Transalpine Express.....

So I have managed to be fairly sparing in my photograph taking, until today! We were given the option to board the Transalpine Express, a train the travels for 4.5 hours across the mountain range from the west to east coast. Half of us opted to do it. We boarded at Christchurch at 8:15am and were given lovely seats on a posh train (well one up from Britsh Rail!). There was a viewing car, which I had had visions of lounging in drinking G&T's, until I found out that it was open to the elements (so bloney cold), a bit like a cattle carriage, and there was a tendency to have Japanese cameras shoved in front of you just as you lined up the perfect shot! But the views were breathtaking (or maybe that was the cold air!!!!)

The time just flew by, and I barely sat down in my seat. Being a hardy Northerner I outlasted most of the others! In fact after the initial excitement most of the Japanese tourists slept the rest of the way! The best Japanese tourists are sleeping ones!!!!

I am not sure what it is exactly, but there is definitely something exciting about taking a train journey that you don't get from travelling the same way in a car. My favourite memories from previous holidays involve train or boat journeys. You just see a more unreserved, ordinary everyday way of life. Their ordinary becomes our extraordinary.

Spooky....

I hadn't appreciated until we reached Christchurch that I would be sleeping in one of the few buildings that is habitable in the city centre after the earthquake in February 2011. Driving through the suburbs, which are all low rise buildings you just see an occasional vacant lot and don't really think too much if it. But then you get to the city centre and most of it is barricaded. There are piles of rubble, buildings being propped up, derelict buildings (which they have not yet decided to renovate or tear down) and towers of ship containers, to either prop up buildings or being used as make shift shops. 

Our hotel was on what used to be the main square across from the cathedral. The bell tower of the cathedral collapsed that day killing a number of tourists. We could see it from our top floor room (which in itself made us all nervous!)

Adam, David and I went for a walk at about 6pm and everywhere was deserted. And I mean everywhere. No people, no cars, no noise. It was really spooky, and almost like we had missed something fundamental. We found one shop open and the guy said we were only his 3rd set of customers in 4 hours. Eventually we found a couple of restaurants that were open I convinced the boys that they would have to try Japanese food and beer for the first time!

We will come back to Christchurch in about a week and spend more time here, finding out about the rebuilding program etc, but thankfully we will be staying on the outskirts then!

I did manage to sleep, but dreamt I was running a marathon (hah!), and was quite pleased to leave this morning. Even Bernd, our guide, said he felt the hotel had a bad energy!!!

Fifty shades of gr.........een!

And that wasn't me on the ferry to South Island!!! In fact the 3 hour trip was relatively calm. Thank goodness!

But New Zealand is just so green! There is green everywhere, except where the broom has taken over and then it is bright yellow. There are views around every corner. When we arrived in Picton on the ferry we headed through the Marlborough area, more vineyard greens, and onto Kaikoura, surrounded by mountain greens and sea greens!

Kaikoura is another seaside town, and we went to the peninsula to see the seals  who were just lolling around on the rocks in the sun. Janet and I headed off in the opposite direction to everyone else and were watching some little chicks on a pond just above the beach before we realised that there was a baby seal in the pond playing! It had found a stick and was moving it from one side of the pond to another, then it decided to chase a leaf, and see if it could come up from under the water and get the leaf on its nose! We must have been there for about 20 minutes just watching it play. So cute!

This morning I braved the sea again and headed out to look for sperm whales. There is a shelf about 800 metres of the coast that drops by over 1,000 metres. Sperm whales can dive for about 40-60 minutes at a time so they can feed at great depths, and they come to Kaikoura for the giant squid! There is one particular whale that hangs around quite a lot, he is about 40 years old and has been named Taiki. As we headed out we just saw his tail as he dived down. After unsuccessfully looking for the some of the others we headed back to where Taiki had been spotted knowing that he would have to come up for breath, which sure enough he did. Rules of engagement are that the boat has to maintain a distance of 15 metres, but when we turned the engines off he came to check us out whilst he was re-oxygenating (and puffing through his blow hole!). After about 5 minutes he did one massive snort, flicked his tail and dived again! The crew were all excited that we had such a close encounter, even though they know that Taiki is not afraid of the boat, but at the end of the day he was such a huge whale and you only see such a small bit of him. At least I broke my "whale jinx" though!

