what was that all about?

A little spillover from yesterday, well time has all become a bit murky in the last 24 hrs Final Hours in Asia




Then we did this:




(Lloyd) Home and time for a few final thoughts, and a couple of guest bloggers.  That was 2 weeks that will live long in the memory, not least on this blog.  Best part of 13 hours back to Heathrow, boarded with the Swans ahead 1-0, and as we disembarked I was able to celebrate a rare win.  Watched 2 films on this flight, Passengers was an interesting concept that faded as it ran its course, and Pulp Fiction was a bit of comfort food to see me home, much like a Royale with Cheese, although mine turned out to be a Greggs Bacon Roll in Reading.  So Pulp Fiction referenced in both recent blogs, and also Bueller needs another reference, lets see if we are dedicating this to anyone who doesn't think they have seen anything good today. (or the last couple of weeks)

(CARYS) So, what we have decided  to do is a kind off final-thoughts rankings amongst the four of us. Here you go -


Favourite Airport- Singapore, It had great WiFi, and a  lovely lounging area with charging stations in each table side.



Least Favourite Airport- Brisbane - I just didn't get to see enough of it so I haven't got much to go by.




Favourite Flight- Singapore to Brisbane - It was a smooth,  relaxing ride with top quakity food and entertainment, and lovely staff.




Least Favourite Flight- Heathrow To Singapore - I got ill from not having travel sickness tablets and couldn't eat anything. Wasn't very nice.




Favourite Airline- Quantas. Both flights had  lovely crews and the entertainment, not to mention the food.




Least Favourite Airline- BA (British Airways) They are a nice airline it's just my flights with them weren't very good.




Favourite Hotel- Perth Seashells Apartments. I adored how homey and cute they were, even though they weren't luxury. I loved buying our own food and preparing little meals there.



Least Favourite Hotel- Karinga Motel, Lismore. Just a very uncomfortable sleep, and the room smelled.




Favourite Breakfast- Beenleigh - Donuts and toasties. Perfection, what more can I say?




Favourite Lunch- Rottnest Island Subway pizza. I know Subway can be found at home, but I rarely have it, and the meatball pizza was lush.


Favourite Dinner- Fish'n'chips with friends watching the sunset on the beach. Stunning.




Favourite Location- Perth. Breathtaking views, stunning beaches. Cute towns. Beautiful.




Least Favourite Location- Hong Kong. I loved it all, but if I had to pick one destination it would be Hong Kong. I disliked the smell and the humidity of it.




Favourite View- Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House or Hong Kong's The Peak. It was all just so gorgeous.




Favourite Plane Film- Sing - A  cute family movie with humor about animated animals pursuing there singing dreams.




Favourite Activity - Currumbin or Rottnest Island. Both fantabulous things.




What have  I learnt- That there are so many indescribable places on this Earth and  very few of us are lucky enough to see them all. I have only seen a portion of the world's many wonders bt I'm going to make sure that I see as much of our incredible planet possible.




Where do I want to go next- ANYWHERE! Bloomin' Mars if I could! Preferably, Africa or India, very beautiful places. I'd also like to visit the other 47 states I haven't been to, and return to previous holiday destinations like France, Spain and Italy. I altos would  love to go to Mexico one day!




(Lloyd)


Favourite Airport- Singapore departure (chilled my beans)
 
Least Favourite Airport- Singapore arrival (awful passport control)


Favourite Flight- Sydney to Perth (whale of a time)


Least Favourite Flight- Singapore to Brisbane (no sleep)


Favourite Airline- Qantas (treat you like you mean something)


Least Favourite Airline- BA (minimalistic)


Favourite Hotel- Aston Lodge Motel (huge apartment, spacious)


Least Favourite Hotel- Karinga Motel (cheap, dark, dingy, might have been the floods, but not sure)


Favourite Breakfast- Leftover pizza in Aston Lodge


Favourite Lunch- Food Street Singapore


Favourite Dinner- Thai restaurant in Sydney


Favourite Location- Mount Glorious, Brisbane


Least Favourite Location- Scarborough, lovely just a little out of the way


Favourite View- Hong Kong from the Peak, Sydney Harbour (split decision)


Favourite Plane Film- La La Land


Favourite Activity - Treetop Challenge Currumbin


What have  I learnt- you feel really ALIVE when you travel, independent, close to family, and value LIFE and those around you
Where do I want to go next- South America/NZ,OZ/Asia  ROUND THE WORLD


(Chrissi)
Favourite Airport- Heathrow...because it always marks the start of the holiday, so it's always exciting to arrive there!
 
