Well, it didn't end as we had hoped, but for the first five weeks it was very good.  

Though it was a little hectic, with usually getting into a campsite, with just enough time to set up the tent & cook some dinner, before it was too dark. Then being up, fed & packed to go again, by 8:30am. 

We became quite good at packing up ;-)

The Cape, wasn't as difficult as we had expected, though we did manage to get water over the bonnet a few times, and the Infamous Gunshot Creek required nearly everyone to be pulled out, at the bottom, due to it being so steep that the car's front end was digging into the mud at the bottom of the incline!

Kylie expects to update this blog with her notes from the trip, so I'll leave the rest of it to her

Hmmm not keeping this up to date, lately ;-(

View Who Was On-Board

Finally got a chance to try it out, last Saturday. I LOVE Cruise control in a boat ;-)

The boys, including Brendan, enjoyed having a go at Wake Surfing, for the first time.

The Captain's Hat, from Venice, even made an appearance ;-)

The Gods where against us.all booked out, we tried 2 others until we found that there was 1 cabin at the Clyde River Caravan Park . We booked this & decided to go to the South Coast camping & caravan show , Visit Mogo Zoo & see the attractions down south & as we were in a cabin we didn't have to worry about the soggy ground & the promise of wet weather.

Early Saturday morning we had a phone call...ooops the caravan park had some how double booked! So they have made arrangements with a sister park at South Durras called Lakesea Caravan Park, which is only 10km north of Batemans Bay, so we weren't too concerned. We packed up, fed the animals & where on our way. It rained on & off the whole way!. We found the Caravan Park fairly easily , it reminded me of Merry Beach with all the trees along the road, & booked in.

After unloading all our gear we drove into town to find the show, The lady at the park said there were signs everywhere..did we see 1.no not at all..no signs at all but we did see a heap of cars parked off the road & guessed that we were in the right area. After finding a parking spot close by, we paid our entrance fee & wandered around, found a place selling BBQ sausages & steak for lunch.we were a tad bit hungry by now. We saw the Jet tent which we have been eyeing off, caravans, camper trailers & all sorts of goodies, even though it wasn't really big or have much 4x4 stuff (mainly caravans) the afternoon passed quickly. No rain, just kept threatening to. We all agreed (after a lengthy discussion & driving around looking for some where) to get pizza & take back to the cabin & heat up rather than go back to the caravan park, get changed & go back into town again.

We ordered our Pizzas & Brendan also wanted some Prawns from the shop next door, so we ordered 1/2 a kilo for an appetiser.

We got back to the caravan park, there were lots of Kangaroos eating in the grassy area's in the park & next to the road. Brendan went to play in the playground & David & I thought we'd have a drink on the deck & relax a bit before we reheated the pizza and ate..oops The kitchen didn't have an oven, only hotplates & a microwave..oh well we'd do something with that later. We had a quick walk around the park (the Kiosk was closed. & David needed milk for his coffee) ok, there is a corner shop in South Durras, so we jumped in the car & drove around to find it.just as we pulled up the owner came out with a sign saying "closed "...luckily he let us in & we got some milk!  David gets cranky when he doesn't get his caffeine fix ;-)

My, ingenious, husband came up with the idea of using the frying pan with a bit of water & placing the pizza boxes over top to heat up, it actually worked pretty good even if the boxes got a bit soggy. After tea & cleaning up we all had a nice hot shower & started watching Brendan's movies.

Brendan & I were on the lounge, David was in the bedroom when we heard a bang outside..we all rushed over to the door & found a mother & baby possum had somehow removed the lid off the garbage bin & were eating our left overs.we took a few photo's & then they ran over to a large tree out front of our cabin. David went inside & Brendan & I watched them for a bit longer, I took a piece of crust over to the tree & the mother came down carrying the baby to get it.took a few close ups & left them to it..About an hour later another bang, this time we had a kangaroo & the possums were back..a few more photos and closed the bin again..yep another bang but this time there was a guy shooing the possums away ..do not encourage the possums they make a mess !!!   Finally we all went to bed, but thanks to a strange bird call ( not kangaroos or possums this time) which was really loud, right on dawn, we woke up really early, but eventually went back to sleep for a few extra hours.

After cleaning & packing up we had Macca's for Breaky before going down to Mogo Zoo----hmmmmm-do love the zoos.!

We walked in & right at the entrance the first keeper talk was on.Silvery Gibbons, cute & very agile, the Female is the dominate & you could tell she was really bossy & when the keeper gave the male a grape she decided that she wanted that one as well, even though there was plenty on the ground- it got pretty rough!.

