Bitter disappointment

I can’t believe that we have been here two days now and I haven’t seen a kangaroo yet. Nor a bush baby, koala or any other marsupials. No dingo’s or possums, not even an Aborigine; just trees like ours, streets like ours, dogs, cats and birds, just like ours. I was expecting it to be different over here. Mind you, on the up side, they do seem to like a drink or two.

We got back from the supermarket shopping yesterday at about five and decided to have an early drink and an early night again as we were to drive into Melbourne In the morning. Just as we settled down we heard a shout from the front door; it was Kerry popping in from work to see if we were ok. Kerry is friends with Arlene and used to work with her so Claire wasted no time finding out everyone’s secrets. We had just got going when Jeremy came back from work with a large pizza so the girls shared that with him while I got everyone another drink.

Not sure what time we got to bed but we both felt rough this morning. We barely managed to get into Melbourne until afternoon. We had a quick drink in the Waterside Hotel but the drinks are so expensive compared to home. We had a walk along the river by the park and found a little Indian place to eat where you get three curries and rice for about £3.50, a little under the price of a drink. We saw a few more skyscrapers and headed back to the car. I don’t think its worth driving into Melbourne as you have traffic lights the whole way there, heavy traffic, it costs over $12 for your days etag and another $18 to park for 2 hours; If you go on the train its about $12 for the pair of us and probably takes the same time and you don’t pay for parking by the hour; no worries!

I think tomorrows plan will be to drive The Great Ocean Road so not sure if we will have wi-fi available to us. We expect to be gone for a few days, maybe stopping on the road one night and one or two nights in Adelaide and maybe stopping another night on the way back.

First Impressions

It was a long tiring flight from Bali to Melbourne with not much sleep and we arrived grumpy and dishevelled for our first trip to Oz. Arlene had emailed some directions which thankfully Phil had the foresight to printout before we left the UK. I think we did well to navigate our way from the airport on the shuttle to the city and then find the right train to Berwick. The train ride was a good hour long and it seemed to stop at every station. It was difficult not to go to sleep but we didn’t dare in case we missed our stop. When we got off at Berwick, Phil phoned Arlene’s lodger to come and pick up. Luckily Jeremy was awake and didn’t have to start his shift until 2pm.

I have to say I was a little surprised to see Jeremy’s dreadlocks wrapped up in his woollen hat which he seems to wear all the time. Arlene tells us he is 31 but he looks so young. Never mind, he seems nice enough and was happy enough to show us around the house and point out various bits and pieces. He also went with us to the gas station and showed Phil how to pump in the LPG because he hadn’t done this before. After we dropped J off, we went and found some lunch and went to Aldi’s for some food shopping. Not sure it was such a good idea to drive because we were knackered but we didn’t have any mishaps. The sat nav decided to stop working and we had a bit of a struggle getting back to Arlene’s house but we managed in the end.

I unpacked and Phil sat down to read the massive instruction manual that Arlene had done for us. She’ also left us some wine and chocolates and some mince pies which Phil was particularly pleased with. Whilst Phil settled down with his reading material I had a quick clean of the kitchen and a tidy up. The house was tidy enough but I’m a bit anal with cleaning and couldn’t resist myself. I hope Jeremy didn’t mind, I did say to him this morning to ask me if he couldn’t find anything! He seemed chilled, and besides I don’t mind doing it, its second nature to me. We didn’t bother with supper but had some wine and settled in front of the TV. We decided it best to stay awake for as long as possible and in the end we hit the sack at 8.30pm.

