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Grant's Long service
  • Grant Russell
  • Kate Bougoure
  • Findlay Russell
  • Grant Russell
  • Kate Bougoure
  • Findlay Russell

Grant's Long service

141 day family adventure through Asia, from Sri Lankan beaches to Japanese snow fields Read more
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  • Grant's Long service

    Tiki service and Little Adam's Peak

    October 7, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌩️ 23 °C

    Tiki was due her 1000km service today so I took her out of Ella to a mechanic who freshened her up roadside (literally). Axel grease and oil topped up for 2200 LKR (about $11). We also walked up to Little Adam's Peak 1141m so Frog got his wish of 'touching' a cloud. The kids also went rock climbing at a facility halfway up the walk. The walk was a good practice for Mt Kinabalu although it barely scratches the surface of the 4095m ahead of us in Borneo. I have spent the afternoon having a couple of beers watching cars failing to get up the road to our hotel due to the wet slippery road thanks to an afternoon downpour (which due to our luck started 5 mins after getting back to the hotel).Read more

  • Grant's Long service
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    Change of Pace

    October 8, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Handed over the keys to Tiki and took the Class S14a #979 train from Ella to Kandy (about a 7 hour journey). This was a decision we made during planning and turned out to be the right one. We bought 1st class tickets so we had an air conditioned carriage for the very scenic journey but I spent the majority hanging out of the open carriage door watching waterfalls, forest, mountains, agriculture plots, tea fields and trains pass by (M6 #794, S14 #987, M6 #784, finishing with S12 #925). Kandy has a much different feel, Sri Lanka's 2nd biggest city but the traffic seems crazier than Colombo. It also means we left the cool mountain air behind although there is some awesome cultural places here to share with the kidsRead more

  • Grant's Long service

    "It's the culture Darryl". "Chockers"

    October 9, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Arrived in Kandy which was quite a change from Ella. Sri Lanka's 2nd largest city with mental traffic. Spent the day visiting the local cultural sites which actually blew me away. I know I have been very lucky to see some important historical sites in Europe, Africa and Asia but today was definitely up there. One Temple in particular, Asgiri Maha Vihara Pirivena was unbeliebable. The entire stupa had carved wooden walls and the painted ceiling is indescribable. Also ticked off a giant 88m Buddha, Sri Maha Bodhi Viharaya and finished with the Temple of Buddha's Tooth, Sri Dalada Maligawa (one of the most important sites of the Buddism faith in the world). We also ventured to Ambuluwawa Tower, a hair raising climb up ever increasingly smaller stairs on the outside of in incredibly tall and narrow spire at the top of a mountain. All I could think of was I don't trust this concrete, the railings only just above knee height. Backed out with the last couple spirals of 30cm wide steps to go. I think it is probably the first thing I haven't fully completed in all of my travels.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Sigiriya and Dambulla

    October 11, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Our penultimate stop in Sri Lanka didn't disappoint. A quiet little town famous for its first century fortress atop of Lion Rock. It was a 2.5 hour drive north of Kandy and within minutes of arriving and grabbing a drink at the local shop I walked out onto the street to see an elephant calling in for his afternoon snack from the shop. Unfortunately this place has an elephant safari business set up for tourists but it certainly was a surprise to see. The kids gave him a wash in the local creek but no money was contributed to the business. The kids were surprised how rough its skin was (science lesson for the kids...pachyderm means thick skin). This is also where I had my favourite meal of the trip (a $4.50 chicken curry with Paratha) right on the river where the elphants had there daily bath. Stayed at a really nice homestay in the middle of the village and set off in the morning to climb Pidurangala rock which is the same size as Lion Rock with views of it. Price was a deciding factor but made the right choice. Once again we were surprised by more cultural artifacts at the top with a huge Buddha. The views were amazing and was stoked to see a Chrysopelea taprobanica ( Sri Lankan Flying snake) on the walk down. Finished the day with our biggest drive yet to Negombo for our last night in Sri Lanka. It was a 5.5hour trip in Tiki including a wrong turn and lunch. Due to the wrong turn we ended up on a road not part of the normal tourist route which meant lunch at a local hole in the wall created some amusement for the owner/locals. All told samosas, rice, curry, drinks, tea etc totalled about $5. Completely forgot about Dambulla (how could I)...it was probably the best cultural site of our trip. Dambulla Royal Cave Temple and Golden Temple was a standout. Multiple Caves with Buddhist statues carvings. Absolutely amazing...the photos say it allRead more

  • Grant's Long service

    Last vege meal for a while!!!

