Western Australia!

When I was planning my trip to Australia after reducing the time I could stay there (in favour of staying in Kenya for longer), I needed to decide where was important for me to go, Perth, although not always top of many people’s lists, was key to my trip. I have a close friend (Caitlin) who lives there and I love seeing where people are from and what their lives are like. I didn’t end up spending much time in Perth in the end, as she had planned so many exciting things for us to do elsewhere in Western Australia, all of which I loved, it’s a beautiful part of the world!
In Perth, we took a drive around the city, visiting King’s park, which has lovely views of the city, beautiful flowers and a treetop walkway. There is even a ‘place of reflection’, a moment to reflect on my trip so far just had to be taken. We also took a drive to a waterfall and to a lookout point to watch the sun setting over Perth.
We visited Fremantle (Freo), a city nearby, and wandered the mouthwatering markets (delicious fruit and veg, cupcakes, cookies, everything!) and then caught up with some friends over a drink at a lovely waterside bar (although we were sat indoors people-watching so I didn’t actually see the water). Add in some very tasty, cheap dumplings for dinner and I liked what I experienced. The only downfall being that everything is so spaced out in Perth that it’s a pretty difficult place to get around, especially without a car.

Whilst I was in Perth, it was Melbourne Cup day, a public holiday in Melbourne..for a horse race! Yep, you read that right, in addition to getting the Queen’s birthday as a public holiday (this upsets me that we share a Queen but we don’t get that!), all those working in Melbourne get a day off to dress up, gamble and drink! When in Rome and all that.. I placed a bet and Caitlin and I had a chilled out day at home, planning the rest of our trip, drinking homemade cocktails (random mix if things that turned out pretty yummy) and waiting for the race.. Sadly I didn’t win, I’m just not meant to be a gambler (I must remember this when I reach Las Vegas), but Caitlin did, so that was nice (no, I’m not jealous..honestly!)

After a couple of days in Perth, we took a trip down south, to Yallingup, Dunsborough and Margaret River. This area is known for its ideal wine-making conditions and therefore there are a lot of wineries to visit..and it would be rude to not taste the wine while there! We spent the days driving around, tasting wine/cheese/ice cream and pretty much anything else that was offered to us. I have no idea why I liked this area so much. Joking aside, it is a beautiful region, very peaceful and pretty, with gorgeous beaches (soft, white sand and clear blue seas), tall trees lining the roadways and colourful flowers everywhere, and all this was topped off with an amazing sunset overlooking whales playing in the sea, with a kangaroo bouncing by us on the walkway. This was very close to what I would consider paradise, and I could have happily spent more time there..however, I had a different paradise to get to.

Rottnest Island is just off the coast of Perth, there is next to no transport on the island and it is the only known place where Quokkas can be found. Quokkas are a rat-like creature after which the island was named (Rottnest is rat’s nest in Dutch) and can be seen all over the island, they’re strangely cute creatures, despite looking like giant rats! Along with some of Caitlin’s family, we spent a couple days exploring the island by foot and by bicycle (so much fun, but such hard work, I need to do more exercise!) and I’ve never seen views like those we experienced – the waters were ridiculously clear and dotted with colours, spectacular. When we weren’t on the move, we were chilling out on the beach, with wine and cheese and taking dips in the water surrounded by fish.. it doesn’t get much better than that!

Would you like to try some more wine?

Bali!

