My total bag ended up at 8kgs because my laptop is 1.3kgs and my roller bag is 1.8kgs on its own. We only have one flight this time that have a 7kg limit so we just move the laptop to Bs bag for that check in then moved it back.
It’s taken a bit of investment and time to work out this collection of clothing (and specific fabrics) for travel to hot and humid places.
PURCHASE IN COUNTRY
sunscreen (cancer council)
B TO TAKE
Plug cover + laundry sheets
colostrum + probiotics
deodorant, toothpaste, 100ml face sunscreen, bug wipes
paperwork
SAMSONITE ROLLER BACKPACK
2 x cotton tops (pink, choc)
1 x linen cropped top loose (purple)
1 x cotton cropped tshirt (white)
1 x merino camel coloured singlet
Linen camixa long sleeved shirt / swim cover up
1 x denim shorts (blue bungalow)
1 x cotton/viscose capri pants
1 x viscose/cotton crinkle dinner dress
1 x black bather top
1 x monte Lou garden bikini set
1 x brown swim sarong
5 x modal undies
1 x Chub rub undershorts
1 x merino paire sleep singlet
1 x croc thongs
OTHER STUFF
Laptop
5L dry bag
Sunglasses
Crushable travel hat
Toiletries (non liquid) bag: hairbrush, hair ties/scrunchies, toothbrush, gel ear plugs for snoring, Pimple patches, tweezers, A few cute earrings
Peak period on Wadjemup (Rottnest island) is Dec – Feb so we initially had no chance at accomodation…but by going on a Thursday night, the day after school started I snagged a unit for 1 night at Geordie Bay.
We caught the 8am Rottnest express ferry from Northport (the best departure point if you have a car) and also added our own bikes on for $20 each. I wore a scopolamine patch and had no nausea at all
The trip is 30 mins direct but took a bit longer for us as we went via the B sheds for another pick up. It all works very smoothly with BYO bike and they load/unload it for you. As my bike is an ebike the battery mist be removable and carried as hand luggage…and the bike mist weigh under 22kgs.
When we arrived we started off on our 26km ride around the entire island. We saw some beautiful beaches.
We also saw one of the NZ fur seals waving at everyone in the water! After a brief lunch break we rode back to the settlement and collected our unit keys. We stayed at Geordie Bay with a beautiful ocean view.
For dinner we walked 1.5kms from Geordie Bay to Pinky’s. The food was very underwhelming (especially for the bonkers pricing) but there were lots of quokkas around…even baby ones.
We walked back and watched the sunset from our balcony with some cheese and snacks from the IGA near our unit.
Checkout is 9am on the island so we were up fairly early. We returned the keys then rode up to the Oliver Hill Gunnery.
We declined the paid tour and instead decided to go back down the hill for a swim at The Basin. Just as we were about to get in the chopper started hovering over and the shark siren went off…apparently there was a 3.5m Tiger shark just offshore. After awhile we were allowed in again. I stayed close to sure because it got very deep, very fast. It was quite rough in the water…I do miss the calm ocean bays in Thailand.
We saw soooo many cute quokkas! It was Joey season as well…babies!
Having not been to Rottnest for a long time (25+ years) I think staying overnight was worth it. No rush back to the ferry and it meant we were there for dusk when lots of quokkas come out to play. One night would definitely be sufficient if you make sure your days are longer on either side.
Day 4-7 saw Jess and the kiddos arrive on a TransWA bus at the Karridale Bus Stop. We had some beach time (pretty) and then a BBQ for dinner with a game of cards against humanity – family edition.
For Day 5 we had booked and planned an adventure day with Mr Pick Me Up and they collected us from Hamelin Bay – something a lot of the bus and tour companies won’t do as it is too far down from the winery region. They also worked with us to tailor a teen/kid friendly itinerary which included:
– 10.30am – Pick Up (driver – Sam)
– 11am – Walsh & sons winery + Lenton Brae winery
– 1pm – Cheeky Monkey (lunch) kids can play in the huge playground / outdoor games and they have good wifi….lol
-1:45 – gracetown viewpoint
– 2.15 to 3pm – Passell Estate (winery but also a possum sanctuary! POSSUMS!)
