arrived home to a surprisingly sunny melbourne morning today and was rewarded with a fantastic day. Arrived in Bali the 22nd and stayed at Adhi Dharma hotel. is a 3 star and what they lack in finesse the staff make up for it in every way, by the next morning they knew our names and were great fun. I won't go into daily detail but a few highlights. Monday 24th went to orphanage in Tabanan after spending 1 million rupiah at Makro's (this included towels as well as stationary and toiletries, rice and some snacks) we had 60kg of clothing for them and Nicki (who assists in orphanage) was so excited that we got their name through Carry for Kids (big thank you to all who helped me get info etc for this trip). It was emotional more for us as the kids are all happy and healthy. we spent a few hours there and the older boys played the guitar and sang for us while the girls looked shyly on. For me this made all the indecision about going worthwhile and we advised all in the hotel about our adventure and encouraged that for their next trip just clear out their wardrobe and even give to local stallholders.
Lobster at Indo was a great nite and am now dreaming of more when i next go back.
Seeing Terry my tailer from Nanda was great as I had been worried for him, his wife works in Matahari in Kuta square and I hadn't heard if all was OK. it all was and they had just changed their email address so we ordered lots from him and am now admiring all my new shoes and wish I had got more.
Lots of the usual stuff but noticed how quiet the streets were. on my 3rd day i walked down legian st for at least 30 minutes with seeing no tourists - very worrying. but as we left there were more people arriving which was good.
I've probably bored you all enough but I am now planning the next trip which will be late next year if finances hold out and take the family back.
thanks again to everyone who helped me with info over the past few months.