Koh Chang

Koh Chang 30/11 - 10/12

We flew from Hanoi back into Bangkok for 3 nights of shopping before heading down to Koh Chang for 10 nights. Ko Chang is another beautiful Thai island with crystal clear water and golden sands. We spent 7 nights in Lonely Beach which was everything but lonely and had a beach party every night! Then we stayed at Long Beach for 3 nights which is a deserted piece of paradise.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Paying 6 auzzie dollars for a hut over the water.

- Cheap Chang draught beer served by a bloke named John........ due to his Rambo-like obsession with headbands.

- BBQ red snapper with the best jacket potatoes ever!

- Smashing Bretty at beach cricket with the 'SS' coming from a bit of driftwood.

- Happy hour on the beach watching stunning sunsets.

- Dancing the night away with the local Thai boys at the half moon, full moon and black moon parties. The Thais sure love their moons!

- Our intensive 'get fit for back home' exercise sessions including hill walks and gruelling weight sessions in natures 'gym with a view'.

- Free drinks during happy hour.......... which counteracts last highlight!

- Finally finding rice paper rolls - TC was happy at last!

- Cooking up a storm at a Thai cooking class - watch out Jamie.

- Having breaky served whilst lying in our hammocks.

- Finding 2L bottles of Italian red at cost price.

- Watching Hazza and Torres destroy Bolton!

- Our 'Chrissy Day' party - never seen chicken disappear so quickly!

- Schools of fish constantly jumping out of the water.

- BUCKETS!

TOOL OF THE WEEK - DF wins the last TOTW award for the trip. Let's set the scene....... We had a 90- minute trip in the back of a van complete with 15 other sweaty travellers to do in the morning. So what does he do the night before? Buckets...... containing Thai whiskey, red bull and vodka. How many?1? No. 2? Higher (bear in mind a bucket is usually for around 5 people). Needless to say it wasn't pretty watching him moaning, groaning and looking very green for the entire trip.

Massive thanks to Country 'but you can call me Cunch' and Em 'Emory or Poo Brown' who joined in the Moccahead Mauling last leg of the trip. 25 days of sun, sand and fun were had by the 4 of us and was a great way to reflect on our trips before heading back home.... love u guys!!

To finish with - thanks to ALL who have been part of, offered advice & support or just embraced our trip. The No Rulz /Big Picture Trip is something we are proud of doing. Work hard but have an eye on what you want in life and what you want OUT of life. Signing off Australia - HERE WE COME!!

Halong Bay & Cat Ba Island

Halong Bay 19/11

We joined the tourist gang and booked ourselves on the 1 night/2 day Halong Bay tour - totally amazing! After a seedy bus ride we hopped on the boat and cruised around 100s of limestone islands while sun baking on deck chairs. After visiting grottoes, canoeing and eating awesome meals we settled down in cabins for our first ever night on a boat!! The first tour we have done but geee it was worth it!! Thanks Tony - u have game!!

We decided to stay on the island instead of heading back to Hanoi.......

Cat Ba Island 20/11 - 27/11

Sometimes it seems like we write the same old thing on here - good weather, beautiful beaches, no tourists..... but honestly Cat Co 2 is another stunning location to put on your to-do-list! We trekked a couple of kms out of town to be greeted with 2 300m stretches of golden sand, a backdrop of beautiful greenery and blue skies. Paradise Mark 2.

The cherry on top was that the only accommodation was a tent under a gazebo on the beach for $8.50 a night - we'll take that thanks! 1 night extended to 2...then to 6......

The place was a gem. There were a few days visitors to the beach but they all left around 5pm and left the 4 of us with a deserted beach, a full moon, duty-free vodka and a deck of cards. The local workers were super friendly and made us feel at home. We even had a classic game of beach volleyball with them....and were quite surprised when their easy going nature turned into a mean competitive streak. We were left counting our bruises!

Often we were the only guests at the restaurant and managed to score some sensational squid, loads of chillies for Em, Tuna sandwiches for Bretty, lemon juice for Dazza and ripe mangos for TC. But after 3 days of breaky, lunch and dinner there, we trekked into town and found an awesome restaurants that had great food (expect for the lasagne) and 2 for 1 bottles of red wine (TC was excited!).

Pretty much the days were planned around the 3 meals and in between was plenty of sun mauling, bat tennis, bat golf, cards, massages, reading, exercising, swimming and planning our next meal!

