Gunung Sesean

We arranged breakfast for 7am and even a packed lunch using the guidebook to help with the language. A short walk along road led us to a local store, where we asked directions. We were helped by a kind lady who showed us the way to the start of the path up Gunung Sesean, a 2009m mountain.

The track was steep and slippery. Thick mud, tree roots and short scrambling sections made it very difficult, especially as the path forked off at every corner. Guessing which fork to take was adding to the difficulty! Although they probably all led to the top, we couldn't be sure so drew arrows in the mud and left small markers ... just in case! Getting lost would have been a pain but there appeared to be small villages in every direction.

We met a group of local forestry rangers camping near the top. They were great to talk with and were having so much fun together. Indonesia people seem to spend their whole day smiling and laughing!

The view from the top was wonderful but a sheer drop on one side was a little scary to look over. The view was interrupted by cloud rising from the valley and you could see it split, travel around the mountain and then reform the other side!

Getting down was even harder than climbing up! Slipping constantly we were extremely cautious. Many short sections tackled on all fours or occasionally sliding on our bottoms.

When we finally made it safely down, we rested at a small store and ate the only really available food ... pot noodle. 2 tasks were essential for the remaining part of the afternoon, washing us and our clothes. No hot, luxurious power shower here, just a bucket of ice cold water!

Scrabble kept us occupied until around 9pm, when exhaustion took over and bed was calling.

Bemo

We caught a bemo (mini bus) to the market. It was here that we caught the next bemo to Batutumonga. As there were 4 of us travelling together the driver left straight away and we didn't have to wait, which was great.

The road was terrible with pot holes, ruts, sheer edges but the scenery beautiful. The driver was great and allowed us to have many photo stops! We saw one big car stuck in the ditch, so we helped him out with our 'super human' strength. He was very grateful!

We finished our journey at Moma Yos Homestay where we received a friendly welcome. After dropping our bags, we headed out to explore. We passed a lot of cute little children in pretty villages who waved and shouted excitedly.

We visited very old graves cut in the cliff faces, where remains had fallen from them and were lying on the ground.

We visited another set of graves and the house where we purchased our tickets from had the most amazing headdresses on display. They were used by the men in traditional dancing and they were made with old Dutch coins from when the Dutch ruled over Indonesia.

It was a beautiful walk through rice paddies with every useable patch of land being used to grow food. This ranged from onions to coffee.

Dinner was served at our homestay where the Travel Scrabble provided the evening entertainment.

Tana Toraja

After breakfast we were greeted by our driver for the day. The area we are in, Tana Toraja, is an area where death is dealt with in a very interesting way! Read on to hear all about this most amazing place ...

Our first stop was the market which only happens once a week. For sale were buffalo and pigs! The buffalos were soooo interesting. The most valuable beasts being the ones that were around 50% white. We have never seen a white buffalo before, but they had the most beautiful blue eyes. There were buffalo in every shape and size and some with the most gigantic horns.

Next stop was to see the pigs. The pigs were not as placid as the buffalo, so they were generally restrained by being lashed to long bamboo poles. The more a pig squealed, the more valuable it was deemed to be.

We stopped in a small shop to buy a gift for our next stop .... a Tana Toraja funeral! When a person dies the people here believe they are sick, not dead. So, the 'sick person' lives with them in their house! The 'sick person' sleeps in the same room and are they are fed, dressed etc .... This is a very interesting concept and very different to the way we would treat a dead body! When the family has saved up enough money they hold a funeral. This usually takes years as the funerals are big affairs and cost an absolute fortune. They are usually held in July, holiday season, as the family can all attend from wherever they may be. We got very lucky as today a funeral was being held in a village! They are usually 3-4 day events with different things happening each day. We got to witness day 2 ...

A huge area is set aside for family and guests. Temporary accommodation areas are constructed of bamboo and decorated. The funerals are public events so all of the villagers also attend and bring small gifts for the family.

The family members all arrive and are all initially led in by a special person, in procession. Gifts from the village are bought into the 'arena' by beautifully dressed ladies all dressed in the same clothes. The coffin is displayed up on a pedestal. It is a very, very elaborate event.

Many buffalo and pigs are made as a sacrifice by the deceased's family and the meat is shared between the guests. Dinner is served and some meat distributed as a gift. The quantity the guests are given depends on their family / community status. We ate with the rest of the visitors but then left to continue on our tour.

We believe day 3 is when the coffin is carried in a beautiful Toraja chariot to its final resting place in a colourful procession. The final day ends with bull and cock fighting, some thing we didn't feel we needed to see!

Next stop for us was to visit a series of local graves. Holes are cut into sheer rock faces, big enough for a number of family members to be placed. A wooden door then finished off the grave, often with a beautifully carved representation of a buffalo. Also cut into the rock is a space allocated for life sized wooden carvings of each family member. Some of the graves were very old and as tools have improved over the years, you could clearly see how the carvings had become more 'life-like'!

In Tana Toraja babies are treated a little bit differently. If a baby dies before having teeth, a hole is cut in a special tree. It is then covered with a small mat of fibres from a palm tree (we think?). As the tree continues to grow the hole heals over and the baby is returned to nature as part of the tree. We liked this idea ...

Moving on from here we visited some Toraja homes, which are truly spectacular. They look like crescent moons with the most beautiful carvings and decorations. The carvings are painted in 4 colours. Black represents death, white purity,yellow justice and red blood.

