Written by Rod.

It’s Monday and we have a half-day, “best of Phuket” tour, booked through Megatours. It all sounds promising! Our minibus arrives at our hotel before we head off to collect an extended family of 6 of the French persuasion from another establishment. Our guide then introduces himself: “my name is Tong … James Tong.” Just kidding, but it would have got a laugh had Tong introduced himself that way and, like most tour guides, he does like to get a laugh. Our first stop is at the Karon Lookout (which the locals know as the 3 beaches lookout, since … well, I think you can guess why.) As we are about to get back into our van, we notice a white-bellied sea eagle tethered to a bike parked next to said van. Not something you see every day. Naturally, they are after cash if you want a photo with the very impressive eagle. “Take photo, eagle on arm? 50 Baht.” We decline.

Why would you go to just one lookout when you can get to two? Windmill Lookout Is next on the list. There is a wind turbine here (just one) and, although it is windy, it is not spinning. I ask Tong “why?” and he replies they must not have “switched it on.” I could have quizzed him further about the whole point of wind turbines, but I let it go. Anyway, the views are stunning, despite the grey weather of the moment.

The road then winds its way to the Big Buddha. On the way up the long and narrow and winding road we see dozens and dozens of cottage businesses, mostly offering very similar products to god knows who. There is some foot, car and motorbike traffic along the way, but seemingly very few paying customers. We wonder how they all survive. But, they are industrious, these locals, always looking for ways to make a living. (We are most appreciative, though, that there is very little hawking and no begging. The locals are respectful and not aggressive salespeople.) The Big Buddha is something we have been seeing from many vantage points and now, finally up close, its size does not disappoint. At 45 metres tall, it could easily be called the Very Big Buddha. There is a lot here to see and we easily wander around for 45 minutes.

Wat Chalong is a stunning temple complex in many parts. Here the Buddhism is even more apparent, as many people are actively worshipping as well as admiring the architecture. We wander around, to frequent bursts of firecrackers. It is getting hot and still and humid and there are many steps here, so Hamish is starting to lose his cool. However, we reach the top of the 3 tiered Chedi (which has a splinter of bone from Buddha) and we get a bit of a “cool change,” with a fresh breeze and some rain. Hamish’s mood improves.

Next we head to the Cashew Nut Factory and here Hamish sparks up even more, as we sample 11 different “flavours” of cashews. We also see how cashews are liberated from their shell, one nut at a painstaking time, before buying up big in their shop.

It’s lunch time and we head to Phuket Old Town to what Tong declares is a “zero star restaurant.” It’s actually a little local food court with a lovely range of dirt cheap options. (Average price is about $2-50 per generous meal.) By now Hamish is positively ecstatic. After lunch we have 45 minutes of so to wander around the so-called old town, which looks quite a bit like the rest of Phuket. However, we get an unscheduled highlight when the local police accost some boisterous, motor-bike riding tourists. We are not sure why, but it is great theatre and the whole street stop to watch for several minutes. At least one motorbike was impounded. Just before this scene, we had to step aside to allow a young tourist sprint past us, as he called out “out of my way!” Were these two incidents related? You be the judge. As we are stalled in the street, watching this scene whilst keeping our distance, Hamish and I turn around and notice we are outside a French patisserie, which advertises croissants filled with coconut ice cream. Ooh, we both say. This serendipity is rewarded with a couple of these very tasty treats.

Back on the bus and it’s back to the Novotel. More than half a day and an excellent value tour. We take it easy before a late dinner and another early night.

Tuesday (written by Belinda)

We are finally getting the hang of this holiday thing and eventually make our way to the restaurant for breakfast sometime after 9am. It’s definitely going to be struggle street when we get back next week and have to get up for work and school – and make all our own meals!

Breakfast is our biggest meal of the day and it’s a delightful array of Asian and Western foods. I have had soup and rice every morning, followed by tropical fruit, yoghurt, coffee and sometimes a sweet treat to finish strong. Hamish has something similar, but he usually has fried rice and curry, followed by whatever he can lay his hands on. He puts it like this: “I start out OK, but then everything goes downhill” Rod is more of a traditionalist and enjoys pastries or an omelette – sometimes he tries the soup. He has however, perfected the coffee machine.

