Day 1 - Melbourne to Seminyak

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Up super early for a 0900 flight (Charlie woke at 0330 for a 0500 departure from home - and just a little excited.....). Got away at 0515 which wasn't bad considering we had to get everyone up, cars packed and some toast as well.

Made it to the airport in good time, caught a bus from the car park straight away and we were through the check in on under half an hour from the time we parked the car. Not bad....

Coffee and some fruit from home then to the departure gate. Watched a few planes moving around then onto our plane. Again, the queues were amazingly quick, not sure why but no complaints. We had the 7 of us across the back row area (2, 3, 2). All good and the kids were straight into the movies so the first 2 hours were relatively smooth sailing. Pippa got the wanders but because we were at the back she could just walk through the galley between Chris and Chris. Stephanie and I had the middle seats with Charlie which worked well as he had movies and then found games on the entertainment to keep himself amused. At one stage I looked and we were still over Alice Springs with 4 hours to go. I reminded him that was the time between the start of school and lunch time. Eyes opened a bit mor when he could relate how long left to real time from school.

Lunch came, a bit of a juggle getting everyone in seats to eat but we managed. Then more time to watch movies, etc. Chris C got some shut eye but not a lot with wandering people visiting her side of the plane. Eventually arrived in Bali safely and packed our mess and got off the plane. Customs was no problem, getting bags a bit more tedious. 3 of the bags were in the last delivery so we were getting a bit tense about missing bags again. No problems, all on trolleys and away we went.

Will there be a man waiting with my name on it. Into the throng of faces and signs. Sure enough, last in the row was my man. Went around the corner and found him again. We needed 2 cars as 7 of us with bags. He had another dude and into the car park we vented. Bloody hot, especially in jeans and shoes. Chris C, Charlie, Stephanie and me into the main mans van, with the the other 3 in the second Van. Through the streets loaded with cars, trucks and motorcycles. Inches between passing and moves but we made it safely to our villa.

Greeted by Ketut (yes, but this one is a female version). Villa is spectacular. Pool inviting, so much so that the kids were in after 5 minutes of being here. Got the run down of how the place works, then met the other manager (Hugo). Got a phone to use and ordered beer on the run (delivered in under half an hour). Nice. Chris C had a nana nap while the kids and Chris and Stephanie had a swim. Looking good.

Decided on where to do dinner, then walked into Eat Street to the restaurant. Charlie nearly fell over 5 times while being distracted by the traffic, motorcycle riders with no helmets, etc. reastaurant was good, pippa a bit ratty (only been 16 hours since waking up) but we made it ok. Walked home and had a few more Bintangs then off to bed.

All in all a good day, albeit long.

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