Our Bali Trip - 2015 (Part 1)

We've just come home after an amazing 10 days in Bali and I thought I would share some photos of my trip on here. We stayed at the Intercontinental Jimbaran Bay which we have stayed at before. 

(you can see pics from that trip here) 

Originally I thought we would use the resort as our base and explore the surrounding regions on day trips, but once we were ensconced in the beautiful surroundings of the resort it was very hard to get the motivation to leave it. Plus the Bali traffic is a killer!

Our days were spent swimming, lounging around and relaxing, some surfing, a day trip to Ubud, the boys visiting the kids club and reading. It was perfect for us and it felt great to decompress after a stressful start to the year. ( our renovations, my operation, kids stuff)

The grounds of the resort are huge so you feel like you can always find a space that is not overly crowded plus they are so beautiful and tropical and immaculately kept. Sun loungers are dotted around everywhere and staff are always on hand to offer fresh towels or a drink.

There are 3 main pools plus lots of other little pools around so it was nice to have the variety and change location every few days. The club pool is Adults Only, so this was a lovely retreat whilst the boys were at kids club. The resort is beachfront so it was great to have the option of a surf (small waves only) or splash around in the salt water or a walk along the beach. 

Noah and Jasper loved Planet Trekkers (kids club), Finn found it a bit young and roamed around the resort with a few new friends instead. They had so many fun activities to do like fishing, kite making, cookie decorating, computer games, puzzles etc and it was a great place to go in the middle of the day for a couple of hours when they had had enough swimming for a while. 

Noah at 3 was under their minimum age (4) so he had to have a nanny with him at all times while he was there. All the ladies were lovely and well trained and the whole set up felt very professional and secure. It was nice to have the same faces there through the week as they knew the boys and their habits. It was nice for Simon and I to have that break through the day as well and feel like we were on holidays too!

We hired a driver one day and drove up to Ubud stopping at the Bali Zoo for an elephant ride and the Monkey Forest along the way. The traffic turned it into a longer trip than it should have been so Noah was asleep for most of it! I would have loved to see more temples, rice fields, shops and restaurants in Ubud and Seminyak but it was not to be on this trip. Even though I had my list of must sees.

Note - the Monkey Forest is not for the faint hearted, those monkeys are scary!

Finn and Simon enjoyed feeding them and taking photos of them, Jasper and I were freaked out by their aggressiveness and Noah slept through it all!

There was also a trip to Uluwatu for some waves. Our trip coincided with what was dubbed the "swell of the century" so Simon had a couple of half days away surfing at Padang Padang and Bingin.

We mainly ate at the resort and there were 5 restaurants to choose from.

A variety of Western and Balinese food with a Japanese and Italian restaurant thrown in too.

And cocktails, lots of cocktails! My favourite was the lemon sorbet daiquiri. 

 Nothing screams holiday more than a photo of a cocktail at sunset ;)

The sandy floored Sunset Grill was our favourite spot for a cocktail and to watch the sun set over the ocean. We also loved the buffet breakfasts (one of the best I've seen) and we had high tea a couple of times too. Most days lunch was by the pool, either a salad or a nasi goreng.

Some of our favourite things were the soccer fields and playground for working off that excess energy when you had had enough swimming and for me the day spa. Sigh.

Wow, that was a lot of photos!

I'll have part 2 tomorrow with a few more photos, more details on why we chose Bali, our room choice and other travel tips that came in handy for us.

Do you have any holidays coming up?

Have you been to Bali?

Our Hawaii Trip - Part 2

After our 5 days in Waikiki we grabbed a cab for the drive an hour west to the Aulani Disney Resort. We knew the boys would love this place plus we knew it would be a relaxing end to the trip as it is quite isolated and not much to see.



(a view over the Aulani grounds)

As soon as you walk into the lobby at Aulani it feels quite grand and magical. You are offered 'Mickey water' on arrival ( normal water but with Mickey shaped oranges & limes in it) and the lobby looks out to the fantastic grounds and water park. There is a lazy river running through the grounds and the first impression is one of fun!



