Just prior to that I was invited to another Christmas dinner at Marg and John's house, they are Kiwi friends of Lesley and Billy. A great evening from what I can remember. Thanks guys!
Christmas day was great, presents in the morning, the excited kids as they ripped open the wrapping paper. Lunch was the traditional turkey with all the trimmings. A boozy day with the traditional sitting by the sofa watching TV after lunch. Happy Days......
On the 17th, we left Miri for the 2 hour flight to KL. There is no direct fight from Miri to Depensar, the main airport of Bali so we had to look forward to a full day of travelling with the kids. It went surprisingly smoothly though, helped no, doubt by the fact that we had paid a few extra Ringet for priority boarding and 'hot seats'. All in all it was no big drama (if you exclude some woman screaming to the rest of the plane that the engine had just blown up as we landed in a torrential storm and a massive flash of lightening). Of course nothing of the sort had happened!!!
We did taken the opportunity to get of 'duty free'. Three bottles of spirits and 200 fags. That should see us right..
Arriving in Depensar you need to get a Visa on Arrival for 25USD. Paying in Malaysian Ringet you really get ripped off and the visa is not as pretty as the counterparts in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, its just a normal bloody stamp. Maybe together UK should introduce something similar to get us out of our hole!!!
We did get picked up at the airport and ferried to the Villa in Sanur. It was loverly - quick bite to eat then bed. I have never seen rain like it, the villa had it's own pool and was fully enclosed. By midnight the pool was overflowing.
The break was great, my foot was still giving me some problems. A visit to the doctor before I left confirmed that the infection had gone but there was quite a lot of soft tissue damage and scarring which still made it painful to walk. Non the less, that did not stop Ross and I having a great day in the water park. The were some pretty hairy rides and it was pissing it down most of the day but at least it was warm rain.
I really liked the Place we were staying. The management in it's wisdom had commissioned some fairly serious construction work so the entrance was like a construction site. Billy successfully negotiated a 1000USD discount and a free meal as a result. Breakfast was served in the villa each morning. We spent our 0 days relaxing by the pool when it wasn't raining.
I took Ross White water rafting, perhaps not the brightest idea given all the recent rain. We had a great time, the two of us and a guide in the one raft. The last rapid was in fact a drop down a 6 foot waterfall. I will never forget my panic as Ross actually bounced out of the raft as we hit the water. Fortunately he was holding on, ending up in an heap at the bottom of the raft......
To get to the restaurant for lunch we needed to walk up about 300 steps. I'm not as fit as I used to be so we took it steady, very steady. At the top Ross went a funny shade and started to hyperventilate. Fuck, I thought he was going to have a seizure. Instinctively my diving 'first aid' came in handy and within a few minutes everything was under control. I did give me a 'moment' though. Ross was fine and polished off a good meal for lunch.
Finlay is not keen on holidays and from the minute we arrived he was asking 'how many sleeps till we go home'.
It was a great break. Bali is a beautiful island and the people are really friendly.
As normal, good things have to come to an end...
The trip home was, like the journey here, via KL. At the airport we needed to pay yet again, the departure tax was about £10. I paid in Indonesian money as I didn't want to get stung yet again with the unattractive exchange conversion rates. Billy decided to pay his and the families in sterling, but Scottish sterling.... He did spend some time persuading the guy at immigration that the money was legal tender. The departure tax tickets were issued and we were on our way.
60 minutes later, just as we were about to go through into the departure lounge the same guy came running up. He had tried to exchange the Scottish notes at a number of the various money changers in the airport and they had all declined. The tax was eventually paid in Singapore dollars.
The flight back to KL was uneventful. We pigged ourselves out on a KFC and then went to board the 7.15 flight back to Miri.
No chance, after a number of false starts, one which involved actually getting onto the aircraft, we were told to disembark as the plane was very broken.... We ended up in a hotel about 20km from the airport for the night and flew back at 10.00 the following day.
Great time!
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Location:Sanur, Bali, Indonesia
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