What an exciting day we have ahead. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to today. But how the hell did we get to 1 week already? The time has passed slow in the moment, but looking back it seems we got to day 7 too quickly. But so glad now it’s here, because we get to hang out with the elephants and play with them in the mud. 

Last night I’d checked and double checked the email confirmation to make sure I’d read it right. They were sending a pick up for us at 7am. As an avid holiday researcher (perhaps even a little OCD) I did some distance checking and fact checking, it was more likely they would arrive at 6.30am. So for the first time on our honeymoon we set an alarm. Not that it really mattered, as I once again found myself awake at a time that began with a 5! We downed a banana for breakfast and rehydrated, and sure enough just after 6.30am our driver arrived ready to take us to Bali Zoo. Always keen to learn more about the culture Matthew and I ask curious questions and find out our driver Jas has a child on the way. He tells us that is why his hair is so long. Apparently in their culture, they grow their hair until the baby is born. He joked it is so the man is not handsome to other women while his wife is carrying a child. Seems he is looking forward to the end of the month when his daughter is due to be born.
We pass through many villages and main streets and arrive at the zoo, where Jas accompanies us all the way to the counter and arranges our passes for our Elephant Mud Fun Experience. 

Jas tells us where we need to wait, offers to take a picture of us in front of the Bali Zoo sign and says he is off to get some Nasi Campur for breakfast. I love there are no rules about what dish is for what meal of the day.

We farewell Jas and head for the experience winding our way through the zoo, which is super quiet as it is before the general opening hours. We pass through an open air deer park and pat a couple of them on the way, jump on a safari bus and weave our way past villas to eventually arrive at our location. 

Now the magic is about to start, as they first warn us this activity will be dirty, and you will get wet. I am not sure what the confusion may be with the word “mud” included in what everyone had booked. It’s great they clear that up early in the piece. We are split into 2 groups, and asked to move down to where we will help cut up some fruit and vegetables to give to the elephants. To make sure everyone gets a turn at chopping, you basically cut one banana or one cucumber – in half. As Matthew and I chuckle about this, we are spotted by a young couple who laugh along with us. They are from Alaska and on their honeymoon too. 

The elephants are absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait to meet them up close. Today there is Molly and Anna. We feed them the snacks we’d collectively prepared for them while posing for pictures. 

We are now told it’s time to get muddy, and I don’t hesitate. I am in there, while Matthew opts to be chief documenter to capture this special memory for me.

We get to give Anna a lovely mud massage, before we have a play in the water with them. I am on cloud nine in this moment. Another magical experience and memory. I got to have a massive cuddle on its side and splashed her with water all over. 

By the time the whole thing was over, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. My heart was full! My only disappointment was the cost of the photos their official photographer was taking. Now I know what it’s generally like at attractions and amusement parks, but other places I’d been in Bali I had not experienced the blatant rip off that it was. I was so grateful for Matthew and the other couple for capturing some memories for me/us. 
After a quick shower we head back out of the park, call our driver and head back to the villa. We probably could have explored the zoo a little more, but it was another hot day here, so to come back to the water breeze and grab some lunch in Sanur was the better option. 
We’d been eyeing off the bikes at the villa, and thought it might be time to try our hand at it. It would also mean we could get down to the beach a bit faster too. We giggled and wobbled our way down our alley, realising how clever we were as kids to do this all day (complete with tricks). The only tricks I managed today was to graze my shin on the pedal, and ride into a bush to avoid a small snake crossing the path by the water. I googled it later to find out it was called a striped keeling. Not a big snake but gave me enough of a surprise to alter my course. 

We thought we’d chill out by the pool for a bit before heading out to dinner. Tonight we decided to walk, and just head to the main street this time. We’d had an early start with mush excitement, so we didn’t really have it in us to go too far. 
We found a lovely people watching spot, at the front of the open air restaurant, as so many of them here in Bali are, and ordered some traditional Indonesian food. I decided it was such a nice night I’d order a second glass of wine and we would just chill out there for a bit and watch the world go by. 
While sitting there chatting and minding our own business we see a hand reach to the table between us, grab Matthew’s vape and throw it onto the road. We are confronted by a massive Aussie bloke (complete with Bintang singlet), telling Matthew how awful his vape smells and he had to sit through his dinner smelling it the whole time. I stood up ready to have it out, but Matthew was super calm, remained in his seat, politely apologised and had said he would have happily stopped if he’d known. Now if you know Bali, smoking in restaurants is very commonplace and an accepted thing here. Also if you know vapes, you know that if the smell of watermelon is so offensive you feel the need to threaten another person and throw their personal items around, I’d question who is the one with the problem. 
Clearly this guy wasn’t getting the rise out of Matthew that he wanted, so he grabbed my vape and threw it out onto the road too. All the while telling us he has never experienced such inconsiderateness and hopes we die. Charming right? He soon gives up and says “I’ll go get it for you” storms out of the restaurants, stomps on it – hilariously it didn’t break which I am sure he was surprised about – and walks off down the street. Now I am a tough cookie, but this shook me, a kind patron came over to ask if I was ok which was sweet. Matthew comforted me and as I was putting myself back together he came back up the street, told us he hoped we die again, and kept walking on, but not before flipping the bird. 
Wow, so much for a calm relaxing evening. Nonetheless, we decide we need to head home, hoping we don’t encounter this beast in one the many alleyways we need to navigate on our way home, and I walk ahead and am on high alert. 
Soon after the restaurant exit, we start to be followed by a cute dog, I joked with Matthew saying “imagine if she followed us all the way home. Animals have great instincts, and I reckon she sensed I needed a bit of a pick me up, so she proceeded to follow us for the 10 minute walk all the way back to the villa. We decided to name her Sarah and as we farewelled her to the safety of our villa, we could hear her scratching on the door, but only for a moment. 
Talk about a rollercoaster of a day. But the highs outweighed the lows. All makes for good memory making and story telling though, doesn’t it?