Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Chit Chat => Topic started by: CreamPuff63 on July 12, 2014, 01:36:32 pm
-
We love to keep track of friends on holiday, post pics, comments and handy travel tips here :-*
-
Great idea CP ;D
I off to bali on the 4 of august
entry visa to bali have gone up, $35us, we pay in aussie dollars
departure tax also up, must pay in rp 200.000
-
A great thread CP.
I am off to Malaysia on wednesday with DD1 and GD19 and her friend. My SIL and GS are in Switzerland visiting his family so the girls decided an Asian trip would be a good idea ;D
-
Nice, MF. Where are you going?
-
Nice, MF. Where are you going?
A KL shopping trip BZB ;D
-
And don't forget the eating, MF 😋😋😋
-
I am very sad that I can't contribute to this thread for a while, but what a great idea CP. I look forward to reading about all the holidays and seeing the photos. My turn to be at home this time. :-\
Happy holidays everyone.
-
And don't forget the eating, MF 😋😋😋
That goes without saying BZB as KL food is amazing. Love eating the local fare :)
-
Photo of kids playing at Lee Point this morning. (http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/13/dy3evu5y.jpg)
BBQ lunch catch up soon and Mindil Beach markets this afternoon. Dreaming of Laksa ;)
-
Laksa...... Yum!!!
Beautiful photo INAID
-
My GD 2 years on a recent trip to Singapore and Penang. My DS better watch his wallet!!!!!
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/13/ne4e7u2a.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/13/hamapu7y.jpg)
-
lovely INAID :)
-
I didn't know they let children that young travel alone overseas on shopping trips MF ;) :D :D :D Such a cutie.
INAID, how can you do that to us - a beautiful scene like that during our cold winter down south ;D How envious it makes us.
-
That is stunning, INAID!
MF, she is sooooo cute 😜😄
-
It looks very tranquil INAID. You've taken some stunning pics on your travels.
MF - obviously she's inherited good shopping genes as she's clearly a natural ;D
-
Hmmmmmmm I wonder where those genes could possibly have come from CP? ;D
-
Lovely beach INAID.
Gorgeous MF. She certainly is a cutie and good to see she is prepared to carry her own shopping bags. :D
-
She won't let anyone take her bags Mitch and loves shopping. She knows what she likes and holds clothes up against herself in the shops. Very amusing. That's her at 2 I wonder what she will be like as a teenager. LOL
-
Maybe she could be one of those mystery shoppers that goes assessing stores customer service, etc. :D
-
Love the photo INAID. We always stay at the Lee Point Caravan Park when we are up there.
MF she is going to be dangerous when she's a little older.
-
What a gorgeous photo INAID and your GD is a cutie MF.
We've just booked our 14th trip to Oahu for Sept / Oct. This time we are going for 25 days.
-
This evening we checked out Mindil Beach markets. I got to eat a yummy seafood Laksa and watch the sunset.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/13/y6ehysa9.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/13/ry5a8emu.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/13/de2ytu6u.jpg)
MF your GD is a little Cutie. My daughter also loves to shop.
-
Ps Cookie that's where we are staying. Never seen so many amenity blocks!
Judy it is lovely and warm here. Hoping we can catch some cooler weather on our trip back though.
-
Wonderful photos INAID 8) Glad to hear you got to eat Seafood Laksa that you were craving :D :D
Your GD is so sweet MF.She certainly has inhered your genes for shopping :D :D :D
-
I think Sophie and Louis would get along well together don't you?
She can shop and he can say "no you don't need that" LOL ;D
-
Louis is certainly good at saying "no" :D :D
-
LOL... So is Sophie she is always saying NO.... Love it :D
-
Lovely inaid, all of it, enjoy.
MF! Glad you are off to KL, I have been wondering how you are getting along. What a sweetie your GD is.
Cookie, how is your bIL, obviously no holiday for you probably means he is still recovering.
Great thread CP, look forward to seeing lots of your upcoming holiday.
-
Great idea, CP. Thanks for the photos, really capture the spirit of the places.
-
BIL is still in Shenton Park (rehab hospital). He has lost the use of all the parts below his waist. He is learning basics like getting out of the wheel chair into a car. He was allowed out for day leave yesterday. We didn't ring him as he would have had enough to deal with as he hasn't been out of hospital since Mothers' Day. If all goes well he will be able to leave early August. It is going to be hard as when he left home he walked out, now he is in a wheelchair. But he is still around which is the important thing.
Thanks for asking Denise.
-
I hope he has a wheelchair friendly home, especially the bathroom Cookie. Not a good outcome but as you said, it could be worse.
-
BIL is still in Shenton Park (rehab hospital). He has lost the use of all the parts below his waist. He is learning basics like getting out of the wheel chair into a car. He was allowed out for day leave yesterday. We didn't ring him as he would have had enough to deal with as he hasn't been out of hospital since Mothers' Day. If all goes well he will be able to leave early August. It is going to be hard as when he left home he walked out, now he is in a wheelchair. But he is still around which is the important thing.
Thanks for asking Denise.
I have been there a few years ago with my DB who had a stroke. It is a difficult time for sure and not a particularly pleasant place to be. I wonder how long before they move rehab to the Fiona Stanley area? I think it would make it a bit easier to bare if it wasn't so in need of repair all around. The area my brother was didn't have showers suitable for anyone with a disability, something as basic as that. Saying that, it is the best place with experts assisting all areas and the staff were wonderful.
Lots of adjustment for him and all the family. Take care Jean x
-
Thanks. Judy the OT's have been to his house and put rails and things in there. DH spoke to him a while ago and he was pleased the way things went. He bumped his feet transferring to the car, he has diabetes so will have to be very careful doing that. Generally he was ok, so that was really good. They only put a ramp at the front door not the back, so DH is doing one for the back before he comes home. He's had plenty of practise as he did it for my Mum.
BIL is amazing he has taken everything in his stride. He has definitely used up 7 of his 9 lives though. ;D ;D ;D
-
I have been there a few years ago with my DB who had a stroke. It is a difficult time for sure and not a particularly pleasant place to be. I wonder how long before they move rehab to the Fiona Stanley area?
Shelton Park is closing on 4 October, so all rehab going to Fiona Stanley in September
-
Thanks Bonsai, I meant to ask DD last night and forgot.
-
Thanks Bonsai, It will be great for the service to match the surrounds.
-
Have headed to the yorke peninsula for the tail end of the holidays with the kids. Wish I'd left earlier today as the weather is unbelievable for the middle of winter. Hope it lasts...(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/5u2emupy.jpg)
-
Great photo Sue.I did a "Mr.Google" to see exactly where you are from Adelaide ;) enjoy your winter break.
-
So pretty, ES 😃
-
Lovely Sue
-
ES, enjoy your break with the kids.
Cookie, pleased to hear you BIL is coping with the situation, and that your DH can do something practical to help him.
The constant fog and mist finally got to us so this morning we headed to Northern Victoria. Echuca. 4 hours drive, so not far. We are staying in the Quest Apartments. We sat in the sun in the park at Bendigo and had coffee. Now enjoying the sun in Echuca. We will be here for 3 or 4 days and then back to Cherokee as we have commitments. Will take some photos tomorrow.
-
It's wonderful that you can just take off at the drop of a hat Chookie, following the sun is a great idea. Enjoy your stay.
-
Great photo ES. Enjoy your break.
-
Chookie how lovely. We have always had the best time in Echuca. I love the paddle steamers and the river. The history is so interesting there.
-
Enjoy the sunshine Chookie. You are so well travelled Cookie, I love all of your insights.
-
I hope the sun is still shinning for you Chookie.Enjoy your break from the fog and mist.
-
We've been doing it for many years Bedlam. It has just increased since we retired.
-
Hello everyone, Kim up near Broome, at Willy Creek near the Pearl Farm sitting in the shade it's been 32 today , having a great time.
-
I'm envious AB. We used to camp a bit further up the coast when we lived in Broome at a place called Quongdong. I'm not sure if you can still camp there. Isn't the water a lovely blue out there? Are you liking the tides?. Enjoy your holiday.
-
AB, sounds heavenly.
Yesterday, we were walking along the Murray river, looking at the house boats, when a man on one of the boats invited us in for a cuppa. We had just had a coffee so didn't accept this surprising offer , but did have a long talk with him. This is what is so nice about holidays. The nicest things can happen.
Lots and lots of caravans here and a Beechworth Bakery.
-
I love Echuca too Chookie, yes always visit the Beechworth Bakery, cookie, I just am amazed at the blue water the photos don't do it justice , the sunset last night was a dream fulfilled been waiting for that forever it was magic, in Broome today going to have a LOOOOOK at the pearl shops ....
-
I love Broome . It is a magical place. Would love to travel down the Murry but feel I have done that already chookie. Well nearly.
Gert
-
It is about the only travel dream I have is to hire a large houseboat and travel down the Murray. It is such a beautiful, historic river.
-
That would make a great idea for a forumfest Cookie ;D
-
I'm in.
Gert
-
Can hire 12 person House boats, very expensive. $2000/3000 for seven days , plus fuel. Probably $2 to 3 000 for fuel. Have to supply own food and do cooking and cleaning. Or book a number of cabins on the Murray Princess for 3or4 or 7 days. Plenty of time for social get togethers. They cook and clean. We paid $250 a day each, full board, entertainment, not luxurious.
-
Better still. I would even take DH with me. How was the food?
Gert
-
Two pics for Denise just came in.(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/21/a6yjy2eh.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/21/uhunuqup.jpg)
My she is having a great time.
Gert
-
Yay! Great to see her in the sunshine ;D
-
Lovely photo's - thanks Gert
-
It took me a while to work out who Denise was LOL then I recognised her smile. She looks a happy chappy, thanks Gert.
-
Great to see Denise enjoying herself. Thanks Gert.
Gert, the food on the Murray Princess was good to very good in our opinion. Plenty of seafood and choice. Us foodies have pretty high expectations!! Everyone else was raving about it. Pay extra for drinks from the bar, and free tea and coffee all day. They do a bus pick up from 3 areas in Adelaide and return there also. Secure parking for those who drive.
-
Was it instant coffee? Tea bags?
Gert
-
Was it instant coffee? Tea bags?
Gert
Yes
-
Was it instant coffee? Tea bags?
Gert
Yes
OMG! Call me a snob but I would have to take my plunger and makings. You would think at that price you would get filtered and leaves.
In all my 70 years plus I have knowing only drunk instant coffee on the rare occasion where I have been in a position where it would be absolutely rude not to. Many of my friends have been gifted a plunger and coffee upon arrival for morning coffee. As indeed some other friends have been gifted a decent bubbles glass though that is less important as any old vessel will do. As they say"life is too short to drink bad coffee".
God I can be a pain in the ass perdista
Gert
-
Gert, when you travel like this, it is all part of the experience. The State rooms have provision to make your own. We couldn't get one of these although we applied. We are coffee snobs and next time I would take a plunger. You could buy a Cap or Latte , $4.50, but it wasn't as good as the instant!!
-
Just outside of Burketown for the night warming my feet by the fire. On our way home. Our journey thus far -
http://forums.connectedly.com/showthread.php?t=3645
-
CP looks to be having a great time.
Inaid you have some beautiful photos and many great memories.
-
INAID I love the photos. Did you go out to Karumba from Normanton? I felt over awed standing on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Your photos are lovely. Is the Purple Pub still thriving in Normanton?
-
Just outside of Burketown for the night warming my feet by the fire. On our way home. Our journey thus far -
http://forums.connectedly.com/showthread.php?t=3645
INIAD it has been a wonderful trip so far with with brilliant photos and insights. Ain't Australia wonderful. As soon as you gettouttatown it never changes. Not like the cities.
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I have to go down to Sydney next week and not looking forward to it at all. Your trip is like a breath of fresh air. I will take it with me.
Gert
-
INAID I love the photos. Did you go out to Karumba from Normanton? I felt over awed standing on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Your photos are lovely. Is the Purple Pub still thriving in Normanton?
Yes it is cookie. That town does not change much. And Karumba is just awesome. There is a tavern there now where the meals are unbelievable . Well the time I was there they had a chef from the Oriental Hotel In Bangkok who prepares a special meal just for me on my birthday. I think he was hiding out from someone as a lot of people are out there.
Time for another trip I say.
BTW if you find any good hot dogs let me know.
Gert
-
Stunning photos INAID.I loved the Bottle Tree,I have never seen anything like that before!!
-
What a fantastic trip, INAID!
-
Love the pictures INAID. Brings back lots of my memories travelling around Australia with our kids in 2010. Looks like you are having a great time.
-
INAID I love the photos. Did you go out to Karumba from Normanton? I felt over awed standing on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Your photos are lovely. Is the Purple Pub still thriving in Normanton?
Not out to Karumba this time Cookie. But been many times before. And agree Gert Sunset Tavern is a fantastic spot! We are off to check out Leichardt lagoon or the Gilbert river tonight. Shazzy I would love to be able to just retire and hit the road with the kids. Best keep working at it though. We now need to save up for our own 4wd.
-
CC the boab ( bottle trees) can be found up in the north west. Some are absolutely enormous. One in Derby was used as an overnight prison tree. They are deciduous and have no leaves in the dry season and they have the most beautiful flowers.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/23/jyvaragy.jpg). (http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/23/edyjyren.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/23/yzutuzu8.jpg). (http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/23/yrysy3at.jpg)
-
Beautiful photos INAID, I love the way you have documented your holiday.
-
Oh my goodness Cookie those tree are enormous :o What beautiful flowers they have.
-
Thank you for the beautiful photos on this thread. It is lovely to be able to follow your travels and see the beautiful sights.
-
Was it instant coffee? Tea bags?
Gert
Yes
OMG! Call me a snob but I would have to take my plunger and makings. You would think at that price you would get filtered and leaves.
In all my 70 years plus I have knowing only drunk instant coffee on the rare occasion where I have been in a position where it would be absolutely rude not to. Many of my friends have been gifted a plunger and coffee upon arrival for morning coffee. As indeed some other friends have been gifted a decent bubbles glass though that is less important as any old vessel will do. As they say"life is too short to drink bad coffee".
God I can be a pain in the ass perdista
Gert
so that means NO bushells :-*
-
Only if it is leaves uni.
