One giant market-Bangkok part 2

By day and by night, floating or street side, Bangkok pulses with endless markets. It's dizzying alleyways packed with vendors and food stalls never ceases to disappoint. Day markets under covered, cramped alleys are a great way to escape from the scorching temperatures while the floating markets and night markets are breezier, cooler ways grab some cheap finds and delicious authentic Thai delicacies.

Phat Pong tourist night market. Shawn using his bartering skills.

As the sun goes down, the streets come to life. Night markets have become popular  as the temperatures drop just enough not to completely soak yourself. Thai's love to eat and socialize with one another and the night markets provide the perfect opportunity to do just that. One things for sure, you'll never go hungry! With hundreds on street food stalls to choose from, you can get everything from traditional Pad Thai to fried bugs. Bon appetite!

The bug cart. 

Fried cockroaches, grasshoppers, crickets, grubs and much more. 

The cockroaches seem to be the most popular as Shawn and a few friends tried a variety pack one night and the roaches were sold out:(  

Klong Lat Mayom floating market has to easily be one of our favourite visits yet. Grazing our way through the local (non-tourist) market meant trying new foods and authentic Thai cooking.

Fish cakes topped with cilantro, greens & sauce (top)

Traditional Pad Thai made to order in a large wok (middle)

Hot sticky rice served in banana leaf (below)

Many people cooking and selling food on the canal in small wooden boats

With our bellies full from too many choices, the best way to digest was on the water.   An hour slow boat ride through Bangkok's tiny canals the perfect fix. All for a mere 20 Baht each (.70c)

Wooden slow boat tour winding through the canals of the market

Our friends from France (Julie & Maxime)

Our very proud driver

A slow tour in our wooden, tippy boat (left)

Riding through the Lotus (top right, bottom right)

Canal lined with food stalls (middle)

Food for the fish? Hundreds of fish swim off the docks being feed 

Now totally relaxed, what better way to take it a step further than ducking into the canal side stand for a traditional Thai massage. So that's exactly what we did. Julie and I opted for the 1/2 neck&shoulder massage for 80 Baht ($3) while Shawn and Maxime took another slow stroll through the market. To end my idea of a perfect day, I treated myself to a halved young coconut, filled with coconut ice cream and completed with tasted toppings such as pumpkin, date and more young coconut. Delicious!

Bangkok-the city that never sleeps

Our flight from Gold Coast, Australia arrived into Bangkok 13hrs later including a 5hr layover in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. By far, one of the worse flights of my life. After eating a typical Malaysian dish on the plane on flight #1, I became extremely ill just before landing in KL. Sharp, stabbing stomach pains left Shawn wondering if we'd have to make an emergency visit to the hospital. Doubling over in pain, I barely made it on the 2nd flights between the attacks and to make things worse, Shawn and I got split up on the flight leaving me to suffer silently beside two strangers. Needless to say, our taxi speed and weaved his way through traffic at record speeds and we made it to the hostel just after 11pm. Then I crashed!

I figured our first day in Bangkok would be spent in recovery however, miraculously the pain subsided just enough for us to do a bit of exploring.
Our first stop, Wat Po temples.

After navigating Bangkok's air train, we hopped on the ferry over to the temples. 

Wat Po

Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest wats in Bangkok (with an area of 80,000 square metres), 

and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images.

The reclining Buddha. 

A mere 15m high and 43m long. The 3m high and 4.5 m long foot of Buddha displays are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Now that's one serious Buddha!

The echoing sounds of coins hitting the bowls is to help feed the Monks. (bottom photos)

This special guy (we think he was blind) crossed over the river ferry with us to see Wat Arun AKA Temple of Dawn (seen in background). I don't think he paid the 3Baht (.11c)...

Wat Arun or Temple of Dawn

Often personified as the radiations of the rising sun, Wat Arun is among the best known of Thailand's landmarks.

The stairs are extremely steep and definitely not for the faint of heart! Shawn and Erich rubbing Buddha for...? Actually, I made them do it for the photo;) (above).

View from the top of the temple (below) 

Happy Birthday Erich!

Celebrating with a Thai treat:)

Chinatown

One word-INsane.

A complete assult on the senses. With literally thousands of vendors selling E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G, this place doesn't disappoint. And cheap, cheap, cheap!

Food, clothing, t&t-it's ALL here in Chinatown. 

If you've never experienced your personal space being completely invaded, this made not be the placd to give it a go. We toured what seemed like miles of market stalls and yet came out empty handed. However, not with empty stomachs;) 

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. All for under 200Baht each!($8)

Hello Asia!

