On previous trips to Bali I have booked almost a year in advance and then had the agonising wait to get there! Not so this time- this trip came up suddenly when my sister three weeks prior to her travel date said why dont you come? It was an opportunity to meet her, my two nephews and my dad in Bali- my dad being 66 had never left Australia and I hadn't seen him for 18 months so why not indeed!!
Tickets were booked and rooms at their booked hotel the Febris were available so on short notice myself and my two children aged 3 and 7 were set to go! I was a bit apprehensive about getting there etc as my husband couldn't come and I'd be doing the airport thing by myself as Sister & co were travelling from Perth and I was leaving via Port Hedland. The drive to Hedland was a breeze, the kids behaved beautifully on the plane and our driver was waiting to meet us at the airport so no probs!
We checked into Febris- they had given us a ground floor room as requested and as it was my daughters 7th birthday the day we flew in they had made beautiful towel animals and left a lovely birthday card on her bed- NICE! I had 8 hours to kill before the rest of the family would arrive so we went shopping, exchanged money, stocked up on essentials at the nearby mini mart, had a lovely dinner at the hotel and waited up til the others arrived at 9.30pm.
Ok to try to make this shorter I will list the places we visited etc rather than a day by day!!
Waterbom- we did this the first day, wonderful as always!
Safari Park- always great! This was my third visit to the safari park and I had never been all the way into the fun zone so was impressed with the rides in there! My 3yr old is too little to be allowed on the bumper cars in Oz but here was no probs. He went in with his 14yr old cousin and he didn't stop cracking up laughing!
The lion "cub" there at the moment was not so little! My idea of a baby lion is a bit different to theirs obviously! Whilst waiting in line to have our photo with it it was getting quite cranky- snarling and swatting at its lead. Then my daughter sat on the top step to wait for our turn and the lion looked at her and raised up into a coruching pose- the handler looked to see what the lion was looking at and shouted LITTLE GIRL STAND UP LITTLE GIRL STAND UP!!! Hmmm my daughter looked a bit tasty did she?!! We passed on having the pic at that time but my nephew and I had a go a bit later!
ULUWATU TEMPLE
Wow- gorgeous scenery from up here- was very happy that my driver friend Made kept my boisterous 3 year old in his arms while we were near the cliff face!! We'd been through most of the temple when I looked away from my boy for a sec and turned back when my younger nephew started yelling obscenities! As soon as I'd turned my back a monkey raced in and ripped a thong off my little boys foot! it was one of those ones with an elastic strap so you would think it wouldn't be that easy to get off but it was gone in the blink of an eye! Needless to say he was devestated but everyone else was thoroughly entertained- a lady came and threw a bag of fruit at the monkey and got the thong back but it was broken. My son has shown it to all and sundry and told them naughty monkey got it! lol!
PADANG PADANG BEACH
My sis had this top of her to do list but we were concerned dad with a slightly dodgy hip and my 3 yr old boy would have trouble getting down there. It was easier than we thought- the staircase down to the beach is awesome with the stairs following a fissure/ tunnel through the cliff and then we emerged to a stunning beach with crystal clear waters! We all swam here and loved it! Will definately go back!
GO KARTS
Made took us to a go karting place not too far from the beach and my nephews, sis, dad and Made all had a blast! Cost was basically a dollar a minute. My two had a ball sitting watching and cheering them all on
BALI ZOO
Had heard that this was much improved so we all went out, the nephews did the treetops there while the rest of us went into the zoo.
Well yes there have been improvements but I still much prefer the safari park and wouldn't bother with the zoo again. The highlight there was the kids got to pat and have photos with both a lion cub and tiger cub (again bloody big babies lol)
TEBA SARI COFFEE
stopped here as my sister had bought lemongrass tea at another place and wanted more. We all tasted 11 different teas and coffees and we got dad to try the poo coffee lol! LOVED the lemongrass tea and the ginger coffee so had to buy some of both.
RESTAURANTS
Garis garis- as good as people on here have mentioned and sooo close to Febris! went twice.
Uns in poppies lane- went twice it was so good and gotta love the 25000rupiah frozen margaritas!
Febris- had quite a few meals here lunch and dinner and was always good- great pizzas!
Chilli- off tegallalang rd. Went there last year and was awesome but not so good this time!
NANNY
As I was sans husband this time I had nanny Ana who I had previously met and had look after the kids in Sanur come over to help. Mostly she came with me to help keep an eye on the kids whilst shopping etc but she was a godsend when it came to me being able to have massages! I booked treatments around when my 3 yr old would be due for an arvo nap and she stayed in room with the kids, whilst he slept she painted my girls fingernails, did colouring ins with her and generally entertained them whilst I could go be pampered! She is fantastic with children- her only downfall is she cant swim but I would highly recommend her if this isnt an issue for you!
FEBRIS SPA
when staying you recieve a complimantary 1hr foot reflexology/ massage. If you dont want that you can pay extra to upgrade to something else but I recommend it- so relaxing- I fell asleep and woke up on a snort- oops!
I also had a facial, a balinese massage, a pedicure and manicure- all were great!
SHOPPING
Always visit Diannes and Rikas shops whilst in the area. great prices, good variety and no haggling! This trip I also visited Erlangga 2 and Krisna on Ana's recommendation. These are shops the locals go to and there was a good variety of things at cheap prices. I bought a friend a lovely belt from here made of torquoise beads with a wooden clasp and she loves it- cannot belive I paid only 2.20 for it!
Bought some great shoes from Matahari and from Hypermart in the Galleria. Got cute kids guitars amongst other things in Poppies lane.
DRUNK N DISORDERLY
My dad is a huge dockers fan and got rather drunk n disorderly after they lost to the Eagles! Apologies to the young ladies who walked past out room to hear him say- now theres a good looking girl! Also apologies to the group of young girls who got a good fright when he jumped out from behind the wall yelling boo! Also apologies to the other patrons at the Febris bar who may have witnessed him nodding off to sleep in his bar stool! LOL! was rather hilarious to see my father behaving like a rebellious teen- even attempting to sneak back to the bar after supposedly heading off to bed- he was out of $ in his pocket so that stopped that!
All in all we had a great trip, my son is as blonde as you can get so always gets lots of attention in Bali but more than ever this time with a few people asking to take pics of him with their dark haired children! Whilst I enjoyed the Febris I am looking forward to getting back to the more peaceful Sanur side when we return in October(trip booked last December)! And now the countdown begins again...............