After a treacherous taxi ride trying to find my hidden accommodation, I finally got settled in my room in Uluwatu. The guys had kindly organised me a scooter for me, although I was to terrified to drive it so I made one of them drive and me go on the back most of the time. They took me down to Uluwatu beach, while they went off to tackle to the waves in an afternoon surf session. I, on the other hand, took it as an opportunity to lay on the beach. Within a few minutes of being there, I got talking to a girl called Vera from Holland, who is also travelling alone. We hung out all afternoon and watched the surfers on the horizon before grabbing a beer in one of the bars arched over the cliffs edge. The guys had finished their surf and was ready to head home so I said goodbye to Vera and arranged to meet her the next day at Padang Padang beach. The guys wanted to go to a local warung for dinner, which later came back go haunt them as they were met with a case of 'Bali belly' from the dodgy chicken - that's when it pays off to be veggie!! Although I'm surprised I didn't get a little bit ill because they originally put chicken in my noodles and I had to pick it all out (as the waiter recommended). Normally I wouldn't dare eat it but I was around new faces so I couldn't be as fussy as I would've liked to have been.

The next morning, I took myself down to Padang beach on my scooter (scary as hell!) and met up with Vera for a tanning session. Grabbed a nice fried rice from a beach warung and managed to finish my latest book. The beach was hosting a photo shoot at sunset for a couple on their wedding day, they were getting their dresses soaked as they tried to get the perfect 'in water, sunset shot'. Very cute, people were huddled around them watching - us included. The guys had joined us on the beach by this point, once the evening breeze started up, we headed home - I asked one of the guys to drive me back on my scooter because it was nearly dark and I wasn't quite confident enough yet. After showering I grabbed dinner at an organic restaurant at the end of our street - they were charging the organic label prices too, yikes. For some reason I was gasping for a glass of red wine so it ended up being an expensive quick bite to eat in the end. There was a chilled beach party on Padang beach that evening so we scootered down for a drink. It was a cool little setting; plastic tables and chairs dug into the sand, BBQ in the corner, and a stage that had been assembled that day, with a local band strumming out some relaxing Reggae songs under the stars. I recognised a few faces from the last couple of days but I'm not really involved in many surf conversations, purely because I don't know what I'm talking about.. As I enjoyed my last beer of the night, I sat on the shore and went through each country that I've visited, thought about the highlights and reminisced over my amazing trip. Probably looked like a bit of a weirdo but oh well.

I was woken by the early morning surfers discussing the winds and where best to catch the waves. I couldn't sleep well after that, trying to drown out the noise of the cockerels in the distance. The day started off with murky weather, another one of Bali's infamous rain storms. The guys and I grabbed brunch at a really nice cafe, I had a bowl of muesli that was literally my Everest, I kept eating but it wasn't going down. Finally the weather cleared up and I scootered down to the beach. First day actually on my own, it was nice, started a new book, ear wigged the conversations going on around me, had a stray dog try to steal my ice lolly and listened to some music. It was nice, nice to not have to try, if you know what I mean, I could just lay there and not have to make the effort with anyone. It gets exhausting after a while - after 7 months of where have you been, how long are you away for?? When the sky clouded over I went on a little drive but didn't go to far, I didn't want to get lost and I was still weary of the sharp corners, especially when they're on hills. Their roads are trickier than our country lanes. I carried on enjoying my own company by just hanging out in my room, listening to music and catching up on some writing. Even had dinner by myself, it was a lovely meal too; scrambled eggs wrap topped with hummus and salad. Phaaaa, tres amazing. That night was the big Sunday night at Single Fin bar, I had arranged to meet Vera there which was nice, she wasn't a surfer either so we was both in the same situation of lacking in surf lingo. Unfortunately I didn't manage to find her in the crowded bar but I did bump into a Swedish guy that I met in Australia, so random to bump into him again. I've loved it when that's happened during my trip. I spent some time with him and his gang then spent the rest of the night with the Mauritius guys. The music was brilliant, there was an English live band, who were awesome, everyone was dancing crazy in this small sweat box room. Then the DJ came on, who happened to be the guy who ran the bungalows that I was staying in, he was from Newcastle and was good mates with the singer Ben Howard. Apparently Ben had been out to visit in January and stayed with him. Pretty cool.

The next day was my last day in Ulu's. I packed up my stuff and scootered down to the beach for a few hours of sun rays, which according one of the Mauritius guys, I really needed because how untanned I am - apparently people won't believe I've been away for 7 months when I go home this colour, oww. I bumped into Vera on the beach and had a gossip about the night before, despite her looking for me, she didn't have any luck either. I ordered some fried rice for a late breakfast. One of the good things about being by myself is, I haven't eaten as much over the last few days, my belly has shrunk a little so luckily I now fill up a lot quicker. I just need an exercise bike now. The time had come to say goodbye to Vera, Padang Padang beach, my scooter and the Mauritius guys. Really pleased I came down to Uluwatu for my last few days and met Vince and Johan, they were great helping me to sort a room, a bike and babysitting me for a few days so I wasn't on my own. Back to Kuta for my last day of Balinese paradise.