Rod and I walk to Karon Beach and leave Hamish to catch up with his friends online. The weather threatens to turn and it does. We ditch the beach and sit in a café and share a pineapple shake for the cost of about $2. The weather still isn’t amazing, so we head back to Kata Beach via a Bamboo Mart for some beers and snacks.

Back at the hotel, would you believe the weather is starting to clear up! So we re-pack our backpack and head to Kata Beach for a few hours.

It’s back to the hotel for a very late lunch and pool time. We have a fun game of ‘piggy in the middle’ until Rod and I are done. I am reading on a very comfortable pool lounge when I hear Hamish yelling – “Can I order a fruit shake from the swim up bar?” Oh boy is he our kid or what! I give him a literal thumbs down. He does eventually get a fruit shake, but Rod orders it from one of the staff walking around the pool.

We’re about to walk into town to get a late dinner. The boys are heading to Andamanda Water Park tomorrow and I’m having a day of beach, shopping, reading and eating – which isn’t that different to most of the days we’ve had here. Not really keen on heading home, but we’re already talking about how/when/for how long we can return to SE Asia in the near future.

Friday afternoon

We headed back to Kata Beach with Hamish. Thankfully we did, as it has basically been raining since. We had been super lucky with the weather prior to yesterday; so no complaints, it just means we have to think a bit more carefully about what we’re doing.

Friday evening we had dinner in the Kata Beach “Walking Street” market. This busy little area boasts so many different options for food we did 3 laps before we decided on what we’d have!

Hamish – roast potato with cheese and corn

Belinda – roti with coconut and cheese (I think this was a dessert I accidentally had for my dinner)

Rod – fried seafood

We also got a few gyoza, but Hamish wanted to leave room for his mango sticky rice and Rod wasn’t feeling great – in fact “queasy” was the word he used, potentially from his deep-fried seafood and/or passionfruit juice combo. It didn’t stop him saying “yes please” to a Singha!

Saturday

Saturday saw some proper wet-season weather arrive, with constant rain, occasionally getting heavier. This day was already planned with some indoor activities, so we weren’t fazed. Rod and I had our Thai massages: I think Rod summed it up perfectly: “How can someone so small cause so much pain?” It was indeed painful enough for me not to get lost in my own thoughts during the 30 minutes, as all I could concentrate on was the next muscle/sore spot this tiny Thai lady was going to find.

Hamish went off to his pasta cooking class – the next paragraph is from him.

Hello, Hamish here!  I want to talk about the cooking class I had. I had the option of pasta, pizza, waffles or pancakes – I chose the pasta because I like pasta. I had to choose between a bolognaise and a carbonara sauce – I chose carbonara, because I like it. So I sat down in the restaurant on a chair and I was given a glass of water. I was ready to start. Luckily for me, the foods were already cut up! I don’t like cutting up foods because I cut myself once cutting up an onion and it really hurt! So in this cooking class, I just had to follow the instructions that the instructor gave me, such as:

Pour the pasta in here (the pot)

Shove the other ingredients in a frying pan

After about 10 minutes I was done and I got to eat it. It was delicious and I ate most of it, but I couldn’t eat it all, so the rest was delivered to our room. Mum and Dad ate the remainder of it and they loved it too. In fact, they can’t wait until I make it at home!

The afternoon saw us saunter back into town for a few unnecessary items, which is when Hamish got his curled ice-cream (he made a TikTok and I have posted it to my socials). A swim, then dinner basically saw our day out.

Sunday (today)

The rain has continued so we looked up “things to do in Phuket when it’s raining” – there are a few, but  we settled on a trip to the Jungceylon Shopping Centre. We got a ‘Grab’ (SEAsian version of Uber) there which was interesting, as we were able to suss out Karon Beach and the very large and bustling Patong Beach. Both places are way busier than Kata Beach and we are pleased we are not staying there.

The shopping centre is massive. It’s loaded with tourists (us included) and many western shops. No matter, the boys leave me in peace for an hour and I look around a combo supermarket/department store. It is called The Big C and is bit like ASDA in the UK.

I buy some souvenirs and other bits and pieces and meet Rod and Hamish for lunch. We have ramen which is delicious. I may need to dedicate an entire blog to food, but the ramen is tame in comparison to some of the spicy fare we have been eating.

We’re all back in the hotel waiting for a break in the weather before we go for a walk down to the beach – Rod tells me it’s high tide. I don’t know why this is important, but he’s obviously keen to venture down. Hamish says he’s got a headache, so we leave him with some Panadol to do its thing and wander down to the beach.

