Sydney

We took the 30 minute journey by ferry to area called The Rocks at the centre of Sydney and it is located right between two very recognisable structures, the harbour bridge and the opera house. The city has some amazing buildings, and is very impressive from the water. Because the of the mount of inlets, bays, coves...etc the city has a huge amount of water frontage. We walked around the city and had finished up our day at Darling Harbour where we had something to eat and took in a movie at the IMAX called Deep Sea 3D. This was excellent, it brought us right back to our diving in Cairns.

Manly

We arrive safely in Manly seven miles north of Sydney and are so lucky to be staying with Nancy Wagner a very good friend of Maureen's from the U.S. Nancy lives in an excellent apartment right on the beach front over looking the blue ocean. (Top photo) This particular beach front is very popular for all types of surfing. The area has alot of restaurants and is popular with people that work in the city and tourists. The best way to visit Manly is by the ferry which takes about 30 minutes. Middle photo is the ferry pulling into Manly, its also the home to Sydney Harbour National Park and is has some amazing tracks for hiking around, and are full of many animals, especially lizards, which are harder to catch than you would think.

Back In Brisbane.....

Well...........on our way back down to Brisbane we stopped at Australia's Zoo......so Noel finally got to see plenty of crocodiles but I guess its a little different to see them out in the wild.

Of course he had to go jump in its mouth:):)

And the cute little Koalas..that sleep 18-20 hours per day!!

And my cousin Sharon came up from Surfers Paradise, she also is in Australia for the next year or so....so it was a great reunion and we had a great night out in Brisbane...Caroline brought us to the late night markets and a few pubs..and Noel was just surrounded by woman for the night. And yes he is right....I do seem to have cousins in every part of the world!

Thanks Caroline for your car:):) It was great to see you guys!! And sad to leave:(:(

Fig Strangler Tree

This tree on the island hollow inside and hundreds of years old!!!

Frasier Island

As you can see in the photos, you can easily get stuck in the sand and the tide was quickly coming in so our tour guide was getting a little nervous.

We had a great group of 13 that we spent the 3 days with.....3 Swiss, 2 irish, 1 Scottish, 2 Dutch, 1 English, 1 Greek. 1 Romania, 1 Auzzie, 1 Kiwi ( our guide) and 1 American (me:)

So a varied group and we had great fun in our close knit quarters....as you can see in the photo...our guide called it the Hilton of camping because the tents were built off the ground (on timber floors) with comfortable beds that had linen on them............so as Noel reminded me...we were not roughing it......until the very last morning when we had a visitor in our tent...of course only our tent...at 530am. So.....our neighbors were woken up to me screaming....I really hate little creatures that run very fast.....so I was out and up for breakfast very early!!!

(And Noel more concerned with taking a photo of it than getting it out...actually the photo above is the spot where Noel found its entrance that was suppose to be blocked off.....this is the 2nd one about to get in) Good thing this did not happen earlier because we really had the best 3 days.....probably one of the many highlights thus far!

Noel finally got to see a snack...called a childrens python...this one was at the camp site next to ours...so we all went to have a look. He wanted to hold it but luckily our tour guide told him not to!!

Brisbane......

Well we decided to travel south to Brisbane, we were planning to travel by bus whish would have taken 20 hours so we were told flying with a cheap airlines is not that much more so.....sounded like a better option.

Arrived on the 11th Nov and stayed in a really nice hostel, we have been very lucky as we can get a room to ourselves and the hostels have been an nice as hotels but alot cheaper!

My cousin Caroline has been in Brisbane the last 6 months so she met us when we arrived and had a great night on the town. She also offered her station wagon to us for a trip that we had planned to Frasier island which is about 4 hours north. We had planned on renting a car or taking the bus so this was a great treat. So we hit the road on the Tuesday until Friday for a 3 day tour to the largest Sand Island in the world...Frasier Island. The highway (motorway) on the island is a 120km beach of sand that only allows 4 wheel drivers! The roads are sand tracks!

Cape Tribulation

Well...we headed North about 2 hours to a Cape Tribulation for 3 days, population 90 people so quite remote. Beautiful beaches, although they are empty as the ocean in these areas are where many crocodiles roam along with sharks and stinger jellyfish. We also visited the Daintree Rainforest. This is a very unique area because the Rainforest meets the ocean......pretty cool!!

The nearest shop/internet was a 20 minute walk away so we really chilled out, no phone coverage as well so felt very removed from civilization.

Noel was slighly dissapointed that he did not get to see a crocodile or snack. We were told because it was so hot and humid (about 95 degrees) they were staying our of sight.

We did manage to kayak the 1st evening to watch the sunset, we went with a guide and an American couple from Utah, so it was nice to see the 1st Americans since we left.

Our guide was pointing out where they spotted crocodiles the previous week....so it left us a little worried. (not Noel of course....he would have loved if one swam next to us!!)

So I was not happy enough when we got back to shore.

Finding Nemo:)

SHARK......

When it was my turn to take the camera (difficult to get it away from Noel).....I spotted what I beleived was a shark below me but Noel thought I was imagining it, so when we got back on board I showed the picture to the skipper of the boat and he said it was a black tipped reef shark and they are apparently afraid of people....so that was good to know.

Glad I had the proof on film, so I was proud of myself that I did not drop the camera and run when I saw it!

Australia...here just about 2 weeks

Well time is flying, we have been so busy that it has been difficult to get online.......so we'll download plenty of beautiful pictures of the various places since we arrived.

we flew from Singapore to Cairns on Nov 6th to stay at our first hostel which came highly recommended from the Dublin couple we met in Cambodia, we have been lucky to meet plenty of faces along the way with helpful info.