Our home for the next 6 weeks is a 4 bed modern bungalow on Piermont Drive on a rather modern estate on the outskirts of Berwick. It is massive compared to our modest 3 bed in Milton Keynes. Our car (well ours for the next 6 weeks) is a white automatic Ford Falcon which seems to drive easily enough. Glad I’m not driver in Oz though, it’s bad enough in my little Ford KA in Milton Keynes We have the main bedroom with an en-suite. Just outside our bedroom there is a lounge which is the lounge that we will use. The kitchen cum-kitchen diner is massive and the main guest room is down the corridor by Jeremy’s bedroom. It’s comfortable and modern although I would say my own style is perhaps more contemporary. Each to his own though and we are happy enough with the swap. Glad I’m not driver in Oz though, it’s bad enough in my little Ford KA in Milton Keynes. Not sure how it is on the other side of the deal. Emma emailed to say that Arlene arrived earlier than expected; she gave her a tour round of our house and then Arlene and her mum and son left half an hour later and went back to Stoke which is where Arlene’s mum lives. Phil has emailed to ask if everything was okay but we haven’t heard anything back yet. No news is good news or perhaps just plain old jet lag. We tend to forget that normal people aren’t like us and don’t have the need to log on every few hours!

Needless to say, we slept like logs and didn’t get up until nearly 10 o’clock. Phil did his blog and by the time we’d had breakfast and tidied up it was nearly midday. The plan was to drive to Melbourne but we decided it was too late and decided to explore Berwick some more. We picked up from the post office, an eTAG ticket that apparently you need when you drive into Melbourne. I got another lonely planet Australia guide, we had one but I lost it on the plane out. Phil got some new aftershave and we got a few more bits from Woolworth’s. The lady in the bookshop gave me directions to get to the big shopping centre at Fountain Gate. Somehow we managed to find our way without getting lost. The centre was huge, they had a big K-Mart and I managed to get a new Bilabong plain black bikini and beach towel. Phil was grumbling the whole time. The sat nav went AWOL on the way back and whilst we can now easily navigate our way back out of the centre of Berwick to our estate, finding the house is not so easy and it took us at least half an hour to find our street. Also the journey home wasn’t without incident. We were just about to turn right into our estate (not sure what it’s called, something Boulevard) when half a tree dropped on our car roof. It made a real thud and I was surprised by the branch, because it was huge. Sure the winds were up but not of a monsoon type. Jeremy was home when we eventually found no 44 and just about to go out and start his 4pm shift. Phil offered to give him a lift but he’d already called a taxi. I’ve yet to see Jeremy without his brown woollen hat but I guess he has to take it off when he’s cooking at work?

First impressions of Melbourne and Australia I hear you ask? Well it’s too soon to say. When we got to Berwick station and were waiting for old Jeremy to turn up, Phil said he was disappointed and that it all seemed like England, same roads, same greenery, and same birds. I wondered what he expected; Skippy the kangaroo hopping along the rail track, surely not?? In the short time and brief shopping trips that we have done, we are finding Oz expensive. Some things are the same back at home but clothes and groceries generally are more expensive that in the UK. Maybe we are not going to the right places or maybe we are just plain tight? The weather was bright and sunny in Melbourne when we landed, if a little chilly after the highs in Bali but the afternoon sunshine was lovely. Today started out bright, we both were out in shorts and t-shirts but it has gone cloudy as the day has gone on and now the sky has turned grey and it’s windy. Still I’m sure it’s a whole lot warmer here than it is at home. We need to see more and do more before we make any kind of serious judgement about Australia but time is on our side and time is something we have thank god.

Last night Phil marinated some chicken for the BBQ which we had with some new potatoes and salad washed down with a few glasses of Chardonnay. It was cloudy but warm. I managed to get a classical music channel on the TV and Phil couldn’t change it over so we had a very civilised evening, most unusual for me and Phil. Well the evening started civilised but it didn’t end that way. After speaking to Harriet on Skype Kerry, Arlene’s best buddy dropped by to see how we were. She was a scream and several glasses of wine later and then Jeremy came home with pizza and well I don’t remember going to bed! Today we’re meant to be off to see the city of Melbourne which I am slightly worried about. Not only do we have we had to navigate the city centre but also the trams and the parking. Its nearly 10am Melbourne time and Phil is still fast asleep snoring so maybe we should change plans or take the train into the city? The city is fine for one day but if the truth be known I’m a beach bum at heart.

Stay tuned, as they say, (not sure who) the best is yet to come! At least that’s what Phil tells me…….

