Happy new year

Hi

We've been busy stuffing our faces for the last few days. We have been sightseeing in Brisbane and have covered all the wild animals with a visit to the lone pine koala sanctuary. Didn't do the reptile house. I wonder why? Covered nearly 4000 k since arriving only just under 1000 k to go until we reach Cairns. We're back on the road now and will arrive at Airlie beach today and crash there for a week before heading to the Whitsunday desert island. Last night was boiling hot we nearly melted in the tent we had to sleep with the front of the tent open just to get a bit of cool air. Pj wise better not mention that! We will try to get in touch with everyone on New Year's Eve, face time if we have wifi, telephone if not. We will be half way through New Year's Day before you celebrate the new year. Heard about the snow. You can build snowmen and we will built sandmen instead. 

Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas to everyone, have a great day. All our love Mum & Dad (AKA Sarah & Dave)

Some more pictures of the Blue Mountains

Below some more pictures of the Blue Mountains. Really beautiful scenery and a great place to walk. Only sorry we had just a day and a half.
Over the past few days we have come across several road and place names that were either fun or interesting; -
Barkers Bridge, Barkers Road, Buckingham Avenue, Davies Street and road, earlier today we passed Bald Knob Road (Nath that ones for you!)
Tonight we have arrived in hippy central otherwise known as Byron Bay. Unfortunately, it looks like the hippies can't afford to visit here anymore as it cost $70 to sleep in your own tent........... However, they are playing there guitars and bongos on the beach right now. Good job we are not sleeping to close. The picture at the bottom is the one we have just taken on the beach.

Byron Bay just taken now!

Today we are in The Blue Mountains

Today we drove from Sydney in country to The Blue Mountains. It's about 1hr. 30mins. The land rises to around 1000m and all the mountains seem to be at the same level. The Rock is the same sandstone that Sydney is built on. Long ago the whole area from Sydney was similar to the Nile valley but geological upheaval raised The Blue Mountains. Since then weathering and rivers have eroded it away to create mountains and valleys that are here today. The one in the picture is the Jamerson Valley. Tomorrow we are going to trek up and down the cliffs and through the rainforest. 

Happy Birthday Dawn

Have a great birthday Dawn lots of love Sarah and Dave

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Sydney

Hi everyone

Hope you are all well. We've just seen the temperature in London on the TV and its 2 degrees, chilly! So I thought I'd brighten the day and probably make you curse us. 

Heres a few pictures of the previous  two days in Sydney and the harbour area. 

We are sun burnt by the way!

This is Manly Beach.

Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. 

Our first day we visited the harbour area catching the ferry across to Milstone Point and walking back over the bridge you can see one of the photos above of the Opera House is from there. We had coffee in the Opera House and then walked throught the park and botanical gardens. The trains here are double decker. Quite novel! 

The next day we started with a 30 min. ferry ride to Manly Beach, stayed for lunch of fish and chips, how British seasidey. Followed by more ferry trips to Darling Quay and China Town then finished up river at Sydney Olympic Park. 

We had authentic Chinese dinner (what ever that is) but I'm sure our portions were a lot less than the locals seemed to have. Anyway it was nice. 

On our way back we missed our stop and had to jump on another train to get back home. 

Look what joined us in the tent for dinner

And he posed for a picture or two. The possums run all over the place here. It was about 8:30pm when we sat down to eat and he just ambled in! Quite a shock I can tell you. 

