Trip to Ubud:
We left on Saturday morning at 8am from Lovina (our Spanish neighbours on SV Tin Tin were good enough to keep watch of Wandoo for us) with our driver to go to Ubud, about 3 hrs south and apparently the "cultural centre" of Bali. It kind of reminds us of Byron
Bay NSW and west end in Brisbane, but in the mountains. (struggling pretentious expat Hippies and artists who can live way cheaper in Bali and still sit in cafes or go to yoga retreats to get "in touch" with themselves and nature!) We drove up into the mountains/ volcanoes, on a very twisty turny road. Beautiful views of terraced green rice paddies and valleys. After 1 hr we got to the Ulun Daru Beraten Hindu temple on the lake. It was very beautiful and the temperature was perfect up in the mountains ... The breeze was almost chilly lol! It had expansive grounds and beautiful gardens. It even had a kids playground - steel swings and climbing things- perfect.
They have a daily large procession and ceremony that started and there were LOTS of people there. It is hard to believe that this is daily - but maybe more people were there because it was Saturday?
We had a good walk around and play - then had a look at the obligatory tourist shops around the car park. We are glad we got there early causes the car park was packed when we left! We continued on (grant snoozed in the front seat the whole way) the driver asked if we wanted to stop at a coffee plantation- sure, why not! It was another sort of mini- boutique spice plantation, possibly family run. Similar to the one we were at near Lovina. But this one we got to sample many teas and coffees- well I did, grant and Ameliana just sampled the cocoa. The staff swept Elora away and I was free to get hopped up on caffeine in peace!! I ended up buying some ginger Bali coffee that was packaged so I can take it back into Oz I hope! We also got some blocks of pure chocolate that we sampled (the staff gave Ameliana lots – yikes!) Ameliana also got to try playing a Rindik instrument, which is like a bamboo xylophone. I still have yet to try the "Luwak Bali coffee" - the one harvested from the beans that the Luwak animal poops out! Apparently it’s about $5 a cup! After a final walk through the pretty garden plantation it was back into car and onwards to Ubud. We pulled into the Sri Ratih Resort around 12:30 and we were very impressed. It looked very new, lovely gardens and pool. Our suite only took about 30min to be ready so we had a complimentary fresh juice in the lounge area and let the girls stretch their legs and play with the staff. Our suite was great! One good size bedroom with king bed, baby cot, a day bed for Ameliana, a bar fridge and even tv! A large balcony area outside with glass doors and then the bathroom... Bigger than the bedroom, 2 large rosette showers one "outside" and one inside, a deep stand alone bath, 2 sinks , wardrobe area and toilet. Grant was very excited about the bath. So our $83 / night incl tax and breakfast was well spent on the "splurge"! It also doubled as an early birthday getaway for grant. We walked down the road to find some lunch, the warungs (little food joints that usually serve cheap local food ) are much more fancy and expensive and our street was small ! We ended up going to a western style rustic bakery called “Kue 2”. We had yummy homemade quiche and salad and checked out their decadent desserts and truffles for a future visit. Grant and Ameliana left early to go for a swim because a nap was not going to happen. I finished my lunch while the staff took elora away to play with her. Finally I got my baby back and I decided to go for a quick walk to buy another bottle of water. Elora and I walked down the short steep hill to the main road. We crossed over a bridge spanning a very deep gully and a creek. It was all green and lush (with a bit of garbage sprinkled around unfortunately). We then went to the 24 hr convenience store for water and a couple of large Bintang beers to put in our fridge.
When we returned, Elora decided to have a sleep and grant and Ameliana returned from the pool. I decided to go for a quick 30 min jog as the opportunities are rare these days. I jogged towards central Ubud so I could get an idea of the area. It was bigger than I thought. Lots of people, expensive clothing shops, silver stores and of course a Starbucks!( so disappointing !!) I may have only went for 30 min but with the state of the sidewalks, the uphill and dodging people, I figure it counts for more! When I got home, I took Elora in for a swim and met an Aussie mum on holiday with her 2 kids. After our dip, the girls had a play in the tub and we all got ready to go down for dinner at the hotel. It was very nice. After a long day, we were all ready for bed. Ameliana was very pleased that she got to sleep in the porta cot which we covered with a mozzie net and rolled into the huge bathroom so we wouldn't disturb her sleeping. I just rolled her back in when it was our bedtime and Elora slept on the day bed pushed up against the tv cabinet.

On Sunday morning before breasfast, i was able to go for another short run! I went in a hilly path that followed alongside the ravine and went up into the rice paddies, with beautiful views, I wish I had the fitness to run further ‘cause it was so nice! After a big breakfast, we decided to take a cab to the monkey forest at the end of Ubud's main strip , then walk up window shopping and find some lunch. We had heard that the monkeys can get a bit aggressive with food here and the sign says not to take any food or water bottles out of your bags. So We decided not to buy any bananas and Ameliana rode on grants shoulders until she saw another kid walking. The monkeys were fine, no problems at all. The forest was beautiful, lush green, with huge trees (look like strangler fig trees ), vines to swing and small temples. There is even a monkey cemetery on site.
Afterwards, we made our way up the street, stopping in some silver stores to see if they had any earrings I liked. Many of them sell the "harmony balls / Mexican baby bolas" like I wear. I managed to explain to a couple of the shop owners the significance of wearing one during and after pregnancy. I said that it could be another selling point for them. They were very appreciative. We found a nice cafe for lunch that wasn't overly expensive and bordered some rice paddies. We also had promised someone some ice cream, so Ameliana and daddy went ahead to find some. Elora and I finally found a nice, cheap and practical pair of earrings I could wear daily.