Whilst looking for another whale we encountered quite a number of dolphins, zipping round and under our boat. They always look like they are having such fun, and are so fast it is almost impossible to photograph them!

Finally we were also to see a Wandering Albatross. Apparently it is the largest sea bird and quite rare to see so close to land. Quite a few on the boat were very fascinated. It was a big bird, what can I say?!

Art Deco capital of the World

Who knew it was in New Zealand? 

Napier suffered a really large earthquake in 1931 and it wiped out most of the town. There was a massive rebuilding programme and they adopted the Art Deco style. It's a lovely seaside resort, the sun was shining, the buildings were fabulous, and to top it off we were in the Hawkes Bay wine region! What was not to like?!!!!

The first wine tasting was okay, but I did have a slight disagreement with the lady leading the session when she tried to tell everyone that Shiraz came from Spain!!!! Tut, tut, tut!!!! For the uneducated Shiraz, more correctly known as Syrah actually comes from the Rhone Valley. As I felt it my duty to point out!!!! By the time we had finished our 2nd tasting session I was past caring about inaccuracies!

The Mission vineyard is owned by a group of Brothers (of the godly variety!) and it was rather yummy! We did take a few bottles away with us, for emergencies!

A long drive from Napier is Wellington. Windy Wellington! The capital city. The city is centred around the waterfront. You can get up to Mt Victoria and get great panoramic views. 

The Te Papa Museum on the Waterfront was a great building, full of interesting artefacts, but not so big that it was overwhelming. A few if us took the opportunity to go and see Beyond the Edge, a film that has just been released which details Sir Edmund Hilary's attempt on Everest. Using old footage, old interviews and spliced with some recreations it was an utterly fascinating and awe inspiring film about a man who is a Kiwi legend.

Who farted???

Well there are lots of thermal springs in and around Rotorua, in fact it is the most active geothermal area in the world. All if this power literally bubbling away under our feet. Somewhat disconcerting! 

The Wai-o-Tapu springs looks like an alien landscape and the various names like The Devil's Painpot etc does not help! Various pools of varying shades of neon or sludge, at boiling temperatures. But the worst part of it was the sulphur smell. I felt so sick!!!!

Rotorua is effectively a spa town, and you can't get away from the smell anywhere. I am sure it can't be good for house prices! Plus how do they know that it is safe enough to live there?!

We did a typical tourist Maori experience. I pushed Adam to the front when they asked for volunteers to be "Chief", but then he got his own back by making me go on stage to dance with the Maori ladies! Ah well at least I can destroy all photographic evidence of that little episode!

Actually the whole evening was really well done, with a Hangi feast (food buried in a hole surrounded by hot rocks) and we went down the valley later on in the evening to watch one of the geysers blow. Apparently the geyser had stopped spouting a few months back and they all got worried about what might happen next, but it was back to its normal patterns! They had made a stone amphitheatre and all of the stones were heated from below. To start with it was rather lovely, but after a few minutes your bottom was burning!!!

I got quite grumpy that we had to stay in Rotorua that evening because I was so fed up with the smell! But I wasn't on my own!!! Luckily we left early the next morning!

Stroppage number one!

The plan had been to set off early from Tuirua and head to Matamata, but our bus had other plans and decided it was not going to drive without emitting a high pitched monotone alarm. Being in a one horse town our options were limited and calling various experts in Auckland didn't work. We had an electrical problem and needed to disable the alarm, but no one could find the source of the noise! Eventually after 4.5 hours, most of which was spent wandering aimlessly up and down the only street ( although I still managed to shop!) we were off. But by that point Adam, Margaret and I were told that due to time constraints we would now no longer be able to visit Hobbiton.