After a great day of learning about a fascinating culture we were driven back to our hotel.

Bus journey

After a good nights sleep, we woke at 7am for our breakfast. The hotel told us that was the only time it was served. However, they didn't tell the guy who was on duty that night. He was still fast asleep in the breakfast room until half past!

We made a decision over breakfast to catch the 9.30 am bus to Tana Toraja. We travelled in a taxi to the bus stop with another English couple heading the same way.

It was an impressive bus, huge seats like first class on a plane and nice cold air conditioning. We left on time for the 9 hour journey north.

Soon out of Makassar the scenery improved to beautiful fields of rice and unusual shaped mountain ranges. We stopped a few times for refreshments and the journey went quite quickly.

We arrived in Rantepao, found a hotel and negotiated with a driver for tomorrow's adventure and afterwards went for some well deserved dinner!

Morning arrives

We were awake early (well, most of the night).... The local people all seemed to use the onboard showers for their morning wash but the showers and toilets were in the same room. We really only went near there if absolutely necessary!

Our day was spent trying to snooze, walking the decks and standing on top of people. We tried to stay in the shade and protect ourselves from the sun, which at times proved hard. The only place that had any floor space free was the top deck which was totally in the sun!

The crew emptied huge wheelie bins off the back of the boat full of plastic rubbish. We watched as it floated away towards the nearest beach. We found this very hard to deal with, knowing the environmental impact of their actions and what a little education could do to change it. We got hit occassionally from rubbish from the deck above which never quite made it overboard....

The local people were really friendly and would often strike up a conversation. It usually began with, the question, "Where are you going?"

We could see the high rise buildings of Makassar in the distance and about 2 hours later, we were docked. One young boy instantly tried to board the boat and was kept from boarding by a man who persuaded him to get off .... with a big stick!

Getting off was as interesting as getting on the boat. People pushing and shoving to get through. We eventually made it out past the crowds and found a nice little restaurant for lunch. We continued on to find a hotel before having an afternoon nap.

We woke up to find it was dark outside and headed out for dinner!

They call it 'The boat from Hell'

Our main task today was to wait for the big ferry to whisk us off to Makassar, Sulawesi.

There is not a huge amount to do in Luaban Bajo apart from visiting beautiful islands and diving on the pristine coral! However a rainy day soon put a stop to that ...

We spent our time mostly between the dive shop (our hotel) and the supermarket. We drank many delicious chocolate cereal drinks and researched a few ideas on the wifi.

We ate lunch in a local restaurant and entertained 2 young boys who were eating there with their dad. After lunch we took a walk to the fish market. As we approached we spotted 2 men loading a huge sail fish onto their scooter. The fish was precariously resting across the seat as it was so big and it had the most magnificent blue dorsal fin.

Next, we continued past a false mosque set up on a field. We are not exactly sure why but they played pretty loud music. Maybe a sound check for some event later in the evening?!

We collected our bags from our hotel and headed to the ferry waiting room. We had been told various different times but thought it wise to arrive early. Pretty much everyone had the same idea. There were no free seats and many people sat on the floor.

We waited and waited ...

Suddenly, lit up like a Christmas tree, we spotted the huge ferry pull into port. It looked great and had lots of liferafts on the top deck, probably for 1000 people. The local people don't form orderly queues, they all have to be the first on. Chaos ensued and as the passengers disembarked, new ones clambered on. We met one man who had had all of his money stolen from his pocket in the mad rush! We joined the mayhem and dragged our bags up the dodgy gang plank.

Successfully onboard, we made our way to what our tickets said were cabins 40 and 41 on deck 4. But ... all we found were rows of beds totally full with twice as many people as there should have been. Maybe on this boat there were 2000 people, 1000 too many. Very, very overcrowded! It was so busy and hot, we headed outside to join the masses on deck. Luckily, we found a small spot to sit at the stern. However, this boat was dirty! The floor disgusting and more like a rubbish dump than a boat deck! Thankfully we were able to sit on our boogie boards but... how do we sleep, as the ferry arrives tomorrow, 17 hours later? And, what if it rains again? There was a cinema room and a small area with a couple of Playstations on the boat. A kitchen and rather unsavory toilets too.

We slept, a little, while couped up in the corner. Many locals slept everywhere, including on top of coiled rope, sprawled out on the stairs and even in the liferafts! There was no floor space to be seen.

It was a long, long night ... but no rain and the sea was calm. Had it rained and the sea been rough, it would have been a different story. People being seasick on deck would have been unimaginable!

Manta ...

Today was diving day! After a good night sleep, we made our way to meet the other people on our dive trip. We were diving at 3 dive sites about an hour and a half from Flores.

On the way to the first site, we were treated to fresh donuts! The site was easy to access and good for beginners as the current was weak. The coral was very pretty and we spotted several big lobsters hiding in their holes.

After a short rest back at the boat in we went for our second time. This site was impressive but very strong currents meant it was a little trickier. The dive site was behind a small rock that could be seen from the surface. The water flew past either side of the rock creating whirlpools and downward currents. The variety and quantity of fish was amazing. There were many large napoleon wrasse, huge grouper and super sized trevally. We lost count of the number of turtles we saw. Amazing!