Least Favourite Airport- Was annoying to be delayed in Perth airport, but really no strong opinions on any of them.


Favourite Flight- SYD-PER - it was nice to do a day flight and actually enjoy the journey rather than stressing about trying to sleep, also gained two hours back cos of time difference which was good!


Least Favourite Flight-  SIN-BNE as it was a night flight but only 7 hours long and didn't get any sleep at all.


Favourite Airline-  Qantas - did 2 flights out of 5 with them and they were great, great service, decent food, nice new planes, good entertainment.


Least Favourite Airline-  Cathay (BA redeemed themselves on the final leg) - older plane and they changed our pre booked seats which was irritating.


Favourite Hotel- Eaton Hotel, Hong Kong.  Fabulous location in bustling Kowloon.  Nice bit of luxury after travelling around.




Least Favourite Hotel-  Karinga Motel in Lismore, very basic old motel, unfortunately think the whole town was blighted by recent flood damage, but it was really dark and spooky.


Favourite Breakfast- At Novotel in Singapore, typical large chain hotel buffet, but always love an Asian curry breakfast on holiday!


Favourite Lunch-  Street food in Chinatown in Singapore, absolutely delicious curry.  Nicest food I had on the whole trip.


Favourite Dinner-  Fish n chips on Cottlesloe beach with the lovely Harrison family.


Favourite Location- Rottnest Island.  I have never seen such beautiful beaches or blue clear water.


Least Favourite Location- Our evening is Lismore was pretty basic - low quality motel and who knew EVERYTHING in Oz is closed on Good Friday?!  Managed to find the only chip shop open for miles...along with 100s of other people, had to take our dinner back to eat in our room after waiting an hour for it.  But I feel bad saying anything negative about Lismore as two weeks ago the whole town was completely flooded out and the warm welcome we received at parkrun there definitely made up for any negatives the evening before.


Favourite View- The Garden bay trees in Singapore...or Hong Kong Harbour lit up at night...or Sydney Harbour...not  sure I can choose!


Favourite Plane Film- Suicide Squad - surprised to like it as much as I did, only watched it on Bryn's recommendation but it was a great movie to watch on a plane, pure entertainment, not much concentration needed. 


Favourite Activity - Snorkeling was amazing especially seeing a stingray!  Also our day in Currumbin wildlife park was fabulous followed up by our first dip in the Pacific, with a view of Surfer's Paradise with the lovely Ward family.


What have  I learnt- That if is extremely exhilarating to do things I find scary or difficult (Treetops challenge, snorkeling) and the sense of achievement afterwards is amazing.  Also that life is for living and grabbing with both hands! And we make a pretty good team the 4 of us,


Where do I want to go next- South Africa on safari.




(Bryn)



Favourite Airport- My favourite airport was probably Singapore because it had fast wifi in the airport and it had good restaurants with good food.
 
Least Favourite Airport- My least favourite was probably Brisbane because we didn't really have enough time to study around and we were only there for about half an hour


Favourite Flight-
My favourite flight was the last one because it had good movies, good food and not much turbulence so it was quite relaxing


Least Favourite Flight- My  least favourite was probably the 4th because it didn't have the best food and it was quite a bumpy ride


Favourite Airline- Probably British airways because they were relaxing and had great service


Least Favourite Airline- My least favourite  is probably Cathay Pacific because the service wasn't the best and we were all sat separately.