Silent stroppage ensued!

We travelled through Cambridge and arrived at the meeting point for our farmstay. Debbie picked myself, Pat, Richard, Janet and David up, and as if to rub in the disappointment we drove past the entrance to Hobbiton to get to Debbie's farm. At which point my stroppage became somewhat more vocal! And we started to hatch a plan!

By the time we reached the farm we were all fired up, and with Debbie's assistance I phoned our guide, Bernd, and asked that consideration be given to changing the timetable the following day to allow us to visit Hobbiton. Being German and a stickler for timetables he was having none of it, especially as those of us wanting to go were in the minority.

So we headed off around the farm. 500 cattle, 2000 sheep in beautiful rolling hills, managed by Paddy, Debbie and their two dogs. They had fields full of calves and lambs.

Eventually the waft of home cooked roast lamb was too much to resist and we headed back to the kitchen, where it turned out Debbie had spoken to the owner of Hobbiton and devised an alternative plan! She would take us to Hobbiton in the morning and then a bus would drives us to Rotorua to catch up with the rest. Debbie, is one feisty bird, who had me in fits everytime she said "don't get your tits in a tangle"!!!! This time we chose Janet to call Bernd. Janet is a gobby Yorkshire midwife, who is used to convincing people (ladies!) to do things they don't want to do! After a fortifying glass of red wine (or maybe two) she called Bernd. His resistance was strong, but eventually between Janet and Debbie he caved!

So we spent the rest of the evening talking to Paddy (67) and Debbie (62) about their lives on the farm. We even got up at 6:30am to watch the calves bring feed from the mobile milking machine!

The above calf, 3 months old, took to following me! 

Kia Ora

Time was short in Auckland, but long enough to get a sense of the central downtown area, which is geared up to tourists and students alike. It's full of fast food places and tourist shops, but if you venture away from the main drag, Queen Street, you can find quirky boutiques and lovely cafés. Auckland seems a bit like LA, a city of suburbs, admittedly with an awful lot more marinas, hence it's name the "City of Sails". So just like you can't judge LA on the merits of Sunset Boulevard, you can't judge Auckland just on downtown. 

The Skytower is the main landmark, and I have found it quite hard to get my bearings. I walked along the harbour front, drove along Tamaki Drive, and visited the Auckland Museum, which was also serves as the war memorial to WW1.

One third of the 4.4m population lives in Auckland so as soon as you leave there are more animals than people. We did head up to Muriwai to view a gannet colony. The twitchers of the group were very excited that the cliff path provided such unprecedented views from above. Watching the waves thunder in there was no way that I would head into the water, and the beach was so long that I couldn't see the end of it!

Heading up to the Coromandel Peninsula was a bit like driving through the Yorkishire Dales, all lush green rolling hills. They just needed dry stone walls instead of fences. I even saw pheasants! Pow! Pow!

It's quite bizarre seeing camellias, rhododendrons, calla lillies, hawthorn and foxgloves all at their best, in October! Saw my first kiwi's being grown, on vines, a bit like grapes!

A quick trek through the forest led us to Cathedral Cove. It's a beautiful beach with a large walk through cave. It would be our only safe place to swim in the Pacific Ocean so a few of us went for a dip. It was brassic!!! Colder than Shell Beach. So I was in and out in less than 5 minutes!

Next stop was Hot Water Beach, literally two bays along. Spades in hand you headed along the beach to join the throng, dug a hold and wallowed in the water that bubbled up, which was really hot, in some cases scalding. 

Having been to the beach it seemed right and fitting to try the local Hokey Pokey ice cream - sort of vanilla with honeycomb and caramel. Yum!

Our home for the evening was Tuirua, a small one horse town, with a pub and a chip shop, and even the pub closed at 9pm! Most of us ended up with snapper and chips, sat on a bench down by the inlet, whilst being eagerly watched by the gulls!

