Well its taken quite a while but finally I may just have time to post a report on a girls trip we did back in October, along for the ride 3 besties, my sister, my mum and friends mum. Both my mum and little sister had never been out of OZ before.
Sat morning one friend and I flew out of Hedland , the others all flew out of Perth- Mum and sis long trip as they'd moved up to Karratha but had to go via Perth instead of with us as flights were booked prior to their move. Flights uneventful, though the preflight early morning woohoo we're on a no kids trip drink led to us happily singing along to our ipod and perhaps annoying some other people?? Well we were happy!
Our flight arrived only one hour before the others so we gathered up our cases and waited at the nearby coffee shop for them, used VIP for all of us, great service especially for newbies who are otherwise overwhelmed, Dennis came and got us when the others were nearly out and we were off in the cars to our villas.
Villas were our homes for the next 8 nights and WOW they lived up to the pics on the website, expensive but worth it. Staff were very helpful, organised a local mobile for us etc, came daily to clean then left us alone unless we needed something and called them.
We all unpacked and looked around then off we went followin instructions to get to Bintang supermarket- just 5 mins walk away no prob- well someone pointed us in the wrong direction so after 20 mins walk up some dodgy laneway through construction sites etc we finally got there- we later found the correct route which was only 5 mins! Changed money then we all shopped our way around and down to Spa Bali where I had arranged one hour massages for all of us. Oh what bliss! Now we were in the Bali mood!
Afterwards we went to L for dinner- was not that flash despite other reports I'd read, pork belly was super tough and nothing was exceptional- coconut prawns, curry puffs entrees ad mais included prawns and pork belly- 1.3 mill rupiah for the 7 of us with two cocktails each.
SUNDAY- Our driver who we'd arranged prior to coming arrived to meet us all at 9.30am- Made Sarma who my friend Fi had previously used. We had asked for a 9 seater as originally there were 9 of us going but he couldnt get a bus down the laneway so bought two 7 seater vans- same price. (we had arranged to pay $90 oz a day for beck and call services- yes more than going rate but he was soooo worth it)HIs cousin Wayan drove the other car, we all piled into Mades and off we went to Ubud markets, Wayan ended up following along in other car to load shoping into. Yes we needed it- 7 women in shopping mode sure can fill up a car!
After the markets Made took us to Chi(?) restaurant just outside Ubud near the rice terraces- fabulous setting and food, all of us mains and snacks for the drivers who had already eaten and softdrinks only was 800kRP. Oh here I discovered the Bali version of Iced Coffee- coffee, icy water and sugar syrup to pour in- hilarious and NO I didnt like it.
We ordered in pizzas for dinner from the deliveries book- only 600k for all of us and had cocktails poolside for a while then went for a wander around Seminyak- we then decided to go out dancing- dropped one mum back at villas then headed off and where did we end up- the one place I didnt want to go- central Kuta at the site of the bombings- wow that memorial is spectacular though hey? The band was awesome and we had a ball at the Vi Ai Pi club until the band finished at 2am at which stage we decided to try another spot. My mum at this stage did the motherly 'if we don't go home now you girls will regret it in the morning' to which we said Nah all good- so she stood in the street with her arms crossed saying well I want to go home. Oh bugger- then mate decided she'd take mum home and check on her mum and meet us back there pronto- problem solved. We ended up home at 4.30 am and Yes we didnt feel so good the next day!
Did return again on other nights.
MONDAY- grrrooooaaaan! Driver arrived at 11am as organised and we were rather lacklustre, he was going to be following us down Jalan 66 this day occasionally picking up shopping. We asked him to either hang around and have a swim if he wanted or come back at 2pm. We organised massages in the villa thinking that may make us feel better- 80kRP for an hour, my girl had just started when suddenly I could feel one hand on me and hear the other hand texting! then she made a phone call and I was about to say ok see ya when she got down to work- I guess thats the difference between a professional place like SPa Bali and mobile therapists hmm? We eventually did go shopping down jalan 66- bought some lovely jewellery, clothes etc.
Dinner that night was at BBS which we had pre booked for ladies night and 2 for 1 cocktails but none of us were realy up for the drinking part- still suffering lol so after an awesome dinner- 10/10 for service and food and only 800k for us all with cocktails, maybe 2 each- we booked for the drag show later in the week and went over to Discovery Mall to get some DVDs and Breadtalk for dessert.
