Ko Phangan and Chiang Mai

Ok so Ko Phangan was me, Lau and Danny. We travelled for 10 hours or something silly like that to get there and had to go on a bus and a ferry overnight. The Island was really pretty and we were staying at a nice hotel about 5minutes walk from the shops. Well, once we complained and changed rooms it was really pretty anyway. The first one had a 'beautiful view' of a building site, a 3 inch gap under the door and we were sharing it with a rather large family of ants! Once we moved we had a king sized bed and a view of the ocean and mountains, a big improvement.
We had initially decided to go there for the full moon party on the beach but on the night it was pissing down with rain so Lau and Danny didnt want to go and i had a migraine, just out luck!
We had alot of fun shopping whilst we were there though (Danny and i bought about 20 cds and dvds) and spend quite alot of time playing pool. Dannys man pride was severely dented in the process.

We went back to bankok to meet Emily on the 4th and the twin towers hotel tried to charge us 4000 baht per room per night. we were having non of it and eventually got it for 2000 baht. This was one of many arguments that we ended up having with the reception staff. They later tried to tell us that we couldnt book extend our stay as Laura (who had gone home by this point) had booked an executive suite. an hour later, we discovered that actually a Mr Peter Humphreys had booked it and not Laura despite the fact that we had written down her name for them. grrr

Emily, Danny and i went up to Chiang Mai after Laura left. We rented a car for the day and Danny and i drove us up to a temple on the top of the hill. Em and i bought some huge fans up there for 80 baht each. they have been a pain in the ass to carry around
The next day, we began our 3day treck through the jungle. It started well, we saw an old temple, a huge waterfall (which Danny went swimming in) and did a short treck to a local village where we stayed the night. all the little kids kept coming up to us and asking us to buy necklaces and bracelets and i wanted to get all of them. only bought 3 throughout the trip though.
The second day was torrential rain. we tried to sit it out but it went on too long so we ended up wading knee deep in water through rice fields and again, Danny fell over! The stepping stones at the river had been washed away so the guide found us a very skinny stick to walk along over the gushing river which was very scary!
On the last day we went bamboo rafting which was fun but not very nice to have to sit down on since the water was brown and we later saw something that looked very like a sewage pipe joining it. our raft also got stuck on the reeds so we had to get out and push! we then went on an elephant ride which was amazing to begin with but not so pleasant when they misbehaved and got hit in the head with metal sticks which made them bleed. just wanted to get off after that!

Em and i are in Kanchanabury now and its ridiculously hot. Missing Danny and Lau loads and cant wait to get home and see everyone.

love emma x x x

Bangkok, Thailand

Laura, Danny and i have been in Thailand nearly a week and a half now and all its done is rained!

The first 4days were spent in Bangkok where i refused to email anyone or write my blog since the internet cost a ridiculous 8 pounds an hour! The pollution there is terrible and the tuk tuk drivers are a pain in the ass. They get commission for taking you to expensive shops so it takes ages to get where you want to go to and Danny ended up buying 6shirts. He got a couple of thousand baht off though and looks very smart in them so it wasnt so bad in the end.

The Grand Palace was beautiful but the temperature was 39 degrees so it was difficult to appreciate it properly. Plus my flip flop broke and my foot was burning all the way round, despite the protection given by Danny's sock so we left fairly quickly after that.

The night market was dirt cheap and lotsa fun for the first hour. Laura and i went for a massage because of the air conditioning after that and when we came out, Danny was nowhere to be found. After searching for an hour we went back to the twin towers hotel where we were staying and found him in the lobby. It turned out that he fell on his ass in the torrential rain looking for us after getting lost and was not in the mood for shopping after that so went back to get changed.

Singapore Airport

Im in Singapore Airport at the moment waiting to fly out to Thailand where im meeting Danny - yay!

The east coast of Aus has been amazing. Laura and I went out on the Kiana from Airlie Beach for 3days to sail around the whitsunday islands. It was great to be back together again and it took us ages to catch up on all the goss! It was a really nice boat with just 14people as opposed to the 40 that can be squashed onto some of the party boats. The only problem we had was that our bed happened to be in the living room which wasnt great for Laura who had a cold and wanted to stay in bed!

We went to whitehaven beach on the first day which was gorgeous. the sand is made of silica and is fine enough to clean jewellery with so Grandma Mary's ring is nice and shiny now. Unfortunatly we couldnt go swimming as its jelly fish season but it was lovely lying on the beach all the same and Laura even met her dive buddy there - a big suprise since there were only about 40 people on the island!
On the second day i went diving on the outer reef. we swam through little caves with turqouise light streaming through the holes in the rock and saw turtles, sharks and really colourful coral. Definitely the best place i have been diving so far!
On the third day, the sails went up to speed up the journey back to Airlie beach. The boat was at a 45degree angle making it a bit uncomfy but it felt great with the wind rushing through out hair and the sun shining down on us - a great opertunity to top up the tan!

Next was Fraser Island - easily the most beautiful place i have ever been too. Laura didnt come as she wasnt feeling well and didnt fancy camping so booked herself into a hotel to recover with a tv and air conditioning!
We stayed in tents for the 2nights and drove in our 4wd to all the suggested sites during the day. There were champagne pools which are small pools of warm sea water in the rocks, piles of colourful sand, and fabulous fresh water lakes. Lake MCKenzie on the last day was the most enjoyable part of a fantastic trip. There were no fish or plants in the water, it was fresh and clear. We made human pyramids in the water and playes Frisby on the beach. I could spend 2weeks there no problem!

