Oscar Wilde famously said that Hell was spending eternity in the same room as your best friends.

Well, three months in the constant company (for half of the trip - Thailand and America -we even shared the same bedroom!) of your squabbling daughters can sometimes get a bit much too!

The initial point of the exercise was for us - especially the girls - to spend time with their grandparents in South Africa and Australia.

The second part of the plan was to introduce the girls to some of our favourite places in the World. To show them different cultures - and let them meet genuine poverty too. And to live out of a backpack, without all the trappings of home, for 3 months.

Both have been satisfactorily achieved.

We had no real problems - no illnesses, thefts, accidents, etc and can happily say that we all felt we needed more time than we had in every place we visited.

The hospitality we received along the way was awesome and we were able to spend time with some of our special friends from way back........

This weblog has been a great way of recording our adventures both for our friends and family and for our future memories - we'll copy the blogs to word documents and print a hard copy for the kids and grandparents (and anyone else who may want one) to put away.

Probably saved a fortune in postcards too!

The only time that the kids really suffered was travelling in tropical heat in Thailand. As soon as we recognised this, we cancelled our plan to travel down the peninsula, set up a base in Phuket and did day trips away, eventually flying straight from Phuket to Singapore.

At other times the important thing is to keep them busy. Multi-program seatback screens on aeroplanes are fantastic. On other long journeys, or waits, we ran the gamut of games from the Ministers cat (& derivatives) to our favourite - What am I? (animal, vegitable, mineral or abstract). We also made great use of secondhand bookshops.

This may well be the only opportunity we ever get to do such a trip together, but since we've all come home wanting more I think the seed has been well and truly sown.

Where next?

Wychwood Music Festival.

After that - well, watch this space!

Will miss:

Heather: Elephant ride, Bike Ride, Murphys, snorkelling

Rhiannon: Elephant ride, Killer Whale, Yosemite, Marlo (mouth of the Snowy)

Frith: Family and friends, seeing new places, California, Phi Phi, Marlo

Graham: Snorkelling, Old Friends, Family, Thailand, Marlo, Hot weather

Won't miss:

Heather: Mosquitoes, Burn, Jellyfish sting

Rhiannon: Mosquitoes, Spiders, Hot weather

Frith: Not enough time anywhere, Mosquitoes, Gecko poo, Sharing a room with the girls for 3 months

Graham: Taking Rhiannon to restaurants, coming home

And Finally....... remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The first good news was the Hotel (the Astoria) that I'd booked online six months ago - after reading a lot of travellers reviews - is simply fantastic.

At 400 dollars for 4 for the whole week (including breakfast), less than many hotels charge for a night, I had been concerned that it would be grotty, but it was lovely - and being on Bush St, right next door to China Town Gate and a couple of blocks from Union Square, the location was ideal!

The second is the Muni transit tickets - ours were $24 each for the week and the girls were $10 for the whole month! The bus system is fairly quick and easy to use and our passes also include the underground and the Cable Cars. So unless you need to travel out of town, a car would just be a liability.

We had planned to do a lot of shopping here but, even with the strong pound, there didn't appear to be many bargains around. So we just went out and enjoyed ourselves.

We're having luck with the weather again - it's beautiful. We hired bikes on Fisherman's Wharf and cycled along the waterfront, over Golden Gate Bridge and down to the pretty little town of Sausalito for lunch. We had intended to take the ferry back but we were all feeling fit so we carried on around the Bay to catch the ferry at Tiburon (another pretty little town - sigh - Frith is looking at house prices!).

It was a great day. We ended up cycling over 17 miles and to top it off we had dinner in a Thai restaurant!

The next day started rainy so we went to the Exploratorium (interactive science museum) in the Palace of Fine Arts, which was wonderful - there were almost too many things to do in a single day.

Later, we walked along the seafront to the Cannery, which was boring, then on to Cioppini's for dinner. I had their special seafood linguini: Swordfish, Salmon, Scallops, Prawns & Mussels in a Pesto, Garlic & Cream Sauce, topped with Dungeness Crab. One of the best meals I've ever had!

