The last bit of the Holiday

Elephant fountains at the entrance to our resort

This is the sad part. It is with teary eyes that we face the prospect of going home to dear cold Canberra – to work – to the cleaning up of the camping gear and washing of the car… but at least the ironing was up to date when I left the second time!!

We don’t fly out of Denpasar until 11pm their time which is 1am our time – by which case I will be sleep walking for sure!

Going home from a holiday always sucks in my opinion – unless you are going on another one shortly after or are retired or really rich and don’t have to work anyway. All of these scenarios don’t apply to us.

We will leave the resort about 8pm as the airport is half an hours drive and have booked our trusty driver to get us there. His name is Agung (pronounced Agoong). He has been driving us around to Kuta and yesterday to our quest to find a bit more shopping. Its so posh, he waits for us and then we hop in his car and he drives us somewhere else. Our own personal driver for 3 hours. Anyway it took us about 4 dodgy ones to find him so when you get a good one – you look after them.

However our current problem is to amuse ourselves for the rest of the day. We had to vacate our room by 12pm and are free to make use of the facilities. They do give you a shower room to clean up before you get your travelling clothes on but I have been in these rooms in other resorts before and they are usually grotty. You don’t know whether its been cleaned from the last person - who could have had disgusting feet growing catchable feet warts  or something so we elected to do our swimming and stuff in the morning and shower in our bathroom before we had to leave. The luggage is now in storage and we are free to roam.

There isn’t much to do when you have to hang around all day waiting for a flight.  Its not as relaxing as other days as you know you have to be somewhere and sit on a plane soon.

We could have caught the free bus into the Bali Collection but we have now seen everything there too.

We found the lounge bar and have taken up residence there for the day. I have started a tab so we can at least drink things alcoholic or not – well I do – Greg is still on his ‘don’t drink much’ thing. I wish he would get back to normal all this not drinking and feeling tired all the time is really boring after 8 months – and there is no end in sight. I was hoping that this holiday of sitting around and him doing nothing much would make some headway but no. Now as well as sleeping in for half the day he has an afternoon nap too. Thank goodness I bought the laptop and started a blog or I would be climbing the walls. There is only so much exercise you can do in a day and complete strangers to annoy.

I planned on going for a run this morning but slept in and it was too hot by the time I got up so I went to the gym instead. I needed to do my abs and back exercises anyway. I wiled away an hour there and did a cross trainer workout for something different before returning to the room hoping to find Greg awake and ready to go. He was still snoring soundly so I changed into swimmers and hit the pool.

Yes hit the pool literally because all the children who snaffle the surf boards through the day are having breakfast or something and they are not in the pool so the surfboards (cheap versions of boogie boards) are free so I could play with them at will. So right in front of where sensible people are having breakfast at the 6 foot deep pool, I stacked two boards on top of one another and then pushed them out from the edge, took a run up and tried to go ‘surfing’. I promptly fell straight off with a big splash - but it didn't deter me from trying again - and again. It was actually quite fun to be really silly however after about 8 attempts to keep my balance I got tired and gave up. By which time husband was up and I was hungry so we tidied ourselves up and went for our last breakfast.

Blow Holes and other entertainment

Wednesday’s Bali Blog  8^th August 2012

 We have not been doing anything that noteworthy of putting in a blog. There is only so much of me telling you that I got up, went for a run, came back hot and sweaty, did some stretches, changed into swimmers and went for a quick dip before having a shower and going to breakfast. But for a couple of days when I went to the gym instead or just gave myself a day off, that’s been it.

Not shopping again! Waiting for
our taxi to Kuta

We did go to Kuta one day to remind me why I don’t think much of it unless you need to kit your family and friends out with cheap Bin Tang Beer singlets or want 100 cheap beach dresses. The vendors are like seagulls over a chip except you are the chip and after a very short time, I was over it.

Today however I found something to tell you which I think is very funny.

Kuta - same pretty much as 15 years
ago.

