Day 19: Beaches, Bargains and Bali Traffic

We had a slow start to the morning with breakfast at home. Sam headed out on an important mission to find us iced coffees, but unfortunately, the iced coffee man wasn't where he was supposed to be. Mission failed... but we survived.

Our driver arrived around 10:30am and took us to a beautiful beach. Grayson got straight to work building sandcastles, Henry disappeared into the rocks in search of starfish, and Jai and I spent ages happily splashing around in the warm, shallow water. It only came up to about my hips, making it perfect for him. Millie and Sam alternated between sunbathing and cooling off with a swim.

From there, we stopped at a local warung for lunch, which just happened to be beside another gorgeous beach. Naturally, we couldn't resist another swim and a bit more exploring. The water was unbelievably warm—like swimming in a giant bath.

Our next stop was a lookout where we were greeted by some cheeky monkeys. One decided to have a go at Henry, but instead of running away, Henry stood his ground, stamped his feet, and yelled right back at it. To everyone's surprise, the monkey backed down! Henry was pretty pleased with himself after successfully winning an argument with a monkey.

We still had a few hours before sunset, so we filled in the time with a spot of shopping. The boys put their bargaining skills to good use and scored some Argentina Messi football shirts, Sam found a new pair of sunglasses, and Mum came home with a new bikini.

As the afternoon cooled, we headed to Uluwatu Temple to watch the sunset before staying for the famous Kecak Fire Dance.

The sunset was stunning, and the performance was unlike anything we'd ever seen. Henry, however, found it absolutely hilarious. He laughed so much that the people sitting in front of us kept turning around to shush him. Meanwhile, Jai stood completely mesmerised, barely taking his eyes off the performers the entire time.

Knowing Bali traffic has a reputation of its own, we'd cleverly chosen seats right beside the exit so we could make a speedy escape. As soon as the performance ended, we practically sprinted to our driver, convinced we'd beaten the crowds.

We had not.

A drive that should have taken about 20 minutes turned into almost an hour of crawling through traffic. Two minutes from home, Sam jumped out of the car to grab takeaway dinner while the driver dropped the rest of us back at the villa. A few minutes later, Sam arrived home carrying dinner like an absolute hero.

The kids were tucked into bed, and the evening finished with Sam running laps around our bedroom on mosquito patrol, trying to eliminate the tiny freeloaders that somehow keep finding their way inside. Every time he squashed one, another seemed to appear!

Trip Statistics:

- Successful iced coffee missions: 0
- Warm beach swims: 2
- Monkeys scared away by Henry: 1
- Bargains successfully negotiated: Several
- Fire dances watched: 1
- People who shushed Henry: At least 2
-Traffic jams that outsmarted us: 1
- Mosquitoes defeated: Ongoing...
-Family memories made: CountlessRead more