Off We Go!

Well this will be the last post for a few weeks. In a few days we will be off on our holidays.

My Dad arrives from the UK tomorrow and then we all set off for Alice Springs. First stop Ayers Rock then we have 2 weeks to drive up to Darwin for our flight home.

Only 2 days have been booked at Ayers Rock then drive, drive, drive and hope we can find places to stay in.

Should be fun.

Our Holiday In Koh Samui

For those that were following our holiday antics - I am sorry. I did get a bit carried away with new projects for my store

Anyway my last holiday post was about the trip my hub chose - quad biking.
Now the excursion I chose was to go snorkeling around Koh Nangyuan and Koh Tao. Well the heavens opened and it poured complete with thunder and lightening. We still went and we still snorkeled. We were going to get wet anyway!! Early in the morning we caught a ferry to koh Nangyuan, snorkeled for a bit, had lunch in the one restaurant and then another boat to Koh Tao and back. At the end of the day we were very cold and very wet and ready for our beds.It was a great trip and the islands were absolutely beautiful. I just wish we had gone diving instead. Never mind maybe next time.

Our Activities In Koh Samui

Here we go again. Trying to keep you guys updated with our holiday adventures can be time consuming.

We have been back to work for a week now and what a shock to the system that is.

We decided that our 8 day stay on the island would be relaxing and no rushing about on daily trips so we agreed to pick one each and that was that. The rest of the days would be spent on the beach (definitely my kinda holiday).

First activity was chosen by my husband - ATV riding in the mountains. Oh dear, did I really agree to this? It's bad enough off roading here in Aus but dirt tracks on the back of an quad?

On arrival they make you do a practice run around a course. Hub enjoyed this and started stropping coz he thought that was it!! It sure looks as though he made a mess.

The quad and us were absolutely filthy by the time we got to the top of the mountain but it was fun. A few times I tried to look over my husbands shoulder and got a face full of mud (very gently wiping it off on the back of his T shirt).

But what a beautiful view once we got to the top. A great stop off for that much needed bottle of water.


After a little rest we went on to check out the Magic Gardens, only accessible with 4x4 vehicles. What a gorgeous garden someone made and all with beautiful ornaments and tiny houses. More riding followed then a lovely dinner after and back down the mountain. I really think going down is worse than going up!!!

The Next Adventure - Koh Samui

After spending 4 days of "shopping till we dropped" we headed off to the island of Koh Samui. This was definitely the relaxation we were looking for.

We stayed at Samui Laguna Resort right on the Lamai Beach and it was excellent. Loved the bungalow that we stayed in and the beach was great. One big problem was that we were not told that renovations were taking place so we were woken up to builders noises every day.

Here are the pics of our bungalow. The last picture just shows how close we were to the beach.


We thoroughly enjoyed the Aloe Vera massages after we got sunburnt.

Around lunch time a guy used to walk the beach with mangos, bananas and corn on the cobs which he would heat up and cover in butter. Refreshing and yummy.

This is where we had breakfast and lunch and on one occassion dinner. All the food that we ate here was fabulous and the staff gave excellent service and were always helpful.The massage ladies were just next to the restaurant so every day that we spent on the beach, by about 4pm, we rolled up red as lobsters for our dosing of aloe vera.












Here we are taking it in turns to have a massage.

On my next few postings I will up date you on the few activities we did on the island and our return back to Bangkok.

First Few Days In Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok early hours of Monday morning, staying at the Wendy Guest House http://www.wendyguesthouse.com/evos/front/bin/home.phtml
The first room they put us in was so small we asked to be moved. Once we had got our suitcases in we couldn't move. They were very obliging and moved us straight away at no extra cost. I cannot praise the people that work here enough, they were fantastic. For just 1,000 BAHT a day, which includes breakfast, this is well worth staying in if you are in the area. It is a walking distance from the big stores, MBK and Siam Centre.
Talking about stores, we needed to have foot massages as we literally shopped until we dropped. Visited jewelry factories, had made to measure clothes and bought tons of clothes from MBK. MBK can get a bit tedious though, with five floors of shops and nearly everything is the same. Very easy to get lost in there too which we did on numerous occasions.

Even with all the shopping we did we managed to get a few trips in. Hiring a taxi for the day was great. You needed to bartar with them a bit but we managed to get our driver for the day for 2,000 BAHT. He took us to the Floating Market and to see and ride the elephants.
Floating market was a bit like MBK, everything was the same and the boat driver stopped at every stall.
Our elephant ride was an experience but I doubt if we will do it again. The trainer has a hook like tool that he waves in front of the elephant and we actually saw another trainer bashing another elephant very hard on the head. I know they have to be trained but this was upsetting for me.
I really did not like the city (I am a country lass). It was very polluted and smoggy, you could actually smell the fumes walking down the street. We drove around in a "tuk tuk" for our local shopping and that was an experience. They weave in and out of the cars - not for the nervous!

