What can I say? This was my favourite day ever in Bali.
I can't really put into words what this day meant to me but I shall try in some humble way.
The plan for the day was quite simple. Meet at our mate Ketut Subargia's restaurant the Legian Garden, get on the bus and drive up the mountain, get pixxed and drive back down the mountain. No stress, no real fuss.
Here's what actually happened.
Rae and I arrived at the Legian Garden at about 10am after being too nervous to really bother with breakfast. Ron and Pam(Burti) were already in residence along with our new mate Doug(Dougal) all sipping quietly on a water in preparation for the day. We hadn't seen Ron and Pam for a while so it was great to get time to catch up.
A crew soon started to filter in, in various states of disrepair as can only be seen on a balmy Bali morning.
By 10.30 my offer of a first beer was pretty much knocked back by all except Stroppy and Gav. Yesterday's pre-dawn pre-flight training was paying dividends.
I had also just received a phone call from Moira letting me know that the Adopta Ladies were going to join us on the bus, which made Rae and I very happy.
The bus itself was parked somewhere down on the beachfront awaiting my call to block Melasti street while we boarded. Unfortunately the driver, Dewa, decided to come around anyway and we had to shuffle a few vehicles to get him parked while we waited for the Adopta girls to arrive.
Then we waited a bit more.
Then I rang them again ‘Just ten more minutes ‘Pak Cracker' ;-)
Then I explained to Dewa who we were waiting for.
Then we waited some more with Dewa frowning at his watch.
Then they turned up and Dewa smiled like a man that had just seen Angels.
These beautiful Ladies had captured one more heart and Dewa's chest seemed just that much larger for the drive up the Mountain.
The drive up was very much one of people getting to know each other with Stroppy playing barman up the front of the bus and people slowly succumbing to the pleasurable sounds of those enjoying a lovely cold Bintang.
By the time we arrived at the Pacung Indah for lunch most on the bus realised that a simple ‘Yo' would send Stroppy head first into the esky and another cold one was passed back.
At the Pacung Indah David, Moira and staff once more provided the wonderful lunch that they are well known for. I had a few people comment that they had gone to so much trouble, but the fact is it is the same great feed that they provide every day.
David and Moira are very much people watchers and they get great joy from seeing people enjoy their food and views as well as their great staff.
We've had many a quiet evening sitting in the restaurant listening as they discuss small ways to improve what is already very good.
As we all ate and made merry Rae somehow slipped away with Moi down to their bungalow. When she came back the transformation was stunning.
Rae had changed into a traditional Sarong and Kebaya, the colour of which made her look like the true Goddess I have always believed she is.
If it is wrong to love someone this much, then I'll stand guilty for all time. ;-)
After lunch it was off to the bar. David and Moi had gone ahead and asked us to call when we were close. They wanted everything just right, and I think that they hit the nail on the head.
Knowing that my sense of humour can be a bit twisted they arranged a few surprises.
We expected to arrive to see a sign saying something along the lines of 'Welcome to the Grand Opening of Crackers Bar and Grill'
What we got was ' Welcome to the Grand Opening of Crackers Bar and Crappatorium'
We loved it ;-)
The next surprise was the Gamelan Band set up in the entrance of the soon to be opened Café and Bakery just inside the entry to our little complex. David had said he may get a couple of blokes in to play but I'm bloody sure he squeezed half the musicians in Bali in there ;-)
The next thing to hit Rae and I was the Toilet Block.
It was Stunning.
When we had left a couple of months back it was just a shell that had shape but no personality. David and I had made changes to the original plans as it grew, but we always knew that Moi was going to have a great deal of influence on the final finish.
Moi had to spend a few months in Perth for family and stuff, but selected a few things for the finish before she left.
She ran a couple of her ideas past Rae, but Rae along with I, had seen the transformation she had made on the rooms at the Pacung Indah. We were very happy with that.
When Moi went back for the last couple of weeks before we opened she made sure that all she had wanted came together.
Aaand Boy, did it come together.
As we stepped in through the front entry David and Moira were there to greet us. We could sense their anticipation of our reaction but they needn't have worried.
We were stunned.
The place was so much better than we could have dreamed and it wasn't too long before Rae and Moi were hugging and crying whilst David grinned at my many expletives as I choked back a tear myself.
Aaagh, what the hell. David and I hugged too. We're snaggy like that ;-)
Of course, after I hugged David I hugged Moi and felt her A-rse ‘cause that kinda balances out huggin' me mate...doesn't it? ;-)
Actually, I must check if David felt Rae's as well. I'll be disappointed if he didn't. ;-)
It was now time to party. We hit the bar with a vengeance and started to thoroughly enjoy ourselves. It was great to chat to people as the day went on and get so many positive comments on the little things we had done.
