Standing in the Way of Control - Day #1 - 27th. May 015

DAY #1, is brought to you by the letter F and the Number 1.

Fantastic flight over. Flew solo for the first time so thought I’d put in a bid for Business class with Virgin.. Got the sms 2 days prior to departure that it was successful. Yay high excitement! Business class, another first for me. I suffered badly from the old resfeber (pre-flight anxiety) for a couple of days leading up to this trip which wasn’t fun and when my son and his girlfriend waved their goodbyes to me at the airport I even got a bit teary (which was just silly) I was only going for 12 nights for goodness sake!

At the airport ready to board and I felt really conspicuous and a bit ooolala when the priority boarding call came. All seats in BC were full so was grateful I was there. Nice chatty man seated next to me but he had a shocking cold that made my blood run cold every time he filled another tissue, I get a bit germ-phobic on planes.

Champagne pre-take off? Yes please! As soon as the seat belts sign went off, there she was again handing me a deliciously strong G+T in a real glass, complete with ice and lemon. Could it get any better!? Yea it did. Free tablet for movies, blanky, pillow, 3 course meal (cauliflower soup a standout) and they even trusted me with real cutlery! Enough legroom to do a happy dance in. :0) Choice of 6 wines free pour but I stopped at one as I wanted to keep my wits about me, so free pour sparkling water all the way, service was great and my glass was never empty. Felt so lucky and absolutely spoilt.

Couldn't bring myself to disturb Mr.Sniff so I planned on going to the loo just prior to landing but missed my chance. Was one of the first to hit the air-bridge (yay no bussing it) and there was Bali wrapping me in its hot, sweaty arms once again.
Gossip - Standing in The Way of Control!

 How huge is the new airport! and it was empty except for our flight and the straight faced airport staff. Other passengers were running past me, did I miss something?  Was there a reason to be alarmed? I figured they were just in a hurry as our flight was a half hour late due to a head wind.

I glanced at the kamar kecil longingly, at the running masses behind me and the empty check-ins before me and opted for the quick processing.  As I entered the baggage collection hall, I couldn’t believe my luck, really? Is that my suitcase with its brightly coloured scarf spiralling toward me in the distance! With just a sidelong glance at the toilet I rushed forward to grab a trolley and hefted my 30kg bag onto the ground. I wasn’t celebrating the huge baggage allowance at this point, every time I tried to lift it onto the trolley, the trolley took a couple of paces backward… (yeah and a big thanks to all the fellas standing around and watching me struggle at this point).

Finally managed to jam the trolley against the carousel and hauled it on. Flustered and very, very, sweaty I had my eye on the prize as I hauled it off again onto the scanner. I was the only one there and the guy looking at his little screen looked perplexed, got on his walkie talkie and after hauling it back on to the trolley, there were the 5 Immigrassi guys waving me over.

Raspberry Bloody Cordial… he wanted to see my passport and questioned me about how much alcohol I had. No the bottle in my bag is cordial (in hindsight I should of said ‘syrup’) he didn’t know cordial and taking one look at my Midnight Expresses-esque sweaty flustered state. Yep open the bag. Holding the offending raspberry aloft for the scanner guy to see off in the distance, they all still weren’t sure about it. All was good when I finally came up with the word syrup…”ahhhh syrup, oh yes, yes …sorry, sorry mam” and I was on my way.

Again luck was with me when the first driver I locked eyes with was the lovely ‘Ayana’ man ‘Vian’. Wow it was hot and geeezus I needed a loo but wait…what did I do with my passport after Immigrassi.??

 I’d lent my travel wallet to my husband (he was travelling to Darwin for a couple of days for a mates catch-up) to help keep him organised and with that, all my organisation went out the window! My huge ‘black hole’ of a travel handbag was making life difficult too, I’d already had a panicky moment when I couldn’t find my purse in its depths at VOA.

So there was ‘Vian’ and I checking through all my bags for my passport, I even at one point emptied the ‘black holes’ contents onto the ground in absolute frustration. Oh for Fuck sake it had suddenly turned into a “Fluster Fuck”!

