Bali

Navigating the streets/alleys/sidewalks, whatever you want to call them is like walking through a mine field. They aren’t roads, but are driven on like they are. Most streets…again I say that loosely are about 8-10 feet wide and double as pedestrian walkways and for use of cars and motor bikes. It was always interesting when 2 cars were coming from opposite directions met, and what they had to do to pass through. It usually resulted in one of them all but pulling into one of the shops so the other one could squeeze by with only inches to spare. Not only do you have to keep your head on a swivel because of all the motor bikes going in every direction, but any type of sidewalk repair that’s going on leaves behind a hole about 3 feet deep, and 3 feet across while it’s being worked on. They also like to patch things other holes with spare concrete blocks, pieces of wood, metal, really anything that looks like it might be sturdy enough. It made it especially fun after having a few drinks. If you were to find something like this in the states there would be a lawsuit filed within the amount of time it’ll take you to finish reading this entry. One thing that I really liked about the motor bikes is some have 2 large hook looking things sticking off the side where you can strap a surfboard on the side of the motor bike and go to the beach. Kuta Beach in Bali where we’ve been staying is considered one of the hot spots for surfing in throughout the world.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Bali before heading north to Singapore. We’ll actually be crossing back into the northern hemisphere again, so my first time in several weeks, even if only a stones throw away from the equator. The Bali portion of our trip came at a good time since we were running around seeing so much in Australia it was refreshing to just kick back, soak up the sun and relax on the beach. After the surf session tomorrow it will be our third time that we’ve gone out to do it. Once you get a handle on the fundamentals of surfing it is a great feeling to catch a good wave and just ride it. We met a guy name Yanto one of our first days here, and let me tell you he is living the dream. He’s got a little “bar” right on the beach which basically consist of a couple big coolers, some lawn chairs, and an umbrella. He also has a bunch of surfboards to rent out and so we go to him to both grab some Bintangs (the Indonesian beer) and rent a board for a couple of hours. We went surfing late in the afternoon our second time and stayed on the beach to watch one of the most perfect sunsets.

We made it up to Ubud on the island of Bali earlier today to go to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary which is some paths through part of the forest that are populated with monkeys. Jonathon and I were both surprised at the number of monkeys that were there and how they were just roaming about around all the visitors. It wasn’t like a zoo or anything, they were in the wild, and just highly concentrated in this area. The highlight of the monkeys (although probably not for the victim) was when one jumped on a girls back causing her to drop her camera. Within seconds another monkey came from behind and scooped it up and took off running. About an hour later we saw one of the guides and the same girl trying to entice the monkey that took it with bananas as he was still holding onto her camera. I’m not sure if they were successful or not, but it was quite comical, and the monkey was trying to see what he needed to do to eat it like it was some type of food.

A perfect example of how truly small the world is happened after our first attempt at surfing was over. We got back to Yanto’s bar to return the boards and got some beers to try and rinse the saltwater taste out of our mouths, the sand out of our ears, remove the seaweed that was wrapped around us, etc. This of course was caused by all the wipeouts…again it was my first time. There was a couple at Yanto’s bar as well which we stuck up a conversation with. They just had thier wedding here in Bali and were staying for the honeymoon. Come to find out that they are both from Melbourne and Jonathon actually went to primary school with the lady. They were only 1 year apart and didn’t know each other, but knew a lot of the same people. It would be the equivalent of me vacationing somewhere in the Caribbean and just happening to bump into someone on the beach that I went to elementary or middle school with.

We’ve met some really cool and interesting people so far in our travels, and might end up meeting up with a few of them as our trips will overlap by a week or so in New Zealand. One thing that I’ve found interesting, and kind of exciting is that when asked by different Indonesian people where I’m from and I reply America, they mention that I’m only the 2nd or 3rd American they’ve ever met. I know Indonesia isn’t particularly close to the US, but it was still something very different for me to be this far removed from my home and be reminded of it by others. I have more pictures to post related to this story but it takes about 5 minutes per picture to upload, and I'm running out of time online, so I'll add some more soon!

Its been a long time since my last post, so I apologize to the close followers (if there are any). We’ve done a lot in the past week or so, but haven’t had much internet access during that time. This is going to be a long post too, so hopefully I can keep your attention for the whole thing. Currently I’m looking out over the oriental style rooftops in Bali, Indonesia from our 3^rd floor hotel room balcony just a few blocks from the beach. Let me go back to where I left off though and get you caught up on everything that we’ve done.

On Friday 10/16 we lathered up in sunscreen, apparently not enough for me, and headed east on the Ocean Free sailboat to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. It couldn’t have been a better day for it as the air temperature was right around 90, water temperature about 75, not a cloud in the sky, and not a breath of wind. That was also a problem since we took a SAILBOAT out there. It took about 2 hours to arrive and return to the reef since we had no wind power to use, but it wasn’t a problem since we still had plenty of time to snorkel, and a lot of the other passengers were around our age so we struck up some conversations and made some friends.

