As most things do, it started with an idea. It was late in the afternoon and we were sitting at the Echo Beach, making the most of 2 for 1 cocktails. Just enjoying the last few days of our holiday and we thought, well what are the reasons we couldn’t base ourselves here and have an endless holiday, well for at least 6 months?
We had met about 10 years earlier at Mt Buller, both working and ‘living the dream’ on the mountain, so it was in our blood to live/work in beautiful places, we were never ones to live in the burbs. So this felt like the right thing for us to do, and the timing was great too. Matt was now full time with Rio Tinto, working a 2/1 roster, he was sick of spending half his RnR mowing lawns and generally working around the house and not feeling like his time was spent creating memories with his family. I was on maternity leave with our 2nd child and able to extend my leave to ensure I still had a job to come back to. So why not?
The next 5 months were spent, booking flights, applying for visas, finding temporary accommodation, joining every Bali facebook page I could find, stalking every Bali Instagram account, redirecting mail, packing up ½ the house, finding a house sitter and getting our heads around the fact that we are about to leave our fur babies behind and take our other babies far far away. Then before we knew it, we were boarding a plane to Denpasar.
We landed and in typical Bali style, our taxi driver tried to convince us that our 5 large bags/suitcases, 4 carry-on bags, porta cot, pram and the 4 of us were going to fit in his tiny taxi. We disagreed and insisted on a bigger car. Once squished into the bigger car we drove to where the driver thought our villa was, he was wrong, so we drove up and down for about 25min trying to find the right street. Once we had the right street we found #9 as directed, but no one was there. The reason there was no one there is because we needed to be at the other #9, down the street. Seriously, this street had three #9’s!
Living at #9 was the pits. Hot, no breeze, uncomfortable beds, swarms of mosquitos, barking dogs at all hours, a kitchen that I wouldn’t dare cook in, you get the picture. So when we waved goodbuy to hubby for the first time from our new ‘home’ I really had to put on a brave face, smile and wave saying, ‘we’ll be fine, I got this’. After watching him go we went back inside and I padlocked the gate. That night both the kids and I all slept in the same room, despite having 3 bedrooms.
We survived #9 and moved to our new villa during his first swing and oh what a change. My attitude changed, my outlook changed all because my view changed. Nothing beats the breeze that comes over the rice fields, it was bliss compared to #9 and I could actually cook for my kids. Don’t get me wrong I love being able to eat at all the wonderful places in Bali, but sometimes I just want to make something healthy and delicious that I know everyone will eat. On top of all that is the cost of eating out all the time, most places we can get a decent meal and a few drinks for around $30, but you add that up over 3 meals a day, 7 days a week and it is a fair bit to fork out.
While we are on money, let me tell you now, we are not here to save it. Yes a Nasi Goreng will cost you under $2 and a litre of fuel is about 80c but the money you save on that goes elsewhere. Our situation doesn’t help either, as we are still paying our mortgage without gaining rental income, but that is the price we pay to know our fur kids are safe and happy. If you plan to move to Bali, come with a pocket full of cash because everything is pay up front. Expect to pay at least 6 months rent up front, same goes with school/kinda/daycare fees. There are some wonderful education options here, The Garden, The Green School, Canggu School, Sunrise school, but you will pay for the privilege and you pay in advance. The same goes for power, water, mobile phone, internet, the list goes on. However, once you get these costs out of the way you feel like you’re rolling in it when pay day comes around, but don’t forget to put some of that aside for the next onslaught.
So while we are not saving much, we certainly are not slumming it either. Our villa comes with a maid twice a week and a pool guy, we also employ a nanny full time (38hr/week) who’s name is Yanti. But that’s why we are here, to enjoy! I don’t want to be cooking and cleaning all day when I don’t have to and Yanti is just wonderful, our 15 month old, Delaney, still has 2 sleeps during the day so instead of me sitting at home waiting for her to wake up, Yanti can do that while our son Murphy and I, can go to the beach together or do some jumping at the trampoline park. Then in the evening Yanti often comes out for dinner with us (or just me) and helps entertain the kids while we all enjoy a meal. It also saves me putting both kids on the motorbike for kindergarten drop off and I can do some grocery shopping in peace and somehow drag it all home on the motorbike. Like another FIFO mum said, it’s a bit like having a husband who comes home at night.
