Tuscany

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 2 Comments

This post comes to you from the confines of our cosy apartment in the lush hills of Toscolano-Moderna, Lake Garda. Lake Garda is the biggest lake in Italy and we are situated on the western side. We arrived mid afternoon Friday – it’s been raining for the past 4 days so our activities have been curtailed to an extent.

Rod’s note to self: Rookie mistake.

After collecting our lovely lease car in Rome we need to refill the tank fairly soon. I pull off the motorway and stop at a bowser and am pleasantly surprised when an attendant offers to do the job. (It can be confusing working out the system in a different country.) It seems expensive when I look at the total, as I have seen fuel much cheaper already on this trip. Whilst waiting for Belinda and Hamish to return from the Autogrill (and trying to figure out how to lock the car*) I check out the price per litre at a bowser. It seems comparable to others I have seen. I wander over to the bowser where I was refilled and it is more than 30 cents per litre more expensive! I have learned that there are two choices- Self or Service. I will not make this mistake again.

* The car locks automatically when you walk a few paces away with the key. We have a spare key, which was still in the car. So it would not lock.

Santa Brigida – We stayed 3 nights in this quintessential Tuscan village. When you picture Tuscany in your mind (take a few seconds to do that now) I’m sure the images popping into your head are some of these: an abundance of olive trees, wineries, hills and mountains, rivers, stone walls, narrow roads, elderly people conversing on corners and houses the colour of an “Autumn” eyeshadow pallet. This is exactly what we experienced – we wished we’d stayed longer.

During our stay, we successfully attempted two day trips to Florence, catching the train from Sieci which was a 10 minute drive from our village. On our first day in Florence, we headed to the famous Ponte Vecchio which spans the Arno River. We had a basic (but expensive) lunch and walked across the bridge and then headed to the Michaelangelo Pallazo (the highest lookout in Florence). At this point in time, it was a bit drizzly, but not too bad. I had an umbrella, Rod had his waterproof jacket and Hamish had his puffy. I tried to share my umbrella with Hamish, but this was tricky on the narrow paths. The weather was 20-ish degrees, so we were sweaty as well as being rain drenched – such a lovely combination. Once at the lookout, there wasn’t much to see due to the grey skies, drizzle and cloud cover, so we looked for a toilet (it was closed) and then the heavens decided to really open up. We made our way into a very flash hotel for some afternoon tea and plan our escape back to Santa Brigida – no taxis, no buses…it was looking like we were going to have to walk in the pouring rain, but then at the last minute, a taxi dropped off a couple and we jumped in.

Not to be deterred, we planned a second trip to Florence. A note here about us and being organised: we are not. We barely made the train in time due to the post office visit taking way longer than expected and then, not being able to find a car park at the train station – and all this after giving ourselves PLENTY of time. We are going to have to lift our game for December, when we will be travelling between countries on trains. Back to our Florence trip – we felt we were more organised this time with wet weather gear and walked around the Duomo and had purchased tickets for the Galileo Museum. The museum was an interesting look at the evolution of science and technology over time, from early telescopes, microscopes, scales, electrical equipment and medical models. Galileo’s middle finger is preserved and just sits there; thin and papery, jutting out from a glass vase – apparently it was removed when he was relocated from one burial site to another.

This map was made in 1688
Weigh chair

As we left the museum, the rain ramped up. At one point we sheltered in the Lego store with others! The wet weather gear was no match for the torrential rain (well, my umbrella was great, but my shoes were drenched and my jeans wet up to my knees – Rod and Hamish didn’t fare particularly well either, but their torsos were dry!) Florence’s buildings have no overhanging rooftops, which meant most visitors in Florence that day suffered and/or huddled in doorways. We eventually made it back to the train station and had afternoon tea, before catching the train back home. The rest of the day was spent drying clothes: jackets, shoes and bags.

Gino Bartali Museum – earlier this year, my friend Trent (workmate and cycling aficionado) had loaned me a book about an Italian cyclist (Gino Bartali) who was a professional cyclist for 20 years, won two Tour de France races, 10 years apart, as well as two Giro d’Italia’s two years in a row. He also is perhaps less well known for his work for the Italian Resistance: carrying messages in his bike frame, hiding Jewish families, working with a priest in Florence to provide false documents and leading Jews to the Swiss Alps. As he was somewhat of a national treasure the Nazi’s were loathe to upset the general population, so left him, largely, to his own devices. He would ride in his racing jersey with his name on it, all in the name of ‘training’ – hiding in plain sight. His home town of Ponte a Ema was only a short drive from our village of Santa Brigida, so we visited the museum on our way to Lake Garda. The museum is only open on a few days, for a few hours, so the planets aligned for us! The museum is about cycling and the progression of bike technology, not about his resistance work, but it was very interesting for Rod and I. Bartali’s TdF winning bike was on display, as well as a few of his jerseys. Other Italian cyclists have jerseys and bikes housed there, such as Vincenzo Nibali – I could lift his bike with one finger! (Bertali’s bike on the other hand, is made of steel) and look at the size of that jersey! Incredibly privileged to be able to visit this museum.

Front press brake
Want to change a gear? Pull these levers!
Gino’s Maglia Rosa

We are staying at Lake Garda until Wednesday. The weather is due to clear up tomorrow afternoon and we’re keen to hire some bikes Monday and do a bit of exploring around the lake. Some of my cycling friends would love the amount of climbs, elevation and switchbacks here, but for the rest of us humans, we just look in awe.

3 Days in Rome

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

Today is Tuesday October 15. It’s currently 10pm and we’re sitting around our very beautiful apartment in the Tuscan hills north of Florence, in fact, in a small village called Santa Brigida. (Edit: It’s not 10am Wednesday morning…) We collected our leased Peugeot 308 today from the Rome depot (we’ve done this twice before, once in Rome and once in France) and we will have it for the next month. Let me know if this is something you’d like to hear more about – hiring cars in Europe can be tricky and expensive, but we’ve found this lease company great to deal with.

In other news, since our departure 3 weeks ago, Hamish has grown and is now the tallest member of the family. Something I was acutely aware of when we got into the car today. He’s going to be wanting some front seat leg room!

Back to Rome – let’s start with Transport:

Departing Athens was straightforward – Uber and an airport bus. The bus is a dedicated airport bus, but has nowhere to store luggage. We just placed our bags flat in the central, circular, concertina area mid-wickets; no one seemed to care and no doubt we’re not the first ones to do this. Moving day is always lengthy and tiring. Always. We flew with ‘Sky Express’ a Greek airline and were rewarded with seats in the 3rd row – the curtained off area! Sounds fancy, but Sky Express are a bit like Jetstar inasmuch as you pay pay pay for everything (extra bags, food, seats etc). We had a 15kg checked luggage allowance and a 8kg carry on limit, but with a bit of prior rearrangement of heavier gear, did this easily.

