Author: coloradotravelingducks

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Hilton Fiji Beach Resort and the Colorado Traveling Ducks

Yes.   We are in Fiji.   And our resort is on the beach.   A perfect last stop on our six country around the world tour.   Let’s explore our temporary home.

Lobby of our resort

We like this lobby.   Look at those flowers.  Those ceiling fans are nice and different than ours at home.   And the store is Jack’s.   We will soon learn that Jack’s is a main store in Fiji.   Some of everything and great souvenirs.  We have our keys and the golf carts are ready to drive us to our room.

From our patio

A great view from our patio.   Nice to have lounge chairs, in sand, near us.

From our patio

Looking to the left, the pool and then the restaurants.   There are a few restaurants here to enjoy.

Our patio

Of course, we need a view of our patio.  We are on the ground floor so we can walk out of our room, directly to the beach, pool or restaurants.   Hilton Fiji Beach Resort is rather large, so here is our stop for the Bula Express.

Bula Express

Bula means hello, good, and many pleasant greetings or comments.   It is a friendly word.   We can ride the shuttle all around the resort, but we prefer to walk and see everything.

Restaurant. Breakfast served here

This is one of our main restaurants.   Our complimentary breakfast is served here.   That breakfast is a huge buffet with everything.   Delicious and we usually sit on the outdoor area looking at the beach.

Pool

This is part of our pool.   This smaller area is great for smaller humans.   If you are wondering about the dark sky and all the clouds, don’t worry.   The storm clouds didn’t last very long, but when it was calmer and sunny, mom wasn’t taking photos.   We were in the Pacific Ocean often.   Those moms love to swim.   They both go out far, but Soapy’s mom really goes far.   I was a little worried since I looked at the map and didn’t see land between Fiji and New Zealand.   But all is well.   Those ladies are adventurous, but careful and safe.    Need something to do between swimming, sunning and eating?

Chess anyone?

Here is the answer.   Chess anyone?   Back towards our room, this wishing well, flower pot, grabbed our attention.

Flowers and massage table

Behind the flowers are massage tables.   A massage, outdoors and near the beach, is a wonderful thing.

Sitting on lounge chair on our patio

Soapy Smith Duck and I, Zeb the Duck, are enjoying the breeze from the Pacific Ocean while sitting on our patio.  While in Fiji, we plan to spend much of our time at the beach.

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Colorado Traveling Ducks Visit Manly, near Sydney, Australia

Back on the boat in Sydney Harbor.   They have hop on hop off boats, so we are heading to Manly today.

Manly Wharf

Manly is a  popular beach town near Sydney.   Some people even commute by boat between Manly and Sydney for jobs.   Downtown, we liked the sign for the Municipality of Manly.

Manly

Perfect weather led us to wander around, do some shopping, and then think about lunch.

Sculpture

We decided to get sandwiches and eat at the beach.

Manly Beach

These steps were convenient and gave us a great view of the sand and water.   Perhaps we were too interested in the beach and didn’t pay attention to sea gulls behind us.

Adorable seagull or clever thief?

Before our first bite of food, this fellow, or one like him, flew from behind us, dove at our food and got the top bread from one sandwich.   He was quick.   Probably experienced at the grab and fly routine.   We were surprised.   After eating the rest of our lunch, it was time to walk on the beach.

Lifeguards on Manly Beach

We are life guards for the day.   We really think they were training new, young, life guards.

Practicing rescue skills

They ran across the sand and quickly, into the water and on the boards.   We thought they looked very good.   We like this.

Beautiful Manly beach

Families having fun with their children on the beach.   But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.   Time to walk back to catch a boat to Sydney’s Circular Quay.

Looking out to sea

Not expecting to need the life saving ring, we used it as a look out for small ducks to sit.

Back for a snack?

Another look back.   Moms say no time for another snack on the deck.

Stand up paddle boarding

These people are practicing stand up paddle boarding.   Time for us to board our boat.   It is a little windy here.

Windy, but good sailors

These sailboats are leaning, but the crew handles everything.   No over turned boats today.   Tomorrow we leave for our last destination.

Sydney Harbor Bridge

So this is our farewell to Sydney Harbor and Australia.  We love Australia and hope to return and stay for a longer time.   You will love Australia also.

