We left Kuta in high spirits with a very full car!!! It is hard enough to fit two adults and one child with all their luggage into a Suzuki Jimmy -  let alone three adults, a child and all their luggage! With Gavin’s genius packing we managed and you could even say that we had some room to spare. We left a large bag and Gavin’s surf board at Hotel Lusa. The plan -  that the space made by doing this would allow us to transport Becca!!!!

The drive to Balian was funny - we felt like Bali professionals pointing out interesting places and facts about the general cultural differences between us and Indonesians. We laughed hysterically at some of the driving we saw and decided that we will make it a mission to take photo’s of some of the crazy over loaded motor bikes and put them on the blog!! So keep looking out for some bizarre pictures!!!!

We had a great time in Balian - it was really beautiful when we arrived the weather was great and the sky a perfect colour blue. Gavin, Becca, Tehya and I headed off down to the beach with Miko (Oble’s son). We built a man out of coconut husks and drift wood carried up the beach by the tide. The kids ran around the rocks, chased each other around the beach and played Samba on old paint tins with sticks while we watched, laughed and took photographs.

Then we ate one of Oble’s now famous BBQ’s (ikan, babi and ayam - fish, pork and chicken) and got drunk on Balian orange….(Bali Arak and orange squash). We sat up late that night chatting with Dan and Micheal (a local ex pat Auzzie) drinking more Arak and laughing!!!! The next morning Becca woke up with tonsillitis (her sore throat from the day before had progressed). Kadek one of the girls who work for Oble offered to take her and Gavin to a local doctor and translate for them if there were any problems. Which was just as well as the doctor spoke no English at all. Becca was delighted as the consultation ended up costing just 30,000Rp which is about £1.50 and for that she also got the antibiotics and pain relief she needed. We left Balian at 12.00pm and headed via Pupuan through the mountains to Lovina and our next destination.

It was a hard journey for Becca, she ended up half lying - half sleeping in the small space on the back seat with a terrible throat and a temperature. While Gavin managed to take us safely to Lovina along the winding mountain roads. It was a quick journey and with no complications as the roads were the quietest we have ever known them - it was one of Bali’s largest festival. Most local people were busy preparing food and local dress in preparation for the afternoons ceremonies and festivities. The funniest thing we saw along the way was a moped being towed by another moped up a very steep hill - they were going very very slowly!!!

We arrived in Lovina at the Rini hotel - Becca was suitably impressed by the beautiful gardens and the huge room we were all going to share. We ate a relaxed lunch at the hotel by the pool then Gavin and I took Tehya off to swim and have some fun after the long drive, leaving Becca to rest and have a short sleep (which she badly needed!!). That night we had a unanimous vote and all went to bed early to catch up on missed sleep from the previous evenings entertainment.