Down in the Shire......

Adam and I literally skipped our way around Hobbiton! 

Peter Jackson had flown over the farm in 1998 and decided it was a perfect place to create Hobbiton for Lord of the Rings. They had created it out of balsa wood and polystyrene, and then destroyed it afterwards. When they decided to make The Hobbit they recreated it all again, but properly. It took 2 years and each of the 39 hobbit holes has it's own building permit!

You walk around with a guide who generally is a local that was also involved with the filming, so can tell stories and share secrets of how they shot the film, and where the errors are!

The attention to detail was phenomenal. Shipping in English sheep, because New Zealand sheep didn't look "authentic enough" for a 2 second shot! Planting dwarf apple trees and then picking off all of the leaves and replacing them with leaves and fruit from a plum tree (apparently plum trees are too big!)!!!! The hobbit holes vary in size from 54% to 90% scale depending on who was standing in front! 

The tree above Bagg End is a fake with 200,000 oak leaves from Taiwan individually hand tied on! 

The whole place is just magical. You then follow the signs around the lake to the Green Dragon, where you can enjoy some local brew!

 

Honestly we were all so fascinated, and it was just such an awesome morning! I don't care if we did upset our guide or if my brother did text me I was geeky! He was just jealous! Maybe I won't give him his present after all!!!!

What they did say it that rumour has it that Peter Jackson has so much unused footage he will release 5 hour versions of each Lord of the Rings film, after The Hobbit, including the proper ending for Saruman. 

Another day, another country, another continent!

Well it was carnage at Denpasar Airport. After two days of lush tropical gardens, shopping, swimming, snoozing, reading and spa-ing my blissfulness quickly evaporated! 

The airport is all new and flashy on the outside, newly opened for the recent APEC conference. It is only once inside however that you find out that they have slapped a new exterior over an old building! The luggage conveyor belts weren't working, the staff were clueless, the queues took forever, security was a joke, there were chairs for about 30% of the passengers and the restaurant sign pointed you in the direction of a counter that sold water, coke, Pringles and Magnums! That was it! There was almost a riot at one point!

The airport in Auckland was such a contrast! So laid back that there were only two immigration officers, but everyone just chilled out and waited! The bus driver gave us a tour on the way into the city, and the check-in staff pointed me in the direction of the Diwali celebrations that were going on that afternoon! 

As a result I wandered along the harbour area and then cut up Queen Street, and followed the noise! I finally found a massive throng of, predominantly Indian, families watching dancers and singers, eating Indian street food and perusing the various market stalls! I couldn't walk past, smelling all of those lovely spices and not cave, so I did enjoy a couple of cheeky samosas!

Although 18c in the day the temperature drops to 12c at night, so I quickly felt the cold and had to layer up! Back at my lovely swish Sofitel I wi-fied myself up in the bar and promptly ordered the cheese platter and a glass of Red pinot noir! I have not had either for over 4 weeks and have been dreaming of both. I was in heaven, although was slightly worried about weird cheesy dreams! But after 2 overnight flights, one glass of red and a deliciously comfortable bed I slept like a baby for 10 hours and almost missed check-out time!

Terima Kasih.....

Well my four weeks in Indonesia are up. I managed to visit five of the islands, Sumatra, Samosir, Java, Bali and Nusa Lembongan, and experienced a whole variety of landscapes, food, and experiences. So can I sum it all up?

It's a difficult one!

Having recently been to Bhutan and Burma, both predominantly Buddhist countries and both most definitely having been effectively cut off from the rest of the world, either due to geographical challenges, regime or feudal restrictions, I was mistakenly expecting Indonesia to be somehow similar. Indonesia is a developing country, with the usual issues that you would expect, poverty, poor infrastructure, corruption, litter....... But it is a lot more developed than I had expected. The roads that there are were generally well maintained, and in some places were even landscaped! In fact it is telling that we saw so many garden centres along our way! Obviously not of Le Friquet proportions, more sellers on the roadside, but people took pride in their yards. 

