Catch up time!

Hello from the Great Ocean Road!

We can only apologise for a lapse in blogging that has covered 4 different states and over 2,000 km of driving. Australia is one big place and we've come a long way since leaving Surfers! Our time there came to an end with a great night out, culminating with us singing a duet of Starship's We Built This City in a very classy karaoke bar. After saying our goodbyes to friends and colleagues alike we headed onwards to Brisbane for Rhiannon's birthday weekend.

It was great to get back to Brizzy and see our good friends Tim and Liv there, and upon our arrival we instantly got lost in chatting, eating and drinking...basically a right good catch up was had! The next day, Rhiannon's actual birthday, we popped out for some food and a movie (the insanely funny Wolf of Wall Street - not one for the kids!) and then after a chilled Sunday struck North again for our next stop...Australia Zoo!

Crikey! What a place! From the shamelessly over the top escapades of the Crocoseum, to our first proper encounter with wombats, echidnas and even a Komodo dragon we were not disappointed at all. The legacy of Steve Irwin, not only as a showman but as a passionate conservationist, is clear to see and it is by far the best (none wild) park or sanctuary we have visited.

But there was no time for stalling after our day there and before we knew it we were in Bundaberg, hoping to see another natural highlight and luckily we weren't let down. Mon Repos is a stretch of beach 15km north west from the town and thanks to excellent conservation work and the local communities support, it now holds the largest turtle rookery on the Australian mainland. Every year thousand's of loggerhead turtles haul themselves up onto the beach to lay their eggs, before two months later they hatch. This is what we were here to see! After being assigned to our group we patiently waited, chomping down on our dinner of fish and chips as darkness fell. After an hour or so of waiting , Rhiannon had got so bored she needed the inevitable cup of tea and so went back to Bruce to make one. As is always the case, just as the tea was about ready our group was called and without much bother the tea was cast to one side and we hurried with great excitement down to the beach!

With no torches or lights we navigated along the beach by moonlight alone, to where our group was gathered to see the nest of hatchlings emerge! First we gathered around in a huge circle as they dropped down the dune, nearly a hundred loggerhead hatchlings barely the size of a child's hand, where a portly volunteer gathered them up into an enclosure to ensure they were kept safe for the next stage. Then the team brought around two of the little fellas so we could see them up close, perfect miniatures of the huge sea going turtles they would become, with already such great strength in their tiny flippers which could be felt as they wrapped them over your finger for grip.

We then arranged ourselves into two lines, about 4 metres apart, leading from the enclosure down to the surf, forming a corridor. Down the middle a few lucky visitors, including Rhiannon, were arranged with torches to form a light train, which would guide the hatchlings down the beach into the ocean. As the enclosure was lifted we were met with the awe inspiring site of a wave of tiny turtles, inching there way along the corridor, some straying off course, others bumping into Rhiannon's feet, until they swam off into the night. We then stayed behind to watch the ranger excavate the nest to take an egg count, encountering two more hatchlings who hadn't dug their way up to the surface yet! One was as energetic and ready to go, just like the others we had seen, whilst the other probably wouldn't have made it out of the nest due to his lazy flipper. Yet we were glad to see both of these guys given the same chance as all the others and released out to sea. Seeing as only one in every thousand will make it to adulthood, they need every chance they can grab. This really was a breathtaking experience and if you're ever anywhere in the world where you can see this, don't hesitate.

But from one majestic experience to another, as we pushed northwards still to the beautiful towns of Agnes Water and 1770. We knew it was going to be a special place when we first arrived and Alex spotted a kangaroo chilling by the roadside just outside of town and it just got better from there. 1770 is where Captain Cook made his second landing in Australia, and it is just a strip of shacks (and a pub!) on a narrow peninsula, overlooking a beautiful bay and the mainland beyond. Our campsite was metres from the beach and provided a stunning sunset every day, as the light danced off the bay and the sun slipped behind the hills.

After only a few hours we revised our decision and extended our stay to a full week, basking in the late Queensland summer. And to top it off the next day we made our way out to the Great Barrier Reef, Lady Musgrave Island to be precise. Lady Musgrave is a tiny coral cay (an island made entirely from dead coral!) surrounded by a huge turquoise blue lagoon, about 60km off the coast, and is one of the first few reefs that make up the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. What started off as relatively serene boat ride out of the river mouth at 1770, soon turned into something akin to a theme park ride as we hit the swell when we cleared the headland. Now thank god for motion sickness tablets as the boat soon turned into what could only be described as a vomit comet, when passenger after passenger fell victim to sea sickness, where we sat on the upper deck enjoying ourselves immensely as the waves crashed over the bow onto us for the full hour and a half voyage! 

As we arrived in the lagoon, the instant calmness brought respite to our fellow passengers, and we stared at awe at the beauty that surrounded us. Shade after shade of blue was projected by the sea and sky, and as our captain began throwing fish food into the water hundreds of beautiful fish of all shapes and sizes emerged around the boat. We were quickly into the water to check out our watery visitors, before an afternoon that included a tour of the island and then a glass bottomed boat tour of the coral around the reef, where we shown the turtle bomb! Now this is not some weapon of mass destruction, but instead a huge spherical coral with a recess in the top where turtles come to rest and small fish pick them clean of parasites, almost like a turtle car wash. Upon seeing this, and obviously not having had enough of turtles so far, once we returned to the pontoon we grabbed our snorkelling gear and hurried out to the turtle bomb ourselves, where we were greeted by three beautiful green turtles. We had to be practically dragged out of the lagoon as we must have swam and played with these turtles for at least an hour, the only thing we've done that could possibly rival the majesty of watching those hatchlings emerge just a matter of days earlier!

After this we spent the rest of our time in 1770, reading, walking, eating and sleeping, our own little holiday within a holiday! At the end of the week we treated ourselves to a sunset kayaking tour of the bay we had listed by for so many days. Apart from the only cloud in the sky covering the sunset and the surf being to rough to try surf kayaking it was a great way to spend our final evening there. Our guide was a funny and informative Aussie with a great interest in bringing up the Ashes when he found out we were English. He also however showed us 1770 from another angle, pointing out the million dollar holiday shacks, the catamaran moored in the creek that was the permanent home to a cat called Snickers and treated us to a a free glass of wine on a secluded beach. We also saw more turtles popping their heads above the surface of the water (hawksbill turtles this time) before we both saw on different occasions a type of stingray called an eagle ray leap clear of the water! This firmly cemented 1770 as our favourite little spot so far in all of Australia, so we ended our time there by treating ourselves to a couple of beers and a pizza in the local bistro!

