26/11/05
Flew to Bali from Sydney. 27 passengers in 270 seat aircraft, compliments of Qantas special charter after Air Paradise collapse.
Spent 5 nights at Bali Garden Hotel.
1/12/05
Woke up early, 6am & packed gear up. Brekky then waited in BGH lobby for transport to Benoa Harbour. Tight security going in to Bali Hai office at harbour. We board the ferry as we're greeted by 2 girls in traditional dress. The boat is almost empty as is everything in Bali at the moment. Great time to take advantage of the lack of tourists here so we sprawl out in comfort everywhere we go. We have the lower deck to ourselves aside from the local dive crew. A cup of Kopi susu & sweets then ½ an hour later we are at Lembongan.
Onto the pontoon in Jungutbatu bay straight to the other side to step into the smaller transfer boat with all our luggage & kids. We get dropped to Sanghyang Beach, a very beautiful little bay with white sand and rugged cliffs at each end. A tall rock juts out from the reef half way down the bay. We had a look at Hai Tide Huts but they were way too small for a family so we walked up the beach to the Waka Nusa Resort which is nice & flat, sandy for the kids & a pool shaped like a clover. Nyoman told us the rooms were $151 US per night which I thought was over the top. The huts were nice and could just comfortably accommodate us. I had Nyoman drop the price a bit then eventually got him to $110 US, I said I would pay $100 max so he went to get the manager who came to agreement with me at $100.
Went snorkeling around the point to the south but it looked better above than below water. We had lunch, swam, a few beers, dinner then bed.
2/12/06
Had breakfast on the edge of the beach thismorning. Swam off the front of the Waka resort and paddled around in the skis that they have. Later on we jumped into the tinny and motored around to Lacerations where I surfed while the kids & Nat snorkeled the reef. Came back later to the Hai Tide for some grilled schnapper for lunch. The kids swam in the pool there which is nice and has waterfalls which they loved. After lunch Nat & the girls went back to our hut for a kip while Jayden & I paddled the skis out past the reef. Soon after it began to get windy and spat with rain. We got back to the hut just in time as it poured down. Played chess with Jayden while Nat had a massage. Then cracked a few large Bintangs. I had rode around to Jungutbatu village earlier on and bought a crate of large Bintang to stock our minibar with as the prices here are up there.
3/12/06 More of what we did the day before
4/12/05
Beachside brekky then took small fishing boat to Nusa Penida and after a turbulent ride with very strong currents running close to rock cliffs with the pram rolling around on the bow we pulled into Crystal Bay to do a bit of snorkeling. The beach here is ugly and the snorkeling is tidak bagus, but we had fun on the sand with the local kids who had never seen a pram before. They laughed hysterically as they watched our 3yr old daughter play hopscotch in the sand. Their mothers were over the back doing their washing in the river.
We came back to Lembongan via the northern end instead of opting for the more turbulent southern passage. Played ping pong then hopscotch in the sand with the Waka staff.
5/12/05
More snorkeling at Lacerations and surfing at Shipwrecks which was great, 3-5ft and offshore.
Relaxed all afternoon while the kids played in the pool.
6/12/05
Brekky on the beach as usual, pancakes and breads with juice & coffee.
Hung in the pool for most of the morning. Put bub to sleep in the room then took off on the boat around to Playgrounds to drop Nat & kids for a snorkel while I got dropped out to Shipwrecks. There was a couple of daytrippers with us from New York, David came out with me but it was too big for the wind direction (on shore) with a very strong current.
The boat dropped us back to P.G's where it was 3-4ft & fun as it was protected from the wind. My son was off to the side putting bread into my bootie bag which enticed the fish in, he brought back 2 small ones. Nat & kids then dropped back to Sanghyang while I stayed out for another ½ hour and got a lift back with David from Huskisson who we met while eating at Mushroom Beach Café.
Back to base for a shower then we all went up to Café & Bar Bali only a short stroll up the beach (50m or so). We had the Ikan Bakar with cumi cumi, udang dan sayur. Enak sekali.
Back to our own beachfront for night caps, while we were sipping on Bintang with lime my son had managed to bag about 40 hermit crabs. On our way back to the room we were almost toe wrestled by a huge sand crab that waited at the gate. A big night for crabs!
7/12/05
Brekky at 730, same as usual. Arranged to have a go on the banana boat from the resort next door (Lembongan Resort). Cost me about $20 for 15 minutes but the kids had a ball on it. I filmed them from in the boat that was towing the banana.
Snorkelled at Playgrounds again then after lunch had another surf (5-6ft slightly choppy). The surf got bigger as the day went on, looks like a new swell on the way. I took my 10yr old son out to the point in front of the resort, there were a bunch of local kids riding the white wash on pieces of timber. They all had fun swapping with Jayden on his boogie board and all started showing off when I got the video camera out & started filming.
Later on we went back to the Bar and Café Bali for dinner. Prawns with stuffed squid (tuna). Every meal we ate our 7month baby was carried off by staff and we could always enjoy the feed without having to keep her occupied, they loved how chubby she is.
Went down to the beach and built a fire with Jayden and a few locals, late night.
8/12/05
Today is our last day on Lembongan. Usual brekky on the beach. We have organized to do the Bali straight crossing on the Waka Louka (sailing cat) which is owned by the resort. They throw in a free ocean transfer because we stayed more than 2 nights. It should be an interesting trip, there is a very decent size swell running.
Also organized with Ketut to go have a look at the underground house before we leave. This house is worth a look, it's huge with many chambers under the ground.
Back to the Waka Nusa to pay up our bill and the staff loaded up our gear and took it out to the catamarang with the runabout. I took Nat & the kids for one last burn around on the motor scooter. I didn't mention this but we hired a little Yamaha step through for the week so we had mobility on the island itself. It was great for exploring places like The Devils Tear, Dream Beach etc in between the general water activities we were absorbed with. $70 for the week the bike cost.
We boarded the cat and headed back to Bali. I sat out on the nets at the front with the kids while they ate fruit and I drank Bintang of course. The trip was way better than the Bali Hai on the way over. Back in Bali we headed straight to the BGH and checked in for the night, no 2 nights.
9/12/05
The staff were happy to see us back and were off with our baby girl again at breakfast. Today was just a lounge around the pool day. Got the kids babysat in the evening and went to TJ's for dinner then up to Poppies II to hire a Kijang for the next week, (which eventually dragged out to 2 weeks to the delight of the owner). Agung from the Bali Dwipa gave us the car for 100,000 per day which we bargained down because of the extra time. Then I took Nat around to see some old friends from Jus Edith Bungalows but the place had been torn down & sold off. Benny and his wife Wati were back home in Java.
Slept in the next morning and went into Denpasar to visit a friend who has set up churches across Indonesia. Paulus gave us the royal treatment when we got there unannounced. He showed us around the orphanage he set up and shouted us lunch after.
11/12/05-12/12/05
We checked out of the BGH leaving most of our luggage in storage and headed up through Ubud to Kintamani. Stayed down the bottom near lake Batur overnight and climbed Mt Batur in the morning. Nat and I in thongs with a 10yr, a 3yr old on a guides head and baby tied onto me in a Baby Bjorn. Pretty hectic climb but worth it at the top.
Drove around the rim of the volcano then down to Lovina. We found a nice place on the outskirts called the Bali Taman which we stayed ay for 4 nights. 2 double interconnecting rooms set us back $50US per night which was well worth it, the place was very clean, manicured gardens, nice pool on the beach.
13/12/05
Planning to go scuba diving on Menjangen Island
.......................To be continued