Our holiday from travelling started today, with a lovely breakfast at the Amnaya Resort Hotel.

What a spread, we counted 4 courses, starting with fresh fruit, then sourdough toast with butter and jam, followed by fruit muesli and then a breakfast muffin with bacon, eggs and all the trimmings. Alongside this we had free real orange juice and coffee fill ups. That will sort us out for the whole day!

After this great start, we moved to the nearby pool to soak up the rays.

The facilities and staff here are excellent and we are relishing spending 5 blissful days here.

The design and planting around the pool is inspired, with climbers hanging down from the roof and bright colourful bushes and trees sitting within the green garden above.

We have quickly embraced this serene atmosphere, with a good read and chill out music in our ears from SoundCloud.

Mid-afternoon Andy took himself off to the gym for a run on the treadmill and a spot of weight training, whilst Michelle finished reading her latest book.

At 4pm the hotel offers free coffee & tea with a light snack, so we wandered over for a lite bite.

Before dinner, Andy went out to explore Kuta beach and to grab a few essentials.

At this time of the year, Bali is awash with Australians who have escaped for some winter sun. This includes Andy’s cousin Jayne, who we last saw in Adelaide and is holidaying up in Ubud!

The walk to the beach takes us past an array of stalls and markets selling local crafts and a huge range of ‘knock off’ designer gear. Andy has already spotted Birkenstock sandals, so he just needs to negotiate a fair price!

We were last in Bali back in March when it was a lot quieter, now in September the beach beds and bars are full, with tourists relaxing in the sunshine drinking cheap beers and cocktails.

The waves breaking on the beach offered up signs of a decent surf, so a return visit on another day will definitely be in order.

It’s been a glorious sunny day and hopefully a sign that we will have more to come over the next week or two.

Kuta is going up the world with the recent arrival of Beachwalk, a modern and upscale shopping & restaurant mall.

It includes a host of names that we recognised including Zara, Mango, Uniqlo, Sephora along with Onitsuka the Japanese shoe brand.

Returning to the hotel, we showered and changed and headed out for a drink to take in the sights of Kuta by night!

Our hotel sits just off the main drag, so it was a short walk before we came across a decent bar and ordered our first Bintang of the evening.

Like many bars and restaurants along the strip there was live music being played, both modern and traditional.

After a couple of drinks we went for a wander and caught a Balinese dance performance in full swing.

Our first day back in Bali and we already feel relaxed and at ‘home’, helped by our fantastic hotel and the warm welcome from the hotel staff. Bring on day 2 of the holiday within a holiday stay..!!!