Just a quick note, we skipped over our entire road trip up the Australian coast, and our visit to Perth, due to a lack of internet during those adventures. We will be back-filling the blog with some posts, so go back in time a bit and see what we have been up to!
Much more to come about Bali, and our travels in Asia!
Two people, restless in Seattle, are embarking on an exotic adventure to the Land Down Under for surf, sand, friends, and maybe some beer.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
No Power, No Worries
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| Bintang during EuroCup at Topi, 2am |
Dan, Chris and I took the cow path to white sandy beach today. It was a luxurious day of
sunbathing and swimming, watching the ferries putt into the harbor. There are just a few
bamboo huts with thatched roofs selling coconuts and simple food on the beach. We are all
tired from staying up all night to watch the Euro Cup at Topi, so we decide to watch a
movie. Twenty minutes later, the power has blown. All our neighbors seem to have power, but
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| Our American-Swedish game night, sans power |
trying to find the breaker, unsuccessfully. Faced with the prospect of as long hot
fanless night, our only option is to raid the fridge of Bintang and play cards until we
no longer care. We take turns learning Swedish card games and teaching American ones.
Many are the same game by a different name. The beer is gone now so we opt to head to
town for a refill. When we walk out the door we notice the breaker just outside.
Unbelievable. We flip it and power is back! We are having so much fun with beer and games
that we proceed as planned and pretend the power hasn't returned.
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Day We Saw Everything
5am - Morning prayer sounds (like it's time for fourth period), followed by chanting for 15 minutes.
9am - Breakfast: banana pancake, fresh fruit, coffee. Boats honk arrival in the harbor.
Ali takes us to a traditional Balinese dance performance. The Sekehe Barong Sila Budaya, where we watch the Barong and Kris Dance. Something about the eternal fight between good and evil spirits represented by monsters with wonderfully elaborate costumes made from real flowers and hair. I am oddly reminded of Cousin It. Beautiful Balinese women with handmade frangipani headdresses dance with painted eyes wide open, unblinking. Emphasis on fluttering fingers and careful, measured foot placement. Busloads of Muslim children from Java literally wait in line to have their photo taken with us after the performance instead of with the widely fantastical dragon from the play.
11am - Walk the town of Ubud, great shopping. Local artisans have made the town quite popular (silver smiths, painters and wood carvers). Also here: Monkey Forest. I would not recommend feeding the monkeys bananas (which the locals sell at the entrance to Monkey Forest). They are mean, they hiss at you and have massive fangs. Neither will they hesitate to jump on you and take your watch, your credit card, and sunglasses and sell them at the nearest pawn shop, perhaps after a fancy lunch and shopping excursion. We indulge in a fried spring roll/taquito hybrid from a street vendor, who chops it into pieces with tiny scissors and then tops it off with many small green chilies, serving it to us in a brown paper square stapled into a pyramid. Delicious. And fried.
1pm - Lunch at a local restaurant per our request. Ali has eaten here many times before, they serve traditional Balinese pig, which is slow roasted over a spit and then displayed in a glass enclosure at the front of the restaurant. Tehbotl to drink (bottled sweetened iced tea). Our food arrives with many small bits and pieces, some roasted, some resemble jerky, and one bit looks like intestine. It's served on a bed of rice with a spicy green sauce unique to the restaurant. We bravely dig in and ask no questions. When we are down to three last questionable bits, we ask Ali about them. The pig lung is dried like jerky and quite tasty. The intestine we both leave on the plate.
2pm - Coffee plantation. They grow everything here, from cinnamon bark to vanilla pods, to cocoa, Arabica beans, and limes. After touring the gardens and various flora we taste 5 varieties of coffee and several teas - including saffron, ginseng and lemongrass teas. The vanilla and coconut coffees are delicious and the ginseng coffee is amazing. Also on order, the special Luwak coffee - from the shit of the weasel-like Asian Palm Civit. It's alright, but not worth the extraordinary prices charged. It is one of the world's most expensive coffees. A warning to the coffee drinkers out there, the Balinese do not strain their coffee, but serve it with an unflattering sludge at the bottom of the cup - do not gulp every last sip of your coffee or you will have a mouthful of grounds!
3pm - Lake Batur. Unfortunately there's no swimming in this big, beautiful lake because of the volcano explosion in 1999. They are, however, farming fish in this lake today for food for the villagers. There's a startling blackened lava trail still visible on the south-western slope of Mount Batur from the 1968 explosion (which killed 1700 people!), nothing grows there. But tourists hike up this active volcano every day.