TUESDAY- everyone except Fi and I who had both done it the year before went off early with Made to go to the Safari Park. We had arranged to go with Wayan to Sanur to look at some accommodation I had booked for next May. Arrived at the hotel and was shown a family room- OMG the stench of the mould smell was soo bad and whats with the midget size beds? and the new deluxe rooms, which were really nice and would suit the in laws but the family rooms were no good IMO. I also was a bit put off by the location, not the best. So glad I went to have a look. We then went to look at another hotel which my SIL had stayed in recently and loved- yes humungous difference in price and you really do get what you pay for.
We had a quick lunch at T on the beach, pizza, sping rolls and cokes only 97K. We then had Wayan take us to Spa Bali where we had booked 4.5 hours of treatments- oh yeah baby!Had an auryvedic massage 90mins, facial, manicure and pedicure all for 670k ea. Gotta say not a fan of the Aryvedic though- wasnt prepared for the oil dribbling over my forhead, through my hair, being squeezed out and poured back over my chakra to dribble through my hair again repeatedly, plus after showering we went out the front so Fi could have a smoke and she cracked up and said I'd better have another shower when we got home- thebody scrub stuff was stuck all through my hair and looked like the worst case of headlice in history!
We then walked back up the laneway to the villas, mixed up the cocktails and cranked up the music, by the time the others got back we were singing our heads off and more than a little tipsy- sure it was a sight to behold. Ordered in dinner.
WEDNESDAY we did Waterbom, went to Rikas and Diannes opposite the D where I bought the majority of clothes this trip. DInner was at BBS again where we had arranged to watch the drag show. We had Made join us- he had never seen it and OMG what a crack up, awseome food again, awesome show and the staff are an asset.For entrees of 2x calamari, 2x spring rolls, 2x brushetta plus more, mains including seafood platter, sensation chicken breast, caesar salad, garlic prawns, tuna steak etc plus 4 rounds of shooters, several cocktails, softdrinks for the mums and bintangs for Made bill was 1.9 million rupiah for 8 of us. An awesome night all round- oh and we signalled one of the lady boys to cuddle up to Made which was hilarious- I have great photos of him cringing.
THURSDAY- shopping epic day- factory outlet surf stores, back to Rikas and Diannes, tackle store for us fisherwomen, central Kuta for a look. Had lunch at M- absolutely the worst service. Took 20 mins just to get our drinks and an hour for lunch which was below average. I wouldn't go back. When we returned to villas we all including MAde and wayan relaxed in the pool with cocktails- we gave the boys BIntangs and then got ready for dinner at La Lucciola which Made had booked for us. The food was spectacular, location spectacular and price to match lol. Was so yummy and the desert platters were very decadent! 2.2million for 7 of us and I would go back again and again!
Friday we spent just shopping around Seminyak Area.
SATURDAY morning we received devastating news that my stepdads sister had passed away suddenly, only 39 years old and just an unbelievable accident. As mum and sis were with me in Bali it meant Step dad was all alone in Karratha so we packed in a hurry and headed to the airport to try to get on the flight back to Hedland where I could drive them home. We were unable to get them on the flight as it was too late but I mananged to book them on the flight to Hedland the next day which Fi and I were already booked on.
We then went on a mission to locate stepdads neice who was in Bali and due to fly home that night. We were able to find her and had to break the bad news. We then bought her back to the villas so she could be with people she knew until her flight back to Perth that night. My hubby picked up stepdad in Karratha and took him to our house in Dampier- good to know he wasnt alone.
We had arranged for Made and his family to come and stay the night in a spare room in Villa so they could swim in the pool and we could buy them dinner. We ordered in a variety of food and they had a ball swimming- especially little Monica. Martini cooked us a special roast chicken which is apparently used for special occasions with accompanying sauces- it was out of this world! It was really nice to spend our last night with them and Wayan joined us as well.
Made told us that not many people treat them like friends as we did- including them in everything, like the drag show, paying for meals for them, paying for them to go into waterbom, inviting them to have swims all the time in the villa and giving them a cold bintang at the end of everyday. I feel its a real shame that more people dont and was dissappointed to hear of how badly a lot of people treat them. Such a shame.
The next morning we gave them all our food and leftover alcohol- they said they would have a big party with all that lol. The two cars with little MOnica bouncing around as well then took us to the airport. At check in we discovered our luggage to be massively over allowance- Fi's the worst at 40kg above allowance so imagine our shock when nothing was said about it and no charge! Flight home was uneventful though a little tense as Mum was anxious to get home to her hubby.
Cracked up at customs when Fi went to go through and the customs guy said is this all yours?? Fi's hubby drove up from Karratha so we had a second car for all the luggage.
If you made it this far thanks for reading!
Oh also we had clothes made by Wendy- awesome tailor in Seminyak. She did a great job and reasonable prices.
Cheers
Jas