Update to living in NZ

Okay, couldn't resist one last post on the blog...

Since arriving home we've seen all the family and the novelty of seeing us has worn off. We are staying at my sister's hosue while we look for jobs. While I'm unemployed and enjoying so much leisure time, my family thought it would be good if I joined in with my brother the builder and did some "real work for a change". Paul, my brother, won't let me have a tool belt yet, but I get to use a crow bar and destroy things. I love being home!!!

Trip Complete!!

Well, it has been lovely but it had to finish at some point. It is back to reality, finding a job and being domestic.

This trip has been wonderful, and not least because my wonderful Nic said 'yes' to being together for the rest of our lives.

The trip involved hammocks, massages, thai food, sailing, snorkelling, swimming, beaches, pools, diamond rings, Disney Land, Oceanworld, robot museums, markets, mega-malls, towers, rollercoasters, charities, tuk-tuks and some of the most lovely people on this planet.

We hope you enjoyed reading parts of this blog and wish you lots of fun in your own travels.

Lots of love,

Marky and Nic x

Coming through to Auckland Airport...


Nic and her mummy...

Sydney with Nic's Uncle Jim

We stayed with Nic's uncle Jimbo. In true Australian style, he and his flatmate put on a yummy barbeque. One of the wonderful things about the southern hemisphere...

Sustainable House

During the trip I've been looking into some green living options that I would like to play with when I get home. Through different research on the internet and some books I came across this guy, Rob, who lives in Sydney. He has used off the shelf products to build a sustainable house out of a normal everyday house on the street. He gave me a tour of his house, complete with getting up on the roof...

Sydney with Dan and Jen

We flew Bangkok to Sydney. Getting out at Sydney was a bit dreamlike. The city was so clean, like Tokyo. The people were really friendly. This definitely wasn't London anymore. We were sitting down at a bus stop and a postie rode by on his bike. He turned to us and said "Good morning!" We were so shocked we didn't know what to say. This is fabulous; people are genuinely nice.

We got on a bus and the driver was playing AC/DC. This had to be Australia!










Getting to Dan and Jen's house was cool too. Not just seeing them and the boys again, but seeing what they have and how well they are set up. Dan is renovating again (with exceptional skill) and the house is really cool. The two boys are even more beautiful and can talk a bit now too. Check out this lovely family...

Signage

A few more interesting signs from our travels. These ones are in English, but damned if I know what they are on about...

A Taste of Asia

Nic and I did a Thai cooking course here in Chiang Mai. It took a lot of convincing on Nic's part to get me to strap on a pinnafore and play chef, however; the experience was well worth it. The chef was quite a character and really got us into the whole thing. We went to the market to buy all the good fresh, even down to having the fish killed and gutted in front of us.

It was great. We made Green Curry, Yellow Curry, Penang Curry, Basil and Chilli Stir Fry and Lime Fish. And the best thing is we got to eat the results of our work. Yum-o. Actually, perhaps not having to do the dishes was the best thing? I wonder how Nic is going to handle doing dishes for two back in NZ? Heh.









This is Nic getting up close and personal with Freddy the fish who moments earlier was alive and well.









Check out our handiwork...

Chiang Mai

We've booked our flights from Bangkok to Sydney and then to Auckland.

Bangkok to Sydney flight on the 21st.
Sydney to New Zealand on the 28th.
Then it is all over. Boo.

We'll be home on the 28th of February. Nic and I have been travelling for about six months, and if you take into account the motorcycle trip to Marrakech (and back again - what a dude!), I've been travelling for eight months. Time to go home and do some of the non-fun stuff like pay bills and find jobs.

But it will be good to be home soon. Mum's Lemon meringue pie and a new addition of Nic's Mum's apple crumble. We are twice blessed in the baking stakes. Let the life of plumpiness commence.

Chiang Rai

We took a bus from the Thai border to Chiang Rai, a nice little town in the North of Thailand. The bus was three hours long, but having been travelling for several days, we got off it saying "Is that it?"

We went to a hilltribe museum and also started our preparations for heading home. We've been looking for flights to Sydney and wondering why they aren't less than a tenner. I've only really got enough money left to pay for the ticket and one last foot massage. Dan has been nice enough to let us stay at his house/mansion in Sydney. See you soon my man.

Asia, you are the world's most seductive mistress. Your charms are multitudinous and your hospitality legendary. We love you.

Laos to Thailand

We took the slow boat from Luang Prabang to Northern Thailand. They call it the slow boat because it takes two days. Don't think the fact that they call it a slow boat lead you to think that there is a faster boat; there isn't. The only thing that goes faster are the speedboats where you sit in a cramped canoe wearing a helmet for seven hours, holding on while the driver speeds past rocks and whirlpools. We saw a few go past on our way with laughing Laos and white-faced grimacing westerners.

The slow boat was rather pleasant with a drinks bar, the graceful motion of the boat and a view to require jaw support. Nevertheless, two days on a boat necessitates a rest. We stayed the night at the border and crossed the next day after a good shower and a last tipple of Beer Lao.

Big Brother Mouse

We were still searching for some way to pay the world back for the friendly Thais that helped us after the mini-van crash.

There was a place in Luang Prabang called Big Brother Mouse where you can purchase school books and they are given out to the various schools in Laos to help them. Nic and I went along and bought a stack of books to give to the schools around Luang Prabang.

I'm a bit of a cynical soul and find charity often a little self serving and quite often diluted at the receiving end. I seemed to find this through some of my travels in Africa.

I was still umming and ahhing over the effectiveness of what Nic and I had done when we made it back to our guesthouse to see the fifteen year old boy who ran our guesthouse sitting there with a Big Brother book. He was learning to read. Once we saw that, I realised that maybe there are some organisations that are just trying to help.

We haven't paid off our debt to Thailand, but maybe we've helped someone a little bit somewhere. If you are in Laos, maybe take a look around the shop here...

Kayaking the Mekong

We went kayaking along the river to a couple of caves filled with Buddhas, kind of a bizarre buddha bazaar.















On the way to the caves, we nearly got run down by a massive house boat. He kept turning and our guide kept saying we could out run it. Eventually I decided our guide was either stupid or insane and turned around to give the boat room. Look at the size of the thing...



This girl tried to sell us a baby mole in a little bamboo cage. Apparently they are great between two slices of bread. Thinking of the cute Mr Mole in the Wind In The Willows, we declined to chow down.



Afterwards we kayaked to the Lao whiskey village, so called because this is where they make the potent stuff. The village was a bit of a tourist rat run, but they really did make the whiskey here. It was a bit too much like cleaning fluid for us, especially at 55%, so we bought some as a thank you for our guide.

Luang prabang

Luang Prabang, the lovely French-Lao old capital. This place is a photographer's dream with its old French colonial buildings and vibrant Lao village markets.















We went to some waterfalls near here with turquoise waters and several cascading pools to swim in.







We visited a friendly village near Luang Prabang with lots of cheeky kids trying to show off for us and do cartwheels...