All Good Things Must Come to an End

After the red-eye flight to Brisbane from Bali, I was a couch potato the entire next day.  Luckily I had one more full day in Brisbane before I left to return to the US.  That last day was perfect.  Chris was nice enough to take me to the Gold Coast which is such a long, nice beach just outside of Brisbane.  He wanted to show me a spot in a harbour where he and his best mate used to snorkel. 

So we pulled into the nearby parking area covered in sand and got our snorkeling gear out.  The water was colder than I expected, so it took me awhile to get used to it.  The snorkeling didn't last long since the water was super murky.  We didn't see anything cool.  Well, maybe I'm spoiled by the great barrier reef, but still, I only saw a cigarette butt and some kelp.

We got back to the car to drive down to Surfer's Paradise to get some food and spend the day at the beach.  We got into the car and tried to leave, but weren't successful on our own.  Chris' Echo got stuck in the sand.

Two young, strong blokes were driving past and saw our predicament.  They pushed as Chris drove out of the rut.  Problem solved!  The Echo drives on.

So we got a bite to eat and set up shop on the beach.  I was bound and determined to lay in the sun the entire afternoon, and that's just what I did.  It was glorious! 

Believe it or not, it was the only time on the entire trip I laid out on the beach in my "togs."  Yep, that's what they call swimsuits in Australia.  Either that or your "swimming costume." 

After the sun started to go down, Chris and I picked up his girlfriend, Allison, at the train station and went to Chris' dad's house.  His entire family was there for dinner to celebrate Chris' birthday.  His birthday was when we were in Bali, so this was the first time everyone could get together.  It was a blast!  His family is awesome!  His sister and brother-in-law have two adorable and incredibly well-mannered children.  His mom is actually coming to the states for a whirlwind trip around the country in a few months with one of her friends.  His dad is hysterical with all kinds of funny Australian sayings up his sleeve.  It was a great last evening before traveling home.

Saturday Feb. 5 at 10:50am I caught my Air Pacific flight to Fiji.  I got off the plane on the island and turned around to find a rainbow!  It was the second one of the trip.  The first one was in Bali.  Very cool to see.

I was excited to see the Fijian band in their sarongs playing in the airport again upon our arrival saying "Bula!" (Welcome).

During my 6 hr. layover, I learned that the Fiji Islands are made up of 322 islands which are mostly mountainous peaks covered with tropical forests.  Pretty sweet, huh?  I drank a bottle of Fiji water there and loved it.

The next flight was a long one coming in at 10 hrs.  I arrived in LA at noon on Saturday and was picked up by my brother's friends, Mike Hudson and Luke Saylor.  We got some tacos and chilled out for the afternoon before going out that night.  Living through Feb. 5 for 46 hours was taking it's toll on me, so I had to turn in somewhat early. 

The next day was Super Bowl Sunday.  Before the game, I went across the street to the beach and it was gorgeous!  Needless to say, I was a happy girl.  It was unique for me to see one wave come in at a time with crazy stillness of the water in between.

Then we went out for a drive in his '66 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible for the afternoon since this was my first time since I was 9 to be in California. 

We took a car ferry to Balboa Island before driving down the Pacific Coast Highway to Laguna Beach. 

We had chips with guacamole and margaritas as Las Brisas before heading back to Newport Beach for the big game.

It was so different watching the Super Bowl at 3:30pm.  Around halftime, I ran out to the beach again to get some sunset photos.  I told everyone at our Super Bowl party that they need to watch the sunset every night because it's amazing.  I acutally shed tears about how beautiful it was later that night.  Go figure. 

The cool part about the Super Bowl happening in the afternoon there, is that you can go out afterwards.  That's just what we did to celebrate the Packers victory.  Well, we would've done the same thing had the Steelers won too I guess.  Below is their roommate from Ohio, Hudson, Saylor, and me.  I met the guys' girlfriends and a few other people too.

After a rough night, I went back to LAX for my 1pm flight back to DC.  It was bittersweet getting on that plane - by this point I was so tired of sitting in coach seats, but it was the last one I needed to get me back to regular life.  Of course the big guy on the aisle behind me had the worst snoring problem I, and everyone else in a 5 row radius, have ever heard.  I was so happy to see Rachel pull up outside of baggage claim it was indescribable. 

Over the course of my trip over the international date line and equator for my first time, I've found that I missed some things, not missed others, and had a mix of feelings toward a few things.  Top 3 listed here.

Things I missed:

1.) People I care about.  My special gentleman friend, Josh Barley, comes to mind as well as all of my family, friends, and co-workers I consider friends...even those people that don't live in the DC area I found I missed more than normal.

2.) The ability to contact people at my leisure.  Rather than finding public internet and pay phones all while waiting for the few hours in a day that everyone is awake, now I just pick up my cell phone.

3.) My own bed.  I can't wait for this jet lag to be over so I can sleep a whole night through in it.

Things I didn't miss:

1.) Doing the dishes.

2.) Cooking for myself.

3.) Cold weather.

