Bear and Jackie’s Travel Diary

Three and a half years since we returned home. New energy, new business, new life. Time for a break now. SQ222 – 13 July. UK and Europe trip approaches. Time to reunite with friends and family. Fasten seat belts please.

WOW! A year gone but not a moment wasted!! Not only have we survived it, but have learned so much about each other and have had more than just a taste of bucket list items and misbehaviour!

Together, we have travelled the world, jumped out of planes, scuba dived  the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. We have laughed our way down the longest zip-wire in the world, over the Copper Canyon in Mexico,  trekked the 100k Salkantay trek, climbed Machu Picchu, camped in the Amazon Jungle, swam with baby sea lions whilst island hopping round the Galapagos. We have partied our days and nights away at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, golf buggied around not one but two amazing islands off the coast of Mexico, we have eaten in hundreds of different places, sampling local cuisine. We have cooked in hostels, hotels, camps, homes and in Sri Lanka we took over a restaurant for one night and filled it!!. We have segwayed through Budapest where there are no restrictions, hiked our way through Slovenia, took a gondola ride in Venice and even sampled business class flying. Most importantly, we have grown together and all along this wonderful journey we have made sure to meet up with family and friends new and old.

Over 73,000km flown, 25 countries visited. Thousands of laughs and memories. Family get togethers and holiday. New friends, new experiences and some scary moments. Never a day regretted, unbelievable, just perfect. We will continue to live our life to the full with love and passion. Back home in our beautiful Australia now to find new adventures.

Planned on a couple of nights here in the shadow of Lion Rock before heading back to Colombo and the Airport. Within an hour of arriving, two nights turned into four! No sense buggering off any sooner than needed.

Found ourselves a homestay in the middle of the jungle and got stuck into the place.

Lion Rock is apparently the ancient remains of an ancient volcano! Curries here causing plenty of explosions but none that you have to climb to appreciate! Rocked up at 7am hoping to avoid the tour busses and selfie stick gauntlet. Slightly miffed to find a couple of groups just starting the hike. As the groups stopped for breathers every 16cm or so and listened to fabulous Buddhist tales, we nipped past and scampered up to the top to enjoy the views alone. Serious sweats and not just a few deep breaths ensued but the views were awesome. Managed to plough through the other few groups and avoid the wasps on the way down to a well deserved brekky and an afternoon elephant safari.

Generally not a massive fan of the four legged beast! Dogs, horses or elephants! Elephant riding in particular should have been left behind with pith helmets and the Raj! There can be few things sadder than watching a family of grinning imbeciles sitting atop a chained elephant! Our steed however was Mahindra’s finest Jeep, an Indian 4 wheel drive work of art that rarely found the energy to propel more than a couple of wheels at once! Fortunately, our pilot knew his way about the car and terrain and gave us a spectacular few hours. We hoped to see Dumbo and maybe a few of his big eared chums but this was an unexpected and absolute treat to see so many, so close in the wild.

Pidurangala Rock is Lion Rock’s slightly smaller brother. Lion Rock has been claimed by the tourist police who charge a king’s ransom to climb it, in turn, keeping it immaculate. Pidurangala has been claimed by the Buddhists who just charge you a fee for walking through their temple on the way! Once you get past the fee demanding monk and the few thousand steps up, the views again are utterly spectator.

And almost a year to the day, it is time to head home….

Back on the bus again for us. An old friend used to live in Trinco and it’s back on the coast! Sounded like good enough couple of reasons to jump on a five hour local bus. Bus stations here have to be seen to be believed. A complete tangle of diesel fume belching vehicles with air horns at full volume surrounded a horde of shouting lads clutching fist fulls of rupees! Turns out, the rupee clenchers are drumming up business for the drivers. Let them know where you want to go, if you get a suitable amount of ‘head wiggles’ hop on and hope for the best! First class please! Not so much! A few seats are reserved for clergy, pregnant women and invalids. The rest of us join in with the rabble of goats, chickens and occasional monkey to find a seat!