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Enjoying Sydney Harbor with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Today we did a little shopping.   When in Australia, you must purchase Uggs.   Of course, we can buy Uggs at home and many places in the world, but Uggs are from Australia, so this is where we must purchase more.   Each mom purchased a pair of boots and Soapy’s mom also bought a really great jacket.  The timing is perfect.   Uggs on sale now, the beginning of summer in Australia, and November is the beginning of winter in Colorado.   Only concern is getting all this stuff on the plane.   The store we visited did not ship, so moms have a packing challenge.   But, they will do it.   Wandering around Sydney Harbor, we bought boat tickets.

Under Sydney Harbor Bridge

Here we go, under the Sydney Harbor bridge.   And very close, we admire the Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Opera House

We are blessed with another day of sunny, beautiful weather.

Leaving Circular Quay

This is the dock area of Circular Quay.    A center of activity with shopping, tourism, restaurants and the wonderful water front.   Leaving Circular Quay, we pass this fort.

Old fort

We love the old bricks here.

Homes on hillside

And homes on the hill around the harbor.   Our boat takes us to several ports.

Beach

And great beaches.

Explore the shore

Rocky area for climbing and exploring.

Boats near Manly

And boats anchored near Manly Wharf.   Manly is a famous town near Sydney.   Next time we will show you some of Manly.

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Featherdale Wildlife Park with Colorado Traveling Ducks in Sydney, Australia

We love animals.  Today we will visit Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Featherdale Wildlife Park

Seeing the animals native to Australia will be fascinating.  There are so many kinds of marsupials here, animals with pouches.  This is a wildlife park, so the animals are in enclosures, but the enclosures are large and humans can touch and feed some animals.   Upon entering we were entertained by these wombats.

Wombats

Aren’t they cute?  These animals look like miniature kangaroos, but the sign said they are Red Necked Pademelon.

Feeding small kangaroo like animal. A red necked pademelon

Soapy’s mom is feeding them.   There are several places in the park to purchase approved food for the animals.   We purchased food several times.   This Red Necked Pademelon came to see the Colorado Traveling Ducks.

Red Necked Pademelon

She has a baby in her pouch.   A really colorful bird, the Southern Cassowary is the heaviest of all Australia’s birds.

Southern Cassowry

He has blade like claws and is capable of killing.   He is also capable of swallowing a whole mango.   The Southern Cassowary is an amazing bird.   We like his helmet, too.   In the United States our pelicans are white.

Australian pelicans

Here we have black and white pelicans.   The moms just loved the koalas, so we paid to go in a special area so they could pet and touch this koala.

Petting koala

The koala has thick, soft fur.   Good thing they cannot take animals into Colorado, or I think they might have brought him home.  The Little Penguins are wonderful.

Little penguins

We like animals that are not so much bigger than we are.  These are the smallest penguins in the world.   The sign says some even live under Manly wharf.   We visited Manly but did not see them that day.   Mom and I saw them 14 years ago on Phillips Island, near Melbourne.

Little penguins

We love these little penguins.   You may have heard of the Dingo Fence in Australia’s center, near the opal mines of Coober Pedy.   Mom and I, Zeb the Duck, saw it  years ago.   We were told the Dingo fence is the longest structure in the world, longer than China’s Great Wall.   The fence was necessary to keep the Dingos, Australia’s wild dogs away from the cattle and sheep.   But the Dingo we saw today, was calm and seemed like a dog that could live in our house.

Dingo

The sign told some differences between domestic dogs and dingos.  Dingos do not bark.   That would be nice sometimes.   And the Dingo only breeds once a year.   The short beaked echidna eats termites and other ant species.   A sign told us the female incubates one egg in her pouch.

Short Beaked Echidna

The baby echidna is called a puggle.  A new name for a baby animal to us.  The rest of our group left after a couple hours, but we loved the animals and had not seen all of them.   So we stayed for the entire day, taking a taxi to our hotel.  We stayed until the park closed.   The snack area had outside seating, so we enjoyed a quick lunch.

Lunch

My mom wanted a hot dog and Soapy’s mom wanted chili cheese fries.   Not really sure what all was on those fries, but the moms were happy.

Uninvited lunch guest

We had a visitor, or a beggar, join us for lunch.   There were many signs asking visitors not to feed the birds.   So, sorry, no food for you big bird.   After lunch we continued exploring.

