was ok but not as good as the market in Valencia. The clothing was nothing to get us excited either. Afterwards we got a donut to keep us going before heading to La Rambla - a famous street in Barcelona. It is a long straight boulevard from the harbour to the centre of the city. It was quite busy with lots of stalls. We particularly enjoyed the baby hampsters. We then went to a big food market there. We had empenadas (Spanish pasties), juice and fish ball kebabs. Can't help but enjoy a good food market. We then wandered down the end of La Ramblas and saw the Christopher Colombus statue. We walked along the waterfront but it wasn't very exciting so we made our way into the Bari Gothica which is another area in Barcelona. We wandered through the narrow lanes past the cathedral and had pinxtos and beers at a bar. Not as good as in San Sebastian but still tasty. It was quite windy when we got back to camp so decided to put our feet up and pass on the swimming today.

28/8 Andorra

We headed off from Spain today to a little country called Andorra. Along the way we enjoyed the scenery of mountain hill tops which were much different from the beach scenes we were now used to. When we arrived at our campsite just outside of Ordino we spotted An'Dora'ra the explorer! Andorra is meant to have cheap electronics so we headed into town and got ourselves a net book before going back to camp and having a short walk. It was much colder in Andorra and in the morning we could even see our breath. It was only 12 degrees. This was very cold compared to the temperatures we had been having. The trees were also starting to loose their leaves. Was summer over and Autumn beginning?
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Van Trip Part 3 - Portugal

2011-08-19T00:58:00.000+12:00

13/8 Porto

The next day we left Spain crossing the border into Portugal where our first stop was Porto. After discovering the first campsite we went to had disappeared we headed to a campsite on the other side of time near the beach at Saligouous in Gaia. The campsite was quite different from some of the previous ones so far. This looked as though it was full of permanent residents complete with their own gardens on some pitches. Later though we decided that this may be their alternative to a holiday home as many of the homely looking pitches were closed up. We caught the bus into Porto and after the journey we were feeling a bit peckish. We had read that there is a sandwich (francesionos) that Porto is famous for so we thought we would give it a try. Basically it is an assortment of meat (at least 4 types I think) in between bread with a fried egg on top all smothered in grilled cheese and a special sauce. If that wasn't enough calories it also comes with a huge bowl of fries. This is one of those times that when the food arrived we wondered why we didn't decide just to share one. I don't think I'll be having one of these again but I could imagine it would be a good alternative to a Full English to help a hangover. Feeling full but a little ill we headed to Torredos Denigos - Portugals highest tower. We climbed the 225 steps up the tower which was built between 1754 and 1763 and were rewarded with a good view of the city. Marcus' top travelling tip: Always climb the highest building you can find. We then went to a port shop where we decided to buy a few bottles of white and tawny. We then looked at a little market before heading to a book shop. It wasn't any ordinary bookshop it was actually rather spectacular with a very grand staircase and glass ceiling. I think there were more tourists than patrons in there though. Next we walked around the town and looked at the cathedral & the palace de Bolsa, along the waterfront and back to the campsite as the mist returned. We had our first port in Porto, a white port with Lemon and Tonic Water, our new favourite hot weather drink.

14/8 Porto Day 2

We decided to stay 2 nights in Porto (even better when we discovered that the campsite was only €20 for both nights). So on our second day we decided to go to one of the port caves for a taste of the local tipple. Porto is situated either side of a river with steep hills on either side so there are caves all along the south side. We wandered up the river looking at all the port houses until we found one that had a tour leaving, The tour was well done and not too long or touristy and we learnt a lot about port before sampling a few. We even brought a bottle of tawny. Not just white port on this trip. We thought about taking a ride in one of the boats they used to use to transport the port barrels but with the tourists all clamoring aboard we decided it was not our scene Back to the campsite to chill out and another night at Uno (although Marcus hadn't been as willing to play as Jess had hoped so far throughout the trip).

15/8 Bussaco Forest
Today we headed away from Porto further south into Portugal to the Bussaco Forest which is a walled forest where monks used to live tending the trees. We walked through the forest and saw many buildings and Jesus related statues as well as the Palace hotel where you could stay, although it was out of budget for this trip. It was nice and relaxing and although the town was a bit touristy it was not rushed and busy like it had been in many of the other places we had visited so far. After deciding we had done well walking up and down the hilly tracks we slowly wandered back to the van. Along the way we picked up some fresh (and yummy) coconut bread from a local stall and filled up our bottles with fresh spring water from the fountain at the town of Luso before finding another roadside rest stop for the night.