No real road rules here. Pecking order has some uniformity, Air horn is number one, Close second are cows and trucks. Swastika emblazoned bovines fortunately somewhat different to the w@nkers that marched into Poland almost 80 years ago!

After about 5 hours, the poor old gluteus maximus now seems to be a living piece of the rock hard seat, cooled only partly by the steady flow of sweat heading South! Uncountable near misses and 1 toilet stop (maybe not!!) later we arrive in Trinco, where a bloke selling underpants and baby wipes seems to be doing a brisk trade!

Getting 2 rucksacks and 2 people into a tuk tuk is an art form that we have near perfected. More functional than pretty but we soon arrive at our new home in Upaveli, about 4km from Trinco.

High season is over here. Many places are shutting up shop and following the tourist army to the South Coast. Perfect!!! One bar on the beach, a generous selection of eateries, a couple of small shops and a heap of near empty accommodation to choose from.

Plans to save a few $$ by eating at home were futile! A selection of manky fruit from the local shop was triple the price of getting it done for you. Outrageously good curry, rice, daal, popadums etc sets you back about 4 bucks. We had an initial plan to stay 3 nights here, maybe a little longer before the trek back to Colombo and home.

Weather pretty ordinary elsewhere on the island, we stayed for 4 weeks. Shifted to the nicest accommodation in the vicinity and lived like royalty.

Not long in, we decided to donate our globetrotting kitchen utensils to a new restaurant that was sorely in need of a few sharp knives and a few other bits. Bear’s rucksack now significantly lighter!!

Small teams of fishermen on the beach spend about 4 hours dragging in an endless length of rope and nets. Sometimes worthwhile, others nearly bugger all except a few small sardines, some nasty looking jellyfish, a grumpy looking turtle a few pissed off puffer fish that tried their hardest not to be rehabilitated.

Cows and goats wandering freely along the roads and beaches, monkeys running amok in the mango trees.

Wandered past one restaurant in search of a late brekky one day and saw a large crab waving at us. Actually, he was trying to escape! An hour or so later, curry crab masala arrived. Breakfast turned into the best brunch ever and our introduction to Nina’s.

It was almost our last night here when we finally cooked for them and invited 15 or so of our new best friends from the beach bar! We sh@t ourselves waiting for the restaurant to fill but it was all smiles

4 weeks on the beach sounds like a long time, 52 weeks covering unfeasible fun and adventure sounds a lot longer! Both now coming to a close 😢. Time to move again. Sigiriya is our last stop before the airport….

It was always one of our dreams to get us together somewhere in world. Europe didn’t work out but we all got our heads together to make it happen, and the place of choice being Sri Lanka……….a first for all of us.

Harri and Ben arriving from Sydney, Sam and Nic from London. Ben and Haz got in around midnight so managed a quick sun burn in the pool the next morning

Nic and Sam not so lucky with flight times. Feeling refreshed and sprightly after a 14 hour flight an hour or two in the pool must have looked like heaven! Sadly just a mirage as our transport to Arugam Bay awaited. Just another cheeky 10 hours in a minibus to go. Could have been worse! No spare seats so the reserve driver got to spend his rest periods amongst our bags in the back!!

A few near misses with lorries are all part of the fun on the way. Scooters and stray dogs seem fair game. The somewhat pissed off elephant in the National Park wasn’t so friendly and let us know in no uncertain terms on the way past.

2am is always a fun time to arrive at a hotel! Never mind, woke up the manager and shuffled off to bed excited for the coming morning.

Crystal clear skies greeted us for pretty much the whole of the next week. Off to the beach!

Peak season in Arugam Bay just finishing. No crowds of tourists to compete with and only a few Germans claiming deck chairs in the morning, it was important to keep fluid levels up and not do anything too strenuous!

