Well that was all a bit embarrassing, after all the weeping, wailing and angst I put Mr Brett through – I freaking loved turning 50.  I did say to myself the next day – what was all the fuss about?

I do think my very clever friend Anne did put it best when she sent me these very wise words

Totally know what you mean. I think it might be a hangover from our 13 year old selves who mentally divided people into four categories;
0-25 = young
25-50 = middle-aged
50-75 = old
75+ = dead

I had definitely put myself into the old – closer to dead than anything else category, and that really was a bit silly.  Or was it?  Because after all Mr Brett did take pity on (wanted to be as far away as possible) from my weeping, wailing and angst and did send me to the most amazing place. Escape Haven in Canguu, Bali.

Instead of worrying about the big 50 I got to

• eat amazing food
• fall over countless times into waves
• not learn to surf – sniffle
• do some fantastic yoga
• fall over doing fantastic yoga – bit of a theme there.
• drink Bloody Cold Bintangs
• learn another language (Australian – where did you think I got the Bintang request from)
• see another country and culture completely different to anything I had ever experienced – no I don’t just mean the Aussies
• make some lovely and special (in a good way) friends
• swim in the Indian Ocean
• play with balloons and eat cake
• gain an appreciation for footpaths and good drainage
• see the prison, where Sharpelle had been incarcerated.  The Aussie girls keep pointing it out to me – did they have their suspicions?

I really loved my time in Bali, but I will completely honest I loved it because I was in a bubble of calm and luxury.  Out on the streets it was pretty raw and full on.  It took ages to get anywhere because the roads are so narrow and crowded.  You have got people at you the whole time looking to make a dollar, and who can blame them – that is how they survive.  There are soldiers and security and police carrying huge as guns, checking every car that goes into a hotel or major resort for bombs.

And yet you would come across magical moments like a blessing at a temple on a street corner.  As I have mentioned before Bali is a real mixture of the spiritual and the material.

I know I am extremely lucky to get the opportunity to have the “Escape Haven” Bali experience.  So in honour of that, I will try to keep eating amazing food, try new experiences where I may get to fall over, eat cake, drink cold beers, hang out with lovely and special people and be appreciative every day of a well constructed footpath – it is the least I can do.