I stayed at the Swiss-Bel in Manado. The entrance foyer looks quite grand and the staff are good.
As far as cities go, I think Manado is pretty good. I stopped there on the way to and from Morotai. It was an easy place to get around either by walking , the mini vans or taxi. I preferred the walking as you can see/experience more.
I had one long hike that went for hours through the streets and along the waterfront. I visited temples, churches, shops, malls and the seaside. I finished by having a great iced latte.
At the airport at Manado, I met Nick, who was a Scottish surf guide for boats travelling through the Moluku Islands.
My flight was a propeller plane with Wings, which is the smaller company of Lion Air. The planes I think are better than Lion as they seem to have more leg room. On the flight, I chatted with a Morotai local named Nus.
At Morotai airport, it was all pretty simple. Get out of the plane , stand under the shade of the wing, get on the bus for the terminal, walk into a room to get your bag.
I had told Nus, I was going to stay at D'aloha Resort. In the carpark, he introduced me to Mizso who works at the resort and in a matter of moments I was in the resort van heading to my new lodgings. It was a bit overwhelming at this point as the van was filled with package visitors from Jakarta and Mizso had to deal with the greater number. So I saved my questions for later.
The resort was big and clean with a nice white sand beach. I settled into my room then had lunch and a swim and wandered along the beach.
Later, I sorted out my phone data top-up, organised a motorbike for tomorrow and had all my questions answered. A good start!
4 February 2019
DARUBA TO WAYABULA.
I hired a motorbike and I rode around the the south coast and part of the west coast of Morotai. It was such a fun day full of surprises. I rode along the peninsula first. At the end, there were small glassy waves on the northern side. there was a bit of rubbish lying about being a weekend place to go but still the view was pretty.
The riding was easy with very little traffic, even in Daruba, the main town of Morotai. In Daruba, I walked around the docks and harbour. I had an interesting chat with a young fella who lived on one of the southern islands just off Daruba. He was waiting for the return boat in the afternoon … long wait.
After that, I stopped at a number of towns/villages along the way to Wayabula. I chatted with people, watched them dry fish in the sun and enjoyed the scenery.
On my way back, I stopped at a village named Raja. It had a black sand beach and looked pretty, I was going to have a swim but a small crowd gathered and I was introduced to Veronica, who studied English literature in Manado and spoke excellent English. Before long, I was invited by Veronica's family to see the nearby waterfall. The falls were very pretty and there was a deep pool for swimming and jumping in from the top of the cascades. After the falls, I was invited to the family home for lunch. I was a bit hungry so I was more than happy to go. The lunch was great and we finished with a family photo shoot.
They were such a kind and happy family. Veronica's dad is a pastor and farmer and he has taught his children to show heart felt love to others. How beautiful is that! Veronica's dad is the man with the massive smile.
5 February 2019
A good sleep but cold. Finally, worked out the air conditioner as I was leaving … turn it off! At breakfast, I met Norma, who I got to know better on my return. She works at the resort and has great English and is a lovely person. She organized the car for the next leg of my journey.
We drove from Ubud to Padangbai and checked in at Kerti’s.
The room was upstairs with a patio view over Padangbai harbour and beach. The
room itself was small and the aircon noisy but the bed was okay and the room
was clean.
Padangbai was a port town. The large interisland ferries
between Bali and Lombok depart and land here about every hour. The dock area was
rough and messy. The west end of Padangbai harbour was very dirty with a
sewerage waterway emptying between the docks and the cliffs. Walking along the water’s
edge from the docks was a rough area of rocks and reef backed by a jumbled concrete
retaining wall. Next, came the pier for the boats to the Gilli Islands in
Lombok. After the docks, was the white sand beach. Boats are on the beach or
moored just a little offshore. The boats are mainly for tourism – diving, snorkelling
and touring. Back from the beach was the main town. The east end has more
expensive hotels and the centre area is the start of the main town which
spreads out north and eastward up a large hill. There are number of restaurants
in Padangbai.
We walked to Blue Lagoon and Bias Tugal a number of times:
We walked over the hill to Blue Lagoon. This was an okay
snorkel which starts straight off the beach. The coral and fish was nice but there
was a lot less than other years. Boats were anchoring closer to shore damaging
the coral. A few larger dive boats had a mooring.
There were two warungs on the hill overlooking the cove,
where they have deck chairs, food and snorkelling gear for hire. There isn’t
much beach at high tide. Unfortunately, red stinging jellyfish, sea lice and rubbish
gets blown and carried in as the tide becomes higher. Low tide seems to be the
best time for snorkelling. There was a keyhole at the eastern end of the cove for
water entry without damaging the coral.
The other snorkelling and swimming spot was Bias Tugal or
white sand beach. It was a 20 minute walk up and down the hill on the western
end of Padangbai. The beach was beautiful with some small waves at times. The
snorkelling, about 10 metres out and to the right, was excellent with coral,
fish and turtles. It was also a great swimming spot. Warungs line the beach
providing food and shelter.
Another attraction was the temples on the hill to the east. There
was a series of large, small and cliff hugging temples. We continued on pass
the temples along a rough track to the point. The rocks on the point were sharp
and volcanic. Continuing in the direction around the headland to Blue Lagoon there
were a few small beaches and overhanging rocks which were very cave lik., This
is also a good viewing spot for the temples hugging the cliffs and the view across
the bay to Candidasa.
Overall, we found Padangbai relaxing, especially during the
late afternoons.
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