THE CAST; Mummy and Daddy who have both travelled a bit in Asia, Africa, USA and the South Pacific; Monkey #1 who is nearly four and has been to Fiji and the Solomon Islands on a couple of trips as a toddler; and Monkey #2 who is 18 months and going on her first big family holiday. None of us had been to Bali before.
THE PLOT; three scenes - 7 nights in Sanur + 8 nights on Nusa Lembongan + 5 nights in Tuban.
GOING AND ARRIVING
We left Sydney on Mother's Day. The nice lady at Jetstar check-in says that the plane is barely half full so she will try and block the 4th seat in the row so that we end up with some room for Monkeys #1 and #2 to lie down and have a sleep. She doesn't and surrounded by a sea of half empty rows a charming lady ends up seated in the fourth seat next to monkey #1 who proceeds to put her sticky fingers all over said lady's wrap. This charming lady is either a masochist or a saint because instead of running off to find herself a nice quiet corner she stays put and is delightfully polite to both monkeys who do their best to rob her of sleep. Eventually Daddy takes Monkey #1 to an empty side row a couple down and she lies down and goes to sleep for most of the flight. After about 100 years Monkey #2 falls asleep in Daddy's arms to the delight of half the plane.
On Arrival it takes an age to get through the formalities, so long that most of the porters seem to have got bored and gone home. It is a joy to see a driver standing there with a little sign bearing the family name (arranged through the hotel at only 5000 more than the ‘official taxi rate').
Next stop Sanur...