‘Vian’ remained calm and steered me back to another airport entrance…I’m guessing a staff entrance? Unfortunately he had to leave me at the security check… through a tunnel and I was back in the airport turning around in circles trying to figure out how to trace my way back to Immigrassi. Spotted the loo and decided, “finally” to make it priority one.

God damn my unreliable pelvic floor muscles! They’d managed to hold on for this long, you wouldn’t think a couple more seconds, until I could get my jeans undone would be too much to ask wouldya? Nup they couldn’t manage it, Betrayed! Oh, how the business class mighty, had fallen!

So there I sat in disbelief at how quickly my luck had changed…pissed pants and all.  Ok, so, I sat there surveying my options, mopped up what I could, which didn’t make any difference, what so ever on the offending stain and forget about the hand-dryer I needed to find that passport.

Huge handbags strap was lowered so I could sling it behind me, Itinerary folder was held in front, in the hope of covering my shame. Oh Christ.. had to put my handbag on the scanner again at this point, I was just keeping my eyes on the Immagrassi’s desk ahead of me looking for any recognition of ‘me’ on his face. 

As I approached there it finally was. “Oh Mam, Oh Mam I call out to you but then you were gone” as he opened his desk draw and handed me back my precious, precious passport. I almost sobbed with relief and although I was thinking “For Fuck Sake Man, whataya mean you called out to me but then I was gone!!! There’s Fucking Five of you Fellas standing here!! Could you not catch-up with me and hand it back!!! What if I didn’t realise my loss for days!!!?? Why didn’t you give it back to me at the check!!!” but visions of being taken to a back room for more humiliation prevented me from unleashing a tirade on the Immigrassi and at the end of the day I was more relieved than angry. Not to mention wet, embarrassed and probably smelly. So I just left.

‘Vian’ had told me he’d be waiting for me where I’d originally found him but nope he wasn’t there in the throng of drivers. Oh great…yep here we go, where is the total stranger I have left my unlocked suitcase with? Thank god it was dark out there and after turning around a few times whilst fending off all the calls of “transport” there he was emerging from the shadows. "Please, please get me out of here Vian"!!

He shuffled me off to a group of drivers, which surprised me. I thought a joint like the ‘Ayana’ would have their own car with the hotels name emblazoned on the side. My arrival had knocked my usual Bali excitement right outta me and I wasn’t in the mood for the drivers regular run of questions – Where you from? How many times you been to Bali? What work you do? Oh you have a business…maybe I come and work for you? The trip to the ‘Ayana’ took a lot longer than I expected.

We had booked a Villa for our 2 night stay, so I was taken to a beautiful little ‘exclusive’ reception area…excellent, barely a soul around. Unfortunately the frangipani lei, their enthusiasm and the welcome drink (I was in the need of something a bit stiffer) were absolutely wasted on me. The cold towel was appreciated though. I did try to smile through it all but made it known I was very tired.

Our lovely personal butler ‘Dewa’ materialised and shuttled me off to a little piece of heaven, he wanted to launch right into the whole orientation thing but I really needed my suitcase for at least a change of clothes and please while he was at it could he please rustle me up a bucket of ice, some limes and tonic? He delivered all to me quickly and with a beautiful smile.

With fresh knickers, a sarong and a slug or 2 of my very nice, duty free G+T it was beginning take the edge off nicely. Dewa finally got the go ahead to show me some of the delights of the villa which was gorgeous but was seriously designed by someone that had graduated from the ‘‘Get Smart’ School for Interior Design’! Every power point, light switch and remote control was hidden behind a hidden/secret door.

Dewa didn’t show them all to me, I’m guessing that it had become clear that I’d had enough when I walked into the corner of the marble, glass topped coffee table (could’ve used the cone of silence around about then). So he left me to it.

I sat outside in the dark listening to the fish fountains pouring into the pool for a while taking some deep, Bali breaths with an ice pack on my knee but got chased back inside by the mozzies, a case of dengue would just top it off…right?

