Leave Lampang

Guess what we had for breakfast for the third day in a row?

We left our cute hotel behind after a final free coffee. We walked to the train station which was a couple of kilometres away. On the way we stopped at a noodle bar to have an early lunch.

The train station was small and had models of local attractions on display. It was fairly quiet today and no problem finding a seat on the train. The scenery was mostly jungle with a few temples thrown in for good measure. Some of the trees were in bloom and covered in pretty pink blossom. We entered a long tunnel, about 1km, which was very dark but we did appear on the other side.

The train was on time. We started walking in the general direction of our hotel, passing over a river where stages were being set up for the pending flower festival. Eventually, we found our hotel and we dropped off our bags and went exploring.

We passed some beautiful temples, visited a night market with live music, a fruit and veg market and had noodles at a quaint little restaurant.

Laid Back Lampang

We couldn't resist starting the day with another magnificent pineapple. Once again it was awesome, so tasty!

After finishing our daily 'free' coffee we begin a tour of the other side of the river. There wasnt as many shops this side, more houses and long straight roads. We stumbled across a beautiful wat with an interesting history and a huge reclining Buddha. We stopped in Little Big C and found they had a few things down to half price. First course was a pork floss sandwich, followed by a mini pizza. All this was topped off with a strawberry Swiss roll. Not our usual Thai lunch extravaganza but it tasted pretty good.

Back at the hotel we put our feet up and research our next country - Myanmar, which sounds like an interesting place.

Dinner was at our regular restaurant. Hard to beat for the price and quality. It is hard to believe they can produce such good food for the money. Everyday we have eaten there it is totally full. They also have 2 floors and a large number of tables. The ordering is super efficient. You write down the number of the item you want and it appears a few minutes later. The 'tidy-er-upers' stack everything from the table in a large tray in super fast time. When the bill is required the waiter looks at the plates,  does a quick calculation and .... out pops the price. It seems to us that the cost of the meal must relate to the different size or colour of the plates. Or, these waiters are some kind of genius!

Rice crackers purchased as we left the restaurant and headed to our next regular spot, the pineapple lady. 2 pineapples neatly chopped and ready to eat later .... we stopped at the hot soya milk store. We pointed at a green liquid, the stall holder translated, green tea. We didn't fancy that so asked about another drink they had with white 'frogspawn' in. We never found out exactly what that was and the next drink we pointed at seemed to have lumpy yoghurt in it. Anyway, we ended up with 2 drinks to try.

We saved our exciting purchases until we arrived back at the hotel. One was ginger with lumps of soya, another was soya milk with frogspawn jelly things!

Lovin' Lampang

Fresh pineapple on the veranda. Amazing, so sweet and delicious. After enjoying our pineapple we did a few printing tasks in town and had a wander. Today was Christine's pampering day in Lampung. She first had a haircut at the barbers. She only needed a trim so we trusted the job to the 'nice old fella' in the same road as we were staying. Next she was having a new pair of shoes. Well not exactly. We needed to find a shoe repairer to glue the soles back on her sandals. We found a little shoe repair stall and watched as the owner carefully did the job of gluing it back together.

Continuing our walk, we saw what looked like an ice cream seller. In fact it was and he was making ice cream sandwiches! We didn't try one but opted for ice cream in a bowl with peanuts and loads of chocolate sauce. A special treat for Christine.

We found a small park near a school and it seemed to be school finishing time. All of the children were playing on the climbing frames and slides waiting for their parents to collect them. After a while we noticed a number of small stalls where the children were buying snacks. We went over to investigate and ended up with a tasty noodle soup in a cup. It was a little strange because the plastic cup seemed to be lined with a plastic bag and the soup was in the bag. We were unable to work out the reason but the soup was good!

We ambled back to our room and hid from the heat. Our room is air-conditioned, not just a fan room, so it feels like luxury.

After an amazing dinner last night we decided to go back to the same restaurant. Once again they did not disappoint. The food was amazing, especially the deep fried cauliflower with sweet chilli dip.

We purchased more rice crackers as we left and headed in the direction of the market. Christine was left in charge of buying hot soya milk and Darryl went off to see the pineapple lady. The soya milk had all been sold and all that was left was 1 bag of black juice and another of yellow juice. After Christine and the stall holder had used Google Translate to figure out what they were in English, it was still a mystery! However, that was all that was left, so the friendly man gave Christine both and said she only had to pay for one! He then packed up and went home. Darryl also did pretty well. The pineapple lady found a nice ripe one and chopped it up. She then decided it was a little small so chopped up another and gave Darryl both!  

We celebrated our successful trip to the market with rice crackers and what turned out to be black soya milk and what tasted like pureed sweet potato.  Back on our balcony we listened to live music from the bar next door.

Stepping Out

Today we enjoyed coffee in the garden of the hotel chatting to the owner. He was explaining some of the local attractions. The elephant sanctuary was 30km away, the wat on top of the mountains was also about 30km away and the national park was also pretty far away. Lampang is definitely in a good spot for out of town excursions.

We decided to go into the more commercial district of Lampang to see what we could find. We wanted to change some of our older looking US dollars to brand new, crispy shiny ones with 'no folds, no marks and no wrinkles'. Why? In Myanmar, our next stop, they are very fussy and don't accept anything other than ''brand new, crispy shiny ones with no folds, no marks and no wrinkles!' After several banks and a money exchange we only found new 100 US dollar notes and we were a little nervous about getting a note of such high value because that is probably hard to change too!