I’d pre booked tickets on an airport bus from Rome Airport (Fiumicino) to the central train station (Termini) as it was half the price of the direct train – the Leonardo Express. Everything was running smoothly until we got to Termini and had to find our next platform, to catch a local train to a stop near our suburb. Rod bought our 48 hour public transport passes (Roma 48) and we eventually found the station Laziali – separate from Termini altogether. The ‘station’ and ‘platform’ looked like a scene from a post apocalyptic film – unmanned station, no one around, grass growing up through the tracks, a two carriage train, a teen jumping the barrier. Was there even a driver? Who knew. As the train pulled in we spoke to the driver “Saint Elena?” (That was our stop) “Si, yes, we stop” – so we got on. Like I said, not an ordinary train at all. Two steps up, very high into the carriage and then single rows of seats either side of the carriage. No button to press to alert our stop is coming up – we looked confused at best and thankfully a young man with his family talked to us and helped us out. Our plan was when the train stopped, I’d jump down and Rod would pass the luggage out as quickly as possible! It worked out in the end, and in fact, we caught that little weird train again today to get back to the Termini.

Whilst in Rome we used the metro – it was fast and efficient and the trains arrived (unlike the busses in Athens). But like Athens, most of the trips we experienced had 4 or 5 times the amount of people who can actually fit into a carriage. You just keep moving forward and moving forward, making sure you can reach one of the grab rails. It’s definitely a novelty, but it wore off quickly. Hamish was quick to spot someone getting up off a seat and would try to position himself ready to sit down.

Accommodation: Last week our Rome accommodation was cancelled and I rebooked a 2 bedroom apartment in a SE suburb of Rome called Pigneto. I’d ummed and aarhed about Pigneto from Australia months and months ago, but had gone with something a little closer and let’s be honest, a little cheaper. Rome is expensive! Pigneto is described as ‘hipster’ and this was apparent by the cool bars, restaurants and the trendy people riding bikes: fats, fold up electric, single speeds and cruisers. The vibe of the suburb wasn’t apparent until we headed out for dinner – the place was vibrant and we loved it. Our apartment would not have been out of place in Fitzroy or Brunswick, for example, but the only thing we didn’t enjoy were the neighbours who would activate modes: ‘yelling loudly’ or ‘singing badly’ as their only form of communication. Fortunately we have adjusted our meals times already (dinner at 8pm-ish), so we didn’t have to bear the noise for long.

In Pigneto and Vatican City we noticed a couple of street artworks we recognised from Paris 9 years ago: Space Invader. Invader is a French street artist who is known for tile mosaics based on the space invader game. A good pick up from Rod!

Food & Drinks: We have eaten well in Rome, very well. Pizza, focaccia, pasta, gelato, wine, aperol spritz, various cured meats and cheese – we have loved it all!

Activities: Day 1 – self-guided tourism. Before arriving in Rome, we were aware of the major restoration works being undertaken for the 25 year jubilee (it’s a religious thing) that is happening next year. So we were expecting scaffolding and barrier tape, but we didn’t care. The city is still impressive and we loved wandering the streets and side alleyways.

Spanish Steps – Trevi Fountain – Pantheon – Colosseum – Roman Forum – Palatine Hill

Day 2 itinerary – organised tours. We’d planned months ago to do separate activities today based on interest and it worked well. On this trip, Hamish would like to go to as many micro-nations as we can squeeze is, starting with Vatican City, the most micro of them all.

Rod and Hamish – Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel (written by Rod and Hamish)

We arrive quite early, since we all took the same train and Belinda’s tour starts 30 minutes before ours. It’s very quiet in and around the Vatican at this hour. We look for our meeting point, which is a shop, but it is closed, so we walk around the corner for an early morning tea. No complaints from Hamish!

We start on time, after the shop does open and begin the walk to the Vatican museum, smugly strolling past queues at least 100 m long, with little evidence of movement. But then we get planted somewhere in a queue and the whining starts from some of our group. Why are we waiting? We paid extra for this! (Boomers!)

But the wait is brief and we are underway. It is quite overwhelming, with non-stop art/artifacts amidst a constant throng of shuffling people. We keep moving and observing; statues, gardens, views, paintings, fountains, tapestries, sarcophagi and more, before finally landing in the Sistine chapel with its abundance of art works and tourists craning their necks to view the ceiling. Our guide is good and the bluetooth works well. Hamish agrees that was a fascinating journey.

Hamish: it was amazing going to a teeny tiny country. A micro nation is a country less than 2km squared and I don’t know why I am interested in them, I just am. To me it did feel like a different country, due to, I don’t know, just the vibe. TBH is was amazing going to the Vatican – it was cool.

Belinda – St Peter’s Basilica, Papal Crypts & Dome climb.

I learned quite a bit about The Vatican (for ease, I think I’ll just combine Vatican/Vatican City/Catholic Church and call it “The Vatican”) from the guide on my 3 hour tour, but none of it was endearing. I tried to be open minded and non-judgemental, but it was a challenge…Here are a few (objective) facts:

The Vatican is not subject to regular laws and rules, including tax laws. Near the end of WW2 they protected a high level Nazi (I won’t name names, but he was instrumental in the ‘Final Solution’) by giving him false documentation/passport to escape to Brazil (in return, he allowed a few Jewish people to live).

There is strict, state run media – no free press.

All visitors are subject to CCTV

The current Pope is 88 and is confined to a wheelchair – he tried to be progressive once by showing support for all people and their right to marry, but this backfired and now he espouses a woman’s place is bringing up children and men should work to support their families

The current St Peter’s Basilica incorporates the old Basilica (which was destroyed thousands of years ago) and is a very impressive cathedral. It’s beautiful.

There are 550 steps to the top of the Dome – some are wide and flat, some are steep and worn. The Dome is the highest point in Rome – nothing is allowed to be higher. Many people climbed it, including me and when you get to the top, you get a photo and start the descent. I’m OK with heights, but at one point the dome is starting to curve in, but you’re still walking in a straight line – it messed up my proprioception for a bit, as my poor little brain tried to make sense of what was happening!

The ‘paintings’ in the Basilica are actually glass mosaics, due to the lack of temperature/humidity control. The original paintings are stored somewhere else.

During reconstruction of part of the building a full male skeleton was found: this was said to be St Peter. No carbon dating, no scientific proof – could be anyone, but The Vatican says it’s him, so it’s him.

And finally, the tour guide didn’t like it when I mentioned The Vatican protected “an Australian Cardinal” – did I care? No. His response was along the lines of ‘you shouldn’t let your personal life become public’ – I could have (should have) stood up for the lives of many Australians who have been abused by Catholic priests, but didn’t want to be escorted from the premises, or taken out by a Swiss Guard.

And just before I go, you can select a picture to make it full sized and don’t forget, you can have this blog delivered to your inbox by hitting subscribe at the bottom of the blog.

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Athens Part II

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

It’s currently Friday evening – here’s an update of our last few days in Athens.

Wednesday October 9

After a few busy days, we planned a low-key day, with really just one item on the agenda: Filopappou Hill. I’ve just realised this hill bears the same name as the Main Street near our apartment (must be someone important). We caught the 227 into the city and walked to the hill. Rod was navigating (at speed) and I had to slow him down at one point to have a look at the Acropolis, visible from the end of a street. I love finding those little treasures.