Bearbrass, Australia’s favourite city

Melbourne was founded in 1835, 47 years after the European settlement of Australia and was originally called Bearbrass. It was renamed Melbourne in 1837 in honour of William Lamb, 2nd viscount Melbourne and the United Kingdoms Prime Minister. During the gold rush in the 1850’s, it was transformed into one of the world’s largest and wealthiest cities. They must have found the gold then. Melbourne is the capitol of Victoria.

Before the European settlers, the area was occupied by three tribes, Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong who had settled here up to 40,000 years earlier. Following the gold rush the population increased massively because of migration, mainly from Ireland and China whilst the indigenous population collapsed from about 20,000 to less than 800 mainly due to the introduction of smallpox. By the 1880’s Melbourne became the richest city in the world and the second largest, next to London in the British Empire. By the 1990’s Melbourne was in freefall when the Australian economic depression culminated in 1993 with the Australian banking crisis. Not much change there then, with all this boom and bust the world over. Sydney overtook Melbourne in the 1930’s in size but Melbourne built the biggest tram network in the world.

The Australian Dollar is the currency all over Australia and when I bought mine it was probably the lowest exchange rate in history at 1.78AUD per pound. When I first joined the exchange website you got 2.31 per pound which soon became 2 to 1 and it hasn’t stopped dropping since. I guess it won’t be long before it overtakes the US Dollar.

There is a large China Town in Melbourne where the main industry is, yes you guessed it, food.

We set off from the Parrot at about 8pm in a regular taxi with a meter; very cheap, only 72000Rupias (£4.60). Maybe we should have taken more taxis? It went fairly smoothly at the airport except that we had to pay another 150,000 Rupias each to leave the country; what a rip off, $US50 on the way in and £20 on the way out. I had only just drawn out half a million Rupias at the airport and now only had 200,000 left. As we were walking through into the final check where the gates and duty free areas are, we were offered to go into an executive lounge for our gate. They wanted 100,000 Rupias each but said that all your drinks and food was free; also you didn’t have to go into the gate until they were actually boarding which cuts out about 45 minutes. I had exactly the money they wanted for the two of us and thought, how much could you buy for 200,000 Rupias in an international airport? I’m really pleased that we went for it as it was so much better than sitting in the normal areas and Claire could drink wine to her hearts content; I did have a couple of beers myself. You could help yourself to peanuts, cookies, mini burgers, fried rice and noodles etc. to your hearts content. I think we got our £12.70’s worth.

We got very little sleep and found the skybus easily into Melbourne then transferred to the train station where I got a ticket to Berwick where we were met by Jeremy, a white chef with dreadlocks and is lodging in Arlene’s house. He was very nice and explained the way back to the house as we went and where places of interest were. We got back, unpacked and had a cup of coffee. Jeremy explained to me how to fill the car up with petrol and gas as it was empty in both. The car has been converted to run on LPG so there is a separate filler cap next to the original one. When it was time for Jeremy to go into Berwick to start his days work as a chef, we gave him a lift in so he could come wit us to the petrol station and be with me when I filled up for the first time. No problems, we dropped him off and drove off to look for lunch. We ate at Moods which was very nice, with huge portions but seemed to me very expensive; I hope there are some cheaper places around otherwise we wont get out much. We even found an Aldi and Woolworth’s where we stocked up with supplies and headed off home. I couldn’t get my new satnav to work but Claire, somehow remembered roughly where we lived and we found it eventually. I opened the remote garage door and drove in, stopped the engine and examined the damned satnav. Pressed two buttons and it said,” You have reached your destination” in a very annoying Australian accent.

Little Bali Big Bali

For a little Island Bali has a lot to offer and see and in our week here we have barely scratched the surface. Even if we were only talking about the restaurants in Sanur, an average tourist town, we could not give an overall view; all we can do is tell of our few experiences that we have had this week. Of all the places we have eaten in our two favourites for food are Café Aladdin where big John from Perth resides around the centre of Sanur and Café Kesuma at the very north end of the promenade where Claire hand wrote her blog. We had an easy day there yesterday arriving for breakfast, reading in the sun and finishing with lunch where Claire sampled the Snapper. A bargain at 7000 Rupias for 100g (47p). In these two places, the food was always cooked fresh and was always tasty. We enjoyed the Wicked Parrot for its convenience, entertainment and cheap wine and we spent quite a lot of time in JJ’s which had cheap drinks but always empty. Initially, Claire got on with Deli, the little lady that has worked there for the last 4 years but the deceit and re heated food got the better of us. They did present their food well like this house table dish I can’t remember the name of but it came out within 5 minutes of ordering it and tasted like it was yesterdays leftovers.