‘A’ Bay has a stack of eateries and watering holes to relax in after a tough day on the beach

Friendly locals and fun times

Sam also managed to arrange the trip around his birthday. Hats off to Mrs B and the restaurant for looking after us and helping us celebrate Sam’s 22nd Sri Lankan style.

Never long enough but Nic and Sam took off for Kandy in a posh looking car, whilst the 4 of us suffered in a sweaty sh!tbox to Ella in the hills

Then, the awesome train ride to Kandy

From Kandy it was a tale of two beaches! Ben and Harri back to Sydney, B & J off to Trincomalee in the North East….

Enough of big cities now! Visas sorted so off down to the South Coast. We were originally planning on meeting the troops in Mirissa but that changed to East Coast, Arugam Bay. So, we thought we would take a leisurely $2 ride on the train to Galle. Standing room only for the first hour or so

It was this train route that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Fortunately for us, just stunning views of the countryside and ocean.

Galle train station seems like the middle of nowhere. Heavy rucksacks and mid afternoon heat nudged us into a tuk tuk to the fort. About 5 minutes later for the same cost as 2 train tickets, we arrive in the ancient fort of Galle.

Great views from the city walls, heaps of restaurants and fortunately for our livers, virtually no alcohol!

$US1000 per night for this one! Why pay less?

Three nights in Galle, plenty. Off to the beach at Mirissa. Our friendly driver managed to find a couple of opportunities to loosen our purse strings. Firstly a handout to the Buddhist monk at the tsunami memorial

Then at the ‘herb garden’ where some bloke slapped some cream on my leg. Wouldn’t it be funny if that was hair remover chirps Mrs B! No it wasn’t!!

Hairless and broke! We arrive in Mirissa. Stunning place but OMG were we happy not to be meeting the troops here. Beach is awesome and gorgeous with a few restaurants selling warm beer as a substitute for a refreshing beverage. Food is top notch, cocktails too! Main road through the village is a two way racetrack, not nice, not pretty!

Hermit crab races anyone?

From here it was a bus ride back to Negombo. Haz and Ben arriving around midnight, Sam and Nic sometime the next arvo…

When Tim Berners-Lee came up withthe idea of the internet, he could have had no idea how it change our lives. Sadly, it appears that the Sri Lankan Department of Immigration and Emigration have somehow missed the memo on this one! Tourist visas for most countries allow for a 90 day stay. Extending a visa is generally just a matter of logging on and coughing up the relevant fee. Sri Lanka, no! You get a 30 day number, any longer and you need to turn up for a half day session of queueing and other fun activities.
Thinking we should make an early start, we hopped into a tuk tuk for the trip across town. 3 wheeled vehicles tend to perform best with all 3 wheels on the tarmac! Lewis Hamilton’s barking mad baby brother missed that memo too and carved his way through the Colombo peak hour traffic on his way to a new lap record. He didn’t even miss a beat unpegging a distinctly seedy looking rag to wipe his bonce and re peg it to the frame! The only temporary reprive was the driver stopping for ‘morning food’ from a handy pit lane! Needing both hands to remain inside the tuk tuk ‘morning food’ was not an option for us. Catching a glimpse of a vodka bottle masquerading as a water bottle in the front did little to help our frayed nerves as our chariot finally took the chequered flag and stopped. Sweat wasn’t the issue in the back, a pressing need for new shorts and daks was as we staggered into the office!

Greeted by wall to wall bodies, (And sweat rags!), we were directed to the 4th floor of another building. A short queue at reception and we were issued some forms to fill in and return. Filling in forms is annoying at the best of times, somewhat more so when there are no surfaces to lean on and nobody seemed game enough to perch on the reception desk. Mission accomplished however, we rejoin the queue with our completed forms. Back at the front we plonk our paperwork on the desk only to have it promptly returned with instructions to join the queue for photos! Not too much later we rejoin the reception queue a few dollars lighter and proud owners of set of shiny new passport photos. Not so fast, our new best friends on the reception desk had one more errand for us to run! Use the glue over there to stick your photo on the form! Seriously? A dollop of school glue and a spot more queueing had us back at reception where we were issued a number and corralled into a waiting area until our number came up on the screen.