Pad Thai wrapped in egg -famous Thai dish (above left)

Coconut chili chicken noodle soup-cleared Shawn right out (left)

Dim Sum-radish cakes. My favourite! (right)

Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane

With only 3 weeks in Australia, we decided to slow down our pace and spend more time in a few places rather than a little time in a lot of places. However, we still managed a good portion of our time in Australia exploring some pretty cool cities. Our feet definitely deserve a good rest after many kilometres of walking each day as we toured the cities. But like I always say, one of the best ways to see any city is on foot and by getting lost; even if it means sacrificing the ability to walk to the next day lol.

Melbourne-our favourite by far.
We both agreed that if we were to move to Australia, Melbourne would be high on our list. Climate wise it's tolerable (hot summers and cooler winters) great food options & amazing restaurants with every variety you could image (we love food if you haven't already guesses lol), beautiful architecture, lovely parks scattered around the city great for naps and sushi lunches (which we did a lot of!), and easily accessible villages just minutes out of the city. Oh!-and one of the BEST markets we've every been too! So much that I think we visited the market every day we could when it was open!

Walking back from the Royal Botanical Gardens, we stopped on one of the many bridges over the Yarra river and got a great shot of the city. Rowing & kayaking are popular sport to practice and enjoy here.

Veggie garden in the city. Proves that you can do it just about anywhere;)

Melbourne Market-one of our favourite places. Along with the most delicious donuts I have ever 

tasted; food stalls, handcrafts, veggie market, butchers, cheese makers, cafés and oh-so-many vendors selling everything from animal pelts to clothing, this market really had it all!

Another favourite pastime of ours-Sushi in the park. Can't go wrong with the $5 packs of sushi:)

Not far from Melbourne is the seaside village of St Kilda. Kite surfers love this place and if you tire of the beach and oceanfront parks, you can head down to Luna Park (see below), the weekend seaside outdoor market, or one of the many drinking establishments for Happy Hours & live music. 

Luna Park. 

Year round fun park for kids (and adults too)complete with rides, arcade, and all the fair food favs. 

Sydney-the revival of Melbourne.
Another fantastic Australian city-obviously! Who doesn't know about this city? Built around the harbour and the first grounds of the European settlers, Sydney definitely has it all. Similar to Melbourne in terms of great food and spaces, yet a completely different feel. Think Toronto vs Vancouver. Both great for what they offer with their own vibe.
We stayed in North Sydney just over the Harbour bridge and enjoyed our walks and train rides over the bridge into the city each day. The highlight for us was day 2 of 3 in Sydney when we took a ferry from Circular Quay to Watson's Bay, ate fish&chips in the park with a bottle of wine, hopped on the bus to soak up the sun and watch the surfers at world famous Bondi Beach, then walked from Bondi along the ocean path to Coogee Beach-wait there's more-ate our delicious Kangaroo burgers in the park at Coogee Beach with a bottle of wine (same bottle!), then walked to Kings Cross station to catch the train back to our place. How much walking you ask? Only 15km that day. Better than the 20km we did the day before! Needless to say, day 3 we took the train to/from north Sydney to the centre as our legs all but stopped working. Then we treated ourselves to Happy Hour pints at Darling Harbour for all our efforts;)

Harbour Bridge connecting North Sydney to 'The Rocks' & the city centre. Options to cross over including driving, train, walking, biking, or an over-the-top skywalk for $400.

Best views of Circular Quay ferry terminal and the world famous Opera House can be seen by crossing over the bridge on the foot path. 

 Harbour Bridge walk in the evening lights up the city.

View of Opera House from across the Harbour at Circular Quay (The Rocks).

Darling Harbour Happy Hour pints. 

A great way to take a load off the ol' feet and watch passersby. 

Sydney's Chinatown is an exciting district and everything you would expect. 

Bright, busy and lots of good deals-including the yummiest puffs ever for just 30c each. 

Ferry ride to Watson's Bay on the Sydney Harbour. 

 Bondi Beach. 

Swim, surf, kayak, skateboard, walk, run, bike, sunbath-you name it, everything can be done at this world famous urban beach-except smoke. 

Walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. A mere 6km path along the ocean with some pretty spectacular views. 

Leaving Sydney and arriving in Brisbane. The best way to move around Australia is flying. 

This is flight #7 of this leg. 

Brisbane-the city that never stops eating...or at least that's how we felt:)
We stay with our Canadian friend Cole from Woodstock ON who now lives in Brisbane and works for Greenpeace. Cole and his girlfriend Thea were amazing hosts. They took us on a culinary adventure of their city including many of their favourite spots to eat and drink. Come to think of it, I think we saw more of the inners of Brisbane...
The food here is incredible and if you come to Australia looking to gorge yourselves on every type of food imaginable from every part of the world, go to Brisbane!
Apart from eating, we checked out the beautiful Botanical Gardens and the St Patty's Day parade downtown.
On Sunday, Cole & Thea took us on a road trip to Byron Bay, a hippy style beach town two hours south on the Gold Coast, for a relaxing beach day. Thanks to our great hosts for immersing us into your city-amazing!

