Moo, Bahh, Moo

Following an incredible 5 months in Asia, it's safe to say we were very glad to see a familiar face on arrival in Australia' (however not glad to be hit by a blast of cold air- it's somewhat colder than we are used to). After over 2 years we were reunited with a close friend who emigrated to Australia at the arrival lounge of Adelaide airport! Within ten minutes things were as they left off two years ago between us and Lucy, and we were headed to her house and family. Paula, Tony, Zanna and Howard! and of course Duke their lovely dog, soon made us very at home, with a cup of tea in hand Mair found herself promptly rustling up a long awaited Banoffee Pie for Tony- of course enjoyed by everyone. 

We soon found ourselves getting the hang of trams and trains, thankfully much easier than any form of transport we were used to, and spent a few lovely days in Adelaide city- treated to a lovely lunch by Howard, headed to the beach at Glenelg (although it took us two visits to be able to see it in the sunshine), enjoyed the wonders of Kmart and invested in some new shoes, and met a few of Lucy's lovely friends.

 

Our first family outing and we headed to Granite Island, a rather windy but beautiful experience! Between us we both made comments about how much we were reminded of various places at home. 

 

We also headed off on a makeshift wine tour across the vineyards courtesy of Tony and Paula, and Zanna for getting us on tandems- all a great laugh, particularly and Tony and Paula on them!!! And finished the day with a beautiful sunset walks long their local beach!

A quick trip to Urimbrilla wildlife park and we encountered our first native Ozzy animals, a close up of Koala bears and our first ever Kangaroos!! 

And last but not least, we quite literally trekked up a mountain, which unfortunately highlighted just how unfit we have become as Tony bounced ahead of us whilst we sweated buckets and panted along behind, safe to say it wasn't our most attractive moment! 

Unfortunately though, the week was up before we knew it and so we said our fair wells until next time, and found ourselves on a bus heading to a small town in Victoria called Hamilton! A further forty minute drive and we were at our next destination... a FARM!! Yepp, you heard it, for the last three weeks we have been working on a sheep and cattle farm in the vast countryside. With about a trillion sheep and a few less cows we have been thrown completely in the deep end, but been adopted by our Ozzy family, the Luckock/Lawrence's. 

Within twenty minutes of arrival we were quite literally thrown in at the deep end, the deal being that in return for our AMAZING farm skills and aux pairing (they have two young boys, Archer and Finn, who we have been caring for in between farming, we receiving free board and lodgings- perfect!! Despite our initial lack of knowledge, we have definitely thrown ourselves into farm life and loved every second of it, so much so, that we will be returning for our final week of Oz. 

So what have we been thrown... 

- Sheep draughting (the technical term for making them queue up and go the correct way through the sheep yard). Day two, with a rattle in hand to get them moving we scanned 2500 ewes to check whether or not they were pregnant. 

-Planting crops, which basically entails hitching a ride on a monstrous piece of equipment known as a multiseeder. 

- Rifle shooting, all to get the cockatoos off the crops, both of us definitely had our shoulders blown off but hey, it's all in the practise! 

- Both of us are now fully fledged mechanics and log cutters although I'm afraid it's limited only to a multiseeder, please contact our agent if you require our assistance in this field at all.. 

- Herding cattle, never be fooled, they aren't as stupid as they look and they will quite literally barge through any barrier just so they don't have to go where you want them to go.. Cow- 1, Us- 0, Ute- -100 

-Rach has now become a professional lawn mower, however this did take a few attempts, the first of which involved going head first into a tree and promptly getting stuck.. As Rob (our farm dad) headed into down he told Mair to prepare Rach's grave (that's how optimistic he was). Anyhow, again, please contact our agent if you require this service. 

- Pregtesting cattle, unfortunately this does not involve a nice little ultrasound scanner like it does for sheep.  Oh no.. Quite the opposite, we both found ourselves armpit deep up the cows backside, all so that we could find something that 'feels like a wet tea bag' Yepp, something the size of a tea bag in whole cow. It's safe to say, that one does need a little bit more practice before we are fully qualified. 

 

- Cattle drenching, effectively giving them their annual vitamins with a jab in the ear. Sounds easy but that's never the case, andddd of course we had to do it the day after huge rainfall, so we were covered from head to toe in a muddy, pooey, icky gunk by the end of the two hours. 

