Arrival in God's Own Country, Kerala and Kovalam

Welcome to Kerala, God's Own Country proclaimed the sign! 

What a relief it was to get off that Sri Lankan Airlines hour long flight from Katunayake, Sri Lanka to Trivanduram, India and have our feet firmly planted on solid land! 

Unfortunately for us, the welcome lasted just long enough for me to read the sign as, when I placed my passport on front of the immigration officer, I was left in no doubt that I had already outlived any such welcome. 

The problem was that my racial appearance bore no resemblance to the family name on my passport, so the logic of the Immigration authority was that my passport was fake. When I pulled my husband forward and explained that, on our marriage some forty seven years ago, I had taken his name, the hostility moved directly and squarely in his face. While my visa was examined by three other officers, stamped and orders given to me to "Go Away!' he was kept for ten minutes and haranged for marrying an inferior Western woman instead of one of his own race. We were to find out that this marriage was widely disapproved of in Kerala with Sam being treated as a "bought boy" by restaurant staff and two hotels and one home stay refusing to allow us to share a room until we produced evidence that we were, indeed, married. This had happened to us in Sri Lanka when we were younger but came as a huge shock now.

Devi Kripa Home stay hosts

We finally escaped the airport to be met by our first Keralan home stay hosts, Anil and Lekha, whose warm friendliness quickly overcame any surprise at seeing our unconventional partnership.

Devi Kripa Home Stay, Kovalam

Kerala is a Communist governed State, something we decided had both advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is that the tourism sector of the economy is very well organised for do it yourself travellers, something Sri Lanka could well take a look at. I found it easy to find home stay options because every home stay has to be registered, is audited yearly and ranked in a three tier category system. Devi Kripa Home Stay in Kovalam, has a well deserved top Gold Star rating. On arrival we were amazed to see that we had two levels to ourselves. Upstairs was a good sized bedroom complete with aircon and large "wet" kind of bathroom while downstairs we had a kitchen and sitting room. The bedroom was tastefully furnished with a large wardrobe, dressing table and stool as well as in room tea and coffee making equipment. The balconies provided a lovely sit out in the cooler early mornings and evenings.

I was not feeling at all well after eating what I had thought was a home cooked meatball just hours before we left Sri Lanka, so for the first two days I could not enjoy the beautifully cooked Keralan dishes that had been thoughtfully prepared for us. Neither could we put into action our prepared sightseeing plan, instead resting quietly in the aircon and being thankful that our home stay was down a quiet lane away from the main road where smelly rubbish was being swept up and burned roadside.

Our first night coincided with  a religious procession with the Goddess from the local temple being paraded around the narrow streets of the neighourhood. Feeling unwell, I had to give up my plan to join the procession and slept soundly despite the fireworks and music that lasted until first light. In the morning we hopped in an auto rickshaw aka tuk tuk and went around the narrow winding lanes to see the decorations and shrines outside the homes of devotees.

Hindu goddess

The photo does not do justice to this temporary street shrine with its offerings of grapes, apples, pineapples, melons, flowers and garlands. It was a wonderful display of devotion!

After following the procession's route and noting that groups of people were cleaning up the discarded water bottles and food wrappers, we continued to the Kovalam beaches.

Kovalam beach

There are four small beaches, each one separated by a rocky outcrop. As we were there at the end of the tourist season, the many seaside restaurants and shops were having a quiet time. Accommodation here is in the budget range.

Kovalam beach

The Lighthouse Beach seemed to be the most popular one today with quite a few men in the water while the women merely wet their ankles at the edge.

Lighthouse Beach, Kovalam, Kerala

Unlike beaches here in Australia, there were no public change rooms so my lukewarm idea of a sea dip was banished in favour of a very much needed back massage.

Arugum Bay, Sri Lanka

After leaving Ella at 8am we followed the hill hugging windy road we had seen from the top of Little Adam's Peak and in a surprisingly short time we were down on flat land in a dry zone. Our route took us through Buttala however we did not stop until we arrived at busy Monaragala.

Monaragala is an important town for those tourists who choose to travel by bus as you can take one  from the South coast - Kataragama, Tissamaharama and Hambantota - and then change here to go to Arugum Bay nd further north up the East Coast. If travelling to Ella and then on to Kandy and the Cultural Triangle the change can often be made at Buttala.

For us, Monaragala was our morning tea stop at the Victory Inn. It was an attractive town, the green hills adding interest to the landscape, clean and quite prosperous looking.

Arugum Bay

Then it was onwards to Pottuvil and across the bridge to Arugum Bay. Arugum Bay is a popular tourist destination with a focus on surfing and is therefore geared to people younger than ourselves, especially when it comes to accommodation which is predominantly back packer Sri Lankan style, guesthouses.

Arrival at Tsunami Hotel, Arugum Bay

The process of booking accommodation and getting what you think you have booked has always been problematic in Sri Lanka and our experience on this trip has me thinking the situation is even worse than previously. Knowing the difficulties for foreign tourists, I had asked Lucky to book accommodation for this tour for us. I learned that he, too, has the same problems of agreements not being honoured and tricks being played out to extract more money from the unlucky tourist. I had researched all the accommodation available, noting reviews of places that were constantly reported as seriously unclean, things added to the bill and upcharging above the agreed tariff on checkout. Lucky and I finally agreed that Tsunami Hotel seemed to be the best we could do and he booked two double rooms, each with air con, hot water and breakfast daily with his accommodation and food included.

