We recently spent a week in Hua Hin with Anthony’s brother and wife in their beautiful apartment. On our first night I managed to capture the bright orange moon from their verandah.
Daytime photos
Our first morning was spent walking around Khao Tao Lake. It is a serene and tranquil man-made reservoir. There is a running track and cycle path. We met plenty of other walkers on our way.
The lake is surrounded by ornate gold lamp posts topped with turtles. Luckily for us the water lilies were still blooming.
A fresh fruit juice bar to quench your thirst after your walk sits on one side of the lake.
A traditional fishing village is located just by the lake.
Brothers in Arms
A quick stop at the beach for breakfast
After a lovely morning walk we headed to a local shopping mall where I could get a pedicure.
We decided to get a tuk tuk back instead of waiting for a taxi. Such fun weaving through the traffic with the wind in our hair. Our tuk tuk was a “Hello Kitty” style, decked out with small toys and painted pink.
A selfie of me and the driver!
Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the week brings.
Walking through the Royal Botanic Gardens is an escape from city life. It’s peaceful and quiet with the trees masking the noise from the roads. It was founded in 1846 and covers 38 hectares. As we only had a few hours to explore we followed the path back towards the city. My gallery below shows just a few of the scenes on offer.
I liked these quotes so typed them out to be able read them clearly.
This plant caught my eye, at first from a distance I thought it was a light of some kind.
The photo above is of Guilfoyle’s Volcano. It is a restored reservoir built in 1876 built to look like a volcano. From here you can see panoramic scenes of the city.
Top left, Anthony in the Tacoma Pavilion ; Top right, “Looking out” Bottom, Shrine of Remembrance.
Looking through the trees towards the City skyline
There is a cafe here for lunches and coffees and also many places to sit and have a picnic. The Yarra River is only a short walk away where there are many cafes and restaurants.
This is one of my favourite places for lunch, especially on a sunny day.
Another interesting place to explore, particularly when it’s raining is The National Gallery of Victoria. It is normally free entrance, if there is a special exhibition an entrance fee might be required. There are four floors to explore with over 76,000 works of art to see.
I have collated a gallery of my own below. I framed my favourites.
Bronze Eel Trap Aunty Kim Wandin“Really Good” David Shrigley“Venus” Jeff Koons“Dancing Pumpkin” Yayoi Kusama
Paintings by Nipa Doshi
Tea and coffee salon, Sabo, 1939 Saeki Shunko
Parrots Live Forever Audrey Flack
The Sun Eater Joan Miro
I took the above to show my 7 year old grandson as I think some of his artwork is better!
Photograph titled Irises Robert Mapplethorpe
This last one appealed to me because of the shadow and light thrown across the flowers. Tea and Coffee Salon is my favourite and think it would look excellent hanging in my living room.
If you’re looking for quirky places to eat in Melbourne off the beaten track, we found an excellent French restaurant. Midnight in Paris is situated in Prahran High Street and is also an art gallery. They have live music on Fridays and Saturdays. The service and food are excellent.
Herb Crusted FishSeafood Marinara
Our tasty mains
A sample of the artwork on display
Cozy garden at the back
I was tempted to get up and have a little boogie and danced like no-one was watching! But everyone would have been watching it was so small.
