Sorry it too so long - you might regret encouraging me to finally post. Will try to condense the rest
Shuttle service was early and arrived at 4.50 am and then I experienced a round the world adventure to pick up the other 5 passengers, of which 3 were on the same flight. Arrived at the airport 8.20 and met 2 of my girls who live in Sydney. They were embarrassed by my luggage which included a hideous purple bag (bought at a garage sale for $3 and left with Smudge) and the neatly packaged crutches & walking sticks which my husband packed with a plastic window so the walking sticks could be seen without needing to open the bulky parcel. The girls usually don't bother seeing me off but I suspected they were keen to check out LynneeD as they were concerned about these new "internet friends "-" total bloody strangers" was their reference to these people that I was busy making plans with. Baggage checkin was almost hassle free but even with the generous allowance AA gave me I was still 7 kgs over. I quickly opened the purple number and removed my pillow, which was packed with material. I was still over and the clerk hesitated - I said I can't leave the crutches or the one legged orphans won't get to school. I then dug deep and produced an Irish Blessing card and passed it to him saying "Happy St Patrick's Day'. The 2 clerks on each side of him also made a fuss so I gave them one each too. He then stuck an oversize sticker on the crutches much to my relief and instructed me to take then to the oversize baggage. Off I went with a grin and turned to see the 3 Checkin clerks with their green shamrock cards pinned to their chests and so Drama No 1 was solved.
The girls were in a rush to get to breakfast and I suspect to the duty free shops. I had a quick look through the donut area thinking I might spot Lynn and introduce the 2 Sherlock Holmes that were seeing me off but no sighting. Breakfast was ordinary - I sure hate powered eggs. The girls took lots of photos of the 3 of us and this amused me, as it is not the usual for my Bali or short trips. I made a call to Lynn and agreed to meet her "on the other side'. I had hugs & kisses from the girls and another lecture about being careful - They are both what I consider worldly girls in their early 30's and have both traveled extensively but they were very much against me returning to Bali. I asked as I was about to walk into the customs area why so many photos and the cheeky 33 yo replied " we can sell these to the magazines when you get blown up " - I was tempted to turnabout and go through the numerous arguments for and against Bali but instead I just grinned and decided when my time was up I would choose to be in paradise. Up to customs, fill out immigration form and then to the counter - all fine and now over to empty out pockets. Now for most this is a simple procedure but for me it's a major as I have my wallets chained to each front pocket of may pants. I unclip the chains, toss the wallets, small change and phone into a container, throw the pillow, backpack and handbag on the conveyor and through I go no alarms and it's like almost need to get dressed again hooking back the chains and wallets into my pockets. I then proceeded to lift the bags and pillow from the conveyor belt and look at the lady in front of me who is concerned that they are not allowing her to take her 4 knitting needles (attached to a half knitted sock) on the plane - I think to myself you foolish lady these needles are steel and pointed at both ends so why wouldn't they be considered a threatening weapon. I am still watching her commotion when one of the security officers manning the X-ray machine asks me to unpack the backpack as "the X-ray shows something resembling a knife" "Nah" I reply very nonchalantly "no knives'. Then I spot LynneeD coming through and I say to her "I won't be long - they think I have a knife" At this stage I am not worried just flustered that I am about to expose a number of articles that I am sure will have them wondering. My back pac contained small cooler bags with Frozen bottles of water, raspberry cordial, Inner health tablets, a couple of medications, a face washer a bottle of white port (for the fluffy pussy cocktails) a fruit cake (Smudges surprise). The rest of my backpack had a change of undies & bra (just in case of delay) and numerous other odd things. Then Lynn spotted the knife pointing out of the longest cooler - yes I had a steak knife- and Lynn had the look that said "Who is this crazy woman?" I had grabbed another longer cooler bag from the pantry to accommodate the new slender 1 litre water bottles and it contained a knife - not hidden but sticking out from an outside pocket - I apologise profusely and am sternly warned that I am lucky they haven't called the federal police. I grovel a little more and repack the bag - and we head off to the duty free grog shop - I can't even think about purchasing anything - I am still too flustered and embarrassed by my "close encounter of the odd kind". After a coffee it's all aboard AA - we planned to be last on - I had a back seat ticket as requested and Lynn planned to grab a row that was unoccupied too. A row each to our self and up, up and away. Lunch was a choice of butter chicken or vegetable frittata. I enjoyed the Weis bars and reminisced about my mum's family who all came from the Toowoomba district where these great ice blocks originated. In fact the two Miss Piggies had 2 Weis bars. I was most impressed with the service from the flight attendants and the toilets were as clean on arrival as they were on departure. My one complaint - I could have landed the less bumpy.
Ngurah Rai was very quiet and the routine changed again and a few things moved but let me tell you Lynn is a legend. She spotted a line with 3 people in it (the rest contained around 30) and so our VOA was done in a minute. There were a couple of 20yo's who complimented her and followed us for the remaining processing. The crutches came off last but still not a long delay - a taxi to the Legian Village Hotel was 50000 but I had to feel sorry for the driver - he had a sparkling new vehicle and he struggled to fit the obnoxious purple number, the other bags and the crutches parcel in the boot and the back. No matter how often I offered to help he politely declined and continued to patiently shuffle the bags about. Thank goodness Lynn was with me to help me get all the gear into the foyer of LVH. She then headed off around the corner to Suri Wathi and I received the welcome drink - why is it never cold? - It contained ice but the ingredients must have all been at room temperature when mixed. I inspected a number of rooms and settled for 212 at AnnyF's suggestion. These rooms were all very basic & in need of TLC but I couldn't expect too much for $16 US. I had paid for 3 nights but I decided I would inspect Suri Wathi next day and move in with the rest of the girls - it was also so much easier for all our planning. Much has been written about the night at Gracie Kelly's so I will just add a couple of things. Roo Ted is a Stayer - Balimagic is a blonde (I always pictured a dark Mediterranean) Hi Delores & family it was great to meet you. After a few Black velvets I must have been showing signs of "going under " and Lynn reminded me that we hadn't eaten for ages so had a bit of tucker and back to the drinking. I didn't drink one Bintang on St Pats Day - it just didn't seem appropriate- I later thought - what an idiotic assumption, I should have got on the Bintang cause I would have avoided the next morning headache. So great to meet so many - only exception was the "leach" who said his wife was back in bed and so he desperately tried to latch on to a very shy and young friend/relation of one of the forumites -if he reads this he will know who he is - at least it gave us a laugh- what a loser! By 10 we were beat so Lynn & I walked back to Kuta Square & caught a cab home. Oh No I have waffled on and it's only day 1- I think I will turn this into suitable paragraphs rather than a day-by-day account.