Sunday 11 August

Picking up from yesterday after we went to feed the koi fish…

I’m not sure why we didn’t think to buy mosquito repellent in advance, but we popped into the resort shop to have a look for some, and I spotted a gorgeous locally made over-swimwear dress, which I decided to get – Craig asked if I knew how much it was in NZD, and I said “yes… do you?” and he said “yes”, slightly more firmly… damn! I still got it.

We went down to the pool before lunch, and tried out the kids pool first (situated outside an amazing looking kids club, which Jessie is too young for without supervision, but we might go for a play at some stage), but it was freezing and not very deep, and the day wasn’t super hot, so I didn’t hold out a lot of hope for the main pool, but it turned out to be heated to an absolutely blissful temperature. I cannot fault a single thing about the pool at this resort – it is huge, and shaped in a way that it feels quite quiet, it overlooks a stunning view and has that fantastic pool bar… the only thing is the people in it – as I mentioned previously re social media – couple after couple with full makeup, perfectly groomed hair, matching swimwear and tripods/long lens cameras… it’s winding Craig up something wicked. Myself, well, I appreciate a beautiful photo, but I think there should also be plenty of time spent phone down and just enjoying where you are and the moment in time. I think having Jessie with us here reinforces that – she has so much excitement about everything, it’s amazing to watch and be a part of.

There is a gorgeous animal garden onsite, with ducks, pigeons, doves, turtles, Balinese cows, goats and bunnies – you can feed them all, and the pigeons and doves happily come and land on you… Jessie was fascinated, and so was I! It’s something a bit different which I’ve not come across at a resort before, and it’s something nice to do when you don’t feel like swimming, so that was one of our last activities for the day.

Because Jessie woke quite early in the morning, and therefore had an early nap, we wanted to have an early dinner, so we popped up to the restaurant at 5.30. We got there to find the restaurant was not yet open, but they opened it just for us – and this is just the beginning of the amazing service – having booked a club room, there is an evening happy hour where cocktails are free, but at this time of the day you can’t take children into the lounge at this time (totally fair enough), so when the club staff noticed us, they took and order for cocktails, and put together a plate of cheese and crackers and fruit, and brought it all through to the restaurant for us, even though the sign says drinks not to be consumed outside of lounge. I was absolutely in awe of this – so incredibly kind. Jessie has very quickly become popular with the staff here – after only a half day, she already holds her arms out and sweetly asks “duddle?” (Cuddle), and they very willingly oblige… they are truly some of the nicest and most genuine people I have ever met, it is incredibly heart warming.

We opted for Indonesian food for dinner, and Jessie had grilled chicken, mashed potato and veg… everything was presented immaculately and in a fine dining style, and yet the total bill for the three of us came to $40 NZD… I thought in the resorts it would be a lot more expensive, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Blown away.

Early night for us, with Jessie still settling into different surroundings, but she’s getting better (and it’s better for us with another expected 5am wake up… which doesn’t seem so bad on holiday).

Tomorrow – Monkey Forest!!! See you there! Laus ❤