We stayed in a 3 bedroom townhouse which had a private plunge pool although the entire resort was surrounded by a man made lagoon with little spas and beaches around it, we’d highly recommend staying there if you ever go up near Port Stephens.

We also hung out at the beach and found an awesome beach with dogs that chewy would have loved.

The place was really very comfortable, it had laundry stuff so we could wash our towels during the day. Me and Andy got the bedroom with the TV and balcony which was nice.

We had buffet dinner there the first night which wasn’t as nice as it should have been because they stopped making food while we were there and we had to keep asking for stuff and the dessert was all gone by the time we got to it. Word to the wise, never arrive late to a buffet.

We took Putty Road on the way home which had heaps of motorbike danger signs, it’s nice and windy so it’s popular with the bike hoons. Thanks goes to Mala and Andrew for the awesome short break from work (and working on the house).

The traffic wasn’t too bad – the drive down was far too short, it’s only an hour or so away from Syd but that’s perfect for a short trip.

Fun was had by all on the beach (Simmy and co made a…mountain!? with a…moat??) and in the town, mini golf in Mingara, Tumbi Umbi was great even when it started raining at the end and the pizza place we went to was delish. Hopefully we’ll get some pics from the mini golf later.

Me and Andy (mostly Andy) made chicken schnitzel one night but we were under a lot of pressure to measure up to the other gourmet meals the others had made earlier! Speaking of which, Simmy and Jonathon’s Japanese Takoyaki balls were very nicely done. The mini-trip ended annoyingly when the car was bombed while we slept with flour and eggs. The gloop was really tough to remove as it had baked on pretty hard in the sun. Tip: use the pan from a plastic dust pan to scrape it off.

It would have been nice to stay for longer as we were having a lot of fun (even with the people we’d never met before! Those of you that know how socially awkward me and Andy are will be amazed by this) but yeah we had to get back for the Fernando Family Christmas Party and help prepare. Stay tuned for pics of the Christmas festivities and possibly New Years pics if we remember to take them.

~Andy and Smily

Hung out at the Deer Park Hotel, would not reccomend going there during rainy season, tonnes of mosquitos everywhere.

Day 4 was our last day at our favourite hotel. Heritance Kandalama was by far the best hotel we’d been to, it was beautifully designed, the service was exceptional and the food was exquisite. We drove to the nearby Dambulla cave temple ruins and hung out with the monkeys while we looked at ancient carvings of Bhuddas commisioned by various kings of the past. When we got back to the hotel we relaxed and then went on an elephant ride through the nearby lake. The pictures say it all. That night was another awesome buffet dinner, highlights include Andy wearing his stylish sarong.

The history of Sigiriya Rock Fortress: King Kasyapa murdered his father King Dhatusena by walling him alive and then usurping the throne which rightfully belonged to his brother Mogallana. Mogallana fled to India to escape being assassinated by Kasyapa but vowed revenge. In India he raised an army with the intention of returning and retaking the throne of Sri Lanka which was rightfully his. Knowing the inevitable return of Mogallana, Kasyapa is said to have built his palace on the summit of Sigiriya as a fortress and pleasure palace.  Mogallana finally arrived and declared war. During the battle Kasyapa’s armies abandoned him and he committed suicide by falling on his sword.

The above pics are from day 1 where we hung out at the airport and drove a long way to Kandalama Hotel. We passed a lot of rural areas, we spent most of our time in the country hence the overly rural pics. Highlights along the way included watching the driver narrowly miss the crazy tut tuts (3 wheeled mini taxis) that seem hell bent on destruction, Andy noticed freshly made asbestos being transported on trucks and Sue (one of the sisters who joined us on the trip) pointed out the scarecrow like figures people put up to scare evil spirits away from newly built homes. For lunch we stopped by a nice little touristy rest house. Once we got to the hotel we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

 

On the way there we stopped by at The Entrance (which was actually further away) and had an expensive prawn basket for lunch which we decided never to have again…

Check out the latest map of where we’ve been here on Google My Maps.

While going for a walk along Pearl Beach which is a few minutes drive away from Ettalong Beach, me and Andy decided to kick it up a notch and have a Picnic on the beach. Get it?!?!

We also got to check out some pretty nice scenery while we drove around:

We had a really nice Easter weekend, it all felt like a holiday while on holidays. Check out more photos on our Albums page. Seeya in the next post!

Check out more pics on our Albums page.

~smily and andy