tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73579204519396276402024-03-14T09:01:00.563+07:00Road to Bali sans Bob Hope - My Bali DiaryUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger179125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-84309288512972691452022-11-24T12:21:00.010+07:002022-11-24T12:21:49.174+07:00Australian retirees are in Bali being told to pay up or move out
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As the Indonesian government welcomed world leaders to the G20 in Bali last week, thousands of retirees who have made Indonesia – and in particular Bali – their home, are getting their welcome mats withdrawn.
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As the end draws near and the dullness of suburbia hardens like arteries, retirement wakens old dreams. If only we’d been more adventurous, less quenched with fear of the unknown and risked the odds.
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Now there’s a chance to reset life – spending what years remain in magical, mysterious Bali, not as a come-and-go tourist but as a settled resident. Every day in the laid-back tropics, beach in the morning, siestas after massage and helpers so cheap you’ll feel guilty and want to double their salaries.
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Countries with holiday spots that lure foreigners like earning by stamping passports, rather than shipping coal or iron ore. Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore offer “second home visas”. Now Indonesia is getting into the game.
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On October 25, Indonesia announced a long-stay visa targeting digital nomads and people sufficiently well off to bring money into the economy. Some details of the new visa remain unclear, but it is supposed to come into effect on Christmas Eve – an irony adding insult to injury for some. But don’t sell the car and give the furniture to the kids yet, because their bureaucrats, like ours, don’t always meet deadlines.
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The real catch causing uproar among existing and prospective expat retirees is that the new visa is supposed to replace the current retirement visa – the KITAS (KITAP for longer term).
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The retirement visas have been in place for years, allowing people over 55 to use their home nation’s pension or savings to settle in Bali, get a long-term home lease and hire staff to service it. The only caveat is that you have to show proof of having the money to sustain yourself, have health insurance and a guarantor, usually organised by a local visa agent. KITAS/KITAP holders also cannot work or earn income in Indonesia.
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Although it allows holders to work, the new Second Home Visa has other restrictions. To qualify, a deposit of approx. $200,000 is required to be made into an Indonesian bank, and to remain there for the duration of the visa (five or ten years). Alternatively, a “luxury home” may replace the bank deposit as surety. The definition of “luxury home” is unclear, and it only applies to certain types of leases. There are also many restrictions on foreigners owning property in Indonesia.
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This is what has retirees on the existing visas so concerned. Thousands have arranged their lives and finances based on the existing rules, and they will now have to either comply with the rules of this new visa, or leave.
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In a recent meeting between an interest group representing expats and immigration officials, it was made clear that:
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People on retirement visa will have 180 days to change their visa to the new Second Home visa or to a short-term visa, or leave.
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For many – perhaps the majority – of current retirement visa holders, the new rules makes leaving the only option. Short-term visas are generally limited to six months and raising $200,000 cash is a big ask for most who are either on a pension or have their money in a super fund or similar. Despite the new rules not yet in effect, there are many reports of retirees who have already decided to leave, and leasehold prices are reportedly falling in areas popular with retirees.
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And when these people leave, those they employ will be out of a job, and the landlords without a tenant.
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The Second Home Visa is a great idea, and is no doubt a response to similar arrangements in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and elsewhere. The business of attracting wealthy immigrants is a competitive one. But so far, no explanation has been given by the Indonesian government as to why it needs to throw out the thousands of retirees who contribute to the economy by employing staff, hiring cars and motorbikes, living well and paying for long-term leases, often for years up-front.
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Bali got more than a million Aussies a year BC (Before Covid) and numbers could lift following positive publicity from the G20 diplomacy show. According to the Bali Legal and Human Rights regional office, 787 Australians were granted long-term stays in Bali in 2018. At that time, there were just under 14,000 retirement visa holders in Bali alone.
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Immigration is a national responsibility, so Jakarta rules. Whatever the final regulations, expect changes. Government policy making in general is often fluid and subject to sudden changes – often after listening to the responses of interest groups. Nothing wrong with that.
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If considering coming to Bali for the long term wanting solitude, think beyond Kuta and Ubud. The new visas includes ten other “holiday” zones across the Republic to lessen pressures on Bali.
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Immigration officials can deport without using the courts. No rights to prolonged appeal procedures, so the choice could be on the plane or in the slammer. Lawyers willing to defend aliens are hard to find. Immigration advisers abound, but best advice is to DIY using official resources.
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That doesn’t mean that most Indonesians are crooks, quite the contrary. The percentage of con artists and shonky operators is probably no higher than in Oz. The difference is that Indonesia lacks strong consumer protection laws and dispute settlement tribunals, so if there’s a falling-out, the foreigner will most likely lose.
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Medical care has improved greatly this century and horror tales of dirty hospitals and sloppy docs (which we also have Down Under) are a lot less common.
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Your correspondent’s contacts with GPs, specialists and hospitals in the public system have been professional and outcomes satisfactory. Encounters and experiences are rarely universal, only rough guides. So far mine have been more plus than minus, also with guys in uniforms.
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But unless the Indonesian government has a change of heart, these and other benefits of living in Indonesia may no longer be available to the average retiree without a fat bank balance.
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<A HREF="https://michaelwest.com.au/digital-nomads-preferred-australian-retirees-in-bali-being-told-to-pay-up-or-move-out/" target="_blog">[Source]</A>
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<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-25111368130665697052022-02-21T14:24:00.001+07:002023-12-27T12:32:22.081+07:00On Prospero's Isle (extract from Pico Iyer's "Video Night in Kathmandu")
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</CENTER>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-58619913951420339122021-12-08T17:27:00.000+07:002021-12-08T17:27:49.218+07:00"The Last Paradise" is the first book in English on Bali<P>
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To continue, click <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.77472/page/n25/mode/2up" target="_blog1">here</A>
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<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-9611201614316261022021-12-08T13:07:00.002+07:002021-12-08T13:13:41.231+07:00Bali - Enchanted Isle<P>
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To continue reading, click <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.277194/page/n19/mode/2up" target="_blog">here</A>
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Helen Eva Yates' book "Bali - Enchanted Isle" was published in 1933 when Bali was still the Bali of our dreams. Immerse yourself in these two hundred pages and take a step back in time.
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<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-3800853594621017412021-12-07T12:18:00.008+07:002021-12-08T12:59:15.581+07:00On Prospero's Isle<P>
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<I>"Say Bali, and two things come to mind: tourism and paradise. Both are inalienable features of the island, and also incompatible. For as fast as paradises seduce tourists, tourists reduce paradises. Such are the unerring laws of physics: what goes up must come down; for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Hardly has a last paradise been discovered than everyone converges on it so fast that it quickly becomes a paradise lost. Nowhere, however, had this struggle been so protracted or intense as in Bali, most pestered and most paradisiacal of islands."</I>
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Turn to page 39 in Pico Iyer's
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/videonightinkath0000iyer/page/38/mode/2up" target="_blog1">"Video night in Kathmandu : and other reports from the not-so-far East"</A> and you get yourself thirty-four pages about Bali that surpasses anything you find in your common-or-garden tourist guide (to read the whole article, SIGN UP - it's free! - and LOG IN). <FONT SIZE="-2">(or try <A HREF="https://nelligennet.com/39to73.html" target="_blog6">here</A>)</FONT>
<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-68875464133416414972021-10-26T13:42:00.004+07:002021-10-26T13:42:18.650+07:00I've been to Bali too - but not for quite a while!<P>
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<iframe width="1252" height="704" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EVOIg_lHRzk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-42758389720946595682021-03-09T05:10:00.001+07:002021-03-09T05:10:03.342+07:00VILLA AGUNG in Lovina<P>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJiirDAXhuFgHWFutZpiDQdfOZxg_pCtyQczzsVQSzrehCCJPVppETYc8cEBLzIywvMAkJ_oaD6m_5TzJEmbU93LlYBgLRSZOCXSG5Mb7bge0gKn3PwLXx5GpzCt6Lr-yycgX_662IlA0/s1868/villaagung.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1868" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJiirDAXhuFgHWFutZpiDQdfOZxg_pCtyQczzsVQSzrehCCJPVppETYc8cEBLzIywvMAkJ_oaD6m_5TzJEmbU93LlYBgLRSZOCXSG5Mb7bge0gKn3PwLXx5GpzCt6Lr-yycgX_662IlA0/s600/villaagung.png" width="1000"/></a></div>
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My first stay in Lovina was in April 2009. At the time I blogged:
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<I>"On arrival at the Perama bus stop in Lovina, the few of us who had come this far received a free lunch - simple but filling - which was included in the fare. Then we were given a quick promotional tour of their little rental bungalows which were lovely and quiet and which - wait for it! - rented for Rp.80,000 FOR TWO NIGHTS - and that includes breakfast! That's AUS$5 a night! One drawback: there is no pool but the beach is at the back of the property or for Rp.15,000 a day the nearby hotel Celuk Agung will let you use their 25 m pool.
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By comparison, Sandy and Gus's VILLA AGUNG seems outrageously expensive at Rp.200,000 a night for a fan-cooled room. The menu, too, is a bit expensive in this ageing and slightly derelict-looking establishment but it has a friendly clientele and the owner, 68-year old Gus from Washington D.C., is one of the few agreeable Yanks I have ever met. His wife Sandy hasn't put in an appearance yet but no doubt she will eventually emerge from their adjoining residence which they built some ten years ago, after which they also acquired VILLA AGUNG which had gone bust. After the first Bali bombing, they thought it would happen to them, too, as they watched their place remain empty for well over a year.
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Back to bed for another hour before the mosque and the roosters wake me up again when I drop into the pool described in their website as 'intimate' which is code for 'very tiny', however, it does the job of warming me up (yes, you have read correctly: at the crack of dawn, before the sun heats up the air, it's warmer inside the pool than out.)</I>
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VILLA AGUNG has since undergone a major facelift - see <A HREF="https://villaagung.com/" target="_blog1">here</A>. I wonder if Gus is still around? He was 68 in 2009 which would make him 79 today. Here is what he wrote about his experience in Bali:
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<I>"Homestay Agung in Lovina, Bali was the original “homestay” on Anturan Beach. It was founded by an Englishman, Bill Pierce, in 1980. It changed hands briefly, but fell onto hard times and went into bankruptcy.
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Sandy, purchased the hotel in 1997, with a Balinese partner, Nyoman. It was in a very sorry state, having been trashed and graffitied over the years. There were 2 thatched cottages, a ripped out kitchen, open latrine and a ghostly shell occupied by birds and mosquitoes! The original restaurant area was redesigned, reroofed with thatch, retiled and a beach front bar added. Upstairs above the restaurant is still a great place to relax and watch the waves and the goings-on on the beach. It retains its old charm, like your grandmother’s outside porch.
