BEACH DAY!!!!

 

 

 

 

Today we started off with a game of basketball and soccer. We had a nutritious breakfast then hopped on the bus and made our way to Padang Bai beach. We clumsily climbed onto the boat and had a 5 minute ride out to our first snorkelling spot. The scene was so picturesque and perfect for a day of snorkelling. We then moved onto our other snorkelling position known as “blue lagoon”. It is a famous snorkelling and diving spot and we were extremely lucky to get to visit this amazing spot. After this we had a beautiful Balinese lunch then made our way to the secret snorkel bay for some swim and some relaxing.

The beach was incredible. Light green body of water, sheltered by cliffs touching the sky completed the day of ocean bliss. Small stores hassling for tourist’s business looked out upon clear water.  We all had a blast, whether it was getting a cheap massage, more braids or jumping off the cliffs into the crystal clear water.  What a perfect day……the best so far.

 

Padang Pai

 

Restaurant where we had lunch

 

Grand entrance into the ocean

 

Back flips

 

Charlotte and Sienna

 

 

Blue Lagoon beach

 

Nick with Shark hair 

 

Snorkel Bay – Virgin beach

 

Hair braiding

 

Massages

 

Charlotte cliff jumping (it was safe 🙂

 

Liam resting

 

The end of our long but amazing day! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Green Camp….Day 3!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning we woke up to some rise and shine Yoga to start off our day.  It was nice and early so we were lucky enough to see the sun rising and experience this in such a beautiful location.  Our Yoga instructor was also quite a character always laughing and smiling.  It should probably have been called laughing Yoga as he was very entertaining as you can see in his photo below.  We did feel much better after this and had worked up an appetite for breakfast in preparation for our busy day.

 

Yoga Studio

Our happy Yoga instructor

 

After breakfast we did an organic gardening activity.  We learnt how to make organic compost and were lucky enough to get to mix fresh cow manure with our food scraps, water and hay to create this.  Then we went on to plant some Russian kale for the school.

Organic Compost

Making the mix!

 

Planting Kale

 

After this we went back to our dining/classroom area where we made some traditional Balinese drinks which included various spices.  Some of this was tumeric, ginger, figs etc.  

 

Then we moved on to a really fun activity of working in groups with only a few resources to create a slide for an egg to slide down.  The idea was to see who could make the highest slide for the eggs to roll down without cracking at the bottom.  After a few cracked eggs most groups actually managed to build various designs and keep the egg intact.  Quite impressive….although with intact eggs left this meant only one thing for the boys…….a chance to throw the egg back and forth until it cracked on one of them! 🙂

 

 

 

 

After a busy morning we were rewarded with some yummy burritos for lunch before moving on to finding cocoa trees and making our own organic chocolate sauce.  It was quite a process of roasting, peeling and turning the cocoa beans to powder before cooking the powder with sugar and water to create a delicious chocolate sauce which we had over ice cream with cake.

 

 

 

To work off our lunch and desert we went for a long walk into the rice fields where we placed our man made bins for the locals along the way.  It was interesting to learn about how they harvest the rice and a lovely way to see another side of Bali.  Luckily no one fell in!!!

 

Charlie and Isobel enjoying the walk.

The narrow mussy pathways we walked on

Lachie crossing the bridge safely

 

To finish the day we had another lesson on the Indonesian language and made our own amazing organic pizza’s which were delicious.  Before bed we went for another walk through the forest looking for some nocturnal animals.  Not top of the list for most of the girls 🙂

Tomorrow we are off to the beach for the day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we arrived at the green school, we were introduced to the leaders and had a brief tour of the campus. We were provided with a welcoming snack of a fig, it was different but worth a try. We settled into our yurts of four in each yurt. After this we had some dinner and a camp fire. around the camp fire we played some games and had yummy marshmallows which were well needed.

day 2 

this morning we woke up to the call of “boya” to start the day off we explored the morning ritual of Canang making and offering. We were taught how to make them and the meaning and significance of the offering. after this we went on a bike tour, it was extremely hot but a heap of fun. We passed through town and saw lots of the locals. Later in the day we did our community project of waste management. our aim was to create five rubbish bins to place throughout the local town to encourage the locals to use them and keep the town clean and tidy. We successfully completed the bins and signs to attach and placed two within the green school. the highlight of today was swimming in the river! we got to hang in the river for a hour and swing on the rope swing into the water. Our bahasa lesson was taught to us by a Balinese teacher today, we learnt allot about introductions and lots of new words. 

