Gudday Everyone,

We are still here and having a great time. Sorry for not blogging for over a week, especially after giving everyone a hard time for not putting on any comments!! This will be a bit of a long blog as there is soooo much to write about, so sit back, get a cuppa and relax!!

Friday 23rd March

We spent the day on the Great Barrier Reef, sailing out on a catamaran that cost 3 million quid- very nice boat. We went to a place a called Michalmus cay (a small sand bar) where we did some snorkeling. It is like another world under the sea. Beautiful colourful coral, loads of fish and giant clams (as big as a dustbin lid). I did a glass bottom boat tour as well and saw turtles and nemos!! It was quite a windy day so the sea was a bit choppy, this made it difficult at times to swim and we also felt a tad sea sick. They put the sails up on the way home and we had a great sail back to shore, a lovely way to sit back and relax.

Sunday 25th March

What a fantastic day. This was one of those 'once in a lifetime' days and was completely amazing. We set off at 7 ish and went to Cairns Airport where we got on a light aircraft that sat about 10 people. There were 6 of us on the flight and the pilot called Greg. We flew north over the land, where we could see the daintree river, rain forest, waterfalls, oxbow rivers and giant sand dunes. We arrived at a small island called Lizard Island and walked to a secluded, beautiful beach, in Watsons bay. On the way we stopped off at various points to look at things, we ate green ants that tasted like lemon and lime, quite nice really! We got straight in the sea and did a guided snorkel with Greg, again saw amazing things, so many different fish, big bright blue starfish, a shark and many more giant clams. The rest of the day consisted of snorkeling, eating yummy food and relaxing. We flew home over the reef. It was so interesting to see it from the air, where you can see the shapes and beautiful colours of the reef. I've never been on a small plane before and it was so exciting, the pilot dipped the wings so that we got good views of the land below. A day to remember and definitely goes in my top 5 days of my life.

Tuesday 27th - Thursday 29th March

We set sail on a 3 day sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands. We went on a Tall ship called Derwent Hunter and she was a beautiful ship, 60 years old and a part of Australian history. We had a great crew; a skipper, a decki and a cook. There were 18 passengers who were a really nice group of people. During the days we did lots of snorkeling and relaxing. We also did some great sailing which was exhilarating and fun. With the snorkeling we saw different things to the previous time. We swam with turtles which was so relaxing, they are so laid back and graceful. We also saw so many fish. At one point the decki threw fish food on our heads and they swarmed around us which at first was a little unnerving but it was also an amazing experience. At the end of a hard day (!!!) we sat about drinking wine and chatting. On the wedsnesday went to Whitehaven beach which had amazing sand, 98% silica (basically very fine sand), the water was so shallow and lovely to paddle in. Linda and I slept in the galley area so had quite a bit of space but it was still compact! It was a great 3 days and I'm so pleased that we did it. Definitely an experience not to be missed. There was great snorkeling, beautiful sunsets, lovely company, loads of food and sooo relaxing.

We have just spent 2 days on Magnetic Island were we stayed at a party hostel (never again!!), chilled out and visited a koala sanctuary but more of that later.

Thats all for now, love Penny

Hi blog followers,

no, we haven't dropped off the edge of the world, we've just been busy and without access to internet for a while.......there's a lot to say, so we're both doing separate entries, and as I only have 28 mins left on my computer time it'll just be the highlights.

We spent the day on a reef trip from Cairns on a catamaran, sorkelling and being looked after by a great crew. There's no need to dive around there as you see so much anyway - ad as I had/have blocked ears and nose I couldn't have dived anyway. It was a great day, but the one two dasys later was off the scale........

