Day 8 - Saturday 5th October

Today will be our last day in Bali. Our plane leaves for Perth at 6:30pm and the check-out time at the villa is 12 noon. The others were catching flights directly back to Sydney later in the evening.

A few days ago, it occurred to us that we should book two rooms at the Novotel at the Denpasar airport. This would give us someone to spend the afternoon (and evening) in comfort before our flights. Suzy would be able to use her Accor Plus card to get a half-price lunch at their restaurant.

Bali Family Villas had arranged two vehicles to pick us up at 12 noon to take us to the airport. We reached the Novotel in good time at 12:45pm. Luckily our rooms were ready. Although they were down a long corridor, they turned to be close to the hotel's pool. Both granddaughters were bouncing with excitement.

By the time we'd had lunch in the hotel restaurant, it was almost time for Suzy and me to check in at the airport. The others went to the pool. The hotel told us that the international check-in was only 1 minute walk. I didn't believe this and sure enough it was probably more like two minutes walk - maybe even three. Philip helped us get out large suitcases to the check-in.

After checking in, we walked back to the hotel with our carry-on luggage to relax. At that time, there was no queue at departures but it was busy when we came back at about 5:30pm. After going through security, there was a very long queue - actually it wasn't a queue, it was just a mass of people.

After a few minutes, we noticed a line-up of modern gates with a sign saying they were suitable for Australians - just like we are used to in Sydney. So there was no waiting. They only problem was that the machine didn't recognise my finger prints.

The Jetstar flight was fully booked and left about 15 minutes late at 6:45pm. Suzy had a window seat and I was stuck in the middle. It was very cramped - unlike the Garuda flight over where I had plenty of leg room.

Dinner was OK but we had to pay. The flight time was only a bit over 3 hours. I was very pleased to get out of my cramped seat. I really don't want to go through this again. Perhaps I need to avoid Jetstar.

Although we had an air bridge to board the plane, we had to go down stairs in Perth and then we had to go up four or five flights of stairs to get into the terminal. Other passengers could see I was struggling to get up the stairs and rushed over to help. One man carried by laptop bag for me. It wasn't easy for Suzy either because of her injured foot.

When the checked luggage eventually arrived, it was a long walk to the taxi rank. By this time, Suzy was really suffering with her injury.

It was about 11:30pm when the taxi dropped us at the QT hotel. The decor of this hotel is very modern and trendy. The walls are black in the foyer, corridors and in the room and so it feels very dark. It was about 12:30am by the time we got to bed. We were ready for a good sleep after a long day.