Our 4th visit to Bali ( last time was 6 years ago ). Were thinking of going somewhere else ( e.g. Malaysia ) but we wanted somewhere where we could relax and not have to have a tight itinerary of where to go on what day. It was nice not to have to stick to a schedule and be able to wake up and decide if we wanted to do or delay. We had a number of "milestones" we wanted to hit but didn't care when and in some cases didn't care if we met them.
Travelling with wifey, 11 yr old, 14 yr old, 2 X 16 yr old ( one mate ), all boys ( except for wifey of course :-) )
Got to Denpasar Airport and everything just started flooding back :-)
Met by a driver ( Jimmy Handsome ) who was recommended by a friend.
Staying at Sanur Paradise Plaza ( our third stay there ) again as we wanted a quieter holiday. It's not really that far away from anything as long as you don't mind the taxi fare ( about 80000 to get to Kuta about 15000 in a Blue Taxi to Sanur Beach ). We got there but our room wasn't cleaned , so we got Jimmy to take us down to the Makro to get some supplies. Makro is very cheap and has a huge range of goods.
The Suites have had a bit of a face lift in regards to the rooms since our last visit, new furniture, repainted, new pictures. They now supply you with one of those big water dispensers and give you a free refill every week. A new one is 20000 from the hotel and 10000 from the Makro ( if you can transport it ).
Caught up with our good mate Pin in Camp Splash ( who we first met in 2002 ) , we still stay in contact with him and have seen his kids grow up via email etc....
Hotel was 70% occupancy ( Jan 20th ), but as school holidays were ending in other Oz states, was down to about 10% by the time we left ( Feb 6th ). Note that at the end the Terrace restuarant was pretty much closed for breakfast as there weren't enough guests to warrant putting on the spread.
So milestones and a quick review:
Waterbom park - we'd planned to do this twice and did. Note they've got a new system of paying ( well new from 6 years ago :-) ) where everything is done via putting money onto a barcode band and using that to pay. Prices are quite high there for food and drink and you're NOT allowed to bring any outside food in ( though we did managed to sneak in some chips etc ) . Their newest rides ( Boomerang and Superbowl ) were good fun and got a good workout by all. Though a more expensive activity, a good fun day(s) for the whole family.
We did do a survey there about the Waterbom park, won a "Elegant Large Waterbom bag " ( not that elegant and not that large :-) , but the next day got a "You've won free accomodation/food voucher/free entry" type call from it. Told them we'd call back but never did :-)
Bali Safari and Marine Park - A good day had here though we got picked up at 9 am and had pretty much finished the whole park by 2. We'd organised the Parks transport too and from and the next bus wasn't till 3:45 so spent a couple of hours in their water park.
Nice animals in a nice setting ( though they did "taunt" the tiger a bit for photos which we weren't impressed with ) , the shows pretty good, not only for the animals but the guys that run the show.
Snorkling - We'd intended to take the kids snorkeling and took a day trip up to Padang Bai. Stopped the car and the damned hawkers for boat trips started swarming. Didn't like it much so jumped back in the car and went a bit further up to Candidasa. Drove down a little street and there's a group of guys in a hut who are share the trips ( so no competing ), much easier to deal with. They actually took us to the same place as the guys from Padang Bai would have anyway ( just around the point from Padang Bai ), again a good day.
Museum Negri Propinsi Denpasar - Even the taxi driver didn't know where this was, and in fact it was less than 10 minutes away from the Plaza. It's a very impressive building, almost reminiscent of the smaller temples in Ankar Wat. There's a nice set of dioramas outlining some of the history in Bali, but very slanted towards the battles with the Dutch over independence. Worth a visit if you're into temples or history. Even the 11 and 14 year olds had a good time.
Taman Kertha Gosa Semaparapura ( Klungkung)- A nice followup to the Museum. The friezes on the roofs of the outbuilding are very interesting ( especially some of the punishments ), there's guides that will tell you about the place, but will put their hand out for a "tip" at the end
Goa Gajah - Nice baths at the front, nice frieze entering into the cave though to me the cave itself was a bit uninspiring. After the cave the rain started bucketing down and we ran back to transport. Would have liked to walk down to the other ruins etc...... next time maybe :-)
Tanah Lot - believe it or not we'd never been here. So wifey and I woke up early one morning and scootered down there. Glad we went early as the car parks were almost empty. I'd hate to get there when the parks were full !!! Even too early for the street hawkers, so no hassling at all from them. This is pretty impressive temple even with the concrete reconstruction that's gone on. Wandered around places most of the tourist weren't to take photos. Luckily also left there early enough to beat all the tour buses heading back . An absolutely lovely place, would really love to be there when no one else was there ( yeah right )
Managed to take the scooter out to Sukawati and Gianyar markets ( the real markets were there aren't many tourists ).
All in all a really good and relaxing trip.
Much has changed there in the last 6 year but much is still "same same" :-)
Hope this helps someone :-)