The Abel Tasman Trail is a coastal trail which is one of the most popular of New Zealand’s Ten Great Walks. Along the trail there are huts which you can pre-book for the night. The entire trail takes five days – we opted to do three days, booking ourselves into two huts.

As the day of the walk approached, I started to feel apprehensive. I haven’t done a walk long enough to merit carrying a backpack since I was on school camp! Would I be able to cope?

Preparing for the trail was hard enough. We would have to carry everything we needed for the next three days. Since the weather forecast was mixed, this included a wide range of clothing from shorts and sunhat to fleeces and waterproofs. Food wise, we had to buy a portable stove as there are no cooking facilities in the huts. Then we had to plan meals which would be light and portable – whilst highly nutritious, of course!  Finally, we had to buy sleeping bags as no bedding is provided in the huts. We went as cheap as we could on the sleeping bags, since we don’t have the baggage allowance to take them back to the UK – but then we discovered that Night 2 was forecast to be 9 c and the sleeping bags are only supposed to be warm enough for temperatures of 10 c and above – would they keep us warm or would we freeze??

To get to Motueka, the nearest town to the start of the trail from Hanmer Hot Springs was a challenge. I suggested we cut across to Kaikoura on the East coast, stay the night there and then take the highway to Picton and then on to Motueka on the South Coast road. We went all the way over a slow and twisty mountain pass to reach Kaikoura – then discovered that due to damage from Cyclone Gita, the highway to Picton was closed.

So the next day we had to drive all the day back over the slow and twisty turny mountain pass – straight back to Hanmer Hot Springs. After that we had another three hundred kilometres to cover before we reached Moteuka. Two long days of driving. On the plus side, Kaikoura was pretty – and we saw some awesome scenery, including some snow capped peaks!

As we approached Moteuka, we started to see lots of wineries and another interesting looking crop which we realised was hops. There were also plenty of veggies for sale by the side of the rode. The range was amazing – from apples and pears to lemons and pomegranates. We stopped and brought a huge bag of apples for $2 (about one pound) – delicious! There were some other intriguing signs on the road to Moteuka which we didn’t have time to follow up. One read:

Theatre – Art Gallery – Tame Eels

Tame Eels??? If anyone knows what that is about, let me know! On reaching Moteuka, David did spot a huge eel swimming along in a stream –  but as far as I know, it wasn’t tame!

Day One

 

The day of The Great Walk dawned bright and clear. After some last minute checks – suntan lotion? Check! Mosquito repellent? Check! – we headed to Marahau, which is at the start of the trail. We parked the camper van in the car park of the Abel Tasman water taxi company. The car park is provided by the water taxi company. It’s free, as long as you book with them to pick you up at the end of the walk.  As soon as the van was parked, we shouldered our backpacks and set off. David was worried his pack felt too heavy, but mine felt just right and my confidence soared. We only had 12 kilometres to cover today. Maybe it was going to be okay.

Immediately, two things happened to unsettle me. First, we met a girl who stopped us to ask if we knew where she could hire or buy a camping mat. This set me wondering if the huts provide mattresses for the beds. Perhaps we’d be sleeping on bare boards that night…? Second, the bridge at the start of the trail had been washed away by the Cylone and we had to pick our way over a river. What other Cyclone damage would we encounter on route?

Soon, we were into the walk. We climbed up from ground level to wind our way along a path which clung to hills high above the coast. The path was really pretty. It was overhung with giant ferns and other shade giving trees and bushes. Stunning beaches were round every corner. It was tempting to go down and swim but with heavy packs on our backs, we didn’t want to go ‘off piste’ too much. Around midday, we stopped on a beach for a Scooby snack. It was hot and I was tempted to swim but settled for a paddle. There’d be time for a swim once we reached the first hut.

An hour later, we stopped for lunch (cheese and pickle sandwich and the inevitable apple, since you ask!) I was impressed to find toilets provided at intervals along the route, as well as taps with treated water so we could can refill our water bottles along the way. The trail was spotless, with no signs of litter. Dogs are not allowed on the trail so no dog mess, either!

By three p.m., we reached the first hut at Anchorage. It was beautifully situated, right on the beach at Anchorage Bay. The first thing I did was get changed and go for a swim. A wind had blown up and it was quite breezy by now so it was an English style dip rather than a full blown swim. After swimming, I headed up to check out the hut. It was a lot bigger than I’d imagined. There was a large communal kitchen and dining room with a wood burning stove and four separate bedrooms with eight beds in each hut. And praise the lord, the beds had mattresses! On the downside, there was no hot water or power, except for some solar powered lights in the communal kitchen which came on after dark.

