Art Deco living and cracked iPhones

While visiting Wellington we stayed at a hobby farm, or what they call a "lifestyle block". The kids enjoyed playing with the owners' kids, a boy named Dominique who was a year older than John, and a girl named Celina who was a year younger than Elizabeth. It was great to see them play with soccer balls and skateboards, and interact with the neighbour's dog and cat. Dominique had just purchased a dirt bike, and showed off for us by riding it over the nearby hills and across the stream. They had all the usual animals like chickens and sheep, along with an unusual collection of donkeys, and were just in the process of purchasing a pony for Celina, which was to arrive on the day of our departure.

While the kids were all playing together, Catheleen and I chatted with the owners, Roland and Angie. We stayed two nights and both nights we stayed up to tell stories and share some food and drink. Angie is originally from Switzerland, and it was interesting to hear her tales of life back in Switzerland and how she ended up in New Zealand.

On Saturday we drove north from Wellington to Napier, on the east coast of the north island on Hawkes Bay. Napier was razed by an earthquake in the 1930's, and rebuilt in an art-deco style - prominent at the time. We enjoyed walking around and staring up at the building facades, with their straight line décor and pastel colours. It reminded us of parts of Miami. The town plays up the Art Deco motif with various restaurants, shops and festivals to celebrate this heritage. I really liked it since it was so different from any other town I've seen.

The bay itself was unique. When we looked onto the Pacific Ocean we saw a black pebble beach and water the colour of emerald green. The water was very cold, and we looked on while white and black birds dived for fish while a couple of seals relaxed on their bellies further out, one with a fish it just caught. The seals sometimes come on to shore to rest, and we read a sign asking people to leave the seals alone. I understand some people feed the seals, especially the skinny young ones that are still learning to fish, which is not good for them.

We had great weather the three nights we spent at Napier, which is common in this place. The summer months have a daytime high of 25 Celsius, while the winters have a high of 14 Celsius. I think this is near perfect weather. The rental prices are pretty good here too. If we were retired and looking for a place to get away from a Canadian winter I think this would be a good spot. We stayed at someone's home, who I believe clears out to sleep on a friend's couch whenever she has guests. It seems strange to me that she would inconvenience herself whenever she has a booking, but I guess it's worth it to her. We really enjoyed the lived in, homey place built in the 1930's, especially the backyard with its avocado and lemon trees with grape vines running along the fence line.

I don't know if the threat of earthquakes would bother me though if we lived here for an extended time, but I suppose most places have their risks. In Ottawa Canada I think the biggest risk is the winter driving conditions, which are not insignificant. I suppose you are just used to whatever risks are prevalent, no matter where you live.

We also hit the mall in Napier for maintenance and upkeep. I discovered after it rained that I had holes in my shoes so I picked up a new pair and threw out the old ones. If we travelled long enough we would end up replacing everything I'm sure. As it stands now we've replaced most of our luggage, replaced or thrown out some footwear, and purchased some new clothes along the way. Our clothes are starting to look a little ragged and stained though. I think they'll all end up in the trash when we're back home in Canada.

Our devices have suffered the most over our trip however. We've cracked and replaced two iPhone screens and one iPad screen, and ruined a third iPhone when I left it on the beach where it was inundated by a big wave. 

Here's Elizabeth at the park in Napier next to the bay. Parkland runs all along the bay, which is nice. This shot was taken around 6 PM. I noticed the ocean colour changed to blue by this time in the day.

Hawkers and fat burgers

While we're having a good relaxing time on the whole, there are regular annoyances. The beach is the great selling feature of Legian. Otherwise the area is a bit too touristy for us with little to offer in the way of local culture. The hawkers are everywhere we go and a constant irritant. I suppose they get enough business to make their sales approach worthwhile. Sitting on the beach, I am asked to purchase either a watch, sunglasses, hat, ice cream or massage on a rotating basis. I'm pretty sure the same guy who had asked me to purchase a hat an hour ago asked me again. Another guy asked John if he wanted a henna tattoo with a typical sales approach- "Boy! Tattoo?" John laughed afterwards and thought it was odd that the seller thought he would have the money or decision making power for that.

