This is my final installment for our holiday events. I have really enjoyed writing this and since I didn't write day to day events in my journal whilst at Bali, I have wrote these in as much detail as I can so I can keep a record for myself and print out to paste In a scrap book. I am a qualified typist and found it much quicker to type these than what it would take me to write them anyway. Writing my events has made me re-live the holiday and savour every moment, and now it must come to an end. On the bright side though with all the Bali themed books that I purchased at Ganesha I will have time to sit back and relish them all with much anticipation and interest. Also I am in the process of booking our next trip to Bali so that always gives us something to work towards and look forward to in the near future (being October).
Sunday 10th June: Last Day at Bali.
Today we awoke after 8am had a cuppa and got ourselves ready for the day. First task before we went for breakfast was to pre-pack our luggage and use the scales we got at Denpasar to determine how much more shopping we could do to prevent being overweight.
We initially came to Bali with 2 suitcases and 1 large duffle bag for Hubby the kids and myself. The 2 suitcases we arrived to Bali with had some clothes and essentials in them for the 4 of us and the large duffle bag was full to the brim with gifts and clothes for our friends and their families (which we had given out at the beginning of the holiday to free the bag of space). After we'd weighed up the results I still had room for more shopping and planned to get a large Bali Duffle bag which you see everywhere in the market stalls. Mum was on her 20 kilo limit and her channel carry-on bag was nearing the 7 kilo limit also. With that worked out it was time to go for breakfast.
This morning we had our last breakfast at The Green Garden Restaurant and bid the staff farewell and thanked them all for their hospitality. After departing the Green Garden Hubby and Son jumped on their motorbike and hubby planned to go and buy our workmen some gifts. We would meet them back at the villa later as us girls were going to Geneva Handicrafts at Kerobokan.
We walked up the street from the Green Garden and I purchased a nice chunky silver ring with a pink stone in the centre which has a locket on it that you clip open. My daughter got a nice silver ring also and mum got a couple of bracelets and asked if they could engrave her name on the inside of 1 of the bracelts and we would collect it later. Then we stopped in at Discovery Mall for a couple of items and made our way to the outside street and hailed a bluebird taxi to take us to Geneva.
We arrived at Geneva and paid the driver for cab fare as I knew we would have no problem being able to get a cab from here after we'd finished shopping . It's quite a busy stretch of road for bikes, cars and taxis. We entered Geneva and I got myself a trolley which was a wise choice as I pretty much filled that trolley with ease.
I purchased 2 sets of beaded drink coasters.
A large wooden sitting ladies head mask which is about 40cm high, and looks great mounted on our wall at home.
A Buddah Painting on stretched canvas.
A candle holder which has a round sunset picture on glass and there are twig features on it.
A set of 3 serving dishes that have an opal look shell design.
A large serving Dish in a different design which is the same as the set.
2 x Thick woven table cloths that have dark blue designs on them to match my seat cushions for our outdoor entertainment area.
And about 15 beaded necklaces with shell pendants for daughter and myself.
A metal chime xylophone on wooden base for my son.
Mum got a woven basket with a fly cover on it for serving nibblies and some necklaces.
We paid for our goodies and lugged the bags downstairs to the street front of Geneva and immediately stopped a cab. While driving I saw some Bali bags hanging from a stall and asked the driver to pull over and wait while I went and bargained for my Bag. I got an aqua blue flower designed large bag, these bags are so lightweight. With that done I jumped back in the cab and next stop was to pick up Mum's bangle. We caught the cab to Tuban and had him wait while she picked her bangle up then instructed the driver to drop us off at the villa. The cab fare came to 30,000 rupiah and I gave him 50,000 as he helped us with our bags and waited for us at stops, it seemed like a very fair price considering the goose chase we led him on and the distance we travelled.
It was about 2ish when we arrived back at the villa and I was waiting for hubby to arrive back on the motorbike so I could pick up my laundry which I had put in yesterday at a local laundromat which is in the backstreets near the villas. Then I would be able to pack the bags properly and check the weight. He arrived within 10 minutes and I jumped on the bike with him and went and collected our freshly ironed Bali sweet smelling laundry. They did my laundry for me at local cost price, I had a whole load and it only cost me 30,000 rupiah which was great!
