Persistently, Precipitous Phuket!

It’s Wednesday 8^th October and it has rained every day since we have arrived – the only consolation is that we have now experienced all types of rain – the drizzle, the shower, the absolute monsoon downpour – and have been treated to lighting and thunder on more than one occasion. So we are rapidly gaining an ‘ology in Rain!

This wonderful weather also resulted in the power and water being cut-off on Sunday evening, so Nina was grateful for my forward thinking on this occasion, as it meant we both had a torch to read our books with, exciting!

We were wondering what we might find in the fridge and freezer the next morning if the power stayed off all night, but fortunately it must have returned just in time to save the ice-creams, well they seemed edible the next day. The result of all the bad weather is that all of the water has left the electricity cables “fizzing” outside along the roads which is a little disconcerting, especially as many of them are hanging down around head level!

You may think it’s a perfect reason to stay in and watch a film……which would be nice but it seems the owner of the villa hasn’t paid the subscription so we have no TV!....... we didn’t miss it much until the ability to watch it was removed.

We have ventured out to Patong as we felt we needed a bit of “life” but this proved a little challenging as the weather turned to yet more torrential rain as the taxi driver dropped us off and although we requested him to pick us up ….he had other ideas!  So we were stranded in Patong with a lot of other wet and hacked off people all trying to grab a taxi to avoid the rain and get home. Still, Patrick took control and paid over the odds for a wet, windy and noisy Tuk Tuk!......travelling in style it was not and I’m sure the driver thought he was Valentino Rossi whilst we were praying for the tyres to have some tread and stick to the road!

But it is an adventure and the rain had to catch up with us eventually…….hopefully, it will dry up to allow us to get out and about!

Sunshine!

It had to stop eventually and now it has! We’ve been blessed with the sunshine once again and it is lovely and warm. The only downside is that Patrick has had a cold and is sneezing and spluttering all over the place and working his way through multiple boxes of tissues. However, since the Patong adventure, we decided that we needed to sort out our own transport….and Funky Moped numero 2 has entered the scene, well driveway!

It’s a Honda Scoopy and Patrick is in his element and loving the freedom and raw power of 125cc!!......

Still we were able to use it to go out the other evening to Flame where we had a lovely dinner of roasted chicken Thai style and lamb kebab! It is a really good place, relaxed, great food and inexpensive!

Having the moped has allowed us to get out and about and go to parts of the Island we’ve not visited before and it has been quite surprising seeing a real mix of sparkling new developments and also a number of half completed sites which look like the funding was pulled at some point and the work literally came to a stop mid build. This was evident with the developments below, they were in the north east of the island and had a good view, but the rest of the surrounding area had unfortunately been neglected and if you were aware this would definitely deter any buyer. Would be great to have the funds and knowledge to take it on ….who knows someone might do it …..but it looks too big a venture for us!

On that note we have had some building work close to home…… the builders have been in the villa next door and they work Thai style…….very early start and then its lunch by 11am and then they’ll restart about 5pm! Apart from the noise, it is quite funny listening to them as their mantra is “to enjoy their work and have a laugh….. and the work will be finished at some point!”

Fortunately, we’ve not had any further electricity blackouts and the TV has been restored although apart from the Russian Grand Prix, I’m not sure what we’ve really missed…..the channel options are as uninspiring as Hong Kong.

Still, we have the difficult decision of which beach shall we go to today? ….I like Naithon Beach which is smaller and cleaner versus the pretentious Surin Beach. We did stop at a beach café at Surin Beach and on the menu (and in the cabinets so they really did have it!) was a methuselah of champagne (6litre bottles!) for a mere THB60,000 (that’s about GBP 1,150 or EUR1,500, HKD14,365 / AUD 2,120 / SGD2,350….just to save any exchange calculations!).

When you consider that the local “Waitrose equivalent” supermarket employs its staff for THB 9,000 per month…..that is one decadent bottle of plonk.  Not sure how many they are likely to sell!

Over the next week, we will start to work out our plans for November but for now, we are just enjoying the sunshine and the freedom….as we don’t know how long either will last!

As we end our second week in Phuket we find ourselves asking ….are they male or female?

