Still drizzling the next morning. Oh, and the next, and the next.
So it's suddenly Thursday (still drizzling)and we go home tomorrow night.
Too late even to whip back up the line to Amed and buy a hollow log to get around all the puddles forming.
We are sitting on the porch watching the mud flicking up on the backs of everyone's legs who were scurrying passed, and discussing what we were gonna do on our last full day/night before packing and heading on out tomorrow. Emms gets a couple of bags of washing ready to do a laundry run, when the cleaners turn up.
They tells us that they will just do a quick clean, because it's our last day (you go home tonight). Bloody idiots, I told them to stop joking around, and get in there and give everything a good scrubbing, new sheets on the bed, the works, and to ensure they clean the chandeliers while they are about it.
Discussing how they didn't know what they were talking about, we made our way up to the laundry place, and on the way I cashed our last 10 bucks for a real big last night splurge. Now some people may consider me a simple man, yet a little seed of doubt was starting to form in the old cranium. I decided to pop into reception on the way back to our room and check the old travel doco's locked up in the safe.
10 minutes and much wailing later, after checking and rechecking the schedule, to our grief, we discovered the cleaners were indeed right after all. We were flying out Friday all right, bloody Friday at 20 past midnight. TODAY, Thursday, was our last day. We splashed back to our now, immaculately clean room and broke the news to Seany to start packing his bags.
Christ, where were Robbie and Sue, they needed to be told, we have to get the laundry back. Ring the binnie factory to start slowing down production. Pick up the cushion covers we had ordered for Friday morning. So many things not done,so little time.
Robbie and Sue had gone for a wade up to the Bintang supermarket, and luckily arrived down at our room only an hour or so later. Now they know I joke around a little bit, but when I gave them the latest, they just slumped down in a puddle and spat the dummy like we were. We discussed our 'mistake' and agreed that we all knew from the start when we were going etc etc, but had jointly stuffed up. Dammed lucky the cleaners told us. We would have chooffed off for a big night out and got back pissed around 10pm, to (maybe) be told we had an hour to pack and get to the airport.
We had even laughed about an old bloke in our compound, who only the week before had sat around the pool drinking binnies, not realizing he had meant to be out the night before.
So we went and did our last day stuff, much like everybody else I guess. Sneak into other peoples rooms and empty their booze fridge, pack as many pool towels into our luggage as we can, order huge meals and tell them the wrong room number, take our pick of the best clothes people had drying on their clothes racks on their porches. No need to go on as I know all of us foramites are very similar in that respect.
It was entirely our own fault, but it was a tremendous let down and a feeling of being cheated, and of course the day flew by. We had a last round of binnies at the corner bar, wandered back to reception, grabbed our overweight bags, hailed a couple of blue birds and set off for the airports internal search routines. Splashing out of the compound, with the managers cheers of joy echoing in our ears we sat quietly reflecting the holiday.
Seany got his BB guns confiscated at the Denpasar airport immediately upon arrival. I went into the men's loo and extracted my broken one, gave it a wash, and put it quietly in Robbie's hand luggage for me to collect later in NZ. Then we went to the 100,000rp shop with binnies on tap and waited for our final call.
Flying over the big land of Aus, I waved down. I was the one on the left, just in front of the wing. A stopover in Sydney, and back to the land of my birth. Geez we're glad ya back Ian, NZ really missed ya this last month, were the greetings from the customs guys and our feet hit NZ with a thump.
Only plus was the government must had installed a huge aircon unit in NZ and so outside was as cold as how we have the room set in Bali.
Another day in paradise?
Regards Ianz