For anyone who follows me on Instagram or is friends with me on Facebook, the revelation that I have been on a roadtrip around Western Australia will not be news. My older sister lives in Perth and this month I visited her for the fourth time since she emigrated. While Cambodia may be an inconvenient distance from the UK, flights to WA are surprisingly cheap and quick. So I landed back on the dusty planes of the Australian outback, already keeping my eyes peeled for snakes, and was reunited with my older sister, Fran.
Actually, before I dive in to the roadtrip, I should at first say that the reason for the entire holiday was a certain young man named Ed. For my birthday, Fran gifted me tickets to see the genius that is in the city. So before we set off down to the coast, we at first had a little partying to do and we couldn’t have been happier. I’ve seen Ed Sheeran before and he just gets better and better. In fact, I reckon he’s perfect. I don’t think anyone else in the world can command the stage quite as completely as he does and it was a truly epic evening with Fran and her friends Katherine and Tara. Even as someone who knows they can’t sing, I couldn’t help but belt out every one of his epic hits, in between taking this photograph and a few videos.
Yes, I just shoved about 10 song titles into this paragraph: I regret nothing. What can I say? His music is in my bloodstream. Ok, I’ll stop now. Let’s take it back to what happened next and the content of my Instagram page for the subsequent week.
Hungover not from alcohol but euphoria, our trip down south began in earnest the next day. To be honest, I think this is where even my words (I’m humble) are not enough to sum up the amazing travels we shared together. So I’ll just offer you a brief review of our route and then let the photos tell the story. Needless to say, we had an amazing time and it was a real treat to spend some quality time with my big sister, eating and drinking out way through some remarkable landscapes.
We went from Perth to Denmark to Pemberton to Augusta to Dunsborough and finally back to Perth, all in the space of eight days. Sounds short? The reason for that will be coming up in another blog published in a couple of days time. For now, take in the sights of South Western Australia and feel that travel bug begin to itch once more. In that time we visited countless vineyards, walked amongst 50 metre high treetops, hiked to the top of a rock, graced several beaches with our presence, fed stingrays (well, Fran did), went caving, saw the biggest flag in Australia and ate our weight in free samples of just about every foodstuff you could possibly imagine.
Sister Selfies:
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Places and pretty things/food:
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For those of you who are interested, my digital marketing brain didn’t switch off entirely (this was the first full week off work I’d taken in 18 months), so if you want to see all of our photos, search #FranAndRuthDriveSWA on Instagram.
The previous weekend was the Water Festival in Cambodia, an annual event which celebrates the moment when the Tonle Sap lake, swollen with monsoon rains, forces the flow of the Tonle River back the other way, reversing its direction. As people flooded from the provinces to celebrate this remarkable natural occurrence along the riverbank in Phnom Penh, myself and a group of friends sped the other way, towards the sea.
To avoid traffic, we left the city at 3am and, using indefatigable logic, decided not to go to bed and just party on through until the minivan arrived. My friend visiting from Ireland, Ruth, and her friend Meabh, decided to actually sleep. In hindsight, this may have been the better idea. Anyway, we arrived at the beach where we, unsurprisingly slept.
Whilst napping the waiters appeared to be overly concerned our white skin would be damaged by 8am sunshine …
After lunch headed off to the island of Koh Rong. I’d recommended the place where we stayed, Palm Beach Bungalows, as I’d had an amazing time there over two years ago. Private beach, amazing food, beautiful waters. And nothing had changed.
Some of the group – Jordan, Ruth, Phaline, Meabh, and Elske
Our days were spent sunbathing, reading, and playing games. The Sunday was Jordan’s birthday and our group expanded in size as the Ngin sisters, their partners and Thy’s son Jimmy joined us for the celebrations. Tash had come prepared for the evening with a barbecue, coals, a rice-cooker (literally), and food, ready for a cook-up on the beach. The walk to the local fishing village in the afternoon had failed to drum up any fish so we were left with vegetables. Fun as it was to build the mini-BBQ and grill courgettes and potato, I think the highlight dish was an amazing coleslaw Tash had prepared. Yes, she brought mayonnaise.
