Summer Holiday – Salamander Bay – Day 1

If you’re friends with me on facebook you’ll already know it’s been an eventful first day on holidays. The first bit of “excitement” was when we all piled into the packed car only to discover it had a flat battery. Everybody back out and lucky enough Dad was able to jump start it from Mum’s car. So 45mins later than expected we were on our way. We had technology to keep us occupied for the 3.5 hour trip.

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We had a lunch stop, where there weren’t many vegetarain options but they did offer to make me a salad.

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Then it was on to Salamander Bay and the Pacific Blue Resort – our home for the next 7 nights.

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We got checked in…

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admired the lovely lobby,

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And found our 3 bedroom apartment.

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It is really lovely and our private plunge pool is so very cute.

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My room…

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and bathroom…can’t wait to indulge in a spa bath.

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After we unpacked Mum, Amy and I headed to the shopping center, which is just a few minutes away. Pop and Christy stayed behind as she was desperate to get in the pool.

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We got our groceries and here’s where things went wrong. When I was packing the car I managed to lock the remote key in the boot. All the doors were locked which meant we were locked out and the groceries (including lots of cold foods) were locked in :-(. It’s my Dad’s car and I’m obviously not used to it. So I rang BMW and were told someone would come out in the next hour. So I waited in the shopping center (and out of the very hot sun). I had sent Nan & Amy back to our apartment (luckily it wasn’t very far) and later Pop came over. A short while later I received a call to say it was unlikely they’d be able to access the car and we needed to get the spare key….from home. They did offer to get a courier to pick it up but we wouldn’t get it for a few days so Kevin kindly said he’d drive up with up.

Dad & I walked back and since it was getting towards dinner time (and our dinner was in the car) we went to get some dinner from the restaurant. Just as we opened the door the pool man had arrived – our pool was looking a little cloudy. When we came back we found Christy out chatting with the man – which is so typically Christy.

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There wasn’t a lot to chose from on the menu but it was food so that was good. I chose  potato gnocchi (the only vegetarian dish) and it was quite nice.

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After dinner Nan, the girls and I went for a swim in the big resort pool. Here’s a photo I took on the way to get dinner.

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By the time we went for our swim the sun was starting to set. The water wasn’t too cold though but by the time we did a whole lap – the pool winds all the way through the resort – we were a little chilled. But it was a lovely way to end a rather stressful day.

After getting into my PJs I played on the laptop and started typing up this post. I then put the girls to bed and read to Christy for a bit.

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Then more computer time while I hopefully stay awake until Kevin arrives around 11.30pm.

More Pummelvision travel slideshows

I had so much fun watching my UK pummelvision slide shows I decided to make ones for all our overseas trip. So quick and easy – if you have a flickr or facebook and youtube account you seriously need to make some. I’ve added these to my travel diaries but thought I’d put them here too – since so many of you enjoy our travels. So fun seeing the girls so young, not so fun seeing Kevin and I so huge!

If you want to see the photos at a slower speed they are all on flickr in the same named sets.

Friends and food

Slept a bit better last night and managed to sleep in till nearly 7am! We had breakfast included this morning so we got dressed and  headed up to the restaurant.

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I really wasn’t in the mood for a big breakfast so just had a piece of raisen toast and cup of tea, and later a little mini chocolate muffin.

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We then packed up our stuff, took our luggage to the car, checked out and went to meet a fellow blogger – Lisa of Bake Bake Blog. It was so nice to finally meet after following her blog for around 6 months or so (maybe more). And she was just as nice in real life as on her blog :-). Lisa is currently in training for a triathalon and I always feel so motivated and inspired when reading her blog. Plus she comes up with the most awesome recipes – many of whom have become part of our favourites. We had tea/coffee’s and sat and chated for around an hour.

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All to soon it was time to say our farewells and hit the road back to Wollongong.

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Still in the search for Christmas presents we decided to go via Bowral, stopping at yet another markets. The Highland Christmas Fair – but we didn’t see too many Christmas things :-(.

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We only had a quick walk through before heading to the shopping center. But still no luck with the presents. We did however, find this is lolly shop selling UK and USA chocolates…. probably not a great discovery to have made….

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We bought some of our favs (like UK’s Galaxy and USA milk duds) and went in search of lunch. Evenutally we settled on this Fresh Food Cafe and I had the MOST delicious salads. Yum! I’ll definitely be eating here again next time I’m in Bowral.

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Then it was the final stretch home…. to see the kids and pups. It’s been such a fun weekend and neither of us really wanted to go home. But I must say I’ve returned feeling much more relaxed and ready to face the lead up to Christmas 🙂