The rains have arrived.

Although Jakarta has suffered from flooding etc in the past week we have been left to bake under the unforgiving tropical sun like some forgotten sausage on a BBQ. Not today. It is dark like dusk and the rain has been teeming for the past hour. I was beginning to htink the movies were all wrong. Wasn't it Forrest Gump, while he was in Vietnam that had the scene where it started to rain one day and just kept raining for 3 months and then stopped. Perhaps I shouldn't use films for educational content.

I started a blog the other morning so here it is, no use wasting these words. Seeing as I hardly write anymore. I know, I know, slack bugger aren't I.

Been researching the fesability of getting a tad greener. It troubles me sitting in paradise that we are still part of the problem.

Just been looking at a friends website, lets call him John and for the sake of this post lets call his wife Sussy.

So John and Sussy have started up a permaculture farm in teh south west of West Australia. It is there aim to become a repository oif information on it as well as a training centre. I know John has already undertaken serveral (being more than one) courses on the subject as far a field as Holland.

I Love the idea of a permaculture farm and if indeed they become the font of all things in this area, which I have no doubt of course, we will visit their site often to see if we can not take up some of these practises.

For the last two days I have been researching solar panels to at least take my office off the grid. Electricity is one of the big expenses here and if I could half the bill, so save 500 000RP a month which is 6 mill a year or a couple of hundred shy of a grand. I am certain I could pay for siad panels in about 3 years. Thats a plan isn't it!

What is aparent to me, whether it be permaculture or solar power, thermal aircon etc.. all of these are the type of things that needs to be taught to the people here.Hell we should all be learning to tred a little lighter on this fragile orb.

We were in discussions with this guy who has a solar water purifier from SA that we are looking at bringing up here. If we could cure a few cases of Bali Belly a lot of people would be happier. I for one, and Maxi, when he wakes would surely second it. Gabi and Damien, although I am not so sure it was that what they had, would welcome anything that helped in them not spending the last 3 days in bed.

Maxi is laying on the couch opposite me, his belly has had him dancing from the bed to the bowl all night and he is listing in an uneasy slumber. I am on the other couch, one foot on the coffee table, laptop splayed across my lap drinking my morning coffee to the sounds of the cockerels which seem to be completely surrounding the house and thereby giving us this weird THX surround sound. The only other noise is the rumble of the waves as they crash in the shore dump at our local beach. There are punctuations of low CC motorbikes every now and then but not many, it’s still early.

Gabi & Oscar have just left. Oscar starts school at 8 and Gabi starts her school at 8.30.

Although she only complains about the amount of vocab she has to learn, I know she is enjoying her time at the school and the whole process of learning Indonesian. I am unable to dedicate the time needed to make a go of it, due to my work commitments but I am thinking of doing it in April or May. Plenty of time. The good thing I am absorbing a lot ot the words now from Gabi, although I do not know how to use them they will make the process easier later I am sure. She has met some people which is a very good thing, from them I hope she finds a friend. One good friend would be great as we all know they are as rare as hens teeth.

So it is time to wander down the yard and into the shed (AKA Guest house) where I have my computers set up. My brother is in there and needs to be awakened. I need to get some work out, as does he!

Funnily enough just after I wrote this The pool down the yard erupted as he dove in. He’s up! Which is good, his turn to make the Latte’s.