Arrive in Bali and cycle from Sanur to Ubud

We're totally loving Bali. So relaxed and friendly and cycling here is really exhilarating!

We got dropped off at Sydney airport on Tuesday 22nd March by a very grumpy Australian taxi driver. Typical Aussie customer service! We then found out that we couldn't board the plane without a flight out of Indonesia. We were not happy to hear this, as we'd spent hours, over 2 days, at the Embassy in Sydney trying to get a 60 day visa. We'd been told that without a flight out we could only get a 30 day visa and we would have to get this on arrival in Bali. Brilliant! Anyway, Nic went off to book us a cheap flight to Singapore (that we will never use) so we could board the flight.

When we arrived we had to get 2 taxis to take us to our hotel in Sanur. It was touch and go getting the bikes in and I was rather crammed in the back of my taxi. The traffic was insane; cars, trucks, scooters, motorbikes and bicycles everwhere but somehow it works and there is no road-rage which is marvellous. Nic's taxi took half and hour and mine took an hour as my driver took me to the wrong hotel on the way. It was a relief to get in the hotel room and then in the swimming pool and cool off.

We spent 2 nights in Sanur but there wasn't much to do and it is very touristy, so on Thursday we cycled about 30km up to Ubud. The traffic was crazy but it's no worse than cycling through any other town and people give you plenty of room. It's very liberating to be able to cycle the wrong way down a one-way street without anyone getting upset or angry! There were sign-posts all the way to Ubud too. Cycling here is never boring and the stuff you see on the way is very entertaining. We sweated like crazy and kept stopping for drinks regularly from the tiny stalls at the side of the road. We also stopped off at a bike shop to invest in 2 bike bells, a most essential item here.

Ubud is the cultural centre of Bali and is fabulous. We 've had 2 nights here so far and we've been very busy. On the first evening we went to watch the Legon Trance and Paradise Dance at the Ubud Palace and it was mesmorising. The orchestra and female singers started it all off and then there was lots of different dances, some with demons. The costumes were amazing and the hand and eye movements extraordinary. The pace for the show was really fast and it was a thoroughly wonderful experience. Here are some photos that we took on the night:





Nic saw this chap in the loos - rather removes some of the glamour don't you think?

The following morning we went to the Monkey Forest. We had fun watching them playing, eating, hastling tourists, fighting, grooming and feeding their babies:







Above is me on the bridge in the beautiful lush Monkey Forest.



We also visited the Museum of Art where a festival is being held at the moment. The photo above is for all the people I used to work with!

Next we visited the wonderful BARC Centre, which provides shelter to up to 120 street dogs and puppies and tries to rehome as many as possible. We made a donation, stroked some dogs and had a look around.
http://www.freewebs.com/balidogs/home.htm


Last night we went to another show and this one had 100 men singing and chanting. One again it was just indredible. The show ended with a fire dance - a man in a trance running through fire over and over again. Now if that's not entertainment then I don't know what is!

This morning we went for a bike ride through some of the villages north of Ubud. We saw some beautiful scenery and met some charming people. The children here are so sweet and innocent.



We saw signs like the one above many times - most amusing!

I am writing this entry sitting in a beautiful tropical garden after having eaten yet another deliciaous Indonesian lunch that cost about 2 pounds. This afternoon we are having a cheap massage and tonight we'll go to see another show. It's a tough life!

Bye Bye POMPOM, Bye Bye Australia

This is our last Australia blog entry. Very Very sad.

So much has happened in the last month. We arrived back in Sydney and had lot of things to organise before we leave for Indonesia.

We sold our lovely home 'POMPOM' to Beryl and Bob, a really lovely retired couple originally from the NW of England.

Before we dropped it off we went off for a couple of weeks to explore the area north of Sydney. We went to Nelson Bay and had a lovely day on a boat trip to visit Broughton Island. On the way there and back we saw several pods of Bottle Nose and Common dolphins. Many of them swam with the boat and Nic got some great snaps:

On the way back Nic had a go in the boom-net. Here he is looking very relaxed. A few seconds later he looked like he was in a washing-machine!

We also had a few peaceful days in Myall Lakes national park. We parked up right next to his gorgeous lake that was full of pelicans and ducks. It was lovely swimming in the cool water.

The camp site was also full of massive monitor lizards. This one climbed the tree next to our van.

Here I am with the proud new owners of POMPOM. We hope they have as much fun as we've had with her.

Now we're in Sydney city centre and having a blow-out before we leave for Bali tomorrow morning.

We feel rather nervous about cycling through SE Asia but we're also very excited. Wish us luck and keep following our adventures.

Bye Bye Australia and all the great people we've met along the way.