We left KL on the 16th July and flew to Bali via Singapore so we arrived here at about 10pm. After hanging around the airport for ages trying to trace the whereabouts of Becky's bag we eventually got to Kuta and found a place to stay - minus Becky's rucksack!! Spent two nights at the Ayu Beach Inn but the room was a bit expensive so we moved to a cheaper option, the room was pretty basic and had a freezing cold shower but 60000 rupiah (3pounds) was in our price range. We had 10 nights here and couldnt put up with the freezing shower any longer so decided to check in to luxury for our last two nights before we have to get used to hostels in Oz! Our luxury room was still only 5 pound each but well worth it for the hot shower alone - we worked out our last hot shower was in Singapore on April 12th!!! (Shouldn't complain though, at least we have water!!!) For those of you worrying Becky did finally get her bag back two days later!!

Before we arrived we had planned to see quite a bit of Bali and island hop to Lombok and the Gili Islands but soon discovered that two weeks really isnt that long so we are going to have to come back!! We decided to base ourselves in Kuta for the whole two weeks and just do day trips to places we wanted to visit. Kuta is the main tourist centre of Bali, full of holiday makers, backpackers and loads of Australians!! There are laods of cheap surf shops, bars and restaurants which we have become very familiar with! Our first few days were spent down at the beach sunbathing, surfing and making a group of friends. We decided we needed a proper surf lesson to improve our technique so booked into Pro Surf school for a lesson on the thursday and a second on the saturday. Each lesson was 2.5 hours a with 30 mins of theory on technique, waves and sea safety. The lessons were really good fun and they guarentee you will stand on the first lesson! We were able to stand pretty quickly with the help of our instructors and then started to try and master turning and surfing the green waves. We are now down with the surf lingo ready for Australia! Since then we have hired boards from the beach a couple of times and gone out ourselves and invested in our surfing careers with new boardies and rash vests! All we need now is surf boards!

On monday we booked to go diving with 3 friends we met here. We chose to go diving on the Liberty Wreck off the coast of Tulemben on the north east coast of Bali. We were picked up at 7.30am for the 3hour scenic drive past the paddi fields and volcano. The day included 2 dives on the wreck and lunch. Both dives were beach dives as opposed to the boat dives we ahev done before. We had to wade in to the water in all our scuba gear which was made harder by the giant waves crashing down on us and the rocky beach. The wreck was of a World War 2 carrier that was 160 metres long and had broken down in 1945 and then been beached at Tulemben. In 1963 when the volcano errupted in Bali the boat was pushed down into the sea creating a great dive sight. Both dives were awesome - our best so far! The visibility was pretty good and there was loads of big fish and beautiful corral. As a group we hired an underwater camara so we'll upload some of the pics. We have now upped our dive tally to 15 - half way to our goal of 30 before the end of our trip!! Any contributions to the Charlotte and Becky diving fund much appreciated!!

The following day 10 of us got a car and drove to Padang-Padang for the Ripcurl surfing trials. Sadly we didnt enter this time but maybe next year!! It's a really beautiful cove with some sick waves! The sets were rad and continuious out there with many surfers bombing - one guy broke his ankle! (See how good our lingo is!) We were there to admire the surfing not the surfers! After a few hours here Becky and a few of the other went to Nusa Dua to go jet skiing while Charlotte and Emma stayed to talent spot and went to Uluwatu for sunset.

Our final day out was to Ubud a traditional Balinese town in the centre of the island. We visited the monkey forest which was entertaining, had lunch in a lovely restaurant situated in the rice fields and then had a walk around the local shops and markets. Then had a race against time to catch sunset at Dreamland, another beautiful beach round the coast from Kuta.

Last night it was one of our friends, Hannah's birthday so 13 of us went to Jimbaran bay for dinner and sunset. There are loads of beachside seafood restaurants with tables and chairs out on the sand. It's really nice here as all the tables are lit up with candles and band come around and play requests! The food was amazing we had whole white snapper and king prawns served with rice and green beans. This was a really nice meal - our last supper before 3 months of baked beans on taost and super noodles in scabby hostel kitchens - bring it on!!

We've had a fab two weeks in Bali, met loads of cool people, had some good parties and caught some sick waves!!! Will definetly have to come back to see more of Indonesia as love what we've seen so far!

We've almost reached the six months mark - cant believe how quick it's gone (and how much money we've spent!!!) We loved Asia and will be sad to leave but we are now looking forward to the Western world and getting jobs - watch this space!!

We leave Bali tonight and fly to Sydney via Singpore arriving in Oz in tomorrow at 10am (their time). We're having one night here before flying up to Cairns on Wednesday to chase the sunshine!!

Hopefully the sunshine will finally make it to the UK and dry out Gloucester! Hope everyone's well, missing you lots. Take care. love us xxxxxxxxx