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Jane-Maree O'Neill

Jane-Maree O'Neill

matkusti 15 maahan. Lue lisää
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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Perth (Fremantle) to Sydney

      24. helmikuuta, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      - Travel day!! Ugh
      - Not the best night's sleep
      - We left plenty of time for breakfast and for Mick to pack
      - Took our time getting ready on a lovely dry, warm Fremantle day
      - Lots of smoke over the city though; very hazy
      - Got an uber to the airport. We thought we may have been a bit early but I'm glad we left when we did as there was lots of traffic
      - Last minute panic when 1) I got locked in the carpark 2) Which bloody terminal do we fly out of???
      - Perth. Your signage everywhere could have been a lot better
      - Lots of FIFOs in the airport, all in their PPEs and helmets. They must go straight onto shift. A fair few females too
      - Good configuration on the aircraft 2 4 2 and we are in a 2
      - Lots of business class seats
      - Older female cabin crew. Before I left Qantas they'd implemented a relaxed grooming policy for the cabin crew which was evident today. Curly or frizzy hair just needs to be ponytailed and not tortured back into a sleek bun. Wear whatever framed glasses you like. Big watches: go for it
      - Lunch I chose lamb rogan josh with rice and peas; Mick got a gluten free green chicken curry
      - Man, boy can they get away now with bamboo cutlery and not much else, throwing cardboard boxes at you? But my attitude softened with three red wines. Good times
      - Then a coconut and mango magnum icecream. Note: I'm not a big fan of ice cream but felt I deserved it even though it was a bit churn-ey when said magnum mixed with the red wine. I can handle it
      - Everyone's falling asleep in their post lunch  stupor
      - Really, can you believe if we were in Europe we'd be flying over Greece now from London and into Turkey?
      - I have to update my travel outfit, black pants looking manky
      - Pretty good flight
      - Back into the humidity, no escaping it
      - Beautiful views flying back into Sydney #noplacelikehome!

      Here's the top three for this trip!

      Quintessentially Bali:
      1) The daily offerings - incense, flowers and reverence
      2) People in their traditional, graceful garb - women and girls; men and boys
      3) Temples, temples, temples literally everywhere - big, small, grand, old, new.

      Funniest moments:
      1) Jackie's monkeymergency at Uluwatu temple
      2) Asking the waiter to put the fan on when we were getting blown to smithereens at our Uluwatu cliffside lunch
      3) Ditto above when my food literally blew off my spoon.

      Ambient moments:
      1) Getting massages at the Andari poolside
      2) Listening to the rice paddy frogs
      3) Looking at my toes through gin-clear water on Rottnest island.

      Most amazing moments:
      1) Watching the flickering fire flies
      2) That the Balinese are always so smiling and helpful
      3) The long beach on Rottnest Island.

      Best food:
      1) Made's Warung Seminyak
      2) Orange Warung Ubud
      3) Fat Chow Kuta.

      Best/coolest experiences:
      1) Staying in the middle of a rice paddy
      2) Spending the day with Ian and his family
      3) Breakfast beers - always!      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Fremantle

      23. helmikuuta, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

      So the last day of our holidays and getting into the headspace to head for home tomorrow. But it turned out to be quite a busy day. Mick used the last of the tomatoes and onion to make train smash for breakfast and we have some for tomorrow.

      We went to the Western Australian Shipwrecks Museum, a small but very impressive place that focussed on the Dutch presence in Western Australia as there were lots of shipwrecks here from their journeys to Indonesia as the Dutch East India Company. Interesting as really, they had been hanging around the west coast of Australia since the early 1600s, so we could all have still been stuck in the UK if the Dutch had made a bigger claim on New Holland before Cookie claimed it for England. There you go. A chunk of the shipwreck of the Batavia was incredible as well as the story of the way they discovered it and preserved it.
      We then walked to the Fremantle Prison which was originally a convict built and housed jail which was only decommissioned in 1991. We went on the true crime stories tour (gotta love our senior concessions cards) which ran for just over an hour and heard lots of crazy information about real life inmates and a ghost or two. I balked at going into the gallows section – I went to walk in and then said, nup – and turned back around

      A few drinks here and there, then back to the apartment for packing, and a delicious end-of-holiday dinner at an Italian restaurant.      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Fremantle