Geez the rose and frangipani filled bath looked tempting but I didn’t want to taint the waters so I had a shower then laid down on the cloud like bed and awaited Rob’s arrival. I made a half-hearted attempt to find the TV remote (which Rob found the next day in its little box tied with a ribbon, behind a hidden panel in the bed head, can’t believe I didn’t think of looking there!)  instead I watched the ‘Ayana’ trailer over and over again while trying to keep my eyes open.

Rob called from the airport to excitedly inform me of his arrival and in my half asleep head I had a moment of panic that something else had gone awry…I just wanted to know why he wasn’t here yet ?…his plane had experienced the head wind too of course. I shook myself awake and from the luxury of the bed ordered some room service for his arrival and some coke for his Duty Free, (which it turned out he didn’t get from the Darwin airport as apparently I had told him you couldn’t…we are still to this day debating that one).

No rose petal baths for us that night we both slept well in the ’princess and the pea (or should that be pee?) ’ bed, behind the mosquito net which we dropped because we couldn’t find the light switch for the desk lamp which shone in our eyes. The butler showed us the next morning it was behind a little flap under the lip of the desk, of course.

So there you have it the absolute highs and lows that was my first solo arrival to Bali. I’ll continue to hold those of you high on a pedestal that go the whole trip alone, you’re definitely made of stronger stuff than I, that’s for sure!

Mad about You - Day 20

Mick  Jagger feat. Lenny Kravitz - God gave me everything

After our island dreaming on Lembongan it was time to dive head first back into the hustle and bustle today as we had a few jobs to get done. A trip to Legian was needed to pick up some items we had ordered during our stay in Seminyak.

Jack was THE man to help us in these endeavors and was picking us up around 10 that pagi. We enjoyed a really nice breakfast at the Kamuela which was made to order and then we found Jack ready and waiting for us at reception.

Jack from 'bali infinity tours .com'

My search had been continuing for some gate handles and Luke and I had spotted a store on the Bypass rd. as we had buzzed past one day. We pointed it out to Jack so that we could swing by there on our way back to Sanur later.

First stop Jaya Pillows on Jl Padam Utara. The young, bubbly, helpful guy here, whom I had placed the order with was there and welcomed us into the 'tiny' little store. The boys got themselves comfortable in a couple of big bean bags whilst I checked out our order with '?' for some reason I want to call him Harvey but I don't think this is correct?
When I placed the order he had trouble getting his head around the concept of the Velcro tabs on the cushions. I had bought a couple of the old ones with me to copy and we went over it about 4 times until it looked like he had understood.
Looking at the finished product they had managed to attach the Velcro to the tabs on the wrong side so that the seam side on the tabs is on show and the placement is wrong. But you know what... I expect this type of thing when I order something in Bali :0)

The inside out tabs

It was too late to change them (we were flying out tomorrow night and I didn't want to come back to Legian) I was very happy with the actual cushion covers which are weather proof, fully lined, with piping and zips and far better quality than our originals and the price was definitely right.

They look great on the chairs and the tabs make me smile and think of Bali all the time so I think the mistake has actually turned out to be a bonus (not that I need much help to think of Bali).

They'll do us :)

I picked up Pam's skirts from a tailor across the street and they had done a great job, they'd even mended the lining on the sample skirt she'd left with them.

We waited around on Padma Utara for a while as Jack had told us that Yoga had managed to get a hold of a bottle of the 'liquid gold' from their Ibu (what a guy and Ibu)  and he was going to swing by and deliver it. After about 20 minutes of waiting he hadn't arrived. Big surprise, the traffic from Kuta to Legian was gridlocked so Jack suggested we move on to Seminyak to hopefully pick up the phone charger we had left behind at Villa 88. They did find it too after searching around in the kitchen drawers for awhile. 

Luke loves this art around the streets of Bali. He did some research into it and the majority of it around these parts is done by a couple of guys, Stereo Flow and Evgeny Bam. It's like a poster that's 'wheat pasted' onto the walls.

Luke persuaded us to head to Wah Wah for lunch. It's one of his favorites which he managed to visit 4 times this trip. Great food and service. It never does disappoint. The beautiful, friendly waitress was up for a chat and was another one that, when asking about our travels pulled a face and said "Padang Bai, why you wanna stay there"?! Yep ya live and ya learn but that was far, far behind us now.

