The Sandpit - Dubai arrival

16 December 2011

Arrived back in to warmth, even though it is winter in the UAE now. It was very hard fighting the urge to pull out my camera in customs to take photos of all of the guys working there, wearing their dish-dashes.

Even though the UAE is a Muslim country and they don't celebrate Christmas, there were still big Christmas displays around the place. My first day started off at a Christmas party at the Off Shore Boating club, which was definitely a nice way to be introduced to the country. Santa arrived on a boat, and my 8mo cousin Zoe got her first picture with Santa. Then it was off to Mall of the Emirates, which has Ski Dubai, a massive indoor ski field in the mall. 

I spent a couple of days working on my tan, before heading off on the most important adventure - acquiring alcohol! This adventure is known as the Barracuda Run. To be able to purchase alcohol in Dubai, you need to apply for a license (hotel's are licensed, so don't fret, you still have hundreds of bars, pubs and nightclubs) which proves you are not Muslim (and then it is expensive - there isn't beers and wines in the supermarkets like NZ, or a bottle-o on every corner like Oz). We planned our adventure, heading to Barracuda means driving through Sharjah. Sharjah is known as one of the stricter Emirates with their view on clothing, cohabatiation and alcohol. Barracuda is a hotel that sells alcohol and is about an hour and fifteen minutes drive from Dubai. If you know someone that is going to Barracuda, you are usually very quick to put your orders in. I was expecting a dodgy little shop with ridiculous prices, but instead I got a nice spacious air-conditioned modern oasis, with prices starting at 30dirhams (around $10AUD) for wine and 60dhms for a 1lt bottle of Absolute Vodka ($20AUD) - the cheapest alcohol in the country, and even beating duty free prices. My Aunty and I stocked up on alcoholic goodness to the point where our trolley was over full. 

Our trolley at Barracuda

Usually you pass through Emirate of Sharjah, which is a dry Emirate and you can be arrested or fined if you get caught with alcohol in your car (Barracuda Bandits - people that follow you from Barracuda and will bump your car, and threaten to call the police, then accept a bribe), but luckily for us, there is the 611, which bypasses Sharjah all together so you don't have to be worried about passing the dry Emirate. My life was now back on track with a case of red wine, and getting to see camel's crossing the 12 lane highway on our journey back.  What more could a girl ask for?

A camel! A camel!

Burj Al Arab

We had a few days to practice having our Christmas day at the beach, deciding that Kite beach was our favourite, a little down from the Burj Al Arab so that you don't have the steady flow of tourists coming through. Kite beach is known for the hire of water sports activities, and kite surfing on windy days. The beach has changing rooms, showers and toilets (it's too cold to go in the water to pee at the moment - jokes!). The locals and expats all enjoy the atmosphere with volleyball and a blow up football pitch covered in water and detergent for the children of all ages. Christmas day arrived and we headed to Kite beach wearing our Santa hats along with the other hat donning families to celebrate Christmas at the beach. We had our pot luck picnic, along with some of my Aunties workmates (and now my friends). A new experience for my American friends but for my family here in Dubai we felt like we were back in the Pacific.  We topped the day off with a dinner with everyone at Naomi and Casey's. It was a great Christmas. So great, that we repeated our plans on New Years Eve, except had everyone around to our place after the beach. 

Kite Beach

Zoe in her Santa hat

On one of my first few nights in Dubai, I got to catch up with an old school friend Ritchie, who introduced me to Barasti. A bar that would become my local. Situated right on the beach near the palm, it is a favourite among expats and one of the top bars in Dubai. A great idea in Dubai is ladies nights. The main ladies night is a Tuesday, but you can get other deals throughout the week. Timeout magazine has a great list of the deals that you can get on what days, usually ranging from 3 free glasses of bubbles between a couple of hours, right through to unlimited selected drinks for the whole night. Of course, where there are lots of ladies, the men follow, so they can tend to be a bit of a meat market. Great fun for a very cheap night out though! 