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Bali, at the time, was suffering a financial crisis and the Indonesian rupiah skyrocketed against the US dollar. At the time of purchase, the Indonesian government restricted currency to no more than RP 10 000 or US$1. Thus, the transaction was sealed in a duffle bag with the equivalent of Us$1 bills! All this counted out on the floor of a money changer in Sanur! This was a nightmare.
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It took about 18 months to renovate, which included much hand wringing and tears and swift enlightenment about doing business in Bali! There were many times I wanted to throw in the towel or the mop as the case maybe. I learned my pidgin Balinese very quickly. The tiles for the pool mysteriously disappeared, along with tools etc, but my faithful Balinese friends recovered the power drill and shaved the thief’s head before dunking him in the great and muddy pool area! I am still looking for an attractively tiled kitchen in the village.
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Having no previous experience as a hotelier or chef, the learning curve was steep and swift. Maybe my background in mental health was a plus. The staff from the village had never had a fridge, a microwave or oven, vacuum cleaner or a very clean house. Their only lightbulb is 5 watts, consequently I swear they can see in the dark. There are also evil spirits which come out at night and any foray out of the kitchen for supplies takes two, huddled together for protection. As I lived in the village for a month, while building my house, I can attest to the fact that there’s lots of dust stirred up by all the “sweeping”, at which the Balinese excel, and keeping things clean is almost impossible. During the rainy season, a persistent mold creeps up the walls and with no money for paint, houses just remain in that sorry state. Old habits won’t be changed and the girls still do not like the vacuum, are afraid of electricity and absolutely refuse to use a deep fat fryer, cappuccino machine or a squeegy mop. Some things you just have to get over or you will go crazy. Hot water and cleaning dishes do not go together, no matter how hard you try, but they do like the dishwasher, thank goodness! After 15 years I have just gotten them to taste the food they are cooking and by now I actually think they like it.
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Telling you there is something wrong, lost, brocken or finished is alien to the Balinese culture, in case you are upset. Consequently, the first time you find out the door handle is loose is when it comes off in the guest’s hand. There must be a law that says you cannot order something for the kitchen unless it is totally finished and this you only discover just before dinner. We ran out of chicken one night, so I sent my trusty driver to get more. It seemed to take for ever and when I went to find him, he was busy plucking the feathers. We do pride ourselves on “fresh” food.
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The first night we opened, a big, burly Australian plonked himself down on the bed, after a few beers I might add, and the bed collapsed, forcing his wife to roll out of the bed. Talk about Fawlty Towers, there were so many disasters, now quite hilarious, but to a neophite hotelier not so funny at the time. We were so lacking in confidence that our rooms weere only US8 per night. We were full the first month we opened but it took another month before the bruises on my legs from the constant toing and froing began to disappear. Also helped by the bright idea of putting a gate in the wall from my house to the hotel. Duh!
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As we are right on the beach, the salt water plays havoc with anything metal, like the fans, hinges, fridges, music systems etc and the termites and ants take care of the rest. They even ate my vacuum cleaner bags, carried all the way from the US. Your clothes and shoes, in fact everything, develop mold rashes and whites are never white for long.
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The worst memory of that first year was a very bad storm, and Bali really has horrendous storms. I woke to find the front of the restaurant washed into the ocean and everything else with it. My garden wall totally disappeared. There was about 12″ of sand in the pool. The restaurant was built on sand with no reinforcements and each wave ate away at the foundations and I could swear that I could see it topple little by little. Needless to say, the rainy season is not my favorite time of the year and crashing waves make me nervous still. Out of respect for mother nature and the power of the ocean, we are now heavily reinforced.
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The Bali bombing took its toll on everyone in Bali. We did not see a guest for 18 months up in the north. So, in order to keep our brains functioning at some meager pace, I taught the girls English and Gus, my partner taught maths and geography. We made clothes and bags and pillows and macrame and making mosaics and doing crossword puzzles. Interesting to see how someone who has never seen a puzzle approaches the task. I spent many hours pulling out forced in pieces. One of the girls had had to leave school at 12 as her parents could not afford to keep her in school, but her skill in maths was astonishing. The Balinese have incredible memories and will remember you and your name five years from now. One choice remark made by the staff at english class, when asked to go to the kitchen and tell the time, was “No matter what time it is, tell her it is 12 oclock”. Class ended at 12 oclock.
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There are so many memories and so many great and a few not so great guests, that it would take a lot of paper to recount. In the end, I am proud of Villa Agung Beach Inn and my girls are wonderful most of the time and have been with me forever. My rebellious security guy has changed from being fired for fighting with his wife in the hotel in the middle of the night to being the best manager I could wish for. There are daily dramas but they don’t affect me quite so badly. Lovina is a little ” Peyton Place” in Bali and life is no different from anywhere else in the world. We have our scandals and gossip and family crises, but it all makes being a hotelier in Bali a pretty good life. Not to mention 7 months of constant sunshine, sea breezes and tranquil blue sea. Eat your heart out."</I>
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I am!
<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-37295336159999953952021-03-09T04:48:00.006+07:002021-03-10T06:20:51.839+07:00Bali during the COVID-pandemic<P>
<iframe width="1000" height="700" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0uM_PkiQTWE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe width="1000" height="700" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sGl7Ux-VDlw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Watch also "Tomorrow will be better" on <A HREF="https://iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2110H006S00" target="_blog9">ABC iview</A>.
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<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>
<!---
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-09/bali-return-of-seaweed-farming-ceningan-lembongan-penida-covid/13202170?
https://soullodgelovina.com/
http://www.indorumahzengarden.com/
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-76804223076558137582020-09-03T13:06:00.001+07:002020-09-03T13:21:32.378+07:00Books on Bali available for free on www.archive.org<P>
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Simply JOIN UP (it's free!), then LOG IN and BORROW:
<P>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.16904/page/n5/mode/2up" target="_blog">Island of Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/threeworldsofbal0000lans" target="_blog">The Three Worlds of Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.277194" target="_blog">Bali: Enchanted isle</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/soomoonboyofbali00elli/mode/2up" target="_blog">Soomoon Boy of Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/satuabalitalesfr00igus" target="_blog">Bali Tales from Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/houseinbali00mcph" target="_blog">A House in Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/bali00spra" target="_blog">Bali Island of Light</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/betoverendbali0000unse" target="_blog">Betoverend Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/sacredmonkeysofb00whea" target="_blog">The Sacred Monkeys of Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/baliinme00danp/mode/2up" target="_blog">The Bali in Me</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/TheTruthAboutTheBaliBombings2002" target="_blog">The Truth About The Bali Bombings 2002</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/onedgeofdreammag0000wies" target="_blog">On the Edge of a Dream : Magic & Madness in Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/spiritjourneysto00kert" target="_blog">The Spirit Journey : Stories and Paintings of Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/ketutboywoodcarv00spie" target="_blog">Ketut, Boy Wood Carver of Bali</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/baliisleoftemple00indo" target="_blog">Bali, Isle of Temples and Dances</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/balinese0000lans" target="_blog">The Balinese</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/traditionalbalin00belo" target="_blog">Traditional Balinese Culture; Essays</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/revoltinparadise0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up" target="_blog">Revolt in Paradise</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/riceislife00gelm/page/n31/mode/2up" target="_blog">Rice is Life</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/BaliMorningOfTheWorld/mode/2up" target="_blog">Bali - Morning of the World</A><BR>
<A HREF="https://archive.org/details/BaliTheLegendaryIsle" target="_blog">Bali the Legendary Island</A><BR>
<A HREF="" target="_blog"></A><BR>
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<P><P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-58640436156888175822020-05-26T11:54:00.001+07:002020-05-26T11:54:33.567+07:00Have reports of Bali’s death been greatly exaggerated?<P>
This article has been copied from <A HREF="https://www.newmandala.org/have-reports-of-balis-death-been-greatly-exaggerated/" target="_blog">"New Mandala - New Perspectives on Southeast Asia"</A> to ensure wider distribution:
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKC6QCZENFNWLUvtzAdLfm7lRjURZvIh6Xi4aI59BgC0MJnqlI2LCpeS8Dnh5v9LCN8GUgQYElx-sTzTV9tpcnRr6qTPBAw7rYHVCGLRK8tDsxV4nm636l6ezBiNB0Fo61C5u2zL5obv8/s1600/bali1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKC6QCZENFNWLUvtzAdLfm7lRjURZvIh6Xi4aI59BgC0MJnqlI2LCpeS8Dnh5v9LCN8GUgQYElx-sTzTV9tpcnRr6qTPBAw7rYHVCGLRK8tDsxV4nm636l6ezBiNB0Fo61C5u2zL5obv8/s1600/bali1.jpg" data-original-width="1024" data-original-height="610" width="900"/></a></div>
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There has been a lot of speculation about the impact of COVID-19 on the Indonesian island of Bali, which has seen tourist arrivals dry up amid border closures and the grounding of domestic flights. Some of the more balanced stories have focused on the devastating impact to locals employed in the tourism industry such as hotel staff, tour guides and restaurant workers. Others have highlighted the experience of foreigners hunkered down in Bali for the duration of the crisis. These analyses vary in their tone and content, but some of the more sensationalist tend to privilege the perspective of foreigners or use somewhat alarmist language to push a narrative of impending disaster. But how dire is the situation in Bali really? An immensely challenging road certainly lays ahead, but there are some misconceptions and narratives out there that I wanted to push back against a bit.
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This story in the LA Times is a good starting point. The piece is rightly critical of the Indonesian government’s slow response to the crisis, but it then says the country’s economy has “been decimated by the lack of tourists to places like Bali.” In fact, tourism makes up a relatively small portion of Indonesia’s GDP – investment and household consumption have been doing the heavy lifting of late for this trillion-dollar economy. And if you totalled up the value of all of Bali’s economic activity in 2019 it would be 1.63% of Indonesia’s total output. Is Bali an important part of the Indonesian economy that brings in large amounts of foreign currency? Undoubtedly. But Bali is not Indonesia.
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Yet even if its economic footprint is not quite as big as its outsized place in peoples’ imaginations, it is a very popular tourist destination. And clearly any businesses depending on tourism are in deep trouble right now, as are their employees. The West Australian ran this piece with the headline “Bali economy collapses.” This story from Al Jazeera states that 80% of Bali’s GDP comes from tourism, while making the rather dramatic claim that “Without tourists, Bali will die.” But how accurate are these claims?
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In 2019 according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), 45% of Bali’s GDP came from agriculture, education, manufacturing, health care, financial services and other industries that one would not expect to be directly tied to the tourism sector. 55% came from hotels, restaurants, retail, transportation, real estate and construction. The deputy governor has estimated that 60% of the island’s GDP is supported by tourism, while the head of Bali’s tourism department estimates half of the population has some connection to the industry. The loss of visitors is obviously a staggering blow to the economy, especially as service jobs supported by tourism tend to pay well – but the 80% figure still appears to be an over-estimation. It is also far from clear that this has caused the economy to collapse.
