The start of the adventure

We finally arrived in Bali after a few hectic days in Perth selling the boat,fighting with telecommunication companies and sorting out minor problems.

It was nice to get to Bali which is constantly changing with more and more construction of hotels, shops and villas.

Maurice managed to find a new hat (his old one looked worse for wear after getting wet in Sydney) and as soon as he had given the old one to the shop owner to dispose of, she promptly started wearing it.

In Bali as in China some of the signage is amusing. At one of the local shopping complexes the sign in English was fine – Shopping centre but underneath next to a word in Russian script was the word “crap”.

After two days in Seminyak Komang our friend took us to the harbour for the slow boat to Lombok (4 1/2hours). Maurice’s discarded “financial review” newspaper was promptly snapped up by several people who wanted it as a covering for the floor so that they could stretch out and sleep. Recycling is alive and well! Lombok for me is like going back to Bali 30years ago. A poorer looking infrastructure compared to Bali, a much slower pace, much more rural land and friendly, smilingpeople who want to get ahead like their counterparts in Bali.
Maurice and I both fell down some stairs – not the same ones so I have not been able to have any massages yet – am still rather sore but we have still been walking, swimming and Maurice is having $10 massages every day in one of the
lovely huts right on the beach at our small hotel.

The staff are all very friendly as well as the local hawkers who are not upset even if you don’t buy anything. We have ordered a whole duck for dinner tomorrow night as it has to be ordered 24hours in advance – a specialty here in Bali and Lombok so we are looking forward to that.