We had an incredible day flying up from Cairns to Lizard Island in a chartered plane, that had just 6 of us and the pilot. The journey was awesome, with the best weather we'd seen in over a week. We saw all sorts of rarely seen sights due to being airborne, and the views of the reefs on the way back was breath taking. Towards the top of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) it was a really quiet National Park island with a small airstrip and a few very unspoilt and lovely beaches. We snorkelled around unspoilt reefs, walked along the sand as we squinted against the glare of the sun off the sand, ate a lovely lunch that had lots of fruit in it and the day went so quickly. Ot wasn't cheap but was a once in a life time experience and one that I'll never forget.....photos to follow when I get more time (when we get to Melbourne in a couple of days).

After Cairns we travelled down to Airlie Beach to head off sailing around the Whitsunday Islands on a tall ship called "Derwent Hunter" a 60 year old timber ship. Don't know the technical terms but it had 4 sails, and the weather allowed us to go for some really long hard sails that apparently were the best sails they'd had in a long time. We had a great crew (only 3 of them) and 18 opf us as guests. I am totally, totally amazed that I didn't feel at all sea sick, even when we sailing hard...... after my horrid dive boat experience in Egypt I was quite worried about it, but all was well - even the second day when most people apparnetly felt ill in the afternoon I was totally well - how amazing - praise God!

We did lots of snorkelling, swam with turtles, saw incredible amounts of fish, superb reefs with amazing drop offs into the abyss. On the first day I snorkell-dived down and picked up a plastic container that was littering the bottom and was given a free glass of wine as a "well-done"..... thanks to my National Geographic dive training - couldn't just leave it there!!

I'm running out of time, but I must tell you about the sand on Tongue Beach, which is on Whitsunday Island, and is the opposite bay to Whitehaven..... these beaches are made up of 98% silica, the purest sand found on a beach anywhere. It was like walking on icing sugar, and the sand never gets hot, even in the midday sun high...it really was paradise island. Penny and I were soooooo pleased that we did it, it was an incredible experience with a great group of people, and I'd recomend it to anyone - again, photos to follow.

Well, we're now at Magnetic Island, just off Townsville. We fly out tomorrow and didn't want to stay in T'ville itself. A girl on our sailing trip recommended XBase as a place to stay, and here we are. The last time I ever take accom'n advice from a 21year old! It's awful. It feel a bit like Butlins, constant pumping music, and whilst at breakfast this morning I reflected that it feels like we're at a giant youth camp, but for the first time have no authority! I so wanted to be on the other side of our 8 bed dorm, telling them to be quiet and go to sleep! The music only ended at 1.30 am and people were drifiting in and out up until 4am, rustling bags, putting the light on and off etc. We both feel like grandmas and are going to try to get moved for tomight to somewhere a bit further away from the bar/disco...... the joys of dorm life.

Anyway, better go before this times out and I lose the entry - if I get time in Melbourne I'll write a bit more about the last few days, but we'll definitely get some photos on Flickr in the next few days....watch this space.

Well cobbers (Kris - it's an Ozzie expression, meaning people, I guess), time to go & try to change our room for tonight - hurrah! Has been an amzing week, and there's more to come with Melbourne, then Sydney, then New Z'd. Bring it on.....

Till next time, and thanks to all of you who let us know you're following us, we really appreciate it.

Lots of love, Linda xxx :-)

Hi Everyone

Thanks so much for all your comments, they made me chuckle!! We know that you are out there and reading this and its lovely to here from people, sorry if people are having trouble leaving comments. Kim has suggested previewing your comment before posting it, so maybe try that. Thanks Angela for the offer of reserving a bunny for me for Easter, can you post it out to me!!?? Sorry Helen that Malone is no longer, he was a lovely bunny.

I shall go and report to Linda about the comments, she is suffering a bit with a cold and cough, poor thing. Guess what?....its raining again, I know we'll get no sympathy from anyone in Britain!! We have booked a trip out to the Great Barrier reef tomorrow, they assure us it will be better weather out there, so looking forward to that. Went swimming yesterday in the lovely man made outdoor lagoon, very nice.

That's all, we'll keep you posted and THANKS AGAIN for the comments.

Love Penny and Linda too.