The hill was the home of two significant sites: Prison of Socrates and The Pnyx.

Socrates was an old guy who would hang out in coffee shops with young people, suggesting they ‘question everything’. He wasn’t popular with the establishment, so was imprisoned and executed. The stone prison was later used to house and protect antiquities during WW2.

The Pnyx from 507 BC was the original meeting place of the Athenians where democratic discussions took place – making it important in the creation of democracy. The Pnyx (pronounced Nix) was a good spot to view the Acropolis from a different angle – it also looked like a great place for a mountain bike.

We meandered our way back into the city, through one way streets, alleys and market places. Rod, envious of our small cross body bags, purchased one from a stall. Hamish was positively starving by this stage; we found a bakery selling various pies – but not pies like we know them. The pies we purchased consisted of filling (chicken for Rod, feta and spinach for Hamish, leek for me) between filo pastry and measured about 12cm x 12cm (we can’t agree, but they were huge!). They cost just over 2 euro and were delicious – I could only manage half of mine, so wrapped it back up and bought it home for another time.

Thursday October 10

Our destination today was Aegina Island. It was a quick 40 min trip from the port of Piraeus to the island and cost 30 euro each for the return trip. This day had originally been pegged for another activity (cycling rail tour) but it was tricky to get to via various public transportation modes and the temp was set to be 31 degrees, so reluctantly we pulled the plug on this, but not until after I whined, “…this was the only thing I wan’t to do in Greece!”

We caught the bus, then the crowded, fully graffitied train to Piraeus where we sat in the wrong waiting area, in front of the wrong high speed catamaran with 3 or 4 other anxious passengers, until we suspected something wasn’t right, about 5 minutes before lift off. We still don’t have our travel brains fully engaged! A quick walk of about 300m put us in the right area and we didn’t have long to wait before we boarded.

Once in Aegina, we walked along the foreshore and then settled in a beach area with a food and drinks bar. We paid 10 euro for 2 x lounge chairs under umbrellas and it was well worth it. The water was crystal clear and inviting. The three of us relaxed there until it was time to catch the ferry home. In lieu of the hassle of the public transport, we booked an Uber and escaped the crowds.

Once home, Hamish bailed on our evening plans to find a rooftop spot to watch the sunset over the Acropolis. Rod and I found a lovely bar and had a couple of drinks and some food, whilst admiring the view and appreciating the sheer size and beauty of the Acropolis. We also received a video call from Rod’s old footy mate Jerome Percy, who now lives on a farm in Greece!

Friday October 11 – Today!

Today was an admin/housework/prep day – we head to Rome tomorrow, so there’s always a bit to organise the day before departure:

”How are we getting from Rome airport to our apartment?”

”What public transport card should we use in Rome?”

”How are we getting to Athens airport and what time do we need to leave?”

”What time is the flight again?”

We’re also trying to settle our house which has been on the market for months, so that took a big chunk of our time. Finding a post office was high on the agenda for Hamish to post one of his beloved books home (he refuses to leave it here as it’s part of a series…) fortunately it was only 9 Euro to post to his mate Jak in Milawa. The three of us had lunch in Plateia Varnava (where we had dinner the first night) and Rod headed to the Panathenaic Stadium, which he can talk about below. Hamish and I walked home via a little bakery and I marvelled at the steep streets – I would never want to park on a hill like this! At best, I’d want an auto!

Panathenaic Stadium (by Rod)

This amazing structure started life as a (horse) racecourse over 2500 years ago. It was reshaped over centuries before hosting the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1896 modern Olympic Games. It is the only stadium ever constructed entirely of marble. The first thing that struck me was its steepness. I bravely ascended to the top level and (even more bravely) peered over the upper edge, only to find dirt and trees at my eye level. The stadium has basically been built into the floor of a valley. So even though it rises over 20 metres from the track to the top, it is the pretty much at ground level. It is an awesome structure and is still the last venue in Greece for the Olympic flame in the relay/handover before it goes to the host country.

A few observations about our travels so far:

The weather has been perfect – not too hot, not too cold, not too many crowds (well, not like summer)

Once you get public transport sorted, everything is sooo much easier

Living in the local neighbourhoods is how we get a glimpse into everyday life

Apps have vastly improved since our last trip

It’s good to be our of your comfort zone

Sometimes chicken looks like ham

Thanks for following along – we’ll check in again after our long weekend in Rome.

Athens Part I

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

It’s late Wednesday afternoon. I’m sitting on the balcony of our apartment building in a suburb of Athens called Pagrati. It’s a huge 2 bedroom apartment right amongst the locals and we love it. From the very end of the balcony we can see the Acropolis, in the opposite direction a small chunk of coast and on Hamish’s bedroom balcony, Mt Lycabettus. We are 1 minute from the bus and supermarket, and a few more minutes to the main local street Filolaou, which is loaded with shops, bakeries, cosmetic stores, hairdressers and cafes. We are the stand out ‘non – locals’ in this area, but everyone is super friendly.

Since arrival, we’ve been busy busy busy! Here’s a day by day overview of what we’ve been up to.

Saturday 5/10 (Hamish’s 14th Birthday)

We wake up early and pack the last of our things before our host Nico (the friendliest host we’ve ever met!) bids us farewell and packs us into his wife’s Hyundai. He tells us she doesn’t work (she does, she cleans the 3 apartments) so will drive us to the airport for a fraction of the price of the taxi. She is a lovely young woman, originating in Poland and has been in Crete for 5 years married to Nico. She chats about her new and old life on the trip to the airport. They both have told us life is tough in Greece: wages are low, he says people need to work two jobs to get by and he is not lying. I see him in one of the restaurants (he was leaning on the bar having a ciggie, but tells us he worked that day) – he also works in a hotel about half an hour from Agia Pelagia. Her cosmetics background is not useful in Agia Pelagia. They go to Poland every year in the off season with their cat. He works (Nico, not the cat) and she gets back into her cosmetics work (lashes, brows etc).

Hamish has not slept well so is grumpy on his birthday. We have given him a Crete t-shirt and when he opens it he says: “Oh, something else to pack” Rod and I roll our eyes. He’s been difficult before on his birthday, so we just ignore it. Things turn worse for Hamish at the airport when he is reallocated to a seat diagonally across from us. It’s not a window seat. He can have a window seat in row 18, but he says he’ll stay near us. He can’t sit in our row because he needs to be 16 to sit in row 10 (just one ahead of the exit row). He is scowling. We get through security easily and find some breakfast, hoping this will help his mood (it usually does). He is still not very pleasant, but improves after I buy him a ‘birthday’ sugar doughnut. He goes for a walk, comes back and unprompted, apologises to me for his behaviour. We are friends again.

Getting to our apartment is relatively quick and easy: the X95 bus followed by an Uber. As stated, our apartment is in a local neighbourhood and is beautiful. Athens however, isn’t giving a great vibe. We’re pretty open minded about cities and places we’re visiting: Athens is old and a little tired. But so are we.

