Mornington Peninsula Hot Springs

Mornington Peninsula Hot Springs

My much needed blissful night away

Why have I never visited this beautiful place before?- Is what I asked myself after the guided tour around the Mornington Penisula Hot Springs.
My expectations were set extremely lower then reality!




As soon as you arrive at the hot springs you get this relaxing, zen feeling.
Located in the middle of the bush, but not too far from the ocean.. You're surrounded by beautiful nature. It took my partner and I a 2 hour drive from Melton to get to the Hot Springs, but I'm telling you now it was totally worth it.
All though my next visit to the Hot Springs I am planning on staying somewhere closer, as it would make the perfect weekend away.

So we arrived at 7pm, an personally I think the Hot Springs was great at night. Watching the sunset from the Hilltop Spa was breathtaking, but we will talk about that later.
The Hot Springs has two different receptions, one for the Bathing house and another for the Spa Dreaming Centre. This makes your visit more convenient and means no lines!
One thing I noticed as soon as we arrived was the exceptional customer service from the staff.
In the matter of a few minutes I was greeted for my personal tour around the Hot Springs.....
* A robe, towel & locker can be purchased at the Hot Springs for an extra cost $
(I recommend hiring all 3)
The Hot springs has over 30 different pools and bathing experiences! My favourite had to be the "cold plunge", a freezing pool which you jump into after the Saunas. It gives you the most refreshing feeling afterwards!

I was shocked as I was touring the Hot Springs, I didn't know how massive it was. They have literally thought of everything! It doesn't matter how old you are theirs literally something for everyone. Let me explain;

- Families: There is a specific area for families to bathe, which is located right next to the cafe, toilets, lockers & not to far from reception.
There is also the most perfect picnic area. Which makes it easier to enjoy lunch with the family, and its surrounded by beautiful nature.
- Friends & Special event groups: One of my favourite areas of the Hot Springs was there new Marquee. It is so beautiful inside, and would hold a very large group. Can be booked for private bookings if your wanting to hire it out for a special event and its perfect for friends! I would personally recommend visiting the Hot Springs with friends if you've had a big weekend. Its the perfect way to relax and unwind and will recover your body.
- Couples: Hot Springs is perfect for couples, It's just so romantic! It would be the perfect way to spend an anniversary or even a birthday with your loved one. I recommend booking the Spa Dreaming Centre as its more secluded and private.

Hot Springs is literally for everyone. No one can complain about there visit as EVERYONE leaves relaxed and feeling just beautiful and calm. After leaving the Hot Springs I just felt so good, believe it or not I didn't get one bit of road rage on the drive home (shocking huh)! Hahaha, no but seriously- I felt great on the 2 hour drive home.
When we arrived back at home I still felt amazing, and my skin felt so silky and soft.
They say to not shower for a couple hours after leaving the Hot Springs, this allows the minerals to soak into your skin.
Let me tell you now, that night I had the best sleep in a very long time!

MORE INFORMATION:
Natural Hot Springs:
Natural Hot Mineral water flows from deep underground into the many pools and private baths at this coastal oasis of relaxation. Victorias only natural hot springs has two distinct offerings: The Bath House and the Spa Dreaming Centre.
The Bath House:
The Bath House is a global bathing wonderland offering more than 20 different bathing experiences for visitors of all ages including:
- A cave pool
- Reflexology walk
- Turkish steam bath
- Sauna
- Cold Plunge pools
- Family Pools
- Massaging thermal mineral showers
- Hilltop pools
- Indoor and outdoor footpaths
Spa Dreaming Centre:
At the Spa Dreaming Centre the emphasis is on tranquil spaces, private pools for guests 16 years and over, and an array of pampering spa treatments to revitalise body, mind and spirit. Services include a full range of treatments from Kodo full-body massages to facials, mud and salts wraps, foot therapies and ancient healing stone experiences.
- 20 massage tables
- Sauna
- Zen Chi Massage machines
- Cold plunge pools
- Arabian marquee
- Shirodhara
Cafes:
Two cafes offer breakfast and lunch seven days a week and dinner on a Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Private function or group bookings are available any day or night.
All seasons:
Perfect for all seasons and all weather conditions. An experience that is enjoyable and reliable every day or night of the year.
Attraction Pass:
One of seven top attractions in Mornington Peninsula Attractions Pass, which saves up to 40% on admission with bonuses at four attractions and includes discount offers at three more.

