2017
Back at Home
4 November 2017
Here I am back at home! Strange to be welcomed at my door by Josh and Jazz rather than the other way around as it has been all these years of their visits. Now we are all in residence at 25 George Street! Josh and Jazz are happily settled in and are loving being surrounded by Sydney family and friends. It was the right thing to do, coming home at this time. Jazz is enrolled in Paddington Public School and starts this week. She will be with the same class of kids as when she was here in Year 2. The office staff were thrilled to have her back. There are only a few weeks of the school year left so she will spend them in Year 5 so she can move on to Year 6 with the same group of kids next year.
Back to the last days in Bali. Cathy and I were very privileged to spend the Galungan holiday with Jean and William’s Bali family whom I know well too. We were all dressed up in Bali finery and joined the prayers in the temple area of the family compound. William explained the meaning of the holy water sprinkling and drinking from our hands, and the grains of rice on our forehead, tongue and throat (right thoughts, speech and feelings) and Jean performed the sprinkling of the water from two holy springs in Bali. No photos during this, of course. Then we were served a feast upstairs in Roda's little restaurant,
Back to the last days in Bali. Cathy and I were very privileged to spend the Galungan holiday with Jean and William’s Bali family whom I know well too. We were all dressed up in Bali finery and joined the prayers in the temple area of the family compound. William explained the meaning of the holy water sprinkling and drinking from our hands, and the grains of rice on our forehead, tongue and throat (right thoughts, speech and feelings) and Jean performed the sprinkling of the water from two holy springs in Bali. No photos during this, of course. Then we were served a feast upstairs in Roda's little restaurant,
Then it was home again to Josh’s empty house to spend my last night ever there. Sat on the verandah in the dark watching the fireflies and embedding the scene in my memory. The next morning Cathy photographed me farewelling the rice fields that have been so central to my stays here - and to these “Bali Tales” emails over the years. I will miss not witnessing their cycle from planting to harvesting.
My last day was spent in the final clean up with Ibu Agung - a special time together. She has become my dearest Balinese friend over the ten years she has looked after Josh and the years before that when she worked for Petra. We gave her lots of household goods that she could use, while leaving all the basic stuff for future tenants. I packed up all of Jasmin’s childhood books left after she had taken her special ones to her mum’s. They will go to the local Ganesha bookshop and any suitable ones will be distributed to schools. Then we emptied the fridge and food cupboard. Agung took any of the things a Balinese family would eat, but I packed the rest (mayonnaise, olives, beer, cheese) to take to Yoga’s that afternoon. Left all the furniture for tenants too, much of which I had bought for the house in recent years.
The owner, Pak Anom came to say goodbye - he is very sorry to see Josh go - they had become good friends. He already has new tenants negotiating to possibly take on the lease. Hope it comes off and they are willing to pay the asking price. Some maintenance jobs need doing on the main house, but that is the owner’s responsibility now.
Went to visit Yoga for the evening before going to the airport. He is up in Bali to arrange to sell the beautiful recycled timber house he and Alex built. It has been let since they came home to Sydney in 2016, but empty again now. (PS -as it tuned out they decided to keep it.) We had G and Ts and dinner by the pool with him before his driver friend took us to the airport for a 1 am flight. is this my last time in this beautiful house too?
The owner, Pak Anom came to say goodbye - he is very sorry to see Josh go - they had become good friends. He already has new tenants negotiating to possibly take on the lease. Hope it comes off and they are willing to pay the asking price. Some maintenance jobs need doing on the main house, but that is the owner’s responsibility now.
Went to visit Yoga for the evening before going to the airport. He is up in Bali to arrange to sell the beautiful recycled timber house he and Alex built. It has been let since they came home to Sydney in 2016, but empty again now. (PS -as it tuned out they decided to keep it.) We had G and Ts and dinner by the pool with him before his driver friend took us to the airport for a 1 am flight. is this my last time in this beautiful house too?
And so ends my life in our Bali home - from now on it will probably be just the annual Writers Festival visits in October staying in a hotel like any tourist!
Some of you may share my feelings of sadness and loss as I end these Bali Tales of life with Josh and Jasmin among the rice fields. Am sure there will be other Bali adventures to write about, but without the kitchen sink stories to go with them!
Some of you may share my feelings of sadness and loss as I end these Bali Tales of life with Josh and Jasmin among the rice fields. Am sure there will be other Bali adventures to write about, but without the kitchen sink stories to go with them!