Returned on the previously cancelled flight with J* on Monday evening, very very late, more on this later.
With both kids at schoolies and camp we took a quick one week break to Bali, our 8th visit.
Stayed at the Melati coffee shop again, really nice place to stay, the apartments, staff, food and security are fantastic. Reasonably quiet there at the moment but the boys said that Dec/ Jan looking busy. Gilbert from the coffee shop should be in Perth now, he was very excited but also very scared of the plane trip, extremely happy when I told him the beer is free on the plane !!!
Kuta and Legian beaches covered in rubbish from the on shore winds. Not pleasant at all for swimming, however I was really pleased to see that one day while we were sitting and talking to the locals, an announcment came over the loud speaker in Indonesian, all the locals jumped up and headed for the sand (very low tide) and swept all the rubbish up and binned it, leaving the beach spotless !!!
We spent a couple of days at Geger beach in Nusa Dua, what a fantastic little spot. This is the Bali of old, reminded me of our first trip 23 years ago and why we fell in love with the place. White sand , no resort behind, just the local warung. As the UN summit was about to start the security getting into Nusa Dua was a bit of a pain but well worth the result. Geger is just like Dreamland, without the crashing sucky dumpers.
We had a couple of canvas prints done from photos of our trip last year, cost was 360,000 each at the fuji shop next to Double D bar. Really pleased with the result and compared to home prices they were a steal.
Had a lovely day in Ubud, went to the monkey forest and thoroughly enjoyed it. To see these little creatures in their own environment and family groups was very very interesting. Also funny was the squealing Japanese tourists !!! On the way back our driver Wolly took us to a beautiful restaurant called Indus. The chef is the fellow who runs the cooking school in Ubud. The views and food were equally spectacular. This was the most expensive meal we had , cost about $5o australian, but worth every cent.
other good feeds were Indo National, Blue Ocean, lanai, Coffee shop (of course) and the warung at Geger beach did the best chicken satay amd Mie Gorang.
To Lyndal and Mark, Wayan from the front of the Niksoma is in Germany for 3 months with Katarina. Dont know how he will cope with the cold !!
We had a look at Villa Semara as we have booked it for next September, it is awesome. There are two other 2 bedroom villas being built behind this one in the same style by the same owner and they are equally impressive. bring on next September !!!
One day after being asked for the thousandth time did i want to buy (insert item here ) I came out with," no thanks, but thanks for asking "!!The fellow burst into a smile and started laughing and said to me " Oh ok lady !". Every time I used this line after that, the reply was likewise. Most of them laughed, some pulled faces, and a couple even congratulated me on an answer with no come back.
We did get pinged by the cops , pulled our bike over on the way back from Sanur and pointed at the headlight while he fidled with the indicator and turned it on, then said "your indicator on, very danger, you get ticket and go to court", "or come up here and you pay me fine of 50,000 ". So naturally we paid the "fine" (bribe) and were on our way.
As we left the day before the UN conference the police and army were ever present all the way from the airport to Nusa Dua. Armed officers on the street corners, tanks and armoured vechiles everywhere. Many of the Balinese I spoke to thought that climate change wasn't an issue for their country. They knew what it was about but didnt think it was their issue. While Nusa Dua is a picture I wonder if they blind folded the delegates from the airport till they hit the round about. The enviromental impact of the rubbish on the streets and open fires needs addressing. I understand that Bali is not a country of wealth , but I do wonder about the impact of lifestyle as it is now, for the future. The beauty of Bali could be lost if care is not taken to protect the natural beauty the island has.
Our flight home was canned due to repairs needed to the hydraulics. More than happy for this to happen as saftey should come first. However, J* have the communication skills of my cat, in fact he could probably teach them a thing or two. When we finally got to check in we were given a web site to log onto after 48 hours to retrieve a credit voucher for the inconvenience, and suprise suprise, you cant log on !! Just spoke to a human at J* and he says the web site is very busy, try again later. There isnt even a link on the web site !! Anyone else having this problem ?????