There are many songs about missing good things only when they are gone; well we are feeling a bit like that about Lombok, which in retrospect was a very calm place to hang out.
We went back to UK for a few weeks in March to get my implants finally completed. Very relieved to say that they look good but it's a year since the disaster that led to all this dental work and its been an expensive and painful experience, a bit like boat repairs come to think of it!
So with that behind us, we returned to Lombok where we had left Viridian on a mooring ball in Gili Asahan, West Nusa. Ardy from the local village had done a great job of looking after Viridan, and we were reminded of how lovely people are in this part of Indonesia. He dutifully turned over the systems in the boat each week and sent us photographs, so when we got back everything was working pretty well.
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| We call the local boats here spider boats due to their outriggers which they use to drive onto the beach and stabilise in rough seas. We got picked up in a spider boat when we came back from the airport. |
We then left Gili Asahan and returned to Medana Bay marina where Gun fitted the new injectors we had brought back from UK; so we now have an engine that does not blast black smoke when it starts up!
We were confident the rainy season was finished but then the rain gods decided to teach us a lesson for making assumptions.
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| I was out shopping when the heavens opened so had to shelter for an hour |
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| Meanwhile Greg was 'sheltering' in the marina bar watching the whole marina complex get flooded |
The rain finally stopped and the sun came out.
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Greg took advantage of the breeze to fly his two kites off the back of the boat which were very much admired. The galleon one was probably the most popular. |
Finally we said goodbye to a few fellow travellers that we had met in Medana Bay Marina and set off heading west.
Gili Air was our first stop for a few days. It's a great island and definitely sang to the hippie in me. It has a very relaxed vibe with restaurants and bars all the way around the coastal path. There are lots of little stalls and shops selling crop tops and baggy trousers, or macrame/crocheted bags, but no-one is hassling you to buy; if you say 'no thank you' they are very respectful and don't pursue you, which all adds to the chilled vibe on the island.
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| There are no cars allowed on Gili Air. You walk, cycle or take a horse and cart. Excellent! |
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| Gili Air has a large choice of chilled bars and restaurants. The lighting at night is lovely. We were there in April before it gets really busy. |
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| Chilled beach Gili Air and the spider boats |
There are also many spas to choose from. I had a full body scrub and massage for £12 for 90 minutes. Absolute result!
We met an Australian couple who had arrived nine years ago, fallen in love with the place and never left. They now own a lovely villa in the centre of the island. It's good to meet people with local knowledge so we ate at a great restaurant they recommended and enjoyed the sunset with them at Mowies bar.
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| Mowies is a good sunset bar |
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| Huge choice of bars and restaurants. Season only just starting when we were there. Pretty sure it's wild in peak. |
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| Leg press machine, all in wood |
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| The dumbbells are all handmade from local wood. Some of them look pretty big! |
We would definitely recommend Gili Air! Sadly we said goodbye, and headed west towards Bali and Java.
Well we can safely say the last four weeks have not been boring, in fact there have been several events that have been pretty terrifying.
Having already visited the south of Bali we decided to head round the north coast this time. The north coast of Bali is much nicer from a sailing perspective. We stopped in Lovina where there is a great supermarket and stocked up on provisions and some alcohol. In retrospect we should have got more because its been a bit bleak since then.
We then sailed on to Banu Wedang Bay which was lovely. It's a great anchorage and nearby beach resorts offer restaurants, swimming and hot pools which we took advantage of.
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| Nice swimming pool at Mimpi resort |
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| This thermal volcanic pool was really hot. Had to get out PDQ |
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| Greg went for the mummy bear pool - temperature just right! |
Our favourite resort was Mimpi. You can get a day pass to use all their facilities, pool, towels etc for £4!
The hot springs have been adapted with tiling to create hot bathing pools one of which was quite a bit hotter than we were expecting and we scrambled out quickly. The other was perfect.
Then we relaxed by the swimming pool but not for long. Within minutes of our drinks arriving, mine was stolen by a very cheeky monkey. He grabbed the glass and bounded into a tree above us, then proceeded to chuck down the metal straw then drink the whole thing with a smug look on his face before hurling the empty glass into a bush.
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| Sneakily assessing his chances from behind the sunbed |
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| Quick as a flash up in the tree, swigging my drink! |
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| Im sure he was burping here! A very cool customer! |
The resort replaced my drink, we guessed this wasn't the first time it had happened, but guarding the second one wasn't the relaxing experience I was going for!
We can fully recommend lunch in Mimpi resort. The food was delicious and inexpensive. We had fabulous seats with a view of the local jetty.