The communal aspect took a bit of getting used to. I feared we’d end up sharing with a family with a noisy baby. Apparently, there’d been one in the night before. As it turned out we did end up sharing with a family, but they were super quiet and considerate (Shout out to Lucie, Dan and Leeia! if you are reading this)  The family are taking a gap year to travel the world and homeschooling . It was lovely to meet some other ‘Senior gap year’ travellers, albeit at a different stage in life. I was asleep by 9 pm and didn’t wake up until the sun came up. After a hearty bowl of porridge we hit the road again for the start of Day Two.

Day Two

This was going to be our hardest day at almost 20 kilometres. That may not sound much, but with a pack on, believe me, it is a long way, particularly when the route is as up and down as this one was.

A light rain began to fall around midday. We reached Bark Bay Hut an hour later, moments before it really started to come down. This was the half way point. Since we were booked into huts at either end of the walk, we felt we were entitled to go inside and eat our lunch inside the hut. Someone had lit the fire and it was lovely and warm. As the downpour intensified, a group of kayakers pushed into the hut, dripping wet. We felt really lucky to have bagged a place to sit. One of the kayak party organisers pushed through carrying a burning hot pot of soup and scalded someone. After this incident, we decided it was time head off and make space for someone else. Fortunately the rain was letting up.

II have to confess, the afternoon felt very long. The rain continued in fits and starts. Both of us started to develop aches and pains in various different places – backs, feet, shoulders. I swear the hills became steeper. The rest breaks were certainly more frequent. Then at about 5.30 pm, the weather began to clear. By the time we arrived at Aworoa Hut an hour later, it was beautiful. And so was the hut. It was smaller and more basic than the one at Anchorage, but in a stunning secluded location. It faces Aworoa Bay, which has to be crossed to reach the rest of the trail. It can only be crossed around low tide. Low tide was at 2 pm the next day, which meant we would have to hang out at the hut until just before 1 pm, by which time the water should be low enough to cross.

Inside the hut, the fire was lit and a washing line was hung with coats, sleeping bags and bags. Not everyone had been as lucky as us and dodged the rain. Sleeping wise, the arrangements were basic – three rooms with twelve beds in each, six on the bottom bunk and six on the top, all lined up in a row. All very cosy, but not necessarily conducive to a good night’s sleep!

We ate food, stared at the view and played cards until such time as we could decently go to bed – about 9.30 p.m. It was hard to sleep. Far from being too cold, it was actually too hot, due to the fire in the next room. People seemed to be climbing over me and skipping in and out of bed for the next couple of hours. Then at 2 a.m., a group of super fit, macho lads got up to try and make a night time crossing of Aworoa Bay, which woke me again.  Restless, I went outside. The lads had already gone. The moon was bright enough to light up the entire bay.

Day 3

A warm, cloudy day. We hung around until just before 1 pm waiting to cross Aworoa Bay. By midday, a sense of restless excitement filled the hut – there were a dozen people who just couldn’t wait to cross the bay. Some of them set off early. It was funny watching them wade out into the bay, the water climbing higher and higher, but I’m pleased to report that everyone made it over. Finally it was 12.45 and we decided to go for it. Shorts on, packs on the back, bare feet. It was pretty uncomfortable, crunching clam shells with every step, but there was no danger of being washed away –  the water stayed below the knee.

Once we were on the other side, we had to pick up the pace as we had two hours until our water taxi departed and a sign stated that it was a two hour and five minute walk. If we missed it, there were no other boats that day. So, ignoring all the aches and pains, we stomped up and down the hills without a break, and made it to the beach in plenty of time.

Getting onto the water taxi turned out to be the biggest challenge of the entire walk. By this time, a wind had got up and the sea was surprisingly rough. One elderly man wobbled as his pack swayed on his back and ended up taking a swim. When it came to my turn, I eagerly accepted the Captain’s offer to carry my pack out to the boat for me. Even so, I ended up soaked to the waist. David didn’t fare any better. By the time the boat set off, we were freezing. There was a big swell and the boat was over crowded. However, despite these drawbacks, the Captain was determined to give us a tour of the local sights. We saw some New Zealand fur seals and their pups, which was cool, but by this stage we just wanted to get back on dry land. Finally, we arrived back at Marahau. Instead of pulling onto the shore, we drove straight onto the back of a trailer which was pulled by a tractor. Then we were driven back to the car park perched in the boat! It was such a relief to get back to the campervan and change out of our wet things. We were pie eyed with exhaustion but filled with a great sense of achievement. We had completed our first Great Walk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first few days in New Zealand have been…interesting. Interesting to say the least. I have to confess, there have been a few times when I’ve asked myself, why didn’t we stay in sunny Sydney…?

