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Published: October 1st 2006
G'day G'day...we are back! There is a significant blog-lag here because we have been having a pretty lazy time in Indonesia since our last post way back in August!
So, we left Darwin for a 10 day holiday from our, erm, holiday. It's hot in the Territory - I started to find that my speech was going. When asked the simplest question..usually would you like a beer (they like to drink up here, now so do I), I found myself replying with a yeah, no, yeah answer. Plus, there is only so much sunbathing you can do around the pool eh. The beers were taking their toll on my belly as were the dorms. Two girls managed to bring a different guy back EVERY night to "show" then their rooms, for want of a better phrase. Needless to say, sleep was light in Darwin (just like their morals!). Time for a change of scene, so we flew to Bali. Although most people make this a stop in their tickets, it was not one of ours, but we lucked out by walking past a travel agents. The flights are RIDICULOUSLY cheap. Almost free in fact. Team that with an accommodation package
and a hop and a skip later (well, we were flying quantas) we arrived in Kuta.
Although many people say they don't like Kuta, we loved it. I think by now we have learned that we are surprised in our tastes. If you want a quiet break away then Kuta is not for you. The beach heaves with tourists, massage ladies, fruit sellars, bow and arrow sellars, jewellery seller, manicurists...you get me. Yes, you get hassled every step of the way. Even playing dead lions does not work as they tweak your nipples. But, this is Asia. Funds are definitely on the low and by the end of our first day back in Asia the decision was made. New Zealand would be too expensive, so lets skip it and head back to Indo for a month instead. Asia has everything. It is friendly, so cheap and a bit of a challenge. Although you will remember us desperately wanting to get to the western ways of Australia, it is just a bit too easy there. For example, it is good to be challenged every time you go to the toilet. Should I use the hose? Do I have to take
off my clothes to use the hose because surely I am going to get really wet? If not how do you do it? Do you use the rag hanging there to dry yourself? But what if someone used the rag to dry their hands with and then I use it to mop me?....I am too civilised again to use my hand...but which hand would I use anyway. Left or right? I cannot make that mistake because I know that I have Nasi Ayam being served to me in a banana leaf to be eaten with my fingers in only a matter of minutes. As you can see, a minefield.
Phew this trip has been a confused one, and probably one of the worst planned RTW trips undertaken by two people who are normally so meticulous (well Andrew anyway). Home early, not home early, New Zealand, no New Zealand. Boston...well with sisters moving all over the globe at a rate of knots that stop was no longer needed. So, we change plans again.
So we spent our 10 days holiday in Bali and then had to return to Darwin to organise new flights, visas and all other manner of
crap. It was not quite so nice to be back in Darwin this time however.......read on.
I like having my own dorm. Girls are usually so much better than boys so imagine my surprise when I wake up one day unable to find my skirt or bikini. Oh well, I thought, must have put them in my bag. No worries. Well, later that day, most of my clothes were missing. Some scabby beatch who checked in and left the next day left with the majority of my backpack. As it had been my birthday, we are on the way home and just because I like to shop, I had treated myself to a few new clothes in Indo. All gone. Clean, even dirty bikini bottoms were knicked. All of my favourite things gone. Some even had the tags on still. There is a code between backpackers and this skanky mare violated it in the worst possible way. Fair enough my rucksack was not locked. But she took clothes of my bed, from my lockers and even through the dirty washing bag. It was horrible and I was so angry I could not even cry. So back to mixed dorms
for me again then.
Anyway, with all that behind us (and with a very light rucksack) we returned to Kuta. This time with a few mates in tow. A month seems like such a long time. In fact I remember way back when 3 weeks in India seemed like the longest time in the world and I seriously felt like I would never be coming back to blighty. Well, it went VERY quickly.
This is the penultmate stop on our round the world odysse so we felt compelled to really get into the local culture. That means heavy on the surfing and diving, light on the, um, culture.
We pretty much did nothing cultural...seen one temple seen 'em all in my eyes now. We meant to climb up a volcano, but it is hot here too. So, we pretty much sat on the beach and surfed and dived. We just seemed so busy. No longer had I gotten out of bed and hauled myself to the beach and slip, slap, slopped myself, it was time to turn over and tan my back, requiring slip, slop and slapping on that side and then suddenly we had to get up
and walk to find lunch. Then only minutes later it was dinner time and time for another cold shower, and maybe a massage and a quick peruse of surfer girl (my new topshop - its heaven). All this before bed! Yep, as you can see, I will die when I come home and have a job. How did I used to fit everything in? How can one go to work, have a house, fit time in for the gym and glass of post work wine and still watch eastenders??