This morning I went for a run. (no, that’s not it) I wasn’t going to today as I ran yesterday but I got up at Bali time 6.50 (8.50 our time which is normally a sleep in) and the gym here doesn’t open until 8am their time which is 10am our time. My choices therefore were to watch Greg sleep for 2 hours or leave the room. Hence I ended up going for another run.

Today because I got a little bored of my normal route, I went further along the path to see where it goes. I normally turn around at the first Island which is about 4 or 5 km up the beach. However today I went to the 2^nd island to see what the go was there. It was not that much further maybe another kilometer.

Discovering a new beach

There is another temple – what a surprise – fancy another temple in Bali but they have a path that leads to a blow hole in the rocks by the sea.

There wasn’t much to see at the blow hole as the waves were pretty flat but I did notice a viewing platform which was very wet – obviously the waves do come up that high. It was also boarded up at the entrance to stop people entering it as parts of the railing were missing. The platform was built over the top of a bunch of seriously jaggered rocks so if one was to be swept off the platform, the consequences were to be shredded to bits by the rocks. Very unpleasant. Nobody else was there this morning so I had a little rest and went on.

The next on my sticky nose tour of Bali was the grounds of the Grand Hyatt. Its absolutely huge and they even have a pond with big white ducks gracefully gliding around. Other than that there are many beach lounges pool side and over on the beach which is the same as we are staying except I would hate to see how much a beer costs off their menu. The pool goes on forever and the grounds are manicured to perfection. I don’t think the grass dares grow out of place.

Anyway the sun was getting higher and it was becoming hot and I had to get back or Greg would be wondering where I got to and probably hanging out for breakfast so I hastened as much as my very grumpy, tired legs would take me. Massage this afternoon for sure!

Starbucks coffee buckets - not for the caffeine sensitive!

Over breakfast I had interesting conversation to have with Greg – which is a change as we have been in each other’s face for weeks now and are starting to run out of interesting chit chat as we are always together. Anyway I mentioned to him about my high morning adventure and offered to take him there. It would not be far from the Bali Collection – the group of shops and restaurants which you can catch the free bus to so we finished our breaky and left to go there via the free bus.

First up on arrival was a coffee at Starbucks.  Now in Australia a large coffee comes in a mug and a normal size coffee comes in a cup and saucer. Yesterday when we were here we asked for a small and got a mug. We assumed the staff made a mistake. However this morning we realized they didn’t make a mistake. When you order a large coffee it comes out in a size resembling a pint you might find in a pub but with a handle and mug like . Small coffees come in normal size coffee mugs. We sat there for ages trying to drink what would keep the population of a 3^rd world country awake for a fortnight before I could show Greg the sights I had discovered earlier that day.

Blow hole blowing - you can see the tourist about
to get a bit wet

By now the sun was burning and bright which made the scenery spectacular and us very hot. Greg had said the forecast for the weather today was 28 degrees and a shower in the afternoon so he had worn a cotton Tshirt instead of a cooler casual shirt. It was much hotter than that but more humid than it had been on other days. He started grumbling about 5 minutes into the walk that what I was about to reveal had better be worth it.

The island had a path all the way around which was paved and the blow hole path off shoot is conveniently marked and paved also. When we got there, a welcome sea breeze was blowing and the sea had turned from its light blue of the morning to a very deep blue and the swell was starting to pick up.

I didn't quite capture it but this is the start of a big
splash and there is actually a guy under this wave
getting a free bath.

Some very game tourists had bravely climbed over the fence of the walkway and were gingerly peering into the blow hole part of the rocks. We went to the safe viewing platform which over looked the wooden platform and also offered a great view of the beaches he resorts about 180 degrees around.

No escape its so funny to watch people getting swamped
by a wave!

Whilst welcoming a sit down and a chance to cool off a bit, a nice sized swell came up. You don’t really notice it except it was larger that the other swells and next thing the sticky nose tourists illegally looking into the blow hole got completely drowned when power of the swell and for force of the waves through the small opening propelled about an Olympic swimming pool full of water upwards and all over them. Actually you could see them see the volume of water coming up through the tunnel but it was too late to run anywhere to avoid the inevitable. You could also see them looking up as the water propelled itself into the sky and then with expressions like a Looney Tunes Cartoon where the Coyote in a road runner cartoon is expecting to have something land on him – they were sitting ducks for a dumping.

