Day 04 - Saturday 1st October 2022

Once again I was woken by noise in the corridor and once again it was a sunny morning. A warm 26C with 94% humidity.

We went down to the Rock Royalty courtyard soon after 8:30am - except for John because he was still asleep. Apparently John and Graham went to the bar after we got back from dinner. Nicky said that the bar rang them in the middle of the night to follow up on payment for two beers John had had. They weren't impressed about being woken up.

This morning, Graham had the Rockstar Big Breakfast whereas I tried a beef mince dish with what seemed to be a Mexican name. Our table was in the sun this time next to the pool and so we were pretty warm.

Harry was booked into the kids club again at 9:30am.

Soon after 10am, I set out to go to the beach. I went out the exit near Jamie Oliver's Kitchen and then turned right. The beach was about 100m along this one-way street which turned right and then ran along the beachfront.

The first pedestrian access to the beach was not attractive because of construction work. Further on, I entered the beach area and started walking along the sand. It's a very long beach. I probably walked for about 1km.

There were people all the way along the beach. Local traders would say hello and try to sell you food, drinks, seating or lounges. The lounges were generally in the sunshine closer to the water whereas most of the seats for further up under beach umbrellas.

You could hire surf boards. At some locations there were public toilets and some had small timber change rooms outside on the beach. There were often displays of coconuts.

Apart from swimmers and body surfers, there were plenty of board riders. However the waves were fairly small. I wasn't the only person with a camera. There were several people stationed along the beach - some with tripods - taking photos of the surfers.

I decided to walk back along the footpath next to the road instead of walking back on the sand. I came across a market on the beach which sold all the normal things such as clothes and souvenirs.

Further along, I was surprised to walk past the Beachwalk shopping centre where we had been last night. It wasn't as far from the hotel as I thought. I didn't bother going in because you had to wear a mask and join a queue to go through security.

About 200m further on, I bumped into John as he was coming out of a Mini-Mart shop. He was on his way to meet Nicky at Beachwalk. I continued on back to the hotel.

At about 1pm, I went down to the restaurant at the main pool area for lunch. I had the Hard Rock burger. Just what I needed.

I had planned to go for a walk after lunch but I quickly changed my mind when I heard thunder. Instead I grabbed my iPad and set to find a comfortable lounge chair to read the newspaper.

By now, it had started to rain and there was almost nobody left on the hotel pool. A pool is probably not the best place to be in a thunderstorm. Within about ten minutes, it had changed from light rain to a heavy downpour.

Harry's kids club game this afternoon in the pool had been postponed because of the storm and so it was after 6:30pm before we set off for dinner. Because Harry was tired, we needed a quick meal and so we went to the Hard Rock Cafe.

This restaurant is in the same complex as the hotel but we took the long way around to get to the front entrance from the street. It was busy. There seemed to be a few tables celebrating birthdays and it was quite noisy.

They found us a booth which turned to be not so comfortable. Graham and I felt like kids with the table up around our chins. The food was basic burgers, salads, sandwiches, etc. We eventually got served after I flagged down staff. I had fish and chips because it seemed like a safe choice (and a couple of glasses of a local red wine).

It seems that there was a private function downstairs with a band. A noisy band. And it just got noisier. John asked one of the waiters to get them to turn down the volume but that was never going to work. As soon as we had finished our meals, we decided it was time to escape the din.

At least we can now say that we have been to the Hard Rock Cafe and there is now no need to ever go back there again. An experience and a lesson.

Nicky and John took Harry around the corner to get ice creams for everybody. Graham and I took the direct route back to the hotel out the back door of the cafe and around the hotel pool. We had to watch our step in the dimly lit stairs and walkways.

Before bed, I decided to have another glass of wine. Part of the idea was to experience the bar at the hotel. It is located right at the hotel entrance. It's a large square room with black walls and dim focussed lighting. In the middle there is an artistically lit square bar displaying bottles of whisky etc.

Around the walls there are huge video screens with exciting graphics adding to the atmosphere. The band performs on a platform that is (precariously) located above the bar.

On the night I arrived at the hotel (about midnight), the band had been in full flight. It was very loud but fortunately I couldn't hear it in my room. Tonight when I was there enjoying my glass of shiraz (about 9pm), the band was still setting up.

Getting a glass of wine wasn't easy. A waitress met you at the entrance and showed me to a seat and told me to scan a QR code to order. The site from the QR code had everything except wine. I had to ask another waitress who showed me the wine options on her device.

I imagine it's a great venue for youngsters (people under 73) who don't need to get to bed at a decent hour.