Lil's Travels

A little bit of R & R

2006-11-06T23:17:00.000-08:00

Having already conquered a mountain this year, on 29th October it was time for my next challenge - the Auckland Marathon!!......Oh alright then Half Marathon!!??
I can't believe I'm about to say this but I really enjoyed it. I must confess we were all majorly nervous before hand (not sure why as it was only a little stroll...??), it was quite surreal though as the race started at 6.30am so we were up at about 4am to get to the start on time - surely there must be better things to do on a Sunday morning and hence why I'm looking so rough in the pre-race photo?? It was exciting though as you got to run over the Harbour Bridge which normally has no foot access so it was pretty cool. Coming off the bridge though and passing the 16km mark was where I hit the wall - the last 5km were so hard but I kept on running (all be it slowly) and finished in 2hours 20mins. As my good old mum once said "there are race horses and cart horses in this world, and you my girl are a cart horse" - that may be true but I'm still chuffed with my effort, although I was sooooo glad to be turning right to the finish as the marathoners were turning left to do another 21km!! - Stuart total respect to you! Maybe the full one next year........
Also finally made it to Eden Park to see a rugby game - some semi-cup final thing, Auckland V Wellington. Auckland lost but got to see some All Blacks, although if I'm honest without the black shirts on I didn't really have a clue who they were.......such a girl sometimes!

Hawkes Bay Holiday

2006-11-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

For Heather's birthday the girls headed down to Napier for the weeked, stopping to see the Huka falls along the way. We'd planned a very civilised evening wine tour for the Friday night, in which we'd get picked up and taken to 3 different wineries and have a separate meal course at each. The evening started well and we were being on our best behaviour. Cheap bubbles in the bus on the way to number 2 kind of scuppered things though......within what seemed to be seconds we were all battered, singing karaoke and cackling like the group of old hags we are. To our shame we were not the only ones on the tour......poor Gary and Sue, a rather quiet English couple, out to celebrate Gary's birthday, well at least it was a memorable celebration??? Great night though, fantastic food and wine and guide all for about 50 quid.
Napier is a really fascinating place. The city was destroyed in 1931 by an earthquake and so was rebuilt during the heart of the Art Deco period and so it now has the title of the Art Deco capital of the world! (If you ignore Miami.......) The architecture is beautiful and it does feel as if you have stepped back in time. As a result of the earthquake the land in the surrounding area rose by several feet as well which transformed the area, enabling the vineyards to be planted which now dominate the area - see what I'm learning, now I know the history of the copious amounts of wine I've been pouring down my neck?!?

Bubbling Mud!!

2006-11-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

Well no visit to New Zealand would be complete without a trip to see the bubbling mud in the thermal reserves at Hells Gate in Rotorua. This was back in August so despite the blue skies it was freezing - hence the layers and attractive hat! It was very cool though, like a landscape from a different planet, steam coming out of the earth, boiling sulpurus pools everywhere - bizarre.
A few weekends later I tried my luck at snowboarding......sadly there is no photographic evidence :o) apart from a distant spec of Mount Ruapehu in the background to the right of me and Linzi.
It was good fun but it's safe to say I sucked! And I have come to the conclusion that I actually like ski-ing! Not completed converted but seeing how bad I was at the other I'll stay with sticks and planks in the future.
The biggest adventure was actually on the journey down there when we had blow out - pretty scarey stuff. Fortunately the other girls I was with had a bit more savvy than me and actually know how to change a tyre so there wasn't complete panic and thankfully after about 45mins the lovely local pig hunters Tom and Josh stopped to help us, unlike the numerous other kind souls who would slow down, beep horns, wave and then drive off before we could beg for assistance.......not sure how impressed Tom and Josh were when the pom got her camera out but I'm a tourist - I need no invitation!

Rotorua Road Trip

2006-11-06T00:52:00.000-08:00

The first of my North Island explorations was to Rotorua. We were there the same weekend of the World Mountian bike champs which was pretty cool - saw a bit of the action, can safely say I'll stick to being a spectator!
Tried my first extreme (well by my standards) activity on the Sky Swing - metal ball, winched high into the sky and then released so you swing through two big uprights. Given that I was terrified I think it's safe to say I'll be passing on bungee jumps or anything else.......
On the way we briefly stopped in Tirau - the corrugated iron capital of the world! Yes that is Heather and I next to a corrugated dog - you can also find a Shepherd, a mouse, a pukeko, an icecream, some flowers, the list goes on.......oh nearly forgot naturally there was a sheep as well! Don't ask me why as I have no idea!?

