Life Down Under

So after 4 months of silence ive decided i want to blog our adventures again! After looking back at old posts i realised how much i enjoyed blogging and now i kinda regret stopping! Its almost became a little journal for us which will be nice to look at in the future when we have holograms and what not! It will be like we never left...

The main reason we stopped blogging was because we got cosy in a small town called Albany which was just so picturesque and lovely when the sun was out! When it rained however... Oh boy thats a different story. Best way to describe it is being in Newcastle on a average day in june when it should be sunny but it just isnt!

It was really nice staying in one place for a while mostly because we got to know some really awesome people from all over the world and we got familiar with our surroundings. We got into a routine where we'd drink iced coffee at kate's place was the go to place every other day! We also got into habits like avoiding the kitchens in the hostel at certain times and greeting fellow workers at 4:30am with the mutual agreement that life sucked at this hour! But mainly, it was nice to be greeted by familiar faces for a bit rather than random people who you had to make small talk with!

The work was good too i suppose, ive became a grape lover of wine thanks to the various vineyards that we worked for... Who am i kidding I was a lover to start with!

Gareth on the other hand, just call him farmer G with his wild hair and sheep herding skills! Its like he's had his calling in life and hes destend to be a Shepherd!

Anyways

All in all I do love Albany and Im glad we got to settle there for a bit!

Overdue travel update!!

We haven't posted a blog for a while or even took our camera out (very bad) but I thought I'd do a quick blog about what we've been up to! We arrived in perth on the 19th of January at 6am and it was... cold! We felt like we'd been lied to about how hot Australian is all year round! Don't get my wrong the North is a scorcher but the south not so much! Although it did hit 41 when we were in pemberton... botton line, Australia has random weather that we weren't prepared for in our flip flops... or thongs as the aussies call it!

Our first week was spent in Perth which is a lovely laid back city with very friendly people. We did a range of things in perth from visiting a Fremantle prison to beach days when it was hot. We we're also in Perth for Australia day where we ate Kangaroo burgers and watched a spectacular firework display! However our favourite thing in Perth was the visit to my Great Auntie Joyce and Uncle Harry who I haven't seen in about 20 years. The minute I saw her she reminded me so much of my nana which was really special. After one day there, it felt like we'd known them for years! They were so welcoming and just like nana, Joyce made such we were well fed. Harry also made his own beer which was very tasty  (I still can't believe I like beer). Just before we left a friend of Joyce and Harry popped around invited us to have a day out on his boat! So a couple of days later we met up again with Joyce, Harry and there lovely friends Ben and David then of we went sailing along city beach! It was quite a calm first hour until a thunderstorm developed! It was just our luck but having said that, being on a boat in the middle of a thunderstorm was super exciting and it was such a great experience! We are so grateful to Ben for having us and it was great fun! Over the fews days that we saw Joyce and Harry we realised how lovely they were, not to mention hilarious. We were told stories of her childhood and she loved pulling pranks on Gareth and all in all it was a great start to Australia!

After a week in Perth we realised Australia was eating up our money fast so we took a chance and headed to Pemberton which is a small town south of perth with a population of 800 people! We arrived on the Monday and on the Tuesday we were Avacado picking with a 5am wake up call! Avacado picking  was physically demanding when you had to climb to the very top to reach the high ones and crawl on your belly to get the low ones for 10 hours each day. Gareth had an experience of falling from the top of the tree! You'd think he was a stunt man with the landed (he did a backwards roll haha). I find the first day quite difficult because the farmer wasn't in the best of moods due to the fact a fellow worker was smoking weed on the premises and took a beer from the fridge without asking! Needless to say the farmer was not happy and we got the backlash! The next day however was better and once our work was done and he didn't need us anymore we were rewarded with beer! If only that guy had of waited!