Tigers were next, they were Sumatran, 2 x females & 1 male named Larry, all in individual cages, they had huge paws, were quite vocal & liked to rub up against the fence at the keeper (like household cats do) they weighed around 90kg & are actually the smallest of the tigers, Siberian tigers weigh around 330kg!

Opposite the tiger enclosure was a tawny lion pack, the male & 1 female were right down the back sleeping ( usually sleep for 20 out of 24 hours) another female came up really close to the fence while we were there, & just sat & watched.

Otters were the next keeper talk & Brendan really wanted to see this.but we just missed it.spent too much time looking at the tigers. The otters we still very playful and were out in the enclosure swimming & running around so Brendan got to see them at least.

On our way around to the next keeper talk we saw, Golden Tamarin, Cotton top Tamarin, Pygmy Marmoset ( smallest monkey of all) Red Panda, Gibbons ,Giraffe, Ostrich, Zebra, Fenec Fox, Brazilian Tapir, Meerkats & Deer which you could feed through the fence- and they all seem really hungry & didn't hesitate to eat from your hands.

My very favourite animal of all..the Snow leopard was next.what.he has a Swedish girlfriend visiting.and he is not available for viewing..it's not fair! all I can see is grass rocks..woe is me

The Timbavati White Lions were the next keeper talk, There was 1 male & 4 females in a large savannah looking enclosure. The keeper fed them small amounts of meats to get them to stand up against the fence. They get fed every 3-4 days large amounts of meat like horse legs etc still intact with the bones. The male has to be fed separately because like in the wild the female will hunt the food but the male gets fed first.he doesn't share well.They are not albino but a really light shade of blonde (not the usual tawny colour)- needs 2 recessive genes to make this happen- very unique.

We made our way around to the Siamang which is a type of Gibon not a monkey- they were so cute, they walked on their feet like we do, had the long arms like the Orang-utans, They are the largest of the Gibon family and are black in colour. The babies were chasing the ducks away, picking up left over food, running & playing on the ropes. While mum & dad were having a lie down in the sun, one of the babies decided to then jump & play on mum & dad, then they wrestled for a while..reminded me of Brendan.so human like. While we sat and watched them Brendan had a little picnic stop, sitting on the rocks overlooking the water fencing off the Siamang,- we saw eels swimming around.

We saw Spider Monkeys, Ring tailed Lemurs & Black & White Ruffed Lemurs- they each had their own separate islands & very pretty quiet until a keeper came out into the water in a little dingy.they all started running around after that !

Next, was the reptile enclosure.Iguanas & large snakes were the theme.the Iguana's were cute in a dragon sort of way- there was a Green one & a Rhinoceros one, but the snakes..yuk..Brendan enjoyed them though.must be a boy thing!

We were on our way back to see the tigers again, & found the juvenile Red Panda's running around their enclosure chasing each other, there were 2 enclosures next to each other & there were 2 Red Panda's in each ..we spent a lot of time here watching them & taking photo's ( I wish I had seen them earlier- I seemed to spend hours trying to get a photo of the adult ones which I think deliberately were lying down  in the back of the trees, so you couldn't see them properly)

We had a late lunch, then waited for the last Keeper talk of the day.the Serval...Medium sized African wild cat.we were the only ones there ! The keepers actually went into the enclosure with the 2 cats on display as they had been hand raised, The mother & brother & sister in the next enclosure were not.They meow not roar, they also purr & can jump 3m in height , they have eye camouflage on their ears & have the longest legs of the cat family - compared to body size, the usual weight is around 16kg.

A quick stop for Brendan to again see & take another photo of the Otters, we then left Mogo Zoo

We decided to go out to Nelligen to have a look at the Big4 caravan park anyhow. There was still no vacancies unless you wanted a powered tent site, but the lady at the front desk buzzed us in so we could have a look around for next time.The reception was very fancy and the grassy areas were really green & well manicured - muddy in a lot of areas but with so much rain that's to be expected. There was a cool kids water play area, heated pool & 2x pillow jumping areas, (Brendan was really disappointed we couldn't stay) General cabins & cabins which overlooked the water, all in all it looked pretty nice.

As we couldn't stay the night we decided to made our way back home  today rather than Monday- Brendan can now go to school Monday instead!

