Maldives - Good dives

So we splashed out on a bit of luxury for a week, giving our ears and respiratory tracks a bit of well deserved time off from the barrage of sensory insults India had thrown at us.
Well the resort could have been a little more pleasing to the eye, but the location was amazing, just want you'd expect really.
The main reason for coming was the diving and weren't disappointed. The coral was in great shape and the fishlife was in abundance. We also got to see some manta rays, the crowning glory!

It was also here that we heard the fantastic news about the birth of Si and Caroline's first child. Congratulations guys!! Thanks for the pic of little Benjamin!

As ever the days went so fast but we weren't too bothered about this as we knew what was in store for us afterwards.....Sri Lanka

Final few Indians days ( for a while anyway)!

Next stop was the cliff top 'resort' of Varkala, beautiful sea views, gorgeous sea food ,good beaches with a bit of surf. Also hardly any traffic! So it was a few days of relaxing and kicking back.

I made the mistake of having a massage in which I was declothed and wrapped in 2 tiny pieces of fabric in a fashion which would have made a sumo wrestler look over dressed. On hearing my cries of protest my 'masseur' convinced me it was "traditional". I wanted to tell him that although sacrificing virgins is "traditional" somewhere ( where, I'm still not sure) , it still doesn't make it 'alright'. The only positive thought was that he remained fully clothed. He then proceeded to cover me (baste, I think is more apt) in heat producing oil, probably chili based. Once I was nicely marinaded the real torture began. Thankfully the whole ordeal didn't last for as long as I thought it was going to, maybe my concentrating on not slipping off the table produced a false sense of time.

"So? Feeling relaxed?" he asked. " I am now you've finished!" I replied, but I don't think he understood the humour. So quick sharp I got out of my minimalistic mummy suit and gave him the slip , I knew all that oil would eventually come in handy.

We then took a "superfast" train down to Trivandrum to catch our flight knowing that we wouldn't be in this country again for about 6 weeks. It gave us time to think and reflect on this first section of India. As with all countries there is good and bad and this is certainly true with India. In my opinion most of the bad points stem from the gross overcrowding, but it also means getting around is quite easy, as the transport system has to be good to accommodate such a large population. We've just about got a handle on the train system, but there are always a few surprises like figuring out a 'Fast' train is actually quite slow, a 'Superfast' train is actually somewhere near approaching fast, and the word Express , as in the Delhi Express, simply means ' train'.

Oh India, we will miss you!

Chilling out (and warming up) in Kochin

Alright, a quick update. We moved on to a little honey farm-cum-hostal, Honey Valley, in the Western Ghats, near a town called Viajpet. It was gorgeous and so nice to get out of the hustle and bustle that typifies India. We ended up chilling out there for an extra day, enjoying the sounds of nature and eating the delicious food that seemed oil free. There aren't many stories to share as we didn't really do anything, but it was wonderful and the people there (both working and the tourists) were awesome.

After a few days of relaxing and hiking around Honey Valley we took the worst bus we have had so far (still not that bad, really) over to the coastal town of Kannur. We had booked ahead to get into a small hostel (which used to be a weaving factory) called Costa Malabari which is run by the very friendly Kurran, the local expert on theyyams. A theyyam is essentially a pre-Hindu ritual where after the medium has applied his make-up and head-dress he literally embodies the god. The whole experience was excellent. As there was no theyyam going on at the temple, we were lucky enough to see one being performed at a house-warming party. We were treated with the best in Indian hospitality, being fed and watered liberally and everyone wanting to shake our hands and have a chat. As an added bonus everyone we went with was great and we all really enjoyed it, though I was glad to sit down and have a good slug of water.

We arrived in the coastal town of Kochin a few days ago and (I know it's repetitive) we are really enjoying it here. Indians are all generally nice, but the people in Kochin seem exceptionally friendly. We did a great tour of the city with one of the nice and knowledgeable auto-rickshaw drivers who showed us around the spice market (cool) and a few palaces and temples and things of that nature. He even let Phil have a go at his auto-rickshaw, much to his delight. We ended up calling an end to our tour so we could have something to eat. Speaking of the end, it's time for us to head over to catch the kathakali.

