Mat and Ren
 Back in Oz! We`ve been here a while now (almost 2 weeks) but got too lazy to update! We`re in Sydney now, catching up with friends while Mat is having interviews for a job here. If he doesn`t get that it`s back to plan A and we`ll be moving to Melbourne. So in the meantime we`re still on holidays :) Beijing was great. China certainly has some amazing old sites- but also a lot of people and smog to go with it! We saw the Forbidden City (where the emperor used to live)... it was very huge but rather sterile- not much garden and a lot of pavement. Unfortunately beating the Olympics crowds also meant we got to see most buildings `under renovation` and under tarps. Just next door we wandered across Tiananmen square which was smaller then I expected and surrounded by busy traffic. I expected mention of the lives lost there from the student protests but there`s just loads of Mao stuff. They still can`t enough of Mao even though he`s been dead for years... Next day we went to the Summer Palace- which is where the emperor had all his garden! Very pretty place and lots of nice temples to wander around. We also went to a few markets and wanted to buy so much! So cheap! But there`s only so much we could carry. We stayed at Tammy`s friend Leonie`s place- but Leonie was away with work! She has a gorgeous apartment though and hooked us up with a good taxi driver who took us on a day trip to the Great Wall. We went a secion all the tour buses don`t go to so it wasn`t too busy. And simply stunning. I still can`t believe I`ve walked on the Great Wall of China- very exciting! :) We finished the day with a quick visit to one of the Ming Tombs- where the emperors are buried. Their graves are like huge parks! After passing more temples and what-not we finally reached the underground tomb and threw some money on. Seemed everyone else had so hopefully it`s a good thing to do. Next stop was Thailand. We spent a couple of days in Bangkok and saw the Royal Palace (a complex of loads of amazing temples) and a monestry next door with the most gorgeous reclining gold budda I`ve ever seen. When we went to go in a local guy came up and told us it was closed till 1pm for the Queen`s birthday (which was 2 days away). He tried to send us off on a Tuk-Tuk (which just `randomly` turned up) and seemed annoyed when we checked for ourselves and found it very much open. haha We then flew down to the Thai coast and stayed at Ao Nang beach in Krabi. It was the rainy season so not many people which was lovely... and we were lucky with not much rain. We went on a longtail boat tour of some surrounding islands and had great weather. The water was so warm and great for swimming too. Last day was stormy but the beach was still gorgeous with the wild waves. We ate SO much yummy food- Thai food for breakfast, lunch and dinner!! Today we got the fantastic news that we have become first time Aunty and Uncle`s to my sister Tarsha and her husband Richard`s daughter, Claire Isabelle! So very happy!! :)
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Diary Photos
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