• Background - Family of 5, Myself (Paul), wife (Jennifer), daughter (Victoria 10), sons (Zachary 6 & Alexander 5) from Perth, arrived 21st December
• 10th. As planned we got out early. Victoria & Alexander went to kids club and Jen, Zac and ,myself jumped in a taxi and headed straight to Kuta square. We checked out some shops for pressies before heading for Poppies 2. On the way Zac was a little peckish so we took him into Mc Donalds. Once he was happy we moved onto Poppies 2. We came across Darmi at Dewi shop right on the first bend which we recognised from the bedspreads out the front. Although we we had already purchased some bedspreads, I would have to agree with other formites that that is definitely one place to find them. All fixed prices, singles rp55,000/60000 and queen rp150000. Jen did however buy some clothing from her again all fixed prices. Continuing on, Jen picked up some beads, some shoes and some other stuff before we reached the end of poppies and then we jumped back into a taxi and back to the hotel.
NO MORE SHOPPING !!. The countdown has started and we only have less than 30 hours left and depression is setting in. Back to the hotel for Bintang and a late lunch. Spent the latter part of the afternoon relaxing by the pool, lunch at the pool bar, kids playing, Zac even got into the shallow water to cool down. The first time we had let him near water since the accident, charity bingo, water volleyball and a few drinks. Tried to do a little packing before dinner without much success. Today is Tuesday, charity quiz night at Gracies and our last night. We trotted off to dinner around 7pm. Steve had promised that this quiz would be a little harder than normal and it was, some little tricky questions in there just to see if the brain could function over the Bintang & Wine. We were all in high spirits with the music of the La Rasi brothers and the staff at Gracies. Steve surprised the four of us with what he called a Fireball, basically a huge flaming concoction which was set up in the middle of the table and each of us with a straw. Looked a bit scary but went down fantastically. The kids had all gone back to rooms by now and were all playing their games. We basically danced and partied until the end of the night. When the band finished for the night, we had some photos. They are such nice guys. We were sorry to be leaving but I think they were sorry to see us go as a lot of hugging went on and it took us around 45 mins to actually leave. A great night to end on.
• 11th. The last day, and we were a little sluggish in getting up but dragged ourselves out of bed as there was a lot to do today. I started by packing as much as I could before having to take Zac back to the clinic for a final checkup tobe cleared for flying. Jen had organised for the girl and herself to have one last hair cream bath. Our friends were leaving for the airport first today at 1.00pm and we were due to go at 5.30pm. I figured that once they had left, I would be able to do all the packing. Zac, Alexander and myself went to the clinic and got his wound cleaned up and the all clear to go home. I think Jen was quietly praying that the doctor would tell us we had to stay an extra few days. We returned and I was back packing again before we had to stop to have lunch with Suma - Front office manager and Suasta - Food & Beverage Manager popped in too. We had one last Nasi Goreng. It was now time for our friends from Melbourne to leave and we al headed up to the foyer. All very sad and the girls shed a few tears. Some of the management come to see you off which I think is a nice touch. Once they had left, I was back into packing while Jen took the kids off to play. Not a good idea to pack at the end as I had underestimated the quantity of items we had purchased and had trouble fitting it all in. It also took a lot longer than expected. Once packed, I had all the luggage taken to the foyer where I had it weighed and I nearly fell over when it came to 159Kg which included the kids hand luggage. Well there's nothing I can do at this point so it's time to enjoy one last Bintang and say all the goodbyes. Up in the foyer at 5.15pm again and we had the management fair well party to see us off.
We got the airport fairly quickly and then had to sort out the dilemma of being overweight. We also had to reshuffle some stuff as our two largest cases exceeded 32Kg. In the end we had even more hand luggage but got away with only being charged with 10Kg overweight which equated to around $290. A question I would like to pose is what other peoples experiences are with over weight luggage and the costs charged. Anyway we went to the Dewi lounge at rp100000 each with all 3 kids charged as 1 adult. Only disadvantage was that it was at the other side of the airport from our Garuda gate. We relaxed for a while and will point out that I have seen a few postings in regards to the unavailability of Bintang there but there is beer available on tap and on first glance it is easy to miss. Had some food but it really wasn't that good.
Felt like a long trip home as we tried to get the kids to have a sleep but Wallace & Gromit was the film and made things more difficult. Arriving at 11.30pm and expecting a delay at customs with some of our purchases, we needed the kids to have some rest. We were basically at the end of the queue getting off the plane and once at customs, had everything checked. Do not bother bringing home a bongo drum. We had the skin removed and only gave us the drum once it had been x-rayed. The only other thing to be taken was the haki sacks as they had seeds in them. Out of customs and on our way home in a Maxi Taxi.(The minimum requirement with 5 of us and so much luggage.
We were home and the reality had sunk in, the holiday was over but of course its not too long before you start thinking of the next one.
To conclude
To those who cancelled or are concerned.
DON'T BE AND GET OVER THERE
Are we going again.
DEFINITELY AND MAYBE EVEN TWICE THIS YEAR
Jen and I are contemplating a quick 4/5 mini break without kids for something different. Our kids have come with us on every other overseas trip.
Take the children
DEFINITELY
Bali is a beautiful place to visit with beautiful people
There is always going to be trouble some where in the world and as a parent you take precautions when at home in the choices we make and it's the same overseas. We are ever mindful of our surroundings and take every necessary step to make things safe but we are not in control of everything.
I would again like to thank all the formites for the valuable information that is available on the forum. I would like to thank our friends from Melbourne who helped make our holiday wonderful. I would like to thank the Dynasty for doing everything possible to get us there and to the hotel staff who make you feel like family and a message to the Balinese to keep on smiling as we will be back.