Good Morning Vietnam!

Cliché title, I know...but come on!

We arrived in Hanoi from Bali after a really long day of travelling. We took 3 flights, totalling 15 hours of travel, but we made it safe and sound. It was the first and second time either of us have ever had our names on a sign at the airport! The first time was at the Singapore airport - our connection was a little tight, so they had someone meet us at our arrival gate with our names on a sign and helped take us to our connecting flight. The second was at the Hanoi airport. We had arranged for our hostel to pick us up and they were there waiting. We felt so important!

I was a little nervous to go back to Vietnam, because I remember it as being nothing but mayhem, but I know Dave was excited to see the country and learn more about the war history especially. We arrived around 7pm, dropped our stuff off at the hostel and then made our way into the city for the first time. We only almost died 3 or 4 times, which is good considering no one obeys any rules of the road and you feel like you could get hit by a car or motorbike at any second. But, dinner was amazing and we quickly settled into keeping our heads on a swivel to avoid bikes and cars coming right at us. We were feeling pretty exhausted though, so we went back to the hostel to get some shut eye.

Just a regular old intersection

Our first full day in Vietnam was jam-packed. In the morning, we made our way to the lake and the temple to check them out. Then we did some organizing for the rest of our time in Vietnam. We booked a boat trip to Halong Bay and our bus ticket that ended up taking us down to Ho Chi Minh city for the next 2.5 weeks. Then we had some yummy lunch and decided to try and brave a local market. I cannot get over how people do not care about personal space here! Things were jammed everywhere and it was so crowded! We did a little looking around and priced out a few things so we were ready to barter with people in the next few days of shopping! That night we headed to the water puppet show in town. The show was really good - so colourful, funny and entertaining. I think it has improved since I saw it 7 years ago! After the show we went to grab some dinner and then decided to have a drink. In Hanoi it is very common to sit on the sidewalk on a children's plastic stool and drink beer, so, when in Rome...or Hanoi...grab a plastic stool and a 50 cent draft beer and enjoy the craziness. By the end of the night they kept adding and adding people to sidewalk that some people ended up sitting in the street with cars and motor bikes driving right beside them. It was hilarious to watch and we were happy we had arrived a little earlier.

Our view from the street

Unfortunately, the next 2 days weren't the best. Dave woke up with a fever in the middle of the second night in Hanoi and wasn't feeling good for 2 days. We kept him pumped full of fluids and Tylenol and he started to feel better, just weak and tired. I was able to go back to all of the places we booked our trips and postpone them for a day. We ended up staying in Hanoi for an extra day or two to make sure Dave was feeling better.

On our last day in Hanoi Dave was feeling up to a little bit of sightseeing, so we made our way to the Temple of Literature. That pretty much wiped him out though, so we just took it easy for the rest of the day in anticipation for our trip to Halong Bay the next morning.

Luckily, Dave was much better the next morning. He had way more energy and we was actually hungry again! So, off we went on our 2 day, 1 night boat tour of Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a beautiful area of Vietnam, where 1969 limestone islands appear out of the water. It really is a beautiful place. Unfortunately, it is also a really busy, touristy place now too. On our first day we drove out to Halong Bay and got settled on the boat before lunch. After lunch we started our sail through the islands. We stopped off at the Sung Sot cave, which is pretty beautiful! We managed to arrive just as about 15 other boats did, though, so there were line ups to get in and out of the cave. It kind of took away from the beauty of the place, but it was still really neat to see. After the cave we got to go to the beach and have a swim, which was awesome because it was so hot out. Then it was time for kayaking in and around some of the islands before dinner and relaxing on the boat that night.

The next day we were up early for breakfast and got to relax on the boat while we made our way back to the port. All in all, Halong Bay is beautiful, but with the number of tourists, and the amount of garbage in the water and the poor condition of the boats, leaking oil and fuel into the water, it may not be beautiful for long. We had a good trip, but we were very aware of the environmental issues that will soon be facing the area if something isn't done soon.

A few of the islands in Halong Bay

 

From Halong Bay we made our way back to Hanoi just in time to shower and have dinner before getting on an overnight bus down to our next stop, Dong Hoi. Neither of us ever wants to take another overnight bus if we don't have to after that experience. I actually didn't think it was going to be that bad because the overnight buses are actually sleeper buses and everyone gets their own little bed that reclines to an almost flat position. A huge improvement from sitting in a seat, like I did the last time I was in Vietnam. But, since we're in Asia, I should have expected some sort of mayhem would be involved. So, a bus showed up and said it was going past Dong Hoi to Hue. I got on the bus and saved a seat for Dave, while he put our bags under the bus. But, then they wouldn't let him on the bus. They said it was full, but I already had a seat for him. They still wouldn't let him on, and they wouldn't let me off and a very nice American couple got involved to try and help, which only made things more hectic. Then another woman couldn't find a seat and they almost made her sleep on a mat on the floor, so she was upset and yelling at them. They finally let Dave on so we got settled in our seats, then they proceeded to tell us that they were no longer going to Dong Hoi and we had to get off and another bus would be there in 10 minutes. Mayhem. So off we got and we waited and waited. Almost an hour later another bus showed up but it was going north to Sapa. So we kept waiting. But then they told us to get on the bus to Sapa because it would drive us to another bus that was going south to Dong Hoi. So, on we got and squeezed into the aisles with our big bags. And once we got to the other bus the only seats left were the front two, which had way less leg room than the rest of the seats. Not the most comfortable ride of my life! And the bus driver was really mean and kept the music blaring for the first few hours, even though people were asking him to turn it down as they were trying to catch a little bit of sleep. He was also smoking inside the bus, which stunk! But we made it to Dong Hoi safe and sound the next morning and vowed never to take another overnight bus again!

