I say goodbye....

I wake to another gorgeous day at the Island. It definitely feels like my final day as i contemplate packing my bags and organizing myself to leave. But first its down to reception to write my blog, and have two boiled eggs for breakfast.
My flight doesn't leave till 10.55pm but i have to check out of my room by 11. Anna, Pip, Kerry and I quickly jump on the bikes and head down to a leather shop where Anna has ordered a bunch of stuff. It's got great bags and jackets, but nothing is really grabbing me.
Pip orders some boots, Kerry buys a really cool leather overnight bag, and it's back on the scoots and speed off to the hotel.
I pick up my washing on the way. This is a great thing to do in Bali before you leave. My clothes come back perfectly washed, ironed and packed, so i can slip them straight into my suitcase and come home to clean boxers!! My weeks worth of stuff only cost $4 aus, so it was well worth it.
Get back to the hotel and head to room 6, my home for the week, and sadly start putting everything in order. I seem to be leaving with a lot more than i came with, but i don't really remember purchasing that much...
I leave my bags in Pip & Kerry's room for the day, then head down to reception to pay my bill.
The Kiwis have organized a driver for the day to take us down to the Nammos Beach club, which is part of the Karma Kandara Resort on the Bukit Peninsula.
Kerry & Pip are going to follow us on their bike as we cant all fit in the one car, so we head up to Jalan Legian to wait for the others to arrive....


Nick, Tim, Cheese, Kelly, Anna and myself jump in the van as Pip & Kerry follow close behind. We wind our way slowly through villages till we arrive at the southern most tip of Bali. This place is spectacular...


We enter the resort up the top of a huge cliff, pay the equivalent of $35 each (which includes lunch and drinks), then 4 at a time travel down the 200 foot inclinator ride to the beach club....


We set up camp, go for a swim in the azure blue ocean, then settle down in the daybeds and lounges that are scattered across the sand. Pretty soon its lunchtime so we head across the beach to the restaurant and bar, that has the most spectacular views, and order ourselves a selection of tapas and drinks....


After lunch we all head back to sand for a swim, and a period of digesting. I have a little nap on my towel, and wake to find it's time to head off to our next location, The Rock Bar @ The Ayana Resort in Jimbarin. We take the inclinator back up the top the top of the cliff where our driver is waiting, then set off on the 1/2 hour drive to our next location...
The Ayana resort can best be described as a mega-playground. You enter through conspicuous security, then off down a long road through lush manicured tropical gardens, passing lane ways darting off left and right leading to private villas and compounds. Arriving at the entrance to the main hotel you are greeted with a series of wet edged pools cascading down the slope, they lead to a beautiful lawn with stunning views across the sheer cliffs, and down to the amazing beaches and inlets below....


There is another inclinator to take you down the cliffs to the Rock Bar, but we decide to walk down the stairs and take in the view. We pass another wet edged pool on the way and i am amazed at the amount of work that has gone into building this place....


We grab ourselves a large daybed and order ourselves a cocktail. I go for the Peach Daiquiri and it doesn't disappoint. The view over the ocean is spectacular and this is definitely one of the more beautiful places you can possibly experience. You can look one way, out to the Crystal clear Indian Ocean, or the other, to the volcano's towering above the island of Bali....



As I finish the last of my drink and watch the sun set over the ocean, i think about Bali and everything that makes it the place that it is. I decide it's an island of huge contrasts, you have all this western money, alongside children being dropped off at street corners and spending the day begging. Extreme wealth alongside extreme poverty. It is a beautiful place, but it can be a sad place as well....
I have enjoyed my 7 days here so much, and i hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures. I have to thank Anna, Kurt, Leah, Nev, Kerry, Pip, Jane, Dan, Nick, Cheese, Tim, Kelly and everyone else i met along the way that has made this trip such a great experience.
As the sun dips over the horizon, I hope that I will be back sooner rather than later, to explore outside of the confines of the island, to get to Lombok, and to the Gili Islands, and to who knows what else lies beyond......

