How we’re spending the two month gap between two visits to Bali…Partial Itinerary…Moo…baa…neigh…

This is our favorite cow to visit when we’re on a walk.  She always sticks out her tongue and does a little dance when she see us.

When preparing yesterday’s post, we realized it may sound a bit confusing regarding our back and forth for two trips to Bali. The bulk of the decision to go back and forth revolved around the fact that Indonesia has strict visa regulations with stays only allowing for 30 days (with 60 days possible). We’ll figure that out soon.

Recently, these fillies/colts were born.

As a result, we thought it might clarify the plans we made for the almost two-month gap in between the two separate bookings for the same property. In part, the owners gave us an excellent price on the villa with a full staff but preferred to get more for the high season. 

The walk in the area is always lovely.

If we’d leave and return, they could get higher rates than we’re paying during the peak season, resulting in excellent pricing for us during the two separate visits on either end of the peak season.

Also, during this two-month gap, we found a two for one special on a Viking Mekong River cruise, providing we paid the cruise fare in full at the time of the booking which we were happy to do for the savings.

Cattle seem interested in humans as we’ve found on walks and drives through the countryside.

In these two transactions, we saved several thousand dollars for venues we may not have found affordable at the full rates and fares. The more countries we can visit at the best possible prices and terms the greater our worldwide experience. 

There are numerous varieties of long-horned cattle in New Zealand.

It’s not that we’re on a mission to visit every country in the world. It’s not practical in today’s world of war and terror.But, we are on a mission of visiting the countries we find interesting and enriching as we continue on our world journey.

The gap between the two Bali stays made sense when by coincidence and admittedly diligent planning and research, we’re not only excited about the time we’ll spend in Bali but also the two months in between and shortly thereafter, as shown below:
                                                                                         # days                        Dates





































































 Sydney Hotel 1  4/15/2016 – 4/16/2016 
Cruise –  Sydney to Singapore  14  RC Voyager of Seas   4/16/2016 – 4/30/2016 
 Bali House  59  4/30/2016 – 6/28/2016 
 Hotel Singapore 7  6/28/2016 – 7/5/2016 
 Hanoi Hotel 3  7/5/2016 – 7/8/2016 
 Cruise –  Hanoi to Ho Chi Min City  15  Viking Mekong    7/8/2016 –
7/22/2016 
 Phuket House  41  7/22/2016 –
9/1/2016 
 Bali House  59  9/1/2016 –
10/30/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1  10/30/2016 –
10/31/2016 
 Cruise – Sydney to Perth  16  RC Radiance of the Seas   10/31/2016 – 11/16/2016 
 Cruise – Perth to Sydney  17  RC Radiance of the Seas   11/16/2016 – 12/3/2016 

Luckily, the time in Bali will be low-key and relaxing while the interim period will be a whirlwind of flights, hotels, cruises, and comings and goings. Having this hectic schedule is good for us when at times, we can easily fall into the “homebody” mode staying put in one spot for a while. 

Discovering these horned cattle was a first for us in New Zealand.

The above itinerary over a period of seven months requires seven flights, four of which we’ve yet to book. We have plenty of time to book the remaining flights.

Don’t get me wrong…we love quiet times in the country. Without a lazy bone in our bodies, we keep our days full of activities we love to do, ultimately highly fulfilling. 

Many cattle are dehorned.   But, we don’t believe that process is done on this breed.

Although it may appear we’re occasionally “couch potatoes” which on occasion we are, we’re actually quite active most days of the week, not unlike many of our readers, who say they’re busier in retirement than when they were working.

Young bulls down the road from our house.

Of course, living on this farm in itself provides enough daily stimulation, activity, and entertainment as we spend considerable time outdoors enjoying every single moment. 

They often approach to check us out.

With the diligent use of repellent I’m able to spend all the time I’d like outdoors, as was the case when we lived in South Africa, Kenya, and other parts of the world where mosquitoes, biting flies, and sandflies are an issue.