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Only certain parts of Bali have really high and immediate exposure to tourism. Badung Regency, in which the tourist hot-spots of Kuta, Canggu and Seminyak are located, is the most exposed and is feeling the most immediate impact. Those areas are truly ghost towns already. But Kuta and Seminyak are not Bali. Outside of Badung, agriculture is actually the dominant industry in the majority of Bali’s regencies, accounting for nearly 25% of output in Karangasem and 26.8% in Bangli. BPS estimated that in 2018 approximately 477,000 workers were employed in the agriculture sector.
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While it is possible that the price of agricultural products will fall due to shrinking demand from hotels and restaurants, the state-owned logistics and commodity broker BULOG has already stated that if that happens they will step in to buy staple goods like rice produced by Balinese farmers in order to stabilize the price. This doesn’t mean that agriculture can offset the loss of jobs and revenue from tourism. But it underscores that Bali’s economy extends beyond the tourist resorts of Nusa Dua and the beaches of Kuta into less-seen areas where hardworking people, who have fairly limited direct exposure to the tourism sector, work in the sawah and run local warungs. And their world is still very much alive.
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If you travel just a few kilometres outside of the tourist enclaves of Kuta or Seminyak, you will see people out and about. The government has shut the beaches, mandated that businesses close by 9pm, banned mass gatherings and recommended that people stay home if they can. Police in Sanur are forcing anyone caught not wearing a mask to do push-ups. Some shops have closed voluntarily; others have been ordered closed in an ad-hoc fashion by small administrative units called banjar. This patchwork system of closures is a less than ideal strategy, but it does allow some businesses to remain open and pay their staff for now.
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In the provincial capital of Denpasar, traffic is noticeably lighter and many restaurants are doing takeout only. The police have set up checkpoints to ensure the rules are being observed, but people are still carrying on as best they can delivering food, selling phones, giving haircuts and otherwise trying to stay afloat. Bali might be on life support, but it’s far from dead. Those who can afford to stay home are doing so. But many do not have that luxury. They must work if they are able, as Indonesia’s weak and patchy social safety net – particularly for migrant labourers – will not catch them. And so life carries on. People buy gas. They get their motorbikes fixed at the bengkel. They show up at Pasar Badung and barter over the price of chickens. Is this risky? Maybe. But the alternative is likely worse.
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Excluding Badung Regency and the capital city of Denpasar, 50% or more of all economic activity in Bali’s other seven regencies (home to 2.7 million people) comes from household consumption. That is, people buying the everyday things that they need. With tourism on ice, consumption must sustain the economy on fumes for now. But people can only buy things if they can work and earn income. That is why you see people on the streets of Denpasar every day, trying their best to make do. If they stopped doing that the economy of Bali really would collapse.
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For me, this idea that Bali will die without tourists comes uncomfortably close to a White Saviour narrative, implying that local people have no choice but to hunker down and endure this crisis until foreigners start showing up again to rescue them. Such framing strips Indonesians of their agency in rising to meet this challenge, something they are quite capable of doing and have done many times before. Already you see local community efforts coming together to support workers who lost their jobs. Newly unemployed tour guides are trying to pivot toward retail.
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Although I know many people are suffering, I have yet to speak to a single Go-Jek driver or restaurant worker or security guard who seemed defeated. Not a single store that I have gone to has had a run on supplies. And while no one can predict when overseas tourism will come back, domestic tourism actually accounts for a larger portion of inbound travel based on sheer volume. In 2018, just over 6 million tourists arrived in Bali from overseas. By comparison, 9.75 million came from other parts of Indonesia. This means the market that is likely to come back to life and provide some revenue the soonest is one driven by Indonesians, not foreigners.
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Bali’s economy has taken a huge hit, and the evaporation of the predominant service sector that provided hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs is a big loss. But it is not an insurmountable one. It will require a monumental effort by the people of Bali—hopefully with assistance from the government—to overcome these historically challenging circumstances. But it seems clear to me such an effort is already underway. Life doesn’t stop just because tourism stops – people find a way to keep going and to push through. It is unclear how long things can go on in this way, but at least for the moment there has been no meaningful supply chain disruption, no liquidity crisis, no social unrest. People are still going out every day buying and selling the things they need in order to keep the economy alive. All of which leads me to conclude that reports of the island’s imminent demise have indeed been greatly exaggerated.
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<IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-43518945642240562642020-04-26T07:01:00.000+07:002020-04-26T07:29:57.633+07:00Bali - Enchanted Isle<P>
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<iframe width="1270" height="722" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/okVGNghkGqc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH39YXwPBf-qsmTvRABIdTM9ZnO__hoXZtcaVt1pRzDTFoMEn7MVojJI1veoOwO_4vO92_MwHWN-gBpmm1WZ6Mp2bQK4BeRm3JsPyc2VAvWnRl5X7CcwqBW2jNwUJ6UAsOon3n6PXfh90/s1600/bali.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH39YXwPBf-qsmTvRABIdTM9ZnO__hoXZtcaVt1pRzDTFoMEn7MVojJI1veoOwO_4vO92_MwHWN-gBpmm1WZ6Mp2bQK4BeRm3JsPyc2VAvWnRl5X7CcwqBW2jNwUJ6UAsOon3n6PXfh90/s1600/bali.png" data-original-width="437" data-original-height="649" width="170"/></a></div>
<I>"For centuries Bali has been a forgotten medieval island where sun-bronzed women dress as Eve, a land where nobody hurries, and all is peace. It is a little paradise where men wear flowers in their hair, and strange </I>gamelan<I> bells ring all night; a paradise where people live happily without money, without clothes, and without enmity; a paradise where you can buy a little thatched </I>bale<I> for a song, and live easily on fruit and sunshine."</I>
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So begins "Bali - Enchanted Isle" by Helen Eva Yates, a travel book published in 1933. That was then, when Jakarta was still known as Batavia, from where it took three days on a Dutch steamer to reach Bali. In today's globalised jet-age, when millions of tourists invade Bali every year, it would be almost impossible to find the Bali described in this book.
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Yes, there are still some remnants of it left to be seen after you've survived the chaos of Denpasar and turned your back on the fleshpots of Kuta Beach; I even believe I found a few and, had I been in circumstances different from the ones I was in then, I might have been tempted to join the expat lotus-eaters I encounters in those places.
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That was many years ago, and my current circumstances are even less conducive to turning my back on the material world that surrounds me, but I'm still allowed to dream, aren't I? So here we go with Chapter I of <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.277194/page/n19/mode/2up" target="_blog">"Bali - Enchanted Isle"</A>.
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https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.16904/page/n5/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/houseinbali00mcph
https://archive.org/details/houseinbali006594mbp/page/n9/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/talefrombali0000baum
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-86787549308935989582020-04-26T06:32:00.002+07:002020-04-26T06:32:55.790+07:00Bali - The Legendary Isle<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfeksimzY58OvpQS80YQ_z7DhKY3PxvJZW9RBLrbPVZ1-ykWQQ3_S81bZsVNUUct1v_34k1Hh8IOuoVqKWjYF0CC3w9jg9B_65YN-TQK1TbhpRHeDLWAi4Y5fz55SFrLSHjiXRkFIJ60/s1600/ebook.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfeksimzY58OvpQS80YQ_z7DhKY3PxvJZW9RBLrbPVZ1-ykWQQ3_S81bZsVNUUct1v_34k1Hh8IOuoVqKWjYF0CC3w9jg9B_65YN-TQK1TbhpRHeDLWAi4Y5fz55SFrLSHjiXRkFIJ60/s1600/ebook.png" data-original-width="493" data-original-height="654" width="600"/></a></div>
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A collection of beautiful Bali images - click <A HREF="https://archive.org/details/BaliTheLegendaryIsle/mode/2up" target="_blog9">here</A>
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<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-1205258619788106332020-03-28T06:57:00.000+07:002020-03-28T06:59:49.645+07:00My favourite place in Bali has got soul<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDpC_-Dx6vznCSW8fQfF3k0FPxyBQ3c5b-yUZ_iCgf2dg7Y02aEDbadMWHytS-TpqWpb5GjU_pvgwIEMU-NflgDKKPAv5LltpxxQxehiptfJGDj7jeAF1qxDirbn17B1LZRsdZ_jMI5E/s1600/soullodge-pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDpC_-Dx6vznCSW8fQfF3k0FPxyBQ3c5b-yUZ_iCgf2dg7Y02aEDbadMWHytS-TpqWpb5GjU_pvgwIEMU-NflgDKKPAv5LltpxxQxehiptfJGDj7jeAF1qxDirbn17B1LZRsdZ_jMI5E/s1600/soullodge-pool.jpg" data-original-width="800" data-original-height="600" width="1200"/></a></div>
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"Banjar Hills Retreat", my favourite place in Bali, has had a few changes and new owners who have renamed it <A HREF="https://soullodgelovina.com/" target="_blog">"Soul Lodge"</A>. I miss it and the beautiful people of Tegehe.
<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-54759675763605918392016-08-23T08:08:00.001+07:002020-03-28T06:59:11.783+07:00My favourite place in Bali is now for sale<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAyOdQX4EjWadngryoG6-nKsVTKnxfe69zCt6ilIe2iX5eJv2FUpNNPu9z842tsJkyHwWB8rrzAQK4w96CvrIn6w7bh1Q7iRDhM6a89sHaEHgWlZAUyclrThmHWfgZgH7uHQtoiU69gI/s1600/b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAyOdQX4EjWadngryoG6-nKsVTKnxfe69zCt6ilIe2iX5eJv2FUpNNPu9z842tsJkyHwWB8rrzAQK4w96CvrIn6w7bh1Q7iRDhM6a89sHaEHgWlZAUyclrThmHWfgZgH7uHQtoiU69gI/s1600/b1.jpg" width="1200" /></a></div>
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If I were twenty years younger, I'd probably buy it - but then again, I did a lot of stupid things twenty years ago ☺
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For more photos, click <A HREF="http://riverbendnelligen.com/bali/" target="_blog">here</A>.
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If you're interested, email me at riverbend[AT]hotkey.net.au and I put you in touch.
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badacbercula@yahoo.com
jrhuyton@gmail.com
cassonwatson@yahoo.com
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-51348761799448399022016-05-27T10:01:00.000+07:002016-12-03T12:48:13.111+07:00Bali on a pension<P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiPnv2TmNIM22wyMLYa_AKYGFaVlmT1V1cr4vJm7yUm2vitrMl3wlGM5sNv7Z5W5YmaELZLAS9LH3MRcVK8gSKmnr7mimADAYRRdvJBSDPh0aFoTHsbfXgq-5lz65-RWvNW56JZpqgxk/s1600/baliexpats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiPnv2TmNIM22wyMLYa_AKYGFaVlmT1V1cr4vJm7yUm2vitrMl3wlGM5sNv7Z5W5YmaELZLAS9LH3MRcVK8gSKmnr7mimADAYRRdvJBSDPh0aFoTHsbfXgq-5lz65-RWvNW56JZpqgxk/s1600/baliexpats.jpg" width="600"/></a></div>
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Each year Australian taxpayers pay nearly $800 million to support over 81,000 pensioners living overseas, but changes to criteria could see their Age Pensions reduced or cut altogether.
