Schapelle 'bearing up well' in prison

DENPASAR, Bali - Schapelle Corby is "bearing up really well" as she starts her 20-year jail term for drug smuggling, according to Australian officials who visited her today.

At her request, Corby's family and legal team stayed away from Bali's Kerobokan prison today.

The 27-year-old Gold Coast woman has asked for fewer visits while she reflects on her situation and recuperates from the stress of her trial that ended in chaos, screams and tears with a guilty verdict last Friday.

But she did receive a visit from Australian consul Ross Tysoe today, who later told journalists: "Schapelle's remarkably strong and bearing up really well - she's in a very positive mood."

Tysoe, who brought Corby some mail and personal items, said she had adopted a "positive" attitude now that her case had moved into its appeal phase.

She had been heartened by news that two Perth barristers would help in the campaign for her freedom, he said.

Tysoe's comments run counter to many media reports that have said Corby is inconsolable and have painted her morale as rock bottom.

Earlier today, a woman who regularly visits a friend also serving time at Kerobokan prison, said Corby had made friends behind bars and was spending time writing in a book, possibly documenting her experience.

"She is very nice. Most people in the jail know her. She smiles to anyone who says hello," said the Indonesian woman who asked not to be named.

She said Corby had male and female friends on the inside, and regularly sat by herself by a fish pond in the middle of the prison's main yard where she spent time writing in a book, "perhaps a diary".

Corby's defence team has confirmed she has asked her family and lawyers for fewer visits as she takes time to fully comprehend her situation.

But as she does so, her defence team is working on putting together an appeal against her conviction and the 20-year sentence handed to her for smuggling 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali last October.

- AAP