Who went on the trip?
Ten people in total - Our family of four (My husband, myself, daughter 6, son 3.5), My sister’s family of five (My sister, her husband, daughter one – 12, daughter two – 10, daughter three – 4) and my mother (mid 60s).
Why did you decide to go overseas for Christmas?
A few reasons, I guess. We have lost some family members in the last few years and other family members have moved away – too far to really make a fun Christmas day with us driving all around Sydney for short stops at many houses. Our kids are a little bigger and I was already twitching at the mental load of Christmas after a hectic end to the school year (both as a mother and a teacher) – I wanted to opt out for one Christmas and try something else.
When did you start
planning?
We started planning in
Easter 2019, giving us approx. 9 months of making arrangements. That meant we had plenty
of choice, some discounts for booking ahead, lots of time to discuss and also
time to change our minds.
What’s the Bali
weather like at Christmas?
It’s the wet season
though it only rained twice in the ten days that we were there. It was very
hot, particularly early in the afternoon – the weather apps are generally inaccurate.
All of the shops are open til 10pm and food even later, so it’s fine to rest in
the afternoon then head out again when the heat has calmed and
rain has passed.
How long did you go
for?
We went for ten days,
and it was perfect for our group. The last day we stayed in an airport hotel closer
to the airport for a few hours as Bali is notorious for traffic jams, it gave us time to repack and
relax before our night flight home.
When did you go?
It’s really good to
look up school holidays and plan to travel just before they start, it’s generally
15-20% cheaper to fly.
We left on the 18th
of December 2019, which is the last day of Public School for the year in NSW.
It’s (pretty much) the last day of ‘cheaper airfares’ before the Christmas rush
begins.
We flew home on the 28th
of December which was a great idea for our family as it’s a very quiet time to
travel, making tickets cheaper (lots of people are flying in to Bali for New Year
at this time rather than back to Australia).
Bali fills up for New
Years Eve and traffic gets even more hectic, so it was the right time for our family
to leave.
Who did you fly
with?
We flew there on
Jetstar as upon booking they had an amazing points deal where you could fly
SYD-DPS for 20,000 Qantas points per person. The flight was on time and no
trouble.
Flying home we flew
Qantas, and there were lots of extra Economy seats to spread across for rest.
Most flights to Sydney from Denpasar leave late at night, arriving in Sydney very
early in the morning (I think Virgin might do a day flight).
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| Villa Jempiring - Phinisi Villas, it was all ours. |
How did you decide where to stay? Hotel or Villa?
I started looking at villas
as I wanted our whole family to stay together, and I also wanted a large pool
for the five kids. Also on my wish list was a seperate area for my Mum to
escape to if she needed a break, but I wasn’t sure if that was realistic.
I started searching Air
BnB and Bali Family Villas and quite quickly came across Villa Jempiring –
Phinisi Villas in Seminyak. It had a massive pool with a large shallow area,
and I couldn’t believe there was a separate one-bed villa (with bathroom) on
the other side of the pool for mum!
Once I read reviews
and also learned that the villa was 100m to the beach and just a block away
from the main shopping area my decision was made, we booked through Air Bnb.
I decided to book with
Air Bnb as they are a safeguard if things went wrong – not everything in Bali
is as perfect as shown online. We were able to pay in installments and there
were cancellation options. If we were also not satisfied with the property there were credible ways of reporting problems and having matters resolved, this
happened to my friend that arrived in Bali a few days after us and she was given
a 50% discount with the option of leaving with a full refund.
That said, our nannies
recommended the following hotels for those traveling with children:
-
Grand Mirage
-
Padma
(this would probably be my hotel choice)
-
Bali
Dynasty
-
Hard Rock
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| Our living area. |
What are the best
things about staying in a Villa?
I really liked everybody
being together. Each bedroom had its own bathroom and it was handy to have a
fridge for beer (even the non-beer drinkers seemed to be drinking beer in the
hot weather!) and a freezer for ice blocks (Zooper Doopers for the kiddos).
Also having living space was terrific if you woke up early in the morning or were
up late at night and just wanted to go somewhere to hang out and read. WiFi
was also very reliable, faster than Sydney.
Our Villa manager
Ketut cooked us breakfast each morning for A$5 per person (yes, this is true) and
it included pancakes, omelettes, Nasi Goreng and fresh local fruit. It was also cheaper than
eating locally. I was most thankful that Ketut is an excellent cook, he also prepared a special family
recipe I had brought from Sydney for our Christmas Eve dinner.
It was easy just
having the pool straight there instead of having to ‘get ready’ and walk to the
pool like you would in a hotel, there was many mornings where my son was
swimming naked in the pool before breakfast! I would often take a quick late-night dip once
the kids were asleep and I was pretty much right outside their window. It was a relief having less concern about disturbing other guests and lost property!
