MAY 09 Home Sweeeeet Home

At the end of May 09 I left Samui bound for Bolton, Gutted! (Well not really) Had enough of Thailand for the minute and itching to get back to work and traveling.

Ill be home for 2 weeks in total and then will be heading to the South of France to look for work on a Yacht.

Not really getting up to much at home, just organizing my endless boxes of rubbish stowed away at my Grans house. I think she's dieing for the whole of our family to leave home and no one as just the now, lol! My Grandma's house is home to Grandad, Grandma, Bro Sean, Auntie Sue, Cous Grace, Mum and Dad (when they're home), Brandon (at weekends), ME (when I'm home) and last but not least Mad Max and Bruce- our little puppies. It's truly a mad house of the Greenhalgh clan!

For my last weekend at home I ventured up to St Marys Loch in Scotland. It was Hannah's birthday and she was camping up there. After much faffing around on Sat Morning, getting the address to load in the temperamental Tom Tom, realising the van was rancid, cleaning the van excetra excetra, I finally set off. So off I went up to Scotland with an empty tank n my fingers tightly crossed that I'd make it to the first Services. The bank holiday traffic to the lakes was hellish but from lakes north twas nothing but open road. Loved the ride up there- country roads are soo much fun! wish I knew how to turn traction control off.

Very glad Hannah and her crew were well set up with tents, food, bevies etc or else i'd have been cold, hungry and thirsty. Camp was set up on beautiful St Marys Loch surrounded by hills n valleys. Hannah and I attempted one such hill with 2 little dogs in tow. Half way up the old legs were burning but we made it to the top and enjoyed the view. We had a few tent dramas due to gusty winds, Davey attempted to act as the missing tent stake and got knocked dooon, lol. Anyway met some top peops and had a fab weekend!

Thailand Jan Feb 2009- KITEBOARDING

I've been learning to kiteboard. It has taken a while but I'm getting there. We've only had like 2 weeks of good wind in the last 2 months- it sucks doing a sport where you're so reliant on the weather but saying that, most sports I do are reliant on the weather, apart from running and badminton. Thailand isn't exactly famous for it's strong winds, I really should have thought this through more.

Been being patient and sticking at it and voila, I got up. I can now ride left foot forward pretty well but when it comes to getting back it takes me forever.

I also, very irresponsibly, took a loan from my parents to buy the gear- it's way to expensive to keep on renting. This way will be cheaper in the long run, I'm Sure!

Thailand 2009- NEW YEARS EVE

Mmmmm Back in paradise. This time I am going to be slightly more productive on my thailand stay. I am going to learn how to Kiteboard.

First thing on the list was New Years Eve. We went to Chewang beach and is was hectic.  I'm not usually into huge crowds but this I could handle. Throughout the whole night people were send off lucky lanterns, there must have been thousands in the sky, it was stunning. Thai's were going around selling fireworks to the tourist and not just little rockets I'm talking fully fledged industrial style rocket launchers. The fireworks were constant for our 5 hours there. A few did veer off into the crowd but I didn't see anyone injured.

I wen there with my mum and dad and the neighbors and had an excellent night.

Home SWEET Home 2008

Home SWEET Home!!!

 

The last six months I have been a NOMAD. Leisurely drifting between the UK, Thailand and Cyprus.

My Time in the UK usually involves a lot of babysitting. Auntie Dawn really gets into full swing. I have my nephew, Brandon, all day when it school holidays and we go on mad little missions, which I think I enjoy more than he does.

I have been in the UK for all the summer holidays and the Christmas ones too. I have had a blast with the wee fella.

And I took him on his Hols to Ibiza- sooo much fun!

Really going to miss my Bolton Kiddies!!!

Petra's April Thai Visit- Koh Tao.

Thailand Travels

 

Koh Tao

 

Koh Tao is mostly famous for its dive sites and very laidback way of life. When I worked for the dive school in Koh Samui each day we would make the 2 hour boat ride here to take the customers diving and snorkelling.  It’s a very small island with probably as many expats living on it as Thai locals. People only inhabited it some time in the sixties.

We got a bungalow for 300baht/£5 a night each. It had all that you need, fan, mosquito net, shower- cold, toilet- hole in the floor and smack right there on the beach. What more do you need?

