June in Korea.

My beautiful home.

Life has been moving quite quickly this last month. I've been pretty busy so haven't had a chance to update. June is always a really busy time for English teachers in Elementary schools here in Gimhae as it's time for the English speech contest. Every school in the city enters a child from each grade (3rd-6th) in to the contest where they will be asked a few questions about themselves and then get asked to describe a picture. I was helping my kids after school most days on the run up to the event but unfortunately none of them placed.

Some of my students before taking a road cycling test.

Other than that myself Jason and some of our friends have been trying hard to lose some weight so we've been doing a lot more cycling, hiking and healthy eating. We also managed to fit in one more camping trip before the rainy season got here and that trip was amazing!

Jason and Ian on one of our bike rides.

Jason on the bike path.

One of our hikes.

The view out to Jangyu.

This time we went with our friend Ian , and some other friends. Our friend Derek also brought his gorgeous golden retriever so it was great for Willy to finally spend some time with a dog that is bigger than him!
We were camping on a beautiful sand bank next to a river near Hadong. The weather was absolutely perfect for us and it was such a fun relaxing weekend. The fact that Ian is a great cook and brought some amazing food really helped matters too!

Our amazing campsite.

Too beautiful!

Our campsite.

Our tent.

The beautiful view from our tent.

and again.

Willy and his new friend Plato.

Grumpy puppy sitting by the bonfire.

The bonfire.

Good times!

We also headed to Songjeong beach in Busan for a day and it was also great fun. Songjeong doesn't have a subway nearby so it doesn't get too busy compared to Haeundae or Gwangali beaches. This was my first time in Songjeong and I really liked it, the water was nice and there were some really great restaurants nearby. Unfortunately, that Friday I had gotten my wisdom tooth removed and it was still pretty painful so I didn't get to really enjoy the great food that we had. Before heading home we stopped off at a restaurant that Ian had been to before and loved. The second that we saw it we understood why. It's a small surfers restaurant/hostel and the food was unbelievably good. The music and the vibe were equally as good, so we'll definitely be heading back there sometime once the rainy season finishes!

Grabbing some lunch in Songjeong

Willys "please give me your food" look.

Jason and Ian on the beach.

Even though it looks cloudy, it was actually a really nice day.

We have really appreciated buying our car during this time of year as already we've had so many adventures that we never would have had without it...and the best part is that Willy gets to come along on all of our adventures with us and just like most dogs he loves sticking his head out the window!

We've also been pretty busy finalising our plans for our legal ceremony in Ireland this summer. Ian made up some beautiful invitations for us and as the time gets closer we are both getting excited about it and can't believe that we are soon going to be husband and wife!

Our invitations all ready to be sent.

But now the rainy season has begun which means more rain and clouds than sun for the next couple of weeks. But it also brings a bit of coolness to the air. This past weekend we met our friends Derek, Amy and Matt up by a waterfall near our town. It was raining but that didn't stop the guys and the dogs from getting into the creek and enjoying the water. Willy is getting so much more confident in the water as time goes on!

The waterfall in Jangyu.

The majestic Plato had the time of his life swimming.

We are off to Ireland in three weeks time and I can't wait to update you all on the little adventures we'll be taking while there.

Korean road trip!

Buddhas on our road trip.

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to have a 4 day weekend here in Korea as the Monday was Childrens day and the Tuesday was Buddhas birthday. Also the Thursday before was a day off too because it was Labour day. That Thursday myself, Jason and our friend Ian went in to Busan to make a Costco trip. Costco is this amazing American wholesale store that sells many foreign products that you can't find anywhere else in Korea. We stocked up for the road trip that we'd be taking for the long weekend.

We didn't really have any plan as to where to go, all we knew was that we would drive up along the East coast, find a nice beach and set up camp. We had decided to wait until Sunday because no doubt the roads would be crazy busy on the Saturday. We were right, they were crazy busy, but they weren't much better on Sunday either. We ended up in a huge traffic jam all the way up to Ulsan. From Ulsan we decided to take the coastal route and look out for some nice beaches. I have to admit that we were a bit disappointed at the beginning. Every beach that we saw was littered and if they weren't littered then there were a ton of people already camping there...not our idea of fun camping!

Myself and Willy in the car. (Willy's not a fan of selfies)

We had been driving for about three hours when we finally came across a beach that looked quite nice. We got out for a closer look and found that it didn't have too much litter on it and there were only about 6 or 7 other tents pitched on it.

The beach that we chose.

We unloaded our stuff and set our tent up away from the other campers. Also I must add that Willy was with us too. This was only his second time on a beach and would be his first time camping! After we were all set up we decided to take a walk along the beach.

Jason preparing the campsite.

All done! (Willy's chilling in the background)

Taking a walk.

The beach. (maybe Najeong beach…near Gampo anyway)

Jason skimming stones, Willy scavenging for food.

Once we got back we cooked some dinner and were having a nice relaxing time when all of a sudden a huge family comes along and props their tent up right next to us! We were quite pissed about this as they were really loud, so made the decision to pick up and move everything to a spot further down the beach away from everyone else...best decision ever! We spent the rest of the evening just relaxing and drinking some beer (Jason) and cider (me).

Jason cooking burgers.

There were a few patrols along the beach while we were there.

Getting settled in.

Later in the night it started getting windy so we decided to get in to the tent. Willy was a little scared at this point as the wind was blowing our tent and there were people up along the beach setting off fireworks but he managed to get in to my sleeping bag and cuddle up with my feet and was content staying there for the night.

Willy and Jason in the tent, Willy was a little scared at this point.

Before he found the loveliness of the inside of my sleeping bag.

After a restless sleep we woke up at about 6am. I opened the tent to let Willy out to do his business. It was so nice being able to trust him off leash. A year ago we could never have done that but now he knows to never go too far from us.

Willy on the beach bright and early.

Unfortunately that morning the wind was still pretty bad and started blowing our tent down completely, and broke one of the rods in the process. We were tired and frustrated at this point so we packed everything up and put it back in the car, then bought some snacks and enjoyed some alcoholic beverages on the beach at about 9am.

We then decided to make the trip back home stopping for some delicious duck and some photos at a beautiful temple along the way.

The beautiful temple near the beach that we stayed at.

It also had this huge gold Buddha statue.

It was an amazing weekend and definitely one to remember! We are already planning our next camping trip :)