Tim and Kate's Travel Blog

Kitchen mark 1

2012-01-14T19:18:00.000Z

Tiling done

2012-01-05T15:05:00.000Z

We have carpet!

2012-01-04T11:00:00.000Z

Happy new year from our new house.

2011-12-31T19:11:00.000Z

Aunt Kate

2011-12-21T22:48:00.003Z

Uncle Tim

2011-12-21T22:48:00.001Z

Kate cooking our first meal

2011-12-21T18:10:00.001Z

Kates bathroom tiling has begun

2011-12-20T13:40:00.001Z

Lounge floor varnish first coat

2011-12-10T17:49:00.001Z

Kitchen wall plastered

2011-12-10T17:48:00.001Z

Several coats needed at the house, not just of paint.

2011-12-09T13:18:00.001Z

Cooker hole plastered by Tim, tiled by Kate

2011-11-28T20:15:00.001Z

Mum, I've found your next set of wheels

2011-11-22T08:36:00.000Z

Plastered!

2011-11-16T16:23:00.000Z

Small living room radiator

2011-11-15T20:43:00.000Z

Radiator in place

2011-11-15T20:42:00.000Z

Consumer unit in

2011-11-15T20:41:00.000Z

Nice tiles

2011-11-13T17:52:00.000Z

Kate working hard

2011-11-13T13:50:00.000Z

Almost finished floor

2011-11-12T13:37:00.000Z

Part sanded lounge floor

2011-11-11T16:27:00.000Z

Living room plastered

2011-11-10T16:02:00.000Z

Extractor in

2011-11-10T16:01:00.001Z

Plastered lounge wall

2011-11-08T22:13:00.000Z

Tim up a tree

2011-11-06T18:11:00.001Z

Tim up a tree

2011-11-06T18:11:00.000Z

Plastered ceiling

2011-11-03T22:00:00.000Z

Plaster base

2011-11-01T19:36:00.000Z

Finished

2011-10-29T16:05:00.000+01:00

In progress

2011-10-29T14:01:00.000+01:00

Our new radiator

2011-10-25T18:54:00.000+01:00

Happy birthday me

2011-10-15T17:46:00.000+01:00

Kitchen

2011-10-10T21:35:00.002+01:00

Back bedroom

2011-10-10T21:35:00.001+01:00

Digging up the back garden

2011-10-09T21:53:00.001+01:00

Tandem ride through the dales

2011-09-27T18:16:00.001+01:00

http://www.mapmytracks.com/explore/activity/273502

Switzerland, Grindlewald.

2011-09-25T12:07:00.001+01:00

Bingley music live

2011-09-03T20:34:00.000+01:00

Bridlington

2011-08-28T10:56:00.001+01:00

Heather

2011-08-14T13:47:00.002+01:00

Return Tickets to Paris in Aid of Nepal Project

2011-08-05T13:46:00.001+01:00

Felix Morgan has been given two tickets by Jet2 to support his fundraising for Project Nepal which was a project by West Yorkshire Scout Leaders to build a school house in a remote village in Nepal and also to support the World Scout Jamboree where Felix is working as a volunteer.

The two return tickets from Leeds/Bradford to Paris are to be booked by the 19th November 2011 and the flight taken before 19th May 2012. The winner to request the dates by an email to Jet2.

Felix has decided to use the tickets to raise funds by offering the tickets to the highest bidder. He is looking for best offers by 5.30pm on Friday 19th August. Could those who are in need of a 'get out of jail free card' or would simply like a special Christmas gift sorted early, please email offers to felix.morgan@btopenworld.com

If you need any more information please don’t hesitate to contact Felix, especially if you are able to help Felix out with further fundraisng ideas or gifts.

Tom Jones

2011-07-31T21:11:00.000+01:00

Tandem tracks

2011-07-30T12:23:00.000+01:00

Skiddaw and Blencathra

2011-07-03T19:09:00.001+01:00

Honey Moon Pictures

2011-06-13T17:43:00.001+01:00

Burnet Rose

2011-06-12T08:53:00.000+01:00

Dressed

2011-06-02T15:47:00.000+01:00

Lunch time.

2011-06-02T14:20:00.001+01:00

Walls

2011-06-02T12:25:00.001+01:00

Roof on.

2011-06-02T10:38:00.001+01:00

Frames up.

2011-06-02T10:11:00.001+01:00

Floor done.