Our host has left balloons, a cake, candles and a card for Hamish. How lovely. Rod and I head to the supermarket to get supplies and then explore the local area. We are on the lookout for a birthday cake for Hamish and we find something pretty special (he tells us later it is ‘too creamy’ for him *insert eye roll) It’s similar to a cheesecake and at least Rod and I have enjoyed it this week… The host has also left instructions on an area to go for dinner. Getting there is a tangled maze, dotted with scooters, cars and one way streets, but suddenly we’re in a gorgeous town square ‘Platia Varnava’ Finding somewhere to eat is easy and we all enjoy our traditional foods (spicy cheese dip, meatballs, salad, pita, tzatziki).

Sunday 6/10

Our activity today is a free walking tour of Athens. We Uber our way to the meeting point (as we haven’t organised our public transport cards yet and the Uber is like 4 Euro, so cheap) and see our tour guide George. People arrive in dribs and drabs – we are group of about 10 from the US, Australia and Argentina. Hamish is the youngest, but there’s a 19 year old from TAS and the Argentinian couple are probably in their early 30’s. The rest appear to be retired, some sporting knee braces. I remind Hamish he may have to engage with people today. He doesn’t look impressed – I’m starting to wonder what has happened to my interested boy, surely 24 hours of being 14 hasn’t had that much of an impact yet! George is energetic and knowledgeable. He has a background in history, archaeology and architecture – a perfect combination for a tour guide.

George
Arch of Hadrian
Monthly changing of the Guard

I have a lovely time chatting to the young woman from Tasmania and likely miss some of the important information, but not the story of the Greek priest (Archbishop Damaskinos) who saved the Athenian Jewish population by getting them fake ID cards. The Germans said they knew he was behind this and ordered a list of the names of all Jews in Athens. The story goes, he presented the Nazi’s with a list of 2 names: his and the Lord Mayor’s. The Nazis threatened to execute him and he goaded them by saying “make sure it’s a hanging, because that’s how Greek religious leaders are executed” which threw the Nazi commander off and his life was spared.

The 3 hour tour turns into a 3 and 1/2 hour tour and, like that, we have a great overview of the history of Athens, the Gods, the buildings and some prominent Greeks. George provides us with recommendations of where to eat and what to visit – everyone tips him (as is the practice) so he is well rewarded for his time.

We leave the group and immediately go in the wrong direction, but find some food and cool drinks before eventually heading home where we do some washing and I crack open the 2 Euro cask of Sangria (don’t judge me) whilst Rod has a wine and Hamish an orange Fanta. The washing is hung on hangers inside or on the outside clothesline, which is accessed via the kitchen. I am careful not to drop anything, as it’s 5 stories down and I don’t know how to get to the yard where our undies may land. Rod is unable to hang the washing out due to his fear of heights. I don’t mind posing for a photo to prove how brave I am.

Later that night Rod figures out how to log into Netflix (he thinks this is some achievement) and we discover ‘Kaos,’ which serves as our (heavily modernised and embellished) recapitulation of George’s lessons on Greek mythology.

Monday 7/10

Hamish and I have voted for the Athens War Museum today and we start there, but not before Rod has found a local kiosk and purchased our Athens Cards (8 Euro for unlimited public transport rides for 5 days) and we’ve scoured the public transport website which is confusing at best. Turns out our bus (the 227) is 100m away and is a direct line into the main square (Syntagma Square). We tap on and find a seat. We walk through the beautiful, shady and quiet National Gardens and our interest is piqued by the many, many armed responders leaning against the garden walls, some in full riot kit, with riot buses on corners. We work out the Presidential Mansion is what they’re guarding.

The war museum is a combination of general Greek/Athenian history and military history and is excellent. I particularly liked the statue of ‘woman with folded arms’ – I’m sure you can relate.

Greece seems to have been at war for ever! They were at war before and after both the 1st and 2nd world wars – dreadful. Hamish scores a free ticket due to being under 18, so the museum costs us only 10 Euro.

Surgeon’s kit complete with metal trachy
Early machine gun

Our next stop is the Acropolis, but we haven’t pre-booked tickets (I tried and tried the previous night, but had difficulties) so are told there’s no more tickets left for the day. Not disheartened, we eventually find the 227 bus stop which will bring us home. The bus is already full (no sitting or standing room) but another 12 people get on, including us. We are packed in – there are no safety rules. The bus driver keeps making stops and we are relieved when our stop finally arrives. We chat simultaneously on the walk to the main street about our individual but shared experience. The 227 is something to be reckoned with.

I have threatened Hamish with a haircut and his day has arrived (see pic). The hairdresser works silently and meticulously- he charges a mere 5 Euro for the haircut, but Rod gives him 10. Rod and I enjoy cooking dinner tonight in the apartment kitchen, without the little necessities from home (olive oil, non stick pans) but we manage well – whilst eating out is nice, it’s not sustainable for a trip of this length and chips with every meal are only a novelty for so long. We have one more flight until we have a car for a month, so will have a bit more space for food items we can pack up and take from one place to the next. After dinner I book the tickets for the Acropolis.

Tuesday 8/10

The 227 lets us down. We wait and wait and wait. The bus disappears off my live map twice, so I find us a new bus which is a 15 minute walk away. I’m sick of waiting for a bus that’s never arriving. No sooner do we get to the end of the street when the 227 rears its ugly head – but it won’t stop for us. I apologise to the boys and we walk back to the original bus stop. The 227 eventually arrives, but we’ve been waiting for over an hour.

Our plan today had been:

Museum of Ancient Greek Technology

Picnic in the National Gardens

Acropolis – the ticket is for 3pm

But due to the dismal bus operations, our timings are out of whack. We decide to eat our picnic lunch first, which is a very pleasant way to spend 30 minutes. We then walk to the museum. It’s a small but impressive museum. The guides there run some displays and we learn that the early Greeks invented:

Automatic wine dispensers

Door alarms

Computers

Magic fountains

Military signalling systems

Musical instruments

Basically loads of stuff using hydraulics and/or pneumatics. We stay there for an hour, vowing to return to finish the museum after our Acropolis visit.

We walk to the Acropolis and enter the massive compound. We weave our way up the Acropolis complex, looking at other ruins (Dionysus’ theatre – Greek God of having a good time – the first ever theatre) and another theatre that has been renewed and is used for modern day concerts, before summiting at the Parthenon, which sits atop the Acropolis. The views are spectacular. The crowds are OK and we head to the Greek flag. The Acropolis is huge – we also see Athena’s temple. We don’t spend loads of time there, but the entire excursion has take us over an hour. We descend, get water and head back to the museum where we play ancient games and try to solve a 24 piece tangram. None of us can.

We brave the heaving 227 and grab spicy cheese dip and crackers to go with our evening drinks on the balcony. Life is good, but we are leg weary and looking forward to a quiet day tomorrow.

Agia Pelagia – Crete, Greece

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

Today is our last day in Crete. We have enjoyed a low key, slow and relaxing 4 days – tomorrow we head to Athens for a week.

