Anyway this year marks 5 years since our wedding in Ballina, so we thought a trip away would be a great way to celebrate. The location we decided on was Phuket, Thailand.
We booked our flights through Air Asia, flying out of the Gold Coast to Phuket via Kuala Lumper. The flight left quite early on the Saturday, so we decided to head down the the Gold Coast the day before. We were able to park our car at the hotel for the duration as well. We stayed at the Gold Coast Airport Hotel which was opposite the airport at Cooloongatta.
The flight was nice, although flying with Air Asia meant we had to pay for everything on board. We hired a couple of iPad's for the flight with pre-loaded movies. We also bought a few beers, spirits and food along the way. We had a 5 hour stop over at KL so to kill the time we checked into the Premium Plaza Lounge. It cost us $50 AUD for the 5 hours and included beer, soft drink, some food, WIFI and comfy seats to pass the time. We finally arrived at our hotel around 10:30pm.
Our first hotel was the Centara Beach Resort. A very large resort with three different pools, each with their own swim up bar (although one of them was under maintenance the three days we were there). Their gym was well equipped and we started every day in there. The buffet breakfasts were great and were included in the accommodation.
The first day we hung out around the resort, drinking in the swim up bars, relaxing in our private balcony juccuzi and ordering room service. We tried the Lotus room resturant for their Wok on Fire theme night the first night. You got to choose the ingredients (chicken, prawns, rice, noodles, veges etc) and they cook it up in front of you. Very nice. The other nights we visted the nearby bars and resturants outside. Two Chefs was the pick of them.
The second hotel we stayed at was the Radisson Blu Plaza at Cape Panwa. This was a 5 star resort located on the other side of Phuket. We got it as part of a voucher deal. It also included wine on arrival, a couples massage and a day trip for two to Phi Phi Island. The resort was very nice, but a little expensive and also a bit isolated. We enjoyed the pools and the nearby shops and restaurants. The second day there we did the day trip to Phi Phi Islands, which was amazing.
The last resort we stayed at was the Novotel, Kamala Beach which was the pick of the locations and our favourite part of Phuket. 3 kilometres of beach with hundreds of bars and restaurants. Can't wait to get back.
