The beginning of May continued to be busy, busy, busy with preparations and things to be done before leaving. I overcame two huge obstacles in the first week, both being my applications for visas. My first challenge came when I decided I’d try to apply for the Indonesian e-visa. I went through the Australian government Smart Traveller to find the legitimate Indonesian Immigration site. I then had to collect all the info needed included contacting Vi-Lay for our ticket to Vietnam as proof of exit. After a bit of fiddling and correcting things I had written on the form, things I missed or filled in incorrectly the first time. On completion there was a tick list before the form was submitted. I was very pleased they had provided this as I had forgotten to put in the date that I applied for my passport. (some things really don’t seem necessary) Then lo and behold within minutes I had received four email confirmations of my application and payment. The last was to say my visa was approved with an attached PDF to show customs when I arrived! Wow! Now that’s efficient! Thank you Lord for helping me get through this procedure.
This gave me the confidence to apply for a visa to Vietnam a few day later. Once again I went through the Smart Traveller website. This application was very different in what information was needed. I think it was not so straightforward and quite a bit more complicated. Extra information was required for eg: what religion I was, how long I wanted to stay, how much I was expecting to spend, how I was going to pay for things and an emergency contact number. This time it took five days, during which time I decided I wasn’t going to be anxious but trust the Lord to work things out for me. Next time I’m thinking of traveling abroad I’m going to go to places where I don’t have to apply for a visa in advance.
I have been waking up at 2am for a while and not being able to get back to sleep till nearly 4am, then waking again between 6:30/7am feeling exhausted with no motivation to go for a jog. Saturday was one of those days. Then my alarm reminded me it was prayer breakfast morning! By the time I got myself ready and had breakfast I was half an hour late. We are now meeting at church, which means I have breakfast before I go. When you have only two main meals a day, breakfast is very important. I enjoy our monthly guest speakers’ talks on their experiences and knowledge before we pray for the world.
On reaching home I had a lovely chat to my Sydney travel mate, Vi-Lay, regarding our trip to Bali and Vietnam. Not long now! I then baked some muffins, but forgot they don’t need browning on the top so they became quite dry. Never mind, a bit of icing will help. I’ve never confessed to be a cook like my sister Kat. I’d made enough for our unit get together to welcome our new neighbours and some for the community garden busy bee on the Sunday. I’d got the wrong date for our unit gathering so when I took my plate of goodies, stopping in at Kath’s place en route to Bob’s, I’m glad I did as she informed me it was not on till the following day. Oh well, I could now have a relaxing evening instead.
Sunday was a busy day. I was up early for a jog and swim before church, then on barista duty before and after th2 10:30 service, which was a busy time due to the AGM which followed the 10:30 am service. There were sandwiches too. I thought I’d better have something to tide me over as I would miss my usual lunch and have dinner with the neighbours. I then rushed home, got into some work clothes and drove to the community garden. Here I helped erect a compost bin, stack paving bricks, talked about what plants to go where before taking a break for some afternoon tea. It was then home for a short relax before joining the neighbours at Bob’s home for snacks and sausages on the BBQ. Nearly all the neighbours turned up, including some previous owners and friends. Unfortunately Connor who is the new homeowner wasn’t there, he had thought it was the following week. We were all hoping to meet him. I didn’t stay long and as I left I escorted Ann home safely. Ann is getting very frail.
Monday I made it down to our Bible study for the last time before the Bail trip. Then cleaned up the sheds, pots, trimmed back some of the grapevine and tied up the passionfruit. Tuesday I decided not to go jogging as I needed to prepare the rooms in the house for the insect bombs. I wanted to eliminate the silverfish and tiny cockroaches that have crept into my home. Just before leaving the house I set them off. It wasn’t as easy as I thought as it took quite a concerted effort to get the cap to clip down so that the contents were released in a constant spray. In the end the plyers helped. I closed up the place to help the fumigation. I’d planned it so I would be out of the house for 2hrs. That morning my neighbour Kathy came down to the church to see where the coffees were so she can come for a coffee and a chat while I’m away. After my last morning helping to make the coffees for the teachers at the primary school I headed home. The house was very smelly so I rushed around holding my breath while I opened all the doors and windows. I then took off in the car to avoid breathing in the toxic air. I did a shop at Bunnings, Woolworths and Chemist to pick up a few things to take up to Gayle in Bali. When I got back, the house still smelt but it was much better.
