The Amazing Port Stephens & Nelson Bay

It was a long time since we had gone on a long drive. Long weekend was approaching. It was Queen Elizabeth's birthday and a public holiday declared in Australia. In winter, its really difficult to go for a overnight trip. So, we decided to to go on a day trip. Trip to the amazing Port Stephens and the Nelson Bay...Yipee!!!

Port Stephens is around 2.5 hours drive from Sydney. Once you get out of the city, catch the Motorway M1 and enjoy the lovely drive till NewCastle. Further take the Nelson Road to reach the Nelson Bay.

We left early morning at around 6.30 AM and picked one of my husbands colleague on the way and reached Nelson Bay at around 9.30 AM. We took a halt for breakfast on the way at McDonalds.

At first we went to the information centre, to pick some maps and decide on the plan.

Port Stephens has 26 golden beaches to choose from. They also have ample of lovely restaurants and accommodation. Its a wonderful place for camping too with lots of camping sites and facilities. But we had to stick to our one day plan and make the best out of it.

At first we just lazied around some beaches. They have wonderful foot paths and cycle tracks along the beaches. In my opinion, this city can be best explored on bycycles. Since we did not have any, we tried exploring a part of it by walking. It was indeed a wonderful experience. Below are some few clicks taken during our walk.

We next headed to Tomaree Lookout. It is a lovely trek and should take around 45 minutes one way. Once you reach the summit, you can enjoy the breathtaking panoramic views of the lovely islands and amazing beaches. You can also spot the Lighthouse located on one island. The trek has some steep areas and most of it is paved areas. In my opinion, this is a must visit place.

From the Tomaree Lookout, we could watch the Zenith Beach. We could see the blue water splashing on the black rocks and the golden sands. Also saw some people fishing on the beach and getting a good catch.

We headed to the Zenith Beach. It was just as awesome as we had seen from top. We just played around on the waters and in the sands. The people who had come fishing, were still there and they had a very good catch. Looked like they were quite experienced in fishing. Some people had also come for surfing. Surprisingly this beach was not cold or windy. It was kind of sunny and that was a huge relief.

We then sat on the rocks and took some pictures. Just then I spotted some fins moving in the waters. Maybe the dolphins or the whales...not sure. We kept watching and they kept showing their fins now and then. Finally we decided to leave. Just then we saw four dolphins dancing along the waves and all in sync. It was a breathtaking sight and just made our day more fruitful. Just sitting on the beach, we had spotted four dolphins dancing along with the waves. What else could anyone ask for :)

We were waiting there to take a picture of them...But then they never appeared again and then we left for lunch. We went back to the city and toured the whole place. It had past lunch time. So many restaurants were closed. Finally found one and enjoyed our delicious lunch along with some live music.

Next we went to the beach side again. There was an open market. Charvi spotted a play area and started playing there. Play area is the most important thing for her. I guess it made her day. As Sumit went with his friend to explore the market and Charvi was busy playing, I enjoyed the beach and the waves and the sands.

After a strong caffeccino, finally we left around 6 PM. Reached home at 8 PM.

Sydney is full of beaches, But Port Stephens has something different to offer you, there is something different about its beaches. Maybe its the relaxing environment or could be the wonderful landscapes, but it is definitely a must visit place.

We have decided to visit it once again in the summers and this time, we will definitely take a halt there to explore it more and enjoy the sunrise too :)...Waiting to see you again Port Stephens ....

The Great Pacific Drive

New member in our small family...Our new car Ford Kuga. All of us ...full of excitement....That definately calls for a road trip. WOW...I really love these unplanned road trips.

We all had our own wishes. My wish - a visit to a temple, Next wish from Charvi - beach and the final wish from Sumit - a wonderful drive along the coast.

Sumit came up with a wonderful plan, visit to the Sri Venkateshwar Temple in Helenburg, Next  take the Long Pacific Drive till the Sea Cliff  Bridge and finally, relax on the Stanwell Park Beach. Wow, all credits to Sumit for this amazing road trip plan covering all our wishes :)

As it was a sunny day, we left for our trip after lunch. I packed a few sandwiches and some fried rice for our dinner. After all it was more like a piknik.

First halt - "Sri Venkateshwara Temple" in Helensburg. It is around 1 hour drive and the motorway is just amazing.

This temple looked like an Indian Hindu temple. It is really huge and has many small temples within its premises. For all those people who miss Indian food here in Sydney, there is also a canteen which provides Idli , Dosa, Puri . The temple gives peace to the mind as well as the soul. I was really missing my temple visits here in Sydney.

