I'm turning 35, I think I'm turning 35, I really think so.

Well if you have to turn 35, having it happen on an island in Indonesia is not a bad thing at all. Our driver Dino made a pretty big deal out of it which was nice. We were in Riung (small town) and we went to the local market in the town before Riung and bought a bunch of fruits and vegetables and dropped them off at his friends house just outside of Riung....then while we were relaxing in our very sweet bungalows, he went out and bought duck and chicken and his friend who is a chef mixed us up a great dinner.

We had dinner outdoors at his house. There was a group of us, including a german couple we met along the way. There was tonnes of food, lots of arrack (local rice wine) and even a birthday cake and singing in 2 languages. It was a pretty great day.

Lombok and Flores photos

After the scuba diving...which I guess is the next post you will read...little else mattered to me. Ha. We got a driver and started exploring Flores...which is gorgeous. Mom, who has been called a rock star by a friend of mine, actually got on the back of a dirt bike and we went up a volcano to see some stunning lakes. There she sat with her Tilly hat on and a big smile on her face as William her driver bounced her over some pretty rocky terrain on the way up the mountain. It was gorgeous at the top. The crater was grey while the lakes inside were a deep blood red.

We went to a small town called Riung on the north coast and we took a boat out for the day. Went snorkelling, and then to a small island with beautiful sandy beach and swam, ate lunch, etc.

Everyone in Flores is really lovely. Everyone screams out hello, children wave and say 'hello mister'. Ha. It is gorgeous and I am amazed that more tourists don't leave the madness of Bali behind and land in Flores more often.

That said I think mom, Deb and I are happy to be back in Bali. The roads in Flores are windy, bumpy and it takes hours to travel 30 km. It means the views are stunning, but it got hard on the body after a while. WE have found ourselves a nice little bungalow with a swimming pool, hot water (which we never had on Flores) a flush toilet (which we never had on Flores) and today I had a burger for lunch...which as you guessed it was never an option in Flores.

Lombok and Flores photos

Well so much has happened over the past 3 weeks that I don't know really where to start.

We flew to Labuanbajo, Flores. Probably one of the hottest places on the planet. Thank god we could find a room with AC or we would never have survived. We took a 2 day, 1 night boat trip to Komodo and Rinca Islands to see the infamous Komodo Dragons. Wow...are they ever big and some of them are pretty fierce looking. We slept overnight on the deck of the boat and it was amazing. Great sunset, the water was so calm you never would have known we were on a boat and we did some great snrokelling. I saw so many different fish. It was almost as good as my scuba diving in Thailand. Then we went to a little island called Kanawa where we were literally the only guests at the resort. The accommodation left a little to be desired but the little lady in the kitchen caught us some fish at the end of the dock and whipped us up some great meals. It was a great place to be for a few days. No people, no distractions. Just the sand and the crystal blue waters.

While Deb and mom spent the day on the island I went and did some scuba diving. Two dives in 2 different locations and let me tell you...I am still buzzing from it. I don't even know how to explain it. We first went to a place called Manta point. My dive master said we would only dive here if we could see mantas from the boat, otherwise she said it would be a boring dive. Well we are approaching the dive spot and she is explaining to me and my dive buddy that the current is very strong so as soon as we get in the water we have to grab the rope or the current will take us away. My heart is starting to beat a little faster at this...after all it is only my 7th dive. At this precise moment one of the men on the boat screams...Manta. We all run to the edge of the boat and in the water below all you can see is the ginormous black shadow of a manta as it glides past. Wow. My heart was beating fast before.

We get in the water and descend...all is going good. We are under for about 10 mintes and we have seen some sting rays, lion fish, etc. When all of a sudden I look straight ahead and there is a giant manta swimming right towards me. It's wings going whoosh, whoosh, whoosh as it hurls towards me. I am screaming (with joy) into my regulator and it swims right over top of me...all 4m of wing span. I look up at its white belly as it flies overtop. Wow. I thought that was great. Then about 5 minutes later there are 2 more mantas. One stops at the cleaning station...at the edge of this drop off and all this silver fish descend on it and start cleaning it. We are in a strong current here so you have to kick pretty hard to stay at the drop off. So here I am right beside the manta on the cleaning station. I am on one side the dive master is on the other...and the manta is checking us both out...kind of wondering what we are. I have my arms extended out to the side like I am flying and I am fluttering at full speed and just hovering next to this big gorgeous beast. I don't know if I have really ever been happier.

Then when I thought it couldn't get any better it got to a point where there was a manta in every direction I looked. I lost count at 13. I think it must be mating season because they were gliding in from every direction, swirling upwards together, wings wrapped around one another. It was like a manta family reuntion...or a ballet. Unbelievable. When we finally surfaced, my dive master and I took the regulators out of our mouths and just screamed. It was awesome.

Lombok and Flores photos

The weigh in

Well I think I can safely say that I have travelled a fair amount. I have been on big planes, little planes, puddle jumpers, etc. But this is the first time that after I checked in my luggage and it got weighted, that I had to actually get on the scale as well holding my carry on so that they could weigh me. On our flight from Denpasar to Lombok all of us had to jump on the scale so that they could weigh us. Ha....but once we got onto the plane it all became perfectly clear why they needed to do this. It was straight out of the Jetsons with goldfish bowl windows and graphics to die for.