I’ve been at the garden again, tidying up before I go. I asked my neighbour Ann if she would like to help me by cutting up all the grapevine branches and putting them in the bin as I was cutting back the vine. We were a great team. It really helped me to get a lot done too, including tying back some more of the passionfruit vine so it lets more winter sun onto the patio area. I put up a little fence to keep my bobtail family safe in the back yard while I’m away. They have all found their winter dwelling place. Mumma has gone back into the original polystyrene cubby I made her. I’ve only seen one of the babies. I’m sure the little girl is around somewhere. The side partition has been taken down to eliminate any tripping hazard for those keeping an eye on my place while I’m gone.
The reticulation app has been giving me problems. It’s not working as it should. In fact if I wasn’t going away I’d delete it and just operate it manually. Firstly the save water feature, which I set up just to get the app working, altered the days for that particular cycle. Then when it stopped jumping back on every time I turned it off, one of the other stations changed from being two areas to just one area running for 18 minutes four times! I didn’t have time to delete the program and try again just in case I stuffed something up and couldn’t fix it before I left. I decided I’d just turn it off and then while I’m away check with my neighbour Kathy to see if there had been any rain and how heavy. I could then turn on all 5 stations manually from Bali. God willing the rains will come soon.
We did have a forecast for thunder storms and heavy rain, but it swept over Perth with a few very light showers, nothing significant, not enough for the gardens. That morning I messaged Kathy “Wow! Did you hear the storm and rain last night?” “No???? Never heard a thing seriously!!” She said. I replied “No, neither did I” LOL I’m praying the rains will start soon so that the garden I have been watering for my neighbour across from my unit will survive. No one is game to take it over while I’m away.
In regards to the back gate that I needed fixing: the last time I heard from the original guy who was going to help me was 9 April. I sent him four messages during April but didn’t hear back. On the 1st May I called and was told he would give me a date that evening. After not hearing from him, I sent another message letting him know when I’d be available. Still no response. I then called another fencing guy who came around the next day to check out what I wanted done. That was a Friday. I sent him a reminder with my email address, then called him on the Wednesday and left a message. He called later on Thursday to say he’d send me a quote that evening. Nothing came! I know tradies are very busy and maybe my job just isn’t big enough for them but really, what happened to being polite and saying so?
My sister Jen is house sitting in Bali for Cheryl, who I stayed with for two weeks when I first went to Bali last year. She also felt a little out of place. The girls, who call me Mum Sally, made her feel welcome. After Jen sent a photo of the three of them together, she and I had a long chat on WhatsApp. I gave her a few tips on travel there. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone when I arrive. Jen also told me she had filled in the customs forms and paid the new Bali tourist tax on line which enabled her to go straight to immigration, missing the long queues. She sent me the links so I could do the same. Sometimes doing official paperwork on line has its benefits. And yet, I was not sure if the payment for the tourist tax went through and when I refreshed the page I think it might have gone through a second time! Oh the joys of technology! We’ll just have to see what happens when I arrive. At least I received the QR code for customs.
Two days before flying out I did a big clean of the house. I like coming home to a clean house. I also took something to help me sleep on the last three nights. The first night I slept well till 1:30am when I heard my neighbour outside banging around. I wasn’t happy and when it happened again the following night, this time at 4:30am, she knew I wasn’t happy. I asked if she could do what she needs done at 7am instead. Although I’d taken something to sleep by 1:30am I was awake and still wasn’t sleeping when the banging started! I don’t think I slept much at all that night, finally waking at 6am I got up for my last jog and swim before my departure. Then after a busy morning of checking in, printing out the ticket and the QR code for Indonesian customs, hanging out my washing and generally checking I’d done what needed to be done, I heard the back neighbour’s gardener with the blower. Then as I was checking the washing, some was already dry, the rest needed more time, I felt a spray of water and realised he was now using a water jet to clean the gutters! After shouting as loud as I could, he finally stopped and apologised while I took my washing off the line, later hanging some back out to complete the drying. Poor fellow I think I frightened him. I was really annoyed as this was the only time I had to dry things before I left. Its ok, I wasn’t mad at him, and told him so, but it was inconvenient.
