Our Bali Trip 2001 – Family in ParadisebyCracker & Rae |
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Days 17 to 24 |
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Day 17Awoke to another wondrous Bali morning, only to realise that the Band from Bali Rock last night were still playing in our heads, and the Drummer was playing louder than most. Decided to forego the Nescafe this morning and go straight to the Bali Kopi, we were so much more in the mood to chew our coffee rather than sip. After a short while and a small amount of suffering we were cheered by the sight of our new friends Dan and Simone (Melbourne) on our doorstep. These guy's are very cruisy and seem to have a peaceful effect on those around them. As with all those of the Hindu faith Kharma means a great deal and the Sri Ratu enveloped them. They firmly believe that this is where they will spend their future trips to Bali. A small coincidence, or maybe another example of Kharma, was their daughters name. 'Rani' meaning Queen in the Province of India where they regularly visit, and here they are, feeling comfortable at Sri Ratu 'The Queen'. Once Dan and Simone had made their way back down Three Brothers Lane Cracker made a Bee line for the Bali Rock. A meeting at noon was happening to nut out final details of the Fundraiser. The meeting was under way soon after 12pm and the mood was very bouyant. Consequently Cracker grabbed another beer and carried on with the previous evenings party mood. The details were soon sorted and Cracker, along with Si Badak, headed back to the Sri Ratu with a few quiet ones tucked away. At this point Rae and the kids were ready to get out and go while Cracker reported a mild case of stomach cramps and a general feeling of unwellness. Rae put 'everything' into 20 to 30 seconds of sympathy, as she had heard it all before. She then piled everyone in the taxi and headed for Alfa. This place is FANTASTIC for shopping and Rae could have spent many hours there if it weren't for Crackers current urgency. Got the hurry up all the way round as this Big Sook made out that he was the only person it had ever happened to, typical male. (Settle darling, I was sick) (No, I mean really SICK!) Any way on the way out we found VCD's for 17,000Rps, quality not so flash, but then the price wasn't so tough either (Funny how looking at VCD's Crackers problem seems to have subsided just a little). One of the things to be careful of when buying cheap, or any VCD/DVD's is that what looks like a new movie to you, may well be an old movie released under a different title in a different region. Eg. Air America in Australia released around 1995 can be found as Pay Back 2 released in early 2000. Trust us, Mel Gibson never looked this young last year. After a couple of quick purchases, back to the Sri Ratu. Crackers problem had returned in full. The kids were keen on an early night and when our new VCD Player went gutsup, it seemed likely for everyone. Just before bed Cracker wandered to the Internet Cafe 70m up the lane (short steps) and rang for flight details on a mate that was arriving from Perth tomorrow. Very disappointed to find that his Company Conference had been cancelled and therefore his wife (Raes best mate) would not be joining him in a few days as well. Their carefully planned week together was shattered and our chance to have a couple of days in Bali with our good friends, as we have tried for years, was gone again. Day 18Today was a very relaxing day for Rae and the kids around the pool at Sri Ratu, but not a day Cracker will forget in this life time. This will start to sound like a lecture, and it probably is. Cracker is a regular drinker and understands the risks involved, but when travelling to regions such as Bali, risks tend to increase and one must be a touch smarter. Water is the key component, we, especially from Oz/N.Z. tend to travel to Bali either from very cold to very hot in our winter, or very hot to very humid in our summer. Both of these situations mixed with a larger than normal alcohol intake then throw in dancing, walking and a touch of the runs and DEHYDRATION is inevitable. Silly ANZAC pride must be thrown away here and you must be proud to be seen to be drinking water as well as beer. This alone could save your holiday. Rehydrate, Rehydrate, Rehydrate is just as important as Party, Party, Party. By late this afternoon Cracker was going down hill in a hurry. On top of all of this he had neglected his Raspberry cordial for 3 days, things are not looking good for his attendance at the Fundraiser tomorrow night. Rae and the kids still managed to have an enjoyable day, lets face it, kids only need a puddle, they don't really need a whole pool to have fun. Early to bed, Fundraiser tomorrow. Big day AHEAD! Day 19The Fundraiser is on tonight, so another quiet day is in order. Rae begins to worry about 'The what to wear problem', while Cracker ponders the 'My *rse is wearing out problem'. He's still not well and the stress is beginning to show. A little after lunch and Cracker began to worry. Dehrydration was a major problem and he had not had a pee for 48 hrs. The Bali International Medical Centre was starting to look a certainty. A decision was made by both of us to forcibily rehydrate for about 3 hrs, by this you drink water close to room temperature in small sips whilst keeping moving and massaged. Cracker managed to absorb about 10litres in this time and finally piddled like Niagara Falls. A relief but not a safe way to do it. All we can say is "Drink while you drink" it may save more than just your holiday. LECTURE OVER. The Sri Ratu is abuzz today, the Fundraiser is just hours away. The atmosphere has become one of excitement and anticipation. Gloria and the Crisis Care team have settled into the big Bungalow at Sri Ratu, White Devil and the Devilettes have taken up residence in the hotel and there seem to be Forumites coming and going with gay abandon (with apologies to Redneck). We arrive at the Bali Rock around 7pm, and the kids immediately spread out to provide covering fire, oops...wrong story. We were greeted by Doreen who was doing a marvellous job of extracting Rupiah from those entering, and those just passing by. Doreen was a touch miffed as she went about her work, Zontius had mispelt her name as DOOREEN. She was consequently offered a chair on wheels and asked to decide whether she would prefer to be a 'Sliding Door-een' or a 'Roller Door-een', given a few drinks she turned out to be an 'Automatic Door-een'. Thanks Doreen, a huge effort. Dinner is superb, even those with a rumbling guts can appreciate some of this fine fare. As the meal progresses, Forumites are filling the Bali Rock. Theres a lot of hand shaking, head nodding and 'Geeez you're uglier than your postings', going on around the bar. The most important thing is that we are all here to part with some serious hard earned Rupiah. There seems to be an even mix of Regular Posters and Regular Readers, with Si Badak and White Devil being a point of intrigue for many. The evening has promised much and looks set to deliver. A Glitch!!!! The system has Crashed! What was promised to be an on-line auction for you guys has turned into a major stress for Zontius. His laptop is not working well and has been declared by White Devil to be 'crap, sh'ite, freekn' useless and antiquated', to which Zontius took offence but soon agreed! It was now up to the BTF's Champion of all things Cyber to see if he could fix our problem. As it turns out another hero arrived. Peter who owns the Bali Travel Forum had slipped quietly into the Bali Rock and after a quiet word with WD, put his team into overdrive. His personal driver was sent back to HQ to pick up a more state of the art laptop, his mobile phone went ballistic tracking down Ken, the Forum Administrator. Peters personal commitment to Glorias Crisis Care Centre stood out like a sore thumb. FA is tracked down somewhere in Germany and christ only knows what hour of the day it is where he is. Meantime you guy's are waiting with no idea whats going on and we can't get to you! Some of us wandered up to local Cyber Cafe's to try and post, but no-one could get into the BTF. Bali wins, Bali loses. Its time for Tony from Bali Rock to take to the stage. He has the most important job of this evening. RAISE THE MONEY! Tony takes to this job with all the aplomb of a young man who has spent a lot of his life on stage. Once he has whetted the crowds appetite with door prizes and promises of finer things, the evening changes tack and the real reason for our attendance is thrust upon us. Go Gloria! Zontius' speech is now upon us and he tells us of how he became involved in Glorias Crisis Care through the death of his friend Arif. Arif was a young man, just 22yrs. His life and sudden death galvanised many people here on the BTF and threw us as one behind Glorias Crisis Care. We followed his last days in hope and shed more than a good many tears on his passing. We got to know this young man through Zontius and hope that Arif will be remembered forever more as the Catalyst that held together many compassionate people. After this moving speech we were introduced to Arifs Father, who was stunned by the effect that his sons life and death had upon people all around the world. A childhood friend of Arifs then played a moving song on Arifs guitar. These were things that finalised a kind of mourning process that was hard to fathom on a computer at home. TIME TO PARTY!!! Our job here tonight is to raise money, have some fun and quite possibly get p*ssed. Cracker's too crook for the latter, so Rae's gonna give it a shot. Our Compere Tony is soon chucking around door prizes and ripping out raffle tickets. Theres some amazing prizes being handed out, so long as you can be there on the correct date. One of the most crowd pleasing prizes