Trekking Around Seminyak

Though Trish is still not operating on all 6 cylinders, we headed out again around 10:30 to explore more of the local area on foot.  The litre of water we bought was nearly all gone and our clothes were saturated when we arrived back at our air conditioned hotel room a couple of hours later.

The photo gives you an idea of how crowded the streets can be with motorbikes and cars everywhere. The traffic moves slowly, so despite appearing chaotic, the slow speeds means it is kind of safe. Our long 50 kilometre trip from Uluwatu 3 days ago took well over an hour with speed rarely exceeding 60kph.

I had to wait to get this photo with traffic everywhere, in reality it is very quiet in Seminyak according to the shopkeepers, and even the restaurants have very few diners in them after dark.

The walk this morning was great and we discovered even more places to buy singlets, watches, T Shirts and other bits and pieces. We did discover the Bintang Supermarket which was huge. I grabbed a few 500ml cans of Bintang just to supplement the supply chilling in the hotel room fridge.

All looks good now.

I reckon a swim in the hotel pool will go well after we duck out for a quick bite to eat for lunch. There is footy on TV tonight at around 6pm. If it isn't on the in-house TV there are several local bars which have it. We won't miss out.

I think we have done most of the walking we want to do today. Hopefully Trish's tummy will be 100% tomorrow and we can venture further away, but this time by cab.

This below is the view looking out from our hotel room window. Many of the rooftops are actually shops. Beyond the trees in the distance is the beach. The beach and all its trappings are around a 5 minute walk away.

The Horison Hotel, Seminyak

Now this is the kind of Bali I remember. Shopping, hustle and bustle, narrow streets, food places everywhere and as hot and steamy as!

Our Horison Hotel is near Double Six beach which is 5 mins walk away as you turn right out of the hotel. Turn left and there are more eateries to enjoy. There is Indonesian, Chinese, Greek, Italian and your basic western fare all over the place.

The hotel has around 150 rooms and is great value at around $60 a night when everything is accounted for. Much of the price was a 'special' deal and this price includes breakfast. We even have the footy on the in-room TV. We have stayed in much worse and paid a lot more money.

This is my sister Judy's first trip overseas and she has had a ball. She has now been fully introduced to travelling. It has been an eye opener for her and has opened a whole new world of experiences.

Judy has just left to catch her plane back to Melbourne this afternoon. But during the 40 or so hours here she has crammed as much shopping, eating and drinking as she possibly could into that time. Her case is now full of T Shirts, singlets, watches, shawls, hats and other bits and pieces. Judy has loved it.

We too have a smattering of similar items. I haven't been able to find exactly what I wanted to buy but what I have found will be ideal. I will now be able to toss out some old singlets, bathers and the like and use a lot of the stuff I have bought here.

We have been here for over a week now and both Trish and I have minor taste of Bali Belly, but nothing which will hold us back. There were heaps of left over drinks from the wedding so when Beau and Jess turned up here to pick up Judy for the airport this morning he dropped off a dozen stubbies, 2 bottles of Sauv Blanc and a Blue Pyrenees sparkling.  So we are right for drinks now!

The photo is from our 4th floor petite balcony overlooking the hotel pool.

Today will be quiet. We'll pop out for a light lunch and another little look around and possibly end up down on the beach for a stroll. Of course there will be drinks around 5 prior to having a meal somewhere. Messenger from Facebook seems to be how people keep in touch here.

Our free wifi is great. Last night I watched a TV series episode streamed via Kodi. It worked fine.

About to Return to Seminyak

Having a go at Blogger on the phone and using the Blogger app.

We have both now recovered from over indulgence at the wedding. The day after the wedding I awoke at around 70% and slowly improved as the day went on. 

There was a meal given by the hosts on the Monday afternoon as well as heaps to drink again. I enjoyed my food but managed to struggle through 4 stubbies. Trish who had awoken around 100% was slowly sliding back to 70%.  She came back to our accommodation to rest up.

I wasn't far behind her. But today Tuesday we are both fine again.

We have enjoyed breakfast and now waiting for our car to arrive to take us back to another hotel in Seminyak. My sister Judy will accompany us.

Judy has one full day left before she heads back to Melbourne. We still have over a week to go.

It will be spent looking around, walking, shopping, eating and drinking.

After the Wedding

After all the preparations, the wedding between my nephew Beau and the lovely Jess went off late into last night. There were around 80 there including about 8 kids. The setting was spectacular, the food great and drinks flowed freely.

