2nd March 2010 - 14th March 2010 - Luang Prabang & The Nam Ou (Laos)

A friendly country

So we arrived in Luang Prabang after a 15 hour overnight bus trip with fat swollen ankles and weary heads and booked ourselves into a nice hotel in the middle of the old French colonial region of the town. Luang Prabang is a very cute place, well maintained with a thriving tourist industry catering to people wanting a slice of Buddhist culture in a somewhat European setting right on the Mekong River. Yes it is very touristy with almost every shop catering to the travellers needs, however it is also a very beautiful and serene place perfect for spending a lot of time just wandering around and absorbing the atmosphere.

Luang Prabang

"Absorbing the atomsphere" Sheena style

Our stay was spent like most, visiting the many wats scattered around town and taking a day trip out to the magnificent Kuang Si waterfalls. On our way to the waterfalls I was stuck in a tuk tuk talking to this weird Canadian bloke who claimed he was in Laos as a spy researching the financial climate of communist nations… Needless to say we doubted his story considering he was divulging the information in the first place and secondly because he was an idiot. There’s one in every tuk tuk.

One of the many photos of me

jumping off something - Kuang Si Falls

Near Kuang Si Waterfall

The largest of the falls

Speaking of idiots, we couldn’t believe what we saw during the morning alms procession, which involves the local monks receiving food from local Buddhists at dawn. The daily ritual is supposedly very spiritual for the Buddhist people, as they believe that by feeding the monks, they are in turn, feeding the spirits of their deceased relatives. Tourists are invited to come watch and courteously take photographs, but out of common decency, they are expected to stand back silently and not interrupt the procession. Unfortunately the advent of the digital camera has given the few obnoxious tourists the ability to treat human beings like creatures in a zoo without at least the financial repercussion of film expenditure and we unfortunately witnessed possibly the most disgraceful display of this behaviour you could possibly imagine spoiling it for respectful tourists and offending the monks and locals.

The monks after receiving alms

We would have liked to have stayed a little longer in Luang Prabang, just relaxing, and of course eating, however it is amazing how even on a very long trip time seems to run out. So after a bit of research, we decided to not follow most people in going south to Vang Vieng and instead we decided to head up north to Nong Khiaw where we would take a bit of time exploring the Nam Ou (river) before heading across the border into Vietnam via the newly opened crossing at Tay Trang.

Gardens in a wat - Luang Prabang

The Nam Ou has only recently been discovered by tourists, and hence there are not many people visiting the region. This will surely change soon with the opening of the Vietnamese border and the fact that this river is home to some of the most beautiful scenery and fishing villages inhabited by the friendly Laotian people. Lush jungle and sheer cliffs on either side of a reflective river made for some pretty breathtaking moments.

Nong Khiaw and the Nam Ou

The view from the bridge in Nong Khiaw

to the Nam Ou below

Muang Noi - Villages use old cluster bomb

casings for fencing

Sunset at the village Muang Noi

Sheen getting ready to float down the Nam Ou

One of the villages on the Nam Ou

Sheena and I spent about a week heading up the river stopping off at places along the way (including an unexpected wedding where we had the local hooch Lao Lao shoved down our throats) until we made it all the way up to the remote town of Phongsali right up near the Chinese border. Phongsali is a former French hill station located up in the mountains surrounded by wild flowers and tribal villages. Phongsali was actually more like a revisit to China with a large presence of Chinese immigrants and Chinese food available. It was weird being up in the cold mountains having spent so much time in the much warmer climates down at sea level.

Many hours spent in boats like this

Sheena and our guide in Phongsali

Our river trip meant for many many hours sitting on wooden planks in noisy boats and we were both glad when the trip came to an end, however we were sad as well as it meant the end of our stint in Laos. With possibly the friendliest people in the world living in the most amazing scenery, Laos is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited. The friendliness of the people is especially inspiring, seeing as the amount they suffered during Americas “secret war” that was conducted in Laos simultaneously with the Vietnam war. More bombs were dropped on Laos during that period than what were dropped during the entirety of World War 2, resulting in casualties of up to 1/6th of the entire Laotian population. Terrible stuff… and yet having endured so much and having had their country literally “sent back to the stone age” Laos is rebuilding and forgetting and their (tourism) future seems quite bright.

We hope we get to come back again one day.

