Living in Bali has its rewards

This week we had a special invitation to the home of a Balinese friend who had two things to celebrate.  There is also a ceremony to celebrate everything in Bali, but these were special.  Firstly, Nyoman had finished construction on a new home and it HAD to be blessed.  Secondly, after ten years, Nyoman was being ordained as a top level Hindu priest.  The ceremonies lasted over a period of three days, but since he is a true friend, we were specifically invited to a buffer dinner.  There was still gamelan music and Balinese singing, but no religious ceremonies.  Those had been completed earlier in the day.

Susan, Nyoman and Dana

We've moved into our new home: Villa Cengkeh, Bali

One week ago today we moved into our new newly constructed home on the north side of Bali.

Overview from living room toward the north Bali sea

Sunset over Java

Six weeks, two different houses in Lovina, Bali

We came back to Bali on 9 May and have mostly been in Lovina watching and a bit helping get our new home, Villa Cengkeh, finished.  We are scheduled to move in on 22 May.

In Lovina we have stayed in two different houses.  This first was a super house found on Airbnb called Rumah Kami.  We had

Putu (L) and Kedek (R) of Rumah Kami

thought that it was nearby Villa Cengkeh, but as Airbnb does not show the correct locations for their rentals (to provide privacy for owners, I suppose) we were somewhat mislead about its location.  It was "over" Villa Cengkeh.  Almost literally.  For a crow it was not far to fly, but a serious climb up the mountain on a poorly maintained road.  While the views were superb, the trip up and down was such that we kept it to no more than one per day.  On the other hand, the housekeeping was excellent and Putu (shown above) cooked dinner for us 5 nights per week.  Her preparation and presentation was excellent.

Last Thursday we moved down to Villa Kayu Putih which is only a 10 minute walk from Villa Cengkeh.  We found it by simply stopping in one morning and speaking to the staff.  The owner is normally here for the six winter months and had already returned to Holland and the villa was available for 17 days, so here we are.  The house is very nice and the two staff here are also excellent and live nearby, so they will be some of our new neighbors.  Susan has decided that she needs more cooking experience, so she is making all our meals here.  YUM!  Note: Villa Kayu Putih can be rented online via Micazu.

Ketut, the gardener likes to make floral decorations like this one

A Marina with a Smile

We hauled Villa G out of the water and onto the hard stand today. Nye and Toe will give her a new paint job, fix up some teak and take care of some small repairs.

I counted 12 workers from Phuket's Boat Lagoon Marina helping getting her set up on the hard stand today.

By the way, how many marinas prove live entertainment and a fireworks show. Two evenings each month here they have the Lighthouse Market with food vendors, cooking shows, movies and a night club singer. Way cool!

 

 

Villa G's cruise route from Darwin to Phuket in 2015 and 2016

After 3274 nautical miles we're in Phuket and cannot really say that we saw or did much new during that trip.  We basically retraced our cruise path in 2013 when we traveled from Phuket to Darwin.  I have attached a link to our track here in gpx format (marine plotter) and here in KMZ (Google Earth format) where you can get a detailed map.  We'll be off to Bali soon to move into Villa Cengkeh.

Villa G's Cruise: Darwin to Phuket 2015-2016

Crusing Season for 2015-2016 Drawing to a Close

We berthed in Phuket's Boat Lagoon Marina at noon today on the high tide.  That's 3274 nautical miles since leaving Darwin's Cullen Bay last August.  It was not a conventional cruise as we were somewhat sidetracked with the process of building our new home in Bali (see www.villacengkeh.com).  We anchored in Lovina Bali for 3 weeks on the way north, flew to Bali from Singapore as well as from Penang to check on things.  So it has actually rushed cruise and generally uneventful except for losing the hydraulic steering one night and a water-maker problem that required parts sent from the USA.

We will have Villa G repainted and other, mostly cosmetic, work done here in Phuket by Nai and Toe at Phuket Inter Woodwork.  We will take off the sails and lines and get them cleaned and repaired, remove most things that might be in the way of the paint work etc.  So we will be in the water about a week and stay here another week once Villa G is up on the hardstand to complete all the arrangements.

We plan to fly back to Bali on 9 April and move into Villa Cengkeh by 15 May.  It is very exciting for us.  Like most people, we have never built a house from scratch.  Of course, we are not "building" per se, but enjoying the fruits of skilled Indonesian workers and the fine organizational skills of Tropis-Living's Roland Leijten.

Kalibukbuk, Bali: Final preparations for the community's Ogoh-Ogoh

Today the final touches are being put on the local Banjar's Ogoh-Ogoh.  The artists/constructors were soliciting donations at the last minute for more paint.  As you can see the evil devil is pulling some poor soul from the grave.  The huge figures will go to the beach with dancing and music then be burned before casting into the sea.

The Devil Herself!

The Soul being raised from his grave

Its a community event