Helloooooooooooo from an Aussie :) Hey Cindy,
Yes us Aussies (by that I mean you as well ;)) behave terrible in Bali but this is an example of a place where tourism is not managed properly. A lack of understanding of sustainable tourism where they are using all the resources to death, Bali is now cashing in on the tourist. This is one reason why Bali is not on my list to go, yet. Bali has a use by date until the next ‘hot’ destination appears, I think it will be Philippines, and when that happens and the tourists move on hopefully Bali will be the place that it once was. Unfortunately these Aussies and Russians for that matter will always find a place to behave like this, just hope it doesn’t do too much damage to the local culture, environment etc. Another example of this is Swedes to Phuket where the same is happening, Russians to Vilnius, and Western Europe stag and hens nights to Eastern Europe cities.... I think Aussies do act the same in Australia, Schoolies week comes to mind up the Gold Coast and it is expected each year, maybe not accepted but tolerated to a point and Bali maybe the same but for the whole year.
Been enjoying your adventures with Mum. Awesome! She's a trooper. and p.s. comparing Australians to Russians is like comparing kazoos to chewing gum, your race will always been more fun.
Thanks :) Andrea and everyone thank you for your comments. As I was a bit worried about offending anyone then I realised...they offended me! its my blog - well and mums too, she read it this morning and reminded me about the showercaps and the unfortunate squirrel incident lol. We will always be more fun than Russians - and have much cooler accents and less..fluff ;)
GREAT BLOG Sounds as if in years to come when you tell the story at dinner parties...the hearers will think you had a blast...and your mother had a happy ending...but what may not change in the telling in hindsight...the Russians are coming!!!
''AND they ate their bloody breakfast in Bikinis and high heels.'' Do you think people wear bikinis in Bikini, at breakfast? It would be almost acceptable, or even expected, wouldnt it. I only just found out today, what inspired the bikini to be called the bikini, and when I saw the parts of your blogs about the tastelessness of wearing the bikini at inappropriate times, it started me thinking about if exceptions could be made on Bikini island. But, maybe after getting rid of the Americans, the inhabitants of Bikini got rid of this particular piece of clothing too, that has really nothing to do with their island. :)
Some people, asked me why I was going to Sumatra, when they thought I should go to Bali instead, last year. Your blog explains some of the things I had anticipated Bali would be like.
As you described your dive, I was thinking of the song "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid... with all the swirling color of the many kinds of fish. Thanks for the visual imagery. I'm glad your trip with your mom went well.
Glad you're okay Haha, this entry was pretty amusing. I'm glad that nobody was hurt (and if I recall correctly, it wasn't really disastrous everywhere else either). It's quite...interesting how you were rather excited to experience a quake. Still, thanks for visiting Indonesia. Hope the quakes won't turn you off from future visits.
And the diving!! You didn't mention how was your dive! LOL! Love this entry. We were in Tenggol, on the other side...diving too, so didn't feel a thing. Our friends in Koh Lipe put it simply...the bottles danced in the bar...the cats didn't move, the water didn't move, it was time to open another wine bottle when everybody else had retrieved to higher ground...Believe the animals...and keep the wine chilled!
EASY TO BE COOL IN HINDSIGHT Lucky you...perfectly placed in a major quake...lucky you...no massive destruction...no massive loss of life...no tzunami..!!!
How lucky were you..???
What is moving under my sun lounge? Your mum is a true traveller as she has already calmly learnt two essential precepts of travel - accepting the unexpected and unfamiliar.
I can relate to being exited about a quake: it was 'tornado season' when we were in Illionis a few years ago and there were a few happening very near to where we were living, so I said it would be 'nice' to experience one... of course I wasn't thinking about all what comes with a tornado (devastation, etc), I just wanted a 'little one' to see how was it... the locals looked at me as if I was an idiot... :o(
Id love to see a tornado too! LOL I can really relate - Id love to see a tornado. Natural Hazards is one of the biggest subjects I lecture so im a bit like..yeehahhh bring it one...when the earth is dictating the terms. I actually think from a purely research viewpoint it was amazingly lucky to have been there - seems improbable but its the second quake ive dived through this year. Was in the Sanhige archipeligo Banka Sauhong area in January and had a quake and mini tsunami type deal - again, being on islands in construction suited for weather events is where you want to be..I was most pissed to find id dived through a second one so was wrapped to get the first. Yes..everyone thought i was very wierd..they didnt seem to talk to me as much after that LOL!
