The Last Days

It might surprise you to know that I now find myself sitting cuddled up in autumn, in Melbourne, Australia! It seems so strange that this time last week I was waking up on a tropical island, about to take my yoga mat to the beach to greet the morning sun. I do not recommend this, there's just too much sand on the beach. But, I digress. How on earth did I find myself in Australia?

After my wonderful holiday with my parents I sunk into a bit of a travelling dip, the kind that makes you feel desperate for the proximity of loved ones and home. As I mentioned in my last blog, I was most definitely feeling ready to leave Ubud. For me, that funny little town had lost its charm, and suddenly I wanted my days to be about more than just yoga and delicious food. Ubud hadn’t changed, I had – and thank God! I'm pretty sure it’s a gift to feel that one is ready to move away from a more contemplative, relaxed lifestyle to one that has a different kind of purpose. At the beginning of my time in Ubud, all I wanted was to be there, to soak in all that it was. I did that – it was glorious and growth-filled and extremely special. But when you are in a magical place and the feeling of unhappiness starts to settle in, it’s a sure sign that it is time to move on.

But where to next? John has his flight booked and is arriving in Bali on 29 June and so my wanderings cannot take me too far. I think he would be most unimpressed if he were to arrive in Bali without me waiting to greet him! Thailand crossed my mind and I was very ready to jump on the next plane at the end of May (when my Indonesian visa finishes) and wander about there – try out the yoga and the food and the beaches of Thailand. But to be honest, there was something about that which didn’t make me feel excited either. In one of my particularly blah moments, my special friend Georgina, in an effort to help me shift my blahness, searched online for writing courses. It didn’t take her long to stumble upon a writing festival in Melbourne and suddenly I started to feel excited.  A writing festival? How cool! And, I love Melbourne! I have friends and family here and friends and family in Sydney and Brisbane! The thought of being with loved ones and exploring some civilised cities was wildly appealing. And so, within one evening it was decided. Thailand can wait! Off to Australia I go!

Unfortunately it’s not that easy to just up and leave for Australia, especially being South African. Our passport certainly makes for some interesting and expensive bureaucratic adventures. There were forms to be filled out, letters to receive, money to transfer and a visit to the Australian visa agency. I went down to Denpasar to apply for the visa with Georgina and Shailender, and after getting lost and then finding the place and then doing the deed, we visited a friend for breakfast. After breakfast we spent the day doing chores, filled with many mishaps, but ending gloriously with us sitting in a MacDonald’s car park eating delicious French fries and drinking Shailender’s coke because we both assured him that we didn’t want any of our own. The organic, raw foodies of Ubud would have been appalled by our fast food behaviour.

 

It was an interesting time being in Ubud and waiting for my visa. I was quite ready to leave but knew that I had nowhere to go, and I was desperate to really enjoy my last few days of being there. As life always works out perfectly, each day I was there was great and I felt that I was meant to be there – spending time with the people I needed to spend time with. I also spent one morning cleaning and rearranging my little cottage, I knew that I was about to leave it – but I felt a strong desire to shift the energy a bit. Gustut and Jeru helped with the rearrangement and we moved my bed to underneath the window, which meant I had two glorious weeks waking up and opening my windows without getting out of bed. It was so lovely to sit with my tea in bed and watch the morning creep into my little jungle garden – a a little corner of the world which will always have a special place in my heart.

During my wait for my visa a friend of a friend visited me in Ubud. I had only met Sam once while she was doing Peace Corp in South Africa. She was in Indonesia for a wedding in Jakarta and so was visiting Bali for a bit of pre-wedding adventure. After a yoga retreat she came up to Ubud to stay with me. I am sure she was quite comfy on the floor of my little cottage! I entertained her with a few of my best Ubud things to do. We took an afternoon scooter ride through the rice-paddies and then an early evening walk in my favourite morning walk spot. Unfortunately my favourite spot also seems to be the place for the teenagers of Ubud to get their cigarette fix! We visited two of my favourite warungs for dinner: best-indian-dish-ever on Thursday and cheap and delicious sticky-rice the next evening. Of course we had to visit Wayan for a coconut at his coconut stall, and once again he entertained us with his stories and antidotes. We were even joined on the bench by some fellow travellers! It was all quite fun.

 

The next morning I left Sam asleep and creeped out to catch the shuttle which would take Laura and I for our little Gili Islands holiday. In true Bali-style-super-duper organisation, we waited for the shuttle for over an hour, with Laura and I calling each other to exclaim that they still have not come! Eventually we were in the shuttle and then at Padangbai and then on the ferry and off to Gili Air! The term ‘gili’ actually means little island, although when one talks about ‘the gilis’ in Indonesia, one is referring to the three gilis that are grouped close together just off the island of Lombok. The most popular gili island is Gili Trawagan, although it is also the biggest drunken party zone and not somewhere to go unless that’s what you’re going for. My family and I have gone there a few times (not to get drunk and party mind you) and I didn’t really feel inspired to go back. Laura and I chose to go to Gili Air, which is a lovely mixture between absolute doing-nothing island bliss and the option of having delicious dinners and a dose of night-life.

 

We stayed at Bintang Beach, and spent our days eating, reading, swimming in the most gorgeous calm turquoise water, having soul-filling chats and exploring the island. There is absolutely no motorised transport on the island and so all you hear is the clip-clopping of donkeys' hooves and the creaking of wagon wheels. On Monday we went for a snorkelling trip which was really fun. We saw some turtles in the first two stops - amazing! One swam all the way to the surface and popped its little turtle-ly head out the water. Sadly the corral is pretty much dead around the islands, although in the last stop there was a lot more colour and some very awesome looking fish. We had pizza and salad for lunch on Gili Meno. It was really great that we were able to explore a tiny bit of the last of the Gili island trio.

On the ferry back to Bali I was telling Laura how I really wanted to get to Australia soon and was so hoping that my visa would come through so that I could book my flight and vamoose. At this moment I reached into my bag for my phone and a new email had just come through – my visa! HOORAY! I was so excited! After a slightly hair-raising shuttle trip back to Ubud I arrived home and booked my flight to Melbourne. The cheapest one by far was leaving on Thursday afternoon, meaning that I had only one day and one morning left in Ubud. Eek! On Wednesday I spent the morning with Laura and then for dinner with my Balinese family. Just before I left for the Gilis I found a replacement tenant for my little cottage, Syreeta, and she had moved in to try it out while I was away. I was staying at Georgina and Shailender’s place as they are in India at the moment and so it all worked out perfectly. When I was advertising the cottage I mentioned the creatures who inhabit it – really to warn off anybody who was seeking a luxurious garden cottage. However, Syreeta said that she had actually been drawn to the cottage because of the creatures! She also likes particularly hard beds, which means that her and the cottage are a match made in heaven! On Wednesay evening we had a lovely dinner with Gustut and Jeru, it was a ceremony day – Galungan, hence the delicious feast! During Galungan the streets are decorated with penjor, tall decorative bamboo poles with with offerings hanging on the end. 

 

As I packed up my stuff in the cottage and said goodbye to the family, and then to Ubud the next day, it all felt absolutely right. I was really ready to move on. My little cottage, my gorgeous little Bali home, was in the hands of someone who would love it as much as I did. Of course knowing that I’d be back in Ubud with John in a month’s time made it a whole lot easier to leave! I was so excited to come to Australia, to see all my special friends and family and to have a whole new and very different experience. I was very ready to swop my scooter for the train, and my flip-flops for some new boots!