Winston Churchill and the BRAVE Project

hi
just in case anyone is still looking in we are back safe , still in a fog of jet lag and bangkok tummy, it was -1 as we touched down in london and as we walked back home from our local airport it was a sunny day blue sky crisp and cold with frost on the ground....lovely, i so needed this cold after the heat / humidity of thailand, wel what a trip so many memories, so many pictures..over  a 1000, gonna aim to put them on the blog then people can browse them at their leisure, so much research to write up
i am loving being with my daughters jodie and jess again...its precious time before they fly the nest, and to have luke come round, to bring some of our family together again
pete and i are both trying to get back in the swing of routine for work, phone calls to catch up with people, and mail to sort through
i will keep this blog updated from time to time on how the research is progressing and how the travelling domineys are
lots of love to all
sue and pete
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hi all our avid readers

its nealry 4.pm  our flight leaves at 11.50pm, cant wait now, we have booked the  hotel room till 6pm, just as well, pete took ill lastnight, his queezyness turned to the runs feeling sick and a high temperature, he's been flaked out, drinking lots of water, so far i am still feeling ok, hope i sont get it, just been chillin out in the room, its cool and comfy, the street is hot, humid, noisy, smelly, crazy and i've had enough of it and ready for home

wanted to ask a favour of all of you...friends old and new, please be patient with us when we get back about getting in contact with you, my priorities, of course, are to catch up with jodie and jess, close family etc, we both have things to arrange for work, im actually going in to Leeds Met on friday, but we will probably be having a chill out weekend, saturday date in cellar v for breakfast if you are up for it candy and pete, i have to organise all my notes for the research, got a hell of a lot of typing to do but i intend to pace myself with that..and the report writing, but i have newsy and personal emails to send in good time, and it may be awhile before we get around everyone and settle back into our home, our lives, our work etc

we intend to sort out (edit) all our 1000+ pics and put them on the blog, and i will probaly keep blogging now and again as i think its a good way to keep in touch with people far and wide, so send pete healing vibes please, i am being a good nursie, gonna go for a bit of a wander till the heat drives me back to the hotel room

lots of love to all, thankyou for sharing our amazing journey with us, thanks to winston churchill, all the many people we have met on our travels and all you have shared with us, and wishing good health, joy and peace to all

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hi all

its our last night here and after long journey boatride and bus -through another monsoon rain storm thunder and lightening and floods we arrived in bangkok, got in  a taxi after the driver showed us a leaflet for what looked like a good hotel, so now we seem to be miles from anywhere and its all so foreign, we feel a bit queezy from the journey but im sure will settle down when we have found some nice food

gotta go petes here

byeee

sue

im in an airconditioned internet place but wet through with sweat from the walk here

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the men went cycling /adventuring all day whilst i chilled out, read my book, walked around slowly in the heat, watched boats arriving and the melee at the pier, then when the men came back we had a dip in the sea and then all had a massage (laid in a row) on the beach as the sunset, i had manicure, pedicure and nail polish all for 400 baht about 4 pounds, mozzys are out in force, even though pete slept naked they still chomped on me, but its still a kind of paradise,

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at least i think thats the name, i have had 2 strong beers and feel rather drunk, it is sooooooooooooooooooo hot, sticky sweaty and the mozzys are evil. i am sleeping with all my clothes on and told pete he has to sleep naked so the mozzys get him

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we are marooned, the streets flooded,  we have had a cracker of a thunderstorm and torrential rain, jago is due to arrive anytime

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its been a day of travelling, bus to cairns then flight to brisbane, we are staying in a nice BP's and have been to the pics to see a great film 'you me and everyone we know' or something like that, its still hot but not as humid, tomorrow we fly to sydney then thailand, i think silas is going to meet us at the airport and maybe book a room for us, who knows?!

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phew. we are wiped out but struggled out in the night heat to email, we have been snorkelling at 3 different sites on the outer reef, it takes an hour and a half to get there in a fairly high powered boat, it truly is amazing, we have seen probably hundreds of different fish, a great big maori wrass came up to the boat platform as we were getting out, i know they are not harmful so it didnt freak me i just marvelled at the size, when we were having lunch a hammer head shark swam round the boat, the crew didnt freak they jumped in to try and get a look at it, now that would have freaked me if i was in the water

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hi folks

i know pete is bloggin as i type so you will get 2 versions of what we have been up to, please excuse my typing errors, i laugh when i read some of my blogs back

well the night in the rainforest hideaway was kinda freaky...in the middle of the night something was very loudlt trying to gnaw its way in!!!, breakfast in the morning was cool...exotic rainforest fruit and cereals...chocolate pudding fruit i kid you not... we chatted with rob our host over breakfast and learned he built the house and all the furniture over 12yrs, we took lots of pics!!!