 He's a happy man.

You can choose a selection of mini burgers for an entree (from the very risque' menu) and with ingredients like wagyu, truffles, prosciutto, gruyere and quail eggs they are pretty special.

The couple of rounds of espresso martini's we ordered from the stiff-cock-tail menu (ahhhmmm), all went down a little too well for lunch time..woohoo.

Luke ordered his stock standard - slow cooked beef ribs with duck fat mash and was impressed as always.

We were all stuffed and maybe we can blame it on the Martini's and the fact we weren't in a hurry to leave but we threw caution to the wind and ordered the baked banana's in caramel sauce to share. It was fantastic!

It was wonderful sitting there enjoying Wah Wah and watching the Seminyak world pass by.

We'll be back Wah Wah :0)

We met up with Jack again and braved the traffic along Jl Raya Legian to find Yoga standing on a corner for the 'liquid gold' drop off, it all felt very...... Midnight Express. Thank goodness it was all about just satisfying our need for good sambal :0)

We popped into Mitre 10 on the way back for a bit of a look as Luke was due to become a 1st. home owner on our return. Oh.. the things I would of bought if we were filling a container, tiles, rugs, light fittings, taps, toilets but I limited myself to a really nice iron light shade that I intend to hang in the laundry ...bargain at 250,000rp! 

Luckily the door knob place was still open when we swung by. It's a humble little store with a dirt floor and on the display board out the front I instantly feel in love with a bronze handle which they only had one of at this store but after a couple of calls it was all set for Jack to pick up the other for us the next day. He was going to be passing by anyway whilst picking Tanya Bishop up from the airport and delivering her to Sanur. I was really looking forward to meeting up with her after our chats on TA.

I ended up putting my handles in carry on as they weigh around 1.5kg a piece! Love them and they were a bargain too at 300,000rp each.

Hopefully the new one will tarnish up and blacken too when it's exposed to the elements.

We loved the idea of this copper coil shower head for the outside shower Luke is reckoning on, one day and he loved and bought a copper hand basin from here ...yep we bought a sink, only not a kitchen one :0)

Loved this light shade which looked really large and heavy!

After a bit of a chill back at the Kamuela and a play with our new purchases, we wandered next door and through the lovely grounds of the Puri Santrian. It was a beautiful still, balmy night. I didn't feel like any dinner after our big lunch but thought I'd better try out the bar tenders skill at Martini making...cocktail researching can be a thankless task and I was so distracted by the wandering band whilst I drank the first that another needed to be ordered... for the poll 7/10. 

Luke really enjoyed his calamari and Rob raved about the curry that he ordered.

When the dreaded band arrived at the table our song choices, thank God,! were much better than the previous nights woeful/embarrassing selection and the band did a great job of a Santana song and something else.????

Luke tried to play down the beachfront location, beautiful night and great food and drinks whilst on the phone home to his girlfriend ;)

Funnily enough these are the well lit, puckered backsides of a couple of statues in the restaurant.

We had a few good laughs over these. Monty Python's "I fart in your general direction" came to mind.

It was our last day tomorrow and we didn't have any set plans apart from a sleep in if we could manage it, in preparation for the 1am shocker of a  flight home. Luke and I were feeling very relaxed after our 3 week stint. Rob was still dashing about the place taking pic's, wandering down to chat to the guy coaxing worms out of their holes on the waterfront and propping himself at the bar shooting the breeze with the barman. He could of probably done with another week or two or three or four but who couldn't!. 

Sampai Jumpa!

Mad about You - Day 19

Gorillaz - Tomorrow comes Today.

Well here we were ... tomorrow had come today and  we were leaving Island House. We had grown very attached to the place after just 4 days. I dread to think the scene I would cause if we had stayed any longer ...they would have been dragging me out kicking and screaming I fear.

Rob and I had some business to attend to back in the real world via the net that pagi.

Not a bad place to conduct business ..hey?

We had some breakfast prepared by the rather sullen Ayu again which was just ok.

