A Reunion of Sorts

After 2 years abroad living and working in Canada, Alannah, kid #1, decided to return to Australia and re-evaluate things. To her that basically entailed filing tax returns and scraping enough money together to immediately head off to Japan for another season or two in their snowfields. With her only a few weeks in town, Fatpap concluded the best way to spend any quality time with her and catch up on the last few years would be to organise a long weekend in Queensland together.

Of course that proved ridiculously expensive but a quick internet search did yield a fabulously cheap 6 day deal to Bali. That all seemed super extravagant for a catch up, but hey, why the hell not.

When relaying the good news via FaceTime kid #1 surprised her father with a beautiful gesture asking if her brother, kid #2 could also come along. Despite that increasing the overall cost by 50%, it was a fabulous notion and the deal for all three of us was booked immediately.

So on the 10th of November with only 2 weeks notice, we boarded VA65 from Sydney to Denpasar to begin a week long conversation punctuated by excessive food and Bintang consumption diluted with endless hours poolside and shopping. We calculated it had been 2.5 years since all three of us were together and what eventuated was a glorious week especially for Fatpap with his two beautiful children at his full disposal.

The flight north was as expected and we were met on arrival by a private driver who took us to our digs, the New Garden View Resort in the heart of Legian Beach. Only minutes walk from the beach, Garlic lane and all restaurants, the hotel was nothing to swear by but had spacious rooms, two swimming pools and cheap rooftop Bingtangs. As part of a Virgin Airlines package for around $900 per person, it was more than adequate and certainly met our initial brief. Arriving late evening we chucked the bags into our adjacent balcony rooms and literally walked across the road for a few beers and our first of many Nasi Gorengs.

The whole premise of this trip was to relax and just spend some time together, so accordingly nothing was planned nor booked and we would just be going with the flow. With that, day one saw Fatpap up predictably early for a dawn beach walk and coffee. The in house buffet breakfast offered a varied selection of Eastern and Western dishes that didn't go wanting and from there it was only a few steps to the courtyard pool where the book came out and shirt came off. Aforementioned kid #1 and #2 drew their curtains back a little before the 10:00am breakfast cutoff then joined Fatpap poolside to plan out the rest of the day.

That plan amounted to grabbing fresh towels from the kiosk and moving up to the rooftop swimming option where a bucket of icy cold Bingtangs were promptly ordered. It was close enough now to midday and we were on holidays after all. Although the hotel was a little dated and perhaps needed some zhooshing, the rooftop was fantastic offering panoramic views of Legian under wicker cabanas on bean bag lounges. Another A$10 bucket of Bali Water was ordered without argument and we continued the planning session in earnest.

Before long the rumbles started and we decided some lunch should be in order. As with most Bali visits one only needs to wander down any street to find any number of establishments offering their own brand of perfect Balinese cuisine. Today we choose a little hole in the wall on the very same street as our hotel for some, you guessed it, Nasi Goreng, wontons, satay skewers, fried chicken, samosas and of course plenty of Bingtangs. The food was absolutely sensational and all for around A$50.

Being out and about, after lunch we took the opportunity for some obligatory street shopping where kid#1 took full advantage of Fatpap’s holiday generosity. Kid#2 quickly read the room and chimed in for some action himself. Shirts, shoes and handbags would now have to find their way into our suitcases home despite Fatpap’s wallet paradoxically gaining greater space with every shop entry. As our third visit to the island paradise we were all excited for the customary afternoon beach session of beers on bean bags and beach hawker pestering. From the hotel a 5 minute stroll down Jalan Padma spat us out right in the middle of Legian Beach. And among the scores of bars and beach pavilions, Mama’s Bar was the first to grab our attention so we of course parked ourselves under an oversized beach umbrella to quickly meet the owner and start a tab of Bingtangs and Vodkas.

As cliche as it is, and as full of Australian tourists as it is, to while away an arvo down the beach waiting for a spectacular sunset with your own personal waiter is a fantastic part of any Bali adventure. It gave Fatpap the chance to catch up with kid#1 while kid#2, who has a talent for languages, quickly made new friends while simultaneously brushing up on his Indonesian. The piles of empties grew in the sand as the sun tried its best to perform but lacked the courage tonight of beating off the persistent clouds.

