Sawasdee Ka!
Yes, we are back in Thailand! This is Rach writing! Steph is out to dinner with some friends and I stayed behind because I managed to pick up a little stomach bug! I don't feel too bad.. just can't be too far from home if you know what I mean :) Right now I'm taking advantage of using a friend's computer from my hotel room.. it's such a treat not to have to sit at an internet cafe!
We spent the last 10 days in Fiji and just arrived into Koh Samui last night. We were supposed to hit Thailand before Fiji, but on our last trip to Sydney we were having so much fun that we decided to stay a few more days. We were glad we did, but we ended up having some trouble with flights and had to switch everything around. Actually, pretty much all of our plans since I got back from home have been changed around.
We spent a week in Sydney when I first got back and it was great! We were going to head out sooner, but some friends invited us to go wine tasting in Hunter Valley with them so we stuck around. We are lucky we did because if we hadn't, we would have been in Cairnes during the huge Cyclone. Funny story actually! Steph and I got back from Hunter Valley late on Sunday, packed up, and headed to the airport 1st thing Monday morning. It wasn't until we arrived, checked in, were sitting at the gate, and started calling hotels in Cairnes that we heard about the Cyclone. The woman at the hotel advised us not to come because the place was flooded and had no electricity. We also found out later that our flight was the 1st to fly up there since the Cylone hit.. all others had been cancelled. Can you believe the airline didn't say anything when we checked in???? Anyway, we were able to talk our way into changing our ticket and flying somewhere else... the only problem was where? The woman working for the airline told us that Perth had good weather and she could get us on a flight an hour later so off we went!
We arrived in Perth that night and were pretty bummed out. Both of us were really excited to go to Cairnes and then all the sudden we are in a terrible hotel about as far away as you can get from Cairnes! That feeling only lasted one night though and we ended up really enjoying Western Australia. We only spent 3 nights in Perth and the rest of our time down south a little further in the wine region called Margaret River. We lucked out and scored a really nice apartment for cheap ... it was so nice it felt like home. Margaret River was gorgeous!! We didn't do a ton of wine tasting because we just came from Hunter Valley, but we did try a few we loved. Vasse Felix and Cullen were 2 of our favorite buttery Chardonnays! We spent a few days just relaxing and watching movies because it was dumping rain. The rest of the time we spent exploring the coast! WA is a huge surf spot so we went for some long walks on the beach and watched the surfers. There was a surf competition in town so the surfers were much better than the ones we saw up north further. We drove down a bit further to Hamlin Bay where you can get in the water with Sting Rays.. very cool! We had one big night that started by going to a concert at local winery. Ever heard of Alex Lloyd? He's Australian and actually really really good! His music is much like Dave Matthews and was perfect for the venue! It was held at Leeuwin Estate on a huge green lawn surrouned by really tall trees. Everyone was just camped out on the lawn with their blankets and wine.. it was great! We had a bottle of wine at the concert and then headed out in town after. It's a tiny town and everyone you meet is either a surfer or works at/owns a winery or both! We ended up hanging out with some locals and getting to taste some good wine! One we really liked was the Brown Brothers Shiraz. The winery is actually in Victoria, but their son (Nick Brown) lived over in Marg River so he had it for us to drink! The next morning we went for brunch at a great cafe down on the coast where we kept the party going. We were craving a bloody mary! The rest. was BYO, but there just happened to be a liquor store next door.. trouble! Steph went over to see if they had bloody mary mix, but came back with champaign and oj instead! Next thing you know we were sitting on the beach, babysitting some surfer's puppy, & drinking our 2nd bottle of bubbly! After the beach we headed back to town to have a late lunch and another glass of wine! By about 5pm we were both so exhausted that we went home, put in a movie, and fell asleep! Just can't day drink like we used to be able to :(
Because we were supposed to be in Cairnes, but we couldn't go yet we didn't know where to go after Margaret River. You really need a ton of time to see Western Australia because everything to see if SO spread out! We didn't want to spend the rest of our time in WA so we went to a travel agent in Marg River to try and figure something out. Working with this travel agent turned out to be really complicated and somewhat of a nightmare. We knew we wanted to come back to Thailand to finish volunteering and that we wanted to hit Fiji, but then he talked us into Bali too! We spent hours figuring it all out with him just to later realize how dangerous Bali was for Americans right now. Long story short, we ended up having to change our tickets and it was a huge hassle! Oh how I miss Phil!
On our drive back to Perth from Margaret River we took the coastal route and stopped to explore several little towns along the way. We were actually really impressed at how beautiful the coastline was there and how much character the towns had.
