Since blog number 8 we have said goodbye to Carrie and Stefan in Brisbane having spent a lovely few days despite the continuously torrential rain and flooding. After Australia Zoo we took advantage of good breaks In the weather to travel to, not clImb, Mount Cootha for lunch. We went to the amazIng BotanIcal Gardens at the base of Mount Cootha fIrst to do our lIttle commItment ceremony wIth CarrIe and Stefan under a beautIful tree wIth a lake and lIly pads In the background. Thanks Carrie and Stefan for your hospitality, it was really great to meet family and friends and share your birthday Stefan. We hope your weather has returned to normal now that we have gone. Was it true? Did we actually break a drought?
HeadIng off to JulIe and Brents In CarrIes lIttle shopping basket, tryIng to get there before major flooding occurred, Stefan drove through raIn so heavy It was ImpossIble to see a hand In front of the car. Rain, torrential, seems to be the basic feature of this holiday so far. It was great to meet some of Julie and Brents friends too. We had a lovely, and I mean lovely, BBQ under the awning in the rain but........all was good and thoroughly enjoyable. A "sudden death" trip to a huge shopping mall at Carrindale was our next adventure. Julie drove well, but, as Julie will say, the multistorey carpark was very confusing - and that was just finding the outlet to the first floor!! Anyway, enough said about that except the Aussies do do malls well and I found some new Sloggies. As if multistory carparks were not enough Julie decided, with our agreement, to go nightclubbing in Brisbane. Firstly dinner at an Asian fusion Bbq restaurant in Chinatown then on to Cloudlands nightclub. What an amazing place, we stayed longer than expected and caught the last train home. Thanks Julie and Brent for a great night out. Realising that we had some awful impact on the weather patterns we decided to make a quick 2 day trip to Surfers to give Julie and Brent a break. Backpacks in place we started our journey, a little test for our bigger endeavours to come, and headed to the train station with our internet instructions in hand. All started well - we caught our first train. Yeh we thought, this is easy peasy. Time to change trains! Not so cool. This is ours? No not this one, this one only stops at da de da de da. Oh ok as long as you're sure. MMMMM. YES YOU CAN GUESS THE REST. Anyway an hour later back on track we get off second train for first bus. Bus comes along great, this is easy peasy! Half the bus was coughing their hearts out and this poor woman was filling her lap and umbrella with vomit which was slowly sliding down the floor of the bus towards these unsuspecting Asian couple and their luggage! On top of that the driver took us straight past our hotel and we had to get a taxi back which cost us more than the whole train and bus trip combined. Well, we laughed until our sides were sore because we actually thought the taxi driver was dead in his car until Gary banged on the window to check! So we spent 2 night's at surfers and yes it did rain and was very windy but let us not forget that it is also very warm so we were able to walk along the beach, although most of it has disappeared in the bad weather conditions and high tides, met a couple of friends of Garys from Nelson in the township and won 7 night's free accommodation in Koh Samui or Phuket. The latter could be a scam but we will see. Trekking back to Julie and Brents we lIterally arrived maybe 2 seconds before the heavens opened to welcome us. Now, I have heard rumours that it is said the weather is down to us but I am still not convinced. We had great weather in Melbourne everyone. Our last night was spent outside under the awning, eating spaghetti bol, drinking wine and of course reminiscing. Yes the rain was drumming over head but you know - who cares, it was great. So bye to Julie, Brent, Chris and the cherubs and thanks for your hospitality too. Sorry about the rain but I hear all is now good since we left. ( oh no! I have forgotten our eye opening evening of KarIoke at the Manly pub. Just let me say this "thank heavens for Julie".) Off to Bali. Thanks Brent for the lift to the airport, shame we didn't take up your advice cos yes, we were at the wrong airport! Now all of you at this point who are worried about our ability to travel, please don't, we are fine and every cloud does have a silver lining. If we had not gone to the international instead of the domestic airport we would not have got our bags bubble wrapped for security, but then we would not have had our Bali hassles either - but that is another story altogether. Back to Brisbane airport all wrapped and bussed to correct airport, now comes the check in. Remember we are flying to an international destination, via Darwin, with qantas under jetstar and we are now at a domestic airport. Not easy but finally mastered. After 4 hours In Darwin we finally land at Dempasar and this is where the action starts. As we approach the bag carousel we see our matching, wrapped bags laid out neatly on the ground underneath a Priority stand with 2 uniformed "Porters" standing beside them. Bali has been my one dreaded destination because of all the medication I have to carry for such a long trip and I thought the worst. We approached our bags and we were asked which were ours so dutifully pointed them out. "Come with us this way please" so we dutifully followed. Our bags were put through scanners and we were whisked through customs etc and then we stopped, abruptly. The "porters" had a firm hold on our bags and outstretched hands......."money please". We had only a few Australian coins with us and no other ready money so offering them what we had we literally had to prise our bags out of their hands and make a dash towards what turned out to be the next step in our obstacle course.......the taxi driver gauntlet! Selecting the best driver we could late at night we finally arrived at our hotel In SemInyak-Bali Reski Asih cottages..........perfect. The room is airconditioned, large, clean and comfortable with a great, warm pool and situated just in the right place for us to explore and enjoy the township, beach, local villages and the more well-to-do resorts. We have done a lot of walking since we arrived and it is very, very hot. It seems to rain at night or very early morning and the daytime and evenings are beautiful. We admit to getting a little sunburned as the strength of the sun took us by surprise. Walking along the beach today there were many ceremonies happening for "hari raya nyepi" which is simply "silence day". These ceremonies which exorcise the evil spirits will go on until 12th March which is silence day. Everyone stays quiet so that the evil spirits think everyone has gone and then there will be no evil spirits for another year. People do not work or move outside of their homes and we will be confined to the hotel for the day - not too hard really. Today we also had the most amazing lunch on the beach. I have to say it is the best lunch I have ever had in my entire life. The flavours were so fresh and delicate - a combination of fruit, prawns, coriander and nuts - would not know where to start to replicate it. We will definitely go back there. Our first meal here cost us $3 for the two of us but we have not been able to replicate that as yet - maybe tonight when we wander into the village and buy from the local, streetside takeaway. Last night we ventured to Ku de ta. This is a moderately expensive restaurant where you lie on beds to drink cocktails, surrounded by candles, enjoying the view of the rolling surf. Mmmmmmm......the jury is out on that one for me but Gary felt rIght at home! Tomorrow we may take a tour so that will be our next update. Hope all is well with all our friends and family. Love to all C & G xxx
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