Dreamland...

Woke up to a glorious day in Bali. The weather has had moments of sunshine and moments of rain since I've been here, but today is beautiful and i think its a good day to check out a beach. Kurt and Leah are leaving this morning, so after breakfast we bid them farewell.
Anna has decided to stay around the hotel for some 'Anna time'. Nick and his girlfriend Cheese, Nick's brother Tim and his girl Kelly, and Kerry and Pip are heading on their bikes to Dreamland Beach. Jane jumps on the back of my bike and we join them for the 45 minute ride to the Bukit Peninsula.
The ride is fun, traffic was a little scary at times, but once we got off the main roads and into the villages and side roads, i really felt i was in Asia....

I have heard that Dreamland was once just a series of warrungs along a beach, much like Balangan. A couple of years ago the warrungs were torn down and a huge hotel built right on the beach. That is exactly what we encountered when we get there.
We ride through a pair of massive gates, the along a 3km road surrounded by a golf course, till we get to the car park above the beach. Walking down the steep path to the beach i catch a glimpse of the huge building towering over the sand, it's bare concrete walls and towers look strangely unfinished, and contrast sharply with the crystal clear turquoise ocean. There are market stalls along the beach, and hawkers selling space on deck chairs under umbrellas. We organize 8 spots towards the end of the sand close to the water, and dive in for a swim.
It is a really nice beach and a beautiful day. The water is warm and the view stretches all the way down the coast to Uluwatu. At one point in time a fleet of old Balinese fishing boats floats by, tiny blue sails hoisted, being pushed slowly down the coast. This has to be one of the most picturesque things i have ever seen...


After a couple of hours on the sand we head up to a warrung under the shadows of the towering hotel, and i order a Gado Gado and a Melon juice. Really good!
Head back to the beach for a quick swim, then i suggest to Jane we start on the ride back to the hotel. It's after 3pm so if we leave now we can beat the traffic. We navigate our way back pretty successfully, only getting partially lost once or twice....
Anna has had a day poolside and shopping, and looks very relaxed upon our return. We sit in the reception area and chat about the days events.
The nine of us still left on the island are heading to dinner at 7.30 to an Italian restaurant around the corner from the hotel called Cafe Micasso. It does great wood fired pizzas and is good value. Everyone meets on the rooftop bar here at The Island, we have a quick beer then head to the restaurant.


The meal was great, with fun company and good conversation. At one point in time a hawker was trying to sell us C.D.'s. Kerry asked if he had any Grinspoon? Sure enough he has our latest record. I buy it for the equivalent of $1.20 Aus, and we have a great laugh about all the copyright information warnings on the back...what a joke.
Finish dinner and walk back to the hotel and say goodbye to Jane as she is off to the Gili Islands for a few days in the morning.
I head to bed happy, but concerned that tomorrow is my final day on the island.....

Recovery...

That was a fun night. Woke up & made my way down to the reception area. Kurt and Dan were already there and we had a laugh about the previous evenings events. I ordered the full English breakfast this morning, i feel like i need some eggs and bacon.


Anna emerges from her room and joins us. I ask her for her camera so i can upload the photos, but apparently i was the last one to have it. I go to my room and search high and low, but no sign of the camera. I have a vague recollection of seeing it on the bar at the restaurant. We decide it must still be there. I give Josh from Sea Circus a call. They will be there after 6pm, so i organize to head down there then. Everyone slowly wakes and heads to the pool. There seems to be one person extra. Hmmm....


