Welcome to Sydney!

We landed at 6am after a 9 hour flight, getting through security was a lot easier than I remember even when we declared that we had been to a farm and on a few river cruises. Australia has a lot of unique botanical species so they are really strict about letting anyone in to the country that may introduce something that could ruin their biodiversity.

All Aussies we've met on the trip have said how cold it is at the moment and I just assumed that they were being over dramatic compared to England! Turns out it's fairly cold at 6am! Edd and I got to try out our new down jackets which did the trick and kept us warm against the cold wind.

We weren't allowed to check in until 11am which seems early but when you've had a really long journey and it's 6am feel like a very long wait.

We got the train into town having bought our opal cards, the oyster equivalent. We walked out of the station to our first view of the harbour bridge, clear blue skies, very few tourists and the sun rising is probably the best way to see Sydney. It was stunning. We wandered around the harbour, the opera house and ended up at a French patisserie for breakfast. Fantastic croissants and coffee!

We decided we would amble over to our accommodation and considering I was very tired and my pack was too heavy for the long distance I couldn't have imagined a more perfect morning in a new city. We strolled through the botanical gardens stopping a lot to re-adjust packs and take the odd photo and ended up in a quiet quay watching the water sparkle as the day warmed up.

Our apartment is in a really cool part of town, very backpacker and arty ish edging into adult shops and strip clubs. The room isn't as set up as Edd hoped, there's nothing to cook with but a microwave but it's easy to walk to, close to a tube and clean so we're happy. We slept from check in til 2pm having travelled through the night and then got up for a bit of lunch in the room before heading out. It's so lovely to be able to eat salad and fresh food without worrying about how clean and safe it is.

Edd had organised tickets for us to watch Sydney v Richmond AFL (Aussie Football League, we think!) We decided that we would support Richmond but depending on where we were sat we would have to maybe be a bit quiet about it. It was exciting for me to experience a sports event in general having only been to a few matches of anything in my life. 

For Edd it was exciting seeing a whole new sport and it was fun that Edd was as clueless as me about the rules for a change. That didn't last long and Edd quickly got the hang of it whilst I struggled against the jet lag to keep my eyes open in the warm evening sun! We sat down in a very Sydney heavy area behind an extremely excited (and knowledgeable) little boy, who turned around at half time to check Edd was supporting his team, Sydney. Edd lied and said we were!

I woke up for the second quarter when the sun went down and it got cold quick. We wrapped up in our down jackets again and tried to support the struggling underdog. By half time it was a lost battle, Richmond were already losing dramatically and by the third quarter everyone had lost interest the scores were so apart, by the end of the match everyone was giving Richmond a clap if they managed to score, out of pity. 

On the positive side I managed to get more and more interested, Edd explained that there seemed to be a rule that if you caught a ball that had been kicked without it touching the ground then you 'called a mark' giving the player freedom to line himself up without being tackled until he went over the imaginary line. Edd said he would check my explanation for me before posting!! That seemed to be the only important rule and I sort of managed to get involved by the end. The score ended at 164-51, not in our favour!

We left and wandered back via a tap room and a bottle shop. The bar/ tap room was a cool, dark trendy place with lots of taps and a burning log fire!! I think they still think it's winter, it's cold but not log burning cold!! 


We are back in our apartment having had bread and cheese for dinner and are off to meet friends we met in Sri Lanka for breakfast tomorrow. For a first day in Sydney, it's been a pretty brilliant day.

Asia to Australia

Back on the road today with a 6am start as we leave Asia and head down to Australia for the next four weeks. It was raining as we arrived at the airport in Denpasar and we said goodbye to the island of Bali. Traditionally early we enjoyed a coffee and quick wifi as I was able to put up a backlog of pictures into Fb.

The flight to Jakarta was only 90 minutes and then we were faced with a 9 hour wait until our next flight to Sydney! Unable to check our luggage back in and faced with an uninspiring section of restaurants in the departures area we decided to look into the airport hotel.

£27 for a bed for the next 6 hours seemed like a bargain for two sleepy travellers and it felt like some of the best money we had spent all trip! We managed to get some decent sleep and freshen up with showers before back to the departure gates and checking in for our night flight to Oz. A few cups of tea and all seemed right in the world again!

We're both a bit under the weather today. In a lot of ways it's great to have hit on a travel day as we're not wasting a day feeling ill when we could be sightseeing. It is tough, however on planes and wandering airports when we'd rather be curled up asleep. I've had a cold and cough that have been coming on for a few days. I'm putting it down to the changes between humid hot weather and then sleeping in v.cold air con rooms. 

Carly is really struggling with her eczema again bought on by the hot weather. Hopefully with cooler conditions in Sydney for the next week we'll soon be back to full strength!