I thank all of the lovely staff for hosting me at Mornington Hot Springs, I had the most fantastic time. I will be visiting again very soon thats for sure. I recommend visiting the Hot Springs to everyone, you will NOT be disappointed. 
Book a session before Valentines day (would be the best valentines gift) xxxxxx

Springs Lane, Fingal (Rye), Victoria 3939
T: +61 5950 8777 F:+61 3 5950 8705
info@peninsulahotsprings.com

 Book your local relaxing getaway today
http://www.peninsulahotsprings.com/home-page

Potato Head Bali

Potato Head, Seminyak. 

Who hasn't herd of Potato Head! The famous restaurant located in Seminyak. 
This place is fancy, but don't plan on going all out if your on a budget!

Potato head is restaurant, a fancy bar, a roof top bar of a night time & don't forget your bathers because theirs sunset beds and an infinity pool with a swim up bar.
This place is so popular that if your planning on watching the sunset on there sunset beds, you may have to book a day in advance. 
On a nice hot day, the infinity pool is packed. Its a really beautiful pool that looks over to the beach. 
I really recommend visit Potato Head if your a couple and want a fancy romantic night out. I mean you can bring your family, but its a little pricy and not there is not much for the kids to do. Of a night time this place is beautiful, and watching the sunset with your partner or travel buddy is truly a MUST DO in Bali. 

I would describe the prices at Potato Head as normal restaurant prices in Australia. You will not find a cheap cocktail like all of the other place you eat out at in Bali.
If your on a budget, I would some money aside for a dinner at Potato Head. It really is a must do!
If you're short on money, then visit for a lunch. There are cheaper things on the menu and you can get a drink and lunch for about $15. 

My photos really don't do justice, so if your heading to Bali you must visit Potato Head. If you're still not sure, type potato head into google. There are plenty of review to make your mind up. 

Sharing the love in Bali

Give back in Bali, share the love

Now what do I possibly mean by share the love in Bali? No don't hook up with any of the local surfers or the good looking tourists. 
I'm talking about giving back in a small way, and showing the locals you do care.

When you walk down the street (especially in Kuta) you are bombarded by many people selling things like anklets. Some of the parents get their children to beg, assuming that the tourists will give in easier to the kids. Jake and I always thought it was a good idea to offer them a meal instead of buying off of them. 
On many separate occasions we would take the begging kids into the local Mini mart or special K, and tell them to choose a drink, snack, icy pole & whatever it was that they wanted. 
When you're first telling them that they can pick anything that they want they are a little confused and get shy. But after you purchase a little something for them, they run off down the street and show all of there friends and family with a big smile on there face. 

This isn't a huge deal, but something so small can mean so much to these people. They are so thankful when you do something like this, they honestly appreciate it so much. 

On another occasion, we were getting our henna done by a man we've been to before on the beach in Kuta. He was quite a nice man and would always give us reasonable prices. One night we even met his wife, and we had a lovely chat to the couple. 
Anyway on this one day at the beach when he was doing our henna, we were bombarded with about 6 locals trying to sell us stuff. From pants, drinks, anklets.. EVERYTHING. After telling them no for a long time this one lady did not stop. I said look, I will not buy off of you but if your hungry I will shout you and the rest of these guys lunch. 
She sort of didn't believe me and kept persisting me to buy... 
I asked what was there favourite pizza flavour and they all sort of laughed and told us BBQ chicken. I said okay I will be back with you BBQ chicken pizza. They all laughed and thought yeah right, you won't come back. Tourists often use excuses and always say they'll be back, but never are..

SO we went across to Pizza hut and what did we do, we brought a family size BBQ chicken pizza, for all of these locals to gather around and eat. 
When we delivered it to them, they were over the moon. They were so happy that we came back for something to eat for them.

