Hi All,
Having waved goodbye to Julie and Frank we arrived in Bali at 1am to a horrendous immigration queue! We eventually got to our homestay near the touristy beach of Kuta (popular with Australian surfers as a cheap getaway). Ross spent the following morning debating whether to take on the huge swell from the previous full moon. He decided to rent a board late afternoon and caught a few waves before we enjoyed a Bintang beer together as the sun set. The waves were calmer on day two; while Ross paddled out, Danielle got stuck into her book, now on the 5th Harry Potter and determined to finish rereading them all before we return home. Although the beach wasn’t quite as beautiful as we’d expected, the gorgeous sunset and Indonesian dinner made up for it.
Believe it or not the 24th of April was our 6th anniversary! Ross surprised Danielle with a box of Lindor chocolates smuggled over in his mum’s case! We caught a taxi to Jimbaran Bay where we stayed in a cute little rattan bungalow, a step up from the faded and cheap hotels we are used to! We noticed in the hotel book that they could organise a massage and at £6 an hour we just had to indulge for the special occasion (also meaning Ross wouldn’t get roped into having to give Danielle one later). Feeling relaxed we spent the afternoon at the beach. Ross enjoyed surfing some easy 3ft waves and even helped Danielle to catch some too. The area is famous for its sunset seafood barbecues on the beach and it did not disappoint. We ordered a huge seafood platter with: king prawns, clams, squid and an array of sides. The star of the show was a massive 1.5kg crab! All were delicious and enjoyed whilst watching the sun set over the bay, beer in hand. A wonderful end to a pretty perfect day.
Back to reality, we headed to a damp smelling, old fashioned guest house to plan the next week of our travels. We pinpointed a few beaches, looked into Bali’s cultural capital and researched some methods of onward travel. Then we headed back to the beach - it’s a hard life and one we know we will both miss when returning home to work. The following morning we were up early to visit Jimbaran fish market. As colourful boats pulled into shore, men carried basket loads of fresh fish up to the market stalls where restaurant owners could be seen buying bucket loads in preparation for the evening barbecues.
Next stop, 12km along the coast was Dreamland Beach. Our hotel was also a ‘dream’, large air conditioned rooms set in immaculate gardens and an infinity pool. We were just 5 minutes from the beach and the same distance from an incredible westerly cliff top viewpoint. The Bukit Peninsula in southern Bali is world renowned for surfing. With consistent offshore wind and swell, Ross was keen to rent a surfboard. Although, Dreamland wasn’t quite what he had hoped for; the surf was huge and over sharp coral. Feeling well out of his depth after a wipeout and with a cut toe, he quit before he actually got hurt! We spent the afternoon chilling by the pool before walking to the cliff to watch the sun set over the crashing waves below. We treated ourselves to a mojito and beer to celebrate Danielle being appointed a job for September following a Skype interview. She is delighted to be returning to the same school!
Hawaii has Jaws, California Mavericks, and Bali has Uluwatu, the islands biggest wave. We rented a scooter to see what all the fuss was about. After a 10km ride we walked down the steps to some bars set in the cliffs. Out on the water huge barrels were breaking, surfers darting all over the place. We watched in awe as people caught the massive waves rolling in but Ross decided to leave this to the pros and was happy just taking photos! Its scary to think that this was small by Uluwatu standards. Further up the coast we visited Uluwatu temple. This Hindu temple perched high on a cliff is where the famous wave gets its name . We walked around the complex and watched part of a Saturday service before walking along the ramparts to admire the views. We had been warned about the vicious monkeys so had a firm grasp on the camera and our phones safely away in bags. What we didn’t expect was one to take a liking to Danielle’s sun glasses, grabbing them off her face, inspecting them and then destroying them (luckily they were only £3 Malaysian knock offs)!
Last stop on our ride back was Padang Padang Beach. The surf here looked more manageable so Ross rented a board and surfed all afternoon, enjoying riding the 3ft green(ish) waves. Danielle tried to take a good photo but missed the key moment each time! The spot was so good that Ross returned the following morning, setting off at 6:45 for one last surf before we checked out!
After a pretty great first week in Bali enjoying the beaches, we are now heading inland to the islands cultural capital - Ubud.
Love R and D xxx
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