Not so sore in Mysore

Bangalore didn't pan out as we had expected - in the end we did not get to meet up with Kishore, though we're not too sure what happened on that front. We did, however, get to stay in a gorgeous hotel with a real mattress and pillows filled with something other than sawdust (yahoo!!) and it even had running water. Essentially we watched our fill of English movies and the History channel and I went to the hospital to get my odd ear problem dealt with. The remedy? Nose drops, of course. Ick ick ick. Of course now my chest has decided to object to the constant intake of toxins and smog into my otherwise pink and healthy lungs. Ah, isn't traveling wonderful?

We took a quick and amazingly comfortable bus from Bangalore to Mysore where we are now. For once an a/c bus actually had a/c that worked and we got a free bottle of water - luxury!

The highlight of Mysore is definetly the Maharaja's palace (pictured below). We opted for the no-guide version which took only about 30 mins of walking room to room to see amazingly colourful (and slightly gaudy) painted walls and inlaid everything. While I wouldn't want to live there personally, it was well worth seeing.

We had a few things to post off yesterday so we grabbed an autorickshaw to the post office where I was told you could get your packages wrapped before sending them off. When we got there, I was expecting to be able to buy a box, but instead we got sent off with a gentleman down a backlane to his shop that sold faucets and toilet seats where he proceeded to wrap our goods up in cardboard and then sew them into a cotton sack. The whole operation took over an hour of us sitting in a dirty alley watching a guy hand-stitch our goods in a cloth covering and speak in broken English about his crazy neighbor who owns a cow and ties it up. Why do I mention this? Because it really hit home yesterday that this is the good part of traveling - the day to day chores that should take 15 mins but end up taking over an hour and two trips (the post office was closed when our packages were ready) but where you get to meet a few people and everyone leaves happy.

One of the other main attractions here is the fruit and veg market that we saw on the way back from the post office. I have to say neither Phil nor I were completely sold on seeing it, but it was lovely. The colours there were amazing - fruits and veg of all different shapes and sizes and the flower market was in full effect. It was gorgeous and I got told I look like Claudia Shiffer by some kids, so I'll chalk this one up as a good day.

This afternoon we are going to look at a few more temples and in the morning we are off to a wilderness retreat in the jungle for a few days (hopefully my lungs will be a bit more cooperative in the clean air). We might try to squeeze in a short 2 day trek while we're there.

As an update: Phil and I booked a flight and hotel for the Maldives that departs Dec 10 so we can do some dives and live in luxury for a week. From there, it was only another $10 AUD to stop over in Sri Lanka so we'll be there for close to a month before we head back to India and start out trip North. Fun!

Hampi!

Well, after a few days of chilling out on the beach in Palolem (or if you're me - Andrea - being stuck in a smallish, very green room for a few days, ill) we headed down to the tiny town of Hampi.

Hampi is amazing - it's essentially a set of gorgeous ruins that have come back to life with people moving back into the town centre. It's almost like seeing history come alive with the town's bazaar again filled with vendors and colourful goods (though of course, I'm not sure there would have been so many autorickshaw drivers a few hundred years ago).

We spent two full days enjoying with Hampi and the surrounding area had to offer, namely about 2,000 temples in various states of decay or rejuvination. The first day we rented a scooter and headed out in the countryside to see not just the temples, but the banana plantations, other towns and just enjoy getting around on our own instead of being driven everywhere. Except for a flat tire, it was all good.

The second day Phil and I went out see the three highlights of Hampi (i.e. the ruins you actually have to pay for) by bike, which was fun but very very hot. We decided to get the farthest ones done first and work out way back to town, so we rode out to the Elephant Stables. They were really amazing and very elephant-sized.