Lunch was served on the boat before it was time to enter the water once more. This time a fast and furious drift dive. The first part of the dive saw us flying along a sandy bottom with little to see. However a few short taps on the divemaster tank and we all headed for the bottom. Clinging on to small rocks desperately trying not to get washed away by the current, we looked ahead into the ocean emptiness. Through the water and flying towards us ... a manta ray! First of all we were fortunate to see a small one about 2m across. However, it wasn't long before a gigantic manta around 4m flew into sight. It gracefully approached moving to within a metre of Darryl and stayed for what seemed like eternity. Wow, truly a beautiful animal. Very exciting!

Back on Flores

The time had come to leave Kanawa Island ...

After breakfast we packed our bags and loaded them into the boat. The one hour journey back to the mainland went quickly and we arrived back in the main port in Labuan Bajo.

The next challenge was to try and buy our ferry tickets to Sulawesi. A man at the port had told us the Pelni ferry office was too far to walk, so Darryl flagged down a motorcycle taxi and asked the driver to take him to the office. It turns out that the office is not far at all, in fact we walked straight past it when we looked for it a few days ago. There were no signs just a small window selling tickets. No wonder we couldn't find it! Darryl bought 2 tickets (which was a little complex too!) and asked the driver to drop him back at the port.

We needed to find a place to stay as the ferry doesn't eave Flores for 2 days. We decided to go diving in Komodo National Park tomorrow with a friendly lady we had met in Kanawa Island, who owned a dive centre. The dive centre also had a couple of rooms to rent, so that is where we stayed!

On unpacking our bags, we discovered the travel adapter was still on Kanawa. A quick phone call and it was returned to us later that day.

We needed to eat next and had some great food from the street sellers in the main street. We used the Internet to find out some information about Sulawesi before meeting our friends for dinner in the evening.

Octopus

An early start this morning as we were going to trek to the top of the little hill on the island. It was a steep climb but fairly short. At the top, you could choose to follow the signpost towards either sunrise or sunset depending on the time of day. We didn't make it for sunrise but the views of surrounding islands were great!

Snorkelling was where we spent most of our day. Turtles and reef sharks a plenty, though Christine caught a glimpse of a red and white creature slipping into a hole. She remembered where she had seen it and tried to show Darryl after lunch. She knew it was in line with the end beach hut, inside a round shaped piece of coral.

Christine led the way and we searched for the round piece of coral in line with the end beach hut. However, nearly every piece of coral looked the same! We searched and searched and were about to give up when we spotted it. In a hole deep in the coral was an octopus and it was big. You could see his tentacles quite clearly and they had some big old suckers!

When the sun went down, we treated ourselves to a spot of western food ... Pizza!

Enjoying the island

What do you spend your time doing on a tiny tropical island with a world class fringing reef? Snorkelling!

And ... that is exactly what we did all day apart from a short stop for lunch. There are sharks, turtles and beautiful coral everywhere and we are certainly making the most of it!

In the evening after the sun had sunk into the deep blue sea, we planned our next stop.

Kanawa

Our first job was to find out information about a Pelni ferry from Labuan Bajo to Makassar in Sulawesi. This sounds easy but ... we asked for directions to the Pelni office. "That way", we were told but we couldn't find it. So, we asked again. This time we were pointed in the opposite direction. After an hour spent walking around in circles we gave up. It appears the office is only open one day before the ferry arrives and it doesn't arrive for about 4 days. So, that is possibly the reason for our failed search! We did get the chance to watch a local school (we think) marching together in their playground.

Now we were running late and had to rush back to our hotel, pack our bags and say goodbye to our friends before catching the one boat a day to Kanawa Island. We bought some cookies from the bakery and a snack from a street seller before waiting at the office for their boat transfer.

The boat took about an hour to reach Kanawa and on the way we got pretty close to a pod of dolphins in the bay! As we approached the island we could see the large landing pier stretching far out to sea to clear the coral reef. We checked into our room (3 man tent), off loaded our bags and headed straight out to the reef! Snorkelling was amazing, so many fish of every shape and colour. Darryl spotted 2 turtles grazing but they didn't hang around once they had spotted him.

We watched the sunset from the pier whilst just below small blacktip reef sharks made an appearance, ready for their evening assault on the reef.

Komodo

We awoke to strange cries from the crew. It took us a short while to comprehend their frantic cries...

"Dolphin, dolphin, dolphin!"

We jumped up, ran to the side of the boat and saw the magical dolphins. They didn't stay as long as we would have liked but it was so nice to see them.

Our first destination today Komodo Island, the home of the mighty Komodo Dragons! The boat arrived at the jetty about 9am, where we met our rangers that were to take us dragon hunting, armed only with cameras! Oh, the ranger did carry a big, long stick to fight off the mighty beasts.

We spotted many deer and some pretty cockatoos on our walk around the island. We walked up to a view point which looked out over the many islands in the area. At about the half way point of our tour, we discovered a large dragon lying beneath a tree. We kept behind the ranger and studied the overgrown lizard, whose only movement was to blink. On our way back to the jetty, we passed the ranger's kitchen. The smell of food had attracted several dragons. They are usually fairly sleepy in the morning as they are cold blooded and need to warm their blood. One dragon however made a sudden move towards us ... but it seemed sleeping was more important than eating us and after a few steps, he lay down once again.

Just before our visit to Komodo ended, we saw a small snake (luckily) scurry into the bushes and a huge bird hitch a ride on a wild boar's back!