Tsunami Hotel, Arugum Bay

The setting, right on the beach, looked idyillic. As long as there wasn't another tsunami! The hotel, a guest house really, was actually named prior to the 2004 tsunami and was partially destroyed at that time. It now comprises of double chalets around a central garden area. The nearness of the sea, hammocks in the trees invite indolence and inactivity - a holiday!

Double chalet, Tsunami Hotel, Arugum Bay

The trouble was, we were informed that there was only one room with air con. Sue said that as long as she had a fan and mossie net she was happy so she was escorted to her room while we started to unpack a couple of immediate items in our air con room. No hot water though, I noted. Lucky then came over and told us that the Manager had raised the charge for our air con by RS3000 per night and that there was no accommodation for him although he could go to another place which was also owned by the Tsunami owner.  Although this type of thing happens almost always in Sri Lanka and I am used to it, I was seriously annoyed. We moved to a non air con room to find that the bed was built out of concrete and, although it was a double, it had only a narrow single size thin foam pad for a mattress. After a protracted discussion a wider, thin foam pad eventually arrived. Much later still a second one to add to the thickness came, along with comments about how difficult to please I was.

Double room, Tsunami Hotel, Arugum Bay

Photos of tsunami damage, 2004

Fortunately we were able to deal with the breakfast omelette with humour! Below, Sue is holding her one egg breakfast omelette which she ordered for interest sake after being denied the usual omelette with onions, mushrooms, chillies and so on. This was not available at breakfast as it was only on the lunch menu. Breakfast omelette was one egg, beaten and fried and named omelette. [Not even extra money would get you two eggs.] 

After the scam with the rooms there was no way we were going to eat lunch at the Tsunami so we went off down the road to satisfy our growing hunger.

Mani road, Arugum Bay

 As it was the very end of the surfing season many business were already closed for the season and others in the process of doing so. We found a small shop, just three tables outside in the sand and one man making rotti at the front.

Roti shop, Arugum Bay

Toes in the sand, cold drinks in our hands, we waited happily for our rottis to be ready.

Making rotti, Arugum Bay

Our rotti arrived at our table accompanied by dhal [ lentil] curry and coconut sambal. Sue's vegetable and cheese rotti was so nice that we came again the next day. Bananas made a great dessert too.

pink bananas

Arugum Bay had a strangeness about it and it was some time before I realised that what was bothering me was the sameness and newness of the houses. Many had solar hot water and were connected to electricity. They did not look at all like the usual Sri Lankan village houses and the roads were all new, quite wide and often straight with none of the big holes and bends as they avoided dwellings built practically on the road itself. All that was washed away that fateful morning in 2004.

Post tsunami houses, Arugum Bay

Apart from the tourist season, fishing is the prime source of work in this area. Boats donated by Rotary Belguim were pulled up here and there on one stretch of the beach.

Fishing boat, Arugum Bay

Sue was an early riser and she would sit on her patio watching the slow procession of boats returning to shore after a night out on the ocean.

Fishing boats, Arugum Bay

Most tourists come to Arugum Bay for surfing yet I did not see any really good surf while we were there.

Beach cricket, Arugum Bay

During the mornings we explored the ancient ruins in the area.  Afternoons were for snoozing, reading and writing and a walk along the beach at dusk followed by a cool pre dinner drink at beach side candle lit tables.

Diving into a boiling surf

At first the sound of the sea was quite spooky, with a suspense laden silence followed by a rising angry growl, then back to silence, then growl, silence, growl until its rhythm dropped us into sleep.

Beautiful Bagara

Bagara is on list of  favourite places in Queensland so when we were looking for a destination for an Easter camping holiday trip with the family it was an obvious choice. It's not very touristy, quiet, lovely compact beaches and within a five hour drive from Brisbane - and the final drawcard - turtles still hatching at Mon Repos nearby! The van was prepared, the car packed and off we went on a beautiful day in what some call Autumn.

[ We really don't have four such defined seasons but instead we get hot, humid and wet from around September to April and cooler and dry May through August. Usually. The past two years have been constantly wet almost every month.]

Bagara is a beachside town about 11km from Bundaberg in the Wide Bay - Burnett Region. Bundaberg or 'Bundy" it is affectionately called by Queenslanders and is mostly famous for its rum and sugar industry.

Sugar Cane, near Bundaberg

There has been considerable development in the area since our last visit as Bundaberg has expanded so there was a bypass road that took us easily to Bagara which had also grown a bit with some multi storey holiday apartment buildings and a small shopping complex with two supermarkets in it. The small church opposite which looks like it was once a house reminded us that the Bagara population outside holiday time is quite small.

St Peter's Anglican Church, Bagara

Beach Report - water temp 27C

The children and I went for a walk on the beach but with warm water and gentle waves washing their feet the temptation to dive in was too great to be denied! Both children were soon splashing around happily.

