The day has arrived where we are finally off to the airport EARLY as Qantas has stopped direct flights to Bali. We now have to fly via Sydney. ( Direct home though ) Fairly uneventful first leg of the trip but we were late departing Sydney as someone had to be kicked off the plane due to "Passport" Problems and they had to find their bags in the cargo hold. Qantas: Gee I am really sorry to see some of the other airlines dropping off. If Qantas end up holding a monopoly "God help the traveller". The flight was good and smooth. The "hosties" ( I don't think Qantas staff have quite earned the title "attendant" as they would have to attend to people and that seems beyond them sometimes) although friendly, found the modified 747 with its extra passengers squeezed in, a bit too many for the amount of onboard Crew. The jet had it's business section removed and fitted with economy seats. If Qantas needs any feedback about their new design and business practices I am ready and willing to tell them what I think. !!!! Airport Arrival : Arrived at 1615 and we were amongst the first out of the plane - breathing in deep the strange, wonderful, yet familiar aroma's of Bali. Quickly through customs and we found the porters were already taking our bags off the carousel. We grabbed a trolley and walked up reclaiming our bags. Exchange rate at the airport money changers was 5430rp for the aussie dollar. Noticed that the airport has a new exit which makes the taxi voucher window on the right hand side as you exit now. Prices for taxi vouchers I noticed were : Tuban 15,000Rp Kuta 20,000Rp Legian 25,000Rp Sanur 35,000Rp Booked a Taxi to Sanur Radisson Suites and just fitted the 3 of us with all our bags. Sanur Radisson Suites : Not what it appears to be from the road. At a glance this hotel looks very small but once past the front entrance and reception,it spreads right out. Our suite is on the second floor overlooking Camp Splash (the new children's area) on one side and the main pool on the other, over a good sized balcony . The suites are very large and well equipped. Two bathrooms,two bedrooms with individual air conditioners in each bedroom and the main living area. These are remotely controlled and we set preferred temps. in each room. Scotty was impressed with the cable tv offerings plus the fact he could plug his playstation machine in to either of the tvs. After a quick shower, we caught a light blue taxi (20,000rp) to Kuta Square where we had dinner at Rajas Cafe and then changed some money at Mataharis. The money changer's has also moved and they are now postioned down in front of the supermarket itself. We found they give a slightly better exchange rate for $100 notes (5800rp) and you get a receipt etc. Out on the streets, the exchange rate was mostly 5750 so it was well worth using the one at Mataharis. Scott's first mission was to buy a couple of playstation games. Normally we never buy from out the front of Mataharis as the prices are normally double of that inside and upstairs. However 8,000rp seemed reasonable price to pay for a couple to keep scott amused for the timebeing. We then remembered we needed to buy Scott a swim ring for the pool and we ended up on the top floor of Matahari's for that anyway. The prices of the plystation games there were 4,000rp!!!!!!!-an amazing price and still proof that out the front is still double the price!! We then wandered out of Kuta square,down to Bemo Corner and right along Jl.Legian to the Slingshot ( Bounty Square ) where we had a quick drink at Raja's Hot Plate and then a taxi (light blue of course) back to the hotel where, exhausted from the full day of travelling,we relaxed with Koala watching tv and Scott and shar^kie battling monsters on the playstation. It wasn't long before everyone was asleep though. DAY 2 The first day we decided to be low key and vegetate mostly round the hotel. Awake early, Koala took Scott for a swim in the pool and then back for a shower, woke shar^kie, and we all went down for breakfast. which was very good. Scott had his first taste of a croissant in which he filled with bacon and said was nice except for the flaky bits on the outside and then started peeling off the flaky pastry. Scott then charged off to Camp Splash ahead of us and when we got there, he was just flying off the impressive water slide that is there. Amazing as Scott said he was too scared to go on it but here he was squealing with delight. We took photos and video from every angle and Scott obliged by going down the slide at least 30 times. Shar^kie was then away to organise the next days shoot and he visited Toot_sies for some shirts. Everyone recommends you should pack little when going to Bali, but somehow NO shirts at all had been packed for shar^kie and he was stuck with wearing a nice little number of Koala's till he got to Toot Tie"s. hehe. The girls at Toot Sie's were all excited to see him and he invited Ketut and her family for drinks at the hotel later that evening. Meanwhile back at the Radisson Suites, Koala and Scotty had a great time at Camp Splash - highly recommended for anyone with children staying here. Scott by this time had racked up his waterslide runs to around 100 and still going .Koala chatted with the friendly Splash staff who spoke great English. Scott soon became known as the "one more time" kid as this was his standard line everytime he was told it was time to leave the slide. We had purchased a food/drinks passport and this entitled us to 50% of food/drinks at the hotel and we found this made eating at the Hotel extremely competitive to eating elsewhere and in many cases, the drinks were cheaper than buying from the store. Definitely a good investment. shar^kie came back to the hotel in time for a late lunch and then decided to set up the internet on the laptop in the hotel room. One funny side was sharkie had mentioned this to the reception staff on his way back to the room,and we get a phone call saying *we will send up a Telekom technician to get it working for you". This sounded good as sometimes the hotel's pabx systems can make inital setting up difficult. The technician arrived,looked at the phone line and the laptop and plugged the line into the phone and left!!! With a laugh,we then set about doing it ourselves and soon had it working. Whilst Koala caught up with the teens back at home on ICQ,shar^kie took Scott down to the pool for the umpteenth time and Koala caught them BOTH hijinxing down the water slide.We all got back in the pool just in time for our visitors to arrive. Ketut has two adorable little girls-6 years and five months old. We had drinks,chatted and we showed Ketut the internet and the Bali Travel Forum including all the mentions of Toot_sies in the forum. She was impressed and said that she receives so many visitors from there.Ketut also went onto explain when she first started fixed pricing, she decided to build up her business by being an honest woman and maintain the same "fixed" price regardless of customer,season or opportunity. She tells us many others who offer fixed prices do so,but will change the fixed price rate at will depending on the season and the customer. Regulars may get a low fixed price, but non regulars may be offered prices higher and told it is the one fixed price. Ketut says this is one thing she will never do as it's the sort of thing that is damaging to a business if found out. Up until now, our own dealings with her were simply in the shop environment when we purchased our goods. Actually sitting down and chatting with her and her husband Wayan (who makes those lovely colourful kites that are available in the store )we learnt a lot about them and you can see they are a very hardworking couple. We have invited them along to Sammy and Susies on the 3rd and they are looking forward to meeting everyone. Report 2 | Report 3 | Report 4