Cliff Top Camping




Relics café at Cann River

Today it’s not only time to move campsites we also change states from Victoria to New South Wales. The drive is another 270Km along the Princes Highway or A1, it’s nothing like the A1 in the UK. The drive is mainly through forested areas with occasional vast vistas of steep sided mountains covered with trees. We pass some flat farm land with huge fields of maize and sunflowers, the latter all with their heads turned towards the sun. The halfway point of the drive is Cann River our designated coffee stop today. Now, how do I begin to describe “Relics” café, well, think American diner crossed with and eclectic junk yard and you may just be there. There’s 7 inches singles nailed above the door, formica tables covered in red and white spotted plastic tablecloths, a hotch potch of chairs and sofas, motorbikes, pushbikes, table football, farm implements ….. the list is endless, the coffee is great. We believe it’s all for sale, we may go back and put in a bid.
The endless forests continue until we reach Eden, where we come back down to the sea and shortly cross the bridge into Merimbula. The campsite is up on the cliff and Glad is pleased to be given a spot with uninterrupted views of the ocean where she can rest. It doesn’t take us long to set up and sit down outside to admire the view when we are the subjects of a gang “mugging”. Now the culprits will be easily identified on crime watch, they’re about 7 inches tall, bright green with red, yellow and blue faces and bellies, that’s right they’re parakeets eager to see if we’ve any tasty apple for them. They try Dave’s coffee but it’s not to their liking, after some 10 minutes of harassment they fly off to find more amenable victims. Consequently, although we BBQ tonight we don’t feel brave enough to eat outside until well after dark when the crickets are out singing, the bunnies are hopping around and the stars above are oh so bright.

3 of "The Gang" checking us out



Lakes Entrance & Beaches

The parakeets wake us soon after sunrise this morning with their cheerful calls and whistles. It’s cloudy but promises to be another sunny day. We walk into Lakes Entrance along the walking track by the side of the river watching the pelicans cruising up and down and the other bird life busily going about their business. Lakes Entrance is a long thin sprawling town bounded by 2 different rivers on either side, it’s made up of numerous small businesses, holiday places and some very nice housing. The day is indeed turning out to be warm and sunny so we do what lots of Aussies do and head for the beach to sunbathe, watch the ocean and dip our feet in the water before heading back to the pool for a swim. No BBQ for us tonight, the delights of the Mexican restaurant – The Tres Amigos awaits us, shredded beef enchillades, shredded chicken & beef enchillades/tacos. We now know how those fat penguins feel, it’s very tempting to lie down on the beach and wait for morning.



Pelicans stalking a fisherman - it snatched the fish he caught!

Ninety Mile Beach - WOW!

This morning it’s like waking up in the jungle with all the bird song at dawn. We’ve only manages to spend one night on this beautiful island, it’s all too short. We’re going to Lakes Entrance today, some 300Km towards Sydney, and the journey, I’ll not lie is long. I’ve been dumped as chief navigator, Dave has switched on “Gertie Garmin” and seems to prefer her soft tones – I’m miffed!!! Never mind more sleeping time for me. With only 50Km to go Dave agrees to stop in Bairnsdale for us to restock the fridge and eat at “Little Alice’s” café. All suitably refuelled we press on for Lakes Entrance and suddenly round a corner the views of the rivers and lakes open up, Gertie naturally, leads us straight to Eastern Beach our stop for the next 2 days. We’ve already walked the 2 minutes stroll to the beach and what a beach – the famous 90 mile beach. Simply gorgeous, golden sand, turquoise sea, rolling surf and hardly anybody on the beach. As I write I’m surrounded by the calls of green and red parakeets, seabirds and I’m watching a pelican swim languidly by, a perfect spot for a BBQ and a bottle of wine tonight.



Dave on Ninety Mile Beach

Penguins!!!!!

