Bali-Melbourne-Sydney

I know it's been a while since you've heard from me, but due to my traveling to 3 different places in pretty much three days I just didn't really find the time to write, which I will make up for now ;)

The last two days in Bali were amazing and I got to get the "real Bali feel" whilst riding on the back of a motorcycle through walk ways in the rice fields. On our second last day, there was a walk in the rice field scheduled. It was up to us whether we decided to go or not and since I was quite tired from all the yoga and downward dogs on the wall, I took a rest and would meet up with the group later for lunch at the restaurant in the rice field. When I arrived at the shuttle at 11:50am I noticed that there were only three of us that were being "lazy" and so Andy decided that they could just drive us to the restaurant on the back of their motorcycle - helmets optional. It was an incredible ride and rather than trying to describe it all to you I will just let you enjoy the pictures….

On Friday night it was then time to say goodbye to my Island of the Gods and I hopped on the plane on my way back to Melbourne. Pab and Reef picked me up early on Saturday morning and it felt really good to be back. Little side note: I decided to fast during the plane ride, so I ate lunch on Friday with Cock-a-doodle-doo Carly at a Raw food café, waited about 1 hour for our food and didn't even get to eat the raw food they had on their menu since it was being prepared. Anyways, the fasting for about 16 hrs went without any problems and I felt energized and walked a 6km stretch from Paris' house to Chapel street with Reef trekking away in front of me in his running shoes, while I followed in my oh so beloved thongs (flip flops that is).
Reef and I decided to get as much as we could out of our last week and a bit here in sunny Australia so we were headed for Sydney on Sunday afternoon. Our accommodation switched from the lovely Johnson home (you guys are the best!) to a backpackers hostel and I was not exactly sure how to feel about it. Knowing me, I knew it would be a very different experience for me, having had the luxury of traveling all over the world with my parents ever since I was born, staying at the finest hotels, so instead of getting nervous about it I looked at it as a challenge. Like a test to see if I could really do it. We arrived in Sydney and got picked up by Bella whom I met in Bali during our first retreat, and her family invited us right to their exquisite condo overlooking some of the Sydney harbour. We also got the first glimpse of Bondi Beach, which almost made Reef cream his panties while I was still trying to register that I was yet again in a different place within less than two days. We were then spoiled with an absolutely divine dinner during which Isabelle's dad, Nabil, showed us how to eat prawns properly and her mum, Marian, served up flourless chocolate cake that was to die for, as dessert. Thank you so much Ibrahim family, it was simply unbelievable!
On Monday we had a relatively busy itinerary since it was our only full day in Sydney and we had a lot to cover. Rolling his eyes at my thong wearing feet once again Reef picked up his backpack and off we went. For some reason, I was in charge of navigating us around at first, which shortly turned out not to be such a great idea since we found ourselves in the opposite direction we were supposed to go. Another quick argument later, Reef was in charge of the map and I followed close behind like a girl scout. Our walk led us through Hyde Park, the Botanical Gardens to the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Three quarters into our trip, in the Botanical Gardens, I was slowly but surely forced to rest more often due to my right foot acting up with a sharp shooting pain going from the outside of my foot up into my ankle. Most of you can probably image the look I got from Reef when I finally had to tell him to rest up, because I couldn't take the pain anymore and the "I told you so" following shortly after. Resting more often than needed if you would ask Mr. LaBreche we eventually finished our tour by changing into our "cozies" (swimsuits) ready to go sun baking at Bondi Beach. Once again: Pictures say more than a thousand words…
By the way, next time you are in Sydney do not get off the Bus at Bondi Junction if you want to go to Bondi Beach since we trekked another 4 kilometers after having toured downtown Sydney for 3 hours, especially if you are having any kind of pain in your foot.
And now, here we are: Byron Bay - how to describe it in words might take me sometime, but I'll start with ♥....