New Zealand Caving

We discovered a new great hobby. Unfortunately, Bournemouth isn't really best known for its caves!!!

All geared up - we made our way via squeezes, abseiling, climbing and wading through some underwatrer streams into some spectacular caverns...

Adopting the age-old 'explorer' pose, we settled very nicely into our underworld adventure!!!

9 Things that make New Zealand Great (Apart from the obvious!)

Everybody goes on about the 'gorgeous mountains/lakes/rocks/countryside/', so here is an alternative list for things that make New Zealand a great place to visit....

1. Fish & Chips - Yes, the traditional British tucker is also a mainstay of the junk food diet in every town/city/village over in New Zealand, although the preparation and taste is very different to that in the UK. Instead of pre-preparing the fish and leaving it under the food warmers to stay hot (if not a little soggy), they freshly prepare your chosen bit of filleted fish with batter, then deep fry it in clean oil to give an altogether tastier meal... I am sure this is how we used to do it - so why not now?!!!!!
2. 'Real' sweeties (as my parents would call them) - home made liquorice, cinder toffee, aniseed balls... Hmmmmm....
3. New Zealand Wine - The wine trail in Marlborough (Blenheim) took us through the wine making process of a few choice vineyards, and the taste variations of the different grapes. We learnt a lot and got sozzled at the same time - see, we are actually doing positive character building stuff, too...!
4. Tip-Top Ice Cream - This is absolutely, most definitely, without a doubt the nicest New Zealand Ice Cream I have ever tasted. If there is some thing that New Zealand has an abundance of, it is dairies (OK, and sheep, mountains, dolphins, whales, volcanoes, glaciers, beaches, sand flies, rugby players etc. but they don't fit into this particular list), and the Tip Top dairy produces some fine Ice Cream. From Boysenberry to Kiwi Fruit, Gold Rush to Cookies and Cream, all tastes were catered for, and massive scoops dished out for a meager $1.50 per cone.
5. Very Helpful Tourist Information Centres - Located in most towns, these places will help you find the chapest tours, best food, and even the best place to illegally park up and camp over night. Only in New Zealand!!!
6. Pies - This country is Pie mad. But they do know how to make them. I have just realised that there is a lot of food and drink featuring in this list...
7. Great Bands - there are a plethora of great Kiwi bands, and we have 'discovered' some great new music whilst over here... Where's my MP3 player..?
8. Bizarre Radio Stations - Local radio stations playing really great music, but sounding like the shows are totally unplanned and broadcast from a cupboard in someone's house (and probably are!!!). Some of the 'back to back' music shows are blatantly someone with their (often very good) vinyl collection and one record player - alot of the time, there were long gaps between records while the DJ has obviously left the cupboard to make a cup of tea/coffee or have a 'smoko'.
9. Freedom Camping - Rocking up somewhere of your choice - often a beach or a mountain lake - and camping overnight... Truly 'wherever I lay my hat' stuff.

After a month in Kiwiland, we flew over to Oz. I wonder what is in store for us there...?

:o)

Photos - Laos river life ...

These were taken at the beginning of December in Vang Vieng, Laos. You can take a tube (the inner-tube from a truck tyre) and float 3-4km down the river, stopping for a beer or two at some of the local entrepreneur's stalls along the way...

Not surprisingly - a big smile on our faces!!!

(Above) Dam, Lou, and Pi - some local girls who lived near the Organic farm we stayed at - we met them while they were diving into the current from the banks of the river, and ended up learning songs and making new songs up with them...

A local boy, who earned a living by meeting the tourist tubers a little from the end of the tube trip and helping push them onto the banks of the river. Actually, they really only pushed you a little, then caught a ride back home, but for a few Laos Riel, you couldn't say no!!!

Photos old...

This collection of photos is from the past few months - some from Cambodia, some from Vietnam, some from Laos. I have decided to put in a few 'Cultural' photos, just to prove that we are seeing some of the sights as well...