Dinner Getting a cake to a desert island is a three person job, apparently.
Because we’re cheapskates, we’d brought along our own alcohol and wiled away the warm evenings drinking on the sands. Sadly we didn’t get to swim with the phosphorescent plankton but the reason for this, the supermoon, more than made up for it.
Jimmy in the forefront of the moonrise – no filter on this or the cover photo
Now we’re back in the city. My friends are back in London and Dublin and I’m back at work. Not that I’m complaining, I’m heading back to the UK in two weeks! Happy Water Festival one and all.
Cambodia’s calendar has been woefully lacking in public holidays for the past couple of months. Thankfully that changed this week when we were granted a day off on Monday because of the Buddhist festival Meak Bochea. It had been over a year since I had been to Sihanoukville, the biggest coastal town in Cambodia so a group of friends and I decided to plan a trip there.
Party bus! (Photo credit to Rachel and my iPhone torch)
We hired a van and left on Friday night, driving through the dark roads at much faster speeds than the congested day time traffic would allow. There were lots of us going down: me, Rachel, Gloria, Robin, Shelby, Phaline, Varsha, Liz, Hayley, and Tom. We reached the beach by 11:30pm and gratefully breathed in lungfuls of warm salty air. As someone who grew up near the coast, I miss it greatly.
I was sharing a bungalow with Rachel (bestie for the restie) and once we had checked in, we returned to the beach and grabbed a few beers to celebrate our arrival. The beach we had chosen to stay at is called Otres and is a little further down the coast than the main drag, Ocheteaul or Serendipity. The area is generally quieter, cleaner and the atmosphere more relaxed which is exactly what we were looking for.
Besties for the resties
Saturday morning saw us sunbathing on the beach, swimming in the warm, clear waters and drinking coconut shakes. It was topped off by a wonderful back massage, the oil of which led to me getting rather badly sunburnt but shhhh, don’t tell my mum!
In the afternoon, I took a tuk tuk over to Ocheteaul beach which, by perfect coincidence, was where Sovann Komar were enjoying their annual holiday. I met up with all the parents and children and played with them in the water for a couple of hours. I also took a frisbee over and had great fun in the surf with some of the children. As always, I managed to capture a few candid shots of their happiness.
Lily, Lucy and Veasa laughing in the surfHigh five Kanya!
Saturday evening saw Rachel and I passing out on our bed. Let’s blame the sun for our pathetic attempt to go out and party. We made it as far as the corner store to buy Oreos and Haribo and then returned to our balcony and drank vodka and pomegranate juice we had bought from home. Frankly, we needed to recuperate after several long weeks at work and the early night was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Besties for the resties
Sunday was … interesting. Jordan and Sophorn had travelled down to join us on Saturday afternoon and we had all decided to book a boat trip. I, however, had momentarily forgotten I hate boats. I do that sometimes. This was an unfortunate time to forget however as the crossing to the first island was by far the worst boat journey I have ever been on. We were close to capsizing several times and the boat took on so much water our driver was bailing it out for about twenty minutes once we arrived at our destination. The swell and the waves crashed around us, soaking everything on the boat. Luckily Shelby had a dry bag so our phones and my camera was safe. My heart rate however, was not.
Our cool and collected boat driver before the waves got completely mental!
As soon as we reached the calm water by a cliff jump, I dived off the boat. It might sound irrational to be afraid of boats as someone who is such a strong swimmer but I guess irrationality is the hallmark of a phobia. Anyway, as soon as I was in the clear, deep water, I felt a million times better. I didn’t do the cliff jumping because I’m also afraid of heights. At this point I was wondering why I’d agreed to go on the boat trip at all.
