We wanted to tell you about our holiday we've just had in Gili Air in Lombok, Indonesia. On the way over on a little boat we got talking to this over enthusiastic middle aged Californian ex-pat lady, and she asked us whether we wanted to stay in her house for a week whilst she went back to Bali. We weren't convinced until she mentioned she had a dog and a kitten that needed looking after. That was it, we basically agreed even before seeing the place, meeting the pets, or getting off the boat!
The house was kind of odd but OK, it was right on the beautiful white sandy beach and it included kitchen, lounge, a DVD player, and the rather reluctant services of a maid. But the best bit was the animals! We really fell in love with Shadow, the crazy ADHD cat, and Arien, the neurotic and needy mongrel dog (she has something to do with a Labrador, but the rest is anyone's guess - something very low slung probably). We threw ourselves into the family idyll with great gusto. By the second day Arien (the dog) followed us everywhere, here dogs run around freely, and she would never let us out of her sight. If either of us even left the room when we were at home she would get terribly upset and worried, but she was great fun to play with on the beach, and she was really well trained. She came to us whenever we whistled or called her name, and people were impressed how well we had trained her. They all thought she was ours, and we loved it! We taught her to swim as well which was really sweet, until we went off snorkeling and after a while noticed she had come after us and was swimming quite far from the shore - yikes! Shadow (the kitten) was really small boned and had something to do with a Persian breed, and she looked like a little ball of fluff and fur. Dan was very excited because he seems to have gotten over his cat allergy for the moment, which meant he could play with the cat loads.
This probably isn't very exciting for a lot of you dear readers, but this is very exciting for us, having the chance to play home after 6 months on the road!
Gili Air is probably one of the best places we've been so far. It doesn't have any cars or motorbikes or anything annoying, the only transport is horse and cart (just like in the good old days, Kati & Johku!), but you can walk around the whole island in about 1.5 hours. Arien got to do that walk plenty of times with us, which probably isn't something she's used to with her real owner, but she had a brilliant time with us. It's all white sand, turquoise crystal water, amazing snorkeling, and really fantastic food. So again, we really recommend it! We ended up staying there for 10 days and didn't want to leave... So it felt like a proper holiday from travelling!
We came to Sengiggi (still in Lombok) for a stop over tonight, and tomorrow we're off to Kuta in the south of Lombok for some more white sands and quiet beaches, it's a hard life!
Hope you like the photos of our new found family! We've desperately tried to put them here, but computer says no. So you'll have to click on the right again to have a look.
Lots of love,
Jenni & Dan
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5 comments:
hey - i want a dog too..
tried to find Gili Air on google maps and it won't zoom in far enough to show it properly - it must be very remote! laterz
Yeah ... I can see the appeal of the dwarf Labrador, very sweet and friendly looking.
The cat looks a bit freaky ..... maybe she thought you could have cut that fish up a bit!!
As for cat allergies, dunno how Dan is still breathing! Still no explanation of why Indonesia is listed as allergy!?!
Hello Dan and Jen!
Sounds like you're both having a wonderful time!. The cat looks bonkers! perhaps Dan's allergy is scared of it, I wouldn't like to get in the way of his fish dinner, only joking. However the swimming was cute. Thanks so much for the froggie I play with it a lot at the moment. I stroked it and laughed for about 15 minutes last week. I like the Labrador too when I had long hair someone said I looked like a cross between a Golden retreiver and a Labrador.
Perhaps Indon is esia on your allergies ar ar ar. Mork calling Orson come in Orson... no response.
Much love
keep having a lovely time
Glyn
hi guys
glad you had a good holiday, you make a very cute family!! the white blonde doggy has always been your favorite type, cute and innocent looking! and i think the cat looks great, who could say no to those huge eyes, so now you have had close encounters with wild and domestic animals!!! so where are you now????
I still haven't sorted a flicker but i should, as my snowy experiences would be quite a contrast to your sunny wanderings.
we did one hike (not part of our project but with the other artists here) that went up a mountain in knee deep snow, it was amazing i loved it, quite hard work but so beautiful!!! all the canadians were not quite as impressed as they thought it was too early for this much snow, so when you are laying in your bikinies (dan we haven't seen yours yet) think of me in my thermal undies hats and gloves
lots of love
xxxxxxxxxx sister muggs
hi guys
glad you had a good holiday, you make a very cute family!! the white blonde doggy has always been your favorite type, cute and innocent looking! and i think the cat looks great, who could say no to those huge eyes, so now you have had close encounters with wild and domestic animals!!! so where are you now????
I still haven't sorted a flicker but i should, as my snowy experiences would be quite a contrast to your sunny wanderings.
we did one hike (not part of our project but with the other artists here) that went up a mountain in knee deep snow, it was amazing i loved it, quite hard work but so beautiful!!! all the canadians were not quite as impressed as they thought it was too early for this much snow, so when you are laying in your bikinies (dan we haven't seen yours yet) think of me in my thermal undies hats and gloves
lots of love
xxxxxxxxxx sister muggs
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