As international airports go Jakarta is not the most exciting that we've spent time in! We found a nice cafe to pitch up in but the usual array of places to spend time we're definitely lacking. Hoping for a nice smooth flight to Sydney, a few movies and a bit of sleep. Hoping to be feeling better for our AFL game at the SCG tomorrow evening.

Summary of Bali:

• Electricity not working translates to "Very sorry we've double booked!"
• Main religion on the island is Hindu
• The majority of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim
• Ubud has more healthy eateries than even the trendiest area in London!
• £1 will get you 17,000 IDR
• The food has influences from across Asia, predominantely rice dishes and some beautiful dishes that we created in our cookery class.
• August is the month of the Kite festival.You can see kites flying from most houses some up to 20ft in length
• Every house has its own temple
• A popular holiday destination! We stayed with Dom & Lisa as well as spending time with her friend Holly. Kim and Kris were also on holiday for the same period and we met up with them for a drink.
• Bali is overrun with stray dogs and a number were killed last year due to a rabies outbreak
• They give daily offerings to the Gods and keep bad spirits away. These consist of Fire, Water and Flowers
• Bintang is served everywhere! I've never known a country that serves so much of just one type of beer. Bali Hai is a similar pale pilsener but available far less frequently.

Exploring Ubud

The plan was to get up early and get out quick so that we could explore ubud and fit in the tourist bits and still have time for a pool session. The reality is that trying to get up and out before 9am whilst on holiday is unrealistic!! We booked a shuttle for 10am and left at about 10.40am.

We wandered around a few temples chatting more than really concentrating on the temples and then walked around the streets popping into a few shops. The highlight of the outing was a massage we all had before lunch, the Balinese people sure know how to give a good massage! Edd and I were in one room and Cheds and Lisa in another, we all came out dazed and relaxed and very happy with the £4 it cost for an hour!

We had a traditional Balinese lunch but to be honest having cooked our own food the night before I'm not sure anything is going to live up to that meal.

We're now back at the pool having some chill out and sunbathing time (I'm in the shade!) The hotel staff are busy refreshing the little flower offerings and incense around the pool. hey seem to leave theses at the doorway of every house and shop in Bali. From the little research I've done they are Hindu offerings to the God and keep lower spirits from disturbing the living.

The making and giving of canang is a selfless act; a kind of self-sacrifice. It is part-meditation, part-escape from the humdrum buzz of everyday life; it's a gift of gratitude to the Maker.

Women, not men, make the offerings. Often several generations of a family will sit together chatting and mechanically stitching. Balinese offerings not only take an enormous amount of time, effort and money to make – but by putting something of themselves into their creations, their creators in turn offer their life-energy, and time, to God.

We also visited the ubud markets where every stall sold the same stuff but it was fun to shop around and Lisa helped me get a fan that I had wanted since Vietnam but hadn't been able to barter properly and get for a good price. She got a load of fans for her dad's wedding in Bahamas in a few weeks time! We also picked up matching bali beer vests for the boys. I can tell Edd loves his! 

This evening was lovely we went to our regular shisha bar and listened to some live music whilst waiting to meet Kim and Kris. It was so great to see them when they arrived and we spent the evening catching up on what they had been up to in Bali. Very strange being at dinner with good friends from home. We had dinner just up the road in another live music venue. The band were very good but didn't play as many sing along tunes. 

We then picked up some beers and Oreos and sat by the pool chatting for the end of our last night in Bali, last night with friends and last night in Asia! Tomorrow we have a long day ahead of us, flight to Jakarta, 9 hours wait and then a long flight to Sydney. We arrive thereSaturday morning at 6am! I have a good booked ready and we're hoping to find a lounge we can book into for the long wait (apparently Jakarta isn't worth trying to get to because it's a two hour drive and the traffic is horrendous). We'll be a bit confused by the time we make it to Sydney but we're both excited to be moving on to Australasia which was the whole point of this trip in the first place. 

I'm looking forward to some cooler weather, Bali hasn't been too bad but my dry skin hasn't coped well with the heat and sun and it will be lovely to not be so itchy. We were given coconut oil as a little gift on the cooking course and I've been using it on my skin every night which has helped a little, unfortunately I don't think we can take it into Aus with us so I've left it in the hotel. 

This hotel has been eventful, Lisa and Cheds have ended up moving bedrooms every night and although stunning is not what we had originally planned for. Besides that the bedrooms have outside bathrooms which aren't really a problem, they are still ensuites, attached to the rooms but with a bit of a breeze, the only bit I'm finding weird it that every day is a shower or toilet time with a different bug, so far we've had a couple of geckos and this morning I brushed my teeth with a praying mantis. Lisa had a spider problem in here room! 

