Bali Belly or Volcanoes?

[Pushka]

Did I mention we were off to Bali tomorrow? Just a quick trip and while we love Intercontinental in Jimbaran Bay, this time we are mixing it with the enclave crowd in Nusa Dua which is just over there (pointing across the bay). So no sunset shots this time, but rather sunrise, yeah right.

Courtesy of Luxury Escapes we are staying at Ritz Carlton. Now Lavinia makes it look idyllic so we shall see.

"Ritz Carlton Bali Promo from Luxury Escapes on Vimeo"

Grumpy Cat refused another Jetstar experience and we wanted to maximise a delayed DSC offer from March so was delighted to find that Qantas now flew out of Sydney.

Sadly, being in Adelaide that morning this means time in the F Lounge in Sydney so we will take one for the team, just this once.

Our flights kept shifting. And not in a good way. Getting squeezed for time in Sydney on the way out and stretched out for waiting for the flight to come back to Adelaide. Why is it so?

It has taken weeks to get the flights sorted - phone calls were unhelpful - no J seats months in advance for a paid flight? Seriously? I could see them but not Qantas. Something about marriage. Typical. Resorted to FB and twitface. Sadly, success in 2 days.

We now have a rather pleasant 3.5 hours domestic connection in Sydney so this will probably shorten to 2 hours with all the Sydney pallaver at around 2pm.

 

[love_the_life]

Looking forward to this but hope there is no 'Bali belly' from the title
We're flying to Wellington for a few days on Sunday but not quite the same, and it's supposed to rain!

 

[Pushka]

Looking forward to this but hope there is no 'Bali belly' from the title
We're flying to Wellington for a few days on Sunday but not quite the same, and it's supposed to rain!

It’s. Bali. Tummy bugs are in the air I reckon. Gastrolyte packed.

So. Volcanoes. In the middle of August Agung started grumbling. The ring of fire basically covers all the Indonesian Islands.

Scary.


Agung is to the East of the main tourist areas and the Govt evacuated 150,000 villagers to safety houses. This was incredibly difficult for them leaving their cattle, crops and houses to an unknown future. And the areas of safety were not well provisioned for such an influx.

Over the month the volcano showed evidence of increasing activity and multiple earthquakes felt as far afield as Kuta. It reached a peak around the end of September but throughout this period the tabloids like dailymail.co.uk said eruption was imminent.

Insurance companies stopped providing cover for new policies on announcement.

Except we had pre paid accommodation. The Insurance company said that unless the Volcano blew we could not cancel and claim. If the Govt said Do Not Travel we could claim but they will never do that. Too much political angst for that. So we decided to ride it out. We knew we would be safe but our issue was Ash cloud.

This Monday the Volcano died right back and the alert went from Orange to Red. Insurance companies stated they would now cover for volcano.

So - flight tomorrow is on.

 

[Pushka]

The cat knows something is up. He gets a bit depressed. He knows what the orange luggage means. He will be alone a bit as older son has moved out (again) and younger son will be popping in daily and sometimes overnight. Oh well.

Uber booked in advance but not before I saw the Qantas link option. Oh well. Next time.

I saw OLCI was available. Sometimes I don’t bother with Int connections. But decided to this time with peak traffic etc. While they are different PNR’s and I did link them before our seats have been separated by ‘someone’ I had to reseat us a few times. But when I logged in to MrP’s account they were both there so they knew we were linked but separated us anyway. Oh well. We are checked in anyway.

Waiting now.

 

[love_the_life]

The cat knows something is up. He gets a bit depressed. He knows what the orange luggage means. He will be alone a bit as older son has moved out (again) and younger son will be popping in daily and sometimes overnight. Oh well.

Uber booked in advance but not before I saw the Qantas link option. Oh well. Next time.

I saw OLCI was available. Sometimes I don’t bother with Int connections. But decided to this time with peak traffic etc. While they are different PNR’s and I did link them before our seats have been separated by ‘someone’ I had to reseat us a few times. But when I logged in to MrP’s account they were both there so they knew we were linked but separated us anyway. Oh well. We are checked in anyway.

Waiting now.

Bon voyage, as they say. Enjoy the R & R. It's been a busy year.

 

[blackcat20]

Enjoy the trip! We're also Flounging today but in Melbourne.

 

[Denali]

I never travel without Immoden now... learnt the bad way.

Have a great time!

 

[Pushka]

Bon voyage, as they say. Enjoy the R & R. It's been a busy year.

Of Travel too!
Uber ride worked well. On time and early into airport. MrP has just an hour of work to do . Me - coffee.

Grumpy thinks we are going on a cruise and has his number ready. He does prefer the Red Roo to orange though.
I did mention something to him about Golden Princess and he’s keen.

I never travel without Immoden now... learnt the bad way.

Have a great time!

Imodium is great if you need to be on the move but if able to stay in the location then best let it all happen and clear. Then rehydrate.

Enjoy the trip! We're also Flounging today but in Melbourne.

