Sorry it's Late ;-)
After months of waiting and heaps of excitement the day had finally arrived. It was the first of June and we were off to spend two glorious months in Bali with our seven beautiful children. Nana's and Grandads reluctantly drove us to the airport knowing that they wouldn't see their grandkids again for a while but the excitement of the kids soon cheered them all up as they sent us off on our great adventure.
Everything at the airport went smoothly as always until the time came for us to separate and head off on different flights. Cracker with Billy and Tui to hit Singapore first with Qantas and then Australian Airlines to Bali, Rae and the five ‘nice' children to fly direct to Bali on Air Paradise. Everyone travelled well apart from a few sore ears on takeoffs and landings.
Rae and the kids arrived in Bali mid-afternoon to find our old mate Wayan Ruda waiting there with a huge smile and an ‘ice-cold' Bintang. From the airport it was straight to the Garden View and checking into Bungalow 204. The kids changed straight into their bathers and headed directly to the pool. Rae decided to forego the unpacking for now and join them. You have to make these tough decisions now and then ;-)
Eventually Rae had to drag them out of their new playground and take them out hunting for supplies and re-acquainting them with the streets of Bali. It's been a good couple of years since the older ones were there but they took to it like ducks to water, almost like they'd never left. They soon got bored of all of the shopping though and began with the ‘when can we go back to the pool' bit that kids can all do, you know, that one that suddenly turns into a whining noise and if you ignore it accelerates up to an air raid siren that can clear a shop in seconds.
Rae took the early hint and got them back to the GVC.
It wasn't that much longer before the long day caught up with the little darlings and mum toddled them up to La Monde for a wonderful feed that they all thoroughly enjoyed and then tucked them all in for an early night.
A few hours later at about 10.30pm I finally arrived with a very tired but excited Billy and Tui in tow. Wayan had also picked us up at the airport with a good supply of cold Binnies which I tried to do justice to. I'd hate to disappoint me mate ;-)
We got to the GVC to find the band just finishing and Rae having a chat to a few local mates that had dropped in to say g'day. Billy had a ten minute ‘bug eyed' look around while Tui immediately wandered down towards the room she has stayed in on her last 3 trips only to be disappointed to find we'd shifted. Kinda hard to explain to a tired 3yr old.
These two soon joined their sisters in the land of nod while Rae and I settled in for a few quiet ones. We certainly needed a quiet moment after the last few hectic weeks of work and organisation. Before long though we were both feeling partly shattered and partly shellacked and headed for the fartsack ourselves.
The next morning saw us all back to our best with the kids heading for the pool as soon as they awoke. We managed to get them out to eat after a few hours and then quelled the rebellion when we told them we were all going for a walk. By quelling the rebellion I obviously mean we bribed them with new sunnies and bathers. ;-)
We went for our usual first day wander down Garlic Lane with so many of the people that know us along there finally realising that we hadn't lied about having seven kids.
It took forever to do a lap up and down as everyone wanted to chat to the kids and hold the baby. The older ones were starting to get a bit frustrated with getting asked their ages every ten steps so Rae and I would quickly go through the process as we chatted with someone new. This also stopped the kids getting bored as they could rattle through shops while we chatted to the owners.
We finished off our walk with a quick chat with Milt and Kerry at Indo-National and then unleashed the tribe back on the unwary masses now gathered around the GVC pool. The kids wore themselves out here for the day while we got a bit of well earned sun, Rae on a pool lounge and me at the pool bar...just to keep an eye on the kids...you know how it is ;-)
Dinner was at La Monde once more as we weren't in the mood for heading out too far yet. It was bloody great once again, which you can usually tell by quiet kids eating at the table. They left nothing on their plates and then topped up on banana splits. Tui, as usual, wore more ice cream than she ate but you could still see the smile through the chocolate ;-)
The kids were soon all ready for bed again and once they were snoozin' we wandered ourselves the fifty or so meters to the front bar to get re-acquainted with the band.
I'm pretty sure most of the people at the bar must have thought Rae and I have bladder problem as every ten minutes or so one of us would wander back and check on the kids.
This is probably the biggest plus that the GVC has going for it, the fact that you can have the kids asleep and still get some entertainment without having to be far away from them.
We had a great time with the staff and a few people that we'd met at Garden View before but another relatively early night was had as kids have no sympathy for hangovers, especially if it interferes with their swimming time.
Day 3 saw us at breakfast by 8 o'clock, as we had to start shopping early to stock up the house we were moving to in few days. We headed for Bintang and gave the place a thrashing filling a good number of trolleys with stuff that we would need, and a hell of a lot that we probably wouldn't.
Rae then headed back with the kids for a relaxing day at the pool while Dad headed for ‘Work'.
Many of you may know that we have started a new project in Bali that will hopefully see us spending more time up there. What started out as a small idea to build a clean pay toilet block for tourists in Bedugul has blossomed into the Megaplex now known as ‘Crackers Bar and Grill' I was heading up there to meet David and Moira, our partners in the project and the owners of the ‘Pacung Indah Hotel and Restaurant'.