The following day we went to Six Flags Marine World and Wildlife Park in Vallejo. We bought a package ticket including ferry and bus from Blue & Gold Fleet at Fishermans Wharf. Watch them - they tried to charge us adult rates for the kids!

The Tigers, Dolphins and Whales were fantastic.

After our first Roller Coaster ride, Rhiannon was desperate to go on Medusa - an insane twisted, contorted manifestation of somebody's perverted idea of a good time. Neither Frith nor Heather was game so.......

Actually, it was the best ride I've ever been on. For all the G forces and twists and loops, it was extremely smooth. And I don't have to do it again.

Those were the high points. The crowds, the awful food options, the queues, the "amusement" arcades, the usual theme park trimmings - they were the low points.

Frith took the girls to Alcatraz (I've already been).

I met up with them at Pier 33 and we returned by cable car.

In the evening we ate in a self service chinese cafe where you pick and choose from approximately 20 dishes and they weigh your plate at the till (charging $6 per pound). What a good idea for parents with fussy - and vegetarian -kids!

We had various other outings - to shops, Golden gate Park, Haight-Ashbury (full of very colourful shops and wannabe hippies), before flying with Virgin back to London on the 18th of April. The highlight of the flight was looking out at the Northern Lights during the night (note: not my photo).

Will miss:

Heather: Yosemite, Six Flags, Bike Ride, Mark Twain room (Murphys)

Rhiannon: Yosemite, Six Flags, Bike Ride across Golden Gate Bridge,

Frith: Service in restaurants, food, San Francisco, Yosemite, Bear boxes, Route 49, Murphys, Death Valley

Graham: Yosemite, Death Valley, Bike Ride, Gold Country, Redwood forest

Won't miss:

Heather: Sleeping on the floor, waking in Yosemite (cold!)

Rhiannon: American Food

Frith: Reno

Graham: Crap Cars, State Troopers, TV & Radio evangelists!!!

California - San Francisco remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The first views of the Valley were absolutely breathtaking! It was like a Disney film set come to life - and then some.

We checked in to a camp site. The ready-made accommodation was canvas tents with concrete walls. Each tent had a lockable steel trunk outside for food. We were instructed that no food - not even toothpaste should be left out - or in the car because the bears will break in and get it (apparently this is happens practically every week).

Deer are OK though....

We had lunch in the village and then headed off to walk up to the halfway point on the Yosemite Falls Trail. These are the highest falls in America and, being at the start of the Spring melt, they were close to their best (they dry up completely in late Summer).

Our path took us up 1500 feet of switchbacks. The weather was lovely - low teens and sunny. When we reached the lookout we were able to see the falls from top to bottom.

Looking down at the sheer drop to the valley, I was reminded of Chris Booth, the father of some friends of my daughters, a fairly quiet, unassuming chap - who mentioned at a party shortly before we left England that he had climbed El Capitan - a practically sheer granite cliff nearly twice as high as the drop that I was now contemplating.

I take my hat off to him!

In the evening we lit a fire and toasted marshmallows. I drove to the village shop. On my return - inside the camping ground - I was pulled over by a State Trooper who told me that I had exceeded the 25mph speed limit. I was put through 10 minutes of co-ordination tests and a breathaliser - in the freezing cold, with blue and red lights flashing throughout and quite a few interested bystanders. I assume that the co-ordination tests are to check for drugs. Anyway, he didn't find anything wrong and went away.
Was I bothered?

In the morning the kids were disappointed that we hadn't seen any bears but soon cheered up when it started to snow. After 3 months in the tropics we weren't equipped for trecking in these conditions so we set off for San Francisco.

As we climbed out of the valley, the snow intensified and I was worried that we'd be turned back (the car did not have snow chains).

But it cleared pretty quickly and we had a pleasant drive (past hundreds and hundreds of Wind Generators) down to San Francisco.

