Pool access required

We’re six days into our 11-night, 12-day vacation at the Sofitel Nusa Dua on Bali's southeast coast. The weather has been phenomenal. It’s been relentlessly warm and sunny every day, with daytime temperatures hovering in the low 30s and dropping to the low 20s overnight. We couldn’t have picked a better time to be here.

Our room is perfect. Garry found a great deal online that gave us full board, canapes and cocktails every evening (in a surprisingly well-appointed executive lounge) and a spacious room with direct pool access. After our memorable week in Krabi, we simply had to book another room with pool access. However, the Nusa Dua version is a little more scenic and beautifully landscaped, as you can see above. Our secluded section eventually opens out into the main pool with its ubiquitous swim-up bar.

We’ve both swum in the pool daily. Garry’s also been commandeering a beachside sun lounge roof hut each day. As a result, we’ve spent the hottest part of the day swimming in the sea, then retiring under the shade to dry off in a gentle, warm ocean breeze. You see one of these huts in the image above. It’s been pure bliss.

Our room rate included an hour-long massage, which we enjoyed one afternoon under a beachside open-air pavilion. This afternoon we’re off to enjoy a complimentary cooking session. The hotel chefs will teach us to cook a few popular Indonesian dishes, which we’ll then enjoy for lunch. We’ve also enjoyed at least one mandatory fire dance display since our arrival. However, I’m still awarding first prize to the group we saw in Vanuatu in June.

Of course, those who know me well know I’m not one for lying around all day. Hence, I’ve spent the last week researching vacations, finalising details for those we’ve just booked, and drafting blog posts. I’ll eventually find time to read a few of the books I’ve downloaded. If this is what retirement feels like, I think I could get used to it.