Kiama: Little Blowhole and Seaside Market

After my disappointment in limited activity at the Blowhole Point, I decided to scout out the smaller relative. I asked the nice lady in the Visitor Centre of the Little Blowhole, and was told that it is more consistent as it depends on wind direction from the North. I am not too sure if I want to make another trip on purpose for a little more activity of this blowhole, so I set off my walk to see the Little Blowhole.


View from the lookout point at Blowhole Point

The Little Blowhole is located between it's bigger relative and Kiama Heights, so just head off towards Kiama Heights. I was told the walk takes about 30 minutes, though as usual, it took me longer :P



It was a nice coastal walk, hugging along the beach. It was nice view and all but as I was walking by the Kiama Showground, I felt it was getting warmer and craving for a nice smoothie.



I had to walk pass two beaches, first one - Surf Beach...and kept on thinking of getting a smoothie. :p



Here's the second beach - Kendalls Beach. If you are to do the Kiama Coast Walk, it is at the same direction.



Walked a little further... and you'll see the Little Blowhole...definitely more activity compared to the bigger blowhole.



I didn't proceed any further and made my way back to the town area, to visit the Kiama Seaside Market. It so happened that it was an Easter Monday Public Holiday, there was an extra market being scheduled. :)



I didn't take any pictures of the stalls as I learnt stallholders in Australia don't like people taking picture of their stalls or wares.

My lunch treat - sweet chilli chicken, served with wedges and sour cream. Food wise - only so so.. and service definitely not brilliant, so I won't recommend any. Oh.. not only I had cooling, refreshing berry smoothies, I even got a vanilla milkshake. :)




Side note: This is a scheduled post... and it is now Sunday night. How I dread tomorrow :(

Kiama: Day trip - around the town

Kiama is at the south of Sydney, approximately 2 hours by train, of course faster if travel by car. It is being promote as a relaxation town with views over the ocean to Kiama's headland, characteristic pines and iconic lighthouse.

When I told Little P I'm thinking of doing a day trip to Kiama, she said it sound like I'm scolding some bad words = ="


Waiting for train on a public holiday Monday


Fast forward 2 hours, reaching Kiama train station

For a couple of times, I have tried to look up for time to visit this town, trying to coincide my visit to see the Blowhole with the markets, also avoiding staying overnight. Generally accommodations in Australia are expensive, and there is no exception in Kiama.


When I was passed this place, it reminded me of an old Salem TV advertisement.

An excerpt from Kiama's free visitors' guide 2012.

Located on a harbour, Kiama was the heart of the local cedar, quarrying and shipping industry in the 1880s and is now seat of the rgion's Council offices. In the town's Civic precinct you will see many fine old buildings: the imposing Old Council Chambers, the iconic pink Italianate Post Office and the oldest surviving building on the South Coast of NSW, the Kiama Court House, which was completed in 1861.

Kiama Council Chambers


The pink Post Office

A short walk towards the Kiama Blowhole and Lighthouse, near the Kiama Visitors' Centre, is the heritage Pilot's Cottage, home to the local harbour pilots from 1881 to 1981. For those interested in family history, you can trace your own ancestors at the Family History Centre, located downstairs from the Kiama Library.

Kiama Lighthouse


Pilot's Cottage Museum
The main attraction - Kiama Blowhole. I checked online to see the tide times before I made my travel and thought I would see the glorious blowhole. Much to my disappointment, there wasn't much activity.


Blowhole Point



I went in the Visitor Centre to check, I was told that it wasn't the tide that would influence the blowhole activity, instead direction of the wind. From memory, this blowhole is influenced by wind from South-West. The lady from Visitor Centre said there are information in the website but I can't seem to locate it, so I guess it's probably worth a phone call to the Visitor Centre to check before making a travel.


Side note: Getting addicted to stir fry udon.. yumm

C25K

I first heard of this C25K (Couch to 5K) program from my Japanese classmate. She seems to have "lubang" about things, like how she heard about home stay from Australia Japan Society. Anyway, this program is has been designed to get just about anyone from the couch to running 5 kilometers or 30 minutes in just 9 weeks.

So, one fine day, the thought that I don't think I could complete a stress ECG make me think I should work my heart a little more. Not that there is any reason for me to undergo any stress ECG but I can't help thinking I probably could only last the first few minutes. How wrong I was. I found out that I can't even last a minute.