From there we continued back to town to take a somewhat grueling and heat-stroke-inducing 2 km walk in the hottest part of the day to the Vittala temple. The walk was actually quite gorgeous as it followed the river and you could enjoy the Devil's Marble-esque rocks on either side and the temple itself was amazing - so much detail in all aspects of the temple. Pictured here is the stone chariot in the courtyard of the temple. Apparently the wheels even used to turn (and now India people cannot resist walking all over it, much to the disgust of the officials and their whistles).

I have to say, as much as I loved seeing the temples, I think the real highlight of Hampi is just being there. From most places in town you can see the top of the Virupashka temple and the huge round boulders that are scattered all around the town. It just has a wonderful feel to the whole place. Oh, and you can also pay 1 rupee and get blessed by Lakshmi, the temple elephant (so cool!!).

We are currently in the town of Bangalore where a friend of Phil's family, Kishore, lives. We are meeting up tonight at 6:30, then heading further South to the town of Mysore to see a palace.

I hope you're all well. A special hello to Louie who we met on the train from Goa to Hampi who was excellent company for both of us. I hope you really enjoy the rest of your trip, Australia and Ghana!!

further south

The major day of the Dewali festival was pretty cool, very colourful and extremely noisy with fire works and crackers going off for about 20hrs a day/night. I (Phil), was actually hit by a fire work just above my left nipple, I have no idea where this thing came from, but the bruise on my chest certainly showed where it ended up! Or at least I thought it was a fire work, I don't think we upset anyone that night.

The next day was a cruisey 5hr bus to Pune, more great views of life on the roads, not for the faint hearted at times but you see much more of the goings on than you do on a train, although the train is a lot smoother. Some pearls of wisdom via road signs, classics like HOLD YOUR NERVE WHEN TAKING A CURVE, and CAUTION AND CARE MAKE ACCIDENTS RARE!

As for road mayhem we have seen the aftermath of a few vehicle casualties and we witnessed a entire wheel just fell off a taxi when taking a corner! The wheel hit another taxi and bounced back towards us on the 'pavement'. That guy obviously should have been holding his nerve!

Pune seemed like a nice place, but we only had allowed 1 night here, as we had to book the overnight sleeper train a few days in advanced, as the trains were booked days in advance due to people travelling home to spend Dewali with their families.

Splashed out here for a beautiful meal in a top hotel's restaurant, complete with a trio of Indian musicians. Still a cheap meal for Western standards, but very expensive for India!
We left Pune on our first sleeper train! Ohhh....very exciting! It was only a 10hr journey, but not a bad trip overall, not quite Orient Express luxury, but at least there were no murders, oh unless you count a few cockroaches.

So that train got us into Goa, so a few more tourists about here, but a nice change. Spent a couple of days in the Goan capital Panaji, checking out some Portuguese colonial buildings and being asked if we wanted a taxi every few minutes.

Then it was up to one of the northern beaches, Vagator, which was nice and quite, the first bit of tranquility we've had for weeks, from here checked out the vast sprawling Ajuna markets which was quite an experience! We also read here in the local paper of a man who married a dog to try and make up for his wrong doings when he was young. Apparently he was very cruel to 2 dogs and subsequently lost the use of an arm and then a leg and then became deaf. Hardly what you'd call a good catch. Mmm, India is a very mysterious place! Personnally, I think the dog could have done a lot better, the guy was clearly punching above his weight.

And now we're relaxing (in an internet cafe) in southern Goa, on Palolem beach, which is really beautiful. We had a train booked to leave today, but we decided to forfeit it to stay here another couple of days, it really is that good.

So, if you don't mind I think I'll head back to the beach......

Mumbai-Aurangabad - stories to come

Okay, party people, let's get us up to date. This will be a combined effort between Phil and I so neither of us will have to do it all.

