Sculptures by the sea is back for another year with more weird and wonderful sculptures. We went last week for a walk along the sand to see what was on offer. It also happened to be the windiest day and we were whipped and scoured by the sand. The sea was churning and the waves were slapping against the Groyne, soaking us when they came over the top. Anyway we managed a good 45 minutes walking in the softest sand. All of our eyes were watering and sore, I’m not sure how I managed to take any photos.
This is an annual event at Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia and is also held at Bondi Beach, NSW. It is a sponsored event and free to the public. The artists get a chance to exhibit their latest creations and prizes are awarded. Cottesloe Council often purchases one of the sculptures and these can be seen on the seafront.
Daring the waves to splash them
SOMA – Drew McDonald
Taking a rest
Love U – Jason Hirst
Homage to the Cube – Andrew Farmer
I like the way the above photos turned out with the iconic “Indiana Tearooms” reflected in the mirrored cube.
Ode to the Ancestors – Dr Jason Christopher
Artificial Real Time – Erica Zaino
Click on the photo to read the caption
Sun Dial – Tanya & Evi Ferrier
Time to go yet? It wasn’t quite accurate but close enough.
Emperor of the Abrolhos Tim Storrier Love Jimmy Rix Reef Reverie – Jonathon RockefellerSway – April PineSwan Theory – Fiona Gavino
Heaven – Vaughn Bisschops
My favourite sculpture this year is the silver pelican sitting on a shiny suitcase. It looks like postcards have been attached to the suitcase.
The first half of January has been busy in the extreme! My son Laurence and his lovely fiancee Maddy tied the knot on January 3rd. Our house was full to the rafters with overseas family staying and various guests popping around to see us. It was the happiest two weeks I could imagine.
Our visitors wanted to visit South West WA for a few days. I managed to book an 8 bedroom house in Busselton. We were so happy that Laurence and Maddy decided to join us as well. I booked a few places to eat and drink as there were 17 of us in all. I couldn’t imagine turning up en masse without a booking. I was teased constantly that everywhere had better be good, otherwise there would be complaints to travelswithali!
To find a house this large and in high season was a feat in itself. There were enough bedrooms to accommodate all of us, so no-one had to sleep on the floor.
Our first lunch was spent at Shelter Brewing Company, right on the promenade overlooking the beach. The food came quickly and the beer was served in paddles, four at a time. Great for beer lovers who got the chance to sample a few.
After checking in and everyone choosing a room, we unpacked and headed to the beach.
Busselton Jetty is the longest pier in the Southern Hemisphere at 1,841 metres long. At the end of the pier there is an underwater jetty and sculpture park. To see the sculptures there are scuba diving tours.
Busselton Jetty
“Spot the Brit”
There is a train that goes to the end and back for a fee. Otherwise a walk will take around 30 minutes each way. The beach is beautiful and great for small kids and adults who don’t like too many waves (me). With many restaurants, cafes and bars here it’s not difficult to find somewhere for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Busselton Beach
Busselton Jetty
On our second day, a few of the boys played a round of golf and the rest of us drove to Dunsborough. I’ve written about Dunsborough previoulsy. It’s a small town full of quirky shops and small boutiques. We did all manage to buy a few items.
Wild Hop Brewery was booked for 4pm. A fantastic place in Yallingup. By the time we arrived many of the items had disappeared off the menu. Also some of the staff were quite rude. Anyway after a few drinks we still enjoyed it.
Lunch for 17
Relaxing after lunch
Winding down
On the morning of our last full day, we had a trip to Meelup Beach in the morning. I had booked a winery for the afternoon. Meelup Beach is also a child friendly beach with soft sand and beautiful clear water.
Happy as a sand crab
Taking a moment
Meelup Beach
Meelup Beach
Splashing through the waves
The Sandcastle Family
Next we were off to Lentedal Winery in Marybrooke, Margaret River. What a wonderful find this was. We had a table outside but under a shade cloth. Before ordering any food we did some wine tasting. After a scrumptious lunch we walked around the estate to look at the animals.
Where’s my pizza
Feeding the camels
Wine tasting
Group shot between the vines
We had an absolutely perfect time away together. There’s nothing like a family holiday. I’m not sure when we will all be together again like this, living so far apart from each other. People have busy lives and jobs to do. Flights are expensive and holidays are short. We made so many memories to treasure and look back on. I made a Whatsapp group and can look back and read all the hilarious messages that were posted daily.