California - Yosemite remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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So, after a long day of driving and car-swapping, we spent the night in the charming little historic gold mining town of Placerville. From here on our route followed highway 49.

Named after the 49 Gold Rush, this road follows the miner's wagon trail south along the western side of the mountains - and is thus very winding indeed. The countryside is beautiful; hills, valleys, small farms, lots of trees.

We headed for the classic old mining town of Murphys and booked into the oldest continuously occupied hotel in California (called Murphys). The register boasted such notaries as Thomas Lipton and General Grant, but the most famous of all was Mark Twain. And we stayed in his room:

Murphys is a truly delightful little town - highly recommended. Since there were so many things to do nearby, we stayed for two nights.

On the second day we went on an escorted tour through Mercer Limestone caverns. We had hoped to do a 3 hour pot-holing trip but the girls were too young. Three of us were very disappointed!

We spent the afternoon walking in Big Trees State Park. As the name implies, these Redwood trees are huge! The largest can be 3500 years old and weigh 2600 tons - that's more than 18 blue whales - they are the largest (and tallest) things that have ever lived.

On the way back to Murphys we visited Ironstone Winery and viewed the largest crystal gold nugget in the World. At 41lbs it is worth over 3.5 million dollars.

California - The Gold Route remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We hadn't pre-booked a hire car because of uncertainty of flight dates (ours was the inaugural Rartonga - L.A. direct flight and had already been rescheduled once), presuming that we'd get to the car hire desks and find the best deal.

Wrong! At L.A.X. it doesn't work that way. The various car hire companies run free shuttle buses to their offices so when you get there, with wife, kids and luggage in tow, on the eve of Easter weekend, you're something of a captive audience and the guy behind the desk knows it. After 10 minutes of heated debate, the rate was reduced by a third, which still left me paying twice as much as the best internet rates for the same dates.

So - always pre-book!

Our car was a very large Dodge Magnum. Very flashy looking.
Great stereo.
Great Air-con.
OK for freeways but once out in the Sierra Nevada, it cornered like a channel ferry, and braked like a Mac truck. So bad was it that we ended up making a detour via Reno to swap it for a top-of-the-range Toyota, which was fantastic!

Back to the story....

We headed straight out of LA without stopping to visit the big mouse or rub shoulders with the stars in Rodeo Drive and, after an overnight stop in a roadside motel, drove into Death Valley, the second lowest place on Earth, and the second hottest.

We explored the salt flats at Badwater and made the two mile round treck to the highest sand dune and back. Although it was only early Spring, the temperature reached 103F (40C - hotter than it has ever been in England), and it felt it!

Death Valley is a strange place. A place that makes you want to sit still for a while and just listen....

Equally strange - a couple of hours later we were surrounded by snow and freezing on the slopes of Mount Whitney!

California - Death Valley remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our overnight flight from Rarotonga to LA only strengthened this view; still no seatback videos - and the individual overhead lights were stuck on so it was like trying to sleep in Stalag 17!

Our Beach House in Rarotonga (through Rarotonga Backpackers) was, at 30 pounds a night, very reasonable. It was old and full of character (not to mention geckos, mosquitos and the occasional rodent), and was located away from any resorts, so it was just like having our own private beach - along with our own private army of hermit crabs.

For the first five days of our stay we were battered by storms from Cyclone Betty, which passed to the north of The Cook Islands. It was only on the last three days that we could go snorkelling.

So we hired a little car and explored the island.

Rarotonga (means "Down South") is the archetypal volcanic tropical island; 20 miles in circumference with a very steep, all but impenetrable forested interior and sorrounded by a beautiful coral reef.

There is basically one road which runs around the coast.
People drive on the left.
Very slowly.
There are a lot of very big people on very small motor bikes - Pacific Islanders are, by repute, very heavily built (the King of Tonga weighed 80 Stone!!). Certainly slim Rarotongans were very few and far between (thin on the ground?).

Eating out is fairly expensive but the seafood, as you'd expect, is delicious.

