Wednesday.
It's our last day in Bali.
We're going to treat ourselves tonight with the Mercure's VIP sunset dinner overlooking Kuta Beach.
We see Wie in reception to book the dinner - ordering each course in advance so tonight we can just relax.
Wie is the nicest guy. He likes Chuppa Chups and accepts them for his young son too. He is good at his job - and a terrific person with it. He is one of the many reasons we've enjoyed staying at this hotel. Wie's offsider at reception is Tari. Also Balinese, Tari is witty and vivacious. She changes our money for us with a smile and a joke. And they both call us Miss L and Mr P. In fact, everyone we meet at the hotel call us Miss L and Mr P. It is both formal and relaxed at the same time.
Neither of us are what you could call well this morning though. Every day without fail we've had our raspberry juice and our inner health capsules and we would be disappointed if they'd failed us now. We hope it is just something we ate last night.
We take a stroll over to the hotel next door to check out their family rooms and villas that we have noticed from our balcony each day ... and whatever it is - strikes! Piegirl has to dash to use their facilities - Pieboy makes it back - but only just - to the Mercure, but he has to use the loo at reception because no way is he going to make it upstairs. No need for Filo's dunny guide here - these are A+++!
Maybe a swim would help. It does too. The water refreshes - and as we're swimming our friend Fina comes along to talk to us. We chat for the better part of an hour. Fina is studying hospitality at university and she'll be going back to Jakarta soon.
(A week later my sunburn was still warm and Piegirl's face had just started to peel. My nose was about to peel. We're neither mad dogs nor Englishmen, but we did stay out in the midday sun. The Piepeople had become the Pinkpeople! A salutary lesson - don't forget to slip slop slap!)
So we do our final stroll. A last swoop on Kuta Square - just in case. Take the photos that we meant to take. Look in the shops we didn't notice before. We meet interesting people on the street and talk to them.
An enjoyable, but difficult part of the day is going back to Poppies I and Ibu Jari for one final reflexology treatment. The drinks are on us - Red Bull is the drink of choice.
The team have become our mates over the past few days. Jon, Alex, Sugi, Nita, Wayan, Ketut and the inimitable Dwix. Friendly and welcoming. And very, very good at their craft. Visiting Ibu Jari has been a nightly ritual - and an absolute pleasure. It would not be understating it to say that these people helped make our holiday something special.
We started off as 'Wayan P' and 'Wayan L' but Piegirl soon became 'Mummy L'. One memorable occasion was when Mummy L taught them a bit of Australian vernacular - three customers from the ‘land of the free, home of the brave' were loudly and crudely questioning the sexual preference of the male staff during their massage. Our friends understood and were hurt by these comments, prompting Mrs Pie to explain the meaning of ‘w*nker'! It became a standing joke.
If you call in, say g'day for us ... the ‘two big Wayans' (they won't recognise us as Piepeople) who drew the map of Oz in their book (and, if all else fails, reference to w*nkers will definitely jog the memory!). Mrs Pie suggests you leave a nice tip too :-)
When the reflexology is over, there are photos all round and nearly tears. The Piepeople walk away briskly. We know we'll see our friends again.
Dinner is at six.
We go up to the pool area - where we are taken to our table in a private, open-air cabana overlooking Kuta Beach, and seated by Roby. Roby looked after us the first night we were here - and calls us 'his china plates'. We've seen him many mornings at breakfast. As with all the staff at the Mercure, Roby is an asset to the hotel.
Then our waitress arrives.
It's Ayu. Ayu has looked after us at breakfast just about every morning. She distributed the huge bag of toys that we had brought with us to the hotel staff - and she assures us that she has kept a couple for when she has babies too.
Ayu promises to remember us to chef King Kong! When he starts work at 11 tonight, we'll be at the airport.
The appetiser is a range of bread with a selection of dips. Great presentation too. Piegirl has a seafood salad as an entrée, with Pieboy's choice a lamb sate.
The sun is getting low in the sky over Kuta Beach as the crab and asparagus soup is served - each bowl has its own individual burner to keep it warm.
Another waiter comes over and offers us special wishes from Fina. We don't see Bahrun tonight - we saw him this afternoon - we both hope he gets a full time job there. He deserves it.
The array of colours displayed by the setting sun is stunning - from an almost light green to vibrant and vivid orange until it finally makes it's way below the horizon.
We are visited by the Duty Manager of the hotel. I'm not sure whether everyone in the VIP dining gets the visit, but we praise his staff ... telling him how lucky he is.
Our main courses arrive. Grilled seafood for Piegirl, steak for Pieboy. Fresh, tender, succulent. Off in the distance, a row of lights dot the darkness where we think the horizon should be. Ayu tells us they are fishing boats.
Desert is tiramisu for Piegirl. Pieboy gets adventurous and opts for an icecream sundae. The total price for an exceptional evening is less than $65.00 AUS and that includes our legendary diet Cokes and coffee.
It is a wonderful night ... a wonderful meal with some new friends to make it special ...
At 8.30 Made Arsa is waiting for us with the minibus.
We wave to the security guys on the gate. They've checked our taxis - and every other vehicle coming in - keeping us and other guests safe. For the record, we never felt unsafe in Bali.
Sampai jumpa lagi Mercure. And om santi santi santi om to Made Arsa at the airport - with a promise to get in touch when we return to Bali.
The ticketing agent doesn't comment on our bags - thankfully. Nor does he comment on the shoulder bag that is causing my sunburn to hurt just a little - it contains a few DVDs. Perhaps he didn't see the cabin bags bulging. Or the camera case. But he does compliment Piegirl on her Indonesian greetings ...
We decide we don't need to wait in a lounge as the plane should be leaving pretty soon. We pass through the security check to get to the departure gate and when our boarding call comes there is the usual frantic dash.
Only to discover that there is no plane. Only buses.
We are transferred to the Garuda Airbus which is sitting on the tarmac some distance away. And now we have to climb all those stairs with all our carry on luggage!!!
Our Garuda Airbus leaves about 11.30 pm - around 15 minutes late. As it climbs up out of Denpasar heading east I look back and see the lights of the Discovery Mall and the Bali Slingshot in the distance. The Rolls Royce Trent jet engines push our Airbus ever further away from Bali. The aircraft swings around towards the south and, sadly, Bali is all too quickly behind us.
One last JBR tomorrow - some "thank yous" - and a little bit more ...