Tag: Australia 2008

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!

Singapore really surprised me!

We have just checked in and our about to board the plane heading back to Europe. Well, we have a couple of hours at the airport to kill first.

We have had a wonderful time here in Singapore. It was much nicer and better than I thought of it from my last time here. We spent much time on Sentosa Island which is like a holiday resort island just 5 minutes away from the mainland (well, Singapore is also an island but still) with monorail. The island is fantastic!

Otherwise, there are two things in Singapore, shops and restaurants! Unbelievable! There are so many malls and shops and restaurants that you thinks it must be on shop per person living in Singapore.

We have heard that it’s snowing in Gothenburg and that it’s cold. Like a second winter. Well, we can’t wait to get there. No, really, we can’t. OK, we can. 😎

When it rains it pours

My god! This is indeed the wet season here in Cairns. It is raining more or less all day long.

Before Cairns we were in Airlie Beach and the absolute highlight was going to the Great Barrier Reef. It was really wonderful, lots of beautiful fish! We even got to pet a really big fish, Wally. We don’t have that many underwater photos but some with us with stinger suits on. Looks funny.

We have seen Kuranda today and taken a sky rail. Unfortunately the scenic train was cancelled due to land slide. Tomorrow Cape Tribulation and the rain forest (just what we need, even more rain) and the day after tomorrow were are going the the Great Barrier Reef again.

Have it great! We are!

Finally, some photos from our trip!

We have already taken around 800 photos and Chiquita is working hard trying to delete photos from the memory card, duplicates and bad photos. We have had a wonderful time so far and there are so many impressions, sights, people, and other things to try and melt and comprehend.

Both Chiquita and I are having a cold at the moment but we are up and about doings things anyway. We are in Brisbane with Michael and Kristina at the moment on a fully packed schedule.

The following is just a very quick sample of all the photos we have taken. Please enjoy!