On our usual walk, Mount Taranaki with our favorite cow on the right and a few sheep who often baa at us.

Today, it’s raining with heavy winds with more rain in the forecast. As summer winds down in New Zealand, apparently the much-needed rains have arrived. Knowing this is good for all the grazing animals in the countryside, we’re happy to see the rain, greening their pastures.

Tomorrow, on the day of my birthday we have a planned evening out and a special story with new photos we hope our readers will find entertaining. Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, February 19, 2015:

It was one year ago today, we made the treacherous trek to the Queen’s Bath in Kauai, a known dangerous place to visit. Making our way down this area was challenging. Had we known how dangerous it was, we’d probably wouldn’t have done it. At times I grabbed any sturdy branch I could hold onto and when possible hung onto Tom to keep from falling. When we were done, I was glad to have challenged myself but also realized the practicality of such risky treks makes no sense at this age.  For more photos of Part 1 of this story, please click here.

Part 1…New destinations and travel arrangement booked!…Exciting planning for the future as we fill in gaps in the itinerary…

Private home overlooking the sea on the drive on the beach road.

When two people start clicking on their laptops simultaneously to research the same thing, it’s a sight to see. When we decide to research a location, we do so simultaneously. 

Tom reads every word and all of the reviews. I breeze through looking for the highlights. Together, it’s a perfect match. That’s not to say that lively conversation doesn’t ensue.

Nor does it say that we may totally agree during the process, although it’s never an argument, only a discussion, among two stubborn and headstrong individuals who ultimately adore one another valuing love and harmony above all else.

Somehow along the way, often over a period of hours, as we banter back and forth, we finally meet in the middle and coalesce to each other’s wants and desires. An agreement is born.

Private pier at the Cousteau Resort.

Exhausted from the process, we sit back, high from the experience, gratified with the result, with a smile on our faces that seems to carry us into the night satisfied over a hard and successful day’s work.

When we began this journey after I’d spent 10 months sitting in a comfy chair in Minnesota four years ago, planning for 12 hours a day, while Tom worked the tail end of his 42-year job, we had no delusions that the “work” aspect of planning our travels would be an ongoing process from which we’d never be able to take a total break.

Sure, we’ll have short stretches of time here and there that require little to no bookings, payments for future rentals, flights, and cruises. It’s during those times, we totally free our minds from the responsibility which oddly, once we start up again, we totally seem to enjoy.

When I owned and ran a business most of my adult life I’d do a budget/business plan for the upcoming year. In anticipation of this time-consuming painstaking task, I suffered angst and worry for days, even dreaming about it. Once I began, I kept at it as a fire in my belly took over until completion. I’d actually end up enjoying the process.

A short area of a sandy beach.
It’s the same here. Although Tom never had to do business plans for his job, he’s wrapped his brain around this process with a passion I admire more than he’ll ever know. He’s better at certain aspects than I am with date recall, map skills, geography, and finances that is astounding. Add my odd jumble of interests and a few skills here and there and we’re a match made in heaven, able to make magic happen once we begin.

So was the case yesterday afternoon. The post was done. It was raining once again. I’d tried sitting outside for 30 minutes of sunshine, but had to come back inside after 10 when the sunny sky turned black and the rains came in buckets as has been the case every day lately. It wasn’t as if we’d planned to spend the day booking future travel.

On the calendar app on my laptop, I had marked November 30th to contact the river cruise rep we’d used at Vacations to Go to book the upcoming cruise to Vietnam in July 2016. With the cruise booked and paid, we needed to know which hotel Viking Cruise Line had booked for the on-land portion of the cruise. We planned to arrive a few days earlier than the cruise booking and didn’t want to have to change hotels.

When we originally booked the cruise, the location of the hotel portion wasn’t “cast in concrete.” Thus, we decided to wait until November 30th, the date they’d have it confirmed. The first order of business, book that hotel!

Typically, roads in this area aren’t paved other than in the village and are narrow, requiring a passing car to move to the shoulder.

