On Saturday we loaded up the two motorbikes with surf boards and suncream and headed to the beach.. Silas driving me on one bike and Phee and the boys on the other.

Happy kids, perfect weather a beach chair , a good book and a cold drink!

The sun was slipping away into the horizon when it was time to pack up.  On to dinner at a local Warung by the sea. It’s the perfect spot for cheap yummy food. You can sit back and enjoy the sun set while watching the surfers ride in on the last orange and pink streaked waves of the day.

On the way home we drive past a line of devotes walking toward the beach temple. Each loaded down with offerings of flowers and fruit balanced upon their heads and in their hands  The bright full moon light sparkled on their gold fabric and danced in the green fields along the road. I turned back to take it all in. The image was bathed in the moon’s soft white glow. Smoke from the incense blurred the edges as it rose to meet the chants. Following us like a dream as we speed away..

So far our life here has taken on a slow an easy pace, like the tides we are creating a rhythm to our days. School is going well for all 3 boys, we’re starting to pick up the language, finding the best spots for Gado Gado (tempeh, tofu dish with peanut sauce yum!)  and Nasi Goreng (veggie fried rice). Meeting some locals, finding yoga classes, places to run…. just basically settling in. Planning adventures for visitors!

I wrote this almost 2 months ago and since then we have come across more ceremonies than I can count. One moonless night Philip and I were walking down a dark stretch of beach when we saw candles flickering up ahead. Just as we approached someone turned a switch and rows and rows of tiny string lights illuminated the beach and there sitting among them in the sand were a 100 Hindu worshipers praying in the darkness. Another day I came to the beach to find the whole village sending out offerings of flowers in banana baskets, coconuts and live chickens into the waves and splashing in the water cleansing themselves of anything negative. There are ceremonies for your cars, education, the dead, the living, marriage, birth, full moon, dark moon, 6 month birthday of the pura and 12 month birthday….and that’s just a few!

Life here is full of the unexpected……..