It didn't start well, as the side rails, that had only been installed on the Wednesday, at TJM Wollongong, were found to be barely hanging on. We were only on dirt roads for about 15min!The front mounting bolts were showing about 6mm of thread in the gap and the rear bolts were only

hand tightened! ( Apparently TJM didn't think this justified reimbursing my installation fee, as I was fobbed off on the weekend with a promise to ring me on the Monday... I'm still waiting .





I bet you can't guess where I'll be telling everyone NOT to go to, for their 4wd gear )

So after crawling around in the dirt to install the rails, properly, we headed off towards Braidwood.



Plenty of river crossings, some steep tracks, and some very cold nights saw out an enjoyable weekend.

Our last day today...Once again sat & watched the waves while eating breakfast. - one could really get used to this !

David & I decided to get a massage from the Melasti Spa, outside the Melasti hotel ( 2 up from ours) we had been told really good things about it. Brendan stayed to play in the pool with a few friends he had made from Perth.

We were taken into the waiting room through 2 very large solid timber doors, very posh.was like another world.completely different to our previous massage...We sat on the large lounge chairs waiting for our masseuses & perused through the service guide as to what we could have done  .. the prices on the sheet were double that of what we paid before !  You could buy special masks & oils, from the reception area (where they did the feet massage) they were displayed very nicely. There was a huge variety of treatments you could have ranging from foot massage, facials, stone massage etc ..we were even offered a romantic spa for two.in chocolate !

David & I were taken to our room, together, where there were 2 tables next to each other. we stripped down to our underwear & lied down, when you looked down though the hole in the table there was a container which contained various flower patterns to look at,( a lot of small things made a huge difference). The lights were dimmed &  soothing background music was played while massaging.  so much different from our previous massage.The one negative I have is that we were coated in oil, they gave you a towel to wipe it off but we really needed a shower.An hour later we headed back to have our shower & check on Brendan.

We decided to head back to the shops for some last minute spending , stopping to say goodbye to Tony & Yudah along the way.

Back at the hotel we changed into our cosies & headed straight for the pool.was so humid , had sweat dripping everywhere!  We ordered some drinks & some lunch to eat while soaking in the water. While we were waiting for our 2nd plate of chips to be served, a storm came,really dark clouds & strong winds, blowing the umbrellas over..lightning flashing..& the rain that fell was so heavy & cold !  In less than 2 minutes the walkways were all under water again -about ankle high , the kids were sliding down the ramp ways  which looked like waterfalls, the pool had overflowed & water was every where. All the adults were soon out of the pool up into the restaurant. We finished our lunch in the restaurant which was marginally drier & then made a mad dash  for the room.

We packed the bags & got ready. We then had a bell boy take them to the reception area for us to mind - as we had to be out of the room by 6pm.

We walked around to the first bend & decided to have our last Bali dinner at the "Corner Bar", while we were waiting for our food to come, a  young man came over & asked if we wanted any more DVD's so we said yes & had a  look..he kept bringing piles of DVD's  over to us....was about 400 titles in the end.we settled on about 30 we didn't already have, went to pay for them & realised we didn't have enough money..no worries he will take David to the ATM on the back of his motorbike. We didn't know at the time ( if we did we would of walked) but there was a ATM only 5 shops up..so David bike ride was extremely short!

We paid our bill, said goodbye to the staff at the hotel & were picked up in a large minivan to be taken to the airport at 9pm.our flight was at 11.45pm. 

We went through immigrations etc & found out our bags were over by 2kg each & had to pay extra, not real happy about this..we were told $15 ea kg, but with Bali being so corrupt the attendant said to pay him 300,000rp & he would put them through..but don't tell anyone.once again no money, so David had to go back out through the x-rays & find an ATM..he had just got the money out & turned around to find our attendant right behind him waiting for his payment..I don't think David would have left Brendan & I  there alone, run off to who knows where & not paid, but this guy must have thought he looked suspicious..

We had a look around the few shops while waiting & decided to have a foot & back massage to kill the time. Was for 1/2 hour. Yes they took credit card..Brendan & David had ladies while I had a guy, they seemed  nice & were quite chatty.  When they heard that Brendan had learnt how to say thank you / your welcome in their language they were highly amused & Brendan kept them entertained through out. I have come to the conclusion that I do not like how they massage my feet, every time I have had one they dig in & it kills.maybe I am too soft.

We were finally allowed to board the plane, but first had to get on a bus to actually take us out  to the plane ..a much nicer plane this time, with personal video screen etc, but we were so tired & couldn't  put them to use. We had the 4 seats in the middle, put up the arm rests & let Brendan lie down to go to sleep.I had the feet..Finally it went dark & we tried to get some much sort after sleep, but with people banging into you as they walked past or the attendants constantly asking if you wanted something to drink, didn't manage to catch too many zzzz's.