I'm lying here now with Edd snoring and a horrible, loud lizard or toad noise. He sounds big and too close for comfort!! We spent dinner this evening discussing big bugs, spiders, snakes and lizards. I knew it was a bad idea at the time but I'm really regretting it now, my imagination is going wild!!!

Balinese cookery course

After our very late finish last night we enjoyed a long relaxing lie in until 11:30. Breakfast was served poolside on the table next to our rooms door. It was amazing to have the first proper bacon of the trip and really good scrambled eggs on toast.

With a few tender heads we decided to have a pool day and then booked a cookery class for the evening. Rubber rings, volleyball and general mucking around was the order of the day. After yesterdays villa fiasco we again had to move rooms but at least were in the same hotel!

At 4pm we were picked up for our cookery class in a small home just outside of central Ubud. We were given welcome dribks on arrival and the hostess gave us a brief history of the property that we were working in.

We found out at this point that we would be cooking 8 dishes! We had presumed we would be cooking a traditional main course and maybe a pudding. 8 courses sounded a bit daunting but it was so much fun though.

We were more prepping and compiling dishes rather than actually cooking but it was great fun all doing it together. We chopped all the raw ingredients and then the ladies who were teaching us did a lot of the initial steaming and blanching of the veg etc.

The first dish that we created was the 'basic yellow sauce' which is an amazing mix of gentle spices and forms the basis of 85% of Indonesia dished. After roughly chopping the ingredients we used a traditional 6ft high pestle and mortar to grind into a paste.

We then continued to work our way through and cook an assemble all of the courses. Highlights for me wer ethe clear mushroom soup for starter, chicken satays, tofu and tempe in soy suace and a delicious fern salad. All the recipes were simple to assemble and packed full of flavour!

After our cooking we sat down to enjoy the food. The head of the family gave us a quick lesson in presentation and making flowers and animals out of fruit and vegetables. The food was all really lovely and we had a really lovely meal together.

After last night we're still all knackered so after a few beers in Ubud we headed back for an early night. Tomorrow we plan to get up earlier and explore Ubuds culture further. We're hoping to organise massages for late morning and meet more friends for dinner.

Surfing in Bali

So Bali has been eventful, we finally got to Cheds and Lisa late last night in the pouring rain. They were staying in an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere so it was hard working persuading the taxi driver we knew where we were going. We stayed up chatting and catching up with drinks and nibbles.

This morning was an early start for a surf lesson. The guy picking us up struggled to find the place and was late but it gave us time to get organised properly and sun creamed for the beach. We then got dressed up in our beach skins and the two instructors taught us how to carry our massive boards. We started with the basics on the beach but the theory didn't last long before we were being smashed with waves and trying to get to grips with board, balance and paddling. 

Lisa took to it naturally (although we found out later that she has already had a few attempts before!) it wasn't long before Edd was standing and looking pretty stylish. Cheds took a while longer but definitely had the hang of it by the end. I got worse and worse and more exhausted as time went on and was delighted when we had to have a break!! By the time we got back the wave were getting pretty massive, it was great to try and I'm so pleased we all got to do it together, I think it's another sport I can tick off the list as 'not my thing' but I did manage to stand by the last few attempts!!

We then went for some breakfast and as we wandered the streets looking for somewhere to stop I told the others that my dream would be avocado, sourdough and poached eggs. They all laughed as a more likely breakfast would be egg fried rice and chicken again! You would not believe it, we walked a few more metres, chose a cafe to stop at and the menu was amazing! Sourdough, avocado, the works! Hadn't realised I had been craving something western and yummy so much! I could not have been happier, good friends, good fun morning and good food!

We made it to our villa at about 2pm and were told that the previous people still hadn't left and to come back at 3pm. No one was too impressed but we wandered into town for a bit of lunch and some tea. We got back from lunch and were finally allowed into the villa which was lovely, big spacious rooms and a private pool. Edd, Lisa and Cheds hit the pool as soon as we got rid of the lady showing us in. I got to wash off all the salt water and had just settled down when Lisa noticed a man sneak around the side of our villa. As the boys went to investigate the cleaner turned up with the owner on the phone. The power had failed, they were very sorry but they had to move us to another villa. I was pretty chilled about it but the others (that I was relaying the message to in the pool) were not so happy.

After lots of discussion and debate Edd and I ended up in a taxi across town with the luggage whilst Lisa and Cheds waited for Lisa friend Holly before they were to join us. Edd and I were dropped off at a stunning villa, with too many staff to faff over your ever need and the most huge room ever! The only slight hick up was that this villa was not private, only had one room available so 6 of us were set up in one room, sofa bed and mattress and it was miles away from ubud, a 25 minute drive.