Favourite Hotel- My favourite was in Hong Kong because it had comfy beds and very good wifi connections


Least Favourite Hotel- The Lismore Motel because it was very dodgy and our room smelt of smoke


Favourite Breakfast- Favourite breakfast was in Hong Kong because it had all of my favourite food


Favourite Lunch- Probably the chips in Perth because they were really tasty and we had a great view of the sunset  by the sea


Favourite Dinner- The dinner I loved the most was the Indian in Hong Kong because I really liked the layout and texture of the curry I had


Favourite Location- Probably Perth as it was right by the sea and had a great sunset view


Least Favourite Location- Lismore because it was in the middle of nowhere really and it was right out of the way


Favourite View- Perth because of the sunset and the sea on the balcony


Favourite Plane Film- Suicide Squad because  it was the type nnof action movie I love


Favourite Activity - Probably snorkeling in the reef because we saw some great coloured fish


What have  I learnt- That Australia is still boiling in the autumn
Where do I want to go next- I would like to stop off at Malaysia because I find it fascinating






In the words of Nev, yours until the next point of interest ....

Peaking At The Market

(Carys) I woke up last I think. Spotify blasting - well, playing quietly - from my parent's room. A YouTube video playing from the bed above me. Chaos, I tell you! Absolute chaos. Anyway, I got up, and was told to dress straight away, and then went down to the hotel's breakfast buffet. It was  really good - I had pancakes, cooked breakfast, fruit and more pancakes. Plus syrup! Then we checked out of our last hotel, after packing, and left our bags at the concierge. Then we wandered down the same route from yesterday - I moaned, of course - to the harbor. From there we got the 'star ferry' - not top quality, if I do say so myself -  to one of Hong Kong's islands, where The Peak is! The Peak, if you don't know, is a very tall mountain in Hong Kong.

We walked through the city, to the tram station, where we caught the tram up to this humungously steep climb to the 'peak' of The Peak. The view from the top was breathtaking. You could see for miles, all the skyscrapers, the bay. Just wow. It's hard to explain the image. You simply MUST see it. I insist! After that we  caught the tram back down and walked  AGAIN - Grrrrrr! - through the city back to the hotel. I did get to catch a cheeky chocolate bar from '7 Eleven' on the way back though - Aha!

We collected our bags and Bryn and I waited in the cab, and mum waited outside, for Dad. There was a terrifying moment where the cab driver started mto drive away with me and Bryn in the car as he thought it was only us going to the airport. We had to frantically gesture that we were waiting for Dad, and after help from an assistant in the concierge, he got the message.

Soon dad came back, and we got to the airport. Then we got through all 'whatnot' and came through to the departure lounge. Now, here we are, in this nice-but-pricey bar/restaurant. Currently eating a nice mix of, bruschetta - mmmm - oriental platter - not for me - and chips - yaaa! I can't believe were going home, it's all gone by so quick! I'm going to miss Hong Kong, like how I miss Singapore and Australia. The flight isn't for another few hours. Bye for now! :)

(Lloyd) Been living on far less sleep than everyone else this holiday, and again up before the clan this morning and checking out what was going on in the world.  Any concerns about the dangers of travel somewhat alleviated by the fact my home village appears to have become crime central in my absence ... note . in my absence !!


Ended breakfasting as we begun, paying to do it in the hotel so we could set ourselves up for the day by eating and eating and eating at the buffet.  Hung about in the relative luxury of the Eaton (apart from Singapore and Honk Kong we have gone relatively budget and even here is relatively budget - certainly the last 2 times in Hong Kong when work was paying, we were in top end hotels - mind you mid range hotels in Asia are top end in other parts of the world)

Walked down Nathan Road, we really do know that route now, and got the Star Ferry across to the Island.  A magnificent experience, but the best was still to come.  Meandered up through the city to the tram that would take us to the peak.  A phenomenal view, even in the mist of a rather grey day.  Reading the South China Post this morning, some rain today and yesterday constitutes the first stormy weather of the year.  It wasn't so bad, you get wet, the rain stops, and you are dry in moments.  The beauty of a tropical climate.

