Day 9
Some have asked how I remember all this but I had my Bali Bible for company and I wrote everyday and some nights too and this night I had lots of time for catching up on writing up my diary.
I was woken about 2 am with a strange noise, I had previously heard a few bangs and splashing noise but thought it was probably one of the boys up to the toilet so I ignored it. I finally got up when the noise became very loud to growl on which ever child was up because I had thought he must have been playing on his Nintendo or something in the middle of the night, They do make some strange noises some of those games !!
Alas, there was no one in the lounge - all kids accounted for in bed asleep. I follow the noise trail that started again which lead me into my bathroom to discover a mouse or small rat doing gymnastics and squealing its head off in my toilet bowel.
Half my cosmetics were in the basin so that accounted for the banging I had heard before. Now I did already know we had a resident mouse (or maybe more?) as I had had some previous midnight encounters whilst watching TV and waiting for teens to come home. This little critter had run across my feet a few times in last week. Now mice don't really bother me much except for all the poo they leave about and there was usually plenty of evidence of his trail most mornings about the apartment.
Anyway - what to do?? I raced to the kitchen to get a pair of tongs or something to scoop out the distressed animal. Alas nothing but forks and spoons, bugger, I had a practice with a tea bag with a fork and spoon but couldn't really coordinate that real well with a slippery wet struggling mouse so that idea was out !! A quick race across the hall cause I really needed a loo !!
I returned to increasing squealing levels and I just couldn't bring myself to wake up the others to help out. I really wanted to play Dr Doolittle here but I tried to fit a coffee mug in there as well and that didn't work and there was NO WAY I was getting my hands any further into that toilet.
So with a heavy heart I did a horrible thing and flushed the toilet... BUT JEEPERS what a swimmer!! That little blighter stayed up there doing his best backstroke still squealing like a little pig !! Well I felt like a mean monster but couldn't figure it out so I closed the lid on him and thought it will have to wait til the morning and the other male members of the clan can sort it out.
I went and sat in lounge wide awake by now a bit annoyed that everyone else seems to be sleeping with out disturbance. Why is it that it is always the mother that gets up to all the noises ??!!??
By now it is 4 am and so I sit and do a heap of dairy writing, but I can still hear the squealing happening. I finally decided to go back to bed but could not sleep for the damn squealing so up I get again to try my animal rescue technique.
I got a fork and the toilet brush and tried to move the mouse on the brush and hold him there with the fork but 4 times he slipped back in. I had the waste basket close by and ready to receive and I had already opened the front door ready to race outside with said basket. In the end I just stuck the toilet brush right in and let him climb on, get a good grip and success at last and I tossed him into the bin before he would run up my arm or something. Saying that I think there wasn't really much chance of that he seemed pretty tired after 3 hours of swimming lessons.
So I raced out the front door with him and flung him over the balcony (from 5th floor) but realised that he hadn't gone far and was sitting in a pot plant at my feet. Jeepers, raced back to room, shut the door in relief and finally sunk back into my bed.
It was 6am.
Oblivion was shattered 2 hrs later at 8am by the wonderful Balinese workman hammering thru my head... sorry roof !!
Oh well no more sleep as I got up to tell my nightly tale to all and sent the boys out the door to retrieve the waste basket !!
Day 9 was going to be a long one it seemed. The hammerheads were in full throttle today and there were several cracks appearing in the ceiling now and the teens were complaining of dirt coming thru the downlights in the roof.
The boys all went off for a ATV buggy ride session and I just shopped in peace and finally found Ketuts shop so I was a happy little vegemite.
The boys returned a very muddy dirty mess but yet again very happy with their experience and wanting to go again. By the time I got to them they had undressed and dumped all their clothes into the bath, shoes and all. They had filled it with water and it looked disgusting - I dreaded what housekeeping were going to say in the morning by the look of the ring already forming around the bath !!
I made the teens empty it and fill it again with some washing powder I had from home, but alas, no napisan when you need it most !!
Our room lady took it all in her stride the next day and piled it all into a plastic bag and took it away for washing for us.. what a dream she was I wanted to take her home with me !!
Day 10
Today we did the Safari and marine Park and it was great. We had organised to take another forum member with us.. A lady who had posted a request on here for anyone travelling on same date to maybe include her in some day trips and we were most happy to oblige. After all it increased the female no's for once !!
Cass was a lovely lady and very easy to get on with and her enthusiasm for the animals was very contagious. I don't know what she thought about all my crew but she seemed to have a good day out.
