Drive to Edinburgh and Majestic tour of the city

We made it to Edinburgh after travelling through the most spectacular and picturesque scenery that we have ever seen , the different tones of green are just incredible . It is difficult to show this in photos , but here are a few pics we took along the way.

Once we arrived in Edinburgh its was time to see what the city had to offer , the view of Edinburgh Castle from the window of our hotel is pretty cool. We decided to hop pn the tour bus and see the sights, the Royal Yacht Britania anchored at the harbour, the Palace of Holyrood house , the royal mile and Edinburgh Castle. We also visited the scotch whisky experience, Ney could not depart from Scotland without a visit to a distillery and to learn more about his favourite drink.

We tried some delicious single malt whisky and had a lesson on the different types of whiskies produced in the different parts of Scotland. I can tell you Ney was pretty impressed with the worlds biggest collection of unopened whisky bottles over five thousand, his mouth was watering !!!!

Ok that is it from us on the road, next stop is the Scottish Highlands, Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle..... 

Bye for now .......

London , Windemere and drive to Scotland

Hi all ; here we are again we made it to London on the 24 June at about 10:00 pm , and after waiting for a while at immigration we were finally on our way to our hotel . It was located in Bays water and just across from Kensington Gardens, next to Paddington and not far from Hyde park. We were very impressed with the city , it is very elegant and picturesque, particularly central London.

The next morning we did the typical Hop on Hop off sightseeing tour with Big Bus Tours , it was definitely value for money we basically spent the whole day visiting the most popular sights of London . Here are some of the pics , see if you recognise them .

We had a great time , and we had a chance to visit the Victoria & Albert Museum as well as the Science and Natural History Museum . Although it was exhausting it was really worth it , the daily ticket was real value for money .

On our next day in London we decided to rest , it was Sunday and it was terrific weather so we did what most Londoners do on such a glorious day and visit Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Walked around Kensington Palace , Princess Diana's memorial fountain and had a leisurely day walking around the park.

On the third day we decided to take a tour to Stonehenge , it was after all a UNESCO World Heritage listed monument and we could not miss it . The tour company Premium Tours  was pretty average , the driver was a very grumpy man that did not talk to the group the whole two hours to and two hours back from the site , although the site was very enjoyable the tour company left a lot to be desired , which was really unfortunate since I was so looking forward to it . The pictures however turned out really well....

On the fourth day we decide to hire a car and drive ourselves to Scotland, I was looking forward to visiting the Lakes district , I had heard from friends that it was a place that we had to visit , and it was definitely a beautiful place. We travelled about five hours from London and decided to stop at Windemere , it was a magical little town set next to Windemere  Lake . We stayed at the Lakes Hotel a very cosy and homely B & B , it was ran by the Dobson Family and the service was very friendly , particularly by the owner Andy . He was very welcoming and  always ready to help.

It was with sadness that we left the lakes district the next morning, we would have liked to stay a few days longer to explore the walks and lakes that are located in this beautiful part of the UK . following are some of the pictures we took along the way , including a stop at Hadrian's Wall the old Roman border with Scotland .

Hong Kong

We finally made it to Hong Kong on Monday after an enjoyable journey on Cathay Pacific , about ten hours after we left Brisbane, one stop over in Cairns and about three meals on the plane. Not too bad , compared to other airline food we've had to endure in the past and pretty good movie selections on board.

The first day in Hong Kong we decided to visit the Big Buddha located in Lantau Island, so we used the underground metro system which is excellent and we took the train to Tung Chung and then a cable cart ( with glass bottoms ) to Ngong Ping mountain where the Big Buddha and the monastery are situated. It was a great day, the worlds largest bronze buddha was a site to behold and the ride up the mountain was an amazing experience.

On the second day , it was pretty wet and miserable apparently there was a typhoon about 200 km from Hong Kong and the weather was terrible. But we decided that it was time to explore the Central District , and

I can tell you that they were not kidding when they advertise Hong Kong as the shopping capital of the world. It is truly amazing all the brands are here and not one, but many stores in 10 and 15 story shopping centres all over Hong Kong. Following are a few photos of the central district and Hong Kong Island.

On the final day the weather was slightly improved so we decided to visit the Hong Kong History Museum , the Space Museum and do the Victoria Harbour cruise that we had heard so much about. At 8 o'"clock every night there is a laser show where all the buildings across the harbour put on a show for the tourists. I enjoyed the history museum , the display depicting the history of Hong Kong to the present day unification with China was well done.

