Croeso i cymru Holly!

Good Morning From Frosty Wales,

We've just had a breakfast of Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese bagels, while drinking fresh coffee and Orange Juice. It's around 1 or 2 degrees outside and we're getting ready to go out and see David's sister Becky in work.

So we landed last Saturday and were met by David's mum, Stepfather Gareth, Sister Louise and her Fiancée Matt, and the BBC Film crew. We didn't know they cared so much about us coming home. Turns out there was a small problem in Tunisia and they were evacuating all the British holidaymakers there, shame. We looked good after our two long flights :s.

We went to Louise's house and had Tea and sandwiches and tried to stay awake. The flights must have done something to Holly as she was walking on air. Maybe it was Louise's bathroom floor, it was very spongy.
After this we went home home and unpacked, had chinese and met David's Niece Freya for the first time. How cute!! 'Oh No' 'Wow' haha.

The family 

On the Sunday, we had the big family meal for Gareth and mum's 20th Wedding Anniversary. We had all the sisters, boyfriends, fiancées and now children at Gareth's Golf club, Aberdovey. This was Holly's first real glance of the Welsh countryside. We ate Roast Beef, as you should in Wales and attempted dessert. All the while Freya was throwing her Yorkshire pudding around and asking Nanny to come sit with her.

Barmouth Estuary

Over the next few days we spent milling around the house getting over jet lag and seeing some sights. We went up the Cambrian Mountains and showed Holly the Valley floor of our Dovey Valley, went to Barmouth estuary, had a Hot Chocolate in a lovely Pub called the King George third overlooking the Estuary. We then drove up to Dolgellau and through the hills to Newtown to visit an old friend.
We looked after Freya one afternoon and got to watch almost the whole trilogy of Toy Story, any excuse I thought. Though when Nicola arrived that morning to drop her off, Freya had apparently been so excited to see Holly, had woken up saying 'Holly, Holly', she even brought her Tea Set around to play with her, obviously forgot about her dear Uncle David.

We visited Ynyshir Hall where David worked, and were greeted with a delayed Barrage of David!! What a Pleasant Surprise. I'm not sure they recognized me at first. We gave Holly a tour of the hotel, met the chef and arranged that we would come back for a meal. I'm not sure Holly know's what she's let herself in for. Maybe we can have one of those $90,000 bottles of wine?
After this visit we went for a walk on Ynyslas Beach and collected some shells and headed off to meet mum from work and went to Weatehrspoons for a pub Meal. Naturally Holly had a Steak & Ale pie with Mash & Peas. We then went shopping for today's breakfast and headed home.

Train Station with the long name

Yesterday we headed up to North Wales with Gareth and mum to Caernarfon where we saw the castle and town wall, Bangor, LlanfairPwllGwingyllGorgerychChwindrobwyllLlantairsylioGoGoGoch, Snowdon, and many places in between. Stopping in a place called Celtica for Lunch. Celtica is a cultural artsy place you can have lunch and buy souvenirs  like Welsh Lovespoons, Craft things and in Holly's case, some Welsh playing cards and a Welsh children's book, which I have yet to read to her. Haha.

Today we'll have a roast lamb, well not a whole one, and see Nicola and Freya again for the last time in about a week. Tomorrow we are heading to Telford to see David's Aunty and cousins, then to Birmingham to see a good friend, then to Sudbury in Suffolk on Wednesday to see Daddy Crompton. We'll stay there for a few days then head to Herne Bay in  Kent to see Daddy Crompton, the Grandparents in other words, for a few days before heading back to good ol' Wales.

 We are off to see sister Becky in Borth.  Time to enjoy some fresh Welsh air.  We will hopefully blog in a week's time to tell you what we have been up to in England.

David  & Holly

PHOTO ALBUMS

Day Trip in Jakarta

Doha Airport.....

Just sitting in Doha airport waiting for our flight.  It is 5:00 am where we came from, 1:00 am where we are and we are heading to what is currently 11:00 pm.  I am trying to get myself prepared for the time change.  Not being able to sleep in the airport does not help any.  It is about 18 degrees here and I am sat here freezing.  Hope I can come heading to the cold climate.  Our flight from Jakarta to here was AMAZING! The food was yum and we had heaps more space then our other flights.  We also had two full on meals... and everything was free.  Need to fly with better airlines more often. :)

We had a good day in Jakarta yesterday.  We hired a taxi to drive us around the city and show us a few different things.  At first we were a bit uneasy about the whole thing but we ended up having a wonderful day.  He was a muslim man who spent about an hour explaining to us how we need to be pure and relationship advice and what not.  It was legit.  We were actually very impressed with him.  He then felt bad for giving us a lecture.  We learned all about him and his family and their celebrations and what not.  Oh, right and the sights?  We went to a few museums and a monument and he showed us our embassies and a few other sights around the city.  Our day in Jakarta ending up being way better than expected.  We still prefer Bali to Jakarta though.

