Cervantes is about a 2.5hr drive north of Perth along the Indian Ocean Highway. It’s quite an easy drive although a very twisty road with lots of black spots so patience is key.
Approx 17kms before you hit Cervantes is the turn off for Nambung National Park and the Pinnacles Tourist Drive! It costs $15 for a day pass into the park, viewing all the limestone pillars is worth it though. Amazing.
Nambung National Park – The PinnaclesNambung National Park – The PinnaclesNambung National Park – The PinnaclesNambung National Park – The Pinnacles
We then kept driving another 10 mins and arrived in Cervantes. We are staying at an air bnb for two nights here which is next to the RAC holiday park so has all the walkable conveniences (beach, park, lobster shack, food) with less of the screaming children. This is opposite our accomodation and less than a 60 second walk away.
Cervantes Beach
Day 2 started with birthday presents for B!!! Yay!! We started the day early and walked across the road to Seashells Cafe to grab a breakfast bacon roll. The weather was shocking (grey, raining, cold) so we drove to Lobster Shack where our sea lion tour was scheduled to depart at 9am. It was cold and pouring rain but we arrived for our early check in anyway figuring if it was cancelled we would just go back to bed.
We still ended up going and getting in the water! It was a bit chilly but we swam with big papa, mum sea lions and babies! B even duck dived with them and played chasey in the sea weed. Very cool to interact that closely with wild animals. I have minimal photos as I only took my phone and it rained most of the time.
The boat stops just off the sea lion colonies home and the seals are encouraged to come and play….no food bribes though as they are protected
For lunch we had the seafood basked at Seashells Cafe and it was….average. I’ve had better, but the convenience of it being across the road was pretty good. B then had a birthday nap while I watched the sky be all moody and grey for the afternoon. Around 4:30pm we drove 4 mins to Lake Thetis. We did the full 1.5km walk loop but there is also a 300m paved boardwalk section for accessibility.
Last nights dinner was at the country club (local bar and lawn bowls club) which was quite tasty and about a 7 min walking distance from our air bnb. Tonight we were going to try out the Bar + Bistro but it’s closed. Then we thought we would try the motel restaurant which serves pizza….but also closed. So, back to the country club it is!
I have been lobbying B to stay here since it first opened in 2014 but he’s always said no because the cost is….to be blunt….totally insane. He finally agreed given we have had to cancel all our other travel this year and I have had some extra unexpected income recently which paid for half of it.
Jamala Wildlife Lodge is based at Canberra Zoo. They have a variety of accomodation but I’ve always wanted to stay in a “jungle bungalow” which is approx $2000 a night. I told you….the pricing is totally bonkers! Their website says “The Jungle Bungalows are luxurious individual suites adjoining a variety of enclosures throughout the property. A glass wall is all that will separate you from a pride of lions, cheetahs, tiger or a Malayan sun bear! Regardless of whether you are relaxing in your lounge area, resting in bed or taking a leisurely bath, you will only be a heartbeat away from these amazing creatures. All rooms feature king beds, bath robes, indulgent bath tubs, optional climate control, complimentary wireless internet, music system with MP3 input, television with complimentary Foxtel and premium TV.”
So, we booked in for a night during the September school holidays. They sent us a lot of information beforehand and were very responsive to queries. The schedules they use at the moment are slightly adjusted due to covid 19 but this was our pre-prepared schedule! We also added two extra experiences to this – giraffe encounter and white lion feeding – which were booked in on day 1.
We arrived at 1pm to check in and were provided with afternoon tea at the Ushaka Lodge which was delicious. The lodge has a beautiful view over the local land and there were also some lemurs just….hanging out. Jamala provide a self guided tour for the afternoon session but we headed off on our own tour as there was giraffe feeding to be done! We fed Shabu the male giraffe and also got to meet his lady friend and 1 year old calf.
After the giraffe feeding, we met the zoo staff at one of the gazebos and collected our bungalow keys. For most people this meant from 3-7pm they hang out in their bungalow with their animals. We took a brief detour on the way back to the bungalow to feed Jake the white lion, and meet his sister Mishka.
