October 22, 2012 BENOA HARBOUR ARRIVAL, BALI - ASTON BALI HOTEL
After our last night aboard ORION (so sad) I was awake early and out on deck watching our arrival down the Lombok Strait off the East Coast of Bali - Mt Kintamani in Eastern Bali, a volcanic mountain, was highlighted by the rising sun and the skies turned from hues of purple to blue to gold. We ate breakfast on the back deck watching the island of Bali get closer and closer. Coming in to the harbour there were locals with huge long fishing poles standing up to their chests in the water fishing. All too soon our cruise came to an end as Captain Vincent piloted us into the Benoa Harbour and gently nestled us against the dock there. I was on the deck above Captain Vincent looking down as he docked - when the Orion II was safely tied up I did call down and ask Captain Vincent if he needed a hand docking - he just laughed!
It was time to pick up our hand luggage, say farewell to the crew and especially those whom we had become very fond of (Eric, Teddy, Drew) - unfortunately Eric was sick in bed but Teddy took down our best regards to him. We were very sorry to say Goodbye to Maxi our favourite expedition leader - what a wonderful cruise we had shared with him, and we were so lucky to have Maxi with us for our day at Camp Leakey. Our luggage was waiting for us on the dock and so was Nick, our Tour Guide for Bali - Nick had a young lady with him who gave everyone a beautiful plumeria lei (the flowers smelled heavenly) which we had pre arranged for our group - and then we were soon loaded onto our new 19 passenger tour bus.
It had been over 12 years since we were last in Bali and it had changed quite a lot - some new roads and many new buildings, and the amount of traffic had significantly increased especially in the Southern part of Bali where the Denpasar international airport and city of Kuta are located, along with most of the tourist resort area (Sanur, Kuta, Jimbaran, Legian, Seminyak, Nusa Dua and Tanjung Benoa). We arrived at the Aston Bali hotel and were busy checking in when Rob arrived - a huge surprise for Michelle - she was simply flabbergasted!
Everyone was soon checked into their room, unpacked, swimsuits pulled on and out to the beautiful pool right on the ocean front to enjoy a cold beverage and lunch. Nick waited until everyone was settled in before heading off with an arrangement to meet at 8:15am the following morning for our first full day tour. Unfortunately we had a couple of folks who had picked up something over the last two weeks and would take several days to start recuperating. Most of us had taken the all inclusive package at the Aston Bali so all of our meals and beverages were included, and we enjoyed several fancy umbrella drinks at the pool bar each day - it is a beautiful and very large pool with a sandy beach leading into the pool, there is a waterfall leading into a small area in the middle of the pool, and several large sun cots built in - a great place big enough for swimming, relaxing and certainly enjoying yourself - it never felt like you were in a crowd - either in the pool, on the pool decks, or on the beach. Since we stayed here last a new linked brick walkway has been built' all along the edge of the beach next to the hotels, and every few hundred yards there has also been built a small raised walk way going out into the water with a small sitting pagoda at the end - I think this must serve as a water break (and help with sand retention) if the water gets rough and in addition a perfect spot for watching the sun rise each morning!
For lunch we ate at the covered palapa next to the beach - the perfect spot for cooling breezes off the ocean and quite casual. Each evening this restaurant, bar and surrounding area next to the pool was set up for a BBQ or buffet with a different theme each night - and on some evenings there was also Indonesian or Balinese singing and/or dancing. For our first evening we dined at the lovely two level restaurant next to the pool called the ?. It had a very nice menu and over the next 9 days we thoroughly enjoyed a wide variety of such dishes as nasi goreng, and ? The restaurant was candle lit and al fresco, never busy even though the hotel was fully booked - and one of my favourite touches were the floor candle holders - I would love to get a couple of those made for my own home! I think we were in bed before 10am and asleep before our heads hit the pillow!
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