The Parrot does fabulous fruit for breakfast and have free wi-fi which was so convenient for us and a nice way to start the morning over a fresh Bali coffee. The fruit over here is as good as in the Caribbean and there are so many that I have never seen before, it seems they can grow anything they like here even lettuce, cucumber, parsley and tomato for garnishes. Sanur itself has at least 3 Paul Smith shops and from the look of the clothes they are genuine. I grew up with Paul Smith whose first shop was 15 miles away in Nottingham. If I saved up for a while I could maybe afford a tie or pair of socks but always liked to brows. There is a little art shop in-between JJ’s and Aladdin’s that always amused me having different versions of the Mona Lisa outside on different days as the mood took them.

Whilst sunbathing on our last day the wind got up a little and a strange sound started. We couldn’t work it out to start with; it sounded like one of those Aboriginal things that they whirl around their heads which makes that spooky humming sound. I think they use them to communicate over long distances as the sound seems to carry well. It was almost a rhythm with its own beat and chorus and I found my leg wiggling to it as I read. I went off to hunt it down and found a windmill thing mounted on a long bamboo pole. I walked over, took a picture of it and went it to investigate further as I could see more in the distance. I thought maybe they were generating their own power but could see no wires. Apparently, they are of no use other than a hobby that has caught on. I liked them but most hated the noise that they made.

After lunch we started our long, hot, exhausting hour walk back along the Promenade. Claire laughed when I first called it a promenade saying, “It’s not Brighton you know”. We have noticed that the last few days seem to be getting more and more humid; I suppose that its getting close to the monsoon which starts here in December; its December today, let’s go quick. On our way back we noticed, first dozens of people, sitting under the shade of trees or whatever they could find. The crowds got bigger the further we walked and they all seemed to be in their Sunday best on a Monday. We soon found out why when we came to a clearing with hundreds of people there; it was the cremation of a local man. He must have been well known, I have never seen such crowds.



The people from Bali all seem to understand and speak very good English until you order in a restaurant that is. I never seem to get what I order while Claire always does; maybe they don't speak Melton Mowbray? They are very friendly here and even the touts are quite easy to dismiss, they don’t follow you for an hour like in Goa. The thing that puts me off the most is the busy roads, especially between here and Kuta; maybe if were to have ventured inland to the mountains it would have been easier going and a bit greener as the tour guide promised. I would definitely come back to Bali if it was a little closer but the long journey puts me off a holiday here for just Bali's sake. Maybe if we did another swap in Australia again we could visit; but then again why not visit somewhere else that we have never been? ? We never did get our boat trip as the prices were too high for us on such a long holiday; they seem to want around $US79 each for a day trip. However, if we can find a cheap trip for an hour or two today we might just do it as we don’t have to leave until about 8pm.



We did get chance to do a glass bottom boat trip but the trip to Lombok was too expensive. We had about an hour along our coral reef where the waves break. The pictures didn’t come out too good but it was good to see anyway. We had lunch at the hotel next to our and it was fine, then we spent the afternoon reading and relaxing by our pool. In the evening we went out for a drink and had a power cut so headed back to the Parrot where they have a newly installed generator and had our final snack.

It always happens like that doesn’t it? Last night and we met William from Scotland who retired early to Bali 5 months ago. Unfortunately his partner died shortly afterwards but Bill decided to stay anyway. Some of his friends joined us and we all had a great time and it was a shame when we had to go. Good luck Bill, hope your luck changes!



The things I will remember the most, unfortunately Claire missed, the spectacular views and the monkey temples in the Bukit Peninsula and it was a lovely drive with less traffic than I have seen anywhere else. You must come on the bike with me next time Claire; if there ever is a next time!