Tetebatu

Time seems to be on fastforward right now. Not sure why that it, but already it is time for my cousins Nadine and Rosana to leave us and really it just feels like they arrived. We left Gili Island and headed to a very small town called Tetebatu. It is on the southern side of the main volcano on the island. Cute little town..but pretty basic. 4-5 guesthouses and that is about it. I think perhaps it was a little more rugged than Nadine and Rosana were hoping for, but I think they enjoyed it all the same. We stayed at a cute little guesthouse called Green Orry and the people working there were so amazing that they really made our time there. We spent a day exploring some of the traditional weaving and pottery villages. I managed to escape them without spending some money, but both Rosana and Nadine were drawn in with the gorgeous textiles.

We had some amazing Indonesian food there. Probably the best meal I have had in Indonesia. Probably because it was made by the owners wife...so it was like a home cooked meal. Been having our afternoon Bintang (beer) and it seems to lull me nicely into my afternoon nap.

Tomorrow Rosana and Nadine fly to Bali for their flight home and we fly oneards to Flores. Our fingers are crossed that the good weather stays with us as it is supposed to be rainy season here but so far we have maybe had 10 minutes of rain. That said...it is smoking hot here and quite humid. We are all like wilted flowers and there is usually a fight for the shower!

Selamat Jalan (good bye in Indonesian...I had a lesson at the guesthouse we were at and now am loaded up with some good Indo phrases to see us through the next month)

To Married Women Everywhere

I have found a cure for all of your problems here on Gili Island. Read it and start saving your money....

The gang has arrived

Well we are officially a 'gaggle' of girls. Mom, Nadine and Rosana are all here and we have been having a great time. Spent a few days exploring Bali. Doing a little bit of shopping, checking out some temples, laughing lots and sweating lots. It is damn hot here. I got an email from my sister in Alberta this morning and she tells me that it is -30 there. I have to say I would rather be here with the sun burning my head than back in Canada.

The place we are staying has an outdoor shower, a pool, etc. Nadine and I did a dive today. The visibility wasn't that great, but we still saw a few great things, like a big old turtle.

We are on Gili Trawandan right now and all over the island in the restaurants there are signs advertising magic mushrooms. It has been a chore trying to keep mom on the straight and narrow let me tell you....

Ode to the Concorde Inn

Well if there was a poetic bone in my body, I would have been inspired to write a poem about the bed at the Concorde Inn out at the Kuala Lumpur Airport. Strange? Not really once you know the reason why.

For the past 10 months Deb and I have slept on too many beds to count...and the majority of them are so hard that you wake up several times in the night simply because your body aches.

Well.....everything else about the Concorde Inn sucked. I was looking forward to a long soak in the tub...there was only a shower. I wanted to flop on the bed and watch a marathon of TV...there was one english channel and for several hours it just showed wrestling. I looked forward to a cheesy airport hotel meal...the restaurant called The Melting Pot, was horrible.

But the bed...made it all worthwhile. It was only a single (Deb had her own). But it had crisp white sheets on it that smelled fresh and clean. The mattress was soft yet firm and had some super squishy coverlet on it that just melted to the shape of your body. There was a great pillow that wasn't hard (so you felt like your head was on a bag of flour). In short it was perfect and I had the best sleep I have had in 10 months. Sigh...Deb had to drag me from there kicking and screaming so that we wouldn't miss our flight to Bali.

Now our guesthouse here while the bed is not quite to the same standards as The Concorde Inn...is rocking! We have our own bungalow with a great veranda with gorgeous furniture. The bathroom is as big as the first floor of my house with an outdoor shower that is filled with plants and it makes you feel like you are showering in a jungle. Oh...so...happy.

Tonight mamacita and my 2 cousins get here..and then tomorrow, the real fun begins with them.

New Years Eve on Phi Phi Island

Well I have never really been a big fan of New Years Eve. Always seems a little over rated in my experience. Everyone talks about it for weeks before it is here, asks what your plans are and then no one really ends up doing anything memorable. Clubs always want 5 times the price to get in that they usually charge...and for what? A free glass of champagne as the clock strikes midnight?

Well we started off the night right. With dinner at the best restaurant on the island. A place called Papaya's. It is run by a wonderful man named Nod and has the best Panang Shrimp Curry that I have ever had in my entire life.

After that a group of us went to a bar on the beach, drank some bucket drinks, listened to a reggae band, watched a bit of a fireshow and some fireworks later on, danced in the sand and really just laughed all night long. The evening didn't end until around 5am....so it was a pretty good start to 2007.

We left Phi Phi a couple of days ago and came to Phuket. Not really loving it here. The beach is beautiful, but the ratio of pigs (the dirty men that come to Thailand for sex) is a little higher than I like. So I am pretty happy that we fly out to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow and then onwards to Bali to hook up once again with our gypsy mother.

New Years Eve photos

Photos of New Years Eve

Misc beach shots

Just so you can all see what I have been waking up to for the past few weeks. Ha...feast your eyes on this.

Me and my dive buddy

I know I have rattled on and on about how I am now a 'certified scuba diver', but I thought I should post a few shots to prove it to you all.