Things I missed, but didn't at the same time:

1.) Watching the news.

2.) The American population in general.

3.) Laundry.

Over the 3 week and 2 day trip,  I was in the air for a total of 54 hrs. (2 1/4 days!)  Chris knows how obsessive I was about starting and stopping my stopwatch at every takeoff and landing.  This isn't even including boarding and deplaning time.  I'm amazed I came home healthy.

To everyone who followed this - thank you!  It's pretty fun knowing that people were interested in my travels and took the time to read and comment.  I wish I would have started this when I traveled Europe 5 years ago, but I just hope I'll be able to blog again when I conquer Africa and South America in the next 3 1/2 years!  Antarctica can wait until I'm over 30, but I'm determined to touch foot on the other two beforehand. 

To Chris - thank you for teaching me about your culture and looking out for me on the whole trip.  It was a wonderful time, and I hope you keep fantastic memories of it like I will.

Part of the fun of traveling is coming home.  Lucky me, this time I came home to a wonderful guy just in time for Valentines' Day.  :)

Four Continents Down, Two to Go

On my way to the airport in Cairns, Chris and I jumped into a shuttle to find Tadayoshi, the 70 year old Japanese man I met on my dive trip, on the same bus to the airport!  We chatted a bit and shared some laughs.

I’m pretty sure my first 24 hrs. in Bali was the biggest culture shock I’ve experienced so far in my life.  First of all, if you’re going to Indonesia and think it’s better to get your visa in advance – it’s probably not.  Chris got his visa on arrival at the airport and it was a.) cheaper and b.) quicker.  Me being the planner I am, I felt better having it prior to the trip though.  We got through customs at Denpasar, Bali after my stuff got searched and jumped in a cab to Ubud (pronounced Oobud).   I was cracking up nearly the entire hour ride to our hotel.  The roads in Indonesia are such a cluster!  They drive on the left side of the road which I was used to by the time we got there, but in Indonesia no one really cares about the lines on the road.  There are motorbikes EVERYWHERE, and they’re constantly weaving in and out of cars all over the entire width of the road.  We saw some scooters with families of four on them and others carrying the same amount of cargo a minivan can hold.  It was insane!  Plus, there were dogs all over the place just wandering into traffic.  Our cab driver was quite entertained with our reaction to it all.  I also noticed shanties everywhere.  Immediately leaving the airport you can tell this is not a wealthy part of the world.

We got to the Kori Ubud Resort and Spa (totally recommend it!) and were greeted with welcome “fancy juice” which was guava juice with banana juice on top.  Delish!  Our room was stellar with flowers everywhere; it smelled so nice. 

Looking out of our porch door, it was tropical paradise.  We grabbed some dinner and got acquainted with our surroundings.

The next morning at 11 we took the free hotel shuttle to the center of Ubud.  This was after our fantastic three course breakfast included in the price of the room.  We got dropped off by the Ubud palace and our jaws dropped.  There were old stone sculptures everywhere, the sidewalks were treacherous, and none of the people looked like Chris and me.  Not to mention we never knew if a motorbike was going to ramp the curb and take us out.  We froggered our way across the street to the Ubud market, and we quickly realized how aggressive the salespeople are in the market.  We headed toward the Monkey Forest and snapped a gazillion pictures of the offerings with incense on the street, temples, flowers, sculptures, and signs. 

We made it to the Monkey Forest, and seriously, there were monkeys all over the place.  Bananas were being sold at the entrance, and thankfully we didn’t buy any.  The people that carried bananas inside had monkeys climbing all over them and pulling at their clothing to get those delectable treats.

The rest of the day we bought souvenirs and bargained our way to some pretty sweet deals.  Our hotel shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 6:30, but by the time 7 rolled around and no one had shown, we decided to get tickets to the Balinese Legong Dance in the palace.  Now when I say palace, we’re not talking Aladdin style here.  It’s an open air stone and concrete structure with an ornate stage.  The performance was comprised of nine performances totaling an hr. and a half of entertainment.  There’s a Kebyar Ding Instrumental, Gabor/Welcome Dance, Baris/Warrior Dance, Legong Kraton Dance, Kindama Instrumental, Taruna Jaya Dance, Oleg Tambulilingan/Bumblebee Dance, Topeng Tua Mask Dance, and Closing Instrumental Music.  It was interesting to say the least.  The women dance not only with their bodies, but mostly with their hands and eyes.

We got a cab back to the hotel and told the front desk that no one had shown at 6:30 as we had requested from the driver that morning.  They felt so bad!  Their culture is so peaceful and the staff just wanted us to be happy.  It appeared the morning driver hadn’t relayed the message to the evening staff.  We were upset with that particular driver that had dropped us off that morning, but he totally redeemed himself at the end of the trip…

The next morning we hired a driver from the hotel to take us to a few temples and places of interest in Central Bali.  We hired him for 6 hours for $50 US.  Pretty sweet gig, huh?  We went to the Elephant Caves, put sarongs on out of respect, and learned about the Buddhist Temple that used to stand there, the elephant god of knowledge, and nooks in the elephant cave used for meditation for months at a time. 

