Day 1
After leaving our hotel at midday in Kuala Lumpur we finally arrived in Bali at 8pm. A full bag search later and we were on our way to our hotel.
You can imagine our surprise and delight as we pulled up that Elaine was there waiting for us!!! We were so excited to see her!!
We checked in to find that Laura had somehow managed to book the honeymoon suite, not that either of us were complaining given how beautiful the room was! A quick shower and change later and we were on our way out for a few drinks and a proper catch up.
Elaine had kindly got some ideas of what we could do tomorrow from our wonderful driver Made, so we decided not to have too late a night and be fresh for the next morning.

Day 2
We met Elaine for breakfast at 7 and Made collected us at 8 ready for the day ahead. The itinerary for the day was white water rafting, a waterfall and the monkey forest. We couldn't wait for any of them, especially the white water rafting!!
The rafting started off quite slowly through the shallow waters, with little bumps against rocks here and there. However this soon changed to big bumps against rocks which would be met with the warning cry of 'boom boom' from our rafting guide. This warning came too late for Elaine and Laura on one particular backwards boom boom, and left them both lying on their backs in the bottom of the boat with legs up in the air. Due to all of the laughing Elaine couldn't get up, which only added to the laughter. Eventually after some assistance from Harriet Elaine was back in her seat and ready to go. We rafted for two hours before being met with the biggest challenge of the course - 'the big dam'. This was a 4 metre vertical drop and this time we all lay on our backs in the boat willingly. The drop was brilliant and we got a great photo (minus laura's shut eyes) as a reminder.
Another hour and the rafting was finished by a swim in the river and some lunch. A brilliant morning was had by us all, and turned out to be a lot funnier than anyone had expected.

Next we drove to a waterfall which was a fantastic site. Having just dried off we declined the offer of a swim at the base, but watched others jump down from the rocks above.

After only a brief stop we decided it was time to head to monkey forest. Unsure of what to expect other than monkeys and a forest, we headed in without our bags or any goods we couldn't cling on to, as the monkeys had a reputation for going in your bag to try and find food or stealing sunglasses!!
After witnessing this happen to at least 5 other people we were glad to have taken notice of the warning. Although this didn't stop a monkey jumping on Harriet to try and steal her bracelet!!
There were hundreds of monkeys all around, including ones that couldn't have been much older than a couple of months. It was fantastic to be in such close proximity to them in their natural habitat and something we would definitely do again.

After quite a hectic day we decided it was time to head back to seminyak, where we were staying, for dinner and a few drinks. We ended up at ultimo, which had been recommended by one of Elaine's friends, and the food was amazing as well as the frozen lychee dacquiris. Thanks Ruth!!

Day 3
We decided that after how busy yesterday was, today would be a good day to go and explore some beaches. Made took us to Nusa Dua and one other beach before we decided that we wanted to go to Pedang Pedang. When we arrived we were amazed by the view from above and couldn't wait to get down there.
After a couple of hours of lying in the sun/playing in the sea/drinking cold bintangs we decided to have a try at paddle boarding, and Elaine kindly agreed to watch the bags as she had already done this in Australia. Following a wobbly start we both got ourselves comfortable with the rocking of the board and went to explore the small caves and amazing views that you could only get by being in the middle of the ocean. Without falling off once we headed back in when our hour was complete, hailing the experience as one of the top 5 things we had done on our trip so far.
With bellies rumbling Elaine mentioned there was a place close by that Made had showed her on her first day and we were up for it. To get to it we passed the restaurant/hotel where eat, pray, love was filmed which looked amazing. What we hadn't imagined were the amazing views we were going to get at Blue Point whilst eating our lunch. Built into the side of a cliff the restaurant had panoramic views of the ocean and we couldn't think of a better place to have a rest.

Elaine had booked us a table at frankensteins (a local bar with regular entertainment shows) for later that evening so we decided to take the chance to go back to the hotel and relax around the pool before this.
The night at frankensteins was fantastic, with each of us probably having a few too many bintangs and throwing lots of shapes on the dance floor when the live band was playing. The dance group, who were voted the top Indonesian dance group, were fantastic and had some really original pieces. We ended the night with one last bintang for the walk home, praying that our heads wouldn't be too bad tomorrow!!

Day 4
Opening our eyes slowly we hoped that last nights revelries hadn't left us with a hangover from hell, and we were pleased to find that we had made a lucky escape!
After hearing some fantastic reviews of shopping in Bali we decided to head out into Seminyak to see if we could find any bargains. A little detour to the beach first and we were on our way. One hour, 3 litres of water drank and copious amounts sweated back out we had accomplished our goal and purchased a few presents for others and ourselves along the way, with Harriet's haggling skills once again coming up trumps.We decided to head back to our hotel to lie by the pool for an hour with Elaine before Made picked the 3 of us up.
Once we had been picked up we headed to Made's wife's shop for more bargains!! 4 vests and 2 pair of shorts later we were pretty much shopped out but thanks to Made's wife offering us very good prices haggling didn't come in to it, much to Harriet's disappointment!
Next Made took us to a restaurant that his friend owned and seemed genuinely happy when we invited him to have lunch with us overlooking the lushness of the paddy fields.
Our last stop of the day was at Tanah Lot temple where we hoped to watch the sunset. Unfortunately for us it was our only cloudy day in Bali and although we didn't get to see the sunset, the views from the cliffs above Tanah Lot and down on the beach still made quite an impression.
After sampling one of the local delicacies, corn on the cob flame grilled in front of you, we headed to watch a fire dance a couple of hundred meters from the temple. Luckily we had been given a description in English of what story the dance told, otherwise I think we would have struggled to keep up. The dancers danced not to music, but to 30 local men singing and chanting. It was a very interesting experience and allowed us to see a traditional Balinese pastime.
Our last night meant only one thing....a return visit to Ultimo! Where normally we would have wanted to try as many places as possible whilst we were in one place we just couldn't resist the wonderful food that Ultimo offered.
One last lychee daquiri and a toast to celebrate the wonderful time we had had with Elaine it was time to head back to the hotel to pack.

Day 5
An early start saw us finishing packing, having breakfast and getting ready to leave before 9am. Made picked us up for our final journey with him to the airport and we gazed longingly out of the window planning when we would next return. A big hug from him at the airport and he left to go to a ceremony with his family. I think we all agreed that he made the trip wonderful with his sense of humour and knowledge, and we couldn't thank him enough.
Luckily Elaine's flight was 30 minutes after us, so it meant that we were at the airport together and could enjoy one last bintang as a 3 before we returned to travelling on our own.
With eyes becoming a little moist we hugged goodbye and we each headed to our respective gates, all promising we would one day return to Bali together.
We just want to thank Elaine for coming out to meet us in Bali, it really made our trip and it was fantastic to see her after so much time apart! Hopefully we will make it Australia one day so you can show us around!