INDONESIA - MOROTAI - D'ALOHA AND SOUTHERN ISLANDS - 12 FEBRUARY TO 14 FEBRUARY 2019

I woke and thought 'time to leave Morotai … need to surf BUT firstly I will visit the southern islands'.

I said my goodbyes and caught a share car to D'Aloha Resort near Daruba in the south of Morotai.

I settled into my room and caught up with my friend Norma. In the afternoon, I had a walk along the beach and the nearby town. It was a fun walk along the beach, chatting now and again to a few locals. The walk through the village was great. The people were friendly, ready for a small chat and wanting their photo taken. Two kids followed me for ages, I took their photo and they ran off happy.

Back at the resort, I had dinner on the beach. It was a 3/4 moon. The moonlight was quite pretty reflecting off the water.

Back in my room, I organised onward plane tickets and hotels for my next destinations.

The next day, I did the boat trip to the islands. it was 1 000 000R but worth it. I had the boat for 7 hours and the boat had three motors (always good in case of problems) and a cabin.

Norma was my guide. We had fun sitting on the cabin roof, walking around the islands, wading through the shallow water and being silly.

The first island was small and sandy with no vegetation. Small waves were breaking from all directions either depositing or withdrawing sand. We walked around the island (a couple of minutes) and I had a swim in the clear water.

At Kokoyo Island, I had a snorkel next to the pier. The water was clear and there were massive schools of fish, pretty coral and a sea snake. The fish were so numerous that I couldn't see through them but they parted for and around me as I swam through them. Very magical.

After that, Norma and I walked around part of the island along the shore and through the shallow water.

Dodolo Island was really two islands at high tide connected by a sand spit. We walked around the islands crossing over on the sand spit. The sand was blindingly white. It was so pretty.

There were a number of places to stay on the islands. We had lunch on a cabana in the shade.

The last stop was between two small rock islands in the middle of the ocean. the water was shallow between the two islands and was ideal for snorkelling. There were lots of fish and coral. the visibility was good but it parts the sand movement obscured vision.

It was a great day on the islands. I got back feeling good tired, had a shower and dinner then off to bed.

The next morning, I had my final walk along the beach. I said my goodbyes and drove off to the airport. At the airport, I had problems with the charging of my surfboards but it all sorted out in the end.

SULAWESI, BUNAKEN ISLAND - SNORKEL AND CELEBRATION - 15 JULY 2017

After breakfast, Jacinta and I boarded the boat for snorkeling. All the others onboard were divers. We stopped at two places and drifted with the currents. There was a lot of fish, and we saw two turtles and coral along the wall. The water was crystal clear. Strangely enough, the coral isn't really very colourful and in some spots non existent. 

The snorkeling has been nice but I am a little disappointed overall with the coral and fish size as this place had a massive rave on being the one of the best in the world. I have snorkel in more awesome places in Nusa Penida, Flores and Rote. One of the people on the boat was Rob who had lived in this area for 15 years and had been doing a variety of environmental studies and surveys. He told me that the marine park was only recent and the lack of coral and larger fish has been caused by bleaching, dynamite fishing, cyanide fishing and boats dragging their anchors across the coral.

Later, that afternoon we walked to one of the villages. There was a celebration at one end of the village. People were doing very loud karaoke and climbing tall poles to win prizes. Most people appeared happy, friendly and smiling. It was very nice.



After the that, Jacinta and I settled into a small restaurant over looking the ocean near the main pier. We watched the locals relax and wandered around slowly while we enjoyed a cold beer.

There was a party at the resort in the evening for the owner who was moving residence to Sanur. They had a little competition and the local guys played some music.

Indonesia - Bali - Medewi - May 2010

 

Medewi is on the west coast of Bali.

I stayed at a small losman in a clean fan room for 70 000 rupiah. There were smaller cheaper rooms. There is also a lot of accommodation in Medewi along the beach to the north and along the road leading to the beach.

The walks around Medewi are very interesting. In the course of an hour walk, I wandered pass a river, rice fields, the town, beach, fishing boats, homes, farm animals and restaurants.

The locals are friendly and helpful. A great place to watch the daily life of Balinese people.

Indonesia - Sumbawa - Hu'u, motorbike and dinner at Jay's - April 2010

 

 

Hu’u is the small village to the west of Lakey. It consists of a main road with a number of dirt roads branching off in a rectangle shape. The homes are fenced and dotted along the main road and the side roads.

12/04/10 - sunny

I went the first time through the village with Harry my motorbike driver. The people were very friendly saying hello or waving.

I met Harry’s wife and some of his kids as well as visited his house. Further along through the village, we met Jay’s wife and some of her family.

13/04/10 - sunny

On the second visit, we were all invited to jay’s home for dinner. Jay was Marty’s motorbike driver. The meal was really nice and we got to meet more of his family.

We had a great time after dinner with Marty giving away stickers and Marty and Nick buying fish. It caused a mini riot but it was in the name of good fun.