there is more to follow, butthis is just a quick start.
We departed Brisbane on June 17th and flew via Melbourne to Bali with Qantas and Australian Airlines. Returned home on Monday 12 July. No problems with our flights. I think we had about 115 kilos( for 4 of us) of luggage - which included surfboards. we were not charged for excess weight.
We stayed at MBR. The first few days the hotel was about 70% full and then increased to 100 %. There was kids everywhere haveing the time of their lives. Only problem was that some were in the pool at 5.30 am when itwas still rather dark and a few people were upset by the noise. We stayed in the old suites a few down from the pool so the noise didnt bother us.
My boys went surfing most mornings- either directly in front of MBR or sometimes - depending on the tides, went to dreamland or Kuta Reef.
The surf along fron MBR to Kuta was pletiful with rips. There was a few drownings while we were there and many rescues. Sadly a balanese family had sat on the beach near Kuta for 3 days waiting for the body of their teenage son who had drowned.
MBR was still great value for money- but neeeds some maintainance. The light switches in our room were hanging out from the wall, no umbrellas near the pool, had to often wait for pool towels. And we waited for 5 hours for our boy's beds to be delivered to the room. Then we lost power 3 times- by blown fuses.My husband who is an electrician- couldnt believe the unsafe condition of the power supply boxes- he refused to change the fuse. He said there was exposed wires and live wires dangling - extremely dangerous. Any way he took a photo to show the men at work here in Aust.I suppose this is what makes it Bali.
The main pool at MBR was very cloudy- it seemed that they were having filteration problems. The pool beside the new wing was very clear and no where near as crowded.
We hired drivers from just outside the MBR- Wyan and Ketut - we met them last year. They both speak good english.We had trips to the volcano, Ulawatu, dreamland,Candi dasa- to the old village, the rice paddies and shopping in Denpsar.We also had trips to various surfing beaches. We spent 2 days at Nusa Lembogan Island- which we definitely on our agenda for a longer stay next year. It was our forst time there so we checked out a few more accomadation options. This time we stayed at Playground resort. we booked the entire upstairs floor which had three bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. We shared this with friends- another family of 4 and the cost was 500,000 rph for each night. The resort is Australian owned- and the owners stayed on the ground level. There is a plunge pool to relax in while taking in views of the ocean. The first room had 1 double and 2 single beds, room 2 had 2 singles and room 3 had a double bed. Each room had a shower and toilet. The veranda also had two bunks that could be used for beds. And the was no mozzies!
Well I gotta go to work- so staye tuned and i will continue in the near future. Hope i didnt bore you too much. I miss Bali.
cya soon