was a Bali Slingshot for two, won by White Devil. This we'd love to see!! Try sending a Devil to the Heavens and you're gonna get him sent straight back! Goin' once, goin' twice, goin' to tell you an annoying story.... WD, Peter and Ken had you guys back on line, but you were all in bed! Consequently we decided to shut the Bali Rock and all go home...NOT!! It was party time and we were really making the most of this. Tony milked the crowd for every Rupiah he could get for each and every item. We had some magnificent prizes donated from accomodation to cruises, to imported wines, to silly bloody slingshot rides. One of the most impressive items on offer was Zontius' hand painted silks. WD snapped up one of these very quickly, seemingly with an appreciation of their true value. We've had a ball and some good money has been raised, something in the order of 10Mil.Rp as a profit, enough to take the GCCC to its next phase. Tony and his band 'Stool Q' fired up and we danced our little patooties off, but Cracker didn't shake his too much, could've been messy. The dance floor was packed, those that couldn't fit on the dance floor were dancing between the tables, and those that couldn't fit between the tables were falling on the floor,'Si Badak'! Those darn plastic chairs. The most important point here is that he didn't spill a drop of his Bintang. Its now time for us to take the babies home, but Miss Chontelle, 7 going on 27, decides she wants to stay with Si Badak and Sunshine. Mum says yes, based on the fact that they are coming home shortly. Soon after we were relaxing in the foyer of the Sri Ratu, having put the younger children to bed. Chontelle soon arrives with Si Badak and Sunshine and once the kids are asleep we decide to call it a night. A magnificent night has been had and we are glad of the chance to help out. Thankyou Gloria, Thankyou Zontius. Day 20We awoke with a feeling of achievement, the previous night had not gone completely as planned but by all accounts Gloria's Crisis Care has been saved. This is all that is really important. It is a wonderful feeling knowing that somehow, in some small way, we have contributed and will continue to do so. Breakfast around the pool at the Sri Ratu is a very slow affair. Forumites in various states of disrepair wander in for breakfast. Sue and the girls from Garden View casually wander through on their way to Zontius' Bungalow. Si Badak and Sunshine are breakfasting in the beautiful upstairs sundeck area of the hotel, whilst downstairs WD is tracked down to repair the computer of an English Actor of some note. Cracker eventually surfaced to join Rae and the kids at the pool. Re-hydration is going well, Re-Bourbonation is almost back on the agenda. We soon followed the well worn path to Zontius' Bungalow (less than a stones throw from Sri Ratu). This place is quite amazing. Zontius' passion and training in the fields of Architecture/Interior Design are quite evident in his home. Letting ourselves into his outdoor foyer to welcoming cries of "Come in", we left many pairs of shoes with the large amount already there. Gloria told us more of her life in Lovina and what she encounters on a daily basis. Up to this point our only involvement with GCCC was from our computer at home. To sit and look this woman in the eye and listen to these stories, is an experience that changes lives. We have five healthy children and consider it a privelege that we can help others make a difference in their childrens lives. Another important point for Cracker. ZONTIUS IS ALWAYS GOOD FOR A BINTANG! Very cold and very cheap, "It must be my shout" Gloria and the Crisis Care team soon headed back to Lovina. 48hrs away and all she could think about were the people that needed her up there. SEE YA NEXT TIME GUYS! Si Badak and Sunshine soon joined us with disks containing photos of the previous evening, on which he had spent all morning at a local cyber cafe, labelling, cataloguing and organising. Sue spent a good deal of time from here loading Si Badaks disks into Zontius' 'kindof computer'. All that hard work and Zontius and Cracker kept clicking on photos of some Pommie Sheila with Big Knockers. Bloody men, they're all the same! Another reasonably early night, the vcd player is still buggered, kids went straight to bed, Mum and Dad watched local t.v. for a while but soon settled on a cuddle. Day 21Another breakfast at Bali Aussie. Always a good feed and entertaining staff. Rae has ordered gold bracelets for the girls from 'Tom', 30,000Rps each, ready in 2 days. After brekky we hit the Melasti Beach Hotel. A Birthday was happening in the Kingsy Family and our Ratbags are invited to help make the mess. HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY EMILY! The day goes very well except for Cracker. In his effort to Re-Bintangulate himself, he goes too far, and his guts goes South once more. The kids have a ball in the wonderful Melasti