From Komodo we sailed for a short time before our visit to Red Beach. It had wonderful snorkelling but the water was unusually cool! The beach was a mix of red coral and white sand, hence its name. The view was really beautiful and one word describes the scene ... Paradise!

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and we arrived in Labuan Bajo on Flores island to end our trip. In the harbour we spotted a small sailing boat at anchor flying the British ensign. A long way from home and likely to be on a round the world sailing trip.

We found our accommodation for the night and had been rather spoilt in Bali and Lombok. The room was ok ... just! We headed back to the tour boat for a farewell dinner and disco. The crew completed the 'line' dance we had practised on the first day and they really were good. The party ended at midnight. We said our goodbyes and collapsed into bed.

Santona Island

We had been sailing through the night and around 7am the crew woke us for breakfast. We had arrived at Santona Island, off the coast of Sumbawa.

Our first activity was a short walk to a salt water lake in the centre of the island. The lake was very unusual and scientists had studied it because there is no way salt water could get into the lake from sea. The conclusion was that a huge tsunami had carried sea water to the lake over the giant cliffs that surround it. We swam in the lake which was fun but the snorkelling on the beach was amazing. So many beautiful coloured fish!

After we were served lunch, we sailed most of the afternoon with a flat calm sea. Our last stop for the day was Kilo beach but the snorkelling was no competion for Santona!

Dinner onboard was delicious and once again, the evening darkness revealed millions of stars.

On tour

We said goodbye to our beautiful homestay and made our way to the tour office. There we met the other 28 other people sailing with us, over 3 days to Labuan Bajo.

After a welcome cup of coffee, we jumped on the bus to Mataram, the capital of Lombok. Here we picked up one more passenger before taking on the rustic roads to Labuhan Lombok! We stopped on route to see the tour company's bigger boat, which is being built and also a pottery village named Mad Bail.

We boarded the boat in Kayangan harbour and were given our matching tour t-shirts! Next, a short safety briefing and we set sail to a small island for some snorkelling. The snorkelling was good at one end of the beach but at the other end it was destroyed by dynamite fishing. Part of the tour programme included re-planting of coral to try to revive the reef. What we had to do was cable tie a piece of living coral to a small square of concrete, then plant it at sea! The current was quite strong here so you had to snorkel with a little caution...

A camp fire was lit for cooking the fresh fish for dinner and the crew led the singing backed by their guitar and bongo drums. We even learnt a 'line' dance together which was very amusing! We set sail when it was dark with a wonderful view of the stars! We slept on the open deck where the breeze was so refreshing...

Coconuts

After enjoying our breakfast in the garden once again, we didn't move for a while. We did however research some amazing islands that hopefully we will get to visit.

We walked to the opposite end of the beach today and once again we had it to ourselves. Suddenly there was a huge thud as a coconut from the nearby tree hit the sand. Then another. We looked up to see a local man, who had climbed the enormous tree, cutting coconuts down. We watched with interest as he carefully manouvered around the tree before skillfully descending. His friend appeared, picked up 2 coconuts and headed our way. He asked if we liked coconuts and we nodded with huge smiles from ear to ear. He then proceeded to cut them open and offered them both to us. Wow, they were huge and had more refreshing milk inside then we'd ever seen ... the men carried off the other coconuts which must have been so heavy. One of them chopped down a huge branch from another tree to help him carry 8 across his shoulders. Amazing!

We took a walk to The Point, where the waves break on the reef. A lady was selling some gado gado (peanut sauce and rice) and many surfers were hangin' out. The gado gado was delicious and the local surfers were extremely friendly. We watched the fishermen as they stood waist deep casting into the surf with their pointed hats.

We continued on and found a shady spot next to a posh hotel. The snorkelling here was better than yesterday and Christine spotted a ray that she'd not seen before. Darryl chatted to a local sarong seller about 'all sorts' and he didn't even get asked to buy one. That is a minor miracle!

The beach remained the place to be and at around 5.30, the sun started to set. It started to set, hidden behind a huge volcano on Bali and created 2 incredidle beams of light that shone either side. We have never seen anything like that before! Back at the posh hotel a band was playing at the beach bar, so we listened in.

On our way back to our room, we stopped for dinner at a small restaurant before stocking up on water to drink!

A slower pace

The 'nice' man at our hotel brought us breakfast on our garden patio this morning. And .... we stayed in this wonderful tranquil setting until the sun shone directly on our balcony and it became too hot!

Next stop the beach. Christine went snorkelling whilst Darryl sat under the shade of a big tree and read. Christine's highlight was a big jelly fish which she swam into, though luckily it didn't sting! However, just as Christine emerged from the sea (just like in the 80's Bounty ad), Darryl spotted a turtle taking a breath near where she'd been swimming but Christine missed it!

We had one end of the beach to ourselves except for a few local fisherman, who were standing in the water and an official looking beach cleaner! We think he might have been employed by the Sheraton Hotel to keep the Sheraton beach area immaculately clean for their guests. Of course we would have stayed at the Sheraton but ...

Once the sun appeared over the top of our shady tree we decided to eat! We found an interesting dessert which is particular to Lombok. We are not sure of all the 10 ingredients that it was made of but it was multicoloured and sweet!

We retired to our room out of the heat before venturing out again just after dark. We met a friendly couple at the restaurant and spent hours chatting together, learning about sustainability.

