Jess’s Bali Diary Blog

DAY 1

I’ve been waiting all 6months for this holiday with discovery holidays counting down the days until id finally fly out of Perth to Bali. Yesterday i came from Harvey and didn’t sleep all night in anticipation for flying out of Perth today. I arrived at Perth international airport at 5am this morning and met up with my buddies. Flights were all on time and we arrived in Bali with VIP customs service which made for a speedy exit towards our van for transfer to our hotel. The hotel grounds are stunning and we had a refreshing fruit punch on arrival, we each had a cocktail while we were waiting for our rooms. We changed money at the money changer so we could buy some things from the shop such as snacks and drinks for our bar fridge. We then changed into our swimmers and went for a lazy swim with Gregory Judith and Stefan. We swam under the waterfall which gave you a fabulous back and neck massage with the water pounding on us, the water was crystal clear and lovely and warm. We then went to lunch at the beach where I had fresh crab and corn soup with freshly made herb rolls…they were yummy. We did have some friendly bees wanting to join us for lunch they were having a fantastic time with the sugary drinks. After lunch we came back for a shower and a relax, I watched a bit of animal planet before I dozed off. When I woke it was time for pre dinner drinks on the veranda overlooking the luscious gardens and pool area with Elaine Judith Stefan and Gregory. We watched the squirrels playing in the trees and the bats flying round while we were having drinks. Then we went for dinner at the wharf restaurant where we all had cocktails and a magnificent dinner. I had a salmon steak with mushroom sauce minted potatoes mmmm, we ate whilst being serenaded by 2 Balinese singers and watched while Stefan and Judith performed an amazing dance. We discussed what we would do tomorrow we are going on a cruise to see the turtles and the wildlife and reptile park. Awesome day! Talk again soon, Jess.

DAY 2

Woke up to beautiful sunshine coming through the window. I got up and got dressed and went to breakfast, the food was to die for- they have everything imaginable all in different stations. There is the porridge station the fruit station the egg station which you could have anyway you like. There is fresh fruit drinks which I love.

At the lobby we met with “Made” the tour guide to choose which toros we wanted to go on. Then it was off to the pool for a swim with my buddies and a waterfall massage and a fruit punch at the swim up bar to watch the Melbourne cup race. We then went to the the hot and cold jacuzzi for a relaxing soak. Stefan was amused at the sucking sound the the jacuzzi was making. Judith, Gregory and I braved the freezing cold jacuzzi it was so funny the look on Gregory’s face when he got in. It was freezing. We then did some sun baking on the the sun beds and fell asleep for a bit under the umbrellas. It was off to lunch now for a yummy Boston clam chowder which Elaine loved too. Judith had the spaghetti marinara, Stefan had a huge burger and Gregory had a club pitta sandwich which looked and smelt amazing.

We then went to the beach for a relaxing massage- we had the works with nails hair braiding foot massage etc… Whilst we were waiting 2 squirrels fell from the tree fighting- they will have sore heads tomorrow. We were so relaxed after our massage we went a had afternoon drinks at Elaine verandah where we sore a friendly but very ugly frog with amazing coloring on its back and watched the bats flying around. We then got a maxi taxi to sheppys bar for dinner. We all had wonderful food while we watched the night life go by. On the way back from dinner we looked at all the different shops restaurants and hotels and finished the night of watching the fireworks. What a wonderful day. Talk tomorrow.

Day 3

Woke up this morning with the sun streaming through the window because i forgot to shut the curtains. I started to get ready then realised it was only 5.20 am, I went back to bed. I had breakfast and it was amazing the Balanise coffee was really good considering i do not usually drink coffee. after breakfast we met with Marde our tour guide up in the lobby to take us up to Sanur to Senangan Dive and water Sports on the drive up we looked at all the shops and drove along the canal talking about the local animals and Elane’s favorite Balanise bird the Buku which makes a sound like UH OH and it makes Elaine laugh, on arriving at Sanur we were given a free welcome drink and debrief about our trip to Turtle Island and what we were doing. we changed into our bathers and boarded the glass bottom boat even Stefan go on. we then headed off on the crystal clear water to a reef where we fed the fish with some bread and watched them through the the glass bottom as they swam effortlessly through the water and round the reef. we also saw the barquentine yachts on the water too the others doing their water sports. we then continued onto Turtle Island.On arriving we had a look at the green turtles on the beach and got to hold them too. Stefan even held one and the we went and saw the baby loggerhead turtles and Tom the Python which Gregory and I held around our necks. I was afraid of getting bitten but the guide said that the snakes mouth was taped. then we went along to see the monkey who liked to play with peoples bracelets he was so cute. We then visited the huge eagle who’s name was Lady Ga Ga!!! and then to the big black scary Crow he had a huge beak and was preening himself the on to Harry Potter the big Owl who was named after the owl in Harry Potter and who looked like John Howard with the busy feathers above his eyes and then onto the Iguana who was green and black striped. Stefan love the Iguana and to the huge Fruit Bats, I didn’t know they got that big and he barred his teeth at me they looked so soft and furry then the group headed back to the barge dredging the sand out to the bay so the ships could still enter the bay the crane looked like it had a big claw on it. We then go to see the locals fishing from a boat with a big net. Lunch was really nice at a lovely restaurant in Ubud. It was a lovely drive drive through the small villages looking at the rice plantations. It was spectacular at the Coffee Plantation… like walking through a tropical rainforest like a garden of edible plants where we got to see the Arabica Coffee Tree, Nutmeg and Cocoa Trees and the Luwak which makes the poo poo coffee then through to the under cover area where we got to try all different teas and coffees, my favorite were the red rice and ginger teas and the vanilla coffee. We discovered the leaky roof to be fixed with duct tape. Duct tape fixes everything. then drove back to our hotel. We then went for a nice long lazy swim in the pool. Later we went out to dinner at the Wharf Restaurant where they had a band playing and Stefan and Judith danced the night away. I went and had a look at the beach watching the tide go out and looking at the coral. we finished of our evening watching a wonderful display of fireworks. What an amazing day. talk to you tomorrow. Jess