The population is about 14,000. There is a bit of an old fashioned village atmosphere about the place (we had to stop the car once to let a sow and her young piglet cross the road!). As a resort destination it is (happily) far less developed than I'd expected, perhaps partly due to the fact that property can not be bought or sold - only inherited.

The reef in front of us was too shallow to swim in but a pleasant 500 metre walk along the beach took us to the nature reserve near the Rarotongan Resort, where the water was a couple of metres deep, warm, clear and full of colourful fish. It would make a great place to learn to snorkel as you are never very far from shallow water, there are no waves or currents and the sea life starts as soon as you enter the water - in fact within 20 metres of the shore we found a couple of giant clams a metre wide.

We went to an "Island Night", which started with the uncovering of the Umu. This is the feast that has been slow-cooked on hot rocks in the ground, covered with palm leaves, for over 4 hours. There were large joints of meat - pork, lamb and beef (and, in latter times, "enemy"), along with root vegetables.

The feast was followed by a display of dancing. The Cook Islanders are reputed to be among the best dancers in the whole of Polynesia. Each of the Islands has it's own distinctive music, rhythms and dances.

Styles varied from grass-skirted girls doing slow, hypnotic Hawaiianesque hip-swaying dances to brightly painted men doing loud frenzied war dances (and looking hungry!).

This has been the shortest stopover of our journey. Although the weather was restrictive at first, and it was far too wet to fulfil my plan to walk the cross-island path, our stay has been really relaxing and we can recommend the island as a pleasant stopover between Aus./NZ & America, - although we suspect that if you stay in one of the resorts you may miss out on some of the laidback charm of the place.

The Cook Islands remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We arrived to a bone-dry Victoria, suffering it's worst drought on record. Everywhere brown, dry and cracked. The last three weeks have seen some good rainfalls, though, and the worst does appear to be over.

Our first fortnight was spent largely with family in Gisborne, west of Melbourne, and catching up with relatives and friends. We spent a lovely weekend with old friends in Melbourne, whilst the kids played in the pool - BBQ, wine, beer, loud music and a lot of talking - amazing how you can meet up again after so many years and it might as well have been yesterday!

The new freeway system in Melbourne is brilliant!

We spent an enjoyable couple of days in Anglesea, on the Great Ocean Rd; out of season and very quiet and peaceful (which we needed after the weekend at Gary & Gayle's!).

On our second weekend we went to stay with my old friend Jack, up Upwey way in the Dandenongs. Very beautiful - feeding rosellas, kookaburras, cockatoos, butcher birds and possums from the balcony........

We went to the Mossvale Music Festival in East Gippsland, home of the World's longest worms (not a lot of people know that!). There were more hats and beards than you could poke a stick at. Some excellent music - notably an American band called The Mammals, and blues singer Eric Bibb.

Our last week was spent with Jack in the beautiful little town of Marlo, at the mouth of the Snowy River, about 400kms from Melbourne.

We kayak'd on the river with the kids, went out fishing in the boat. We BBQ'd the fish that one of us caught (suffice to say that it wasn't Jack, Frith or the kids!), and had sundowners and dinner on the veranda of the Marlo Pub, overlooking the magnificent Snowy Estuary.

Now we're getting ready to fly off to the Cook Islands tomorrow, it's was very nostalgic seeing old friends again and the hospitality has been fantastic. We'd like to thank everybody for making it such a magical holiday - and special thanks to Sheila and Bill for looking after us so well and for so kindly giving us use of their spare car(s) during our stay here.

Will miss:

Heather:

Woody & Tonka, Marlo, Family

Rhiannon:

Sunsets, Marlo, Birds, Possums

Frith:

Family and friends, Automatic cars, Marlo, Australian Bakeries, Cascade Light

Graham:

Best friends, Family, Marlo, The Dandenongs, Cascade, Wine shops.

Won't miss:

Heather:

flies, mosquitos

Rhiannon:

mosquitos, bee stings

Frith:

flies, Australian drivers

Graham:

Aus. TV.

