Country 7 - Scotland

15 - 27th September 2018

On day 45 of this epic honeymoon we said goodbye to our friends in Ireland and with a hop, skip & a jump we were finally in Scotland. As we caught the bus from the airport our faces were glued to our windows as we entered the city. WOW. Just wow. If you haven't been to Edinburgh, let me tell you it's like walking into the best possible time warp.

We spent our first couple of days exploring this magical city on our own. Cobble stone streets are the norm, wind gusts could easily give you whiplash and the buildings that date back hundreds of years will take your breathe away. We stayed in Old Town and were surrounded by restaurants, shops & the lure of underground ghost tours. Edinburgh is a bustling city with pubs a plenty too which just adds to the vibe! We spent much of our time on the Royal Mile - the distance between the castle and palace. It's not uncommon to pass 2 or 3 bagpipe players while you walk the streets which just adds to the experience. 



Our first stop was Edinburgh Castle. A historic fortress, perched on Castle Rock, dominated the skyline of this pretty town. Dating back as far as the Iron Age, Castle Rock has housed the royal castle since the 12th century and remains an active British army base to this day.  For 311 days a year the One O'clock Gun is fired at precisely 13:00. The Time Gun was established in 1861 as a time signal for ships in the harbour approx 3km away. If you're thinking that 12pm would be a more common time to signal the ships well you have to understand that the Scottish were just thinking about their pockets back in the 1800s and figured 1pm was better so only one shell had to be fired instead of 12. Pretty decent logic if you ask me.



Before long our first night as a tour group was here and we were treated to dinner at a local cooking school in New Town where we were shown how to cook the meal we were about to eat. Haggis was on the menu and although I tasted it and actually didn't mind the local delicacy, Caleb on the other hand was a total baby. We spent time chatting and getting to know the people we would be spending the next 8 days with. Majority of the group were from the US with a couple of Canadians and Aussies thrown in for good measure. 






The following day we explored Holyrood Palace & Holyrood Abbey. As the Queen's official home in Scotland, the Palace is a very well maintained building situated on beautiful gardens with an adjacent Abbey. She visits for a week in July each year and for all other times the palace is open to the public to view rooms used to accommodate state dinners and government officials.




Our 2nd night on tour we had the option to attend a Scottish night out. Needless to say we signed up without a second thought. We were taken by bus to the outskirts of the city to reconverted stables where we were wined and dined and entertained with folklore songs and national dances. Before the meal was served the presenter recited the Address to Haggis by Robert Burns. This poem is to celebrate his appreciation of the Haggis and since it's creation, Burns and Haggis have forever been linked. 


The next day we were off! Our first stop on this highland tour was the seaside town of St. Andrews. Here we spent time at the world famous golf course despite the 50km/hr winds and golfers trying to perfect their swing. In the afternoon we stopped off at a local sheep farm where a lifelong Shepperd demonstrated the awesome work these sheep dogs do. This farm has 7 men, 32 dogs with 3000 sheep on 11.000 acres. He demonstrated how his commands and whistles keep his dogs on track and after 2 years of training they have perfected the art of the sheep dog. I got to sheer some wool and more excitedly I got to feed one of these little cuties. It was truly amazing to see these amazing animals at work. 

Heading further north we spent the following morning at the fantastic Culloden War ground Museum where the famous Battle of Culloden took place. This museum outlined the tale of the Jacobite uprising which has gained notoriety in the Outlander TV series. Miserable weather aside this was a highlight to learn more about the local history. Back on the bus again and this time towards the amazing Dunrobin Castle. Here we spent time exploring the rooms of this beautifully restored castle before exploring the grounds with a bit of Croquet and a Falconry show. 