Because we'd payed a weeks rent to the worst hostel I've ever stayed in we decided kill some time and climb the 53ft tree that was once a fire watch post! When we got there we thought we'd have to pay and be harnessed up but nope, it is literally the tree with metal bars sticking out of it and a safety net the going around! It was free though haha! I have never experienced a fear of heights but by god it was scary! At one point my legs were doing an elvis impression but before we knew it we were at the top! It was totally worth it because the views were awesome and you could see for miles! Going down was a lot easier and I was so proud of us for doing it because even after the first few steps I was so close to giving up but we did it! That evening we also did an unexpected shift as waiters at a vineyard that had a wedding that night and they were two staff down! The venue was beautiful and working there was really enjoyable! Time flew by and before we new it we had done an 8 hours shift! So after the avacado picking and waitressing, I'd say we'd had a pretty intense work out as it took a few days for my muscles to stop hurting! Pemberton wasn't a very good week for us due to the accommodation standards/ security and lack of sleep. The YHA in pemberton however is supposed to be much nicer meaning it can be a pleasant visit and is worth visiting if you're passing through but in honesty, you wouldn't even have to stay the night! Thankfully it wasnt all doom and gloom and we had good moments. Sitting in the park reading a book whilst a wild eagle flew over our heads hunting for prey was one of those good moments!

Oh but the day came when we could leave and the minute we arrived in Albany we realised we've came to an awesome place! The hostel we are at is so much better and comfortable! The backpackers in general are a lot more considerate too! We have been here for about a week and we've done two days of grape picking with another day of it tomorrow! The best thing is that we are being paid hourly due to the hostels policy of only finding jobs that are fair to the backpackers as well as the employer meaning no wage by the bucket! We aren't too sure what we have planned next or when we'll be moving on but for now we are happy here! I lie our only plan is to get a car because without one life is a little bit more challenging!

Fun fact for you ladys! To my knowledge, the beloved Aussie hair products are non existent in Australia!

 

Diving in Koh Tao

Before heading to Australia, gareth and I thought it would be fun to get our open water diving certificates which allows us to dive up to 18 metres in open water. Once we looked through many online reviews and were given a couple of recommendations we decided to go with Phinox Divers. I'm really glad we chose this school because although popular, we had 1 instructor to ourselves meaning we had all his attention! Anyways I thought I'd do a little blog post as to how the course went day to day! Photos cautious of Kwan from Pheonix Divers!

                                                                           

Day 1

We started the course at 5pm which was basically an introduction to the course and what to expect. We also did a medical checklist and were asked to watch a film about scubba diving. At one point i felt as though i was back in school because we were given homework to complete! I do however think it was really helpful and set us up for the next day.

Day 2

We spent our morning learning the equipment and how to set it up which at first was daunting but was actually quite simply to understand. After lunch it was then time to hit the pool in our snorkeling gear! I was all up for this and raring to go until I submerged myself in water and had a minor panic because I couldn't get used to the concept of breathing under water! I did however get my act together and could breath without any struggle under water, until the instructer told me to take off my eye mask under water. At this point I fluttered about helplessly until i hit the surface not realising that i had a full tank of air on my back... that is just as effective as going to surface! I soon realised that the only way i was going to enjoy myself was to calm down and believe in myself, the instructor and most of all the equipment that 100s of people have relied on before me! Once I calmed down and stopped being a drama queen I started to really enjoy myself and found that I could do everything he asked even if it took a couple of attempts.

Day 3

This was the day of our first dive in open waters at 12ft! We got the boat out to a destination called 'Twins' whilst setting up our equipment on the boat which is very easy to set up! If i can do it anyone can! Once geared up and at the destination we jumped into the water and off we went! I manged to keep calm and relaxed which I found really helpful! There wasn't much marine life to see on this dive because we were still practincing techniques such as finding the breathing system if it falls out of your mouth and we practiced sharing air! We then did some buoyancy skills and then let water into are masks. Again this took a couple of attempts but because I didn't panic I was able to clear my mask! On this dive Gareth had a few problems with his mask because of his mighty beard so he was having to clear his mask quite a bit! Thankfully i don't have this problem... We were under water for 36 minutes but I sware it only felt like 10! We came back up to surface and chilled on the boat before desending at "white rock" for our second dive!

This dive focused more on the essence of diving... having fun and discovering new things! We swam around the coral reef in a circle and got really close to the coral where you could see the marine life up close and personal. My particular favourite was seeing a small sting ray! We also saw fishes in groups of hundreds all swimming in sequence. Once our air was running low it was time to assend to which you have to go up slowly. But because we're still in training, we had to share air and go up together and then manual blow air into the BC, this requires pressing a button and blowing. However, me being me, I didn't press the button so I was blowing air but kept on sinking. Took me a couple of seconds but I realised where I was going wrong whilst gareth kept me up! On more of a positive note gareths mask stayed nice and snug thanks to the good old vasiline which glued his hair to his face! This was also gareths first time seeing a coral reef up close so his mind was blown and he immidietly started planning his next animation!