      22. helmikuuta, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      - A little wander around the markets this morning
      - Swan Valley boat trip from Fremantle to Perth and return. Wine and cheese. Cool and lovely on the boat. Lots of money in Perth
      - Thousands of sailing boats both moored and sailing in the river, skipping over the chop
      - Visit to the Roundhouse, Western Australia's oldest building
      - Blowing a gale; Fremantle Doctor was is
      - Watched the Charity shield back at the apartment, Rabbitohs vs Dragons. Lost 🤦‍♀️
      - Dinner in, salad and a beef vindaloo bought at the markets
      - Getting our head around heading for home 🥰.      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Fremantle

      21. helmikuuta, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      A slow start this morning as we’d had a few busy days. We went to the famous Fremantle Markets which were only slightly better than Paddies Markets I think – not that I’ve been to Paddies for a long, long time. However we did grab a delicious banh mi at a stall recommended by Ian – a big crunchy Vietnamese roll filled with salad, pate, mayo, chilli and crispy pork. We bought figs and grapes as we are really enjoying the fruit here. Wandered around and had a look at a few more shops: it was very busy in town this morning. Popped back to the apartment and then went to Cage Road for a refreshing ginger beer.

      We then went next door to the Western Australian Maritime Museum ans saw a free 3D virtual presentation called ‘Josephine Bonaparte’s Garden’ which was about the voyages of the French to Australia and their collection and recording of flora and fauna from here. Also how Josephine Bonaparte was a great patron of botanic research, propagation and cultivation in France, including that from Australia, Asia and the Americas. Very interesting.

      But the best part – which we didn’t know about – was the museum held the Australia 2 – the yacht that won the Americas cup back in the 1980s. Gosh I remembered that day so well. Whilst the hull and the winged keel were relatively small, the mast and sails were HUGE. I couldn’t even get it it into a wide angle setting on my phone for a photograph. It was way cool. I never, ever touch exhibits but I though a quick pat of the fibreglass winged keel wouldn’t hurt. It was awesome #proudaustralian. Plus we’ll send over a heap of the photos to das Germans and make the jealous (on that note we’ll try and get to the Fremantle Yacht Club for a drink and that’ll impress them even more 😊).

      A quick drink and sardine tapas snacks at a very groovy bar about six doors from here and back to cook dinner in the apartment.      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Fremantle

      20. helmikuuta, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      I (we) feel very blessed to have had a wonderful day with Mick’s mate, Ian, who he worked with for many years in Signal Trouble at Central. Ian moved over here with his family five years ago – Ingrid (who grew up here in Perth), and their kids Isaac, Kirby and Rachel, after Signal Trouble became unbearable. Sad that.

      Ian picked us up at about 9am, me sharing the back with an empty gas bottle – hilarious. We did a fair bit of driving and we talked, talked, talked and laughed, laughed, laughed. Often funny topics and reminiscing, and sometimes serious things.

      What we did:
      - Drove to Mandurah beach where they have a colourful ‘beach shack’ – and that’s it, a beach shack on a plot of about 20 other cute and colourful beach shacks a block from the beautiful beach
      - Drove to Mandura inlet to see the beautiful river
      - Then had lunch at a local pub on another river.

      We drove back to Perth and did a quick look around the top of Kings Park. Only a few flowers were out but they were stunning. Ian is crazy passionate about endemic plant life and has spent a lot of time on his property replacing non-endemic plants with those that only belong to his part of Western Australia. The view over Perth city and the Swan River was beautiful on a hot, clear, sunny day.

      Then, the drive up into the Perth Hills where Ian and his family live. While it’s only 32 kilometres from Perth CBD you could in the middle of nowhere. They have 5 acres of West Australian bush, ramshackle pathways and a beautiful home right in the middle of it. We’ve only met Ingrid once but she greeted and chatted with us like she had known us forever. Their dog, Spike, a huge labrador-mastiff cross also greeted us like he’d know us forever, sniffing and jumping all over us. Ian is so proud of his land which he is cultivating strictly towards local plants. He adores his birds and we went bird spotting, his excitement growing at a flock of red-tailed black cockatoos in their trees. He sat us down with a beer in his favourite seats to watch the little birds arriving at his strategically planted bird baths. Dinner was steak on the barbie, salad and chips – perfect, simple, humble and gracious. We then walked around the block (big) to the ‘kangaroo paddock’ to watch the sunset; saw a golden sunset but not too many kangaroos. And before we left Ian gave Mick one of the most beautiful gifts ever, two perfect red-tail black cockatoo feathers that his daughter had proudly found and given to her Dad. Now isn't that just the most wonderful token of friendship?