We’re moving to Phillip Island today and the easiest way for us to get there is via the Queenscliffe to Sorrento car ferry, it cuts off some 80+Km and a drive through Melbourne. Much to Dave’s delight we’re first in line at the ferry and drive on first, it’s like a small version of the cross channel ferry. We watch the scenery roll by as the ferry takes some 40 minutes to cross the huge bay to Mornington Peninsula. This peninsula looks more affluent and heavily built up as we drive up to Mornington but then as we drive across the peninsula the houses thin out until there’s only flat farm land in sight and very little traffic on the long straight roads. The bridge  from San Remo across to Phillip Island appears quite suddenly off to the right and the views of the bay open out. The campsite is next to the beach with smaller sandy pitches under eucalyptus trees. There are large coot like birds wandering around the site inspecting everyone’s cars and vans while the porcupines dig for ants in the sandy soil.



A Little Penguin in its burrow

The excitement is now building but there are several hours to occupy first, so a stroll along the beautiful beach meters from our site helps occupy me. Soon it’s time to go, why am I so excited well tonight we’re going to see the penguin parade. This has been one of my main objectives since we decided to come to this part of Australia. But first we’re driving to “The Nobbies” an exposed promontory where seals live just off the headland – not that we can see any today, just a few penguins in their nesting boxes. The views however are wild and dramatic and on the way back to the penguin parade, lots of wallabies are beginning to move around at dusk. At last the penguin parade, we check-in and get our VIP passes – it was the only tour we could get booked onto several weeks ago and we didn’t want to miss out on the experience. The whole building is over-run with people – well mainly Chinese actually (they are expecting 86 coaches tonight alone). David our ranger guide (is David the most common name in Oz?) takes us for a short briefing on the Penguins before leading us down to the Sky box – nothing to do with TV. The 9 of us in the group are given binoculars to watch for the penguins, they’re so heavy I’m leaning backwards trying to hold them up! 8.45pm the first few Little Penguins cross the beach, it’s fascinating watching them gather in groups at the water’s edge then making the dash up the beach for the hillside. From the viewing platform we follow their progress up the sandy pathways to their nesting burrows, it’s hard work at 1 foot tall and with legs only 2 inches long climbing some 1 in 2 slopes! The ones at the top must nightly curse their long walk home. Some are so fat preparing for their moult they fall on their bellies and lay there like stranded fish to catch their breath. At the top of the boardwalk we have to pause to give way to penguins at the world’s only penguins crossing where they have right of way. A truly magical experience, thanks goes to my mum for the great Xmas present it’s one I’ll never forget.

Wine Tasting

Today we plan to go and visit a couple of vineyards and do some wine tasting or at least I'll be doing most of the tasting and Dave most of the sniffing of fumes as he's driving. But first, mainly because I can't face an alcoholic drink before midday, we drive around the coast of the Bellarine Peninsular. The roads are wide and straight all set out in a grid pattern, the surrounding land flat. The coast is very different here, not the dramatic surf pounded coast of the Great Ocean Road, its low lying, shallow beaches and turquoise seas gently rolling onto the sand. The small towns have the feel of retirement locations.

Our first stop is Jack Rabbit Vineyards, www.jackrabbitvineyard.com.au recommended by the receptionist here at Bellarine. Its a very plush and polished venue, with waiters eager to seat you for lunch but equally welcoming for us cellar door wine tasters. Having paid my 5 dollars for a tasting, I'm taken through the extensive list of white, rose and red wines, Dave enjoys the fumes and sneaks a few sips especially of the red wines. They are much lighter than the Spanish reds we enjoy in Tenerife. We decline lunch and move on to the next vineyard.



