The hottest day

We were all up at a sensible time to have breakfast this morning. and went to see the baby elephant for the last time.

We wanted to go up into the hills to see the Big Buddha and thought we would book a tuk tuk but asked at the hotel to find out roughly how much we should expect to pay. They told us the price they charge for the hotel car and as it was the same as the tuk tuk driver had quoted we decided to have the luxury of the air conditioned car and were really glad we did as it was by far the hottest day we had and the journey was much further than I thought and would have taken a long time in a tuk tuk.

As we got higher up into the hills the Big Buddha looked more impressive than ever and the journey up was very interesting and we passed lots of monks making the journey and they were walking up the hill! As it was a temple and Heather and I had strappy tops on we were given sarongs to wear. Heather also had to put one around her waist as she had shorts on, she was not happy about it. The building of the Buddha began in 2002 and is being funded by donations from all over the world and of course tourists. The main Buddha is nearly finished and is made of cement and then people can buy a marble tile and put their name on the back and the whole thing will eventually be covered in this lovely grey/white marble. The main Buddha is 25 meters wide and 45 meters high. There is a smaller Buddha to the side which is covered in gold and is 12 meters high. The whole place will be lovely when finished and as the mountain it is built on is in the centre of the island the views of the surrounding area look out across both sides of the island and are amazing. We were all very hot by the time we had finished and very happy to get back into the car.

The driver dropped us at the restaurant we went to on our first day and we had pizza for lunch but knowing how big they were we just had three between us which was more manageable.

After lunch we went to the pool and then back to the room to do some packing before having a shower.

We had been wanting to ride in a tuk tuk so decided to find a place to eat at the other end of town and go there in a tuk tuk. We weren't impressed and so after a walk around we got in another tuk tuk and went back to near our hotel and found a place to eat.The Buffalo Steak House was OK but not the best meal I have had but everyone else enjoyed theirs but we were too full for pudding. The restaurant was opposite the mini golf park and we watched Nadia the elephant for most of the evening across the road. where she was busy being fed bananas, poor little elephant works long days.

We then did a bit of late night shopping and I bought a bag to carry on the plane to put a change of clothes as it will be too hot to wear winter clothes from the hotel to the airport and then to Melbourne.

So hot again we had to have another shower when we got back. If we stayed much longer we would wash ourselves away. i don't know how the locals stand it. I don't mind the heat but the humidity is unbearable.

NZ are out of the World Cup - shame but they did well.

WEATHER

Very, very hot and steamy up to 38.5 in the shade on our balcony