It all started as we stood in line to pick up our campervan. We were in Christchurch, which is on the East Coast of South Island. An information board read ‘if you don’t know about Cyclone Gita, ask us!’ I didn’t know about Cyclone Gita – so I asked. And discovered that an evil Cyclone had wreaked havoc on Tonga and was now making a beeline for New Zealand, with torrential rain, floods and sea surges expected. A quick Google revealed that upper and central South Island was due to be worst hit, which is where we were. It seemed odd, as the weather outside was lovely. But over the next three hours – we had to wait in line for three hours to pick up our campervan – the weather deteriorated and by the time we hit the road, it was raining. We decided to abandon our plans to go North and headed South instead. We picked an inland campsite in Rakaia Gorge. On the way down, we stopped off at a supermarket and stocked up on enough food to keep us going for at least three days – just in case we ended up stranded or the roads were closed.

I’d like to tell you what Rakai Gorge was like, but the truth is, I didn’t see much of it. By the time we arrived at the campsite, the rain was torrential and visibility poor.  The site was basic with no wifi and no electric hook up so we couldn’t find out what was happening with Cyclone Gita. All we could do was cook some food and try to keep warm. As soon as it got dark, we climbed into bed. Miraculously, we slept well, but after spending seven weeks in tropical temperatures, we woke up feeling the cold.  The weather was wet and windy but nothing worse (yet!) so we drove back to Christchurch to pick up some supplies.

The first shop we hit was a camping store where we stocked up on  waterproofs, thermal underwear and sleeping bags. David tracked down a cheap mobile phone for use in New Zealand and a couple of torches. Now we felt ready for Hurricane Gita! We went to a café and checked the latest news reports.

The news was not good.

It seemed that since we came into Christchurch, a state of emergency had been declared. It was expected to flood badly. Other things had got worse – flights were no longer coming into New Zealand and ferries between South and North island were cancelled. Tourists were being advised to seek shelter and keep off the roads.  Hearing all this, we left Christchurch swiftly and headed back to Rakaia Gorge for another night, dodging the odd flooded road. The site was looking worse for wear, with large areas of grass flooded and most of the other campers gone. Despite the new purchases we were still cold and still unable to find out what was going on. Overnight the campervan was battered and buffeted, but we woke up to find we were all in one piece.

It was still raining cats and dogs. What to do? Sit it out for another night or take the risk of driving further North to a campsite which might offer something more than a cold, wet night indoors?

We took the risk and headed North to Hanmer Springs. Hanmer Springs is a small town which is best known for its thermal springs. Arriving in Hanmer Springs, the terrible weather continued but with some improvements.  The campsite had a kitchen, which gave us somewhere reasonably warm to eat and cook. And there was wifi!  We could let our families know we were still alive. Best of all there was a pub within walking distance. It was warm, and they had live music and beer, so we found a table and settled in for the night.

The next morning we woke up to find that the rain had stopped – hallelujah! We checked news reports and found that the Cyclone had not caused as much damage as feared. A few roads were closed, and some rivers flooded but that was about it. We headed down to the hot springs and as soon as it opened, we were in. It was wonderful to lounge about in the slightly smelly sulphurous spa water, at temperatures of 38-40 c.  As well as the various pools, there were three ‘flume’ rides which we couldn’t resist. The weather steadily improved, and soon the sun came out, chasing our ‘Cyclone’ blues away. I think New Zealand might be okay after all…

 

Bondi Beach is an iconic destination for visitors to Australia – and yet, despite the fact that this is my third trip to Sydney, I’ve never been to Bondi before. Time to head out there. Unlike Watson’s Bay, you can’t reach Bondi by ferry.  Stefan suggested we catch the bus, but instead we decided to walk there. Google maps tells me, it’s only five kilometres, but five kilometres feels quite long when you’re walking in 30 c plus, especially when walking up hill!

Most of the walk took us through quiet residential streets, but the nicest section went through Cooper Park, a large Bushland reserve which has been a public park for over a hundred years. The path winds along an ancient natural creek which follows the line of a volcanic dyke which dates back to the Jurassic period. No dinosaurs in sight but plenty of wet and muddy dogs enjoying a cooling dip!

After an hour and a half, the houses began to give way to icecream parlours, funky cafes and organic supermarkets – welcome to Bondi! I can see why locals find it easy to lose a weekend in the Bondi Bubble. Soon, we could see the sea. First impressions? It’s not a very pretty town having been a working class suburb of Sydney until relatively recently. However, the long curved beach with fine white sand is lovely. David said it reminded him of Weymouth, but then, he always says that… There’s a wide grassy bank looking down over the beach which is dotted with people sunbathing and eating picnics. We joined them for a picnic.

