Now, finally we are in our last country of South East Asia - Indonesia. There is so much planned...Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa and Flores...over a period of eight and a half weeks! Lots of diving and sailing - just how we like it!

After a uneventful flight to Denpasar, Bali by the ever so reliable Air Asia (and no we are not being sarcastic!) No Frills it may be but, our flights have always pretty much been on time!

The plan was to spend a couple of days at Legian, a couple more in Ubud and then a night in Sanur before catching our fast boat to Gili Trawangan - our home for 6 weeks, then on to Lombok etc...

Once we landed we caught a taxi to Legian Beach as we wanted to avoid the tack and chaos of Kuta. Kuta is just another beach resort....and Legian as we found is fast following. We did however manage to find a traditional Balinese home stay, our room was fantastically modern and comfortable.

Helen unfortunately had a massive outbreak of hives either due to an allergy or it was just her body malfunctioning....so was trying to avoid the sun and sweating which was near impossible. We went for a walk around Legian and Kuta to get a feel of the area. During our walkabout, we came across the memorial wall for those killed in the 2002 Bali bombings. It was a sombre feeling especially as we could remember it being reported on the news, Nick also remembers what was there before the bombing. We saw a couple, who obviously lost someone during the bombing and it was an emotional moment. Things like this just brings home just how easy it is to lose someone because of terrorism.

One evening was spent watching young girls doing a traditional Balinese dancing which was cute. They must have been about 6-8 years old and they were definitely in sync with each other. After watching the dancing, We rented a DVD player and spent the rest of the evening watching Breaking Dawn much to Helen's delight (she got her dosage of Jacob Black!) - yum yum!

The entire time in Legian was spent avoiding the sun as Helen's hives were being stubborn, after booking our bus ticket to Ubud we bought more recent release DVD's and stocked up on cereals, food, toiletries etc for the next 6 weeks at Carrefour. (Theres no supermarket on Gili Trawangan!!!!) Nick was feeling a bit miffed having spent a couple of days in Bali and not going to the beach so he went the beach to do some bodyboarding while Helen chilled out.

Our last evening in Legian was spent watching DVD's, Something Borrowed which was hilarious and... Moneyball - Guess who wanted to watch that? Guess we just want to chill out before spending 6 weeks working/training as Dive-masters as there will be a lot of early starts.

After a good nights sleep, we then caught the bus to Ubud which is meant to be the spiritual centre of Bali. Helen is very much looking forwards to Ubud....

Ubud....on the other hand.... was an absolutely fantastic little town that very much screams Balinese culture. Every single garden you saw was gorgeous - Our homestay again was a typical Balinese style hut with a fabulous garden - It was just most unfortunate that practically the entire time we were in Ubud it rained.... non stop....and very heavy....

However, Ubud did have some highlights - loads of art galleries, the so called Palace which was more of a garden with outside temples, loads of rice paddies, a football field where Nick loved to watch the locals play football, a monkey forest and it was fun watching the monkeys be mischievous. We had planned to watch a traditional Bali dance but we ran out of time, however we did manage to catch a screening of a French film which Nick absolutely loved - Love me if you Dare.... (basically its a love film based on dare's....kinda complicated but if you like that kind of crap..watch it!)

Sanur, although is a nicer alternative to Kuta/Legian is a lot more pricier as it appeals more to families etc.... it was a struggle to find a room within our budget but we did (or rather Nick did) find a room. Again, the entire time we were in Sanur it did nothing but rain so we did not get the opportunity to see the beach...How can you go to a beach town and not see the beach!!! Well, we did!!! However, We did use the opportunity to ensure we were all stocked up for Gili T and get all of our beauty treatments done....

On the morning of the 4th of March we were picked up by Blue Water Express...the boat company we chose to travel to Gili Trawangan with and the journey went without a hitch. Both of us became excited as we neared Gili T as the sea was glistening with the sun. How we look forwards to living the island life for 6 weeks - the most exciting thing is that while we will be doing our Divemaster course, doing unlimited diving, some yoga etc the island has NO cars or scooters...the only way to get around is either on foot, by bicycle or by....(Helen's squealing with excitement here)...horse and cart!

It is with regret that while we are on Gili Trawangan we will be blogging once a week.... otherwise you guys will just get bored of hearing about our diving tales, the weather and just how gorgeous it is on Gili Trawangan.