Wayan Merta :-
As we had to make our way to Lovina which is a two and a ½ hour drive from Kuta, we decided to hire Wayan Merta (as read about on this forum ) for the day and also take in some sight seeing on the way. Wayan speaks excellent english, has a nice Toyota 4 door Jeep type vehicle he maintains in great clean condition. Wayan took us through some backroads so we could enjoy the countryside.

Monday Morning:- Lovina :
On the way to Lovina we were surprised to find some monkeys by the side of the road. Scotty loved it and I am sure its a regular thing as in the middle of nowhere on a road through the jungle are these monkeys with hawkers selling peanuts and banana's to the tourists to feed the monkeys. We also took in Gitgit falls, which were in fine flowing form after the rain over the past 2 nights. The narrow path leading to the falls is lined with hawkers stands and although we didnt enter into any bartering, they were eager for our business offering T-Shirts and Sarongs for 5000 Rp 1/3 of the price offered in Kuta. It's obvious the Balinese shop owners / hawkers in the countryside are hurting with only one other car load of people at the falls there was a total of 8 tourists and about 50 stalls. Even with this low number of tourists, they didn't hassle you much other than invite you into their shop. Once you said no, they left you alone. On the way we also stopped for lunch at the Pacung Hotel and Restaurant which is built into the hillside with a million dollar view overlooking the terraced rice paddy's and Mt Batukaru (2276m) and Mt Sengayang (2093m).

Lovina is like a small country town in comparison to the north. Beautiful views of mountains, fields and ocean. Certainly a refreshing change from the built up hustle and bustle of Kuta. The dropped tourist trade to Bali is very evident here and we were often the only customers at restaurants with the Sea breeze Cafe being the only exception.

Mas Lovina Cottages:-
We arrived in Lovina late afternoon and went directly to our hotel-the Mas Lovina Beach Cottages. Situated on the beach, this hotel is certainly different from the Hard Rock. 10 two storey two bedroom cottages with the bedrooms on the top floor and living area below. Our cottage was at the end of the property with a clear beach view from our bedroom window and rice paddy's to our left. The hotel gardens and fish ponds are lovely and well maintained. shar^kie asked 2 of the gardeners why they were trimming new growth off the tree's around one of the cottages and they replied so as not to spoil the view from the cottage bedroom window. The pool is Olympic sized and shape and is situated next to the restaurant and beside the wall, seperating the property from the beach. There were a few hawkers walking up and down the beach but they didnt hassle too much. Once you told them you didn't want to buy anything, all they wanted to do was have a chin wag with you.

Sea Breeze Restaurant:-
After a quiet night at our hotel we headed off to the Sea Breeze Restaurant as mentioned by Ringo on this Forum. We weren't disappointed as the food was excellent and very reasonably priced with bacon and eggs at 9,500rp and open ham, cheese and tomato sandwich on wholemeal pita bread for 12,000rp (it was a huge meal). The restaurant is situated right on the beach with great views along the beach to the mountains. With its black volcanic sand, Lovina Beach is certainly a different look from Kuta or Sanur Beach. There are heaps of restaurants, cyber cafe's and bars to chose from. We walked back to the hotel (taking about 20 mins), for a swim and a rest, before heading back to Lovina Central for a late snack.

Bali Bintang Restaurant:-
We had lunch at the Bali Bintang Restaurant" on the main beach road in Lovina, heading towards the dolphin statue at the end of the road where you will also find a "Mini Market" which contains about 10 little stalls. Pizza's were 9,500 rp for a base topped with tomato, cheese and oregano ( Usually called a Margherita ) and extra's including ham (3,500 rp) Pineapple (1,500) etc. They also had a good selection of Indonesian/Balinese meals and Western meals including steak, fish "N" chips and club sandwich Their fruit juices were only 2,500rp and freshly squeezed and were fantastic according to Koala. The rest rooms were very clean and have western toilets.

Out and About:-
Scott, as always made friends of everyone he met in Lovina from playing with local children to playing chess with the waiters. They were very patient teaching him how to play and his one aim is to buy a really great chessboard from Sanur Market when we head back to that side of the Island.

During the day it was hot and sunny one minute and heavy downpours the next- true tropical weather. That evening we decided to walk along the beach to a Hotel where we were told there was a band playing and local aussies hang out. With a very dull torch in hand,we wandered down the beach in the darkness and even jumped across waterways till we saw lights up a laneway. It turned out to be a rather nice looking restaurant all by itself. They gave us directions to the Hotel we were looking for but it was too far in the dark, for Scott's tiny legs so we decided to have dinner at this restaurant instead. It turned out the lady we spoke to was the owner and she had lived in Sydney for 25 years with her husband and family before coming back to Bali 4 years ago to semi retire. Her family all still live in Australia. The restaurant was totally indonesian but when Scott asked for bread,chips,butter and mayonaisse,that is what he got! He was so happy.Koala had mie goreng which was a huge plateful of noodles, vegetables with prawns Yummy she said. Back at the hotel,we watched a rather spectacular electrical storm over the sea.

Next morning it was down to Sea Breeze cafe for breakfast before we headed to Sanur. The food was again delicious. Koala just loved the home made wholemeal bread. The only disappointment with the place was their juices were on the watery side but the food couldn't be faulted.

Back to the hotel and we were ready to leave.Wayan Merta was on time and because shar^kie had an appointment in Kuta that afternoon, we couldn't tour around too much on our way back. However,Wayan took us through some spectacular mountain backroads. We climbed above the clouds at one stage and the cool crisp mountain air was very refreshing. Rice paddies on the lower slopes,the crops changed as we got higher. Coffee, Chilli and then the masses of blue Hydrangeas that are used as cut flowers and in offerings grew right at the top of the mountain. The views were certainly million dollar ones and it was another side of Bali that a lot of tourists do not see.

Cheers for now shar^kie, Koala and Scotty