After nine months of travelling, working and living in Australia, I finally left.

I was emotional, stressed, slightly nauseous and honestly feeling everything and nothing at the same time. I had no idea what the next few weeks in Indonesia would look like, I only knew that my sister Jana was there, although apparently she had already decided to surprise me at the airport.

What followed was a very unplanned first week in Indonesia: emotional reunions, a missing disposable camera, manta rays, terrifying cliffs, way too many stairs, beautiful beaches, cocktails, random nights out and a lot of chaos.

This is how my first week in Indonesia actually went.

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Tuesday

This morning, I woke up with this horrible feeling of stress. I was half nauseous too. It was really my last day in Australia, and I felt everything and nothing at the same time.

I was mostly trying not to think about it too much. There was no point in stressing myself out before I even got there. I just had to get through the day.

And then, suddenly, I arrived in Bali.

Jana, my sister, came to surprise me at the airport. She had told me she was in Nusa Penida and that I was going to have to make my way there to meet her, but obviously that wasn’t true.

Naturally, I just walked straight past her.

I genuinely hadn’t seen her until we suddenly ended up standing face to face. I gave her the biggest hug ever and immediately started crying.

So yeah… apparently I wasn’t quite as emotionally prepared for leaving Australia as I thought I was.

After that, we went with Jana’s driver to get a SIM card and withdraw some cash.

And then I discovered something absolutely devastating.

My disposable camera was gone. :((((

All the photos from Australia.

Just… GONE.

I had put it in a little bag inside my backpack, and when I picked up my backpack, it was suddenly nowhere to be found. I have absolutely no idea how it disappeared.

Nine months of Australia. All those little moments I had captured on one tiny disposable camera. Gone.

I’m still so sad about it.

After all that, we went to our Airbnb not far from the airport, and it was LUXURY.

After spending so long sleeping in hostels in Australia, it was actually so nice to have a proper room for once. A real bed, space, privacy… very welcome.

By the time we went to sleep, it was already 1:30 AM. Lol.

Wednesday

We woke up early because we were heading to Nusa Penida.

Jana’s driver took us as far as he could, but it was too busy for him to drive all the way to the harbour, so we had to walk the last bit.

At 8:30 AM, we took the boat to Nusa Penida.

Once we arrived, we decided to immediately take another boat to go snorkelling with manta rays.

And honestly, it was really cool.

Swimming around with the manta rays was definitely one of those moments where I thought, okay, I’m actually in Indonesia right now.

The last three spots weren’t really that exciting and there wasn’t much to see anymore, but it was still such a cool experience.

Afterwards, we continued to our Airbnb.

And wow.

Jana had booked something absolutely heavenly.

We basically spent the rest of the day there. We had cocktails, ordered food so we didn’t even have to get up, and took a ridiculous amount of photos.

Honestly, I could get used to this.

In the evening, we went to watch the sunset from a viewpoint, and it was genuinely breathtaking.

Unfortunately, I also had a massive headache, so we went back to the room and I was asleep by around 7 PM.

But honestly, I clearly needed it.

Thursday

After sleeping for so long, I was ready to get up at 7:30 AM.

We had breakfast delivered to our room, delicious banana pancakes, and then headed to the famous Kelingking Beach.

We took some photos at the top before starting the walk all the way down.

And please, do not underestimate this walk.

It was absolutely crazy.

I had brought a jute bag with me too, because apparently I’m a stupid chicken.

The path was insanely steep and honestly pretty scary because you were constantly looking down at the cliff edge.

Once we reached the beach, the waves were absolutely massive, so swimming wasn’t really recommended.

But I was so overheated that I still had to go in for a little bit.

After about an hour of mentally preparing ourselves, we started the climb back up.

It actually went better than I expected, partly because I couldn’t see the cliff anymore when we were walking back up.

Towards the end, though, it got harder.

We had to stop every so often because my heart was going absolutely crazy. I genuinely felt like I was about to have a heart attack or something.

Eventually, we made it back to the top.

We looked like two giant tomatoes.

So obviously, the first thing we did was buy water and ice creams.

After that, we went to the hot springs around Tembeling Beach.

At some point, our car couldn’t go any further, so we had to get on the back of a scooter.

And let me tell you: going downhill on that thing was pretty terrifying.

I genuinely felt like I was going to tip over the front.

We eventually made it down and took some beautiful photos, went swimming and had a go on the swing.

Now we’re at Crystal Bay, lying in the sun and staying here until sunset.

Friday

Today we went to Diamond Beach.

It looked like another absolutely insane walk, so we decided to take the easiest route.

It was still a lot of stairs.

