Posts Tagged With: bear

Fiji time!!

Today was the last day of school for semester one, 2018 and tomorrow we fly to Fiji for a full five nights of glorious relaxation! When we decided to do a relaxation trip I settled on Fiji pretty quickly (only a 3hr flight from Sydney) and immediately started researching for my two main requirements – a swim up bar and an ocean front villa or room. Turns out those are damn hard to find in peak season! I also initially had “childfree” as a main requirement but all the strictly adults only places needed another flight from the domestic airport so B vetoed them this time around and we just aimed for a smaller resort without a huge kids club to attract families. I’ll come back to you another time LikuLiku Lagoon Resort.

We are staying at the Doubletree Resort by Hilton which is on Sonaisali Island. It’s very close to the main island and is only a 25 min taxi ride from the international airport with a 2 min boat ride across the inlet.

We have booked to stay in a King Premium Ocean Bure (hut) facing onto the beach. The pricing was exceptionally good (this whole trip is cheaper than what it cost us to go on what we politely refer to as “the Perth trip from hell” in 2016) and the inside of the bure looks amazing!

We have one short day trip planned to visit the mud baths and the garden of the sleeping giants but other than that it’s basically all about relaxing together, drinking fruity drinks with umbrellas in them and frolicking in the water while Canberra freezes through -5C temps. Here are some photos of my recent suffering – working on a farm school site requires multiple layers, thermals, a beanie and good gloves at the moment!!

The doggos (yes – note the plural! We have formally adopted Jet as of two days ago) will have a family of pet sitters coming to stay – highly recommend Emma Lily Grace Services in Canberra – and the big babies won’t even miss us a tiny bit while they have kids to dote on them and give them all the pats they want.

Fiji, here we come!! 🏝 🍸 🍹 πŸ– 😎

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Easter weekend at the NSW south coast: Tomakin, Broulee, Batehaven and Batemans Bay

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 πŸ™‚

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 πŸ‘πŸ˜ƒ

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Day 3+4: mini break at Tomakin BeachΒ 

The third day of beachy fun started at 6:30am when Bear decided he wanted to go to the beach and wasn’t taking no for an answer. We managed to put him off for a little while longer but…he was very persistent! Lots of face licks and leaping on the bed. So off we went for more sandy, wet fun. 


After the beach, Bear needed a nap and we headed off into Mogo Village for lunch. We ate at Grumpy & Sweethearts cafe which was a really nice lunch stop with delicious toasted sandwiches. The outdoor eating section was full of plants and shade to avoid the midday sun. 


There’s also some lovely little shops at Mogo, including a plant nursery, ice-creamery and Lolly shop.


After lunch it was family nap time and then back to the beach for Bear’s last visit before we head home. Poor Bear! Dinner on our last night was at the Tomakin Sports and Social Club which is walking distance from our accomodation and came recommended much higher than the only β€œofficial restaurant” in town – JJs at the Moorings – which we tried on our first night and were very disappointed with. Tomakin Sports and Social Club was good value, good food and very friendly and next time we will try them first. 

B had initially said no morning dog swim on the day we left because he didn’t want 3hrs of wet dog in his car…but he’s such a softie (and Bear has perfected his β€œI’m adorable” face) so he let Bear have one last romp! We had Tomakin Beach to ourselves for most of the morning. 


Then it was a 2.5hr drive back to Canberra with a short stop at the Braidwood Bakery for lunch….mmm chunky steak pies. Bear slept pretty much the whole way home because he was a tired puppy. 

I officially call the first family beach holiday a success! 

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Day 2: mini-break at the coast and exploring the local areaΒ 

The day started with more dog beach time. It’s about a 4 min walk from our pet friendly rental house down to the dog beach. Another few mins takes us to the people beach as well. 

Bear’s highlights this morning were: making a new husky friend, romping through other people’s beach towels (naughty!) and walking out to the top of the cove with B.


We left a very tired Bear at home and went off to explore some of the surrounding area. Mogo Zoo was only a 5 min drive and was a nice visit, we got to feed animals and explore. 


After a few hours of zoo fun, we drove into Batemans Bay (another 15mins) and ate fish and chips on the beach. The fish and chip place is the same one as in Canberra (Bernie’s) and is just as good.


Batehaven Beach was a beautiful spot to enjoy the food. 


We arrived back to Tomakin Beach around 4pm to a doggy who definitely wanted to go back to the beach again….he’s been working hard at perfecting his β€œpleeeeeease” face! Who could say no to that? 

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Day 1: Mini-break on the south coast of NSW

This was our first ever trip to what is commonly referred to as β€œthe coast” by Canberrans…much to most of our friends horror. We know a lot of people who spend every weekend in summer at or around Batemans Bay. It’s about a 2.5hr drive from Canberra and Bear had a very clear opinion on the length of the drive.


I booked pet friendly accomodation in Tomakin Beach based on a recommendation from a friend as you get the small town feel with the convenience of a 24 hr dog beach. 

After the drive, we spent the first afternoon and evening at the dog beach. Bear’s first beach experience left him a very happy doggie: 

He really loved playing chasey up and down with B as well as rolling in the sand then flinging himself at the waves. 

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