Indonesia (East Nusa Tenggara)

Spread across a chain of thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population.

Ethnically it is highly diverse, with more than 300 local languages. The people range from rural hunter-gatherers to a modern urban elite.

Indonesia has seen great turmoil in recent years, having faced the Asian financial crisis, the fall of President Suharto after 32 years in office, the first free elections since the 1960s, the loss of East Timor, independence demands from restive provinces, bloody ethnic and religious conflict and a devastating tsunami.

Sophisticated kingdoms existed before the arrival of the Dutch, who consolidated their hold over two centuries, eventually uniting the archipelago in around 1900.
After Japan's wartime occupation ended, independence was proclaimed in 1945 by Sukarno, the independence movement's leader. The Dutch transferred sovereignty in 1949 after an armed struggle.

Post-Suharto Indonesia has made the transition to democracy. Power has been devolved away from the central government and the first direct presidential elections were held in 2004.

Lying near the intersection of shifting tectonic plates, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A powerful undersea quake in late 2004 sent massive waves crashing into coastal areas of Sumatra, and into coastal communities across south and east Asia. The disaster left more than 220,000 Indonesians dead or missing.

Our entry point into Indonesia was Kupang.  This large city is in Timor which is part of Indonesia.  Our original CAIT or cruising permit was sent here and we were forced to battle the corrupt officials and greedy ship agents and both did not disappoint.  With much smiling through gritted teeth, we managed to get all the correct forms and stamps and left as soon as possible.  The harbor was filthy and Kim and Emily had no desire to go ashore.

We left there for an overnight trip to a more remote area on the southwest tip of Kuwala Island known for whaling.  Here we were alone and swam in clear water and strolled the beach.  We wound our way counterclockwise around Andura Island using the tides to push us at 10 knots and stopped wherever we saw an interesting spot.  We anchored directly offshore of a Catholic Friary and figured that was as safe as we were going to find.

The next morning we pushed around the northeast tip of Flores and anchored in Teluk Hading.  It was pretty there, but the wind shifted and we decided to move along after a bumpy night’s sleep.  Most days there has been little wind (less than 5 knots) and the seas are so flat that the stabilizers have been turned off even during passages.

Flores is an exceptional scenic island, located east of Sumbawa and Komodo and west of Lembata and Alor. To the southeast is Timor. To the south, across the Sumba strait, lies the island of Sumba and to the north, beyond the Flores Sea, is the island of Sulawesi.

The name Flores is Portuguese and means 'flower' as the Portuguese were the first Europeans to colonize East Nusa Tenggara. They eventually sold it to the Dutch.

Flores measures 17,164 square kilometer, is heavily treed with forests and is mountainous, rising to 2,399 m. above sea level. The island is divided by strings of volcanic mountains into several regions with distinctive languages and traditions. The largest town is Maumere.

The western part of the island is mainly of Malayan origin whereas the eastern part is mainly inhabited by people of Papuan origin.

We spent two nights at Palu Besar and had our first interactions with rural Indonesians.  We found two villages and gave one headman a USA hat and another headman received 3 pairs of reading glasses.  Both gifts were well received and the kids were given a brand new soccer ball and could not have been happier.  We got coconuts, bananas and mangos in return and really felt welcomed into Indonesia.  We did some snorkeling and the water was clear and too warm for wetsuits.

We were running low on fresh vegetables, so we moved further west on Flores near the large city of Moumere.  We anchored off a small hotel and decided to make the trip to town to buy some fresh vegetables.  The town was about 20 miles away, but quite an adventure. 

We walked about 10 minutes in the 95 degree heat to the main road to catch a "Bemo".  They are like minivans but people cram into them.  Since this is the off-season here, us white folks stand out like aliens.  This morning it helped us at first, because a Bemo saw us coming and waited for us to walk the last 300 feet to the road.  Although most speak no English, we managed to convey our destination and climbed on board.  Kim counted 17 people mostly in the van.  About 3 or 4 boys were hanging out the open door as we sped along.  30 minutes later, we stopped at a bus terminal still 4 miles out of town.  There we were fought over by many Bemo drivers who all wanted us on their Bemo .  We were rushed into the “winning” Bemo and proceed to sit in the heat for another 20 minutes while the driver waited for it to fill up.  Finally, I looked up the Indonesian words for "let's go" and after several requests we pulled out. Unfortunately, he did not understand where we wanted to go because we drove around in circles for another 20 minutes and he tried to leave us in the middle of nowhere a couple of times before we landed in the right place.  Those bus rides cost us about $2.25 total so I should not complain too much!

The town is absolutely filthy with garbage lining the streets.  No one even considers using a trash can here.  You can imagine the smells as we walked through the fish mongers.  Kim will soak EVERYTHING we get in a weak bleach solution to kill any vermin before it goes into the galley.  We are bug-free and have discovered that is unusual among cruising boats.