The Space Museum was not what we expected , or rather we did not properly communicate with the box office staff since when we entered we realised we had tickets to see an Imax movie at the Planetarium about the hubble telescope. I think the best part of the day was sitting on the viewing deck outside the cultural centre and waiting for the sun to come down , and for Hong Kong to come alive . The views across Victoria Harbour are incredible ... Enjoy !!!!

Short movie of Victoria Harbour, hope you can see it .....

Next stop London, will update blog in the next few days .....Bye for now 

Bali trip 13 May 2011

Arrived in Denpasar at 15:30 pm to a warm and sunny day in Bali , we finally made it to this tourism capital of Asia. We met our friends just outside the airport, and the first impressions were of a busy and colourful city filled with people and traffic.

After a trip to our accommodation at the Sanur Plaza suites hotel where we dropped off our luggage and had a catch up chat .

Then it was a visit to the local markets in sanur where the local go for dinner and a bit of entertainment. We tried some goat satay which were delicious !!!!

 

14 may 2011

The second day in Bali started with a trip to Uluwatu temple a sacred place located at the southern tip of the island , home to a sanctuary of monkeys and beautiful temples.

Once we had a play with the locals ( monkeys) it was off to the Uluwatu surf beach where many of the locals wanted to give us massages and sell us Bintang shirts . Before our stop for lunch at a nice Bistro in central Sanur we cooled down at Pedang Pedang beach a lovely inlet where the water was warm and calm.

15 & 16 May 2011

We could not visit Bali without visiting party central Kuta, it was a hot day and the traffic was incredible. The beach was nice, the shopping was hectic but it was great when we finally made it to Semyniak for a lovely lunch at a local greek restaurant called Mykonos . The food was good and the hospitality was even better. 

17 May 2011

We departed Sanur for Lembongan Island , we travelled with our friend Leigh and Wolf man a local of the island was waiting for us . The following days were filled with eating, sleeping and drinking, the perfect relaxing holiday.

Ware Ware resort is where we stayed and had our meals at the resorts restaurant, it was incredible food and the staff were just terrific.

We had a chance to experience the local culture ( rooster fights), and managed to hire a scooter to visit the local sites like mushroom beach, dream beach and  another island called Cenigan

 It was at Cenigan that we met a local that showed us Secret beach , Blue Lagoon and a new Balinese resort called Secret Point.

The view from Ware Ware resort over to the village in Lembongan.

The sunset in Lembongan was incredible , overlooking the restaurant and the seaweed farms.

It was sad leaving Lembongan , but there were other parts of Bali yet to be explored and on Saturday we fare welled our friends and their paradise home and set off for Ubud and the famous Monkey Forest .

 

It was a drive up the mountainous countryside and past the rice fields to reach this artistic and cultural centre of Bali. We passed all the villages, where the local artisans showcased their work in wood, stone,glass , precious metals and paintings.

The monkey forest was definitely an overwhelming sight, the ancient temples and carvings as well as the numerous monkeys that called this sacred forest their home were an amazing experience.

Next day it was time to head north and visit Kintimani volcano and the temple that overlooks it. It was a cloudy day and the temperature had fallen so we were anxious to return  to the coast.

 One of the amazing temples that overlooks the volcano and a cloudy photo of Kintimani.

Our final stop before we set off back to Sanur for a few days of relaxation  was Bali's Safari and Marine Park. We stayed overnight at the lodge within the park , and it was a great opportunity to have the up and close safari experience without the multitude of people that visit the park for the day.

We had a chance to feed the elephants, take photos with an orangutan and had dinner and breakfast with a group of lions. It was definitely an experience not to be missed. A definite place to visit with children , they would also have a fantastic time .

On Monday the 23 May we arrived back in Sanur, and checked in to the Mercure Resort for the last three days of our trip . During these days we manged to drink a few more Bintang beers , enjoyed a couple of fabulous dinners in Sanur and at Jimbaran Bay ( on the beach ) best seafood ever and managed to get a reasonable sun tan.

It was sad to say good bye to Bali , and thanks to our friends Leigh, Bec and Wolf man it was an unforgettable holiday .

Next stop is Hong Kong , the shopping capital of Asia ....