To be honest I'm not feeling the best after my food so i head back to my room and try for a quick nap. I re-emerge around lunchtime and head poolside for a mi goreng. Leah is not well. She has contracted Bali belly and has been sick all morning. By lunchtime she is feeling better and tucks into a falafel sandwich....probably not the best idea, as soon she is not feeling great....
On Sunday evenings at The Island you have the option to pay a little money, and the staff cook a BBQ in the upstairs bar area. We decide to invite all the Kiwis over and make a night of it.
They start to arrive about 5pm, but by then it seems that young Cassius has contracted the stomach bug as well. Not so great. I jump on the net and try to find out what to do. It basically says seek medical help. Cass is in a bad way now, so Kurt & Leah jump on Nev's bike with him and head to a doctor that lives close by. It's a bit scary as Leah is not well herself and you never know what kind of doctors your going to get in a foreign country. Not happy with this one they decide to head to Denpasar and go to a large hospital. There they are treated by a pediatrician and Cass is given some pain killers and anti-biotics. Leah is looked after as well. I speak to Kurt whilst they are there and he says they are comfortable and happy with the care they are being given. Everyone starts to relax a bit and we all sit down and eat dinner.
Kurt and Leah get back around 9.30 and they look exhausted. We have a quick chat about the nights events, then Kurt & I sit down and watch the England V's Germany game. England looked old, tired and scared. Germany looked young, fast and confident. The result mirrored this. Germany 4-1. Even with the bad decisions that England copped, i still think Germany were the better side and deserved to win.
I have no doubt that England will now lobby for a video ref for the next tournament, and on the back of what i saw last night, I'm leaning towards thinking it's a good thing. We are so used to these kinds of decisions being referred to a 3rd umpire in modern sports, it's probably about time Fifa recognised the use of technology, so arguments can be settled on the pitch....
Early to bed this evening, Anna and Jane watched the game with the Kiwis in Seminyak, and everyone heads to sleep at midnight.
Pretty relaxing day, a few evening dramas, but all in all another great day on the island, mostly spent around the pool at our awesome hotel. If you wanna check out the website it's... http://www.theislandhotelbali.com/

Anna's Birthday...

Hungover again..... There's a pattern emerging on this trip. Wake, ouch, swim, better! Jump straight in the pool. Anna wakes up and comes downstairs as Jane emerges from her room. We wish Anna a happy birthday and have a debrief of the previous days events. Leah isn't happy we went to Ku De Ta and didn't call her. Fair enough. The 3 of us have been getting into the habit of saying we're going home, then going out without telling anyone. Kind of like a drunk, modern day 3 musketeers, but I'm sure those guys we're doing some good.........we are just plain evil!

Breakfast with everyone is nice. Dan gives Anna some beads and Leah presents her with a beautiful ring. Peter & Ange have asked Kurt to try and organize some french champagne for the girls for their birthday. This is not such an easy task in Bali, but we have a list of places we can try. Nev gets on the phone to Josh from Sea Circus and we get him on the case as well.
I need to buy a shirt for the party, as well as try and find Anna a present, so i jump on the bike and head off with Kurt and Dan to the BinTang supermarket. I change some money there and Kurt gets some credit for his phone, then hop back on the bikes and head to Seminyak. We run into a kiwi mate of Kerry's named Adam....but more about him later.....


I'm having trouble finding anything for Anna. I see some nice jewelery and fabrics, but nothing I'm positive she will like. Then speak of the devil......we run into Jane, Anna and Leah walking down the street. They are done shopping and are going to warrung Asia for lunch. I tell Kurt and Dan to go with them, i will stay and keep looking.
After 15 minutes with no success i jump back on my bike and wizz off to Bang 66 to catch up with the crew. Lunch looks good, but I'm not hungry so i settle into my first BinTang for the day. So cold...so good!
I'm having real trouble finding Anna a present, so i ask her to come with me on Monday so i get her something she actually wants. She agrees and jumps on the back of the bike and i give her a lift back to the hotel. From there i head off to find a shirt. Run into Jane out front of the hotel and give her a ride down to the supermarket to get some money. Stop on the way back at a few shops but still no luck....
Back at the hotel and Kurt needs to pick up his suits from Kuta, and he recons he knows a place where i can buy a plain black v-neck. Perfect!


