We grab our books and head for the pool in the rice fields...it's such an idyllic setting, peaceful and quiet, not yet too hot to enjoy lazing about in the lush surrounds of Bhanuswari Resort in Ubud.
We're surrounded by emerald green rice shoots in straight rows standing like soldiers in fields of water sparkling brilliantly from the early morning sun reflecting off the surface.
Settling onto our banana lounges under the generous umbrella, we open our books and chat idly until something triggers us off and we giggle like a couple of school girls, laughing about my suggestions that there might be a huge snake lurking in the water when in fact it's the reflection of coloured tiles on the bottom of the pool giving the impression of a giant serpent. Such was the frivolity of the day.
A couple of other guests meander along and settle into their recliners, books in hand. If they were thinking they had come for a quiet and peaceful read they were mistaken as once again we got the giggles and had trouble containing ourselves.
Eventually got ourselves together, gathered our bits and pieces and headed back to our room as it was almost time for our spa appointments.
A quick spruce up, change of clothes and although we were early we decided to head down to the spa. What a glorious sight it was inside, two rooms open to the elements on two sides, sunken white baths with floating hibiscus flowers awaited those who would opt for the flower petal treatment. Sheer luxury I thought to myself.
We just smile at each other and settle in the comfy chairs to await the girls arrival for our treatments.
Sandy chooses her nail colour and discusses the artistry for her nails and lays down for her session of pampering.
Me, I choose the flower facial and my girl gets to work on my treatment. Smooth cream is applied and gently wiped off, another more gritty creme is applied, a vigorous facial massage ensues, my mind and body are becoming more and more relaxed as she works her magic...this concoction is removed with warm soft cloths, next a mask is applied heavily to my face and content with her work, my girl gently places flower petals on my closed eyes.
Soft rhythmical Balinese music is playing in the background, birds are chirping about the grounds and so it's a restful space that I find myself in. I take a deep breath and breathe out fully....oh what bliss I think as I sigh and settle myself for the next hour or so of pampering.
The only distraction in that moment was from the sound of what I thought was the overhead fan being turned on as I heard a vibration not unlike when a ceiling fan starts off and it's a little unbalanced.. no worries I think to myself, it'll settle in a moment and I let go of that thought at once...
But the vibration gets stronger and my impulses are on alert, I'm not sure what came next, the realisation that the whole building was shaking and that pesky fan was so out of whack that the whole floor seemed to be shuddering, just at that moment I was aware that the two spa girls were chattering loudly and quite excitedly and then I felt sure that fan was going to come right of it's axis and I didn't want to be laying there under it when it did!
I sat up and pulled those flower petals off in a bit of a panic, just in time to see the whole structure of the building swaying and the girls beckoning wildly for us to follow them and so we all ran outside.....oh my God, this was a damn earthquake and we were right in it!!!
My masseur was still holding onto my arm with a grip that was so strong, matched only by the strength of the words she was repeating over and over, so loudly and so fervently, prayers obviously.
I recall during this rapid chain of events, looking across at my friend and I will never forget the look of fear I saw in her eyes. This was really scary and I became aware too of feeling my own terror as I really was shaking like a leaf from fright as this had happened so unexpectedly.
So much was happening all at once, I was desperately trying to process where I should be, the earth was moving and I didn't know if the ground where we were standing was going to open up and we'd all fall into a giant crevice....thoughts of Japan and Christchurch flashed through my mind adding to my fear and vulnerability.
As I glanced up I saw the roof of the building flapping up and down and I felt the earth under my feet rising and falling...oh crap I thought, this is serious!!! I desperately tried to process where I should be, should I run over there, should I stay where I am, do I want to stay with the girls holding so tightly onto my arm....what? where? how and why???
I knew standing next to the building wasn't the brightest option but what to do? ..... in some way I felt frozen to the spot, waiting, waiting for what?.... all these thoughts were simultaneously rushing through my mind, all seeming to roll into one string of rapidly alternating processes.
And then somewhere in the distance I heard male voices and one of the spa girls announced 'finisssed' signifying the tremor was over.
A discussion took place between us all in fractured English about Bali having earthquakes before and not for some years had this happened in recent times. Oh great, was this supposed to instil calmness and relief? It was going to take a bit more than that to quell my anxiety as the adrenalin was still surging through my body.
Later my friend seemed a little cranky that I had asked so many questions once we had settled down a bit... part of my being able to come to terms with it all meant that I needed to know how often this happened in Bali, when was the last time etc as this would help me to determine the level of danger and the likelihood of further tremors.
Of course I couldn't see my own face and only later did my friend laugh many times over recalling how she looked across at me during the quake when we were all holding hands and being prayed over...actually I was praying too as I'm sure my friend was..... and wondered if the colour had drained from my face in shock only to quickly realise that it was the white clay mask caked on my face with only my eyes uncovered....sheesh I thought to myself, what if I'd been swallowed up in a giant crevice, what a horrible sight my kids would have identified me with this skeletal white face.....it's amazing what non sensical thoughts race through your mind when in a traumatic situation like this.
In Queensland I know what to do in the event of a cyclone and from having worked so many times in community recovery after disasters that comes as second nature but I didn't have any idea and was totally unprepared for what to do in the event of an earthquake.
Strangely, once all of the excitement had settled down we all just went back inside and resumed our facial and manicures, no workplace health and safety checks here....so siree.....we chatted a little and mostly laughed as we recalled the series of events as the reality dawned on each one of us in that moment when we realised that we were in the midst of an earthquake, even the girls with their limited English seemed to understand and laughed with us.
It did however take me quite a while to relax, despite the facial being resumed and the music turned back on...I struggled to feel any semblance of that tranquility I was experiencing prior to the tremor. I was still on alert, the tension was not peaking but certainly still rated quite highly....my deep breathing and visualization techniques needed extra effort on that day.
Later when we returned to the reception area we learned from the internet that a 6.8 magnitude earthquake had hit underwater 143 klms sth west of Nusa Dua.
With my limited knowledge of earthquakes, I instinctively felt that the reading would have been around a 5 where we were and this was later confirmed by one of the locals. I have no way of knowing and regardless of what the reading was, it was strong and it was very frightening and I certainly hope I don't ever experience that again in my lifetime.
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