Tag: Sunsets

~ Highlights of Hotel Indigo, Seminyak, Bali ~

We are once again in Bali for a short break and this time staying at Hotel Indigo. This hotel is perched almost on the beach with a very small road to cross. Mostly used by motorbikes so not too difficult to cross. It’s a surfers’ beach and not one where you can have a leisurely swim. Seminyak for us is more about relaxation and drinking and eating!

The Lobby
“I’m not a real Vespa”
“Balinese Art”

Our room is called a “comfort room” and is indeed extremely comfortable. There is a balcony with small forest outside. We don’t have a great view, but it’s still pleasant to sit outside when there is a breeze blowing.

The staff are super pleasant and eager to please, nothing is too much trouble. There are plenty of sunbeds at this time of year, it’s just out of season. Two fabulous restaurants and a small cafe. We’ve had breakfast, lunch and dinner here and no complaints from us.

We have eaten in a variety of places, upmarket and downmarket! On the beach and overlooking the beach.

La Plancha, a Spanish tapas cafe. This place looks about ready to fall down, adds to the atmosphere!

The Plantation, Double Six Hotel. A 1920’s style restaurant with enormous windows overlooking the ocean. This was luxury at it’s finest. A special treat was in store as there was a beautiful soprano singer to entertain us.

Dry Aged Duck Breast
Oven Roasted Black Cod

Dinner at the hotel restaurant – Makase

Rijsttafel – A Dutch word translating to Rice Table. An elaborate Indonesian meal sometimes consisting of up to 40 small dishes.
Sweet and Sour Fish
Prawn Rice Paper Rolls

Seminyak is famous for the glorious sunsets, the beach bars make the most of this time and offer beanbags to relax on to watch.

We sat here for ages enjoying the beach life and our drinks, but time was passing and we needed to get ready for dinner!

And that’s a wrap!

Overnight stay at The Patra Resort, Tuban, Bali

I didn’t feel like sitting in traffic for nearly two hours on the morning of our departure from Bali, so instead booked to stay in a hotel near the airport the day before. We left Ubud around midday and arrived at 2 pm to The Patra. We were pleasantly surprised by this resort as we were taken by buggy to our upstairs villa. Once again we were given a free upgrade, although I didn’t hold my breath after what happened before!

Not at all disappointed! A possible new place to stay for future trips to Bali.

After offloading our cases I wanted to just get to the pool for a swim and a read, Anthony headed off for a walk along the promenade. This hotel is just a five minute drive to the airport but away from the busy streets of Kuta itself.

The Pool and Gardens

The resort is huge with numerous two floor villas in blocks surrounding the gardens. Going back and forth to the pool and restaurant we did get lost numerous times.

The Beach and Promenade

Statue of Varuna, the God of Sky, Water and Ocean

This statue sits somewhat incongruously on the edge of the ocean, just rising out of the sea.

Sunset from the pool

We enjoyed our one night stay here and the next day we headed off to pastures new…

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Sensational Sea Views @ Tanjung Rhu Resort, Langkawi

Finally we were on our way to Langkawi! Penang to Langkawi is only a 40 minutes flight and we flew on Firefly Airlines.

A propellor plane, hopefully it won’t be a rough flight

Goodbye Penang
Hello Langkawi
Rebak Island Marina

A driver from the hotel was waiting for us at Langkawi Airport and the Tanjung Rhu Resort was a 30 minute drive away. The resort is situated on the Northern part of the island and is quite isolated from the rest of the island. Surrounded by lush greenery with a large beach fronting the property.

We arrived around 2pm shortly before check in. The lovely lady who checked us in said would be mind an upgrade to a beach view and larger room. How polite, of course how could I refuse.

There was a separate living room plus a small balcony overlooking the beach, how wonderful is the view?

On exploring the resort we realised that only half is open to visitors, the other half is sadly beyond repair and closed up. We found out that the hotel is now owned by the bank. There seemed to be no overseeing of the staff. We did experience long waits for food or not turning up at all, and everyone blaming the next in line!

The deserted beach and beautiful pools did a lot to make up for these oversights. Being so far from everywhere else in Langkawi there was nowhere else to eat but at the resort.

Even though we were told the hotel was full we couldn’t see any evidence!

Adults only pool
Sunset Pool for families

It seemed like we had a private pool anytime we were there. The perfect antidote for recuperating, nothing but rest and relaxation.

Chef’s Table

This was the five star restaurant that we visited for two nights of our stay. The food was excellent as was the service.

There was also a pizza restaurant that put on a BBQ buffet one night that we ate in also.

This resort is good for day visits to get away from the busyness of the rest of the island, although it was wonderful for our three night stay.