Australia remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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If anybody would like to sponsor her in this very worthwhile cause, please copy and paste the following link:

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/rss/getfundraisingPage2.asp?EventGivingGroupId=601066

many thanks,
Graham, Frith and the girls

But wait - there's more! remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We went on a speedboat trip to the Phang Nga National Park.

The first view of the stunning Limetone "Hongs" was breathtaking!

We went under cliffs with overhangng stalactites, through sea caves - and, yes, visited "James Bond" island (which was very crowded). We had lunch in the floating village and motored through mangrove forests, before heading off for a refreshing swim and snorkel off Ko Khai.

This would be a fabulous place to charter a sailing boat for a week or two (as would Similan Island - see later).

Phang Nga Islands remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We drove up to the Rainforest National Park in our hire car. Our route took us past a Police Launch at Khao Lak; left stranded where the Tsunami dumped it - 2 km inland. Due to a quirk of underwater topography, the wave topped 11 metres here and extended over 3 km inland, killing nearly 4000 people.

At Khao Sok we stayed at Arts Riverview Lodge in a wonderful location right by the river at the end of a jungle track. On the other side of the river the land rises in a shear cliff for hundreds of feet. We went on a 2 hour elephant trek through the jungle, following trails and creek beds. Although these huge animals are very sure footed (ever see an elephant fall over?), when they work their way down a steep river bank your perch on top can feel very tenuous!

Although the Sok river was very low (there has been a drought here too) and we were unable to take any canoeing or rafting trips, there is a deep swimming hole under the cliffs, named the Monkey Hole, no doubt on account of the troop of Macaques that clamber down to drink and cavort, at the end of the day. A rope swing has been set up and the girls had a lot of fun swinging and swimming before dinner. We were told that there were leeches in the river, but none of us was bitten.

Just as we were about to head to the restaurant for dinner a huge thunderstorm hit, so we had to sit in the shelter of our balcony and watch the heavy rain fall.....

During dinner a spider fell down Rhiannon's neck and gave her a really nasty shock, it took her quite a while to calm down.

Later, we sat on the porch in the dark drinking Mekong and listening. The cacophony all around us was awesome! Every niche of pitch and tone seems to have been occupied and creatures strive to outdo each other. Take every jungle movie you've ever seen, combine the soundtracks and turn them up to 11!

We awoke (did we sleep?) to the same orchestra of insects, frogs, birds and gibbons and a hazy mist hanging over the river. After breakfast we took a trail to some caves in the limestone karst. We saw countless lizards (one flying!), butterflies, birds, etc. Heard gibbons again but didn't see them. Although we only walked a couple of kilometres, we returned drenched to the skin, it was so humid.

We drove back inland along route 4118. This took us past a stunning landscape of jungle and huge limestone outcrops - the perfect setting for Jurassic Park or The Lost World.

Khao Sok - down came a spider remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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After a languid week on a Phi Phi beach, Phuket Town was a real eye opener for the girls. To reach Phuket Backpackers we had to navigate our way through a hot, crowded and very fragrant street market, where meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and spices of every shape, size and smell were on sale. There was even a stall selling fried bugs - grasshoppers, grubs, beetles, cockroaches (I think), you name it......

Once settled in, we went on a Tuk Tuk to the very upmarket Central Festival Mall, where you can spend a million baht on a watch! The old 3 wheeler Tuk Tuks have now been replaced by brightly decorated Diahatsu Carry Vans with open backs and sides and bench seats. The kamikaze drivers, however, remain. There are mopeds and small motorbikes everywhere. You can rent them for 3 pounds a day but with a death toll on Phuket alone of 300 a year, you'd have to be a serious thrill seeker to try it!

The accommodation was fine. It did seem odd though, to return at night to see the same people sitting in the loumge watching TV that had been there when we'd gone out in the morning. Around the corner was an excellent second-hand book shop, South Winds, and the lovely Sino-European architecture of the streets and alleys around Thanon Thalang; all lit up with red lanterns for Chinese New Year.

