June 15 2012

The last blog!! We have only 3 days left of our travels which is both sad and exciting. It is difficult to leave family and friends in England, a bit daunting to return to life by pager, exciting to soon catch up with family and friends in Canada, exciting to get catching more babies, difficult to leave the excitement and freedom of life on the road and we will miss spending so much time with the boys.

Over the last few weeks in England we have packed it full of family time, we have seen some friends here and there, spent a lot of time playing soccer (football) and enjoyed a few pints in the cozy English pubs. Silas celebrated his 9th birthday this week so we rented a car and drove across the bridge to Wales and took him to the best castle I have ever seen. Raglan castle, now mostly in ruins, had a moat and stairs everywhere leading to dungeons and lookouts. We had a great game of hide and seek there. Then nanny and grandad took us out to dinner and we surprised Silas with a sundae and singing for dessert. He was so full before it even came out so his reaction was a mix of excited and horrified!

The Queen's jubilee was a big event here of course. Banners of the English flag here and there, lots of community events and things to do. I can't even count how many times we heard the national anthem.  Interestingly, the kids here didn't know the words and some of them didn't even recognize the tune. They don't play it at the schools the way we do in Canada. We spent the day at a large park where we listened to various musical acts and participated in lots of free activities for the kids.
Another day was a graffiti festival where we could wander the streets and appreciate all the work done by various artists. We missed the day where the boys could give it a try but maybe that is for the best...they could transform our house in a flash if they became too confident!
At the moment there is a green festival in the city. As part of this tomorrow night Martin and I have a date to see a folky band called Seize the Day and earlier in the day we will take the kids to a farm celebrating the festival with music and food.  There has been no lack of things to do here in Bristol but I must tell about Butlins, thus the name of our blog!

Butlins was a crazy 3 night holiday place full of families with kids. Put together the water park at the Great Wolf Lodge, the rides at a large fair, tons of casino games, 4 or 5 bars with stages, continuous entertainment (really good quality I must add), bowling, pool tables, bingo, ropes course, and self catering trailers and apartments to hold up to 10,000 people.  It really was insane. We went here with Martin's aunt and uncle, just about all of Martin's first cousins and Silas and Orrin's 2nd cousins. We had a blast and will always remember this time together. Everyone was very sweet to take notice of Silas's birthday and we shared a lunch and one of Mandy's famous cakes in the trailer. We had no idea when we called the blog Bali to Butlins how fitting it really was, but these two worlds are about as far apart as possible and we loved each one of them.







The day we left Butlins I met up with Gwawr, a good friend from my years in England. It was a perfect afternoon at a children's play area, a good come down for the boys after Butlins. We said bye to each other racing through the train station carrying her 4 year old and bags just in time for her to jump onto the train as the whistle blew. True adrenaline style travel that I have experienced many times too often!

So that about sums it up...we really appreciate the time people have had for visiting with us and Martin's welcoming family to have us stay for so long. xx







Thanks for reading!

May 30 2012

We have been visiting Nanny Jo and Grandad Tony for the last 2 weeks now in England. We are using the library down the road for the internet so it is hard to get a time booked and be efficient with what we need to do in the short time on the computer...thus, a lack of blogging.

When we left Andrew and Anna's house in Como Italy we stayed the next night in Venice to see the streets filled with water and to think of my mom and dad as a young couple taking a boat around the block for the best price they could find.  Personally we didn't even ask the gondola guys the prices, at this point we were trying to get our next 2 meals for 4 people for no more than 25 euros total. Silas and Orrin tried busking with no luck but it was amusing to me none the less!

We are having a great time now seeing family and friends in England until we return home. Nanny and Grandad took us on a ferry ride through the Bristol harbour, cousin Alfie leant the boys scooters for our time here, uncle Frank leant us bikes, cousin Gareth showed Silas and Orrin some rugby and cousin Grant showed them some boxing and martial arts! We have also spent time with Martin's only sister Georgina, her husband Malcolm and their kids Jack and Leanne. Jack and Leanne were the only first cousins our boys had until baby Lexie came along last September. They have grown up so much now and are young teenagers but still play so well and make Silas and Orrin feel right at home.
Another thing to mention is the Olympics of course. This summer with them being held in England there is a buzz about the place. We went downtown Bristol with our friend Dan to see the torch as it ran past us and Martin was so excited with the perfect video he took just to find out later that the camera showed nothing taped at all!

