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The things we’ve seen

A new born baby on 5 hour bus journey from Cebu to danbantayan. The roads in the Philippines are bumpy and dusty. The baby slept, fed and lay on her mum the whole journey, in the heat, of a very busy bus. The driver stopped half way at a market, where the baby was changed on a bench next to some food stalls.

Preparing bbq fish, pork, chicken, salad with a baby asleep in a hammock above, on a boat trip in the Philippines. As the boat swayed in the waves, the baby was rocked, oblivious to the feast that was being prepared 30cm underneath him.

A van driver put his seatbelt on before approaching the police at a checkpoint, after the checks he got back in and out the belt on, only to get around the corner and take it off again.

Taxi’s with signs saying ‘passengers, ensure your seatbelt is fastened!’. Upon reading this we reached for our belts, only to find that there were none.

Petrol sold in old 1l coke glass bottles at the side of the road.

We saw houses made out of bamboo, houses made out of tin, houses made out of brick and concrete.

Meat, fish and vegetables sold at a local market that would be a million miles from uk standards...but also a million times fresher.

A cricket game played by locals in Sri Lanka, spied through the window of the Kandy to Nanuoya train in the sweltering heat, in a valley of tea plantations.

Cricket stumps on side of dirt road that meanders through the tea plantations.

The ears of a cow, as it pokes its head out of tea plantations, eating tea leaves.

Clothes drying on tin roofs, no need for a washing line or tumble dryer in Sri Lanka.

The high temperatures of the wind as driving along in a jeep to a safari at Udawalla...it’s a strange realisation to find that the wind makes your warmer!

Wild elephants spraying dust and water on their backs to cool them, and water buffalo as still as a statue with just it’s horns and head poking out of the water. Safari jeep driver expertly navigating the crevasses of the windy, off-road track as we jolted up and down in the back, at times, while simultaneously maintaining a phone call...

A car park hosting two cricket games, with full size cricket bats, tennis balls and wooden chair for wickets. No wonder there were only a handful of cars parked.

Visit to a ‘spice market’, we went full of anticipation for stalls of exotic spices, only to be greeted with essentially a Sri Lankan version of Holland and Barrett.

We’ve ran on beaches towards sunsets, and hiked the hills of Japan.

We’ve tried the famous Melbourne coffee and sipped the wines of the Yara valley.

We’ve enjoyed the best dumplings we’ve ever tried in Hong Kong, and probably also our cheapest meal.

We’ve felt the cold of japan while dashing to the outdoor bathroom at a home stay, and the heat of the sun on our backs as we climbed sigaria rock in Sri Lanka. The humidity of Singapore that hits you like you’re walking through soup, and the torrential rains of Melbourne in the lush forest of the Dandelong.

We’ve felt sun cream on our skin and the heat on our backs for almost 3 months straight.

We’ve shared bathrooms with frogs, bedrooms with ghekos, and chased out the odd cockroach or two.

Today, after 10 weeks of seeing, doing, experiencing - our trip comes to an end.

Thank you for following our journey, we hope you’ve enjoyed the updates along the way!

Jen and Steve

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A change of plan...

We’re currently on our way from Tangalle, a coastal town in the south of Sri Lanka, to Negombo. After miraculously managing to consistently stay ahead of Covid-19 everywhere we’ve been on our trip, our luck has sadly run out...48 hours before we were due to fly to Delhi, India announced a suspension of all visas. After much uncertainty and deliberation, we cancelled our plans and have rearranged our flight to head back to the UK, 4 weeks earlier than planned.

Overall, we’ve had a wonderful time in Sri Lanka. We’ve seen elephants on safari’s, stayed in a local home in the jungle, climbed ancient fortresses, walked through tea plantations and rural villages in ‘tea country’, taken trains through the beautiful countryside and tried local food for breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

Although it feels like the trip has come to an abrupt end, we’re looking forward to having some more time in the UK, and have really enjoyed the time we’ve had away! Thank you for reading, we’ll post a final blog in the next couple of days!