You have to remember that Bali is a very poor country. An instead of giving people tips or buying off of them I always like to buy THEM something such as food. Its something so small but it makes them very happy. The meals that they eat are always so simple that when you offer them something different they love it. 
Here are some photos of the locals eating pizza on the beach, and a little girl I fell in love with on the street & offered to buy food. 

Share the love, give back. Even if its as small as spending $5, you will make a locals day. 

BALI- Visit an orphanage

MUST DO IN BALI; Visit an orphanage

It's always good to give back to the less fortunate, and in Bali majority of us Aussies are so rich compared to them. We take a lot of things for granted and don't realise how fortunate a lot of us are. Unfortunately there are a lot of Orphanages in Bali and a volunteer from Switzerland was explaining to me why.
A lot of poor parents can't afford to bring up there children, there for they will go to an orphanage. A lot of the children are homeless already and get rescued by an orphanage and in a lot of cases some of the children will have deceased parents and there for have no one looking after them.

The specific orphanage we visited was one just out of denepansar, hidden in an ally way. With a mixture of boys and girls all aged between 4-16. The orphanage was owned by an American man whom loved the idea of giving these children a place to sleep. The building used to be an abandoned building where the homeless children begun to sleep in. Then the American man and a few Indonesian women decided to fix it up and make it into a proper orphanage. Where all of the children have a proper bed each, a music room, a kitchen, toilets and bathrooms, and eating room and places to play outside.
This orphanage seemed to be very well looked after, as they had a lot of donations there already. Most of the children attended school in the evening and when they came back they had all sorts of things to do like play musical instruments or even use laptops that were donated by Aussies.

But its very easy to make the kids smile over there and makes some differences.
I visited the local Bintang supermarket and only spent about $30 and got plenty to keep the children happy. My $30 broght the kids rice, toilet paper, treats like chocolate, toys and some milk! Things like rice are a smart thing to buy for the orphanages as they will go along way and last. Toys of course keep the kids happy, so its always good to buy them things like that, that make them happy!

My advice though is to visit an orphanage that doesn't get much help. You want to give to those who don't get much often! If you don't mind having a little bit of a shock then visit places such as the orphanage that has the kids effected by the Bali bombings. I really wish I had visited this one, as i've herd it really touches a spot in your heart. Most of the kid there are missing limbs or effected somehow in a big way. I would love to give to them and really show them my love

The feeling you get out of giving to these poor kids is truly amazing.
If you can spend as little as $30 and make a difference then why not do so.
Make a visit to the orphanage on your Bali to do list, you will not regret it I promise.

BALI SHOPPING- ART

All you need to know about buying Art in Bali

If you are an often traveller to Bali you'd know what shopping fazes they go through.
Like the hippie geanie pants, they will never go out of fashion!
For some reason you'll see wooded penises being sold everywhere, fireworks, BB guns, rip off sunnies and of course the basketball jerseys. Wait, I can't forget the Ketut and Rhonda shirts, c'mon Bali thats old news!
But now Bali shopping seems to have a new trend, and thats Art!
On every street you'll find various shopping selling canvases with beautiful Art. I couldn't help my self and all together I came home with 4 paintings and 4 poster like pieces (i'll show you a photo below).
Obviously you can't take the paintings home while their stuck to the wooden canvas, so the shop keepers take them off of the frame and role the paintings up for you to take home.


Shopping in Bali is always a must. If you've visited Bali more than once you always say that the next time you go you won't shop this time. Thats exactly what I said before I went this time, and what did I do.... I shopped almost as much as last time! I find bartering just addictive, and even though some of the stuff I buy never goes to good use, I still just love shopping in Bali.
For some people bartering can be stressful and exhausting, and it is! But thats the fun of it, its a bit of a laugh and trust me you can get good bargains.

Bartering isn't for some people, but if you know how you can get the prices you want.
when bartering for the pairings, the sellers usually start with something ridiculous like $100, DO NOT PAY THIS MUCH. I am telling you, you are getting ripped off if you pay that much. Personally I wouldn't pay anymore then $25 for any of my paintings. An they give excuses like no this is oil paining, very expensive. Do not fall for that, the pairings are massed produced and barely any of them are unique unless your shopping in Seminyak.

