My flight to Bali was interesting, as it featured an incident. After boarding and going through the usual procedures - pulling out from the bay, watching the safety video and getting into position to go onto the runway - we then pulled back into the bay. about 5 officials and airport security guards got onto the plane and started looking up and down the aisles. They eventually found who they were after at the end of the plane. We were all starting to get a little nervous. Eventually flight attendants explained to us that they were checking that a man had a boarding pass. Eventually the man, a westerner, was removed from the plane. The flight attendants said that he didn’t have a boarding pass and wasn’t listed as having a ticket for the plane so they didnt feel safe taking him. It seemed that he’s just wandered onto our plane at some point. Very strange!
The flight itself was lovely, as it was a clearish day and I had great views of volcanos sticking out above the clouds. The highlight was seeing Mt Bromo from the air. Its a big crater that contains about 3 smaller volcanos inside it. Its really pretty, and hopefully I get to see it close up one day. When we left the coast of Java I realised that it was my first time off the island since I arrived there, 3.5 months ago. Then I started to pick out features of Bali. I got a little concerned when instead of banking and swinging into the airport we kept going, and soon the coast of Bali was well behind us. I started to worry that I was on the wrong plane! We wound up doing a low-flying loop over Lombok and swung back towards Bali, with an impressive view of Bali’s volcano, Mt Agung.
I had a day and a half until Roz arrived, so I made the most of the peace and quiet of the resort - relaxing by the pool, relaxing in my room, wandering around the beach (dodging pushy sellers).
Roz arrived late on Friday night, and on Saturday was eager to discover the new country (this is her first overseas trip). Feeling a little overwhelmed but coping quite well, she took the day in her stride. We went to Denpasar to vote at the Australian Consulate, and then on to Ubud. There we went to the Monkey Forest (satisfying Roz’s desire to walk through a rainforest) and then to the markets. We dropped into the Elephant Cave afterwards then headed back to Sanur to lie by the pool.
Sunday morning was spent shopping, then we headed over to Yogya. Again, Roz has to adjust to new surroundings, as Yogya is quite different to Bali, but is going well.
