First Wwoofing Experience - Australia

Hiking boots, breathable long sleeve top, long trousers, suncream, hat, sunglasses... all packed and ready for my first wwoof experience in Dunolly, in the Goldfields region, a couple of hours north of Melbourne. What the heck is wwoof you ask?

'Willing workers on organic farms'
Hopefully I look like one of those?

It's a cultural exchange programme which enables farmers in rural Australia to have help on the farm, to share skills, to learn how farming and life is done in other countries and for the 'wwoofer' or woofa, in Aussie, to learn new skills about organic farming and building work as well as experiencing the true rural Australian lifestyle and also for some to improve their English. Of course it's relatively cheap labour for the farmer if they get a skilled woofer and the woofer receives free accommodation and food during their stay.

In my case, the hosts were a lovely couple who were very keen to help me learn new skills which I can take back someday to set up an Irish small holding with probably a strawbale home, a chicken coop and veggie garden. Their farm is an organic herb and garlic farm called Bromley Organics. We picked calendula flowers to be dried and sent off to a cosmetic company, we sorted harvested nettle and lemonbalm for weeds, weeded and mulched, did some building work and took an old wardrobe apart! I learnt about organic growing, permaculture systems which promote recycling of resources, environmentally friendly and sustainable systems. I learnt about caring for chickens ('chooks'), growing vegetables, fruit and herbs and about water saving and collecting. The latter might not be required in Ireland.

Generally you work 4-6 hours a day which was on average what I worked. Some days when the weather is close to 40C it's best to start work at 6:30am. At other times my hosts were kind enough to drive me around their friends houses which had been built from cob, mudbrick and strawbale and I was able to ask them questions about how they built and designed these. Evenings were very peaceful in my own caravan with a million stars shining in the pitch black above, any fear of the dark now banished! Often we would swim in the dam after a day of work, or even during work, to cool down! Canoeing in the dam was also fun!


I particularly enjoyed the community small town life and joined in at the weekly community garden one evening, went to watch an SES (State Emergency Service) training session, and saw a small field just after a small bushfire. Oh! And lots of kangaroos. Thankfully I saw no snakes though I did see a large lizard and echidna. On a day off I went to the local museum which had lots of gold mining artefacts and a replica of the Welcome Stranger golden nugget found nearby at Moliagul. This was the heaviest ever recorded golden nugget in the world bug of course was melted down not long after being mined.

At the weekend I went camping with my host and her 3 granddaughters in the Kooyoora State Park. We went for some short walks, spotted kangaroos, cooked some stew and roasted marshmallows and bananas with chocolate over the fire!

My next stop was Bendigo, another Goldrush boom town of the mid 1880s. Bendigo had a very interesting history  and I enjoyed the art galler there and a visit to Australia's deepest gold mine which closed was used mostly in the 1940s-70s. I didn't go to the deepest point but 60m was deep enough for me! I donned the hard hat and head torch and enjoyed hearing stories of what it was like working down there during those times. Thankfully there was an industrial lift so we didn't have to climb all the steps!

Vegan Melbourne

After spending Christmas and New Year with my brother on the Gold Coast of Australia, I have just spent a week in Melbourne. Vegan Melbourne. The Gold Coast was quite good for vegans, with the delicious and purse-friendly Cardamon Pod in Surfers Paradise. Their lunch deal and desserts were especially good whilst enjoying the leafy garden room style decor. Mandala Organic Arts Cafe in Broadbeach was very enjoyable on the weekend evenings, with beer available or a BYOB policy and bands playing in the background. Their pizzas (also available gluten-free) and lasagne were especially good. Unlike in the UK and Ireland, many cafés have soya milk available and even some vegan options labelled.

Melbourne however, being the 'cultural capital' of Australia, with a history of artists, musicians, dancers and poets, has a culture of passing the time in cafés on the many laneways or in the bohemian/hippie/hipster/artists area of Brunswick St in Fitzroy.  You can get there easily and cheaply from the CBD by taking the tram 86 or 96 within the free tram zone to St Vincent's Hospital, alighting here, then take a right at the hospital and then left at the church onto Brunswick Street.

If you are on a tight budget but like me, you love vintage clothing, coffee, books, food, especially vegan then your self control will be exercised! You can easily spend a day on this street trying the food, looking in the shops and enjoying the Gardens at the top, in Fitzroy North.

I visited Vegie Bar which is moderately priced but very popular. The vegan curries are great and change regularly. When I was there it was a Massaman Curry. I did a cooking class at Time for Lime on the Thai island Koh Lanta, which is vegan-friendly and we made Massaman Curry. The one at Vegie Bar came a close second to mine! We had the freshest of ingredients in Thailand and we pounded the curry paste for 30 minutes in a pestle and mortar. Anyway, their cakes looked really good too, though not so cheap.

