Standby For Action

So I spent my last few days in Ireland chilling with my family. I was originally meant to head home but decided to stay on because my aunt Brigid, who normally lives in Surrey/Manchester came up to visit. I knew Aunt Brigid from when she came over to NZ a good number of years ago. When you meet sisters separately you can really see the similarities. I can see parts of Theresa in Brigid when she's looking after Gran but then can see Francis in her when she's on the phone to friends or talking about tv :D. But of course she's her own person and the best thing about Aunt Brigid is she's really chilled out. Not that I gave her or any of my other relatives any reason to get annoyed but I think Brigid is quite patient. Haha, then my dad might say otherwise, i'm not sure.

You know, to be honest, I always find talking about people really awkward. Especially when there's a possibility that they will be reading it. :P The point is that all of my family, mum's side and dad's side are really cool. I get along well with everybody.

So my Aunt Brigid took me to some of the smaller towns nearby. Actually it was probably the most picturesque areas of Ireland. Ballintoy was so so nice. It was stormy as hell but it made for some great pics, including my favourite picture I took in Ireland here:

She also took me to one of the sites of Ireland i've always wanted to see. The smalled church in Ireland. We couldn't go inside but looking inside the window you could probably reach out and touch each wall. Kind of pointless but I like stuff like that.

So yeah, that was my trip through Ireland. I got back to Largs and had to get ready for my first days at work in Edinburgh and then a trip to Belgium. Yep, I work two days then go on two weeks holiday. Awesome :)

Aunt's and Rope Bridges

So the next day I spent with my Aunties. My Uncle headed off to Dover for a school reunion, the school he taught at not the one he attended. I haven't talked about my Aunties yet. They are awesome. There's my Aunt Theresa who looks after my gran a lot. She works in Belfast but comes up to Ballycastle everyday (2hours drive). She's really nice and chilled out. From what I gather I think she probably looked after my dad a bit :P. Then there's my youngest Aunt Francis who is an utter shit. :P Haha, just put that in case she reads this. Nah she's alright. Haha, nah actually she's really cool. I don't know how old she is really but she acts like she is 12, but not in a creepy weirdo way just that she's full of energy and still teases my gran like she did when she was a kid. She is also very very astute (but I wont get into that)

So yeah, I spent the day with both Aunts and my Gran. Oh, for completion I have a few other Aunts. There's my Aunt Brigid who I will mention later, my Aunt Marion who I met briefly but will probably meet properly when I go back after xmas. There's also Aunt Rosemary, who I haven't met yet.

Theresa, Francis, Gran and I went for a drive up to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. It's apparently pulled across to the other side via helicopter and is taken down during Winter. At one point people lived on the little island but no one lives there now.

Was pretty scary but having bungie jumped and all that It wasn't a too big a deal to cross it.

Surprisingly my Gran walked the whole way to the bridge. She's like 88 and was putting the panting Americans to shame. Haha, imagine being overtaken by a woman twice your age. My Dad says she never crosses the bridge though, and my Aunt Theresa kept her company but i'm not sure if it was a completely selfless task she was prob scared herself :P

The next day, my Aunt Theresa went back to work and Francis, Gran and I went for a walk in Cushendun. Big props to Francis for finding this nunnery that you get to through a cave. I didn't believe it existed, neither did Gran but she proved us wrong.

Sunday, 2 November 2008

Rathlin or "you are so much like Peter [my dad]"

Bear with me here, i'm writing this retrospectively. :)

I went to Ireland. It was green. I met relatives. They said i was like my dad.

That's it really.

Okay, so my Aunt and Uncle took me to Rathlin, an Island off Ballycastle where my dad grew up.

I have a bit of family history linked to that island. My mum's dad grew up there, as did my dad's mum. In fact they knew each other at school (well, EVERYBODY knew each other on a small island like Rathlin). Also, my dad's dad was the lighthouse keeper on Rathlin for like ever. My mum's mum used to spend most of her time there as did my mum and dad. Oh, and also my house in Waitakere was called 'Rathlin' after the island.