But alas the time had come for us to leave and retrace our steps to where it all began...Sydney. After a brief stop in Brisbane to say our goodbyes to two very special friends and their very special dog, we rocked up a week later on Sydney's North Shore to spend a few days with two more great friends, Catherine and Alex, aka Biggles (don't ask, just be thankful there aren't two Alex's for clarity's sake!). We were lucky enough to be invited to stay at the apartment they stay at with Catherine's parents, the legendary JT and Subo, in a beautiful suburb situated right near the river which offered a glimpse of the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

What followed was a great week which included a day and night in Bondi, a trip to the beautiful Watson's Bay for fish and chips and a dip in the bay, a shopping trip, a night watching football for the boys, a testy game of monopoly and a couple of museum visits all accompanied by beautiful weather. We were sad to leave in the end, Sydney had been so much better this time round with friends to share it with but we had set the pace, so it was onwards...

...to Canberra. Or specifically a day trip to the nations capital as we traversed the much trodden route south west from Sydney to Victoria. Despite feeling a bit like a huge campus University (Canberra is a purpose built capital city as Sydney and Melbourne wouldn't let each other be it!) we saw the capital buildings, both old and new, a huge water jet set in the middle of the lake on which Canberra sits and went to two great places, the world class National Australian Gallery to see works by Jackson Pollack, Picasso and even the famous Dali Lobster Phone, as well as going to the National Museum of Australia, an inventive and exciting museum dedicated to this strange, beautiful country. Canberra was short and sweet but with 650km still to go to reach Melbourne, we pressed on.

Now somewhere along the way we must have picked up a little hitchhiker, as the next morning we were awoken by the chomping of little teeth. After much searching nothing was found until the next night, when under the cover of darkness the noise started up again. Rhiannon flicked on the light and saw a little bundle of fur retreat from the container where we hold our precious supply of biscuits. After a few more minutes of sitting in silence, a little mouse popped it's head out to a hole in one of the counter tops and ran behind the seats in the front of Bruce. What followed was 10 minutes of Alex tearing apart Bruce with all the doors open searching for the little fella, to no avail. We thought we'd seen the last of our little friend until last night, so after our humane mousetrap failed we're going old school mousetrap on him...sorry, but he's been getting at our biscuits!

The next day brought us into Victoria, thanks to 5hours worth of driving, about 70 km north of Melbourne. And yet we haven't actually been to Melbourne, since we bypassed it to enjoy one of Australia's most iconic areas, the Great Ocean Road. Victoria so far feels a hell of a lot like home! After swimming in the sea in Queensland and enjoying an early autumn heat wave in Sydney, where it was consistently around 30 degrees, we now find ourselves back in long trousers and wooly hats, as the trees change colour and the cold southerly wind lashes the coastline. It's still around 20 degrees, but in Victoria you can get all the seasons in one day and it has fluctuated quite alarmingly in the couple of days we have been here. It has however given this first stretch of the road that has included the lighthouse from 80's children's program Round the Twist and a night camping in a beautiful spot up in the Otway Ranges that Rhiannon is convinced is the Forest Moon of Endor!  

In the next couple of days we will complete the Great Ocean Road and see it's most famous site, the 12 Apostles, before circling back to Melbourne and trying to sell Bruce. We had wanted to visit tasmania by taking Bruce across on the ferry but at 700 dollars it's just not feasible, so we are hoping for a quick sale and the possibility of a couple of cheap flights for a long weekend in Hobart.

Then we fly to Auckland for an express stop on the way to Canada to see some old friends in Vancouver for a well overdue visit and a trip across the border to Seattle, before making our way home! Of course we will not leave it too long till our next blog (we promise!) and even if you do have to wait, be safe in the knowledge that in 2 months time we will all get to see each other face to face, so we can bore you to tears with recounting everything you've already read about in our blog!

Until then, much love!

Alex and Rhiannon x

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one and all! We are writing this from the height of our first Australian Summer as temperatures soar and the swimming pool gets crowded. December has been the most magical month for us, as Alex proposed and Rhiannon said yes so we are officially engaged!!!! Unbeknownst to Rhiannon her engagement ring has been travelling with us the whole time, just waiting for the right moment.... (Rhiannon - How romantic!)

On our 9 year anniversary we celebrated almost a decade together by booking ourselves in to do a sky walk around the roof of the tallest building in Australia, the Q1 building right here in Surfers Paradise. It wasn't until we suited up in our Ghostbusters-esque overalls and full body harnesses that the nerves began to kick in. Next came a rip-roaring lift ride, scaling 77 floors in 43 seconds, travelling so fast that your ears pop half-way through. 

Before we knew it we were harnessed in and climbing the steps, the wind blowing forcibly high above our Australian home town. Up, up and up we went until we reached a platform at the climbs peak. The view was breathtaking and adrenalin was coursing through us, which intensified when Alex dropped to one knee and presented a ring (attached to some fishing line as you can't take anything up on the skywalk that could fall off). We are both over the moon and just can't wait to celebrate with you all when we get back! Following our walk in the clouds we enjoyed a celebratory glass of bubbly on the observation deck before cocktails, dinner and a wee dance... It truly was a perfect day.

And soon Christmas was upon us. Cards were arriving in the post which we were saving for Christmas Day and thanks to a very lovely Kylie Benjamin we had festive paper chains to festoon our little apartment with. Still, we will be the first to admit that it is very odd to have Christmas in a hot place, the sound of the ocean and palm trees at every corner even though the local council made its effort with lights, plastic fir trees and life-size  Santas. We were (and still are) working lots and so only had Christmas day off to really get into the swing of things. 

We began by opening our cards, reading message upon message from our friends and family  which made us feel closer to home and so grateful to have such beautiful people in our lives! We then took ourselves off to the beach for a Chrimbo day paddle before heading home for food. There was no turkey for us but rather marinated chicken, salad and the obligatory Aussie style shrimp on the barbie. Alex put his new found cocktail skills to work and off to the pool we went. We were joined by our work colleagues, an American couple, and we made cocktails, shared food and had a giggle. After they left we proceeded to open an entire box of Christmas Crackers and pulled every single one until Alex was wearing 4 paper hats at the same time and Rhiannon was wearing a plastic moustache! Utilising the wonders of technology we face timed many of you and soon we were filled to the brim with Christmas spirit once again.

We were both working on New Years Eve so the end of our year was a fleeting one but we did manage to steal 5 minutes together at Alex's bar to drink some bubbly, reflect a little on the wonder of the previous year and kiss when the clock struck midnight. 

