I love Bali

What I don’t get is how many have to hold such extreme and definite views about everything. It’s a significant part of our divergent society. Not many things are certain. Life is mostly about probabilities. If this was the book thread I would recommend Kahnemans Thinking Fast and Slow.
Ease up people. Try not to jump to conclusions about climate change either way based on one photo of a waterfall at Uluwatu. The poster baited the post with the question in the first place and he certainly caught some fish in here and probably doesn’t even know it!

Roystein wrote:

What I don’t get is how many have to hold such extreme and definite views about everything. It’s a significant part of our divergent society. Not many things are certain. Life is mostly about probabilities. If this was the book thread I would recommend Kahnemans Thinking Fast and Slow.
Ease up people. Try not to jump to conclusions about climate change either way based on one photo of a waterfall at Uluwatu. The poster baited the post with the question in the first place and he certainly caught some fish in here and probably doesn’t even know it!

Or you can strip it back to basics.

It’s Bali, it’s the wet season it rains a lot some years and can vary year to year.

The picture of the waterfall is in essence a culmination of many factors, rice paddies that use to hold water are now drained and been built upon., hence greater run-off.

The mass expansion of infrastructure and population base comes with hazards, the greatest one by far is the veneering of more hard surfaces over a great proportion of the island as the sprawl expands and takes in areas that use to absorb water which would normally slowly percolate down through the soil profile.

The more hard surfaced roads and buildings, that now capture water in roof and roadside gutters and fed to streets and culverts at a faster rate than it can flow to the sea simply exacerbate the problem.

Increased visitors and population are driving the whole process. AW

AlfredWallace wrote:

Roystein wrote:

What I don’t get is how many have to hold such extreme and definite views about everything. It’s a significant part of our divergent society. Not many things are certain. Life is mostly about probabilities. If this was the book thread I would recommend Kahnemans Thinking Fast and Slow.
Ease up people. Try not to jump to conclusions about climate change either way based on one photo of a waterfall at Uluwatu. The poster baited the post with the question in the first place and he certainly caught some fish in here and probably doesn’t even know it!

Or you can strip it back to basics.

It’s Bali, it’s the wet season it rains a lot some years and can vary year to year.

The picture of the waterfall is in essence a culmination of many factors, rice paddies that use to hold water are now drained and been built upon., hence greater run-off.

The mass expansion of infrastructure and population base comes with hazards, the greatest one by far is the veneering of more hard surfaces over a great proportion of the island as the sprawl expands and takes in areas that use to absorb water which would normally slowly percolate down through the soil profile.

The more hard surfaced roads and buildings, that now capture water in roof and roadside gutters and fed to streets and culverts at a faster rate than it can flow to the sea simply exacerbate the problem.

Increased visitors and population are driving the whole process. AW

100% agree.

Some real good points there AW they concrete everything in some areas of Indo, then often no gutters, poor drainage systems and often clogged up with rubbish.

Six months of dry silted up drains with rubbish, then bang a good down fall, lots of water with no where to go.

You often see mud slides on Indo news too, they strip areas of vegetation in the dry season all is fine for six months, then a big rain event happens in the wet season and half the hillside slides away into a valley with houses, houses that aren't built to any real building codes either.

Nice post Roystein, and reasoned follow up comments from AW and Indo.
My main concern with the waterfall clip is not the waterfall but the massive scar on the cliff from the development work. Now that's fked up.

Oh yeah that Ullus project is so fucked up, just when you think they cant fuck things up more than they have, they do that crazy shit...so sad.

My first visit to surf in Bali was 1989. As I watch from afar, this once beautiful tranquil idyll has ‘pressure’ applied from all angles and to such an extent it’s hard to see how it will cope in the next five decades.

Examples exist globally in famed tourist destinations where the main driver of problems both social and environmental is population expansion be it local and transient ( holiday makers) . Paradise found, often becomes paradise lost.

Humans, we are a marauding lot.

Good points also Indo regarding the build up of crap in drainage systems during the dry. Out of mind out of sight.

Blackers, I’m with you, that scar on the cliff at Uluwatu is just a mere facsimile of what’s happening all over that island, sad to say the least.

