I was lucky enough last year to travel to Bali on my own leaving hubby and the 2 kids at home so I never thought I would have the opportunity to do it again this time. I had a friend come with me this time. My friend, Renae, had never been overseas before and is an extremely nervous flyer so lots of pepping up needed to be done to get her there.
We flew Qantas from Adelaide to Perth and then to Denpasar which seemed to be the quickest and easiest option (and also what Renae preferred). Our flight was not due to leave Adelaide until 4.45pm on Friday 8 August but as I had convinced hubby of the need for Qantas club membership we decided to arrive at the airport at about 3 pm to make the most of the facilities. This proved to be a good choice as I was able to give Renae a few drinks before the flight to calm her nerves a little. Our flight from Adelaide was delayed by 1/2 an hour but this did not fuss us. We just had an extra drink to pass the time. The flight to Perth was uneventful and thankfully very smooth. When we arrived in Perth and disembarked we were surprised to see a sign with my name on it. Ellyeagle from BCF had come to the airport to meet us and make the transit to the international terminal hassle free. Renae couldn't get over the fact that someone we had never met would go to such effort for us. It was a very pleasant surprise and it was fantastic to meet her. Due to our flight departing a little late from Adelaide the flight from Perth also departed 1/2 an hour late. Once again we just visited the Qantas club lounge and enjoyed a couple of drinks. On the flight we realised that a guy from Renae's work (also were my husband works) was on the same flight.
The flight arrived on time in Bali as the pilots were able to make up the time on the way over. VOA and immigration was a slow process as there were several other flights that landed at the same time but nothing major. Our luggage was waiting for us at the carousels when we got through due to the wait. I had 650 hats that were donated by my boss to take across for the kids in Bontihing unfortunately they did cause us some grief. Renae's first experience in Bali was being taken into the little side room to negotiate payment to bring in the hats. I assured Renae I would handle it and if they asked her any questions to direct them back to me. The customs guys decided they wanted 3 million rupiah in taxes for us to be able to take the hats. I stuck to my guns and told them I was not paying and that I was in Bali doing charity work for Rotary. A couple of unsuccessful attempts to contact a Rotarian from the Bali Sanur Club were made. Customs then noticed the card and the Rotary logo and advised that we would need to leave the hats and come back with a letter to pick them up. I was not too keen to do this and made sure they were aware that I believed the hats would not be there when we came back. They then proceeded to seal the bags in front of us and issued me with a receipt. I had also brought a brand new (still in box) 0-4 reversible car seat for my friend but as customs thought they had struck gold with the hats they did not even give this a second glance. By the time customs were finished with us it was nearing 3 am Bali time so we were keen to get to our hotel and get some sleep. When we finally came out of the terminal there was no sea of cards with names on them and in fact the whole area was very quiet. We managed to get a taxi for Rp 50 000 to our first of several hotels, Bali Garden Hotel. We were checked in very quickly and shown to our room (139) where we dumped our bags and quickly headed across the road to grab a couple of bottles of water to see us through. We headed back to our room to get a couple of hours sleep before being picked up by my good friend, Made at 8.30 am.
We did not get the best night's sleep unfortunately as our room was opposite a flight of stairs and a lift with another flight of stairs coming up beside it. Throughout the night we heard people coming up and down the stairs and even suitcase being wheeled (or should I say clunked) down the stairs. This is not a room I would recommend for people who like peace and quiet but we made the most of it. At 8.30 am we met Made in the foyer and I gave him the carseat for his car. I have never seen a guy without kids get so excited over a carseat. After a quick demonstration of how to put the seat in the car and explaning the need to have the bolt put into his car we piled in and headed off to Tera Ayung to pick up one of the Rotarians (Ketut) from the Bali Sanur Club. Tera Ayung is a gated community with mansions (by Bali standards). My Rotarian friend lives a couple of doors up from the new Governor. We were amazed to see the police out the front of the house watering the gardens for the Governor. Renae's face was priceless. I had been telling her for months how poor the Balinese are compared to us only for her first home visit to be at a house bigger and better than our own.
With everyone in Made's car we then headed off to Sobangan to attend Noel Allen's distribution day for the Bali School Kids Project. (http://good-timesDOTwebshotsDOTcom/album/565598518QSHElT) We got a little lost so we did not arrive until about 11.30 am but had a great time while we were there. I had asked Ketut to come along so that he could see the organisation of the day and how I wanted to see our distribution day progress. This proved to be invaluable for getting this message across. We left Sobangan at about 12.30 pm and headed back to drop Ketut home. When we arrived we got to meet his beautiful wife, son and daughter. We had a coffee and snack at Ketut's home and discussed a couple of plans for our upcoming distribution day. Arrangements were made to meet for lunch on Monday with Ketut and a couple of other Rotarians to confirm plans for the distribution day.
We headed back to the Bali Garden Hotel where we said our farewells to Made for the time being. We had an appointment for a spray tan in Seminyak so headed down to have that done. A few hours later we emerged from the tanning salon a totally different colour and looking like we had been in Bali for ages. We walked down the street a little and sat at a little bar and enjoyed our first cocktail in Bali. It was then decided that our first purchase was to be some sunglasses as we definitely needed some. After our cocktail we headed across the street to make our first purchase. Renae quickly learnt what a difference knowing a couple of Indonesian words can make to prices. The guy was very honest in telling her that for anyone else he would start at Rp 250 000 but as I spoke Indo and had clearly been here before we managed a very reasonable Rp 50 000 without any bargaining required. From here it was back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready to head out for our big dinner date with others from BFN.
Our dinner date was for 7 pm at Legends in Jalan Sahadewa and there was the possibility of meeting a couple of the Bondi Surf Lifesavers. We enjoyed a fantastic meal and had a great night with Bluey, Rose, Noel, Geraldine and several others. (http://good-timesDOTwebshotsDOTcom/album/565600568zaumFW) Unfortunately the Bondi boys did not make it for dinner that night but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. After dinner we headed to Legian Pub to catch up with another friend of mine who works there. A few too many drinks later and it was back to the hotel to head off to bed. By this time we were well over due for a decent sleep to recharge ready for another great day.
More to come
Balibabe