Lombok

---

On our final day in Australia we set off from our hotel near Cairns airport at 4am as our 2 hour flight to Brisbane left at 5.45, this was the start of a very long day; three flights in a row. Just before going through security Freya realised she had left her iPad in the hire car, causing the first of three sprints that Stuart would do that day. Luckily after racing back to the car drop off point, Stuart was able to recover the iPad and return it to a very relieved Freya.

During a toilet stop at Brisbane airport Stuart got separated from Rebecca, Abby and Freya which resulted in very nearly missing the next flight - only a last minute dash to get on the plane stopped us from nearly missing the flight. A 6 hour flight to Bali (with a 2 hour time difference) presented us with our first currency conundrum of the trip. Although we were already prepared to pay for visas in American Dollars, we also realised we would have to pay 75,000 Indonesian Rupiah each before we could leave Bali. Another sprint to the nearest ATM by Stuart then produced the cash, at this point we did not have a clue how much this was. ( we later worked out it was only about £3.75 each) After paying the tax, racing out of the international terminal and along to the domestic terminal, we managed to race to the gate just in time for 'last call'. This left a 28 minute flight to Lombok, another visit to an ATM got us more cash to pay tor a taxi. After a 90 minute white knuckle taxi journey we finally arrived at our beautiful Villa at..... well I have completely forgotten but it soon got dark!

Lombok was a complete enigma. Our villa was spotless, in a pristine resort, tended by friendly and welcoming locals who couldn't do enough for you. However the road leading to our resort clearly showed the poverty here. Lombok is a beautiful island but it needs to get a handle on the rubbish that seems to be left at the roadside and in the rivers. Talking to people and reading about the island, it obviously has a range of issues to deal with; education and health particularly, let alone a rubbish collection.

We had a great time here and even dared to hire a car and travel around although this was a bit scary as there are very few road rules here. We were a little concerned to realise our hire car didn't have a full tank of petrol as the only filling station we had seen was miles away in the crazy main town. However we soon realised that the roadside stalls were not selling glass bottles of cooking oil but petrol! A grand total of 10,000 Indonesian Rupiah for one and a half litres; about 25pence a litre.

On our first morning we visited a local cafe where we met an American family with two daughters who are currently living and teaching in Lombok. John and Le made our visit to Lombok much more enjoyable as they had so much local knowledge. One morning Le took us to the local food market which had a range of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables for sale in high temperatures and rather unhygienic conditions! This completely traumatised Abby and Freya although they did recover straight after with a visit to a small cake shop. Don't think any of us will be complaining about a one day out of date yoghurt from Tesco for a while.

Stuart celebrated his birthday on the last day we were here. The day began with breakfast at our favourite cafe The Banana Tree followed by a swim in the pool then we were all pampered at the local Spa. In the evening we invited John, Le, Sophia and Clara to join us to celebrate. This was a really good evening. Rebecca capped it off by prearranging a cake to be made which was brought out by the kitchen and waiting staff all singing happy birthday.

---

Photos

Beautiful Lombok
Nippah beach where locals were having their photos taken with two young blonde girls called Abby and Freya!

Our villa
A welcome oasis from the crazy streets around

Time to fill up!
Rather different than filling up at Tesco but much cheaper!

Quiet time
Freya busy solving equivalent fractions.

Who needs mirrors!
Not your average delivery service.

Lombok sunset.
The photo speaks for itself!