We flew with Pacific Blue from Auckland to Brisbane and on to Denpassar, a long trip and very short connection in Brisbane so our bags were still in Brisbane when we arrived, but at least we had our swimsuits in our back packs and only needed to buy sarongs and toothbrushes to see us through the following two days before our luggage arrived. My sister and her husband were with us, and we were to be joined by our daughter and her husband the following week.
Bookings were made long ago at the Kumala Pantai for our first three nights, but our flight were a day earlier and we had to make other arrangements for the first night so I decided that we should try the Kuta Townhouse two bedroom apartment for one night. The apartment was spacious and comfortable, but I did not like the lack of privacy and the fact that the buildings are so close together with little outdoor space. Not for us - convenient but felt like a city pad.
Kumala Pantai is very good value and even though the hotel must have been full there was plenty of room around the pool areas. Normally I avoid large hotels, but the location and value for money of this hotel is particularly good especially if you want to spend the first few days getting around the shops.
Our next location was Sari Sanur in Sanur and we had a wonderful stay here, located behind the Bonsai Cafe, close to the shops, restaurants and the beach this is a great little hotel, very private with seperate bungalows each with it's own small garden, and deck chairs on the beach if you tire of the pool area. We were told of a great little restaurant nearby dalled the Mona Lisa and were so impressed that we had most of our meals here. Did most of our shopping here at the fixed price shop at the market and it was so much less hassle than in the busier area of Kuta.
Our daughter and her husband arrived on the Sunday, with another bag left in Brisbane, this must be a common occurrence.
After all the talk in our country about the world recession there appeared to be little of this in Bali, in fact all the hotels and restaurants appear to be booming and there were people of all nationalities everywhere we went, and thank goodness everyone appeared to be relaxed and happy.