Strangely she and another staff member did all the cleaning of the bedrooms and bathrooms before we had finished packing etc. You would think that they would have waited until we were gone? 

There was a large group arriving in the afternoon and had booked out 4 of the villas for a wedding. I just love that idea, like I've said before. What a great way to celebrate your love for each other with your family and friends. 

There were plenty of comfortable spots to read and take in the scenery here. Personally I have trouble reading in such a location surrounded by beautiful distractions.

Rob and I took one of the scooters down to The Beach House restaurant to settle our accommodation bill. The place was buzzing with staff organising flower arrangements, table settings etc. for the large groups arrival.

We eventually paid our bill after it took a few attempts to get a connection on the eftpos machine, this was finally achieved by taking it down to the beach and holding it skyward :0) 

We thanked Mark (the manager) wholeheartedly and again told him how idyllic we had found the villa and how much we would love to return. He seemed  very  preoccupied and explained with a visible shudder that our replacement was a bridezilla... so with a toot and a wave we left him to his organising.

Rob with his big sister Pam.

I had left our hand processed coconut oil 'liquid gold' on one of the kitchen shelves during our stay and whenever I had entered the kitchen (which wasn't often when Ayu was 'in house' ) I had noticed that our oil had taken up a new position and was always tucked behind something else. I had my suspicions about this and was thinking Ayu was itching to get her mitts on my 'gold'. 

Hey if she hadn't of been so prickly I would have shared it more than willingly. She watched me intently as I retrieved what supplies we had left in the fridge and I left the kitchen greedily clutching our oil to my chest. Mine all mine.

Rocky fast boat was transferring us and Ketut wished us well and merrily waved us goodbye.

Matur Suksme Island House, Sampai Jumpa!

Mushroom Beach.

It turned out after we had hung around at this beach for awhile that the conditions weren't right for boarding here. So all the passengers piled into the back of some the 'butt busting' Utes and were transferred to another location further up the coast. I think we started off at Mushroom Beach but ended up around near the public boat office.

We all hung around here for about a half hour in whatever shade we could find whilst the boat was unloaded and then loaded again.

This was my little shade tree opposite the Mighty Agung.

 It was another quick, smooth and uneventful trip back to the mainland thankfully.

I was really going to miss Nusa Lembongan and I look forward to the day when Rob and I can return and explore more of the wonders of this lovely little island.

Our transfer to The Kamuela in Sanr was waiting at the harbor for us. I spotted him easily as he was dressed all in black (sweating profusely..poor thing) and had the hotels insignia on his shirt. 

It was a relief when we got in the car and cranked up the air con to high. We received a warm welcome at  Kamuela and were shown to our rooms with enthusiasm. 

Rob and I had booked a 1 bedroom villa with a small plunge pool, Pam was heading home that night and via the booking emails I had explained this to the reservations staff and they had said it was no problem that she and her luggage hung out in our villa with us for the day. 

Luke was booked into a ground floor Spa suite which he was happy with, I can't say I would of been so happy in his room though. There was a strong smell of mould in it. I think it came from the air-conditioning (a bit of a worry) which I found almost choking :( Luke was cool with it though. 

Apart from that everything else looked all shiny and new and he liked the modern feel of it and the roominess. It seems that K was formerly the Aston and they are still working their way through the stocks of it's merchandise :) 

Our villa was just ok and was obviously one of the original rooms, quite a few of the things in it were in disrepair and the most painful thing was the cracked and splintered floor boards leading from the bedroom to the bathroom. I stubbed and jabbed my toes a couple of times on these in the next few days. I had pointed them out to our smiling check-in guy on our 'arrival grand tour' and he smiled and said they are due for renovations. I didn't mind too much we were only here for 2 nights and the rest of the hotel seemed comfortable, homey and friendly. The Kamuela also came at a really good price and I did keep reminding myself how totally bloody, spoilt rotten I had been accommodation wise this trip. 

Unfortunately I haven't any pic's of the Kamuela.

We relaxed for a little while and then struck out to have a wander around this South end of Sanur where none of us had ever been. 

