Kicking back this Monday morning waiting for swell to arrive.  Coffee/breakfast/stretching/yoga.  Mike's strumming the guitar right now and I'm taking a break from packing for tomorrow's journey to Jakarta, Padang and the  Mentawais.  Surf should be good later today at Nusa Dua as  a large swell fills in.  Had a successful art expedition inland yesterday to Ubud and Mas.  Many shops closed due to Balinese celebration.  Last gallery stop turned out to be a winner.  Siadja Gallery was originally founded in 1955 under the name Rodja Gallery, a pioneer in "Fine Arts" in the village of Mas. Amazing stuff.  I fell in love with a 6ft  hibiscus wood  carving of a Balinese women.  Asking price was $8,000 US.  Probably could have got it for around $4,000 after bartering...but how to get it home in one piece was another issue.  Although I have been known to do "hormonal art purchases" when Vicki was alive, the whole deal was  out of my price range, so I settled for a cold Bintang when we got back to the house...and a fine-art memory  On the other hand, Mike scored a very intricate hand-carved Balinese sandalwood mask. Picture attached isn't the actual mask Mike bought, but it shows the fine detail of the craftsmanship at the gallery.

Mike and I are taking a lay day from surf after 5 straight days of head to overhead surf like this.  Honestly, we don't need or want it any bigger at our age.

Just had a home-cooked meal from one of our house staff, Alphea.  Fried prawns, rice, stir-fired veggies, chicken. Second best meal in Bali to date after  a home-cooked lunch at Curt's house the other day.  If surf is down tomorrow, we may head to Ubud,  the art and cultural center of Bali. Mike is looking to add to his mask collection.

5am Saturday morning. Spent a long sleepless night itching from sea lice stings.  Nusa Dua has had patches the last couple days. If the swell is still holding we will do an early morning surf today.  It's a holiday in Bali, so we may take a driver and go up to Ubud, the art and culture center of Bali.

Another day of great waves at Nusa Dua.  Locals calling it 3-4 feet.  Set waves were overhead.  Got hammered on a couple, but got a few good ones as well. Mike took off on a set wave as I watched from inside and down the line - it was a visual memory I won't soon forget.  He was over a football field away when he kicked out.  Last wave of the morning sectioned on the end section andI had to straighten out.  Whitewater pushed me into 6" of water and onto the inside reef.  Had to carefully float over so I didn't get cut up or snap fins off.  So much fun.  Just had lunch at a local waring. Back at the villa and time for siesta.  More swell on tap for next three days.

Surfers are used to the multiple standards for wave height declarations, but non-surfers are often confused. OK I'm confused too.  Surf today at Nusa Dua was overhead on the sets.  In FL we would have called it  easy 4-6 ft.  According to Magic Seaweed surf report today the swell was 2.5 ft.  So when the long-term forecast starts calling for  surf to build to 4-5 feet on Sunday-Monday, Mike and I start thinking...maybe we are too old for this.  Mike charged Nusa today and caught some sick ones.

Local access to the beach at Nusa Dua is now  squeezed by a modern and extremely large hotel complex.  But remnants of authentic Bali still persist.  Photo of local basket weavers with man softening ties with his mouth. Population growth pressures related to  community planning  & development, water quantity & quality, and waste management will ultimately define the economic future and quality-of-life for the people of the  Bukit Peninsula and their tourist visitors. Community leaders must understand that protecting Bali's natural resources assets, managing waste and protecting water quality are the foundation for sustaining economic prosperity.

We started day by breaking glass cover on stove.  Witnessed perfect definition of "shattered glass".  Was almost an explosion of glass.  Lucky only a few small nicks. Took us almost an hour to get all the small pieces picked up.

More surf today, but no pictures of Nusa Dua surf from this morning's session.  Break is too far off beach.  Had boat drop us off this morning at take off zone and did long paddle in from reef after the session. Surf was super clean,  head high to a couple feet overhead.  All rights with long walls and some fast sections.  Mike caught a bunch of great waves this morning.  Post surf home-cooked Bali lunch at Curt's house was spectacular.  Nap time no.  Remember - we are senior citizens.  Planning an evening session back at Nusa Dua when tide changes and Curt's kids get out of school.

Surfed Nyang Nyang with Mike and Curt today.  Absolutely beautiful setting. Access is via a steep cliff with foot trails and hundreds of steps.  Nearly killed me on walk back up.  Had to sit down 3 times to catch my breath and stop left leg from trembling.  Guess I'm not 100% from last year's injury.  Or maybe just getting old. Or both. As you can see, the surf did not disappoint.

Mike packing into a Nyang Nyang wall.

Curt coming off the top.

Mike, lining it up.

 Mike, I and surfboards arrived in good shape. Singapore Air is a great airline. Totally different experience than the U.S. domestic "no service" airlines.   Still, it's a pretty grueling series of flights to get here. We have settled into our  rental house located in a small, residential neighborhood in Nusa Dua. Did some grocery shopping for staples and spent $1.4 million IDR. First surf tomorrow with friend and long-time Bali resident, Curt. Surf small for Bali standards.  Looked about waist to head high on some sets when we looked at it earlier with driver. We are about 12 hours later than U.S. east coast time. Still feeling the adjustment a bit. More to come tomorrow...stay tuned.