The following day was the main reason we chose this tour. We were off to the Orkney Islands! After a ferry from the main land we arrived and picked up our local guide who took us around these beautiful islands for the day. Interestingly, although part of Scotland, our guide explained to us that people of Orkney recognize their nationality as Orcadian first then Scottish. As history would explain the Vikings invading these lands centuries before & there are still many signs of Norwegian influence in these parts. Our first stop was the Italian Cathedral which was built by Italian POWs during WWII from recycled army supplies. As we ventured into the main town of Kirkwall we viewed St Magnus cathedral - built by catholic vikings in the 1100s and took nearly 200 years to complete. We stopped to view the neolithic Stones of Stennes (Orkney's version of Stonehenge) before finishing our day at Skara Brae, the oldest prehistoric village site in Europe. This site is approx 5000 years old, dates further back than the Great Pyramids of Giza. Truly spectacular.

Having hit the most northern point of our tour we began south by stopping off at Loch Ness for a leisurely cruise before spending lunch at the Castle ruins of Urquart Castle. Unfortunately no sitings of the monster herself but we somehow restrained ourselves and only bought probably half of everything the Nessie gift shop had to offer. Before ending our day we stopped at the UK Commando War Memorial where tributes flew for soldiers of all different wars past and present.




We were lucky to have a day trip out to Isle of Skye but were unlucky to have the 'proper' Scottish weather today. Rain, hail or shine was not going to stop us from exploring Armadale Castle, viewing the landing point of Bonnie Prince Charlie for the Jacobite Rebellion and the aqueduct used for the Hogwarts Express sans steam train unfortunately. With a good 2 hour highland drive in each direction our time in Skye was limited but well worth the taste we had. Just proves we have to go back!





Sadly our time in Scotland was coming to an end and we slowly made our way to Glasgow to finish the tour. On our way we drove through the majestic valleys of Glencoe, stopped off to see the famous Highland Cows and our last castle visit to the beautiful Stirling Castle. It wouldn't be a Scottish tour without one more distillery so we spent some well earned time at Glengoyne Distillery which lays on the unofficial boarder on the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland. Our final group dinner was at the National Piping Centre. Along with a delicious meal, I got the chance to try my luck at playing the bagpipes and it's very safe to say my instructors job is safe and secure.

While we said goodbye to our tour friends we reminisced over the last 8 days. Bus tours can consist of long travel days but what got us through was the daily Scottish music, our tour guide's Scottish treats that he would buy for us and him belting out a karaoke farewell song - John Denver's Leaving on a Jet Plane - for our local bus driver on our last day. All in all it was a great taste of Scotland and it is yet another place we know we have to come back to and spend more time exploring. Thank you Scotland we loved it!

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Daily Mail article about our Honeymoon
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Travelers tip - Orkney Islands requires at min an overnight stay to explore this region. We are planning to a car roadtrip next time as most islands are connected by road and the car can easily be put onto the ferry for the crossing.

Travelers tip - highly recommend staying in the Royal Mile while in Edinburgh. It may not be the cheapest but you are in the heart of everything and can walk everywhere.

Travelers tip - Anyone can visit St Andrews golf course as it is public land. Just watch out for all the flying golf balls as players are active while you're walking on the greens. 

Country 5 & 6 - Ireland & Northern Ireland

1 - 15th Sept 2018


I LOVE  business class. Seriously I do. We've been lucky of late that we have been able to travel up the front of the plane on a number of recent international holidays and when we were planning our honeymoon it was a no brainer. After the unfortunate end to our Asia experience, we moved our flight forward and were off to Dublin and could not wait to get to cooler weather.

Like most countries, on arrival you are split into visitors & nationals, or in this case EU nationals. Now having my Italian passport would permit me to go in the much smaller and much quicker line instead of the dreaded line that is normal airport customs but alas my husband has to do his time before he can skip the line with me so the visitor line it was for us. It was slow & frustrating but eventually we got asked how long we were visiting for and a stamp in the passport later we had finally arrived!

The plan for Ireland was simple. Hire a car and drive around the country in 14 days. First stop was Dublin. The beauty of an over night flight is that you can try and get some sleep in the 13 hours you're in the air. The not so great thing about it is that you get to your hotel at 9am (5 hrs before check in time) and when all you want is a shower and change of clothes you instead have to start your exploring early.