Well, time to try and snooze in the airport as we still have another 5 hours or so before we board!

Holly & David

Terima Kasih

Last night in Bali has arrived already.  This is Stephanie writing (grudgingly) as Holly told me I must type some of the blog.   Don’t get me wrong; I love reading David and Holly’s blog .  However I’m someone who loves to travel but doesn’t like taking the time to write about it…or take pictures.  Thankfully Holly has taken enough photos for the 3 of us.

We left Ubud and made our way down to Nusa Dua with a stop at a temple, a batik for handwoven saris (b\c Holly loved the sari that we had to wear in the temple), and a store full of everything from souvenirs to clothing to food which was all super cheap.  We arrived at our resort and it was an immediate contrast to Ubud.  It didn’t feel like we were in Bali anymore but could easily have been in Mexico or some other popular resort place.  While we missed the culture of Ubud this was replaced by luxury at Nusa Dua Beach Hotel.  I don’t think any of us have spoiled ourselves as much as we did over the first few days at Nusa Dua.

We spent the first day getting manicures and pedicures and finished our night in the spa.  The spa is amazing.  There are separate men’s and women’s spa areas.  Each area has a Jacuzzi, cold pool, sauna and steam room.  There is a gorgeous subtle smell of orange in the air when you enter the spa.  This same smell is in the cold wash clothes that they supply for use in the Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room.  We have tried to use the spa as often as possible as it is complimentary and sooooo relaxing.  We ended our night there a few times to relax before bed.

Yummy glasses.

Our second day we booked the “Nusa Dua Perfect Day” spa package.  This was one of the most relaxing amazing things we’ve ever done.  Holly and I got our treatments together in the same room and David had his own room.  The room itself was gorgeous and relaxing with 2 massage tables, a huge tub, large lounge chair for 2 people and showers and a bathroom.  We started with a getting our feet soaked and washed.  Then we had a sea salt bath in a the tub which looked like a giant bowl.  We had a full body sea salt scrub and then a full body massage ending with a facial.  They also served us lunch when our treatment finished.  We felt very spoiled.  Every staff member made sure to ask how our treatments went.   Our last few days were spent lazing around by the pool with our evenings winding down in the spa. One thing that we found pretty was that it seemed every second person at this resort was Russian. It was very easy to pick out a Russian man that is for sure. I do not think I have ever seen/met a Russian in real life. Apparently this time of year is Russian season for Bali. Our last night in Bali we went to Uluwatu temple to watch the sunset. Rather than watching the sunset (it was too cloudy) we watched monkeys steal sunglasses, etc from people and eat them.


Over the past 10 days we have fallen in love with the Balinese food, people and culture (Stephanie didn't like the toilets so much :)). When we are driving in the crazed, no rules road everyone seems to be happy and only honking to let people know they are behind them. Balinese people are always happy and smiling. We could definitely learn a thing or two from them. Being in Ubud was a great cultural experience. Nusa Dua was a nice relaxing pampering time, although we did get to do a bit of culturing in the afternoons as well. The pampering was a nice treat though. Now it is time to get back to the cold....Ekkk Jakarta next and then the UK (or Canada for Steph).
Holly, Stephanie and David Photo Albums from Bali Nusa Dua Bali 2011

Taxi? Transport?

Oh Man, What a Few days we've had. We're all sat on Holly & Steph's bed surrounded by our shopping trip to the local convenience store. We got Asian style Pringles (Their smaller) Salmon Teryaki Flavoured Chips, Iced Coffee in a can, Coffee Flavoured Pop! and some interesting looking choccy bars.

So when Holly and I arrived in Denpasar at 4:40 am from perth a little dazed and confused, we were confronted with two very nice porters wanting a fortune in tips, a hoard of men wanting to put us in their taxi and a climate feeling as though you had just walked into a dense cloud. Welcome To Bali, Suksa ma.

Happy Campers on our First Morning

So we waited from around 5am to 2:50pm for Stephanie to swan in just as dazed as we must have looked when we arrived. We jumped into our transport and headed North to Ubud where we would spend our first 4 days. If you've ever been to Indo or any country in this area of the world you'll know what I mean by the roads are crazy, these guys are insane. We should have crashed so many times but managed to stay happy and safe. We arrived our hotel being down a 'Gang', a narrow bricked alleyway, and were introduced to a small mansion and to our rooms. Our great host introduced herself almost immediately and made us feel greatly at home. Just to give you a picture, we breakfast overlooking rooftops palm trees, listen to morning prayer drums and watch as our host does the first offering of the day.