Talk about laugh!

When their shrieks of surprise died down and their onlookers stopped laughing, they left the scene looking as if they had been swimming all morning. They had no longer gone when another lot of tourists came along, had a look, climbed over the fence and peered into the blow hole.

Guess what happened!

It wasn’t long before kaboosh and kersplash another large swell delivered a big dump of water, lots of shrieks and squeals. Another pile of wet tourists!

We could have enjoyed this all day! However, we had other things to gawk at so we left after just one more vulnerable bunch of unsuspecting and curious people!

What great free entertainment!

Near the Hyatt - your own private ceremony all set up

More Indian wedding with equine highlights

Remember I told you about the lovely yellow Indian wedding? Well it didn’t stop there. They had their civil ceremony and then went off and had a shindig at another part of the resort which we didn’t see and weren’t interested – in a nice way. The next day however was even more extravagant than the first.

Painting the chapel red? These Indians
don't do things by halves. How many times
can you get married in a weekend - the
answer is at least 3!

Starting with a ceremony on the lawns that included some traditional dress and the wedding party sitting around on cushions lighting incense and throwing petals at each other to the prayers in a language that made not sense to us – which I’m sure was very nice. The best was yet to come.

There were dozens of these
beautiful flower arrangements
around which set the scene

This time the stage was decked out in red and as I went down to take my sticky nose tourist photos, I learned that the groom was to be riding a horse up the walkway to meet his bride. I must tell you that I’ve owned a horse and ridden lots years ago and looking down the path where there were flappity flags and parasols all adored in red scarves billowing in the wind, any horse I’ve ever known would have had all four legs off the ground and have taken off up the beach. So I decided to stick around as it might become interesting.

Everything flapping furiously in the wind and the horse is going to walk calmly down
 this path behind 30 yelling, dancing, cheering people...
Right!

Some time later, sticky nose tourist me and my trusty Nikon Coolpix found the said horse and handler. The horse, a grey fleabitten (colour) mare were standing there nice and quiet but she must have been hot.  She would have been about 14.3hh at best so not the tallest girl to take a man for a pony ride. The adornment she was wearing was heavy velvet all sequinned and tasselly and lovely but it was a hot day, it would have weighed more than a winter rug and she was in the sun. Underneath this rug and neck rug thing was obviously an all purpose saddle and the stirrups poked through a hole in the rug so they could be used by the rider. The front part of the headpiece was so wide that she wouldn’t have been able to see ahead, only sideways which is also interesting.

more fancy decorations

The handler hardly spoke any English so I took my photos and left them alone. On the scheduled time that the said groom would ride his ‘mount’ down to meet his bride I waited as did Greg near the wedding chapel, hoping for a good view of the proceedings. We weren’t the only ones. Many other partially sunburned and also partially clad tourists staying at the resort were eager to see what went on as well. The scene was set and so were several loud speakers along the groom’s path. The wind was brisk and the sun was setting so it was also a bit chilly in the shade waiting and waiting.

All set to deliver the groom to the bride. The horse standing quietly

Eventually someone found the music and all this Bollywood music boomed from the speakers. The groom was on his horse, his supporters and family were before the horse all dancing, cheering and calling out. Small children were holstered on their father’s shoulders and everyone was having a bit of a grove – even us free loading on lookers. It was quite exciting!...

The horse can't see and neither can the groom - she's getting
a bit edgy already

Especially for the horse who had been half asleep and then this guy wants a pony ride which is fine then WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING WITH THIS NOISE AND ALL THESE CRAZY PEOPLE!!!! So she did a bit of a dance of her own which unnerved the handler who gripped her bridle tighter and someone else jumped on the other side and gripped the other side of her bridle – so now she couldn’t see whats in front of her and men were holding her head so tight – poor girl. All she could do is chew her bit furiously. She must have been very quiet in spite of all of this – my horse would have been at Kuta Beach by now. The pace the dancers were going was so slow she couldn’t even walk properly so she therefore got a bit uptight. The groom was wearing this veil thing over his face so he couldn’t see properly either.