Yesterday, we went to Steve Erwins zoo. it was really sad reading all the messages on his tribute but great to see how much his beliefs about conservation are spread through the zoo. the croc feeding was kinda scary but we were safely behind bars and we all got to hold a koala - so cute!

got to board my flight now so have to go

love you all
Emma x x x x

Cairns

The trip out to the outback was fab! Im sure iv written about this already but i guess i must have just sent alot of emails about it. Uluru (Ayers Rock) was really pretty at sunset and looked amazing from a distance but once we had walked around about a quarter of it we realised it was gona look the same for the next hour! Kings Canyon and the Olgas were gorgeous from every angle. they were the same red colour as Uluru but were surrounded by green trees and we could see for miles.

Im in Cairns now and met up with Laura H and Michelle for a day which was wicked. we had alot of catching up to do. Michelle also invited us to her wedding (shes promised to Murph but isnt actually engaged) so were going to Canada in a couple of years anyway. yay!

Went to Cape Tribulation monday to wednesday which is a rainforest / national park. It certainly lived up to its name and pissed down the entire time i was there! saw lots of lovely huge spiders too :s

Diving on the great barrier reef has outdone everything so far, other than maybe the skydive in Taupo. I did 5 dives over 2days and stayed over night on the boat. Saw a starfish on the nightdive and a sting ray, reef shark, giant clam and turtle on the day dives aswell as hundreds of colourful fish (including Nemo!) and coral.

Been doing pretty much nothing today other than spending money :s my bikini broke though so i needed another one. Met up with Rachel from Cape Trib in the afternoon and we tried to get our hair cut but left it too late and the shops were shutting. Waiting for Laura to get back from the rainforest now and then were getting massages in the night market before our bus to Airlie beach picks us up at midnight.

Missing you all loads!

Love Em x x x

Melbourne

Heya!
I flew into Alice Springs today and its soooo hot! my hostel has a swimming pool to cool off in so its not too bad at the moment but im going on a 3day tour out to Ayers Rock tomorrow so could do with it cooling down a bit.

Sydney was great. I met up with Laura Dye who i made friends with in New Zealand and we went to Bondi beach (the waves there are HUGE) and the Syndey Opera House together to see a Czeck Opera which was kinda based on the little mermaid. It was really good but i think i prefer musicals.
I also went on a day trip on my own to the blue mountains which were stunning. Everyone on the tour was really friendly though and we all chatted to each other on the walk. I even got asked out by a swedish guy but said no obviously.
The walk across the harbour bridge was nice and the view from the skytower was fairly good but it was better in Auckland i think although i am slightly biased by the fact that i jumped off of that one!

Melbourne was beautiful and i stayed with Alison and Tony who are lovely. Alison took me to pengiun Island on the saturday where we sat on the sand and watched them waddle up the beach to their nests. They were so cute!
On the sunday, the three of us went to a beach on the peninsular. We drove up to the top of the hill before settling on the sand and the view from up there was gorgeous.
I have also discovered that i like Thai as long as its no too hot, Squid and prawns.
It was great to get a double bed and a room to myself and they even gave me a dressing gown and slippers - luxury!

Spoken to both Laura and Emily on the phone and they sound like they are having a great time. Emily is in Byron Bay and Laura is going to Neighbours night tonight.

Lots of Love
Emma x x x x

PS Happy Birthday again Danny x

Off to Aus!

Its my last day in New Zealand today :-( We've been in christchurch for a week now though so theres not much left to do here.
The dolphin swimming in Kaikoura was amazing. There were literally hundreds of wild dusky dolphins swimming round us. We had to make stupid noises and sing songs at them through our snorkells to keep them entertained and in return they made us look even more stupid by swimming round us in circles which of course meant that we had to spin round, following them.
Emily decided she wanted to fly into Melbourne which meant that she could go at stupid oclock this morning or at a normal time on tuesday. understandably she chose tuesday so her and Laura are going to Akaroa to stay in her dad / aunts house. Laura has been there twice now (once with Laura D at the beginning of the week, then for a couple of days with Tom and she's driving back to watch the rugby today before taking Emily up there)
Laura D and I are planning to go to the Sydney Opera House together in the next couple of days as she arrived in Aus on thursday.
Emily and i are both shocked at the lack of money in our accounts but figured that whilst Australia is generally more expensive, there aren't so many adventure activities to do there. After that, Thailand is cheap as chips!
Emma x x x

Half way through!

In Christchurch now which is our last stop in New Zealand. Going out to Kaikoura to swim with dolphins and to Akaroa were Laura's house is but then coming back into Christchurch again.
Emily and i went white water rafting a couple of days ago which was wicked! we went through grade 1 - 5 rapids and managed not to fall out. i also discovered that jumping off a rock to go swimming in a river which is glacier fed is not the best of ideas - it was absolutely freezing!
Laura stayed with Karlijn, Laura and Emma who we met on the Kiwi bus and came to christchurch early to see family before we arrived. Yes the 2 Emma's and Laura's are confusing us too.
A group of us tried to go out clubbing yesterday - not unusual on a friday night. everywhere was empty! we had to resort to singing karaoke to amuse ourselves. we were terrible but managed to get a random guy onstage dancing. not sure how difficult that is though since the majority of the girls in the club were onstage (us 6!)
Were staying at a hostel called Cokers atm which is supposedly haunted oooooo. We all got an hour of free internet time as were on the kiwi bus which is good. Its lovely and sunny outside today though so im off to top up my tan...hows the rain? :D it did actually snow here the other day though - New Zealand is really affected by global warming.