After spending an hour there, we started for the next destination "The Great Pacific Drive". What a lovely drive. I would say , Its one amongst the best drives in the World. The wonderful Sea Cliff Bridge standing between the mountains and the blue oceans and the clear blue sky.

There is a jogging path running parallel to the bridge. We took a short walk halfway through the bridge to capture different angles and views of the bridge and the mountains and the oceans and the cliff.

After the mesmerising coastal walk, our next destination - Stanwell Park Beach.

This is one amongst the best beaches I liked in Sydney. It is a perfect beach for families as it has a very large reserve for picnic, also for barbecue and all of it just very near to the beach. The best part is, it has a small pond just before the beach which captures some warm water. Hence the best place for kids to enjoy the waters. Australian beaches have chilling cold waters even in really hot sunny days. So, this pond was more like a blessing.

Charvi played some time in the waters, then we took a stroll on the beach. It has really amazing scenic views along the coast. It reminded me of many Bollywood movies with beach side shooting. In fact, it is a wonderful place for that. We had early dinner and then finally left back for Sydney with all these wonderful memories in our heart.

Monsoon Trip to Ooty

We had been to Ooty a couple of times earlier. But this time, we wanted to experience the monsoons in the Nilgiris. Hence we decided to go on a monsoon trip to Udagamandalam, popularly known as Ooty.

At Charring Cross

Route:
Bangalore -> Mysore -> Bandipur ->  Ooty(around 300 kms)
There are basically two routes to go from Bandipur to Ooty. One is via Masinagudi which has 36 hairpin bends. It has very sharp hairpin bends and hence on a monsoon trip, we decided to avoid this route and take the other route via Gundlupet. This way it was around additional 30 kms, but safe driving.

Accomodation:
We stayed in "Holiday Inn Cottages", which is around 2 kms from Ooty city center. Its a decent place to stay. They have all the basic amenities like in house restaurant, Children's play area (which is really big and kids would just love it), generator backup(which is really needed due to frequent power cuts), geyser, hot drinking water supply, etc.
We booked a 4 bedroom room, as we were traveling with my in laws. It was around Rs. 3500 per room (breakfast included)

Day 1:
Due to the bad condition of the roads caused by monsoons and the frequent breaks demanded by our little champ, and also a lot of work in progress on roads,  it took us almost 9 hours to reach Ooty, which usually takes around 5-6 hours. The last time when we had gone in a lighter shade of monsoon, it took us around 5.5 hours. We left in the morning at around 6 and reached Ooty at around 3 in the afternoon. We had breakfast in a restaurant on Mysore road and lunch in a hotel just before entering Bandipur. My suggestion would be to leave a little early so that you reach on time.

A cup of hot chai with some hot delicious pakodas were ready for us when we entered the home stay. By then monsoon had already showed its presence. So we decided to visit the market area. Did some chocolate shopping with loads of home made chocolates. We had dinner in a Rajasthani hotel in Ooty, my inlaws being very happy with their food. Finally we came back to our hotel and planned for the next day.

Day 2:
After having a great breakfast, we left for Dodabetta, which is the highest peak in the Nilgiris. It is around 8 kms from city center. Once we reached there, it started raining heavily and was windy too. After waiting for around 10 mins for rain to subside, finally we left to see the peak. Also bought a rainbow colored umbrella from there, it was the most essential thing we forgot to carry with us. The valley view was covered with fog and mist. But it is really fun to hang there in the monsoons and the strong winds.

After Dodabetta, we decided to go to Conoor which is around 20 kms from there. It is a different city and the route to Conoor is just breathtaking. Do not miss out to visit Conoor if you plan to visit Ooty. There is a toy train from Ooty to Conoor and back. But it needs advance train reservations and also takes around 5 hours for the travel. More ever, car will take you around 2 hours only.

In Conoor, we visited the sims park. It is like botanical garden and is really vast. In Conoor, monsoons had subsided so we could really enjoy the sims park. It was lunch time and we managed to get a decent hotel just next to the park.

We decided to skip the view point called "Lambs Rock" as it may be cloudy  and valley view may not be possible. I remember the last time when we visited this place, the drive was really adventurous with very narrow roads covered with dense fog.

We started back to Ooty. On the way, there is a golf club. We stopped by to see golf, but the guard stopped us as it was military area probably. So we had to move further.

