Bali to Java and everything in between

Well we somehow made it here. We landed in Bali, where surfing first came to Asia, Kuta beach. We watched the sunset from a bar balcony, when we had finished we found the streets plastered with markets in what seemed to be a maze to get to our hotel. At one point Fay grabbed my arm, I froze not  a meter from my face was a snake charmer with three large snakes one even coiled around his hat. Once we crossed the street we settled in and planned our trip to North of Bali.

The trip went smooth considering the driving here. Both lanes go both ways... all the time. We got to have lunch on the floor over looking the rain sprinkling the rice fields as I beat Fay at chess. The Ice cream softened the blow to her ego ( maybe next time ). We got a room in town, which we nice until I had food poisoning. I spent the next 24hrs pretty much on the bathroom floor or in the sink. Ahhh the magic of Bali. There were things that I'm not proud of ... mostly walking to get water at 6am and throwing up 5 times in the street all the while trying to get back to the hotel. There were shrines everywhere and...  I did my best. Fast forward one day later and we're doing a hindu temple, bam back on track. The rest of our stay was really enjoyable, markets and just seeing what Bali had to offer, lots of rice fields :)

We visited two other cities but they were more for transportation. On the second from last day in Bali we went to Denpasar or as we like to call it ... Despair. It's very industrial and mall like, which is fine we just needed to stay one night for the bus. That night we got food at a western style restaurant via taxi threw the drive threw which was really funny and cost ruffly four bucks. We ended the night with fast food and asian soaps about blind people, and betrayal we narrated what we didn't understand. It was proper fun.

We finally reached Java and it was a hellish bus ride one to forget and fast. However once there we met a nice muslim boy that kept us company for three hours talking about religion and political views, we're very similar. I gave him my Canadian patch from my pack and we wished him well on his travels.
Then came the second bus ride... we got a nicer bus that had tons of space, ac, and even reclining seats, for a 12 hr bus ride to Yogyakarta. We tried to sleep but the driver was literally getting air on every corner and there are lots of corners. At one point it was rocking at high speeds on the wrong side of the road and bruised our ribs on the side bar. At another point we thought the bus was going to tip, or hit motorists. By the way the trucks next to us are an inch from our faces threw the glass window. I thought we we're going to crash at several points. When we first got on, the bus began to sway, Fay looked terrified, reading her expression I whispered it's like a cradle to sleep, Fay ''what kind of cradle did you have?!'' Lily no answer.

The nice thing about the bus trip was that we got to see the full moon follow us over the ocean.
Finally we've reached our hotel, crashed and got our temple tickets booked, had our first meal in 24hrs and called it a night.

The great unknown

We got back to our apartment all we could think about was Asia and when we wanted to go. Then I saw my reflection and thought,  that's boring.  This isn't what I want in Asia, I wanted a change. This entire trip is to do new things and do what I'd never do in Canada. Starting with my hair. I thought what the hell just do it. But if I was to do it I have to do it big,  grandio you know. I looked around and kept seeing this barber shop that only did men's hair, but they sang to the music and wore bow ties and had antic barber chairs. I'd never seen a girl in there or anywhere near it. So once I figured what cut I wanted I walked in and asked the owner if he'd do my hair. Lee said to come in and he'd do what he could. The next day he cut nearly all my hair off. We bonded and we sang together, turns out I was the only girl ever to get my hair done there, and he'd never done a girls hair. In fact they had a policy. I was breaking all the rules and I loved it. After their entire crew singed a old record named Now&Then. Yah they were really cool.  Just so you know their called The Mod Rockers :)

The weeks to come were stormy, the coast of Queensland had flooded in some areas. Nothing too serious compared to last year's floods. The week before fortune smiled upon us one last time. We had a perfect week with nothing but lazy beach days. On one of these days Fay had finally challenged the waves and I was really impressed that she took on the ruff seas, just as things got good. A second wave Fay didn't see twisted her. When I saw her she had trouble standing her knees, they were giving out. I'd seen this before but never this bad. The waves kept pushing her trapped nerve in her back. I helped her get out of the breaking waves and it took awhile to limb home. We laughed at the people staring.

