a little bit of rain

that's an understatement.  the rain woke me up at 5am so i went outside and brought in my bathers and towel from the little clothes stand.  too late they were wet again.  bugga.  i went back to sleep eventually and was woken again by a very loud tropical downpour.  it was great.  it eased slightly so that i could get to the breakfast area and the day turned out quite sunny and nice.  i love the rain.  once, years ago, we were at a salon in poppies 2, when it started to rain.  the girls were almost ready to shut up shop for the night but said just wait a while and it will ease.  well it didn't.  the lane was about a foot or more underwater when we decided to risk it and go back to the hotel.  we were like drowned rats by the time we got back and i did wonder what we were wading through and hoping we were not going to fall down any holes
rain

more lovina and the little bridge

little bridge in lovina

i am not very good at making videos and i've only put a few on youtube so must apologise for the quality.  this little bridge leads to where the locals live and shop.  we saw a little hairdresser and lots of warungs which are like cafes.  no lattes to be had though.  you have to make do with tea or bali coffee which in my opinion is very good.  except at breakfast at my last hotel.  the coffee was dismal.  i brought some balinese tea back with me as i can't buy it here.  it's really nice as i'm not really a tea drinker and always say i should drink it more often.  we were invited to share dinner with so many locals and had some lovely chats with them.  they are mostly fishermen and shop keepers.  it was a very nice evening walk and my torch came in very handy, especially on that narrow little bridge.

the ghost hotel

on our way to lovina we traveled through the mountains in weather that was dismal.  thick fog, mist, rain, lots of rain.  we traveled slowly and stopped at the ghost hotel.  i've heard of the hotel and seen pictures of it on facebook many times.  this is a palatial hotel, including a vast ballroom, that never opened and is now is disrepair, left to crumble and fade. the bathrooms are intact but the bedding was taken out years ago. the view from the hotel is amazing apparently but on the day we were there the view was down to zero which added to the eerie atmosphere.  the ex president's son, tommy, is often mentioned in the story and of course lack of money being the cause of it not opening. you hear so many stories about it that it remains a mystery.  there is so much on the internet that i won't include a link, just search google for the ghost hotel bali if you want.  there are countless videos on youtube too.  here are some of my photos, it was truly an amazing experience.

i found this pic on the internet which shows the hotel and view in much better weather

dolphins

my dolphin video

i woke at 5.30 am to go on my dolphin adventure.  we walked up the black sandy beach in the dark and crossed a very narrow bridge to meet our fishing boat.  we put on our life jackets and off we went.  we went for about forty minutes towards java.  i didn't think we'd go quite so far out.  meanwhile, the most amazing sunrise i've ever seen.  a huge red ball of fire.  we were joined by dozens of other little boats and it was a case of chase the dolphins, i'm sure they were playing with us.  we even saw a baby, i thought the dolphins were huge and one was a much lighter shade than the rest. the driver was really good at maneuvering his boat stopping and starting turning this way and that.   lovina is on the north coast of bali and is surrounded by mountains and the sea.  i've wanted to go for years and have gotten close a few times, it took about three and a half hours from kuta.  the hotel we stayed at was on the beach and has rice paddies at the front with gorgeous views of the mountains.  it's quite a walk from the main road and has a small pool and a lovely restaurant area that's just on the beach.  the sunsets were gorgeous too.  our room was upstairs and we could see the beach from the balcony and the mountains from the other door.  this is a much better video than mine from youtube: another video of the dolphins

my selfie of me and our driver

our boat and driver.  i've always wanted to go in one of these fishing boats

waiting for us to return.  now for breakfast

the watermelon boat with tangelo syrup, which was delicious, on the breakfast menu

the front of the hotel with rice paddies

via melbourne

i was in melbourne yesterday.  it wasn't a planned trip. we were about to land in adelaide, slowing down, descending, the usual landing stuff when all of a sudden we were going up again at tremendous speed and there was a loud engine screeching noise.  everyone on board looked at each other with fear.  what was happening?  we had to wait about 10 minutes before the pilot came on the intercom and told us we couldn't land in adelaide as visibility was zero and we were going to melbourne. in about an hour and 10 minutes we landed in melbourne and it was freezing.   i only had a tshirt and jeans on and couldn't get to my carry on.  the airport in melbourne is all diy.  amazing.  i'll post some more about bali soon, especially my dolphin adventure and my visit to the buddhist monastery and the hot springs.  i had an amazing time but as usual i'm so happy to be home.