Thursday 26th October

The guys were diving again this morning, instead of heading to Menjangan island though they were going to be setting off from the beach. Tony was a bit dubious about how good it would be, but the proximity meant that they would be back and able to hang with us from about 2pm rather than the usual 4-5pm.

At 9am Tony was across the road at the dive shop, waiting for his partner in crime. No sign of Francois. A few minutes later the straggler passed by us in the dining area and went across the road. The two of them chatted for a while when suddenly we noticed Francois dashing across the street towards us. He shot by and headed to the rooms. We looked questionly at Tony who yelled out that Francois was wearing trousers and not his swimmers.  Few minutes later all sorted, Francois (and his swimmers) were back over at the dive shop. Literally two minutes passed and Francois was again jogging across the road to the guest house. What now? Look to Tony: “Money!”. He’d need money as they’d be back at the beach in time for lunch. Sheepishly he passed the laughing gauntlet that now faced him on his return to the dive shop. Surely they’d be setting off any minute now. No, wait, really?? Back again for a third time?? Dude!! Where’s your head at this morning? More questioning looks at Tony who simply shook his head and made a few hand gestures. For a third time poor Francois had to sidle past us. A book! To read for the afternoon. Cue face palms and peals of mean laughter. Never change sir! Life would be a lot less entertaining.

Geoff joined us late at the breakfast table, and was given a quick recap of the morning’s events. Cue him booming across the street in his loudest Aussie accent, “Hey Francois, have you got your swimmers?”. Thumbs up from the Frenchman. “Have you got some money?”. Again, thumbs up and a resigned grimace. “Have you got a book?”. More hand gestures, just not of the thumbs up variety. Hilarious!!!

As of the past two days we have been in a standoff battle with a Spanish couple and their gorgeous baby Ellie, for the right to claim the comfy day beds. The couple tend to sprawl and take over more of the seating areas than they can actually occupy at any one time. They’ve got towels on the beach loungers on the sand, on the day beds, on the stools and at the lounger by the pool. They are just two adults, but they are everywhere!! The cuteness of Ellie let’s them get away with murder, one smile from her has us all melting like butter, but Robin is on a mission to get there first today. He pegs it down to the beach for just before 11am and manages to claim a precious day bed. Get in!!

Lunch was had at the bakery, I was presented with the largest crepe I’ve ever seen, it was humongous. The accompanying homemade lemonade was fabulously refreshing and tart. Lu is addicted to the Greek salad. Feta is her favourite food, she’s been saying it all day.

Most of the group headed back to the guesthouse or popped to get some treatments done. I opted to head back to the beach. Walked along the shore and headed to see the swingseat that was at the edge of the headland.

Time to dwell on life, and what the hell I’m planning to do with mine. Having been informed before my trip that I was being made redundant after 13 years, I now have a terrifying prospect of what next! I’ve agreed to work with a start up company for the short term, but realistically it’s not a runner, my vacation time is bog standard, there are no perks or BIKs. I’m back at the bottom of the ladder and while there might be room to advance way down the road, it will be way down the road. And I now have a house. And a mortgage. And monthly repayments. And notions of a jet-setting lifestyle. Shit!

I’m the first to admit that I’m a dinosaur, a lifer. Change terrifies me. I suffer badly from analysis paralysis. I’m also acutely aware of the fact that my degree is now meaningless as technology and software has changed so much since I graduated and I have not bothered to keep in touch (as I do not have the interest in it). Therefore, what exactly am I qualified to do now...

Job was first out of college and instead of doing the correct thing, moving on after 2-3 years, I stayed and stagnated. Became institutionalised. It was easy. Colleagues were great fun. Job at the beginning was on upward spiral, business was changing exponentially and every three years I undertook a different role. Boss allowed me to take holidays whenever I requested, no question. Managed multiple 3-week breaks and even wrangled an 8-month sabbatical outta them. So instead of upskilling, furthering my CV and learning new skills, I festered, happy to go with the flow. Never gave the future a proper thought – although in fairness I knew it wasn’t a position I’d be in until retirement age.

Now I’m at a loss as to what I want to do. If only I had a burning desire for a vocation, or an idea of something I would love to do. Yea, I should not be left too long alone with my own thoughts, I get very maudlin, anxious and freaked out.  Darkness is beginning to fall so, absolutely none the wiser, I made my way back to the guesthouse.

Drinks were had on the patio; the rum, gin and Southern Comfort are slowly getting worked through. Off to the bakery for dinner tonight. They are open until 9:30pm and since they do such nice sweet stuff we figure they might have tasty dinners as well. The night is as humid as hell, and there’s not one lick of a breeze to bring any bit of relief. Our assumptions were correct and dinner was delicious. At 9:40 all the staff bar the cashier went home. Taking that as a hint we wrapped up and thanked him for a lovely meal. It’s impossible to stay out late over here. Everything shuts down. Hmmm, maybe there is a business case to be made to keep somewhere open for Westerners who cannot get their heads around early nights, and want late night drinking establishments...