– 3.15pm -Scoops Farm (icecream + farm animals)
– 4.30pm – drop off back at Hamelin bay
Day 6 was surprise Early Christmas! The elves – who obviously followed us down south for the trip – were sneaky and set it all up the night before as a surprise for both kids. We spent the day at the cabin and beach visiting with our stingray friends, reading (me) and eating snacks. Christmas dinner was tacos and we invited friends staying in the cabin next door so it was a dinner for 9…with enough Christmas crackers for all!
Day 7 saw Jess and the kids heading off for a night in Augusta with family. Gotta admit that naps were had as we celebrated a return to kid free life haha. We enjoyed some beach time under our excellent cool cabana.
We had dinner with our cabin neighbour friends and watched our last lovely Hamelin Bay sunset. This was our third year and while we have held over our dates again we aren’t sure if we can return as school finishes much later in the year for the next few years….we will see what happens when the date change fight opens up in April!
Day 1-3 was the no kids part of our third annual trip! Stingrays, beach, books, movies, sunsets and relaxation. We are staying in Ocean Cabin 2 (Lov Spring) this time.
We visited Glenarty Wines on Day 2 which is about 13kms from Hamelin Bay Holiday Park. They follow a farm to table approach with 80% of what they serve coming from their own property. We were lucky enough to come on a quiet day which meant even without a booking we were able to choose the five course set menu with wine pairings. It was all good but the highlights were definitely the lamb and the frozen meringue dessert. We also bought a bottle of Fume Blanc as it was delicious!
I also read real books (versus ebooks) for the first time in years….mostly because these are only published in Canada so the only way to get the series was physical copies from Canadian Amazon.
On day 3 we drove up to Gnarabup Beach and had breakfast at the White Elephant Cafe. Last time we tried this was peak holiday season and cars were parked for kilometres up the road…this time was less busy. The cafe was very average and unable to cope with the number of people so prepare for slow service. From there we headed to Ellens Brook Homestead and the alleged Meekadarribee Falls waterfall at the end of a 1.3km return walk. The walk was lovely but the waterfall doesn’t exist in summer.
We had much better luck with the unofficial Kevill Road Waterfall. We followed Google maps roadside pin for this one and they have put in some gravel roadside car parking so people can safely pull over.
We then dropped into Gabriel’s Chocolates at their new location which is much closer to Margaret River town (yay) and included an adorable kelpie puppy who needed all the pats.
Another lovely Hamelin Bay sunset (in the biting cold wind!).
Day 8 was our final full day. We pretty much followed our routine of get up late, have brakfast/lunch nearby, drink alcohol in the pool and read books.
Then dinner at a local warung! This time we tried Gazebo Warung – good food and good prices but stay away from the vegetation to the left of the beach dining area unless you want to be besties with some wild rats. Some very ballsy wild rats that will attempt to steal your food.
I booked our transfer to get us to the airport 3.5hrs before scheduled departure as I have read many recent horror stories about traffic around Kuta and on the road to the airport. It wasn’t necessary as we were very early (travelling on a Sunday helped) but made me less stressed. We used booking . Com for our airport transfers and it was $15 AUD each way. It was easy to book online and each time they contacted us via WhatsApp to confirm 24hrs before.
At the airport we accessed a pay per use lounge which is just a little bit more comfortable to wait in. It also meant someone came and met us on arrival which was an unexpected bonus of booking online through TonDesk. We arrived before our flight opened so they got us checked in via the service desk with priority boarding as well. The lounge we we booked into used to be called Premier Lounge (seems to be no name now) and is very basic…but at least you can easily find a power point and stretch out a bit. There are snacks and drinks too.
Packing list review:
Samsonite tiny bag did good! No room at all to spare though. For a longer trip or a touristy one I can see that might be an issue. The weight was also smack bang on 7kg (6.8 going over, 6.5 coming back) which would be a problem if I had to bring my laptop. Hmmm I do not like this 7kg including personal item nonsense. I still love travelling carry on only and not having to deal with luggage at either end though – and the sink washing is manageable now that we have mastered things like laundry sheets and the towel burrito to dry stuff quickly.