Jan at Terindah Estate

The second stop is at the Terindah Estate, www.terindahestate.com described as a boutique winery with award winning wines. Its appearance from the car park is not promising it looks like a giant metal barn but as we enter and are warmly welcomed by the young hostess we realise that appearances can be deceiving. The other side of the building has stunning views of the bay and Melbourne. Again I am treated to a great range of wines and this time Dave joins me with the reds. Lunch is simply amazing, Kangaroo and smoked eel for Dave, Dory for me. All the staff are very friendly, the chef shares his expertise with how to cook kangaroo, but I still don't feel confident about it. After lunch we watch the wineries 2 dogs, one black and one chocolate labrador racing around the grassy area in front, following the owner back to his house (yes he was lunching just behind us with all the other staff). They certainly have a great life there.
Oh and on arrival back at the campsite, we have discovered that we can spin the front seats round to enjoy sitting either side of the table.


Onwards to Bellarine



Simply stunning a sunrise over Apollo Bay

After a wet and windy night we’re up early this morning, before sunrise in fact. We’re rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over the ocean. It’s a fairly short drive today to the Bellarine Peninsular so there’s no rush to leave early, we enjoy a chat with the Melbourne couple next to us. They tell us about local areas we should stop at on the way.

 

 

 

Suitably informed we turn onto The Great Ocean Road but the weather is decidedly unsettled and it’s not long before the rain starts accompanied by lightening. As we drive slowly along admiring the costal views, which are spectacular even through the rain, we discuss yesterday’s “diesel incident”. We decide it must have been Dave’s Aunty Glad looking after us so the motorhome is now called Glad. As we turn another corner, “Glad” lets us know she’s definitely around, as the engine light puts in an appearance on the dashboard and Dave has limited power and it appears only one gear. We limp into the next town with a long impatient queue behind us. I’m envisaging a long wait for a mechanic as Dave phones the help line. A very helpful lady asks us are we currently parked with the engine off?  yes we are - good, lock and unlock the doors with the remote key 3 times. We look at each other, she’s having a laugh with us pommies isn’t she? Obediently we obey the instructions and amazingly it rests the engine computer and we’re able to drive away normally. If only all problems were so easily solved!!!

Now, we were told we’d see Kangaroos at Anglesey golf course so we make our way there and sure enough huddled under the trees looking a bit wet and miserable are several Kangaroos but near enough for good photo opportunities. The other piece of information gained from our neighbours was to stop in Torquay for lunch and have a look at the beach. They are right it is a beautiful small town with a lovely esplanade walkway and beach, a perfect stop for lunch. But first a coffee stop at a lovely café, Kobo and they sell the most amazing cakes, so what's wrong with a backwards lunch?  

A meandering outback drive brings us to our next stop on the Bellarine Peninsular. The site is very different from the last one, great expanses of flat land, wide open spaces and great facilities including an indoor heated swimming pool, we might just have to test it out.

The 12 Apostles and lessons learnt



Jan at The Twelve Apostles

The Twelve Apostles - well some of them!

No more walking today, we’re off in the motorhome to explore the Great Ocean Road from Apollo Bay to Peterborough. The drive quickly rises up out of the bay and into the Otway National Park, twisty turning roads we both hadn’t expected but as Dave says nothing like the steep narrow twisting roads in Tenerife. Where there are gaps in the trees vast areas of forest are revealed followed eventually by large plains of grassland grazed by cattle. It must take a day to walk between each of the farms. After an hour and a half the views open up to become ocean views and the famous Twelve Apostles. The walk to the cliffs and the Twelve Apostles takes no time and the views are breath taking, much photo taking ensues. We drive on further stopping for more photos at “The Arch”, “London Bridge” and “The Grotto” before driving into Peterborough.  http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ocean_Road

The Arch

Now the joy of motor homing revels itself, if you fancy a snack or drink when you stop it’s all right there in the fridge behind you. A picnic overlooking the beach watching the golfers on the golf course is very relaxing and of course a stroll on the beach to cool the feet in the Pacific Ocean and yes it is very cold. Now for the return home, about 100km, it’s all going well until the lack of fuel begins to worry us. Now, during the whole day we’ve only seen 1 garage selling fuel and even that was shut, I supposes it is Sunday. A very tense hour follows with much coasting in neutral on Dave’s part to eke out the meagre reserves of fuel and much lip chewing on my part as I really don’t fancy the long walk. And all the time the skies are getting blacker and blacker. Miraculously we reach Apollo Bay on fumes and coast into the garage, what a relief. With a full fuel tank and a lesson learnt (when you see a fuel station – fill up), we head back to Pisces Park our arrival announced by the loudest clap of thunder and brightest flash of lightening followed by torrential rain. Tonight we’re going to enjoy another BBQ - it may be a wet one!