It was sure a long way to travel being conducted at Uluwatu on the southern tip of the Indonesian island of Bali.  I have not recovered that well but I am improving all the time. There is a BBQ lunch on at their resort early this afternoon.

Trish and my sister Judy had a ball and have many photos on their respective Facebook pages. Judy has put about 20 photos up on her page.

Right now the two girls have walked around a kilometre into "town". My delicate condition precluded me from joining them. Feeling a little under the weather and walking in 34 degree tropical heat and humidity didn't seem a good idea to me.

We are all being picked up tomorrow around lunchtime to be taken back to Seminyak and the Horison Hotel at Double Six beach. We are there for 8 nights and Judy for just 2 nights. She is flying home with her eldest son Marcus and his family around lunchtime on Thursday.

I think we will all sleep pretty soundly tonight.

Puri Kelapa, Uluwatu

I hope I have spelt the name properly. We are around 50ks south of Seminyak on Bali's southern coast staying at the Puri Kelapa Guest House. It is a little more upmarket than a guest house but isn't expensive. The room is cool, the bed great, not sure if we have hot water and the pool is welcoming if not too warm.

It is around 7am and a little misty. It is extremely humid. We have the wedding at 4:30 this afternoon less than a kilometre away from here.

There isn't tea and coffee nor any food served here at our accommodation.  However the little restaurant 50 metres away is excellent and inexpensive. Cold beer is available at the guest house at $2 a stubby.

There isn't a cloud in the sky and the internet here is patchy but usable.  Let's see if I can post this.

Our room is the end one in the photo below and around $40 per night. Another  great feature is it is so quiet here.  We both got around 8 hours sleep last night and have awoken refreshed this morning. Thank heaven there isn't a noisy nightclub just over the back!

The internet is good enough to get the footy scores.

Judy's eldest son Marcus and his family are here too at the same accommodation. They all went off to an in family pre wedding  dinner last night and decided to walk the 700 metres to the wedding venue. We will await their verdict on walking that distance in the tropical heat and humidity.

A big day is in store for us along with the challenge of getting to and from the wedding venue.  Taxis are few and far between and this is an Uber blacklisted area.  So walking may be our only option.

Bali Update

So we come to the final day of our first stay in Seminyak. The 4 days here have been enough for us. The majority of guests staying here for the wedding are friends of the bride's family and this is understandable. We are not always included in every happening which is fine.  We have had a great time with my sister who is new to overseas travel and her three boys and their wives.

I mentioned about the noisy nightclub next door. When we got back to our room after a day's shopping, eating, drinking and chatting at around 9pm last night the nightclub noise was in full swing and we noted there were 2 sets of earplugs supplied. The noise was horrific and come 9:45pm I  headed to reception to raise my concerns.

We were immediately offered an alternative room to sleep in for the night. Our room is around $100 per night. We were given the use of a single bedroom unit which had a $200 per night price tag. The photo above gives you a hint of what it was like. Yes, that's a private pool outside the lounge window. Despite being at the other end of the hotel you could still hear a little of the nightclub noise. But it was heaps better than room 124!

Last night we negotiated a driver and car to take us down to the vicinity of where the wedding service is to be conducted tomorrow late in the afternoon. Hopefully there won't be a nightclub close by. We did a pretty good deal for our ride as it turns out.

In Bali

I have again been reminded of why flights in aeroplanes are not as exciting as they once used to be.  6 hours from Brisbane to Denpasar is certainly enough time to be spent in one seat doing as little as possible. I listened to a couple of music albums, the odd podcast or two, and even squeezed in several episodes of a TV Series I wanted to catch up on.

Then there was the hour or so spent getting through immigration and customs. Several flights had arrived at the same time and Indonesian Immigration had about 8 counters open accepting new visitors one at a time. Eventually we found our way through and were delighted we had transfers from the airport to our hotel provided.

The Dipan where we are staying is comfortable, small but has all the requirements for a pleasant stay in Seminyak just north of Kuta. There is even a nightclub right next door which has loud music which usually finishes around midnight.  We now know this all too well.  Fortunately I have sleeping tablets which help me overcome the ever present thump thump of the bass.

Everything else is great. Slowly but surely more and more wedding guests are arriving and popping in to say hello.  Quite a few of them are staying here at Dipan.

With so many young people here and all on holidays it is like a week long buck's party. Some of the oldies or those with young families head off togther for a look around or a meal.  Needless to say our want is Asian food.  We have already acquired the necessary Bintang (the local beer) singlets and T Shirts.