We did venture away from Kuta for a while. Frankly the cries of "hey cowboy mate" (due to Andrew's hat) were trying our patience a little, so, having heard tales of undisturbed beauty and amazing diving we headed to the Gili Islands near Lombok. There are 3 of these islands. One is sleepy, one is a little bit less sleepy and one is even less sleepy still. To call it a party island though is really pushing the boundaries of advertising. They were absolutely stunning however. Beautiful clear waters, white sands and some more palm trees (as you can imagine we have not yet seen enough of these). Indonesian people
are probably the friendliest we have encountered yet and we were immediately made to feel like at home. Our days were spent diving and it certainly lived up to is reputation. As many turtles as you had fingers and toes to count them on, sharks, nudibranchs, stone fish, frog fish...the list is endless. Andrew dived on Nitrox to 45m to see a sunken Japanese War Ship. I even managed to do a night dive to conquer the disastrous one on the barrier reef. Our nights were spent in a thatched bure watching DVD's on our own TV. So cool, you just rock up, buy a bottle of water for 10p and then you can stay and watch movies all night. Like Blockbuster of Asia! The only small amount of drama we had was watching an overloaded Indonesian glass bottom boat sink. One minute we are thinking that the population of this tiny place (it took less than an hour to walk around!) was about to be tripled by the arrivals of neighbouring locals, the next...the boat hit some coral, the glass smashed and we are watching it sink. Think Titanic of the modern day because as children floated past their
were no dramatic Kate/ Leo moments. Instead all their parents were concerned about was preserving their mobile phones. Luckily nobody drowned, and it was a funny sight to behold. Andrew jumped up to help the locals pull the boat to shore and there it sits...presumably for a year or two until someone manages to get around to fixing it.
We decided we had better leave before we got too fat to move and returned to Kuta for some surf action. The waves are crazy here and have to be seen to be believed. First things first, I asked a bloke who looked knowledgable where good surfbreaks for novices could be found. The answer I got was "Check out Medawi. It's a hollow, long drop with a workable inside section that tubes like Ulu but without the cuts." Yeah, thanks mate. I'll just go grab my dictionary shall I? We were lucky in that the Rip Curl Pro Final was being held nearby and so we scootered off to watch that. It was too early for us to enter yet, maybe next year. We also did some more diving off the mainland to see another WW11 wreck of a US
armed transport ship at Tulamben. Pretty cool but it is getting hard to impress us on the diving front now. This was not helped by the fact that everytime our Instructor briefed us he would say walking instead of swimming. I mean who did he think I was. How was I supposed to "walk" out 100m from shore. Talented I am, Jesus, I am not!
Before we knew it, we had 1 week left. Our friends were deserting us and the massage ladies were almost becoming unbearabe. I am a sucker, and find it very hard to say no (unless you are offering me salad). On our initial trip out to Bali, being ceatures of habit, we occupied the same beach spot every day and as a result i developed a definite ring of new "friends"....all of whom wanted me to give them money. Unlike homeless beggars in London, I was getting something in return other than TB or being flashed at....usually a questionable massage from a lady with crusty fingers, maybe a manicure or a pedicure or perhaps a bow and arrow. They have answers for everything here. Customs? No problem, pay them off. Hmmmm, although we have
Kids on the beach
Imagin growing up here!done that before I am not sure Heathrow will be quite as accommodating, fearing that I may use the blow gun for other purposes than to "kill cats of course". So the long and short of it was that I ended up with a massage everyday. It cost about 50p so no worries there. However, on our return we snuck to a different part of the beach...only to be rediscovered. If anyone ever doubted the persistance of these people they ought to come out here. Not only did I wear a different bikini every day (ok, that was more just so they all got a fair turn and none felt left out), I tried different sunglasses (see above) and even different hats(god I am really shallow!). We were always discovered. I eventually managed to negotiate to have one every 3 days to ensure at least 2 days of peace. These people owned me, I swear! So, with a greater concern of what these crusty fingers were doing to my skin we headed off to Nusa Lembogan. Another little island. Less paradise here and more seaweed, but the diving is some of the rarest you can do in the world.
