20 - 28 March
Day 1 - We arrived about 10.00pm aboard JQ35 from Melbourne. We flew StarClass and the service was exceptional, down to the detail of being offered as much Champagne as we wished to consume and by the time the baileys on ice was offered we'd had enough and declined. The seats were comfortable and for the six hour flight from Melbourne I would certainly pay the little extra (if we could get sale fares) to fly StarClass again.
Sitting on the plane I had already briefed my wife of the duck and sprint manoeuvre to get off the plane first and quickly through VOA. We arrived just after a Singapore Airlines flight and as a result had in excess of an hour's painful wait for the VOA. If I had known we'd be waiting that long I would have happily paid an extra $50 for my wife and I to be escorted through. Once through VOA the bags were waiting and we walked straight out to meet our driver.
It was near midnight when we arrived at the Aston in Nusa Dua but the staff at the desk were very friendly and accommodating. When we arrived in our room we were delighted that there were rose petals on the bed in the shape of a big heart and a slice of cake with ‘congratulations' on it (we were on our honeymoon). Breakfast at the Aston was quite nice (buffet style) and then it was down to the local supermarket to pick up the beer and supplies for our five nights on Lembongan Island. On the walk to the supermarket we noticed a new bar/pub called The Tree. A nice looking establishment. As it was Sunday morning and we were still on east coast time nothing was open until after 10am.
On the walk back from getting supplies we stopped in to The Tree for the first Bintang of the trip. Even though it was just after 10am in Bali I figured it was well after noon in Melbourne and a brew at this time wouldn't drop me into the alcoholic category. The beer was frosty and the service was great. My new wife didn't share my view on the ‘after noon somewhere in the world' philosophy and settled with a Sprite. I purchased the first Stubby holder of the trip and noted The Tree is part of the group that owns Posers etc.
Having checked out of the Aston and picked up for our 5 minute trip to the harbour I was surprised to hear it would take us about 45 minutes to get to the boat. The last trip to Lembongan saw us depart from Benoa Harbour just up from Nusa Dua but our agent had booked us on the Scoot which departs from Sanur - so much for booking a hotel close to the boat! No problem, it was a great chance to see what had changed in Bali since we were last there five years ago.
Having arrived at Sanur we sat on the beach waiting for the little boat with giant engines. We were met by a representative from Batu Karang Lembongan Resort who organised our paperwork and made sure our bags were loaded onto the Scoot. We then boarded the Minnow II for our 45 minute trip to the Island. The weather was.. lets just say there was a great deal of tenderised rump on the menu after the crossing.
Once we got there we were met by another representative of the Batu Karang who organised for our bags to be collected and carried to the resort. By carried, I mean they were loaded up on to the heads of a porter (a local seaweed fishing woman) and lugged up steps, a hill and more steps to the hotel. Worth noting at this point that each bag was at least 20kgs and that is a lot of weight to have on your shoulders.
We arrived at the Batu Karang and were seated at the bar with a customary welcome beverage. After completing a little more paperwork we were given our room key and taken to a Golf Buggy that drove us up the hill to our room (#18). For those of you thinking of staying at the Batu Karang a word of warning, the hill is steep. Very steep. If you have difficulties walking up and down hills you will spend your stay calling for the golf cart to come and collect you and drive you around (not a problem as the resort has 15 hours per day golf cart service).
Walking in to our room we were gobsmacked by the view. We booked a Superior room (one of three) and we had uninterrupted views of the township, the mangrove swamp and Mt Batur in the distance - truly remarkable. I wouldn't recommend booking a standard room at the Batu Karang as they looked quite small and pokey, definitely pony up the extra for the superior, it's well worth it.
A little about our room: The shower is outdoors i.e. if you do not like having your man log out in the open air this may not be for you. Be assured though that there is plenty of privacy and a very powerful telescope would be required to see up to the room from the water below. There was a sweeping deck that ran the length of the room with a love seat at one end. The bed was a King and the bathroom was very well appointed. Out the door and up a couple of steps was the pool and pool bar. Given it's a small resort, 95% of the time we had the facilities to ourselves. The staff did say that they did get busy during peak season.