Back on Australian turf..yah.felt & probably looked like a zombie.oh well.

Had a great holiday..loved not cooking & spending all that time with the two loves of my life! but back to reality and all too soon work.

Save save save till we can do it again!

Off to Waterbom park this morning, we hailed a taxi & it took around 3/4 hour as traffic was heavy due to a fire in the middle of Kuta. We handed over our entrance tickets & were given an E-bracelet ( you pay money & it electronically calculates what you have spent - acts as a credit card because they don't use other currency in the park. We hired a locker & towel & headed out.  The grounds were really beautifully - green & lush with pools kept in immaculate condition. We found 2 banana lounges near the pool bar & claimed them, then were off to try the boomerang ride, Brendan & I rode together, 5 flights of stairs later we hopped on our double tube & went down - going round & round ,then a steep drop which flicks you over to another slope much like a ski ramp. Brendan & David then went on this again, then Brendan was ok to go by himself. Next ride the Boogie, you lie on a mat & slide down the ramp. Then the Macaroni & River raft, this one finished at the lagoon where you could float around the circuit in the tubes.

Brendan made a friend - Jarrad from Perth & went off, with him, doing all the rides again.

We left at 2.45 when our taxi driver returned to take us to Batuan. I wanted to go back to the art gallery to see if we could bargain for the painting we liked ( hadn't seen any others around which we liked as much) we eventually found the correct gallery only to find the picture already sold. We stopped at another 4 galleries on the way back, but there was nothing that interested us. We stopped off at indo-graph for David to pick up his signs & went back to the hotel, paid our driver 150,000rp. He gave us his card in case we come back to Bali again. His price was really good, as we had asked a driver out front of the hotel earlier & he had said 400,000rp & would not negotiate lower.

Brendan had a quick swim before we set out for tea. We decided to go back to Petite Cafe, they had nice food & Wi-Fi. We had garlic bread, Lamb curry, Mexican chips & dip, Weiner Snitzel, David also had cappuccino & fried banana with ice cream, drinks, all for  $220,000rp,

We stopped off at the convenience store opposite the hotel & got Brendan a heart ice cream 4000rp before going back to our room.

Emptied the bags in the room ( they put the wrong shoes in after all the hassle we went through !....not going back again, so Jarrad will have slightly different to what he wanted.

We met Scott & Fiona on the way to collect Brendan from the pool & arranged to go out for tea at 6.30.

Continued.

We set off up the beach for Seminyak, stopping to look at the old hotel David once stayed at, the grounds are a bit different & the name has changed , it is now called Puri Sani (???). We looked at a few hats & watches etc  being sold along the pat hway  & ended up buying 3 watches - 150,000rp

We found a nice little beachside restaurant for lunch, Goodies - hot dog & Mexican pizza - which was really nice.

It continued to drizzle but the temperature was more comfortable to walk around in & we don't mind getting wet ( yes, and we like Pina Colada's). Had a look in a few market type shops & David bought a shirt, & a dress for me. After walking for hours, looking at the artwork & goods for sale we decided to head back . David found a street which lead us back to the hotel with just enough time for Brendan to have another quick swim before getting ready for tea.

We met Scott & Fiona & headed back toward Seminyak, stopping  about 750m from our hotel at a restaurant called Seaside (used to be called Cafe Warna, think!) we had a few cocktails, entree & mains - meatballs, nachos & Fajitas'.  It was fairly expensive compared to others we have had, 440,000rp, but was really well presented & tasted nice, the company was great as well,  Scott knew all about wrestling so Brendan was in heaven & didn't stop taking all night.

On the way we saw a Balinese ceremony, where hundreds of Balinese were dressed in white, Chanting & walking down the street from the beach. We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe for a picture of Brendan with the Big Surf Board, he was a star, once we had taken his picture, 5 other tourists ( Japanese etc )  wanted photo's with him as well.we should have charged!

A Balinese taxi driver grabbed David's arm and tied a leather bracelet onto it, and said it was free & for good luck. Brendan has it now ;-).

Continued.