The receptionist explained that our previous villa had been double booked (NOT an electrical fault!) and that he was doing his friend a favour by hosting us. I was obliviously happy and thankful to the guy showing us around only to be told off by Edd for being too enthusiastic in front of the staff when we were going to be making a big complaint and trying to get our money back for the villa we were shunted from!

Lisa and Cheds showed up and Lisa did a very good job of not being impressed and has sent some angry emails to the booking company and the owner! We got a free bottle of wine out of it and a free lift into and back from town. We had to secretly enjoy the wine without looking too impressed so that our complaint was justified.  

The hotel had a couple of kites flying up above the villa, the owner explained that during the month of August they fly kites out of tradition. I didn't manage to find out any more about the tradition but he pointed out lots of kites very high in the sky. They are huge and so high up, they also make a noise from tapes that blow in the wind. I had assumed it was an insect noise which the hotel guy found funny.

We used our free trip to get into town. We didn't get very far before finding a Shisha bar. We stopped for a drink before dinner and agreed to meet Lisa's friend Holly and her man Ryland. By the time they showed up it was about 9pm and a band had started, we decided that we would stay there for dinner and infact stayed on right until 1.30, which for ubud is extremely late. It was a lovely evening with good friends, lots of drinking, Shisha, great music and out of tune singing!

We then called our free shuttle, when I say we- Lisa called, I wouldn't have had the guts to call a guy at 1:30am and ask for a free lift. He told us that he had said he would collect us up until 10pm. He hadn't but in fairness I wasn't surprised that he wasn't keen in the early hours of the morning. Lisa however wasn't impressed! We finally found a guy, not a taxi driver, on the dark and deserted streets of ubud, willing to take us home. He drove like a mad man through the 90 degree bends of ubud swerving around stray dogs. I was very happy to arrive 10 minutes ahead of schedule to be able to get out of the car!

We have just got back to our shared room and it's taken a good hour to get Edd settled after the excitement from a day spent with his friends and a few bin gang beers. It's now 3am and we are still playing music and singing along to the iPod Lisa bought with her. I'm off to sleep now, I have a feeling the others may be awake a while longer!

Borneo to Bali

Another travel day today and back to an early start. Being used to large western airports we arrived 2 hours early and checked in within 5 minutes before not being allowed to go through security for over an hour! Way too keen!

The early arrival was then made worse by a two hour delay to our flight. Slightly panicking that we'd miss our connection and be stuck in KL for the night we went back through security to talk to the air asia team. Dubbed as the easyjet of Asia we weren't expecting much but they were amazingly helpful. Within a few minutes we'd been moved onto a later flight from KL to Bali. Later arrival to Bali but at least we'll be there this evening.

Being super organised we'd run our Malaysian currency down and spent our lost 30myr on the taxi to the airport. A short trip to the cash machine, a third visit to security and we were soon enjoying coffee, ice tea and oreo biscuits! With cake and desserts not appearing on any menus we've been getting though packets of oreos!

Food wise we've really enjoyed the local cuisine so far in South East Asia. We had our stand out restaurant meal in Hanoi and in general the foods been great along the way. The home stay food in Vietnam was paricurally delicious and beautifully cooked. Mainly simple dishes with rice and generally a lot of smaller courses. Today however in Kl airport we went for the big names! Maccy D's and Subway were the order of the day between flights.

Once safely in the airport Edd told me that he had kept a few things from me. Firstly, the lovely hotel we have been resting in all of yesterday had a rat run through the restaurant whilst I went to the room to get our water bottle. Thank god I didn't know! I love my husband!!!

Secondly, and more scarily, apparently Borneo has a reputation for kidnappings. I hadn't twigged but everywhere we went the guide would explain that the men in uniform with guns were there for our protection. Turns out there is an Islamic group in the Philippines (islands very close to turtle island) that took Canadian and US tourists in March earlier this year, most have since been released after the ransom was paid. They've not all been so lucky!

Have to admit as much as I loved the turtles (highlight of the trip so far), the orangutans and other amazing wildlife, I'm very happy to be getting away. As we went for a wander around the town yesterday a guy on the street punched me in the arm, not too hard, no reason, but it really shook me up. Time to move on to friendly faces!!

We finally arrived in Bali at 9pm and after waiting for our bags we jumped in an Uber and headed to our Air B&B villa. Dom & Lisa have been here for a few nights already and so we were able to meet them at the villa, it was so lovely to see them and catch up over a few beers, dough sticks and crisps. They've booked us into a surf lesson first thing in the morning which will be good fun to all do together and then we head up to Ubud. Very excited to spend the next few days together with friends from home.