Squaring off our beach bar tab is was only a very short walk to the first restaurant sighted for dinner. Conveniently located right on the beach and with a cocktail menu meeting wide approval, we settled in for a feast of seafood and spices and the odd bottle of wine for the rest of the evening. Whilst not the finest of restaurants or the greatest of service, it was perfect for us and we chatted the night away regaling stories of the past 3 years and resurrecting childhood tales of growing up in Illawong. It was a truly wonderful night and the very reason Fatpap organised the entire trip.

The evening ended with two 6-packs purchased from the 7-11 across the way on one of our balconies much later than it should have but exactly when it was supposed to.

The next few days were more or less a carbon copy of our first. The kids would sleep in while Fatpap was off walking or swimming or reading. We had breakfast on the terrace then beers by the pool. Some lunch, some shopping, perhaps a little sleeping, then beachside for an afternoon session at Mama’s before dinner somewhere close. It was in essence the perfect holiday and completely pressure free.

The weather played its expected part at such a latitude with the days sunny and humid with occasional showers lasting only minutes. Afternoon storms often rolled across the Indian Ocean but brought with them spectacular cloud formations and surpisingly little rain. Either way, it never bothered us and only added to the laissez-faire attitude adopted for the week.

On our final night however we finally got the expected Balinese sunset we were all hoping for when the clouds positioned themselves ever so brilliantly to reveal a kaleidoscopic dance of yellow, orange, red and purple hues while finishing with a splash of pink before ending on the bloodiest of red skies when our fiery ball of gas dipped beyond the horizon. No two sunsets are the same and todays will certainly be remembered as being spectacular. It was nice to end on such a high note and even the kids were blown away by its beauty.

Wrapped with natures show, we began looking for a suitable place for dinner and only had to walk 100 meteres further up the beach to discover the Sees Cafe and Eatery with tables perched right on the sand and a cocktail waiter not far behind. We opted for a seafood platter and the usual array of Balinese specialties between cocktails, wine and the odd Mojito and sat there most of the night just chatting away and filling in remembered gaps of the past few years of Alannah being away.

It was the perfect end to the perfect shotgun holiday leaving Fatpap completely satisfied with his knee jerk decision to make it all happen. To spend uninterrupted time with your kids is special, to do that everyday for a week even more so. We weren’t always in each other pockets but knowing we were together for that entire week brought a fat old garbo to tears at times. And the guys too would often shout drinks or pay for lunch which was completely unexpected but did because they too were appreciative of the time spent together.

Our final morning started no differently except today Fatpap decided to walk further up Legian Beach to check out the resort we all stayed at during our last trip to Bali in 2019. It hadn’t changed and was a nice blast from the past proving his fading memory perhaps is only selective ? With the sun now running the show it was straight on the back of a local motorbike taxi for the return trip to our current hotel. With our return flight to SYD not scheduled until late evening, it seemed only fitting to reside rooftop and get another bucket or two of Bingtangs before lunch. Kid#2 had scheduled a catch up down the beach with some new mates so he scarpered for the morning allowing kid#1 to take full advantage of Fatpap’s inebriation and never waining generosity.

So it was lunch and some shopping for our last day in Bali before honouring an appointment made the day before. We had for some years all discussed getting matching tattoos and early on decided this trip would be the appropriate time to make that reality. Well the kids decided against it at the last minute but Fatpap was fully committed and selected, on a compete whim and under duress, a lion tattoo in the shape of Africa in honour of his recent travels to the dark continent.

So still draped in cling-wrap, we flew home overnight to immediately meet our entire family for a prearranged lunch to celebrate Alannah’s birthday. It was really a great way to end such a wonderful week away and share with everyone the good times we had.

In the end we did nothing, went nowhere special and spent too much. But we had a blast, shared a thousand stories and laughs, reminisced about the kids childhood and learnt a lot about each other now as adults. In hindsight it was a fabulous idea to piss off together for a week and do what we did, and despite the obvious fights not remotely discussed here, all agreed to do it again in a few years and perhaps make it a new family tradition.

Thanks for listening.

Fatpap, Alannah & Mackay

On a side note, and only because this website is a “photography website”, for the first time in ages Fatpap didn’t travel with one of his many cameras. All images above were taken on an iPhone 15 proving just how good they actually are and sometimes thats all you ever need to help tell a story.

A Rush of Blood to the Head