Barasti

Chikity China

My blog for OE Travel Blog on China... 
3-16 Dec 2011

China hadn’t always been on the top of my list for places to visit, but once I decided I was setting out to see a bit of the world, I thought it would be a great opportunity to see my family who live in Wuxi (pronounced Wushi).

Entrance to Nanag Chung Xi with Karena

Arriving in Shanghai, they had organised for a driver to meet me at the airport, which I am grateful for, as I don’t think I was prepared for the language barrier to be as hard it was. Wuxi is about an hour and a half northwest (driving) from Shanghai, and was quite a small town until the last 20 years. Wuxi is dubbed as the “new Shanghai”.

Some of the attractions that Wuxi has to offer are Nanag Chung Xi Temple Markets, which as the name suggests includes, a temple and markets. You can also get a canal boat ride, and cruise down the canal and see all of the houses backing on to it, with all of their red lanterns hanging about.

About half an hour out of town is the Grand Buddha at Lingshan, which is 65m tall, and is one of the tallest Buddha statues in the world at present. It is set in a park with a giant lotus fountain, which opens every half an hour and a little Buddha comes up, as well as temples and shows, and to the excitement of my 10yo cousin, feeding pigeons.  We had organised a driver for the day, and headed to Wuxi Zoo after the Buddha, as was not far from it. The zoo I can say is probably not worth visiting. The enclosures were dull and the animals didn’t look too happy.

Giant Buddha

The Bund

One of the great things about China, are their high-speed trains. I don’t know why, but when I used to think of train travel in China, I would look back to movies like Shanghai Knights. That theory got blown out the water when my Aunty and I took a day trip to Shanghai from Wuxi. The train takes around 35 minutes, and gets to speeds over 300kmph. I think the fare is about 60RMB each way. Once we arrived in Shanghai we hopped on another metro to Peoples Square and then walked down to The Bund for the token tourist shot with the Shanghai skyline. After that we walked back to Peoples Square (which also contains a park and museum etc) and jumped on another Metro to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Not to look at the museum though, but spend hours walking around the markets haggling for lower prices over everything.  We saw a lot of people on the train back to Wuxi, who had brought a suitcase while at the markets and filled them to the brim. Remember – like any Asian country, haggle for a price you’re happy with and don’t be afraid to walk away.

My next adventure was to Beijing. After comparing the overnight/high-speed trains, I decided that it was cheaper to fly. The flight was around 500RMB. I had braced myself for the cold, as I had been watching the temperature in Wuxi, Beijing was about 10 degrees below that (-8!). However, upon arriving, I found that it was a beautiful day, with crisp air, but warm winter sun to warm you up. I got a taxi from the airport to the Hostel I was staying (365 Inn, which had been recommended to me) and checked in. I had arrived a bit before the room was available, so hung out at “Helen’s” the restaurant/bar that is at the Hostel – a great way to meet people and even if you are sitting there alone, there is wifi in the main area, and writing all over the walls which can be quite entertaining to read.

I set off to find Alice’s Tea House (turn right from the Hostel, veer left when a small fork comes in the road, and there is red lanterns out the front, about 50m down the road). I had been recommended Alice by a friend if I wanted to book any tours. Alice will give you better rates, and she even offered to accompany me to the Chinese Acrobats since I wasn’t too sure where it was. Essentially – the tour that I booked through Alice was the same as the one the Hostel offered (both 250RMB, same van etc), except the Hostel included breakfast (McDonalds) and didn’t include the entrance fee (50RMB). I definitely recommend booking through Alice, and just take fruit/snacks with you. Even better, she pours you tea while she’s arranging it all for you.

Staying at 365 Inn was great, they had good food in the Helen’s, and by my last night we had made a huge table of friends to drink. Next door there is also a restaurant that does Peking duck, which is very good. We got a bit carried away and ordered 8 dishes including the whole Pecking duck, between 4 of us.