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Over the last two decades, the number of Australians living overseas who receive Age Pensions has tripled. Currently, more than 81,000 full- or part-age pensioners live offshore, with a further 6500 disability support pensioners (DSP) in the same situation.
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In 1993 around 23,000 age pensioners and 8455 disability support pensioners lived overseas. In 2013, that number rose to a total of 87,791 being supported.
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Most of these pensioners live in New Zealand, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Britain and Spain.
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According to The Australian, Social Services Minister Christian Porter wants to enforce the “residency-based nature of Australia’s welfare system” but, so far, his wish has been blocked in the Senate by Labor.
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“The annual combined cost of these is $765.4m,” said Mr Porter. “$660.8m from the Age Pension and $104.6m from the DSP."
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In response to this, the Government has proposed to reduce the period that the means-tested Age Pension, as well as some other payments, can be paid to people living outside of Australia. It plans to reduce this period from 26 weeks to six weeks.
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Currently, Australians who receive a full Age Pension must have worked in the country for at least 35 years.
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However, the proposed changes to residency criteria, will see pensioners have their rates adjusted according to how long they’ve worked in Australia. So if someone has worked in Australia for 13 years but moves overseas once they retire, they will receive 13/35ths of the Age Pension they’d receive if they stayed here.
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“This measure will provide savings of $168.4m over the forward estimates, which Labor has opposed. This change reinforces the strong residency based nature of Australia’s welfare system,” said Mr Porter.
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A Labor spokesperson has said that the proposed changes would affect 190,000 “migrant pensioners”, such as those who want to travel overseas for more than six months at a time, as well as close to 90,000 who live permanently overseas.
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Here are the current pension rates. Bloody generous, if you ask me (but no-one ever does ☺):
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<p><strong>Ag Pension rates</strong></p>
<table cellpadding="10" width="700" summary="The table below shows the different rates of Age Pension payments for single people and couples.">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Pension rates per fortnight</th>
<th>Single</th>
<th>Couple each</th>
<th>Couple combined</th>
<th>Couple each<br />
separated due to ill health</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Maximum basic rate</td>
<td align="right">$794.80</td>
<td align="right">$599.10</td>
<td align="right">$1,198.20</td>
<td align="right">$794.80</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Maximum Pension Supplement</td>
<td align="right">$65.00</td>
<td align="right">$49.00</td>
<td align="right">$98.00</td>
<td align="right">$65.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Energy Supplement</td>
<td align="right">$14.10</td>
<td align="right">$10.60</td>
<td align="right">$21.20</td>
<td align="right">$14.10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>TOTAL</td>
<td align="right">$873.90</td>
<td align="right">$658.70</td>
<td align="right">$1,317.40</td>
<td align="right">$873.90</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ANNUALLY</td>
<td align="right">$22,721.40</td>
<td align="right">$17,126.20</td>
<td align="right">$34,252.40</td>
<td align="right">$22,721.40</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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And here are the current Australian pension rates payable to pensioners living overseas: <A HREF="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/pension-rates-payable-people-outside-australia" target="_blog">click here</A>.
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--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-21425785395632404972016-03-31T12:13:00.001+07:002016-05-10T07:12:22.435+07:0027th August 1883 - The Day the World Exploded<P>
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On 27th August 1883 the most terrifying volcanic eruption occurred on the island of Krakatoa, five miles off the western tip of Java.
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The island was destroyed and almost 40,000 people were killed. The impact was truly global: ships sailing in the Red Sea were covered in ash; barometers went haywire in Washington; the seas were disturbed in Devon; stunning sunsets burned over London; immense rafts of pumice floated to Africa.
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The world shifted, geologically, politically and socially, and the word 'Krakatoa' became embedded in the consciousness of the modern world.
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I have just read <A HREF="http://www.simonwinchester.com/krakatoa/" target="_blog">Simon Winchester's book</A> by the same name and it was absolutely rivetting.
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<IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-67961362205843690272016-03-29T04:21:00.002+07:002016-04-02T11:51:45.552+07:00When Bali's Hotel Boom Goes Bust<P>
With an estimated 130,000 rooms for rent every night in Bali, many of which remain empty, it should be apparent to even the most casual observer that Bali is in a critical oversupply situation.
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Further confirmation of Bali’s oversupply of tourist accommodation is also seen in occupancy rates well below 50%. Low occupancies and the open tariff war now underway is resulting in bottom line results viewed by industry experts as non-sustainable.
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Accurate data on the actual number of tourist accommodation rooms for sale in Bali is hard to come by, especially when illegal villas and unregistered hotel rooms are added to the equation. If, however, the number of 130,000 room number is largely correct, this translates into 47,450,000 hotel room nights for sale in a single year.
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Extrapolating further and assuming an average of 2 people per hotel room, Bali would need its current estimated 10 million domestic and international visitor to stay between 9-10 days each visit to achieve 100% occupancy.
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But, in fact, the average length of stay for tourists visiting Bali is only 3.8 days resulting in an average of 25-30% occupancy across the board.
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Despite this dismal reality, an estimated 25 new hotels opened in 2015 with a number of major hotels still under construction. Add to this controversial plans to build a major new hotel project on reclaimed land in Benoa Bay that, if completed, would add thousands of new rooms to the Island’s already overstocked accommodation inventory.
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A lack of understanding on just how dire the oversupply of hotel rooms has become among Denpasar and Badung officials who sign the “lucrative” permits for new projects suggests that the worst is yet to come in the continuing decline of the Island’s once proud hotel sector.
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Seems like the rumour I heard is true: that business is so bad that some of the hotels are stealing towels from their guests.
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<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-30994661173726860092016-03-23T09:05:00.001+07:002016-03-27T07:04:55.512+07:00... und im Radio läuft Popp-Musik<P>
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There has been a German retreat from <A HREF="http://riverbendnelligen.com/bali/" target="_blog">Banjar Hills Retreat</A> with the German couple Ralf Pelzner and Anke Sawalies returning to Germany after little more than eighteen months in Bali. What happened?
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And what's going to happen next? Is there life after Bali? Will Anke again be waxing bodies at <A HREF="http://www.waxy-hexy.de/" target="_blog">waxy-hexy</A> and Ralf making pop music with the <A HREF="http://www.swing-doktors.de/" target="_blog">swing-doctors</A>? (he's the one on the far right)
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“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
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Anyway, following the departure of the German couple, the Australian "owners" (no foreigner can actually own Indonesian real estate) are now closing Banjar Hills Retreat and it is again up for sale. As one of the four part-"owners" put it, "We are through with the place. And we are through with Bali. The crowds, the traffic, the general greed are all very disappointing."
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<!---
jeremy huyton <jrhuyton@gmail.com>
mark casson <cassonwatson@yahoo.com>
--->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-61085590104380270082016-02-28T07:49:00.002+07:002016-02-28T08:02:33.037+07:00Tonga real estate<P><P><!--- <P><B>This blog has been specially encypted to make it invisible to anybody who has anything to do with real estate in the Kingdom of Tonga!</B><br /><P><br /><I>[start of encryption}</I><br /><P><br /> <br /><P> <br /> ♥ ♦<br /><P><br /> ξ<br /><P><br /><align="right">Ξ<align="left"><br /> ♠<br /><P><br /> <br /><P><br />μ ♣ <br /><P><br /> <br /><P><br /><I>[end of encryption]</I><br /><br /><br /><P> <P><br /><CENTER><B>If you are barred from viewing this blog and think you have been wrongly identified, please answer the following question:<br /><br />Are you involved with Tongan real estate?</B><br /><br /><form action="mailto:riverbend@batemansbay.com?subject=Viewing confirmation" method="POST" enctype="text/plain" name="poll"><br /><input type="radio" checked name="response" value="yes"> YES<br /><script><br />document.write('<input type="hidden" name="info"<br />value='+'"'+inform+'">')<br /><br /></script><br /><input type="radio" name="response" value="no"> NO<br /><br /><input type="submit" name="B1" value="Submit!" style="background-color:yellow"><br /></FORM><br /></CENTER><br /><br /><br /><br />---> <br /><FONT SIZE="4"><B>CAVEAT EMPTOR! You may wish to read this <A HREF="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/royallandcommision.pdf" target="_blog">report by the Royal Tonga Land Commission</A> before you even THINK of putting money into Tongan real estate!</B></FONT><br /><br /><br /><P><B>Just like Bali, the Kingdom of Tonga is such a beautiful place that many yearn to own a slice of this piece of paradise! And just like in Bali, this has not gone unnoticed by some of the white-shoe brigade who have taken up residence there to engage in dealings which would appear to be scams and designed to financially exploit unsuspecting foreigners and Tongan land owners alike. Things have become so bad that the Government of Tonga is now forced to convene an <A HREF="http://www.matangitonga.to/home/ads/royallandcommission/website/english.html" target="_blog">Inquiry into the Unlawful Sale and Leases of Land in Vava'u</A>.