Well here's part 2 of the Darwinites trip to Bali.
One thing we all found on the trip that was not so good was the amount of rubbish from one end of the beach to the other(kuta) there was what seemed to be millions of bits of plastic on the beach and in the water, each day it was raked up into piles and taken away? but there was just as much back again the next morning. I'm not sure if it was just dumped off shore or was arriving from distant shores because of the strong sea breezes, but it was not so good swimming through it, Darwin people are very edgy about things that touch your legs when swimming what with Sea wasps(the deadly jellyfish type) Crocs etc. But the water was a beautiful temperature and the waves reasonable, they certainly are better formed waves in June to October .
I certainly will take advice recieved to get to the Doctor day 1 next time should I or any of the family fall ill, I just kept thinking it would go away. Despite having the Gold Visa card insurance we got no money back as there was a $200 excess but I did get a sick certificate for the week and had 1 weeks leave re-credited which was a bonus. The rest of the group had their share of much lesser ills but Harry had fortunately brought along a substantial medical kit that helped with the occasional upset stomach, ear-ache or headaches, Dr Harry as he rapidly became known was worth his weight in Bintang.
We or rather they visited plenty of restuarants etc over the 2 weeks and we couldn't say we had a bad meal at any of them, some I can remember were, Indo-national(for Harry's 25th, 21st birthday)the place was packed and we had a bit of a wait to get fed but it was worth the wait, Ocean Blue, and the Sea... something next to the Blue Ocean were all very good. Breeze and the 2 La-Mondes were excellent, we went to the La-Monde, the big one upstairs near the Green Garden Hotel and really enjoyed it and also tried the smaller La Monde ( go to the left about 400mtrs out of MBR) on our last night and isn't it always the way, it was fantastic food and staff and top of our list next time. The Corner bar, Legain Snacks? Posers(great cold towels) were also good and a few others I didn't get to personally so I can't recall their names apparently all had good meals.
For those seeking great massages then I would have to agree with other forumites that the Melasti Spa is the best, we tried a few others but the Melasti was the best by far, a little more expensive than most, but worth it. I tried the hot rock massage and it was very very good, yep some of the rocks get a bit warm but I grinned and beared it and felt great afterwards.
One thing I must mention and not wanting to offend anyone but anyone who was at the MBR from the 12th to 16th of Jan will probably have seen or heard about the Russian girl who sunbathed(topless)most days a reasonably common occurance in Bali, but it turns out she was also a Yoga instructor back home in Russia and for 4 days she did her yoga workout on the beach in front of the MBR each afternoon about 5pm or there-abouts which just happened to be time to go to the beach for a Bintang with the local beer seller and chat to to the resident beach tattooist, watch seller and massage and manicure girls. Well anyone who saw this Russian girl doing her workout will never forget it, the girl in the Red Bikini bottom could bend herself into places us normal people could only imagine. She had the whole beach agog every afternoon for about an hour, the locals thought it was hilarious and the youngish and oldish male Aussies who seemed to gather everyday were cheering and clapping and counting out push-ups etc while Miss Yoga(Alina) did her stuff and most of the women were just plain miffed about the whole thing. My wife being an inquisitive person couldn't help herself and went up and introduced herself to Alina and chatted to her for quite awhile getting all the background info none of the boys were game to ask. Turned out her boyfriend was not far away but was cool about the "show" going on each day. It is certainly burned into my memory bank.
For those AFL supporters out there and the Weagles certainly get a mention a lot on the forum, I found the AFL shop thanks to those whose put the directions on the forum previously. Being a Fanatical Geelong Supporter I went slightly overboard and bought singlets, shorts, t-shirts, stubbie coolers, hats, etc, the only issue I had and I gave them my thoughts were the colours they used for the Cats logo were a lightish blue and not the real navy blue of the Mighty Cats, but I bought up big anyway. It is in Poppies lane 2 about 300-400 metres on your right walking towards the beach.
Will add further thoughts again later.
thanks for reading
pj