It’s not great weather, but it’s not raining. It seems most tourists (and some chickens) in KB have the same idea, as there’s lots of people around. We walk from one end of the beach to the other and back again; it’s a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Up the busier end of KB, we find some waterfront cafes which we aim to visit before the week is up. We have a quick swim and then relax with a couple of super-sized Changs on the beach for a total of $5 each.

Tomorrow we have a half day tour booked from 0830. Perhaps more beach time if the weather holds. We have entrusted our dirty clothes to a local laundry service (booked through the resort) – clothes washed and dried for $5 per kg, as the resort has no guest laundry. It’s tricky weather to dry things, so basically everything goes in the dryer…hope our clothes don’t shrink! Or it’ll be back to the markets for a bunch of stuff to get us back to Aus!

Thursday July 6

We started out intended ‘stay in’ day with an excellent buffet breakfast, followed by a stroll down the street for a trip to the 7-11. Whilst this might seem like an unlikely holiday activity, Hamish and I have been watching various TikToks about Asian 7-11’s and the cool things they stock, which we don’t stock in Australia. So we were pretty excited knowing there was a 7-11 within 1km of our hotel. The irony is not lost on me here; we’re staying in a lavish hotel, yet we’re spending our money at the convenience store…

The walk into town follows a steep and narrow road which at times, has a dedicated footpath. Rod and I have already made this trip, so we are aware of the road dangers and alert Hamish to them. He is quite possibly confused by our safety tips, as we hurry across the road to dodge traffic, in lieu of waiting ten minutes for a long enough gap in which we can saunter at our usual pace.

We stick to the slightly safer side of the street and come across some road safety maintenance, in the form of a red and white striped pedestrian crossing being painted (by hand) under supervision of the local traffic cop.

We find the 7-11 easily and enjoy our time there working out what some things are, what we’ve seen online and what we’d like to try – you may have seen the dedicated post on my socials. We walk back home and Hamish doesn’t complain about the steep incline; he’s doing well in the tropical weather and we’re proud of him.

The resort pool is next on the list. Hamish is keen to try the underwater scooter, which is, as our new American friend tells us, “…like a Navy Seals jet pack” – he is not wrong. That thing flies! Hamish challenges me to a swimming race – I beat him, but I suspect it was because he didn’t have it switched to the fastest mode: turbo. Hamish is the envy of other kids is the pool; he offers them to have a turn, but they’re too polite and or shy to accept. Hamish sets a trend though, as when his time is up on the scooter, other kids have persuaded their parents to cough up the relatively small price of $35 AUD for 30 mins.

Rod bails from the pool after a relatively short time, but is enticed back to the pool when I say to Hamish, “go tell Dad I’ve bought him a Pina Colada” Rod does a Phelps and is at the swim up bar in no time at all.

Rod and I return to the shopping area in Kata Beach in the afternoon, as Rod says he hasn’t packed enough clothes. I successfully haggle with one shop keeper for 2 x fans and 1 x bottle opener – which ends up being 200THB instead of 300THB. I wasn’t rude about it, but looked disinterested (some of you have probably seen this expression on my face) and ask how many for 2? (instead of the price for 1 fan). She does us a ‘special price’ – which as we’ve found out, is a key phrase.

Rod goes into a clothes stall and the lady there does him a ‘special price’ for a button up cotton shirt and one ‘rip off of a sport brand’ tee shirt. Does Madam want a dress? Madam does not. However, Madam is returning to the night markets tonight where she just may in fact, buy a dress. Rod doesn’t have cash, so she escorts us to the auto-teller a few hundred meters away. This would NEVER happen in Australia: Rod says there’s no way she was going to lose the sale. On our way back to the resort, we stop for a couple of beers, enjoy the warm afternoon, and plan the next few days:

• Saturday – 30 min massages (one each for Rod and I), Kids cooking class for Hamish
• Sunday – Potentially heading into Old Town for the once weekly night markets
• Monday – Half day tour: Big Buddha, Wat Chalong, Karon lookout and Old Town

The pool is visited again, where we have found happy hour with the promise of ‘buy 1 take 1” – we do. Buffet dinner and lights out by 930pm. We are tired having basically done not much at all for the day.