2011-06-02T09:34:00.001+01:00

Biggest flooring I'll ever help lay.

2011-06-02T09:18:00.001+01:00

So it begins...

2011-06-02T09:04:00.001+01:00

Help me Obe wan kenobi...

2011-05-22T18:59:00.000+01:00

Lakes Backpacking, Wndermere to Keswick

2011-04-25T19:10:00.000+01:00

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T17:49:00.000+01:00

Stag man

2011-04-18T15:48:00.001+01:00

Messing about on the river, kate's 30th

2011-04-10T18:23:00.001+01:00

Langdale

2011-03-19T20:32:00.000Z

Stockholm (ikea)

2011-03-16T19:41:00.001Z

Tyn Lon - Nant Peris - Mist and Sun

2011-03-07T09:03:00.000Z

Glen Coe

2011-02-06T20:30:00.001Z

Vietnam Travel Notes

2011-02-01T13:35:00.002Z

Our journey was:

Arrive Han oi 18th Jan
Staying at Han oi Lake side hotel, very good.

Travel Ha long Bay 21st Jan with OceanTours

Travel to Hue 24th Jan
Staying at Hue Backpacker hostel, nice and friendly

Travel to Hoi An 26th Jan
Staying at the Phuoc An Hotel, clean and close to town.

Travel to Nah trang 28th
Staying at Ruby Hotel, very nice and quite.

Travel to Saigon 1st Feb
Staying at the Saigon Mini Hotel 5, and then 2 nights at Vy Khanh Hostel, very nice and friendly.

All bus travel was with Sinh Cafe (now sinh Tourist), cost about £18 for all journeys, hop on hop off ticket.

Food

Hanoi – places we eat and drank which was good.

Moca Cafe

Garden Hanoi – 36 Hang Manh

La Place – lovely upstairs cafe near a french church.

69 Cafe Restaurant – Kate had cock roach in her vermicelli, (Vermincelli)

Kate really enjoyed the Thang Long water puppet theatre, I didn't. Temple of Literature was good.

Hue
Mandirin Cafe was OK

Hoi An
Mermaid Cafe – Good food

Cafe Des Amis – Good 5 course meal

Hai Cafe has a nice court yard at the back

Plenty of good cafe's with nice views

Nah Trang (If you do scuba diving then us Rainbow divers, very good)

Cyclo Cafe (130 Nguyen Thien Thuat) – Fried fish in butter and lemon was good. Beef in Lot leaves very good (you cook it on a charcoal stove). The cafe is in the corner on the bend of Nguyen Thien Thuat and Tran Quang Khai.

Truc Linh 2 – Shrimp Clay pot very good.

Shorties near the Sinh Cafe office was good for comfort food.

Saigon

Sozo Cafe, 176 Bui Vien – great choc chip cookie, coffee choc and vanilla ice cream milkshakes, helps homeless kids get jobs.
Pho 24 – Chain restaurant, very good, branches in Hoian.
Taj Ma hall – Curry, on a back street near Vy Khanh Hostel.

Hoi An tailors

A lot of hotels or hostels will recommend their own tailors, we found Bamboo Green (38 Tran Phu) very useful, friendly, quick and cheap. My 3 piece suit and 5 shirts cost about £160.

Ha Long Bay - OceanTours Han oi

I wrote this for something else, but its a good description.

Having read so many reports about how bogus firms setup business with the same name as reputable firms we were concerned about if we had booked the real OceanTours trip too Ha Long Bay. Chances are, if you don't get the right one, you will have a good time anyway, they will still offer you a service of some kind and on the rare occasion it maybe substandard.

We believe we booked with the right one, and we can recommend the following trip.

We booked the Mystic Ocean Style 3 Day Ha Long Bay trip. The costs was $?.

The staff in the office were friendly and helpful, there was tea and fruit on offer as you discuss the deal and there was no pressure on us to upgrade. That said, we were on probably one of there most expensive tours so there was little room to do so.

Day of departure

We arrived in the office and awaited our departure, we were given a large bottle of mineral water and warn to always check the prices of the drinks on the trip as they were always slightly more than you would pay in Han oi, and none of them were included (only the free bottle of water at the beginning. Fruit and tea was on offer whilst we waited to depart.

Our trip was during low season and therefore there was only 4 people total on our particular trip. We were also joined by 2 others attending another similar trip which was connected only for the first day. We don't believe at any point the 2 on the other trip were pressured to join our trip to save the company money.