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| The best moment of Cohle's life to date - thanks Ati! |
Did you get
Nannies?
Yes – from Bali’s Best
Babysitting, which is an Australian agency. At approx. A$60 per day (total for
2 kids) it was super to have an extra pair of hands. They were also SO GOOD at
helping with everyday situations such as the best way to walk to the beach, good
places to shop, food recommendations. My 3yo son loved his Nanny Ati, and I
would easily do it again. They prepared food for the kids, packed bags and made
sure sunscreen was on. Ati also did all of the tiresome stuff, like watch my
son jump off a diving board forty-plus times. I also want to shout out to my sister's Nanny Ria who was an angel at getting the kids to sleep and showed us some pressure point massage to help the kids relax. My sister even went to visit Ria's village one day, where they make their own coconut oil! Towards the end of the trip Ati
took Cohle on a local scooter ride when the roads were quiet and it was easily
the highlight of his trip!
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| Christmas morning at the villa. |
Do you have any tips for spending Christmas in Bali with Children?
Having small children and a large group made me want to make this trip as easy as possible. Key to this is traffic gets quite bad in Bali over Christmas and New Year, so we tried to keep things local and central to where we were staying. Many of the activities we did were within walking distance to our villa, and Bluebird taxis were quite easy to get at the end of our street. Many ‘cheaper’ villas are located in areas where you must use transport and it’s worthwhile factoring this in (along with traffic snarls) when planning.
Having small children and a large group made me want to make this trip as easy as possible. Key to this is traffic gets quite bad in Bali over Christmas and New Year, so we tried to keep things local and central to where we were staying. Many of the activities we did were within walking distance to our villa, and Bluebird taxis were quite easy to get at the end of our street. Many ‘cheaper’ villas are located in areas where you must use transport and it’s worthwhile factoring this in (along with traffic snarls) when planning.
You need to take
Christmas presents for the kids with you, there is not much in the way of toy
shops (or even much for kids) in Bali – unless you like buying them candy. I
found a last-minute emergency present at the Carrefour Supermarket but it was definitely
western+ prices.
What are some
family-friendly experiences that you had in Bali?
I think it’s fair to
say the whole family had an amazing time with the activities we did – it came
in well above expectations. Many activities were in walking distance of our villa
and everyone really enjoyed themselves. We booked most of our activities from
Sydney so we could enjoy our time once in Bali. We booked a driver with our
villa. I should also mention it's also worthwhile having Whatsapp at the ready as this is the way the majority of people (and businesses) communicate.
Waterbom Water Park
I’m not sure what I
was expecting but this was one of the cleanest and most organised set-ups of
our trip, ensuring everyone had a terrific day! If you are in a group I thoroughly
recommend hiring a ‘Private Family Gazebo’ which had a bunch of inclusions with
the booking (including express entry, lunch, unlimited soft-drinks and
hair-braiding/massage)!
Everyone loved the Lazy
River, the Kids Pool set-up kept them busy for most of the day and it was
lovely just hanging out in the gazebo with a book then having a go on some of the more challenging waterslides!
It would be near the
top of my list for our next Bali trip!
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| The Sofitel at Nusa Dua was five-star perfection. |
Brunch at Cucina Sofitel Bali – Nusa Dua
We were curious about
the East Coast of Bali as the beaches are more beautiful and it tends to be a
bit more of a ‘resort area’ – quite often from Australia you can get heavily discounted
deals to this part of Bali.
We heard the 5-star
Sofitel had a brunch deal (with unlimited alcohol, my sister and I managed to
get a few quick roses in) where you could also swim in the hotel pools and at
their beach afterwards. To sum up IT WAS SUBLIME.
The buffet was amongst
the best I’ve ever had (up there with the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore and
that tells you something!) the pool area was so clean and relaxing, not to mention
the beautiful luxury bathrooms! I’ll definitely be looking up deals here in
future, we also got to walk down the beach past four other similar resorts so I
highly recommend doing this if you want to scope out the area.
One thing I would add
is the brunch was rather difficult to book? (I’m not sure why!) So email the resort
directly and prepare for numerous responses before all is confirmed.
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| The 6m diving board next time... right kids? |
Day at Mrs Sippy Pool Club
I was worried the kids
were going to get bored but this turned out to be one of their favourite days!!
There are so many Beach / Pool clubs to pick from in Bali but the big clincher
for us (being a group of 10) was that we wanted to book a cabana / daybed ahead
so we were in a good spot and were not split up. Mrs Sippy were one of the few
in our area that would allow us to do this, so it chose us really. Such a
fun day!!
There was a minimum
spend on food and drink for the daybeds / cabanas (about $50 a person) and it
was hard for us to achieve this – we really should have checked in on our spend
throughout the day and then we could have started buying buckets of cocktails /
top shelf spirits and finished the day
off a bit drunk!
