Stockport, United Kingdom

A last blog hopefully summing up our travels over the last year.

We had high expectations of our trip and overall these expectations were met, not exceeded as they were so high, but definitely met. We started out with a rough plan and that plan, I believe, worked very well indeed. We had two five month spells away either side of Christmas and we had some fixed events, like flight dates and dates when we were due in some cities. We also had star things that we both wanted to see, natural and man made wonders of the world. But there was also a good deal of flexibility in our travels and that allowed us to linger or hasten away from places, depending on how we were enjoying ourselves. Yes our main focus was to be selfish and enjoy ourselves as much as possible. We had lots of decisions to be made on the hoof, decisions such as where to go, how to get there, where to stay and for how long. We had to discuss and carry out research, the internet and local tourist information were invaluable and we either booked ahead or if we had time checked out accomodation as we arrived.

Our budget dictated much of what we did. We could not afford to act as tourists or five star holidaymakers, and early on in our trip we realised that we would not be able to do everything, the countries that we visited were too vast and our funds were far from bottomless. Much of our budget was spent on digs and we were the happiest in places with a good standard and we had some low points when the accommodation was poor, especially when our digs were unclean. It suited us, as we found out, to book places with cooking facilities. This not only helped on the budget, eating for a small fraction of an eat-out price, but allowed us to eat healthy food. Call me sad but I kept a weekly check on our spending and internet banking allowed us to keep control of our funds. We had to break some budgets for star items, such as whale watching, trips to Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef, they had to be done. We were both lucky and unlucky, being in town at the right or wrong time. We had luck on many occasions, for example doing a beach walk in Scrborough we stumbled across a surf competition and we really saw how surfing can be done. In Vancouver we were intrigued by a few hundred flag waving and excited Japanese people. Being nosy we stayed with them to see a frail, minute and gracious Emperor of Japan leave the Convention Centre, if we had been very pushy we might have been on the evening news, but we were not as excited as the rest of the crowd and were clearly the wrong race.

It is very difficult to evaluate what we enjoyed most in our travels. On our drive back from the Great Ocean Road near Melbourne we were discussing how magnificent the sights were compared with others we had seen in Canada and the US. We started listing wonderful sights and easily got to twenty before concluding that it was impossible to rate and rank what we had seen. As for man-made wonders we concluded that the cities we visited qualified. We loved Vancouver, San Francisco and Melbourne. We very much liked Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Singapore, Sydney, Perth, Quebec, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston and Washington. We disliked Toronto New York and Los Angeles. Within the cities there were many wonders such as the magnificent Islamic Art Centre in Kuala Lumpur. We would not have known that Australia is such a great country without going and seeing for oursleves. We would not have known that the US (let us be kind) does not suit us (I could have said much of it is a shit hole and the people are scary) without seeing for ourselves, although we loved our time in our RV, that was wonderful. Meeting Emily and Jenny in Las Vegas for Jenny's birthday late last year was magic for me and Liz for so many reasons. Las Vegas was not included in my city list above as it cannot be classified, Las Vegas is Las Vegas, outside the strip you are either in an affluent area or safe gated community or your life is in danger

What has all this travelling done for me and Liz? If we had not done our trip, after discussing it for years before going, we would have always regretted it. We are definitely a year older, but probably not that much wiser. I hope that the travelling has made us braver and more flexible people. We would not have missed any of the experiences we had, good and bad. Having now been to many of the locations described in books or shown on tv and on films we can relate in a much more meaningful way to what is going on. We missed home, friends and family dreadfully, but will we be able to settle back home or will we get itchy feet? I know that it is great to be home seeing everyone and we cannot afford to be rootless, so we will be diving back in to life at home. In many ways nothing changes, after watching England in the world cup last night and seeing yet another England goalkeeping howler, we know that we are definitely home.

Thanks so much for reading and contributing to our blog, we have loved hearing from you. Love Liz and Andy.

Scarborough, Australia

Hi all, this is a sad last post from Australia.

We have been in Scarborough for over a week now, spending some time in Perth and bizarrely in winter, spending some days on the beach. Scarborough is in an early winter quiet season, except for surfers who are relentless in their quest for the perfect wave, they need to be very patient. This strip of coast, being west facing onto the Indian Ocean is known as the Sunset Coast. We went down to the beach to watch a sunset and were richly rewarded. First we saw a pair of dolphins lazily looping just out of reach of the surfers. Then the natural light show, as the setting sun lit the clouds in a darkening sky was spectacular. As we left the beach in the near dark the surfers were still out there seeking wave performance perfection.

Liz and I did our usual summary of likes and dislikes of Australia, it was 95% positive about this great country. We have loved many things but some items such as the wonderful natural environment and the mostly excellent built environment were high on our list. The people are mostly lovely, big hearted and friendly, with that direct no-nonsense Aussie humour. The outdoors is very important here, the parks have barbeques free to use, they are immaculate, cleaned after use and maintained by the local authorities, no hint of vandalism or missuse. Our 5% negatives were Bowden old chestnuts I am afraid. I dislike (how could you like?) paying 10 dollars (6 pounds) for a pint of beer. Liz's natural distrust of snakes was supported by a quote in a local newspaper...." only 190 of the world's 2000 species of snake are venomous but 135 live in Australia." There is much British influence here but we have loved the differences. We have learned new words, Hooning (driving fast like a lunatic, doing skids), Pokies (slot machines), Bogans (riff raff), Rort (financial wrong doing), are just a few. We have learned new things, for example bank notes are plastic, they look and feel like paper but are a top quality polymer product. We have learned that Australia has problems that we do not have. Trade is mainly with far away Asian neighbours, China is consuming many of the natural resources. The integration of the Aboriginal people with western society has been a disaster for the Aboriginal people, and remains a very very difficult problem.

So (we can't believe it) we are coming home this week and will arrive bleary eyed on Friday. We are definitely looking forward to being home and particularly looking forward to seeing everyone. We have missed everything that we take for granted at home and if we have learned anything it is to appreciate what we have. I intend to do one more summary blog when we get back, but other than that my blogging days are coming to an end, as this year's travels are. Love to all from Liz and Andy.

Perth, Australia

Hi all, another post here from your Australia correspondent.

