AQUALICIOUS CHRISTMAS PARTY AND AWARDS - DECEMBER 11

DECEMBER 4 - FIRST AQUALICIOUS RELAY SWIMMING CANIVAL

Despite the terrible, rainy weather, our first carnival was a huge success (and great fun)!
Ian Davis would have been proud!

DECEMBER 3 - MOVIE WORLD WITH THE KIDS

Thanks for organising a great day at Movie World Adam and Louise. It was wonderful we could all head down on a Friday and have a wonderful day with the kids (small and big :))

OCTOBER 28 - 31 STRADBROKE ISLAND

Coming back to Brisbane was made easy, thanks to Kazza organising a fab house for us on Straddie.
Thanks to Scott, Skye, Ari, Courtney, Heather, Adam, Louise, Sarah and Kazza for coming over and enjoying a great few days!

OCTOBER 25 – ‘THE LAST POST’ ... FOR THIS TRIP!

Sadly, this trip has come to an end. Here is a list of places I’ve been in the last five months (man it’s flown!) ... BUT FIRSTLY...
Huge thanks to Karen, my friend and best travel agent in the world; Mum and Dad for sharing a wonderful 12 weeks in Europe with me; Sonya and Mark and everyone on the bike trip for an amazing cycling adventure from Florence to Rome (I will be back to cycle through southern Italy with you); Giulio, Tina and the gang at Bijou for being my friends in Tuscany; Simon and Lindsay for a hoot of a fortnight in the Chianti Hills; Helen for the tour of Tarascon en Provence and tip off on the best restaurant in town; Marc for a sensational and hilarious time in Dublin; Kosta for being a great guide in Athens and sharing brilliant times on Mykonos; ‘Bessie’ my quad bike that wanted to break down and didn’t; Lady GaGa for producing ‘Alejandro’ (the theme song from Mykonos that will resinate in my brain for all of eternity); Karen and Joel for your fab hospitality in KL; Bex and Bruno and everyone else I met in Ubud for making Bali more incredible; My best mate Scott for always being in touch and enjoying the journey with me; Family and friends who followed by blog and kept in touch (grazie mille – great to hear from you, always) and new friends from around the world – “We came as strangers, became friends and left as family” – come to Brisbane!!!! You’ll love it!!!!

PLACES I’VE VISITED THIS TRIP

ITALY– Milan, Bologna, Baberino Val d’Esla, San Filippo, Sambucca, Castellina in Chianti, Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, Viareggio, Livorno, Tore Del Lago, Poggobinsi, Arezzo, Florence, Passignano sul Trasimeno, Perugia, Sportelo, Terni, Narni, Sabine Mountains, Rome

FRANCE - Paris, Giverney, Fourges, Versailles, Bordeaux, Albi, Tarascon, Avignon, Roqueburne Sur-Argens, Cannes, Saint Aygulf, Nice, Grasse, Amiens, Leon, Dijon, Villers Bretonneaux, Epernay, Calais

MONACO – Monte Carlo

SWITZERLAND – Lucerne, Jungfrau, Interlaken

LICHENSTEIN - Schann

AUSTRIA – Salzburg, Innsbruck, Vienna

BELGUIM - Brussels

GERMANY – Munich, Heidelberg, Cologne

ENGLAND – London, Brighton, Bath, Dover

WALES – Cardiff, Llandudno, Rhyl, Holywell

IRELAND – Dublin, Belfast, Larne, Ballitony, Portrush, Sligo, Donegal, Galway, Ennis, Killarney, Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, Ballymore Eustace, Baltinglass, Kilkenny, Blarney

GREECE- Athens, Mykonos

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Dubai, Abu Dhabi

MALAYSIA – Kuala Lumpur

INDONESIA – Denpasar, Ubud, Amed

.... and all in between
...the world seems smaller now.