16/8 Lisbon

The following day we drove to Lisbon and stayed at a cool campsite with lots of trees and we were able to park where ever we chose (not like camping in the UK where the demand exactly where you park - apparently due to fire safety). We had a quiet afternoon of doing chores and a swim at the campsite pool before venturing into town for dinner. We heard that Bairo Alto was the place to be at night so thought we would check it out. It was definitely the place to go out, with lots of trendy bars tucked into the streets. We stopped for a drink in a place with random decorations and cool looking people hanging out before moving on to dinner. Unfortunately we weren't too impressed with the food. We made the mistake of going where the people were rather than with the menu and unfortunately the people were all tourists. Got to help an English family who were more lost than we were orient themselves in the city though . Lisbon is built on a series of hills and Bario Alto is up on one of them so after dinner we went for a walk and found a square overlooking the main city where we got to see the pretty lights of night time Lisbon.

17/8 Lisbon day 2
We planned to stay two nights in Lisbon so today we headed off to see the sights. First up we went to Belem, which is an old area on the way to the main city. There we had their special custard tarts, Pastrjese of Belem, which were first made in 1837 although ours were much fresher. Yum! We had seen the queue going right down the road the night before so were lucky to time it a bit better and not have to wait long. Unfortunately we were not so lucky about seeing the monastery across the road. We stood in a very long and hot queue for about 45 minutes. However, it was a very pretty building with lots of parlours - typically portuguese gothic which is called Manueline. Then we headed into town and made use of our daily travel pass by using the elevador (the first elevator originally run by steam but now by electricity). It takes you up the hill we were at the night before. It is supposed to be a tourist attraction but considering it goes so fast you can't see anything it was probably one worth missing. After walking back down again we then headed up the hill on the other side of the city centre (a rather hot and sweaty walk) to see the fortress/palace which overlooked the city. We saw both baby peacocks and baby kittens at the archaeological site and we enjoyed good views across the harbour. Not the best castle we have seen but certainly worth a visit if you are in town. We then wandered back down the hill and to the large square in front of the Portguese Parliament at the waterfront before jumping on the bus and heading back to the campsite sufficiently walked out for the day.

18/8 Olhao (near Faro)

It was an unscheduled stop in Portugal today but we decided we needed to break up the trip before moving into Spain. We walked around the salt flats trying to find a beach, but the beach was a bit muddy and yuck so we ended up chilling out in the sun at the campsite for a much needed rest day. We knew we were getting further south, It was HOT!

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Van Trip Part 2 - North Spain

2011-08-13T03:24:00.000+12:00

7/8/2011 San Sebastian

The next day we woke with optimism that today would be a better day. We crossed the border into Spain. The day didn't go well to start again as the camping ground at was full and so was the field next to it apparently. As there were no other camping grounds near San Sebastian we parked in town to have a look around. It is a very pretty city, built up on the hills around the harbour with a nice stretch of beach all along the promenade. We walked along the beach into the old town where we stopped for some pintxos (little snacks that you buy from the bar from a couple of Euro each) and Sidra (spanish cider, which they pour from a height to make it bubbly). Jess had pinxtos that looked like a lizard but was actually a sardine and another seafood one. Marcus had chorizo/bacon and fish. Mmm tasty. After a bit more of a wander through the city we headed back to the van and drove along the coast hoping to stumble across somewhere to stay. We parked up in a seaside town called Orio (not where the biscuits come from). It looked like it was all ready for the influx of tourists but they hadn't arrived so there was plenty of space to park. After a walk around we went to the beach. It was a little cold for swimming so just sun bathing today. As the day wore on the crowds did in fact start to arrive and by early evening it was quite busy around the place. We found a little bar by the sea for a jug of sangria before heading back to the van for some pasta for dinner.

8/8/2011 Santander
It wasn't too far to our next stop, Santander, and we were praying that we would find a campsite as it had been a while since we had had a warm shower. Success at last! Arriving early we found a spot at Camping Cabo Mayor so we decided to stay for two nights. Once we had settled in it was time to do some chores (our clothes hadn't been washed for a while either) before exploring the town. We walked in along the beach, which was golden and busy with a nice promenade and parks scatterd along its length. This seems to be what Oriental Bay is going for, but this is much nicer than Oriental Bay (sorry Wellington). With the warm weather we enjoyed an icecream and continued into the town centre. We went to the supermarket to pick up some supplies but it took a while as the shop went into darkness and the siren started. It was ok though we didn't break it and it wasn't too long until we were back at the campsite. We had a chorizo medley for dinner (normal chorizo, liver - we think and a white one - maybe pork or chicken?)

