Hi - hope you're all ok! We're feeling a bit jittery after experiencing an earthquake (measuring 5 on the richter scale in Lombok, 6 in Bali) early this morning! Leala said it felt like a giant shaking the bungalow from side to side. We all huddled together in the dark (the electricity went out) with small bits of dust and debris falling on our heads...very scary. Paul tried his best to reassure the kids whilst I was thinking "bloody hell, our numbers up!" Nobody hurt and in the morning light, everything seemed ok...just cracked walls and broken glass as memories.

We're in Indonesia at the moment on some little islands (Gili Islands) off the north of Lombok. We spent Christmas on Bali with Christmas buffet dinner in a nearby 5 star hotel (costing 10 pounds for adults - all you could eat!) with a visit from Santa. A real "Brits abroad day" but it had to be done for the children of course!

Must admit, Bali wasn't quite the paradise we expected, mind you we stayed in Kuta which is the main tourist area and site of the Bali bombing. The hassle in the town is unbelievable - you honestly can't walk 20 metres without somebody trying to sell you something and a no thanks does not suffice. Obviously tourism has been affected , people have lost their jobs. There is obvious contempt for Westerners, mind you not surprising, as Kuta is the equiviliant of Ibiza for the Austrailians.

We decided to head for Lombok for New Year. Lombok is an amazing place, apparently one of the poorest of the Indonesian islands and it shows. it's been a real eye opener for us and the children. We hired a car and drove around the island, very few signs of tourism. Most of the people outside of the city live in bamboo huts in villages with a well for water. Life looks very very hard. Lots of people earn their living on the rice paddies and the ploughs are driven by oxen. Horse and carts seem to be the main form of transport between villages and towns. Petrol is sold in glass jars by the side of the road in 5 litre bottles. Paul stopped and asked for 20 litres and there was great hilarity amongst the locals. People are too poor to fill up their vehicles if they own one, so a request to top up the tank was seen as crazy!

Whilst driving around the villages, we saw that some of the children have Osama Bin Laden and Saddam t-shirts, but they still wave at us with great gusto as we drive by. The response from adults is mixed, some wave and smile, others stare with contempt.

Our next journey is onto Java (Yogyakarta) we fly from Lombok on the 7th January, 2004. Not sure what we'll find there, but we'll see.

The internet access here is very expensive and not widely available, so excuse the round robin email again. Mum and Lei - thanks for the text messages on New year, we received them, but couldn't reply! Technical hiccups! We've also got a website now if you're interested...due to Paul's hard efforts...

http//twftravels.freewebpage.org

you don't need to type in www.

Anyway, missing you all, but having great fun!

Jill, Paul, Leala and Benxxxx