Adventures of a Rockstar!

Up front, I know I'm not a rockstar. Never was, and most likely never will be. But, for a fleeting moment that lasted a weekend, I lived the rockstar life and I am hooked!

I didn't set out to have a rockstar weekend, it's just not something this middle-aged mother of three would do. All I wanted was a weekend away with my husband to celebrate a significant wedding anniversary. The basic criteria was relaxing, fun, not too far away and slightly exotic (aka tropical). There is only one place that fits the bill.....

Bali, Island of the Gods and playground for Aussies. 

All my husband knew was that we were going away for an extended weekend and I was doing the packing. He actually thought we were headed to New Zealand to ski and snowboard. How wrong he was! He discovered our destination on check-in to the business class counter at Garuda.

Rockstars only fly business class because they get to chill in the lounge at 7am and drink champagne, and then have it on tap the entire flight.

The Garuda A330 did not disappoint. The food, the service, the little pamper packs with L'Occitane products, the entertainment unit and the very comfy flatbeds were all very rockstar!

Kath n Kel go to Bali

On arrival we were met by Ketut to drive us to the W Retreat and Spa Bali in the luxury of an aircon'd BMW X5. The driveway to the hotel was a lush indicator on how our weekend was going to turn out - exotic, fun, fancy. When the concierge opened the car door to welcome us, he even knew our names!

Our room wasn't ready on our arrival so fresh cocktails were waiting for us by one of the gazillion "chill out zones" and after downing some absinthe and other alcoholic liquid in a teapot, we ventured up to our room that would be our rockstar home for 3 nights.

The W had thought of everything! Fun posters and gemstones adorned the massive king size bed wishing us a "Happy Anniversary" and more cocktails were waiting for us to enjoy the view from our ocean balcony. 

Everything at the W is different. It's fun and funky and innovative. Right down to the entrance, the fun bathrooms, the day beds, and the carpets in the elevators. Every detail was well thought out, and from the staff it all seemed effortless.

10 years Wedding Anniversary, 20 years together! Achievement! 

Apart from our massive celebration of being together for 20years, and married for 10 (I love a ceremony!), it was also my birthday. Those of you who know me, also know I LOVE my birthday!

The W also knew (probably by looking at my passport on check-in), and they made sure my day was ultra rockstar. Champagne breakfast with cake, an extra dusting of diamond scrub during my 3 hour massage and facial (yes I came out sparkling), champagne and cake again for lunch, and a beautifully hand-written card under the door to wish me well as my vintage improved!

I'm sure they knew my name was Lisa. 

One of our highlights was visiting our lovely friend Katie who is celebrating 1 year of opening the most amazing coffee shop in Seminyak! For Aussies who are discerning (and snobby) about their coffee, head over to Revolver Espresso and say hi to Katie and her band of great Baristas!

On recommendation from another friend living in Bali, we ate at Teatro Gastroteque . I am very happy to pass on this recommendation with the disclaimer that you will come out much heavier than you went in. We chose the 5 course degustation (which comes with a course in between each course...), the food was well timed, fresh and totally outstanding! The wine menu was limited and expensive, but all wine in Bali is not cheap. 

Vin+ is a new wine bar that we tested and loved. Small share plates and tapas and also a great selection of cocktails and wines. 

And talking about food and wine and being an all round rockstar ....my birthday lunch was spent in a cage at Starfish Bloo at the W, where champagne flowed and the food was to die for! (literally, the chilli dish is very hot)

Being pampered is one of those obligatory past times of the rockstar; oxygen therapy, daily massages, facials, pedicures, manicures and a fair bit of "idle time" (spending an entire day on a day bed by the pool reading books and sipping g&t's and beer).

The day spa at the W (Away) got to know me by first name.

We flew home Sunday night on business class Garuda in an extremely comfortable flatbed seat which allowed for a great night sleep before having to go straight to work on Monday!

My rockstar-ness challenge for future special occasions is to do a world tour of the W hotels.

W Maldives anyone?

A lifetime ban in New Caledonia......

It was one of those week long holidays that couldn't possibly have been any worse. 

My very best friend Kylie and I decided to take a break from our respective families and find an exotic location to "chill" for a week. Both having young children, we didn't want it to be too far away, but we did want it to be a slight adventure. As in - limited English. 

Noumea was the perfect choice. A South Pacific Island only a few hours flight from Sydney where we could practice our school girl French. 

On arrival at the airport, we were confused by the different coloured cards to complete which saw us ending up at the back of the queue for more than an hour. Every time we presented a card, we were told we needed to complete a different colour one... until we came full circle with the colour we had completed in the first place. 

My luggage was nowhere to be seen, and hand gesturing to the airport staff that my "black" bag was missing, they laughed. Every bag was a "black" bag they said, and it took another hour to locate said "black" bag... behind the counter. Exactly where we were standing only an hour earlier asking if anyone had seen my "black" bag! 

After a few hours in sweaty tropical heat, we eventually made our way through immigration to learn that our pre-arranged transport had left us stranded - right in the middle of tropical-nowhere. So we hired a taxi, a very expensive one!

But we didn't care. We were on a break and this all added to the adventure of our week long freedom. 

We arrived at our hotel for check in slightly exhausted, but still laughing only to discover that our reservation was not confirmed and we didn't have a room. The hotel could not possibly accommodate us at such short notice! The check in clerk was adamant that we would not be sleeping there at all for the week, and we would need to find alternate accomodation. Until Kylie pulled out the printed confirmation slip with our details. We were promptly shown to our room and then later realised we were one of very few guests due to extensive renovations. Noisy ones. 

The large hotel pool provided respite from the heat, and an opportunity to burn our lily white complexions completely red. 

The small cafe served ridiculously expensive chicken sandwiches (on white Tip Top bread with manky lettuce) at a cost of AUD30 and was served by a rude waiter who thought throwing a plate at us was within his remit. We 'thanked him" using swear words. 

We ventured out for a walk along the promenade and into the touristy heaven of beach front souvenir shops. Only to learn that we probably couldn't afford any of the tiny plastic take-home junky pieces. Our children would not know the joy of owning a snow dome of Isle de Pine, or a plastic surfboard keyring. 

Everywhere, the locals scowled at our attempts to talk in school-girl French, many of the well dressed women tut-tutting and turning their backs to ignore us. It made us try even harder to impress them resulting in uncontrollable giggles. 

On more than one occasion, we returned to our room and lay on our beds and laughed at how much the ridiculous week was costing us - yet we were having so much fun. We laughed at each other laughing (Kylie does the silent airless laugh, and I tend to snort and cry), rolling around on the beds until our mouths hurt and our ribs cracked. 

I dont remember too many more details of the Noumea adventure, except that there is probably a poster of each of us in the arrival lounge - it is very likely that we are not be permitted entry to this expensive and arrogant paradise ever again. 

And thats ok. 

Me + Kylie

This was taken years before the Noumea adventure - probably in Bali.