From one extreme to another. We go from a road trip to the Inner Hebrides to a sporty, winter warmer in Lanzarote! We went to an old Roscoe family favourite; Club La Santa on the far side of the Island. The La Santa bubble is something that is very easy to get sucked into. Once you’re there, it’s quite difficult to leave! In all honesty, you don’t really need to! I guess we found that it was so easy for us with Frank and Helen’s parents there. Club La Santa is very familiar once you arrive and get to know your bearings, it’s very easy to navigate and this was clear for Frank too. Within a few days he was ruling the roost, dictating his direction to get us back to the apartment, the track, the play centre or the pool. It’s minimal design means you feel like you’re walking through a giant sculpture at times. But it’s hard not to be drawn in by the busy schedules of activities that are on offer, after all this is a holiday!

Dave and I really enjoyed having time to do various forms of exercise that we wouldn’t usually have time to do. This included tennis, paddle boarding, squash, ariel yoga, a duathlon and a triathlon. Add to this regular running and swimming and we were feeling pretty healthy by the end of 10 days. We had that glowing feeling that neither of us have felt for some time. The grandparents took turns to look after Frank so that we could go off and do things and we took Frank swimming every day as well as got him a balance bike to get used to whilst we were there. They also have a play group for children, although one of us had to be with Frank because he is under 3, for most parents this means that they can leave their children there and go off and do their activities. The latest facilities that have been built are amazing at Club La Santa; two Olympic sized swimming pools and a bike centre to get any cyclist salivating! We were spoilt for choice!

So while Club la Santa is expensive, once you are there all of your activities, lessons, bike hire, equipment hire and coaching is included. The only thing you have to pay for is food really! Although we did decided to do an excursion and went surfing for the day in Famara with La Santa Surf. This cost around 45 euros each for about 5 hours worth of instruction and it was well worth it. We felt that the instruction was very clear and we basically managed to surf almost every time we got onto the board! So all in all we loved it! This happened the day after we got engaged so it was an excellent way to celebrate together.

With an abundance of warm weather, and so much to do it’s difficult to get bored at La Santa. Evening entertainment is there if you want to dip into it and the kids just love it! The big kids do too! We enjoyed Halloween without all of the commercial stuff that comes with it and Frank loved watching his first magician’s show. Coming home as a fiancé definitely made it for us all! We loved it! An interesting fact told to us whilst we were there; 4 out of 5 people who visit Club La Santa for the 1st time will return. Looks like we’ve got our winter sun holiday sorted for 2016!

(All images copyright to Roscoe Rutter Ltd, shot using Nikon D700 with 35mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.4)

It always takes us some time nowadays to get on with personal projects in terms of editing and collating. Part of the reason for this is ‘life’! We love embarking on personal projects as much as we can, but perhaps we don’t always have the time to reflect like we used to. Our son, Frank is nearly 2 years old! The time is flying by, but we are living each moment from one day to the next as he grows into a little boy. Part of the joy of being work-at-home parents is that we do get to see those precious moments more often than not, and the plus side is we can take off when we like on various adventures, big or small!

So our first adventure we are sharing with you today is our family holiday in the Inner Hebrides towards the back end of the summer. We loaded Helen’s Dad’s 4×4 with everything but the kitchen sink and took off on a long trip up to Scotland. We say long, because the journey up to Glen Coe alone took us nearly 6 hours with a break in Moffat. Bear in mind that a toddler and a dog to entertain and stretch, these journeys take a lot longer than they used to. We only stayed for one night in Glen Coe, using it as a stop over for Skye rather than staying to explore the beautiful landscape. So onwards from Glen Coe we drove to Mallaig and took the passenger ferry to Armadale on Skye. We chose this route because it meant less time in the car and more time outside for Frank and Rudy. Our first taste of Skye was breathtaking. We enjoyed fantastic weather and toured around the south-west cost because we’d read some very lovely things about it. So our first afternoon on Skye was spent playing in the sea in a very quiet bay called Tarskavaig. We suddenly felt like we were on holiday after the very long journey getting there. Although we still had to drive to the north of the Island, this was a beautiful place for us to stop for a while and soak it all in.

We’d booked into a family friends cottage very close to Stein in Waternish for 5 nights. The croft cottage is a rustic little place, full of charm and family quirks such as games, books and ornaments. Frank and Rudy felt at home straight away! The views from which led out across the bay and we didn’t get board of sitting in the conservatory looking out at the sunsets that kept coming. The main thing that was a bit difficult for us on this holiday was the distance we had to travel to go and do things. It was a case of everytime we went out, back into the car and dealing with a stroppy Frank (and dog) who didn’t want to have to endure another car journey be it little or long.

