Margaret River, Bangkok and Chiang Mai

For our final few days in Australia we decided to head south to Margaret River, another region of Western Australia famous for its wines. Apparently in terms of weather, climate and soil conditions the area is very similar to the South of France – Bordeaux Region – and so will be able to produce similar style wines.

Compared to Perth, the first thing you notice about Margaret River is that the temperature is a few degrees cooler and the wind has dropped considerably, so it was much easier to pitch the tent!

We arrived on Kev’s birthday so we headed straight out to start celebrating. The wineries were all a short drive away so we decided to stay in the town instead and visited a new brewery that has recently opened and sample some of their craft beers.

The next day we booked on to a wine tour so we’d both get to taste the wines and neither one of us have to drive. Gemma recommended us a company called Bushtucker Tours, which took us to four vineyards, a chocolate factory, a dairy (to sample some of the local cheeses) and a brewery – with a big lunch thrown in to soak up some of the alcohol! 

We were treated to a gourmet buffet of local delicacies including kangaroo, crocodile, quondong (a fibrous desert fruit) and ‘bush limes’ – it was our first time to eat kangaroo and crocodile and both were lovely – lean and flavoursome and not really like anything else I’ve tried.

The weather began to turn on our last day, so we decided to head back to Perth before the rain started and pack our bags ready for our flight to Bangkok and the next leg of the trip.

We’ve been to Bangkok once before – at the start of our last trip – so we decided to spend just one night there before flying up to Chiang Mai for the start of our travels around Northern Thailand. 

Still, it was good to be back. Bangkok is a huge and crazy city so we booked a place to stay on the Khaosan road – it’s really touristy but good fun for one night and has plenty of entertainment and things to do. 

One of the first thing we noticed when we arrived was the humidity compared to Australia – given that the temperatures are pretty similar, it’s a lot more humid here, even though it’s dry season (or Thailand’s winter)

After a quick nap and dip in the pool, we popped out for a wander around. Despite being in a tourist hot spot, the bars and restaurants are so cheap (especially compared to Australian prices!) There’s excellent street food, all cooked fresh and we really were spoiled for choice. Amongst the various street food stalls was a cart of (cooked) insects, ranging from tarantulas, crickets, cockroaches, beetles, scorpions, snakes and mealworms – but neither of us fancied taking our chances with them!

As the evening progressed, the city really began to wake up. More and more people flooded the streets and there were hawkers everywhere, selling their wares. It was really vibrant and great for people watching...

Amongst the many bars, restaurants and market stalls there are also loads of massage places, with a Thai massage costing just £2 or £3 for half an hour – this was a welcome sight and we opted for a foot rub, but soon went back later on for a shoulder, neck and head massage – to undo the damage done by carrying around a heavy rucksack. I think we’ll be having regular massage during our time in Thailand! The only slight drawback is the language barrier so Kev found it hard tell his massage therapist if the pressure was a bit too firm – the standard was otherwise pretty good!

Chiang Mai is the capital of Northern  Thailand and is much less hectic and smaller than Bangkok. 

We've been staying in a hostel a short walk away from the night market and a short tuk-tuk ride from the temples of the old town/city centre. We enjoyed taking in the temples by day and shopping, eating and soaking up the atmosphere at the night market in the evening. 

We spent a day wandering around the old town's many temples, filled with golden Buddhas and monks in their orange robes. 

We felt like we'd hardly scratched the surface - there are so many of them!

We wanted to see some elephants in the wild whilst in Chiang Mai. There has been a recent shift in elephant tourism with people historically wanting to ride the elephants, but now prefer to see them enjoying their natural environment and not being asked to perform circus tricks or take people on treks. Tripadvisor has even stopped advertising any tours that contains any such animal cruelty, so it was important for us that we picked a tour with the elephants’ welfare in mind.

  
At the Dumbo Elephant Spa (so called because you get to give the elephants a mud bath then wash them off in the river afterwards) there are six elephants, of which five have been rescued and one baby who has never known any ‘circus life’ or any cruelty.

We spent time with all the elephants, who all have very different personalities. Elephants have a similar life span to humans, living up to a hundred years old and have similar levels of maturity so a three-year-old elephant will be like a naughty toddler! One such elephant has even been given the name ‘Naughty Boy’ and he was always misbehaving, trying to get more food by stealing our lunch, or by acting boisterously in the mud, so we had to keep our distance.