Bye Bye Bali

On the eve of our last night in Bali, I thought I’d better tear myself away from my sun-bed, brush the sand out of my bikini bottoms and share some of my thoughts about this delightful island. It gives Phil a break from the laptop and gives you a break also! Only joking, he’s done a sterling job and I think aside from the ‘Phil’ jokes that only he understands, a good part is interesting to others apart from us. Let’s hope so anyway!



Bali is everything I thought it would be, plus some more and I’m certainly not disappointed. I think Rashmi and Steve & Jan B would particularly enjoy Bali after Goa, but in fact, any visitor to the island could not fail to enjoy it. I had anticipated that it would be much like Goa and I was going to start out comparing the two but they are worlds apart so I’m not even going to try. We’ve only dipped our toes into a little of Bali over this past week, okay maybe more than dipped, perhaps we’ve gone up to our ankles, but I can only make judgement on what we’ve experienced in the limited time that we’ve spent here. After all, I’ve only walked for 5 hours, sunbathed for 8, biked for 6 hours and we’ve only stayed here for 7 nights and eight days. There are a couple of things that I don’t like about Bali but I’ll come to these later on.

Our hotel The Gryia Santrian www.santrain.com is a well lived in hotel and perfect and for the likes of Phil and me. We have a garden room which is the cheapest room you can get for your money. Certainly not 5 stars but the pool is great, it’s right by the sea, nothing is too much for the staff and everywhere is kept spotlessly clean. The room is more than adequate; we have a TV, a kettle, a fridge and a continuous supply of electricity and hot water. What more could a girl want? There are many other hotels along this stretch of coast including Sanur Beach and The Hyatt, we’ve dipped in a few and from what I can tell, without delving too deeply, Phil has chosen the best. After our experiences in Goa, this hotel is pure luxury for us. What’s nicest of all, is that we’re all middle aged, it’s not a young back-packer age set, so thank god we don’t stand out like a pair of wrinkly geriatrics. There are lots of German guests, a fair share of Australians, a smattering of French and Dutch and mercifully only a few English. Me and Phil unsurprisingly get taken for Germans which is probably down to the fact that Phil is half German and I have bleached hair.

Being a passenger on the motorbike wasn’t a good experience for me. After many hours going pavilion with Phil in Goa, spending many happy hours driving down pot-holed crumbling roads, winding round the paddy fields in Goa dodging holy cows and wild buffalo, you’d think the highways of Bali would be a piss in the park? You were wrong, it was my worst nightmare!!! Okay, the roads are better here than in Goa, they even have traffic lights but the volume of traffic is what makes it so scary. I went out 2 days with Phil on the bike but that was already too much for my high blood pressure. Phil tried to bully me into going out with him the last 2 days of hire by calling me a “woos”. I maybe many things, but woos I aint. Even the time when we were in Koh Samui when he made me get off the bike because it wouldn’t get up the hill with both our weights and being chased by wild dogs and slipped 20 feet down in the undergrowth, clinging onto wet roots for dear life was a better option than 2 more days on the bike.

We’ve found things cheap in Bali compared to India, again I shouldn’t compare because its not fair; prices are cheaper here than in Europe but you’ve got to search hard for the best prices. You can call me cheap but we’re not here for a normal holiday and have to stick to the budget. For example, the local laundry is half the price as the hotel. Beach restaurants or shacks as I call them can be just as expensive as the hotels but you’ve got to walk to find the best value for money. Yesterday we had a long walk, right of the hotel and all the way to the end of the path. We found a lovely local Balinese shack where we had a couple of beers and some lovely prawn and avocado salads, all for around £6. Only downside was, it took an hour to walk there and an hour to get back to the hotel.