Back down to the ferry, Chrissi almost leaving us behind, as the gates swung close.  It was then our last stroll up Nathan Rd, but we took as trip off to the right and found an old style market, where we spent the last of our Hong Kong Dollars.  A lot cheaper here than in Oz, even without the bartering.  The pound is in a right state for foreign travel IMO but at least in Asia it goes a bit further.  Buy hey, you 52% know best.

Nearly left in the hotel toilet as my family departed for the airport.  Wouldn't have minded staying to be honest, a great city, topping a great adventure, albeit relatively sanitized and with a few more quid in my pocket (could have been more brexiteers) than last time I properly backpacked.  This can only be the return to this kind of travel though, between our last 3 main holidays (driving to Spain, driving across Arizona and know this) the appetite has been well and truly whetted.  Where next?  #answersonapostcard or below in the chat - you guys have been really quiet on the blog, I see we have a few regular readers from the stats.  To all you lurkers out there ...Chin Chin.. or Gin Gin...

Swans about to kick off so guess I'll be returning to misery in style....

A big honk for Hong Kong

(Lloyd) Took off just before 1 am and got into Hong Kong around 8.20 with a few more hours sleep than we got between Singapore and Brisbane.  Thinking we are becoming adept at getting sleep when we need it.  Cathay were ok, but did change our prebooked seats for no obvious reason and meant we weren't in a block of 4 as we hoped.  No biggie on the basis we all wanted to sleep, and the in flight service still better than stuffy, stingy BA.  Started to watch the Independence Day sequel.  In an ironic twist I fell asleep halfway through, just as I did in the original back in 1996 in a cinema in guess where... Australia!!


Our journey today



(Carys) Flight went okay. After small debate on seating arrangements I got to sit by the window next to my mum. It was amazing seeing Perth at night, completely lit up. I watched some of 'Moana' with my mum and then fell asleep as it was a very late flight. I slept on and off for ages, and after waking up properly in the morning and having a mediocre breakfast of yoghurt, cereal bars, fruit and whatnot, I watched the beginning of Toy Story 3. I forgot to mention I shoveled down some pasta for dinner but It wasn't very appetizing to me. Overall it was a good flight, but not anything special.

We collected our baggage and got through the boring airport rituals. Then we caught a bus into Hong Kong and got to see the beautiful buildings of the city. Then we arrived at our hotel - Eaton Hotel. It looked a lot nicer than I had imagined, and was actually rather glamorous on the inside. Very modern and pretty. Luckily, our room was ready, and our room was simply wonderful! Me and Bryn even have bunk beds! I've ended up on bottom bunk, though I'd rather be up on top.

We settled in and connected to WiFi and stuff, and then decided to go for a walk around. We saw how lovely the city actually is, and how it's rather similar to back home in Cardiff or London, with the selection of shops and  restaurants and cafes. By the time we got  back to the hotel, my feet were killing. We hung around for a while, and then my parents went down to the bar for 'a cheeky drink' whilst me and my brother stayed in the room.

When they came back, we walked the long trek back to the bay - I was exhausted by then - and saw the beautiful evening light show. The advertisements and lasers and lights and color's on all the large buildings overlooking the bay created a lovely show, though I preferred the Singapore one!

Then, guess what< Instead of getting a cab back to the hotel we walked back! Except we didn't go to the hotel, we went to a Indian cuisine restaurant nearby! That was very tasty, but I was to tired to enjoy it properly.

(Lloyd) Caught the A21 bus from airport to Nathan Road which felt a little adventurous, and was a nice way to absorb some of the outlying sights of the City.  Very fortunate that our room was ready so we could dump our stuff and avail ourselves of the rooftop pool and sunbeds.  Weather quite oppressive in terms of heat, but threatening a storm all day.

We then went out and about, and sort of wandered up and in to some Chinese tea rooms where we appeared to be the only westerners there, and very little English was spoken.  Ordered an assortment of foods including garlic squid, shrimps, sweet eggs (not Cadbury style), mango, crab/pork balls and other stuff I can't remember. Dipped in and  out of all that, trying to recall how to use chopsticks and making a good fist of it, or using our fists if all else failed.