Our guide was called Wyn, he spoke very good english, was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He was an excellent guide throughout our trip and certainly earnt his wage.

We were driven in a comfortable mini coach to the first boat. Journey time was about 3-4 hours and included a short toilet stop. We passed all the large groups of tourists waiting for the cheaper day or 2 day trips at the dock and got straight onboard our first boat. It was a large boat, comfortable with dinning tables for lunch. Lunch was a very tasty range of local dishes, mostly fish based with provision for the vegetarian in the group.

Our first stop was kayaking, we transferred to a smaller boat which was to be our base for the kayaking. There was very little instruction on the use of the boats and paddles. If you have never been in a kayak before or are not confident about water then I would revise your plan. The was very little safety equipment for the kayak trip, only 2 man kayak (which are stable), paddles and life jackets were provided. How the guide would act in an emergency would be a guess but he was competent enough that I'm sure he would have been able to be some use. None of this was an issue for 4 of use as we were used to kayaking, One couple had not done it before but were fine and had a good trip. They had also been given a water proof bag for their camera by the company. The kayaking on this trip is beautiful and well worth doing.

Travelling Finances

2011-02-01T09:10:00.003Z

Supplemental to our kit list, I thought I'd mention banking.

We had no travellers cheques, and just some additional dollars that on leaving the UK (about $100).

We both had our own bank accounts at 2 separate banks and then an account at a 3rd joint account.

Person 1 Bank A Visa Debit and Master Card

Person 2 Bank B Visa Debit and Master Card

Then a joint MasterCard credit card with the Post Office and a Visa Debit with Nationwide.

The only cards we used on a regular basis were the Nationwide card for withdrawing cash and the Post Office Master card for the majority of payments. We would then check our balances online and electronically transfer money in to Post Office and Nationwide. The reason we used these was because of the low charge for international withdraws for Nationwide, and the commission free for Post Office Master cards. You can take cash from the cash machine with the credit card, so long as you have a pin, but there is a charge.

We would keep the Post Office card handy for normal payments and then any cash we had, and the other cards were either left at the accommodation in a safe or kept in our money belts.

This all seems like over kill, but having this redundancy meant that if one of us were to lose our cards there would be a chance that we would still have others back at the hotel.

In addition to all this, I kept a separate credit card well hidden in my rucksack.

Countries travelled and experience had:

America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: No issues, occasionally our card wouldn't work in some ATMs, but there was always another that did around the corner.

China (Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Chengdu and Guilin), the hostel staff would always point you in the direction of a cash machine, not issues here; occasionally we had to use our Credit Card for cash.

Vietnam (Han Hoi, Hue, Nha Trang, Saigon or Hoc Chi Minh City): No issues, Visa Debit was fine.

Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Battanbang and Siem Reap), No issues, although you only seem to be able to withdraw Dollars, local currency is for anything under a dollar. Keep them in good condition as they won't take a dollar with a kink.

Thailand, (Bangkok, Koh Lantra) No issues.

Round the world kit list - finaly got round to writing it up.

2011-01-16T13:29:00.006Z

Universal Adapter

The lifestyle universal travel adapter with support for USB and standard plug interface is extremely useful. No need to bring multiple adapters as this covers all bases.

Pros

Solid design

Can be used in all countries

USB interface very useful for Ipods and mobile phone charging.

Cons

The slightly heavy structure does mean it needs support in some sockets, particularly the french 2 pin style when the pin holes at vertical high on a wall.

Eee PC 901 Solid state 12GB Harddrive

Very compact PC with Wifi and a good 4 hour battery life, 6 if you do nothing, 3 if you have wifi on. Very good for Skype calls, internet access and watching films in the evenings or on long bus journeys. The version I had is extremely limited by the memory storage, I got the flash version to save on problems which it being knocked around and slightly better power usage, but I would have swapped all that for a 160GB harddrive that I didn't have to fanny around swapping files, cleaning it of MS updates. Although carrying a laptop is a risk, everyone has them and your more likely to have free internet access if you take your own rather than relying on hostel computers.

Pros

Light weight and good battery

Very handy tool for the modern RTW traveler

Cons

12GB hard drive version does mean you will need an additional external hard drive, but this can also be an advantage as all you eggs are not in the same basket if you keep them separate (i.e. take the laptop out during the day but leave the hard drive in the hotel room.