The most amazing thing about phinox divers is they have your best interests at heart! We were suppose to do our final two dives the next day but  F, our instructor, asked if we wanted to do it the day after because the location was suppose to be incredibly and it is less frequently visited because of the distance. We of course said yes and sat our multiple choice test so that the next day we could chill on the beach. The test was the best test I've ever done, purely because he gave us a beer and was like take your time! The test itself was pretty straight foward and most of it was common sense. Once we had passed the test we only had two more dives to complete in a beautiful coral reef before claiming ourselves as certified open water divers.

Day 4

Day 4 was supposed to consist of dive 3 and 4 to which we would then be certified divers, but because of minor stomach issues, we were only able to complete dive 3 at Chumphon Pinnacle. This dive had an interesting finally, after Gareth persevered for the whole 32 minutes before returning surface, there was a quick saftey stop for Gareth as he darted to the top puck up! It was however looking back an amazing dive and the hundreds of different types of marine life was just mind blowing! Especially when you compare it to the reef we visited the next day which was miniscule compared to it!

Day 5

This was the day we did our final dive thanks to pheonix for rescheduling! We did dive 4 at mango bay where we followed the shore along! There wasn't much to see here but the odd cool looking fish ans awesome coral! Dive 5 (an unexpected extra dive) is where we had to complete our finally safety routines before getting certified! This involved the dreaded removal of the eye mask at 12ft. Gareth managed it with ease but it took me a few seconds to puck up the courage but i finally did it and removed the mask from my eyes and nose which for anyone who has ever swam with me knows i can't enter water without holding my nose or having it blocked by a mask! I couldn't believe it and was super proud of myself (sad i know)! But now we are both certified to dive up to 18m and the best new is my clumsiness never got me into trouble by destroying any coral!

Diving has definitely became a hobby for both of us and we're already planning our next dives!

A Kais Kids Christmas!

When our travels started we were not sure where we would be or what we would be doing for Christmas!  So as the weeks moved forward the idea came to us about the possibility of going to Kais Kids Village, the same orphanage that Sarahs dad visited! It fitted really well into our plans because by the time we made it too Cambodia it would be about Christmas time anyways!

We organised our visit over a few weeks and turned up to 'Kais Kids Village' on the 5th of December to stay for 3 weeks!  When we arrived, we joined a group of Irish guys who live in Australia, they were a top notch group and really helped us too land on our feet. They had different goals and jobs to do whilst there so we only saw them during the downtime moments mainly. As nice as it was too meet the other volenteers, the best part of the whole trip was meeting and spending time with the kids! There was about 40 all together ranging from 17 years to 1 month old! All the kids had their own personal qualities and personalities and it was a massive privilege to be able to be a small part of their lives!

The first few days were good as we arrived at the weekend when the school age kids are off on sundays meaning we got an idea as to who the big personalities were and who hide away in the corner! They are a great little bunch, some of them had great english skills and helped us communicate with those that struggled to communicate. Our main task for the trip was too try and teach the kids enlgish. With such a diverse group, it took a few days to find who exceeded and who needed more help. We found our groups and started our english lessons at 9 in the morning. We had to use the dining hall as the classroom was under construction, but the site has everything the kids and volenteers needed! Each day we would do speaking activities with those who knew basic english, whilst with the older kids we did reading and writing. We soon came aware that 3 weeks was not going to leave a long lasting impression but we decided to keep going with it because some lessons are better than non at all! The kids could be quite restless after a short while so stories, games and most of all technology helped us to keep them engaged throughout the whole session! One interesting lesson was using Sarah's tablet where we downloaded child friendly crosswords and wordsearches for the kids to complete. I have never seen kids so interesting in wanted to complete the search to the point where they moaned because the lesson had ended!

The afternoon was spent slightly different once the older kids left for school in the village. There were a few places that needed organised so at peak heat we either spent our time inside tidying or joining in the afternoon siesta. Once it was a bit cooler and the younger ones awoke from their naps we would interact with the younger kids as well as the kids with special needs who did not go to school. We did various different activities like drawing, story time, play time, and TV time (everyones favourite). Once the activities were finished we decided to spend time with the kids who needed one on one attention whilst trying to get the other kids to interact too. It would often be a tickling match or even just letting the kids touch you hands and face for sensory development but once we brought out the bubbles every child went wild for them from babies to the child who was blind (We'd rather not give names).