The next day I set off to the Jingshanling part of the Great Wall. This is the less popular tour as it is around 3.5 hours drive from Beijing. We arrived at the wall and jumped out of the van, to be greeted by the icy cold air. All layers were on and started walking up to the first tower, which is about 20 mins of hill and stairs. The local farming community subsidise their income by following you offering you souvenirs. These people do not let up. They follow you until the end. Acting as a tour guide at times, and then taking you down the shortcut on your way back down. Of course you end up feeling sorry for them, as they spent 4 hours following you up and down stairs (some extremely steep), then won’t accept a tip. Just make sure that you still haggle a price if you decide to purchase something (unless you’re happy to pay what they ask). Legend has it there is even an alcohol seller at turret 4 who will walk with you until you decide to stop.

As you can imagine, the wall is surreal. Being the only tour group there, you also get amazing photo opportunities. You trek along the wall for about an hour and a half until you reach the “flower tower”, and if you want to you can continue along to the “five window tower”. I made it a couple of towers past the “flower tower” and then sat down in the beautiful winter sun with two girls from Belgium and we shared our fruit and travel stories for an hour. We then took the short cut down the hill, which had snow all over the track where the sun had not yet reached, and made our way to the restaurant had some lunch, which is provided.

The following day was time for me to hit Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Jingshan Hill. Luckily this was about a ten-minute walk from the Hostel. Tiananmen Square is full with tourist, as is the Forbidden City. Looking back I didn’t really explore too much of the Forbidden City, just strolled through the middle mainly. It was very cheap to get in to Jingshan Hill, and I wish that it had been a clearer day as you couldn’t really see back over to Forbidden City. It was neat walking around Jingshan Park as there were all of the local elderly Chinese, singing and dancing around in groups.

Overall in China, you need to be organized. It helps to have hotel and destinations already written in Chinese. Some restaurants don’t have any English (or pictures) in their menus, so it isn’t an easy task to even get some pork dumplings. My family have little cards they carry in their wallets with translations for food items, so you kind of know what you’re getting off the menu.

-       Don’t be surprised with the smog.

-       You need to obtain a visa before entering China
-   In main tourist areas, there is a lot of spitting, and westerners may be stared at. Also don't be surprised if a kid drops their pants and urinates in the street

Hong Kong/Macau

30 November - 3 December 2011

In Kowloon going to get some dinner

It was pretty impressive landing at Hong Kong airport and getting a train between your airport gate and the main airport. After clearing customs I decided that I'd get the bus to my accommodation, as it had a stop right outside. Of course, I ended up staying the infamous Chung King mansions, which are basically tiny shoebox rooms (literally my suitcase could hardly fit in to the room) but a semi reasonable price for HK. By this time it was past 11pm, so I wandered across to get some food and made the most of my stately room (insert sarcasm here). 

Venetian

The following day I was off to Macau. Not that I like to gamble, but I thought I would treat myself to a night at the Venetian. After dropping my bag off to Scott's office, I found my way to the Macau ferry terminal. Was nice to see a "no spitting" sign up inside the ferry terminal. The ferry took around an hour, and was nothing to exciting to see. A lot of smog covered HK, and there was not much to see on mainland China.

All I can say about my room at the Venetian is WOW. As I walked in the door I couldn't believe that I had such a big room to myself. After running myself a delicious bath, I was ready to go and explore. I managed to come across the shopping area, that had a canal going through it with gondola rides, and a fake sky ceiling running through the middle of it. Next on my list of things to find was a bar. Mission accomplished, complete with a dance show. Then it was time to really adventure out of the casino and see what else Macau had. 

Walking through the casino out to the front, I noticed that there were not many westerners. Pretty much none. Until I got to a crossing and 2 American guys  were waiting there to cross the road. They kindly gave me directions to the bar in City of Dreams, the casino across the road, and after they'd gone for a walk around they joined me for a drink. It turns out they worked for the Venetian and lived in Macau, so they became my tour guides for the night. We managed to get to about half a dozen casino's, and have dinner at Wynn (all on the Venetian, thank you very much!), the "race track" which is not where horses go around, and the fountain and tree of life display at Wynn. Who knows what time I managed to retire to my amazing room, but it was heaven! Was very hard to turn down the offer of staying on the weekend, being put up in a better room. 