We started off by feeding all the elephants some fruit for breakfast then followed them up the mountain path to watch them digging and feeding on tree roots. The highlight of the day however was the mud spa (both for the elephant and for us!) The elephants were absolutely delighted to roll around in the mud and have mud splashed all over them. The sanctuary staff were also very keen to splash mud all over us, making sure we got stuck in.

It was thrilling to get so close to these massive animals and also to see such strong personalities and such a sense of fun, despite only spending a few hours with them – but also a little bit scary – and therefore wise to be cautious around them!

Tomorrow we’re off to our next destintion, Pai. I’ll write again from there.

Wedge and Leederville

We’ve had a fairly quiet week this week, mostly based in Perth with lots of beach time and revisiting Scarborough, Trigg and Cottesloe beaches. The weather has been glorious, albeit very windy thanks to “The Doctor”.

The highlight was freedom camping in Wedge at the weekend. Now, I need to be a little bit secretive as Wedge is somewhere only locals, or people in the know, know about so I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s a stunning area of sand dunes and sand bar just off the highway north of Perth.

Just moments after turning off the highway – and accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicles – is a stunning beach, or rather a sand bar, of white sand with clear, turquoise water on both sides and connected to Wedge Island at the end (so called because of the wedge shape of the island, I presume)

There are no facilities like toilets, showers, or electricity and just the supplies you take with you, including drinking water. Camping is not technically allowed but the rangers apparently turn a blind eye so long as you’re tucked out of the way in between the sand dunes.

Kev and I got to try out Gemma and Sean’s roof tent, for the luxury camping experience! It is not only more comfortable than a traditional tent, but its being raised off the ground means any animals or snakes can’t get in (not that we saw any!) It’s also much easier to put up – just a case of unfolding it and extending the ladder.

Jess and Darragh also came with us and are probably the most organised campers I have met. They have ALL the gear and all the best gadgets, including a portable camping Nespresso machine and camping chairs with back support. It was quite an impressive experience as camping for me has always been a very minimal experience, making do with as little gear as possible. It just goes to show how comfortable camping can be if you’re prepared (and have a big 4X4 to pack all your stuff into!)

Making the most of the well stocked camp, I made pancakes on the beach for everyone. 

In the night we had the most impressive view of the stars, being so far away from the glow of the city and street lights and in the morning, when we woke up, we saw emu tracks alongside our vehicles, so we were truly in the middle of nature.

Emu tracks

Speaking of nature, Darragh told me that he was watching out for sharks whilst I was in the sea swimming – apparently, this is the place you’re likely to get sharks of the coast of West Australia! Fortunately, no sharks made an appearance, though I did make sure I swam close to the shore for the rest of the trip!

I think it’s easy to forget how many dangerous creatures there are in Australia – you don’t see much by way of spiders and snakes etc, but there are apparently scorpions in the sand dunes, red back spiders hiding under the edges of wheelie bins – a reminder to always shake your towel before using it if it’s been hanging outside, or to check your shoes for spiders before putting them on. I do hope we see out our time in Australia without encountering any of the above creepie-crawlies, or bigger dangerous animals!

Back from Wegde and with Kev’s birthday on the horizon, we went out for dinner with Gemma and Sean in nearby suburb, Leederville, where there’s a trendy street (a bit like Upper Street in London) packed full with restaurants, cafes, bars and interesting boutiques.

During the summer they run the ‘Leederville Food Safari’ where you get your starter, main course and coffee and dessert in three different establishments and a tuk-tuk transports you between the restaurants. 

We had a delicious Asian theme starter and main and ended up in a coffee shop for coffee and cake. Absolutely stuffed, we could barely finish our dessert – especially Kev who opted for a smoothie/milkshake instead of a coffee – but it was delicious and a fun experience. 

We even found a bottle of wine by a wine makers called Kerrigan (and Berry) so we thought we’d better give it a try – very nice it was too!

For Kev’s actual birthday we are off to Margaret River for the next few days. A few hours south of Perth, Margaret River is another wine-producing region and we are very much looking forward to visiting some more wineries. I’ll update you when we’re back in Perth.