After feeding Jake the very hungry (and demanding!) white lion with his keeper Ryan – the zoo owners son – we headed to Jungle Bungalow 5 with Mya and Melita the toddler tiger twins! I was a teeny, tiny bit excited when we walked in to this….hi there 2 year old 120kg tiger friend!!
When we were in the bath they mostly laid here and watched us….or wrestled each other!
We settled in with a bubble bath, watching tigers wrestle/nap and some champagne to tide us over until dinner. Just before 7pm we were collected and taken to the rainforest cave for dinner alongside the white lions and hyenas. The dinner and drinks were all included and the food was mostly very good – B got unlucky with a not so great steak but mine was delicious – and the paired drink options were all good quality. I haven’t been so full in ages!
This collage shows some of the afternoon tea snacks on day 1, dinner canapés + main + dessert and our breakfast choices the next day!
After dinner, they drive you back to hang out and watch your animal friends some more before you tuck in for bed next to them!
Our morning tiger view
We then woke up to sleepy tigers quite early (6:30am!) and some small pastries before heading off on an animal tour and feeding experience. We got to see dingos howl, monkeys use tools, lemurs wrestle for snacks and learn about how they are combating the rhino horn trade.
After the tour, we had breakfast (more delicious food in the rainbow cave) followed by another 90 mins of hanging out with our tiger friends and people watching because this time…we could see all the people looking into the enclosure from the viewing spots! they had privacy barriers up from 3pm the day before but they do warn you they take them down in the morning.
Verdict
A few people on Facebook asked me “was it worth the money?”. I think the answer to this has a few parts. First of all, there are not many (f any) places with this level of experience and accomodation in Australia. So choices are limited. It’s also in very high demand, usually getting in during school holidays is pretty dang hard to do! There is also the aspect here of this particular facility being wholly privately owned and funded and the work they do is amazing….we feel it’s worth paying the premium to support such a dedicated organisation and staff.
Secondly, it’s definitely not an every day thing. We had 2 overseas trips planned this year and haven’t gone on either which is how I was able to convince B to even consider this amount for one night lol. So when asking was it worth it, B said he felt it was a fantastic one-off experience that was worth doing but not something we would repeat.
Finally, we chose to go top tier with the experience on advice from others. There are rooms at the lodge for approximately $1200 a night and the giraffe treehouse is $1500 a night. The advice we had from people who had stayed in these rooms was if you’re only doing it once….go all out. Geez, I am glad we listened!
After we arrived and checked in at our epic room at Rydges (ummm hello giant spa bath) we immediately went in search of a supermarket to stock up on bubble bath and snacks. Mostly bubble bath.
Dinner was at a rooftop bar called The Red Hummingbird and was tapas style – yum. This was only my second rooftop bar experience in Melbourne and it was nice, although a bit annoying you can’t eat food near the edge as it’s a smoking area 🙄 how about you just ban the smokers eh? The house drinks were $6-$7 though and the food was good and well priced.
Out first comedy show for this trip was one we haven’t been to before – Upfront. it’s a 140min recorded gala event at The Town Hall with an all female line up.
The blurb says: The queens of comedy join forces to deliver whip-smart laughs, lip, charm and chat in classicUpfrontstyle! An epic night that sees the scene’s most irreverent comics shattering stereotypes and raising the roof. Strap in for a line-up that has fists held high and fingers firmly on the pulse. Girl power!
Hosted byGeraldine Quinn’s Spandex Balletand featuringFringe Wives Club, DeAnne Smith (CAN/USA), Jude Perl, Becky Lucas, Steph Tisdell, Geraldine Hickey, Celeb Five (Sth Korea),Felicity Ward,Mel Buttle,Nikki Britton, Cal Wilson,Anne Edmonds, Sam Jay (USA), Alice Snedden (NZ), Fern Brady (UK), Eleanor Tiernan (IRL), Flo & Joan (UK), Sarah Keyworth (UK), Rosie Jones (UK), Kirsty Webeck, Double DenimandNina Oyama.
Highlights from the performances for me were: Rosie Jones and her on point delivery about living with a disability…I loved that she had so many great punchlines that worked with her CP delivery style! I also really enjoyed the musical acts including Double Denim and Flo and Joan. This was also a very inclusive, very LGBTQI+ positive lineup and that was reflected in the audience as well which was fabulous to see.