We came to Perth with high hopes of a great city and it has been nothing like we expected. Perth is quite a small city, we have stayed in the city centre and we have walked most of its sedate and mostly refined streets. It is a laid back city, non of the normal big city hustle we had expected, the roads for example are quiet, where is all that road rage? There is a high rise central business district (CBD as it gets over here) and most buildings are modern, with the odd old building like the convict built magnificent brick town hall, 140 years old. The world class elevated Kings Park has great views over the Swan River that dominates the city. The river narrows at three points as it flows through the city and bridges span it at these points. The river widens thereafter and is approximately two miles wide at one point, so there is lots of quietly flowing blue water on view. I think the relaxed nature of people here is partly due to the isolation of Perth from everywhere. There are towns around, we went to Fremantle and were unimpressed, in admittedly grotty weather, by this industrial and rather scruffy town. But there are no significant cities for thousands of miles and therefore Perth has an isolated feel. With this isolation comes resentment of the east, for example on the news last night a state minister was moaning that the burden of dealing with asylum seekers (a hot topic here, the opposition leader in an obvious grab for votes despicably claiming that he would return desperate boat people home) fell on western Australia. Sporting rivalries are fierce when the west takes on the east, it is not just the Poms that are the enemy. 

The umbilical cord of the UK has started to tighten as our time here comes to an end. We are reminded of home all the time. It has surprised me here that Australians are genuinely fond of English people, I had thought that sporting rivalries would continue after we (traditionally) lose, but no. They show and presumably enjoy our awful tv shows, I only need mention the Vicar of Dibly. An unwanted reminder of home arrived the other day in the rather tubby form of Robbie Fowler. He is eeking out the end of his career with Perth Storm, (heard of them?) a previously great goalscorer whose career has gone down hill relentlessly, confirmed when a certain Kevin Keegan wasted millions of City's money on Robbie and that other failing lightweight scouser Steve McManaman. Phew I feel better after that. 

Time has played a trick on us. If we were at the start of a two week holiday we would have ages to see and do things. With two weeks left of our travels we feel as if we have little time left. We have booked into a (fingers crossed) lovely looking place in a small town or suburb of Perth called Scarborough, you can guess where the inspiration for that name came from. However the good news for us is that this Scarborough is nowhere near Yorkshire, it is a lovely beach town on the Indian Ocean. We will try and fight the clawing gravity of time and have fun. We will let you know how we get on, Love Liz and Andy.

Port Douglas, Australia

Hi all, we hope you are all well.

We reluctantly left North Queensland, tears in our eyes, it was worth leaving we have been busy. We took a flight direct to Ayers Rock and after a short bus journey arrived at Ayers Rock Village, a purpose built mini village with five hotels, set up just to service visitors to the rock, now called Uluru. Our tour first took us to Kata Tjuta, formerly called the Olgas, a monumental projecting rock formation with 36 massive irregular shaped rock projections that the Aboriginals see as heads. It was great to get out and take a walk up to those magnificent natural structures. We then headed to Uluru to see the changes of colours in the rock at sunset. We took photos over a half hour or so period and I hope the camera captured the changes of colour. At one point the rock appeard to me to be lit from within, as it throbbed with a red glow. We did the same thing the next day, to see the affect of the sun on Uluru at sunrise. Uluru is not a regular shaped rock projection, as we got close on a walking tour we could see that it was highly irregular with caves, gouges and a swooping profile, massive when viewed from the base. Inevitably the Aboriginals interpreted the rock formations to suit their fables and fairy stories (my wording). We loved and were wowed by our visit there but it was not all good news.

Bush flies dog your every movement, they are a complete nuisance. We  were told they were harmless but I am not sure this is true. They would drive any sane person mad within days, and we saw them cause physical harm. We were told they alight on your face in search of moisture, so your mouth and eyes are attractive to them, nice. Our driver was vulnerable in the coach as he was commenting on all things Australia. A fly went down his ear and was reluctant to come out for three or so minutes, he drove and sort of kept up the commentary during this ordeal. He had it even worse the next day as he swallowed one, it did not emerge. Camels were introduced into Australia to help with some donkey (I mean camel) work. There are now between one and one and a half million of them, living wild in the bush. After seeing lots of their (how can I put this politely) droppings I was keen to see some but, due to the vast spaces in the outback, we didn't see one. Australian words like outback, bush, red centre, drover and billabong all make sense to us after being there. A month ago there had been record rainfall and the desert was comparatively green, but the predominant colour there is red dust, it makes for a weird and surreal landscape. The reds and browns in the natural environment were also everywhere in abundant Aboriginal art works.

Kata Tjuta, Mount Conway, that we saw from a distance and Kings Canyon, that we saw from very close up, are all as magnificent but less well known than Uluru and we both agree they are all world class sights that we feel lucky to have seen. We all need luck in this life and we got that in Alice Springs, where after an overnight stop we left yesterday for Perth. It was the end of an annual two month locust plague, we saw some dead ones, they would have been in our hair, eyes, face and food a couple of weeks ago, so bush flies might not be too bad after all. I will try and post some photos I hope they do justice to our great visit to the vast expanse of the deserts in Australia's Northern Territories. We  are here in Australia,  for another three weeks or so in the Perth area and we will let you know how we get on. Love Liz and Andy.           

Trinity Beach, Australia

Hi all, we hope everyone at home is well. 

We are happily stuck here on these lovely beaches north of Cairns, we are in paradise. We reluctantly left Port Douglas, it is a classy town whose only rationale is tourism, but what a location with twin attractions of the Great Barrier Reef and the wonderful rainforest, not to mention all the amazing beaches with all sunshine (and rainfall, there is plenty of rain) in the tropics. We headed back to Trinity Beach, and have had really tough decisions to make for the last week or so, decisions such as; should we swim on the beach or in the pool? Probably to cater for the tourist trade everything around here is made easy. A coach picked us up and dropped us off, door to door. Normally our travelling days are a little hectic, but not here, we also got the full Aussie treatment. Not untypically our coach driver was a cross between a stand up comedy act and a tour guide, aren't drivers usually grumpy?

Our driver told us some interesting and quirky statistics about the dangers of being in Australia. The three twin threats of snakes sharks and crocodiles account for on average three fatalities a year. So all those warning signs and public information are worthwhile. To put that threat in perspective however nine people a year are killed by falling coconuts, a lesser publicised but statistically three times more serious threat. The Australian news always has items about the UK and with the election at home being so exciting (but we were still glad to miss it) it has been well covered here. The news items are broad brush however and they always have an Aussie bias. For example the flights affected by the volcano ash are Aussie flights and the concerns are to Australian travellers. The sports news features the English Premier League prominently and I have learned while being here that Tim Cahill is the best player in the world and can almost guarantee an Aussie win in the upcoming World Cup, hmmmm.

We are soon to be winkled off our lovely beaches, there are sure to be tears and tantrums. Next monday we fly to Ayers Rock for an eye wateringly expensive three day tour of Uluru and surrounds, we will be proper tourists. We then have three weeks in the Perth area and amazingly (how did that happen?) our trip will come to an end, there will be mixed emotions then for sure. We will let you know how we get on, Love Liz and Andy.    