The first week of 2014 brought with it more work and a little surprise in the form of a spontaneous day off together. Embracing our inner children and our list of places we want to visit before our path leads us away from the Gold Coast we ventured into the heart of Surfers to explore an attraction called Infinity (and yes of course we said "To Infinity and beyond" several times on the way.)

So what can we say about Infinity. Picture a big building, with lots of corridors and rooms made up of mirrored floors, ceilings and walls. It's like a futuristic fun house complete with many laser lights, a rope bridge, wobbly floors and mazes all to confuse and enlighten the senses. When we were pushed back out into the world we continued our juvenile jaunt and took ourselves off to Timezone, a gigantic indoor amusement centre complete with bowling alley and a horse. Alex won some star credits on a giant connect four game so before we left our bubble of fun we could exchange them for prizes. We arrived at the counter and was met with the most random assortment of, quite simply put, tat. Rhiannon, trying to be sensible about the volume of belongings we have now incurred opted for batteries and Uno. But Alex had other plans and was insistent on his choice of UNO and bat n' ball. The debate went back and forth for some time until an impassioned Alex played his final card and said "They're my points and if I can't have bat n' ball I'm getting fart putty." With this final statement he crossed his arms and stamped his foot. So you'll be glad to know we have both grown during 2013 but maybe not matured, oh and we are now in possession of a bat n' ball.

So as 2014 begins to take its shape we are enjoying our time being settled in one place yet excited to get a new and improved Bruce back on the road to seize more adventures from our time here. As it stands now we are planning to leave Surfers at the end of February to head north towards the Reef. The road will then lead us South to explore Victoria and Tasmania before we head homewards (perhaps with a little detour in the way)  .... after all, we have people who are long overdue a big hug and a wedding to plan!

With love always

Rhiannon and Alex

Xxx

From Surfers With Love

Hello!

We are writing this directly from our new home in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, following a morning where we enjoyed our first surfing lesson...but more on that later! It maybe around 6-7 weeks since our last post as life certainly has got a lot busier for us. At the time of our encounter with a feral rooster, Alex had an interview at a restaurant here in Surfers. The next day he was invited back for a second a week later, so with a week to kill we decided to head off on a little road tour of the hinterland west of Brisbane, circling back to the Gold Coast (henceforth to be called the Goldie as it is known in these parts!). After dropping in for a visit to see our friends Tim and Olivia, which is now mandatory whenever we are near Brisbane, we set off North by Northwest.

The following week was a beautiful, but occasionally chilly (it was the tail end of winter and Westerly winds can be seriously brutal) week in and around an area known as the Darling Downs. We picked our way through miles of grain-coloured, rolling Aussie pastoral land, so different to the sub tropical rainforest that blankets most of the east coast from Sydney to Bundaberg, dropping in to small farming towns and some astounding National Parks. Chief among these was a lake we camped by in Crows Nest National Park, an idyllic spot well off the usual backpacker trail, where we shared the site with 4 other vans and around 50-60 wild, grey kangaroos. Our reaction at first was to slam on the brakes and jump out to snap some photos of them, as these were the first wild kangaroos we had seen that weren't road kill, but as the sunset all we needed to do was sit outside Bruce and watch them play, feed and even box in the case of two males! For us this place was one of our favourites so far but we're sure a new challenger won't be too far down the track!

The final leg of the week involved an afternoon at Mount Tamborine, back near the Goldie. However after a beautiful day driving around and walking at some waterfalls we encountered a slight mechanical issue with Bruce, as after a very steep, prolonged descent off the mountain he decided to set on fire! Alex hadn't noticed but had pulled off the road to allow the traditional queue of traffic that Bruce always collects, to pass us by when Rhiannon noticed smoke pouring out from underneath! We both leapt free of Bruce and noticed a small fire in one of his front wheels causing some panic between us. A quick check of the engine compartment revealed the fire was completely in the wheel and after a few saucepans of water (and Rhiannon ripping the tap off the sink!) the flames were quenched. Both sets of brakes were so hot that what followed was a 45 minute period cooling off period for (both us and the brakes) and then a very thorough brake test to ensure we could drive on. Thankfully there was no issue there so gingerly we made camp and took him to a mechanic the next day, who revealed the bearings in the wheel that caught fire had failed, cooking the grease to such a temperature it ignited, before making us feel much better about the whole thing by letting us know us, and our brakes,were not the first victims of Tambourine Mountain they'd had to repair!

The next day Alex reported for his second interview, which turned out to be more of a formality, as he was advised that he had got the job (as a bartender in a brand new restaurant in Surfers Paradise) and to report for training 4 days later on the following Monday. Result!

What then followed was a mad scramble for us to find a place to live! After lots of email replies to enquiries stating "NO COUPLES!" and 2 viewings, one in a not very nice shared house which was littered with garish (and in some cases quite large) china statures of tigers and clowns for some reason,and another where we never got called back (how rude), we found our current apartment and flat mates right near the beach in Surfers Paradise. They are a lovely English couple called Ashley and Danielle, who have been here for a couple of years now and have made us feel really at home and welcome! We live in a 2 bed flat, on the 6th floor of an apartment block (with a pool!) and ocean views from our balcony, plus it's only a 5 minute walk to work for Alex and on the bus route to Bond University for Rhiannon's work, it really ticks all the boxes! And Bruce is safe and sound and has a made a home for himself in the secure car park in the basement of the building.

The View from our balcony

Work for Rhiannon has been going well, she is constantly getting great feedback for the facilitators and participants on how good her level of acting and understanding of the roles is. Unfortunately the academic year finishes here in December so that work will dry up until the end of January but luckily she has got a Christmas job at Cotton On, a really cool high street fashion store! And after studying several medical journals for six modules and writing many mini essays she is now a graduate of Australia's National course in Healthcare Simulation... woo hoo!

Work for Alex has been a bit crazy, lots of 40-50 hour weeks, so long days and not so early nights as the restaurant opened and then settled down into a routine. It's a great Rib and Steak grill restaurant chain called Hurricane's, branching out for the first time from the  Sydney area. The restaurant itself is set on the beachfront, which means Alex's "office" has panoramic views of the ocean and all that entails! He was a bit rusty on the old cocktails and coffee front, but has settled in well and is making pretty damn good cocktails now, as well allowing both of us to a bunch of new friends from a variety of countries to go along with our great flat mates!

Here's a link to the restaurant if any of you want to have a nose at the restaurant and menu:

https://surfers.hurricanesgrill.com.au/

Despite the long hours we have still been finding time to do more than just sit by the pool if we have a day off together, although we do that quite a lot! Danielle and Ashley have taken us back to Tambourine Mountain (not in Bruce though!) for a classic Sunday roast in a traditional English pub. Then we went whale watching out on the ocean to see humpback whales up close and personal, a truely beautiful experience where we got to see these graceful creatures play around our boat, leaping from the water and slapping the surface with their tails, something we didn't want to end. Even though we had seen this out at sea from our balcony and even for Alex standing behind the bar at work, to get so close just left us speechless!