Gert
-
No International Roast either I hope. :-X :-\
-
OMG Judy. international Roast is not even coffee powder. ......is it?
-
I didn't say that ??? I prefer Nescafe myself Gert.
-
Oh yeah that was cookie. Sorry Judy I know that you would not drink that stuff! ;D ;D
Gert
-
INAID, thanks for the beautiful photos. I really enjoyed your trip.
-
Oh yeah that was cookie. Sorry Judy I know that you would not drink that stuff! ;D ;D
Gert
ROFL. When you come to WA I will hunt down so e International Roast especially for you. ;D ;D I drink Moccona will that do? Or I have my two machines. ;D ;D :D
-
Cookie I always travel with a plunger and coffee when I fear the coffee will be instant. I know I can get good tea at your house. I cannot understand how anyone can drink instant coffee or would want to but I know you are collecting Moconna Jars!
Gert
-
Gert you always cheer me up. ;D ;D ;D
-
Cookie I always travel with a plunger and coffee when I fear the coffee will be instant. I know I can get good tea at your house. I cannot understand how anyone can drink instant coffee or would want to but I know you are collecting Moconna Jars!
Gert
Lol :D ;D
-
International Roast is up there with bushells ;D i buy what ever is on special
-
Home now. After an overnight stay at Koombooloomba dam and waking to rain we cut our stay short. Glad to be home. Car and trailer is unpacked and red dirt being washed away. More unpacking tomorrow and a trip to the markets. Thanks for watching on :) over 5000 km travelled in 3 weeks. Best holiday ever!
-
A big thanks to you INAID. I love that name....Koombooloomba. On our way East we always stay at a camp site called Kararawalyee. I love looking at names. One of my favourite street names in a country town is Miragliotta St. I think it is the sound of the words I like.
-
Welcome home INAID, another forum member safely returned to the fold ;)
Koombooloomba - try and say that quickly CC and other non-Australians :D
-
Welcome home INAID
Koombooloomba - try and say that quickly CC and other non-Australians :D
Can't Judy :D :D :D :D
-
Then we have Woolloomooloo & Mooloolaba and goodness knows how many other towns with lots of oo's ;D
-
Then we have Woolloomooloo & Mooloolaba and goodness knows how many other towns with lots of oo's ;D
My goodness :o They certainly don't roll off the tongue easily :D
-
They do if you are an Aussie CC ;)
-
I grew up near Koolanooka and Merkanooka as well as Pintharuka. Near Geraldton there is a place called Moonyoonooka.
-
I grew up near Koolanooka and Merkanooka as well as Pintharuka. Near Geraldton there is a place called Moonyoonooka.
Oh gawed!! I'm really tongued tied now :P :D
-
CC you can probably pronounce Welsh town names. I find it impossible. :D
-
whats the name of that stupid place before you get to Mandurah? The name is so long you don't have time to try and phonetically read it before you've passed the sign!
-
Do you mean Mandjoogoordap Drive, CP? I thought it might be an indigenous name for Mandurah.
Well, I am on a very spontaneously booked holiday. I have been having a lot of stress at work over the last six months or so, and job security is very wobbly. What made it worse was that as in so many cases, those of us who the potential job cuts would affect would be the last to know. After discussions with DH, I decided to take the bull by the horns and give in my notice and come to the UK to spend some time with my Dad and my brother and his family. So here I am, enjoying gorgeous sunny days and long summer evenings.
Unfortunately, I couldn't bring DD, as she is in year 12 and can't afford the time off school. She has been very understanding, though, and as long as I spoil her rotten when I get back, she will forgive me. I suggested that if she got bored and lonely, she could do some study, but she assured me she would never get that bored and lonely!
I am enjoying spending time with Dad (Mum passed away nearly two years ago), and it is nice to be able to help with some jobs around the house.....we have wallpapered and laid Lino this week.
It's a bit daunting knowing that I have no job to go to when I get back, but I am trying to just have faith that something will turn up. There is no point in worrying about it while I am here, although I do sometimes wake up in a bit of a panic thinking "What have I done!"
-
I bet your family are enjoying having you spend time with them Sue.The weather here is gorgeous at the moment.Enjoy the rest of your holiday. ;D
-
Enjoy your break Sue. I'm trying to plan our next holiday. Thinking Victoria to visit family and then maybe Eden for new years with more family. Thinking a camper van.
-
Sorry about your job situation Sue but it did give you an opportunity to see your Dad which isq great. Most of us work hard and often from an early age. We manage the family, work and home. Good to have a break.
Gert
-
Sue, I'm glad you've taken time out to smell the roses. Something is bound to come along that suits you if you want to go back to work when your visit to the UK comes to an end. It's a lovely thing you are doing for your dear Dad. Enjoy the English summer.
-
Sue enjoy your enforced holiday. You have grasped the opportunity to have a visit with your Dad and brother which you will all remember with much love. You are no longer in a job that was stressful. Well done.
-
Sue, enjoy your holiday. Sounds like a win win situation to me.
-
Sue, investment in family will never be a regret. Good on you for taking control. Enjoy you time in the UK.
-
Do you mean Mandjoogoordap Drive, CP? I thought it might be an indigenous name for Mandurah.
Mandjoogoordap, means meeting place of the heart in Noongar language.
-
Sue, investment in family will never be a regret. Good on you for taking control. Enjoy you time in the UK.
I totally agree Denise :)
-
Sue, sounds like time well spent, enjoy.. :D
-
Thanks, everyone.
I am enjoying spending time with my dad, I wish I could have spent more time with my mum.
The weather here has been gorgeous, and we are eating well out of dad's garden.....loads of kidney beans, potatoes, lettuce and raspberries.
I can't help but feel a little trepidation for what will happen with the job situation when I get back, but I really need to go through my house like a dose of salts, so any free time will be spent productively!
-
Mandjoogoordap, means meeting place of the heart in Noongar language.
That is lovely, Denise 😄
-
Sue after you have done your house if you are feeling bored at all I have a house you can have a go at too. :D
-
Sue spending time with your Dad is a great thing to do. Family first, and then other things tend to fall into place, although sometimes it does take a little while.
Sue after you have done your house if you are feeling bored at all I have a house you can have a go at too. :D
And when you are finished at cookies, fancy doing another house in Sydney? ;D
We are loving this motorhome thing. So easy, comfy, convenient and fun. This (http://www.trublutravelling.com.au/contribute-1/chilling-by-the-beach) was our first trip and we have more short weekend breaks planned in the near future
PS If you are looking for holiday ideas, check out the other traveller's stories. There are some great ideas there.
-
That's wonderful Gayle. I'm so pleased it all went well.
-
Gayle, that looks wonderful. I am envious.
-
Just "Googled" Shellharbour Gayle to get an idea where you went ;D
It looks really lovely :)
-
A baby snack to have tonight. (http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/08/05/ehymuhy8.jpg)
-
Just one last read before I go and find some food for DH; that's what I said an hour ago but just saw this discussion on instant coffee and Pablo came to mind. They served it where I boarded once in my youth and I am not sure what it was made from (definitely not coffee). I prefer my Madura tea. Now closing this machine down before we starve.
-
Yum cookie! My favourite choccy.
-
Sue, glad you are enjoying your time with your Dad, I am sure something will turn up job wise when you return. :)
Gayle, your trips in your motor home sound fun and very relaxing for you and family. Enjoy
Cookie, lucky you, love chocolate ;D
-
There is a Haigh's shop at the entrance to the foyer of our hotel. It is hard to walk past without buying one each day. ;)
-
Stop it right now cookie!
Gert
-
Yes Gert. :D ;D
-
We had the honour of having Sue to tea yesterday.
It was such fun, and funny to think she grew up all around here and then moved to Australia 24 years ago.
We had lots of chats and eclairs (sadly not home made) and she very kindly brought me Quirky Jo's book, which I'd really really wanted so that made the visit even more exciting. I was reading it in bed last night.
The friendship and generosity on this forum is really very special.
Thanks Sue so much and I hope we meet again in due course.
-
How exciting for you both. Wonderful DJ and Sue.
-
It was lovely DJ that you and Sue were able to have time together. :)
-
Been trying to post photos let's see it works this time(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/08/12/vazasybu.jpg)
-
Yes well done me lol
-
Looks a relaxing place uni.
-
How wonderful DJ and Sue that you have met :)
-
Nice to hear you have met another forum member DJ. It must be lovely to put names to faces as we do here.
Uni, that's a gorgeous relaxing space - things are taking shape, that's wonderful.
-
sounds like you both had a wonderful time dj and Sue xx
uni looks beautiful xx
-
We had the honour of having Sue to tea yesterday.
It was such fun, and funny to think she grew up all around here and then moved to Australia 24 years ago.
We had lots of chats and eclairs (sadly not home made) and she very kindly brought me Quirky Jo's book, which I'd really really wanted so that made the visit even more exciting. I was reading it in bed last night.
The friendship and generosity on this forum is really very special.
Thanks Sue so much and I hope we meet again in due course.
How lovely.
Gert
-
Yes well done me lol
Good one uni. Looking great.
Gert
-
We had the honour of having Sue to tea yesterday.
It was such fun, and funny to think she grew up all around here and then moved to Australia 24 years ago.
We had lots of chats and eclairs (sadly not home made) and she very kindly brought me Quirky Jo's book, which I'd really really wanted so that made the visit even more exciting. I was reading it in bed last night.
The friendship and generosity on this forum is really very special.
Thanks Sue so much and I hope we meet again in due course.
The pleasure was all mine!
DJ and her husband are lovely people who made me feel so welcome. I was also given a gift, a beautiful book of recipes made using local ingredients. The photography in there is just stunning, and it means such a lot to me as it is a reminder of where I grew up. Plus, a home grown marrow (like a huge zucchini), which I am looking forward to roasting. I haven't had marrow for years!
DJ's home and garden are truly stunning, there has been such care and attention to detail, and their future B&B guests will be very lucky indeed.
Someone from the Forum just needs to win the lotto, so we can all have a Forumfest at DJ's, incorporating a working bee to finish off whatever needs to be done, and then another in Bali at Uni's villa! :D
-
I keep buying tickets. ;)
-
Lucky ladies having a get together, DJ and Sue. Yes it would be nice to have a Forumfest at DJ's.
Uni, that's looking lovely. You must feel pleased.
-
Someone from the Forum just needs to win the lotto, so we can all have a Forumfest at DJ's, incorporating a working bee to finish off whatever needs to be done, and then another in Bali at Uni's villa! :D
Thank you Sue, and a brilliant idea, however since they put up the lottery from Ł1 to Ł2, I hardly ever buy a ticket, and I have to go a fair way to buy one too!
Good luck every one,
DJ x
-
Hi everyone, internet for the last 3 weeks has been really slow and I've only been posting to Facebook cos its so easy to upload photo's. Currently in Prague and its beautiful. We have a really lovely hotel and we got upgraded and my goodness, 5 star is wonderful. I can understand why famous people get called "divas" because its very easy to get used to the finer things in life very quickly. We are just a hop skip and a jump from all the designer shops and I think I would starve myself (of food only) to fit into their beautiful clothes. Going home on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing my two little puppies and puddy cat. (Wish I could upload some pics but my outgoing server from my iPad where all my pics are stored is not connected and its a long process otherwise. Maybe I should get a personal gmail account for future as I may be able to work around that)
OMG haven't cooked anything for a month! I'm out of touch :-*
-
Great to hear that you are enjoying your holiday CP.Safe travels for Sunday :-*
-
That's a nice long holiday you've had CP, hope it has all gone well. Looking forward to having you back here on a regular basis, we miss our regulars when they go missing or go on holidays.
-
It sounds wonderful CP. it would be very easy to get used to being spoiled in 5 star accommodation.
Travel home safely.
-
CP, your holiday sounds wonderful and glad you are enjoying it. Safe travels home, looking forward to hearing more of your trip when you return. Take care
-
Oh my CP your holiday sounds great and you sound very relaxed and happy. Five star suits you! Safe travels home.
-
Prague is stunning - I am envious. Enjoy the time you have got left there and have a great trip home.
-
CP sounds a great holiday :)
-
Booked my accommodation last night for my 3 months holiday in Italy with my sister
X marks the spot
-
Uni, that sounds wonderful and I am sure the time will pass very quickly. When are you going?
-
end of june and back the 1st week in October
-
That sounds like a significant holiday Uni, how wonderful. ;D
-
OMG! uni you will have a ball.
Gert
-
What is 'x' an apartment? It looks fabulous. Good on you for doing it.
-
Wonderful Uni, are you going to do some sight seeing or just stay with your sister in her area?
-
Sounds fantastic Uni and not too long to wait. I hope you have internet , we want to here all about the fun you will have.
-
AB my sister is coming with me but i do have a brother and sister that live there ,no plan on sight seeing atm
yes CP its an apartment
internet for sure ........i hope lol
-
Very exciting, Uni! 😃
-
That looks and sounds wonderful Uni - something to really look forward to. How long has this been in the planning? We'll have to make sure next years' forumfest is after you get home or will you be all holidayed out after 3 long months away from Eve?
-
Good on you Uni, looks a lovely place.
-
JD i could manage the same time next year, late October ;D
-
Uni that looks truly amazing and refreshing. You will have a wonderful time.
-
That looks and sounds wonderful Uni - something to really look forward to. How long has this been in the planning? We'll have to make sure next years' forumfest is after you get home or will you be all holidayed out after 3 long months away from Eve?
Judy, I can only suggest that Italy would be a great place for a forum fest!! I'm sure Uni and her sister wouldn't mind the invasion! Lol
Seriously. Uni! It sounds heavenly! What a fantastic holiday!! :)
-
How beautiful Uni - looks amazing. You will have wonderful time. :D
-
has anyone been on a cruise with kids, that you could recommend to me.
kids are 9 & 10..
Thanks
-
A friend was on current affairs the other night over a botched cruise holiday with princess cruises. But the main ones P & O, Carnival and Princess are all the one company. Royal Caribbean is good but not sure with kids. I've never cruised. But often wondered about it. P & O Will be based out of Cairns in the winter months from 2016, sailing to PNG and Solomons.