The small village of Agia Pelagia (Saint Pelagia) has been a perfect beachside holiday for us; from day 1 we decided against pursuing any touristic activities. The weather has been devine at 27 – 29 degrees each day, light breeze and not a cloud in the sky.

We have established a lovely little routine here:

Breakfast on our balcony

Stroll along the beachfront, visit one of the 3 mini supermarkets for supplies (grapes, tomatoes, watermelon, fresh bread, olives, cheese, tonic water…) and explore little areas of the village

Sit on the rooftop, which has an undercover area with uninterrupted views of the sea – write, eat grapes, read, watch the planes coming in to land

Have a long lunch in the same place (bread, olives, salami, ham, pickled vegetables, cheese, watermelon) then play flip UNO and concentration

Go to the beach – snorkel, play catch with a tennis ball, paddle about

Go home for gin and tonic on the balcony

Shower and go out for dinner

Wake up and repeat

We understand why people want to quit their 9-5 lives and move to a Greek Island. It’s an easy pace, no stress and views for days.

There are many tourists here from a host of different countries. We haven’t heard any Australian accents, but plenty of French, German, Chinese, Russian and English. The tourists (not us) bake themselves from sunup to sundown – my dermatologist would have a fit! Many people are sunburned and then return the next day for more. There’s nothing like a European beach scene to educate a 14 year old Australian boy – bodies of all shapes, colours and sizes, boobs, g-strings…I’m sure he notices but none of it comes up in conversation. And so many people smoke or vape – I feel this has not improved since our last European trip – how are the health messages not getting through?

A couple of little quirks of Greece for your entertainment:

Toilets. We don’t flush toilet paper in Greece – the pipes are too narrow. The used toilet paper goes into a bin next to the toilet and we just take it out with the rest of the trash. This has taken some adjusting and I’m sure there are many people who would really struggle to do this (including some of you!) but mostly it’s just breaking the habit. Hamish said he’s fine doing it, although initially it made him a bit uncomfortable. Fair.

Dining Out. After dinner, the waiters bring you either a free dessert (we’ve had ice-cream and chocolate sauce with 3 x spoons and something like a walnut and carrot cake with ice-cream and 3 x spoons) OR fresh fruit and raki. Raki is made from distilled grapes and aniseed and is somewhere between 40-50% alcohol!

We had been pre-warned, it’s a sip not a shot, so were prepared when this liquid fire was delivered to our table. I won’t lie, it was dreadful. Our host tells us it’s ’good for the digestion’ – always a good line.

Cats. Much to the delight of Rod and Hamish (and many other people) there are a core group of about a dozen cats who wander the beach front, the restaurants and generally hang about enjoying pats and treats.

Vegetation. We’ve found quite a few plants here that are native to Australia (or at the very least, grow in Australia). Bottle Brush, Bougainvillea and eucalyptus tree. The Greeks are opportunistic with their gardens and we have found many on our walks.

Food. The food is fresh and we have enjoyed the local cuisine: gyros (which isn’t actually a wrap, it’s meat and salad on a plate with tzatziki and flat bread) veal casserole, seafood risotto, fish soup and a dish that Rod said tasted like meatball parmesan, chicken with eggplant and capsicum.

As mentioned tomorrow we head to Athens. We have an 0930 flight, so today have done a bit of washing. Our accommodation in Rome has just been cancelled, so I’ve also spent a bit of time today re-booking. Frustrating but it happens. Tomorrow is also Hamish’s 14th birthday – so we’ll find somewhere local in Athens to take him out for dinner and we’ll try and get him a cake from a market or bakery. We spent a bit of time yesterday looking up what we might do in Athens and will start with a free 3 hour walking tour Sunday. A good way to get our bearings and some local info.

Istanbul – Crete

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 2 Comments

I’m currently sitting on the rooftop undercover area of our apartment in a small seaside village in Crete called Agia Pelagia. We’re here until Saturday and we’re in beachside holiday mode, brought on mostly by the weather, the proximity to the sea and the bottle of duty-free gin Rod purchased at Athens airport.

We arrived late last evening after a very long day of travel from Istanbul:

Fast taxi/uber (it’s the same in Istanbul) to Gayrettepe Metro where we caught the new M11 fast train to the airport, but not after I’d fallen down a few stairs whilst readjusting my suitcase. The suitcase skated at speed, down the steep stairs nearly taking Rod out. I managed not to face plant and held on to the handrail, my left arm outstretched behind me, my left foot somewhere behind my butt. Clumsy tourist.

Fast train to the airport. The Gayrettepe metro station is situated 72m underground and a series of escalators takes you to the platform. As usual, no sitting room on the metro, much to Hamish’s disgust.

Fast 1 hour flight with Aegean airline to Athens

Even faster 30 minute flight from Athens to Crete

Our host had booked a taxi for us to get from Heraklion to Agia Pelagia, which is a blessing, especially after arriving in a new country late at night. Our host, Nikko, is lovely and he has a bunch of things we can use at the beach (snorkels, flippers, kayak, lilo). I think we’re going to love it here.

I’ll recap our last few days in Istanbul.

Friday night after our ‘day off’ we walked up to Taksim square and had a look around. We really like Taksim Square – it’s got a great vibe, there’s a lot of walking space with no traffic, there’s parks and gardens and of course, lots of things to eat. You may have seen the Turkish Ice Cream vendor video with Hamish (that was in Taksim). We walked down the famous Istiklal street where Hamish had corn from a street vendor for the cost of 50 cents! We eventually sauntered back to our street, where we had dinner at Cafe Susam and where Rod finally could order a glass of wine!

Saturday we decided to visit Suleymmaniye Mosque (little sister of the more famous Blue Mosque) and walk around the Grand Bazaar. The mosque was beautiful and the views over Istanbul impressive. We needed to cover our legs (all 3 of us) and I put on a head scarf. After the mosque, I got us a bit lost, so we didn’t manage to find the Bazaar. Never mind, we headed home for an afternoon rest as we had booked a Bosphorus sunset cruise for the evening.

The cruise was a lovely way to spend a few hours – the photos speak for themselves I think. I talked to an American couple sitting next to me, proof to my doubting children that I can actually be nice and make friends. The sunset did not disappoint.

Sunday Rod and I left Hamish at home and headed back in to the city to find the Grand Bazaar. We noticed there were now two huge cruise liners docked, which added to the overwhelm of people in the city – many of them dawdling along the narrow footpaths to my displeasure. The Bazaar was OK, but I wouldn’t call it Grand. Rod purchased a rip-off Lacoste polo for 5 euro. The stall attendant pulled out a WAD of folding cash from his pocket, but didn’t have 45 euro change. He then just walked away. Like, literally with our euro and said nothing. Obviously he was going to find a friend to break down the note, but we just stood there like ‘noobs’ (as Hamish would say) waiting for him to return. He eventually, returned.