B said he enjoyed himself even though the humour was very female oriented, he didn’t have a specific highlight but said he would certainly go again next year if it was on while we are here….so that’s the equivalent to a rave review from a man of few words!
Today’s breakfast was a bit more of a shambles than yesterday – it was full! We had to wait for a table and then queue up for hot food which was mostly empty. So that was a little disappointing.
After breakfast we discussed options for the day and eventually we drove 10 mins down the road to the Wild Brumby Distillery where B sampled all their delicious schnapps and we had a wander around the beautiful outside area and sculpture garden. We also had lunch here – goulash – which was yum.
After lunch we both had a relaxation massage at the Lake Crackenback Spa and Wellness Centre which was….well, relaxing! It was also well priced at $100 for 60 mins which is far more reasonable than what the Thredbo spa charges. They also have a really nice (and warm!) lounge area you can relax in while you wait.
I then had another issue with Alpine Larder – the only dinner option at the hotel open – when I went to book dinner as they were fully booked for the evening and the weather had turned so sitting outside was not really an option. They suggested ordering take away which I thought was great except I couldn’t phone it in. So I would have had to walk down, order, wait 30-40 mins outside, walk back. Ummmm no. I gave up in frustration and walked up to the tony supermarket to see what they had available. We ended up having a delicious cheese platter and wine for dinner instead while watching cheesy movies ❤️
We decided to spend the Canberra March long weekend up in the Snowy Mountains so we could enjoy a bit of a break from work stress (me) and learn a new skill – mountain bike riding (B). We booked online and are staying in the Novotel section of the resort in a studio apartment with gorgeous mountain views.
Check in was easy and we had pre-booked dinner at Cuisine which was DELICIOUS! There are two food options here – Cuisine (fancy food) and Alpine Larder (pub food). We booked a week ahead for Cuisine although it wasn’t full and would still have been able to seat more couples, I had prosciutto chicken and B raved about his steak and Shiraz.
On the morning of day 2 we woke up early and enjoyed the free breakfast knowing we had a big day ahead planned! Mmmmm mushrooms are seriously my favourite food.
We headed off through the national park entry point ($17 day pass) and up to the Thredbo village. Last time we were up here in March was 5 years ago and we had underestimated just how much their mountain biking courses had taken off! There were people EVERYWHERE and parking was a bitch. Eventually we parked in the furtherest car park and walked the 800m to the Kosciuszko Express chairlift which operates all year round for a fee ($39 each).
After a super exciting (not) 15min chairlift ride to the top we started out on our goal for the weekend – to climb to the top of Mt Kosciuszko! It’s a 13.8km walk return and the trip to the summit is about 90% uphill which is a big challenge for me. Last time I made it 2km in to the lookout point and had to turn back. But this time….I made it the whole way! It took us 4hrs and 4 mins, I burnt 2200 calories AND it was over 30000 steps counted for the day. I felt amazing afterward although that last 1.5kms directly uphill to the summit was really hard. You can see from the photos today we picked a beautiful blue bird day for it.
After the climb down and drive back to the resort, we relaxed with some ice cream before giving Alpine Larder a go for dinner. They were booked out but we were able to sit outside. The pizza was $30 and was very….average. So in future I would suggest either booking ahead and paying the $$ for Cuisine or considering a 15 min drive into JINDABYNE to one of their many pubs and restaurants.
As a special treat, on our walk back to the studio we spotted wild deer and some young kangaroos living up to their sign expectation!
We headed to the NSW south coast this weekend for our second stay in Tomakin. We chose Tomakin, NSW again because it is a small town and they have a wonderful 24hr off leash dog beach. It’s also only a 2hr (with good traffic) drive from Canberra.
Coming out of Canberra on Good Friday we didn’t really understand just how bad the traffic would be! This was obviously what people meant when they talked about “coast traffic” and we got stuck at Braidwood for a good 15 mins and then for at least 40mins trying to get into Batemans Bay. No way around it unfortunately! Coming home we left early and missed most of it, with just a short delay in Braidwood.
