Wally drove us to the Bali Bird and Reptile Park yesterday. It is about 20-30 minutes drive away from the hotel. We were impressed; very lovely set-up with a wide variety of birds and reptiles. During the main bird show which featured about six or so impressive large birds flying to set stations and handlers, a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo stole the show by hanging upside down, wildly flapping its wings and screeching like a mad thing. A typical Aussie on holiday!
Most of the birds were in large cages, but many were free to walk and fly around. There was one pretty sad Kookaburra in a cage without a mate. I was photographing a cranky looking Ibis and it quickly did a walk around me and had a go at my backside, luckily fended off with a growl and hand wave.
Wally delivered us back to the hotel and we have his card and will probably use him to get us to the airport next Tuesday morning. We are still amazed at the complete calmness shown by drivers and riders in the mess that is Bali traffic. There is absolutely no road rage! Drivers use their horn for a variety of signals…’I am overtaking’, ‘look out I am coming through’, ‘please don’t try and turn in front of me’ and ‘hello pretty girls’.
In all our times here we have not seen one scrape or accident which is truly amazing as cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles weave around either side of slow traffic and through intersections. Motorycles can carry a rider and up to three or even four passengers. The rider has priority on the helmet, mum and kids travel bare headed.
That evening, relaxing on our balcony, we struck up a conversation with our neighbours. They are ‘we’ve been everywhere and done everything’ people from Sydney. We had a Six Degrees of Separation moment when she told us that she had been on Sale Of The Century years ago. I mentioned that we have a friend/colleague who was also on Sale and lost two BMWs and a truck load of cash on the last night. The lady next door/balcony said that she was beaten by a young fellow name Peter who was also up for the same prizes. It turns out that it was the same Peter…Peter Harmsworth we know. Amazing!
We have the DVDs, the watches and new shoes, so we don’t think we are going to enhance the economy of Bali much over the next three days…just food and drink, Wally’s fare and the departure tax.
1 comment:
love the photo's of the birds,great blog.joan and you might like the butterfly park and the orchid nursery.marc enjojed the safari park and white water rafting,make the most of the sunshine because it's cold wet and windy here.Have you eaten at the Batu jimba restaurant on the main street opposite Hardies. good food. marg and Had'
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