Day 4: Bali Adventures

Today marked the last morning we would wake up at Melasti Beach Resort! After lunch today we headed to our new destination just outside of Seminyak.

But let’s start off with the morning. We got up nice and early (I think I am starting a trend here) and did some shopping (also how unusual of us- shopping). We bought some more things, mostly clothes and shoes and met some more lovely locals. It’s a huge mix between some of the nicest people I have met and some of the rudest. On the one hand you get the beautiful people wishing you a nice day, asking how you are and even just saying hello good morning. But on the other hand, you get the people who are very in your face and rude especially when you are walking down the street and don’t want to buy something from their stores. 

After a hot couple of hours shopping we came back for a swim (again how different of us) and then we went and had lunch after a few drinks by the pool.

After lunch it was time for us to get a car over to our next stop on this trip- Anyar Estate Villas. Considering it wasn't meant to be very far away, the trip in the car took about and hour and a half. I feel like I will never complain about Sydney traffic again after being on the streets here in Bali. I feel like the traffic is made up because

a) there are lots and lots of people

b) the roads are often narrow and people just stop on the "side" of the road whenever they want to 

c) the scooters and motorbikes weave in and out of cars like no tomorrow and finally 

d) everyone here seems to have total disregard for any kind of road rule you can imagine?

I don't think I will get over seeing a family of 4 riding a scooter together, mothers carrying babies and small children in their arms sitting in cars and even on scooters, people wearing thongs and no helmets and even the tightest of spaces people seem to somehow manoeuvre in and around the cars. It is insane. 

Moving forward, we arrived at our villas and I am at a loss for words. It was incredible. Private villas with a pool, beautiful outdoor area, king bedrooms with ensuites. I am definitely still the most excited about the bathroom. It is an open bathroom with an outdoor toilet/shower that opens up into plants and trees and it is beautiful. There was also an outdoor living area and open kitchen set up for our villa. Words don't do it justice, so when I have faster Internet I will be inserting all the photos I can. 

The remainder of the day was spent swimming and eating and drinking. The usual, but this time by a private pool. 

Early night again because who knows what adventure will await us tomorrow morning :-)

Follow my adventures on Instagram and Snapchat @krristelley

Thanks for reading (and bare with me, there will be photos soon!)

Kristelle xx

Day 3: Bali Adventures

Good morning everyone! Another bright and early one for me today. I feel amazing. My only wish is that I had that crisp fresh air to breathe in that Australia gives me, but then I look at the breathtaking scenery and I forget that.

Another hot one today. But then again, that is every single day here. Today was the last night that we were going to be spending in Legion at Melasti Beach Resort. I must say I was super excited for this because even though the resort we were currently staying at was nice (the pools, pool bars, view, restaurant and bar were all lovely) I knew the next place we were due to stay would take my breath away. But alas, that is not until tomorrow.

Today we set out with a mission after our morning buffet breakfast and swim. We had to find a very specific tattoo shop, because that is where Kieran has planned out his whole tattoo in Bali. We had some rough directions but in these streets that really just didn’t cut it. We trekked out to the hotel he knew it was near and from there things just went crazy.

It is extremely hot and humid out, but there is no point catching a ‘taksi’ (I love their spelling haha, it just makes so much sense) because traffic is atrocious. It would’ve taken longer sitting in a car in traffic than it would of walking.

We saw a few pretty nice looking resorts on the way to Kuta where the tattoo shop is and some pretty standard stuff you would see at home that amazes me here. We found Starbucks, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s and even though they are such standard chain stores at home, it was so cool to see them in another country. McDonald’s especially, I couldn’t believe how dirt cheap their food was. Makes me miss cheap Maccas back in Aus (it’s just too expensive now for the shitty food lol).

After about 3 hours of walking, asking endless people for directions, stopping in every mini-mart (just like the standards 7/11 back home minus the petrol) for a bottle of water, stopping at a bar to have a few actual drinks and use their bathroom, paying some random shop owner 10,000 IDR (aka $1) to use their computer with internet- we finally found the place!

The place was really nice for what I thought tattoo joints in Bali would look like and the people were so friendly. We were there for barely any time at all before we headed back to our resort.

