And so begins the adventure of a lifetime, off to Dehli with the first leg being that old familiar trip across the pond. Farewells were difficult, we love you all and wish we could take you with us but we all have our own adventures don't we? I will to my best to keep writing about our travels through India and Asia into our new lives in Australia. Please keep reading, I promise you some really good shit.
Hullo everyone! Once again we are lucky enough to set out on another adventure to Africa for the next 5 weeks. All packed and prepped, Samantha, Kimberly and I are sitting in the Vancouver airport sipping on a few drinks as we eagerly discuss the next few weeks. Flying from here to London and then on to Johannesburg travel is all that's on our itinerary for the next 24 hours. That and sharing adventure stories as we all get to know eachother. It's a wonderful day.
Those who live downtown Sydney have the amazing gift of the urban beach. The ability to go surfing on your lunch break from the office blows my mind. Yesterday I checked out the famous Bondi beach which is an impressive white sandy spralling beach with buildings in either side. Skaters and dog walkers patrol the paved pathway up top and joggers, sun bathers and surfers own the beach. Its dominated by hipsters at coffee shops with the odd old time local wandering the streets in his speedo. Both here and in Byron Bay I love the fact that it is acceptable to wander around barefoot. In Byron folks even grocery shopped barefoot!
A beach more along my style is Manly Beach. A half hour horgeous ferry ride from the Opera house lands you in a California like atmosphere with great take out seafood joints and its much more relaxed... folks arent as concerned about appearances as at Bondi. Both are quite touristy but I forgive Manly more because of the absence of the hipster population.
We had a family outing on Sunday with Andrew, Caroline and the kids, Ethan and Vivica to the blue mountains just outside of Sydney. The temperature cooled down a bit as we drove up to the beauty of the mountains. The landscape is covered in Eucalyptus trees which is where the name is derived from cause of their color. After looking at the view we were treated to a 52 degree drop via train down to the forest canopy. Exploring trails down on the forest floor was a delight with all the Eucalyptus and Sassafras trees with giant vines and tree ferns growing among them. Old remnants of the mining industry still live in the forest which is how the railway down to the bottom originally came into being. After a gondola ride and tram we enjoyed the thrill of the steep train ride once more before heading home completely exhausted. Good day.
Today is my last day and Im just cruisin around downtown... trying to find this elusive didgeridoo muscian that I encountered on my first day. Its pretty rainy today so I may not find him, its too cold for the locals. Everyone is all rugged up (translation wearing coats). Peace kids.
Ps. First collage is Manly beach, second blue mountains and third back to the beauty of Byron Bay.
Hopped on a plane for a short flight from Sydney to Byron Bay, a quiet chilled out surfing town. Australia's most easterly point. It's absolutely gorgeous here, the people are wonderful and super friendly and the scenery is amazing.
We seem to be communicating quite well these Aussie folk and I... only once have I not understood someone. Concentration is key and keeping in mind how the conversation would flow is the trick. Ive learned a few new words. A schooner is a beer inbetween a sleeve and a pint. A sleeve is a midi. A hoodie is a jumpa. A toque is a beanie and they think toque is a ridiculous word. Sometimes I am misunderstood lol. I've been mistook for an American twice and an honest mate told me I didn't have a predictable Canadian accent.
I got into the water for the first time today in a kayak for a beautiful cruise around the bay with dolphins and humpback whales in the distance. Unfortunately there was a shark attack the day after I got here which I was just too close to. Ever since I've been land bound hiking from beach to beach. Crazy how much one moment can make you reevaluate your priorities. I never worked up the courage to surf after that moment plus the beaches were closed for three days. The kayaking today was exelurating and I did get in the water and play around in the surf. It was wonderful.
I'm gonna enjoy a few schooners as a reward for all my hard paddling today. I will keep you informed as to what tomorrow holds.
I am so sorry I haven't blogged yet from Australia but one of the first things I learned was the county needs to sort out their wifi situation. Seriously, Vietnam was golden compared to here!