Dave & Jan at London Bridge

 


The Grotto









Jan dipping her feet on the beach at Peterborough

View from the motorhome while travelling through The Otway National Park

Apollo Bay Seafood & Music



Pisces Park, Apollo Bay

Parrots

The day  has blue skies and no clouds just a slight misty haze. The walk along the walking track on the edge of the beach is very relaxing just what we expected. We pass an old gnarled tree and pause to watch the parrots chattering and cavorting in the branches. Apollo Bay is full today lots of people taking the opportunity to visit the seafood and music festival, just like us. We find a couple of vacant chairs in the marquee and watch a band before the main local celebrity chef begins is cookery demonstration – how to cook crayfish, Greek style. Now he is obviously an excellent chef but his presentation skills need honing, Dave and I are constantly whispering to each other what was that he did/added? There’s no chance we’ll be recreating his dish, we did get to try a smidgen of it however. Appetite wetted, the food stalls outside beckon, the barbequed scallop kebabs were mouth wateringly good.

Dave on Apollo Bay Beach or part of it

We continued our “stroll” (Dave declares it a full days hike, but he was in flip flops) to the harbour to watch the fishermen loading a boat with fish to the Sydney fish market and others just trying their luck off the harbour wall. A bit further on we reach another deserted beach with amazing views of the next bay. Enough is enough it’s time to head back to town for an ice-cream from Dooleys. A sit down in the cool of the marque while we watch more live music and cookery demonstrations – this time paella – I’ve cooked a few of these in the past. Time to “stroll” home, apparently it’s 1,800 steps to and from Apollo Bay from where we are (Dave wants a refund on the holiday if he gains as much as an ounce in weight) and we’re going to do it all again tonight!


After strolling back to Apollo Bay we hungrily survey the options for an evening meal and eventually settle on George’s. It’s not very glamorous, in fact it’s a large take away food court but we won’t be taking ours away it’ll be cold by the time we walk back to Pisces holiday village. What’s attracted us? well the fish bar at the back is doing a roaring trade, always a good sign and we’re not disappointed. The fishermen’s platter for 2 consists of 2 large fillets of fish, 2 large prawns, 2 crabsticks and 2 scallops accompanied by fresh coleslaw, greek salad and chips, I don’t know how we finished it but we did. The walk home was much slower and dark as there are no street lights but nature provides its own form of lighting in the form of lightening. Fortunately the rain waits for us to reach the motorhome.
 
 

Motorhome and open roads

A nervous start today with final bits of packing and a sad goodbye to the Riverside Apartments they have suited us perfectly for the last 3 days. The taxi ride to Britz motorhome hire takes no time, however the handover of the motorhome or rather our ability to absorb all the information and check we understand it all takes some considerable time. Eventually we set off for the supermarket and stock up only to discover we can’t access our safe so back to Britz. The maintenance guy is very patient with us, he does ask if we’ve been anywhere yet! Fully sorted we set off and after only one minor wrong turn are soon seeing signs for The Great Ocean Road, the excitement is building especially on my part. I have dreamt of visiting this area of Oz ever since we decided to come here.

The scenery gradually changes from a city and built up landscape to straight roads, galvanised metal bridges with brightly coloured glass panels and flat fields before we start to see little glimpses of sea. When the full vista of the Great Ocean Road reveals itself after Anglesea it’s breath taking. To think that men returned from the horror of WW1 built this beautiful legacy is awe inspiring. The views reveal themselves turn after twisting turn in the road before we reach the wider bay  that is Apollo’s Bay and is our final destination for tonight.