We gave up as lunch was calling. A small restaurant full of people caught our eye. We ordered a fairly standard Thai meal off the menu with the usual sticky rice but once we had finished it we became interested in what everyone else had. We decided to try some ...

First we tried something wrapped in banana leaves that was on the BBQ. We thought it was rice but were told no, it is pigs brain. It sounds terrible but was actually quite nice. Next we tried a huge sausage filled with Thai herbs and spices. It was absolutely delicious. We washed it all down before settling the bill and hiding in our room, out of the afternoon sun.

We did some research on Japanese transport options with intermittent coffee breaks  followed by the really interesting job of reading up on border formalities. Before we knew it, it was evening and starting to get dark. When the sun sets that means it must be time to eat!

We had investigated a really cute restaurant yesterday that sold food at street food prices. We decided to give it a try. Wow, we were not disappointed. It was a really funky place. There was great music playing, no free tables and a great atmosphere. All this and the food was excellent too. We think its claim to fame may be a 1 BAHT dish of rice soup. That is around 2p!

We left feeling pretty happy and treated ourselves to a bag of local caramel rice crackers. We also spotted a night market selling fruit and veg. On one of the stalls we spotted hot soya milk. We were just about to part with our money when we got a whiff of ginger. The stall holder gave us a taste of a syrupy ginger drink she had in the next pot. We were sold!

We were looking for bananas for breakfast but all of the ones we found were green. We decided to go for a fresh pineapple instead. The lady selling it chopped the pineapple up with a razor sharp knife and it smelled so sweet. We are certainly looking forward to eating it for breakfast tomorrow!

Bed ...

Street Entertainment

We sat and drank coffee first thing this morning in the quaint hotel garden. Afterwards we walked through a very quiet Lampang. People seem to have disappeared following last night's heaving street festival.

We walked to a famous wat, we saw a colourful Chinese temple or 2 ... and printed our Myanmar visas. A lady on a bike helped us with directions to one temple. She was very sweet and very tiny compared to her big bicyle.

It was a pretty lazy afternoon. We had walked a long way in the morning so rested in the shade. At about 3 o'clock the street festival began its second day. We enjoyed a few snacks and a walk around exploring. Darryl stocked up on warm clothes for our future visit to Japan. We watched a band and a magician on stage but the best singer was to follow. His name was Opor and he had been on The Voice Thailand. He was a great singer and many of the locals wanted their photos with him. During his set an older gentlemen passed him gifts from the plastic bag he was holding. He also received oranges from a lady in the crowd. We are not exactly sure why, but he seemed pleased and they did too.

The bar next door to our hotel had a band that started late and played late into the night. A nice end to a good day.

Ordinary Train to Lampang

The alarm clock rang out for the first time in a while. It was time to spring up and drag our bags to the train station!

On the way to the station we walked through the bustling market, still in darkness. We spotted a stall selling something we had not seen since our visit to China - delicious hot soya milk. Darryl couldn't resist drinking it immediately but managed to spill most of it down his shirt!

We bought our tickets that morning as the ordinary train tickets cost a fraction of what the last train cost but are only available on the day plus you don't get a guaranteed seat.

The train arrived deadbinbtime and we got a seat easily. The ordinary train is slower and it took us an extra 2 hours as it stops at every station. It was a beautiful journey where the rice paddies turned to rivers and jungle as we headed north. The train arrived in Lamping dead on time. 

We walked the 2km to the river and on the way stopped at temples, for a fresh pineapple slushie and also for Darryl to get a quick hair cut. We don't think the Thai Barber had ever cut a farang's (foreigner from the west's) hair before, so his assistants took photos whilst he worked. He did a good job and there is a definite reduction in the grey hairs.

Onwards we continued about 2km before the first hotel ... which was derelict! The next hotels were closer to the river. Some were already full but we were lucky to get a great deal on an air conditioned room for a few nights. We though the hotels must be full because of the weekend Walking Street markets.

We checked in and had a leisurely coffee before setting off for the Walking Street at the end of our road. It started well with a number of stalls selling clothes and street food. As we progressed further we saw a sign that said,

"Lampang Street Festival 2019."

Next to it was a full programme of events for the next 2 days. There was music, street art, street food, art workshops...

Wow, turned the corner and we were now amongst the festival crowds and loving it. We got to taste lots of different foods, painted small canvas bags and even made 'Thai' dye bandas, which turned out really well. We listened to a great band by the river and the atmosphere was fantastic, everyone was sooo friendly. There was amazing Street art on all the walls and huge canvases for everyone to draw on and there was even chalk provided to decorate the pavement!

We were having so much fun we forgot to eat and managed to grab 2 great dishes from trendy  noodlen restaurant before everywhere closed. We even grabbed desert before the sticky rice and coconut lady packed it into her car.

Back at our hotel we discovered a live band playing English music just over the road, so we sat and listened before bed! 