It’s definitely a five star location and our room was five star, but with the restaurants that were open and only serving a limited menu definitely not a five star rating. The staff while extremely friendly seem to be working under different rules. Some were busy and others just standing around chatting. The website needs to be updated as one of the restaurants is closed to guests that are not on a package, the spa is also sadly derelict and the sunset pool bar is no longer open.

Dusk @ Tanjung Rhu
Our last night

~ Anyone for happy hour at Sunset ~

There’s nearly always a fabulous sunset at Cottelsoe Beach and so we treated ourselves to happy hour at one of the pubs along the seafront.

Chilled Sauvignon Blanc

On Good Friday we were kindly invited to a friend’s place for dinner. The house overlooks the Swan River and the evening was just perfect, balmy with fabulous views and a full moon too. A wonderful way to start the Easter weekend.

Dusk
Darkness
“Full Moon Rising”

Posted for Six Word Saturday Water Water Everywhere and Weekend Sky

Have a Choc filled Easter everyone!

Enjoying Essex ~ Battlesbridge and Southend ~

Essex is my home county and where I spent the first 30 years of my life, apart from the first 2 which were in London. We will be based here for the next couple of months and I will be writing about some of the small towns and villages that make up this county.

Battlesbridge

This little villages straddles the River Crouch and is home to several antique centres. Over 80 dealers are located here. We visited one sunny day a couple of weeks ago and stopped at The Barge Inn for a quick drink. There’s nothing like a countryside pub in England for cosiness!

The Barge Inn
River Crouch
“My Antique”

I was lucky enough to catch the setting sun over the river and this oast house.

Southend Pier

Southend is a fairly large town in Essex and boasts the longest pier in the World! It extends 2.16 kilometres into the Thames Estuary. Even though I lived in Essex for 30 years I have only ever been to then end once. So on a bitterly cold day two weeks ago we ventured out to Southend with the purpose of walking to the end. My friend had mentioned that she had seen a school of seals frolicking earlier that week so I wanted to see these as well. We almost changed our mind when we arrived because of the cold but saw it was fairly busy with a number of walkers promenading along, so not to be fainthearted, we paid our £1 each and off we went.

Not even half way along I looked enviously at the train as it trundled by with all the people well wrapped up inside. We had to stop at a shelter so I could arrange my scarf and hat to get the most from their warmth. We had the intention of walking back as well but my energy levels were completely depleted so we paid the extra to take the train. I definitely made my 10,000 steps that day!

Before
After
Colourful Beach Huts

The sun was finally making an appearance but clearly not sending any warmth!

The train we rode back in
Beautiful pink sky
“Pull up a Seat!”
Images through the train window of the seafront
Lastly the lone seal, making a surprise appearance before we boarded the train

Thanks for coming on this journey with us, look out for more mosts about Essex in the coming weeks.

Meanderings through Margaret River, Western Australia

Margaret River is in the South Western area of WA and a popular tourist spot Nationwide and Worldwide. The beaches are great for surfing and swimming. It’s a wonderful place to visit in the winter and we generally try to get down once a year for a short break. So after Pemberton we drove back up to enjoy a two night stay. Margaret River is home to many wineries and restaurants, it’s hard to know where to go when you only have a couple of days.

We stayed at our usual hotel Margarets Beach Resort and had a small unit with a balcony. I had asked for a partial seaview and that’s what we got. Although it was a fair way in the distance. This hotel is actually located in Gnarrabup and ten minute drive from the town itself. Very peaceful.

  • Our room
  • Sunset from the balcony

That night we drove into town to a South American Tapas restaurant, El Toro. We had quite a few plates between us. It was a fantastic restaurant, the food and service were wonderful and I definitely enjoyed my mojito listening to latin music.

Mojito Monday!

The next morning we walked down to the local cafe, White Elephant, for breakfast. This cafe sits practically on the beach. It was a bit chilly but we sat outside so we could enjoy the beautiful view.

  • “Healthy”

We were lucky to have such a glorious day to sit and take in this gorgeous view.

  • Gnarrabup Beach
  • Walking back to our apartment

A bit later we drove to Eagle Bay to Wise Winery for lunch. It’s one of our favourites and never disappoints.

A lightish lunch! A creamy Chicken Liver Parfait, Spicy Green Beans and Duck Confit with a wood sorrel sauce.

Of course you can’t go to a winery and not have a glass of wine

Wise Winery has stunning views overlooking the Indian Ocean

We definitely needed a walk after this lunch, so drove to Yallingup and walked down to the beach from the carpark at Caves House and back.

There were a few whales out there in the distance.
The sun through the trees

I was determined to see the sunset back at Margaret River that evening, so around 5.30 pm we walked back to the White Elephant Cafe and sat and watched a magnificent sunset.

