*Groan* I hear you say - it's finally over!
More than 20,000 words and 40 pages later - it's our last day in Bali, for this trip anyway :)
We pre-packed most of our stuff yesterday, so really all there is to do is squish in a few final things and then lug it all to the airport - this is deliberate strategy so we get to actually enjoy our last day instead of spending it arranging and re-arranging things in a suitcase.
We breakfast at the villa this morning - the boys have the remainder of the cornflakes (LambLamb didn't eat them all) and Munch and I have an elegant breakfast of cheese, salami, olives, pate and various other left over gourmet goodies we've collected over the past few days.
We head down to Crema on the beach after breakfast for our morning coffee and Snubs and Mookie help the boys who run the place sweep the leaves from the front of the booth, much to the frustration of passing cyclists, who 'ding! ding!' incessantly for them to get out of the way. Mookie ignores them, and Snubs thinks they're trying to get his attention so he dutifully stops in the middle of the path and smiles and waves and says 'Morning!' That's my boys!
Munch and I sit at table on the beach and just look at the water, the beach, the comings and goings of the locals and our happy, gorgeous little boys who have had such an amazing time these past few weeks, and although they're probably too young to remember it down the track, we're very grateful that we're in a position to be able to give them this experience. Chris Rea's 'On the Beach' is looping through my head and I look at my family and think 'Geez I'm happy. Life is good.'
We've brought the sand buckets and spades, and the three boys set about re-creating a scale model of our house in Malaysia to illustrate the explanation that today we'll be getting on a plane and heading back there for a while. I wander over to join them and we spend the sun-kissed morning playing in the sand, collecting hermit crabs and empty shells, drawing pictures of Gary, and filling Mookie's blonde locks with handfuls of wet sand (which Snubs thinks is hilarious, and it is, unless you're the one who has to wash it all out again).
Munch holds Mookie upside down for me while I tousle most of it out, and then takes the boys back to the villa for a shower down and then a swim, and I walk down to the Sindhu Markets to see if Lulu is around for a final massage and some toenail polish maintenance. Happily she's not far away, and I doze off for an hour and half to the lullaby of the massage ladies' chitter chatter, a sea breeze floating overhead and the scent of perfumed massage oil on my skin.
Wait a minute. I didn't select a nailpolish. Oh no.
I panic momentarily and then make a concerted effort to fight the urge to control the colour of my toenails - after all, I had chosen badly twice before, so my track record is not great.
Lulu is reading my mind and whispers in my ear 'Mrs - you like to see the colour?' Oh sweet relief! Yes, yes I would! I sit up dozily and look down at my toes. All of the toenails on my left foot are painted a lurid shade of Incredible Hulk green. 'You like it?' asks Lulu earnestly. 'Ummm...' I begin to answer, when the four girls behind me explode into uncontrollable giggles, bent over and clutching their sides.
Lulu laughs and slaps me on the shoulder - 'Your husband can find you in the dark now! Make Bali baby!'
She got me, she got me GOOD.
She cleans the green off and produces a bottle containing a delicate metallic light pink. 'This is your colour - Lulu knows'. White Hat steps in to do the obligatory flower painting, and lo and behold, I finally have the toes I'd always wished for. Thank you Lulu - you're a cheeky bugger and you almost gave me an ulcer, but your heart is pure.
I take care not to smudge my new artwork, give Lulu and White Hat a nice bonus and we say our goodbyes - until next time.
I'm floating on air and staring at my toes as I walk to Kami Sama to meet the boys for lunch. A final feast of satays (pork of course), nasi goreng, cap cay and kare ayam washed down with a couple of Bintangs and lemon squash for the kids, deliciously simple and satisfying.
The boys go down for their afternoon nap, I paddle around in the pool, and Munch ducks down the street for some last minute souvenirs. When he gets back we finish up the packing, zip up all the suitcases, and do the final weigh-in - we're all set to go. The boys wake up at 4.30, and we all shower and dress for dinner and the flight home.
Munch decides that he really, really wants to do the wood smoked pork belly again, so he can deconstruct the dish in order to reconstruct it again at home, and to have a fitting end to the Festival of the Pork.
Fine by me! We head over to 3 Monkeys again relieved that they're open for dinner so early. Munch has his pork dish, we both have the Absolut Ginger cocktail again, and the boys share a plate of pumpkin ravioli - house made pillows of sweet pumpkin and pasta in an aromatic sauce - gorgeous. I have the Ayam Bumbu Bali - expertly presented, and full of the flavours that I know I will miss terribly and crave until I can come back.
We take funny pictures of ourselves eating dinner, Munchie takes pictures of his food (weirdo) and with this, the Festival of the Pork concludes.
Our transport is booked for 6.45pm, and sadly we're finally out of time. A short walk back to the villa where the staff are waiting for us to pack the minivans full of boxes and suitcases, and the Barong in his giant plastic tube.
The plane is quite empty of the way home, and the hostess kindly lets us split up over two rows so the boys can lie down and sleep, and I relaxed with my iPhone, scrolling through our holiday photos, and peeking down every now and again at my irresistible toes.
A massive thank you to everyone who has been reading these reports, for the kind comments of support and the encouragement to finish them. Your gracious and generous words have spurred me on and I hope that everyone got something out of them, if not new information, then at least some entertainment or a jolt back into Bali memories of their own. I've left my email open if anyone has any questions about any of the thing we did, and would like more detail.
I hope I've been successful in my aim - to repay the many years of reading this wonderful forum with a contribution of my own and maybe, just maybe, it will spur some others into writing about their Bali holidays too.
From the cast and crew of Our Holiday, My Meltdown, The Event, and The Festival of The Pork - thank you for reading, and I now pass the baton onto the next Bali traveler to take up the HNR challenge!
Sampai kami ketemu lagi,
dutchnat, Munchie, Snubs and Mookie
with guest appearances from;
O&C, Gary, Ririn, Lulu, White Hat, Ms Hitler, B1 and B2, Kid Who Sneezed in Mookie's Face, EuroNudie (thanks Bin Lurkin), Kite Seller, Canadian Grandma, The Barong F(P)ainter, Crab Man, Chick Who Tried to Rip Me Off in Ubud, Linga Longa Spit Turners and PennyP
Thanks again for reading, and bye!