we drove to thornton beach and had iced coffee..our favourite, then cooled off in a safe river swimming hole (no crocs!!!) then went horseriding, i had a horse with attitude called topaz pete was on a cowboy horse lovely flecked colours..comanche!!!. i was given the opportunity..which i took, to have a blast with the 2 women guide riders and a confident swiss rider... i was at the back and was told topaz knew what to do and was a lovely smooth ride... 1. 2. 3... we were off, i just hung on tight as we galloped through the forest ona little dust track i had to squint through the dust cluds thrown up by the others and duck branches, it was very exhilerating and i managed to stay on and thak god topaz did know what to do

at the end of a 2hr ride  (photo call on cape tribulation beach..i know elaine will be jealous..you were with me in spirit!!) we pluged into a cooling swimming hole, we smelled to high heaven when we got back, and drove down to mossman where the only place we could find to stay was an old pub/hotel, the town closed around 7.30 lucky to get some fish and chips for dinner

this morn we had a walk in the rainforest with aborigine guide eddie and 2 brash aussies who kept saying wow and making lots of loud commenets, spoiled the ambience a bit but it was an interesting experience, we then walked the mossman gorge circuit and cooled off in the river, its an important part of the day to find places to cool off in, so weve dropped the car off now and booked in at clean airy parrotfish BP's purple room with a blue ocean on the floor, just watched Shaolin sail in to the bay as the sunset, tomoz off out all day to the outer reef, its still paradise and we know how lucky we are

linda...i am taking vit b...its disgusting!!!!!!!!

lots of love and sunshine to all

sue

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Time for another blog from me (Pete). For those of you waiting with baited breath to see if I have managed to surf standing up.....forget it, I gave that idea up in Byron Bay, and since moving north I daren't go in the sea let alone try to surf. Having said that we've snorkelled on the inner Great Barrier Reef and had the amazing experience of swimming with sea turtles, what beautiful graceful creatures, and they don't want to sting or eat me. Tomorrow we spend a full day at the outer Reef, and are expecting wonders.

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higher and higher and hotter and more tropical

hired a car todat drove through mossman to daintree, from the village of daintree went on a river cruise and saw one crocodile and lots of lovely scenery and birds..an azure kingfisher, then drove through the rainforest, watchin out for cassowarys crossing the road, checked in at the rainforest hideaway.... my we are in the rainforest, its kinda of darker and denser and noisier with animal and insect and bird life than civilisation is

 just had a meal at the dragonfly cafe down the unmade road it is very tropical and there are lots of dragonflys!!!!

tomoz we are going horseriding in the afternoon and hope to get to cow bay and thornton beach in the morning

so think of us deep in the rainforest...i am a bit nervous!!!!!!!!!

byeee

sue n pete (hansel and gretal)

hi dudes

we have had a magic day, sailed out to the reef (low isles) on an old chinese junk - Shaolin, there was only 8 of us and 2 crew, sunny day, we sat out on the front of the boat to keep cool and kept getting splashed

they gave us sexy lycra 'stinger' suits to waer to protect us from...yes the stingers..those deadly box jelly fish, and the sun, we snorkelled for a couple of hours, saw fish of all shapes size and colours and swam with the graceful huge turtles...grab shell dude!!!

lunch on the boat and then sailed back to the port as the sun set...perfect day!!!

last night as we walked home we got caught in a tropical downpour, water bouncing down, we were soaked, what a laugh

tomoz we will get a car and have 2 days adventuring further north

having been on a boat all day i feel like i am moving up and down as i sit and type, weird!!!

gotta go get some grub-

catch you later

love sue and pete

hi all we are further up north coast now (and nearer the sun) we arrived by boat into a lovely marina--palm trees etc, staying at dougies backpackers it has a swimming pool and air conditioning in our room thankfully, we have wandered around today, found our bearings, booked a reef trip for tomorrow and plan to get a car to go to the daintree (rain forest and beautiful we are told) forgot to mention yesterday that we visited the old pioneers cemetary in cairns, so many of those people who built and fought for australia died young, lots of children died too, i wa smoved by a 23yr old from Kilkenny Ireland who died when a tunnel collapsed on him when he was working on the railways, so far from home..how sad

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hello from tropical cairns, im melting a little here

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pheww we are here at last, in cairns, its hot and tropical but there is a forgving breeze

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