Second Trip for me (35) husband (33) and first trip for son (4) and daughter (1). Last trip was 5 years ago when we got married.
We decided to break up the trip from Adelaide being that it was first flights for the kids, so decided to go via Perth. Left Adelaide with Jet* first thing in the morning and arrived in Perth at 8.00am. Hired a car and spent the day at Perth Zoo (fantastic). Headed to international terminal and headed off to Bali on Garuda at 5.45pm.
Arrived Denpasar just before 9.00pm to be greeted with huge queue for immigration. Lots of counters open and people just kept piling in behind us. We were out the front looking for our driver at about 10.00pm so not too bad. After initially not being able to find our driver, we met up and in no time were on the road to our accommodation.
We booked and paid in advance to stay at Yuli Bungalows in Legian. Upon arrival we were led straight to Bungalow 1 (the one we booked). Open air lounge room, 2 bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. Did a quick unpack and went to bed as we were knackered from being up since crack of dawn. I will sum up our thoughts on the accommodation at the end of Pt2 when I summarise some of the other things that might interest people visiting.
Day 1
Upon waking in the morning and venturing out of the a/c bedroom I was immediately hit with that wall of hot air and the bali smell (both that I love and don't feel like I am in Bali until I experience). The kids woke up excited and we got ready for the day.
Ventured down the alley way onto JL Legian to find somewhere for breakfast. Ended up at Nyakan Restaurant at the front of the Adika Sari. With the exception of 1 day we ended up having breakfast here every day. I would have the American Breakfast - fruit plate or juice, toast and 2 eggs with pot of tea or coffee for $20,000 and the kids and husband would have pancakes. A must every morning was the iced coffee and the kids lived on milkshakes. Nice fast internet available and on many mornings with no additional charge.
Fuelled up we headed off for a walk to re-familiarise ourselves with the area and work out where we were. Not much shopping that day, and with the kids in tow feeling hot and bothered we had both lunch and dinner back at Nyakan between swimming and hanging around.
Day 2
Headed to Matahari to check out the prices of Converse as older daughter had put in an order for a few pairs. Saw the fish thing out the front mentioned by others. Son found it very amusing but did not want to do it himself. Spent quite a while looking around getting an idea of some pricing, left without buying anything as wanted to get bargaining! Wandered around the road a little and jumped in a cab back to Legian for the kids to have a swim and relax. Wandered around in the afternoon getting familiar with the stall holders, who had what and what was popular. Early dinner and back to the bungalow with the kids. Had to watch portable dvd player in one of the bedrooms as open air lounge too hot, tv didn't work properly and dvd player would stop after 5 minutes. Early to bed as everyone exhausted.
Day 3
After breakfast headed down to Seminyak to check out Ku De Ta and a few of the shops mentioned here. Didn't get a great driver - he just left us at Seminyak Square and drove off. Too early for a few places to be open and it was a bit of a hike to Ku De Ta from where we were with a 4 year old and a stroller. Cut through and got to beach - son went crazy and ran straight for the water which ended with the 2 kids and I soaked! We were not prepared for a beach trip so decided to get back into a cab and go back to the bungalow and get cleaned up.
In the afternoon headed to Carrefour as had never been before. Had a great look around and picked up some supermarket items to take back to the bungalow for later. Grabbed cleaning products and scourers as the filth in bathroom was too much to handle so decided we would scrub ourselves when getting home.
Picked up really good priced disposable nappies and some great little outfits.
Dinner that night at La Monde. Great view upstairs and delicious food. We had celebrated a birthday dinner here 5 years earlier and it was great to see that nothing had changed. Wandered around with the kids after dinner before heading home for another early night.
Day 4
Had breakfast at All Seasons Hotel for a change. Same offering as Nyakan but almost double the price and half the serving size, iced coffee not as good either. Excellent service though and free use of internet. Booked the Balinese buffet dinner and dancers for that night so that the kids could see a show.
Walking back towards bungalow son had a meltdown about the heat and walking so I took him back for a quiet day and sent husband and daughter out to shop. They caught a cab into Kuta Square and then walked back to the bungalow taking a good few hours and spending some great money along the way. They didn't arrive back until late afternoon, had a quick swim and then we all got ready for dinner.
Arrived at All Seasons to see that the front table was booked for us. The balinese dancing was great, and whilst I am sure that many people loved the food - it was 100% balinese and therefore not great for me. The kids picked a bit at the food, but at $150,000 each for husband and I with drinks on top it turned out to be an expensive dancing experience.
After dinner went walking/shopping along JL Melasti with icecreams dessert etc.
The first four days were very low key and we didn't really wander too far from the JL Legian area. This was great and very relaxing - exactly the type of holiday that I had been planning.
At this point the only downside was the accommodation as we were stuck in our separate bedrooms and the open air loungeroom only retained heat and was too uncomfortable to spend any time in. Had there been a vacancy nearby, we certainly would have left and paid more to stay elsewhere.
Will continue with the last 4 days shortly......a little more activity in those days after the kids well and truly settled in