Hey again,
Wow! Its done, Ive made it, Im traveling again! After 29 months grounded - the longest of my adult life, and having the same job for 19 months, another first. It feels so good to be up and away again let me tell you.
Why Bali? I looked and looked at options online, I dreamt of where I could be, while I was still in the hot, dry and fly-filled outback - and while I was convinced it would be Thailand again, I settled on Bali. Its a 2.5 hour flight from Darwin, big selling point, and I am familiar with Indonesia as its not my first rendezvous over this way.
As per previous experience, it was fantastic to leave the outback. I had two very low key nights in a suburb in Darwin and on Friday 9th September I got up early to get ready for my departure. It was about 4am and I was never going to get back to sleep, so why not have a slow, relaxed start to the day. There was an enormous, flat-screen tv in my room so I put the early morning news on and found out the Queen had passed away while I slept. I showered, coffeed, packed up and called an Uber, it was the first time Ive ever used the service and my host recommended it over taxis as they're too unreliable. Don't let my first Uber being in 2022 surprise you, lets keep in mind the places I live and work!
I arrived to Darwin Airport with a good 3 and a half hours to spare, exactly my intention given the airport dramas that have been continuing in Australia. I needn't have worried, Jetstar check-in wasn't open and when it did the queue was quite bearable, although it grew quickly - I was pleased to be up at the front of the line. I also found out at check-in that the plane was now almost full, so I opted to change from my chosen window seat back to the seat on a plane I always like - last row, aisle on the left hand side if you're looking at the tail. And I can confirm, if anyone is going to experience turbulence it will happen as soon as I lock the toilet door, without fail, every time, that has remained unchanged during covid.
The immigration process at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport was fairly straight forward. First stop was the proof of Covid vaccination check, which I had screen shotted into my phone, second stop was to pay for the visa, and I cant even remember the amount now! Lol. But you can pay by cash or card, I must have used Australian cash (gimme a break, Id been awake since 4am!). They give you a receipt at this counter and then it was onto immigration. I was asked about when I will leave and the ticket I bought was to return to Australia in two months time, so clearly I will need to get a visa extension or leave Bali and then return. Still haven't decided which option I will do but have since learned that a visa extension requires a trip to Bali capital Denpasar to get one photo taken with immigration there. Apparently its a new post-Covid requirement.
I grabbed a Telkomsel sim card on the way out of the airport and met my driver, who I had booked via booking.com pre-departure. It was an offer I got from the website when I booked my accommodation. Note - they assume / expect you to land with a working sim card using the same mobile number from your original booking, like they haven't heard of 2022 - but I found my driver fine, although he said he'd been calling me, which is also ridiculous given they had my flight details, like, chill and let me make it through the airport already. He also couldn't find my accommodation, so I told him not to bother about it and I would find it - because I had an Indonesian sim I could send a message and someone came to meet me and walk me back to the house. Turns out we'd driven straight past the little alley way where it is situated - definitely didn't notice the sun-bleached sign roadside.
My accommodation is quite typically quirky of what you find in Ubud and the location was a good choice.
Lets see what this magic island has to offer!