Friday July 7

After breakfast, Hamish is not feeling great. Possibly because when I said “for God’s sake, please eat some fruit” he came back with 2 x mini bananas and chocolate dipping sauce…after eating fried rice, red curry and some waffles…

We leave him to soak up the airconditioned comfort of our room and an anti-nausea tablet. Rod and I catch the resort shuttle bus to Kata Beach for a quick swim (he was perfectly safe Mum, I promise). Question: if a resort has a shuttle bus to local attraction, is it because: A) it’s popular, B) it’s too far to walk or C) A & B. The answer is A – it’s popular. The beach is a mere 600m from our resort and we feel slightly embarrassed for having caught the bus. Rod reminds me the bus will be sensational on the trip back. Of course, he is right.

Kata Beach is just beautiful. For about the 5^th time, I tell Rod I really don’t want to to go back to Australia: and “why can’t we just live here?” We didn’t take our phones as we were only going to be an hour, but I wish I had photo’s. The water is clear and clean. It’s cool without being cold. There’s street food, drinks and people politely trying to sell me a sarong/beach mat/shell jewellery. We’re heading back there this afternoon and will update another time.

Upon return to our room, Hamish is miraculously well enough for the next planned event of the day:  Neko Cat Café. I don’t know how I stumbled across this, but I did and I knew Rod and Hamish would love it. We hired a taxi, negotiated a price with Mr Somnuck and are whisked away in his well maintained and fresh smelling Nissan Tiida across the Island. Look, I’m not into it, but the look on the boys’ faces are well worth the trip. There are 3 little ‘Jessica’s’ already in the café having a lovely time, and another couple come in whilst we are there. It’s a cute, clean little place, although one of the cats tries to give Hamish a nip when he goes to pat it.

Mr Somnuck patiently waits for us and drives us back to the resort, telling us, “oh, you stay at Novotel, it’s very expensive” Rod tells him we got a special price, but he doesn’t believe us. He says, “ahh, but it’s an Accor (brand hotel)” Mr Somnuck is no dummy and I feel bad for bargaining down his return fare by $10 AUD. I am reminded of how very, very privileged we are to have the means to travel, but I also feel OK for supporting the local business out of the resort, so my conscience is settled.

Written by Belinda and Hamish.

Belinda.

The Buffet Breakfast did not disappoint, although Hamish said he’s had better. Where? we asked, Legoland, Malaysia he tells us as a matter of fact. At this point Rod and I realise we have a very spoiled 12 year old on our hands. Spoiled or well travelled, you choose.

Our mini bus picks us up at 0830-ish and a young Australian couple are going on the day trip too. There’s about a ten minute fast drive to the tour office, where we check in and are given blue wrist bands. Elle the senior guide (potentially her name is Al but we’re not 100% sure) gives us a very entertaining pre-brief/safety brief. She has a tattooed calf and is pretty cool. She unnecessarily apologises for her ‘not very good’ English, but jeez, I still can’t say hello (Sawasdee) or thank you (Khop khun) in Thai – her English is excellent. We walk to the departure area as a biggish group and are split up in half. There are 2 speedboats to take us to the Islands. May I just add here, that my new favourite way to travel is by speedboat with 3 x 250HP outboards and a full crew.

As we walk along the beach and head to the boats young man is taking photo’s – I’m sure it’s for souvenirs and am keen for him to get a photo of the 3 of us. Like most things I’ve been noticing in the last couple of days, he is taking these photos at rapid speed. I am not entirely sure he IS taking photo’s it’s happening so quickly. He takes a candid photo of Rod and I make eye contact with him so he notices the 3 of us. We get our photo taken and forget about it until the end of the day.

Next part by Hamish.

I sat next to Mum and Dad sat alone at the back. It was hot until the boat started to speed up – then we were cool. I started feeling sick – Mum said to tell her if I was feeling sick but I didn’t tell her. The view from the boat was lovely, we could see out the front and both sides. The trip takes about 30 minutes and it was fun and fast! The Skipper kept finding more and more gears! We arrived at our first destination: Racha Yai Island. We swam and Dad bought us a fruit shake to share which was kinda like a fruity smoothy without milk. It was beautiful.

Oops, I forgot to mention the very wobbly floating jetty. The speedboat pulls up alongside it and we walk, as though in an earthquake, about 100m to the beach.