The King

We took a stroll around the nearby market this morning looking for a bite to eat. We found a cute little stall with some amazing Thai curry. We sat and waited at our table for the owner to prepare the food. Suddenly, a voice came over the speakers. We have no idea what was said but about 50 bankers from AxA lined up along the market stalls. The music started and the AxA staff danced. It was a very surreal moment. When the music had finished it appeared that the AxA staff were signing people up for possibly a new credit card. We are not entirely sure but the dancing was fun!

We walked around the market looking at the unusual things for sale before heading off towards the river. We stopped at King Naresuan monument and museum. This king is famous in Thailand as a fierce warrior. There was lots of information about the King, his battles and the area. There were the ruins of the old palace to look around and a statue of the king in shrine. The whole place was lovely and we were pretty much the only people there. However, we may have left a little too early ...

We were going to cross the road and walk along the river but the police had closed the road. As we approached a policeman took us over to a restaurant and asked us to sit. We sat and waited watching the traffic flowing only one way. We assumed there may have been an accident but there were a lot of military police and very smartly dressed officers.  We decided to try and ask what was happening. A friendly lady told us in her best English.

"King"

We sat and watched as a parade of police cars drove past followed by the King of Thailand and a number of very smart Mercedes. It appeared that the King of Thailand was heading to exactly where we had just been! Maybe if we had stayed longer we would have got to meet him ...

When the coast was clear we continued our journey collecting Double Black soya drinks from 7-11. Outside a school we passed they were selling fresh fried crispy chicken which we couldn't resist. We rested on a bench by the river under a large shady tree.

Later in the afternoon we walked towards a popular bird garden and Sgt Major Tawee's museum. It was closing as we arrived but we got to peer through he fence and we saw many beautiful flowers in the bird garden. We followed a different route back eventually ending up at a food market and finally down by the river. 

It was now dark and we paid a visit to the rice soup restaurant. Tonight we tried another option from the menu, which was far more expensive and maybe only on par with the cheaper rice soup from yesterday.

On the way back to our hotel we passed a very colourful and elaborately decorated Chinese temple. Not sure how we missed that during the day! 

A quick note to remind us of the girl with 2 mirrors and the EngRish school.

Train to Phitansulok

We woke up earlier this morning to catch the 8.38 train to Phitansulok. The train station was virtually across the road from our hotel and we had already purchased our 3rd class tickets.

The tickets seemed way more expensive than the last train so we are wondering if we should investigate the class below. 

The scenery changed from a small town landscape to open rice paddies and lotus flower lakes. A very beautiful sight that we have missed before because last time we were on a sleeper train during the night. The lady opposite kindly shared her fruit with us. We are not exactly sure what it was but it tasted like peas. It looked like pods similar to peas but much larger. Green in colour with a litttle pink on them too. Inside, the part you ate was white and contained a very hard and shiny black seed.  

The train rolled in at our stop a few minutes late. We grabbed our bags, jumped off and searched for a hotel. We found a quaint room in a good location at a reasonable price. Lunch was calling and after walking for a short time, we found a good restaurant located on a street corner.

After we had filled up on pork and rice we went to find the must-see sights of Phitansulok. There were some interesting temples to view. The first had no tourists and the most friendly and jovial monks. The second and most famous had hundreds of tourists in large groups with their guides. The atmosphere was completely different and we left fairly quickly.

We walked along the river as the sunset and managed to dodge the cool evening joggers. A night market was setting up selling mostly clothes. We walked through it but nothing drew us in enough to make a purchase.

A small store was selling fresh soya milk. We bought a white and grey bottle (the grey also contained black beans). Next stop was a little shop selling rice soup. A bowl each with egg and chilli filled the gap. We walked back to our hotel and that was where we stayed for the rest of the evening.

The Other Side of the Track

Our first task of the day was to navigate our way across the railway tracks. Luckily not many trains travel in Thailand so we had no problems crossing at the little station.

Next we walked through a small residential area and on to the main road. We crossed a field, turned a few corners and we eventually arrived at the floating market. We were greeted by elephants being ridden by tourists and a big sign saying 200 baht entry to the floating market. That's unusual we thought as there is never a fee to enter a market. However this one was purpose built and rather a tourist attraction. We carried on our walk!

There were a lot of ancient ruins this side of the railway track and not a tourist or tour bus in sight. We had the whole place to ourselves including the delightful countryside and picturesque lily ponds.

We broke for lunch at a stall by the side of the street and afterwards fended off a pack of dogs at a modern temple. By now it was getting a little too hot so we retreated to our hotel room.

For dinner tonight we walked a little further outside of the main area to a busy street stall. We watched as people constantly stopped their cars and motorbikes to pick dinner to take home. This must be a good sign we thought so picked 3 dishes that were cooking in big pots. The final outcome ... delicious!

We purchased snacks for our 4 hour train journey in the morning from Tesco Lotus before it was time to call it a day.

Ayuttaya

We are now in the old capital before Bangkok was given the title. The best way to explore the ancient city is by bicycle so that is exactly what we did.

After a quick Thai breakfast we paid for 2 bikes and explored the ancient city. There are so many buildings and temples. Some are in ruin, some are restored, some are modern and some have UNESCO heritage status. We spent the whole day pedalling around visiting as many as we could ... and there are a lot.  We took many, many photos, some of which are really beautiful!