MVP items this time around: My linen/viscose loose tanks from sportsgirl were fantastic. Very pleased with those. Same with my denim shorts that I basically lived in! Perhaps next time I need 2 pairs? The weight is…a lot…for those though. I also really liked my black crz swim top which doubled as a tank top…a bit sweaty but also meant I could just pull shorts on and wander about near the beach without feeling too exposed. The other new item I had was a camixa lightweight crinkle linen shirt. It was cool, kept the sun off and dried fast. It also doubled as an extra layer when I got a bit cold sitting under aircon at the airport
Anything missing? Maybe need some more of the lightweight polyester crop tops as they dry super fast and are excellent in warmer places which have less modesty issues (eg Vietnam cities wouldn’t work, beach areas would).
Anything to leave behind? I could have left my Capri quick dry pants – I wore them once. I wore my linen pants on the plane and at dinner so they got a bit more use….I think both would have had more use if we had gone on day trips though so it depends on the type of holiday it is. And if it is raining I guess? I also had 6 pairs of undies (3 pyjama ones, 3 day ones) and as I spent so much time in bathers this was definitely overkill
Accomodation review:
We stayed at Ajanta Villas for around $200 AUD a night and while that seems cheap for a private villa, it’s reflective of the older accomodation style and some of the crappy fittings eg the shower is terrible. The staff were generally good (lower level English than the resorts but that’s fine for us) and we loved the private pool. It was also really close to restaurants, the beach and shops. I think we would come back here!
You do have to walk through the Sindhu Market to get to the beach and back which means ignoring people trying to get you into their shop and it feeling a bit dark/sketchy at night. If we had come back late at night I think we would have come in via the front rather than the market.
Sanur as a location for us
Mel thinks: I find Indonesian food a bit of a struggle as it seems to be very rice oriented and very heavy/greasy which really doesn’t sit well for me. I was able to find lots of alternatives as well as a few local dishes I could eat though. Soto Ayam for the win! The location, the quiet, the weather, the beach, the cost and the private pool all worked for me and I’m ready to just live here now 😂
B thinks: this was definitely a change of mind trip. Happy to come to Bali (Sanur in particular) again, especially for a 3.5hr flight time and with the changes in the visa entry process meaning you just walk right on through. Sanur is definitely what B was hoping Bali would be like the other times he has come. While we did get a bit of the street hassling “you see my shop” and “you need taxi” it was really minimal and they (mostly) respected a no thanks.
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Our next few trips aren’t too far away! Hamelin Bay in southwest WA again in December and then hopefully Vietnam/Singapore in April. Then maybe Bali for my “milestone” birthday and another big achievement at the end of next year
Little bird warung: tasty local food, cold beer, cocktails average. Live music most nights and across the road from Ajanta Villas
Glasshouse: western breakfasts, good aircon indoors, quiet
Soul on the beach: little bit more expensive but amazing beach views, nice fusion breakfast food / fancy presentation. Lots of juice options
Fisherman’s club: expensive but tasty drinks, lovely beach views, food very over rated from what we saw but this is attached to Hyatt so maybe a bad day?
The owl: yummy smoothie bowls and pancakes, good prices. Indoor seating with good aircon
Lilla Warung: the sister restaurant of Lilla Pantai. I had a chicken soup with rice that was delicious. Don’t order ridiculous fish things like B, even if it is a Chef’s recommendation. He was so disappointed
Lilla Pantai: B had nasi campur which was better, I enjoyed the beef rendang. The view was stunning at sunset although we were lucky to get the last free table without a booking and they were turning people away
Tree bar at Maya Sanur: happy hour drinks were delicious! The cocktails aren’t cheap but happy hour brings it down to comparable pricing for warungs. Food isn’t cheap but a few people said it was amazing
Memories on the beach: a great relaxing place for day drinking and ocean swims. We used the beach lounges and the cabanas and had food and drinks that were well priced with table service. The sate was particularly good
Warung happy monkey: great pricing, really good indo food. Will adjust the spice!
