Holiday on Lombok Island Indonesia

"Lombok island has secretly preserved its timeless culture in the day to day life of its inhabitants" and you could say that description I had read wasn't too far wrong.

In January we decided to take a holiday to Lombok, Indonesia. Never having visited Lombok before we expected it to be not much different to other places in Indonesia and after arriving we found that this island was very laid back and surprising undeveloped not like other places in Indonesia.

We started our holiday with an over night stop over in Bali due to not having a suitable connecting flight all the way through. With not much time on our hands and not wanting to deal with some of the ugly Australia tourist we relaxed by the hotels pool.

In the morning we jumped on a small plane to Lombok. As things never really run on time in Indonesia we had to wait a couple of hours for our delayed flight but once we boarded the plane it was only a 45 minute flight from Bali to Lombok.

Our first day and second days on Lombok was spent lazing by the pool which I must admit the drinks always taste better when you don't have to make them yourself.

Picture: The view from our hotel room

Picture: Paige walking along one of the paths in the hotels grounds

Picture: Bernadette & Paige enjoying the beach front of the hotel

Picture: Ben enjoying a Bintang beer

The third day we hired some motor bikes and ventured around the island. We visited Mawun Beach and when we went to check out one of the other local beaches we found the road inaccessible, we decided to turn around and stop in and have some lunch at the Astari Restaurant which some people had suggested to us to visit. I cant say the restaurant was anything special except for the view.

Picture: Looking out along Mawun Beach

Picture: Paige & Ben looking at the sand

Picture: One of the local men we met along the way

Picture: View from Astari Restaurant

The fourth day we headed out to Gilli Nanggu with a couple we had me at the hotel, Brad and Beth. What a wonderful day we had. The fish where amazing looking as we went snorkeling, the only thing I wished for was clearer water. Before heading over to the island we purchased some plastic bottles which was filled with bread. Once wet the bread attracted the fish and we where able to hand feed them. It was nice to spend the day with our new found friends as it is always nice to share travelling experiences.

Picture: Beth, Ben, Bernadette, Paige & Brad on the small boat over to Gilli Nanggu

Picture: Bernadette snorkeling & feeding the fish

Picture: Some of the fish

The fifth day we did a bit more relaxing by the pool, explored more of the island on hired motor bikes and stop at a local restaurant for Chili Crab.

Picture: Ben & Paige on the motor bike

The sixth day we head out to a local traditional Sasak Village once again on the motor bikes. "The Sasak people are renowned for their natural kindness and their smiles", I read somewhere hmm not everything you read is always right. I don't know what I expected but I cant not say these local people stood out from any other Indonesian people. Don't get me wrong they where very nice people but I cant say they stood out as anything other then pleasant local and as usual they wanted to sell us their wares. Yes people have to make a living but sometimes I wish they take a hint and understand the word "No Thank You".

Picture: Looking down one of the rows of huts in the village

Picture: A little girl in the village

On the seventh day we headed back to Bali for an other overnight stop over before we headed back to Perth.

We enjoyed our experiences in Lombok, would I go back? yes I would but I would stay only for three days next time as there isn't much to do there. If you are wanting to keep busy. It's a great place to visit if you want to be totally laid back maybe next time we will visit and stay on the other side of the island.

Building The Vegie Patch

We wanted to have a go at growing some veggies. I decided to build some raised garden beds so we could add a large amount of soil to give the veggies we planted the best start.

Over a weekend I had a go at building and rendering them as well. I must admit I was very happy at the end result. I am sure our veggies will taste great.

Now we just have to sit back and watch the veggies grow.

Halloween

Picture: Carved Pumpkin

For the last couple of years we had celebrated Halloween overseas so this year I decided that we would do the same back here in Australia. Our neighbour was taking his children out trick a treating so we decided to tag along.

We made sure that we had prearranged with some of our other neighbours that we would be popping by so they could have some sweets ready for the kids.

In the spirit of things I decided to put a little scene together near our front door which I think turned out really good, Paige just loved it.

