Mid way through a 3 month trip so pretty late to the game.
Countries visited so far: South Africa, Singapore and Bali.
Still to visit: Lombok, Kuala Lumpur and the Philippines
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  • Day 1

    Gili T

    May 7, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    The fast boat crossing from Padang Bai to Gili T takes an hour and a half, and it does go fast! The waters were choppy and someone was sick during our crossing 😷 but the staff were really good and cleaned it up very fast!
    We stayed at Gili Flush Harmony which was a couple of streets back from the main strip. Instantly we felt at home and relaxed, it's a small place with only 5 Bungalows and a nice pool. The staff and all other residents were really warm and welcoming and the banana pancakes for breakfast were amazing 👌🏻 we loved it here so much we ended up extending by 2 nights.
    As it was a Sunday and being typical northerners we found a place doing roast dinners (with Yorkshire puds and stuffing 🙌🏼) We made some friends with a couple of girls who we ended up out with! Gili T has a party at different bar locations each nights in
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  • Day 4

    Ubud

    May 3, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We arrived in Ubud and could not have been closer to monkey forest, I know I wanted central but the location was way too noisy! Plus the monkeys were in the garden by the pool stealing food and even sun tan lotion at any opportunity. I actually had an NDE (near death experience for all those who don't abbrev on a regular). Sunbathing by the pool someone drew my attention to the monkeys about to steal our things, they had already taken two sun tan lotion bottles, albeit pretty empty, in the morning. I grabbed our water bottle and jumped out of the way, the monkey looked me in the eye (which apparently your not supposed to do with them) and even took a swipe for me as I jumped out of the way. In hindsight I probably should have just let him steal the water but I'd like to think it was out of principal I didn't want the bugger taking more of our things.

    The first night we went to a place called watercress for evening meal, lots of healthy veggie and vegan options in ubud and it has a really creative and laid back atmosphere. We found a reggae bar called Bamboo that had an amazing band on and spent the night singing and dancing. The next day we went to jungle fish, like a beach club but in the jungle! It's a ten minute taxi ride out of ubud but definitely worth a visit, chilled beach vibes, good food and drinks all day! We were so lazy we ended up staying for our evening meal but with a setting that good it seemed silly not to. Bails was suffering his first bintang hangover and I made us move rooms for the first time at our hotel (due to a faulty shower) he was not happy about this in his current fragile state. On our last day we found a really nice restaurant called the the 3 monkeys, so nice that we ate there twice in one day!

    The next day I was unfortunately not very well, Bali belly had fully got me in its grip 😷 so we didn't venture far. Booked to climb Mount Batur for sunrise and really hoped I would be feeling better by the time the 2am pick up arrived. So we drag ourselves out of bed and wait for an hour to be collected, return to bed pretty fuming and now wet as it started to rain. No sooner have we fallen back to sleep do we get a 7am rude awakening by someone banging on our door saying we are going to the Gili islands. Turns out the company had got the bookings mixed up, so we managed to get some money back and the Mount Batur trip and transfer to the Gili's will all happen on the same day, not ideal but at least we still get to do them both. I resorted to pharmaceutical intervention to help with my Bali belly and guarantee I can climb the mountain. This then causes me to swell up like the elephant woman 🐘 swollen hands and face! The climb was harder than I expected and in the pitch black with only a torch to light the path. Don't expect to be the only one up there as there are hundreds of people with other tour guides. We didn't have the greatest sunrise as it was pretty cloudy but it still felt like an achievement, especially after not being very well!
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  • Day 1

    Seminyak

    April 30, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Singapore - Denpasar flight with Singapore airlines, duration 2.5 hours.

    We had arranged collection with Pandawa hotel at the airport and were pleased to say someone with a sign saying Ms Pacey when we arrived. The hotel was on the outskirts of seminyak, decent pool and huge suite with 2 bathrooms and the biggest bed! The hotel offered a free bus to seminyak which we took advantage of the first night and went for sunset drinks and food at a place near Petitenget Temple then checked out potato head beach club. Bailey wanted to get up at 3am to watch the Boro match (since we have now been relegated I bet he's regretting that decision).