We caught a taxi back to the hotel in time for Amelianas nap time. grant also got to soak in the big rub for about 2 uninterrupted hours, that helped to ease his worry about leaving the boat on anchor - even though we had neighbours keeping watch for us. I took Elora down for a swim and was talking to the Aussie mum who had just returned from a day cycling trip with the kids. She said they drive you to the top of the mountain with a few stops in the way and the whole ride was down hill! They enjoyed it very much and said that there was someone with a baby seat. I thought it was a great idea so I got some brochures and ended up booking us in for a trip on Monday.
After a swim we all got dressed and went back into Ubud for dinner. We ended up going to a Japanese place which was very good but pricey by Indonesian standards (and they forgot to make Amelianas nori rolls !) The next morning we were picked up by Balibike Adventures at 8:30 am. Our first stop was to another coffee plantation, with samples for me. The host was a young pregnant woman who asked me advice about giving birth. She was a bit afraid cause her mother was in labour for over 40 hrs! I just said try to relax, breathe and focus and try to not be afraid. She was very sweet and of course they lived the girls. I also caved and tried the Luwak (poo harvested ) coffee. It wasgood, but not $5 worth! I imagine most of that goes to the more labour intensive harvesting process!! Onwards we drove towards Batur and Kintamani for morning tea ... More food! The restaurant had amazing views of Mt. Batur volcano, which was last active in 2001 (only smoked though) but you could see all the dried lava flows and the houses near them - yikes! There was also a beautiful view of a lake and Gunung Abang, Bali's 2nd tallest mountain. Finally we got into the car for 1 last 15 min drive to wear we would start. They got the baby seats mounted into the bikes and the girls in them, but we soon discovered that elora wasn't going to keep her little feet in the stirrups and there was too much chance that she would get them caught in the spokes, so I decided to carry her on my back in the Ergobaby carrier. She still had her little motorbike visor helmut on - both the girls looked so cute in them!! And in the end it was the best thing, she was fine and eventually went to sleep after a bit of singing. She only got antsy in the last 10 minutes of the ride. It was about 40 km downhill so both the girls did great, especially Ameliana who wasn't in the most comfortable seat and really felt the bumps - grant had to go really slow over them! We had such a fun time - through the villages all decorated for hindu celebrations, seeing the school kids, saying hi to everyone - the kids were a hit! We stopped at Bali's oldest temple, built in the 9th century! And we didn't really stop from then on - we rode while we took photos! Finally we stopped at the bottom of a fully and the guide said that there was a hill ahead so we would get into the follow car - I said no, let's keep going cause Elora was still asleep - well it was a pretty steep hill and we ended up pushing our bikes up most the way - great exercise though ! Finally we were in Ubud, both girls had had it as we had a steady incline for the last 10 minutes. We ended up at a hotel with a buffet set up (all food was included in our tour) overlooking rice paddies and an endless pool. Grant wasn't hungry, and I wasn’t starving so I just sampled some of the buffet. We got home around 3:30 and we all had a nice swim in the pool. Grant had been eyeing the chocolate treats in the bakery across the street so we went over to indulge. He had a chocolate almond torte with ice cream and I had a mixed berry pie with ice cream, which Ameliana ate. Both desserts were great. We decided that we would just have dinner in our room ‘cause I had food for the girls and we were t very hungry. We spent our last night lounging in front of the TV after the girls went to bed and grant soaked in the tub again.
On Tuesday, we had a yummy final big breakfast and thanked the restaurant staff for being so good with Elora. We are not sure if they are instructed to take the baby away so that the parents can eat, or they do it ‘cause they love kids - probably both! About 4 of the female restaurant staff had babies Elora's age. Our driver picked us up at 9 am. We planned to return to lovina via the easterly road up to Batur where we were on the bike ride, but we missed a few tourist stops. We stopped at Goa Gajah- the elephant temple first. We didn't know what to expect, we were hit by the sarong throng trying to sell us everything before we entered. We were surprised that it was a very pretty area, very old baths, temple in the cave, stairs leading down through the lush forest to see old animal carvings in the rock. We spent about an hour there and then went to the 11th century Pura Ganung Kawi Temple. It was amazing. We walked down many stairs lined with vendors through rice paddies into a valley with a creek running through. On either side of the creek were massive temple carvings into the side of the rocks. We probably should have got a guide for more info, but honestly Ameliana had almost had it! Grant had been carrying her most of the way and she had a mini meltdown at the bottom, and grant was getting frustrated. So I passed off Elora and took Ameliana so she could calm down. Counting all the stairs in each set all the way back up to the top is a good diversion, she almost made it the whole way before she got into my back. We had I've final stop for lunch overlooking Mt Batur again. And again - a buffet with too much food. Seriously we just wanted a cheap warung with nasi goreng (fried rice)! The drive was twisty turny the rest of the way home and we all fell asleep. We got back to the boat around 2pm and got unpacked and settled. It was a nice few days but always good to be home. Now we are just waiting for our crew Jenny to arrive. Hopefully soon. The next few days we are organising water , laundry , provisioning etc. grant made an attempt to try and adapt our gas bottle fittings so we could fill them up here , but it didn't work - we can make due I'm sure. Can't wait to go north and explore some less populated areas again!