pool, we make sure that we take photos to show our mates Gaz and Kath. They were supposed to be here today, but the company conference was cancelled, oh well... sucked in, we're here, thats all that really counts! Hehehehe. Early night for Rae and the kids, Cracker slips down to Loji for more Norit Tablets for his guts. At the Loji he sees something quite amusing. At the three tables outside the supermarket there are about 15 young Aussie guys sitting drinking with about 100 large empty Bintang bottles on the tables. Now in Bali, there is a bar or restaurant selling beer every 50mts, only Aussies would then sit outside a supermarket to get drunk and have a good time. I gotta say, these guy's were well behaved, but the picture wasn't pretty. You're only young once, GO FOR IT GUYS!! Day 22We know our holiday is coming close to its end by the way Cracker is thrashing about in his bed. He's started working in his sleep again and the light is on at all hours while he reads and plans next weeks work in his head. Rae starts planning the next holiday.... Shop, shop, shop, shop, shop... Rae has now taken control of our last 48hrs (have not) the plan is to take every allowable kilo of clothing home, and murder the credit card in its sleep. She believes both are achievable. We rambled down Rum Jungle Rd, legged it up jln. Legian, perambled down Padma St., ground up Garlic Lane, and finally meandered along Melasti. All the while, adding to Australia's National Debt. Once again our favourite place to shop is at Janji Shop 35a, Melasti Art Market. Made's sense of humour is only matched by his great business sense. We've spent a lot of money here with Made on this trip and the freebies that he has given to the children have ensured that we will recommend him to all our friends. Our final purchase from Made is a HHUUUUGGGEEE Beach bag to carry all our other bargains home. We're pretty sure that he ordered this bag in special, knowing we were coming back one more time. Kids are very tired, it really is time to call it a day and start finding space in suitcases. We have dinner in the Bungalow at Sri Ratu tonight, and the kids are asleep very quickly. Cracker wanders up to the Cyber Cafe, while Rae starts organising masses of clothing into suitcases. Not a job a bloke is qualified for. A light tap at the door, not long after Cracker leaves. Rae opens it and screams in delight. Standing on the doorstep are our mates Gaz and Kath. These B*stards lied BIG TIME!!! They conned us into believing that their Conference was cancelled and here they are...B*stards!!! We have attempted to spend time in Bali together for many years, and thought we'd been foiled again. Break out the 'Mansion House Gin'. Can't wait to see Crackers face when he walks in the door!!! Cracker finally walks back in and takes a minute to register what he is seeing. "You Rotten Stinkin' B*stards!" is all he could say. Needless to say, sleep did not come early! 36hrs to go, what fun can we fit in?! Day 23Awoke quite fuzzily this morning after our mates, the ones who had fibbed to us about their trip being cancelled, dropped in and surprised the sh*t out of us. At about 9am Putu the "plait your, paint your, rub your, look after the kids for a minute girl" arrived to re-plait the girls hair, ready for home. It is a fairly lazy day as we have no more shopping to do. Putu finished all the hair and fingernails at about 3pm so we decided to go for a walk. In the Foyer of Sri Ratu we met Josh and Dina from Colorado. These guys were on their Honeymoon and had not had a happy time in Sanur since returning from Lombok. They had managed to track down Si Badak by phone and he quickly found them a room at Sri Ratu for their last night. We had a quick chat and told them we would meet them at Sammi and Suzi's later. Did we say we had no more shopping to do? After wandering around for about an hour we somehow found ourselves back at Made's shop at the Melasti Art Market. He had a new range of stock after the great trade from the previous day and Rae lashed out another 1.2mil Rupiahs, while Cracker cried in the corner. We purchased another Large bag (Hey, they're handy) loaded up our gear and headed for Mandira to meet Gaz and Kath. Cracker and Gaz hit the Forum Bar while the girls did Motherly/Babysitting stuff and perved on blokes around the pool. It wasn't long before we were heading out for dinner with Josh and Dina. These guys were beginning to relax a bit but hey, they had a long flight ahead in the morning. Gaz was a bit off colour and headed off back to Melasti Beach Resort, Kath blew him a kiss and stayed out to party. We worked our way up jln. Padma and headed into Garlic Lane to give Warung Man Nis a try. This place wasn't as good as we had hoped. Some good reports, but certainly nothing special. We all then made our way slowly to Sri Ratu to find the upper deck area in full party mode, nothing too loud mind you but a few