SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Two – In Colombo

Thu 22-Aug-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

21 August 2019

Our plane landed in Colombo at about 11:30pm. We had a 3.5 hour flight from Singapore. The layover in Singapore was a tight one hour. We arrived at Terminal 1 and then there was a mad rush to Terminal 2 to catch the flight to Colombo.

Our guide, Jagath was waiting for us in Colombo. We loaded up the bags into his van and headed for the hotel. The airport was quite a way from the city. We got to the hotel at about 1am. Colombo is 5.5 hours behind Sydney. We were dead tired and got to bed at about 1:30am.

Our hotel, Taj Samudra was across the road from the historic Galle Face Hotel where I stayed twice previously. I just wanted to try something different. Our guide was going to pick us at 10:30am. We were up by 7am. We readied ourselves and headed for breakfast. The variety at breakfast was extensive. Dianne was in heaven.

We were taken on a quick tour of Colombo before we headed for lunch at 12 noon with my friend Faizer.

Faizer also has connections in the gem business. I had pre-arranged for him to bring some stones particularly blue sapphires. We were buying a stone for our friend Anne back home. Dianne indulged herself with a stone too.

After lunch we went for a spot of shopping. First stop was a store named Barefoot, which sold locally woven material and other handicraft.

It was recommended that we go to the Galle Face Hotel to experience sunset at the beach bar. We headed there at 5:30pm.

We witnessed the traditional flag lowering ceremony at sunset. A bagpipe player gave proceedings a bit of grandiose.

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka 2019

Tue 20-Aug-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan 2 Comments

We are heading to Sri Lanka. I have been there a few times before but this will be Dianne’s first trip. This trip was planned last year. I have arranged our usual driver/tour guide, Jagath Kumara. He will pick us up from the airport. The flight lands in Colombo at 11:35pm.

We will spend 10 days in Sri Lanka. Most of this time will be spent in the interior of the island.

We will spend 2 nights in Colombo. Dianne will get to see a bit of Colombo. More importantly, we will be doing some shopping at Barefoot for local handwoven material and handicraft. This will be followed by other clothing shops.

After 2 nights, we head for the historical area and to the town of Dambulla for 2 nights then to Kandy for one night. We will catch a train from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. This journey is meant to be scenic. We will have 2 nights in Nuwara Eliya or little England where the English used to come to escape the heat. Pleanty of high teas for Dianne here. We will make it really English by staying at the historic Grand Hotel.

After Nuwara Eliya, we head for Galle for 2 nights and then return to Colombo.

Darwin 2019

Day Five – Day Trip To Katherine Gorge And Edith Falls

Tue 2-Jul-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

1 July 2019

Another early start today. We got picked up at 6:15am for a full day tour to Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls. First stop was Edith Falls (Leliyn in Jawoyn). It was a refreshing swim. Edith Falls is a freshwater pool. It is beautiful swimming spot. We had lunch after that and followed by a 2-hour cruise along Katherine Gorge. We visited 2 Gorges which involved changing boats because of the water level. Katherine Gorge was truly awesome. The entire area is in the Nitmiluk Reserve and the traditional owners are the Jawoyn people. They were given title to the land in 1989 after a 10 year period of traditional owners having to prove that they had continuous connection with the land.

Edith Falls

First part of Katherine Gorge

Darwin 2019

Day Four – Quiet Day In Darwin

Sun 30-Jun-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

30 June 2019

After yesterday’s long day trip to Kakadu, we decided to have a quiet day today. We decided to start the day, after a quick breakfast with a tour of the WWII Oil Storage Tunnels. These tunnels were built into Stokes Hill to protect oil storage facilities from being bombed by the Japanese. The tunnels were hand dug without machinery.

Darwin 2019

Day Three – Day Trip To Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land

Sat 29-Jun-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

29 June 2019

It was an early morning start today. The day was going to be a long 12 hour day. We were picked up at 5:45am for a 4-hour road trip to Kakadu. Along the way we stopped for some breakfast before heading for Jabiru to pick up more tourists.

Rock painting in Mabuyu Rock formation of Ubirr

Rock painting in Mabuyu Rock formation of Ubirr

Paintings from the Main Gallery of Ubirr

Rock paintings at Namarrkan Sisters

Nadab Lookout View

Painting on rock overhang at the foot of Nadab Lookout rock

We all gathered at the picnic area at the Ubirr site. Our driver/tour guide had organised a picnic lunch spread. We had to finish lunch quickly as we needed to be at the jetty on East Alligator River for a river cruise with an Aboriginal guide from Arnhem Land.

We got to jetty at 1pm ready to board our boat for the river cruise and to learn more about the area and Aboriginal culture.

Our guide ‘Hilton’ (I guess a name he uses for tourists) is from Arnham Land. We were invited to walk on his land where we took a few pictures. The guide also gave us a spear throwing demonstration. He also demonstrated the use of a Woomera, which is a basically an extension of the human arm.