Ferry to Lombok

The hotel breakfast certainly loads us up on fruit for the day! We finished our Balinese coffee, had just stepped foot in our room and the staff called us!

"You need to leave now as the man is here to escort you to the ferry!"

15 minutes earlier than expected, we grabbed our bags and flew out the door. In the excitement, Christine's adrenaline was pumping so much she ... broke her toothbrush in half!?!? Who needs the Crankies who can 'crush a grape' when you have your own Wonderwoman in tow!

Darryl left the hotel first and raced towards the port, Christine lagging behind in the race. In a flash the friendly man from the hotel picked Christine up on his moped and sped past, beating Darryl to the ferry! Such a devious act should lead to disqualification!

We decided to opt for inside seating out of the sun and the ferry was rather more luxurious than expected. It had soft seats, tv's and even life jackets! After hearing many horror stories of Indonesian ferries sinking, Darryl had a quick look around the deck to see if there were liferafts! Yes, there were but doubtful there would be enough for everyone and they did look a little beyond their 'sell by date'. We decided hanging on to our boogie boards may be our best option should we sink. We even planned on taking our mask and snorkels too, so we could see the killer sharks nipping at our toes!

The sea was calm and we made it across to Lombok safety. On the approach we could see that the island was very green with hundreds of palm trees. We were met by the bus which whisked us off to Senggigi through beautiful lush, green countryside.

Senggigi is a the largest tourist destination on east Lombok, as it has picturesque beaches and also allows easy access to one of the highest volcanoes in the north. We walked from the centre to our homestay on the edge of town. It has a lovely garden area with rooms set around the edge. It also has amazing views of the mountains and a resident spider! The spider is huge and lives in the garden, right in the centre of his web. Christine wasn't quite the fan Darryl was ... However Darryl refused to put his hand too close, when we tried to show the scale of this amazing creepy crawlie, fearing it might bite!

Food was calling as we had missed lunch. We tried 2 different soups and had a really tasty 'curry' from a lady on the street. It was so popular that when we went back for more, she had sold out!

Blue Lagoon

Breakfast seems to be included in the price of most hotels. Today's breakfast was great and we got to try a jaffle for the first time. Pretty close to what we would call a toasted sandwich!

First stop this morning was the tour office but the lady who runs it is sick so I used the friendly man's phone at the hotel to book up a tour through another office. Next stop, the Blue Lagoon!

This is the name given to a beach not far away with some good snorkelling. The sand was white, the sea was blue .... but one word really sums up the scene, 'plastic'! Lost flip flops, plastic bags, polystyrene and bottles in their masses. The bay appeared to collect rubbish and no one ever cleans it up! A real shame as the beach was wonderful.

After the beach we had lunch in a local restaurant. One of the dishes was a little different to the fried rice, fried eggs and fried noodles usually available. It was like a tomato curry and tasted divine!

The afternoon was spent relaxing and doing a little research on the foreign office website.

After it was dark we ventured out and found a street hawker selling a type of savoury pancake. It tasted great but the chillis he'd added had super powers!

Padang bai

We chose to take breakfast early this morning to give us time to do a short walk to a viewpoint overlooking the rice fields. We had to be back by 11am to catch the bus to Padang bai. This meant we had to hurry a little!

The scenery was very green and we could see for miles from the top of the ridge. We came across loads of little lizards and an amazing multi coloured grasshopper. There was even a Balinese couple in traditional dress posing for wedding photos!

We made it back just in time as the bus picked us up 10 minutes early. It was quite a cranky old minibus and we had the front seats. They were very posh reclining seats once but now they just stayed a step beyond reclined! However, there were seatbelts in the front and we certainly used them ...

The journey took about an hour and when we arrived to no hotel, the driver showed us to his friend's place. It was cheap and clean but smelled a little musty. Compared to the last 2 rooms we have been lucky enough to stay in, this was worlds apart ... but the staff are friendly!

We picked up a bite to eat nearby. A lady was cooking spicy baracuda on her BBQ that we couldn't resist. Next stop was to work out some future travel arrangements before hitting the beach! The beach was a 10 minute walk over some fairly rough ground but when we arrived, we were met with lovely white sand. The sea was a little rough and we wish we had taken our boogie boards. Still, we went for a swim before finding a perch in the shade.

Dinner was at a friendly local restaurant where we learnt a few Indonesian words from a nice man.

Monkey mahem

Our hotel provided us with a great breakfast this morning and even brought it to our room. We ventured out soon after, once we had eaten every last bit, to the monkey forest.

Even on the approach to the gate the monkeys were being fed by the tourists and behaving rather agressively. We didn't want anything taken, as the monkeys often steal things or ... to be scratched or even bitten. We decided it wasn't our scene and continued walking.

We investigated a few pretty Balinese temples and visited the water palace. One of the streets we stumbled across was paved with concrete. Every metre there was a message inscribed in the concrete. They ranged from profound statements to 'Hello Mum'... The road continued up a steep hill before becoming a dirt track that led to wonderful views over local rice fields.

Back in the centre, we hid from the midday sun and uploaded our pictures from the camera. Take a peek at our latest photos in the Asia 9 folder...

We ate lunch in a small Indonesian cafe before returning to our hotel to book a bus for tomorrow. After a short rest we explored part of Ubud we had not visited before. It was a lot quieter than the main streets and we managed to sneak a peak at a shadow puppet show in a small hotel.

