Feb 2009

After our three week jaunt in Australia we had a flight to Singapore to begin our journey in South East Asia. Singapore was a good place to ease into life in Asia as English is the official language and it is an immensely well organised and immaculately clean city. We caught the MRT from the airport to our hostel then had a relaxed evening. We were quite tired from the flight so had a fairly early night; we only left the hostel to grab some food at a nearby restaurant.

The following day we went into the centre of the city and met up with two Dutch girls from our hostel, Miek and Rosa, and a friend of a friend of theirs called Hann. Hann is from Singapore and had agreed to show Miek and Rosa around and they asked us if we wanted to tag along.

The first thing we did was go to a food hall in Chinatown for lunch where there is a huge variety of cuisine available. We then walked through the bustling streets which are lined with market stalls until we reached the famous Sri Mariamman Hindu temple which we had a look around. There is a mosque further down the same street which some of us briefly popped into before we made our way to Little India.

Little India is an interesting and colourful part of the city with lots of shops, restaurants and cafes. We went into a Turkish coffee shop for some drinks then caught a bus out to the beach but unfortunately it started raining shortly after we arrived. The beach isn't anything special anyway!

In the evening we all met up with Mike's friend Jon who is from Singapore and went for dinner at an outdoor foodcourt that overlooked the harbour in the heart of the CBD (it had stopped raining by this point!). We had more interesting food including stingray and murtabak. We said goodbye to the Dutch girls and Hann, who had been a good guide, and went for a walk past one of the Merlions and then for some beers with Jon.

The next morning we went into the city to take a look at Orchard Road and the Raffles Hotel then we got the MRT and a number of buses to Johor Bahru airport in Malaysia and flew to Jakarta.

We arrived in Jakarta late at night and fortunately had arranged an airport pick up with the bed and breakfast we were staying at so were taken straight there. We ended up getting a really nice, ornate room which was quite expensive (by our standards) but was a pleasant change from our usual lodgings. We were in an area of the city called Bangka and during our time in Jakarta we spent quite a lot of time there, walking around and eating food from the street stalls.

Jakarta isn't a particularly great place though. It is massive, over populated, quite dirty and very polluted. The normal traffic flow is akin to rush hour in most cities and if you are unlucky enough to get caught in rush hour in Jakarta it seems improbable that the traffic will ever move! We would have left the day after we arrived but we needed to sort out visas for India through the Indian Embassy which has turned out to be one of the biggest (and costliest) hassles of our trip so far.

The first day we went to the embassy they wouldn't accept our applications as we didn't have Indonesian and Indian 'references' nor passport photos. We returned the next day, Friday, after much rushing around and photocopying, and this time our applications were accepted. However, we were told that we couldn't pick them up until the following Thursday. The whole thing is quite ridiculous though as most countries we've been to don't require visas and others, such as Indonesia, issues visas on arrival which take 30 seconds!

The one touristy thing that we did in Jakarta was visit the national monument which is a 450ft tower in the centre of the city. We joined the queue and waited our turn to take the lift up to a lookout platform at the top where there are panoramic views of the sprawling urban jungle below.

Obviously we didn't want to stay in Jakarta until we collected our passports so we decided to go to Yogyakarta which is at the opposite end of Java (there weren't any attractive options closer). The 10 hour train journey to get there was a bit of a nightmare! It left at 6.20am from a station at the opposite end of the city so we were up at 4.45am to start the mission. The train itself had no air con and was ridiculously humid. When it picked up speed there was a welcome breeze coming in through the windows but most of the time it was either going slowly or was inexplicably stopped in the middle of nowhere. To cap things off there was a seemingly endless stream of hawkers, buskers and beggars harassing all passengers in sight. The journey did take us through some spectacular scenery so it wasn't all bad.

The hostel we stayed at in Yogyakarta for 4 nights was probably the best value we've had on the trip. It cost £2.20 each a night for a private room with bathroom, included breakfast and there was a large swimming pool. We spent quite a lot of our time in Yogyakarta relaxing at the hostel and taking advantage of the swimming pool which we had to ourselves most of the time.