Thanks for reading

xo

Bali

When we got back to Bali we went straght to Ubud, which is known as the cultural capital of Bali. We were only supposed to stay for 2 nights, but we fell in love and ended up staying for 4. Our first day we stumbled upon a rice field on the outskirts of the city centre. It was so beautiful and green!

A small rice field

 

Later that night we went to a traditional Balinese dance performance. They did both the Legong and Barong dances - so interesting! The music is so intricate and it sounds so random, but there is an obvious beat to it. And the dancing...they use every inch of their bodies to perform with. Their eyes are so expressive. Their fingers move like I have never seen before and it continues right down to their toes. It was amazing!!

Legong

On day 2 we went on a tour around the island of Bali. We started at a coffee plantation in Gulingan. They make Balinese coffee, tons of different teas and chocolate there. But they are most famous for their Luwak coffe. So, Luwak coffee is apparently the best coffee in the world - and probably some of the most expensive. And the reason is..........it is made from Mongoose poop! Hahaahha. Okay, but seriously, the mongoose eats the coffee bean along with the rest of its diet, but it doesn't completely digest the bean. There is something about what the digestive enzymes in it's stomach do to the beans that apparently make the coffee much more smooth and intense in taste, but a little less caffeinated. They collect the poop, clean the beans, roast them, peel them and grind them by hand. A very involved process! So, obviously, we had to try some. I really liked it. There was no bitterness to the taste, but it tasted like strong coffee. Dave liked the traditional Balinese coffee better.

From the coffee plantation we made our way to a monkey forest in Sangeh. It was a beautiful spot and it had over 600 monkeys roaming around it (a whole troop). They are desperate for food, but very uninterested in you if you have nothing to give them. But they do warn you not to wear your sunglasses on your head or have anything hanging from your bag because they can be destructive little things. One of the guides got a monkey to jump on Dave's shoulder, but otherwise I was happy to watch them from afar. We then made our way to the Royal Family Temple in Mengwi, which was a beautiful temple. We finished the day off at the Tanah Lot temple for sunset. Unfortunately, it was a very grey and rainy evening so we didn't get to see a sunset but the temple was beautiful. It is unique as it was built on a little island just off the coast. At low tide you can walk to it, but at high tide it is impossible to get to.

Our last 2 days in Ubud we spent exploring the town, bartering at the markets and eating our faces off! I also managed to make it to a yoga class. I was interested to see if there would be a difference between one in Indonesia, especially in Ubud , where it is very popular, and one in Canada. There wasn't, but it was nice to do it outside surrounded by gorgeous nature. We also managed to find a fitness centre. We weren't sure what it would be and we were prepared for a hilarious space, but it was actually a really nice, fully equipped gym - mostly frequented by ex-pats. We were sad to leave Ubud because we had such a great time there, but had to start explring other areas of Bali.

We made our way back to Kuta, with a stop at the Uluwatu temple on the way. Uluwatu is a temple in the southern most part of the Bali, built right on the coast. It was a beautiful setting, but the temple wasn't as grand as we were expecting. It was neat to see. Unfortunately, there were monkeys at this temple too. As we were walking back to the car, we slowed our walking pace to watch the monkeys. I saw one walking to towards Dave and told him to watch out, but before he could react the monkey had jumped on his shoulder and stolen his sunglasses right off his face! I couldn't believe it! We stood there watching the little bugger tear them apart right in front of our eyes. Luckily it was just a cheap pair of sunglasses. We spoke with a lady soon after who had a monkey steal her prescription glasses right off her face and tear them apart!

Scheming

 

We finished our time in Bali off at Kuta Beach. This is like the tourist capital of Bali. Tourists  and very annoying street vendors everywhere! Kuta was definitely our least favourite spot in Indonesia, but it was convenient to the airport. We managed to find Dave some new sunglasses, hit the beach and relax a little before we hopped on another plane to Vietnam.

We really loved Indonesia - it was so gorgeous and the people were so nice (except for the annoying, pushy street vendors). We are excited for our next country....Vietnam, here we come!

Thanks for reading

xoxo

Goodbye Australia and Hello Indonesia

We flew from Cairns to Bali (via Brisbane) on April 24, 2014. The flight from Cairns to Brisbane was easy peasy but the most stressful moment was when we were in the Brisbane airport trying to get US money and Indonesia Rupiah. Neither of our cards were working and I was starting to get really stressed out. I was on the phone with Scotia, I had the lady at the money exchange place helping me and I only managed to make things work with 5 minutes left before our flight to Bali boarded. Too much stress for no reason!!

We made it to Bali safe and sound and stayed at a hotel in Kuta for the night. We arrived after 11pm so we basically went to the hotel, showered and went to bed. Pop! Hotel in Kuta was a great place. The room was clean and it had this hilarious bathroom in it. It looked like some futuristic pod with a door that opened to reveal a shower and toilet. Hilarious!

Not Kuta

The next morning we were up really early because we were being picked up by Blue Water Express and transferred by car and boat over to the Gili Islands, which are part of Lombok, Indonesia. The boat ride was 2.5 hours and it wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't for the engine breaking down right in the middle of the ocean! There were 5 engines on the back of this boat, but for some reason they insisted on fixing this one engine instead of using another one. They had one of their staff in the water working on it for almost 15 minutes while we bobbed away. In the end we made it to Gili Trawangan without anymore issues.