It was a sad farewell to our little paradise and the people there that made it so welcoming. With John Williamson and Men at Work blasting on the iPod we hopped on a bus, boat, bus, taxi, and plane back to Bangkok. Due to changing plans this is the last country we hit before flying HOME 2 AUSTRALIA!! Look out here we come!

Hanoi

Hanoi 17/11 - 19/11

The 1 thing that stands out in Hanoi (apart from the cheap beer!) is the way their traffic flows. To the untrained eye one would think it was chaos - cars, motorbikes, bikes, trucks, buses and pedestrians all drive around through intersections with apparently no problems in perfect harmony. It is insane!

Our time was spent checking out the city and meeting some cool locals.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK - Sitting in roadside bars with the locals drinking Bia Hoi for 22cents a glass. Travelling at its best!

HIGHLIGHTS -

- Eating and drinking in the streets with the locals who kept giving us free vodka shots.

- Going to a happening nightclub - Funky Monkey 3 - to have rich locals try to give us free drinks whilst trying to pickpocket us. But we felt safe as we were surrounded by 5 guys in military uniforms to protect us.

- Cruising around the streets

- Bat tennis in the room at 2am

TOOL OF THE WEEK - Consecutive tools for Country so far. While eating some hot chilli with his fingers, the boy decides to have a sly little scratch...... 5 minutes later he is running around the street in search of some soothing yoghurt. A quick run home for a cold shower provides some welcome relief to the inflamed area.

Hot nuts anyone????

Bangkok

Bangers 13/11 - 17/11

After travelling on our lonesome for the past 6 weeks, we hit Bangers, had a few Changs and awaited the arrival of Cunch & Em - regular drinking partners in London and from back home - who were arriving from Kathmandu...... business class if you don't mind! Excitement took hold as Em fell off the trolley as they wheeled through the gates- a few too many Champers in business! This early moment set the tone for the next month of travelling together.

We found awesome accomodation including roof-top pool pretty cheaply near Khao San Road and hit the streets for buckets of Thai whiskey and 50cent phad thais. Both copped a mauling over the next few days!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK - We hit Patpong Rd for some ping pong action only for the lady bouncer try and rip us off massively! Lucky Bretty was around as he was practically arm wrestling her and made sure we didn't get ripped off. This left us in a pretty foul mood. However every cloud has a silver lining and in our case Mr. Tuk Tuk driver provided this with a ride from hell speeding and swerving his way through busy Bangkok to give us a ride of a lifetime!

HIGHLIGHTS -

- Bangers being cheaper than Phuket.

- Lounging by the roof-top pool in glorious sunshine.

- Drinking buckets on baby stools at roadside bars.

- Rivercruise and Skytrain.

- Tuk tuk rides.

- Fresh juices.

- Asshole....... it's a card game!

- Happy hour by the pool.

- Happy house dinner specials

- Listenbing to Cunch and Em's 654 travel stories.

- Our Vietnamese Visa guy - classic bloke!

TOOL OF THE WEEK - Goes to our mate Bretty who not only coughed and spluttered like a dead man and developed a wicked absyss, but to top it off....... rocking up with a ginger goatee that looked absolutely mock was the clincher! Tool award number 2 for B.Elliott. Good work Spuddy!

PHUKET

Phuket

Phuket's blog page is gladly brought to you by wotif.com who gave us great deals at all the resorts. We paid between 38 - 55 Auzzie a night for 4 or 5 star resorts. Life is a beach!

Centara 29/10 - 1/11 (upgraded)

Kata Poolside 1/11 - 3/11

Diamond Cottage 3/11 - 8/11

Thavorn Beach 8/11 - 12/11 (upgraded!!)

Patong Inn 12/11 - 13/11

(Oh and no we haven't sold out!)

1 day turned into 2...... which turned into 15 at the blink of an eye.

Sightseeing tours? - Didn't do any.

Western restaurants - Pass.

Get a diving certificate - no thanks.

Room service? - 'Can you bring up some more toilet paper'.

Buying fakies.... maybe later.

Free Transfers somewhere? 'We're on it!'

Our time in Phuket was pretty uncomplicated....... and that's precisely why we loved every second of it!

