Bali day 3 (Tuesday 9th June) South Kuta and Uluwatu

We woke up to an amazing breakfast of pancakes, syrup, bacon, fruit, sausages and eggs. Rama and Ewan met us around 9:00 and we all piled into the cars for a day trip exploring the southern beaches. This was an area Paul and Dee never saw on their previous trip so they were also excited.

As always the traffic was terrible and it took over an hour before we reached our first stop. Ewan took us through the town of Jimbaran and stopped right by the fish market. Here we walked on the beach amongst many colourful fishing boats, some out to sea and some beached on shore. We picked up a couple of fishy smells but nothing could quite prepare us for the fish market... We walked up the road, arm in arm with grandma, and into the market itself. Hundreds of stalls selling every type of fish, all probably freshly caught that morning, as well as crabs and the biggest prawns we had ever seen. It was pretty fascinating, and we then understood why there were rows and rows of seafood restaurants adjacent the market.

The other car arrived and we met them on the long pier, checking out other fishermen to see what they were catching. The ocean was calm and the day clear and beautiful and warm. The drivers took us to the Jimbaran beach club for refreshments, and we relaxed alongside the beach with delicious ice creams, milkshakes and coffees...

We carried on the tour and headed in the direction of Uluwatu on the Bukit peninsula, amidst palms and greenery and many small towns with shop and stalls and resorts. We arrived at the Uluwatu temple and parked, leaving some of the party behind in the food stalls. Rama acted as our guide and took us through the temple area, after we had left all belongings behind for fear of the rampant monkeys... First stops was tickets and lovely purple sarongs, as respect for everybody for the temple. Those that were acceptably dressed still had to tie a yellow ribbon around them. Rama led us along the the side of the site, up a steep wall along a cliff, with fantastic views. We climbed many stairs and saw a part of the temple up high. We then walked around and reached other parts of the temple, All along treacherous cliffs and with fantastic views.

Finally we headed towards the exit, and this was the first time we saw the dreaded monkeys, one has stolen a slop from a tourist, but in general they looked lazy and unthreatening. We met up with the rest of the gang and drive to our next destination... Some of us fell asleep in the car and woke up in the amazing gardens of driveways of Nusa Dua. The drivers dropped us off and we walked a short distance towards the beautiful beach coves, lined with cool restaurants. Uncle Paul picked an excellent one for us, called the "Haze club". We grabbed a seat with a view of the ocean and dined on delicious Thai food for lunch. After lunch some of us went for a swim in the shallow sea water and then in the beautiful warm pool.

We headed back to the cars and they took us on the long drive home. This time they took us on the highway, effectively a bridge between the southern part of Kuta and the mainland they even have their own eTolls...

Arriving home, we had an amazing fish braai, cooked by our very own chef to look forward to. He and his assistants started early, preparing delicious sauces and sambals to accompany our meals. He cooked out 10 little snappers over the coals, followed by a lot of beautiful prawns, served with rice and veg, delicious!