Bali Day 2: A Morning on the Waves

Today's exchange rate: IDR 10,825 per AUS $

Today's weather: sunny morning, clouds and a bit of rain in the afternoon

 

I woke up at about 5:30 today and decided to head down to the beach rather than going back to sleep. Unfortunately it was way too cloudy to catch a glimpse of the sunrise. There were bits of pink peaking through and reflecting on the water but that was as good as it got. Mount Agung was visible in the distance and I saw a couple of lightning flashes. I was happy to see the storm had moved on and we seemed to be in the all clear for Stand Up Paddle boarding today.

I made my way back to the villa and was very pleased to find that from my room I could actually reach the WiFi from some of the villas next door and it was an unlocked network. Hooray!! While I was waiting for the others to wake up, I was able to update my blog and add photos from yesterday.

I woke the girls up just before 7:00 and at about 7:15 we were out the door to make our way to where we were doing the SUP. I had organised this a while ago and had organised to meet the guy at the Kite and Surf shop across from the Sanur Beach Hotel. Bali Stand Up Paddle School was actually one of the first SUP schools in Asia. We were soon approached by the owner, Jankie, and directed down Cemara Road to Villa Puri Ayu where the boards are kept. It looks like a gorgeous, quiet place to stay. We were introduced to our instructor and each given a pair of booties to wear. We walked down to the beach where we were instructed on how to paddle and stand up. Soon we were out in the water and paddling towards where we would be catching the waves.

Sami

Paddling out

We were aiming towards where the waves were just breaking. We all managed to stand up without a problem. I found the paddling wasn't particularly hard or tiring, just time consuming and as long as we kept on paddling, we stayed upright. Courtney was the first to fall off when a wave hit her board at the wrong angle. The water was so shallow though and the waves small so she was back on in no time.

Our instructor kept an eye out for the waves and told us when to start paddling. I was the first to catch one and it reminded of boogie boarding into shore when I was younger. The others weren't far behind me with their first waves. We stayed on our knees for the first one even though our instructor was telling us to stand up.

Courtney

I was quick to catch another one and managed to get up on my feet this time. Because I do a bit of skate boarding at home, I made the mistake of leaning to try to turn my board and that resulted in me falling off. No problem though, the water was lovely and I just climbed back on and kept going. The others didn't want to stand up, they were enjoying the ride on their knees enough.

After a while, we had had enough to catching waves and then paddling back so we spent a bit of time just sitting or laying on our boards while our instructor caught some waves. We liked that we left us to our own devices and didn't push up to keep going. We decided it was time for breakfast so started paddling in with the help of a few waves. We headed back to Villa Puri Ayu where we had a quick shower, chatted with Jankie before paying and going back to Cemara Beach for breakfast. We all really enjoyed the paddle boarding. It was a great way to start the morning, especially if you're a bit more of an active person, but you don't have to be particularly fit to do it. We've all agreed that although it's not something we would usually do, we would all do it again.

Go here to check out their website.

Paddling back to shore

After breakfast, we walked back to the street and got in a bemo to take us back to the villa. While the girls made their way in, I headed to Koa Spa. We had decided that we were all in the mood for either a facial or massage and I didn't want us to miss out. Unfortunately the spa is short staffed at the moment so I was told we could only go 2 people at a time. Ahh the ease of travelling in an even numbered group. I booked for 5:00. Two of us would go then and the other 2 at 6:00 before we go for dinner at 7:00.

The paddle boarding had taken it out of us a bit so we decided it was time to chill out a bit. We all went into the downstairs room where we could reach the wifi, and just like yesterday (minus the storm) we chatted and laughed for a couple of hours. We took our turns showering in the downstairs bathroom and before long it was time to go to lunch. We were off to La Playato meet up with a group of people from a Bali Facebook group. It had been organised a few weeks ago and we were all looking forward to meeting each other. The staff at La Playa are great. They happily moved around the tables for us so we could all sit together and everyone happily chatted away.

It wasn't long until rumbles of thunder could be heard and someone suggested to the waitress that we should move undercover. Just in time too; as soon as we began to move, the rain started coming down. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as heavy as yesterday's downpour and only lasted about 10 minutes. We had all ordered our food and everyone was very happy with the meals. I had ordered chicken curry and boy was it delicious. A bit in the salty side but so flavoursome. Mikhala was happy with her chicken Kiev and Courtney and Sami with their respective chilli prawns and garlic prawns.

Chicken curry

Chicken Kiev

Garlic prawns

Chilli prawns

The thunder continued to rumble but thankfully there was nothing more than a sprinkle of rain coming down. I had a quick walk down to the sand to check out the clouds and they sure looked impressive! Soon enough, everyone began paying their bills and parting ways. It was lovely to meet some other people who love Bali just as much as I do.

We began the walk back up Cemara Road and caught a taxi back to the villa. It was raining when we arrived but once again, didn't last long. We were all quite tired from the early start so had a bit of a lay down before it was time for us to get our facials. Mikhala and I headed off first. We were directed into one of the three cubicles and the facial was underway. It was here at Koa that I came across my now beloved Sukin products and I was really looking forward to having the facial done with them again. Mikhala hadn't had a facial before so she was looking to it as well.

After an hour of dozing off to beautiful music and the girl gently massage my face, chest and arms it was time to come back to reality. I stumbled out feeling deliriously relaxed. Courtney and Sami had arrived for their treatments and had decided on a massage instead of a facial. Mikhala and I paid for our treatments (120,000 Rupiah) before heading off. The girls here are lovely and professional; barely speaking a word to each other throughout the treatments. We both really enjoyed ourselves and Koa is a spa I highly recommend if you're in the area. We had a quick stop at Tina Collection (where I bought these shoes from in July) and Permana Unique Gifts. In Permana, I bought some gorgeous pressed metal Christmas decorations which were 7,000 Rupiah each and Mikhala bought a wooden picture frame for a friend.

Christmas decorations

We returned to the villa for a bit of down time before heading off to meet Sami and Courtney for dinner after their massages. I had made a booking at Mona Lisa for our last night in Sanur, maybe selfishly because I couldn't go without having my favourite beef rendang:)

Courtney and Sami arrived not long after us. They walked in slightly oily from their massages but so relaxed. They LOVED their massages. They had chosen the hot stone massage which only cost 90,000 Rupiah for an hour. They settled down and got stuck into the menu. I already knew what I was going to be ordering so we chatted while the others decided. Mikhala chose Chicken Cordon Bleu, Sami had pan fried chicken breast and Courtney had Nasi Goreng. Our meals arrived quickly, and my beef rendang was, as always, delicious!! I made Courtney and Sami try some and they loved it too. We were all so happy with our meals. Mona Lisa did it again.

Pan fried chicken

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Rendang

Our bill came to under $40. After paying, we decided to make our way to the night markets. We were jeered at a lot by men on our way so we had a quick look around without buying anything then decided to jump in a taxi to go back, but not without stopping first to buy a couple of packs of playing cards. We were planning on cracking open the vodka tonight and playing some games. I had bought juice to mix with it. The games were a mix of card games, drinking games and charades. We had a lot of laughs but went to bed sober. Yes, we're very responsible. We are having a great time together and are loving being in Bali. Tomorrow morning, were getting picked up from the villa at 10:00 and are off to Ubud for 3 nights with a stop at Blue Lagoon for snorkelling and lunch (weather permitting). See here to check out where we're staying next. Good night everyone!

 

Posted with Blogsy