Port Douglas, Australia

Hi all, g'day from Oz, we hope all is well with everyone.

We have spent the last week in lovely Port Douglas and we did get to see more of the local wildlife in the rainforest. We took a sedate trip on a paddle steamer up the creek spotting crocodiles. It reminded me of the film The African Queen, with dense mangrove trees hemming us in, the inlet getting increasingly narrow, a crocodile heaven. We saw four, the largest about four metres long, quite a sight. I then had an eco day in the Daintree rainforest, getting very close to nature, hugging trees and everything. We saw snakes and Cassowaries, the third largest bird in the world. We saw kingfishers and insects and lots more crocodlies. The tour I went on had an eco guide pointing out all sorts of natural wonders, like a strangler tree that literally strangles a host tree over a period of fifty or so years until only the strangler tree remains, a slow demise for the unfortunate host tree. The competition among the rainforest growth is for light and the competition is fierce, Darwinian survival of the fittest. There is an over-supply of rain here, and together with the heat and humidity it creates massive diversity of growth in plants, trees and of course animals and insects, I was bitten mercilessly. It is impossible to walk off piste in a rainforest, so walkways and viewing platforms have been provided. Our tour went off piste a little, we would not have dared to do it without an experienced guide.

The news here, just like at home with very similar concerns centres with elections in the next year on politics. Australia appears to have done well in surviving the world economic turmoil, the current labour government take all the credit. They have introduced economic stimulus packages, but just like any government spending it has been spent poorly. The opposition have had easy targets on money wasted in improving schools (schools that don't need it getting grants and those in desperate need getting nothing for example) and insulating homes (poor workmanship, accounting fraud, house fires from inept installations). More interestingly there are gems of items just like Gordon's gaffe and that wonderful memo for the Pope's visit that made my day. We have here the state minister who was forced to resign after having an affair with an opposition MP and abusing his privileges as a minister to conduct the affair. He may have got away with it but he had a previous history of inappropriate behaviour. I was thrilled to discover that he had been reported previously for chair sniffing. Apparently when a female colleague got up from her chair he sniffed it and rolled on the floor in feigned ecstacy. It got better as old tv footage showed him apologizing for his behaviour, which also included a bra strap snapping incident, he was in tears, absolutely priceless. So you see the news is just like at home, with Oz variations.

We got down to some serious organization of what we are going to do for the rest of our trip. We have decided to stay in North Queensland for the next two weeks, you would also if you saw the beaches here, we love them. Then we are making our way east via Ayers Rock, which is now called Uluru apparently, for an expensive (ouch) three days tour of the rock and surrounds. For the last three weeks of our time here, we will be in and around Perth, before flying home in mid June. We will let you know how we get on, love Liz and Andy.       

Port Douglas, Australia

Hi all, we hope everyone is well.

We have been in Port Douglas for nearly a week now, it is a great place to calm right down. Port Douglas is a small affluent classy (read expensive) town, that caters for Australians who want even more sun than they get further south. Trinity Beach was a great stop for us but it was a little quiet, Port Douglas has a lot more going on. For such a small town, about half the size of Hazel Grove, there are dozens of expensive restaurants, confirming Australians' love affair with food and remarkably even reasonably priced beer. The main beach here is called Four Mile Beach, no shortage of space on it I can tell you, four miles of clean generous sand, cloud covered rainforest mountains in the near distance, great for our regular walks. It is off season here and our digs are half price, a great standard and importantly within our budget. You have experienced fall out from the Iceland volcano at home and they have extreme weather here, typhoons are regular, golf ball sized hail stones destroy unlucky cars, we are in the tropics here.

Towns and villages on the Coral Sea coast are hemmed in by tropical rainforests that are well protected by this environmentally conscious country. The vegetation in the tropics is truly amazing, especially where it has been tamed in parks and gardens. The growth of trees, shrubs and flowers are as exotic as the Great Barrier Reef corals below the ocean. Tropical birds chatter and bicker constantly, electric blue butterflies flit around, the diversity of creatures is massive. In Cairns we came across quite a few Aboriginal people, they appear to be another species, separate from mainstream Australian life. In Canada we came across the guilt that Canadians have over what they call First Nation people. Americans have no guilt, they do not know the meaning of the word. Australians have that guilt. Clearly the Aboriginal people were exploited originally and then discriminated against for many decades. In the politically correct world of today Australians want to celebrate the culture and traditions of these people, and there are some aboriginal people working in the tourism industry, but they appear not to have fully integrated into society. We saw quite a few Aboriginal people in and around Cairns (I think Port Douglas is too expensive for them) but we have not seen any in meaningful employment. On reading about a racially motivated crime in Alice Springs the article said that 80% of prison inmates were Aboriginal people, not a healthy statistic.

We have been lazy in Port Douglas so far, enjoying this lovely town, so we are staying for another week. The proximity of the rainforest has been niggling at me and we have a couple of events on, a crocodile spotting river cruise later today and I am doing a rainforest trip on my own later in the week. Liz and the inhabitants of rainforests do not get on very well together. We will let you know how we get on. Love to all from Liz and Andy.          

Trinity Beach, Australia

Hi all, we hope you are all well and surviving the volcanic activity, Iceland seems to have been in the news for all the wrong reasons for a year or so, we may not even be able to get home at this rate.

It seemed when we got to Cairns that we were in a different country, we were definitely in the tropics. The temperature and humidity had notched well up and the pace of everything slowed down by comparison with a rather hectic Sydney. We can stroll across streets instead of waiting impatiently for our opportunity and dashing over with Sydney commuters. Cairns is low rise and has a small city centre but it sprawls out over a wide area. The beach at Cairns is poor, just a mud flat really, but the beaches north of the city are picture perfect. The ocean here, the Coral Sea is mostly calm, being partly sheltered from open waters by the Great Barrier Reef. The warnings for swimmers in the ocean are for stinger jellyfish and estuary crocodiles, not for strong currents as on the other beaches we have been on. We had seen lots of evidence of backpacking in Australia with hostels and travel centres, in Cairns the provision for backpackers is massive.

There are many hostels, most of them cheap and cheerful looking, we did not look too close. There are lots of activities for young people, of dare devil type, anything that you can leap out of or go at great speed on land or sea is provided. Every night is party night and offers of cheap food and beer are everywhere. How do these young people afford their pleasures? Of course the great attraction here is the Great Barrier Reef and we joined mostly young people for a day trip that we will remember for all our lives.