The Gili Islands are a set of 3 islands just off the coast of Lombok and they are beau-ti-ful! They are especially interesting because they do not have any motorized forms of transportation on the islands. If you want to get anywhere you are either walking, cycling or taking a horse-drawn buggy. Mainly I felt bad for the horses, having to drag tourists around all day, but it was interesting to see. We stayed on Gili T for 3 nights at the Coconut Gardens, which is a place with 4 little bungalows on a coconut plantation. It was awesome! The couple working there were so nice, and we had fresh coconut water every morning for breakfast! It was a little off the main drag of the island so they had bikes for us to use while we were there. Dave managed to break 2 of them...he was inflating one of the tires and it popped and the chain on the other one broke while we were trying to peddle through sand. Thankfully the hosts were understanding!

The horse-drawn buggy that took us to Coconut Gardens

Our first day there we went to the beach and did some snorkelling. We saw a huge turtle!!! And we even got to swim with it for a little while before it went off into the depths of the ocean. It was so cool! We also so tons of other cool fish, but a lot of the coral seemed really dead. We learned after that its because they used to do a lot of dynamite fishing in the area. So sad! The next day was Dave's birthday and we had hoped to scuba dive, but they were full so we had to save that for our last day on the island. Instead, we explored more of the island, hit the beach again, did a little more snorkelling and had some drinks to celebrate! Our last day on the island was our scuba day. We only did one dive, but it lasted for almost an hour and we got to see a ton of cool fish. We saw a few lion fish, which were my favourite, and a cuttle fish, which was Dave's favourite. I think I'm starting to get to used to this whole scuba diving thing!

We left in the morning on a public boat from Gili T and went to the smallest of the 3 islands, Gili Meno...aka paradise! We stayed in a beachside bungalow at Mallia's Child. It was a little more expensive than they let on over the phone, but it was well worth it for a splurge. The place was amazing...the island, the beach, the bungalow, the people. We loved every moment of our 2 days on Gili Meno. We spent most of our time lazing on the beach or in the hammock at our place, plus a little snorkelling, exploring the island, eating and drinking. We were so sad to leave, but excited to explore the island of Bali next.

The view from our bungalow at Gili M

Thanks for reading

xoxo

 

The End of Australia

After we had recovered from our Fraser Island experience we started continuing up the east coast. We had planned to make our way to Agnes Waters/1770 because it is the furthest north you can actually get waves to ride before they disappear because of the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately mother nature had other plans for us. You see, northern Queensland was bracing for Cyclone Ita at that time and we were far enough south that we didn't get hit by the cyclone but we did get heavy, heavy rains. So, instead of surfing we basically holed up in Bam Bam and watched a lot of The Wire. Good show, by the way!

From Agnes Waters we made our way to Rockhampton, which is a town right on the Tropic of Capricorn. We had meant to go from there over to Great Keppel Island - a girl we had met previously said that it was a beautiful place, and the cyclone weather had cleared, but it was so expensive for the ferry over, and we would have only had a few hours on the island, so we vetoed it right at the last second. Instead, we stumbled upon the Capricorn Caves. We went on a tour of the caves - they were really cool. There was even a cave in the system called Cathedral Cave. It is so big and beautiful and apparently the acoustics are similar to the Sydney Opera House, so they actually host operas and weddings inside this cave system. It was pretty cool!

The pews of Cathedral Cave

We had another tour booked leaving from Airlee Beach, so we had to get there soon after we left the Capricorn Caves. We were going on a 3 day, 2 night boat cruise around the Whitsunday Islands on a boat called The Samurai. We were a little worried that this would end up like Fraser Island, but our boat only had 21 people on it and everyone was really nice. We had an awesome time cruising around the islands and the weather couldn't have been better. We even got to do a scuba dive and some snorkelling while we were out there. I even saw a huge turtle while I was snorkelling. Dave was doing a second scuba dive at the time so he missed it. One of the nights on the boat we also saw tons of squid swimming around the boat and even a huge eagle-ray swam by. We also got to go to the most beautiful beach in the world - Whitehaven Beach. It really was pretty amazing. We started at a view point of the beach and the tide was going out so you could see the sand bars emerging again - there were so many colours from white to blue...it was beautiful. Then we went down onto the actual beach and did a little photo shot with some German guys from our boat. Apparently, the sand is so white there that you can do these photos that end up like a trick of the eye because the depth perception is off. See the photo we posted...doesn't it look like the guys are tiny and I am holding them in the palm of my hand?? All in all, we had a great time in the Whitsunday Islands and we were really glad we had decided to do the tour.

 

From Airlee Beach we made our way up to Cairns. We were running out of time in Australia and we wanted to do a few dives on the Great Barrier Reef. You have to give yourself 24 hours after a dive before you can fly so we motored it up to Cairns, unfortunately that meant that we had to bypass Townsville and Magnetic Island. We'll just have to see those next time we're in Australia ;)

Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef were perfect! We spent a full day on a boat that took us to the Outer Reef and we stopped at two different dive spots. The first one was Norman Reef. We did 2 dives there. We saw star fish, lion fish a few Napoleon Maori Wrasse (which are these huge fish that let you pet them just like puppy dogs!), 3 Reef Sharks (one was even swimming right towards me at one point...scary!), sting ray, nudie branches and all kinds of coral and other colourful fish. Both dives went really well and I think I am actually starting to like it. We had lunch while the boat took us over to the second dive spot at Hastings Reef. Unfortunately for us, we went down too deep on our second dive and blew our dive table, which basically means that there was the potential for us to get decompression sickness so they wouldn't let us do our third dive of the day. I guess we got too carried away by the reef sharks! Instead, we had to snorkel. But it was some of the best snorkelling I have ever done. We saw more reef sharks and tons of colour fish and coral. It was such a good day. Well, it would have been a little better if the water was a little calmer. I think at one point over half of the people on our boat were seasick and throwing up. Luckily, Dave and I didn't get too effected by it, but it was really rough.