Rhiannon's unadventurous taste buds found refuge in Egg and Bacon in the English Bar near the roundabout - and I was treated to the rare pleasure of watching Manchester City play live on widescreen TV - and win! (what did I say about those folks in the Backpackers lounge??).

We explored the town and took trips out to the Butterfly Farm and Cultural Centre where we watched remarkably enthuisiastic Thai Boxing demos and Thai Dancing. Rhiannon bravely accepted (and acquitted herself well in) an invitation to join in a bamboo dance, where your steps have to synchronise with the rhythm of long bamboo poles being banged together - or you'll get sore feet!

Phuket Town also has a Tescos! You could spend an hour in the fresh food section trying to work out what on earth everything is. The bakery is aweful, but the fish and seafood section is something to behold!

And bicycles start at 11 pounds.......

Phuket Town remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We took a day trip to the Similan Islands. After the usual Mad Max minibus ride, we were taken out to the islands by speedboat from Thap Lamu. Our first snorkelling stop was one of those special moments - the clarity of the water was simply unbelievable - it was absolutely crystal clear. The girls are now totally confident with diving down to the reef and are ready to progress to scuba.

We had a great lunch on island 4 and could see flying foxes hanging - and fanning themselves - in the trees. A really beautiful place and one we'd love to explore further given the chance.

Similan Islands remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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In the South East (where we are advised not to travel) there is a state of conflict with Malay Moslem, so this year fireworks may only be discharged within Temple grounds.

We visited a chinese temple where there were shrines with statues of every kind of deity you can imagine. People bring gifts and burn candles and incense and pray to their gods.

This is the Chinese Year 2550, the Year of the Pig.

As a highlight of the Chinese New Year celebrations, a visiting Chinese Dance Group put on a spectacular show of dancing and martial arts. Whilst all of the dances and outfits were fantastic, The Dance to the Godess of Mercy, was particularly memorable. The dancers, wearing long golden fingernails, lined up behind each other and used their arms to create some quite mesmorising effects. These blurry photos are poor testament to the sheer beauty of the dance.

Chinese New Year remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We booked into Shanti Lodge to give us a couple of days R & R whilst we planned the next stage of the trip, but we were so taken with the place that we had a complete rethink.......

Travelling with young kids in hot, humid conditions can be a bit of a trial, even with our little angels (hmm!). By staying here, doing trips away and then missing out Malaysia and Singapore and just flying straight from Phuket to Singapore to connect to the Australian flight, we save at least 3 days of travel - days that we can spend having fun in Thailand!!

So - Shanti Lodge - in every respect better than we expected from viewing the website. It is conveniently located near the Chalong Circle, the staff are friendly and helpful, the menu contains enough items that Rhiannon will eat (!!!) and plenty of vegetarian options for Heather, the pool is great (the kids practically lived in it) and the whole place is tastefully and thoughtfully designed and decorated, with ponds, waterfalls, carvings, plants, muted lighting, etc. And they play good music (and Dido!).

Our room is very large, airy, Thai-styled, with air-conditioning and at 750 baht per night (11 pounds) is truly resort standard at backpackers prices. We have the A/C set at 25 degrees which is seriously refreshing to walk into!

So we're staying here for the duration.

Shanti Lodge remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Thai people are gentle, elegant, friendly and very tolerant of others. Maybe this is an aspect of their Buddhist religion, or the fact that this is the only country in Asia (one of the few anywhere) that has never been colonised.

Life here is vibrant and colourful. Siam - the land of smiles, Thailand - the land of the free. Still my favourite country in the World.

Will miss:

Heather:

Elephant ride, beaches, dance, costumes, snorkelling, Shanti Lodge, swimming with monkeys, dragon statues, tuk tuks, James Bond Islands

Rhiannon:

Elephant ride, feeding elephants, Thai dancing, Jungle Pool & rope swing, lizards, Temples, forgetting all about T.V.

