Garmy (my husband and Liam's dad), me- Colleen and our 25 year old son Liam, who has autism.
Garmy and I have been overseas many times and have always organized care for Liam back home in Australia. Liam's first trip in a plane was to Queensland for his 21st. We felt safe with this as we were still in Australia. So going to Bali was a biggy for us all! Very much the unknown - how he would handle it? People hassling him, the water issue, upset tummy issue, smells etc etc
Going back a couple of months, we started preparing him. Firstly we had to arrange his passport. Oh my, this turned out to be an absolute treat for us. He loved his passport. It was his new prized possession. He kept it in his room, he knew it was important. Then he started saving money for Bali. We would give him $10 each week to put away. He loved receiving his cash, and would secretly stash it away with his passport. He was understanding and making the connection about the holiday. Finally the day arrived:
Day 1:
As Liam gets up at 4 am every day, it was not a problem to get the ball rolling to head off to the airport. He had packed his most precious possessions in his carry on luggage, and he was not letting go of this. We got to the airport in good time, parked, caught the shuttle bus and checked in. So far so good. Time seemed to speed up all of a sudden, we purchased Garmy's duty free drinks for the week and then a quick bite to eat for breakfast. Before we knew it we were on the plane. Liam's behavior was excellent. Beautiful take off and funny enough Liam loves the speed and the feel of gravity forcing him back into his seat.
Easy flight and time to land. Here we go - we are in another country with our beautiful special boy. He listened very carefully every-time we told him he had to stand still and wait. Visas, immigration etc. This is a tall ask for him, so with great relief we were out of the airport looking for our driver. Spotted him quickly and set off.
It was a little humid, but not too bad. We did enjoy the cool towel and cold bottle of water our driver from Kamuela Villas gave us. Liam was very quiet, but I could tell he was very pleased with himself. The drive to Sanur was calm. Before we knew it we had arrived. Into reception right at midday, we had made very good time today. We were then told our room wouldn't be ready until 2pm. Mmmmmm lets do lunch. We chose to eat at the Kamuela's restaurant Caramel. We were given complimentary welcome drinks while we waited for lunch. The boys had cheese burgers and I had a club sandwich. It was very pleasant sitting next to the main resort pool in the shade. In no time our room was ready - first things first, a swim to cool down in our own private pool.
Our villa was better than we expected. Liam loved his own room, it was like a small house for him. He especially loved the free wi-fi. First afternoon past effortlessly. Swim, walk, change some money, set up our little villa. We ordered room service from Caramel restaurant. Delivered with style into our open air dining room. It was delicious.
In the evening we had big discussions with Liam regarding "water". Not to drink the tap water, clean your teeth from the cup with bottled water mmmmmmm this could prove interesting.........
Finally the day ends and then its time for showers and bed. My oh my, the shower. It is open air, no ceiling above the shower, high walls and beautiful hot water from a very large shower rose. It was divine.
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