ARRIVAL.
With Grandpa and the kids holding things back a bit we were not up at the head of the queue for Visa On Arrival or Immigration.
I had hoped that the kids might get us an express passage through to luggage and Customs but that did not happen until they'd been waiting well over half an hour and were a bit hot and grumpy although nearly at the head of the line by that time. The 5 or 10 minutes saved, however, was welcome and there was not so much luggage to sort through when we got to the carousel. We firmly believe in Porters and reckon they're well worth a fiver each to get our luggage mounds outside.
There were no chalk crosses on our baggage but there was a lot of it and the school maps must have looked a bit different so we were stopped at the Customs checking counters. Little Maeve was let loose again and, for the third time in a day, worked her magic.
After a quick cuddle we were off.
Made and his brother met us at the airport as arranged, with two vans to collect the 7 of us and 17 bulging pieces of luggage and one wheelchair. Their wait of over 2 hours did not diminish the enthusiasm of their welcome but I could have easily resented being given the brush-off as daughters and especially grandchildren were swept up into their arms after everyone, on cue, (except precocious little Miss two and a half year old with long blonde curls and big blue eyes which she has already learnt to use with devastating effect) did the ‘Om swastiastu' and shook hands or embraced exactly as rehearsed. I have to say that this continued throughout the holiday with positive results and I recommend it to everyone travelling with children. The follow-up ‘Salamat Pagee' and either ‘Apa kabar?' or the ‘Baik baik saja' (**) responses were the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake.
(**) ‘Good morning'; ‘How are you?'; ‘Good, thank you.'
The ride that tells you you've really arrived, through that never ending crush of Bali traffic to the Sinar Bali Hotel on Padma Utara, was full of catch-up chatter with Made and exclamations of new found discoveries along the way but there was mainly silence from the back seat where the girls were which was - UNUSUAL !!
It was two days later that daughter Wayan Emma remarked, ‘I think I've worked out this traffic stuff. It's just a matter of closing your eyes quickly.'
At the hotel the kids worked their magic again and the staff marvelled at Little Miss Precocious, ‘Made Maeve'. They came a distant second; however, as she was already driver Made's and driver Made was already hers. This bond was to persist and grow all through the holiday and I'll jump way ahead here and say that driver/brother Made's very damp eyes at the airport as we left two weeks later were not too much for anyone else but his little Made Maeve.
Check-in and basic unpacking at the Sinar were quick and otherwise unremarkable as they knew us (Papa and Herself that is) and we knew where we were.
The nice little pool attracted everyone's eyes but the Bintang Supermarket called more urgently for bulk water, other kids' drinks and mixers, honey peanuts and other nibbles, washing powder, and adaptors for the girls' power boards and the laptop computers for the orphanage. There was to be a futile search for candy which was non-existent at the Bintang this year but I was a bit surprised to later find plenty at Matahari in Kuta although we did get Brandy for Papa and white wine for all to share in that nice little pool later (when Papa was to find his large size bathers had not been packed), tooth paste and brushes, and so on.
The pool waited until later while Made took us home to the warung for the kids and Made Maeve to dazzle all. Wife Ketut and Wayan's wife (both work in the warung) found Bintangs and kidz drinkz and a quick phone call shortly brought daughter-in-law Putu racing around the corner on a terrible motor scooter with little Jason between her knees and the precious photo album under her arm. Putu is the tiniest and most gorgeous young Balinese woman you could wish to meet and I sat on the warung step to hug her. If you remember past stories she is the beautiful mother and young Jason was the babe I photographed at the 3 month ceremony - (I hope that this link will continue to work.)
http://www.filosbali.net/2005/html/'05MoreFam&Friends.htm
We went through the photo album carefully, picture by picture, most of which I knew well as I had taken them in past years. It reminded me that one of the most treasured gifts the traveller can give to a Balinese family is copies of the photos they take.
On the odd occasion when I have what I think is a special one we always find a frame to put it in and often find later that it is the only decoration in their ‘house', a ‘house' which might really be only a single room.
From the warung down Jalan Wana Segara next, past the deserted drivers' bale (***) on the corner. The drivers have all gone to either the Patra or the Green Garden Hotel since the Balihai closed up but they all talk of a grand re-opening of the ‘new' Holiday Inn in January or March 2009.
I hope they are right.
From the bale past the few old-timers on the beach side and onto the beach for the short walk to the Pantai Restaurant.
(***) Bale; pron ‘barlay', an elevated platform with mainly open sides. Every Balinese house compound has at least one used for socialising and for decorations at festival times.
It was time to find Monica and the other 'girls' on the beach and to have a massage.