Bali

The weather has not cooperated in Bali. My relaxing week laying in the sun has turned into a week of rain and emails to groupon, of course they do not respond ( nice customer service).
I hired a driver to take me around some of the scenic spots of Bali. The first two spots were his friend's overpriced silver jewelry stores in Sanur. He kept telling me he could get me a good cheap deal. The last thing I want right now is jewelry and I am definitely over shopping for a while (bet you never thought you would hear me say that!)
The next stop was the monkey sanctuary which is a jungle area in Ubud where you can walk around and the monkeys are everywhere and do not seem to be afraid of people - I guess that is because they know who has the food! It was fun to watch the babies imitate their mothers - guess that's where the saying 'monkey see monkey do' came from.
Next stop was the town of Ubud which is lovely. Lots of restaurants, stores and a market. Very clean and pleasant place to walk around exploring for the afternoon. Ubud is a bit warmer and more humid as it is inland and not near the ocean.
Last stop was Jambian which is for the most part a stretch of restaurants on the beach that serve fresh seafood. The beach is nice and the water is warm but there is lots of garbage such as wrappers and plastic bags that has been washed ashore. Such a shame as this does not invite one to relax on the beach. My driver really wanted me to go to his friend's restaurant for dinner but since I had already eaten in Ubud and I had already been to Jambian for a seafood dinner I refused and he was very disappointed (guess he missed out on a kick back from the restaurant). The seafood dinner I had in Jambian was ok it cost $32 which is very high for a dinner here (normally you spend under $20 including drinks). Also coming from BC and having a son who catches seafood it was nothing special.
Yesterday I met up with Bill Murphy Dyson and his wife Maureen for lunch. It was great to spend time with people from home. Bill told me the area I am staying Nusa Dua is a gated community like the Uplands and they had to go through security to get into this area. He should have told them he was from Oak Bay and already lives behind a tweed curtain!!!!
Well as you can tell Bali has not been my favorite place but the Aston hotel is beautiful and I have enjoyed relaxing for a bit although I must admit I do find this difficult - I even read a whole book in less than 24 hours.
I was going to go to Darwin and then back to sydney but flights out of Sydney to LA at the end of the month are full so it looks like I will be flying directly to sydney tomorrow and have a few days there (it will take that to organize my packing) before trying to get a flight to LA on March 27th.