Amed, Bali. October 29-31, 2013.

October 29.

We left gorgeous Alam Indah Hotel at 10am, with our pre-arranged car and driver, to go to Amed.
On the way we stopped at Tirta Gangga (Water Palace) for a look-see. Loved the 'Myst' like stepping stones in one of the pools :).

Tirta Gangga.

We checked into our lovely hotel Santai Bali, got settled, took a dip in the pool and went for a walk before dinner. The area referred to as Amed is actually a string of about 10 villages on the east coast of Bali. Development for tourism didn't start in earnest until about 2000. It is becoming a draw card for snorkeling and diving and the pace is slow. Very pleasant.

Looking towards 'our' beach with Gunung (Mt) Agung, highest point on Bali.

October 30.

This morning we rented snorkeling gear for a few hours: the beach and reef are literally just in front of our hotel, so had to be done. Later today Caroline enjoyed a 3-hour spa treatment (massage, facial and reiki) - for a price that would hardly buy you 45mins of one of these in the US.

October 31.

What did we do today.... mmmmm..... let me think..... we got up, had breakfast, read, went for a dip in the pool, read, pool,.... read some more.... and a walk before dinner. Totally relaxing day.

Ubud, Bali. October 26-28, 2013.

October 26.

To get to our next destination we organized a private pick-up with our next hotel. By far the easiest way to get around Bali: car and a driver: affordable and comfortable.
So at 10am our driver picked us up and we drove about 1 hour and 20 mins to Ubud. Well, the little village of Nyuhkuning, just south of Ubud. This is where our amazing hotel Alam Indah is located. Our friend Louisa reccommended the place (and it turns out that our friend Paul back home in SF has also stayed here) and after only the first of our 3 night here, we would already recommend the place ourselves!

We are only about a 30 minute walk from the center of Ubud, and the walk is all but boring. First you walk through the Monkey Forest, or if you wish to avoid this, around it on the motorcycle path. The trick to not get the monkeys to jump on you is to walk through the place without any food on you. There are enough other tourists with food to distract the monkeys. The macaques are very cute but I prefer to observe them from at least 1meter away :)

After the forest you walk along Monkey Forest Road, naturally, which is lined with cafes, restaurants and shops, till you Ubud Central. Not that you actually notice a dividing line. We stopped for lunch at a warung (usually a smaller, family owned eatery, ranging from food stalls to modern looking cafe-style restaurants) and walked back on a much quieter side road.

In the evening we attended a Balinese Dance performance in a spectacular open air venue and of course this is exactly when we experienced our first Balinese downpour. Luckily there was a covered back-up hall to finish the performance. Good to see one of these but we think one is enough.

Daytime view of where we saw the Balinese Dancing.

It was still pouring when the show finished and everyone wanted a taxi, so these were far and few between. Stephen didn't waste any time, rushed over to the adjoining Café Lotus and managed to secure us what looked like the last table available. Because by then most others leaving the show had figured out that with all taxis busy it could be a wet walk to dinner anywhere else.
By the way, any restaurant, cafe, ... will call your hotel for you to arrange a complimentary pick-up back to the hotel. Very civilized.


October 27.

Green pancakes filled with shredded
coconut and palm sugar.

We arranged a complimentary hotel car (yep, very civilized again) to drop us off at Cafe Wayan for a late-ish 'sweet' lunch - one can't eat nasi goreng all the time :). Aterwards Stephen went for a walk a bit further out, while Caroline wandered around Ubud.
We met back at our hotel for late, complimentary, afternoon tea.







That evening we found another Belgian Restaurant Café des Artistes, and, since we were both craving steak (one can't always eat nasi goreng - which we love by the way) that's where we went.


October 28:

Coffee and tea tasting

We'd arranged a 4 hour tour to go see some of the sites further afield from Ubud.  Our driver picked us up at 8am which meant we could start in the relative 'cool' of the morning (a mere 26C/79F). We visited Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave), Gunung Kawi (temple/monument), Tirta Empul (Holy Spring), a coffee plantation that harvests among others luwak coffee, and lookout over a rice terrace.
Once back at Alam Indah we relaxed the rest of the day and went for an evening walk and dinner later.

Gunung Kawi

Tirta Empul. Yes, we were allowed to take photos.

Seminyak, Bali. October 23-26, 2013.

We flew the long way from Perth to Denpasar (via Singapore), but then it was an awards ticket in business class, so no complaints :)
Arrived at Denpasar airport, breezed through immigration and customs and were met by our driver from our hotel. All very easy.

We checked into Astana Kunti Suite Apartment & Villa Hotel, located on a quiet alley only about 10-15 mins away from the hustle and bustle of Seminyak. We spent the afternoon/early evening walking around Seminyak. Back to the hotel to relax and book the next 2 places we want to go. Getting used to the humid heat might prove one of the more tricky things.