HIGHLIGHT (at least 3 times per day) - Food, glorious food! If Oliver was here the boy wouldn't have gone hungry!! Never before have we eaten so mouth-wateringly well for so little. Red & Green curries, phad thai, noodle dishes, spicy soups, papaya salads, mango & sticky rice, satay spears..... ohhhhh the list is endless and the prices crazily cheap. Every meal was greeted with much enthusiasm!

(Editors note - due to daily gym sessions we did not get fat so there!)

What we did for the rest of the time when we weren't eating:

- Mauling loads of glorious sun.

- 1/2 price drinks @ the poolbar.

- TC becoming an aunt for the 2nd time courtesy of Jack Campbell. Good work N&G....... especially N!

- TC becoming a gym junkie.

- Watching the 1st 4 Star Wars movies on TV.

- Being upgraded to the OceanView suite with Jacuzzi on the balcony overlooking Patong...... could get used to that!

- Just chilling!!

TOOL OF THE WEEK - Steve McBacon.....you had to be there!!

Close second - Old dodgy guys with money!!

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur 25/10 - 29/10

After staying in beach bungalows for the past 16 nights, an air-conditioned room with a hot shower and satellite TV was like being in the twilight zone! We stayed in the heart of Chinatown between 2 major market streets where bargains were there to be found. The relaxed East Coast Malaysian vibe seemed to disappear and the local hawker stalls with dollar signs in their eyes took over. To sum it up, we dined at hawker stalls, browsed the new-age shopping malls complete with rollercoasters and fun parks, and sweated our way through city humidity. Back to civilisation!

MAJOR HIGHLIGHT - Going to the movies for the first time in ages. 2 tickets, drinks and snacks =10 auzzie bucks........ 1983 prices and loving it!

HIGHLIGHTS -

- Watching Liverpool v Arsenal fight out a draw. C'mon the Pool!

- 4 officially sanctioned 'No alcohol' days - gotta be some kind of record!

- Free meals and welcome drinks at the Swiss Inn.

- Internet access for the 1st time in 2 weeks (It's a sad life we lead!)

Palua Tioman

Tioman Island 9/10 to 24/10

The Lonely Planet sums it up perfectly

"intensely beautiful island where the locals have to be asleep to be more laid back".

The plan was to stay 3 nights and we ended up staying 16! It was our first glance of true remote tropical paradise! Our first 3 nights were in ABC in a hillside Chalet overlooking the beach - best place in the village! We spent 3 fun packed days and nights with Luke, Agnes and Enclaire before doing the jungle trek to the other side of the island.......after 2.5 hours straight over a mountain (TC thought she was going to die!) we saw one of the most beautiful beaches in the world - Juara. It didn't take us long to make the decision - back we went to get our bags this was going to be our home for the next 10 nights. The trip back with our bags involved a 4WD and a so called 'road' - most terrifying trip ever.

There was little to do apart from swim, snorkel, body surfing, sunbake, read and totally relax!! PERFECT! The only other tourists in the village were Steve, Matt and Steph all from England who were great fun to have dinner and a few drinks with each night. Our last 3 nights were spent in Salang - a busier village with great coral reefs - we even saw a turtle!

We absolutely loved Malaysia - the friendliness and hospitality of the laid back locals is truly amazing!

Highlights

- Celebrating Hari Raya with the locals - this is an Islam tradition were the locals invite everyone into their homes and share a meal after fasting during daylight hours for over a month ('open house'). We were invited into 2 houses and were offered sticky rice in bamboo leaves, curry and biscuits.

It also involves a few homemade fireworks!

- Going for a night swim and seeing the plankton! just like the movie - The Beach.

- Seeing moneys during our jungle treks

- Fish BBQs

- Rainbow Chalets & Bushman Cafe

Tool of the week

Sandflys & mozzies!

Singapore

Singapore 5/10 to 8/10

We fed a sad farewell to Europe.......thank you for so many fantastic memories!!!....and welcomed South East Asia. Sticking to our new S.E. Asia budget landed us in a hotel in the suburb Geylang - apparently the redlight district of Singapore! After dodging the girls we found some great local food stands
and our taste buds got a good workout...loved the clay pot and tofu!

After visiting the Singapore hospital to get our injections and stock up on meds we caught up with Gilsy and Brooke who showed us the city they have called home for the last 12 months.

