Wow. Just one more country left... We fly into Mumbai tomorrow night and out again on the 23rd December bound finally for home. I'm a little nervous about plunging into the maelstrom but I'm sure it'll be fine once we're there?!
Our guest blogger's done such a good job of charting the last few weeks that there doesn't seem much left to say (thanks Liam). I'd just like to add that he was a great traveling companion, always keen on a strange photo opportunity (what happened to the one of Tom kissing a statue?) and a great civilising influence, helping lure us away from the hippie temptations of Byron Bay.
Australia's been a ball - a deliciously gluttonous one - and hopefully we've now got enough bodyfat to make it through India with a bit left over for the great British winter...
Thursday 30 October 2008
Monday 13 October 2008
Playing catch-up
So somehow more than a month has slipped by. One reason I was keen to leave London was that time seemed to go so fast there but comfortable developed countries, evenings with old friends and our own small routines are speeding the clock up again.
We spent our last days in Japan trying more onsen (baths) in the strange southern town of Beppu where steam from the many hot springs rises up through manhole covers and men lounge around in the weird mixed mud baths watching women in little towels dash around like frightened penguins then caught the dizzyingly fast bullet train to Tokyo. There we lost ourselves in the crowds of commuters and wandered toy shops with vending machines full of strange cartoon toys and eye-popping manga stores. We also managed a visit to the "lost in translation" bar at the top of the Hyatt and early morning sushi at the huge, otherworldly and rather sad fish market. Tom was rewarded for his dancing skills at a local festival near our hostel with a pink sash and a bag of household cleaning products.
Next was our first plane journey and Hong Kong. Gwen, a friend from Oxford High, took us to drink cocktails at a friend's party on the 43rd floor, looking across at the beleagured banking sector in its glittering towers, and the next night for some delicious and slightly crazy Chinese food. Particularly partial to the spare ribs with strawberry but not a huge fan of stinky durian.
We also tested out the Hong Kong tourist board's free "tea appreciation" class, learning to sniff our tiny cups after finishing them, and its early morning tai chi on the harbour front with uber-enthusiatic Jimmy and the glamorous Pandora.
The final day was Tom's 30th birthday eve so we swopped our hostel in Kowloon's decaying and cat-infested Mirador Mansions for a roof-top swimming pool near Soho and went for another roof terrace cocktail among the futuristic walkways of Central. We failed to get an upgrade the next day but did manage to wangle some free champagne from a lady in duty-free...
The last couple of weeks in Australia have brought more reunions. We spent four lovely days with Izzy and Andy in Sydney's southern suburbs eating great sausages and admiring the gorgeous national parks on their doorstep. They even tried not to laugh when I realised that having given my passport to the Indian Embassy I'd have to swap my plane up north to Byron Bay for a 14-hour bus journey...
I made it to Byron eventually and caught up with Tom (he'd had his driving licence so could still fly) and the next day we picked up Liam from the airport. Since then we've been heading south in our big family car, Tom's surfboard strapped to the roof, singing along to our two CDs: 'Rocktober' and Now 368 (or something similar) which Liam is using to bring our musical education up to date. We've laughed at the guitar-strumming digeridoo-worshipping pseudo-hippes of 'the arts factory guesthouse' in Byron, drunk beers on a bright moonlit beach, watched whales breaching offshore and hiked through swampy rainforest with some friendly leeches.
We've still not persuaded Liam to sleep in a tent, but we're working on it. In return he's threatening to take us to kareoke when we reach Sydney...
We spent our last days in Japan trying more onsen (baths) in the strange southern town of Beppu where steam from the many hot springs rises up through manhole covers and men lounge around in the weird mixed mud baths watching women in little towels dash around like frightened penguins then caught the dizzyingly fast bullet train to Tokyo. There we lost ourselves in the crowds of commuters and wandered toy shops with vending machines full of strange cartoon toys and eye-popping manga stores. We also managed a visit to the "lost in translation" bar at the top of the Hyatt and early morning sushi at the huge, otherworldly and rather sad fish market. Tom was rewarded for his dancing skills at a local festival near our hostel with a pink sash and a bag of household cleaning products.
Next was our first plane journey and Hong Kong. Gwen, a friend from Oxford High, took us to drink cocktails at a friend's party on the 43rd floor, looking across at the beleagured banking sector in its glittering towers, and the next night for some delicious and slightly crazy Chinese food. Particularly partial to the spare ribs with strawberry but not a huge fan of stinky durian.
We also tested out the Hong Kong tourist board's free "tea appreciation" class, learning to sniff our tiny cups after finishing them, and its early morning tai chi on the harbour front with uber-enthusiatic Jimmy and the glamorous Pandora.
The final day was Tom's 30th birthday eve so we swopped our hostel in Kowloon's decaying and cat-infested Mirador Mansions for a roof-top swimming pool near Soho and went for another roof terrace cocktail among the futuristic walkways of Central. We failed to get an upgrade the next day but did manage to wangle some free champagne from a lady in duty-free...
The last couple of weeks in Australia have brought more reunions. We spent four lovely days with Izzy and Andy in Sydney's southern suburbs eating great sausages and admiring the gorgeous national parks on their doorstep. They even tried not to laugh when I realised that having given my passport to the Indian Embassy I'd have to swap my plane up north to Byron Bay for a 14-hour bus journey...
I made it to Byron eventually and caught up with Tom (he'd had his driving licence so could still fly) and the next day we picked up Liam from the airport. Since then we've been heading south in our big family car, Tom's surfboard strapped to the roof, singing along to our two CDs: 'Rocktober' and Now 368 (or something similar) which Liam is using to bring our musical education up to date. We've laughed at the guitar-strumming digeridoo-worshipping pseudo-hippes of 'the arts factory guesthouse' in Byron, drunk beers on a bright moonlit beach, watched whales breaching offshore and hiked through swampy rainforest with some friendly leeches.
We've still not persuaded Liam to sleep in a tent, but we're working on it. In return he's threatening to take us to kareoke when we reach Sydney...
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