Simon & Sheena

27th February 2010 - 1st March 2010 - The Gibbon Experience (Laos)

Zipping, Bee Stings, & Singing

3 days is not a very long time to dedicate an entire blog entry to, however the Gibbon Experience deserves some special attention. For the name Gibbon Experience is very true, this little trip truly was an experience!

For those who do not know what it is, The Gibbon Experience involves staying for 3 days, 2 nights, in tree houses perched 30m+ above the ground in the beautiful Bokeo National Park in north eastern Laos. The organisation that runs the trip focuses on sustainable ecotourism with the main purpose to enable people to be immersed in the jungle with the added attraction of possibly getting to see the very rare Gibbon and hear their incredible song.

The Gibbon Experience covers a large area of the national park, and so as a means of getting around, one has to trek a fair amount, however there are also many zip lines which can be up to 400m long and up to 150m above the ground. These zips connect the tree houses to the hill sides or intermediate platforms perched well above the ground! These zip lines are what probably attracts most people to the trip, and to be honest it certainly played a part in our desire to spend $350 each!! It’s impossible to describe the feeling of attaching your harness to a cable, and then throwing yourself off a tree, seeing the valley disappear below you, flying over the tree tops in the middle of a jungle… it was simply breath taking and exhilarating. Any video cannot give it justice.

Zipping into our tree house

There are only a small number of tree houses and a small number of people accommodating them for the 3 days. We shared our tree house with 3 young Swedish travellers (2 boys and a girl) and another young male German rock climber, all of whom were very nice. Sheena and I were the oldest and were hence dubbed Grandma and Grandpa, which we think is a bit rough being only 26! However we did feel a bit old, as during the treks it was quite hard to keep up with 20 year old European giants with legs longer than Sheena herself. Besides young Europeans, we shared our tree house with some non human inhabitants. One being an adorable kitten who was the ruler of abode… she survived on our leftovers and the odd unlucky cicada (we found it a bit strange that an organisation that promotes sustaining the jungle would place cats in the tree houses???). Sheena hates cats… well at least she used to… this kitten won her over by coming into our mosquito net and snuggling between the two of us whilst we slept, and then if we needed to go to the toilet, the kitten would get up with us and escort us down the ladder to the loo, standing guard whilst we did our business and escorting us back up… very cute. The other inhabitants were much more native, but less cute and certainly more aggressive! Our tree was lucky enough to have several bee hives attached... Big bees too, some up to 2cm long. These bees were fairly angry and certainly didn’t like zip lines, chasing everyone down the cable as they went past. I was lucky enough to upset a bee enough for it to commit suicide by leaving his stinger in my ear whilst I was flying down a cable 30m above the ground. I can tell you that zipping is made far less fun if a bee is buzzing around your head and your ear is on fire. 1.5 hours later, the searing pain had subsided somewhat, but writing this blog 12 days after the event, I can still feel it in my ear. I have never been stung by something like that before!

About 3 seconds before being attacked by bees

After our first day, which was spent getting used to the zips and flying about as we pleased, we got up before dawn at 5:30 to embark on a trek with a guide to try and spot the elusive Gibbon. We started by literally running up a hill in the jungle trying to chase a sound that only the guide could hear. After an hour or so of not seeing much we went back to our tree for breakfast. After breakfast, more zipping and some long trekking… then more zipping…

More Zipping!

The next day, we decided to not bother running through the jungle as we thought we would have a better chance seeing the gibbons from our tree house if they were to appear. What a great move that turned out to be. At first we could hear them singing from a distance whilst still lying in bed and as the sound got louder and louder we could then eventually see them swinging from tree to tree on the ridge a few hundred metres away. As great as it was to see the gibbons, for me the true enjoyment came from their truly incredible song they sing together. There’s only one way I can really describe it (indulge me for a minute)… to me it sounded like a smooth high frequency sine wave note slowly having it’s cut off filter modulated by an LFO (low frequency oscillator) creating a gated effected that got louder and louder as more gibbons chimed in. So incredible that I’m sure The Chemical Brothers listened to some Gibbons before creating their electronic wonder pieces ;-). Probably a really unromantic way of describing such a sound, and most readers probably won’t understand it either hehe, but I’m sorry that’s the only way I know how. I suggest you come to Laos to hear it for yourself… if not that, I’m sure Wikipedia can enlighten you :p

So in the end, after 3 great days of zipping above the tree tops (which was just too much fun), the experience I will remember the most was listening to a bunch of primates sing their morning song. I never would have thought that be the case. Besides my bee sting to the ear, the only other incident involved Sheena zipping and deciding to use her forearm as a break, leaving a mighty impressive black and red cable mark on her skin, which apparently stung according to her, and I believe it.. See for yourself!

