Hiring a driver for the day was the first thing we did after lathering on my hand cream to stop us peeling. We had ditched our actual moisturiser at Chch airport when we were struggling to get the weight of our bags down, totally knew we would regret that! The driver - Kade picked us up at 8.30am and the plan was to head up to Canggu to visit Krystie and Tj plus some of their friends Matt & Bridie and Seb and Fi. But first we visited the Bali Boat Shed in Seminyak as they stocked some bikinis by Burrows & Co, an Australian brand. Seminyak was incredible but a lot more commercialised with rows of beautiful shops that we could have spend millions of Rupia in!  The driver waited for us as we tried some clothes on and I ended up with a new bikini and also some yoga tights. By that stage it was 10am and we continued up to Canggu to find Villa Aura where the gang were staying. 

Canggu is absolutely where we would stay next time, there were rice fields, small cobblestone lanes, villas and of course lots of motorbikes. Their villa had three seperate bedroom and ensuites with an open plan living room and kitchen and in the center was a pool. Very beautiful as long as you don't look to closely at the craftsmanship!

We sat around the pool discussing all things Bali and how we weren't quite sold on it yet.  Seb and Fi had been sick with the typical Bali belly (diahorrea and vomiting) and hadnt been able to do much for the past 24hrs. Everyone was surprised we hadn't had any issues yet despite still brushing our teeth with tap water and I had also boiled water for a couple of minutes or so to make a cup of tea and to chill it for water for today. We did come well prepared with drugs just in case, we won't have to use it though.

Lew and I were in desperate need of some hand sanitiser and after sun gel ( we still looked a bit like lobsters!) so Krystie and TJ "dubbed" us on their motorbikes, Ie we just went on the back - but we have to be in tune with the proper language here! It was pretty frightening at first, not because of our drivers but because of the lack of road rules and state of the roads. Once we got used to the constant tooting, holding on for date life and the helmets (I mean how many people have worn these 🤔!) it was pretty damn good not to rely on taxi drivers who were likely to rip you off.   

Finns Beach Club was the location we spent most of the day at where you ot a day bed and towel for 400,000 Rupiah but that was also your minimum spend. So technically if you spent 400,000 Rupiah (approx $40NZD pp) your day bed was free. It wasn't anything like Sunday's Beach Club as the ocean in front of it was best mainly for surfing but not so much swimming due to the coral reef close to shore. But they did have a couple of pools, a slack line, basketball and a spa. We basically lounged around, aiming to eat $40 NZD worth of food to get the most of our money.  

Lew started to get a bit ansy as he's not used to lounging around for long periods of time. But at about 4.30 we left the club and headed back to the villa on the scooters for a quick change before we headed into Canggu itself. First stop was the Deus Ex Machina before driving down the main street to Canggu beach where we watched the sunset.

We had a little bit of time to peruse the local shops before scootering back to a Italian restaurant close to the villa. They made surprisingly amazing pizza and pasta for being in the heart of Bali and it only cost us about $10pp. Kade our driver met us back at the villa at 8pm and we said goodbye to everyone before commencing the hour long drive back to Uluwatu. Ok so Bali isn't that bad if your staying in the right spot and you know a couple of kiwis who are basically in the know! Thanks Krystie and TJ for dubbing us, teaching us what the word "fanging it" (driving fast?) meant and encouraging us to to use hand sanitiser basically every 10 minutes.