Our last full day in Australia was spent getting ready for our departure. We had to mail a box of things home, cancel our bank account and cell phone, return our camper van, pack and do a little last minute shopping for the rest of our trip. We also managed to get in touch with Fran and Zoe and see them again before we left. We ended up going to their hostel bar for a few drinks that night and things got a little crazy. Before we knew it we were watching girls wrestle topless in jelly...I thought that kind of stuff only happened in movies! And don't worry, the final two girls in competition were both from Canada - making our country proud!! Then it was bye bye Australia.

We had such an amazing time in Australia. I can't believe that we had been away from home for almost 8 months, 5.5 of those in Australia. We had so many adventures, met so many great people and really challenged ourselves to do new and different things. It wouldn't have been the same without all of the friends that took us in, showed us around and helped us along the way. Thank you Oz! Until next time...

Bye Australia

Thanks for reading

xo

The East Coast Continues

From surf camp we made our way up to a hilarious town called Nimbin. The sign as you drive in says that the town's claim to fame is that it was the home of the 1973 Aquarius Festival...can you say hippie central?! We spent the afternoon checking out the hippie stores then had some dinner and drinks. After dinner we actually ran into an American couple that we met in the Able Tasman. I don't think they recognized us at first but after chatting for a bit they did. We had actually told them to head to the knife making place in Barrytown, and they did.

From Nimbin we made our way to Byron Bay, aka quintessential Australia. We spent 2 days there, mainly because Dave was obsessed with surfing and wanted to try it again. On our first day there we happened on a free board rental. So, off we went to the beach and only found out much too late that the board was broken in two. We did some beaching and swimming instead. The next day we had much more success with our board rentals. We spent the day at "the pass", which was a great surf spot. An amazing point break with long waves and tons of people surfing there. After we got tired of surfing we stumbled upon some live music by a Canadian girl so we stayed to watch for a bit. Overall, we really liked Byron - it was an awesome beach town!

We were supposed to spend a day or two on the Gold Coast before we made our way back to Brisbane to stay with Woodie, but we were starting to get eager for a bed, shower, house and friends so we only spent a day in Surfers Paradise. It was a busy place - busier than I pictured it in my head at least. But it had a great beach. We were feeling a little beached out by then though so we explored the city for the day and then made our way closer to Brisbane. Woodie was kind enough to let us show up a day earlier than we had expected and we were very thankful for that. We were only supposed to stay for 2 nights but we stayed for three - did some laundry, went to the gym, booked some flights and travel things for our trip to Asia, organized more visas and spent some good ol' quality time with Woodie. It was so nice - and it made us excited to come home to our apartment soon.

From Brisbane we made our way up to Rainbow Beach because we were starting a 3 day, 2 night Fraser Island Tour. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world so they host a lot of 4x4 tours, where people can drive on the beach and check out the inland fresh water lakes. We showed up at our pre-Fraser Island briefing and who did we see - the two English girls, Fran and Zoe, that we met at surf camp. Not only were they in our group, but they were also in our car. Everyone was divided up into groups of 8, for each car, so that everyone had an opportunity to drive one of the 4x4 cars. We left early the next morning after getting everyone organized and made our way by ferry over to the island. Our first day was awesome. We did some driving on the beach, some driving on some inland tracks and made our way to Lake Mackenzie, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in the world. It was crystal clear blue water with white silicon sand and it was fresh water! That was the best part...you didn't have the grime of salt left on you after you swam. While we were there, our guide was even able to find a few turtles in the water. They were so tiny and cute!

Beautiful Lake Mackenzie



We also got to see a bunch of dingo's. They look like really skinny, malnourished dogs, but don't be fooled because they can get pretty vicious apparently. We then made our way back to the camp to celebrate Zoe's 30th birthday!

Maybe the dingo ate your baby

The next day we continued our driving around the island to the champagne pools, an area where water from the ocean spills over into these little pools at high tide. It was really beautiful, but really busy. From there we then made our way to Indian Head, which was one of the highest points on the island. You could walk up to the top and see down into the water. While we were there we saw a small whale and a few pods of dolphins. After we left some other people in our group said that they even saw some sharks swimming around too. We were sad to have missed that. We finished the day off at a little fresh water river. There were a bunch of groups there so it was a big party with sunning, swimming and beach volleyball.

Driving on the beach

The third and final day was a hike to another lake, Lake Wabby. It took us about an hour to get there, and in the heat of the day it was exhausting, but worth it. We made it to this huge sand dune and at the bottom of it was a nice freshwater lake. We spent a couple of hours there but then had to make our way back to the ferry. Overall, we really enjoyed our time on Fraser Island. We got to spend more time with Zoe and Fran, who are hilarious, and we got to know 4 other people in our car pretty well. Unfortunately, there were a couple of downers to our trip. We had one girl in our group, Nina, who was a total wet blanket. She didn't help with the cooking or the cleaning and barely ever smiled. Also, the trip was basically what I expected Spring Break in the USA to be. There was probably a hundred 20 y.o. drunk and gallivanting. A few of them got so belligerent that they got kicked off the tour the next morning, while one unknown source went #2 on the ground outside the bathroom. It was wild! Also, the actual camp they had us staying in was pretty much crap. We were in tents with zippers that didn't work (this was after they told us that there were snakes that frequented the camp), toilets that broke and stank, cooking facilities that were brutal and just filth everywhere.