The Island itself is pretty small (like 4 miles across). You catch a small boat over from the mainland (Ballycastle) and it takes all of about 55mins on the big boat, or 20min on the small.

Hmm, actually if i go on and tell you about the island it's going to be pretty boring. There's not much point describing it because you can SEE what it looks like right here:

This is the Western point lighthouse that my grandad worked on.

Thats me at the Mack and Cherries. Apparently, if the two rocks touch the world will end so the thing to do to prevent it is put more rocks in between.

Just down from the Mack and Cherries is Arkill bay. Apparently my dad would love to build a house there. Bit isolated, not sure what mum will think :P

Probably the most exciting things on the island are the seals. How badass are seals? Quite badass.

Yeah so here's another slideshow thing.

I just had two nights in Rathlin, because i needed to head back to the mainland to meet my gran and family on my Dad's side......

Monday, 27 October 2008

Don't drink the water in Koh Tau, also this post has little pictures

Hey there,

Well, i'm in Koh Tau and so far i have been out for 3 dives. On the third i panicked a bit when i lost my air nozzle and breathed in a lung full of seawater. The instructor got it back for me and managed to calm me down, after that it was the best dive yet. I should be okay getting my padi licence but i'm not sure if i'm going to be the diving type. Todays dive was to 12m, tomorrow we leave at 6:30am and go for two dives at 18m. That is our limit as an open water diver. It's amazing though, and the fish aren't fussed at all about you being there. One of them kept nibbling at a cut on my leg.

I should be okay tomorrow, it was just today i had a real sick belly and was a bit dizzy. I'm glad i went in though, because my tum felt better underwater. I am pretty much okay now, just a bit worn out. I will go for an afternoon nap.

Not sure if you've heard of the social unrest in Bangkok. Don't worry about it, apparently we should be okay and the airport has been re-opened again. The fuss is over ANOTHER corrupt Prime Minister. It's crazy how often they get through them. I think Thailand became a democracy too soon and would be better off a communist country. The one way it will impact us is that the trains are on strike so we will have to go by bus. The bus is shorter but it's uncomfortable. It's going to be a rough journey.

Either way, don't worry about me, i will survive and am safely having a great time.

take care
-Aidan

Koh Tau was pretty much 4 days of being sick and diving... but loving it.

The resort we stayed in was really comfortable and the diving was amazing. Although i messed up a few things (see above) i got to see sooo many cool fish. The water was warm and ridiculously clear.

Hmm, to be honest not much happened. I was sick.

So back to bangkok for one night and spent a great evening with Tanya and Cat. It was sad to see them go, but i will get to visit them in Britain.

Speaking of Britain, i'm heading there next.

Standby please

So, that was my rollercoaster trip through Northern and Southern Thailand. I really recommend going but i wouldn't stay in Bangkok for long. go North AND South they are both very different but both very beautiful. Thailand was also one of the easiest Asian countries to travel through (after Malaysia) so if it's your first trip out.. go there.

I'm going to take a break, and will try to post the next series of posts (regarding the UK) very soon. Maybe even by tomorrow, who knows (not me)

Koh Samui You're so kewl

We said goodbye to our friends in the other group and headed off to Koh Samui by boat.

Koh Samui is basically like Club Med. I've never been to Club med but i assume it's much the same. :P Yeah i'm getting sick of blogging for one day (this may be my last for today)

It was Jen's birthday and we went to a beach club. It was one of the best nights i had in Thailand. The music was actually really decent, the food was great and buckets of vodka were drank.

Big Thai beach parties are wicked. Though there are a lot of poor kids around coming in and trying to sell you stuff. You feel bad but then you quickly get annoyed. :P

Hmm, not sure what else to say. Oh yeah, we released this giant paper kite with a candle inside. It's meant to bring your wishes closer to heaven or something.

