Noodles, Nits and Knitting

Indonesian cooking relies on two main staple food items – rice and noodles and we had already spent several days visiting rice paddies and rice terraces and had taken numerous photographs. However we were very fortunate on our last day to be invited to a small noodle farm owned by the family of the young man Sandra had befriended the day before. High in the mountains, where it is slightly cooler, the noodle bushes thrive and we were able to witness the noodle harvest which is carried out by the women of the village assisted by the children and the occasional ineffectual tourist (see photo!) When all the noodles are harvested a meal of Mie Goreng, a noodle based dish, is prepared for the workers and I must say the freshly picked noodles are particularly delicious.

Our time in Bali was superb however all good things come to an end and nightfall saw us on the way to the airport for the 10.55pm flight back to Darwin which gets in at 3 am – not the best of times for a flight. However, in true Douglas Walkabout style, it was not long before the wheels started to come off the wagon. Firstly the queues at the airport in Denpasar were horrendous particularly getting through immigration. Looking on the bright side this did mean that Sandra’s shopping time was drastically curtailed leaving only time for a quick dash to Duty Free to pick up a couple of litres of gin (which is very expensive in Oz) Horror of horrors – with the gin in my hands along with my credit card and boarding pass – they refused to sell it to us, saying it was against the regulations of the airline!! What nonsense – but beware if you are flying from Bali to Darwin by JetStar.

An uneventful two and a half hour flight lulled us into a false sense of security as I filled in the “Nothing to Declare” box on the entry to Australia document. Australia is very strict about bugs and diseases getting into the country and, as well as the usual contraband, the customs officials are on the lookout for any vegetable or animal matter including just about every item brought back from Bali as souvenirs by unwitting tourists. At the last minute Sandra luckily decided to change her plea to guilty and admitted to having one or two (!!!) wooden things in her luggage and then proceeded to fill the counter with a range of items I had never seen before – she had been shopping on the quiet – I should have known.

The customs officer (there were about 15 on duty at 3.30 am – a bit over the top) wearing rubber gloves proceeded to inspect the haul. The process mainly involved tapping the items on the stainless steel counter and checking to see if any livestock dropped out. We had watched in fascination as people in front of us had items confiscated as all manner of insects dropped out of the souvenirs intended for loved ones. At last it was our turn and as Sandra’s booty was tapped on the counter we held our breath and looked for bugs – but luckily we got a clean bill of health – or so we thought. The next bit is disgusting and those of you of a nervous disposition or queasy stomach should perhaps skip a paragraph.

As we were packing everything back into the bags I did something I had been explicitly warned not to do with a Customs Officer – I cracked a joke. As Sandra was bending over her suitcase to re-pack I noticed she was wearing a straw hat and I said something along the lines of “Well dear we got away with that – you didn’t get your hat checked” It was deliberately loud enough for the Customs Officer to hear – but it was a just joke - honestly. Sandra’s hat was then seized for inspection and was tapped on the counter in the same manner as before. However, as everything else had passed inspection, we expected the same of the hat – but no! Sandra watched with ever mounting horror as small beasties, which were never actually identified, fell from her hat, which was immediately impounded by the somewhat smugly self-satisfied customs official. She went home to Humpty Doo hatless and mortified with me continuing to crack jokes about nit-combs etc.

Arriving home at 5am on Saturday we had a few hours kip before starting to organise for Sandra’s big day on Sunday when she was setting up a stall at “Craft Fair by the Sea” at Darwin Museum – the first big test of public opinion towards her various handmade items. Her main product is sunhat embellishments made from coloured copper wire knitted when we are driving and decorated with items picked on our travels. Other object d'art, all based on knitted wire, include cards and necklaces (see photos)

The day was a qualified success, many lessons were learned and she made a grand total of $255. However the big one comes on Thursday – her application to the much larger and better known Mindil Market was successful and she has been working frantically today to build up stock – and I thought we were here for a holiday!