Walking down to the beach, the promenade was lined with street art, including a memorial to the victims of the Bali bombing in 2002. 202 people died. I was impressed to see water fountains with refill points for water bottles all along the front. England, take note! It was time to hit the beach and brave the Bondi surf – not on surf boards, it looked far too rough for newbies like us. Again, I was impressed to find free changing rooms with showers and lockers for valuables.

Once in the water, I had no time to feel surprised by the force of the surf – as soon as I was in, I was knocked off my feet and tumbled under the waves. I got up and tried again, only to be knocked down again. David was game to go in again, but I was in wimp mode.  The rip tides at Bondi are fierce and I wasn’t going to take any chances.

Once we were dressed, we walked down the beach, watching the swimmers and, further along, the surfers. At the far end of the beach there’s a huge salt water swimming pool called Bondi Icebergs which is almost as iconic as the beach.

Above Icebergs, there’s a coastal walk which is one of the most popular walks in Sydney. It winds along the clifftop for 3.7 miles until it reaches Coogee Beach. We went about half way, passing the surfing beach, Tamara Beach until we reached Bronte Beach, a calm cove with a pretty ocean pool. We didn’t swim again, but hopped straight on a bus which took us up to Bondi Junction. From there it was a couple of kilometres easy stroll back to home sweet home, Double Bay.

The day wasn’t over. David had booked dinner in the Sydney tower at the 360 bar and restaurant. We didn’t do anything for Valentine’s Day so this was our ‘romantic’ evening out. We took a ferry into Circular Quay about 7 pm. Arriving at the building, we took a lift 50 floors up.  After a drink at the bar, we took our seat at the table.

The view was spectacular, and constantly changing – it’s a revolving restaurant.  We saw the sunset and then gradually the lights came on all over the city.  Okay, it was overpriced and a bit of a tourist trap but overall, it was pretty romantic!

 

 

Energy renewed, we set off for a day at the beach – destination, Watson’s Bay, to the North East of Double Bay. To get there, we took a ferry back to Circular Quay in the centre of Sydney, and then took a ferry back out past Double Bay to Watson’s Bay. Apparently, there used to be a direct connection from Double Bay to Watson’s Bay but it’s now been scrapped, boo! However, the trip to Circular Quay was not wasted as we took the opportunity to do some shopping in the city centre. I needed pants! I lost a pair in the wash in Sanur and another pair seemed to have vanished, so new pants were definitely called for.

After our shopping, we were keen to get back on the ferry and take in the air and the views of Sydney which never get old. We saw a seaplane take off and a catamaran zipped by.

Arriving at Watson’s Bay, we found a pretty, old fashioned looking beach front with a large park called Robertson Park at one end and a promenade at the other. There were a multitude of outlets selling fish and chips, all bearing the famous name ‘Doyles’ There were people enjoying lunch in Doyles’s takeaway and Doyles’s traditional restaurant on the front, but with the temperature standing at 30 c, I wasn’t tempted by hot, fried food. Instead, we wove our way through the backstreets, past pretty wrought iron balconied cottages, until we came to Camp Cove.

Camp Cove is a beautiful north east facing cove with a yellow sand and great views of Sydney harbour.  It is believed to be the first landing place for the first Governor of New South Wales Captain Arthur Phillip and a small party of marines in 1788. They were the first to call it Camp Cove. Today, we found numerous beach babes and surfer dudes enjoying a day at the beach. We ordered a salad and a homemade lemonade from a stall on the beach. This set us up for a walk known as the South Head Heritage Trail, a half a kilometre loop track around South Head.

The trail took us round the stunning coastline where we soaked up the views and spotted various signs of naval defences dotted along the coast. The trail took us past the Hornby Lighthouse and the Lighthouse Keeper’s cottage. The lighthouse was built after the wrecking of the Dunbar in 1858. Apparently, the first lighthouse keeper was the only survivor from the Dunbar. Today, the lighthouse is still in operation, but the lighthouse cottage looks in need of some TLC.

On the way back to the Cove, we headed down some steep steps to a secluded cove known as Lady Bay Beach. Today, it is one of three beaches in Sydney where cossies (Ozzie slang for swimming costumes) are optional. We threw caution to the wind and threw off our clothes! All part of living adventurously. And, as I discovered as we climbed back up the steps feeling suitably refreshed, it has the advantage that you don’t have to cart a wet costume around with you.   We got back to the ferry to find we had a half hour wait. Fortunately, there was an ice cream seller close at hand and a large spreading tree in Robertson Park to eat ice cream under.

