Waking up on my last morning I'm a little bit sad.... but I think of my husband & children and that makes me happy - just can't wait to see them!

Roomie & I head to breakfast and some of the other girls are already there.  I just have to have mie goreng - it might be a long time before I get to have it for brekky again.  I'm going to miss having the lovely fruit platters & fresh juice too.

After breakfast, Roomie & I head back to the room & start to pack... we want to see how much room we have left, if any, before we do any more shopping today!  We ask reception to send down some scales.  I still have to pick up my bean bag lounges & chairs and also have some laundry to pick up late this afternoon.  

Satisfied we still have a little room left in our cases, we head to the pool for a little relax & read our books enjoying the sun.  An hour or so later, some of the girls are heading to Carla Spa for manicures.  As I still haven't had a pedicure, I decide to go with them too.  The pedi is really relaxing & I love the little flowers they painted.

The girls having a manicure at Carla Spa

My flower pedi looks great & lasted for week

When my pedi was finished I walked a few doors to the shop where I had ordered my bean bag sun lounges & armchairs.  My order was ready & I was quite surprised how much they weighed, my arms were getting sore walking back to the hotel with them!  I rearranged my suitcase & packed them straight away, it took a bit of juggling, but I got there in the end.  Not much room left now.... still some last minute shopping to do though.

Before I head off for a bit more shopping, I spend a little bit of time walking around the Puri Raja taking some photos.

Walkway between rooms closest to Reception

Most rooms are in 2 storey configurations

Pool closest to Reception

Some beautiful flowers around the Puri Raja

Our downstairs room no 126 close to reception end of hotel

Single storey rooms closest to the beach

Love these thatched roofs

Upstairs & downstairs rooms in block closest to the beach

My photo taking done, I decide to jump in a taxi & head for Bintang supermarket.  I pick up more facial products as they are just so cheap - 10K for a good cleanser - bought some at the start of my trip, but like to stock up more to take home.  I also bought some ginger tea, a nice green scarf, cashews & some tonic to have a few last gins.

From there I headed north along Jl Raya Seminyak in search of a dress shop that I wanted to check out.  I had walked past the shop a few days ago & saw a lovely dress in the window that I wanted to try on.  Unfortunately it was closed, so now I wanted to find the shop... I knew which side of the street it was on, but couldn't exactly remember where it was.  I just hoped they hadn't changed the dress in the shop window - otherwise I'd probably never find it!  

On the way, I stopped in a few other shops & tried on some dresses, nothing took my fancy though.  One particular shop had the strangest photos in their dressing room.  The entire walls were covered with bizarre photos of nudity & strange people... I took some photos on my phone, but couldn't publish them on my blog!

Finally I find the shop & get to try on the dress that was in the window.  I love it!  After searching & trying on so many dresses on this holiday (only 2 purchased so far) I am so excited that this one fits perfectly.  I also purchase another dress, a kind of skirt slip to go under each as they are very sheer fabric and also a pair of knee length tights in a soft thin fabric that look great under each dress (just for a different look).  Each dress ties a few different ways to give a different look - will do a shopping blog soon with photos.  The shop is called Beyond & from memory it was just before Mades Warung.

Next stop is Cafe Mocha.  Four of the girls left Bali before us & warned they had ran out of food on their Virgin flights home - so a few of the girls bought some quiches from Mugshots to take on the plane.  I remembered Cafe Mocha wasn't far down the road & had always loved their food, so thought I'd check out what they had.   I bought a pumpkin, broccoli & cashew quiche to take on the plane & some little cakes to share with the girls at the airport.... a lemon meringue, tiramisu tart & coffee eclair.  They were all so cheap but now I cannot remember the prices...

Sweet treats from Cafe Mocha

By now I was loaded up with shopping bags & starting to feel hungry.  If I didn't get back to the hotel soon, my purchases from Cafe Mocha would be eaten.  

Arriving at the hotel I dump my purchases & look for some of the girls.  I catch 3 of them walking up the beach path to ... you guessed it ... Hitana. 

The girls having lunch again at Hitana

One of the girls has not been feeling well since yesterday, lucky it's late in the trip.... She just opts for a light meal of soup & steamed rice.

A light meal after not feeling well

Beautiful setting at Hitana

Great beachfront view

Bar at Hitana

While I'm waiting for my meal to arrive, I walk around taking a few photos.  It wasn't until today I find out you can also sit upstairs...

Upstairs view from Hitana overlooking Niksoma Hotel pool

Upstairs view from Hitana overlooking Legain beach

Upstairs view from Hitana looking south along beachfront path

Upstairs view from Hitana overlooking pool at Niksoma Hotel

Upstairs view from Hitana looking north along beachfront path

After lunch I take some photos of the surrounding area near our hotel.