Update to G’day mate

We left Kathmandu for Dubai on a late flight and I mean late 1.30 late but didn't matter as sleeping at the airport when we arrived anyhow. We transferred to the terminal we needed then freshened up and had a drink and nap. Very uncomfortable. We put the luggage in store and headed on the metro to the mall of Dubai. Wow! It's huge, ice skating, aquarium and 4 floors of shopping. Where's the credit card and the FedEx office.  We stood outside the tallest building in the world 828m tall. Couldn't go up though as all tickets were sold out. Mum you definitely wouldn't do that one, you get dizzy just looking up.  It really took us by surprise what a nice place it was, they were even celebrating Christmas. We spent the day window shopping and drinking, it's very hot, before heading back to the airport. Had a bit of a wait before we could checkin but eventually got sorted. We were sat in a row of 3 but the man on our row was separated from his wife so they jogged seats and moved him so we had 3 seats to uorselves to spread. The seats weren't to bad and they dimmed the lights for most of the trip so you could get some sleep!!! A very long flight though. Lots of paperwork to fill in but went through immigration and customs and baggage claim in under an hour.  They checked our boots as we had been trekking and don't want imported dirt but we had had boots cleaned so all ok.  We tried to find the bus for transfer to no avail so went for a taxi only to be told hotel was around the corner so walked. 1 cup of tea and a HOT shower later and straight to bed, nice soft ,comfortable bed. Pleasure clean and proper place to sleep after 3 nights in airports and planes. Collected car following morning and headed out. We are on our third night of camping and have one more before hitting Sydney, hotel for 3 nights. Today we have been sightseeing in Canberra, capital of Australia but so tiny, 10 mins from outskirts to centre on the bus. I really like it with wide boulevards and trees, not very busy, Dave thinks it's disappointing. Just having a nightcap and abusing the free wifi in McDonald's to keep in touch. Hope everyone is keeping well and thanks for keeping in touch. Love to you all
Sarah & Dave
P.S. No more food poisoning Daves back to his usual eating after a day of bland toast and crackers.
Xxxxxxxxx😃

Fish and chips for dinner tonight. Fancy the big one in the corner. The aquarium in the shopping mall.

G’day Mate

We are now in Aussie. Haven't seen any living Roo's yet only dead ones on the road side, yuk! Oh of course in a burger, taste great!!!
Only kidding!
We have some photos of Dubai and will post when we have a chance, probably tomorrow.
Nepal left me (Dave) with a lasting impression. The Pokhara Poop! We both got a touch of food poisoning from the chicken in the buffet on the way to the airport.  Some had more(Dave) than others so effect lasted longer! And caught up with Dave just before we got on the plane to Melbourne. He got reserved seating in the loo.
Funny, funny, funny.        Not!
Sarah has taken to writing extra bits in my correspondence as I write it. So you will get bits from me and then extra comment from her God knows how you will know who's written what. Anyway maybe tomorrow I'll feel better. I've been saying that for four days now!
Keep well!
Sarah and Dave

Final note from Nepal

Like all capital cities Kathmandu was very busy and has a mixture of good and bad. The biggest thing that strikes you is the litter and dust. Both unfortunate are prevalent nearly everywhere you go evan high in the mountains. Once out of the city and into the mountains the atmosphere changes and the speed of life is slow. Leaving the frenetic city behind is refreshing even after just those first few days. 

The people seem to know little of crime and I can say we have always felt safe  wherever we have been. Yes, some people have been less polite than others but this is true of anywhere in the world. Walking the trail early in the morning you are passed by  kids going to school. They all leave a odd times some early in the morning but I think this is because they have a long walk both to and from there schools. Most villages and settlements don't have a school so as you walk down the trail from about 7:30am through to 10am you pass smartly dressed kids making their way to school. Everyone has said namaste ('good' in Nepalese) many also like to try their English so say good morning and how are you. Lots of the little ones ask for chocolate and one or two asked for a pen. They are all dressed in what we would class as a smart school uniform, trousers or skirt with shirt, tie and jumper. Their parents must sacrifice a good deal to purchase these as you see these smartly dressed kids turn out of homes that we would class as a garden shed. I have looked inside some and all the family share one room which serves as the kitchen, bedroom and an area to live in. 

