Bali goodbyes and hello Oz, Queensland

Our last day in Bali, the first of August, was full of goodbyes - before we began the mammoth task of packing up two months of settling in and a 40th birthday to rival all birthdays.
By afternoon we were all packed and the house keys had been handed back to Ron, along with photographic evidence to prove it....

Pop/Ron receives our house keys - it's on the blog now for the world to see haha!!!

We said goodbye to Ron & Lee's staff, Sumi, Pem and Kadek... we would miss them all....

Harry, Kadek, Jack & Nina

Ready for one last cocktail, we headed to the Canggu Club to catch up with Ian & Carol and to have an early dinner over a few espresso martinis, all while we watched a beautiful full moon set over Bali...

By the light of the Bali full moon

We also got to say goodbye to the Scottish Personal Trainer from Bali - Ron.  He  kicked the footy with the boys for one last time on the oval and had them doing 10 push ups every time they didn't mark the footy... nothing like getting in some last minute personal training.... we then headed back to the Vila to pack the car.

The two Ronnies

Rama, a local friend of Ron and Lee's drove us to the airport. Shelly was also leaving so she caught a cab with Lee.
Ron stayed behind and said his goodbyes along with Kite... It was very emotional to say goodbye.
Lee saved her tears for the airport before waving us all goodbye with hugs and kisses.
Salamat Tinggal - kami mencintaimu kedua.(you'll have to get out the translator for that one Pop)

Rama says a big hi to the Cheney family who he drove around Bali

Jack hugs his Huggy goodbye

More emotional goodbyes

All of us, and Rama, at the airport

After all checking in we sat in a lounge for a while chatting with Shelley until our flight was called and then it was time for another goodbye.

The flight home to Oz was long... We flew through the night to Sydney before arriving to cold and chaos at Sydney airport and missing our connecting flight to Brisbane which went down like a lead balloon after a sleepless night.

The boys on the plane - set for a big nights sleep

We managed to get the next flight, making it back to Brisbane by about 10 in the morning.

We arrived at Sanctuary Cove an hour later and after some lunch everyone setted down for a nap or some quiet time before Olivia arrived home with Tom & Lola from school.
The first thing we noticed arriving back in Oz was how cold it was... It took very little time for us to   pull out our heavy jackets and put on our ugg boots.. brrrrrrrrr.
The cousins, as always, were happy to catch up with each other again. They played while Richard worked on getting the Chev started.
It needed a little work but it would have to wait until the next day.... Needless to say it was dinner and an early night for everyone - being a school night.
Everyone had a well earned sleep in on Friday morning, I woke the kids up around 10 o'clock which was still only 8 o'clock Bali time... they had slept through Tom & Lola getting up for school - they were all shattered.
Around 11... we wandered into the Village at Sanctuary Cove for brunch. Richard then got back to work on the Chev, finally managing to get it going. We then headed towards Andrew's boat yard to pick up the caravan. Richard was excited!!
After we pulled it back to the Cove we set to work... There was lots to do. The fridge had grown enough mould to walk away and there was two months worth of bags to unpack.
Richard and I worked on it until around 5:30, when we decided we'd had enough and we were both ready for a drink. So we headed into the Village and a few G&T's later and an espresso martini for old times sake - we headed back to the house to meet Olivia who'd arrived back with Tom & Lola.
It was another home cooked dinner in Olivia's thermomix, which was beautiful.
The kids had a play and watched the football, before it was time for bed....

Richard with Nina & Lola

The boys watch the footy together

Yesterday, Saturday the 4th of August... we continued to pack before saying more goodbyes to Olivia, Tom & Lola (Andrew has been in Sydney at the Boatshow).

The cousins play in the park

Sonia, Olivia, Jack, Tom, Nina, Harry & Lola, more goodbyes

Caravan packed it was time to hit the road... our first destination Brookfrield... to catch up with my old mate Claire, Rodney, Oskar, Monet & Scarlett.
When we arrived, we realised that there was no way we were going to be able to park the rig up near their home, so after a quick scan of the area we found a home for the caravan and headed up to their beautiful bush property to spend the evening....

With my beautiful friend Claire - part of my beloved Sambuca Club

Claire and I took little time to begin our catch up over a champas, while the girls played make overs and the boys played soccer.

Scarlett, Monet & Nina

Panic stations hit when Jack realised he would miss the footy, so a few phone calls later - all the boys piled into the car to the nearest pub that cared about an AFL western derby. Surpringly they found one and arrived home devastated by an Eagles loss, but in time for a beautiful lamb roast, cooked by Rodney and supplemented by Claire, in between G&T's and champagne. It was a great evening and so nice to catch up.