Indo & Blackers, it has been great engaging with you both all year, thoroughly enjoyable.
Hope those renovations go well Indo.
Blackers, hope you get waves and you get to listen to some good music.
Merry Xmas to you and yours. AW

I agree with the sentiment regarding development in Bali. Mother Earth be crying inside. There is still beauty to be found but it’s hard when progress changes what it looks like so quickly. Bali would have to be a case study in rampant development. I still find myself wanting to go back. My first trip was in 2001 and now even that seems like paradise lost compared to now. But you have to park that lens to enjoy what it still has to offer.

Roystein wrote:

I agree with the sentiment regarding development in Bali. Mother Earth be crying inside. There is still beauty to be found but it’s hard when progress changes what it looks like so quickly. Bali would have to be a case study in rampant development. I still find myself wanting to go back. My first trip was in 2001 and now even that seems like paradise lost compared to now. But you have to park that lens to enjoy what it still has to offer.

Roystein. Hi mate.

Wholeheartedly agree brother. Your initial post was spot on, us humans or maybe us Australians are the yeah, nah folks, we flap at the mouth first, then deduce the facts later, for a more calmed response. Merry Xmas, pal. AW

indo-dreaming wrote:

Oh yeah that Ullus project is so fucked up, just when you think they cant fuck things up more than they have, they do that crazy shit...so sad.

yep

the ideas... (with the new blowins in town it seems) are next level crazy...

and plain sad

https://thebalisun.com/world-famous-bali-surf-break-under-threat-due-to-...

sypkan wrote:

indo-dreaming wrote:

Oh yeah that Ullus project is so fucked up, just when you think they cant fuck things up more than they have, they do that crazy shit...so sad.

yep

the ideas... (with the new blowins in town it seems) are next level crazy...

and plain sad

https://thebalisun.com/world-famous-bali-surf-break-under-threat-due-to-...

Sypkan. Hi mate. Hope ya well.

Crazy stuff indeed. I don’t know about you, but I have this mental picture of places I’ve visited, visit and about to visit.
Just when you think, yep, this looks good, hasn’t gone too far regarding development, then all of a sudden some unworthy and blatantly stupid idea gets put forward for planning permission.
We need to take a step backwards these days, more than we need to take steps forward, otherwise hard infrastructure versus natural biota will be so heavily skewed that the planet will have very places of solace and environmental harmony left for us all to enjoy. No life on a dead planet. Just my thoughts. Merry Xmas mate. AW

Edit. Can Russians build anything in Bali without the gross use of massive concrete structures like their original homeland ?
It’s like the Stalinisation of Bali.
For what it’s worth 5% of all the energy used on earth today goes into making concrete, let alone the embodied energy used in the extractive industries to get the raw materials out of the ground.
How about a bit of mandate in Bali that structures are built somewhat commensurate with the original style, instead of raising temperatures in may prove to keep them static.

sypkan wrote:

indo-dreaming wrote:

Oh yeah that Ullus project is so fucked up, just when you think they cant fuck things up more than they have, they do that crazy shit...so sad.

yep

the ideas... (with the new blowins in town it seems) are next level crazy...

and plain sad

https://thebalisun.com/world-famous-bali-surf-break-under-threat-due-to-...

Yep the floating restaurant reaches new levels of stupidity.

If it is not destroyed by swell I would be surprised, and if Keramas break is wrecked, forget it, no one will be going there. Also lots of ghosts on that coast.

Haven't surfed keramas since about 2006, was lucky enough to get some time there before it opened up late 90's early 00's
Maybe memory has it wrong but reckon it was better back then, not as sectiony....
Didn't that divert Creek for Kommune?

agree aw, the russos love their concrete

but then again, seems the euros do too... with the 'mediterranean' style now dominating the island...

but the russos love the full concrete box, I was surprised when I saw a pic. of that parq development that got shut down in ubud, I pictured some array of buildings amongst the rice fields... but nah, just a multi story concrete box...

shut down until 'correct permits' are obtained... (it was built in a rice field - there is no correct permit)

translation: the corruption money originally paid, needs to go up another level of governance or it will remain closed

(half answers your question)

apparently there are building codes in place where development should fit in with local style and architecture

but...

