Shepherd's Outback Adventure

January 15th

Looks like I have a lot of updating to do:) On January 7th, we were still in Fremantle, Australia. That day we took the kids and my parents to Cottesloe Beach which is located in Perth, about 15 miles north of Fremantle. The kids and adults had a great time body surfing the big waves. Late that evening we did a torch prison tour. Australia initially was known as a prison colony. They would bring prisoners over from England and place them in Australia. Therefore, there are many prisons here dating back the 1800's. We visited the Fremantle Prison, which was actually built by the prisoners themselves. We chose to do the torch light tour because it included many ghost stories about the prisoners that used to inhabit the cells. Needless to say we did have a few screams, especially by nana.

On January 8th we met with an employee of the University of Notre Dame in Australia, and she gave us a tour of the University and of Port Lodge, which is where Chris and I both lived as students and where we met. Not a lot has changed, except the University has grown in size, from being a few hundred to now 5,000 students at the Fremantle campus. They now occupy many buildings in the historic west end of Fremantle. It was a lot of fun showing the kids and parents are old bedrooms and they even got to see a few of our friends (extra large cockroaches) that would frequent our lodge. I forgot how small the rooms were, but I guess in college that is a lot less important. After the tour, we took the kids to a didgeridoo store, where they learned how to play this unique Australian instrument. We then headed over to Perth and had an Aussie barbi (barbecue) with our friends Ben, Virginia and their son Henry. Ben and Chris used to tend bar and play basketball together 20 some years ago in Perth. It was a lot of fun catching up with them! Ben was also in our wedding party.

On January 9th we sadly said goodbye to my parents. We had so much fun with them the past three weeks and they were a big help with the girls! We then hopped on an airplane and traveled all day, making our way to Bangkok and then Chang Mai, Thailand. We arrived late in the evening and had a quick dinner and then headed to bed.

On January 10th we awoke to our beautiful place in Chang Mai. We were met by two of our Thai friends, Kai and Nooy. Kai works for Chris and provides the students with tours of the area. They were both so kind and helpful during our stay here. Kai practices meditation and claims that he is never angry! After being with him for several days, I believe it. He always had a smile on his face and lots of magic tricks to entertain the girls with. He and Nooy took us to several local temples and explained the buddhist way of life to us. It was very interesting. The Thai people make daily sacrifices to the monks. They live a very simply in this life and make many sacrifices, in hopes that they will be blessed in their next life. Some westerners find this frustrating as they think rather than donating to build massive and elaborate temples they could put their money towards social changes that could benefit the Thai people. The girls made sacrifices with live eel, frogs and fish to the river, before entering the the temple. That was quite entertaining to watch:) Most Thai men are monks at some point in their lives. You only need to be a monk for 3 months, but you can continue for a lifetime if you choose. You cannot be a monk until the age of 20, but many poor families put their boys in "monk apprentice school" so that they are provided with housing and food. The monks walk the streets early in the morning and people line the streets to make their offerings. They also bring offerings throughout the day which include food and if they are asking for healing, they may offer medical supplies. The monks are not allowed to buy anything but they are usually well taken care of with all the offerings. Monks in small villages have a more difficult time acquiring food etc.... All monks in all temples gather to do their evening chanting at 6pm. Even though we could not understand the chanting, it was very interesting to watch. Later that evening we went to a traditional Thai restaurant and the girls were able to partake in traditional Thai dancing. This was a fun evening with Kai and Nooy!

On January 11th we were picked up by Nooy and met with some other friends of ours, Lauren, Neil and their son Spencer. Lauren works for Chris' program and moved from Australia to Thailand to help run the Thai program. They have lived here for close to 3 years and seem to be enjoying it. We visited their house before departing on our day trip. They pointed out the Burmese refuge camp that was constructed behind their house. There is no running water or electricity, but Lauren and Neil remarked that late in the afternoon after the parents return form work (allowed to work, but kids can't go to school) they can hear the families laughing and having fun despite their difficult lives which provides them a nice reminder to appreciate what they have and get along better.

We all went to visit another temple located in the hills and they headed to Sticky Falls. The falls are very unique because they are limestone rock, which does not get slippery when wet. This allows people to climb the falls. The kids really enjoyed this, therefore we climbed them several times:) That evening we went to the "Sunday Walking Street" (big market on Sunday) and then had pizza with Lauren, Neil and a few of there friends, which oddly enough were from Chicago and California.