Ghost Bat

The ghost bat is Australia’s largest carnivorous bat.   And he is only 200-240 mm in size.   Next we saw a Bilby.

Bilby

These are rare and live in central deserts, including those near the Kimberly in Western Australia and those of Southwest Queensland.   This Bilby was not interested in seeing us.   Now one of my favorites.

Tasmanian Devil

The Tasmanian Devil.   He came to meet us.   Four years ago in Tasmania, we saw some Tasmanian Devils and were told they have a disease that could threaten their existence.   These all looked healthy and we were happy to see that.  The Tasmanian Devils were being fed and this guy showed his sharp teeth between taking bites.

Tasmanian devil

We think he is our friend. And a Goodfellows Tree Kangaroo.

Goodfellows Tree Kangaroo

We had never seen one of these nocturnal animals.   He is interesting to see.   Here is a Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat.

Southern Harry nosed Wombat

The young stay in the pouch for 6-9 months and are weaned at one year of age.   The pouch of the wombat faces backward to avoid collecting dirt in it while digging burrows.   We are sure the baby wombats appreciate that.  Here is a tall bird.

Emu

The emu stands about 2 meters tall.   The female lays the eggs and that is the end of her parental duties.   The male takes over all parental duties, including the incubation of the eggs.   This small guy is a wonder.

Splendid Tree Frog

The Splendid Tree Frog lives near the Kimberly Region of Western Australia.   And we learned that frogs pull their eyes back into their head to help squish the food in their mouth.   This last one we will show you is rather frightening.

Inland Taipan

The inland taipan grows up to two meters long.   It is rare in Queensland, and presumed extinct in New South Wales and Victoria.   The Inland Taipan is considered the world’s most venomous snake.   That is one Australian creature we really don’t want to see in the wild.   As you noticed, we really love the animals and learned so much at Featherdale Wildlife Park.   We spent much of the day feeding kangaroos and admiring koalas.   We hope you visit Featherdale Wildlife Park when you are in Sydney.   Especially if you are not visiting other areas in Australia where you could see these animals in their natural habitat.  Our moms can’t resist showing a couple more photos of some favorites.

Koala

Koalas sleep most of the day and night, but they are just adorable.   And a favorite pastime at the park.

Feeding kangaroo like animal

Soapy’s mom is feeding another small, kangaroo like animal.   There are a lot of photos in this post, but we have over 250 photos of the animals.   I know…Humans    But this is just to cute not to share with you.

Just too cute

The animals are waiting for you to visit.   And buy them some treats.

 

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Colorado Traveling Ducks Arrive in Sydney, Australia

Another long overnight flight and we are now on our tour bus in Sydney, Australia.   Here we are at the famous Bondi Beach.

Bondi Beach

We love beaches and this is a great one.   Right in the city of Sydney.

Ducks on Bondi Beach

Isn’t this great sand.   Behind us you can see some surfers and a view of Sydney.  Of course we like this fellow.

Our new friend

Ducks and seagulls are friends here.   We believe he is standing on one foot.  We didn’t pose with our new friend, but he sees us.  Soapy’s mom loves beaches.

Soapy’s mom on Bondi Beach

She is ready to stay here and enjoy the beach, but not today.   We ducks found a great place to sit.

Ducks ready to ride

We are ready to ride.   We love beaches, too.   But, back to the bus and a short ride.   We are going to Mrs. Macquarie’s chair.

Information about Mrs. Macquaries Chair

This sign explains the chair.

Ducks on Mrs. Macquarie’s chair

This chair is a little big for the Colorado Traveling Ducks, but we love looking out at the water.  So, let’s leave the chair and walk to the water.

From chair walking to water

Isn’t this beautiful?   We love it.   Let’s go to the railing and the famous Sydney Harbor.

A great view of Sydney Harbor

On the left is a cruise ship.  The ships dock right here in Circular Quay.   Then the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge.   This is a perfect view of Sydney Harbor.  But, back to the bus and we are going to Darling Harbor.

Getting on boat for lunch and harbor cruise

Let’s follow Stephanie and get on this boat.   We will have lunch here and enjoy a short harbor cruise.   Lunch was delicious, and now it is time for dessert.

Dessert time

Everything was fabulous, and we loved dessert.  Sitting on deck, we enjoy our harbor cruise.