- Castrating rams, and Rob promptly placed the balls on us- not impressed! 

 

- We headed off to market as well, nearly buying Rob a whole herd of unwanted sheep despite the pre warning of having to keep our hands by our sides. I think being the only females, let alone being under the age of 20, got us a few interesting looks from other farmers! 

- And I between all of this we were back in the kitchen, sausage casserole, lasagne, shepherds pie and a rather top notch chocolate cake being just a few of our concoctions. As well as trips to the mailbox with the boys (a huge excitement) and baking buns. 

It's safe to say we loved our time on the farm - especially the second week when we were joined by the wonderful Lucy. She had been in Aus for 11 months, and after doing three months in the farm and taking some time off, returned for her last week or so in Aus. It was fab getting to know her, and working as a team.

After a couple of weeks on the farm, we set off with the family to Gippsland, via Melbourne for a night, to stay with Georgie's (our farm Mum's) parents. They live on a farm, overlooking an area of wetland - such a beautiful view! We enjoyed walks around the farm, checking on the cattle, moving the 'chook' house (chicken) - a huge caravan with many chickens. We also headed into the mountains to a remote little farm called Boonhibarra (or something like that anyways) where they once lived. After a good old clean up of many dead insects, we enjoyed a soup lunch whilst being introduced to slim dusty - an Ozzy classic, played on a record player! We really did step back in time. Another day was spent on the grandparents boat, riding the lakes near a town called Metung, am incredibly beautiful place. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Gippsland, and after a week or so, headed with Lucy back to Melbourne. 

Here we were lucky enough to stay with Georgie's sister - doing the round of their fab family! The first day in Melbourne we wandered along Ackland street in the St Kilda area -  a nice part of the city with many cafés and little shops. We also went with the boys (three boys and a girl in the family) for a walk with the dog along the beach, and to the local skatepark where we enjoyed watching the talent of boys on skateboards. We sadly said goodbye to Lucy, who returned back to England - she'll be missed Indeed! Another couple of days in Melbourne were spent enjoying the city, and enjoying being with the family. We cooked dinners, did a spot of shopping such as buying coats (essential for the winter here!) and sightseeing. We covered the national gallery of Victoria, the remembrance shrine, federation square, botanical gardens, and the inner city. We have loved the feel of Melbourne, and definitely left a lot to revisit one day hopefully. 

Next stop? Sydney! To be reunited with our lovely friend Mel, who we met at the orphanage in Cambodia, and a cheeky one day trip to Canberra to see a childhood friend of Mair's from home. From there it's onto Brisbane to stay with yet more connections we have made since leaving home, before we head back for our final week on the farm! So we'll update you all when we have done a bit more of the journey...

Goodbye Asia..

And so finally, we have decided we need to get our act in gear and bring you our final Asian adventures! They weren't exactly as we had expected them to be (unfortunately not in a positive way) however, in true traveller fashion we made the best out of the situation. 

Following our arrival on Penang, an island off the west coast of Malaysia and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, more recently renowned for it's array of 'street art', we took great pleasure in exploring the back streets of the French influenced city of Georgetown on somewhat of a treasure hunt. Despite the now ridiculous heat and the constant threat of a thunderstorm due to it being the monsoon season, the cuisine and culture behind the city meant we found ourselves in little cafés, Indian restaurants, batik galleries and plenty of nik-nak shops. The wide array of different types of art on display were a new phenomenon to the streets but have since become one of the major attractions to the place. 

 

2 days into our Malaysian stint, Mair fell ill with an incredibly erratic fever, which initially we put down to being constantly on the move and being pretty exhausted. However after 5 days of being constantly unwell, with all the symptoms of Dengue Fever (have a google- it's a mosquito contracted tropical disease, that is also known as breakbone fever due to the extreme fatigue and pain experienced through out, unfortunately there is no preventative measures that can be taken nor treatment and can be fatal). After having spent many days in bed, sleeping nonstop and struggling to do anything, we decided it was time to go to hospital and find out what was really going on. After much deliberation, Mair really didn't want to go to the hospital, we arrived, were met with many a smiling nurse, and ushered to a waiting room to await our turn. 5 hours later, a blood test where Rach nearly ended up passing out, and a very lovely doctor indeed, the results showed that our previous self-diagnosis was indeed correct and dengue fever was the culprit. Fortunately the test results showed that she had one of the milder strains (there are 4) and so an overnight stay was avoided. After several tearful Skype conversations with Mair's parents, it was decided that we would leave Penang as soon as possible, despite her state, and get to Kuala Lumpur where we had family friends, so that she could fully recover with home comforts around her and be somewhere where we could be helped if she took a turn for the worst. 