The boat from hell … pre-hell
Our next stop was just around the corner on the same island and was far more to my liking. It was a beautiful beach, and we spent the afternoon there. Sunbathing, swimming, frisbee-ing, eating dinner prepared on the boat, playing drinking games and being interrupted by a grotesquely fat cow, and generally having an awesome time.
A frisbee, Phaline, Shelby, Rachel, Varsha, and me (Photo credit to Rachel)What? The cow wanted some Jim Beam and Coke too!
Even the dreaded journey back to Otres couldn’t take away from the wonderful afternoon. And, in fact, the trip back was much calmer, the wind having died down and the sea flattering out immeasurably. Sunday evening saw us eating at a beach barbecue place I had first visited in 2009. Ah memories. Oh and I also broke my toe tripping over a rock sticking out of the sand. And before you ask, I’d drunk one beer.
L.O.V.E.
Monday morning involved yet more sunbathing. Rachel and I walked down to the far end of Otres which is even quieter. We found a beach side restaurant that served Pimms and settled on our sun loungers with bags of freshly cut mango, pineapple, and watermelon. Leaving to go back to the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh was certainly done with some reluctance. I love this city and I love my job but the relaxing, laid-back, and carefree lifestyle at the beach is something I already miss. Ah well, I guess I’ll just have to go back again soon!
The island beachFresh mangoA small island off the coast of OtresWhen your boat’s battery doesn’t work …3, 2, 1, Jump!Sunset!Waves are scaryFrisbeeJim playing in the surfJumpingAva knows how to stay safeAnne, Gabriel and AngieMore frisbee funRachana is keeping cool …Angie being cute
November marked the start of a two month vacation for me. Yes this is another blog about a holiday, sorry! To kick things off, I flew to Australia where I was reunited with my mum, dad, and older sister. Fran has lived in Perth, Western Australia for about eight years now and this was my third trip out to see her but the first time all of us had been together down under.
Reunited in Perth and already exploring the Australian bush!
I was only in Australia for a week, joining my parents for the final stint of their three week holiday there and we split our time between Rottnest Island and Fremantle. Rottnest is a relatively small island off the coast of Perth which is very popular with both local and foreign tourists. Its main attraction are these little guys:
Quokka!
Quokkas are marsupials which stand at about thirty centimetres high. Despite their rat-like tails, they are impossibly cute and excellent selfie takers. Look at their little grins!!! You’re not actually allowed to touch them but if they bump into your hand, that’s alright isn’t it?
So many Quokkas!
Rottnest is also popular for cyclists as the roads are great quality and almost completely empty. So on our first full day, we hired bicycles and set off, stopping regularly to look at quokkas by the side of the road of course. This trip took a downhill turn for me when, on a walk down to a beautiful beach, I spotted a snake. Those of you who know me will be aware that I have a massive phobia of snakes. Needless to say I ran back up to the road and perched on a bench, feet off the floor, until my family returned. We saw three more of these poisonous snakes throughout that day. Grrrrr.
Cycling FamilyBeautiful beaches
But it was worth the fear because the island is just stunningly beautiful and we spent a wonderful hour on the beach photographed above after my mum and I went swimming. Oh and the quokkas were cute, did I mention them? Our beach-hut style accommodation also afforded us sunsets like this one every night – perfection.
Back on the mainland, we stayed in a quirky little town, just south of Perth, called Fremantle. It’s an alternative, arty, hipster type place. Basically the perfect place to go shopping if you’re a millionaire. But also a great town to wander around, window-shop, admire the street art, and try out various cafes. They also have an amazing brewery called Little Creatures where we enjoyed some beers one evening before heading for fish and chips. Not quite like the Devonian version but pretty damn good, nonetheless.
Just an example of some of the incredible street art in Fremantle. Rainbow zebra!
