Me again. Thanks again to all the respondees, I am sure I am enjoying recounting all of my adventures more than you guys are in reading them. I have also taken to turning on the computer and letting friends and family read my JBR's as an easy way of relating my time in paradise, plus It jogs my memory on some minor little incidents that otherwise would have disappeared into my upstairs porridge.
AS promised, People I met.
Let me start at the end of my time in Bali as it was certainly memorable for me. At "Denpasar" Airport I had entered the departures lounge and was looking for an empty seat. Surprisingly there were very few as people like to give their very tired luggage a place off the ground to rest as well. (Funny thing that). Upon spying a vacant spot I headed off towards it rapidly before it became a repository for someone elses fatigued baggage when I pulled up rather abruptly when I realised who was in the next seat. None other than Gary Ablett Snr. Well, I wasn't sure if I should invade such famous personal space. I thought "To hell with it, somebody has to sit next to him and it may as well be a Collingwood supporter with teeth". (Dennis)So, I walked up to him, stuck out my hand and said "Bill". To which he graciously accepted and firmly shook my hand and said "Gary". I said "I know". We both laughed at the same time and I immediately sat, relaxed and launched into my JBR parts 1 through 3 until our flight was called. I remember thinking "What a ripper bloke, fancy putting up with my verbal diarrhoea for half an hour as well as showing interest in me photos and me boring life story". And then it occurred to me that (even tho he was in economy like the rest of us midnight travellers) what could possibly go wrong, we had "GOD" on board our Garuda flight!
One of the first people I spent time with after becoming somewhat socially acceptable, courtesy of Dr. Rudy, was Mr.X.(Not his real initial). Now Mr.X turned out to be your typical sex tourist. Let me hasten to say that his fancy turned to the "jalan jalan malams" or in other words the "Night Butterflies. Not as bad as some of the other pastimes practiced in Bali.For Mr.X every day had to have a "Happy Ending". He reasoned that if they wanted to sell it and he wanted to buy it then everything was good. I reasoned that consenting adults etc. etc. Until he turned his attentions to one of the young ladies from Perth staying at our hotel. She was obviously free, white and 21 and was aware of his activities in the previous few days and the ....well, let me just say there were more ladies than there were nights. Unfortunately for the young lady it was over as soon as it had begun, and Mr. X continued on his merry way and the rest of us without passing judgements kept his company at times because he WAS good company, at least during the daylight hours.
We visited Hulu Boys one night and I don't think any of us were all that impressed as we all left at intermission to head off to the Bounty Nightclub as one of our other new friends from Perth (Wayne) had promised to sing at the Karaoke night. Unfortunately he kept his promise and belted out some of the Rolling Stones favourites and now the 6 or 7 of us who willingly went to witness this are in therapy. Wayne had himself a ball so it's all good. I remember a funny thing from that night and concerning one of the LADIES from the Hulu Boys show. At the start of intermission S/HE was really pushing HIS/HER way around the men in the crowd as S/HE was a rather big person and I remember thinking at the time that HE (let's face it) was trying to show what a big man he was whilst dressed as a lady.
Another memorable bunch of people were also from Perth and I referred to them in my nightly communication with my Love Dumpling as the OLD LADIES, which in truth was quite rude as they were probably only 8 to 10 years older than me.(Getting old really is a Buggar.) One night at the pool one of the OLD LADIES decided, without much prompting apparently, to drop her one piece to the ground and flash the moon worshippers of which yours truly copped an eyeful and now I'm in therapy 3 times a week. The OLD LADIES had a ball so it's all good.
Tony and his gorgeous wife Toni, from Newcastle, (Real names as I couldn't say anything bad about them and have already been in touch since coming back)were an absolute delight. She with her antagonising ways (spending money, spending money, spend......)and he with his reluctance to do more than agree with her (Yes my Darling, yes my Darlin......) and to get his elbow bent. We spent many hours together and I would like to thank them here for (Like Gary Ablett) putting up with me. Together some days from breakfast until lights out we had some great days, including Safari and Marine Park (They said they wouldn't bother with Waterbom again after discovering the water playground at the new Safari Park). We did numerous Bars and restaurants together and thoroughly enjoyed our shopping sojourns where Toni was helping me with pressies for the Girls and Ladies back home. At last count I think Toni had purchased about 16 pairs of sandals. (They're not all for me.) Tony decided to even the score a bit and after receiving permission, set off to Big Boys Toys in Poppies 2 and purchased himself (It's also for our son Darling, Peter is going to love it)a remote control, petrol powered car, which cost him around 400 bucks(It's worth around 1200 Darling, it's top of the line). He also ordered enough parts to rebuild the thing after a 12 day Demolition Derby. Tony and Toni weren't good, they were great.
I have to go as we are expecting visitors so tomorrow I will introduce you to the best bloke you could ever want to meet on holidays and be willing to fly around the world to keep the friendship going. MONTY, me new best mate from England. BILL