A former Gisborne man, released this week from a Balinese prison after serving a 13 month sentence for cocaine possession, said his accommodation was "five-star."
Willie Rare, a Melbourne resident who uses the name Angus McCaskill, was arrested last June after he was caught with 3.84 grams of the drug at a Bali supermarket.
He was initially sentenced to seven years' imprisonment at Bali's maximum security jail, Kerobakan Prison, but this was reduced upon appeal.
Rare told the Gisborne Herald that far from living up to its reputation as a hell-hole, Kerokoban was more like a health retreat.
"I had my own room with en suite and, with the assistance of expat friends, I was able to furnish it how I liked."
His friends also delivered him restaurant-quality food every day and he was able to come and go as he pleased, the newspaper reported.
"We had a lot of freedom around the place. The guards became my good friends, the wardens and the head of security - they were friends."
Prison had enabled him to regain his fitness and focus on a healthier lifestyle, he said.
He was being held in an immigration detention centre until his new passport arrived and was looking forward to returning home to Melbourne, and to visiting his family in Gisborne.