It took us about 1/2 hour to get back, we showered & went back out. We found the printing place & ordered 1m2 x 1m2 of signs ( Disney on Water etc ) for the boat costing 185,000rp. Back to the hotel for a change of clothes, & walked the streets to find a restaurant that we could all eat at. We eventually found Sheppy's, in Mellasti St, & at 9.30 we were really  hungry, we had an entre of garlic bread, main's - hot dog, nachos, parmagana & desert - ice cream, crepe with orange sauce & fried banana with ice cream, plus drinks for 180,000rp, after tea our waiter bought out around 300 DVD movies for us to go thru, we ended up buying 10.

On the way back to the hotel (all the shops are open really late) Brendan & I decided to have a fish therapy treatment ( it looked interesting & we had never tried before), you put your feet into a tank with 100's of small fish which eat the dead skin off you, yes sounds really gross.it felt like placing your feet over a spa bath jet - really tingly. We stayed with our feet in the water for around 1/2 hour - 150,000rp. & as we were just out on the footpath we had various tourist stop & ask us questions about how it felt. Our feet & legs were really smooth when we finished & the tingly sensation stayed with us for a long time after.

We woke to an overcast morning, had an early breakfast to be ready for pick up at 8.30, for our Bounty day cruise . We were met by our driver & taken to Benoa harbour at Sanur, about 45 minute drive, where we boarded the large, bright yellow catamaran (holds 700 people / peak time around Aug/Sep). We had a photo with some of the staff, found some seats on the middle level & had coffee & cake while we waited to leave. The fist few minutes were ok, as the water was still calm &  we moved to the upper deck where we found our Chinese shipmates bopping to the loud dance music being played. We were looking at the small villages being past when I felt decidedly ill, the water was a lot more choppy, this was not good as we still had 1/2 to go before we arrived at the pontoon. I sent Brendan downstairs to get a few plastic bags - yes I felt that bad.just shoot me & get it over with!. While I was moaning & groaning about dying a painful death , one of the ships cruise directors came over to check on me & started talking to David. We arranged for David to do a scuba dive for $US50. We finally reached the pontoon, which is a water playground. We went up to the top level & found 3 Banana lounges to sit on, which overlooked the Banana boat rides . I didn't feel any better yet !.Our concierge friend came over & arranged for towels & a locker to put our gear. 

Continued.

Brendan didn't waste any time & was already on the waterslide which  twisted around 1 end of the pontoon & came out to a designated area in the ocean. David was taken away on a smaller boat to go diving. I managed to find some sea legs & take a few photo's before being coerced into going on the slide by the captain (it would make me feel better !) . Brendan then jumped of the high board (twice). The concierge arranged a banana boat ride for Brendan & me, so we went around to the side of the boat.  We stepped down onto a ledge and tried ( not very elegantly) to get on to the banana shaped inflatable boat, the speed boat then pulled you around flying over the waves hanging on for dear life. Brendan nearly fell off twice, but the driver slowed down each time for him to recover his position. It was extremely hard to hang on & take photo's, so I gave up after 2 attempts. We had finished our circuit when the driver flipped us, was not expecting that ! but it was fun & Brendan enjoyed it ( they don't tip the Chinese as they can't swim !). We were then taken to the shuttle boat to take us to the snorkelling area. Brendan & I donned our mask & snorkel & hit the water. We were only in the water for about 5 minutes when we saw some divers, & on closer inspection realised that it was David, we tried to get his attention but he was a few meters below us, and looking down, so we just floated over the top of him & took a few photo's before he left our designated snorkelling area. We swam around for about 15 more minutes pointing out different coloured fish to each other before David surfaced & joined us. Brendan couldn't wait to tell his dad that he saw him! We were only in the water for another 5 or so  minutes before I was sick again, so we were taken back to the pontoon, where we had a quick lunch before being taken over to Nusa Lembongan Island for a tour. Thank God land! We were taken in a army style transport truck, to the other side of the island to be shown where seaweed is grown & harvested -apart from tourism, this is the next largest income for the island. We then drove back to another village & were shown an under ground house, which was built by a 72 year old man & took 15 years to complete. The structure was 3 different levels,consisting of a bedroom, well, kitchen, bathroom etc, & was mainly used for meditation.  Our shuttle boat then picked us up form the island & we had to quickly get our gear from the lockers as a storm was approaching & we needed to get away. As we stepped on board the captain gave me a sea sick tablet & suggested an area outside for us to sit. Brendan went upstairs where the music was playing (no dancing as everyone was pooped). We made good time back to the harbour, only a few spits of rain. We collected our photo, said good bye to our new friends & were taken back to the hotel, It was heavily raining at this stage. We decided to have tea at the hotel even though the rain had slowed down. David & I once again sat outside for a few drinks,watching the rain before bed.