Animal encounters

We had booked a wonderful little place in Ventnor on Phillips Island. It turned out to be a fantastic hand made shack on stilts with all the luxuries and neighbours of parrots of all varieties. We left our luggage behind and headed out to The Nobbies and also the Penguin parade. 

We had booked a very special “ultimate penguins Adventure tour” to see all the Penguins coming in at sunset. Rather than sitting with the thousands of other spectators we were in a small group of about 10 people Waring dark clothes and equipped with night vision goggles. We were then taken to a private beach where the Penguins were early and already coming in. We sat in silence whilst the little penguins came in all around us. At first we did not need the night visions goggles as it was still light enough to see. Erich was sat to the side of me and said he did not need to look at me to know me grin was from ear to ear. It was amazing. 

The timing of our tour was fantastic, our guide said we saw a lot more penguins than normal and also it was the time where the chicks come out of their burrows to call to their parents. On the way back we used night vision goggles to walk along the beach and rocks only to find that the Penguins had decided to use the beach stairs on our route. It’s very strict that we don’t disturb the Penguins so no photography or getting in their way. This was a delight for us as we got to walk further on the beach and see more babies and Penguins. A truest fantastic experience and we only headed away from the penguins and a beautiful evening at around 11pm back to our “shack”

Breakfast in the morning was stunning. Sat on the terrace watching parrots and all the birds we did not want to leave but only the incentive of another exciting day ahead could tear us away. It was Koala day!!! For those of you that don’t know my nickname is Carla Koala and it’s my favourite animal. It had stared to rain but we were all wrapped up and ready to go, in fact way to early for them opening for the koala conservation park

  
We were told on the way in that because it was raining most of the koalas would be in the top of the trees and not very active. There are two treetop boardwalks around where the koalas are. The were pretty sleepy but you could get quite close and the weather did not deter us. On joining the main waking path again a large male koala walked straight in front of us before picking a tree to start climbing. He was clearly not satisfied with his picking as he began to jump ( I did not know koalas could jump) between trees picking the best of the leaves and climbing around. It was fantastic and my koala addition had been sparked… I wanted more, so we headed off for another place I had seen on the map on the way to our friends house in Melbourne

     
Meet Gumdrop. This beautiful little girl is my favourite koala ever.   We rolled up at the Moonlit sanctuary after being a bit lost at 13.17. We got to the entrance counter to see “koala cuddles” 13.15. I nearly hugged the girl when she said we could still go and joined the queue to meet a beautiful big male Koala. Erich and I got cuddles, photographs and a wonderful close up encounter. I was thrilled to bits and we hung around to talk to the ranger after everyone had gone. At that point the male started his mating call to Gumdrop which drove her crazy. It was interesting to see and we didn’t want to leave. This day is a day we will never forget.  Still we had so many adventures ahead so we continued our journey to stay with some sailing friends in Brighton near Melbourne 

Cuisine and critters

  
We had a beautiful chilled drive down to Eden arriving early enough to do a little shopping and relax with a beer… Little did we know that everything was pretty much closed when we got there.  Still we had a nice evening and a good nights rest. We were told there was not much south of Eden and the drive was not a stunning as previously but we still enjoyed it, stopping at places like Boyds tower and saw plenty of wildlife on the way

      
 Arriving in Lakes Enterance the weather was stunning. We quickly abondoned our things at the motel and headed out for a nice stroll around the lake and some cold beers

    

   

We literally had to tear ourselves away from the bar to the seafood restaurant which had come highly recommended to us. 1.2 kg of fish of the fisherman a delight at Miriam’s seafood restaurant. Fresh fish and seafood, muscles, squid, crab and lobster. Sorry no photos as we were so keen to dig in to our delight, but the Chinese family on the table next to us took plenty as they were fascinated in watching us eat. We were both glad that it was a short stroll back to our hotel after all we had eaten and slept like logs. The next day was going to be a long drive and an exciting day… Phillips island!

Peace on the beach to pelican roulette

  
Rob, the owner of the motel we stayed at last night recommended some great places to go on our journey to Batemans Bay. He was fantastic and gave us some real jewels which made us laugh, made us (OK me) cry and stand in awe. Our early morning paid off to head out to have breakfast on a beautiful beach at Currarong with Rock pools. Our own private beach and lovely hike around Abraham’s bosom reserve. A really beautiful area, we saw so many butterflies one was black and white any the size of a saucer!

  
After a very chilled morning the day started heating up and it was soon 28 degrees despite the forecast saying 18. We headed to Huskissen for a wonderful ice cream and stroll along Shark Net Bay. 

   
 When Erich and I drive we tend to have a deal that when driving on the left I drive and when driving on the right Erich drives. It’s simple and we both always sit in the same place in the car. So since bring in Oz Erich  has had a chaufer!  Kidding, the roads are amazing to drive and we have seen a Wallaby, a goana a meter and a half long ( just missed with the car) as well as other critters along the way. 

Our next adventure before reaching our destination for the night was Pebbly beach. It’s very famous for its… No not pebbles… But Kangeroos on the beach!  A long winding road through huge trees which cast shadows giving a strange zebra affect on the tarmac. Eventually coming to a small nature reserve parking with just a couple of cars parked up. We headed out to the beach for Erich to shout “look Kangeroos”. I thought he was pointing at a tourist couple in the far distance dipping their toes in the water. Little did I see the family of Kangeroos under the tree next to us. 

   
 
What can I say… I cried… Erich laughed. It was so beautiful to have them hopping around us. 