We stayed in the heart of Dublin and were within walking distance to everything we needed. First stop was Trinity College - a 430 year old university which showcases the Book of Kells, the worlds oldest book. Trinity College is also home to the Old Library, the largest of it's kind in Ireland and as a 'copyright library' it has the rights to receive a copy of anything published in the Republic of Ireland free of charge. As we left the college we walked through the first ever National Services parade in central Dublin. Bagpipes and service men and women marching down the street was a pretty great experience for our first day. We retreated back to our hotel for a well intended afternoon nap and found ourselves waking up some 15 hours later ready to take on day two.


When one thinks of Ireland I'd have to assume Guinness beer would be one of the first things that come to mind. Perhaps Jameson Wishkey comes in as a close second? Well needless to say we spent day 2 drinking our way around the city. First we made our way to Jameson's where our tour guide was Australian - go figure. After a distillery tour and a Jameson & dry (yep I'm converted) we walked the streets of Dublin and found ourselves next at Guinness. Here we learnt about the iconic beer, had my first amazing Irish stew for lunch, entertained with some Riverdance inspired Irish tap dancing by the Guinness bar staff and of course hubby had a beer or two. He was in his happy place.



The following day our road trip began. Did we have a plan? Not really. We'd book a hotel the night before and just aim to reach it by the end of the day while seeing as much as we could of this beautiful country. The main sight on this day was the Rock of Cashel (pictured) and Hore Abbey in Tipperary. Founded in the 12th century this cathedral and chapel are a sight to see. There are graves spaced around the grounds and to this day descendants of those who have been buried there are the only people to still be allowed a final resting place on the rock.

We then headed further down the east cost to Killarney spending our day castle hunting. We first came across the 18th century Carey Castle which is so well hidden in a small forest we only came across the locals taking their dogs for a walk. Next we drove the coastal route to Cork and spent the rest of the day at Blarney Castle (pictured). After a somewhat steep climb to the top of the castle Caleb hung upside down and kissed the Blarney Stone. An Irish friend of mine saw his photo online and told me the local story is that the youth in the area go up there at night and pee on it so needless to say I'm happy I opted out. Just hoping the hundreds of people that went before Caleb kissed it clean for him.

Over the next couple of days we drove the Ring of Kerry in the southwest and visited sights such as the Gap of Dunloe, Rosspoint Beach, Ballycarbery Castle, Molls Gap, Ross Castle and Killarney National Park. One of the highlights of our roadtrip came on day 5 when we visited Skellig Michael (pictured) & Little Skellig. An incredible place, near inaccessible sheer cliff of an island with a monastery built around 1300 years ago. The monks that inhabited the island valued their privacy which is good because they were cut off from the mainland for 9 months of the year. Here we walked up and down the equivalent of approx 59 flights of stairs to reach the monastery at the top. Photos just don't do this place justice. Of course hubby, who is a mad Star Wars fan, had an ulterior motive for wanting to go and visit this amazing place. Apparently it was a filming location of 2 Star Wars movies. He was one happy man to see the stone where Rey practiced her light sabre skills.

It was time to start the journey north and what better way to do that then via the Cliffs of Moher. We had perfect weather but the winds are known to be very strong so hold onto your hat! Before we knew it we were about to cross the invisible boarder into Northern Ireland and I for one am a sucker for a good boarder sign. I was quickly disappointed as it only read 'Welcome to Ireland'. Upon closer inspection as we drove pass it was clear that the 'Northern' part of that welcome had been spray painted over. It was very clear some don't want the distinction of the invisible boarder. But as soon as we passed that sign the roundabouts became larger and traffic light operated, kms turned into miles, euro turned into pounds, the Union Jack was visible and there was just a general sense that more money had been used to maintain the country then it's attached cousin to the south.

With one of the worst days of weather we'd had so far we decided the only thing to do was to visit Old Bushmills Distillery near the Giant's Causeway. We then drove to our hotel which happened to be the haunted Ballygally Castle. This castle has it's own Ghost Room which conveniently was right above our tower room. After a ghost free nights sleep we headed out to Carrick-On-Rede (a Game of Thrones filming site) and walked the 30m high footbridge and enjoyed another stunning shoreline view. We finished off the day at the Giant's Causeway which will leave you breathless but stumped for answers at the same time.