Thanks for reading

xoxo

　

 

 

 

We love koalas and surfing!

After Port Stephens we made our way further north to another little town, Port Macquarie. We stumbled upon a BBQ and Blues festival, as well as a weekend market there. We did a little shopping and managed to find the world's most annoying bongo player at the markets. She was a flighty lady sitting there all day trying to teach people to drum, but all she would tell them is to find their own rhythm. With teaching points like that, you can imagine how skilled she was. We had lunch at the BBQ and Blues festival, which was basically a BBQ-off. There were loads of teams all selling their food and judges taste testing it all. We decided to try 2 different pulled pork sandwiches to do our own little taste test. The one I bought was definitely the winner! I had to wait in line a little longer, but it was so yummy...and Dave's was terrible! There was barely any sauce on it and the pork was dry and kind of tasteless. I can't imagine his team won any prizes!

After lunch we made our way to the local Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to stop here. They do free tours of the hospital every day at 3pm. They take you around to visit all of the koalas outside in the yard while they are feeding and interacting with them all. They are so cute! And it was interesting to learn why the koalas were there. Some were car accidents, or falls from trees. Some were there because of amputations, or kyphosis/scoliosis (which makes it hard for them to climb trees and fend for themselves), but most were apparently there because of Chlamydia. They call this wet-bottom, because it makes them incontinent and the fur on their bottoms get all infected and they get really sick. Their main goal is to rehabilitate the koalas and then release them back into the wild, but only if they believe they will thrive. Some of the koalas end up living at the hospital because they could not make it on their own, like Barry. He was my favourite. Barry has a pretty bad case of kypho-scoliosis that makes it nearly impossible for him to climb trees anymore. So the hospital is now his home and he is now pretty much their mascot. They even sell little stuffed Barry's that they ask people to buy as a fundraiser for the hospital. They run a monthly photo contest where they get people to take photos of their "Barry's" in different situations/countries. You send in the photos and there is some sort of prize. Some of the pictures they had on display were hilarious...Barry in Malaysia...Barry at a wedding...Barry surfing, etc.

This is Barry!

 

The next day we made our way further north to check out a few more places. We stopped in Hat Head National Park, where we sat on the beach for a little bit. Then we walked through the little town to try and find a body board that Dave could use on the beach. It was unsuccessful but we would keep looking! Then we made our way to a town called Southwest Rocks, where we spent the rest of the day. We did a walk up to a light house there. We also went to the beach and watched some more the amazing surfers that Australia has to offer. We managed to find a body board here so Dave bought it and was eager to give it a try. He quickly learned that it is much more fun if you have fins to help you catch waves, and he would rather learn to surf than body board. Lucky for him we were on our way to surf camp in a couple of days!

We had signed ourselves up for a 2 days surf and stay camp in a little town called Arrawarra Heads. It was a hilarious place to spend a few days. It was basically like summer camp for 18-25 year olds. Most people thought we were 25-26 so we somehow managed to fool them all and fit in. But surf camp consisted of a 2 hour lesson per day, as well as cheap surf board rentals any time you weren't in a lesson. Our first lesson went really well. They teach you how to get up on broken, or white, waves and you spent about and hour in the water just trying to hit wave after wave. We had so much fun that we rented boards that afternoon and decided to head back out on our own for another couple of hours. We both were totally exhausted after this, but felt like we were making some progress. That night we played some games and met some really nice people. Our roommates were Alex and Ewan from England and we also managed to find sisters Zoe and Fran, also from England. The four of them were really nice and we got along really well with them.

Our second day at surf camp started with our lesson. This lesson was awesome! We had an amazing instructor who challenged both Dave and I (he called us his Canadian superstars...hahah) and had us on some green, or unbroken, waves. Dave even rode this amazing wave that made him look like he knew what he was doing! He was definitely obsessed with surfing by the end of surf camp! We spent a little more time with Alex, Ewan, Fran and Zoe and then unfortunately our time was up and we had to be on our way.

Surf as far as the eyes can see

Thanks for reading

xo

　

　

Sydney

We made it to Sydney safe and sound but didn't arrive until late in the evening. We made our way to the Jackaroo Hostel, in King's Cross and then went to grab a quick bite to eat before bed.

The next day started out pretty nice so we decided to take the ferry over to Manly Beach. On our way to the ferry we stopped by The Rocks, which is a pretty cool historic area near the Harbour Bridge. It was the weekend so they had a market going. We spent a bit of time walking through the stalls and window shopping. Then we got on the ferry to Manly Beach, which has spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Once at Manly there was another market, so we had some lunch and walked around that before making our way to the beach. The beach was huge and it was pretty busy, but we found a nice spot and just enjoyed the sun for a little while. Unfortunately, it started to get a little cloudy, but it didn't rain. But once the clouds settled in we decided to make our way back to the ferry. On our way, we came across a hilarious game being played right beside the ferry terminal. It's called SUP Ball. It's basically like basketball being played on Stand Up Paddle (SUP) boards - but full contact. So, all the guys were wearing "budgie smugglers" or speedos and they were throwing themselves at each other and onto each other's boards trying to stop the other team from scoring, which consisted of throwing the ball and hitting a huge buoy in the water at either end of the "court". We watched for probably a good 30 mins, because it was so hilarious! Once back on the mainland we made our way to take a closer look at the Opera House. It really is a very intricate building. There are thousands of tiles on all of it, which surprised both of us! Then it was off to do a little workout, dinner and bed.