Brisbane, built along the banks of the river, has some spectacular sights and restaurants. 

Ferries dash passangers back and forth to the centre, while riverside sectors entertain and parks help to you to power down from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

One of many Gold Coast beaches full of surfers. 

Very faintly is the 'city' of Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise in the background. 

This is as close as we would get-for good reason...

Strutting at Byron Bay on St. Patty's Day. 

Leaving the coast behind in Australia. 

Next stop-Thailand!

Wingello - what doesn't kill you...

We've made an executive decision to take some time out. After running here, there and everywhere around New Zealand (no regrets!), we needed a bit of a break.
After a bit of research while in Melbourne, we found a work/stay opportunity that allowed us to immerse ourselves into the Australian culture and take some much needed time out.
We agreed to a one week stay and here we are! Wingello (pronounced Win-jello)-which literally mean fire, this small village with one store and a train stop has been completely burned down twice by bush fires; but not since the 60's...
Our days have been full of work and adventures so there has been little time to write. Also, being without internet at our mud hut has allowed us the opportunity to fully relax and catch up on some reading. Highly recommended!!
Our host family picked us up at the train station after our 9 1/2hr journey from Melbourne last Monday and immediately welcomed us into their home. What a treat! After introductions, a fantastic dinner and good conversations, we were driven to our Wingello retreat just 5km down the road.
Our own space-finally!!!
The retreat is slightly tucked away in the woods and the house is constructed of mud and brick.  Beautiful open concept kitchen with wood-burning stove and gas range (very important) large windows looking out over the 2 1/2 acre property, and our very own bathroom complete with soaking tub overlooking the gardens through the huge picture window-fantastic! Great for nightly soaks with a glass of wine in hand after a hard days work and fun. We've found our bliss:)

http://www.stayz.com.au/accommodation/nsw/southern-highlands/bundanoon/132593

I've been busy weeding the gardens at the host families house while Shawn has been clearing bush and chopping wood. He's in his glory using the chainsaw! lol
We've learnt all about the things that can kill you in Australia...basically everything! From kangaroos that will tear you apart to koalas that will claw you to death, magpie birds that peck your eyes out and poisonous snakes (almost all of them) and our recent encounters with deadly funnel web spiders. According to Edward, our 14yr old fountain of knowledge (for real!) we have approx. 7 min to get ourselves to the hospital if bitten by these spiders. But don't worry, Edward says, you have 7mins to say your good-byes... Oh, and they jump-so watch out!
The work has been great (and a great workout) but hanging out with the family and being immersed into their lives has been the most incredible experience. When we aren't being feed the most delicious foods for lunch and dinner with Annabelle and Jane's creative cooking, we've been whisked away into the forests of Wingello on mountain bikes to ride the single track trails with the entire family. We've become so addicted that Annabelle and Janie thought it proper to include us in Sundays single track race! We've been riding back and forth 5km each way from Wingello to Penrose everyday for work, however racing on the single track is a whole new experience. Needless to say, with only two attempts ever on a single track trail, we did pretty well. One of us come in first, and other fell but finished the race with good time. We wont' name names ;)
It's been quite the adventure and better than we ever imagined, it's hard to believe in only a few short days we will be on the road again. However, when we do visit Australia again, and we will, this place and these welcoming, fantastic people, will be on the top of our lists.

PS. A full sized male kangaroo jumped right in front of our picture window at the retreat the other day! So close we could have reached out and touched him! With my back turned to the window, Shawn nearly fell over while grabbing me but the arm and finally managing to spit out the words, "kangaroo, kangaroo!!" We both turned just in time to see him hop across the front of the house, down the driveway and across the road into the bush. No pictures but believe me, it was one of the most amazing things we've ever seen.
Australia is full of wildlife that is so unique and different from anywhere else on earth-truly...and we can't get enough of it!

Train from Melbourne to Moss Vale (near Wingello)

As you can see, Shawn was pretty weighed down with a few extra things from Melbourne Market.

We were glad to take a load off-literally!

Our first morning at the retreat, this rather large and interesting creature called the wombat, wondered out of his underground cave with just enough time for us to grab the camera. 

Apparently, hitting them with your car is like hitting a boulder! I'd say!

In our pantry. I didn't look but Shawn took the pic and 'took care' of it. 

As big my hand, this is one of non-life threatening spiders, called a Huntsman. 

After Shawn cleared the area with a chainsaw, we all chipped in to help stack the previous days log chopping (using a machine) into a neat pile along the shed. A great sense of accomplishment!

Shawn hand chopping some logs for the Wingello retreat. 

Sundays Single Track race in Wingello forest. 

Shawn says red is fast. I say we're proud Canadians ;)

Racing with our host family. 

From left to right; yours truly, Annabelle, Jane, Lucy, who's that guy?, Edward and little friend.