I may be biased, but it seems to me the original aussie investors tried to fit in a bit more, and did things a bit more tastefully - maybe because we enjoy a similar style of indoor / outdoor living - or maybe the aussies were just more modest and not as corrupt...

anyway, it's all concrete box villas (and even apartment complexes) with Ibiza on steroids beach clubs now

even the aussies seem to have jumped on the band wagon

I was late to the keramas party - totally missed the 'gold'

but first few times I went there was pre komune, and agree, it seemed less sectiony

pretty sure swellnet or stab ran an article on it

AlfredWallace wrote:

sypkan wrote:

indo-dreaming wrote:

Oh yeah that Ullus project is so fucked up, just when you think they cant fuck things up more than they have, they do that crazy shit...so sad.

yep

the ideas... (with the new blowins in town it seems) are next level crazy...

and plain sad

https://thebalisun.com/world-famous-bali-surf-break-under-threat-due-to-...

Sypkan. Hi mate. Hope ya well.

Crazy stuff indeed. I don’t know about you, but I have this mental picture of places I’ve visited, visit and about to visit.
Just when you think, yep, this looks good, hasn’t gone too far regarding development, then all of a sudden some unworthy and blatantly stupid idea gets put forward for planning permission.
We need to take a step backwards these days, more than we need to take steps forward, otherwise hard infrastructure versus natural biota will be so heavily skewed that the planet will have very places of solace and environmental harmony left for us all to enjoy. No life on a dead planet. Just my thoughts. Merry Xmas mate. AW

Edit. Can Russians build anything in Bali without the gross use of massive concrete structures like their original homeland ?
It’s like the Stalinisation of Bali.
For what it’s worth 5% of all the energy used on earth today goes into making concrete, let alone the embodied energy used in the extractive industries to get the raw materials out of the ground.
How about a bit of mandate in Bali that structures are built somewhat commensurate with the original style, instead of raising temperatures in may prove to keep them static.

Agreed AW, the future is to take a step backwards.
Shame there's no measure to add "less" to GDP.

sypkan wrote:

agree aw, the russos love their concrete

but then again, seems the euros do too... with the 'mediterranean' style now dominating the island...

but the russos love the full concrete box, I was surprised when I saw a pic. of that parq development that got shut down in ubud, I pictured some array of buildings amongst the rice fields... but nah, just a multi story concrete box...

shut down until 'correct permits' are obtained... (it was built in a rice field - there is no correct permit)

translation: the corruption money originally paid, needs to go up another level of governance or it will remain closed

(half answers your question)

apparently there are building codes in place where development should fit in with local style and architecture

but...

I may be biased, but it seems to me the original aussie investors tried to fit in a bit more, and did things a bit more tastefully - maybe because we enjoy a similar style if indoor / outdoor living - or maybe the aussies were just more modest and not as corrupt...

anyway, it's all concrete box villas (and even apartment complexes) with Ibiza on steroids beach clubs now

even the aussies seem to have jumped on the band wagon

Sypkan. Hi.

The Euros are all about bricks and mortar or stone and mortar, veneered with render or bagging, still hot boxes on hot days, at least not concrete monoliths.

Corruption still drives everything on Bali as you know.
I guy I know was riding a motorbike with his wife on the back, copper asked him to pull over, he refused because he a party substance in his boardies pocket, he wanted no trouble, pleaded to his lady to pull an Oz $50 out , passed it over and off the copper zoomed. That easy.
I sure it’s been that way for a long time with planning, bigger coin involved obviously.
From afar it does appear to be getting better, I know a couple of places I visit in Sumatra, the Head of the district pulls no punches when it comes to maintaining Indonesian building integrity. AW

It’s not just Bali that’s getting developed . When I was in west sumba a few months ago , accommodation was either a homestay for $35 AUD night including 3 very basic meals , very hard to find one that wasn’t booked out with euro backpackers . The other was high end ranging from $200 to $750 AUD per night. If you don’t stay somewhere that has a decent boat then it’s a bit of a hassle . Amed has also been discovered by the “ beautiful people “ with high end resorts/clubs . Lembongan is going mental with development as is ceningan . This is s new glamping place on ceningan, $400 a night is a discounted price apparently . https://www.arnabali.com/

further to the above, saw a fb photo of 'mick's place' last week...

reduced to rubble on the ground

dunno if his lease is up or what...

but guaranteed a multi story box is on it's way

sypkan wrote:

further to the above, saw a fb photo of 'mick's place' last week...

reduced to rubble on the ground

dunno if his lease is up or what...

but guaranteed a multi story box is on it's way

He sold up , building down at Rote , I heard Chinese brought his old place but not 100% sure.

