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Haley Lauren Smith

Haley Lauren Smith

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Category: Bali

Posted on December 15, 2016December 29, 2017

Wanderlust: Bali, enlightenment in Ubud

Before I left Australia my mum told me about this place called Ubud where musicians and writers hang out to be inspired, create and relax. Away from the party culture of tourists and muppets travelling to Bali. As usual mother's know best and she wasn't wrong. Ubud is an incredible place to visit, buzzing with …

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Posted on January 5, 2016December 29, 2017

Wanderlust: Bali. Canguu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucA0iT7LwhU I'm sitting here in Canggu, Bali. It's 31°c with a cool breeze and nature is breathing around me. I can hear construction in the distance, scooters going faster than they should and chickens crowing. I'm at a place called The Farm, yes the farm. It makes me giggle because I grew up on a …

Continue reading "Wanderlust: Bali. Canguu."

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Your jawline has more structure then my life.
I went to Indonesia and explored the islands this trip. And I noticed more than ever how much plastic has polluted every corner of these places. It's just fucked. You can't enjoy the beach or natural environment because it's just everywhere, like a fucking disease. We went walking, scootering, snorkeling, swimming, surfing and it was everywhere. It's a bigger problem then lack of education and lack of recycling implementation. The Balinese are very, very aware of how bad it is.. it's a collection of things like billion dollar companies selling cheap consumer goods wrapped in layers of plastic and stuffed like a Christmas Turkey full of salt to people who can't afford any better 🦃 It's the fact that there is NO CLEAN DRINKING WATER and therefore every single drop of water comes in a plastic bottle or sealed cup. Why no neighbouring country has offered to fix that problem is beyond me. Maybe I should with all my millions? 😂 But seriously this trip to the islands was eye-opening in so many ways, I thought Canguu was swollen with plastic when I lived there for a month. Majority go here for a holiday to sit in a resort and drink cocktails and Bintangs but fail to see the impoverished state of living that the locals experience and how that poverty is exploited and capitalised. After what I've seen I absolutely believe the famous statistic of "by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean then fish" 🐟🐠🐡 #plasticocean #plasticwaste #baliplastic #indonesiaplastic #plasticisland #plasticisforever #plasticfreeoceans
📝🌏Yesterday we went to visit a very beautiful and very popular beach. A short visit turned into a 4 hour stay because a girl dislocated her knee BADLY in the surf. Luckily Mark is always, always prepared and bought a simple first aid kit along. He was able to compress her leg and make a splint out of two thin pieces of bamboo to keep her leg straight. We met other people who were equally concerned and we started working together as a team. Some tried to call an emergency helicopter but in a third world country there is just no such thing as instant response. The best we could do was wait until the Balinese made a stretcher out of bamboo and rope and these amazing men were going to carry her from the beach you see down below right to the top of the cliff. Mark raced up top to make sure an ambulance was coming with a phone and his little Indonesian handbook to try and speak to the locals. He tried to call emergency to see if any helicopters could come, but they are very expensive, $5,500, and by that time she was being carried up in the stretcher. Meanwhile on the beach, we strapped her into the handmade stretcher with the rest of the bandages, making sure her leg was securely strapped to the bomboo stretcher to avoid movement and then 11 Balinese men lifted her up the cliff while she closed her eyes and wore sunglasses to limit her vision. Some of the cliff face was completely vertical and you had to basically rock climb to get up and these men were able to lift a body up, it was incredible. At the top everyone cheered, clapped and hugged each other that we had done it. We discouraged photos as much as possible, it was a sensitive situation and taking photos was not the time of place. She had a long journey to go back to mainland Bali. A bumpy car ride, two intense boat rides over lumpy waves and then a drive to the hospital. The team decided to sit down and drink some much needed water and Bintangs with the Balinese men and we talked about the situation extensively, before finally introducing ourselves and scootering together to Angel Billabong for the remainder of the day. 📝🌏 📸 @escapadian
When I left yorkes I felt so lost. I was a country kid and my parents have never been outside South Australia. So naturally I never left South Australia. The biggest trip we ever did was to Adelaide for the Royal Show. 🎇 I left the farm when I was 18 (much to my parents disagreement) and went and studied acting and creative writing at Flinders University. I thought Adelaide was the "big" place.. but I felt small and insignificant. I hated where I lived and who I lived with. I didn't feel comfortable in my own space and I didn't know who I was, my whole identity lost. I couldn't transition from country girl to city girl. 👩‍🌾 I moved 8 times, each had its own challenges, I changed degrees 3 times, I dropped out of uni and travelled, I went back to uni and forced myself to finish. Nothing felt like home. I went back to Yorkes months at a time. And then I met Mark and everything changed. I feel like I have a home, I'm on the GC living in a beautiful place, sandy toes everyday and feeling inspired to take on the aspirations I was always too afraid to follow. ❤️
Bali beaches ☀️ rubbish, sand, clear blue water. Plastic. Plastic. Plastic. 🌊
In lieu of my last post. Don't forget to laugh when everything gets crazy. I've had the most mentally challenging three months but I've only got another 53 or so years left if I'm lucky, so when everything gets quiet, you gotta have fun.

