Coogee etc

We've settled back into our Canberra routine after the excitement of holidays in Bali and it feels like everything is picking up pace as the end of the year draws closer.

Abi is competing in the Canberra Cup (equestrian) this weekend so there have been quite a few training sessions with Ringo out at Redlands.....

 

and we've just got back from a four day visit to Coogee - getting a few things in place in the unit in readiness for family stays over the next few months.

We got there last Monday afternoon and after a pretty heavy unloading job (in the rain!!!!) we celebrated with a customary drink at the Coogee Bay Hotel. By this stage it had stopped raining and the salty breeze through the windows felt rather wonderful after the heavy work of carrying things up three flights of stairs (many times over).

My post surgery feet are walking so much better these days so I was keen to do the Coogee to Bondi coastal walk on Tuesday. It's wonderful to be able to consider a long walk again after the last few months of restrictions. That would be a 7klm walk (at least) and I did it easily - yay!

I took this pic at Bondi Beach for Abi who is a "Bondi Rescue" fan.

We enjoyed our lunch at Mami's Casa Latino at 286 Bondi Road - a buzzy new Mexican Restaurant offering home cooked style Mexican food that is a world away in flavour and quality than the fast food franchises out there. The two women who own and run the restaurant were both there at lunch on Tuesday with a crowd of friends and family - it was a bit raucous and service was slow but it felt like a unique (and flavoursome) experience. The blue painted restaurant exterior is a homage to Frida Kahlo (of course).

We added a few more things to our apartment this stay. We'd vowed to keep furnishings minimal until renovations are done - but we're both resigned now to the fact that any likely start date is a long way off!! So here we are .....

I did a restoration job on the dressing table we'd bought for Joshy when we were preparing for his arrival (nearly 45 years ago). It was a vintage dresser then and its even more vintage now - so appropriate for our 1929 apartment.

.. and the new sofa - barely visible under all the covers and cushions - ready for family chillaxing over Christmas-New Year.

We timed our visit to see the install of new gas infrastructure to the building. This is what nearly 100 year old infrastructure looks like - now replaced by many thousands of dollars worth of shiny new copper.

We had a visit from the two Burmese cats that are our neighbours: Simba and Gracie (and Lizzie and Greg). For a pair of cat lovers like us it's a huge bonus having friendly Burmese cats in the building.

We also visited friends at Chiswick (on the Parramatta River) one afternoon. It's always fun catching the ferry in Sydney, and Chiswick is a bare 30 minutes from Circular Quay on the F3. 

We caught the ferry home from Abbotsford and were amused to see this group of Sydney Boys High School students all lined up waiting for the ferry too - all in the same uniform, all of Asian heritage and all doing school work (?) on their laptops, just like they were still in class. Sydney Boys High School is a very high performing, academically selective high school with rowing sheds at Abbotsford. The boys had spent the afternoon at rowing training!

We had a bit of excitement on the final (rainy) morning at Coogee with the Step Out Speak Out Walk progressing down a closed to traffic Coogee Bay Road (raising awareness about domestic violence - and organised by NSW Police Eastern Beaches and Randwick City Council.

I included this shot because you can see Gracie (the Burmese cat) in the top front window of unit 7 of our building checking out the horses leading the walk!

More Sanur

Four days into our Sanur stay, we have established a lovely rhythm to our days: first thing check out the spectacular sunrise, early morning lap swimming in the hotel's main pool, long leisurely breakfast, maybe a walk around the local shopping area, relaxing in the hottest part of the day, swimming in our private pool once there is some shade to shelter in, a sunset walk along the Sanur beach walkway, sunset cocktails at the Tree Bar and dinner at one of the hotel restaurants......... what a 5 star life!!

This hotel is truly remarkable for its contemporary "out there" architecture - and its commitment to maintaining the perfection of its original vision. No expense is spared in keeping this hotel maintained in alignment with its original design. It has been a treat to experience commitment to excellence at this level ........ 

 

The breakfast buffet is as exceptional as the rest of the hotel: there is enough delicious food to last a guest all day if they choose .........