Taqisa: quesadilla good, average otherwise. Cocktails strong. More of a “quick eats” place than a restaurant but aircon was good
Massimos gelato: it’s gelato? Not sure about the hype here! They have bollards and security to control the lines that form apparently
Gazebo Warung: good food and good prices but stay away from the vegetation to the left of the beach dining area unless you want to be besties with some wild rats
We also went to Koral in Nusa Dua which was a degustation resistant. It was very pricey (our foodie experience for this trip) but really tasty. We had a table inside the aquarium tunnel which i highly recommend.
Today we were up relatively early (for a holiday) and caught a grab to Nusa Dua. It took about 45mins in the morning as traffic wasn’t too bad. I’ve been learning about Grab here (like uber) and it’s allowed in some places but in others the taxi mafia rule and they threaten the grab drivers…. Everything I’ve read here indicates grab drivers are pretty heavily exploited (a 45 min fare was $14) so we usually tip well and in cash. They also often don’t speak English well which is fine for me as I hate small talk lol.
The restaurant we had booked for my birthday lunch was Koral which is part of an absolutely, gigantic (ridiculous) resort. Seriously. Koral has a Michelin starred chef and you need to book a fair way ahead if you want an aquarium tunnel table! It’s a degustation with wines.
The food was very good and the wine pairings were delicious. Not a cheap experience but we do try to eat at one “amazing” foodie place on each trip. This one was very impressive in terms of presentation and we both liked watching the fish. And the really dumb stingray.!
We also got to see two super awkward marriage proposals which was a highlight, B kept hoping the diver would hold the sign up to the wrong couple. I liked it when the stingray took advantage of him holding the sign and tried to steal the divers snack bag.
After lunch we hung out at Reef Beach club. We swam in their infinity pool, lounged in a cabana, watched the ocean and enjoyed more drinks before heading home around 5:30pm.
Our trip back was also via Grab but traffic was much worse this time and it was 1hr 15 mins. We tipped really well for that one as the driver did a great job in the rain and with crazy cars all over the place. About an hour after we got back the villa staff called and asked me to come to the villa door….and they sang me happy birthday and gave me a cake! So for someone who usually has no birthday cake I got two this year 💜
Also…I finally got around to asking the hotel about a mattress topper the other day and omg it’s amazing. I can sleep!!!
We have spent the past few days relaxing and exploring some of the different restaurants near our villa at the North end of Sanur. We are right up near the top of the main street Jalan Danau Tamblingan and close to the beach (see blue dot on map).
We are staying at Ajanta Villas which we booked through booking . com for about $200 AUD a night. The group of villas is very quiet and each has its own pool. We can exit via a back entrance and walk 50m through a local market for direct access to the beach. It’s an older style villa so wooden furniture, tiled floors and older bathroom fittings with our villa having a separate bedroom and living area / kitchen. I am pretty much living in the private pool and am probably part mermaid by now! I can never go back to shared pools now haha. Some things to be aware of are you do need to walk through the marker to get to the beach / beach restaurants and they hassle you a bit….plus I can see it might be a bit creepy at night. We also have fireworks and dogs barking until about 10pm at night, all of which is very manageable.
Day 4 was another pool day with brekkie at a local Warung called Little Owl (breakfast bowl was delicious!) and dinner at Lilla Warung.
On day 5 we did a beach day! We went to Memories on Sanur Beach where you can get a sun lounge with a 100000IDR minimum spend ($10 AUD) as well as access to their pool and bar service. We had lunch, cocktails, swam in the ocean and relaxed on the sun lounge for a few hours. After dinner we wandered up and down the Sanur waterfront trying a few different venues. If is definitely very quiet here and lots of places are basically staffed by 12 people with 1-2 customers at this time of year.
After lounging by the beach all day, we wandered 2.5kms down the beach walk to Lilla Pantai for dinner. This was a better experience for B after his less positive experience the night before at their sister restaurant closer to our villa.
On the way back we stopped at the Tree Bar at Maya Sanur resort which was beautiful. Very, very pricey but a gorgeous view.