(Martin writing) It has felt so good to be home, not just seeing family and friends but just stopping and staying still for while. We have been really enjoying  the local park with its amazing playground, forest and streams. The weather turned from cold to beautifully hot last week just in time for a trip down to the south coast of England to some of our favourite places and to catch up with friends. It is always a walk down memory lane for us for this is where Cathy and I lived the whole time she was in England. We even sat at the table in the pub where we first met ( The Bermuda Triangle), but this time with two lovely boys in tow. (Over to Cathy) Seeing friends from Bournemouth was a great day. We sat in the park for 8 hours while we slowly gathered the people we hoped to see and met their children. We spent the day with a picnic, playing baseball and frisbee and lots of talking till the sun left us at 10pm. Thanks so much friends! We have missed seeing you all.

A few of my favorite places in the south are pictured here, Durdle Door and the New Forest. At Durdle Door we walk for about half an hour over high hills on the cliffside and as we come over the crest we see beautiful white cliffs stretching out and we then clamber down to an amazing beach of tiny pebbles. The water is icy though so no swimming here. I love how you can be up on the edge of a cliff in the wind with no fences and see the footpaths stretching over the land as far as you can see.
The New Forest is a large area of wooded land and small villages where the animals roam free. Horses, ponies, cows, pigs and donkeys go anywhere they like, forage for their own food and are often seen in front of shops or on sidewalks just standing there. Not afraid at all. Another thing I like about the New Forest is you can just walk randomly and find horses at streams or a swing hanging over a stream to play on.
On our way back to Bristol we stopped at Stonehenge mostly for Silas because he is really interested in history and these sort of things at the moment. He asks so many questions, I don't know how many times a week I say "hmmm we will have to look that up" because I have no idea!
Now we have only 2.5 weeks before returning home. England has been a perfect transition back to the familiar and is making us think of all the things we appreciate about home again. In this next couple weeks we will celebrate the Queens diamond jubilee, Silas turning 9 yrs old, and spend a weekend with all the cousins at Butlins (thus the name of our blog) which is a weekend away with lots of water fun and entertainment.

 We are missing people in Canada and will see you soon, then we will again start to miss the people in England.

May 12 2012

Last day in Italy tomorrow and we head to Venice. It worked out that we could fly from Venice to Bristol UK for as cheap as anywhere else in England and for far cheaper than the train so I get my wish (and on the advice of my mother) to see Venice just for a day. The last few days we have been staying with friends Andrew and Anna in Como Italy at the base of the Alps, English friends happening to live in Italy for the year.  I had no idea that stopping off to visit friends would land us in yet another beautiful setting in Italy...every corner we turn in this country is more and more amazing.  The camper van was fun and interesting. Nice to be able to tour the countryside of tuscany and visit small mountaintop villages while cooking our own food. On the other hand it has been somewhat difficult to contain the kids' energy in a small space while cooking with half working burners and sleeping in hoodies and wool socks in gravel parking lots! We sure felt cold after leaving Thailand peak heat even though Italy was 15-20 degrees.

After returning the campervan we stayed in an apartment in Cinque Terre for 5 nights. The apartment was perfect in a small village with a full kitchen and cozy warm beds. Cinque Terre is a series of 5 villages on the sea with walking paths between the villages along the cliffs. The hikes ranged from 20 minutes to 2 hours but a few were washed out with a land slide last October.  The people in the village were friendly and we sampled many cheeses and pastas...Orrin discovered that he loves pesto. Yay for a new food for Orrin!  Oh and gelato of course! The water reminded me of Georgian Bay temperatures and we were some of the few people swimming (obviously Canadian tourists..).

In two days we will be at our final destination of England to see nanny for the last 5 weeks. The boys are really excited for that and to see cousins as well. Orrin doesn't remember much from 2.5 yrs ago at our last visit but Silas has him convinced he will love the food. If they still have curry and chips we will be fine!