And, of course, Jana had forgotten her bikini in the car.

So that was useful.

After chilling there for a while, we continued to the famous treehouse spot.

And yes, there were another thousand stairs.

Then they wanted 75K just to take a photo.

Helllll no.

After all that, we went back to the bungalow and spent the rest of the day chilling.

We also went for a cocktail at a Finns beach club, because obviously.

In the evening, we picked up nasi goreng and went to bed early because we had a ferry at 7:30 the next morning.

Saturday

Today we took the ferry back to Bali.

Our driver was waiting for us when we arrived, so we had breakfast and then went to the beach.

Except… it turned out to be a rocky beach with basically no sun.

So after walking down all those stairs for absolutely nothing, we decided to leave and went to another beach instead: Melasti Beach.

Around 2 PM, we left for our villa.

Naturally, we first went to the wrong location.

Eventually, we found it.

Ketut, our driver, was right all along. Of course.

We spent some time chilling by the pool and eventually ordered lunch at 4 PM.

Lol.

Then it was time to go outtttt.

WOOHOOO.

We first went to Ours, a restaurant, because Jana’s friends had told her they were going to meet us there.

Except… they weren’t.

So we walked around for a bit and found this really nice café with good live music. There was a band playing with four young guys, and during happy hour we had four beers.

Eventually, Jana’s friends messaged asking if we wanted to come to the club with them, so we went along.

We didn’t stay very long, though, and ended up heading to a Latin party instead.

Basically, we went back and forth between the club and the Latin party.

Neither of us was really feeling it, so eventually we just wanted to get a Grab home.

Except there was nothing available.

Then, out of nowhere, a man stopped and said, “Ride for free.”

So Jana and I got on the back of his scooter together.

Except he kept grabbing Jana’s leg the entire time.

She kept pushing his hand away and saying:

“No touching.”

Definitely not the free ride we were hoping for.

Sunday

Today was a much calmer day.

We first walked for about 15 minutes to a nail salon, only to find out there was no availability.

So we went to another one nearby.

Unfortunately, they only had space for one person, so Jana got her nails done and I took a Grab back to the villa.

I then spent about two hours chilling at the villa while she was getting her nails done.

When she came back, though, we realised they had done a really bad job.

So we left pretty much immediately and went to Dreamland Beach.

We spent the afternoon swimming and lying in the sun.

For sunset, we went to Single Finn.

There wasn’t actually that much going on and it was mostly filled with very fancy-looking people, but it was still really beautiful.

In the evening, we attempted to watch a movie.

I fell asleep almost immediately.

Honestly, after the last few days, I think my body was just done.

Tips & Tricks

This is a travel diary, so I’m not going to turn it into a full guide, but there were definitely a few things I learned this week.

Don’t underestimate Nusa Penida. Some of the walks, especially Kelingking Beach, are seriously intense. Bring plenty of water, wear proper shoes and don’t assume that because everyone has a cute Instagram photo there, getting there is going to be easy.

Also, expect a lot of stairs.

Like… a LOT.

One thing I would definitely recommend for Nusa Penida is getting a local driver for your entire trip. That’s what we did, and it made everything so much easier. They know the island really well, know how to get around and can basically help plan your itinerary for you depending on what you want to see.

And apparently, they also come with an extra job description: designated photographer. 😂

Our driver was constantly taking photos for us, which was honestly a bonus.

If you’re travelling around Indonesia in general, I’d also recommend taking a backpack rather than a suitcase. Some of the roads and paths can be pretty rough, and dragging a suitcase around isn’t exactly ideal. Especially when you’re moving between places, a backpack is just much easier to deal with.

And if you’re planning to visit the famous treehouse, I’m personally not paying 75K just for someone to take a photo of me. 😂

For the practical side of my Indonesia trip, including where I stayed, what I did and the places I actually recommend, check out my Indonesia Travel Guides.

A Very Unplanned Start to Indonesia

This week definitely wasn’t what I expected when I left Australia.

I arrived in Bali feeling emotional about leaving Australia, immediately lost the disposable camera containing nine months of memories, reunited with my sister, went to Nusa Penida, swam with manta rays, nearly died walking down Kelingking Beach, drove around on scooters, drank cocktails, ate a lot of food, went out, and somehow survived all those stairs.

And this was only the first week.

I think that’s what I love about travelling. You can have an idea of what your trip is going to look like, but once you’re actually there, everything changes.

Sometimes you just have to go with it.

Wherever I am next, I’m learning that even chaos can feel like a beginning.

Next Story

Liked this story? Read Indonesia Part 2 →

Because trust me… the Bali chaos was only getting started.

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