Day12, Sun 27th Nov
For those unfamiliar with my family, we are:
Me/Dad/Pete (42)
Mum/Wife/Julie (36)
Jamie (9...boy)
Ky (5...boy)
Tara (5...girl) yes, twins.
This was our first ‘real' trip to Bali. (Julie and I and Jamie had been when he was 14 months old, on our way through from Europe... we stopped in at Sanur for 5 days by the pool; so on that occasion, we didn't really experience ‘Bali')
My photos are now uploaded; you can view them at:
http://community.web shots.com/user/bigpete3941
just remove the gap between ‘web' and ‘shots'.
(I have now included some photos of the guitar I bought, for anyone interested...)
Our last day in paradise had been changed due to the AP business; originally we were to fly out of Bali at around 11:00 pm (we had paid for day-use of our room, until 6 pm that night) and land in Melbourne at 6:30 am the next morning (Monday).
Our new schedule saw us flying out of Bali at 3:10 pm, on Australian Airlines to Singapore, arriving there at 5:45 pm. Then Qantas leaving Singapore and arriving Melbourne at 6:20 am Monday morning. So arriving at the same time, but traveling for about 8 hours longer!!
We were all up a bit later than usual... 7 am, (I wonder how ‘late' that is for most normal people!) And today Julie didn't go to the gym (gasp!) We got ourselves ready and hit the brekky buffet by 7:45 am. Had a yummy last brekky of fresh fruit, pancakes, cereal; kids had potato gems (for breakfast? EEEWWWW!!!) and chocolate muffins to finish up, all washed down with that delicious Bali coffee and fresh fruit juice. We will miss these brekkies!
At 8:30 we took the kids to kids club. We figured they'd have a better time there, and we'd get the packing done quicker without them around. Didn't take long with both of us packing; by 10:00 we were done. We went and got the kids via reception to settle the bill. As we all know, it was7,808,512 rp (yes, almost 8 MILLION!) which converts back to $1,070 AUS (at a rate of 7300 rp to the dollar). A lot of money, but there were a lot of meals, drinks and activities (such as Waterbom and the Elephant ride day) all included. Before we left Melbourne, I put the credit card $1000 AUS into credit, expecting to use it a bit. So there was no drama with a bill that size.
After we picked up the kids, we headed across the road to have another go at that last minute DVD and PS2 game shopping. Thankfully, the shelves were fully stocked again (no mention of what had happened yesterday), and the kids had a ball picking out about 10 PS2 games and a few extra DVD's. They got all of the ‘special' ones they wanted, so were very happy.
The time was now 10:30, and we needed to leave for the airport at 12:00. We were told with all the AP mucking around that it might be chaotic at the airport, so best to get there really early. At this stage we were happy to follow any advice we were given.
Julie headed back to the pool to get her hair braided again; we headed back to the pool for a last swim. While Julie was getting ‘done' (it went quickly cause she had 2 girls working on her at once) we swam in the big, grown ups pool. I had some rupiah to spend, (didn't want to take too much home) and we had settled our bill, so whatever we spent was cash. Since we were in the big pool, pretty much on our own, I figured it would be ok if we sat at the pool bar. (They often have signs up on the bar saying children are not allowed on the swim up bar seats. I expect this is because they would then not be available for adults, or because the kids splash and cause a fuss?) Anyway, we were the only ones there, and our kids are (generally) well behaved when they really need to be.
So we managed to sit at the pool bar and have a lovely serve of ‘mocktails', milkshakes and juices. When Julie's hair was done she joined us, and it was a nice way for us to say our goodbyes to the place we had called home for 11 days.
We finally headed back to our room at about 11:30, changed and finished packing. Then we went out to say our goodbyes to all the friendly staff who had looked after us so well during our stay. (I really hate goodbyes. I'm the type who would rather just slip out quietly, and be gone, without all the fuss. But my learned wife tells me (often) that it is rude to do that!)
At reception, I asked for a taxi; they told me they could get me one at the front entrance, OR we could use the hotel car for 40,000 rp. Sounded like a good option, since the taxi would probably be over 20,000 rp anyway, and this meant we didn't have to lug our cases out onto the street.
We left the Dynasty right on 12:00 noon. We had the feeling that I imagine many people get at the end of a holiday. Sad that we were leaving, but happy to be heading home. It's an odd feeling which is kind of hard to describe, but I'm sure many of you will know what I mean.