Ducks on deck

You can see it is not very crowded so we can walk around and see everything.

We love seeing our tracks on the water.

The back of the boat has the least wind, so it is safer for small rubber ducks.   We love to look back and see our trail on the water.   The weather is perfect and we really enjoyed everything we saw today in Sydney.   We want to tell you we were here in early November.   So much has changed since then.   When we were in Australia, we saw no evidence of the horrible fires that would burn so much of the country.   And, of course, none of us had even heard of Coronavirus.   We are so grateful that we went on this trip before our world changed so much.

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Ubud Village Hotel at Monkey Forest, Bali, Indonesia with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Before we head to the airport for our next destination, let’s look around our hotel.   Ubud Village Hotel at Monkey Forest calms visitors as we relax and enjoy the beauty around us.   From the main street, Jalan Monkey Forest Road, we enter our resort.

Entrance to our home in Ubud

You see there are many motorcycles, and our hotel has a parking, drop off, area for tourist convenience.

Arrangement of flowers

Beautiful flowers in the lobby makes us feel welcome.   Straight ahead, we noticed this small pool.

First small pool

A pool here gives us a tropical feeling and exotic atmosphere.

Hand carved wooden chairs and table

Small shops and a gym border each side of pool, while hand carved chairs and table allow us to sip a beverage and enjoy the atmosphere.   Continuing toward the back of the resort, we follow the path.

Path through hotel to restaurant and pool

Our room is last room on left.   Tropical view from our room.  Soapy and his mom are a floor above us, while they enjoy a higher view of lush vegetation.   Breakfast is served in this main restaurant.

Dining facing main pool

Dining and looking at the main pool.

Serene pool

The pool is uncovered and there is a snack bar at the far end.   Everythying is very convenient, located together, but with the illusion of space and solitude.   This bar and smaller restaurant, where we had our dinner the first evening, looks out to the street.

Looking toward main shopping street

We would love to go shopping or to the Monkey Forest, but we need to get on our bus now.   Heading to the airport and our next country.

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Bali’s Taman Ayun Temple with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Let’s visit Taman Ayun Temple.

Taman Ayun Temple

Built in 1634, Taman Ayun Temple was a main temple of the Mengwi Kingdom, which survived until 1891.   According to Lonely Planet, this is a spacious place to wander around, away from crowds.   And we agree.   To enter this Hindu temple complex, your legs must be covered.

Must be covered to enter

A few of our group, including our guide, were wearing shorts.   The temple provides complimentary sarongs for men and women so we could all enter.   Properly attired, we climb the stairs and pass through this gate.

Through gate

This is a meru, or multitiered shrine.

Meru. A multitiered shrine

Very elegant.  And a large temple.

Temple

We are instructed to go around this building to see the moat and more of the complex.

Around temple to moat

Very nice.   As we walk, we ducks admire the foliage.

Nice flowers

Aren’t these interesting blossoms?  And another view.

Temple complex

Notice that there are not many tourists here.   Time to wander, take photos and enjoy the serenity.

Shrines

This complex is surrounded by a moat.  This is now part of subak, a complex rice-field irrigation system.   The masonry is beautiful.

Covered area. Great stone work

This covered area is available for gatherings.   We love this.

Interesting statue

With the water we enjoy the stone fish.  You can guess what this was used for.

Area for cock fights

The figures show this to be the arena for cock fights.   Isn’t this a pretty fountain?

Fountain

We like it.    But everybody knows ducks love water.   Leaving Taman Ayun Temple complex, we discovered a modern use for the extensive moat system.

Fishing in the moat

Fishing on a warm afternoon seems to be a pastime enjoyed all over the world.   We recommend that you visit this temple when you are in Bali.   Beautiful and away from the crowds.

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Bali’s Museum Puri Lukisan with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

Let’s visit Bali’s oldest art museum.

Museum Puri Lukisan

We walk through the ornate entrance and receive our entrance ticket from our guide.

Puri Lukisan Art Museum

This places beautiful.

Puri Lukian

Lovely, lush landscaping and such nice stairs and pathways.

Puri Lukisan

At the top of the first set of stairs we stop to admire this arbor and bridge over the lake.

Puri Lukisan

We follow a path along the water and fountain.  Puri Lukisan museum consists of four main exhibit buildings.  We will only show some art from one, the South Building.