Opposite Vegie Bar is an interesting bookshop and an entirely Vegan shop called the Cruelty Free Shop. Here you can buy anything from cooking ingredients to ready meals, caramel squares and tiffin etc, vegan alternatives to mars and snickers, soya milk and soya cheese as well as vegan shoes, wallets, bags and purses. Further up the road towards Fitzroy North is Mr Natural Pizza which unfortunately I didn't have time to try. Other vegetarian cafés on this street with plenty of vegan options are Radheys, Madame K's, Smith & Daughters, and a vegan bakery on Smith Street.

Within the city centre, or CBD, there are many non-veg cafés with soya milk and vegan cakes. There is a wholesfoods shop with vegan takeaway meals and cakes on Flinders Street, near Flinders Station. On Elizabeth Street, a 5-10 minute walk from Flinders Station and Federation Square is a vegetarian Indian restaurant called Om Vegetarian. There are two other branches of this company within Melbourne centre. I visited three times. They state on their sandwich board, ideal for backpackers, and it is. For $6.50 you get a vegetarian or vegan thali, consisting of a chickpea or lentil curry, a  potato curry, rice, pickles and a lot of nan bread. The best bit is that if you're still hungry you can ask for more, even if you do feel like Oliver Twist going back to the counter with your plate! I'll note that there are also jugs of tap water sitting out. There is also Gopals and Crossways, very close to eachother on Swanston Street. I ate at both of these cafes, which I believe are both also Hare Krishna run. The food I had was tasty, and definitely hearty and filling. Crossways provided a full meal for less than $8, including dessert, a drink, a main course and seconds if you wanted!

Of course all over Melbourne is Lord of the Fries which is a vegetarian fast food chain, also providing gluten free and vegan. These are often situated on main streets and beside train stations etc and very handy if you're in a rush! They do great milkshakes and beautiful fries with various sauces.

Lastly, a visit to St Kilda Beach rewards you with not just a beach with calm waters just 20 minutes from the city and an original amusements park from 1912 but also Sister of Soul. Here I had what was probably my tastiest meal - a tempeh stirfry with satay sauce, followed by the vegan berry cheesecake. This restaurant is quite new and moderately priced but very popular. Nearby is Crave which sells frozen yoghurt and has vegan options. There was also a gelato shop with vegan ice cream/sorbet.

 Sisters of Soul in St Kilda

There are also countless others all over Melbourne and you can find these on http://www.happycow.net/

Island Life: Krabi region, Lanta, Langkawi

Starting in Ao Nang beach, Krabi, I began ten-days of beach and island time. In Ao Nang I stayed in Glur hostel which was a 25 min walk to the beach. The hostel beds were raised on separate platforms with your own wardrobe and curtain. This was a nice chill out hostel for me, one evening there was torrential rain so I stayed in, watching Aladdin in the common area!

Krabi, although not an island but a starting point for visiting the islands, is quite touristy but a day trip to Railay Beach was just what was needed. Apparently Railay is normally quite crowded but it was relatively quiet when I was there. The water is clear and blue (if the sky is blue) and the sand is soft. The limestone cliffs and islands as a backdrop are quite impressive. You can also climb up one of them to reach a viewpoint of the bay and climb farther, a perilous journey or so it sounds, to reach a lagoon. You have to climb down a vertical cliff to get to the lagoon and then of course climb back up.

I was quite disappointed with myself but also with the weather. It had been raining the two days prior to my visit, meaning that the climbing (scrambling really) route was very wet and slippery. There was a sign of course saying not to attempt it in these conditions. Nevertheless others were going up in flip flops and slipping a bit. I was wearing my hiking boots so I gave it a go. Unfortunately a combination of them being too wide to fit in any footholds and it being very slippery and my fear of not being able to get back down, despite there being a rope which was also slippery, caused me to give up after about 5 metres. I'm sure that had I been with friends such as my hiking guide, Ieuan, I might have managed it and seen the amazing view like the one an Argentinian man showed me on his iPhone after coming down.

Next stop was a ferry to Koh Lanta. Lanta is a very chilled out, relaxing island with not too many bars or high rises, or a McDonald's. A lot of the locals still live where they always have lived and sell whiskey bottles of 'gasoline' outside their houses for 40baht. Sitting with a mai tai and a pad thai and enjoying the sunset in one of the beach huts became an almost daily tradition. Even if it is alone, the peace and time to think was a treat. I was surprised to see so many other solo people lying on the beach and leaving your bag while you swim seems to be safe. I often stayed on the beach or on the beach bar until sunset. The best sunsets I've ever seen, and I couldn't believe how well they came out in the photos.