9/8 Santander Day 2

We started our second day in Santandar leisurely and walked up to the Lighthouse (al Farode Cabo Mayor) which was near the campsite. We got a fantastic view up and down the coast but we hurried away once a bus load of tourists arrived. We then walked along the waterfront. Halfway to the main town is the Magdalena peninsula where we had a walked around the mini zoo and the King's palace when he is in town. Then we laid out at playa de bikini (but some people forgot their bikini tops!) where we had a swim at the nice calm beach and then headed off to get some food in town. Then it was back to the campsite for a rest before heading out to dinner, our first dinner out since we had started our trip. We had been told that Barrio Pesquero was the place to get fresh seafood meals. We wondered if we had it right as we headed along through a dodgy neighbourhood in the port area. With hungry tummies we were starting to think that we might be out of luck. Then we turned a corner where there were around half a dozen restaurants on one stretch of road where the vendors were competing for our patronage. Not as intense as brick lane but similar on a small scale (and in Spanish). Once we chose which restaurant we decided against the special set menu. A couple along from us were struggling with their mega plate of prawns, and that was only the first course. After referring to our Spanish phrase book Marcus settled on a monk fish fillet and Jess had a hake fillet. The fish certainly was fresh and we enjoyed a nice bottle of Rioja to accompany the meal. They didn't speak any English and we didn't speak much Spanish but it all worked out. You could tell the fish was fresh because through the back door of the restaurant the fish was all sitting on ice having just been unloaded from the ships. Feeling satisfied with our first dinner out since went away we headed back to the camp for a good nights sleep.

10/8 Gijon

Off again the next morning this time to Gijon, further along the coast. We were lucky enough to get a spot at a campsite on a peninsula right next to the sea. We walked along the waterfront and passed some nice statues - the solarid (a metal looking spider thing) and Monumento ala Medrodel Emigrate - which was a really sad looking lady whose family must have moved away. It was feeling a bit like we were back in Wellington as it was rather windy. We were glad we decided not to make today a beach day not only because of the wind but as there were millions of people crammed onto Playa de Sun Lorenzo. Gijon was pretty similar to San Sebastian and Santander with a city next to a long beach and a promenade to walk along. Unlike its neighbours, Gijon was clearly poorer with the buildings being a bit more run down but was good for a slight change. We ventured into the old town where we saw the house of Jovellananos (a composer we think as there was someone playing music outside). We then continued past all the people drinking cidre in the sun to Parque Como de Santa Catalina an old military battery but now home to another giant sculpture on the hill. Nice panoramic views too. Marcus was then feeling rather tired so we headed through the town via the supermarket to our campsite where he had a snooze while Jess chilled out in the sun. We had a lovely dinner of chorizo and prawn paella made by Jess - pretty yummy with the cidre we had brought in Santander.

11/8 La Coruna

We stopped along the trip today to visit the Tower of Hercules an old lighthouse in the city of A Coruna. We climbed up it along with the other tourists and could see all around including the ruins on the ground. The Tower is the oldest working Roman lighthouse although actually only the foundations are ancient, the rest having been rebuilt in 1791. After the strong winds encouraged us back down we went on a long drive trying to find somewhere to stay. After driving along the coast, through hills, in and out of forests and through little towns and we eventually settled in a rest area not too far out of town where we almost go eaten alive by the bugs.

12/8 Santiago de Compostela and Vigo

We were eager to get on our way today. We stopped at the nice old town of Santiago de Compestella which is where a lot trekkers end their walk across Spain (the one our friend Tree did but we don't think she made it all the way). It is a huge christian pilgrimage and the tourists around did have the look of pilgrims moreso thsn they normally do. We went into the cathedral to have a look. There were loads of people singing and praying. We also looked around some nice historic buildings taking in the Christianity. Before heading on our way we had some churros with a mug of hot melted chocolate which although delicious made us feel a little sickly by the end.

Back in the van we headed to a beach near Vigo called Playa de America where we parked up for the night. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun and eventually got brave enough for a swim although it was mighty cold so only lasted a few minutes.

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Van Trip Part 1 - France

2011-08-07T00:46:00.000+12:00

29/07/2011 - London to Dover
As Friday 29 July rolled around we finished our last day at work and rushed back to the flat for a last pack up of our things. After saying our goodbyes to our flatties we headed off to Dover. There were even fireworks in the sky as we drove away celebrating the start of our travels. We decided for our snack on the trip that we should have an English porkpies as we were looking forward to some European cuisine in the weeks to come. Our ferry was for the next morning so once we finally got through all the evenings traffic we parked up on the promenade in Dover for our first night of free camping in the Iceberg complete with both sea and garden views - oooh la la (oh wait we're not quite in France yet).

30/07/2011 - Calais and Jumieges
The next morning we woke early after an ok sleep - hopefully we will get used to sleeping in the van. We sat on the waterfront to have the first breakfast of the trip, bread and coffee. Looked like it was going to be a nice calm trip on the ferry. Too late for the good weather now England... We headed to the port and boarded on our Sea France Ferry to Calais. We enjoyed the nice views of the White Cliffs of Dover and of the coasts of France on our trip. We had looked into the cost of tolls before we starting our trip so when we arrived in Calais we decided to take the scenic route to Rouen to avoid the extra charges. It was nice to drive through some small towns and to see some sporting figures on the roads as we passed by. The good thing about the roads in France is that there are lots of signs with pictures of the local attractions so it is good to know what is in the area. Every town seems to have its own one. Once we arrived in a camp ground in Jumieges we decided it was going to be too much of a mission to head into Rouen itself and instead chilled out in Jumieges. We walked into the small town and looked at the abbey of Saint-Pierre-de-Jumieges and had a nice walk along the Seine. Along our way we saw some really cute horses - they were very considerate to each other and stood top to tail in order to keep the flies out of each others faces. Or at least that's what we think they were doing. Of course travelling is all about the food and drink, so we picked up some cidre (French cider) and camberet which we enjoyed back at the campsite.