As we boarded the board, we could hear the guide shouting out at the mountain. We asked what he did. He said he was addressing his ancestral spirits to tell them we were leaving and asking them for their blessings.

Darwin 2019

Day Two – Exploring Darwin

Fri 28-Jun-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

28 June 2019

We used the Hop on Hop off bus service to explore Darwin. Today was a pleasant 28 degs. The bus was not crowded and sitting on the top deck was comfortable. We got a good exposure to Darwin.

Outside the Museum and Art Gallery of NT

Remains of the old Town Hall after Cyclone Tracy

Looking through front door of the remains of the old Town Hall

Church of Christ – modern church rebuilt behind after destruction of old church by Cyclone Tracy

We had an early 6pm dinner at a restaurant called Hanuman which was recommended to Dianne. The food was good and was made up of a cross section of Indian, Sri Lankan, Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines.

Darwin 2019

Darwin Trip 2019

Thu 27-Jun-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

27 June 2019

We had an excellent flight on Virgin into Darwin. We landed at 1:20pm Darwin time. Temperature here on landing was 28 degrees. We took a cab to our hotel, The Rydges in the city. Hotel was centrally located. The room I would say, was adequate.

We had a short rest and then decided to the head for the Mindil Sunset Market. We took the No. 4 bus at 4:20pm. The journey was a short 10 mins.

Mindil markets was interesting. We had dinner here and then headed for the beach which was just beside the market to watch sunset. It was a very popular setting.

Mindil Beach Sunset Market Scene

Crowd gathering for sunset at Mindil Beach

Europe 2018

Day Eighteen – Another quiet one

Fri 14-Sep-2018 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

13 Sep 2018

It is Alyssa and Max’s last day in Paris. They head back to London in the evening. We headed for Place de la Bastille where there was a market. These markets are great with a variety of items being sold including fresh produce. We had some take-way food for brunch. After brunch, we visited a swanky warehouse type store named “Merci” which had all sorts of interior furnishing items. The prices were swanky too.

We had early dinner at 4pm at vegan restaurant. With Alyssa being vegan, she had sussed out all the good ones in Paris.We have criss crossed the city to a variety of restaurants. Dianne and I did not have anything but Alyssa and Max had something. We headed back to the apartment to do some packing. Alyssa and Max left around 7:30pm for Gare De Nord station to catch the Eurostar train back to London.

Paroisse Saint Ferdinand des Ternes (Day and Night pictures)

Dianne and I headed out at 8pm for dinner. On the way we chanced upon a Catholic Church with an unusual fascade. We ended up having Japanese for dinner which was quite good and reasonably priced. Then we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées.

Europe 2018

Day Seventeen – Quiet day in Paris

Fri 14-Sep-2018 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

12 Sep 2018

We were having a quiet day today. Dianne and Alyssa decided to go shopping this morning. We had some brunch and headed in different directions. Max wanted to see more of Paris. I wanted to go back to the apartment to rest. I was feeling a bit tired.

That evening, Dianne and I were having lunch with Dianne’s sewing friend Julie and her husband Leigh. We arranged to meet at Le Train Blue at Gare de Lyon train station. This restaurant has a spectacular interior and the food is good. Dianne had a quick peek at this restaurant back in 2001 and always wanted to have something here.

After dinner, Julie and Leigh walked with us until we caught an Uber back to the apartment. It was an enjoyable evening.

Europe 2018

Day Sixteen – Taking in more of Paris

Fri 14-Sep-2018 Kulendran Anaimugan 1 Comment

11 Sep 2018

We decided to take in more of Paris. Alyssa’s friend Max arrived last evening. He has never been to Paris. Alyssa is taking him around to various popular attractions. Dianne and I were keen on going to Père Lachaise Cemetery where various famous people are buried.

The cemetery was established in 1804 and is 44 hectares big. We went through the main gates hoping that we could get a map but none was to be found. Dianne took a picture on her phone of the displayed map to find the various grave sites. This is not an easy task. It was a hot day too.

Elaborate Family Tombs

Grave of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Grave of Jim Morrison of the Doors (1943-1971)

Grave of Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Glass panels around the gravestone to protect it against lipstick marks.

Dianne and I had lunch at Rue Saint-Maur near a theatre presenting the Gustav Klimt light show named Atelier des Lumieres. We were meeting Alyssa and Max at the show. There was a long line here but we had pre-purchased our tickets online. This allowed us to skip the queue.

Gustav Klimt Atelier des Lumieres

The show was in a warehouse type setting with images being projected on every surface around you (including the floor). It was a total immersion experience. You could walk around to take the full breath of the show or sit down at a spot (on the floor) to focus on a few walls. We chose the latter.

After the show, Alyssa and Max went off to tour more of Paris. We later met up with Alyssa and Max in front of the Eiffel Tower to go out for dinner. It was a pleasant evening.