Frith:

Food, 25 degrees feeling cold!, snorkelling, peoples smiles, jungle thunderstorm, geckos

Graham:

Snorkelling, Khao Sok, Food, Thai people, driving with loonies, the heat

Won't miss:

Heather:

Jellyfish stings, bad smells, bug stalls

Rhiannon:

Spiders!!

Frith:

Thai radio, Thai roads, haggling, mosquitos

Graham:

Dido

Thailand - and finally......... remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We stayed on Phi Phi 13 years ago on honeymoon and were told then (and repeatedly since) - largely by people who had fallen in love with it and had gone home and told all their friends about it - that tourism and rampant development has ruined the place.

Well, it is still beautiful. The quirky, laidback nightlife has gone - it's all a bit too Ibiza for our taste now, and the longtails provide a raucous ongoing accompaniment to your idylls, and prices are high, but it's still beautiful.

The 2004 Tsunami devastated Phi Phi. The island is shaped like a capital 'H', the central bar being a low lying, densely populated sand spit about 400 metres wide. The wave split when it reached the side of the island and swept into the village from the north and the south simultaneously. 2000 people were killed outright and 104 local children were orphaned.

It is impossible to imagine the horror that was suffered on that day - the resiliance of those who survived the catastrophe, lived through the heartbreak and then stayed to clean up and rebuild is truly remarkable.

Our week here was lovely. We watched the kids chasing blacktip sharks over two metres long in crystal clear water less than 50 metres from shore (at the far end of Long Beach), saw Lion Fish, Stone Fish, Sea Snakes, Leopard Fish, Squid and various schools of reef fish. We ate well and enjoyed Thai massages on the beach (Rhiannon had 4 - paid for herself at 3 pounds per half hour!).

Phi Phi still holds a place in our hearts.

Now onto Phuket Town and Chinese New Year............

Phi Phi remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Time to pack our bags for Asia - or unpack actually - although we've only brought a rucksack each, we're dumping or forwarding at least half of it and keeping little more than a change of clothes for the next leg of the trip.

Our stay here has been fantastic and has passed all too quickly.

Highlights:

Graham: eating out - wonderful food, service and value, nights soaking in Montagu's hot mineral pools under bright desert stars, Hermanus Backpackers hostel, stunning scenery, the hospitality of Frith's family, living in shorts!

Frith: spending time with family, warm weather, beauty of the Cape, South African accents, hospitality, food, wine, memories of childhood.

Heather: stroking adult cheetah, hot pools and slide at Montagu, warm weather (reached 42 degrees in the Klein Karoo (little desert)).

Rhiannon: cheetahs, Montagu hot pools, biltong, everyone has a swimming pool or jacuzzi.

Goodbye to Cape Town remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Got off the plane in Cape Town to 33 degrees and SUN!

First day highlights:

Watching Rhiannon hold hundreds of bees in her bare hands, under the capable guidance of Nigel the beekeeper.

Going to Blouberg Beach to watch the McNaught Comet over Table Bay, and seeing Venus emerge from behind the crescent Moon, looking like a giant diamond ring in the sky.

The rest of the time has been spent in and out of the pool, with regular trips to the fridge and shade - just getting acclimatised.

Instant Summer remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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With ageing parents in South Africa and Australia and a daughter starting High School later this year, this is the only realistic chance we will get to do the big trip.

We've added stopovers in some of our favourite places, a month in Thailand / Malaysia and a couple of weeks in California, to give the kids a taste of life in very different countries.

We'll update the Blog from each country we visit, with our experiences from four different points of view.

The things that we are most looking forward to:

Graham: Thailand - snorkelling, food, people. Yosemite, a week of total R & R in Rarotonga, seeing family and old friends in Aus & S.A.

Frith: family, food, warm seas.

Heather: Ratonga Junction, Scratch Patch, Table Mountain, elephant riding, California

Rhiannon: Snorkelling, Jungle walks, elephant riding.

The story so far remains copyright of the author chaddo, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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