Harbour Bridge

 

The next day was a rainy day in Sydney so we decided to make the most of it and do a few errands. We started the day out at the Indian consulate. We decided that on our way home at the end of June we are going to meet some friends in India for a couple of weeks, so we had to get some visas. The process wasn't too hard - it just took a little organizing and a bit of time at the consulate and then they would mail our passports to Woodie's place in Brisbane, where we would pick them up in a week or so when we passed through again. After that was done we went to a travel doctor to get some immunizations and malaria pills for our Asian Adventure. We both left a little poorer and with sore arms, but ready for Asia.


We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Darling Harbour, going to see Monuments Men (I didn't really like it) and having sushi for dinner. We walked back to King's Cross and managed to stumble upon Hyde Park, which is a really beautiful piece of green space in the middle of the Sydney CBD. It was really nice.

Our last full day in Sydney we went to Bondi Beach. I mean, you can't go to Sydney and not go to the iconic beach. Unfortunately for us it was a cloudy day again, but we made our way over to the beach and did a little lying out and swimming. It didn't rain, which was nice, but it remained a cloudy day. Once we were all beached out we went back to the hostel to shower and then went into the CBD for some drinks. There is a really nice bar at the foot of the steps to the Opera House, called the Opera Bar. So we went and sat outside and had some drinks with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge both glowing in the background. It is amazing how beautiful their waterfront is...especially compared to Toronto's!

Just about to head to the Opera Bar

 

The next morning we made our way to Hippie Campers to pick up our last camper van that would see us through to Cairns. We named this one Bam Bam because the first day we had it things were constantly sliding around and it made a lot of noise! But off we went on the last leg of our adventure up the east coast of Australia.

Our first night in the new campervan we spent just outside of the town of Newcastle. It rained most of the night so we just sort of hunkered down in Bam Bam and had a good nights sleep. The next day we made our way to Port Stephens, which is a really nice beach town. On our way into town we saw a sign for a winery cellar door, so we decided to make a stop. The wine was terrible, but it also had a brewery that did beer tasting there and the beer was really good. So good that we had to buy some to take away with us. Then we actually went into the heart of Port Stephens and had some lunch. It was another rainy day so we didn't hit the beach but instead decided to do a little hike. We did a short one that took us to a WWII lookout that used to have these massive machine guns. The infrastructure was still there and it was interesting to see.

Once we left Port Stephens we only drove a little further before setting up shop for the night. Australia is a gorgeous country, but most of the beauty that we were seeing was in the beaches, which aren't as much fun when it's raining :(

Thanks for reading

xo

Adelaide

We arrived in Tanunda, which is in the heart of the Barossa wine region about an hour outside of Adelaide, late afternoon on St Patty's Day. Amy and her boyfriend Hugh were kind enough to let us crash at their place for the next 5 days or so, while we explored wine country, checked out Adelaide and celebrated Amy's bday.

When we arrived Amy was having a bbq with a group of friends to celebrate St Patty's Day, so we just joined in! Lots of Guinness was consumed, as well as lots of delicious wine and food. It was really nice to sit and chat with Amy, Hugh, their friends and their two animals, Cooper the dog and Mika the cat. Everyone was so nice and welcoming and we had a great time!

Our first day there was a pretty lazy one. We slept in and did some laundry. Then we spent most of the day organizing the rest of our Australian adventure. We booked another camper van to drive from Sydney to Cairns, a few tours (of Fraser Island, surf camp, etc), booked our hostel for Sydney and tried to nail down some dates for the next few legs of our adventure through Asia. We also spent the afternoon helping one of Amy's friend (Jo) prepare a huge Chinese food feast. Jo was in Tanunda visiting Amy from Sydney for her bday, so it was a full house! But we helped Jo make spring rolls, ribs, fried rice, chicken balls, etc. There was so much food, but Amy had apparently requested it all and Jo was very nice to prepare it all for her bday. We ate like kings that night! I loved every second of it, but I guess it was a little too greasy for Dave because by that night he wasn't feeling very good. In fact, a few hours after dinner he was violently puking. It was so loud - everyone was a little worried about him.

Dave was still feeling really weak and not great the next day so we had a bit of a lazy day. He did manage to leave the house by early afternoon and we went to visit Amy at work. You see, Amy works at the St Hallett's winery in Tanunda. She wasn't too busy so she gave a tour of the winery and then I did a little wine tasting, while Dave watched. The wine was all so yummy! That night we just relaxed - I drank some more wine with Jo and Amy, Hugh had some work to get done and Dave sat quietly recovering on the couch.

An amazing wood carving at St. Hallett's winery

 

Dave seemed to have a little more energy the next day so we decided to make our way into Adelaide and explore the city. We did a little shopping, walked through Chinatown and went to the market. Laura, you are going to be so jealous because it was the beginning of feijoa season - it is a fruit with a very interesting flavour - and I was able to hunt some down to try. I don't think I like them as much as you do. That day was actually Amy's real bday so we went out for dinner to a restaurant called FermentAsian - get it...because it's in the Barossa?! It was delicious.

We all had the chef special, which was about a 6 course meal of all specially prepared dishes. We definitely ate some things I had never had before, but it was all really yummy. And of course, there was more wine to go with it!