31/07/2011 - Bayeux
We headed off to Bayeux today and saw a cute bridge along the way. When we arrived at Bayeux we looked around the town and Jess even managed to try out her language skills and order some croissants. We figured as we were travelling through foreign countries we should at least be making an effort to learn the language, so each morning consisted of listening to a few podcasts and stumbling through the phrases they were trying to teach us. Our French wasn't too good so first off was Coffee Break French with Mark and Anna. Bonjour! One of the biggest attractions in Bayeux is the Bayeux tapestry so we thought we would check it out. The tapestry depicted the Norman conquest of Britain which culminated in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It was very impressive and the audioguide gave you just enough information to keep you moving. After finding a campsite we headed to Omaha Beach which is one of the D-day landing beaches. There we went to the museum and the American cemetery. It was good to see the history although a little depressing. It is amazing to think that there were people dying less than 70 years ago on those beaches where kids were now swimming. Back to the campsite we had a dinner of brie, ham and salad as well as, of course a baguette. French bread is certainly much better than the stuff they call bread in London. We also tried a local tipple, Calvados. It is basically an Apple based spirit. There wasn't much of a taste of apples though. Jess can't say she was much of a fan and although Marcus kept drinking it eventually he had to give up too. Every country seems to have their "local" spirit which tastes like turps. In France it is calvados.

1/8/2011 - Mont-Saint-Michel and St Malo
We successfully ordered bread and paid in french today as we had struck our first campsite that couldn't speak English. Not too difficult to communicate the basics but more lessons in the van followed. Today we were heading to a site that we had been looking forward to, Mont-St-Michel, which is an abbey on an island. It used to only be able to be accessed by boat or when the tide was right out but now there is a joining road which allowed us with the rest of the hoards of tourists to visit. It was really beautiful despite all the tourists. It just required us to use our imaginations a little more to appreciate the beauty behind all the people. There is a road which spirals around from the bottom to the monastery situated at the top of the island. The monastery was huge and there were spectacular views from the top as well but the crowds eventually made us decide it was time to head back to the van and carry on with our journey.

Back in the van we headed on to the port city of St Malo. This was a little bit more stressful due to narrow streets and no where to turn around but we finally found a camping ground (Alet) which is near Forte de la citie which had views in all directions of ports and beaches and St Malo itself which is a walled city. It used to be a pirate haven, yarrrr! Once we settled in we went for a walk to the Forte by the camping ground and then into St Malo where we blew today's budget on macaroons (I think it was worth it though!). We walked along the city walls and enjoyed the views. Its a shame they still let traffic into the city as it would be much nicer if it was pedestrianised. I guess that is the tourist in us, rather than the people who have to live there. Back to the van where we did the first proper cooking in the van - red wine chicken (not too foul at all - oh no the bad jokes of the trip started this early!) Le clutiere red wine alongside -we could definitely get used to this.

2/8/2011 Carnac

The next day we ventured inland a bit towards Carnac to see Stonehenge's French cousins. These rocks have been most famous for being the rocks that Obilix, from Asterix comics, carried. It was kind of like Stonehenge but they were much smaller. There were many more of them everywhere though, as well as all the celtic paraphenalia that goes with them. We also appreciated the sunflowers fields which were dotted along the roads. We decided we better have a crepe for lunch before continuing on our journey. We headed to the beach at La Trinitie and found a campsite before heading off to the beach. Unfortunately the weather was a bit overcast and we thought it might even rain so we headed back to the campsite to read until the weather cleared up again. We didn't really know anything about La Trinitie and it turns out it is basically just a holiday resort swarming with English tourists paying lots of money for their campsites. Oh well. When they sun came back we headed back down to the beach for Jess' first swim. Marcus wasn't brave enough to go all the way in though so he just had a little paddle. It wasn't quite warm enough but there were plenty of others giving it a go; both young and old. The beach looked much nicer the second time around as the tide had come in to hide all the gungy sea weed. Back to the campsite for a shower and dinner - on tonight's menu chorizo and red wine risotto matched with a Cote du Rhone. Ooo la la.