Nice scar

Our Tree House

We couldn’t have had a better way to introduce ourselves to Laos… not exactly authentic, however it left a smile on our face which hasn't left since arriving in this beautiful country. We have been here 10 days now and I have a lot more to write. That will have to be saved till next time.

So long!

Simon & Sheena

One of the smaller zips back home

12th February 2010 - 25th February 2010 - Bangkok - Sukhothai - Chiang Mai

(note that I wrote this blog a while ago but haven't had the chance of posting it till now)

Culture and shit...

Sawutdee Krup!

Lazy time over… after a month of acquiring a wad more freckles and a darker shade of brown (as many relatives would say; “My Sheena you are so dark!”), it was time to leave the sandy shores and venture up north to expose ourselves to what we like to call “culture and shit” (oh the irony). So after another comfy bus ride we arrived in Bangkok and headed to the regular travellers haunt around Khao San Rd to look for some accommodation (it‘s the easiest place to go).

In Bangkok we visited the regular sights such as the Palace and surrounding wats with their impressive Buddahs and chedis, whilst also getting beaten to a pulp in a pleasant way by some of Thailands most revered masseurs at the famous centre in Wat Phra Chetuphon. Chinatown made for an interesting visit with it’s range of food (such as flattened and grilled pig face) and shops, which made a nice change from wandering around the generic tourist stalls around Khao San Rd.

Wat Phra Chetuphon

Checking out the Royal Palace in Bangkok

We were required to obtain our Laos visas in Bangkok and as a result we were forced to wait a few days until the process was completed. We utilised the time by taking a day trip out to Ayutthaya to visit the ruins of one of Thailand’s ancient capitals. The visit was very worthwhile with many interesting ruins to roam around containing tombs, wats, and Buddah statues. Thailand has had several capitals in it’s history with Ayutthaya, Sukhothai, and Bangkok being the most interesting. Ayutthaya and Sukhothai were both attacked, burned and looted by the neighbouring Burmese leaving behind the ruins seen today.

The Ancient City of Ayutthaya

The day after receiving our passports back, we headed up to Sukhothai. The older of the two ancient capitals populated over 800 years ago, Sukhothai is located almost midway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai making it an excellent place to break up a long journey. I was very keen to visit the ancient city and Sheena was less keen as it would have been so easy to get an overnight train all the way to Chiang Mai. Might I just say “I was right and she was wrong” :p Sukhothai was up there with one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen. A fantastically maintained historical park containing enormous Buddha statues, and the ruins of palaces and wats, made even the more enjoyable by the fact you can cycle around in relative peace and quiet due to the low numbers. Standing in front of a pond reflecting the sun drenched images of the ancient palace at sunset made for a particularly memorable experience.

Cycling and admiring the beautiful

Sukhothai

By the time we reached Chiang Mai, we were fairly ready for some relaxation, so our stay in town was fairly subdued. Our time was predominantly spent spending the morning eating and reading in our favourite breakfast joint, followed by a wander around the walled old city or simply continuing reading and relaxing in our room. We did manage to find time for a cooking class one fun afternoon at our favourite breakfast restaurant where we both learned to make green curry and pad thai from scratch. We broke up our stay in Chiang Mai with a trip out to Pai (pronounced “bye” not “pie”!), we had heard a lot about this place as it is written up as a travellers oasis. Unfortunately for us we came at the wrong time of year… usually Pai is green and lush with a beautiful flowing river.. we got to see a river half full and a whole stack of burnt trees and black ground as all the farmers use the “slash and burn” technique to prepare for the next years crop,.. A technique which conservationists are trying to eradicate. Our trip to Pai was saved by a really fun visit to an elephant camp where we got to ride bare back for a an hour (about 45 minutes too long to be honest) and then got to play with the elephant in the river! The elephant is trained to throw us off it’s back into the water and spray us with it’s trunk… really great fun J. I’m very conscious of cruelty to animals and I donate to WSPA every month, I also research animal parks before visiting them, hence why we didn’t go to the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi. Some people say that elephants shouldn’t be utilised in this manner, however I’m off the opinion that humans and animals can interact in many different ways, as long as the elephant is being kept full of food and is happy, I don’t see the problem. All in all, besides a stressful afternoon when we realised we were running out of pages in our passport, our trip to Chiang Mai and around was very pleasant made even nicer by getting to see a friendly face from home in Jess one night at the markets.

