8. From Candidasa to Ubud

Well I cant believe it but my final day, Wednesday 24 August, in Candidasa had arrived.  These 6 weeks had gone extremely fast, particularly I guess as I spent 3 solid weeks studying.  I had breakfast with Stewart and Sylvia which was fun.  I had to admit that I had dinner the previous night but that they had worn me out.  They were also tired and had gone to bed without any dinner!  Sylvia had a massive bruise near her coccyx from being bounced around in the rocks yesterday.  It was sore but she didnt seem to be letting it bother her, what a trooper!!  
I checked out about 12noon and a car came to take me to Ubud.  The trip was a bit hairy as I think my driver had had a big night and was a bit dozy!  Not what you want if you have seen the way the traffic flows here...eek!  Got to Ubud about 2.00pm.  Just getting to the hotel I was already amazed at how busy it appeared.  I checked in and realised our standard room didn’t have a refrigerator.  Where are we going to put the wine ...eek!  We toyed with the idea of upgrading but decided against it.  The hotel offered to keep the wine in the refrigerator in their kitchen.  Phew, problem solved!

I knew I had a couple of hours to fill in before my friend Leah arrived so I wandered around the resort and checked out the two pools and the spa.  Surprise, surprise ....after enquiring at the spa they could fit me in for a pedicure on the spot...rah!  Its the first pedicure Ive had lying down on a massage bed!!  Leah arrived and got settled and then we went for a wander.  Out of the hotel and turn right we decided!  This was really a tourist haven.  Restaurants, spas and shops....even a Starbucks!  Can you believe that??  After wandering for a while we decided it was time for a cocktail, the only way for Leah to start her holiday!   We had a pizza to share with it as I like to eat while Im drinking.  It was so yummy we ended up having dinner there, it was called the Saggitarius bar.  We headed back to the hotel after that and watched Harry Potter on the laptop.  A good start to our time in Ubud.

7. Tulamben shipwreck snorkelling

After a leisurely breakfast, cos thats how Stewart, Sylvia and I do things, we had a car booked with one of the drivers at Bayshore, Putu to take us to Tulamben to snorkel on a wreck, the USAT Liberty.  We also thought we might go on to Amed if we have time and the inclination as the snorkelling is meant to be good there too.  The USAT Liberty  was torpedoed off the coast of Lombok, towed to Tulamben beach where she was put ashore and unloaded.  In 1963 Mt Agung erupted and washed the ship into the ocean, where it sits about 30m offshore on its side.  More info is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAT_Liberty

It was a beautiful drive through the lush tropical forests up into the hills and down again.  There was a  great view of Mt Agung  this day, quite clear at the top which is unusual.   We arrived at Tulamben about 11.30am.  The carpark was full of divers and snorkellers and their vehicles. Women were carrying dive tanks hands free on their heads which was impressive...locals of course, not the divers themselves...:)!  The beach is a smooth black pebbly (or in some places, rocky) beach.  There was plenty of activity in the water but once again the waves pushing into the beach looked a bit daunting!  Stewart decided to take care of our things while Sylvia and I tackled the deep blue!  He had after all suffered the most yesterday at Blue Lagoon! 

Entering the water is all in the timing for me .  Wait until a set of waves finishes and then go for it.  Im lucky in that I can walk on the rocks in bare feet without too much trouble...a misspent youth not wearing shoes unless absolutely necessary...not much different now actually...:)!  So with mask on and flippers under my arm off I go.  I didn’t do too badly but a couple of times when I stopped walking to prop against a wave, rocks were washed over my feet...ouchy!  I ended up with a couple of cuts on my feet but nothing major.  I pushed off as soon as I got into deep enough water and put my flippers on.  I headed back to shore trying to work out what I could do to help Sylvia in.  She was having a tricky time with the waves washing her backwards and forwards on the rocks.  She shooed me away as there was not really anything I could do to help so I just watched helplessly until she made her way in.  And she certainly did, such determination is to be admired...awesome work Sylvia.