-
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/04/14d56e1e992c93b9a3757254b1d64a98.jpg)
Current view from our balcony in Oahu. One week down, 2.5 to go.
-
It looks amazing.
-
Very nice Kyton, enjoy.
-
Lovely place Kyton, are you staying there the whole time or moving around?
-
Enjoy Kyton, can't see you having any problems doing that.
-
Lovely kyton. Enjoy your break.
-
Looks beautiful Kyton
-
How wonderful to sit around the pool and read a book and people watch. Enjoy :-*
-
Wonderful photo kyton 8) Green with envy at your surroundings ;D
-
It looks amazing. Enjoy
-
Very nice ;D
-
Wow that pic looks amazing, sitting around a pool & reading is a long off dream for me, I long for when kids are grown up. We leave next Thursday for a road trip to Victoria we are driving Adelaide to Robe 1 night there then to Portland for 2 nights taking in the great ocean road, then 4 days Ballarat, 3 days Daylesford, 2 days Bendigo then home. I'm hoping later in the year we can go Byron bay & early next year we plan on going to Tassie. While kids are still small we only travel within Australia
-
has anyone been on a cruise with kids, that you could recommend to me.
kids are 9 & 10..
Thanks
We have done 3 with Royal C and the kids club is fantastic.
-
Does 3 days count as a holiday ? (Mods please move or whatever ;D)
This was our mini break at the Boorowa Irish Woolfest over the long weekend. Boorowa is gorgeous and the Irish Woolfest had a very strong dash of authentic Aussie
The pics are:
-old Boorowa Court House with art show, arts and crafts, tea rooms and Visitor Centre inside
-tiny part of the crowd waiting for the running of the sheep down the town's main street (apparently up to 14,000 people visit Boorowa for the Woolfest)
-the (tail end) of the running of the sheep (it was so great I almost forgot to take a pic ;D)
If you are interested there's more pics on TruBlu's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TruBluTravelling and there will be more on the TruBlu Travelling website soon.
-
Great photos Gayle. 8) I love the sheep running photo.;D What a great mini break you had.
-
3 days certainly counts as a holiday. ;D
-
Definitely counts! One night counts ;) great pics.
-
Definitely counts! One night counts ;) great pics.
Thanks INAID but my phone seemed a bit inadequate after I saw this ;D
-
Let our holiday begin. We are in Melbourne after a very civilised 2 champers and a movie flight. Waiting in the lounge, we have an hour delay. Hoping Tassie lays on the sunshine.
-
Have a great time until we meet up with you Denise.
-
I waved to you as we passed Adelaide Judy
-
Have a happy holiday Denise :-*
-
Yahoo Denise . Enjoy!
Gert
-
Happy holidays to everyone. We are half way through our 26 days in Oahu. Weather is a glorious 30 degrees, lots of beach and pool time. But I really miss my kitchen, pantry and thermomix! We have a 3 bedroom villa with full kitchen but it just isn't the same as having my stuff! Cost me a fortune to buy spices the other day to make a basic chicken curry and to top it all off, they have no garam masala! (That is unless I wanted to go to the local organic shop and pay through the nose).
Oh well first world problems, I am in my happy place and am surrounded by my loved ones.
-
Happy holidays to everyone. We are half way through our 26 days in Oahu. Weather is a glorious 30 degrees, lots of beach and pool time.
I am in my happy place and am surrounded by my loved ones.
It sounds like paradise to me Kyton 8) Enjoy the rest of your holiday. :-*
-
The first forumfest traveller has departed. Keep in touch Bedlam.
-
At the airport, flying to Melbourne then Launceston - we are both looking forward to our Tassie holiday.
-
Have fun guys, can't wait for our turn :) Please let us know how cold it is down there ;D
-
See you soon Katie and DH. Travel safely and enjoy.
-
Safe travels Katie :-* :-*
-
Have a wonderful trip everyone.
-
How exciting, have a lovely time
-
just booked Bali 22 mar until the 3 may 2015
-
Stop it uni - I've had no luck so far :D
-
In Oatlands, Tassie. Having trouble posting photos via Tapatalk. Gert where are you? Will keep trying.
-
i have problems with tapatalk from anywhere ;D
-
I don't use Tapatalk but for the final 2 days in Hobart my home page had every single topic lit up as if they all had a new message in them. Back on home soil everything returned to normal. In the taxi I was trying to delete a new member who started spamming but it wouldn't accept my password. I tried many times before I woke up to the fact that I was using the wrong one - that's what holidays do to you LOL.
-
Judy, know how you feel. Very poor 3 G reception here, may have something to do with it. Will take photos and post when I can.
-
Chookie, hope you and Ral have a lovely day, very windy here again, raining a while ago as well. Take care
-
Thinking of you Chookie in beautiful Oatlands.
-
I'll be honest. I'm jealous. ;D ;D ;D
-
Morning tea at Hamilton in the Central Highlands. Pretty spot. Lots of old buildings only one Cafe open. Must have known we were coming.
Not as cold today and very little wind. Economy very depressed but we are trying to do our bit to get it going.
Had Whiskey Cheese , from Wicked, on toast for breakfast, very nice.
-
I got the impression that the Tassie was in some despair Chookie. So sad as it is a beautiful place. We all helped a little over the weekend. :D
-
Morning tea at Hamilton in the Central Highlands. Pretty spot. Lots of old buildings only one Cafe open. Must have known we were coming.
Not as cold today and very little wind. Economy very depressed but we are trying to do our bit to get it going.
Had Whiskey Cheese , from Wicked, on toast for breakfast, very nice.
Exactly how we felt Chookie and yes we certainly helped yesterday but oooo it was FUN!
-
Weather much nicer today did a day trip to Bingalong Bay & Bay of Fires.
I knew Bingalong Bay didn't have much food wise found out only 1 cafe/restaurant so we went with that & it was pretty good with a fabulous view:(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/28/13089f37a4604fd2b704f2fd394f9c42.jpg)(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/28/942c53e8c6982104df46a1cb5b20a6b3.jpg)(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/28/0d226d9c9991a98d71ba4294c4d864ff.jpg)
-
Gorgeous Kerry, Daddy's girl ;D
-
Kerry, what a beautiful photo. I would treasure this one.
We have been in light rain for most of the afternoon. Have finally arrived in Strahan. We have a beautiful waterfront apartment. Tomorrow we drive back to Queenstown to go on the train for the day.
We had lunch at Derwent Bridge. Sat down for lunch and the man at the next table played Football with Ral in the country. They spent lunch catching up. OMG it is a small world.
-
That's wonderful Chookie, who recognised who?
-
Wonderful photos Kerry. 8)
It certainly a small world at times Chookie :D :D
-
I remember having lunch at the Derwent Bridge many years ago.
Kerry the photos are lovely.
-
Looks beautiful Kerry, a bit different to when we were there. It was grey and windy but still beautiful. Bicheno cafe sold the best banana bread and only $7 for a loaf.
Keep enjoying. XX
-
On ferry for the return trip home 😢
Had a nice couple days around Launceston, toured around Tamar Valley visited some wineries (for Mum), Seahorse World (Alayna) & cataract George.
We stayed in an absolutely wonderful B&B in Legana (15 mins out of Launceston) - Wisteria Lodge. The hosts Alex & Marta were so friendly, accommodation beautiful & bought Alayna a children's book as a going away present. We recommend their B&B if ever staying in Tamar Valley.
Today wandering through Deloraine bump into Chookie & Ral 😄 ... small world.
Seeing it's our anniversary today we went for a deluxe cabin & has a lot more room than the standard cabins.
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/01/3f87284d4855776ad2479b5bc0d2e9db.jpg)(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/01/ad07acde6ea60510f9fff4457f46e3d1.jpg)
-
First picture Cataract George & second view of Devonport from our cabin.
-
Almost the end of a wonderful holiday Kerry, thanks for sharing the lovely photos of your family and holiday. Happy anniversary, have a great trip back.
-
Happy anniversary Kerry. I love your photos. Safe trip home.
-
Happy Anniversary Kerry! Sounds like you're having a great time.
How lovely that you bumped into Chookie & Ral.
-
Happy Anniversary Kerry.
Thank you for the photos. :-* I always enjoy seeing your wonderful country sitting in my arm chair here in Blighty ;D
-
Happy anniversary Kerry, have a great trip back, love your photos.
-
lovely photos. Happy anniversary Kerry & Adrian
-
Happy Anniversary, Kerry!! Beautiful photos . . and memories of wonderful holiday! Safe traavelling!! :D
-
Happy anniversary Kerry. Great photos.
-
Last Day today and in Launceston. Fancy bumping into Kerry and family. It was so nice to see them again. We have been missing the bright noisy company of Forum friends. Bedlam said the silk tapestry depicting the 4 season around Deloraine were worth seeing, and she was so right. There was a massive Craft Fair in Deloraine and there was a real buzz in the town. It snowed on us as we passed Cradle Mountain.
We spent 3 days in Strahan at Risby Cove. We loved Strahan. Awful road in to the coast from Queenstown. Took a river cruise up the Gordon. It was like traveling first class. We opted to pay a bit extra and had a catered lunch. All products from the area. (. Have a couple of good recipes to easily convert to Thermi. ) We had 2 excursions off the boat. One into the rain forest where we were shown all the trees that produce the beautiful Tassie timbers. The second was to Sarah Island, convicts were brought here before Pt. Arthur. Saw a brick oven that produced 400 loaves a day.
2 nights in Launceston at Peppers on the North Esk River. Ral can drool over the boats and there are 3 very good Restaurants right here. We went to Mud last night. Ral had twice cooked chicken. I think they used my KFC recipe but had simmered the chicken first in chicken stock. ( just joking, but was similar). Will try this when we get home. Sour Dough bread , but sure it had added yeast. It was served with 2 butters. One was a bit different as it had Thai spices added. Nice idea for something different.
Sorry no photos until I get game and try and sort out Tapatalk.
-
Enjoy your last day Chookie. Your holiday sounded lovely,I'll look forward to seeing the photos. ;D
-
Sounds lovely Chookie,
We really enjoyed the Gordon River cruise and the tour to Sarah Island. Our guide was a real hoot.
Here's a photo of the brick oven where the bread was made. Fascinating stuff!
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/01/aafb48349c4ea7eb15ed4f3caf26a1e7.jpg)
-
Kerry, thanks for posting and sharing your travels. Glad you enjoyed your stay and hope the weather was not too bad. Happy Anniversary
Katie, your photo of the bread oven brought back memories of our trip there many years ago.
Chookie, glad you enjoyed your time here.
Safe travels home everyone.
-
Thanks for all the wishes.
Off boat after a rough night, Adrian got really sick so he didn't have much fun. Alayna & I no problems I actually enjoyed watching the waves going over the ferry.
-
Kerry, sorry to hear about the rough trip, it was terribly rough here yesterday. Do hope DH recovers quickly. Take care
-
Seasickness is the absolute pits ... I do feel for your DH and I do hope he recovers quickly.. What a shame!! . Years ago I became ill on a sailing boat and the young skipper just laughed at me and told me it was just all in my head.... I do know after hanging over the side for most of the day where everything wasnt!! :(
-
Poor Adrian, what an awful end to your lovely holiday - I hope he is feeling OK for the drive back home now.
Chookie and all those who travelled by car throughout the island - I loved reading about your experiences, it sounded wonderful and was definitely the way to see what Tasmania has to offer.
GF - that skipper was very insensitive, I would have stayed close to him and not hung over the edge. He'd then have realised it wasn't all in your head ;)
-
How wonderful was your holiday kmw. Thanks for sharing with us. I have so enjoyed you and your family.
Gert
-
Chookie I am so sorry we did not have an iPad session to sort out all the problems with Tapatalk and other stuff. W e could have cleared a spot in th e bar area. Hauled a couple of tables froM the lobby and set up a training session without hiring a room. ROFLMAO!
Poor Adrian. I get it. I have had plenty of sea sickness and once in Tahiti where there were two of us left on the boat unable to move. He had stripped down to his parrot smugglers and me in my bra and grannies. Neither one of us could walk and were sweating buckets. We had to be "offloaded" by the captain and his mates who were tall gorgeous Tahitian men. Not a bad end to a horrible trip. Much applause from the people waiting for the ferry. Unfortunately they were unable to board as the next ferry as cancelled due to high seas. I always reckon the Captain just wanted to get home to his island before shutting down the service.
Gert
-
How embarrassing Gert, glad you weren't the only one though. I think you're right, the Captain had other things on his mind. Thank goodness you coped with our little boat trip in Hobart :D :D
-
We used to own a 50 year old 33 foot timber Cruiser which was moored in Pittwater . We had some hairy trips in it but it was fine in a small boat. It is the big boats I don't much like the boat was named by out great Mexican friend Carlos . We called it Peaced and the dingy was Half Peaced.
Gert
-
Kerry, poor Adrian. What a way to celebrate your 5th. Anniversary. Hope he is ok now.
Gert, you could have sorted me out but we were too busy talking to waste precious time on other stuff.
We also had a 30 footer. Called a Warship. I couldn't go on it as my gyro in my ears plays up. No problem with the Gordon River Boat.
Katie, thanks for the photo of that oven. What a beauty. No money to prevent it from ruin. They said all the money goes to Pt. Arthur. Might talk to them about doing some fund raising to save it. What do you think.?
-
Kerry I hope Adrian was able to drive once you were on shore. Thank goodness I have never been seasick. When we returned on our Gordon River trip an enormous storm blew up and it was really rough coming back. A Park Ranger came back in our wake as it was too rough for him and his smaller boat. It was very exciting.
I found Sarah Island quite emotive.
Travel safely those still not home.
-
Glad you are safely home Kerrie. Poor Adrian, not a nice way to finish a fab holiday. Hope we catch up again in Melbourne. X
-
Poor Adrian Kerry.DH had terrible sea sickness once and will never forget the experience :-X
-
makes me feel sick just reading about sea sickness
-
Adrian is good now, he wouldn't let me drive as he gets car sick & preferred to be the driver.
Spent a lovely day in Melbourne, Alayna went on her first tram ride & we found a art centre for kids. They were doing floor mural made out colour duct tape, we all had fun with this.
Bedlam not quite home yet, Ararat now to break up the trip for Alayna.
