January 31st

Jan 31st
Slept well last night, we have a fan right over the bed, so that kept us cool through the 23C night. Decided to walk down to Kuta beach ( about 2km) Kuta is south of our beach, but much busier. Kuta is known as the party beach. This is one of the entrances to the beach.
There is always a line of traffic crawling along the main road. It's usually quicker to walk than drive. With motorbikes swerving in and out, you have to be very careful crossing the road.
This is a memorial to the Bali bombings of 2002. About 200 people died here, when 2 bombs went off in Paddys bar and the Sari Club. The goverment blamed an Islamic terror group, and dozens have been arrested and convicted of this and other terror acts through out Indonesia. People from over 23 countries were either killed or injured in this bombing. Kuta now has a yearly Karnival to remember them.
Walked back home and watched Federer beat Murray at the Australian open. yea!!

January 30th

Jan 30th,
Nice flight from Perth to Bali, took 3hr 50. Slept most of the way, flight was quite empty, so we both had a row each to lay out on. Caught a taxi to Legian, next to kuta beach. Streets are very narrow, so when a car parks, it causes huge traffic jams. This is our Tune hotel, opened last month ( thank god there were no delays!) .
Walked down to the beach (100 meters), beach was nice, but after seeing the Australian beaches it wasn't so spectacular. Trash is all along the beach, but at least here someone is sweeping it into piles . Sad thing about most Asian beaches is the trash that gets washed up on the beach, except for the resorts along the beach, where someone rakes the beach clean, the rest of it is pretty dirty. Very hot here 42c, and humid, feels like 45c.
This is our room at Tune. Small, but very clean. Not bad for $3 a day!!
View from our balcony.
View, looking the other way. These are lovely " beach huts", not on the beach but close enough.
Told you the streets were narrow!!!! This is how our taxi got into the hotel area.
In the afternoon, we walked along the main road. One of Bali's temples.
Sunset from Legian beach. This area is well known for the beautiful sunsets. We weren't dissapointed. Absolutely beautiful. Walked back to the hotel by the main road, and stopped at a street vendor for dinner. Noodles, vegetables, chilis and omelette for 65cents! We're lovinging this place!! Now if we can do something about the heat!!

January 26th - 29th

Jan 26th
Flight took 3 1/2 hrs, arrived 8.30am. It was 26c that early in the morning. Drove to our backpackers lodge, dumped our bags and went into the city. It's Australia Day today, public holiday celebrating the founding of Australia. Walked along Swan River waterfront, lots of concerts today, with the outline of Perth city in the background.
This is Perths Wheel, similar to the Eye , in London.
Perth city from the river.
Went to Kings Park, which is bigger than Central Park, in NY. Beautiful park, with botanical gardens, waterfalls, bridges etc.. This was taken on one of the many look-outs.
A helicopter was flying the flag all afternoon, as were many Australians.
This is a Tudor shopping center, in downtown Perth. Quite exclusive shops though, but very english.
In the evening, we drove to the south side of the river as fireworks were scheduled for 8pm. As did thousands of others. This event was a non-alcohol event, and the place was saturated with police. This is the first year to ban alcohol, due to previous trouble. Everyone was on their best behavoir. Even us, we kept our box wine in the bag!!
Perth, as the sun was setting.
Fireworks were great, and lasted for 1/2 hr. The whole city was lit up, great evening event.
Jan 27th,
Packed our bags, and drove to Magaret River, which is a famous wine area. Stayed at the local YHA. Found a great winery, with fantastic gardens. They net the vines as the grapes ripen, to stop the birds and kangeroos eating them.
Entrance to the Voyager Estates Winery. Great place for a picnic, but as we got there at 10am, it was too early to have lunch, not too early to drink wine mind you!!
The tasting room, build in 1996, but looked like it was built in 1896.
The rose gardens, each row of vines had the usual rose bush at the end.

All the wineries fly the flag.
Jan 29th,
Packed and started driving back to Perth, with a stop at Fremantle. It's a 3 hr drive, so we stopped for lunch at this place. The beach, again, is empty and beautiful. Can't get over the beaches and how empty they all are!
View from the other end. Where do Australians go for their holiday? If you have this on your doorstep, it's hard to imagine paying airfare to go to anyother beach.
Stopped at Fremantle, one of the oldest harbours. Downtown is this beautiful catholic church.
The fishing boats and yachts at the harbour.
Fremantle market in downtown. Very small town, with few shops, but it attracts a lot of tourists.
City hall in downtown. We finished our walking tour of the city within 30 minutes, that shows how small this place is, cute but tiny. Drove into Perth, where we have to waste time because our flight to Bali has a check-in time of 3am! Love these cheap flights!

January 23rd / 24th / 25th

Jan 23rd
Took becks ( Jane & Ians dog) to the beach, and had coffee overlooking the beach.

Watched the local lifeguard club teaching the kids life saving skills, swimming, and surfboarding. kids are taught how to assess the waves, survival skills in rip tides etc.... As the beach is an essential part of Australian life these kids will need these skills. A helicopter routinely patrols the waters looking for sharks, and lifeguards watch all the swimmers.

For dinner, we had Kangeroo steaks- yes, we were willing to eat the lovely animals that we were petting and feeding just the other day!! Steaks were very tender !!! We had to try them!!

Jan 24th

Spend the day touring the wineries at Mclaren Vale. The wineries were very generous with the wine and we all had a great time. Learnt that the roses that are planted at the end of each row of grapes, was to indicate the presence of plant pest, before they destroy the grapes. There were many wineries in this area, too many for us to visit.

Here we are in The Black sheep winery. This winery even had food for tasting. Stayed here for a bit longer than the others!!!

In the afternoon we all went for a walk to clear our heads! Hot day, but there was a lovely breeze by the beach. Great day out.

Jan 25,

Back to our favourite coffee spot on the beach. What a view to start the day.

Derek and Ian were supposed to be taking Becks for a swim, not quite sure what Derek was doing to the dog!!!! Good way to cool down on a hot day. Tomorrow we head out to Perth on a 7am flight from Adelaide. Pack and early night tonight. I've seen some of the most beautiful beaches so far, and most of them have been almost empty. Compared to the beaches in Asia, the beaches here are cleaner, stretch for miles and are more scenic.

January 21st / 22nd

January 21st
Went downtown to return the car, and tour the city. Very hot, 40c. This is the war memorial in downtown Adelaide.

Walked down to the botanical gardens. At least there were lots of trees for shade. We only walked a few blocks and were sweating and panting, it's hard to walk anywhere in this heat.

At the back of the city is the lovely river Torrens. Pop-Eye boats go from the city to the zoo, winding along this river.

Approaching the city from the river.

Jane took us for a ride along the beaches in the afternoon. Along this pier, all the teenagers gather and jump off the pier. They were having a great time, but we decided against it!

Jan 22nd

Today is a bit cooler. We decided to go to Claland park. Got to have a picture of a Kangeroo! On the way we pass this beautiful pelican.

Ian and Jane feeding the kangeroos. At last, we find a field full of them!

Jane and myself feeding the males. Got to stroke them as well.

A Tasmanian Devil. Caution posters all around these creatures, warning that they bite!!

These are Bandicoots. Native large looking rats. They were running around the park, amazing how quickly you get used to seeing them running around your feet.

Up close to Ben the Koala. Really placid animal, who just sat there eating eucalyptus leaves. Lovely day at the park, then went out to the local golf course for dinner. Great day out.