3:30pm - The Mother Temple, or Pura Besakih. Chris did a whole post on this place, so I will summarize here: it's 1300 years old, and resides on the sunny side of Mount Agung. The entire site, consisting of 52 buildings, is constructed from lava stone, which gives the temple it's famous black facade. Each temple has 11 palm-thatched roofs (which get re-thatched every 20 years), and statues of the 4 Hindu gods. Construction is underway on one of the buildings and workers are balanced on bamboo (!) scaffolding high in the air.
4pm - Rice paddies. It must not be rice harvesting season, because there is no water in the paddies. They have the stepped, green resemblanjce to the photos I've seen in National Geographic, but are slightly disappointing without the water and sky reflection. There is, however, beautiful jungle and flowering frangipani trees surrounding.
9am - Breakfast: banana pancake, fresh fruit, coffee. Boats honk arrival in the harbor.
Ali takes us to a traditional Balinese dance performance. The Sekehe Barong Sila Budaya, where we watch the Barong and Kris Dance. Something about the eternal fight between good and evil spirits represented by monsters with wonderfully elaborate costumes made from real flowers and hair. I am oddly reminded of Cousin It. Beautiful Balinese women with handmade frangipani headdresses dance with painted eyes wide open, unblinking. Emphasis on fluttering fingers and careful, measured foot placement. Busloads of Muslim children from Java literally wait in line to have their photo taken with us after the performance instead of with the widely fantastical dragon from the play.
 |
| Traditional Indonesian boat in Padang Bai harbor |
11am - Walk the town of Ubud, great shopping. Local artisans have made the town quite popular (silver smiths, painters and wood carvers). Also here: Monkey Forest. I would not recommend feeding the monkeys bananas (which the locals sell at the entrance to Monkey Forest). They are mean, they hiss at you and have massive fangs. Neither will they hesitate to jump on you and take your watch, your credit card, and sunglasses and sell them at the nearest pawn shop, perhaps after a fancy lunch and shopping excursion. We indulge in a fried spring roll/taquito hybrid from a street vendor, who chops it into pieces with tiny scissors and then tops it off with many small green chilies, serving it to us in a brown paper square stapled into a pyramid. Delicious. And fried.
1pm - Lunch at a local restaurant per our request. Ali has eaten here many times before, they serve traditional Balinese pig, which is slow roasted over a spit and then displayed in a glass enclosure at the front of the restaurant. Tehbotl to drink (bottled sweetened iced tea). Our food arrives with many small bits and pieces, some roasted, some resemble jerky, and one bit looks like intestine. It's served on a bed of rice with a spicy green sauce unique to the restaurant. We bravely dig in and ask no questions. When we are down to three last questionable bits, we ask Ali about them. The pig lung is dried like jerky and quite tasty. The intestine we both leave on the plate.
 |
| At the coffee plantation - in the jungle, baby! |
2pm - Coffee plantation. They grow everything here, from cinnamon bark to vanilla pods, to cocoa, Arabica beans, and limes. After touring the gardens and various flora we taste 5 varieties of coffee and several teas - including saffron, ginseng and lemongrass teas. The vanilla and coconut coffees are delicious and the ginseng coffee is amazing. Also on order, the special Luwak coffee - from the shit of the weasel-like Asian Palm Civit. It's alright, but not worth the extraordinary prices charged. It is one of the world's most expensive coffees. A warning to the coffee drinkers out there, the Balinese do not strain their coffee, but serve it with an unflattering sludge at the bottom of the cup - do not gulp every last sip of your coffee or you will have a mouthful of grounds!
3pm - Lake Batur. Unfortunately there's no swimming in this big, beautiful lake because of the volcano explosion in 1999. They are, however, farming fish in this lake today for food for the villagers. There's a startling blackened lava trail still visible on the south-western slope of Mount Batur from the 1968 explosion (which killed 1700 people!), nothing grows there. But tourists hike up this active volcano every day.
 |
| The Balinese leave these at the entrance to their homes and temples as offerings to the gods for protection, daily |
4pm - Rice paddies. It must not be rice harvesting season, because there is no water in the paddies. They have the stepped, green resemblanjce to the photos I've seen in National Geographic, but are slightly disappointing without the water and sky reflection. There is, however, beautiful jungle and flowering frangipani trees surrounding.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Beautiful Bali
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| Balinese Chickens |
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| Alley to our B&B |
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| View from Lemonhouse |
Ali takes us up 68 narrow, steep stairs to Lemonhouse. The hotel is more of a big house with just three double rooms and one four bed dorm, perched atop a hill overlooking the village and the Indian Ocean. Our room is the most beautiful we've stayed in since we left home 9 months ago, and the bed and breakfast atmosphere is a welcome respite from the crowded, noisy hostels we've become accustomed to. At $24 a night, we're looking forward to a month or two of leisure and sightseeing in Bali. Ben and Clare, our happy hosts, are more than helpful getting us settled in town.
