Friday, June 12, 2015

Bali-Day 6

On day 6 again, we had a driver pick us up from our hotel early because we had a good distance to drive. We were heading back inland to go to Bali Treetop Adventure Park, it is a place where you play in the trees! There are climbing walls, ropes, zip lines, and all sorts of obstacles. I had seen this place on Tripadvisor and knew my family would love it!
So we drove two and a half hours! No, the island isn't that big, but traffic can be horrendous. The drive was beautiful, back into the jungle and rice paddies, and the mountains. Bali Treetop is located inside the botanical gardens, so there is a lot to see in this area, and it is picturesque!
All harnessed up and ready to go...well, almost. We had to learn what we were doing, I was a little worried about Avie Jo, but she caught on quick!
There is a small section just off the ground where the employees can make sure you know what you're doing before they let you loose. Danielle had it right off the bat and then we didn't see her much the rest of the time; she was in the trees!
Rayce was also anxious to go and could of stayed here all day; he was bummed out when it was time to leave that he hadn't gone on all the courses!
I was worried about Avie that she would pinch her fingers and that maybe the park was a little too big for her, but she definitely could hang with the big kids.
Dan started off on the hardest course! I was more timid.
After two and a half hours our hands and arms were sore, but we all had a great time. We walked around to check out the botanical gardens.
After, we went to a nearby temple. It's called Ulun Danu Bratan Temple; and it's a classic landmark in Bali. It also appears on the 50,000 rupiah bill.
The gardens surrounding the temple are something else!
What a day! A little culture, a little adventure!


Thursday, June 11, 2015

Bali-Day 5

Day five, we had a driver pick us up from the hotel after breakfast and take us to two beaches that we're on the other side of the island. First we went to Pandawa Beach.
There was some sort of Hindu ceremony going on as we first walked up.
Our driver assured us this was a good beach for swimming; but the waves were huge! No way, I was going to let the littles in the water here!
This was a hopping day to be at Pandawa, there was a movie being filmed here, and also, some surfers practicing for a competition.
We stayed at Pandawa a couple of hours but the kids were too afraid to get in the water, so we asked our driver to take us to another beach that didn't have as big of waves, so he took us to a place called Dreamland.
And again, pretty big waves! It's okay, I assured the kids they wouldn't be swept out to sea and gradually they get in a little more and a little more.
Aside from the big waves, Dreamland was very pretty.
After leaving the beaches, the sun was starting to set so our driver took us to Uluwatu Temple to see the sunset. It's a popular place for tourists to watch the sun setting right next to the temple on the cliff. It was beautiful!
These guys were such troopers after a long beach day, they're awesome travelers. Just keep them fed.
The temple.
It was busy.
We stayed for sunset and then went for dinner, by the time we made it back to the room, we all crashed! Beautiful and fun day.