Another common thing to do in Lanta is a 4 islands boat tour. You head out on a traditional style long tail boat and stop off at Koh Ma and Koh Cheuk for snorkelling. A lot of people don't find the snorkelling that great, however I've never really done it before so even though I couldn't use the breathing tube and decided just to hold my breath, I found it really interesting. There were nemo fish, ones with stripes like zebras, bigger shiny blue ones and little timid silvery ones and sea urchins. No idea what their real names are. After that we went to Koh Mook to swim through the 80m long dark cave to reach a not so secluded lagoon with many other tourists. We then reached Koh Ngai or Koh Hai for lunch. Never before had I seen such clear blue water and white sand. It really did seem like a paradise, although there are only a few places to stay and not that many places to eat, which for me would prevent it from being paradise!

Koh Ngai

Koh Ngai - our longtail boat

Koh Mook - swimming through the 80m long cave to get to the lagoon

Another great thing to do in Thailand is a cooking class. In fact I met people who did a cooking class in every asian country they visited. I did mine at Time for Lime in Koh Lanta. This is a well known restaurant and cooking class on the island. The lady who runs it also runs the cat and dog rescue centre. The cooking class was so much fun. The teacher, Mia, was a jovial, joker who poured out her enthusiasm as we ground spices and chopped with giant knives, and sqaushed or 'kill it' as she would shout. We also got to decorate our creation and present them in coconut bowls and with banana leaves. This class was very vegan friendly with fish sauce kept separate and tofu used instead of chicken. I can't wait to get home with my Time for Lime apron and recipes!

After that I spent just over 3 days in Langkawi, a northern Malaysian island. This island is very different to the Thai islands. For a start, most of the food is Indian or Malay and some Chinese. They are also a lot less pushy than the Thais or the Vietnamese. The people are predominantly Muslim. You can often hear the calls to prayer coming out of speakers on the streets and there is no local beer; mainly just carlsberg.

Langkawi has one of the oldest subtropical rainforests in South East Asia and this area has been recognised by UNESCO. There are three rainforests. The one I visited is named the Kilim Geoforest. I went on a mangrove river boat tour. The mangrove trees are fascinating with their roots growing above land.  We saw monkeys and some people were feeding them bread so that they would swim towards the boat, not great for protecting the natural ecosystem. We also saw eagles, a giant lizard and a lot of bats hanging in a cave.

Kilim Geoforest Park, full of mangrove trees, rivers and wildlife

In my last evening I went on a rainforest evening trek. The trekking was quite easy. The guide Jerome of Dev's Adventure Tours was very enthusiastic, informative and made it very interesting. We saw flying lemurs which only awake in the night, giant red squirrels, and termite mounds (both active and inactive). The active mound had a snake hole not far from it and Jerome told us that the termites and the snake have a symbiotic relationship. He also showed us the snake bite scar he got from a venomous snake! The inactive mound had become so because the queen died. The worker termites apparently seal up any holes in the mound and leave, in respect for their queen and it becomes a sort of shrine to her. The trees had termite tunnels and lines going quite far up. We learnt a lot about the flora of the forest as well.

If you want to spend extr money in Langkawi you can do the sky cab and skybridge where you see the forest canopy and views of the island. Aside from nature, the shopping is duty free, and the beach and beach bars with bamboo mats, candles and shisha are fun. It's not really an island for partying. I met some great people there.

I then moved on by ferry towards the Malaysian mainland but only made it so far as Georgetown on the island of Penang, which has a short bridge or ferry to the mainland.


Georgetown is like another world. Quiet at night, but busy during the day, with tourists taking photos of street art and old colonial buildings.Some areas are very run down. There is a large china town as well as a large 'india town'. I really did feel I was in india there. The Malay people speak Malay but for the most part they speak their own dialect of chinese or indian and tend to stick within their respective community. It felt very strange to be in a place with two distinct races and nationalities living so close. However this gives rise to the streetfood and diversity of the food in Georgetown, which is renowned. I had some really good curry platters and tofu dishes and also found some vegetarian cafes.

Some of the street art

I briefly popped into Fort Cornwallis, the fort built in the late 1700s by Captain Francis Light, the English founder of the city, during the rise of the British Empire. 

Fort Cornwallis, the fort built by Captain Francis Light, the English founder of Georgtown

Some of the old colonial buildings. Some parts of town were very run down.

