Arrived moving through customs and immigration without any hassles, paying in AUD. We easily organised a taxi to take us to the White Rose, Legian. We stayed in the Deluxe rooms at the White Rose which were an adequate size as well as clean. The staff were helpful and friendly but unfortunately being end of football season there were some groups of loud Aussie blokes breaking the peace and quite of the surrounds. This was no fault of the White Rose but I would keep this in mind if we were to stay there again. The location was very central being at the end of Poppies 2 being close to the clubs (if this is your thing), restaurants and shopping.
Some of the restaurants we tried this time were:
Blue Skyz, JL Legian, Kuta - wonderful service and meals
Warung Max! JL Benesari, Kuta - a new find, received a welcome drink on arrival, specialising in Mexican food but with a varied menu. Reasonably priced too. Loved this restaurant
Kopi Pot - JL Legian, Kuta - hadn't been here for a few years so gave it another try and weren't disappointed. A bit pricier with small Bintangs 21,000. Fillet steak (very tender) 79,000.
Mini - JL Legian - disappointing, actually saw rats running around on the cooking surfaces!
Indo-National - fabulous food and service. We welcomed by the Australian owners when we arrived, who also checked up on us throughout the night. Entertainment was wonderful too.
Mozzarella by the Sea - We reserved a table at the front to get a view of the sunset the day prior. We were pleasantly surprised that on our arrival there was a frangipani leaf with our names written on it, reserving our table! The service was as good as any you'd get in a 5* restaurant anywhere in the world. We were always referred to always by our names, even the children! The only thing I did find was that the food came out too quick. We ordered our entrée and ordered our main meal and dessert after each subsequent course.
Seaside - Wonderful food, drinks a good price also with a spectacular sea view.
We always try new things on each visit, so this time Mountain Bike riding was on the agenda. We booked through Bali Bintang Bike Tours who were fabulous. With us as a family of 4, we were joined by 2 other ladies, making us a nice small group of 6. Starting at Mt Kintamani, after being introduced to our bike, off we rolled for 40kms, keeping a steady hand on the brakes (back ones only, not front!) cycling through villages, rice fields and visiting a family compound. Our guide was very informative, answering my many questions along the way. There were maybe 4 decent hills we had the ride/walk up but apart from that it was easy peasy! We finished up with a simple lunch before ending our day at 4pm. So it ended up being a full day. I think we paid 400,000idr each. Fantastic day out.
After spending 7 days in Kuta we moved to Nusa Lembongan...We staying at the Lembongan Reef Bungalows, rooms 3 & 4, so not too far up the hill! The resort organised our pick up from our accommodation in Kuta and transfer to Nusa Lembongan with Rocky Fast Cruises. We organised all this in Perth before leaving and all went to plan. We loved LRB, the rooms were simple but had all that we needed. The view from our balcony was breathtaking especially in the morning when we woke up and looked out the window and had the most phenomenal view of the bay with all the boats lined up and in the background was the magnificent Mount Batur on Bali, poking clearly through the few clouds. Nusa Lembongan was so tranquil. We hired two scooters, with our 13 & 15 year old kids on the back toured the island's nooks and crannies. The best way to get around. We felt surprisingly safe riding around even with the steep hills and dubious road surfaces. We just took it very slow. Highlight of the trip was snorkelling at Mangroves, Gamat Bay and The Wall. The water was clear and warmish with an amazing array of tropical fish and coral. I felt like I had my own personal screensaver! We organised this through LRB for 150,000 each (600,000rp for 4 of us) for 3 hours. The only thing I would mention, as we weren't aware of this, is that they have power outage as they share their power with Nusa Penida. We went 36 hours without power at one stage, which would have been fine, but we had to use the internet as we had an emergency and this caused lots of stress! I must say that everyone at the resorts and restaurants seemed to cope using emergency generators to keep some things going. As cooking was done mainly on gas, the restaurants just kept on cooking but it was difficult to get a cold Bintang! Some of the bigger resorts have their own big generator, which keeps everything going. My hubby and son also hired some stand-up long boards which they had for 3 hours for 100,000rp each.
We finished of our stay in Bali with a treat by staying at the Padma - and what a treat it was. We could not fault the place. Even with being a big resort the staff were attentive and friendly. When our room wasn't ready on check in (10am, so that was to be expected) we returned to use the facilities at midday to be recognised in reception by my name to be told that our rooms were ready. I was very impressed by the service. With our flight leaving at midnight it was definitely an advantage having a departure lounge where we could freshen up during the day and before leaving for the airport.
We had another brilliant holiday in Bali again and are now planning our next one!