It is upsetting to see so much land being cleared and planted with palm trees or rubber plantations, but ultimately there is the demand and that pays the money, so until the economics change the trend will continue.

And because the majority of the country were converted to Islam there is a different vibe. Most of the mosques are relatively new buildings and are more functional then decorative. As Bali is predominantly Hindu over compensates for the larger islands with every house having their own shrines, plus the usual village temples!

The food definetly gets better and more varied the further west we travelled, and the fish is fabulous. Much as I love it there is only such much Nasi Goreng one person can eat, and unfortunately I find the Sambal just too spicey!

The people have all been very welcoming. Always full of smiles, after a wave or a "hello".

So what will I miss:

The heat (and total lack of need for any cardigan whatsoever)

The sound of the geckos (apart from the one directly above my bed at the moment - noisey blighter!), chit chats and cicadas

Massages, and for about £7!

Smelling incense from the endless offerings in Bali

Holiday drinks: Bintang / Long Island Iced Tea / Ginger Fizz

Asking for sugar "on the side" because they love everything so incredibly sweet!

Deep fried banana (I know, I know! I am shocked too!)

The smell of frangipani, and the sight if hibiscus trees

What I will NOT miss:

Being woken at all hours by the call to prayer

Seeing B2 restaurants (the ones that serve dog)

Mosquitos / Colin the cockroach

The humidity (and resulting frizzy hair!)

Having to keep emergency toilet roll in my bag / pocket

"Sarong, sarong, lady buy sarong"!

Watching where I walk at all times to ensure I don't trip over a random loose slab or down into a storm drain, whilst also trying to eye up purchases

They fry EVERYTHING!

Worrying about the small children and babies you see on scooters

Being surrounded by volcanoes (this may not be an issue in NZ)

Highlights:

The Orang Utan experience (A life experience rather than just a trip highlight)

Climbing my first active volcano

Sunrise at Mt Bromo

Our 3 hour hike through the mountain villages and rice paddies in Java

Seeing the briefest glimpse of a turtle at Lovinia Beach

Our random evening at a night club in Malang

Being surrounded by hundreds of fish when snorkelling at Lovinia

Being at Borobador at sunset

But now it's on to the next adventure..... (And hopefully cheese and wine, oh how I have missed them!)

Terima Kasih Indonesia!

Stupid is, as stupid does......

So I have generally been doing nothing for the past few days. Zoe headed home and I could no longer take the daily sound of the aquafit blaring from the poolside! It seemed right and proper that I should try and visit at least one more island before I leave, so I organised a two night trip to Nusa Lembongan.

I got up early, checked out of the hotel and was picked up by taxi. An hour and a half later we arrived in Sanur and checked in to a hut on the beach for my speedboat ride. It was only at this point that I realised I had left my passport and all of my dollars in the hotel safe!! Genius!!! Kadek, the lovely driver called the hotel, and we then had to run after the little man who had taken my suitcase down the beach and loaded it on to the speedboat, and take it off again! My case may have wheels but they were not designed for being pulled along sandy beaches! Back in the taxi Kadek put his foot down and I agreed to pay the very expensive toll road charge so that we could get there quicker! The Rupees10,000 is too expensive for most locals. It is about USD1.00. When we got there I was interviewed by security! Although the fact that he was holding my passport somehow did not register when he asked me to identify myself!!!! Luckily I managed to get the money back too. Phew! Dullard moment. Obviously way too relaxed, and not used to hotels that actually have safes at the moment! Kadek dropped me back at the beach and I felt it was my penance to sit there in the midday sun for 3 hours until the next boat!

