Paradise in Bali - Nusa Penida and Lembongan, Indonesia

We were affectionately calling our visit to the Nusa Islands our "holiday" as we had just finished 88 days of hard farm work in order to let us frolic in Australia for another year. Our last few days had just been spent in Komodo National Park diving with Scuba Junkie where we saw so many beautiful Manta Rays, Dolphins and Turtles whilst enjoying the spectacular underwater world. It was now time to start the relaxation part of our trip with a visit to Nusa Penida which we got to from the port town of Sanur on the East coast of mainland Bali. The whole process of booking this ferry was incredibly easy and once we took a look at the five engines squeezed onto the back of each boat, we understood why the journey was going to be so quick. Now I'm not going to complain as less time in the choppy ocean the better from my point of view, but it was hilarious seeing these jazzed up boats fly through the water. There are three islands nestled together with Nusa Penida being the largest but least built-up, Nusa Lembongan offering the most thriving tourist hub with easy access to the little Nusa Cennigan which is just across an adjoining bridge. We met lots of people who only did a day trip to Penida and that truly is a shame because there is so much to see and experience that you just couldn't manage in one day. Our trip to Penida was for four nights staying in the town of Tojapakeh in a quaint little lodge on the roadside, perfect to explore the island.

Penida is the island of your dreams if you love to brag on Instagram because at every turn there is a stunning beach, beautiful cliff and inviting crystal clear water just waiting to be photographed. We arrived onto the North, East side of Penida where the main town is situated. There are significantly more places to eat here than where we stayed, but we loved our town being quiet and we were closer to the natural attractions that we were there to see. One thing to mention is that the roads on Nusa Penida are dreadful, truly some of the worst we have ever seen and we've biked through Vietnam! More often than not they are just steep, jagged piles of rubble that involve some serious dirt bike manoeuvres to get through and a lot of crossing your fingers hoping that you won't fall off. The main road through the town is great but it is the ones leading to Kelingking, Broken Beach and Devils Tears where your heart will drop, so our advice is to be careful if you're not confident on a bike. On our first day we hired the best bike we could find and bumped our way over to the stunning Crystal Beach, which unfortunately was a little more grey than blue due to the storm clouds. It was still a lovely place to relax and play with the adorable doggies that live with the locals, and luckily we were so close by we returned on a sunnier day. The next stop was to Broken Beach which was located on one of those roads we spoke about where you'll be flying off the back of the bike as you bump through the rubble. The views were spectacular and well worth the aching legs from bracing on the bike, with the archway at Broken Beach glowing from the teal water below. We hiked across to the nearby cliffs to take a look at the crashing waves and were rewarded with five huge Manta Rays feeding really close to the surface. It is always magical to see these lovely creatures, but before we knew it the sun was setting and it was time to ride home.

It is rainy season in Indonesia at the moment so we were expecting some monsoon style downpours but in reality we probably only saw an hour of rain during our whole trip. We spoke to the locals about this and they said their rainy season was getting later and later in the year with December previously being very wet, but now this can be pushed back until February. It is very difficult to predict what the weather will be like in tropical climates but we were fortunate to have gorgeous sunshine with the addition of minimal tourists as it was low season. This made driving around Penida a breeze, when we weren't jumping down a steep cliff dodging the potholes. On our second day we wanted to give our legs a little rest from the tough roads and went scuba diving with, you guessed it, Scuba Junkie Penida! We visited the top spots including Manta Bay where we didn't see any Mantas and Crystal Bay which was freezing so it wasn't our most successful diving day, but we enjoyed seeing lots of eels, stingrays and shrimp. An early morning trip to the infamous Kelingking had to be on the cards where we were lucky to get the place to ourselves. We decided to only go part of the way down and stop at a spectacular viewpoint, as it was incredibly slippery and there were even more beautiful beaches waiting for us along the coast. We meandered around Penida often taking our own detours which led us to a hair raising ride down a cliff pinnacle to see a Temple with a ravine on one side, the sea on the other and us edging along the thin rocks between. One of our highlights during our time in Penida was the Tembeling Beach and Forest which was a roller coaster ride to drive down to but luckily with less terrifying cliff edges, and more of a steep winding forest path. We abandoned our bike at the top of an almost vertical drop which we thought was wise, to then see locals laughing their heads off as they struggled to make it up so it turns out we made the right decision. The glistening rock pools in the forest were unreal and the beach was so secluded it felt like a private lagoon as you can see in the photos below. Atuh beach was our last stop in Penida which involved a much sweatier climb than we first thought but once we got a view of the beach it was worth clambering down the rocky steps. The beach was empty so we got to enjoy the crisp ocean lapping at our toes as we watched the setting sun.