The resort is central to other restaurants and the township. The staff also bend over backwards to please. We booked a number of activities through the front desk, one of which was to hire a motorbike to ride around the island (50,000RP for a day). A few points - 1. The last time I was on a motorbike was a great many years ago. 2. Two people on a motorbike it a little harder to control. 3. The roads on Lembongan Island are not exactly M1 standard. We rode around the island and in the mean time stopped in to do the Mangrove Boat trip. I think we paid about RP50,000 for the two of us and it was a 45 minute gondola style trip through the mangroves. We then rode down to dream beach (a MUST see) and back to drop off the bike. Rump again thoroughly tenderised we retreated to the pool for the rest of the day.
Points to note, Lembongan is a little more expensive than Bali because everything needs to arrive by boat. You can still buy a Bintang shirt, food and beer and hand crafts in the local shops but be prepared to add 10-25% to the cost. The beach down from Batu Karang isn't really a swimming beach. You can take a bike to either Mushroom / Dream Beach or you can take a short boat trip to Mushroom beach. The pools at the Batu Karang were all we needed.
At check out they had double charged us for the motorbike hire but after I pointed it out they corrected the error straight away and no problem. Our bags were then taken back to the Scoot, loaded and we were back off to the mainland.
The Scoot ticket also includes the cost of transfers from and to your hotel. Worth noting if you are paying separately for transfers. Upon arrival back at Sanur we were loaded into the mini bus and taken to the Bali Niksoma for our last two nights.
We arrived at the Niksoma at 11am and understandably our rooms weren't ready. The staff locked up the suitcases in their bag room and we went for a walk along the waterfront. Here we were greeting with plait your hair, cheap watches boss, sunglasses etc. We found ourselves on JL Melasti and being lunch time we sat down at Posers. On the menu was specified a Pint and a Half Yard. I ordered the Half Yard and was truly surprised when out came a true half yard glass in its wooden rack. It's one really great way to drink a beer. Lunch was Rendang which fell apart on the fork and tasted brilliant. Wifey had the Mee Goreng which was also tasty. Then back to Niksoma to check in.
The room at the Niksoma was good, not great. But coming from Batu Karang it had a lot to live up to. It was clean and we again had rose petals and cake welcoming us. The hotel is in a good location and one notable point was we saw no kids at all. This was a real plus for us who were there to relax. Dinner that night was at Poco Loco which we had been looking forward to. The restaurant looks like it's really getting old and there weren't many people at all there. The food was good but the Margarita's were pitiful.
We caught a Bluebird into Kuta the next day and I was amazed how much it had changed in the last 5 years (or maybe it's just me getting older). It felt like the shop keepers for the most part were more aggressive and there were more people, more pollution and generally more grubby.
We stopped in at Matahari's and I partook in the fish foot exfoliation. Having hundreds of fish sucking your feet and legs is an experience, however more funny were the Japanese women in the next tank gloriously freaking out. It was 50,000RP for 20 mins and I would encourage you to do it just for the experience.
We then went to Ketut's to do our shopping. Her prices are almost too low and there was one German in there telling her she was asking too much and trying to negotiate the prices down. We did almost all of our shopping there - her prices were lower than the walk away prices at a number of other stores in the area.
Dinner was back at Posers for more half yards and then a nightcap up the road at a new place (3 years old) I think it was called the Legian Pub or something simiar. Then back to the Niksoma for our last night in.
The last morning we had buffet breakfast in the Hotel (included and great food) before being picked up to head to the airport for the next leg of the trip (Hong Kong). We were flying business class so had access to the Premier lounge which was nice. A tip, Bintang is on tap and not in the fridge so you need to ask for it. The food was acceptable.
All in all a great first week of our two week honeymoon. We'll definitely be going back to the Batu Karang some time very soon!
Thanks for reading!