The scenery is very powerful, the mountains dominate right from the start. In fact looking from Kathmandu or Pokhara you see snow capped mountain ranges in the near distance. Also, impressive and humbling is when you're out walking with you pack fully loaded on your back and coming down the hill towards you is an old lady with a woven reed basket lashed around her forehead and overflowing with wood, on her way home to prepare for winter. In the mountains everyone uses a wood fire for cooking and heating. Some tea shop owners have a gas bottle for a shower, if your lucky! Food is prepared when ordered always freshly made and most often with produce they have grown themselves. Many occasions we have watched the owner or one of the family go and collect food from the garden for our meal. I am sure it's a hard life especially when the winter comes with sub zero temperatures outside all day. Accommodation is basic as you would expect but every tea house takes pride in there building which is there family home. Probably the most basic accommodation we stayed in was after the Thorung La Pass. The outside was made of brick but once through the door everything else was made of mud. A young lady and her mother where the only ones there. The elder lady was not seen much so the younger lady did all the work. The bedroom was mud from floor to ceiling. The mud was just like a dried out riverbed, cracked all over. Plastic was tacked to the wall as a damp-proofer and another plastic sheet on the floor. Beds were simple but functional. The upstairs dining area was much the same. The young lady could be seen sweeping the dust off the front yard and when I'd finished with the bucket of hot water she used this to damp the mud on the yard to further control dust. Dinner and breakfast were served on time and hot and she placed a metal tub of hot coals under our table to keep us all warm while we ate. On this night their was only four of us, Sarah me and a South African couple all huddled around this one table in amongst a mud dinning room. Other times we have passed proud mothers and home owners early in the morning sweeping there frontage no matter how humble there home maybe. One lady early on in the trek took us through her house which they shared with the animals in the stable to view her garden just before she served us lemon team, made with lemons from her garden. 

The climate here has surprised me. It permits all sorts of fruit, vegetables and flowers that I did not expect to see. As we passed through Bhratang the apple picking season had just finished so apples were in abundance and I ate at least three different types of apple pie or pasties. None of them as nice as yours Mum. On the west side of the Annapurna range the oranges are ripe and ready to pick. We have been offered juicy oranges daily. An entrepreneurial child while walking into Tataopani to school tried to sell us a few oranges one morning. We've had bananas, cauliflower, all types of beans and garden veg. I have seen mangoes on trees. Flowers, all manner of beautiful varieties that I don't know the name of but big bushes of poinsettia and orange lilies. Purple and red flowers both small and large. Butterflies in abundance of every type and colour. The nature is truly wonderful. For an inspiring place and people Nepal is right up there. 

Now for the amusing side at least for us westerners. Toilet facilities are very very different from what we are used to and take for granted. Now in Kathmandu we had a flush toilet like home, a little basic yes but you'd recognise it. However, once out on the trail it's a whole new surprise. If you imagine a teardrop shape sliced in half vertically then laid flat on the floor with two foot marks either side of it, to line yourself up with so you don't miss, then that's you on the money, literally. These are shared with everyone or if you are lucky maybe a tea house has an ensuite room for a little extra! Theirs no flush it just slides down the poo shoot. Paper has to sit in a bin left on the side. The only rinsing is via a tap nearby with a bucket, just pour down a good deal of water. Only thing is early in the morning or late at night the water has frozen over so Oh Dear! We had a western style toilet one night near the end, great we thought luxury, until you sat on it and it wasn't fastened down to the waste pipe so one wrong move and wow you don't want to go there. Theirs a regular nightly chorus and I do mean all through the night usually of the local dogs barking. After a while you get used to it. In the morning two treats wake you up the customary cock crowing from around 5am and the local population who make a grinding sound in there mouths and then spit. Where ever you are this sound prevails and it's the one thing Sarah says she will not miss. I have to say I agree but each morning around 5 'ish I'd smile as the first person up would start. On the first morning I thought I had the whole local village taking it in turns urinating outside my window until I opened the window to find the village tap was opposite and they were just collecting their water for breakfast. 

Sarah has been attracting dogs like never before. You all know she really is not keen on mans best friend. Well over the past week to 10 days we have been accompanied by a dog or two each day. The longest serving chap was about 7 days ago. He joined us for nearly an entire day's walking. Mid morning while walking past a village he appeared we don't know where from and he must have been tagging along until about 3:30pm or so. We recon he did about 15 to 18 km with us. I have a picture of him with Sarah curled up while we had lunch. I took that one especially for Sam and Leanne. He got into about 5 fights with other dogs as we passed through villages but always managed to win through. The dogs here are extremely territorial. I would not like to cross one at night. 

Busses are an eye opener here. We have caught four in total and all were an experience. The second to last one to Pokhara was astonishingly uncomfortable. The 50km trip cost us both 75p, yes just 75p I am very tall compared with the Nepalese so having to stand all the way for 2 hours was not good, neck bent double. The bus fits around 20 people on seated but standard overloading accommodates 40 or more. Then you have baggage. Now that can include but is not limited to bags of rice half my size, ruck sacks of course and general luggage but then you can bring on bookcases, chairs, chickens, very large containers of kerosene (two of these stunk the whole bus out on one occasion) etc etc. Your in such close proximity that I literally had my armpit on top of a blokes head for two hours. He just smiled and put up with it! 