My particular favourite cafe was the Sushi Kitchen on Gat Lebuh Acheh. This place is a quiet oasis near a busy main street, where tourists pile onto the Clan Jetties. They keep the door closed to maintain the atmosphere, so you just need to push it open. I had a delicious tofu noodle stirfry for lunch, and came back for sushi for dinner! Both were absolutely delicious. The owner Milk, who is also vegan, was so kind and took me to a nearby hawker stall which served a lychee dessert.

Vegan Sushi

Vegan lychee dessert at a hawker stand

The clan jetties occupy a section of the Georgetown port. They are a form of shantytown build by the chinese over the last century. They are still occupied today by various families. There are different names: Tan Jetty, Chew Jetty etc. They also now have electricity and running water though I did see some outdoor toilets, where it was just a hole opening out to the rocks and sea below! They live tax free as they don't live on the land.

One day I took the bus out to the Kek Lok Si temple. Someone called it a sort of disney land for buddhists. I could agree. The colours were vibrant, and almost tacky, with shops selling incense, buddhas, sandals, bags. There was also a vegetarian cafe within the complex. I climbed the steps up to the top of the white temple, pictured below. It was a cloudy, misty day and there was a great view of part of the city, beneath the mist.

Culture of a different kind

It's been a while since I posted, mainly due to laziness and being bogged down (literally) by what I presume was food poisoning. The symptoms began on night one of the two day slow boat journey from Luang Prabang, Laos to Chiang Kong, Thailand. The idea is that you spend 8 hours each day on the slow boat with recycled car seats and one night in a small village half way. I ended up there for two nights and visiting the medecins sans frontiers clinic to check I wasn't dying. Fortunately the check up and medications were free, though I did make a donation. The village is very remote and apparently the hospital there is of very poor quality.

Dosed up on anti-everything medication, I was able to continue the journey to Thailand and spent a couple of days each in Chiang Kong and Chiang Mai...doing not very much at all.

A week into the sickness, when I gave into getting antibiotics, a very kind missionary family from my hometown church took me in for a few days in Chiang Mai to recover. Chiang Mai is a beautiful city, with the old town being walled and surrounded by a moat. There is also a lovely mountain called Doi Suthep where the Royal Family has their summer palace and wonderful views of the national park can be seen.

If you're wondering what caused the food poisoning aside from my own stupidity, well, that would be the cold vegetarian buffet at the night market which had probably been prepared about 4 hours prior. Interestingly there was a perfectly good cafe beside which served a vegan burger but I opted for culture...and ended with cultures of quite a different kind!

Recovered, I headed to Bangkok on a comfortable overnight bus and spent 2 days there. Bangkok is an interesting city, some call the old town the Venice of the East. The river boats which act like buses were very handy to reach the old temples (called Wats) and famous roads. The BTS and MRT 'skytrain' system is a great and cheap way to get around the newer parts, much like the London Underground...but above ground.

And now for some rest and relaxation on a Thai island and a Malaysian island.

Laos: Vientiane & Vang Vieng

Temples, beer lao, sunset over the Mekong river, aerobics class with the locals on the riverfront, all you can eat vegan buffet for £2, night markets, blue lagoon and ...Vang Vieng tubing!

Tubing. I had read so many bad things about people dying and whatnot that I was a bit scared but decided to go along with some people I'd met. I was the only one around wearing a lifejacket.

Apparently between '99 and 2012 there were on average 20 deaths, mostly drownings, drug related accidents and people hitting rocks when jumping in/swinging etc on makeshift ziplines. However since 2012 the police stepped in and cleaned it all up.

The number of bars you pitch up at (by a man throwing you a bottle on a rope, which you are supposed to catch and be pulled in) has been reduced to 4 or so. Of course I miss the rope and end up having to walk from the next bar along to find the crowd again.

Floating down the river in a big rubber ring was very relaxing and the views of the vegetation covered limestone mountains were very beautiful.

I was wondering how people die doing this until the last stretch of river from the last bar which seems never ending and it gradually got darker and darker. A group of English people held onto my tube and we found the finishing point together or one of them. There was a man with a flashlight. Then there was a bit of a walk back in the dark over slippery pebbles.

All topped off with a baguette and relief when all members of the group reunite!

Unfortunately due to the nature of tubing I have no photos.

Day 1 in Laos

'Same same but different' - a favourite saying in SE Asia ... And some interesting meal descriptions on menus...

