INDONESIA - MOROTAI - D'ALOHA RESORT, DARUBA, RAJA, WAYABULA - 3 TO 5 FEBRUARY 2019

3 February 2019

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.

TUGGERAH LAKE CYCLE - 16 SEPTEMBER 2017

In the early afternoon, We drove over to ride the cycle path at Long Jetty around part of Tuggerah Lake.

Jacinta's bike had remained unridden for a few years but the other day I cleaned it up, lubed the chain and pumped up the tyres and all seemed good.

Jacinta and I cycled for 13 km and the bike went well with no problems. the cycle track is easy and has nice views over the Tuggerah Lake. A strong wind was blowing so there were a lot of birds along the lakeside in the sheltered areas.



I had a bit of fun riding along a couple of piers.

Back at the start, I took Mr Archibald for a ride on my bike. He loved it.

WOY WOY KAYAK - 14 FEBRUARY 2017

The wind was blowing from the east and the surf was looking a little messy especially with the low tide.

I drove to Woy Woy for a kayak.


The sun was rising amongst the cloud cover, peeping through when possible. The water had a oily smooth look to it with the overall scene in varying shades of contrasting greys.

I followed the channel towards the east and from then on I circumnavigated Pelican Island and back into the channel.

Some of the highlights:

Small white sand beaches with no footprints.

Many waterbirds in flight and foraging amongst the shallows.

The mangroves blooming in small orange flowers.

Old barges moored in the channel.

Piers with just enough clearance to paddle under.

The wake of passing boats sending the water rippling and the kayak bobbing.

A jellyfish struggling in the shallow waterweed water.

A sandy coloured stingray gliding over the top of the dark green seaweed.

A pretty 3.88 km kayak.

LONG JETTY CYCLE - 1 APRIL 2016

John and I went for a bike ride at Long Jetty.

This was john's first ride since his injury and he went well on the flats and eventually the small hill climbs.

It was a great morning with a few highlights :-

On peddling out on one of the piers there were seagulls and terns roosting on the railing all the way along. As we cycled along the pier, the seagulls flew off in a sort of formation to the left and the right. It looked pretty cool from my vantage point behind John.

We watched a teen girl doing all sorts of tricks on her bike in the bike park. Amazing to watch! She was so good but alas, the footage didn't turn out as I turned the go pro off rather than on. She said she had been practising for a few years and learned watching the older boys.

People saying hello and good morning as we cycled pass them.

Cycling along the piers. We met a young guy fishing at the end of one jetty. He had no luck fishing but he enjoyed the solitude and view.

A play in the two bike parks though I was wasn't near the young girls standard, I still had a good time and felt inspired to do better.

A fun bike ride.

LONG JETTY TO CHITTAWAY BAY CYCLE - 29 FEBRUARY 2016

A sunny morning. Time for a bike ride.

I started at Long Jetty and cycled west following the bike path to Chittaway Bay.

There were a number of spots to stop and admire the different views of the lake.

There were also a number of birds wading in the shallows and roosting on the piers - pelicans, sea gulls, ibis, cormorants, ducks and plovers.

A pleasant 13.54 km ride.

Next, I drove to Terrigal Haven for a refreshing swim. I got to talking with a lady while floating in the water. She started by telling me that she likes to look at life positively. After that, she told me the problems with the world and her family.