After a rather delirious bus journey from Mair, and a comfortable one all round thanks to the arm chair style, reclining chairs on offer, we arrived with the Wonderful Doughty's- we LOVE you! With spaghetti and meatballs consumed and a cup of tea in hand, things were on the up within a couple of hours. The novelty of a fridge, home comforts and a bustling family atmosphere, thanks to the 5 boys, Rob, Benj, Mikey, Jem and Nic, and Lorna and Stephen. Mair soon started to recover thanks to plenty of sofa days and homely meals, and a horrible 13 days from start to finish, we decided it was time to get back out and explore Kuala Lumpur. 

We found ourselves at the top of the Sky Tower with tremendous views over the extensive city, a rather sophisticated lunch at the Islamic Arts Museum curtesy of Lorna, a trip to the National Mosque which we successfully hit at prayer time (so couldn't go in) and Central Market (and got henna, done by a lovely Indian man) and Petaling Street for a last pit stop of souvenirs. We also headed off to see the beautiful site of fireflies at night, which reminded us both of Christmas but was absolutely fabulous, as well as feeding a hoard of cheeky monkeys - a great experience! Whilst in KL we also had a great your by Nic and his girlfriend, where we saw the Petronas towers, went to a funny restaurant called chiles, and dropped in at Felisha's grandma's house. 

 

After KL we left for Melacca, and spent three days in the picturesque town. Whilst there, we went to a maritime museum, located appropriately within an old boat. There we learnt about the history of Melacca, and how it was the old trading hub during the 19th century, and then seized and changed hands between the English, Dutch, Portuguese and French. We spent many an hour at cafés by the river, saw some other sights of the town, and went to a huge market in the China town area called Jonker Street. 

 

Next stop - Singapore! We did our last overland border, hallelujah!! It's safe to say that it is definitely one of our favourite places, if you can, make a pit stop there! We were straight too it, paying a visit to the Singapore Flyer, basically the London Eye, however it was particularly spectacular thanks to it being night time, and the extensive sea of lights. The next morning, we got up early, and checked out Chinatown, with our own personal tour guide Dan (who we met before in Laos and thought we'd meet again!) where we were staying. We saw a Temple, a market with every live animal under the sun - frogs, turtles so many fish and lots of seafood, and a gallery with an interesting display of the history and layout of the country. We then saw Maria, a school friend who moved to Singapore a number of years ago. It was so great to have a tour of the city by someone who knows it well! We enjoyed going to the gardens by the bay... Some beautiful gardens with a huge tropical conservatory, and 'Supertree grove'. This was huge mechanical trees, with a walkway between them, which we returned to that evening to see the light show. Followed by the light show we sat by marina bay for some time with Maria, and then were treated to a a fabulous night out at the top of marina bay sands hotel - the best view to see the city from! After being very sceptical whether we'd get into the posh venue, Rach wearing flip flops and both of us being completely underdressed, we made it in!! Maria showed us such a good time, and we absolutely loved dancing away and laughing at the huge variety of people there too. The next day was fairly chilled. We went to the botanical gardens with Dan, and read our books under the shade of the trees, along with some delicious food from the food court by marina bay. We also met with Steve,who bought a package of warm clothes and chocolate from home, thanks! The morning after we headed back to KL and made it back successfully (it's always a bit hit and miss getting back to the Doughty's as the taxi drivers never know where they live). 

 

 

On return to Kuala Lumpur we spent our time seeing more of the sights, and spending time with our fabulous hosts. We went bowling with Lorna, Benjamin and Rob - which was great fun! We also had a meal on banana leaves (an interesting array of photos being pulled in the pic) at a lovely restaurant after church, and popped one last time to central market. We were very sad to leave our KL family, but excited as to what our next part of the journey would hold...