Ubud, Bali

We left OZ and flew to Denpasar and straight away it was back into proper traveling, back into bartering mode, and back into the humid heat. After two taxi rides and much haggling we arrived in Ubud. I'd been to Ubud with Anna about ten years earlier and it hadn't really changed - still hectic, noisey, full of arts and crafts and CHEAP, hurrah! Our accommodation was 3 pounds and we could eat for 60p in a cute little resturant so you can imagine how overjoyed we were to have landed in Indonesia.

The weather was pretty bad in Ubud so we entertained oursleves by window shopping - stone and wood carvings were not going to fit into our rucksacks - and going to the Monkey Forest (a forest full of monkeys strangely enough!).

Ubud was only a stop off to Lombok, so after two days we got in a mini bus, then took a four hour boat ride, then another min bus and finally we were in Sengigi in Lombok. After the constant traffic and noise of Ubud it was lovely to be somewhere a little calmer (god we're getting old!).

Temple in the Monkey Forest

Two hairy monkeys

Not sure what's behind the doors but I thought the doors themselves deserved a picture!

Cheeky Monkey in the Monkey Forest

Perth

After Darwin it was back to more manageable weather in Perth which really is a lovely city. We arrived on the 14th Feb and had a romantic night out in Freemantel at Hungry Jacks (basically Burger King!)

Freemantel is very pretty but we didnt have long to explore as we only had three days in Perth, or so we thought. At about 11.30pm on the evening of our 2nd night we suddenly just thought we had better check the flights to Indonesia. Good job we did as we were booked on a morning flight for the following day. So instead of properly seeing Perth we got up bright and early to head for the aiport. At that was the end of our OZ adventure.


Pretty buildings in Freemantel...



Lovely Scarborough beach

Darwin

As soon as we got off the plane the Darwin climate hit us hard. It was like stepping into a tumble dryer. My clothes actually felt damp within about 5 seconds. It was definitely tropical!

We spent two days in Darwin and didn't do much because most of the time it was like this...

We did find a cheap bottle shop that sold good wine for 2 pounds so drinking helped to pass the time!

We also found a library with free internet so spent a lot of time there

The sun did come out at some points. This is the view from our hotel window.

Darwin is a fascinating place as it has literally rebuilt itself twice - once after the war and the other after a cyclone in 1974 - yes we managed to go to a museum too!

Ayers Rock and The Olgas

As it was the 2nd visit to OZ for both of us and neither of us had done Ayers Rock it was the 2nd stop on our two week itinerary. We were surprised at how expensive it was to DIY - the Rock is a long drive from Alice Springs and all the rental cars have limited mileage - so when we landed in Alice Springs we checked out prices for the tours and it was cheaper for us to see the Rock with a day tour. The champagne sunset BBQ also appealed! So the next day at 6am we got on the bus which was to be our home for the next 18 hours.

Ayres Rock or Uluru is one of Australia's most recognisable natural icons. The world-renowned sandstone formation is 348 m high with most of its bulk below the ground. Uluru has great cultural significance for the Anangu Traditional landowners and we were told many stories as we were driven round by our tour guide. It really made a difference having someone explain the significance, otherwise it would just be a big red rock!

The Olgas or Kata Tjuta is the second major feature and attraction of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (the main feature being of course Uluru.) It was just as impressive and definitely worth a stop.


This is a picture of a rock formation that many people think is Ayers Rock but is not. Shame it's not as it's much closer to Alice Springs than the real thing!

The Olgas again with their strange markings

There are so many flies about that you really do need to wear this lovely fly net in order not to go crazy when outside. I wish someone had told us about the flies before we landed so we could brace ourselves as they are EVERYWHERE!

We stopped at the Olgas for a short walk, it was so hot outside I swear we could have cooked an egg on the rock. We ended up nearly running back to the coach just to get back into the cool.

The Olgas from the other side

This is the start of the climb up the rock. Luckily it was closed as it was too hot (over 34 degrees by 8am) so there was no question about whether it was going to be climbed or not. Many people have heart attacks climbing it, over 30 people have died over the years trying.
The local Aṉangu do not climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. They request that visitors not climb the rock, partly due to the path crossing a sacred traditional Dreamtime track, and also due to a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors to their land.

A wave cave which is made by the rain disolving the rock

In one part of the rock there were loads of really vivid white paintings which we all eagerly went over to inspect until we were told by the guide that a 14 year old boy had actually graffitied the wall. Apparently he only got a fine for it!
The above is a real aboriginal painting.



The Rock

Our bus and sunset BBQ site

Drinking for two

Not the best sunset over the rock, but maybe it was the champagne that was making everything hazy

Sunset on the other side

Sydney

Sydney was a whirlwind tour of seeing people, eating and drinking. Toby and heavily pregnant Jenice looked after us beautifully when we first arrived and then we descended on Kat and Simon who showed us Surrey Hills, beaches, markets, took us dog walking and to the pub! It was great experiencing real Sydneysider lifestyle and with places called Kings Cross, Hyde Park and Oxford Street, it was hard not to feel at home.


Do I need to point out what this is!

Or this?

This however needs some explaining...When Tim was last in Sydney when he was a wee whiper snapper at only 18 years old he spent about 2 months being a beach bum in Manly. This hostel was his home for that time. So we checked it out curious to see it after 10 years, apparently it has improved a lot since Tim was last there. I thought it was a flea pit!

Oh and another one.

Mark Whelan (Cake partner) was in town and offering to buy beers for everyone so the ex-Cakers were out in force on Thursday night. There are loads of past Cakers out in Sydney now, this picture is just some of them! (Yes i am in the picture but just obscured by Sam's head!)

Coogee beach, where we spent the day with Hannah before she headed off to a festival.

Walkies with Kat, Si and the dog

Shark Beach, it's called that because sharks sometimes visit! You can see the nets in the water.

Queenstown

After all that adrenalin and blood to the head I think I was a little more affected than I thought… back at the cottage in Arrowtown I went to stand on the sofa and fell off it crashing into a little table and breaking it in half! I still have a scar on my elbow from the fall! Dad if you’re reading I don’t think you knew about this little incident as you were in bed, but don’t worry, the table was easy to fix!

The lovely Mr Forbes brought us the video and pictures so I can subject you all to the bungy action when I get home, sadly there is no footage of my fall off the sofa.

The next day we headed for Queenstown and said goodbye to everyone. We checked into our hotel (a little bit of luxury after staying in sheds etc) and then headed straight out for the biggest burger and chips in the world!

Queenstown was the end of our New Zealand adventure. I totally loved the country. It was so beautiful, clean and friendly. It’s the perfect get away, or as we came to conclude, the perfect retirement country for anyone from the UK - it’s like England was 50 years ago (or so they say!) – you can always find a parking space, there is plenty of room for everyone, everything is familiar but different enough to make it still interesting and the people are welcoming and lovely. Maybe we’ll go back to stay in 40 years time!

Queenstown from up high

The ultimate burger and fries!

The view from our hotel room, where we got an upgrade to the Honeymoon suite!

Bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

We decided to go for the oldest and original bungy at Kawarau Bridge. We didnt give ourselves much time to think about it, we literally got out the car, registered and then the next thing we knew we were being thrown off the bridge by 'Killer'!

Check out the video...