Bali

We finally made it to Bali, a popular holiday destination for Australians. It was a good time to go with our family being older and more experienced after travelling to many other places around the world. We had a good time immersing ourselves in a completely different culture, as a new country that we haven’t previously visited.

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We left Canberra about mid-morning on a Saturday and flew to the Gold Coast. We had about 5 hours to kill. It turned out that we would be at the airport the same time as other family, since they were returning from a holiday up there. We were able to have a nice catch-up before they flew back home. We walked to North Kirra Beach which was just a 10-minute walk from the airport. It was a pleasant afternoon playing on the sand, watching sky divers and walking along the water. It was good way to pass time before we had a long 6-hour flight to Bali (DPS). 

It was past midnight, Canberra time, by the time we arrived at the Bali airport. All our visas and customs declarations were done online a few days before we travelled so arrival was a quick process. We were warned about possibly getting harassed when leaving the terminal. One guy followed us which was unpleasant, but we managed to catch a ride not too long after we went up to the departures level. We caught a Bluebird taxi from there to Sanur. First impression was that there were lots of motor scooters on the road. We noted that this was the main way locals travel on roads. It’s even included as a mode of transport on Google Maps. The driving looked chaotic but as we were being driven around, we noticed that there was some order to it.

 Arriving at Mahapala Villas in the middle of the night wasn’t bad. We were greeted by reception and checked-in quickly and ordered our breakfast in a bit of a daze for the morning. Our villa for the next few days was amazing and secluded with a private pool. It was nice to arrive to such luxury after a very long day of travel.

It didn’t take too long for us to adjust to the warm temperatures. I thought the humidity would be worse, but it felt drier than expected and stayed between 23-30° day and night (73-86°F). The next few days in Sanur we explored around the area after lazy mornings having breakfast delivered and served to us. We saw turtles, ate delicious food, shopped, admired the beach, walked along the busy streets and even had a family massage for $10 per person! It was great and so nice that the kids enjoyed it too.

After 3 days in Sanur, it was off to Ubud for our final 3 days in Bali. Our ride from Sanur to Ubud was interesting. It took nearly 90 minutes to get there and cost all of $15. Traffic was heavy once we got close to the centre of Ubud. The road was narrow and we had to navigate windy and steep sections to reach our accommodation. Despite the crazy roads, we didn’t feel unsafe with any of our drivers. This was just the way to drive over there. I felt more uneasy walking along the roads around Ubud.

Our villa at Uma Giri was also spectacular but we didn’t feel as comfortable there. It was more exposed to the elements with lots of bugs, geckos, roosters and birds around. We all got mosquito bites. Nonetheless, we managed to relax eventually and enjoy the pool and surrounds. It was a lovely place for a retreat surrounded by rice fields and tropical forest. The other challenge was getting food around there. We walked to the café next door one night for dinner and had delivery the next 2 nights. We went into town one day and bought some breakfast and lunch food for our stay-in day. In town, traffic was bad. There were lots of tourists around. We walked through a market, and it was nice to have a look without being hassled (unlike in Sanur). After getting some lunch, we walked to the Ubud Royal Palace which was free and nice to walk around. In the evening, we went for a swim.

Our final full day we stayed at the villa and relaxed – books, screen time and watching the scenery. We made Indomie instant noodles for lunch (the most cooking we did all week) along with mango pudding, fruit and snacks. On Friday we had breakfast at our villa before getting a ride to the airport (about 1 hour 45 minutes). We had lots of time at the airport to play it safe. After lunch, we were able to check in and flew out about 30 minutes late (fortunately it wasn’t worse – some other flights were stranded due to the computer bug). We arrived in Brisbane around midnight, were in bed by 1am, then up at 6:15 for breakfast at the lounge and our flight home to 8° and rain.