Category: Peter

Busy in Brisbane

We arrived in Brisbane early afternoon on the 5th of April and it was nice an warm even if the skies were a little grey. We could tell it was getting warmer, the further North we were traveling. It was very exciting seeing Kristina and Mike again, especially since they are having a baby very soon!! When we arrived at their apartment, just outside of Brisbane, we had some drinks and caught up little before going to Kristina’s mum, Gunilla, for dinner. Gunilla’s house was only minutes away and it was great to see Gunilla again and also meet Kristina’s dad Barry for the first time. Kristina who grew up in this house took us for a tour of the house. Before dinner Gunilla had us harvest a pineapple from her garden. To our, or at least my, surprise this grew on a little bush and not a tree as I thought! After this, we had a very tasty chilly fish, that Kristina’s mum is famous for and I can understand why, it really was very good!
 
The next day (6th of March) we traveled 45 minutes to Surfer’s Paradise and had a swim and a look around. It was fun to see, since one has always heard so much about it. After that we went to have a gorgeous steak for lunch back in Brisbane. This was followed by a trip to Garden City mall, were we had a quick look around and then went to the movies, so called Gold Class movies. Mike had been very secretive about this part of the day (Kriss was eager to tell us, but Mike wanted it to be a surprise) and we were excited to learn, that we would enjoy very comfortable reclining seats and being served drinks, ice-cream and other goodies through out the movie. After this, we all said we never wanted to go to the regular movies again! After a busy day we relaxed at the apartment in the evening.
 
We probably had one of our most busy days throughout our whole trip on the 7th of March. In the morning Kristina and Mike had to go a doctors appointment for the pregnancy, so Peter and I just hung out at a café for a bit. When they returned we all went to The beautiful South Banks, where we had breakfast at a restaurant down by The Brisbane River. The weather was lovely and breakfast was tasty. Then we went for a walk through the Botanical Gardens to get to the pier where Kristina and Mike had book us all on a cruise along The Brisbane River. While enjoying the sights of the River we also enjoyed cheese and wine, which was included in the tour. This, while an unusually small and somewhat strange man, who I believe was the boat’s captain told us about Brisbane. Unfortunately, we couldn’t hear a word he was saying but that was fine and we went onto the deck and enjoyed the sun. After the boat tour, we continued to enjoy The area of South Banks and I cooled my feet off in the water at the very nice man made beach (there are sharks in the Brisbane River and for obvious reasons one can’t going swimming there). We strolled along the River to the museum for an interesting and colorful exhibition featuring Andy Warhole. At the exhibition, there was the possibility to have your photo taken and rearranged to look like the famous Andy Warhole pictures with four pictures in one, each fourth being in a different shade. This was fun but for some reason Peter and I kept on looking like complete morons in our photos haha… After this we had dinner at a very tasty Turkish restaurant still in South Banks, followed by a comedy show at the theater. Mike and Kristina had arranged for the best seats and we really, really enjoyed the show. Also, it felt good to finally take on something cultural during our vacation! After this I started to feel quite sick like I was coming down with a cold, Peter and Mike felt it a bit too, so we headed off the pharmacy for some drugs…
 
The next day, 8th of March, we all felt a little better after a sleep in and we did a trip to the mall Carindale. I enjoyed shopping, whilst the others went to a movie, 10’000 BC. While at the mall Kristina and Mike also showed us the very spot where the met in the children’s toy department. Then back home for a a rest, before we went to the Mount Coot-tha Lookout and The Summit Restaurant which offered a great view of Brisbane by night. After dinner we were supposed to go to a desert place in The Valley in the city, that Kristina really wanted to take us to but unfortunately the line was half way around the block and we decided to change our plans. We went to “Cold Rock”  instead, where you can pick lots of goodies to be crushed and mixed in with your ice-cream and then headed home.
 
On the 9th of March, Kristina and Mike very kindly drove us 2,5 hours North of Brisbane to Noosa, where we were to start the part of our trip that would be carried out by Greyhound bus. When arriving in Noosa we where all starving and headed staright for lunch along the main street of Noosa. After lunch we headed for the beach and had a lovely walk and foto session. We also caught a qlimtz of a surfing contest! Then we headed back to the mainstreet of Noosa, had ice-creams and checked out a little gallery with some really great nature pictures of Australia. Then it was unfortunately time to say good-bye and Krisitna and Mike headed off home and Peter and I waited for our ride North at the bus-station… We couldn’t believe how much we had managed to fit in during or time in Brisbane, this of course all thanks to Kristina and ike’s very well planned tour of all of the best Brisbane has to offer! Kristina and Mike, we really can’t thank you enough, we had an amazing time! 

