Bali

60th Birthday Celebrations

I decided to spend five days here to celebrate my 60th.  Could not have chosen a nicer place!  So easy to reach from Perth.

After nearly missing the flight due to a “no petrol” situation with the car and finding the first petrol station had faulty pumps and had to drive a fair way with the yellow light blinking to find another garage.  Finally got to the checkin desk with five minutes to spare and was told we were very lucky!  We flew Garuda Air into Denpasar and headed off to Nusa Dua.

Due to a misunderstanding with the hotel two drivers were there to pick us up so after five minutes of watching the two of them argue as to who would take us I said enough is enough, choose now!  So we hopped in with Ketut who remained our driver for the next five days – I would think the other driver was also Ketut as this is the most common name in Bali.

Balinese people have to be the most hospitable and welcoming in the world, nothing fazes them and they are always smiling.  The gardener below just outside my balcony

We stayed at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel which was on the beach front.  The beach in Nusa Dua is great for swimming and snorkelling, unlike the beachfront from Kuta up towards Seminyak which is more for surfing.  The tide does goes out everyday around 4 pm so if you arrive just after and hope for an evening swim you’ll be disappointed!

Mount Agung

Lychee and Mango Mojito

Above is a snap of Mount Agung which luckily for us kept calm for our five days.  Beautiful sandy beach and calm and tranquil sea, great for just watching your cares float away.

The beach is lined with trees which are full of squirrels scampering from branch to branch eating nuts and then dropping their discarded leftovers all over you.  Very cute and so tame.

This hotel was also extremely popular for wedding photographs, mainly from China.  The hotel had a large room just dedicated to wedding paraphernalia.  We saw brides and their grooms every day frolicking on the beach under the blistering sun taking photo after photo.  It was really the grooms you had to feel sorry for as they were sweating through their jackets.  Hopefully the hotel used a good drycleaning business.  Then you saw the brides with the dresses scrunched up around their waist, glistening with sweat walking back! 

About a 20 minute walk from the hotel is the Bali Collection, which is a collection of restaurants, beauty spas and tailors.  Its a great alternative if you don’t want to eat at the hotel everyday.