Perfect Positano, Pompeii & Naples

Our first European jaunt was 2 and a half hours by plane to Naples. We left really early on a Friday morning and after catching 3 buses, a plane, another bus, a boat and another bus, we arrived in Positano on the Amalfi Coast. With hundreds of coloured houses perched precariously up the hillsides above beautiful bright blue water we fell in love immediately. Though we struggled with our Italian (defaulting to the small amount of Spanish we know was completely unhelpful) we savoured some delicious pastas, pizzas, wine, gelati and of course coffee! We hired a scooter for 2 days and covered the Amalfi Coast, stopping to admire the gorgeous towns along the way. Apart from a minor slide and fall on the scooter (not due to the terrible traffic or Pete's riding skills, but a little overbalance) we thought the scooter was the best way to see so much and go to places we wouldn't have been able to otherwise. We managed to secure some fabulous accommodation right in the heart of Positano, which made it even more perfect.

After the Amalfi Coast we explored Pompeii for a day. It was great to see the ancient city and what was achieved at the time it was built.


From Pompeii we went to Naples. We had heard that Naples was a bit dangerous and we weren't really sure what to expect from it. We found it to be very much like South America really - lots of buzzing activity, crazy drivers, good food, lots of street atmosphere and general mayhem. So we thoroughly enjoyed our first trip to Italy and can't wait to go back!


For the die-hard fans, here are some more photos of the trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120915&id=688115638&l=6c8376ea0e

An English Easter

For our first travel in the UK/Europe, we decided on a roadtrip to Bath and Devon/Cornwall over the Easter long weekend. We hired a car and explored Avebury (similiar to Stonehenge), the city of Bath and the Roman Baths, clambered over a number of castles, ate Cornish pasties and soaked up the gorgeous English countryside and narrow lanes. We had a very quaint time and it was lovely to get out of London and see some new sites. With our English Heritage passes in hand we were able to visit many castles and heritage sites, which opened our eyes to how old England is - so many buildings here have been around longer than Australia has been settled for!

Rooftops across Bath

Enjoying a famous Sally Lunn bun and the Roman Baths - Bath

Beautiful cathedral in Wells; Cleeve Abbey in Somerset

View across Launceston from Launceston Castle, Cornwall

Dartmouth Castle, Devon

If you would like to see more photos of our trip, click on: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116087&id=688115638&l=fb5881f406

London Living

After leaving the humidity of Singapore we finally arrived in London to much fresher weather - jackets please! We were welcomed into Lex and Yohanna's unit in Islington where our corner "room" had been set up for our stay. We had a great catch up at about 7am and after they left for work we started exploring the area. Over the next few weeks we familiarised ourselves with the underground, the red double-deck buses, the unpredictable weather (which was actually quite good with lots of blue sky), markets, different areas of London, caught up with some friends, tried to find some good coffee (which was really hard) and started job hunting. At first we were a bit overwhelmed by the size of London and what we are doing here, but over time we've managed to get to know the city better and we're feeling more comfortable and excited about living here. Here are some shots of our time in London so far:
(Primrose Park, Portobello Road, South Kensington, Greenwich, Soho, Hyde Park, London Eye)

Singapore Stopover

We left Sydney on 28 March and had a brief stopover for 2 days in Singapore, where we got the chance to visit Adam and Lisa Clayton. Lisa was such a local in her new homeland - taking us to brunch, shopping areas, dumpling heaven and reflexology. It was great to see where the Claytons are living and how they have really settled into the Singapore way of life!