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| Blue Lagoon |
Dinner again at the Topi Inn, we're wary of getting sick from the local water and on our first few days we're exercising caution as we choose our food. We set out with our friends from the hotel, including a salmon farmer from Tasmania and share our meal over international banter and a few large Bintang.
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| Topi Inn |
Hindu is the primary religion here. Prayer is called out over the village microphone 3 times daily. I listen to the Basa Bali (local language) chanting while I brush my teeth and enjoy our beautiful balcony view. I accidentally use the sink water instead of our bottled water and spend the night hoping I don't get sick, which everyone tells us is inevitable. But I wake up and feel great. Phew.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Fishing the Great Barrier Reef
One of the activities that I have been most excited about doing while we are in Australia, is fishing the Great Barrier Reef!
It's the type of thing that you really just can't experience anywhere else, and something that I felt was a must-do. Since we had already snorkeled on the south end of the great barrier reef in the Whitsunday Islands, when we got to the north I decided to go fishing, while Krissy and Paul went for another snorkeling adventure.
It was definitely the right call!
We took off early from Port Douglas, a beautiful little town in FNQ (Far North Queensland), and headed about an hour straight east onto the reef. Contrary to our assumption prior to travelling in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef sits roughly 10-15 miles off the coast - it's not something you just swim to from the beach.
The day was a bit overcast, but that wasn't a problem at all! We stopped at something like 7 or 8 different fishing holes along the reef, and I caught fish at almost all of them! My first catch came not 2 minutes after we arrived at our first stop, sadly it was less than an inch under-sized so it wasn't a keeper.
The highlight came about two hours into the day trip, when I caught a pretty little 8-10 inch parrotfish, and proudly proclaimed it to be bait! The boat operators were in complete agreement, and helped me put it back on the hook, alive!
I sent it back down and felt it swimming about on my line, but didn't get any bites at that stop. I pulled it in and threw it down at our next hole, still alive. With a live bait fish, the bigger fish will play with it a bit, sucking it into their mouth then pushing it back out. They key is to feel this on the line, but ignore it, and wait until the big fish swallows it whole and takes off! Then you set the hook, and reel it in! The results? This bad boy!
A lovely 10-12 lb. coral trout. This delicious fish sells for over $20/lb, and is VERY good eating fish. It would turn out to be not the biggest catch of the day, but the best eating fish! In the end I lost count of all my catches, bringing in at least 5 different species, but kept just the one, big pretty fish.
When I got back in from fishing, Paul and Krissy were waiting for me, and were quite excited that I had brought home dinner! We used the grill at the RV Park, and fried it up with some roasted red potatoes. YUMMMY
It's the type of thing that you really just can't experience anywhere else, and something that I felt was a must-do. Since we had already snorkeled on the south end of the great barrier reef in the Whitsunday Islands, when we got to the north I decided to go fishing, while Krissy and Paul went for another snorkeling adventure.
It was definitely the right call!
We took off early from Port Douglas, a beautiful little town in FNQ (Far North Queensland), and headed about an hour straight east onto the reef. Contrary to our assumption prior to travelling in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef sits roughly 10-15 miles off the coast - it's not something you just swim to from the beach.
The day was a bit overcast, but that wasn't a problem at all! We stopped at something like 7 or 8 different fishing holes along the reef, and I caught fish at almost all of them! My first catch came not 2 minutes after we arrived at our first stop, sadly it was less than an inch under-sized so it wasn't a keeper.
The highlight came about two hours into the day trip, when I caught a pretty little 8-10 inch parrotfish, and proudly proclaimed it to be bait! The boat operators were in complete agreement, and helped me put it back on the hook, alive!
