Arrival Down Under!

 G'Day mate! We arrived in Sydney nice and early and headed straight for our hostel to dump our stuff and get out and about. Coming over from Thailand it was a shock for both of us arriving to a very chilly morning. It was obvious that the jumpers that had been sitting at the bottom of our bags for the last 2 months would be coming to use at last! We hadn't planned to do much on our first day and just went for a wander into town through the Botanic Gardens and fought off the urge to go to sleep too early! The hostel had cooking facilities and we really enjoyed being able to eat in and cook ourselves rather than having to eat every meal out as had been the case in Asia. 

We woke up nice and early for our first full day in Australia and were disappointed to see that it was raining! Luckily we had both had some warm clothes and rain macs so decided to venture into town and have a look around the Museum Of Sydney until the weather cleared up. This was really interesting and gave us a better understanding of the history of Australia...not to mention that the sun had shown up by the time we were finished looking round and the temperature was warming up nicely for an afternoon exploring the city and treating ourselves to a fantastic hot chocolate at Max Brenner's! They did white ones too for Poppy!

White Hot Choc with Marshmallows!

Having heard good things, we were keen to visit Taronga Zoo, a short ferry trip away from central Sydney. The Zoo offered fantastic views of Sydney from the other side of the harbour as well as a range of indigenous animals...we couldn't leave Australia without seeing koalas or kangaroos! The Zoo put on a very amusing seal show and we also watched a free flight bird show that went a little bit wrong when one of the birds decided to just fly off and they couldn't continue in case it ate one of the other birds! 

View from the ferry over to Taronga Zoo

Having spent longer than anticipated at the zoo we headed back to central Sydney and as it was a really clear day we chose this day to go up the Sky Tower which allowed for panoramic views of Sydney and the surrounding suburbs. We had a lovely dinner on the harbour at Circular Quay before watching a show at the Opera House. We had pre-booked tickets to watch a show called 'Blak' by Bangarra dance group that specialised in contemporary aboriginal dance. The show wasn't quite what I was expecting but we both really enjoyed it!

View from the Cable Car on the way up and down to Taronga Zoo

View from the Sky Tower

A different view from the top of the Sky Tower

Food being out favourite part of the trip, we were thrilled when one of Poppy's friends recommended a couple pleases to catch a bite. One included 'Pancake on the Rocks' which was the best pancakes we've ever had but also the most filling! No trip to Sydney would be complete without a trip out the the infamous Bondi beach so we caught the train over for a lovely walk along the coastline. Unfortunately going surfing wasn't something either of us fancied in the cold so we had to make do with watching some of the more seasoned surfers from the shore.

Yummmmmmm

Bondi beach

For a change of scenery we then headed off out to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days...

Last weeks in Thailand

We were both sad to move on from Zeavola and agreed that we could easily have spent longer there! After a short boat ride back to the main pier on Koh Phi Phi we waited around for a couple of hours in a cafe for the next boat to Koh Lanta before boarding and setting off. We arrived and made our way to the hostel which I had chosen due to it's cheapness and proximity to the beach. However upon arrival it quickly became apparent why it was so cheap...a stark contrast to the luxury we had just been treated to at Zeavola! Regardless, we decided to stay as we only planned to spend two nights there before moving onto Krabi. Koh Lanta was in low season and as such extremely quiet! Whilst this meant that we pretty much had the beach to ourselves, it also meant that almost nothing was open and we had very limited choice as to where we could eat! We spent two days sunbathing on the beach and were ready to move on to Krabi, both bored by how quiet it was and also annoyed by the hungry Mosquitos flying around! Before leaving, however, we still had one surprise left when, during the night, it started raining heavily and we found that the rain was coming into our room and getting us wet in bed! Nightmare! 

From the luxury of Zeavola to this...

