Letters
Table of Contents
Over the years I have written letters, some were sent and some were written but never sent. I’ve found a bunch of them and have added them to this section of the blog for their historical relevance.
Thursday, 15 January 1998 from Bali - Gary to Georgie
Dear Georgie
Hello darling. When you see that girl who rings in the middle of the night tell her to be nice and not yell. She will understand.
Today was very hot, very humid and I sweated a lot. It’s embarrassing sometimes. I’m a bit like a fountain, especially when I ride and run. Allissa and I are getting along great, we’ve been together the whole time and it has been fantastic – good communication, lots of fun, table tennis, swimming, long walks, eating, eating and eating (actually not that much) and drinking loads of water. We are going to Ubud tomorrow which will be a welcome change. I have enjoyed being in Seminyak but it’s time for a change of scenery and a bit of culture. I’m picking up a car in the morn ing. We have been pretty predictable and eaten at the same places – Warung Kopi, Goa, Ryoshi etc. We did a bit od shopping today. I bought a pair of shorts and Allissa got a couple of cheap pieces of clothing and some bathers.
I rang Paul today, he had spent 3.5 hours in a queue at immigration only to find out that they weren’t doing visas.
Saturday, 17 January 1998 from Bali - Gary to Georgie
It’s 9.30 am on Saturday and I’m sitting in the dining room of our villa at Taman Bebek overlooking the Ayung River and then the phone rang – who could it be?
It’s you!
Thanks for the call, it’s great talking to you. So now it’s 10.30 am and we have just had breakfast. It was quite a fluke that we are staying here. We came to look on the off chance that there might be a great bargain. But als, we were quoted $90 U.S plus 21% tax, this I couldn’t afford so I made Wayan a ridiculous offer of $30 U.S plus tax, we finally agreed on $50 U.S.
More than I wanted to spend but the advantages far outweighed the finances.
This site has a rich history. Margaret Mead once lived her and so did Colin McPhee, an American musician who lived in Bali for some years and wrote a famous book called “My House In Bali”.
We ate dinner at Casa Luna last night, it has a pleasant familiarity. I went to sleep surrounded by a percussive symphony of frogs and insects and woke in the morning with a cool breeze blowing through the fly wire windows. Allissa is very happy and contented, she loves staying here. We are getting along exceptionally well and the purpose of our trip together has been fulfilled very nicely.
Have fun in Sydney, I’m sure you have made the correct t decision – you normally do.
georgie, I want to tell you again that I think you are great. I mean that in the fullest sense of the word. I LOVE YOU.
And say hello to the other girl for me (the one who yells in the middle of the night).
Love Gary
Monday, 19 January 1998 from Bali - Gary to Georgie
Dear Georgie
Selemat Page, my Darling. I just received your fax, thank goodness, I thought I lost you. I woke up this morning after a dream from hell that it was all too much for you and that you wouldn’t even talk to me – so the fax was a welcome relief.
So firstly, yes I have talked to Allissa a lot about her education. We have had lots of discussions about politics, how money values are effected, history etc, etc and she is genuinely interested. She told me last night that even tough she enjoys art and english that she is sick of not knowing about geography, history etc – so that is good.
She has an inquisitive mind. What I am going to need to work on is her self discipline. I believe she has a genuine desire to make things go right this year.
In regard to Paul, it looks like he has turned around and he’s receiving his auditing. This was on Friday, so I don’t know what’s happened over the weekend. Although I feel somewhat optimistic.
Well done on your course, you’ll be unstoppable when you finish, also well done on making this go right to stay up there.
Yesterday we dropped into Village Interiors, Roy was not there – he’s arriving back this week. His furniture is fantastic, very current and well made, the most marketable stuff here. The only problem is that he’s charging in U.S dollars now, which is very smart for him with the rupiah being as it is. The repercussions are not all that noticeable in bali yet but tension is mounting in Java.The rupiah was 8,000 for $1 AUST last week, that’s like saying what we were paying $100 for last year now costs $25.
Inflation is expected to be 20% and countless companies are going bankrupt and people losing their jobs. There is a lot of tension coming from the conflict between President Soeharto and Megawati (Soekarno’s daughter). She was not able to run in the March elections because of the pressure from Soehartobut it now lookas like she’s becoming an important player as the army have allied themselves with her. I expect the economy is going to worsen still in weeks to come. It’s really very tragic for the Indonesian people.
It’s very tempting to do some business at the moment with the money the way it is. Who knows, I have ideas flying around my head like flies in the outback on a hot summer day. It certainly would be the right time to build a house across here, all you would need is an Indonesian partner – I know a few prospects.
If you built a dream home – which you of course could design and if it was spectacular – you could rent it out for $120US per night, with the right marketing and staff. Then invest the money in furniture – maybe from Roy and set up our own business. The stuff he’s doing at the moment is very western with a touch of the east. Having the right retail outlet in the right spot with the right marketing could be very successful.
Food for thought!
I just had a traditional Balinese therapeutic massage. My god, what an experience. Pleasure and pain. the guy had hands and feet the seemed to understand the body intimately. He found spots that had blocked up energy and reflex points that stung like I was having a knife driven in. he even walked on me and used his heels and toes but somehow he made himself as light as a feather, and all for $10.
Just across the road from the Amandari there is a furniture shop. They have an antique statue, about ba metre high of Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. It is over 300 years old and is very beautiful …. 2,500,000 rupiah.
I have contacted the airline again and the earliest flight we can get is next Monday at 12.45 a.m which means we will arrive in M on Melbourne Monday afternoon. I’ll keep trying for something earlier.
I’ have been going on a bike ride each day, there are some very lovely villages around Sayan and seeing them on a bicycle is ideal. You must bring your bike when we come. I’ll work on an itinerary that combines culture, adventure, pampering and romance for our trip in march.