However what we did experience was really appropriate to us as a family. We spent time at Dunvegan Castle and explored its interior and grounds. We enjoyed picnics in quiet bays, a walk to Neist Point, local markets and an afternoon in Portree. We didn’t try to do too much, we just wanted to enjoy the fine weather whilst we had it, and when the weather closed in, we hibernated! Reading books, snoozing and playing games at the cottage. This place is cut off from the world, no internet or phone reception meant we had time to switch off from work and enjoy quality time together.

When we left Skye we took another road trip to the Isle of Mull where we had booked into Adarchy House Hotel for 3 nights. Helen had previously been to Mull on a family holiday years ago and was pretty keen to go back. Staying on the south of the island meant we kept everything we did pretty local to where we were staying. We enjoyed long walks on the nearby beach, a trip to Iona, and a day on Fidden Bay, which plays host to some of the clearest waters in the UK. It’s even been described as one of the best wild water swimming places in Europe! It didn’t disappoint! Although we had some rain and wind, generally the weather stayed pretty fine for us whilst we were on Mull.

We really enjoyed an impromptu visit to Ardanalish Isle of Mull Weavers, where we had a little tour of the weaving factory wearing ear defenders along the way. It was really educational watching the weaver at work, operating the machinery and enjoying a cup of tea in the process. There was someone else doing some documentary photography while were there with a Leica m9! Definitely the right place for this camera.

We hadn’t really thought out the guest house situation very well with Frank and Rudy in tow. Our room was pretty small and Rudy had to bunk in with us! This meant a very wet, stinking dog coming in at the end of a day playing in the sea! Still he was amazing and we survived! It was nice to let someone else make breakfast for us for a few days. They are extremely hospitable at Adarchy House, but we didn’t think they were that well set up for families…so if we were to return to Mull, we’d definitely go down the self-catering cottage route. It just works so much better!

Our journey home took even longer because we traveled in one go from the south of Mull to the Lake District including the ferry journey over to Oban. We all survived, but breaking up the journey whenever possible is highly advised! Frank was a trooper in all honesty and we had enough entertainment to keep him going when we needed to! The main thing to think about on this sort of trip is to be flexible! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to do as much as you can in terms of travel and the things you decide to do! It makes everything so much more fun for everybody if you can chop and change plans depending on the situation. So here we go…

(All images copyright to Roscoe Rutter Ltd shot with Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, Zeiss 18mm f4)

A few months ago we took ourselves off to Nice for a week of some warming winter sun.This was a family holiday which saw relatives fly over from Canada and us from a less glamorous Liverpool. The idea was to reunite the Rutter family who don’t always get quality time together being so wide spread across the globe, celebrate a special birthday and find some time to relax.

It didn’t start so well because we forgot that we had only paid for 2 items of checked in luggage which meant we had a £60 sting straight away! Then our relatives had the journey from hell with Air France strikes meaning that it took over 2 days for them to arrive already eating into the 7 day trip.

However when we checked into our rooftop apartment we pretty much felt at home straight away. Barbara found the apartment through a letting agency and we were met on cue by our host who showed us around. We managed to make the apartment as Frank friendly as  we could shifting furniture around and hiding the sharp edges. Before long we were nicely settled and enjoying the views over the city as we welcomed the warmth.

It was a hot week, we had temperatures of up to 30 degrees and more which was a nice surprise though we were really careful with Frank making sure we weren’t outdoors during the heat of the day. This worked well though because Nice has lots of museums, galleries and shady streets to explore. Plus he was still napping more then so having the apartment was great as we could just head back for his sleeps or grab a bite to eat. This is the luxury of having self-catering accommodation when you travel with children, especially so for our first trip overseas.

Some things that really stood out for us on this trip:

- Going for an early morning run and cooling dip into the sea before buying fresh croissant from one of the well-known bakeries – always go for the one’s with the queues! It’s nice to have a Grandma to hand to do the morning shift so Dave and I could have this time together.

- Playing and having a picnic around the Promenade du Paillon fountiain Zone. There is so much fun to be had here from giant dinosaur climbing frames, to swings to fountains, even the dogs love it!

- Walking up to and visiting the Matisse Museum, amazing views from the top over Nice and then a fine collection of Matisse drawings, paintings and paper collages from his early days through to the end. An inspiring collection and a wonderfully designed building.

