moving to Bali

Well after a wonderful 2 week holiday we have made the decision to move our two families over to beautiful Bali.

Kate had her mind set on moving before we went and was trying her best to persuade the rest of us while we were there. She organised a trip to the "Green School" up past Ubud. I can tell you now that my husband Justin would have much rather of picked his surf board up and gone surfing when we first suggested the day trip, but the moment we got there his mouth was left wide open in amazement!

We entered through the back of the school across a huge bamboo architectural looking bridge that has actually won a few design awards. From there we trekked up a man made stone path past the bamboo principles office to the main area of the school. I could not believe what I was seeing, the classrooms and students looked so peaceful, there were no walls just a mud based slab and thatched roofing. Surrounding the classrooms was veggie and herb gardens that the school uses for their canteen and lunches. The children learn off the cambridge teaching as well as mixing some steiner teaching methods and most importantly the children are taught how to look after their world so that it is still around for their grandchildren. The computer lab and arts and drama room were in the main building that reminded all of us of being on the movie set of "Avatar".
Justin kept saying that he would go back to school just to go to the Green school!

So all in all we left the school on a very positive note and were edging much closer to the decision to move there. However the boys would not admit to this, because they knew, as soon as they said "yes" to Kate and I we would be like a bull at a gate organising the big move! ha ha

We went from the Green School to The monkey Forrest in Ubud, which the kids were so excited about. We paid our entry fee and started walking down the path. The kids were a little bit scared so Justin decided to sit on the concrete wall and get a monkey to come and sit next to him. He patted the wall gently with his hand and up jumped a big monkey... within a second it had latched onto his arm, making an awful hissing noise sound. blood was trickling down his arm and the kids were beside themselves! 5 rabies vaccinations later and Justin is ok, still quite resentful at the monkey that bit him though. I didnt realise how vicious monkeys could be!

So once again Kate was back to square one trying to convince us all to move! It was quite funny really.

The rest of the holiday however was magical. The relaxed lifestyle of Bali was enviable. Both Tane (Kate's husband) and Justin hired motor bikes for the holiday and they took all of the kids every day for a ride to the beach or around town. We went to a beautiful place called "Dreamland Beach" where the water was as clear as anything and the sand was glowing white. We sat by the pool every night and drank Bintangs, we had local baby sitters at the drop of a hat and the kids even seemed much more relaxed!

We returned to Australia and really missed Bali, it only took Justin 2 days back at work to realise that a move to Bali would be good for all of us.

Our kids would have such a great cultural awareness and grounding. So we are now going through the process of applying for visas and looking at what needs to be done before we go.

We will start manufacturing our own clothes out of Bali so that Kate and I will have much more input through out the production process, which i think will benefit everyone.