I know it’s been quite a few days since I have written a blog post, but I’m sure you will excuse me when you learn that we have been on the Great Barrier Reef diving for the last 4 days.

We arrived in Cairns from Hong Kong pretty exhausted and ready for a good sleep. The problem was, we arrived at 6:30am so had to get through the whole day or we would ruin all of the ‘getting over jet lag’ we had achieved in Hong Kong. We got through the day by walking around Cairns town, walking along the Esplanade and going for a swim in the lagoon over looking the ocean. Again, this was FREE!! This is the main thing that has blown my mind so far in Hong Kong and Australia so far, so many activities are free, which is great when you’re trying to save money.

Here’s two photos of the Esplanade.

We met some lovely people at our first hostel (Travellers Oasis). A couple from the Netherlands and a couple from Germany. The couple from the Netherlands are completing a VERY similar route to us up till Christmas, so we may end up seeing them again in the future. The hostel was AMAZING! It felt like a paradise walking around which palm trees everywhere, hammocks and a swimming pool to chill out in. We decided we would make use of the kitchen facilities while we were there and made ourselves a sausage and egg sandwich. WOW that was the best sausage and egg sandwich I’ve ever had!!

The next day we got up early to go on a tour that EVERYONE has recommended. The Uncle Brian – Fun, Falls and Forest tour. Loveday and Jon thank you so much for recommending this one. http://unclebrians.com.au

To say this tour was AMAZING would be an understatement, from the moment we got picked up at our hostel to the moment we came back our tour guide ‘Cousin Jimbob’ made sure that everyone was having a great time, getting involved and more often than not having the mick taken out of them (in a good way). On the way out we enjoyed this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy_TB6onHVE

Our first stop on the tour was to Babinda Boulders where we went for a walk in crystal clear  mountain waters and jumped off Boulders. Great fun! On our drive to the next stop, Josephine Falls, we drove past where they filmed Jurassic Park (of course he played the music at this point).

Josephine Falls was gorgeous! It was a tiered cascading waterfall flowing into beautiful clear waters, but the best bit of it all was that there was a natural slide eroded into the rock. Obviously, we played around on the slide for quite a while. Simon and I went up and down the slide at least 6 times (far more than anyone else). There were some very young German girls on the tour who had to be convinced to do it once… I won’t say anymore on this matter.

After this was lunch. We visited a Tea House and the food was great. Buffet style salads, chicken and cous-cous. Yummy! And of course we had some dessert, sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce AND cream!!! Brilliant!!!

Our next stop was Milla Milla Falls. You may recognise this waterfall from the Herbal Essence adverts! It was stunning and also freezing!!! However, in we got and off we swam. Right underneath the 30m waterfall to sit underneath it and watch the water fall (get it?!). As we swam up to the waterfall, I couldn’t believe how much my breath was being taken away by the power of the water, but we made it under and are so glad we did. Here we had some photos taken with a wet ‘hair flick’. I was pretty disappointed as mine didn’t come out as well as I would have hoped, but you get the idea! Simon’s is pretty epic!!!

Our last stop of the day was to Lake Eacham. Lake Eacham is a crater lake which is 60m deep at the centre. Wow! The water has lots of natural salts and minerals and left us feeling super smooth and shiny! What I’ll take most from this swim (which most of the group didn’t do) was swimming peaceful out into the lake, with the sun on my face and the lovely cool water on my body. It was just such a lovely way to end the day!

I have shared the folder of photos that were taken of us on Facebook so please have a look through and see if you can spot us.

We also both had a go at playing the Didgeridoo. Funny videos of that to follow!!!

After this, we drove back whilst listening to the YMCA, Barbie Girl, Britney Spears and so much more. We even learnt this Australian song and all the hand signals. The road we drove back along has 250 odd turns left and right back down through the mountains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLWzPQmd5sc

We had a very early start the next day again to get taken to the live aboard, but I feel that the live aboard deserves a post in itself! I’ll write that soon, but right now we’re going to go pick up a car and drive into the Daintree Rainforest! Write soon xx

P.S. First impressions… BETTER THAN EXPECTED!

