The Great Chicken Soup of the World

After 2 weeks in Bali where we did absolutely nothing but relaxing, we are now back in London.

Well....we arrived at 4.30am in the morning at Heathrow Airport wearing flip-flops and sarongs (a pick-up with a twist ). This is definately something that I would not recommend to anyone especially when it is freezing cold outside (big time culture shock for sure). If I did not have a sore throat before leaving Bali (combination of rain and a fan in the room), I will now.

To keep me from falling a sleep, I will now tell you a little bit about Bali and what we did do there, when we managed to get our behinds out of the sun-chairs by the pool.

A few days after we arrived, some friends of ours came to Bali as well (on their honeymoon actually). We meet up with them and had some great times together. After a week in Bali, where everytime we were walking around Kuta, we would get bombarded with "Need transport?", "Got sunglasses, cheap sunglasses" and "Want your hair braided?" we decided to go to Ubud for a few days. We were planning to go there earlier, but as I had a little accident and twisted my foot, I found it very difficult to move anywhere.

Ubud is slightly differant than Kuta. You will still be attact, but in a slightly different way. Did not do much else in Ubud as it was raining all the time, however as we had found this lovely bungalow guesthouse, where the view was great and breakfast was being served on your veranda, it was not a problem being there with a good book.

Might see a movie now, which I hope will prevent me from falling a sleep. We'll see.

Arrived yesterday at our last stop on this journey, Bali .

It is strange being back in asian world again after having been in a civilised world for the past month and a half and especially after been travelling for approx. 15 hours.

Starting at 4 in the morning as our first flight was leaving Melbourne at 8am. After a few hours stop-over in Sydney, we continued the trip to Bali, where we arrive at 2.30pm (5.30pm without the time difference). Sleeping and with our brains still in Melbourne, we managed to get to a guesthouse that was not to expensive and OK in standard as well. A shower and some food later, we ended up in bed at 11pm with no problems falling asleep.

With the same situation as when we arrived in Thailand almost 3 months ago, we as well arrived in Bali during the rainy season. Hurray, was hoping to get tanned a little bit more before coming back to cold and grey London. Hope it will get better later.

Gosh, we are almost through our travels, only 3 weeks left . Have been so much involved in learning and having fun that time just disappeared from me. I don't mean that I would do anything different, but if only I had more time (and, no surprise there, more money), I could have done more of the things that I would have liked to do. Hey, I just got a reason to come back again, GREAT .

As you already know, we are in Melbourne. The second largest city in Australia. Compared to Sydney, Melbourne is more easy-going and friendly then Sydney. There is a totally different atmosphere here and you feel welcome as soon as you step out of the airplan. And it has so much to offer...

Relax in one of the many parks around the inner city is a most when visiting. I personally recommend Fitzroy Gardens, as it is easy to find a secluded area there where you can relax and maybe have a little nap. If you are into floura and fauna, Carlton Gardens is packed with flowers and a small pond, where you can study some of the lovely native birds.

If you want to know about Melbourne's past, the Melbourne Museum is a good place to start, but make sure that you arrive early as there is so much to see. It is the only museum that I have ever visit that has a rain forrest inside , which is a bonus to the whole experience.

For a trip outside of Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road day-trip is wonderful for that. During the trip you will experience at least 3 different landscapes (farming areas, rain forrest and rocky territory) and pleanty of ocean ( http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au ).

That's that for now, folk's. More exploring to be done.

HAPPY NEW YEAR
from Sydney

It is now 2006.....time goes by so fast.

I hope everyone that I know had a fantastic New Year celebration, I did definately.

We celebrated NYE on Wharf 3 close to the Harbour Bridge (have a look at this view: http://www.recklessrepublic.com ). So, with this view, 2 DJ's, one big bar and your friends it can only mean the best NYE party ever and it was for sure. We had a great time and the firework was fantastic. Sydney definately know have to put on a show.

Just to make you all jealous....

That's it for now as we are continuing our journey today, next stop Melbourne.

Did manage to get in a little bit of Christmas moon when we arrived at our friend's place...they bought us a present and a Santa hat. How sweet of them .

Well, now that it is after Christmas, it is time to do some more sightseeing of Sydney. Ups, forgot to tell you what we have done already, so let me start from the beginning.

Museum of Sydney: Was a little bit of a disappointment as it focused more on Bondi Beach than the whole of Sydney and it's history. But what they had about the history was very interesting.