On day 2 we went for a long walk winding our way through the lovely narrow streets of Seminyak and Legian, to Kuta and back. Turned out we walked for about 13km, again in that humid heat, not bad for our second day. Out for dinner to Manneken Pis Jazz Bistro, the first and so far only non-local style food place we've been to, but had to be done.

It just gets busier south from here. Not really our scene.

With Uli.

Today, October 25th, we had a slow morning (managed to get out for coffee) before meeting up for lunch with Uli. In Fremantle, through our friends Louisa and Besim, we met (and got on well with) Ari, who put us in touch with her brother Uli. After walking back to our hotel we stayed out of the heat and lounged in our room.





Internet has been available just about everywhere we had coffee or food: you get a sign-in voucher with your order. Very civilized! Western places can learn from this.

We've only been here 2,5 days but so far have found the ambiance very nice and relaxed. Glad we are staying in 'upscale' Seminyak as opposed to more frantic Legian and Kuta.
The fashion shopping in Seminyak looks fantastic and the prices are much cheaper than what I'm used to paying for similar stuff in the US and Europe. Had I been here for a weeks-or-so holiday I most likely would have needed to buy an extra bag to bring back clothes.

The Australian part of our trip is drawing to a close.

It's been great, all of it! The camping, driving on remote roads, catching up and staying with friends, visiting and re-visiting places,....
We arrived in Sydney on Sep 1st and fly out of Perth tomorrow, Oct 22nd.

Destination: Indonesia. First stop: Seminyak, Bali. Flights and first 3 nights of accommodation are booked, after we'll play it by ear.

Our dear Sterlin gets dropped off later today to sail straight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It proved too difficult to try and get him to Indonesia. We will re-unite in about 4 weeks time over there.  Before being shipped, Sterlin underwent a service at a gargage that specialist on Land Rovers. So, Sterlin now has new air filter, new oil filter and new oil. The gargage felt the oil leak from the transfer case was so minor, that they did not even consider repairing it. Which is good and bad at the same time. When I picked up the car, the person taking my money said the car was in "immaculate condition".  Now that is not something you hear everyday from a gargage. We travelled nearly 8,000 miles or 12,500 Kms on some pretty nasty roads, and it seems Sterlin didn't skip a beat. Well there was that issue with the auxiliary battery, but it seems to have fixed itself. Asking a fridge to cool hit hit is 40 C temperatures is probably asking too mich. And it should be noted that it took several days to clean him.

Sterlin Loaded into Shipping Container

Fremantle (Perth). October 9-22, 2013.

Around lunchtime on October 9th we reached the northern suburbs or Perth.
Our first stop en route to Fremantle was in Scarborough. Back in 1996 we lived there for a some monthe for Stephen's work. We had lunch at 'Zanders / the Sandbar' we used to frequent often while there. the memories of it where better than the real thing today.

In the afternoon of the 9th we arrived at Louisa and Besim's in Fremantle, where we have been since. It has been fantastic catching up: re-connecting with Louisa and getting to know Besim (and the kids). Lovely being in Fremantle. Walks, memory lane drive around Perth, coffee, wine, old friends, new friends, art (we are bought our 2nd piece of Aboriginal Art at  Japingka Art Gallery), lunch, dinner, movie,.... very civilized.

Zeke, Besim, Louisa, Flora, Luan, Caroline and Stephen.

We have met some lovely people and caught up with people from the London and Sydney years. Also very nice to be in a city again for a while (I'm still a city girl at heart).

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.

This last week we spent 3 days / 2 nights touring around the Margaret River wine region. On the menu: Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, Vasse Felix and Evans & Tate Wineries, Simmo's, Gloucester Tree, Canal Rocks and a number of art galleries. We stayed 2 nights at The Bridgefield Guest House in the township of Margaret River.

Busselton jetty.

Stephen and Besim had way too much fun playing Candy Crush!

Meanwhile getting our car to Indonesia is proving a tad more challenging than expected, albeit not impossible according to some emails we got in the last few days. We have however decided not to chance it and will ship Sterlin to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia while we go 'back packing' in Bali and surrounds for 3-ish weeks. We will then go and meet Sterlin in KL and take it from there. So Sterlin gets dropped off at the Port in Fremantle on Monday, Oct 21 and we fly to Denpasar on Wednesday (most likely).

Northampton, Jurien Bay and Pinnacles. October 6-8, 2013.