I did manage a walk to the end of Busselton Pier with Anthony, quite an accomplishment!
I decided to change things up this time for our family holiday in Bali. Four days in peaceful Benoa and four days in lively Legian.
It was extremely late by the time we arrived due to a delayed departure. The lobby was large and spacious with enormous high ceilings. Checking in took a while but we were finally given our keys and taken to our rooms. We were assigned interconnecting rooms for Elena, Damian and the kids, and an upgrade for myself and Anthony. There are two parts to the Novotel and the block we were staying in was across the road and away from the beach. I was disappointed to start but after the first night was feeling quite happy with this arrangement. It seemed less busy and the adult and kids pools were just below us.
View from our balcony
I had a great night’s sleep, but Anthony said it was too noisy for him. When I stepped onto the balcony I realised that we were very near the road.
The road doesn’t look too busy in this shot, but the bikes are a big problem!
Breakfast was served in the beach block across the road. This is manned by two attendants who try their hardest to stop the traffic. The bikes especially just drove around them and the cars mostly ignored them!
The above photos show some of the artwork on display around the Novotel.
A buffet was on offer serving up all kinds of traditional food plus fresh fruit. There was an egg station plus waffles, pancakes and donuts for the kids. Something for everyone.
Walking back through the landscaped gardens
Over the next four days, we swam in the ocean, played in the pools and relaxed. We found some fabulous restaurants for dinner but stayed at the hotel for lunch.
One day we took a tour on a glass bottomed boat to Turtle Island. The kids loved the boat. Out at sea was exceptionally busy with all kinds of activities. I thought I had seen most water sports, but all of a sudden we saw a flying lilo with someone holding on for dear life.
Seaweed Forest
The sea here is tidal so the optimum time for swimming was around 1 pm. Anthony and I swam every day, but the kids preferred the pools. There is a forest of seaweed, undulating beneath the sea and I wasn’t keen on swimming over this. The feeling of feathery tendrils sweeping your legs was most disconcerting.
Waiting patiently for the tide to come in
Some more of the sculptures around the hotel
One of the things we enjoy about Bali is the food, always tasty and full of flavour. Unlike the others I prefer something not too spicy, whereas they all have a dish of sambal on the side.
Some of the dishes we ate. The top dish is called Rijsttafel, a Dutch word that translates to Rice Table. It consists of many (forty is not an unusual number) side dishes served in small portions, accompanied by rice prepared in several different ways. Popular side dishes include egg rolls, sambals, satay, fish, fruit, vegetables, pickles, and nuts. Source: Wikipedia. One of Anthony and Elena’s favourites.
Family dinners were not complete without Ipads and earphones. This meant we could all have a leisurely dinner. Although you couldn’t ask for better behaved munchkins.
Spot Rosie!
Last day in Benoa, ready to hit the road for Legian
Our man from Friendly’s Rental Cars was ready and waiting for us at 9am in the reception as planned and drove Anthony back to his office to complete the paperwork. We had hired a car for two days to explore more of Corfu.
My Chauffeur with the same red Fiat Panda I drive in Perth
Our first stop was Sidari which is at the Northern end of the island. I had read a blog that this shouldn’t be missed. It didn’t take long, around 45 minutes.
We stopped only for a drink and a quick walk along the beach. It was packed with English tourists and the street was lined with bars, cafes and restaurants many with English names. Although the beach was nice and sun beds seemed to be free if you ordered from the bar or cafe behind. Good for a week’s holiday if you just wanted to relax.
Fancy canopied sunbeds
Kassiopi was our next destination, but we stopped for lunch first. We found a traditional taverna on the side of the road, not too far up the mountain. We enjoyed a delicious lunch. I love finding small gems like this taverna. The place was empty of customers, making me think it was closed. There was a group of men smoking and chatting and when I asked if they were open, they said of course and jumped to attention!
Mythos Taverna, Acharavi
Full and replete we pressed onto Kassiopi. It was only a 15 minute drive there but finding parking was difficult. As usual though my trusty driver managed to find a spot.
Kassiopi is situated on the North East coast of Corfu and was once a traditional fishing village. Now the bays are surrounded by holiday villas and apartments. It’s still a charming and picturesque place though.
Paralia Mptaria BeachKassiopi Bay
There is an old Byzantine Castle up on the hill which we walked up and explored.