- A trip to the Museum of Modern Art, which was welcomed on a very hot afternoon by the 3 of us. The collections here point out the work of The New Realists, and New York Pop Artists predominantly from the 1970′s which means there are lots of conceptual works that Frank seemed to be able to engage with. The rooftop terraces are considered panorama points where we were able to look out across the city over a 360 degree spectrum. The terraces are inspired by the works of Yves Klein and there are various sculptures which offer alternative viewpoints.

Both museums were free! Always a bonus!

We also took in few sporting events in the form of a triathlon series and one stage of the Extreme World Sailing Series, so there was always something going on to keep us entertained. Always nice to do some creative event photography.

 A day trip to Antibes was really lovely too, oh the list goes on! The only thing that we wouldn’t really recommend with a crawling 9 month old is a trip to Monaco. The streets aren’t very baby friendly and the parks aren’t exactly the most welcoming either with sloping grass and pathways filled with Cruise-ship tourists. We did however enjoy a visit to the Oceanographic Museum which is a pretty spectacular building built onto the rocks overlooking the sea. The Museum has an archive of historic collections as well as a very exciting Aquarium, Frank always loves a trip to an aquarium….and so do we! The rooftop has a pretty cool play area too and views looking out across the ocean.

We went at the start of October and it was still hot then, much hotter than anticipated but having everything within walking distance made this holiday easy for us to enjoy. The laid back cosmopolitain lifestyle is pretty addictive, with a cafe culture that oozes out of every street corner.

So whilst I sit here writing this post and the snow is coming down past the window I am already planning our next trip away although I’m sure we will return to Nice again with flights from Liverpool so cheap it would be rude not to. Plus we really want to get into those mountains next time.

(All images copyright to Roscoe Rutter Ltd shot with Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, Zeiss 18mm f4 and Nikon D600 with 35mm f1.8)

We had our first ‘family holiday’ experience towards the back end of the summer, taking advantage of the Roscoe cottage in Llanberis, North Wales.  We spent a lovely, relaxing week away which gave us a chance to explore the area with an 8 month old baby. We’ve always traveled as Helen and David but now there are 3 of us there is a lot more to think about. The car was full to the rim with walking gear, wet gear (this is North Wales we are talking about) a pram, a carrier, food, drink, toys…I wont go on.  Yes we definitely are more organised now it has to be said.

A week in Llanberis and here are some of our highlights…

Walking through Newborough Warren to get to the glorious Newborough beach on Anglesey, where Frank experienced his first handful of sand, and very nearly a mouthful! We managed to sit down for our first picnic of the holiday only to be threatened by a big, dark cloud which was heading our way. There was even a little tornado on the horizon. If it had swerved a little more to our left we would have been okay, but we sat it out a little longer and suddenly started to make a dash for it only to get absolutely drenched. It was good fun though. We managed to keep Frank nice and warm under our make-do picnic blanket shelter.

So beach time scuppered by the weather we drove down the road to the Anglesey Sea Zoo, which was money well spent. Frank again had another ‘first’ experience, this time of sea life and was mesmerised by the fish following them with his newly found pointing finger, at last he had something definite to point at and follow. It’s £7.50 per adult but the ticket lasts for 7 days and under 3′s are free.

When Nanni Barb joined us for the next few days we ventured over to the Llanberis National Slate Museum, which is free and a good option for half a day of ‘sight-seeing’, not that we were expecting anything else but you have to be open minded when it comes to finding activities that not only appeal to us but may also engage Frank’s ever increasing imagination. And so the Slate Museum did this for us, we even attended a slate cutting session which again was enjoyed by us all. So that Frank could have a bit of play time we took him to the village play-park which definitely helped him to work up an appetite for some dinner.

Another trip over to Anglesey, to Beaumaris saw us take in the Puffin Island cruise, which although there were no Puffin’s on the Island as they had all migrated for the winter, was still a really nice ‘family-activity’ to do. Having said that Frank snoozed the whole time, so perhaps we’ll come back when he is a little older and the Puffin’s are back from their travels. We did spot all sorts of birds though and a lonesome seal popped up to see us too. The boat trip costs £8 per adult and we were out at sea for 2 hours, along with lots of other families and a really fun tour-guide/boatman who was informative enough. On this very beautiful day we had clear views across to Liverpool.