Our last day in Hong Kong was Simon’s favourite. As we had purchased airport express passes we were able to drop our checked baggage off at Kowloon Station and then go off exploring for the day as our flight wasn’t until 9:20pm. This service was so efficient, there was no queue and, SPOILER ALERT, our bags made it to Cairns save and sound. The airport express is such an easy and useful service. Definitely use it if you visit Hong Kong.

After dropping off our bags we headed over to Tung Chung to take the cable car up to Ngong Ping. The cable car is 5.7km and takes around 25 minutes. The sites are stunning. Check them out:

Once at the top you go through Ngong Ping village which is a little Disney Epcot-esque. Touristy, but pretty with lots of shops and restaurants. We walked straight through here to the Tian Tan Buddha (Big Buddha) statue. The Big Buddha statue is 34 metres tall and weighs over 250 metric tons. There are too many steps up to the top, but the views over Lantau Island are stunning.

We then went and had a look at Po Lin Monastery which is a short walk away. Let me just remind you that a short walk in Hong Kong will still get you sweaty and ‘dripping’ very quickly.

Afterwards we grabbed a bus to the little fishing village of Tai-O in the hop of seeing a Chinese White dolphin (they actually look pink). Unfortunately we didn’t see one, but weren’t surprised as they are an endangered species. The government is trying to help conserve the Chinese White dolphins by requiring all tour boats to donate 10% of their cost to the conservation project.

The airport was the next stop for us as we headed off to Cairns!!!

More about that soon xx

P.S. Should have waited

Today marked the end of our last full day in Hong Kong. We’ve had such a great time here, but we are eager to make it to Australia (next stop Cairns) and start diving and chillaxing by the beach (yes I said that).

Simon and I have fallen into the error of booking city breaks as our yearly holiday before and Hong Kong has been exactly the same as those (Barcelona, Rome and New York) in that it is go, Go, GO!!!! You never really get to stop and rest. I’ve clocked up 54,302 steps in the last 48 hours, walking a whopping 15.99 miles. I don’t regret it, and neither do my feet. All our Cornish cliff walking must have prepared us well.

So here’s a low down of what we’ve done:

Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Gardens

This place is STUNNING!!! We weren’t allowed to take photos inside of the Nunnery, but the interiors were just beyond words, just like the outside. The Gardens were made by the Nunnery back in the 1980s to promote the use of green spaces in the area of Diamond Hill. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Wong Tai Sin Temple

Again, for the first temple we have visited, I was blown away. The atmosphere was unbelievable and the wellbeing garden they have behind the main ‘shrine’ (I really need to check my terminology) was full of terrapins and goldfish, and just gorgeous. The smell of incense as you walk around the place just adds to the feel of the place.

Kowloon Park

This place was such a surprise to us. One thing I’ve noticed about Hong Kong is that many attractions are free, attractions that would absolutely no way be free in the UK. Inside Kowloon park is an aviary. This was the first sign to us that birds are very much loved here. We sat and cooled off for a while in the park and drank another litre or so of water, before heading off to the star ferry.

Star Ferry

The star ferry runs from Kowloon on the main land over to Hong Kong Island. A single trip worked out at $25 HKD each, or around 30p. The Star Ferry is a little like the Staten Island Ferry of New York. An amazing trip across the water, for a very reasonable price. As we crossed Victoria Harbour we were able to see the skyscrapers approach from Hong Kong Island. A very memorable sight.