This castle dates back to the 11th century but was largely destroyed by the Venetians in the 13th century. They removed many of the large stones to the old town to fortify the fortress there. It must have been hard work!
Overlooking KassiopiMain gate to the castleView of the bay through brick opening The valley below
The views were amazing and the climb up worth it.
Through the trees over the rooftops My mountain goat, climbing in slippers!
I definitely preferred Kassiopi to Sidari and could easily enjoy night or two here.
This little outing was taken during the last school holidays and it’s also just down the road from me. The Claremont Museum is somewhere I’d never visited even though we’ve lived here for 20 years. I thought I would check it out with my two munchkins.
The building was actually a school once upon a time, called Freshwater Bay School opening in 1892. It was subsequently used for a place of worship, a boarding house for young men and also a police station.
There is no entry fee which was surprising and when we entered the kids were given clipboards by the lady in charge with photos of tiny lego men which were hidden all around the museum.
Ready to start searchingLessons from the good old days
After spending a good hour in here we wandered down to the small river beach and as it was a hot day, they decided to have a paddle and build sandcastles.
Sand and water provide endless entertainments for kids.
Time for lunch and a play
After I had taken this photo I zoomed in and was taken aback at how creepy and ugly these mini sculptures were!
“Kids, hallowed be thy youth. Enjoy it while it lasts.” ― DON SANTO
Oh! to be young again is many a lament you often hear from old people, but I’m not sure I would want to be a child again. I’m very happy I don’t have to go to school anymore, especially not hundreds of years ago anyway.
“No matter if you’re 14 or 90 years old, you’ll never be this young again.” Matt Purcell
Tina from Travels and Trifles is the host this week for Lens-Artist and the topic if you haven’t guessed is “To be young again”.
During our recent stay in Hong Kong we paid a visit to Stanley for old time’s sake. I used to love going there on the odd occasion with friends for shopping and lunch. I can’t believe I used to drive, I was much braver in those days! Merging fearlessly onto the four lane highway and going up and over flyovers. This time we took the bus, which is also a great way to see the surrounding countryside, especially if you’re lucky enough to get front row top deck seats.
Once off the freeway the roads become very narrow and the trees and branches knock and scratch at the windows.
Red Hill Plaza overlooking Tai Tam BeachTai Tam Beach
Hong Kong, surprisingly for many, has some beautiful beaches. Some are only accessible by boat.
Unlucky for us the front row was already takenTai Tam ReservoirCrossing over the reservoirMount ParkerTai Tam Reservoir
Stanley is named after Lord Stanley (subsequently Earl of Derby), British Colonial Secretary at the time of the cession of Hong Kong to the United Kingdom, and subsequently Prime Minister. Stanley Fort is situated here, the former British Army barracks, and is now occupied by the People’s Liberation Army.
It is mostly famous for the market and bars and restaurants along the promenade and is situated on the peninsula of Hong Kong Island.
Murray House in the backgroundFrench Oysters for Lunch
The market is not the same as it was and mostly full of tourist stalls and art galleries. I remember my first visit to Stanley and was in awe of all the beautiful silk clothes for sale. I bought myself a raw silk suit and silk blouse for work. Realising too late that silk is not the ideal material to wear in 90% humidity!
Detailed paintings from a gallery in the market
A typical side alley in Stanley, also trying to work our way back to the bus stop through the labyrinth of alleys.
I enjoyed our time in Stanley, walking down memory lane, an hour or two is enough to explore and have a nice lunch. Then it was time to get back on the bus back to Central.
I was out today for breakfast with a friend overlooking the beautiful City Beach. When I glanced over the verandah I wasn’t sure what to make of the scene below me. Was it a silent sleepy protest, a group sunbathing event, a beach sleepover? All was explained when the restaurant manager said it was “yoga on the beach” and they were having silent meditation.
Slowly they all arose and walked to the front and three at a time climbed into a giant paddling pool and the yoga master spoke to them for a while. They all then jumped out and ran down to the sea. Not sure if this was a baptism, but the thought of being last to get in the paddling pool made me a little queasy!
At the end of every year around December, we usually go to Bali for a family holiday. This year was no exception and we chose Seminyak this time. I booked a beautiful resort around 10 minutes to the beach. The beach in Seminyak is more for looking at than swimming, unless you are a pretty good surfer. The resort was called Montigo Resort Hotel, although there was renovation work going on at the time, our rooms and the pool were unaffected by this.