After a tiring day where we probably walked for almost 4 hours all up, we went straight for a swim, because well as per usual we were dripping in sweat.

Some more swimming, more drinks and some dinner hit the spot really well and we ended our last night in Melasti Beach Resort with quite an early one awaiting tomorrow’s adventures.

Don’t forget you can follow my adventures on Instagram and Snapchat (both are @krristelley)

Next post will be shortly,

Kristelle xxx

Day 1: Bali Adventures

Bali adventures: Day 1

So, for this little blog post series I am going to be writing daily posts (but as I have mentioned in the last few posts, the probably won’t be posted daily). I have already written a “What’s in my Suitcase” post (which you can check out here).

Day 1 of the adventure starts the second you wake up for the day ready go. We had a 10am flight to Depsnar, so naturally you have to wake up at 4am like we did. Usually I am the grumpiest person in the mornings but today was different (probably because I was way too excited for what I knew lay ahead).

We got to the airport (probably just before 6am?) we had some breaky, got a coffee to wake ourselves up and then checked our suitcases. After all this was done we had to go through customs blah blah the usual airport stuff and then came the duty free shopping. You are only allowed to take 1L of alcohol (per person over 18) into Bali and you’re allowed just over 2.25L on the way back. We purchased our alcohol for both (you can pick up the ‘way back’ alcohol when you come back into Australia.

Next came the plane. Its almost a 7 hour flight here today from Sydney, so we had to be prepared for a lot of sitting down. I brought my laptop with me (and surprise, surprise) I am catching up and planning ahead my blog posts. I am currently writing this an hour after take off (748km from Sydney and 3868km until Denpasar, Bali). I am travelling at 397km/hour and am roughly 40,000 feet above Australia. I haven’t been on a plane since I was 10 years old (which was 10 years ago), so it is all quite exciting.

Arrival

We arrived finally! Took forever to collect our bags but finally we were off into a ‘cab’. I was so shocked at the complete lack of road rules! They drive all over the place here but somehow it works so well for them that no one crashed. Motorbikes everywhere, people without helmets and 3+ people sitting on one tiny bike!

Arriving at the resort was interesting, the first thing I wanted was a mixture of “I’m starving let’s eat” and “let me jump in this heavenly pool”.

We opted for food and a cocktail first and I was amazed by how cheap everything really is here!

After a meal we headed straight to the pool and Kieran, of course, was extremely pleased with the pool bar. It was so warm and so relaxing I can not even put into words how at ease with life I was.

After a swim, we showered and decided to wander the streets and look at the shopping that we knew we would encounter the next day. Although everyone tries to sell you everything, it was overall a fun experience. Buying alcohol from the local ‘mini-marts’ every 100m and experiencing the craziness of it all was amazing.

Eventually we made our way back to the resort and finished the evening with a pizza, drink and a shower before collapsing into bed awaiting the second day of our adventure.

Keep up with my travels on Instagram and Snapchat (both usernames are @krristelley )

Day 2 adventures up next,

Kristelle xxx

Happy New Years 2015

New YEARS!
Little bit of a backstory here, but long story short, every new years, something goes wrong for me. Whether we go back to 2013 and my car broke, 2012 where we weren't allowed alcohol, 2011 where we weren't allowed to go out... and so on. Some where little things and some ruined the night (mostly). This year I was keen to have a good night with Kieran. We planned on heading into Manly to watch the fireworks, eat ice-cream and have a few drinks before heading home, having a bonfire on the beach, drinking and seeing if we could see the Sydney fireworks from where we were.

The night went something a little more like this:
5pm- I'm tired from drinking all day
6pm- Let's get ready
7pm- Okay let's actually get ready
7:30pm- Let's walk to the bus stop now
7:55pm- Just missed the bus to Manly...
8:25pm- four busses have driven past us now, despite our signalling and them not being full
8:30pm- screw it, taxi it is
8:55pm- arrive at Manly just in time for fireworks
9:20pm- fireworks were pretty I am happy now, lets get a drink
9:30pm- No where good open
9:30pm- Everything closed
9:40pm- Found alcohol and it's way overpriced
9:45pm- Let's get a kebab
9:50pm- Let's go back home and make a fire instead now
10:10pm- Bus drives past us AGAIN
10:25pm- Bus arrives
10:40pm- Bus leaves us 15 min taxi ride from home (which would of taken about 2 hours to walk lol (too many steep hills and alcohol)
11pm- Arrive home
11pm- Don't want to go with friends
11:20pm- Kieran and I sit by the lake cuddling
12am- It's midnight (better kiss)
12am- Crazy people with fireworks on the beach near us
1:30am- Bed time after a huge D&M about life and the future