The boat ride was another story. Surfers come to Indonesia because of the huge waves. Oh yes, I can vouch for that now! I recall a similar experience in Borneo when Mum, Dad, Chris and I were stranded on a tiny island due to storm that arrived, and the boats viewed it as too dangerous for the trip back. Eventually there was a small lull and we all jumped on, got constantly soaked as we chugged through the huge rolling waves and felt like we had survived an aquatic roller coaster ride at the end. Well we had a slightly bigger boat this time, and the captain didn't wear his snorkelling goggles to see, but it was fairly similar! Given that the two assistants fell asleep for the whole trip I assumed it was like that most days! (I typed this before the return journey. It was so bumpy I think my spine may have shrunk a good couple of inches!)

The boats don't use a harbour or anything sophisticated. They get as close to the beach as possible, and you jump off and wade in. A man with a truck picks you up and drives you across the hill to your chosen destination! I am staying at Waka Nusa Bay, a hotel which consists of 10 lainais ( round thatched roof huts), complete with full mosquito net (very much needed), and my own personal gecko somewhere in the rafters!

I was so close to finishing my 909 page book that after watching the local children building sea defences against the tide, seeing the sun set, and enjoying some mahi-mahi for dinner, I was tucked up under my mosquito net by 8pm! Finished my book by 10pm and then lights out! I know I am a bit dull but I promise to be more rock and roll when I get to New Zealand!

Breakfast is served on the beach ( you can just see the volcano in the distance). It is such a luxury to be able to take your time over breakfast. Then it was off to one of the reefs for a snorkel. You are dropped onto a pontoon and told not to go the other side of the rope. That is where the surfers are. But the best coral is literally under the rope, so every few minutes you feel the force of the surf pulling you, and the fish, away from the coral, and you have to power back to the start!

The island is only 3 x 4 miles, but is connected to its neighbouring island by a rickety suspension bridge. In the bay below is a huge seaweed farm! They tie small pieces of seaweed along ropes and anchor them in the shallows for a month, waiting for the to grow. They then untie them and dry the seaweed, earning USD1.00 a kilo. 

Another attraction is the underground house that was dug out by a priest over 14 years in the 70's and 80's. He only survived for 8 years after he finished it, but having been down into the house I do not think I would have lasted 8 days!

After all of my activities I felt I deserved somewhere good for dinner so convinced a driver to take me to The Beach Club (not as flash as you would imagine, but charming nonetheless). Situated on a bay that faces Bali it takes the full brunt of the sea and it's swell, and as a result you get such waves and the sound of such force against the cliffs. Tie that in with a fabulous sunset and it makes for an awe inspiring sight that can never be truly captured by camera.

Oh and on a nerdy point the deep water between Bali and Lembongan is where the Wallace Line lies, named after British scientist, Alfred Russell Wallace (same man as the Wallace Collection). He noted that as only a handful of flora and fauna had been able to cross the channel this was the divide between, on the west, Asia, and on the east, the Australian continent. So there!

A culture shock....

Well we knew it had to end, and on Friday our little band of travellers said goodbye and headed off in different directions, Gloria back to San Jose, Samir to the Gilli Islands, and the rest were dropped off at Denpasar Airport, before the bus driver took me to Nusa Dua. We have been a small band of travellers and have bonded quite well as a result, laughing at the accommodation, the visits from Colin the cockroach, bed bugs, Mosquitos and any other bugs that came our way, we have swapped stories and medication when required, we have cared for those feeling ill or vumetae and we have laughed, a lot! Who knew that a camera man, retired American teacher, civil engineer, television director, landscaped gardener, council worker and drug addict rehabilitation worker, ranging in ages from 38 to 65, would have so much to say to each other! So it was really quite emotional saying goodbye. And I have to admit to feeling quite lost, especially when I arrived at my hotel.

After staying in very small hotels, some with just enough rooms for us, I arrived at Melia Bali, a 484 room international hotel complex full of tourists, 4 restaurants, spa, pool, private beach.......

There is a tv and a hair dryer! To be honest I was a bit dazed and spent the first hour wandering around trying to work out what to do with myself!

I bought an outrageous expensive magazine and parked myself at the beach bar with a beer, and wifi (!), and chilled whilst watching the sun go down!

