Bouncing Around Bali

 After our time in Timor the team had to travel through Bali to travel on to our respective homes. We stayed a few days which gave the team a good chance to reflect upon our experiences, debrief them together, do some future planning and discuss the presentations. It was a really relaxing time and great to just hang out together before we departed ways. After you have experienced so much together, it is hard to just leave Timor and head straight back home without having a chance to really chat about things as a team. Time well spent!

Back in Bali... waiting for a taxi. First thing we did was buy a coffee and connect to wifi (and, in my case, call home)..... such Westerners!

We got to Canggu and stopped at a motorbike shop to wait for the lady from the Villa to direct us. Out the back was a outdoor lounging area, which had a drinks bar. It was 2 for 1 cocktails - at a ridiculously cheap price. How could you pass that up??!!! All up, it was $8 for 4 cocktails! Yep, this is Bali!!!

The motorbike shop also had a restaurant, which we came back to for dinner. I ended up ordering Indonesian food, even though we had been eating it for a few weeks! It's right up my alley.

Scooter central!

A beautiful beach near by. We went there to check out the sunset. 

It was a beach full of all sorts of beautiful sights, such as this. Spectacular, hey!

And this! The sand here was almost black. 

Surfers were everywhere! I love this photo!

I LOVED riding the scooter! I took it relatively easy - compared to what my siblings would do - but I did max out at 80km/h. That's super fast for these roads!

Beautiful rice paddies. I love the fact that you can see the rice grains here. 

This is a dragon fruit cake - gluten and dairy free - and it was absolutely delicious!!! If only I had the recipe and access dragon fruit at home!

I LOVE THE SCOOTER!!!!  Had such a blast bombing around on it. I didn't drive into Kuta or anything crazy like that. I just stuck to the quieter roads near by.

After the rest of the team left to go home, I had 2 extra days in Bali as I was waiting for my flight to PNG. I decided to head to Ubud as I hadn't stayed there before. Best decision ever!

The hotel where I stayed were holding a Balinese dancing performance on the night that I arrived. It was very enjoyable to watch over dinner. 

The dancers kept on asking for the audience to have a photo with them. No one obliged and it was getting awkward.... so I headed up on stage. 

Beautiful flowers!

My neighbour in Tassie dropped me off to the airport on the day that I left. He had to get up at the ridiculous time of 4:55am to do that, which was soooooooo nice! He said that his only condition was that I send him a post card. So I did! Isn't this the coolest mailbox ever!

A little raw fudge I bought. Served on a banana leaf. Cool hey!

The glorious pool at the hotel! So relaxing. 

Bali was foodie delights for me! This is the most delicious raw pumpkin and cashew cheesecake. Sounds gross, but trust me, it was amazing. 

I followed this map and went to the Champuhan Hike. So beautiful as you will soon see!

The end of the trek is a little cafe overlooking to rice fields. Just stunning!

  

Trekking along. It was sooooo hot!!! I don't think I have ever sweated so much in my life!

Beautiful rice fields. 

The little huts at the cafe. I sat in one and had a coconut and a grilled corn. Delicious! The huts were refreshingly cool too.

A view from out the front of the hut!

My coconut. Beautifully decorated. 

In keeping with the food theme..... I found this amazing hole in the wall coconut ice cream stand. I spoke to the (American) owner which was really cool. Very nice ice cream too!!

And it wouldn't be Bali without a wander through the markets. 

  

Or without offerings.

Or cheap massages!! BEST EVER!!!

Decorations at the hotel. 

and a random tree with green leaf shoots and one red leaf, still clinging on. The leaf was much redder than it looks in the photo! I think this looks so pretty.

And so my time in Bali was over. Time for a (very delayed) over night flight to PNG and on to the next stage of  my adventure. It was with a little trepidation that I left my Timor experience behind. I had had such a blast that I felt that it would be very strange to move on to a new place and a new culture. But I left, with a prayer and God leading the way. 

Oh, what a blessing it has been! I am so thankful that I had some time to rest and recuperate in Bali before landing in PNG. It was great to take some time out before the work amped up. PNG has been AMAZING! And so different to Timor that there's no comparison at all, which is great. I'm so thankful to have this time to help out and support my church family in far away places. Stay tuned for some more adventures!