Then we came to our second destination; Elle had said we could stay at the beach or go snorkeling from the boat, just down the coast. We chose option B – snorkeling. And boy, was it beautiful. I do not regret it. We saw all sorts of pretty fish, like X ray fish and Dory (Parrot) fish. And dad even saw a feisty sea snake at one point. I saw the sea snake’s sad cousin, the sea slug. There were also clams, coral starfish and sponges.

Then we went to our third and final stop – Coral Island. Here we had lunch; believe it or not, another buffet. Swimming, dried off, went swimming, dried off, had an ice cream. Mum dropped hers in the sand and refused to rinse it off in the sea. What a waste. Went swimming, dried off before parasailing. (Go watch our Tik Tok, on Facebook, to see more.)

That’s me done! (HD)

OK, back to Belinda.

We’ve had a fab day, we’re writing this up at dinner tonight, but I feel like I’m still on the boat! Tomorrow will be a slow day around the resort, walk into town and make some plans for the next few days.

Oh, the souvenir photo? We bought both photos for the total cost of 200 THB ($10 AUD). Rod’s candid photo has Hamish in the background (and someone standing right behind him) – Rod perhaps not quite comfortable/ready for the photo. The photo of the 3 of us I reckon is pretty good. The little sandy outline of the frame with painted shell is quite kitsch, but we love it because of this. I am impressed with the young entrepreneur. The Australian couple buy theirs too – she doesn’t even have her eyes open in their photo so I think we are lucky.

By time you read this, we will be out on a boat trip to some islands; no idea what day it will be – feels like I’ve been on a continuous night shift! Here’s a detailed account of the last 36 hours.

Monday saw us finishing up lots of little bits and pieces:

• Washing & ironing
• Drop bikes off
• Drop dog off
• Bins out & fridge emptied – all the stuff you gotta do to get ahead of the post-holiday rush before work & school goes back.

We had a leisurely drive to Melbourne and before we knew it, we were checked in. Hamish, as you may have seen, swapped out some AUD for Thai Bhat which was fun! We got through customs quickly, but not until after Hamish’s backpack was searched for contraband in the shape of a mini tube of pringles. Won’t be packing those again…

We hung out in the departure lounge with a few hundred others and after a short-ish delay, we were on our way. The 787 Dreamliner was full and we had a smooth flight to Singapore. As mentioned, Scoot are the non-full service carrier of Singapore, but staff were great, our meals fine and somehow the 3 of us each scored a blankie!

Neither Rod nor Hamish slept, but I managed probably 4 x blocks of 30 mins which helped at the other end of the day. Once in Singapore we hit Starbucks for coffee, hot chocolate and just a couple of plain bagels, which predictably cost a mint! We made our way to another terminal and found our gate. I prepared a small sleeping space and managed another hour or so. Rod and Hamish said they tried, but were just unable to relax.

Our next short flight was from Singapore to Phuket (about 2 and a half hours). Hamish was asleep before we taxied to the runway. He said, “wake me for food” and that was it for a while. We had some delicious spicy noodles for breakfast and the flight was over pretty quickly.

Flying along/over the Malaysian coast and into Thailand was lovely, with plenty of islands, mountains, meandering rivers and boats to been seen from the air. Whenever I travel, I am both overwhelmed and so grateful of the experiences; today there were a few “I can’t believe I’m in Thailand” – type comments, not just from myself & Rod, but from Hamish too. He has the travel bug and has been keen to update his friends of his travels so far.

Thailand is a busy mix of chaotic traffic, old buildings, bountiful electric wires, run down shop fronts and progressive establishments, such as the hospital (see pic). There are no road rules, well, there are, but our mini-bus driver did not care to follow them as he turned a predicted 90 minute trip from the airport into 60 minutes. Impressive. At one point, Rod and I discussed if Thailand used the metric system, as the driver chose to ignore all speed limits. Lucky we were so overtired as to not be concerned for our safety. It was a wild, wild ride – constant lane changes, last minute braking & talking on his mobile (hands-free of course…). Hamish slept through this.

Incidentally, there are many (what appear to be) legit weed establishments on every street. I’m sure one of you may be able to enlighten me on this, what seems like a contradiction. Oh, stand down. Rod has just enlightened me: the laws have changed and now marijuana has been legalized and the emphasis is on the rehabilitation of drug users instead of the death penalty or life imprisonment. Looks like Rod can go into that little bakery we found today after all!

