Lovina Beach - North Bali 08.09S 115.01E

Its nigh on two weeks since we last communicated. Our only excuse is we may slowly be going troppo  as these 30c plus days have that affect. Since visiting the land of the Dragons we have continued sailing west day-hopping across the north coasts of the islands of Sumbawa and Lombok before reaching  our current anchorage on the island of Bali.

We spent over a week in a number of anchorages in the northwest corner of Lombok. The highlights here were a group of islands called 'the Gilis' which are very popular with the backpacker set. These coral reef surrounded isles have no mechanised transport, only cidomo's (ponies and trap) and tens of little  beachside hotels & restaurants where you can have a meal for around $5.  On the subject of food, local dining out is very economic but also very predictable with us. P mostly has fish because as he says they can't disguise fish. Whereas B normally goes for something like nasi goreng which (Peter says) could be any kind of meat they could catch that day....the mind boggles?

In contrast we splurged in Lombok and treated ourselves to a night in a 5+ star hotel, The Lombok Oberoi. Have peep at (http://www.oberoihotels.com/) it was just the best and worth the hit on the cruising budget. The driver for this was it was a Saturday and surprise surprise we (ie P) were looking for a hotel or bar on
Lombok that might be showing the final match of the Tri Nations / Bledisloe and we ended up cruising up to dock of this hotel and going ashore to check it out.  Reception informed us that there were no screens in public areas but all rooms have satellite TV. On this basis we accordingly checked in and had a magic 24 hours with Musketelle anchored off the  front of the hotel just like the 'YachtSet' in the Caribbean or the South of France.

Lombok is the first of the islands we have come across in Indonesia that has luxuriant tropical growth and as such is somewhat cleaner and tidier than those we have visited to date. We took a day tour around part of Lombok and were instantly impressed with land utilisation with crops grown on every inch of good ground.

Another memorable experience was sailing into an anchorage on Lombok as literally hundreds of traditional fishing boats with multi coloured sails were returning from a nights fishing to the same bay we were entering. Small fishing boats play a major role in the local food supply chain and as we move west hundreds of these traditional boats are pulled up on every available square metre of beach. Its not that different when they are out on the water, at night forming daisy chains of light like an LA freeway.

We were forced to leave Lombok by the competition between 3 mosques blasting their messages into the wee hours over supercharged loudspeakers. Being Ramadan they were still going for it at midnight and then again at 4am. At home the noise control officer would be in your face with a hefty fine.

Thankfully our passage from Lombok to Bali was a speedy affair with 20+knot winds in the Lombok Strait and seas to match....first real wind for months. We had contemplated sailing to Benoa Harbour on the south coast of Bali near Denpasar and the Sanur/Kuta area but the aforementioned wind, which was against a strong tide in the Strait, was on the nose so like good cruisers we just opted for the soft option and reached off for Lovina North Bali.  In the other life P would have insisted on the bash'n'crash so he is mellowing!!

Bali is even more luxuriant and cleaner than Lombok due to its long term reliance on tourism. We took our lives in our hands and hired a scooter and scooted up into the mountains on a circuitous route that gave us a good view of everything. Once again very impressive land use, classic terraced padi fields and picture postcard views everywhere. The populace is largely Hindu with a sprinkling of Moslems so we are sleeping well in this anchorage.

One disheartening side to Lombok and Bali is the number of hotels and resorts that have closed and have bankrupt signs up, all due to the continued fallout from the Bali bombings. Although on the flipside there is a building boom as major hotel chains are investing again around Sanur/Kuta in the south of Bali and a new international airport is due to open in Lombok with Arab backing and Emirates Air the key carrier. All in all, we think Bali is once again an excellent option for a holiday destination.

As we look at our passage planning we are about to commence moving north to Borneo and a date with our forebears... the Orangutans which is one of the biggies on our "to do" in Indo.
Regards P and B

Inside the Dragons Den - Rinca Island

We are sitting 100 meters off  Rinca Island in the most magnificent anchorage surrounded by high peaks in the Komodo World Heritage Park that is better described as the Dragons Den !!!!

There are not many places one can travel on this planet to view a natural attraction that delivers as good as the publicity material promises. Komodo National Park promised critter heaven with Komodo Dragons, wild boar, Timor Deer, Monkeys, Buffalo, wild horses and scrub fowl all surrounded by a marine park teeming with tropical fish and coral reefs.

As we dropped anchor in the channel at the south end of Rinca Island we were absolutely in awe as we focussed the binos on everything but the buffalo and wild horses. Within minutes we were in the dinghy and motoring inshore to get some of our best camera footage of the giant Komodo Dragons which are up to 3 meters in length and 90kg plus in weight. These laid back guys are just so impressive but well capable of
running and swimming at up to 17km per hour if the challenge of a meal presents.
They are big time carnivores capable of swallowing a live goat without as much as a hiccup. Needless to say we kept our distance as they made definite body language that we were in their domain.