Namaste

OCTOBER 17 – SCUBA DIVING AT AMED

• One of my yoga teachers is Bex. Short for Rebecca I’m sure, but that’s how it’s spelt. Bex’s partner is Bruno. Bruno is a scuba diver with a Masters in Marine Biology who took me diving today. More on those two later this post.
• Bruno picked me up just after 7 am and we drove about 2 hours to beautiful Amed – our diving destination for today. After a coffee stop and briefing, we ‘geared up’ for our morning dive. It was really sensational and the 40 minute dive went quickly. After a tasty lunch at the diving resort (owned by Donna – previously from the Hunter Valley NSW – a Bali local now for 10 years with a beautiful adopted little girl who speaks three languages during any given sentence), we did another 40 minute dive around a WWII Japanese wreck and saw loads of beautiful sea life and coral. I’m starting to learn the ‘sign language for the sea life’ and I was pleased to see plenty of Nemos! There is some dispute amongst the locals as to the wreck’s origin. Same say Japanese, others say Javanese. At some point, it was most certainly lost in translation!
• The diving was sensational and I loved every second under water. It’s very peaceful and an entry to another world. As in any dramatic change in environment, you have just to surrender and breathe. This is particularly important when diving!
• The drive home was terrific too. After a stop for some fresh coconut, I quizzed Bruno about his and his and Bex’s life. They are ‘self confessed nomads’. Bex is British by origin and Bruno Portuguese. Neither of them have returned ‘home‘ in many years. They flit between Ubud, India and East Timor and pretty soon, they’re going to give China a good old go! In Ubud, Bex works as a yoga instructor and teacher (a mighty fine one I might add), and Bruno as a diving instructor. In India, they both do social work looking after disabled and blind children. They are both absolutely lovely people with hearts of gold and they are as admirable as they are adorable. Meeting people like this and making friends is what travel is all about!
• The trip home (with Bruno driving) allowed me to take a few pics of some good old Balinese traffic. It’s nothing to see a family of four on a scooter at the same time. It’s nothing to see a truck full of people tearing through windy roads in a fishing village. The funniest thing I saw, traffic wise, (and sorry Scott – I didn’t have the camera ready) was a truck full of stacks of chairs about 2 metres high – like outdoor chairs, with a man sitting on the top of one of the stacks. As the truck flew through the streets, the gentleman (perched high) ducked his head to avoid possible brain damage or decapitation from tree branches in his path.

OCTOBER 2,3,4 – MORE OF UBUD

• Here are some more photos of Ubud. There are some pics of the Sacred Monkey Forest (which I cycle through regularly) keeping the fury little critters at ‘arms length’. They love bags, shiny things and of course food.
• Yesterday I saw a cremation ceremony “Ngaben”. The ceremony is not morbid but fun. It is noisy, exciting, and colourful and of course has huge religious and cultural significance. The parade is led by a priest and a large ‘bullock shaped’ wooden structure with white drapes covering it and lavish gifts. An auspicious day must be chosen and it takes ages to organise which means the deceased may have died years prior to the cremation (their body temporarily buried). The streets were closed off for this event and it’s expensive so the less wealthy also use the occasion to send their dead on their way too.
• I’ve also included some photos of the streets of Ubud, the rice fields and my favourite cafe – Bali Buddha.