Our motor home on The Great Ocean Road

A good few hours of van sorting, site and area exploring followed by our first Aussie BBQ, I reckon Dave showed those Aussies how to do it, our Balsamic chicken was the best…. Roll on tomorrow and the seafood festival.

Melbourne 4 seasons in 1 day

Street art in Hosier Lane

Dave in ACDC Lane

Blue skies!!! The last couple of days have contained everything from grey cloud covered skies, wind, rain and finally sunshine, typical Melbourne weather apparently. The free tram system and walking are going to be our choice of transport for exploring the city. First stop Federation Square and Flinders Street station for photos by day in the sunshine, next stop Hosier Lane - the centre of activity for street art. The walls are covered in amazingly colourful pictures but no artists in sight today. After this ACDC Lane, Dave just has to find this one for a picture opportunity. Finally, for the end of the morning section of the tour a meander through Fitzroy Gardens enjoying the peaceful surroundings - until we get to the conservatory where lots of Chinese tourists suddenly emerge from the undergrowth all obsessed with taking selfies. The begonias inside are stunning, some as big as my hand and in so many colours, in fact all the flowers through out the gardens are stunning, I have to be dragged away as other sights await us. The walk continues past Captain Cook's cottage which was shipped here from the UK but I'm not sure he ever lived in it as (it was built for him but only erected here in 1934), and on to the Treasury building and Parliament House. It's definitely time for some refreshment and of course a good old fashioned British pub is the venue...



The Lion Dance

The afternoon is filled with more tram rides - we're beginning to get the hang of how to read the maps and which side of the tramway to stand. But I'm still panicked by the urgent sound of the pedestrian crossing at road junctions, they seem to be saying hurry, hurry, hurry or you'll get run over. As we make our way to the tram stop we heard the sound of drums, following it we find a big crowd watching the traditional lion dance. Queen Victoria Market is a huge area opened in 1878 it sells everything from clothes, leather goods, souvenirs to fabulous fresh fruit and veg. I can't resist all the veg but restrict myself to just a few tomatoes and chillies (only 500g's worth) we may not need chillies for a while now! The city tour is rounded off with a visit to the Waterfront Docklands where we gaze enviously at all the large boats.

Tonight, a night in with the packing and the meal may contain tomatoes and chillies at least...





Boats at the Dockside - wish one was ours!

Reunion



Sandie & Dave

We’re both nervous and excited this morning as today we’re meeting Dave’s cousin Sandie. They last met when Sandie emigrated to Australia with the family some 50+years ago. The excitement takes over when we meet and start exchanging news of families, looking at pictures and sharing memories. A lunch in the casino or pokkie followed by  a long walk down the Yarra river of course all accompanied by plenty more chatting – Sandie’s advice on motor homing was eagerly received, if we have a problem she may well get a phone call. The time has flown by and all too soon we’re waving goodbye to Sandie at the train station.



The Mall's

Melbourne art

We wander on foot through the Melbourne streets finding the old mall’s Sandie told us about, they are beautiful and buzzing. Outside there are buskers with their small audiences, busy shoppers and art works everywhere. Melbourne is a beautiful city and we love it and all the arts in evidence everywhere.



China Town

Tonight we’re off on a mission to find a microbrewery pub in Clifton Hill as they have live blues music tonight and an English artist is playing there. First track down a MyKi ticket, Southern Cross station provides the necessary cards, second find the right tram stop - the number 86. We sit down to wait at the bus stop in the rain – how very English not Aussie! The no. 86 arrives and as we sit on the tram we realise we need to know what stop to get off at so I start counting them, fortunately Dave recognises the pub in time for us to jump off the tram.

The Clifton Hill Brew Pub is a great intimate venue to see live music and too enjoy some excellent food, meltingly tender calamari for me and salmon for Dave both accompanied by the home produced brew. The music’s great as well, what a perfect day.