Then last Saturday our plans to have Tim and Liv visit us here and for us to be the hosts for a change sadly fell through, but on the spur of the moment and in the spirit of our travels we went to...the ballet! Yes that's right, we saw the Imperial Russian Ballet at the Gold Coast Arts Centre. Alex had never been to the ballet before but was just as keen as Rhiannon, and we weren't disappointed. Act 1 was the Nutcracker, followed by Bolero for Act 2 and finishing with a final act comprising of ballets greatest hits, with dances from Carmen, Gisele, Don Quixoti and culminating in a rousing performance of the Can Can for the finale. All in all it was one of the best performances of anything either of us had ever seen!

Which leads us right up to today, where we took part in our first ever attempt at surfing down at Currumbin. Getting up earlier than we've become accustomed to we drove down, slapped on our board shorts, rasher shirts and sunblock, then jumped in the ocean with a mixed degree of results for both of us. It was great fun and we both managed to stand up on the board several times, those fleeting moments keenly injecting the surfing bug into us. Feeling exhilarated, salty, windswept and tired (a feeling known as being "surfed out") we are now writing this very blog to you all!

So you can see we have a number of very good reasons for not blogging in a while but know that we are thinking of you all and sending love

Alex and Rhiannon x 

Night of the Living Chook!

It started as many of our nights on the road do, sitting round the table discuss the days events. As the light faded and night set in, we were suddenly taken aback as a squawking, clucking ball of fury smashed against our rear window and rolled onto the roof of Bruce...clucking hell! The rooster had arrived!

After we composed ourselves following the initial horror and shock, we held each other and listened as the chicken pecked and scratched along the roof, searching for the weak spot at which to make it's insertion and commit whatever fowl dead he had come here tonight to commit. Backwards and forwards he went, prowling and clucking, for what seemed like a terror filled eternity, before finally stepping down onto the top of the cab. We sensed our moment and jumped out of Bruce ready to face our attacker. He eyed us with contempt as we tried to communicate with it, pleading for it's demands. As if to tell us all he wanted was to destroy us, he simply began to peck sinisterly at the solar panel over which he stood. 

His message was understood, his plan hatched, so we retreated back inside our safe haven. The noise and intimidation continued, exacerbated further when Rhiannon cooked our dinner of chicken noodles and the hydrogonised remains of his long dead ancestors reached his flaring nostrils (Alex - do chickens have nostrils?)

Everything went quiet for a time, except for ourselves as a taste of wine had given us new courage. We became emboldened in our stance against our foe and seemingly unbeknownst to him we had a secret hatchway leading from the interior of Bruce out onto the top of the cab. The hatchway zipped away, leaving only a fly screen betwixt our faces and his, his evil eye staring into our very souls. This was an outrage too far, we unzipped the fly screen so an implement of defence could be thrust out and used to try and lift this siege. Our weapon of choice, a length of wicker (Rhiannon - Don't you mean a stick?).

Alex thrust the weapon out through the hole, tangling with that damned cock, but was unable to dislodge it...his was a poultry effort. Rhiannon seeing her man defeated, took up the stick and strode forward, gently coerced by Alex as he advised her "get your whole arm out there!", along with a small, physical, nudge of support. Our enemy, resilient and wily as ever, edged out of range and as if to offer the final insult presented his rear end in victory. No matter how many shouts of "hit it up the arse!" Alex cried in muster, Rhiannon was fixed in such a state of terror (and giggles!) that she was unable to land the finishing blow. The battle had been won by our enemy, but this terrible, terrible war was far from over.

We changed our strategy to long range weaponry, as Alex consulted the armoury and selected the longest, pointiest object we had, and therefore the most fitting for gently, coercing a dog-sized bird oft the roof of ones carriage...a tent pole. Leaping forth once more from Bruce, Alex took the only source of light with him. Rhiannon, emboldened by his show of aggression, took up the wicker once more and began to prod the silhouette of our enemy. As the light fell back upon the chicken, it was revealed that under cover of dark he had rotated 180 degrees and to her horror Rhiannon was poking it in the face. (Disclaimer from Alex and Rhiannon: We just like to say at this point, that we fully endorse the gentle poking to remove a cockerel from ones vehicle but at no point were we trying to harm this chicken either accidentally or on purpose as we in no way condone Actual Chicken Violence, which shall be henceforth known as ACV).

As Rhiannon screamed in horror at the realisation of her own actions, Alex leapt forward with his spear, embodying the spirit of the Munjibal people on whose land this battle was fought. He thrust it into the space in front of the chicken, sweeping it from the roof with a cluck of protest and a flap of his gigantic wingspan. The battle was won and our heroic couple retired into Bruce, to toast their victory!

Only the had celebrated too soon. Soon a soft clucking could be heard, closer than it had ever been before. Alex took up the flashlight and pulled back the curtain, to reveal their mortal enemy standing proudly on their windscreen wipers, giving them what is commonly referred to as "the stink-eye" through the window. Having just witnessed Alex's success with the long range weapon, Rhiannon once again readied for battle, grabbed the spear-like pole and emerged from Bruce to throw down.

After two attempts, finding her range, she swept the chicken off the front window only for the chicken to rear in anger. To Alex's mortified eyes, the chicken seemed to begin tightrope walking along the pole towards his love! Fortunately the chicken lost this particular game of chicken and ran off into the night. Knowing there feathered nemesis too well by this point they knew this would not be the final denouement.

For within 5 minutes he had returned. He circled the van on foot, sensing for any weak spot and inspecting their spear, which Rhiannon had dropped outside after the labours of her latest avian victory (Rhiannon - which I see as personal vengeance for the great Canada Goose battle of 1988, where I sadly lost a toggle through the railings around the pond, at Mary Steven's Park, Stourbridge to a hissing demon of fury, twice my size). It seemed to be trying to understand this weapon and assimilate our technology.

In the end, like all great sieges, once side must break. The weak spot in this particular saga was Alex's bladder as he decreed "Sod this, I need the toilet". Striding forth from the van, Alex took care of his business and returned to face off, one last time with the Rooster in hand-to-beak combat. Using his signature move of clapping three times and going "chuck, chuck, chuck", the rooster retreated under the face of this new aggression. But it was a ruse, as he led our hero in a merry dance of a single revolution of Bruce.