Last night we were at anchor with an American and British yacht so we invited them over for sundowners and in due course they stayed on to share our last leg of lamb that B cooked with roastvege. They only came for drinks and stayed until 10pm which was a nice impromptu dining experience for all.

This morning we decided to take the remains of the roast ashore for one of the dragons and the lucky one showed his turn of speed as we threw the bone from the shallows of the lagoon. This dragon just hoovered it off the sand and came at us for more as we scarpered to the dinghy and deeper water. Up until this point B had been very trusting as she got close for pictures but this thankfully ended her gregarious endeavors. This afternoon we took to the clear waters fed by the deep cool ocean currents to the immediate south and explored the fish laden reefs.

We will spend a second night here and move west to Komodo Island for more life on the natural wild side.
B&P

Labuan Badjo 08.30 S 119.52 E

Hello armchair sailors...
We have sailed east along the north coast of Flores just 70 miles since we last communicated. Before leaving Monkey Beach we had a good snorkel and cruise around the landlocked inlets viewing the coral formations often just a metre below the dinghy. The two nights we were at anchor at Monkey the local fisherman
positioned their big fishing platforms not far from us for the nights fish killing. The boats consist of a narrow canoe about 20 metres long with pencil thin outriggers 15 metres on each side all linked with a woven matting giving a rather incongruous unseaworthy platform 20m x 30m overall. The thing is powered to the fishing site by a Chinese diesel motor without muffler which means you can hear them coming from 50 miles off !! Once anchored they fire up a small petrol generator (like you see at Bunnings) and then proceed to turn night into
day with a zillion conventional 230v bulbs as a means of attracting the fish.  And there are tens of these platforms in view most evenings. The fish barelystand a chance but at least its more environmentally friendly than the methods used up until 10 years ago when dynamiting and cyanide killing was apparently the rage !!!

Talking about environmental issues disposing of waste in Indonesia is a majorproblem. And it is a real problem for us as cruisers as we are generallyspeaking an earth loving bunch. But we all produce waste and attempting to haveit disposed of satisfactorily is more than a problem in itself. You may recall we told you of the experience in Kupang where the 'dinghy boys' offered to dispose of it only to see it floating passed the yacht the next day having been economically filtered. We break our refuse down into animal vegetable and
plastic/glass/cans with only the vegetable going over the side at sea. Only in some ports are they interested in the cans and bottles. So you get the drift of our problem - simply adding it to the mountains of rubbish deposited by the Indonesians in the drains, waterways and sea does not appeal.

Over the last week we have had some very good anchorages with brilliant snorkelling around some pristine reefs. The highlight was an island anchorage at Bodo Gili 08.22S 120.01E where we anchored in 23m of crsytal clear water and swam the 500m to view the reefs and walk on the white coral sand beach. And
guess what, this is where we saw our first wild monkeys ranging happily on the beach at sunset and low tide. Turns out these guys rely on a shellfish diet (nodoubt due to the absence of vegeation) and have perfected the art of cracking shellfish for a feed. We spent much time focusing the binoculars on these fellows going about their business including numerous babies too. Come dark we could hear them screeching in the trees as sleeping arrangements were being settled.  Yes we loved our two nights at Bodo Gili. 

From Bod Gili it was just 20 miles around to our present anchorage at Labuan Badjo. And what an eventful little passage it was with the engine alarm going off in a narrow coral reef infested passage to tell us Henry was over-heating....cut the engine and raised the sails to tack the final 10 miles and that was fine. Cause could be 3 options...out of oil, cooling water or fanbelt. Just 12 months new and regularly checked by P it was the fanbelt. Fitted another one on so hopefully just a dud belt.

Lubuan Badjo is a grubby, smelly fishing port and tourist hotspot that relies on its location as the western most port on the island of Flores and as the jumping off point to visit the the famous Komdo Dragons !!! Yesterday we went into town in the dinghy and as dusk settled tried to start the Mercury to return to
Musketelle. No joy. Motor simply refused to turn over and we were not in rowing distance. Big problem. Then along came some locals in a big dink from one of the big dive boats. They agreed to tow us back to Musketelle, a couple of miles, in the dark, no lights, past the fishing boats. That was really nice of them and
they did not ask for any money but of course we gave them plenty of rupes for their trouble.

Today we are refuelling and restocking with fruit and vege before our leap into the unknown with the dragons at Rinca and Komodo Islands just 20 miles south of our current position. You will be pleased to know we are gettingsome great digital pics but not pleased to learn we have yet to work out how to upload them to this blog. Continue to watch this space for the next exciting installment.....meeting the dragons !!.
P&B