The ATMs have been another pain here in Indonesia. It took awhile to catch on, but I learned that the ATMs from the big three banks do not work for me. In fact, one of these banks would not only not give me the cash, but would debit my account anyway. Only after two or three business days would my account be credited back the amount. Since then I've learned that I can use some of the ATMs in the convenience stores to take out small amounts at a time in small bills. After getting enough cash the last a few days my wallet is so thick I close it properly anymore.

Well, I think that's enough whining. I mean, we are here in Bali after all. On Monday the kids couldn't go surfing as planned since the water was too rough. But we enjoyed our time at the beach anyway, and we enjoyed venturing out into the waves up to our knees. When we went any further the lifeguard would whistle at us to get out. He warned us there was a riptide right where we were, but if we moved down the beach a hundred feet or so we would be okay to go in up to our waist. On Tuesday afternoon the weather wasn't quite as rough so we rented a surfboard for John and a boogie board for Elizabeth. After an hour John had enough with surfing so we switched him over to a boogie board too. Catheleen and I also tried the boogie boarding, but after a short while I was happy to sit in a lounge chair under an umbrella and watch the kids fill their shorts with sand in their attempts to ride the waves. They had fun but I'm sure we'll hear all about the war wounds later.

A few nights ago we were at the Fat Bowl restaurant for dinner, which offered some pretty good meals by the way. Two Australian guys at the next table each ordered the Fat Burger, which consisted of a one kilogram beef patty on a bun the size of a dinner plate. Their buddies were egging them on, but they each only managed to consume about half the burger. They didn't look like they were feeling too well afterwards. Last evening at a local restaurant we noticed suckling pig on the menu, which is a local specialty. With one or two days notice and a minimum of eight people, you too could arrange for a whole roasted pig, head to tail. Sure enough a large group at the restaurant had ordered the pig, which was served with an apple in its mouth. I personally don't like my dinner looking back at me, but to each his own.

Back to the newspaper, the Jakarta Post is just a head shaker every time I pick it up. There are continual stimulus plans in the works to boost the Indonesian economy, even though it is growing at around 5%. I guess that's just not good enough. One scheme is to grant amnesty to all those convicted of tax evasion, fraud, etc. so the perpetrators are incented to bring their ill-gotten gains home from abroad. A lot of this money resides in Singapore. The thinking is the government could take its 15% tax on the repatriated money to help boost their coffers and help fund stimulus efforts. I'm not sure this will deter future law breakers but the government must only be planning one step at a time.

Another crazy story involves shenanigans between the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission, which has been in operation for the last ten years and appears to have done some good work prosecuting graft cases. It's well trusted among the general population in any case. The commission has been rooting out corruption within the police department for years, but the police regularly retaliate by bringing charges against the commissioners. The latest row has two commissioners charged for alleged fraud committed years ago when the commissioners were lawyers defending or prosecuting clients. The charges are likely based on fabricated evidence if the police's past actions are any indication. The current president was elected last year on an anti-corruption platform, so this appears to be a test for him. He can protect the commissioners by directing the Attorney General to dismiss the cases. But by doing so, the police could always come after him on charges of one sort or another with the potential for impeachment action. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Australian rules in Legian

We've been staying in Legian, Bali the last few days. The weather is perfect with sunny days and consistent highs of 28 with lows of 24 Celsius. The kids had two days of surfing lessons, two hours each day. They acquired a lot of rashes and scrapes from their lessons though, so they took a break today to rest and heal up. John's fingertips were scraped up somehow, and when he did his math homework on his iPad later in the day he complained that some blood was streaking his screen - yuck. They might try skipping the lessons tomorrow and we'll just rent the boards. I might try a boogie board - that's more my speed I think.