As our roadtrip was fast approaching it's last legs we left our castle abode and headed east to Belfast. Here we are very surprised to learn there is still a literal wall between the Catholics and Protestants and that these gates are closed and locked at 6pm each night. There are murals up all over this part of town still which paint a picture of the history that transpired here not that long ago. We visited Titanic Belfast - the birthplace of Titanic. The new museum was built on the docs where she was built and tells the fantastic yet tragic life of the ship that couldn't sink and those that perished when she did.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Dublin for our last night in Ireland before jumping across the pond to Scotland. After a final lunch in the famous Temple Bar area our friends whom we had met
on the tour in Cambodia and Vietnam were nice enough to come into the city and meet us for a drink. It was so nice ending this amazing time with friends we had met only weeks before. Just shows how small this world really is.


Travelers tip - You need a min of 5 hours at Blarney Castle if you want to walk to grounds. Try and spare a full day here if possible. The average wait time to the Blarney stone is approx 1 hour.

Country 1 - Hong Kong (part B)

20 August - 1 September 2018

Well we make it across the water from Macau and arrive at the gorgeous InterContinental Hotel in Kowloon in a room with a full harbor view. Just stunning! We receive a bottle of champagne and a fruit bowl on arrival just to cap it off. If only our stay was a happy one.


The last time I was in Kowloon was about 8 years so with the medication Caleb got from the Macau hospital we were hoping he'd be right after another day of rest so I head out for a walk and reacquaint myself with the downtown Kowloon area. Soon enough I'm back at the hotel with my sick patient, dripping with sweat and enjoying the air conditioning.


At about 3am hubby wakes me up saying he's coughing up blood. This was the beginning of the end of our Hong Kong holiday. We get in a taxi and head to St Teresa's private hospital where he is again diagnosed with Infulenza A and after a chest xray we are given more medication and sent back to the hotel. Needless to say day 2 of our stay is a write off.

Fast forward 2 days and Caleb is not any better. In the afternoon he goes down hill fast and is unable to breathe so I call for an ambulance and this time we are whisked away to Queen Elizabeth hospital and he is admitted for the night. Here they perform test after test to find out what's wrong to no quick avail. The following morning I arrive back at the hospital and Caleb's first words to me are - get me out of here.

The ward he is in is called general ward - mens. The room has about 15 men cramped in and none of them are under the age of 70.There is no space between the beds to sit so it's standing room only. There are no toilets on the floor so all the men are in diapers which are changed in the room with the curtains closed. That plus more is the reason he wants out and I get straight on the phone with our insurance to make it happen. The funny thing is when they called the hospital the night before to check on him the hospital couldn't find any record of him being admitted. This conversation marks the beginning of an epic and tiresome couple of days liasing with our travel insurance to get him the proper care he deserves.

We discharge ourselves with the consent of our insurance company and head back to the hotel for a much needed shower and some rest before heading back to St Teresa's hospital to readmit for further treatment. On arrival at St Teresa's hospital starts a ridiculous 5 hour wait, multiple calls to our insurance company and when it looks like he's being admitted at 10pm at night, the paperwork isn't accepted so Caleb makes the call to go back to the hotel for the night not before giving it to the insurance company first.

The next day we receive a call letting us know everything is sorted at the hospital and we can return when we're ready. We do and we are happy to be admitted on arrival and put in a private room with an ensuite. Here I can relax a little knowing he is now in the right place.

He is treated for Influenza A, bronchitis and viral pneumonia over the next 5 days. Fun times! The level of care he gets here is exactly what is needed and after 5 bags of saline and countless number of drugs later I am able to bring him back to the hotel for good.

During all of this we were booked to head to China for an 8 day tour. Unfortunately we have had to cancel that but it means we are headed off to Ireland a few days earlier than planned. All that matters is that he is ok and better to continue on this epic honeymoon we have painstakingly planned. We finally cracked that champange on our last night too and boy did I cherish every sip!

Hong Kong though I know you have much to offer, this time round just hasn't been an excellent adventure.