Sandcastles on the beach

Eager to move on to Krabi we were up early to catch our bus. We arrived 2 hours later and tracked down our hotel which offered one of the best value for money room we've stayed in yet (a/c as standard!) Krabi was really beautiful, sort of what I imagined Thai beaches to look like. To get to the best beaches you had to get a longtail boat from where we were staying in Ao Nang to nearby Railay beach and Phra Nang beach. On our first day there it was raining in the morning so we decided to look around all the shops and markets and save the beach for a sunny day. In the evening we headed to Krabi nightmarket with high hopes of picking up lots of souvenirs. This turned out to be a huge letdown and neither of us bought anything! Our final day in Krabi before heading back to Phuket we decided we were going to go over to Railay beach regardless of the weather. The weather where we were staying wasn't great but once we arrived in Railay it brightened up a bit and we had a full day of sun on the stunning beaches there! After a bit of sunbathing I was keen to climb up to a lagoon that we had been told about. The climb was far harder than we had anticipated and although we saw the lagoon we didn't quite make it down the last part which involved an absail down an almost vertical drop...a feat we felt too difficult wearing flip flops! 

Cool Shades!



Railay Beach




Phra Nang beach



Clifftop viewpoint





We headed back to Phuket for our last few days in Thailand where we spent our time relaxing and preparing a huge package to send home! Leaving for Bangkok we endured one last night bus, and spent the day looking round MBK shopping centre in the city centre which sells pretty much everything, before making our way to the airport. We were sad to leave Asia and the warm weather but were also excited to venture into the Southern Hemisphere for the first time!

Koh Phi Phi and My 21st Birthday!

We'd been told it would take half an hour to get to the pier for the ferry to Koh Phi Phi. So having to check-in half an hour before departure we gave ourselves a good hour to get there taking a lift from one of Andy's staff. With 5 minutes until 8.30am, the ferry's leaving time, we were still stuck in traffic and navigating our way to the correct pier having wrongly visited 2 others. Luckily 'Thai time' isn't the same as that of the rest of the world and we were relieved to find that upon arrival the ferry had not yet left port. To say we were stressed would be somewhat of an understatement!! After a 2.5hour ferry journey...

WE HAD ARRIVED IN PARADISE! 

 

On the ferry over to Phi Phi

View of Ton Sai

Entrance to Zeavola

The longtails which take you from the ferry to shore

 

We were greeted on the shore with mint scented cold towels and a welcome drink. We were shown to our garden villa and settled in- without a doubt the nicest place we have stayed so far- not that that would be too mean a feat.

 

 

Towel elephant

Outside wash basin - we also had an outside shower!

The living room area

 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the gorgeous beach and Ollie spent the afternoon secretly shell collecting. We had dinner on the beach front restaurant and then watched the fire dancing a little further down the beach.

We returned to our room to find the night maid had opened our bed and misted our pillows with eucalyptus spray to help up get a good nights sleep. Not sure why our Mum's don't do this at home for us!! They had also left a framed picture of us on our arrival as a souvenir.

 

Ollie with his Massman curry

How will we sleep peacefully without this?

The souvenir framed picture they left us

*THURSDAY 30th MAY- MY 21st BIRTHDAY!*

I awoke bright and early on my birthday to find Ollie had carefully written 'happy birthday' in the shells he had been collecting the previous afternoon and the opened the cards and presents which had managed to find their way to me from the other side of the world. 

 

Ollie's shell creation

My cards- including one from Julie and Bradley Cooper!

 

 

We had a lovely breakfast of eggs benedict, croissants and English scones and then retreated to a hard day tanning on the beach. This activity was only interrupted by cocktail sippin' and Skypeing my Mum! My ideal day!

 

 

 

 

 

We got ready for dinner and then went down to the beach where we were dining in the same restaurant as the previous night. 

We started dinner will a few more cocktails followed by yet another delicious dinner. Ollie had secretly arranged a little surprise for the birthday girl and the waiters crowded round with a Thai-style cake and sang happy birthday to me! Never one to miss out on dessert, after sharing my cake, I ordered an apple pie to finish off the evening and the end of a great and unforgettable birthday.

 

 

My king prawn and scallop dinner

Embarrassment at everyone singing happy birthday!

Thai style birthday cake

Yummy apple pie