Category: Travel

It’s hard to believe that Graham and I set off on our big adventure a year ago today! It almost feels like it was a lifetime ago, but at the same time feels like only yesterday that we were hopping on the first train of many at St. Pancras station. Life in Wellington has been great and we feel really at home in our cute little house! We survived a New Zealand winter, which is pretty important and we’re looking forward to exploring NZ in the Spring and Summer.

There were some amazing moments throughout our trip and its really hard to pick out highlights. We visited countries that have been at the top of our travel wish list like Japan, Russia and Vietnam, travelled the longest railway journey in the world, dipped a very cold finger in the world’s largest freshwater lake, climbed volcanoes, cycled around islands, drank banana wine, explored Vietnamese caves in kayaks, swam in bioluminescent water off the coast of Cambodia and then to top it all off we set up a whole new life in NZ!

 

In total, we travelled approximately 20,370 miles (32,782 kms) in 141 days across 16 countries. We visited around 47 cities/towns/villages on our way and attempted to order food in multiple languages as we went (thank goodness for Google Translate). Our mode of transport was mainly train, with the occasional flight in the second half of the journey and a couple of ferries thrown in for good measure 🙂 I have over 4000 photos on my phone and goodness knows how many more on Graham’s camera! And rather importantly, we didn’t kill each other, and both realise that we are extraordinarily grumpy when tired, hungry and in need of a shower. Here is a little compilation of selfies, in case you forgot what we looked like!! 

It has been nice to settle down and to get back to normality for a while, but we’re also looking forward to more adventures here in NZ, where there’s so much to explore. We’re back in Ireland and the UK for Christmas, which will be very different from our eco-Cambodian adventure with no electricity last year, but can’t wait for all the Christmas festivities that we’re used to! We’ll pop up the odd blog post or two when we’ve explored our new home, but currently, brunch, coffee and running are keeping us very busy….as well as sometimes working! 

Xx -F

We’ve been in Wellington for two months now, and it’s starting to feel like home. After three weeks in Tawa, we moved to an Airbnb in Petone. It was good to see another suburb, and good to have a break from Tawa’s hills! The day after we moved to Petone, I attended a job interview in the city. It went pretty well, and although a couple of nervous weeks passed before I knew the outcome, I’ve since accepted a job offer there. 

While I was looking for a job, Fionnuala turned her attention to flat hunting. The second viewing I attended was an upstairs flat in Oriental Parade. The location was perfect, the price was within budget and the flat itself was… utterly bizarre. Every room had been whitewashed in a haphazard manner, and the kitchen looked much like the dish-washing area of a poorly equipped campsite. The property included a doorway without a door plus a door with no handle, painted shut, and not to be used as a door at all. I seem to have removed the bathroom from my memory, and probably for a good reason. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t apply to rent the flat in Oriental Parade.

The first flat viewing I attended was an upstairs flat in Brooklyn. It looked good from the outside, and after about five minutes inside, I could see myself living there. Fionnuala didn’t have to say anything for me to know she felt the same way. The letting agent informed us that there had been around thirty tenancy applications, but all had been rejected due to the prospective tenants being too young, likely to party and make excessive noise. He also told us that, should we apply, our application would definitely be accepted. I felt old, but happy. Our application was accepted, and we’ve been living here for about a month.

After a couple of weeks living in Brooklyn, Fionnuala’s work visa was granted. Her first day was a Monday, and went really well. We ate dinner at a restaurant in town that night, and Fionnuala looked as if she would fall asleep in her food. Thankfully, she didn’t. Fionnuala has worked quite a bit since then, and I’ve spent much of my time thinking “what if my work visa is never granted?”, “what if my job offer is retracted?” and “what if I’m a criminal but nobody told me?”. But after three weeks of mentally torturing myself, this week, my work visa was granted and I start work next Tuesday.