But the highlight was my son Cohle, jumping off the 3m diving board at least forty times. He wanted to try the 6m diving board but he wasn’t allowed. God help us!
But the highlight was my son Cohle, jumping off the 3m diving board at least forty times. He wanted to try the 6m diving board but he wasn’t allowed. God help us!
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| By the end of this day she was rise-trotting with her arms in the air! |
Bali Equestrian Centre Day Camp
This was an awesome
option for our kids, it ran from 9am-4pm and by the end of the day my daughter
was trotting along with her hands in the air off the saddle! You can’t put a price on the smiles and
delight... and there was also a lovely pool (and restaurant) at the Bali
Equestrian Centre (all for the price of a one-hour trail ride in Sydney) - I stayed
for the day as some of the girls were worried they were sick but they were fine
and I really didn’t need to. The centre is European-owned and it feels like you
are in a film. Most of the other kids attending were local expat kids. Another
excellent day in Bali! It’s world class!
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| There was also an amazing pool at the Equestrian Centre and not a single horse smell anywhere! |
Did you have any amazing meals that you recommend?
Yes plenty! I have to
say we did not eat much local street food, and it might have been different if getting
sick wasn’t going to impact so many others. Our villa Manager Ketut cooked us
some incredible Nasi Goreng with sambal and Chicken Sate at our request, so we
didn’t really feel like we were missing out. I also recommend the fresh young
coconuts for drinking, they are just so sweet and are available everywhere!
Revolver Coffee
One of the unexpected benefits of our villa was ending up so close to a decent coffee shop. With the three-hour time difference (and kids!) coffee was still an important start to the day and Revolver was a pleasant five-minute walk away. I believe it's Melbourne-owned.
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| The view from Barbacoa, not joking! |
Barbacoa
I looked up many a ‘best
eating in Bali’ list early on in the planning stage and picked Barbacoa as the menu seemed to suit so many in our group - it also has an amazing view
of a rice paddy at the back. It’s basically Sydney’s Rockpool Bar and Grill,
with even better sides and salads. I wasn’t sorry we ordered the liquid
Nitrogen dessert, either! Extra points that it was a lovely space that was also
easy to hear each other in. Would definitely return, I’m actually a bit sorry
we didn’t go back for Christmas Day, the lamb chops were perfecto.
Motel Mexicola
I didn’t really get to
drink to my heart’s content this trip but this place definitely had the best
cocktails I tasted in Bali. We were there so early (had kids with us) but you
could see this place could get rockin’ later on, which I would have enjoyed!
The food was also very very good (the calamari, the tostadas, I wish I had a
chance to try dessert but the kids wanted to leave…) Very cool merchandise too,
so I picked up a t-shirt for the gym. A big yes from me, and I’d love to visit
their pool club Tropicola next time in Bali (again, best without kids…)
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| Potatohead was a sight to see! |
Potatohead
Just go, this place is
an all-round experience. It’s like a 2010’s (2020’s?) version of a super club.
We just went for an early-ish dinner but everybody in the group (including my
mother) just couldn’t get over this place. It’s just slap-in-your-face amazing
in terms of size, the pool, the bars and the music was great. The pizza was
also yum YUM. Would definitely go back. Balmy sunset, ocean breeze. Unique and luxurious with a bit of quirk!
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| La Lucciola was a beautiful way to end our trip and take stock of how good it all was! |
La Lucciola
This is apparently a long-time local favourite
and once there it’s easy to see why. We almost didn’t go as my husband doesn’t
eat much seafood (the best description of the menu is Italian-seafood), but it
was walking distance from our villa and offered a lovely quiet meal while
watching the famous Bali sunset. It’s hard to book online so we got our villa
manager to call, and we got one of the best tables in the restaurant. Try and
get a spot up on the balcony. I had a wonderful soft-shell crab pasta and the
bread was so good we asked for a second basket. Beautiful Balinese-inspired
dessert too.
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| We did a day visit to a village near Ubud. |
Did you go on any tours?
Yes, we only went on
one, mainly because of the age of our kids. We booked a Bali Buddies ‘Village
Experience’ Tour from Sydney and the only thing I wish is that we had organised
it for earlier in our trip!
It really gave us
insight into the Balinese way of life – we were shown around a village, a
family rice field and we were taken to a waterfall for a purification ceremony.
As it turned out we went along on an auspicious day, the ‘day of the black moon’
so it was really special to line up with so many local Hindu people to receive
a blessing. We also had delicious local sweets (pandan pancakes, local fruits
and fresh coconuts) and the leftovers were devoured as soon as we returned to
our villa! I’ll definitely do it again when my daughter is older and the host
Eric is just a lovable person!
Is there anything
you wouldn’t do again?