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Your jawline has more structure then my life.
I went to Indonesia and explored the islands this trip. And I noticed more than ever how much plastic has polluted every corner of these places. It's just fucked. You can't enjoy the beach or natural environment because it's just everywhere, like a fucking disease. We went walking, scootering, snorkeling, swimming, surfing and it was everywhere. It's a bigger problem then lack of education and lack of recycling implementation. The Balinese are very, very aware of how bad it is.. it's a collection of things like billion dollar companies selling cheap consumer goods wrapped in layers of plastic and stuffed like a Christmas Turkey full of salt to people who can't afford any better 🦃 It's the fact that there is NO CLEAN DRINKING WATER and therefore every single drop of water comes in a plastic bottle or sealed cup. Why no neighbouring country has offered to fix that problem is beyond me. Maybe I should with all my millions? 😂 But seriously this trip to the islands was eye-opening in so many ways, I thought Canguu was swollen with plastic when I lived there for a month. Majority go here for a holiday to sit in a resort and drink cocktails and Bintangs but fail to see the impoverished state of living that the locals experience and how that poverty is exploited and capitalised. After what I've seen I absolutely believe the famous statistic of "by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean then fish" 🐟🐠🐡 #plasticocean #plasticwaste #baliplastic #indonesiaplastic #plasticisland #plasticisforever #plasticfreeoceans
📝🌏Yesterday we went to visit a very beautiful and very popular beach. A short visit turned into a 4 hour stay because a girl dislocated her knee BADLY in the surf. Luckily Mark is always, always prepared and bought a simple first aid kit along. He was able to compress her leg and make a splint out of two thin pieces of bamboo to keep her leg straight. We met other people who were equally concerned and we started working together as a team. Some tried to call an emergency helicopter but in a third world country there is just no such thing as instant response. The best we could do was wait until the Balinese made a stretcher out of bamboo and rope and these amazing men were going to carry her from the beach you see down below right to the top of the cliff. Mark raced up top to make sure an ambulance was coming with a phone and his little Indonesian handbook to try and speak to the locals. He tried to call emergency to see if any helicopters could come, but they are very expensive, $5,500, and by that time she was being carried up in the stretcher. Meanwhile on the beach, we strapped her into the handmade stretcher with the rest of the bandages, making sure her leg was securely strapped to the bomboo stretcher to avoid movement and then 11 Balinese men lifted her up the cliff while she closed her eyes and wore sunglasses to limit her vision. Some of the cliff face was completely vertical and you had to basically rock climb to get up and these men were able to lift a body up, it was incredible. At the top everyone cheered, clapped and hugged each other that we had done it. We discouraged photos as much as possible, it was a sensitive situation and taking photos was not the time of place. She had a long journey to go back to mainland Bali. A bumpy car ride, two intense boat rides over lumpy waves and then a drive to the hospital. The team decided to sit down and drink some much needed water and Bintangs with the Balinese men and we talked about the situation extensively, before finally introducing ourselves and scootering together to Angel Billabong for the remainder of the day. 📝🌏 📸 @escapadian
When I left yorkes I felt so lost. I was a country kid and my parents have never been outside South Australia. So naturally I never left South Australia. The biggest trip we ever did was to Adelaide for the Royal Show. 🎇 I left the farm when I was 18 (much to my parents disagreement) and went and studied acting and creative writing at Flinders University. I thought Adelaide was the "big" place.. but I felt small and insignificant. I hated where I lived and who I lived with. I didn't feel comfortable in my own space and I didn't know who I was, my whole identity lost. I couldn't transition from country girl to city girl. 👩‍🌾 I moved 8 times, each had its own challenges, I changed degrees 3 times, I dropped out of uni and travelled, I went back to uni and forced myself to finish. Nothing felt like home. I went back to Yorkes months at a time. And then I met Mark and everything changed. I feel like I have a home, I'm on the GC living in a beautiful place, sandy toes everyday and feeling inspired to take on the aspirations I was always too afraid to follow. ❤️

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