Sanur Beach…

Being cooped up in the house for a few days after her surgery did not sit too well with Patricia…

After the fourth day of lounging about, she suggested we ride to nearby Sanur Beach to spent a few hours on the beach there…

Aboard the Big Fella, we headed for Sanur, avoiding all potholes and obstructions on the way...

“Ok, I’ll go see if we can hire a car…” I replied to her suggestion…

“I’d prefer to take the bike…!” was her response…

“Are you sure…??” I asked, pointedly staring at the four pieces of plaster on her tummy… Specifically the one covering her belly-button… We all know what happens if that knot comes undone…!! I for one would be on the ferry to Lombok in no time flat…!!

"Honey, guess what I'd like for lunch...!!"

She surprised me even further by packing her bikini into the small bag we would be taking with us…

Here was a woman who was clearly very comfortable in her own skin, and was not about to let her recent surgery get in the way of a little suntanning…!!

Mindful of the potholes on the narrow country roads, we took a slow ride out to Sanur on the east coast of Bali… Half and hour later we had parked the Big Fella amongst a swarm of scooters and began walking down the long promenade fronting the beach…

Fishing boats pulled up onto the beach... Considering how crowded the Legian and Kuta beaches usually were, I was surprised to see the one at Sanur was almost deserted...

The Glass Diamond Wedding Chapel on Sanur Beach...

Whatever rows your boat, I guess...!!

We passed a large glass diamond that served as a wedding chapel, and went into the grounds to take a look…

We laughed and joked about the kind of people who might find getting married in such a tacky place, a dream come true…!!

To anyone reading this that actually got married in here, I have only one question…

“What the hell were you thinking…?”

After a fairly long walk we finally decided on a small restaurant to eat at, and were lucky enough to get the last two sun loungers on the beach out front…

Proof positive that you cannot keep a good girl down...!!

We unpacked I-pods, books and towels and had a wonderful lunch before settling down to relax and enjoy the sunshine…

The afternoon drifted gently by as we lay reading and chatting… When I wasn’t engrossed in my own book, I listened as Patti read passages from her book to me…!!

The tide went out, leaving the small fishing boats tied up near us belly down in just a few inches of water…

We took this opportunity to go for a walk along the shore, smiling at the strange look people gave Patti…!!

I came to believe that the sight of a bikini-clad woman with four plasters on her abdomen is not a common sight on any Bali beach…!!

Earlier, our waitress had grimaced at the sight of Patti’s “wounds” and questioned her about them… Clearly an unusual sight for her too…!!

I seem to remember her asking if the operation was to “get a baby”, to which Patti had nodded in the affirmative, later confiding that it was easier then going into detailed explanations about her surgery…!!

We rode back to Ubud in the late afternoon, and made good time even though the traffic from Denpasar had began clogging the main roads going north from the capital…

Our outing to Sanur Beach had been a great way to spend an afternoon, and I rued the fact that I ridden past the area on so many occasions in the past few weeks and had never stopped to check it out…

It is far less crowded than the beaches at Kuta and Legian, and is barely a half hour ride from either…

High and dry during low tide...

These colourful fishing boats will always be a reminder of Bali for me...

With my days in Bali running out quickly, I began the arduous task of slowly dragging my kit out from wherever it had been unpacked to during the ten weeks I had spent in Ubud, and finalized the date that I would leave the island…

Patti’s final appointment with the doctor had confirmed that her surgery had been a complete success and that she was well on the road to a full recovery…

A romantic dinner at Uma Ubud...

Relieved that this “little medical episode” was now squarely behind us, we celebrated with an evening at Como’s Uma Hotel in Ubud… Our dinner had been arranged by Patti’s family back in the States, and if they are reading this, our heartfelt thanks to you all… Most appreciated…!!

We had a wonderful meal in a very romantic setting and thoroughly enjoyed the evening…!!

©GBWT 2011