We jump on the bikes and head up to legian shops and a store named Flamingos. I get what i need then it's off to Poppies lane to pick up the suits. He has ordered a white linen 2 piece, a blue 3 piece and a brown 3 piece. They all look awesome. We get back to the hotel and the girls are ready to go! Shit......


I jump in the shower, and I'm in my white "pimp" outfit in seconds. I feel like the bad guy from a 60's James Bond flick. Anna thinks i look plain dodgy. I'm happy with either...
The girls look great. The plan is to go have pre-dinner drinks at Ku De Ta, then be at Sea Circus by 7pm. Josh has tracked down two bottles of Billicart champagne, and they will get them at dinner. Awesome!
Jane, Leah, Anna and i head down to Ku De Ta while Kurt and Dan wait for the babysitter. The Kiwis are there when we arrive and have reserved an area for us upstairs. I order myself a Mango Mule and one for the girls, and we toast the birthdays, and a beautiful sunset in Bali.


After a couple of drinks we head off to the restaurant. Sea Circus has reserved us a corner close to the bar, and provide us with welcome drinks of champagne served in tea cups, and ice cold BinTangs. Slowly all the guests arrive, and beautiful hostesses walk past with trays of tapas. I can remember tempura vegetables, salted squid, Lamb skewers and baby san choy bow. The food was excellent and the company great. The night blurs a little from this point, so i will let the pictures do the talking.......


My night ends with Anna buying us all a cocktail and a shot of tequila. Pip and Kerry don't want theirs, so i foolishly throw them back. Woops....
Next thing i know I'm in a cab heading back to the safety of The Island. I can't remember my room number but i manage somehow to get my key and fall into bed (fully clothed). It was a great day and night, i feel blessed to have been able to spend it with such great people, and i, as you must be, am really looking forward to finding out what happened after i left the party..............

Jane's Birthday...

Woke up feeling a little dusty this morning, its been a bit of a theme this week....Jumped straight in the pool and feel 100% better! We decide that today we are going to get a driver to take us to Balangan Beach, which is the next beach north of Dreamlands, on the Bukit Peninnsular. Apparently it is beautiful!....
With the room at The Island, a basic breakfast is included, and its probably my favorite meal of the day. You get hot Bali coffee, fresh fruit salad, and a basket of bread with various spreads, and i add a sweet pineapple juice. Kurt is in the reception area and he has a couple of things to do in Seminyak, so we decide to jump on the motorbikes and head off on a mission. Firstly we head down to Poppys Lane to pick up my suits! Plus Kurt wants to check the quality, and if it's ok, he will order one too. I open up the bag and try on the while linen one, its awesome! The mustard 3 piece is great as well. Kurt likes what he sees and orders a white linen one as well, plus two more basic suits and waistcoats...


Its amazing that the quality is so good, and the price so cheap. It makes me wonder the conditions of the workers who sew these things together. I reassure myself that I'm injecting money into the economy, and the price i paid could feed a family for a week......but don't quite convince myself.
After getting propositioned by a bunch of hookers, (you want service?), we tear off up the road that runs along the beach from Kuta to Seminyak. We get to Seminyak and cant find what Kurt needs, so we wind our way through the back streets of Legian, and back to the hotel. When we arrive our driver is here to take us down to Belangan. The driver is a small Balinese guy with a new looking, small, red, Suzuki 4 wheel drive. All seven of us squeeze into the car and head down the tiny back lanes that lead to the hotel. Scary....


There is a fair amount of traffic on the road, so it takes us a little over an hour to get there. We park up the top of a hill and start walking down a steep set of concrete stairs that lead down to the beach. About halfway down we meet a Frenchman and his son heading up. I ask him if he would mind taking a photo of us. He say yes, but in a typically French, "if i must" kind of way.....


