[travel] Upcoming trip to Australia!!!

I've been holding onto this VERY EXCITING news (who know how!?) and keeping as quiet as I could since last December now, fearing the worst... that somehow, something might go wrong and my biggest dream for the year might not come true.

BUT now? Well, I'm soooo happy to say that it's come true! Nek actually got his visa granted, so we've booked the flights and we will be off to AUSTRALIA!!!!



I can't begin to tell you all, or even try to put into words how STOKED I am about this trip. For one, I'm dying to see my family again (as most of my friends and clients know) all of my close family and I made trips here and there within just a few months of each other, meaning we all saw each other around the same time and haven't since. So it worked out that it's been nearly two years since we all saw each other in person (I mean, I'm sure my brother will look completely different than when I last saw him - I'm talking different coloured hair and new piercings/tattoos, people!) and all I can say is... I love the internet. Thank god for Viber. and Skype. And Whats App. Oh, and snapchat, which is apparently the only social media/application cool enough for my brother to use, so I have the app to communicate solely with him! haha ;)

For another, well, I get to show Nek around the AU-land! I just know he's going to LOVE it!! When we first met, Australia was the country he most wanted to go to, and we are finally getting the chance to go together! I'm sure there will be surfing. And shark catching (by mistake, as my dad did yesterday morning). And Great Ocean Road.. road trips.

Back to the awesome dealeo/announcement thing we've got going on...

I just wanted to say, if you or any one you know and love would be interested in having Cherry May Ward photograph you while we are there... please feel free to get in touch. You can email me at hello@cherrymayward.com, I can't wait to hear what you have in mind!! :)

We will be spreading our time between 3 cities, because I have family ALL over the place haha ;)

**EDITED:

First up is Gold Coast (for one night) the we are off to Cairns. We will arrive 15th October 2014 for one night& day in the beautiful Gold Coast, then we will fly to Cairns the next day on the 16th October and stay approximately 2.5 weeks then head to Sydney for 1.5 weeks, then Melbourne for, you guessed it, two weeks! Then we fly back to Thailand just in time for the busy season here in December.

AUSTRALIA TRAVEL ITINERARY 2014:

Gold Coast, Queensland
15th October 2014 - 16th October 2014 (A full day & a half!) 

Cairns, Queensland

16th October - (approximately) 30th October

Sydney, New South Whales

(approximately) 30th October - 14th November

Melbourne, Victoria

(approximately) 14th November - 29th November

I am hoping to get lots of family and friends time in of course, but would also like to devote some time to photography while there, as I'd LOVE to get to go back more often, and there's nothing I love more that travelling and working at the same time...  :D

The dates above are approximate at the moment (although they won't be much different, just depends on the cheapest domestic flights at the end of the day), the two certain dates are the arrival and departure dates (and that's how we like to travel haha, not too much planning!) .

I really am open to anything, I'm a couples & wedding photographer, so I LOVE photographing love... think engagement photography, proposing, elopements, a lifestyle shoot with a couple who loves to SURF, any kind of styled/conceptual shoot with a model or couple, I'd love to hear from you!

Ohhh and it's my dream to shoot a couple on top of the cliffs down south along the Great Ocean Road, I just want to put the idea out there, because I know it's do-able, and would be so amazingly beautiful!!!

Also, if you are a photographer... I'd love to meet up! I love meeting new photographers and making friends!!!

A very HAPPY WEDNESDAY, from an oh-so-excited Cherry!

xoxox

..............................

[travel] Penang, Malaysia

This is one post that's been a long time coming!! 

I thought I'd start writing about my travels, since it's something Nek and I both love so much and dream about often... we love to travel not just to see someplace new or go on a break from everyday life, but to experience different cultures and ways of life. I mean when I think about all the different countries, cultures, beliefs, traditions and upbringings people all over the world have, had it gets me all excited! And I want to learn about as many of them as possible! It's my dream to find something I can hold onto from those people be it a part of their culture/ tradition that I love, or just a wonderful memory of that place, or an amazing experience we had there. I believe that travel truly can make you richer, in life.  And every time I travel, I hope to learn something that can make me a better person!  :)

ANYWAY, back to telling you about Penang... Nek and I have been to there together twice now and I have to say I really like it. It's a Malaysian island (and State) and that time we stayed in Georgetown, the spot with the most little hostels... We've actually been to Penang together twice now, but I actually go quite often, and will be heading back there again this September for my visa... so if you're a past client and are in Penang and want to meet up, send me an email!! I love catching up with you all!

Our trip started from Samui, as you may be able to guess, haha! We booked the trip to Penang from one of the many tour/travel organisers on the island, which means we got to take the ferry across to Surat Thani...

And drive nearly 11 hours on a minibus, down all the way past the border of Malaysia, over the  bridge connecting the Penang island, to the mainland and into Georgetown. We had some nice views driving through the last bit of Malaysia watching a storm come in while the sun set as well! :) 

When we got to Georgetown, we found this nice old hostel that I had stayed in on my previous trip there alone, got some delicious INDIAN food for dinner and chilled out for the night.

The next morning we explored... I love the rustic feel in Georgetown. 

We always love to go to this breakfast market and get some delicious brekkie!

Hahah, spot me if you can in the background somewhere, Nek snuck a photo of me :)

Then we had a walk around the market areas before we headed off for the day :)

This restaurant was so busy, we thought maybe we should have tried the breakfast there!

We got on a bus to Batu Feringgi beach :) The bust drive is nice and scenic once you get to the coast, so keep a lookout!

Here's a look at Batu Feringgi beach...

....But the day we went there, there wasn't much happening at the beach and the weather wasn't that great so we decided to go straight to the Teluk Bahang National Park. 

Acting the part of tourist is fun, especially when it's a great excuse to get lots of photos of each other, haha!

There were fishing houses floating in the sea, and a storm brewing!

We actually really liked the hike in the park, and we saw heaps of monkeys, we planned to walk to another beach in the park called Monkey Beach..

The only thing was it was, it started raining quite heavily when we were half way there on another beach, so we decided to head back out when the rain slowed down. 

Here's one of the cute guys who guided the way for us!

After a full few days of doing stuff, we ended the day by walking the gorgeous streets in Georgetown and finding some nice places to chill.

Micke's Place was so nice! The owner, Micke, is so friendly to everyone visiting his shop and is there to offer any travel tips from his own experience. We had dessert there and it was SO DELICIOUS!! We had a crepe with orange flambé and chocolate and ice cream and a few drinks.  Highly recommended!

Then MORE walking proved handy after dinner, then dessert but we ended up finding another place we just had to pop into... Moustache Houze!

Haha ;)

This was the deciding factor; Nek fell in LOVE with these lights haha! So we luckily were about to get a table just before they were closing, and get some photos of their inspiring decor :) Nek loved them so much, he wanted to use these lights at our Bar, or house! I think they are pretty cool too!

 

They had mummy drinks, and again desserts (but we didn't have any more though!) and cocktails.

The last day was just relaxing, so we didn't get many photos, except for the breakfast haha! Yummm, I LOVE Cha siu bao!!

Georgetown is a very historical town, full of colour, cute rustic lane ways and lovely people! If you have a few days to drop by, I definitely recommend it! 

Best of all, there's a lane called Love Lane ..... <3 :) 

Have a lovely and happy mid-week, Wednesday!

..............................