We saw bamboo, holy water, rice fields, and jack fruit trees.  From there we were going to drive and see the water temple, but I was running low on cash and needed to find an ATM.  We had to go completely out of the way since there are very few ATMs in villages in central Bali.  Thankfully, out-of-the-way included the Lakeview Restaurant where we had a buffet lunch overlooking Mt. Batur and Lake Batur. 

I was thrilled to find out that Mt. Batur doubled as a volcano!  It last erupted in 1994.  By the time we got done with lunch and got some cash, we headed back to the hotel.  Our driver took us on some secret roads that gave us phenomenal views of rice paddies! 

Along the roads we saw people pushing carts, carrying items on their heads, and walking barefoot.  It was like going back in time…to ‘the days of yore’ if you will.  Once it started to rain, we passed numerous people holding a large plant leaf over their heads.

That night we decided to see what the local bars and restaurants had to offer.  We went to a hole in the wall down the street and had some great food for not much money.  The beer menu included
1.) Large Bintang
2.) Small Bintang
3.) Draught Bintang

Hilarious!  We finished eating and went to the only nightclub in a 50 mile radius called Ozigo.  Don’t worry, the Bali bombings happened in a different part of the island that’s touristier with nightclub after nightclub on every street.  We weren’t worried at all seeing that Chris and I were the only 2 people in the place for at least an hour.  There we were - the 90’s R&B music was bumpin’, and the disco ball was in full effect.  Once the live band started, people flocked in the door.  One of those people was an 80 year old Japanese man who danced as if he was teaching tae-kwon-do. 

I don’t know why I keep running into these fit and active older Japanese men, but I love it!  Everyone there danced the night away, and I had so much fun!

Thankfully the only items on the agenda for the next day were to get a massage, pedicure, and catch our 10:50pm flight.  It was a wonderful and relaxing day….until we were on our way to the airport.  You see, it’s the rainy season right now in this part of the world, and it had rained every afternoon we were in Bali.  The day we left, the rain was particularly bad.  The hotel driver that hadn’t relayed our pick up message our first day there was driving us to the airport.  It was a quiet ride until we ran into nearly standstill traffic in the pouring down rain.  Traffic was going past us the other way, but our lane was hardly moving.  The driver caught some people’s attention asking what the problem was ahead.  Turns out, the road was flooded.  The traffic going past us was comprised of cars in our lane turning around due to the flooding.  So we turned around and took another route.  The driver kept asking us when our flight was and looking at the clock with a grim look.  Then he would then look at us and smile like everything was ok.  We were hip to his game; we were running late.  So we went a bit further and turned left, just like everyone else.  We gained some ground and then ran into standstill traffic again.  As it turns out, our second option was flooded too.  By this time, our driver is visibly sweating and texting his friends to ask for other routes to take.  He told us he knew only one other route to the airport.  I borrowed his phone to call the airport and airline to see what our options would be if we missed our flight due to the weather.  No one could understand where I was coming from, because there was no flooding near the airport.  Anyway, we turned around and were frantic to maneuver through all of the chaotic traffic.  This was the biggest mess of mayhem on the road I’ve ever seen.  Finally, the road opened up and I glanced over to see the needle on the speedometer cross 90 mph.  Then traffic started to slow again.  Brake lights everywhere.  We were behind a tour bus and a car smaller than ours.  They ended up driving slowly through no less than 1 ft. of rushing water.  If they could do it, we were going to also.  As we were driving through the quickening river forming across the road, we passed a van that had stalled.  I just kept telling the driver he was doing a great job and we were going to get through it.  All of this was happening as I was clutching my prayer necklace around my neck having visions of vehicles being swept away in floods.  Sure enough, we made it through.  We all looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief just before we were off to the races again.  We made it to the airport in time and thanked him for getting us there safely.  He was so appreciative of the Australian $10 tip we gave him.  We just hope he made it home ok!  So the hour and a half trip to the airport turned into 3 hrs. and 15 minutes.  When we arrived, I joked that we were there early! 

Thankfully we had time to scour our belongings and lock our suitcases before checking in.  After the four intimidating and thorough levels of security at the Denpasar airport, we were able to relax and gear up for our redeye flying adventure back to Brisbane. 

No Cyclone's Gonna Hold Me Back

I've made it safely back to Brisbane despite the category 5 cyclone (hurricane) that hit northern Queensland, and I was fortunate enough to spend the afternoon catching some rays at the Gold Coast today.  I leave for Fiji in T-minus 10 hrs.  After a 6 hr. layover there I'm off to LA to spend 2 days in Newport Beach before my flight to DC.  Not much time to write now since I should be sleeping, but I'm ready to start my journey home.  This trip has been absolutely monumental, but I'm ready to do some laundry and sleep in my own bed.  I've ditched quite a few of my belongings in order to make room for souvenirs, so let's hope my luggage isn't too heavy!

Bali was unbelievable without any problems!  More to come as time permits...