The afternoon siesta routine then ensued. Rod and I, keen for a last bit of exploring, walked to Galata tower (impressive, although not impressive enough to pay 30 Euro to climb) and made our way back to Cafe Susam for pre dinner drinks (we picked up Hamish on the way) and snacks.

If you have been considering adding Istanbul onto your travel wish list, but not quite sure, we recommend doing it! We went from Wangaratta of 20 thousand people to a city of 15 million overnight and other than me getting us lost of couple of times, didn’t have any issues or stress getting around. It’s safe. The locals are friendly, most speak English and the public transport system is the best. We used 1 Istanbul Card for the 3 of us and each fare is $1 – we used the trams and the furnicular; walking downhill in the morning and using the funicular to get back uphill in the afternoon. The hills and steps are steep, the footpaths narrow and the traffic busy, but what an incredible city – 5 stars.

Istanbul University
‘our’ street
Bomba
Hamish and I loved the lemonade

Istanbul – Gallipoli

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 2 Comments

Late Wednesday morning, we decided to head into the city and visit the Archaeological museum. We walked downhill and caught the tram across the Galata Bridge and through narrow streets laden with people and shops of all description, until we reached our stop.

Museums tend not to be too pricey, but this one cost us over $100! Rude! Rod got tickets and was upsold (without being asked) to 3 x tickets with an audio guide. Rod couldn’t access the wifi, Hamish didn’t have his phone, the ear buds wouldn’t connect. After 15 minutes of trying to pair the ear buds, I suggested we take them back and not bother with the audio guide, but instead, we were given 3 x hand held audio guides. Still unable to pair the ear buds, and watching a bunch of other people having the same issue, we finally walked inside this very impressive building (for the record, NO ONE was using an audio guide for the entire time we were there).

The museum showed the history of the area through many artefacts – some of them tiny, like gold coins and others huge, such as columns and statues. Only a few things were behind glass or barriers, so if we’d wanted to touch artefacts two thousand years old, we could have. Hamish rested at every seat or bench he could find – clearly preparing himself for another day of walking. We found a cool interactive ‘dig’ table, where you ran your hands over the ‘pebbles’ to uncover treasures.

After leaving the museum, we bought water and snacks from a street vendor (Hamish had simit – a round pretzel covered in sesame seeds & Rod had a slightly sweet cinnamon bread wedge, which I can’t find the name of) and sauntered through the absolutely gorgeous Gulhane park. This park used to be part of the palace gardens, but were opened up to the people of Istanbul in 1912. It was hard to believe we were in a bustling city of 15 million people; it was peaceful, lush and cool. As we were walking along, a lady said to Hamish, “You’re Australian aren’t you” I guess the Bunnings hat is a bit of a giveaway.

We left the gardens and headed towards the sea, finding a place to eat lunch. Hamish and I had gozleme (spinach for me, mince for Hamish) whilst Rod had a chicken wrap. Hamish and I ordered home made lemonade (which we’ve since discovered is a thing here: it’s sweet and very lemony) and Rod scanned the menu a few times to look for wine. None to be had in this Muslim country – Rod got an OJ instead. Locally, you can add dried red pepper (it’s like paprika) to your meal. Of course I did!

We had a bit of time to kill before catching up with relatives. We’d already walked quite some distance, so we thought a tram ride, look at a mosque, then a ferry ride back might be in order. This was my call and it was a bit flop! The mosque, whilst impressive, was a few km of uphill walk from where the tram had stopped – I could see from the look on Hamish’s face (and the fact he was laying down on the grass) that this wasn’t the time for that. I re-routed us to find the ferry which after another 30 mins of walking, didn’t exist. We caught the tram back to our earlier destination and got some cold drinks before heading back over the Galata bridge to find Stephen and Sharyn. Whilst waiting for them, Hamish sat on the footpath, but a lovely man brought him out a small stool to sit on. Side note: Stephen and Sharon had been upsold an audio guide for a site they visited too! They even had the same useless ear buds!

Thursday was our day trip to Gallipoli. This is something I had organised from Australia. We were picked up at 0600 our the front of the Taksim Hospital, because the tour bus couldn’t fit down our narrow residential street. From there, we wound our way through the streets of Istanbul picking up 3 x Kiwi’s, 2 x Americans and the rest Aussies. Our destination of Eceabat (right next to Gallipoli) is about 300km from Istanbul. The driver said we’d be there in 2 hours and whilst he tried his best, his formula 1 – level skills were not up to the challenge. We stopped for breakfast at about 9am where the boys shared a spinach spanakopita and an apple filled biscuit-like croissant. I had a Turkish breakfast, which I shared with Hamish (tomatoes, olives, cold boiled egg, cucumber, cheese, and something like quince paste). Once in Eceabat, we met the guides and had lunch (lentil soup, chicken on sticks, meat balls, salad and fruit that looked like honey dew, but tasted like rock melon).

We finally were on our way to some of the more significant sites at Gallipoli:

Brighton Beach (Where the ANZACS were supposed to land – gentle slopes, wide beach)

The Nek (Site of big Australian troop losses. Our guide said after the second wave to go ‘over the top’ a Turkish soldier called out to the Australians to stop what they were doing as it was a massacre. The Nek was made famous in the movie ‘Gallipoli’)

The ridge above AZAC cove

Lone Pine Cemetary (Another site of ANZAC battle and loss of lives. I spoke with the two NZ girls who were quite emotional reading the headstones)

ANZAC Cove (where the ANZACS landed)

Chunuk Bair (high ground in the middle of the peninsula, the original goal of the campaign)

Johnson’s Jolly (named for an Australian Commander who would say “Let’s Jolly up the Turks!” – the Turks call this Death Ridge or something similar)

Memorial to the Turkish 57th Brigade (The first Turkish casualties – 80 men defended to their deaths a summit above ANZAC Cove. Since then, there is no 57th brigade in any of the Turkish forces)

Trenches (you can see them everywhere)

After seeing and hearing about the sites and battles, we walked the last couple of hundred meters along the beach to ANZAC cove which really gave us a good perspective of what the ANZACS were faced with – sheer cliffs and no cover.

Our guide was excellent. He was able to give us the background to the conflict as well as the Turkish perspective. He is passionate about Gallipoli and even offered to help us find names of deceased Gallipoli relatives. The day was very, very long, we got back last night after 10pm. The trip back featured a new driver, with a signature move of coming to a screaming halt at a red light, reversing and then driving around the intersection via the off/on ramps. This shaved at least 2 minutes off our arrival time. For myself, I would have preferred a couple of days there exploring the museum and more sites. Rod found it a very emotional experience, comparable to our visit to the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam. We are proud to have visited to honour the troops of both sides who fought and died.

Today has been a day off. We have washed, shopped and relaxed. We will head out late this afternoon for a walk down the famous Istikal street and no doubt will find some delicious local fare. We’re grateful for Hamish’s smooth temperament and adventurous appetite; his answer to all food related questions is always: “Yes, I’ll try the local food!”