Our friendly elephant in Pai

Thailand has come to an end now and Laos has since beckoned…Sheena and I both admit that we aren’t the most culturally inquisitive people, however we do like to understand at least a synopsis of history for whatever country we may be in at any time. Yet having spoken to many other tourists whilst in Thailand, it would appear that a large percentage of visitors to the country have no real interest in history, culture, and food and are purely interested in lazing on the sand, drinking, partying, and in some cases having sex with as many locals as possible. This to me is pretty sad, and I personally think people are missing out on learning something fascinating or tasting something flavoursome and spicy (harden the f**k up people and learn to eat the damn chilli!). Each to their own I guess, but it‘s hard not to be a little critical if not high and mighty when you think a country‘s integrity is being whittled away… I heard a guy say today that “Thailand knows tourism and Laos doesn’t”… I’m sitting in Laos right now writing this blog and I think that Laos understands Thailand’s tourist industry; they think it’s gotten out of control.

Laos seem to be making a concerted effort not to become the next Asian theme park. I hope they keep it up. Our trip through Thailand was fantastic, we loved almost every minute of it, and will most likely come back again…. however, I hope that if it any more changes occur to the country, they are in the reverse direction to where the place is heading now.

Time for a beer Lao (which Sheena now drinks!)

Bye!

Simon & Sheena

18th January 2010 - 11th February 2010 - Langkawi - Thai Islands

Islands, islands and more islands

I suppose I should write another blog seeing as another well defined leg of the trip is over.. But it’s really hot and I’m pretty tired from riding a bike all day and I don’t really feel like I’ve got a creative hat on so this may not be the most interesting read.. Feel free to skip to the pictures!

So after our culinary experience in Penang we jumped on a boat to the Malaysian Island of Langkawi and after a few hours of sea spray we were at our tax haven. Langkawi is nice… the beach is nice… and the beer is really cheap… which is nice… the food isn’t so nice… but all in all Langkawi is, well, nice… I’m glad we went there before the Thai Islands though as we probably would’ve been disappointed.

Langkawi - Drinking beer at sunset

Whilst in Langkawi we learned that you can only get 15 day visas on the Thai border instead of the 30 day visas previously offered. This meant we had to go back to Penang to get a 60 day visa from the consulate.. Massive pain in the ass… but at least it meant we got another good meal, and further more, it has meant we’ve had the freedom to spend more time in Thailand. So there was a silver lining.

From Penang we caught a speedy mini bus all the way up to Krabi on the west coast of Thailand on the other side of Phangnga Bay from Phuket. We both really liked Krabi as it had some great market food such as crispy chicken salad and crispy catfish salad, both very spicy but both really tasty. However we also liked the general vibe of Krabi combined with our excellent value guesthouse (Ban To Guesthouse), and as a result we stayed longer than anticipated.

From Krabi we first visited Rai Leh, which is located on the Phangnga Peninsula and is only accessible by boat. We took our first of many rides in a long tail boat to Rai Leh and and here we got our first “Thai Island experience”… crystal blue water… limestone cliffs… and lots of burning Europeans on the sand. (Speaking of Europeans, I wasn’t aware that the national language of Thailand is German… but apparently that’s what the majority of people here speak… there you go). Rai Leh is stunning, and although the first beach we went to was great, it wasn’t a patch on Phra Nang Beach a further 10 minutes walk away where the limestone cliffs and stalactites precariously loom over the water. Bizarrely, the beach is also home to a cave where locals worship a god by placing large penis statues at the shrine!

Phra Nang Beach

There is also a lagoon in Rai Leh, however to visit it, you have to climb up a very steep path using ropes and clinging on to rocks and then climb down three vertical drops of about 4m each also by rope and rock. This was rather unexpected as there was no mention of it in any guide book or at the start of the walk itself. Although unexpected, the rope climbing was really fun and a little bit scary which made the lagoon all the more rewarding and all in all our day in Rai Leh very memorable.