<P>I have had a genuine interest in Tongan real estate ever since I began my extensive travels there in 2006 and after I had read about a house-and-land deal on the island of Nuapapua which was being marketed by a Gordon Allison in Bundaberg in Australia in late 2007.<br /><br />Two other real estate agents, one in Austalia, the other in New Zealand, who had listed Gordon Allison's deals, had suddenly pulled them off the web and all that remained were <A HREF="http://vavautonga.net/" target="_blog">websites of his property deals here</A> and <A HREF="http://www.tongadevelopments.com/" target="_blog">here</A> and <A HREF="http://nuapapu.org/" target="_blog">here</A> and on a score of other websites.<br /><br /><FONT COLOR="red">(Can't find those websites either? Gone today and here tomorrow? Yes, they reinvented themselves as <A HREF="http://coralgardenvillas.com/" target="_blog"><FONT COLOR="red">Coral Garden Villas</font></A>. Different website, same <A HREF="http://whois.domaintools.com:80/coralgardenvillas.com" target="_blog"><FONT COLOR="red">promoter</FONT></A>.)</FONT><br /><br />Wondering what was going on, I tried to contact the brain behind those deals, the same Gordon Allison I had telephoned in 2007, but I could not contact him at his last-known address P.O. Box 2223, Bundaberg 4670. I therefore emailed Nesha Rosic of <A HREF="http://www.vavaurealestate.com/" target="_blog">vavaurealestate.com</A>, an expatriate living in Tonga who was trying to make a living dabbling in real estate and also said to be associated with Gordon Allison:</B><br /><P><B><TABLE width="100%" background="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/emailbg.jpg" border=2 cellpadding=10><TR><TD><br />From: riverbend <riverbend@hotkey.net.au><br />To: Nesha Rosic info@vavaurealestate.com<br />Sent: Sun, January 10, 2010 7:37:47 PM<br /><br />I noticed that TWO real estate agents, one in <A HREF="http://www.yesrealestate.com.au" target="_blog">Bundaberg</A> where Gordon used to hang out, and another in <A HREF="http://www.uprealty.co.nz" target="_blog">New Zealand</A>, have removed their listings of Gordon's Tongan real estate offers. Do they know something I should know?</B></TABLE></TR></TD><P><FONT COLOR="red"><I>N.B. I did email both agents inquiring about the Tongan real estate offer and also send an email to john@eldersbundaberg.com.au who seems to be the resident Australian agent on this Tongan real estate deal. I received no reply to any of my emails which in itself is quite a revelation as most agents would just about break their legs in the rush to follow up on an inquiry!</I></FONT><P><br />to which I received the following reply:<br /><P><br /><B><FONT COLOR="blue">----- Original Message ----- <br />From: Nesha Rosic <br />To: riverbend <br />Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 12:33 PM<br /><br />Riverbend, what I know locally is that Gordon just started building another two homes on top of eight he already build. <br /><br />As I mentioned before, I am not his real estate agent and am not familiar with any in new zealand or bundaberg and their listings. I believe Gordon is in Vava'u and I heard he just opened new office so you might try to email him at email I have: gordon.allison@hotmail.com and ask him directly.<br /><ACRONYM TITLE="Why should he even mention this? I never mentioned it and for all he knows, I may never have heard of it or read about it. Makes me wonder!">Also, it is a common knowledge locally that there is a cyber smear campaing agaist him and his business on the internet and it appears has noting to do with reality. Looks like it is a criminal extortion plot and apparently transnational authorities are dealing with it right now. Latest is that it appears gordon is dealing with it right way and that is probably why they removed listings if they ever existed until they catch the criminals that are doing it.</ACRONYM> Again, you need to contact gordon or mantioned real estate agencies if you need to know more. <br /><br />Regards, Nesha</FONT></B><br /><P><br />Boy, how exciting! Make a simple real estate inquiry and immediately become involved in an extortion plot! I am sure if Alfred Hithcock were still alive today, he'd turn this into another movie!<br /><br />I read a lot of stuff on the web but tend to make up my own mind about things. However, this chap was literally rubbing my nose in it and almost daring me to GOOGLE for more information. Was this some sort of fiendish "come-on-I-dare-you" reverse advertising ploy? Anyway, I GOOGLEd for it: <br /><CENTER><form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/search"><div style="border:1px solid black;padding:4px;width:20em;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" width="90%"><tr><td><input type="text" name="q" size="35" maxlength="200" value="Gordon Allison Tonga real estate"><br /><input type="submit" value="Google Search" /></td></tr><br /><tr><td align="center" style="font-size:75%"></td></tr></table><br /></div></form></CENTER>Well, thank you, Nesha! You certainly have given me a lot to read and think about. Is all this true? Who has written this stuff? And here I was, having thought the internet was just for the dissemination of porn!<br /><br />Anyway, why should I worry? I am just an innocent onlooker in what appears to be a battle royal in some little island paradise. Let them sort it out amongst themselves. I stick to my old advice "CAVEAT EMPTOR" (and if you don't know what that means, stay away from real estate; you aren't ready for it!)<br /><br />At least I now had Gorden Allison's email to inquire about the property deal which we had last discussed over the telephone in late 2007 when he still lived in Bundaberg. This is what I replied:<br /><P><B><TABLE width="100%" background="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/emailbg.jpg" border=2 cellpadding=10><TR><TD><br />----- Original Message ----- <br />From: riverbend <br />To: Nesha Rosic <br />Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 12:57 PM<br /><br />Thanks for that!<br /> <br />Yes, I read a blog on the web about all those wheelings and dealings in the Tongan real estate market. Almost as bad as the Bali market where I had invested previously.<br /> <br />As for those 99-year leases which are offered, are they legitimate? I thought the Government only allowed 20-year leases with re-assessments at 5-year intervals.<br /></B></TABLE></TR></TD><br /><P><br />Here is the agent's reply:<br /><P><B><br />To: riverbend <br />Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 8:59 AM<br /><br /><FONT COLOR="blue">Riverbend, let me go to your email below.</FONT><br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />From: riverbend <riverbend@hotkey.net.au><br />To: Nesha Rosic info@vavaurealestate.com<br />Sent: Mon, January 11, 2010 5:06:26 AM<br />Subject: Fw: Re:<br /><br />I take it from your non-response that the 99-year leases are NOT legitimate.<br /><FONT COLOR="blue">--- only simpletons would not know that there is a time difference between Australia and Tonga. Non-response was because i close my office at 4 and go home to my family, play with kids and have a dinner. Any messages that come after that I deal next morning if I feel they are worth answering. I believe you have a twisted agenda and that is why you rushed to judgment. Regardless, 99 year leases are legitimate if approved by cabinet and you receive Deed of Lease. I would know because I obtained 99 year deed of lease for my clients.</FONT><br /><br /> As for the 'nice properties' Gordon Allison built: he mailed me from Bundaberg some location sketches which show beachfront properties.<br /><FONT COLOR="blue">--- all buildings start with sketches and maybe Gordon Allison did not follow up because he thought you are not worthy of doing business with, as you are proving to me also. I would never do business with you either. I do not deal with simpleton land speculators that do not sign their emails. I only deal with legitimate investors that are willing to do their business in tonga legitimately. <br />Regardless, I am attaching pictures of some homes built for your peace of mind and to show you how wrong you are by engaging in syber smear campaign. Same time I am forwarding our correspondance to relevant authorities and perhaps you can explain to them your association with robert Bryce and why you are doing what you are doing. If you have an animosty toward Gordon Allison because he is a legitimate investor developer and just by what he is doing is putting you and your friend and associate Robert Bryce and other speculators out of business, you do not have the right to conspire and defame me, ministers, officials and nobility of Tonga on various blogs. It is criminal and we are pursueing it with tongan and australian authorities. You are either seriously misguided or seriously malicious person and we will leave it to due process.</FONT> <P> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yrEfdDQ_R4-0AJ-522tOdWK4Adf9L1fpxPX0pE_jJGwkDjQTrneeuJ6k1umJAh6CHnCQ1Xe-WhulIlQIsHYNEnabEx6x5vEdz1ORkR2Mw_FtQREFY4PRLQKaY_G311Hn1jSdDrvM9zU/s1600-h/nesha.jpg" target="_blog"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yrEfdDQ_R4-0AJ-522tOdWK4Adf9L1fpxPX0pE_jJGwkDjQTrneeuJ6k1umJAh6CHnCQ1Xe-WhulIlQIsHYNEnabEx6x5vEdz1ORkR2Mw_FtQREFY4PRLQKaY_G311Hn1jSdDrvM9zU/s400/nesha.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426415397112766162" /></a><P>As you have also since visited my own webpages and know that you are not dealing with a simpleton, you are probably not surprised that I have made my own inquiries.<br /><FONT COLOR="blue">--- only simpletons would not sign their own emails pretending they are legitimate investors.</FONT><br /><br /><br /> My inquiry with the appropriate places in Tonga tell me that these beachfront locations are owned by an entirely different party.<br /><FONT COLOR="blue">--- only simpletons would enquire in wrong places. Where did you enquire? In Robert Bryces registry in Fiji. As I am aware, only title registry in Tonga is a Ministry of the Lands and only existing titles on the land in Tonga are Deed of Grant and Deed of Lease or Sub-Lease.<br /><br />Regards, Nesha</FONT><br /></B><br /><P><FONT COLOR="red"><I>N.B. This Robert Bryce he mentioned must be the same Bryce who wrote some <A HREF="http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/73/Living_On_Tonga.html" target="_blog"><FONT COLOR="red">delightful articles</FONT></A> about life in Tonga. "Discovery TV is boring compared to the discoveries one makes in Tonga," writes Bryce in <A HREF="http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/70/Kingdom_Of_Tonga.html" target="_blog"><FONT COLOR="red">one of his articles</FONT></A>. He forgot to mention the real estate agent from Transylvania!</I></FONT><P><br />Wow! That was quite a filthy mouthful in response to a simple and innocent inquiry. Makes one wonder if he's got anything to hide! Is it all about attack being the best defense? I mean it's hardly Marquess of Queensberry stuff to be kicked in the crotch for just asking some pretty pertinent questions, is it? Pity the chap does not live in Australia or I would indeed have the authorities deal with him! Anyway, here is a map of the beachfront villas on Nuapapu offered to me back then in 2007:<br /><P><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvoCyRBQfPN2JR-rnRu3J3x1LiZUuXAjgcjIXmUKG6oVo2ub-6YhtTHVZxhhySO1kHWNGTfLcBO_u9wg2jZQlyDbG4MdGXeyHce0z5pEG1WreYE6kw9a3LiNVAiD-IsQW2xjJUrf7oR1c/s1600-h/neshamap1.jpg" target="_blog"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvoCyRBQfPN2JR-rnRu3J3x1LiZUuXAjgcjIXmUKG6oVo2ub-6YhtTHVZxhhySO1kHWNGTfLcBO_u9wg2jZQlyDbG4MdGXeyHce0z5pEG1WreYE6kw9a3LiNVAiD-IsQW2xjJUrf7oR1c/s400/neshamap1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426434261943898850" /></a><CENTER><FONT SIZE="-2"><I>Click on images to enlarge</I></FONT></CENTER><P>and the contract described the location as follows:<P><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3dq_KSVmInuCMcVrwaHZe-oXaAZvswCCZK0kAuTw3Xe7Ay4FleK7og7rkKRIzDvEwBj2-KldX7yxk1-dXXbGwd8NrsSWe3q9DAMWvSrG4v2S23MeoG-sk4Tr7P0EL21oEQU3KUH-W0U/s1600-h/neshacontract.jpg" target="_blog"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3dq_KSVmInuCMcVrwaHZe-oXaAZvswCCZK0kAuTw3Xe7Ay4FleK7og7rkKRIzDvEwBj2-KldX7yxk1-dXXbGwd8NrsSWe3q9DAMWvSrG4v2S23MeoG-sk4Tr7P0EL21oEQU3KUH-W0U/s400/neshacontract.