The map to the right will hopefully show up several times, charting our trip around India. You can see a tiny, faint yellow line in an orange section (Maharashtra) which is where we landed and where we are currently (it helps if you click on the image to make it bigger). Anyway, I'll keep updating our progress as we go, but just so you're aware, the colour will have to change because this map encompasses all known colours of the Microsoft Paint palette and none will be visible for the whole map.

Now - Mumbai. We landed at about 2:00 am about a week and a half ago, getting an odd first impression of India (as you always do when you arrive at night and can't see much as you're driving to your hotel). Getting out and about that next day was amazing. We took a walk down to Colaba (we were staying in the Fort area) and while we had a lot of stares, we didn't get much hassel.

For some reason, I thought India was going to be, not just intense, but full of non-stop hassel - like trying to walk through Oxford Circus Junction rammed with vendors intent on selling you anything and everything, but so far (and I do say so far) we have had almost no hassel from anyone.

Anyway, Mumbai was great but the whole time we were there Phil and I both felt that we were missing it - that there was something tourists do when they get to Mumbai and we just weren't doing it. We would walk through the streets (that, again, I had assumed would be filled with exciting goods to purchase) and look up and down and only see people going about their daily business. That's not to say there is nothing to see - we headed down to the Gandhi museum, and to the dobi ghats where thousands of fit men wash tons of laundry daily, and of course to the Gateway of India and on our last day we took a ferry to Elephanta Island - but we did feel like we were missing something (but we ran into a few other white tourists who felt the same way, so at least we were in good company).

From Mumbai we took a train to the lovely hill station of Matheran, about an hour and a half away. It has banned all motorized traffic and gotten rid of plastic bags and is, therefore, clean, especially by Indian standards. It was great breathing in air that wasn't full of fumes, and to clean the black gunk out of our noses for a few days. We did two days of hiking and one day of loafing and generally enjoyed getting to walk down a path, instead of having to weave our way between pedestrians and traffic.

From Matheran we took yet another few trains over to Nasik, unfortunately having our first go with unreserved seats. Ah, nothing illustrates just how green we are like trying to get a train that has been booked up for weeks to get people where they want to be for Diwali (the Hindu festival of lights that is going on at the moment). We rocked up to the train station, waited in a few lines until eventually we got a ticket that we were supposedly able to upgrade on the train - "no worries - Frech, English, they get upgrades. Talk to the man on the train." Everyone kept saying that there would be a worker in each bogie (carriage) that would be able to tell us if there was an available seat (which we now know there wouldn't have been). We waited where we were supposed to, got on to the train that we thought would be a 2A (2nd class, air conditioned - the best we could get) but instead got on a sleeper class train which is rammed with people, all telling you to get out of their bogie because it's full. To make a long story short, the "TT" (official train guy) eventually did show up and forced a begrudging family to give us one of their bunks (which they had paid for) so we could shove our bags out of the way and one of us could sit for our 5 hr journey. Lesson learned - book ahead or take a bus.

We arrived in Nasik in plenty of time to get a hotel for the night and lucked out with a beauty (it even came with a towel!). Out of the towns we have been to so far, I think Nasik has been the most friendly. Everyone was quick to smile and help us out, an though there wasn't much to do in the town, I really liked it.

We then headed on to Aurangabad, where I am sitting here typing this. Aurangabad is the jumping off point for two sets of awesome hand-carved cave "ruins" - Ellora (about 34 km away) and Ajanta (about 106 km away).

We saw Ellora first and loved it. The 35 caves were excavated between the 5th and 10th century and "demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history" (thanks Wikipedia), as there are Hindu, Buddhist and Jain caves. The detail carved in almost all of the caves is breath-taking and the Kalisa temple (left) required 200,000 tons of rock to be shifted so it could be carved out of the side of the escarpment. Really, it's incredible and this one especially had an Angkor Wat feel about it, but with way more elephants.