 

Victoria Peak

The Peak tram was the first funicular built in Asia, with the original carriage being built in Scotland of all places. When we reached the counter to buy our tickets, I knew the price was a little steep. Having completed my research like a seasoned traveller, I knew that the extra $40 they were trying to charge per person wasn’t worth the extra you would receive. The extra money allowed you up to a viewing platform, maybe only 50 feet higher than the one I could access without paying more. RIP OFF!!! I explained what I wanted and we saved quite a lot of money. Victoria Peak was amazing. We had great views back across the city and I got to drink a bubble tea (thanks Jack for introducing this to me in Sheffield of all places). Simon had a boring iced latte.

Botanical and Zoological Gardens

This place was such a wonderful surprise. We walked through a large archway and was greeted by a map. Mammal enclosures? Aviaries? Reptile enclosures? Free?!?! And yes, before you ask, free! Now I’m not talking giraffes, elephants or anything of the like, but an amazing array of orang-utans, chimps, lemurs etc. We spent a lovely hour and half walking around. Simon thinks a chimp threw poo at me, but I think he was throwing me a leaf as a present.

Temple Night Street Market

For our first Asian market, I was a little disappointed. Mainly, the stall holders were selling cheap tat rather than authentic homemade goods. It also started to rain… quite heavily…

 

Jade, Goldfish, Bird and Flower Markets

In the Jade market people were very pushy to try and sell to you, but at the other markets we were able to just leisurely stroll around and enjoy. A thought we both had while walking around these markets was how do they ever get any business being all so close to each other? Imagine if you had 10 butchers next to each other, many of them would go out of business quickly and you would be left with a few competing with each other. At these markets there are 10s of very similar stalls, all seemingly doing business. How? Answers n a postcard please.

 

Din Tai Fung Restaurant

We had heard about this restaurant through a blog we like to watch ‘Psychotraveller’. This restaurant has been awarded a michelin star for their dim sum. It was AMAZING!!!!

Other places we visited on day 3 included the Mid-levels Escalator, Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong Park and Hard Rock Cafe (of course). The Mid-level escalator is the longest outdoor escalator system in the world. We took this up to Man Mo Temple, but was a little disappointed by this temple. I think we had spoilt ourselves the day previously and there was lots of building work happening in the temple. It didn’t really have a roof. Hong Kong Park was another lovely surprise with a free walk through aviary like the eden project and a free vantage point of the city. They definitely have the free activity thing sorted out there.

I know this has been a long one and its a little late, but I really wanted to share as much info with you as possible.

We are now in Cairns. One more Hong Kong post and then I’ll tell you all about our Australia adventures.

We’ve been in Hong Kong now for about 2 and a half days and we’ve already seen and done so much. I’m only going to talk about our first day here (I will be a little behind throughout I imagine).

We have gotten our bearings, figured out how to use the MTR trains and have eaten with locals already, so feel like we’re winning!

So what do we think of Hong Kong?

Simon says (rather poetically) ‘It’s an assault on the senses’

What he means, and I completely agree, is that when you first get to Hong Kong the first things that went through both of our minds was:

1. Oh… wow… this is a little muggy.
2. Err… What’s that smell? I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad smell…
3. Ok… muggy was an understatement… i’m dripping
4. Look at all those people on their phones!
5. Are they all playing pokemon go?
6. Look at that… and that… Oh wait look over here

We love it here. There’s so much to see and do. The city is such a lovely mix of metropolitan life and beautiful coastal scenary and I can really see why so many people were raving about it to us.

What have we been up to?

So on our arrival day, we checked in (after trying to find our hostel for a while… bit stressful) got ourselves settled and headed straight out to Tsim Shall Tsui Promenade where we saw the avenue of the stars. Simon pretended to be a kung full master and we learnt that Jackie Chan had pretty large hands. We then spent a while admiring the skyscrapers on Hong Kong Island.

 

Next was food. We’re on quite a tight budget so the cheaper the better and we have always figured that eating with the locals will achieve that and also probably taste loads better. We found this little restaurant full of locals and headed in. What do we order? What will it come with? When it says chicken does it mean feet? The food was great, really tasty and plentiful for the price.

