Here is my JBR for the first 3 weeks of our trip, I became preoccupied and didn't have time to record the last week in much detail, where references to my blog are indicates the link is below.
Monday 21st March 2005 Days 1 to 3
5.40pm, sitting by the pool, today was spent relaxing by the pool in the morning, then we ventured off to Matahari Legian, I am not really one for shopping, so I was doing it hard, and the kids are determined to by 'labels' which are about the same price as Australia.. Jarrod is determined to get a skateboard, with it being his birthday on Thursday he may be able to afford it with his birthday money. We then headed off to the Discovery Mall, this place is heaven on earth, the air conditioning is a welcome relief from the midday sun, the stores are pretty expensive however Riley got a great hat for about 57000, in Australia the same would be about $30. Had refreshments at Starbucks, 78000 for a Mango Smoothie, Latte, and a Cup of Tea.
ON arriving on Saturday, we immediately went in search of getting Riley's hair braided, Bali was very quiet cause of a holiday but we found a place that would braid her hair for 100000 it was that hot that I agreed, however the salon wasn't air conditioned and it seemed to take for ever to get done. Back to the hotel, on arrival our room wasn't ready, so we were put up on the 3rd floor until after 6pm, when we got back to the hotel after the braiding, our ground floor room was ready, so we moved on straight down. The kids spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. We then headed off to Legian Gardens for dinner, as we were still operating at 3 hours ahead we were pretty stuffed and were in bed by about 9.30pm.
On Sunday the day started early as we were still in Melbourne time, we were all up at 7am, and by 8.30, I was relaxing by the pool, at about 10am, we headed off to Macro to do the stock up. Makro is such a big place with so much to choose from. $100 later, with hopefully enough drinks and lollies for the month we headed off back to the hotel.
I then walked up to a little travel agent to organize our flights to Lombok this coming Saturday, Merpati (it's Merparti and I'll die if I want to) were 237000 each way whereas Wing Air were 199000 each way. So I booked with Wing Air. Looked up the Holiday Inn on Asiarooms.com and at $46 per night booked there for 2 nights.
There are heaps of kids here at the Adhi Darhma, maybe a few too many, but now that Jarrod has got the BB Gun out of his system, due to a few guests at the hotel getting very annoyed and taking their annoyance out on me, the BB gun has been banned, and things seem to be going a bit smoother now.
Had dinner at Bamboo Corner last night, I must say that the quality has gone down since last year, I suppose it's the old saying that you get what you pay for.
Not sure where we are heading off to tonight, probably down to Melasti St somewhere.
That night we ended up having dinner at a little place called Depot Ika, it's in Benesari St just up from the Adhi Dharma, we went to collect our Lombok Tickets first and couldn't be bothered walking too much further and as everytime I had walked past the restaurant it was full I thought why not try it. For $5.00 we got 3 jaffles, 1 Crab corn soup, 2 soft drinks and a beer, pretty good value, I reckon.
Back to the hotel to have another quiet night, bought one DVD on the way back to watch but the quality was poor.
Tuesday 22 March
Up early as usual, kids in the pool etc. Jarrod headed off to timezone with a mate for a few hours, and I caught a bit too much sun by the pool. We then got a taxi over to Sindhu Beach Markets in Sanur, and headed straight to Tootsies, bought a few things, just really wanted to judge the correct prices for things. Had lunch on the beach then did they usual thing we always do there and all had massages on the beach. The ladies at the beach are so lovely and remember us from the last trip. 3 massages, one pedicure, and Rileys hands and feet for 150000rp. Got transport back to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool.
Headed off down to Dolphin Restaurant for dinner, where Riley met up with Spida one of the waiters at the restaurant, he is a great guy and always treats Riley like a princess. He takes her for a short motorbike ride which thrills her to pieces. Back to the hotel for the night, tried to watch a DVD but everyone was too tired.