One of my luxury items to bring with me had been a full on proper book, all 909 pages. I know I can download them to my iPad, but I am old school! You can't read your iPad in the pool! So today has been tropical fruit for breakfast, and then reading and snoozing by the pool. A quick FaceTime from my sun lounger with Thomas and Simon, and then Zoe, my friend from work arrived for the next two nights. So not sure how much I will blog for the next few days as I suspect I will spend most of it chilling!!!!!!

Today has been a day of reading and snoozing by the beach. One of the bar staff suggested organising one of his friends to pick us up and take us to a beach restaurant in Jimbanan. We were a bit dubious but there was a little man with a taxi and 20 minutes later we were sat on a beach being offered a veritable seafood feast (of snapper, crab, prawns, squid and moules)!

As it got dark we had a fabulous view of the Southern Hemisphere solar system, fireworks, Chinese lanterns and the planes taking off from Denpasar airport. We were even serenaded by a local band! 

Listening to an Indonesian version of Louis Armstrong, then Westlife!!!!

Costa del Aussie.....

After the relative peacefulness of the past couple of weeks central Ubud is noisy, busy, brash and full of Aussie's (who are generally noisy and brash - in fact so far I have only seen them being rude) and bursting with tourist tat! Having said that there is some amazing food, cocktails galore and I have tried hard to spend some of my money!

I got up early yesterday (to avoid the heat) and it didn't take long before there were rice paddies and farmers, but all around them strips of land are being turned into huge hotel complexes.

One of the pathways was full of concrete squares full of writing / messages from tourists and locals.

After following the road for about 15 minutes it led to a primary school. Apparently the road was a way to raise funds for the school!

The average monthly wage in Indonesia is 712,000 Rupees, about £35. I head to the furthest corner of the market so that I could spread around the money and you can see how desperate they are to make a sale. Bartering over a £1 just didn't seem really necessary and I ended up buying more than I needed just because I  felt sorry for them. One lady said I was her first customer that day, and it was 3:30pm. As soon as they get money they rub it against other items in the shop to bring them luck and fortune.

On another note completely our lovely guide, Evy, received bad news overnight. Her youngest son had been rushed to hospital in Jakarta with Dengue Fever. She has been our Mother Hen for the past 3 weeks, calling us her children, sensitive to our differing needs, helping those who became ill, making us laugh, organising us and imparting as much knowledge of Indonesia as we could take.

She is a working mother, she has 4 children, the youngest of which is 5, and she has been away from home for 6 weeks, because she has to take work when she can get it. She speaks fantastic English, Dutch and Japanese! 

She didn't want to tell anyone her news but the worry was etched on her face and when we found out we all insisted that she head home. Ever the professional she agreed to head home after arranging a final meal for us all. It has been a privilege to meet such an incredible lady. 

Our final evening was centred around some incredible Javanese dancing, not the tourist show in Ubud, but some way out. In two pieces, the first involved 50 or so men sat on stage chanting melodies whilst the story of the gods was danced. 

The second part involved the wise man hypnotising one of the men, so that he would be possessed by a spirit and would dance through fire. They brought a huge pile of coconut husks onto the stage, poured kerosene all over them and  threw on a match! No health and safety here!!! As he ran through the husks they scattered everywhere, and Those sat on the front row were no longer quite so smug!!! At one point he was sat in the middle of the fire and holding bits of the coconut husk embers. With no ventilation I was quite pleased his performance didn't last too long!!! I am sure that when we went for dinner afterwards we must all have smelt of bonfire!

As I sit and write this I am ensconced in a little street cafe, eating vegetable samosas and drinking a ginger fizz!

It's made with fresh ginger and lemongrass, and I may have to order another one it is so delicious! It is just the tonic after some hardcore shopping! I headed out for a new pair of flip flops and appear to have flip flops, a pair of sandals, 2 pairs of trousers, a dress, 2 sarongs and various gifts!

Time to hide by the pool!