We went snorkelling everyday, had many Thai massages and hired a quad bike. One day we decided to go to a bay on the other side of the island on our newly hired quad bike, armed with nothing but a road map. The way that we followed was clearly marked as a road on the map. HA! It turned out to be a death trap. After 2 hours of serious off-roading we came to a succession of seriously downward sloped gravely paths. Petra got off the bike and slid down them on her bum, I stayed on the bare tired, out of control quad with eyes closed- with a, if I can’t see the sheer drop of the edge then its not there, kind of attitude. Somewhere along the journey I decided that there was no way in hell that I was attempting to go the way we came on the quad and after one more stupidly steep hill I decided to refuse to drive on further. So we trekked the rest of the way on foot, more often than not we were on our buts after slipping on lose stones. We made it to the resort we were heading for about an hour later, we were well out of water and VERY hot! But due to my knack of finding scary situations  absolutely hilarious we got there in good spirits, although looking slightly dishevelled.

We ended up paying two Thai guys 500Bhat/£10 to trek back to the bike and drive it back for us. A 5 hour journey there and a 20minute boat ride back.

The Thai guys arrived at our bungalow about 6 hours later and looked possibly just as me and Petra had done when we walked into the resort earlier- Poor Guys! There’s no way I could have done it though.

We made our way back to Samui the next day.

Petra's April Thai Visit- Koh Phangnan.

Thailand Travels

Koh Phangnan

 

The Full Moon Party is a huge beach party for travellers on Koh Phangnan, which is the island next to Koh Samui. This months Full Moon Party (FMP) was set to be on the 20^th of April so we went to Koh Phangnan on the 18^th, planning to leave on the 20^th, this way we would actually miss the crazy night of the FMP. Not that I’m a party pooper in any meaning of the word but the actual FMP is psychotic. The speed boats come from all of the other islands bringing in the “Brits Abroad”. I prefer the nights leading up to it, still a big party but less chance of being stab by adolescent Thai boys, whose drug of choice is chewing batteries and whose favourite pastime is abusing the white folk. Anyway we boycotted the actual FMP and headed to Koh Tao for 3 nights instead.

But the eve of the FMP was a great night. I fell in love with an iguana and now really want one for a pet. Me and Petra were sat on the beach minding our own business when these 2 guys came over and asked us if we'd watch a Thai mans Iguana, as some kind of ransom, whilst the Thai man took them somewhere. By leaving his Iguana with us it meant that they were guaranteed to get safely back from wherever they were going. I didn't really ask any questions, all seemed a bit dodgy but I did look after the mans iguana. 

We also went to go elephant trekking but felt so bad afterwards because they were kept in such horrible conditions and were really skinny. I've not been elephant trekking since and now don't think I'll go to any kind of animal circus.

Petra's April Thai Visit- Koh Samui.

Thailand Travels

Koh Samui

This island is on the East of Thailand in the Gulf of Thailand. It is where my parents live and where we spent the first 10 days of Petra’s trip. After spending the first 4 days trying to Petra use to the chillis and the sun, we finally gave up, we opted instead for learning the Thai way to say “not spice” which is “mai ow prik” and we bought her a huge sun hat- job done!

That taken care of we headed to the waterfall. This day just got more and more bizaar. I was sun-bathing by the pool at the base of the waterfall and a butterfly landed on me, how nice I thought, it sat on me for a while whilst Petra took some photos then I nicely shooed it away, but the thing kept coming back, I’d tolerate for a while then shoo it away again. After 10 minutes of this the thing started seriously irritating me and much to the amusement of the local Thais, instead of shooing it away I was trying to swat the thing every time it came near me. The butterfly was so persistent that in the end Petra and I had to move, how mad is that.

On the half an hour hike back down to the car we somehow adopted a tag along Buddhist Monk. The guy wouldn’t leave us alone and wouldn’t let go of Petra’s arm- He obviously wasn’t a genuine monk or he wouldn’t be allowed to touch a woman. This in mind and plus me still feeling slightly molested from that butterfly, I started getting a bit testy with the guy. I tried to tell him to go away but he just gave us a huge smile and kept latched on to Petra. We stepped up the pace and were actually starting to get a bit scared of him. Fortunately he momentarily lagged behind on a bend, so we adopted a pace close to a sprint the rest of the way back to the car.

What a peculiar day- first I’m attacked by a butterfly then Petra by a Monk!

SONGKRAN April 2008

Ah arrrr!!! SONGKRAN my favorite time of the year...

Petra paid an extortunate amount to arrive in Thailand in time for Songkran, which is 13th-15th April, but due to delays in London she missed it. BUGGER!!!

But I was here and had a great day.

Songkran is the Thai New Year, celebrated every year it falls on the hottest part of the year- the end of the dry season. Thais and tourist alike celebrate it by throwing water everywhere and on everyone. Its done to cleanse you and wish you luck for the new year.