On Wednesday (15^th Oct), we went to see Simon’s Caberet. We stopped at a little restaurant and had a superb dinner with starters and drinks for under GBP10!!....the show was in Patong, so we splashed out and went via Scoopy! This was an eventful journey which started by meeting a JCB Digger head on down one of the lanes in Bangtao. Patrick’s foot has never been so close to the caterpillar tracks of the machine but there was no space to move!

Patong is a good 45 minutes from where we are staying and it was quite a journey with an incredible red sunset during the first part of our journey, but as we approached the town – the traffic started to come from all directions….and being on our scoopy Patrick was also trying to avoid the drains which are about 3 inches lower than the road, which did make for a very challenging and bumpy ride.

Needless to say, we arrived a bit windswept and also relieved to get there in one piece. Neither of us had any real idea of what to expect but it was great entertainment. The stars of the show were the individual performers who ranged from a “Barbie Girl” rendition to a person dressed one side as female and the other as male and they were both very entertaining. The costumes were really glitzy and colourful, with incredible headdresses and costumes.

The only negative was the fact that a lot of the performers were miming and the dancers were out of sync and needed to sharpen up their routine, not a lot of rhythm basically. Mind you the show runs 3 times a night/7 days a week so maybe it was a case of ‘burn out’.

We did really enjoy it and after the show we had a smoother ride home, although it was a relief to get back – you do have to constantly be on the lookout for potholes and/or any other debris that’s made its way onto the road!

Thursday was a beach afternoon so we went to Bangtao Beach or to be precise we went to the beachfront at the Dusit Thani hotel, we had been informed that as a visitor to the Laguna Villas we could have access to any of the hotel facilities within Laguna. Unfortunately, this was cobblers….and whilst Nina was busy shopping, Patrick had to contend with the deckchair police. After attempts at negotiation and even bribery in the form of buying a drink, it was to no avail so Nina came back to a grumpy Doyle! However as I had brought a new bikini for all of GBP7 he soon cheered up and we moved onto the beach itself which was actually nicer!!

I think the buffet at the Dusit Thani is off the agenda!!

Well we’ve decided to stay an extra week in Phuket so we can meet up with Helen (Patrick’s sister in France) and hopefully stash some bags while we tour around.

Both of us were secretly pleased as it’s so lovely here and we have really fallen into the laid back way of life, it feels a bit like a nice cosy cocoon, where you don’t have to worry too much about  anything.

p.s. I keep meaning to introduce you to Seamus and Weekly, the local dogs that have taken up residence near our villa. Weekly is obviously top dog as he struts around with his nose in the air looking important, Seamus follows some way behind trying to look like he knows where he is going, but you just know he has no idea and is just following his mate, well, that is until a white 4x4 comes along the road, which for some reason he has taken an aversion to, off he goes chasing and barking at it, until eventually the driver slows down and has to stop, obviously Seamus then feels he has fulfilled his task, he gives the car a furtive look, piddles up the nearest tree and sashays off back to his mate.  

Ohh and in case you wonder where we came up with these names, well……our plan for France or wherever we settle is to have a Great Dane called Daley and a Boxer named Sean, but Patrick felt these poor mongrels just don’t cut it so he came up Weekly and Seamus, you can see how his mind works, can’t you!  

Pictures below!

Follow the sun: Sunny Sydney & The Blue Mountains

Follow the sun: Sunny Sydney & The Blue Mountains: We arrived in Sydney on Sunday 21 st and checked into the hotel which happened to be very close to two of the most prominent icons in Sydn...

Sunny Sydney & The Blue Mountains

We arrived in Sydney on Sunday 21^st and checked into the hotel which happened to be very close to two of the most prominent icons in Sydney, the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, we could not have asked for more. By strange coincidence it was the same hotel, although under a different name, that Patrick stayed in on his first trip to Sydney! The room had a fantastic view – see picture! – and was very close to The Rocks where we went for dinner on our first night. The only blot was that somewhere between the debacle at Perth Airport and returning to the room after dinner Nina lost a very expensive earring, more importantly a present from me. All efforts to find it have been unsuccessful so I can only assume that someone was lucky enough to find it but not honest enough to hand it in, maybe they now have a very nice pendant…what was that notice up in the winery…oh yes ‘we believe in Karma’ well so do I! .. Nina will just have to wear the remaining one and be “uneven” (no change there)!