The park is about a 1 ½ hour drive and we left it to last as we had read that it was really good and so wanted to do the 'average' stuff first. Well it was really quiet, the car park was basically empty and we would have passed about 10 to 15 others all day. The marine side is not anywhere near complete but it is still worth a visit.
They have a really nice area of land - huge in fact - and very well planned and set out. It was a bit limiting in the instructions and signage as no one really tells you what to do. You cannot just walk about the animals, when you arrive and pay you get put into a truck and driven about 700 metres up a hill thru a forest to a place where they just let you off and no real direction about where to go next or where are any animals. So at 1st you really think there are no animals as you just follow your nose (or everyone else) as you walk thru a planned sort of meeting hall area that have a few fish tanks in it up to an area with some shops and statues and nice carvings and then you get to another boarding area where you take your safari tour through the park. Up until now, we have only seen a few fish so we were a little worried as to how this park was going to pan out. WELL we need not have worried as the safari truck tour that lasted about 30mins (and you can take it twice) was worth every penny.
The set up is exceptionally well done and I cannot do it justice on here, you have to go to see it. The truck meanders thru bush tracks following a theme of different countries and their animals. The truck actually goes thru bushes and gets so close to the animals it is the best experience I have ever had for a ‘zoo' type encounter.
My favourite would have to be the hippo's, the truck drives right thru the swamp or lake where they are swimming or just sitting and it stops right there next to them in at least a metre deep of water. One Hippo would have been only a metre away from my window so the photo opportunities are endless.
All the other animals and areas had equally extensive and impressive areas that the truck drove thru and I would be on here for hours if I described it all to you, and there are a few surprises so I wouldn't want to ruin the experience for you all.
You are deposited back to a completely different area where you can view and see the white tiger and baby tiger and the lion view restaurant is here which is where we ate lunch. Now it wasn't real cheap and there was another really huge restaurant back at the beginning ( not as expensive as Pappas either) but how could you not sit here when they have ceiling to floor windows directly into the lions enclosure and even in the ladies toilet the is a ceiling high window with a lion sitting in front of it and if you couldn't see him the evidence was sure there with all his huge paw prints all over the window.
The food and service was great, no complaints. They had allowed our driver in for free as a guest and we paid for his lunch too. I guess if they encourage the drivers then ultimately they are going to be the ones spreading the good word and increasing their business. All staff we saw were very nice and happy and helpful. No complaints at all and even an ATM machine on site.
We paid extra (only 20,000) to take as many photos as we wanted to with all three animal photo opportunities. It was a special experience that you would pay a fortune for here in Australia.
The white tiger we saw twice and I really don't know if it was sedated you know because it was awake and alert and moving and looking about the 1st time we saw him before lunch but asleep after. Now if you watched all the other animals in the park they were not exactly active either so I do think that maybe the weather accounts for a lot of their calmness.
The 8 week old baby tiger was definitely not sedated, he didn't stop moving a wriggling and has his bottles of milk every 3 hours so he presented just like a new baby of 8 weeks. Ever so cute we must have spent about 40 mins with him.
Our last photo shoot was with the baby orang-utans. There were 2 little bundles of mischief at about 3 yrs of age and I would have to say with the same naughty behaviour of most 3 yr olds !!
They also were definitely not sedated, it was really hard to hold them still and they pulled you around and grabbed your hands and shirt, hats what ever they could get. They were great fun and our photos are terrific. Great memories made.
We ended our day with a stop at the water park for the little ones. I had packed towels and bathers for all and the teens had just as much fun as the little ones.
It is like an enlarged version of the kiddyland at waterbom park. It has the same bucket set-up and about 4 different waterslides that would suite up to 12 to 14 yr olds but my 17 yr olds had plenty of fun on it all and fitted just fine. There is also an adult size lap type pool as I guess they are catering to those that will be staying in the hotel/ villas part when it opens soon. This area was deserted; we were the only people in there for the hour we stayed. We let them have a few rides on what was there but mostly suited to the under 12's. From there, you could see the work going on in the next field for the marine side and the older/adults rides that are coming. They will have a roller coaster and bumper cars plus more. It will really be a two day trip I feel when it is all open and up and running. I get the feeling that other hotels may open up close by to cater for this as we battled to see it all in one day and it is only half completed.
It wasn't any where near as expensive as the elephant park and well worth the visit so I have to tell you all - make the time to visit you wont regret it.
The drive home was another van full of sleepers and I have to admit we got McD's for dinner because no one wanted to go out for a meal!!