Beautiful Bali

OK, I have been lazy. We arrived in Sydney 3 and a half weeks ago and still no blog - actually, I haven't been lazy, just busy. We have sorted a nice studio apartment in the centre of town and have both been working for a fortnight - me for a funky little ad agency, and Kerri for TV company ABC.

So what happened in Bali? Well I'm not sure I can remember, so I'll keep this brief. Bali is stunning, it is by far the most artistic country we have been to so far. All the hotels, restaurants, bars and even peoples homes are decked out with an abundance of stone carvings, beautiful paintings and intricately carved furniture. This is yet another country full of charming people, genuinely pleased to see you.

Our schedule here was a lot less hectic than it has been in other countries. By now we had really had enough of constantly moving around and so quite fancied going to 2 or 3 places and just chilling out for a month. We started in Kuta, the main package resort and despite what other "travellers" had told us, we enjoyed it immensely. Rows of tat shops, surf shops, sports bars and nightclubs all on our doorstep, a decent swimming pool at our resort and outstanding restaurants everywhere - all embarrassingly cheap. We lost a week here.

We then moved on to Ubud, the cultural centre of Bali. Less nightclubs, more restaurants - we somehow did another week here!. Ubud is home to the artists that produce all of Bali's acclaimed art work. We spent a small fortune on paintings, and then another fortune sending them home! We also had a day out that took us to a temple that refused me entry until I put on a skirt, a volcano that was great for 15 minutes until the clouds completely surrounded us and a traditional Barong dance display, my impression of which can be added to the list of things that causes Kerri to inexplicably wet herself.

It was in Ubud, one drunken night, that Kerri uttered the now immortal words: "Careful Frank, there's a ditch here........ Oh, no there isn't, it's ok."

The next thing I saw was her lose about 3 feet in height. Closer inspection revealed that in fact there was a ditch, and Kerri was now in it - up to her knees in undefined yet incredibly smelly waste. Perhaps you had to be there.

Anyway, on we went to Lombok, the next island along to the east. We stayed here a night before heading on to the Gili Islands, and more specifically Gili Trawangan - legendary party island. We stayed another week here and watching films by day and getting pissed by night. We even made a few friends - yes, I know that's amazing but it was a very small island.

Next was the bit I'd been looking forward to. We hooked up with Putu, the diving instructor that I did a little work for before I left, and cashed in my credit on Kerri doing her Open Water course - with mixed results.

After a nervous start Kerri did two great dives with the instructor, but freaked out on the third. Nobody could convince her to try again, not even the charismatic Wally, beer drinking, dope smoking local celebrity and author of "Diving Bali", whose comforting volley revolved around "Aww maaaan, that's f**king shite maaaan, just f**king do it maaan.".

Oddly, such words of wisdom had little affect and so Kerri opted out. At least she can say she has dived the USS Liberty, which to this day is probably the best dive site I've ever been to.

So then it was back to Kuta for a few days of last minute lounging before heading off to the relative arctic environment of Sydney. Like I say, we have definitely settled in now - we even know the days and times of our favourite TV shows! Being back in the work groove means that the blog is going on hold for a while.

Come back in July for the World Cup Special....