Bali – Day Three

First night dinner minus the children

Our flight from Auckland to Bali was perfect.  Because we left at midnight on Thursday the kids (and most of the adults) slept most of the way to Kuala Lumpur. The service on Malaysian Air was fantastic. When we arrived in Kuala Lumpur we had an hour and a half to wait for the connecting flight to Bali. It really only gave us just enough time to let the kids have a run around and feed them (again).

We landed in Bali at 11.30am. By the time we had cleared customs and got to the Bali Dynasty Resort (our hotel) it was about 1pm. We had no programme for the rest of the day so everyone did their own thing.  The adults spent the rest of the day around pool drinking cocktails while the kids played on the water slides and in the pool. Like most hotels up here they have a ‘swim up bar’, so being able to be with the kids in the pool while the adults can relax is perfect.

For those of you who love cocktails you may be interested to know that they can be bought by the ‘bucket’ (1.5L) for NZ$9.00 in Bali.

Dearne and Tiffany getting the foot treatment from tiny fish

Saturday was a ‘please yourself’ day so most were out in the markets looking for those special bargains. If you have never been to Bali before, they sell anything and everything up here (and I mean everything).  If you have ever wanted to own your own little monkey, you can pick one up for about US$50. If you are good at bartering, you would probably get it for US$40. Getting it back into New Zealand would be your only problem.

On Sunday we all went to Bali’s Waterbom Park. Click HERE to see more of the Park. The park has everything that is available in water sports and/or water fun rides. The adults and kids all had a ball. It was very easy to spend the whole day there and super hard to drag the kids away at the end of the day.

Yesterday (Monday) we all had a burst of ‘we need some exercise’ and spent the day on the Bali Eco Cycling Tour. Youngest grandson #5 was on the back of a bike but all the other adults and grandchildren had their own two wheelers.   We started the day at Penelokan which is nestled on a volcanic crater rim of Mt Batur and finished 25 kilometres later in the little village called Ubud.

Jayden helping to roast coffee beans at a Balinese plantation

There were quite a few ‘point of interest’ stops on the way. Stops included a visit to a Balinese family compound (all the kids now appreciate their own homes!!), a visit to a local Balinese coffee plantation where we all tasted our first ever Luwak coffee,  a walk through a family rice paddy where the kids learned all about planting and harvesting rice and a couple of stops at local family industries so the kids could learn how some people earned their income here.  At one rest stop the grandkids ended up playing soccer with the local kids on a ‘very hard ground with concrete edging. The family mothers were showing mild concern for their children’s safety but the kids had a ball. When it was time to leave, the local kids did not want them to go.

While it was a fun day for everyone it was also educational for the kids. They needed no rocking to sleep last night. The adults finished with a few ‘quieties’ before heading back to the rooms.

We are leaving the family today for 24 hours and heading up the coast to spend the night with Dearne’s cousin who had come up to Bali from Sydney. We are expecting another very social night this evening.

This is our fifth visit to Bali and our love affair with country continues.