Thanks to everyone who read and commented on my first JBR. This was our 1st holiday to Bali and i can happily say that we all loved it so much that we are planning our next trip for the same time next year.
For anybody who missed Part 1, we are 2 families travelling together with Little Miss 12, Mr 14, Little Miss 14 and Mr 16, staying at Villa Raull, Umalas 1, Seminyak.
Friday April 21st - Mr G has had enough of shopping so he happily stays with Mr 14 while the girls and Mr 16 head to Legian markets. The girls want silver name bracelets for their friends at home so we organise to get them all together from a man we had spoken to a few days earlier(approx $8 each, which we didn't think was too bad and he delivered to our Villa).
Mr 14 feels a bit better so we decide to head out to dinner. This was our first dinner at The Boardwalk restaurant at The Bali Gardens Resort. Our first impressions are fantastic, the place is alive and buzzing with excitement. The music is wonderful and gets everyone singing along. A fire dance (similar to what we saw at Nirvana) on the grassed area was great. I had Tomato soup and it was excellent, i would happily eat here every night. The beef hot pot pie was mmmm and i didn't want to leave. Everyone enjoyed their meals (my entree, tomato soup + beef hot pot pie cost $6 and i was full). The kids played on the beach and we talked about staying at their resort for our return visit. A walk through the resort to our driver who was waiting for us at the entrance confirmed our love of the resort even though we didn't get to see the rooms. This resort is very well maintained and has a great feel to it.
Sunday 22nd April - Today we had planned to go to the Bali Safari park but Mr 14 isn't up to riding an elephant and walking around all day so we make a quick change of plans and decide that a rest day is very much needed. Mr 14 is looking very miserable at the thought of missing out on the park as he thinks we are going without him. A huge smile crosses his face when i tell him that we don't want to go without him and we'll go tomorrow
We spend the day swimming at the Villa. The men decide that they have found their bearings and would like to get 2 scooters. OMG! Really? Both have been riding for 20 + years but i still worried each time they headed out into the hustle and bustle and was very relieved when i heard them returning. Mr G loved the experience and neither of them had any trouble with the police. Mr G had organised a International Drivers permit in Australia but never needed to use it and thankfully we didn't need to find out how our travel insurance worked with bikes.
Mr D wants to look at pots so with their new found freedom they venture out to some local places. Its Sunday so not many bosses are there to negotiate a price with Mr D, so they head back early for a swim.
We decide to go to Mozarella tonight for dinner as so many people on the BTF have recommended it. We didn't book so didn't know if we had a chance of getting in as it looked so busy. This is a very popular restaurant and you can tell why. We only waited 5 minutes for a table which was situated under ceiling fans, a very welcome treat. We order plain boiled rice for the still unwell Mr 14, unfortunately it turns up covered in garlic. When the manager comes to have a chat shortly after he realises that we have an unwell child and says to the staff to bring him ‘plain rice'. We couldn't have asked for better service at this top restaurant. The waitress and the table next to us were discussing different remedies to help the sick boy. He was pampered with hot tea, tummy rubs but nothing bought a smile to his face. He does laugh about it now and if i was a mean person i could have taken photos of him as they touched and talked about him...but i'm not that mean lol (...) The meals were wonderful, the cocktails very yummy. This is one of my favourites, will definitely return, i look forward to trying Mozzarella by the sea next time.
Monday 23rd April - We are all very excited to be going to the Bali Safari Park today. Mr 14 is still not 100% but much better than the last few days so he is keen to go. We have chosen the Rhino package which includes a 30 minute elephant ride, lunch at the Tvaso Lion Restaurant, Agung Show (which unfortunately doesn't perform on a Monday so we missed out), water park (which we didn't have time to go to), jungle hopper, shows and a souvenir which is a large framed photo per person. These are great, we ended up with a family photo with the orangatang, myself with the orangatang, an elephant shot and Little Miss 14 and Mr 16 with the young lion, all were great photos. I was very concerned as i had been told that the Rhino package could not be bought in Bali and i would have to organise it before i left Australia. This is not the case, our driver organised it for us at a much better price (approx $105 per person for the whole package). The only slight problem we encountered was when they wanted Mr 16 to have a kids meal at the restaurant as apparently our driver had somehow (who knows how) got him in as a child lol (under 12). This was quickly sorted and we didn't pay anything additional, they were very understanding. The elephant ride was amazing and the 30 minutes went so fast that it felt like 10. Only disappointment was that we were told that we couldn't take our cameras or phones so we missed a lot of great photo opportunities. There was a photographer at one point but he only took 1 photo. I think the highlight of our day was when my friend who desperately NEEDED to cuddle the baby orangatang which has been a lifetime dream of hers. The smile and excitement was electrifying and you couldn't even wipe the smile from her face when she felt a warm trickle down her legs... yep! she got peeeeeeed on.... now that was hilarious! I will never forget the look on her face (...) We didn't have time for the water park which is disappointing, there is just so much to do at the park. Make sure you are there early as your day will go so fast.