It was very surprising that we where not the only ones out trick or treating I think we saw a total of another 20 children doing the same thing so it just goes to show trick a treating is becoming more popular here in Australia.

Picture: Bernadette being creative




Picture: Scary skeleton man that made scary sounds when moved

Picture: Paige dressed up as a princess



Picture: Our group stopping by to get some sweets

Picture: Out trick a treating



Picture: Another stop for trick a treating

Picture: The kids happy with their buckets full of sweets

Trip To Melbourne

In October we headed to Melbourne as one of my sisters was getting married.

Visiting Melbourne there never seems enough time to catch up with all my friends and family and once again this trip was no different. So much do but so little time.

Picture: Flinders Street Station



Picture: View of the MCC from The Eureka Tower 300m high

Picture: Paige standing with street art

Durning our visit Paige and I played tourist we saw many of the city sites. Paige just loved the trams. Taking Paige down to Williamstown to feed the swans was a walk down memory lane as I have fond memories of doing this as a little girl so it was nice sharing one of my past times.

Picture: Paige feeding the swans in Williamstown

Ben arrived on the day of his 40th Birthday which we spent tucking into bowls of "Pho" a beef soup which we come to love from our time living in Hanoi, the memories ...............................

On the 10th of October my youngest sister Narrelle married Tony. A long a waited wedding day for them both. Years in the making they where blessed with perfect weather, beautiful surroundings at The Vines Restaurant and joined by their family and friends as they said "I do".

Picture: View of back of Narrelle's wedding dress

Picture: Narrelle & Tony durning the ceremony

Picture: The little people

Picture: The wedding cake

Picture: One of the tables at the wedding reception

Picture: Bernadette, Paige & Ben at the wedding

Picture: Cousins, Emily & Paige

Picture: All the sisters, Bernadette, Kobie, Narrelle, & Belinda standing with Tony

Picture: Matthew, Narrelle, Tony & Mum

Picture: Dad, Narrelle, Tony & Cathy

Working Around The House

Making changes in the garden and in side our house will always take time not to mention a bit of hard work. A couple of things we have done so far are is we have had two very large palm trees removed from the back yard, pulled out the very large rock wall away from the front of the house and pulled up all the tiles in three of the areas inside. Its nice to sit back and see what we have done so far, who knows what other changes we will make but since being in the house for less then a year we are very happy in the progress and hard work we have put in up until now.

In the back yard

Picture: A palm tree starts to come down
Going

Going

Gone

In the front yard

Picture: The rock wall starts to come down

Picture: Paige stands next to the huge tree stump which was uncovered

Picture: The rock wall is no more

Picture: A blank slate awaits

Inside

Picture: The tiles which where on the floor


Picture: Pulled back the carpet to find the tiles sitting 3cm high

Picture: What we found under the titles

Visiting Margaret River

In June while Sue , Ben's mum and partner David was visiting us here in Perth we decided to take a short trip down to Margaret River, none of us had ever been there before. Margaret River is about 272km from Perth which takes about three and a half to four hours to get there. The area is a "renowned wine region and tourism destination, an idyllic town and river that meanders its way to the sea" one of the web sites stated when I looked the area up on the web. All in all yes as described that's what Margaret River is and the couple of days we spent I found wasn't enough to scratch the surface of visiting all the wineries. I found Margaret River a great place to relax and explore. When it came to the kids I found there didn't seem a lot to do while the weather was cold. Maybe in summer the beach would be a great place to take the kids. One of the things we did do was go to the Yallingup Maze. Getting lost and trying to find our way around the wooden maze was quite funny. Paige loved running around. It was so nice to visit some where new in WA and spend time with family and taste a nice drop of wine along the way.

Picture: Paige & Ben

Picture: Sue & David


Picture: The cottage we stayed


Picture: Outside the Colonial Brewing Company

Picture: Ben & David sampling some beer



Picture: Yallingup Maze

Picture : Inside the maze

Picture: Ben trying to find his way out

Picture: Paige & Ben at point three inside the maze


Picture: Stacked wine barrels

Picture: One of our stops




Picture: Bernadette, Ben, Sue & Paige having a coffee before the drive back to Perth