Country 4 - Macau

18-20 August 2018

As we said goodbye to our awesome tour group in Hanoi, we found ourselves back on a plane headed to Hong Kong bound for Macau. Now Macau had never really been on my bucket list but as hubby loves his poker we thought a couple of nights in Asia's Las Vegas would be fun.

The cool thing about Macau is that you can book a high speed ferry from Hong Kong airport which means your bags are collected for you and you clear customs on the other side. Very convenient. So on arrival in Macau we collect our bags and head to the free shuttle offered by the resort. Here is where our language barrier came into play. We knew we were headed to The Sands complex so the lovely lady put us on a bus headed to Sands. Only when we were driving across one of the longest bridges I've seen, did we think something was up. We got off at The Sands and realised very quickly we were on the wrong side of Macau.

Lucky for us a Holiday Inn bus was waiting at the same drop off point so we quickly got our bags and jumped on that bus for it to only take us back over the same bridge but this time to the right Sands complex and our hotel.

Thinking that was enough adventure for one day we get settled in our hotel. We soon found out that our hotel is part of a huge mall complex where Coach, Gucci and Rolex are just your common everyday shops, the casino floor is apart of our hotel lobby and an atrium water feature left nothing to be desired. Leaving the poker to the following day we kept our first night low key.

The following day was our only full day in Macau and instead of sightseeing we ended up at a Macau private hospital. Caleb had had a cough on the plane and after a night of so called rest he was worse so I made the call to take him to hospital and get checked out. So over the bridge we go again! A fever shot and an Influenza A diagnosis later we retreat back to the hotel, a bucket load of medication in tow and we know the day is done for.

On Monday we leave Macau and head back to Hong Kong for 4 more nights. By sheer will Caleb drags himself out of bed and we get on the ferry back to the big smoke. It was an unfortunate stay and one we are sure we would have enjoyed in happier circumstances but we'll be back again sometime in the future under much better circumstances.

Travelers tip - Cotai Ferry is the best to choose as it's the fast speed ferry that offers baggage and custom services

Travelers tip - HKD is accepted in Macau but you'll receive MOP in change. Just be sure to use it all before returning to Hong Kong.

Country 3 - Vietnam

8-18th August 2018

We didn't have the most stress free start to our trip to Vietnam. On arrival to Saigon, hubby presents his evisa for entry. What ensues next is 30 mins of will they/won't they let him in as they don't have record of his visa approval even though we present a copy of it on government letterhead. His passport is passed to one person then another before someone just walks off with in entirely. Eventually they return verifying that the visa is authentic and after a few more key strokes on the computer we're given the stamp we'd been waiting for while our tour group patiently waits for us outside.

Our first tour day we explored the Chu Chi Tunnels. This place is something else. During the Vietnam war the Vietcong, or VC, built 3 layered tunnels in the jungle to evade the US troops. It was later discovered that approx 250km of tunnels were built here to house the VC for over 10 years during the non-stop fighting with the US. Booby traps and camouflage tunnel entries were dotted everywhere in the jungle and some examples of the steel traps were on display. Hubby, who is 6ft 3, crawled through 40m of open tunnel and he along with half the group came out the other side complaining of how cramped and dark it was. Imagine that for 10 years of your life...

We finished the day at the War museum which gave us a one sided version of events from the end of WWII until the US departed after the Vietnam war. Graphic content was shown to highlight the effects of Agent Orange that was used on the villagers by the US troops.



To lift the mood a little, the next day we took a saipan through a local village and stopped at a local candy factory before some of the group tasted a local Snake/Scorpion rice wine. Swapping the saipan for a larger boat, we sail down the Mekong Delta and enjoy a local lunch on the water. To finish the day we visit Saigon's indoor markets on the way back into town. Before our flight up to Hoi An, we visit the Reunification Palace, the last stronghold to fall, leading to the end of the Vietnam war.



Hoi An, about 45min drive from Da Nang, is a resort town growing by the day. Here we spend our morning walking through the streets of old Hoi An followed by a cooking class and farming tutorial in the Tra Que village. The Hoi An night markets are a big and busy sight to see featuring everything you can think of.