By the time we reached Ooty, it was evening and we went directly to the Ooty lake. It was raining quite heavily there. so no boating services. Horse ride is also available there.



Very near to the lake, there is a dinosaur park. I guess the ticket costs around 400 per head. If you are interested, you can also visit that. Since we were tired, we did not visit that place.

Day 3:
The next day morning also it started raining. After having breakfast, we checkedout from the home stay. On the way, visited the Pykara Lake and Falls. We reached home late evening.

On the way, as we passed through the Bandipur forests, could see many many animals on the way.

First Glimpse of Sydney

The Harbour Bridge

The Opera House

 After a long wait of 4 months, finally landed sydney on 10th dec, 2015. It goes into one more added date to remember.

We landed sydney at around 8 in the night. The first glimpse of sydney from the flight was marvellous which added some excitement as well as anxiety about our upcoming days.

Thought of buying a new sim for me right at the airport. ...and guess what...the guy at the Lebara counter was a hindi speaking Kannadiga.

The drive from the airport to Liverpool,  the place where hubby dear stayed for 4 long months, was thrilling at 120 kmph throughout. We were warmly welcomed by the house owners into their magnificent  house or i could say a palace.

The next day morning,  we visited the nearby westfield mall. This visit gave me an initial insight about the  warm nature of people here.  I could  see  their eagerness to welcome the outsiders.

The next day we went to  the sydney city area. Took the train from Liverpool and got down at Circular Quay. The station gives a wonderful view of the magnificent harbor  bridge overlooking  the beautiful Opera House.

We took a cruise to go to Manly beach which gives you a closer look at the bridge as well as the opera house. The 45 mins on the cruise was a wonderful experience.

Getting off at Manly wharf was altogather a different  world. It was loaded with tourists. Christmas  celebrations  in every corner and every street. After experiencing the advanced  Christmas  celebrations, we entered the  Manly beach...soaking into the sun, the sands and the sea.

Manly Beach

We had to take the same ferry again to reach back the Darling Harbor.  From there  we walked to see the opera house. Further we walked  to see the very old botanical gardens which will be completed 200 years in 2016.

At last we went to the sydney CBD area to see hubbys office and then back home.

In short, my first impression about people here is that they are warm and yet cool. They just love to talk and socialize with all the people. No discrimination...no racism. Sydney is just a wonderful place to come n enjoy life.

The weather gets unpredictable at times. In summer, sometimes its as hot as 40 and the next day can get as cold as 15. Very unpredictable! !!

Really loved the "Bindass" fun loving nature of people here. 

Trip To Mysore

Mysore being just 150 kms from Bangalore, is a very common weekend getaway.

 

Hence everytime we have some guests, we usually drive to Mysore for a short trip. This time it was my dear sister and brother in law who visited us on the Independence day weekend. Since my hubby was not in town, we decided to hire a cab to go to Mysore. 

 

Mysore is popularly known for its Brindvan Gardens, Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hills and its zoo. Mysore is also famous for its Mysore silk sarees and you find quite a good number of mysore silk sarees emporium there.



At Brindavan Gardens



 We had booked the cab for 6.00 AM, but the guy turned at 7.00 AM. On the way, we had breakfast at a hotel which is just opposite Kamats. We have been to this place many times and it is a good option if you want to get away with the overcrowd at Kamats. They also have a small play area for kids. Probably that's the reason why we prefer this place.

Just a few kms before reaching Mysore, there is this historical town of Srirangapatna. To start with, we visited the Ranganathaswamy temple here. That was a wonderful start for our trip.





Ranganathaswamy Temple

 





Next we visited the popular Tipu Sultan Palace. After some modeling poses and photo sessions by my dear sister , we proceeded further to Mysore.

 



At Tipu Sultan Palace



 

 

 

We reached Mysore at around 11.00 AM. At first, we visited the Saint Philomena Church. It was a wonderful and refreshing experience as I was visiting a church after a very long time. In Goa, I have always studied in a convent school. Hence visiting a church or a chapel was a weekly program.





Saint Philomena Church

 



Next view point was Chamundi Hills. Unfortunately the road till the hills was blocked and hence we had to trek some distance to reach the hills. It would be around 50 odd steps, but the hot sun made it difficult to walk up. As it was a weekend, the crowd was too large. Hence instead of standing in darshan queue, we took kind of mukh darshan. There is also a shighra darshan for Rs 100, but looked like shighra would take around an hour or so, hence we skipped that too.