At this late hour, Alex climbed back into Bruce and stated that it was time for bed. The hour was late and a stalemate reached, both parties exhausted from the long and arduous period of chicken bothering that had gone before. As they tucked themselves in, safe in the knowledge that some sort of accord had been reached with their avian foe, they relaxed. But they should have remembered the first rule of bird based warfare is never relax!

With a final banshee-esque war cluck, the rooster smashed one final time against Bruce and with a mighty beat of it's wings reascended to his perch aloft the roof. Faced with this beaked belligerence, our heroes admitted defeat and retired for the night. A fitful nights sleep followed, as the soft chuckle of the Rooster drifted through the canvas. Yet as the morning broke, a swift reconnaissance revealed their foe had left, leaving a smelly pile of victory on the roof as the final insult (Rhiannon - you could say some cock-a-doodle-do-do!). As we looked round in fury, a mocking cock-a-doodle-do drifted in softly on the wind, a final goodbye from our great enemy. 

Sometimes, when we least expect to, one of us thinks they may have heard that mocking morning call, as if he will always be with us. Watching and waiting to do battle once more!

Ba-qwark!

 

Sunshine Coast (it's been a while!)

Ola from Queensland!

 As some of you may know we have left Lowannah farm and the macadamia's behind us. We spent in total 5 weeks there, and have much love for Will, Inara and Chica for being wonderful hosts. Although nothing as exciting as another snake incident happened it was still fun none the less. The weather fluctuated between blue sky and 20 degrees to one week of constant rain, and bore Bruce felt the brunt of the cold mountain nights when his starter battery died. Poor Bruce! In the meantime he has had a new battery, we spent a day making him new curtains and he has had a tune up so is running better than ever! The last day of work we did was repointing the tiles on the roof of a house overlooking the ocean at Ballina, a job our friends Ben and Lianne had done when they stayed at the same farm 5/6 years ago. We were really sad to leave but onwards we must press! We greatly enjoyed watching the Lions win their tour here in the rugby (they were 3 drunken Saturday nights in a row), but didn't see any of Andy Murray win Wimbledon as it didn't start till 10 o'clock at night when we were up at 10 to 7 the next morning. Last weekend we arrived in Brisbane following Rhiannon's successful meeting at Bond University on the Gold Coast to do simulation work, as she does back home. She has since got a first date of work through so it looks like we will be settling there for the near future! In Brisbane we again stayed with our friends, Tim and Olivia, as it was Olivia's 30th birthday. We spent the whole day setting up the house for a massive garden party and in the evening had a quality knees up, dancing away to an Irish band Tim had booked. Not only did they attempt some quality 80's covers they were also really nice guys so check out Sásta on YouTube and Facebook and give them some love! This past week we have been meandering round the Sunshine Coast. Starting off with a drive through the Glasshouse Mountains along Steve Irwin Way (Crikey!), we have also played crazy golf, climbed Mount Coolum, sat on the beach in and walked through Noosa National Park (where we saw our first wild Koala), perused the shops in stylish Noosa itself, lunched at Boreen Point, saw wild freshwater turtles and beautiful plant life at Noosa Botanical Gardens, before ending the week at stunning Rainbow Beech where we climbed a 120m high sand blow before being awestruck at the beautiful multicoloured cliffs! All in all it has been one of the best weeks of our trip so far, with Bruce holding his own and top notch weather.This week so far has been just as fun, with a trip to the very cool market at Eumundi, a day of waterfalls in the hinterland and finally a detour to see the Big Pineapple! Missing you all as always, big love! Alex and Rhiannon x x x

Byron to Brisbane

Happy Sunday everyone! 

As we right this it's just before midday and we look out over the New South Wales (henceforth referred to as NSW for ease!) hills with a big blue skin and big smiles on our faces! It's 20+ degrees and we've got the day off so we finally have time to catch you all up. We realise it's been two weeks since our last blog and it's been busy to say the least, so lets start from the beginning shall we...

We left you just South of Byron, which we rolled into on that Friday. We say rolled, we actually dragged Bruce up the surprisingly, steep slope to the lighthouse before grabbing some lunch. We then headed inland to the hippy enclave of Nimbin, where we made our first Australian friends! Tim and Olivia live in Brisbane and were staying in the same hostel as us, but we met them in central Nimbin at the Friday night drum circle. that's right, we said Friday night drum circle and they turned out to be so much fun we spent the majority of the weekend with them. Tim is a Queenslander through and through who had been travelling in the UK and Ireland, where he met Liv and 9 years later they met us. They were loads of fun and when we said we were heading to Brisbane they invited us to a BBQ at their house the following weekend. We also had chance to meet up with (the former) Mrs Patricia Mulder, Rhiannon's old eurythmy teacher from school. We had a lovely cup of tea and realised how special it was to catch up with friends so far away from everything you knew together and see a familiar face again.

The following week we rolled our way into Brisbane, the River City! We spent a couple of days getting to grips with the city and doing some job hunting, before Alex's 30th birthday came around. After a pancake breakfast, we headed to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary on the edge of the city where we had an awesome day seeing some strange beasties for the first time in the flesh such as Tasmanian Devils, Platypuses (Platypi?), Wombats and most impressively the intimidating Cassowary! Of course there were Koalas galore, including Gandalf who we got to stroke (a sentence I never thought I would say - Alex), and kangaroos to feed. We followed this up with a night in Brisbane, including a beautiful meal in the trendy South Bank area of the city (thank you mamma and papa Stackhouse... It was delicious and Alex had the best calamari he's ever eaten!)

That weekend we turned up at Tim and Liv's, and met their dog, Harvey, a beautiful Staffy with a heart of gold. We had unfortunately double booked as for Alex's birthday we had tickets for the rugby in central Brisbane, where the British and Irish Lions were taking on the Queensland Reds team (come on you mighty Lions!) Our hosts were of course fine with this and explained what bus and train combo to take to get into town. What followed was a a two and a half journey of replacement buses and frantic running, which made us realise why everyone drives everywhere in Australia and resulted in us missing the first 25 minutes of the match. However we did get to see our first ever live rugby games, our team won and we didn't miss their winning try! Thankfully the next day we chilled out with Tim, Liv and Harvey, drinking beer and enjoying a proper Aussie barbie!

On the Monday we had another barbie to attend, this time with Naomi, a friend of Rhiannon's from when she worked at Lush. Unfortunately due to torrential rain there was no barbie, but we got to enjoy Naomi and her husband Darren's great company and beautiful home, as well as try our first Morton Bay Bugs! They look like the love child of a lobster and the Predator but are just like eating massive prawns, check them out! It was kind of weird being so far away from the UK and discussing Derby for a good half an hour (they lived in Allestree for the Derby folk).