I had a long list for my neighbour Kath to remind her of things she was going to help me with while I’m away. I showed her around as we ticked off what was on the list. And another for Janice if she decided she was staying in July when she’s doing her chaplaincy course here in Perth.
The rest of the day was a whirlwind! I kept remembering things that I wanted to get done: prune back the second grapevine, plant the tulips, cut all the leaves of the Malabar spinach to eat with my lunch and to clear it off my beautiful bougainvillea. I repacked my suitcase for the last time with the cheeses I was taking up, made my breakfast for the following morning and zip-locked all the leftover nuts and seeds to take with me. I washed and cleaned all the jars, washing in, folded and put away, and fed the worms. Oh I nearly forgot to take the last shade cloth off, moved a few hanging pots into more shade, emptied bins, printed out my boarding pass and QR code for Indonesian customs, booked the car to pick me up to get me to the airport on time. Everything around the house was put away. At 6pm I suddenly remembered I hadn’t washed and emptied the car. Too late for a wash but I did empty it before putting the cover on it.
I finally stood down for the evening before taking something to help me sleep. Praise the Lord it worked this time and I slept fairly well till 3:30am. When I knew I wouldn’t sleep longer I got up. I had made a list of things to check off as I prepared for the day. The sprinkler system is still not working as well as I hoped but I worked out that I can put it on a setting called ‘handwater’. I could then operate it manually by inputting the timing for each station to run. This seems to be the best solution. All the watering was finished by 5:30am. I just have to remember to do the same procedure while I’m away, maybe at a more reasonable hour!
It was around that time that I had completed all on my list and sat down to eat an early breakfast. Well that was till I realised it was still too early for breakfast which I had planned to eat at 7am, as my ride wasn’t coming till 7:45am. During the busy list checking I heard a funny muffled sound! Hmmm sounded like the alarm on my phone. It was but it was in the bottom drawer of the side table in my bedroom where I must have put it when I was tidying my bedside table. Praise the Lord I heard it as I didn’t have the data turned on and Siri wouldn’t have been able to let me know where it was! I love this ability to locate where I’ve left my phone. Once I sat down to relax I noticed the hard wood kitchen table needed polishing. Plenty of time! I polished some of the other wooden surfaces at the same time. When I sat down again I suddenly felt sleepy. I could have gone back to bed for another couple of hours! I ate breakfast instead just after 6am but it didn’t really help.
I was very pleased the driver arrived 15mins early. He wasn’t much of a talker. I met a lovely couple going up for a few days on a special deal they got for $1,000 AUD all-inclusive including airfares. All went smoothly I dropped off my bag. Then at 9am I finished off my coffee I’d prepared that morning to save the exuberant prices at the airport. Mind you I was told that the cafés down stairs are cheaper than those in the departure lounge. I then went through immigration and customs to wait at the departure gate. Praise the Lord for a smooth departure. A new chapter begins with my return to Bali.
Photos: 1. Paperbark in flower 2. Unit party 3. My new chair needing work on my return 4. Sofia’s cactus family 5. Bromeliads for Janice to pick up next time she comes
Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for helping me get all the things done in preparation for my trip.
Praise Him for safe journeys and for all that has fallen into place, my departure and arrival that was without incident.
Please continue to pray for Ross Winchester as he continues with chemo and for Elsie who is also navigating the cancer course she is on. Believe with me for the Lord’s intervention and total healing for both.
Continue to pray with me for world peace both in the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia. Pray for all those caught up in the suffering that both these wars have caused. Pray that God’s peace may be known by all people especially for those who live in despair, that they will find hope in Christ Jesus.
Please keep my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, in your prayers. Pray that they will come to know the love of Jesus.