Other than our lessons we spent as much time as we could with the kids letting them play games on my phone, throwing them in the air and even just sitting with the ones who liked having someone with them. I did learn I make an excellent climbing frame and they all like being picked up! The whole time there was amazing and personally life changing, by all means it wasn't easy and at points it was quite emotionally draining but not once did I think "I can't do this anymore". Under the circumstances, I couldn't imagine a better place for the kids to grow up in where most of them are in a much safer environment compared to the lifes they would be living without the orphange. My only regret is we didn't stay longer! We had time for one trip out to Phonm Phen and had two Christmas parties thanks to the kindess of the staff! But having left now I miss every one of them from the master mind of trouble to the girl who has nothing but love and smiles to give but also turns into the cheekiest thing when you didn't give her attention! 

All the kids were amazing so I thought my final bit would be a one of the many stories we have come away with from the trip.

~'The Evil Little Genius'

While sitting playing with the babies and smaller kids, a one year old who couldn't walk caught my attention. He had been spending the whole afternoon sitting with me but suddenly started crawlling away very fast! So for my selfish fun I decided to bring him back, but again off he went! So I decided too see what he was up to. He was crawling in a direct line towards another child who had a bottle of juice! I moved him away twice, and as I rolled around laughing I couldnt see what was gonna stop him! Then on his way he stopped dead in his tracks! A nanny had appeared!!!! He was focused as he stared at her for a couple of minutes. The moment she dissapeared he was off like a bullet as I laughed so much I wondered how this would end?! After reaching his target there was a great battle of minds and physical strength!!! Or more realisticly the victim turned his back and continued drinking his juice. A few seconds later the tinker decided "not worth it, i wonder if the man with the beared (being me) will pick me up". He flung his arms in the air whilst directly looking at me as if he was waiting for a servant to arrive, but after that brilliant moment who was I too turn him down...

...From that moment onwards he was my master! 

The End 

~

2015 in a Nutshell

Personally, 2015 has been a very good year! I turned 21, graduated college with a second class BA (hons) degree (which at one point I thought could never be possible). I also volenteered in Costa Rica with a very special friend which unleashed the decision to take a chance and buy a one way ticket with gareth to Thailand with only 2 nights in Bangkok as a starting point and a rubbish travel guide that we barely used. This was by far the scariest thing we both have ever done and leaving our friends and family behind was hard but miraculously, its worked out fine and we've managed to see so much of the 4 countries we've visited! Highlight being Christmas volenteering at an orphanage (on Gareth's list to blog about it). Travelling has most certainly got its highs and lows where something like finding a guesthouse after being on a sleepers bus for 15 hours has its challenges. Having said that, I'm quite proud of the fact we both proved each other wrong and we lasted more than a month and we're still loving it! 

 

Lets see what 2016 throws at us! 

Good Morning Vietnam!!!

So we haven't blogged in agess!! Due to the fact of limited wifi and lack of time! To pick up from where we were last, we ended up doing a few more little things in Laos but nothing of major importance, so this post is going to be about our trip around Vietnam!!! 

We had 15 days in Vietnam thanks to the Vietnamese government bringing in the 15 day free visa!

The trip started with Hanoi and Halong Bay. We spent two days and one night in each place. Hanoi was a good place to try and get accustomed to the money (we became instant millionaires) and some of the quirkiness of Vietnam. The roads all over South East Asia are fairly crazy but not until I arrived in Hanoi did I have the feeling of "im not making it to the other side of the road" coupled with the joy of making it too the other end alive! The street food was amazing and beer was super cheap, it was our first try of frog and we liked it a lot!!!

Halong Bay was a different type of trip from what we have done before as it was the most westernised trip we had been on. We hadnt seen so many none locals since we were in England, but the views were amazing and I really enjoyed the relaxing time on the mini cruise! For our little cruise we had a few activities a few just felt like walking in a que through pretty places but some were really fun like Kayaking and watching wild monkeys (none of them jumped on Sarahs head this time) and the view point at the top of 'tippy point' (I think I have spelt this wrong). It was a lovely way to spend the first few days!