One of my favourite things about Brooklyn is its close proximity to a number of running trails. Just a mile behind our flat is the Brooklyn Wind Turbine, which is on a path leading up to Hawkins Hill Radar Station. From there, there are loads of trails heading out to the sea and over many many hills. The views are spectacular and it’s hard to believe it’s just a few miles from the centre of the city. Fionnuala’s favourite nearby ‘attraction’ seems to be Woofington’s Luxury Dog Stay, a mock castle with a cannon outside, used as a dog kennel. Located on a hill not far from the radar station, there are no neighbours around to complain about the noise.

The last seven months have been incredible. We’ve seen so much on our journey that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Moving to Wellington, though, was the objective of our trip, and now is just the beginning. We have a lot to do in the coming weeks and months, including buying furniture and a car, settling into our jobs and getting to know our colleagues, as well as creating new social lives. We don’t plan to blog about our daily lives here in Wellington, but we will share a few words from time to time about our future adventures. 

Thanks a lot for all the ‘likes’ and comments over the last few months. We’ve really enjoyed sharing our adventure.

G & F

We arrived at Kingsford Smith airport early on the Tuesday morning. Our flight was on time, and we were soon in the air. For people accustomed to flights in calm European skies, the turbulence on the flight felt horrendous. Thankfully, the flight to Wellington only took a few hours and we were soon back on solid ground. After almost five months of travelling, we had reached our destination.

I was a mix of excitement and nervousness on the bus into the city; excited to see the place I had visited back in 2009, but nervous because this is Fionnuala’s first time in New Zealand. “What if she hates it?!” and “what if it’s awful, but I’ve forgotten?!” were the main thoughts rattling around my head. Within twenty minutes of stepping off the bus, we had observed several expensive clothes shops, the incredible view from the harbour, people in kayaks, others on paddle boards, runners, cyclists, a climbing wall and a Wagamama. Everything was going to be okay.

The Airbnb we had booked was in a place called Tawa. The train ride from Wellington to Linden, the closest station to the house, took only fifteen minutes. The one mile walk uphill from the train station wasn’t all that enjoyable with our rucksacks, but the accommodation was great, and our hosts, Thomas & Adele, were really welcoming and friendly; great news, as we had booked to stay for 21 nights!

Our first couple of days here were spent searching the shops of Porirua and the city centre for an outfit for Fionnuala to wear to interviews. Outfit found, Fionnuala has since been to two interviews and has accepted a job offer. Apart from job hunting and progressing with our visa application, we’ve been exploring the city, enjoying the NZ Fringe and trying not to spend all of our remaining budget. 

Fringe is “NZ’s largest cutting-edge arts festival”, and we were lucky enough to arrive just before the 2017 edition kicked off. So far, we’ve been to six shows, including some stand-up comedy, hard-hitting psychological drama, a contemporary ‘light, sound and body installation’ and a musician playing violin while singing in a Neanderthal-inspired language. Not wanting to limit ourselves to live drama, we visited the cinema to see Pork Pie, an action comedy about three accidental outlaws driving a stolen yellow Mini from Auckland to Invercargill. The film was superb, and I’ll definitely watch it again.

One thing Wellington has a lot of is sports teams. There are football (soccer), rugby league, rugby union and cricket teams, and they all play in the city centre, which is brilliant. So far, we’ve only been to the cricket, but I’m sure that will change! Ex Durham player Scott Borthwick is currently playing for Wellington Firebirds, and I was quite excited to see how he played in the Ford Trophy elimination match against Central Districts. Although Wellington won, just, Borthwick didn’t bowl and only made one with the bat. Not quite what I had expected.

I’ve really enjoyed getting back into some regular running over the last three weeks. The most notable thing about Tawa is that it’s extremely hilly. Every run there is challenging, even if you only run a few miles. On my first run, I got talking to a local runner called Preston, and we ran together for about 40 minutes. It was a great indicator of just how friendly people are here, which we’ve noticed again and again since we arrived. As Preston and I discussed the scenery, he pointed out one particular hill known as Colonial Knob, which gives spectacular views to the north and south. Fionnuala and I have since walked most of the way up it. The heat that day meant we didn’t make it to the top, but we’ll be back to conquer it in the near future.