Our journey then took us slightly further south, out of Queensland and back into NSW as we had ourselves a Wwoofing placement booked at a macadamia and avocado farm. For those of you who might be thinking that a) we can't spell woofing and b) we aren't dogs anyway so why would be woofing the term stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms where Wwoofers as they are known work a few hours a day on the farm in exchange for food and board. A massive shout out to the most beautiful Ben and Lianne for introducing us to this wonderful possibility into our lives... You are absolutely right when you say it is a most rewarding way to spend some time! 

The first week of "farm life" has been quite eventful and deserves a blog post of its own... so watch this space...

X x x

Farm Life

Welcome to blog post 2 of today! As we said at the end of the last one we have begun our Woofing adventure which means after 10 heady weeks we are finally back at work (albeit unpaid!) and to be fair loving it! 

We decided on bit of a whim, as things were looking a bit slack in Brisbane, to contact the Wwoof hosts that our friends Ben and Lianne had spoken so warmly about when they were in Oz. We contacted Will and Inara and they invited us up to their little piece of heaven, 66 acres of land in the NSW hinterland, about 40 minutes in land from Byron Bay. We arrived on Tuesday just as the heavens had opened and Will set us up with a lovely pot of tea. He made us really welcome and explained he how had a mixture of avocado and macadamia trees on the land and that for the next few days we would be picking the macadamias, as he had just harvested the avocados. We also met our fellow Wwoofer, a nice young English girl from Kidderminster called Hannah, as well as Will and Inara's beautiful dog, Chica, a quiet and gentle soul with a cheeky streak thrown in for good measure. That night we had thunder and lightning, coupled with an almighty downpour and howling wind, just to make us feel at home!

Now how Wwoof hosts put you up can vary from host to host but from Ben and Lianne we knew what to expect, that our kitchen would be in an old converted bus and the toilet would have no door but at the same time the most amazing view! Hannah had already nabbed the choice bedroom above the lounge so Bruce has become a proper bedroom for a while as we begin our Farm life. 

We met Inara on Wednesday morning, who is a real warm and happy person too, and then began work doing what is affectionately known as "grubbing", ie searching through the grass and soil around the base of the trees for any macadamias not picked up by the machine. Needless to say that a following 5 hours of this, the last 10 weeks of leisure certainly caught up with us and we have been aching in muscles we didn't even know we had! Alex has been driving a Yewt around with some gusto, we have learnt about the De-husker that processes the macadamias and mainly enjoying the simplicity and reward of the work. It helps that it has been at least 20 degrees every day with beautiful blue skies, set in a corner of the world where rolling pastures sit side by side with creeks packed full of prehistoric rainforest, as flocks of colourful birds squawk and wheel overhead and the ever present kookaburra cackle in the distance!

Yet it isn't all tranquility and living in harmony with nature, Rhiannon has already attracted two ticks and we've both been attacked by a leech! But this pales in comparison to the drama that occurred on Friday afternoon after another morning in the orchard. We returned to the kitchen/bus for a well earned brew when Hannah asked if that was a toy snake in the shelving unit wrapped. Right on cue it lifted it's head in reply before coiling more tightly around the tennis ball it had claimed. Cue mass ineptitude as we vacated the bus quickly and began discussing, with the conjecture of three Poms without a clue, what the hell to do. We went to get Will but they had gone into town for an appointment, so only returned with Chica the dog in tow. Hannah phoned her Aussie boyfriend, Angus, who grew up "out bush", and after he finished laughing came up with three options on what species it could be (one of which, the Brown Snake, is in the top 10 most venomous snakes in the world!) and said somebody should keep an eye on it while the others identified it. The girls came back from there snake classification session and had come to the conclusion that it was most likely an Eastern Brown Tree Snake (otherwise known as a Night Tiger!), which was only "mildly venomous". After a further 30 minutes of not knowing what the hell to do, Alex got all very fed up with it and donned his snake wrangler outfit, a thick work jacket and gloves (for protection), and after placing an empty recycling bin below the shelf used a broom to slide the snake into. Thankfully it worked and Alex didn't miss the bin, and elated proceeded to award himself 100 man points for his actions!

With the snake safely incarcerated inside the bin we still had the problem of when and where to release it, so decided we should all just relax and have a beer. Alex, now firmly ensconced in his fit of manliness also decided he was going to build a fire for the evening!

After the excitement of the Attack of the Night Tiger as that event shall henceforth be known, we release the snake well away from our dwelling on Saturday morning. Work that morning consisted of a final bit of macadamia picking and the cleaning of the sauna down by the creek, in preparation for the first saunas of the winter. Oh yeah, did we forget to mention there was also a Sauna here!?! Our reward for this was the first use of the sauna, which was absolute bliss, and the most special part was the fact that once you'd had enough of the sauna you could run down to the water hole and dive straight into freezing cold water, Scandinavian style! In the spirit of a travels we both jumped in without hesitation, an experience that extracted noises from us that we'd never heard before as we shivered our way back onto the rocks. Drying there in the sunlight, invigorated and refreshed it was the best way to end a working week either of us could think of!

What should have followed was a relaxing drive into the nearest town, Lismore, for a late lunch and a bit of shopping. Unfortunately due to the rain at the start of the week, it meant Bruce couldn't make it up the hill to the road and ended up being unceremoniously towed to the top by Will's tractor! We then rushed to town and back, and the week really caught up with us as we begged on the sofa watching TV. Nevertheless we have rewarded ourselves with a relaxed Sunday of pancake breakfasts, tea drinking, firewood collecting and writing before getting back to the macadamias tomorrow.

Peace and love to you all, this is a place for thinking and we are thinking of you all! Until next time...

