We awoke to the sound of our breakfast assembly team busily clinking away. This would be our last private serving of pancakes with a side of fruit. Tears were shed.
We checked out around twelve, thanking the staff for our fantastic stay, but left our bags at the hotel so we were able to wander around more freely in Ubud. We were scheduled to ship out around 5pm, and head to the airport for our late night flight to Australia.
This cafe was casually suspended over a river on concrete piers.
We decided to head back up to the rice fields, this time taking the correct route. No need to traverse rice field this time!
As the path turned, we caught some great views to the West of Ubud.The ‘recommended’ path.There were houses nestled between rice fields, most only had access by foot or motorbike!Various construction projects in motion!Artist studios were dotted around the paths to the North of Ubud. It seemed to be mostly painters up here.Rice field, or a well watered garden?
The few houses appeared to have few windows to the sides, possibly in anticipation of future development in the area.
We found a farmer, he was keen to get his photo taken.He appeared to be having a (hopefully controlled) fire in his shed.There was the occasional example of colonial style architecture. Possibly a relic from the Dutch Empire’s rule.We rediscovered the coconut shack that had provided the refreshing drink on round one.We wondered if the shed frequency indicated the size of each famers plot. Similar perhaps to a large allotment.The path thinned in sections. The spare inch was plentiful, some claim.Epic scene no.1Epic scene No.2Farmers at work. TOP hat on the right.
Reluctantly we headed away from the tranquillity of the rice fields. It was our plan at one point to bring a couple of books up with us. A distraction free environment, and plenty of rice to nibble on…
Walking back along the high street we stumbled across a couple of lily ponds…… and a man was selling bonsai trees from his pickup.
Trying to keep it fresh we went to a new café for some lunch. Sopa was its name, it (like many of the cafés / restaurants we visited) was South of the high street.
Ginger ale blended with fruit (left), & fresh mango juice.Hatti opted for veg. fried rice topped with a fried egg.I had boiled veg. with tempeh, tofu and a peanut sauce.We concluded with a potion of homemake coconut ice cream to share.A pup showing off its new moped.We weaved back through the backstreets to the hotel, just in time to pick up our bags and jump in a taxi.On reaching the airport we quickly found the check in desk for the flight to Australia.Touch down at sunrise!
10 hours later we arrived in Melbourne, after a quick transfer in Sydney. I’ve slept more on an overnight flight, and although it was only 10am I was already looking forward to catching up on sleep!
Gary, my uncle, had kindly agreed to pick us up from the airport, it was luxury getting a full seat in the car after sharing a seat with my neighbour on the flight!
As we approached Geelong, a city just to the South-West of Melbourne, we heard a noise coming from the front left wheel arch. We pulled over to investigate. It turned out to be a small strip of rubber that had come loose. We were able to quickly free the strip and continue on our way!
After a quick check we came to the conclusion that the tyre would get us to our destination just fine.
We decided it was probably best to have a quick nap, after which we went for a walk with Gary and Soda (the dog)!
Geelong was a refreshing change of pace to Southeast Asia!The setting sun cast beautiful light over the crisp, modern houses in the neighbourhood.The land drops away to the West and you get some glorious views across the river and flood planes.Warming winter sun!Hatti took the lead, and Soda was happy to follow!Happy to have reached the destination we celebrated with a Fat Yak beer and a glass of wine!
I bet it was a wrench to leave Bali. I hope you can both get back there some time.
Enjoy Melbourne 😀😀xx
What a wonderful last day in Ubud and journey to Australia! Did this slightly ‘shortened’ journey to Australia help with jetlag? What a lovely colour Soda is:)
I bet it was a wrench to leave Bali. I hope you can both get back there some time.
Enjoy Melbourne 😀😀xx
What a wonderful last day in Ubud and journey to Australia! Did this slightly ‘shortened’ journey to Australia help with jetlag? What a lovely colour Soda is:)