As we swam toward where there was a group of snorkelers we couldn’t see anything!  Oh no, Ive dragged them all this way here and put Sylvia through the trauma of trying to get in, only to have her belted against the rocks and not see a thing...eek!  Suddenly, as we kept swimming, there it was!  Amazing, the hull of a ship, right there is 3-4m of water.  Loads of fish everywhere, big trevally and wrasse and parrot fish all swimming around the ship.  There were loads of divers as well and it was funny to see their  tanks under you as you were snorkelling along.  It was also funny to see enormous yellow and black fish ahead of you and realising, luckily before yelling out to Sylvia, that they are actually someone’s fins...too embarrassment!  We snorkelled along the length of the ship until it disappeared from view in the depths.    Diving down I got my first look at how a whole eco system develops itself on the side of a ship.  Coral and plants cover almost every inch of the ship and fish can be seen huddled together within the hull.  A lot of the fish were at our level, being pushed up by the divers.  After about 45mins on the wreck, the waves and the wind were picking up so we decided to head in.  Sylvia did a great job of getting out and soon we were on shore with our gear on being photographed as the intrepid snorkelers...!

Of course beer to celebrate was the order of the day and Putu joined us.

After a few beers and watching the activities around the place, we decide not to do Amed, as we expect the entry and exit will be difficult again and I think the first one may have been enough for Sylvia, understandably.  Putu suggests he takes us to a place he knows for a traditional Balinese meal. 

We stop at a gorgeous Balinesey looking restaurant built over a trail of fish ponds.  Putu orders for us and soon we all have before us a complete fish, steamed and covered in spices and salsa covered.  Accompanying this is rice, vegetables and a very spicy chilli salad.  Putu shows us how to eat with our hands (or hand as it has to be your right hand, which is tricky for me being left handed, although Im not sure how good it would be either way!).  Regardless of the trickiness in eating, silence fell over the table as we all managed to eat all our meals despite being shocked at how big they were when they arrived.  It was completely delicious.  Washed down with more beer of course.  The fish bones were all discarded into the gold fish ponds and they were very grateful!  Some of these gold fish were very big and when Putu was hanging his arm over the edge I told him I thought he might lose it! 

We arrived back at the hotel about 4pm and went our separate ways, exhausted, satiated and happy (not just because of the beer).  As usual about 8pm I started to get peckish but just wanted something small.  I was going to have it in my room but Carol and Bill were there with Brad flitting in and out (a bit grumpy tonight which he is not normally).  It didn’t help Brad’s mood when his tuna salad came out as a tuna sandwich!  So after a quick meal I called it a day and headed back to my villa for my last night in Candidasa.


Thanks to Stewart and Sylvia for the photos for this post as my camera battery went flat..doh!

6. Blue Lagoon, Padang Bai

I arrived back from Seminyak on Friday afternoon, a little fragile but nothing that a big plate of Nasi Goreng wouldnt have fixed! I had just enough time to get settled and be ready to watch the football.  Of course!

Saturday I decided there was still two things I would like to do while in the Candidasa area, Blue Lagoon and Tulamben.  Things were now getting very serious as I only had 4 days left to do these things.  It is usually easy to make your mind up in the morning and then organise transport to do what you want on the day so I relaxed and decided to take action the next day.  I mentioned to Stewart and Sylvia that I was thinking of going to Blue Lagoon today (Sunday 21 August).  They were keen but we were talked out of it by Brad and Bill who suggested that snorkelling in front of the hotel is just as good.  Sylvia and I decided to give it a try so suited up but by the time we got ready..(I know, its a female thing!) the waves were breaking a little too strong and made it a little too labour intensive for us so after a couple of attempts and seeing a few little fishes we gave it a miss and decided not to be swayed the next day and go to Blue Lagoon.