It took an hour and a half on our fast boat to get out to the outer reef and there were a number of typically friendly Aussie instructors on board giving talks and being instructive and friendly. We snorkelled for an hour or so and saw all the weird and wonderful surreal coral life, with technicolour fish and other sea life. The boats attract fish by feeding them and there are some "tame" ones that are expected, like old friends. We swam with them and felt in touch with this unusual under water world. We spent a full day on the reef at a couple of locations and got a great feel for this world class natural wonder.

We have spent most of the last week at the beautiful Trinity Beach, about ten miles north of Cairns. Imagine a perfect crescent shaped beach with palm trees and perfect golden sand and that describes Trinity Beach, it has not been difficult staying there. It is however a little quiet and we are going to try Port Douglas and see what that is like, it is about another hour or so drive north of Cairns. We will let you know how we get on, love Andy and Liz.

Sydney, Australia

Hi all, greetings from Sydney. We enjoyed our road journey to Sydney and we have had a great week here.

There are many things that make us feel right at home here in Oz. We get cups of tea easily. We drive on the right (left) side of the road. They spell words like harbour and labour correctly. They holiday in tents and caravans just like us, rather than massive RV's like the US. In fact we compare Australia a lot with the US and Canada, Australia wins every time for us. The quality of the built environment here is excellent, in the US it was often tatty, for example pavements in the US were often cinder tracks, here there are excellent pavements. There are wonderful parks and trails here to follow, a credit to the Australian way of life. The beaches here are amazing, think perfect sand, and all matters concerned with the beach are taken extremely seriously. We drove past a 90 miles beach on our way here, it was amazing all the way. Yet we know we are overseas. We thought that we had stayed in a town that had taken the best aboriginal name when we stayed for a night in Wollongong, but we were wrong. A suburb of Sydney, and it is very nice, is called Woolloomooloo, count the o's in that! There is an out of control colony of flying foxes (think big bats) in the wonderful Botanical Gardens here, they have ousted the tropical birds who chatter and squawk from many of the trees. This is an affluent country, we have seen lots of positive signs. Food has become an obsession here and normally top quality food, eating out is part of everyday life. As a negative sign of affluence obesity is a huge (sorry) problem here, we are in Oz and there are lots of people keeping fit, but there are lots and lots of overweight people. We are on the same wavelength as most people, we share a similar outlook to most Australians. This is a huge country though and there is a sub-class (let's call them) of people who live in the sticks, hillbilly types who do not shave or use much soap, we are not on their wavelength.  

On the way here from Melbourne, we stayed in three overnight places and all three were great stops, the common theme was they were on the coast and the beaches were amazing. We drove into Sydney and met the chap whose apartment we have rented, the location is fantastic overlooking Hyde Park in the middle of the city. Of course we have done all the obvious things, a tour of the Opera House, a walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge, a ferry ride in the harbour. We also (natch) went to Bondi and after witnessing a minor incident and the aftermath of a major incident, know that life guards are essential. Yes we went for a swim and yes the waves were powerful, yes we stayed between the flags (I am a coward) and no we did not need saving. We have done Sydney to death, we went to Manley for the day and contrasted the magnificent harbour with the magnificent ocean. Yesterday we took the train to the Blue Mountains and were wowed by the sights when we took a cliff edge walk that had views that stretched forever of forests, waterfalls, mountains and valleys that rivaled the views that we saw at the Grand Canyon, that is some compliment. So a big thumbs up for Sydney, we like it very much, although our favourite city here is still Melbourne.

Our main must do activity while here in Australia, is to spend some time on the northern beaches and of course to see the Great Barrier Reef. To make sure we get this done, and recognizing that by road or rail we might not get far enough north due to the massive distances involved, we are taking a flight to Cairns tomorrow. We are in backpacking territory here and we believe that it intensifies up there, so from two very old backpackers we will let you know how we get on. Love from liz and Andy.

Apollo Bay, Australia

Hi all, g'day from Oz and we hope you are all as bonza as we are (I have now run out of all local lingo).

We loved Melbourne as a city, it has all the ingredients of a successful world class city and certainly passes the "would we live here" test. There are very few of the social problems that we have come across in many of the cities we have visited. It has fantastic public parks and other impressive public spaces, art and enough sporting stadia even to satisfy sports mad Aussies. There is definitely a British feel to the city, in the parks and architecture, confirmed when we felt chilly at times. Melbourne surrounds are incredible and beautiful also, dominated by the magnificent Port Phillip Bay. Cousin Phill took us on an idylic day out to Phillip Island and we proved how middle aged we are when we were all charmed by the natural evening event of a penguin parade, where penguins huddled in safe groups dare themselves to cross a dangerous beach to reach the sanctuary of their nests.

There is a definite British type of experience we are having, some variable autumn Melbourne weather for example has tested our packing. In other ways our experiences are very Australian, where else would we see koalas, kangeroos and wallabies in the wild? We have been on the Great Ocean Road for a couple of days, a must-do experience for any visitor to Melbourne. In particular there is a twenty mile stretch of ocean where the elements, not least the crashing waves, have sculptured the majestic limestone cliffs into incredible shapes, many wonderful sights. Paths and visitor information give great access and information about these natural wonders and (bloody hell) they are free! Not everything in Australia is free or cheap, partly due to the pound's exchange rate going rapidly south we have found things quite expensive. My benchmark consumer product is of course a pint of beer, and there are good beers here, but what a price. Six pounds a pint was the most I have paid so far, and never less than four pounds fifty, our budget is under pressure and I have taken the last ditch and drastic decision to go tee total for a while, what a sacrifice.

Our plans are to get Phill's car, an old (sorry Phill I mean classic) Alfa Romeo back to him tomorrow, have one last night (sob) in Melbourne and then we have a four day drive to Sydney, followed by a week in that city. We will let you know how we get on, love Liz and Andy.     

North Melbourne, Australia

Hi all, great to hear from everyone, we are in Oz at last and we love it here.

It was weird to get here after a seven and a half hour flight, with Australia being another three hours ahead of KL. Our emotions were mixed with a fair amount of travel fatigue and elation to be here, blended with the pleasant surprise of being met in the early hours by my long lost cousin Phill, formerly called Jesus by our family after he turned up at our house once looking like (you guessed it) Jesus. Our first impressions of Melbourne were positive and they have remained so during this week. If you can judge a successful city by how it deals with tourism and transportation, Melbourne is a first class city. Tourist information and resources are excellent and the integrated (hear that word Manchester) transport system is highly impressive, we have used it extensively to buzz around. There is so much going on in Melbourne. It is the Formula One Grand Prix this weekend and by being pushy and persistent me and Liz walked two thirds of the circuit, before being turfed off by a security guard. Why were the two of us, who don't give a stuff about Formula One, like two excited and naughty children walking round the circuit? There is a fashion event, food and drink festival, comedy festival, flower festival and lots of arts and cultural events goings on, how will the city keep that lot going?

