A few days in Krabi, Thailand

We added a weekend and a public holiday to John's regular Thai business trip and visited Krabi, a seaside resort town in southern Thailand.  We chose this spot so John could do some scuba diving.  We traveled there just as the season was turning; monsoons start in late May, so we saw lots of clouds and had some rain showers, but nothing that stopped us from enjoying our visit.  And there were no crowds anywhere!

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We looked on Tripadvisor and Hotels.com to find a place to stay and chose the Pakasai Resort.  We wanted to be close to town and restaurants, so it ended up being a good choice. (There are luxurious stand-alone resorts with their own beaches, but they seemed too isolated for us this time)

One of the specialties of this resort was its "green" promise and local feel...the rooms are built up the side of the mountain and there are no elevators.  We chose a top room with a view, so it was a climb of 150 stairs to our room!

John got to do his day of diving while I shopped and then relaxed with a foot massage and pedicure (total $12).  The shopping there was no different from any other Thai souvenir shop, but the views were wonderful:

And (note to our son Jimmy) we found a hammock on the beach!

I was intrigued by the makeup of the beach; next to the fine sand there were swaths of crushed seashells.  Take a look close up:

We took a bike ride along the beach and came upon the National Park headquarters:

This "spirit tree" honored with colored scarves and spirit houses:

And a busy marina with big and small tour boats lined up for customers:

A few more sights around town:

These signs were everywhere; it is quite close to where the big tsunami of 2004:

Everyone is getting into the gluten free craze:

Also gluten free:

This town has gone upscale in its local "baht buses," the open air taxis for bar-hopping:

Our last evening there we dined at a mountainside restaurant.  They picked us up in their van and we were treated to an open air kitchen great food and a sunset-side table:

When I came up to take a photo, this cook smiled and said, "Ready?" and threw something in the big wok that suddenly flamed up huge!

We finished with John's favorite dessert, sticky rice with mango:

 We flew back to Bangkok, hopped on the Airport Rail Link and used our 4 hour layover to visit the new Platinum Wholesale Mall.  Picked up a few bargains and headed back to the airport for our 3 hour flight home.  We just missed the military takeover...I wonder when we will get to Thailand again??

Adelaide & Queenscliff

As you can see from the number of posts, We Love Australia.  Fortunately, John gets to go there for work several times a year, so I tag along and play tourist.  His work is in Melbourne, so that is often our base.  This time we took a side trip to Adelaide for a friend's surprise birthday party.  Here is a map of Australia so you can get your bearings.  I have reported from Melbourne, Sydney,  and Cairns (which is just south of the Great Barrier Reef). We hope to someday get to Perth and Hobart, Tasmania.

We flew overnight and then picked up a car and headed out on an 8 hour road trip.  It feels good to hit the open road after living on an island...

The drive felt like we were in Texas hill country or Oregon, except the trees are Eucalyptus (Gum) with a bluish tinge.  Instead of Deer Crossing signs:

We spent the next day touring the city by foot. It is lovely with traditional one story houses with wrought iron gingerbread porches, modern office buildings, and historic Victorian edifices.  Here are some highlights:

One thing I love about Australians is that they don't take things too seriously. . .

And of course, the Botanic Gardens, full of natural beauty.  Those trees!

These "Grass Trees" were fascinating:

 

We came across an experimental garden...all the better for beer...

And models doing a fashion shoot (until the rain came)

Esplanaded fruit trees

And fruit I didn't recognise

We took a walk though the University and got a chocolate egg from the Easter Bunny

And, of course, BIRDS!!

I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, but her plumage was a magnificent color!

Carrying on, we found lovely monuments:

Teacher/Governor

And the famous Captain Flinders, whose name is everywhere.  Despite living only 40 years, he took 3 voyages from England to Australia and is credited to have suggested the name "Australia" for the continent:

Our destination was The Art Gallery of South Australia, and this is what blocked the entrance.  :)

We took a side trip to a small gallery which showcased local artists.  I was fascinated by this piece, embroidered thread on paper and then strung on the stretcher bars:

The Surprise Birthday Party was that night in the Adelaide Hills.  Happy Birthday, Pam!!

The next day - the Beach!  

And the next day, Wine Tasting!  Nearby are the famous Barossa and Clare Valley regions, known for amazing Shiraz and Reislings.  We drove up to McLaren Vale and had delicious wines with Peter and Pam.

And I finally got to see some kangaroos, even though it was in a sanctuary...

We bid farewell to Adelaide and drove back to Melbourne.  I enjoyed more time exploring that city's lovely parks and alleyways, and a nice run in the Botanic Gardens.  One of my favorite things about Melbourne is staying at the Marriott there.  (advertisement...) They shower you with chocolates, sparkling wine and the best service I have ever experienced.

For our final weekend we drove to Queenscliff, a lovely village on the entrance to Port Phillip Bay.  It reminds me of a tiny version of Port Townsend, WA:

You can see that the entrance to Melbourne's large port is quite small, so they require 2 lighthouses and a pilot to escort ships into the bay.  We walked along the coastline between the lighthouses and enjoyed the views:

 It was Good Friday so students were out of school and surfing...notice the wet suits and my heavy jacket...brrrrr.

We saw this ship from afar....the pilot boat sped out to it, dropped of the pilot who guided the big vessel in through the narrows, called The Riff.

Some views of the seaside (now tourist) town:

From the observation tower:

A little bike ride

A large flock of Black Swans:

Mosaics!!!!!

On our drive back to Melbourne, we stopped at a couple of wineries.  The views were terrific but the wines were not (once you have been to Adelaide Hills, you are spoiled)

We spent our final night in Melbourne, attending the Easter Vigil at the St. Patricks Cathedral.  Lovely way to end our journey.