3/8/2011 St Hilarie de Reiz
We drove off again with the aim to have a relax at our next campsite. Unfortunately the campsites in the area were of the family holiday resort variety, with giant waterslides and family entertainement. Not really our scene. Luckily we arrived at Plage de la paree Preneau where we happened to stumble upon an Aire de Camping where it is allowed to park up and camp for free. We were feeling hungry so we decided to walk the 'short' distance to the shop to get our supplies for the night. However, what was meant to be a 1km walk turned into a 5 hour trek, complete with blisters and sun burn. Should have checked the map... We finally reached St-Giles-Croix-de-Vie where we were able to find an open shop before heading back to the van exhausted. At least we got to walk along the beach on the way back. We decided we needed to head to the beach to relax after that so we went for a quick dip. This time Marcus was slightly braver and went in up to his waist. There was an upside to the long walk though - we found a battery shop, Monsieur Batterie - as we had found that our leisure battery had decided to use this time to give up. That night we were rather exhausted so after our pasta dinner we had an early night.

4/8 /2011 La Rochelle
A good start to the day as we headed back to Monsieur Batterie to see about getting a new battery. We were a little concerned of our lack of french and a hefty price. However the man at the shop spoke a little English and was very helpful and set us on our way with a new battery (much better than the last) and only €200 lighter in our pockets. We also managed to buy some yummy brioche before we set off to La Rochelle feeling much happier. When we arrived in La Rochelle the first campsite was full but they directed us to another one where we set up for the night. The weather wasn't looking its best with on and off rain but that was probably just as well as our skin could do with a break from the sun. We then caught a bus into the town where we wandered around and checked out the 3 towers at the port (la Chaine, la Lanterne and St Nicolas) nice white stone buildings. The town centre is built around the old port area and was still teeming with tourists, despite the weather. It was certainly very picturesque. The sort of place you can imagine yourself spending a luxury weekend sway, sampling the local wines. As we are on a budget, however, we instead enjoyed some nice flan and apple tarte before heading back to camp.

5/8/2011 Teste De Buch

Our plans didn't go to plan today. Our aim was to go to a camping ground where we could get a train into Bordeaux but the camping ground we wanted to go to no longer existed. So we headed off to find another camping ground but alas no luck. We continued further and further away from Bordeaux and after much driving around we finally settled on a camping-car spot in teste-le-buch near a surfing town called Biscarosse. France is well set out for campervans. This place was massive and well sheltered under the trees with a toilet you could use too. We were lucky to get a sport. We saw plenty of people later on who had to turn away. Giving up on Bordeaux we went for a walk to the town to get some food and see the beach - a much different attitude to the places we had previously been. The town was busy but not bustling. Felt a bit like Mount Maunganui. We sat on the beach and watched some of the local surfers before wandering back to the van. For dinner Jess made duck breast in toffee apple sauce - the duck because it is very french and the sauce as a Normandy speciality. Bon appetite. Marcus claims this was the best dinner Jess cooked on the trip. As we didn't get to Bordeaux we drank a red wine from the region instead.

6/8/2011 Bassin D'Arachon and Biarittz

Early the next morning we headed to Bassin D'Arachon, a slight backtrack, to see a huge sand dune. This had been recommended by our french flatmate in London, Cami. In Marcus' words it was 'really big and sandy like being on a sand dune, you know like the book Dune'. Well no Marcus you know I don't read your silly sci-fi books but yes it was big and sandy but a five year old could have come up with that description. It was worth seeing though. There were plenty of people scrambling up and over including some buddhist monks who seemed to be enjoying it too. We then headed on to our next destination Biarritz. It was school holidays throughout Europe, so very busy. Unfortunately we had another day where things didn't go quite according to plan.The camp grounds were full and the traffic was everywhere. We managed to find a park on the road not too far from the beach at Bidart. After all the driving and hot weather we needed to cool off a bit After 2 swims, some sunbathing and reading we headed back to the van with the plan to head closer to Biarritz to find some dinner. We thought we deserved a treat as we hadn't eaten out on the trip so far. No such luck - the streets were very busy and narrow and no where to park. Feeling very grumpy we gave up on eating out and headed out of Biarritz and parked up further south down the coast at Guethary, next to a beach. We made do with bread for dinner as by then heavy rain had set in. An early night for two very tired campers.

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July

2011-08-01T00:25:00.000+12:00

We started into July with Tree’s 4^th of July party. It was a good chance to dig out some old costumes which we hadn’t used for a while. (You will have to look at the photos to see which, but suffice to say they both went down a treat.) Everyone really got into the spirit of the night, with some cool costumes, beer pong and cheesy American hits keeping the night going into the early hours of the morning. Luckily Tree only lives around the corner so it was nice to be able to walk home (changed out of our costumes to avoid unwanted London muggings.)

We decided to get some culture into us with a visit to the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition. We weren’t quite sure what the deal was, but turns out they have a large exhibition of original artwork every year for which you are able to buy the limited edition prints. Suffice to say the prices were high so we weren’t really in the market for any art but was good to see what the intellectuals get up to. After that we went for a wander around St James’ park and around Westminster, where we haven’t actually spent all that much time since arriving in London.

We also made it down to Clapham to Forrest and Laura’s place for Laura’s birthday. Was good to catch up with them and the likes of Monique, Matt, Fagan and Cameron (who had shrunk into virtual non-existence as a result of an extensive exercise regime he had been undergoing.) He was happy to share all his secrets with anyone prepared to listen. We like cake too much for that though.