Halong Bay (Vietnam) boat trip - above, and below, a fresh fish seller who pulled up alongside the boat we were travelling - we could buy fresh prawns, squid, and even octopus - straight from the ocean, and the staff on the boat offered to cook whatever we bought... Delicious!

(Above) A street seller in Vientiane - we bought one of her rice steamer baskets from her - ideal for preparing the very tasty sticky rice.

Some friends we made at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. These monks wanted to practice english, and would spend their time befriending tourists, and talking about just about anything.

A change from the words... PICTURES!

These photos were taken over the xmas period and the following two weeks using our new digital camera. Sadly, it broke shortly after and we haven't been able to take any since, but it was fun while it lasted!!!

This was taken on a beach in Koh Lanta - we were the only people on the beach at the time, and it was absolutely idyllic...

This was one of the many games of cards we played whilst whiling the hours in a bar or cafe - the guy on the right was the owner of the bar, and was trying to teach us how to play Thai Rummy. Sadly, the lack of ability to speak Thai, and the much alcohol drunk proved too much, and we came away none the wiser..!


On our way diving... Thailand has some awesome dive spots, and as you can see from the water (below), there was loads to see...





After a days hard elephant trekking, the elephant mistook me for food... I was pretty glad he had brushed his teeth just before this photo was taken...

Chilled... :o)

Meine Auto ist Kaput.

That was German for 'we are stuck in a town called Westport on the western coast of New Zealand's South Island due to the fact that our Zuzuki Centrale SW has finally given up all hope of going anywhere and broken down. Thankfully we managed to time our breakdown near civilisation, and wehave all the modern amenities (pub, cheap beer etc) to keep us going until we get a replacement.'
Isn't my german gut, ya?

Strange days....

Well, I must admit we are finding it difficult to find our feet in this new world...
It is so clean!!! It is so western!!! It is so EXPENSIVE!!!!
We really thought we were going to be back to more luxury accommodation, cleaner toilets and generally back to a more 'normal' familiar environment when we got to New Zealand, but the difference in costs between here and Asia are really outstanding, so to combat the cash hemorrhage we have down graded our accommodation to the cheapest we can find - first a rusty old oil leaking mini van (an upgrade from our originally booked rusty old station-wagon estate car!) for the North Island, and then 'freedom camping' in a leaky borrowed tent (thankyou again and again and again, Jonathan and Sarah in Blenheim!) from the back of a rusty backfiring station-wagon. Bring back squat toilets and the more traditional four bamboo walls and a thatched roof, I say!!!
Never ones to be put off, we are now much more acquainted with the 'great outdoors', and despite sneezing a bit, having to shave in McDonalds toilets, and washing 'pits and bits' in public lavs, what a country to get closer to nature!!! It is SPECTACULAR! Mountains, glaciers, crystal clear lakes, huge pine forests, rivers and streams everywhere you look, waterfalls, not to mention the wildlife - eagles, possums, seals, WHALES, DOLPHINS!!!
Just incredible.

New Zealand's great natural and unspoiled beauty aside, I am beginning to get the impression that I am turning into my dad. No, I am not growing a beard as yet, nor am I a whiz at making clothes, cooking great meals or drinking hierbas, but do find myself from time to time grumbling at things that I am finding increasingly ridiculous - and coming back to a modern western culture, I have plenty of ammunition...
For example, MTV fashions - are they getting more and more ridiculous, or am I just getting old? Another prime example is the use of many words to describe something when only one more 'traditional' word could do - in a supermarket, next to the tills we noticed a bench with a large green sign above it with posh white lettering informing the passer-by that it was a 'customer resting station'. I just don't get it. Am I getting old..?

Its been so long...