OCTOBER 1 – AN INTRODUCTION TO UBUD, BALI

• After an early arrival to Denpasar airport, a nice man drove me to my new little home in Desa Sanctuary. Both he and his wife work there. http://www.sanctuarythevillage.com/ It’s very lovely and simple. There are only 5 or so little homes in the sanctuary, surrounding a beautiful pool with waterfall and my house comprises of a good sized bedroom (nice big bed) upstairs and downstairs an open kitchen, bathroom and living area. The staff are so friendly and helpful.
• I mentioned to one of the staff I wanted to hire a bicycle and this morning my bike was delivered. It’s a great ride up to the village and to the yoga centre I’m taking some classes at and we’re not far from the monkey forest so looking forward to riding through that too;
• Another thing I wanted to do was meet Ketut Liyer – the Medicine Man from Liz Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love. He only lives up the street so another little cycle, I found myself sitting with him for about an hour talking and having my palm (and other necessary appendages read). This man is 96 years old and it quite insightful.
• The food is wonderful – heaps of fresh produce (from the recommended places) and AUD$10 will get you a great feed of cold soup, fresh vegetable and tofu stir fry, fresh vegetable juice and a bottle of water (so I won’t be cooking much in my little kitchen).
• Oh I did leave last night to head into town and neglected to write down the address of where I was staying SO I am becoming ‘travel-lazy’. Thanks to Kazza who sms’d me the address as the locals had no idea where to go (and nor did I). You’re a brilliant travel agent and friend!!

SEPTEMBER 28 – 30 – KUALA LUMPUR

• I arrived from Dubai late and caught a taxi from the airport to Simon and Lindsay’s apartment in town where Karen and Joel (two Aussie’s working in the boys’ company over here are living). The Proton WAJA taxi was somewhat different to the Audi A8 L I had in Dubai! I’m also certain it will be much better than downtown Bali;
• After a restful day, we took off to see some of the sites. Karen and Joel have fallen comfortably into the ex-pat lifestyle which means they know all the great places to go!
• We had champagne in the Sky Bar which overlooks KL city and the impressive twin towers. From here we went to dinner in China Town at one of their favourite, local restaurants nick named the ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ due to the rather large number of displays of the mouse himself;
• KL is an interesting city which appears to be heavily ‘under construction’. The ‘monsoonal climate’ means most evenings result in an impressive lightning storm and from the apartment (23rd floor), it’s amazing. I love lightning storms and these are the BEST!

SEPTEMBER 22 – 26 UAE

• Dubai is an exhilarating place. It has the shininess of Las Vegas, the magic of Disney and the ‘bling’ of the French Rivera (perhaps without the class);
• I’m staying at the Hilton Jumeriah Beach which is a beautiful five star hotel with a private beach and all the trimmings;
• Yesterday, I did a private tour (with a driver in an Audi A8 L, a personal tour guide – Janine) which I would highly recommend. We began at the Burj Al Arab (the world famous ‘sail inspired’ building), the palaces of the Royal families, the old Souks (markets) of spices, gold, perfume and a ride in a Dhow across Dubai Creek. From here, we visited a Mosque (perfectly timed for the Muslim third out of five prayers per day), had a tour of the different zones of the city and had a look at Dubai Mall and watched the fountain display in front of the Burj Dubai (tallest building in the world).
• Given that Dubai only began serious construction in the late 1960’s under the vision of a previous Sheikh (who wasn’t an ‘educated’ man but a true visionary) it really is an amazing city of extreme wealth and zero crime. The service everywhere is amazing too (so good in fact it’s a little unnerving). There is somebody to do everything and everyone is doing something. It does make you wonder if Australia had a similar visionary with an astute business mind who utilised our resources then manufactured and developed them and kept the vision going, what would we look like right now??? There’s a few bottles of wine in that question isn’t there!!
• This evening was a desert safari experience. After being picked up in a V8 GMC 4x4, we quickly met about 20 other 4x4’s and absolutely ‘FLOGGED’ them up and down the sand dunes in the Dubai Desert Reserve. Our driver, a mad Lebanese man, told me the re-sale vale of the GMC is not great in Dubai. I know how why!!! It was amazing fun and having grown up four wheel driving, there is no way on God’s earth, my father and his mates would treat their 4x4’s like this! After a somewhat terrifying ride, we took photos of the sunset, had an Arabian feast in the middle of the desert and we were entertained by belly dancing and of course henna tattoos. I got a Scorpion for my star sign. It was a heap of fun and I met two ladies from the Central Coast – Sydney (Cheryl and Janine) and they had done a similar trip to me!