Highlights

- Watching Torres equalise in the 92 minute mark at Gilsy and Brookes 'cool as' apartment overlooking the city.

- Chili stingray

- Half price cocktails at the Swisshotel.......some things never change!!

- Chicken feet!

Tool
The English expats who thought that they might have a chance to win the world cup after beating Australia.

Munich - Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest - 28/9 to 4/10

Oh.. this is hard to write about as it is one of the most surreal experiences we have ever had. Germans of all ages dressed in traditional kits, drinking steins and absolutely thrilled to be showing of their festival to the world - the more the merrier seems to be the motto!!

This year we started Munich off Aussie style - watching the AFL Grand Final and oh.....what a day! Up at 5am to the tunes of 'We are Geelong' courtesy of TC, we trained in into Ned Kelly's bar where we arrived to a packed house. Troy, Carls, Milton, Raj and Jerum were up for a stein for breakfast in the best seat in the house (once again Troy came to the forte!). TC was super nervous and didn't talk to anyone in the first half (editors note: she did happen to get thru 2 steins however!). The crowd was loud and merry, the beer good and the Cats were smashing Port! When the final siren sounded the Cat supporters went nuts singing and dancing....what a relief - after 44 years they had done it - Ronnies wish had finally come true. All this and it was only 9am!!! We looked at each other and the decision was made - off to Oktoberfest to celebrate!!

After a massive 18 hour session (well it was 44 years!) with TC still in Joel Corey's Geelong Footy Shorts, we caught up with 4 new arrivals from OZ - Clay, Jo, Hayden and Ang - who came over just for the fest. We headed in, got a great table courtesy of Tim (Milt's Mate) and caught up over a few cold large ones..... and I'm not talking about the pickles! Later that day there was no more dancing on the tables for Clay as he had trouble even standing up! Not sure if it was jetlag or too many steins but .... refer to 'tool of the week' for more info!

Needless to say - great city, great festival, great beers, great food and great company led us to have a super great time over the entire 6 days! Thanks to everyone who made not only Oktoberfest but our last week in Europe a BLAST!!

Oktoberfest...in a few words

Crowds, Phil Narkle, giant pickles, dumplings...but not bread ones!, Country Road, novelty hats, PROST!, snitziel sangers, bratwursts (x 15), crackling, singing, sore thumbs, mauling, late night phone calls, 21 in Italian, great cleavage, goulash, sauerkraut

Highlight of the week

After 44 long years (as Ron will testify to) watching the cats win the Grand Final will go down for TC in particular as the highlight of the year let alone the week. To be in Munich with close mates celebrating was something special and will be in our memories for the rest of our lives. GO CATS!

Tool of the week

Surprise, surprise....who else but Clayton could be so drunk, who else but Clayton could be so stupid, who else but Clayton could be so uncoordinated??

After heading home early from the fest on his first day, Jo guided the great man the whole trip home until she saw the hotel sign.....'Yes we're home!' she thought BUT our fearless leader had other plans - he missed the last step off the bus and headbutted the concrete. He was knocked out, had chipped his 2 front teeth and was lying in a pool of blood. Less than 24 hours in the country and in need of medical assistance......BUT to his credit - after a trip to the dentist at 10am the next morning he was back drinking at the Fest by midday! Congratulations Clay u r now the tool of the week and red hot favourite for TOOL of the YEAR!! PROST!

Zurich

Zurich 24/9 to 28/9

Next stop to see MC in Zurich. He greeted us at the airport and took us to his wonderful new apartment on the lake where we had drinks and caught up with all the goings on. As always, Maurizio was the 'host with the most' driving us to see the beautiful cities of Lucerne and Bern, taking us to the great bars and restaurants and due to our lack of clothes providing us with long socks, jumpers!!

Highlights

- MC taking us to a typical Swiss restaurant where we indulged in 3 mouthwatering courses, prosecco, beer and wine followed by an aperitif! Your are a legend MC!

- Bumping into a red knob in Lucerne and his wife. Good work Jimbo and Bianca.

- Riding our free McDonald bikes around Lake Zurich. Cadel eat your heart out.