I watched with ever growing interest.

When the party and the horse got near us, there were 2 tourists sitting in front of us on beach chairs. It was here that the pony had had enough of all this noise  - that had increased 10 fold since they were close to the chapel. Lots more family and friends had joined in the celebration, noisily, jumping up and down,. They also had parasols which they enthusiastically pumped up and down in front of the horse. At this point she started to put her haunches under her. Seeing this I quickly advised the folk in front that the horse was about to go nuts and to get out of their chairs. They did at once. The horse did a quarter rear and went backwards nearly tripping over the chairs at which point the groom got off and then the horse did a big poo right there.

Now when on holidays was there ever such excitement?

A staff member was quickly despatched with a dustpan and broom – (he needed a shovel) to get rid of the mess. It was 5 seconds after he finished furiously sweeping that she did a great big wee which flooded the path in a great big puddle!

We waited and waited for the bride but we were cold and she didn’t seem in a hurry to meet her groom. Greg said he would have given up by now and gone home. Anyway we did give up and go back to our balcony where I could just see what was going on. In any case the horse had gone and the sun was setting.

The wedding scene was so pretty as they had torches and candles everywhere.

We settled in for a happy hour with our own grog and started the discussion of where to go for dinner.

Dunnies, Dining and what do you wear to a Hindu Christening!

Take a seat - waiter will be here soon!

Mind the loos! The perils of the eco friendly tourist.

Its been 15 years since we were in Bali last and other than some more buildings, the security and the staff seem very grateful that you have chosen their country to visit, the toilets have ‘eco friendly’ systems on them. I am sure this is for the people who use a squirt of water rather than toilet paper when they go. Anyway I thought it was like a bidet. This is really wrong as the water is completely cold. Imagine my surprise at that when I tried it out when we got to our room. As is the Caz tradition and always needing to wee on arrival I went to the loo. There was no loo paper so I thought – ‘when in Rome’…. Well Rome can stay there and as quick as you like I summoned the housekeeping people. Not only did we have no towels in the room there was no dunny paper. Both won’t do! (although in an emergency there was a box of tissues) Sorry Bali – I’m not an eco friendly tourist. A cold squirt of water up the backside every time you need to go won’t make my holiday I’m afraid!

You want Massarzz???

I have discovered the joy of the $5 for an hour beach massage. Actually the locals pronounce it ‘massarzzz’. Its not as good as what my mate Trish Blacker in Florey can do but its still an hour of massage on my tired and rubbish muscles and neck and its relaxing and I love it. Every second day I have made time to go get ‘massarzz’ from the same lady. She has a mate that sits with her and the main lady works on my back and the other on my legs. Talk about a good value massarzz! I have been running and in the gym here on alternate days so there is always some muscle group whingeing therefore on tap massarzz is just great.

Getting the washing done

The motel does offer a laundry service but its expensive as you would expect in a resort – so everywhere around this strip you can get a real tattoo, a fake tattoo, washing done, massazze or buy a trashy beach dress. Take your pick. Anyway we found a lady that does massage and washing and hopefully not all at once. She is our $1.50 per kilo person. Since I have been running and exercising every day I have managed to acquire a nice mound of sweaty washing so we have given it to her. We come back for our 5kg of washing amounting to $7.50 tomorrow. I just hope she has not shrunk everything. If she has then my niece Alexandra who is 6 will have a whole new wardrobe!

Eating out in Bali

Eating out has been a re learning experience. The first night after we got here we decided to catch the free bus into Galeria – well its not called that any more its called the Bali Collection. Kind of makes it sound like you have to pay to get in but you don’t.  We had been there in the day and the free bus with the dodgy seats that move about and no windows so that if you have bothered to do your hair by the time you get off  - hair doing was a waste of time… leaves on the hour and returns on the hour.  So we caught the free bus in with everyone else and it was a bit crowded – but you can’t beat a free ride.