G

After a few months of public transport, I was very excited to pick up our rental car! It was an automatic, so it’s pretty much like driving a go cart, but was perfect for our east coast mini road trip. We managed to get out of Sydney without too much hassle, just one slightly dodgy u-turn required! We were off to Newcastle for a couple of nights and took the scenic route along the coast, stopping at Tuggerah to check out the lake and for lunch and a walk along the beautiful Blacksmiths Beach. 

Newcastle is a really cool city with some fantastic cliffside walks and beautiful colonial architecture. We headed to the cliffs to enjoy the sunset and popped down to check out the Bogey Hole! Sounds rude, but its actually a sea bath that was constructed by convicts in 1820 for the Commandant of Newcastle, and is a really cool little spot for a swim!

I was excited to head back to Nelson Bay, having remembered it as a beautiful spot with a cute lighthouse and fantastic beaches. It didn’t disappoint and after a great lunch looking out at the beautiful water from Nelson Bay lighthouse, we plonked ourselves on the beach and had a dip in the freezing cold water!

The next day we drove along the Lakes Way to head to Forster, my incredible home for 6 months back in 2013. It’s a beautiful drive as you head into the rainforest and then suddenly hit the coast again in Pacific Palms, a surfers Mecca! We couldn’t resist a game of catch and a walk on Boomerang Beach, bringing back memories of my attempts to learn to surf 5 years ago! We continued on to Forster and stayed at a cute Airbnb at Bennett Head. We were keen for a run and headed along the cliffs where I conquered the massive hill that had been my nemesis when I lived in Forster. Graham’s highlight of the evening was definitely running down a scarily steep sand dune onto One Mile beach. 

 

We stayed with Greg(my old boss) and his lovely wife Deb and even took a trip into the place I used to work. It was so great to see old friends and felt like I had never left. I showed Graham the sights of Taree and Forster and I think he probably wondered why I ever left to go back to the UK! It’s a tough life when you wake up and have to decide which beach to go to; One mile, Black head, Red head, Elizabeth, Old Bar, Diamond Head. We changed it up a bit and headed inland to Ellenborough Falls and hiked down to the bottom. Coming back up in near 40deg heat wasn’t the easiest! 



The time went far too quickly on our little road trip and soon it was time to head back to Sydney to drop off the car. A visit to Forster will be needed again soon, particularly to spend time with the beautiful Denyelle, who managed to land herself in hospital just before I arrived! We were staying with Graham’s cousin Joanne in Sydney and had such a great few days. We ate some giant burgers, went to the beach, ate frozen custard, had an amazing steak on the barbie (cooked by Jo’s hubbie Richard) and hung out with the coolest kids ever, Grace and Thomas. It was a wonderful farewell to Australia!

Graham and I were nervous about our flight to Wellington. It meant that this part of our adventure was coming to an end and also we didn’t know if anyone would give us a job and a visa when we arrived! Fingers crossed….. 

-F xx

Our flight to Sydney included a 5 hour stop in Darwin, so when we arrived in Sydney at 6am, we were a little worse for wear! We also happened to arrive on Australia Day, so Sydney was absolutely buzzing! After breakfast and a nap at our hostel, we walked from Potts Point, next to all the naval boats through the botanic gardens and along to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Having both been to Sydney separately before, it was so nice to enjoy the sights together! Feeling hungry we headed to the Rocks to enjoy some street food and live music, a spot in Sydney that never disappoints!

We continued our walk along to Darling Harbour where the pre show for the evening fireworks had started. We had lost all steam at this stage, so it was back to the hostel for an early night. The next few days involved many hours wandering around the shops, looking for clothes for interviews as most things we own have an air of homeless chic about them! Luckily for us, it was also Chinese New Year, so as we wandered about the city, there were lots of colourful Chinese sculptures around. We also had a lovely catch up with Graham’s friends Ruth and Ryan to see what they had been up to since Graham was last in Oz in 2008. 