The beach i beautiful. Its low tide and the reef is exposed by 100 meters. The surf looks good but its crowded out there. We make our way across the sand to a line if warungs and scattered beach umbrellas that sit below the cliffs at the south end. The sand is coarse and you sink deeper with each step, it's a tough walk so we change tack and march along the reef itself till we get to the huts...



I'm starving so we order a round of BinTangs for everyone (except Anna), and our food. I get chicken satay sticks and a veggie nasi goreng. The beers are cold and taste amazing on a hot day at the beach. The food arrives and its excellent. My first nasi in Indonesia and it doesn't disappoint. Everybody's food looks really good, and we eat and drink and drink and laugh. After lunch the owner brings out a thick banana pancake surrounded by frangipani flowers, a candle, and a nuttela "30" written in the center. We sing happy birthday to Jane twice, then tuck into some delicious birthday pancake!


On the way back along the beach to the stairs, i walk out to the edge of the exposed reef. The waves look much bigger out here, and you can see they are breaking over ankle deep water onto jagged rocks. Only for the brave.
The drive home from the Balangan to the hotel takes a long time. The traffic is heavy and at one point our driver stops in the middle of if, jumps out of the car, runs across the road and goes to the toilet. Cars behind us are going nuts when the traffic starts moving, and he gets back in the car in the nick of time. Get back to the hotel and jump straight in the pool. We are booked into warung Sobat for Jane's birthday dinner. Nev recons it's great seafood place and cheap as chips. Dan McCaffery has arrived from Australia so he and i, Kurt and Leah, and Jane and Anna jump in a couple of cabs and head off to dinner. My food was pretty good, but not everyone had a great meal, but the drinks were cold and the company great.


We decide to finish up and head back to the hotel to watch the soccer. Jane, Anna and i get the second taxi and are heading back. I suggest we stop for a nightcap and we redirect the driver and go to Ku De Ta.
Ku De Ta is a world famous restaurant and bar right on the beach in Seminyak. You expect to see European Models and their billionaire boyfriends in flowing white robes sauntering across the lawn, and most times you do! We have a couple of cocktails and head home at midnight. Tomorrow is Anna's birthday so i head straight to bed, looking forward to a good nights sleep and a fun day tomorrow.....just before i drift away i open my computer to find Jane has left her facebook open and logged in. I change her status to, "message me now! I'm covered in hot custard". I laugh out loud, but know i will feel guilty in the morning. Sorry Jane, love you....

The Monkey Bar...

I wake up not sure where i am...my phone is singing to me at 2.20am, am i dreaming? The fog starts to clear, it's time to get up! The Socceroos are about to make world cup history and qualify for the round of 16!....or so i hoped.
I head down to the yoga studio where Nev and a ragtag bunch of sleepy Aussies are watching the national anthem on a 10 foot high T.V. screen. There is an atmosphere of hope, but also a quiet realization that it would take a miracle for us to get through....
Its a great game, the Socceroos did themselves proud. My Aussie player of the tournament (Brett Holman) scored a brilliant goal, and it was sensational that we beat Serbia 2-1! But alas, it was not enough....Nev and i were definitely the most excited every time we scored, and we never lost hope that we could overcome a massive goal difference, but in the end, the task was too large...
Anna and Jane make an appearance just before the end of the game, they had gone down to Kuta to check out the nightlife. Safe to say they won't be doing that again...
I return to bed and curse our first game against Germany, feeling our world cup dream was smashed on that dusty pitch in Rustenburg, and another 4 years is too long to wait for a chance at redemption. But it was a brilliant effort to get to South Africa, and our team did us proud! The future is also looking bright, as some of our best performers at the tournament will be in Brazil in 4 years time.
As i drift off to sleep i can hear the T.V. in my room humming away. Did it just say oil spill....or leadership spill?