Same; still Asia, but different to Vietnam. Today in Vientiane was very quiet, slow paced, no more beeping of horns. But tonight the city came alive. I went to a terrace bar to have Beer Lao and watch the sunset over the Mekong river. Suddenly after the sunset a group of locals starting dancing and doing aerobics on the riverfront. Apparently it's 3000kip to join in (about 25p). Unfortunately the beer had taken effect by now but tomorrow I'll be there in my leggings! I spent the rest of the evening at the night market singing in my head, 'I think I better leave right now'...before I buy anything else.

Hoi An, Hanoi, anagrams and surrounding sights

The last 12 days or so have been jam packed. There has been an overnight bus ...

 ... champa temple ruins called My Son (more photos), a historic Chinese/French/Japanese style village, bicycle tour of handicraft village (Hoi An Free Tours), Vietnamese ice coffee, watching a Vietnamese music & dance performance. It has been wonderful to spend some of this time with two Canadians and an English girl.

The My Son ruins were fascinating because they are so ancient and so many traditions and spiritual beliefs are represented. The detail still left on these stones was amazing. Each symbol has a meaning and there are different sections built during different eras. During the 'American War' as they called it, in the 1960-70s, Vietnamese people would hide here. There were giant bomb craters and bullet marks in the walls. Sadly a lot of the pillars and buildings were bombed and left in ruins. Our guide's father was hiding here during the 60s but thankfully survived.

Hoi An was absolutely beautiful with the lanterns at night by the river, the Japanese bridge lit up, and the beautiful old colonial buildings. Unfortunately it seemed to be rainy season and a rain poncho was definitely required!

Hoi An is so beautiful at night. The sights and smells are wonderful. Something I love about Vietnam is that there is incense everywhere. Wedged into the pavement cracks, in cafés, in hostels, on car bumpers, even in trees!

I spent one morning on the Hoi An Free Tour. It was an amazing experience led by our enthusiastic guides Vy and Cuc. It is run by Uni students who want to show tourists around and also improve their own English. They took us to a near by island and we visited communities who were producing straw mats at home, wooden boats, and rice noodles among others. We gave a small donation to each. It was amazing to see how the locals live and work. 

After a short flight to Hanoi, I treated myself to a private room in a hotel  for £10 and enjoyed a bath and free toiletries! Hanoi is a crazy busy city, especially when coming from Hoi An.  Some sights from the roads there:

Entire families on one motorbike, the kids without helmet

Backseat motorbike passenger sitting on wooden chair...or passenger holding boxed TV

Motorbike driver groping female passenger

Women with every inch of their body covered, complete with mouth/nose mask or surgical style mask.

A short retreat was required. Took a visit to Ha Long bay with the two lovely Canadians, with 'Ha Long Party Cruise'. Maybe not so much of a retreat but great fun and much better than being stuck on a junkboat after dark (5pm) with Middle Aged couples or honeymooners! Some new card games & drinking games were learnt but most importantly some beautiful sights were seen and snapped. The food was pretty good too! We stayed the first night on the boat and the second on a private island with hammocks, kayaks and karaoke! Met some more lovely people on the boat from many nationalities.

In Hanoi, we also visited the Ho Chi Minh museum, passed by his mausoleum thought unfortunately it was closed for annual 2 month maintenance. I'm not sure if it is maintenance of him or of the building!

Nearby we went to the Maison Cetrale prison which he french set up to detain 'political prisoners'. Captured US fighter pilots were also kept here. I was surprised at the good conditions in which the US prisoners were kept here; also the forgivingness of the Vietnamese towards the Americans.

Lastly I took a trip to Mai Chau for 2 nights. Initially I had wanted I go to Sapa to trek and see the tiered rice paddies however when I realised the rice was harvested in September and it could be dry foggy   and wet, I decided on another hilltribe village called Mai Chau which lower and further south.

Mai Chau was interesting, beautiful also and very green. I enjoyed the 3 hour walk/hike (there were some hills) through the villages and also the cycle on very old bicycles with no gears. Thankfully that route had less hills.

Unfortunately the guide wasn't very good and had to keep asking locals for directions! Somebody's bike got a flat tyre too. The evening was a highlight - when we watched a performance of traditional music and dance. At the end we all joined in! The dance with the hopping between moving bamboo sticks was particularly hard!

The end of Mai Chau was my lowest time so far. I left the trip a day early as the guide just put a downer on everything and it appeared I would be doing day 3 (a motorbike ride to nature reserve) alone with just the guide. Apparently this was a privilege but I didn't feel comfortable with it.

Unfortunately my iPhone fell through the gaping and flimsy bamboo floor of the upstairs bedroom and smashed onto the concrete below. Thankfully all that was required was a 30 minute / £35 repair at a shop in Hanoi.

The bungalow where my phone smashed through the floor onto the concrete below

Next - onto Vientiane, Laos