As we were seeing two very similar sites on two consecutive days, we decided to mix it up by going to Ellora ourselves (on a very comfy non-a/c local bus) and to take a "luxury" guided tour to Ajanta. We thought, hey, two hours each way on a comfy a/c bus with an english speaking tour guide could really make our Ajanta experience unique; keep it from getting muddled with Ellora. Were we wrong? Not exactly.

We showed up where we thought we were supposed to go, realized we were in the wrong spot and 15 mins late (and thus far Indians seem very punctual) and had to hussle to the right spot where we did indeed get on to a luxury bus - in the two last seats. We proceeded to flop around like fish out of water, unable to get a grip on anything or to wedge ourselves into our seat (luxury, of course, = spacious) while the bus went hurtling down pot-holed roads for two hours, slamming on the breaks occasionally to avoid oncomming traffic, which rammed us into the seats in front. Lesson learned - never sit in seats 22 or above because they'll be behind the back wheels and the ride will be horribly bumpy.

The site itself was stunning. Again, its a set of caves litearlly carved out of the bassalt rock of a horse-shoe shaped canyon, dating back to the 2nd century. The main difference between the two sites is that Ajanta is full of beautiful paintings, largely intact (as above left). Our guide explained their significance, but with all the Indians shoving their way to the front, and the echo of the caves, it was a bit hard to grasp the details. Anyway, it was good. We had a great time, learned about two of Buddha's miracles (but missed the other two or three) and even got our seat upgraded right to the front where we could look out and see what the driver sees - mostly oncoming traffic in our lane and bulls pulling carts full of sugar cane.

Tomorrow we're heading South to Pune (Poona), and then on to a few towns in Goa. I think we might find Goan India a lot more intense.

The Indian High Commission Impossible, LONDON

So then before we knew it was time to leave Sunderland, it was great being back home but the time went so fast and there were still things we didn't get to see and people that we didn't get to see, sorry guys!

First stop in London was to get my tooth fixed by me old mate Jamie at his practice in Cavendish Square (very nice!) for an undisclosed fee;" free to those who can afford it, very expensive to those who can't!"

So big thanks to Jamie, and his family. Claire had just recently given birth to Seth, their 3rd child so it was fun and games in their house, but loved every minute.

Had an absolutely frantic time trying to get hold of our visas to India, the trouble was that we only had 4 days to get the visas before we flew out. On arrival there was a huge queue coming out the building, guys on the door like night club bouncers and loads of guys outside handing out random slips of paper and writing dates on them, it was more like a bookies pit at the races than a high commission, and we had no idea of what was going on. Once we had our piece of paper we were then told to come back the next day without even taking a step in the place, but I pleaded our case with expertise, " What.......?", and then he let us in.

You thought outside was bad, inside was a nightmare - hoards of people and no instruction what to do, where to go or anything. We eventually found an antiquated number caller of which only some of its lights worked which added to the confusion. We were sat next to guys who had been coming here for days and still hadn't got there visa, at this point we didn't hold much hope for getting them before our flight, so we were already set our minds that we would have to be changing flights and rearranging hotel bookings, etc. It was so chaotic you had to see the funny side of it. But then we managed to get called really quick ( well 2 hours), I would receive mine in "an hour" and Andrea would have to come back in "3 - 5 days" as she doesn't have a British passport, but we had a word with the guys and they said it would be ready on Fri afternoon, only a few hours before they closed for the weekend and we were flying Sunday. So we waited for another couple of hours for mine, more pushing and shoving, elbows in your back, people shouting in your ear, absolutely no concept of the term 'queue' and then we worked it out, this must be the test, the initiation, if you can hack it in here you might just stand a chance in India.

One elderly Indian gentlemen in the ' queue ' asked us how long we were going to be in India for, we told him " 5 - 6 months maybe", " Ah " he paused, " you are very brave " What were we letting ourselves in for?!

So I received mine that ( long) day, and Andrea eventually received hers on the Fri afternoon as promised. So we had a cause for a few celebratory drinks but we weren't celebrating for long when we saw the prices!

