All in all we spent 9 nights on Gili Air, the longest time we've spent in one place (not including working in Sydney). We spent the first two relaxing and indulging then on the third day George decided that he can no longer just lay by the sea all day and moaned about being bored!! In paradise, can you believe it?!!! Coming from the same boy who used to go on holiday, plug his headphones in and bake all day!! Even though I'm very happy about this change of heart, I definitely could've spent a few more days just reading and chilling! Anyway, the next day we decided that we'd walk around the entire circumference of the island. It can be done in 90 minutes but we spent all day stopping, snorkelling, eating etc. The main point of interest on the island seemed to be diving. So after much persuasion from George, we booked up a discovery dive for me and a fun dive for George.

After being a bit panicky (to put it mildly) on my last dive, I was a little nervous (again, putting it mildly!) about giving it another go. My instructor, Gareth, took the time to talk to me about why I was nervous and what I was scared of. He even gave me a mini life coaching session!! We spoke about positivity, surrounding your self with positive influences and focussing on what you're grateful for. Waking up and telling yourself "this is going to be a good day!" And not waking up and thinking about everything that might go wrong (which is exactly what I had done that morning). Give it a try, it's been working for me so far! Needless to say, after all of that, my pool dive and afternoon dive in the ocean went without a hitch and I enjoyed the experience so much that I decided to go on with the course and complete my open water certification with Gareth. Gareth had quickly figured out that I dwell on things and if I have time to think about them I'll talk myself out of it so throughout the course I had no idea what I would be doing next. I got through all of the underwater skills with little fuss and ended up feeling really proud of myself. George was delighted too as it meant that he could spend the next two days completing his advanced open water course.

On the third and final day, I woke up feeling excited! A huge change from three days earlier. Unfortunately, my stomach had other ideas! I'd eaten something bad the day before and started to feel a little poorly! Regardless, we made our way to the dive centre and George started to prepare for his dive. I, on the other hand, had to run straight to the loo! Gareth thought that it might be best to do the written exam in the morning and change my dives to the afternoon, just in case!! I still felt a bit rough but was eager to do my two final dives to 18metres so I powered through and got on the boat. The sea was a tad choppy and I had a bit of a dramatic moment where I thought I was going to throw up so they had to turn the boat around for me. I was gutted. When we got back to the dive centre, I was shaky and had a temperature so they looked after me, gave me some paracetamol and told me to cool down in the pool while I waited for George to finish his dive. Then they ordered us a horse and cart to take us home. The next couple of days sucked as its not much fun being ill in a little wooden hut with no air con in 30 degree heat and humidity with none of your home comforts. Most of all, I was so disappointed about not finishing my course. Luckily, the guys at the dive centre were really understanding and said that I could finish as soon as I felt better.

George was really good over those two days, looking after me and getting me drinks, fresh fruit and coconut water to help make me feel better while keeping himself busy; reading and snorkelling. I was so pleased when I woke up feeling normal again and ready to do those final dives.

Our last day in Gili Air was AMAZING! George started the day with a shark dive, I completed my underwater skills in the ocean at 10m, we had a delicious lunch, George drank cocktails and read his book while I did my final dive at a site called 'Turtle Heaven' then we finished the day with a sunset massage and a delicious meal. I was so sad to leave Gili Air but our time is starting to run out now and we have so much more to see and do.

From the Gilis we headed to another set of islands, the Nusas, just off of Bali. We stayed on Nusa Lembongan in a beautiful bungalow with air conditioning!! It felt like pure luxury! As soon as we got there, we hired a moped! George went off to explore the island and get used to the bike then the following day, I felt brave enough to join him. We had so much fun, we rode around the entire island then over the Indiana Jones style draw bridge to the neighbouring Nusa Cenigan and explored there too. They were two very different islands. Where we were staying was more built up around the coast with lots of bungalows and homestays, a couple of nicer resorts and lots of building work going on. Nusa Cenigan was a really interesting place to visit. It felt very much like a third world area with big families living in little sheds, children sitting on the side of the road trying to sell bracelets, livestock roaming free and adults sleeping on the ground. The people we did pass seemed content but it was very different to anything we've seen so far.

In complete contrast, we then spent the next day 'flashpacking' in a beautiful resort overlooking dream beach. All day, we laid by the infinity pool, read our books and ate in their restaurant. I'm sure they didn't mind us gatecrashing ;)

We are now back in ubud where we will spend the remainder of our time in Bali. Yesterday, we hiked up 686 meters to the top of Mount Batur, an active volcano. The volcano is 5500 feet above sea level, not the highest in Indonesia but the most accessible. We hiked for about 7 hours and covered around 12km in total. There was one point on the way up where I hit a wall and was certain that I couldn't go any further but after a few short breaks we made it to the viewing platform. The guides were brilliant; knowledgeable and good photographers! They then suggested to a few of us that we continue up to the summit which meant another 30 minute walk up the steepest part but it was TOTALLY worth it! It was an amazing achievement to make it to the very top and both George and I felt really proud. The guides for this part were so enthusiastic and they showed us around the entire crator, to the bat cave and how to boil eggs in the steam vents. The sunrise wasn't quite as epic as the one we watched at the top of Mount Haleakala in Maui as we were 10,000 feet high for that one but we definitely worked harder for this one so it was more rewarding. A year ago, I would never have imagined that I would be doing things like this!

We were driven back to Ubud after a quick stop at a coffee plantation where they showed us how luwak coffee is made, let us taste all of their products (coconut and vanilla coffee! Yum!) and almost tempted us into buying some. We got some delicious local food for lunch then slept for the rest of the day!

Today we are hiring a moped again and going to visit the rice terraces then the markets to buy a load of tat to bring home!!

The plan for the rest of the week is to visit Amed, Lovina and Tanah Lot. Then we end the week with a spa day before we fly to Bangkok.

There's still so much of Indonesia that we haven't seen, so like many other places we've been on this trip, we plan to come back!