Bali was our choice for a mid year holiday. Basically for two reasons, firstly it is only an hour and a half from Jakarta - perfect for Zach's first experience of air travel. And secondly, it was an ideal location to meet Jane who was flying in from Sydney.
After a delayed departure from Jakarta we finally made it to Bali a little after midnight. Zach made it through his first flight quite well, he was only a little upset on the way down. And of course Seb, our little frequent flyer - he slept through pretty much the whole thing.
It was fantastic to see Jane, who had arrived a couple of hours earlier, and after getting through customs only ended up having to wait 40 minutes or so. We all bundled into the hotel four wheel drive (a lift we were not expecting because airport transfers had not been mentioned in booking, but no one turns down a lift like that at 1am, with approximately six bags and two small children!).
We stayed at Casa Indigo in Seminyak, a newish boutique hotel with a strange concept of small blue spiky plastic balls in each room!! After checking out our adjoining rooms we were pretty pleased (never to sure when you book over the internet). Although, the sliding, GLASS bathroom door was a little puzzling!
We had a couple days of down time thanks to our late night arrival and poor Jane's busy schedule prior to arriving. Although, on the first morning we did head in search of the beach. Not knowing quite where we were thanks to the late arrival, we grabbed a map and headed off. The beach was a little further than we thought but as soon as Seb saw the water his little legs seemed revitalised and off he went. The paddling soon turned into a drenching thanks to a particularly large and unexpected wave. It caught Seb completely unaware and left the rest of us in fits of laughter after seeing the surprised look on his face.
Before we knew it the days were passing too quickly. We had trips to Nusa Dua and Kuta beaches as well as plenty of shopping trips (Seminyak is definitely the best and most hassle free). We joined a few friends at Waterbom, a fantastic water park. Jane and I raced on the Race Track slide only to be left with sore shoulder blades, Seb and I jumped on the tubes and went flying down a few other slides and I also managed to freak myself out but spinning around and going down an enclosed slide backwards! I am definitely Queen of the whimps! Might just stick to the Lazy River next time.
I was feeling particularly brave on one day so we hired a car - yes I drove in Indonesia! We headed towards Ubud, and with a bit of luck managed to find it. Definitely the place to go for Art, as long as you stay away from the major galleries and stick to the small shops on the side streets.
Jane and I had a beautiful dinner at La Luciano in Seminyak overlooking the beach and watching the sunset colours and the stars come out, (yes stars! We don't see many of those in Jakarta!). The food was excellent (thanks to an Aussie chef) and the cocktails were fantastic.
Our last day we spent finishing off the shopping before stopping for lunch. At lunch Seb was able to throw on an apron and chef's hat and make his own pizza - star shaped no less! He was very proud of his creation and ate it up very quickly. After that it was time to hit the surf. Sebastian is getting use to the waves and loves jumping over them or diving through them!
Unfortunately the time came when we had to say good bye and after Jane cuddled Zachary for one last time we headed back to Jakarta and poor Manuel who had been working while we were away.