On arrival at the airport, I told Julie to keep one hand on our cases at all times; (didn't want to get hit by the porters) which was difficult since we had 4 suitcases, a duffle bag full of shoes, a guitar, a make up case, and all our carry ons!
As we walked in, I noticed a bag-wrap station, and decided this would be a good option for my guitar. If you haven't seen the photos, the guitar was just in a cardboard box with no way of ‘locking' or securing it. It cost (I think) 30,000 rp ($4 AUS) which seemed pretty reasonable. (And I still had a pocket full of money to get rid of!)
Next we headed towards the Qantas check in. A lady at the start of the line told us we had to have labels with all our names, addresses and flight details on EVERY bag, including the carry on stuff. As you can see, we had a lot of labels to fill out! The kids were really good during the 15 minutes it took us, Julie getting more frustrated by the minute. (Me: ' Just do it... this is how they do things here, and there is nothing we can do about it. Getting worked up isn't going to help' Julie: more smoke coming out her ears!)
We joined the queue and didn't have to wait too long. They obviously had extra staff on to help with the expected busy day. There was also an Australian guy there helping out anyone with questions and stuff. He was just roaming the queue, helping out anyone who needed it. This was fantastic; a great idea as often there are little things you need to know, and don't know who to ask. I don't know if this is a regular thing, or if it was just in this time of ‘crisis', but it was very helpful.
As we got to the front, there were two or three Balinese guys opening every case and checking out the contents. The Aussie guy told us this was now standard procedure. I asked about the tampertells, and he said they would take them off and replace them with cable ties. And the guitar was basically slit open at the end so they could look inside, and then just sticky taped up.
TIP: Don't bother putting tampertells on before you go to the airport in Bali, because they will just be ripped off anyway! And forget about the bag/guitar wrapping!
Altogether we had 12 cases (including our carry on backpacks, etc), and Julie said one of them weighed 40 kg's, but we weren't given any grief about it, and they let us through with no trouble. (Maybe being a family of 5 helped us there?)
Having got through the check in procedure, we were directed upstairs where we paid our departure tax with no hold ups or problems. We then waited in the upstairs area until it was time for our flight. We had a good hour and a half, so we found a little coffee shop/restaurant, and ordered a ‘snack' We had diet cokes, milkshakes, toasted sandwiches and chips, and it cost 330,000rp !!! ($45 AUS) I guess airport food prices are the same the world over! Luckily I had enough cash left, and that left me just enough for a couple of chocolate bars and a can of drink to have while we waited in the queue a little later. We managed to spend every last rupiah that we had... thought that was pretty good effort!
While we waited, we looked through some duty free shops. Mum wanted us to buy her some smokes, which we did, I bought 2 bottles of Jack Daniels, and Julie bought 1 bottle of tequila and 1 bottle of vodka. The prices were cheap... the four bottles together cost us $100 AUS...and they are the 1 litre bottles. (After we had bought them, an air hostess later told us that Singapore was FABULOUS for duty free... stuff there is sooo cheap! Yay. As it turned out, it was no cheaper then in Bali... in fact, it may have been a little more expensive for the things we bought.)
We got shuffled through a few different doors, and then had to wait. The flight was delayed slightly, (1/2 hour or so), but not much we could do but sit and wait. Again, the kids were great. It's boring enough for us as adults, but you know how fidgety kids get. So really, they were little angels (It's so nice to be able to say something good about them!).
We eventually got on the plane, and took off at about 4:00 pm. The plane was packed, (as you would expect), and we had an uneventful flight to Singapore.
Once there, we got off with all of our stuff, and played on the moving walkways for a while.
We had an hour or so to kill, so we found a coffee shop, bought coffee (and a hot dog for Jamie... I didn't know what he would get on the plane, and he's quite a fussy eater) and we paid with an Aussie $10 note. We were given our change in Singapore dollars (about $2:50 SING change), and Jamie did some Maths homework (yes, he left it till the last minute!) while we waited.
Headed to gate C23 and checked in smoothly. Got on the plane (ooohhh... they have little tellies on the backs of the seats!!) and then had to wait 1/2 an hour for a 'lost' passenger. Just as they were about to take his bags out of the hold, (they had his bags but not him; and they are not allowed to take ‘unaccompanied' bags, apparently) they found him, and we were off.
