Posts Tagged With: sunset

Day 10 Vietnam: Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay.

Posted on July 5, 2024 by Mel

The boat has early starts which isn’t that big a deal since all the children on board are up early anyway….and they are not quiet. The sun also wakes you up! For those who wanting to be up very early, sunrise is 5:15am followed by 6am Tai Chi on the deck. We skipped both on the first morning on the boat but made it for a 6:45am light breakfast.

Between 7:30 and 8am our group split into those returning to Ha Long Passenger Terminal after 1 night and people like us (across multiple boats) who are staying 2 nights on board. We hopped on a smaller “day boat” with a mixed group to transfer to Lan Ha bay. Lucky us had a group of Australian backpackers on board…behaving exactly as the stereotype suggests. Sigh. On the way to Lan Ha Bay we stopped at Bo Hon Island and had the option to kayak at Dark and Bright caves area. This was a no from me due to the twisting. We got to walk through the cave on Bo Hon island instead which was really cool…and full of bats! Then sit for a little at a beautiful beach.

We were then supposed to head to Ba Trai Dao beach (Three Peaches Beach) for swimming in the crystal water and lazing on the white sand. Apparently there was a change of plans and instead they anchored in Lan Ha Bay and people were able to swim in the bay and jump off the boat. I was a little disappointed as I had been looking forward to that particular beach.

Lunch was served on the boat at 12:30 before we started the 1 hour return to Ha Long bay. We had one additional short stop at the Pearl Farm Exhibition Center and Museum to learn how to raise a pearl farm and harvest pearls. It was hugely touristy /sales focused and you could tell most of the people on the boat were not impressed with it and would have much preferred the beach visit. In addition, they left us there for an hour! I was pissed.

We transferred back to our main boat around 3:30pm to freshen up and relax in the cabin as there were no staff on board – they had gone to collect the new overnight guests. From 5-7pm we had another happy hour (cocktails…yum) followed by 7pm dinner. The boat was totally full last night and I was not coping with the noise levels or the people…I drank 7 Long Island iced teas to help lol. We requested a private dinner this time after seeing the dining area was set up for multiple larger groups and eventually they moved us upstairs which was really nice of them.

I didn’t have to take meds this time after I ate shellfish the night before….despite being assured it wasn’t in the food. They definitely had that sorted this time. It was another beautiful sunset as well, we have been lucky with the weather.

Last night on the boat tonight before we transfer to Hue tomorrow!

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Day 9 Vietnam: Hanoi – Ha Long Bay

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Mel

This section of our trip was done with a larger tour group with “Oriental Sails”. Overall we were happy we went with a smaller boat but of only 13 cabins but visiting the “sites” at the cave and beach was literally hell for us. Imagine 3000 rude tourists stuck in 30m square of beach, ocean and/or cave. No thanks.

We put our scopolamine patches behind our ears before brekkie. These aren’t available for sale in Australia but can be legally imparted and they are amazing – B had no nausea from it and I had minor nausea. Important to test them beforehand though as the small percentage who get side effects get some pretty wild ones you wouldn’t want to experience on a boat in the middle of a bay for the first time!

We were collected by a shuttle bus at 8am from our hotel in Hanoi and arrived at the pier around midday. The terminal was insanity with tourists and guides everywhere. By 12.30 we were (happily) on the boat! We enjoyed a welcome drink while getting a brief introduction about the 2 night cruise and the Vietnamese version of safety guidelines (so…none). We were able to check in to our cabin then.

We had a late lunch while cruising in Ha Long Bay. After about 1.5hrs, we anchored at Titop Island area. Here we had the option to join in on a guided visit to Sung Sot Cave (also called Amazing Cave) which is one of the biggest caves in Ha Long Bay. It was a pretty epic cabe once we got into it but the insane crowds were almost enough to turn us off even trying. We could also climb to the peak of Titop Island for a panoramic view of the bay or relax on the beach…both again came with about 3000 jerk tourists all shoving each other out of the way. We found far more enjoyment from watching the sunset back on the boat with happy hour.

Evenings on the boat have a few options – we can select a communal or private dinner followed by karaoke, cooking classes, relaxing/napping or even join in squid fishing with the crew. After the crew tried to kill me with a full shellfish menu (lucky me…) we watched some of the kids squid fish while we waited for the toddler in the cabin next to use to finally decide to sleep.

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Day 5: Kalbarri to Monkey Mia, WA

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Mel

We left Kalbarri with the intention of stopping at Hamelin Pool to walk the boardwalk. Unfortunately this has still not been repaired since the cyclone smashed it apart in 2021 and without the access to the walkway you can’t see much of anything – instead we stopped at Billabong Roadhouse for a delicious toastie and leg stretching.

Then we travelled through to Shell Beach. There is only one other beach in the world made up of billions of tiny shells instead of sand! The shells all come from one specific animal and the beach is close to 100km long. That’s a lot of Dead tiny animals.

