December 2015

This was my first ever holiday outside Australia and it completely changed my life. I was immersed in a completely new culture and it's where I caught the travel bug. Of course, that's not the only bug I caught when on the island. We were advised not to drink the water from the tap, even when showering as you can catch what is known as Bali Belly, a mild tummy bug caught when you drink the local water. We even had to brush our teeth with bottled water to avoid any contaminants. 

When we returned to Australia, I no hesitation in making the decision to relocate from Australia to the United Kingdom as all I wanted to do from then was travel and see the world. 

Whilst we only stayed a week, we managed to visit quite a number of different spots. Kuta is the main tourist area where there is an abundance of shopping opportunities and the beach of course, but it's further north, in the area of Ubud where the true beauty of this island lies. We arranged a day tour with a local guide which from memory cost about A$50 each. We devoured a scrumptious curry at the rice fields, were entertained by the monkey's at the sanctuary and had our taste buds tempted at the Luwak coffee and tobacco plantation. Our tour continued into the tropical rainforest areas culminating in a visit to Pura Tirta Empul, the Hindu Water Temple and then back to our hotel in Kuta. 

Our original hotel was located in Seminyak and as nice as our room was, our first night was atrocious as we realised that our hotel was still being constructed. The noise from the concrete and tile cutting saws going well into the night was more than we could handle and we soon made the decision not to stay. We complained, obtained a refund and checked out the following morning, checking into a 5 star establishment, The Stones right on Kuta Beach. 

We're due to return to Bali in September 2023 for a 3 week holiday, this time with my partners family so I'll update this page with more photos of our adventures.