Our 2nd day we went out to the Great Barrier Reef, pictured here and we both went diving and snorkling. We were very lucky to have a beautiful, calm day so it made viewing of the Reef even more spectacular. We rented an underwater camera to capture some images.

Below...visiting the National Orchid Garden.

Noel making friends with this lovely creature.

Singapore....

Wow..what a change from Phnom Phen....known as the cleanest city/country in the world!! Also called the "Finest" City.....due to the fact that you are fined for everything.......littering, jay-walking, not flushing the toilet (yes..I am serious) , spitting, drinking and eating on public transport. Gum is not even sold in the country so we were guessing if caught chewing it we could have been fined.

So that is obviously why everywhere you go is so immaculate. Their favorite past-time is shopping, malls everywhere...Orchard Street a famous shooping strip where apparently people come to shop all over the world.

We only had 2 nights and wish we had more, enough time to do the city tour and the 2nd day....visit the famous Singapore Zoo, which was a cool spot. But very hot....about 95 degrees!

Because it is a very small island (270 sq.miles) compared to Irelands (32,000.00 sq miles) and they both have the same population, just over 4 million! Really gives you an idea just how small the country is....so quite easy for the government to control it. They live in tall high rise apartments that are everywhere!! They even control the number of cars that are on the road by auctioning certificates to drive in the city.

We really enjoyed the few days and would definately go back someday:):):)

King of Cambodia's Palace

Arriving at Phnom Phen....sorry for delay in contact.

Well.....for those that have emailed checking up on us since we have not been on the blog in awhile.....we are fine!!! Its been a hectic week... and the picture here just gives you an idea of what the situation was on arrival to Cambodias capital.

Pretty scary....we were bombarded by tuk tuk drivers all looking for business...they were jumping on the boat to get our luggage and help us get off the boat....a big leap for the ledge....no law and order what so ever. So this should have given us an idea of what was to come.

Met a couple from Dublin on our arrival to dingy hotel who had just been chased by 6-7 yr olds with screwdrivers looking to rob them. So gave us a pretty scary first impression. Just a very different experience to Siem Reap, people and all.....everyone just eyeing your bags and making you feel uncomfortable.

Streets were full of garbage (aka...rubbish) everywhere, awful smells in most areas.

Spent some time in a nearby shopping mall....felt it was safest to eat there....Pizza parlour.....no trying the local cuisine here!! But to see where the weathly go and shop and just outside the poor in the street....what a contrast. We did visit the Palace where the King of Cambodia lives......will attach the picture...........and again it reminded us of the corruption of the country...........so much money within the walls and outside the streets full of the poor begging people.

We also visited the Killing Fields where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Communist regime Khmer Rouge, which had ruled the country since 1975. The massacres didnt end until 1979 and the estimated number of executed was nearly 2 million out of a population of around 7 million. So spending time in the museum was a very chilling afternoon, especially to see local people recognize some of their friends pictured on the wall.

So Phnom Phen was a sad couple of days, we were ready to head to Singapore.

Last night in Siem Reap

How could Noel refuse these pretty little faces and give them 1 dollar for a rose for his wife:):) Can you tell they loved having their picture taken...and so did Noel!!

We had just finished eating dinner in the Red Piano, every travelers favorite place to eat in Siem Reap (only 20 dollars for a couple drinks, appetizer and dinner for 2) apparently.....they even have a drink named after Angelina Jolie..this is her favorite place to visit when in town.
When she came to Cambodia to film Tomb Raider...its obvious why she fell in love with the place and the people and adopted a little boy...the children are so cute and always smiling....as you can see below!!

Angkor Wat

Well.....after spending Wednesday morning viewing the temples around Angkor...we saved the best for last...Angkor Wat....the largest religious monument in the world, it is the symbol for Cambodia and appears on its flag. This was the big reason Noel wanted to visit cambodia....so found it fitting to include the above photo.

It was also about 95 degrees.....so hot...but at least through out the day we were going in and out of the taxi that had air conditioning so that helped......it was a bonus to have our driver as a tour guide as well. He looked after us from 8am to 8pm and only charges 25 USD.

will be touch soon

maureen and noel

Artisan d'Angkor school

On the way back into Siem Reap after the floating village we stopped at this artists school. This is a school where they teach traditional crafts to impoverished youngters. So it was refreshing to see that some do get an opportunity, particularly if their families were not able to afford to send them to school. They make beautiful stone, wood statues and household furniture so we did a little shopping at the end of it and it was nice to know the profits made go back into funding the school.

Floating Village outside Siem Reap

We met some Americans from Kentucky who are over here doing some humanitarian work with orphanages and they suggested we take a trip to the floating villages.

Wow, what an eye opener to see the extent of poverty just outside the city about 10km. You can see in the photo the hut/shack/well...their homes that are packed with families, I guess the average is 6-7 children per household. They live on Tonle Sap, the biggest freshwater lake in southeast asia and luckily they are sustained with the available fish and floating vegetatin around them.....well most of them....but there were many at the pier when we left that appear to be very hungry and you are bombarded with children begging. The children in the canoe above are the luckier ones and can afford to [pay for school, they are on their way home for lunch...start at 7am-11 and back from 1-4pm.

As we drove away from the area in taxi...children were actually sprinting after us shouting "1 dollar please" because they had seen us give some of the children dollar bills and sweets, it really would make you cry.

Its a pity that there is no social service system in the country nor any government assistance for the poor so they are truly helpless. Made you feel very guilty going back to our nice hotel after that, however luckily tourism has brought quite a bit of money into the country, its too bad there is so much corruption so it does not always go into the right hands!