Alright then,

from Kuta we went straight up to the northern coast to a tiny quiet little place called Lovina. Completely the opposite of Kuta really, we are quite worried that we're getting old!!! We arrived and, as in the classic SE Asian way, our bus drivers 'good friend' would give us good price at his hotel, so we had no choice but to look! As it turned out he would as long as we booked some trips!! So we booked a 'dolphin watching' tour and a diving/snorkelling tour - and we got a 5 star resort for the same price as our dingy room in Kuta!! Not bad at all!! The resort was immense, with nice swimming pool and gardens and breakfast chucked in for free!!

The next day was the diving/snorkeling trip in the National Park in north-west Bali, and it was incredible!! It took a couple of hours to get there by bus and then boat, and when we did I left Debs with her new French friend to go snorkeling while I went diving with an instructor. As soon as we got in the water I was amazed!! The water was so bloody clear!! After learning in Thailand with visibility at about 10mts, it was incredible to see things up to 40mts away!!! Really was unbelievable, especially as we were descending and then the floor dropped to around 40mts so there was a huge 'wall' of coral to check out!! We went all the way to 35mts which is the deepest I have ever been - it was incredible as the visability was still great down there!

After the first dive we surfaced and went to have lunch on the deserted beach! Debs said she had a good snorkel - she could probably see as much as me even though she was on the top, and she was chuffed cos there were plenty of 'Nemos'!!

After lunch went down again and saw much of the same really but was still incredible!! This time I took the underwater camera but the photo's turned out to be pretty crap! When we mess around with photoshop we'll enhance them and pop them on the blog…if we forget, then we'll show u in September when we're home!

As I surfaced from the second dive I saw Debs swimming like mad towards the shore - literally frantic!!! When she saw me she came running through the water shouting 'IVE JUST SEEN A BLOODY WHALE SHARK!!!!' I'll let Debs tell you all about it (look at the pic of a whale shark and a snorkeller!)

Howdy-doodle everybody! Chris actually fell out with me for the first time in 5months! He was so gutted, bless, that he spent hundreds of pounds to become an advance diver and saw nothing…whilst I was lazing around snorkelling, just passing time whilst he dived….and I swam with a flippin' whale shark!!! Chris' diving instructor said he'd worked there for 5yrs and never seen one, so it was a rarity for a snorkeller to spot one! As if! Ha! My research tells me that they migrate (does sealife migrate?!) to the Phillipines around this time of year, and the one I saw was about 4m long (HUUUUGE!!!) but only a baby so it must've been lost! It was the best thing…..EVER!!! Perhaps better than feeding an oragutan cos I wasn't expecting it! I was just about to get out of the water cos I was getting bored (Frenchie left me to sunbathe hours earlier) when I saw divers' bubbles! I thought it'd be Chris coming back so I swam over the top of the coral wall (cant describe it, dont ask) and this diver guy was pointing like a looney at the wall. I was so worried, I swam off cos I thought there was a shark and he was warning me, but then when I looked over my shoulder he was beckoning me back. On my return…..this massive mouth came into view… and I swam with a whale shark! So good! Quite scary cos they're big things and it was about 4m away from me, but I found out afterwards they're harmless, all it was doing was cruising amongst the coral eating plankton! Apparently they're intrigued by snorkellers cos they're not used to them, which explains why it kept following me around! Ha! I had to shift out of the way at one point though cos it's mouth was heading in my direction and I didn't want to become Jonah! That's my story over now, think u had to be there.

The next morning we were up at…….. 5.30am!!! Yes you read correctly!!! For the Dolphin Watch!Even though the sun wasn't even up we were well excited. We got down to the beach, which was black volcanic sand (weird - I thought it would be smart but it just looked dirty) and headed out on a canoe/catameran!! As we were heading out to sea the sun started to rise and it was incredible, really was a spectacular sunrise! Unfortunately after two hours we still hadn't seen a thing and our excitement was ebbing, the captain decided to call it a day but offered to come and wake us the following day if he saw any and take us out!

So the next morning we got a knock and headed out again a stupid o'clock in the morning! This time however there were literally hundreds of them!! They were everywhere! Couldn't get them in pics but check the vids! (I have to apologise for the horrible language on one of them - I was excited!!!)

There was a huge Hindu festival the following day where the locals decorated the town and headed for a ceremony to celebrate good karma and believed that the good weather was due to 'magic' the celebrations brought about!! Weirdly enough in the days leading up to and from the festival the weather was immense but before and after it had been raining!! Don't worry though - not turning Hindu!! That day was roasting but Deb's though it a good idea to head to the natural Hot Spings! What?! So we stayed about 20 minutes as, even though it was lovely and all, it was just too hot!! Went back to the pool and relaxed for the day!

Next day we chilled all day had a few naps here and there and went for some tuna steaks for tea! That night we went to the local restaurant, Mr. Dolphin (hehe) where we ate every night and he had a surprise for us - he had built a bonfire on the beach as me & debs, and another group of irish tourists were leaving the next day!! What a guy! So we sat drinking local 'Arak' -bloody awful stuff like ouzo- listening to guitar on the beach!! Top notch night!! Although Debs did drink about 10 of them in half an hour and consequently we had to go home!!! I was competing with the irish chris…they know it's in my blood…I had no choice! Regretted it the next day like.

It was yet again time to move so we packed our things up and headed to the east to Tulamben - where there is a ship-wreck that you can snorkel over!!!

Love to you all,

Chris and Debs

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