traveled in 14 countries Read more Old Coulsdon, United Kingdom
  • Day 19

    Out of our Mind!

    March 2, 2019 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Yesterday we packed our bags and left our villa in the Fusion Resort and headed out to the airport for our short hop to Ho Chi Minh. The resort is divided up into three areas and we were based in “Mind”. We had a lovely time on Phu Quoc and will remember the island for the beautiful weather and the “enlightening” Spa treatments!
    We only have one night in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and by the time we got to our hotel decided to enjoy dinner there! We did have time for a quick look around the Reverie Hotel and wow what a place! It is said to be “The best hotel in Asia” and it probably lives up to that title!
    Tomorrow we head off to Singapore to pickup our flight home to London. We have had an amazing time on this trip and can’t wait to start work on next years! Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
    Read more

  • Day 13

    The Good, the Bad and the Tiny!

    February 24, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    The days are slipping past here in heaven and we are doing our level best to get as much rest and recuperation in....before we think about our next trip! The beach here is amazing, the sand is so soft and the beach seems so empty. We think most people sit in the shade and there is limited shade on the beach.....which suits us (Tracy!) just fine.
    If you accept this trip is close to heaven then you have to accept the existence of a kind of hell. Well, Ken can confirm that hell definitely exists. In this country it is called “a signature Swedish Massage” and it is carried out by a small skinny Vietnamese lad in the Spa! The key point is this innocuous looking youth has such strong hands and fingers that he can cause more pain than you can imagine. He does not stop when you (Ken) cries out in pain or shows any compassion when you (Ken) begs him to stop. And it really does not help when Tracy can be heard giggling at Ken’s clear discomfort!
    That was yesterday’s Spa Treatment and Ken insisted that today we reverted back to being wrapped in plastic and covered in Aloe Vera. Much more relaxing! Still the G&T afterwards does help! Aside from the Spa, we love the staff here, they are so friendly and happy but the main adjective you would use is “small” they really are a tiny nation!
    Read more

  • Day 12

    An exercise in relaxation.

    February 23, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Our villa here in Fusion Resort looks out onto the river, with the sea and beach just 100 yards walk away. Opposite our villa, over the river, looks like a jungle and we can see the monkeys climbing around the trees over there. We have been spending most of our time here relaxing around our own villa pool with occasional trips out for food; namely, breakfast, lunch and dinner! In addition we have two spa treatments a day each, which is way more than Ken can handle! Yesterday we had some foot massage thing that involved wrapping your feet in plastic! If that was not enough, today we had our whole bodies wrapped up in cling film! It is fair to say Ken is struggling to see the long term benefits of these spa visits!
    We are however conscious that we are entering the last week of our trip, so we are keen to enjoy as much sun and fun as we can!
    Read more

  • Day 9

    Good Morning Vietnam!

    February 20, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    We left Lizard Island on Monday and flew out to Cairns before moving onto Melbourne for an overnight stopover. We then flew to Ho Chi Min (Saigon) and then finally on to Phu Quoc. We arrived at Fusion Resort last night and managed to unpack and grab some dinner before crashing out for some sleep after a couple of days journeying. This morning we woke to start discovering where we were here in Vietnam. Fusion is a lovely resort, based on a river that comes out into the sea, with a lovely beach. The resort is about half full so we have plenty of staff around to look after us! We spent a lazy day exploring our new surroundings and then enjoyed a Spa treatment this evening before dinner.Read more

  • Day 6

    Wow what a whopper!