Dear Blog followers,

who are you and where are you? Other than a few people we are not getting many comments at the moment. We have no idea who is acually reading our blogs so thought it would be a good idea to ask for your help. When you read this please, please, please leave us comment even if it only says hi or something similar! That way the blog police (a.k.a US!!) will get to know who is reading our blog. We are spending hours in internet cafes writing great literary works on the blogs and we'd love to know you are reading this!! Thank you guys.

So what have we been upto since we last blogged? We have just come back from a couple of days in the rainy rainforest, where it.......rained! But we are British so we cope with the rain very well! And at least it was lovely and warm. We went to the Daintree National Park which is one of the only places where the rainforest meets the beach. We couldn't swim in the sea because of the box jelly fish but instead God provides us with swimming holes. These are fresh water pools along creeks (rivers) and as long as you are enough upstream you are not in danger of being eaten by a croc!

Speaking of those lovely friendly creatures we saw some on a river cruise. Thankfully we were in a boat and they weren't. They were quite hard to find, tending to stay under water or on the banks a little hidden away. But we saw a couple of them thanks to the eagle eyes of our boat guide.

We stayed in a lovely hostel in the rainforest. We were dropped off there along with a guy who was on our bus. As we all lined up at reception the owner produced a key for room 42 for Penny, the same for Linda who then joked "of course he'll not have number 42 will he". But he did much to our surprise and probably his too. It turns out they do mixed dorms over here. Another girl came along later so we had a cosy room for 4. It worked well especially as Olaf (a Norwegian guy) bought a bottle of red wine and shared it with us. We all went out for grub later and had the most amazing Baramundi fish dish.

We did a bit more walking today whilst trying to avoid the HEAVY rain. Thankfully we were not in this area this time last year when a cyclone ripped through and destroyed a lot of stuff.

We will be around Cairns for the next few days and we'll let you know our plans when we do! Don't forget, please leave us a comment.

Have a nice day cobbers, Linda and Penny xxx

Australia so far.....

We arrived here in Cairns on Friday morning and booked into our backpackers hostel. The hostel is great, being well set up for backpackers and with a good atmosphere. It has communal kitchens and living areas, as well a tour operator there that can organise trips etc. They give us a daily meal ticket so we can go to a pub and get a free dinner-great idea! We have a nice room, without an en suite bathroom! Being in Australia we can't afford our own bathroom anymore, but the communal areas are clean and absolutely fine! We seem to be the oldest people there, although we have not done full survey of ages!! We guess most of the people staying there are on their 1st gap year and not a career break like us oldies!!! Mind you we both look in our twenties, we're told!!

A great thing about the hostel is that we can self cater. One of the first things we did was go to Woolworths (which does food here) and buy some grub. We had cheese, ham and tomato sarnies (bliss!) and have also had cereal for brekkie and endless cups of tea!! It is so much easier (and cheaper) self catering and at least this way we won't forget how to cook (or more like make sarnies and pour cereal into a bowl!!).

We haven't got up to much as yet. We've mainly pottered around Cairns and rested. There is no beach in this bit of Cairns-its a bit further out of the city but it has a lovely sea front where people seem to jog, stroll along or just sit and chill out. Linda is really pleased as it is a perfect place for her to go and jog. They also have a lovely lagoon type swimming pool that is free to use and places were people can have barbecues. It definitely encourages the outdoor lifestyle and relaxed living.

We can not swim in the see around here due to the box jelly fish that are rife at this time of year. They do have 'stinger nets' but we are advised not to swim even in those as these cunning jelly fish can get in them!! It has rained quite a bit since we got here, but its not like rain in England. Its so warm here and the rain is usually short lived, so its not a problem!!

We hope to go to church this evening and then tomorrow we go up to Cape Tribulation over night and take in the sights further north.

Well that all for now folks.

