I love Bali
Don't want to be a spoiler but running around in bare feet in that water....
seaslug wrote:Don't want to be a spoiler but running around in bare feet in that water....
What have you got against cholera & typhoid ?
asharper001 wrote:
Haha like everything he does.
Does he do one on sepsis?
Made it to Padang today after super air jet changed flight 3 times leading up to this morning . We only had 40 minutes scheduled stopover in Jakarta and I was a bit worried about them transferring luggage in that timeframe as thought they may be tight with staff due to indul fitri . In the end even though we were supposed to be second flight out this morning from bali , we sat on tarmac for 25 minutes and didn’t get into Jakarta until 10 minutes after our next flight should have left . Fortunately they hadn’t left as waiting for this flight to transfer passengers. Saw my boards getting loaded which was a relief but once in padang my mates bag with all the fishing gear hadn’t turned up and my bag with clothes, fins , legropes etc was also missing . After staff made many txts and photo swapping they found they had put them on a different flight which was arriving 15 minutes after us . Big relief as not a very good finless surfer with no legrope even when its 1 ft . Garuda is definitely so much better and cheaper because of no charge for boards. With my 3 boards on supajet , it ended up being $60 dearer . They do the same shit as jetstar in that they advertise 5 or 6 flight times for the day then pack everyone into the minimum and cancel flights the day before with the due to operational issues excuse . Anyway only two boat rides tomorrow ( 6 hours all up ) and can kick back for the next 3 weeks .
Supafreak wrote:Made it to Padang today after super air jet changed flight 3 times leading up to this morning . We only had 40 minutes scheduled stopover in Jakarta and I was a bit worried about them transferring luggage in that timeframe as thought they may be tight with staff due to indul fitri . In the end even though we were supposed to be second flight out this morning from bali , we sat on tarmac for 25 minutes and didn’t get into Jakarta until 10 minutes after our next flight should have left . Fortunately they hadn’t left as waiting for this flight to transfer passengers. Saw my boards getting loaded which was a relief but once in padang my mates bag with all the fishing gear hadn’t turned up and my bag with clothes, fins , legropes etc was also missing . After staff made many txts and photo swapping they found they had put them on a different flight which was arriving 15 minutes after us . Big relief as not a very good finless surfer with no legrope even when its 1 ft . Garuda is definitely so much better and cheaper because of no charge for boards. With my 3 boards on supajet , it ended up being $60 dearer . They do the same shit as jetstar in that they advertise 5 or 6 flight times for the day then pack everyone into the minimum and cancel flights the day before with the due to operational issues excuse . Anyway only two boat rides tomorrow ( 6 hours all up ) and can kick back for the next 3 weeks .
Hope ya score!!
Close call Supa, I remember the times when we would fly to Bali with Garuda, be allowed to back up piss on meal trays and the flight would be half full.
Where ya headed?
Supafreak wrote:Made it to Padang today after super air jet changed flight 3 times leading up to this morning . We only had 40 minutes scheduled stopover in Jakarta and I was a bit worried about them transferring luggage in that timeframe as thought they may be tight with staff due to indul fitri . In the end even though we were supposed to be second flight out this morning from bali , we sat on tarmac for 25 minutes and didn’t get into Jakarta until 10 minutes after our next flight should have left . Fortunately they hadn’t left as waiting for this flight to transfer passengers. Saw my boards getting loaded which was a relief but once in padang my mates bag with all the fishing gear hadn’t turned up and my bag with clothes, fins , legropes etc was also missing . After staff made many txts and photo swapping they found they had put them on a different flight which was arriving 15 minutes after us . Big relief as not a very good finless surfer with no legrope even when its 1 ft . Garuda is definitely so much better and cheaper because of no charge for boards. With my 3 boards on supajet , it ended up being $60 dearer . They do the same shit as jetstar in that they advertise 5 or 6 flight times for the day then pack everyone into the minimum and cancel flights the day before with the due to operational issues excuse . Anyway only two boat rides tomorrow ( 6 hours all up ) and can kick back for the next 3 weeks .