So after breakfast on Monday 22 August, we all met at the front and waited for our ride as we decided to go by road this time.  One of the other families was joining us on the trip to Blue Lagoon.  Well mother and children anyway, her husband had gone by motorbike with a friend of theirs!  We were dropped off and made our way down to the beach through a restaurant that had sunbeds out on the deck.  We found a good position on the beach, in the sun of course, and Stewart and Sylvia went in first to do some snorkelling.  I stayed with our things and repeatedly said no to the beach vendors that were constantly showing their wares.  After  a while Stewart had had enough and came out, rather unceremoniously I must say and I think he would agree.  It was quite rocky and the surge of the waves on the shore left you a little unbalanced.  He ended up cutting himself.   This is something to be careful of in Bali with snorkelling off the shore!!  Despite this I masked up and headed into the water.  It was clear and cool and the fish diversity was pretty amazing.  Saw a couple of sea snakes which was a bit daunting. It was wonderful to be able to go snorkelling off the shore, have a nice small but sandy beach to lie on and have a bar/restaurant right there for lunch!  After a while Sylvia got out and then I did also.  We had to be back for our pick up at 4pm so we thought it was time for lunch.  I decided to take a few photos first and hadnt realised that Stewart had wandered up to the bar already!  If you look closely at the photo you will see him on the balcony in the white shirt...:)!

It was a lovely spot up on the balcony and we had a few beers and some snacks.  One of the things we ordered was garlic bread.  Hmmm interesting, what we got was several square pieces of bread smothered in butter and loads of cloves of garlic chopped into rather large bits.!!  It actually tasted okay if you shook most of the garlic off .  We were also amused that when we asked the time it always seemed to be 2.30pm.  The first time we were surprised that time had gone so quickly while we were snorkelling.  Then after what we thought was about an hour and it was time for us to go we discovered it now really was 2.30pm, they said they had just been joking...well I guess time is not so important over there and we were happy to think we  had more time to enjoy the view and some more beers before heading back to our pickup point.  The view as we walked down the hill to the carpark was lovely so obligatory photos were taken.  I was happy that I had ticked off this off my list and shared it in good company with Stewart and Sylvia.  Off to Tulamben tomorrow..rah!!

5. Time flies...

Exhausted after a big day out at White Sandy Beach saw the next week pass by in the blink of an eye.  Yoga, reading books, working on the tan and trying to find accommodation on the Gili Islands is the challenge.  My friend Leah was coming over on 24 August and we are spending some time in Ubud and on one of the Gilis Islands.  As we dont have accommodation at this stage, we are not sure which one.  Ubud was sorted earlier so that wasnt a problem.  Note that if planning to visit Bali in August, book well in advance to get what you want.  Also, if booking through a travel agent make sure you check the hotels site and make sure the travel agent are not adding an exorbitant amount on the actual value of the room!!

After sending many emails and a bit of juggling the accommodation is booked on Gili Trawangan.  Confirmation email received, all sorted.  Note this for posts from time on Gili Trawangan!!  Now I can book the ferry over to the island for us.  Sounds simple right?  Just because a company has an online booking system dont expect that you can actually book that way...;)!  It took an online booking form, two emails, three phone calls and a fax, which incidentallly arrived the night before we were travelling to the Gili Islands!  If you find yourself in this situation, try not to stress out.  I did for a few days, mostly because it affected someone besides myself.  The reality is that most times it all works out.  I decided after the third phone call, we would be fine, relaxed for a few days and voila!  the fax arrived confirming everything and the car to take us to the ferry was even early!