South building

This building displays primarily new acquisitions and temporary exhibits.

sculpture

This was an interesting sculpture.  But this.

Colorful

We like colorful work.   This is rather timely for late October and early November.

Spirits of the Forest

Titled Spirits of the Forest by Satya Cipta, 2019.   This one reminds us of island life.   *676*

Pretty

Remember, Bali is one of several thousand islands that comprise Indonesia.   That is all we are showing  you.   On display is a letter written to the Bali government from then, Attorney General, Robert Kennedy.   Mr. Kennedy thanked the government of Bali for hospitality and honors bestowed upon him and his wife during an official visit.   We really want you to visit Bali and experience this art museum.

Water lilies

After more exploring, we leave the exhibit and walk toward the pond.   Aren’t these water lilies fabulous?  Now we go down the stairs and get on our tour bus.   When in Bali, spend a little time here.  We think you will like it.  We did.

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Goa Gajah or Elephant Cave in Bali with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Elephant Cave?  OK, our moms said no elephants here, so let’s see what is here.

Entering Goa Gajah or Elephant Cave

Walking past the shops, we are told that this was built in the 9th century and served as a sanctuary.

Path with steps down

Quite a long downward path with steps.   But pretty.

Pretty foliage as we descend to cave

We love the colors of the plants.   From the path, we have a good view of the area.

Looking down on complex

Stones are piled after being recovered in the area.  Pavilions for meeting and prayer.   We later read that these fountains were for women bathing.

Fountain of Youth

Someone told us these waters were to have fountain of youth properties, so everyone went to get some of that water.   Soapy’s mom is getting water to remain youthful now.   This is the entrance to the cave.

Entrance to Elephant Cave

Wow.   The carvings in the stone are so elaborate and detailed.   Inside the cave we looked at the alcoves for offerings.

Alcove for offering

Very nice, but we don’t know the real significance of these items.

Offering

There were about 8-10 alcoves.   All was very interesting.  Exiting the cave, we admired these items.

Part of religious retreat

This is a very quiet area and we were told may people come here to meditate.   The pavilion provides a place for prayer.

Pavilion

We could spend more time here, wandering in this peaceful area.   There are very few other tourists here now, so it is a pleasant location for meditating or thinking.   However, it is time to walk back up that path with steps.

After cave shopping opportunities

And a little time for shopping.   We have been fortunate in Bali.  Most of the temples were not crowded during our visit.   People are fine, but some quiet, peaceful time is nice on a long trip also.   We are very happy in Bali.

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Bali’s Pura Tanah Lot, Sea Temple, with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Driving in Bali we saw rice fields.

Rice field

This lady is working.   Here is newly planted rice.

Newly planted rice

Rice is a major crop and dietary staple in Bali.   Today we are going to Pura Tanah Lot, or the Sea Temple.   This is a complex of Hindu Temples located on the sea.   Our bus parks and we are eager to see everything.   We enter the complex, walk along a path with many shops, heading for the sea.   But wait.

Soapy’s mom petting a snake

A snake?   And Soapy’s mom is petting the snake.

Big snake

That is a pretty big snake.   But the snake is welded and he tolerates we tourists very well.   Wow!   Love the view.

Going to the sea

We are going to the steps and then to the sea.

Beautiful

This is beautiful.   The lawn, temples and sea.

Temple with limited accessibility

Here is another temple.   But this one is only accessible during low tide.    Too late to go now.

Tide coming in

Just time for those in the temple to return to the mainland.

High tide now

The temple is isolated for now.   Bali is the only Hindu majority province in Indonesia.   About 83.5% of the population adhere to Balinese Hinduism.   You probably know that Indonesia is largely a Muslim country.  Wikipedia says Indonesia has the highest Muslim population of any country in the world.   But Bali is Hindu.  We saw no tension between people about religion.   Everything works smoothly and people are very welcoming and nice here.  This is a beautiful area.   We took many photos, but without feeling the sea breeze and hearing the pounding surf, they all look about the same.   Closer to the bus, there are restaurants and many shops, but we spend most of our time by the sea, enjoying the solitude and the sound of the ocean.   When in Bali, don’t miss Pura Tanah Lot, or the Sea Temple.   It was a wonderful place for us.