They have been scoring down there ... envious.
SCOOTER HELL: A TRUE STORY
The deadly game of two-wheeled chance.
NEWS
• 15.04.2024
• BY MATT GEORGE
Her name is Jilly, she is just 18 years old and she is lying supine on a hospital bed in a windowless room in a small, dusty hospital in Denpasar, Bali. She used to have beautiful blue eyes. She only has one now after the accident, torn out by a branch on the side of the road along with three of her toes that were ground off her left foot by the asphalt. The amount of skin she has lost is horrible.
With that one eye she stares up at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling and listens to the lonely sounds of the hospital hallways and feels her memory sluggishly coming back. Her concussion is making her eye tear up over and over. Or maybe it’s just her numbing sadness.
It was night and, as usual, her boyfriend was maggot on shrooms and beam and they were tear assing around Uluwatu from booze up to booze up. Coming into a sandy curve too hot on their crappy scooter and the blinding high beams of a water truck was all it took. Christ, she thought, what were we thinking? She in a bikini and sarong, and the idiot barefoot, boardies and a cigarette.
She moves under her bandages at the thought and the searing pain of them coming loose from her raw skin on her hip makes her draw air in between her clenched teeth. She closes her eye and let’s the pain settle. She is still not sure how she feels about his death. Anger certainly, rage really, she told him a hundred times to slow the fuck down. It was never love, just a schoolie hook-up. She questions who she really is, what kind of person she is, feeling nothing for him. And God, she thinks, Mum and Dad on the way, what the fuck am I gonna say to them and how the fuck are they gonna handle the cops? This is gonna cost a fortune, oh fuck me. And one eye? Jesus. I’m done.
She knows the numbers now. She has been given a pamphlet that a silent nurse has handed out to everyone in the ward on this Sunday night. She knows now that over ten thousand tourist scooter accidents are reported every year in Bali. Twice that if you think about the unreported ones and at least a thousand deaths. One thousand and one now, She thinks, that idiot. She winces at her cold heartedness, but forgives herself a moment later, it was all the dumb fucker’s fault and now she’s fucked. And she barely knew him. Coupla drunken roots is all.
She had always been told she was so pretty, with the perfect figure and now he has ruined her. That makes her wince again. What the fuck is Mum gonna think? And fuck, am I gonna cop it from Dad. And I reckon netball is over for life. I guess I could swim? This last random thought makes you wonder what the hell she is thinking and so she moves again and hisses in pain as all the bandages seem to stick at once.
She strains and absorbs the hot pain and reaches up with her good arm and hits the button for the nurse. The pain is really throbbing now, half the skin on her left side is gone and all the sutures feel too damn tight. Like feeding black caterpillars all over her left side and the one snaking up her chin to her lost eye.
It’s the freedom of the goddamn things, she thinks. You get over here and you hop on a scooter and the wind in the hair and the sun on the skin and the things feel like an amusement park ride. You can’t believe you are allowed to behave like this and drive like this and everybody is doing it and the surfboard racks and the ripping up to surf spots and the fun and freedom of it all. Problem is you’re no good at it. And you have no experience and the goddamn things are awkward on the road and the roads are kinked and potholed and awkward too and trying not to get hit by cars is like being inside a video game and then the booze and the shrooms and the speed and the freedom of it all tailor made for fun and sex games until it all comes crashing down in a scraping, agonizing, heart wrenching instant and someone is dead as a coffin nail and you’ll be all scarred up and have to wear a black eyepatch for the rest of your life. And you were always told how perfect your skin was. Fuck.