I must say that one of my great prides up there are the Bar Stools. They are bloody comfortable and bloody big. As most of you know, I'm not built like a marathon runner and a wide seat is required for my boardshorts to fit into. These things are like a lounge on long legs and once you're in one moving is not a popular option.
The trophy wall and the memorabilia are also starting to look bloody great, but we'd really rather see stuff from you guys rather than the boring and mundane personally signed stuff like 'To Cracker, All the best Joe Namath' and 'To Dave, See Ya Soon, Pete Sampras'
These people are nowhere near as important to us as you guys.
I wanna see stuff on our wall that represents the blood, sweat and tears of people just like us.
And I want you to be proud of displaying it for the world to see.
Don't leave it in a dusty closet. You earned it, whack it out there. ;-)
Speech Time
I made a very short (yeah right) speech that made probably very little sense to anyone but me as I was feeling the effects of Bourbonitis at the time. I'm fairly sure I had almost thanked everyone I had to when I was interrupted by a young Balinese fella that walked up and stopped me saying ‘G'day Mate'.
I looked at the smiling face that was covered with trendy sunglasses and thought 'Jeezus I know you' Then it dawned on me. Short hair rather than a long curly mop, but the smile was unmistakeable. It was Joe Cool .
Joe and his beautiful wife Amii had come from Joe's village up near Singaraja where they had been married in a Balinese ceremony the week before.
There were many more hugs and kisses (I like that bit) and then I quickly finished up the thankyou's and went in search of another drink (I like that bit too)
The hours seemed to go like minutes and before we knew it Dewa was sitting out the front with the bus running again. I was naturally enough the last one on as it was very important that I have one more leak in the dunnies before I left. True to form though, performance anxiety kicked in and I almost gave up.
Mission accomplished though, and with a final proud glance around I was back on the bus and away.
The bus ride back turned into an adventure all of its own. Plenty of jokes, a little bit of poetry, mucho bourbono and a few great songs led by Stroppy. The songs were quite a hit as they are quite interactive. Anyone that has ever participated in versions of 'Alouette' and 'Singin' in the Rain' will know exactly what I mean.
The trip was obviously interrupted by a wee stop which left us all wondering ‘Is there a decent toilet in Bali'. The answer of course is yes, just not where you need it.
About ten k's out of Kuta the bus started to make an awful racket. Something had overheated in the wiring system and the starter motor was kicking in on its own. A burning smell soon filled the bus and Dewa pulled over very quickly and everyone piled out.
As Dewa opened the battery compartment it became obvious that a fire was imminent.
Something had to be done...and quickly. So Sue (Shoppy), did the obvious. She went back on board and saved all of her shopping from up at the markets. ;-) Burti had already grabbed my poetry book (bless her) as she believed it was worth the effort, and the boys had managed to get the last of the beer and the bourbon bottle out.
Dewa, in the meantime was trying valiantly to disconnect the battery bank and had burnt his hands quite badly. I jumped in to help but he was determined to battle on. He finally got the leads off and the threat of fire diminished, but his hands were a mess. He was soon being provided with the only first aid available to us, Ice from the esky.
His distress was quite apparent and he was worrying about his hands, his job and how to get us home.
The general consensus in the group was 'bugger getting home, let's get this boy a Doctor'
Our driver Wayan Ruda had been following us all the way and we soon had a crew heading back with him as Dewa wouldn't leave the bus. Within minutes everyone else was in taxi's on their way, all except Roo-Ted and myself. We had to deal with Dewa, the Bus and the last of the bourbon bottle.
A few minutes later a replacement bus turned up with a few bush mechanics on board.
One tended to Dewa with some sort of salve for his hands whilst the others worked on the bus. By this time Wayan Ruda was back for Ted and myself so we wandered back the twenty metres or so to his car and poured the last of the Bourbon into our glasses. Once this job was complete we turned around to watch proceedings unfold only to find that both buses and Dewa had vanished and were nowhere to be seen.
We looked at each other quizzically for a moment then looked at our glasses. Wordlessly and with a shrug of our shoulders we hopped in the car and headed back to Kuta.
We have spoken since and agree that magic was involved in those buses disappearing , not black magic mind you, but maybe a browny, liquidy, tea coloured kinda magic that comes in an 1125ml bottle ;-)
So there it was. We drank, we ate, we pee'd, we pooped, we sang, we cried and we had a hell of a good time.
Crackers Bar and Grill opened with a bang, and we look forward to many great days up there with many of you and your friends and families as you tour around Paradise.
See you there soon ;-)
CBE
Cracker ;-)
PS Dewa is OK and we have taken care of his medical bills. If he has any further complications we will also fix that for him.
The young fella did good ;-)