Many of my Aussie friends have often commented on how lucky I am to live in England, so close to all the countries in Europe. This isn’t something I truly appreciated when I was younger, however that changed as I fell in love with travelling and visited more and more countries by flying less than 2 or 3 hours. In Australia, it isn’t quite that easy to pop to another country for a weekend break, travelling from the east coast to the west takes around 5 hours alone. However, there is one place most Aussies seem to visit at least once.. Bali in Indonesia! It takes less than 4 hours to fly there from Perth and is like a different world. As I was visiting a friend in Perth, I decided I might as well experience the place they call paradise.
We decided to spend 3 nights in the more rural Ubud and 3 in busy Seminyak. Unfortunately, the 3 peaceful days in Ubud were spoilt a little when I wasn’t feeling well, but I pulled myself together as much as I could to explore the quaint little town. We were staying in a lovely little guesthouse, with a perfect pool, set back from the street to maintain the peaceful ambience. The pool came in very handy one evening when I just wasn’t feeling up to heading out, so we took a swim, ordered pizza and sat chatting under the stars. We were staying next to the famous Sacred Monkey Forest and I was expecting a repeat of the evil monkey attack in Diani, but thankfully, they were well behaved and only really interesting in coconuts and cleaning each other. As much as I hated to admit it, a few of them were very cute and I find it so interesting how similar monkeys can be to humans.
Bali is known for its relaxing vibe, helped along greatly by the fact that 1 hour traditional Balinese massages cost around £5! The quality of the treatments can vary a lot and you have to check out reviews before you go and hope for a good therapist, but they’re definitely value for money. I certainly made the most of the week and had the following treatments, with mixed results; 2 facials, 2 full body massages, a manicure, a pedicure, a foot massage, a body scrub and a hair creambath (conditioner treatment for hair and head massage). Sounds a lot, but my friend Caitlin had even more!
We took a drive from Ubud one day to explore the local area, the temples have so many different meanings and statues and are very impressive. The rice paddies are also quite a sight, they are huge and very photogenic, lush green colours, often set against the bright blue sky. We also visited a coffee plantation, where they produce the coffee manually, collecting the beans, cooking them over an open fire, shelling them, crushing them and then sifting the coffee before it is ready to use. The smell was amazing and we were given 11 types if coffee and tea to taste for free. The staff at the plantation were very welcoming and the lady showing us around was quite funny. When we decided to try the Luwak coffee, which is a specific bean that has been eaten by a Luwak (a mongoose/cat-like animal), excreted, cleaned and peeled to go through the process, she proclaimed “you have cappuccino, we have cat-poo-cino” Brilliant!
After 3 days, we headed across the island to Seminyak, only a short drive away, as Bali is only small, but quite different. Seminyak is more touristy than Ubud, with many visitors there to make the most of the cheap shops, spas, bars and restaurants. Shopping is ridiculously cheap, with trousers costing less than £4 a pair, shorts under £2 and watches and sunglasses around the same price. It’s hard to walk pass bargains like that, especially when the shop owners are desperately trying to get you to “look at this dress, it is just for you!” After a while though, it can get tiring hearing the same lines over again. However, just as I was wearing out, after a few rude pushy shopkeepers, we wandered into a little shop and met two very funny locals who made us laugh with their outrageous opening offers for a pair of trousers that even they didn’t believe in.
After relaxing by the pool in the mornings, we explored in the afternoons, and took another trip to see some of the bigger temples, such as Ulun Danu Bratan (which means Bratan temple on the lake) and Tanah Lot, which is known for its beautiful silhouettes at sunset. The Bratan lake is high up in the mountains and the air up there was very refreshing after a few days of stuffy heat, being up in the clouds did put us in prime position for the sudden downpour that occurred, slightly drenching us, but it was nice to not be drenched in sweat for a change!
A few days in Bali has been a perfect relaxing break, chatting and laughing with my friend and some of the friendly funny locals..not quite paradise, but pretty close.

yes, you can eat at that restaurant, the food is kind of ok for foreigners

Sydney!

After a few very busy, lovely days at home, catching up with my family and friends, I was back on the road (or in the air, to be accurate) heading to Australia for the first time. I was not looking forward to the flight, from leaving the house to arrival in Sydney, my journey was an estimated 36 hours! Thankfully, there were no delays and the entertainment, food and staff on Quantas were very good, so I didn’t feel terrible when we flew over the Sydney Opera House and the famous Harbour Bridge..both a little smaller than I was expecting.

The main reason I wanted to make the trip to Sydney to catch up with some old friends and I have had so many laughs with them, we’ve spent many hours chilling by the water with delicious meals and several glasses/bottles of wine and taking long walks along the shoreline, talking and laughing the whole time. Isn’t it great when you see someone you haven’t seen for a long time and it’s like you were never apart?

When I’ve not been catching up, I’ve been wandering and exploring.. I’ve been to the famous surfer’s paradise of Bondi Beach and the much prettier Palm Beach (where Home and Away is filmed), I took a climb up the headland to the lighthouse there for gorgeous views, very much recommended (and the climb really gets your heart racing); I’ve walked along many of Sydney’s beautiful beaches (Coogee, Watson’s Bay, Manly, Bronte, etc) dipping my toes in the sea and catching a few rays; I’ve taken a few scenic ferry rides and I visited art galleries and museums and even made a visit to the zoo. Taronga Zoo is a not-for-profit organisation, which aims to help animals, not just show them off, and I really wanted to see some of the Aussie animals I’ve heard about for many years.. Koalas, kangaroos, echidna, platypus, wombat, etc. they were all there. Koalas are hilarious, they’re clearly just stoned from the eucalyptus leaves they eat all day and pretty much just sit staring or sleeping. A bonus for the day was seeing the chimpanzees, especially the new addition to the zoo..a five day old baby! One of the girls, Kuma, had just given birth and decided to show off her little one, very protectively. I was so impressed with the chimps, they are so intelligent – one of the males wants to be Alpha male and he needs to get the females on side if its going to happen, so he made a big show of giving a coconut to one of the little ones in front of its mother..Smart!

I also attended an APAF charity event, called Exposing Hunger. The event was to showcase a new documentary showing the impact of poverty in Africa and the work APAF is doing to reduce this. The film was shown in a contemporary cinema, where the seating is made up of mattresses and beanbags, very cool, and then we had a Q&A session, which was very insightful. It seems even when I’m on holiday I still feel the need to get involved in charity events.

Lovely introduction to Australia and now I’m off to the next stop, Western Australia, to catch up with another friend and see some of the beautiful sights she always photographs and makes me jealous of.

Ah, I’ve missed that laugh!