Eloise and I have been in Sydney for just over 2 months now. Where’s the time gone?!
We’re living in a hip, happening area called Newtown, a kilometre or two from the centre of Sydney. While this is all good, unless you didn’t know before Australia is pretty massive and there’s quite a lot to explore.
So when we had the offer from our friend Iona of a weekend away in Newcastle, or ‘Newie’ – we jumped at it!
Eloise and Iona. Eloise is armed with a carrot.
We took the train 2 hours north up through the spectacular Central Coast of New South Wales.
On the way up I found out that Newcastle is home to the largest coal harbour in the world – if that conjures up images of sooty terraced houses in Wales like it did when I heard that, then you’ll be wrong!
Merewether beach!
Newcastle has some of the best surf conditions in Australia and the beach is epic!
But what is there to do in Newcastle I hear you cry?
A confrontational peacock
We visited Black Butt Reserve. Yes, Black Butt.
A chubby pigeon
We finally got to see some kangaroos, a wombat, a couple of pheasants, some very still emus and a much bigger than expected Koala!
Our first Roo sighting!A smelly Koala
Fun fact! A koalas scent gland is so smelly that if you touch one you can’t actually wash the stink off your hands!
We drunk way too much beer with our new mates, played Uno for hours, then headed to Newcastle’s top watering holes and partied the night away surrounded by bronzed, triangular men on the lookout for equally scary looking women!
Sounds a bit like another Newcastle closer to home…
Vegan raspberry cheesecake!
Upon arrival back to Sydney we rejuvenated with a coffee and slab of something sweet from one of Newtown’s many vegan cake shops!
Newtown cakes will do this to you.
Have you been to Newcastle? Did you know koalas were so smelly?!
We were lucky enough to be in Chiang Mai during Thailand‘s new year festivites, known as Songkran, but also known as the biggest water fight in the whole world!
Everyone takes to the streets with water guns and buckets filled with icy water to throw over each other – Trust me, if you step outside during Songkran, you’re going to get wet!
Armed with a bin bag covering my camera (actually an Op Tech Rain-Sleeve) we hit the streets for a thorough dousing!
More Songkran footage coming soon! 🙂
I’d love to know which is your favourite Songkran snap! Mine is probably the little boy hiding under his bucket!
Eloise taking one for the team!Young and old getting fully involved with Songkran!Both scary in their own wayCulture clash! Young Chiang Mai’ers and a tribal women selling bracelets to drunk falangsKeeping dry!Party action at the Bangkok Airlines stage
We left the quiet, chilled out village of Nong Khiaw to chill out some more in the small village of Muang Ngoi Neua, further up the Ou River. We’d heard that Muang Ngoi Neua was even more ‘off the beaten track’ than Nong Khiaw and was a true authentic experience of Lao culture.
Travelling in a longtail boat to Muang Ngoi Neua was an incredibly relaxing and insightful way to take in the Lao culture.
I loved watching locals go about their everyday lives, either working or chilling out by the Ou River.
Gathering Kai Pen – River weed!
We saw people waist deep in the water, pulling out river weed to make the delicacy Kai Pen (fried river weed) that is sold in local restaurants.
There was also people fishing in the water, wearing goggles to see the fish under water.
Water Buffalo’s having a dip in the Ou River
There were many animals relaxing on the banks of the Ou River. Wallowing pigs and boars, as well as grey coloured water buffalos and cows. It was the first time I saw cream coloured buffalo’s!
Getting to Nong Khiaw to Muang Ngoi Neua by Boat
The only way to get to Muang Ngoi Neua is by boat, which you can board at the boat landing on the west side of town. There are two boats a day to Muang Ngoi Neua from Nong Khiaw, 11am and the other at 2pm.
Prices out of Nong Khiaw as of January 2013
There is a ticket office at the boat landing, and you can buy your tickets on the day of departure for 25,000 Kip (Jan 2013). There are no allocated seats, so don’t worry about pre-booking your boat ticket at a travel agency.
When we got our boat to Muang Ngoi Neua, they asked for everyones tickets and one person had bought his through a travel agency and got overpriced. The problem was that all he was given was a hand written receipt and no ticket. The driver wanted him to get off the boat, but the foreign passenger kicked up a fuss and the problem seemed to go away. Lucky for him!
Boarding the boat was disorganised, as you might imagine. We watched all the people who had arrived from Muang Ngoi Neua, climbing out of their boats and having to walk through a foot of water to get to the boat landing (I took my shoes and socks off in preparation). Luckily we had a narrow plank to walk along to get on our boat, so everyone managed to stay dry.
Me and our friend Nicola waiting for the boat to leave!
Our tickets came with allocated seats, so we were surprised when we boarded the boat to find that there was definitely no seat numbers, but a bench (narrow plank of wood) running up both sides of the boat (comfortable)!
We didn’t set off until 11.30am, due to boat swapping and reorganisation of people and bags. When we were eventually on our way to Muang Ngoi Neua, we were able to enjoy the Lao riverside life passing us by. We did this trip in high season (January 2013) and there was plenty of leg room and bag room on both of the boats that left for Muang Ngoi Neua.
The whole journey was quick and we were in Muang Ngoi Neua in under an hour!
Coming back from Muang Ngoi Neua to Nong Khiaw by longtail boat is very simple. You buy the ticket from the boat office, down by the boat landing on 8am on your day of departure for 25,000 Kip. There is one boat that leaves for Nong Khiaw at 9.30am, but can often leave late, depending on how many passengers there are. Upon arrival in Nong Khiaw, tuk tuks will be waiting to take passengers to the bus station for connections out of town.
Enjoying bath time!
I hope you enjoy the trip as much as we did! We would love to know which is your favourite picture!
Night markets, food markets, fruit markets, Saturday and Sunday walking street markets – Chiang Mai has more night markets than you’d ever need!
Thailand‘s largest northern town really comes alive at night. Chiang Mai’s night markets are perfect for people watching, joining the local Thais and falang checking out what’s on offer, enjoying the smells of mouthwatering Thai street food, getting some great Travel Photography, and generally taking in the atmosphere.
We were out every night during our stay in Chiang Mai, either stuffing our faces or enjoying the weird and wonderful stuff on offer!
There’s something for everyone in Chiang Mai’s night markets, ranging from relatively normal pretty wacky – Exploring Chiang Mai’s markets is in our eyes one of the best things to do during your stay in this great town!
So get out there! Get a fresh juice shake, grab a Pad Thai, drink a Singha or two, and explore the sights and sounds of Chiang Mai’s night markets!
We hope you enjoy our photos. We’d love to know which is your favourite!
Mouth watering orange juice!Amazing art at the night bazaarCareful where you tread – Trophy poochThe Chilling monk
Hand made gifts at the night marketsThai ‘Apples’Hot dog rolls…sort ofNight market entertainment!Serving up dumpings!Thai ShallotsAny ideas what these guys are?More amazing art at the night bazaarWhipping up some amazing noodles!Locals girls enjoying the marketsExcitableCould I fit one of these in my backpack?
