Just back from a quick, un planned trip to Bali. Thanks to Virgin Blue and their cheap flights and Mr Rudd's Family Payment. The flights with Virgin Blue were fine and no complaints from us, great to be in Bali in six hours. Over the last few years we have spent hours in the air flying through Singapore. Took the portable DVD player and our son watched a DVD. On the way home the Foxtel was free, so spent most of the time watching a few TV shows.
We had organised Made Arisia , a driver from Legian, to pick us up from the Airport, and he was there with his big smile and a new van. Great to catch up with him and general news of life in Bali. Stopped at a moneychanger to change $1,000, as we are off to Lembongan in the morning. Exchange Rate was 7500, pleasantly surprised at such a reasonable rate.
Stopped at Makros for a pillow each and bought a few other supplies, mainly lollies. Headed then for a homestay we know in Sanur as we had no accommodation booked. Yes they have a free triple room, same one as we stayed in last time. Homestay is called Pondok Santhai, and is on the road where the Perama shuttle Bus leaves from, and the end of the road the boats to Lembongan leave. Jalan Hangtuah. The homestay is behind and on top of the Mini Mart. Rooms are 100,000 for a double, 125,000 for a triple with fan and coldwater. They also have air conditioned rooms with TV, these start at 150,000. It's a great little place and the rooms are really clean and the beds comfortable.
Bought an XL sim card at a small shop across the road and cost 10,000 with 5,000 credit. Put another 100,000rp on it and still have some credit. The couple running the shop phoned their daughter and she came on the bike, and set it up for us! Dinner across the road. It started pouring with rain and quickly the street was quite flooded and the rain went on for most of the night with a lot of people cleaning up their houses the next morning. Made us glad that we had decided to go to Lembongan as they don't have the same problems there with flood as there is so much sand and not much concrete.
Caught the Perama the next morning to Lembongan, had a good trip over with them, there was a heavy current running and the Bali Hai and the other day trips had to anchor out wide in the Lombok strait and for the first time we came on over the reef through the channel near Shipwrecks, good introduction for the surfers on the boat ‘Let me off here' yells my son. All happy to see us where we stay, The Puri Nusa, it's the last bungalows along the Jungabatu bay. Stayed in a triple room, nice and clean but it was the first time I had ever been cold in Bali and the thought of cold showers was difficult for the first few days but fine once I got used to it.
Spent 8 days on Lembongan and the surf was good for the first 5 days but then became very small, did not expect big surf as it is the wrong time of year but the beaches were all nice and clean. A few people staying but not many surfers which is great compared to the May to August period where there can easily be 40 on one break. Ate at Ketuts Warung, Wayan Tacis, Mainski and a new restaurant at the bungalows on the hill- Lembongan reef, an old friend of ours works there and the food is really nice, went back most days for lunch. They also have 4 rooms and they use the Playgrounds pool until they build one. Very good value for the hill, around 300,000rp a night but if staying longer there is most defiantly the chance to bargain the price.
We rode our pushbikes quite a lot (we have 2 that we leave with a friend) and our son rented a motor bike for one day. Mostly we just relaxed and read, which was what our quick trip was for.
We also were there to organise the renewal of vows that we have organised for April, with the local Hindu priest. However our friend who owns the Puri Nusa had his first grandchild 2 days after we arrived and then sadly the baby died at 5 days old. It was in Shangla Hospital in Intensive care and we can only imagine that everything was done for him that was possible. The baby was brought straight over to Lembongan for the ceremonies and we did not catch up with our friend. Told him not to worry about us and that we will call him from Australia to start some of the organising.
A friend of ours had charted a speed boat over to Sanur as he was buying a generator, so he invited us along. Wow the boat was fast, 2 X 250cc motors, from the time of pulling the anchor to arriving at Sanur was 20mins. But I would still prefer the Perama and its slow relaxing feel.
Spent the next 5 nights back at Sanur at the homestay and after the first day hired a car for our last seven days, organised for them to take us to the airport on our last day and paid 150,000rp a day for a fairly new APV van. It was good as we could put the boards in the car and go places other than the beach in one trip. Hired from the guys at the Anada Hotel restaurant.
To be continued with the rest of what we did and our stay out at Ulluwatu.