-
Sounds fun Kerry.
Late yesterday afternoon we were looking at the activity out our Hotel window when a boat exploded at the Marina . Huge flames and horrid black smoke poured into the air. No one was hurt. Like idiots we opened the door to have a good look and some smoke came into the room. We spent the next few hours with the door into the Hotel passage open trying to remove the smell.
Should be home by 5 tonight.
-
Glad DH is better KMW and that you had a lovely day in Melbourne. :)
Chookie, so glad you were not closer to that boat exploding, how terrible. Good to know you will be home soon, take care
-
Blimey Chookie that blast must have been a shock :o
Have a safe journey home :-*
-
That is terrible chookie.,where did that happen?,
I once saw a Tupperware boat burn to the waterline in about 10 minutes. The black smoke and smell was horrible. Luckily everyone jumped overboard and swam to shore .
Gert
-
What an awful situation Chookie, pleased no one was hurt.
Safe travels, always good to get home.
-
Oh my Chookie, that's terrible.
I'm glad everyone is safe.
-
Oh Chookie that would have been awful. Hope you are now home safe and sound.
We have been in Goulburn for DH's car club race weekend. Was a smashing weekend, for some more than others ;D.
No human casualties, only a few cars with some mechanical problems. The motorhome looked a bit out of place amongst all the race cars and tow vehicles and trailers. DH loves racing and of course his red car goes fast ;D ;D ;D
Goulburn is a very old city and has some beautiful old buildings (the big ram is not one of them)
-
Thanks for the photos djinni, thanks for sharing.
Chookie, we saw the burnt out boat on the news last night, couldn't see you and Ral looking on though. ;D Glad you are home safe :-*
-
The little red Corvette certainly looks fast, was he pleased with his performance?
Goulburn- is that a fruit growing area as in goulburn valley fruits?
Pleased you are finding time to post for us you are such a busy girl.
-
Nice to be home Chookie and with a new toy. Have fun.
-
Boat fires are usually very black and explosive. Gert I love the 'Tupperware' boat. An apt description.
More lovely photos, thanks Gayle.
Happy T5ing Chookie.
-
A big way to end your trip Chookie. Hope your flight home was good.
We got home last night, dealing with the washing today.
Djinni my DD would love the big ram.
-
Kerry, big day. Couldn't sleep last night.
Bet you had a lot of washing. Glad you are home safe.
I am having a nervous breakdown as I can't cope with Tapatalk. Will just have to post on my Blog.
-
Chookie, please don't have nervous breakdown. Can we help????????????????
-
There is a big ram exactly the same as the one in Gayle's photo in Wagin over here.
-
I never use Tapatalk at all except to post photos.. Don't like it at all.
Gert
-
Glad your home safe Kerrie. The first couple of days are the worst. Catching up and washing.
Same as Gert, Chookie, only use tapatalk for photos.
-
Just back from our four day break with DS in Hervey Bay. Apart from a wonderful day trip to Fraser Island all we did was potter about my DS's house and rest - no adventures as dramatic as everyone else! Would love to post some photos - I don't hold out much hope of success on that front, but we'll see how I get on.
It sounds like you have all had great times with lots of great memories and stores to tell - my post seems very tame in comparison - it's just such a change for me to go on holiday I had to mark it somehow!
-
Marina, sounds like the perfect holiday for you when you work so hard and are always up so early.
-
Sounds as though you had a great break Marina ;D
I agree with Chookie you do work hard .
-
Sounded like a perfect break to me. My kind of holiday.
Gert
-
A break is a break Marina and Fraser Island is a great place to visit. I'd liked to have done a little more myself though especially when you have so few holidays. It looks as if we will have to make sure you have more of an adventure when you join us for the next forumfest although living in Melbourne, you've probably done everything already. The difference will be having a happy (or is that crazy?) group of people to share it with. Please do try and post your photos, can one of your employees give you a hand with it?
-
Sounds perfect to me too, we gave never been there but would love to.
-
I haven't been to Hervey Bay for ages. Photos maybe???
-
Sounds like you had a well deserved break Marina.
-
Marina Sounds wonderful! Just the thing after a long stint of hard work
Cookie that's interesting about another big sheep in Wagin. Will have to check it out ;D
Denise DH was thrilled with his personal best times and I was happy he didn't break the car (usually very expensive to fix) Goulburn fruits are from the Goulburn River Valley in the north of Victoria. Here's (http://www.trublutravelling.com.au/#!/explore/nsw/snowy-mountains/goulburn) more about Goulburn NSW if you are interested.
-
Fraser Island and Hervey Bay are on my list Marina and glad to hear you enjoyed the break away from work.
Gayle your trip was great too and hope you enjoyed it. Are you home now?
-
Test photo
-
OK, I've done my test photo of the Jacaranda trees at Hervey Bay so fingers crossed that some more will work out.
Photos are:
Bats, waiting for dusk to take flight
Lake MacKenzie on Fraser Island
One of the crystal clear creeks on Fraser Island
DH and myself having drinks at Pt Vernon, Hervey Bay, waiting for sunset
Sunset at Pt Vernon
Just found that I cannot post all of these at once, so I'll do a series and hopefully that will work.
-
Lake MacKenzie, Fraser Island and one of the gorgeous streams on Fraser Island
-
Nice photos Marina, Lake McKenzie and Frasier Island was great we were up there last year.
-
Beautiful Marina, glad you can post photos
-
Yay, you've posted some pictures. Lovely, I love Jacaranda trees Marina.
-
Thanks, everyone, but don't get too carried away, I'm still trying to post the final two photos, for some reason they are just not working – I’ll give it one last try before I give up in despair!
The photo is of DH and myself sitting at Pt Vernon waiting for the sunset ... the reason for the smiles is that I don't often drink, much less do I drink straight from a bottle - DH and DS thought this was very funny. The second photo, so long as I can post it on this post, is of the sunset.
-
OK ... THAT'S IT, I'm giving up!!! Obviously, the forum doesn't want to see me having a drink - it's far too shocking! Hope you enjoy the photos I eventually did manage to get up!
-
Stunning sunset Marina.
Pity about your drink pic as us drinkers would have loved to see it ;D
-
You did really well Marina, now you can try some of the cooking you do at weekends ;)
-
You did really well Marina, now you can try some of the cooking you do at weekends ;)
LOL x 4!
-
Cuilidh, the photos are wonderful, keep them coming please ;D
Stunning sunset Marina.
Pity about your drink pic as us drinkers would have loved to see it ;D
Agree totally! ;D
-
Couple of photos from our trip in Tassie after the FF. (http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/07/4aa6e575ddf0b4a6d3d7575178cd24dc.jpg)
This is the cottage at Oatlands where we went to see the mill.
-
We stayed at Risby Cove at Strahan. This is a commercial photo. While we were there it blew a gale and rained. We enjoyed every minute of it. (http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/07/3d1e19ebc586c31a4342e1cbfccf0eb4.jpg)
-
Back to Hobart. First night out. We were in high spirits already. (http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/07/c47eb03f2fa068e365cc96c9c5a40cf2.jpg)
Can you guess who is behind the iPad?
-
Our beloved Gert.
-
Wonderful photos Marina and Chookie ;D
-
A couple more. (http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/08/031715ea77b7bbbf847900edbe44b24b.jpg)
At Queenstown, special train trip on Rack and Pinion train.The history of this place and the people is amazing. 3 deaths in the copper mines in the last year has had a devastating effect on the town. The staff worked very hard to entertain us. We were very lucky and sat with a young couple on their honeymoon.
-
Oops, this is me getting a glass of Champers , that Ral drank. ,!
-
Deloraine had a special Art and Craft exhibition. Bedlam said we had to go there. We bumped into Kerry and family there also. This man and his Llama are frequently in the street. The cap that the owner has on, has some of the Llamas fleece knitted into it. (http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/08/50e6da2bfbf6771bc41aae1087560502.jpg)
We particularly wanted to see the artwork in silk. 4 panels, depicting the seasons. Took 2 years, 10,000 hours and 300 people. Beautiful. The photos that I took don't do it justice, but I will put up a photo of a small corner. (http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/08/55a2f6f0a2f0c7ab9811b1076cf4d770.jpg)
-
Oops again, this is taken from the Deck at Frogmore Winery where we returned after the FF lunch.
-
Small section of Silk Art. (http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/08/e3bc1630215aa2fa5e85cd7cf8aa927c.jpg)
-
Great photos Chookie 8) I always appreciate people taking the time to post them. :-*
-
Thank you all for the photos. Congratulations Marina for the super effort of putting them up.
Chookie that silk looks beautiful.
-
Chookie is that silk art des played all year round somewhere ?, it looks wonderful if I get to Tassie next year I would love to see it.
-
AB, it is a display in the Delaraine tourist centre. If you get to Tassie you should have a look. I think they run it on the hour at a cost of $12. They also have a house filled with the glory of the past including the shed and gardens.
The silks are amazing.
-
Great photos Chookie and the silk is gorgeous.
The places you stayed in look lovely.
Thanks for sharing :D
-
love the silk painting.
-
They are lovely photos, Chookie, the silk work is gorgeous.
-
Booked my week at the beach in January... :)
-
where are you off too this year
-
just Palm cove Uni, but a great apartment, beach front, heated pool. ;D
DH and kids love it. will have to catch up with Gert again.
Mission beach would have been $1500 dearer for the week just on accommodation.
planning a cruise too. hopefully new staff too, so more breaks for us.. :D
-
Ouch Robyn.
Just caught up on everyone's travels. Will have to get to Tasmania one year.
We just came back from a weekend in Brisbane where we saw the Lion King.
-
Yes Ouch INAID, Mission beach is way too expensive, not worth the extra money..
-
Robyn, I loved Palm cove when I stayed there.
-
Brenda. we usually have a week in January every year, very relaxing, but still close to home.
My only time i don't cook for a week. :)
-
With all the cooking you do Robyn, you deserve a week off - Palm Cove sounds lovely.
-
It is Michelle, and its right on our doorstep, best beach up here. :D
-
Set out for Shell Harbour yesterday. Great trip down. This over looking Corrimal and Wollongong.
-
Today we went to Berry, Nowra and home through Kiama and the Blow Hole.
-
Super photos Michele.Its great to see some warm sunshine ;D
-
INAID, GERT, we come down on Sunday if you want to catch up. :)
-
You caught the blowhole perfectly Mich.
-
Lovely photos Michele.
-
Great photos mich. It's a lovely spot you are travelling in.
-
We started off the day at the Hindu temple at Helensburgh. We stuck out like sore thumbs but everyone was very friendly and helped us order food as we didn't have a clue. Have never seen so many beautiful saris up close.
Then we went to the Buddhist temple at Berkeley, just amazing.
-
Pics from the Hindu Temple.
-
Pics from Buddhist Temple.
-
Fantastic pictures Mich. We have a Hindu temple quite close to us. The building is identical, although the one here is in different colour stone.
-
palm cove again this week. ;D
-
Have fun Robyn.
-
Have a nice break Robyn.
-
Sounds just what you need Robyn. Enjoy and relax.
-
Photos please. Have fun.
-
Enjoy your break Robyn.
-
Lucky you Robyn, enjoy yourself.
-
Just booked our next trip to Oahu in April. This time we are returning to hotels so I get to be a bit spoilt (last trip was in a condo, very nice but I had to make beds, do washing and cleaning so wasn't as relaxing as usual LOL).
-
Sounds perfect.
-
Sounds wonderful Kylie. :)
-
A relaxing holiday to look forward to Kylie ;D
-
We are just back from 2 weeks in Bali, Christmas and New Year. We stayed at 2 different hotels, both 5 star but wow what a difference. We have been to both before. The first hotel was the Laguna in Nusa Dua, fantastic service for our villa, would call the butler and everything was done and organised straight away. The villa was large and very luxurious. The last 4 days we stayed at Ayana and wont be going back to the The Ayana at Jimbaran Bay. We booked a rollout bed for our son, checked in at 3pm, his bed arrived at midnight after many calls. The staff had no idea about what was on and what was included in our villa pricing etc. We were in an updated luxury villa but the service was shocking, the room was cleaned after numerous calls about 3pm. We expect for the money and the hotel the room to be cleaned while we are at breakfast. So many things wrong with this hotel and the food was disgusting in several restaurants. Whereas the Laguna our villa was always spotless, restaurants great and service fantastic. The Rock bar at The Ayana is good, we went twice but priority to hotel guests is a joke. Around sunset numerous outsiders come to the hotel to visit the rock bar, so you must line up with them, you are in a priority queue but they check in you 50/50 so the queuse were at least 30 mins, then to queue again for a table and chairs. Both hotels were expensive, a villa around $700++ per night.
-
Sounds not good Hally :-\
If you are paying that much, I would expect a lot more.
-
I agree Obbie, we went to Ayana about 5 years ago and it was fantastic, I think they are now living off their name, which to us now sux.
>:(
-
Good to hear you enjoyed part of your holiday Hally, you now know not to go back to the second place. Did you have a word with the Manager?
-
yes I spoke to the F&B Manager, we had a NYE buffet, cost over $300 and we ate hardly anything. The roast meats were tough, the indian dishes were nice, but no side dishes or indian style breads to accompany the curries. The desserts were a choice of 4 and no cheese board. He reduced the food bill by 50%. I am going to write to the hotel manager as there was so much misinformation, i.e. no kids allowed at the Rock Bar, ok thats the rules and it wouldn't suit our son, but when we finally get down there, kids, and toddlers! Lots of misinformation. We enjoyed the stay but we loved the Laguna, we were treated so well there.
-
You should post a review on Trip Advisor
-
Gert, yes I will do.
-
Photos???
-
will try.....
-
Very disappointing Hally. Glad the first place was good.
-
These are from the Ayana, as you an see our villa was stunning.