Sofitel Legend Metropole” in Hanoi is the cruise line’s choice for its passengers.  See the information below:

“HOTEL METROPOLE HANOI LEGEND

The Hotel Metropole Hanoi is an award-winning French colonial-style hotel lying in the heart of Hanoi, near Hoan Kiem Lake and the magnificent Opera House. Boasting a classical white façade, green shutters, original wrought iron detail, wood paneling, and a lush courtyard lawn, the hotel is one of the region’s few remaining hotels of its era.

Built in 1901 by two private French investors, the hotel quickly became the rendezvous point for colonial society in the first half of the century. Following Vietnamese independence in the 1950s, the new national government opted to maintain it as the official hotel for visiting VIPs. During and after the war years, it became a base for the press and diplomats.

Ninety years after it had risen so gloriously from the swamps of ancient Hanoi, the Thong Nhat Hotel was closed for the face-lift of the century. Under the first phase, the existing hotel was refurbished over an eighteen-month period and reopened in March 1992, again called Hotel Metropole. The second phase started in 1994 when work commenced on the 135-room Opera Wing, and the four-story Metropole Center office tower above it, both of which opened in late 1996. After the reconstruction of the new Club Rooms, replaced Metropole offices, the third phase will be fully finished end 2008. The Club Metropole Lounge and Imperial Suite, opened in May 2008, introduce an impressive new oasis of charm and luxury at Metropole Hanoi.

The hotel guest list over the past years has included the Presidents of the USA, of France, of Switzerland, the Prince of Monaco, of Denmark, of Sweden, the King of Malaysia, the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, the Prime Ministers from Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, France, Canada, Nigeria, Norway and Vietnam, and important business delegations such as the World Presidents Organization, the Asia Leaders Forum, the 5th Asia-Europe Meeting, the APEC 2006 Leaders Week, as well as famous people like Catherine Deneuve, Charlie Chaplin, Jane Fonda, Stephen Hawking, Oliver Stone, Mick Jagger, Sir Roger Moore amongst others. It also includes a host of corporate heavyweights and to this day the hotel’s bars remain a haunt for international and local journalists wanting to pick up the latest business news.”

Many river cruises include a number of nights in hotels in order to allow the passengers time to tour the cities. This particular cruise will include only 7 nights out of 14 actually staying on the ship, the Viking Mekong, with only a total of only 60 passengers. This will be our first cruise on such a small ship and we look forward to the experience. 

Over the Thanksgiving (USA) holiday weekend, we received several email messages from the link on our site, Hotels.com which we always use when booking various hotel stays. The email messages offered a number of special Cyber sales offered over the holiday weekend.

Many of these rocky sites are ideal for snorkeling.

As planned, we contacted the rep at Vacations to Go explaining we needed an answer back right away in order to take advantage of the pricing. She confirmed the Sofitel Legend Metropole as the cruise line’s selection.  

After each of us checking available rooms, pricing, and dates, we were able to book the three additional nights (two night through the cruise) we’d be on our own at a reasonable USD $180, FJD $385 per night as opposed to the lowest prices we otherwise found at USD $207, FJD $443.

Although the savings weren’t huge, it will pay for one or two meals during our own three-night stay at the hotel while the remaining meals over the two nights paid for by the cruise line are included in the cruise fare.

Another aspect that greatly influences our booking at Hotels.com on our site is the “buy 10 nights, get one free.” Over these past three-plus years we accumulated and used 3 free nights in hotels as a result of this rewards program. After we complete a few upcoming hotel bookings, we’ll have a few more free nights accumulated. 

With this task handled, we continued on for the next few hours, as we booked another exciting location in Asia, one that had never really been on our radar. Big cities, here we come! One can’t travel the world and avoid them. Check back tomorrow for Part 2 with more new bookings.

Four days and counting.
                    
                                           Photo from one year ago today, December 2, 2014:

We took this last photo of the beach outside our condo in Maui the morning we flew to the Big Island. It was on this day’s post, that we included the total expenses for the six weeks we spent on that island. Please click here for the totals.