We have been strolling along the beach near sundown the last couple of days. The first time we walked along the long beach we went south and walked through a couple of small streams which were emptying into the sea. After the second stream we noticed a sewage smell. We cleaned our feet after that and started walking the other way. There is definitely room for infrastructure improvement here, especially to maintain such a beautiful beach.

The late afternoon was also the time for the local Balinese to flock to the beach. Many local families had headed out to enjoy the sand and sea. Local teenagers were playing soccer games up and down the beach, and Australian kids were kicking footballs around. Locals and tourists were jogging along the flat and wide beach which was ideal for running. We saw people riding horses, and there were a couple of weddings going on. A lot of people were lounging or sitting on beanbag chairs having a drink.

We saw one guy walking along with what looked like a weasel or otter following him. We were so transfixed watching the animal pass that we didn't notice a huge wave coming our way that soaked us. The wave immersed the weasel as well, but its owner just plucked it out of the sea before it was sucked back into the ocean by the riptide. The animal was happy enough and they continued their walk together.

The waves are calm early in the day and pick up for ideal surfing later in the morning. After that the conditions get rougher. By late afternoon the waves are truly awesome in power, and break with such strength that it creates an ominous low rumbling sound. It reminded me of huge white galloping horses. We saw a few foolhardy souls trying to surf these waves, but they didn't have much success. I thought they were risking their lives. The whole beach was marked with red flags, some with skull and crossbones, to warn people not to go out there.

The North Queensland Broncos beat the Brisbane Cowboys 17 to 16 in the National Rugby League finals at the Sydney Olympic Stadium today. The only reason I know this is because we're in Legian, Bali, where the tourists must be 95% Australian with a few Kiwis mixed in. There always seems to be a rugby or Australian-rules football game going on that fills the pubs along the streets with cheering fans. Just this evening we were walking home from dinner when we heard yelling coming from a bar. It turned out to be a large older man who was demonstrating the Haka, based on a Maori war chant, which is always performed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team before the start of their games. I think he was doing his old team proud.

That's the thing about this place. We're more exposed to Australian culture here than Balinese culture. I don't know how many times someone has called me mate - ga'day mate! The kids have been playing with some Australian kids at the hotel pool, and it's fun to listen to them exchange stories about their homelands. One kid wanted to verify Elizabeth's claim, and so asked Catheleen if it's true that people in Canada really pour maple syrup onto the snow and then eat it. He didn't believe it.

The Australians have great beaches themselves but must come here to stretch their tourist dollar further. It's calmer here in Legion but I understand there is some hard partying going on nearby to the south in Kuta, where the terrorist bombing took place back in 2002.

Here's Elizabeth showing us how it's done.

Prambanan, surfing and remembering the past

Yesterday was our last day on the island of Java. We had a late flight, so we were able to visit Prambanan, a 9th century Hindu temple compound, on the way to the airport. It contained about six stone temples, all tall pointed towers that we could walk around and into. There were statues in the temples dedicated one way or another to Hinduism's expression of God as the creator Brahma, the preserver Vishnu, or the destroyer Shiva. I understand this temple was built shortly after the Borobudur temple was built, partly as a response to the Borobudur structure. Funny to think that groups were competing in the 9th century on the island of Java to see who could build the most impressive architecture. But I suppose this has been going on in many places for a long time and is still going on today.

There were few tourists at the site so we were able to walk around freely and visit each of the temples in turn. The reliefs on the temples were my favourite part since they were artistic and varied, describing parts of the epic story Ramayana with its battles and adventures. Like Borobudur, there is a hierarchy where the zones become more holy as you move up from the lower to the upper levels. I found the lower levels more interesting though, and I wonder if the artists who made this temple felt the same way. Although it was hot, I think the kids enjoyed the site. At least they liked having the run of the place since there were many levels and places for them to visit on each of the towers. They also liked a deer park on the premise where the deer all had white spots like Bambi. I wonder what kind of deer they were.