Awesome Auckland

2006-11-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

Finally my blog is back in business!!!
So anyway I arrived in NZ back on 2nd August after a long journey from Singapore (including a brief stopover in Sydney - saw the Harbour Bridge and Opera House from the plane, very exciting!).
After 3 months of glorious sunshine and permanently "glowing" it was a bit of a shock to the system to arrive to rain but at least I was welcomed by my lovely friend Heather who was there to pick me up from the airport.
First impressions of Auckland are all a bit of a blur due to a lack of sleep but I do recall finding it all slightly surreal.....it all seems very familiar (stage coach buses, Lloyds bank, rain etc) and yet at the same time very different.
Heather tried her best to show me a few of the sights on the first day.....did you know that Auckland is built on a volcanic field, approximately 50, not sure what a wise move that was but nobody seems too concerned!? She's pictured at the top of Mount Eden - great views of the city she assured me.....and on a clear day she might be right.
I've been living in Torbay for the last few months with Heather (plus cat - that peed on my bed!!!!!) and her friend Linzi - who is also lovely. I can't describe how nice it is to have a bed (minus cat pee) that feels like your own after 3 months of dorms and dodgy hotel rooms......the prospect of packing it all up again is slightly daunting but I'm sure once I start seeing all the new sights again I'll get back into it.......I hope!!
I've pretty much invaded Heather's life since I got here - her job has been to entertain me and so far she's done a grand job. We've had some great weekends away and she's been happy to drive me around and let me invite myself to any of her social outings.
She also led me indirectly to my job. After suggesting I check out their website on day 2 in the country, and being interviewed and offered on day3, I've been working at ASB Bank (great location - the tall building next to the SkyTower) pretty much from as soon as I got here. Sad as it may sound but on the whole I've really been enjoying it, the company is really nice and my managers think I'm doing a great job - well there's a novelty!! 4 more weeks to go so still time to stuff it up though........

Farewell to Asia

2006-08-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

After my Borneo tour finished I stuck around for another week so that I could do some diving and headed out to a resort on Mabul near Sipidan - one of the best dive sites in the world apparently. Having now done a couple of dives off Sipidan I can concur that it is awesome. I saw sharks for the first time, reef and a leopard shark - very cool, loads of turtles, baracuda and allsorts of other fishies. THe diving and the resort were great (as you can see from me sampling the hospitality) but the dive company were well dodgy - loads of the equipment was faulty and having been told not to touch anything underwater it was kind of strange to see our dive leader holding onto coral and poking fish and turtles out of holes with his stick?? Not good - anyone interested don't go with Borneo Divers.
After Borneo I headed to Singapore for the finale of my Asian adventure. I had a brilliant time. I met up with Charmaine, another English girl, and we basically did the sights together. We arrived Saturday night and a few quiet drinks ended up been a night clubbing at Ministry of Sound. Over the next few days we did the tourist things of shopping, going to the zoo (really good - white bengal tigers and plastic kangaroos a particular favourite) and going to Raffles for the obligatory yummy Singapore Sling and then more cocktails at the Swiss Hotel - well you have to end in style don't you!

Bits of Borneo

2006-08-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

You are all probably getting bored now.....but I shall continue. This is a brief insight into some of my other Borneo activities. The group shot was taken on our last night of the tour in Shenanigans - Borneo's premier nightspot! Although it would appear that we are the only people there the place was rammed. Much to my shame I somehow managed to be persuaded by Anna (on the left) to partake in a Shakira dancing competition with her......needless to say no amount of vodka could help me - we were officially hopeless but thankfully I don't believe there is any photographic evidence of it!!
The homestay provided a taster of authentic Bornean life, Grandma Teah was lovely and very hospitable and dinner (eaten with fingers, whilst sat on the floor) was delicious if slightly messy.
The night in the jungle was a lot of fun too, and the hammock was surprisingly comfy and probably more surprising seeing as I actually had tied it up - didn't fall down in the middle of the night!

Monkey Business

2006-08-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

As you can see there was lots of monkey madness in Borneo. I did see some Proboscis and Macaques in the wild when we did our jungle stay but all my pictures were taken in sanctuarys where they live semi-wild. It's a protected environment where those animals that aren't as well adapted to life in the wild can come back to feeding platforms at certain times although aout 75% of them don't actually return, prefering instead to go back to living independently. The Orangutans have to have been my favourite, absolutely gorgeous and the main reason I wanted to go to Borneo in the first place. Sadly you aren't able to get any closer than this though which is probably just as well as I may have tried to steal one.
As mentioned the proboscis were weird ugly bugs but kind of cool - those who have received postcards will know that this picture is a censored version.....
Finally a little Silverleaf monkey and baby, which was really funny, he hadn't quite got his co-ordination sussed yet so spent most of the time falling over - amused me anyway.