Go big or go home ...

It was an early start today. We had to get down to the beach, hire a surfboard, have some fun and get back for our checkout time of 12 o'clock.

It was Christine's time to shine. With a big blue board, she entered the water. Unlike the previous days nice gentle waves, these were monsters! The undertone was phenomenal and it took all of her strength to stay in one spot. She had a ball and managed to stand a number of times. Darryl stuck to boogie boarding as he's had enough wipeouts on previous surf trips. If anyone wonders why the ocean has receded slightly, don't worry, Christine still has many litres up her nostrils!

Lunch was delicious and we tried a couple of new drinks. One was a milky cereal drink which tasted amazing. Another was a really strong ginger drink and it was so 'spicy' hot but really scrumptious!

Our bus to Ubud was about half an hour late and pretty packed when we got in. There was just enough room to squeeze our bags in! The bus had a large air con unit that last worked in the 90's so even with all the windows open, it was baking hot.

The traffic was chaotic to say the least but the journey was short and we arrived in good time. We tried to figure out a route to our guest house when we were interrupted by one of the many touts. He pointed us towards where we needed to head but soon returned with another man. The man claimed to be the owner of our homestay and offered us a ride. A little suspicious, we climbed in. Sure enough he took us straight to our homestay (his house). Not only was it a lovely little room but he had even completed, in advance, all of the paperwork we needed to fill in! Wow... such an amazing service ...

Exploring Ubud was a short affair as it was beginning to get dark. We had a quick look around the market and along the main 'shopping street'. Our next stop was food! There are many restaurants in Ubud catering for tourists, we found a small Indonesian grill serving chicken satay and dug in.

After our meal we splashed out on tickets for a traditional Balinese dance show called kecak fire and dance. The music was made by a large group of men (around 100),using only their voices. As they sing they all sit in a circle around a candle centre piece. It is also here where the main story and dances take place. The dancers portrayed the Ramayana (Rama and Sita), dressed in amazing costumes. Next, came an incredible trance dance. A pile of coconut husks were lit in the center of the stage. A dancer appeared riding a hobby horse and kicked the whole pile over. He then proceeded to kick the flaming husks around the floor and dance on them! Pretty impressive but surely his feet must hurt ... a lot! A great show which we really enjoyed

Ferry timetable

After eating some of our delicious scaley lizard fruit for breakfast, it was time to give our boogie boarding another try. One of the boards is already broken in 2 and being held together by its outer casing ... Oops!

The waves today initially appeared a little smaller than yesterday but that soon changed. After the tide had gone out a little they increased enough to give us a few interesting wipeouts! With a backdrop of volcanoes and a cloudless sky, it was a perfect scene.

Darryl kicked something that felt unusual underwater. He put his hands under and pulled out a very nice fishing rod and reel?!

Lunch was at a small cafe that had a big sign saying 'Chinese Food'. There didn't seem to be any Chinese food on the menu, so we ate Nasi goreng, standard Indonesian fayre and it was delicious.

After removing the salt from our bodies by taking a very welcome cold shower, we went in search of the Pelni ferry office. It was quite a walk, but we needed information about a ferry that only runs every 2 weeks. When we finally arrived the ticket office was ... CLOSED! Luckily, there were some Pelni offices on the same site and a very kind man was able to help. Phew ...

Next stop was to arrange tomorrow's bus ticket to Ubud. We have heard some interesting things about this place, especially related to the movie, Eat, Pray, Love starring Julia Roberts! Bus ticket booked, now we just hope they can find our homestay down the narrow backstreets to pick us up.

The evening was spent preventing Christine from buying everything she saw from beautiful Balinese lamps to giant, colouful model giraffes.

Surfs up

After waving our friends off, we headed to the beach. The sun was shining and the waves the perfect size for us! We tried out our body boards and they were great fun, enabling us to catch many exhilarating rides. Whilst 'hanging out' for the next wave, we watched many experienced surfers catch a boat ride out to a more dangerous surf break over the reef.

Lunch was amazing, thanks to a very attentive restaurant owner. We shall certainly go back and eat in that little restaurant again.

After lunch we thought we had better stock up on fruit. We bought a kilo of some very interesting fruit, but have on idea what they are called. They taste great, have a large hard stone, white flesh and a brown outer skin like a lizard! Just in case we got hungry, we stocked up on donuts too...

After a short rest in the afternoon, we ventured into the heart of Kuta. There are many surf shops, lots of Australian holiday makers and traffic! We investigated a few travel options before settling down to dinner. Indonesian food is really nice, so we tucked in to a plate of gado gado, which was quite spicy! We treated ourselves to an ice cream on the way home which was an easy 10 minute walk through a few dark backstreets.

Baby turtle

Well rested after yesterday's full day of travel, we ventured out of our hotel and into Kuta. We are staying just out of the busy centre in a small, very pretty homestay about 10 minutes walk away.

The surf at the beach looked great! Nice and tame for us beginners on our 'new secondhand' boogie boards. We walked along the beach, dipping our feet in the 30 degree water. Twice the temperature of the sea back in Bournemouth in the summer. Great!

We saw a TV crew filming a group of men. Some wore blue shirts and others red. They were like 2 separate teams but we couldn't figure out what exactly they were doing. Another group caught our attention. They were all huddled around in a horseshoe shape, looking at the sand below. As we grew closer we overheard a man explaining....