She watches the silent nurse approach and reach up and open up the painkiller I.V. drip a little more. A number of the other patients are signaling for the same like defeated zombies. She feels the nurse lay a gentle hand on her forehead and hears her say, Tidur, cantik, Tidur. With that the nurse steps over to the other patients. Jilly watches her go out of the corner of her one eye and thinks about how a person’s greatest regret is knowledge learnt too late. Had she’d known. Had she only known. She never would have got on the back of the goddamned thing. The tears have come again and Jilly stares through them at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, staring at nothing. Nothing.
That was incredible. Powerful, insightful and very well written. And on top of all that it gives pause for thought. Maybe not enough to save everyone but if it saves just one person from such a hideous fate …it could well be amongst the greatest things someone could ever achieve.
Well done Matt George.
udo wrote:SCOOTER HELL: A TRUE STORY
The deadly game of two-wheeled chance.
NEWS
• 15.04.2024
• BY MATT GEORGE
Her name is Jilly, she is just 18 years old and she is lying supine on a hospital bed in a windowless room in a small, dusty hospital in Denpasar, Bali. She used to have beautiful blue eyes. She only has one now after the accident, torn out by a branch on the side of the road along with three of her toes that were ground off her left foot by the asphalt. The amount of skin she has lost is horrible.With that one eye she stares up at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling and listens to the lonely sounds of the hospital hallways and feels her memory sluggishly coming back. Her concussion is making her eye tear up over and over. Or maybe it’s just her numbing sadness.
It was night and, as usual, her boyfriend was maggot on shrooms and beam and they were tear assing around Uluwatu from booze up to booze up. Coming into a sandy curve too hot on their crappy scooter and the blinding high beams of a water truck was all it took. Christ, she thought, what were we thinking? She in a bikini and sarong, and the idiot barefoot, boardies and a cigarette.
She moves under her bandages at the thought and the searing pain of them coming loose from her raw skin on her hip makes her draw air in between her clenched teeth. She closes her eye and let’s the pain settle. She is still not sure how she feels about his death. Anger certainly, rage really, she told him a hundred times to slow the fuck down. It was never love, just a schoolie hook-up. She questions who she really is, what kind of person she is, feeling nothing for him. And God, she thinks, Mum and Dad on the way, what the fuck am I gonna say to them and how the fuck are they gonna handle the cops? This is gonna cost a fortune, oh fuck me. And one eye? Jesus. I’m done.
She knows the numbers now. She has been given a pamphlet that a silent nurse has handed out to everyone in the ward on this Sunday night. She knows now that over ten thousand tourist scooter accidents are reported every year in Bali. Twice that if you think about the unreported ones and at least a thousand deaths. One thousand and one now, She thinks, that idiot. She winces at her cold heartedness, but forgives herself a moment later, it was all the dumb fucker’s fault and now she’s fucked. And she barely knew him. Coupla drunken roots is all.
She had always been told she was so pretty, with the perfect figure and now he has ruined her. That makes her wince again. What the fuck is Mum gonna think? And fuck, am I gonna cop it from Dad. And I reckon netball is over for life. I guess I could swim? This last random thought makes you wonder what the hell she is thinking and so she moves again and hisses in pain as all the bandages seem to stick at once.
She strains and absorbs the hot pain and reaches up with her good arm and hits the button for the nurse. The pain is really throbbing now, half the skin on her left side is gone and all the sutures feel too damn tight. Like feeding black caterpillars all over her left side and the one snaking up her chin to her lost eye.
It’s the freedom of the goddamn things, she thinks. You get over here and you hop on a scooter and the wind in the hair and the sun on the skin and the things feel like an amusement park ride. You can’t believe you are allowed to behave like this and drive like this and everybody is doing it and the surfboard racks and the ripping up to surf spots and the fun and freedom of it all. Problem is you’re no good at it. And you have no experience and the goddamn things are awkward on the road and the roads are kinked and potholed and awkward too and trying not to get hit by cars is like being inside a video game and then the booze and the shrooms and the speed and the freedom of it all tailor made for fun and sex games until it all comes crashing down in a scraping, agonizing, heart wrenching instant and someone is dead as a coffin nail and you’ll be all scarred up and have to wear a black eyepatch for the rest of your life. And you were always told how perfect your skin was. Fuck.
