Water, water everywhere

Hmmm.I thought you might be getting a little moist. There was HUGE thunder and lightening here this afternoon - must have been fun up there.

How did the disco/musical water activities go?

The golf buggying sounds fun. Do either you or Ash have the required skills for golf buggy off roading?

Shame about the internet access. The Facebook page needs more photos - some are of backs of heads,  maybe the Twit needs to edit a bit more.

We had a day like any other here. ALIA work, watching Dorothy on TV and replaying story on button about the show we went to about eleventy billion times.  Susanna came and they went shopping at Highpoint with a few rides on Big Red Car thrown in. Tomorrow visit the library and a couple of teleconferences.

I saw a photo of you and the team on the daily newsletter!!

Stay dry - love you lots. Mum, Dad and Dorothy's No 1 Fan xxx

Note on photos

I can't upload photos right now - the internet is so bad that blogger takes almost five minutes to load. Dani is having real problems with her Chief Twit stuff because the internet is so bad - the connection at Gilwell is shocking and 3G modems aren't working very well for anyone. -_-

Day 3 Update

>>> IT'S WET. <<<

That is all.

Today was lovely until about lunch time, when the rain started. Since then it's only gotten heavier and now it's gotten to the stage where activities finished 20 minutes early and the cubs have gone back to their camps. Despite this, we've still taken over a thousand photos between us today, and the disco will still be running because "we can work underwater, but, y'know, the Cubs can't..." (Sound tech Dale).

Highlight of the day: driving around Gilwell in a golf buggy with Ash to deliver newsletters. On the steering wheel, it says "Drive buggies on greens only. Do not drive on steep hills, go off road or through water traps." Kinda broke all of those rules going down a track so we could obey the one-way sign... Don't worry, the buggy is still in one piece!

Photos later - we just took one of the media team.

Photos - I want photos

Hey.

I spent an hour looking at all the photos on the facebook page tonite. Looks like everyone is having a good time. I saw lots several familiar faces - so I know you are in good company. Looks like the weather is turning bad - did you pack a coat? How is the food? Have you seen my other son - pls give him a hug from MargieMum. 

Glad to hear the helmet and cape are popular. Do you get to wear it while touring with VIPs? Do you also have your indian vest?

Much excitment here. Dorothy and Captain Feathersword on Sunday afternoon were much loved. The whole of the Dorothy set was inflatable - like a giant rosey pink cottage jumping castle. Bean and I went to the fair at Docklands today and road on the teacups. We saw a live show with a bubbleologist who did amazing things with bubbles. It was bubblerific. Dad went to work and had a big budget meeting - there were no bubbles, although very probably some bubble-heads. Dad wore his new elephant tie yesterday.

Stay warm tonight, eat well and enjoy the VIP escorting tomorrow. Wear thick sock, put bandaids on your blisters and don't take drugs.

Love Mum, Dad and Bubble Boy
xxxxxxx

Cuboree Update - Day 2

Hi Mum! (and Dad. And Bean.)

Quick update while photos upload: Cuboree's going really well. Media's been really good so far. Total photo count so far (between 3 photographers) = ~2600. I'm currently working on finding great ones to go on the VicScouts website, as well as Facebook.


The highlight of today was a visit from Victorian Minister for Youth Affairs, Ryan Smith, who came for an hour. I basically spent the entire time running around with Simon, taking photos (something like 200 in the hour) as we went on a whirlwind tour of Gilwell and Cuboree. Tomorrow I'll be doing a similar tour with a photographer from one of the local newspapers as well as several other VIPs, except by myself instead of with Simon. :D

I think I'm walking more than I've ever walked before, perhaps even at Jamboree. Trips from the Messmate Annexe (the Comms/Media office) to the Venturer sub-camp and back have totalled around 5-6km, just today. Alongside that, I've been walking across the whole camp to get photos. No blisters yet, but I'm pretty happy when I find an empty seat.


Cubs are all having a fantastic time. I've already taught some the Pizza Man song, but there's still lots to go! I'm pretty familiar in three or four packs where I know all the leaders. It's a lot like last year - Venturers all in costume, cubs all loving it, everyone's exhausted by the end of the day. My cape and helmet are much loved already, though possibly more so with the Venturers than with the Cubs.



Ironically, I won't actually post a photo - they just take too long to upload and fiddle with. I'll make sure some are on the VicScouts website for you tomorrow.


- Jo

Day 3 (Tuesday) - Chill-Out Day

Today we've done pretty much nothing. Morning was a late start (around 8.45am) for Mum and I, a jog for me and then breakfast at the Taman Ayun restaurant, which had a buffet breakfast. Surprisingly, we both had cereal/museli with fruit and yoghurt, but we did end up trying the french toast, choc-chip bread-and-butter pudding and pancakes...

