Week 42 - Indonesia and Australia
Sunday was another quiet day. It's not that there's a lack of things to do around Bedugul, we're just happy at this beautiful villa and enjoying taking walks in the surrounding countryside. I take mine on my own in the morning, then we have been taking a family walk together after breakfast. It clouds up in the afternoon and sometimes rains a little. We really stocked up at the grocery on the way here so there's no reason to go out, and I'm enjoying cooking since I have good ingredients to work with and the weather isn't as hot. Interestingly, though we had no plans to go anywhere Sunday, and had booked a taxi already for a day trip Monday, and to the airport on Wednesday, a random taxi driver we'd never seen before showed up Sunday morning to see if we wanted to go anywhere, saying his "friend" said we asked for a ride. I found that mildly annoying.
Our only worry is that J's Australian visa has not been approved. It's an online application, he researched it and thought that as long as we did it a couple days ahead it would be fine. The kids and mine went through immediately, but J's is still pending. He's pretty stressed about it. I love him dearly, but we've been together pretty much nonstop since March 2020, and I won't be too upset if the kids and I have to go on to Australia ahead of him. He would probably enjoy the time alone in Bali staying in a hotel and eating at restaurants every night anyway. The only thing is he'll have to renew his Indonesian visa since it expires the day after we leave. So regardless, we'll all check out of the bungalow together Wednesday morning and go to Denpasar, then we'll either go on to Australia together or the kids and I will go and J will start the visa extension process and follow us when his Australian visa comes through.
Another interesting thing about Sunday was the Hindu chanting continuously broadcast from the temple, similar to the continuous Muslim prayers during Ramadan in Lombok. It didn't go all night, but from about noon to 8:00 pm. Apparently Hindus and Christians here started broadcasting prayers three times a day in the early 2000s, I guess kind of as a way to assert their identity in a predominantly Muslim country. I couldn't find anything on the continuous prayer broadcasts though. There is a Hindu holiday going on right now, so that could be why. I wonder also if it's something that started during the height of COVID when people couldn't gather for holidays and is just still happening for those who still aren't able to gather. I'm not annoyed by it, just curious. J is annoyed and pretty much over it.
Monday was a school/experience day. We went to a Hindu temple on the lake.
It was beautiful, but there weren't any signs or guides that explained what we were actually looking at. There were several signs that said "selfie spot," so obviously they were expecting tourists, but nothing to really help us understand Hinduism. We did get to take a boat ride around the lake though.
Next stop was a botanical garden, which turned out to be kind of disappointing. It's huge, but there wasn't much in the way of maps or signs to help us find specific plants.
This was near the entrance, but no information on where to find the actual plants. There was supposed to be a treetop adventure area with zip lines and things like that, which we thought S would like, but it was abandoned and dismantled.
I guess a casualty of COVID era. He was decent about the disappointment. We walked around a little more after that, but weren't really able to find much to see so we came back to our villa for lunch and our regular school work, and spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing and enjoying the view.
Tuesday was for school, packing and planning. J is still working on his visa, the original application was denied, we're not sure why, and he was giving another more detailed form to fill out. He also realized he can't renew his Indonesian visa because you have to start that process ten days before it expires. So if he can't go to Australia with us he'll go to Singapore where he can stay without a visa for up to 90 days and can enter without a PCR. He should have no trouble getting a flight to Australia from there once his papers are in order. Meanwhile, I enjoyed a last morning walk in the fields and forest on the mountain.
I was looking for a temple up there, but this spot was just as good. I always get more religion from nature than man-made places anyway.
J and C worked on algebra.
The afternoon was rainy and we mostly worked on packing, making sure that J and I each have the things the other normally packs for everyone just in case we do have to go our separate ways.
Still no visa for J on Wednesday, the driver picked us up at 10:00 and we were at the airport in Denpasar by 1:00. J helped me check in and bought his ticket, then we said our goodbyes and went through security. Nothing was crowded and the kids were pretty cooperative so it all went just fine. We were allowed to take our water bottles through security, but then about 45 minutes before boarding they cleared out and roped off a section of the gate, then made everyone do a manual bag check to enter. We weren't allowed water at that point, and there was no place to buy it. In addition, the tablet needed to be charged and none of the outlets worked, so the kids were bored and thirsty. The plane was almost empty so C was able to sit with us. Usually he sits with J and S sits with me, so that's how the seats were assigned. We got a little water with dinner, but not near enough and C ended up with a bad headache from dehydration. I tried to buy water, but they only took cash which I didn't have. So that sucked. We did have fun playing uno though. Immigration was easy, customs was a little pickier than most places we've been, but they were really nice about it. We weren't allowed to bring in the fruit or meat that was in the snack bag, but they offered to wash and return the containers, and they took and washed my rubber hiking boots, so no Indonesian mud came in. The cheese, crackers and homemade cookies were allowed. We found the ATM and the taxi, got to the hotel and ordered a pizza. Everyone showered, ate, drank water and charged devices, and soon everyone was content. J made it to his hotel in Singapore and I stayed up a little late WhatsApping with him. It reminded me of our dating days when we'd text or talk on the phone into the night.