On January 12th we headed to Baanchang elephant reserve (the name means "elephant home" in Thai). What a wonderful experience. They house 47 rescued elephants. We were able to feed the elephants bananas and sugar cane. The girls and Chris even received kisses from one elephant, I chose to opt out of this and just take photos. We were able to train elephants and learned the commands for lay down, stop, turn and go. We then rode the elephants for approximately one hour. We ended the ride at a pond, where we were given the opportunity to bathe the elephants. After watching several of the elephants do bodily functions in the water, I was hesitant to have the girls do this, but I had to let go of my western cleanliness and watched them bathe their elephants. The elephants had just as much fun as the girls and enjoyed spraying all of them with water from their trunks. It was quite entertaining to watch! I think this was definitely a highlight of our trip for all of us. That evening we met Kai and Nooy for dinner and said our goodbyes to them.

January 13th, our last day in Chang Mai. We decided to have a day of hanging out and relaxation after several busy days. The girls and I had 1 hour massages for 150 Thb. This is equivalent to 5 dollars US. I enjoyed it so much, that two hours later, I went back for another 1 hour massage. After the massages we headed to a local elephant art store and painted individual elephants. That evening we had pizza again, (the girls were having a hard time getting used to the Thai food).

January 14th, back to the airport for a quick flight to our next destination, Koh Lanta, Thailand. The girls and I let Chris plan the whole trip, so we are always surprised when we head to our next destination and never know what to expect. After flying for two hours, driving for one hour and a one hour boat ride, we arrived at our new home for the next 6 days, Pimalai Resort. This place is a little piece of heaven What a great way to end our 5 weeks of travel before heading back to Sydney. This place is on the beach, with a few pools, so I think we will just relax and enjoy. Chris is trying to book day trips for us, but I think the girls and I have convinced him to just have a few chill beach days:) I will say, this resort is on the beach, but also in the jungle. During the day it is very quiet and tranquil, but last night was a bit different. We quickly discovered the jungle night life and also learned to lock our doors! As we headed to dinner, we were met by several monkeys that were on our roof and enjoying our pool deck. It is a little eerie being this close to them. We were also met by a swarm of cicadas, and at one point I heard Chris yell, after he was being stalked by a giant lizard.

January 15th, we woke this morning to discover some of our items in the trees. It turns out the monkeys had some fun. Luckily the staff was able to retrieve our items, but we will be locking our doors to keep these little guys out! The girls think its hysterical, I might be a little more freaked out at the thought of monkeys going through my stuff:) Today we are having a pool and beach day.

That is all for now. Enjoy the pics! Hope all is well back in the states. Miss you all!

Our view from our hotel in Fremantle. That is a large ocean freighter passing in the horizon.

Kids riding waves at Cottesloe beach in Perth, Australia.

Fremantle Prison

Unique way to prevent prisoners from escaping, they put broken glass at the top of the walls.

Gaol, where a few prisoners met their fate. One woman, named Martha, was hanged here. She was thought to poison her 3 step-children to death. She claimed she was trying to heal their sore throats. Some still believe she was innocent.

School that Chris and I studied at in Fremantle.

Port Lodge where Chris and I lived 20 some years ago:)

My small room in Port Lodge.

Girls learning to play didgeredoo.

Aussie barbi with our friends the Prescotts'.

Saying goodbye to nana and papa at Perth Airport and headed to Thailand.

Kai and Nooy introducing us to the Thai marketplace.

Girls riding rickshaws.

Sacrifices made to the temple. Yum! eat up.

Girls learning the ritual of bowing three time when entering a temple. Everyone also must remove their shoes.

People bringing offerings to the monk and recieving blessings from him.

Someone waiting to give the monks a medicinal offering in order to be blessed with health.

Kai teaching the girls meditation. Lots of candles at the temples - thought is lighting the candle "burns away" bad things or used to eliminate stress.

Monks gathering to chant at 6 pm.

Sadly there are lots of homeless dogs everywhere, but many end up at the temples as monks often have extra food.

Traditional Thai dinner.

Girls learning traditional Thai dance.

Temple we saw in the hills. It is very large but only occupied by 3 monks. It is also a relatively new temple (less than 12 years old) and mostly built by donations from the wealthy from Bangkok. This photo is one particular offering hall that was a donation from several families. There would be 30+ of these in just this one temple compound and many more were under construction.