However, this trip/travel has highlighted that it is not necessarily the material items that matter but enjoying where you are and who you are with.

On the Monday, we ventured to Bondi Beach. This was a funny experience as Patrick had been there many years ago and rated it with less than one star – in fact, I think he was only coming this time as I hadn't Although, due to our limited choice of TV channels in Hong Kong, we had watched virtually every episode of Bondi Rescue so both felt we knew every inch of the beach and those life guards already (well Nina did!). We took the bus from Circular Quay and arrived at Bondi in the sunshine.

It was a really lovely place and far better than we were expecting, clearly it had received a face lift and botox since Patrick had previously visited, which we worked out to be some 12 years before.  There was even a stall to purchase “Official Bondi Rescue Merchandise”. I dragged Nina away….who was scanning the beach to see someone famous….

Both Bondi Beach and the walk round to Tamarama Beach had great views all along the Cliffside and the weather was really perfect which helped.

The surf was really good, but Patrick felt he didn’t want to show the professionals up by dipping his toes in…

On our way back, after a magnum (ice cream, not champagne as bit early in the day) we got off the bus a few stops early to walk through the Botanic gardens and see more of Sydney. It was a strange experience as we had both been to Sydney before with work but not together. So it felt like we knew it…..to the point of disagreeing on which way to go.  But it also felt very strange not to be expected to go into work particularly when you see the JPM logo on top of the office block next to the Westfield tower.  This obviously has many positives which you can all guess, but on the down side does remind us that we do not have any money coming in, which in itself is also strange and a little scary if you think too much about it.

Moving on, we did take the time to meet up with a few friends from work, Patrick had lunch with Steve and Phil and Nina with Jane. It was a nice time but did reinforce our current thoughts that any return to corporate life right now, would be too soon, we still want to see what else is out there.

On Wednesday, we explored the Harbour and Gardens more extensively and just enjoyed the free time and sunshine. In the evening, we made our way to the other side of Darling Harbour to a place called Pyrmont to meet up for dinner with Jane and Dave. This was a really enjoyable evening with some excellent food and wine– in fact we were the last to leave! – and it was a great way to end our time in the City and as always lovely to catch up with friends.

The Blue Mountains

When Patrick first visited Australia he had decided to hold off on visiting the Blue Mountains as he wanted to wait until we could visit them together….and we are both glad he made that decision.

You see the pictures and read the write ups but you still don’t quite know what to expect – and this was the case.

The drive out of Sydney up to the Blue Mountains was pretty packed with traffic going to and from the City (in fact Sydney CBD traffic system is dreadful – too many traffic lights and one way systems result in traffic moving at less than 10kmph most of the time……the only consolation is that there is no chance of being fined for speeding!). The journey was mainly dual carriage way with very little to see, which we were not expecting, I think we both had in mind a journey with lots of lovely views and scenic, but this was not the case.  However eventually we turned off for Leura which was where our accommodation was based. Leura was a lovely town and we think the best in the Blue Mountains!

Our accommodation was unique and full of character, you could not have experienced a bigger contrast to the Sydney hotel. We had champagne, chocolates, a spa bath and even decanters of Port and Sherry! It was very special.

On Friday, we decided to leave the car and take a short walk around the area to get our bearings and by luck came across a walk which seemed fairly interesting, this was really our first glimpse of the Blue Mountains. What we did realize was that the signs indicate the length of the walk not the amount of steps or incline associated with it! It turned out we were walking through Gordon’s falls named after a British soldier. The falls were very pretty but the view from the lookout point was incredible – it set the benchmark for the other sights and in Patrick’s view was not beaten!

After coming to the end of the walk, we discovered the Everglades Gardens which are part of the National Trust, so decided to grab a coffee and a rest whilst admiring the flowers and views. It takes a while to adjust to the fact that the plants are budding as it is spring but the time of year in our heads is autumn.