Every dish I've tasted in Bali has been edible.  I've been a little bit disappointed with some of the Balinese food but mainly they have been toned down for the tourists.. The few Bali ‘tourist’ dishes that we have sampled seem to be rice with chicken or fish in a coconut or peanut sauce. They are tasty but again, a mish-cum mash of Japanese & Chinese with a hint of Thai. The noodles are good but the worst thing about the menus is the amount and influence of western food. It’s a shame but I guess they cater for the masses. If we were brave enough we’d taste the food from the wagons on the beaches, but although they would be cheap as chips, they look so unappetising, I would rather starve. I experienced a little taste of ‘Bali Belly’ in the first few days but I think this was down to too much beer and not enough water. Dehydration as apposed to food poisoning.  


The local beer in Bali is called Bingtang and it’s very good to drink especially when its ice cold. The only trouble is 2 pints for me and I’m as bloated as a Buddha. They do have a local wine called Hatten but it’s not so cheap at £3.50 a glass. I’d be more than happy with a G&T but spirits are even more expensive than the wine. Guess it’s because it’s imported?


For some reason we can’t make calls or access voicemails from our UK mobile phones. We can make and receive texts but these aren’t cheap at around 40 pence per text. I’ve tried to phone T-mobile on 150 but to no avail and I think both phones are blocked. We are PAY-AS-YOU-GO customers so I’m not sure what the problem is. If anyone has an idea how to sort us out than I would be more than wholly grateful. We don’t intend to use them much but it’s nice to have in an emergency from home. I am thinking if the worst comes to the worst, than we will have to try and forward our calls to a UK mobile number. Any volunteers???

The sun is vicious in Bali and I have fallen a victim even though I have only laid out for a total of 8 hours in 7 days. The many Germans guests bag the sun beds by 8am and lay out from dawn to dust. They must have skins of leather. Our lovely Australian neighbours across the way, commented on my burnt skin but with English skin you have to go pink before you go bronze and boy have I been so careful. Or at least I thought I had, only 1 and a half hours and my 10 year old battered bikini bottoms had ridden up my bum crack without me realising and exposed, my white bum cheeks. I didn’t realise the damage until I came back to the room and felt the damage when I tried to sit down on the wicker chair (wicker chair no cushion). OOUCH!! So bad was the burn I may as well have been wearing a thong. Don’t even go there, it’s not even a pretty thought let alone a pretty sight. Safe to say, a lesson learnt! I shall persevere with the tan though, albeit gently as I don’t want to turn up in Oz as a white English Pom, but that said, a red English Pom would be even worse!!

The only thing I don’t like about Bali is the persistent touts that harass you everywhere you turn. Turn left or right on the beaches and even before you get out of the hotel grounds, they are upon you just like a bunch of hungry locusts. I can’t say I blame them though, tourism is 50% of their livelihoods but even so, it is enough to get a girl down. The constant questions of “You want transport?” or “You want boat with glass bottom?” and “I give you massage (to me) or I give you massage big boss to Phil” 50 times in as much time as it takes you to walk 50 metres is FRUSTRATING. Initially I was tempted to tell them where to go but the locals are so beautiful and so charming and it’s not aggressive that you can’t bring yourself to do it. Instead I reply “thank you but no thank you” to which the reply you normally get is “okay, maybe later, maybe tomorrow, I give you my card”. You are nobody in Bali unless you have a card. This makes me an official ‘nobody’. Phil doesn’t do so well as me on the streets although he has got better of late. In the early days he stops and gives a very long explanation as to why he doesn’t want a taxi, massage or boat with a glass bottom. And even then he comes away promising them, the locals, with a “maybe another day”. Which just gets their hopes up and we have to go through it all again when they see us the next times we pass them.


To sum up, Bali is a great island to come on holiday. The locals are charming, young girls and boys are beautiful and charming with the biggest smiles. Search and search again for the local dishes and prices, it is worth it. If it were me coming for a 2 week break, my advice would be don’t risk your life on a bike, take a taxi for 20 US dollars and do the volcano, check out the temple and do a boat trip. I haven’t said much about the bike trip to KUTA, but well, I wouldn’t bother, unless that is you’re staying in Sanur and are under 25. One half an hour in Kuta was enough for me. Bali though is a great place and you must come and see it for yourselves.


Tomorrow we set sail (or flight more aptly) for Australia. We are ready for Australia but I wonder, is Australia ready for us????.