Bali, what can I say. I have hesitated so long to visit your vibrant island and now I can not wait to return.
This was a special birthday treat for my wife Claire and I. We celebrate our birthdays within a week of each other so this year it was arranged that we celebrate together on Bali.
Why did it take so long for us to get there? Well, I guess in the first place, money was an issue. We didn't have enough! Then there was the Red Gum song, "I've Been to Bali Too", which is a very catchy tune but makes one feel very uncomfortable about the general behaviour of Australians when visiting this very devout Hindu country. Finally, there was the bombing in 2002. In that year we had our tickets booked to travel to Bali, but pulled because of the bombing that took place about one month before we were due to travel. We changed our arrangements and holidayed in Fiji instead.
So now at last, we were on our way! The girls left a couple of days before me and stayed in the Village of Ubud.
The hotel that they stayed at was beautiful. A tropical oasis with very large rooms, wonderful outside bathroom areas where one could commune with nature and gorgeous, landscaped gardens.
I only got to stay overnight in Ubud, because I arrived on Friday night and early Saturday morning we packed up and headed down to the beach at Legian where we had booked ourselves in for 3, half days of surf lessons with Rip Curl School of Surf. What was best about this is that all of use put our hands up for the course, my wife Claire and Gabriella and Sophie.
I have always wanted to surf and have tried it a few times, but I always thought that it was pretty hard. I had been churned up in the past and to be honest, I was a bit scared at the thought of being gnarled up again.
My fears were ill founded. The course run at the Rip Curl School of Surf was excellent. The instruction was very well structured and clearly presented by our teacher, Made. Within an hour or so all 4 of us were up on our boards and riding waves to the beach, albeit without much style and very little grace. But still we were surfing during our first lesson.
Day 2 found us taking our boards through the zone where the waves were breaking and we got to spend some nice quiet time out beyond the break. We were shown some easy techniques for rolling under our boards and allowing the waves to crash over us, while not getting washed back to shore. Day 3, it all came together. Taking the boards out beyond the break and getting a bit of a push onto the wave I got to ride my board in green water. It was fun. So after only 3 days, I was able to surf. Though the style and grace are yet to come.
Our evenings were equally well spent. On Saturday we got picked up from the surf school office by our driver, whose name is also Made, and taken to dinner at the Bali Legong Restaurant on the beach at Sanur to the south of Kuta. The views were stunning and the seafood feast we had was excellent.
On the second day, Sunday, we made our way north to watch the sunset at a 16th Century temple, Tanah Lot, on the Ocean to the north of Denpasar. The Temple, the name of which translated into English is "Temple of Land in the Middle of the Sea" is a spectacular site, especially at sunset. Certainly this is what we were led to expect, but as it is across the beautiful island the traffic from Legian was hell, we made it to the site with but a few minutes to spare before the sun dipped beyond the horizon.
We had time for a quick scour of the markets where Claire picked up a traditional craft work in the form of an elephant shaped teapot in a most beautiful jade green coloured porcelain. Then we headed for the ocean cliff tops to view the setting sun as it descended behind the western horizon.
After sunset, we drove back home and had dinner in our hotel restaurant. The menu consisted of modern Australian Cuisine. We loved it! It has been so long since I had eaten some well prepared Australian style cooking and I have missed it, though I hadn't realised just how much.
Dinner on the last night was very low key. We picked up some supplies from the local supermarket and had light meal in the hotel room. By this stage, after 3 days of sun and surf we were all completely worn out, so low key was what we all needed and frankly, all we could manage.
Tuesday we flew home. We were cared for most wonderfully by our driver, Made while we were in Bali and he became more than a driver for us. More like a tour guide and a lot like a friend. The surfing was great. The girls loved their visit to Ubud and I think that all in all were are pretty keen to make our way back to Bali as soon as we possibly can.
This was a special birthday treat for my wife Claire and I. We celebrate our birthdays within a week of each other so this year it was arranged that we celebrate together on Bali.
Why did it take so long for us to get there? Well, I guess in the first place, money was an issue. We didn't have enough! Then there was the Red Gum song, "I've Been to Bali Too", which is a very catchy tune but makes one feel very uncomfortable about the general behaviour of Australians when visiting this very devout Hindu country. Finally, there was the bombing in 2002. In that year we had our tickets booked to travel to Bali, but pulled because of the bombing that took place about one month before we were due to travel. We changed our arrangements and holidayed in Fiji instead.
So now at last, we were on our way! The girls left a couple of days before me and stayed in the Village of Ubud.
The hotel that they stayed at was beautiful. A tropical oasis with very large rooms, wonderful outside bathroom areas where one could commune with nature and gorgeous, landscaped gardens.
I only got to stay overnight in Ubud, because I arrived on Friday night and early Saturday morning we packed up and headed down to the beach at Legian where we had booked ourselves in for 3, half days of surf lessons with Rip Curl School of Surf. What was best about this is that all of use put our hands up for the course, my wife Claire and Gabriella and Sophie.
I have always wanted to surf and have tried it a few times, but I always thought that it was pretty hard. I had been churned up in the past and to be honest, I was a bit scared at the thought of being gnarled up again.
My fears were ill founded. The course run at the Rip Curl School of Surf was excellent. The instruction was very well structured and clearly presented by our teacher, Made. Within an hour or so all 4 of us were up on our boards and riding waves to the beach, albeit without much style and very little grace. But still we were surfing during our first lesson.
Day 2 found us taking our boards through the zone where the waves were breaking and we got to spend some nice quiet time out beyond the break. We were shown some easy techniques for rolling under our boards and allowing the waves to crash over us, while not getting washed back to shore. Day 3, it all came together. Taking the boards out beyond the break and getting a bit of a push onto the wave I got to ride my board in green water. It was fun. So after only 3 days, I was able to surf. Though the style and grace are yet to come.
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| In the "Green Room" |
On the second day, Sunday, we made our way north to watch the sunset at a 16th Century temple, Tanah Lot, on the Ocean to the north of Denpasar. The Temple, the name of which translated into English is "Temple of Land in the Middle of the Sea" is a spectacular site, especially at sunset. Certainly this is what we were led to expect, but as it is across the beautiful island the traffic from Legian was hell, we made it to the site with but a few minutes to spare before the sun dipped beyond the horizon.
We had time for a quick scour of the markets where Claire picked up a traditional craft work in the form of an elephant shaped teapot in a most beautiful jade green coloured porcelain. Then we headed for the ocean cliff tops to view the setting sun as it descended behind the western horizon.
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Dinner on the last night was very low key. We picked up some supplies from the local supermarket and had light meal in the hotel room. By this stage, after 3 days of sun and surf we were all completely worn out, so low key was what we all needed and frankly, all we could manage.
Tuesday we flew home. We were cared for most wonderfully by our driver, Made while we were in Bali and he became more than a driver for us. More like a tour guide and a lot like a friend. The surfing was great. The girls loved their visit to Ubud and I think that all in all were are pretty keen to make our way back to Bali as soon as we possibly can.
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