On Friday, Amy had the day off so we spent the day with her and Jo. She took us on a little wine tour to all of her favourite wineries, as well as a little shopping in Tanunda. It was such a cute little town with tons of little shops - cute vintage one's, really nice clothing stores, delicious looking little cafes and restaurants...I really like Tanunda. What Amy didn't know, was that her boyfriend Hugh had planned a weekend away for her and her friends to a little area in the Barossa called Clare. So, once our day was done we had to try and get her to pack an overnight bag and get in the car without asking too many questions. Everything was going really smoothly and they had all told her a lie so she had no idea what was going on, until the cat got out. Dave, Jo, Amy and Hugh and I spent almost 30 minutes looking for that stupid cat since we wouldn't be coming home later that day. Unfortunately, we never got her and she had to spent the night outside that night. But off we went to Clare.

Hugh had rented this cute cottage there. There was almost 10 of us there and we just spent the night drinking, eating, dancing and socializing. But to top it all off, Jo had bought us all matching onesies. So we did all of the above mentioned in matching onesies. A hilariously fun night!

Happy Birthday Amy

 

Sadly we had to catch our flight to Sydney the next morning so we said our farewells to the crew, especially Amy and Hugh. I love seeing familiar faces and catching up with people, but we were off to Sydney next and we were very excited!

Thanks for reading

xo

Ramblings...

I cannot ignore you any longer. I feel I have let Steph speak for me for too long (although she has covered all the important pieces, and done it admirably) and now I need to fill you all in on my thoughts on our trip to date. So in no particular order or organizational structure, here they are...

1) People everywhere tend to be extremely nice and will do what they can to help you out if they have the means to do so. We saw this in New Zealand, Australia and now SE Asia. Whether they were friends or complete strangers, everyone has been fantastic to us.

2) I am not a fan of traveller dreadlocks. Now before you get all bent out of shape because you have not washed your hair in 3 months preparing to get your mop made into locks, it's not that I dislike all dreadlocks, only some. The 'some' I speak of are people who feel that since they are travelling they no longer have to maintain ANY sense of personal hygiene. From what I have seen, aside from the dreadlocks, they no longer wash their clothes, that were bought while travelling SE Asia, so the bright colours are now covered in dirt and grime. Shoes are not needed anywhere they go. I find this fascinating. We saw a youngish couple shoeless as they marched up the 1km of slippery rock fall to a glacier. I love the idea of the barefoot movement, but shoes have their place, and hiking a glacier may be one of those places. Lastly, dreadlocks. Fine on their own, but with this 'some' it is combined with a lack of showering/bathing so the hair becomes a symbol of disregard for personal health. Not my idea of fun.

C) Umbrellas. In all countries, umbrella etiquette must be taught. I believe this should be done at a very young age to solidify the lessons for life. If you are not tall and hold the umbrella just over your head, you are going to poke people in the eye and they will dislike you. Spatial awareness is key.

4) Walking on the other side of the road is much harder than driving. It sounds simple and easy, but with driving you basically follow the other cars or stay between the lines and try not to change lanes too often. With walking, I have been so used to staying on the right side of the sidewalk that when we landed in the Auckland airport for the first time, I kept running into men leaving the toilet as I would go right and they went left and we both ended up hugging the same wall when there was about 4 feet of space on my left, his right. You know that awkward dance when you both mirror each other for a series of pass attempts. You would have thought that would set me straight, but I guess I am a slow learner.

5) Hobbiton is AMAZING!!! That is all.

Frolicking

6) We don't work hard. Being overseas and seeing the conditions that people work in, how they are treated and the long hours that they put in day after day, it brings to light how easy our life truly is. I hope that I can keep this humbling experience in the back of my mind when I have a 'long' day at school and would like nothing more than to complain.

7) 8 months is a long time to spend with anyone. I would not want to spend this time with anyone but my gorgeous wife, but living in close confines for months on end and driving thousands of kilometers together, you kind of maybe sort of might crave other people's company. Just sometimes though.

8) After living in a van for 4 months and a trailer for another 3, I have realized how little you actually need to be happy, although it definitely helps that Steph and I have been travelling some amazing countries.

9) Travelling has really hammered home the importance of staying in contact with friends and family. I have been notorious for being difficult to get a hold of, but I would like to think that I am changing that. Those special people that you connect with and share memories deserve the few minutes it takes to write an email, Facebook message or give them a phonecall every now and then. It means a lot and doesn't take much, so why not.

10) The internet is awesome for #9, and staying up to date with the NFL news.

11) In Australia, trailer parks are often called 'relocatable home communities'. How amazing is that!

Pretty insightful I know, but those are the ramblings of Dave Brown. Now you see why Steph writes the blog.

 

The Great Ocean Road

Early Saturday morning Dave went to pick up our rental car while i finished packing and then off we went...in the wrong direction at first of course, but we quickly figured it out and got back on track!

We spent the first day driving between Melbourne and a little town called Port Campbell. We passed through a ton of other little towns along the way and stopped at most of them - Torquay, Angelsea, Lorne, Apollo Bay and an area called the Shipwreck Coast. They were all major surfer/beach towns so we stopped to watch some amazing surfers in action - Dave was really jealous. He can't wait to get on a surf board soon!

Towards the end of the day we made it to the iconic 12 Apostles viewing point. And, small world, we ran into Julie and Richard - the American couple we did the Able Tasman kayak trip with. We knew they were in Australia, but not that they were also driving the Great Ocean Road...small world! We stopped and had a chat with them for a bit and then went to see the sights. Unfortunately for us it started raining right as we got to the viewing platforms for the 12 Apostles. We managed to get a few pictures before running back to the car. It is a beautiful sight!! So much so that we decided we were going to drive back the next morning to see them in better weather! We stayed at a hostel in Port Campbell that night. It was only about a 10 minute drive from the 12 Apostles, so it was the perfect location.