The rampant, unsustainable tourist development is spreading far and wide in Indonesia. I’m in Katiet at the moment and I’m gobsmacked by the changes that have occurred since I was last here a year ago: more surfers (some from landlocked European countries!?) more white concrete villas, more land clearing, more swampland being filled with earth carved from hillsides in the jungle and even longterm plans to build a road right around the peninsula. It’s heartbreaking. A local guy said it’s going to become more and more like Bali. Overhearing conversations in the HTs resort restaurant, it seems the Canggu and Bukit crowd are heading this way more often. Time to move on methinks…

Euros love Indo at this time of year, good thing is most cant surf that well.

One quake and a reef lift down at HT's area and that wave could be gone, same with Maccas.

It's not just surfing areas or even tourist areas, it's all over Indo i met my wife 20 years's ago and did a novelty guided bike ride thorough the rice paddies and villages not far from her house, where i rode is now a concrete jungle huge shopping centres and house's that in Australia would be worth million's, and to get to the rice paddies and villages now you have to drive much further

It all sucks, but you just have to enjoy what you can, even in Bali there is still places and area's that are more like the old Bali of say 20 years ago or so.

Same with elsewhere in Indo, there is still special spots, it does suck though when you are in the middle of nowhere and its crowded, especially B grade waves, but then other days it can be perfect and empty.

I also think you have to remember how lucky we are to be born in a developed country and lucky enough to be able to travel the world and surf, even if we whinge about development and crowds, instead of being born as one of the poorer locals, trying to get by and put a meal on the table or put kids through school.

I remember the first Christmas at my wife's families house when i was dating her, there was a Christmas tree with boxes wrapped under the tree, and id already gone and brought her mum and brother & sister gifts not for Christmas as such more just spoiling her brother with a playstation etc and already given them too them.

And I didnt have anything wrapped up to put under the tree, and i was kind of stressing thinking shit i better get something i guess, but the reality was those boxes under the tree were empty, just boxes just for decoration, there was. no unwrapping of gifts at Christmas because they and others didn't (or dont) have that disposable income to give gifts.

AndyM wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

sypkan wrote:

indo-dreaming wrote:

Oh yeah that Ullus project is so fucked up, just when you think they cant fuck things up more than they have, they do that crazy shit...so sad.

yep

the ideas... (with the new blowins in town it seems) are next level crazy...

and plain sad

https://thebalisun.com/world-famous-bali-surf-break-under-threat-due-to-...

Sypkan. Hi mate. Hope ya well.

Crazy stuff indeed. I don’t know about you, but I have this mental picture of places I’ve visited, visit and about to visit.
Just when you think, yep, this looks good, hasn’t gone too far regarding development, then all of a sudden some unworthy and blatantly stupid idea gets put forward for planning permission.
We need to take a step backwards these days, more than we need to take steps forward, otherwise hard infrastructure versus natural biota will be so heavily skewed that the planet will have very places of solace and environmental harmony left for us all to enjoy. No life on a dead planet. Just my thoughts. Merry Xmas mate. AW

Edit. Can Russians build anything in Bali without the gross use of massive concrete structures like their original homeland ?
It’s like the Stalinisation of Bali.
For what it’s worth 5% of all the energy used on earth today goes into making concrete, let alone the embodied energy used in the extractive industries to get the raw materials out of the ground.
How about a bit of mandate in Bali that structures are built somewhat commensurate with the original style, instead of raising temperatures in may prove to keep them static.

Agreed AW, the future is to take a step backwards.
Shame there's no measure to add "less" to GDP.

AndyM. Hi fella .

Good point.
I’ve become very unsure and dumbfounded by humans in ‘developing’ countries, the lack of the innate ability to foresee problems that lay ahead of us before we commit to any form of natural destruction and loss.

(Big Yellow Taxi- Joni Mitchell), she nudged and reminded us, but we didn’t listen.

What will we be like 50-100 years from now. Why have we lost this vision? Why don’t we follow or behave like ours and other countries indigenous forebears who valued, nurtured and savoured their lands ? When did this disconnection occur ?

I’m very interested in the drivers of this diversion away from sensibility .
Was it a slow genetically driven process, borne out of competition for basics like food, water and shelter and later did it become competition for territories and ultimately perceived ‘wealth’ even way back then.

