First few days

After a whirlwind couple of weeks of goodbyes in New Zealand and Stew and Holly's beautiful wedding in the Hawkes Bay, we are finally off on our massive adventure.

Sydney was a blast--a long wait and a disagreement with the Jetstar staff about visa requirements got some heat up on the inside, only to be matched by some temperatures in Denpasar, Bali.

We arrived in Kuta, Bali late in the evening, spent substantial time finding our bearings (without using our compass) and somewhere to stay.  Though, that experience did help crystilise one conclusion: we must get out of Kuta and quickly to escape the rampant over-development, drunk Australians and general tourist traffic.

Early the next morning we did. We headed inland to Ubud--a spiritual town, surrounded by rice paddies and workshops making the tourist souvenirs you see in every tourist market in the world and many expensive gift shops in NZ and Australia.

The next day we hired some push bikes and set off seeking temples and baths.  Having studied the map carefully we still somehow managed to take a less than direct route uphill (a big test of Claire's Olympic-standard physic) about 20km longer than necessary.  On the upside, after reaching the top and bathing with the locals in the sacred, flower-strewn water, we enjoyed a downward coast.  Claire shot ahead, dodging potholes, motorbikes, truck and the occasional dog.

Rain struck Ubud that night, as we dinned on satay with Dave and Anne--an Irish and French combo-couple with similar intents to ours.  We might meet again as we are taking a similar route.

Our next stop, Lombok.  Stay tuned as we look to enhance our blogging style and upload pictures.  Please let us know if you have any comments, including whether this post lacks something.  Also, please recommend any places you've been that we should see.

Love to every one
 Claire & Eli

xxxx