Apologies for taking so long to post this. What with Bali Belly, work, Christmas and the 24 hour bug that seems to have swept through our family - I completely forgot!! So here goes:
After BeeB and I deferred our Bali getaway last year, we finally got organized and went away for a week in early December. Our other sisters, Joodoff and Treestump (with her hubby Baldy) also joined us. Stump & Baldy went to Bali a week before us and we had about 5 days together before they flew back to Perth 4 days ahead of us. We booked through Joanna at Flight Centre in Belmont WA. She's an old schoolfriend of ReeB's and knew we weren't gonna take any sh*t. No, really, we got a great price, good service and received our tickets at least 5 weeks before departure. Besides, she's newish to the game and really wanted our business. Got our travel insurance cheaper elsewhere though - had a credit with HBF from cancelling our trip last year.
So, Reeb, Joodoff and myself headed off to Perth Airport on Friday 5th Dec to fly with Air Paradise. Dad drove us so we were never going to be late. We seemed to be the only flight leaving between one and four so it wasn't too busy. We didn't get offered our AP rewards voucher book and I completely forgot to ask. I think we got sidetracked by the check-in guy asking us to pay departure tax. Joodoff fell for it but ReeB and I were a bit wiser. Good try though.
Went through customs and immigrassi to wait for boarding. Sorted out my duty free to collect on return - baccardi and vodka. The other two chose to wait until we arrived back in a week's time. Joodoff claimed her GST back for her digital camera and printer that she had to lug around. While on that subject, Baldy accidently packed their new video camera in the suitcase and didn't have it to show at the tourist refund counter. The very helpful person still refunded the money though. He did have all the receipts with him just not the vid. Lucky buggar - they could very well have said No!
We boarded the borrowed plane from KLM and squeezed into the none-too-plentiful seats. I got stuck in the middle. Rose between 2 thorns?? It was only 3½ hours so wasn't too much bother. Wouldn't have liked to go more than 4 though. Took off on time and the plane seemed to be pretty much full. It felt a bit like the Captain might have been dodging witch's hats on the runway but we managed to get airborne safely. Crew was Dutch and Indo and friendly enough. Dutch guy was a bit miserable but we did eventually get a smile out of him -on the return trip mind you. They closed the bar about 40 minutes before landing due to 'regulations'. Whatever that meant. The food was fine if a bit on the spicy side for me. (Hubby would have liked it if I'd let him come with us.) Headphones worked OK and the movie was Tomb Raider 2. (Coincidently, we had the first Tomb Raider when we went on our overnighter to Bali 2 years ago.) Arrived in Bali about 10 minutes ahead of schedule with no other flights. Breezed through customs and immigrassi to the waiting smiles and icey cold Bintangs - mmmmmmmmm - from Treestump and Baldy - holding up a sign with our names on as well! They had booked a driver for a couple of days - Rocky Roo.
Checked in at Bali Garden Hotel. Disappointed to find the ponds in the foyer were dry and undergoing maintenance. Everything else was just beautiful. The gardens were lovely and the waterfalls soothing. We had a room 4 doors down from the Bald's and could wave to them from our balcony. Stuck in the middle again :( The fridge was quite small when we compared it to the other room. The freezer didn't work so our duty free ended up in the Bald's room (with working freezer and lots of ice) which became the drinking room whenever we were at the hotel. Gotta have ice with Bailey's and Kahlua cocktails!!
After we got settled, we walked down the street and changed some cash in Matahari's Centre. We generally got the rate of 6200 for the whole of our stay. Trees had made a 9pm reservation at Kori's to get the expensive meal out the way so we headed up that way. I think we were intending to pay our respects first at Sari Club and Paddy's. Well, when we were opposite the Paddy's site, it started bucketing down. We took refuge in the nearest shop which happened to be Billabong - not very cheap. It rained and it rained and it rained.....................and it rained and it rained.......and it didn't stop for about 50 minutes. The power went off and on for a while as well. The water level in the street rose rapidly and was lapping at the doors on some vehicles. The staff took turns at rescuing their bikes across the road which were falling over in the strong undercurrent. A couple of thongs went floating by and many offerings. A few of the larger offerings and baskets went by as well attached to the underside of vans and bemos. 9pm came and went so we gave up on Koris's and figured they might not have power anyway. When there was a break in the 'showers' we dashed around the corner and headed for the nearest pub - Pub Bagus. Baldy and I made it but Jood stopped across the road at a shop. Trees and Ree were very slow off the mark and took refuge again at Billabong - outside mind you, pressed up against a window. Baldy and I shrugged our shoulders and bought a round of Bintangs! What could you do? We toasted the girls up the street and were on the receiving end of some obscene gestures. Wait till mum hears about this! They eventually joined us about 15 minutes later and our family of drowned rats decided to eat at Pub Bagus instead. Seeming we were there already and they did have power. I can't remember what everyone had but there were no complaints. I had my first of a few Nasi Goreng's .
After that, the rain had stopped so we decided to head back to the hotel because we had an early start and a long day ahead of us tomorrow. A few taksi's turned us down when we said where we wanted to go. They were blaming the rain. Baldy, Jood and myself eventually got in one and Trees and Ree waited for another. The roads seemed clear enough until we turned down our street. We could feel the water lapping at the underside of the car and then our driver lost his nerve and asked us if we minded walking the rest of the way!! We said OK and he dropped us on the footpath outside Benny's I think. That was nice and dry until we reached the hotel driveway which was at least a foot under. Oh well, Baldy went first, then Jood, then me. I took my shoes off and pulled my cargos up. Something rubbed against my leg and I'll keep telling myself it was a thong or similar. As we waded up to the foyer, Trees and Ree pulled up in their taksi. Obviously, their driver had more guts and just floored it driving right up to the undercover part of the foyer. Jood and Baldy then went and filmed the rain and rescued some more motorbikes while I wrung out my only pair of shoes.
A few nightcaps and we hit the sack. Our first night was quite an adventure!!
Tomorrow, SD5 and Ubud........