Lunch was fresh mango, carefully chopped up by the stall owner but it wasn't exactly like a mango that we know. It was quite sour and we dipped it in a pink mixture of sugar and spices. We ate it under a tree at the lake in the shade. The lake was in the grounds of an amazing Wat. One of the cleaners came over too us. She was carrying bananas and a stick. She then smiled and proceeded to add a lump of banana to the end of the stick. Immediately little heads popped up in the lake and about 50 turtles swam over to us. The lady held the stick out to one of the turtles and he took the banana. She then looked at us, gave us the stick and left us to feed the other turtles whilst she carried on cleaning! We are now qualified turtles feeders!

End of school time caused more traffic on the roads. We stopped outside a school to see what the children were buying from stalls. We went away with chips coated in spicy wing sauce, omelette and rice plus a huge coke with ice!

Later we handed the bikes back and caught the little ferry across the river back to our hotel to relax before heading out to dinner. Over dinner we chatted to a Scottish couple whilst slurping down our tom yam soup.

Bus to the City

After a delicious Thai curry for breakfast, we packed our bags and took a bus to the centre of Bangkok. We then crossed the river on a little ferry and walked about 1km to Hualampong train station.

We got 2 tickets and headed to the platform as the train to Ayutthaya was leaving in 10 minutes. The journey took around 2 hours and we entertained ourselves watching 2 girls from France eating Milka chocolate sandwiches!

On arrival we hunted for a hotel or hostel. We found a boutique hotel that backed on to the river. It looked pretty fancy but fitted in our price range. In fact we have an ensuite, colour TV and it is the same price as the grotty little place up the street!

Next we rested, showered and hid from the afternoon heat. We headed out just before dark and took a little ferry across the river to find the night market. We looked around before heading to a street food area to eat.

At the end of the evening out, 8.30, we waited for the little ferry to take us back across the river. We waited and waited but it didn't arrive. It appears the last journey across is at 8pm, so we were too late. The next option to get back was find a fancy tuk tuk to take us across a huge bridge over the river. However, never a tuk tuk when you want one! So we had to walk across the bridge ourselves, feeling rather nervous as it was a bit like a motorway! We survived and got back to the hotel ready for a sleep.

Floating Market

We were on a mission today to find the Klong Lat Mayom floating market. We were about 10km away and walking there and back would have taken a lot of time and the heat would have destroyed us! We caught a bus along the main road so we were only about 4km away. Next we asked a lady who was sitting in her car if she could give us directions. Here starts a new day of extreme kindness and helpfulness ...

"Yes, I know the floating market. I am going too. Would you like to come with me?"

We climbed in and had the most amazing time together. We explored the beautiful setting, the interesting boats, the divine foods, interesting taro milk bubble drink and fresh coconuts. Once again it was very difficult to pay for anything because of the Thai generosity! Incredible.

We were having such a nice time we spent the rest of the day together. Our next stop was the IconSiam shopping mall. It is in the centre of Bangkok and we travelled in air conditioned luxury for about 15km to get there. Parking was difficult so the car was double parked in the Mall's car park and left it in neutral so the security could push it out of the way if necessary. IconSian is huge and the most luxurious shopping centre we have ever seen. The ground floor is beautifully presented as a floating market and Thai street food hall. As you work your way up the building you pass every designer shop there possibly could be, Japanese stores, Chinese stores ... Even a British store. Well that is if you want to buy a brand new Rolls Royce! Yes, A Rolls Royce shop!!

Towards the top of the building are exclusive restaurants with balconies overlooking the city. Wow, what a view! Also on the top floor was an incredible water feature where the falling water makes patterns and even words.

Eventually our time was up and we sadly had to say goodbye to our new friend, who had been the perfect guide and chauffer. We had another place to be and she was already booked up for the evening.

A free shuttle bus outside took us to the Sky Train stop. We hopped on and 10 minutes later arrived in Siam Station. A 10 minute walk took us to a cute little park. The sun was setting and the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra were performing a concert in the park! We listened to the orchestra in serene surroundings and had a wonderful relaxing time sitting on the grass watching the sun go down.

Time to head back. We thought there may be a direct bus from the park but we didn't know where the bus stop was. We asked 2 ladies in Starbucks if they knew. They said getting a direct bus to the area we wanted to go wasn't possible. They then explained what we needed to do but thought it a little complicated. What they did next was ... unbelievable! They packed away their laptop and drinks and said,

"We will take you. My mum always says when we see a foreigner who needs help, we should help them. It will give our country a good name and people will want to come."

They took us to the stop we needed, dropped us off and apparently were going back to Starbucks to continue their evening and relax! We were blown away by how much some people are willing to help. What lovely people we are meeting in Thailand. They are making our time here very special.

We finished off our day eating papaya salad. We had one medium and one spicy... too spicy!

The Rai Khing Temple

A great Thai meal was served for breakfast. It had everything that makes Thai food great; coconut milk, chilli's, lemon grass, Thai basil, mushrooms ... It was delicious!

We caught the bus further out of town to visit Rai Khing Temple. No tourists go there and it is supposedly one of the best in Bangkok. It was a great experience to see it amongst locals who were going about their worship.

Next we started to walk towards Don Wai market. It was about 4km away and we were not certain we would have the time to get there and back. Are you sitting comfortably ... here comes an epic travel story of true kindness.

