So there is beach yoga on Fridays and Sundays which I was hell keen to do (especially after our intense bike ride yesterday) which started at 8. Unfortunately, as it was Sunday and we were pooped (disclaimer: no more incidents of Bali Belly have occurred - touch wood) it was already past 8 when we went down for breakfast. I didn't feel quite so bad though because it was raining and miserable and I really wasn't feeling like doing a downward dog on a raging, stormy beach. So instead of being zen and healthy, I got waffles and thai coffee (condensed milk and espresso - oh lordy I'm in love).
The waffles were super cool, they had a big bowl of the batter and a waffle iron which you poured your batter into and cooked it yourself. I got blueberry coulis on one and strawberry on the other, and artistically decked them out with melted chocolate, which the waitresses were super impressed with and even gave me a clap. Then I totally destroyed them, they were the greatest waffles ever. So fresh n crispy mmmmmm. We tried the Thai coffees and tea, which is made traditionally... with condensed milk. It was super sweet but the coffee flavours came through so beautifully, and it was thicker as well, and more of a caramel colour. The tea was... bright orange. Not many people have tried matcha tea, but I highly recommend it (Izba sells it - promo promo promo - we are hell cool and make good coffee, near Matilda in Currimundi or Lake Kawana Boulevard near Youi). That's what the thai tea tastes like, but it was thicker and sweeter because of the condensed milk. The colour put me off at first but then I went back for a second cup... new favourite drink. Unfortunately they don't have it here everyday so I am heartbroken and devastated. Can you bring tea through customs? I need more of it in my life - apparently it's pretty good for you too, antioxidant wise.
After breakfast we collected all of the brochures and touristy magazines we could find and searched for the coolest (but cost effective) things we could do during our stay in this beautiful country. We were both super hot and bothered by the time we decided, and went over to the reception desk and booked in a full day of elephant adventuring on Tuesday. We get picked up, go for an hour jungle trek on the elephants after being introduced and meeting them, then we get to feel them, get pictures and then the part I'm most excited about - bathing them! Apparently the elephants absolutely love it and it's an awesome bonding time with them. After that we get another trek (on foot - bye bye elephants) to a jungle shower - a fresh water waterfall that the locals use as like a bathing hole. Should be awesome. Then we are greeted by locals who take us down the river on traditional bamboo rafts, hopefully we get to see wild monkeys and other cool wildlife. Then they feed us and send us on our merry way. We can't wait!
On Thursday we booked another full day activity - a trip to James Bond Island! They come and get us early and we drive about an hour then get a ferry across to the white sandy beaches where we can snorkel, swim and relax. Then later we go sea kayaking through the river mouth with breathtaking cliffs and scenery, then get paddled into a cave which opens up into a massive underground temple. The photos in the brochure look awesome, I can't wait to take our own and share them with you all. It all feels so surreal.
We also found something in one of the brochures we were both super keen to do, a Phuket party tour. We get picked up late afternoon from our hotel, and are driven to Phuket where we go to all the best bars and clubs and get shown the cool local haunts, then get home at 1am. We were so excited, but there were no nights that suited us because we are only here until Thursday and we don't want to be too tired to ride the elephants because we partied too hard. We do have a night in Phuket on Thursday so I guess we will just do our own thing and find the good clubs ourselves (then be ultra hungover on the plane home - you're welcome Ollie...)
We decided to get the free shuttle bus to the town where we could shop, go to the markets and get cool souvenirs. First of all, we got the time wrong so we missed the first one, and didn't realise that you had to book so we put our names down for the second and hung around the pool for a while until it came. Turns out the lady at the front desk made a mistake, and put our names down when it was already booked out, so we missed out on that as well! The drivers and concierge people were totally stressing, and were so relieved when we said it was fine, and that we would just go tomorrow. We're such angels. So that kind of sucked but by this time it was our favourite time of day - happy hour!
I got my $4 pina colada, thank you very much, and Jake chose some other girly looking drink - this seems to be a trend ("The girly ones taste better!"). Because neither of us had ever tried a Bloody Mary before, we decided to get one and have a taste, and share it. It came out, thick and tomatoey with a bottle of Worcester sauce and tabasco. So, so wrong. We both had a sip and nearly vommed, and had to chug our delicious sweet cocktails to get the taste of chilli and tomato and celery out of our mouths. It was so awful. I no longer trust all alcoholic drinks to be delicious, Bloody Marys have ruined my relationship with cocktails. RIP. For our second round Jake's came in coconut and was delish, tropical and surprisingly coconuty, while I got an awesome 3-shot shot-glass called a blue eyed blonde. There was a banana liqueur as the base, blue Curacao and then Baileys on the top. So good! The waiter must have been trying to get me drunk because he offered me another pina colada with 5 minutes to go of happy hour, which I gladly accepted. Being now sufficiently intoxicated, we were determined to finish the Bloody Mary (you can't waste alcohol! No matter how bad it tastes - slogan of Mishka vodka and Golden Oak). I skulled as much as I could and almost vommed, then Jake the "champion" took the credit and finished it (there was waaaaay less than half when he started).
We watched the discovery channel and other random things on TV as we pigged out on Pringles and shocked each other over how drunk we were. Then we watched my baby husband (Taylor Lautner) in Shark Boy and Lava Girl and relived our childhood. It was wonderful. We watched the end of Need for Speed afterwards, and we (I) passed out without dinner. I woke up at 11pm and the TV was on so I watched Planet of the Apes because the remote was nowhere to be seen. I eventually found it, went back to sleep, and that was our lazy Sunday.