My amazing bed!

At the bar at the Venetian

Gondola inside Venetian

The ferry ride back to HK, I luckily got a seat next to the only person who managed to get sea sick. Her spewing in to her sick bag, plus my slight hangover caused an uncomfortable amount of gagging for about half of the hour ride. Great fun! 

Fountain display at Wynn

For the first time in my trip I hadn't booked accommodation and thought that I would wing my second night in HK. The morning I left Macau, I had to bite the bullet and ended up paying a lot more than what I had for my suite at the Venetian, for something that was tiny, but at least in a better location than Chung King Mansions. That night I met up with Scott and Anna-Claire and their friends, and we managed to drink until 5am in the morning. I was certainly in no state when I awoke. Cold sweats, vomiting and rocking back and forward was not really my ideal start to the day, but I somehow made it to the airport, and was on my way to China. The time of traveling on my own coming to an end for now and in to the lovely home of my Aunty and Uncle in China. 

Thailand

27-30 November 2011

After waiting at the guesthouse for over an hour and a half to be picked up for the bus to Bangkok from Siem Reap ($12USD), I discovered that there was an Irish girl (Orlaith) who was taking the same bus. Finally arriving at the bus, it appeared that we were the last ones to be picked up, and both of the buses seemed to be full. After a lot of back and forth between the 2 buses, the bus driver exclaimed "it's ok, we have plastic seat for you. Only hour and half to border, new bus after that". We then got the joy of carrying our little plastic seats on to the bus and wedge them in the aisle. Not only did it take closer to 4 hours than the original hour and a half, but they decided to stop 3 times, so we would have to carry our seats off for people to get out, and then wait for everyone to file back on so we could carry our seats back down to our positions. 


Finally reaching the border, after glaring at people sleeping in their seats for hours, it was time to drag my 24kgs of luggage between Cambodia and Thailand. The line up on the Cambodian side was very hot and sweaty, standing out in the direct heat with no air con or fans. A 10 minute walk down to the Thailand border and I was ready to just turn around and stay in Cambodia for the rest of my life. The wait outside didn't take too long, but then there was about an hour wait inside, thank goodness for the air con. 


We made our way to the vans that were to take us the rest of the way to Bangkok, and surprise surprise, we had another food stop. Giving in to my food strike on buses, I got some delicious pad thai. Only fitting to get some pad thai on first arrival to Thailand. Orlaith and I got bundled in to the front of another mini van and we were finally heading towards Bangkok, discovering on the way that we were both staying at NapPark Hostel. 

Our crew at Khao San Road

Sandbagged shops

I had originally thought that I wouldn't like Bangkok, but how wrong I was! We checked in to our backpackers (my first dorm room!) and showered and met back up to get some dinner. More street food, from Khao San Road and we found a pub to eat it at with some Singha's and buckets of mojitos. Of course there had been flooding the previous week, with shops still having sandbags out the front of them, and with that, we decided we should sneak in to the closed off river to check it out. To much disappointment the river wasn't even breaching it's banks and the only evidence of flooding was the fast flowing water. The hours flew by and before I knew it, it was way past my bedtime as I had a 10am transfer to the airport so I could get to Patong for some quality beach time.


After some luggage rearranging to get the check in to 20kgs, I was finally sitting at the airport gate to get to the beach. It was kind of awkward sitting at the airport not knowing where to look with numerous couples consisting of grey haired gentlemen with young thai girls. Hmmm. 


Patong was nice with relaxing on the beach, getting served beers (as well as being asked if you wanted to buy everything else under the sun) as you lay there in the sun. After contemplating whether to go to Ko Phi Phi for a day, I decided to save that for next time, and just made the most of the beach and the street food. 

