Family Holiday BALI

1st Day of our holiday Bali

Well I'm on the plane flying Jetstar to Bali with my family, it is now 9.20pm in the evening australian time.This the last leg of the trip and the shortest part which departs from Darwin.

Our little son Phoenix is asleep in between us as we were given 3 seats..Hay...

Our Day started in the Lovely Pocket, Hills of Byron Bay this morning at 4.30am..The things we do for paradise.

The shuttle bus picked us up from our door at 6.30am and we were dropped off at Varsity lakes Train station in Qld to catch the Airtrain to Brisbane Domestic Airport.

On the Mini bus We met a lovely elderly couple who have been together for five years as both had lost previous spouses, they met playing bowls!
They were on their way to NZ!!I love how love can happen any time to anyone at any age.
Once on the train which takes 2 hours to Brisabne, Phoenix proceeded to make many friends....almost the whole carriage had some form of personal contact with Phoenix...Oh boy this child is so social and loves people and an audience!! Just like his mother.
Phoenix won the hearts of anyone he came into contact with today...at times it can be overwhelming for me as his mother to watch my infant be so sure of himself and meet and greet people as he does.

Phoenix has this natural ability to push boundaries of the human spirit, gets to where prada sunnys with the girl sitting next to us on the train, manages to get food tit bits from other parents waiting to board the plane at Darwin international airport.
Shares a pillow with someones grandma....now this moment was my highlight today.
Shared his toys with a little girl while we waited for the plane. And just ate all day!!

My low moment today was when we checked in and we were over in our check in luggage by 3kilos and hand luggage by 2kilos.Phoenix was tired as he missed his morning sleep....It caused me so much stress that I was ready to pack it in and just go home.
Mike kept his cool and in the end we had to part with a couple bottles of shampoo,
My hand luggage also had Infant food which is free so I did not have to get rid of anything else..Thank god as it cost $10 per kilo if your over and you can only have 2free check in items for your baby but Jetstar advertise differently on the website.

Any way I have had my whinge and the day just got better. Mike and I had drinks on the first plane leg...woo hoo I was tipsy at high altitudes just what I needed to chill out. We also stopped at the bar in Darwin airport for a guinness and a steak sandwich for early dinner. In the Pub we set up Phoenix in his travel high chair to watch a little bit of Elmos world and mr Noddle,has any ever seen Mr Noodle...he is such a cool character and very good mime.
At present I am in the plane and we are almost in Bali!! Woo hoo.

So we arrived in Bali at 9pm at night, we would be what you call "FRESHIES" and the Balinese could pick it and tried straight away rip us off. Firstly it was the friendly porters who help you with your luggage from the conveyor belt through to the xray machines at customs then onto the other side of the airport where the money changers are. This is where it is tip on demand!!!! Being new to Bali money I had no idea what to tip....by the end of the first night I would have parted with 60,000 on tips which is $7.50 AUS. No more tipping for us as we are on a budget.

Next was getting a Taxi to our Hotel called The Green Garden hotel in Kuta Area.
At the Taxi window outside the airport we were told 45,000 per person to Kuta. It really should only be just per Taxi..and so it began....new to the game we were then told we must travel in 2 taxi as they said we had too much luggage. No way would we split up as a family on our first night!! This is were I walked away and stood wondering "how was I going to get my family to our accommodation at 9 pm at night with out breaking the bank balance". So I left Mike & Phoenix with the luggage and went walking...another taxi driver said 100,000.
I then followed my nose to a private car company. I found us a lovely driver who charged us 80,000 still almost double but I just wanted to get to the hotel all in one Car!
Our Driver's name was Agus and he was a very gentle man who drove very safe.

Once we checked in at the Green garden hotel, which was a very nice stay for one night, we adventured with Phoenix in the pram for a walk to the shop for a Beer for Mike. Bali felt so similar to The islands in Thailand but also different. We are still working out what the difference is. Perhaps it is the religion?
We all ended up in bed by 1.30am Australian time - 11.30 Bali time. what a long day.