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426435641040826770" /></a><CENTER><FONT SIZE="-2"><I>Click on images to enlarge</I><BR><A HREF="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/gecko2.jpg" target="_blog">Page 2</A> <A HREF="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/gecko3.jpg" target="_blog">Page 3</A> <A HREF="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/gecko4.jpg" target="_blog">Page 4</A> <A HREF="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/gecko5.jpg" target="_blog">Page 5</A> <A HREF="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/gecko6.jpg" target="_blog">Page 6</A> of lease agreement</FONT></CENTER><P>Compare this to the map held by the other two claimants to the allegedly same piece of real estate, a Richard Mortimer and an Eric Stark. They seem to be holding ALL of the beachfront land:<P><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXYUAB_jVgsLT9HFxE6_RF4wQ5rv6nUU15yvg4jwrzYcaHMDAWICOw_Vy1fBAnv9pW1k78g2IF8GKFz56ark1Emt9R0byiQ2fsUSauR6sMdXDI7D9NFptSMktBZggmj2e2KGQwkh2WoYU/s1600-h/nuapapuamap1.jpg" target="_blog"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXYUAB_jVgsLT9HFxE6_RF4wQ5rv6nUU15yvg4jwrzYcaHMDAWICOw_Vy1fBAnv9pW1k78g2IF8GKFz56ark1Emt9R0byiQ2fsUSauR6sMdXDI7D9NFptSMktBZggmj2e2KGQwkh2WoYU/s400/nuapapuamap1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439068299380015010" /></a><P>Anyway, what could I say? This is what I wrote:<br /><TABLE width="100%" background="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/emailbg.jpg" border=2 cellpadding=10><TR><TD><br /><B>It seems you don't like me!!! :-) <br /> <br />To make your investigations with the authorities easier for you, here are my full details: http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/cv.html<br /> <br />I look forward to hearing from you in due course.</B></TD></TR></TABLE><br /><P><br />The response was not slow in coming:<br /><P><br /><B><FONT COLOR="blue">Reverbend, let me go to your email.</FONT><br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />From: riverbend <riverbend@hotkey.net.au><br />To: Nesha Rosic info@vavaurealestate.com<br />Sent: Mon, January 11, 2010 6:24:10 PM<br /><br />It seems you don't like me!!! :-) <br /><FONT COLOR="blue">--- not really, I never met you. If anything, I fill sory for you being so obsessed. I believe you are just a misguided blind follower of Robert Bryce's cult. That is not an excuse for what you are doing but if that is any consolation to you, you are not only one. Out of many in the past, there are only few left in vava'u because everybody realized that he is a fake and a fraud, only some hard core followers on the web that are removed from reality, as you. </FONT><br /><br /> To make your investigations with the authorities easier for you, here are my full details: http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/cv.html<br /><FONT COLOR="blue">--- I do not need to. They are not simpletons, they will figure it by themselves. My understanding is that subpoenas are in the process of being issued in US to the forums administrators to reveal the sources. I am sure you would do the same if somebody try to ruin your life and business on the web.</FONT><br /><br /> I look forward to hearing from you in due course.<br /><FONT COLOR="blue">--- in due course you will indeed. In meantime I hope you will wake up, smell the roses and cooperate with authorities and make yourself some kind of plea bargain. Do not lie to them in depositions as you do in the forums. That is never good idea.</FONT> <br /><br />Regards, Nesha </B><P><br />Well, I couldn't let that one go through to the keeper so I replied:<br /><P><TABLE width="100%" background="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/emailbg.jpg" border=2 cellpadding=10><TR><TD><br /><B>Obsessed? No, but hugely amused by your persecution complex! I'll be even more amused when I finally hear from you again through the authorities, whatever and wherever they may be. <br /> <br />In the meantime, full marks for your Public Relations skills!!! :-)<br /> <br />It seems that you are suffering from a very extreme case of persecution complex or why else would you be jumping to the conclusion that I am conspiring and defaming and engaging in a smear campaign just by asking a few simple questions of you. <br /> <br />Yes, I certainly read those blogs but they are certainly not mine nor do I know who wrote them. However, they certainly don't do your business, such as it is, any good. It seems that anybody who does not immediately accept your statements at face value is engaging in a smear campaign against you. <br /> <br />I certainly have better things to do than to make the lives of impecunious expats in Tonga who are desperately trying to make a living even more miserable! I now await whatever 'due process' you have in mind.<br /> <br />I'll make a point of looking you up next time I come to Neiafu! In the meantime, enjoy your day in paradise, such as it is! :-)</B></TABLE></TR></TD><br /><br /><P><br />Given the rapid-fire exchange of our previous email exchange, I settled back in my chair in front of the computer in expectation of an entertaining afternoon (the day was pretty dull otherwise and the sharemarket was showing little movement) but there was nothing! NOTHING!!! Come on, Nesha, keep up the serve! Here's my almost begging email:<br /><P><TABLE width="100%" background="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/emailbg.jpg" border=2 cellpadding=10><TR><TD><br /><B>I trust you will keep this email exchange going for a little longer! You see, I am retired and your emails certainly keep me hugely entertained. They also stimulate my mind which is very important to delay the onset of Alzheimer's :-)<br /> <br />So keep on keeping on, my friend! I love to hear more from you!!! :-) I am sure you have lots and lots of time as I can't imagine that with your PR skills you are actually SELLING very much :-)</B></TABLE></TR></TD><br /><br /><P><br />But Nesha had decided to go back outside and play in his sandbox (or whatever one does on a small tropical island), so instead of hearing from that loose cannon, I received an email from the Big Gun himself:<P><FONT COLOR="green"><br /><B>Dear Mr.Goeman, I have been sent a copy of your emails to Mr.Rossic. You previously dealt with Yes real-estate who no longer work with us. We have our own office in Bundaberg. Our New Zealand agents are helping us with the email that was sent to them and <ACRONYM TITLE="Methinks one would only remove listings of properties which themselves are under investigation">we asked them to remove our listing until our investigations are concluded.</ACRONYM> Your information will be passed on to our lawyers to consider the possibility of defamation. You seem to be trying to get information on behalf of Robert Bryce ahead of the Royal commission. You have no idea what we do or how we go about business except for the internet blogs. Suffice to say that through a company in th US. who in joint effort with other organizations has done a good job on sorting it out,we will have some legal action soon as this has been nothing short of extortion. Your emails will be sent to them as we have an expert on word analysis who is looking at all emails I have received over the past 3 years. We are in the process of sending the relevant sites legal papers forcing them to give the internet information to date. We are aware that most were sent from various internet cafes so they would be hard to trace but it hasn't worked. I ask you is this the work of an <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGf6DBZg9So&feature=related" target="_blog">honorable</A> person who hides behind fake names? I think not,but you aline <FONT COLOR="black"><I>[sic]</I></FONT> your self with them. However if you bothered to check we are building away with the full backing of the Tongan authorities, have had visits to the island by all the heads of the relevant ministries and with 2 other developments soon to be marketed in the USA our company are the largest investors in the tourism field here. The Government are as are all my investors very aware of the blogs and the Supreme court case we won which clearly states our company is the legal owner on the lease for Nuapapu. <ACRONYM TITLE="The SILLY THING is that I never once questioned the validity of his property title; instead, he seems to question it himself">The silly thing is I am not the major shareholder which makes the blogs even more ridiculous.</ACRONYM> If you have any questions please send them to me to answer and if you need further evidence call the ministers of any of the relevant ministries or the Governors office in Vavau.<br />yours without prejudice,<br />Gordon Allison </B></FONT><br /><P><br />Yours without prejudice indeed! Anyway, one well-crafted email deserves another so I replied:<br /><P><TABLE width="100%" background="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/emailbg.jpg" border=2 cellpadding=10><TR><TD><br /><B>Dear Mr Allison<br /> <br />Thank you for your email. For your information, my correct name is Goerman, not Goeman, just in case you or your lawyers want to contact me again.<br /> <br />If you have taken the trouble of reading through the sequence of emails between myself and your associate or agent, Mr Rossic, you will have noticed that I made a very general inquiry with him in which I also questioned the availability of the 99-year lease on real estate in Tonga. As you will know from our last communication in late 2007, I have had a genuine interest in the properties on offer on Nuapapu. However, in the light of the extensive negative coverage Tongan real estate has received on the internet, I am proceeding with extreme caution and try to collect as much information as possible from agents past and present who are or have been involved with the marketing of these properties. The fact that none of those agents have so far replied to my emails is not encouraging.<br /> <br />Nor are Mr Rossic's emails which went totally "off the rails" once I had questioned whether the 99-year lease was a legitimate land transfer in Tonga. He immediately suggested, as you do, that I was trying to defame him or conspire against him, and that I was a cover for or working for somebody else with whom you have a dispute. You also seem to labour under similar misapprehensions. Instead of his emails reassuring me, they have only raised my concerns even further. Of course, judging by Mr Rossic's name, he may use English as a second language and therefore have problems writing a more measured response which is why I appreciate yours which at least is readable and well reasoned.<br /> <br />I sincerely hope that the inquiry by the Royal Land Commission will restore a measure of confidence in real estate dealings in Tonga. Following Mr Rossic's totally uncalled-for outbursts (to use a mild term) which reflect appallingly on everybody engaged in the real estate business in Tonga, I thought it appropriate to submit the whole sequence of emails to the secretary of the Royal Land Commission. Ms Gloria Pole'o has since acknowledged receipt of my email and confirmed that it has been distributed to the Commissioners. I have also copied her in on this email which I hope to be my last email on this subject which has certainly convinced me not to bother dealing with ANY expatriate real estate agents in Tonga. <br /> <br />I remain an extensive traveller to Tonga, a country which I love and amongst whose citizens, both in Tonga and here in Australia, I have several good friends. However, until it is possible to deal direct with a Tongan citizen to purchase real estate, I will not consider it as I certainly would not want to deal with expatriates whose antecedents and credentials are impossible to verify and who may only live in Tonga long enough to do a few "deals" before moving on again. <U>The sooner Tongans themselves conduct their own real estate business, the better!