Gili T Island, Lombok, Indonesia "Happy Oz-tray-ya Day-e"

Destination: Bali and Gili T, Indonesia

Days Spent: 4
Where we stayed: Harris Hotel in Bali and Manta Dive in Gili T

Best of: Relaxing on the beautiful beach of Gili T, cheap food, and even better, cheap beer!

Most memorable: Candlelight dinner on the top of the Beach House balcony watching the sunset

Kaes and I went had a long weekend for the Australia Day holiday, which is basically the same as our July 4th. For those of you who would like a correct pronunciation, the holiday is "Oz-tray-ya Day-e"

The celebration is quite big here in Perth, but we took the opportunity to get away to someplace new for the weekend, so we headed to Bali, Indonesia and to the Gili Islands off of Lombok. The 3 Gili islands are Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. Gili T is the most popular with more hotels and restaurants and but still quiet enough away from the hustle and bustle of Bali. Here is a map below to show exactly where we were. Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands, so it is no doubt a huge country spread out over a very large region.

Kaes was in Singapore for work during the week, so I flew from Perth and we met up in Bali Friday night. We flew in late, so stayed close to the airport and boat port at the Harris hotel in Kuta. You can spot Kuta and Bali (Denpasar) on the above map at the southern tip of the island. Ironically enough, across the street was a Dutch bar that we decided to go check out and taste some authentic Dutch treats while listening to the band.

The next morning we woke up early to catch a high-speed boat on the Ocean Star express to the island of Gili Trawangan (Gili T for short) which is about 2 hours east of Bali (Denpasar) and on the northwest corner off the main island of Lombok, located in the West Nusa Tenggara region. Lombok map shown below.

We arrived to Gili T around 10:30 Saturday morning and checked into our bungalow at Manta Dive. It was conveniently located right by the boat dock and was a traditional Balinese style bungalow complete with an outdoor shower :)

As soon as we were unpacked and settled, we headed to grab a bite of lunch and then went out for our first dive that afternoon to the dive site "Halik." Here we were quite surprised at how many different species of fish and underwater life we saw and in such abundance!

Map of the dive sites around the Gili Islands

Sunday and Monday were both dive days to the sites Manta Point, Shark Point, Sting Ray and back to Halik. All of the dive sites had colorful fish and exotic sea life. Many cuttlefish, large octopus, stone fish, bat fish, dog-face pufferfish, and even rare frog fish that were enormous for their size!

Kaes and I with our awesome dive guide Dan. He did an incredible job and was quick to point out any creature great or small

Kaes toggling with his new underwater gear

Peek-a-boo! A very shy octopus hiding beneath a rock

A cuttlefish that has changed its color to clear so as to glide through the water unnoticed

Kaes supporting A&M all the way in Indonesia!

The last evening, we decided to go to the Beach House and have a romantic dinner on top of their balcony and watch the sun set. It was a perfect way to end our relaxing and wonderful getaway.

The next morning we heading out by boat from Gili T to Lombok. We had about a 30 minute drive to the airport and enjoyed the lushness of Lombok island complete with monkeys running around the street. Then it was back on a flight from Lombok to Bali to spend a few hours before our flight home to Perth.

On top of the Acropolis and Cruising the Mediterranean

Destination: Greece - Athens & Santorini

Number of days spent: 6

Where we stayed: Hotel Rio (close, but not quite like the one in Vegas) in Athens and Neoklassiko and Porto Fira (after we were "stranded") in Santorini

Best restaurant: A small restaurant, Cafe Classico, looking out to the Caldera in Santorini

Best of: Breathtaking views from the Acropolis, wonderful Greek food and Baklava

Worst of: Although the weather was beautiful in Santorini, the high winds caused us not to be able to visit Crete, which we were a little disappointed

Most memorable: The outlook of the caldera volcano at sunset in Santorini and the lighthouse lookout in the southern tip of Santorini as well as the Acropolis and Parthenon in Athens

After a wonderful time in the US with friends and family, we set off to Europe. First we flew into Frankfurt, Germany and had time to walk around the city before our flight to Athens. It started to snow and was pretty cold walking around, but nice to get out after such a long flight. After about 5 hours, we headed to Athens. We didn't get in until the evening, so we settled into our hotel and then found some traditional Greek food for dinner.

The next day we hired a driver, Demetrius, to take us around to all of the major sites in Athens. We started the morning off to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon, temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheum, and the Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus. We also saw the Olympic stadium where the first "modern" olympics were held in 1896 and again 108 years later in 2004 for the summer Olympics.

Interesting Fact: The word Acropolis means the highest point of a city, but in Athens it is not. The Acropolis in Athens was a very flat rock 150 meters above sea level where it was easier to build temples and other buildings.

After a full day in the city of Athens, we headed back to our hotel, cleaned up and then went to dinner at a traditional Greek restaurant for crepes and salad.

The next day we flew out to Santorini. We got to our hotel, the Neoklassiko and enjoyed the breathtaking view of the sunset over the Caldera right from our own patio. The view of traditional white houses along the cliffside against the beautiful sunset was a memory never to be forgotten. Santorini is one of the most beautiful places we have been to yet. We rang in the New Year with a romantic dinner in the town of Fira.

The next morning we woke up and started to explore the town. Most things were closed since it was New Year's, but it gave us a chance to enjoy the clear perfect weather and enjoy all the views Santorini has to offer on both the east and west coasts of the island.

The last day we were not able to make it to Crete due to high winds, so we extended our time in Santorini and rented a car to drive all over the island. It was great because we were able to drive to the north to the town of Oia, see all the different beaches (white, red, and the volcanic black beach) as well as drive to the most picturesque part of the island at the south in the town of Faros.

The trip to Greece was unforgettable to say the least. It was a perfect and relaxing way to end our trip around the world and to ring in the New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I know this is a little late, but just wanted to post a few pictures from our trip home to Houston. Before we got to Houston, we stopped in Denver, Colorado to see Kaes' brother Richard and the family. I had not met Ashley, Matt and the boys, so it was really great to finally put a face with the name. The weather in Denver was chilly, but we missed the snow storm that happened a week before. The few days were nice to catch up and see everyone.

We finally got to Houston on December 15th. It was a dreary day, but felt great to be home. Dirk picked up Kaes and I took the rental car to go see my parents. Kaes and I try to "divide and conquer" while we are home to see as many friends and family as possible since we are always on a time crunch. We were both pretty successful with seeing everyone except for a few, but overall, had a great time visiting friends and family.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!!!