Love Linda and Penny xxx

Penny's highlights from Malaysia and Singapore

I was surprised how different Malaysia was to Thailand, which is not that surprising as it is another country!! It was certainly more organised and tidy. One of my highlights was the Chinese New Year celebrations which seemed to go on for much of the time we were there. Starting in Penang and finishing in Kuala Lumpur. Spending time in Penang wandering around the celebrations there is something I won't forget and then spending time with Connie and family in Kuala Lumpur and experiencing the new year with a Chinese family was also so memorable. Kuala Lumpur is a great city and (along with Singapore) one that I would happily live in (but I have no plans to do this!!!!) .

Singapore was an interesting city and I felt it would have been good to have explored it more had we had more time there. It was a bit of a shock the difference in money there, with everything being alot more expensive. The Zoo & Night Safari was definitely a highlight for me, a very nice zoo that seemed to really care for their animals in an interesting and fun environment. The elephant show was fab, they were so clever and had a great rapport with their Mahots (trainers).

Probably the low light was the food, with the food being so lovely in Thailand it was a hard act to follow in Malaysia!! I feel I am now relaxing into the backpacker lifestyle although I am missing my luxuries!!

So there are my highs and lows of the last leg of our SE Asia trip.

Pen x

G'day Cobbers,

here we are "down under" and are currently trying to get back into a decent sleep pattern after our travels. Pen's going to post a comment about OZ so far, a nd I thought I'd do a reflction on Malaysia and Singapore.....so here goes...

Many aspects of M felt very similar to Thailand, although more people speak English well in S, being a former colony. This made things less tiring/frustrating/confusing as you can imagine! We also noticed that whilst people in T were very friendly there was often a hidden agenda such as wanting us to buy somthing/go somewhere. In M people were incredibly friendly and helpful and almost always it was simply because they wanted to help rather than gain anything. How lovely!

We were told several times that tourism is generally a lot slower at the moment in M, which is sad for them but good for us, given that we had more choice/cheaper prices etc. We also noticed a change in the weather - M & Singapore were both far more prone to torrential rain and thunderstorms, happening almost daily - usually late afteroon to early evening and lasting up to 4 hours! M is much more organised and orderly than T (those we spoke to attribute it to colonialisation) which made travel etc much more pleasant.

My highlights would have to be Chinese New Year (the celebrations in Penang, in KL with Connie and family), spending time with Penny's lovely Uncle Peter and Aunty Susan, and my two foot massages in a really lovely massage salon. My low light would have to be the lack of exercise! We did no swimming as we weren't near beaches or pools, and I only had one chance to run, whilst in the cooler Cameron Highlands so it was lovely to get to Oz and have a straight, flat boardwalk and esplanade right oiutside our hostel that stretches for at least 2 miles each way - hurrah!

Although we didn't really get to see many islands or beaches in M, I would probably head back to T first given the choice, as there was so much more we wanted to see, the islands were stunning and T is a really good place to move onto into Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar etc. It also seemed easier to eat more healthily in T than M, although it wasn't particularly easy in either country.

So, what of Singapore? There was plenty to see there, but as Penny wasn't well when we arrived (it was just the one day, she's fine now!) and our first night at the hotel was pretty awful, it wasn't the best start to our time there. As in T & M we were never far from Chinese food, as large swathes of each population are of Chinese descent, but there was also so much western choice, but it was often quite disappointing and greasy! It was a wake-up call to the cost of living that we can expect in OZ, as the S prices were a lot higher than in T & M and our budget certainly didn't go as far (although it helped having cheap dinners sometimesn at the Chinese market - equivalent of about a quid each rather than 6 - 10 in a restaurant!)

S is lovely place, very clean, orderly, diverse and I can see why lots of expats would live there. If I had to choose somewhere from our SE Asia travels to work, it would be in S, because it's more like home from home but w th enought diversity and easy transport to allow for other cultural experiences....as long as you were on an expat wage to be able to enjoy it!

My highlights would be our Singapore sling in Raffles (despite the cost), the Asian Civilsations Museum, and also the Battle"Box which was a moving re-enactment experience of the last few days in the underground miltary command bunker during WW2 against the Japanes before having to surrender.