Melbourne – Dubai – Istanbul

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 2 Comments

We went to bed in our airport motel at about 9pm Sunday evening with two alarms set for 0130 as one alarm cannot be trusted with a major event. Hamish really had trouble settling even though he said listening to music would help him sleep (it didn’t) so honestly I think we may have slept for 3 hours at the most before we got up, showered and caught the bus to the airport.

Hamish and I in our matching flying outfits

Check in was seamless. The ‘who can pack the lightest’ award went to Hamish with 13.8kg. Then I at 15.5kg and Rod at 15.8kg. The flight from Athens to Rome has a 15kg checked in weight limit, so we will redistribute some of our things to Hamish (I refuse to pay MORE for this already expensive 90 minute flight!)

The flight was pretty full, although it was hard to tell from our front of the plane premium economy seats. We missed our section boarding call due to playing Rock Paper Scissors so were the last to get settled in our section. Look, we think flying with Emirates is always lovely, but the PE seats were just luxurious. There was a foot rest, a leg rest and the back of the chair reclined about 30 degrees – it was like having a recliner chair for your flight! You know how on a long haul flight there always ends up being a heap of junk underneath your feet – bags, blankets, pillows, shoes, a tangle of headphones…you know this feeling? Well, there was none of this in PE. Our meals were incredible, the wine serves generous and the section very quiet. Rod had no one sitting next to him, which was a blessing as he had to clap when the plane landed due to losing the first round of Rock Paper Scissors.

You would think with all this space and quiet, we all had a good rest. No. Only I slept for maybe 4 hours of the 14? Rod maybe 30 mins. Hamish not at all. This started going against him as we began our descent into Dubai and he started feeling sick. I likened this to night shift – sometimes you’re just so tired you’re nauseous. Hamish turned very pale and had a little pre-spew sweat going. I scrambled to get some ondansetron into him, which helped just in time. No spew and back to his usual self as we landed.

With a 5 hour layover in Dubai, we had pre-booked the Plaza Premium Lounge where we could eat & drink, relax and shower. Those showers were hands down the best thing – we met back in the lounge feeling, looking and smelling fresh. There was a delicious buffet – we weren’t really hungry, but we had a few little things anyway. Unfortunately Hamish had some garlic chicken which didn’t agree with him, as we found out a couple of hours later. Our flight was about 1/3 full, so once Hamish had stopped spewing, we were able to get him 4 spare seats to lay down on. The flight attendant was lovely and caring – helping us with whatever we needed for him. He slept most of the 4 hour flight to Istanbul and is now nearly back to 100%.

The city sparkled as we flew in. It was really exciting finally getting here after 9 months of planning and travelling for about 27 hours. Customs line were quick and staffed by Police (Polis in Turkish) – our Polis-man was very friendly – so not the norm for customs officers. Our host picked us up from the airport and settled us into the apartment. He speaks 4 languages and his English is excellent. We were a bit worried about our lack of anything other than English, but so far, everyone we’ve interacted with speaks English really well. Hamish crawled into his bed fully clothed. Rod was tempted to unpack, but I suggested tomorrow might be a better time for that.

Our apartment
Steep stairs to our apartment

Today we planned to take it easy, due to being tired and Hamish being sick yesterday. We kinda did take it easy (step count of 13 000) but we’re staying in tonight and will have a ‘breakfast for dinner’ type of arrangement – quick and easy.

What did we do today?

Breakfast at the cafe next door (Turkish breakfast with croissants for Rod, cheese omelette for me, sausage croissant and scrambled eggs for Hamish)

Go to the Carrefour supermarket for a little bit of shopping (always fun in a new country!)

No

Walk to the Bosphorus – admire the HUGE cruise ships, discuss how we’d not enjoy being 3 of 1000 people on a cruise. Walk along the docks and get some Turkish ice cream – Mara’s Dondurma. It’s sweet, very sticky and stretchy. We’re not sure if we liked it or not!

Get an Istanbul Card for public transport.

Walk across the Galata bridge. Go to the Spice Markets. Get some lunch (Lamb kebab wrap for Rod, Beef doner wrap for Hamish, Chicken doner with rice for me) Work out how to get back to our apartment using a (very fast, driver on the horn constantly) tram and a furnicular. Navigate our way back home on foot from Taksim square.

Nap.

One more trip to the supermarket for some cordial or lime juice or something to add to the water. The water is fine, but tastes dreadful. EVERYONE drinks bottled water and I don’t use that term lightly. The bottled water we had with lunch cost less than 50c for 500ml. So at the moment we are using our filtered water bottles and decanting into other bottles. I’ve added the only cordial (syrup) we could find and I have a flat, non-alcoholic mojito on my hands. I’m going to say that’s a win.

Admire the cats of Istanbul – more so Rod and Hamish. There are 15 million people in Istanbul and I would say the cat to human ratio I’ve seen today is 1:10. It’s insane. People leave food out for them, they go wherever they like, we’ve seen them sitting on moped seats, restaurant chairs, cars, trees, gardens. I’ve seen 3 dogs today and probably 50 cats.

Our first impressions of Istanbul are ‘big, busy and beautiful’ (well put Hamish). It’s also super hilly. People are very friendly, the mosques are gorgeous, the views are to die for and the food is fab. I did note the lack of females working in cafes and shops – just an observation. When we had lunch today, the owner shook hands with Rod and then said ‘Hello Lady’ to me. He showed us to a couple of tables and said we could decide which one to sit at. Rod said, ‘this one will do’ pointing to one of three identical tables. The owner then said, “ahh, the best table” – Turkish hospitality at its best.

First stop…Istanbul

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 2 Comments

Last year, Rod and I applied for (and were granted) long service leave through our respective employers. Since then we have been planning and organising 4 months of leave, where with Hamish, we’ll be travelling through Europe and a spending three weeks in Asia: we leave at 0515 tomorrow. We’re currently sitting in our airport motel, having just said goodbye to Jess and Ben; Jess will be looking after my car whilst we’re away.

Drinks and snacks at Three Blue Ducks (at Urban Surf)
Urban Surf

As you know, this is not our first lengthy trip. The name of this blog, was based on the length of our first trip. Hamish was 4 then and turned 5 in Italy – this time he will turn 14 in Greece. He is, absolutely, a very well travelled teenager. He appreciates it’s a big deal and that we are very privileged to be able to travel.

Often we are asked: “How can you afford to go away for such a long time?” Honestly, we don’t have a bunch of money sitting idly in the bank. We do this with careful planning and paying for something (a flight, accommodation) each fortnightly pay. The ultimate “Girl Math” – the trip is practically free by now, as 80% of the bookings are paid in full! We’ve been booking and paying for things since last summer. That’s how we do it.

This is not a bucket list trip. Having cancer diagnoses is not the reason we are travelling, but it ‘may’ be the reason we’ve booked a couple of premium economy airfares – oh, and a lounge in Dubai for our 5 hour layover…We have earned those luxuries! The rest of the trip is our usual: pick a place, stay in said place, potter about, go off the beaten track, live where the locals live.

The last few weeks has seen us saying our goodbyes with good friends and family. We will miss them for sure.