After a few days the pain wasn't retreating, so we got some painkillers over the counter. The only issue other than Fay's back was that we had plans the next day for our friend Amanda to come surfing. Which at this point helping Fay get her shoes tied was as good as it gets. And I must say she's proud cripple. By proud I mean difficult. '' I can do it myself'' (ten minutes later in shower) ''Lily can you help me please?''  Still I like to be needed.





We contacted Amanda the moment we clued into the surfing being the next day, we hoped she'd still come visit. Which Amanda being Amanda she never disappoints. So the next day we packed ourselves into the car and  headed for a mini roadtrip. Amanda took us down the beach to two beaches, near Mermaid beach. These beaches were surfing beaches. Amanda hopped right in she kept racing me, but my legs are so short that just as I'd get a leg up the next set would knock me out, Amanda was way ahead of me. I remember thinking this isn't a safe beach and I stepped on something that felt like thick rubber round in shape and I could feel sharp bones on it, kinda not what you want to feel when the waves are big enough to hide a shark. There have been four attacks on the gold coast since Christmas, and the water was as dark as the wave was deep.  swimming closer to Amanda made me feel better.  I figure she know what to do.

In the distance we saw a rock formation on a beach near by. Amanda thought it'd be better for Fay to drive there. Once we got on the beach I asked Amanda if she'd climb the rock with me. Of course she beat me to the top, gee wizzz lady. The rock was what seemed to be volcanic and it felt like coral, sharp coral on our feet. Some of the formations looked almost like rotted iron.

I didn't realize how  high the rocks were until we climbed the smaller one first. We could see all the surfers from way up high the wind cooled us down even though in all likely hood we were burning.

We then climbed the largest rock in the centre, which was steep and had a very thin back on the right hand side there it was nothing to climb just a angle that would drop you. Which made me climb only on the beaten path. The wind played with my new hair. I'm not going to lie I got unnerved at the wind and angle so I headed back home. Amanda looked very comfortable at where she sat.

By this point Fay was is ripe pain and we headed back to the apartment where we had some lunch and did the spa at the resort. The hot water helped ease Fay's back.

The next day we decided that in two weeks time Asia was where we needed to be. We ended the lease today and tomorrow we're headed to Brisbane to visit the blue house. From there we leave for Bali in the morning. We've planned our trip originally to be 6 to 7 months long, but because of scheduling with a wedding ( not ours... yet :) plus immigration time has got us in a corner. To do it now or later in life, we're not ready to go yet.  So we have a week and two months to do about 5 or 6 countries. Stay tuned this should get interesting.

Much love Lily & Fay

Under the sea

So our break has ended. We're back in Surfers Paradise and the New Year has arrived and it's looking promising. I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday as well. This blog post will be a recap of our adventures in Cairns, theres plenty to share.

Once we arrived in Cairns we spent the first night sleeping in the airport terminal.... this was interesting to say the least. The reason for our little sleepover was because when our flight got in it was too late to check in at the hostels, no one is at the front desk at 2am. (understandable) So we spent the night with a herd of strangers with nothing but flickering christmas lights to guild you to the bathrooms at 4am. I awoke to a man clicking his leather heals together and telling me our shuttle was coming in an hour if we still wanted to use our tickets. ( I had you  for a min when I said leather, didn't I ? ) We got the first shuttle at 7am and saw the sunrising over the rainforest surrounding us. We weren't sure what to expect with booking our trip. We thought Cairns hmm.. isn't that north what else is north? Bundaberg. But then we thought Amanda is from Cairns which means it has to be a good place because Amanda is a sweetheart.