    October 12, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Goodbye Sri Lanka. Went out in style staying at Club Dolphin Resort. A really nice hotel on the beach north of Negombo. Also the last day of navigating the lunacy that is Sri Lankan traffic dropping Tiki back to her home. Great last stop, amazing hotel, amazing buffet, with plenty of activities to keep the kids entertained. Bit of a punish to get to Kuala Lumpur with an 11pm flight but stoked to get to Malaysia (most excited about variety of food reinstated....back to meat...and a bit more structure in traffic and general existence. Our high rise apartment is in central KL right next to the 2nd tallest building in the world, Merdeka Tower.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    KL 1.0

    October 14, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Our first stop in Kuala Lumpur has been great. The location of our apartment couldn't be better...within walking distance of most KLCC attractions. We have already smashed out Jalan Alor (food street), Petaling Market, KLCC tower... a 300m tall 360° view of KL, and a bonus Nepenthes photo gallery (next to our apartment) which we will see plenty of in Kinabalu. We have great views from our apartment including the Merdeka Tower, Malaysia's newest skyscraper, the second tallest in the world at 678.9m tall and 118 stories which is right outside our window (unfortunately due to open sometime later this year). Jalan Alor was great, fantastic to have endless choices of cheap street food with meat high on the priority list. We tricked Fern into having the best tasting chicken ever - garlic and spring onion frog - she thought it was great but not initially happy about being tricked. Flying out to Kota Kinabalu (Borneo) tomorrow where Frog and I have our big climb ahead of us.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Mt Kinabalu and Kota Kinabalu

    Oct 16–19, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    It's been a while between updates. Left KL and returned to Borneo - Kota Kinabalu, 18 years since we were last here (minus 2 kids). The primary mission was ascending Mt Kinabalu. Frog and I left the girls in KK hoping for good weather. We arrived in the rain but were pleasantly surprised to wake at 6.30am with the clear skies and a view of the summit from our base accommodation. The first part of the climb went well, with frog setting a good pace for the first half of the climb. FYI its a steep 1:4 gradient for the whole climb ( every 4km is an ascent of 1km in altitude). Too say it is steep is an understatement. I don't remember it being that steep 18 years ago (which is either poor memory or lack of fitness - likely the later). Unfortunately, rain set in with about 1km in altitude still yet to conquer the last 2 hours of the climb was in torrential rain, we basically walked up a waterfall. Arrived at Laban Rata accommodation absolutely drenched and exhausted (which I do remember). Got lucky in the morning for our final push with clear skies, which also lasted for half of our descent until the weather set in again. Last 3 km descent in the rain and punishing on the legs. All in all a great walk, great opportunity to share with Frog and some amazing plants, but it'll be a while before I commit to another mountain climb. The legs are in recovery mode.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Sepiliok - Borneo

    Oct 19–21, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Spent some time here continuing our wildlife spotting and introducing the kids to orang-utans and countless other primates. Decided to spend a bit of coin and take a cruise down the Kinabatangan River, which turned out to be a good decision. We got to see probiscus monkeys, silver leaf monkeys, red leaf monkeys, pig tail and long tail macaques in their natural environment. Luck continues to be on our side as we got to see a silver leaf monkey with a 1 week old baby who in contrast to the adults is bright orange. The trip was topped off by a 4+ metre croc who was trying to smash his way into a crab pot. A great experience for the kids, but seeing the thousands of acres of cleared jungle to make way for palm oil plantations was shocking. We stayed in a great place right next to a rainforest reserve and during our walk we stubbled across a big male pig tailed macaque that didn't enjoy our presence. It tried to attack us and Frog went all Clint Eastwood on his arse and scared him off with his bamboo walking stick....talk about a fight flight freeze response - his adrenalin was definitely pumping. We later read that this species is extremely dangerous to humans.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Kl 2.0

    Oct 22–24, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 35 °C

    Back to our our apartment in KL to explore the city for another week. We ticked off Batu caves, 15km from the city centre, which were very impressive and much bigger than expected...this time it was Fern's turn to have a run in with a monkey over an ice cream... the monkey won. After a swim at our infinity pool, we headed to Petronas Towers for the nightly fountain display, which was again worth the journey via monorail. Been doing some research about Michilen Star Street Food, and the first of many was excellent - Wong Mei Kee pork. The outdoor cooking area in the back alley didn't look 5 star but the food definitely was. The kids wanted to go to the largest indoor amusement park while in KL- 1km from our apartment - not overly enthused, but I did enjoy the roller coaster about 10 times before getting bored of it. Today, we headed to the KLCC Aquarium, which I did enjoy getting my aquarist fixRead more

