Day 4 ~ From Bali to Lombok the next island ~

Well the alarm went off this Tuesday morning at 6 am - it was time to wake up and get the backpack packed have some breakfast and wait for Adam to arrive to pick us up with the shuttle bus to take us to the dock in Padangbai where we had booked the express boat to Lombok!

So all at once we get a knock on our door ~ hmm? We wondered what that was about...knocking at 6 am?  The staff of the homestay said that Adam was here to pick us up?  What? Why an hour early?  He said it was already 7:10 am and they were waiting for us outside?  

Nick & I scratched our heads and tried to understand...how can it be 7:10 am...our clock says 6:10 am????  Oh my goodness gracious...we laughed in shock....Bali is one hour ahead from Java - and if the pilot in the plane had told us so on the airplane before landing....well his heavy accent in English NEVER got through to us....Nico & Ellen - no understand! We laughed and couldn't believe it...have we been in Bali these past 3 days - (in lalaland!) and not even realized that we were an hour ahead???????????? 
How funny is that???  Gosh we did a RUSH job on the packing & dressing and got out of that room FAST! 
  
Adam was waiting patiently - and his companion too!  It didn't take us long to realize we were both two "doo-doo's" we have been in Bali these past 3 days and had no idea what time it was!  

We were outside in a whip and Adam told us that his companion would be doing the driving to Padangbai - and he was there to collect the payment.  We asked for a receipt and he gave us one...and off we went with the driver, Kutet.  The drive took an hour and 

when we came to the dock it was 8:15 am  - good timing for the boat would be departing around 9:00-9:15am.  
 



There was more travelers waiting for the boat...people from many countries...
also going to one of the 3 islands: Gili Trawagan, Gili Air, and Lombok.   We all board theexpress boat -Marina Srikandi and off we went to the first island, Gili (Indonesian for small island) Trawagan - and oh my the water was aqua blue and the beaches were white sandy beaches! Just as I had expected to see! The weather was fabulous and the it was just great!  People disembarked and then more people got on again - and then off we went to the next island-  Gili Air........and dropped off people and picked up people.  This island was smaller still.  Then off again to Lombok which was the island we were going to.  The trip took a total of 2 hours.
I decided to climb up on top (others had done the same) and when the boat departed from the last island it hit some big waves and the waves splashed up on top of the boat....a big sweep of water came on us all...I was soaked! 

Oh my I can hear Nico already saying "Ellen Ellen...not a good idea going up there!" ...."but it was just so' fun to do Nico and it cooled me off reeeeally quick too!!!"

Lombok was gorgeous  ~  Lombok - Click here to read about it!

We got off the boat - other people got on board again and the off the  boat went returning back to Bali again.  We started walking with our packs to our hotel that we had booked on Agoda.com...  Kebun Villa Resort....but decided to take a taxi to get there...we had no idea it was just down the street of course - but being wet and hot - it was nice to get a ride there.  
 
The Kebun (meaning garden in behasa Indonesia) was gorgeous!

 Nick checked in and we waited to be escorted to our room. 

It was just like the Dutchie person had said in the store to Nick.....

  We were ever so pleased - and it was truly a good buy for the money!  Low season prices.  This hotel was across from the beach on the opposite side of the road...which was fine with Nick & I...just a few steps away!  We so enjoyed the grounds and it was ever so pretty - just like a beautiful garden!  What a great recommendation it was!  Thank you Dutchie! 

 The hotel clerk - walked us to the room!  Oh my how lovely everything was!

 He carried my backpack for me and opened the slider door!  Ah a porch/sitting area - how nice!

 Very very nice room indeed! There was an extra bed a good place for our packs!

  

We felt blessed & spoiled!

  We had a bite to eat at the restaurant - we did not have breakfast that morning because of our clock error! Dah!  So we were pretty hungry!
The garden surrounding the covered pavilion was full of beautiful flowers and plants! 

After a good hearty lunch we went back to our lovely room and relaxed for a while....

 ....and then around 5 pm we headed out to the beach to discover the town we were in called Senggigi Beach - a popular area it seemed on Lombok.  We walked along the beach and there was several places to sit down - but this one had live music again!  Great!

 The Sun began to drop down and the lighting changed - oh how pretty out there!  

On the beach were sellers of goods - bracelets, sarongs, painting....but they did stay a distance from the restaurant.  But held up their wares & goods trying to make a sale with the customers. 

 It was a pretty setting - with the Sun just behind them! 

 Nick & I sat comfortable listening to music and watching the gorgeous sunset....can it get any better than this??? No way!!!!

 After a small appetizer we decided to walk back to the hotel and take it easy - it had been a long day - and as we strolled along the beach we so enjoyed the sunset and took many more pictures:

 We both played around with our camera's (Nick was enjoying his new one that he had purchased in Singapore!) so we tried the different settings on the cameras taking some fun & different kind of shots of everything around us...gotta get these gorgeous scenes!

 See the two in the boat in the distance? 

 Zooming in - it came out really pretty we thought!

 We headed up to the gate of the hotel and up the road to our room...Nick & I had walked along in the water too....can you tell???

 The hotel was all lighted up - so pretty! 

                            Nick - look this way a minute...would ya?  
OK OK - the day must come to an end - I guess!  Time to get some shut-eye!  Our first day in Lombok                                                - for real!