Got back to villa packed the fresh laundry and goodies into the bags and the weight was ok...no excess phew. We then all went to the Stadium Bar for a late lunch as we'd had a late breakfast. We all went by motorbike, hubby did 2 trips for us all. We had a nice meal on the outside balcony which is a lovely setting. The AFL football was on inside and they had a good little crowd in there. The kids fed the koi fish in the outside pond and played on the swingset and walked through the gardens. We enjoyed a couple of Bintangs and then made our way back to the villa on the bike. Daughter and I waited for the second trip on the bike and walked a little of the way then got hubby to drop us off on the street outside our villa, as daughter wanted to get some more beaded things with her spending money from a little stall there.
Back at the villa and a friend arrived to chat with us and enquire about our villa experience we invited him to join us for a scotch under the gazebo table. While sitting and chatting we got on the subject if we had done everything we set out to do while here, or if we had shopped for what we needed etc. I hadn't got around to doing what I'd set out to do and the thing I'd never done before was get a tattoo. So I said well it's too late now I'll have to do it next time. Our balinese friend said he has a friend who has a tatto shop and he can ring him and tell him to bring the gear over and I could get it done now in the villa if I wanted. He asked what size and design I was interested in first, and told me not to have any alchohol as it thins the blood and causes more bleeding. When I said I wanted just a small one of a ghecko on my inner ankle he said 'Easy it will take 5 minutes' So I excitedly agreed for him to call his friend. I was also assured that it was sterile equipment and all needles and ink are new and opened in front of me.
So I had a quick shower and got dressed for the plane and by this time our other friend and his family had arrived to join us for a drink and see us off to the airport. By the time the tattooist and his mate arrived I had quite an audience of interested onlookers lol.
The tattooist had a couple of designs and drawings of his own so I picked a design of a unique looking ghecko that is quite different as it has intricate designs all over it's body. Not as small as what I'd told my friend as it was 8cm long x 8cm wide with lots of detail. The tattoo guy asked 'how long till you leave for airport' and I said 'one hour'. 'Ok' he said 'is enough time'.
We set up in a possy under a light and the process began. I really didn't know what to expect as I'd never experienced this before. I was expecting pain but to my relief it was not painful at all like I'd expected, and his friend kept me relaxed by chatting to me and having a joke. Twenty minutes later it was completed and I was very impressed and happy with my work of art. He is a very talented artist and was happy that I was pleased with the results. I got his card from him as I have a couple of friends who are coming to Bali with us in October and are tatoo enthusiasts who wish to add another tattoo to their bodies and hubby wants to get a back job.
My friend who recommended him to me came to see my finished result and said 'whoa I thought you get a very small one' lol. I had thought if I was going to get a tattoo it may as be one with some tricky details instead of a little plain one. I have had many comments and everone that I've shown it off to loves it.
Ok time to check that we have got everthing from the villa and then the owners of the villa arrived so we had a quick chat to them as they had arrived earlier and left their suitcases ready to enjoy a holiday in their villa. They are lovely people whom we were referred to by a friend of ours back home who is friends with the owners. Time to go now so we got our transfer and also had another full car load accompany us to bid farewell to us at the airport.
After all our goodbyes and handshakes and kisses we grabbed some porters who took our luggage all the way to the check in counter. Checked in our luggage, paid our departure tax and had time left for a couple of scotches before departure. I was then informed by my husband, while sipping my scotch that while I was being tatooed he purchase a brand new motorbike. He had given our friend the deposit for it and when back home we sent the amount owing into his account. The bike is from a showroom and hubby requested good suspension, we got the pic sent to us via email and confirmed the colour to be red. So everytime we go to Bali we have our own motorbike and also our friend has a spare motorbike for his family when needed.
We made our way through to departure gate and the flight was delayed for 30 minutes due to bad weather in Australia. All went well and we had a quick smooth trip back to Sydney.
We had a fantastic time and are very much looking forward to our return to Bali.