A little jewel in the Java Sea! We spent six days exploring this beautiful area. White sandy beaches, uninhabited islands, coral reefs, monkeys and friendly local people. After the big city chaos of Surabaya, Bawean was just what we needed! We left Surabaya and motor-sailed, the Java sea, into head winds as we crossed to Pulau Bawean. The crossing took 13 hours…
… we started the arduous saga of extending our visas. We looked up the address for Kantor Immigrasi (the office of Immigration), caught a ferry to Surabaya and then a taxi a long way out of town (out near the airport) to the Immigration Office. Once there, we waited for about an hour until we were called to the desk, where we were told that we needed to go to another office. A couple of minutes later we were walking in the rain trying to catch another taxi. Wet, and a bit disappointed, we caught a cab to another immigration office…
There is an abundance of things to see and do in Kuala Lumpur. We only brushed the surface with the things we did during our six days and nights. We stayed in Chinatown before moving to Hotel 99 in the Bukit Bintang area. Both these areas, within walking distance from each other, had good public transport and there was a lot to see and do. The public transport was easy to use… the trains more so than the buses. The many train lines have good, easy to read, timetables and a search on the web will deliver all the details you need beforehand to tell you the closest station to where you are and what train you need to get where you want to go.
Our trip to Kuala Lumpur was an unexpected and unwanted expense. However, as always, we are thrilled to be able to travel and see new places; so we wanted to make the most of it…. We’d just do Kuala Lumper on a shoestring! How to do KL on a shoestring? Firstly I got on the net and found cheap flights to KL and booked a hotel through Wotif that was close to public transport. The flights cost AUS $100 each return. These were the cheapest flight out of, and back into, Bali that we could find, hence going to KL. Then I googled what to do in KL and found some inexpensive and free places to visit…
A few days after our boys left Bali we moved Thorfinn to a mooring at Serangan. Trish came along for a sail, and it was a good thing she did. During a routine check on the engine room, Dwayne found the bilge full of water. We had a leak somewhere… a very fast leak! A semi-controlled panic ensued as Dwayne set up the manual bilge pump. It was my job to pump and Trish steered the boat, as Dwayne searched for, found and fixed the busted hose…
After the relative peacefulness of Gili Air, Kuta during the holiday season appeared pandemonic. The chaotic cacophony was made worse by the heat in the un-air-conditioned van that slowly made its way through the congested convoluted streets. Upon arrival at the hotel we found there had been an error in the booking and three of us did not have a room. Following a long exhausting debate over what we should, could and would do, Dwayne, Alex and I went and found another hotel room for a couple of nights. The disorder at the next hotel would have been comedic had I not been so tired…
Christmas on Gili Air! After a week in Bali it was a treat to get back to the boat and head out to the small island paradise of Gili Air. The kids had been out that night and when they arrived back to the boat about 2300 we left the marina and began the eight hour sail. There was no wind so we actually motor-sailed throughout the rest of the night. I was on watch when the sun came up. It was a beautiful sight. The super-calm conditions and sleeping kids scattered all over the boat. Priceless…
We arrived in Bali on the 12th of December 2014 and got a berth at Bali Marina in Benoa. My mum always told me if you have nothing nice to say about something, don’t say anything at all. So I just say it was convenient to leave the boat there while we stayed in a villa with the kids. The boat was safe. The AUS $35 per night was too expensive for what you get… or not get as the case may be. Electricity and water cost extra. We needed to stay in the marina to keep our freezer going…. which is something we may have to rethink. I have no photos to show you as there was a sign that prohibited taking photo of the marina…
Once we cleared customs in Maumere, Flores, we set sail for Labuan Bajo. Once there Dwayne was eager to get ashore and check out the restaurants and bars, so we put the dinghy in and went to explore. We had a look around and had a few drinks before finding the markets where we stocked up on our fruit and veg. We had dinner in a restaurant with a great view of Thorfinn in the harbour. Dwayne had found his “little paradise.”
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