This week I was to catch up with some friends Dawn and Glenyce from Melbourne, but sadly Dawns mum died last Friday so naturally they were not coming to Bali for the 50th of a friend as originally planned.  The next thing I know a week has passed and its Thursday 18 August.  I  had plans to head to Seminyak for the night to meet with another friend Kirstie and her buddy Shaz who were over for a week of R&R.  As instructed I had my dancing shoes on!  At breakfast Brad asks me to come for a drive to Klungkung.  Just a quick round trip to pick up some advertising material.  I decided to go as I needed to get cash.  Klungkung town is the administrative capital of the Regency of the same name in which Candidasa is located.  After business is done, Brad shows me where the ATM is and then leads us off to the market.  Carol came with us as well, a guest from Perth who owns (with partner Bill) a couple of the villas at Bayshore.  Time was passing and I needed to be ready to go at 4.30-5pm. But it is interesting to see and we took the scenic route back to Candidasa.  There are some really pretty spots in the hills in this area.  By the time we got back we were all starving for lunch so we went to the Dutch bakery in Candidasa for gourmet sausages.  Finally we arrived back and I still had a little bit of time to get ready before I go to Seminyak.  I was aiming to be ready at 4.30pm until just as I got out of the shower, Putu (the driver) knocks on the door to see if Im ready....eek!  I quickly finished getting ready and hoped I had everything!

Brad let me jump in one of the hotel cars to head down to Seminyak as its about 2 hours and costs about IDR 350,000 (about AUD$45) which is relatively cheap in Australian terms but not based on cost of living here.  Or is that the "no income" talking again??  On the way I got to have a good chat with Putu and teased him about the tricks he used to get ahead of the traffic.  Like taking the inside running, whether there is a lane there or not, and making your way to the front.  All in all, pretty effective driving.  Anyway I arrived at their villa which was just gorgeous.  Big bedroom, bathroom, outdoor shower with a decent sized plunge pool surrounded by sunbeds and living area.  The place is called Astana Bali.  As was mandatory, or it seemed so (and there was no argument from me), there were cocktails on arrival.  I havent seen Kirstie for months so there was much catching up on lives and loves to be done.  Shaz was fun and made me feel welcome.  After several cocktails dinner was in order so we  went to reception and ordered a cab, not before Kirstie and Shaz were added to the receptionists facebook list of friends...:)!  Clearly made their presence felt!  

Outside Potato Head

Inside Potato Head

Dinner is excellent and there are more cocktails!  Afterwards we head to the Hu'u Bar.  It is enormous and is complete with what looks like a full size swimming pool!  Complete with space, cocktails and 80s music we hit the dance floor!  As Shaz decided to head home early, Kirstie and I hit the 2 for 1 margharitas and continued dancing for a while.  It only seemed like a short time but next thing they are asking us to go as they are closing.  Apparently it was 1am!  Next stop Potato Head, just for a night cap and so I can see it!  We walked as it was just down the road.  Again, another enormous nightclub complete with pool, beach access, and a full size stage that could be used for a concert.  The stage apparently wasnt there earlier in the week so there must have been an event coming up.  On the way out, down Potato Heads long long driveway, Kirstie took care of negotiations for a taxi.  Next thing I know we were on a motor bike each, no helmets, spinning through the streets of Seminyak which luckily appear to be deserted, perhaps because it was now 3am!   Being very careful to negotiate a good price and stopping at a store to make sure we have the correct money to give them...we mucked everything up by me paying my taxi for me, Kirstie paying her taxi for both of us, oops!  So we ended up paying IDR 60000 (AUD $8) instead of a total of IDR 20000.  Too funny.   A few more drinks were had back at the villa and I slept the night on the couch as arranged.  It was good Id had a few drinks as I think the mosquitoes had a bit of a feast and I was completely unaware.  We had a nice breakfast together and a dip in the pool and a lay in the sun.  I organised a driver that Sylvia and Stewart recommended to take me back to Candidasa and left the girls about 12noon.  This was their last day as they had a late flight back that night.  They had things to do, massages, beach bartering etc.  They had had a good week and it was great to catch up with them.