    February 17, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The Australians will tell you that the waters around the Great Barrier Reef are the best for fishing in the whole world. Well yesterday we put that to the test and went out for some deep sea fishing. This was the first time Tracy had ever fished with a rod and a reel and it proved to be a great introduction! We sailed out with another couple and when the guys rigged up the rods the first thing we noticed was that the lures we would be using were bigger than the fish we had caught in the Philippines! The second thing we noticed was that the boat kept moving so that it appeared our lures were swimming to the big fish we were after. Initially it looked like we were going to be unlucky and not catch anything when suddenly Tracy’s rod bent over double and she was called up to bring in a huge Spanish Mackerel! The guys even had to club it over the head to quieten it down. Great fun!
    Today is our last day here on Lizard Island and we packed up after lunch and flew back to Cairns where we will head down to Melbourne for the night. Tomorrow we fly across to Vietnam for the last leg and adventure of our 2019 trip.
    Read more

  • Day 4

    Revisitation of the Reef

    February 15, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    In 2015 we were on a different island here on the Great Barrier Reef, called Orpheus. On that trip we went out on a boat to snorkel the Reef and yesterday we repeated the trip. We actually sit on the Reef here at Lizard but we sailed out about 30 minutes away to find a favoured spot. There were 5 other guests on the boat and it turned out all the others were scuba diving and as Tracy was sunbathing on the front of the boat ....only Ken was snorkelling! The good news was Ken was accompanied by the official resort camera man and two other guides, so had plenty of “fish spotters” pointing out lots of fish he would have missed. It was a great trip revealing sharks, rays, giant eels and a host of fish. We are arrived back weary but full of fish stories!Read more

  • Day 3

    More Picnic!

    February 14, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
  • Day 3

    Ken's Valentines Picnic with the birds

    February 14, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today is the 14th February, the most romantic day of the year, and Tracy set Ken the task of coming up with something special! After much discussion with the staff here at Lizard Ken came up with concept of a little boat trip and then a picnic on one of Lizard’s many secret beaches. The original plan was for Ken to pilot the boat out to the secluded beach but once Tracy saw the amount of booze we were taking she sensibly insisted we got someone else to take us out and back! The seagulls here are clearly used to picnickers and they followed Ken around like dogs looking for scraps! We saw our first lizard today. These are not as big as the ones in the Philippines but it was still fun to find one.Read more

  • Day 1

    Hats off to the Jelly Fish!

    February 12, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Today was our first full day here on Lizard Island. The weather was perfect and after a substantial breakfast we set up on the beach outside our villa for some serious sunbathing. The last time we were in Australia Tracy bought an Ecuadorian sun hat (at a considerable cost!) and promptly took it to Portugal, where it remains. Tracy decided she needed another sun hat and unfortunately (for Ken) the boutique was open and she found one! After a pleasant morning lying on the beach Ken decided to go for a swim and snorkel. We were advised by the resort to wear a “stinger suit” and after seeing a number of jelly fish on the beach and in the sea Ken agreed to wear the suit! Getting in and out of the suit would have made a hilarious video but, fortunately for Ken, Tracy could not stop laughing long enough to get the camera out!Read more

  • There are no Barriers on the Great Reef

    February 11, 2019 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

    We arrived into Cairns from Perth yesterday morning and checked into our new hotel. We immediately noticed the heat and humidity (in particular) were ramped up from Perth. It is definitely hot and sweaty in Cairns. This is the first time on this trip we have arrived somewhere we have previously visited before. We worked out we were last in Cairns in 2015 and unfortunately Tracy remembered a clothes shop she liked from way back then! Mother Nature is an incredible thing, turtles return to their hatching grounds after 40 years, birds can migrate halfway round the world and whales return to mating grounds year after year. In line with this thinking, amazingly Tracy remembered exactly where the bloody shop was and honed onto the shopping centre and regrettable found it was still there! Tracy confirmed it was absolutely imperative she had new dresses and bikinis for the remainder of this holiday. Amusingly, having bought half the shop’s stock we travelled this morning to take our flight out to Lizard Island to find they were enforcing the luggage weight restrictions on our 9 seater aircraft and we had to leave half our luggage behind in storage! Apparently normal people only need 25 kilos each to go on holiday! Who knew?!
    We arrived into Lizard Island this afternoon and this place looks really nice. We were told there are 35 guests and 140 members of staff on duty! This is our kind of place!
    Read more

Join us:

FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android