There is something very unique about the travel bug. Knowing that a whole of of adventure and unique memory making is ahead of you makes it impossible for me to sleep. Popping over to see my friend last night was the best thing I could have done to pass the time. The great part about the flight we are on today is that it’s in the afternoon, affording us a bit of a sleep in and some time to finish off some tidying up and last minute packing.
The trips to Bali are kind of relaxed for me having been there a number of times before, so there is not a lot of stress about forgetting things, or packing the wrong things. So I decide to head to Terrigal to grab a coffee (great new coffee machine Pauli) before adding last minute changes to my suitcase (which also included a change of suitcase – bigger of course).
After a quick shower and final touches to the suitcase, my brother arrives to take us to the train station for our journey to the airport. We pose for the obligatory ‘ready to travel’ picture, and head to the train station.

The train trip is so much easier than any of the alternatives, and the view is just gorgeous. It is one of the most beautiful train trips you can do. The girls and I settle in for the hour and half trip and then it’s not long before we hear that Central station is the next stop. We gather our things and make our way to the next train that will take us to the airport.

The check in process with Qantas is all self service, o we print our bag tags and head over to the bag drop area. All done in a matter of minutes. So the girls pose for the obligatory ‘Departures’ picture and we make our way into customs/immigration. More automatation as you scan your passport and a camera scans your face. Both girls giggle as they realise they’ve left their passports in the scanner and need to have the staff throw them through. That woudn’t have been a great start to the holiday, that’s for sure.

The airport doesn’t seem as busy as previous travels, as we weave through duty free before heading to the lounge. It’s always a nice spot to start any holiday, with food and drinks available to help pass the time. The girls settle in to charge their devices and there is definitely an feeling of excitement in the air. We are traveling together to a place where I love, Jamei has only been once before and Boston’s first time. It’s certainly going to be a different experience.
It seems to be very quickly that it’s already time to board, so we head to the gate, and shuffle like cattle through to our seats. The flight time is about 6 hours today, so it’s surprising to see that it’s a very small plane in comparison to other international journeys I’ve had. The seats are always comfortable enough, but as someone who likes to wander and can’t sit still, there insn’t a lot of room for that.

I pass the time by having a coupe of bubblies, watch a movie or two and have a nap. I enjoyed meeting the staff who often pass by with various requests from passengers. One stops to see what I am giggling about, as I am enjoying a comedy movie call “I feel Pretty” with Amy Schumer. I’d caught their attention with my laughter. After I’d woken from a nap, I was feeling a bit peckish, so I headed to the galley where I met Michelle and Angela. They were the wonderful staff who had taken good care of us this whole time. I also ask for a bubbly but it seems they’ve had a run of requests for it and there was none left. I switch to a nice white wine and enjoy a documentary about Robin Williams called ‘Come Inside my Mind’. Definitely worth the watch with images and footage I have never seen before of him, and being a long term fan, found this very fascinating.

The time is getting closer for our arrival, which means I am even more fidgety and take another wander up the back. This time making a new friend in Gavin. A French national (from Marseille) currently visiting Australia and deciding to holiday in Bali. It’s his first time to Indonesia, so I oblige with a few bits of local knowledge that I know. He was travelling solo and took notes about where to go for good food and fun.
Another passenger overhears, I didn’t catch his name but was traveling to Bali for the first time too, but only for 5 days. Seems this is a ‘make-up’ holiday after being stuck when Mount Agung erupted and they cancelled and turned flights back. He and his partner were planning a quick getaway and he was surprising her with a CrossFit experience. He was pretty pumped about this.
Ok Hannah, enough socialising. Time to take your seat and get organised to land. It’s night time and the girls watch on the screen the increase in temperature the closer we get to the ground. At 9.30pm we land to 27 degree temperature and after happily going through customs (and the girls having a chuckle at me using Bahasa with the staff) we are off to get our bags.

There are always drivers lining the area as you exit, but as always I’d planned a transfer so as not to have to worry about it. I didn’t spot our driver straight away so I told the girls to stay put with the bags. We’d giggled as I’d already been asked if I want a son-in-law as one of the Balinese drivers had taken a liking to my eldest daughter. Tidak Terima Kasih. No thank you.
We find our driver and finally are making our way to the car. The humidity is always a huge factor in comfort here. I love it, and remind the girls to just become comfortable with sweat.

Perry our driver chats to us about Bali and impresses the girls telling them a story about the only celebrity he has driven for ‘Marshmallow’. He even obliges and shows them a picture he’d had with him. Perry is one of 3 children and technically his name is Wayan (as all first born sons are), but he took a more unique part of his name so people remember it. Very calling himself ‘Perry-Good’. This is common here in Bali so it makes it easier to get and retain business. We chat about the culture and he even points out some interesting statues for Boston’s sake as a first time visitor.
We check in and farewell Perry-good and make our way up to the rooms. Boston is very tired and hungry, Jamei is just hungry so we drop our bags and head downstairs in the hunt for some sustenance. The restaurant at our hotel is closed and Boston really just wanted to get horizontal so we get the staff at Zest to help order McDonald’s delivered and send her up to the room. The total to have 12 nuggets meal is about AU$8.50.
Meanwhile Jamei and I head across the road for some food, she orders some carbonara and I some satay skewers. Jamei indulges in her first cocktail of the trip. The staff did attempt to sell us the ‘special’ of the day, but neither Jamei or I were interested in the duck.

Finally we decide to retire to our rooms, to find Boston had happily eaten and was already in bed. It’s not long before I join with hopes to blog, however, seems my eyes will not cooperate. Looking forward to our first day together.