Scotland trip part 2/5

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain so since this is the distillery nearest to the pure water source we decided to make it our first whisky distillery stop. On hind-side, we could have skipped it as the other distilleries we went to after were of higher standards. The tour guide was a robotic man wh regurgitated everything as he had memorised and when I asked him more questions, he replied the exact same things he said before emotionlessly so I took the hint not to bother him anymore.

Other than that we learnt a lot on whisky making (every distillery has the own methods! sounds like an art of processing barley) and we wished we could dive into this giant barrel of malt which was smelling so delicious.

Heading off to the ferry terminal we stopped by the famous Glenfinnan viaduct in Harry Potter. Btw Harry Potter was also filmed in Glencoe.
The weather changed as we took the ferry at Mallaig in our car to the pirate island of Skye after a hearty seafood lunch.

Exactly the feel I imagined- mysterious pirate island. Although it was drizzling, I was so happy admiring the view on arrival at Armadale.

Now it was time to check into the next BNB which faces the island of Scalpay just after Broadford and before Portree, behind Cuillin hills. It is surrounded by pastures where the local mini-sized black faced sheep graze on. With a million-dollar view, no wonder the lady owner chose to live there.

We went for a chase each other around walk while etienne, our tired driver had a snooze.See the house on the left was our BNB and in the middle was Ginger going running back in a zig zag,

This is the view from the window of our room...

and how G & S's room looks like... very cosy

That evening, still drizzling we made our way to Broadford for dinner at Creeler's of Skye. Et and I normally eat very little at dinner so we ordered only a starter and a main to share while G&S who love seafood had scallops, soup for entree and mains. Finally generous Wang 董 (aka Steve) treated us as he was very satisfied with the meal. What a boss right?! That was the first time I tasted squat lobster tails- they are in tiny pieces and tasted sweeter than lobster but not as sweet as scampi. I don't think we have much chances to have it again, so Im still savouring the taste...

Scotland trip Part 1/5

We kept reminiscing our Scotland trip, saying that it was one of the best trips we had together but I've not even posted any photos! After Scotland in May, I have been to Singapore 2 times, Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney and Abu Dhabi but still no excuse for not blogging other than bad time management and pure laziness.

So here it goes but starting from our stop over at Amsterdam. The famous Keukenhof garden.

 I've never seen so many big tulips before!

In Scotland, our first stop at Jill & Jono in Glasgow to see how they are adapting to life back in Scotland... and our Oz man was having withdrawal from the cold weather!

 Little hunter became a big bundle of cuteness with rosy cheeks.

The next morning we went back to the airport to pick up our G&S (from London) and set up on our road trip in our rental car.

Lunch at Loch Lomond, we were blessed with a sunny day.

We were supposed to spend the night at Glen coe and the scenery on the way was breath-taking.

We got a bit lost (drove to the next town, under wrong directions of the locals!). Finally arrived in a lovely BNB hosted by a strange extra ordinary warm hearted big lady with a puppy. That night we had a lovely dinner in a local pub after walking 15min along the lake. We had some whiskies to warm up before heading back and saw so many stars... Next morning after a hearty breakfast of haggis, we were along our way to hike in Glencoe.

 Pity we did not have time to do the Lost City hike which takes a good 3 hours, so we did a short one recommended by the locals on a close off old hiking track... and the view was spectacular. Navigated through some marshes and got mud on our shoes, running and mocking around, it was so nice to be with good friends.

Then off we left the Glencoe behind for a big day of drive to the Isle of Skye.

Canoe & Camping Expedition at Katherine Gorge

Im just too lazy to blog lately, here's some photos which our visitors took when we brought them on a camping trip at Katherine. I love the dry season in Darwin... even my veges are loving it and flourishing... but only 2 months left before the unbearable build up starts.

The drive was 4.5 hours LONG...

 We hiked to the sweet water pool 8.6Km return.

 Trying to imagine how it looks when the water is running full steam down the falls.

First night we camped next to the tourism office to facilitate collection of canoes in the morning... but it was the most expensive camping site ever $19 per pax.

Et had to drag our canoe over difficult rock crossings, one even lasted 30min. No wonder pulled his muscles.

 We tried hard to synchronise but it is not easy canoeing double. My left arm hurts.

 We were required to wear the floats which were unnecessary as we bummed into a fresh water croc in the 5th gorge after which everyone was careful not to fall into the watert... except for me who swam twice on my own and had the refreshing water to myself. Anyway freshwater croc are not as agressive as the salties.

 View from the top of the escarpment.

 Our campsite on the beach. Our friends slept under the stars instead- very brave as I can't imagine buzzing insects around my ears through the night.

Gorgeous sunset :) A magical camping trip.

My freedom is equivalent to having annual leaves

Im OUT of annual leaves! Only 20 days of leaves a year and used them all up for our Europe holidays.

Last year in May, our home trip to Europe - France & London, made us understood that exhaustion kills the joy of traveling. This time, Et would be on a business trip to get his simulator check in Amsterdam, we planned it differently having the family visit us in Amsterdam over a 4 days period instead. After which we would go for our holidays in a place we have yet to discover together. It all worked out much better :)

While Et prepared for his check in the hotel in Amsterdam near the Schiphol airport where we spent 7 nights,

I finalised our Scotland itinerary and B&B bookings for our 8 days road trip. Never before I've started a holiday with 2 days of pure free time, and it was perfect as I needed real rest after fighting with fire for a week at work in Melbourne.