Our flight was delayed, but we eventually flew back from Java to Bali and settled into our hotel in the town of Legian along the south-east coast. This is a beach town and known for its surfing. The next day the kids had surfing lessons and had some success riding the waves. I didn't see it, but they both said they managed to get up on their feet a few times. I've never been at a beach that was conducive to surfing but it's big in many parts of Indonesia. We're here for a few days so maybe I'll give it a go. Good thing we have travel health insurance - I might need it.

While Catheleen and I were watching the kids take their surfing lessons, we experienced a lot of hawkers trying to sell us this or that. One lady wanted to give me a massage, and was very insistent. I wasn't interested, but she still started massaging my neck and arms while she was talking to me. Talk about a proactive sales approach.

I had some time to wander about today and just relax. In the Jakarta Post the front page article was about President Jokowi of Indonesia, who attended an annual ceremony in memory of seven generals who were killed in a botched coup in 1965 blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party. The article cited rumours that Jokowi might apologize to the families of the victims who perished in the anti-communist purge that followed the failed coup. As many as half a million suspected communists were killed in the purge. About 5% of the population of Bali perished, who suffered disproportionally. Some parts of the country still seem to be torn up about the incident, although the general population doesn't know much about it. It's hardly mentioned in the schools' history books. As it turned out the rumours were false, and the President had no intention of acknowledging or apologizing for the purge.

Here we are at Prambanan, with me wearing the required sarong.

Beach time and motorcycle adventures

John started wearing a face mask in Laos when he wasn't feeling well. He said he wanted to "keep the germs away". He has recently focused on the fact the tourists usually pay more for things than locals, and so he wants to get local prices by going undercover. When he explained this to a fellow tourist from Australia I was speaking with, she hinted to John that his hair may still be a giveaway.

I see local ladies riding their motorcycles and mopeds completely covered with no skin showing. They'll wear cloth masks, jackets and even coverings for their hands. I'm told lighter skin is a sign of beauty here, and so women are trying to avoid getting a tan. This might explain why I see so few locals on the beach. Maybe they are on to something since too much sun is damaging.

I'm always amazed by what I witness everyday on the back of a motorcycle. Everything I could possibly imagine and more is carted around on the back of them. Just yesterday I saw a live pig in a cage on the back of one. Everyone rides them from young to old. Fathers ride with their whole family on board, grandmothers with this grandchildren, mothers take their young children to school, and of course young men ride with their sweethearts on the back sitting sidesaddle in short dresses and heals.

As I was waiting in line at an ATM, I spoke to a few young men, one each from Australia, Ireland, Italy, and the U.S. They had met a few weeks ago in Vietnam as backpackers and had decided to travel the country together. They each had purchased used motorcycles in the country for a couple hundred dollars and were riding their way down the coast from north to the south. One of them now needs to sell his bike to help pay his way home, but otherwise they each said they have had no problems travelling. One claimed they didn't even need licences to ride motorcycles here, and the police are very tolerant with tourist travellers and will look the other way at all but the most egregious traffic violations. I admired these guys for their adventurous spirit, but I looked it up later and and they should take the time to get valid motorcycle licenses for Vietnam. For those who have a valid motorcycle license already, it should only take a morning at designated police stations to take the test and costs around $50. If they don't have a motorcycle license already then this really isn't the place to learn. Without a licence they are not protected should they have an accident or a run-in with the police. I have a feeling my views would not have deterred them from their adventure.

For the last couple of days Catheleen has gone to a local tailor shop to get some clothes made, including shorts for John and some dresses and skirts for her and Elizabeth. I for one had a couple of shirts made, using an existing shirt as a template. The shirts turned out really well and they were very well priced. The best part was I didn't have to actually visit the tailor shop to bargain or endure fitting sessions.