My theory is that humans have evolved into way more leisurely critters than hundreds of years ago, with a no holds barred type mentality, where you sink coin into a development , disregard the environmental outcomes, which it appears easier to do in developing countries, you hear people say, oh, it’s only a small parcel of land taken from a natural system.
Problem is, it’s a catalytic effect, every man and his dog wants a piece of the pie.
Precedents become entrenched and before you know it, whole ecosystems are being corrupted and removed.
We only have to look at two recent examples at home here , that wheat grain fucker who cleared all that vegetation and it’s systems in QLD , an area reportedly the size of Sydney Airport and one in southern NSW where the developers just helped themselves to an entire forest so as to expand ‘their’ horizons.

What kind of people has our societies produced that act in this manner ?
And why are our governments not held accountable, I get sick of repeating myself.

It’s becoming extremely disappointing living in a country that has such a ‘blaze’ approach to its living systems. Enough is enough. AW

“Also think we just have to be happy that we are born lucky enough to be able to travel the world and surf, and whinge about development and crowds, instead of being born as one of the poorer locals, trying to get by and put a meal on the table or put kids through school”
So true Indo. Being surrounded by so much poverty puts things in perspective. I think we have a lot to learn from people who have so little but give so much and are seemingly happy with their lives. I hope you and your family have a merry xmas mate.

overthefalls wrote:

“Also think we just have to be happy that we are born lucky enough to be able to travel the world and surf, and whinge about development and crowds, instead of being born as one of the poorer locals, trying to get by and put a meal on the table or put kids through school”
So true Indo. Being surrounded by so much poverty puts things in perspective. I think we have a lot to learn from people who have so little but give so much and are seemingly happy with their lives. I hope you and your family have a merry xmas mate.

Overthefalls. Good feedback. We are lucky folk in a very lucky country that’s for sure.
Still doesn’t resolve this endless global clearing of natural systems, it will be the demise of all of us at some stage, our mere existence was chance at best.

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be married to a woman from a different culture in a less developed country especially SE Asia, always interested me as to how they think about the land, culture and the natural environment.
Maybe IndoDreaming would shed some light on that. Merry Xmas mate. AW

AlfredWallace wrote:

overthefalls wrote:

“Also think we just have to be happy that we are born lucky enough to be able to travel the world and surf, and whinge about development and crowds, instead of being born as one of the poorer locals, trying to get by and put a meal on the table or put kids through school”
So true Indo. Being surrounded by so much poverty puts things in perspective. I think we have a lot to learn from people who have so little but give so much and are seemingly happy with their lives. I hope you and your family have a merry xmas mate.

Overthefalls. Good feedback. We are lucky folk in a very lucky country that’s for sure.
Still doesn’t resolve this endless global clearing of natural systems, it will be the demise of all of us at some stage, our mere existence was chance at best.

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be married to a woman from a different culture in a less developed country especially SE Asia, always interested me as to how they think about the land, culture and the natural environment.
Maybe IndoDreaming would shed some light on that. Merry Xmas mate. AW

I can shed some light AW. I was married to a woman from a south-east Asian country where I worked for several years. She didn’t place any value on the natural environment and judging by the environmental destruction I witnessed there, neither did most of her compatriots. Illustrative of this is when we moved to Australia, we were looking for some land on which to build a home. I chose a block with virgin forest while she preferred a clear-felled block. Of course she got her own way but I ended up revegetating the block with thousands of local rainforest trees. Our marriage didn’t last but at least my jungle is thriving!

hope you're having the good time @overtf, here's a re-phrasing of a question a mate posed from an african holiday: "If the wifi drops out while you're at HTs with a beer, waiting for the Right tide.. is that a first world problem, or third world problem?"

overthefalls wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

overthefalls wrote:

“Also think we just have to be happy that we are born lucky enough to be able to travel the world and surf, and whinge about development and crowds, instead of being born as one of the poorer locals, trying to get by and put a meal on the table or put kids through school”
So true Indo. Being surrounded by so much poverty puts things in perspective. I think we have a lot to learn from people who have so little but give so much and are seemingly happy with their lives. I hope you and your family have a merry xmas mate.

Overthefalls. Good feedback. We are lucky folk in a very lucky country that’s for sure.
Still doesn’t resolve this endless global clearing of natural systems, it will be the demise of all of us at some stage, our mere existence was chance at best.

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be married to a woman from a different culture in a less developed country especially SE Asia, always interested me as to how they think about the land, culture and the natural environment.
Maybe IndoDreaming would shed some light on that. Merry Xmas mate. AW

I can shed some light AW. I was married to a woman from a south-east Asian country where I worked for several years. She didn’t place any value on the natural environment and judging by the environmental destruction I witnessed there, neither did most of her compatriots. Illustrative of this is when we moved to Australia, we were looking for some land on which to build a home. I chose a block with virgin forest while she preferred a clear-felled block. Of course she got her own way but I ended up revegetating the block with thousands of local rainforest trees. Our marriage didn’t last but at least my jungle is thriving!