The dive spot was located just off Green Island which is absolutely gorgeous with all the colors of the water right around it. I ended up buying a post cord with an aerial view of the area we snorkeled just because I couldn’t capture the beauty with my camera. After the morning session they fed us a delicious lunch on the boat and took us to the island in shifts to spend some time on the beach there. Jonathon and I made sure to catch the first ride back to the boat so we could have quite a bit more time in the water before heading back to Cairns. As we were about to get in the water again we were greeted by 2 sharks and a couple of other large fish that were swimming around the boat. Feeling invincible like we are we slipped into the water quietly to swim with these animals. In the mean time our captain begins throwing pieces of left over lunch meet in the water real close to us (I was hit in the head once) and tells us to keep our hands and arms tucked in close to our body. I think you can imagine why, and I didn’t want to temp the sharks to think that my fingers were nice little pieces of meat that they can have for a dessert, so I obeyed without questioning. It was such a cool experience to be in the water with 3 sharks (a 3^rd came up later when they were eating) in the wild like that and watch them eat and swim. The crew was extremely fun and you can tell they love poking fun at specific nationalities when they get a chance…Canadians, and Italians were on the receiving end most of the day.

We had 2 more days in the Cairns area before flying to Darwin after that so we explored some beaches in the area and just relaxed by the pool and ocean. Cairns was a really fun city but its essentially on a lagoon and there is no beach there. It’s a shame since it’s the main destination for the reef and in Northern Queensland, but they did have a huge pool right in the main park of the city right across the street from where we were staying.

In my opinion when you picture the countryside of Australia the Northern Territory around Darwin fits the bill. We rented a car again to drive to Litchfield National Park, and see the Katherine Gorge. On the drive out that first morning to Litchfield we had to stop at the Adelaide River to do a crocodile jumping cruise. Any gator or croc that you’ve seen in the states would be a light snack for these creatures. The cruise consisted of a two deck boat, and one of the crew members dangling a piece of meat from a stick over the water. The crocs swim up to it and jump to try and get it. Seeing them open their jaws like that and the power of them was incredible. After the tour was over we continued onto Litchfield where we were both pleasantly surprised by the number of water holes and waterfalls to swim in. They were swimming pools of the wild that brought along probably the most refreshing dip I’ve had, not only because of the purity of the water and that we could have the waterfall rain down on us, but remember we’re in the Northern Territory…so it is HOT. I also quickly understood why people where the hats with the bug screen around their face because the flies up there were terrible. That was another reason that made the water feel so good, because you could escape the bugs for a little bit.

It was a great 2 weeks in Australia filled with a wide variety of things. We were cold and wet in Sydney while walking around the Olympic park and during the Australia vs. Netherlands soccer match, hot and stuffy in the Northern Territory while hiking the Katherine Gorge and Litchfield, saw numerous wateralls, and potentially deadly animals. We met some nice people from all around the world that we might be able to meet up with again in the New Zealand portion of our trip, saw one of the natural wonders of the world, and for me I got to learn some Aussie slang and expressions that I’m hoping to bring back to the states with me. Some of my favorites are how everything is abbreviated, when you hear me say sunnies I’m talking about sun glasses, and if I’m going to buy the next round of drinks, “I’ll shout for the next.” I’m excited to move onto our next leg of the trip in SE Asia and also to return to Australia in December when we’re done with SE Asia and New Zealand.

A potential major setback almost happened in the Darwin Airport. As we went to check into our flight for Bali we were told they couldn’t let us board the plane since we didn’t yet have a departing flight from Indonesia. Apparently Indonesia has very strict immigration and customs laws so we would have been sent back to Australia on the first flight out of there if they found out we didn’t have a departing flight booked. Luckily we got to the airport early enough that we booked a flight with the same airline to go to Singapore as our next stop, mainly because it was only a $50 flight, and that is the central location for all of SE Asia so it will be easy to head off in a better planned route from there when we can sit down and figure out some of the details.

I’m going to head to the beach now, so my next post will be about Bali, which if our first 2 days are any indication of what the remaining 4 are going to be like it should make for a good read if I haven’t put you to sleep already. More pictures to follow. Cheers!

More of Sydney and start of the Great Barrier Reef

So it turns out the Sydney Aiport isn't open 24 hours a day. Our flight left from Sydney on Monday morning at 7:00 AM, so we thought it would be much easier to check in late Sunday night and just crash in the airport before our flight on Monday morning. Shortly after our arrival we were quietly escorted by the Security at the airport, and rather then spending $100 for a hotel room we shacked up at the McDonald's right by the airport and just went on ZERO sleep. But we did get some double cheese's to help out. Before we left Sydney though we got to go to the Olympic Park where the 2000 summer games were held, went out with some of our new found friends at our Hostel, walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, took some great pictures of the city, and went to the Australia vs. Netherlands Soccer match. The Dutch were ranked 3rd in the world I think at the time.