 

It’s been twenty three years since I was last in Sydney, and after one and a half days, I’ve decided I love it as much as ever. There’s an energy and confidence which is irresistible. And then there’s the climate. It was 23 c when we touched down in  Sydney at 7 am, rising to 34 c in the afternoon – a little hot even for me! Today is a very pleasant 28 c with a cool breeze coming off the harbour and barely a cloud in the sky.

We’re staying at an Airbnb in Double Bay, one of the Southern beach suburbs. It’s a great place to be. Yesterday, we took a train from the airport to Central Quay (about half an hour) and then a ferry from there to Double Bay. The ferry ride is only fifteen minutes long, but it takes you past some of the iconic landmarks of Sydney: the Opera House, the Bridge, the Botanical Gardens.

After getting off the ferry at Double Bay Quay, it was five minutes walk to our new home, a ground floor apartment which belongs to Stefan, our lovely Airbnb host. Stefan is an Australian from Adelaide but he’s lived here for 25 years, so he knows the city well and he’s given us lots of tips. Yesterday afternoon (or ‘arvo’, as the Australians say), we were too tired to do much after our overnight flight from Bali, and feeling the heat. Stefan recommended we stick on our ‘bathers’ and check out the harbour swimming pool, known as the Murray Rose pool.

The Murray Rose pool is named after a famous Australian Olympic swimmer who came from Double Bay. It’s not a pool as such, but part of the harbour which has been turned into a swimming area and is separated off by a concrete wall.. According to Stefan, there are plenty of sharks in Sydney Harbour and not everyone who has swam in it has lived to tell the tale. The wall at the pool is actually a nice feature as you can walk all around the top, and jump off it into the water. I enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching the Australians at play. A couple of teenage girls were competing with each other to see who could do the fanciest dive/backflip/somersault from the wall. There were dads taking their kids for a swim after school, and officer workers arriving straight from work in lipstick and high heels.

After swimming, we did something we haven’t done for a long time – we went shopping! It turns out Double Bay is a very fancy suburb and it’s easier to pick up a sparkling evening gown or some fine lingerie than it is to buy a pint of milk. However, eventually, we found a supermarket. We’ve been eating restaurant food for weeks, which is great, but it was nice to be able to select our own food and cook it chez Stefan. I cooked a veggie chilli and served it with homemade guacamole, followed by a ‘rip snorter’ of a watermelon.  Stefan came in late from a tennis game and was happy to polish off the leftovers. Clearly he doesn’t mind eating vegetarian, or ‘Vejjo’ as the Ozzies say!

 

Half an hour off the coast of Sanur is an island called Nusa Lembongan. The first hurdle to cross once I’d decided to visit the island was choosing which boat to take. Things we take for granted in the U.K. such as lifejackets and life rafts are not fitted as standard here. Should I risk the small local boat and hope for a calm crossing or pay three times the price to an operator with a larger boat and a better safety record?

I opted for the latter and went for Rocky Cruises.  I’m glad I did – the sea outside the reef was surprisingly rough and a smaller boat would have struggled. Even so, the boat ride got off to an unusual start. We all had to roll up our trousers and wade out to the boat. This is because there’s no pier or jetty. However much you pay, there’s no getting round the fact – everyone has to wade. Fortunately, the crew carry the bags aboard . It’s quite a sight to see them load three suitcases onto their head and wade out into the sea.

My first sight of the landing beach at Jungut Batu was exciting. The sea was crystal clear and the beach was pure white sand. Once off the boat, we were met by Kecho and Endra, the staff from the villa we had rented on AirBnB. They shouldered our bags and lead us a short walk up the hill to the villa.

Villa Aman is positioned on a hill looking over the bay. It’s a bit more ‘high end’ than our usual choice – since we only have a couple of days before Oscar goes back to Japan, I wanted to make it special. There’s a ground floor with a pool and a deck. Upstairs, there’s an open plan living space with a jaw dropping view. As I type, I am looking across the bay to the East coast of Bali and beyond to Mount Agung. I am pleased to report that there’s no sign of volcanic activity!

Lebongan isn’t quite the getaway from it all island paradise I expected – infact, it’s surprisingly busy, with lots of restaurants and hotels and guesthouses. However, as soon as you get away from the main tourist areas, you see a different, more rural side to the island. Labongan is best known for its seaweed production.

As a tourist destination, the main attraction is the surfing. There are three main breaks, all of them out on the reef – Playgrounds, Lacerations and Shipwrecks. The names give a clue to the kind of surfing it is!  A bit beyond beginners like us, I think, but all the same, it’s great fun to sit and watch the surfers waiting to catch the wave. I’ve noticed a few boards flipping up into the air – ‘dinging’ your board seems to be an occupational hazard when you surf the reef.

