I’m flying back to Perth today. Since the hotel offers free shuttles to the airport, I let them know my flight time and they recommended I leave on the noon shuttle. I didn’t have enough time for an excursion, so I decided to have a Balinese message at the hotel. I booked a 1 hour message at 10 so I would have plenty of time to pack for the airport. There was a little building behind the pool at the front of the hotel, and that is where the messages take place. It was nice. The message was good, they had a little music playing in the background. The one thing I didn’t like though was that it was by the pool, because occasionally I could here kids screaming as they played in the pool. Other than that, it was very relaxing. After the message I finished packing, checked out, and then took the flight back to Perth.
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I had used all of the money I pulled from the ATM yesterday, so I had to make another trip down to the gas station to pull out more money for my excursions today. Afterwards, I ate breakfast until it was time to meet my driver. Unlike last time, I wasn’t the only person on the tour again. We had to drive to another hotel to pick up a couple from Germany. The guy spoke English well but his wife didn’t. I heard the husband talking a lot in German, so I think he was translating for his wife. Our first stop was the Tanah Lot Temple. I wasn’t too happy because this was supposed to be our last stop and we were supposed to see the sunset at this point. I went along with it because our guide told us that there would be a ton of traffic if we went at sunset because that is when all of the tourists go.
In order to go to the waterfall and the butterfly place, we cut out the visit to Pura Ulun Danu Bratan Temple. I was fine with it because at this point I had seen a lot of temples. They were cool, but they were blending together since they were all so similar.
After I had finished exploring, I met up with the German couple and called our driver. He picked us up and drove us back to our hotels. I got dropped off first, which I was grateful for because I was tired. We hit a lot of traffic on the way back so it was dark by the time I got back to the hotel. I was ready for a shower and bed!
The flight landed around midnight. The hotel arranged for a shuttle bus to pick up people from the airport, so I let them know my flight info. They said to find the people at the waiting area with the red sign by the doors. I walked up and down the row of people twice before I finally found the guys picking me up. They had several people coming in at the same time, so I had to wait for the other passengers and then we got on a shuttle bus to the hotel.
I’m so glad I’m an Honors member because everyone came with other people except me. So while I had to wait for my bag, they all sent someone in their group to check in. So I was last in line, but they have a special Honors member line, that didn’t have anyone in it so I got to move to the front of the line. Once I got my key I went straight to my room to sleep. I had to wake up early for my tour for the day. The guy was picking me up at 8am, but since I didn’t have any rupiah I needed to find an ATM. I was hoping they had one in the hotel lobby, but I couldn’t find one. I asked at the front desk and they said there was one at the gas station down the street. So I walked over there to get some cash and then walked back. I still had a little time before I was due to get picked up so I had breakfast at the hotel buffet.
This weekend we have a 3-day weekend due to Monday being a public holiday in Perth for the Queen’s birthday. Since I have an extra day, I decided to fly to Bali for the weekend. After I was finished with my client for the day, I went back to my apartment to grab my bag and then took the bus to the airport for my 7:20pm flight.
Everything that could go wrong went wrong today. Today, I was supposed to kayak to Penguin Island, so I got up early to walk to the train station to go there. Apparently the train I was supposed to take doesn’t run that early. It would be another 45 minutes for the next train, and that would make me miss my excursion.
It would be expensive to take an uber all the way to Rockingham, so I decided to get on the train to Freemantle, which was about halfway and then get an uber from there. By the time I finally got to the place we were supposed to meet, I was 3 minutes late. I look all around for the kayaks and I don’t see them. Surely they would have waited at least 5 minutes before leaving. I walk all around the parking lot looking for them, and looking at my confirmation email to make sure I’m in the right place. I even go into the café to ask if they had already left. The lady said that she is used to seeing them, but didn’t remember seeing the guide that morning. Then I start frantically calling the tour company, but since it was early on a Sunday morning I just got the answering machine. I didn’t know what to do. I waited around for about 30 minutes before giving up. It is at that time that I realized I had the wrong date. The date on my confirmation was for the 29th, not the 22nd. I had accidentally booked the tour for next weekend when I am supposed to be in Bali. So I had to take an uber to the train station, and then take a train back to Perth. I spent at least $70 getting there and back, and all for nothing. At least I’ll be prepared for when I rebook the tour. I didn’t have anything else planned, so I decided to just relax for this weekend instead of exploring. This weekend is the first weekend for whale watching tours to start again, so I decided to book an excursion. My tour started at 10am, so I took the train to Freemantle and found where I was supposed to get on the boat. Since I was early, I went looking for a place to get some breakfast. The place I found was a longer walk than expected, and by the time I got my food I was rushing back. I was one of the last people on the boat and I almost missed my excursion, but I made it.
I was disappointed. I expected it to be like the dolphin tours where the dolphins are leaping out of the water, but instead we would just see a tail or the back of the whale. They weren’t very active. After we spent some time out there, we headed back to the dock. The way back was even colder. Probably because we were moving faster since we didn’t have to search for whales anymore. The crew had to break out blankets for everyone but they ran out so I didn’t get one.
Since we found the dolphins so quick, the day was only half over. Since I still had a lot of time, I decided to go to Cohunu Wildlife Park to hold a koala. In order to get there I had to take an uber to the train station, catch a train, and then take another uber to the park since it wasn’t by any bus routes.
By this point I was had already seen the whole park. My phone was also about to die so I knew I need to order an uber soon or I wouldn’t be able to make it back to Perth. I ordered an uber to take me to the train station and then I caught the train to Perth.
I woke up with the worst sunburn I have ever had. We had a tour booked to see the rainforest today, so I couldn’t stay in my room all day to nurse my burn. I had to decide if I wanted to wear jeans or shorts. I decided to wear jeans in order to protect my skin from further burn.
Our next stop was at a little shop on the side of the road. Here, we got to try different fruit that were local to the area. While we were waiting for them to slice up the fruit, we could try samples of the different flavors of honey they have. I wanted to buy some honey, but I didn’t think I would be able to take it on the plane since I only have a carryon bag.
We then had to wait for Courtney. They had decided last night that she would pick me up from the airport, but Hamzeh forgot to tell me. So she was waiting at airport when I was in the uber to the hotel. Luckily, she still made it back in time for us to get on the boat for the tour.
Finally we got to our first spot. They were still setting up, but they gave people the option of jumping in off the platform or waiting for the stairs. We all decided to jump in. As soon as I jumped I started taking pictures because I wanted to see the difference with the red filter. I couldn’t see a difference, and when I looked at my camera I realized that the red filter had come off. It must have come off in the jump, so I just wasted $20. Grrrr….
We all wanted to do it except Hamzeh, so he stayed on the boat to take pictures. The problem was that a lot of people wanted to do it so the net got crowded fast. We were unfortunately one of the first ones to get on the net, so we were all the way at the end. As more people joined, they dragged it down where we were. After everyone was on and the boat started moving the part that I was clinging to kept going underwater and I couldn’t breath so I had to let go.
That was our last event on the boat. Afterward, we headed back to shore. We went back to the hotel to relax for a bit before going to dinner. I had a Jacuzzi bath in my room so I decided to take a lukewarm bath. I could already feel the sunburn and I knew it would be bad. Since, the bath was very relaxing. I met up with the rest of the group and we walked to a place to eat dinner. It was a very good. We were there for about an hour. The rest of the group wanted to go out drinking but by this time I had been awake for almost 48 hours and I was tired. They walked me back to my hotel. I bought some Aloe Vera from the gift shop and went straight to bed.
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |