After a very full 2023 we were so excited to get away as a family for a week for our first trip to Bali! We went the week before school holidays in December, so we escaped the crowds, which was amazing.

The flight from Melbourne to Denpasar is just over six hours, so it’s a super easy jump from Australia. And we had the treat of going to the Qantas First Class Lounge for some amazing food before the flight.

The girls were even invited to come and sit in the cockpit after our flight!

And then we arrived! Woo hoo! The girls were amazing on the flight and Juliette was fantastically independent zipping through the airport on her Samsonite elephant suitcase.

Where we stayed

We stayed in Kuta, pretty close to the airport at a great resort called Bali Dynasty. We got an incredible swim-up-pool room which had a sliding door separating the king bed from a room with bunk beds. It worked perfectly for us, especially since Ariana was just three years old (and still napping) and Juliette was just shy of five.

This resort was super kid-friendly, with a big kids pool, waterslide and fantastic kids club (that we didn’t really use, but could go there with the girls to hang out).

Our routine

For this trip and especially when traveling with young kids, we don’t put any pressure on ourselves to “see it all” or get out and about too much. We are just focused on enjoying life.

We started the day with a great buffet breakfast every morning and then it was straight into the pool. We then usually ate lunch by the pool before Ariana napped. The biggest dilemma was deciding if we swam in the pool by our room or the big pool with the waterslide. #roughlife.

It was incredible to see how comfortable the girls continued to be in the water after swimming every day. It was fantastic and we were super proud of them!

And maybe a stop for quick smoothie at the swim up bar or some ice cream!

We also loved feeding the huge koi fish and eating at the Chinese restaurant at the resort (one of three restaurants onsite).

At night we’d walk into town and go out to dinner. Our favourite restaurant was Warung Damar where the staff was amazing to the girls. And one night they had live Balinese dancing which Ariana jumped up to do 🙂

The girls were happy to dance anywhere, and while out at another dinner, there were live musicians and we became the free dance entertainment.

And the dancing fun continued at the resort when it was Balinese night. After a wonderful local buffet dinner, they had wonderful entertainment and as soon as the dancer asked the decently-sized crowd if anyone wanted to come up on stage with her, Ariana’s hand shot up so fast and she ran right up to be the first audience dancer!

The unexpected highlight

Who knew that the the best part of going to Bali was actually going to be the dress up caterpillar character at the hotel called Coco who would come out to walk around for about 3 min each morning. Ariana became pretty obsessed and would wait and wait and wait patiently all morning for a glimpse of her favourite celebrity! We even got to take home a tiny Coco stuffy!

Other highlights

The hotel offered a free family photoshoot and we got some beautiful beach shots.

Along with a family photo with at least two of the four of us smiling 🙂

The girls were also really excited to get their hair braided, which we kept in for a week at home!

The vibe in Kuta

There were lots of shops and restaurants around our resort and Kuta is so crazy close to the airport you can’t beat the convenience. We didn’t get to Waterbom waterpark on this trip but we can’t wait to next time! We loved walking around after dinner and taking in the bustle and fun of the neighbourhood.

Things to pack

When the kids were little and we travelled with them, we’d have a huge laundry list of items. As they now are three and (almost) five and don’t need bottles and bibs and toys, we keep things simpler. For example, when we go out to meals, we don’t bring anything to entertain them but rather make up games with what’s around us. And we no longer bring crayons and colouring books, as the girls entertain themselves with pencils and the pad of paper in the room.

You can also buy anything you need at the local shops so if your thongs break (as mind did the first day), you can just buy another pair.

That said, there are a few things that are super helpful to bring:

• Nappies — it’s really nice to have what you need, even if they take up a ton of space.
• A few bedtime books — paperback ones that are lightweight and enough variety so you don’t get bored reading the same thing for a week (but you don’t need a library).
• Sunscreen — bring the ones you like. We bring adult face sunscreen, adult body sunscreen, kid’s zinc sunscreen and kid’s regular sunscreen. The sun can be intense so don’t skimp on that.
• Goggles — the girls are used to swimming with them so they were a must have.
• Inflatable water wings — so helpful to have for the waterslide and deeper pools.

We also brought a few big Kmart inflatable pool rings but the girls weren’t quite old enough to enjoy them so we left them with our neighbours. We did bring a few sinkies that the girls were obsessed with and now travel with us on every pool holiday we go on.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. On the way home I saw airplane air conditioning like I’ve never seen it before. Glad I knew how hot it was otherwise I might have thought something was really wrong!

What a trip! We can’t wait to come back. Maybe just for Coco alone.