August 7 - 16
Party of five adults left Perth in the early cool morning of August 7 2008. All very excited chickens but all having a much needed holiday WITH NO KIDS!
Personally, to have this no kid holiday I had to fly our two 'angels' over to Canberra to stay with my sister for 2 weeks - just a small price to pay for Bali.
Arrived in Bali to the wonderful 'home' feel that greets us every time we step off the plane. No other planes on the tarmac so immigration and customs was a 15 minute breeze thru. Got the bags and straight out the front to the very smiley face of Kadek from Abadi Villas.
ACCOMMODATION
Well - if anyone out there wants an awesome villa in Seminyak to stay at then ABADI VILLAS is for you. We booked this one off the internet and every photo on the net is exactly how it is in real life - just spectacular. Three rooms each with ensuites, large open living, meals and kitchen, upstairs mezzanine with big screen TV, own private pool and sunbed hut. But wait there's more - we had six staff and a chef looking after us - yep just us!! We lovingly termed them our Abadi Ninja's - in the villa at 5.30am to set the dinner table for breakfast before we all got up. They were very attentive and overall great guys. We got to chat with them daily. When my husband became sick (does it every trip) they would always check in on him when the rest of us went out. Made our chef was brilliant. The daily worker Nengah was a hoot and was also at the villa 24hrs. Little Kadek was on probation and we made sure we left the manager a written reference for him.
It is really quite difficult to put in words how awesome the villa and especially the staff were. We will certainly never stay in a hotel in Bali again. This is one place that we will keep coming back to.
TRANSPORT
Well, we were five adults away from the kids and how else do you travel around Bali than on scooters. These things rock in Bali. So different from riding them in Perth. I still have a smile on my face from doing our now infamous (to us anyway) 'Seminyak to Kuta extreme scooter night run'!! Woo Hoo!!
If we needed to travel for an hour or so we had our dear friend Made send us his cousin Wayan (seriously that's their names!!) and their van. Off we would go. Same question every time - 'how far Wayan?' to his constant reply 'Hup an hour'. Yep the good old Hup an hour - even if it is one hour and forty minutes!!
GENERAL
*We visited Tanah Lot. Been there before but took our friends who hadn't. Always a good place on top of the hill to have a cold Bintang whilst looking at the Temple.
* Did the quad bike ride - bit of a disappointment as it was quite tame.
* Tried to get to Safari Park but as husband was rather sick and one other had broken her foot on one of the Kuta Scooter runs!
* Had our Bali friends/family over to the villa for an Indonesian Buffet cooked and staffed by our Ninja's.
* Bought watches at Bagus Watch in Kuta - never been in there before and will certainly be returning as it has great gifts as well as really good quality watches.
* Bought our compulsory t-shirts. We only use Mariana who is located in the markets across from the Green Garden near the Dynasty. She is fantastic. It is always good to see her and now especially as she has just had another baby. Also good to hear that other friends in the same markets have finally fallen pregnant after trying for a few years.
* The scooter parking area for staff at the Dynasty is no longer there - it is now a double storey Indian Restaurant under construction.
* Attended the Distribution day for the Bali Kids Sponsorhip program. It was just a fantastic and uplifting day. Saw our sponsor children which was great. Help present bags with fellow Rotarians and sponsors.
* Had yet another great meal at 'il Cielo' across from the Dynasty.
*Rotiboys are the best ever food created on earth!
*Rumours in Seminyak is a good place to eat.
* Aya Spa in Seminyak is a magical place. Most treatments in a secluded 'villa' room with the bed surrounded by koi and goldfish in ponds.
* Husband had parasite infection and had the doctor called twice. Dr Sinyo at BIMC is fantastic and very gentle.
* Two of our group got engaged.
* T-Shirts - as we went as a group of crazy child free parents it was necessary to commemorate the occasion with t-shirts! Officially named 'Team Bali - Extreme Scooter Tour' we proudly wore our shirts on the plane home!
THE END
If you haven't guessed we had an absolutely memorable holiday. Though one broken foot a couple of bouts of 'the squirts' and a serious parasite infection (my husband) - it certainly did not put a dampener on our holiday one bit. There are probably loads more things for me to tell you all - feel free to ask any questions and I will answer all I can if I see posted questions also.
Five good and new friends became great mates for life on this trip.