After a bit of window shopping we decided upon Massimo's for lunch which was pretty much empty but looks like it can seat 'A Lot' of people, I understand it's been around for quite awhile this one. 

Lunch was good and we went the Italian route from the large menu. I did have an issue with my strawberry daiquiri, which obviously had arak in it. I have a very low tolerance for this rocket fuel and the waitress didn't have any problems taking it back and replacing it with a Pina colada,  like Pam was having and which tasted fine. 

After lunch Luke went his own way whilst the 3 of us went in search for Wina Optic where we had organised to pick up all our specs we had ordered way back in Kuta which, seemed like weeks ago! They weren't ready and waiting for us but were still back in Kuta....Pam got a little stressed about this (as she was flying out that night) but I assured her I was sure it would be fine when I could see they had made a phone call and one of the lovely ladies was getting her motor bike gear on. They organised to bring them to our hotel later that evening. 

Pam was keen not to waste her last hours and got her shopping mojo on :0)

She picked up a nice leather overnight bag from a leather store whose proprietor is a very friendly guy with an infectious laugh. Rob and he hit it off and had a lot of laughs (a couple at their wives expense) whilst the owner got busy altering a belt for him that Rob had taken a shine to. 

Then we hopped in a cab and took off to Hardy's, I was feeling a little woozy and sat it out on the padded seat next to the Foot Fishy thing. Pam was happy with all her purchases here and picked up some last minute gifts and a really nice skirt for herself.

It turns out that none of us took any photo's for the rest of this day, maybe because we could feel the holiday winding down, now we were back on the mainland. 

After squeezing into her jeans that were now fitting a little snugger than 2 weeks ago ;0) her airport transfer arrived and Pam was whisked away into the night with the declaration that she would return!  Ah another newbie that had fallen hard for the place...love that.

We 3 didn't need to think about getting into our jeans just yet so we wandered up to Charming which I had heard great things about. The guys loved their meals ...lunch had been enough for me but like a trooper I continued my research on Bali's best frozen Margherita it got a 6/10.

Charming had a 'wandering' band which I must admit I always look upon with dread. I need to do some research and come up with some stock standard requests that some of these bands might know, be able to do a half decent job of and whose lyrics won't leave me squirming in my seat, waiting for the torture and the focus of the room on our table to be over. 

When this one arrived and we ran through a list of artists that they might know until we hit on Neil Young (none of us are fans) but we thought at least it would be a low key song that wouldn't draw much attention to us whilst the guys continued to eat their meals...is it correct etiquette to continue eating whilst being sung too...it feels very awkward ? 

Oh god what a terrible choice "Heart of Gold" is a melancholy song that has a line in the chorus "and I'm getting old" and it just seemed to drone on ForEver ...I felt like climbing under the table! ...After that I decided to order a Martini to see how they measured up.. a good 7/10 with added points for it's anti-melancholic properties :0)

We wandered back to the hotel through the beautiful balmy Sanur night stopping at some stalls, chatting and laughing with some locals and feeling mighty fine :0) 

Sad and Old? Not a Chance!

Sampai Jumpa!

Mad about You - Day 18

Our last full day at island house and we were just planning on taking it easy and a having another look around on the scooters.

Counting waves from your bed ...now that's a relaxing past time :0)

The large flat pools is where this point gets it's name the Devil's Tears (I'm assuming)

Moving from the bed to the hammock...more relaxing for some but I wasn't tangling with that contraption ever again!

I felt really safe on the back of the bike with Luke. He took a lot of care on the 'very ordinary' scooter over the even more 'ordinary' roads/tracks of Lembongan.

We had driven past this great lookout a few times in the back of vans and we enjoyed stopping this time around and checking out the view.

Everywhere we had gone on the island there were little unobtrusive black signs with the name 'Jibaku' stencilled in white with an arrow pointing the way, nailed to posts and trees. We would have to seek it out on our travels.

We passed it on our way along the coast track and continued on until we reached Mangrove Point and Nano Nano where we had been the previous day. We figured it was time for some refreshments and headed back to check out 'Jibaku'

I can almost hear my Mum saying..."not a very lady like pose Julie"! sorry..but it was very hot, we were the only patrons in the restaurant and sometimes it's all about air circulation.