You can’t really visit this area and not go hiking, afterall it is one of our favourite activities and with Frank we managed a couple of half day hikes. The first being a trek upto the Halfway house on the Llanberis Snowdon Pass, a moderate hike, probably one of the busier paths up to the top of Snowdon. When he is older we will go all the way up, this route is scenic and it’s nice to wave at the train as it makes its way up to the top. We also walked through Padarn Country Park around the back of the Slate Museum, not too steep, nicely sheltered from the wind and some lovely views too. Closer to the village it’s nice to walk around the lake and take a peak into Dolbardon castle too. Follow this with a hot chocolate at one of the many tea rooms and you will have a nice day planned!

Sometimes we didn’t want to put too much pressure on doing too much as a family. Afterall, not everything we did was free, suddenly there were various admission fees to consider, plus it’s nice to enjoy our time together, watching sheep through the window rummaging in the compost pile, or spending our time eating as a family and photographing it. Frank is used to the camera now and so it’s easy enough to capture his cheeky smile, or document him exploring his toy box. The simple things bring so much more enjoyment now.

Llanberis is a lovely part of the Snowdonia National Park and it’s a really good location to base yourself if you want to explore further. There are loads of family activities going on there too from canooing to rock climbing so we are sure to be frequenting this lovely mountainside village time and again as Frank grows. We did manage some child-free time too with a walk up to and around Moel Eilio behind the back of Llanberis village when the Roscoe grandparents came to stay and on the night time the Mennai Seafood festival was taking place and so we enjoyed our first night out together since before Frank was born.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 and Nikon D600 with 35mm f1.8)

So here we are 4 months since the time our little man Frank joined us to make 3 in the Rutcoe camp. It seems as if he’s been with us forever and is still yet only 4 months old. We love being parents and the joy that he gives us every minute of our lives. A babies development is something to be in awe of, just today we put a glass up to his mouth, he held it around the edge and went to drink from it, like we do! There was nothing in the glass to drink, but he knew this was what he should do. He’s starting to let us know what he wants through more hand gestures, cries and laughs and we are greeted by more and more giggles each day.

In our backyard we have a wonderful array of English Bluebells growing wild, they look stunning at this time of year and so a week ago we decided on an impromptu family photo shoot with our old best friend the Leica M9. Getting stuck into parenting has meant less time with the Leica, more time with Frank…this is to be expected surely? I mean the Nikon D600 gets daily use but we tend to save the Leica for those one off moments, when the light is lovely and golden and we just know that something special will be captured. Just like when we were exploring the world, we often felt that if it was an image worth keeping it should be shot on the Leica, we didn’t really think we’d have around 30,000 or so images but this is how it is when you explore so many amazing places.

And so it was on this late spring evening that we felt we would create some imagery that would be something we will go onto cherish for a long time to come. Of course it helps when it’s all there ready for us, a wonderful backdrop and willing participants – us! Frank is getting more and more accustomed to the camera now so he makes it easy for us.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0)

After a 2.20am flight from New Delhi, 8 hours in the air (with 5 hours sleep) and a pickup at Heathrow by Dave’s mother we eventually made it back to Dave’s family home. We unpacked our bags, lunched on some homemade soup and took some much needed rest.

On Saturday 21st April we drove north to see Helen’s brother, Emily, Sukie and spend the weekend at Helen’s family home. It was lovely to see everyone again and have we all enjoyed catching up and the delights of home cooking.

Now to find some work, earn some money and evolve notworkrelated. Stay tuned.

Helen & Dave x

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

After our Indian breakfast in Munnar we got a 9am bus heading towards Thattekkad Bird Sanctury, we had to get 2 buses in the end and a rickshaw. One bus went from Munnar to Adimaly and from there we had a swift transition to a bus going to Kothamangalam from where we paid 150rs for a rickshaw to take us to the bird sanctuary. We decided to add another destination into our travels en-route to Kochi airport.

The journey in total took around 4 hours and we arrived at the sanctuary at around 12noon. We had contacted Ms Sudah at The Jungle Bird Homestay the day before to say we would be travelling to them the next day. When we got to the park entrance we managed to communicate about the home-stay and after a while someone understood were we wanted to go. The driver took us straight to her door and her family were all sat on the steps of the bright and multi-coloured house to welcome us. We were instantly welcomed into their home and shown a large 3 bed room with a bathroom at the back of the property upstairs. We couldn’t have any of the other rooms as a film star from Tamil Nadu was occupying the rest of the place with his entourage of actors, dance instructors and female dancers, they were shooting a film in the area. Ms Sudah reassured us he was very famous in the area!