  • Grant's Long service

    KL 3.0

    Oct 24–28, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Continuing to tick off the sights of KL. Visited Thean Hou Chinese Temple which is lit up with lanterns at night. Frog and I also went on an explore to the Botanic and Orchid gardens and the National Museum while the girls went shopping in the endless number of fancy shopping malls in KL. We have added a few more Michelin Star Street Food stops to our culinary journey sampling clam noodle soup at Lai Foong Lala Noodles in Chinatown and claypot chicken rice at Heun Kee. The smell from the wet markets near this place was almost too much for me and definitely too much for Frog and Fern.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Melaka

    Oct 31–Nov 3, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    Back travelling after an extended stay in KL, picking up a hire car and heading south a couple of hours to the old port town of Melaka, now a world heritage site. Ended up really busy thanks to deepavali (dewali) public holidays. Spent most of the days walking around the old town but found a nice bar and restaurant on the river right near our hotel. Explored the night markets but far to hectic for my taste. Spent the last afternoon / night with an Aussie bloke, Julian, who lives in Georgetown (our next stop). Even managed to fit in a couple of games of 8ball with Frog.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Sepang MotoGP

    Nov 3–4, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Timing continues to be on our side and this time the stars aligned with our planned itinerary coinciding with the Malaysian MotoGp. Managed to secure grandstand tickets at the end of the main straight right on the hairpin and direct view of the second corner. The penultimate race of the season with Jorge Martin leading the championship closely followed by Francesco Bagnaia. Bagnaia smashed the sepang lap record in qualifying to sit on pole for the race. We were all hoping for a good showing from Aussie Jack Miller but unfortunately he was involved in a crash on the opening lap at turn 2 caused by his Red Bull team, Binder. It was a pretty nasty one with Miller's head going into the gap between a wheel and seat of another bike. The race was red flagged and curtains were put up around Miller on the track while he received treatment. I honestly thought he was potentially a goner. After a restart 20 mins later minus Miller and Binder it was Bagnaia and Martin swapping the leas before ultimately Bagnaia got the chocolates, leaving the championship open until the final race. All in all a great dayRead more

  • Grant's Long service

    Georgetown Penang

    Nov 4–7, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Getting to Penang was quite a journey...all told about 7 hours of swearing at dickheads driving mecedes. 7 accidents in total observed along the way but I was surprised it wasn't 70. This might be quite a statement, but they are possibly more dangerous than the Sri Lankans on the road. Another Unesco world heritage town which has been great to explore with endless very cheap Michelin start food. The best were 30c samosas and the worst bamboo noodles. Unfortunately, Frog was or first casualty with food poisoning this trip, which laid him out for a day, so Kate and I spent some time searching for wall art minus the 2 anchors (Fern played nurse). Watched the Melbourne Cup on my phone but no punting.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Frogs Birthday

    November 6, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Slow start with one last spew but soon perked up when I said we could go to Escape adventure park in Penang. A great park with endless zip lines, world's longest Zip coaster. Water park, with world's longest tube slide. One of the best 'theme' parks I think that I have visited. Ask Fern and Kate about how they got stuck on the zip coaster 😄Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Langkawi

    Nov 7–10, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Big fan of this island. Much quieter than I expected but still plenty to do. Some of the highlights included the cable car and sky bridge but jet skiing around the islands for 4 hours was a big highlight. Asia's relaxed approach meant the Frog and Fern could take control of the jet skis which they thoroughly enjoyed. Definitely one of my favourite days of the trip so far. My love of Langkawi was compounded by their duty free...not because of the shopping but beers were 90 cents. Could definitely go back 1 day.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Patong

    November 13, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    First stop in Thailand on Phuket was Patong. Can't say I was a big fan. Too many girls with Adam's apples and definitely a demographic I didn't seem to fit in...either too old or not old enough. Braved Bangla Rd for 2 overpriced beers before retreating to a quiet bar near our hotel. Fortunately, our accommodation was not as promised, which gave us an option to change things up, so we did, straight to Phi Phi. This turned out to be a great choice.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Phi Phi Island

    Nov 14–17, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Returned to Phi Phi Island almost 20 years since we last visited. Definitely much busier and more developed than back then but it still feels like it has maintained its charm. We splurged on 2 bedroom villa with a private pool, which was fantastic. Took the kids on a long tail boat ride to Phi Phi Lei which despite its popularity was a great day on the water with some snorkelling in crystal clear water.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Phuket, Russia

    Nov 16–18, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Left Phi Phi back to Phuket but this time settled in Karon Beach south of Patong. Decided to stay in a large kid friendly hotel with multiple pools and waterslides. The kids thought it was great and gave them some time with other kids away from us. The hotel itself was little Moscow with hundreds of Russians (most avoiding conscription I am guessing). We used this time to go on another jet ski tour around the islands off Phuket. Another fun day on the water made a little more interesting and frustrating at the same time with some Israelies that didn't have the best ski control (back story here). Can't say I would return to Phuket, the traffic is slow and getting anywhere takes longer than it should. Would definitely explore the surrounding islands though.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Bangkok, first stop - Temples