Our number finally appeared and we marched down the corridor for our interview. No such luck, just another waiting room with several dozen other people all still removing the final traces of glue from their fingers.

Eventually, our number was called and we went in for our ‘interview’. “How much extra time would you like?” asked the deputy commissioner. “30 days please”. Stamp, stamp, no problem, interview over! ” Please make your way to the payment waiting area and keep a lookout for your number. Oh yippee, another queue. Sadly for those in the queue the staff behind the counter were more focused on social media than collecting cash. Swiping left or right was clearly more interesting than swiping overused credit cards.
Not unsurprisingly, after a wait and having been relieved of another fee we were directed to the visa collections waiting area to await our number! No screen in here, just a woman mumbling into a microphone every few minutes and handing over passports. She wasn’t impressed when I misheard our number and gleefully arrived to collect someone else’s passport!
Correct passports were eventually collected and we ventured outside for another underpant filling journey in the 3 wheeler.

Nine and a half months after leaving Oz, we head to the land of Brexit, grey skies, friends and family. This year however we arrived following a heat wave, bloody cold by the time we landed!!

First up Hels Bells. Actually, South African but we ignore that, it is always a pleasure for John and Helen to help us on our way to our next hangover. This is also Jackie’s old stomping ground, so Sam and Nic joined us for dinner and a tour of some old haunts…

Then all pile into a tiny mini for a nice delay on London’s finest 8 lane car park, the M25 round to Rayleigh in Essex to Nicole’s parents’ house and to meet Wilson!!!

Sir Wilson!!

Many thanks, Jo for the Sri Lanka help, although your drawing is somewhat suspect! Kandy or candy?

Time for a quick hop over the QE2 Bridge and a left turn to Charing in Kent for a few days to see the other Mrs O. Wonderful to see her happy with her new man, maybe church choir dating has some merit. Loved having an entire pantry and fridge full of yummies to play with xxx

Then a blast back up the M20 to Bromley for a couple of lemonades with the Benjamins. Love these family reunions, next one will be in Sydney for the wedding of the year!!!

The trusty Mini then stayed in the drive in Bromley under the careful watch of the Benjamin’s as we hopped on the train to the big smoke to visit my Aunty Carole in Fulham, collecting flowers and ‘Plant’ from the Sloaney Pony on the way!

Thanks Annabelle for my beautiful handmade card, I will treasure this.

Even managed to squeeze a cheeky lunch in with a couple of our yoga friends from Manly on their 2 year adventure, Dan and Amanda

Farewell Fulham and off to the Notting Hill Carnival and an old school friend of ours, MJ, and her boat, the Widgeon Theatre Boat. An 80 foot cargo barge that converts into an open air theatre or stage for bands. Sadly the weather Gods didn’t get their party invite and sent rain instead. Fortunately, Gawain and the MoonBears got their invites!

We waved farewell to MJ and headed down to Sam’s place in Clapham. A cheeky curry with Sam, Nic and a guest appearance by Ima and Dom from Jersey.

A spot of essential shopping, (Food mainly!), for Sam and a lovely evening with Alex and her Boyfriend, Josh.

No time to rest, we are Battersea bound to see Anita and her awesome pet shop/grooming business.

Into town to blow the froth off a couple with Billy Tilden and Dave Spence from school, followed by a last minute invite to dinner At Ottolenghi’s. Don’t mind if we do!

Back to Bromley to collect the Mini a quick coffe and plate of cheese then a dash around the M25 and up North to Peterborough. Dash? Petrol station first and couldn’t find the fuel cap release! No need for one of those, it is key operated! Ignition key? No! Bloody Germans! The fuel cap key is on the other side of London, in Hertfordshire! Watching the fuel mileage falling at an alarming rate was not part of our plans and a 5km queue for the Dartford Tunnel was unhelpful. Significant use of the left hand lane ensued and we spluttered to Cuffley with a few fumes left in the tank. Filler cap key in hand we headed North for a delayed arrival at the Holt’s. We needn’t have worried, there was no shortage of wine.