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/IMG_0499.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/IMG_0499.jpg.html)
-
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/IMG_0477.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/IMG_0477.jpg.html)
-
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/IMG_0476.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/IMG_0476.jpg.html)
-
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/IMG_0475.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/IMG_0475.jpg.html)
-
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/IMG_0482.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/IMG_0482.jpg.html)
-
The Rock Bar, the next few are all at The Rock Bar
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/The%20Rock%20Bar/10864048_754219304653554_2254273577221377556_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/The%20Rock%20Bar/10864048_754219304653554_2254273577221377556_o.jpg.html)
-
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/The%20Rock%20Bar/10864022_754219594653525_3478780149297519332_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/The%20Rock%20Bar/10864022_754219594653525_3478780149297519332_o.jpg.html)
-
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/The%20Rock%20Bar/1888866_754219551320196_8161254496142060900_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/The%20Rock%20Bar/1888866_754219551320196_8161254496142060900_o.jpg.html)
-
The Laguna, our villa.
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10835138_746466735428811_3685476188421655438_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10835138_746466735428811_3685476188421655438_o.jpg.html)
-
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10864035_746466708762147_5470617145620565178_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10864035_746466708762147_5470617145620565178_o.jpg.html)
-
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10863910_746466645428820_139028436400833973_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10863910_746466645428820_139028436400833973_o.jpg.html)
-
The Breakfast view.
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10866030_750675855007899_8710492511807241623_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10866030_750675855007899_8710492511807241623_o.jpg.html)
-
The Lagoon
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10608430_750675788341239_5752872316583700761_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10608430_750675788341239_5752872316583700761_o.jpg.html)
-
Dinner at Bambu Bali
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n615/yurkov/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10515333_748550368553781_5680824204460291524_o.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/yurkov/media/Facebook/Bali%20Dec%202014/10515333_748550368553781_5680824204460291524_o.jpg.html)
-
They are very beautiful Hally.
-
Yes both places are amazing, we will be going back to the Laguna again. I think I now have worked out how to download the photos here, it was good practice and doesn't take long now:)
-
Did CP have somewhere nice to sleep too?
-
Practise makes perfect , beautiful pictures.
-
Did CP have somewhere nice to sleep too?
He ha a roll out bed in the lounge, love it so he could watch tv in bed :)
-
Lovely photos Hally.It looks a wonderful place to have a holiday.
-
Absolutely beautiful Hally
-
Love your photos Hally, thanks for sharing, what a beautiful spot for a holiday :)
-
Really lovely Hally. :)
-
Did a cooking a class yesterday and I love it
-
Wow Uni, sounds like great fun.
-
Uni you are looking great and the cooking class looks like fun.
-
What fun Uni.Your food looks great :)
-
Great looking food Uni.
We arrived in Maroochydore yesterday after an over night stay at Yamba.
Today we went to Noosa, had lunch at a castle and we to the ginger factory which is more of a theme park. Lovely weather too.
-
Great photos Michele :)
-
Mich you look great! A ginger factory would be very interesting to see. What was that about - the growing side of it and obviously lots of ginger to buy?
Uni the cooking class looks very interesting. The thing I like about the Asian style is that you don't need a lot of cooking implements to make a stunning dish. Did you the recipes of what you made, and are the ingredients easy to buy here?
-
The castle looks very exciting Mich. I don't like ginger, but I love the flavour it gives to things. I'm just weird. ;D
It looks like you are having great fun. Are you only away for Easter?
-
The castle looks very exciting Mich. I don't like ginger, but I love the flavour it gives to things. I'm just weird. ;D
It looks like you are having great fun. Are you only away for Easter?
We are here until Sunday and then an over night stay at Coffs Harbour and home on Monday 13th. Would have stayed 2 more nights but need to get mum to a Dr's app on the 14th.
Today we we to Montville - such a pretty town. Loads of shopping opportunities. Ģorgeous, beautiful shops.
By the time I ģot to the bower bird all I wanted to do was go home ŕnd have a jolly good declutter. Onč shop l couldn't go pass was this
-
The Bower Bird
-
Great photos mich. You're looking relaxed.
-
A special shop for Bedlam. It sounds wonderful Mich.
-
Looks like a wonderful break away Mich, full of peace and tranquility no doubt!
-
I have a question for those ladies who went to Tasmania last year for the Forum Fest weekend; I am going this October with the Aust. Sewing Guild and would like to know what the weather is likely to be in October; hot or cold. I don't want to take too many clothes.
-
Troupie we had a couple of beautiful sunny days, a horrid rainy day and the day after I left it snowed on Mt Wellington. I'd take a warm jacket that can go over everything. Long trousers, tops and a cardigan or something similar that goes with everything.
-
Ditto to Cookies comments Troupie, layers would be a good idea.
You will love it what ever the weather.
-
Pack a brolly and a scarf too Troupie and enjoy your holiday, our forum group certainly did.
-
Thanks for that information; hard to believe it will be cold in October but I suppose it is a bit further south than Perth. I will have to go and buy winter clothes (I mean make them); don't use many hear.
-
Better get a cheap pair of boots as well Troupie.
Ge
-
Troupie, we had an extra week after the FF in Hobart and it was quite cold and wet.
-
I just got back from Tassie last week and I found the nights cold, beanie and gloves for me as well as a big warm jacket, I was camping you will be ok indoors
-
Thanks for that information; hard to believe it will be cold in October but I suppose it is a bit further south than Perth. I will have to go and buy winter clothes (I mean make them); don't use many hear.
It snowed in early December when I was in Cradle Mountain Troupie. Be prepared!
-
I've had it snow in August up near Cradle Mountain and then in January on Mount Wellington.
-
We are almost finishing our week in Waikiki - the husband is running his first ever half marathon tomorrow then we move onto Aulani which is a Disney resort for our last week.
Feeling very lazy and relaxed with having eaten out for every single meal since Easter Sunday! Lots of walking and swimming daily with a few shopping trips in between.
Couple of views from our Waikiki apartment and on top of Diamond Head. (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/11/e9547dfe511dd481eea5e2e64b90a8a0.jpg)(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/11/f3e360877539670aada79432c4ff7b16.jpg)
-
Beautiful photos Kyton, you are living the life - enjoy!
-
They certainly are beautiful Kyton.
-
Stunning photos Kyton.
Good luck to your DH in his half marathon.
-
Lucky you. It looks great. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.
-
Lovely photos, enjoy the rest of your holiday, good luck to your DH in the half marathon.
-
Thank you everyone. Waikiki is gorgeous - other then home, it is my "happy place".
The husband did awesome! 21klms in 2hr 40min. He has only ever run 5klm park runs as a hobby starting last year. The most he has run over the last two months was 12klms so he is so pleased and we are so proud of him. He is already eyeing off the Honolulu full marathon in December LOL.
-
Congratulations to your DH kyton, now that he's proven himself it's only natural that he'll want to go on to bigger races now. Well done!
-
Well done Mr Kyton. Onward and upward.
-
Well done Mr kyton :) A great time too.
-
Well done My Kyton, I couldn't think of a better place to have a go at a half or full marathon. Not sure where you are from, but the Melbourne 1/2 and full marathon are great as the course is quite scenic, reasonably flat and goes past some of Melbourne's iconic locations.
I'm getting excited, I've been so busy with work recently but from this Sunday I'm spending 1 week at a health retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland. One full week of no caffeine, alcohol, internet, phone, added sugar or salt. I'm expecting it to be a challenge and I'm sure I'll miss the family, but can't wait for the challenge and to hopefully feel the effects of good wholesome food, exercise and relaxation.
-
I've always wanted to go to a health retreat (but not one that gives up all those items), it will never happen but I hope you enjoy it Wonder. I'd have the biggest headache if I didn't drink my 2 cups of coffee a day though :-))
-
Lovely photos Kylie and well done to your DH.
Sounds great Wonder.
-
We are home from our trip away to Qld. We had a lovely time and we are already planning the next weekend away. Went to Eumundi markets on Saturday, the best markets I've ever been to, some very talented locals - They call it The make it, bake it, sew it, grow it markets. The big pineapple was disappointing, not much there and the big pineapple itself hasn't changed since I went there as a kid. A day in Brisbane at South Bank was great too.
Some wild life around the camp site too. This little fellow took up residence in our ensuite and there were plenty of lizards, ibis (apparently they are a problem in Maroochydore) and plenty of bush turkeys at Yamba an Emerald Beach.
-
Stopped overnight at Emerald Beach - just outside of Coffs Harbour before heading home. Really pretty spot that I would like to visit again. This is Emerald Beach at sunset. On the way there we had to get a pic of the Big Prawn - I have a fascination with big things. This photo will go with the big banana, the big pineapple, ozzie the mozzie etc. We also had lunch at The Ettamogah Pub.
-
Mich, what a lovely trip you are having! I love Eumundi Markets - so diverse.
Wonder, a Mum at our school went to the Golden Door and raved about it. Her husband is a chef and I asked whether she tried to convert him when she got home but she said the biggest change for her was reducing caffeine in coffee and chocolate. Hope you enjoy it.
We changed location today. Disney built a resort, Aulani a couple of years ago 30mins from Waikiki and our kids enjoy it so we are here for a week. (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/13/6e74fafb7160455ea93a2c23efd8f8a4.jpg)(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/13/cfd1c23d7d48ecba957f69bc26909983.jpg)
-
I love your ensure visitor Mich. Thanks for all the photos.
Wonder enjoy your health retreat. I'm like Judy, I would like to go to a retreat with lots of 'some of those things'.
Kyton, beautiful photos.
-
So much to see in Qld Michele, it sounds like you had a great time. Have seen many of the things you mentioned and I also have a fascination for big things.
-
Such wonderful photos of your beautiful country Michele. 8)
Enjoy your Spa Retreat Wonder. :-*
What a terrific view Kyton. 8)
-
Lovely outlook Kylie.
Judy, our next trip we are planning is the Great Ocean Road and onto S.A. What big things do you have?
-
We have a big orange in the Riverland and a big rocking horse in the Adelaide hills off the top of my head Michele but I'm sure there are others.
Googled for some more
Big miner in Kapunda not far north of Adelaide
The big lobster in Kingston in the south east
The big galah in Kimba on the Eyre Hwy
-
Thanks Judy - will put them on the list. ;D
-
mcmich your trip looks and sounds lovely. I'm getting excited about my health retreat but have just found out I need to go to Brisbane tonight for some meetings tomorrow so looks like I'm going to be even busier over the next few days than I thought :-[ guess it will make the break even more enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the activity side of the retreat rather than spa but have booked a number of different massages to try and get rid of a lot of creaks and pains. I'm not looking forward to giving up coffee or wine and haven't made any effort to cut down so it looks like my first few days are going to be struggling with withdrawal symptoms.
Kyton Golden Door was my second choice but it seemed more spa based rather than fitness and I think they also had internet/phone access so on advice from a friend I picked the one which I knew would push me more.
-
Your health retreat sounds awesome wonder. Enjoy when you finally get there x
Mich we have the big koala in Victoria. It's on the way to the Grampians. Have you seen the big merino at Goulburn?
-
a few pic from our bali trip
-
more photos
-
i enjoyed the cooking class so much i did it again with my neighbor Putu
-
Great photos Uni :)
-
Great series of photos, Uni.
-
A bit of a delay but my week of peace and tranquility has now come and gone. I spent days at Eden Health retreat in the Currumbin valley in Qld and it was a fantastic experience and one I would recommend to anyone. The group was approx 40 people and included quite a few repeat guests, only 4 guys, a few mother/daughter couples, some friends and quite a few singles. The age range was from 25 to 78 and varying degrees of fitness levels and everyone had there individual reasons for being there. I was very surprised and didn't really miss my coffee or wine and it was a welcome relief to have no phone or internet access.
Activities were scheduled for each hour starting with stretching and Qi Qong or yoga each morning at 6am and finishing with some sort of talk or presentation at 7.15pm, so lots of early mornings and nights. The retreat is geared around Str etching and moving the body as much as possible as we age so they try to include as much incidental exercise into the day as possible so even if your aren't and exerciser you are still moving throughout the day. The dining room and cabins are located at the top of a very long and steep hill while all activities, the pool, spa and sauna are at the bottom, so unless you spend your entire day in your room you have to at least climb the hill 3 times each day. I tried to take as much advantage as possible of the activities and found everything great. I found the morning Qi Qong and brisk rainforest walk each morning to be fantastic and will be trying to incorporate these back into my daily routine.
The food served was 5 star for every meal and there wasn't anything that I gladly wouldn't eat again, and it was fantastic to have such a wonderful variety of healthy wholefoods prepared for every meal.
All up while it seemed a little indulgent at first, I would recommend the experience to everyone regardless of age or fitness level and would happily return at some point in the future. I'll try posting a few photos a little later as they aren't on my iPad.
-
Sounds like a wonderful experience Wonder. They obviously planned the rooms being up the hill and everything else down it! More excercise to get to and from there, love it. ;D
Look forward to seeing your photos. :)
-
Thanks for the photos Uni, nice to see you out and about like a tourist. How's your house going, all finished now?
Wonder, you lost me when I read the 6 am rise ;D The only time I get up at that hour is when I'm going on a holiday and have an early flight. I've only ever heard good things about these retreats though and I guess if I had the opportunity I would enjoy it and get used to the strict routine.
-
Judy I'm fine with the early start as I get up around 5.30 anyway for a walk or to go to the gym, but there were many who thought they would struggle. Most found they felt so energised after the stretching and Qi Qong on the first morning that they were happy to get up the following days, although there were a few that didn't participate and there is no pressure if you preferred to stay in bed. I think testament to how good most people felt was that on the Friday morning we were taken by bus to a beach about 30 minutes away for the morning routine, were served pancakes and fruit at the beach then headed for a walk and kayak (for those interested) and they had 100% of the group get up at 5.30 and the bus was full by 5.45am with everyone eager to get going.
-
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/05/7a3425dd7b59155a1be0579d3c775364.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/05/2fdf6005cb8f959eb57bd67ab854dd72.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/05/8ddff39ab28019953df438a5fab213f9.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/05/1e695723da67eb3ce202df71e56a5658.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/05/133eb64261f46bc8ddf02517e863af9a.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/05/c2e63f938dca3179831f6f1ff6fa2ad6.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/05/4a2b4c14bbae7674ea5cf0f7baa539bf.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/05/9f09929574ab98c549e04bfe976a5f6d.jpg)
-
A few photos of my stay at Eden Health Retreat.
-
I think if you're going to pay all that money for a health retreat you would have to participate in all activities, no point going along if you don't. You look so fit and healthy already Wonder and it would have been a great experience for you. Thanks for sharing the photos.