The day we went to the soccer match the temperature was only in the upper 50's and raining. It actually cleared up a little bit right as the game was about to start, but it was really incredible to be around that atmosphere of an international soccer match. The Aussie's were definitely outmatched, and Jonathon will be the first to agree, but the game ended in a 0-0 draw, so it wasn't the most exciting for the fans either. We also went to Bondi Beach one afternoon, which is a world famous beach for it's surfing and scenery. Despite the not so warm weather it was beautiful there, and fun to just watch the Pacific Ocean for a couple of hours.

We then flew into Townsville as it was much cheaper then to go all the way to Cairns. We rented a car and began heading up the Coast towards Cairns where the main attraction is for the Great Barrier Reef. A little over an hour into the drive on Monday we stopped at Wallaman Waterfall and did some hiking around Australia's tallest waterfall. It is almost 300 meters tall (just shy of 1,000 feet for you Americans) and we hiked all the way down to the bottom and climbed around the rock formations down there. This part of Queensland is in the dry season and they haven't had rain in a couple of months so the stream wasn't particularly strong, but it was so much fun to hike there and see the nature. We then drove further north to Mission Beach where we ate some dinner and stayed the night virtually right on the beach. I don't think I have to say it, but we were VERY tired from the McDonald's/Airport/Airplane sleeping the night and morning before and only getting maybe an hour of sleep, so we crashed fairly early that night.

Jonathon and I did wake up early the next morning and got a couple hours of beach time in before continuing north. The weather was in the upper 80's and the Australian sun is a little bit more intense then the sun in other parts of the world I've been to. We saw two groups of skydivers land on the Beach from 14,000 feet right by us. We decided to keep heading north and are now staying the next several nights in Cairns. We found a great deal at a Hostel in town where we are staying for only $17 a night including a free dinner each night from a local Pub (drinks not included) and it offers great views.



We ended up booking a snorkeling trip to the Great Barrier Reef on a Sailboat for this Friday. We are also going to spend a full day or more in the Daintree National Forest, some time on the Palm Cove Beach, and Port Douglas Beach (Google pictures there and you might be jealous!!!) After a couple more days on the Great Barrier Reef we're going to be flying to Darwin, Australia to spend a few days around the Australian wildlife before heading into Indonesia and spending about a month in SE Asia.

I'll be sure to include a lot of pictures of our trip out to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel, and describe that. My camera is waterproof so hopefully I'll be able to get some great shots of the Coral as well as colorful fish/water/islands.

Jonathan and I are wrapping up our 3rd day in Sydney now. The flight over from San Francisco was long and uneventful. Of course I had a hard time sleeping and probably only got about 2 hours in. We arrived in Sydney around 10:00 AM on Tuesday though, so we found a Hostel, stashed our stuff then started exploring the city right away. We have seen the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge everyday so far since the train station where we have to go through for must of our destinations is right there at the Harbour. So far we have walked around the downtown area, Darling Harbour, gone to some free Museums, taken a ferry across the Harbour to Manly Beach, gone through some local markets, and had a couple of beers at Sydney's oldest Pub. On the agenda before we leave here Sunday is to walk across the Harbour Bridge, go to Bondi Beach, walk through the Olympic Park, watch the Holland vs. Australia Soccer match, and see some Australian wildlife. After we leave Sydney we'll be flying to Townsville which is on the Great Barrier Reef, just south of Cairns. It was cheaper to fly there and rent a car then to fly all the way to Cairns, and then we can explore some of the rain forests and beaches easier.

Before leaving for Sydney though I spent a few days in San Francisco with cousin Tim Lueth, and it was incredible. I took the train from Bakersfield to San Francisco, which took about 7 hours, but Tim met me downtown and we had a few drinks for happy hour, then ate dinner downtown. The next day he took me to wine country and I got to experience a few different Winery's in Sonoma and Napa Valley, and learn more about the entire process of making wine. On Saturday we were regular tourists in San Francisco and did A LOT of walking. We started the day out by going to a park called Twin Peaks, which offers spectacular views of the city and Pacific Ocean. After that we went to the Haight-Ashbury district...which I really enjoyed, and had breakfast at the People's Cafe right on Haight Street. From there we went to another park that had some beautiful Victorian homes around it and again had great views of the city. You may be familiar with the view if you ever watched the TV show Full House. We also went to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 to see all the Sea Lions, saw the crookedest street, good views of Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge, and the list goes on. Tim and I then ate breakfast in Pacifica and watched the Surfers. Jonathan got in Sunday afternoon, and we spent a little bit of time walking around the city before Tim dropped us off at the Airport for our 9:00 PM flight that night.