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Safari in UdaWalawa national park - I don’t think Safari Steve needed those binoculars...the elephants walked right by the jeep!

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The scenic train from Kandy to Nanuoya and arrival at the tea region

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Dosa for dinner in Kandy!

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We are now in Sri Lanka having spent 3 weeks with Andy, Sara and Sophie in Melbourne / Tasmania.

We packed a lot into the time we had there: coffee in Melbourne, tea in the hills, wine tasting at the local general store, lunch and babyccino’s in Olinda, BBQ with smoked brisket and ribs, wine tasting in Yarra valley, ate cakes in St Kilda, read books in the sun, more bbq, played in the park, an amazing trip to Tassie with oysters, whiskey, gin, cheese, ice cream, animals and prisoners, climbed Arthur’s seat and went to the beach, more ice cream, went on the Melbourne Star, saw Billy Elliot, went to Victoria street night market, visited Wilson’s Prom, saw a wild wallaby, climbed the 1,000 steps, went to a farm and stroked guinea pigs, more whiskey, went to the footy, ate a pie, more wineries, tasted some of the best cheese ever, more ice cream, Italian food in Fitzroy and of course more ice cream!

In between all of these activities we played countless board games (I think Jen was the overall winner, at one point winning two games back to back whilst reading a book in between turns), gave Sophie rides on ‘Uncle Horse’ and just hung out. It’s been my favourite part of the trip so far. Not just because of all the fun we’ve packed in but because of the time we spent with the family we don’t get to see very often. Sophie is at that age where she’s starting to interact with us more so it’s been great spending time with her. She’s starting to copy us, so we managed to teach her to make sounds like a fish, to almost whistle and to go mmmmmm when’d she’s eating something tasty!

We have hundreds of photos from the part of the trip, but none of them really reflect the fun we’ve had together and the memories we’ve made. Even though we were excited about visiting Sri Lanka, it was sad saying good bye and we already miss being part of Andy and Sara’s home.

We’re looking forward to them visiting us in New York and hoping that it’s soon!

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Penultimate stop...Sri Lanka! Today we went on a mini safari to see elephants in a national park. After a local lunch consisting of 11 small dishes plus dessert (!) and a VERY bumpy jeep ride, we were lucky to experience loads of elephant sitings!

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Me and Steve took Sophie out for the day to the farm!

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Mount Wellington, Tasmania

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A day out to Arthur’s seat and Sorento beach!

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A few pictures from Tassie

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Today we went to an animal sanctuary and Sophie and I had our first experiences of feeding Kangaroo’s, seeing wombats and koalas! In the evening we went to the beach and into Hobart for dinner and an ice cream!

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Tasmania

We’re currently in Tasmania with Sara, Andy and Sophie. Lots of beautiful scenery, fresh seafood, and gin and whiskey distilleries. Today we visited the ruins of Port Arthur, the famous old prison where petty criminals of Britain were sentenced to transportation and kept in Australian prisons, Port Arthur famous for being the ‘end of the line’ for reoffending criminals.

On our drive back to Hobart, where were staying, we just stoped off at a view point. Having not yet seen any Australian wildlife, you can imagine our excitement when we saw a small animal foraging in the Bush and marvelled at what it could be. After a bit of debate and on reflection we were slightly disappointed as it appeared to look like a giant rat. Then it turned around. It had a really long snout and a marsupial look to it, and according to google is a rat / marsupial descendent called a Potoroo. They’re native to Tasmania and although not something any of us had heard of before, we will reluctantly take it as a tick for having seen a marsupial in Australia. We’ve got a week and a half to go to seek out a kangaroo or koala!

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A day out to St Kilda

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A day visiting some Yarra valley vineyards

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First couple of days in Melbourne!

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Last day in Sydney - a visit to the Botanical gardens!

We’re now in Melbourne with Sara, Andy and Sophie and having a lovely time! Bbq and board games last night, a chilled day planned tomorrow and winery’s on Sunday...photos and blog post to follow!