One thing that surprised me on this trip, was how late I woke up, usually with the time difference I am up at about 5am or earlier every day. The kids woke early some mornings, but let us sleep and we averaged 7am-8am, we actually had to set the alarm a couple of times, must of really needed this holiday.
I had no plans to do massive amounts of shopping, I knew I wanted a really beautiful painting, and a couple of other things for the house, and I don't know what happened. Suddenly I was worried, I might never see that top again, look at those shoes! oh Tannalee that dress would look so cute on you, and I didn't want to miss out, that was it. I was always looking, and running into shops before hubby could catch me!
Hubby had a sore ear, so we went looking for a chemist, there was one just up the road from Besakih, towards Hardys, and we got 'prescription only' ear drops that worked fine, the chemist shop looked just like any in Sydney, with every thing you could possibly want.
We wandered up to Hardys, wow it is so expensive, we figured things here were marked at least double, often triple, what they were worth. We did come back here later though as hubby, much to his horror, had seen an Omega watch that he liked, and we never saw it anywhere else, also got some great music here.
The trip from Sanur to Kuta/Legian was RP70,000/RP80,000 with a driver or taxi, we made the trip three times during our week in Sanur, for us it was well worth the money to stay out of the hustle.
My mother and sister had told me about Genevas, so we got a driver from the hotel to drive us over. I Love Genevas, I know some people don't like big, set price shops, but as much as I enjoy bargaining for wonderful art work, and even clothes where you end up getting one more!, I was very happy not to haggle over place matts and cushion covers.
Unlike places like Carrefour and Matahari, I still felt very much in Bali at Genevas, it is packed from floor to ceiling with all manner of homeware and craft, we spent about 2 hours here, and came back once more. My favourite thing I bought here was wind chimes, about four foot long, with cream shell discs, I have always wanted chimes like this, and love that I got them in Bali, so now I will have Bali thoughts every time the discs brush against each other.
At Genevas, I twice saw big rats running around, when I mentioned this to hubby, he said he wondered what he had seen, so as always, when you get home, wash every thing very well, especially those serving spoons !!
Next day we hired another driver, his name was 'Choc', really nice guy, very chatty, told us how Johny Howard had just been to Bali to open a clinic, and like a few people we met in Sanur, he wasn't impressed by the fact that Johny was giving travel warnings, then coming over himself. But he was very appreciative of all the help that Australia had offered the Balinese people, and told us that the Balinese say thank you to the Australians.
I didn't really want to go to Water Bomb Park, I felt it was a waste of Bali time, but as Tannalee had been such a good girl while Ry was sick, we went for her, and she loved it. At first with the deposits for towels and the locker, we thought it was very expensive but at the end of the day it wasn't at all. We were there for a few hours, and had a great time, hired a bale, and had the best 'nasi goreng' and 'waffles with caramelised banana fritters '!
That night we booked Choc to drive us to Denpasar and be our guide for the next day, but next morning at breakfast Ry starts shivering, not again!, his temperature is back up to over 39 degrees, poor baby, he just wants it to go away!!
Hubby went up and told Choc we couldn't go, and gave him Rp50,000 as a cancellation fee, the drivers all thought this was a wonderful thing for him to do, and one guy told him he was a very nice man. Hubby felt a bit embarrassed as he just thought it was good manners.
As the hours went past, Ry temperature went up, and we decided he should see a doctor, Choc didn't know how to get to the BIMC hospital, so his friend Agus drove us.
Hospitals and doctors are not Rys strong point, and he will pass out and have a fit, literally, when his temp. is too high and he is stressed, so this was in no way, fun for any of us.
The doctor was lovely and very concerned, she wanted to give Ry a blood test at which he freaked, in the end it was decided to give him 12hours, and if his temp. got worse or he started to bleed from his ears, nose or eyes!! we would bring him back. YOU THINK !! maybe we could just get some tissues and wipe his eyes.
Our driver Agus thought the fact that Ry was scared of needles, was, for some reason, very funny. Every time we drove past the BIMC hospital, Agus would say, "Riley, you need blood test now? maybe I stop?", and everyone except Ry would laugh, Ry said, "I know you think it's funny, but it's not", which made us laugh even more, probably from relief, as his temp. was gone next day and never came back, and his eyes never did bleed .
In the months leading up to our Bali trip I had put cardboard up on the kitchen wall with some basic Indonesian words, I was amazed at how quickly the kids learnt them, so I just kept on adding words. This was the best thing I did in preparation for our holiday, and it had a huge impact on our time in Bali.
The kids loved speaking to people in Indonesian, and they picked up the pronunciation and new words so well. It was amazing to watch locals faces, and attitude change, as they tested the kids, and us, by throwing words at them, to which they often knew the reply, or if they didn't, they would just ask what it was and repeat it until they received a big smile and a nod.
I'm almost finished one more JBR should do it.