Alarming spate of poisonings, drownings spurs Bali travel warning
Travel authorities have issued a new warning for Australia’s favourite travel destination amid a spate of alarming and sometimes deadly incidents.
After reviewing its advice for Indonesia, the federal government’s Smartraveller website said it continued to advise visitors to “exercise a high degree of caution” – but it added an extra warning.
“Australians have drowned in coastal areas, due to rough seas and strong rip currents at popular tourist beaches including in Bali,” the website said.
“Many beaches are unpatrolled.”
In December last year, Adelaide newlywed Jacob Vennix, 32, was swept out to sea and died while honeymooning in Bali.
In January, three-year-old Sydney girl Janaa Al Easawi was found unconscious in a swimming pool at her parent’s Seminyak villa.
“Australia has strict pool safety legislation. Other countries may not be as strict. Private villas, hotels and resort pools often don’t have safety fencing,” Smartraveller said.
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In other incidents, 39-year-old Melbourne woman Anna Maree Blight died when a large wave capsized the snorkelling tour boat she was on near the Island of Nusa Penida in March.
Two other Australians also on the boat suffered severe burn injuries.
Just last week, 23-year-old FIFO worker Byron Haddow was found dead in Bali. His grieving parents are mystified about the Sunshine Coast man’s death.
“We are still chasing answers as to how our fit healthy 23 yr old son wound up dead in his private villa,” his mother Chantal posted on Facebook.
“No it wasn’t a scooter accident! No it wasn’t his first time in Bali either!”
Friday’s Smartraveller update also warned holidaymakers about the potential for drinks to “be spiked or mixed with toxic substances”.
“Be alert to the potential risks around drink-spiking and methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks,” it read.
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“Cases of methanol poisoning in drinks have previously been reported in Indonesia, including in Bali and Lombok.”
Melbourne teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles died from methanol poisoning late last year after drinking vodka shots in a hostel in Laos.
Fiji, meanwhile, has reopened a probe into a December incident in which seven people, including four Australians, fell ill after consuming drinks at the five-star Warwick Resort on Fiji’s Coral Coast.
The Fiji government initially denied any methanol or other “illicit substances” were involved. But last week Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said he believed he might “have not been told the whole truth” about the toxic drinks.
Smartraveller also warned holiday-makers escaping Australia’s early-winter chill for sun-soaked days on Bali or Lombok to be sure their passports were in good condition.
“Indonesian authorities have strict standards for damaged passports, and travellers have been refused entry into Indonesia with a damaged passport,” it warned.
“Water damage, minor tears or rips to the pages can be considered damaged.”
Last year, Australian traveller Sam Ferres said Virgin Australia staff had stopped him and his partner Brooke from boarding a flight from the Gold Coast to Bali because of a coffee stain on one page of her passport.
“Virgin Australia decided that this microscopic coffee stain on Brooke’s passport made it ‘unreadable’ and denied us boarding our flight to Bali,” Ferres said in a Facebook post.
The couple rebooked with Jetstar and made it to Bali, entering Indonesia without issue.
“We self-check in three seconds and go to the gate without interacting with a single human. We go to the gate and board our flight with no hassle,” Ferres said.
However, Smartraveller says even normal passport wear and tear can be problematic for unwary travellers.
More details here.
