Con and Claire travel to Oz!

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Originally uploaded by Conormojito

Hey all, just a quick post from the gold coast. Since the last post we have travelled up to Townsville from Brisbane and back again.
Our car is still holding up after all the miles and we are thinking of settling in Brisbane but we are still not sure what we are going to work at yet. It is hard to even think about work having not done any for so long. We have uploaded a load of pictures from our journey up the coast but we have still plenty more to upload when we get the time so bear with us.
Post again soon
Conor

Hey all,

Am sitting here in our hotel in Brisbane and we have so much to catch up on. Cant believe how hard it has been to get internet for the laptop! We arrived first in Sydney were we spent a fantastic week with an Sally (who escaped from Ireland four years ago!) and her partner Phil. Thanks a million to them for showing us around and making us feel right at home. We started are trip with a fantastic meal in a Tabinyaki restaurant which was the first time that I have ever been asked to catch my dinner before getting to eat it which as you can imagine got a bit messy!! Poor sally ended up with a nice raw egg all over her lovely jeans before we headed out to the three monkeys for a few drinks and some live music. During our stay in Sydney we began to plan our trip North and in our search for transport we fell in love with our big red 1997 Ford Falcon station wagon which we knew was the perfect car for us.

Since we left Sydney we have stopped at many beautiful places. We began with some wine tasting in the Hunter Valley were we stocked the car up with a nice supply of vino for the rest of our trip. As we headed along the coast we stopped at Nelsons Bay, Coff’s Harbour (Corindi beach), and Byron Bay. In each place we spent about two nights in the lap of luxury (our four man tent, thank god for the air mattress!!), were we spent the days soaking up the sun and surfing and at night were sent to sleep with the sound of the waves. Conor has also become a gourmet chef on our two hob gas camping stove were he has cooked us many delicacies.

We have a few more nights here in Brisbane (Thanks to the tax back!) were I am continuing to enjoy having a real bed and not having to walk outside to go to the loo! Will write again soon with all of the latest news.

Love Claire xxx

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Originally uploaded by Conormojito

Hey all, Have finally arrived in Oz after our adventures in Thailand. We ended up spending 8 nights in Phi Phi Island (we were only planning to stay for 3) and doing quite a bit of diving. We did our open water and adventure dive courses and got to see some fantastic dive sites (King cruiser wreck, Anemone reef, sharks point to name a few). We did this with a fantastic dive school ,VISA Diving, and would like to thank Jan, Petra and all the team there for such a wonderful few days. We hope to get back to them in the future.
Anyway, we have loads of stories to tell and i’ll try to post again later today.
See ya
Conor

Hey guys,

After a hectic few days in Bangkok and Phuket we have managed to get internet access and write a quick post on what we have been up to.

After spending a few days in Hanoi after returning from Cuc Phong national Park we left and flew to Bangkok where we stayed in the Dream Hotel. We were really looking forward to this as the hotel looked so nice on the internet when we booked it…..and it didnt disappoint. We only spent 1 day and 2 nights in Bangkok and that was enough. I was smothered with a cold so it was hard to get enthusiastic about anything. We went to the Koh San road, around a few of the temples and got a thai massage which was……interesting….i’ll leave it at that.

After a short flight we arrived in Phuket and we are now staying in the Karona resort on Karon Beach. Its right next to Patong (which is the livelier area) and there is plenty to do and see(once we find the motivation to move from the side of the pool). For instance, we went to one of the local bars last night where there was a baby elephant just standing in the entrance area. It was mad.

We are planning to head to PiPi Island tomorrow morning and hopefully we will settle there for a few days after all this hopping around from place to place.

Anyway got to head now will try to post again once we hit PiPi island.

See ya

Conor

Hey guys,

No sooner then we got back from Halong bay, we were off again to see another amazing part of Vietnam. We headed 100km from Hanoi to Cuc Phong National Park and surrounding areas. We were collected from our Hotel early in the morning and were lucky again to be the only people in our group with our own 7 seater Jeep and personal Guide. After a 2 1/2 hour drive we ascended into the park through a gateway reminiscent of the opening scene of Jurassic Park. On stepping out of the Jeep we were surrounded by the sounds of animals and insects we had never the likes of before. We began our tour with a walk around the endangered primate rescue center were we saw many different monkeys which were beginning their rehabilitation back to the wild.

Following a typical Vietnamese lunch we drove to the center of the park were we trekked for 2 1/2 hours through the rain forest following a small rocky pathway up and down a mountain with a humidity of 89%. Along the way we spotted some of local wildlife, this included fresh water land dwelling crabs, lizards, butterflies in every colour, millipedes, and spiders the size of my fist! Unfortunately we didn’t manage to see some of the shyer wildlife such as snakes, bears and leopards. At the top of the mountain we found the 1,000 year old tree were we were able to get some much needed rest and take a few photos. The journey back down the mountain proved to be more difficult then the way up but it was worth it when we got back to the air conditioned jeep.

As we drove to Tam Cuc (I think thats what it was called) where we would stay for the night we stopped to visit a cave were remains of prehistoric man were found including their burial. We entered the cave which we navigated using our guides mobile phone and Conor’s small maglite. As we journeyed deeper into the cave the roof became lower and lower till we were on all fours with bats screeching just above our heads. After a packed day we arrived in Tam Cuc were we spent the night resting are weary limbs.

After brekkie at 8.00 we went out on corn river (literal translation) to visit three caves made through the limestone mountains by the river. We got into a small tin boat rowed by a Vietnamese women who when her arms got tired did the natural thing and rowed with her feet.