Our last day in Perth was a big one! We got up really early and caught a ferry to Rottnest Island. We rented bikes and snorkel gear and set off to explore the island! We were really impressed with Rottnest. You are just a short distance out of Perth, but you feel like you're on a remote tropical island! There are no cars on on the island other than a few busses that take you to the most popular beaches. There are Quokkas (look like huge rats) and Peacocks running wild all over. The water is so clear and turquoise that you just can't wait to get in it! See the pics! We got back to Perth in time to head into town for dinner. We went to a hip area called Subiaca and ate at a restaurant across the street from their AFL stadium. The 1st game of the season was that night so there were tons of people out! We couldn't get tickets to that game, but we are hoping to catch one in Melbourne!
After Perth we headed back to Sydney. We stayed with some friends in the city for a few nights and then spent a few days exploring the coast down South. We spent most of our time in Wollongong and Kiama. We found a great beach just s. of Kiama called ____! It had a natural salt water pool built out over the rocks.... so cool!
Our last weekend in Sydney was a big one! We spent all day Saturday at a boat party in Sydney Harbour! It was wild. It's a huge boat with tons of people decked to the 9's dancing to the different live DJ's (one on each floor) as we sailed around all the harbours in Sydney. Sunday we went and saw Snoop in concert! It was a little ghetto, but SO much fun. We bought tickets in the Dogg Pound (the floor) and made our way right up front. He sang all the oldie but goodies.. we sang and danced our little hearts out :)
We loved Fiji! Showed up there with no plan, walked into a travel agent at the airport and that day were on our Treasure Island. He coordinated for a few guys (Ozzie & Charley) who worked on the island to pick us up since we had missed the last ferry of the day. They showed up over an hour late.. Fiji time :) Treasure Island was only 15 acres (you could walk around it in less than 15 mins) so we didn't do much beside relax in the sun, swim, and snorkel. It was really nice. The staff at the hotel were SO friendly. A few of them invited us to their staff quarters to drink their local drink... Kava! Steph was tired so I went with Sefa, Kelesi, Lepani and a few others to drink some Kava! It was a great night. I got to watch them mix it up from scratch and then we all sat around in our sarongs (sulas as they all them) and drank kava. I slept well that night. Our next stop was Beachcomber Island. It was supposed to be the party island. Our plan was a few days on a chill island, or as the fijian's call it "newly-wed or almost dead" islands, hit the party island for 2 nights, and then relax again for our last few! Well... Beachcomber was a bust. The island was nice, but everyone on it was 1/2 our age and we aren't that old yet :) We still enjoyed our days though. I think the favorite was kayaking out to a tiny sand island that's surrounded by a reef and snorkeling. Our last stop was at Malolo! It was a really nice place to end up! On our last day we hired a boat to go explore the islands. Our favorite part of the day was seeing a huge packs of dolphins (is that what you call them.. packs?). We also loved snorkeling on Sunflower reef. The water is so clear, the coral so colorful and there are tons of fish! Steph and our driver, Miti, fed the fish while I was still in the water .. there were hundreds of them all around me. Loved it! We also stopped at Musket Cove and had a fruity cocktail at the $3 bar. It's a grass roof open bar sitting on a small sand island just off of Musket Cove! We liked the bar so much and the fact that there were some other single people there so had a boat take us back later for a few sun downers! The resorts don't like you to leave the island at night because they want you to eat their dinner, but we had made friends with a guy who arranged for one of the staff to take us in the staff boat. Classic! Of course our sundowners turned into a few more. We made friends with a bunch of kiwis and next thing you know it was almost midnight. Funny story... Saula and Len (the ones who drove us over) needed to get back because they had take some staff back to their villages at midnight. The friends we met wanted to come back with us so they hopped in the boat. Once they found out that they'd have to pay to have the hotel take them back later one of them literally jumped out of the boat. All the sudden we just heard this huge splash! Why they didn't just ask us to turn around is beyond me, but it was hysterical. We then stopped at another island to pick up some more beer on the way back and our driver, Saula, fell into the water when he was trying to step off the jetty onto the boat. We knew he had some beer with us, but think he had a few too many. They aren't allowed any alcholol on the islands.. only kava.. so I don't think they drink that often. Was really funny at the time, but we were glad we had Len there too to drive the boat!
Ok, I think it's time for me to sign off! Getting late and need to sleep. We'll be back soon to let you know how Koh Samui goes and give you an update on the volunteering!
Love and miss you heaps!
xoxoxo,
Rach & Steph