Just Got Back From Thailand

I will spend a little time over the next few days with posts of our trip to Thailand.

We have just arrived back in Sydney today (Monday). We should have arrived on Tuesday. We spent Friday waiting in Bangkok airport to see if we could get on our flight. The problem with flying "staff" is that you are on a standby basis. You can just imagine what happened!!

The flight home was fully booked and we ended up spending another 2 days in Bangkok and $2,000 lighter as we had to arrange another flight. We actually ended up flying to Vietnam and waiting 6 hours for a flight back to Sydney. So at the moment my head is still spinning.

I have plenty to tell you about our highs and lows, likes and dislikes of where we visited and stayed in Thailand.

So watch this space for updates.

Off We Go

Sorry to say there will be no more posts for a couple of weeks. We are off on our annual holiday, yayyyy.
We will be away from 12th October through to the 24th as I will be checking out the sites and loads of beads in Thailand. Here's hoping that we don't get stuck out there as things are not good at the moment.

Feel free to check out my stores. They will remain open but no orders will be delivered until I return.

http://beadsmeonline.com/
http://beadsme.etsy.com/

Also check out my brigade. There's some more pics of "moi". http://grosewold.com/

Ta ta for now and i will hopefully be back with stories to tell and pics to load.

Actually I think I will let you all drool over where we are staying. In Bangkok we are staying at the Wendy House http://www.wendyguesthouse.com/evos/front/bin/home.phtml On their home page in bold is "SEX TOURISTS ARE NOT WELCOME" LOL. This is only a place for us to lay our heads whilst we shop until we drop for 4 days.

This is the best part. Fly over to Koh Samui for 8 nights staying here http://www.samuilaguna.com/home.html I just can't wait for this part of the holiday.

Well over and out for me. Take care everyone.

The Lemon Detox Diet

Well I am off to Thailand in just over a week and after seeing my photo at a friends wedding (the biggest one is me) I knew I had to drastically lose weight. I really wanted to wear my bikinis.

So on the internet I went and ordered 7 days of the lemon detox diet.

Yesterday I started it and was going really well. By lunch time I had a headache. OK no problem, I had read this was one of the side effects. By 2pm I knew this was more than just a headache and by 3.15pm I was leaving work early as I felt so sick. Well, half way home I started getting the shakes and the sweat was pouring off me. Only thing I could do was put my foot down and get home.

Once at home I was violently sick and now had a migraine.

Obviously this diet/detox is not for me. I am assuming that any migraine sufferer may have the same effect.

Oh well back to the milkshakes, veggies and fruit.

It would be nice to receive some views on others who have tried this and what happened (good and bad.

Easter Holiday ... Hmm?

Monday is upon us and it is back to work tomorrow. How can it go so quick? What have we done?

Friday was a lazy day and I spent until lunch time in my PJ's.

Saturday, did a bit of shopping, Gloria Jeans and beading.

Sunday - Oh yeah, went 4x4 up Mount irvine. It was so scarey I thought I was going to faint. Whole body went like jelly. The track was at least 2 hours mong and all on the edge of a mountain. Must admit nice views though. You can see some of the photos on my Flickr site .

Monday - well we absolutely butchered the flower bed next to the pool and chopped a tree down. Just looks like a heap of mess now. The back of Barrys Ute is full of bushes, grass and tree. Whoops. I hope it looks better in a few months time. We are absolutely shattered now and aching all over. Whilst we were packing away we found this little critter on the gardening gloves. At first I thought it was a bit of twig but then it moved. Left it for Barry to sort out. Haven't got a clue what it is!!!

Dad has arrived

Well my Dad arrived on 2nd of Feb 08 and, inbetween work and commitments, we have been trying to show him around. Managed to spend 4 days in the Hunter Valley staying in a lovely log cabin and do the winery tours.

Also managed to look around Cessnock and the Hunter Valley Gardens. Barry took him up to Cabbage Tree to look at the views but it was too wet for some areas. And yes we had some more rain!! Sydney was the last port of call, obviously the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, a boat ride from Curcular Quay to Darling Harbour and the Chinese Gardens. Just managed to fit in a massage and coffee before it started to rain again!!

Another week before he sets back to the UK. Unfortunately we all have to get back to work on his last week. Let's hope the weather gets better and he can relax by the pool.