Scrambling up the rocks

Another day trip from Krabi involved some snorkelling and kayaking around Hong Island, once again located in the bay. We got a really good taste of what was to come on the trip, seeing some beautiful tropical fish, and a decent amount of colourful coral. Kayaking around the island itself was good fun and provided a very different view of the limestone island. Pictures won’t reflect our amazing these islands actually are.. Definitely worth the hype.

Hong Island

Kayaking around Hong Island

So we finally left Krabi and headed out to the famous Phi Phi Island… Pretty much paradise on earth. Not wanting to stay in the generic town centre we instead stayed out of town near Long Beach in a place called Viking Nature Resort. A very nice place with it’s own private beach. Soon we were drinking Bacardi on the porch of our upgraded suite taking it all in. Really all we did in Phi Phi was eat, drink and snorkel. I was lucky enough to be able to swim with Black Tipped Reef Sharks in the early hours of the morning right off Long Beach. Unfortunately Sheena couldn’t come because there was quite a strong current and it took pretty much all of my swimming strength to negotiate the pull of the water. Seeing sharks was awesome!

Our private beach on Koh Phi Phi

Enjoying the upgrade suite

After Phi Phi we went to Patong in Phuket… it was shit… the best thing was seeing Avatar at the movies… end of…

Far out.. I’ve written so much and I haven’t even gotten to the Surin Islands yet!

The Surin Islands are the most northern Thai islands on the west coast of Thailand, right near the border with Burma. We read that these islands are the best in Thailand for snorkelling and so we forked out a wad of cash and headed out from our base in Khao Lak for a 3 day 2 night stay on the islands. We spent the 3 days free diving at various locations around the island which provided the most spectacular marine life and coral formations I have ever seen… Sheena said it was better than the Great Barrier Reef! The water depth rarely got deeper than 7m, which meant visibility was fantastic and it gave you the opportunity for some great free diving, getting amongst the corals and fish on the sea floor. The variety of marine life was outstanding with plenty of anemone fish (clown fish or Nemos), parrot fish, barracuda, and sharks etc, and although Sheena and I weren’t fortunate enough to see Green Turtles, plenty of people in our group did. Our accommodation was just a tent right on a deserted beach… and it was probably the most beautiful of all beaches we have come across. I now want to get my diving certificate so I can explore some more of what the northern Thai Islands have to offer.

Surin Islands

The view from our tent

Surin fun!

Our Island adventure ended with a visit to the East side of the Thai Peninsula, just to check it out. However to break up the trip and to give ourselves a bit of diversity from the sun and water, we decided to visit Khao Sok National Park. Our time there involved a bit of trekking though the dense evergreen forest and a bit of hiding in our bungalow whilst monkeys tried to open the door! We would liked to have stayed longer and done some more exploring of the park, but that will have to wait for another time.

Monkey Trouble in Khao Sok

Trekking in the National Park

Our trekking destination

So eventually we made it to the East side and in doing so we skipped Koh Samui and Koh Phangnang and went straight to Koh Tao as we weren’t really interested in a partying scene. Whether it was because the water was relatively rough (when the water is calm on the west it is rough on the east and vice versa), or whether we were comparing it to the Surin Islands, but we have to say we much preferred what was saw on the west side. That’s not to say that Koh Tao isn’t beautiful, it really is and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, but it just didn’t compare.

So there you go… no particularly funny or amazing stories to say, and no profound and enlightening experiences to be had… after all, we pretty much just spent a month swimming around pristine blue water looking at the fishes and mermaids and what not…

Since writing this blog we have already been to Bangkok, Ayutthaya, and Sukhothai, however I will leave the “culture and shit” for another time as this has already gone on too long…

So until next time!

Take Care

Simon & Sheena

P.S. We also got engaged at Koh Phi Phi if you didn’t already know…

Koh Phi Phi

10th January 2010 - 17th January 2010 - Singapore & Malaysia

Mmmmmmalaysia

Well we’ve only been gone a week now, but it appears that I’ve already acquired myself my own hostel in Penang and am waiting for my first guest to arrive, so no better time to rekindle the blog for phase 2 of Simon and Sheenas gallivanting trip around the world!

