2019
Last day in Bali! Di tepi laut - By the seaside in Sunny Sanur.
1 November 2019
Now down by the sea in slow-paced Sanur, just soaking up the sea views with the colourful little outrigger jukong studding the shoreline, no longer used for fishing but for tourist jaunts out to the reef.
Twice daily walks along the coastal path, peeking into the vast luxury hotel gardens as we pass and hurrying past the occasional raucous bar that seems so out of place in this otherwise sleepy resort. Alas, so far no view of mighty Mt Agung which I know lies just across the water, or even of the island Penida which our hotel claims a view of in its name. No doubt the amassed clouds hiding these landmarks spell the coming of the rainy season.
Twice daily walks along the coastal path, peeking into the vast luxury hotel gardens as we pass and hurrying past the occasional raucous bar that seems so out of place in this otherwise sleepy resort. Alas, so far no view of mighty Mt Agung which I know lies just across the water, or even of the island Penida which our hotel claims a view of in its name. No doubt the amassed clouds hiding these landmarks spell the coming of the rainy season.
Recent days have been filled with the unexpected reappearance of people from my past lives - a student from Sydney Girls High I taught English to 30 years ago was at a book launch in Ubud. The tell-tale “Hello Miss Pollard” is a give away - I recognised her immediately, though at first confused her with her identical twin sister as the teenage girlfriend of Josh’s best mate, Francis, who often came to the house with him. Chrissie lives in Bali six months of every year as her husband has business interests on the island of Flores. She has two toddlers. She is a very glamorous Chinese-Australian - wonderful to see her again.
Then yesterday I went over to see Sarita (long time festival friend) who lives in Sanur, for lunch with members of a writers workshop group (taught by Oz writer Jan Cornall – I’ve done a course with her long ago too) who are staying there. One of them turned out to be Deborah Pollard whom I taught in a short course at the University of Western Sydney 25 years ago. With her name, of course I remembered her! She writes plays!
And while sitting in reception yesterday waiting for a Grab (Indonesia’s Uber) to pick me up I watched a car unload a new guest - and it is Jenny, SeaTrek guide on both my Ombak Putih trips! She no longer works for SeaTrek but now lives mostly in Japan running a ski resort with her partner. They now have a two year old, a great joy, as in 2016 when I last saw her she was trying desperately to have a child as she approached 40. She and the little girl, Kai (I have yet to meet her) are here for a six-day tropical escape from Japan’s encroaching winter, before the ski season starts. And she has chosen this very hotel. I will spend some time catching up with her today.
And of course there was another reunion with Bu Agung, Josh’s long-time pembantu who looked after him lovingly all his years in Bali. She came to the hotel after work bearing a delicious cake which we tucked into over our animated catch-up session. At long last her son is about to finish his university course which has taken him six years instead of four, adding enormous strain to the family budget, as his younger sister has started university too - she is a much more diligent student - doing 2nd year Pharmacy in Java.
Then yesterday I went over to see Sarita (long time festival friend) who lives in Sanur, for lunch with members of a writers workshop group (taught by Oz writer Jan Cornall – I’ve done a course with her long ago too) who are staying there. One of them turned out to be Deborah Pollard whom I taught in a short course at the University of Western Sydney 25 years ago. With her name, of course I remembered her! She writes plays!
And while sitting in reception yesterday waiting for a Grab (Indonesia’s Uber) to pick me up I watched a car unload a new guest - and it is Jenny, SeaTrek guide on both my Ombak Putih trips! She no longer works for SeaTrek but now lives mostly in Japan running a ski resort with her partner. They now have a two year old, a great joy, as in 2016 when I last saw her she was trying desperately to have a child as she approached 40. She and the little girl, Kai (I have yet to meet her) are here for a six-day tropical escape from Japan’s encroaching winter, before the ski season starts. And she has chosen this very hotel. I will spend some time catching up with her today.
And of course there was another reunion with Bu Agung, Josh’s long-time pembantu who looked after him lovingly all his years in Bali. She came to the hotel after work bearing a delicious cake which we tucked into over our animated catch-up session. At long last her son is about to finish his university course which has taken him six years instead of four, adding enormous strain to the family budget, as his younger sister has started university too - she is a much more diligent student - doing 2nd year Pharmacy in Java.
But the biggest blast from the past was seeing old Indonesianist mate, Vern. I knew he had moved back to Bali recently after living the last two years in NZ, but he was not responding to any of my messages suggesting we meet up. He just turned up here yesterday evening unannounced, and fortunately I was in my room. He has advanced Parkinsons (although 25 years ago it was wrongly diagnosed as Motor Neurone) and is now extremely frail, wheelchair bound, and can only talk in a whisper. Here in Bali he has moved in with old friend, Wisnu whose family Vern supported after the father (along with tens of thousands of others) had been unjustly jailed for 14 years following the 1965 attempted coup. Wisnu and his family have been part of Vern’s life ever since, here and in Sydney, and have now taken Vern in and provided a separate part of the house for him. Vern has access to excellent carers too. In exchange, two of Wisnu’s adult children are living in Vern’s Sydney house. The conversation yesterday was a real struggle for Vern, but I did most of the talking, catching him up on the doings of all his Sydney friends. With his carer, we enjoyed more of Bu Agung’s cake with tea on my verandah.
So my last couple of days have been filled with nostalgia. Pam B has been doing her own thing, venturing out in the heat to investigate the shops along Sanur’s main drag, something I am not willing to do. So much for Xmas shopping!
I am about to hit the pool again, (where no doubt- following the current run of surprise reconnections - I shall bump into some long lost boyfriend!) and try to stay cool till Janma arrives this afternoon for the start of her Sydney adventure!
I am about to hit the pool again, (where no doubt- following the current run of surprise reconnections - I shall bump into some long lost boyfriend!) and try to stay cool till Janma arrives this afternoon for the start of her Sydney adventure!