Finally we sail away

I wanted to get away on Boxing Day but the boat wasn't ready, and we decided we would get packed and get going first thing yesterday. Well that didn't happen because Lynette texted to tell us to come spend the day/night at the farm and break in the new pizza oven. Well how could we turn that offer down? So we spent yesterday/last night at the farm scoffing wood fired pizzas made from homemade dough and leftover Xmas ham with fresh pineapple. Lots of fun was had in the kitchen singing/dancing/rolling dough/adding toppings/eating - good times! 

We did well to get away from the farm mid morning, finish our last bit of shopping for perishables, get on the boat and stowed 436 million bags away, and finally set sail. Kien was keen to get to a sandy beach, and after promising him he would have plenty of time play when we got to our chosen destination for the night. 

So we got here an hour ago.

Still waiting....

When the kid finally wakes up we will kayak to the beach with bucket and spade, and he can dig and make sand castles to his hearts content. I'm hoping it will be soon!

Christmas morning

Last night Kien was wondering whether he had been good all day so that he would get a visit from Santa. We reminded him he had to have been good all year, and we asked if he had been. "I think I have been good, sometimes." he said. I asked him if he thinks Santa will be coming. He said, "I'm pretty sure Santa will come, but maybe he will only give me 1 present." Well it was 10:30pm when Kien finally put out a tart and beer for Santa (but he had to taste the tart first, apparently, to make sure it was OK for Santa. 2 bites later...). Straight to bed without any stories because it was way too late - he yammered on about Santa and having to go to sleep before he could come along and how Santa will have to come through the door instead of the chimney because we don't have one. Finally, he fell asleep.

I was awoken by a kid who sprung out of bed and asked excitedly if he could go and see if Santa had visited. Thump thump thump as he trotted downstairs, and then silence, and then a very surprised/excited, "Mummy! Santa DID visit last night, and he left presents!"

Right, so I've got to get up and changed so we can officially start our day. Have a happy day!

That 70's party

It has been months in the planning for Nikki (and her pal Paul) to celebrate turning 40 in style, and on Saturday night we were at Studio 54 (aka The Williamson) blaming it on the boogie.

Nikki, Girlfriend, you are one hot mama!

















It was fun researching our costumes and getting glammed up for the party.



Jef went shirtless - he looks amazing.

On the farm in Clevedon

Last Saturday seems so long ago now, but really, it only feels that way because it was like we were on holiday all over again. We went out to Lynette's family farm on Saturday afternoon, and Kien got to hang out with all the kids (and a few extra girls) who were in Bali. So all the children were happy as anything, and that suited the adults just fine since it meant we were able to talk, graze on a bunch of snack options, and have a few quiet (or maybe not so quiet) ones without any distractions. After the kids ran around and burnt up some energy and worked up an appetite they were fed a delicious range of food lovingly prepared by us all.

After dinner it was fireworks time, and these are the only pics of have of that experience.







After the kids finally went to bed we sat on the deck, admired the moon and the view across the harbour to Waiheke, shot the breeze, turned on some music and danced like no one was watching. It was magical.

The following day was, shall we say, a little bit slow going. The sun was out and the sky was gloriously blue. The two older girls borrowed my camera for a bit as they were interested in photography; they took most of these photos. I've done a bit of post processing, but they did a good job overall with capturing the morning activities.

























Being on the farm on a late Sunday morning sitting in the sun after bacon, eggs, Vogels toast, Watties tinned spaghetti, and lamb chops were presented to you ready for consumption - it was bliss times 10000. This was after I was peckish during my third wakeup coffee and decided to eat leftovers from dinner. Oh yeah, sing it, James Brown.

Our last few days in Bali

I've finally got around to processing the rest of the photos from our trip to Bali, which in some ways feels like a million years ago now. Since we've been home so much has happened! I'll go into more details later, but right now I thought I'd finish up web logging the remainder of our little excersion.

Nusa Dua and Kuta

We stopped by Nusa Dua very briefly before heading to Kuta for some shopping. Nusa Dua looks to me like a water sports area where tourists can basically do anything and everything offerred on the water. It's a busy beach, with a heck of a lot of resorts.







Kuta is the main shopping area in Bali, and it is busy. We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe and fed all the kids lunch. They made the children cool sword balloons, which they ran aroud stabbing each other with.



Here's what 5 million Rupiah looks like. It's weird when you are talking in hundreds of thousands and millions.



We went onto Kuta beach and headed to the markets.





Although we got some great bargains it was not a pleasant experience going through those markets; very hot, very grabby grabby, everyone wants you to buy something from their store.

Bali Hai Lembongan day cruise

Our 2nd to last day of our holiday was spent on a pontoon at Lembongan - an island that took about an hour to get to from Sanur. We set out relatively early, and they fed us some pastries and cupcakes for breakfast. I just stuck to drinking lots of coffee.



Once we got to the pontoon we took a ride in the semi submersible.





We then lined up for the banana boat which was so much fun.







We snorkelled, and I got to wave to Kien underwater.





We went on a tour of Lembongan, where we got to see their local weavers at work.



We met the decision makers of the island - they just hang out here under the shade all day every day talking.



The beach had lots of crabs scurrying around. I took Kien down to check them all out.



There was a waterslide that we all enjoyed going down. At the end there is a 1 meter drop into the ocean. I thought I could take Kien down with me, but they didn't allow it; one at a time. So I went first, then Kien bravely followed. This is his first ever experience on a waterslide. He lives to tell the tale, and he made me buy this picture. He will tell you how much he enjoyed the ride.


4:30pm rolled around so quickly, and we were back in Sanur. We headed out to a restaurant down the road for BBQ'ed seafood for dinner.



That was our last night in Bali, and also the last time we visited the little store at the end of the path from our villa.

We paid for our final few bottles of Bintang and toasted to a brilliant holiday.