June 9 - 11: Melbourne, Australia

Jacqui finished school on Friday the 8th, her last ever day as a full time teacher. She is now fully retired and has more time to travel! So we boarded a plane that same night, for Australia. Our first stop was in Melbourne, where we had a chance to spend some time with our niece Chantal, who works in a small town three hours away.
The flight was fine and the connection between our two flights (Bangkok-Sydney and Sydney-Melbourne) was amazingly smooth. We landed in Sydney, went through immigration/passport control, collected our luggage and switched terminals by bus, all in about 30 minutes. It was unbelievable!
Chantal picked us up at the airport around 10 am, drove us to our hotel and we then went for lunch. We walked around a bit in the afternoon and visited Federation Square and St-Paul's cathedral, but called it a day by mid-afternoon as both Jacqui and I were walking zombies due to lack of sleep on the plane. We felt much better on Sunday (sleep does wonders!). We did a little bit of shopping after lunch then went to a local market. We spent more time touring the city on Monday, going up the Skytop Building and walking by the river. They have beautiful parks and many outdoor restaurants and bars all along the river; it is really nice.
Chantal left us mid-afternoon on Monday (it was a national holiday). It was very nice spending time with her. We really enjoyed our visit in Melbourne; it is a very nice city!

First picture of Jacqui as a fully retired teacher!!

 

Having a drink and a game of cards with Chantal

The Yarra River in Melbourne

 

One of the many quaint side streets in town

Melbourne seen from the Skytop Building

Along the Yarra River

Flinders Street Station

St-Paul's Cathedral

Art on the bridge

May 26 - June 4th - Railay Beach and Vincent's visit

We had a couple of quiet weekends, before the end of school year madness. Jacqui and I went to Chatuchak market one final time, on Saturday May 26th, before we head back home. This time, we got a map of the market (according to Lonely Planet, it is the second largest market in the world) and it made it a lot easier to find what we were looking for, or at least know where we were!

We had a nice brunch with colleagues from school the next day, at a restaurant by the Chao Phraya river; the main river that goes through Bangkok. It was a very nice afternoon!

Vincent arrived on Tuesday May 29th, which just happened to be a national holiday, which means Jacqui didn't have to work that day! We did a few things around the neighbourhood and flew to Krabi on Friday morning, to then take a van to a pier and then hop a longboat to get to our resort at Railay Beach. People say it's one of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand, and they are probably right. The beach itself is not very big, but the sand is very nice and the scenery is incredible. There are no way to get there by car, so it is pretty quiet; all you hear is the sound of the waves, and the longboats coming and going. It was quite a nice weekend. It was also our last weekend in Thailand, which is kinda sad. We really enjoyed this country and will surely return.

For now, Jacqui has school until June 8th, then she will be really retired. We are then heading off to Australia for two weeks then come back to Thailand for two days and finally go back home for good on June 27th.

                      Our rotee guy; he's not sure where the T-shirt came from (we also don't speak the same language),                                                                   but it is from Waterloo (indicated by the sponsors on the back)

Jacqui and our cook; we have to learn how to make this paella; it is so yummy!

Thai paella: chicken, pork, mussels, prawns, rice, veggies, ...

By the restaurant of our Sunday Brunch

Happy couple!

Vincent and Jacqui in our longboat, on our way to Railay Beach

Longboats; the mode of transportation from one island to the next

Jacqui on the pathway that goes from one side of the peninsula to the other side (about 400 m)

Tunnel into the cave

Great spot for rock climbing

Sunset on Railay Beach

It's a tough life!!!

 

Longboats waiting for tourists to depart

Our first mode of transportation to get home, followed by a van and a plane. Water, land and air; we have them all!

Not sure why we're smiling; we are getting ready to leave this beautiful place!

May 2nd - 9th: Donald and Diane's visit

We had the pleasure of hosting my brother Donald and his wife Diane from the 2nd to the 9th. We did a lot in those few shorts days. We picked them up at the airport on Wednesday the 2nd at night, then drove to Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand, the next day. We visited two different Temples and a Museum; it was quite interesting.

On Friday, we drove to Hua Hin, a city by the beach on the west side of the Gulf of Thailand. We chilled by the pool and had a very nice meal on Friday, and walked on the beach and visited the night market on Saturday. The markets, whether they are regular day or night markets, are always quite interesting to see, especially if it's your first time! It is so crowded, and there is so much to see (and buy?); it is quite an experience!

We headed back home on Sunday, then visited RIS when we got back.

On Monday, we drove downtown to go visit the Royal Palace, with the Emerald Buddha, and Wat Pho, which hosts the reclining Buddha. We then moved on to visit the Jim Thomson House, and then made our way to the Red Sky Bar, a roof top bar, to see the sunset, or almost! We had a beautilful view of the city as the sky was very clear.

Tuesday was the start of another adventure. We wanted to go cycling in a park that is located close to downtown, but on the other side of the river - you need a ferry to get there. After battling traffic for a few hours, and only getting "close" to our destination, we decided to call it quits! We therefore just went for lunch in that area, and came back home - gone for 6 hours and only had lunch! But it was a good lunch!!

At Wat Pho Temple

Had never seen those kind of flowers in a tree before.

Sunset on Hua Hin

Making Rotee (Jacqui's new favourite food) at the night market in Hua Hin

Wat Khao Noi

Diane and Donald

At the Grand Palace

The reclyning Buddha

Parts of Bangkok, seen from downtown, at sundown. Notice how the left hand side of the picture is in the shade whereas the right hand side is still in the sun!

Great way to recycle those old metal pipes!