Priceless! Your book will be a best seller. You must get busy and write it.....you make me laugh, laugh, laugh. Mom is priceless-- actually your dad gets a prize for this story also. Priceless.
Quake I love that you were excited about a quake! sounds like a nice safe place to have one though... i guess its the serious density housing and dodgy building workmanship that adds a lot of danger to the earth moving. tam
Very cool. Cindy, as Bob stated all those concerns were for nothing. This trip will be a memory for a lifetime. I can sense the closeness you gained on these travels. Your relationship with your mother has changed. Sounds like the perfect island. I remember my first trip with Dave and I learned later his biggest worry, was could I chill out and relax. He learned that I excel at doing nothing. My mother and I traveled many times together and were very close. She would have loved the trip you describe. She had an adventurous heart-- but she would not have wanted to fly that far. I always had to load her up on martini's and sedatives to get her to enjoy a flight.
Have you been to Yap or Palau? Dave and I are starting to think about diving those islands in the next couple of years. Who knows maybe our paths will cross.
Can't wait to read the next blog. Tell mom we say hello and good job for coming along! She wins the mom of the year travel award.
I wish my Mum would travel with me She's only come to visit me in England 4 times in the 10 years that I've been living here... there's NO WAY I could take her anywhere else... even for the one and a half hours flight here she freaks out... even to Majorca, which is a paradise and where my Auntie (her sister) has lived for about 30 years, she's only been a handful of times... I definitely got my travel bug from my Dad!
Well, I guess this answers your "Travel with your...Mother" forum concerns... I t sounds like a perfect vacation getting to know each other. I'm looking forward to you further posts...
a good example :(( of the aussie yobbo in bali.... we arrived at the melasti in legian around 7.30pm from a flight in perth and standing in the foyer were about 20 family members, ages ranging from 15 through to 60, all in bintang tshirts, all with aussie shorts on or southern cross tattoos, all with pink bandanas in their hair or a hat that said 'im with idiot', girls with braids in their hair, all with beers in hand, most with ciggies....all with that very awful aussie accent from Neighbours and lots of swearing... and all about to go out and get SMASHED :((
Sort of nice that a family can have such a good turnout to one event but soooo disrespectful to the locals and embarrassing to australians - they wouldnt act like that at home :((
A decent trip? Hey Cindy, sounds like youre doing a decent length trip in bali this time? Do you have more dives planned or heading home soonish? have you found any hotels or kids that are toddler friendly? Neither can really swim yet so unfortunatly no diving or snorkelling on the agenda for us for a few years yet but some of the dive locations sound pretty great... tam
Hiya :) I'm a 50 year old free spirited lady from Australia who just updated her profile because I realised i am no longer 46 and am also not Peter Pan. I like to spend life doing ridiculous things and have no intention of ever stopping. I've taken a year off to explore the planet and reward myself for well, years of work.. Im very much a seat of your pants traveller and totally irresponsible. Most of my travels are spur of the moment run away from home episodes and my teenage sons are cool with this. Im at peace with knowing riotous times dont have to stop when your supposed to have grown up... full info
International backpacker
Christopher
Helloooooooooooo from an Aussie :)
Hey Cindy, Yes us Aussies (by that I mean you as well ;)) behave terrible in Bali but this is an example of a place where tourism is not managed properly. A lack of understanding of sustainable tourism where they are using all the resources to death, Bali is now cashing in on the tourist. This is one reason why Bali is not on my list to go, yet. Bali has a use by date until the next ‘hot’ destination appears, I think it will be Philippines, and when that happens and the tourists move on hopefully Bali will be the place that it once was. Unfortunately these Aussies and Russians for that matter will always find a place to behave like this, just hope it doesn’t do too much damage to the local culture, environment etc. Another example of this is Swedes to Phuket where the same is happening, Russians to Vilnius, and Western Europe stag and hens nights to Eastern Europe cities.... I think Aussies do act the same in Australia, Schoolies week comes to mind up the Gold Coast and it is expected each year, maybe not accepted but tolerated to a point and Bali maybe the same but for the whole year.