Oh Sydney my Sydney

Finally we arrived in the greatest city in the world, Sydney!

After a short taxi ride and installment at our hostel in Kings Cross we bought curry, and beers, and wine, and went to a little park overlooking the Sydney Skyline. The weather was nice and warm and the curry tasted just like it did when I was there in 2001, fantastic!

After the little picknick we went down to Woolloomooloo and to Mattias and Fredrik’s old flat on Harmer Street. Took a picture and sent to Mattias. After this we continued to the Botanic Gardens and the Sydney Opera where we stopped for a glas of Sydney Opera Champagne (sparkling). Yum!

On our way home we also went up the Sydney Tower and had a wonderful view of Sydney from above. We were dead tired and for dinner we had a cheese sandwhich in the room and then we fell alsleep.

The next day was Parade Day but we started the day walking from Bondi eack to Coogee Beach. It’s a very nice walk and even though it was very windy it was still nice and warm. Once we arrived in Coogee we found a table in the beergarden of Coogee Bay Hotel and had lunch. Lovely! Chiquita loved it as well and wanted to do the walk again, but time was short and it couldn’t be squeezed in, unfortunately.

Then came the parade. We rented (boght) milk crates to stand on in order to see anything of the parade and we got a really good spot to stand at. The parade was ok, but a little long (for my liking). I also expected it to be more, more like Rio or something with lots of drag queens and stuff but it wasn’t really like that.

After the parade ended (we left 30 minutes prior to the ending in order to get ahead of the crowd) we went to the massive after party arena. We payed loads of money for the tickets and I was just about to get into the mood when Chiquita wanted to go home. When had been at the party for three hours and payed 300 AUS dollars for the tickets. That’s expensive! I missed Agnelli and Nelson thanks to Chiquita wanting to go home early. 🙁

Since we didn’t party all night the day before we were still in pretty good shape so of we went to Darling Harbour and the Sydney Aquarium. I think it is a bit overrated and the only thing interesting is to walk under the water with all the sharks and stuff, but still. We had lunch and a couple of beers at Darling Harbour as well and time flew by. This meant that the whole tour of Paddy’s Market didn’t go so well since it close at five pm and unfortunately we only had 10 minutes to wonder around in there, which isn’t nearly enough. Paddy’s Market is huge, packed with cheap stuff from China and what have you. It also has a food market which, if you come around closing time (as we did) you can get really good bargains since the sell out all the stuff.

On our way home we went to The Establishment but alas, it was closed.

We were really exhausted after a very long day and just bought curry take away and ate in the room.

The next day we went to Blue Mountains and watched the three sisters. We also went down the steepest railway track in the world and took a walk in the rain forest before heading back up again in a cable car.

Before blue mountains though we went to yet another sanctuary (our second) and got to pet kangaroos, see joeys, and crocodiles and other magical creatures of the Aussie wilderness.

The trip also included a visit to a vineyard and a boat trip from Paramatta to Circular Key. A bonus, since we had time to spare, was a tour of the Olympic Park. It was a really good day.

For dinner Chiquita had the best steak of the entire trip. Funnily enough it was at a place just next door to our hostel and the steak for a bargain, only 10 AUS dollars. Amazingly good rumpsteak! After this delicious meal we just wandered around Kings Cross before going to bed.

The last day was spent at Manley Beach. It was a beautiful day and we spent the entire day on the beach. In the evening Chiquita wanted to back to have yet another steak but grumpy me didn’t want that so instead we went to a little more upscale restaurant and had duck. Wow, that was the best duck I have ever had!

We had had five glorious days in Sydney but it was time to leave. I was really mature about it and didn’t cry at all. But inside, my heart wept. Sydney is truly the best place on earth!

Melbourne – all seasons in one day

Emma picked us up at the airport. It was a very exciting re-union for Chiquita, since it was almost 7 years (!) since she saw Emma last. It was sunny but compared to Bangkok it was pretty cold. On the way to her house in Richmond she took us for a little tour of downtown Melbourne, pointing out interesting things on the way. We also had a quick stop in St. Kilda for lunch and a stroll by the beach, and then went up Melbourne’s tallest residential house, Eureka (80 floors I believe it was).