A lady pulled over in her car, didn't speak much English. She asked where we were going and we explained to the market. She said get in and I will take you. Wow, that's great, thank you. However not only did she take us, she escorted us around the market. When we saw something unusual she spoke to the stall holder and we were given a taster. She totally looked after us and paid for most things as she wouldn't accept any money. She bought us drinks, special coconut and banana food, bread to feed the enormous fish in the river and was going to take us on a 1.5 hour boat trip! Unfortunately we had to refuse as we didn't have enough time. We went back to the car, collected her son and husband and they dropped us off at a bus stop. When the bus arrived, they even helped check the bus was going to take us back to Bangkok! Wow, what an experience and one that we will never forget!

We ate a double lunch and caught a river boat past many of the Bangkok sights including the Grand Palace. We hopped off at Wat Arun, which is beautiful but full of tourists.

Afterwards we headed in a bus to the Winter Festival. A huge area of Bangkok is set aside for this spectacular event. People from all over Thailand come to the festival to show off their traditional clothing. Entry to the festival was one of the tightest security operations ever. Passports were shown, photographs taken, bags were checked, bodies were scanned. We were issued a sticker with a number and in we went!

There were people in beautiful costumes everywhere along with. singing, dancing, dragon boat displays, street food markets and little shops selling goods from all over Thailand. Theer were two marching bands,  one all dressed in white and one in kilts playing  bagpipes. There were actors and actresses posing for photos and a famous singer on stage. There was even people holding signs, which you followed, to get to your specific free shuttle buses at the end of the night. Very impressive indeed.

We made our way back to where we were staying on the bus followed by a short walk. The temperature was far cooler now, thankfully!

The Lazy Day Begins

Breakfast was included in our room price. As we had slept most of the evening and skipped dinner, we were hungry at breakfast and ate a lot of toast.

We then spent the morning organising visas and booking flights for the next part of our adventure. Once complete it was lunchtime. We ate at a little restaurant in a tiny street near where we were staying. The food was so delicious!

After lunch we walked towards the centre of Bangkok and caught a bus to another part of town. We are staying on the outskirts of Bangkok tonight. Note to self - the air conditioning on the bus is freezing! We dropped off our bags and walked about 2km to the World Market. This is the biggest street food market we have ever seen. There was every kind of food you could imagine. We had dinner and tried some local coconut snacks, all very tasty and listened to live music until it was time to head home. 

Big Bustling Bangkok

As it started to get light outside we took advantage of a lapse in arrivals and passed through Thai immigration.

From the airport we caught the local train for 5 baht each into the city. It was slow, full of commuters but so inexpensive. An hour's journey costing around 15p! We ate breakfast with the locals at a food court. Our first meal in Thailand and it was delicious - stir fried pork with Thai basil and  chilli for breakfast! 

We arrived at Bangkok station and went in search of an Aeon ATM. Why Aeon? They only charge £4 per ATM withdrawal not £5! This is plus whatever your home bank charge. This is a relatively new charge in Thailand and totally disproportionate to everything else!

The ATM was in a huge Mall where designer brands fill the shops. It was next to another huge mall also full of rather exclusive brands. Both were full of shoppers. Outside was a huge food exhibition where we spent time studying and tasting their wares.

We took a river taxi to the Khao San Road area (backpackers area) before walking to our homestay. It was further than we thought and took all afternoon to find it! We stopped on the way for a snack, where we seemed to jump the queue and muscled our way in front of 10 school girls in uniforms. It was all an accident due to our lack of Thai vocabulary and the girls kindly ordering our food for us.

We slept on arrival. We woke up at bedtime. Our bodies are all confused ... and the heat in Thailand makes you drowsy!

Back to Back Flights

We were kindly dropped at the airport for our flight to Singapore. We had bought budget airline tickets with Scoot, however, due to their plane maintenance schedule we were switched to their sister airline, which just happens to be Singapore Airlines, one of the best in the world.

The flight was great. Extra legroom, food ... all the luxuries we wouldn't have had on Scoot! Thank you Singapore Airlines!

We had a brief turn around at Singapore due to flight schedule changes but just enough time to look around one of the terminals whilst in transit. There was a cinema, orchid and sunflower flower gardens ... in fact everything you can think of Singapore airport has it!

Our transfer was on to a Scoot flight to Bangkok. The difference between a budget airline and our Singapore Airlines flight was now pretty clear. We did, however, have multicoloured lights in the plane!

We arrived in Bangkok on time but too late to venture out of the airport. We stayed airside and watched so many tour groups arrive from China, every 5 minutes a flight landed throughout the night! Sleep, who needs it ... it was a long night.

A Trip to Windsor

After our breakfast we piled into the car and headed to the beautiful old town of Windsor. It was packed with quaint boutique shops selling clothes and items for the home. It was very quaint.

We had our lunch in a converted church. It was a great deal and really enjoyable. In fact the whole town seemed to be in the restaurant including, the local firemen.

After a quick game of snakes and ladders we cooled down with mango ice creams from Woolworths. The temperature guage in the car was now showing 45 degrees ... as we all waited for the air con to kick in!

Next we drove to a local fishing spot at the river. It had a nice wide beach and the water looked very appealing so we all jumped in! It was like a bath and judging by how wrinkly we became, we delayed getting out into the baking sun.