Overthefalls. Thanks, very interesting indeed.

Glad to hear your jungle survived, I’d value that more than a marriage any day.

I’m married to the biological world, have been since I was four years old. I stared out the classroom window and dreamt of what’s out there. Couldn’t wait to go outside. Some of us are like that.
Had a Chinese client in Melbourne years ago, he had the mentality that everything is for the taking, chop everything down , dig up all minerals, kill all animals of value for food. Money and wealth is more important than anything.
Hence we only worked at his place once.

In reality, you can’t really blame third world countries for rape and pillaging of their forests , digging up vast quantities of minerals, etc, They’ve watched us do it for decades and see the wealth generated and say, I want a piece of that as well, thank you. AW

basesix wrote:

hope you're having the good time @overtf, here's a re-phrasing of a question a mate posed from an african holiday: "If the wifi drops out while you're at HTs with a beer, waiting for the Right tide.. is that a first world problem, or third world problem?"

Basesix. I’d say it’s ’your own problem’.
FWIW at Lances Right the power use to drop out daily, when last there, a new cable was been erected right above ya head on our road to the other side of the island, watching the locals install it was hilarious, safety, no problem mister !!AW

haha, four blokes on each other's shoulders?
(couldn't agree more, AW, the gall of the developed world telling off SE Asia and Sth America for development and deforestation and depriving us of the planet's remaining lungs.. and taking habitat from reclusive creatures, while we let mammals and amphibians go extinct daily. developed world governments and gazillionaires need to share our gains from our deforesting and damage, and pay them for their forests preservation. Be better than funding militaries.)

sypkan wrote:

further to the above, saw a fb photo of 'mick's place' last week...

reduced to rubble on the ground

dunno if his lease is up or what...

but guaranteed a multi story box is on it's way

What a shame, our first trips were to Linnie’s at Pondok Indah I think it was called, saw her still there last time I was there in late 2022. Got lost finding Bingin my first trip back in early 2020s after not being there since 2010. I was looking for the cafe in the fields to turn but there was no fields!

https://micksplace.com/

View this post on Instagram

Sorry wrong thread

Only 1 month into the wet season, next sunny days might be on the 4th January . Huge clean up job ahead.

View this post on Instagram

Gee Supa that channel is very confronting

@Roystein , a few years ago single use plastic like bags & straws were banned , didn’t last long and every shop I go into offers a bag , I decline as I usually have a backpack with me . It seems to be getting worse not better around the world . https://thebalisun.com/tides-of-plastic-waste-arrive-on-balis-most-popul...

This organisation is having a go .

View this post on Instagram

heartening, hey @Supa? I hope the blowins invest in this kinda thing ^, would help justify them being there. quite a few well-meaning mobs have folded
https://www.facebook.com/trashherobali/

Supafreak wrote:

This organisation is having a go . https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4a8PB9xjE2/?igsh=MTZvYTd3bDRucGdrdw==

Supafreak. Hi mate.

Thank you for this one also.

I can see a huge market in Australia for the recycled plastic furniture.
It’s solid moulded , not hollow.

One element of landscape design & construction with my clients which is often very hard to fulfil is to be able to recommend quality outdoor furniture of which I’m guaranteed to be asked.
Australia on the whole (there is a few exceptions) has crap outdoor furniture, mostly cheap , non durable Chinese shit that corrodes and photo degrades and quickly becomes waste.
I deplore wooden furniture made from Australian native timbers from species that are at high risk.for example, Jarrah.

Teak furniture from SE Asian forests, well, if you own that stuff you should feel guilty, you’ve just taken more Oran-Utan habitat from these majestic animals.
Dwindling forests to say the least.

A lot of European, some Scandinavian products are available at very elevated prices(Australia is the country of the ‘middle man’ add on fees).
Italian outdoor furniture is very good , not cheap.

I recently found a place in Geelong, Victoria, close to the Surf Coast that has this Italian , quality solid fully moulded plastic outdoor furniture that has no moving parts or screws and bolts, it is stylish and doesn’t degrade.AW

@supa, hopefully a lot of resorts get on board and start purchasing their furniture to help the business thrive.

