I wrote A Fucked Year about a month ago and time passed very quickly as we're now in Bali!
I had this whole week off from work which has been really nice to settle in and acclimatise with being in a new country and in a new space.
We arrived late Monday night on the 8th of September at our Airbnb so as I write this we've only had 3 full days.
This is the Airbnb we're staying in for a month. It's located pretty centrally in Canggu.
On Tuesday morning we setup the villa to our liking doing a proper unpack. The villa itself is small but has all that we need. The pool definitely doesn't pass Australian pool safety standards but it's fantastic for a quick dip to cool off with it being so hot.
The bed is comfortable (the room is well air conditioned) and the bathroom is way larger than our bathroom at home. The kitchen and living is fully outdoors which will take some getting used to.
We went for a bit of a walk on Tuesday morning just around our Airbnb area. The streets are not very walkable with skinny footpaths and large holes (like 1 metre deep) scattered along the pavement. The roads are made for scooters/motorbikes. 90% of the people in the area will ride one to get around.
We therefore quickly made the decision to hire a scooter for a month. We got a Honda Vario which cost us Rp1.35 million (AUD 123). There were no checks for license. They just took basic information like name and date of birth. I have a little bit of experience riding motorbikes at my aunt and uncles farm so it wasn't a completely crazy decision.
Riding a scooter is a little stressful the with the amount of traffic on the roads but overall it's been fine. There's been no near misses thus far. You're usually forced to drive at around 20km/hr due to the traffic so everything feels safe from a speed perspective.
I did have a feeling in the rain on Tuesday driving the scooter with Emma that was my Top Gear Vietnam moment. Driving in the humidity with a little bit of misty rain on my face; it felt amazing and very freeing.
It poured rain on Tuesday and Wednesday and there was actually a bit of flooding up north on the island which wasn't good.
I've been to gym a couple of times already and Emma has started up at a pliates studio which she's excited about.
We've had some beauty appointments - Emma (massage, pedicure and nails) and me (haircut, massage) - which have gone down a treat. Especially the massage; it was really good.
We're planning on going to a beach club today and having a surf lesson tomorrow and then it's back to work for me Monday. Emma has already done some uni classes and found the setup to be good (Wi-Fi and desk).
Some food options I've really liked thus far: Ricky D's Canteen and Bokashi Berawa which have both been lunch options.
We cooked dinner for the first time last night which was an interesting experience; we're still getting used to the kitchen. We just did some basic soft tacos with beef mince, onion and capsicum. Basic but it works.
I'll make sure to do another update in the next couple of days.