X X X

On the Road

Hello from the Pacific Highway! First things first, sorry for being a bit lame with the blog but it appears Australia is lagging behind Cambodia in the free Wifi stakes...plus we've been having too much fun! Now on to the main event and to the introduction of the latest addition to our crew...Our camper van Bruce! For all the techie folk out there he is a 1985 Nissan Urvan, with pop-top, manual transmission and dual petrol / LPG fuel system...but to us he is our new home and friend! He is a bit old school both inside and out, plus he has a column-shift gear stick where it is built into the steering column. This has meant Rhiannon hasn't actually driven him yet, but she's been working her magic on the interior! We ended up staying a few extra days in Sydney to be all our housekeeping done as well as sort out Bruce, but it did mean we did the usually touristy stuff as well as go and see Warhorse at the theatre! It was a truly awe inspiring performance that neither of us will ever forget...thanks to Mama and Papa Stackhouse for the tickets as an early birthday present for Alex! We then said goodbye to Sydney and the friends we'd made in a short stay there, including a great bunch of Germans...we will now fight anyone who tries to reinforce the stereotype that German people have no sense of humour, it is certainly not the case! Alex battled his way across Sydney and was rewarded with a drive over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with the sun blazing and the stereo pumping out the new Daft Punk album (thanks to Rhiannon for that early birthday present!). Since then we have been motoring up the east coast on our way to Brisbane, dropping in on some beautiful costal bays and communities, including the jaw dropping Seal Rocks and Hat Head. We even had time to visit the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie! This weekend we will hit Byron Bay for a bit of a rest as we have done the first two thirds of the 940k's (yes we're working in metric now!) in a little under a week. Lots of love, thinking of you all...Alex and Rhiannon x x x PS For all you animal lovers we have seen a fair few critters so far. Obviously Koalas at the afore mentioned hospital but also possums, a dingo, galas, a dolphin (or porpoise, it's hard to tell!), a fruit bat which made Rhiannon shriek as it dive bombed her head, pelicans and a fair few kangaroos. Unfortunately all those roos have been lying by the side of the road, so we're yet to see a live one. Fingers crossed we will buck that trend very soon! Update! - we have now seen 3 alive kangaroos to balance things out a fair bit...two were chilling in the grass by Bruce out our latest camp spot up in the hinterland

Goodbye Asia Hello Australia

As the title suggests we have said our goodbyes to South East Asia. Our last few days in Cambodia were spent in Siem Reap where we have seen the most fabulous and indeed magical Angkor Wat. The heat was incredible here and almost too much at times but luckily we had a great swimming pool where we were staying so after a long day at the temples (we visited about 12 of them over two days) we could flop into the pool to cool down. The only downside was that there was certainly something in the water there, and not just in the pool but in the taps and showers too which made our hands wrinkle up in mere seconds and we had no other choice but to give ourselves the nickname Grannie Hands!

We also has our first run in with the police but nay worry, it was our tuk tuk driver who was in trouble and not us! We were on our way for a second day of templing when we heard a very loud whistle and a groan from our driver so was forced to pull over at the side of the road. It appears that driving without any rear view mirrors is not advised in Cambodia. After almost an hour of waiting while our driver pleaded and then accepted his fate which involved much paperwork we were on the road again. Obviously we don't speak Khmer so we're not quite sure what was going on but we were definitely under the impression that this policeman meant business.... that is until his mobile phone went off and "Gangnam Style" could be heard almost half way up the street. At this point we just about managed to stifle our giggles for fear that mocking the police was also an offence!

Needless to say the great temples at Angkor are stunning and we would highly recommend anyone thinking of going to Cambodia do not miss them as they are other worldly (see photos at the end of this blog).
We also made another friend, a scottish lady called  Danni who got on really well with and together we enjoyed our last few Khmer meals and a much needed foot massage which was simply heavenly and with a beer thrown in for free was an absolute steal!

So after saying our goodbyes to Cambodia (sniff) we headed back to Bangkok for a couple of days before we flew to Australia which is where we are now.... hip to the hip to the hooray and hello Sydney!!!! Unfortunately we were a little jet lagged upon our arrival so our first day was spent trying to keep our eyes open until an acceptable time to fall asleep again. We managed it until about 8.30 and then flopped into bed (which had some of the same pillow cases as we have in Derby so it really did feel like a bed from home and only serves to prove the fact that Ikea really is everywhere!) And it's also slightly cold here at times, yes cold! Even though the day time temperatures are hovering around 20 degrees or so with the wind chill factor it does feel cooler. Although Rhiannon has had a great piece of news today in that HMRC does in fact owe her a rebate of nearly £900 so there will certainly be some warmer clothes purchased soon.

So on our first day in Australia, well our first day with brain power involved that is, we have opened our Australian bank account and researched mobile phone SIM cards but have realised when we were talking to the sales rep and he asked "Is it mainly for calls or texts or Internet that you need a phone? " we both realised almost simultaneously that we don't actually know anyone here yet and seeing as we're kinda together all the time anyway we don't really need to make phone calls. So maybe we'll leave it a bit before we get SIM cards.

The next purchase will most likely be our camper van and home for the next 12 months. Tomorrow we plan to get up at a reasonable time and venture into the centre of Sydney as so far we have only explored the suburb of Glebe where we are staying. Needless to say we shall update the blog soon and fingers crossed will have a van to tell you all about.
Missing you all and wishing you sunshine as we are horrified to hear of snow still forecast in the UK. Sending love as ever and Australian smiles : )   : )   : )   x x x x

Kampot to Battambang

Hello from Battambang (or Battenberg as Rhiannon has been calling it much to Alex's annoyance!)

When we last wrote our blog we were going to see the performance at the Kampot Traditional Music School to celebrate their 20th anniversary and wow what a performance that was! We had already made friends with the lead tutor there, a beautifully smiley lady who was overjoyed to hear that Rhiannon worked in performance and even happier to hear that we are British as the founder of the school is an English lady. She explained that the ancient dance form was almost lost during the Khmer Rouge reign of tyranny which added much gravitas to the experience as it would have truly been a tragedy if this had happened. The dances we saw ranged from graceful slow movement to kinetic monkey dancing (please forgive us but it was unlike anything we have ever seen before and very hard to describe!) A mixture of dance, physical theatre and story telling through movement that made for a very authentic Cambodian night out!

The following day we booked ourselves on a tour to visit the old, "abandoned" hill station at Bokor originally built by the French during the 1920's. Unfortunately it is no longer that abandoned as there is a massive programme of development across the area leaving many of the surrounding forests without their native elephants, tigers and gibbons. We had a great tour guide who helped to put this in context of the modern Cambodia and we met some great fellow travellers! Later that evening and as part of the tour we took a lazy boat ride up the river to see the sun setting. After a drop off at one of the guest houses our boat captain pushed the boat off from the jetty using his punt and unfortunately he misjudged the gap somewhat resulting in him flailing his arms before landing with an almighty splash in the river! At this point Alex threw the camera at Rhiannon before dragging him back on board.... my hero! All was ok though and the only thing damaged was his pride.