On our last day, we had to be out of our rental property several hours before my parents and I caught our flight to Cambodia (hint about the next blog entry there) so we headed to Kings Park. For those of you who don’t know Perth or aren’t avid botanists, this is a wonderful garden and parkland set high on the hill above the city. With views over the skyline and plants from around the world, it’s an amazing place to experience Australia and all the incredible flowers and trees that it’s climate allows to grow.
Posing with the view over Perth hours before we said goodbye to Fran
It’s always sad saying goodbye to Fran but it’s become a regular event as the two of us fly backwards and forwards between our new homes and England. She waved us off at the airport as I led my parents into the terminal and on towards our flight to Cambodia.
Watching this space for a blog about my parents’ first trip to South East Asia!
And below are a selection of some holiday snaps – apparently traveling with my mother means I take photos of birds …
Peacock on RottnestKanga and Roo on the mainlandSleepy KoalaMore QuokkasA very blue bird – a bee-eater if I remember correctlyQuokka Selfie – this photo has since been retweeted over 600 times on Twitter (just FYI)Beer, beach, sunset – perfect holiday eveningThis didn’t take as many attempts as one would think!
Cambodia provided yet another excuse for a holiday last week, as the celebration of National Labour Day meant schools were closed. No one should labour on Labour Day right? A week or so before, Brian had the idea to get a group of people together and head to Kampot. I was more than game, as Kampot is my favourite place in Cambodia (see blogs “Escape to the country” and “Two weekends = two mini breaks = expat lifestyle” for previous adventures there).
The original group was: Me, Rachel, Brian, Sophorn, Narin, Phaline, Gazza, Tony, JB, Dean, and Jason. I don’t have a picture of just us but here’s our expanded group shot!
The Gang on Rabbit Islandfrom left to right: Gazza, Narin, Brian, Stina, Jason, Pascal, Rachel, JB, Tony, Jason, Phaline, Me, Sophorn, Brittnee.
Most of us known each other from dodgeball, and friends and relatives joined as well. It was an awesome group of fun-loving people and from the moment we met up on Friday afternoon, the laughs never stopped. OK it wasn’t the best start. Somehow the van we had booked for the entire weekend had forgotten about us, so we hung around until they found a driver for a spare van. It is quite possible that our chauffeur was picked up on the side of the road… we had to stop off to pick up his overnight back from his mum anyway, and then got stuck in traffic. But eventually we made it to Kampot town. Eating at a restaurant which boast the best ribs in Cambodia, the Rusty Keyhole, was a great way to start the weekend.
We were staying in Arcadia, the backpacker place that features heavily in my “Two weekends” blog. It’s an awesome place, set on the Kampot riverbank, complete with dorm rooms, a great bar, and “adult river toys”. We didn’t arrive until close to 10:30pm but checked in and immediately set up a table for various beer games. Here I would like to point out that until Rachel forced me to go to a bar for (free) beer on her birthday less than two weeks ago, I had never been a beer drinker. Luckily for last weekend, this had changed. Everyone got really into the games, with flip cup and slap cup being the most fun! Other people staying at Arcadia came and joined our group because we were clearly super cool and having a lot of fun!
An intense game of Flip Cup!
The teams ended up being guys versus girls and I will admit that on Friday night the boys had us beat overall! Various items of clothing were consequently removed. Not that it mattered at all because by 2am, Rachel and I had decided that now was the time for a skinny dip in the river! Carefully hiding our towels for fear of some prankster stealing them, we undressed and dived into the gloriously warm waters. It was only once we’d swum to the pontoon, floating lazily in the middle of the river, that we noticed there was a floodlight mounted on top of the bar aiming exactly at the ladder up onto the platform. So, in our drunken state, we decided that it would be a great idea to try and climb onto the pontoon from the darker, more secluded side. Only there wasn’t a ladder … or anything to hold onto or brace against. After several attempts, I somehow managed to haul myself up and then pull Rachel on board too! A short break to get our breath back and we figured we had to climb up the tall ladder and jump into the water! It was an exhilarating, freeing, and bonding experience! We then lay chatting on the pontoon for half an hour before swimming back to shore, finding our towels and clothes where we left them (thanks guys), and dressing to rejoin the group. The drinking continued …
Saturday’s day trip was to Kep and Rabbit Island. I hadn’t been to the latter since March 2009 so was really happy to be returning. It’s a small, undeveloped island, reached by a choppy 20 minute boat ride. Our group now included Pascal from the Netherlands, and Stina from Sweden, who had joined in our beer games the night before. We stopped at Kep’s famous crab market, where some people bought lunch, and then headed to the boats. After being told that we could not fit 13 people in one boat, we conceded and booked two. It still only cost us $4 each return! There isn’t a jetty at the popular end of the beach so you just jump from the bow into the shallow surf.
