Farewell Gold Coast
It was an amazing week spent in Main Beach with Steve and Alan. The hospitality and dwellings were 10/10. 
It was another teary farewell as they dropped us at the airport in Brisbane. I’ve had enough tear-jerker moments in the past couple of weeks to last me a lifetime I think.
It is also nice to know that we have a base to go back to when we need to. Thanks Steve and Alan for being the perfect hosts. Lottsa laughs were had all round.
We ate and drank way too much (no surprise there) and had a lovey fond farewell dinner at the stunning Tedder Ave Italian restaurant Vesuvio – Traditional Italian Restaurant
Hello Bali
The flight went without a hitch on Jetstar and only took 5.30hrs and two movies. Our driver ‘Dua’ was waiting at the airport for us which is always a relief – especially when there are what seems like hundreds of drivers standing there with signs all over the place.
We were off on our 1 hours drive north to Ubud, arriving at our homestay around midnight. The owner of Ramah Ary Homestay was just lovely and our room was clean and comfortable. Our main criteria was A/C and Wi-Fi and it ticked both boxes there.
Breakfast was included every morning which was delivered to us to eat on our balcony.
The total cost for our accommodation was $26 per night including breakfast and free drinking water refills.
We were quite centrally based in Ubud, right on one of the main roads, but like most Home Stays around here we were well off the road, down a small winding walkway, past two other homestays. There was no road noise at all, only a lonely rooster who’s time clock was way out of sync and would crow at all times day and night. Thank God for ear plugs.
Exploring Ubud
Ubud is the cultural and spiritual centre of Bali, made famous by Julia Roberts ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ which was filmed in Ubud – apart from the ocean scenes as Ubud is landlocked. That would be why it is so hot and humid. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. It is hot, hot, hot. Sweat starts flowing the moment you walk out in the morning which makes exploring the many alleyways challenging, especially during the midday sun.
We have managed to get lost most days that we have ventured out and it’s great! The places we have stumbled on accidently could not be replicated in any guide book. The authentic alleys wind their way around for kilometres and we have just loved exploring them.
Yes, it is a tourist mecca where ex-pats live and work and tourists from all around the world come for spiritual healing, yoga, vegan eating and cheap sarongs. You can always tell the most touristy areas by how many ‘Happy Hour’ signs are around. They know that tourists love ‘Happy Hours’ so we noticed in the prices of our meals. We wander the streets looking for traditional, out of the way warungs. At these little street side eateries you can dine like a king with large portions of the real Indonesian dishes and a beer or two each for around $9 for both of us. I’m really what you would call a ‘cheap date’.
Puspa’s Warang
Changing Accommodation
Although our accommodation was comfortable, clean and handy to everything, we had only made the initial booking for 3 nights. We wondered if we could do better. By better – I mean could we find somewhere with a pool. We kept a look out at all the signs advertising Home Stays/Guest houses and thought we would wander down this little pathway to check out a Home Stay in a family compound and BOOM – struck gold. We bartered our way into a bigger room, Wi-Fi, A/C, fan, breakfast and YES – A POOL!!!! We got it down to the same price we were paying in our existing digs.
We packed our backpacks, threw them on our backs and trudged our way up the road (in the soaring heat) to our new home for the next
4 days. I have a new appreciation for backpackers and it is at that moment that you wish you had not packed quite as much stuff as you had!!
We are now at Ayu Bungalow 2 and very much enjoying our new surroundings – especially the pool.
We are here for the rest of our time in Ubud. In four days time, we have booked our driver Dua to pick us up and we head for the far north of Bali – destination Pemuteran. We are stopping at a few attractions on the way so it will be a full on day which we are looking forward to.
We have booked another Home Stay for a couple of nights and we will see if it will be long enough to cover off what we want to see and do in the area.
I won’t include a video in this blog as our internet is dodgy and I will be here until next week, waiting for it to download. Coming soon hopefully.