travel queen

I have to apologise for my laziest ever period of non-posting!! And I have so much to fill you in on!!

In 3 weeks, I managed to travel an easy (as in could easily bore you death!!) 2954km... by car! I was reminded yet again of how truly huge Australia is. We popped over to Karratha for 'work'. Here I managed to sneak in some time at Hearson's Cove (a beach of shells, no sand), cuddle up to the Red Dog Statue in Dampier and drive a manual on the hunt for some Aboriginal rock art... off road!! Kirsti and Binnie didn't let me stay in the driver's seat for long, I think we're all still happy to be alive!

I was then lucky enough to spend 2 weekends in a row in Coral Bay. Now I know I said Exmouth was heaven, but Coral Bay is literally an oasis on earth. And the pies!!! I enjoyed a lovely work retreat with my 'physio posse', and returned a week later with most of my 'mad holligan' friends. Gina, Jase, Hannah and I even camped on the road side on our way down... how I've changed:) I even pitched my tent in Coral Bay that weekend (after being offered a lovely, air-conned room)... and soon realised I was not made for camping. God, in the peak of summer, what was I thinking?!? That is the hottest I have ever been... and with the least airflow.... tents are FOUL!! And it's not like you can cool down in the showers... they are fancily supplied by an artesian bore and are always warm!

I went beach 4WD'ing, had some amazing meals at Fin's cafe, enjoyed many drinks around our campsite, swam in the bay with massive snapper around my ankles, snorkelled with 2 turtles and some sharks, enjoyed quite a few cauliflower cheese pies and I even got to catch up with Dr Sarah G. It really is the place to holiday!!

On returning to Tom Price I hosted book club. Yes, I am quite learned and highbrow... unlike the rest of this town, I don't spend my spare time nursing a beer... Who am I fooling?? Our book club is aptly named RED club... read, eat and drink. Probably in the reverse order of what we value most, and it's awesome!! It has turned into the night of nights... with the host often preparing a 3 course meal and offering a theme. I served a morrocan lamb tagine (thanks Denise) and we discussed Jo Nesbo's 'The Snowman'. Well, those who had read it that is... I'm sure some people are just in it for the wine:)

I also hosted my birthday party... 26, 'a slippery slope to 30'. I had a lovely night, with my 'mad hooligans'. We started with drinks and food in my backyard, and ended up at the golfie just over the dangerous ditch. We went to bed at around 4am so it must have been a cracker!!

Now, as if that wasn't enough... I also spent Easter in Vietnam with my Melbourne family! Am I on a perpetual holiday or what!? It was even better than I imagined. I'm still thinking about it! We travelled from North to South, via Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Cam Tho and Ho Chi Minh City.

My highlights were; noodles for breakfast lunch and dinner!! Bun Bo Hue is what dreams are made out of! Visitng King Minh Mang's temple... whoever said 500 wives was too many? Drinking snake wine (or was that cobra, scorpion and pelican wine?), more aptly named 'Vietnamese Viagra' by our guide. Holding a 20kg python named Tommy with the fam. Eating the most amazing pineapple at the floating markets. Killing our own prawns on a Vietnamese style BBQ (the kids were too traumatised to eat). Playing 'spotto' for 5 to a scooter. Visiting the Cu Chi tunnels and being amazed by the country's history. G&T's. 5 star luxury, with breakfast included!! 4 beers for $2.... the list could go on!! We also spent 4 lovely nights, staying at a mega mall (!) in Penang, for Denise's family reunion. To be honest, I'm glad we left... I would no doubt be broke otherwise:) It was a good way to end 2 truly great weeks, I had such a blast!