Diving and snorkelling are also big draws.  Yesterday, David and I took a boat out to the neighbouring island of Nusa Penida and made two dives on the South of the island (Oscar opted to stay home as he was rather sunburnt!)  Like Manjangan Island where we did out PADI Open Water qualification, the underwater scenery is spectacular. Unfortunately, the water was too rough to dive on the North of the island, where we could have spotted Manta Rays, but we still had an excellent time. It was great to put the lessons we’d learnt on our PADI course into practice.

There are very few private cars on the island, but there plenty of scooters and a few jeeps which act like taxis. Last night, just before sunset, we took a jeep to Mushroom Beach, a gorgeous beach about ten minutes drive away. We went to a restaurant on the sand called Bali Hai. It was lovely to sit and watch the sun go down. It’s the second spectacular sunset we’ve seen since we got here. Whether it’s this island, or whether we are beginning to move out of rainy season, I don’t know, but this is the sunniest and driest part of our holiday on Bali.

Sadly, Oscar is catching the last ferry back to the mainland this afternoon and will fly back to Tokyo tonight (David and I are here ’til tomorrow). I know I’ll be sad when we wave him off from the beach, but at least I can console myself with the thought that we’ll always have Nusa Lembongan.

We have moved again – to Sanur, which is about 40 minutes drive away from Ubud on the South coast. Instead of staying in a homestay, we’ve got our own house which we rented through Airbnb. It’s a traditional Javanese style house known as a ‘Limason’. It’s constructed with reclaimed teak wood, which is over 100 years old, and has a stylish open plan living area and two bedrooms. ‘Why two bedrooms?’ I hear you ask? Because Oscar, our eldest son has come to stay! He’s teaching English as a foreign language in Tokyo. Tokyo’s not too far from Bali so we invited him to join us. I haven’t seen him for a year, so it’s a real treat to spend some time with him.

I wanted to come to Sanur, which has a reputation for being popular with the English. It was one of the first places on the island to be settled by Western tourists. It is well located, near to the main attractions but away from the crowds, and has a reputation of being ‘just right’ ie not too overdeveloped and not too quiet. I knew it had a nice beach with a five kilometre long beach promenade. However, my travel guide warns that it is sometimes referred to as ‘Snore’ –  because it’s a little bit dull.

Our house is on a little lane in a quiet – or quietish  – residential area. Where ever you are in Bali, there’s always the sound of cockerels crowing and scooters zipping by.  From here it’s a ten minute walk down a lane, across a busy high street, and then down a narrow alley to the beach.

The beach is the main attraction.  It’s a really pretty beach, with clean golden sand and lovely views across the sea to the island of Nusa Lembongen. To the left we can see the Eastern end of the island, and in the distance the foothills of Mount Agung. So far the mountain has been shrouded in cloud and we haven’t been able to see if it’s smoking.

 

 

The beach promenade is a real asset to the town, allowing people to walk or cycle from one end of the town  to the other away from the traffic. Some sections have been left natural and wild, other sections have been filled in by upscale hotels and restaurants. The restaurants are great and the views are lovely. The only downside is the prices, which are the highest we’ve seen.

Away from the restaurants and hotels, which tend to have security guards, there are quite a few hawkers about, trying to sell you stuff. David and Oscar are good at walking away, but I seem to struggle. It’s not that I want to buy anything, I just find it hard to say no.  I now have a sarong, a batik dressing gown and a beach dress. I wonder if I can get a T-shirt printed with the words, ‘No taxi, no lunch, no sarong’ !?

Yesterday afternoon, Oscar and I went for a swim and a snorkel. The sea bed is shallow and sandy and covered in sea grass. We didn’t see a single fish, but we did see a black and white sea snake, a green sea snake and a couple of star fish. Further out to sea, there’s a coral reef. The reef means the water in the bay is as flat as a mill pond. During the season, it’s a hot spot for kitesurfing and paddle boarding. Surfers come to surf off the reef.

This morning, the tide was right out and the sun was beating down. We found a table in the shade and ordered breakfast. There were several locals standing in the bay or even on the reef to fish. I watched them idly as I sipped my coffee. Swifts swooped overhead, catching the numerous bright green dragon flies which flit over the beach.

I don’t think Sanur is a ‘snore’ – I think it’s ‘just right’.