I wake up again at 9am to find Australia has a new Prime Minister! I could take alot of time now to tell you how i feel about this, but this is a travel blog so i will make it short....
I think it's brilliant that Australia has it's first female Prime Minister, and i am a huge fan of Julia Gillard. Last year i read Jacquline Kents' book "The Making of Julia Gillard", and i suggest anyone who wants to know more about or new leader should pick themselves up a copy, it's a great read.
I feel terrible for Kevin Rudd. The right and left labor factions (along with Gillard) installed him as the leader of the opposition, but the people of Australia elected him Prime Minister, and those same people should have been allowed to choose his fate. Rudd made many mistakes and his credibility had definitely come into question, but his leadership was being tested....it wasn't in cardiac arrest! I understand why the spill occurred, but i can't agree it was the right thing to do. I think the Labor party has a alot of work to do before the population can believe its a stable and viable entity to run the country, and hopefully Gillard can unite the factions and give people hope for the future, she is a well equipped woman to do so. And that's enough about that...

It's another beautiful day in Bali. I sleep in a bit today and decide it's a good idea not to do too much. Kurt and Leah are arriving today and i want to be around when they get here. I Head down to reception and order a motor scooter. Within 5 minutes it's delivered to the hotel by a friendly Balinese guy named Simon (not his real name). Anna, Pip & Kerry show there faces and we have breakfast, coffee and plan our day. It takes about an hour to decide that we should go for a swim and sit by the pool!
Pretty soon it lunchtime, so we jump on our scooters and head up to Seminyak to have lunch at The Corner Store. Its my first time riding in Bali, and i have Anna on the back. A bit hair raising to start with but soon I'm weaving in and out of traffic, and gliding down the road full of confidence.
Lunch was nice, and The Corner Store is the kind of place where everyone look like a model! I had a turkey bagel and a watermelon juice. Just what i needed!


After lunch Anna and Pip decide they need to go shopping, so Kerry and i head to a bar that looks over the multitude of clothes store that line Jalan Seminyak. As we sipped our beers Pip would occasionally walk out onto the street and model her possible purchase, and Kerry would give it the thumbs up, or thumbs down.
Shopping done we jump on the bikes and head back to the hotel for a swim and a BinTang, and start getting excited about the pending arrival of Leah & Kurt!


They arrive about 3pm and have their new born Cassius with them. Its great to see them and soon the mojitos are ordered and we head to the rooftop bar at The Island to drink, laugh and plan the evening.


We spend a couple of hours up there, then decide to have dinner at an awesome Indonesian restaurant in Seminyak called Piku. Leah, Kurt, Cass and i jump a in a cab and stop off at the BinTang supermarket to change some money, then head through the back lanes of Legian till we arrive at our destination. Everyone is already there and we soon get into the swing of things. I had the Indonesian lamb currie and a couple of BinTangs, and all the food ordered looked and tasted great!
After dinner Kerry was all set to head to the Champagne Bar to watch New Zealand take on Paraguay, all his kiwi buddies were there and it was a must win game. He and Pip took off to catch the start of the game, and we settled the bill and finished up our drinks. Anna, Jane and I jumped in a cab and headed off to what i thought was going to be the hotel. Jane pipes up, "i wanna go hand out with the kiwi boys!".....its on.
The Champagne bar is one of those places that guide books tell you to avoid. The hostess are dressed in the tiniest red miniskirts and waistcoats, and on their heads a small round hat. The place is nicknamed the monkey bar! As soon as we arrive Jane has ordered 3 Long Island Iced Teas, and we settle in with the ten or so assembled kiwis and watch the game. # rounds of iced teas later and things start to get blurry. Anna has disappeared, minutes later she walks down the stairs dressed in one of the hostess uniforms! She grabs a tray and starts serving drinks. I don't think i have laughed so hard in my life. The game was boring, a nil all draw, but Anna made up for it! Its hard to find people who can have fun and laugh at themselves, but this girl has personality in spades! Love her!


After Anna gets back into her street clothes, we jump the final cab of the night and head back to the hotel. I pour myself into bed at 12.30, and once again fall into a deep sleep....