AUSTRALIA!!!

The overnight flight to Melbourne is good, well as good as overnight flights are, we arrive in Melbourne ready for a long and stern examination through immigration/passport control. It never happened, it's all more automated than the UK and we only saw inboard looking officer who couldn't wait to wave us through - our passport was far more thoroughly interrogated for us to leave Singapore



Night view from our apartment - Eureka Skydeck far left

The Riverside Apartments will be our home for the next 3 days and we cannot believe the size and excellent location we have, with great views of the Yarra River and city. We've settled in and even managed to find the tram to the supermarket to stock up the fridge with coffee, milk, beer, G & T and wine, what more do we need?



Trees dressed for winter?

The evening is taken up with a walk to Federation Square, there's beautiful old and new buildings around it and even an open air film being shown with people lounging on deck chairs watching it while having a picnic. it all gives a great impression of a lovely laid back city. We join the city workers feasting on gourmet burgers and fries while enjoying a post work drink, it was the best burger I've ever had but also the most expensive - gulp!!



Flinders Street Station

Goodbye Singapore - Hello Australia

St Andrews Cathedral

Our last day in Singapore which means more bag packing later, but for this morning a walk to St. Andrew's cathedral and Singapore cricket ground is our final objective. The walk isn't far but in 33 C heat with a breeze it's like walking in a fan assisted oven. The cathedral is lovely just like one of our English churches but all in white on the outside. The surprise is the walls being painted blue inside but this enhances the stained glass windows.

The cricket ground is just across the road next to Singapore's highest hotel. As cricket grounds go it's small, no fencing and surrounded by busy roads. It must be a challenge fielding by the boundary here, I wonder if any of them get run over!






Singapore Cricket Ground

By now Dave and I are so hot and have probably lost pounds in weight in the outside sauna, we need an air conditioned mall. At last one appears like a mirage, we rush inside behind all the other boiled people and follow them to the lift up several floors before getting out. Oops we seem to have followed a couple of locals home but at least the public areas are air conditioned, self consciously we return to the ground floor and search out the mall entrance. We work our way back to the hotel hoping from air conditioned area to icecream shop to micro brewery - black raspberry beer is lovely nothing like normal lager.

And so to packing, once it's done it's time for cocktail hour in the lounge, such a hard decision what to have...

Sunbathing, Bumboats and Ku De Ta

Singapore skyscrapers

A lazy morning of sunbathing by the pool before we take a bumboat cruise to the Marina Bay area. The bumboat has an English commentary picking out the places we can see from the Singapore River. It drops us at  the bayfront area where we can stroll to the Marina Bay Hotel, but only by walking through the shopping centre filled with every high fashion brand you could name, Louis Vuitton, Kenzo, La Perla, the list goes on.



Marina Bay Sands Hotel with Sky Park on top

In the foyer of the hotel we head for the lift to the 57th floor, however we have no key card, luckily for us a burly security guard from the bar gets in, uses his card to take us to the bar. The Ku De Ta bar is amazing panoramic views of Singapore, the city, the port and the bay gardens. We stand open mouthed watching the view as it slowly turns to night and all the lights in the sky rise buildings come on. The lazer and light show entertains us while we sip a drink, before we leave we take a last look at at the amazing 360 degree view and retrace our steps back to the bumboat in near silence.


View from Ku De Ta bar (57th floor)

Bumboats on the Singapore river

        The bumboat drops us at Clarke Quay, feeling rather hungry and the need to experience an authentic Chinese we walk to china town. The streets are heaving with people, the chinese market is in full swing and there are excited chinese children everywhere. The traditional sechuan restaurant is an oasis of calm in comparison. Dave fancies a "steamboat" meal but we haven't a clue what to do with the large steaming wok that could be heading for the centre of our table very soon. I'm ashamed to say we bottle it and opt for what we know fried rice, beef with ginger and beef with green peppers that turn out to be chillies!!! I'm sure we missed out on a treat as all the other Chinese diners were enthusiastically tucking into their steamboats. What a great way to mark the end of our last full day in Singapore.