A long drive home through a few different neighborhoods for our benefit. We wanted to see as much of Australian life as we could!

Dinner was prepared when we got back home, along with special fruit berry ice cream. We stayed up chatting as long as we could before our eyes began to close on our last night in Australia.

Into the Centre

Up early this morning to make our way to the centre of Sydney. We got a lift to the station and caught a train to Town Hall station. 

It took about an hour and was a new and spotless double decker train. It was fairly full by the end of the journey with Sydney commuters.

A short walk from the station took is into Hyde Park. We spent quite some time at the Anzac War Memorial. In the library, which contained loads of war history books, we met an expert who explained the history of Australia's contribution to various wars. At 11am there was a service to remember the soldiers followed by 'The Last Post' and a minute silence.

Our next stop was to visit the Philippine Embassy to apply for our visas. Following submission of our application forms we left our passports and headed towards Darling Harbour for a look around. We went to The Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge. We could just glimpse the Opera House on the other side of the harbour due to the view being blocked by an enormous cruise ship!  Sydney really is a beautiful city!

We did a few essential tasks whilst in the centre before returning to the Philippine Embassy to collect our passport, complete with visa attached.  We then catching the train back out to the suburbs. After we arrived we visited the Woolworths food store across the road, stocked up on desert and walked back to our friends. It was a pleasant but very hit walk!

The evening was spent eating and chatting before bed ...

Final Day in Wollongong

We were on breakfast duty this morning. A big greasy 'Australian' breakfast was served but not many of us seemed to like baked beans so we left them out!

The morning was spent relaxing and watching sport. We knew we had to leave our friends behind at lunchtime so felt a little subdued.

The time came too quickly and our lift to Sydney arrived. We have had the most incredible time staying with our friends and are really going to miss them. A very big THANK YOU to our extremely generous friends for helping us to experience Australia!

An emotional goodbye and we were off down the highway to our next destination, North Sydney. It took about an hour to reach where we will be staying for the next few days with some other friends. After we arrived at their house we talked, swam in the pool with the kids and ate a delicious meal together, cooked on the BBQ. We topped this off with cheesecake and homemade fudge, left over from Christmas.

Cleaning Up

First job of the day was to clean the car following our camping adventure. The big trees in the National park seem to have the world's stickiest sap that decorates cars with thick brown splodges. It certainly takes a lot of elbow grease to remove!

Car finished now was cleaning and drying the camping equipment. The tent did an excellent job at making us a nice cozy home amongst the trees. We cleaned it well and stored it under the house where it is nice and cool.

Jobs done. Time for the girls to hit the jacuzzi whilst the boys went out to see some of our friend's boys toys. Old cars and trucks are their passion and look amazing when restored from the 1950's.

Dinner tonight was at the local meeting place, where there are various different clubs that meet; Fishing, golf, lifesaving ... There was a restaurant, bar, pokie machines and loads of raffles. We walked there as it was only a few minutes away. There was a live band called Eye of the Tiger, who were playing good rock music.

After a great night we walked home under the stars and collapsed into bed.

The Arboretum

After a morning walk with the dogs around the local area we headed back to Canberra to the visit the National Arboretum.

They had an excellent bonsai tree display, superb playground for the kids and a huge air-conditioned cafe for lunch. It was hot outside whilst we played on the climbing frame and swings which was fun.

The skies changed quickly from a blue to a dark grey. We started our journey back and the Thunderstorm beat us. The heavens opened and giant hailstones once again fell from the sky.

Unfortunately the rain continued for the whole journey back to Wollongong, along with a section of very thick fog. We made it back safely, if a little later than originally planned due to the driving conditions. Our friends had prepared a wonderful meal, followed by a nice relaxing evening.

Woken By The Kangaroos

We weren't the first up this morning. The kangaroos were enjoying the grass outside the tent. We watched them enjoying their breakfast, whilst hiding out in the tent. One kangaroo had a small baby in her pouch. Next we walked to the water's edge where about 50 kangaroos were grazing. A couple were rested up on their hind legs and boxing. As we got closer they all decided to leave. It was quite a spectacle watching all of the kangaroos heading off into the distance.

We packed up and left as we had arranged to meet a friend from the UK at her daughter's house in Bungendore, near Canberra. It meant a day of driving once again across this vast country. We had plenty of pit stops enroute and a brief look around Canberra at the highlights.

Canberra was a really low level, green capital full of lakes. It has only existed for around 100 years so everything is fairly new. We visited the old parliament building, saw the new parliament and The Lodge. We had lunch by the lake then tried to park at the National Museum but couldn't find a space. We continued on a quiet road out of Canberra to meet our friend.

The Satnav took us through the main centre of Bungendore where we picked up a box of mint maltesers before arriving at our desired location.

We were treated to a warm welcome by 2 dogs, 2 children, 3 chickens and a few adults! Dinner was prepared by our friend and was amazing! We had a beautiful homemade desert before tucking into mint maltesers. The evening was spent chatting and sharing stories from home and our adventures. We felt a little like we were actually in the UK with all of the friendly faces and Pommie (English) accents.

We camped in the garden which was peaceful ...

Driving

We made an early start today. After our morning porridge we packed away the tent and got going.