Part 2…The gap is filled!…

The house in Phuket, Thailand was built around its private pool.

With the decision and full payment made for the Viking Mekong River cruise next July our next decision was to decide on where we wanted to stay for the remaining 41 days until we return for our second leg in Bali, we perused the map and literally 100’s of vacation homes in the countries we were interested in visiting.

The dining room overlooking the pool.

Based on a 10 day gap in the itinerary prior to the cruise which we’ll fill with a hotel in Hanoi with an excellent opportunity to tour the city and the duration of the cruise, we had 41 days yet to fill after the cruise ended and before returning to Bali.

There are several areas to lounge by the pool.

When considering vacation homes, the close proximity to the location before and after is usually a huge factor along with an attempt to get the best possible property for the best possible price with the amenities that are important to us.

Most often, close proximity to the ocean when possible has been a driving force.  However, as we searched for Southeast Asia, oceanfront and ocean view properties were through the roof.

An additional seating area in the dining room.

We asked ourselves this question, “Would we be willing to forgo an ocean view for a mere 41 days to be living in a beautiful house with a pool, in brand new condition with all of our favorite amenities and with an opportunity to drive a short distance to the ocean at will?” 

Our answer was “yes” especially when it would take us to a new country we’d yet to explore together, Thailand, a country I’d visited 30 years ago BT (before Tom).

A modern kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

The island of Phuket, Thailand suffered a tremendous loss of life when a tsunami ravaged the island in 2004, a story that was heard around the world. We recall watching the devastation on the news, hearts breaking over the horrific stories told by those who were thrust into the disaster and miraculously survived, many losing loved ones or seriously injured.

This might have been a good spot for countertop dining.  But, from what we’ve seen throughout the world, that concept is not always popular.

It’s been over 10 years since the devastating tsunami and Phuket has been rebuilt to become one of the choice islands in the world to visit. My fond memories of its wonderful people and the astounding beauty of this special place surely was instrumental in my suggesting it to Tom, as we searched for the ideal property for many hours.

Sipping a cup of coffee while lounging in these chairs in the morning will be easy to take.

Finally, we landed on this home that is more than befitting our needs and wants to give us a chance to visit yet another country on our worldwide journey. Yes, there are other countries in Southeast Asia that would have worked for us, but Phuket stood out among the rest.

Here is the link to the listing of the house we chose in Phuket, Thailand.

View of the living room with a flat-screen TV and hopefully comfortable furniture.

We’ll rent a car during our stay enabling us to explore, shop in the outdoor markets, and see the points of interest. Many who visit Thailand often visit Bangkok (on the mainland) as I did years ago. With the congestion, traffic, and noise of the big city, we’ve opted to stay away and will choose a flight directly to Phuket.

Alternate view of the living room.

During our expansive search, we attempted to find a vacation home in Vietnam but were unable to do so at a price in line with our budget. They were either very inexpensive apartments in the center of the cities or outrageously expensive massive homes in the countryside, neither of which worked for us.

Both bedrooms have king-sized beds and overlook the pool.

It was at that point we began perusing the bordering countries, any of which would be easy to navigate and with affordable flight fares. We’re confident it all will work out well.

Master bedroom alternate view.  Both bedrooms have en suite bathrooms.

Enjoy these photos today that we “borrowed” from the property owner’s listing on TravelMob, a newer vacation home rental site we’ve only recently utilized, owned under the umbrella of our favorite HomeAway site which owns many of these types of websites. The property owner, Gregory, has been wonderful to work with, and based on reviews he continues to provide excellent service throughout the rental period.

Jacuzzi tub and separate walk-in shower in master bath.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with a very special story of an event that literally brought tears to our eyes with a sense of joy and a feeling of awe that we’re excited to share.

Outdoor dining.

                                                 Photo from one year ago today, July 6, 2014:

The mountains and hills of Madeira were often shrouded in dense clouds, creating a magnificent scene, one we never failed to notice. For more details, please click here.