The hard drive can be difficult to manage and keep C drive free so not to slow performance.

Travel Pillow

Most hostels and hotels only give you one pillow, so an additional pillow can be very useful for comfort. Depends on you needs but they are very useful on bus journeys. The version we had required inflating, which made it small enough to pack.

Version used: Ajungilak Air Pillow

Dry Sacs

Extremely useful for helping to compress bulky clothes, keep your rucksack in order and if you sac does get soaked in transit everything stays dry. Also, can be used to keep wet stuff from soaking everything else in your bag. Very useful as a shower kit bag as well for storing clothes whilst in the shower rather than having to leave them where they can be stolen.

Version used: Expid mixed range

Dry Sac Rucksack

The heavier versions are stronger than normal rucksacks. There top entry rolling means they are more secure against thieves dipping in or unzipping pockets. The are dry and will remain so if your out and about when that tropical rain storm hits, you laptop and passport remains dry.

Version used: Sealine

Length of para cord

4-5m's or para cord can be very useful for setting up a washing line, spare shoe lances etc.

Mini Carabiners

Small clips such as the Alpkit version are very useful for most things from Securing your para cord washing line, to securing your camera to you bag.

Mesh Bag

Alpkit Medium mesh hold bag is very useful for washing.

Climbing tape

Strong tape, ideal for blisters, cuts, sealing boxes, labeling food etc.

Nokia Express5800 Mobile phone

The phone has a good battery life, is quad ban so good for connecting to world wide networks. Has wifi so can be used for browsing internet, but also by using Nimbuzz, can make Skype calls over wifi. Get it unlocked before travel. Install a PDF reader so that you can read PDF version of Lonely Planet. Also, save google maps via screen grabs so you have a handy map of you location. It has built in GPS but its crap. Better phones are available now such as the iPhone or Androids, but the power usage is very crap. They also will be very nickable. The phone can also be used as MP3 player, but I just used a shuffle.

Piece of wedged wood

Very low tech but useful security device for sash windows and doors.

High Capacity Secure Digital Cards

When used with you laptop, they can be useful additional memory storage for photos. Backup your photos on to a 16GB version and carry in your money belt, then if you laptop or camera go missing you have an additional back up. We also had a Freecom 250GB USB hard drive, which meant we always had a backup of all photos.

Air tight lunch box

We brought ours from Wilkinsons and it was very useful for holding lunches and leftovers. When not in use for food, use it to protect valuable items. Helps keep you healthy and things cheap.

Padlock and Basic Wire Chain

Padlocks are very useful, we had a small code lock and a larger keylock, used both. The wire chain was brought from a bike shop and is a ½ meter length of coated security wire, about 4mm thick, it has 2 loops at either end. We used it when we hired bikes, wanted to attach our bags to stuff. Not used all the time but light weight enough to be handy.

IceBreaker Merino Clothing

We love our merino wool clothing, tops, t-shirts and pants. Other makes are available but we like Icebreaker. I took 2 t-shirts, 1 260 heavy weight long sleeved top and 2 pairs of merino wool boxers (plus about 2 pairs of standard boxers). They don't smell, keep you warm when its cold, cool when its warm. Essential clothing kit.

Spork

Useful for eating supermarket food.

Dental floss and needle

Dental floss is great for flossing, but even better for sewing, very strong for things like rucksacks.

Money belt

Just handy for holding you passport, pretty standard kit these days.

Silk sleep sheets

Some hostels don't let you use them, but I should have used mine all the time in Australia as this is the only place I was got by bed bugs. Australia hostels are (on the most part) dumps compared to all the other countries we traveled in.

Internet in New Zealand and Australia

Its expense to keep using the pay for WIFI hotspots of internet cafes. Buy a 3G modem stick such as the Vodaphone Vodem. In New Zealand you are provided with 250 free MB of data, use this wisely and it will last you 4-5 weeks of email checking and internet. 10Min Skype calls over it (which work fine in most parts of NZ) will use about 3mb of data. NZ cost about $99. You can buy sim only deals in Australia but it is tricky to get the sim working with an NZ dongle, either do a swap with a traveler going in the opposite direction, or just buy a new vodem package, there is more range in Australia.

McDonald’s WIFI

Most McDonald’ss provide free Wifi in NZ and Australia however sometimes they don't and sometimes they don't until after 5pm (such as Queenstown NZ).

