Huge hugs were to be had and Audrey gave me a lovely bunch of flowers and we then drove in flooded streets to the Ida hotel.
We could not believe the rain and had seen nothing quite like it.
Shaz wasn't going to sleep until she knew we were ok and so at 3.30am I texted her to say we were at hotel and safe.
We carted very wet belongings to our room which was ready and waiting with the air con on for us. We said our goodbyes to Audrey as they had to drive back to Tanah lot.
By the time we had organised ourselves and ready for bed it was around 4 am and I realised that in the east it would be 7am and so I texted a friend there to say we had finally landed In Paradise and that as she was getting up we were heading to bed.
And we then realised that Glenn would have to cancel his much awaited game of golf as in just 4 hours time he was supposed to be going to play at the new Kuta golf estate near dreamland beach.
As it was they cancelled as it was flooded and battered and they would just re book day after day until it was fine enough to go......3 attempts later he was off and ended up that he had a fabulous day.
For the golf buffs, he has played at all 4 major courses now in Bali and he says that this would have to be the best course.
I am not a golf nut so know nothing, but his description for any interested is that it is very similar layout to the Nirwana course in Tanah Lot and when it is complete it will be incredible.
His driver joined him and the caddy for the day as he was keen to see the course...so they all had a fabulous day and the rain had finally subsided.
The club pro shop had not put tourist prices on as not quite complete, so he was lucky enough to purchase a shirt from the club for only 80 000rp.
All up, the transport, Caddy (and he tipped her extra and gave a gift), cart and 18 holes came to $145 US.
I must say that John from Bali golf knows his stuff and went out of his way to make calls etc especially when things were looking grim, and we have always given credit where credit is due.
Back to day one though when golf was cancelled, we arose after 4 hours and headed to breakfast, rain still bucketing and we met Leanne the aussie manager of Ida. I had taken her some gossip magazines and she was very happy. Breakfast was scrambled egg, sautéed garlic potatoes, chicken nuggets, pastry buns, Toast and spreads, chocolate pancakes, fruit, juice and tea/ coffee and we sat by an old jack fruit tree with one last jackfruit on it for the season that the staff are eagerly awaiting it to ripen. It has taken 7 months and they expect it to be eaten next week LOL.
The gardens and the staff are just lovely.
A bit more about the Ida, We had a deluxe bungalow and it was huge. It had an empty fridge and 2, 4 poster queen beds and the most lovely semi outdoor bathroom.
It was cleaned beautifully every day and the property is so quiet. If you couldn't see the Matahari sign when you looked up, you would swear you were in a rice paddy somewhere it was so peacefull.
We loved to watch the squirrels play in the tree and daughter was fascinated by 2 resident bats in a palm tree by the pool, just hanging every day.
Indo tv in rooms but cable tv in the restaurant bar area and happy hour with buy 2 cocktails, get 1 free every day from 7am until 11pm when the bar/ restaurant and pool closes.
End of a short lane and to the right is a little laundy, very cheap and good.
Go left you walk to Jalan pantai Kuta passing a little salon called Romys where I enjoyed a hair crème bath.
So we could not find falt with Ida at all and I hesitated to tell you that incase we can't get in again...but what a fabulous little gem of a hotel.
Anyway that day we took a taxi with Shaz and her daughter to Sanur for the morning, after walking them through the Bonsai gardens, visiting Charlie brown jewellery shop and enjoying lunch at Bennos, we also caught up with the massage girls there from April, could not massage because of the weather but we enjoyed a chat.
I must say though that stock at Jeni's and Tootsies was low...much lower than April trip. Quite disappointing. I still managed to make some purchaes though (of course), including a nice guess bag.
We then went to a little gift shop on the main drag called Bali Orient.
It has some different stuff and is very reasonable in fixed prices.
We moved onto Carrefore in Seminyak and the 6 of us in a taxi taking short cuts in the knee deep water, had us in fits of giggles.
Dodging cows and cars and looking like dags in Ponchos was almost too much.
Carrefore had me looking for the translater that someone had posted about for 175 000rp.
They had 'finished' of course !!
I got a few things in there including some lovely Balinese Christmas cards and would be good for a browse in wet weather...but it is just another department store/ supermarket really and I was a tad cranky they didn't have what I came for.
I later found it in mataharis by the way and it was only 165 000rp.
Back to Kuta and Glenn went for a massage whilst us girls visited a tailor to have some things made and a market jewellery shop.
We parted later that evening after a great day.
Our first dinner was then at Kubuku in poppies 1 where I had previously dined with Nicno but hubby and daughter had never been to, and it was as usual very good and cheap prices too.
Back for a swim and a pretty rough nights sleep with no power as the weather was still shocking.
We were being picked up for Lovina at 9.30am so we got our bags organised as were were staying overnight.
Wayan Merta picked us up and what a shock I got to see him with short back and sides as when I last saw him he had quite long hair.
He thought it was funny that I didn't recognise him and he eventually explained that in the Balinese custom, the men grow their hair long when the wife is pregnant. Then they cut it after the child is born.
You learn something every day.
We stopped at Candi Kuning markets for some vanilla pods for friends back home...and a pashmina for me, they really have the nicest ones.
I am not fond of most of the stalls here, but there is a little stall in the middle opposite the spices that is owned by an older Balinese woman, she is lovely and I love her pashiminas.
A quick bite to eat and a visit to the loo we were off again.
We arrived in Singaraja and I headed into hardies to pick up a few things and then onto Puri bali hotel.
We love the staff at Puri bali, the friendliest staff ever...and a great spot (next to Rambutans) and a great pool. We have decided though that as we only usually stay 1 night in Lovina....we are a bit over not having a fridge or a phone and really basic bathrooms...so next time we will stay at Rambutans. Should we ever stay a few days in Lovina though and need to save money, we can't falt Puri bali as for the 3 of us with breakfast in a huge room...is 200 000rp/ $24 a night.
We dined at Jasmin kitchen thai which was very nice and then wandered the streets finding the artist that paints tshirts and Glenn made his second purchase from him of a huge lizard sitting around his neck. ( The first purchase in April was of a snake).
This man is in the middle of making a huge model of a house. Complete with lighting, furniture ,bathroom etc, this exquisite piece takes months to build and in a matter of moments after all that hard work, it is burned.
They build them for funerals and have a feast when it is burned.
The artists wifes father died and it is in preparation for his funeral.
This 'house' if it was normal sized....would be fit for a king and I stood wondering how he must dream about living in such a house.
I slept like a log as the flight from hell and 3 hour journey to Lovina had caught up with me and we awoke for a swim, brekkie and then met by Wayans partner Made to take us to the Helen Flavel learning centre and another visit with our sponsor child and her family.
Once again we were so pleased to see each other and had a lovely time with them.
We were also very impressed with the new works at the learning centre to accommodate the boarders and John ad Sukadana and their staff are truly wonderful people.
We took some books for the centre and after our visit was complete we headed back to Kuta around 2pm stopping along the way to buy some ceremonial fabric for our spa hut at home and some umbrellas for our garden.
More to come.