We had lunch not long after we arrived and knew we would be in for some good food whilst staying with them. We explained that we were only going to stay the one night but then she convinced us to stay a second when she said she could arrange a taxi to the airport at 4am the following night rather than us staying in an airport hotel we opted for the more homely option. The home-stay is inside the park entrance and is on the left just after the lake.

That afternoon we enjoyed our first spot of bird watching, something neither of us have claimed to do before now. We went with Ms Sudah as it is only permitted to explore the sanctuary with a guide and she is one of them, along with her son Ginesh who wasn’t at home. So off we went along the paths and into the forest. We saw plenty of Malabar Grey Hornbill’s amongst other exotic birds, she informed us well about the local area and the types of birds and species in the national park. She has been living there for 43 years and so most people passing her would say hello, we knew she was a highly regarded lady and she even owned the shop right on the outside of the entrance to the park. A woman with fingers in a lot of pies.

Ms Sudah couldn’t have been more accommodating, cooking us breakfast, lunch and dinner which was included in our 750rs/person per night fee. Her family were inquisitive and would sit around watching as she told us stories about other guests, long-term friends she has made from owning the home-stay and she even brought out her sons wedding album.

There’s not much else to do in the area if you’re on foot other than to explore the park and wildlife. Although boating is optional, we couldn’t go out on the second day due to a big storm but we did manage another excellent bird watching walk in another side of the forest once again with Sudah.

There she was in her camouflage green and black sari taking us on local buses and guiding us through the park. We climbed up to a high point on very smooth rock and all along the path were old elephant droppings, a constant reminder that you’re never alone in the wild in this part of the world. Another example of this was when at 5am in the morning we both got up to use the toilet and Helen nearly screamed when she saw a massive tarantula right on the tile behind the door, Dave had completely missed it and it was about the size of an A4 piece of paper. Never have either of us seen one so close and so big just there! Sudah said we needn’t worry about it, it was more scared of us than the other way round. So easy we thought! ha ha!

We saw loads of birds that morning and Dave has lovingly compiled a list below of what we had right in front of us:

• Black Rumped Flameback Woodpecker
• Common King Fisher
• Pied Kingfisher
• Malabar Grey Hornbill
• Crested Goshawk
• Whistling Duck
• White Cheeked Barbet
• Dollarbird
• Chestnut Headed Bee Eater
• Plum Headed Parakeet
• Malabar Parakeet
• Vernal Hanging Parrot
• Green Imperial Pigeon
• Pompadour Green Pigeon
• Common Iora
• Hill Myna
• Red Vented Bulbul
• Black Headed Bulbul
• Asian Fairy Bluebird
• Black Headed Orioles
• Ashy Drongo
• Bronzed Drongo
• Greater Racket Tailed Drongo
• Rufous Treepie
• Scarlet Minivet
• Darter (snakebird)
• Pond Heron
• Cormorant
• Little Egret
• Whisked Tern
• … and a Giant Malabar Squirrel!

Each time another bird came into view Sudah would point in amazement even though she has seen these birds day in day out for years she was still as enthusiastic and amazed as she probably was the firs time round. Her son does a lot of the tours and got her into bird watching about 6 years ago and she is really knowledgeable too. This is her home after all. The bus journey back to the home-stay was a typical Indian experience. The bus was full when we squeezed on, however at least another 30 people “squeezed” on and the bus was incredibly packed!

When we were back at her home later on we enjoyed more good home-cooked food and opted for a nice session of relaxation in our room. It was incredibly hot and humid and so we needed a break from the heat.

Later on we experienced a huge storm and sat on their front step taking it all in. Earlier on in the day Sudah had experienced a close encounter with death when a coconut fell from a tree landing on her arm, she thought someone had hit her and then realised it was a coconut, she was very luck and couldn’t help but keep everyone entertained as she retold the story. Later on as the storm hit a coconut fell from the tree in their front drive-way and very nearly hit their car, whilst the next door house got their roof tiles smashed in by a falling palm leaf! So it was all about the palm trees getting some kind of revenge that day! Throughout the afternoon and evening we had continued power failure and so we were in candle and torch light as it went dark

When we finished our last meal we were entertained by the grandchildren who were encouraged to perform, sing and dance in front of us. We could tell they really didn’t want to do it, but in the end we were all laughing along and as they performed their songs in front of us. When Ginesh came back in he was really egging his 3 and a half year old little girl to sing on her own and so we decided to film it. We want you to see how special a moment this was for us. We couldn’t help but love this family who open themselves towards complete strangers in their home.