Our time on the Nusa islands involved us meeting lots of lovely doggies, seeing some amazing sights and getting stung five times by various different wasps in varying weird ways. It was annoying but almost comical that every day there would be a new sting to add to the list! We left Penida to make the trip across to Lembongan on the local ferry where we sailed over some of the most crystal clear and blue water we have ever seen. We had a more luxurious stay here in a wooden bungalow with two swimming pools and a sea view of Mushroom Beach, but still in our budget for only £15 a night. Mushroom beach was a little quieter than the main town area on this touristy island, but there were still lots of restaurants we enjoyed including the Bali Eco Deli, Green Garden and a place overlooking the ocean where a cute puppy peed all over Josh. This is a very chilled out island full of places to relax in the clear ocean and we were amazed by the landscape every day as we hung out in the beach bar hammocks. We had a much more laid back time here than in Penida as the island is smaller and you can easily zip round to see everything. We dedicated some days to sightseeing and some to lazing on the beaches and trying to find the perfect sunset. Sandy Bay Beach was a wild start to our journey where it was almost impossible to get in the sea as we got pummelled with rocks in the rough waves. A place we kept returning to was a spot named the Devils Tears, one of Josh's highlights, which was a collection of jagged cliffs and caves that were fascinating to watch. The water would surge in from the waves and out would explode a large puff of water vapour looking like the steamy depths of hell. It was captivating as every wave was different which meant we sat for hours to watch the wild current create new and exciting things, as well as exploring the local cliff side which was full of beautiful rock pools.

The adjoining island of Nusa Cennigan is connected via the very thin but aptly named yellow bridge which is just wide enough for a motorbike to cross. This laid back island was such a joy to explore particularly with the stunning natural landscapes we got to experience whilst riding around. We headed to the Mahanna Cliff Point where you can pay to throw yourself into the beautiful ocean below. We were there to see the blue lagoon, and after a hike through an abandoned car park, we found ourselves on top of a cliff looking out onto the icy, blue coloured water. We watched it surge around for a little while but it was time to settle into a beach front bar called Sea Breeze complete with a pool and a spectacular view across the clear ocean. We found so many beaches on this island with our favourite being a surfing hot spot and we arrived at low tide to see it dotted with rock pools. We climbed down to settle on the beach in this little cove feeling thrilled to be in these beautiful surroundings which we had to ourselves minus a very friendly baby water monitor, some eels and surfers. There are Natural Mangrove forests to the North of Lembongan which have been carved by the sea and opened up an intricate ecosystem full of life. When we paid a visit it was a cloudy day but we had an amazing local guide who told us all about mangroves, pointed out stingrays and even found a sea snake which he held a little too close with his oar. In the afternoon we would always find ourselves in the stunning Sea Breeze Bar which was our favourite looking across the bright blue ocean between the islands of Cennigan and Lembongan - pure paradise!

Our last couple of days were being spent on mainland Bali so we jumped on a super speed boat and headed to the town of Jimberan which is just outside of Denpasar Airport. There isn't a lot to see here and it is just as uninspiring for tourists as busy Kuta, but there were plenty of beaches on the south coast that we were dying to see. The roads were gridlocked which was a shock after our chilled island travels, but Josh soon got used to diving in between traffic as we tried to make our way out of the built up areas. We had one day to explore here and we started off by paying a visit to Uluwatu Temple which is situated on some gorgeous coastline with views for days. Overall we were pretty disappointing by this temple due to the huge amounts of tourists, so we hurried along to look at some of the many beaches we were here to see. We rode around stopping at gorgeous beach after gorgeous beach with one involving a difficult 30 minute hike down to the bottom. It left us sweaty and tired but it was well worth the trek as it was a white sand beach complete with a little shipwreck. After a few hours of playing in the piercing blue ocean we decided to make the climb back to the top and on our way we saw a very brave local carrying supplies down to the bottom. He wasn't even out of breath with a huge bag on his back and laughed at us struggling up the cliff. It was such a sunny, happy day which was a perfect way to end our time in Bali especially as we were heading to the chilly UK. We were going to the airport the next day and very excited to be home for Christmas and my Birthday, although I'm not sure we were ready for the unbelievable cold we were about to face considering we were only used to it dropping to 25C at night! A last note from us both is that we feel so lucky to be able to travel and see amazing sights, but we are very happy that our friends and family are always there for us along the way. We just want to send lots of love to you, here is hoping that 2019 brings only the best things for us all!