The main activity that we did in Yogyakarta, and indeed one of our main reasons for visiting, was going to Borobudur and Prambanan. Both of these highly spiritual places are very impressive and well worth making the effort to see. Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world and has been restored to its former glory.

Prambanan is a large Hindu temple which was partially destroyed in an earthquake in 2006 and there is currently a lot of restoration work being carried out at the sight.

On another day a local tuk-tuk driver took us on a mini tour of the city that included visiting the Sultan's palace. The Sultan is very popular in Yogyakarta (many people want him to be president) as he does a lot of work to help poor people. He even lets 25,000 people live within the grounds of his palace. It is unlikely the British royal family will follow suit.

He also took us to see some Batik art which was really cool. The artists start off with a bit of cotton or silk and sketch the drawing in pencil before coating the pencil markings in wax. They then dip it into various coloured dyes and 'de-wax' it to complete the process. Our driver then took us to a workshop where they make puppets in a traditional style.

We got a night train back to Jakarta on Wednesday which wasn't anywhere near as bad as the train down but was marred significantly by extremely loud Indonesian pop music that was playing throughout the train. We arrived in Jakarta at 4.15am and had to hang around at the train staion until it was a more reasonable hour when we could drop our bags off at the bed and breakfast we stayed at previously. We then had a number of hours to kill until we could pick up our visas from the Indian Embassy and suprisingly found refuge in KFC, McDonalds and Burger King! These establishments were not like the outlets which we know from home as we were able to while away the time reading on leather sofas, watching FA cup football on plasma screens and using free internet. After a period of waiting in the rain outside the embassy we got our passports back then headed straight for the airport and got a flight to Bali!

A rather unusual aspect of our time in Java has been that a number of locals have come up to one or both of us and asked if they could have their photo taken with us. It must have something to do with a lack of white faces on the island but was quite amusing for us as we felt like we were famous. Sort of.

After our flight from Melbourne to Perth we were met at the airport by Katie and Stuart, friends of Mike from his time in Brisbane a few years ago. We drove back to their house in the Swan Valley, which they had recently had built, and chilled out and drank some beers in their back garden. That evening they drove us up a hill where there are good views of the area surrounding their house and of the city and ocean in the distance

The following day we went into the city where we wandered around for a bit and once more took advantage of the cheap sushi that is available throughout Australia.

We met Katie and Stu when they finished work and went to a pub for dinner with two of their friends, Rob and Claire. After the meal we drove up to Kings Park (the largest inner city park in the world apparently) where there are excellent views of the city skyline.

The next day we borrowed Katie's car so that we could go on a short road trip to Fremantle, a port town close to Perth which is one of the attractions of the region. We stopped off at Scarborough on the way and went for a walk along the beach there. Although Scarborough takes it name from the famous English seaside resort comparisons between the beaches would always favour the Australian namesake with its white sand and backdrop of the Indian Ocean.

When we arrived in Fremantle and found a parking space we had a look around the market which has a number of interesting stalls. It would be very easy to spend a lot of money there but we resisted the temptation! We then walked around a bit more and went into an amusement arcade where we played on various games. After that we went into a couple of large secondhand bookshops and stocked up on novels. Instead of going to the beach at Fremantle we got back in the car and stopped at a quieter beach close to Scarborough. Mike went in the ocean but came out fairly quickly as there was a very strong current and large dumping waves that could be dangerous. Although it was still fun to be in there for a short time!

That evening we went round to Stuarts parents house for a BBQ with some of his family. There were about 18 people in total so it was a good evening with his parents providing more than enough tasty food for everyone. We played a Dutch game called Sjoelbak which involves sliding wooden discs along a smooth surface into narrow lanes at the opposite end of the long thin board. After that we played some pool then went home before midnight as we were getting up early the following morning.

We were back at Stuart's parents house at 7.30am so that his Dad, Tony, could take us to Rottnest Island. We drove to the local mariner and launched his boat into what turned out to be pretty rough water. There was a fairly large swell and strong southerly wind making it a bumpy ride to say the least. Tony said it was among the worst conditions he'd seen crossing to Rottnest.

