Bali Pt 1

Ok, back to the beginning..

I flew out on Wednesday which was the worst flight I’ve ever been on. It was no fault of Air Asia who were as good as ever but rather due to me being really crook. I’d had a very sore through, swollen glands and aching joints for a couple of days but the hot and cold flushes had set in earlier in the arvo and by the time my flight was due for boarding I was in a very poor way. When I boarded the flight I was freezing cold but it wasn’t long before I started alternating to boiling hot. Eventually it reached the point where I was felt I was only semi conscious and was burning up and dripping with sweat. Additionally my chest felt like it was going to explode in a wild panic. Although it was one of the shortest flights I’ve been on it certainly felt like the longest. I arrived at about 12.30pm and was thankful that I was being picked up from the airport as I didn’t feel in any state to arrange my own transport. I hit the sack and fell into a grateful slumber.

In hindsight the bad turn on the plane was the worst of things as when I woke the next morning my joints were far less achy although my throat was still very sore and my glands very swollen. I’d already decided to have a very easy day to let my body recover so after breaky I grabbed a towel and staked my claim on a poolside deckchair where I spent the rest of the day reading and snoozing.. and also had an hour long massage. Yeah baby. Still, I wasn’t well so after wandering along the beach to find somewhere to have tea it was back to my room for an early night.

Friday morning I felt much better although the sore throat and swollen glands were still annoying me. I decided to go for a walk along the beach to Kuta thinking that it wouldn’t take too long. Naturally I stopped along the way for a massage for an hour before continuing my journey. The walk was taking much longer than I thought it should but it wasn’t until I saw a jet plane on a runway jutting out into the ocean that I realised I’d walked right past Kuta and down to Tuban. I headed back to Kuta and stopped for a cold beer at one of the beachside stalls which was lovely although the flock of people demanding I buy things from them ensured it wasn’t too peaceful. After the beer I headed into downtown Kuta. Now this was more like I expected with lots of traffic and people shouting out to me as I passed their shops. I even allowed myself to be stopped by a bloke on the footpath who was ‘advertising’ a new hotel in Nusa Dua and part of the promotion was a kind of lottery. I couldn’t believe my luck as when I opened my card I’d won a choice of a stay at the hotel, USD$500 or a handycam. Wow. All I had to do was hop in a car with this complete stranger and go back to his head office to collect my prize. I must be incredibly ungrateful or maybe just morbidly suspicious as I made my apologies and exited stage left. After heading back to the resort and having a quick swim in the pool and a cold beer I showered and went out for some tea. The plan had been to catch the second half of the Hawthorn vs Pt Adelaide game but the downpours started whilst I was eating and continued on and off for a while so I settled on a quiet night in my room watching a movie (The King’s Speech... great flick!) and some snoozetime.

Yesterday will go down as the lost day on my holiday. I didn’t wake until just after 9.30am which meant a rush for breaky as the restaurant closes service at 10am. After that it was off for a 2 hour massage. It was nearly 1pm by the time that was finished so I headed out to a pub with a big screen and settled in for an arvo of watching footy. The Sydney vs Footscray game was on so I caught most of the second half. It was a cracking game and I was happy to see Sydney get up. Next was the main attraction which was the Freo vs Richmond game. What a disappointment. It was a good tussle up until 3/4 time but the last quarter was a massacre. We’d better get our act together before the derby next week as I couldn’t bear us losing to the slime up the road. Although I was feeling much better by this stage, apart from a hacking cough, I was still very tired. I’m not sure if it was a hangover from being ill or just my body relaxing on the first holiday in 18 months. Either way I got back to my room just before 5pm and thought I’d have a rest for an hour before going out to get some tea and then going bogan spotting in Kuta at night. Neither of those things happened as I promptly dropped off to sleep and didn’t wake until just after 2am. I went back to sleep and eventually woke at 9.30 for another rushed breaky. It’s now nearly midday as I write so I suppose I should go walkabout again and wander some of the gangs to see what is around.