I saw this gorgeous little
beaded and sequinned dress
in a shop and thought of
several lovely little girls who
would look fantastic in it -
especially my nieces Alexandra
and Gabriella. Its a girl thing!

Once at Bali Collection, everyone wants you to eat at their place so they try to entice you with offers of discounts, free garlic bread, free spring rolls and a free ride home. We ended up at a place called  ‘Tropicana’ as they had cheap seafood. We were hanging for some seafood after eating my healthy camping crap for  two weeks.

We lucked in as the staff at this little restaurant were just great and we had this wonderful waiter called Agus who spoke English pretty well. They had a live band and a free trip home when we were finished. Greg and I immediately clicked with Agus and Greg gave him shit which he gave back and its so nice seeing your man happy for a change! We had a seafood platter for 2 which included crab and lobster, baby snapper a couple of prawns which weren’t the best and something I  could best describe as a super ball in a  shell. It was a hard and leathery piece of seafood that didn’t have much flavour either  - but the rest was fantastic.

Having converted a beautifully presented seafood dish into a pile of shells and bones, we were having such a nice time. The wine here is hideously priced and doesn’t look the best so we are drinking a ‘Bintang’ beer which is unusual because neither of us are beer drinkers. Mind you we only have one and that’s enough.  However, Greg decided he’d have desert and so I decided to have a cocktail. Enter the $5 Strawberry daquori. Yum – why waste calories on a cake!

The band played Men At Work’s ‘Down under’ for us on Agus’s request which was a very nice touch. Then we scored our free ride home in a nice car. The seafood was only $35 Aussie – bargain.

This cheeky squirrel was taking a packet of peanuts out
of an offering, running up the tree and pigging out.
All God's creatures!

The next night we went back to Galeria for dinner and tried another place. They were playing great Jazz. We had tried to go to another place that had a really good blues band but the people didn’t want to serve us so we left. If they took 10 minutes to realise we wanted to eat there I would hate to wait for the meal! Anyway the ‘Black Stone’ looked sheik and had lovely comfy chairs and were playing nice music so we went there.

Munching out upside down. He was
also very timid

Well that’s where the good bit ended as the menu was rubbish. The lighting was so intimate that I wished I’d taken my petzel light along with me. They lit the tea light candle on the table so at least we had some light to read with. Hang on are we still camping??? Of all the things on it the best I could pick was a club sandwich and Greg had Singapore Crab. Greg’s meal wasn’t the best and it’s a bit hard to stuff up a sandwich but the total experience was underwhelming so we won’t be going back. They didn’t have free transport either. We went to catch the bus and it was so jam packed that you couldn’t fit another soul on edgeways – not even a skinny one. We caught a cab with a driver who would not give us change but wanted us to  use him if we needed to go anywhere – fat chance. That was it. That was the night of the guy who couldn’t sing in the resort. We watched the Olympics to learn that we are not doing well at that either. No matter. On holidays. Who cares!

Greg relaxing whilst waiting for the free bus in the lobby of Grand Mirage resort

We went back to the ‘Tropical’ the night after – which by now was Saturday night and had another fabulous meal and a few more cocktails and Agus got chatting to us. He lives 3 hours by motor cycle away in his village with his wife and 3 month old son. (He works 6 days per week in Nusa Dua so has accommodation here until his day off.) As Bali tradition goes, the sons stay in the family village and bring their wives in when they marry. Therefore, a few generations live together in various ages. His religion is Hindu and his son is to be ‘christened’ or whatever the equivalent in Hindu is on Friday.

He actually invited us along to his village as guests at this celebration which we felt honoured and humbled but since we are flying out on Friday – can’t go. It would be interesting indeed to witness such an event. However I have no idea of etiquette for such an occasion much less an outfit to wear or a gift for the child  - I can’t even bring a plate. I’ve no idea what goes on and for how long -  so its probably best we go home. I wondered about the language barrier too. However – how nice of him to ask us. Wonder what his wife would have said. “Bloody Agus bringing home strange Australians to our family gathering – what was he thinking!?”