*please note, my apostrophe key is working.... for the moment!!!

Timor Travels part 3

So, there's a few final shots that I wanted to add, so here they are! Notice, I managed to get my apostrophe key working. Who knows how! Once again, they a jumbled bunch... Fixing it is out of my skill set at the moment....!

Rice at the markets. Roughtly $1 a kilo from what I could  figure out.

So many delicious vegetables!

Random people just ask for their photo to be taken. Rightio then!

THE MOST comfortable chair you will ever sit in!

A lovely photo of the female teachers... until Fictor got in the way!

Me and Fictor. Man, this guy is hilarious. He made us all laugh so much! Nice photo bomb, Jess! 

The babi. Before it was our lunch!

Dig in guys! A pretty amazing lunch, that is for sure!

Some lion/tiger style faces the boys requested. 

Ferdi and Bento painting their own faces. They painted, wiped off, repainted and repeated that process at least 3 times!

The donations the team brought across. Cool hey!

A final truck ride... to the airport.... A sad day!

Time for a pit stop to pick up some Timorese cloth. 

Beautiful hey!

The Dethan family. We were truly blessed by their unending hospitality!

And one last shot all together. Shortly before the tears.....!!!
Fun times, without a doubt!

All praise and thanks to our Heavenly Father for all of His gifts! So many precious memories to take home. 

Timor Travels part 2

So, I managed to load a bunch more...! But completely jumbled, so I will just write captions. Enjoy!

On our last day, we did an afternoon of fun activities with the New Hope children. I was on face painting duty! I painted faces for 3 hours! The kiddies knew exactly what they wanted, so that made it all a little easier. I dont think I have painted that many faces in my whole life!

On our last day, the school held a farewell assembly for us. The kids presented a really fabulous program and there were some very heart felt speeches. It was a very special celebration of a fantastic trip and really touched us, as the people were so thankful that we had come to help them. To us, it felt like such a small thing, but the local people really poured out their love and appreciation for us. So humbling!

 Such CUTE kids! My little rebel mate is on the left. 

The whole village celebrated Yantos graduation 

*sorry, my apostrophe key doesnt work.... its annoying the teacher in me....*

Yanto and the team. He was so thrilled to have us there and watch the perfect host. We were given the scarves as a token of appreciation for the incredible work New Hope does. 

 That day we drove for at least 8 hours. Those of you who know me well would know that I never sit up if there is an opportunity for me to put my legs up in some kind of way. Case in point. 

Little Ferdi! Proudly showing me his bedroom and his clothes. 

This is Martin. The hardest worked I have ever met! Absolute legend.

Bento. I think he was meant to be preparing some of the dinner but, surprise, surprise, he is eating tamarin....!

The second funniest moment of my life. Jade and Bunks trying betelnut. It was hilarious until I realised that they were getting dizzy. Then I started getting worried. No adverse side effects thankfully!

Driving into Kupang. Scooters everywhere! This is considered quiet on the roads. 

A walk-a-thon with the students from Elpida School. Through the rice fields - stunning!

Part of the farewell assembly - the girls performed a dance for us. Very impressive!

A photo with all of the staff of Elpida. Plus a bunch of prac students. 

The AMAZING lunch we were served in Yantos village. 

Leon entertained some of the villagers with his fireworks. Plenty of shrieks and yells of excitement!

We visited this beautiful waterfall on the way home from the Mission Posts. Impressive, hey!

Kids during assembly. The cutest. 

Chris, a Theological College student, helping out with the concrete pour. Everyone got involved! Such great unity. 

Even Moses and the New Hope kids got amongst it. They looked stoked, hey!

I LOVE coconut!

The Dethans receiving their scarves. A real ceremony!

Yanto and I. What an achievement, mate!

More fireworks from Leon. The villagers were so disappointed when it was over. 

The New Hope girls in their dorm.

Volleyball - the New Hope boys can be found playing a game every afternoon.

Church at the Mission Post in Pili.

The scarf ceremony in Pili. 

The walk-a-thon. I love the bright colours. 

With some of the senior secondary girls I taught.

Joining in with the dance performance, much to the delight of the students!

Gotta have a silly shot!

 Some more of the students.

The babi. Before we ate it!

The very first pour of concrete. History in the making!