Wednesday’s
Bali Blog 8th 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 2nd island to see what the go was there. It was
not that much further maybe another kilometer.
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| 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!
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| 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 3rd world country awake for a fortnight before I
could show Greg the sights I had discovered earlier that day.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| Near the Hyatt - your own private ceremony all set up |
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