Life in the resort - its really tough!

Even comes with free entertainment here!

First day we were here we returned from our meal at the Bali Collection (the old Galeria) and although really tired were greeted by the sound of a lady who could really sing. She tottered on stage on the highest pair of green heels I have ever seen. I thought she was going to fall at any moment. If we hadn’t been walking zombies from being tired we would have stayed to listen. It didn’t really matter as our room is so close to the main venue that we could hear her plain as day from our bedroom. The second night however when we had a little more energy they had a bloke who could not sing for sour apples so we had to turn the telly on in our room to drown him out.

The view from the pool to the sea

Breakfast is thrown in so every morning we go to breakfast. Bali is 2 hours behind us which suits me, I can get up at 8am which is 6am here, have a run, get back, shower and have breakfast at their 8am which is our 10am in which case its brunch to me!

The Breakfast buffet also have heaps of choices including salad and cold meat, pastries and the normal things you’d find in an international hotel as well as a fruit platter. After stuffing ourselves so we don’t have to buy lunch, we waddle back to our room and organise ourselves for the day. Usually a walk somewhere followed by some sitting somewhere else until I get restless and then I leave Greg sitting and go and see what else I can get up to.

Today I went for a swim up to the swim up bar – which has a very ordinary list of cocktails but I met a nice couple from Perth who have never been out of W A much and never overseas. They also recently bought an A Van which they are enjoying except for putting up the annexe which has caused them some grief. Caravanning conversations happen when you least expect it!

By the time Greg found me I had pruney feet from standing waist high in water whilst chatting but he was astounded as I didn’t have a cocktail in my hand. Hows that for will power!  Actually a few nights ago we went out for dinner and I found cocktails for $5 AUD. The resort ones are much more expensive and I’m feeling like it’s a bit too much of an indulgence at this stage. However with my duty free grog running out, I might have to endulge!

The good thing about this part of the holiday is that its hot. I haven’t once had to wear a beanie to bed and I don’t have to put a coat and ugg boots on to go to the toilet at night. The people are not as friendly though, mind you its an international melting pot. There are people from just about everywhere – some don’t speak much English.  However, there are a few people we have managed to chat to. There is a couple a few doors down called Sue and Grant. He works for the mines and she is an artist. Great fun folk. There is also a family next door who come from Ireland but are living in Malaysia and hope to come to Australia. He is in the building game. Also lovely people. Their kids are so quiet you wouldn’t know they had any. The baby is 20 months and their little girl about 5 or 6.

The view down Nusa Dua beach. In the distance you can see the
little peninsula - green mass jutting out. Thats where I run to every second day.
Well run/walk its quite far and also very hot and I'm not that fit!

Still if we were camping we would know everyone by now as its hard to even get to the laundry room from your camp without being stopped for a chat. Its really nice unless you are in a hurry. Two totally different holidays in one. I wonder how many other people have done this?

Time out in Bali

Our nice room in Grand Mirage
Nusa Dua- Bali. 

Here is a photo of our really nice room as we walked in on Wednesday night after the flight. Its hilarious, the bed is so big! We went from the tiny campervan bed which was a little bigger than a king single but smaller than a double. You had to do synchronised sleeping - everyone roll this way etc or someone nearly fell out. Now I have to write Greg a postcard to invite him over for a snuggle!

Actually we have never had an overseas holiday where we have already been before. Its quite different. Normally we are doing tours and seeing things and really busy but this time we have seen the temples, the monkeys, the sunset temple, the rice paddies, cities and all that so don’t have to do it again. Greg needed a sit down holiday and so we don’t feel one bit guilty not busting our butt to see it all. To my surprise I can’t even be bothered shopping. Well having no money is a kind of incentive and my only purchases have been to acquire a big floppy bali beach dress to pop over swimmers as I didn’t own one, drinking water, soda water and tonic water. Oh and sunscreen as I only had a 1 litre pump pack at home (heavy)

Poolside looking toward the dining area and swim up bar

We have happy hour on our little balcony every afternoon. It saves heaps as we bought our duty free spirits before leaving Sydney and now we just buy mixers from the convenience store. A gin and tonic at the motel is $14. A can of mixer about $1. We also buy some really bad for you crisps – this is because biscuits and cheese are in short supply. We also get out the laptop (yuppies yes I know) and put our music on. Music,  warm weather, drinks, people to watch and my lovely Greg – wish I never had to come home.

