So that was it, our month in New Zealand was complete. Happy memories made and adventures had. Before we left for New Zealand Dad kept saying that it for them it was a ‘Once in a lifetime trip’…however I have the feeling that they will be back! Now it was back to Sydney. I was staying for three weeks and Mum and Dad only had one more week before flying home to the UK. We spent their last week catching up with friends, visiting our favorite restaurants and soaking up the sunshine on Manly beach. It was a fun week and although I was sad to see them go I was looking forward to spending time catching up with friends and enjoying the last rays of Sydney’s summer weather.

It was an exceptionally social three weeks that flew by in a blur of lunches, dinners, drinks, beach time, ocean and pool swims, ferry journeys and yoga. I also got to spend more time with my gorgeous godson, taking him to the movies, rock climbing and playing golf. It was a very happy time spent in a beautiful city and I am blessed with some very dear, generous and hospitable friends.

Manly Beach, Sydney.

The view from North Head, Sydney.

Sydney Harbour from North Head.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge from the Manly Ferry.

Sydney Opera House from the Manly Ferry

My original itinerary had me leaving Sydney for Perth in Western Australia where I had planned to see friends and do a road trip either north to Ningaloo Reef or south to the Margaret River for three weeks. Over the last couple of weeks however I’d had a niggling feeling that maybe I should change my plans, reduce my time in Australia and travel somewhere else.

Back in 2004 I’d spent two and a half months in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand but I didn’t make it to Cambodia due to time constraints. At the time, I rationalized this by saying that I could visit another time. So what better time than now? I checked Air Asia flights from KL, the hub city for my travels, and found an outbound flight for £20 to Siem Reap and a return from Phnon Penh for £30. I checked visa status which could be purchased on arrival, spoke to my ‘travel people’ about the cost of changing flights (relatively negligible), researched an initial itinerary and daily living expenses and that was it, decision made.

So that’s where I’m writing this blog post from now, sitting in the garden of my hostel in the riverside town of Battambang in north-west Cambodia after three days in Seim Reap visiting the beautiful temples of Angkor. For more on that stay tuned.

The view from my hostel the curiously named ‘Here Be Dragons’ in Battambang.

Street 2.5 in Battambang, NW Cambodia