Seminyak paintings are all higher costing, and you'll expect to pay Australian prices, for example I found this beautiful painting in a boutique and it was $150.
Personally I am happy with the types of paintings I was getting for $20, they were beautiful!
Heres some Art that you can expect to see in Bali, I found myself buying a lot of elephant paintings which aren't hard to find trust me.

AREAS TO BUY
Seminyak; More expensive- Unique paintings.
Kuta- Can find a bargain but expect to be bartering a lot. Bartering in Kuta can be tricky as they get a lot of tourists around their and they try and rip you off!
Legian- Great for buying art or anything really! This is where i managed to get a lot of my cheap ones.
Beach- Anywhere along the beach you'll find people selling anything and everything. They seem to be a lot more desperate so expect to find a lot of bargains here as well!

Bali Safari and Marine park

Bali Safari & Marine

For those unaware, this is not the "bali zoo", Bali zoo is another zoo which is quite smaller and my opinion a waste of time. 

This was my second visit to the Bali Safari & Marine park and its always an enjoyable activity! The main attraction of this zoo is how hands on it is! 
What I mean by that is their are different animals around the zoo that you can hold or feed and have a photo opportunity. This is at no extra cost, and you can capture the moment on your own camera. Of course theres a photographer there taking photos and you can pay $10-$15 for a printed photo in a cute Safari and Marine park frame. For first timers I really recommend getting a printed photo as its a cute memorable souvenir to take home. 

Let me begin with prices! A lot of tourists like to book these types of activities before they go to Bali, so its already organised. BUT  for our little adventurous bargain hunting souls, we prefer to barter a good deal in Bali. 
So it was of a morning time that we decided we wanted to visit the park, so we finished our breakfast early and set off down the street. It was about 8-9 am in the morning, as you have to get an early start. 
We found a good tour guide that we ended up using our whole holiday. It wasn't hard to barter, they always gave good prices and majority of the time they didn't charge us for Transport. They we apart of the Rama Garden Hotel, which also is a restaurant (located in Legian on the Padmas street). 
Keeping in mind that with the Zoos and things they have set prices! So the man named Gary that we were dealing with, pretty much gave us the same price as on the brochure but didn't charge us our return transport. This ended up about $25 cheaper then what other tourists were paying! 

Have a look on the website for Rates and Packages, keeping in mind all Zoos are pretty pricey, and just because its Bali doesn't mean their Zoo is cheap! The admission prices keep the Zoo running! 
http://balisafarimarinepark.com/RatesPackages.asp

The Zoo is quite big, but does't take forever to walk around. There are plenty of things to do including;
- Live show
- Theatre
- Feeding opportunities
- Photo and animal holding opportunities
- Two restaurants
- Shopping
- Water park
- Safari ride
- Even a safari resort

Theres plenty to do! We started with all of the photo opportunities while everyone was busy watching the Live show (good tip so theres no lines). We then visited the elephants and got some gorgeous photos feeding them. After that we went on the Safari bus which I really enjoyed as your so close to so many of the Jungle animals including Lions and things. The safari bus tour guide also gives you so many tips about the animals, very educational for kids.
After that we were a bit starving so after seeing all of the animals we went and had a feed at the restaurant. All of the prices were very reasonable and alike most of the other Bali restaurants, CHEAP!
We ate for about $10 each and it was a very good meal. Last time I visited the park I went to the all you can eat buffet as it was included in my package, that was also a very good feed!

Overall we had a fantastic day and it was great to see Jakes face as it was his first time visiting the park. As i've mentioned above, the best part about the zoo is all of the photo opportunities you get with the animals. Australia offers nothing like that, we're you can pat a tiger, hold an orangutang or a bear cat. Unless your willing to pay top dollar! SO it really is the best part.
After visiting twice now I probably wouldn't rush to go again, but thats only because I've seen it all now, nothing to do with the lovely Zoo.
So I highly recommend making this one of your activities in Bali, and please enjoy my photos with the animals!