Day 14: Barefoot Adventures and Beach Time

We started the day with another home-cooked breakfast, and before our driver arrived at 8:30am, the boys squeezed in a quick swim. At this point, it would probably be stranger if they didn't swim every day!

We headed into the hills to visit the beautiful Benang Kelambu and Benang Stokel Waterfalls. The further we drove, the more stunning the scenery became. The rice fields stretched across the hillsides, everything was unbelievably green, and the waterways were noticeably cleaner than those we'd seen closer to town.

As we walked towards the waterfalls, our entire family wandered along happily barefoot. Almost every local we passed smiled, laughed or made comments. We figured they just thought we were an odd bunch...

Turns out, they probably knew something we didn't.

On the walk back, Grayson and Henry raced ahead and ventured off the track. Unfortunately, Grayson discovered Indonesia's version of New Zealand stinging nettle—with his foot.

A very kind local man came to the rescue with some mysterious white powder, which he rubbed all over Grayson's foot. We still have absolutely no idea what it was, but thankfully, it seemed to help.

Poor Grayson, however, was convinced he'd suffered one of the greatest injuries known to mankind. Between tears, he announced he'd rather have his foot chopped off than endure the pain any longer. We then heard about the tragic incident for the rest of the day (we're hoping after his sleep tongiht all will be forgotten)!

From the waterfalls, our driver took us back to one of the beaches we'd visited earlier in the week. We hired a couple of sun loungers and two surfboards and happily spent the entire afternoon there.

Sam caught a few nice little waves (and a few wipeouts), while Grayson managed to stand up several times and looked like a natural. Millie gave it everything she had, and Henry proudly caught a few little waves closer to shore. Meanwhile, Jai was perfectly content spending hours cruising around the shallows and digging in the sand, completely in his element.

We enjoyed another beachside lunch of a little more nasi goreng and mie goreng (seems to be a daily staple for us) before heading home for showers and to wash off the salt.

Local transport continues to entertain us. Every day, we spot trucks so full of people that they look like they're one bump away from becoming a game of human Jenga. Somehow, everyone looks completely comfortable and not at all concerned!
We took a photo on the way home from the beach today, but you just can't see how many people are all squished in.

That evening, we wandered a couple of kilometres into town in search of dinner. We inspected restaurant after restaurant before finally settling on a Mexican place... only to discover, after sitting down and getting ready to order, that almost everything on the menu was extremely spicy.

Realising our children probably weren't ready for that particular culinary adventure, we quietly thanked the waiter, got back up, and resumed the hunt.

In the end, we found ourselves back at Nohi, the same restaurant we'd eaten at on our very first night in Lombok. Burgers, chips and smoothies were exactly what everyone felt like.

Now it's 8:00pm, the kids are freshly showered, and very ready for bed after another adventure-filled day.

Trip Statistics

- Pre-breakfast swims: 1
- Barefoot family members: 6
- Stinging plants discovered the hard way: 1
- Feet allegedly better off chopped off: 1 (according to Grayson)
- Mystery white powder cures: 1
- Surfboards hired: 2
- Successful surf rides: Plenty
- Spectacular wipeouts: A few
- Restaurants rejected after sitting down: 1
- Family memories made: CountlessRead more