good stories and plenty of laughs shared between people from various parts of the Globe. By 1am age and children were catching up with most of us, so we called it a night. The Last DayBounced out of bed realising that time is short. We along with the kids had a final breakfast of Banana Pancakes and decided to go the whole hog and had them with Icecream, (don't get used to Icecream for breakfast kids). Today is mostly about just relaxing and saying a few goodbyes with maybe the odd small purchase thrown in. We took a leisurely stroll to the top of Three Brothers lane looking for our Driver Wayan Ruda. We hadn't seen him for a few days, after 3weeks of ourselves and Si Badak/Sunshine being here, he was probably feeling rather prosperous. Work would not have been a priority. Its a shame we missed saying goodbye, as the kids had really taken to him. We continued on down jln. Legian in the direction of jln. Melasti to say goodbye to Tony and the Crew at Bali Rock. From here we walked our way back through Garlic Lane giving heartfelt goodbyes to Made and the many street vendors and store owners we have gotten to know in our 24 days in Paradise. We went for a quick swim at Melasti Beach Resort where Gary and Kath are staying, then back to Sri Ratu for afternoon sleeps. While Cracker cuddled down on the day bed with the kids, Rae took herself to Loji to pick up the essential bargains that only a Mum would notice. Super sticky Bandaids, kids erasers for school, pump spray mozzie repellants, safety pins etc. etc. Time for a last feed. Gaz and Kath joined us at Glory Restaurant, we just had to have the Kuta Hot Spare Ribs and Pepper Steak one more time! Thank god its a short flight. Ringstinger scale 9+ YAAAHHHOOOOEEEEE! Kath had the Seafood Platter which she highly recommends, Gaz had a runny bum which he doesn't recommend. No tucker for Gaz tonight, Boiled Rice and water, YUM! Arrived at the airport in plenty of time. Headed straight to check-in and after a few minutes queueing we hand our passports and tickets to the check-in Clerk. He types in the first name then looks up at the two of us and says, "Excuse me Sir and Madam, but did you bring a stroller with you to Bali?" We had a quick giggle and embarrassingly answered "Yes". He then assured us that the stroller was being loaded on the flight and we would soon see it on the Baggage Carousel at Perth Airport. Thanks Garuda! Time for the Departure Lounge, but first Departure Tax and the dreaded Immigration queue. The departure tax is easy then around the corner is the slow working Monster. Now you need to remember it's now about 9pm, five tired young children and nine flights leaving in the next 90 minutes. The queues at immigration are HUUUGGGEE! Five booths open, 20 to 25 people at each queue!!! We walk to the back of all the lines to try and pick the fastest and shortest, when beautiful Bali reached out to bid us Farewell. The big boss of the Immigration team that was working this evening walked to the door of his office and lit a cigarette. He then counted our children, did the double take we are so used to, smiled at Cracker and said "Are these all your children?" Yes is the standard reply, all ours. "Your passports please" Cracker suddenly felt worried, he and a mate had been in that little office back in the early '80's, not pleasant and not cheap! Our immigration friend then asked Rae to take the children straight through, while Cracker waited at his office door. He then dropped seven passports on his desk in front of a young man who quickly stamped them without even looking up. Our new best friend then handed them back to a heartfelt Thankyou from Cracker, "You don't know what this means to us" we said. He very politely replied, "I understand" then he disappeared back into his office. THANKYOU BALI. Almost time. Just one more Bintang....or two....or three....Final boarding call. OOHHH, the final walk downstairs and onto the bus to take us out to our Garuda Air-bus, about 500m away. The kids jump excitedly off the bus and race toward the waiting jet, Rae is lethargic in her attempts to get there, Cracker won't get off the bus! Eventually he dawdles towards the plane, baby in the backpack hanging from his shoulders and one last Bintang in his hand. We stand at the bottom of the steps and take one last lingering look at the twinkling lights of Jimbaran Bay, who knows when we will see them next. Wandering up the steps we can feel the planes air conditioning taking over and the heat of our Bali holiday washing away. The aircraft is pushed back, the kids are strapped in and we begin to taxi down the apron. A last bit of hustle and bustle by the beautiful Garuda cabin staff as the Captain turns us onto the runway to await clearance. There seems to be a silence descended over the passengers. Then suddenly we hear those final words that begin and end all holidays. "CABIN CREW, ARM AND CROSS CHECK" CBE Cracker and Rae |