She watches the silent nurse approach and reach up and open up the painkiller I.V. drip a little more. A number of the other patients are signaling for the same like defeated zombies. She feels the nurse lay a gentle hand on her forehead and hears her say, Tidur, cantik, Tidur. With that the nurse steps over to the other patients. Jilly watches her go out of the corner of her one eye and thinks about how a person’s greatest regret is knowledge learnt too late. Had she’d known. Had she only known. She never would have got on the back of the goddamned thing. The tears have come again and Jilly stares through them at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, staring at nothing. Nothing.
God is said to look after drunks and idiots.
I was both many times riding bikes in Bali, but survived, worst outcome a fractured shoulder one night losing it on corner after 66 and needing the help of benchongs that lurcked there to help pick up my bike.
Saving grace, always wore proper helmet.
Some of my friends and acquaintances were not so lucky.
I understand a bike will give you freedom but with ride shares like Gojek being so cheap not sure why the tourists are riding them
Only place I have ridden a bike is on Nusa Lembongen, no way on Bali.
vicbloke wrote:I understand a bike will give you freedom but with ride shares like Gojek being so cheap not sure why the tourists are riding them
Personally i only ride a bike in remote areas with little to no traffic, not in places like Bali or Java but i do get it, they are so much fun and such a feeling of freedom, but yeah people dont understand the risk and normally dont have much experience and there is also a belief that you can do anything in Indonesia.
I had Oz bike license and international license when riding in Indo/ Bali.
Would never ride bike in oz and probably never again in Bali.
One of the best days on our family holidays was me doubling my 11 year old daughter, and my 15 year old son with the Mrs on the back around Nusa Lembogan.
He’d never ridden a motorbike before, Still can’t believe we let him lol
Lembongan is a fun place especially if shippies is pumping…
I had the pleasure of many days with the local boys …and them going from drop ins to being friends….great memories there and a family holiday would have been great so good on ya.
I stayed at villa sayan i think and I’m kinda sure it was part owned by chris de aboitiz to whom I shared an epic 8’ Noosa river mouth lefts session with just the two of us out. Was a sick day.
Had my luggage stolen as soon as we beached ha ha….saw a crew sitting on the wall and asked..” I would like to pay a reward for anyone who finds my luggage “…
$20 bucks later and 5 minutes we were good to go…so funny…great spot.
Finally the bikes finished after delays with various religious ceremonies and holidays. First photo is what we started with through to finished product . Pretty happy and all up cost $1000 AUD 
holy shit, @Supa, @seeds is going to come over, befriend you, then Talented Mr Ripley you right in your identity..
Supafreak wrote:Finally the bikes finished after delays with various religious ceremonies and holidays. First photo is what we started with through to finished product . Pretty happy and all up cost $1000 AUD
Supafreak. So good what a resto, commendations to the restorer.
There’s no doubt, with a rig like that, you’ll definitely be…… ,
‘Leader of The Pack’
@AW.
Just Ace @ Supa. How’s it sound with that exhaust?
seeds wrote:Just Ace @ Supa. How’s it sound with that exhaust?
I’m still in ments until 9th may so haven’t heard it . My indo mates been riding it and making sure it’s all sweet before delivery to lembongan when I get back . It’s a 4 stroke so won’t sound tinny .
Supafreak wrote:seeds wrote:Just Ace @ Supa. How’s it sound with that exhaust?
I’m still in ments until 9th may so haven’t heard it . My indo mates been riding it and making sure it’s all sweet before delivery to lembongan when I get back . It’s a 4 stroke so won’t sound tinny .
What a treat to come home to!
Looking good!! Nice ride....
I love Bali.
You wouldn't think that such a thought could be controversial . But it is.
Many people don't love Bali, in fact they proclaim to hate it. Bemoan what it has become, it's lack of purity, it's lost innocence.