We started walking through a maze of small booths selling all kinds of jewelry and trinkets and wound our way to the food area.  We were soon met by a local 20 year old boy who introduced himself and simply wanted to practice his English.  He came with us and helped us both identify the local foods and get the right prices.  We found most everything we needed and filled up 5 canvas bags for about $20.

We ate at a local restaurant recommended to us and had chicken, rice and local fare that was marginal.  The girls thought it was too spicy.  We each had two bottled cold drinks each and the total bill was $5.20 US.

We also found a shop selling the locally woven cloth made here called Ikat and bought two for about $20 each.  The hotel where we are anchored was selling similar ones for about $60.

Our ride back was less eventful and we came back in record time.  We rewarded ourselves by having two (quart-size) Bintang beers, a frozen pineapple drink and three mango ice creams at the restaurant by the boat.

This morning a local man brought out some diesel to the boat by dugout canoe.  I don't really need it now but wanted to see how it all goes. He came on time and used his own five, 5-gallon containers.   I poured it into my tanks thorough a special filter that removes dirt and water.  This hundred gallons cost me about $2.52 per gallon US delivered and was very clean.  

Another man came by canoe at 10AM with an octopus for us to eat that we had ordered.  We have eaten octopus before and it was good.  We were wondering how he could promise an octopus since we rarely see them diving.  Sure enough, he showed up and it was fresh and enormous.  We had him clean it for us on our swim platform because that is the hard part.  Kim made Nasi Gooring with it using a recipe we got from good friends on Sail Away.

We met a third man here who came out to the boat with the entire bottom of the boat covered in exotic sea shells.  He wanted a swimming mask and Emily had pulled one from a dumpster in New Zealand being thrown out by another cruiser.  He was thrilled and we received 10 shells that we would have never found on our own.  He has since come by just to talk and told us that he would trade all of his other shells for another mask.  Unfortunately, we only had one to spare.

 

Tomorrow we head only 4 hours west for a quiet anchorage and maybe some diving.  Come along with us for the trip…

Tom

Across the Top and into Darwin

We had a nice trip around the top of Australia and bypassed famous Thursday Island for the aboriginal town of Seisia. We went ashore and found a well-stocked grocery store and added a few fresh things for the galley. We had a calm crossing of the Gulf of Carpentaria which we were told could be like a washing machine. We had 10-15 knots of following wind and seas less than about 1.5 meters and we all enjoyed the calm conditions. So we rounded the tip of the Wessels and anchored for two nights at Two-Island bay. Again it was glassy smooth there and we explored the beach. We found armies of small crabs that emerged from the beach at low tide and marched by the hundreds across the sand. We have pictures and videos, but poor internet availability on the boat prevents posting pictures in this country.

We made a few more stops on the way to Darwin and were flushed around Cape Don at 10 knots by the 24 foot tides here. Our passages definitely required some tide and current planning to keep our 6 knot boat moving forward.

Darwin was OK although we almost did not make it into the locked (they use locks to keep the water in) marinas because of a requirement for $10 million of liability insurance (which we were shy of). After being refused entry by two of the four marinas, we were allowed entry into Bayswater Marina at $60 per night. The good part was a great lockmaster that loaned us his own car for 5 of the 9 days we spent there and the ability to run our A/Cs non-stop to battle the 96 degree temperature.

We made good use of the car to gather bits and pieces and to do a major food provisioning for Indonesia. We had been introduced to an Operations manager at one of the boatyards and he reworked some of the repairs to the dingy that were inadequately done in Mackay and he also helped me locate some engine filters and oil. But even with "the best guy" doing the work, not all was done properly and my running lights that were disconnected are now not working; one more thing for the captain to fix in Indonesia. Overall, we found the prices and workmanship in New Zealand to be far better than Australia.

We did catch up with cruising friends (on Elixer) that we had met crossing the pacific and now have a lovely home on Cullen bay with their boat docked just off their house. They invited us to dinner and Emily got to play again with their children, Hugo and Ethan. It just happened that our dinner invitation was one day before Emily's 11th birthday, so Dad bought a birthday cake and Emily got to blow out candles and make her wish on solid ground for a change.

We made a day trip to Crocodilia Park where Emily got to hold another croc and we saw some monsters leaping out of the water for a piece of lamb. Dad and Emily actually got to feed them with a raw piece of lamb on a "fishing pole". Although we never saw any crocs in the wild while cruising, the sight of the 15 foot monsters and the speed of their attack made us thankful of that! We understand that there are also saltwater crocs in Indonesia, but they are not as numerous as here in Oz.

I write this blog on anchor in Francis Bay. We have full fuel tanks and an appointment with customs in the morning to check out and will start our 3-day passage to Kupang in Indonesia right away. I think that I have all our permits and visas in order to make a simple entry into that country…we shall see.

Tom