The kids are loving it here. Delaney especially, she gets so much attention, everybody smiles and waves at her and wants to carry her around. Murphy took a little while to get into the swing of things. He is a very energetic 4 year old who has a lot of friends and a busy social life in Australia so coming here was a shock to his daily routine. He is slowly making friends and getting used to his new kindergarten. I guess I’m similar to Murphy in that way, I am really enjoying it here and relishing the new experiences and challenges. But I really miss my friends and family.
Coming from a little town with a close knit community, where I am blessed with many wonderful friends, I’m missing people just dropping in or bumping into friends down the street and going for coffee. But I think what I miss most of all is play dates at the park, whether they are planned or impromptu, play dates at the park are always good. Murphy would play on the equipment or run around with the other kids while Delaney and I would chill in the shade, I’d have a take away coffee (goes without saying) and chat to the other mums and dads, most of which I’d known long before having children. That just doesn’t happen here, for starters there are no parks or playgrounds. So play dates are generally on the beach, at someone’s house or in a restaurant. It’s just not the same really now I’m on guard the whole time making sure Delaney doesn’t drown herself in the ocean or an unfenced pool and Murphy doesn’t run in to the tiled house dripping with water and slip over.
But I am slowly finding some friends and lovely people to spend time with. There are some other gorgeous FIFO wives here who I have caught up with, as well as many other expat ladies. There are plenty here and with the help of the kids and social media I am finding them, slowly but surely. Most are really welcoming, willing to share stories and experiences which is exactly what you need when you’re in a new place. But the nature of an expat lifestyle is that people don’t stay, they move on or move back. In our two months of being here we have already waved farewell to some top people.
Before we left Australia, most people were excited for us and our new adventure, even a little envious, but there were others who were the opposite. I heard things like ‘how can you put your children in that sort of situation’ and ‘I just don’t trust those people’. But the situation I have put my children in is one of adventure and new discoveries, and ‘those people’ are unbelievably kind and caring, yes most Balinese that you come across are trying to make a living, usually from the tourist trade, but in Australia, that’s how I make my living too, in Tourism, the only difference is circumstance.
Not long after arriving in Bali, we met Marrlin. Now Marrlin was showing us some potential long term villa rentals none of which we ended up renting. But that’s not the only trick Marrlin has up his sleeve. He’s an entrepreneur, you need a motorbike? No problem. A lift/pickup from the airport? He’ll be there. A pool fence built? Sure, what time tomorrow can I start? And if he can’t do it, ‘It’s ok, I talk to my friend’. So when Murphy slipped over and split his head open on a tile step, I didn’t know what else to do but call Marrlin. He answered, but didn’t have his car that day so couldn’t take us to the hospital. But he told me not to worry, he would send his nephew, Pam. Before Pam arrived, Marrlin did, on his motorbike, he knew Matt was at work so wanted to make sure everything was under control. Murphy as you can imagine was in a bit of a state, so Marrlin was trying to take his mind off things my by pointing out all the kites in the sky, and saying he can come kite flying with his son Romeo one day.
Pam arrived soon after and we went off to a medical centre close by, avoiding the need to go to the big hospital. Murphy was seen very quickly by a sweet English speaking female doctor who did an amazing job keeping him calm enough to stitch him up. He had five stitches all up and felt much better after an ice-cream, I on the other hand needed something a little stronger, I ordered a Daiquiri.
Two days after the stitches incident, I had picked up Murphy from Kindergarten and arrived home to a brand new kite sitting under our gate. I hadn’t taken much notice of all the kite talk, but he was serious. Murphy was wrapped with his gift and of course we had to fly it straight away.
So far our Bali adventure has had ups and downs, but many more ups than downs. I like FIFO from here for the lifestyle, our friends can visit and our time as a family is better than ever before. So how long can we do this for? Who knows, at this stage until Christmas, but things are changing every week and when it’s time to go we’ll know. For now, just watch this space.
You can follow our Bali adventure on Instagram, @buttercup2bali. Lots of photos of what we get up to as a Bali FIFO family.
