As the 4.5 hour flight from Cairns, Australia touches down we now found ourselves in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. We payed our 500,000 Indonesian Rupiah per person entry visa, cleared customs, exchanged some money and picked up a SIM card. We then jumped in a high priced but low distance taxi to Transera Kamini Legian Hotel just after 11:30 pm in the Kuta district. The girls were exhausted and fell asleep immediately. Shannon and I settled with a bit of food we could purchase from the corner store across the street. It was now time for a new country and new adventure.

Room service breakfast was completed the following morning and the girls chased frogs in the courtyard while we gained some information for the plans on the horizon.

We took a little stroll to enjoy the sights and the first thing we came across was the memorial for the Bali bombings that took place back in 2002. This attack resulted with 209 people injured and 202 lives lost. Continuing further down the street we stumbled across the Beachwalk Shopping Centre. Here you can view a large selection of name brand products mixed with local restaurants and even a movie theatre. Us being the window shoppers we are, meandered on through and out the other side ending up at the beach.

Kuta Beach is best known for its surfing, boasting perfect learner waves and endless sand to spread out the crowds. Upon first arrival we were left with pure surprise and amazement. Not at the waves nor the beach but what was in the water and on the sand. The entire area was covered in plastic garbage. You could not take two steps without treading on some sort of plastic bag, drinking straw or plastic cup. Looking out into the ocean waves it was just the same. As the waves were breaking you could see the reflective silver packaging of chip bags and others shining back at you. Not sure if it was the rainy season storms blowing this in, or the fact that it was just after New Years, but we quickly left the area as it was too much to take in and the girls were starting to ask many questions that we did not have answers to.

After lunch of local Indonesian flavours of nasi goreng (fried rice), gado gado (steamed veggies with peanut sauce) and some veggie spring rolls we made our way out of the heat and back to our hotel room. We spend the rest of our day swimming in the pool and relaxing in the lounge chairs while trying to plan what was next. It being the rainy season had some cloud cover but the heat and high humidity was taking its toll on us all.

The Streets if the Kuta / Legian area seem like a bit of a maze as there are primarily two main roads (one in each direction) and a twist and turn of smaller side streets that can leave you disorientated between the two. The shops and vendors overflow with goods for sale and haggling over a price is a must do as the asking value is most likely double what the real value should be. There is a never ending supply of things to look at and you could spend all day just exploring the shops and eating at the abundance of restaurants.

In the early morning I would head out for a jog, meandering through the streets and down to the beach where I would run along either the boardwalk or right near the water where there was minimal garbage to trip over. While jogging I could see the many stall owners raking and picking up garbage in front or their booths as well as huge loader machines combing the sand and placing the garbage into towering piles. Come the following morning however the beach looked the same as it did the day prior.

We spent two nights here figuring out our next plan. We would head north to Ubud next, but before that we shuffled around our gear and decided to leave a duffle bags for the month at the hotel, making one less piece of luggage to drag around. The hotel put it in their secure room and we would be back to pick it up and stay two more nights before flying out to where ever our next destination will be.