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| Great table with views |
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| One of the best cold coconut drinks we have had so far |
From the restaurant, we watched a local funeral where the golden sarcophagus was taken out on a boat into the bay and put over the side after a short ceremony. We watched it, expecting to to sink but it floated away for quite a long time after the funeral goers had all gone home... we noticed it float past Viridian, then we saw that it was heading toward the shore. Not sure what happened to it next, but we spent a while speculating!
On 13th May, it was exactly 9 years since we left Portsmouth in 2017.
We had an exciting and memorable day to mark the occasion. We went on a trek to a stunning tower/tree house which was a feat of amazing engineering, using single tree trunks shipped from Borneo which were then carried on the backs of 200 local men, from the beach to the site in the interior.
There was a swing on the top deck and the breeze was perfect. It's a long way up for the waiter to bring drinks though, as there is only a spiral staircase to the top deck. This was one of our highlights so far in Indonesia.
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| The tree house tower, built around a single huge trunk |
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| The swing on the top tier. There is no lift. The waiters trudge up with your drink! |
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| This tree trunk goes from bottom to top of the structure. It came from a Borneo forest. Very impressive. |
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| View to the sea over the tree canopy |
Feeling very relaxed after a few days in Badu Wedang, all the washing done and full tanks of water made in the clear waters there; we set off towards Java. Amazingly we managed to actually sail as the wind was in the right direction and a good strength. That isn't often the case around here. There are days of absolutely no wind, so its nice to take advantage when we get some. Not only did we have wind, but we had a massive pod of dolphins shadowing us and playing in the bow wave for miles. These are the exhilarating things that make us pinch ourselves and make up for the difficult moments.
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| Delighted by our escort |
Silly to assume everything is going well though. We headed for an anchorage called Tanjung Bilik. It was very, very deserted. Pretty, but very isolated. We were the only boat there. So when a fishing boat with five guys came along, circled us several times then dropped anchor right next to us and stared in an unfriendly manner, we started to feel nervous.
After a conversation about Greg's fighting prowess and attitude to violence, we decided to leave, even though it was late in the day and getting to another safe anchorage before dark was going to be challenging.
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| Our slightly intimidating neighbours. This was a massive empty bay but they parked right next to us. |
After nine years of travelling, we have managed to avoid any human trouble, theft or violence, some of it is luck, but the rest is intuitive that probably comes from experience. Always trust your instincts!
We headed on hoping to get in somewhere before dark. Finally made it to Jangkar but it was dark when we got there and there was a very disconcerting boom across the harbour which didn't show on the chart. We just hoped for the best and dropped anchor, but it felt less comfortable than we would have liked.
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| Racing to get there before the sun goes down |
Our next stop was the island of Gedugan. We negotiated a pass in the reef, then found ourselves in a bay that was peppered with huge FADS (Fish Attraction Devices). These are made of bamboo and are like floating platforms, often with a house on them. The fish are attracted to the shade they provide and then they have nets that come down and trap the fish underneath.
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| Spotting about 30 of these FADs in the bay as we arrived. 'How pretty' we thought 'and what interesting engineering, all made from bamboo' |
We anchored in what seemed to be a good sized space between some of the FADs and decided to stay on board as it was getting late in the day. We realised that the tide was going out and the tidal range was quite large. We were relieved that we were still in enough water when low tide hit as the rocks and reef were fully exposed quite near to us. The charts that we are using for navigation are not that accurate in Indonesia, so it's often a bit of a worry.
Just after midnight a massive storm blew up and Greg noticed that one of the FADs seemed to be getting nearer to us. We were trying to decide whether it was just because we were swinging around but it loomed closer still out of the dark and we went into full panic mode!
I was dispatched to take up some anchor chain, Greg started the engine to reverse and then the engine stopped. Something was round our prop. The storm worsened and it was absolutely terrifying to have this enormous construction on our stern and no engine working. Doubly terrifying as we knew we were near the reef and rocks.
We stayed awake all night, fending it off and waiting for dawn when we could see what had happened.
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| Not so pretty when looming next to us in the middle of a storm with no moon This was terrifying. |
As soon as it was light Greg started diving under Viridian and discovered that one of the lines that was attached to the fad was now twisted round our prop and the Fad had been held on our prop throughout the night. We were very worried in case there was prop damage which would be hard to get fixed here.
We found a contact on the No Foreign Land App, described as a local teacher who spoke English, so we messaged to Ali on shore to see if we could get help; but the message didn't get picked up, so Greg continued to dive for almost three hours to untwist the rope and free our prop.