Wednesday 23 March, this times 13 years ago I was in the early thrusts of labor with my first child, although he wasn't born until the next day. I get a call in the morning from reception asking about my husbands birthday tomorrow, they were surprised when I said it was my son, they laughed. Anyway they say that they will have a cake tomorrow, what time would I like to celebrate, as we are wanting to go the Corby trial tomorrow, this has put me in a bit of a spin, as we are also due at S & S in the afternoon, so I say lets try 3pm, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. Today is a rest day, Jarrod is going to get his hair tipped, I am going to get a bit of laundry done.
24th March Jarrods Birthday
Spent the morning at the Schapelle Corby Trial, see blog. The cake for breakfast was lovely, they made a real fuss of Jarrod, after coming back from the court, we spent a few hours at the pool then made our way up to Sammie and Susies. Met quite a few people, Smudge UK, Jandr, flipper, and Sue Anne to name a few. Went and had dinner at Uncle norms with Janet and her son Drew, who introduced Jarrod to Bali Fireworks.
25th March
Spent the day at Waterbom Park, with Andy01 and Andy02 and family, we hired a family gazebo which was well worth the 100000, the kids had a great day and I relaxed with my book. Had dinner on the way home at Bubba Gumps, great atmosphere, great for the kids. Not the cheapest restaurant, but worth a visit.
26th March.
Supposed to go to Lombok on 9am flight on Wing Air, got to the airport and was informed there are no problems but your flight has been cancelled. We tried to get on a standby flight on Merpati without luck, so we headed back to the hotel for a few hours. Finally headed out to the airport again and the flight was definitely going. However the on thing I was worried about was the plane, it was a Dash 8, and I don't like small planes, so I feigned pleasure at the children and tried not to think about my fear. We get a bus to the plane and hop on board, Boy was it hot! The provided a sealed cup of water and a lolly on the way, we took off at 3.20 and I was surprised when I felt us descending at 3.35, but the flight was very quick, even though I was pretty scared most of the way.
After landing we went to the taxi counter and paid for a Taxi to Sengiggi, after getting in the taxi the driver says we haven't paid enough so I offered another 15000 and all was OK. The hotel, Holiday Inn is just lovely and the prices are not too bad for a 4 star hotel. Tomorrow we will probably get a driver for the day and take a look around.
More later.
A fairly sleepless night was had due to the activities of those above us, I reckon I had about 3 hours sleep.
Up at 8 for breakfast, which was very nice, eggs made any way you want, an abundance of fruit and pastries, Jarrod and Riley both ate quite well.
Went to reception to enquire about getting a driver, was told I could get a driver for 50,000 per hour, that sounded reasonable, so we booked him to come at 10am. He first took us to a Buddhist Cemetery, that was being visited by quite a few relatives on the day, and we mustn't forget that each cemetery must have an ice cream man.
Next stop was the former home of the King of Bali, which was built in the 1700's, it is the local public swimming pool as well and consists of 3 sets of spring water holes.
Next off to see some local weaving, it was very interesting to see how the fabric is woven, however it was incredibly expensive to purchase, they allowed Riley to have a go at the weaving, it seems to be extremely hard on the back.
Back to Mataram, to the mall for Lunch, and took a look around the shopping centre, when we came out rain was threatening and by the time we got back to the hotel, it was raining steadily. Riley had a fall on slippery tiles on our way back to the room, she seems to have recovered well, Jarrod is in the pool in the rain, and I am watching the NRL (Bulldogs v Wests) on TV. Will probably try to head into Sengiggi for dinner somewhere tonight, lets hope the rain stops though.
We headed into Sengiggi for dinner at Restoran Taman, the food was quite good and reasonably priced, 180000 for the 3 of us. Got a taxi back to the hotel for yet another quiet night.
Lombok has a lot of people from all over the world, in fact so far we are yet to meet anyone from Australia, I have met a few Americans and Canadians who are employed in differing parts of Asia, and find Lombok a cheap place to visit. Overall I wouldn't say it is all that cheap, but it is a great place and I will be back again as it reminds me so much like Bali 20 years ago.
