White water rafting, elephants and more.......

Trust me you cannot get bored of waking to such spectacular views!

As we fuss around getting ready for our next day filled with fun and adventure it becomes apparent that Lou is definitely our resident forgetful head, what a laugh if something is missing it is Lous, probably buried in her magic camelback which holds so much stuff it is unbelievable, I truly think it is a black hole in there! We do make it to breakfast and have a guess as to what our smoothy contains today.

Fuelled up we head off in a minivan supplied by the adventure group, they pick you up and drive you everywhere you need to go, in your own private little group, no stress, no fuss. The driver is a bit more subdued than our own racing car driver Wayan so we all sit back and save on our adrenalin stores - for this journey anyway.

We arrive at the location where we will have a go at white water rafting. Funnily enough our guide is called Wayan so no probs there. We look so glam in our crash helmets and life jackets carrying our paddles - wheres Australias Next Top Model when you need em?

A short walk down to the boat/raft says Wayan who disappears into the bushes. So barefoot off we go and go and go and go, short walk my .....well you get the idea it is a fair hike down down down to the water. As we arrive at our raft Wayan is pumping it up - I'm thinking 'I hope this is normal practice' or this could be interesting,either that or he is worried we may sink it - only joking.

We climb in and take up our positions (Ali is sure she will be the one who falls out) a quick training session in the commands to follow, lean this way, boom boom means hang on and lean into the boat - hoping to get plenty of those! and of course FORWARD or BACK that means we have to work. Off we go and it is great fun, splashing of other people on the river is obviously a given (well by us anyway). We only got stuck up on a boulder once and as you can imagine 5 chicks in a boat and a guide yelling "BACK" as we are killing ourselves laughing must have been a sight, eventually Lous call breaks through the noise "PADDLE BACK" oh yeah okay, and digging in we drag ourselves off the boulder and continue our ride. The ride finishes with us being able to jump out of the raft and ride the current to the finish point on a river bank. Great fun, a bit of exercise which is good and beautiful scenery. I would have loved more hardcore rapids but thats just how I am.

Of course now we have to get back up from river level, yep you got it Climb, climb, climb only with an added challenge, trying to get by all the hawkers - "wanna buy a wooden elephant,or maybe a carved bike etc etc etc". No, but is anyone selling thongs? my bloody feet are not too good on these paths - no I don't want a sarong I want some thongs, head down ignore them - no thanks, no thanks, no thank you, hang on look back over the shoulder and NOOOOOOO Manda don'y do it. Yep she stops and starts to haggle for a sarong, gets a great bargain but now the others are like sea gulls after a hot chip, and Manda is the hot chip. We basically end up running up this pathway to the top and our fitness holds up for us as we leave the poor ladies chasing us gasping for precious oxygen. Don't get me wrong the sarongs are gorgeous but how many can you buy?

A shower and great feed, then it's off to the elephant park. What amazing creatures, they are huge and we feed them, pat them have photos with them and then go for a ride on them around the grounds. They are so quiet, for such a large animal they tread so softly and you rock and sway in your seat, very relaxing and although I am not a big fan of animals in captivity these elephants do appear to be really adored by their handlers. A couple of babies are around and another one is on its way later this year. We finish our visit with a coffee and then it is back into our bus to head home.

A full on day but so much fun and we are all sitting in the bus with smiles on our faces and I have never seen everyone so relaxed, but our day isn't over yet!

Better late than never Bali continued

We awake to the most amazing view across mountains shrouded in mist. A very quick shower in our outside bathroom and off to brekkie.

Breakfast is served in a beautiful outside area in between rice paddy fields. A fresh fruit smoothie and banana pancakes yummy a nice cup of lemongrass tea and relaxed conversation - what a way to start the day.

A bit of exploring and then we all head off with our bamboo walking poles for a 2hour hike through the local hills and village. A bit challenging in some places but absolutely refreshing to see life in its most basic form.

Lunch is amazing and as we will experience every meal is made from local fresh produce with very little meat and almost no dairy. Fresh vegies abound and the colours and flavours are a wake up call for your taste buds - the food all has a little bit of bite to it but you get used to it very quickly and remember spicy foods speed up the metabolism heehee.

That afternoon is a cooking class to see how our delicious meals are prepared - it inspires us all to get into some fresh cooking when we get home.

A session of Yoga on the balcony with views to the mountains - it is a fantastic session and our teacher has us in some unbelievable positions and we have an awesome view of the sun beginning to set.

A relaxing dinner and early to bed because tomorrow is our big volcano climb.

3.30AM Wakey wakey rise and shine! Skins and camelbacks and off we go. A decent drive - with less on the roads at this time of the morning and we arrive at a friend of Wayans and Karens who has his own bed and breakfast and fish restaurant.
An introduction to Indonesian toilets with plenty of giggles from Amanda and myself. Our guides arrive and off we go. It is still pitch black and we are given torches a short walk through the town and then into the greenery we go. One of the guides is concerned we are going too fast and we will not make it to the top - haha he obviously hasn't meant the clients and trainers fron body4u. Half way up we take a moment to look out across the volcanic crater and lake below us it is breath taking. The morning mist is beginning to clear and it is just gorgeous.

Onward and upward until we finally reach the summit. In time for the sunrise. We buy a coke each (yeah a coke) and Lou a bali coffee which is in a bloody massive glass and as thick as mud. The local girls climb the volcano every day and set up stalls to sell you these drinks so it is the least we can do to buy one. We take our fresh eggs over the edge onto a ledge and place them into a little hole which is spewing out steam from the semi active volcano beneath our feet. Leave them there for a short while and we have nice freshly cooked eggs and bread for brekkie.

Time to leave and with thoughts of cliffhanger in my mind we walk along a very small ridge line to begin our descent. Where is the chopper to take some great pictures of us? Some singing and laughing and we reach the bottom - all of us taking a look back to actually see where we have been and where we have just come from. Great job guys!

We now head to a spa resort to swim, soak in the hot pools and eat. Followed by a fresh fish lunch at our friends place. The hospitality of the local people is lovely. With our tummies full and feeling very relaxed and invigorated at the same time we head back to our home for a few more days.

When we get back to Ayung Sari Indah we all sit on the balcony with wine and lemongrass tea and one by one have the most incredible thai massage with a local healer called Pak Gadang. Another experience that adds to the already wonderful time we are having.

Dinner and another great night of conversation, relaxation and wonderful food and off to bed.

Stay tuned more to come night night!