I sent it back down and felt it swimming about on my line, but didn't get any bites at that stop. I pulled it in and threw it down at our next hole, still alive. With a live bait fish, the bigger fish will play with it a bit, sucking it into their mouth then pushing it back out. They key is to feel this on the line, but ignore it, and wait until the big fish swallows it whole and takes off! Then you set the hook, and reel it in! The results? This bad boy! 
A lovely 10-12 lb. coral trout. This delicious fish sells for over $20/lb, and is VERY good eating fish. It would turn out to be not the biggest catch of the day, but the best eating fish! In the end I lost count of all my catches, bringing in at least 5 different species, but kept just the one, big pretty fish.
When I got back in from fishing, Paul and Krissy were waiting for me, and were quite excited that I had brought home dinner! We used the grill at the RV Park, and fried it up with some roasted red potatoes. YUMMMY
Monday, May 28, 2012
Surfin' Surfari!
We finally got a visitor from our homeland this week - my Dad has flown in for two weeks of touring the land Down Under. Our roommate generously lent us his car so we could meet Dad at the airport, and I spent the hours before he arrived holding back emotional floodgates. I have never spent more than 6 weeks away from my family, and I still live in the town where I grew up. It's been 9 months now since I left home and while I adore the adventures, the separation from family and friends is painful at times. Despite my best efforts, I appeared puffy and red.
Though Chris and I arrived in Brisbane 9 months ago when we first landed in Australia, we are presently visiting the city for the first time. South Bank is where we launch ourselves with ample opportunity to stretch our legs on the promenade adjacent the muddy Brisbane River. The neighborhood is charming with its floral vines winding their way up beautiful metal arches that frame manicured parkland for the enjoyment of busy city-dwelling locals and tourists alike. We stroll past the Nepalese Pagoda, a relic from the 1988 World Fair, and through a lush rainforest boardwalk. Like many cities in Australia, there is a lagoon for swimming along the waterfront (river), celebrated by fountains and water features and surrounded by palms. There is even sand lining the pool bottom so you can pretend you are at the beach. A lifeguard is even on duty lest you try to drown in the challenging 3ft depths.
Back in Byron we show Dad our favorite spots: surfing at Watego's and the Pass, hiking to the lighthouse, beers at the Beachy, the Thursday morning farmers market, more beer and live music at the Rails - which has steel barrels out in winter for warm fires - and of course dinner and drinks at the Northern where Chris and I both worked. Small town that it is, we run into friends everywhere and I'm sure Dad was immediately overwhelmed by names and accents.
Our road trip gets off to a rocky start because we're simultaneously moving out of our house, storing half our luggage at a friend's, and saying goodbye to Byron, while adapting to life in a cramped but stylish 7 meter campervan. Being an obsessive planner oddly does not help in this situation because I'm wired with stress until I can map out our stops on a calendar where we can all see - and stick to - The Plan. I had already researched all possible pit stops between Byron and Cairns with activities in each location. The first three days already strayed from The Plan and I began to accept that road trips on the massive scale of Australia cannot have a solid path for only two weeks of travel. Then it starts to rain. No problem, our surfari continues on unmarred.
First stop: Noosa. I had thought having a campervan meant we wouldn't have to pay for accommodation, but apparently this is not true. Instead you pay $30 a night for a slab of concrete to park next to. We stay at the Noosa River Holiday Park in Noosaville, which has its own beach, a nice outdoor grilling area and adorable ducks. Occasional pelican. The next morning is gray and drizzly, but we strap on our wet suits and head for Sunshine Beach. The ocean is raging a bit, but we're all pumped to surf so we paddle out anyway. After 20 minutes of straight paddling, we are still stuck in the breakers and have drifted several yards down the beach. I did catch one wave, but was so tired I didn't have the energy to ride it out. Exhausted, we talk to the life guard and he tells us to try Tea Tree, a nice little right-hander point break. We drive back into town and head for the beach. The water is calm with a small but precise 1-2 foot swell. Dad is having a blast on his 9-ft longboard, and already chatting with the local surfers. After a chilly day in the water, we are eager for a hot shower and pizza. Back in town we stumble upon Zachary's, and enjoy delicious, inventive thin crust pizzas and stubbies of Boags beer - that's right it's happy hour!