After a quick stop in Hoi An, we hit the road heading north to Hue - the ancient capital of Vietnam. We travel by bus via the mountain pass and enjoy the afternoon with a relaxing ride down the Perfume River. Before flying north to Hanoi we walk through the Purple Forbidden City before a leisurely cyclo tour in the afternoon.


Hanoi is wet and miserable when we arrive so our first
night is spent inside watching an amazing water puppet show. Waking up the next day we are told a typhoon is headed our way and our overnight stay at Halong Bay had been canceled. As a consolation prize we are treated to Nihn Binh, known as inland Halong, a lake between limestone mountains and got rained on there instead.





The weather gods turned it on for us the last day as we got our wish and headed to Ha Long bay for a 4 hour cruise. There are over 3000 islands in the bay so this short cruise just confirmed that we definitely need to come back and spend more time here.


After a very quick 10 days, we say goodbye to Vietnam and 20 of our new friends and head back to Hong Kong before jumping on a ferry over to Macau. I leave Vietnam torn. A country so corrupt is rich for many and poor for so many more, A communist country who dictates what their people can and can't do yet the people just want freedom, to earn a good wage and provide for their families. Yet we learn't in Cambodia that although they have a democracy in place they are ruled by countries like Vietnam who are taking advantage of smaller players in SEA. I suppose there is always a bigger fish in the sea. Vietnam's bigger fish? China.

Traveler's Tip - There were another Australian couple that this evisa issue happened to as well. Just stay calm and let them do their thing. You will be put to the side and told to wait an unknown amount of time but it will go through. Vietnam is not a country you want visa or passport issues.

Traveler's Tip - We were warned against eating street food to avoid getting the stomach bug. We saw cups and dishes being washed in dirty street water so I would strongly advise to follow as well.

Country 2 - Cambodia

4-8 August 2018

On arrival into Cambodia we are greeted with 35 degree heat and about 98% humidity. We enter the arrivals hall and line up for our visa on arrival. The visa process is one of the best production lines I've ever seen. You submit your paperwork, photo and of course money at one end of the counter and about 10 people later your passport appears with your visa inside. We collect our bags and make our way to the hotel to meet up with our tour group ready for the next adventure.


We spent 3 nights in Siem Reap and find we have a great mix of Irish, English, Welsh & Aussies to spend the next 2 weeks with on our tour. Siem Reap is not a big city but has enough traffic to make you think it is. Our first tour day we visit the Beng Mealea Temple Ruins, a 1000 year old temple partially recaptured by the rainforest. These ruins seem like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. It is simply stunning.


Next we're off to the Chong Kneas floating villages on an inland lake that depends entirely on monsoons to keep their houses afloat. It was simply amazing to see how this village lived. Where an inlet met the open lake the water was so choppy it seemed like their banana boats would capsize without notice. But their balance is unparalleled and we saw children as young as 2 or 3 years old getting rocked around without a care in the world. No bedrooms or showers were visible in their houses, just simply a hammock and singular room floating homes house families without effort.

Cambodia is renowned
for it's temples and one of the most recognised sites would have to be the 1000 year old temple of Angkor Wat. We visited these beautiful grounds on our 3rd day in Siem Reap. Approx 1.2km long and 1.3km wide, we walk around huge gardens & through corridor after corridor amazed by the intricacies of the carvings that are adorned on the face of every surface. 3 hours in the intense sun and heat we retreat to a cafe at the entrance and take advantage of the limited air conditioning while we wait for our guide.

Once back on the bus we head off to the royal fortified city of Angkor Thom crossing a mote into order to gain entry. Here we visit the Buddist temple of Bayon - the smiling temple. Face after face carved into stone smiling from you from every direction. The last stop for the day is Ta Prohn, a non-rebuilt temple made famous in the first Tomb Raider movie with the tree root covered door way. Here nature has has taken control and engulfed these ruins enhancing their beauty and making them awe inspiring.




Just as we feel like we got our feet on the ground we're headed back to the airport and onto the capital Phnom Penh. No rest for the wicked and we're off to the Royal Palace, National Museum and Lady Penh Mountain, the name sake of this great city. While at the museum, the heavens opened and torrential rain appeared and within no more than 20 mins the streets were flooded & mini waves were caused by all the traffic yet the locals continued their day like nothing was happening.




