Left for Bali on 22nd October... uneventful flight with Garuda on a plane that was only one third full. Arrived and through customs etc, fairly quickly to be met by Wombat our transfer man from last year. Short trip to Patra Bali for an overnight check in and an afternoon swim and a few Bintangs at swim up bar, then off to TJ's for dinner. Next morning woke to a extremely swollen eye where I had been bitten by a mosquito on the eye lid... not a very attrative look! Personally would not stay at the Patra again, too big and very expensive... small bintang 53,000rp.
Pick up at 8.15am and transferred to Benoa Harbour to depart on the Bali Hai II for 5 nights at Nusa Lembogan in a beach front hut. Quick check in and straight off to Bar and Cafe Nusa Lembogan (next door to Bali Hai) to catch up with Noris (part owner), great to see him and all his friendly staff. Best and cheapest food on the island. Spent the next 4 or so hours lunching and drinking ice cold bintangs sitting upstairs and taking in all the beautiful scenery we had missed since last year. The next 4 days was spent lying around and recharging the batteries... a cruise around the island on Noris's bike which he was happy to lend us again, and watching all the day trippers come and go... lots of locals as it was Muslim holiday. Must say all the staff at the Bali Hai were wonderful and we would definitely stay there again... a bit of a pain to go to the loo in the middle of the night but the uninterrupted views were worth it.
Headed back to Bali on the 28th for the next 12 nights at the wonderful Bali Niksoma. Arrived about 4.30pm and was greeted once again by those smiling faces... most of who remembered us from our honeymoon last year. Willy on front desk informed us we had been upgraded to a deluxe room, although we didn't have a view the deluxe rooms are actually bigger than the junior suite but the bathrooms are only half the size.
We managed to get to breakfast by 8.00-8.30am and enjoy the fantastic spread they put on each morning, and ooh how I enjoyed the banana pancakes!!! We would then head off to shop til about midday, stop somewhere for lunch and be back at the pool or beach by about 1.30pm to work on the suntan.
We enjoyed meals at: Maccarooni (still has the best gnocchi I have ever tasted), Ye Ole Fookin Pub (yummy shepards pie), La Lucciola (1st year anniversary dinner, the calamari and lamb rump was absolutely DEVINE, pumpkin gnocchi OK). Zanzibar (thai green curry, fish and chips, infact all meals we had were delicious), Blue Ocean (pizza's, nachos, tacos), Posers Pub, Legends, TJ's (fajitas, nachos, tacos, best strawberry daquiri's), Tommys Cafe (best salad rolls and steak sandwiches).
Had a night out with Rick from Ye Ole Fookin, didn't make it on one of his pub crawls as he had to head back to Aus to extend visa, etc., took in a show at Hulu... very funny when Hubby got dragged up on stage for a bit of a dance.
We visited the Bali Bird Park but gave the Elephant Park a miss, a couple at the Niksoma witnessed the lady coming off the elephant and said it was dreadful... wont go into details but they were pretty shaken up and upset about it... will put it on the list for next year.
Did lots of shopping of course, had 3 leather jackets made at Merry Collection, a pair of boots and 2 pairs of shoes made at Mira, couch and cushion covers made and 3 pairs of bathers made at Climax (Thanks Tina for info on Climax and Alta Moda), bits and pieces from Geneva (wow that place is huge), lots of nice dresses from Body and Soul, and I finally tracked down the elusive Martha Tillar (could only find it at Supanova).
Staff at the Niksoma were amazing on our anniversary they put rose petals in the shape of a heart on our bed with a bunch of flowers and also a heart in the bath tub, frangipani's everywhere, a bowl of fruit and beautiful cake with flowers piped all over it with happy wedding anniversary written on it... it made us feel very special. They also helped us with our balinese... writing out basic words and saying and letting us practice with them, we will truly miss them, there was nothing that was too much trouble for them.
Anyway, I'm now sitting at my desk in this horrible Melbourne weather (at least I've been able to wear my new jackets and boots) and thinking of all the wonderful people we met and looking forward to seeing them all again next year.
Thanks again for all those who replied to my questions before I left... the information was invaluable... I passed all the notes I had printed out onto a couple of other people so they too could be well informed.
Jodie