Day 4

Had good sleep in, Judith came and woke me up for breakfast. There was so much to choose from. Today we are having apampering day at the Lemon Tea Spa. We had full body massages foot spas pedicures, hair cut. we all fell asleep during our massages. It was so relaxing to be pampered we all enjoyed the experience and decided we were going to have another one tomorrow. We the headed of to the famous Bubba Gumps restaurant. This restaurant is themed to the movie Forrest Gump it was amazing and when Judith ordered a Martguerita, all the staff came and sang a song, the food was fantastic, Elaine and I shared the bucket of catch of the day which was like a fisherman’s basket with lobster, prawns and fish and I got to try lobster for the first time which was really good. We then went to bowling which unfortunately was holding the world championshiops and we were not able to go in. So we went shopping for some clothes bags, wallets and lots of other things. When we returned to the hotel we wnt for a lovely swim and spa. I found a coin at the bottom of the pool which I will keep for good luck. We swam up to the swim up bar and had cocktails and a laugh with the locals. Stefan made some new friends and was talking to them about his holiday. We had snacks on Elaine’s verandah before going out to dinner at the beautiful beach side restaurant watching the sunset with the local fishing boats on the horizon, it was amazing. I found the best garlic bread I have ever tasted and I had the best cocktail called a Baily’s Comet. Off to bed now as we are going to Kintamani tomorrow can’t wait. See you tomorrow…good night Jess.

Day 5

Had and early morning this morning up a 6 breakfast at 7 and then we head up to the lobby to catch the bus to Kintamani. Our first stop was the Bali Barong Dance AMAZING!  It was about a good spirit fighting an evil spirit which involked a mischevious monkey and a lion and the villigares. Gregory really enjoyed it his face lit up. It was the best dance ever so graceful the traditional dancers look right at home on the stage. We then headed up to the soap factory where there was handmade soaps and oils and Batik sarong and wood carvings which were perfect and very nice a lot of work has gone into them. We all bought some nice gifts to take home for our families. Then we headed up to Kintamani for a look at the famous volcano and a all you can eat buffet lunch. The views were wonderful. You could see all the Balanise villages below with the banana, corn, chilli and orange plantations and on the other side you could see the Volcano next to Kintamani was the lake. Mt Kintamani erupted in 1993 and a small eruption in 2003. On our way home we had the locals trying to get us to buy stuff, bracelets, sarongs and tee shirts we were bombarded and followed all the way to the bus. I did mange to buy a lovely top from one of them. We then drove back to the hotel through the rice paddies and banana plantations and the wood and stone carvings. On arrival at the hotel we went back to Yani shop and got some more shorts dresses and shirts for Gregory and some Hawaiian shirts for me. Then we went to a restaurant for dinner and I had avocado with shrimp salad it was totally awesome and tasted great we then headed to the mini mart for some supply’s especially my seaweed snacks which I love. I bought a lot of them to take home with me to Australia. I was very tired and went to bed because we have a big day at the safari Park tomorrow. Awesome Day I love being on holidays with my friends. Night Jess.

Day 6

We boarded the bus and headed to the famous Bali Safari Park on our was we passed through the different plantations and small villigaes where they did stone and wood carvings we then arrived at the the Safari Park to see the Orangatun, we had photos even Stefan had a photo. We sw the Macaws which were very colourful with huge beaks they are fairly large birds the we saw the Bearcat a cute medium size animal who wass very furrry and playful, he loved my fingers and we had lots of photos with him. We then went an saw the elephant show and after I got some photos withe me hugging the elephant. We then went to see the white Tiger and we all had photos with the biug orange tiger the tiger roared when I was having my photo taken and it gave me a fright the photos are amazing. We then went to see the camels which all of us had a go on it was so much fun and I was very proud of us all for having a go. It is very different from riding a horse. Then we went to ride an elephant this experience was amazing we were so high up and there was a big rocking motion my elephant tried to sit down during the walk and flapping his ears to get rid of the flies. I loved the elephant ride and afterwards we went to Uma restaurant for a buffet lunch and the sweets were yummy. After lunch we went in another Jeep through the Safari Excursion visiting animals from Indonesia, India and Africa. My favorites were the lioness, cheetah, tiger and the zebra. I took lots of photos. When we got back to the elephants all you could see was the elephants scratching their bums on the concrete, it was very funny even animals need to scratch, we sa a hippopotamus with its baby and all the different kinds of antelope and warthogs, tapir, anteater. We went through the water and over a very narrow bridge then we  swamped jeeps to get us to the main entrance.We then headed back home to the hotel. We had walked lots today and decided to go for a foot massage it was so relaxing and we all dozed off again. I will definitely  go back again. We then went back to the hotel for dinner as this is our last night and we wanted to celebrate with the staff at the Wharf restaurant where the food and staff were amazing. I had my garlic bread again with grilled Calamari with basil and garlic and I finished off with a Cherry Brandy. We then went back to our rooms to pack for our trip home. Family holidays are great but going away with your buddies its so good its indescribable its the best thing ever and I got so much and seen so much I’m definitely saving my money for my next holidays with Discovery Holidays. See you next Holiday Jess