There were a couple of kids wading through the shallows collecting some wayward strands of seaweed.

It's interesting to think this is the origin of a lot of our cosmetics we use.

Pam getting a Pina colada fix.

We were served by a very friendly guy who obviously loved his music and spent his time when he wasn't serving us grooving away behind a DJ's booth.

 Jibaku was going to be jumping that night with a Full Moon Party planned. 

Rob took a liking to the waiters Jibaku t.shirt and he happily found one for Rob to take home with him. He wears it under his work shirt sometimes when he needs a tropical reminder and to help keep his eye on the prize.

We checked out the menu but nothing really took our fancy.

So we decided to go up the road a piece.

Surprise, surprise.. we found our way back at Indiana Kenanga to check out what delights it's lunch time menu had to offer.

And "Our table" was available too. So the shoes were quickly slipped off so I could wriggle my toes in the sand.

Some delicious cocktails were ordered.

I do remember I had trouble deciding what I would have as there was 3 things I really wanted to try on the menu.

3 of us opted for a burger each one of them different and delish.

Pam had the seafood satay's which got the thumbs up too.

A double wagyu burger and Luke was a happy man.

On the trip home we decided to go and check out the point opposite Island House.

I stayed off of these rocks. I can be a bit tangled footed.

Love this photo ...Rob/Neptune commanding the waves.

Watch out Luke you're in for a soaking ...although it's not like you won't  be dry again in 10 minutes in this heat.

That's Nusa Penida off the coast.

And just as we had every other afternoon on Nusa Lembongan when the afternoon heat got too much for us, we found ourselves floating around in the infinity pool back at Island House. 

Just idyllic.

When our fingers and toes had gotten wrinkly enough we thought we'd take a bit of stroll up to the tip of our point to catch the sunset.

All the other villa's on our side of the point looked unoccupied and on the very point we came across a little derelict villa. Unfortunately it looked like someones hopes and dreams hadn't panned out. It seems the white ants got the upper hand on this one and it was falling apart. A lot of it's soft furnishings were left behind too which were all damaged beyond repair which made it look like someone had just given up on it and walked away. It was an Aussie too apparently Ketut later told us who had built in the wrong sort of wood :(  Another one of the pitfalls of building in Bali among many.

Looking out to the right of the point and according to Lee Ryles on BB over yonder is "The Point" hotel. :)

A very friendly security guard came across us here and enthusiastically ushered us toward the 'Villa Casa Del Mar' which he guarded. He told us when many of the Villa's on this point are rented out for weddings the Bride and Groom usually take up residence in this one. 

This ones owned by an Aussie too. Lucky bugger.

The beautiful entrance.

OOps! We hadn't realised that the villa was occupied.! We apologised for the intrusion and when the residents glanced in our direction with just a stony glare it was apparent that they too were sorry that we had stumbled upon them. 

We tried to beat a hasty exit but the Security Guard said not to worry they were just the owners cousins :0/  and insisted on showing us around the rest of the villa. I'm guessing the owner wouldn't of minded either if it meant more bookings. 

I do think the owner made a mistake though. I definitely would of included the word Sunset in the naming of this villa. How Stunning!

It had just the 2 bedrooms that looked lovely as did the kitchen and lounge area.

An outside dining area to the right of the pool.

As much as I was loving Island House ...this one would be worth booking for these amazing sunsets.

We wandered back to the other side of the point where we weren't disturbing anyone, to finish watching the sunset. 

The moon was making a beautiful show of it too that night.

It was Pam's last night in Bali so it was her choice for the dinner venue.

None of us complained when we returned to Kenanga!

All our favorites were ordered  again to hopefully tide us over until we got an opportunity to return one day.

When we got back to Island House, Ketut was about and was feeling pretty merry after he had spent the day at a ceremony on the main land ;) 

He sat and had a few drinks with us as we enjoyed the beautiful moonlight and listened to the dragons roar on our last night at Island House...well for this trip anyway.

Selamat Malam!