Tuesday 24th April - Today is my hubby's birthday. He isn't one for spoiling himself so i have organised 3 massage therapists to come to the Villa to treat him to something he wouldn't normally do himself. Of course Little Miss 14 and myself can't let him have all the fun so we will join him.
Varzi cooks my Mr G his favourite breakfast, eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. Mr G is feeling very spoilt and its only breakfast. We all gather around after breakfast as Varzi and Trish have a wonderful surprise for Mr G, they have made a HUGE choc/white choc mousse cake that is surrounded by cream, wafers and strawberries. It looks amazing and tasted even better if that's possible. The smile on Mr Gs face says it all and Varzi is thrilled that he loves it so much as he was up very early in the morning to have this prepared.
As Mr 14 is feeling much better this morning he is very keen to go shopping to buy clothes and DVDs so my friend takes Mr 14, Little Miss 12 and Mr 16. Little Miss 14 wants to stay and have a massage so it's perfect. Mr D is keen to look at stone places so he leaves on his motorbike and says he'll be back at 11am.
The massage therapists arrive and the noise stops. It's so peaceful with just the 3 of us being pampered in the shade around our large pool. I look at Little Miss 14 a couple of times and she looks like she is having the time of her life. My massage was wonderful and just what i needed after such busy days. I wonder a few times about my friends who are out in the heat shopping but all i can do is laugh to myself at the thought of them coming back hot and flustered to us who will be cool and relaxed.
Mr D comes back at 11am just as he said. We are chilling in the pool by this time feeling very relaxed after our hour long massage. He joins us and we talk about his morning looking for stone garden features. We are going to Bali Dolphins at 12.30pm and we laugh because we don't think the shopping group will be back in time. At 11.45am our transfers arrive and there is no sign of the shopping group, oooops! We might be going without them. They tell us not to stress, we are in Bali and they are early so they will wait for the group. Midday comes and no sign of them and we start to think they have decided that shopping was more fun. 5 minutes later they all come running in all talking at once about the wonderful bargains they have got. They really did get a lot done in such a short amount of time but there is no time to talk. Hurry up guys! Our transport is here. Luckily we are organised and they just need to throw on boardies and off we go.
We later find out that Bali dolphin transfers didn't want to pick us up from our Villa because we were staying out of Seminyak. Putu and Trish worked out transfers and we didn't have to worry about a thing.
We were taken to Seminyak and then met up with BD transfers to Dolphin Lodge at Sanur. It is about a 20 minute trip. When we arrive we are given a cold bottle of water and shown where the amenities are, given a short talk and taken to the boat out to the dolphin enclosures. This is only a 3 minute boat ride in calm water.
Our dolphins name is Freda and she is beautiful. They are such intelligent creatures and i feel blessed to have spent time with her and get amazing photos with this fascinating animal. My hubby couldn't wipe the smile from his face and we all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Back to our Villa before 4pm so we have plenty of time to get ready to go out to La Lucciola cocktails at sunset and dinner.
La Lucciola is stunning. From the moment we walked in we were treated as Kings and Queens. Trish had called ahead and asked them to give us their best table for Mr G's birthday and we weren't disappointed, we watched the sun set as we sipped on cocktails. This restaurant is definitely on the more expensive scale (approx $150 for our family of 4 with 2 cocktails each and mocktails for the kids) but well worth it for a special occasion or if you want to treat yourself to a lovely night out, it was still much cheaper than Australia. After dinner we walked along the beach and watched the kids play in the water, a beautiful ending to a perfect day.