My first event in Sydney, Australia was attending an Aussie Rules Football game. Kim's uncle Andrew quietly suggested it for my first day and was quite pleased when I agreed enthusiastically. So awesome. We went to see the semi final Sydney Swans vs. Freemantle and the whole stadium was a sea of red and white Swans supporters. Impressive showing of colors and support vocally. Andrew explained the rules to me in less the 30 seconds and I was ready. For a game most think have no rules the crowd certainly think there are many and they get broken quite frequently to which the supporters respond to very loudly. The refs are even sponsered by an optometry clinic lol. Absolute fun, beer and hot dogs and a solid win by the Swans. A free bus system was in place for the mass that spilled ou and safely delivered people away. I liked it a lot, I'm definitely taking Kim to experience that.
Exploring the Sydney harbour the next day I quickly learned how beautiful it is here. A short ferry ride showed me how big and gorgeous Sydney harbour is. Oh, gotta go, wifis gonna kick me off... talk to you soon kids!
Egg coffee or ca phe trung is a must have while in Hanoi. Absolutely delicious, part coffee, part dessert. The normal Vietnamese coffee espresso caffeine filled goodness is on the bottom and whipped egg yolk and sugar on top. Divine! Apparently egg chocolate and beer is next to be tried... will keep you informed.
Hanoi is showing us the best it has to offer and reminding me quickly why it is my favorite city in Vietnam. More grungy and edgy then Saigon we are thrown into the real city life quickly in the old quarter. Be it pho bo in the morning, coffee or tea and sunflower seeds in the afternoon and bia hoi with other gastronomic delights in the evening and into the night. The other night at the bia hoi corner a lady came up selling something wrapped in banana leaf that smelled amazing. Initially only offered to the bia hoi family, we quickly jumped on that train and discovered a delight. For 15 000 vnd I was served glutinous rice with ground pork and offal. I know it doesn't sound all that fantastic but it tasted amazing! I will buy it every time I see her till we leave. Plus she had killer hot sauce.
We are fitting in like locals and learning what it would be like to live here. Quite nice really. Kim has even gone to extremes with testing out the dentistry Hanoi has to offer! After cracking a tooth in Cambodia she managed to officially break it on a spring roll of all things and she needed to get two crowns. Upon finding a recommended dentist we went hand in hand with an interpreter (wonderful girl named Thuy) and Kim sat like a trooper through two rounds with the dentist on two separate days. I'm so proud of her and her teeth look great! Pretty nice price as well. Best souvenirs evar.
Well it's one difference we've noticed for sure from four years ago is how much more busy it is. Including the train... even though we were booking in advance we still couldn't land ourselves in a sleeper car. Grr. Setting ourselves up for a long train ride from Hanoi to Hue (ended up being fifteen hours and left an hour late), we board coach three and sit down in our respective seats. They are a class below what we've the paid for and Missy's seat is wet, great start. The girls make themselves comfortable, Missy using a plastic bag to protect her from said unknown wetness and fall asleep. I stay awake playing games on my phone. The train rocking me gently but definitely not to sleep.
Just after midnight (about two hours after departure) a young man approaches me with an inquisitive look. He's wearing a train attendant's uniform and thinking he's asking about my current level of candy crush I proudly show him my phone screen. He smiles and whispers, "Where are you going?" "Um, Hanoi" I reply. He looks side to side and asks, "You want to sleep in a bed?" At this point Missy and Ang have awoken and are looking at us confused. "No, thanks, we are four," I decline. "I know, I have four beds in car five, 200 000 dong each" says he. I look at Missy who is shrugging and nodding at the same time, she does have a wet seat after all. I go check out the room telling the girls I will be back in 5 min. Situation seems legit, seems like each coach has its own company and/or operator. He's just looking to make a few bucks on a no show or vacated room (although he does kick one women out when I arrive to take up next door). He assures me we have the room to ourselves all the way to Hanoi. I return to the girls to find out not only has Kimberly not awakened during the whole discussion but is also now sleeping beside a complete stranger who has taken up residence in my seat. We girls discuss the situation and decide yes, Ang checks out the room with me and then her and Kim ferry the bags across two cars as I stand guard in the new room and Missy in car three. All settled in we are all pleased and speak proudly of our good fortune. Bonus, car six's washrooms are discovered as wonderfully clean! We fall fast asleep at last comfy on our beloved train ride. In the end paying less for our beds then if we had booked them lol.
We arrive in Hanoi well rested and as Kim would say, feeling quite chuft with our deal we brokered. The next few days are filled with good food, hectic non stop city life, coffee and bia hoi. Hello Hanoi, I've missed you so.