"The baby turtle will ...", and sure enough there he was. A tiny black turtle about 5 cm long being released after hatching! He was so sweet and slowly made his way to the sea. After a few attempts to beat the waves the poor little fella was pushed back. He tried again and again and eventually made it to freedom. So sweet ... we wish him luck as we know every living creature in the sea is going to try and eat him!

We walked into the heart of Kuta. Narrow lanes packed with shopkeepers every 5 metres trying to persuade you that you need; a t-shirt, a necklace, a tour, a taxi, a motorbike ... Cars squeeze their way through the tiny streets every so often. Motorbikes constantly zip up and down.

We checked a few room prices in cheapish looking places right in the centre but for the same price as we are paying, you got no air con, no tv and lots of noise!

We rested in the afternoon as we were still recovering from the previous day but in the evening we were raring to go again. Our creepy stalker neighbours (their words not ours), who we met first in Laos, met us for dinner before they hit the road again tomorrow on their trusty motorbike.

Airport

We Slept for only a short time before we noticed our flight time on the electronic board had changed. Darryl went to try and find out why, as the new flight time meant we would miss our connecting flight in Sydney!

Eventually Virgin Australia told us we would be transferred to an Air New Zealand flight to Brisbane. From Brisbane we could then connect with their filght leaving for Bali, so we would still arrive the same day.

The Air New Zealand plane was very nice, far better than the usual budget airline we are used to! Drinks, movies etc. etc. There was a movie called Railway Man starring Colin Firth, which was based around the Death Railway in Thailand that we had visited, so we watched it with interest.

As we approached Brisbane we could see Morton Island with it's beautiful sand sparkling in the sun. Apparently it is the 3rd largest sand island in the world! The stopover in Brisbane was 4 hours and for part, we occupied ourselves with a crossword in an Australian magazine.

The next flight was to take 6 hours to Bali. It seemed like we flew over Australia forever. Hour after hour, each time we looked out of the window! Intrestingly, we first flew over built up areas, then areas of bush followed by hours of red desert. Australia really is huge! As it started to get darker the scenery changed to 'thousands' of uninhabited Indonesian islands and the sunset was amazing! The colours changed from the deepest red, we have ever seen, to the palest orange. Wow, really beautiful!!!

Finally, we landed in Denpasar airport, Bali. We grabbed a taxi straight to our hotel, where our friendly honeymoon bikers (we had met earlier in Laos) were waiting. Friendly faces after a long day!

Last day in Auckland

Today is our last day to explore NZ! We left the CBD by 8am as that's when the expensive parking charges kicked in! First we found our way to Parnell, the oldest part of the city. We walked around the many boutique stores and very exclusive looking restaurants.

Our next stop was Mount Eden, the highest viewpoint over the city. Mount Eden is an extinct (we hope) volcano that you can peer down into. It has a magnificent round crater which is now covered in grass. When you stood on the crater rim, the wind was ferocious and you could hardly stay on your feet!

We travelled across the city to Howick to visit the beaches. The wind was whipping up the sea into a frenzy, so we went to the cute high street shops!

Our plan next was to visit the Botanic gardens but unfortunately the weather had other ideas and it started to rain. So ... we headed indoors to Auckland's biggest shopping centre in Manukau. Here we spent most of the rainy afternoon browsing.

As we left the car park the petrol light showed on the dashboard. However, fortunately for us, our next stop was the car rental depot at the airport only 15km away. We needed to return the car empty and we certainly did. We made it to the rental depot, returned our car :-( which we had become quite attached to and loaded our bags into the transfer van. We were whisked off to the airport where we will wait patiently for our flight early tomorrow ... yawn!

Harbourside

We had a leisurely morning breakfast before venturing out into the 'big city'. Our first job of the day was to relieve ourselves of all of our camping equipment, that had served us admirably over the last 6 weeks. We had a call from a man who needed some equipment for his daughter. We arranged to meet in central Auckland and he bought the lot! It was sad to see our tent, which had been our home, being driven away but at least it will be enjoyed by someone else. Now we are once again back to our small hand luggage sized bags!

We went for a walk all along the waterfront. There were many people enjoying an afternoon stroll in glorious sunshine. There were lots of beautiful large boats moored up in the marina, which was huge. It is apparently the largest marina in the southern hemisphere!

At one end of the promenade there were a number of huge, disused cement silos that had been painted and restored. We also visited the Auckland fish market which was nearby.

From here we walked through some of the main shopping streets to the Auckland Art gallery. Inside there were some 'interesting' modern art exhibits and huge paintings. Some of the paintings were so good they looked like photographs. Next to the museum was Albert park. We took a walk through the park, which was very pretty. Many brightly coloured flower beds and exquisite fountains. The walk took us to the Auckland University clock tower, which was fairly impressive!

We made our way back to our accommodation via some tiny back streets lined with boutique shops and spent the evening eating!

Auckland

A leisurely day of driving took us from the north of New Zealand to it's bustling capital.

We had breakfast near a beautiful lake, dried out our tent and organised our bags ready for handing the car back in a couple of days.

We drove through some lovely countryside with views over lakes, rivers and the sea. We stopped in Dargaville and visited the masts of the Rainbow Warrior that we visited a few days ago.