As I didnt actually take any photos on this night out I have included some random Candidasa and Seminyak photos that I took on my last night before leaving Bali

4. White Sandy Beach

Chatting with Sylvia and Stewart on Wednesday morning (10 August), it turned out they were heading to White Sandy Beach that day and they invited me along.  These two are awesome.  They are in their 60s and so much fun.  They remind me of my friend Leigh.  Something to aspire to!  They had a boat booked and just as we were about to give up on him, he arrived ready to take us on our tour.  Luckily he was quite unperturbed about the fact an extra person was coming along, as long as I didnt expect fins.  He had a spare mask.  This was the inspiration for me to buy my own mask.  Lets just say, not sure when it was cleaned last!!

The boat was an outrigger canoe, which essentially is a quite heavy long, deep and narrow wooden canoe with bamboo outriggers each side and an engine on the back.  Very stable, but a bit splashy as I discovered sitting up front on the way out to our first snorkelling spot!  There was a set of small islands off the coast of Candidasa that, when viewed as a group from the right angle, resembled a whale.  The boat stopped near the biggest of the three and we jumped overboard for some quite good snorkelling.   Lots of fish, big variety of species and lots of colour.  The current was quite good that day so no real chore to swim around without fins while checking out the underwater world!  When we had enough there, it was back into the boat and onward to White Sandy Beach (yes, this is its name...not a description).  Here there are free sunbeds on the beach, several bars (which always makes Stuart happy!) and restaurants, the usual beach peddlers and yes, you guessed it, a white sandy beach.   It is not that common in this area of Bali so we viewed it as a bit of a novelty.  Sylvia and I, sun worshippers that we are, laid in the sun and Stewart in the shade.  Silvia is much better than I at the sun worshipping thing and I was soon in the shade as well.  The surf was calm here this day which was great as it had been unusually rough in the last week or so!  We had until 1pm at the request of the skipper so after several beers under the sun umbrellas it was up to the restaurant that Brad recommended for a delicious lunch.  We had left it a bit late to order and the service is never that fast in most of the places I visited in Bali so we had to ask several times.  The answer was always that it was about to be served.  We managed to get our order eventually and may have been a little late getting to the boat, but we certainly werent getting the hurry up from the skipper.

It appeared that all the boats were carried up the beach while the skippers waited for their passengers.  That means you had to get them back down the beach again.  These boats are pretty heavy and this is quite the task as shown by the photo.  They made it look easy, but as we were to discover a bit later, it is not necessarily so!  The trip back 

was fun and there was some beautiful scenery.  When we arrived back at the hotel we discovered the reason we needed to be back.  The tide was out and getting the boat over the built up seabed around the breakwater was challenging.  It had the skipper and Stewart outside the boat, outrigger around shoulders and willing the waves to give them some momentum.  They did an excellent job and the two princesses stepped from the boat inside the breakwater without difficulty...:)!  I do love being a girl!! 

3. Bali Classroom no more

Monday 8 August sees me awaiting my results.  Nervously? Unable to concentrate?  Come on, you should know me better than that by now! Laying by the pool and reading of course!!  Sylvia and Stewart had started chatting with me and they were interested in what was happening with the course.  Brad had been telling everyone that I was studying and never went out.  Some people thought I was a writer as they often saw me in the restaurant tapping away on the laptop...doing my tasks for the course, clearly not doing the blog, right?  By the end of Tuesday all results were in and I had indeed completed my TEFL qualification, rah!!  All that was left was making arrangements for the certificate to be sent and taking note of the support resources provided.  I had the certificate emailed so that I could have it with me in case the dream job came up in Turkey, which is my next stop after Bali....! 

Another fun thing that would happen (if you like surprises and I do) was that on a few occasions I would go to the restaurant to order dinner and the staff would advise me I was expected for dinner with Brad's party at 7 or 7.30pm.  This usually entailed groups comprising both friends who were visiting or friends who were now locals.  The fare was usually Rijsttafel.  This means Rice Table, an array of many dishes in small portions that covers the whole table.  Beautifully presented samples of satays, curries, salads and more would arrive at the table for us all to share.  Sometimes the meal was completed with pandanus leaf pancakes (green) filled with banana or a palm sugar syrup.  Sometimes the meal was accompanied by many tasty cocktails...eek!  This was the first time I chatted properly with Stewart and Sylvia.  Sharing a meal makes a great bonding experience.  Talking about making friends, now is an appropriate time to introduce my froggy friend who seemed to wander into my room every other night, have a look around and hop out again.  Just to set the records straight, not once did I kiss him and try to turn him into a prince..promise ;)!