So we shot out on our first morning we walked the streets and saw what the to offer, Ubud is Bali's cultural and Arty capital, so there's heaps of crafty shops, sarong places and stuff like that. Every corner we are hasseled "massage?" "taxi? transport?" We have learned to smile and keep walking. Our first Bartering experience ended poorly, we were excited to get Oakley sunnglasses for $5, pretty bummed when we went back today (3 days later) and managed to get the lady down to 25,000 IDR. Bargain!! About $2.50. So we got another couple of pairs each.

In the afternoon, we did a jewellery course.  It was definitely not what we were expecting.  We arrived then he asked us to draw what we wanted to make. DRAW?! hello...not artsy at all. After getting over the trying to draw part it was actually quite cool.  We cut out, engraved, filed, and polished our pieces of art.  Stephanie made a pendant, Holly made a toe ring and David made a thumb ring.  He did a very good job.

Rice Paddy Fields!

Another highlight of our time here was yesterday doing an Eco Bike Tour and seeing the real Bali. We got picked up at 7:30 and drove to a Restaurant overlooking a sacred lake and a smoldering volcano, then went to a Coffee place and tried Cat Poo Coffee overlooking the rainforest. We then took a trip to the bikeshed via rice paddy fields (Amazing!!) We picked out our bikes and headed off on our way. On the trip we helped de-weed a paddy field, helped a group of ladies harvest rice, high-fived little kids in the villages we rode through, and had a tour around a typical Balinese house. It was incredible. We ended up having a big buffet lunch with smoked duck, smoked chicken Mi Goreng, Sate Tofu the Works! About half way through our bike tour it started to monsoon down with rain. Not much we could do about it.  We crossed a river and then the boys continued on an uphill bike ride while the girls took the van to the destination.

Monkey picking at David's scalp.

After we got back from the biking tour we decided to go see the monkey temple forest.  You could buy bananas and feed them but we heard that they could get a bit agro so we passed.  David managed to a get few to play with him.  It was a bit cute.  Some the mommies were holding onto their babies, babies were playing in the trees and monkeys were following you waiting for you to bring out a banana for them.  It was pretty cool to see the monkeys in the wild.

That's all for now Blog Fans, Thanks for tuning in,


David Holly & Stephanie Out xx

Photo Albums.

For those who don't have facebook here is an update of the albums

West Coast Pt. 2

Adventures of Exmouth

Karijini National Park

 

Aussie Christmas 2010

And check out our last blog before we head off to BALI!

Holly & David

What?! 2 Years....Dead Set

Holly & Her Perm Man

Heellllooooo Blogfans.

This is us on Christmas Day on one of Margaret Rivers beautiful beaches. The scenery looks amazing, and Holly's hair and dress look great. And well yes, I'm getting a wonderful perm from the wind, our legs were being eaten by a wicked wind that was blowing the sand on us, and the water was Freeezing compared to Exmouth.

Christmas Oz Style!

So we spent Christmas at Margaret River with Darryl & Donna, Jackie, Greg, Jameson and Sienna and Donna's two boys Clayton and Shannon.
We had a ball. The chalet where they stayed was a lovely little place with a big garden set on acres of farmland, 3 horses to feed and play with, woodland to explore, paddocks..you name it we had it. And best of all it was cold! My, my, we hadn't been this cold for a long time, the wind blows pretty hard down there.

Boxing day & christmas day were spent relaxing and enjoying food & drink, we get on really well with everybody there so there was never a dull moment. A constant battle between parents and children to get the washing up done, to which we intervened a few times..In my family (David) we call it cabin fever. But other than that we had great fun.

After Christmas and Boxing day we ventured out and did some of the things that Margaret River is famous for. Some beach exploring Cheese Factories, Chocolate factories, Coffee Factories and not even mentioning the various wineries we went to. The vineyards look beautiful from the road, all lush and green and all sporting pretty impressive shop areas where you can try and buy their produce. The rows of vines reminded Holly and I of Olive trees, the area is a big producer of olives too.