Our last two days have been spent in Pokhara, Nepal's second city and in our view a far prettier one. It sits by the side of a lake and has a good view of the mountains and it's not busy now the trekking season has ended.  We made a rather large mistake on arrival. After getting off the bus from Naya-Pul (the 50km ride for 75p each). We hopped into a taxi and asked to be taken to The Fishtail hotel. On arrival we were rowed across the lake to a island, all looks fantastic we thought. Now we knew this hotel was supposed to be a step up from all we had previously been staying at so wow, great this is quite special. The receptionist apologises as there booking computer is down, the usual power sharing /cuts that all Nepal puts up with daily. We say we have arrived early so can we have an extra two nights? Yes no problem. That will be an additional $400 dollars but I will apply the discount you got through booking online. At this point I start thinking something's not right here. Our original booking was about £23 for one night there's no way he can discount it that much. They served us free cocktails, we drank them while he did his calculations. Then he made a phone call and I opened up the hotel details on the iPad to check the rate. O-Oh! This place is called The Fishtail Lodge and we are staying at The Fishtail Villa. How embarrassing, lots of apologies and another 5 mins rope pull back in the boat across the lake we have 2 porters caring our bags a security guard who comes on the boat and the guy pulling the ferry rope to move us across the lake all muttering Fishtail Villa but none of them laughing, as yet. Made a quick exit off the jetty followed by our two bag men. Into a taxi after tipping the blokes and off to the correct hotel. This time it's the right one and they turned out to be very nice and helpful but a step down in quality as you would expect for the price. We chilled out for the two days before making our bus ride back to Kathmandu, another 8 hours but this time with a seat and in comfort. 

See below our final photo from Nepal. 

Anyway that's got to do for now. We've been very fortunate to be able to do this and the experiences will stay with us for the rest of our lives. I'll drop in some more photos for you to look at should you wish. At the moment we're in Kathmandu airport and preparing to fly back to Dubai and then onto Australia. 

Namaste 

Sarah and Dave

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Great Slogans from Nepal

Here's a straight up advertisement for coffee we saw on our bus trip back to Kathmandu. Read the bottom strap line. 

We also had to go through several Police checkposts. This is the Nepaleese Police slogan - 'Never fear the Nepal Police are Here'.  Very reassuringly funny especially as they all carry some sort of weapon. 

This ones for you Sam and Leanne

We picked an extra traveller. A guard dog for your Mum! Sarah was not impressed, she said it was a flea ridden thing. Any way he walked with us nearly all one day. About 18km and protected your Mum by fighting off all the local dogs in each village. 

Sarah has turned into Dr Dolittle. If you look closely the dog is following Sarah across the bridge. 

I wanted to share this view from Poon Hill with you

Hi everyone 

If you read Sarah's last post you'll know we have now finished our trek here in Nepal. We are sat in Pokhara musing over our experiences over the past three weeks. I'll bore you with a lengthy blog on everything next time. Anyway as I said, in Sarah's last blog '2 Days Treking to go' she said I'd gone up to Poon Hill (3210m) at sunset to shoot some pictures. I took loads with my camera and this one above with my phone to share with you. 

The view was 'awesome' to coin a horrible Americanism. I hope this picture gives some idea of the scene I saw. When I get back next year I'll bore you all with my Ansel Adams like photos, once you start yawning I promise I'll shut up and turn the screen off!

2 days of trekking left!

Hi we've arrived in goneapani n Dave has headed up to poon hill to take photos of the mountains at sunset.  It was that or get up at 4 in the morning to get them in the sunrise.  I volunteered not to go as we have spent the last 2 days in the scorching heat climbing a 1000m aday and it's exhausting and my feet are killing.  We've had a few luxury day in tataopani where they have hot spring to ease your aching muscles. We have only 2 more trekking days before we arrive in pokhara for a couple of days rest before heading to Kathmandu for our flight to Australia.  Can't believe we are nearly finished this part of our journey. We will be in touch again soon as the wifi allows. Hugs to everyone.