In the morning we're off to Fraser Island for a day trip with Fraser Adventure Tours. Many of the other tours cancelled for the day due to the weather. Hailing from Seattle, we are prepared to experience the world's largest sand island come rain or dingo. The tide is low in both the morning and afternoon, so we are lucky today because we can drive on the beach the whole day, avoiding the highways. After taking the cable ferry from Noosa (just what it sounds: a large metal platform you drive onto - "the ferry" - that follows two underwater cables, much like a train follows tracks), we drive onto Rainbow Beach, which boasts over 72 different colors in its soaring nature-painted cliffs. Driving up the beach for an hour we pass the friendly waves of Aussies camping for the weekend in palatial tent compounds that somehow fold back into their truck beds when they return home. These people know how to camp. Australia's slowest ferry then takes us from the mainland beach to the shark-infested shores of Fraser Island. No swimming here, due also to a fierce undertow that we're told is certain to get you if the sharks don't find you first. We spy several dingos (who are in their mating season and extra aggressive this time of year), osprey, and eagles.
There's morning coffee on the beach next to a freshwater stream stained brown from the tea tree leaves on the shore, the water has magic healing powers for your skin, we're told. Lake McKenzie is waiting for us at the top of a glorious sand hill through the forest, which our bus/garbage van navigates with ease. Since it was too cold to swim last time, Chris leaps in with great excitement. Dad and I are soon jealous and join him for a dip. We then get a delicious BBQ lunch in a dingo-fenced enclosure. Three fat Kookaburra are perched in the tree above waiting for us to finish. After lunch we take a stroll through the rainforest alongside a crystalline creek. Beautiful white bark trees and prehistoric King Ferns line the trail. I have fallen behind with all my picture taking and I hear 10 Japanese girls expressing great excitement "ohhhhhhhh!!!!!!" and clapping. At this point I'm fairly certain it's because my darling husband is climbing a strangler fig vine. Yup, it's true. Back onto the garbage truck and off we go on our long, beautiful journey to Noosa. There's an awful lot of time in the car on this trip, but there's so much to look at, and fantastic stories about the history, floras and fauna of the island that you don't even mind.
The next day is a driving day. Our goal: Town of 1770 for a last surf in Australia. It's the last town in Queensland where surfing is safe. Further north is the land of crocs and stingers (jelly fish!).
Though Chris and I arrived in Brisbane 9 months ago when we first landed in Australia, we are presently visiting the city for the first time. South Bank is where we launch ourselves with ample opportunity to stretch our legs on the promenade adjacent the muddy Brisbane River. The neighborhood is charming with its floral vines winding their way up beautiful metal arches that frame manicured parkland for the enjoyment of busy city-dwelling locals and tourists alike. We stroll past the Nepalese Pagoda, a relic from the 1988 World Fair, and through a lush rainforest boardwalk. Like many cities in Australia, there is a lagoon for swimming along the waterfront (river), celebrated by fountains and water features and surrounded by palms. There is even sand lining the pool bottom so you can pretend you are at the beach. A lifeguard is even on duty lest you try to drown in the challenging 3ft depths.
Back in Byron we show Dad our favorite spots: surfing at Watego's and the Pass, hiking to the lighthouse, beers at the Beachy, the Thursday morning farmers market, more beer and live music at the Rails - which has steel barrels out in winter for warm fires - and of course dinner and drinks at the Northern where Chris and I both worked. Small town that it is, we run into friends everywhere and I'm sure Dad was immediately overwhelmed by names and accents.
Our road trip gets off to a rocky start because we're simultaneously moving out of our house, storing half our luggage at a friend's, and saying goodbye to Byron, while adapting to life in a cramped but stylish 7 meter campervan. Being an obsessive planner oddly does not help in this situation because I'm wired with stress until I can map out our stops on a calendar where we can all see - and stick to - The Plan. I had already researched all possible pit stops between Byron and Cairns with activities in each location. The first three days already strayed from The Plan and I began to accept that road trips on the massive scale of Australia cannot have a solid path for only two weeks of travel. Then it starts to rain. No problem, our surfari continues on unmarred.
First stop: Noosa. I had thought having a campervan meant we wouldn't have to pay for accommodation, but apparently this is not true. Instead you pay $30 a night for a slab of concrete to park next to. We stay at the Noosa River Holiday Park in Noosaville, which has its own beach, a nice outdoor grilling area and adorable ducks. Occasional pelican. The next morning is gray and drizzly, but we strap on our wet suits and head for Sunshine Beach. The ocean is raging a bit, but we're all pumped to surf so we paddle out anyway. After 20 minutes of straight paddling, we are still stuck in the breakers and have drifted several yards down the beach. I did catch one wave, but was so tired I didn't have the energy to ride it out. Exhausted, we talk to the life guard and he tells us to try Tea Tree, a nice little right-hander point break. We drive back into town and head for the beach. The water is calm with a small but precise 1-2 foot swell. Dad is having a blast on his 9-ft longboard, and already chatting with the local surfers. After a chilly day in the water, we are eager for a hot shower and pizza. Back in town we stumble upon Zachary's, and enjoy delicious, inventive thin crust pizzas and stubbies of Boags beer - that's right it's happy hour!