 

 

We have moved to Ubud, a Balinese town which is strongly associated with arts and culture. We are staying in another homestay, Mandia Bungalows, which is situated down a narrow alleys just off Monkey Forest Road. The set up is not dissimilar to our homestay in Permuteran –  a nice double room with a verandah outside, overlooking a garden – but with one crucial difference: we are smack bang in the middle of a busy town. Our quiet, almost rural feeling, family run homestay is hemmed in on all sides by modern, high rise buildings.

Such is the dual nature of Ubud. The streets throng with people and lined by hundreds of restaurants and shops selling everything from the usual tourist tat to handmade musical instruments and original artwork – but if you look beyond the road, you will see terraces of golden paddy fields, with women in traditional triangular hats harvesting the rice by hand. Ancient temples and traditional medicine practioners rub shoulders with coworking spaces and independent fashion labels.

In the spirit of Ubud, we decided to divide our day in two and visit Monkey Forest Sanctuary in the morning  and Agung Rai Museum of Art in the afternoon.

Monkey Forest Sanctuary wasn’t my first choice as I have to confess to being scared of monkeys, having been bitten by one once.  However, since it is just round the corner from our homestay, I agreed to give it a try.

I’m glad I did. It’s a beautiful park with a lot more going for it than just monkeys. There are over a hundred species of trees, many of them very old, and the park has some beautiful sculptures and an impressive temple.  And after hearing horror stories about how aggressive the monkeys are, it turns out that as long as you don’t bother them, they don’t bother you. Unless you’re carrying a plastic bag, in which case they’ll try to steal it. Or wearing a dress with a swirly skirt, in which case, they’ll have fun grabbing the dress.

There are wardens all over the park, making sure you don’t get in to trouble. I saw a Japanese woman get too close to a monkey with a baby whilst trying to take a photo. The monkey ran at her and she shrieked, which only made things worse. Thankfully, a warden intervened.

Other wardens are selling bananas to feed the monkeys with. You to hold the banana above your head and they climb on your head and take it. I personally thought this a bad idea as it encourages the monkeys to see tourists as potential food sources, but the park clearly makes money from it.

The baby monkeys were so sweet and I loved the way they cling onto their mums  –  but the best thing was watching the monkeys play in the water. I didn’t realise monkeys can swim until now. They swim really well, keeping their heads under water, and are fearless about diving from a great height.

Agung Rai Museum of Art was a few minutes further South from the Monkey Sanctuary. It is not only a Museum of Art but an arts centre with a variety of classes and cultural events on offer. The impressive buildings are made in the traditional Balinese style and scattered about a beautiful garden. When we entered the garden, a pair of musicians were playing on xylophones. The peaceful sound merged with the sound of flowing water – there are many water features dotted about the garden.

The art is based in the private collection of Mr and Mrs Agung Rai. Agung Rai is an important collector who devoted his life to the preservation of Balinese art and culture. There are several important works by Balinese and Javanese artists and also by foreign artists who made their home in Bali in the 1930’s and 1940’s and contributed hugely to the development of art in Bali.  These include the German primitivist painter Walter Spies. There is also some international contemporary work.

The ticket to the gallery includes a free glass of iced tea or coffee. As we made our way to the café, we spotted some photographs of Barrack Obama and family visiting the museum last year. Nice to know we’re in good company!

It is our last day in Permuteran, and I’m starting to realise what a special little place it is. The people are super friendly and will do anything to help you. There are no hawkers on the beach and prices tend to be fixed. The village community really make the effort to preserve the natural beauty of the place –  they’re setting an example which the rest of the island would do well to follow.

It wasn’t always like this. Before 2000,  Permuteran’s corals had nearly all died due to a combinatio of bleaching, high temperatures caused by global warming, and destructive fishing practices like reef bombing and use of cyanide. Then a conservation project was launched called the Biorock project. A number of artificial metal structures have been created and placed on the seabed. The structures have a light voltage current running through them which helps the coral to grow 5 to 7 times as fast. The structures are covered with an assortment of coral, some newly planted, others already well established.

It is heartening to see the assortment of fish and other marine life which have been attracted by the new reef.  You can snorkel round the ‘trail’, enjoying the fish and the coral, but also having fun working out what the structures are – I spotted a buddha, a bicycle, and a temple. A new structure goes in every year.

A Biorock centre provides education and guidance for visitors and school trips. It has a scheme to ‘adopt a baby coral’ – they plant it on one of the structures, and you receive a certificate. They’ll send you a video of your coral in situ and update you on how its doing!

 

The village has established a Marine Protected Area around the project and a community-based team enforce the ban on destructive fishing practices. It’s all been funded by a conservation tax on local businesses such as dive centres and restaurants, who benefit by the increased number of tourists –  and by visitor donations, of course.

