Our travel blog
Monday, 22 October 2007
3AM rugby - 10 AM surf
With Celia booked in for a 10Am surf lesson, sleep time was short. I finally mastered all the waves Kuta beach had throw at me that day so next time i am here i will venure out a little further above my category ( Kelly Slater you need not worry). Celias lesson went very well and i believe she has been converted. A couple more days of this before we head to Blitar in East Java will be just fine. Especially now that the hordes have gone home after Ramadan
World Champs!!!!
Having a pretty uneventful day by normal standards, but a pretty peachy day by Bali standards (surf; breakfast; beers; late lunch with beers; snooze; sunset with beers; dinner with beers ) Celia and I start talking up the the evenings rugby over a few more Bintangs. A few more later and a decision has been made where we will watch the 3AM kick off, we head to bed for a well earned power snooze.
The alarm goes, leaving me enough time to psyche Celia and myself up witha few "come on Bokke" and telling Celia about the time Jake White and I discussed rugby tactics after a Sharks game at Loftus. I put my pristine white away Springbok jersey and head for the bar on foot to Kups Corner. The game is an entirely tense affair with scoring oppotunities falling to both teams, but its the solid defense of the South Africans that pulls us through. A special mention must go out to Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Butch James, \percy Montgomery and out Captain John Smit for allowing me the pleasure of seeing the irritatingly loud English we were watching the game with, walk out sans pride walk out before the end of the game!!
The alarm goes, leaving me enough time to psyche Celia and myself up witha few "come on Bokke" and telling Celia about the time Jake White and I discussed rugby tactics after a Sharks game at Loftus. I put my pristine white away Springbok jersey and head for the bar on foot to Kups Corner. The game is an entirely tense affair with scoring oppotunities falling to both teams, but its the solid defense of the South Africans that pulls us through. A special mention must go out to Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Butch James, \percy Montgomery and out Captain John Smit for allowing me the pleasure of seeing the irritatingly loud English we were watching the game with, walk out sans pride walk out before the end of the game!!
Sunday, 21 October 2007
Ingriss
I know my ability to speak Indonesian is non existent, but as a tourist it is my right to laugh a bit at the locals take on English. I have seen loads of menu faux pas in my life but "Chicken Garden Blue" has to take the cake. We also have classics like "Japples" - coming from their inability to say "f" which also means i been "surping" every day. Old stereotypes like "flied lice" pop up their funny head occasionally too
Saturday, 20 October 2007
No time, no blog, no pics
Hey all that read this, i wonder how many... I am stuck in places with very slow internet connections, unable to upload pics and only very limited access to writing my blog. Will try catch up tomorrow when i have a bit of time.
Still thining of yu all and can't wait to tel you about the beautiful sunsets, awesome waves and general life in Bali.
chat later :)
They have just started playing 'Make it all for one, all for love' by Bryan Adams in this dingy internet cafe and i didn't even feel like dancing, clearly not enough Bintang in my blood stream. Wheres that wife of mine, need to get outta here.... xxxx
Still thining of yu all and can't wait to tel you about the beautiful sunsets, awesome waves and general life in Bali.
chat later :)
They have just started playing 'Make it all for one, all for love' by Bryan Adams in this dingy internet cafe and i didn't even feel like dancing, clearly not enough Bintang in my blood stream. Wheres that wife of mine, need to get outta here.... xxxx
The Endless Sunset part troix
So with the bike trip out out the waybut the memories still as fresh as the deep scars on my toes and the schoolboy exhaust burn on my calf, Celia and I set out to find another perfect sunset.
With the beautifule Canggu beach already negotiated( about 60 pics) , and Legian beach shown us its best end of day pose ( about 55 pics) we head off to the famous Uluwatu. This is one of the best surf breaks in Bali with some of the buggest waves on the island. Note: My surfing bravery has not reached thgis level of stupidity yet. The board stays home.
Uluwatu also houses one of the most impressive Hundu temples in Bali. I know this as the local Kwiki-mart has a fine array of post cards. Once we arrive at Uluwatu and negotiate the Macaques in the parking lot we realise the temple will have to stay on out to-do list. I assume the position. Camera round neck, Bintang in hang and a plate of Gado-gado on order. The scenery is breathtakin and the surfers down below make a mockery in my mind of my limited surfing ability. So many good pictures of them to prove it too. We snap away once again at the ama zing sunset andset off on the now infamous bike. Done
With the beautifule Canggu beach already negotiated( about 60 pics) , and Legian beach shown us its best end of day pose ( about 55 pics) we head off to the famous Uluwatu. This is one of the best surf breaks in Bali with some of the buggest waves on the island. Note: My surfing bravery has not reached thgis level of stupidity yet. The board stays home.