Anyway after another eventful two days we are back in our adopted home of Hanoi and chilling out after a little bit of shopping. Thank you so much for all your comments we gratefully appreciate them so keep them coming and we will continue to try and keep you updated on everything that we experience.

xx Claire

Just back from a 5 day trip to Halong Bay and what a place….. Even with all the good reports we heard before going we did not expect how nice the bay would be.

We arrived in the Bay on Thursday after a 3 hour drive from Hanoi and we were told that we would have a boat to ourselves. We were very suprised to see that the boat was an 80 foot boat (called a Vietnamese junk boat) with crew of six to look after us. It was amazing and already had far surpassed anything that we had expected. We were then taken out into Halong Bay and once we reached the first set of islands we were served up a 5 course monster lunch. It started with crab (amazing) and included a plate of prawns, a plate of squid, an entire fish, orange pork, rice, clams, seaweed(suprisingly nice) and despite the amount of food we managed to have a bash of everything!!!!! We then went for a tour around some caves and a swim and a walk around one of the smaller islands. After a dinner to match the earlier lunch that night we sat out on the deck and relaxed after the busy day(its a tough life!!!!!!)

The following day we woke and after breakfast we relectantly transfered to another boat to head to Paradise island, about two hours away.  Once we arrived in Paradise Island we were delighted to find a secluded beach (i mean 6 huts and a bar/restaurant and that was it….)  and spent the rest of the day swimming, sunbathing, Kayaking etc. If you go to the flickr pics you will see what the beach was like (i will try to put a few pics on the site for those of you whose access is restricted by work etc.).  That night was something of an experience as the walls were made from wicker and you could hear EVERYTHING!!!! Cockroaches scuttling around, insects screeching, ants crawling on the mosquito net, Claire probably got about an hours sleep in total that night…..

After that it was time to leave Paradise island and we made our way back to Halong bay were we stayed a further 2 nights to see a bit more of the bay. It was lovely to see the little village on the coast but in truth one night probably would have been enough.

If anyone finds them self in hanoi and even has a day to spare, make your way out to Halong Bay as it has been one of the highlights of the trip for us so far.

Tomorrow we are off to Cuc Phong National Park to see some of the local wildlife and will be spending the night there (maybe they will decide to keep us!).

Will post again when we get back.

See ya

Conor

Hey Guys,

Just as we were settling into the madness of Hanoi were off again this time for four days R&R (hopefully) in Halong bay. This includes two nights onboard a junk boat with a bit of fishing and paddling (paddy hope your impressed!!). Had a great day today in the old quarter of Hanoi and since Conor got his cheap haircut I decided to get a lovely pedicure for 4euro only no street corner involved!! Wont be in touch for the next few days till we get back to Hanoi but we did manage to get some pics up on flikr if you hit the link under blogroll.

The shopping here is great it’s a pity I can’t get anything with only one bag and a long way to go yet, which anyone who knows me is torture!! Every street you turn down sells something different Bamboo street, shoe street, clothes street, even electrical street (Rory you would be impressed!) you get the idea.

Headin off now to see what else we can find, will write again as soon as I can.

Love, Claire

WOW!!!!Just hit the most unusual city i have ever been in. The volume of everything is unreal. Traffic for one thing is out of this world. There is no pedestrian walkways just walk across the road and the traffic goes around you!!! The are mopeds by the millions! Seriously!

Another thing is the ridiculously low price of everything. For instance, i have just got a roadside, outdoor haircut and full shave (nose, ears forehead…… i mean everything….above the belt of course!) for 50cent……….what more can i say.

Unfortunately the internet connection is seriously slow at the mo so will post photos and talk more later. Just wanted to write a quick post before dinner(what ever that turns out to be…)

Conor

Hey guys…Just a quick few words on our past two days.

We had a wonderful day on Friday thanks to our new friend Tammie who chauffeured us around Dubai, showing us the local hotspots. We started the day with sightseeing (most places are still being built!!!) followed by a trip to the Mall of the Emirates. The Mall of the Emirates has the indoor ski slope attached to it and the mall itself is the biggest we have even been in.

We then went for traditional Arabic lunch (Hummus, an eggplant dip, mixed meat mezza and plenty of local salad and veg) and all shared a shisha pipe with a strawberry flavor. It rounded the meal off nicely (plus we looked way cool with our shisha pipes :-p )

Thanks a mill Tammie for a brill day….

On Saturday we woke at a leisurely hour (apart from seeing my mother off at 4 .30!!!) and headed to Wild Wadi the local water park. It was quite good but with the high temp you wear out quickly. Conor went down the steepest water slide in the world tho! So suppose it was worth it just for that.

Anyway got to go for a swim….last of the luxury now. Heading to Hanoi this evening!!

Bye

Conor and Claire

P.S. Flickr is still not allowed to be accessed from the UAE so i cannot upload many photos until Monday/Tuesday

After our months of planning we have finally arrived at our first destination. As most of our friends and family know now we have been planning this trip for nigh on 9 months now and it has crept up on us FAST!!! We look forward to sharing our experiences with you all and any comments or contact is welcomed to give us a reality check!!! It feels like a fairy tale at the moment!

After a luxury plane journey (courtesy of Dolores, thanks!!!) we landed at 4.50 in the wee hours of the morning. It was 37 degrees cel even at that time! After a short nap we braved the heat (by then reaching the mid forties) and took a trip to the burj al arab for afternoon tea. It was booked a month in advance by Dee and boy was it worth the wait. We were treated to a 6 course lunch and were allowed to explore the hotel which was really something……

We then rounded up our day with cocktails beside the beach and a quick stroll through the markets.

Will try to post again over the next few days…….so far so good.
Conor and Claire