Paddy's Market (in Haymarket): Is decently big, but I could not find anything that was of interest such as traditional Australian items as it says in their brochure. But if you are looking for something cheap and touristy, this would be the place to go.

The Pylon-lookout on Harbour Bridge: Compared with the A$200 they charge for a bridge-climb , the shorter and much cheaper tour up to the pylon-lookout is worth a go. Here you get the history of the bridge included in the price as well as the view and it only costs you A$8.50.

Otherwise we have just been relaxing in parks, shopping and going out with people we are meeting in the hostle.

That's it for today, tomorrow is another day with sightseeing on the program.

So, it is Christmas..........

Don't really feel like it down here even after seeing Santa in full costume and hearing "White Christmas" on the radio. What does it take to get in the mood????

I know....

this would do!!!!! (This is to everyone who are wishing for a white Christmas).

To all my friends and family, I wish you all a merry Christmas with plenty of pressies and all the fun you can handle.

MERRY X-MAS

It is not so difficult to see that Sydney originally started out as a "prison" for English convicts as many of the streets here are named after the streets/areas of London.

So walking around Sydney is actually making me very confused especially when I am on the corner of Liverpool St. and Oxford St. and the next minute I am going through Hyde Park. It just doesn't make sence, everything is so close to each other.

The best part are the area names such as Kings Cross, Paddington, Surrey Hill, Lewisham, Croydon etc. You can go from one to the other in just a few minutes.

Some of the suburbs names are quiet funny as well. Let me give you some examples: Mascot, Emu Plains & Kissing Point. I have attached a few maps for those who would like try and find other funny names ( http://www.railpage.org.au/railmaps/sydney.htm ,
http://www.wilmap.com.au/nswmaps/sydneytc.html ).

Sorry, time for bed now. Long day ahead tomorrow with sightseeing.

We have been on the move again. This time to Sydney, where we are planning to staying for the next 3 weeks.

This means that we will be celebrating Christmas & New Year with a BBQ instead of a roast. Well, you should always try out new things, right? But I most say that it is quiet difficult to get into the Christmas sprite when you walk around in 30+ degreese and shorts . For New Year we have managed to get tickets to a party at the harbour, where we will be able to see the fireworks up close. That can only mean fun .

Well, what can I say about Sydney?? It is a lovely and relaxed city with helpful/friendly people.

Sightseeing: The first thing that any danes need to do when coming to Sydney is to see the Opera House, so of course we did that (use the link to find out why - http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/sydneyoperahouse ). I most say that I was a little bit disappointed of the size, but that is probably normal, am I right? Then we went for a walk in the Botanic Gardens. How many kinds of palm trees are there down here??? Sorry, but to me they look the same.

Sydney nightlife: So far we have not experienced that much nightlife except the occasional drink and a few cocktails one evening out with friends, but I have this strange feeling that that will change soon, so keep tuned......

After spending a few days in Brisbane (where we did nothing really except getting back into a rhythm again after a very long flight from Bangkok to Brisbane via Sydney with only 1 hour sleep) we continued our trip by going to the Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore/Cotton Tree to be more precise)

You definately do not come here for the sightseeing as you can see from the picture, but more for the lovely beaches & the sunshine.

If you what to know a bit more about Australia's residents, then a visit to the Australian Zoo is a most and it is only located 1 hour away from the here via a courtesy (free) bus. Here you are able to see kangaroos and koalas up close with the possibility to touch them. But there are also dingos, snakes, lizzards, elefants, tigers and many other cretures to see (be careful, some are not locked up ).

Well, back to the beach for me. So long, folks!!!

After a month in Thailand, we have now arrived in Australia (Brisbane to be more precise), where the weather is more cool. For some reason we have not able to shake off the rain & grey weather.

We left Krabi on the 27th November, where we went back to Bangkok for a few days before we continued with our travel. On the day we left the sun finally came out in Krabi (Why now????), but when we arrived in Bangkok it was sunny there aswell (managed to get a sunburn on my arms and shoulders).

On one of the days in Bangkok, I went on a 1 day tour to the Floating Market, Bridge over River Kwai and Phra Pathom Chedi, which is one of the largest pagodas in the world and in Thailand. It was interesting.

(More info on these 3 places: http://www.thailandguidebook.com/floatingmarket.html, http://www.thailandguidebook.com/k_bridge.html, http://www.thailandguidebook.com/provinces/nakhon_pathom.html).

Sorry guys. Only have a few days in Brisbane before continuing up north, so it is now off to explore the city a bit more. See ya.