A trip to Sydney really isn’t complete without a ferry ride , so with the sun shining, we headed off to Manly. It’s such a beautiful ferry trip and it only felt right to treat ourselves to some frozen yoghurt on the beach when we arrrived! We timed the ferry back perfectly, as the sun set behind the harbour bridge as we came into Sydney. It’s such a beautiful, vibrant city and reminded us that we both would love to live by the water. It seems to give added energy to a city. 

We rented a car near our hostel for our little road trip up the coast. It was time to head north and see the beautiful New South Wales coast and some wonderful friends 🙂 

-F xx

The minibus ride to Kuta only took an hour. We arrived early in the afternoon, and, after checking in at the hotel, went looking for lunch. We ate Indonesian food at a shack by the beach, where Harrison, the man who seemed to run the place, explained recent weather to us, at length, before sitting unnervingly nearby while we ate. The food was excellent, and the extremely sweet teh tarik took my mind off Harrison’s close proximity to us. After a walk along the beach, we browsed Beachwalk Mall, reacquainting ourselves with work attire and the Western brands we hadn’t seen since Hong Kong in late November.

The following day started with breakfast in a Western pancake house called Flapjaks. It’s the kind of place we usually avoid, but we were dehydrated, hot and definitely not thinking straight. The giant waffles we ordered were good, but a bowl of muesli and a cup of tea would have been far more appropriate. Next, we walked to the beach, but after only a short while it started to rain, heavily. We sheltered in a nearby cafe and played Scrabble over a latte. Rainstorm over, I took the opportunity to visit a barber shop. I had read good things about barbers in Bali, and liked the look of a place called The Headmost. I showed the barber a photo I found on Instagram so he knew the hairstyle I wanted, and although I’ve never been in a barber shop that long, he did an excellent job of reproducing it.

Following a morning run along the beach, the first thing I discussed with Fionnuala was breakfast. Whatever we ate, it wouldn’t be from Flapjaks. And it wasn’t. We found a lovely cafe serving breakfast-appropriate food on our way to the beach. The clouds of the previous day had been replaced by bright blue sky, and the heat of the sun was intense. We rented sun loungers on the beach, where we uttered the words “no thank you” to many offers of massages, pedicures, ice creams and surf lessons. After two hours of that, and a game of Scrabble, we made our way to the Discovery Shopping Mall in order to escape the heat. Our last evening in Asia was spent on Legian Street, where we ate dinner, drank Bintang, and even allowed ourselves dessert. Our flight the following day wasn’t until the afternoon, so for once, we left packing until the morning.

G

Leaving my parents behind in Ko Samui made me pretty sad, but spending two weeks with them was fantastic. We waved them goodbye on Wednesday 18th and boarded a boat to mainland Thailand. That was followed by a bus journey to Bangkok, dinner near Khao San Road, a taxi to Don Mueang Airport, and a flight to Denpasar. After all of that, we just about managed to stay awake during the taxi ride to Ubud.

After dropping our bags at the homestay, and showering for the first time in a while, we headed out for a walk around the town. Following lunch in an Indonesian restaurant, we browsed a few shops and enjoyed a Balinese coffee. At that point, we could stay awake no longer, so headed back to the homestay for a rather long nap.

Our second day in Ubud started with breakfast in a coffee house called Folk. It looked really good inside, and the food and coffee were amazing. Our caffeine high accompanied us to The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, where monkeys roam freely, jumping in pools, climbing trees and clambering all over tourists. We did a big loop of the monkey forest and were happy to escape with all of our possessions. That afternoon, we treated ourselves to a trip to one Ubud’s many spas. I opted for a Balinese massage, and Fionnuala had an organic facial. We felt very relaxed afterwards, and finished off our day with dinner and a game of Bananagrams.

We started our final day by visiting the Royal Palace, which was nice, but far too crowded to allow us to really take it in. Next, we followed the Campuhan Ridge Walk, which is a leisurely trail heading out of town, past the Pura Gunung Lebah Temple before leading to wonderful views of rice fields. On the way, Fionnuala spotted a snake, causing ten minutes of extreme jumpiness and paranoia! That evening, we ate near the homestay and packed for the following day’s trip to Kuta.