Hotel mishaps and Singapore sights

The day doesn't start well, plug the kettle in for a morning coffee and all the elactric in the room fuses, a call to housekeeping means we have to get dressed quickly. The electrician confirms the kettle is faulty & it's duly replaced.



Buddist monks chanting in the Temple

After breakfast we set off to explore china town. The streets are quiet to start with but the closer to china town the busier they are especially with the street market. After Bangkok it all feels very organised and calm apart from the group of 20+ Chinese in wheelchairs. The Buddhist Temple is an oasis of calm with monks chanting and the sound of alms being dropped into the many jars around the temple all with the back drop of ornate figures and decoration. The walk continues past chinese shops, bronze statues and decorations for the new year. A muslim mosque with devotees at prayer (one of the sites of the founders of Singapore) and a chinese temple (the oldest in Singapore) are on our route back to the river where restauranters are setting up their seafood restaurants for the day ahead.


The Merlion

A cooling drink in the hotel revives us before the afternoon's city tour. It takes in the highlights of Singapore: Merlion Park, Thian Hok Keng Temple (one of the oldest buddist-taoist temple's, uhh oh that makes it 4 in one day, strike 2, I'm out of temples!!!!), the national orchid garden and little india. On return to the hotel the safe won't work at all... panic everything of importance is in there. Another call to housekeeping for a safe breaker, fortunately he's more than competent but what else will break in this room! The only thing to do is retreat to The  Crystal Lounge (our upgrade treat) for (many) complementary drinks and eats, will we make it out of the hotel tonight....


Than Hok Keng Temple

Of course we did, a visit to Singapore means a visit to Raffles Long Bar for a singapore sling. It's the only place in Singapore you can drop litter on the floor in theshapeof monkey nut shells. Was it worth the extortionate price for the cocktails probably, at least we can say we've been there.






National Orchid Garden



Hanging out the washing Singapore style

Bangkok to Singapore

A relaxing morning with a late and lazy dreakfast, wonderful, then a trip to the airport. I'm surprised how emotional I feel at leaving Bangkok, at first it over whelmed me but within the last 3 days the city has crept under my skin and into my heart, such a different city with so many facets to it, could you ever completely discover it? Onwards to Singapore ... flying Tiger Airways on Friday 13th is a bit of a worry, hopefully this won't be our last blog!

Security at Bangkok airport is strict our passports are threatening to make the best sellers list. The chinese security lady's in a bad mood and I'm struggling to obey the instructions fast enough,"soo's n boo ox" turns out to be - take your shoes off and put them in the blue box. And at Singapore we must look suspicious or maybe the Chinese security lady phoned ahead as we have our cases scanned before being allowed into the country!

Another beautiful hotel with great city views and a lounge bar overlooking the spectacular Clarkes Quay. An evening stroll open mouthed at all the high rise buildings, shopping centre covered by giant umbrella like fans that change colour and chinese new year decorations everywhere. This city is so very different to Bangkok, modern, affluent, no visible cables, and wide walkways just like America. We're eating indian tonight at a quayside restaurant while people watching, it's a great combination.

View from our room

Floating Markets, Elephants, Monkeys and River Cruises



Thai Style Canoe

A very early start today to reach the floating market at Damnern Saduak. The tour is again led by Yeli and once more we're lucky to be in a group of 4. The drive takes us past Salt farms, and through the Maeklong market where the stalls are set up on the train tracks and have to be moved rapidly when the trains pass through. The final leg of the trip to the floating market is by narrow long tailed speed boat (James Bond style). This is the best bit of the trip as far as Dave is concerned and its a great way to see the traditional Thai style houses on stilts. Then there's the market negotiated on thai style canoes steered by long pole through the narrow waterways with stalls and boats selling fruit, vegetables, clothes, paintings, wood carvings, spices ...... the list goes on and on



Damnern Suduak Floating Market

Drunk with heat and sensations after the boat trip round the waterways we wander on foot round the market trying thai traditional coffee and delicacies. The coffee is a strong mix of both coffee and chocolate served in a tiny cup but delicious. The food is small coconut rice patties flavoured with black sticky rice, coconut or spring onions but somehow don't taste strongly of coconut and the savoury version is surprisingly good.

