Jaipur to Agra

Well we have finally been able to find some time for adding to the blog. This is Carol in front of the "Palace of the Winds" in Jaipur. It was designed so the ladies could watch the street life without being seen. Very pretty building in very average street. From here we explored the surrounding palaces and streets with an interesting beer stop in the most run down restaurant in Jaipur. "Recommended by the lonely planet guide". The owner went to a shop to get the beers for us after telling us he sold beer. Anything is possible in India as long as you are willing to wait for it.




We then went to the palace in the lake and red fort. Very impressive buildings and a great history with legends of buried treasures. The architecture is amazing in all of the palaces with a mix of Hindu, Iranian and Arabic. There were Elephants carrying people to the palace and too many amazing sites for photos to include here. We will be sure to bore you all with the albums when you visit.






This photo was an opportunity not to be missed. Carol made a friend and got his name which will have to appear in the albums as we don't have it with us now. He was very funny and also very friendly. Check out those shoes!!








The Taj Mahal! What an impressive building. The architecture is again amazing and has been fantastically preserved. Shoes must be removed to enter the site and everyone was suitably impressed with the place. The gardens are in pretty good condition and the locals took as much interest in us westerners as we did in the Taj. We were asked to pose for photo's all the way through the grounds which was very amusing to all. Once again we have more photos than we know what to do with.

Well we have once again run out of time for more info but will attempt to add more at the next opportunity. We are currently in Nepal and heading to Kathmandu tomorrow. We hope you are all well. We have not had any health issues yet "Touch wood" and are managing to survive on Veggie diet.

Love to all.

Simon & Carol

And So It Begins

Oh Where to Begin?

Well we start with the obviouse choice of a farewell Aus beer in the Airport. The plane ride is not worth a mention as it is always boring.


We arrived in New Delhi airport to find our transfer awaiting us an were quickly bundled into a cab for the ride to our hotel. What a ride!!!
I promise I will never again complain about traffic in any country! The road rules are non existant and its a free for all at every intersection.

We got to the hotel to find our room not ready so left the bags and went for a stroll on the street to find a coffee and internet cafe. We made it to the end of the block feeling rather out of place with eveybody looking at us as if we were from Mars. After another 15 minutes of aimless wandering we returned to the hotel. Streets have no names here and it was very intimidating for the uneasoned travellers that we are.


We decided on hiring a cab for the day and managed to get in a quick shower before heading out to see the sites. By now it was full on Saturday traffic and chaos doesn't even start to do it justice. Our first stop was the presidents palace. Very nice buildings set around nice park lands.




Second stop was the tomb of the first Mogul king of India. The name escapes me as do most names in India. The buildings are fantastic and date back to 15th Century. The architects of the tombs were lucky enough to be executed after completion so that the structure could never be repeated. Nice one!




Next it was a visit to Gahndi's museum. Very nice and free entry made for all round happiness. The man is greatly revered here and was instrumental in uniting the country and bringing about democracy. I never knew he spent many years in South Africa including being imprisoned by the wonderful government of the time. This was actually the driving force behind his mission to unite people against racism and inequality.

After lunch we went to Gahndi's cremation "Ghat" and then back to the Hotel for group meeting. The morning was a 4:30am wake up and off to the train for our journey to Jaipur on the train. It only gets better from here on in but you will have to wait for the next internet oppotunity for that episode.

See you all again soon. Lots of love

Simon and Carol

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

 

 

 

 

We went to the Ku-ring-gai national park on Saturday and it was great. Not too cold and it didn't rain! We did a couple of walking tracks and had our lunch at one of the beaches. Really nice. It was all Simon's idea.

 
ESP: Este finde fuimos al Ku-ring-gai parque nacional. No hizo demasiado frio y tampoco llovio. Estuvo muy bien, nos tomamos nuestro bocata en una de las playas... muy bonito. Fue todo idea de Simon.




We did 2 walks on the day. The first went from a picnic stop at the top of the ridge down the hill side and along the coast with some short tracks down to the beaches. There were some very faint and not too impressive aboriginal paintings on some rock faces as well as rock engravings which were covered by water so not very easy to see. The area covers the south side of the Hawksbury river entrance and is full open water areas with great estuary views.



ESP: hicimos dos de los tracks. El primero fue el mejor, vimos unos muy antiguos restos de arte aborigena, aunque no estaban muy bien conservados. Pero en conjunto estuvo genial. Me encantaria volver antes de que nos vayamos y hacer otros dos tracks. Ya veremos si hay tiempo... madre mia! los dias se pasan volando!

Our Brief Aussie stay

Well as mentioned earlier, here is a brief view of the last 3 years spent on our "Brief" 8 year Aussie adventure. Hope you find some photo's that you like.


Tasmania May 2008

Cradle Mountain, Wineglass Bay, Montezuma's Falls.

Carols Visit to Spain 2008

Family Gatherings, Friends and a great summer in Madrid

More To Follow...

Our New Blog Adventure

Hello Happy People.

Welcome to our new blog world where you will be able to see the latest and greatest from our upcoming adventures. We will be attempting to keep this space up to date as we embark on a whirlwind tour of Asia and Canada.

Our plans are slowly but surely falling into place and the 2 month countdown is well and truly under way. Vaccinations are being painfully administered and necessary equipment purchased. It's an exciting as well as nerve racking time. Please check back soon as we will be posting a photo journey of our brief 8 YEAR! stay in Aus.

Hasta pronto amigos!