But we're still going!!! Well, after a brief haitus from blogging (we were having far too nice a time to spend any time in an internet cafe), you'll be glad(?) to know that I am back and ready to bore you all with a few more revalations regarding our previous THREE months on the road - from Vietnam to New Zealand and everywhere in between...
Well, to keep things short, I'll list a few of the highlights of the past few months - anything too wordy and I'll get just as bored as you, and none of us will be happy:

Vietnam:
This place is awesome - from a tourist point of view they have done a great job of promoting the progressiveness of a communist country - free enterprise for private businesses was allowed (presumably with some restrictions!) in the mid-nineties, and now the tourist business is booming.
Vietnam was the first country where we took advantage of tour operaters, as we had a limited timescale due to our plans to meet friends over xmas and new year in Thailand, so to make sure we saw all the sights we wanted to see, we got involved in some organised tours to see places like the Mekong Delta; Cu-Chi Tunnels (the vast network of underground tunnels used by the VietCong in the war), the massive sand dunes and rocky canyons in Mui-Ne; Halong Bay; and to get us from one end of the country to another relativly quickly. Whilst most of the tours were great (and one or two not so great!), you do tend to feel like you are hearded about like cattle - told when and where to eat, to get on and off the buses, breathe, smile, enjoy yourself etc... Very different feeling to the kind of freedom we have been so accustomed to, but a neccassary evil all the same.
The lasting impression of Vietnam was the food - certainly a contender for the best in the region, with over 550 different original Vietnamese dishes and influences from China, Thailand, Cambodia and of course France, the range of flavours was incredible, and (being an Asian country) the use of fresh herbs and ingrediants made the taste so much better. It would certainly be a shame to think that we will never taste the traditional breakfast 'Bo-Pho' (beef noodle soup) again... So, that is another country on the 'be back to visit list' then!!!

Laos has the dubious 'privilege' of being the most bombed country on earth. Most of the eastern border towns (and much of the center towns, too) were bombed by the US Air Force to stop the passage of the North Vietnamese travelling south during the Vietnam war. This, combined with the additional bombs that were dropped by the pilots returning from sorties within Vietnam itself to ensure that the remaining fuel would get them back to the air bases in Thailand, makes for a very sad sight indeed, as you cross from Vietnam into the pock marked, crater-ridden land in the east into the capital Vientiane.
The funny thing is that the people of Laos are in general, also the most friendly and welcoming of all those we have met in South East Asia. It certainly has the most relaxed attitude in the region, too, with the border control barely looking up from their game of Boules to stamp the visa on arrival. In fact, we even had to try hard to persuade a tuk-tuk driver to take us into town from the bus station when we arrived in the capital - usually you can't move in an Asian city with out the beeping of horns or calling of a tuk-tuk to get the attention of a passing westerner!!!
Laos is definately a country where you need more time to explore, relax and wind-down from life on the road - and definately somewhere where you feel the need to help out.
Whether it will be the same next time we visit remains to be seen, but there isn't a feeling that they have cottoned on to making a quick buck from visiting tourists, which makes the whole experience even more worthwhile...
Lasting impression of Laos..? Feeling so welcome & feeling so relaaaaxed...

Xmas and New Year went really quickly, although we spent more time on the island of Ko Lanta in Thailand than we have anywhere else on this trip - a whopping 1 month with some great Thai friends we met in Ko-Tao way back in July, some new friends we met on the island, partying, diving and being joined by some very old friends (I mean in time, not in age!!!) for New year and the following two weeks in January.
It was great to meet up with Corey, Kerry, Stuart and Sarah and see some familiar faces for a change - it really brought home the length of time we have been away from our friends, family and England, and although it was a really brief 'holiday' with them it was a wonderful and special time to see them in 'our' environment...

Leaving Asia through Singapore and seeing My Uncle Stuart and Auntie Chantal was lovely, and we had a taste of 'normality' (and great home cooked food!) after our month in a bamboo beach side hut... Enought time to clean ourselves properly in a HOT shower, sleep in a lovely comfortable bed and, more importantly, spend some time with famliy, before heading out of Asia and into New Zealand.