No one had nearly enough sleep when the alarm went off at 5:00, but we managed to pack up what little we had out and get to the taxi by 6:00. I found out I'd been charged more than double the regular taxi price the night before, but oh well. All the airport procedures went pretty well, except for a fist fight over spilled water while I was trying to buy fruit, hot chocolate and coffee for breakfast. All the needs unmet Wednesday, water and electronics, were easy to meet Thursday. Qantas has free wifi and iPads for all. Everyone had plenty of water and since it's just a domestic connection in Melbourne we didn't have to clear security and dump it out. The kids sat together and entertained each other on both flights. We arrived in Launceston, Tasmania at around 4:30, got the bags and rental car, and headed off.
This was the part I was most worried about. I'm not sure if most marriages are like this, but J and I have certain things we just let the other take care of and for me one of those is driving. I hate driving, especially at night because I can't see very well. J likes driving, so he drives. Therefore, in our travels to this point, I hadn't ever driven on the left. I do help interpret the GPS however. Now, I was faced with an unfamiliar two hour drive on the left, in the dark, in a rental, with tired kids, running on five hours of not very restful sleep, and no navigator. The rental procedure itself was a hour long ordeal because J had booked a car in his name without adding me as a driver. He couldn't get them to change it to my name or add me as a driver, so he cancelled it and transferred the refund to our joint Visa. Since it was the middle of the night in the states, the transaction never went through so I had to use the Discover card, which the attendant couldn't run. He called in someone from another office, who came in about five minutes and ran the card with no trouble. He was super nice to us and helped us carry our bags since there were no luggage carts. He even helped load the car and got me all set up. People are super friendly here, but I got the second comment of the day alluding to Indian incompetence, in regards to the guy who couldn't run the card. The first comment was from the taxi driver in Perth who asked outright if the driver who had overcharged me the night before was Indian. Unfortunately, he was. He told me so. To be fair, the rental car guy who helped us didn't say anything about the other one being Indian exactly, but said if we had any trouble we could call him (the Indian guy) and the Indian guy would just call him to solve any problem. True enough that's certainly the dynamic between those two, but I got the uncomfortable feeling that the more competent one was looking down on the ethnicity of the other. Anyway, our new Australian friend sent us off into the now pitch black night with a cheerful, "Watch out for wombats and wallabies!" Great. Actually, it wasn't that bad. C announced that he valued his life and would be completely silent, and he pretty much was. S fell asleep. There wasn't much traffic and I took my time, the two hour drive was closer to three, we didn't stop for groceries, as our host said she had some breakfast stuff, but we did make one potty stop and then circled the parking lot and adjacent roundabout several times trying to find the exit, but we made it. Our cottage is really nice, The kitchen is unusually well equipped for an Airbnb and there are places to put things. Often, we find houses equipped with every type of glass for alcohol, but nothing that useful for cooking and no empty cupboards for food. This one is much more suited for living life rather than vacationing, which is just what we need. I let J know we had arrived, made the kids grilled cheese, got everyone to shower, started laundry and crashed.
Friday was beautiful.
I took a couple very short walks while checking on the kids, hung out laundry, started another load, and scheduled vaccine appointments for them. They got up, had breakfast, did school work, and we all unpacked. Next, we went into town for groceries, which took a while, but now we're all set. Our host took us for a longer walk around the property, which is beautiful. The kids investigated the creek, the tree house and tire swing, the alpacas, the dog, the Legos, etc. The hosts' kids are grown and gone, but they still have kid stuff around. My boys are going to love it here. We video called J so C could do algebra, had tacos for dinner, relaxed, and went to bed early.
We slept late Saturday, but that was ok because we didn't have plans until the afternoon. We had booked an Airbnb experience at a goat farm. This was fun for all of us. They use a lot of the same permaculture principles we do, so it was interesting to compare notes. I even got a couple new ideas to try. The kids had fun brushing and petting the goats and eating cookies.
The drive was the same as the last bit of the drive from the airport, so the road was familiar, but since it was daylight we could see how beautiful it is around here. It was a good way to wrap up a somewhat stressful week.