Our hotel is just beautiful. We arrived and decided a swim, followed by a sleep were probably our best idea. Rod and I walked into the town area late this afternoon and got a few supplies from the Bamboo Mart: water, a couple of beers, two small wines (well we’re not sure exactly what they are, but Rod has already drunk one…) a couple of cans of fanta and some other Asian treats. I bought a hat and the shop owner told me how I’ll need it because it’s hot in Thailand.

We walked back up the hill to the hotel and saw a sign my mother would be happy to see. We (that is, our hotel) is the Tsunami evacuation site.

Hamish’s thoughts on Thailand: “What a great place Thailand is. It started off as cool inside the airport, but then when we went outside the humidity just hit. My sleep was good on the mini bus. The food is great.”

Rod’s thoughts on Thailand: “Nothing to add, you’ve said it all…”

Friday saw us still disorganized, but not stressed, in fact, we had a pretty relaxed day. In sub-10 degree weather we caught up with one of Rod’s Uni (and life) mates Phil and his wife Natalie. Lunch out then into work for me for a few hours. The pile of clothes on the suitcases in our room grew, but still nothing was really packed. I know I keep going on about this, but you know me…I’ve usually done a practice pack and repack by this stage. Oh, Rod also had to pop into work and he photocopied our passports. We looked up which type of power adapters we need to pack, and searched up the weather in Phuket – 30 ish degrees, humid and rainy. Yup – it’s the wet season. I may have tried on swimmers…

Saturday we actually packed. It’s strange packing for tropical weather when it’s 10 degrees outside! Hamish and I are sharing one suitcase (as per tradition) and Rod has a rolling duffel bag with his stuff plus shared travel items, such as toiletries, a few cotton beach towels and his and Hamish’s shoes – which incidentally, are the same size. After lunch we were basically 90% done. We’re trying to eat up leftovers – so lunch consists of a ham and cheese toasty & cold roast lamb (Hamish), roast veggies (me) and chicken casserole (Rod). Rod and I both have a bike ride in mind as even though the weather is cold, it’s clear and not raining. We have a big ride dodging floodwaters and Kangaroos (as it turns out). Rod perfects the day by making – ironically – Thai fishcakes. They are incredible and we settle in to watch the first stage of the Tour de France.

It’s currently Sunday evening. We’ve taken advantage of the break in the weather and mowed lawns, washed bedding and squeezed a ride in. Multiple pieces of tech are currently being charged and charging cables are labelled (I know this seems OTT, but trust me it’s easier). Other than not being able to check into our flight online and a few other stressful moments (I couldn’t find our booking, then I joined the Singapore FF programme and mistyped my name “Belfinda”, so then I couldn’t add my new FF number to the booking because Belfinda Dunbar doesn’t match my booking, the Scoot website not loading – shall I go on?) we’re all but ready to go.

Tomorrow sees a few last minute appointments before we head to Melbourne at 3pm. I am dropping two of my bikes off to the bike shop for some TLC whilst I’m away and Rod has his immunotherapy treatment at 2pm. We’ve made multiple trips to the chemist/supermarket today like a couple of rookies who’ve never travelled! And to be honest, I can’t guarantee there won’t be another tomorrow. Goodness me – 10 days…hopeless 😊

At the end of my last blog entry, I promised to update later in the week when “we were more organised” – whilst it is the end of the week, we are not what I would classify as organised. I think it’s different when you’re only travelling for a few weeks as opposed to a few months. I pride myself on packing light for lengthy trips and scoff at those who overpack; but this time my care factor is low. Hamish asked how many shorts and t-shirts he could take, I said “pack whatever you want!”

Monday evening, we fly from Tullamarine on the first of two flights to get us to Phuket. We are booked with Singapore Airlines, but our first (and longest) flight is with their budget offsider Scoot. I am super fussy about booking details, such as the airlines we fly with, so my expectation of travelling on a full-service carrier was NOT met when I checked the flight details. I may have expressed my disappointment to Rod with language such as, “If I wanted to fly with (*insert swear) Scoot I would have booked with (*insert the same swear) Scoot!”