The last couple of days I've gone back to the beach, one day with Elizabeth and the next with John. The waves have been huge both days and would constantly knock us off our feet and sometimes toss us around. True to form Elizabeth only came out of the water for refreshment, but came back to the hotel with too much sun on her face. John fared better the next day. What fun to enjoy the beach.

Here's a photo I took of a fishing boat on the river. Nothing to do with this blog but I like the picture nonetheless.

Basket boats on An Bang Beach

We went to An Bang beach today, and as I arrived I felt immediately at ease. The ocean front was very beautiful with its fine tan coloured sand, refreshing ocean, cool breeze, and views of islands ahead and the skyscrapers of Da Nang in the distance to the north. But what struck me the most is how undeveloped the beachfront was. Besides lounge chairs, sun umbrellas and some really basic looking restaurant buildings made with bamboo and straw façade over correlated sheet metal roofs, there wasn't much else here. I'm sure that will change soon enough but it was a nice change from the usual built up beaches we've visited over the years.

As we left the taxi and walked onto the beach we were greeted by someone from one of the nearby beach restaurants who wanted us to use her lounge chairs and sun shades in return for having lunch and drinks from her restaurant. We agreed and spend a good day at the beach. The kids stayed nearly the whole time in the ocean enjoying the waves. On March breaks we typically go down south to Mexico or the Caribbean but the kids rarely go in the ocean, preferring to play poolside instead. It was great to see them having fun in the ocean for a change.

There's healthy competition between the closely packed restaurant owners on this beach. I watched some of the restaurant staff trying to convince tourists that their restaurant is the best. At one point an exasperated lady, who was laughing while two restaurateurs argued, agreed jokingly that she would take her lunch from one spot while her husband would sit at another. Such is this country, with its energetic pursuit of the tourist dollar. You can either be annoyed or entertained. I'm sometimes annoyed, especially when I'm hungry or hot, but I'm usually amused. We are definitely noticing more of a hard sell approach here in Vietnam compared to anywhere else we've been in South East Asia. On our first day in the market in Hoi An people wanted to lead us back to their store to show us their wares, which side tracked us on one occasion. It seems hard for some locals to take no for an answer.

At noon two fishermen brought back the catch on basket boats made from woven bamboo shoots. They looked like large round bowls, and the fisherman rowed it with one paddle. Once it was on shore, a few people used a thick bamboo pole on their shoulders to lift it on shore. Today some tourist men helped out, accompanied by laughs and picture taking from their spouses and girlfriends at this brawny attempt to impress. It don't think the fishing was very good this morning though. All I saw in the boat was a half filled bucket of small fish, which may just have been the returning bait.

Here's some people bringing in the boat.

Cash, cats and floating in the sea

Last day pool-side in Koh Samui before we go sailing for a few days. We were told last minute that the sail boat operator wanted cash payment so we needed to rush to find the right combination of bank card and ATM to meet the payment. I really dislike these last minute scrambles but that's travelling for you.

John was disappointed when there were no geocaches in the area, so I convinced him to place his own geocache for others to find. He needed some help but he found a container, hiding place, and learned how to log the information on the geocache site. Elizabeth was the first person to test out finding the cache, and managed to locate it with some hints.

We went back to the same resort yet again for more time by the pool and the sea. I do like floating in a warm ocean, which I've been able to do the last few days. I think most people these days would rather use the pool at the resort overlooking the ocean with a drink in hand. I like that too but there's a peaceful pleasure from floating on your back in the buoyant sea with your toes in the air.

Catheleen took it upon herself to buy cat food to feed the local cats last night, which were everywhere. No good deed goes unpunished since I woke up to a cat yowling outside - I think he wanted more dinner. I even had a six week old kitten lick my toes while I was trapped in the barber's chair getting a haircut. No getting away from the cats it seems.

I'll use a picture from yesterday. I like the lawn grass on display for breakfast.