Rainy day at the 12 Apostles

The next morning we made our way back to the 12 Apostles and had much better weather this time! The view is stunning and we had some fun taking a few good pics before we went on our way. We made a ton more stops on our drive. The first was the Lock Ard Gorge - a former shipwreck site. Then we saw London Bridge. This used to be an intact rock archway, but in 2009 the arch broke and fell away into the ocean. The story goes that there was a couple who had just finished walking across the arch way before it fell and they were stranded on a piece of rock in the middle of the ocean. They were quickly rescued by helicopter, but once on the mainland, they tried to hide from the cameras because they were having an affair together and didn't want to get caught with all the press. The next spot we stopped at was the Grotto - this was our favourite spot. It was a beautiful bit of rock formation with waves crashing into it - so pretty! Then we made our way through the city of Port Fairy, which is known as a good spot to whale watch. Unfortunately for us, it is too early in the season so there were no whales there. Instead, we did a little grocery shopping and bought some St Patty's day souvenirs before finishing up our day in the Grampians National Park at a hostel there.

Next morning at the 12 Apostles

 

The next morning we had decided to do 2 short hikes in the morning since we were in this beautiful national park. The first one was a total bust! It was supposed to be a walk out to a waterfall, but there was no waterfall at the end. I guess it had dried up, even though it had just rained for the past 3 days on and off. The second hike was a little more successful. It was through the forest to the Venus Pools. There were some natural rock formations filled with river water there. It was raining by then though, so we checked them out and then made our way back to our car for the last leg to Adelaide.

The Grotto

 

The rest of the day we just drove through pretty bland country to Adelaide. Amy, a friend of Dave's from Kingston, is currently living just outside of Adelaide in Tanunda in the Barossa region, so we were off to go stay with her for the next few days!

Thanks for reading

xo

Back To Aussie Land

We were sad to leave New Zealand, but excited for the next portion of our trip - back to Australia we went. We flew into Melbourne early on Tuesday, March 11. A friend, Mike Thorburn, from Queen's lives there and was kind enough to pick us up from the airport. We hadn't seen him in years, so it was so nice to see him again and catch up. He drove us to St Kilda in Melbourne, where we spent most of the day. It wasn't the most fun day ever - most of it was spent reactivating our phone, mailing stuff home to Canada and getting organized for our time in Australia.

We were staying at a place we found on Airbnb. The place was in North Melbourne, so once all of our errands were done and we had explored St Kilda, we made our way to our accommodation. We ended up staying in a room of a cute little house owned by a young couple with their dog. We stayed with Nat, Ben and Phyllis for the next 4 nights and had a great time! We both fell in love with Phyllis and it was nice to have a solid home base for a few days while we explored Melbourne.

Phyllis is a suck

Once we were settled in at our place Mike came to pick us up and we went out for dinner and drinks. He took us to a few cool places - there are so many restaurants and bars in Melbourne, it's insane!!!

The next day Dave and I went off on our own to explore downtown Melbourne. We walked around a lot of the city and really fell in love with it. There are so many neat little arcades and laneways that you can walk through, with tons of little shops, coffee shops and restaurants. That night we went to the night market with Mike. There was so much delicious food and cute little stalls selling vintage and current clothes and trinkets. The most hilarious part of the entire market was the "Silent Disco". So, what happens is everyone in the disco is wearing headphones and they are all listening to the same song at the same time. It is hilarious to watch people dancing and singing along from outside. Everyone looked like they were having the best time - doing the YMCA dance and just bopping along to all the music.

 

On Thursday we went to the gym with Mike and then he was kind enough to take us out to the Mornington Peninsula for the rest of the day. It is about an hours drive from Melbourne and there is so much to do there. We did some wine tasting, followed by some cheese tasting (my favourite!) and then finished it off at the hot springs. It is sort of like Le Nordique in Ottawa, but the view is amazing. They have one hot pool on the top of this hill and you can almost see all the way back to Melbourne on a clear day! We were all pretty much starving by then and went out for some Vietnamese food and ate our faces off. It was such an awesome day!

On our last day in Melbourne we had made plans to see an old friend, Marci. I worked with her at the Wigamog Inn, the summer I spent there after first year of university. I haven't seen her in years, but I feel like I have because we have a mutual friend (Paige) who updates us on each other often. But it was so nice to see her face to face and catch up. She has been living in Melbourne for almost 8 years and was about to marry her Australian boyfriend. They were actually heading back to Canada for their wedding at the end of April, so we were lucky we got to meet up with her in Oz.

On our way home from lunch we walked through a little more of the city, including Chinatown and then went to the Queen Victoria Market to pick up some food for dinner. After dinner Mike was able to get us some amazing tickets to the op


ening game of the Aussie Rules Football season at Etihad Stadium, so off we went to the game. One of his friends goes to the same gym as some people who work in the AFL head office so we ended up with front row seats, near midfield for the game. I have never sat (and probably will never sit) in better seats again! The game was a bit of a blow out - Freemantle kicked Collingwood's butt. Dave actually even bet on the game, and unlike his horse-racing bets, he actually won on this one. He won a whole $2.75.

Best seats in the house

Sadly, that was all the time we had in Melbourne. On Saturday morning we had a car rented so we could drive the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide for the next 3 days.
Thanks for reading

xoxox