My mixed feeling highlight was S'pore zoo and night safari. The experiences were wonderful - especially the elephant show which had several elephants and handlers having fun and entertaining the masses for an hour or so and it was really lovely to see them at work and play, relating so well to their keepers and vice versa. The night safari was an excellent way to see nocturnal animals which we did partly by tram and partly on foot. The night sounds were also amazing - like being back in the jungle in Thailand......such fond memories.

I've been to very few zoos in my life and don't remember going to any as a child, but I'm sure my Mum could say otherwise(!?). I can only remember ever going to Dudley Zoo once as an adult as I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing. On the one side I know that species are becoming scarce and even extinct due to human and environmental factors, and that zoos can provide means for preservation, propogation, research, education etc and that if they're well planned etc (as S'pore seems to to my untrained eye) then there are many benefits.

However, on the other hand I can't help but wonder about the effects on the animals, particularly not having the freedom to roam/migrate/mate and especially I wonder at the effects of being fed by hand rather than hunting - bigger creatures that are not plant/grub/insect eaters etc, such as lions, tigers and bears (oh my!)........ Of course, in an ideal world there would be no need for zoos, but it makes me sad that often the only way to preserve species is to protect them from humans by putting them in cages in unusual and confined surroundings; cages that ironically also protect the humans from the animals!

OK, that was a bit heavy, but at least I've used my brain for once on these travels - 6 weeks in, and it's in danger of becoming total mush! I've even resumed some Sudoku puzzles because I'm turning into a slob with no independent thought or exercise (OK, slight exaggeration, but travelling is like nothing I've ever done before and it's very easy to lose all sense of routine, healthy lifestyle etc!).

Anyway, I'll attempt to go and put some MORE PHOTOS on Flickr now, so do go and have a look. We're away overnight to Cape Tribulation Tue/Wed and then need to decide how much we can afford to spend on a boat trip with snorkelling/possibly diving on the Great Barrier Reef.....oh, the difficult decisions we have to make!!!

To those of you who've commented or e.mailed and haven't had a reply, please don't think I'm ignoring you, it's just that it actually takes a long time to put these blogs on and keep up with things (not to mention the cost!) so do keep commenting / e.mailing. However, if you ask specific questions I'll do my best to answer, bhonest!

Til next time, g'day from down under - I'll talk about Oz next time. See Penny's post for current details.

lotsa love, Linda x

Hi everyone,

well, here we are in very rainy Singapore!

We go the train down from Tampin yesterday, entering our third contry of travel. Poor Pen wasn't very well yesterday and spent the rest of the day in bed, so it wasn't the best welcome to Singapore.

Our hotel is OK, but there's a large family in several rooms around us with kids running and screaming late at night, and our aircon kept sounding like it was about to explode all through the night, so sleep was rather disturbed..... but at least the beds are comfy!

Today we went to the Asian Civilizations museum, which was really interesting (but what could ever top the museum in Melaka that had a pair of Mohamed Ali's boxing gloves!), and had our lunch by the river. Well, darlings, then we trotted off to Raffles, to have our customary Singapore Sling in the Long Bar. Just as well it had a few shots of alcohol in it, which slightly took the sting out of the numbers on the bill.....but it was worth it (we think, but once the alcohol wears off we might think differently!). Raffles was lovely, the Long Bar had a great atmoshphere and we enjoyed chucking our peanut shells on the floor. We would have stayed for another, but that would've involved re-remortgaging our houses! Ah well, such once in a lifetime experiences are price-less (but not as far as the bank's concerned....)

Hope to go to the zoo tomorrow (and night safari) and if this rain continues we might end up having to wear our ridiculously large , sweaty & gorgeous ponchos!! Mmmm, what a beautiful sight...... We leave the day after for Cairns, and hopefully some better weather (although we can't really complain, given that most of our 6 weeks have been brilliant sunshine).