Speaking of Amanda we got to see her sweetface on our first few days in Carirns central. She was kind enough to drive down and pick us up.  Before meeting her we spent the morning at the market, which is surprisingly large for the location. A person could overdose on the fruit if they had a day. In short I was in paradise, but time was short and we found Amanda, who had a co-pilot her niece. Who was very entertaining on the car ride. She was showing us Angry bird movies on the iphone, and she can beat Fay at the game. Seeing Amanda and her niece was really cute When Laura & Jarred have their kids I want to be really involved with them.
We had no idea where we were headed, but Amanda had a surprise in store.  She drove us up into the rainforest with thick tropical vines and the suns rays blocked by the forest. I didn't know it at the time but this trip to Cairns was going to exceed my expectations.






 Amanda's niece kept wanting to use my camera to take pictures and I was trying to show her how to focus the lens at ants and she's not bad, if their not careful they may have a photographer in the making :) This ant photo is one I took but she was pretty close.  Once we parked the car we realized the surprise was a waterfall trail. Outside the trail there were warning signs of stinging plants that are poisonous.

Threw out the trail there places to swim in the waterfalls, we only swam in one because the water was really deep and it wasn't clear to see the bottom. Amanda reassured me that crocs (not the shoes the reptiles) only swam in warm water, but what Amanda didn't know was to a Canadian girl it felt like bath water. Still I ventured in even when I felt something shift under my feet... after we got in it was really fun. We liked it so much we swam it again on the way back.  Once we drove out of the forest we met up with Amanda's sister and her mom.

Once we said our goodbyes Fay and I had to get the rest of our trip started. But first was had to take some time for a little date. We don't live near the theatres so it was nice to just get dressed up and spoil ourselves ! We love movies and it felt like a small piece of home.  In a few more days home would be coming to us.

Once we ended our stay at the at the Corona we made our way to the holiday house in the rainforest, near Trinity beach. We thought it was on the beach but it was in the hills. Heres the view from the porch. We had the night to ourselves until Amy arrived in the early and I mean early morning. The house was huge and had a great pool, we went swimming all day long and even the days it rained we'd swim on our backs to see the rain landing on the surface of the pool.


                                                                     Amy came to wake us as soon as she got home. Which in all honestly scared me because I didn't expect it,  but Fay loved it. By the end of the trip I'd be waking up early every morning. Which I'm pleased to say I'm keeping the habit. Amy if your reading this I can feel your smile from Japan. I'm just not made that way I think I was an owl in another life, really. That same day we waited in the pool until Katy, Jackie, and Peter knocked on the door. This was the first the McIntryres has been together (all of them) in over two years. Remember they've been apart over half of their lives. Which is a shame because when they get together it's really quite something. Their different from my family but  they try really hard to include me and make me feel like family. Maybe someday I'll get the street cred. I really love Christmas time and it felt really off because of the heat and no skating or skiing. It's also the second year away from my own family at christmas. And my grand parents are getting older so every christmas means alot to me. Fay tried to keep my small traditions like watching it's a wonderful life when wrapping presents but it felt kinda lonely. Fay promised next year we'd have a 100% Hamilton christmas with lights, skating, volunteering, Gramparents, and stockings. Still I'm in Australia and holy crap?! I'll be entering the New Year by swimming the great barrier reef! I'm very lucky to be here and in good health with family. God's been really kind to us.

Jackie had a horrible time getting here, she lost her jewelry on the flight very sentimental  jewelry. And it wasn't the best start to her trip to Australia. But the girls had a surprise in store for her they bought champaign for Amy's engagement. But really it was an excuse to dress up and surprise her with diamond earrings. Which could never replace the originals but it would help her see past the disappointment. And its always nice to see her smile.

 Jackie is original and this is why I love her, other than raising a incredible daughters, she brought a 3.5 meter tree with lights and decorations. Thats right leave it to mom to make it feel like home.

