Warning: long-winded JBR follows in several parts that will be posted whenever I get a chance to write them. Topics include: Getting There, Accommodation, Bali with Baby & Kids, Shopping, Eating Out, Day Trip to Ubud, Pointers for Newbies etc. Cheers!
GETTING THERE
You may remember the Griswalds as the misadventure-prone travelling family in Chevy Chase's ‘Vacation' movies. Within our wider family we are also known as the Griswalds, not only for our propensity for unexpected holiday adventures, but because it's a drama in itself to just get the tribe organised and to/from our destination in one piece. This particular 7 day adventure was the first time any of us had ever been to Bali, and our first major holiday with 3 kids. Travelling were myself (extensively travelled the world pre-kids), Hubby (previously only travelled to Europe, USA and Japan), boys aged 10 and 2.5 (B10 and B2), and 6 month old Bubby. I should also mention that B2 has diagnosed behavioural issues, and Bubby has only recently been in hospital with Pneumonia... just to make things more fun!
We left home before Easter and flew Jetstar to Darwin for 3 days to visit friends. The SYD-DWN leg was tiring enough with B2 to confirm that we had made the right decision to not fly directly from Sydney to Denpasar. Our accommodation in Darwin was fantastic (serviced apartment at One30 Esplanade).
Our only hiccup on departure to Bali was a problem getting our GST refund at Darwin airport under the Tourist Refund Scheme. This ended up being a bit of a drama, which I'm currently following up with Customs. Travellers should be aware that they rigidly apply the 30 minutes prior to departure cut-off rule, even if you have all your dangerous goods checked off at the Customs counter downstairs well within time, and join the upstairs refund queue before the cut-off time. An unimpressive start to our Bali holiday, especially since we had over $1200 worth of goods to claim.
For our arrival at Denpasar I had pre-arranged V!P V0A with Murti. This cost us $30 per passport ($150 total) and I really thought long and hard beforehand about whether it would be worth the money, especially as recent reports on the Forum had said that processing times had significantly improved lately. In the end I decided that the potential drama of dealing with B2's behavioural issues in a long queue was enough reason to take a gamble and book Murti. As it turned out it was a good plan for us even though the queues weren't long, although I still don't know whether it was $150 worth of good.
The big problem was the fact that #$%&* Jetstar didn't give us any of the Indonesian arrival paperwork during the flight. So even though we had paid our $150 for speedy processing, we had no paperwork to process! We met Murti's agent as planned, then I had to stand at a counter with a screaming baby in a Baby Bjorn sling on my chest, furiously filling in paperwork while Hubby tried to keep B2 in check. Murti's guy thankfully helped with the paperwork as well, then I gave him AUD$200 to pay for our visas (hoping to get change in Rupiah, as recommended on the Forum). He returned with the forms processed and AUD$70 in change. WTF? Not only did we not get Rupiah as expected, but somewhere along the way the USD$125 cost equated to AUD$130 (even though the AUD was worth more). I was too flustered to quibble, what with a screaming baby, a 2yo whizzing around the airport on a Trunki suitcase and a 10yo in need of the toilet.
By the time we got to the baggage area I was grateful to have an extra set of (expensive) hands. Murti's guy helped us get the luggage onto trollies while Hubby rounded up kids and dealt with 2yo tantrums, and he then helped wheel us through the VIP line (for aircrew etc). I decided not to change any money at the airport, but to just get out of there as fast as possible. I don't know how much time Murti's service saved us, but I was at the point where every minute I didn't have to spend at the airport with my children was a dollar or two well spent. After we got out of the terminal we were met by Murti herself, who also helped corral the kids and deal with the luggage. Also with Murti was our pre-arranged driver Made, who we had booked, along with a car seat, through Bali Baby Care (BBC).
Our next issue was the fact that, despite prior warning, the van provided by BBC wasn't big enough to fit 4 suitcases, 5 cabin bags, a twin stroller, 2 car seats with kids, 2 adults, a 10yo and a driver. Murti ended up holding Bubby while we wrangled luggage, carseats and B2 for 15 minutes in the carpark; before deciding that the best option was to put B10 on the floor between my legs. Not the outcome I had planned, but luckily we were only going to Tuban (close to the airport). I'm not sure what we would have done if we were headed for Seminyak, Sanur or Ubud.
After retrieving Bubby we waved farewell to Murti and headed off to our accommodation for the first 3 nights - the Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali.
To be continued...