Back to Bali tomorrow, hopefully the plane trip won't be cancelled.
Tuesday 29th March
Flight back from Lombok was smooth, although it rained in Lombok most of the day, it was still pleasant. It's amazing that a place 20 minutes flight from Bali can have such a different climate, it was distinctly cooler in Lombok, and rained a lot more.
Today I headed off to the Court house to watch the Schapelle Corby case unfold again, a Melbourne prisoner, John Ford testified that he had overheard a conversation about a domestic drug trafficking deal that went wrong and testified that the drugs that Schapelle had on her when she landed in Bali should have been taken off her baggage in Sydney.
I met her mother and other friends and everyone seemed really nice, we had to wait over 2 hours for the trial to commence ad the judges were otherwise occupied, it gave me some time to talk to some of the Journo's who all had mixed feelings about how the case will end up.
Back to Kuta in a Taxi, the traffic is bedlam as the PDI Convention is on, it has something to do with Megawati, there are heaps of Indonesians wearing red about in Bali at the moment and most of the accommodation is booked out.
Spent a few hours by the pool then took the kids go-karting up near Waterbom Park, 60,000 for 10 minutes, not bad value, but more fun for them than me.
Had dinner at All Star Surf Café, where the kids were hoping to do Sumo Wrestling but were told they were too short.
Tomorrow, I am planning on heading to Geneva, to do a bit of shopping.
Thursday 31 March
I did go to Geneva yesterday and spent about $120 on all sorts of things, 2 fully packed floors of handicrafts that I could have taken half of them home. I bought that much stuff that I am glad my sister in law is coming over with an empty suitcase on Saturday.
Got back to the hotel, and spent some time with some people at our hotel in the pool, they are a mixed bunch, some from WA, QLD and Sydney, A young girl staying at our hotel mentioned that there is a great spa in Poppies II so we all headed off there in the afternoon, it's called Margie's Spa, and is next to the Bounty Hotel, a body scrub cost 95000 and a massage costs 75000, Riley had her hair cut and foils for 200,000.
Next was dinner at a restaurant near our hotel in Benesari Lane, can't recall the name, but wouldn't recommend it anyway, my crab corn soup was so full of pepper that I couldn't eat it, most of the others, and by this time the groups numbers had risen to about 20 partook in drinking cocktails that contained Magic Mushrooms, I had a bit of a taste and it tasted vile. Every headed back to the hotel pool, as I had been drinking since 2pm, I found it necessary to retire somewhat earlier than the others, and judging by the stories I heard today I am glad I did.
Today, we headed off to Waterbom Park again, I always buy a 2 day pass while I am there, they don't advertise it very well, but it enables us to get back in within 7 days for about 105000 for 1 adult and 2 kids.
On arrival I went and hired just a normal size Gazebo, near the pool, price was 50000 with 50000 deposit. We were there about 30 minutes when someone walked past and recognized me from my suburb in Melbourne, they had the Gazebo next to me, it is such a small world.
Once again a great day was had there, I just love sitting and reading and occasionally getting on a slide or just drifting on the lazy River. Back to the hotel and bought Japanese Takeaway for dinner while the kids had jaffles by the pool.
Tomorrow who knows what it will hold, but I know it's only 2 days till I get my vegemite.
7th April 7, 2005
It's been a while since I have written, Leeanne arrived last Saturday and on Sunday we went to see Schapelle Corby in Jail, more details on this can be found on my blog.
Monday was a lazy day, and on Tuesday the kids and Leeanne went rafting using the Bali Rafting Company, with tickets we purchased at the Bagus Pub for 200,000 each. They said it was great but the stairs at the end were a killer.
Yesterday we went to Waterbom Park again, it rained quite a bit but that didn't deter the kids, I sat in a Cabana most of the day and read and relaxed.
Today we attended Schapelles trial which was adjourned until next week because she was quite ill.
Back to the hotel and it's been raining all afternoon, the kids are going a bit stir crazy, but they will survive, but will I.