It wasn't a bad night, I couldn't think of anyone else I would love to bring in the New Years with (Kieran), it was just eventful as usual. But I tried to forget the bad and the annoying and focus on the good things, because it actually was a good night.

Jess and I before Manly

Kieran and I were pretty happy with our New Years Eve supply

ooooooh bad

let's see where the night
takes us

Happy New Year!

Only picture of the Manly Fireworks I got, but they were amazing

The one extreme downside I know a lot of people face after New Years, is the awful hangover! Luckily I hydrate well throughout the night, so I wasn't a victim of the New Years hangover this year. However I did wake up absolutely starving and was desperate for a good meal. So luckily cafes at home are open and Kieran and I treated ourselves to an amazing breakfast. Shoutout to AJ's in Narrabeen, your food is awesome. I had a bacon & egg roll with an iced mocha and Kieran had an 'AJ's break' with a flat white.

Food is life

I live in such a beautiful country

After breakfast we literally spent the entire day on the beach, either laying in the sand, swimming or floating around in the lake. It was the best way I could've asked to spend New Years Day. I am definitely excited to see what 2015 has in store for me.

Thanks for reading, I will post again tomorrow about my Summer so far and will continue this blog for my 2015 adventures. 

Stelle xx

Weekends

I love the weekend as much as anyone else. Not because it means days off uni and days off work (it never usually means days off work) but because in between everything, I get to spend time with the people who mean the most to me. This weekend was no exception of course (except that I didn't have to work at all- yay)

Friday 

Started the day at 6am to get myself up and ready for an exam. It was 39 degrees Celsius on Friday and my exam room didn't have air con... I sat in there for 3 hours and wrote 16 pages in total for 4 essays. This is definately not part of my weekend. But my weekend started early at about 1pm when I had finished my exam and driven to the beach. It was a beautiful day and I'm so happy I got to be out there at my favourite place. 

Typical Friday night fashion I hung out with Kieran and we fell asleep curled up on the lounge together at about 10:30pm. Oh well. 

Saturday

Finally the day Kieran got to do his present I bought for his 18th birthday. The V8 Race Car Driving experience at Wakefield. Again, I woke up at 6am to get everything ready and drive the 2 and a half hours to be there for his 9:30 session. It was nice spending time together on the car trip and he loved driving the V8, he wanted to go again right after he was done. I'm glad he enjoyed it and it made me so happy knowing I gave him something he wanted (without him ever asking for it, becaue I'm a great present giver lol). It was a beautiful day out there and he was definitely the youngest person there to drive. The lady also mistook us for a young married couple, which was funny. 

Afternoon called for a nap after I drove almost 5 hours for him that day :( 

Night time we had plans at my best friends place because she was having a BBQ/ spa and drinks night. I was exhausted but had a wonderful night. Again got told by the family friends mum (do not know how to explain this link) that Kieran and I are basically married (I never know whether people mean it as a compliment or insult, but I take it as a compliment because love him). I ate donuts, I soaked in the spa and I watched my drunken friends run around naked and have to force them to get dressed. It was a fun night. I love them. 

Sunday 

Sleepovers= maccas breaky run. I was the sober, responsible adult who drove and we honestly bought about $70 worth of McDonalds for 7 people. Kieran and I left not long after because he was supposed to go out with a friend and I had to study. 

Of course that didn't happen, it reached 43 degrees Celsius according to my phone today and by 10:30 this morning the heat was already unbearable. We went straight to Kieran's house and went swimming. Chill mornings and then layed around in the cool house watching movies and talking and just hanging out. Even though it was so hot, today was perfect (oh and even though he kept trying to drown me lol). 