😎It Doesn’t Get Better Than This😎

Caves House, Yallingup, WA For An Overnight Stay

After saying goodbye in Pemberton to our friends Cheryl and Vaughan we drove onto Yallingup for our overnight stay at Caves House. Although we had previously had dinner here we had never stayed. Spending the night is always something I have wanted to do. The inside of Caves House is wonderfully well kept and has…

by Alison

Midweek break in Yallingup

  Yallingup is in the South Western region of Western Australia.  Its a great spot to visit for a short break especially from Perth.  The drive takes just under three hours. With so many places to stay it was so difficult to decide, we eventually chose the  Sienna Lodge and it did not disappoint! Situated in…

by Alison

From one day to the next

The skies across Perth this week have been vastly different from one day to the next. We are used to the bluest skies, but with bush fires raging across Perth the sky has turned grey.

We live a good 30 minutes away but there has been ash in the garden and the smell of smoke was very strong.

Over 70 homes were lost in these fires, along with all possessions. The fires spread so quickly that residents had to flee as quickly as possible. To make matters worse, thieves took whatever was left!

Posted as part of Six word Saturday

Smokey skies one day

Red and Pink Skies the next day

My A to Z Travel Challenge – T is for Thailand – 🇹🇭

Thailand is a country that I’ve visited many times over the last thirty years! As you would imagine I’ve seen countless changes from sleepy beaches dotted with small basic huts to ridiculously large resorts with five star hotels. Although Bangkok has never really changed that much, always busy 24 hours, just three days is plenty there! Thailand is a country where you can have almost any type of holiday, hiking, biking, swimming, diving, shopping, drinking, relaxing and of course eating the most delicious food. I can’t say I’ve done everything but the options are there! It’s such a welcoming country and I look forward to many more visits.

This post is just about two of the places I’ve loved the best, Koh Samui and Khao Lak.

Koh Samui

Koh Samui is the second largest island in Thailand, Phuket being the largest. It lies off the East coast of Kra Isthmus. Before Koh Samui had an airport it was a fairly difficult place to travel to. I remember when I first visited in 1989 we travelled on a bus from Bangkok to Surat Thani and then a ferry. It was around 11 to 12 hours! I’m not sure I would ever do that again.

My daughter and I went a few years ago for her 25th and we stayed at a fabulous “adults only” resort near Fisherman’s Village, Bophut. We spent our days shopping, drinking and relaxing on the beach on beanbags instead of sunbeds.

  • Strawberry and Mango Daiquiris
  • Beachfront dining
  • Fisherman’s Village
  • or your money back!
  • Love a mangy dog

We loved this resort with it’s swim up bar, so easy to walk from the pool to the beach in just a few steps.

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Hubby and I have also been to Koh Samui and stayed at Mae Nam beach, at the very top of the island. It wasn’t a fancy place but just right for us. The larger resorts tend to be set quite far back from the beach and it’s the less expensive ones that actually have the best location.

The small individual villas were perfect
My perfect beach

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Khao Lak

We first visited Khao Lak in 2000 and when we mentioned it hardly anyone had heard of it. It was recommended by a travel agent when we lived in Hong Kong. Back in the days before internet travel and online booking so we were really taking a chance. Flying into Phuket and then driving back onto the mainland with a driver sent by the hotel, the journey was around 2 to 3 hours. Nowadays it it much quicker with a new bridge and highways being built over the last decade or so. We stayed in one of the only resorts on this very long stretch of the coast and loved every minute.
Sadly as everyone knows the 2004 Tsunami swept many of the small resorts away along with thousands of tourists and locals alike.

We ventured back quite a few years later with some trepidation but just took the chance like many others. I’m so glad we did as this is still one of the most amazing stretches of coastline in the world.

One thing you can be sure of in Khao Lak is turquoise seas and stunning sunsets.

We will definitely be back again to visit Thailand, hopefully sooner rather than later

Thanks for stopping by 😎

Sunset on the Sunset Coast 🌅

Just minutes to spare before the sun disappeared completely. The sky then changes colour rapidly from a golden orange to a burnt orange.

We were out for dinner last night and I managed to catch this amazing sunset as I stepped out of the car and then around 20 minutes later another one from the restaurant.

Drag the slider to see the squares!

Fisherman catching the evening’s dinner and cargo ships waiting to dock at Fremantle Harbour.

Posted as part of Becky’s Square Perspectives.

Some of my other posts below of Perth, WA

A Gem in Perth, Kings Park

As I live in this beautiful city of Perth I thought it was about time to do a post on Kings Park.  It’s great for a short stroll or a longer walk, a picnic or a play with your kids.  There are a few cafes and restaurants there where you can eat and enjoy the fantastic…

by Alison