Another quaint place we stopped in was Paparo. There was a bush walk and a kids park sign that said, "Hey big people, we copy what we see. Keep this place smoke free!" We thought the sign gave a powerful message..

Even with directions, the centre of Auckland is a maze! We managed to find our accommodation eventually, right in the centre with amazing views of the city from the 18th floor.

Big!

Our first adventute of the day took us to the Hokianga car ferry. The ferry runs across a small river and avoids a long drive around to the ancient kauri forests. It departs from north to south on the hour. We were hoping to catch the 11am ferry and just made it with a whole minute to spare!

The scenery along the river was beautiful and the ferry ride very slow and enjoyable. Although fairly short ...

We drove on to find Tane Mahuta, the lord of the forest! Tane Mahuta is a kauri tree... It has a 13.77m girth and is 51.50m. TRULY ENORMOUS and the largest in NZ! There is a disease killing off the kauri trees, so we had to disinfect our shoes before entering the ancient forest. We certainly wouldn't like to be responsible for killing 2000 year old trees!

We followed signs to a scenic viewpoint which turned out to be rather more than expected. There was an amazing walk around the headland offering breathtaking views of the sea and giant sand dunes!

On to the next stop, which turned out to be an intetesting one! We were running short on cash and the earlier ferry was more expensive than expected. We stopped at a small village to use the ATM (cash machine) but it was 'Out of Order'. No problem, we thought, there is bound to be one in the next village. There was none ... the only ATM was 40km away .... in the wrong direction! We eventually managed to persuade a little old lady running a tiny petrol station to give us some cash on our credit card in exchange for buying some of her petrol! We needed it to pay for our campsite which was in a kiwi zone!

From the campsite, we took a short walk into another part of the Kauri forest, but this time at night! Armed with a red light, we searched for little elusive, nocturnal kiwi. Our light needed new batteries and we really couldn't see much but we could hear the high pitched sound of the kiwi nearby. We went deeper into the forest, but got scared ... as we realised our light was so bad, we might not make it back!

Unfortunately we never spotted the rare kiwi. Maybe next time ...

Rainbow Warrior

We left Keri Keri heading north towards Matauri. The reason to visit this little town on the coast was the amazing views over the Bay of Islands. Plus, this is the final resting place of the famous Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior.

The story surrounding the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior is quite staggering! In the 80's the ship was heading into the Pacific to peacefully protest against French Nuclear testing on remote atolls. However,the French Government secretly employed 2 undercover agents to destroy the ship. They planted explosives on the hull and sank it killing one Greenpeace activist. But ... the French Government, after denying the whole thing, got found out! This caused huge problems with the New Zealand Government for obvious reasons! There is a huge memorial up on the hill made of stones and shaped like a rainbow with a propeller from the ship.

Next stop was the famous Manganoui fish and chip shop where all tours up north seem to stop. They were certainly taking full advantage of this with their pricing!

We headed around the coast along Doubtless Bay. We stopped briefly in
Kaitaia to grab some supplies. This is the starting point for the long drive north to Cape Reinga. It is a sacred spot for the Maori people and also the home to giant sand dunes that people bodyboard down! From the Cape, you can access 90 mile beach where the you can drive along the sand. It is even an official NZ highway! Cape Reinga lighthouse stands proud on the headland where 2 oceans meet.

Nice as this all sounds, we opted to head for the campsites instead of the long drive further north, plus our hire car is not allowed to drive on the beach!

A clear night meant the heavens providing a magnificent starry display. Wow!

Golden kiwi

After a relaxing breakfast, we took to the road. Today we were invited to explore a kiwi orchard and find out all about the little green fruits.

The kiwi plants look a little bit like vines and they are planted in neat little rows. Each plant is packed with fruit, which hangs down under it's own weight. The kiwi fruit are twice the size as the ones we seem to get at home and there is a special golden kiwi fruit which is enormous!

It is now the busy picking season and we were able to watch 'the pickers' in action. It certainly looked like hard work and special harnesses are worn, with baskets in the front, to place the kiwis in.

We saw the whole process from picking to packing and it was totally fascinating! The owner very generously supplied us with enough kiwis to last us for the next 6 months!

Next stop was an old building called the Stone House and was located near the first Christian mission in NZ. They certainly chose a beautiful spot, nestled between a small river inlet and a waterfall! The chickens seemed to like the area too, as they freely roamed around.

Off to the chocolate factory, where we got to sample some wonderful freshly made delights packed with macademia nuts! Truly scrummy ...

King Kauri

A few local tips took us on a trail of the local area today. Our first stop was the famous village know as Waitangi! Waitangi is where the treaty was signed between the British and the Maori people back in 1840.

A short distance away was the town of Piahia. This quaint little place was packed with boutique gift shops and is the main access point for boats that tour the Bay of Islands ... or helicopters!

We grabbed some lunch before leaving but stopped again soon after at a the beautiful Haruru waterfall. We continued driving into rural NZ in search of a kauri forest. Eventually, we came to a boardwalk area that lead into the forest. It was only a 5 minute walk and you were deep in the ancient forest, surrounded by Kauri trees. They are huge and really, really old! Hopefully when we travel back along the west coast, we will see one tree that is 2000 years old. That sounds pretty impressive!

Finally, we headed into Keri Keri to explore. A little larger than the places we had visited in the morning but still a nice little town to investigate.