Internet in Canada and America

Loads of free wifi, no problems at all.

Internet in China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand

China has loads of free internet but don't rely on facebook, blogspot or hotmail, or even google mail. Most of time they don't work. This was similar but not as extensive in Vietnam. In Cambodia internet was OK in terms of availability. Don't remember having any trouble in Thailand.

Things we took but never used:

Mosquito net, I used it once and nearly died because of the impregnated repellent.

Thick jumpers, just take plenty of layers.

Winter Climbing, Lakes

2011-01-10T08:16:00.001Z

Christmas 2010

2011-01-04T21:46:00.000Z

Ingleborough

2010-12-19T17:18:00.001Z

Winter Climbing

2010-12-05T23:30:00.001Z

Walking Round Hathersage

2010-11-28T21:48:00.000Z

Wild Boar and Pinnacle Ridge

2010-11-21T19:59:00.000Z

Buttermere

2010-11-14T21:29:00.001Z

Wild camping in Coniston

2010-10-03T20:14:00.001+01:00

The weather was wild and wet but fun, Kates second wild camp and toms first.

Michelle and Kierans Wedding - Blues Brothers Style!

2010-09-26T20:56:00.000+01:00

Holidays in Scotland

2010-09-19T21:38:00.003+01:00

Kate and I managed to fit in time for Ben Nevis (5 hours up and down) Ben Macdui and Cairn Gorm, thats the 1st, 2nd and 5th highest UK mountains. We did some montain biking, drinking, eating, relaxing and ice climbing. Not too bad for a week off. Glad I reproofed the tent!

Sea Sick Steve at bingley live

2010-09-05T18:14:00.001+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Lakes Solo Wild Bivi collection

2010-08-31T07:38:00.000+01:00

Morning from the lakes

2010-08-30T07:54:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Breakfast by a stream

2010-08-29T08:46:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

more rain

2010-08-28T14:22:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Good night from 637m on fairfield horse shoe.

2010-08-28T14:20:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Me on a hill

2010-08-23T18:37:00.001+01:00

IMG_3617
Originally uploaded by baildonbat

Thats me in wales

ilkley moor heather

2010-08-22T17:14:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

ilkley moor

2010-08-22T13:15:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Wales, full of cold

2010-08-09T16:33:00.000+01:00

Helvellyn, Kates first time

2010-08-01T20:24:00.002+01:00

We did a one night back pack from Legburthwaite, over whiteside and then on to Helvellyn before going down to the otherside via Grisedale to Gillside farm. A few beers and curry later and then the next day back over to Legburthwaite to go shopping to Ambleside.

Wales Gower - Fun Weekend

2010-07-26T21:04:00.000+01:00

Race night at ponty

2010-07-16T21:13:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Kate and Tim climb Meugher

2010-07-10T17:20:00.000+01:00

Try that if you can

2010-07-03T16:56:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Kate conquers gor dale scar

2010-06-27T19:29:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Ben sleeps on my shoulder.

2010-06-19T22:04:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Walking with uncle phil.

2010-06-19T22:02:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Summer evenings by the river

2010-06-17T20:06:00.000+01:00

Sent from a mobile phone

Nice place for a white wedding

2010-06-13T20:35:00.001+01:00

This was the venue for Rachel and James Mepsted wedding at Dronfield. Very nice setting for a excellent evening. Strong cider!

Newquay

2010-06-03T23:10:00.002+01:00

Not been up to much

2010-05-20T22:30:00.005+01:00

Not been up to much other than DIY but here are some pictures from when we have managed to get out and about.

Cow and Calf Rocks

Litton

Shunner Fell

Kate's birthday at Whitby and Nunnington Hall

2010-04-11T18:44:00.002+01:00

With the weather being so nice, it would have been a crime not to head to the coast. We found a nice campsite just outside Whitby called Broadings Farm. We took the bus to Robin Hoods Bay and then walked back along the Cleveland Way.

A few pints at the Blackhorse and then fish and chips at the Magpie. Sunday was Kate's birthday so we drove to Nunnington Hall, had a look around the house and gardens and then to the Royal Oak for an excellent sunday roast.

Kate's gone to see a band, she's left me at home with a beer, crisps and Early Doors on DVD.

Did you see the houses?

2010-04-05T22:32:00.002+01:00

We've had a nice weekend in wigwams at Seahouses, we were lucky with the rain, in that it didn't rain too much.