We have done out of town events, such as yesterday when Phill took us, in his classic Jaguar car, round the classy Mornington Peninsular, where we realised the enormity of Port Phillip Bay, that is (look on a map, why did I not know this before coming here?) a huge bay of 50 miles circumference, dramatic seas, cliffs and beaches, crazy surfers risking their lives, I suppose we are in Oz. On another day Phill took us to an animal sunctuary to see the diversity of Australia's animal life, lots of beasts that we had never even heard of. We drove back through areas that were devastated last year by forest fires, you did not want to be near that event.

When we visit cities Liz often accuses me of doing things too quickly, being greedy I suppose and seeing everything in a rush. Often in the last day or so we have felt that we have done everything there is to do, that will not happen here, there is too much. When we leave Melbourne next Monday we are going to borrow one of Phill's fleet of cars (yes he is that petrol head type of person) and see one of Australia's natural wonders the great ocean road at our pace, rather than belting round on a one day bus tour. We have lots to do in the meantime, I am keen to do a tour of the MCG (think cricket) and there are gardens, architecture, areas of interest, nature etc etc. how will we do it all? We will let you know how we get on. Love from Liz and Andy.

Clark, Philippines

Hi all, we are doing a few days stuttering around really in order to catch a flight to Melbourne from Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, mentally we are already there we just have to catch a few flights and actually get there.

For the last week we pretty much carried on in holiday/relaxed (ok lazy) mode and thoroughly enjoyed our last week on Mactan island near Cebu. We talked to lots of people there, easy to do with friendly Philippino people, they were almost but not quite our friends, with a heavy heart we left that lovely restful place. Me and Liz did a brainstorm exercise yesterday about what we liked and disliked about the Philippines. The result was 60-40 positive, a similar exercise in the United States was 80-20 negative. Here are some quick reflections on what we have found here.

It was great to see Rick's lifestyle and to meet up with his lovely immediate and extended family. Rick introduced us to lots of local fruits, most of them we have never come across before. The country is blessed with a fantastic natural environment, including of course the wide variety of fruits, that is in stark contrast to much of the extremely shabby built environment. Very few roads have pavements and those in the cities are poorly constructed, often having service pipes crossing them above pavement level. Crossing roads looks impossible until you try it and it can be done, but pedestrians are given zero consideration by drivers and have to take their chances. We have become used to cocks crowing, it is a myth that they crow at dawn, they crow throughout the day and annoyingly through the night. There was one crowing in the concourse of busy Cebu airport yesterday. Philippino people love karaoke. It is common to hear a big production song being belted out (mostly badly) by a person, often on their own, at breakfast time. People are happy, they smile all the time, there must be a link to the hot weather, it even makes me smile. Our chats with locals have been helped by them speaking at least some English, to their credit they often speak multiple languages. There is little birth control here due to religious, cultural, social and family reasons. Families are far too large, a chap we spoke to a few days ago was one of twelve children. This lack of birth contol must account for much of the poverty in the country. Labour is cheap here, but that does not excuse the lack of plant, tools and proper equipment that is missing on jobs, we have seen some hair raising sights. The flip flop is the normal footwear used in the workplace. As a simple example in our last beach resort the owners had commisioned some room furniture to be built. It was made by joiners in the stone car park with nothing but rudimentary hand tools. There was no bench, no woodworking machinery, no vice, no stools for them to sit on, just the stone floor. The finish that the joiners produced, given the working conditions, was excellent, but it could never achieve the quality that should be required of a piece of furniture.

We will miss some aspects of Asia, we will definitely miss the low prices, even with the pound still going south. We are though, very much looking forward to Australia, we will let you know how we get on. Love Liz and Andy.

Cebu, Philippines

Hi all, great to hear messages from home, no change with the weather there then!

The pace of our lives has temporarily slowed down in the heat and in this holiday location. We do stuff every day like sleeping lots, reading lots, swimming lots and eating food. We try and stay out of the punishing sun. We try and do some exciting things during the day, like sight seeing (there isn't that much) getting my hair cut, a visit to the shopping mall and even having a massage (I gave the experience a nine out of ten, Liz, who doesn't really do massages gave it a six, and while we are on this subject why do massages have to hurt, can't they be more gentle?). We do very simple things like going down to the ocean contemplating the beautiful seascape, there is always something going on. We walk to the local market for fantastic fruit lunches. The place we are staying at is basic and cheap but it suits us (and our budget), the setting by the ocean is magnificent.

We feel part of a community and we have made "friends" with the locals, whose services we use. We love the local laundry lady Linda and the two ladies who we buy lots of cheap drinks from daily are lovely and we threaten to become lifelong friends. In fact many many people here want to be our best friends, when we venture out of our beach resort we are a walking sales opportunity and we are accosted constantly. People ask us very direct questions "where are you going" and even "where is your wife" are typical. They cannot believe that we walk (and it is mad to walk in this heat) and we are harassed by taxi drivers, tricycle drivers and jeepney drivers, a horn pip means "you mad person walking in the road, surely you need a lift." The most common request here is "do you want to go island hopping?" we are now immune to this request. The most common follow-up is "my cousin/brother/uncle has a boat and he can take you, very cheap." No thanks is an insufficient answer and, to their credit Philippine people take rejection very well indeed, a smile is the normal outcome from a failed sales pitch. Kids here are adorable and mostly very cheeky. We attract lots of attention and we are shouted "good morning" to very often. This lovely open and friendly greeting is often spoiled by a head on request for some money. I normally ask them for some back but have yet to receive any. The kids using the local internet cafe get so excited and loud playing their games, for buttons, in the end they are chased away by the manager whose patience is tested sorely.

We have another week here, lucky us, before we go to Clark for three nights and Kuala Lumpur for one night, on our way to Melbourne first and wherever we fancy in the rest of Australia for three months. We will let you know how it goes. Love Liz and Andy.         

Cebu, Philippines

Hi all, here we are in sunny Cebu taking shelter from the sun, and yes like any English people we are lobster red in colour.