-
the house is all finished Frank built the pizza oven it only took him a few days and the rest of the time we spent just lazing around the pool and discovering our area, so much nicer and cleaner than kuta or legian, but i would rather be in legian, its 2 quiet in jimbaran and 2 many creatures for my liking
-
I'm not afraid of gekkos Uni, I let them live inside when we lived in Darwin. One of the few critters I would share a house with though.
-
on the day we were leaving i saw a snake, lucky for frank it was our last day or else i would have driven him crazy
until he got rid of it :o
-
You certainly had a fabulous stay at the Health Retreat Wonder.Lovely to see you looking so good in the final photo. :)
-
What a wonderful experience wonder. I would love to do something like that one day.
Great photos uni. You are looking good. Very relaxed.
-
Wonder it certainly sounds an interesting experience. Uni, like Judy I love geckos. When we lived in Broome they were on the walls like yours. They used to eat the moths.
We have arrived at Monkey Mia. Last night we stayed by the Murchison River. It is a free camp but there was a lot of others there, at least 50.
The second photo is a morning tea break on the road.
-
Oops, my photos came out upside down, yet when I tapped on them they turned up the right way. Sorry. :-\
-
Lucky you Cookie,enjoy.
Wonder that looks wonderful! As do you.
I'm with you Uni, not relaxed with any creepy crawlers. Pizza oven and house look great.
-
Funny how the photos turn up the right way when you tap on them Cookie. Nice blue sky, weather must be good.
-
Lovely photos Cookie.Just look at that blue sky!
-
Uni, your place is looking and sounding fantastic.
I'm not a fan of creepy crawlys although I think the geckos are cute. On my last morning at Eden I was talking to a lady already sitting down to breakfast and pulled my chair out to sit down and fortunately I must have notice something amiss on the chair just as I was about to sit on it and there was quite a large snake curled up in the sun. Apparently I didn't scream but just called out "snake" and stood very still, eventually everyone was alerted and it caused quite a commotion. My heart rate certainly spiked and I couldn't stop shaking for a while. The snake was very unhappy that I had almost sat on him and was apparently a mildly venomous one so very glad I didn't sit all the way down.
Cookie, your photos look lovely, the sky is so blue.
KimmyH, I would highly recommend Eden and apparently they regularly run specials on Groupon.
A few photos of my near miss taken by another guest
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/06/91890a4862e816fbf08080b016ba7b00.jpg)
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/06/86da13a8628fea6ff96c7b37d8a89b0f.jpg)
-
I do not think I would like to sit on that one.
-
Yikes, a near miss Wonder. I don't know what I would have done but I guess it would have frightened the snake as much as it had frightened me :-))
-
OMG Wonder!!!!!! :o .I would have left the building screaming if I had encountered that snake.
-
Wonder you are amazing, you managed a photo. I would still be running. Even looking at the photo made my skin creep.
-
OMG wonder
-
Omg wonder, you would have heard me screaming.
-
I'm still shaking
-
My photo actually didn't work at all because my hand was shaking too much, but one of the other guests was kind enough to send this to me. I think I went into a bit of shock when it happened, I thought I had screamed quite loudly but those that were near me said I was very calm.
-
I'm not a fan of any snakes but can get rid of the friendly ones. DH (at his own admission) is a big girl when it comes to snakes as there aren't any in NZ.
I'm the snake girl in this family as we live in the bush - just grad them behind the head (if they are of the friendly variety) otherwise call wires.
-
It's a beautiful day here at Monkey Mia. A little breezy for our small boat which means I can sit and read, walk and enjoy the surroundings. Then in the evenings enjoy the sunset with bubbles. Oops, some how the last 2 photos are upside down. They do fix themselves if you tap on them.
-
Beautiful pics Jean, it all looks heavenly!
-
Idyllic location and lovely photos Jean.
-
Perfect Jean. You enjoy it.
-
Lovely photos cookie.
-
Wonderful photos Cookie.I just love the intense colour of blue in the sky and sea.A perfect spot.
-
Monkey Mia is such a beautiful place; I hope it has stayed as it was years ago and not got too big. Its been a while.
-
I would so love to see that place.
-
Still extremely small troupie. A caravan park, a heap,of motel style units, a backpackers area, a shop, and a restaurant. That is all there is here. It's classed as a resort, but a lot of it is getting very old and dilapidated. It has been bought by the RAC (NRMA) and they take over in July. It is very expensive by WA standards. Most people in the caravan park park upward of $52/ night. As 'Oldies' we pay quite a lot less.
It is a beautiful place.
-
How gorgeous Cookie, enjoy!
-
Jean, some friends of mine are up there now too. They have been posting heaps of video of the dolphins on the edge of the water on my Facebook account. It looks fabulous.
-
Beautiful looking spot Cookie. The colours in the sea and sky are lovely.
-
Thanks Bedlam. I will go and have a look. I'm afraid we don't really go down to see the dolphins any more. We tend to see heaps of them out in the bay. I did wander down after the dolphin feeding this morning and took this photo of the other boat that takes people out.
-
I hope the RAC don't change it too much and make it so expensive for families. The first time I went to Kalbarri it was a quiet little town with a few caravan parks and now it has changed so much.
-
I know what you mean troupie. My first visit to Kalbarri was in 1972 and there was very little there.
Late yesterday DH and I went crabbing. We caught 26 in two runs along the nets. An excellent catch. We have crabs for lunch for a few days and some to go in the freezer.
-
Great catch Jean, I love crabs.
-
A fantastic catch Cookie.I love crab but DH not so much.
-
Nothing quite like fresh cooked crab, warm with lots of black pepper and a little salt.
Well done on the crabbing Jean.
-
When we lived in Sydney we had a very old ( 50 +) wooden boat moored in Pittwater. We had many good times on this boat over the years. We used to catch a lot of blue swimmers , leather jackets and bream. Nothing like fresh caught and cooked on board. The boat now resides in the Gippsland Lakes
Gert
-
Oh I love eating crabs but unfortunately so does my 5yo son so I tend to be the cracker-opener and he gets the rewards.
We've just booked a short 3 day trip to Sydney next week to show the kids VIVID. Our rooms will overlook the Opera House so we should have a good view of it.
-
Yum Cookie. We are currently trying to plan a weeks holiday without kids! I renewed the visa yesterday. Now just have to decide on where to go.
-
Nice photos Jean, luckly I on my laptop and could turn it upside down to see the las to photos lol.
That could be us moored out there on our yacht next year.
-
That would be amazing Jeninwa. Enjoy your 4 day break.
-
Enjoy your break Jen; shame its not next weekend and you could come cooking with us too.
-
DH and I went fishing yesterday afternoon. We caught some big pink snapper. My largest was round 65cm long and his largest was 75cm long. I took photos with my phone but as my phone is almost dead I can't transfer them until I get home. It is illegal to bring pink snapper to shore until the end of July.
I did take a photo of the Bough Shed from the jetty and also the ocean from the front of the caravan park. This also shows the area where the dolphins come in.
-
I am picturing you out in the boat cooking it over a primus and eating it; don't know any other way to do it before end of July. What a shame as they are such great fish.
-
Such lovely photos Cookie.Beautiful sunshine with stunning views.I really enjoy all the photos that forum friends post.
-
Believe me we have all thought of that troupie. I must admit it is great sport catching them. My shoulder, back and leg muscles are a bit sore today, as the fish do several runs when you think you have them. Then you need to do the same reeling in all over again.
-
We got home about 2 this afternoon. Had a good trip. I took some nice photos of some early wild flowers when we stopped for lunch. I'll post them in a couple of days. I'm heading up to Nikki's tomorrow with Katj for a class.
This is what we look like travelling now adays.
-
Welcome home Jean, no sooner do your feet touch the ground and your into things again. Have fun tomorrow. Nice set-up with the car, van & boat.
-
A great photo Jean.Lovely to see how you travel.Enjoy tomorrow at Nikki's.
-
Cookie, perfect set up. Glad you travelled safely. Those fish sound like great sport.
-
Arrived in Harrington. We had booked a standard king spa room, they mucked up our booking and didn't have any of those rooms left so we were upgraded to a premier king spa room. ;D very nice too. A beautiful large room with large verandah over looking the river. A bottle of wine and breakfast.
On the funny side, I had a shampoo and blow dry this morning at the hairdressers in our little row of local shops, probably the nicest my hair has looked in a long time. DH commented several times. Get to our room, I jump in the spa, DH trying to be funny/helpful turned the spa on. The jets weren't covered with water and I got drowned, he may as well thrown a bucket of water over me. :-))
Will post some photos when tomorrow, just of Harrington of course.
-
Oh Mich, I hope you were able to have a good laugh about it. How sad to have your beautiful hair cut ruined.
-
Oh no Michele, how's your luck! Enjoy your weekend, the room sounds lovely.
-
What awful luck with the hair Michele.Enjoy the rest of your weekend. :)
-
How perfectly horrid timing Michele! Hope the rest of your weekend was a little drier.
I shouldn't be on this thread, I'm being jealous haha. DH is headed to Qld on Monday and I'm staying home with the midget. However three weeks of not rushing for work pickups, a kitchen that won't get trashed and minimal washing is definitely an upside!
-
That's a positive view of things Kristy.
-
Gotta be Cookie. Less housework counts as a holiday of sorts, doesn't it?
-
Sure does.
-
Here we are in Echuca, Ral, Bruce, Mandy and myself. We are having a cheap short holiday, 3 nights on a Shop a Docket . That is one of the specials on the back of the Supermarket receipt. $488 for 3 nights with cooked breakfast, free voucher for Devonshire tea and $40 off a meal at a local popular restaurant, as well as an hour boat trip up the river on a Paddle Steamer and a bottle of wine.
The room is large and clean. We had lunch at The Nook, good. Still have to decide about Dinner.
More tomorrow.
-
It sounds great Chookie, we had a week in Echuca many years ago and loved it.
-
Enjoy your little break Chookie :)
-
Sounds perfect chookie. Enjoy!
Gert
-
Enjoy your holiday Chookie. We love Echuca.
-
I have gone totally green with jealousy. What paddle steamer will you be going on Chookie?
It sounds like a brilliant deal. Have a wonderful break.
-
Chookie, it sounds like a GREAT deal, we used to always check shopper dockets when they were first popular, got out of the habit. Will make a point of looking.
Enjoy your break with your family.
-
This morning we went on the Canberra Paddle steamer down the Murray River. I am just now sitting in the car by the river while Bruce ,Mandy and Ral look for birds. I think they have found some. We had Devonshire tea for lunch, also part of the deal on the docket. Tomorrow night we are attending a Trivia night at a local pub. Bruce and Mandy are absolute whizzes at trivia. Will try and post a photo of pre TMX kitchen mixers.
-
Good luck at the trivia quiz Chookie. :)
-
Wow Chookie that sounds gorgeous, traveling down the river. Best of luck with the trivia, you seem to have a winning team there.
-
Wonderful short break chookie. I love Echuca too.
-
In Kununurra at the moment with DH. Boat trip down the Ord River yesterday, flew over Lake Argyle and the Bungle Bungles today. Might go to Wyndham tomorrow then on to Katherine (Nitmiluk National Park), Kakadu and Darwin. Home again 5 July. Loving being out of cold Perth
-
It's sounds a wonderful trip Bonsai :)
-
I hear you bonsai perfect timing for a holiday up north.
We are off to Singapore in 30 days and I can't wait hot weather is what I need if only for 8 days
-
Awesome trip Bonsai!
Gert
-
Bonsai, wonderful trip, enjoy yourselves.
-
A wonderful trip Bonsai, enjoy yourselves.
-
Had a very relaxing day in the Barmah forest. These are forests that are on the side of the Murray River. Massive River Red gums grow here. We had a picnic of locally bought cheese, pears and potato flour gluten free wafer biscuits. I bought an electric jug that you plug into the Cigarette lighter hole in the car, and made a hot cup of tea.
Couldn't upload yesterday's photo so took today's on iPad.
-
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/25/4f1d6f763b6cd4ad4d769f540c9b323e.jpg)
BruceMandy and Ral waiting for their cuppa.
-
A lovely photo Chookie. :)
-
You sound very organised Chookie.
-
Fantastic photo Chookie.
Bonsai go to Parry Lagoon if you go over to Wyndham. The bird life is wonderful. We saw Brolgas there last time. Also the Five Rivers lookout in Wyndham. It is quite impressive to look out from there. If you need a good work out The Grotto is worth a look too. It is a lot of steps to the bottom and then back up again.
Have a wonderful time.
-
Thanks Chookie we did get to the five rivers lookout and the grotto - wonderful bird life there and very pretty. Off to Katherine tomorrow.
-
Had a great night at the Trivia. We won $20 but not the whole competition. We were delighted to see so many tables of young people participating. The modern music questions were too difficult for us. Michael Jackson and Prince and the like sounded all the same to us.
We head home today.
-
In the past month we have been to both Sweden and Colombia and because these two trips were so close together I have decided to join them into one post.
We were in Stockholm at the end of May / early June so that DH could attend a violin maker’s congress. Because of time constraints we couldn’t travel out of Stockholm itself, but there is so much to see and do there we were kept fully occupied.
As Stockholm is built on many, many islands, we were surrounded by water and we did one of the many canal trips one day that gave us an idea of this wonderful city. The old town was beautiful with the old cobbled streets, squares and lime washed buildings – it made it very easy to get around.
Food was very much seafood / meat / dairy sauce based so, being a vegetarian was a bit of a challenge at times.
On our first night we got directions to a nearby vegetarian restaurant. So, off we went, only to find that it was closed for renovations so DH and I wandered around for a while before settling on a likely looking restaurant. DH had a kebab, which he said was delicious (I had to take his word on this) and I ordered a fetta salad – I don’t think the cook knew a lot about salads, though, as it appeared that he had taken ˝ an iceberg lettuce, put it on the chopping board and hacked at it a couple of times with a meat cleaver then put his creation on a plate, drowned it in oil, added four slices of tomato, two entire (unchopped) spring onions and three slabs of fetta. It made for an interesting, unappetising meal. Sadly, I didn’t think to take a photo ... I was too overwhelmed at the end result to want to record it for posterity!
