Darwin and Bali

Darwin

Our time in Darwin was short and sweet as we were only there for 4 days before we flew to Bali. These 4 days were mainly spent relaxing, either by the pool or at the lagoon and wave pool. It was nice to be able to just relax and sunbath after working for the past 2 months in Roma. We didn't really go out at night much in Darwin, but on our 2nd night we did and managed to tag along with a bucks party (or 'stag do' as us English folk call them). This was a fun night and also a double celebration as it was Toni's 26th birthday the next day. In Darwin there is a main road with all of the bars/restaurants on its called Mitchell St and is the place to be for a night out.

Bali
Toni and I decided to go to Bali as a spare of the moment thing, we had already booked our flights to Darwin and Bali is only a 2 and a half hour flight away so we thought why not? We had been working hard for the past 2 months in Roma and we had heard great reviews about this small Indonesian island. so we decided to take 1 months holiday away from Oz and spend a whole month in Bali. We found flights via the Internet on the Webjet website (http://www.webjet.com.au/) which is one of the best websites in Oz for cheap flights. We found return flights to Bali for $400 each that's around £210- BARGAIN!!!.

The day we flew to Bali was Toni's birthday so that morning I surprised Toni with birthday cards that I had arranged with our friends and her family from back home to send over to Oz. They had been sending them to Roma for the past month and I was collecting them and hiding them from Toni. So on her actual birthday when I gave these cards to her she was really surprised and stunned and she shed many happy tears. Also to top it off many of our close friends also each sent some money to go towards a skydive which Toni wanted to do, success of part one of the birthday surprise.

Part 2 of Toni's birthday surprise was from me, which was 5 days in a 5star luxury spa resort which I had booked us in to kick start our month in Bali. The Rama Beach Villa and Spa resort was perfectly beautiful and Toni loved it. This resort was in North Kuta, a 20min drive from Bali airport and a mere 15 minute walk from Kuta Square and the Kuta strip which is where the main shops and nightlife are based. We were also right by the beach. Following our 5 days of luxury we moved to a 3 star hotel which was more central and was close to Kuta square. This hotel is not really worth mentioning as it was pretty basic, we stayed here for 6 days and then moved on. Our next hotel was called the Best Western, this hotel was very modern, clean, really well priced and our beds were so comfortable (a trait you pick up whilst travelling- noticing the comfort of each bed you sleep in). I would recommend a short stay in this hotel either when arriving or leaving Bali as it is near the airport.

The reason we moved to a hotel near the airport was because we were waiting for our 'friend' to arrive from England to join us for a 2 week holiday. Or so Toni was lead to believe; Part 3 of Toni's birthday surprise was that her mum was coming out to Bali to meet her. Toni and her mum are really close, and at this point they had not seen each other in nearly 9 months.. So you can imagine the look on Toni's face when her mum walked through the arrival gates at the airport where we were standing and waiting for our 'friend'... To sum it up, there were many tears, laughter, shaking and cuddles- bless... I must say i am very proud of myself for keeping all 3 surprises well and truly hidden and not letting the 'cat out of the bag', normally I am really bad at surprises...

Angie spent 2 fun filled weeks with us in Bali, in which we done and see so much including feeding monkeys, white water rafting, holding baby orangutans and white baby tigers, sunbathing, drinking and eating in many nice restaurants. In our first week of Angie's holiday we stayed a few days in a place called Sanur, which is about 40minute drive from Kuta. This area is more quiet then Kuta which we thought was needed so Angie could recover from Jet lag.

After these few days in Sanur we travelled to the Gili islands which are a few hours from Bali just off of the Indonesian island of Lombok. These islands are so beautiful and chilled out with white sand surrounded by turquoise blue water. The Gili's are an ideal place to go if you want to relax and escape the average tourist holiday; on this paradise islands there are no cars, no motorbikes and no worries. There are 3 Gili islands in total, Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. There are several ways to travel to these islands from Bali, flying is the quickest but as we are backpackers we choose to take the cheapest which consisted of the slow boat to Lombok, minibus, then another boat to Gili Trawangan which is the largest of the 3 islands. This cheapest transport option took us about 8 hours altogether and cost about £15 each, as opposed to the quickest flying mode which takes approx 40 minutes but costs around £80 each. We was abit concerned in asking Angie to take the cheapest option, but she took it in her stride and said it was good to experience the 'travelling' side of what Toni and I had been through in Asia for the first 3 months of our trip.

When we got back to Bali after 4 relaxing, chilled days on the Gili Islands, we went back to stay in Kuta where we met up with a family friend of Angie and Toni, Geoff. He had came out to Bali for a 2 week holiday, it was good to see Geoff and the 4 of us had many nights out, mainly in the Reggae bar on the strip, where we strutted our dance moves. The day we before we left Bali Angie flew home, it was sad saying goodbye but we will be seeing her in 3 months, so not that long. We are so glad Angie and Geoff came out, it made our Bali holiday even better. The day Toni and I were leaving Bali we went Dolphin swimming in the morning, it was such an amazing unforgettable experience. There were 8 dolphins in total and they had all been rescued from fisherman's nets all over Indonesia, and to top it off these dolphins were in a pen in the sea in which they was let out of everyday to swim in the sea and come and go as they pleased. So it was not a cruel atmosphere at all. They are so beautiful, gentle, friendly and smart, to come so close to them was definitely a highlight of our Bali experience.