Beachfront path in front of Mozzarella by the Sea

Legian Beach across from Puri Raja Hotel

Legian Beach

Puri Raja Hotel Restaurant

View of Puri Raja Hotel looking south on beachfront path

These photos are taken walking into the Puri Raja Hotel from the beachfront path.

Massage bale

Pool near restaurant

Nice view from the restaurant

After my lunch I spent a few hours relaxing around the pool closest to reception.  Most of the girls joined me & we had a lovely time enjoying our last afternoon by the pool.  Tomorrow we'd be back to cold weather :(

Late afternoon I headed to Carla Spa and enjoyed a hair creme bath & manicure.  When I arrived, 2 of the girls were having their hair blow dried after their hair creme bath - they looked really relaxed.  I asked for my mani to be done while having my hair done as I didn't want to be sitting for too long.  The rest of the girls arrived to also get their hair done when I was almost finished.  So nice to not have to worry about washing it tonight before dinner.  The girl doing my hair did a great blow dry, but I did notice some of the others also had their hair tonged with a straightening iron.  By dinner my hair was starting to wave again.... Oh well, it still looked good!

On the way back to the hotel I picked up my washing from across the road & went back to the room.  I spent a bit of time re-arranging my suitcase & put all my items to declare in my carry-on.  

Roomie came back with her hair looking lovely and we sat down on our verandah to enjoy a few last G & T's.  We still had heaps left, so we poured her bottle into mine and rang my driver friend Wayan to see if he'd like to take home.  He was busy so he sent his brother to pick it up.  We also gave him some unopened snacks we seemed to be stock piling in our room.  

Early evening we had our last dinner at Hitana ..... again!  Every other trip I have always ate at a different restaurant every night and sometimes doubled up when we found a really good one.  Part of me is a little disappointed that the girls were not a little more adventurous to try lots of other restaurants, I guess everyone was pretty much tired by the end of the day and it was so easy just to walk next door.  

That cocktail is very blue!

With my lovely girlfriends

Garden area at Hitana

Our last dinner at Hitana

For my last meal I had to have one of my favourites - Nasi Campur.  Unfortunately just like at Mozzarella by the Sea, it came out luke warm.  Not very appealing and since there was some chicken & seafood on the plate, it was reluctant to eat it - imagine having the runs of the flight home - no thanks!

Nasi Campur

After dinner we walked the beachfront path in search of some light up toys for our kids.  We didn't have to walk very far before we found some.  Some of us have already bought some a few nights ago, so we had an idea of what to pay.   We got some packets of the parachutes (5 per pack) - you throw them in the air & they spiral down like a parachute all lit up - the kids love them! They also had these lovely light up butterflies which I hadn't seen the previous year - out of all the gifts my kids got they loved these the best!  And they only cost about $1 each!

Back to our room to pack the last of our gear & get ready for our 9pm pick up.  Between us all we had a fair bit of gear we didn't want to take home, like mozzie spray, half full toiletries, etc... so we left these on the doorstep of some lovely ladies who had just arrived the night before.

Time to leave..... Checking the weight of our bags on the scales at reception, we are all confident we won't be charged any excess baggage.  

We have been so lucky on this 9 day trip to have had blue skies every day and not a drop of rain.  The heat has not been unbearable either, it's been just perfect. 

Boarding the bus, we leave the hotel & head through the busy streets... oh how I wish I was just arriving, instead of leaving!

Hopping off the bus we seem to walk a mile to get to the airport terminal.  Last October we were dropped right off in front.  It's very busy & takes us some time to even get through the doors into the airport.  Finally we are inside & lining up at check-in.  Roomie & I both ask for window seats near the back of the plane.  I'm relieved to get rid of my suitcase & not to have excess baggage.  

While I'm waiting for the other ladies it dawns on me that I've left my goodies from Cafe Mocha on the bus!  Bugger, I was really looking forward to having the quiche if I felt peckish on the plane & sharing the cakes!  

We go upstairs & have our passports stamped then settle in for the wait near our boarding gate.  Some of the girls go through to the boarding lounge, but Roomie & I stay behind.  We decide to go & find something to eat.... I know.... we only ate about 4 hours ago, but us two are always hungry!  We share a club sandwich which is really quite nice, for airport food that is.  By the time we go back, it's last call & everyone else has boarded.... everyone except one of our friends who has been waiting anxiously for us - she wondered why we took so long.  

Roomie & I make our way to our seats almost at the back of the plane & we are lucky enough to have the row of 3 seats all to ourselves!  Would you believe I still didn't sleep a wink!  

After an uneventful flight home, some quick duty free shopping at Brisbane airport (found Denpasar too expensive) it was on the bus to our airport car park.  Driving the girls home, we all agreed it was a fabulous holiday & we'd love to do it again someday....