We flew from Bali to Java. The airport had a great dragon mural, temple and flowers everywhere. We arranged a driver to pick us up and do a quick tour of Semarang in Central Java. Our first stop was Lawang Sewu or “a thousand doors.” The building technically has 928 Read more…
We had dabbled in Ayurveda at home and decided to go to the Sukhavati Ayurvedic Retreat for fourteen days. The stunning grounds are nestled away in the tiny village of Bebengan. Our villa has a canopy bed, outdoor sunken shower, breakfast balcony and overlooks the lawn. Our villa was Read more…
The flight from Perth to Bali was only three and a half hours but it felt longer because of delays and the sick child in our row. Despite the time, our driver was waiting for us in the busy Denpensar Airport. By the time we actually stepped into our Read more…
The three hour drive from Yallingup to Perth was through the countyside. We stopped for breakfast in Busselton. We had planned to walk the Getty but it was cold and windy and smelled of rotting sea grass. Like the Carribean, this area of Western Australia has been affected by Read more…
Yallingup is a small coastal town on the Indian Ocean. It is popular because of its proximity to many beaches, limestone caves, the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park and the Margaret River Valley wine country. There are more than 120 wineries! We visited three of them. The Banyard 1978 was a great lunch Read more…
The grounds of Big Brook Cottage were stunning. We enjoyed watching the birds and admired the flowers. Between 1937 and 1952 series of eight fire lookouts were constructed in the tops of a few tall Karri trees. Today there is a trilogy that remains open to the public. Sunshine climbed Read more…
The drive from Albany to Walpole included a stop in Denmark. Greens Pool was a spectacular beach that is popular in the summer because the gradually sloping rocks provide shelter from the Southern Ocean. The calm water in the bay is in contrast to the waves. Nearby was the Elephant Read more…
The drive from Fremantle to Albany (pronounces Al-bany, not All-bany) was officially our longest driving day in terms of distance (414 km) but not in time. Australia calls trucking vehicle in rural and remote areas road trains. There are caution signs about passing them because they are up to 50m Read more…
We had heard jokes that Western Australia is so far away it was like going to a different country. But we were surprised to learn that we were flying out of the international terminal and had to go through immigration. Fremantle is just south of Perth and we found our Read more…
The scenic drive from Port Fairy to Mount Gambier included a stop at the ‘petrified forest’ on the cliffs of Cape Bridgewater. It is not really made up of petrified trees but trunk-like sand formations. It was really cold and windy. It was nice to warm up with a Read more…