As nice as the plane was, it was still an awful flight through the night. The kids wanted to fiddle with the screens, play the video games (which were mostly too complicated for them) and generally just not sit still. I tried to watch ‘War of the Worlds' (very optimistic with Tara sitting next to me!) but gave up half way through. We hoped that after they served some food and stuff they might turn the lights down, and the kids would nod off. But at best, they ‘slept' for maybe an hour or so. It was quite a turbulent flight, it was packed so no room to spread out, and with the time change (losing three hours on the way back...) the kids just didn't really sleep. Julie may have got an hour or so, I didn't sleep at all. (But I did manage to see the rest of my movie!)
I think it was about 4:50 am (by Melbourne time) that they put the lights back on (why, oh why would they do this sooooo early?) to give us coffee and more food (like we really needed it at 5 am...). And ‘prepare us' for landing.
Once we landed in Melbourne, we got ourselves off the plane very quickly (Yay! We'll be up the front of the queues for customs, etc!), only to have all three kids tell us they needed the toilet. There goes the quick exit. Suddenly, we were at the very BACK of the queue. Anyway, it still ended up being fairly quick, and then we were lined up to go through customs.
I had declared the guitar (made of wood) and the vanilla beans I had bought in Ubud. We filed through, and the lady asked us if there was anything else. She gave the guitar a quick look over (no problems) and then the vanilla beans. She took them out of the cellophane and sniffed them... there could be no mistaking what they were... they smelt beautiful! The only thing she said was that, really, they are supposed to be ‘commercially packaged', but she let that go. 'Nothing else? Wooden Bowls, carvings, etc?' Nope! Off we went.
About this time the kids started arguing about who was going to sit on the luggage trolley. 2 trolleys, 3 kids, no sleep. Bad combination. We had two of them in tears, and the other one in a massive temper. We struggled towards the long term car park bus, and made it just in time to see the bus pull away from the stop. Grrr.... Stay patient...almost home...
It took about 15 tense minutes for another one to come, and we eventually found our car (yes, we lost it! TIP: wherever you store your keys, leave yourself a little note about where the car is!) By now it was about 7:00 am, and we were ready to be home.
As we approached the car, I noticed a little note stuck to the windscreen.
‘We have noticed an issue with your vehicle. Please call us on ....' Hmmm...
I got all the bags and cases next to the car, and then I saw it. A great, big flat tyre. Just what we needed. Without too much fuss, I started looking for the spare, jack, etc. Although this was not a new car (It was a Tarago we had bought 4 years ago) I had never had to change a tyre on it before. I knew the spare was underneath the car, and found a bag of tools (wheel brace, etc) under the passenger seat. But although I looked and looked for about 15 minutes, I couldn't find the jack! Nothing I could do if I couldn't get the car up in the air!
Decided to ring the RACV, but, of course, I didn't have their number with me. Next best thing, ring mum!
'Hi Mum! Yes, We're all back safely. Well, sort of. We're at the airport... you haven't got the RACV number there, by any chance?'
The RACV were very helpful, and the guy was there within 15 minutes (and had the tyre changed within 5 minutes once he was there.) We had 2 thumping big nails in the tyre... we had no chance! But he also didn't know where the jack was. I have since found out it is under the drivers seat... the one place I didn't look of course!
We had about an hour's drive home (in peak hour traffic) which was a little tough after not driving for 2 weeks, and with no sleep, but we did eventually make it home safely by about 9 am.
And so the holiday was over. Of course, it took us about a week to get all our bags unpacked, and about three or four days for the kids' sleeping to get back on track. But it was all worth it.
We had an unforgettable time, and now can't wait to get back.
THANKS TO EVERYONE ON THIS FORUM; THE ADVICE I WAS GIVEN ON HERE WAS INVALUABLE; AND I HOPE MY JBR'S CAN HELP OTHERS IN SOME SMALL WAY AS WELL.
Yet to come: various other random things which I've missed along the way (is that possible with such detailed reports?) and my highlights and thoughts about things over there... things I found surprising, unusual, interesting, unexpected.
Also still to come: Jamie's JBR! He tells me he will type it up this week... stay tuned!
Thanks for all your kind words... I really appreciate it.
Cheers!