True Bali time.....

Location: Padang Bai Bali

Date: 21st July 2011

Ceremonies are a way of life in Bali. They bless everything. Before every dive the dive guides will send a small offering onto the ocean to make sure all goes well ( part of the Balinese Buddhism). Everyday they offer their gods, in front of every door you will find some offerings and in every complex you will find a small area that is devoted to the gods. I think it is the charm of Bali. 

Needless to say that after having our new engines installed on the boat we need a ceremony to bless them. Without this blessing you will not get any Balinese on the boat and drive it.

The holy man and his wife were leading the ceremony assisted by the boat crew and the girls from the office (all are related as well). Remco and myself were very intrigued and asked if we could join.

First the offerings are being prepared and the holy man prepares the holy water. We then all sat behind him and his wife whilst he said his prayers and offerings were brought to the boat. After that we all prayed with him (well I held my hands up in the same way and drank the holy water but wasn’t sure what to ..... pray for... So i just imaged some good dives coming out of these shiny new engines ). The preparation actually took longer than the ceremony itself but gods behold.... the engines are blessed!

 All the pics from the album:

Bali

Ciao!

Galungan....

Location: Padang Bai, Bali
Date: 06 July

Today Galungan has started.....

Galungan is a Balinese holiday that occurs every 210 days and lasts for 10 days. Kuningan is the last day of the holiday. Galungan means "When the Dharma is winning." During this holiday the Balinese gods visit the Earth and leave on Kuningan. It is a major feast that is held throughout the island. On the first and tenth day all balinese men and women dress in traditional clothing. I was also introduced to this. The men ( Dave and Remco) didn't feel particularly happy about dressing up so they were our photographers :)

The balinese make special decorations that they place at the right side of an etry to a house. This welcomes the spirits to their former homes. The spirits must be entertained and welcomed, and prayers and offerings must be made for them. Soon I will upload some more pictures of all the decorations as it is truly a beautiful sight in the streets. Interesting fact..... the boys make the decorations :)

Bali

Ayo,
Marrem

Goodbye Australia

Location: Cairns Australia

Date: 11 June 2011

I cannot believe how quickly the months have gone! The time has come for us to leave Ozzieland. We had a great time and did some AWESOME diving. This leads me to the next step we are taking...... We are off to Bali for a divemaster internship and who knows what will come out of that. Maybe working as an instructor somewhere in the world? I don't know. Taking it day by day.

This does mean we are skipping Japan simply because I am afraid to go ( i know strange huh!). But after 1,5 year of running away from my emotions they have actually found me. Yey me..... ;) Japan was always the country my parents talked about. The holiday that they remembered. One of the main reasons of us planning it in our trip. My gut feeling says now is not the time to go for me.

Currently we are in Padangbai Bali, a teeeniy tiny harbour town with the most terrific dive sites. The infamous Gili islands are around the corner as well as Ubud the hippy town of Bali.

Leaving Australia is strange. We "lived" there for 2,5 months being familiar with Harvey Norman, Coles and hungry Jacks ( burger king for teh rest of teh world). We know that almost every Ozzie likes to fish, here are more free BBQ facilities than toilets........ and so much more. All in all it is a terrific country to travel through!

So bye Australia.. for now... never say never!

Ayo,

Marrem

diving the great barrier reef

Location: Port douglas

Today is our first glimpse of the Great Barrier reef and on top of that we might even see the minke whales ( very unlikely though). The boat left the harbour at 8.30 touring to the Agincourt reefs ( very north great barrier reef).  “The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres”. So fair to say that it is BIG!. You will recognise the reefs as big brown very shallow spots in the water. Finally the weather was actually working with us and we had perfect tidal changed so it all looked like perfect conditions.

And boy it was! We had a small group ( only 5 divers) and a guide that definitely knew his way around the reef.  On the three dives we did that day we saw a shark, swam through many tunnels and caves, loads of Nemo’s, a serious amount of clams ( one was 70 year old), big ass cucumbers ( which you can do all sorts of things with). The pictures will show more!

After the second dive we came out of the water and had soe good news, the minke’s were here! Oh yeah! So no need to think twice we stripped of our gear and jumped back into the water ad snorkelled with the whales. One word: WOW. Amazing experience.

Port Douglas reminds me very much of Curacao, same vibe ad atmosphere and nice cafe’s and restaurants. We ended up drinking a few bears with the crew and ended up booking another day on teh boat to do 3 more dives. Because it was just Remco myself and Nick our guide, we were able to dive a bit longer and do drift dives which was very cool. Again I was amazed by the underwater world. Love it. Dive instructors have the best office of the world. Yes I AM JEALOUS!

Pics will show all!

AU - Diving Port Douglas

Ayo,

Marrem