We have enjoyed the hotel Spa too! But the extra special thing for us has been our spacious room (serviced twice a day) - and this private pool - such a luxury - we have been using it a couple of times a day!!

Our late afternoon walks along the beaches of Sanur are always very interesting..........

There's always plenty of live music and great bands on offer too if you care to stop and enjoy ......

So our 5 night stay at Maya Sanur has got the big thumbs up from us!! We prepaid our 5 night deal here around 20 months ago for just a bit over $1500 AUS for 5 nights (including LOTS of extras). At the current rates our 5 night stay would have cost around $4500 (plus another $500 spprox. for all the extras). As Rob has remarked our whole beautiful Bali holiday has proved we might be finally over the "jinx" that has impacted so much of our travel planning over the past four years.

We have found Bali much changed - it's on a its own trajectory for development and evolution and we are finding it harder to recognise the Bali we knew in the first and second decade of the 2000s ...... but the people, when you get to talk to them, are still the same gentle souls - that at least has not changed, and remains the best part of this beautiful island!

Scenes of Sanur

We have a lovely room at this 5 star hotel with our own private pool - so the plan is to just relax and enjoy where we are during our stay in Sanur. However old habits die hard and we did set out for a walk yesterday in between the swimming and relaxing.

The popular Sanur beach path is approximately 5 klms long and our hotel is pretty close to the middle of all that. Yesterday we set out walking north - determined to find our old fave "Soul on the Beach" about 1.5klm along the path north. 

Sanur beach is lined with opulent hotels, dingy warungs, rustic beachside cafes, small surfing and massage businesses, market stalls and a couple of fabulous private properties which must be worth a small fortune!

Soul on the Beach was just as good as we remembered it..... Rob couldn't resist one of their slap up breakfasts - of corn fritters with all the trimmings ....

We've been ending off each day at Maya Sanur's open air Tree Bar. The staff here mix a great G & T for me and an Old Fashioned for Rob..... and we have a meal here too - all part of our Luxury Escape deal.

I packed a few more glam outfits for our nights out - but it's been so H-O-T and we get so sweaty here and we're in and out of the pool so much that we haven't even bothered to dress for dinner here.

There's live music everywhere we go in Bali and the performers are always great!

Today has been a repeat of yesterday really, apart from a walk north along Jl  Danau Tamblingan in the morning for a cool drink stop at Sanur's Three Monkeys (it's too hot for coffee!). Late afternoon we walked south along the walkway to its southernmost point at Sanur Beach.

We made it to our old fave Warung Blanjong where we enjoyed a delicious early meal of Balinese specialities - and just as good as it ever was!

It was rather lovely walking back to the hotel along the path at sunset with all the local families out enjoying the beach and the temperature becoming cooler as the sun went down.

We passed the small turtle conservation station on this part of the beach but with little information available we were unsure of its bona fides ......... I hope it's doing some good for these little creatures ....

And back to the Maya Sanur for evening drinks ........

Ubud to Sanur

We said goodbye to the lovely people at Cendana yesterday after trying to soak in as much as we could of the rustic charm of this lovely place before heading off with Nyoman our driver to the much more crowded (and sophisticated) beach side town of Sanur in southern Bali.  

We found I Ketut Pasta's little silver jewellery shop in Celuk on the way and I was able to make a few purchases. We could hear lots of happy family life going on in the background, from their compound, and babies and grandchildren too - lovely to hear and see ............

We scored a great deal for a 5 night stay at Maya Sanur - a 5 star beachfront hotel renowned for its amazing, contemporary style architecture. It couldn't be more different from Cendana if it tried ......

Our room is very impressive - the heavenly ocean view pool villa!!

This is some bathroom!!

And this is our own private pool - maybe about 10mts long? ..... (and ocean view)

We had fun exploring every level of this amazing place, admiring the views  .......

... before settling beachside to enjoy afternoon tea, cocktails then a three-course dinner at the Tree Bar area (all part of our package)..........

Somehow we managed to roll back to our room after all that and even managed a moonlight swim - which was just idyllic.

And sunrise this morning was pretty awesome!