I also saw a boa constrictor, a giant iguana and a baby gibbon in the club. Stolen from the wild :(

Awesome night though :)
Woo :D

The next day or two we left for Koh Tau. Where we were to spend 4 days.

:)

Oh yeah, i also didn't take any pics on Koh Tau so the next post might not be that interesting. Sorry bout that.

Going South, in Thailand

We took the night train to Koh Sok National Park in the South, it was pretty good if you didn't mind cockroaches (which i don't) or if you don't enjoy sleeping.

Then a bus trip to the hotel

Nah, it was all good and any problems were made up by the fact that Koh Sok is beautiful. Our hotel/cabins were situated next to a big river and was shadowed by a giant limestone mountain (karst) which are typical of the area.

On the walk from my cabin to the bar i saw a group of 10 monkeys swing in the trees.

Oh i shouldn't forget to mention that i have seen more geckos here than ever and i love it. The clever little things hang out in lamp shades and eat the moths.

From 8-25-2008 - Koh Sok NP

That night we went to the local bar and we happened to meet the members from my previous trip up North. We all got sufficiently drunk and probably patted the bar's puppy dog a lot more than was necessary (it was super cute though).

The next morning we all slept in then got up and went for a swim. I love being able to get out of bed and into a river, it's something i will rarely get to do in Britain i think. We all left for the national park and walked for about an hour only to find that the waterfall we hopped to swim in was just a few rapids. We hopped in anyway and i now have a few bruises to prove that fast flowing water is very difficult to swim in.

We headed back in monsoon rain and were greeted at our hotel by a group of about 20 monkeys that were swimming and climbing trees around the river.

We hopped in with them and watched them do a combination of eating, playing and **cough**, well you can probably guess what monkeys get up to. Best part of the swim was a snake happily swimming past my face. I think it was the same one i saw on the trek, so it was venomous. It wasn't fussed though and was more concerned with getting out of the water.

Back to Bangkok.. sigh

Haha, okay i don't hate bangkok or anything. But it's not the greatest place on earth.

Anyway, we got back and had to say goodbye to half the group after which we said hello to our new half of a group for the southern Trip. It wasn't that bad either because for a little while the two groups will be staying together and heading down south.

But first we had a couple of days in Bangkok. Was a comfort day and we went for a walk through Chinatown.

From 8-23-2008 - Chinatown

We quickly decided to leave the crowded chinatown and head to the mall :P

This mall was the biggest i had ever been in. Every nook and cranny had a shops in it. It was mental.

From 8-23-2008 - Chinatown

We also had a western lunch. Massive burgers with the biggest steak knife i've ever seen offered in a restaurant.

From 8-23-2008 - Chinatown

We also managed to get 6 people in a tuk tuk, seven if you count a driver. It was precarious.

Next day we went for a boat ride through the canals of Bangkok.

Interesting, the river used to be the spot where only the poor lived. But now more and more, rich folk are moving in.
Thought there are few things you have to look out for living by the river.

Catfish

and

Monitor Lizards

As a result a lot of people have spikes on the walls leading up from the river to stop unwanted organisms (probably people more than anything).

After the boat trip i went to a temple nearby. To be honest i wasn't really paying attention so i can't tell you anything about it. I took lots of pics though.

Elephants and stuff

We set off for our 5 hour hike. It seems long but we were fuelled by the promise of an elephant trek. The elephants were much bigger than i remember asian elephants being and seemed even bigger when you are staring at the ground from a top of them!

Although the elephants were fantastic, i have to say the trek was a little uncomfortable and i spent most of it holding on for dare life as my elephant stepped down into a river. At least we weren't on the elephant behind us who decided that he would much rather plough into bushes of Bamboo for a bite to eat rather than stay on the road :D.

We said goodbye to the elephants and got to our second village. This village had vehicle access and as a result was far more developed.