Once leaving the national park we drove for a while before stopping at Tilba, a National Trust village. It was very quaint and was founded in the the 1800s. There was a lot of boutique shops and colourful wooden buildings.

We stopped at numerous picnic grounds and a few places we had visited before, including a sports ground where we had camped in a previous trip and a little lake.

Our next stop was Cooma where we bought some snacks including another Ice Fanta. We continued along the Snowy Mountain highway, the clouds disappeared and out came the sun. We recognised some of the features as we had used this road before, including the red snow sticks that lined the road and a little wooden emergency shelter for use in the winter. We stopped here for lunch.

On again towards our camping spot. The scenery was stunning. We stopped at a view point looking out over the mountains. There are hardly any cars on this route and driving is enjoyable! Eventually the road started to follow the Blowering Dam, where various water speed records had been set. We even saw an emu trotting along the waterside. Following this we spotted various National Park campsites along the way to our final resting place, The Pines Campground.

We set up camp under the shade of the trees, a little way back from the water's edge. As the sun set, the kangaroos appeared. There were lots of them bounding around. The campfire was lit and we enjoyed the orange glow of the flames before bedtime. When the fire went out we spent a while looking up into the night sky at the millions of stars. It was incredible, no lights to disturb the view. Wow!

Heading South

We woke fairly early to the sound of the birds and went walking. First we headed to the beach and we were all alone and then up to a lookout point with beautiful views along the coast. Next we took a short path opposite the car park and walked for about 10 minutes searching for animals but today they're hiding from us.

We tried to light the gas stove to cook our porridge but unfortunately the rubber o-ring had broken and this caused a gas leak. We abandoned the stove and had cold porridge and cold coffee instead.

It took us a while to think of a plan and to make a move as we were staying in quite a nice spot. Eventually we packed away and headed south towards Bateman's Bay. We stopped to visit the river side and buy lunch, eating at a quaint picnic stop by the river.

Next stop was the Eurobdalla Botanical Gardens. Free entry and not many people around made it a great place to stop. We followed the coloured kids trail with plaques explaining about the trees and animals. Suddenly out of nowhere we had a visitor. Right across the path in front of us slithered a huge red belly black snake! Highly venomous and easily scared away ... usually. This one wasn't scared. He was in no hurry to cross the path. We waited until he'd crossed, gave him a wide berth and quickly continued our walk. Around the next corner we were greeted by 2 kangaroos, mum and baby. We stood looking at them and they just stared back. We continued on and came across more kangaroos. This time there was 3. A huge one, a middle sized one and a baby one. They didn't seem to care that we were there and carried on munching the grass.

Onwards to find a camping spot, Brou Lake. We had a short stop in Bodalla to sample the cheese in their famous cheese shop. The skies were looking angry and we were expecting rain. We continued down the road towards the campground and the heavens opened. A huge thunderstorm passed overhead and unleashed giant hail stones! We tried our best to take shelter under the trees but there was no escape. We stopped and waited for the storm to pass.

After the rain came the most beautiful sunset. We walked around Brou Lake to get the best view.

One possum graced us with his presence during his nocturnal antics.

Journey Along the Coast

Our friends unfortunately had to go back to work today, so we are all alone. They have very kindly lent us their car and we are off down the coast on a roadtrip!

We loaded the car and headed off. Our first stop was the Kiama Blow Hole. Kiana is a small seaside village with a hole in the rocks where, when a swell is running, pushes the water up through the hole. It makes a loud noise and everyone stands at the railing shouting ... Ohh and Ahh! The town was really busy with tourists and children enjoying their summer holiday. We went for a walk by the lighthouse and through a park before looping back through the main Street. It is cloudy today so walking is a lot cooler than it has been.

Lunch today was courtesy of McDonalds. They had a special on. Hamburgers for a dollar and fanta slushies for a dollar too. The slushies come in 20 flavours and can be mixed as you like.

Next on to Gerringong and we also skirted Shoalhaven Heads.
We passed by Huskisson, Vincentia and Jervis Bay before stopping in Ulladulla. This is where we bought dinner for our camping expeditions. There seemed to be a lot of big supermarkets for a little town!

Back on the road we headed in search of a camping spot. The first one we tried was down Lemon Tree Creek Road but there was no one there. In fact we weren't even sure if it was an official campsite. We continued on and headed towards the beach. We knew there were 2 campsites available ... but when we tried, the roads were no good. Muddy dirt tracks due to the recent thunder storms. The last camp site in the area was Meroo Heads and just a 10 minute drive away. The road was good and we found a spot. Perfect.

We set up camp, collected fire wood and started our campfire. All very nice and very secluded. We waited for the sun to set and the fire to burn out. Lots of animal sounds kept us company ... we couldn't see them, but they were certainly there.

During the night we spotted 2 little visitors in our camp. 2 possums were staring at us and hiding in the trees, their eyes glowing in the headlight.

The Gong

We had a small lie in as it's Sunday before springing into action. After a mighty fine Australian fry up we took the dogs for a nice long walk around Balgownie.

On the walk we saw so many beautiful birds particularly rosellas and lorikeets, which are multicoloured. We also saw a sign warning cyclists to dismount as this was a magpie area. When magpie's are breeding they dive bomb cyclists and cause nasty injuries!