To them everyone is their friend and family and we certainly felt like we were part of it when we said goodbye to them all as they hugged us and welcomed us back next time. The incredible spider was there in our bathroom again later that night, and again Dave had just missed it. It didn’t stick around for the rest of the night though which was a little more comforting for the two of us.

Ms Sudah charged us 1500rs/room/night including all meals as well as tea and biscuits along the way and 600rs for the bird watching. We then paid the driver 1000rs to take us to Kochin airport which is some 40km away from Thattakad.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

We got an early bus to Koh Kong, although as per usual it took over an hour to leave the city and then we were still stopping along the way to pick up other passengers, many of whom didn’t have seats so were sat on plastic chairs in the aisles. After around 5 hours or so we landed in Koh Kong at a bus stop a little way out of the main streets, tuk-tuk drivers once again were hassling us to take pick up into town, but we knew from the scale of the map that it wouldn’t be too far to walk. We met Ali and Carl who’d been traveling mainly in India on the bus and we all decided to walk in together. We landed at The Dugout Hotel, which is quite easy to find on the main street leading towards the market. The manager is Australian and pretty helpful when it comes to advice in the area, we opted for a room that was more than we were hoping to pay but thought we’d just stay there the one night. They have a small pool there too so we were keen to go in for a dip to cool down from the afternoon heat.

Later on we met up with Ali and went to have a chat with a local eco-tour operator ran by a friendly chap called Mr T, his office is located at Dugout, and they are owned by the same guy who runs the Oasis Bungalow resort a little way out of town. We found out about tours on offer and what was possible for us to do and see on Koh Kong Island, after going back and forth and realising we couldn’t stay on the Island, Mr T made a few calls and pretty much made up a tour for us on the spot. We could take a 2 day boat trip to Koh Kong Island, visit the beautiful beaches, have barbecues on the beach, all of our food and stay at a fishing village called Alatan that is connected to the island via stilts and wooden bridges. For the 4 of us to go it would cost $55 each! This was a good price considering the tours we had paid for in Vietnam. So we agreed and decided to leave the following day. If you do go to the tourist office at The Dugout please note that this isn’t a tour they do on a regular basis so don’t expect it to be advertised. They offer other types of tours including jungle treks and mountain biking in the area, Koh Kong itself doesn’t have much going on, it’s a small town which can be used as a handy base to go off and explore.

We were picked up at 8am and taken to the harbour where we had a boat, driver and guide waiting with us along with a fridge full of food. It was a long boat that they had decked out for our comfort, Mr T came along to make sure everything was ready and set up for us and off we went. The first part of the boat trip took around 2 hours and on the way we even bought our fish from a local fisher-mans boat! We took a brief stop at beach number 1, we all jumped off the boat and went for a swim in the crystal clear waters. The beach was beautiful with no-one else around so we were excited about going to the further afield beaches.

After around half an hour we carried on towards beach number 3, here we stopped and the driver threw in the anchor. We had until around 4pm here, and so we swam, sunbathed, ate a fantastic fish barbecue meal, swam some more, the guide built us a shelter from the sun, Carl tried to catch a crab and so on. All in all it was absolutely gorgeous, we had the whole place to ourselves, the sea was beautiful and clear and it was so serene. At last we had found a paradise. We had heard that not many people come to Koh Kong Island other than on day trips because the military operate the Island so it’s not the safest place to stay, also the trips only go when there are more than 4 people so this meant we didn’t see any other tourists, only fishing boats.

After a lazy afternoon on the beach we got back into our boat and made the hour journey to Alatan fishing village. We weren’t expecting what awaited us at all. The village is build up of around 50 or so houses all built on stilts going away from the Island for around 1km. As we arrived many local children were waiting for us, all shouting hello and smiling and laughing nervously in anticipation of our arrival. We instantly felt very humble and privileged to be there and were taken into the house which would be our base for our stay. As soon as we got inside the children were posing for photographs, asked Dave to do some English spelling and took us up onto the Island where their school is based. We were quite overwhelmed by the whole experience, they were so happy for us to be sharing their home with them, showing us around their school and attempting to speak English with us. The photography opportunities here were fantastic.

After an hour or so of playing with the children we sat down for dinner and enjoyed more fish, rice, salad and fruit. We had previously seen two full size snooker tables in one of the houses a little further away from where we were and asked if we could play some snooker/pool. We have no idea how easy or hard it was for them to get those things in there, we were amazed that they had them and they clearly kept them in mint condition. It was also amazing to see how each family have some way of making money; either by fishing, selling groceries, a little cafe at one end and then the snooker hall!