There are some great things to do for the holiday maker and it is usually quite inexpensive to do so. As it is a Muslim country alcohol could be expensive but is around Aussie prices. I have found a spot which does 3 stubbies for $5 which is good value.  It is in 'town' and a good 20 minute walk away.

That 20 minute walk in 34 degree tropical heat can sure build a thirst.

We have 2 more nights here before heading around 50ks south for the wedding ceremony on Sunday.  Hopefully the accommodation there won't be next door to nightclub.

But it is great catching up with extended family we haven't seen for a long time.

The photo is out of our hotel room window across towards the noisy nightclub.

Bags Are Packed!

We fly out to Bali around 5:30pm this evening (Tuesday) and it is mid morning now.  Bags are packed, parking in Brisbane is sorted and we think we have everything.

We have been in contact with good neighbours Brian and Edna who will keep an eye on this place for us while we are away, they will do the bins and water the few pot plants from time to time.  I popped over to their place yesterday and sorted out his Kodi for him, and updated many of the addons.  It should all be perfect now.

Other neighbours across the road, Bill and Kaylene gave us a half a plastic bag full of red claw, small fresh water crayfish.  They got hundreds and hundreds of them at a nearby lake where the went for an Easter holiday.  Bill said the place was absolutely packed to the rafters with campers and other visitors.  So we had red claw cooked in garlic and butter along with some fried rice for tea on Sunday and there were even a few red claw left when we cleaned up the Fried Rice last night.

Apart from that it has been all hands on deck tidying things up before heading away.  The lawns are mowed, my hair has been cut and things seem to be in order.

My team played Trish's footy team on Easter Monday (yesterday) and had a resounding win.  Her team has been on top for almost 10 seasons now winning four premierships in that time.  But like all footy teams. eventually the players get older, slower and slightly less hungry.  They have been a top team for so long it now seems it may be time to rebuild.

Weather has been OK with tops a much cooler 26° or so and 16 or so overnight.  A welcome change after the scorching summer we have just had.

Many of the wedding guests are already in Bali and we have had calls from my sister.  It seems the way to go is via Facebook Messenger where you can use your phone via free wifi to make and receive calls.  It works pretty well.  We spoke with Kim yesterday and she and Jay are in Hoi An in Vietnam.  It wasn't as good as a phone call but pretty good no less.  Kim and jay are having a wow of a time.  They had just sat down in a Hoi An bar where the Aussie rules footy match was just about to come on the bar's TV.

I believe we have free transfers to the Hotel this evening.  The bride's parents are flying on the same flight as we are.  The 'official' and legal wedding was held as a very small ceremony in Melbourne on Thursday.  This ensures the marriage is fully legal in the eyes of Australian Law.

Se we are off in a few hours to drive in to the airport.  Better to be an hour or so early rather than an hour or so late!

One Week To Take-Off

The flights have been booked for months now, the accommodation is now finalized, and it is just one week to go until we set out for a couple of weeks in Bali to attend a nephew's wedding. 

But not all has been smooth sailing over the last few days.

I continue to bike ride knocking up around 28k's just the other day in a single ride.  It was down to around 15k's today and it was a few more than that on Monday.

This morning it was around 15° when I jumped on the bike ready to set off.  Needless to say the idea of a post ride swim didn't enter my mind.

I reckoned I escaped the dentist's chair for the best part of 40 years but that has sure changed the last 4 or 5 years.  I guess age has something to do with it.  But yet another tooth broke late last week and the best way (and most expensive) to fix it properly is to have a crown fitted.  Some of it will be covered by Health Insurance and to ensure we get the maximum coverage we are waiting until our 'new year' begins and all our dental benefits are reinstated.  For us the new year begins on July 1st.

So after the recent tooth mishap, I was looking for a temporary solution to see out till July 1st.  I have been given a semi permanent temporary crown.  This was the cheaper option so I am told.  The reason the solution is semi permanent is because of a 10 week time span to July 1.  So it is a temporary crown which has been glued in with permanent glue!

It is amazing to again have a 'full tooth' there.  Boy, what a difference.  And peanuts are well and truly off the menu!

So it's slowly but surely knock over tasks required for a 15 night trip away.  The pool is to be vacuumed, the pool filter to be cleaned, the lawns and edges done, home brew bottles tidied up and so on.

The footy on TV has been interesting.  My team isn't playing super well but has still escaped with three unconvincing wins.  Trish's team has been 'on top' for much of the last 7 or 8 years but after a 14 goal thrashing by one of the lower sides on Sunday, it is possible some team rebuilding is required to get back onto the winner's list.  My team plays Trish's team on Easter Monday afternoon.