We didn't want to cut the rope as we didn't know what would happen to the FAD if we did, although that would have been the easiest thing to do from our perspective. During this operation we were crashing into the FAD and the stern of Viridian is seriously scratched from banging into the bamboo poles. Miraculously, our prop seems undamaged.
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| Greg getting ready to dive under our boat to get the rope off our prop |
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| We are finally free but not before the stern of Viridian has been badly scratched by the bamboo poles |
Greg was exhausted by the time he had got the rope free, then we had to harness the rope to stop it going back under the boat.
Finally we were free, just as Ali arrived with his friends to try to help us. Ali insisted we needed to come to shore with him and to visit his house where we were treated like royalty and given food and drink. Many photos were taken as we met the extended family. Then we went on a motor bike ride all around the island, and were taken to the market to top up on fruit and vegetables. What lovely people we have the fortune to meet on our travels.
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| Ali arrives with his friends to see if they can help us |
 It was quite a mission getting to shore. The waves are quite choppy here and landing spots are rare  |
| All the children from the surrounding houses came to Ali's house to get a look at us and practice their English |
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| Outside Ali's home with his son Gabriel |
As Ali took us back to Viridian later in the day, we noticed the FAD was now on the beach, totally untethered to its anchor. We did our best but it looked like its main line had broken and the other had twisted round our prop. Not an experience we would want to repeat.
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| The FAD has floated across the reef and is now stuck on the beach |
From Gedugan we headed to Mandangin island further along the Java coast, and got there just at sunset in time to anchor. It was a tricky anchorage with masses of boats buzzing around and some very shallow areas of reef to contend with. We were a bit nervous, but eventually found a spot and settled down for the night only to discover there were at least 6 mosques competing with each other on call to prayer and subsequent praying. It was a very rowdy night and it started again at 4am so we got up and left at first light.
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| This was a very densely populated island. Fishing is the main occupation here, so there were boats everywhere and coming in and out all the time |
Our next stop was Surabaya. This is a massive port with huge ships constantly on the move as well as thousands of parked vessels to dodge around. It's the second largest port in Indonesia. Greg had a serious sense of of humour loss as we went under the suspension bridge in the middle of the shipping channel. On the other side, there were swarms of little fishing boats with their nets spread out across the main channel. We spent ages trying to thread our way through them to get to an anchorage. It was all very worrying and after a few days of high stress, Greg started to wonder whether this was the reason that so many of our friends have sailed quickly through Indonesia and moved on.
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| This impressive suspension bridge connects the main city. It has separate lanes for scooters which is the main form of transport here |
We launched the dinghy and puttered our way through the garbage to shore. There was a restaurant and an absolutely wonderful lady called Ayu working there, who went out of her way to help us. She found someone to drive and she came with me to the city to get provisions and alcohol which is very hard to find here. It was dark when we got back and not a pleasant experience trying to load the dinghy and get back to the boat through the murky waters.
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| The wonderful Ayu, who stopped work in her restaurant to come with me to track down alcohol at Tipsy Tales and some provisions that are hard to find at the local market |
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| Subaraya is a massive city. I would have struggled to navigate my way around here without local help |
Tipsy Tales turned out to be a pop up off-licence hidden in an office building that caters for foreigners. No signage to be seen. I would never have found it on my own. Wine is hard to get here and is very expensive. It is charged at the same rate as spirits on its volume rather than on its proof level; so it's a lot cheaper to drink gin here, if you can find any tonic. Greg is in the process of creating his own tonic recipe! I'm counting on you Jackie and Clive Goodhall!
The next day we moved a few miles down the channel, still dancing round parked oil tankers and coal barges until we found another anchorage that would mean we could set off early the next day to head north, crossing part of the Java Sea.
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| Tug boats are lugging huge mountains of coal around on barges |
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| We were anchored next to this mountain of coal |
We are now north of Java on the island of Bawean where the excitement continued. Another ferocious overnight storm caused a nearby catamaran to drag its anchor, just missing us as it floated by and then scraped on the reef. We had yet another sleepless night although our anchor held firm. That oversized Mantus anchor we bought when we were in Europe has been the best purchase we have made.
Yesterday we had a tour of the island on motorbikes and visited a beautiful waterfall. Again we were helped by local people who are absolutely generous with their time and patience.
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| Lakkas waterfall with Aan, our local guide |
We have decided to stay here for a few days before we head across the Java Sea to Borneo. We need to decompress after the multitude of near misses and anxious situations we have found ourselves in over the last week.
We will have to sail overnight to Borneo, so we are waiting for a full moon and hopefully some wind to help us get there.
Thank you for continuing to follow us! Next blog will hopefully be from Borneo.