      After hitting a dead kangaroo (man did that make a noise – like hitting a rock), Ian dropped us off at one of the closer stations to Perth and we caught the train all the way through to Fremantle. The train was pretty quick!!! A shame it was dark because I would have liked to have seen the journey.      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Fremantle

      19. helmikuuta, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      - Early start for our day on Rottnest Island. I was supposed to go there in the 1980s when I was on a uni camping trip but the weather was too bad and they cancelled the ferries
      - Nice, cool morning walk to the dock
      - Boat is packed with day trippers. Sooo many tourists but mainly backpackers seemingly from Britain and South America, but a few Asians too
      - Ian warned us it can get rocky so I have barf bags with me that I'm hoping not to use, but a great habit carrying these from Bridget's travel sickness days
      - Everyone's very excited, it sounds like I'm in a chicken coop
      - Pretty fast boat, really carving up the sea with massive splash/ spray; fuck she's rolling a bit now. Bridget would be green.

      Got off the ferry after a very quick trip – no spewing was had. We walked from the jetty over beautiful turquoise water, thinking ‘this is lovely’ only for it to get better, and better. We went straight to the Visitor Centre here where some lovely volunteers briefed us on 1) quokkas 2) places to see 3) places to swim 4) the hop on hop off bus.

      So our first activity was a free guided quokka tour. I must admit I did think they would be hopping everywhere but there weren’t that many around because they are nocturnal. But they are small, cute things with sweet faces and strong, leathery tails like any macropod. We saw one little one with a baby – unusual for this time of year apparently. The guide, Linda, spends the first part of her shift scouting them out so visitors can see them. Linda gave me a quokka bookmark 😊.

      We left the tour a few minutes early to start with the bus. There are about 20 stops around the island so we were confused about which ones to stop at because me = I want to see ALL!! Clutching my free map we decided to stop at the middle stop of Salmon Bay on the southside of the island. It was a small cove, already quite crowded with people settling in for the day. But we found a spot up against the limestone rocks and took ourselves into the beautiful water. The colour of the water was deceiving, because the coral sand and clear water you’d think it was more on the warm side. It wasn’t cold but still a little brisk but once you were in, oh heaven! Not Bali warm but so, so, so clean. There were a fair few people in the water and lots of snorkellers as it’s a marine sanctuary. I’d love to snorkel but maybe next time. We were just going to sit in our spot until someone helped their toddler wee about one foot from our stuff. Not happy: time to find another beach!

      We hopped on the bus with a view to going to one of the island’s northern beaches when, just as we had settled into our seat, the bus swept around a few curves and there it was, one of the loveliest beaches I’ve ever seen. Bright white sand, reefs, surf breaking on outer reefs, water colour indescribable and not crowded. I said, ‘let’s get out!!!!’ and we did. Thankfully 😊.

      We walked down some stairs, then along a tiny beach and through a rocky limestone outcrop to the sweep of the beach. I can’t really describe it, but the water was like my aquamarine ring. It was gin clear, and I could see all the way down to my toenails and little bits of weed and old coral. Sublime? Breathtaking? Indescribable? Phenomenal? All of the above, yes. I can’t actually think of a better beach I’ve been on. Chinaman’s Beach and Hyam’s Beach in Jervis Bay would come close, as would the Bay of Fires in Tassie and maybe Matamanoa in Fiji? So we swam and got out and dried off and swam again and again. Had a banana and some twisties and water. As we got back on the bus we did sweep past more beautiful beaches but man, we were so fortunate we chose the one we did – or did it choose us?

      We were on the bus for another 30 minutes or so. Most of the island was vegetated but quite scrubby, with the occasional bracts of low growing gum trees. Colours of grey, grey-green, bright green, purples, blue-greens, yellow-greens, olive. Very beautiful.

