Bingin - Beach Living on the Cliffs

We wake early to make the journey to our new home and on the way stop to stock up on provisions. We have been eating out forever and the idea of making some home style food is very appealing. A simple domestic chore like grocery shopping in a foreign country is fun, trying to figure out labels and making sure you are buying toothpaste and not bum cream. Makes one feel like a local.

Another stop is Kuta, a busy seaside town and surfing Mecca to find a surfboard for William. I hook up with a local board rental guy who takes me on a tour of all the surf shops, second hand boards are a rip off in this town but as luck would have it I stop at a book shop and end up buying the owners board for a song, he is broke and desperate. Its a classic quicksilver gun, really cool and one to take back for a big day at Elands.

We arrive at the top of the cliffs laden with boxes, bags and boards. No shortage of labour though and we are soon a long procession with Made, Ketut, Wayan etc as porters carrying our assortment of bundles down the stairs. There are 130 big steps down the cliff to our Villa and over the next month we become fit going up and down.

After nearly 2 months on the go it feels good to unpack and call this home, its an intimate unusual set up, being at the base of a cliff and the end of the line so to speak, the only people around are resident and so within no time at all everyone is a familiar face. From day one we feel at home, secure to leave the house unlocked and allow boys to wonder off for hours unsupervised.

The break directly in front of our Villa is a very technical, hollow left that breaks onto shallow reef at low tide but at mid to high tide it becomes a friendly soft wave perfect for the boys to learn on.The first day out I slip and smash our beautiful new camera on the rocks so from now on we are relying on friends photos to illustrate the story further. Bummer but we are philosophical it could have heads connecting reef, we are insured and will buy a new one in Singapore.

To the right of Bingin and a 15 minute walk at low tide is Dreamland which has an amazing left working best at low tide, a fast and hollow wall that gets the adrenalin pumping. For some reason its often empty and this turns out to be my favorite wave. To the left and a 500m paddle is Impossibles and just past that Padang Padang. Around the corner and a 10 minute scooter ride is Uluwata, all world class surf breaks. William and Nicky were learning to get their head around the surf, reef and beach and it was so fabulous to watch how they progressed - no school work in sight.

Janine and Lawrence our Canadian friends arrive a few days later. Janine chose Kellys Warung a simple room with a share bathroom over the beach (they didnt get much sleep as the pounding surf literally broke on the rocks below). It was so fun to have them join us, we have spent a lot of time together in many different countries and unusual situations. Janine and I climbed the dreaded steps 3 times a week for yoga at Temple Lodge (stunning classical Hatha yoga with Christiana as a fabulous teacher)

The time with the Canadians went so fast and on our last night we had dinner at Temple Lodge with the owners Mario and Christiana (both keen Elands aficionados, Janine and Lawrence as well as Cameron an American friend whom we had met at Elands in South Africa - what are the chances?

We morph into Bingin life and get to know the locals as well as an interesting array of people from around the world who pass pleasantly through our lives. I am happy to sit around for hours doing nothing just shooting the breeze as they say, understanding how other people live and think. South Africa shrinks into perspective, we have'nt read a paper or listened to news for months and whilst we love our home and wouldn't swap it, its just another country like so many others around the world.

We each take turns shopping and cooking, simple food with the limited availability on the peninsula. Louise makes the odd trip for a treat to the Gourmet Garage a superb foodie store which supplies the hotels. We also have many fine fish barbeques at Didis our French neighbour, whatever the days catch - simple, fresh and delicious.

As the sun sets each evening we take the few steps down to the beach and pop open a quart of Bintang. The little rocky beach fills with locals, surfers, animals, fisherman, children and the scent of incense from the newly charged Hindu offerings. The light is magnificent, the air is still and a peaceful silence descends with the setting sun.