Our Bali road trip

Saturday morning the 14th of July, we packed our bags and set off to explore the island of Bali.
It's amazing, we have been to Bali so many times but never ventured past the major tourist precincts.

We headed up along the west coast through rice paddy after rice paddy - which made the country side look so lush and green.

Rice paddy country

Just when we thought we were in the middle of the island, miles away from the ocean, we drove up a hill and realized the ocean wasn't far at all.
As we continued to head north we noticed that the English words on signs got scarcer along with the traffic.
We stopped along the way by the seaside to take some photos.

While I was taking a photo of a rice paddy I happened across a river or the local bath. It must have been the men's day to bathe....

Bathing day for the men in the local river

We continued until we saw a sign for a waterfall, so we decided to head off the beaten track and up into the hills to see it. The sign said 8 kilometres but after about 10 kilometres we ran into some American tourists who told us we were still at least another 8 kilometres away and then a half an hour walk away from the waterfall.
So we decided it was all too hard and headed back to the main road.

On our trek back we noticed locals were picking something from the trees. Our curiosity got the better of us so we stopped to ask a local. They were farming cloves, with the local women given the job of cleaning the stalks off the cloves in a nearby village. We decided to stop and watch them at work. They were very obliging and proceeded to show Jack, Harry & Nina how to clean them.
They were all so happy  and laughing and joking in Indonesian, god knows what they were saying but I did get the impression that we made their day and vice versa....

Jack, Harry & Nina get a lesson in clove cleaning

The local Balinese women cleaning cloves

Continuing along the same path we were stopped by the  local children who wanted to practice their english on us.. again, they were so happy - waving and smiling. Nina got out of the car for this photo.

All smiles and waves, some village kids excited to see some strangers

As we drove away some of the kids followed after our car for at least half a kilometre. They were beautiful!! We didn't get to see the waterfall but we were still so much richer for the experience of meeting such beautiful happy people in this little village.

Lunch was at a health resort called Kelapa Retreat in a small village called Pekutatan.....

Lunch at Kelapa Retreat

We continued to wind our way along the coast until we stopped to see the port of Gillimanuk. It's the closest point on the Island to Java which is only half an hour away by boat.
Continuing on we noticed that the terrain changed often, from tropical rainforests to mountain ranges to rice paddies on the coastal plains.
We also noticed that religions changed from village to village. One minute we were in Hindu territory and the neighbouring village Muslim.
We continued to hug the coastline to the far north, the wildlife only reassuring us how far away we were from our Aussie adventure...

A family portrait

This scooter driver gave us all a laugh and had us terrified for these poor ducklings....

Hold on for your lives ducklings

Apparently they transport them to rice paddies to eat the bugs, geez where's the RSPCA when you need them? They were all alive from what we could tell.
We settled for the night in a little coastal resort in Permutaran. It's right on the coastline but looming close by are mountains.
It's a beautiful part of the world but so much more primitive than the south. ....

Bagus Resort

The infinity pool overlooks the ocean

In the gazebo at the resort

Richard, Lee and I

Over dinner looking at the map, we realized that after a full day of driving, we'd only done 130 kilometres.

Day 2, Sunday the 15th of July... and we continued along the coast with blue waters on one side and the mountains on the other. It was a short drive to our next destination - Lovina.
We stopped in a car park and was instantly hounded by the locals wanting to sell their wares. Richard took off on a scooter with one of the locals to look for a nice hotel where we would spend the night. We ended up next door at Nirwana Resort. It was very basic but would do.
We settled quickly in our rooms and as is life with my ADD husband, we were on a snorkelling trip off Lovina before I could say mungkin nanti (maybe later).

Our snorkelling adventure in the Bali Sea

On the boat

Looking back at the coastline we kept being reminded of what the old Bali once looked like.....

Lovina from the water

The rest of the afternoon we explored Lovina, having a nice dinner in a nearby restaurant before retiring to bed, Nina was the first to bed and she wasn't too fussy where she slept....

Nina crashes at dinner

It was interesting to note that tourists in this part of the Island are predominantly European.

About 11:30pm Richard & I were woken by an earthquake. Only my immediate family know that my biggest fear is earthquakes. My nerves frayed - I struggled to sleep for the rest of the night. I was grateful to see the daylight.