Then it was over to Si and Caroline's for a few nights of catching up. An exciting time for these 2 as they are expecting their first child in Dec. So while me, Si and Andrea were having a few drinks, Caroline valiantly soldiered on with glasses of cranberry juice and sniffed our red wine corks! Don't worry Caroline, not long to go now!

Had a cool last day, feeling very excited and of course a little apprehension about what the next few months had in store. Shaun made his way over to East London for an afternoon / evening of fun.

If there are any single ladies reading this, I just have to let you know that Shaun is living in South London, in a wonderful house, he is charismatic as much as he is charming. A sharp wit and owns a bold, vast knowledge of music and it's industry. We're not talking about just mere pop trivia here, but he has a fascinating and envious solid factual grasp on the subject, he even knows what A&R men do. Unbelievable, despite his boyish classic looks, this Peter Pan of pop is very much available. So ladies, one at a time please, no Indian queuing here please. I nearly forgot to mention that he is also mint.

Thanks again Si for the lift to Heathrow at a crazy early time on Sunday morning, nice one, you're a legend, and thanks also to co-pilot Shaun and the warnings about the 3 Ws.
And remember, never judge a book by it's cover.

England's Beautiful North East

Seeing Phil's roots has been wonderful. I have heard so much about his home town from the first day we met that I have been looking forward to seeing it with my own eyes for years now. Finally, the day arrived and after much anticipation I have seen where he grew up and have met most of his large family.

Sunderland has received much bad press from Phil and his friends and family (it's so easy to be down on your home town) but is really nice. I think I must have been expecting the worst - hundreds of teen moms (we have seen a few) and constant all-day bar brawls (one of which we saw in the making) - but it's a lot quieter and prettier than I thought it would be. The town has loads of beautiful old churches and cool buildings with old, discoloured spires. Phil is right in saying that to appreciate the town's beauty you have to always be looking up. We have checked out the city centre a few times and just today we saw the area being nicely rejuvinated.

We've had the chance to do two trips to take in some of the sights. We went to Durham which is relatively close to visit with three of Phil's great friends, Kev & Sarah (and baby Jessica), and Alison who was visiting from Leeds. We spent the day strolling through Durham cathedral and through the high street. Again, a very nice town and reminds me of York (which I am almost certain I visited on my way to Edinburgh). We also got to take in The Angel of the North which is a huge androgenous anglic figure made out of steel which you can see for miles around. Apparently it got a lot of criticism but is really nice.

Phil and I took a day trip to Holy Island of Lindisfarne - again, so nice (I think I need a thesaurus for more descriptive words). You have to drive along a causeway that gets completely flooded during high tide, so you have to plan your trip a bit carefully so you can make it on (and off) the island without getting swamped. Luckily for us, the passing was from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm so we could enjoy the whole day. We took a poke around the little castle on the island (partly to get out of the icy, howling wind) and walked around the cathedral (not inside it - who wants to pay an extra £4?!?). Afterwards we took a quick stomp around Banbrough castle which was about 20 times the size of that on Holy Island and just as stunning. The coastline around that area is absolutely gorgeous.

The other trip we've taken has been to the Lakes. Marcus, Nicola, Phil and I took the scenic way to Ambleside on Lake Windermere. The drive down was gorgeous! The countryside is loaded with grassy rolling hills dotted with quiant stone farm houses and littered with sheep, but changes to dramatic low mountains covered with red, purple and green plants. The lake was so pretty and we were all lucky enough to get rooms where we could enjoy the view (even though it was definetly dark by the time we got home). We spent a nice chunk of time strolling around the town admiring the buildings and took a nice stroll along the waterfront. We also ate a delicious dinner (complete with chocolate "terrine" - somewhere between mousse and cake).