More street food!

Patong Beach

Cambodia

24-27 November 2011

I had booked the bus to Phnom Penh through Kim's Hotel, it cost $10USD and was estimated to take around 6 hours. There are flights available, but I wanted to make the most of seeing the country side. Plus who could argue with $10? 

I was picked up from the hotel around 7am, and taking to the bus and given my assigned seat. There were a few other westerners on the bus, but not that many. Gladly I was sitting next to a local girl who spoke english, so she would inform me if we had to get off because we were at the border, or if we were stopping on one of the many food/toilet breaks they like to throw in. 

View from bus in Cambodia

The border crossing was no great hassle at all, and the the bus driver took your passport and money for the Cambodian visa, and filled in the forms required and you got your passport back when you had it stamped. You really noticed it once you had crossed the border. Vietnam had been like a city the whole way to the border, hardly seeing any farm land, it was continuously shop after shop, and still hundreds of scooters. Once you got in to Cambodia, there were a few random casino's at the border (that did not look very appealing at all) and lots of farm land. We made our first stop on the bus, and having started out so early, I was starving. Hunger quickly took back seat as I walked up to the food counter, and there were about half a dozen cooked dishes, with who knew what in them, and the person serving you probably wouldn't be able to tell you - even if they could speak english. I eventually settled on a pineapple. I didn't bother stocking up on water either. Walking in to check out the toilets made me realise I would rather die dehydrated than have to use the toilet. Always carry tissues and hand sanitizer with you in Asian countries!!!!! Even if you don't use toilets in rural Cambodia, you will definitely need these regardless of where you could be. 

Passing some houses on the bus

The driving on these buses can leave you at your wits end. You know when the driver is beeping his horn, the situation is probably likely that you are passing another car/truck/bus, and there is an oncoming vehicle that is passing another car/truck/bus, and this is only a 2 lane road. I just couldn't help myself. I would hear the tooting of the horn and look up. It was like I was torturing myself with seeing how close we get to hitting someone else. In saying that, if I am to do the same route again (which I am hoping is highly likely), I would take the bus all over again. So amazing driving along the country side, seeing all of the little houses up on stilts in the water, and the rice paddies with all of the water buffalo, and even a ride on the barge across the river.


Arrival in Phnom Penh. A lot bigger than what I had imagined, and arriving at the bus stop, my hotel pick up not there waiting like he was supposed to, already got me in a bad mood with the city. I had made friends with a German couple, and they were my saviors with the good old Lonely Planet. I had no idea where my guesthouse was! We got in to negotiations with a tuktuk driver, and they dropped my off at my place before continuing on to their room. They had mentioned that they had looked at staying at the same place, but had changed their mind to somewhere closer in to town. I wish I had been that wise. I was staying at Sunday Guesthouse, which had been one of the top picks from the LP. I wish that I had read the reviews before staying there, as it is made my time in Phnom Penh horrible. It was not close to anything, you had to take a tuktuk if you wanted to go in to the main part. And after the half an hour discussions just to get to the guesthouse in the first place, was not something that I was interested in doing. When I checked in there was no mention of the common areas, and I only found out about them after reading reviews online. Deciding I'd had a big enough day, I booked my bus to Siem Reap for early the following morning, and called it a night. 


I had just booked the bus through the guesthouse ($6USD to Siem Reap), and I wish that I had booked through one of the main bus companies. Literally the only westerner on the bus, with men coming up within a metre of me at the bus stop and just staring at me. Being a girl, I cried quietly to myself for a few minutes, then told myself to harden up, put my headphones in and ignored everyone else. The bus ride was much the same as the previous day, around 6 hours, and driving no different, with the same beautiful scenery. 

Jordan with local kids at Pub Street

The bus arrived in Siem Reap a couple of hours late, and worry levels went to extreme, there were tuktuk drivers everywhere and I was thinking my hotel pickup guy wouldn't have waited around. Relief was massive as I saw a little sign with my name pop up. The last thing I feel like doing after 6-8 hours on the bus is haggle with a tuktuk driver. 