All the activities are pretty much water based here and we were blessed with great weather and blue sunny skies.

Each morning we woke up and had breakfast. I really recommend doing the Character breakfast at least once. Mickey, Minnie and Goofy stroll through the restaurant stopping at tables for photos and a hug.There is also singing and a conga line.

 The boys loved it. 



There is a buffet of cereal, fruit, every type of hot breakfast you can think of and cute touches like Mickey shaped waffles.



After doing the buffet a couple of times we bought fruit, yoghurt and cereal and had it in the room. We couldn't handle the thought of all that food! 

You can buy these items from the Ulu Cafe in the resort or there is an ABC type shop about a 5 min walk away if you want a greater selection or need to stock up on toiletries etc.



We then headed to the pools & slides. Hotel guests are given coloured wristbands each day (to ensure that no outside guests use the facilities) We grabbed some towels and set up on some sun loungers than headed for the slides. There were 2 slides. 1 was a steep, dark ride(!)And the other more family friendly slide that you rode down on a tube and could double up on. This was our favourite, so we would slide down on our tubes into the lazy river and do a couple of laps of the river.



Then we would go into one of 4 pools. The main pool is perfect for kids as it's a gradual slope in so they could splash in the shallows and the water is warmer than a regular pool but not too warm. They had a Disney Pool Party show each day and Mickey and the gang would come out and dance around for 30 minutes or so. You could also grab a photo with the characters too. 



Noah would usually fall asleep at this stage so we would put him in the pram and let him sleep for a couple of hours.

 At this time Jasper would go to the kids club (so much fun and run like a military operation security wise, so I felt really comfortable) and Finn would go off and ride more slides or snorkel with the fish. 



Simon and I would chill out on the lounger and relax!

Lunch was usually by the pool and something easy like a salad or sandwich. Oh and hot chips were always available!!



There was always loungers free by the pool so you didn't feel like you had to get up early to bags one and staff were always wandering around offering food & beverage service and dry towels. Bliss! 



It was a cashless resort and everyone had a room key that doubled as a charge card. This made it so easy as you didn't have to worry about your bag/wallet through the day.




Aulani also has a manmade beach/lagoon at the bottom of the resort but I have to admit we didn't really use it as the boys were just loving the pool, slides and lazy river. There is also a water park full of steps, tunnels and water shooting out everywhere.



Our room was a one bedroom villa with a full kitchen, 2 balconies and a huge bathroom with shower and a spa bath. It also had a washer and dryer which was great so I could do some washing. I love to come home with the suitcases full of clean clothes.



We ate mainly at the hotel (5 restaurants to choose from) but there were a few shops and restaurants an easy five minute walk away. A convenience store, ice cream parlour, coffee shop, pizza restaurant, mexican restaurant and the Monkey Pod which we had dinner at. They had a lovely singer playing acoustic guitar during dinner. Such a great atmosphere!



The J.W Marriott hotel is next door to Aulani if you wanted to pop over and have dinner there as well.



Some of our favourite things at Aulani

*Our 4pm shaved ice fix from a stall near the pool



*Warming up at the end of the day in the 'hot tub'

*The grounds were beautiful and great to walk around

*It never felt busy or overcrowded

*The magical iPad Disney treasure hunt. You hired a special iPad from Reception and followed the map to different points around the ground for more clues. Jasper & Finn loved this and Finn wasn't too old at 11.

*Auntys beach house (kids club) for when the kids needed a break from the pool. You could also book in to do special activities but you have to be quick as these book out fast!

*The Disney Character breakfast *The overall atmosphere of the Resort. We really loved it and I can see us making the trip here again. For maybe a week next time. I would definitely recommend it to families.

So that's about it! We had a fantastic time in Hawaii and I hope I've answered any questions you had. Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know x