We didn’t exactly set out to repeat what we did yesterday but, by coincidence or inertia, we seemingly landed in much the same spot. The morning routine was well, routine, and wrangling our children into kids club wasn’t much of a struggle at all. We were then left at a bit of a loss as to what to do with our time as we hadn’t planned anything and well our desires to do the usual local activities weren’t particularly strong. So we took the path of least resistance: we didn’t do much at all.
There were some brief moments spent beachcombing, looking for shells and other keepsakes to add to our broad collection we have back home. I wouldn’t say it’s a tradition but for any trip that’s close to a body of water we’ve likely got a memento of some kind floating around in one of our bathrooms. I can almost pinpoint all of them although I will admit that there’s been some mixing over time that has left the origins of some a little more obscure. But still it’s a nice reminder of the places we’ve been and for many of them what made it unique.
For Bali, or at least where we’re staying that seems to be coral. There’s a bunch of different types washed up on the local beach, much of it bleached. But there were still a few nice examples of blues, greens and a few other shades dotted around the place. My wife and I located a few choices pieces to bring back home and we’ll likely make a jar out of them. Hopefully we can prevent the kids from pilfering them by doing so.
There was a bit of admin to sort out as we’re rapidly approaching our final day here. My wife went up to reception to ask for a late checkout and to see if we could still make use of the facilities on the last day (check on both accounts) and I checked out a local water park to possibly secure tickets and a cabana for us on the last day. My task didn’t end as well unfortunately, the cabanas being quite a popular item. I did however track down an adventure park that looked pretty good so we figured we’d let the kids decide which one they’d like to do on their final day here.
The next few hours were spent doing not much at all. I listened to my book, doomscrolled and watched a few choice YouTube vids. As someone who used to do all the things when travelling I am very much enjoying not doing that these days and am very content to spend my holidays doing not much of anything at all. Given the late morning to late afternoon heat too this isn’t a losing proposition either as it makes doing anything outdoors an exhausting affair if you’re not poolside.
My wife ducked out in the middle of this spree of nothingness to meet up with her sister again for a couple drinks. I caught up with them when they were about 4 drinks in for a light lunch and some louder than average conversation. After we did that the girls mulled over getting into the pool but upon returning to the room to get changed the alcohol caught up with my wife and she wanted nothing more than a nap. I took the opportunity to get a couple chapters deeper into my book before she took off to get her nails done with said sister.
It was then that the short story I had started outlining in my head started pushing at me to find its way onto (digital) paper. So I sat down and got out about 1000 words before I checked my phone again, seeing a message from my wife asking me to bring her something some 45 mins ago. I hurried over to her with sincere apologies before I was sent on another errand to see if we could book the resort photographer to get some family photos done. They weren’t around when I first arrived but half the in-laws were and we got chatting for a good long while until my wife showed up. It was close to closing time for the kids club around then so I darted off to get the kids whilst my wife looked into the photos and gossiped with her family.
The cousins were still in the pool when I brought the kids back and my daughter immediately wanted to join them again. We quickly headed back to the room to get changed before heading back into the larger pool to spend about an hour swimming, chatting and generally fooling around with the extended family. It was the perfect time for it too, what with the sun just dipping under the horizon and the wind dying down.
It was Balinese night at the main restaurant which was something both my wife and her sister were keen to go to. They also had traditional Indonesian dancers on a small stage they set up, something which both the kids seemingly loved. Our daughter even got up for one of the interactive sessions, doing a great job mimmicing the dancer even though she could only see part of what was going on since she was directly behind her. She’s not one to shy away from the spotlight for sure.
Tomorrow will be a bit more an involved affair as we have our photo shoot mid-morning and I’m sure we’ll have some spirited discussions about the last day’s activities. The kids are also seemingly getting bored of the kids club so we’ll probably try and keep them out for a bit until us parents need a break. They are having another movie night however so I’m sure the reticence to attend will quickly change once they know that’s on the table.
And then all that’s left is the final day. How time flies.