Malaysia Flava

2006-08-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a little taste of Malaysia, where I headed after forcing myself to leave Koh Tao. First up was the multi-cultural city of Penang, ,where I had to stay at the Olive Spring Hotel......along with it's infestation of bed bugs - nice! After there I headed to the Cameron Highlands for a spot of trekking and a "nice cup of tea".
I wish I'd allowed myself more time for Penisular Malaysia. Having viewed it really as just a route I had to take to get to Borneo and Singapore I was really pleasantly surprised and was impressed by every place I visited (.....all 3 of them!?).
Kuala Lumpur was the last stop and having seen how bad my wardrobe is when I look back at these pictures I now feel less guilty about the spending spree I had inside the Petronas Towers shopping centre - it was an absolute necessity!!

Koh Tao

2006-08-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the laziest stage of my trip - weeks rest and relaxation on the beautiful island of Koh Tao. Lizzie (who I met on my Cambodia tour) and I met up again in Bangkok - here she is on the infamous Khoa San Road before we headed by bus and boat to Koh Tao. On arrival we were met by crystal clear warm water, pure white sand beaches and really cheap cool accomodation - can't beat a hammock now can you!.
Having got a taste for diving last year we both decided to do a few more courses - it's so much nicer when you can see further than the end of your arms and actually have something other than weeds and rubbish to look at! This is me with my instrutor Shauna (anyone who thought diving is glamourous can see from what a dork I look that it isn't!?). Shauna was lovely and I can thank for practically saving my life when I decided to experiment with breathing through your nose whilst not wearing a mask - It's not to be recommended and not a particularly pleasant experience!! Once I'd got over my near drowning episode the diving was excellent, with huge amounts of fish and other aquatic life to see......did I mention the whale shark to anyone - that is still up there as one of the best things the whole trip??
After a week or so of diving everyday Lizzie and I finally got to unwind and have a well deserved few drinkies and some nights out.

Mount Kinabalu

2006-08-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ta Da!!!! See I told you all I made it, and here's the proof!!! Pretty stunning isn't it (and very high)!

Thailand

2006-08-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

After finishing in Vietnam I headed off to Thailand for the first part of my adventures on my own. I headed to Chiang Mai for a bit of obligatory "Trekking". As I may have mentioned (not that I have a lot of experience) it was the lamest trekking in the world. The elephants were cool for about 2 minutes and then you realise that you don't actually go anywhere. They just randomly wander and stomp about in the forest and then you see that there are strategically placed shacks with locals selling bananas so you can feed your elephant along the way or guys taking photo's so you can buy one of yourself on an elephant (obviously being a mug I did - and it's not even a nice photo!?) Eventually you end up back where you started and then head off on the trek. The first day wa reasonably strenuous and we did walk for maybe 2 or 3 hours, there were some beautiful views along the way - Mum the hills in the distance behind me are apparently Burma.
In the evening we stayed at a hilltribe village, where the local children all sang for us in the evening - it was kind of cute but at the same time you could tell the older ones were completely disinterested as they have obviously been doing the same routine for years. The village itself and the tribal culture was really interesting though. It is very basic, living off the land with traditional farming methods still in use, with live-stock living under and around the houses ..........and satelite TV to watch the football!?
On the 2nd day we trekked for the grand total of 2 hours, 1 hour in the morning, then stopping for lunch, followed by a 2 hour nap (just in case the morning had worn us out) and then 1 hour in the afternoon before settling at our camp for the night - the shower was a waterfall though which was pretty cool. The last day was again just the slightest amount of walking and then a bamboo raft ride.
After trekking I headed of to do some volunteer work at a local small animal sanctuary. I was the dog lady, grooming, washing, de-ticking the numerous rescued dogs, some of which had literally been rescued from the brink of death having been attacked with machetes, tied to the back of tuk-tuks etc. The woman who runs the place is campaigning to increase animal welfare awareness and to introduce protection legislation. I admire her committment and dedication but she's definitley got a bit of an uphill struggle on her hands and sadly a long way to go.......

More Vietnam

2006-08-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

At last I've managed to get a few more pictures on here!! Just a little sample of some more of the things we got up to in Vietnam.
The street scene is in Hanoi, which I loved, probably my favourite place in the whole of Vietnam. A few scenic shots so you can see how beautiful parts of it are. Finally a few idiot shots....I did mention there wasn't much in the way of nightlife so you do have to make your own entertainment - dressing up and the Rizzla game - hours of fun!!