Our boat to Rabbit Island – Rachel, Phaline, Tony, Dean, and Jason
We ate, we drank, we laughed, we sunbathed, we played frisbee in the sea, we bonded. The afternoon was so relaxed and fun, and on the island we were joined by two friends from Phnom Penh, Ellen and Brittnee, who’d been planning to stay on the island. They came back to Arcadia with us and joined in the Saturday night festivities which was awesome! The boat back from Rabbit Island left a little earlier than planned as the wind was picking up and the crossing can be notoriously choppy in bad weather. Despite not being allowed to hire a boat for 13 people on the way to the island, our vessel back comfortably took 12 … I feel a bit like we’ve been scammed! But to be honest I was just glad that we made it back without having to swim. It was not a fun crossing, although Rachel playing Lonely Island’s “I’m on a boat” and “I just had sex” tunes certainly distracted me from our impending capsizing.
More selfie stick shots! Front group from L to R: Jason, Dean, me, Rachel (thanks for the pic), JB, Tony. Back group from L to R: Stina, Brian, Sophorn, Phaline, Narin, GazzaOur boat back. Left to right: Brittnee, Dean, Tony, Jason, Rachel, random Khmer man, Phaline, random Khmer man, random Khmer girl, Tony, Me, random Khmer girl
We nipped back to Arcadia to shower and change before heading into Kampot for dinner! Rach and I had been craving a bacon and cheese sandwich and a pork schnitzel respectively from one of our favourite restaurants in Kampot so we headed to eat there. We were joined by Mervin, a good friend from Phnom Penh, and his friend part way through bottle of wine #2. Mervin came back to Arcadia with us and the group was reunited for more beer games! This time though, the girls kicked ass! We had great time making up forfeits for the guys (don’t worry boys, what happens in Kampot stays in Kampot). There was more swimming, despite repeated mentions of water snakes. Apparently drunk Ruth has less of a phobia than sober Ruth.
The most random part of the trip happened on Saturday evening as I was stood at the bar waiting for my room key. I suddenly heard, “Oh my God, Ruth Lemon”. Turning, I saw Mati, a girl I went to primary school with but we’d lost touch after high school. It was great to see her again and catch up (and discover that no one calls her Mati any more, sorry Matilda!). Naturally we had to take a selfie to send to our parents! Mati (I can’t help it) joined our group for the beer games that night and we have hesitant plans to meet again before she leaves Cambodia.
Me and Mati (Matilda)
Sunday morning saw people eager to watch a boxing match in which I had zero interest. So whilst they headed to a bar, I sat in my favourite cafe in the whole of Cambodia (Ellie’s Bakery), enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, good wifi, and read my all time favourite book, Atonement. A perfect end to a perfect weekend.
The best memories are made by the people you’re sharing them with and this weekend brought together a phenomenal group! Some I knew well before, some I had never met, some I hadn’t seen in seven years, some I will never see again. But it worked, and I am thankful to every one of you who made this weekend one of the best of my life!
A super cute selfie, even if we do say so ourselves! On Rabbit IslandRachel, Dean, and me on Rabbit IslandGazza chillin’ in a hammock on Rabbit IslandReflective Rach
Lemon in Cambodia 