I think it will be OK for then but maybe monitored by the political scene. If there is any rioting and violence it may be wise to change the date, although I’m pretty certain Bali will remain unaffected.
It has been interesting not rushing around this trip as usual. Allissa seems to like the slow pace which currently also suits me perfectly.
Yes, I received your fax on Friday but couldn’t read half of it which appeared to miss all the important parts.
Say hello for me to everyone at the A.O. It’s not been a waste of time, Allissa seems to be a lot more on an even keel.
Georgie, I Love You and I’ll see you soon.
Love Gaz
Tuesday, January 27 1998 from Bali - Gary to Georgie
Dear Georgie
Hello my darling. Just in case you’ve been unable to fax me it’s because the line isn’t working.Send faxes through on the phone number – 975385.
We are leaving here on Thursday but you can still send faxes here until Saturday morning.
I only booked for two weeks, on Thursday someone else is coming to stay in OUR house. I’ve done a bit of looking around this afternoon and there are a couple of possibilities.
One thing that did happen though was that I stumbled on this magnificent house just down the ridge. I walked in thinking that it may be for rent. The only person I could find was an old Balinese guy who couldn’t speak English, after many attempts at communicating “Dua Orang. berapa rupiah” all I could make out was “Mandy” so I thought a girl named Mandy lived there. I was just leaving, saying “I will be back tomorrow” much to his frustration when this freshly showered Australian appeared -0 remember in Bahasa a mandi is “the bath”. What he’d been trying to tell me was that the “owner” was taking a shower. The showered person turned out to be the construction manager at the Four Seasons, so we had a great chat. he has been renting the place for 13 months while he’s worked on the site.The house is owned by a painter named Peter, who travels the world. he has given me an OK to go down tomorrow and video it.. It is magnificent, the view from the balcony is one of the most breathtaking I have ever seen. I’ll show you when I get back. I was frothing at the mouth with jealousy.
Tonight we went to the Ubud Palace and saw the Ramanyana, very beautiful but a wee bit boring. I was enthralled by the Gamelon as usual, more than the dancers. We had a quick meal at Ryoshi and arrived home at 10 p.m.
Today we did our obligatory drive up the East Coast, ending up at Candi Dasa where we had a late lunch. Ubud and the surrounding area is so much nicer. I think because I am so familiar with the area and it feels a lot more cozy. We dropped in at the Amankila to have a look, pretty sensational but I wouldn’t want to stay there. Sayan is much more to my liking and Taman bebek a lot more homely.
The roads were as crazy as ever, I still haven’t mastered the art of overtaking on a crest or corner but the Balinese are well practised and do it with ease and nonchalance.
Our bodies have recovered from last night’s upsets without any major dramas. Allissa is having a massage tomorrow with ketut, the guy I was so enthusiastic about the other day.
I’ve been trying too work out how to continue this closeness with Allissa (and hopefully Paul) when I get back. The large amounts of communication are working wonders and the absence of TV has been commented upon favourably. I’ve come to realise that she needs a high amount of ARC and she’s like an open book, she loves to talk about her ideas and the predicaments she faces in her day to day life. It is going to take some serious planning and work to keep this successful action up.
Allissa hit me with a beauty last night. “What do you want to do with your life?” It stopped me in my tracks because I realised that my goals were so abstract and were always prefaced with “I’ve got to make money first”. Being away from my day to day environment has once again put me on the precipice.
What do I want to do with my life?
Well, I sure want to share it with you but apart from that I’m not certain.
I want to be a good father, I want to create as much as I can, I want to travel (with you), I want to become O.T, I want my business to be successful and I do get excited when I think about doing something with you business wise.
Hey, I just realised that even though there’s been almost a two year comm lag, I’m finally doing what I said I’d do and I am writing you letters – isn’t that great. Remember our deal?
Well, I do know that life is good, that I miss you and yearn to be with you again and that the future is like a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end of it. I suppose it’s just a matter of working out how to get over the rainbow!
I love you Georgie
Gaz
Thursday January 29, 1998 from Bali - Gary to Georgie
Oh my love, wherefore art thou?
I don’t know whether you are still in Sydney and I can’t find your folk’s fax number. The guys gave me the message that you rang last night but wee were at dinner.
We are at Taman Bebek until Sunday morning and then we return to Villa Rumah manis until we leave on Sunday night, It the fax here isn’t working use their phone number to send a fax.
We packed our bags this morning to move out because even though we planned to stay until Saturday the people in reception had overlooked that someone else had booked before we arrived.
WE left our bags here and when we arrived back at 5 p.m to pick them up we discovered that the new arrives had cancelled we moved back into our house. What a relief! I didn’t fancy staying anywhere else. I went for a really long bike ride – all uphill – quite invigorating and somewhat crazy seeing it was peak hour but prior to this Allissa and I had made our way down the valley towards the Ayung River which weaves along the steep embankments of the rice paddies which are marvels in engineering albeit precarious.
WE never made it to the water’s edge but did discover a set of unique and ancient steps up the side of the hill and back to the main road.
I got you a gift today in anticipation of being back next week – I love you !!!!!!
Dinner tonight was at Casa Luna. It was packed and we ended up sitting with a canadian girl named Laura who has been teaching English in Japan for 5 years. We had a great talk. Allissa really enjoyed herself and we had a very adult conversation that covered topics ranging from the mores of the Japanese, Canada, pauline Hansen and racism in Australia as opposed to Canada, Japan and the U.S.A. Goog fun, you would have liked her a lot.
You seem so real and tangible. I think about you often. You came up tonight in the conversation and as I was talking about you I realised how perfect you are for me.
I don’t know where I am going to send this letter/fax but I will work it our tomorrow.
