Day 1 - Travel to Bali

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Early start to the day to catch our 8:30am flight on Batik Air. Daisy is always anxious to get to the airport early. On this occasion, there were no worries. Took 10 minutes for our Didi driver to arrive, got to the airport by 6am as there was little traffic. Then only took about 15 minutes to check-in (no line), clear customs and security check. We had some breakfast and coffee as Batik is one of those budget airlines where nothing is included. We decided to just get some snacks for lunch which we bought before boarding. Flight was less than 7 hours and we both managed to get a bit more sleep in between watching videos and listening to blogs. Although the plane left about 30 minutes after scheduled take-off, we arrived on time at Bali at 1.40pm local time (just 2 hour time difference to Sydney).

We had a pick-up organised for 2pm, not realising the long delays we experienced getting through. First queue was to buy our "Visa on Arrival" which is the only way to obtain a visa. Second queue was to go through Immigration check. Third delay was collecting our luggage. Board initially indicated No.6 and after a very long time, our bags hadn't appeared which is when we realised that we were probably in the wrong queue (along with a few others). I then went to the indicator board and sure enough it had changed. I then checked all the other conveyor belts and it had been changed to No.1. After that long delay fourth queue was to do an online customs declaration. fifth queue was to hand in the printed declaration to a customs officer. Finally after 90 minutes we got to our driver was very patiently waiting for us at the Klook shop. Klook is one of the companies I use for organising pick-ups and tours.

About a 25 minute drive to the Artotel Hotel at Sanur which suits us fine. The name comes from the fact that they support local artists. Each room has a different theme and artwork and the main foyer space has a large sculpture and a changing exhibition of artworks hanging on the walls. The internal architecture is also very interesting with its wide timber steps and open plan. In fact the ground floor doesn't actually have a front wall, it is completely open. There is also an outdoor infinity pool on the 5th floor which we access by just walking up a flight of stairs. We had a quick swim, shower then downstairs for an early dinner. The hotel restaurant was OK, not great, but pretty cheap for hotel food. We managed to get to bed by 9pm for an early start tomorrow.

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