There’s nothing wrong with Scoot. At all. But your ticket includes a seat, a meal and luggage. Everything else costs: seat allocation (can’t guarantee we’ll be seated together otherwise), wifi (there’s no inflight entertainment), pillows/blankies…you know, the little luxuries that make a short 8 hour flight more bearable. As a result, we have now purchased those annoying little neck pillows (the same ones we took to Europe 8 years ago and didn’t use) and need to take more games and tech than we thought we’d need. First world problems? Maybe…

Monday will be a busy day with last minute packing of luggage and organising of pets before we leave in the early afternoon to drive to the airport. Rod is having his monthly immunotherapy Monday afternoon (it’s a subcut injection) just before we leave (insert Dad joke *(sub) cutting it fine – from Rod) and we have (purchased) seats close to the bathroom in case his stomach plays up – which it does at times after his treatment. Nurse Bel has all bases covered with: anti-spew, anti-poo, hydration, motion travel and pain relief tablets packed for our carry on.

Thanks for your heartfelt messages of love and support after the last post; I know that was hard to read, but it’s one of the benefits of social media in that Rod doesn’t have to keep telling his story. Please keep him in your thoughts. I’ll update you before we fly out.

It’s nearly 3 and a half years since we returned from our last overseas trip. We have (perhaps under false pretences) re-activated the travel blog twice since then (Tasmania 2021, Central Australia 2022) but we are pretty excited to say we’re heading to Phuket next Monday for a little winter getaway.

Let’s start with a family update. As with everyone, our lives are a busy mix of work, school, parenting, paying bills and trying to live full and healthy lives (insert chocolate, chippies and wine to balance out our intentions). Read on for our good and not so good updates.

The Good

After being separated for 18 months, Rod and I are back together. We’ve worked particularly hard over the past 6 months with the help of a couple’s counsellor to iron out our points of difference and boy, that wasn’t easy! Plenty of tears, lots of talking and just plain old perseverance has really made a difference. We are like the old Rod and Belinda circa 2018; with a bit more wisdom, patience and understanding. Rod is still teaching (the hard) Maths at Cathedral and I am the Grad Nurse Coordinator at the Hospital.

Hamish is in Year 7 – he turns 13 this October. He continues to grow and grow – he is hungry all the time and is 166cm tall! He is funny, fun and has recently expanded his geographical knowledge through online quizzes. I now get statements like: “Mum, that looks nothing like Egypt…” or “Which colours are least used on flags?” – I feel we have created this inquisitive monster and we love it.  

Jess is 26 and is a Secondary Teacher at Ringwood SC in Melbourne. She is completely living her best life in Melbourne, but isn’t travelling with us to Thailand. We did offer, but the dates didn’t match up

The Bad (and the Ugly)

There’s no easy way to say this, but Rod has cancer. The technicalities: Stage 4, Grade 2, Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumour. He’s had a very long history of abdo pain, nausea and vomiting which we think started when we were in Oxford in the UK so many years ago! He’s had various episodes which have put him in hospital or just put him out of action for a day or so. The last couple of years these ‘episodes’ have increased in frequency and he started losing weight, which on a man with a slight build was quite noticeable. It’s not an uncommon form of cancer, but unfortunately is rarely caught before Stage 4.

Rod received the diagnosis in December, when we were in Noosa, just before Christmas. We had a bit of an idea bad news was to be delivered, but to hear it for real gave us a bit of a jolt. His treatment (one subcut injection each month – lanreotide) started early in the New Year and this has made a huge difference in his overall health. He hasn’t had an ‘episode’ since, he’s put back on all the weight he lost and is feeling very well.

Whilst this news will be new to most of you (and a shock), please rest assured he is well. It is a slow growing form of cancer and we are just getting on with our lives as best we can. Hamish and Jess have been great and they get all the updates as we get them.

Now, for Thailand.

We found an all-inclusive offer for 10 days in Phuket; we hummed and harred about it for a week or so as it seemed too good to be true – fingers crossed it’s not. This is not our usual type of travel. I am usually the one who books flights and accommodation – it’s never done through a third party, so I’m a bit nervous. However, I have looked at our booking with Singapore Airlines and it’s definitely confirmed…so at least we will arrive in Phuket!

Our package includes return airfares, breakfast and dinner daily, a daily cocktail, a massage, a boat trip to islands, airport transfers and a family room in a Novotel branded hotel with a very large swimming pool in Kata Beach. This trip cost less than our week in Noosaville in December. With a week to go, we are not close to being ready! There’s a couple of bags on our bedroom floor that are empty except for Hamish’s swimmers, a box of rapid tests, sunscreen and a pretty decent first aid kit.

