Okay, sorry this has taken awhile to post, but I've been extremely busy writing papers and getting everything back in order with classes starting. Bali was absolutely amazing. We arrive at about 10pm the first night and made our way to the Ramada Resort where we spent the first couple of nights. The first day we headed to the nearby beach where a ton of water sport companies are located. We walked around for awhile and everyone decided that parasailing would be a good time. We talked to several different companies, negotiating how much we would be willing to pay. The price started at 100,000 rupiah per person. After a few talks and almost starting a fight, we got the price lowered to 50,000 per person, which is less than 5 dollars! We all took our turns parasailing and decided to walk a little further down. The first day was more of a relaxing day and we just hung out on the beach and went swimming in the pool at the hotel.
On the second day we had our first tour with Putu, our Balinese driver. He took us on the Kintamani tour. We drove around a good portion of the island stopping at random places and small temples. We made out way to Kintamani. From Kintamani we could see Mt. Batur which is a volcano. When we got there we were basically sitting in the clouds and could see very little so we decided to have lunch. During lunch we could see the clouds starting to move away and we could finally see the beautiful view. After twelve hours of wandering around Bali, we returned to our hotel for the night and scheduled a Putu tour for the next day as well.
The next morning we woke up and packed our bags, loaded up Putu's van, and went to our next accomadation, the Pat-Mase Villas in Jimbaran Bay. We stayed here for three nights. For seven of us, we got a 3 bedroom villa which had its own tv/hang out area, kitchen, dining room, and private pool. After being amazed with our accomadation and being driven to our villa in a golf cart, we got back into the van and went on our next tour. This time we went and saw how local clothes were made, wood carvings being made, and THE MONKEY FOREST! The monkey forest was awesome, its a little patch of woods in Ubud where the monkeys live. You basically can go in, sit on a ledge and put your hand out and a monkey will be running up your arm to sit on your shoulder. However, you have to be careful, these little guys can easily steal things right off of you. We then walked around the Ubud market where we bargained the prices down on gifts for us and people back home. After a long day, we headed back to our relaxing villa.
The next day, we decided we would like to just have a hang out day and just relax. We took the villa shuttle to the Kuta beach, a world famous beach. Here we hung out in the blistering heat all day, went swimming, got crushed by waves, and a couple of us got nice massages on the beach. On the third night, we decided that since a few people were leaving the next evening, we would go to Jimbaran Bay and have a nice dinner on the beach during the sunset. We had a massive seafood feast and racked up a bill well over 1/2 million.
The next day we went to the local beach for awhile until we once again met up with Putu who took us on another little sight seeing tour of Bali and then we had to drop the few people leaving off at the airport and find our next accomodation in Ubud, Nick's Pension. Now there were only four of us left and we were only halfway through our vacation. We found our way to Nick's in the darkness somehow, thanks to Putu.
The next morning we woke up got our free banana pancake breakfast and decided to see waterfalls and a couple temples and the rice fields. Putu picked us up once again in the morning and we headed off on our 3 hr journey to the waterfall, which was about 30meters high. We stopped along the way as we traveled up a mountian to look at the gorgeous views. Once we made it to the location of the waterfall, it was downpouring. We made a 300meter walk in the pouring down rain just so that Josh and I could get absolutely pummeled by this amazing waterfall. After getting a little more soaked we loaded back into the van to have lunch and wonder around another temple. It was then time to go to the rice fields. You see many of these fields all over Bali, but we were heading to the section of the island which is known for the rice they grow. We drove to their neighborhood and saw beautiful landscapes with high rice fields as far as the eye could see.
Once again, we loaded back into Putu's van for another 3 hour drive back to Ubud to our accomodation. The next day we slept in a little bit, hung out by the pool, and waited until it was cooler so that we could walk into Ubud center. We spent the afternoon/evening wandering around the town and markets.
The next day was very similar, we laid by the pool most of the day, got lunch and dinner at the local restaurant and just relaxed. On our last day in Ubud, we wandered into the markets once again so that we could do some last minute shopping and get stuff that we forgot to get earlier. After the market we found a driver to take us back to the Ramada Resort, where we would be spending our last night. We laid around at the Ramada and just relaxed for the last two days of our vacation, working on our tans and finishing up our books. Then the time came. It was time to leave Bali. We left for the airport and waited around for our flight to leave. Our redeye flight. Our flight that left at like 11pm and arrived at 730am. Our flight where I got little sleep. Our flight which returned us to Sydney, which seemed freezing compared to the weather of Bali.
And to think, we're already halfway through our semester abroad.
2more months.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
CAIRNS!
So we left a few days ago, Saturday, to go north to Cairns, adventure capital of the world. Oh don't worry, Cairns very much lived up to its nickname. The first day we got there, we arrive early at about 10am. Since we had been up for over 5hours by this time, it already seemed like a long day. We decided to walk around Cairns and take in the town before going for a dip in the pool and a relaxing sit in the sauna. That night, basically everyone passed out early and got ready for a big day ahead.
The next morning we left to go to the Great Barrier Reef! We took a boat out there which took about 2-2.5 hours. While waiting to arrive at the reef we signed up to Scuba Dive, my first time ever. While filling out the forms and listening to the instructions, we were hit with brutal waves rocking the boat ridiculously, of course individuals became a little seasick. We finally arrived at the reef and Dave, Laurie, Liz, and I had about a half hour to lay around and soak in the sun before we got geared up for our dive. We slipped into our very sexy suits and got geared up with tanks, regulators, you know, all the basics. We then prepared for our first dive where we only went down 3-5meters but we took pictures will Wally there :) Wally is my buddy in the picture here:
We then got to swim around for awhile and take in the colorful coral. Four of us loved it so much that we then decided to sign up for a second dive later that day which allowed us to go deeper, for longer, and basically swim where we want. This was absolutely amazing. We found Nemo too! I once heard the Great Barrier Reef described as a Dr. Seuss book underwater, and trust me, that nickname was also true. My favorite coral was this BRIGHT blue coral that sparkled in the water. We then all loved the 2nd dive so much that we later decided we're going to try to find a place in Sydney where we can get certified to dive!