On the way back to Bangkok we stop at an elephant and monkey place, I hesitate to  call it a zoo as they all seem to have to work for a living. The elephants giving rides to tourists Nd the monkeys demonstrating their skills climbing trees and harvesting coconut - I suppose it's cheap labour! Exhausted once we reach the hotel, the pool and an afternoon nap beckons before the evening trip on a river cruise.



Thai dancing welcome



Jan on the dinner cruise

Ramos 8th Bridge at night

The pick-up time is 5.30pm for a 7.00pm departure and it takes over an hour to travel the short distance to the river. The Grand Chao Phraya Princess is festooned in lights, tables laid with white linen and gorgeous thai girls performing a traditional dance to welcome us aboard.The buffet is a superb mix od traditional thai (tom yum soup, spicy pork mince), international (fish in a creamy sauce, lasagne) and Chinese (pepper chicken) and the view from the river of all the temples and bridges lit up is stunning. We now realise how little we have really seen of Bangkok but at Dave's limit of 1 or 2 temples a day we may have to return many times to see the 600 within the city ...

Palaces, markets and China Town

The Grand Palace

A lazy start to the day with breakfast and sunbathing before our trip to the Grand Palace. The trip is for a select group of 4 plus our tour guide nicknamed Yeli. The traffic in Bangkok is as bad as ever and it takes ages to drive to the Grand Palace, the road to the Palace gates is over run with coaches, taxi's, bikes and tuk tuks, the noise is deafening when we get out to the minibus.

Yeli leads us through the Grand Palace outlining the importance, historical and architectural features and stories behind each of the buildings. We are spellbound with the opulence of the decoration and the grandeur of size. As Yeli says we Thais like bling being! and they certainly do. Each building, palace and temple is grander than the next, the highlight being the Jade Budda dressed in his winter clothes.





The Grand Palace

After the tour we opt to walk part way back to the hotel as we want to see the Flower Market area. The streets are hot and very run down in parts, overhead electricity cables everywhere. By now we are flagging and turning the corner, we come across an ultra modern, marble tiled mall and a very welcome drinks spot where we can watch the river taxi's collecting and disgorging people, all done in 30 seconds a stop. They take off like speed boats.






Marigold garlands in the flower market

Flower delivery Bangkok style

Refreshed, we head for the flower market, the scent reaches us before we see the flowers, as far as the eye can see, marigold heads being strung into garlands, orchids in bunches by the millions and ornate flower arrangements, it's an amazing sight. Down another street is the Sikh area with row upon row of shops selling every kind of fabric imaginable from cheap cotton to silks and wedding dress fabrics, the colours are dazzling. Turn another corner and we're in China Town proper, narrow, crowded alley ways where the sun hardly penetrates selling every item imaginable. I could easily shop for clothes on one side of the alley while holding a broom on the other! And everywhere there are street eating stalls - one person with a giant bunson burner, wok and plastic stools with tables. The noise and smells are overwhelming plus being so hot. An oasis of cool presents itself in the form of the restaurant of the Grand China Hotel, Chinese pork and rice with a cooling beer later we finish the walking tour by finding the Chinese Temple and China Gate at the entrance to China Town. Foot sore, tired and suffering from sensory overload the only thing to do is retreat to the hotel by Metro - equally efficient as the sky train. Roll on tomorrow for more Bangkok experiences.



China man in China Town (he is real!)