Our walk on the beach was amazing and we sat and watched the Kangeroos before slowly heading back to the car. Before we had headed down the road to Pebbly beach we bought some fresh fruit from a older gentleman with his fruit cart at the side of the road, a bucket of cherries, mangos and peaches. Upon return to the car we decided to try our fruit treasures only to be attached by the local parrots. One of which landed on my back and did not want to go. Even before we had got the fruit they were dive bombing Erich!  They look so cute from a distance but can see the evil look in their eyes…

  
After safety returning to the car we had a short hop to our hotel for the night with our fantastic view. So much do we got take away and wind to sit in our balcony and enjoy the view

  
Once the sun began to set we went for a walk to play pelican roulette. This is s very dangerous game. As the sun sets the birds take to roost on had local road lights over the pavements. Although they may look sleepy and harmless they are nothing more than loaded weapons. You see couples out for romantic walks only having to run under the giant birds with lethal loads.  

 
A few near misses and we made it back safe. What a day, really can’t wait for tomorrow because tomorrow we go to Eden and wonder what fantastic things await is there!

On the road…

Sunday 15th…  Time to pick up Tweedy!  Ok so Tweedy is the name we have given to our hire car as it squeaks like a canary in a cage when accelerating up hill. Not sure if it will last the 10 days road trip we have in store for it!

We left Sydney and despite a small detour (on purpose of course) we ended up back in Sydney!  So upon leaving Sydney for the second time we went through the Royal National Park before hitting the scenic Ocean drive road. It’s name is a bit of a give away but it does not describe the stunning views… 

   
It was a stunning view to our first stop on our road adventure down the east coast to Greenwell Point. Our first room upgrade and dinner of local blackfish resulted in an early night ready to face our adventures and looking forward to an early start the next morning! 

A taste of Oz

After a long and restless flight to Sydney, we dumped the bags at our hotel and headed straight out. Tired and groggy a nice long walk around Sydney harbour and the botanical gardens was exactly what we needed 

   
   
We walked around soaking up the sites for hours and Erich being my tour guide having been there twice before. 

The hustle and madness of the crowds was soon forgotten when we headed to Kirribilli for a wonderful fish dinner and bottle of Sauvignon blanc. The perfect evening and both absolutely shattered to sleep in our lovely suite room

Friday 13th…Our suite was almost too comfy as we long overslept and had a lazy morning before heading off to Darling Harbour. I didn’t realise how built up and commercial Sydney was, but I don’t know what I really expected. It was a nice surprise thought to find some peace and tranquility in the Chinese gardens and make a little break and some time for reflection. With all the building work and drilling surrounding the gardens it’s hard to imagine yourself somewhere so beautiful, but this magical place manages to steal yourself away if only for a few moments.  We both really enjoyed the garden and some time out after busy travels and the city. 

A short trip to Paddys market surrounded by cheap tourist tat and plastic dolls, we escaped to scurry to a great pub “The pump house” to have a real ale and hide from a brief rain shower. The rest of the afternoon continues like this with a combination of pub hopping between showers before heading back to our room. The evening was bookmarked for “village bizarre” on The Rocks. Sadly the heavens opened so the little shops and shops were rained under so we found a quiet pub and watched from afar with a couple of scouners of delicious real ale (three sheets). 

Saturday 14th. Breakfast was a shock. We turned on the news to see the events unfolding in Paris with the terrorist attacks. At Paris is 11 hours behind it was unfolding live on the news. Sickened and saddened it was a hard start to the day as we set off in drizzle and with heavy hearts on the ferry to Manly beach.  

  
We hiked mostly away from manly beach on a little hiking trail, which became a little remote and in the middle of nowhere.    We returned to the local 4 Pines brewery for beer and muscles which were a very welcomed treat at the end of the hike. Despite the sadness in the air and our hearts we had a nice day and we finished with a Mexican night and few beers before heading back to pack

Thailand, short but sweet

Having looked at the weather forecast before we left Switzerland every location we are due to visit showed rain. We said “what will be will be” and we were happy not to arrive in the giant thunderstorm which was forecast for Bangkok. 

Shortly after arriving in Pattaya we headed off for “Sunday lunch” where our Thai friends had roast beef and we tucked into some wonderful Thai cuisine. It’s the one food that I (Carla) dream about!  Just as we arrived at the restaurant the heavens opened…

  
This did not deter our appetites and great food was the theme for our entire Thai visit. We had some amazing home cooked Thai food of all shapes, varieties and colour as well as being introduced to some new food concepts. 

When someone says to me we are going for hot pot, it conjures up thoughts of the meat stew I would not even look at as a vegetarian and was hoping there would be enough red cabbage. To our surprise it was far more wonderful. Don’t let the plastic chairs and pink melomine crockery put you off, it was a taste sensation cooking every meat, seafood and vegi you can imagine over a lethal hot Pot with fire underneath and boiling water within. You start by adding your Vegies in the hot water to make a tooth and melting fat on the hot metal. Then it’s 3,2,1 go!  Meat on, seafood, fish, mussels and noodles in the broth and not a rice grain in sight. Erich redecorated his shirt and plenty of beer, good company and laughter was had by all. A fantastic evening with fantastic friends!   

    
   
The last day was a mix of visiting tourist attractions like the Big Budda and viewpoints and temples as well as watching the famous Tiffany lady boy show. Another fabulous meal and few drinks to finish off the night. 

  
Our final day in Thaiand is here and having a home cooked leaving meal before we left will leave a taste in our mouths to return!  We are sat in the business lounge in Bangkok airport now writing this and looking forward to our next adventure… AUSTRALIA HERE WE COME!!! 🇦🇺

We are on the way…

   
 
Can’t  describe our excitement right now!!! We are sat in the business lounge with a collection of champagne and self made cocktails watching a wonderful sunset and enjoying the start of our mega holiday!  1st stop is Bangkok and on to Pattaya to stay with our friends. Thailand here we come!!!