Sacred banyan trees and super heroes

We all slept in late this morning after a long travel day yesterday. I woke up to find the kids trying to manage an adolescent grey tabby that tried desperately to enter our condo. This was the same cat that visited us last evening and did make it into our living room briefly before I laid down the law - the cat stays outside and no feeding him. The kids seemed to comply, at least when I'm around.

Perhaps it was the couches, cushions and indoor-meets-outdoor feel that lured us in, but we did enjoy the Fisherman's House restaurant on the tourist strip. They made great banana pancakes, which seems to be a favourite here, and the coffee menu ran on for pages. We'll be back. I noticed a small sign at the restaurant that said "You look even more beautiful when you smile." I think that sums up the tone here in this tourist haven. People from around the world come here, partly I'm sure because the locals are genuinely friendly and accommodating. The only thing left to do here is just smile back and enjoy.

Later in the morning we went for a stroll down the sandy beach past restaurants, massage spas and resorts. With us all in bathing suits and me in my flip-flops (standard issue in Thailand), we were looking for a place to spend time on the beach, but we didn't notice a specific public beach area. We discovered that the beach strip is available to all but the beach chairs are reserved for the resort guests. Catheleen solved our problem by renting a couple of pool-side chairs at the Bandara Resort & Spa. We were a bit confused at first by the vouchers we had to purchase for a small fee, and even more puzzled when the bar tender asked us to bring the vouchers with us when we ordered from the pool bar. It turned out the vouchers weren't so much to rent a couple of chairs but were to purchase a minimum amount of food and drinks from the pool bar. So we ordered our drinks and enjoyed a day in paradise pool-side. While at the pool I admired a huge banyan tree nearby, with garlands of flowers and enough bands of ribbon fabric wrapped around the tree trunk to make a rainbow of sorts. I understand many Thai people consider these banyan trees sacred, either because Buddha sat under a banyan tree or due to beliefs in animist spirits.

On the beach I noticed an entrepreneurial family had set up a barbecue, brought in by a small boat which was holding the supplies nearby. So we enjoyed a picnic on the beach with barbecued corn on the cob, chicken satay, spring rolls and papaya salad. A dog was quietly lying nearby and John eventually pet him and fed him some chicken when I wasn't looking. When another dog same along John's new friend took off and barked and growled at the interloper, who turned tail and went back where he came from. Our local dog then came back and sat quietly down near us again. I guess there's only room for one canine beggar on each slice of the beach. Later in the day I watched the family clean up and clear out. They packed up everything into a small blue wooden boat and walked it along the shore through the shallow water. Nothing was left for the dog.

On the beach I saw the usual sea-side pursuits like wind surfing, banana boats pulled along by jet skis, and people just enjoying the warm water with the island of Koh Pha-Ngan in the distance. What we didn't expect was someone rising ten feet out of the water like a super hero with jets of water coming out of his feet. Whoever was hooked up to this contraption took a while to get adept at it, first falling this way and that a few times. Once he learned how to control the flow, he would shoot out of the water and hover above, attached by a tube to a jet ski that provided the thrust. I'm not sure what skill he was learning from this thing, but it certainly looked like fun.

Here's me next to the banyan tree.

Tidal pools and forests

If you like looking at trees, mountains, and the ocean then Vancouver Island is a good place to go. Besides the logging industry, it does seem to run at a slower pace, at least around where we are staying near Ladysmith. Our hosts Barb and Jim kept us busy today as we travelled along logging roads with trips to old growth forests along the way to Port Renfrew. There we spent the afternoon climbing along the rocky shoreline, peering in tidal pools looking for unusual sea life on an ebbing tide. We did see some brightly coloured sea urchins and anemones. Jim was a good source of info since he's from the area. He was kind enough to point out the edible berries along the way which were new to us - salmon berries and huckleberries.

We also drove along a dry riverbed. I understand that there was so little snow last winter and rain this spring that the rivers and creeks are running very low. It will be hard going for the salmon this year as they try to make their way up the rivers to their spawning grounds.