      - Back at the main settlement we had a shared dip-plate with drinks
      - Ferry back to Fremantle, dozing after our beach beauty, all salty and windswept and smelling of garlic from lunch
      - A refreshing alcoholic ginger beer at the amazing Gage Roads Brewery, right on the port – very groovy.
      - Fremantle is a mighty port, I love all of the huge industrial buildings. It kinda reminds me of Hamburg though that's much larger. I think the neatness and 'proud grandeur' of their histories and value to their nations is the same
      - Back at the unit for a quick shower
      - Sunset at Bather’s Beach (went to one of the bars but it was too hot so just sat on the boardwalk)
      - Home cooked panfried pork, pears and rice for dinner with vegetables
      - An unforgettable day!      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Fremantle

      18. helmikuuta, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

      - Thank god, our brekky was sour dough with butter and vegemite and plunger coffee
      - Phone chat with Mick’s mate from Sig Elec, Ian Wilcock, who moved here a few years ago – we are arranging to meet up with him here, he’s a really, really nice guy
      - Booked Rottnest Island for tomorrow
      - A lot cooler here today and overcast unfortunately
      - Walked around town and to the beaches – the water is flat and turquoise and with limestone sand – so white! So beautiful
      - Walked south through Bathers Beach and South Beach – two or three kilometres
      - One of them was a dog beach so gave lots of pooches scratches. One dog, Taffy, a black kinda collie-sheepdog cross loved me and snuggled up and sat on me feet
      - Found a local Woolies, OMG so much cheaper than where we are staying so we stocked up on fruit, veg and wine at Dan Murphies
      - Got an Uber back to the unit. What did we do before Ubers!!!!!!!
      - Beer and lunch at the Little Creatures Brewery close to us. One of the original and great indi brewing stories in Australia. Had some shared plates there which were OK.

      Took a walk around town and found:
      - A beautiful old-fashioned yarn and craft shop and ended up talking to the owner for a fair while and felt heartened that she said a lot of young people are now taking up yarn-work, especially crocheting – she says it always seems to skip a generation. I showed her photos of the shawls I made for the babies
      - A breathtaking retro second hand shop, large but very carefully curated and had a great conversation with the young woman, Leah, about Poole pottery, genie bottles, my sisters’ bridesmaid dresses, lava glazed bowls and Parker furniture
      - Went to the town hall to pick up a historic walking map of town
      - Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful buildings
      - A MASSIVE salad tonight with nectarines and last night’s BBQ chicken.      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Denpasar to Perth (Fremantle)

      17. helmikuuta, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      Last night we just packed and reconfigured our stuff. I was able to get the large green platter into my hand luggage by stripping back all the paper it had been wrapped in. I put bubble wrap round the edge, then a few sheets of paper, then a dress. Carrying the platter wont be a problem when we fly from Perth to Sydney with Qantas because we can take a bit of extra cabin baggage. Woe the problems of the home décor traveller.

      We shared a small pizza for dinner then back up to the room for a blessed shower. We stank after our wet, rainy, humid day. Thank god for Novotel rain showers. But sleeping proved a bit difficult. We were so tired but all of a sudden there was this thumping and banging, seemingly above us. It was regularly intermittent if that made sense. I rang to complain and asked if there was a fourth floor (thinking it might be a construction or housekeeping thing). No, no fourth floor. So we tried to settle with the bumping an crashing but right!!!! I grabbed the key and went onto the corridor in my pyjamas, hair out, retainers in aaaaaand, the noise was coming from next door. Banged the crap on the door – twice - and I told the Japanese woman it was too noisy, to stop the banging, it was inappropriate, people had to sleep, we had an early flight. I didn’t yell but she could see I was not accepting of her two stupid kids doing that at 10.30 at night. It was nodding: hai; sorry. They shut up after that.

      Shower, final packing, breakfast. A very, very good selection but I didn’t eat much. So cute – there was an Asian lady there breakfasting by herself who only visited the kids’ station. She had 2 doughnuts from the doughnut tree – and added sprinkles; then had a huge bowl of soft serve ice-cream, again with sprinkles and nuts. She was very slender so a nice treat I’d say. Mick had to leave his brolly here. Poor brolly that he bought at Cullodden Moor in Scotland all those years ago and that he named 'Braveheart' finally gave up the ghost (all that fucking Bali wind!). It's been on every holiday with us since then and has ended its days in Indonesia. Stoic but sad.

      Checked, out, 1 minute walk to departures; screening #1, check in, screening #2, passport control, duty free browsing, morning alcoholic beverages, screening #3. Waiting…..

