Iggy

Dom can't believe we are actually doing a post about Iggy, but after reviewing our pictures, he noticed that we almost have more picture of him than any other pictures from Australia!  

Kye & Robyn's good friends Csaba and Tanya were also wonderful hosts to us during our stay in Australia.  Since our flight was to/from the Gold Coast near their super-posh home, "O'oootel Tanya & Chubbs", they also invited us to stay for a few nights and provided transport to/from the airport.  They drove us to check out the various sites along the Gold Coast including Byron Bay where we did some scuba diving at Julian Rocks and saw tons of rays and huge leopard sharks for the first time.  It was also the first time we experienced meter-high waves and a significant surge in the water while diving.  Needless to say, Jen got pretty sea-sick…  but she managed to successfully puke through her regs for the first time! :)


As promised, here is Csaba&Tanya's unbelievably adorable dog… being ex-Canadian hockey fans, they named him after the Calgary Flames player Iginla - they call him Iggy for short.  He's super smart and so cute, Jen just couldn't get enough of him.  The last time she spent a month in Australia, the things she missed most were the Ginger Beer and Greek Yoghurt.. this time it's definitely Iggy!!!  :))

Kye Cole Band

During our stay we had an awesome time partying with Kye & Robyn and got to be groupies at several of Kye’s gigs.  We were super excited about chilling on the patio during band practice, and having the opportunity to attend several of his band's live performances.  http://www.kyecole.com

We even went with them to a birthday gig that had a cool 70's/Austin Powers theme… Dom's natural fro was perfect for the occasion  :)

Ginger Beer

One of the favourite things Jen discovered in Australia during her first visit in 2008 was the Bundaberg Ginger Beer.  Yup, you read correctly.. Ginger "Beer" - it's not actually a real beer (it actually tastes good).  

There's something special about how they make it here and so far she hasn't found anything comparable back in Canada, so one of the first things we did as soon as arrived in Brisbane was buy and demolish a case of it ;)

Australia

We finished off our 4 month journey away from the cold by staying a month with our friends in Brisbane Australia at Kye & Robyn's Tropical Retreat!  They accommodated us and spoiled us silly with their hospitality.. we made sure to spend lots time drinking Aussie wine and relaxing by their pool.


 Since it was a busy month for us work-wise, we didn't have time to do any touring around Australia, but our main goal was just to spend time with Kye & Robyn, so..  mission accomplished!  :) :)

Charlotte's new boyfriend

After searching far and wide, Dom’s mom finally found a new man to her liking! 

Unfortunately, the price tag was a bit too steep, so she instead decided to spend her last 2 days visiting the Singapore sites with us ;).


Meeting up in Seminyak

While we were in Tulamben Diving, Dom’s mom and aunt went to check out the Gili Islands to sweat under the blazing sun. 

Here Jen’s mom rented a small villa with our own private pool in the centre of Seminyak, so we all reconvened there for a few days.

Like everywhere in Bali, we took it easy socializing and enjoying life.  One day, we rented a car & driver to visit the surrounding attractions. We started at Turtle Island which is mostly a tourist trap, but we made the best of it and enjoyed our close encounters with the various animals.  

We then went to Uluwatu Beach which is supposed to be one of the best surf beaches in the world.  At the time that we were there, the waves weren't that high, but the beach was really pretty.  

We finished our day tour with a stop at the Uluwatu temple.


Return to Tulamben

After 2 weeks in Ubud, we joined Jen’s parent in Tulamben. Here we spent a few days scuba diving with Jen’s dad, David.

After David did his pool lesson we went out to explore the “USS Liberty” and “Coral Garden”.

And as always, we saw a lot of fish and explored part of the inside of the wreck.

Family Fun in Ubud

We had such a great time doing our own interpretation of "Eat, Pray, Love" in Bali last year, that we decided to return for another month… this time with a little extra Love as we were joined by some family members! 

Dom's mom and aunt flew in from Montreal to spend nearly 3 weeks with us.  We met up in Ubud and had a wonderful time sharing our small part of paradise here, with them :)  We took them on some rice field walks, did a bit of shopping, drank coffee (Cat Poo Coffee), introduced them to Yoga, and of course.. the SPAAAA… when in Ubud, relaxation is a must!

As always, the food was amazing, yoga was fun, and the pool and spa were relaxing and fun. 

Returning to Tasty Hoi An

We were sad to leave our friends behind in Mui Ne, but our tastebuds were comforted (and watering) at the fact that we were on our way to the culinary capital of Vietnam.  After a 15-hour overnight train ride, we finally reached our favourite city in Vietnam - Hoi An. 

Having already seen/done everything when we were here last year, our sole purpose of making this 15hour detour back was to (repeatedly) revisit all of our favourite restaurant, and to repeat the most memorable day-tour we had been on in SE Asia - "The Last Great Taste of Hoi An".  Since we had been on the tour before, we were already experts at all of the historic stories and cultural trivia, but repeating the tour was totally worth it.  The food was just soooo soooo good!!

Neville, the owner and guide of the Great Taste of Hoi An, was happy for us to return so he even invited us to go for dinner with them at one of his favourite restaurants: "The End Of The World Restaurant"… conveniently located just a boat ride away.


Hoi An is also a really great place to have tailored clothing made.  We decided to be a bit creative this year... 

One of our biggest complaints when shopping for travel clothes is that they all make you look like a tourist - pants are always cargo-style in same boring grey or light beige colour, convertible pants have big tourist pockets and zippers.  They're totally practical being made of breathable quick-dry materials and having zippers to make them into shorts.. but they always look so touristy!  Since our tailor-made wool dress pants from last year turned out really well, we decided to have more made.. but with a little tweak.. 

After a bit of explanation and a few adjustments, we managed to get what we wanted: Convertible (breathable wool) Dress Pants! that don't look too touristy!  Our next step is to see how well they hold up in the real world :) 

X-Mas in Vietnam

After such a great X-Mas in Mui Ne last year, we just couldn't resist going back and escaping the Canadian cold.  We were excited to see and hang out with all the great people we met last year in Vietnam. 

Thanks to Peter and Phong, we manage to go back to the same hotel as the previous year (which was 1 minute from the beach).  We quickly settled back into our simple routine: eat, drink, sleep, work, kitesurf, repeat.  

The wind this year was very unusual for the area.. weaker and with several no-wind days in a row, but we still managed to have many great kitesurfing days nonetheless.  After 2 months, we can definitely say that our kitesurfing skills have improved.

Here is a video update of Dom's mad new kitesurfing ninja skills:


It was another successful Xmas adventure abroad.  We're happy to have some more awesome new memories of the great times we had with everyone here.