Later that evening we visited the Rusty Keyhole (what a name for a restaurant!) and Alex joined with some of our new traveller friends in devouring 1.5 kg of the best ribs in Cambodia! Rhiannon had a baked potato with cheese and her smile grew bigger with each mouthful.... some things will never change! We all met up the following night for more food and beers on the other side of the river and talked long into the night, so long in fact that we were the last to leave. Now for many who have visited such places you will know that it is often customary to leave ones shoes at the entrance, which we did. When it came to leaving Rhiannon looked down to find her shoes had disappeared! Nooooooooooo!!!!! Her beloved Birkenstock which she has adored for some 5 years now were simply nowhere to be seen. As she began hunting for them she spotted an almost identical pair and realised that the owner of these shoes must have made a wee error and taken hers by mistake. Oh well, nothing to be done except to take hers and thank goodness she was also a size 5. So somewhere there is a lady walking in Rhiannon's shoes and she is now walking in hers (which are considerably newer so I cannot help but feel Rhiannon got the better deal!)

We then visited S21 and the killing fields in Phnom Penh which is a very thought provoking and harrowing experience. It definitely is a must when visiting Cambodia as it really goes a long way in helping to appreciate the culture and present climate of the country but it cannot be described as a "fun day out". For those who have visited these places you will know what we are talking about and for those who haven't I'm afraid it is not something we can describe as there are no words to do the horrors justice.

All in all Phnom Penh was a pretty hectic place so we were glad to arrive in Battambang, a quiet river side town where we are staying at "Here be Dragons Guest House" - Sarey it feels like this place is made for you with it's giant dragon painted on the wall! Our hosts Jen and Ferguson are awesome to say the least and they hand make the best sausages we have ever eaten!

Yesterday (Saturday) we had a varied day out starting with a ride on the local bamboo train. At this point we would like to say that the term "train" must be taken as a loose term as it was more a flat bamboo square balanced upon two metal axels. The train hurtles along at about 20 mph and with nothing to hold on toot is quite a ride, exhilarating to say the least!

Then we claimed up a small mountain to see the killing cave at the top. Another very harrowing place where 10,000 innocents tragically lost their lives.

During the descent made up of 300 steps we met several monkeys... one of which took a mild disliking to Alex and decided to chase him but Alex was too quick for him. When we reached the bottom we were taken by our friendly guide DJ to a cave known locally as the bat cave. When dusk came we waited and then came one of the most amazing things we have ever seen, a natural phenomena which simply blew us away. Millions upon millions of bats all moving in synch, a symbiotic stream moving in unison flooding out of the mouth of the cave. We stood there for roughly 15 minutes and yet more bats came but sadly no Christian Bale : (

Tomorrow we head further North to Siem Reap and to the great Anchor Wat but for now we are planning on making the most of Here be Dragons and our new friends who have offered us both jobs if we ever want to live in Cambodia... very tempting but Oz is still calling us!

Loves loves loves x x x

The road to Kampot

And so the proper travel begins in earnest! As lovely as Koh Chang was it was a week of R and R and if we were under any illusions that Cambodia would be the same they have been swiftly shattered. We have already crossed from one side of the country to the other and it is as beautiful as it is beguiling, as chaotic as it is charismatic and the people are as friendly as they come!

We left Koh Chang after a final night at the old Riddim Shack, having shared a few too many beers and not enough of the beautiful barbecue Barracuda that David had laid on for us all. It was sad to leave Koh Chang but we clambered aboard the ferry and a few hours later we made the crossing into Cambodia. We were probably a bit too polite for our own good here, as two locals persisted in completing our paperworks they and then locating a taxi for us, all in all paying over the odds for both. Apparently though no trip to Cambodia is complete without getting ripped off once or twice, so we now have a badge of honour and a different mindset moving forward (probably for the best with Phnom Penh coming up!)

Our little friend from the border then proceeded to try and take us to the best guesthouse in town town and arrange our onward travel for the next day. It's fair to say we'd had enough of him by that stage so with a firm no and directions to the selected hotel of our choice, we bid him a not so fond farewell and booked in for a night in Koh Kong. To say Koh Kong is a one horse town would be doing single horses everywhere a disservice, but it did afford us our first glimpse of Cambodia proper. As we sat by the river watching the sunset over neighbouring Thailand it was hard not to smile at the constant clamour going on by the water. Our new favourite game was who could spot the most people on a single scooter, which turns out to be 5 (so far). We also had a much nicer Khmer gentleman approach and arrange our travel for half the price we were quoted by the shills at the border. To this we accepted and hit the hay pretty early.

The next morning we boarded our bus (picture people carrier instead of coach and your there), our only fellow passengers two lovely Khmer ladies who could hold a surprisingly lengthy conversation with no English but a big smile. Off we set along the Cambodian version of the M4, but with fewer potholes and worse overtaking, until about a third of the way there when the bus gave an almighty rumble and rolled to a halt, luckily in a small village that had a guy who knew how to fix it. We guessed it was either clutch or break by the flapping noise that was made when the driver was testing the pedals, but for peace of mind I maintain it must have been the clutch. Anyway, after 15 minutes we were on our way again.

Obviously one of us had not crossed their fingers hard enough as about an hour later a different but still terrifying noise brought the bus to a shuddering stop on the side of the road, this time in the middle of nowhere. As we hopped out it was plain to see one of the tyres was shredded to bits and had ripped the mudguard clean off. Step forward smiley Khmer lady no.1 who produced a rather large selection of knives from her bag, handed one to the driver who proceeded to cut off parts of the shredded tyre and then partially deflate it before giving the order to set off again! What followed was laugh or you'll cry 45 minute spell as the tyre knocked against the underside of the bus with every revolution, before disintegrating further and reducing us to a speed of no more than 20mph before a spare tyre could be found. We must say all this time, despite no common language our fellow travellers shared the joke with us, even pointing mockingly as a bus full of western tourists passed our stranded vehicle on the roadside!

The rest of our journey was pretty uneventful and we barely had to slow down at all after that, save for one moment. A rather large, mud splattered pig came ambling out of the roadside bushes and proceeded to amble (at its own pace!) across the road. So far we have learnt that people, chickens and cows respond to the beeping of a car horn but pigs however do not. Despite some rather rampant hooting of the horn this pig was taking its time and luckily our driver managed to apply the breaks before the front of our van was turned into a butchers window!

Never the less it was one way to see Cambodia, and it all seems a minor inconvenience as we lay in the hammocks at our guesthouse in the sleepy town of Kampot...the aptly named Blissful Guesthouse.

Later in the evening we paid a visit to the Kampot Traditional Arts School where we caught the children there practising Khmer dance and song. It was so beautiful, we were pretty disappointed we only saw 10 minutes worth, that was until the lady in charge told us that the next night was the big performance to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the school and we were welcome to come along! We were talking with the children and they asked us to take a poster back to our guesthouse. All in all a long day with a great ending, we'll let you know how the performance goes.... so glad to be getting our art/performance fix so soon in the trip!

Love to you all, speak soon and don't worry, we're doing fine xxx