Reason being, the program started off run 5 minutes warm up, run 30 seconds, walk 45 seconds, run 45 seconds, walk 60 seconds, run 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds (repeat 3 times), then 5 minutes cool down. I remember panting like a doggie then and boy, one minute can be so long when you run. = ="

I thought to myself that if this thing really work, I'll blog it up :P ... hence this post. I actually bought an app, apparently there were a couple of them but somehow when I looked it up, I actually missed the one with the exact name "Couch to 5K" and actually got this one instead - Ease into 5K. Must be mata sepet. Somehow instead of 5K in 9 weeks, it actually fits it into 8 weeks.

I must say I was surprised it worked, considering I was panting like a doggie when I first started, and that was running for 30-60 seconds. In fact, I was worry that I would fail to continue the program, so I ran in my usual walking sneakers. I actually don't own any trainers/sports shoes after throwing away the old one in Europe. I told myself that if I can run 5km at the end of it, I would buy a pair of running shoes for the sake of the knees.... in a way, I have to earn it. Besides, if I stuck to it for 8 weeks, it would be a shame to go back to square one. A shopaholic friend said usually people will buy all the necessary gears (shoes, running attires, etc) to motivate them to exercise. But... I know myself better, just in case I hangat-hangat tahi ayam.


My colleague said no problem in spotting me from a mile away

Little P said, "Get a good pair of shoes but good shoes are expensive. Then again, knee cap surgery is even more expensive." Morbid.. but true, can't argue with that. So, my reward was the above Nike Lunarglide+ 3 Red/Silver. My very first red colour shoes. Thought I'll get something other than black and I don't quite fancy the black/purple ones.

I'm still pretty much a couch potato, I think... but maybe now am a couch potato who can run 5K. :)
Also am actually thinking I'll try to run further and longer now that I've got proper shoes.


Side note: Now I need VBA for Dummies...

Jackets

The last many posts fall under the "Travel" category. Let's do something a little different, after all this was started as a personal blog. Anyway, I have a soft spot for jacket. I saw one that I like in Zara when I went back to Malaysia a couple of months ago, unfortunately it was a little big and I looked a little like dumpling when I put it on. So, I didn't bring it home despite it was on sale. Green in colour with detachable fleece inside.


See... it's nice isn't it. The jacket ok.. don't look at the legs.
Picture source: Zara (Malaysia) website

Anyway, I saw it again in the shop, here in Sydney. It was a little more pricey compared to when I first saw it in Malaysia :( but I was tempted... but they don't have my size. I didn't asked but all on display are M size. Oh well, I guess it is telling me that I shouldn't spent on it... reason being... I just realized that I have more jackets than I have skirts or dresses. Same number if I add up both skirts and dresses. Hmm.. Here's what I already had... :P


(L) Jacket from Supre; (R) Denim jacket from G-Star


(L) Leather jacket from Just Jeans; (R) ASOS duffle coat with hood


(L) Winter jacket from Hunt; (R) Jacket from G-Star


(L) Trench coat from Giordano; (R) A&F Hoodie


(L) Esprit Jacket; (R) Work jacket from Padini


Hoodie from Target :P

Actually I do wear them quite often, except the winter jacket from Hunt as it is a little too thick for winter in Sydney. I practically wore the leather jacket and black jacket from G-Star the whole of last winter, hence I bought the ASOS jacket so that I dont over-abuse my G-Star jacket. :P

Looking at it, they are all black or dark blue, I should've picked up some in other colours :p


Side note: Alright.. back to work

Hamilton Island: Catseye Beach, One Tree Hill & Marina Village

I'll come clean - I can't swim, and unfortunately Hamilton Island is not very forgiving for non swimmers. There are heaps of activities for swimmers, ranging from scuba diving to snorkelling and heaps of water activities. There were very limited reef related activities for non swimmers.

Coupling with the weather and my disability in swimming (I'll have to fix that) - there just isn't much we could do in relation to the reef. That being said, if the weather is good, there are some options available, like fish feeding safari and reef viewer glass bottom boat tour.

I can't comment much though, cos we did none of the above due to weather factor.

