. . . . Ricks Extra Long Summer . . . .: Bye bye Bali - I will be back sometime...next Singapore

After our last night out in Lovina we hit the sack and a bit of a lie in the next morning before our car and driver arrived to take us on the long journey back to Kuta. It is only about 90 odd kilometres across the island from North to South, but with the small roads, traffic, villages and a drive over the volcano, it took us around 3 hours to reach the outskirts of Kuta and then another half an hour to finally reach our hotel, through the maze of winding streets and alleyways. We bade farewell to our knackered looking driver after paying him the equivalent of about £30 for the 3 hour drive and then checked back into the Best Western, the hotel we left 4 days ago. Luckily, we were upgraded to a junior suite – a massive room, with a daybed type thing that just gets in the way, but its cool comfortable and cheap!

In the evening I took the girls down to the seedier end of town where I stayed last year with Ozbus and showed then the Bali Bombing memorial and the loud obnoxious bars and clubs that are there. We didn't go into any, but ended up having dinner and a beer in the same sports bar I used to frequent last year. It was a relaxed night out and we headed home early.

Our last full day in Bali was spent relaxing by the pool, soaking up the sunshine. We also collected our washing from a local Balinese laundry – it cost about £1 for nearly 3kg of washing!! In the evening took a walk down the alleyways and backstreets that lead to the seafront, on the way we encountered the usual mopeds and cars driving down streets far too small for them and us. When we reached the sea front we had a nice night out in the Oceans 27 bar down by the sea, we had a big pizza and then spent a couple of hours chatting in a sports bar whilst we watched Wimbledon. It was a nice last night out here in Bali.

This morning a big breakfast was followed by the short drive down to the airport. Last year when I flew out of Bali towards Australia, the airport was a nightmare, with queues everywhere. Today, we arrived in plenty of time expecting to queue to get through security into the airport, to check in, to get through the departure process and to get to our gate. However, the airport is really quiet and we got through everything in about 15 minutes.

We now have 3 hours to sit and wait for our flight to Singapore, where we arrive at about 3.30pm.

Bali has been great. The weather is warm and pleasant, the countryside and beaches are stunning and the people are really friendly - just like our car driver this morning, Mardy, who thanked us for visiting his home country and invited us to come and visit again sometime.....I think that is a definite possibility.