G

The second part of our mini holiday was to Koh Samui. Graham’s parents flew from Bangkok but Graham and I were in backpacker mode. We had booked ourselves on the overnight train (of course!!) from Bangkok to Surat Thani, a bus to the port and then the high speed ferry to Koh Samui. It was a totally different train to any of the others we’ve been on, as they were open carriages with the beds laid out in bunks on each side. They were surprisingly comfortable and relatively quiet, despite one extremely loud voice of a girl from London travelling from the end of the carriage. 

After what felt like a few days travelling, we arrived in a rather flooded Koh Samui, but feeling very lucky that it hadn’t been the week before, when the water level was knee high on the Main Street in Bo Phut village. We settled into our lovely accommodation, the Fisherman’s Cafe and Gallery, and enjoyed some amazing local coffee while we waited from Graham’s parents to arrive. After we had dinner, even more rain fell, so we had another beer to pass the time 🙂

The next day, despite the threat of thunderstorms, we walked to visit the Big Buddha and on our way back took shelter in a lovely cafe as some heavy rain started. Having to eventually leave, we practically swam back down the hill and waded our way along to our accommodation where we spent a couple of hours playing our new favourite game, Bananagrams!

We moved accommodation from Bo Phut Fisherman’s Village after a few days to Bang Po beach near Maenam Village. We happily passed our time between the beach, our kayaks and the swimming pool on the balcony over the next few days. The Beer ‘n’ Banangrams tournaments were a daily occurrence and if you haven’t played Bananagrams before, you need to! It’s like scrabble, but better 🙂 

We were really sad to say goodbye to Graham’s parents after such a brilliant holiday, but it was time for us to board a ferry and then a bus and hopefully end up back in Bangkok for a night in the airport. Bali next 😀 

-F xx

The flight from Siem Reap to Bangkok lasted about one hour, which gave us just enough time to recover from the life threatening tuk tuk journey to the airport. After collecting our luggage at Suvarnabhumi, we were impressed by the straightforwardness of the airport rail link and metro system (MRT). We got off the MRT at Sukhumvit, opposite the Terminal 21 shopping mall, and walked a few hundred metres to our hotel.

Usually, our next move would be to set off exploring the city, but not this time. My parents decided early in our trip that they would join us for two weeks of our adventure in January, and their flight landed in Bangkok just a few hours after ours. We met them at Sukhumvit station and made our way back to the hotel. They had travelled all the way from the UK, so after a quick catch-up, we let them get some rest. While they slept, Fionnuala and I sampled the delicious Christmas cake my sister had sent over with my parents. Our first evening in Bangkok was spent in Chinatown, where the four of us ate at a busy roadside restaurant with wonderful food. It was Friday night and the whole area was packed with a mix of locals and tourists.

After breakfast the following morning, we took the MRT to Hua Lamphong and walked back to Chinatown to visit Wat Traimit, home of the Golden Buddha. The temple and the Buddha are really impressive, but the history of the Buddha statue is what makes it so remarkable. In 1955, the statue was dropped while being repositioned, chipping the plaster surface. Intrigued by what they could see beneath, workers broke off more plaster, revealing the 5.5 ton gold Buddha inside. The next stop on our journey was The Grand Palace, but getting there involved a trip by tourist boat on the Chao Phraya River. The boat journey from Ratchawongse Pier to Tha Maharaj Pier afforded excellent views of riverboats, the modern buildings of the city and the towers of Wat Pho and Wat Arun.

The first thing of we noticed inside the grounds of the Royal Palace was the incredibly long line of Thai mourners, dressed all in black, who had come to pay their respects to their recently deceased monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. We made our way around the beautiful buildings, taking photographs of the statues. Having completed a loop of the grounds, we headed back to the river and took the boat to Phra Arthit Pier. From there we visited Khao San Road. As I had stayed there in 2008, I thought it would be good to show my parents where the backpackers slept. We ate lunch nearby, and had a good look around the many stalls.