My other pleasure while studying, which I havent mentioned, is the fact that Australia Network TV channel is broadcast in Bali and shows all the football (AFL) rah!  So I was able to watch all the Carlton matches, yell, cheer, commentate all in the privacy of my own bungalow!  If I was watching live, and actually even if I wasnt, there would be a myriad of txts between myself and Di, my dear friend and footy buddy.  Sometimes we shared scores if one of us had to wait to see the match.  Always lots of fun, particularly when we won.

Once again my time was slipping away, only 2.5 weeks here in Candidasa.  Time to make sure I do all the things I wanted to do in the area!  My friend Leah was planning to come over to give herself a break from the grind so we would do Ubud and Gili Islands together, so I was focussing on a couple of things in the local area, mostly around snorkelling.  White Sandy Beach, Blue Lagoon and Amed/Tulamben were all meant to be good!  Pemuteran Bay also looked excellent but just too far away.  Of course that is where the turtle conservation happens in Bali and not the season for hatchlings.  Thwarted on that front once again!  This is on the list for the next trip to Bali.

2. Bali Classroom - weeks 3 and 4

The next two weeks transpire similarly to the first two.  I yoga, I swim, I sunbake, I study, I wander into town.  I also meet a variety of people that are staying at the Villas.  A lot are from Perth, in particular Sylvia and Stewart who will feature more later!  There is also Roxanne & Peter who told me about the Canary Islands where the language is Spanish and a friend has a TEFL school that “is always looking for help”.   Noted! I also meet a Dutch family who tell me about the snorkelling in Bonaire.  Noted!  I take the odd day off here and there just so I don’t go completely stir crazy.  Brad tries to tempt me out of the house with offers of lunches, trips to Lombok and drives to Seminyak.  On 2 August, I did take him up on lunch at a Japanese restaurant in the Amlapura area.  It was an overcast day but the view over the rice paddies was excellent.  The most interesting this was the toilet at this establishment that was built of bamboo and faced out over the rice paddies only.  The wall that faced the rice paddies was actually only waist height and open to the world above that.  The view was spectacular while the business is completed!!  Unfortunately no camera that day, as it was overcast.  I did get taken on a scenic driving tour though so saw some lovely mountain scenery, quite different to Candidasa.  Also went past the water palace, stopped at the supermarket in Amlapura and took the tourist route home.  All in all a nice afternoon.

Also during this time I have dinner with Jon, an interesting man from the UK who is a scuba diver, among other things, and is spending time travelling around Bali.   I admired him when I learnt he is recovering from a serious head injury from horse riding and had to learn to talk and walk again.   Five years down the track he appears all but normal.  A bit of a limp and a slurring of words late in the evening which I would have considered normal along with the consumption of alcohol, but for which he apologised constantly.  I have certainly had conversations much more slurred and difficult to understand...:)!  He talked and talked, which he said he did not normally do due to the slurring.  I guess I have that affect on people.  Talking, not slurring! It was a very enjoyable meal.  I did end up with a banana pancake AND a banana milkshake, when I tried to change my order but instead ended up with both...somehow I managed to deal with that hardship...:)!

I also enjoyed Brad's company for meals a number of times.  He is tough as nails on the outside but every now and then you glimmer a softness that he tries to hide.  But he is brash, there is no denying that and no point being a princess around Brad.  The comments come thick and fast and without regard for feelings. 

So on Sunday 7 August, despite the distractions :) I submit my last unit in the TEFL course for assessment.  Phew!  So now I have 3 units in awaiting results, Units 18, 19 and 20!  I was relieved to be finished and was hoping no tweaks were required to any of the work.