TASMANIA - ST HELENS TO SCOTTSDALE - 'BIKING, HIKING AND WATERFALLS' - 8 TO 10 APRIL 2022

 8 APRIL

ST HELENS TO PYENGANA

After a mountain bike ride at St Helens, we stopped for lunch and drove inland.

We weren’t sure where we would stay but we took a turnoff for Pyengana. The area was mainly dairy farms and the pastures were very green and lush. There was a free camp at the recreation grounds and we settled there for the night.

A great camp area surrounded by farmlands.

We lit a fire that night.

9 APRIL

PYENGANA TO BRANXHOLM

We woke to a mist shrouded morning which gradually lifted throughout the morning.

We drove to the end of the road to St Columba Falls. It was a relatively short walk through temperate rainforest lined with large ferns to the falls. The walk had some very steep drops in sections. The falls were impressive and very high. The water dropped and cascaded on its journey downwards. It was very close so it was difficult to see the falls in its entirety.

We stopped at the Cheese factory for brunch then journeyed onwards to Derby.

At Derby, we checked the mountain biking and the camp areas and decided to go a little further to Branxholm. We decided to stay there and had a good free camp site and a fire.

10 APRIL

BRANXHOLM TO BRIDPORT

We left Branxholm and doubled back to Derby where I had a fun and exciting mountain bike ride on the green tracks and one blue. The blue was a ‘wow-I-did-it’ track. It tested my biking limit. The tracks ended in a long tunnel with various coloured lighting and darkness in parts.

We drove to Scottsdale where Jacinta and I had a long bike ride on the rail trail track. It was an easy ride with changing scenery from farms, forests and a huge logging yard.

Next stop, Bridport.

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.

INDONESIA - SANGIHE - ADVENTURES THE FAR NORTH - 30 JULY 2018

23 JULY 2018

We were up early for our Wings Air - lw 1160 - 7am to 7:50 am flight to Sangihe. 

The flight was on a Wings Air propeller plane. This was a great plane with heaps of leg room. The flight took less than an hour as it flew over many islands north of Manado.

At the airport, we organized a car to Tahuna (the main city) for 200 000R. Our first stop was the Wisma Mella Hotel but it was full so we stayed at the Tahuna Hotel which was next door.

The hotel was okay but it was all a bit confusing. The room was 360 000R which included breakfast and lunch. We spoke with the owner of Wisma Mella (David), who gave us a contact number for an expat who had a guesthouse in the mountains. We met up with him Michal and Ibha after lunch and decided to move to his guesthouse tomorrow.

It rained a lot during the rest of the day but cleared somewhat by late afternoon. We had a walk around Tahuna and down to the harbour. The people were friendly and the harbour area though messy was very pretty. At the end of the waterfront and just over the bridge, we took a turn to the right onto a small road. There were lots of houses along the narrow road and the people were so nice. We had a lot of fun chatting and taking photos. 

Back at the hotel we asked about dinner and they recommended a restaurant down the road.  We caught a minivan to a recommended restaurant but the food was crap.

24 JULY 2018



We had a simple breakfast and chatted with Mama the cook at the Tahuna Hotel. She was very nice and was concerned to give us food that we liked to eat.

After breakfast, Michal and Ibha the owners of Hattarua (250 000R per night) arrived in their car to take us to their guesthouse.

Michal was from the Czech Republic and Eva his wife was a local lady. They were both lovely people and did their best to make us feel welcomed, comfortable and informed. Meeting them made the trip to Sangihe even better. I would recommend anyone wishing to go there to stay with them.

Hattarua Guesthouse

+62 822 9640 5152 / +62 822 9640 5123

Email: hattarua@gmail.com

Also on Facebook

We stopped at the large local market and bought fish and vegetables then stopped at the supermarket for beer and other items.

The guesthouse was situated on top of a mountain with a panoramic view of the Awu volcano. The rooms were nice and clean. We settled in and had a delicious lunch.

After lunch, we drove to the eastern side of the island to Lette, a small seaside village. We walked the path through the village and then Ibha arranged a small boat (40 000R) to take us to a beach (Bobo) around the headland. The beach was white sand, fringed with palm trees, very pretty and deserted. The waters were crystal clear, clean and warm. We swam, snorkeled, wandered around the beach and sat in the sun. After a few hours, the boat returned and took us back to the village. What a great start to our stay at Hattarua and Sangihe.

At this point, I'll mention the roads. The roads were in very good condition considering the island's size and remoteness but they were also very steep and windy. I was considering hiring a motorbike but so many constant bends seemed like hard work to me.

We had another feast at dinner and spent the evening drinking beers, chatting and planning the following day.

25 JULY 2018

After breakfast, we drove to Manalu village (500 000R) for a boat to Tehang Island (250 000R). The local people called out 'hello mister' many times during the journey. The roads were good as we twisted and twined our way around the hilly terrain.

The boat was a small local boat with the two stabilizing poles on both sides. It cleanly cut it's way across the deep water towards the island. Nearing the island, the water become shallower and clearer. We skimmed over the sea looking at the coral below and the island shore of rocky cliffs and white sand beaches.