Next we took a trip in the car to the Wollongong Blue Mile which lined the sea front. There were many historical features and plaques explaining what the old Wollongong was like. There was a mining railway track, big cannons and several saltwater pools. Also modern day restaurants, bars and luxury apartments lined the beach.

We were on dinner duty and rustled up something tasty followed by a delicious desert. We tried to watch a movie but couldn't really follow the complex twists and turns though we stuck it out before heading to bed.

Travelling Back to Wollongong

After breakfast we packed our things, checked out of the hotel and hit the road. It took about 3 hours to get back. We unloaded and went shopping to restock the fridge.

A delicious meal was created from the purchased ingredients followed by a relaxing evening watching .... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

A Cool Swim

Today we filled ourselves up on the hotel buffet breakfast. We were going to need the energy for our walk to waterfalls and mountain view points.

We started early and drove to a picnic area, which is where our trail started. Travelling down hill we made our way to a quaint little pool. Paddling was fun but swimming was freezing! We saw some black cockatoos in the trees and a huge white butterfly.

We continued on along less trodden tracks to some amazing viewpoints, small waterfallls and aboriginal caves. Thankfully we didn't see any snakes or spiders only beautiful birds, a leech and a centipede.

After lunch it got really hot, a little hot for walking without shade so we headed back to town. Shopping and ice cream filled the afternoon, moving between air conditioned shops.

In the evening we splashed out and ate at a cute Thai cafe followed by equally delicious M&M ice creams!

A Long walk

Breakfast was included with our hotel room and we certainly took advantage of the continental spread.

We headed out to find the walking trails through the mountains. We followed small tracks to beautiful viewpoints and searched for waterfalls where we could take a dip. In fact we did find a nice refreshing waterfall where we took a refreshing shower!

We worked our way down and through the canyon trail eventually ending up at the start of the 1000 step climb. It wasn't as bad as it sounds but took about an hour. There were magnificent views from the top.

Back at the hotel we tested the spa facilities before heading out for pizza!

Blue Mountains .... Here We Come!

We were woken up by a knock on the door. It was time to wake up and head to the 'office' to print a few visa application forms. All done, we headed home to pack our bags for the Blue Mountains.

We sat in the back of the Ute watching the scenery whizz by. There was a lot of new housing estates being built along the main road heading north. Australia seems to be filling up ... well this road seemed to be!

We checked into our budget breaking boutique hotel which was in Katoomba, the main town of the Blue Mountains. We dropped our bags and went for a walk to the nearest view point for the 3 Sisters. Wow ... really pretty and you could see the blue hue of the eucalyptus trees that make the mountains look blue.

A huge thunder cloud opened its fury as we ran for cover in the tourist office. We spent about 20 minutes studying various leaflets on the area until the skies brightened once again.

We walked into the centre of town to sample the local fish and chips. They sprinkled on chicken salt which was nice. There were lots of bars and restaurants but many were closed early even though there was plenty of people about.

New Years Day 01/01/2019

A day of recovering from a late night! What did we do? We talked to our families, wished everyone a 'Happy New Year' and relaxed on the sofa!

New Year's Eve

Darryl was left in charge of the smoker which was cooking the meat. It was turned on at 8 am and takes about 9 hours to complete its job. During this time it needs a little TLC to keep the temperature constant and ensure the wood doesn't burn out. The cicadas in the back yard, where the smoker resides, are so loud ... almost deafening! Christine was assigned to the party decoration team!

The party was great and held outside in the garden. We played lots of games, caught up with old friends, met lots of new people and ate some amazing food. Bed time was a little later then usual as we celebrated the New Year!

The beach

After breakfast we headed to the beach with the 2 dogs, Millie and Alfie. It was quite quiet and we had loads of fun throwing the ball and playing in the waves. It was a beautiful area with some great walking trails.

Whilst the girls prepared themselves for lunch Darryl was taken up into the rainforest to help take down some signs, indicating the trails were closed. In the rainforest we saw a huge tree and lots of varieties of plants. We also saw herd of deer but they didn't hang around for long.

A special lunch in the restaurant at Bulli beach overlooking the crowds who were enjoying the beach. The meals were huge and we ate far too much. As if we weren't full enough we sampled a new micro brewery's wares.

Back home and still suffering from the earlier food indulgence we ate a light supper, kicked back and watched TV. Outside a thunderstorm raged into the night.

Back To Civilisation

In the morning we packed everything back in the trailer, bikes, food, dogs ... We left the baby wallaby behind.

An easy drive back along sealed roads. Everyone went to sleep, except the driver. Once unloaded we found a cool Christmas tree beetle in the garden before heading to collect the meat from the butcher's for the New Year's Eve Party. 4kg each of pork, beef and chicken! Darryl helped to chop the chicken whilst the other meat was being prepared in a brine marinade ready for the smoker on New Year's Eve.

A relaxing afternoon before we headed to the outdoor Sunset Cinema at the botanical gardens. Whilst we were walking to the gardens a crowd of police pounced on a group of youths, who had obviously been up to no good. Once we were seated, we watched a beautiful sunset, a hundred fruit bats flying overhead and finally the movie, A Star was Born. What a great evening topped off with delicious popcorn.