Seminyak is approximately 20 minutes from the airport, or should be! With the traffic problem that Bali has it’s easily double this time. It is full of resorts, cafes, restaurants and bars. It was hard to know where to start when going out to eat.
The Resort
We spent most of the day around the pool, going out for lunch and dinner and resting in the afternoon in our rooms away from the heat. All except Anthony that is, he just loves a walk in the heat and still managed to walk two hours everyday.
I enjoyed time with the children splashing about in the pool and having manicures, pedicures and foot massages at the beautiful spa at the hotel
Out and About
Chair made from recycled water bottlesThe walls are made from recycled window frames and shuttersAbandoned flip flop structure
This installation is made up of 5000+ flip-flops installed at the famous Potato Head Beach Club in Seminyak, Bali. Washed ashore on beaches along Bali’s West coast, the discarded soles have been collected by employees of Potato Head. The flip-flops are not coloured or changed in any way; they are merely sorted by colour and re-arranged into a new visual reality.
“I want to show people a different perspective of what we consider rubbish. Everything we throw away comes back to us: via the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil we grow crops and raise animals on.” – Liina Klauss
There is a famous beach bar/restaurant in Seminyak called Potato Club and it was fairly close to our hotel. It overlooks the beach and has a massive bar area and upmarket restaurant. To access these areas and the beach you first have to walk through a tunnel of bamboo and on one side there are small glassed in studios depicting recycling techniques.
We didn’t stay here, just walked on down to the beach to watch the sunset and found a restaurant overlooking the sea.
The food in Bali is delicious and there are many fusion type restaurants. Unfortunately we all succumbed at one point to “Bali Belly”. Luckily it didn’t put too much of a dent into the holiday.
Dining
The famous Bebek Duck
This place was extremely upmarket! It was so nice though but not entirely suitable for the children, but have to say we enjoyed every morsel.
A very laid back warung with outdoor dining. Plenty to look at and explore for Lachie and Rosie. Plus more mouth watering dishes for us to share.
The Beach
Local Women having a well earned restI Saw A Ship Go Sailing By
🎂Celebrations🎂
On the morning of our departure it was Anthony’s birthday. The staff very kindly sang Happy Birthday to him much to his consternation!
Going to Bali with the family is always such a treat and despite upset stomachs we all had a wonderful time. It was then onto Hong Kong for us and back to Perth for them.
This last week has been another busy one for me, beginning with entertaining guests from the UK. I have been chatting a while now with Little Miss Traveller (aka Marion from Love Travelling Blog) and when she emailed and said she would be visiting Perth with her son Mark I immediately invited her to stay. They had a few days in the City before joining us for their last few days. We hit it off immediately and Anthony and I showed them around different parts of Perth.
Perth was in the grip of a heatwave and the temperatures were late thirties, but we still ventured to Kings Park the next day. We enjoyed a good walk around the park but I had to concede in the end and sit in a cafe while Marion and Mark carried on for a while.
We then drove into Claremont my local town to have lunch and a look around before heading back for a rest (for me anyway!). That night we had dinner in Fremantle at a beachside restaurant.
Bather’s Beach, FremantleBather’s Beachhut Restaurant
On Sunday we drove to the Perth Hills to one of our favourite wineries, Plume. We always receive a lovely welcome here and the service is outstanding as are the views.
I had told the lovely owner that I would be bringing guests and she arranged a wonderful table for us overlooking the valley and vineyards. We enjoyed a delicious charcuterie board and a dish called Flammekueche a German style pizza.
We stopped off on the way home to take some of the views of the Perth Hills and the Perth Skyline in the distance.
Over the next two days Marion and Mark took themselves off and explored other parts of Perth, which I’m sure Marion will be posting soon.
On Marion and Mark’s last night we had an early dinner overlooking City Beach to watch the sunset. It was one of my favourite restaurant/pubs Clancy’s Fish Pub. Unfortunately for Anthony in my haste to take a photo of the sunset I knocked over a whole pint of beer into his lap and over his dinner! Luckily the manager replaced these free of charge, but poor Anthony had to sit through dinner very wet indeed. He was extremely gracious about it.
It was a pleasure to meet Marion and her son Mark and we did compare other bloggers who we follow and found we had quite a few in common. So many of you will recognise Marion. Meeting someone in person, especially when you have been communicating a while can be daunting, but we certainly had no worries on that score and got on like a house on fire.