Before leaving for Cebu we spent three nights in Davao, in a very busy area of a very busy city, an area called San Pedro. It is difficult to describe San Pedro, it seems like anything goes there. It is a vibrant area, teeming with markets and stalls, much of the commerce there is legitimate, some is seedy. On the streets there are quite a few car crash human beings begging their way through the day. We saw amazing sights, like the chicken jeepney. Jeepneys are the same size as transit vans, but designed to take passengers, maximum 14, but they are often way overloaded with people hanging onto the back and even the roof. The chicken jeepney was totally wallpapered inside and out with chickens, only just alive. Even more amazingly passengers shared their lifts with the chickens, they must have squeezed in between their desperate fellow passengers. We used the internet cafes of San Pedro, they are mainly geared up for another trade, that of Philippine girls connectiing with (they hope) rich western boyfriends. Rick calls these hopeful and often hopeless western individuals internet romeos, a cruel but bitingly accurate description. We have witnessed many sad westerners with inappropriate and beautiful Philippine partners, good luck to them all. Leaving busy Davao we flew to Cebu.

We went to Cebu for two reasons, it appears to be a transport hub, with all flights going through Cebu and also it is a holiday destination and we thought that we wanted some quiet time, we found it. As we have found out Cebu is relatively expensive compared with Davao, some of the beach resorts here are luxurious and expensive, much too expensive for our budget. At the airport a helpful lady showed us what resorts were available, all well over our budget. She took pity on us and pulled out from her bottom draw a resort that we wouldn't like because it "has no white sand beach" she was wrong, we like the price and we like the resort. The resorts here are nothing like at home, they are stand alone establishments with walls and a gate manned by armed guards. Our resort is small, we thought we would get easily bored with the place (even though it has elements of paradise) but when we went out for a scout around the local area we loved what we found. Lots of lots of friendly people, all of them wanting to be our best friends and of course all of them, no exception, wanting to sell us something. We found a laundry, essential for travellers, internet cafes, shops and bars and restaurants and all prices much less expensive than in the resorts, ideal for us. There is a stark contrast between the people inside the resorts, rich and sombre and the people outside, poor and happy. Explain that one.

We are getting to know the local area and what's around here, we only came for a few days but (we are not stupid) we have extended our stay. We will let you know how we get on in the next two weeks before we go to Australia towards the middle of March. Love from Liz and Andy.       

Camiguin, Philippines

Hi all from the Philippines, we (Liz, Rick and me) have been on a road trip and (no simple task on these roads) we have survived.

We drove over the island of Mindanao, about a six hour drive, to the volcanic island of Camiguin, Rick's intelligence proved correct, there was lots to do and see. The scenery with dramatic, cloud covered volcanoes, contrasted with brown volcanic sands and rough seas. The sights included hot springs, naturally warmed by volcanic action and set out in a cascade of pools, getting hotter and hotter, a great swimming set up. We went to a waterfall, it proved an exciting trip. As we drove into the mountains the road deteriorated and we seemed to go back in time for every mile we drove, the people appeared to be living an increasingly simple and rural existance. The road became impassible and we were left scratching our heads over an impassible and dry river bed. From nowhere salvation arrived, for a fee!  A lovely guide rapidly snared us and she showed us the way, about half an hour's trek through dodgy terrain. Liz's nerve cracked half way and we did the gallant thing by leaving her on her own as we pressed on. The falls were fantastic when we reached them and we had a great swim in a pool below the falls, a fantastic experience, but health and safety took a very far back seat. For our time on Camiguin we stayed in paradise but it was a lttle basic.

We stayed in a beach hut right by the beach, the waves crashed in continuously. Paradise was spoiled by the plumbing facilties, the drains smelled vile and they even played a game with us by smelling ok for half a day before returning with muscles. The shower was a scoop in a cold water barrel. There is a crescent shaped white sand island with no vegetation about half a mile from shore. We hired a boat to do some snorkeling and visit the island, the scenery with vivid blue and green seas and views back over the volcanic Camiguin was amazing. In Rick's hardy car we did a tour of the island and saw most of the sights, including a walk up a volcano viewing scenes from the stations of the cross and we saw a sunken cemetary but with no explanation we were a little baffled by how it had occured.

We stayed a night in Suriago on the way back and we drove back through Mindanao through incesssant rain. We have had an amazing time with Rick and Ann and we owe them loads for their efforts in entertaining and giving us a great time. However for our next few weeks in the Philippines we have decided to do our own thing, so it is just me and Liz again. We will let you know what we get up to and how we get on. Love from Andy and Liz.    

Davao, Philippines

Hi all, we hope you are well, here we are living in Rick and Ann's house in Davao, enjoying the experience.

Lots of things that were strange to us on first arrival here have now become more normal. Taking a car journey, or even more daring crossing a busy road on foot at first seemed impossible, now it is more routine. While more dangerous than travel at home, due to some suicidal driving and the mind boggling variety of vehicles on the road, it can be done without accidents. We have been to many eateries and bars that are frequented by locals and we have loved the food and always been received with good manners and lots and lots of smiles, people here are very very friendly. The goats, stick thin cows and cocks tethered at the side of the road now seem unremarkable. The flimsy looking shanties that are found throughout Davao now seem reasonable places to live, even with the ripe smells from sewers that run through rudimentary culverts to the ocean. In Rick and Ann's house we have luxury accommodation, unlike the people of the shanty towns, and like any selfish being we have taken full advantage.

We are housed in an annex to the property built some time after the main house, our access is across the garden past their newly constructed swimming pool. The main house is populated of course by Rick, Ann & Annika and also by Germaine, Annika's yaya. Also staying are Ann's sister Joy and her two lovely daughters, Nikka and Jaia. There is a daily maid lady called Beebing (I know she will forgive this miss-spelling as she smiles all the time and no amount of hard work can upset her) and visitors like Ann's mum turn up, a lovely and formidable grandma figure, making it normally a busy house and often a frantic and happy one, ideal. Apart from us visitors all occupants here have a vital role to fulfil in the house. For example Joy is a fantastic cook and she produces many varieties of Philippines food seemingly out of a hat that are absolutely delicious. Joy's daughters Jaia and Nikka play with Annika in the most loving and fun filled way, making her a very lucky girl. Annika runs the house from her 18 month old perspective and anything that Annika gets wrong Ann sorts out. This house apparently reflects population growth in the Philippines as, god knows why, females greatly outnumber males. The house is dominated by females, which as we know is mainly good news. 

We have done some great things this week, inevitably some tennis, trips out to local beauty spots and an eagle sanctuary. We went on a boat trip with Matts and Cora, friends of Rick and Ann's to view a five hectare plot of white sanded beach seafront on a remote island, where our thirst was quenched by locals with machetes hacking into coconuts for the lovely juices. The snorkeling there was amazing, a diver's paradise. It has been very very hot and this has persuaded us to be very very lazy. We have drunk a lot of cold beer, essential for English people in the sun. Next week we are going on a road trip, it should be great fun, I will let you know how we get on. Love from all the Bowden's here in Davao.

Siquijor, Philippines

Hi all, after our island hopping week and search for paradise here is a brief account of what we have been up to....