The only other news I am afraid is the weather.  After being so hot for so long, the sudden onset of the cooler weather has come as a bit of a welcome shock.  If the ceiling fan ever gets turned on it is always down to "Low".  We are beginning to close doors overnight to keep the cool out.

The quilt overnight is a must!

But we will survive!

Weather is "Melbourne Like"

It has been scorchingly hot all summer up here, a record summer with hot days, hot nights and hot oceans all around us.  We have never used the air conditioner as much as we did this summer.  The pool has been warm as well though absolutely delightful for a pre bed swim around 10pm!

So what is this?  A top today of a mere 22° and over 35mls of rain overnight!  Too wet for a bike ride I can tell you!  The pool temperature will be way down too so this year's swimming season may come to an early close.  Usually the drop in temperature day by day comes down slowly by a degree or two.  It was a lovely 27 or 28 yesterday so 22° as a top today is very Melbourne like.

I can't say we are not enjoying the cool day, it is such a pleasant change to what we have experienced.

The Waeco fridge which sits just outside the back door has been dismantled, totally dried out and put away for another 6 months or so!

I spent much of yesterday at a Community Meeting followed by sorting out Android TV boxes for friends.  The major program used is Kodi and it has just updated to Kodi 17.1.  Some of the cheaper boxes don't work as well as the dearer ones so Google Play Store doesn't always work properly.

After finding a version of Kodi 17.1 that will install on these boxes I had to manually update Kodi.  They are happy now as Kodi has upgraded and will run the better addons more effectively.

Speaking of Kodi, Trish and I have just finished watching a TV Series called "Big Little Lies".  It gets a very good score (around 8.6) and stars Nicole Kidman, Reece Witherspoon and Laura Dern.  They are also listed as co-producers.  The first episode or two were a little quiet but it soon warmed up and came to a thrilling finish.  Well worth watching!

While on Kodi there is an addon called MX Australian TV.  It allows me to watch live FTA TV from all around Australia.  It was pleasant watching the Channel 9 Footy Show live from Melbourne on Sunday and created a perfect lead in for Sunday's footy watching!

Our trip to Bali is less than two weeks away so our thoughts are beginning to turn to packing and getting sorted prior to leaving!  It is a nephew's wedding and it will be fantastic to catch up with the boys along with my younger sister Judy.  I guess we will enjoy a few drinks together!

Cool Glorious Cool!

After a long, scorching, hot summer just after lunchtime. the outside temperature is around 25°. 

After a 16.5k bike ride this morning the pool temperature was a coolish 22.5°.  Needless to say this morning's swim is best described as 'bracing'.

Though not cool enough for a light quilt to be over us all night, the ceiling fan was left turned off last night.

I tend to wake up early and around 5 a.m my time (6 a.m in Melbourne) the daily sports radio show which focuses on AFL begins on Melbourne's SEN radio comes on. Today it began at 6 a.m as daylight saving in the eastern states has finished.  We are all back in sync again as far as the time goes.

I have a Community Management Committee Meeting to chair tonight, a task I really don't look forward to with so much pleasure as before.

With my hearing problems the audiologist put me onto quality wireless headphones around 8 years ago.  It wasn't long until Trish was after a pair as well.  Time, the heat, the humidity and my oily skin took its toll on my headphones.  I received a new set valued at over $300 for my 70th birthday.  They are just great.  Meanwhile Trish was still wearing the older model and was beginning to have hassles with drop outs and interference from the ceiling fan.

I found a new pair exactly the same model as mine on eBay for a little over $200!  They are Sennheiser TR 165's.  This was a real bargain and they arrived mid last week.  I have now set them up for her.  She loves them.

From all the news reports it appears Caloundra 'dodged a bullet' with remnants of Cyclone Debbie.  There are up to 20 smaller trees down across the estate and there was a major loss of power (which we missed) for much of the estate.  The power was off for around 15 hours closing many of the local shops.

We can thank ourselves quite fortunate indeed.

My footy team has won both matches so far this season with the second match being a thriller and just a 1 point margin.  Trish's team has not fared quite so well.

Don't tell anyone and just keep it as our secret but for the first time ever I have a legal fully paid version of an anti virus on my computer.  I like Eset Nod 32 as my anti-virus and usually I have been able to scrounge a working username and password somewhere on the internet.  My little OzBargain website had a note about a three day special deal for Nod32 which I decided to purchase. 

I got a fully paid legal licence for 3 years for 2 computers for around $38.  That works out to be a little over $6 per year per computer.  Sorry but the special has finished now!