The boat is always there with us in the pool. I had a good weekend with my favourite people. But now, I am tired. It's just after 10:40pm and I have an exam tomorrow afternoon (last one!!). It's also my little sisters birthday and we are going to the movies tomorrow night with our bf's to see Mockingjay Pt 1. (finally) and I'm pretty excited. 

Thanks for reading my quick (and probably horrible looking) post (because I'm on my phone about to fall asleep). 

I had to share my happiness with you all! :)

4 Years

I made a post previously about my anniversary, but it was incomplete to say the least. I talked more about why love was important and then briefly about how I went out to dinner at my favourite restaurant with my boyfriend for our four year anniversary. We planned to do other things for our anniversary, but due to it being on a Wednesday, both of us working completely different schedules, bad weather and just overall busy lives, not everything we wanted to do had been done until now.

All we wanted for our anniversary was:

1. Dinner on the night at our favourite place to eat
2. A day away at one of our favourite places 
3. A special gift that would last forever

I'm happy to say we finally did all of those things (yay). I already spoke about number one here, so now I'm going to write about number 2 and 3. 

A day away at one of our favourite places
A few weeks ago on a beautiful Sunday morning we drove down to the South Coast to go to Kiama. Nothing beats a Maccas breakie and car trips with loud music and awful singing (mostly on my part anyway). We explored Kiama (who knows how many times we have actually done this now, but it's such a beautiful place so it doesn't matter).

Kiama Lighthouse

Kiama Blow Hole

One of the first things we had to do when we got to Kiama was go and visit the Kiama Blow Hole. First of all because it's really cool (duh), secondly because we had something we had to leave on the fence surrounding the area out towards the ocean. I'm sure everyone has heard of this which even though ruined the bridge, is still super cute. Something similar was started near the Blow Hole in Kiama, so Kieran and I thought we should join in on the couples fun. We bought the biggest lock we could find and engraved (extremely messily because it is so much harder than it looks) our names, our anniversary and some random heart. 

The padlock we left at the Blow Hole, Kiama

I put it on the fence and then I let Kieran have the honours of throwing the keys as far as he could into the ocean around the Blow Hole. We were feeling super cute after this and also hungry so we ate hot chips and sat in the sun at the park breathing in the fresh air, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying each others company. 

A bit later we ended up going for a walk around (again) and bought ice-cream from the best ice-cream shop and then went to the rock pool to again lay in the sun and this time swim. 

The Ice-Creamery, Kiama

The water was absolutely freezing, but we gave it a go and then sat in the sun to warm back up. We walked around town holding hands, talking, laughing and it was the perfect day I had imagined. In typical fashion I fell asleep in the car on the way home (he drove) and we got home without getting lost in the dark (first time yay) and had a BBQ at my house with family for dinner. Perfect day.

A special gift that would last forever
Originally this was an idea Kieran suggested about 6 months ago. We came up with more of an idea together but were always a bit hesitant (well I was the hesitant one because I am a little chicken and scared of anything that will hurt). But eventually we found the time and worked up the courage (well that part was only affecting me) and we went and got our matching tattoos. 

Our couple tattoo

Permanent. Yep they are there forever. Just how we will be together forever. Something small and simple to symbolise our love for each other. Some people have literally thought we were crazy to get matching tattoos, but it's not each others names, only a symbol. We thought the tattoos through for a long time, discussing "what if's?" such as what if we break up? But we came to the conclusion, he is my first love and I am his, even if we did go our separate ways in the future we would both clearly have a spot in each other's hearts forever :-)

Moving on to my next point, I was so scared to get this done. I think the pain was greatly exaggerated by everyone though. I cried for at least 10 minutes before the tattoo artist even touched me. Yes, I will admit that made me look incredibly stupid. Once he started, I could feel a lot of pressure and I will be honest it only hurt on the boniest possible part of my wrist.  I didn't cry when it was being done. Only before. I don't know why, but Kieran found it funny. I went first so I wouldn't chicken out. I'm happy we did it. Now for the 3 weeks without the beach or pool so it can properly heal :(

Bottom line, I love Kieran and am extremely happy we celebrated our 4 year anniversary this way.

Thank you for reading guys!