    We went to Sisterfields for brunch the next day, a place recommended by lots of people, and it didn't disappoint. There's lots of nice boutiques in Seminyak, Bailey was attempting to find a shirt that wasn't linen and had long sleeves - no such luck. I managed to drag Bailey in a some spas while I got some treatments and he got fully involved in massages - foot, head neck & shoulder and full body! Perfect for passing some time when it rains. We spent an afternoon at Ku De Ta beach club enjoying tapas and cocktails with sunset. Seacircus did an unbelievable breakfast as the one at our hotel was unfortunately not up to much. We celebrated bailey completing a Skype interview with a meal at Breeze, amazing Indonesian food in a perfect setting on the beach... until a thunderstorm forced us all inside.
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  • Day 1

    Going solo

    April 24, 2017 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Cape Town to Singapore flight with Singapore airlines, 13 hour flight.

    We didn't manage to get much sleep during the flight as we departed at 10:30am meaning we arrived in Singapore at 6am severely jet lagged and out of sorts. Bailey was also very hungover 😵

    We found our hotel (Park Regis) which was very welcoming and allowed us to check in early, lovely rooftop pool, gym (free apples 🍎) we napped for 4 hours and by the time we came back a thunder storm was hitting Singapore. We loaned umbrellas and went to Clarke Quay for a massively overpriced Chinese meal before going to marina bay and gardens by the bay. Clarke Quay has really developed since I last visited and there's lots of choice. Struck by how many people were taking/posing for pictures, must have photobombed so many inadvertently. Gardens by the bay puts on a light show each evening to music and it was incredible to watch.

    Rainy season in Singapore meant contending with huge downpours and humidity! We visited Orchard Road, a shoppers paradise so many huge malls and all inter connected so you don't even have to go outside and get wet. Picnic was a cool spot for lunch, with little pop up street food choices and cool decor. China town was really nothing to rave about and we found a cool rooftop bar called Le Park which would have been amazing had it not been raining! It was on top of a shopping centre/car park and sold craft beer so bailey was a happy man.

    We moved to our downgrade hotel the next day after spending as much time as we could round the pool of Park Regis. Guernsey has the worst cinema so we visited the imax to see fast and the furious 8 (baileys choice not mine) there is a reason why most films don't get past a trilogy 🙈we had big plans to go to universal studios on Sentosa island the next day but slept in!! It was a gorgeous sunny day so we visited the Botanical Gardens which were stunning but could do with an outdoor pool or something to cool you down. The next day we managed to get to universal studios, it's nothing compared to America but had a couple of good rides and we loved the Water world show.

    Our final day in Singapore we visited marina bay sands and paid to go up to the observation deck/bar. Whilst there we got chatting to some ex-pats (Sam and Bear) who basically informed us we hadn't seen the real Singapore! They took us to some back street bars and food places you would never find on tripadvisor.
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  • Day 11

    Cape Town

    April 17, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Durban - Cape Town, fly Mango, flight time 2 hours.

    We arrived in Cape Town and to our amazing air bnb at Mouille Point! It was the perfect setting with views of Lions Head to the left and the Atlantic Ocean for sunset to the right. The boys were crazy enough to go for a run in 4pm heat and came back sweaty messes. That evening we went to Pot Luck Club which was an amazing Asian style tapas place at the Old Biscuit Mill right near where Taz went to University. The next day we tackled Lions Head first thing, it was really steep towards the end but definitely worth it once we reached the summit. We were all absolutely parched and starving so headed straight to Mellisa's for breakfast in all our gym clothes. After getting a shower we headed back out for a road trip of the Cape.