We landed on a beautiful white sand beach (Pantai Marahi) fringed with coconut trees. We settled our gear under a large broad leafed tree in the shade and had a short swim in the tranquil waters. Ibha, Michal, Jacinta and I snorkeled to the left of the beach pass the sea grass, along a narrow and deep channel to the outside wall. From there we drifted along gazing at the coral and fishes.

Back on the beach we had fried noodles and tofu for lunch and chatted with the local people who lived just behind the beach. There were five families living there. They were all very fit and healthy.

We spent the afternoon lazing on the beach, chatting and swimming in the warm waters. Late in the afternoon, the boat returned to return us to the village and car.

On the way back to Hattaroa, we stopped at the Tahuna markets to buy food. It was heaps of fun in the market and we were learning a lot about what foods were available and how to choose the better foods.

26 JULY 2018

I woke and walked down the road and into a field to watch the sunrise. An awesome morning.

Back at the guesthouse for breakfast and later, we drove to Lose Lookout for breath taking views onto the city of Tahuna below. Tahuna was only a relatively short distance away but we were up very high.

Late in the afternoon, we stopped at the markets to buy fresh food for dinner.

Towards sunset, Jacinta and I sat on the wall at Tahuna harbour and drank a few large Bintang beers. It was a nice way to end the day.

27 JULY 2018

A big outing day today. Micheal drove us to the more southern end of Sangihe to visit waterfalls. On the way, we passed heaps of villages and friendly people. We stopped at Desa Basauh and then walked down a steep path and steps to a small creek running through a steep walled chasm with lush vegetation drooping and clinging to the precipice. We followed the creek and scrambled over the slippery rocks and through the water till we reached a waterfall. It was so pretty. The water didn't fall but rather gently flowed over the rock wall into a small pool. We continued to scrambled along the creek to a second waterfall. This fall bulldozed its way through a narrow passage at the top of the falls and poured heavily in a large pool of water. We swam in the cool waters of the pool and enjoyed the jungle scenery.

We scrambled back over the rocks and up the steep path back to the car. Next stop was a beach but unfortunately, there was a wedding and for some reason weddings are held in the middle of the road and so the road was closed. We had to detour back an hours drive to get to the beach which was 10 minutes away.

We passed through a village then a very rough road to two white sanded beaches. We choose the one with the easiest path. It was a nice afternoon strolling along the beach, chatting, swimming and eating a late lunch.

On the way back, we visited the Raja's (king's) house and the old church of Steller, the missionary.

28 JULY 2018

I woke early and walked the road to the lookout overTuhuna to watch the sunrise. Nice.

We hired motorbikes for the day (100 000R per bike). Michal and Ibha drove us through a few villages to look at the bamboo furniture making, a very old tree (with ghosts) and an abandoned missionary school site.

Later back at Hattarua, I had a play in the tree house.

Later in the afternoon,  Eba and a local guy drove us on motorbike to another lookout. The lookout was amazing giving a different view of the Tahuna Harbour below. We walked a short distance to a very brightly coloured four-storey house on the mountain top. I spoke to the lady caretaker and she opened the building and allowed us to look inside and climb the stairs to the rooftop. What a view! We had fun calling out to the field worker below. The building was a home with the 1st and 2nd floor being a large open rooms. the 3rd floor as living/sleeping area.

We continued down a narrow path and then onto the main road with the motorbikes towards the beach. About half way, we stopped to watch the knife making. Amazingly, they still had their eyes, as they were using a lathe to sharpen the knives with sparks flying everywhere and no protection.

The beach was a very long black sand beach. Not very inviting for a swim but it was still pretty so we continued along the coast road, passing through villages and over numerous bridges before heading back to the Hattaroa.

Ahmed, a German guy had arrived by boat from Ciel Island. A nice fellow.

29 JULY 2018

Today, we had a long drive (500 000R) to Palau Tehang, which wasn't so long to do as Ibha was driving. This time with had a speedboat (250 000R) to take us to an island white sand beach. Unfortunately, the wind had increased and the most sheltered spot was where we boated to a few days ago. Not that that matter as it was so nice. We snorkeled, swam, ate, talked and lazed in the sun. Jacinta and I had a short hike over the headland to another beautiful white sand coconut tree lined beach.

30 JULY 2018

A last morning gaze over the mountains, breakfast and Micheal and Ibha drove us to the airport for our flight to Manado, Sulawesi.

The airport (Taha) was small and cute. At the door, security checked our passports and tickets, we walked 4 metres to the check in counter, then two metres to the pay for excess baggage counter, then back to the check in counter then a four metre walk  to the waiting room where they checked our tickets and passports and finally, a passport and ticket check before leaving the waiting room for the plane and then we walked across the tarmac to board the only plane for each day, our propeller Wings Air flight to Manado.  It was all done with lots of smiles.

Goodbye Sangihe, Hattarua, Michal and Ibha. It was such a great experience. Thank you :)