David had rung and told me that he had a few ideas to run past me, which always leaves me trembling, as he never has small ideas. My trepidation proved founded and at the end of the day I had to drive back down the mountain to tell Rae that the money for the new swimming pool at home was now invested in Bali so she should enjoy the pool she was in. Fortunately, when I got back, she was sitting at the pool bar supervising the kids (in my spot) with the newly arrived Sue and Jim. I knew she couldn't kill me in a public place, so I just had to keep her mixed with people for a few days.
I think she knew what was coming though as our budget for the project was always described as ‘flexible'
We soon organised to head out with Sue and Jim for dinner and they headed back to MBR to get ready.
Sue and Jim are great mates of ours, as many of you would know from our Bali Fundraisers together. They have a first night tradition from their many trips to Bali, of eating a specially prepared lobster dish at Legian Garden Restaurant. Ketut Subargia, the owner of Legian Garden is a great mate who stays with Sue and Jim whenever he is in Perth and always lays on a great feed for their first night. Next time you eat there try and convince Ketut to put the Caesar Salad that he prepares for Sue on the menu, it's bloody bewdiful.
We organised a babysitter for a few hours from the crew of ladies we know around the area and headed out. The babysitter did a great job looking after five of the seven kids for four hours and plaiting the three eldest girls hair, for all of which we were more than happy to pay the Rp. 300,000 asked. We're pretty sure she expected us to chase a cheaper price but we consider it bloody good value for a quiet night out. It also meant that we didn't have to waste daylight hours in getting the girls hair plaited.
We got back to the hotel a little after eleven, but not before Ketut had driven us around Seminyak so that he could show us the construction happening on his new pride and joy. The 'Lucky Day Pub and Cuisine' will no doubt rise to, and surpass the heights of popularity that Ketut has taken Legian Garden to over the last decade or so.
We were also quite surprised and pleased to find that the flash car Ketut was driving us all around in was the one he was going to lend us for the Bali Rally as well as the first five weeks of our eight week trip. We still don't know how to thank him enough for his generosity and when we tried to find someway to repay him he simply smiled and called it Karma.
We will get him with a few good quality reds over the next few trips though.
Thanks Ketut.
The following morning the kids had breakfast sent to the room, this might have been due to our decision not to get out of bed. We thought to ourselves bugger it, we're on holidays too and we're staying right here.
We'd hired a DVD Player and TV for Rp 60,000 per day from the hotel staff and we let the kids get our money's worth. We did eventually arise though when we thought the children's attempts to kill each other may have been heard from the adjoining bungalows. Once you're up sorting out those sorts of problems, you might as well stay up!
We dragged ourselves out for a quick brunch at the Hotel Restaurant, and then headed off to the MBR to find Jim and Sue and give the kids the opportunity to pee in a different pool ;-). The kids loved having a bigger and much deeper pool to challenge themselves in and that bridge at the MBR pool seems to be a constant source of fun for kids of all ages.
We all just had light snacks for lunch here and as per a lot of previous reports the pool bar staff just couldn't quite seem to get it right. Only little things, but when little kids are waiting over an hour for a simple sandwich the frustrations soon build up. Then when you finally cancel the order, only to be told it's on it's way, then wait another twenty minutes, you have no option but to see the funny side of it.
We left the MBR about 4 O'Clock and just mosied our way along up and down Jln. Padma Utara. We eventually found ourselves at a little shoe shop tucked in underneath the Rum Jungle Restaurant, we ended up with sandals for all the girls, thongs for Billy and new hats all round for Rp. 170,000. We were happy enough with this as there were no pressure sales tactics and the people were lovely to deal with.
From there we just ambled up the street, chatting with locals, playing with the kids and marvelling at the massive amount of manpower that had been thrown at the completion of the new All Seasons Resort.
The kids forced us into Multi Disc on the way back because they believed that we needed more new DVD's to go with the ridiculous amount that currently adorn our shelves at home. The ones at home do nothing except attract neighbours children to borrow them, as will all these new ones. It wouldn't be so bad except that the neighbour's kids will eat three apples and a dozen biscuits each while they make their choice. We may have to start charging a rental fee. ;-)
Back at the GVC the kids settled in for dinner and movies at the bungalow while we hatched a plan. We told the eldest two that if they helped us settle the little ones into bed that they could come out and have a dance with the band for an hour or so. The only extra part of the deal we insisted on was that every fifteen minutes they went back and checked on the kids so that we could relax and have a bit of a dance ourselves. This idea seemed to work well as the girls enjoyed the night with a couple of others their age as well as having no quibbles about checking on the kids.
Jim and Sue joined us along with our mate Troy (aka Fatbastard) for what turned out to be a fairly extended session once the band and crowd had disappeared. The three of them then gave us a bit of stick over our frequency of checking on the kids, until we pointed out that at this late stage of evening, most of these trips back to room actually were for the toilet, the kids just happened to conveniently be there. ;-)
Next instalment soon, this will include a fairly harsh assessment of GVC and the reasons why we will still stay there.
CBE
Cracker ;-)