Cavorting in Cambodia

Landing in Siem Reap, i set out for my last few days in South East Asia. Visiting the temples of Angkor Wat were mind boggling...

Debbie blended in as one of the locals

Tomb Raider!

This is what our feet get for cavorting around ancient temples all day

The floating village

Cutest lil alley way in town

Our last night was on St Paddy's and Debbie, Angela, Charlotte, Claire and i hit the irish pub for a bit of nonsense and a good boogie around the clubs. Great end to an awesome adventure...

Wanaka, watch out, i'm on my way!

xxx

Loving Laos...

Poor little unworldly me didn't know a thing about Laos until I went there... Soon learning that there is much french influence in the country, I was excited to see how the asian/french culture was infused here. Well, i'd have to wait for a 12 hour mini van ride on pot-holey roads to find out!

Luang Prabang was our first destination, and after bonding with our mini van crew, Debbie and I really enjoyed hanging out in the quaint town.

Our biker gang... right before my bike got stolen!

Gorgeous little french influenced cafe

We then headed to party central: Vang Vieng, where you tube down the Mekong river, getting roped into bars built along the banks... We barely made it past the 3rd bar!

Debs and I just tubing down to the 2nd bar, still fairly dry

At the 3rd bar: wet, drawn on and happy!

After a couple of days to recover, we headed on a 4hr journey to the capital in a tuk tuk crammed in with 30 locals... as the cheapest mode of transport, i highly recommend it! Our route was now Vientiane to Siem Reap in Cambodia...

There are experiences to be had in Laos! Next time the visit will most definitely be longer than a week.

xxx

Tales from Thailand...

I started out writing a day by day itinerary of my travels around south east asia (as a request by mum) but heck is it tiring! Instead i think a few pics and highlights would suffice...

I love how much I learnt being immersed in a completely different culture to my own, but was slightly sad I didn't get the culture shock i was expecting. It seems as though the routes I travelled are definitely trod by many other backpackers and the touristy scene does wreck a lot of the country's natural beauty.

Thank goodness for my travel buddy babe Debbie, who shared the wonderful experience with me!

I'm a backpacker! Despite the handbag...

We started out at Krabi Beach (southern thailand) and made our way up the country. Railay beach was our first destination, what an awesome place to start!

Our first view of Railay Beach... paradise!!

Hammocking around

Lunch possie on Koh Lanta

Enjoying Valentines day at Phi Phi

We ventured to Koh Phangan for a boogie on the beach and then tiki-toured to Koh Tao where i successfully got my open water diving certificate!

After briefly visiting Bangkok we moved up to Kanchanaburi and then to Chaing Mai (a def fav!). In Chaing Mai we learnt how to cook Thai food, trekked up mountains and stayed with hill tribes, frolicked around with tigers, elephants and monkeys, buying up a storm in the markets and generally soaking up the lively culture and atmosphere.

Our month visa was almost up... time to move on to LAOS!! xxx

Gratitude

I just want to say many thanks to my lovely Matthew, who helped me with the technical side of making my blog look pretty... i can't believe he put up with my demands of "no i want it this colour" and "that's too small" and "can i have it here?" then, once that was done, "actually i want it here instead". He's great :)

xx

Chicago: 1920

Last year in August, Monique and I got to go see Chicago at one of the theaters in Melbourne. Neither of us had been to the theatre before and we were both looking forward to the unique cultural experience. The show was great... I wanted to get up and sing and dance to the music that I knew from the hollywood movie released a few years ago. Ohhh reminiscing....

You put high heels on and you change - Manalo Blahnik

Can't wait for another musical experience xx

The summer that is

Summer... sigh. Its the best. Its the time of year when your worries melt into the sun and your thoughts emerge into reality. Having triumphed the wintery blasts of Melbourne the sun has revitalized my mind and soul.

Finally, after saving a small pocket full of change from the call centre job I skipped back to New Zealand mid december.

Monique and I road tripped it from Tauranga down to the South Island in her beloved Sunny....

Lake Tekapo (the bluest lake ever)

Mount Cook...

Make shift beds on the floor of the ferry crossing...

Swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura at dawn...

Destination: Wanaka

...to see more visit my other half:

http://www.moniquehemmingson.blogspot.com/

Wanaka is where the heart is... my gorgeous aunty and uncle have re-located from the north to the south and nestled in the sweetest little town. Buzzing in winter with snowboarders and skiiers wanting to conquer the mountain slopes which surround the village, in summer Wanaka's lake sparkles from the diamond sun-rays.

I adored having Christmas with my family here.

My brother and I

Festive feast

Hastily driving back up to the north for New Years in the Coromandel, I arrived just in time to be re-united with friends. Apart from physically missing the countdown due to undisclosed reasons, the Coromandel lived up to its usual high summer living standards.

New years at Coro Gold festival

Beaching it at Otama Bay with friends

After working for the first half of January at Scoops (an ice creamery & pizzeria), attending Big Day Out and having a relaxing last weekend with the girls going out for dinner, hanging at the Purangi Winery and chilling at the beach my time in NZ was coming to an end.

My voyage back to Melbourne with my fine friends Matt & Sam...

Holding my breath for the next adventure in my life... xx

World Animal Day at Edgar's Mission

Here are a couple of pics from sunday:

Pam feeding Hamish an apple

Me, Timmy the Sheep and Ward

Weekend Tell All...

Escaping my torterous full time job (temporary - hopefully!) during the weekend is bliss and I especially enjoyed the antics of this weekend just been.

Friday night - Oktoberfest!
I live with two other flatmates in our apartment, aussies Danial and Simon. Danial has just popped over to Germany for a couple of weeks to celebrate the infamous Oktoberfest in Munich! Lucky thing. In an attempt to join in on the drinking aciton a few of us went down to the European Beir Cafe for their version of Oktoberfest at 8pm...
Two steins and several wines later the night out at the German fulled festival came to an end due to the bouncers thinking my great dancing was me trying to keep myself upright (how could they misjudge the situation so wrong?!). It was 10.30pm. I give my thanks to Debbie who retrived us after she finished work and got us home safely! And no thanks to Simon and the boys who encouraged the rowdiness. Haha, seriously great night though!

Saturday - Could not move...
Willed myself to get off the couch, no such luck. Haha, darn hangovers.


Sunday - World Animal Day!
Finally a chance to get out of the concrete jungle and into the fresh aired country. My friend, Ward, took me to a neat little place jsut outside of Kilmore, VIC called Edgars Mission.
It is the sweetest little animal sanctuary caring for over 150 rescued animals that have been neglected or abused. The founder, Pam, single handedly runs and cares for the sanctuary without any full time help from paid workers or even volunteers. I couldn't believe how she manages to do this, the place is huge! And she still has a smile on her face.
I'll post pics of the animals i got to meet soon :)
Hit up http://www.edgarsmission.org.au/index.htm

On the way home after my refreshing afternoon I was allowed to drive my friends car...
I know, hes crazy! I havn't driven since i left NZ six months ago and have never driven in a city situation! (Hamilton, NZ doesn't count). It was mega cool. Nearly missed a car trying to merge lanes on the freeway... but was a great adrenalin rush. Think hook turns will be my next mission in the car... those trams better get outta my way!

hello world, here i am

Its 12.29am and i'm desperately trying to restart the internet over and over again so i can finish this set up. I believe i may also be starting a shared blog with my beloved bestie Monique, but couldn't resist creating my own also. Debbie, my gorgeous roomie, is sleeping next to me in our shared master bedroom of our new city abode. I think i may follow her lead and get some zzz's. Until we meet again x