My other half and I left Tasmania on the 21st April with the temperature at 4 degrees. We have been to Bali many times but it had been 3 years since our last trip. A wait of several hours in Melbourne airport and then we were met by our friends and their three children, 14, 12 and 6. This trip had been planned for many months and we couldn't believe the time had finally arrived. We flew with Jetstar and our friends with AA.Our flight arrived around 9.30pm Bali time and we were straight through customs and immigration with no delays.Beautiful!! How huge is the new airport!We seemed to walk for ages to get to the baggage carousels, first there, last bags to come through were ours.
We were met by a driver from our villa in Seminyak and were there in no time. Waiting for us were two lovely ladies who would look after us for the next ten days. How lovely was Villa Crystal! The pool lights changed colours and the frangipani tree which hung over the side was in full bloom.Wow,I really am back in Bali! Our friends and their family arrived after an hour or so. Their delight surpassed ours!The kids were in the pool in minutes. It was after midnight, following a very long day when we all said goodnight.
I am always awake early and heard a strange sound at about 6a.m. I poked my nose outside and realised it was morning prayers and the tinkling of bells close by. I ventured out to the pool and lay there listening. This became my morning ritual, floating in the pool in darkness, listening to the lovely sounds and bobbing amongst the frangipani blooms which had dropped overnight. I remember thinking I would recall this morning ritual as amongst my favourite memories and I do.
Following a lovely breakfast prepared by Kadek, Made and Risky it was off to the moneychangers and then to Carrefour for supplies. Our friends and their mob could not believe the size of the supermarket and of the cheap prices. We loaded up two Bluebird taksis with the essentials and returned to the villa. Next on the agenda was a trip to Ketuts fixed price in Legian. I always find this a great way to establish the going prices. Once again our friends were amazed and it was great to see Ketut.
The youngest member of our group had one mission, corn rows in his hair asap! We were walking toward the beach when a lady from the nearby market said the magic words "I plait your hair?"....Deal...saved walking any further! As the men of the group settled in for the wait the other ladies in the market managed to entice the mother of the children into two family tree necklaces, a foot massage and fingernail and toenail painting .Yep, nothing has changed!
Following a swim it was off to Ultimo for dinner. This is a great place and became a regular during our visit, My seafood risotto was lovely and everyone else was more than happy with the food, service and very reasonable prices.
Our friends headed for a day at Waterbom. Us two oldies decided to decline their invitation to join them and head out for a look around Kuta. On our last trip we didn't even venture out of Legian, it was New Year and the traffic horrendous so it had been a while since we had visited Matahari and some of the old favourites. I got the feeling early on that this little trip may have been orchestrated by my other half as our first port of call was at Big Boys Toys!Not another remote control helicopter for him to crash! But no.......his mission this time was for a petrol driven remote control car, a huge one!After much discussion with the store owner he decided he would mull it over and consider the quoted price. (I knew full well we would be going home with one.)
Next on the Kuta list for the old boy was a strawberry smoothie at Gloria Jeans...and yes they are still wonderful! Mataharis is a great place for childrens clothes and shoes! Lots of sales as well....must tell our mates to visit the sports shoe section for the kids as the bargains were unbelievable on skechers!Dinner at Rumours, another great place to eat and so reasonably priced for a family.
The next day saw us all walking to Geneva, an old fave of mine. This didn't disappoint either with baskets full of homewares making the trip back to the villa.The young boys in our group bought themselves slingshots and were eager to try them out. Following a lecture by myself on the responsible use of the same and the fact they would have to wait until they returned home to their large property in Melbourne to try them out, a local who had been hanging around outside Geneva, produced a large rock. He proceeded to make a noise, which we considered impersonated a pigeon. and handed the rock to the young man who had just received my lecture. The local then motioned for him to aim toward the street. NO!!!!!! Several others, mostly Australian men who were seated outside Geneva waiting for their wives fell about laughing. They had been witness to the solemn lecture and thought it hilarious.
My old friend Wendy the Tailor arrived at the villa to collect a denim jacket I wished to have copied."Two please Wendy, one black and the other blue." I have loved this jacket for years and have not been able to find the style again so I am very happy! Lunch at Seminyak Café with the old favourite seafood crepe being voted to the top of the list as the best lunch thus far.
The girls continued to shop around the Bintang supermarket area with visits to many bead shops and Grandmas favourite for kids hair accessories, Shine.
Other friends of us all were staying at Villa Mimpi in Legian. After a few drinks there we walked to the nearby Double Six Street and 16 of us presented at the restaurant, forgot the name, on the corner of Double Six and Werkudara.(Not the Italian corner, the other)Great fun but cold nasi goreng.I think the influx of 16 at once probably had something to do with that!!
Part two to follow.Hope I'm not boring you guys!