One thing that we really noticed was the green stuff growing everywhere ... yes, vibrant, green, green grass ... the real thing! I had forgotten just what it looked like. Everything looked so lush and alive.
Three weeks after getting back home we were off again to Bogota in Colombia to attend my youngest nephew’s wedding. We arrived after 41 hours travel (which included a 12 hour stop over in Santiago, Chile).
Santiago seemed sad and dull – it is showing the effects of the past couple of decades of neglect, which was a shame as it had some beautiful buildings – it just looked unloved. Admittedly we didn’t have a lot of time to see much and I am sure there are some very lovely areas.
We arrived in Bogota eventually and headed off to our apartment which we were sharing with family from Australia and Scotland (a total of 9 of us). It was great catching up with my sister, my other nephew and his new fiancée as well as our cousins who had travelled over from Scotland.
Driving in Bogota is hair-raising. Many of the roads are approx. 3 lanes wide, but did not have any lane markings – it was interesting to see how three lanes turned into six lanes - and driving is really a matter of playing “chicken” ... if you saw a space you went for it. I sat in the front of the taxi once, but refused to go in the front seat again, I couldn’t bear watching! However, we survived, although my nephew said that he generally saw at least one accident every day on his way to or from work. Also, something I had never seen before, at many major intersections there were performers who would come out in front of the waiting lanes of cars and perform acrobatic and magic tricks ... very brave people, in my opinion!!
We managed to get out of the city for one day and night to a stunningly gorgeous village called Villa de Leyva which is 3 hours north of Bogota. We spent all day wandering around – the village is one big photo opportunity. The central church was simple and lovely – as soon as we went inside we felt instantly at peace. There was a CD of unaccompanied hymns playing softly in the background, so we just sat and soaked up the atmosphere.
Our hotel was small, just seven rooms surrounding a central courtyard. It was one of those places you walk into and feel instantly comfortable. We also had our 38th wedding anniversary here so it was a memorable day.
Back to Bogota and the big day which, coincidentally, was on my birthday. The bride and groom looked great, the Colombian wedding was brilliant and, even though we couldn’t speak Spanish or dance the Salsa, all us “Anglos” were made warmly welcome and we had a wonderful and memorable day.
We had one day more in Bogota before heading home so we visited the old town, which also had some beautiful old buildings and the biggest potholes in the roads we have ever seen! We came across some street performers on one street who were very talented and ‘played’ to their audience of children who were giggling all through the performance – you couldn’t help but smile and enjoy the show.
On the way back home we stopped off in Santiago again, only for 7 hours this time, and saw a slightly different side of the city. It was a bit strange that it didn’t really seem to have a CBD, which we are used to, but, if you looked carefully, you could find some shops. It is a badly polluted city, probably because it is surrounded by very high mountains which trapped all the vehicle fumes, etc. (but we couldn’t see the mountains because of the smog).
-
Thanks for all the information I have just gathered. They both sound like amazing trips, but fairly opposite in nature.
-
Thanks Marina for such a beautifully written description of your 2 holidays. Shame that you didn't have more time, but even when you do have, you can't see everything.
-
Our motto is always leave something for next time. But I don't think that really applies overseas, more in Australia.
-
A beautifully written account of your 2 holidays Marina, thanks for sharing the experience with us. What a wonderful way to celebrate both your birthday and wedding anniversary. Now back to the grind of earning a living.
-
Seeing as I managed to download one photo from our Sweden / Colombia trip of the Tony Abbott look alike in Tunja I thought I would try one of the courtyard in Villa de Leyva. My DS in front, DH to the left and one of my nephews on the right and cousin in the background.
-
OK, one more try at a street scene in Santiago and DH and myself on our wedding anniversary in Villa de Leyva.
-
Love everyone spreading their wings and having great holidays and adventures. Yippee!
Gert
-
So glad you managed to put the photos up Marina, it must have been so nice catching up with family from far and wide. Beautiful photos.
-
Lovely photos Marina. The courtyard is very beautiful, and I love the photo of you are DH. It's one to keep.
-
Belated Happy Anniversary Marina, lovely picture of you and your DH.
I really enjoyed reading your summary of your travels. Very interesting!
-
Thanks for sharing Marina. I love travelling vicariously.
-
What super photos.Its great to see your lovely face again Marina.I've only been to the U.S.A and Finland so it was lovely to hear about your adventures.
-
What about Australia Denise 8)
-
lovely holiday Marina. :)
-
What about Australia Denise 8)
You forum lovelies probably kept poor CC so busy she forgot she had been here. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
-
What about Australia Denise 8)
You forum lovelies probably kept poor CC so busy she forgot she had been here. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
LOL
-
Wow what a trip Marina. I especially love the photo of you and DH on your wedding anniversary.
-
OK, one more try at a street scene in Santiago and DH and myself on our wedding anniversary in Villa de Leyva.
Beautiful photo of you both Marina. :)
-
What about Australia Denise 8)
I'll never forget my Australian trip ;) :)
-
That's a really lovely photo Marina, you both look so happy.
-
Nice photo Marina, you both look so happy and relaxed
-
What about Australia Denise 8)
I'll never forget my Australian trip ;) :)
Hope it happens again Denise
-
Thanks for the lovely photos Cuilidh, it sounds like you had a great holiday.
-
Sharing my brith place with my friends
-
Sun rise
-
Beautiful photos Uni.It looks an idyllic place. 8)
-
Gorgeous photos. Where is this idyllic place?
-
It's called canneto just off Sicily it's an island
-
The food is amazing
My brother and sister bring us veg everyday from their garden
-
lovely Uni :)
-
Uni your birth place is very beautiful. Thanks for sharing. The vegetables look so lovely and fresh.
-
What a gorgeous place to be born Uni, I would never want to leave a place like that!
-
Beautiful Uni :)
-
What wonderful veg Uni.I bet they taste delicious.
-
Lovely place x
-
Uni, looks beautiful. We wish we were there.
Ral and I have just had the shortest holiday ever. 1/2 a day.
On Sunday we set off north for 2 week in the sun. We were travelling up the Hume Highway when a car cut in sharply in front of us. Ral braked and swerved to prevent hitting him and ran into some bushes on the side of the road. We weren't hurt but our car was damaged. No one else was hurt . Broken windscreen, broken side mirror and driving light. Also some body damage.
We are home now and still a it shaken.
What we have learnt from this experience is just how kind and helpful strangers can be.
-
Oh my gosh Chookie, you are right, that would be a holiday you won’t forget in a hurry! What a shock you must have had but I am so relieved that neither of you were hurt. Not sure if you have stopped shaking by now, but I hope so.
Any sort of accident sends a shiver up my spine, thoughts of dear friends having an accident does not make me happy! Take care of each other and hopefully you will be able to have another holiday in the sun somewhere soon.
You are right, strangers really do come through for us when we need them - unexpected kindnesses are always so much appreciated, especially at times like these.
-
So glad nobody was hurt chookie xx
-
OMG Chookie what a shock.So pleased to hear that you both are fine and unhurt although still understandably shaken.Its true how strangers help in times of need.Thinking of you both and sending hugs :-* :-*
-
Off on Sunday to Canada & Alaska for two months. Will try and post some photo's.
-
Choosier, so glad to hear you and DH escaped uninjured, but sorry your holiday has come to an abrupt ending.
-
You two can't take a trick re holidays. Thank goodness you are fine. It is only a car and will be fixed as good as new.
I guess you will have to turn up the heat and pretend you are on hols.
What a shame.
Gert
-
So sorry to hear about your accident Chookie. What a shock for you both, just glad you both weren't badly hurt. xxxx
-
So sorry to hear about your accident Chookie. What a shock for you both, just glad you both weren't badly hurt. xxxx
-
I was wondering how your holiday was going Chookie so this was quite a shock to read. Thank goodness you're both OK. Home sweet home, there's nothing like it.
Enjoy your trip Trudy.
-
Thanks for all the good wishes.
Trudy enjoy your holiday., see you at FF.
-
Chookie I am so sorry to read that your holiday has been cut very short. Thank goodness you are both ok. Well driven Ral. Sending hugs over.
-
Oh my god Chookie, that would have been scary.. glad that you both are not hurt :)
-
Beautiful Uni.
Chookie that's terrible.
I'm glad that you and Ral are both home and safe, take care xx
-
Thanks, girls. Having a holiday at home now.
-
Oh no chookie, that is terrible. So glad you and Ral are ok.
-
Chookie and Ral, how awful for you both, relieved to hear you are both ok. Now for the hassle of getting your car sorted. Hope you are both feeling ok. Xx
Uni your birth place looks beautiful, I am enjoying all your photos
-
So glad to hear you are ok Chookie.
-
Thanks for the good wishes. No problem with the Insurance as we have never had an accident in 50+ years of driving. But it will take 4 weeks to fix. We do have another car, a van.
-
The insurance is good news Chookie. I'm sure it is still a jolly nuisance.
-
Glad all will be covered Chookie. Fingers crossed that they won't take any longer than the four days they have quoted.
-
Arrived safe and sound this afternoon in Vancouver. Weather is lovely and it's nice to be in a TShirt at 8.30 at night after the cold we left behind. We are here for a week so should manage to see quite a bit of this city before we fly to Knights Inlet to hopefully see some bears!!
-
I believe Vancouver is very pretty Trudy. Enjoy yourselves.
-
Enjoy your holiday Trudy. :)
-
Trudy , that sounds fantastic. Real Bears.
Our car will be at least 4 weeks , not days. ,!
-
Have a wonderful holiday Trudy.
-
Yes the warmth sounds very nice - enjoy your holiday Trudy. Chookie, so glad it was your car that got banged up and not you and Ral x
-
I was in Vancouver a very, very long time ago and didn't want to leave. It was (is?) a beautiful city and I hope you enjoy it whilst you are there.
-
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/04/660f0e2a313092ccbc5cc1586bfc11bf.jpg)
We just spent 8 days at the hard Rock hotel in Singapore, gorgeous days and nights nothing better than constant hot weather
-
Lovely photo Suzanne.
-
that pool looks very inviting
-
Suzanne that looks glorious.
-
that pool looks fantastic.
-
It really is a wonderful place for a family holiday, a little on the expensive side but you only live once
-
It really is a wonderful place for a family holiday, a little on the expensive side but you only live once
So true Suzanne.
-
Truly, I am so envious! That is something on my bucket list. I hope you get yo see the Bears.
-
Lucky you Suzanne. That resort looks whizz bang.
Warm weather in a luxurious location - looking at that gorgeous pool with green eyes.
-
A tad late lol ;D ;
I followed this chef to his restaurant ,the food was out of this world
-
I don't blame you for following that food Uni.
-
we had 2 days in Sydney for a concert, then 2 days in Brissie for a wedding.
ate lots of expensive food, loved going out for all meals.
no photos, but we packed alot into 2 weekends..
-
Hello from Ettalong
-
Hi Uni, what are you doing up there?
-
Dirty long weekend :o
-
Oh yes, your anniversary getaway. Have fun!
-
I'm sure you both enjoyed your anniversary weekend. It looks lovely.
-
Lovely Uni, if it wasn't your anniversary I would come down and catch up with you.
DH and I are next weekend.
-
Would love a catch up mich r u guys busy tomorrow night
-
Congratulations Uni & Frank. Have a great time away!!!
-
Beautiful photo Uni.Its lovely seeing blue skies rather than grey clouds here.
Happy Anniversary and enjoy yourselves. :-*
-
Guess who is going to Italy again
-
UNI must be ;D ;D ;D ;D
i'm just going to Melbourne
-
How exciting Uni.
DH and I booked our next holiday at the weekend Singapore and Phuket for 2 weeks. We are going in April.
-
you went to Singapore a few years back if I remember correctly or maybe not lol
we are also going to Bali in April, Eve is coming2
-
This is our first trip to Singapore unless we count the airport lol We went to Vietnam and Cambodia a couple of years ago.
-
how long will u be away for ?, we are not sure could be 6 weeks or 12 weeks , we are booked to go away on the 5th September
only 3 weeks in Bali
-
Hopefully we'll be off to Italy as well later this year - Cremona, as usual; business, as usual. Don't have the dates yet. Cairns is about as good as an overseas holiday for us!
-
They all sound very exciting. Lots of photos please.
-
Melbourne, shopping, what more can I say. :)
-
Enjoy the shopping here in Melbourne, and going out for dinner.
When we get home, its cooking for me every night. :D
-
Just a few holiday snaps, we are now at the JW Mariott in Khao lak 90 min north of Phuket to airport. Loving ever min. We upgraded to a poolside room, so glad we did. (http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160421/58f927df85d586f3e9884eba7cca417d.jpg) (http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160421/1477f25ee5cec7e6e57119843b1da559.jpg)(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160421/0e793e61f531459ed08d62f5e98deb0c.jpg)(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160421/be717ed5d5bfd7c96baf7daf856f6920.jpg)
-
I couldn't think of anything nicer Jenny, enjoy!
-
That looks so lovely Jenny. I really love the baby elephant. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
-
Looks amazing Jen
-
Amazing photos Jen.
-
lovely Jen
-
Glorious setting. Have fun. :D
-
Lovely Jen. Well deserved.
Gert
-
That looks idyllic, Jen. Enjoy!
-
Jen, lovely spot. Have fun, you deserve it.
-
Looks lovely Jen. Like the litle elephant.
-
Beautiful photos Jenny.Enjoy yourself :-*
-
Back from Forster yesterday. Had a great long weekend.
Will post some photos of Ellenborough Falls when DH gets them off his phone.
Would really like to retire to Forster.
-
Taree
-
Looks lovely Mich, glad you had an enjoyable weekend
-
It was lovely thankyou Denise.
DH and I actually took it a step further this time and viewed some properties for sale :o
We thought maybe we would purchase something with retirement in mind and rent it out for now.
Didn't find anything this weekend but will certainly be keeping an eye out. :)
-
It certainly looks lovely Mich. Looking now is a good idea.
-
Beautiful photos Michelle. 8)
-
Forster looks to be a beautiful spot. Good luck with your home hunting.
-
Oh, I think it's just the best, only an hour and three quaters from Newcastle. Easy if we need a major hospital.
