Another relaxed start, shrouded in the white hangings of the bed, with the sound of rain audible on our terrace. We breakfasted and took the shuttle bus into Ubud, about a 20 minute drive, at a pleasantly relaxed pace. We wandered the bustling streets on our way to the monkey forest, passing lots of shops selling sparkly and shiny things when Bob did very well to resist on the first pass. We entered the monkey forest and were suddenly enveloped in leafy surround...

Waking to the sound of crowing jungle fowl, shrouded in the white drapes of the mosquito hangings was bliss. We had a breakfast of juices, fruits and pancakes overlooking the tropical vista and planned our day in glorious sunshine. After breakfast we headed down the hill, sarongs flowing, and wandered around the deserted temple of holy waters. It was very calming to be surrounded by placid pools of countless colourful carp all cruising around in the crystal cle...

We woke early to finish packing and scuttled up the road to the dive centre like 2 heavily laden hermit crabs, with all our worldly possessions on our backs. The water was due to be a ‘chilly’ 22 degrees at the dive site in Padang Bai, on Bali’s Eastern coast, so we had an entertaining 15 minutes of sweat and stress trying on full length 5mm wetsuits (in which Bob get very entertainingly stuck) before boarding the Bus-of-Doom for our third round of ‘high-...

Our new, and unwelcome, alarm clock was the sound of Japanese children thrashing around in the pool just feet from our bed. Unsurprisingly neither Bob or I felt as excited about being awake as they were but we mobilised, had breakfast and skipped to scuba school with the expected nervous excitement that preceded our first open water dive. Christopher (late) offered around bottles of 'sweat' as we boarded the 'minibus-of-doom' and the driver set off with the minds...

We arrived at the dive centre excited for our day in the pool. Christopher was late (naturally) but we were soon learning our way around the various hoses, cylinders, regulators and inflatable waistcoats as well as fins, snorkels, masks, weights and belts. Embarrassingly, we had to prove our swimming competence, as well as our ability to float. Bob had this ability in spades so was strapped to several mill stones to try and prove she wasn't a witch, whilst I poss...