From Shell Beach we drove another 20 mins into Denham (to stop at the IGA for supplies) before continuing on to the Monkey Mia RAC resort. We had booked an ocean view cabin when the option came up to stay here. We can see the beach and ocean from our balcony so could watch dolphins frolic on the shore and emus roam around.

I had booked a scenic flight (flight option 2) with shark bay aviation, paying the extra for a private flight. It did not occur to me that this meant we would be in a tiny 4 seater plane!! Eeek. The views were amazing though.

We made it back to Monkey Mia with about 5 mins before sunset and then enjoyed a gorgeous hour long sky changing colour while drinking moet on the balcony. We also watched a pod of 4 dolphins swim back and forth in front of our room!

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Day 3 + 4: Cervantes to Kalbarri, WA

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Mel

The drive from Cervantes to Kalbarri is just over 4hrs with no stops. I planned for us to stop at the Pink Lake in Gregory (Google pink lake lookout) which is about 40mins before you arrive in Kalbarri. We got lucky it was sunny (unlike yesterday) so the pink was quite noticeable, apparently on overcast days it can be a little disappointing.

Our accomodation in Kalabarri is an adults only air bnb opposite Blue Holes beach and it is veeeery nice….even comes with a plunge pool on the outside deck! A cold plunge pool I didn’t even want to put my feet in haha.

We checked in to the air bnb at 3pm and then wandered over to check out the well known Blue Holes beach which is apparently great for snorkelling. It was a bit too rough for us to get in the water.

Dinner was booked at the Kalbarri Edge Restaurant which was a 20 min walk from the air bnb along the Melaleuca Walking Trail. The walk along the Murchison River mouth was lovely.

The restaurant food was good but the service was absolutely terrible. We tried to be understanding they were short staffed but once they seated a walk in group of 10 in reception – when they were already full and struggling – my sympathy waned. I do recommend the chicken supreme and the churros though.

Day 2 in Kalbarri started with a visit to the Kalbarri Bakery. We then drove out to the Kalbarri sky walk and natures window – about 40 mins inland. I’m reasonably unfit, managing spinal pain (and scared of heights) but was able to manage both of these walks! I couldn’t do the Z bend one which is a lot steeper and 2.4kms return.

No filter! The colours were insane

At 4pm we walked down to the local boat ramp (15 min walk from our accomodation) where our river cruise up the Murchison River was scheduled to depart from. We went with Kalbarri Wilderness Cruises and were able to bring along some cheese and crackers to nibble on and buy some drinks on the boat. Worth noting the cheese and crackers were a challenge due to no table so definitely pre-cut and store for the trip! We saw a white bellied sea eagle though which was very interesting.

After the cruise we managed to sneak into a fully booked Finlay’s (recommend you book if wanting to eat here!) for delicious fish and chips and fish tacos.

Tomorrow: off to Monkey Mia! With a stop at Shell Beach along the way 🙂

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Day 1 & 2 Patong Beach, Phuket (Thailand)

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Mel

The travel time to get here was nuts! 23hrs from start to finish to get from Canberra to Phuket….at least we had Air Asia flat beds on the longer legs though. Oh, and I got to cuddle assistance dogs at the international check in area in Sydney!!

We finally arrived in Phuket at 10:30pm local time last night and it was a one hour drive to Patong Beach, we used a private car hire through the hotel for that which cost a bit more than a taxi but was easier after that long travelling and better for Bs motion sickness. We are staying at the Burasari Resort which seems to have the best of both worlds – a 30 second stroll to the beach and 10 min walk to the infamous Banglor Road! The resort itself is very quiet although there is a fair amount of “street noise” since we are so close to the main bars and beach. The hotel has a few pool areas but only about 20 pool lounges which were all taken by 10am. Some rooms have their own pool wade in areas from the balcony which is pretty awesome….I might consider that next time.

The room we are in is a “mood suite” and it is gorgeous, we get a free mini bar refilled each day as well as a private deck spa. I bought my own bubble bath along and may have used a little too much today….

After a day of relaxing in the spa and reading, we had some mid afternoon drinks at one of the hotel bars (Misty Bar) which was very quiet and had comfy lounges. I had a number of delicious pineapple mojitos complete with pineapple love hearts.

We then for a walk along the beach to watch the sunset and to explore Banglor Road for food and entertainment.

We wandered past quite a few bars full of very…boisterous….Australians and decided to just grab some food and then come back again another night. We had yummy chicken sticks at the local food market. Banglor Road is full of tourists, bar spruikers, locals selling wares and is possibly the first place in my life where I’ve had someone walk up to me and offer a “free fucking show” with an emphasis on the verb meaning of that middle word! Maybe another time….