    - UCT (or UTC for Bails)
    - Muizenberg (with the shark spotters)
    - Kalk Bay (we didn't stop here but Taz wanted to)
    - Fish Hoek
    - Simon's Town (Boulders Beach with the penguins)
    - Cape Point reserve
    - Scarborough
    - Witsands
    - Kommetjie
    - Noordhoek
    - Chapman's peak (the cliff pass)
    - Hout Bay (you go up Suikerbossie to climb out of Hout Bay before you get to the entrance to Llandudno)
    - Long road along the coast towards the city past the 12 Apostles hotel
    - Camps Bay
    - Clifton
    - Bantry Bay
    - Sea point

    Feeling absolutely pooped after all those sights we opted for staying in with pizza and wine that night, sometimes the simple things are the best! Strangely enough Woolworths is huge in SA, similar to M&S with really nice food and homeward things.

    The next day Dust and Taz had organised a very special engagement present for us, paragliding from Signal Hill. I won't lie I was feeling pretty nervous about just taking a run and jump off a hill but luckily it all went to plan. Not so lucky for Bails as he had a failed start, this made me so thankful for going first as I think it would have freaked me out massively. There is nothing like soaring above a city with views as far as the eye can see, it was exhilarating and something I would definitely recommend. We spent the rest of the day chilling on beaches at Camps Bay and Llandudno. We stopped at Houet Bay for fish and chips and to meet the amazingly friendly seal, he will literally come and eat from your hand on the pier.

    Bails and I headed to Franschoek and the wine tram tour the next day. We opted for green route and started at Rickety Bridge, trying to be sensible I advised Bails not to buy the red here as would probably find a better one. We both agreed at the end this was one of our fave wines 🤦🏼‍♀️ hoping we will be able to find it in the UK. Next up Mont Rochelle before stopping at Richard Brandon's winery for lunch (which was needed after all the wine consumption compared with little food). We skipped a couple and headed to Holden Manz and both absolutely fell in love with the place! Franschoek is set in a valley and this place had huge vineyards with the backdrop of the mountains. The final place provided pizza and chocolate with the wine, always a winner.

    Our final day in Cape Town together and we challenged ourselves with climbing table mountain. This was really challenging, especially after a full day drinking wine and early start. The route was in direct sunlight for the whole ascent, we managed it in just under 90 minutes and stopped for breakfast at the top. We spent some time at Clifton Beach and went to Bungalow for lunch. That evening we went to shimmy beach club and met up with friends for food and drinks. We were sad to wave goodbye to the Moons early the next morning ☹️ they had been incredible hosts and helped us fall in love with SA.

    Having one last day to fill we headed to neighbour goods market in Woodstock for breakfast, this place was amazing with lots of little food and clothing stalls and live music. Baileys friend Freddie arrived and we enjoyed food and drinks with him the V&A Waterfront.
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  • Day 8

    Melmoth Wedding

    April 14, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Dustin's younger brother (Brad) proposed to his girlfriend (Tam) last summer in Guernsey and we celebrated with drinks at Hook with the family. So it was quite fitting that the day after our engagement we were meeting up with them too ❤️ everyone was so lovely and excited for us asking to see the ring and hear the proposal story.

    The drive from Nambiti to Melmoth took about 3 hours, the first part was lovely sunshine and Dustin completed this. Wanting to try out driving in another country Bailey took over after a pit stop, the weather turned and we were in torrential rain and fog for the next part of the journey. Melmoth is a beautiful setting up in the mountains, although when we arrived we couldn't see much of this due to the weather. Having packed for three months travelling in south east Asia neither of us was prepared for just how cold it would be! Fortunately the next day was clear and blue skies, the venue had been rebuilt in 9 months due to a fire and they had even completed a church for the nuptials to take place in. Tam looked absolutely stunning and it was really special to be part of their day, a South African wedding seemed very similar to a UK one lots of good food, drinks, speeches and dancing.
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  • Day 5