A further stroll down Nathan Road, in and out of shops, and then then storm truly broke as we reached the harbor.  Quite an impressive introduction for those who haven't been there before!  I have visited Hong Kong twice in the past, but mainly as part of work conferences and tended to wander in and out of bars, and not soak up the scenery as much as I should.

Back to the hotel to change, taking in Kowloon Park (no parkrun this week) and having a G&T before returning to the harbor to see its nighttime glory.  Seen 2 of the 4 best harbours in the world on this trip, Hong Kong by night and Sydney by day gets my vote.  The light show they run at 8pm doesn't add a whole lot to an already impressive skyline.




A lot of Indian restaurants in Hong Kong and we found one near the hotel to see the night through.  A Madras that didn't have the sting of the Indian Cottage in Magor and all the better for it.  Our last night out on tour spent thinking how we can rekindle this spirit of adventure sooner rather than later.  The old home improvements versus travel only has one winner in my book, but I am not the sole author of course.

A beach day

(Lloyd) Today was like a normal holiday, it took a bit of adjusting to, not going at 90 miles an hour for a change (or whatever the speed limit permissible) but made for a pleasant transition out of Australia


Half decent summary by photo film (with google music) here https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/101977337510384246232/6411086514632987522?icm=false




(Carys) A very short one from me today. I feel awfully tired. I had a nice lie in today, well, I got to sleep for as long as I wanted. I didn't really 'lie in.' Was up by 6:45. After having some yummy hot cross buns I went to explore the heated pool with my brother. We got in for a bit but soon came back. Then I went to read by the non-heated pool to dry off. Afterwards we packed up and got ready to leave. We checked out and left our bags in the lobby of Seashell's resort. Then, after we had been offered to, we went up to the heated pool-side. After some reading I dived into the pool.

About an hour or two of swimming, we got out, dried off and went to find some gelato or ice cream. We found this lovely ice creamery - it was called that. I had delicious mango, which is quite rare in our country. We lounged around for quite some time, but soon went down to the beach, to meet a uni friend of my mum and her two boys. We had lots of fun with them on the beach, playing in the sea and on the sand. Then, getting lifts from her and her husband, we went to this lovely fish'n'chips store and I had the most lovely meal of chips and chicken nuggets looking at the sea. Then we were driven to the airport which was lovely of mum's uni friend. Now here we are, feeling grungy and tired. Plane soon. :)

(Lloyd) Powering through in Perth airport.  Maybe not able to fully appreciate it, but we have about six devices plugged into various chargers so that instantly puts it right up there.  Poll below this blog asking you your favorite airport out of the choice given - please vote - just the click of a button !!surely?


Couple of added details and thanks to the day.  Went for a run south of Scarborough this morning, lovely coastal bike track as you would imagine, gorgeous conditions first thing in the morning.

Seashells resort let us use their facilities to lounge by the pool once we had checked out so all credit to them.


Sheffield Uni Alumni reunion on the beach of Scarborough in the afternoon

Lovely to meet Clare and fam, who gave us a good work out at beach cricket and filled us in on some of the most deadly flora and fauna in these parts.  Also showed us another popular and historic spot, the Indiana Tea Rooms Cottesloe.  Indiana Tea Rooms

Thanks for your warm welcome to W.A and indeed the lift to the airport.  Back in backpacker mode now as we wait for a midnight departure from Perth in the hope of catching a few zzzzzzs on the flight to Honkers.

Rotto and Roll

(CARYS) Oh wowzers, what a day! Where on earth do I begin? I Don't belive there are enough words in the dictionary to describe thhe day I've had. I was woken by a very annoying ditzy-sounding alarm. It wos 5:30 AM. 5:30! Can you believe how early I had to wake up. Our mode of transport did have an early start though. I munched on some small croissants and an apple, and then we headed off to a nearby grand hotel. We had a arranged the previous day to get an early cab from there. Just as promised, the cab was there waiting, so we hopped in and were taken to Fremantle Port. Our ferry to Rottnest Island which wwas where we were going to today - didn't leave for another hour or so, so we decided to hang about in the cafe there; I had a very lovely hot chocolate.