We took our time getting to Perth from Gnaraloo.
The frst night we all ended up staying at The Edge Resort in Kalbarri. We got a deluxe spa suite at a discounted rate and discovered we had a washing machine in the bathroom. Pure luxury after 14 days of camping!!! Dinner with Louisa, Besim and kids at the local pub.
We went for a couple of short walks in Kalbarri National Park, and of course it was stinking hot again.

'Nature's Window'.

Next stop for us was Northampton which boasts some nice historic buildings, but was a tad sleepy for us. The campground was surprisingly nice though, with personal touches everywhere.
The night before getting to Perth we stopped in Jurien Bay where it started pissing down around 5pm and didn't stop until after we were heading out the next morning. At least most of the accumulated dust from the past 2 weeks got washed off Sterlin.

After the rains kinda stopped the next morning we headed to the The Pinnacles, a surreal looking bit of desert. It had just stopped raining which meant the colors were very intense. You can do a 4.2km loop by car and get out and walk between the Pinnacles. The Visitors Center is worth a look as well.

Pinnacles Desert.

Gnaraloo Bay. October 4-6, 2013

Friday, October 4th

So here we get to the purpose behind the long drives of the previous days: getting to Gnaraloo 3 Mile Camp in time to catch up with our friend Louisa and her family (Besim, Zeke and Luan). Very nice to see her again after about 14years!!!!! All the driving meant that we could spend 2 nights there, catch up, relax and watch the humpback whales swim (and breach) by.

Just like 14 years ago!

View from our shares camping spot.

So a lot has happened in 14 years, but it did not take too long to catchup up on the going-ons of friends far and wide.  And while things change, it is nice to see that Louisa has not changed (except that she has two wonderful boys now).

Lunch at The Blowholes on the way out of Gnaraloo.

Sterlin has developed a small leak in the under-carriage.  So will have that looked at seriously once we are in Perth.

To Carnarvon. October 2-4, 2013

Wednesday, October 2nd

Wow, that was a long and boring drive.  Day 1 was from Broome to Port Hedland, some 600kms. Day 2 was from Port Hedland to a place called Milinya Roadhouse and a further 800kms. Day 3 the last 285kms. All this driving had a goal.

But first, a recap of the three days driving.  The scenery was pretty darn boring.  Low scrub punctuated by ugly roadhouses every 250kms.  So lots of sitting in the car, listening to music and watching out for road trains and oversized vehicles.  It is mining country in this part of Western Australia, so lots of white toyota trucks screaming around doing mining stuff.  Port Hedland is a total mining town, but they seem to be working hard to find things for tourists to do.  We did not stay long as we were heading South with a purpose.  Milinya was the roadhouse that we got to before the sun started to set and the road became too dangerous to drive.

Thursday, October 3rd

Day 2 was a long day starting at 8am and finishing around 6pm, so 10 hours on the road.  And just to make it a little enjoyable, the temperatures peaked at 40C again.

Friday, October 4th

Day 3 was shorter. From the roadhouse we drove into Carnarvon to fuel and stock up to go the Gnaraloo Station 3 Mile Camp.

Broome. September 30 - October 1, 2013.

Monday, September 30th

The drive from Derby was short and easy so we arrived before lunch. A quick tour of the town and retail shops made us realize that today was Queens Birthday.  So about half the shops were closed.  But we found a nice cafe to have lunch.  So good to have real cafe food again ;)

In the afternoon we headed to Cable Beach, rented an umbrella and two deck chairs and plonked ourselves down for a little sunbathing.  Yes, we did go for a dip in the Indian Ocean as well.

Tuesday, October 1st

On day 2 we headed to the Northern beaches via an extremely rough unsealed road.  We stopped into Willies Pearl Farm and retail store, before heading to James  Price Point, Barred Creek and a few other beaches along Manari Road. The beaches were rugged and beautiful.  The deep red banks in contrast with the white sand made for some interesting scenes.  But no swimming due to the risk of saltwater crocs and jelly fish.  Not sure there were any, but wasn't going to take the risk.  And no one else was in the water anyway.

Broome's Northern Beaches.

On the way back to the campground we made yet another unsealed road detour to the Broome Bird Observatory.  Bit of a flop really.  No birds to be seen, except one white one about 250 meters away. So, back into town for an evening meal and beers at the local tavern

We had a wonderful time in Broome.

Derby. September 29, 2013.

Sunday, Septemebr 29th

Not a lot going on in Derby.  Described in our guide book as a sleepy town, and it certainly did not disappoint in this regard.  Ok, it was Sunday, but still.  We found a nice cafe at the wharf where we had "Barra" for dinner and watched the sunset over the water. The next morning we got lattes from a nice coffee shop. Was is possible that Derby could 'grow on' one?
 The very nice thing about Derby was the temperature.  At last we had hit the coast and got some relief from the 40C temperatures we had been experiencing.