Left Perth 25th Feb. Husbands 50th birthday via Pacific Blue for 12 days in Bali. It was the first time we have returned since 2002 and our first trip overseas with our 4 year old son.
We arrived at Perth airport and checked in with plenty of time to spare and arrange duty free. As we were walking up to the stairs to go to the next level we saw my Uncle's 4wd drive past so we ventured back down stairs to investigate.
Out hopped my mother who then walked to the back of the car and pulled out a suitcase. Are you coming with us we asked? Yes, she had arranged secretly with our friends to come to Bali with us for 9 days. We had lost my father in January and I had spent several days in hospital in Perth after returning from his funeral so at one stage our long awaited trip looked in grave doubt. It was my husbands 50th, my 40th and our 12th wedding anniversary so Mum had decided that she would join us. After a few tears and composing ourselves we checked her in as well and went up to do some duty free shopping.
The trip over was uneventful, plenty of other families travelling on the same flight. It did take us a while to disembark and get through customs and immigration as Virgin had run out of immigration cards by the time they got to the back of the plane. We also had to wait for buses to transport us to the terminal and then complete the paperwork before going through. While waiting for the buses one passenger decided to light a cigarette this caused a commotion with guards and security. Oh well she said at least I managed to get a few puffs in before they sprung me!!!!
We made sure Mum got on her transfer and headed over to the taxi counter to arrange transport to the Bali Mandira where we were staying for 5 nights.
We arrived at almost the same time as Mum and other friends we were travelling with.
Bali Mandira was a lovely hotel and very central to everything. Breakfast was lovely. A great range of foods and all very palatable. Only problem now is our son thinks he can have banana pancakes for breakfast every day and eat out for every meal!!
There was not a bed provided in our room for our son even though it was ordered but Mum was in the room next to us with a connecting door and had two queen beds so we did a swap with her.
We ate at lots of places along Padma Street and all were very nice. We tried different places every lunch and night. Lots of shopping along Padma Street and Mum had a lot of cushion covers made at Mr Pillow in Padma Utara for her house and my Aunty. We frequented the little deli/ convenience store for supplies and they had a good range. We purchased DVD's from several shops. Only 2 out of about 80 did not work so very happy with that. Visited Melasti St Markets and bargained hard for clothes and items there.
After 5 nights we check out for a 2 night stay the Bali Safari Park in a tree house suite. The hotel was a bit of a disappointment mainly because again there was no bed for our son and we had to argue a lot for them to deliver one to the room. They also refused to give us breakfast vouchers for him even though we had paid. They said they were not needed but the next day would not let him eat unless we paid. Our son was asleep when we arrived so we placed him on the bed - it was delightful to see his face when he woke and saw the Zebra, Wilder beast and Rhino straight out of room window. We decided to leave the Park until the next day and headed down to the pool for a swim. Our room was close to the Taro Lion Restaurant so the pool was a long walk away and when we arrived the pool bar was closed. This was very disappointing as the drinks we had taken with us were infested with ants while we were swimming and it was a long walk back to the room. We spent some time at the pool and saw more animals and people of elephant walks coming through.
Dinner that night was at the Lion Restaurant - the lions were spectacular and certainly made up the disappointing food. We discovered that there were only 3 other couples staying at the resort during our time. At the end of our meal the staff had a baby tiger in reception and we were able to touch and have photos taken with it. Very exciting for a 4 year old and us as well.
After sorting out that our son could eat breakfast the following morning we discovered that we were also missing the vouchers needed to enter the park and the staff were not helpful with this. In the end we paid the US $ entrance so as not to spoil our trip but after spending over $250.00 AUS a night on accommodation we were getting a bit despondent at having to argue for our entitlements at every turn. We thoroughly enjoyed the park and spent time in all the areas, there was not a lot of people there and we had the fun park to ourselves so made good use of that. The afternoon we spent at the water park and really enjoyed. We then set off on our elephant trek which we all enjoyed even me who is petrified of heights and finds it difficult to get on escalators. After returning to our room we received a call to say there was a special show on at 6pm so we decided to take that in and it was in the big arena and was about a Balinese custom. It featured many of the staff and elephants from the park. It was very enjoyable. There were only us three and 2 other couples watching so members of the show greatly out numbered us.
We enjoyed the atmosphere of the park and being able to see the animals at close range, to experience the lions coming out from being locked up in the morning while eating breakfast was stunning and something we will never forget. As was being able to touch a lion, tiger, elephant and orang u tang. We probably would not stay at the resort again. It is very expensive for what you get and while you expect to pay more to eat with 'the Lions' the food standard and quantity does not warrant the prices that are charged. I think was reflected by the fact that there was so few people staying at the resort and even the staff said it is very quiet. A day trip to the Park would be a much better proposition.
We have arranged for a driver to collect Mum from the Patra Bali as she did not come to Safari Park with us, collect us and then take us back to Patra via Ubud. The morning saw torrential rain but that had disappeared by the time Mum and driver arrived. We headed off to Ubud and stopped several times view glass studios on the way. We lunched at the Lotus Garden in Ubud and then wandered around the markets. We purchased some great cushions covers, table runners and house accessories form the markets and they were different to those available in Legian. Trip home saw us stop as several more glass studios as I was looking for something special for my 40th birthday.
We arrived at the Patra Bali at around 5.30pm and checked into our room. Our first thoughts were oh no. The room was very dirty, toilet paper pieces on the floor, the curtains were stained and dirty and the bed runner so faded that you could not even see the pattern. Mum was in a room below us and was having problems with ants invading all the time and you guessed it once again no bed for our son.
We did not find the Patra too far out and had no problems walking along the beach into Kuta or catching taxis from the hotel or back to the hotel, just the general standard of the hotel was poor. We walked a couple of nights to Pantai and Green Garden restaurant and enjoyed our meals there. Visited the Green Garden Spa for a hot stone massage.
We enjoyed our trip, our son experienced many different cultures and things that he will not forget, and overall we had a great trip and learned that there must be a trick to travelling with children to ensure that they get a bed so we will be better planned next time. Rate was around 7600 the whole time we were away. The was plenty of rain mostly at night or early morning but it did not stop us getting out and about at all.
Our plane was a couple of hours late leaving Bali on the way home and we had a medical emergency on board so we had to wait for Paramedics to assess the patient and then for clearance from quarantine before we could disembark - it made for a long trip home with a small child but these things happen sometimes.
We checked out the Kartika Plaza and Santika rooms before leaving and will consider staying at one of these hotels or the Bali Mandira when we travel back.
Thanks for reading