We also had a couple of other birthdays in July. First we were out to West London to visit Abbie for an afternoon birthday BBQ. Considering it had been a pool party the year before it was a bit of a let down for Abbie that this year we all had to be rugged up against the cold. Blasted London summer! After our last catch up with Abbie before she goes home it was back to Islington for Ash’s birthday at the HUGE Wetherspoons converted from an old theatre on Holloway Road. We arrived pretty late so the place was closing not long after we arrived but that didn’t stop the birthday girl and it was off to Big Red, a rock bar up the road. We had never been sure about the place, with flaming skulls painted on the outside, but once we got in there we had a great night listening to our kind of music before again being lucky enough to walk home in the early hours.

We finally got a bit of sun the following day so we made the most of it with a relaxing afternoon at Regents Park. Was good to just enjoy some sun and read our books. We didn’t stay late though. This was our last weekend in London before our big van trip so we had organised to have a dinner with the flatmates at, where else but, Ziloufs. Had to get in our last dose of ribs and pork belly.

You would think that with our next week being the last before we left London we would be spending the evenings sorting out last minute plans. We were but it was also while going out for dinner with Michelle and Jason, who were also off on a long trip, but they wouldn’t be coming back as their planned destination was Melbourne where they were planning on starting afresh. We met in Stoke Newington where we had some tasty Mexican fare. Not too hot to burn our tongues off though.

It was another dinner as well that week. This time a last taste of Le Mercury with a few of our friends. Turns out July is the time to leave London because it ended up being a small event. As we were still coming back to London again we couldn’t be too jealous for those of our friends who chose to go to the other leaving dinners. Turned out to be a great night though and we left lingering with plans for a dinner club…

And with the week and the month coming to an end it was time for the biggest trip yet. The Iceberg was going to take us around Europe…

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June

2011-07-01T01:19:00.000+12:00

Inspired by our weekend away in the Cotswalds we decided to take the Iceberg for another spin. This time down to the New Forest for an overnight stay. We left early on Saturday morning hoping the drive wouldn’t be too long. Unfortunately a lot of other people seemed to have the same idea so it was pretty slow going. Nonetheless we eventually arrived in New Forest and used our Caravan Club connections to get a spot to stay (even if we were sure that they were all looking distastefully out of their caravans and campervans at us while they had Coronation Street playing in the background.) We took it easy the first day and just decided to go for a walk in the countryside. There was plenty of paddock and a few trees for us to duck and dive through. We even got to say hello to a few of the wild horses which live down in the New Forest. They just roam around like they own the place. As it was spring there were some cute foals around too. The next day we ventured a bit further afield and did some proper forest walking. We checked out some local red deer. We visited the biggest tree in the New Forest. It is pretty big although has probably seen better days. We managed to avoid running over the hundreds of horses everywhere. We also saw the spot where King William II was accidentally killed by one of his men. Oops! By this time the rain had unfortunately set itself in so we were back up to London again.

Darryl had been planning to have his birthday in Amsterdam, however a lack of funding from everyone to make it all happen meant that instead it was birthday in Hampstead, or Hampsterdam. Summer this year was proving somewhat unreliable (to put it mildly) so we were hoping that we would actually see some sun. Luckily for us the sun had come out today and we were able to sit in the beer garden at the Freemansons Arms right next to Hampstead heath and enjoy a few brews. Ricky Gervais was there but as he appeared to be lunching with his family we thought he probably wouldn’t want to join us. As we were so close to the Heath and the weather was dry we decided to head across the road (via M&S) to have ourselves a picnic lunch. It was nice relaxing London park fun with friends (and the odd visit to the copse). Afterwards it was back to Darryl and Beverley’s for a few more drinks a bit of singing and Marcus making sure everyone was being sensible…

A flat party was also long overdue at our place so after a false start a few weeks earlier the Animal Party was underway. Jess came as a bee, Marcus as a horse (sort of), we had Camille the frog, Andy the Meerkat, Nick the Crocodile, Sam the Peacock, Huw the Donkey and a whole menagerie of other animals roaming around our flat. In the usual fashion the party carried on well into the hours of the early morning (although we had gone to bed loooong before that.)

One of the advantages of London is all the big concerts that are held there. This is especially true in Summer when they put up a big stage in Hyde Park and hold various concerts there. This year Hard Rock Calling was again on and one of the nights was being headlined by Bon Jovi. Now we didn’t actually have tickets to go see Bon Jovi but because the stage just has a big wall around it you can go sit outside the wall and listen for free, even if you can’t actually see what is going on. Darryl had organised the usual suspects to attend. Who would have thought Darryl was such a huge Bon Jovi fan? We certainly discovered once Jon and the boys started playing because Darryl knew ALL the words. It was all good fun and another good excuse to have a picnic in the park.