 

DAY 3 and 4! Again….with photo’s hopefully!

Day 3 and 4!

Posted on March 22, 2014by ivanhoeyr9

Today we were tourists again with Yos showing us many places.  We started with some wood carving demonstrations and had the opportunity to buy various wood carvings.  I am sure some parents will be pleased with the purchases!

Next we visited Yos’s sisters compound to get a glimpse into the life of a Balinese family.  Below was lunch!! 🙂

 

Next we stopped at Sanur for some lunch and a wander along the beach where most of us had braids put in our hair!

We then moved on to the spectacular Uluwatu Temple which is located on a very beautiful coastline.  We followed tradition by wearing a purple sarong.  We also watched a traditional dance as the sunset.  We also witnessed a monkey pinching another tourists glasses.  They are quite cunning and happy to be warned to put all our valuables away before entering.

 

 

 

Day 4 – After 3 days of playing tourist day 4 was a rest day.  We had a lovely sleep in and swim in the pool before heading into Ubud for our first day of shopping and bartering.  Lots of bargains were to be had with some very proud shoppers displaying their purchases and comparing costs.  After this hard morning of bartering we headed for Padang Pandang beach for a  well deserved swim.

 

 

 

We have now arrived at the Greens school where we have settled in well.  Internet seems to work a bit better here so hopefully tonight we can give you an update of our last two days here.  Enjoy the pics.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment | Edit

Day 3 and 4

Posted on March 21, 2014by ivanhoeyr9

 

Arts handicraft and souvenir shops in Ubud

 

Lunch 🙂

Visiting Yos’s Sisters home and learning about how families live together in Bali

 

Visiting Sanur Beach for lunch.

Visiting Uluwatu temple

 

Beautiful views from the temple

 

Kecak dance

Uluwatu Sunset

Padang Padang Beach!

I hope you have all enjoyed the photo’s.  We’re off to the Green School today so will most likely not be back online again until the airport as internet access is very slow and limited.  Should you have any emergency’s below is Peter and my Balinese numbers.

We hope everyone’s well.  The kids have been enjoying the experience and behaving very well! 🙂

+6282237816367 (Katrina)

+6282237816369 (Peter)

 

Aside | Posted on March 22, 2014 by ivanhoeyr9| Leave a comment | Edit

Day 3 and 4!

Posted on March 22, 2014by ivanhoeyr9

Day 3 and 4!

Posted on March 22, 2014by ivanhoeyr9

Today we were tourists again with Yos showing us many places.  We started with some wood carving demonstrations and had the opportunity to buy various wood carvings.  I am sure some parents will be pleased with the purchases!

Next we visited Yos’s sisters compound to get a glimpse into the life of a Balinese family.  Below was lunch!! 🙂

 

Next we stopped at Sanur for some lunch and a wander along the beach where most of us had braids put in our hair!

We then moved on to the spectacular Uluwatu Temple which is located on a very beautiful coastline.  We followed tradition by wearing a purple sarong.  We also watched a traditional dance as the sunset.  We also witnessed a monkey pinching another tourists glasses.  They are quite cunning and happy to be warned to put all our valuables away before entering.

 

 

 

Day 4 – After 3 days of playing tourist day 4 was a rest day.  We had a lovely sleep in and swim in the pool before heading into Ubud for our first day of shopping and bartering.  Lots of bargains were to be had with some very proud shoppers displaying their purchases and comparing costs.  After this hard morning of bartering we headed for Padang Pandang beach for a  well deserved swim.

 

 

 

We have now arrived at the Greens school where we have settled in well.  Internet seems to work a bit better here so hopefully tonight we can give you an update of our last two days here.  Enjoy the pics.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment | Edit

Day 3 and 4

Posted on March 21, 2014by ivanhoeyr9

 

Arts handicraft and souvenir shops in Ubud

 

Lunch 🙂

Visiting Yos’s Sisters home and learning about how families live together in Bali

 

Visiting Sanur Beach for lunch.

Visiting Uluwatu temple

 

Beautiful views from the temple

 

Kecak dance

Uluwatu Sunset

Padang Padang Beach!

I hope you have all enjoyed the photo’s.  We’re off to the Green School today so will most likely not be back online again until the airport as internet access is very slow and limited.  Should you have any emergency’s below is Peter and my Balinese numbers.