Even though the weather wasn't too kind, we did try to do what we could. Easily fit in was a walk at Catseye Beach.



Also, I've decided that the best seat at the beach were these beach bench, strategically placed under a tree, sheltered from the scorching sun, yet perfect for some reading and staring out at the sea. You may have guessed, I am not a sun baking person. :P


Best seats in the house


I didn't lie, there was sun

From the very informative website of Hamilton Island, there are also tracks of where you can have a (or more) walks. We didn't go the walks but did however check out One Tree Hill (not the TV show).



It was said that HI provides sunset drinks service at One Tree Hill daily but it was not oopen when we were there. Not sure if it was cancelled due to the drizzle or we have missed the time.



We didn't linger long, just took the next bus going to the Marina Village Front Street that came back. I think it would be a nice place to catch sunset though :)

Despite we took a free shuttle from One Tree Hill to the Marina Village, it was actually a short stroll from Reef View Hotel. Most of the time we just walked, except when it rained very heavily. There wasn't a lot of shops available, mostly restaurants or eateries.




I had a mango smoothie, yummy and my friend said the coffee was good too. This shop closed at 4pm though.



The blue umbrella at bottom right of the photo was umbrella on loan from the hotel. There were 2 of those umbrellas found in the cupboard in the bathroom in our room. So, you'll see people carrying those blue umbrellas all around the island :P

Further down, you'll find the HI Yacht Club. They have free movies on scheduled 3 times a day. It was printed as part of activities on a wet day. Think big screen with a overhead projector.



Anyway, my HI trip feels more like a staycation at a resort. My verdict, it is a beautiful relaxing place, but I personally think the price tag is a little too high, even more so for non swimmers.


Side note: Feels like bringing my camera out for a walk

Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island is one of the Whitsunday Islands, located in Queensland, Australia. It is where you would travel to if you are considering of seeing the Great Barrier Reef.

According to Wikipedia, Hamilton Island (HI) is the largest inhabited island of the Whitsunday Islands. Despite that, it gives me the feeling that it is actually rather small. It is almost exclusively for tourism. Despite it's size, there is an operating airport, HTI. Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar all service flights from Sydney to Hamilton Island.

Due to its location, it is said best time to visit would be from April to June. After weighing of time factor, and not expecting the daily rain factor, my friend and I had bit the bullet and made our travel in March. Despite it being late March, not only it rained, it poured like no tomorrow. Of the 4 days we were there, as luck would have it, it did not rain on day 4 when we were to fly out. LOL.

I would say Hamilton Island is very touristy, but that would be expected considering it is one big resort, and I suspect probably monopoly by one organisation. Hence, accommodations were expensive, as well as food. However maybe due to cost, or probably of the rainy season, I don't feel it being overcrowded.

On top of that, buggy transportation probably does help too. There are very, very few cars - from memory, it was only the free island shuttle, the airport transfer and a lorry or so. Otherwise, people commute with a buggy. If you stay in the very high end resort - Qualia, the room comes with a buggy, assuming they have included the cost.

There are of course buggy for rent. These little 4 wheels thingy don't come cheap - as of current, 1 hour $45.00, 2 hours $55.00, 3 hours $60.00 and 24 hours $85.00. Of course, the cheapest option would be taking the free shuttle bus. There are 3 different routes, serviced by green, orange and purple shuttle respectively.



We opted for the cheapest option we could find - Palm Bungalows but were lucky to have an upgrade to a room in the Reef View Hotel, overlooking the waters.



Our room was very spacious, with 2 queen beds, even the bathroom came with 2 sinks.



Standing on the balcony, it has a great view of Catseye Beach


... I took some pictures, till a fat bird came around, I was kind of worry the bird would fly straight in to the room :P


Our room booking came with buffet breakfast included. We had our breakkie at Reef View Hotel's in-house restaurant - Pool Terrace. So called as it was next to a swimming pool, I suppose.



I didn't take any pictures on breakkie though. Here's the picture of my first meal at Pool Terrace, while waiting for our room to be ready. I was starving by then, and rain got heavier, so we didn't walk further to have our lunch.


Club sandwich served with chips

Oh, and I just have to put this in...


How often do you see an air-con unit being installed in the lift itself... ?


Side note: Enjoying long weekend at home ^_^