This time we stayed at “Mutleys on Deakin” in Tomakin and it was amazing! A huge, dog friendly home. Very affordable as well with a 7 min walk to the beach and to the local social club for meals. As you can tell from the video below, Bear was pretty excited! Accomodation link: http://wagsawaypetholidays.com.au/mutleys-deakin-tomakin.html
Every morning and evening we walked on the off lead beach and met lots of locals (and lots of Canberrans) with their beautiful dogs. Bear made special friends with Leo the Ridgeback.
This time as part of our stay we had a wander over to the Tomago River as well, which feeds into the beach we walk along with Bear. It was a beautiful area, very calm and still, but there were boats loading off the ramp and lots of shore fishing so it wasn’t really Bear-friendly. Looked stunning at sunset though, even on a cloudy day.
We also took the opportunity over the 4 days to visit Bernie’s in Batehaven again (excellent fish and chips) as well as check out the Birdland Animal Park. I read a lot of reviews beforehand so was prepared going in that it was mostly a rescue and rehab place that was small. Within the first five minutes I got to hold a baby wombat so I thought it was the best zoo visit in ages! I didn’t read anything about the wombat cuddles online so I think we just got lucky 🙂
We also saw lots of other animals (goats, alpacas, many birds, deer, kangaroos, echidnas, wallabies, koalas, more wombats…) and fed nearly all of them. I had one particularly memorable run in with a peacock which tried to steal my bag of food and then chased me. I of course ran away screaming – as you do.
It was $29 each to get in but as we got to hold the baby wombat and hand feed lots of other animals in a quiet, non-crowded setting we felt it was well worth it.
We also stopped in at Broulee Beach for a walk on Easter Sunday. Tomakin is about 15 mins out of Batemans Bay and Broulee is another 5 mins along the coast. It’s a town with few amenities but beautiful beaches and walks.
To finish this post off, here’s some “Bear in action” shots for his fans 👍😃
This weekend we drove to Sydney for the first time. Usually we fly as we are staying in the city centre (hotels) and a car is not much use + expensive to park. This time we are staying out in Olympic Park as we are going to see the Foo Fighters tomorrow night! Eeeeee!!
Canberra to Sydney is about a 3hr 15min drive down a dual carriageway. It’s not a hard drive but it’s booooooring. We stopped in Moss Vale (the halfway point) for a very tasty and cheerful lunch at Bernie’s Diner.
As we are staying in Olympic Park, we opted to go for an apartment booked through Stayz.com instead of the hotels nearby. The apartment we are in is one of the “Australia Tower” ones and it’s about halfway up the 25 storey building with a very nice view of ANZ Stadium and Homebush.
After arriving, we wandered over to Cathy Freeman Park (5 min walk) and had a look at the olympic cauldron from the 2000 games, then had dinner and cocktails at Mexica Bar. We returned to the apartment and settled in to wait for fireworks. Unfortunately our view wasn’t great but we still saw a bit!
Today we spent our first Christmas at home in Canberra! Our day went as follows:
9:30am wake up and let the dog on the bed for snuggles
10:10am enjoy Christmas breakfast mimosa
11:00am arrive at friends house and exchange gifts! We got salted caramel booze + an awesome panda mug for me. They got a cool new board game and a dog themed shirt.
12:00pm Christmas carvery buffet lunch at the Hyatt commences. I highly recommend it, the food was delicious with no lines and SO MUCH TASTINESS. Wine and champagne was free and easy to get. The price is high ($230 a head) but it was worth it and I can certainly see why it comes as the most highly recommended Christmas experience in Canberra.
2:00pm slightly intoxicated selfies commence, just before we Uber home. We also “borrowed” some pine cones to take home to Ada (the German shepherd) because she loves pine cones as much as B loves ham. Which is a lot.
3:00pm play video games, drink scotch and/or wine and hang out with friends. Mario Kart on N64 is the best.
7: 10pm arrive home and be greeted by exceptionally excited doggo who then brings us his Christmas present (rubber chicken) to show off
8:05pm commence watching the best Christmas movie of all time, Die Hard
Approx 10:30pm we intend to go to bed with absolutely nothing negative to say about the day. Well, 2017 Christmas kicked ass 🎄🎅🏻
Mel's Travel Blog 