It is so wonderful to be in Bali in the sunshine when there is a balmy breeze blowing and the waves are breaking gently on the shore (but strong enough to surf on of course!). But hold on, not every day is like that and – guess what – nature is still completely out of our control!
Bali is still under threat from the danger of its sacred mountain Agung erupting . In The last few days it has been rumbling and blowing smoke and ash but not a cataclysmic eruption, so far, and we pray it will not happen. Even if it does really blow its top it’s unlikely to cause as much widespread damage as the horrendous hurricanes that have devastated the Caribbean in recent weeks, but it may still disturb and disrupt life in Bali for months with cancelled flights and people too concerned to travel (or unable to get travel insurance).
Never mind the equally disruptive chaos it causes to those villages within the potential area of lava flow where the villagers either risk life and limb or are forced to sit in shelters for months while their crops rot in the fields. This has already happened over the last few weeks of the “warning period”. It certainly serves to remind us that we are just powerless pawns on the chessboard of nature.
We swim in seas that can sweep us away in an undertow in a second, we raft in rivers that can terrify us with a flash flood, we dive in waters where danger can lurk around every corner. We must respect nature and take care of ourselves at every turn. Please do not do anything foolish while you are here on holiday (and that includes being silly on motorbikes) there is enough to be wary of in nature .
But volcanoes, tsunamis, floods and hurricanes cannot be controlled and we can only batten down the hatches and ride them out. Of course I hope nothing like this will happen during your holiday!
But what will happen is you will be rained on! It is what used to be romantically called “monsoon” season and inevitably by mid-afternoon the rains will come and spoil your day – if you let them! So just remember it could be much worse, so grab a nice drink, a good book, a comfy chair and enjoy it. Mother Nature is in charge, there is nothing you can do.
Alistair G. Speirs, OBE
