Holidays achieve a lot of things, not least of which is to recharge your batteries from the busyness of life and work. When I’m working I go hard. Long hours, heaps of work travel, all-time emails, early starts, late finishes. I’m not complaining, at all. I love my job, and it’s important to me that I…
Author: Sara
It’s all about food! Day 9: 15 March 2020
You only live twice once. A quick quiz: What’s Sara’s favourite thing to talk about? What is the first thing Sara thinks about in the morning? What’s the last thing Sara thinks about at night? What does Sara think about more than anything else? Food, Food, Food, Food! Day 9 was all about it. The…
Shaken, not stirred. Day 8: 14 March 2020
James Bond: A midnight snack might be just the thing. Mary Goodnight: I’ll keep the wine properly chilled. James Bond: And everything else warm, I trust. Always suave, is our Jimmy Bond 😉 Today was a case of when two worlds collide. For Dave, a stay at the Mandarin Oriental, the Bangkok filming location of…
The bright lights of Bangkok: Day 7, 13 March 2020
Today was a day of travel, starting with, as usual, a great breakfast. ‘We love having you stay Mr Dave and Mrs Sara. Thank you for staying from Australia, please come to visit us again’. It could almost have been called a fond farewell, as the staff who have looked after us for the past…
Merci Beaucoup Vientiane: Day 6, 12 March 2020
Laos was a French Protectorate between 1893 and 1953 (apart from briefly being under Japanese rule in 1945) and hence, as in many parts of south-east Asia, there is a significant French influence. For example, French is spoken by a significant number of people in Laos. French is used as a diplomatic and commercial language and…
Vientiane by Day and Night: Day 5, 11 March 2020
Nice hotels = nice breakfasts. The place where we are staying definitely fits that equation. I do like a good buffet big-hotel type of breakfast, but on this occasion there is a small offering set out for self-service (pastries, toast, fruit, noodles) and then you choose the hot dish you want from an a-la-carte menu….
Today’s episode is brought to you by the letter L: Day 4, 10 March 2020
Dave and I are a little bit addicted to overseas travel, and, as many of you would know (especially if you have been following this blog for a while) we like to get to as many countries as possible. Dave keeps a list of countries, in alphabetical order, to track our progress. When we accepted…
Ah Mr Bond, we’ve been expecting you. Day 3: 9 March 2020
The reason we are in Thailand is because my brother organised a house swap in Hua Hin, about 150km south of Bangkok, and invited us along. The reason we added Phuket to the trip was not what you may think – for the sun, beaches, resorts and shopping. Rather we came here for one reason…
Tasty Phuket. Day 2: 8th March 2020
People regularly ask me to either recommend a restaurant, or to tell them how I choose restaurants. If you happen to be listening to ABC Riverina this coming Thursday @ about 9.35 am (you can listen online, if you have the time or inclination), then thanks to a pre-record, ‘choosing a restaurant’ will be my…
Day 1 – 7 FEB 2020: Sights, Sounds and Smells
I omitted blogging about a couple of short holidays we had late last year (a few days is never long enough to get into the routine of blogging) but as this break is just over two weeks long I thought I would bite the bullet and record our meanderings. On Friday night we decided to…
Thailand and Laos
Watch this space – Holiday commences tomorrow… I will start the blog on Sunday. First thing to do is meet Will and Emma as they arrive home from their travels. This travel thing is definitely in our family’s blood!
Day 12 plus
Day 12 – Monday 18th March should have been our last day in Sri Lanka. Will, Emma and Victoria did catch the plane back to Australia, unfortunately Dave and I didn’t. Dave’s still not very well. By mid-morning yesterday we decided it was time to get a doctor. The reception people here helped me find one who…
Day 10 and 11: Colombo
After a swim and breakfast we packed our things and headed to reception to checkout and get a transfer to Colombo. I had booked the transfer online for a pretty good price so was a little anxious that it wouldn’t turn up. A 10 seater air conditioned van did turn up, 10 minutes early in…
Day 9: Induruwa
A very short blog post today. Apart from moving hotel and saying goodbye to our tour group ? we did very little. Dave has an upset tummy so has been mostly resting. We had room service for lunch then all had massages. Unfortunately the massages were pretty ordinary ? The rooms here are lovely. We…
Day 8 – Galle
Another great buffet breakfast to start the day (with real pork bacon yey!). there was so much to choose from including a whole cereal and juice wall! After breakfast, most of us headed on the bus back to the centre of Galle, about an hours drive south of our hotel. Galle is a fort city – established by…
Day 6 and 7: Nuwara Eliya to Yala National Park then Yala to Galle
There is so much to catch up on – an amazing couple of days! On Wednesday we started the day with the longest breakfast buffet I have ever seen. I do like a good buffet breakfast! We met at 9am and had a drive around Nuwara Eliya. Its is known as ‘little England’ and you can definitely…