</U> <br /> <br />And the sooner certainty and legality can be restored to Tongan land dealings, the sooner Tongan real estate prices will increase to reflect the properties' true values. Higher prices such as those obtained in other South Pacific Island nations will automatically attract the sort of buyers Tonga can benefit from: buyers who are possessed of assets and are able not only to financially support themselves but who are also able to bring much-needed foreign exchange and investment capital into Tonga. In my travels in Tonga I have met far too many expatriates who settled there for no other reason than that they were financially so destitute that Tonga was the only place they could afford to live in. <U> Tonga deserves better than that!</U><br /> <br />Sincerely<br />Peter Goerman</B></TABLE></TR></TD><br /><P><br />I didn't have long to wait for Gordon's reply:<P><FONT COLOR="green"><br /><B>Dear Mr. Goerman, you have said exactly what I have been saying all along re Vacant land sales. In fact you do not have to deal through an agent at all only the Gov.for Vava'u and the land office. 99 leases are available and I am aware that Mr.Rossic has done some. With a development company like ours your lease is with the company. In order to get a full gov.lease you need to have a min.30 poles of land....not possible in a resort development. Insure you get a L9 form with any deal you may do and remember tenancy agreements on vacant land are not valid. <ACRONYM TITLE="EXCITED? That guy is a vicious snake! An island far away from civilisation is probably the only fit place for him.">Nesha is not my agent but the only legitimate real estate person here and does every thing by the book. Yes he tends to get a little excited from time to time</ACRONYM>.<br />Regards, Gordon Allison<br />PS. The blogs have not been widely read some only 20 to 30 hits over 3 months world wide. <ACRONYM title="The CIA no less!!! The tropical heat must be getting to him">We are advised now through Canberra ,which is the headquarters of the CIA internet surveillance for the Pacific, every time someone logs in to the sites. This blogging is a serious and major international crime not only at me but the Tongan Government.</ACRONYM></B></FONT><P>This didn't really call for any further reply. In any case I had become quite sick and tired of this storm-in-a-teacup. However, on reflection I thought the CIA-stuff was a bit too thick to go unchallenged so I added this little email:<P><TABLE width="100%" background="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/emailbg.jpg" border=2 cellpadding=10><TR><TD><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIx4SNAI7_xnZudweFrTKBxbd0MqG9cB09AxncK4MYMJvm_BPkazEW8fDveUcP3Ggs01vEySco8xgk6gi5vepCOlRTgicCN5sfdbgzzacBTM7ZCZlZPIO9BIlxbTWTDffWUUmfch3g_Y/s1600-h/abseiling.jpg" target="_blog"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 138px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIx4SNAI7_xnZudweFrTKBxbd0MqG9cB09AxncK4MYMJvm_BPkazEW8fDveUcP3Ggs01vEySco8xgk6gi5vepCOlRTgicCN5sfdbgzzacBTM7ZCZlZPIO9BIlxbTWTDffWUUmfch3g_Y/s200/abseiling.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426774091493365842" /></a><B>HOLY SH%#!!! You're right! I had just logged onto http://www.frommers.com/community/forum.cfm/australia-south-pacific/tonga/thinking-of-investing-vavau-tonga-beware-of-gordon-allison and had got to the end of the first line "...attracts shady ..." when the phone rang and a dark voice inquired, "What are you doing there? This is the CIA and we are watching you!"<br /> <br />Boy, was I rattled! But it didn't stop there!<br /> <br />Minutes later a Blackhawk helicopter hovered over my house and men in riotgear began abseiling down onto the roof.<br /> <br />We did finish up having quite an animated conversation as we sat on the verandah with a few cold beers. I asked why all this excitement about poxy little blogs . They admitted that they had failed to catch Bin Laden and quite a few other things weren't going all that well either, so in order to keep their boys employed they had started their surveillance of blogs pertaining to Tongan real estate. <br /> <br />You certainly were lucky to engage them when things were a bit slack!</B></TABLE></TR></TD><br /><P><br />And that's where the matter rests! As it should! I mean, who wants to deal with a colubrine real estate agent who libels you, bullies you with threats of legal action, and puts you under CIA surveillance, all because you asked a simple question?<P>In the meantime, my advice - which is free, abundant and probably totally useless - to anybody who wants to buy Tongan real estate: Don't ask questions, just send a cheque!<P>I have just cancelled mine!<P>While 99% of real estate agents give the rest a bad name, it may just be possible to still find a good one. Click on the "Google Search" button below:<P><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasyNV9HgqckU7xW9Eyh6ua4IFJEZO4mv_s6nT2L-cEMW_r6wWnvhNAiCTLLP2XsI7pik2MiZi91-lPORZmur_x9V2sjPqZ9qqFchs2ou6-occEqEHngA5_n1Np-_rKV8SFfGCou7c32M/s1600-h/frankenstein.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfn_64RhQ5pzy5wfLPVa8dyPV3QW2V0Q2N-W-UdYGvFH750fJy30rtFA9DnkmUjfalJpegS4N08LHoiB2hqzrWRDRt3FTv7iqd9us30yZqIvDd_RXvHf0FarE86sK8hB-I7Cn9aHZqC9c/s400/google.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427953340300529970" /></a><P><br />P.S. In the meantime, the real estate business in Tonga remains as creative as it has always been!<br /><br />Here's the <A HREF="http://www.vavauisland.eu/crowsnestcafe.htm" target="_blog">Crow's Nest Café in Neiafu</A>, for sale at US$85,000 (they bought it for just under US$40,000 less than five years ago). <br /><br />And <A HREF="http://www.vavauisland.eu/CrowsNest/Crows%20Nest%20Contest.htm" target="_blog">here</A> is the same café for "sale" by lottery or some sort of competition. They want to get together a minimum of 650 contestants at US$200 each - or a total of US$130,000 - before they kick off the scheme. <br /><br />But where is the trust account to hold the "deposits" and where is the notary supervision to ensure that there will be a fair contest - or a contest at all?<br /><br />The fifty finalists will be notified on the 1st of April 2010 which happens to be April Fool's Day! (I have just looked again and the closing date has already been postponed from 31 March 2010 to 31 May 2010; not enough takers yet or was the 1st of April a bad omen?)<br /><br /><br />This is what a Tongan friend of mine thinks of the scheme:<P><FONT COLOR="teal">It would be interesting to know the outcome. Have to wait for a while. I wonder if there are really 650 people stupid enough to fall for this scheme. When there is enough money in the bank someone will probably run away with it. Given the current problems in Tonga, the lack of shipping between islands, one ancient plane which was built in New Zealand in 1943 for air traffic and the prospect of serious food shortages within a month after the recent cyclone - who would be so stupid to try and run a business in Tonga? One doesn't have to be a pessimist to see what Tonga will be like in the near future. Our son rang from Ha'apai to tell us about a funeral. A box of chicken already costs more than 100 Paanga. The food needed for one funeral can empty all the remaining food stocks in the stores with no new supplies coming in. In Vavau the only staple food available are sweet potatoes. Due to petrol shortages there will probably also be few boats to go out for fishing. Lucky are the people who have their own plantations. But it will take time for bananas etc. to regrow. Another paradise lost. Tongans are tough and know how to survive all sorts of desasters. Palangis can only try to run away. The bad guys among them will not be missed.</FONT><P>I say Amen to that!<br />
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<P><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHahJHQ0Td8ztA0RIT4GvCzelBLqp5pnEvdSSu_O6oY3zTIl9AtHHQNCemb0fFTR__rdaPXCEd2P9LZyyiG5KX7oYTKvhqyAIiyD_gtnY_8JBVNupu1f7ATFjaz8pVbQUeQVXRwDzDNS0/s1600-h/Barefoot-beach.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHahJHQ0Td8ztA0RIT4GvCzelBLqp5pnEvdSSu_O6oY3zTIl9AtHHQNCemb0fFTR__rdaPXCEd2P9LZyyiG5KX7oYTKvhqyAIiyD_gtnY_8JBVNupu1f7ATFjaz8pVbQUeQVXRwDzDNS0/s400/Barefoot-beach.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387730395861026898" /></a><P>
<IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif">Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-39634671724120531132016-02-27T06:38:00.003+07:002016-02-27T06:38:59.508+07:00Win a trip to Bali<P>
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-51526931546733827832016-02-23T07:28:00.000+07:002016-09-13T07:34:31.905+07:00Vale Banjar Hills Retreat!<P><P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUCMtloC8Daa73y37KwIl0JuBY2Uh9rjok4_rzy6KMl7-OXdt9GsQDFKaMMUgh78hFxlqkwHdcHmxO-y751Q-7kao8zApEjXuukeZZehpe3qOBM2kyWY9kwbYqxpt3S2JMAx7AVcvJeA/s1600/b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUCMtloC8Daa73y37KwIl0JuBY2Uh9rjok4_rzy6KMl7-OXdt9GsQDFKaMMUgh78hFxlqkwHdcHmxO-y751Q-7kao8zApEjXuukeZZehpe3qOBM2kyWY9kwbYqxpt3S2JMAx7AVcvJeA/s1600/b1.jpg" width="600"/></a></div><FONT SIZE="-2">Klicke auf das Foto um es zu vergrössern</FONT>
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<I>"Wir möchten uns kurz vorstellen und erzählen, wie wir unseren Weg nach Bali gefunden haben.
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Wir sind Anke und Erik, um die 50 Jahre alt, kommen aus Deutschland und leben seit Mitte 2014 auf Bali, Indonesien. Unser Wunsch zum geeigneten Zeitpunkt Deutschland den Rücken zu kehren stand schon lange fest bevor wir im Januar 2014 Urlaub auf Bali machten. Wie die meisten Besucher haben auch wir uns gleich in diese zauberhafte Insel verliebt und nach einer Woche schon stand fest: Hier wollen wir bleiben.
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Der „Zufall“ hat uns ungeplant zu diesem kleinen Stückchen Paradies namens Banjar Hills Retreat im ursprünglichen Norden Balis geführt, in welchem wir nur eine Nacht verweilten. Doch in dieser kurzen Zeit fanden wir heraus, dass die Eigentümer es weitergeben wollten und wir entschlossen uns spontan, zuzugreifen. Eine Entscheidung, die wir bis heute nicht bereuen. Drei kleine, zu vermietende Villen, ein großer erfrischender Pool als Herzstück des Retreats und als Highlight ein Terrassenrestaurant mit atemberaubender Aussicht: Panorama-Blick über den gesamten grünen Küstenstreifen, dahinter in ca. 3 Kilometern Luftlinie Frontal-Ansicht auf die scheinbar unendliche Weite der Java-See. Ein Traum.
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Da wir hier ein kleines, intimes Anwesen mit wirklich liebevollem Personal übernahmen, stand fest, dem Ganzen einen persönlichen, familiären Charakter zu verleihen, fern von jedem Massentourismus.
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Unsere direkte Nachbarschaft zum einzigen buddhistischen Kloster Balis, dem Brahma Vihara, und den Heiligen Quellen, Air Panas Banjar, gibt auch unserem neuen Zuhause eine ganz einzigartige Note, ein Platz an dem man wirklich „runter kommen“ kann vom stressigen Leben in der westlichen Welt. Hier hat man sowohl die Gelegenheit sich wieder auf sich selbst zu besinnen, sich zu entspannen, sich verwöhnen zu lassen, und/oder diesen Ort als Ausgangspunkt für die Erkundung der Insel zu nutzen.