Oh, by the way Meng... thought you would appreciate the photo of Martin...this is what is has come to after our stay with you! xx

May 6th

It's been a little hard to keep up with our weekly intentions of the blog update...Thailand was packed with adventure thanks to our good friend Meng! After our last update we travelled south to the Islands of Koh Lanta then Koh Phi Phi. The six of us (our family, Meng and grandpa Wayne) spent lots of time swimming and snorkelling. A must see area of Koh Lanta was around Koh Rok where we took a boat trip and kayaked around the incredible formations and caved areas. Ko Phi Phi was nice to get away from cars and motor bikes on this very small island. We rented bicycles for 2 days to get around so we could travel easily with our combination of 3 generations!

The one tour we took on Phi Phi was to Maya beach, the famous site of the filming of "the beach". It was a fantastic trip with our own longtail boat driven by a local with good taste for reggae music. The waters were the bluest blue I could imagine with loads of little fishies to peer at. The only thing of course was the masses of people arriving by the minute even though we went at 8:30am to avoid the crowds!
On Phi Phi the view point was well worth the long and hot hike to the top. It gave a great perspective of where we were and of all the little gems around the island.

April 18

We are writing today from Nakom Pathom, west of Bangkok.  We are now travelling with dad Kipp and Meng, our friend and former exchange student from Thailand. He has shown us great things and taken really good care of us, not to mention being extremely generous as he says is the Thai custom...(?) Thanks Meng! The place we just left (Koh Samet) deserves a photo as we have never seen so many people fit onto a stretch of beach for a BBQ.

The overnight train to Chiang Mai was lots of fun, sleeping in bunk beds and travelling for 14 hours north. We were meant to have a cabin for 4 but arrived and found our beds had been double booked. Apparently this happens frequently in Thailand, the other couple had the previous date written on their tickets without realizing and the train guy wanted them to get off the train telling them through hand gestures that it was their own mistake. We all sat tight and insisted we share the space together knowing the couple would never find another seat due to the Thai New Year. After 15 minutes of this trying to communicate and refusing to get off the train, the train guy gave in with frustration and the 6 of us shared the four beds to the north. As a result we have 2 new German friends and the train worker returned all jovial a few hours and a few whiskeys later!

The water festival was incredible. It lasted all week in various parts of the country, we celebrated first in Chiang Mai then here in Nakom Pathom. It is to celebrate the New Year of 2555. To summarize, we put our money in plastic, got the waterproof camera out, carried buckets and water guns and headed onto the street. For hours and hours, day after day all the people in the street have garbage bins full of water,  hoses running to fill vessels and trucks loaded full in the back of people with their water, driving the speed of the walkers through the traffic jams. The driving vehicles and the people walking all take part in dumping containers of water on each other, spraying each other and spreading clay/flour onto each others faces. Silas and Orrin engaged fully taking every possible chance to retaliate and spray water. Eventually Orrin was being swarmed by locals touching his face and needed to get onto Meng's shoulders for a break from the insanity!

We were taken to see elephants and tigers, very interactive to be able to ride the elephants and pet the lazy tigers. I thought the tigers must be drugged but the man working with them said they were not, just in the day are less active and well trained. There were signs everywhere warning of the dangers and not to approach from the front or touch their faces or front paws. The workers were very careful to keep everyone safe. Dad and Meng were brave to pet the biggest tiger and Silas was disappointed to only be allowed with the babies!

The elephants were a highlight for Orrin, he was so happy to be able to feed them sugar cane and bananas and the elephants looked so proud of themselves when they showed us their tricks.

Our other big splurge was the jungle zipline. Here we flew from station to station and had a few drops through the trees, the largest drop was 40m. This was a favorite for me and Martin! This was all Chiang Mai, a holiday within a holiday and a great way to celebrate the New Year and joining together our travels with dad and Meng. I only hope when I am almost 70 I can still do what my dad can do, he is amazing and as adventurous as always!