Day 3: We slept in after a night out at dinner with Saki bombs, clearly an American tradition, and a game of Kings. We woke up scheduled our skydive and got in a van to go whitewater rafting on the Barron River. The river was pretty good with high waters and a few good dips. Our guide decided to take us surfing on the one fall and this is where Josh and I, in the front of the boat, got completely destroyed. Before we even fell out we were completely underwater. The the boat took a jump up and of course I go flying off of the raft and smacking my back on a rock, which proudly left a good indentation on my back. We survived the mighty Barron and made our way back to the hotel where we watched a movie or two and passed out early for the big day ahead.
Day 4: We woke up early to get on our bus at 7AM which took us to Mission Beach, where we would be doing our skydiving! We got to Mission Beach and Shanna, Megan, and I immediately got geared up to go, only to stand around in our harnesses for an hour until being told we were not going. We sat around for another hour before we headed to Coconutz to chill until the weather would be alright for us to dive in, hopefully. While sitting around we got the call, they were taking us up! Everyone rushed to the bus to get breifed on how to skydive and we showed up to the airstrip where we got harnessed in and made some comments to our cameramen. It was showtime. We climbed to about 13,000 feet and then the garage-door looking door opened and it was time, we were in the drop zone. Laurie barrel-rolled out first and all I saw was her completely falling to the ground. Shanna was next. I don't remember any of her departure. Then it was my turn. I scooted my butt onto the floor and next thing I know, I get a push and the back and im falling 13,000ft to the ground. Once my stomach caught back up to me, I could finally enjoy the fall, looking around at the scenery and smiling into the camera. Out of nowhere I felt us starting to slow down, apparently the parachute was let go and I didn't even notice. We began to float to the ground. My instructor even let me turn the parachute! We had an amazing flight and an easy landing. As soon as we landed everyone gave their congratulations and we had to hustle onto another bus just to catch another bus back to Cairns to jump on another plane to come back to Sydney just to jump on another plane tomorrow to go to Bali. Stories of Bali to come soon :)
The next morning we left to go to the Great Barrier Reef! We took a boat out there which took about 2-2.5 hours. While waiting to arrive at the reef we signed up to Scuba Dive, my first time ever. While filling out the forms and listening to the instructions, we were hit with brutal waves rocking the boat ridiculously, of course individuals became a little seasick. We finally arrived at the reef and Dave, Laurie, Liz, and I had about a half hour to lay around and soak in the sun before we got geared up for our dive. We slipped into our very sexy suits and got geared up with tanks, regulators, you know, all the basics. We then prepared for our first dive where we only went down 3-5meters but we took pictures will Wally there :) Wally is my buddy in the picture here:
We then got to swim around for awhile and take in the colorful coral. Four of us loved it so much that we then decided to sign up for a second dive later that day which allowed us to go deeper, for longer, and basically swim where we want. This was absolutely amazing. We found Nemo too! I once heard the Great Barrier Reef described as a Dr. Seuss book underwater, and trust me, that nickname was also true. My favorite coral was this BRIGHT blue coral that sparkled in the water. We then all loved the 2nd dive so much that we later decided we're going to try to find a place in Sydney where we can get certified to dive!
Day 3: We slept in after a night out at dinner with Saki bombs, clearly an American tradition, and a game of Kings. We woke up scheduled our skydive and got in a van to go whitewater rafting on the Barron River. The river was pretty good with high waters and a few good dips. Our guide decided to take us surfing on the one fall and this is where Josh and I, in the front of the boat, got completely destroyed. Before we even fell out we were completely underwater. The the boat took a jump up and of course I go flying off of the raft and smacking my back on a rock, which proudly left a good indentation on my back. We survived the mighty Barron and made our way back to the hotel where we watched a movie or two and passed out early for the big day ahead.
Day 4: We woke up early to get on our bus at 7AM which took us to Mission Beach, where we would be doing our skydiving! We got to Mission Beach and Shanna, Megan, and I immediately got geared up to go, only to stand around in our harnesses for an hour until being told we were not going. We sat around for another hour before we headed to Coconutz to chill until the weather would be alright for us to dive in, hopefully. While sitting around we got the call, they were taking us up! Everyone rushed to the bus to get breifed on how to skydive and we showed up to the airstrip where we got harnessed in and made some comments to our cameramen. It was showtime. We climbed to about 13,000 feet and then the garage-door looking door opened and it was time, we were in the drop zone. Laurie barrel-rolled out first and all I saw was her completely falling to the ground. Shanna was next. I don't remember any of her departure. Then it was my turn. I scooted my butt onto the floor and next thing I know, I get a push and the back and im falling 13,000ft to the ground. Once my stomach caught back up to me, I could finally enjoy the fall, looking around at the scenery and smiling into the camera. Out of nowhere I felt us starting to slow down, apparently the parachute was let go and I didn't even notice. We began to float to the ground. My instructor even let me turn the parachute! We had an amazing flight and an easy landing. As soon as we landed everyone gave their congratulations and we had to hustle onto another bus just to catch another bus back to Cairns to jump on another plane to come back to Sydney just to jump on another plane tomorrow to go to Bali. Stories of Bali to come soon :)
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