It’s not so far from Bondi to Bali. Four and a bit flying hours, or 5400 kilometres, but the psychological leap isn’t quite as profound. Head to the holiday island’s upmarket Seminyak district and things are as comfortable and familiar as can be for Australians chasing the tropical sun.
Beyond the crippling traffic jams, the local touts renting motorcycles and doing a quietly healthy trade in Viagra and ‘happy pills’, a clique of Australian restaurateurs are riding a tourist wave to riches. Motel Mexicola, across the road from Petitenget Beach, could have been transplanted directly from Melbourne or Sydney with its lurid cantina fit-out and trendy Mexican menu – and indeed it does prove to have connections to Bondi’s The Bucket List and Avoca Beach’s Rojo Rocket.
“I’m here for purely the lifestyle, to surf, to do less work, and to make a ****load of money,’’ is how Adrian Reed, a co-owner of the thumping business, eloquently puts it. “Everyone in the hospitality business in Australia is struggling to make money, to pay rent, to pay wages. In Australia you’re doing brilliantly if you make 10 percent profit. Here, we’re making 40 percent profit.’’
Bondi to Bali: how Australian restaurateurs are taking over the island | Travel | The Guardian
Beyond the crippling traffic jams, the local touts renting motorcycles and doing a quietly healthy trade in Viagra and ‘happy pills’, a clique of Australian restaurateurs are riding a tourist wave to riches. Motel Mexicola, across the road from Petitenget Beach, could have been transplanted directly from Melbourne or Sydney with its lurid cantina fit-out and trendy Mexican menu – and indeed it does prove to have connections to Bondi’s The Bucket List and Avoca Beach’s Rojo Rocket.
“I’m here for purely the lifestyle, to surf, to do less work, and to make a ****load of money,’’ is how Adrian Reed, a co-owner of the thumping business, eloquently puts it. “Everyone in the hospitality business in Australia is struggling to make money, to pay rent, to pay wages. In Australia you’re doing brilliantly if you make 10 percent profit. Here, we’re making 40 percent profit.’’
Bondi to Bali: how Australian restaurateurs are taking over the island | Travel | The Guardian