Christmas came around and the gifts were from all over the world, jp's from Japan and Scotland. Shoes that change colour according to the temperature, tri-pods for bottles. All sorts of good stuff. The best part was seeing everyone in one room without skyping. Priceless. I got to speak to my sister on Chirstmas day, she was crying on the phone because she was so glad to hear my voice. Laura couldn't reach me and was scared that she'd miss Christmas. She's kinda the best sister in the world, and Jarred's pretty awesome :) The rest of the day was spent in the
pool talking about Amy's wedding, and dresses.


After Christmas we got did every beach everyday. As you can see some at day and some at night. We had to swim in chained in nets because of the box jellyfish, which later we found out second hand that the net didn't always work. Stingrays and jellyfish alike found themselves inside the nets. Great, good to know...












We visited villages in the rainforest that had a type of zoo, we got to see snakes, hold a koala and feed a Kangaroo. The Koalas climbed the trees, they knew human cuddles were instore. On the way there we saw Kangaroos in the wild boxing in the fields. Which I thought was rather cartoonish of them, apparently this is a common thing for them to do.

With everyday came a new beach, they were all different and nice in there own ways. I have the names marked on a map but I'll save you guys some time and just post the photos.

On New Year's Eve we drove threw the mountains to reach a different beach, Palm cove, which is the place to be if your one of the cool kids, or so we were told by some locals. The women of the house ( which is everyone but poor Peter) just wanted to lay on a beach and get their rays in before returning to colder climates. I don't blame them, but I had done some research and found that in four hours drive we could enter the heart of the rainforest and do the waterfall trails! Which anyone who knows me knows that water is my element, frozen solid or not it's the best thing in the world to be in natures playground. However first things first, New Year's was tonight and after dinner we returned to the cove for a firework show that was on the beach. There were fire dancers entertaining, kids running with sparklers and glow sticks. We got right under where the fireworks set to go and we had ourselves a Kodak moment. The fireworks were early enough that we could get home and call Canada to wish them a Happy New Year. For the count down we had sparklers and poppers in the pool. It was different from Last years new year. I think nothing will ever top the London roof top fireworks, it's one of those moments that will never fade. Still nice to see everyone together again and ready to take on another year.

The next day was our trip to the outter barrier reef. 

Which was really quite something, we had two locations 

to swim at and over 2hrs of ruff seas to get there. I was really 

sick the first half, I threw up to the point it came out of my noise... 

which really burned,  wasn't sure if that was even possible. 

At that point I was told to swim and the seasickness would 

end itself. I jumped into the water and tried to swim it off 

and enjoy the view.  The second dive was more eventful we all got in a smaller boat to an island under the tide and we jumped off to make our way back, right away a turtle swam past, this was my chance and I gave the camera to Amy and took my lifejacket off and dived to follow it to the floor of the coral. Their quite














fast for being so heavy, I almost reached it. I put out my hand and it turned to notice my reach and I thought it best to leave it be, that and my air had ran out and it was swimming further away from the boat.  This was the one that got away. Jackie doesn't really swim in the ocean but in the last go she got in with everyone and swam even after Fay saw a leopard shark and jellyfish. Lots of clear small jellyfish. Which now that I think of it, I swam with the leopard shark too, I never left her side    when snorkeling ... well I never saw it. Thats for the best I guess.

The last adventure was to do the 4hr roadtrip to milla milla falls, where a herbal essence commercial was filmed, fun fact. The falls had warnings of stinging fish. I worn my shoes to be on the safe side. When I had reached behind the falls I turned and looked up threw the falls, it was so beautiful. the entire rock face was geometric, like big pillars. As if the entire wall was a huge church organ. The falls where almost 40 meters high.

The day was young so we thought we'd check out the local beach. On the way there through the mountains we decided to visit another waterfall trail. This one was more of a hike in, we reached the rock slides and the pool was clear and deep, I could have stayed there a whole week. And I would have but the beach was waiting. This day was easily my most favorite of the trip. Cairns would prove to be memorable to say the least.