So, all in all, the North East of England has been a wonderful stop. It's been great meeting friends and family that I have heard so much about (finally a face to a name!), and Maria and Neil have been wonderful hosts - right down to the 17 person dinner Maria hosted, my special de-hallowe'en-ed birthday cake, and a pre-Christmas dinner (to come tomorrow). Thanks so much, it's been wonderful and I will definetly be sad to go (though excited to see what lies in store).

Spain!

Okay, late as usual. Our trip to Spain was awesome. I did the map thing again, this time with completely inaccurate maps, but it gives a general overview of our trip.

Madrid was amazing. It's been a long time since I have been anywhere truly old, and Madrid has some very old, very beautiful things to see. We were very kindly put up by Phil's friend Dave who lives in a gorgeous little flat in almost the exact centre of Madrid - a tourist's dream. We were within walking distance of everything we wanted to see (and Maria and Neil's hotel!). We got to check out a few museums - notably the modern art museum (by choice) and the Prado, with all old paitings (by mistake). We ate our body weight in cured ham and cheese, caught up with Dave and Dermot (and Bea and Chloe), and generally soaked up big city living.

After Madrid, we drove roughly an hour to what is currently my favorite Spanish city - Toledo. Toledo is an old, walled city that seems to be completely made of stone. There are so many twisting back streets that you seem to be continually lost except for the fact that the whole town is built on a steep hill, so as long as you keep going up (or down) you'll eventually hit something you know, or a sign that will point you in the right direction. The cathedral there was amazing and it was one of those places where you feel like you're getting to know the city by sitting in a patio drinking wine and eating olives - thankfully a passtime for us. We also took a great tour on a little car-train that told a very interesting history of the town and brought us to places we hadn't seen on our harrowing drive or on our walks.

Toledo's old city is incredible - except when you were trying to find a hotel and a parking spot (Maria said that I was "having kittens" in the backseat, which was entirely accurate). We looked around for ages, driving down increasingly narrow and steep streets, until lady luck shone upon us and we found a gorgeous hotel with a whole street full of parking. Halleluia!

After Toledo we spent two more nights in Cordoba which is famous for its mosque (La Mezquita). Maria and Neil had already seen it, so Phil and I spent a morning enjoying mosque-come-cathedral with our audio guides in hand.

We got dropped off in Granada for a few days of sight seeing, most notably the Alhambra - a complex of buildings with houses and palaces in a walled fortress-like structure. As with everything we saw it was amazing. Again, we hired a few of the audio guides and they were great - they gave a good overview of what we were seeing without taking an age to do it. The highlight of the Alhambra is the Palacio Nazaries which is so delicately and ornately carved it's staggering. I have included a photo of it, but it doesn't do it justice - every nook and cranny of the palace is carved intricate bas-relief. Ah, gorgeous.

After Granada, Maria and Neil became our very gracious tour guides, taking us to some beautiful villages in the mountains and coastal cities near Salobrena (where we were staying with one of Neil's cousins). I know this posting doesn't do two weeks of wonderful traveling any justice, but that's the gist of it. We had a great time.

Nova Scotia!

Okay, sorry this is so late, but we haven't had too much access to the ol' internet. Here is a rough - and I mean rough - picture of the trip we did around Nova Scotia in around 6 days. For such a small place there is a lot to see and it does take time getting place to place (even though Halifax to Truro is only an hour).

Essentially, we spent the first three days in Halifax, chilling out with my good friend James who kindly allowed us to share his house (and his cat, Morgan). We got to spend a good share of our time in pubs (yahoo! Halifax has wicked pubs) and enjoying the period costumes that seem to fascinate this province. A few of the highlights were our trip to the Alexander Keith's brewery where you get to go back in time to 1867 (they spare no expense), get a joke (which James says has changed with every visit) AND get sung to. We also took in the excellent Pier 21 exhibit about Canadian immigration and the wicked Maritime Heritage museum which had an "old timey" store complete with a very enthusiastic gent working behind the counter. Also, old fog horns rule.