As we said before the summer weather in London this year wasn’t the greatest so any chance we got to spend some time outside we did. One of the parks we hadn’t managed to visit was one of the biggest, Richmond Park. With great weather arriving on the last weekend of June, we jumped onto the Overground and hopped off at Richmond heading in the general direction of where we assumed the Park must be. After a hike up the hill we found the entrance to the park and proceeded to sit in the shade for a nice picnic lunch. If you are lucky in the park you may see deer roaming (it was Henry VIII’s hunting ground after all). We didn’t see any roaming but there were plenty sitting around enjoying the sun. We also got a look at King Henry’s Mound which has an unobstructed view all the way to St Paul’s Cathedral. Apparently Henry stood there and could see the signal that Anne Boleyn had been executed. Lovely man. The rest of the afternoon was spent exercising our legs, wandering around the park and then taking a rest in the shade. It was nice to finally get some summer weather and nicer that we could be somewhere so green and open to enjoy it.

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The Cotswalds

2011-05-31T01:18:00.000+12:00

It was now several months since we had acquired the Iceberg and we had still not really taken him away properly camping for a few days. With the second May Bank Holiday we intended to remedy that with a trip away to the Cotswalds. Not only that but Ian and Amy were going to come along too with Minty. The planning of it all had been a little bit last minute so we didn’t have any accommodation booked, however it was Ian to the rescue with the idea that we join the Caravan Club and then we can use their site just out of Oxford. We flirted with the idea of free camping the whole thing but then sense prevailed and Caravan Club members we became. We each made our own separate ways on Friday night. With the busy Friday night leaving London traffic Marcus had a bit of an altercation with a bollard and unfortunately Iceberg came off all the worst for it but we did manage to make it to Woodstock, just outside of Oxford in one piece where we met up with Ian and Amy who had already sussed out a campsite. To say our campers looked a bit substandard compared to the other people at the Caravan Club site was something of an understatement, but we weren’t there to impress anyone, we were just up for getting some nature into us and having a look around this most English part of England. The night was chilly, so we were thankful that at least we had somewhere to park up and after a couple of drinks and a chat it was off to sleep with a busy weekend ahead.

The next morning, after a round of bacon sandwiches, we wandered next door to Blenheim Palace, the former home of the Churchills, the most famous being Winston. It is a big, beautiful stately palace and gardens which now serves as a museum about the Churchills, and is lived in by the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. We started with a wander around the gardens. We did have to dodge the odd rain shower but overall managed to stay reasonably dry. There is a massive lake out the back of the palace so we took a walk along the shores of that, checking out the birds and plants which were all around. We then wandered back up through the middle of the garden, stopping to smell the roses, before we arrived back at the palace. We stopped for some tea and scones (along with hundreds of other tourists…) but as we didn’t mind sitting in the rain we didn’t have too much trouble getting a table outside. After a bite to eat we took a wander through the part of the palace which was open for public access. It was interesting to see all of the family memorabilia although the amount of it was a little overwhelming. Instead of doing the guided tour (complete with ghost story) we went across the Vanbrugh's Grand bridge where we chilled out a bit on the other side and were witness to a guy proposing to his girlfriend (awesome). Although the spot he had chosen was a little bit heavy on the duck poo. After that spot of romance we made our way through the palace one last time and got ourselves across to the butterfly house down the road. It wasn’t exactly teeming with butterflies but the ones we saw seemed to be happy enough. Along with the butterfly house there was also a street of mini buildings which we think was supposed to look like the main street of Woodstock`. No stately home is complete without a hedge maze, so we spent some time wandering through there (can you work out what word the letters in the hedge spell?) After being worn out by all that walking we took the token tourist train back to the entrance of Blenheim Palace where we were lucky enough to be able to visit a local arts and crafts fair. Even better this was a proper arts and crafts fair with real artists and artisans showing and selling their wares. There were sculptors and potters and carvers and all sorts of other people showing original interest in art, not just the usual tat. Amy was very pleased with her painters' box purchase. It had been a big day so far but it wasn’t yet over. We took a stroll through the picturesque town of Woodstock. It really was everything you imagined an English Country town to be with stone buildings covered in Ivy and pubs and cobblestones. We decided to head to one of the pubs on the outskirts of town as we had noticed it had a cool water wheel on it. After sampling some local ales and playing a couple of rounds of the new worldwide phenomenon “Stop the Bus” we made our way back to the campsite for some well earned rest. We had some uncertainty as to how the weather was going to hold so we managed to get the awning on the side of the van raised for the first time with a bit of duct tape to hold it all together. It was then an evening of red wine and Backpackers before turning in.