Hopefully we'll get some more photos on Flickr in a few days, so watch this space.

That's all for now folks, from a very nice but rather pricey Singapore (we really are hardened backpackers now, moaning about the costs that are still less than at home - except for Raffles....)

Toodlepip ol' beans, jolly hockey sticks, what, till next we "connect"....... about as posh as we can muster given our Raffles experience........

with grandest felicitations, (or rather, see ya soon)

Penny & Linda xx

Hi All

Thought I'd put on quick post as I am at the computer. We are still in Melaka and still haven't done much. We are going to go Chinatown later today for a wander around and to soak up some of the atmosphere here in Melaka! We wonder if Melaka is not as bustling as it used to be, what with even the sound and light show no longer on!! It certainly seems like the kind of place people use as a stop off on route to somewhere else. But it has been good to relax and take it easy.

The backpacker place is great and we've met some really nice people there. A couple of Scottish girls called Lucy and Sharon have been very adventurous and did the trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Beijing, then overland through Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and now Malaysia. I'd now love to do the Moscow to Beijing route, have to save it for a couple of years time!!! Hello to Lucy and Sharon!!! Its been good to chat with other back packers and swap stories!!

That's all the news for now, Love Penny x

Hi everyone,

we're now in Melaka, having had a very smooth bus journey from KL yesterday, leaving again Monday morning by train to Singapore.

We're staying at a backpackers hostel that has a roof top garden, japanese style communal lounge and even a self-service kitchen that operates on an honesty box system for drinks etc, all for 3.50 quid each a night. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount to do here in Melaka, but maybe it's just a good time to rest/read/chat/eat in between big cities...... it is the weekend, after all ;-) !!

It's amazing how tiring travelling can be, as well as taking in all the different sights/sound/smells etc, mentally converting money all the time, trying to understand and be understood etc..... Can't imaging how tired we'd be if we had to keep speaking in a second language all the time too (we can just be really lazy and speak English 99% of the time).

I had a lovely foot massage last night (my left foot was hurting again so I decided it needed some pampering). I had a herbal foot bath followed by a 30 min foot massage, which was lovely, seated in a spacious armchair with soothing music, a tinkling fountain, subdued lighting etc etc whilst my jasmine tea was continually topped up....... it was a really posh salon and was therefore really expensive by eastern standars - 3 English pounds and 50 hard-earned pence, don't you know!! What a rip-off, NOT!

Anyway, I'm rambling, so will head off now and probably make a cup of coffee and read my book (hard life), unless we decide to go off and do something touristy, but having gone to the fortressed area and museums yesterday there's not a lot else to do....

Do keep adding your comments - don't worry if you're not sure about it - just do it anyway and I can always delete them if you later decide you don't want it to be public for some reason!

Will probably next blog from Singapore, but you never know, something exciting might happen in the meantime...........

Until then. Lots of love from Linda xxx (& Pen too, of course)

Hi All

We realised that we have not put on a proper post for over a week and thought it was about time that we brought you upto date with what we have been upto.

We got the bus from Penang to the Cameron Highlands last Thursday. We only spent two nights there, good job too because it was freezing!! However it did allow Linda to go out for her first and only jog so far. Thats what being away with a couch potato does for you!!! We thought we'd have lost loads of weight by now but we seem to spend more on food a day than on accomodation!!!

At the Cameron Highlands we went to a Tea Plantation and we could have gone trekking but spent time with Penny's Uncle Peter and Auntie Susan instead, which was lovely. We had our 1st "steamboat" and what we thought would be our last as we didn't know what to do and so didn't rate it very highly. A steamboat is lots of raw meat, fish (cuttle fish, prawns, mussels, JELLY FISH etc), veggies and noodles. You cook it in a big pot of chicken soup in the middle of the table. We thought that it was quite bland and a bit odd!

