Twins are back

Left Fri 8th July on AP flight from Melb via Syd to Denp (on time) no problems. Excellent service. One child is not a good traveller and felt a bit squeemish on the way. Staff could not do enough for us just wonderful. will defenitley fly AP again. Straight through for VOA no waiting (just luck no flights before us i think)

There were 17 in all our party staying at 3 different resorts around Tuban. Bali Hai, Rama Beach and Dynasty. All great properties but we all agreeded Rama Beach was the best value for money. It seemed better set out, great pool and considering it is a 3 star as opposed to the 4 star rating of the other two hotels was on par and seemed like a 4 star hotel.Rama is a far smaller hotel and was a lot quieter.
If you had younger children like some of us did though i would reccommend Bali Hai or Dynasty. (waterslide at Dynasty was great and the kids were never off it.)Staff at all 3 hotels fantastic and friendly.

Whole place seemed so busy taxi drivers kept informing us Indonesian school holidays and Japan and Taiwan etc.

Some highlights of our trip:
WATERBOM PARK: kids just loved it we went on a Sunday and it was very busy.last year went through the week and wasnt half as many people. (Had to wait for a rubber tube so once you got one you would hang on to it.)
ELEPHANT PARK: went to Taro Park. Just rolled up and paid when we got there (went early aprox 9.30 am)Hired own driver to get there. "Takim" 081 246 30566 a polite, respectable and all round nice bloke was very keen to share all interesting things to see on the way and his 7 seater van was near new and very clean. I would reccommend him to any fellow forumites,. Very honest.
The ride on the elephants was just amazing a 40 minute ride through the park and fantastic guides and drivers. Very well run.
GLASS BOTTOM BOAT: Sanur a relaxing experience some might say that Nusa Dua is the place to view from a glass bottom boat but we wernt dissapointed fantastic outing. we negotiated a price when when we got there. Had a great laugh with the two guys that took us out.
BIKE TOUR: Booked through the guys outside the supermarket next to the Dynasty hotel. (great price got a good discount as there was 15 of us doing it). A great day out probably the best thing we did, we took some sweets and small toys in a backpack to give out to the village children on the way, the looks on their faces was unbelievable. This tour gives you the real feel of Bali and its people, a must do.
WHITE WATER RAFTING: awesome also booked through the same guys next to Dynasy.
KINTAMANI VOLCANO: Booked same driver Takim for the day had fantastic weather clear and visability brilliant. (last year went in March and quite a lot of mist about cleared for about 2 minutes for a quick glimpse of volcano).
BALI BIRD PARK&REPTILE PARK: Bird park was very impressive birds all clean and well looked after also beautiful gardens, plenty to see reptile park next door was good also but if could only choose one the bird park was far better i think.
Did Tannah Lot on the way back beautiful ocean breeze and such a thrill to view one of Bali's most famous land marks.
Another thing we did on the way back from the elephants was stop at Ubud to have lunch. Went to a beautiful restaurant called "Petanu River". This place was elevated very high and you had a spectacular view of rice terraces and the river itself. The food was also great.
Even on the days that we didn't venture too far we had lots of fun just shopping around Kuta beach markets and Kuta art markets.

EATING OUT:
Most times when we went out at night there was usually all 17 of us. Didn't matter where we went it was never a problem to seat us all together. Before we knew it tables were being pushed together to allow us all to sit together every restaurant you would hear those words "NO PROBLEM" . Any way some favourites on our list.
Green Garden Hotel restaurant Tuban, Bubba Gumps, Lotus pond Tuban, Poppies kuta (had to go back for that curry), c-line Tuban, Green garden cafe (opp Bali Hai Hotel), Chi-Chi's (mexican) Tuban, Ma Jolly's (best meal in the world) Pantai (great for a cheap breakfast or dinner) on the beach at Tuban, Gateway to India (Seminyak) average looking on first looks but man what a feed if you want authentic indian food this place was great, Cat and Fiddle (Sanur) Granny Duff's cheese and potatoe soup out of this world, SA cafe Tuban (Opp Rama Beach hotel).
All in all these restaurants were great and toilets all clean.
Considering there was 17 of us all and not one Bali Belly speaks for itself.

SHOPPING: Apart form Kuta beach and Kuta art market we did shopping also at Centro discovery mall mainly for cosmetics, luggage (Lojel japaneese brand) which had 50% off and had a better range than Matahari and also brought from ground floor supermarket for the usual critical supplies like Bintang, water and toiletries)
Our best buys were from "Jenny's" shop 29 at Sindhu beach market in Sanur. She had everything we wanted under one roof. Fixed price all reasonalbe and great if you had to do that unenviable task of buying the "family gifts" that we all swear we wont do on the plane trip over but have done by the trip back. Shoes, t-shirts, womens dresses, mens dress shirts cushion covers, table runners, bed quilts, hats and sunglasses etc. All fantastic staff you could just sit there and have a chat while you give them the list and its all done for you, everything itemised and added up in front of you with a receipt given before you leave so honest and hassle-free. Give Jenny's a try you wont be dissaspointed.

In wrapping up,felt safe the whole time and never experienced one negative comment or incident. A fantastic holiday all round it was everything we wanted it to be and more, and thats from all 17 of us.
What else can we say but were busy saving for the next trip. The Bali bug has bitten us once again because there's nowhere else on earth like the "ISLE OF SMILES"

Cheers and thanks for reading Shelly & Trish.