Soon the boat finally did leave, and it only took approximatley 20-30 minutes to arrive on the island. When we did, we immediately got our hire bikes from the boat, and  set of on our on little tour, just tthe four of us, around Rottnest Island. The iisland has it's own animaal, called a quokka. It's a mix of a rat and a  wallaaby, but they are so so peaceful and surpisingly friendly! I even touched one in the end,, ddspite the signs that ssaid not to. It was very soft, and so so so so so so adorable!  I discovered what a beautiful island it is, with crystal-blue waters that are super transparrent and lovely views. It was quite a hilly ride but we got through. Dad and I even struggled up a extremly steep climb to a lighthouse. I walked some of it, but the ride back down was thrilling.

After our aamazing explore around the island we went for a dip in the water. It was colder than we excpected, but felt lovely. 3/4 of us  tried out our snorkelling gear which we had picked up earlier, as we were to be doing snorkelling quite soon.

After our little paddle, we went to the small pier to find the 'snorkelling gang..' We  got on our wetsuits and swiftly boarded the boat. There were only eighht of us snorkelling today. We took the sppeedboaat out to a part of the ocean, quite far out from land. I was rather nervouss on the way, but sucked it up, because when the man instructing us asked who wanted to go first, I offered. This was after we'd been told how to wear our gear - goggles and snorkells -  correctly. I plunged in, shocked by the water at first, but then swam back a bit to wait for the others. I put on my goggles and snorkel correctly, and swapping between parents at different times.

I got quite frightened at some points of getting injured by the marine creatures like ''sting rays' because of there names or even sharks, but after I'd been reassured I was fine. It was wonderful, snorkelling. The marine life was stunning - thee fish, I even saw a Dory fish! I spotted a sting raay too, very beaautiful creatures!  It was one of the best experiences  of my life. Unfortunatlley I did not see a dolphin, but everything else was splendid! Oh, except for the few bleeding cuts I got from the hard corals - which too looking amazing!


After getting back to the boat I jumpedin a few times, wary of the deepness below me, but after watching some others do it, incuding dad and Bryn, I jumped. I did it two more time, and  it was fun, but hurt a bit. We then came back.


Our ferry home  was at 3:55 PM so we just ggot changed and pretty much came  strsight baack. Then we  had another meal of yesterdays leftovers anda few extra tthings we bought from Coles today. A fantastical day overall. I ssimply lovd it! Over  to LLoyd. :)


(Lloyd)  Not much to add, Carys in top form today, pushing the boundaries in both her activity and writing.  Was up at 4am having crashed very early last night, watching the Indian Ocean slowly coming to life a worthy way to spend those opening few hours.


The Rottnest experience very much a back to nature type of adventure, with our holiday bike tour thrown in.  The whole family lapping it up, feeling so alive by engaging rather than sitting back and watching is something I am keen to instill in them, all sensory functions being applied on this trip, seeing and understanding the world and all its beauty something I hope develops their thinking and appreciation of the human and physical environment.  If I can leave a couple of non narrow thinkers on this planet of ours after I exit stage left I will feel job done.


Lovely bit of cycling, which I trust you get a flavour of here https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/101977337510384246232/6410687836671569618?icm=false


The snorkelling was an experience, not the multicolour explosion of the Barrier Reef, but dipping your head into the ocean underworld for a few moments, and the strange combination of hypnotic silence and life teeming everywhere a mesmerising privelege.  The most southern outcrop of tropical coral don't you know.  Great to follow that up with some childlike bombing off the front of the vessel that transported us to our snorkel spot.


Shame we didn't have a camera with us for our underwater adventure, so those images will have to remain locked to each individual concerned.  Got a transfer back to Scarborough where our last full night in Oz ended the day as it started, staring out at the Indian Ocean, reflecting on all that we have experienced to date.