The deep end of the pool

Whilst doing our people watching which includes a glimpse of the pool, every afternoon a young Chinese boy wheels his Grandpa down from their room in a  very squeaky wheelchair. Parks him poolside and proceeds to have the best time in the pool with a couple of foam boogie boards. The kid would be 10 at best and skinny as a rake and how he manoeuvres pa in the wheelchair is a feat of strength. The wheelchair is one of those old fashioned chrome and blue ones you get from the hospital which weigh a ton, hard to push and hate changing direction. However, every afternoon about 4.30 when most of the other people are hopping out of the pool, squeekety squeek it’s the kid with Pa.

Our secret room- you can
see our door its the one
on the ground floor
 furterest away

Pa sits by the pool – hopefully with the brakes on in his wheelchair and must give advice to the boy who tries different things to stand on his boards. He piles all 3 up and tries to get to stand on them. Sometimes balancing for about 10 before he falls off. The pool is really deep too so he can obviously swim well. Anyway an hour and a half of doing this interjected with hopping out and trying to do a big bomb to jump back in, its time to wheel Pa back home. Makes us tired just watching the energy of this kid but its so heart warming to see this little boy and his Pa having such a nice time on their own.

Our room is tucked away from the beach but we can still see it – so long as you are not long sighted/ short sighted – whatever it is that you can’t see things way over there. We have a birds eye view of the man who is in charge of the beach towels. Many people who collect their towels or drop them off see us having our happy hour and either wave, scow or walk away bemused. Maybe they didn’t cotton on to supply your own grog saves you a fortune.

From Outback Australia to Bali - why not!

In Bali now!

I am sitting in a Balanese resort watching the lovliest Indian wedding on the beach. Its not something I was planning on doing but my hotel balcony allows me to sticky nose all I like at this event. They are playing Sting’s  “Fields of Gold” and there are about 12 bridesmaids all dressed in some shade of lemon – all different. There are so many bridesmaids! I wonder if the bride needed a role call before going out to make sure they were all there! There was also a flower girl – doing what a flower girl should do – throw flowers on the ground before the bride. However, the wind took them and showered them on surrounding tourists sitting on banana lounges, trying to improve on their sunburn from the day before. This is the Western style ceremony of English Indians. The proper Indian ceremony is tomorrow. They do get married good and proper these Indians!

The pretty isle for the
English Indian wedding

Actually I met the bride and her group in the hallway near our room door. We actually had to excuse ourselves to get past as they took up the whole hallway. The bride was having a hard time with a veil that was getting in the way being blown around in the morning breeze. Being an Indian Wedding I didn’t expect the girls to have a cockney English accent – but there you go. I just said to them ‘good luck and have a great day’. How could you not – every bride deserves a lovely wedding day.  I thought of my sister and her wedding coming up in November.

The wind is not as strong as it has been on other days and there is a blue sky and the sun is shining. The bride must love yellow as there is yellow everywhere in the decorations.

The chapel by the sea all decked out in yellow everything
it looked so pretty and romantic!

Its an interesting holiday this one. One minute we are in the outback of Australia and the next thing slothing it out at a 5 star resort in another country! If you had told me our one month off would end there I would have looked at you funny. (mind you I’m funny looking anyway) The outback will have to wait until we have our own caravan more suited to being punished by us. Then if it falls apart its our problem!

Every nice bride deserves a wonderful wedding

Little touches like this bike thingy makes everything
 look perfect. You'd want a skinny bride and to be pretty
fit to pedal it though!!