The pace of development in Canggu.

View this post on Instagram

AlfredWallace wrote:

Supafreak wrote:

This organisation is having a go . https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4a8PB9xjE2/?igsh=MTZvYTd3bDRucGdrdw==

Supafreak. Hi mate.

Thank you for this one also.

I can see a huge market in Australia for the recycled plastic furniture.
It’s solid moulded , not hollow.

One element of landscape design & construction with my clients which is often very hard to fulfil is to be able to recommend quality outdoor furniture of which I’m guaranteed to be asked.
Australia on the whole (there is a few exceptions) has crap outdoor furniture, mostly cheap , non durable Chinese shit that corrodes and photo degrades and quickly becomes waste.
I deplore wooden furniture made from Australian native timbers from species that are at high risk.for example, Jarrah.

Teak furniture from SE Asian forests, well, if you own that stuff you should feel guilty, you’ve just taken more Oran-Utan habitat from these majestic animals.
Dwindling forests to say the least.

A lot of European, some Scandinavian products are available at very elevated prices(Australia is the country of the ‘middle man’ add on fees).
Italian outdoor furniture is very good , not cheap.

I recently found a place in Geelong, Victoria, close to the Surf Coast that has this Italian , quality solid fully moulded plastic outdoor furniture that has no moving parts or screws and bolts, it is stylish and doesn’t degrade.AW

Sorry to get off topic but what are your thoughts on Merbau decking AW?
It’s hard to find definite info on whether it’s sustainably sourced or not? I have a feeling it’s the latter.

goofyfoot wrote:

AlfredWallace wrote:

Supafreak wrote:

This organisation is having a go . https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4a8PB9xjE2/?igsh=MTZvYTd3bDRucGdrdw==

Supafreak. Hi mate.

Thank you for this one also.

I can see a huge market in Australia for the recycled plastic furniture.
It’s solid moulded , not hollow.

One element of landscape design & construction with my clients which is often very hard to fulfil is to be able to recommend quality outdoor furniture of which I’m guaranteed to be asked.
Australia on the whole (there is a few exceptions) has crap outdoor furniture, mostly cheap , non durable Chinese shit that corrodes and photo degrades and quickly becomes waste.
I deplore wooden furniture made from Australian native timbers from species that are at high risk.for example, Jarrah.

Teak furniture from SE Asian forests, well, if you own that stuff you should feel guilty, you’ve just taken more Oran-Utan habitat from these majestic animals.
Dwindling forests to say the least.

A lot of European, some Scandinavian products are available at very elevated prices(Australia is the country of the ‘middle man’ add on fees).
Italian outdoor furniture is very good , not cheap.

I recently found a place in Geelong, Victoria, close to the Surf Coast that has this Italian , quality solid fully moulded plastic outdoor furniture that has no moving parts or screws and bolts, it is stylish and doesn’t degrade.AW

Sorry to get off topic but what are your thoughts on Merbau decking AW?
It’s hard to find definite info on whether it’s sustainably sourced or not? I have a feeling it’s the latter.

Goofyfoot. Merry Xmas mate.

I was waiting for someone to raise this good question.

I use a range of decking timbers and sometimes Merbau is one of them.
Well, you can purchase so called sustainably sourced merbau timber from suppliers in Australia, I always try to.
Problem is who is governing and certifying the timber in its country of origin, how corrupt is it.
You’re probably right, it’s probably not sustainable, but what is these days with 8 billion people on earth.

Merbau is from a Fabaceous tree , Instia bijuga, it’s a tall huge forest legume found in SE Asia, unbeknownst to most Australians, we have Instia bijuga growing in NE Oz rainforests but nobody is to know about.

Just like Erythroxylon australe, our version of a Cocaine plant, we also have it growing in NSW and parts of QLD, again nobody is told about it.

The problem with Merbau is it is too good, by that I mean it’s one of the most stable timbers in all environments.
On top of that, coupled with Spotted Gum ( Corymbia maculata) they have a very low ember rating , meaning it takes quite along time before they ignite, so they are two timbers that are still permitted in high fire risk areas with a high BAL rating.

I have clients who want to use Merbau for the following reasons, it’s incredibly durable, it’s always true to size and specification , looks good, lasts a long time, stable under hot, dry, wet, humid conditions doesn’t split when screwed down, doesn’t dent easy, doesn’t twist and warp and when coated with the correct deck sealer, it receives those products well.