So after a day of gorging on cheese, chocolate sampling the areas sights we went back to the chalet and used the rest of our energy up relaxing. Now the caves down there are incredible too, we did a cave called the Jewel cave, aptly named because of its glistening stalagmites and tights that adorn the caves. We stopped at various areas and marvelled at the glistening poles and listened to the history of the cave. That particular one is  maintained and run (I believe) by the family who originally discovered it. The guys two daughters have been married in the cave too.
The second cave was an adventure cave, Holly and I do everything in things (flip flops) but we were told this had to be a closed shoe affair, so being as we are...Holly wore a pair of shoes we found on the driveway and I wore a borrowed pair of hiking boots, it was Ace! Climbing ladders into crevices about 4 feet wide, descending down steep slopes with a rope. The entrance to this cave was on a man made walkway but it felt like you were walking into a giants mouth. Needless to say we had great fun, Holly conquered her fears and managed to do everything. We were very proud of her.  This was also huge for Donna as she has a CRAZY fear of heights.  The first cave she actually could not complete.  So, for her to complete the adventure one was awesome.  :)  That night there was also an earthquake...for the people who were awake and her it at midnight it sounded like some sort of gas explosion.  The house shook.  We had no idea what it was until we found out on the news the next day that there was a 2.3 earthquake just off the coast of Margaret River.

After our Christmas we came back to Perth via Dunsborough and Busselton, some really nice areas on the coast, and headed to Greg and Jackie's house. We are house sitting for them untill we leave to feed their dog, cat and fish while they take a family break up in Cervantes.

We sold our van on Thursday to a girl called Hannah, which was bittersweet. We went to a  small new year's eve party last night where we met some nice people and drank tea all night.  After the party we stayed at Tanya's and ended up playing with her baby magpie until the early hours of the morning. Notice I skipped quickly passed the Baby Magpie, It's a tricky one to explain. Cute though. And today caught the train to Cannington which is south of the River in Perth and saw our dear friends from Exmouth Catherine & Wayne. What a good day today was. We hung out in the pool ate a little, then ate a lot and relaxed all evening. Very Nice.

Tomorrow is Sunday, I know we have a BBQ at night but the day will be spent organizing our last things Because we Leave on Monday/Tuesday :( Very Sad Times. I can't really say that just yet, we are heading to Bali for 10 days on the way to the UK. Not too bad, we're quite lucky really.

That's all for now, Next blog will probably be from Bali. With Stephanie!!!! Woooo

Love you all,

David & Holly

Dashing Through The Bush in a Rusty Holden Ute

Hey Blog Fans,

So Christmas time is upon us yet Again. We're sat in the lounge of Regans Ridge Farm, Back home. Does feel very strange though, no other people here, just us.

We left Exmouth on thursday mid morning and started the long 1200km drive here, man was that a long day. We got to Carnarvon where I forgot what it was like to be dry. We stopped at the shops and as I got back into the car my left thong entered a realm of intense water related vacuum and it started to float away. Luckily, we weren't there a few hours later when things started going underwater. The whole town is currently flooded badly.

The Band & Choir On Stage

So we had the carols in the park a few weeks back. Weeks of voice training and learning of songs, heaps of hard work put into productions scripts and countless hours spent worrying over small details, lead to  a seemingly seamless night. I think the night is indebted to a few people.
Holly and I were part of the choir on stage and Holly was the old lady opposite our good friend Wayne in a production called 'A Special Visit'. It was a great night, very festive and great to be with such beautiful people.

We tried to pack in as much to our last few days in Exmouth as possible, we took Sam on a snorkelling trip down to Oyster Stacks where we saw two Reef Sharks and heaps of interesting things including a turtle. We then headed up to Lakeside which wasn't as fruitful. I also did a fishing trip to Ned's Camp where Sam, Myself and our friend Louis dove and fished among the Bombies. I was keeping the small fish away from the other guys' hooks while they caught the biggies.

We also had a thanksgiving/leaving party meal at the Mercers. We were there with The Mercers and the Blennys and had a real American thanksgiving meal. We had sweet potato with marshmallow on top, amazing mashed potato, stuffing and a huuge turkey, among many other things.

David Being Baptized By Josh & Wayne

On the 12th of December we went down to the beach with our church family and David got baptized in the sea, we shared the morning with everybody and we all swam in the unnervingly warm ocean for hours.

We arrived at the farm at around midnight on Thursday and went straight to bed. We woke the next morning and saw Darryl which was really great, we ate that night at Darryl and Donna's house and were surprised to see our good friends Len & Judy who they'd invited over. It was a great night, we also got to spend some time with their new dog. a Japanese Spitz called Poh. Last night we went to Moora to see the Vanzetti clan to celebrate Donna's Dad's 70th, they didn't know we were coming. It was great to see all the family again, it was a fun night. We drove back this afternoon and have spent most of it on the couch, a well deserved break.

We don't have much planned for the next few days, we'll do some bottling of oil and spend some quality time with Darryl and Donna before we all head down to Margaret River for Chrissie. Good times guys, our last few weeks of our Australia adventure are being spent wisely.

Thanks for reading,

David & Holly