- Having an Italian feast @ MC's parents to welcome their family from Oz. Thanks again Lucia and Giuseppe

London

London 19/9 to 24/9

We flew into London for the BIG prelim game - Geelong Vs Collingwood! 2 nights with Carls and Milts, including a home made feast (thanks Carls) and an early start down at the Slug@Fullam to witness the battle of our 2 teams. It was all of Fulham (Geelong) Vs Me (Pies) in what turned out to be a cracking game. 3 hours later with a hoarse voice and a few too many beers I jumped on the G-Town express with the rest of Victoria - Catters do us Proud!

We then headed to our old place in Holloway where we spent 2 nights in our old room - weird! The Super Sports Weekend was spent with Troy watching the Pool, 20/20 cricket and rugby world cup. Drinks Saturday night with Troy, Jean, Kristy, Marty and Kieran topped off a good weekend.

Highlights

- Watching the Brownlow live and cracking a bottle of wine when Jimmy Bartel got up. His mum is a teacher @ Geelong East Primary and is a good lady! Well done Di & Jimmy!

- Dropping in at our local Spanish restaurant 'El Molino' 1 more time!

- Enjoying 1 more Pad Thai at Chompoo... our local Thai fav!

Highlight or lowlight ....... depending on how you look at it. Geelong luckily getting over the Pies due to the class of one G. Ablett!

Tool of the week

Has to go to Dazza this week for being the jinx! All 3 teams he was barracking for got done - pool, pies and aussies in 20/20! Hang your head in shame!

Scopello

Scopello - 17/9 to 19/9

Last stop in Italy - Scopello, a tiny 2 street town which borders a National Park and has pristine waters ideal for snorkelling.

We bumped into a couple of Barwon Heads girls - Holly and Stacey - which was a total spin out, so we shared a few beers with them in the piazza before they were picked up by a Jesus lookalike in a comby van.

After making a hell mission through farmlands to take a massive shortcut down to the beach we spend the day discovering underwater caves in the most untouched and best snorkelling environment in Europe. Big call....but we stand by it.

From here we went to Palermo for our flight out of Italy. Palermo...... dodgiest place we have been in Europe and for the first time ever - there is nothing positive to write about. To top it off we searched the city for an hour to find a pizza........and failed!!?? Couldn't believe it. Enough said - get me out of here!

Highlights

- Bumping into a few locals from back home.

- Snorkelling through caves, crevices and 100 foot underwater drops in the clearest water we found in Europe.

- The hotel owner in Palermo who was watching them play football in reception - all we heard all game was "Bla blah blah AHHHH FUNGOL!" The only classic moment in Dodgy Palermo.

Cefalù

Cefalù 10/9 to 17/9

We were hoping to stay in Capo d'Orlando a few extra nights but couldn't get onto the owner of the apartment so TC decided that we would board the next train to Cefalù. Dazza was a bit hesitant as he had read that it was a huge tourist town and not the tranquil little village he was after where an old Italian lady would take him in and cook him a 5 course dinner - stop dreaming Dazza!

With no plans and no accommodation we started walking towards the town centre. I think it was literally 5 minutes later when Angelo asked whether we needed accommodation. He took us to the centre of the old town right next to the main piazza with the beautiful Duomo Cathedral. Our third floor apartment was fully equipped with a great balcony overlooking the narrow blue stone street below. Perfect for afternoon drinks while watching the action below.

We told Angelo we would stay 3 nights however after discovering the true beauty of Cefalù with its white sand beaches, excellent snorkelling and great body surfing we stayed 2 more..... and then another 2 more! It was truly amazing the first day the sun was shinning, the sand was glistering and the waves where 2-3 foot - Dazza was almost rabid. The the next day it was completely still - perfect for snorkelling! In between our swims we got 5 euro massages from the friendly Chinese and Thai ladies. Total bliss - cant wait for SE Asia!

Highlight of the week

Falling in love with the locals particularly the old lady in the fruit & vegetable shop who gave Dazza his daily Italian lesson.

Highlights

- Flashpacking by having a mouthwatering 3 course meal in a restaurant set over the coastal rocks and 1ft from the sea - amazing food, amazing view!

- Walking the cliff above the old town and seeing the ancient fort walls and castle.

- The sunsets against the beautiful old town of Cefalù where the houses are literally the sea walls

MOC MOC

Siestas - don't get us wrong, normally we are the worlds biggest fans of the 'after-lunch-nap' but closing the Internet cafes right in the middle of Collingwood Vs West Coast - we couldn't believe it and aged Dazza another 5 years!