The pictures explain the rest...

Thailand April 2008

I’m loving this free time now in Thailand. It’s a great chance to look after number one. I am exercising every day- even stretching, catching some sun action, also loving the Thai cuisine. Thai food is great it is so easy to eat healthy over here, at the moment I have not eaten meat at all for about a week, I am not a vegetarian but I’m just not missing it at all.

I have also got my chores around the house to do. There are fish and a tortoise to feed, pools to clean and lots and lots of wood to sand and teak oil.

I have got a few weeks now till my friend Petra arrives. She is staying for 3 weeks and I’m sure I’ll get a lot of touristy things done in that time- can’t wait!

Till next time xxx 

AUSTRALIA

G'day mate.

Land of Kangaroos, Vegimite, 'rad' surfing, Steve Irwin and fish 'n' chips- I bet Aus as got nearly as many chippys as the UK, I would actually like to find out the numbers and compare.

My parents were out in Aus cruising around in a campercan so I arranged for them to pick me up at Sydney airport.

Australian immigration is probably the strictest in the world. I timidly stepped in to the 'something to declare' queue with my 'Cadburys fruit and nut' bar. Apparently I needent have bothered as it was processed and packaged but the form did say no fruit or nuts so i was only being honest. Anyway, after my escape from the law, I then bought a bottle of  water with a $50 bill to get some change for the phonebox and I called my Parents to let them know that I had landed. The Campervan couldn't make it into arrivals because of an height restriction so I trecked down to departures and awaited them there. 

The airport official outside departures, incharge of watching people drop off holiday goers, was obviously hired straight from a physciatric institute. He sported an elluminous orange vest and continued to inform me that I couldn't be picked up from there, only dropped off. I asked what was the difference, told him my situation but eventually decided to ignore him and stay there anyway. He hung close to me, I guess waiting to pounce on me the second my lift arrived. Lukily my dad pulled up just as he was distracted by a double parked taxi, I saw that as my get away and dived into the kitchenet shouting "drive, drive, drive!".

I was planning on spending two weeks in Australia and had already spent the last week with the 'Lonely Planet' planning an eventful trip up to 'Fraiser Island'.

We headed up the coast, kind of beach hopping. We spent most of the time on the road stopping every other night at a campsite to refill water, do laundry etc. The other nights we just slept by the road troubled with my mums fear that we were going to get crashed into by another vheical whilst we slept. 

The beaches in Aus are beautiful, they continued the whole of the coast almost, 20 mile long beaches in areas. We would stop off at various 'must see' places like, spectacular beaches, national parks, nice towns and so on. A few places that I had down as 'must sees' were, 'Mcleans' which is a small town that is very proud of its Sottish heritage, all of the lamp post are decorated with a different clans tartan. You could also get 'Hagis' there. I just thought that it sounded like a quirky place. After going there I decided that I really liked it and think I may of found my future retirment place- Scotland with Sunshine- but then again Aussies are just like English with a worst accent, so I'm still searching for my place to live. 

Another stop along the way was a small place called 'Ainsworth'. We stayed on a campsite there right next to 'Lake Ainsworth'. The lake as got natural tea tree oil in it that drips off the trees around the lake. After a swim there our skin felt great. I also enjoyed a long run on the beach there- I did go running everyday but that one was my favourite.

We set off again heading north bound for Australia Zoo, made famous by Steve Irwin. It was a great zoo, the animals were just roaming around free, no cages- just barriers. It really hit me that this should be the only way zoos are. We were there for the daily show that was hosted by Terry Irwin, it was a good show of elephants, crocs, birds, snakes and humour. After the zoo we headed up to 'Noosa Heads' were I met up with a friend I used to work with, I stayed there for a few nights whilst my parents headed up to 'Fraiser Island' via 'Harvey Bay'.

The next day my friend had off work so we ventured out for the day. We first went to a waterfall and trekked through the forest until we thought we had best turn around and head back before we ended up getting lost and spending the night in the Aussie Outback. On the way back we sopped at a few places in the car, first being a huge market on the outskirts of a town that I can't quite remember the name of, there were stalls selling all kinds of new, funky, handmade little trinkets and clothes. Throughout the market were bands playing all sorts of music and instruments- off-course the 'Didgareedoo'.

After the market we stopped for lunch in a lovely little town- really old english kinda feel, then headed backed for the night. 

My parents picked me up the next day and we drove the  miles back to Sydney. I'm now heading back to Thailand via Singapore.