We went to a place
called the Pirates Bay when we were in Nusa Dua, which is meant to be a kids
treasure hunt. The website is particularly impressive! But I wouldn’t go again –
it wasn’t well organised and felt a bit like a money trap. It was really hot as
well. Our nannies told us it used to be better but it has sort of gone downhill.
That said, our 3yo son got to zipline and he has talked about it every day since.
I just think they have to work a few things out.
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| Cousins at Candyland. |
What about shopping?
Shopping is everywhere
and I’d say to plan in advance because you are never going to see it all. Market
shopping wasn’t that appealing to me but here are a few places I really
enjoyed:
Fabrik - Canggu
I actually stopped the
driver here on the way home from the Equestrian Centre (haha how middle-class does that sound) as I have been following
this label on Instagram for two years. They are local and ethical, and a dress
is about A$150-A$200 so not a bargain – that said I have already worn my dress
twice in the week we have gotten home. So, not a waste.
Geneva Handicrafts
A workmate who has
been going to Bali for 20 years (Hi Marg!) recommended this fixed-price place, largely
because it is two (or three) floors of Balinese handicraft shopping at
ridiculous prices. It also gives you a feel for what markets SHOULD be selling
their products for. Anything you imagine
– homewares, fridge magnets, t-shirts, candles, soaps just everything – is sold
here. It’s a real find, particularly if you have kids and they want to take
lots of presents home (lots of items for A$1-$2).
Leather stores –
Everywhere
Check them out for
work or casual shoes, many do made-to-measure. If you like ‘St. Agni’ style
shoes well Bali is for you, ‘their shoes’ are everywhere!
Chemists (Apotek)
for ‘Ellips hair treatment’
As I am 41 my hair
turns to fuzzy straw in the Bali humidity. If you are in this situation you
need to look for ‘Ellips’ hair vitamin capsules at the chemist (it’s something
like A$2 for 8 capsules) and my hair is as silky as when I was 20! You just rub
a little capsule through your wet hair after a shower. I bought a whole heap at
the airport on the way back home for gifts, I’m converted for life! It’s a
Balinese brand so very easy to find.
How did you go with
bargaining?
I went for a quick
walk along Double 6 (a shopping area) after lunch on Christmas Day to grab a
few things and I didn’t find bargaining intimidating at all. You basically ask
a price, offer half, then come to an agreement at somewhere of 60-80% of asking
price. It was fine and if you aren’t intense, neither is the shop keeper!
Fake (everything)
OK, this is hard. It’s
everywhere, it really comes down to what sort of quality fake you would wish to
buy. I was actually stunned at the range of fake products and now realise that three
suburbs over from where I live in Sydney there are many, many people wearing fake
Balenciaga slides and Supreme t-shirts! Even my nanny turned up one day wearing
a fake Balmain T-Shirt (ok, I was sort of jealous about that one!)
In central Seminyak alone there were three higher-quality (as in hard-to-tell) ‘fake’ shops (oh I could list the brands but it would be too long) and that is before market stores where it is much easier to say straight up ‘that’s a fake.’
The most popular item is the fake Gucci double ‘G’ belt, which the cheapest I saw was for 15 Australian dollars. Each to their own but yes, fakes are easy to find!
What did you use to plan?
In central Seminyak alone there were three higher-quality (as in hard-to-tell) ‘fake’ shops (oh I could list the brands but it would be too long) and that is before market stores where it is much easier to say straight up ‘that’s a fake.’
The most popular item is the fake Gucci double ‘G’ belt, which the cheapest I saw was for 15 Australian dollars. Each to their own but yes, fakes are easy to find!
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| Decorated Ganesha for 'the day of the black moon.' |
What did you use to plan?
Nothing fancy, I set
up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and used the share function so my family could
also access it. I also joined the Facebook Group 'Bali Groupies' and there were fresh tips there daily!
What would you like
to do in Bali next time?
I’d really like to
check out more of Canggu as it was on our list this time and just seemed to
fall off our plan as we got busy.
I also would like to
head down to Uluwatu and Jimbaran to take it in and maybe visit some beach clubs
in the area – even finding a villa there for a few days might be a good way to spend
time there.
I'd certainly consider finding cheaper accommodation and staying longer...
Shopping was my last
priority this time as I was looking out and organising for people, I realised
upon coming home that I had missed out on quite a few items I thought I would
have grabbed along the way. Next time I will get a whole day (ok maybe a half
day) for myself and just go for it, mainly so I’m not distracted and constantly
thinking ‘oh yeah, I’ll get it done a bit later.’ Even after dinner at night is
good when everything is still open and it’s cooled down a bit, I just never
seemed to get it done!
As the kids grow I’d
like to do more tours but I’m not actually that keen to do a lot of remote
stuff – I get travel sick and the winding (and often dodgy) roads make me feel
awful, it often takes me hours to recover.
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| Terima Kasih, Bali - We love you! |