JBR - First Timers


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Posted by Razz12 on Thursday, 11. November 2004 at 08:04 Bali Time:

Hi Everyone! I thought I would share my JBR with you all, as I got such great info from everyone reading this forum.

Well my bf & I (23 years old) left Melbourne for Bali on October 27th at an 11.15am flying with Air Paradise. The flight was fantastic & I could not fault Air Paradise one bit, they were great! We landed in Bali at about 3.00pm and boy did the heat hit us (especially after leaving such a rainy wet cold day in Melbourne) We got through all the visa stuff quite quickly & were on our way to the first place we were staying at - The Bali Niksoma! Anyone who is thinking of staying here or is booked to stay there, it is a beautiful resort!!! We absolutely loved it & couldn't speak anymore highly of it! The resort & rooms were very nice & clean (we stayed in a deluxe room) The staff were really friendly & helpful. The pools were beautiful - 2 massive split level swimming pools & the breakfast was really yummy!!

The 2nd place we stayed at for the last 4 nights (thanks to a prize I won with the Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne which included airfares for two & 4 nights in a villa) was called "The Villas" which was situated in Seminyak. Well these villas were fantastic! We got upgraded to a 2-bedroom villa, it was really beautiful, not to mention having our very own swimming pool!!

As this was our first time in Bali we didn't really know what to do or what to start with! Our first day or so we just walked around and explored & just swam in the pool - it was so hot! We started abit of shopping after a few days & didn't stop until the day we left to come home!! We bought lots of things, fake watches, perfume, necklaces, singlets, shorts, sunnies etc! We bought a heap of DVD's & CD's which all of them so far have been great quality, so we are very happy!!!

Our first tour we went on was on the Bali Hai Reef Cruise. It was great fun! Although quite a lot of people got sea-sick, I just got sunburnt!! whoops! We got a tour of one of the islands that people live on - it was quite an eye opener really. My bf even got to climb a coconut tree!! It's amazing to see how different peoples life is compared to your own. That cruise went for the whole day & we really enjoyed ourselves, we went snorkelling, and went down the waterslide a few times as well as had a yummy lunch! Got back at about 4.30pm!

We went to Waterbomb Park and had a ball! It's a great place for families and anyone who enjoys that type of thing! One of the slides I nearly lost my bathers though - just a warning! I think it was called "smash down"

We also did water-sports at Nusa Dua, that was great fun!!! We went on the Jet-Skiis, Banana Boats, and also went Parasailing, which was pretty scary, but alot of fun!!!

White Water Rafting was abit of an experience!!! Actually, it was quite scary, I don't know if anyone else has been scared on this, or it's just me being a sook! But our guide was abit of a crazy one! We got smashed up against a big rock & got tipped over! I hit my knee in the shallow waters on a rock & lost both my thongs & nearly my $140 sunnies (luckily I grabbed them!) I think I just got a shock really, everyone else managed to stay in there rafts except for our group! I didn't do much paddling, I was holding on for my life! Don't know if I will do that in a hurry again! My bf loved it though & thought it should have gone faster...no thanks!

The weather was so perfect everyday...clear blue skies...and very HOT!!!! We did most of our shopping at night, as it was just too hot to do it during the day! We found the surf shops over there to be a lot cheaper then here in Melbourne, so that was great!


We ate at heaps of different places along Poppies Lane 2 and Legian Street. Wish I could remember all the names now. they were all really great & we enjoyed every moment of it! Its great going out for tea & buying 2 main meals & drinks & only having to pay about $10 Australian!!!

Our first impression of Bali was we loved it! My bf was abit overwhelmed as this was his 1st time overseas (I have been to Thailand - so I sort of had an idea) we were quite amazed at there driving skills & how they are so calm. Imagine if people like that drove here in Oz! I think there would be a lot of road rage! We were quite amazed at how many feral dogs were around...we even had one growling & showing its teeth at us...not nice! We found the Balinese to be very friendly & talkative to us! They loved chatting to my bf & were quite fascinated with his muscles!! haha! We also got asked if we wanted weed, hash & ectacsy quite a few times! The Balinese girls would not leave me alone until I got my hair plated & nails painted! (I have long blonde thick hair). So that took a good 2 & 1/2 hours, my bf got a massage while I was getting this done. We did all this at the Malasti Beach Resort.

We did lots of sunbaking & relaxing & have come back with nice tans...actually looks quite odd having a tan in Melbourne!

Anyway after 12 days of fun, sun & relaxation it was time to board the plane at 10.15pm Sunday 7th November to head back to Melbourne! We arrived back into Melbourne on a cold, rainy 9 degrees....YUCK!

We thoroughly enjoyed Bali & we cannot wait to go back next year!! If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them!

Thanks to everyone for all the info provided on here!!!

P.S The bintang was fantastic!!!



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