From then we started our trip down to Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) but we were stopping off a few places on the way, Hue, Hoi An, and Nha Trang. Hue was very interesting as it had the old palace of the Nguyen Dynasty, but we didnt go too far out too the other temples as were a bit short on time as I got us lost in peak heat!!! (I wasnt the most favorited person that day) but we still had fun!

Hoi An was the place we enjoyed most in Vietnam because of its beautiful old town and it was only a short cycle to the beach! We spent a bit longer here than we had planned but we loved every second! We wished we were coming home straight after here as the suits and clothes were cheap and really good quality also made too fit hahaha but unfortunately they wouldn't fit in our backpacks!

Nha Trang was the most westernised town we visited as it seemed very much built up for Russian tourists. There was a beach about 2 mins walk from our guesthouse which work well as we had rain the day we arrived but sun for the main day we were there so beach fun we had! We didnt even get burnt. Our final treat in Nha Trang was a trip to the cinema which doesnt sound to exotic but I got all giddy because it only cost about £4 for tickets and popcorn, and we saw the new Jame Bond film!

The final destination in Vietnam was Saigon. We had a couple of days here before we leave to Cambodia tomorrow so we are making the most of our time. We went too see the Co Chi Tunnels to see how the Vietnamese fought during the war. I didnt fit into the tunnels very well or the hiding places but I made it! We also spent some time talking to a local guy we met in the park who was learning English. He was very nice and put up with our bad accent quite well, he knew a lot more English than our tour guide to the Tunnels did and we ended up chatting for a good hour or so! All in all Vietnam has been awesome and I think we will be seeing more of it in the future.

It feels like a lifetime away since we were that but we couldn't miss it out of blogging so better late than never i suppose! 

The Pirates of Kong Lo Caves

Sorry this post is a bit long overdue but we havent had good enough wifi to upload! Oh well better late than never! 

Attempting to get from Vientiane down to the 4000 Islands sounded like a dounting task that we did not fancy doing in one journey so we decided to take a detour! Kong Lo is located south of Vientiane and north of Pakse. The main attraction to the Kong Lo is the 7km river that runs through the humungois cave making it an enjoyable boat ride.

Although its not directly on route, it is worth the visit and breaks up the journey. We left Vientiane around 10am arriving at the local village of Kong Lo at 5pm (hefty bus ride) costing around 110,000 kip per person (just shy of 10 pounds).

If you are the kind of person who likes to be where the crowds are, this may not be for you as there are very few tourists who stay in the town but its worth it as the cave in incredible. To be fair, it isn't a ghost town and there ended up being about 8 westerners in what seemed to be a very small village but compared to 50 people that tube in vang vieng together, it is extremely quiet.

Skipping to next morning as there is literally nothing to do in the village, we entered the cave around 9am. For a small entrance fee, the hire of 1 boat and the entrance of the cave, it came to 140,000 kip (£11) for 3 people!

I have to say the cave was just breath taking! Mainly because of the humidity but I suppose it could have been the experience too!!!! In all seriousness, the first thing that hits you is the noise of what seems to be 1000 high pitched bats that echos through the cave! The next is the sheer size of the cave. The little glimpses of the cave you get to see with the torches that are provided are nothing compared to the size of it. Even though I had 1 torch provided and two of my own, the cave was so big that it barely lit a section! However, what little you could see was beautiful!

In the centre of the cave there is a dimly lit section, allowing you to get out and walk for a bit to see just how amazing the cave actually is.

Once you have sailed through the cave on a motor boat, you stop off for refreshments at the rear exterior of the cave. It was here we met an adorable child who was very shy one minute, then dancing around the forest the next! After this amusement, it was time to hop back in the boat and come back the way we came.

On the first boat ride we had to get out a couple of times to help the boat move due to shallow waters and rapids. But on the second ride, the boatman decided to just go for it which meant a rocky and wet experience for us and giggles for him! It was very fun although Gareth mildly regretted taking off his life jackets!

My favourite part of the caves was that for long stretches of the boat ride, bats would follow us along due to the light we provided! Even though part of me was terrified that I was going to get rabies, it was truly magical to see wild bats in their natural habitat!

If you ever find yourself travelling the south of Laos make sure to put this on your list and I promise you won't be disappointed!