The wedding itself was beautiful, with the ceremony on the beach front next to the hotel restaurant. There was big menacing storm clouds in the background but the rain held off until the ceremony was finished. We got one group photo before it started pouring rain and had to retreat to the restaurant.
The reception was without a doubt the most fun reception that we’ve been to. The food was great and there was a live band that sounded incredible so everyone was up dancing.
Mik and Michelle’s wedding was at Kommune Resort in Keramas. But the rooms were all booked by the time we had leave approved, so we ended up staying at the surf camp next door which was a great little spot.
The free breakfast came with a great view.
The beach itself was pretty awesome, although it had shallow reef so no swimming. I went for one surf at high tide and didn’t die so pretty happy with that.
We had a free day in Keramas, so thought we would head back to Ubud to see some of the places we didn’t have time for. The videographer for the wedding, James, was staying next door and suggested Tegenungan Waterfall and came along for a drive. There was barely anyone there when we got there. You are allowed to swim and so we jumped in and stood under the falls. The power of the water coming down was incredible, and literally took your breath away when you were standing directly underneath the torrent of water.
From Ubud, we got up at 2 in the morning so we could do the sunrise hike of Mt Batur, which is an active volcano. After about an hour drive we got to the start of the trek and met our guides, who gave us torches and led the way.
After lots of stops we made it to the top, but still couldn’t see much as it was still dark. Then it started to piss down rain and so we got soaked, but our guides brought ponchos for us so at least our clothes kept mostly dry.
After driving from Seminyak to Ubud, we checked in at our hotel which had great rooms and a nice pool. Just up the road was the Ubud Monkey Forest so after our welcome drink we headed straight there.
The monkeys themselves were okay, but the forest had an awesome walk through a stream and a temple so it was well worth the visit. As we were leaving we noticed that there were heaps of Monkeys' running on the roofs of the buildings in the town and climbing down the power poles which was a pretty crazy sight.
We got our driver Gede to take Rachael and I to see Uluwatu. At the temple we saw our first monkeys and they stole the sunglasses from another girl there. The cliffs that it overlooked were cool and you could see why they would want to have built a temple there. We then went to Panang Panang Beach, was stunning but then it started to pour rain so we left. To get onto the beach you need to walk through a tight cave.
Our flight to Bali was interesting because I think it’s my first flight over mainland Australia in daytime. Just hours and hours of nothing.
Rachael was a little overwhelmed when we landed by all the drivers asking if we wanted a taxi, and the intense traffic to get to Seminyak and meet Tom and Bec. We stayed in a private villa with a pool near Double Six beach and the rooms were pretty awesome.