After the gardens, we decided to take the car and venture further afield and took the “Blue Mountains Drive”. This was a great drive but the views are shielded behind the trees so basically you are driving along a tree lined road, so need to stop every now and then and get out and take a peek at the different viewpoints! We saw the Three Sisters at Echo Point and stopped in Katoomba.

In our minds, Katoomba was the main town in the Blue Mountains as this is the one mentioned in most guide books etc., but if you are planning a trip we would suggest skipping this town, which actually seems to be what most others either have done or are doing. Walking down the high street, the number of closed shops and business premises indicated that economically, it was not doing very well especially compared to Leura.

We also drove to Lithgow on Saturday afternoon as it was another key town on the map in the region, however we think we must have hit it at a quiet time, either that or they had closed the town as there was hardly any people and everything looked shut. The only place with any activity was the centre with Coles, Target and Liquorland….lovely! We’d seen enough of those already.

The actual views of the mountains are stunning and not like anywhere else we have been, irrespective of the towns, it’s worth a visit.

We also followed the tourist trail to Scenic World which was a set of cable cars and a railway. The motto of our trip is to do something in a place that you can’t do anywhere else – (hmm that’s Patrick’s line and I’m not sure where his mind is …) anyway a cable car was ticked in Singapore which left the railway. However, the queue for tickets was ridiculously long and slow moving, so after some questioning we found out that we could walk to the bottom of the valley and get the train back to the top and pay then! Bargain…….surely just a few steps down?

About 1.5 hours later with achy legs after descending many, many steps, a number of boardwalks and negotiating various cliff side paths we found the bottom of the train line.

Although quite short the journey back up in the train was worth it, the track is approx. 320meters long but descends 250meters so at points it is vertical and most of the journey up feels like you are about to tumble out of your seat onto the person in front! It was a great ride and the history surrounding the site was impressive. The site was a previous mine in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and to see it you could only image the terrible conditions at the time, but the ingenuity to build such projects with limited tools by today’s standards was extremely clever. I think it must be an age thing where the older you get, the less distant things in the past seem……the mine was in use less than 100 years ago, and you compare that to sitting at a table with a laptop typing these thoughts and thinking how far the world has come …yet at the same time could it be too far, with so much information and the ability to do more or less anything, could this also be a bad thing? We leave you to ponder… while we open the wine!

Back to the Blue Mountains, where unfortunately, our few days had come to an end and on Sunday 28^th Sept, we returned to Sydney for one more night.

We have to mention the returning of the car to Hertz, as the gentleman in the pound did try to highlight a minor dent, which Patrick was having none of, especially as they had not even bothered to check anything when we picked it up, he then called his supervisor which was quite funny as it was obvious Patrick was starting to get more irritated by this time and stated this is nothing to do with us! The crazy thing was he overlooked the cracked indicator cover, the split rear bumper and the separation of the front wing from the main chassis, all of which had been there before we took the car, but nothing had been noted, in fact the car had seen a lot of life in its short 31,000km.

Anyway lucky for them the supervisor just waved the guy away and said it was nothing, good job!! 

Upon returning to the hotel we were pleased as they had upgraded us to a bigger room on a higher floor which had an even better view of the harbour, this also meant we had plenty of space to pack again. This time ready for Thailand so trying to think of warm summer clothes rather than jeans and jumpers!

The flight from Sydney to Phuket was via Jetstar (the low cost division of Qantas) and we had a new Dreamliner plane which was very good for the 9 hour flight. Unfortunately, the plane was an hour and a half late taking off but as we had access to the Qantas Club Lounge, it was not too much of a hardship – and a great way to leave Australia after having spent 2 months travelling around.

We feel we have seen a good part of the country on both the East and West coasts, although it’s so massive you could easily spend even longer, however we had some wonderful times and had the opportunity to catch up or stay with some really good friends.

Now Phuket beckons for the month of October and although we have only been here a few days we are both hoping the rain will stop at some point as ‘some’ of you may be pleased to know it’s absolutely chucking it down and has not stopped for the past 36 hours, hence we found time to update the blog!

Here’s to a dry update next week!