We then went back to watch the light show. Now, the light show itself was pretty disappointing, but the view that came with it was not. Have a look for yourself.

It’s just been the mid-autumn festival here in Hong Kong. We missed this by a few days, but outside the Space Museum, which unfortunately has most of it’s exhibitions closed for refurbishment, they still had some lantern displays. Very pretty and colourful.

So, that’s it, our first few hours in Hong Kong. I will write more about the next two days shortly.

xx

In 3 days time we will be in the air, cruising at around 36000 feet tucking into a complimentary glass of something tasty to toast the start of our adventure.

So what are we most excited about? What have we booked that gets us giddy and smiley?

2 days after arriving in Cairns this will be our home for 3 nights:

We will be diving the great barrier reef and hopefully seeing lots of marine animals as well as sunning ourselves on the deck.

We have 2 nights booked on Summertime, a beautiful sail boat to take us around the Whitsundays in early October:

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our honeymoon fund. This is one of the lavish experiences we have been able to book as a result of that.

We are camping on Fraser Island for 2 nights later in October through a company called drop bear adventures. Thank you Louise for the recommendation. http://www.dropbearadventures.com.au

I can’t wait to drive a jeep on the beach!!!! Simon, I believe, is a little anxious.

Humpback whale swimming near Noosa:

Thank you so much to Jon for telling us about this experience. Wouldn’t it be amazing to be up close and personal with a Humpback whale, all eco friendly and completely on the whales terms? Fingers crossed please.

New Years Eve in Sydney Harbour:

We will be cruising around on a boat in Sydney Harbour on New Years Eve. This is a recent development, but one which we are super excited about. We managed to get a good deal and we will happily eat cheaply to make up for this one.

Campercar in New Zealand:

Our campercar will take us to such places as Hobbiton, Milford Sound, Rotorua, Fox Glacier and so many more. Our wedding playlists will be making an appearance again here. Sorry Simon, better get your earplugs out.

Elephant Nature Park Thailand:

For 7 days we are volunteering a the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We are so unbelievably excited to be a part of such an important place and to make a difference, no matter how small.

Thai diving liveaboard with Loveday and Joe:

5 nights visiting, exploring and diving Thai islands, all in whale shark and manta ray season. HOLEY MOLEY. Fingers crossed they show up for us!!! And all with 2 very good friends ❤

We have so much more planned, but these are our main booked ‘once in a lifetime’ activities. Cheap, exploration days will act as a cushion around these ‘big uns’. To say I’m not excited about those cushion days too would be incorrect. Who doesn’t want to lie on a beach in Australia and read a book all day?

Much love,

‘The Dowells’ xx

 

 

 

 

 

Ok… I’ll be honest, I’ve been pretty rubbish the last few months at writing on here, but that’s only because we’ve been so busy!!!

This happened… 

Our wedding day was absolutely perfect and we truly couldn’t have asked for anything more on the day. We have been loving married life and have been travelling all around the country visiting people.

We have:

• Completed the 4 falls waterfall walk in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales
• Watched Thriller live in London
• Explored Buckingham Palace
• Had an amazing time at Harry Potter World
• Explored Cardiff Castle
• Saw an Osprey on the river Exe
• Eaten many BBQs and visited many beaches
• Said goodbye to many friends
• Put all of our belongings into storage

This is only a snapshot of what we’ve been up to. I’ve clocked 2000 miles on my car in 14 days… We’re now a little more settled for the next 15 days, between Yorkshire and Wiltshire.

Now, back to traveling! We fly on the 17th September to Hong Kong which is only 15 days away!!! We’re super excited and can hardly wait now. We’ve learnt a lot about what we need and what we really don’t want to be carrying around in the last 3 weeks, so will be making some bag alterations when we get back to my parents.

A massive thank you to: Our families, Jess, Loveday and Joe, Andy and Jonny, and Chrissy and James for having us to stay with you recently. We’re really going to miss you all.

I will write more often.. I promise!

Becky xx