On our last morning in Phnom Penh we visited the Genocide museum, on the grounds of the notorious S21 prison. 3,000,000 people, around 40% of the country, were exterminated by the ruling communist party, Khmer Rouge, between 1975-1978, who dreamt of a farming utopia of no more than 1.5-2 million people. There are no words to describe what happened here but from what our guide informed us of, the Cambodian government is still very much trying to keep this quiet with not allowing photos in the jail. Our guide begged us to take as many photos as possible to share it with the world for people to understand what his country went through only 40 years ago.

Cambodian people are happy people. They don't have a lot, their wage system is poor and their government is as corrupt as they come but they do their best to provide for their families. With very heavy hearts we head back to the airport and board our plane to Vietnam. 

Travelers tip - Cambodia uses USD as their main currency so if you find yourself traveling there no need to get the Cambodian Riel.

Travelers tip - Happy House = toilet. If you're on a guided tour you'll be asked if you need to visit the happy house on each stop.

Travelers tip - Visa on arrival for us Aussies so make sure you have a couple of printed passport photos and exact USD for the visa as no change is given.

Country 1 - Hong Kong

2-4 August 2018

To explain what kind of journey this blog is about to embark on I need to take you back to January 2017 in a small lakeside town of Bregenz, Austria. It is here my lovely boyfriend got down on one knee in the snow, in front of a Christmas Tree and asked me to marry him.

We returned home to Australia and everyone started asking if we’d picked a date yet. I thought surely people aren’t that organised just days after getting engaged. Little did I know my now finance was doing a little internal planning of his own.

Within 2 months we’d set a date and picked the venue for our big day so we decided to put that all on the back burner and let the real fun begin – Honeymoon planning. At first we talked about a 3 month trip around the world. Some of my friends were currently on lengthy trips like this and I thought ‘What the hell that sounds awesome!’. Three months turned into six and then six turned into twelve. At this point I tried to put the brakes on because who travels for 12 months?

Well when the final outline of the trip was done it was official – we were taking approx 18 months off and going around the world visiting about 60 countries. When we started telling our friends and family we heard it all. Some of the best reactions were ‘You’re crazy!, how you can afford that?, that’s awesome, so lucky, will you survive? & can I come with you?’

Packing up our belongings was a mammoth effort.  July 31^st rolled around and we said goodbye to jobs that have allowed us to travel the world and plan this epic trip. Then August 2^nd was here and we were packed and ready for our 4am pick up.

Day 1 of this epic honeymoon we splurged and booked ourselves business class tickets to Hong Kong. The direct service from Adelaide was a plus and I’m pretty sure hubby was snoring before the first glass of champagne could be poured. We have been so fortunate to travel at the front of the plane on recent trips and this one was just as good. The food & service put Cathay Pacific towards to the top of my airline picks.

After a very comfortable 8.5hr flight we are welcomed with a very warm and humid 34 degrees. But we didn’t care about the weather as we were off to Disneyland. We spent the next full day at the park and felt like kids again. Starwars laser rollercoaster, 3D Iron Man simulation, a high speed mine rollercoaster that propelled you forwards and backwards as well as an interactive journey through Mystic Manor were some of our highlights. Nine hours & 11000 steps later we retreated to our hotel for a cool shower and some well earned air conditioning.

And just like that the next morning we are packing our bags again and are off to the next adventure. We thought Disneyland was the best way to kick off our honeymoon but now it's time for a little culture and new experiences. This is not the last you’ll hear of Hong Kong from me, we’ve got 2 more visits on our busy schedule. 

See you again soon HKG!

**Travellers tip – if you are planning to visit Hong Kong Disney, take a taxi from the airport to your Disney hotel. We took 3 trains and a bus and in the heat and opted for a taxi on the way out.

**Travellers tip – Use the free hotel shuttle to get to the park 30 mins before general opening time. This allows you to get better line access for when the park does open to get your fast passes. Food is expensive in the Disney hotels so eat at the park as much as you can.