Before leaving Davao it seemed that everything we did revolved around the game of tennis. After determinedly hanging up my racket eight or so years ago I surprised myself by really enjoying getting back on court, with the help of a kind brother and some very kind local players. But tennis here is a bit different to the UK. There are ball boys here, a small gaggle of them in Rick's club, who fag your balls and keep score for a few pesos. They do not go to school, tennis is their code of conduct, they have mischievous looks on their faces and wide smiles. Tethered towards the back of the courts are fighting cocks, that are being raised by older tennis boys, the cocks cluck away in fright when the balls whizz through. Our visit coincided with an annual tennis event, it had the most variety of any event that I have ever been to. The main purpose of the event was to swear in new members and a new committee. However it started with prayers, the national anthem, then moved onto speaches, the swearing in ceremony, eating, drinking, songs, games, jokes and lots and lots of fun. The people were all friendly, making us feel extremely welcome, we loved it. We then went in search of paradise. I have just uploaded lots of photos that are far more articulate than I am at describing how we got on.

We went to the island of Bohol, by plane and ferry. We stayed at Alona beach at a budget chalet style hostel close to the lovely beach. We went on a tour of Bohol, there was lots to see. The Chocolate Hills are an unusual geological quirk, where mounds of earth project in strangely regular conical shapes, it is well worth seeing. We stopped at a river crossing where we were brave to walk a suspension bridge that deposits you into the arms of waiting local tat sellers. A river cruise at lunch time, with buffet and singer on board was great fun. We stopped to see the Tarzier monkeys, the smallest primate alive. We stopped at a few Spanish colonial churches, crumbling relics of past glories. We were glad to get back to paradise beach and enjoy a swim followed by (honestly) just a few beers. On our second day we took a small boat that took us to a nearby island where we went snorkeling in a protected coral reef area, an astonishing variety of fish in vivid colours, the best snorkeling I have ever done. Tours on these islands are personal, whereby you can influence what happens, rather than being told. Our boat men friends recommended an eatery and we became a target for tiger keen local women to sell us their stuff, we were lambs to the slaughter. We ate there, Ann helped with food preparation, eating is far too important to be left to chance, we resisted buying stuff until ready to leave and then we fled. We left for Virgin Island a picture of paradise perfection with white sands and palm trees. Our entourage included of course Annika and Germaine Annika's yaya, or nurse maid, actually she acts like the best big sister in the world, we all set off for our second stop, via two ferry journeys, to Siquijor.

Bohol is a large island, say about the size of Wales, Siquijor is a much smaller sleepier rural island, we found a great beach resort to stay at, the kitchen churned out food slowly, but when it came it was delicious. On our first full day we were lazy and enjoyed paradise's facilities, and yes we drank some more beer. On our second day we took another personalized tour and we loved swimming in picture perfect waterfalls and we swam and snorkeled and lunched at a nearby resort. Did we find paradise? We certainly swam in and saw some amazingly beautiful ocean sights but it wasn't quite paradise, I am fairly sure it does not exist, however it is great fun looking. We loved our island hopping trip, we are going to do some more in a few weeks.

For the next week or so we are going to take it easy, phew. Rick has lots cooked up and if I know him (and I do) he will have a few things up his sleeve, I will let you know what we get up to. Love to all, from Liz and Andy and Rick and Ann et al here in the Philippines.

Davao, Philippines

Hi all, great to hear from everyone through emails and messages, it is genuinely great to be in close touch, here at Rick's, we even had a web cam exchange with Haddon Road, all girls very happy (and boys) the girls even winding me up from thousands of miles away, no change there then. Comments on Singapore first before the Philippines. 

In our red light district it wasn't immediately evident that Singapore had the strict codes of behaviour that it is known for, however over-officious rules became more evident as our time there went on. There are a couple of parks in the city and we went to both to for a breather. Both parks have reservoirs on top of hills, that I thought would be good to walk round. As we approached both reservoirs they were fenced in with barbed wire. Signs were at regular intervals in red, showing a soldier with a rifle aimed at an intruder, whose arms in silhouette were understandably raised. It seemed a harsh penalty for entry into a reservoir. I had inadvertently and illegally brought a banned substance into the city, chewing gum, hmmmm. There are huge building projects underway in Singapore, they seem to be re-floating the world's economy by themselves. Shopping is a massive and popular activity in Singapore, not one that I indulge in if at all possible. Overall we enjoyed Singapore very much, but having done it would not feel the need to return, we got on our way to the Philippines.  

We got a great reception from Rick, Ann and family and of course it was lovely to meet Annika. We were met at the airport and taken back to their lovely home and (lucky us) our, let's call it, guest suite. We were at first boggled by Ann's family, as there are so many of them, however there was a common theme, as they were all friendly, smiling, attractive and shy, they are lovely. There are sights that we have seen this past week that we have never seen before.  

On a busy intersection there was a woman washing herself after a violent rain shower. Fully clothed she drenched herself with water from a bowser several times and then washed herself beneath her loose fitting dress thoroughly, that washing left nothing to the imagination. Possibly 200 people could have watched her perform, she just did not care. We went to local slums. However that word should not conjour up an image of a British slum. Lots of people are living in shacks in the dirt, by a mucky river, there are no utility services as we would know them. However the people living there have huge smiles on their faces, they appear to be very very happy. As Westerners we attract interest, mostly from children but also from adults. We get comments shouted at us, "hello Joe" and "what is your name" are typical, more interesting are "I like your nose" and "give me all your money". Driving bears no relation to driving at home. There is a mind boggling variety of vehicles on the road, most of them providing transportation for locals. Driving is a survival of the fittest contest, where all vehicles compete in a game of brinksmanship for progress on their journey. The more ruthless the driver the better the progress made.

We are going on an island hopping trip for a week or so in the next few days. We are going to some paradise islands, lucky us. I will let you know how we get on, love from us all at the Bowden Philippines residence.

Singapore, Singapore

Hi all, we hope you are well at home, we have been eating lots and experiencing lots.

Determined to try new experiences, I had a massage before leaving KL. There is a really daft type where you sit with your feet in a fish tank, while fish nibble your feet, I dodged this one and had a foot reflexolgy massage. The idea is that your feet are massaged and in some way this cures or improves parts of you that are not working well. My massage was ok, I quite enjoyed it, but there was no benefit, other than a nice sit down and chat with my masseur. He was not a good advert for his trade. He smoked, was a couple of stone overweight and by his own admission looked six years older than me, whereas he was two years younger, foot reflexology had not done him any long-term favours. We headed for Melaka after our great stay in KL, taking an excellent bus service with the locals.