Street party at Pub Street

Cruising through Siem Reap on the way to Rosy's Guesthouse, I already had a better feel about Cambodia.  I organised going to Angkor Wat the following morning, meeting the tuktuk driver at 5am. Rosy's already feels a million times better with a bar and restaurant on the ground floor. My room is a palace compared to the previous night, and it is only $4USD more.


Bags dumped in the room and I head downstairs to the restaurant. Since I went on hunger strike on the bus, I tuck in to some Amok - the local curry and an Anchor (I always drink the local beers in the relevant country). Within an hour had made friends, and set off to Pub Street, which was a 10 minute walk down the river. Around Pub Street, there are other alley ways and streets with a range or restaurants and street food. We made our way down Pub Street, which was packed. The street is closed off and there is just people everywhere. Restaurants and clubs pumping their music out on the street. We ended up at one bar that was selling their drinks on the street and had a band outside, so it was literally a street party. 


Following morning. Epic Fail. Woke up at 6.30, alarm well and truly slept through. Since I had already missed sunrise at Angkor Wat, I sleep a few more hours and then face the temples. I easily found another tuktuk driver and for $14USD we were on our way to the temples. I know that I have said this in almost every post, but arriving in to Angkor is surreal. People can spend days and days going to different areas of Angkor, I just wanted to check out the main spots. The rough tour I look was Ta Prohm (where Angelina shot Tomb Raider), Ta Keo, Terrace of Elephants, Bayon and Angkor Wat. The tombs are quite crowded and it's hard to get decent photos, but so amazing to be there. Angkor Wat is grand, with a massive moat going around tho outside, but parts of it are being renovated and they have green scaffolding around parts of it, which ruins photos. The temples and Siem Reap itself are so beautiful. I highly recommend going there. Females - wear a t-shirt and long pants though, as you are not allowed in to some of the temples if you are dressed inappropriately (speaking from experience, but just gives me a reason to go back!).


After a long day in the heat walking around, I walked myself down to get some street food and visit the night markets, to pick up some beautiful Cambodian silk scarves and other nick-naks, have a foot massage and call it a night. Next day was another early wake up call to get the bus to Bangkok. 

Phnom Penh was a let down on this occasion, but I want to go back there to get a different experience from it in a better hotel. Siem Reap, my favourite place I have visited. I could have stayed there forever. 

Looking of Angkor Wat from the hot air balloon

Tomb Raider shot!

Ta Keo. Very hot after climbing all those stairs to the top!

Angkor Wat

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

21-24 Nov 2011

Now the travel was really getting under way. I had spent the weekend in Brisbane saying goodbyes, but was utterly exhausted the whole time and coming down with a cold. I was so thankful to be on the plane leaving Darwin after a 9 hour stop over. Not the most thrilling airport to wait that long at. Bonus about the wait, was I got talking to the girl next to me on the plane (Jaine), first friend made! 


Arriving at Ho Chi Minh airport was not what I had imagined. I had expected a little airport that you walk off the plane on to the tarmac, but how I was wrong! I think that I had underestimated Vietnam as a whole, and was really surprised at how big it was

Love street food

I was staying at Kims Hotel, which I can highly recommend. I think the room was about $24USD a night, and was really nice, and in a good location. I had an airport transfer, and Jaine came back with me to see if they had a room, as she hadn't booked anywhere. We both settled in to the hotel for the night, as it was about 2am by this time. 


As soon as I woke up I ran to the balcony to see what HCM had in store for me. Scooters. What seemed like millions and millions of scooters. Jaine and I set off to find some pho for breakfast, and made our way to the markets. The shopping didn't interest us too much, but we took a lot of photo's walking around the seafood and meat section in the markets. On walking to the markets, we got to experience crossing the road in HCM. Wow. I had read reviews that you just put your head down and walk. And that's pretty much what you do. The scooters swerve around you, but you have to keep an eye out for cars. 