Chamundi Hills Temple





Mahishasura at Chamundi Hills



Our stomach was growling...needed food and energy, the idlis and the dosas had digested by then. We stopped by a decent restaurant before moving towards the Mysore Palace. Next to our restaurant was a Sand museum. We all barged in the sand museum. Some pics from sand museum below.

 

 







 

Exploring the sand museum through binoculars :)

Next we went to see the Mysore Palace. The rush inside the palace was comparatively less as compared to the rush in the market area outside the palace. We walked through the whole palace to see all the remains of the kings and queens. The Palace is really huge and magnificent. Earlier when I had visited during Dushera time , they had light up the whole palace and then it looked more awesome - a breathtaking sight :) But now, without the lighting also, it looked amazing!!



The Mysore Palace



 

Exploring Inside Mysore Palace

 

Next halt was Brindavan Gardens. We reached there at around 6 in the evening, which was quite a good time to be there. But it had become quite dark and cloudy.





View at Brindavan Gardens



All of us are big shoukeens of boating hence we started with the boat ride. This boat ride was quite different than the usual one and was quite exciting.

 

My sister and brother in law

 

Me and my daughter

 

View from Boating

By the time boating got over, it started raining. the whole crowd at Brindavan garden were under one small shade. There is a  musical fountain at 7.00 PM and my brother in law was very keen in seeing that. So around 7 PM, we crossed the bridge to reach the other side, where the musical fountain was to be displayed. It was very difficult finding the path in the dark and in the rains. Finally we managed to reach the place.







After the musical fountain, we planned to return home back. But again it started raining very heavily. So after a long halt, we realized that the rains have decided to wet us today. So we started towards our cab. Sitting in the cab was a huge relief as we were all very tired by then. It had past 8'oClock. On the way also, it was raining very heavily. Finally we reached home safely at around midnight.

 

It was a wonderful day out with my sister and brother in law. Every time I visit that place, I have more experiences added and a bigger bunch of wonderful memories with me.

Club Cabana Team Outing

March end comes again...With it bangs the Team Outing plans.

Now two big questions - Date and Venue for the outing. After a lot of discussions and checking lot of resorts in and around Bangalore, we finally decide to go once again to the same old place - Club Cabana.

 

Venue is resolved...now the next question - When to go. Again some more discussions whether to go on Thursday or Friday. Thursday is a big day for all the Indian cricket fans. The semi final will decide whether India enters the finals after knocking out the Kiwis. And Fridays, all resorts are overbooked. So finally we decide to go on "The Tuesday, Mar 31st". WOW :)

Last year also around the same time, we had been to the same place with the same team. Looks like we want to recreate the same magic once again ;)

Finally "D Day" arrives. We reach Club Cabana at around 9.30 AM. After the welcome drink, we quickly head on towards the breakfast. Breakfast is quite decent with Idli Sambhar and Puri Sabji. At that hungry moment, I guess we would have gobbled anything happily.

As usual, soon after the breakfast, the guys disappeared to play cricket. The gals got togather to experiment with carrom and volleyball. They have many more activities like Badminton, Table Tennis, Archery, Bowling, etc.

 

One of our colleague Latha, who is also a budding photographer, took this great opportunity to try out a photo shoot. And some of us obliged to model for her. Below are some captures.

 

After a long photo session covering every corner of the magnificent Club Cabana, we played some team games. Some of them quite interesting and tiring...and some games really dumb...

Next the guys went on to enjoy some vodka shots and we went on to try our luck on Bowling shots. Bowling was complimentary with our package. I guess this depends on your bargaining skills though :)

Finally the lunch time. Lunch was not really great but manageable.

Post lunch we started with water activities, which was the most fun. In my opinion, the most striking thing that's sets this resort far apart from other resorts is the number of water activities it accommodates. Most of the other resorts have just a pool, but here there is Lazy River, Wave Pool, three types of water rides, Jacuzzi. I guess this is the reason for its popularity. We all just loved Lazing around in the lazy river, soaking our self in the Jacuzzi, jumping around with the coming waves in the wave pool and the best of all - the water rides.

 

 

 

 

Overall I feel this is a very good resort espcially for the water activities. Also it occupies a large area and so you hardly find it crowded. Only thing I did not like about this place is the food especially the lunch. I guess they can still improve it.

Overall it is a nice place for the team outings :)

and that's Vivek - our official outing organizer :)