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I woke up to the now familiar smell of the prayer offerings and the sound of the gentle traditional Balinese music which played at breakfast time every morning. On this Island called Lombok, my morning routine began with a short 100m walk to the ocean where I swam to freshen up for the day. There`s no way to describe how magical this island is in the morning. Clean, clear salt water, palm trees, white sand soft under my feet and the view of the volcano across the ocean. With a quick good morning to the little old local man setting up his shells for the day which he would later sell to tourists on under the shade of one of the big old palm trees. After a huge, delicious breakfast from the buffet I head back to my villa to pack and prepare for the day! Today I`ll be heading to the Gilli Islands to snorkel and swim with sea turtles. I began the adventure on a tuk tuk I had organised the night before. The experience of being in the back of a van with no walls or doors is exhilarating and somehow I still felt safe. The scenes along the coast are like nothing else I have ever seen before, with extraordinary green mountainside on the other side of the road. Seeing all of the hard working locals building their huts and such, gives me such appreciation for back home and such admiration of the work ethic displayed by these villagers. We then jump on an outboard boat with a bunch of locals to get to the island. The clear, blue water takes my breath away every time! The snorkelling trip was the most incredible experience of my entire life. Jumping off the boat straight into the clear water which was perfect temperature was the beginning of an underwater adventure of a lifetime. The water was so clear that we could see right down to the bottom where the old temple was situated. It took less than 5 minutes for us to come across the first sea turtle and it was beautiful! I swam along side a particular sea turtle watching it`s majestic movements for a long time unable to comprehend just what I was actually doing. Back on the island we hired bikes. On this particular island there are no scooters or any other motor vehicles. It took us an hour to ride around the entire island. It was so humid and hot that we had to stop a number of times for a swim before jumping back on our bikes and continuing our journey. The accommodation along the waters edge was all so tropical and beachy with straw roofs and swim up bars with the restaurants all set up on the sand only metres from the water! They are all the perfect location to have a drink and watch the sunset over the ocean which is something we can`t experience back home in NSW Australia. It`s an experience I`ll never forget! The whole day was such an incredible experience and I recommend it to all of those who appreciate the beach and tropical holidays!