~ A trip to Ulun Danu Beratan Temple ~

Today we were going to take a trip out to see the lake at Ulun Beratan Temple. We had booked June the day before and he arrived promptly at 10.30 am. Our first stop would be the lake which was just over an hour away. Anthony loves to have a chat with taxi drivers (I think this is a male thing) and before long they were discussing the politics of Indonesia. My hubby seems to know something about any government. I could see June was very impressed by his knowledge.

When we arrived we could see it was super busy and a very popular place to visit. Once we had parked we ventured off into the beautiful gardens and down to the lake.

The details on the bird above looked like dried petals, beautiful to see up close.

We wandered around the gardens admiring all the different statues and flower beds before making our way down to the lake.

Mosaic depicting early life in Bali

The History of Ulun Danu Beratan Lake

“It is said long ago there were several groups of people who found a very large area of land. It was part of an ancient volcanic eruption. They decided to make their home here. They started farming here and planted rice and other crops. The land was very fertile.
The crops thrived and were ready to be harvested. It is normally the women who harvest the rice while the men carry it to the barn to be stored.
A miracle happened and the rice grew again. The rice they harvest never runs out.
The people soon got tired of all the harvesting and had a habit of sticking glanggang (sic) into the ground which in turn hit the water vessels in the ground. Soon the water emerges from the ground and gets bigger every day, inevitably the water drowned all the rice and became the lake”. Source: ulundanuberatan.com

🛕🛕🛕🛕🛕🛕🛕🛕🛕🛕🛕🛕

Posted as part of Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share

Pull up a Seat and Enjoy the View

A challenge I haven’t taken part in for a while. As the weather is so good in Perth at the moment I thought I would post some wonderful views from the past.

Taken just a few weeks ago during our trip to Pemberton. Although I have to say this bench doesn’t look comfortable in the slightest!

Further North for this one, Badgingarra, WA, on the hunt for wild flowers.

Overlooking Meelup Brook, Nautraliste, WA

Thanks Xingfumama for hosting this lovely challenge

A Road Trip to Pemberton and Margaret River, Western Australia – First Day

We left Perth on a Sunday morning for an overnight stay in Pemberton. Stopping for lunch in the vibrant green Ferguson Valley and then for a look at the fabulous Wellington Dam Mural. The journey takes around 4 hours from Perth, Pemberton is located in the South Western region of Western Australia.

Lunch was at St. Aiden’s Winery, and we shared a couple of dishes. This was a beautiful winery and one that we had never visited before.

St Aiden’s Church

After lunch we headed over to the Wellington Dam Mural located just outside of Collie, WA.

The mural is called Reflections and is the largest mural in the world painted by renowned world artist Guido Van Helten. He spent three weeks talking to locals and also staying in an Aboriginal community to get a sense of what they would like to see painted. If you would like to read more of this story click on the link Reflections

Individual images of the mural. What an amazing feat this is and it was well worth the detour to look at this awesome mural.

The time was ticking on and we still had another two hours drive ahead of us, or should I say dear husband did!

I had booked a placed called Forest Lodge Resort, one because it looked nice and two as it had a restaurant attached so Anthony didn’t have to drive anymore that night and could enjoy a drink or three!

We arrived just after 5pm and it was still light so as soon as we had checked our room we went for a walk around the grounds. We got an upgrade!

So many kangaroos roaming freely

From our walk around the lake

So calm and serene
A Giant Californian Sequoia Redwood planted in 1935

By this time it was happy hour so we headed over to the bar and restaurant for a drink before dinner.

The resort is owned by a German couple. Ingo is also the cook, hence the name of the restaurant – Chef Ingo’s. Their daughter Selina seems to be receptionist/waitress/and jack of all trades. Service was impeccable and Selina was a delight.

A drink in front of a cosy fire

Dinner was quite salty, so just drank more wine to quench our thirst!

We had a relaxing and very enjoyable overnight stay here, and we will definitely be back again. Tomorrow Margaret River beckons with a few stops along the way.

~ 🌳 Life is Better with Trees 🌳 ~

Trees for July Squares hosted by Becky at The Life of B and also for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Water in Nature.

Not the prettiest but a life well lived! They still have their uses as perches for birds. Taken this morning on my walk around Lake Claremont, Perth, WA.