Friday 15th April
We were up early this morning, meeting up with the L family so we could start the 3klm Campuhan Ridge walk before the day got too hot and muggy. To get to the ridge we walked down Jalan Raya Ubud almost as far as the bridge, turned right at the Ibah Hotel entry road, past a very pretty schoolyard (why is it always the girls who clean the school yards??)......
...... and a small bridge over the river......
and past the beautiful Campuhan temple.......before the ridge path started.
We enjoyed this spectacular walk, seeing our favourite Indus Restaurant from another viewpoint,
and the beautiful rice paddies reflecting the early morning light.....
We walked all the way to the Karsa Kafe and enjoyed a fresh juice while we admired its beautiful lotus gardens and views of surrounding rice fields and Mt Agung in the distance.
As we walked back to Ubud Rob and I were both interviewed by some local senior school students completing a homework task that involved them in conversations with English speaking "guests".
We were very hot and sweaty by the time we got back to the bridge near Jalan Raya Ubud - and pleased we'd got started on this walk so early in the day!
We lazed around the pool for the rest of the morning (we had it all to ourselves including the best shaded day beds!) and treated ourselves to a late light lunch at Cafe Wayan.
We met up with J & J and the girls (in the Cendana pool) in the late afternoon. They were enjoying a last fling in the pool before leaving for DPR airport in time to catch their overnight flight back to Sydney. Ubud suddenly felt a lot emptier and quieter as we waved them goodbye!!
However we did find the sight of these ducks tearing into the rice field in front of our villa a cheerful sight as we returned to Sri Bungalows after waving the kids off.
For our last meal in Ubud this trip we joined the L family at Ibu Rai's tonight....another wonderful meal in this food focused town
Thursday 14th April
Josh and Jody had a big day planned today with visits to the chocolate factory, the Green School and the Bali Butterfly Park on the agenda. It's Ros and Pete's last day in Bali today so we stayed in Ubud....swimming in the pool all morning and then a long lunch with the L. family as well at Casa Luna.
After lunch while Ros and Pete rested in our room we did some book shopping, including a visit to the sweet little Pondok Library beside the football field, where some pretty major restorations were in progress.......
....and got back to the Milano Spa in time to see Ella in the final stages of having her hair braided and Abi about to start.
Ella had been dying to have her hair braided for days but controlled her excitement enough to sit still for the hour and a half it took for three people to do a head full of braids on her extra thick beautiful hair!
Abi agreed to get half her head done and found the process very relaxing!
Now beautifully braided the girls were able to help us wave goodbye to Ros and Pete from Sri Bungalows before they left with Eddy for DPR airport and the long overnight flight back to Brisbane. We have loved their company for the last two weeks - it was fun sharing all the good times together in Bali Lombok.
It was J & J and the girls' last night in Bali and we celebrated with evening drinks at Cendana and shared stories of our day's adventures before we headed out for a relatively late dinner at Gedung Sisi Warung on Jalan Raya Ubud while the young things took the easy option of room service at Cendana. By this stage Ella had already developed a headache from a very long, exciting and super hot day.
We had the hottest seats in the house at Gedung Sisi - food was good (as always in Bali) but we weren't impressed with the bottle of red wine that Jurgen and Rob ordered - light and relatively sweet and served over warm at room temperature. I thought there was a taste of rancid almond about it (IMO) and Judy got whiff of diesel!! Back to Bintangs I say!
Wednesday 13th April
We started out the day again at the Cinta Grill for our morning coffees. Abi had a particularly wonderful time there this morning as one of the staff caught a little iguana for her to admire.
...along with the other wildlife at Cinta Grill (Abi is allowed to feed the fish there).
Afterwards we set out with Ros and Pete for a slow amble up Monkey Forest Road, past the football field (where it was morning break time for the Ubud PS kids).......
..up to Jalan Raya Ubud and left down towards the Campuhan Bridge (with a few shop stops along the way)
We found our way eventually to Janet de Neefe's beautiful guesthouse on Jalan Bisma where the morning Casa Luna cooking school was in progress.
A tropical downpour started just as we were thinking of ending up our walk at the Lotus Cafe and it ended up taking well over an hour for the storm to work its way towards easing.
It was actually quite spectacular to watch, safe and dry at our table in the Lotus Cafe, with waterfalls of water running off the cafe's thatched roof and driving rain bending and bruising the delicate lotus flowers in the large ponds in front of the temple. We decided to settle in for lunch and enjoy being in the midst of a torrential tropical downpour!
Ros and I headed down to Bodyworks in Jalan Hanomen after that so we could both experience a deep tissue Ayurveydic massage together - heavenly afterwards, but occasionally painful during!
It was 4.00pm or so before we got back to Sri - barely enough time to shower and change and then walk back to Cendana for afternoon drinks hosted by Josh and Jody. The rain started bucketing down there too - giving us all something to be amazed by as we drank our G&Ts on their little verandah.
Once the rain eased we set off in a couple of different directions for dinner. Josh and Jody and the girls headed off to Cinta grill while the rest of us walked back to Jalan Bisma for another wonderful Ubud meal at the very elegant Cafe des Artistes. Judy and Jurgen and the girls were very happy with their visit to the Bali Bird Park that day and were full of stories about it!
On the walk back to Cendana we could all see something very interesting was going down at the Laughing Buddha Bar. We could see the audience was in an uproar - phones out everywhere all trained on a great guest solo singer performing with the regular band. We found out later it was actually Guy Sebastion who is apparently holidaying in Bali at the moment and who must have been prevailed upon to perform a guest stint! The crowd was loving it!!!
...... and a small bridge over the river......
and past the beautiful Campuhan temple.......before the ridge path started.
We enjoyed this spectacular walk, seeing our favourite Indus Restaurant from another viewpoint,
and the beautiful rice paddies reflecting the early morning light.....
We walked all the way to the Karsa Kafe and enjoyed a fresh juice while we admired its beautiful lotus gardens and views of surrounding rice fields and Mt Agung in the distance. 
As we walked back to Ubud Rob and I were both interviewed by some local senior school students completing a homework task that involved them in conversations with English speaking "guests".
We were very hot and sweaty by the time we got back to the bridge near Jalan Raya Ubud - and pleased we'd got started on this walk so early in the day!
We lazed around the pool for the rest of the morning (we had it all to ourselves including the best shaded day beds!) and treated ourselves to a late light lunch at Cafe Wayan.
We met up with J & J and the girls (in the Cendana pool) in the late afternoon. They were enjoying a last fling in the pool before leaving for DPR airport in time to catch their overnight flight back to Sydney. Ubud suddenly felt a lot emptier and quieter as we waved them goodbye!!
For our last meal in Ubud this trip we joined the L family at Ibu Rai's tonight....another wonderful meal in this food focused town