We did make it though and it was well worth the rough ride. Tony stayed at the boat whilst the four of us bought tickets that allowed us to hop and off the regular buses that circle the island. The first place we stopped at was a beautiful bay where we all relaxed on the shore and Mike and Stuart did some snorkeling. We then caught the bus to a beach that had an amazing strip of white sand and even better snorkeling with more colorful coral and a wider range of fish.

We then went right round the island on the bus and back to the boat where we had lunch and some drinks. We chilled out on the boat for a bit then went to look for quokkas, an animal that is unique to Rottnest and a handful of other island. Quokkas look somewhere in between kangroos, rats and wallabies. Dutch explorers actually mistook quokkas for rats and named the island accordingly. Rottnest is Dutch for Rats Nest.

Tony showed us a bit more of the island on his boat then we braved the seas and made it back to the mainland, this time with Stu at the helm.

One of Stuart's mates was having his 30th birthday party that night so we drove across town to his place. It was a decent party with lots of people and a lot of drink! It went on quite late so we all ended up crashing there and drove back the next morning.

We were all quite hungover that Sunday so had a fairly lazy day. Unfortunately news was coming through of the bush fires which destroyed parts of Victoria so we were following that on TV. That evening we had a BBQ at Katie and Stu's house. We had the obligatory steaks, lamb chops and salads as well as abalonies which we hadn't heard of before arriving in Perth. They are a type of shellfish that Stuart and his Dad fish for and are in such short supply that the season for them only runs for 6 weeks a year, one hour for each of those weeks! They have a rich and quite intense flavour which we really liked. It will probably be a long time until we eat them again though.

We got up early on Monday morning, sorted out a few things we needed to do like posting some stuff home, then went to the airport to fly to Asia!

After a week in Sydney we flew down to Melbourne where we were met by Mike's flat mate from uni Alex and his wife Nicole. It was Australia Day so they were both off work and were free to spend the day drinking and having a BBQ with us and Codi, Mike's other flat mate from uni who is also living in Melbourne at the moment.

Whilst we were there Melbourne was in the middle of a heatwave with temperatures reaching 44 °C on three consecutive days. Apparently it was the hottest week in over 100 years.

On the first of these days we went into the city and walked around a couple of parks and the botanic gardens. Because of the heat we had to take lots of breaks and sit in the shade until we had the energy to carry on. Fortunately there were lots of water fountains around so we could refill our water bottle regularly.

We stayed in the city that evening and met up with Alex and Nicole when they finished work. We went to an outdoor bar down a side street where we were joined by Jonny and Nat (they were on holiday in Melbourne) and a couple of their friends. We had a few drinks there then all went to a Chinese restaurant that Alex and Nicole know where we ate loads of dumplings. Jonny and Nat then went off to a Neil Young gig with their mates and the rest of us went round to Codi's flat for some drinks.

The following day Alex was off work so we went to St Kilda beach with him which is a short tram ride away from the city centre. The beach, or more accurately, the ocean was definitely the place to be during the heat wave. Nicole came down after she finished work and we all went to the St Kilda market to have a look around and a bite to eat.

The Australian Open was taking place whilst we were in Melbourne so on the Friday we bought ground passes that allowed us to watch the days big matches on the giant screen in Garden Square. There was a good atmosphere inside Melbourne Park and there was a Garnier tent set up where Ellie got her hair put into a fancy style for free and we were given goodie bags full of products worth much more than we paid to get in.

We watched the women's doubles final, won by Serena and Venus, and one of the mixed doubles semis in a good spot at a table in the shade. Between the games Mike got out his diablo and a Channel 7 camera man asked him to stand in the middle of Garden Square and do some tricks that he could film. We never found out if any of the footage was used on TV. Probably not.