Now in Nakom Pathom (Meng's hometown) we are spending time meeting his family, eating delicious foods and wandering through markets. Another very interesting aspect of Thailand is the floating market, a series of boats and stalls along the canal with most of the shoppers travelling by longboat throughout. A tropical Venice I suppose... Here we bought mango, coconut and roseapple then stopped along the side to watch coconut sugar being made and to have a taste.

Soon we head to the Islands in the south, wish us well and hope for the earthquake and tsunami events to quiet down please!!! It's all pretty minor and random says dad...

April 9 2012

We left Bali and headed to Malaysia to stay with an old friend of Martin's in Penang. Christian, Ni and baby Jenesta showed us around and gave us lots of good advice and ideas before we headed to Kuala Lumpur for a few days. While we were there we also noticed a world music festival was happening so spent an evening listening to great music from Asia, Ireland and Indonesia. Being at a music festival felt like being at home and made us excited for summer and good friends!

Malaysia was a big change from Bali and we were suddenly immersed in city life, huge buildings and bustling streets. Also came a change from Hinduism to Islamic and we had the opportunity to visit the central mosque dressed in full gear! We were so hot I started to feel a bit dizzy and stood mostly by the fan. The twin towers were a highlight for Silas and looked especially impressive at night.

We left for Bangkok after only 5 days in Malaysia and stayed for 3 nights on Khao San Road, a crazy street full of vendors and tourists that doesn't quiet down till 4:30am. We had a nice quiet room when the air conditioning was on to help the kids sleep but on the night that we let them stay up later they had a blast, making dogs and swords from the long modelling balloons and giving them out to people on the street. Silas just wants to go back there and do that again.

We also treated the boys to a fish foot spa for only two dollars each for 5 minutes. They laughed so hard while the tiny fish ate all the dead skin off their toes and tickled their feet! The prices here are unbelievable. We ate most of our food from street vendors as was often suggested to us by other travellers and usually spent only two dollars each for most meals.

We travelled around the city by either tuk tuk ( a little cart driven by a man) or a boat for just dollars a trip while we saw the giant reclining buddha, china town and an amazing procession of 1500 monks walking the city street on rose petals. We were given petals to throw as they walked the 10km through the streets toward their gathering place.

Now we spend a few days on the island of Koh Samet before heading to meet dad and Meng in Chaing Mai for the water festival. We are so excited to see grandpa and have a local Thai friend show us the ropes!  The water festival will be nice to cool off as the sea water here is like bath water and we are hot again by the time we dry off... It is the peak of the hot season now in Thailand and holiday season too so it is hard to find somewhere to stay without spending too much. Thanks for the advice Meng to book the transport and accommodation ahead of time for our stay with you. A funny little thing...Orrin has learned how to say no in Thai since he is stopped many many times a day to have his cheeks pinched or photo taken by locals amazed at his blonde hair. He is getting tired of this and will now be seen in albums across the continent!

We are all well, missing friends and family of course and look forward to seeing you soon!

March 28 2012

Only 2 more days in Bali, the last few we have spent on Lembongan Island, about an hour boat ride off the main island of Bali. Here the sun shines a lot, the water is the perfect blue colour and we can see a great view of the big volcano on mount Batur in Bali. Silas and Orrin have been talking about people at home a lot and the cats but especially miss home the most when we relocate. Tonight will be our 4th night here so they have settled in well. Yesterday they found some boys on the beach and asked if they could join in their game of soccer and have talked about that ever since.

 A highlight yesterday was riding scooters around the island and doing some cliff jumping into the sea...Silas and Orrin both jumped the 7m cliff while I waited to receive them with an inner tube down below! A nice local guy hangs out on the cliff waiting to show people the ropes and sell them a beer, warning each jumper when is a good time or when to wait for the next wave to pass.

  

Wow Lembongan was truly beautiful!

Seaweed farmer at sunset.

Forgot to mention we spent Balinese New Year in Ubud (1934 in the Balinese Hindu calendar) and watched the locals carry large Oga Oga's (big figures depicting evil) through the streets, playing loud drums and Gamelan. At the end of the evening before 12 midnight they were all burned in the Monkey Forest.