Wow, have a look at this photographer’s web site: http://www.andyyeungphotography.com/Portfolio/  Click on Slideshow for a spectacular set of images. He obviously jealously guards his pics so I dare not show too much here.

He’s Hong Kong based and has a new viewpoint to show, especially using a drone for those HK tower shots.

I’m pleased to say that I’ve been to many of the places he’s photographed. I’m finding travel pretty hard now, though, and my right hip is really hampering me at the moment. I can’t walk like I used to.

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Unfortunately I’ve discovered the first drawback to this room: a hard bed. I can’t sleep and the bed is making me toss and turn. At 2.30am I’ve got up and dropped the aircon temp from 27º to 25º and I’ll try again soon.

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I’ve made no secret of my left wing political views. I despise the Liberal Party and all who sail in her. All they know how to do is to destroy, to dismantle, to waste the opportunities that government gives them. The NBN is the latest example. Labor saw that as a nation building program to give the entire country a world class fibre optic network operating at 100Mb/s and as future proof as possible in such a rapidly developing field.

But bloody Malcolm Turnbull set in to criticise it, to try to set himself up as an expert who knew better, telling us he would save time and money. Has he? He has not. The system he has imposed is massively inferior, well below world standard, anything but future proof, will cost just as much and take just as long. He has wrecked the nation building plan.

What’s brought this diatribe on? An article in the Saturday Paper on John Howard’s years.

“… when you talk to public policy experts, the picture that emerges is one of a rather inert government that had a very thin record of reform, that left Australia more divided, that entrenched privilege and inequality, and that left the political and economic landscape littered with mines primed to blow up under successor governments.”

“They [the Howard government] had three things going for them,” says Jeff Borland, professor of economics and labour market expert at the University of Melbourne.

“First, the continuing benefit of the economic reforms of the Hawke–Keating years. Second was a Reserve Bank which by the ’90s had a clear understanding of the workings of the economy and had, in Ian Macfarlane, an outstanding governor. Third, they had favourable economic conditions.”

Aside from introducing the GST, Borland says, they did little in the way of positive reform. [The Saturday Paper, 5 March, Mike Seccombe]

It was yet another period of wasted years, as happened under Malcolm Fraser. Do-nothing years. That’s the pattern: Labor governments build, introduce major reforms, inspire with new ideas, bring the country with them. Liberal governments do the opposite, tear down the reforms, sabotage the ideas, divide the country.

“Howard, [Hugh McKay] says, exploited groups such as refugees for political advantage. Howard was the man who refused to apologise to the Indigenous Stolen Generations. His was the government that changed the Marriage Act to stipulate that it had to be between a man and a woman. He was the one who fostered the intolerant religious right within politics. He drove out moderate forces.

“He left us a meaner society than we were, much less committed to egalitarianism and to our moral obligations,” says Mackay.

It’s happening again now. John Howard was an out and out racist. The way he banned his party people from taking part in the Stolen Generations March and refused to make an apology was despicable. He said it would cause legal problems. Well, the Labor government made the apology, there were no problems and nothing but good will. This government has divided the country once again. Oh, what a waste of breath.

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I’ve realised that this hotel is one of the three stops for the Kura-Kura bus in Sanur. It has its terminus at Mal Bali Galeria in Kuta and stops at the top of the Jalan Bypass, then the Oasis Lagoon Hotel next to Hardy’s, then here, then back to Galeria. Ideal for me. I’ll buy a season ticket tomorrow (today), I think.

Google translate tells me kura means spleen, but kura-kura means turtle. And they say English is illogical 🙂

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I watched another movie last night – Carol. It was another superb performance by Cate Blanchette, but apart from that I was bored stiff. If you like a love story between two women, go for it, but I could hardly finish it.

The best bit was right in the very last seconds, though. The young bird tries to get back with Carol but Carol isn’t giving her a second chance. You had your chance, baby, so that’s it. Magical look from Cate Blanchette.

Then it went into the bin.

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 9.30am: Yeah, another bad night. Fall asleep easily, wake two hours later and that’s it. I feel knackered now, although I’ve had a very nice swim. I had the pool to myself and did about a dozen laps of water walking. It’s 1,6m constant depth all the way, and about 25m long.

This is a very nice hotel, one of the best I’ve ever stayed in, I think. The size of the room means you don’t feel cramped, the sliding doors open onto the patio, which itself is quite large. There are green palms all around the patio. Not so big as to feel impersonal, but big enough to have all the modern touches. I’ll definitely stay here again. The hard bed is the only minus point so far.

Oh, and tiny, tiny bugs (?) or midgies that bite. Not too bad.

Red dragonfly     (C) PJ Croft 2016

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