The Great Ocean Road. Torquay to Apollo Bay

Robin takes me for a drive along the Great Ocean Road, We get as far as Apollo Bay where we take a walk on the beach and over the rocks. Robin even spots a baby seal swimming in the shallows. I am beyond excited about this.

Kangaroo spotting at Jan Juc

At dusk we drove out to Jan Juc to see if we could find some kangaroos. These are probably the worse photo on my whole blog but I don't care as I was so excited to see my first ever wild roo.

There was a group of about twelve of them and this one hopped at speed through the paddock to see us.

Torquay, Victoria, AUSTRALIA

I am not ready to leave Indonesia; I am not ready to leave Asia. I am not excited about Australia.

Luckily for me, I have been invited to stay with a friend of my parents. Alison, knew my parents from their days in Sheffield, when they were all in their twenties. Alison is Australian but spend a few years living in England and when my parents mentioned to her that I would be visiting Australia she very kindly invited me to stay with her and her husband Robin. And so for the next week they thoroughly spoil me and after months of guest houses and hostels it is such a luxury to be staying in somebody’s home. For the first few days we are at the family’s holiday home in Torquay at the start of the Great Ocean Road, and then it is back to Mentone in the suburbs of Melbourne. I have a really wonderful week with them. 

Goodbye Asia

6 months 2 days
11 countries
6 sleeper trains
Goodness knows how many busses
5627 mosquito bites (at least)
16 waterfalls
7 caves
Countless beaches
256 temples (I'm guessing)
11 forts
10 days noble silence
102 hours meditation
1 surfboard induced nosebleed
4 visits to Bangkok (3 too many)

4 flat tyres (1 car (India), 1 rickshaw (India), 1 autorickshaw (Cambodia), 1 bus (Indonisia))

I will miss Asia. I will be back! 

A quick stop in Denpasar - Bali

I loved Java so much that I don’t have any time left to see Bali. I arrive in Denpasar exhausted from the bus and ferry and a really strange border crossing in the middle of the night. It was another crossing where I did wonder if I was going to make it back onto the right bus but it all worked out fine. My bus arrived at Denpasar bus station at about 5am and after an hour or so sitting on my bag we are squeezed onto a mini bus and taken further into the city. Then it is into a taxi to a hotel to catch finally up on some sleep.  Once suitable recovered it is out onto the streets in search of food.

Rainbow Waterfall & Malang, East Java.

Still travelling East through Java towards Bali where I will pick up my flight to Australia. Malang is a bustling town but luckily we are staying in a quiet area and find an amazing restaurant local restaurant where we proceed to have breakfast lunch and dinner. We hire a little scooter and head out to see the Rainbow Waterfall. Unfortunately the heavens open on the way back and the temperature rapidly drops. We are shivering for the whole of the hour long ride back. The rain is like freezing needles on our skin. There is no hot shower waiting for us when we get back but it feels heavenly just to get into some dry clothes and then it is over to our favourite restaurant for some more tempeh. Time is also spent with Lesley trying to renew here visa. I am somewhat envious that she will have more time to spend in Indonesia as I am gearing up to leave for Aussie.

Borobudur

After a spot of breakfast we are off to explore Mahayana Buddhist temple

 of Borobudur with all the other tourists

Sunrise over Borobudur and Mount Merapi

We have a really early start... So early in fact that it was hardly worth going to bed. The alarm goes off at 3am and the guide is already waiting for us in reception. We have a sleepy ride in the car out to the viewpoint to watch the sunrise over Borobudur and Mount Merapi. We arrive at a little hut and it is raining hard. It is pitch black and we slowly make our way up the track to the viewpoint. The next hour is pretty spectacular, not the great sunrise view we had been hoping for but still we get to witness the Borobudur temple emerge from the low clouds as the day breaks.

We don’t really notice all the other tourists arriving but by the time we due to go back down to the hut the little track has turned into a mud slide. And of course we are wearing the backpackers footwear of choice, flip-flops! Miraculously we arrive back down at the car in one piece and not too covered in mud.

Freedom tea

When we arrived back in Yogya after meditation we headed to the market and Leslie bought lots of spices and a big metal kettle and once back at the hostel she brewed the most amazing tea. We kind of turned the hostel lobby into our living room for the afternoon. It was heaven and the tea was delicious.

A few thoughts on my 10 day vippasana meditation

How did I end up spending Christmas 2013 meditating in Central Java?
When I left England 7 months ago, I had hadn't heard of Vipassana or ever considered trying meditation. Then a friend I met in Cambodia, who had completed the course at a Dhamma Centre in Thailand, told me all about his experience a few years before he spoke about it with such passion and enthusiasm my interest was ignited. He spoke of the immense positive benefits it had brought him and how he was trying to find the time to go again.