Here a couple of things worthy of a mention that we’ve packed for this trip:

Life Straw flexible water bottles. We purchased two of these so we won’t need to buy bottled water. The filters last for 2000 litres and we can decant into other things as well. Not cheap, but definitely worthwhile.

Rolla Bottle – Hamish has a flexible water bottle that is light and packs down. We will be able to fill his bottle with water from our filtered bottles.

Packable wide brim hat – my good friend Scott was recently in Crete and said “You’re going to need to bring a hat – there’s no shade” He and his olive skinned family caught a bit of sun, so there would be no hope for me. I bought a hat that folds in quarters. Also worthy of a mention, Hamish’s Bunnings bucket hat. It’s a vibe.

Rod’s Immunotherapy – he’ll need three injections whilst we’re away. This expensive medication is currently sitting in the motel fridge with the ice packs in the freezer section. He has a Coleman’s insulated bag (that would normally be used to fit 6 cans), documentation from his GP and Oncologist, and a script, proving the medication is for him. This cold bag will sit in the base of his carry on backpack. I think he’s a bit nervous about being pulled up through airport screening, but we’ve discussed how people travel with injectable medications all the time.

E-Sim. We’ve had difficulties with overseas SIM cards in the past, but this time I’ve got e-sims through HolaFly. It’s been recommended by Jess and few other people whom I trust. This will provide me with unlimited data for the trip. Rod and Hamish will utilise free wifi.

Our first destination is Istanbul. Our friendly host will pick us up from the airport (for a small fee) which is a very kind offer. Istanbul is the 2nd largest city in Europe with 15 million inhabitants. We are excited and we are ready! As always, you can have this blog delivered to your inbox, to save missing it on socials. If not, for those on FB, this will come up as a post. If you’re on Insta, you’ll need to find the blog link in my bio. We’ll update from Türkiye!

Love Rod, Hamish and Bel xxx

Andamanda Park, Free Day & Last Day

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 5 Comments

After Hamish suffered through the humidity and rain of the half day tour, I thought it might be a good idea for us to each pick an activity we might like to do for the last three days of the trip. Hamish chose Andamanda Water Park – Rod and I didn’t really choose anything other than getting in as much beach time as we could (weather dependent).

Tickets to the water park were not too expensive, but I decided $75 for me to blob around the wave pool was probably a bit unnecessary, so Hamish and Rod went. I found discounted tickets with transfers for them which dropped the overall cost of the day and reduced some stress for Rod re: finding transport.

I ‘suffered’ at the beach for a few hours, before returning to the room to watch a movie on my laptop in the aircon before the boys returned.

Rod and I went for a walk to the Kata Seafood Restaurant and Ska Bar, had a few beers and shared some “spring rools” before walking back along the beach and up the steep hill to the resort. Hamish stayed in and talked to some friends online. At the Ska Bar, we decided we would return for dinner on our last evening – which we did last night.

Andamanda Water Park, by Rod

Belinda has arranged for discounted tickets to Andamanda, the giant water park. The communication with the ticketing agency is a bit hit and miss; the download of the emailed voucher vanishes, as does the email itself, but I luckily took a screenshot of the voucher. Needless to say I lose some sleep worrying about the arrangements before our pick up at 9 am. Howver, everything went smoothly; they arrived on time, drove at the usual breakneck speed, to arrive at the amusement park just as it was about to open.

We arranged a locker and headed to some of the scariest slides, before the crowds arrive. I do not have a great head or stomach for such adventures these days and was most surprised to find I had stumbled into a “drop slide.” I did not know such things existed. Feeling like I was in a spy movie, I looked suspiciously at the floor beneath me as the attendent closed the door. Whoa! I plummeted to what felt like a certain death before I felt some form of wet plastic behind me. I’m still feeling queasy whilst writing this and mentally revisiting the death scene.

I do not want to burden Hamish with my failing health, but surreptitiously try to slow the pace down and suggest we try to explore some of the other “lands” of this park. The lazy river slows things down suitably, as does the wave pool (before the waves kick in at 2 pm.)

Some lunch and gentler slides (and the arrival of the 2 pm waves for Hamish) see out the day before our pick up (again a smooth transition) at 3 pm. Hamish has had a gtreat day and I still have a (slightly elevated) pulse.

Last Day.

The weather has been just gorgeous the last few days and we’ve taken advantage of this by spending lots of time at the beach. I am a teency bit sunburnt today, or as Rod elegantly puts it “there’s just a hint of red” At the beach there are a few street food stands, which we’ve utilised in the past few weeks. We are keen for a fruit shake and Hamish orders two: one mango and one coconut. The lady making them is very sweet and after he’s paid, calls him back: “Hey boy! Here – for you boy!” and gives him a banana. Cute.

We have lunch in the hotel with plans to head to the Kata Seafood Restaurant and Ska Bar, which we found yesterday. We have also found another café called “A blanket and a pillow” which is just 500m from our hotel. Rod and I go for a little explore in the afternoon and find this beautiful place. It’s a multi-tiered, bamboo platformed, bean bagged paradise and it is not lost on anyone there. We order a chocolate frappe and enjoy sitting with our legs dangling over the edge of the bamboo structure. Gosh we’re lucky. I still don’t want to go home! Home is appointments, treatment, work, responsibilities…we have none of that here. I’m feeling a bit emotional sitting there with Rod and just give him little pats every now and again. Life can be unfair.

We head back to the hotel and relax a bit before heading to the restaurant for dinner. The views and the food are incredible and we talk about how much this meal and ambience would cost back in Australia. We pay a total of $55 for our entire dining experience: 3 x main courses (2 of which have seafood) 1 x mango sticky rice for dessert and a couple of rounds of drinks each. The trip home is a fun ride in a TukTuk – the first since we arrived here (we have hired a taxi, an uber, ridden in mini busses and done lots of walking!). The trip is about $10 – we’d hardly make it home from The Gateway in Wangaratta for a tenner!

We travel well together. Hamish has ‘lost it’ twice in nearly two weeks and he apologised both times for that (he said he was hangry). There’s not much to get upset about over here. Our pace has been slow and Rod has reminded me a few times it’s OK just to “read your book” – which I have. Over the past few years I’ve really struggled to read, so I hope this is the start of my quiet mind again.

I am currently sitting in the lobby of the hotel, having checked out at midday for a 2pm transfer to the airport. Our flight to Singapore leaves at 615pm (or 915pm AEST) and we have a bit of a long layover in Singapore before our flight leaves for Melbourne. We are due to arrive just before midday. Thankfully it’s coolish today and has rained a few times. Hamish is spending the last of his hours in the pool with Rod supervising. There’s an outdoor shower which he can have before chucking out his old rashy and baggy swimmers before getting dressed.

Thanks for following along on our winter getaway. Whilst I know you guys enjoy reading the blog, it’s such a good thing for our family to look back on. We often re-read it and talk about our past travels. I’m sure Hamish ‘remembers’ more than he actually does because of our reminiscing. We’re planning some more extensive European long service leave travels from September next year, so we look forward to writing for you (and us) and having you along for our trips.

Much love xx