Nielson's Beach, Bagara

On another day we ventured to one of Bagara's other beaches, Kelly's.

Kelly's Beach, Bagara

Mon Repos, near Bagara, is the largest turtle nesting area in Australia with the nesting season starting early in November and finishing around the end of March. the nesting season was a little late this year so we were able to book ahead to see the hatchlings break out of their nest and head for the sea. It was a beautiful night on the beach, far from neon lights - not even torches were allowed - as we were guided cautiously along the wet sand by the rangers. Every turtle that comes up to lay is tagged and her nest marked so the rangers know when to expect hatchlings to emerge. There were several children in the group and they muffled their excitement as we were shown the relocated nest up the bank where the hatchlings were making their bid for freedom from the sand. The rangers collected each one as it came falling, scuttling down the bank, holding them in a wire cage so that we could watch and hear all about the life of a turtle. After that, two turtles were carefully carried around our group so that we could touch their shell and take a photo. We then stood well back as the turtles were released from their cage and headed remarkably fast to the sea guided by torches held steady by the older selected children in the group. Even though toes tickled as the hatchlings scrambled feet remained anchored to the ground and every one hit the waves safely.

Loggerhead Turtle Hatchling, Mon Repos, Bagara

The turtles we saw were the endangered Loggerhead turtles of which it is believed there are only six hundred left. Ninety three hatched successfully and ran for the sea and there were ten unsuccessful eggs remaining in the nest. It seems that only one hatchling in a thousand makes it to adulthood so the chances of even one of "our" turtles surviving doesn't look good.

Pale Headed Rosella

 This Rosella was very watchful of us but was too keen to feed to escape our lenses.

Galah

If you've ever heard someone called a "Galah" this is a real one. Actually, a Galah is a Cockatoo. We were surprised that this one hung around long enough for us to put down out picnic sandwiches and get our cameras out.

Bundaberg

One day we went to Bundaberg for to do a bit of holiday shopping and found some delightful fashion and curio shops. Main Street was quite pretty with a parklike strip in the centre where you could rest on a bench while waiting for the ardent shoppers of our group.

War Memorial, Bundaberg

Bundaberg

Barrel Cafe, Bundaberg

Bagara is an easy place to spend a week especially when the weather is so beautiful. We mostly lazed around the camp with a daily beach time when the children rode the waves on body boards with their mother getting her exercise towing them out and finding just the right wave to ride . . . or just walked on the wet sand . . .

. . . just walking on the wet sand, camera at the ready . . . 

. . . looking for unusual or new things to photograph.

Sunshine Coast - Camping with the family

Camping has long been one of our happy family activities and our enthusiasm for this was renewed after our exciting time in Yellowstone Park, America. On our return home we converted our van to provide extra comforts in consideration for the years added, with both grandchildren being enthusiastic overseers and helpers. Excitement rose as we made our plans for their first camping experience. As an introduction to this holiday style - Camping 101 - and, catering to their love of the beach, we decided to go up the highway for about an hour to our favourite local beach on the Sunshine Coast, Dicky Beach.

Dicky Beach, Caloundra

Dicky Beach is popular with families because of the alternative water for the littlies to play as well as the skate park, barbecues, Surf Club and Lifesaver Patrols as well as shower facitities. The Surf Club here was named Queensland's best Surf Life Saving club in 2009. There are other beaches nearby which was useful once a few years ago when we had to exit the water because a shark was spotted!

Our campsite set up

Camper Van comforts

Once we were set up we headed to the beach.

Dicky Beach, Caloundra

Dicky Beach is named after an iron ship, SS Dicky, which ran aground in a storm in 1893. Apparently it was refloated but turned around and again became stuck in the sand and the decision was made to leave it there.

SS Dicky shipwreck, Caloundra

We had had some days of high winds so the surf was still quite strong and sometimes dumpy.

Picking a wave to ride

That was fun!

Fearlessly heading out to the big waves the youngestone looks for a wave assisted by Mum.

There's a wave coming!

Holding on tight, he rides right up the beach! Again and again!

Not so lucky with the next wave which is a dumper. Dad races to the rescue but undeterred he gets up and heads back out for another one.

A Dumper Wave

After a while and being dumped twice the red "rescue board" is handed over to someone else to ride and he heads to calmer waters.

Wave Rider champion!

Calmer waters

It was great to see all of the family have fun riding the waves!

Wave riding, Dicky Beach, C

On another day we went into Caloundra town to Kings Beach. This is a very much larger beach and is always crowded with swimmers. This is the main part of the holiday town of Caloundra with many high rise apartments, resturant and cafes and shops catering to seaside holidaymakers.

Kings Beach, Caloundra

Kings Beach also has a lovely pool on the foreshore - a great place to simply relax afrer fun riding the waves on the beautiful beach.

Pool at Kings Beach, Caloundra

Play fountain, Kings Beach, Caloundra

Bungy Trampoline, Kings Beach

Our short beach camping trip was so much fun that the children are trying to negotiate their way into another trip as soon as possible. The family camping tradition has been passed on !