Nusa Lembogan involved a public ferry ride in which there were definite fears for our lives. The swell was about 6m, there were no lifejackets on board and there was a baby vomitting on my feet! The island itself was pretty enough. A scooteride took all of half an hour around it although there was the ability to have an Indiana Jones moment accross the death bridge. It is one of those bridges you have to close your eyes and go for it. Only strong enough to hold one scooter at a time, not to mention barely wide enough for that, it is a crap your daks kind if a ride. The diving, however, is second to none for certain things, including the mola mola or sunfish. This channel forms part of the Wallace line (blah blah) and therefore forms the deepest trench in the world. Because of this you get all kinds of pelagic fish and tropical fish all merging. Kind of cool..literally. Note to self...a 3mm wetty does not last a 45 minute dive in waters bearly scraping 20 degrees, even if you wee in it to restart your heart! Although we missed out on the mola mola
(same story as always...see them everyday but the day we were there), we managed to scuba with Manta Rays which was awesome! Much better than snorkelling with them on Ningaloo.
Unfortunately, the Manta RAY thing came only days after my beloved Steve Irwin (god rest his soul in peace and all that jazz) died. I know they are the most placid animals in the world but they (or members of their family) do kill (see above), and they also weigh about 700kg so imagine accidentally getting in the way. Black eyes would be the least of your worries. If I am honest, there was already a small wee in my wetsuit very early on due to the Irwin related extra safety briefing. Fear not though. They behaved exactly as they should, as did I.....I turned and swam behind someone everytime I saw them on the approach! They are beautiful and graceful creatures. Just gliding over you and under you and around you. They like the tickles of our bubbles which is kind of cute, although that does require them to swim a little closer than I would ideally like.
There you have it. A month in a long
blog....are you still even reading??
Indonesia was amazing, the people, the beaches, the surf, the diving and it is the cheapest place we have been yet. 3 course meals plus beer for a pound each! Yes, the hassle is annoying but it has to be realised that the bombings in Bali have had an irreversible effect. It is estimated that only 10% of the number of tourists go to Bali now. So, everytime you moan at being asked for another massage or to buy a fake handbag or a bow and arrow, these people are doing what they have to do to survive! With the average monthly wage now scraping 20 pounds it is not hard to see why these people will hunt you down on the beaches.
With the end of Indonesia, and only a couple of days left in Darwin we say goodbye to Australia and almost hello to all you guys in the flesh! I am really sad. Darwin has definitely become like home. Waking up everyday to blue skies and sun and a nice chat with just about anyone in the street, Australia has in abundance the friendliness that London just lacks. I have
a routine here, I know people, I can chat with shopkeepers about my day. I know my way around the supermarket which may even be better than Sainsbury. God, I feel like I am cheating on myself - first topshop and now Sainsbury! Australia gave us everything and more. I am leaving this country more relaxed than I have been for years. Not only due to the beer and sunbathing, but it is hard not to let the infectious "no worries" mantra become part of your life. Especially in the top end. For both of us, at the outset, Australia was a stop gap. We never planned to travel around it and we were convinced we would be leaving much sooner than planned to get to New Zealand as we had envisaged before we left, Well 6 months on, a visa extension and a well travelled continent we leave.
HIGHLIGHTS.....The australian way of life, Sydney Harbour, Neighbours Night, the beauty of the West Coast, swimming with whale sharks, camping at Cape Range, Broome sunsets, Darwin and the territory, The Red Centre, surf camp, whitewater rafting, diving the barrier reef, kakadu, Kangaroo steaks, Burger Rings, Twisties and THE PIES!!!!!!
LOWLIGHTS...the weather(too much of a mixed bag), most of the East coast (in part due to the weather), stealing british backpackers, australian TV (the ads have to be seen to be believed), bedbugs.
So with the balance heavily in favour of the highlights....is a more permanent return on the cards???? Well, if they start accepting magic beans as currency and relax their immigration requirements I could be tempted into my first starring TV role....If Neighbours needs a token Irish, this scot would be more than willing for performa cameo. Maybe I could even marry Harold!
With less than a month before we head home we must stop in Fiji en route. Start stockpiling your cupboard kido's because I have a hankering for a sheperds pie, good ole fry up, to watch eastenders and hollyoaks and to sleep in a bed with a nice duvet. What with being homeless and jobless too, the people I visit first will be the ones who can cook, provide work and a home. The search is on.....
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