2006-06-19T04:14:00.000-07:00

Here we go - finally some pictures of "Nam"! The majority of the Vietnam trip was just me and Alison acting like idiots together but we did manage to appreciate a bit of culture as well. The country was also beautiful - it definitely gets better the further north you go though. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was nice but didn't seem to have the romantism that is so often attached to it. Hoi An was lovely (and you can pick up a tailored bargain - afraid my budget took a bit of a battering) but you get tired of the constant hassle to buy more stuff. As we made it to Hue, Hanoi and Halong Bay the country really came into its own. We took a moped tour through the countryside which was great - paddy fields, temples, little villages etc. as you can see we must have looked a bit of a sight to the locals though as there were 12 of us with our Commy drivers. There's not much in the way of nightlife in Vietnam, very few places open later than 12, some even closing at 10pm but we finally managed to have few nights out in Hanoi at the end of the trip. I'm being far too well behaved though!!?

Bit more of Camodia .......

2006-06-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Just a few more piccies to give you a taster. The first is Lizzie, Jenny and Steve enjoying the great meal that was put on when we did the home stay with some villagers in a little place called Takeo.
Next is the group enjoying the luxury transport as we made our way through the counrty - thankfully we had a bit more space and comfort than those in the photo of the other minibus. There don't appear to be any laws when it comes to driving so you just sit back, enjoy the ride and hope that anything in your path gets out the way before you get there!!
If you rotate that's me holding a HUGE spider!!! Several of his brothers and sisters had been deep fried and if you wished you could have a taster - I'm afraid to say I declined, that was one real life experience I was glad to miss out on!!??
Finally a nice scenery shot - the country really is beautiful - I loved the place!!

Sample of Cambodia

2006-06-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more piccies of Cambodia.
The first is the Jungle Temple at Angkor Wat - think Tomb Raider and Angelina Jolie as this was one of the locations for the film. The temple was rediscovered amongst the jungle having been taken over by giant Spong trees, which look like alien creatures (or maybe I just have an overactive imagination!!??). Sadly they are going to restore and rebuild the temple though so in a few years it won't look like this anymore.
The Angkor Wat temple itself was also obviously beautiful but I think Angkor Thom and the Jungle one were my favourites. It was about 45degrees when we finally got to it though so we were all melting and had slightly lost interest by this point - Philastine I know!!?
We also visited a floating village on the Tonle Sap lake - the size of which varies considerably on whether it's the rainy season or not. There are two villages, and they hate each other, during the dry season they are on each others "doorsteps" but as soon as the rains come the villages float off in separate directions.
Cambodia also officailly has the cutest children in the history of the world, as the little girl is an example of!!

2006-06-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

Finally figured out how to add photos!!! This is one of the many faces on the temple of Angkor Thom, part of the Angkor Wat complex. The whole place was just stunning. I've never seen anything else like it.

Slacker

2006-06-02T04:09:00.000-07:00

Ha Ha - I have finally got onto this blog thingy, useless I know!!!??
I am now in Chiang Mai, Thailand and am more than a month into my great adventure, having already been through Cambodia and Vietnam - both of which were fantastic. Cambodia just gets the upper hand as to which country I preferred although Vietnam gets the upper hand for the most amount of fun but that is primarily due to the hours of amusement Alison provided - most notable event the gurning competition!!
I've just got back from a 3 day trek in the hills, which was great - not as hard work as I was hoping though as I've been a lazy so and so and really need to get some strenuous exercise under my belt if I'm going to stand a chance of climbing a mountain in Borneo in a months time!
Got to ride an elephant and ride a bamboo raft which was fun, and the latter very wet!
I will have photo's to add soon as well - rather annoyingly I forgot to bring my camera out with me and rain is pouring down outside so this would have been the perfect opportunity to have sussed things out but I guess that will just have to wait for another time.
From tomorow I'm probably going to do some volunteer work at an animal sanctuary for a few days before heading down to Koh Tao next week for a bit of diving and fun in the sun - I really need to get working on my tan which is next to non existant at the moment - apart from my nose which is giving Rudolph a run for his money!!?
Will write more with details and photos soon.....I promise!!

Have a fanastic time

2006-04-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Lil

Here's your own blog so you can record your travels. This is easy to do and but make sure you go to the homepage and do the tutorial. We expect to see loads of updates on this and piccy etc.

Have a fanastic time travelling and we expect you to have a drink on us in every location.

We'll see you at some point on your trip.

love you
Esther & Stu