    Nambiti Game Reserve

    April 11, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We stayed at Elephant Rock Lodge which had 5 lodges with a maximum of 10 guests. It was a very impressive lodge with a lookout deck over a watering hole and a cosy lounge area with a real fire. We went on the afternoon game drive as soon as we arrived observing kudo, warthog, African fish eagle, zebra, wilder beast, elephant, impala, giraffe and a huge herd of water buffalo. We stopped for sundowners and I had my first savannah light, a sparkly cider which is really popular in SA and that I drank for the remainder of the trip. It started to rain so it was on with the ponchos and the torch as it was dark. Our game driver Steph managed to spot lions eyes and we stopped to all take a look. Our lodge was amazing, double outdoor showers, a huge bathtub looking out at the bush, walk in wardrobe and all with really tasteful traditional African decor. I loved coming back from evening game drives for a shower and the staff had completed a turn down service on the huge comfy bed. The food was amazing and we totally indulged over the next couple of days enjoying 3 course meals each evening and full breakfast options along with quiches, salads and ice cream at lunch. The lodge had a really nice pool area and deck to chill at during the day and we were out for game drives 6-9am and 3:30-6:30pm each day. I don't think I could go back to a zoo after seeing animals in their natural habitat eating, drinking, looking after their young and stalking pray. On the second day we were lucky enough to watch two lions stalk and attach some rhino, no kills which I was actually pretty glad about as think it would have been too gory for me. The reserve have some strict policies with regards to keeping enough distance from animals and it's clear this has worked to develop a sound understanding of their behaviour and patterns.

    The proposal ❤️

    On our last night after getting back from an evening game drive that was unfortunately very wet and windy bailey got down on one knee. I was completely unsuspecting not even noticing his strange behaviour of downing a sherry, a drink he had previously spat out, before going back to our lodge. He had the room covered with candles, rose petals and champagne on ice. It was the perfect end to our stay at Nambiti.
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  • Day 1

    Durban & Ballito

    April 7, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Heathrow - Dubai - Durban, Emirates Airline

    The beginning of our adventure ✈️ Met up with the Moons in Dubai as they had a connecting flight from Gatwick, it had only been a week since we left Guernsey but we were all excited to see each other. Despite the long flight and need to freshen up we were persuaded to go and meet Dust and Taz's dads at their local in Ballito for a quick drink. We arrived at the Shortens Estate and it was a quick change and back out. Bailey on Dustin's brothers stag in and me to a dinner with all the ladies at Dustin's parents place. Good food, company and lots of dogs 😃 I was happy! The next day we walked along Ballito seafront starting at Salmon Bay, it was so nice to have the sun on our skin. We were left in the care of the "Ballies" (oldies) as Dust and Taz had a wedding to attend. They took us to a rugby game of the local team, the Durban Sharks. We were in a box with their friends meaning comfy seats and a steady flow of drinks. Bailey loved the biltong and voss available and got a top from the shark tank shop. Afterwards we had a "braai" (BBQ) in the car park. The next day we joined both families for breakfast before going for a dip at Salmon Bay, cold and refreshing waters. In the afternoon we had another braai at Shortens and met all of the extended family, finished with a big fire in the garden.

    We spent the next morning surfing in Durban with Dustin, bails and I both managed to stand up together on one of our last attempts! Wet and bedraggled (me not the boys) we met Taz for lunch at a place called market. We then took to cable car to the top of the Moses Mobida Stadium giving us stunning views of the coastline and the city - bailey hated every minute of being at the top. Taz took me shopping at the huge new mall in Ballito, a dangerous game when you don't know the exchange rate. We had dinner with their grandparents that evening at Lafirma.

    We completed Dust and Taz's running route at Ballito seafront the next morning before having breakfast at Concha and the best strawberry milkshake bailey has ever tasted. Taz took me to her friends salon Fraiche, full set of shellac nails for £10, bargain. Next up road trip to Nambiti game reserve near Ladysmith, this took around 2 1/2 hours.

    We returned to Durban briefly before Cape Town, we went to Beluga for sushi. I've never loved Bailey more watching him attempt to eat and enjoy what he had ordered, no sushi for him again 😂 Enjoyed another braai at Shortens with friends and family, everyone was so lovely and welcoming to us during our stay we felt sad to leave!
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