In the morning we're off to Fraser Island for a day trip with Fraser Adventure Tours. Many of the other tours cancelled for the day due to the weather. Hailing from Seattle, we are prepared to experience the world's largest sand island come rain or dingo. The tide is low in both the morning and afternoon, so we are lucky today because we can drive on the beach the whole day, avoiding the highways. After taking the cable ferry from Noosa (just what it sounds: a large metal platform you drive onto - "the ferry" - that follows two underwater cables, much like a train follows tracks), we drive onto Rainbow Beach, which boasts over 72 different colors in its soaring nature-painted cliffs. Driving up the beach for an hour we pass the friendly waves of Aussies camping for the weekend in palatial tent compounds that somehow fold back into their truck beds when they return home. These people know how to camp. Australia's slowest ferry then takes us from the mainland beach to the shark-infested shores of Fraser Island. No swimming here, due also to a fierce undertow that we're told is certain to get you if the sharks don't find you first. We spy several dingos (who are in their mating season and extra aggressive this time of year), osprey, and eagles.
There's morning coffee on the beach next to a freshwater stream stained brown from the tea tree leaves on the shore, the water has magic healing powers for your skin, we're told. Lake McKenzie is waiting for us at the top of a glorious sand hill through the forest, which our bus/garbage van navigates with ease. Since it was too cold to swim last time, Chris leaps in with great excitement. Dad and I are soon jealous and join him for a dip. We then get a delicious BBQ lunch in a dingo-fenced enclosure. Three fat Kookaburra are perched in the tree above waiting for us to finish. After lunch we take a stroll through the rainforest alongside a crystalline creek. Beautiful white bark trees and prehistoric King Ferns line the trail. I have fallen behind with all my picture taking and I hear 10 Japanese girls expressing great excitement "ohhhhhhhh!!!!!!" and clapping. At this point I'm fairly certain it's because my darling husband is climbing a strangler fig vine. Yup, it's true. Back onto the garbage truck and off we go on our long, beautiful journey to Noosa. There's an awful lot of time in the car on this trip, but there's so much to look at, and fantastic stories about the history, floras and fauna of the island that you don't even mind.
The next day is a driving day. Our goal: Town of 1770 for a last surf in Australia. It's the last town in Queensland where surfing is safe. Further north is the land of crocs and stingers (jelly fish!).
Monday, May 7, 2012
The Graceful Ukulele
I awoke one morning with a new and crazy ambition. All night long I had been sitting on the beach strumming a ukulele, singing in my dreams. I was so happy; the warm breeze in my hair, white sand beneath my toes...oh yeah, and I was good! So began my journey to master the Hawaiian Ukulele.Now, this did seem impulsive...especially since we're backpacking and on a strict budget. We gave it three days and 30 uke songs before caving and visiting the Byron music store. We tried several varieties and settled on a small concert uke. It sounds great when played solo, which is just what we have planned for that little instrument. In fact, it will soon be accompanying us on a road trip with my dad where I'm envisioning camp fires and cold beer with a friendly ukulele and the ocean for backup.
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| A petite sand crab! |
Chris and I dove into YouTube, finding loads of "how to" videos and started playing. After attempting Johnny Cash proved too challenging for a first song, Chris moved on to Brown Eyed Girl. I settled on the Moldy Peaches, Anyone Else But You. Two gloriously easy chords and five minutes later I was a uke player! Long way to go before I allow myself the title of "master" but I'm on my way. The hardest part is singing and playing the ukulele at the same time. In case anyone else is interested, we found two amazing websites that are extrememly helpful: Uke Hunt (good for selecting an instrument and has a nice beginner's guide you can download as a PDF), and Ukulele Underground (great instructional videos, love Aldrine!). It turns out, I've forgotten how to play Plateau, sorry Mom!
There's a great video of Chris playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow on our favorite Beach, The Wreck. I have to spend some time editing it because he's worried about looking bad :D Hope to upload later today so you can all see where we spend all our time.
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