      - Flight is going to be CHOKKERS
      - Aaaaand we have the aircraft's token toddler in front of us 🤦‍♀️ Name's Cruz, says it all
      - Aaaaaand passengers in wrong seats ffs. Can't they read?
      - Fucking everyone coughing
      - But flight went quickly, I had a red wine and had to get a snack which I wouldn’t do on principle.
      - Cowboy landing and hot hot hot in Perth!!!! No humidity
      - Got through arrivals very very quickly
      - Grabbed and uber to the apartment
      - Everything is BIG – roads, trees, parks and houses
      - Big swathes of beautiful gums from the airport to Fremantle
      - Patches of scrubby stuff
      - All the grass was dead – hot summer
      - Lovely family homes all complementing each other. 1960s, 70s 80s and modern all somehow looking as if they were all meant to be there – not like the dog’s breakfast that’s Sydney suburban comstruction now
      - Apartment Ok – a bit dated but very clean and OK
      - Bloody no oven though. But of the joy of a washing machine!

      We were desperate for a home cooked dinner so went to the IGA. Oh it’s disgraceful how expensive things were. Fruit and veg ridiculous. Bananas $8 kg, red capsicum $20 kg, broccoli $8 kg, plain tomatoes $10 kg, 500 gms chicken breast $17!!!!. I’m pretty sure most of the young people in the store were holiday makers and they weren’t looking very happy about the cost, they looked quite bewildered actually, picking things up and putting them down. Absolutely disgraceful we fucking grow all this stuff. Give fucking Gina Reinhart a budget to cook dinner and see how she goes. Anyway we got a BBQ chicken instead – cheaper. Too tired to even look around Fremantle this afternoon and my foot’s sore again ☹.      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Ubud to Denpasar

      16. helmikuuta, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      Heading back to Australia tomorrow. Not home, but the place where my home is.

      I’m sitting in the Novotel Denpasar Airport Hotel, eating their complementary snacks and having a glaas of wine. We had some beef floss savoury biscuits, a small chocolate biscuit and then Mick offered me something called lumpia, a little tube of something. Well it was fucking dried shrimp floss. Mick showed his love to me, holding out his hand so I could spit the said shrimp floss lumpia into at. That really is true love.

      Anyway this morning we had coffee and some small brekky stuff in the villa, then the plan was to take a walk around the rice paddies. I had woken up early and saw a pink cloud sunrise – last day in the rice paddies. After a bit of drama where Mick slipped on one of the moss-covered stepping stones around the side of the villa and face planted in the garden (not funny: very scary for a few seconds) we shakily headed out.

      We had rain last night so we had to be so careful on anything, also because there’s a gazillion different footpath materials – bitumen, dirt, pebbles, concrete pavers, motor bike speed humps. We turned right at the end of our villa and took the path to the very end – not far – until we came to a little viewing platform that looked out over the beautiful green paddies. We saw several farmers hand-scything their fields, and also a younger woman heading out with a scythe over her shoulder. Such hard work. It was sunny, steamy and stifling. When the path terminated we walked back, past our villas and did a random right turn that took us along another pathway.. Very much the same, but not, with the different directions, light and heat. Always different sounds as really the only thing you could hear were occasional motorbikes, insects and soft Balinese chat when you walked past a stall or warung. Saw a large flock of ducks nuzzling for snails in a rice paddy. They looked so cute when they pooped up their heads and then went back down again. What was also interesting was there were lookout ducks – poor buggers, looking out for random strangers wandering by with daypacks and mobile phones when the real danger was in their own backyard (rice paddy farmer = duck dinner).

      We could have circled around I think but we backtracked as it was time to think about packing for tomorrow’s flight. We did that pretty quickly and then went downstairs to have a breakfast beer with Jackie and Steve. We headed off just before 12 noon to the Sweet Orange warung where we had beers and some bloody delicious lunch. Mick had juicy, meaty, saucy pork ribs and I had red rice and a slightly tangy salad of charcoaled chicken, lemongrass, chillies, makrut, garlic, eschalots and lime juice. It could have been a bit spicier for me but it was light, fresh and delicious.