After installing ourselves in Emma’s room (she slept in her sister’s room during our stay there, thanks Emma!) and freshening up we went for dinner at a lovely restaurant called Cookie and had Thai food (funnily enough) which was delish!

The next day we went on a day trip along The Great Ocean Road. First we went to Bell’s Beach, which is the beach where the end scene in Point Break takes place (supposedly), after that many other beaches and small wonderful beach towns. The main attraction was the Twelve Apostles. We even took a 10 minutes helicopter ride, this went by so fast that I didn’t even understand that were in the air till we went down to land. The day trip also included a little hike in the forest (tempered rain forest I think it is) and searching for koalas in the wild, luckily we saw a couple. It was a great trip and even though it was a long day well worth it. Back at Emma’s we went to the pub for some pints, and I discovered Little Creatues and Beez Neez. :beer:

The next day, after catching up with our laundry we had a late breakfast (I had an Aussie pizza – it’s with egg on it) and went on to do Melbourne. Downtown Melbourne is very nice with Yarra River running through it. I won 27 AUS dollars at the casino and was very happy. Chiquita shopped a little and was happy as well.

In the evening we went for a proper Aussie BBQ at Emma’s brother Steven’s house. They had everything on the BBQ, and I mean everything! It was so yummy! Thanks a lot for that, this was one of the absolut highlights during our visit to Oz!

We did Yarra Valley the next day and sampled many good wines and cheeses. Emma’s mother and father had come down the day before (to the BBQ) and very kindly drove us around all the vineyards. We also made a trip to a zoo to check out the typical Aussie animals. We even got to feed a kangaroo up-close! Very exciting!  When we got back Chiquita and I had a pot and a parma each and then I was so full that I couldn’t even finish my pint. The portions of food in Australia really are huge!

The last day in Melbourne we met up with Brad at the airport and had breakfast, after luckily getting transferred to another plane (since ours was cancelled).

It was with tears in our eyes we said goodbye (au revoir) to Emma and our wonderful stay in Mebourne!

 

Thailand is oh so wonderful!

Finally we are getting around to publishing some pictures from our big trip, these are from Thailand – Bangkok and Ko Samed.

We flew in to Bangkok and after getting our bags we took a taxi to our hotel. It was pretty luxurious and we felt almost out of place, dressed as we were as backpackers. Anyway, we got a nice room very high up with a view of Bangkok.

After installing ourselves we went out for some shopping and dinner. We got a recommendation from a girl at the reception about a good place to eat, and with that we headed out in to the bustling Bangkok street life.

We took the monorail a couple of stops to Siam Square to go shopping, but both of us were pretty tired and it didn’t take long before we abandoned the idea of going around in shops. Instead we went looking for the restaurant we had been recommended.

After a minute of searching we saw a Tuk-tuk and decided that best leave the finding to a person living in Bangkok. He found the restaurant alright, it was just that he found the restaurant he gets commission (or something) from. We were hungry and the restaurant looked alright so we didn’t care and stayed. Chiquita had her best Coconut Red Curry dish at this place so she was happy. It was a dry curry dish, diffrent from the curry we’ve had before.

Before going to sleep we took a massage at a place just outside the hotel. It was a little painful (they were hitting and using sticks and other torture methods) but I managed to fall asleep during the treatment. On a more serious note, it was a very good massage and cost next to nothing. After this Chiquita decided she was going to have a massage every day for the rest of her vacation in Thailand!

The next day we travelled to Ko Samed (Koh Samet) and spent 4 wonderful days there, see previous post.

After Koh Samed, back to Bangkok again and picked up at the bus station by Gift with husband B and their supercute two-year old daughter. We stayed for one night at their house, which was designed by Gift’s husband (he works as an architect). It truly is a fantastic house and we couldn’t stop taking pictures of it! They also had their own private pool, where we hung out and cooled down a bit.

Gift, very kindly showed us around Bangkok. We went to local markets, had proper Thai food in the evening with their family and proper Thai breakfast in the morning. Thank you Gift (and family) for showing us some of the genuine Thailand, we enjoyed ourseleves very much!

I really loved Thailand from my trip there before and this visit again did not disappoint, I love Thailand!