 According to media reports, Rush and his Brisbane friend, Michael Czugaj, met Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen in a Fortitude Valley hotel.Nguyen offered them both a free holiday to Bali, with one media report also stating that Rush was provided a mobile phone prior to his departure from Sydney.Rush, aged 19, and Czugaj, aged 18, arrived in Bali on 8 April 2005 and checked into Hotel Aneka, the same hotel used by Indonesian police for their surveillance.