What can I say? We've had/are having an amazing life enhancing trip and I really mean it when I say we have not done this journey alone. You lot have laughed with us, sighed with us, gasped with us and really really put your collective hands on our backs and gently pushed us when we were at our lowest. We still have some miles to go but we feel like the road ahead is familiar and we have, universe willing, left the darkest part of the trip behind us. We have memories enough to last us a lifetime already and there are still more to come so thankyou so much for sharing it with us. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou and have a brilliant Christmas wherever you are and who ever you are with and I'd like you to try and imagine a huge hug from both of us with all our love.
Updates will keep coming I promise. xxxxxx Gary and Kym xxxxxxx
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Bali
And here we are! We are in the house after a couple of days living on the beach at a surf spot called Balian, and after a a good clean and an empty of the car we have made it our home for a couple of Months. We have two live in Gecko's (actually we have lot's but these are big un's) that have big poos and one mouse that has little poos. It has a washing machine and a telly and is in the far corner of a "Kampung" which is like a big compound with houses all around it with a communal garden area in the middle. Our first human guest in the form of Ed from Perth (by way of Devon) is staying for Christmas and Luke, Steph, Jimmy and Lenny from Lanzarote will be arriving on new years eve. The first few days were a bit weird for me. Having to constantly remind myself to stop. I didn't have to do anything. I didn't have to think about the next days drive or the route or the truck or where to stay or anything and I found it hard. Kym settled in immediately (well as soon as she'd finished cleaning) and I'm pleased to say I now have too. The push bikes are great and the Balinese love 'em. People are already talking about the car they keep seeing around and sometime it actually gets a bit tiring repeating the same thing (yep all the way from England..) but there's been surf and it's been sunny and we have been drinking beer so all is good.
Volcanoes
Another night on the beach (yet another beautiful one) and a trip to Malang to get some genuine bolts found us driving up the lower slopes of mount Bromo at dusk. We guessed there must be a ticket office at some point to enter the park and surmised from this that there would also be a car park that we could sleep in before driving into the park(crater!) the following morning. Once again the universe looked after us and in the dark and pea soup fog we somehow managed to spot a rest area with toilets, water and a quiet parking spot and had to get the blanket out for the bed to cope with the seriously chilly drop in temperature down to 22c. 5 o'clock and our Indo alarm clock kicked in (waaaayyyyyyyyeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh,AllahisgreatcometotheMosquenowandbowbeforehim,wwwwaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyooooooooooaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh) and after a bite to eat we headed further up the volcano. We never did find a ticket office (shame) but we did breach the rim of the caldera (you should know what that is if not you haven't been paying attention) and drove down into spectacular surroundings. The photo's do it more justice but they don't give you the smell, phewweee eggs, or strictly speaking sulphur. But real live vulcanolgy actually happening all around us. Awesome.
Neatly we didn't have to re-trace our steps and drove out of the caldera on the far side and descended to Probolingo (great place names around here) did a drive by and went hunting for a beach for the night. Found one and parked smack in the middle of it. At 0400 the following morning the wailing started and when I say wailing this time I really mean it. It was like the Imman had said "Gran I'm not feeling too good this morning would you mind doing the call to prayer?" and Gran had got there an hour early an eager not to disappoint had given it her all but forgotten to switch off her hearing aid which was creating feedback on the PA system.
It might have been this that then encouraged the whole village and all the local surrounding villages to get up at 0430 and come and check out the weird alien craft that had landed on their beach during the night and stand around it talking very loudly and even play guitars. By the time I descended the ladder at 0445 absolutely busting for a pee we were surrounded. The grumpiest fastest pack up took place and we drove off the beach at 0510 with me shouting out the window that they were all loonies and all I want is a piss and a cup of tea like any normal person would in the morning. Then we went to Bali!
Neatly we didn't have to re-trace our steps and drove out of the caldera on the far side and descended to Probolingo (great place names around here) did a drive by and went hunting for a beach for the night. Found one and parked smack in the middle of it. At 0400 the following morning the wailing started and when I say wailing this time I really mean it. It was like the Imman had said "Gran I'm not feeling too good this morning would you mind doing the call to prayer?" and Gran had got there an hour early an eager not to disappoint had given it her all but forgotten to switch off her hearing aid which was creating feedback on the PA system.
It might have been this that then encouraged the whole village and all the local surrounding villages to get up at 0430 and come and check out the weird alien craft that had landed on their beach during the night and stand around it talking very loudly and even play guitars. By the time I descended the ladder at 0445 absolutely busting for a pee we were surrounded. The grumpiest fastest pack up took place and we drove off the beach at 0510 with me shouting out the window that they were all loonies and all I want is a piss and a cup of tea like any normal person would in the morning. Then we went to Bali!
Car Trouble
After a peaceful night next to the sea we took off along the coast on roads that didn't exist on our map but using the compass kept heading the right way until on one bend the steering went deceidly weird and aftera rapid stop it soon became clear why. The front left wheel was at a decidely jaunty angle and upon closer inspection the whole steering rocker arm that sits bolted to the bottom of the steering knuckle (ball joint) behind the wheel had come off and was hanging by the tie rod ends!
Rewind a little to a small incident in India with a truck. This was the same wheel that took the brunt of the collision and was also the same wheel that Toyota Hyderabad assured us was fixed. Since then I have replaced the hub seal 3 times and each time have repacked and greased the bearings trying to figure out why the seal keeps breaking. Well it'd broken again but catastrophically and the oil from the exel have entered the ball joint and worked it's way into the bolts loosing all of them until they'd fallen out! I went for a walk back up the raod for a couple of miles and found one of them and also a bloke in a hut who was a mechanic. Between us we dismatled the ball joint and it was here that I discovered the bottom bearing which the ball joint sits on (which you don't access when changing the seal) was shot to pieces. This basically means that they put back in the said bearing instead of replacing it in India. Nice. The mechanic took the bearing and the one remaining bolt hopped on his motorbike did a 50km round trip came back with a new bearing, pot of grease and some temporary bolts and helped me re assemble the whole thing in the dark and asked for £20. Did I mention I hate India.
Rewind a little to a small incident in India with a truck. This was the same wheel that took the brunt of the collision and was also the same wheel that Toyota Hyderabad assured us was fixed. Since then I have replaced the hub seal 3 times and each time have repacked and greased the bearings trying to figure out why the seal keeps breaking. Well it'd broken again but catastrophically and the oil from the exel have entered the ball joint and worked it's way into the bolts loosing all of them until they'd fallen out! I went for a walk back up the raod for a couple of miles and found one of them and also a bloke in a hut who was a mechanic. Between us we dismatled the ball joint and it was here that I discovered the bottom bearing which the ball joint sits on (which you don't access when changing the seal) was shot to pieces. This basically means that they put back in the said bearing instead of replacing it in India. Nice. The mechanic took the bearing and the one remaining bolt hopped on his motorbike did a 50km round trip came back with a new bearing, pot of grease and some temporary bolts and helped me re assemble the whole thing in the dark and asked for £20. Did I mention I hate India.
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