Jaine went and checked in to a backpackers down the road, and then we met back up and went to find a massage. The lady at Kim's had suggested a place in a hotel down the road, so off we set to indulge in the wonderful world of cheap massages. Warning bells should have started ringing when the sign outside the suggested hotel listed "Massage, Sauna, Jacuzzi". We walked very quickly out of the hotel after the lady informed that it was "man only massage". Very cautious for our next venue, we made sure that we found a "spa". Our luck was looking up as we weren't turned away from the spa, and we almost high-fived. That excitement soon disappeared as we were led in to the rooms and girls in little short red skirts walked in to the room. The massage didn't turn out to be dodgy, but the giggling from the next room and the expectation for a big tip told us we hadn't stumbled in to the most innocent of places.  


Now it was time for a drink. We found a street between both of our hotels, and managed to follow the happy hours, people watching, sharing stories, and turning away street sellers. We then stumbled in to Le Pub, where we ended up meeting a Scottish couple, and joining a pub quiz team (with the most ridiculous questions ever, and went on for 4.5 hours). I bailed out after 2 and a half hours, but our team went on to win the pub quiz! I think everyone else had dropped out since it had gotten so late. 


The next day we went to the Cu Chi tunnels, which had been recommended by my friend Erica. I had seen a photo of Erica while she was down in the tunnels, her face drained of colour and fear in her eyes. The tunnels were set up during the war, and the Vietnamese used the tunnels for protection, living and fighting. They went metres underground and went on for 75 miles. We walked around the site where there are examples of traps and weapons from the war, then we got to fire guns (was very rushed though), and then we hit the tunnels. Having never felt claustrophobic before, I didn't see why this would change now. I was about the 4th one to go in to the tunnels, and all started out fine. Then it started getting hotter. And hotter. And the tunnel got narrower. Here you are, crouched over in half with a 10cm each side of you in a tunnel 2 metres under ground. All of a sudden we approached a bend, and the section of the tunnel I was in didn't have any light reaching it. That's when the photo of Erica flashed back in to my head, and I knew I wouldn't be looking much better now. Luckily there were exit's around every 20metres, and I was out of there at the sight of the next one. 

 

Another meeting at Le Pub, with our new friends, and more drinks and stories. I was off to Cambodia the next day at 7am, so it was time to say farewell for now, Vietnam. 

 

Watching the world go by at Le Pub

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

As written for OE Travel Blogs...

24 Oct - 18 Nov 2011

Having finished working in Sydney and planning my move to London, I had decided that I need a few months to travel to unwind and see the world. After my first stop to New Zealand to say goodbye to friends and family, I set off to Rarotonga to see my good friend who had moved to the Cook Islands 6 months previously.

Landing in Rarotonga after midnight and greeted by the token guy playing his guitar (apparently he is at the airport to welcome every plane in) I didn’t get a chance to see what beauty lay around me. My friend Charlotte had a family home right on the beach, so I awoke to the waves crashing on the beach and ROOSTERS. Very crow happy roosters that felt the need to cock-a-doodle-doo through the whole night. Safe to say I got used to sleeping with ear plugs in. 

This is where my tough life started. Sitting on the balcony eating fresh papaw with the tall jagged peaks behind us, and the sea only 20metres away. This was going to be a very hard month! We set off on the scooter (main mode of transport on the island) down to Muri Lagoon where my friend runs Workout on Water - a yoga class on stand up paddleboards (SUPs). Having never been on a SUP before, it was so surreal to be floating out on the picture perfect lagoon, with tropical fish swimming beneath you as you went through a series of yoga poses.  Muri Lagoon has a number of water sports available like kite boarding, kayaking, SUP hire to cruises that take you to a protected snorkelling spot as they sing you traditional island songs on ukulele’s. A great spot to relax and take in the scenery at Muri is Sails restaurant.