So we played for an hour until going to bed at around 10pm, we had an audience watching us the entire time and Helen didn’t play well at all. We kind of just wanted to be unseen at this moment in time wishing for a game of pool on a snooker table to end!! Unfortunately for us Ali and Carl beat us 2-0, but Helen always makes a point that pub sports…just ain’t her thing! ha ha!

So to our bedroom which our hosts had vacated for us for that night, 4 of us all lined up on a thin mattress, with water underneath and noises from loud televisions, babies’ crying and the like meant we were on for a restless night. Still the experience of being there far outweighed any of this and we were very happy to have stayed in Alatan that night.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We booked a 3 day 2 night tour with Sinhbalo tours (tour – “SBL8 – Cycle from MyTho to Cai Be, Vinh Long and Can Tho (3D/2N)”) along with new best friends Justin and Jules. We had been recommended the company by other travellers we’d met in Halong Bay who’d actually made the statement that it was the best thing they’d done in Vietnam, so based on this we thought they would be a strong bet for a good cycling tour. Other companies tend to charge more for similar tours and we didn’t want to stretch our budget too much.

The first day involved a mixture of bus, boat and cycling. The bus took us from HCMC to the Mekong Delta and took around 3 hours, as soon as we arrived we took a boat journey along the Mekong to an Island where we were introduced to local life, food and animals! We had some lovely very fresh fruits and tea as well as some baked rice cakes (a little like sweet poppadoms), our guide Duat talked us through the family home and traditions, they were getting ready for festive family celebrations leading up to TET. This led onto a little boat trip through one of the Mekong canals, the whole route to ourselves led us back peacefully to the boat where we had got off. So it was a pretty leisurely start to the day that ended seeing us having lunch at a crocodile and coco-nut farm. Crocodile was not on the menu fortunately but they were there for us all to see and others to tease. The food served was fairly good, but we almost expected a little more, especially after the food of the Halong Bay tour.

We made another crossing of the Mekong river via boat and met the tour bus which had a fine selection of mountain bikes ready for us to explore the area. Our guide lead the way on a 20km ride along roads and trails which included plenty of “hellos” from children along the way, this is something you get used to very quickly when cycling around. Another boat journey landed us at the home-stay for our evenings stay. It was more like a simple eco guest house on stilts rather than a homestead but non the less it provided double beds with mosquito nets. A short walk around the local area gave a flavour of local life and then it was time for our evening meal. This was quite similar to lunch which was a little disappointing as its nice to try different menu items, however it was well received by everyone. Some card games, beer and a glimpse of fireflies in the trees finished the day off nicely and we were all looking forward to the next installment of cycling.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Up early at 6.30am and then breakfast was served, consisting of bread, jam, eggs and watermelon. We climbed aboard our stallions for the day (21 speed mountain bikes) and started off the 1.5hr bike ride through the delta area. We passed many little villages and homes with yet more screams of “hello” from the kids we passed, rice fields and cows. The heat of the day was quite oppressive however we had plenty of water supplied by our tour guide and eventually we arrived at a town and increased our energy with a good feed. We were informed that it was 35C by a local who was sheltering from the midday sun.

After a good rest and a rendezvous with the support (ford transit) van we stocked up on bottled water and then headed off along sealed roads towards the suspension bridge. This was a great climb to the top and certainly got the blood and sweat pumping, but we were rewarded with a lovely view of the area, and the best thing about going up, is the knowledge that you go down on the other side! Much speed and fun.

We arrived at the next town and settled into the provided accommodation which was very nice. Our guide met us after some rest time and took us to a nearby restaurant on the water front of the Mekong. The food was again great with lots of variation and options for the vegetarians. We had a walk around the town which was in preparation for TET and very busy, a few beers and then bed time.

On our last day of the tour we started early again with a 6am breakfast followed by a short bus ride to a taxi boat that ferried us to the famous floating markets. The boat journey took around 10 minutes and as we arrived at the markets there was a real buzz in the air, people shopping for their store supplies, pulling up alongside bigger boats in their small long boats, transporting vegetables, fruit and other wholesale items between each other. Some of the boats are huge and in between you’ll find a little lady selling street food from her tiny boat. We stopped at a pineapple sellers boat, got off ours and onto the top of theirs, we sat and they prepared freshly picked pineapples for us to eat there and then, they were so juicy!! After this we got back onto our boat and continued to drive past other sellers and vendors. It was a really impressive and insightful start to the day, just seeing how this type of community trade and all between boats is so different from what any of us expected. It’s good to get to the markets earlier in the morning or as early as you can manage as they finish at around midday having started at something like 4am, by 10am many tourists appear and it gets really busy. We were there at around 7am and there weren’t too many other tourists around.