Although tired from our busy day, we were all excited for the Midnight Food Tour by Tuk Tuk (bangkokfoodtours.com) we had booked. We met our guide, TK, and the rest of the tour group at Sam Yan MRT station. In total, there were three food stops, each serving wonderful Thai food. The other stops were at the flower market, a rooftop bar with brilliant views of the city and Wat Pho. Visiting Wat Pho at night was quite a surreal experience, as there was nobody else there. Although the reclining Buddha statue isn’t open at night, it was an excellent opportunity to take in the stupas and other buildings. In contrast to the motorbike-pulled remorques of Cambodia, the tuk tuks in Bangkok are powerful and rather fast. The drivers on the tour clearly enjoyed demonstrating their driving skills, and the highlight of the night was them racing each other from restaurant to restaurant, and finally back to the hotel.

The next day was mine and Fionnuala’s last in Bangkok, as that evening we took a train to Surat Thani, on our way to Ko Samui. After a big breakfast in the hotel, the four of us repeated our trip to Ratchawongse Pier and took a boat to Wat Arun. By the time we arrived, a light rain shower had become a heavy downpour, causing all tourists to shelter under the temple’s canopies. In the lighter periods of rain, we walked around the 76 metre high central tower and its many decorative features. After a short wait, we took a boat back across the river to Wat Pho. Having visited the previous night, we headed straight to the Ordination Hall, where the 46 metre long Reclining Buddha is housed. Getting a good photo of the Buddha isn’t easy, as the building isn’t much bigger than the statue, but we gave it a good try.

That night Fionnuala and I boarded a train heading south. There was no need for long goodbyes, though, as we would see my parents again the following day on Ko Samui.

G

I’m not a big New Year celebration fan, but was excited to spend New Year in Cambodia. Having never been to Siem Reap, we didn’t know if New Years Eve would be a quiet affair or if there might be a good pub where we could kick off 2017. Well, it’s not a quiet affair, that’s for certain. Siem Reap has a street full of pubs, funnily enough called Pub Street. When we arrived, the stage and speakers were being set up for the street party. The speakers were bigger than me and blasting some suspect dance tunes from early in the day. After some dinner at one of the many Italian/Mexican/Cambodian fusion restaurants we attempted to make our way down pub street, but it was just too busy with happy western and Cambodian revellers. The night draws huge crowds of Cambodians from the surrounding countryside and they looked like they were having a blast! We counted down the New Year with a cold beer at the Yellow Sub bar just off Pub Street and then joined the crowds on the slow shuffle back to our hostel. 

The main reason for a visit to Siem Reap is to see Angkor Wat Complex. It is the world’s largest religious site and was constructed in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. It consists of several temples within the complex and we decided to go with a local guide to learn a bit more about the area. It’s popular to watch sunrise at Angkor Wat temple, and Rida knew a great quiet spot to watch the sun come up with the silhouette of the temple behind. It’s the symbol on the Cambodian flag and was beautifully reflected on the lake which lies in front of the temple. 


We didn’t spend too long in Angkor Wat temple before moving on to the huge Angkor Thom city which was built by Jayavarman VII. It was established as the state capital and was turned from a Hindu to a Buddhist place of worship at the end of the 12th century. At the centre of the city is the Bayon temple. It has over two hundred faces of Buddha which seem to be looking at you every way you turn! 

We then moved to Ta Prohm, which is one of the most popular temples to visit, due to its use in the Tomb Raider movie. It’s an impressive tangle of temple, tree and vines. Rida spoke about how the area was luckily not bombed during the Vietnam war and the Khmer Rouge regime, but there is evidence of bullet holes from some fighting in the area at those times. Having been through Vietnam and seeing how so many places were destroyed and rebuilt, it was a relief to see that Angkor Wat had been spared. 

After a morning of temple hopping we were very glad to see the cool water of the pool in our hostel and we got ourselves ready to head to Thailand. It’s only a 45 min flight to reach Bangkok by plane, which must be our shortest journey yet! Our introduction to 2017 has been pretty awesome so far and we’re very excited to see what the year brings! 

– F xx