Off on a Bali Adventure

The past week has been so hectic! We’ve been running around like mad chickens organising our trip to Indonesia for the homeschooling adventure on Gili Air near Bali.

And now that I come to think of it, I might not have ever blogged about it here, though I did post something on Google+ HERE – My friend Bella is organising an informal unschooling retreat on this small island, the island is small enough that you can walk around it in an hour and a half, there are no cars on the island, just paradise, beaches and coral reefs. So the kids can free-range around and explore, while the parents lie on the beach drinking cocktails oversee that everything is educational.

So, we organised flights, packed luggage (Just carry-on and one backpack to share

And set off on our four-week adventure!

Only to arrive at the airport to find all flights delayed and cancelled due to bad weather!

We sat, and we waited. And waited. And sat. At least the local airport is a fine place to hang out on a rainy day; so relaxing with the hard-moulded plastic chairs, soothing fluorescent lighting, and the calming sound of flight-cancellation announcements over the PA. At some point, insanity set in…

Eventually, sometime late in the evening, we were informed that (after about a thousand “the plane will be delayed 45 minutes” updates), all flights were cancelled and our only option was to try again in the morning. I was lucky enough to hassle our way on to one of the first flights out the next day, but it meant getting back to the airport early. And in any case, we didn’t have any way to get home and back again…

So we stayed at the youth hostel about 5 minutes’ walk from the airport. Which was kinda dismal, but at least cheap, and they had Table Tennis!

The weather cleared somewhat overnight, and off we went to the airport again… Groundhog Day! All tired out before the journey even began, but undaunted (despite the looming 6-hour layover in Sydney airport – yay to our wonderful connections being messed up)!

At least this time the plane was on time and everything went over smoothly!

After an exhausting long flight, we landed, late at night, dragged ourselves through customs and immigration and into a taxi. Thank goodness Bella had already organised us a hotel room to collapse into when we got in at 11:30pm (1:30am for our body clocks)! And we woke up to find ourselves in paradise…

Now to organise ourselves for the next leg of the journey!