Uluwatu also houses one of the most impressive Hundu temples in Bali. I know this as the local Kwiki-mart has a fine array of post cards. Once we arrive at Uluwatu and negotiate the Macaques in the parking lot we realise the temple will have to stay on out to-do list. I assume the position. Camera round neck, Bintang in hang and a plate of Gado-gado on order. The scenery is breathtakin and the surfers down below make a mockery in my mind of my limited surfing ability. So many good pictures of them to prove it too. We snap away once again at the ama zing sunset andset off on the now infamous bike. Done
Friday, 19 October 2007
A long way round
So Celia and I saddled up for a trip to Ubud, which is meant to be about an hours trip by bike, there are meant to be great stalls there where you can buy loads of nice paintings, silver and various other crafts. The traffic was really heavy and we rode like mad, let me just add that this was my first proper experience riding a motor bike, when we checked the map again, we had gone way past Ubud and were headig straight for this mountain (Guning Batur). So we decided not to head back and drive on as we were having such a blast and seeing such amazing sights (the rice fields are amazing) and see where we would end up by nightfall.
We stopped off at Batur lake which is the major source of water for most of the island, had some lunch whicle we fought off the flies, and headed on, Celia humming the A-Team tune in my ear for the next hour.......? Don't know why..? Oh yes, and occasioanly the star wars tune.
This guy who took us to the restaurant gave us directions on how we would reach the north coast, but we had to leave soon and swiftly or we not get there before nightfall. These road signs.... we got a little lost to say the least and ended up on this tiny gravel road riding through this village. What an experience, the villagers carrying their food on heads and shoulders just staring at these crazy tourists as they drive through.
We arrived at the north coast after many a detour and stopped off at this small village on the beach. The old woman were busy planting the rice in the fields, the men were building something and the children just fascinated by us and our motion capturer, they laughed as we shoowed them the pictures we had just taken of them. We stopped off for a drink and to rest our weary asses as by this time we had been about 5.5 hours in the saddle.
OUR MISSION
------------------
Find a place to stay as night was hastily approaching, we did not know how lucky we had it in Kuta as the second place we stopped at (the first was full) asked us $120 for a room which is a joke... We settled for something way out of our price range, only because it was gettgin late, but we did get what we payed for. Absolute bliss. Only one problem, we were surrounded by Germans... again. Where do they all come from, no exxxxxxageration but there must be more Germans outside the fine land than in it. Celia happened to be the only non German speaker there out of about 25. I chated a bit to the owner, Werner, who settled there many years ago and built that magnificent resort. It was one of the most beautiful places i have ever stayed in.
We relaxed for the morning and set off on our next journey round the coast. The coastal road was beautiful and quiet, giving me chance to open up that 100cc bad boy i was riding to an almighty 90km/h, with Celia still humming the A-Team tune in my ear, i was loving life. We stopped off at a cuople spots for kodak moments and set course for the east. We stopped off at this amazing water palace that belongs to the last king of Bali and a couple good surf spots before ending up in Candisasa for a well earned lunch.
Lunch at the spa and a swim in the pool was ama-zing, on our way out and back to Kuta we got chattig to this lovely Austalian woman Amanda who just asked us if we'd like to stay at here house for the night free of charge instad of hitting the traffic. Yes please!! We got to her place and not only was it a nice house, it was a lovely villa overlooking the ocean. We had the upstairs honeymoon suite (sweeeeeeeeet) with open lounge, outdoor bathroom, and just pure relaxation all over it. Celia and i watched some DVD's 'You, me and Dupree' and 'Hotel Rwanda' , although i fell asleep in the second, i do really want to watch it.
The food, hostpitality and setting were perfect and just what we needed before setting off to the hectic Kuta. We stopped off in Sanur for some mealies (corn to the non Saffers) and a Bintang (Bali Beer) on the beach and drove the highway home to Kuta.
What an experince. 3 days on the road taking in the scenery, we could have done more but we had the surfing to attend to. I would reccomend it to all that go here as you can easily get stuck doing nothing on Bali which would be a shame as it is a beautiful island with more to offer than great waves
We stopped off at Batur lake which is the major source of water for most of the island, had some lunch whicle we fought off the flies, and headed on, Celia humming the A-Team tune in my ear for the next hour.......? Don't know why..? Oh yes, and occasioanly the star wars tune.
This guy who took us to the restaurant gave us directions on how we would reach the north coast, but we had to leave soon and swiftly or we not get there before nightfall. These road signs.... we got a little lost to say the least and ended up on this tiny gravel road riding through this village. What an experience, the villagers carrying their food on heads and shoulders just staring at these crazy tourists as they drive through.
We arrived at the north coast after many a detour and stopped off at this small village on the beach. The old woman were busy planting the rice in the fields, the men were building something and the children just fascinated by us and our motion capturer, they laughed as we shoowed them the pictures we had just taken of them. We stopped off for a drink and to rest our weary asses as by this time we had been about 5.5 hours in the saddle.