      We walked back to the villas, advising the manager we were going to be leaving at 1.45pm and walk to our transfer in the Ubud carpark – a 10 to 15 minute walk along rice paddies, then down a very steep hill, sharp right at the school, up a bit of a hill to the beginning of the art market, then left up the smelly alleyway. Easy right??? Nope. A small sprinkle of rain turned into an absolute deluge. Squalls and rain and thunder just seemed to circle around and around and around the rice paddies and villas. Water was water-falling off the roof. All our used towels and pool towels we had to use to mop up the water flooding in under one set of doors. It was insane. Like, we couldn’t even get down the stairs to Jackie and Steve’s to at least have a chat while the storm raged. And it lasted for an hour. And by the time we were able to leave it was just a very quick goodbye to Jackie and Steve before we stepped very tentatively through the squelchy garden into a pathway that was halfway up our calves (well, mine anyway) water rushing like stream. Some of the villa’s pathways were OK, but sheets of water cascading over them and a few detours to avoid a foot of water. Thank god we walked to the carpark without incident. I recon I’m gonna be sore tomorrow because of clenched butt cheeks and I was also carrying my precious cargo of the great green plate purchase of 2025. Big fucker.

      After a snail’s crawl drive from Ubud to the airport hotel with Mr Have-a-chat driver. Typically anonymous Novotel. I don’t have a problem with that.      Lue lisää

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    • Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill2025 Bali and Perth

      Ubud

      15. helmikuuta, Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Well, I’m writing here now in the afternoon and although the rice paddies are so serene with lots of animal noises I’m a bit annoyed as I spent a relaxing 30 minutes this morning writing in my penguins aaaaaaand…. I lost it! It saved, but didn’t save. So let me try and replicate what I wrote.

      Woke up this morning to a beautiful and serene morning over the rice paddies. We woke up and took photos, as usual, and took in the animal sounds: chirping frogs, birdsong, rooster sensurround and ducks. We saw a line of ducks moving along in a pack, maybe 30 of them, and then they all jumped into a rice paddy, no doubt searching for breakfast.

      Though it's a humid and misty morning, it’s shaping up to be a hot, sunny day – perhaps with a tropical thunderstorm this afternoon. It was nice to finally take our time, walking to breakfast, to take notice of the lovely garden. So many colours, textures, shapes and flowers, all flowing into each other through steps, pathways, low fences and the villas. The lusciousness of it is definitely a wonderful smorgasbord for all the bugs, insects and birds. We even saw what we think was a pitcher plant, luring in unsuspecting insects to its smelly depths, never to emerge. Maybe it’s more a smorgasbord for the plants then?

      So we arrived at breakfast. For the first time here, the clouds and mist cleared so we could see one of Bali’s three active volcanoes, Mt Agung. This is the troublemaker volcano which stops planes and people, and often the Balinese. It’s crazy to think this beast was causing trouble just three months ago. Being on the first floor of the villa we have a beautiful view over the rice paddies. On one side is red man, on the other is purple man. We’ve said hi to red man as he walks close to the villa, checking out…well… his rice paddy. They have been out this morning, using manual tools to scythe the green plants. Purple man had an egret with him for ages, no doubt gobbling up any insects or snails while he was doing his work. Such hard work.

      Part of the villa package was a massage so earlier I sat in the villas’s yellow, brown and red batik dressing gown, waiting for our massage ladies. Well the massage was the best we’ve had here so far. A fragrant oil, on the bed….very nice.

      After massages we made our way through the rice paddies, seeking out a sport’s bar to watch the first preliminary season game between Souths and Manly. Anyway our narrow pathway, in the sun, was dappled green, lush and busy with motorbikes, locals and a few tourists. A local council group – I assume – was doing maintenance on the pathway, chopping down bamboo, scything overhangs and one guy with a massive bamboo pole, cutting down coconuts ready to drop and kill people.

      Found said sport’s bar and set up for a few hours. Souths lost. But some pesky monkeys started to come into the bar. I wasn’t into protecting Jackie, but I got a picture 😊

      It’s not a ridiculous walk back to the villa, but a good hump-a-long.
      Now sitting here after a lovely swim in our pool. The frogs are starting their chorus. There’s a chit chit chit, gok gok gok, zzzzht zzzzht zzzzht, bop bop bop, cluck cluck cluck, tk tk tk, wop wop wop, kt kt kt. It’s lovely!!!      Lue lisää

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