A brief explanation of the photos:
This is the view from our hotel window in Bangkok. It was weird to see how the towers and skyscrapers were surrounded by shacks and huts with a freeway flying above it all to separate rich from poor.
This is our BUNAC group in front of one of the many temples in Bangkok. This was the day after we’d been to Pat Pong and it was ridiculously hot and sticky, hence our tired, miserable faces.
Bangkok has countless temples but this is one of the more sacred. Sadly (and shamefully) I can’t remember exactly why. Must find out.
This is Sue and me in a Tuc Tuc taken while we waiting at traffic lights on the way back from Pat Pong. Looking back, it wasn’t the most sensible of things to do: jumping out of the taxi passing it to Liz in an adjacent one, posing for a photo, retrieving the camera and then jumping back in before we roared off. Oh well, we were pissed and therefore invincible.
For Sue’s birthday we went to Waiheke Island and paddled on the beach. Sue took this just after I’d almost fallen off a rock, arse over tit into the water, much to her amusement.
We then took this cheesy photo of ourselves (sorry).
For some reasons we all like water fights and, miraculously, I’m dry in this photo. You can also see the front of our “villa” with the little veranda thing with a bench where we, generally, drink beer and talk rubbish at each other.
We went to Taupo before Christmas and stopped off at Rotorua which, as Sue found out, has natural boiling hot water pools and sulpherous mud pools that smell of eggs. We also had a ride on a jet boat up and down some rapids just outside Taupo and visited The Holy Cow, some sort of “legendary” spot for backpackers in the region. From the left: me, Sue, Gemma, Dan, Becky, Chris, Stu and Oli. Finally, in out weekend o’fun, we went lugeing which, as you can see from the photo, Sue thought was enormous fun!
On my birthday our house went to the Mexican cafe on Victoria Street. From the left: Rich, Helen, Stu, Dan, Joanna, Sue and (erm) me. I was also “obliged” to wear a sombrero…
Being a big Arsenal fan, here’s a stock photo of me showing off my team colours on Cheltenham Beach in Devenport. Note how I’m miles from the beach and yet still paddling: bonkers!
On the way through to Tauranga, we stopped off at Paeroa (home of the gorgeous Lemon and Paeroa drink) where Sue found something that reminded her of home.
Here’s us up Mt. Maunganui. Sadly, you can’t truly appreciate just how knackered Sue was after climbing the (pathetically small) mountain. The rest of the group came too! On a beach in nearby Tauranga, we went parasailing.
Finally, on Christmas day we ate our dinner and drank lots of beer and wine.