Alison has contacts everywhere so firstly it's off to Nusa Penida, a large island to the south for a couple of nights followed by a short boat trip to Nusa Lembongan next door.
To catch the boat we had to be ready at 6.00am in order to reach the coast for the 7.30 am boat. We arrived to find a number of fellow travelers. We had avoided going the tourist route from Sanur - at inflated prices and - let's face it - full of tourists! Instead we traveled with Balinese of all shapes and sizes.
Erin and I were both contemplating the logistics of fitting the waiting horde onto a small yellow boat when Alison told us it was the boarding pontoon. The real ferry arrived and actually wasn't much bigger! Erin and I chose to sit up the back risking the spray in favour of fresh air.
In less than thirty minutes of speeding over the calm water we arrived and a narrow ramp was dragged out to decant the travellers and I was first off!!
We met the driver who is a good friend of Made's (he seems to know everyone!) and headed for the Ring Sameton resort .
The resort is close to the beach so we took ourselves off to a cafe called Penida Colada, run by friends of Alison, Wayan and his Australian wife Liza. We had fabulous breakfast - see my artistic granola bowl below!
So for the last couple of days we have enjoyed the peace and quiet and the amazing views across the sea to Bali and Lombok. We went up into the mountains and visited a weaving village where Erin bought a beautiful red sarong for cushion covers. The island is unusually green as the had been a lot of rain and the bright green of the lush tropical jungle is dazzling.
The photos speak for themselves as you could take hundreds of beautiful shots as the light changes on the sea or the rainclouds appear and disappear completely covering Bali or Lombok in the distance. Many seaweed farms are dotted along the coast. Erin hasn't been 100% so we haven't been snorkeling yet, but we have eaten some delicious fresh fish!
Alison and I walked along the beach and met an interesting menagerie - not the usual beach animals we see in Australia! There were lots of dogs none of which I wasted a photo on! The rest included pigs, cows, chooks and chickens...and of course some gorgeous children!
We spent a quiet day doing very little so Erin could recuperate. It's very easy to do when the views of Mount Agung in Bali and the light across the seas changes constantly. We watched the rainclouds gather and disperse as they moved across the horizon, and enjoyed the lightning shows.
Island life seems pretty good so far,
Your relaxed correspondent Dianne
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