You may be slightly confused by the first paragraph… don’t worry Mum I haven’t bought a guesthouse and I don’t plan to settle down here in Malaysia. I am only looking after the place here whilst K.D the hostel owner has to unfortunately attend his sisters funeral a few towns away.. The poor guy is so exhausted with stress and sadness that he has entrusted his business with his willing guests whilst he is with his family. Sheena and I have actually only just come back from our day out and have taken over whilst another English bloke goes and gets a well deserved feed at the local food court.

Speaking of food… you must excuse us if this “travel” blog rapidly converts into a food blog… especially whilst here in Penang (my newly crowned food capital of the world!). I could list everything we’ve eaten but I’ll be here all night. However I should firstly at least mention what we have done prior to our stay here in on the island.

Having arrived in Singapore we realised that there is really nothing to do.. So we went and found some food… (I did warn you)… On this tiny well organised paradise for the obsessive compulsive we scoffed down many a dish including the vastly overpriced and overrated Chilli Crab (it was nice just not worth the effort). Besides food we have also discovered another gem that Singapore has to offer and that’s New Asia Bar at the top of the Swissotel Hotel. This place was heaven for me… great music not played too loud… excellent cocktails… an amazing panoramic view of the city from 40+ storeys up… but best of all was the fact that the bar oozed a class not to be found in any venue in Sydney. Superb!

Chilli Crab... a messy ordeal

So on to Kuala Lumpur. Our very spacious and comfy bus took us into KL which greets you with the magnificent and elegant Petronas Towers. Those who know me, know that I like to rank things in terms of their bigness and bestness… and the Petronas Towers are in the top 5 tallest buildings in the world and are the tallest twin towers! However, it’s not these facts which make the structures impressive or the fact that I know the man who was the chief engineer in designing the buildings that makes me write about them. It’s just that not too often something built in this day and age will make an impression in years to come, yet these graceful structures will. So from our one night stay in KL I can really only talk about a couple of concrete buildings, but I guess KL doesn’t have too much to offer and we didn’t stay for long at all… Oh and you must go to Old China Café around the corner from Petaling St (the tourist market) for the best iced tea in Malaysia and a flavoursome Laksa or mouth watering Rendang. Superb!

The Petronas Towers

They don't look like it, but these are iced teas

and iced coffees from Old China Cafe in KL

Finally we get to where I am sitting now in Penang. Once again our even more spacious and even more comfy bus took us to our destination. We found this lovely hostel run by a couple who are more than willing to bend over backwards for you, and in doing so, the guests are willing to help them out in times such as these. Talking to other guests here, it appears that their opinions of Penang are fairly negative. This is mainly due to the excessive construction of multi storey hotels that litter the coastline. Mum, I expect that the island has changed a lot since your visit years ago. This is not to say that Penang is not a great place, one just has to visit for the right reasons. If you want a beautiful tropical beach and lush rainforest; don’t come to Penang. Come to Penang if you want to see an amazingly integrated society that resides in a historical colonial town (George Town) which is fantastically preserved. It’s not so much the sights which make this town interesting, but more so the character of George Town itself and the interaction between the Muslim Malays, the Buddhist Chinese, and the Hindu Indians.

The Local Fauna

Colonial George Town

So of course with the array of cultures present on the island, the food here is outstanding. I would firstly like to acknowledge Nimita for pointing us in the direction of the food blog, those guys know what they’re talking about and our tummys thank them and you. So we’ve devoured fish curries, oysters, fried radish cakes, iced coffees, tamarind prawns, and of course bacon candy, plus so much more. Superb!

Crunchy Tamarind Prawns

Sheena doing what she does best... eating..

in this case specifically the refreshing Chendul

The Fried Radish Cake Man

So now we’re off to Langkawi to take relax on the beach, drink cheap beer (which Sheena now likes) and generally take stock of things and think about how lucky we are to be on this trip.

It’s at this point I’d like to pay my respects to Nick Delaney who at only 15 tragically passed away in the Blue Mountains earlier this week. I remember when Nick was born and remember seeing him grow up... and although I haven’t seen him for many years now, you could tell as a 6 year old that he was a good kid. Nicks older brother Chris who was with him at the time was my best friend in primary school and the early years of high school so I am very glad he his safe and well after such an ordeal, however I feel so sad for him and his family… no one should have to lose a family member so young. RIP Nick Delaney.

Sorry to end on such a sad note, however that’s just life I guess. Keep safe all.. We will :)

Simon & Sheena.