The next morning Monday the 16th of July, Richard & the boys left early for a day long diving trip.
Along the way he was under strict instructions from chook to pick up Tessie, her best friend & teddy who she left sleeping peacefully at the previous hotel.

While the boys were away... Ron, Lee, Nina & I had brekky & lazed by the pool.

Nina decorates my hair while I am reading a book by the pool

Ron lazes by the pool

Nina & I then had a massage & manicure before we had some lunch.
By early evening, the boys were back with photos & tales of the day, they had all had a ball....

The boys get ready to go snorkelling off Java

Jack give it the thumbs up

Harry & Jack

A temple on the Javanese Island

Richard the kids & I all went out for dinner before heading back to bed...again, Nina beat us to it...

Nina, night 2 in Lovina after another big day

Again I struggled to sleep and was told the next morning that there had been another earthquake overnight. Right, time to get the hell out!!!!
After brekky we headed through Singaraja, which used to be the capital city of Bali before Denpasar.
It looked old & derelict.
We continued through winding mountain sides to see little villages nestled into the mountains....

The hillside villages on the way to Kintamani

....until we reached Kintamani which surrounds one side of the volcano Mount Batur. At the base of the volcano is a huge lake.

Mount Batur, the second highest point in Bali

We continued on, looking towards the next big town, Candidasa  for a Luwak coffee farm, but along the way we were stopped  by a lady who walked in front of our car wanting to give us a Hindu blessing.

Richard receives a Hindu blessing

Our first reaction was "isn't that lovely"....she then preceded to put rice on our foreheads, flowers in our hair and ceremonial headscarves around our heads, all the while - the kids were in the back seat, rolling around in stitches.

Nice touch

Ron after his blessing

The boys are  blessed and can't stop laughing

Nina and Lee are also blessed

We were feeling extremely lucky & blessed until she asked us for 200 000rp then we went from feeling blessed to feeling conned. I think she saw us coming from a mile away. All said & done, she gave us all a good laugh. On our return home we realised that many locals from the south also know of her - she's infamous.

A very blessed family photo

Even our car was blessed

We continued on our way and finally found a Luwak Coffee farm. Luwak's are ferret like animals, native to these parts who eat only the very best coffee beans. They then poo the beans which are collected and sold as a delicacy.... yummy!!!!

A luwak

The kids get up close with a luwak

The coffee beans that the luwaks eat and then poo

The farm was very interesting & we got to taste the coffee (it didn't taste like shit) and see the other animals around the coffee farm.

This snake eyes off its dinner - I can't watch!! 

We all felt sorry for this chicken, planted in the cage as dinner for this slithering predator, I was so tempted to carry out a rescue operation.
After a  caffeine fix and purchasing some poo coffee we continued on towards Candidasa, the odd wrong turn thanks to our expert navigation team got us there a little later than anticipated, but all in one piece.
Candidasa is a cute town, on the mid-eastern side of the Island. It looks a lot cleaner and greener than the north.
We stayed the night at the Shangrila Beach Hotel. A great little spot overlooking the ocean with lots of atmosphere and Aussies. A nice change after the last few days in the north.

The Shangrila Beach Club, Candidasa

The kids pose around the pool

More pool pics

The kids were happy to watch DVDs for the night while Ron, Lee & I ordered one too many cocktails.
I don't think I've mentioned Richard hasn't had a drink in 3 weeks. The longest dry spell in a while. Although its been good for him - it's been very boring for me. I haven't even tried to be the supportive wife in Bali. That's way too big an ask.
So last night was one too many lychee martinis.

We woke this morning, Wednesday the 18th of July,  to rain... and a phone call from Ron & Lees' Villa staff that the Villa had been flooded. So a planned day of sightseeing on the way home, has ended in us high-tailing it back to Canggu to ensure there wasn't too much damage done.
Along the way we saw lots of fish for sale on the roadside... obviously the morning's catch? (we could only hope)

The local fishmonger. Obviously no health inspectors in these parts

Back at the Villa, all was good. Ron & Lee's staff - Sumi & Kadek had obviously done a good clean up job before we arrived.