Planning for trips is the more rewarding part of travelling, as I can ensure all the places I want to visit are not missed out. I love to dream about how places look like before stepping foot on them as Im often pleasantly surprised how much more beautiful these places are compared to how I visualised them.

For these reasons, it was unlike me to have nothing prepared for our Scotland dream trip. We had our air tickets to Glasgow and Edinburgh, a car hired for the week, a lonely planet borrowed from the Darwin library and an email from a good Scottish mate on where to go. But not good enough, what are going to do exactly? which distillery/castle/restaurant to visit? and where to stay? * I was fretting out!

In Scotland we were to be joined by G&S from London and I wanted it to be an epic journey. So I was extremely annoyed for having to leave the planning to the last minute due to work commitments... but that is life. Project based job means that sometimes work is mad and hectic and at other times super slack, and it was just bad luck that it was uber hectic through the month before my holidays and even ate into my holidays. In Amsterdam, I had Et asking me during the first 5 days if other colleagues in my company still work like me during holidays :(

Part 3- March & April 2014

March- Managed to stay 3 weeks at home, what a feat!
Lucky me, only had to move my ass for a work trip to Jakarta. Transiting Singapore on the way back, I managed to catch Rowene before they move to USA. As usual being a fabulous host, when I arrived, she was all set with zhicha food and 2 bottles of beautiful wine.

Then I had a sleepover with her and beanie who even sent me to my cab the next morning :)

In March I had ample time in Darwin to start working on my veggie patch and joined a new yoga studio.
Oh how I love my veggie patch and watching plants grow! I signed up for a plot at the Royal botanic gardens 1.5 year ago and never thought I would receive my plot of land ever, but I did! Also am very fortunate as the previous gardener left me some healthy fruitful plants. My fertile 7mX6m land is on a sunny slope and continuously supplies Indian eggplants, okra, malabar spinach, mint and basil.

The edaname were grown by my neighbour to improve nitrates in my soil, but was not as juicy as those we buy in the supermarkets.

I've sowed some new seedlings in my nursery at home to be replanted in the dry season but the soil has been so hot and killed 3 of the babies I've transplanted. I will just have to wait for the weather to cool down more before moving them over. Gardening is about patience, hardwork and learning from the others. And working together in a community!

Some photos of our fund raising day during a Open house where we served cakes and coffee to the visitors. In 2 days, we raised $1700 to set up a new sprinkler system for our Snake bean community garden.

April- stayed 2 weeks at home
Multiple work trips before I deserve my long awaited annual Europe holidays, this time we are giving Paris a miss and importing my MIL and SIL into Amsterdam instead. Then we are going to Scotland for whisky, Loch and castles with another couple from London.

This month I already went to Jakarta and KL for work, and soon next for work again- 1 week in Shanghai and Melbourne respectively. In order for my veggie patch to survive, I've roped in a new friend from my tennis club who just moved to Darwin 3 months ago to be the co-owner. A meticulous Japanese girl who loves gardening and is always nice and kind... this is going to be so much more fun!

Amazingly, I've lived in my own home for 1 out of the 4 months during Q1 2014. Definitely not making our rent's worth but had escaped most of the hot wet season in Darwin and experienced a lot of new things in other places. So, definitely worth the adventure, occasional exhaustion and unrest. Just need to blog more to keep track of things.

Part 2- February 2014

Feb- 0 days at home and that was pretty ideal as our friend, Bren, needed a place to crash in for 2 months, so why not let him have our whole place to his privacy?

I took an expensive last minute ticket to Cairns when Et was suddenly posted there straight from Melbourne. Not knowing how long I would be there, I brought only a cabin luggage and basically lived on the same 5 sets of clothes for a month when putting up in the 1 bedroom apartment right on the Cairns esplanade with a view of the sea on the right

and the hills on the left

last but not least, a lovely swimming pool which lights up in blue at night.

No one in my office realised I was not in Darwin as I became a regular working in the Cairns library getting the necessary work done. The dining table in the apartment was too low for working with my laptop and gave me neck problems. Due to the time difference of 30mins, Et and I have time to grab coffee in the mornings before starting work.

It was Et's first time in Cairns so we did some touristy stuffs, went snorkeling at the great barrier reef,

played tennis at different courts,

visited the Kuranda and Mareeba coffee plantations

and distilleries and tried some restaurants. He was quite busy so when I have to spend the weekends alone, I drove to the northern beaches to watch people fish and have a nap on the beach. Love the serenity...

We tried many exotic fruits from the local markets- black sapote etc, they are mainly from the amazon forests which experiences the same climate as Cairns.

Mangoes are super cheap there, you can get 1 of those big reddish ones for only 50cents.

I was very glad that I didn't have to spend Valentines day in the plane, nor walking about alone. Instead I had a gelato on the esplanade of Cairns after a lovely stroll with my Valentine.