We left the markets after an hour and continued up-river to a point where we met our trusty driver once more, he was there waiting with our bikes ready for us to ride on the last leg of our cycling trip. The last bike ride of the trip was quite tame and took around 2 hours, going through more villages, over more bridges and passing my many children shouting ‘Hello…what’s your name?’ and so on. At around 11am we found ourselves back at the hotel where we had time to shower and check out before starting the journey back to HCMC. The journey back took around 4 hours with an hours break for lunch at a posh service area called the Mekong Service Area where it seems most upper end tours take you too, it was a little like a 4 start resort made up of just restaurants. The food was good and Helen even had her own fish and vegetarian menu, they made some rice balls that came up into big balloons probably the most interesting thing about it. It was also our last supper with Justin and Jules so we toasted to good times in Vietnam.

Back in HCMC we said our goodbyes to our 3 week travel buddies and went our separate ways to our hotels. Later on we managed to get to the post office to send on our winter gear to Australia (we shouldn’t be needing it until then!?) We sent two 2kg parcels costing around $25 for airmail delivery. We ate at Zen once again for a tasty vegetarian feast, walked around the area and then went back to Luan Vu to get ready for our trip to Phnom Penh the next morning.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well we can’t all say that we’ve spent Christmas in Hong-Kong…but WE CAN!! He he! Although to be fair we could have been anywhere in the world and still made this a day to remember. It was a slow start to the day with our customary oats, yoghurt and fruit breakfast followed by some prancing around in our Christmas hats. Dave slept in a little longer and enjoyed the cosyness of the apartment. We got ourselves a little pack up so we could go to Victoria Park for a Christmas picnic. We were also downloading a Christmas film that we would watch later in the day; Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and strolled out with our Christmas hats still on.

The park is just around the corner from Causeway Bay and was packed full of the local overseas contingent mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines, we’re pretty sure they are mostly maids and restaurant workers and had read prior to going that it’s a very common sight to see them all to get together in public spaces, hanging out with each other on their days off. We assumed this was the case. We walked around and found the central open air swimming pool which is an Olympic-sized pool left empty in the park. Its really eerily located right at the foot of sky-rise apartments and office blocks and left us with a great photo-opportunity.

Moving on from this we continued to walk and found a nice quiet spot in the park where we would have our picnic. For Christmas brunch we opted for the much anticipated and longed for hummus and carrot, a good tomatoe relish, rivita crackers, posh crisps, dark chocolate and cider. Oh how we enjoyed this sipping cider with the local monks passing by and just simply enjoying our little moment.

After this satisfying and overpriced picnic we went back to the apartment via the shipping area, photographed more of the locals and went back to settle in for some Ferris Bueller action. This was Dave’s first time…Can you believe it?? It was enjoyed along with a bottle of white wine and dark chocolate…oh how the other half live!

After the film we got ready for our Christmas meal we had booked the previous day. Most restaurants offer a set menu from day to day and they tend to be good value for money. We had noticed a little pub underneath our guesthouse offering a Christmas menu that didn’t look to shabby at all and was at a relatively good price considering the cost of other things on offer. So we didn’t venture very far at all, we did get a few Christmas presents to enjoy with our meal of which you can see us modeling the best below! The meal started off okay, but it just went from bad to worse and by the end Helen felt like it was the toilet that was calling her rather than the local dessert. Hmmm! You can’t win them all!

So after a slightly disappointing meal (although the picnic did make up for this!!) and a good Skype call to the Roscoe’s we went off to Victoria Peak via the metro so we would take in the Hong-Kong skyline by night. It was a good little journey, packed with many other tourists waiting to go up to the Peak, and the tram ride up was fun. Once we were up there it was really cold, so it was a good job we’d put on some extra layers. We experimented with slow shutter work on the Leica which provided us with an alternative view take of the skyline. Helen’s dinner didn’t do her many favours so she was not a happy bunny but after a good hour or so we got the tram back down and made our way back to Causeway Bay.

You can walk down from the Peak and on a nice evening this would have been a good option and alternative to getting the tram. We didn’t buy tickets to the highest viewing platform and the main building contains a lot of shops which we more or less bypassed to get outside and photograph the views.

Back in Causeway Bay we walked around a little longer, took in some more neon and then went back to our little room to enjoy the rest of our Christmas evening together.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)