    Nov 18–21, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    First few days in Bangkok. We are staying at a great location in the heart of Chinatown which comes alive with endless street food stalls at night. Our first big day sightseeing was spent exploring the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. Getting there was great using the hop on hop off ferry, which also took us to Wang Lang markets with fantastic and cheap street food. Travelling with Fern in cities also means 'Mega Malls' are part of the itinerary. The kids went to Bounce (trampoline centre) to burn some energy. A couple of quiet nights with some cards and magic tricks....starting to need some downtime at the halfway point of our trip.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Retracing Footsteps

    November 23, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    Spent the last few days taking the kids back to where it started for us. First stop Khaosan Rd. Found our original accommodation and had some nostalgic pad thai. We also braved chatachuk markets via tuk tuk. Both seem a bit more sanitised than my memory recollects. We haven't ventured too far at night as it is pretty hard to beat the night-life of Chinatown. It has also given us an opportunity to slow things down a little with some family nights of cards and movies. Early start tomorrow to CambodiaRead more

  • Grant's Long service

    Angkor temples

    Nov 24–26, 2024 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    After a long travel day leaving our accommodation in Bangkok at a ridiculous hour, we arrived in Siem Reap, nearly 20 years since our last visit. It certainly has grown a lot with roads now sealed and heaps more development. First day Frog and I went into Pub Street for some 75c beers and watched the Vegas F1. Frog got his supercar fix with the Gumball rally gathering, which included 2 Bugatti Chirons. Would have been rude not to take advantage of the cheap beers, not sure what time I ended up walking home. Day 2 started with picking up our tuk tuk. Great to be back behind the wheel and traffic is certainly calmer than Sri Lanka. We decided to tackle the further most temples including Banteay Srei, Pre Rup and Kbal Spean. An hour drive but better than the 3+ hours it used to be. They day included a 2km walk through the jungle which some were more happy about then others. Ended up a quiet night with some R&R, the mob getting a massage, and I went for a few cheap beers, doesn't make financial sense not to.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    More temples

    Nov 26–30, 2024 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Spent the last few days exploring more of the Angkor temples via our trusty lpg tuk tuk, starting with the big one, Angkor Wat. I was pleasantly surprised that whilst being quite busy there were fewer people than anticipated. From here we included Bayon (still remember the statistic of 216 faces from 18 years ago) and Ta Prom. This was exceptionally busy and now has wooden platforms restricting access, so glad we got to see this when we did (minus the crowds). Other temples included 2 previously unvisited for us, a mountain top temple and my favourite of them all, Preah Khan. Another highlight was the APOPO centre which trains Giaght African Pouch rats to detect landmines. A great interpretive and interactive experience for the kids to understand the plight of war in Cambodia. In between temples we spent our afternoons relaxing in the pool and our evenings in Pub Street. Frog and I played pool til 1.30am over 2 consecutive nights with a couple of funny motorcycle tuk tuk trips home. It has been fantastic to be able to show the kids the Angkor temples, no doubt that if they were to revisit in the future the crowds will have increased and a little more of the experience eroded. Very excited to move onto our next adventure in Taiwan, the cooler weather being part of the excitement.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Taiwan...wow

    Nov 30–Dec 4, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We were excited about this leg of the journey starting, mainly because of looking forward to some cooler weather and also because it is a new country for Kate and I...and it hasn't disappointed, what a place! First night was a quiet one (best gyoza ever) after a long day of travel via Bangkok. Our hotel is in a really modern, busy part of town, Xinyi, surrounded by restaurants, Mega Malls (my favourite), and close to Taipei 101. We spent our time utilising the metro to visit numerous temples (Fern's favourite), night markets, Taipei 101 (including seeing the tuned damper), and generally enjoy the clash of old and modernity. The food, the people and the sights have been outstanding and all reasonably priced. Can't speak highly enough about Taiwan so far.Read more

  • Grant's Long service

    Taipei's Hiking Trails

    Dec 2–4, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Taipei has amazing access to nearby mountain forests that fringe the city (15 mins away) . We walked up Elephant Mountain for views of the city and spent 1 day hiking to Yinhe temple and caves. We took advantage of a 4km Gondola ride up the mountain and then set out through some small farm plots before reaching the ridge. From there it was up and down some fairly steep sections of tracks before arriving at the temple and waterfall, which you walk behind. This was probably one of the most enjoyable and scenic hikes I have ever done. The pictures say it all.Read more

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