OUR MISSION
------------------
Find a place to stay as night was hastily approaching, we did not know how lucky we had it in Kuta as the second place we stopped at (the first was full) asked us $120 for a room which is a joke... We settled for something way out of our price range, only because it was gettgin late, but we did get what we payed for. Absolute bliss. Only one problem, we were surrounded by Germans... again. Where do they all come from, no exxxxxxageration but there must be more Germans outside the fine land than in it. Celia happened to be the only non German speaker there out of about 25. I chated a bit to the owner, Werner, who settled there many years ago and built that magnificent resort. It was one of the most beautiful places i have ever stayed in.
We relaxed for the morning and set off on our next journey round the coast. The coastal road was beautiful and quiet, giving me chance to open up that 100cc bad boy i was riding to an almighty 90km/h, with Celia still humming the A-Team tune in my ear, i was loving life. We stopped off at a cuople spots for kodak moments and set course for the east. We stopped off at this amazing water palace that belongs to the last king of Bali and a couple good surf spots before ending up in Candisasa for a well earned lunch.
Lunch at the spa and a swim in the pool was ama-zing, on our way out and back to Kuta we got chattig to this lovely Austalian woman Amanda who just asked us if we'd like to stay at here house for the night free of charge instad of hitting the traffic. Yes please!! We got to her place and not only was it a nice house, it was a lovely villa overlooking the ocean. We had the upstairs honeymoon suite (sweeeeeeeeet) with open lounge, outdoor bathroom, and just pure relaxation all over it. Celia and i watched some DVD's 'You, me and Dupree' and 'Hotel Rwanda' , although i fell asleep in the second, i do really want to watch it.
The food, hostpitality and setting were perfect and just what we needed before setting off to the hectic Kuta. We stopped off in Sanur for some mealies (corn to the non Saffers) and a Bintang (Bali Beer) on the beach and drove the highway home to Kuta.
What an experince. 3 days on the road taking in the scenery, we could have done more but we had the surfing to attend to. I would reccomend it to all that go here as you can easily get stuck doing nothing on Bali which would be a shame as it is a beautiful island with more to offer than great waves
Monday, 15 October 2007
Indo so far
Hey, so we been in Jakarta for a couple days which was an eyeopener to say the least. Was very interesting to go there, its amazing just how poor some of the areas are. I'm sure we'll get to see loads of that all over Indo. We just ended up spending our time in shopping malls, thanks for all the tips Sam. We had a great sushi in Talan Anggrek shopping center!!!! The touristy areas like Jalan Jakse are not all that during the day and pretty seedy, maybe at night it would be a little different. So my advice, stay in the malls.
We are now in Bali and it has been a pleasure. first night we had to stay in a dodge place as the island had no accommodation because of Ramadan, but we are now staying at the Suka Beach Inn in Kuta, which is lovely, looks like a temple :) . Kuta is this really wild surfing town with a busy nightlife and loads of street stalls selling knock offs of surfing gear. Have not been tempted yet as my boardies are still in one piece.
I've been out surfing every morning which is awesome and finding my feet but i still look at the local kids in awe, they are younger than 10 and ripping up the waves like crazy. Been thinking of gettting a board as the next 3 months we will be following good surf in India, Aus, NZ, US and Mexico. Board hire does add us and getting tired of the haggling for prices. It takes away from good surfing time.
Food here is so good and cheap and beer is fantastic too. Watched the Bokke win the rugby this morning at 03hoo and am thrilled we are in the final. Celia and I have hired a scooter and are off exploring tomorrow. Can't wait. The scooter has a little board rack so wherever you find surf on yout bike you can just stop off and jump in the water.
Well i'll chat you soo and hopefully have time to upload photos of some of the beautiful sunsets we have seen!!!
We are now in Bali and it has been a pleasure. first night we had to stay in a dodge place as the island had no accommodation because of Ramadan, but we are now staying at the Suka Beach Inn in Kuta, which is lovely, looks like a temple :) . Kuta is this really wild surfing town with a busy nightlife and loads of street stalls selling knock offs of surfing gear. Have not been tempted yet as my boardies are still in one piece.
I've been out surfing every morning which is awesome and finding my feet but i still look at the local kids in awe, they are younger than 10 and ripping up the waves like crazy. Been thinking of gettting a board as the next 3 months we will be following good surf in India, Aus, NZ, US and Mexico. Board hire does add us and getting tired of the haggling for prices. It takes away from good surfing time.
Food here is so good and cheap and beer is fantastic too. Watched the Bokke win the rugby this morning at 03hoo and am thrilled we are in the final. Celia and I have hired a scooter and are off exploring tomorrow. Can't wait. The scooter has a little board rack so wherever you find surf on yout bike you can just stop off and jump in the water.
Well i'll chat you soo and hopefully have time to upload photos of some of the beautiful sunsets we have seen!!!
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