I’m going to tell you about dinner at Barbacoa on Tuesday night before I get into the thrills and spills of Wednesday.

When Victoria, Will, Emma and I were here earlier this year we visited Barbacoa for dinner one night, and I have been looking forward to getting back there again ever since.

Barbacoa is a South American-style restaurant, based around barbeque, wood-fire and hot rocks flavours and techniques.  Most of the meat is Australian (sorry about the food miles!!).

Last time we were here Emma and I loved, loved, loved the char-grilled corn with chipotle mayo, Manchego cheese and spices, so this was the first thing I ordered. I added grilled flat bread; Australian chargrilled sirloin; lamb cutlets with mint salsa verde and burnt carrots; and a side of green beans with anchovy butter to the order, and sat back and watched the chefs in action. I do like an open kitchen, and was pleased we were sitting so close to it. (sorry about the dodgy poor light photos)

It’s the reason so many people love a good BBQ – the smoky flavours and sizzling fat on the meat combining together for that unique flavour that only a good BBQ can bring. The flavoursome and tender meat was just so delicious. The whole meal was quite expensive by Bali standards ($100 with no dessert and one drink each) but well worth it. 9/10.

We caught a taxi for the 10 minute drive home for $2 ($160 plus 40c tip!). A quick pre-bed swim, then an early night as we were being picked up at 7am for our white-water rafting and jungle buggy tour.

Wednesday was a day of extreme contrasts, from a quiet brekkie and reading by the pool, to full-on action, tired bodies and aching muscles.

I made breakfast at 6am rather than having the cook arrive so early (sorry Eka, Dave says my scrambled eggs are still the best)  and were just ready when the van arrived promptly at 7am. The 1.5 hour drive north to the Ayung River was lovely – the scenery changing from thriving city to rice paddy-filled countryside.

We arrived at the Masons Adventures headquarters north of Ubud before 9am, were kitted out with lifejackets and helmets and then escorted down the 880 (OMG yes 880!) stone and concrete steep steps to the river.  By the time we got to the bottom my legs were jelly and I was already apprehensive about the need to walk back up!

White-water rafting was so much fun, a combination of calmly rowing along the quite parts of the river, to full on screams and drop-offs along the rough parts. At one stage we took a turn a bit quickly (while looking at monkeys), hit a rock, the boat started to tip and Jacky, the captain/guide, took one for the team and rolled overboard to keep us upright. He had to hold on tight for the rest of that part of the rapids!

The two hour, 10km trip included a couple of stop-offs at waterfalls along the way. We retrieved the camera from the waterproof bag for these snaps, but sorry not many other photos of the exciting bits.

After an end-of-trip 15 metre concrete boat slide, I was faced with the inevitable. The walk back up the steps from the river :()

Needless to say, I did make it, but it was not pretty. 400 steep steps I can safely say is my limit. Had there been even one more, I would probably have stopped and refused to move haha!

Next stop, jungle buggies. We started with the inevitable safety video, issuing of helmets and a simple driving demonstration, including the reminder that we were liable for all damage. Dave rushed forward to get the buggy at the front of the group of 10 (as he is apt to do). We raced around the 5km jungle track twice, I know why Dave raced to the front, the girl in front of me wouldn’t hit that accelerator as hard as I wanted to! By the end we were totally covered in dust, but both had big smiles – so much adrenaline fuelled fun!

Again, very few photos, (hard to take your hands off the steering wheel at that speed) but Dave did buy the go-pro footage of his ride – head to his FB page if you are friends with him.

A little nap on the drive home and a simple dinner of pizza (damn good one!) and we fell into bed totally exhausted.

I am now sitting at the breakfast table typing this. There is not one muscle in my body that isn’t aching. Looks like a day of total R&R for me today. Cant wait!