After that, we've spent most of the day relaxing. I've finished Mum's Phryne Fisher novel she's meant to review, and have now started another one of her review books ('Subtopia'). I think I should have brought some politics texts with me, because reading isn't much of a challenge when it's by the pool with pizza! Close proximity to the pool has led to a swim-read cycle for both of us, which has been quite nice.

Mum's highlight of the afternoon was a massage, which she's just gotten back from. She would comment, but she's too blissed out right now. "Mmm... massage-y goodness..." She has also pointed out that she smells nice.

Tonight we're planning on having tea at one of the resorts further down the beach, where they have a good vegetarian menu. Have to see how that goes.

Plan for tomorrow: More relaxing! I'm planning on a trip to the beach, and Mum is planning on not doing much at all.

Plan for Day 3 (Tuesday)

Our plan for today is to chill out, read, and possibly for Mum to get very well acquainted with the staff at the pool bar. Providing all this relaxing doesn't wear us out too much, there's also dinner to be had at the beachfront restaurant at another resort a few hundred metres down the beach.

The Lagoon Pool, with bar. We're liking the look of this!

Day 2 (Monday) - Elephants!

 This morning started with a jog along the beach for me and a sleep-in for Mum. After breakfast at the American buffet, we went for a walk down Legian Street, which is where a lot of the shops are near the hotel. Total purchases: Pair of 'Adiles' (think about what the real brand is called...) for Rp100,000 and a hat for Rp50,000.  Despite this, we were offered loads of wallets, jewellery and everything else in between. The most amusing sight was rather offensive bumper stickers. "I ♥ Jiggy-Jig" was the least offensive of the lot.

Today's big thing was elephants! There were big elephants, little elephants (who were still huge), grey elephants and even elephants with freckles.

The elephant park was two hours from Legian, which meant a very long and very windy drive up there with Ari, the driver. This wasn't so bad, especially because the car was air-conditioned, except that Mum got very carsick and we ended up having to pull over so she could throw up. Despite this, we still saw loads of nice scenery, with temples absolutely everywhere. Driving through the city was very slow thanks to traffic which can only be described as 'anarchic'. I'm pretty sure the term 'zipper merge' has never been heard of, the indicator is a recent invention and thank God the intersections are too small for hook turns.

The elephant park itself was pretty big, considering it was just elephants. The park itself is on the edge of a little farming village, and is home to 30 elephants. There's a hotel, the elephant's home field, a rather nice restaurant and a museum of elephants. It's all very nice, and buffet lunch was excellent.

Actually riding on an elephant was the highlight of our day - we rode on an elephant named Roxy, through the elephant park and the surrounding forest. Elephant riding is neither fast nor graceful, but still good fun. Mum loved it, and I actually quite enjoyed myself. We didn't fall off, but we did drop Mum's little camera bag overboard. Roxy kindly picked it up and so we now have a dusty and elephant-snot covered camera bag. Yay? Otherwise, the ride was uneventful and good fun. Not sure I'll do it again anytime soon, but it was well worth doing once.

The plan for tonight is to relax for a little while and then head off to the Italian restaurant for pizza and whatever delicious goodies we can find for dessert.

***

Photos on Flickr

Other News From Day 1

Other news from the first day:
Bali seems nice, but is a funny mix of a bit run-down looking, contrasted by the hotels and resorts which are all spotless and new. Outside the resort on the beach there's people everywhere trying to sell you things - watches, drinks, sunglasses, whatever. They're very persistent, but once you get used to them it's really not that bad.

The beach looks beautiful, and I'm definitely going for a swim a few times. There's also places you can hire surfboards from, so I'm determined to see what it's like surfing here; the waves certainly look nice! 

Keep an eye out for elephant photos later today - Mum and I are off to the elephant park this afternoon.

Day 1 in Bali

The Flight Over
Six hours is a looooong time when you're on a Virgin flight across the country. Nice views out the window at times, nice view of The Simpsons on the TV at other times. Lunch was excellent, thanks to a rather delicious vegie pie.

Sunset over Legian Beach.

The Hotel:
The resort is amazing. Pretty much sums it up. We're really close to the pool, and then the beach is just another 50m away. Our room is really nice, but we We've already tried both pools, the bar, one of the restaurants, and room service. Think we may have this all worked out!

The Sunset Bar. You get the idea.

There's two pools, the normal one and the lagoon, which is the pool which has rooms that open out onto it. Both have bars, so Mum's happy. The whole resort is really big - about three times the size of Beacon Caravan Park, so we don't know where everything is yet. Tea tonight was toasted cheese sandwiches and wedges for me, despite the fact that there's a Balinese, an Italian and a Japanese restaurant here. We promise to be more interesting in the future. :p


Drink of the Day: Heineken beer
I'd like to congratulate Germans for coming up with a way to take the taste of an ashtray and put it inside a beer bottle. Not sure I'm that into it...
(In case you forgot, Mum is having me try one alcoholic drink a day while we're over here.)