Cocktail count: two delicious pineapple mojitos

Mini bar damage: destroyed (picture to follow with hotel review)

Tomorrow: sleep in, massage, cocktails, pool/spa and maybe a Muay Thai show

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Fiji Day 5 – home time tomorrow

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Mel

Today we enjoyed our included breakfast (I’m a bit obsessed with muesli and banana at the moment) and then opted to laze around on the deck in the illicit stolen beanbag and in bed for most of the day.

After lunch at Vulcani Restaurant at the resort….and some pina coladas…..we wandered up to the other end just to see what there was and then continued to laze around because that’s what the last day of holidays is for right?

we watched our final sunset from the private deck and then in the early evening ….with the cover of twilight…..we returned the stolen beanbag to the beach! We had dinner at Tavu Grill on the beach, paid the final bill and arranged an express checkout for early the next morning and packed our bags.

Alarms are set for 4:30am tomorrow (waaaaaah) to begin the journey home. At least we get a breakfast box to go at no charge in the morning. I am excited to see Bear and Jet but sad to leave the relaxation here to return to the go-go-go of real life. Not to mention the frozen nightmare that is Canberra winter – it was -9C at home two days ago! We will definitely be back though – vinaka Fiji 🙂

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Fiji Day 2

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Mel

We went to bed at 8pm last night after 30+ hrs of no sleep. Both of us slept through fairly solidly and woke up at 9:30am to rush off for our included breakfast.

We then nabbed a beanbag right on the beach and from 10am – 2:30pm just….lazed around. We went in the pool, took advantage of the swim up bar, sat in the spa, read books and drank cocktails.

At 2:30pm we headed back to the room to get out of the sun a bit before our sunset beach horse ride. The horse ride was….interesting. Firstly, we ended up with a random 8 yr old kid on the horse ride with us. Alone. Which seemed…somewhat unsafe. It was also not particularly romantic lol. Then, B got the super angry, pregnant horse that kept charging people and got left to control it on his own. THEN it turns out my bad knee means I can’t gat off a horse, even with steps to assist me.

While the sunset view (and unexpected free bubbly!) was nice, I think we can safely say that my first time on a horse will also be my last!! After the horse trauma/experience was over, it was happy hour so I drank two $10 margaritas and felt a lot better about life.

Cocktail count: 2 x fruit daiquiri, 3 x pina colada , 1/2 bottle bubbly, 1 x classic margarita, 1 x pineapple margarita

Today’s lesson: in the world of Mel, riding a horse is like riding a mountain bike…difficult and likely to result in a(nother) broken wrist.

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Day 29: Sunset at Sacre Coeur and dinner at Le Coq Rico

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Mel

Today we went and bought me a lovely new hand luggage suitcase as we have realised that all our beautiful glassware from Murano in Venice will HAVE to go in the overhead compartment from Dubai to Sydney as we have exit row seats. Given how fragile it is, a soft backpack isn’t going to work. Hooray! I got to buy a lovely new hard shell carry on, which I have been wanting for awhile.

After our luggage finding adventures, we used UberX to head up to Sacre Coeur (a cathedral at the top of the Montmartre district) to watch the sunset over the city. Note: very hard to get up there without a car or a very steep, unpleasant walk up lots of narrow steps. I highly recommend uber or a taxi, very cheap. The other thing to keep in mind is that there are African gangs running “string man scams” halfway up those steps and there are extremely aggressive by all accounts. They operate in groups of 4-8 and will just take your money out of your wallet.  My laziness probably saved us from being mugged! 

It was just stunning to watch the sky change colour. 

 

sacre couer basilica

  
    
  

soooo much colour in the sky

  
  

B’a photo over some buildings nearby

  

the lights of the city as the sun fades away

 
Dinner was at Le Coq Rico which is a 10 minute walk (downhill, thankfully) from Sacre Coeur, I booked this place  about a month ago when I started reading over and over how good their chicken is. Here’s an example of a review: http://luckypeach.com/atlas/pierre-herme/ so I was pretty excited for omnomnommy chicken. The couple behind us in line had read lots of reviews as well. We went with a soup starter, a half chicken between us (two quarters), seasoned vegetables, macaroni cheese and salad. For dessert we had the local floating island. 

 

excellent wine recommendation by the waiter

  

the starter of creamy chicken soup with goat cheese and chicken fried balls was DELICIOUS

   

Our thoughts? The starter and dessert were delicious, the wine suggested by the waiter was reasonably priced (note that there are no really cheap options on this wine menu) and very tasty. The chicken was okay. Not sure it is rave worthy though! Overall, an excellent meal and we enjoyed people watching the couple on the date next to us. She was much keener than he was haha. 

Mel 

Tomorrow: packing, checking out of the hotel, a final day in Paris and then off to the airport for a late night flight. Home in a few days (Thursday lunch time, AEDT). 
 

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