A second conservation project further along the beach is a turtle hatchery and sanctuary for injured turtles. We went along to visit it and heard how locals bring them the eggs and are paid for them.  Previously, eggs were often dug up and eaten or given as offerings at the temple.  The eggs are buried in sand and then hatched out.

We saw a couple of tanks full of cute little baby turtles swimming about. Some were only a week old and the others were three months. There were also some full sized turtles which had been rescued from fishermen’s nets. In the past, these turtles would have been eaten, but now the fishermen bring them to the Sanctuary and receive a cash sum for their trouble.  Visitors to the Sanctuary are invited to release a baby turtle in return for a donation of 100,000 rupees (around a fiver)  to the sanctuary.  You can release a big one, too, but it’ll cost more. I think it’s a great idea – although cynical Dave did wonder if the fishermen sit and wait for the turtles to be released and then go and catch them again!

 

There was one huge Hawksbill turtle which is known as the ‘caretaker’ of the Sanctuary. Sadly,  the staff said there are no plans to release him as he was caught and kept as a pet for the first six years of his life until he got so big that the family brought him to the Sanctuary. He doesn’t have the skills to survive in the wild.

David and I went along this morning to release a baby  ‘Olive Ridley’ turtle. We called him ‘Bean 2’ in honour of our dog, Bean. We took him down to the sand and watched him go down to the water, turn round and come back up the beach again. In the end, I waded knee deep and released him in the sea. He perked up and swam away vigorously. Good luck out there, Bean 2!

This afternoon, we went out for a snorkel, and David was lucky enough to spot an adult Hawksbill grazing on the bottom.  I wonder if he was born at the Turtle Sanctuary…?

 

 

The tiny, uninhabited island of Menjangan is situated in the protected marine reserve of Bali Barat National Park. It is known to be one of Indonesia’s best dive sights. Although it is just off Bali, it is actually a part of Java. To get there from Permuteran, we drove 7 or 8 kilometres to a small inlet and then took a boat from there.

It was a cloudy day and as soon as we got out of the protected bay area, we found ourselves heading into very rough waters. The boat, which was very flat and made from wood, was soon shipping water. We were relieved when the Captain decided it was too dangerous to go any further.

The next day, we tried again. This time, success! The sea was calm with not a wave in sight. We dived off a ledge to a depth of 12 metres and were treated to a tour of an incredibly diverse and pristine coral garden. Of course, there were lots of fish, too, often passing in big shoals, but the plant life was really the star with giant clams and massive sea fans (not sure ‘sea fan’ is a technical term but it’s the best I can come up with!)  A ‘Balinese’ style packed lunch was provided –  veggie fried rice and a couple of Rambutan, if you haven’t tried them, you must – they are delicious. A spiky red ball which peels away easily to reveal a single white fruit, not unlike a lychee, which we ate sitting round on the beach. In the afternoon, we moved round the island and did another, equally good dive.

As soon as we got back to Permuteran, we signed up to complete our PADI open water certificate. Our teacher was a lovely, laid back local called Kadek Suparma from YOS dive in Permuteran. For those of you who read our blog in Martinique, you may recall that we had to abandon our PADI diving course in Grand Anse after David had problems with his ears.

The following day, we went into the shallow waters off the beach at Permuteran with Kadek and did a few training exercises designed to up our confidence in the water. As a contact lens wearer, I was nervous about filling my mask up with water and then blowing it clear again, but I kept my eyes squeezed shut and it went okay. That evening, we spent a few hours swotting up on the diving theory, in preparation for an exam at the end of the course. It was all a bit ‘sciencey’ for me, with lots of charts and tables to learn, and I’m nervous I’m going to mess it up.

The next day, we set off for Mengangan Island again, and did our final two dives. In the morning we went down to 18 metres, which is the deepest we are allowed to go at this stage in our training. Unfortunately the visibility was poor, and we didn’t get such a good view of the coral. However, I found I was much more confident about moving around under the water and was starting to enjoy the sensation of weightlessness and stop worrying all the time that my eardrums/lungs are going to burst!

During our picnic lunch, we discovered what Menjangan means – deer. The island is home to the rare Java rusan deer. Apart from the deer, the island is uninhabited – except for sixteen Hindu monks. We saw a few deer but we didn’t see any monks.

After the dive, it was back to the classroom, to do our exam. David did better than me – and delighted in rubbing my nose in it, as usual – but happily we both passed!

It’s official., as of today, we’re qualified PADI open water divers – yay! We plan to do  some more diving as we continue our travels.

P.S. A second achievement of the day – we’ve completed Dry January without touching a drop!