Bali

After work on Sunday we went directly to Changi and flew to Denpasar. We stayed at Villa Horizon in Nusa Dua. June was on the same flight and we waved her goodbye at the airport as she headed off to Ubud. Our driver Janie met us and we  soon arrived at the villa only 15 mins later. To our pleasant surprise it was huge. First impressions were very good with a lovely pool, very adequate kitchen and comfortable airy bedrooms. In no time at all we were tucking into our duty free and congratulating ourselves on what a good decision this was. 

Having made a good start on the duty free we then all slept well. How nice to have the place open to fresh air, we could even see the stars.
In the morning we awoke to blue skies and all had a dip in the pool. Of course then we needed to fill our hungry bellies so we had Janie drive us downtown for breakfast. On the way home we called into Hardy's Supermarket for a few groceries. It was a mini version of Mustaphas and we know next time we go to Bali to skip the duty free alcohol as it was cheaper here.   It was time for another swim then. We are in a neighbourhood surrounded by lovely homes, many of them for rent. The streets around us are quiet except when someone takes their dog for a walk and that upsets all the other dogs.
After lunch with a bottle of wine, Syd and Kym went for a massage and not long after the 3 of us went for a walk with our binos. Well, it was too early to open another bottle of wine. We spotted a few birds in our own garden amid the bamboo and frangipani.

 We also had a resident little bat roosting in the bamboo stand beside the pool. On the walk we saw a number of birds but all common sightings. An ice cream on the way home up the hill was the biggest reward.
We refreshed ourselves with a swim and snacks before Fathma put a fabulous spread of food on the table for us. She is Janie's wife and they live in a tiny little one room apartment attached to the villa. Their role involves maintenance, cleaning and security but we can book them up to be driver, cook or make bookings for us at our expense. Her English was quite good, he could do with some sessions at Morris Allen. They had a baby girl named Anzhani, who was just on 2 weeks old. We just asked her to produce a meal of traditional dishes and gave her 300,000 Rp to spend on ingredients. She produced chilli crab in coconut sauce, baked fish, sweet prawns, chicken Kang Kong and long beans and fried tofu. We finished with watermelon. The table was overflowing and it was all delicious for just $70 total, not per head. We solved all the problems at Morris Allen and had music challenges using both Eric's and Kym's iPods. Both have a very eclectic interest in music so between them they were able to match our requests.

Libby and I got a lift out to the Nusa Dua Water Treatment Plant and Bird Sanctuary on Tuesday morning. When we first got up it was raining and Eric went back to bed and couldn't be moved. It fined up before long and we had a lovely few hours at the lagun, as it is known here. A bit on the nose of course but well worth it. We racked up over 20 different sightings including a few new ones: yellow bittern, small blue kingfisher, bar winged prinia and scarlet headed flowerpecker. Oh if only our cameraman had been there! 

We got back in time to join the others for a late breakfast. We whiled away the rest of the morning by the pool then went for lunch at Bumbu Bali, a traditional Balinese Restaurant that also runs a cooking school and supports a number of environmentally sound projects. It was located in the resort end of Nusa Dua so we wandered through to the beach to check it out. Very disappointing in  comparison to Aussie beaches. Syd and Kim then left for the airport while we lingered over coffee. 

Janie returned to collect us and when we got back we had another swim, as you do. We went to Jimbaran Bay Seafood Grill for dinner. This is a famous strip of fresh seafood restaurants right on the beach where we have eaten before.

 We had to be home by 9 for the massage Libby  had booked. Our villa has a massage room and Lea  came to us. After a nightcap we all headed to bed ready for an early start in the morning. Our flight back to Changi was uneventful and we all agreed that it was certainly worth looking at a repeat weekend next year!