The next day we all piled into Minty for a trip further afield into the wider Cotswalds. Our first stop was Chipping Norton which left us feeling slightly underwhelmed. We were able to find some water at the supermarket, so it wasn’t a total write off though…Luckily the town of Moreton in Marsh redeemed any misconceptions we may have had. It is the site of the White Hart Royal Hotel which housed King Charles during part of his time in exile. The Costwalds is a very royalist area. The craft market wasn’t up to the standard of the day before but that was OK, because we treated ourselves to a tasty cream tea before checking out the crazy array of teapots in some of the other tea rooms. There was everything from the standard yellow teapot to the three wheeled van from Only Fools and Horses. We continued along our way to the town of Stow on the Wold, where the wind blows cold. Stow on the Wold is situated on the top of a hill so is apparently very windy. There certainly was a chill in the air. The tourists had heard about it too obviously, as there were plenty around. We checked out the local church, which had a cool looking entrance where the trees had grown all around it. Then it was back into town for a pint at the old pub. Unfortunately they had had it redecorated so only the roof beams were still old but it was nice to have a pint nonetheless. It was then back to in the van and off to Upper Slaughter (via Lower Slaughter) for a short walk through the countryside. We ran into one of Ian’s old workmates who was perhaps slightly over the top in her reaction to seeing someone unexpected but as always Ian played it cool. Our last stop of the day was the town of Bourton on the Water, home of a miniature version of itself. And within the miniature version was a miniature version of the miniature version!! Crazy!! There is only so much excitement you can take in one day so we made our way back to the campsite with plans for a nice pub dinner. However, it turns out virtually everything closes on a Sunday night so we wandered the whole town before eventually agreeing to a curry. They couldn’t fit us in straight away so we went for more of a walk where, purely by chance, we did find a pub that was serving food, and it was decent food at that. Joyously we tucked into our tasty dinners before tucking ourselves in to bed.

We awoke to torrential rain on the last day of our weekend away. Fortunately we had packed most of our stuff up the night before so it was all stowed safely in the vans. We weren’t sure whether we should just pack it in and head back to London, but in true NZ style we carried on and decided to go see the Uffington White Horse, a chalk horse drawn on the hill in Somerset. Different Sat Navs took us different directions but we both got there in the end, although the rain followed us too. We couldn’t really get much of a view of the horse so we wandered across the hills, battling our umbrellas, until we got a close up look. It was pretty cool how the ditches had been dug into the hill and then filled with stones which were covered in chalk. Some brave souls were out touching up the chalk that day but I am not sure how well their progress was going in the rain. We were all thoroughly soaked by the time we got back to the vans. Fortunately the beauty of having a van is that you can get changed into dry clothes straight away! We took in a decent pub lunch at the Fox and Hound before thanking each other for the weekend and making our way back to London, our first proper weekend away in the Iceberg a success.

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May

2011-05-28T01:18:00.000+12:00

It was a mixture of social events that kept us going throughout May. The first was lunch for Beverley’s birthday with all the usual suspects at the Flask in Hampstead. We were impressed with the Flask. It was a good English Pub with good food and service. Marcus probably didn’t need to order the sausage platter though. A platter implies you share it Marcus…It was then back to their huge flat in Hampstead for general shenanigans and some old fashioned Circle of Death.

We did manage to get out of London in May too with a trip to St Albans, the old roman city and general nice place, just to the north of London. The London traffic meant we probably spent more time getting to and from there than we actually spent in St Albans but at least Iceberg got to go for a spin too. We checked out the cathedral and managed to score some lunch at the cathedral café. We wandered around the park which is where the old Roman city of Verulamium used to be. We didn’t see all the ruins but we looked at the old wall and some cool mosaics on what would have been someone’s living room floor a couple of thousand years ago. Apparently the oldest pub in the UK is supposed to be there too, however after seeing the outside we were not convinced we wanted to see the inside so decided to give it a miss. Probably a good idea when driving anyway. Overall a successful, if brief, trip to St Albans.

We caught up with Ian and Amy at their place for some tasty BBQ dinner. We certainly miss having some outdoor area at our flat and it is always good to burn some meat outdoors and enjoy some good company.

It was Ian and Amy’s place again for the “Murder at the Deadwood Saloon” murder mystery evening. Marcus was Gambling Jack, he was successful but that success didn’t all come honestly, and Jess was Bonnie the Banker, the wife of the banker, although we all know who really controls the money. It was a great night of fun, confusion, tacky costumes and bad western accents. Ricky was particularly good. By the end of the night between us we had managed to collect no clues and really had no idea what was going on or whodunit but it was excellent fun and we would highly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance.

The next night we made the journey down to Wandsworth to catch up with Anna and Perry. Perry is Canadian so he was drumming up support for the Canucks who were on the road to their first Stanley Cup. There was a good crowd of Canadians and Kiwis there and although we don’t know much about Hockey we still had fun. Unfortunately Perry was looking a bit scratched and sore. This was the first time we had seen him since Yum Cha. Alas, upon returning home from Yum Cha he found he had locked himself out of their flat. Instead of bothering Anna at work he decided to use his ninja skills to scale the wall and enter the first floor window of their flat. Suffice to say he was not successful and ended up in a hospital bed rather than his own. Luckily all is well again although next time he will probably just call Anna.

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