Sure, I can see their point. I can't imagine anywhere on Earth that has been transformed as radically as Bali over the last thirty years. From rice paddies and coconut groves to six story discotheques . It's totally unrecognisable in the most built up areas.
But that's not what this post is about. It's about why I LOVE Bali.
I love Bali because ...
- it's still the home of an intense cluster of world class waves. Roping lefts : Uluwatu, freight train right barrels : Sanur, backlit mega tubes : Padang Padang. Rip able reefs, fun beachies. Short , slabby pits and long mellow points. River mouths and bombies. It's got the lot.
- it's still possible to get uncrowded quality waves in 2015 when it seems as though the entire planet has discovered surfing. I was trading crystal clear , rolling right walls with only two other surfers just this morning.
- it's still freaking beautiful. Watching the mist reveal Mt Agung in that unique Bali morning light from a black sand beach as the sun comes up is still special.
- the food is amazing. Walking around town building up a hunger and knowing that at any given time you are within shouting distance of fresh, exotic and delicious meals with enough variety to make your head spin is priceless.
- the Balinese are legends. Friendly, happy and always keen for a joke. Unfailingly polite and welcoming. Healthy, spiritual and decent.
- the Balinese surfers rip their waves and they still own them. A visiting Brazilian would not think twice to drop in on an Aussie local at Kirra. But you won't see the same in Bali. The Balinese surfers are treated with the respect they deserve. Because as everyone knows, if they are not treated with respect there is consequences.
- the water is so warm it's like swimming in silken angels tears.
- telling people that you are going to Bali will often elicit a response along the lines of ......"why would you go to that traffic ridden, noisy shithole ?" And then as you're kicking back with a Bintang watching the sunset over Uluwatu you can imagine them sitting at lights in their car on their way home from work in Perth. Which , for those that have never been , is a noisy , traffic ridden shithole. And this makes me laugh. Which is something I enjoy doing.
- The fruit is incredible.
- despite the millions of tourists, the fast food franchises and the Aussie over familiarity with the joint it's still exotic. The smell of clove cigarettes, the ogo ogos of Nyepi, the Buddhist offerings , monkeys , food and language are all enticingly foreign.
- there is no overreaching nanny state. You want to ride your motorbike with all four of your children and the missus on the back...whilst texting. Go for it.
- you can live like a king on a regular Aussie income. Maybe not such a great benefit for the Balinese themselves though.
- it's close to Oz. Twenty hour plane ride and a shot at developing deep vein thrombosis.....ummm no thanks. It's actually faster to fly to Bali from Perth than it is to drive to Albany. You can fly from Port Hedland in less than two hours.
- you get an opportunity to regularly witness some of the most foolhardy behaviour imaginable on a daily basis. You ever seen a man being doubled on a motorbike through traffic whilst holding a large pane of glass ? What about seeing someone hold a nail between his bare fingers while his mate tries to grind the tip off it ? It's all there folks.
- you can see people making do with not much and making it work. An exhaust system held on with a T Shirt ? An outboard motor attached to a boat with no anchoring system, just held on with a man's brute force ? Why not ? It might not work forever but it'll usually get em over the line.
- the winds can blow offshore for months at a time and when they blow onshore, well , that just makes it offshore somewhere else. It's an island !
- you haven't seen glassy oceanic conditions till you've seen Indonesian sheet glass. It's like an oil slick. And if you're ever near Benoa Harbour that could well be what it is.
- old people are accorded the respect they deserve.
- it's exciting. It's a melting pot of the world. Wide eyed villages from remote Asia, jaded techno princesses from Russia, sleek surfy chicks from Canada , your next door neighbour from Ipswich....it's a party and everyone is invited.
Including YOU. I'll see you there. You can't miss me.
I'll be the sun burnt drunk in a head to toe Bintang ensemble with hair braids and a fresh tattoo of a unicorn across my back . Don't be shy. Come and say hello.