Left Adelaide on the morning of 25th August, with hubby and 2 kids, 11 and nearly 9,flew to Darwin for our 10 hour wait to get onto the plane to Bali. Having not been to DArwin we decided to hire a car and show ourselves around Darwin.Nice city and would like to go back sometime to see it properly.
Got onto our flight at 1030 p.m and the kids decided to try to get some sleep. Arrived in Bali and were out of the plane and through VOA very quickly - paid in U.S dollars. Our bags were waiting for us and we walked through the custom guys without being stopped and walked out to be greeted by our driver, Made Mangku (highly recommended), who is more like a friend, and he promptly dopped us off at our Hotel for the next week, The Discovery Kartika Plaza.
We walked into our family suite and were very pleased with the size of our rooms, so put ourselves to bed ready for our holiday to start properly the next day!!!
Woke up to a beautiful view of the hotel gardens from our balcony,so we went down to a great buffet breakie which was included in our package.Yum Yum!!!! Hubby decided to check out the grounds after breakie and off we went.Had forgotten about the hawkers on the beach, so the initiation began for my husband and daughter! We bought a few T-shirts for a good price and left to check out the Centro mall next door.
For those wanting a easy and cheap lunch you can't go past Bread Talk.We had lunch from there a few days and I don't think we paid more than $6 each day.Back to spend time around the great pool in the hotel and dinner in the hotel, for their seafood buffet. They had Lagong dancers that night and the kids were fascinated by them.
Next day Made picked us up and we went to Dolphin leather to get a leather jacket made for Hubby and my son.These were really beautifully made and so cheap considering the quality of leather used. I had some favourite shorts copied and I have to say these turned out really well and for $30 each, they were cheaper than what I paid here in Australia many years ago.
Did a bit more shopping and then headed back to the pool and then went to Bubba Gumps for dinner. Anyone with kids should consider this restaurant as the staff are fantastic and kept us all amused with their card tricks and loud antics. Had been told this wasn't that cheap a place but we still walked out paying about $40 less than it costs for a middle of the road restaurant back home.
Next morning we were picked up from the hotel and we went to the Bali Adventures Elephant Park. This would be one of the highlights of our trip. Riding on the elephant was a very funny feeling at first, but you soon got used to it and it was interesting talking to our driver about his life as an elephant trainer.They are such awesome animals and our son was besotted with them. The show was short and sweet and then into lunch.We were back at our hotel around 3p.m. Definately worth the money.
The next day my hubby and kids went to Waterbom Park and I went shopping with a couple of girlfriends who were staying closer to Kuta, and we had a lovely day, went to Jenny clothing,Matahari's and Geneva Handicraft, so brought home a few good buys.
Next day we headed off to Ubud. On the way we stopped in at a barong dance, which again had the kids fascinated, and was funny in parts.Then we stopped in at the Bali Zoo, which although not a zoo up to our standards, the kids still enjoyed being up close to the animals.They particularly enjoyed holding the birds for their photos.Back into the car, with the news of a big cremation in Ubud, part of the royal family having their ceremony. This meant it was a bit tricky to get close to Ubud in the car, but our creative friend Made got as close to the village as he could. We wanted to go to the Lotus Cafe, but this was closed due to technical problems???, so we went to Casa Luna instead, which was just beautiful. Up to the markets for a quick look and then back into the car. We stopped off at a kite making factory where we bought a lovely kite and then back into the car to return to Tuban. We found the Impala restaurant next to the Kartika lovely and so cheap.The food is so good and you can get western and Indonesian food, so suited all.
Next day it was back to pick up the leather jackets, so we finished the shopping and got the last minute dvds etc to take home. Tonight we went to Ganeshas at Jimbaren Bay.Fantastic food and we had a great feast of prawns, crab, calamari and fish.
My daughter had her hair braided at the Melasti beach bungalows day spa and they did a great job. It only took 2 hours as she had up to 5 girks working on her at any one time. I also had a massage there ,which was fantastic.The girls are lovely and were really interested in our life here in Oz, as well as being able to inform us of their way of life.
Our holiday was very hectic and the kids really enjoyed themselves. I had talked alot to them about what to expect and they were well prepared to cope with the noises, traffic and people sometimes harrassing you with different things.By the end of the holiday they had got the hang of bargaining and can't wait to go back.
I saw the kids and my hubby off and then changed hotels, ready for 8 girlfriends to arrive the next day. This changed the tone of the holiday a bit!Now it was onto the serious shopping and partying part of the holiday.
We went to a lovely morocan restaurant called Khiama in Seminyak, and had a laugh at one of our friends doing a great job at Belly dancing with their girls who do 2 shows per night.Then it was onto a drag show at Hulus cafe, and we laughed and laughed til we nearly fell off our chairs.Well worth a visit!
Other places we ate at were Poco Locos,La Luciolas and Impalas again.
Bali is such a special place and thanks to the advice that I gleamed from the forum, we had a great holiday, and the only good bit about leaving is knowing that it won't be too long before we can go back!!!!!!