ClaireEllie

Ellie: We're back in Kuta! Our flight back from Flores was at 11, and we amused ourselves before boarding by spying on two very rich and very good looking families with squillions of shiny children. I couldn't guess which child belonged to which glamourous mum but Claire worked it all out. We also listened to "I'm Sorry I havn't a Clue," laughing like morons at the gate. After we got back we sunbathed on the beach, and got a manicure, pedicure AND haircut all for the very reasonable price of 8 dollars. Sushi again for supper, and tomorrow we'll probably stay by the pool until leaving to catch our internal flight from Bali to Jakarta at 2.45. Claire: Having giggled relentlessly to I'm Sorry I haven't a clue we're now describing ourselves as Euthanasia. (Youth in ... read more

Elly: Today's dives were breathtaking. The first was at a site called "Castle Rock" where we saw an enormous eagle ray (up close), and napoleon wrasse. Our dive guide for the day, Fabi, was excellent - pointing things out that we might not have spotted otherwise. The water was so clear that 26m felt like about 8, unbelievable. The second dive was close by at "Crystal Point." We stayed down for 76 minutes - on Hoga we were limited to 50. Our descent was fun, in amongst a huge school of silver fusiliers. Each time Fabi tapped his tank they whipped round in unison. It was the sort of scene you expect only to see only on David Attenbrough, let alone be in the middle of! In between both dives we moored up at a paradise ... read more

Claire: I thought I'd start for a change! Well I can safely say that today has been far the best day so far! I can not begin to describe how perfect today was! We arrived at the harbour at 7.30 and quickly realised that the pier was not a joke, and that you did actually have to climb on all fours in places to get from one wooden plank to the other, Indiana Jones style. Also that the holes dotted around the pier were not an artistic statement, more that the pier was in fact just falling in to the sea. After this mini-adventure we found our boat and our dive team, and were met initially by a guy a year older than us from Q.E boys! (Nice to meet London lads for a change!) There ... read more

Ellie: We set off today to Labuan Bajo with a ticket saying "Lion Air" in hand. We landed in a propellor plane saying "Wings Air." Hmmm. Well, as a lady called Olga (who happened to be a Jehovah's witness) had advised us on Hoga, "TII": This Is Indonesia. We're here at least. We've had an interesting day, rather too interesting to be documented in full here because we're anxious to start tonight's film, but have successfully organised two boat trips to the islands of Rinka and Komodo with a company called "Dive Komodo," run by an Australian called Greg. We'll be doing two dives with probably around ten other tourists, all legit and PADI certified, promise. Our hotel backs on the beach where we've just watched the most incredible sunset and Claire had fun showing off ... read more

Ellie: Despite the fish tank, we're back at our favourite cafe. Today we went to Nusa Dua. Upon arrival we were expecting a line of gleaming five star hotels, backing on to a pristine beach. We were dropped off near a car park, some litter, and some men on jet-skis shouting "water spor? water spor?" Oh. Luckily we weren't put off and set off in search of a nicer patch of sand. It didn't take long to find the row of gleaming hotels we were expecting. I managed to sweet talk a nice Indonesian man called Davna (or something) into letting us have a day on the sun loungers at "Oasis" hotel for only 40 000 rupiah (about three quid). We basked there smugly all day, complete with stripy five star towels. Unfortunately, lying about being ... read more

Ellie: Today was a bit of a non day, but turned out to be quite fun! We left Ubud earlier this morning, sorted out ONE set of flights, and then got dropped off....God knows where! We gave the taxi driver what we thought was the name of a street with some funky looking shops, but must have pronounced something wrong. So, we found the sea and got back by walking along the beach. We walked for miles and miles, the sand was doing that thing where it stretches out each time you make any progress, and we were slightly delirious by the time we reached our familiar patch. After that we did a little bit of a shop before going back to the beach for some late sunbathing and paddling. Right now we're sat in a ... read more

Elly: Hello everybody! Sorry for not blogging sooner - internet was expensive on the island and we've been busy here in Bali. Katie left us the day before yesterday, and Claire and I are on our own. We headed to a town called Ubud after spending two days in Kuta (the Australians' magaluf!). Ubud is beautiful, and our hotel is lovely. It's set in a lush valley and is built in the style of an old hindu temple. It's been very cleverly done, and feels ancient. There are statues everywhere and we've spent a lot of time by the pool. Yesterday we went and asked at reception for a tour guide. One appeared in seconds and whisked us around one side of Bali. We were taken to a gold and silver smith, saw some wood carving, ... read more

Elly: Unfortunately, my dissertation hasn’t gone exactly as planned! I’m persevering with what I’m doing at the moment for the last couple of weeks, but it looks like I’m going to have to sort out another research project back at home. When going away to do projects there’s always a risk that things will go wrong - I think I’m just one of the unlucky ones. At least I’ll be able to say that I tried! We’re both really looking forward to Bali, and are trying to organize what we’re going to get up to at the moment. Claire’s friend has recommended a four day boat trip to Komodo and various other islands to us which we’d love to go on if we can arrange it all. Today is Wednesday, the day when people leave ... read more

Ellie: hellooo! currently far too hot and sticky! we might go and watch a film about mangroves...I am STILL not particularly tanned. Unlike Claire. It has been raining for the past couple of days quite a bit, but it's so heavy here that it's actually quite exciting. Leo, one of our friends here, says hi all... (that's a nice way of putting it Ellie)... Claire: No new news really, just cracking on with our projects. Ellie has been talking about hers in her sleep. Very exciting! I've managed to tag over 500 photos, only 1,234 photos to go! We're now moving on to a new site, Coral Gardens, which is meant to be one of the best reefs near the island. We had another de-gas day yesterday, despite it being very overcast we all burnt a ... read more

Elly: Right. My fish have gone belly up. Fortunately, a knight in shining armour, in the form of Richard Barnes, of “Invertebrate Zoology” fame, arrived on Hoga yesterday. He’s being incredibly kind and has allowed me to write up some of the data he finds here, provided I help him identify things like worms and snails. There’s a slight catch in that he doesn’t know whether he’ll find anything at all, but given his track record I’m fairly sure his instincts will lead us to some interesting information. Both Claire and I have changed our projects while out here! On Sunday, one of the island’s boats sunk. It was carrying a group of boys from Millfield School, all so bulky (with muscle and SCUBA gear) that they looked about 22. We’re not surprised they tipped her ... read more