We hope everyone’s well.  The kids have been enjoying the experience and behaving very well! 🙂

+6282237816367 (Katrina)

+6282237816369 (Peter)

P.S sorry for the double up….apparently I have been blogging on the wrong trip!  You can now see how many times we have tried to get this out.  Hopefully this is all sorted now! 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment | Edit

 

 

Day 3 & 4

Day 3 and 4!
Posted on March 22, 2014 by ivanhoeyr9
Today we were tourists again with Yos showing us many places. We started with some wood carving demonstrations and had the opportunity to buy various wood carvings. I am sure some parents will be pleased with the purchases!

Image

Next we visited Yos’s sisters compound to get a glimpse into the life of a Balinese family. Below was lunch!! 🙂

Image

Image

Image

Next we stopped at Sanur for some lunch and a wander along the beach where most of us had braids put in our hair!

Image

Image

We then moved on to the spectacular Uluwatu Temple which is located on a very beautiful coastline. We followed tradition by wearing a purple sarong. We also watched a traditional dance as the sunset. We also witnessed a monkey pinching another tourists glasses. They are quite cunning and happy to be warned to put all our valuables away before entering.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Day 4 – After 3 days of playing tourist day 4 was a rest day. We had a lovely sleep in and swim in the pool before heading into Ubud for our first day of shopping and bartering. Lots of bargains were to be had with some very proud shoppers displaying their purchases and comparing costs. After this hard morning of bartering we headed for Padang Pandang beach for a well deserved swim.

Image

Image

Image

Image

We have now arrived at the Greens school where we have settled in well. Internet seems to work a bit better here so hopefully tonight we can give you an update of our last two days here. Enjoy the pics.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment | Edit
Day 3 and 4
Posted on March 21, 2014 by ivanhoeyr9
Image

Arts handicraft and souvenir shops in Ubud

Image

Lunch 🙂

Image

Visiting Yos’s Sisters home and learning about how families live together in Bali

Image

Visiting Sanur Beach for lunch.

Image

Visiting Uluwatu temple

Image

Beautiful views from the temple

Image

Kecak dance

Image

Uluwatu Sunset

Image

Padang Padang Beach!

Image

I hope you have all enjoyed the photo’s. We’re off to the Green School today so will most likely not be back online again until the airport as internet access is very slow and limited. Should you have any emergency’s below is Peter and my Balinese numbers.

We hope everyone’s well. The kids have been enjoying the experience and behaving very well! 🙂

+6282237816367 (Katrina)

+6282237816369 (Peter)

DAY 2

We started the day with an all you can eat buffet for breakfast, then made our way to the rice terraces.  We stopped there for some photo’s and looked at the beautiful view.   

Next we headed for the mother temple where we all bought sarongs and made the steep trek up the hill to the temple which was definitely worth it.  What a beautiful place!

After this we moved on to the Volcano where we had an amazing buffet for lunch overlooking the volcano.  Unfortunately though it was a cloudy day so our view was a little bit limited but you could certainly get a feel for the size and height of the Volcano.  Everywhere we went today had the most spectacular views with such beautiful green vegetation.

The final activity of the day was to visit the coffee and chocolate plantation.  Just what we needed to get our energy levels back up after such a fun filled day.  We tried a variety of coffee, teas and chocolate drinks.  The most popular (although not by taste) was the coffee that is “pooped” out by a cat like animal.  Apparently some people pay big bucks for this, although we’re not sure why.

As you can see we are having a wonderful time getting to see so much of the Balinese culture already. We love our tour guide Yos who has been taking such good care of us.  Everyone so far have been so nice and tomorrow we look forward to learning how to barter with them 🙂

Well it’s off to bed to rest up for another activity filled day.  We’ll be in touch in a couple of days with more updates and photo’s.

From

Sienna and Nat

 

 

SAFE AND SOUND!

Well after a day of travelling and meeting the lovely Yos our tour guide we have finally settled in for the night at our very nice hotel.  The kid have been fed and even found some time for a dip in the pool which is located within a beautiful landscape.  Its an early night to get ready for a 7am start and busy day.   Good night! .  

ONE SLEEP TO GO!

Only one sleep until we’ll see each other bright and early in the morning.  I hope everyone’s packed and excited about our trip.  See you at 6:30am with coffee in hand! 🙂  DON’T FORGET YOUR PASSPORT!!!!

Only 3 weeks to go

After a successful and thoroughly enjoyable trip last year, we have planned and booked the 2014 trip to Bali and we can’t wait !

Only 3 weeks to go ( 2 and a half actually). So get that sunscreen out, and see what you look like in a sarong.
Family and friends will be able to follow our journey from here, and please do comment, we love reading notes from home when we are away.