Criticisms often comes to those who use Merbau.
I say , we can’t be hippocrates, we are chopping down and using Australian hardwood forests at an alarming rate in many facets of building in this country, can’t have it both ways. AW

Edit. I don’t choose Merbau timber, I let my clients decide which timber they like and I simply build them a deck.

Supafreak wrote:

This organisation is having a go . https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4a8PB9xjE2/?igsh=MTZvYTd3bDRucGdrdw==

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/03/sungai-design-recycled-chairs/
https://sungaidesign.com/products/ripple-lounge-white
$1500 for the sun lounger.. should be a compulsory porch purchase for every 20-year bule.

basesix wrote:

Supafreak wrote:

This organisation is having a go . https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4a8PB9xjE2/?igsh=MTZvYTd3bDRucGdrdw==

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/03/sungai-design-recycled-chairs/
https://sungaidesign.com/products/ripple-lounge-white
$1500 for the sun lounger.. should be a compulsory porch purchase for every 20-year bule.

Hmmm. Not for profit, are they sure, that’s a hefty price for recycled furniture made in a country where wages are very low. I hope my inner thoughts are wrong, AW

maybe they've done a kind of green bait-and-switch.. seems like 'sungai watch' is not-for-profit.. but I see nothing about the 'sungai design'-made chairs claiming not-for-profit. still, good on em, if the profit makes it sustainable.

"Sungai Design’s source of plastic is from its sister organisation – Sungai Watch. Sungai Watch is a nonprofit organisation that collects plastic from the world’s most polluted rivers and processes it for up-cycling. With 80% of the ocean’s plastic pollution coming from rivers, the team is focusing on stopping the pollution at the source. Sungai Watch has installed 300 floating barriers throughout Indonesia’s rivers to stop the flow of plastic from reaching the ocean and to date has collected over 2,300,000 kg of plastic, 36% of which is plastic bags."

I fear bali has lost its battle with rubbish

mainly because if you don't even fight, of course the battle is lost...

the locals have no fight, beyond some bule driven beach side efforts

those beach pics are just plain gross, disgusting

old veterans will say it happens every year... it does... but the plastic is getting more, and with the pics you now see of dumps in ravines and watereays upstream, you just know it isn't getting any better... you even see this near the mindfulness mecca that ubud has become...

I know it's just social media, but there's so many stories of rubbish trucks just pulling up to ravines and dumping their whole load, it's their SOP...

also plenty about locals just laughing at bules trying to do the right thing and improve things - this is nothing new - but now there seems to be an active resistance building to bule's trying to initiate change, with locals getting angry and even defending their old practices

I know it gets old for the locals to have to listen to bule's always telling them how to live... but bali seems to be at a new stage, where a form of 'oppositional resistance' has developed...

also a sense that the problem has gotten away from them, an insurmountable problem, can be a debilitating one, for such cruisy culture

they had plans to shut the serangan rubbish mountain, as their central processing plant opened, the plant has basically failed 'due to poor planning' and... you know what...

gunung sampah sarangan survives...

and now their big saviour is chinese investing in a processing plant, which is probably better than nothing... but must be years away... so more do nothing in the interim...

there's literally fields filled with acres of building waste - and plastic - not more than 2 kilometers from the 5 star resorts of jimbaran, it's fucking gross, like a third world africa amongst the resort palm trees, but the guests simply don't go down that dirty road I guess

I honestly cannot understand how local leaders are not embarrassed, the whole situation is beyond disgusting and an ever increasing health risk

people at sungai watch do an amazing job, they're pretty much the only ones behaving rationally or practically...

and ALL of that tourist tax should be filtered through them

but, there's bmw's to buy I guess...

with the chinese saviours on the horizon, it'll only get worse before it gets better, as local leaders kick back, and just talk shit, once again

until the new plant, finds the same problems as the old new plant...

and on it goes...

from the guardian to @vj's mob, seems there's little disagreement about the future we're creating through inaction and indifference.. (petroleum industries actively chasing plastic markets to subsidise their losses as we head to greener energy according to the abc radio-brekky show below)...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/24/microplastics-found-...
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/09/how-microplastics-get-into-the-f...
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/microplas...

meanwhile...

java has come along in leaps and bounds

once dirty cities look clean and even bright and modern...

it used to be a pleasure to return to relatively clean bali after time in java, now the opposite is true