Will update later in the week as we start to get organised.

After a night of catching up with friends around Michelle and Stewart’s fire pit, with slightly foggy heads, Rod and I planned a bike ride towards Simpson’s Gap. I say ‘toward’ – whilst we would have made it TO Simpson’s Gap, our pleasant ride would then have turned into a 50K + return. I was VERY aware of the ever so slight downhill vibe I was getting. Where there’s downhill there’s uphill…

This ride is incredible in that, the views are amazing: blue skies and red rocks as far as the eye can see. Loved every minute (even the uphill) and it’s felt good being back on the bike this week. Rod stopped for a nature break on the way back and found a bike stashed behind a tree. Stolen? Cross training? Weird regardless.

We returned the bike and picked up Eli and Hamish for a quick trip to the Eastern Macs to have a look at Emily & Jessie Gap. Jessie Gap has ancient rock artwork and Emily Gap is currently full of water. They are both beautiful sites to visit within 20 minutes of Alice.

Michelle met us back at St Phillips, where the three of us met 20 years ago. It was lovely to walk around the school; fond memories of our time here still fresh in our minds. My handprint in the Topsy lockers still front and centre; Jessica’s on the back wall.

We returned to Suellen’s to clean up and pack up for our departure back to Melbourne. Suellen is an absolute treasure opening up her house to us since Tuesday. Plans for last night revolved around dinner at Hanuman’s, but it is booked out for 3 days! We ate at the Juicy Rump at the Casino outside with the gas heaters on.

The biggest issue of the night however, was a lost ticket for the concert Michelle, Jess and I are going to tomorrow night. I paid for it back in April, the money was taken from my account, but I can’t find the ticket anywhere! After multiple calls to Jess, searching email accounts and documents on my laptop (with no success) Jess secured another ticket. Crisis over. Writing this today it sounds like a non-issue, but I can assure you I was less than calm last night trying to work out WHERE this mystery ticket was!

I am stealing Michelle for the next 5 days. We’ll be in Melbourne this weekend then will have 3 nights at Phillip Island with two other girlfriends from home. I can’t wait to show Michelle around Phillip Island and take her to see the Penguins; she’s going to love it.

Today’s blog written by Rod

Desert Park

I take Hamish and Eli to the Desert Park for some easy strolling activity which does not involve attachment to a screen. The birds of prey show is the big drawcard and it starts at 10. Things have been busy here in The Centre and I am wary of queues, so I get us there just after 9. There is nobody about and we amble in, with 40 minutes or so to wander around before taking our seats. Eli is a little anxious about missing the show, so we get there with 15 minutes to kill. Now it gets crowded. The show starts and it is a lot of fun. The birds are well-trained and/or just following their instincts. The star of the show is not a bird of prey but a humble little local Willie Wagtail. It follows the presenter everywhere and does every swoop with the big birds as they try to catch the scraps. The show is enjoyed by all and then Hamish waits to get a photo with a wedgie (eagle.) We resume our pleasant stroll around the park. We all love the Nocturnal House and the boys are extremely well-behaved. The only downer was the closure of the café. But we make do with a couple of pies from the kiosk.

Afterwards (thanks to Eli’s recommendation of ‘Desert Dwellers’)  we manage to find a replacement cable for the car fridge that I clumsily broke at Yulara. My conscience is eased.

Back on the bikes

Belinda has hired a bike (hard tail Orbea) from the Outback Cycling bike shop (where they have bikes AND coffee) and I have borrowed Stewart’s dual-suspension Polygon. A bit of logistics follow; I drop Belinda at the shop, drive back to the house and then ride my bike to meet her there. It all works out as I try to remember my way around town. Belinda has a route picked out, but the man in the shop recommends another trail. So, we head off, past our old school and follow the Todd River towards the telegraph Station and beyond. The trail is coloured green (beginner) on the bike shop map and blue (intermediate) on Trail Forks (MTB app – which Belinda uses all the time). Blue wins. No question. It is quite rocky, fairly narrow and often quite steep.

There is also a (sand) river crossing to contend with. We manage the trail well, though; only having to walk our bikes occasionally. Neither of us has a fall and we feel pretty satisfied with our effort, given that neither of us have been mountain biking since Belinda’s injury. A pleasant ride home, mostly following the Todd River follows. We start planning our next ride, tomorrow.