Rarotonga is one of the bigger islands of the Cooks, but it only takes around 40mins to go around the whole island by scooter. Setting off from Muri Lagoon we started our island ride anti-clockwise on a beautiful morning, first stop at Avarua, the islands capital. Everyone is so lovely and friendly in Rarotonga, and with the sale of tip-top ice cream and bluebird chips, it would be easy to confuse yourself with being in a small New Zealand community.

Continuing past Avarua, you pass the airport, where the road passes between the sea and the runway, making it popular for people to come and stand in the jet stream if you know the plane schedules. 5 minutes around from the airport is “black rock” – which is a black rock jutting out from the white sandy beach, sitting about 3 metres above the sea. Having gone there one occasion with Charlotte’s cousin, he told me stories of jumping off the rock when he was younger on holiday on the island. After much discussion with who was going to jump in first, we decided to test the depth. Greatest idea of the century as the water was not even up to his waist.

Around the island further you pass numerous resorts and beaches, one being Aro’a Beachside Inn, which is home to Shipwreck Hut – one of my favourite bars in the world. It sits on the beach, with the most amazing sunsets. The owners are so friendly and chatty and the drinks are served in jam jars. It is really something to remember. Other spots on the island to look for are Marie Nui Gardens, a restaurant/café set back off the road in beautiful gardens, with tiki torches and fairy lights making the trees glow at night. Beaches by The Rarotongan and Fruits of Rarotonga boasting amazing clear waters and white sands, full of tropical fish for snorkelling.  If there has been rain recently, you can head up the road behind the abandoned Sheraton hotel and check out the waterfall. Those who are more game may want to take a dip, but make sure you’re covered head to toe with insect repellent!

You can head to the local markets in Avarua on a Saturday morning, which is a social event for the locals, with stalls of food, juices, breads, and local crafts to island pearls. Food you have to try is Ika Mata, the local dish. Made with fresh raw fish, the citrus juice that it is marinated in cook the fish so it is so tender and melts in your mouth. You can get it from the markets or almost any restaurant/café on the island. If you are starving, especially if it is 2am and you’ve just left the nightclub, check out Palace Burger. For $10NZD you can get a burger that is literally the size of your head, and tastes good (even when you’re sober).

Nightlife on the island mainly starts at Trader Jacks, then across to Whatever then finishes off at Rehab. Pretty good name for a nightclub I reckon! Clubs close every night at midnight except for Fridays, which they close at 2am. This leads to “afters” which are after parties that are decided on the night usually. Sunday is a pretty quiet day on the island with almost everything except eateries being closed until 5pm.

I went out on a sunset cruise on the sailboat the Southern Cross, which has an amazing view back on to the peaks of the island. Had I been a few weeks earlier, it would have been more of a whale sightseeing cruise, but unfortunately I had just missed them. For those who like to walk, there is a cross-island walk, which you can do, but since I was there for R and R, I just stuck to lying on the beach and going out on SUPs.

Spending a month on an island of 15,000 people was the perfect start to my world adventure. It is such a beautiful island with beautiful people. One regret that I have from my trip to the Cooks is not getting to one of the other islands, Aitutaki is a short flight away and is apparently amazing. I cannot wait to get back there, and see all of the amazing friends that I have made.

Sunset at Aro'a - Shipwreck Hiut

Jam jar drinks

Breakfast at Sails Muri Lagoon

Muri Lagoon

Beach at The Rarotongan

Snorkeling off Fruits of Rarotonga

About Me

Welcome to my life.

This blog is where I like to write down what I've been up to, and the experiences I've had since leaving Sydney in 2011, when I started blogging. 

I started off my life in New Zealand for the first 22 years, then moved across to Australia, living in Brisbane and Gold Coast for a year and then finally settling in Sydney. I thought I was happy and would always live in Sydney, but in 2011 I thought I had nothing to lose and might as well take the opportunity to move to London. I traveled for around 6 months on my way to London, before starting up life again, on the other side of the world.

Thanks for visiting.

Stace x