We were thinking of going to Taman Negara but were not that keen having already been jungle trekking in Thailand. When My Aunt and Uncle suggested that we travel to Kuala Lumpur with them by taxi (not the usual backpacker mode of transport) this made our mind up for us and we gladly accepted. Queue cheesy song.........we are staying at the YMCA. Linda worked at the YMCA hostel in Coventry a few years ago and its nothing like that. In fact its probably the best place we have stayed because it is like a hotel but very cheap (5 or so quid a night each, including brekkie). Not bad for Malaysia's capital city.

We've done the usual sight seeing, eating and more eating. We went up the telecommunications tower the other day which gives a 360 degree view of KL from about 1000feet. We were in the middle of a great thunderstorm and saw another building struck with lightening. But thankfully it didn't get us!!!!

On Sunday we went to KL Baptist Church. Their new building is only 4 months old and is amazing. We were made to feel incredibly welcome from the moment we walked in. After the service a lovely lady called Connie looked after us and took us for coffee in their new cafe. We then were taken shopping and for lunch after which we met members of her family at a lion dance display given by the world champions. It was fantastic and very acrobatic but difficult to describe. After that Connie took us to her home where we had our 2nd "steamboat", which was delicious as they knew what they were doing and put the right ingredients in together at the right time (and no JELLY FISH!!). Thank you Connie for such a lovely day, bless you.

We said goodbye to my Uncle and auntie last night who head back to England tomorrow. They looked after us so much and it was lovely to have poolside lunches at Le Meridian hotel with them. Another non backpacker experience! Thankyou to you both.

We braved haircuts today but ended up spending lots more than we expected to. They "forgot" to tell us that a conditioning treatment cost almost 20 quid each on top of what they originally explained! We nearly fell over when we got the bill, especially as Linda has such short hair!!! But as a result we've got highlighted, silky smooth hair!!

We hope to go up the Petronas towers tomorrow and maybe even the cinema. We leave for Melaka by bus on friday and then Singapore on Monday by train. Our flight to Cairnes, OZ is next thursday. Here's to some new experiences........

Thanks for all your comments, please keep it up we really, really appreciate it.

Till next time. Love from Linda and Penny xx ;-)

Penny's uncle Peter & Aunty Susan and Linda...

Penny's uncle Peter & Aunty Susan and Linda...
Originally uploaded by lindafbarker.

Just one more photo to add of my Aunt and Uncle and Linda, in the Cameron Highlands. Its been so great to spend some time with them and they have been great tour guides!!
Penny

Hi Everyone. Our second photo entry, and there's lots to tell you about...


We enjoyed a wonderful last day of Chinese New Year with Connie and her family in Kuala Lumpur. Connie was part of a team that came over from KL Baptist Church to Olton Bapist Church for the 2005 Baptist Congress. We went to KL Baptist Church in their brand new and very lovely church complex, and Connie looked after us all day and into the evening. Bless you Connie! Below, we're eating a Chinese salad which was sooo tasty & really delicious.

Some of the raw ingredients for our "steamboat", which is a traditional local dish, and it really brings the family together as you have to work as a team to prepare it! Like fondue but a bit different....

The Petronas Twin towers, the tallest twin towers in the world and very new

View from the Boh Tea plantation, Cameron Highlands (very cold, very wet, but very green!). We were there at the same time as Penny's Uncle Peter & Auntie Susan, which was lovely. We ended up travelling with them by taxi down to Kuala Lumpur, which was unexpected but very lovely.

One of the many species at the Butterfly Farm, Penang.

One of many creepy crawlies in our bathroom......... well, if we're being honest, it was also at the butterfly farm!

One of the views from the top of Penang Hill, our major climb of 820 meters over 5 km, in baking afternoon heat - well done us ;-)

Amongst many other interesting facts, at the Tropical Fruit Farm Penang, we learned that pineapples DON'T grow on trees - there is only one per plant per year and they grow on the ground!


That's all for now, hope you enjoy our latest entry. Check the link at the top of our blog page and see more photos at Flickr.

Lots of love from Penny & Linda xx