A bit touristy. Will see. We are heading to Rockhampton at Easter. Sure I will want to retire there too. ;D
-
There are some beautiful old buildings on the river I n Rockhampton Mich. I'm sure you will enjoy it.
-
Michele, like you I often want to live where we have holidayed, but family always draws us back.
-
The family factor is very strong. I'd hate to be away from family permanently.
-
Yes that is something to consider. The 3 stepdaughters all live on the lake or in Newcastle. My DD lives on the central coast and my sone son in Sydney. So it would be a nice not too far drive for them. Rockhampton might be a different story. Also I have my very fit 80yr old mum to consider. She moved from Sydney to be close to me so I don't think I could move anytime soon.
-
Went on the free bus tour of Armidale. It was fantastic. Our tour guide was 80 year old Pearl and today was her last day. She was born in Guyra, married and lived on a sheep station for 40 years was involved in the Little Boy Lost rescue and he later worked for them as a shearer.
We visited the art gallery, railway station and university. It was meant to be a 2.5 hour tour and we went for 3 hours.
Photos of the White's home that was the start of the university and the railway station.
-
Railway Station
-
Mich how sensible of the council to have free tours. Pearl sounds like a real treasure. ( no pun intended) she would have so much personal information to share.
-
Cookie, you would have loved her. When we stopped at the old teachers college she read out the antiquated teachers rules. Things like male teachers will have 1 night off a week for the purpose of courting, instant dismissal for smoking of cigarettes, use of spirits, frequenting pool or public dance halls. Skirts slit to expose ankles. In some ways these rules would set a good example for students.
Her family or her inlaws had a lot do with so much about Armidale.
Now they will have to rely on the 90 year old tour guide.
-
Loving the photos and comments you are posting Michelle :-*
-
Thanks CC.
I'm sure all our teacher members would love Armidale. It's a place of education.
Apparently the locals separate the district calling it the town and gown :D
So many beautiful churches too.
-
I have 2 nieces who went to Uni in Armidale. They lived in Brisbane at the time.
-
A few photos of the gorges from yesterday. The photos don't do it justice and my photography is all a bit ordinary.
-
I can only post individually
-
I'm in awe of this beautiful country we live in.
-
They look good enough to me Michele, beautiful pictures.
-
Beautiful photos Michelle.You do live in a wonderful country.
-
It is certainly beautiful Mich.
-
The photos are fantastic, you have got an excellent 'eye' and good camera.
-
Lovely photos McMich, they remind me of our visit to that area.
-
Michele, thanks for sharing.
-
A lot of the road today was through old Karri and Jarrah forest. The trees are so beautiful. This was as we went through the Shannon national park.
-
Lovely photo Cookie.
-
Well, here we are, back in Australia after an amazing and very intense two weeks in China.
We spent a day in Hong Kong on the way over where we met up with an old violin maker friend and his family, which was really nice. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed HKG (apart from the humidity) and we would both have loved to have stayed there for a couple of days, but, as usual, all was rush and hurry so one day was our limit.
The next stop was Shenzhen, just across the HKG border. When we lived there, Shenzhen was a fairly small city, now it has grown out of all proportion. We had an interesting time at the hotel we were staying at as none of the staff could speak English, but with a few laughs, smiles and patience (and the help a really good translation app) we got along no bother.
The bullet train from Shenzhen to Beijing was great, although the 11 hour trip was a very long time. The top speed the train went to was 305 kph and it was so smooth it just didn’t feel like you were travelling at anywhere near that speed.
Beijing was very busy and crowded. You had to allow at least 1 – 1 ˝ hours to get anywhere, there were cars everywhere and the driving was hair-raising (on a level with Bogota in Colombia, which I thought was pretty bad). I swear I have got even more grey hairs now than I had before we left Australia!
The weather was fine and clear and Beijing is making a huge effort to clean up. There were roses, trees and shrubs planted everywhere - it looked very pretty and with no ugly graffiti anywhere!
We went out on tours every day so saw quite a few of the usual tourist spots and temples but the highlights were the Great Wall – we walked up to tower 5 on the Badaling section. For me it was very hard work because I am absolutely not fit, but I was very pleased that I made the effort. Some of the Chinese were running it, they were super fit, the complete opposite to me!
That evening, on the way back to Beijing, we stopped for an outdoor barbecue and all I will say is, what happens at barbecues stays at the barbecue. It was a fun night – that’s as far as I will go.
The other highlight was Xi’an and the terracotta warriors. They were totally awesome, in the true sense of that word. We spent hours wandering around the dig and could have stayed longer.
When we got back to Beijing, we went to visit one of our suppliers with whom we had been trading for about 20 years. He is a lovely man and made us very welcome. It was good to see his small workshop and (attempt) to talk to his employees.
Now, it is back to harsh reality and catching up on everything that accumulated whilst we were away!
If I could, I would post some photos, but I have only ever successfully managed to post one single photo so you will all just have to use your imagination!
-
You tell holiday stories so well Marina that we don't really need to see photos. Welcome home, as much as we enjoy our holidays, we generally all love to come home. It sounded like a great holiday.
-
Marina, thanks for sharing your holiday with us. That is a lot to fit into 2 weeks. Nice to experience these places but also nice to come home.
-
What a wonderful experience for you Marina.Thank you for taking the time to share this with us all :-* :-*
-
Thank you Marina. I loved reading all about your holiday, and as was said you paint the picture with your words so that we are able to imagine all about it.
Welcome home.
-
A lovely description of your holiday Cuilidh, it makes me feel like I was there with you.
-
Marina , Holiday sounds wonderful . As my DD has just been to China for a month with her schoolmates , it was nice to here places were they all went . On return the one comment they all made was Blue sky we have not seen that for a month , it was raining when they got home , patches of blue sky 🌦. Well done doing the Great Wall of China , DD returned with a jumper to prove she had walked it .
-
sounds a great holiday Marina. :)
-
This was our morning tea stop today. Not that far from the city. Lovely weather!!!!(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170815/4078e28426eb3523c62a4c766240baf1.jpg)
-
Good to see you still have time for that morning cuppa cookie.
-
A cup of tea is an excellent way to start any holiday. Looking forward to your photos as you journey on through this trip.
-
Today we drove about 400km. We are now on the Golden Quest Discovery trail. We started at Coolgardie and headed north. Lots of old gold discovery areas and some ruins. http://goldenquesttrail.com/
We came on to Menzies for a couple of nights. We hope to go out to Lake Ballard tomorrow. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ballard
Apparently we won't be able to walk out onto it to see the statues as they had 26mm of rain here a couple of days ago. It will still be fun.
We had sort of planned a free camp tonight but there was no one else at it so we didn't stop. I don't really want to stay out here by myself as t could be a bit spooky.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170816/58c2cdd5dda098ee661c274f46b184df.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170816/d3457c5db5f6d5cb2d846329e880f96c.jpg)
The first photo is of a hotel at Kunanalling, that's all that is left of a prosperous town and the second is the cemetery at Siberia, there is nothing left standing there.
-
Yikes, I agree cookie. You're really in the outback there.
-
Lovely photo Cookie. I love seeing where you are :)
-
Great photos Cookie, they remind me of our trip to the west.
-
Cookie, thanks for the photos. Love to see where you are.
-
Thanks. We went out to Lake Ballard today. There are 51 statues out there on the actual lake. We also walked the entire 3 blocks of the Main Street here in Menzies and it took us all morning! Definitely a holiday. Tomorrow we move on to Laverton.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170817/72c1e1ac47882002e8690748c7d1f3c1.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170817/eb859249fbd90126c361fcbf25851930.jpg)
-
Great photos Cookie. What an amazing blue sky.
-
We are in Laverton tonight. Stopped at a couple of old places today. One was Niagara. They built a dam there but unfortunately by the time the dam was built the gold had run out. It's a lovely spot. Another was Kookynie. It is pretty well a ghost town now too, although the hotel is still operating and has its own doorman, a horse named Willie.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170818/38eaef2d7e1e9a0da116c8e0cc7849d2.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170818/3979315958296a6345dcd68831ee14e6.jpg)
-
I hope he lets people into the hotel cookie. Are there any people at these places you're visiting?
-
No Judy, generally they are all ghost towns, just the remains of old buildings. Kookynie was an exception. There was a sour man at the pub, and someone else living in some of the old shops.
Apparently the horse doesn't let people in, we met some people in Menzies and they had to knock on the window and someone came and pushed the horse out of the way.
-
I just googled the story of the horse at Kookynie. Apparently he just showed up.
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/the-town-of-kookynie-in-west-australias-goldfields-has-a-town-horse-named-willie-20160218-gmxbcf.html
-
Interesting story cookie, I hope Willie is happy there.
-
Fascinating story Cookie.
-
Nice photos Cookie and an interesting story about Willie.
-
Thanks Cookie. All interesting.
-
We came on to Leonora today. Passed a nickel and cobalt mine on the way. We had bitumen for today. After we set the van up we went to a Coles express ( in Leonora of all places) and bought some bread and milk. Oh yuk, the bread was awful. It was Coles bread as that was all they had. We found it a little better toasted.
We visited Gwalia for the rest of the day. An amazing place. There is a gold mine there that is operating, but a tiny bit of the old town has been restored. We spent about 4 hours walking round it.
Tomorrow we head back on to dirt roads and unrestored ghost towns. http://gwalia.org.au/
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170819/16f50276a39558630645e0c5624809fd.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170819/df7711290b8dabb7343e8bc66562ff2a.jpg)
-
A very interesting video cookie, there's lots to see and learn on this very interesting trip.
-
Blimey Cookie that a deep hole in one of the photos :o
-
Cookie, that is certainty off the main track. Love the bed end as a fence.
-
Loving your photos Cookie. Looks like gorgeous weather for you.
Here's a few pics from our trip up to the Undara Lava Tubes in far north Qld:
Cobb & Co Museum in Surat Qld
Beautiful old buildings in Charters Towers Qld
Amazing lava tubes at Undara near Mt Surprise Qld
Dinosaur footprints at Lark Quarry near Winton Qld
-
And a few more of my favourite places from the Undara trip:
Stagecoach ride in Longreach Qld
Machinery Mile in Ilfracombe Qld
We saw a lot of emus, some closer than we would have liked!
Beautiful Darling River at Bourke NSW
-
Lovely photos Cookie and djinni, these all bring back memories of trips we have done.
-
Great photos and it looks like perfect weather Gaye. The stagecoach ride would have been different!
-
Gayle I love your photos.
We came home today. It was 3 degrees in Coolgardie last night and as we were free camping we had no power. Lots of layers, blankets and a beanie.
-
Great photos Gayle. 8) I love seeing different parts of Australia.
-
Where would you like to go next Denise?
-
Cookie and djinni, terrific photos. Thanks.
-
Where would you like to go next Denise?
Anywhere Cookie. I love all the photos you all post.
-
We're heading down to Busselton in the middle f September but only for a few days.
-
We are camped at Kondinin tonight. It's a quaint little spot. http://kondinin.wa.gov.au/
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171016/f7cd7f53c51b1472965631b2c60aac39.jpg)
-
Nice spot Cookie.
-
Nice spot Cookie.
Lovely and quiet , too.
-
Nice camp site Cookie and not over crowded.
-
Thanks. I made DH park well away from the trees as it was so windy. Last night we free camped at a place called The Breakaways. It was so pretty. I thought I would be scared as we were the only ones there, but I wasn't. The beauty was well worth it.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171018/5cb33d3a8c0bbbd8c8536634e190d2dd.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171018/0ac3db19fdfa086d80b14eb067b6061b.jpg)
-
That is lovely cookie.
-
Fantastic photos Cookie.
-
Amazing Cookie. You see great things when on holiday.
-
Lovely photos Cookie.
-
Thank you. We stayed in a tiny town called Salmon Gums last night, but it had a cute caravan park which we had been told about. It ended up being freezing (1.9*). DH put the heater on about 5am.
We drove on to Esperance today and arrived here just before lunch. We have a lovely view of the ocean.
Just south of Salmon Gums we saw a green salt lake, we've never seen a green one before.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171019/f3d8fe6bf55230b5a036649dc436a068.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171019/79f2beecffa180defbbe97919884c653.jpg)
-
Beautiful scenery Cookie 8)
-
Love all the photos Cookie. They make me want to come back for another WA trip.
-
If you do we will have a lovely meeting and all sorts of things.
-
We spent another day in Esperance. Today we went out to Stonehenge. A farmer has re created it on his farm using pink granite carved from a quarry near him. It is amazing. The tall slabs weigh around 50 ton.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171020/fb6d0d82222d650c9ccb23be9fd27453.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171020/cd17704221b291f9bec3345a1f06b54a.jpg)
-
Amazing Stonehenge Cookie. 8)
-
CC is right, that is an amazing effort.
-
Love it cookie, what a great effort by that farmer to do something like that which allows tourists to come onto his property. Did you have to pay to see it?
-
Loving your photos Cookie. Makes me want to go back to WA soon too Mab19. We are grounded ATM though :(
-
I'm patient Gayle and Margaret. 😀
Yes Judy, it was $8 each for seniors. Well worth every cent.
Today we have moved over to Jerramungup, about 300km or so west of Esperance. It's only a tiny little town but has a nice park. Tomorrow we will go on to Albany.
-
We are in Albany at the moment and as usual it is cool and drizzly. I suppose that is to be expected being where it is.
We have already done lots of the historical things here but today we went out to a place we hadn't seen before. Actually we had never heard of it before. It was a place that had chainsaw sculptures around. The man that does them is so very clever.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/6c9b49b7cff0ef8523ee66dd753d795e.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/1c118315f515c2a653ceb04d414eea13.jpg)
The beaches are very different to Esperance.
-
Lovely photos Cookie.
-
Loving all your photo Cookie.
-
Very clever.
-
A couple of photos from Lord Howe Island.
-
Just a couple more.
The endangered Woodhen was almost extinct 40 years ago, they now have 300 birds that are protected and carefully monitored.
-
It looks a lovely island Margaret, they’ve done well to save the endangered Woodhen.
-
Wow Margaret what a wonderful location. 8)
-
Mab, thanks for the photos. Gives a good idea what it is like.
-
It looks very beautiful Margaret. Isn't it wonderful that they could help the Woodhen?