Day 6 was another pool day (definitely embracing villa life) and reading. It felt a lot more humid today so we haven’t ventured too far. We had lunch at Warung Happy Monkey which was some really tasty Indonesian food and went to the supermarket in the brand new, very flash icon Mall. We walked about 2kms to Taqisa for dinner. After dinner we had the famous Massimos gelato! No line for us although apparently people queue for hours for it…which seems a bit ridiculous.
Tomorrow is my birthday and we are off on an adventure!
On Day 2 we woke up and went exploring for breakfast. We started with Soul on the Beach which comes with a lovely reputation and ocean views.
We then paddled in our private pool, read books and had a nap before wandering across the road to Warung Little Bird. B had Mie Goreng and I had Nasi Goreng both with Ayam (chicken).
On day 3 we had a sleep in – needed after dealing with these very solid Asian beds. Maybe I need to start packing a mattress topper? We then had a western breakfast at Glasshouse next door to our villa before spending a few hours swimming in the villa pool and reading. I can never go back to shared swimming pools now, I’m ruined for life!
In the evening we walked about 1.5kms down the beach path. That’s a 5km path that’s paved and runs along the beachfront.
We were heading to a restaurant called Fisherman’s Basket. It is part of the Hyatt group and has great reviews but we thought it was meh…so we walked back up enjoying the sunset view and had a simple burger then some beers / soft drink back in the villa.
So far Sanur is a lot quieter than we thought and we are both definitely enjoying the private villa / private pool experience. I’m struggling a bit with a medication change and lack of sleep from the rock solid bed so not feeling 100% which is a challenge….but $3 smirnoffs from the supermarket help 😂
We packed very light this time as we wanted to do carry on only and Jetstar have a firm 7kg limit inclusive of a personal item (grumble grumble). Even Air Asia aren’t that strict.
I currently travel with a samsonite wheeled convertible “guardite” backpack which is 29L and B has a ULA Dragonfly backpack which is 26L. I do love my 36L osprey fairview wheeled bag and would take that for a longer trip but the smaller bag was perfect this time.
This is a rest and relaxation trip so I expect to spend a lot of time in my bathers! Below is my packing list this time around and it all fit in the bag at just under 7kgs (with things that would normally be in a personal handbag added as well). Wheeled bags always have a bit of extra weight to start off with as well – my samsonite one weighs in at 2.2kgs.
CLOTHING
2 small packing cubes
1 x cotton white tshirt
2 x linen loose tank tops
2 x crop tops
1 x 100% linen long sleeve cover up
1 x 100% linen resort pants
1 x denim shorts
1 x snag undershorts (tan) for dress
1 x merino sleep singlet
1 x merino sleep shorts
4 x modal travel undies
1 x monte Lou bikini set
1 x monte Lou black bikini bottoms + swim crop top black
Toiletries (liquid) bag: shampoo 100ml, conditioner 100ml tub, body wash 100ml, cleanser, 1x med face cream, clothing spray 50ml, 50ml CC face sunscreen, hand sanitiser
At Perth airport we accessed the aspire lounge so the waiting around part wasn’t too bad. We flew over on Jetstar as it was under $100 each due to my FF rewards points. Last time we flew Jetstar the flight was delayed 24hrs. This time our only hiccup was that at one stage they attempted to reschedule us to fly out 10 days later (after we were already home??). Other than that things went as smoothly as you can expect from a budget airline. I will say they do an awesome job with the sunflower lanyard, best airline so far I’ve used them with.
Make sure to be clear on all the documents you need to get here! There are a few extra things now that weren’t around when we last visited in 2022….and bring hard copies:
Visa
Customs declaration QR code
Monkey pox health clearance
Tourist tax receipt
Check the medications list and make sure you have a letter from your GP if needed. Only bring enough supply of any “touchy” meds for your use
All that + being aussies meant we went straight through the new electronic gates and were out in under 10 mins. Much better than 2hrs waiting in a queue at immigration! I had arranged transport via booking . com and it was about a 40 min drive to Sanur. We checked in at Ajanta Villas around 10:30pm so straight to bed after our welcome drink.
Mel's Travel Blog 