After spending a few days in Ubud, the second part of my 60th year celebration is a private villa in Canggu. Jane and I have never been to Canggu. Bianca and Zoey booked a one bedroom villa at Regali Villas some time ago. They had done all the research, so we decided to stay at the same place and booked a two bedroom villa as Anthony was joining us for the Canggu stay. The villa was certainly an upgrade from Gora house.
Sunday – Arrival
We arrived around 1.30 after a two hour trip with Ketut. Bianca and Zoey had their own one bedroom Villa – it was ready and they moved in. Jane and I booked a two bedroom villa, as Anthony was joining us later. The girls decided to go out and get massages straight away. I waited for the room to be ready – it didn’t take long. I was feeling a little weak and dehydrated, so napping in the aircon and having a dip in the pool was much more appealing.
Anthony arrived about 7pm and went went to find the girls for dinner. We decided to eat at Muda because they were so proud of their 5.0 star Google rating. The girls joined us for dessert. The food and service was certainly very good.
Monday- Canggu
We walked up the road and had a late breakfast at Munay a trendy little cafe with a view of the rice fields. With French owners, crepes was their specialty. I had a ham and cheese crepe, which was delicious. We then got a taxi to Keroboken to get some alterations done at Brisbane Tailor. They were recommended by our good friends Pedro and Kerry.
The girls wanted to check out the Love Anchor market. It was only a short walk from our villa.
Anthony and I left the girls to their shopping and continued down the road to find some refreshment. We found a small bar and had a cocktail before doubling back to the Avocado Factory to meet the girls for lunch. We found their beer selection not up to scratch (and expensive) so we had a beer next door at Paddle. They had a much wider selection and the food menu looked good too.
The girls found us and we stayed at the Paddle for lunch.
Bianca suggested going to Santorini for dinner. Predictably, I made the obvious dad joke. A Greek restaurant with all the favourites. Another winner – the food was great.
We kicked on to the Swingers Bar and G-Swing. They all had a few shots at the bar and Bianca, Zoey and Anthony plucked up enough courage to go on the G Swing.
The chickens, Jane and I watched from the safety of the ground and listening to the girly screams – (reportedly mostly coming from Anthony). They all agreed that was one the most scariest things thing they had ever done. A big call from rollercoaster diehard, Bianca. They paid for the official video and we’ve all had a big laugh at their faces when the cable was released. Luigi’s sounds like a little Italian pizza joint, but it is once the hottest spots in Canggu for the young and fabulous. It was right next door so we thought we’d round the day out with a nightcap. The place was jumping with a queue to get in. After a security check they asked for a 100,000 IDR entry fee. That was enough to Jane and I to say goodnight and we left Bianca, Zoey and Anthony there.
Tuesday – Nusa Penida
This whole day was reserved for a tour of Nusa Penida. The Island of Penida is off the east coast of Bali and is gaining popularity mainly due to its beautiful scenery.
We woke up early for the 6am pickup from our Villa. There was a 45 minute van ride to the Sanur Port. Then a 30 minute ferry ride to the island itself. We were meet by our driver and tour guide Made and set off winding though the narrow roads.
The first destination was Angel’s Billabong and Broken Beach. Angel’s Billabong was a natural “infinity pool” with a spectacular view of the coast line. Broken Beach is a sinkhole than forms a natural bridge over the rocky beach. The colour of the water in both locations was a stunning aqua.
Next stop was Kelinking beach. This is the most “Instagrammed” site in Nusa Penida. There was a line to climb a small tree to get the “ultimate shot”. Made quickly joined the line and fulfilled the photography duties. There was a bit of impatience in the queue with some people trying to jump the queue, or taking too long to get that perfect picture. The view was indeed stunning, made all the more surreal by massive manta rays swimming in the bay. It was worth the bumpy ride and putting up with the irritating instagrammers.
We had lunch at Sebuluh Resto & Bar. a local restaurant in the heart of the island. It was quite nice and much needed,
The last stop was Crystal Bay Beach, a picturesque beach on the west coast. We secured a couple of sunbeds and went for a dip in surprisingly cold water. The water was indeed crystal clear.
We were all tired around 3pm and made our way back to the ferry for the trip back to Sanur.
A nice dinner at Pan De Mie Noodle House rounded out a tiring day.
Wednesday – Bianca turns 21
Wednesday was Bianca’s 21st birthday. We had breakfast at the Avocado Factory. It was probably the fanciest breakfast I’ve ever had. I had truffle eggs benedict and it was superb. Others had massive croissants. We forgave them for our earlier judgement on their lack of beer variety. Bianca and Zoey went off to get their tattoos, while Jane, Anthony and I went for a walk to the beach. We met back at the Villa until the birthday dinner.
We had booked Azoria for dinner – but we never made it there! We were a little early for dinner (first time for everything I guess) so we stopped at the Garden for pre-dinner cocktail. They had a three-piece band playing pub classics, it was happy hour and the cocktails were good. So everyone agreed to stay. Many cocktails ensued. The girls got up to dance and Jane was wandering around the restaurant collecting tips for the band. She was making new friends at every table. A nice German couple, Janina (although the girls kept calling her Janini) and Daniel joined us at our table. It was great fun night with highlights:
- Bianca balancing pizza on her head
- Bianca solo dancing to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams“.
- Bianca standing on the chair getting Happy Birthday sung from the whole restauant
- Bianca grabbing the guitar and strumming and singing Billy Joel’s “Vienna”
Despite us all being quite drunk, the night wasn’t finished, Bianca and Zoey had plans of getting a cocktail with free tattoo at Little Havana. Our new friend, Daniel offered to shuttle us one at a time on his scooter. Of course Bianca and Zoey took him up on it, despite Jane’s objections. Relax he’s a Police officer (he says). Anyway they all made it safely. Jane, Anthony and I caught a “Grab” taxi. The place was indeed little and very claustrophobic. There was two tattooists in a corner churning out small tattoos. It was too hot and stuffy (and unsanitary) for Jane and I so we went back to the Villa. The girls got their tattoo and didn’t stay long – they had to get up for their 7am flight home the next day.
Happy Birthday Bianca!
Thursday – Tailor and Seminyak
Bianca and Zoey were already on the way back to Perth when Jane and I woke up with hangovers. We stumbled to Love Food cafe for breakfast. Then back to the villa to laze around the pool. We ordered fried chicken from Grab and continued to veg out until it was time to venture into Seminyak to pick up the tailoring and then dinner. Grab has really taken off in the past year in Bali. Not only for their taxi service, but for food delivery too. We used them for beer and food delivery and even got a pack of playing cards delivered when we couldn’t find any in the supermarkets.
We told Yusuf the tailor we’d pick up the clothes at 5pm, so we set out at 4.45. We soon found out this was a huge mistake. We hit a wall of traffic in which we sat for an hour. We were desperately late. Luckily Yusuf was very understanding and said he would wait despite his closing time of 6pm. We ended up getting out of the taxi and walking the rest of the journey. 25 minutes later we arrived at the tailors – very late and embarrassed.
We caught a Grab onto Jemme in Seminyak for dinner. This was another recommendation from Pedro and Kerry. It was a delight. The highlight for me was the Onion Cappuccino Shot.
Thankfully the traffic abated and the taxi ride back to Canggu was much smoother. We organised our stuff for our flight home the next morning.
Friday – Home time
What a great time we had. This was a little different than our previous trips. We did much more and experienced different things. It was good travelling with Bianca and Zoey and Anthony. We appreciated getting their different perspectives and ideas. They certainly taught us old Bali veterans a few things. Before we came, we said this could be our last Bali trip.
Who are we kidding? We’ll be back!
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