After we picked up our rental car we drove up towards Parsborough where we were booked into a gorgeous B&B for our first night (which was an amazing feat of pre-planning for the likes of us). We took a few planned detours (and a few unplanned detours) and saw the gorgeous country side of the Bay of Fundy. We didn't get to see the high and low tides, but we did see the mud flats and where the water usually is which was good enough.

One highlight was our trip to a winery, which, upon more careful reading of the map, turned out to be a blueberry winery run by a guy who was very similar to Broome's Olif. Anyway, after a long, long chat about how he had made so many mistakes in his life and was stuck with a patch of land cultivating blueberry's (and a description of his wine being "tasting not like blueberries, not like wine") we grabbed a bottle of sparkly and got back to the car as quick as we could. The wine was left untouched for the next eight days, probably a record for us.

I don't know if this is the googely eyed dinosaur you saw (mom and dad) but it was the best one we could find in Parsborough. :)

We took the advise of the lady running the B&B and headed to Cape D'Or to check out the view and the amazing restaurant. After some 4 wheel driving in our poor rental car, we got to the place for some great 360 degree views (and some delicious chili made by a the owner, originally for Regina). It was there that we got to see the best views of the tidal bore (a la Skookumchuck Narrows) since we were there at exactly the right time. I would advise anyone in the area to book up a night in their B&B - I'm sure it would be amazing.

From there we had a long drive to the little, pretty town of Pugwash where we ate at the golf course because everything else was shut and slept in a dive of a B&B (what kind of owners smoke in their B&B?!?). The following day we hit the Jost Winery on the way toAntigonish where you could try as many wines as you wanted. We restrained ourselves but the whites are goregeous. Afterwards, we got to Antigonish and loved it - especially the art gallery, the camera store (where Phil got his digital SLR) and this excellent cafe. Hmm.. so yummy.

To make a long blog short, we stayed in an amazing B&B called Haus Truberg in Port Hood (down from Inverness) which served a great 4 course meal, we tried to find the hike in Mabou for about 2 hours, we did some hiking in the National Park which was pretty good, but we got to see some mooses walking along the road - a first for both of us. We also got to do a trail ride in Cheticamp which was excellent - the lady who ran it was so much fun and we got to gallop AND ride through a river. Fun!! Plus, she had the cuttest kittens at the stables.

Canada - Vancouver to Calgary

Hey everyone! We have had a wicked time thus far. I am about 45 mins away from leaving Calgary but thought I would hastily add a few photos from our camping trip so far.

As you can see, parts of it were a bit wet. We had two damp mornings on Vancouver Island, but spirits were high even though the sleeping bags were soggy. This is a picture of my mom and Phil protecting the food while camp was set up.

Here is me looking a bit chilly in Victoria - it warmed up enough in the afternoon to call for ice cream.

Mom, Dad and Phil infront of Skookumchuk Narrows (sort of a Horizontal Falls in BC) - not only a gorgeous walk though big cedars, but started and ended by a trip to a bakery. Hmm... bakery.

Here is a picture of Phil in the town of Revelstoke by one of the cute bear statues. We got there too early to do much shopping but ended up killing enough time to look in a few galleries (and for mom to find a nice carved salmon).

Before we go...

Hello everyone!

Phil wanted a few pictures of our home in Broome posted before we headed off into the great blue yonder, so here we go. It takes an age to upload pictures with our dial-up connection, so they're a bit too small to capture the glory or our view, but it's beautiful. I'm sure we'll both miss staring at the boat ramp for hours on end and taking beers onto the patio to gape at someone stuck on the mud flaps... flats, I mean.

We are kind of packed up and almost ready to go (what we should really include is a picture of our very messy flat that hasn't been swept in two weeks - gross). It should be a wicked trip, no doubt filled with surprises, of which hopefully none will be too nasty.

To everyone in Broome - it's been great and I can honestly say I'm sad to go. Special hi to Leigh and Amanda as well as the dental crew. Thanks a million! To everyone back home - I'll see you soon!

Andrea