We played soccer with the local kids at the school and i gave out packs of toys i bought in the Chiang Mai market. We swam in the river alongside water Buffalo who seemed rather indignant that we had stolen their prime swimming spot. The evening was spent playing games and watching magic tricks performed by our man of many talents tour guide. The next morning we set off on some bamboo rafts for a 3 hour boat ride down the river. It was a little wobbly at first but once our tour guide jumped over to our boat and pulled me into the river i realised it was one waste deep water and quite safe. The rest of the trip was spent having a war with the other boats, including some spanish tourists who's male members would happily through their girlfriends in to save themselves. :D We arrived at our end point and caught a truck back to Chiang Mai.

Bonus pic, Cool cricket!!

And more!

Trekking across Chiang Mai

We drove in a back of a ute for about an hour and got to our first pit-stop, a little market with various tidbits for sale including snake, bits of chicken i've never seen before and fried crickets. I did sample the latter, once you pull off the wings and legs i found them to have the taste of honey soy chicken. A bag of them was bought and shared among the brave tour mates. Apparently i'm the only one willing to try random foods (and also the only one to be able to handle spicy food.. the english are real chickens!)

Our trip continued with a trip to a waterfall for a swim. I had forgotten how hard a waterfall can hit you. I couldn't stay under some areas for long, but then maybe i'm just a wuss :P Oh man, click on the next image, it's awesome but blogger messes up my formatting

Actually it was a bit of a sad story with the waterfall. We had been swimming for a while and then someone noticed that there was a half decaying dead dog in the corner. So yeah, that was a bit of a dampener on things and also made the girls freak out. Tony, our guide and the coolest guy EVER, took the dog out and gave it a more dignified place in the forest. He's really cool like that.

So with the dog gone and us not really feeling like swimming in dead dog water we headed up the road for a bite to eat and the real start of our trek.

The trek was pretty easy going, i thought. It wasn't too much different from what i had to do at work. The surroundings were lovely, and a lot like New Zealand forest. But then, i always say that. We did manage to find this little yellow snake. Which was quite venomous apparently.

So what do you do with a little venomous snake? Poke it with a stick and piss it off, apparently (if you're a local guide :P).

Poor little guy.

So other things we learned on the trip: how to throw a knife, that little lizards are cute and when you see a termite mound you should put a nice leaf on it and you'll get a nice girlfriend/boyfriend.

Almost got to the first village for a stop and the trek got a whole lot harder. All downhill and all really muddy.

The night was spent being entertained by Tony and eating the best spring rolls i've ever had.

More pics here, feel free to click away

Chiang Mai made me jump off a crane

ChianFirst day in Chiang Mai and the plan today was to Bungie Jump.
The bravest of the group, Olga, Cat, Brad, Tim and Myself got on the truck to surrounding jungle and looked up at the 50m crane we were going to bungie off.

Okay, i'm not the best on heights so needless to say i was shit scared about jumping off the crane. As you can see.

But with some encouragement from watching Brad jump first i got over to the crane, was tied up and taken up.

I wish i could have taken a picture from the top, it really was fantastic. You could see dark clouds in the high hills in the horizon and see the thousands of palm trees below.

But i didn't have time to admire the surroundings, and that's not what i was there for.

3

2

1

Are you ready?

No, not yet.

Then i started getting that horrible feeling in my gut and i knew if i didn't jump i wasn't ever going to be able to do it. So i jumped.

You get this crazy feeling that can only be described as "oh shit, i'm going to die, i'm going to die!". Then you bounce up, tense up and experience zero gravity. It was really fun, but also kind of uncomfortable hanging upside down. Oh and i didn't half crap my pants when i felt the roap slip a little. Though it was natural for it to do that and i wasn't in danger.

For my troubles, i got a certificate and t-shirt and then a stiff drink with the rest.

On the way back we experienced what i think was the first monsoon rain of our trip. Man, does that rain come down. It's no wonder Thailand can suffer from flash floods. It was sunny before, what happened?