I wanted to set up a webshots page which I have now done and so hopefully there is a working link below.
We left the Beach House(Amed)promising we'd be back. Nengah took us back to the Jayakata where Allan and Jill were staying, along the way he fell in love with my hat, so a little bit of me stayed in Amed.
We had about 8 hours before our flight, so of course a bit of time for retail therepy, which the girls had felt a little deprived of for the last four days, we even foud time to get back to Animale (surprise surprise). We had a last bite together, even though we had enjoyed wonderful food at BBH i fancied some chips, four days is a long time for a Pom to go without. There's a first time for everything, the chips came covered with grated cheese. I enjoy most foods and will eat just about anything, but I have an absolute aversion to cheese, infact it's one of the benefits of holidaying in SE Asia that you don't have to worry about things coming smothered in cheese. Oh well I'll have another Bintang (no cheese) and make it a liquid lunch. A last wander atound the streets of Legian, a quick dip in the Jayakata pool and all too soon we were standing in line at the airport, thats when we got our second shock of the day.
When we left Melbourne the guy at passport control noticed that Kath's return entry visa had just expired, she is still on a UK passport. The guy got his boss over and he said don't worry about it. This was infact the wrong advise as we were about to find out.
Smiling girl at check in stopped smiling when she saw the visa.She brings her boss over (he wasn't smiling even before he saw the visa). He explained that they could not let her board until the got the green light fom immigration in Canberra. He took the passport and disapeared leaving us with an anxious half hour wait before he reemerged to tell us we could board but that Kath had to surrender to Immigration on arrival in Melbourne. Could this mean another island adventure... a detention centre on Naru maybe?
No point in trying to beat the rush in Melbourne she put her hands up and surrendered. we were handed over to a big stern woman who was only working in Immigrationed because her chosen carrer as TV screw went up in smoke when Prisoner ended all those years ago. She gave Kath the third degree about her having no residency staus and how they were under no obligation.I was about to step in and tell her it waould be impossible for Kath to go back to England because she hated it. Before I could open my mouth she shoved a form in front of Kath, explaining she had to apply for a border entry visa. by the time the form was completed the screw returned, this time doing the good cop routine askingdid she want the visa on any particular page! and exxplaining Kath had 30 days to get to an Immigration office to get another re entry visa.(I can report she has got herself legal, more importantly filled in the Citizenship application, which she has been getting around to for the last 10 years).
Thankfully after those dramas we weren't hassled by Customs and arrived home at the Basin at 6am to a freezing cold day.
Now we've been back just over two weeks and are beginning to get over the worst of the post Bali blues, writing these reports has done much to keep the Bali vibe going. We've had many a conversation about what makes Bali so special (sound familiar). There are so many things but first and foremost it has to be the people, as well as being genuinely freindly and unjaded by tourism,they are very spiritual this somehow gives them an undefineable but special quality. Other things for us include the variety of locations and the ease with which you can get from a to b, and of course it's so bloody cheap, the culture is real and living (no dancers in grass skirts for the tourists). Could we have some sort of business that would take us therer twice a year, we could retire at 60 (8 years time) and live in Bali (any of this familiar?).
Any down sides to Bali? Only two that come to mind, Expensive wine,we should all lobby our MP's to push for a free trade agreement (wine without import tarrifs)and more variety of food, like Thailand.So if those are the only negatives I can think of I reckon Bali is just about unbeatable.
One final very important plus for Bali is the BTF.What a special group of people you are, whether it's Cliff and co. having their often serious political discussions,the good people who spend their holidays visiting Schools and Orphanages. The Filos, Mics and others that spend countless hours compiling dossiers of information on all aspects of Bali. The entertainers like Cracker. The organisers that arrange BBQ's and Dinners in our home towns(We'll be at Breaside on the 5th Dec Tina), and all the other forumites who respond fully and often patiently(Aussie Angel's 100th question of the week!). Your a great bunch and it's a great community, and now I feel part of it.