Always hilarious with these guys, they never miss an opportunity for a beverage or misbehavior. Turns out however that the murky green waters of the Rutland Water Aqua Park were a touch chilly for some! Just a shame that the cameras were not there to record the initial shock!

Liver starting to hurt now with a couple more stops to go!

Luckily for us, we don’t play Keeping up with the Jones’. Off to Buckinghamshire! Nothing flash about Chalfonts but a lawn large enough for an airfield and a house complete with full sized bar and cinema takes the pi$$. Personalised bathrobes anyone?

Utterly NO chance of drinking Helen and Graham’s bar remotely dry, so its off back to Cuffley to find fairer competition and our final UK stop.

Seems like Hels Bels had been doing some spring cleaning and came across some vintage fizz, marked, ‘Gerald, Do not touch’! We have never cellared wine but doubt that the attic is ideal for maturing South Africa’s finest! Never mind, best get a couple chilled down and crack the buggers open!

Company, utterly delightful. Contents of bottles, not so much! So many thank you’s for the hospitality, love and loan of the car xxx

So we bid a sad but exhausted farewell to Blighty and our dear friends and family. Aiming to return in 2021

Only fitting after such an awesome few weeks to enjoy the long flight to Singapore!

Sri Lanka next….

Mooo!

A trip to the U.K. wouldn’t be the same without visiting Jersey, my childhood island. Where my bestie Imogen and wonderful sister Emma live. Oh and my Father! But alas he chose to be in Sydney instead!!

This time was made even more special as my beautiful cousin and her son Tom flew over to spend precious time with us all.

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Ima had arranged for some old primary school friends to meet up the “WaterSplash” another old haunt.

 

Fun at the Zoo!! Gerald Durrell Zoo!

 

Not without drama however as Dad’s/Gerald’s car decided enough was enough and refused to move from St Ones Beach. Fortunately a few friendly locals with jump leads and a trip to the local automart saved the day!

Bear and I enjoying fish and chips down at Gorey Beach.

Lunching with kind Uncle Edward and the lovely Pam.

Enjoying family time at Emma and Chris’s, they always make us feel so at home and welcome. Love you xxx

 

Fun and limon cello with Elsa and Mike!

 

A visit is never complete without visiting my mum and smartening up her grave site with some love, and plants.

Bye till next time xxxx

We discussed meeting up with the MoonBears way before leaving Oz. 9 months later They are in Portugal and we are back on the bus to make it happen. 1st stop Mateus House, home to funny looking wine bottles and flavorless contents! 15 Euros each entry, I don’t think so! The bottle label was as close as we got to the House or its watery excuse for wine.

Off to Amarante then to indulge in mountain cheese, cured meats, quail eggs and a refreshing beverage or two

Things now starting to get a bit fiesty on the weather front, maybe time for port tasting!

Guimaraes

Had to try the house speciality of salted cod or bacalhau, won’t be bothering with that again either! Have heard this described as prosciutto of the sea, no it isn’t! Prosciutto is delicious, this is not! It may be traditional but we have fridges and freezers these days that do a better job, cheaper and without threatening an imminent heart attack. Stacking a pile of chopped capsicums and onions on top doesn’t help either, why not whack on a handful of salted capers and anchovies to really upset your GP! When the menu said chips, I also wasn’t expecting a couple of handfuls of Walker’s finest, salted obviously. Great excuse to drink more beer and not much else. They also have a mushy paste version with potato, salted and deep fried. I can hear the ambulance approaching, steak please!

Getting hotter now so we made a few impromptu changes to the end of a hose pipe and rigged up our own sprinkler system!

Quick stomp around Porto before heading to the airport

Too much fun, too little time. Off to Jersey…