Melaka is an important historic city in Malaysia. Due to its strategic importance it was fought over by the Portuguese, Dutch and British, they have all left their mark in Melaka, with forts, churches and monuments. It is a world heritage city, giving it protected status and preserving it from change. In 1957 Melaka was the place that was chosen for the official handover of Malaysian independence. There are lots of ancient and modern things to see, temples, museums, and heritage sights, tourist tat and shopping malls. We have tried to be brave in Asia; Liz's bravery was tested to the full in Melaka. We were having a well earned beer in the evening when a chap took a chair about twelve feet from us with an iguana on his shoulder. Don't think small lizard think huge five foot long beast with a massive body. As if that were not enough a rat was rooting around in a drain just below our feet. Liz's feet were tucked on her chair seat, we drank our beer and left fairly swiftly. You know you are in Asia when stuff like that happens.

There are western influences here, the English premier league being one of the more prominent. Inevitably and tediously the "Big Four" are the only ones who are prominent, City's spending is a joke here, I know as the local English langauage newspaper has back page headlines on football every day. Eastern influences are more interesting for us. For example the Muslim call to prayer projected over the city is evocative and spine tingling. Malaysia has a system of open drains, I could call them sewers. Some of the smells are stomach churning, at home our traps and seals do an excellent job. Malaysian traffic never gives way to pedestrians. Every gap in traffic is a challenge to a Malaysian driver to fill it, if a pedestian is in the way that is just one more obstacle to overcome. After experiencing this many times I am convinced they are not malicious, they just do not care, the gap in traffic is much more important to them. Singapore drivers are much better behaved.

We got the bus to Singapore, again no problem, even walking through customs and immigration. There are lots of colonial influences here in Singapore, they seem not to resent the English, there are still lots of ex pats here working. We are seeing lots of local colour, not only in the many sights around the city, but in our cheap hotel in the middle of an extensive red light district, Liz is my protection from (ahem) the girls.

So that's a quick update from here in Singapore, we are enjoying the city and looking forward to going to the Philippines on Saturday, we will let you know how we get on. Love from Andy and Liz.         

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Hi all, greetings from a steaming hot Kuala Lumpur (KL) we hope you are well and that the UK has warmed up!

We had a tedious twelve and a half hour flight to KL on Air Asia, budget airlines, who do not know the meaning of entertainment or food and drink, be warned. But we survived and were brave enough to dodge the ease of a taxi and took the incredibly cheap bus with the locals into the city. In a busy city centre I cracked and we took a taxi to our hotel, having the first of many lovely chats with locals, in this case our taxi driver, who typical of Malays had great English. We were hungry and our taxi driver recommended a restaurant over the road, we eat like kings, Liz's meal cost just over a pound. We looked around a busy eatery and we were the only western faces, great we thought, this is why we are here. It wasn't perfect though, it was a Muslim restaurant and a grinning waiter was delighted to tell me that they did not serve beer.

First impressions of KL turned out to be positive and lasting. The people are friendly, for some reason they get my jokes, perhaps they just laugh at me anyway, most things are ridiculously cheap, it is a busy city and it is steamy hot. We have continued to be brave when eating. We have been in a couple of lunch time buffet-style streeet market venues, chowing down with the locals. They  give you a plate of boiled rice and you help yourself to a mysterious and mind boggling selection of food. You then present your food to the cashier, who totals up what you have helped yourself to, and it will typically cost a couple of quid for two meals, drinks being extra, and also laughably cheap. We have eaten on average spicy Malaysian food twice a day, our groaning stomachs rebel at curry for breakfast.

We have found our way around the city by an efficient Metro, walking is more of a challenge. The pavements are all over the place and there are many man traps waiting to pounce and snap an ankle. It is hot and the traffic is unforgiving, we have walked for miles. The city has lots to commend it. I have heard of Islamic countries being criticised for not contributing significant architecture, whoever made that criticism has not been to KL. There are new and significant Islamic buildings all over the city, we have loved seeing new office buildings, a fantastic Islamic museum and the inevitable mosque, all new and impressive architecture. The Petronas Twin Towers are here, our hotel is only two minutes from them, and these monumental and impressive steel structures seem to have a magnetic effect on us as we make our way back to the hotel. The Petronas Towers are a potent reminder that capitalism and Islam can successfully co-exist. There are unfortunate reminders of western culture here, not only in despicable fast food restaurants but tellingly in consumerism, it seems that many Asians have bought into the idiocy of shopping for brand labels, we leave them to their important work.

We are going to Melaka tomorrow, it is a historic city on the way to Singapore, it looks great from the brochures, we will let you know how we get on. Love to all from Liz and Andy.

Stockport, United Kingdom

Hi all, happy new year, it has been great to catch up with everyone, however, if we can leave this snowbound country, we are off on our travels again. It proved to be the right decision to come home for the Christmas and new year holiday break, but it has been a bit strange, we appeared to go through three stages. The first stage was like being in a parallel universe of the life that we used to lead, with things being nearly the same but not quite, not quite the same house, not quite the same stuff, and perhaps we were not quite the same people. The second stage was made up of the lunacy of the Christmas period, where it seemed we did not have time to even breathe. The third stage has been getting ourselves geared up for going, with some organization and logistics to sort out and more importantly getting ourselves mentally prepared.

We are flying to Kuala Lumpur first and have a hotel booked for five nights. I have been before to this great city and I am very excited to be seeing it again with Liz. Then we have a four day period where we are going to see other parts of Malaysia, a bit of internet research has told us that Malaka is well worth a trip. We then have five nights in Singapore, a city I have never been to and we are both excited (that word again, but it best describes how we feel) about seeing it. Then we fly to Davao in the Philippines, to spend about seven weeks with my brother Rick, he has all sorts arranged. We are lucky to have Rick as a local guide, he will have ironed out many of the glitches that foreigners inevitably encounter in Asia, and we will greatly benefit from his knowledge. We then fly to Melbourne, where we have arranged to see my cousin Phil for a week, before travelling up the east coast of Australia, spending some time in a beach town, yet to be decided, near the Great Barrier Reef. Finally we have to get to Perth both to see the city and to get our flight home in mid June. That is the plan.

I thoroughly enjoyed doing the blog for the first half of our trip and I am sure I will enjoy doing it for the second half. The photos and the commentary has allowed anyone interested to have an Andy Bowden biased overview of our trip. In talking to friends and family about the first half of our travels the most astute comment about the blog was from my work mate Jon. He rightly deduced that I was largely writing the blog for my own benefit, until Jon said that I hadn't realised it was true. Whatever the reasons and the motives for doing it I will attempt to write a weekly blog that I hope won't bore you too much. We will miss you all, love Liz and Andy.