An easy transfer to the airport and we were on our way BKK-TPE-YVR-YYC… well not really because our flight was delayed. We had lounge access and they had Magnum Ice Cream bars so we were set. When we went to board the plane, Paul’s boarding pass wouldn’t scan and he was taken aside which was concerning. Apparently they saw something in our luggage and wanted it checked so they could sign off. He had to go outside and down by the cargo area, open the luggage and they had a look but there wasn’t anything odd so it was a non-issue. At this point, we were happy our upgrade was successful as the flight was packed. We settled in, ordered our food and drink and enjoyed the flight. When we reached Taipei we headed to the nearest lounge. Thinking we had loads of time and finding Haagen Dazs ice cream I decided another treat was in order. Bad idea, because our delayed start had shortened our time and we had to head out to the next gate quickly… yes, I tried to finish my ice cream and brain freeze occurred. It worked out since we got there just as they started boarding for our flight. No luggage issues this time, the flight to YVR was quickly boarded, received our jammies and amenities kits, ordered food and beverages and settled in. The flight was also busy and some people sounded like they had the lurgy but we were fine. The flight was smooth and we made it on time to YVR.

Our flight to BKK from KL left quite early, so we had to be up at 4 am which is never pleasant. We had checked in online but the KL airport was a bit of a nuthouse. The Air Asia self check-in machines weren’t very user friendly, people weren’t getting their luggage tags and there were larger groups all trying to check-in… staff did their best and in the end we got through. We even had time for coffee! We went and hung out at the gate where the weirdest thing happened. A larger Chinese tour group showed up and started taking pictures with me… no idea if it was because I smiled at one lady, looked funny or they thought I was someone else. This went on for about 15 minutes of people sitting with me, putting arms around me and holding my hand and we still have no idea why. Paul was about to help me out and put a stop to it when we started boarding.

When making our travel plans in 2023 we had about 6 weeks between dropping off Skippy in Perth and heading back to Canada. We had found the best value for flights was with Air Asia PER-KUL so had booked the flights to depart near the end of March. During our travels in Australia and New Zealand we discussed if we wanted to spend time traveling around Malaysia or would we prefer to settle somewhere for a bit. Not surprisingly, settling somewhere won since we had been on the go for 6 months. Our friends, Ness and Ian, have a condo in Hua Hin, Thailand and had offered to let us stay previously but the timing never quite worked. We had often discussed checking out the area to see what it was like, we’d never been before and had heard good things. We got in touch and the dates worked, they wouldn’t be using the condo and we were welcome to stay. We could do a quick KL dentist visit, easily get flights to Bangkok and from there it was a short 3 hour taxi to Hua Hin. This would give us just under a month in Thailand before leaving for our flights to Canada. While we were traveling our retirement extensions for Thailand had lapsed but we could enter visa exempt(30 days). So we had a plan.

The flight from Christchurch was packed but we arrived on time and moved in the chaos that was Melbourne Airport. The lines to get through customs were really long and it was hard to determine which one to be in, so we ended up having to ask but we made it through. There was also a sign saying they were filming for a Border Patrol episode if we would have gone through another section. Getting an Uber was a bit crazy, we hadn’t gotten sims yet so Paul needed to be in an area to use the wifi, then we needed to ask which stop at the ride share desk. As usual he handled it and we made it over to Let’s Go Motorhomes on time. We were dealing with Carol again, which was great since she is so nice. We got an even nicer surprise when we were given a brand new Escape van with only 24 kms! Wow, it even had the new car smell. We loaded in our luggage and followed Carol over to the local Woolies for groceries, wine of course, and a sim card. It was then we realized the air conditioner in the cab wasn’t working so after our errands and lunch, we headed back to Let’s Go. This time we were dealing with Carol’s daughter, also super nice. We waited while they took the van over to the mechanic but it turns out they needed to charge the AC which would take a long time. Instead of keeping us waiting, they brought out another new van… this one was only 600km. We transferred everything over and we were on our way.

We got on the ferry as planned. It was a bit later in the day than last time and being just after New Year it was really, really busy. When we got on board we went up top quickly but it was quite windy so we headed down to find some seats. Smart decision as they pretty quickly closed the top deck and everyone was scrambling for spots. We managed to get some decent seats where we could see a bit and they were even comfortable. Since it was just after the holidays, there was loads and families and so many kids. There was a clown making balloon shapes and a scavenger hunt to keep them busy but it had mixed results. We used the time to make a couple of plans and read. We had a minor scare when the older van in front of us ended up putting up their hood when everyone was disembarking but whatever they did worked so no delays.

We had an early morning drop off for SPD in Hobart, TAS. Sarah was great to deal with again. Weirdly, we struggled to get an Uber. The first one showed up and drove away because we had “luggage”, 2 small packs and a duffle bag, even though we indicated we had luggage when we booked. Apparently people going to an airport shouldn’t have luggage! We made it in the end and had time to head outside for some fresh air and coffee. While enjoying the coffee, we met a really nice couple who were returning home to NZ after visiting their son in Tasmania. They gave us lots of suggestions for stops in New Zealand. We also met another couple when returning the van, who happened to be on the same flight, also returning home to New Zealand. He sat in our row for a bit and gave us some ideas for the North Island and their contact info. We had given ourselves almost a month for the North Island this time, last time was 10 days and we didn’t feel it was enough. The flight was really good and we made it on time.

We had a good Melbourne airport experience, we flew with Virgin Australia who have their own terminal. Check in went smoothly and we were back by the gate quickly. The flight to Hobart was great, smooth and short. We picked up our duffle bag from the luggage carousel and headed off to pick up the van. The dealer for Let’s Go Motorhomes in Hobart is Tassie Motor Shacks who we had dealt with last time in 2017. Pick up was great, Sarah was awesome and the van was spotless… even better our van only had around 30,000 km so much newer and had good cushions to sleep on. We headed off to get lunch and some groceries before we settled down at the Big 4 Tourist Park by the airport to unpack and get organized. This van is Skippy PD… or Skippy Part Deux. It was an easy set up since it had the same layout as SOG(Skippy Original) but had a larger fridge and everything worked perfectly.

Departure day arrived and we were ready… well we thought we were. Jen drove us to the airport and off we went. The original flight from CNX-SIN was okay, we were surprised when we were given a meal and we had a great chat with the lady in our row who was heading back to sail around Australia. The landing in Singapore’s Changi airport was a bit sketch, it was raining and you could feel the plane when it skidded a bit, but made it to the terminal. We didn’t need to grab the duffle as it was checked through so just went and checked into the aiport hotel. We were both fairly tired, but decided a walk through the terminal was the cure and allowed us to grab a quick dinner.

Part of being in Chiang Mai was having time to decide what was next. We had extended our lease until September but then what? We decided that we wanted to travel again, great but where? Spoilt for choice we started watching travel vlogs, reading blogs and came to the conclusion that spending some time in a van was a good idea. Considering we had just sold ours this makes total sense… right? Not entirely sure on the thought process that occurred with this decision but once it took hold, we ran with it! Okay, drove with it ;-) Where do you do that? G’day Mate… Australia of course!!! We had already been lucky enough to experience the East Coast portion back in 2017 1,2, with a short 10 days in Tasmania, but we had always said we’d love to go back and the timing seemed right so we started the process.