Perth

Our first week in Perth has been a busy one. We’re staying with Gemma (my sister in law), her husband, Sean, baby Arlo and Franki the dog (who seems to turn people who aren’t ‘dog people’ into dog lovers! Even Kev took her out for a walk!

Off to a rainy start, we headed into Perth city centre. Perth is a modern and compact city but you really need a car to get around. However, as our hire car was to be collected in a couple of days we waited for the bus. Between the raindrops we wandered around the centre, harbour – and Kings Park when the rain finally decided to stop. Here’s a photo of Perth’s iconic skyline as seen from Kings Park.

The following day the sun came out and despite being a bit chilly, we headed to Scarborough Beach for a walk. Miles of golden sands, good surf – not dissimilar to Cornwall! 

Apparently, the wind (known as ‘the Doctor’) blows in from Fremantle and picks up every afternoon in Perth, making Perth’s beaches a prime spot for kite surfing. 
I also discovered the lifeguards here use a clever app to tell them where the rip currents are! It’s is probably worth me downloading it too as despite knowing the theory, I never can spot them.

We made the most of the weekend spending some time with Gemma and Sean. On Saturday we went to nearby town, Fremantle, for their annual ‘Beerfest’ craft beer festival on Saturday, for some local brews, food stalls and live music. 

Fremantle (known as ‘Freo’ to the locals) is a lovely little town: a living port, arty and colourful with a sociable heart and is popular with tourists and locals alike – lots of great restaurants, pubs and cafes along the main street, which is also known as the ‘Cappuccino Strip’.

On Sunday we went to Swan Valley to do some wine tasting. Swan Valley is just fifteen minutes down the road from Gemma and Sean’s place and consists of more than 150 wineries, breweries, coffee, cheese and chocolate producers offering free tastings – therefore a great way to spend a day! Fortunately for us, Sean offered to be the designated driver for the day so we could enjoy the wines. 

We visited a variety of wine producers, ranging from small independent wineries that only sell from the cellar door, to international brands that are available back home in UK supermarkets. We went to an Italian wine producer, a French one – and lots of good Aussie wine makers, producing a broad range of wines from spicy, complex reds to oaky, buttery whites, dessert wines, sparkling varieties and everything in between.

A boozy weekend indeed, but when in Rome (or Perth)…

With Gemma and Sean back at work on Monday, and the temperature set to hit thirty-eight degrees, Kev and I set off to Adventure World, a water park-cum-theme park with roller coasters for adrenaline highs and water slides to cool off. This was also the perfect opportunity for Kev (who only likes water slides, but not roller coasters), and me (who loves roller coasters AND water parks) to enjoy an adrenaline-fuelled day out together. 

However, it was so hot that the ground heated up and walking between the water slides was like walking on hot coals – and we had no choice but to endure this, given that we weren’t allowed to wear flip flops on the slides. Still, it was worth it! 
Going on a Monday during school term time also meant there were no queues and had plenty of opportunities to cool off on such a hot day.

The fine weather continued into Tuesday so we took the ferry from Fremantle to Rottnest Island (or ‘Rotto’ as the locals call it!) On the 45 minute ferry crossing we were lucky enough to spot three humpback whales, about to start their migration south to Antarctica. The boat cut the engines so we could stop and watch them for a few minutes.

Being a small island, there are no cars on Rottnest, so the best way to explore the island is by bicycle. We hired bikes and were set on covering the full 24km circuit, but the flies were so annoying we ended up spending more time on the beach where there were no bugs. A lot of people were cycling with head nets on, so I think this is something we definitely need to add to our travel kits as I’m sure this won’t be the first time we’ll encounter this!

The beaches on Rotto are stunning – mostly deserted, secluded bays with coral reefs, white sand and beautiful turquoise water. It actually reminded me a bit of the beaches on the Isles of Scilly.

Rottnest is also home to a colony of quokkas, friendly marsupials that are quite unlike anything I’ve seen before. They are inquisitive little creatures and are found all over the island, even in the main town, where they will walk (or perhaps hop is a better description) over to you to say hello, sniff you out (probably seeing if you have any food for them, though feeding them is forbidden) and are for the most part, tame.

Next up we’re heading north on a camping/road trip. I’ll write the next post when we’re back in Perth in a week.