Wednesday 25th April - Our last full day in Bali (...) We are all feeling a little sombre at the thought of going home. We have lots to do so we all split up to finish off our last minute shopping, bike rides and views.
Mr 16 heads out with Mr 14 and Mr D to Seminyak. Mr 14 has found a skateboard that he loves and they want more DVDs... really! More DVDs.
The girls get dropped at Legian markets. I am a hopeless barterer i have found out and i'm sure i have been ‘ripped off' on many occasions but i don't mind, its still much cheaper than home so i'm happy. It's really hot so i soon get cranky and need to stop for a cold drink. We find a great little place called Lemongrass. What a little oasis in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. The girls decide they are hungry so they order lunch. Little Miss 14 orders chicken breast with salad and chips. OMG! This was the best chicken breast i have ever tasted, so tender and juicy, wish we could have more meals here and better still they bought the cooler over to us so we ate in the cool. I loved this place.
The men are off on their bikes enjoying their new found freedom from shopping (...) Mr G is in his element and has decided that he will never go shopping again and will hire a bike the first day next trip. At $5 per day i have no problem with that and he is out of my hair
The girls and Mr 14 and 16 get dropped at Kuta Beach. They all want to get their feet nibbled by the Doctor Fish one more time. Lunch at Breadtalk at Discovery Mall for Mr 16, this is his favourite lunch in Bali and for the price of approx 80cents per item you can't go wrong. There is everything you could want and it is all delicious.
Reflexology in the airconditioned Discovery Mall is well deserved after all the walking. Little Miss 14 wants to get her hair braided before we go home so i leave Mr 16 with our friends and head to the lovely ladies outside the Bali Garden Resort to get her hair done. $20 but they do a fantastic job so we are all happy. Such a shame that money is running low cause these ladies do a fantastic massage. Oh well, theres always next time.
When we are all back together we look at the time and oooops, realise it is already 4pm and we have been gone all day.. we won't have time to get back to the Villa, have showers and get back to The boardwalk for sunset and dinner at 6pm so I decide that it will probably be a good idea to stay and hope that we don't smell too much and scare the other diners away. Sometimes you have to think about your own needs and mine was to see my last sunset on Kuta Beach so thats where i was staying. Nyoman calls Trish to let the men know our plans but they are still out riding so she will let them know when they get back and she will organise a taksi for them to meet us
This is our 2nd dinner at The Boardwalk Restaurant (Bali Gardens Resort). We were drawn back to this restaurant for our last night for the location, the atmosphere and the beautiful sunset. The fabulous food is just a bonus, don't miss the tomato soup mmmm yummm! Added bonus is the mosquito repellent and hand sanitiser on each table. We will definitely consider this resort when we return next year.
A double booking has left us needing to go to another villa (was quite a stressful couple of days but a good outcome was eventually reached) for our late checkout at 10.30pm. All was good as we only had a shower there and packed our last few things into our bags, then off to the airport. 20 minutes to the airport was quick and uneventful, everyone quiet at the thought of leaving Bali.
We weren't happy when we were told that the ‘sword' umbrella that Mr 16 had bought needed to be bubble wrapped to our luggage at the cost of $10. What!!! Funny how our friends had the same umbrella but they got through. We argued that it was going to be broken at the end of the journey but they insisted that we needed to pay. Hence Mr 16 was VERY unimpressed when we found his broken umbrella in Sydney (...) We learnt a lot about Bali officials this trip and we will do things MUCH differently next trip.
We found the Dewa lounge and settled in for a couple of hours until our 2am flight back to Sydney. Price has increased to 125,000 rupiah but as we were a bit short she still let us go in. Beer, softdrink, hot food and sandwiches passed the time away.
2am flight with Garuda. I only have 1 word YUCK! Plane was almost full so there were very few spare seats so we couldn't spread out. Very restless sleep and arrived in Sydney looking and feeling like we had been up all night, oh that right... we had lol. Now we are back to the cold (...) Please! Can somebody come and take me back to Bali... Pleassssseeeee
I hope that this hasn't been too long and boring. I hope that you have enjoyed reading about our adventures as much as i have enjoyed telling you about them. Please keep the HNR and JBRs coming, those of us who are waiting to return love to hear about your holiday
Thanks for reading