We were then sitting back at our table when a woman came up to us and asked if we had tickets for the Nadal vs Verdasco semi final. We said we didn't and then she gave us her two tickets, worth A$180 each, that she wouldn't be using! It was almost surreal for us to have ended up inside the Rod Laver arena as we had planned on watching it on the screen outside. We had an amazing view of the court and of what turned out to be one of the matches of the tournament. It went to five sets with Nadal, the eventual champion, just edging it. The match didn't finish until after 1am (it started about 8pm) which meant that we missed the last train home.

On the Saturday we had a BBQ at Alex and Nicole's house with Codi and a couple of their friends. We got the food from the local market in Preston, the suburb that Alex and Nicole live in, so it was all fresh and really tasty. It was an enjoyable day and the drinking went on until the early hours meaning that Sunday was a bit of a write off.

After the weekend we had two more days in Melbourne and we did some more walks around the city. We went to Fitzroy Park where we saw James Cooks house, walked down the river where there is some interesting artwork and good views of the city, and through various shopping arcades. We also explored some of Melbournes side streets a bit more where there are lots of bohemian cafes and bars as well as some really cool graffiti.

On our final night we went back to the Chinese restaurant we were in the week before and had more dumplings then went round to Codi's again for more drinks before catching the last train home.

We arrived in Sydney after getting a plane from Auckland (everything went smoothly this time!). We got ourselves from the airport to the city, then went to Dave and Christina's flat in Pyrmont where we were going to spend our first night (Dave is Mike's friend Alex's Dad and Christina is his wife). We sat on their balcony which overlooks the city from across the water and drank some beer with Dave in what was left of the afternoon. When Christina got back we had an enjoyable meal and a fairly early night.

The following morning we were up quite early so that we could go with Dave to his house on the Hawksbury River. It is in a beautiful and quite secluded location. Although it is part of the mainland the house is only accessible by boat which definitely adds to it's charm. Dave and Christina have been doing a lot of work on the house and garden so it was good for Mike to see how it had changed in the four years since his last visit.

Whilst we were there we took a walk through the bush and went to the 'secret swimming pool'. It is a freshwater pool that is filled up by a trickling waterfall and doesn't show up on any maps (even OS ones). After that we had lunch on the decking at the side of the house which overlooks the river and then chilled out for a bit before Dave took us back to the city. When we were on the boat back we saw literally hundreds of big orange jellyfish which were quite cool, if a little scary, to be so close to.

We briefly went back to Dave and Christina's before they drove us to Jonny and Nat's flat in Newtown. We stayed with Jonny, Nat, and their cat, Lyra, for four nights. During our time there we saw the sights in the city and visited some of the beaches that Sydney is famous for, and met up with various friends. We went to the botanic gardens and a pub with Jane who we met in Nicaragua (although she is from Sydney). On another day we walked from Coogee beach to Bondi beach with Laura who we met in Peru. This walk is a fairly popular activity and takes in a number of other beaches and bays along the route. We also went back to Coogee on a different day with Neil Wyman, one of Mike's friends from Edinburgh.

In the evenings when Jonny and Nat were back from work we would hang out with them. We spent a fair bit of time chilling out in their technologically advanced flat, had a few meals (and drinks) in their local pubs and one night we went to Surry Hills and had a meal at a Thai Restaurant called 'Spice I Am' which was a favourite of Mike's from when he lived in Sydney. Another of Mike and Jonny's friends from Edinburgh, Dave Rees, came along to that.

Over the Australia Day weekend Jonny and Nat were going camping with some friends of theirs so we moved into a hostel in the city centre. On that Saturday we met up with Jane again and drank some beer and wine in the botanic gardens before going to a pub for steak. We then got some goon (boxed wine) at the ridiculously cheap price of $9.99 for 4.4 litres and drank at our hostel for the rest of the night.

On our final day in Sydney Ellie went over to Manly with Laura but Mike was too hungover to join them. Drinking too much goon results in particularly brutal hangovers. That evening we walked up to Taylor Square and had a curry at a restaurant on Oxford Street, in the heart of Sydney's gay district. We then walked the short distance to a house that Mike used to live in. It is still pink!