Ooh. So close! We could have knocked off a champers together! You enjoy too! NZ?

 

[blackcat20]

Ooh. So close! We could have knocked off a champers together! You enjoy too! NZ?

Yes NZ, just for the weekend.

 

[love_the_life]

Yes NZ, just for the weekend.

Missed you by 'that much' as Max Smart would say. We leave for 3 days in NZ on Sunday but direct out of Canberra on SQ. It's going to be cool in WLG by the look of it. Envy Pushka and the warmth of Bali.

 

[Pushka]

Missed you by 'that much' as Max Smart would say. We leave for 3 days in NZ on Sunday but direct out of Canberra on SQ. It's going to be cool in WLG by the look of it. Envy Pushka and the warmth of Bali.

90 degrees in fact. Just need to watch out for sunburn but at last my hands won’t be ghosties.

Flight delayed by 20 minutes. How dare they cut into my F lounge time! This was why I changed to an earlier flight as the website said around 75 minutes gap was ok. Not for this black duck!

 

[blackcat20]

90 degrees in fact. Just need to watch out for sunburn but at last my hands won’t be ghosties.

Flight delayed by 20 minutes. How dare they cut into my F lounge time! This was why I changed to an earlier flight as the website said around 75 minutes gap was ok. Not for this black duck!

The longer the better when it comes to the F lounge! We plan on being in the lounge around 6pm for our red-eye flight.

 

[Pushka]

The Sydney Dom to I system is execrable. Waiting waiting waiting. And the bubbly is going flat!

Flight over to Sydney was fine. Decided to eat light on the plane with just fruit and MrP scones.




Arrived into busy immigration and were not given Express Cards in Adelaide but that was no deterrent. Quickly through passport and then security and I had the scanner. My medic alert bracelet is picked up as a watch but almost an apology when they saw it was a medic alert thingy.

Into the bottle shop for 2 bottles of Bombay Sapphire on sale. You can bring in a liter each. Will probably take a bottle home in luggage. Maybe. G&T works a treat in tropics and we can get tonic for free in the club. Yeah.

But here we are waiting.

Two pavlovas. My granny and then myself always made pavlovas for MrP’s birthday and this Sunday is his birthday hence his request for a holiday. He doesn’t like his birthday as it makes him a year older than me. I’ve also let the Hotel know. He’ll really hate that. <evil grin>

 

[LadyC]

Have a great time in Bali. I am looking forward to enjoying some R&R in Jimbaran over the New Year. I have heard good things about the Ritz Carlton from a colleague who stayed there so I am sure it will be fabulous.

 

[TomVexille]

Cheers from the MEL Flounge

 

[Pushka]

Arrived a little late - around 9pm Bali time which is 3 hours behind Sydney. Immigration was quick but reckon we walk miles to get there. Bring on the buses.

The flight over while marketed as J for an international flight it’s just premium economy. Meal selection given its dinner is not up to par or maybe it meets Neil’s standards? I dunno but a chicken sandwich surely doesn’t pass anywhere as a main meal.





It was ok but hardly a meal and took ages between courses so was entirely sick of the process before desserts were offered as I knew it would take a while to get them.
IFE was dodgy as. Kept stuttering and you had to stop and resume multiple times.

Thought this was a nice shot of thundery showers over Sydney.


Taken with phone as we were shuddering so it’s a bit dodge.

 

[Pushka]

Immigration was fast and a wait of 20 minutes for luggage and bingo - first bags out. Through declarations then out to Bali chaos to find our driver - included in the LE package.

Couldn’t find him on the third sweep so was about to call when MrP spotted him. All good. Off in a limo to the Ritz Carlton.

Wow. Ritz Carlton is gorgeous. Set on a cliff then down to the coast at Nusa Dua. Security is really tight. Even though it was a Hotel car we were sectioned off between 2 barriers so locked in and each door and boot opened and a sniffer dog brought in. Allowed through then we had to scan our luggage at the Hotel entrance and pass through security screening. Impressive.

Checked in and credit card authorized for 8,000,000 rupiah. Blanching a little I realized that was $AUD800. Phew.

The views at night were stunning but too whacked to do anything about it. Managed to unpack and work out how to turn off the lights - a major accomplishment.

The room is nothing less than palatial. It’s gorgeous.
Only 2 on the phone so will revert to iPad shortly.

Bathtub.



Replete with TV. Of course.

 

[Pushka]

The room. I’m posting this outside on iPad so not sure how good they look. It is freakingly hot and sunny here. Working up a sweat just walking to breakfast.
The room last night before we messed it up is stunning. Huge. It’s a suite but is the lowest room category here I think. The resort is huge. And uphill. But there are buggies.

 

[Pushka]

Gorgeous gardens. Am practising bracket skills.

 

[love_the_life]

The Sydney Dom to I system is execrable. Waiting waiting waiting. .....

Transfer from international to domestic in BNE is far worse than at SYD IMO. Lug your bags out to catch the bus and wend around the roads to get to the terminal.