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In den ersten Monaten, in denen uns überwiegend Familie und Freunde besuchten, haben wir die Räumlichkeiten mit viel Liebe zum Detail verschönert und jedem Ort in unserem Hotel eine herzliche und individuelle Note verliehen. Nun sind wir bereit, mit allen Bali-Interessierten unsere neue Heimat zu teilen. Unser Ziel ist es, jedem Gast nicht nur das Gefühl zu geben, herzlich willkommen zu sein, sondern ihm seinen Aufenthalt bei uns zu einem unvergesslichen Erlebnis werden zu lassen. Wir organisieren vorgeplant oder auch spontan vor Ort alles was das Herz begehrt und machbar ist: Trekking-Touren durch atemberaubende Wasserfälle und Reisterrassen, Delfin-Touren mit Sonnenaufgang auf dem Meer, Tauch- und Schnorchel-Ausflüge zu den buntesten Korallenriffen Südostasiens, Dorfleben und Tempel-Kultur des ursprünglichen Balis oder sich zwischen Massagen, Mani-und Pediküre einfach an unserem herrlichen Pool die kulinarische Vielfalt der indonesischen Küche genießen…Auch Kurztrips zu den Nachbarinseln sind problemlos machbar: Schnorcheln und Chillen auf den berühmten Gili-Inseln von Lombok, Komodo-Warane auf der Jagd erleben auf Komodo, oder die Tempelanlage von Bodobudur auf Java zu bestaunen! Alles ist bei uns möglich.
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Unser Konzept sieht vor, euch – basierend auf den individuellen Interessen, der verfügbaren Zeit und des Budgets – den Traumurlaub zu ermöglichen, von dem ihr schon immer geträumt habt. Wir werden unser Bestes dafür geben."</I>
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So schrieben Anke und Erik (Ralf) auf ihrer Webseite <A HREF="http://www.banjarhills.com/" target="_blog"><FONT COLOR="maroon">banjarhills.com</FONT></A>.
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Vielleicht war ihr Bestes nicht gut genug oder sie konnten damit kein Geld machen denn die Webseite wie auch sie sind inzwischen wieder weg. Wieder hat sich ein Inseltraum ausgeträumt! Hier ist noch einer dem es so ging: <A HREF="http://limesgermanicus.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/joe-and-villa-mamana-on-telekivavau.html" target="_blog"><FONT COLOR="maroon">klicke hier</FONT></A>.
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Ich "entdeckte" Banjar Hills in 2006 - siehe <A HREF="http://ontheroadtobali.blogspot.com.au/2009/03/theres-gold-in-them-thar-hills.html" target="_blog"><FONT COLOR="maroon">hier</FONT></A> - und verbrachte mehrere Wochen über mehrere Jahre in diesem Stückchen Paradies - meistens als einziger Gast denn für die meisten Touristen war es zu abgelegen. Für mich war es perfekt: völlige Ruhe in der ich endlos meine Bücher las und mitternachts im Pool planschte.
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Jetzt wollen es die australischen Besitzer zumachen und verkaufen.
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<P> Vale Banjar Hills Retreat!
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<A HREF="http://grapevine.com.au/~simonwong/banjarhills/" target="_blog">.</A>
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hotel was built in 2000 by Balinese, Australians took over in 2006 (?), their names Mark Casson (gay), Jeremy (even more gay), Anthony, David & Sharon, 1 Javanese, Made has been manager since 2005, her email madeasri@yahoo.com, phone +62 815 5808 3880
http://athomeatriverbend.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/they-came-they-saw-they-leased.html
Time will tell if they can make a living out of it. Anyway, they seem to have their own rather unusual ideas about running a tourist hotel. As he writes, "I calculate with no customers the next 2 years. So i have no pressure. If there are nice people interested, maybe I let them use my retreat. If I don’t like them, they should go where the pepper grows… ;-) "
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Well, he'd better not translate a typical German idiom word for word into English - "Hingehen wo der Pfeffer wächst" - nor apply a typical German attitude to business in Bali, if he wants to succeed at all!
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It's one thing to be a tourist in Bali, it's quite another to live and work there. As tourists they can't help but have a distorted opinion of the place: they meet unrepresentative people, have unrepresentative experiences, and run around imposing upon the place the fantastic mental pictures they had in their heads when they got there. Now that they live there, they need to comply with <I>imigrasi</I> and maintain a valid residency permit and working visa and, perhaps even more importantly, work in with the local <I>banjar</I> (village community) in terms of customs and offerings. The squeeze is on and as Kath and Kim might say, “I feel it in me waters” that more trouble could be brewing.
And it would appear that the hand-over from the motley bunch of Canberra-based 'owners' ,Mark, Jeremy, Anthony, David & Sharon (not that they ever owned anything as foreigners cannot own real estate in Indonesia) was not a harmonious or unanimous one as the new leaseholders have been prevented from putting their own details on the <A HREF="http://balibanjarhills.com/contact-us" target="_blog">contact webpage</A> on the pretext that the password to access the website has been lost. The new lessees have since registered their own website <A HREF="http://www.banjarhills.com" target="_blog">www.banjarhills.com</A> which may be some time in the making.
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Contact details from old website:
Phone
Australia
(+61) 4 1923 7416
(+61) 4 3988 8858
Indonesia
(+62) 8 1856 5342
KUTA Transfer / Car Hire
Kuta transfer or car hire can be organised by KETUT.
Indonesia
(+62) 8 123 947 847 KETUT
https://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Huyton/100000792765625
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-huyton-45a5283
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/100681.Jeremy_Huyton
http://www.canberra.edu.au/monitor/2008/nov/20081411_tourism
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2453639
jrhuyton@gmail.com
cassonwatson@yahoo.com
--->
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-31892775788268916282016-02-22T08:56:00.001+07:002016-03-09T12:03:42.123+07:00To Vera and Danny Hempel of Doenersdreef Zorg<P><P><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkBuorjvRr-CwFZeI51cA7Py7blH0ZzX_4w7t-1f0JvOYJREU5WgJIT6l6XdDQt7ddrNKx_rDV447aUT4RfOPWdHmgtoKG4EHxlfYVcm-foPhKTTJJ0pcM95dfL9kgRzl2u-_0Ew3nJnB/s1600/banjardutch1.jpg" target="_blog"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 700px; height: 466px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkBuorjvRr-CwFZeI51cA7Py7blH0ZzX_4w7t-1f0JvOYJREU5WgJIT6l6XdDQt7ddrNKx_rDV447aUT4RfOPWdHmgtoKG4EHxlfYVcm-foPhKTTJJ0pcM95dfL9kgRzl2u-_0Ew3nJnB/s400/banjardutch1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644980521307473394" /></a><CENTER>Vera and Danny at Lovina in 2009</CENTER><br /><br /><FONT FACE="cursive">Hello Vera and Danny,<br /><br />We met at the Banjar Hills Retreat in November 2009 and I enjoyed our walks and talks and dinners together. Ibu Made tells me that you haven't been back since, even though you used to come out from Holland every year.<br /><br />What happened? Is your work at <A HREF="http://www.doenersdreefzorg.nl/" target="_blog">Doenersdreef Zorg</A> keeping you too busy to come back to Bali?<br /><br />I've been back to Banjar Hills twice since we met. Here are some <A HREF="http://ontheroadtobali.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/walk-through-village-of-tegeha.html" target="_blog">photos of the good folks at Tegeha</A>; you may recognise some of them. <br /><br />If you read this, I hope you will <A HREF="mailto:riverbend@batemansbay.com">email</A> me.<br /><br />With kind regards</FONT><br /><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p><p>
P.S. I haven't heard from Danny again but I discovered that he hasn't been able to stay away from Banjar Hills Retreat: in 2012 he started his own retreat just a few metres down the road at <A HREF="http://www.indorumahzengarden.com/" target="_blog">Indo Rumah Zengarden</A>. Well done, Danny!
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<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-78120253776968959682016-01-12T13:35:00.000+07:002016-01-12T13:36:39.176+07:00Too Good Not to Share: The Beauty of Bali from the Sky<P>
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/150321876" width="750" height="420" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
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For more click <A HREF="http://travel.resourcemagonline.com/2016/01/the-beauty-of-bali-from-above/3989/" target="_blog">here</A>>.
<P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-78128791853990662732015-11-03T04:53:00.000+07:002015-11-03T05:24:59.711+07:00Three times and you're out!<P><P>
Bad news to all those expats who're hiding out in Bali on a 90-day tourist visa and doing their three-monthly departure-and-return routine: Bali Immigration is now strictly limiting visa-free and visa-on-arrival use by foreign visitors to just <B>TWO</B> in any 12-month period.
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In response to complaints from the Island’s tourism industry made to the Island’s House of Representatives (DPR-Bali) about illegal foreign workers, the head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration office has issued written instructions that will impact dramatically on frequent visitors to Bali.
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Yosep H.A. Renung Widodo’s decree issued to take immediate effect on October 20, 2015 stipulates that <B>visitors to Indonesia utilizing visa-on-arrival or visa-free facilities more than twice in any 12-month period will be denied entry to Indonesia.</B>
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Those wishing to visit more than twice in 12 months should obtain a visa from their nearest Indonesian embassy or Consulate beforehand.
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The decree mentions that foreigners with temporary resident permits (ITAS), permanent residency (ITAP), diplomatic visas, service visas (Visa Dinas) and multiple visit visa will remain unaffected by the new two-visit rule.
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In a general crackdown on foreign nationals working illegally in Bali, Widodo instructs that those discovered to be working illegally should be apprehended and placed on an immigration blacklist barring future visits to Indonesia.
<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357920451939627640.post-9500576220291488572015-09-19T04:26:00.001+07:002015-09-19T10:08:17.972+07:00Indonesian Visas<P><P>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX-qHUtfw-978JBtIdwQAb36hPvvVxHjIL1S087TdHxCEwQgrrqWRFgLSmem8l3Twjbm9xmzuyRwx_0m_2XbY7YYBwQHvQ-2X03bVF_6vSVEab2HnBt7tkBI4hjubcJ6mFeCblVtIwY6o/s1600/visa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX-qHUtfw-978JBtIdwQAb36hPvvVxHjIL1S087TdHxCEwQgrrqWRFgLSmem8l3Twjbm9xmzuyRwx_0m_2XbY7YYBwQHvQ-2X03bVF_6vSVEab2HnBt7tkBI4hjubcJ6mFeCblVtIwY6o/s1600/visa.jpg" width="700"/></a></div>
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While Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli has announced that Australia would be added to the list of countries on its visa-free policy by October 2015, there is still some doubt as to whether or not Australian travellers will be able to travel visa-fee free.
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Currently Australians travelling to Indonesia for 30 days or less for tourism purposes have to pay a visa on arrival fee of US$35. The sticking point to adding Australia to the list of countries entitled to a fee-free visa, is that Australia will not extend the same policy to Indonesians visiting Australia. Currently, the visa charge for Indonesians wishing to enter Australia is $130 and requires the completion of a 15-page form.
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On the issue of granting reciprocal fee-free visas, Foreign Affairs Minister, Julie Bishop said, "Australia remains committed to a universal visa regime, which requires all non-citizens to hold a valid visa to enter Australia. There is no intention to provide visa free access for any country".
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According to the Indonesian statistics bureau, Australians accounted for 12 per cent of visitors to the country in 2014, third only to Singaporeans and Malaysians.
<P><IMG SRC="http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/images/pete.gif"><p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com