Itchy Feet

Photos: Northern Territory

adventurers — Sun, 7 Jan 2018 20:21:00 GMT

Photos: Australia

adventurers — Fri, 5 Jan 2018 19:35:00 GMT

Photos: Queensland

adventurers — Fri, 5 Jan 2018 19:28:00 GMT

Hair Cut

adventurers — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 19:37:00 GMT

Dave needs a haircut. We walked into a shop that had a sign out front saying 'salon'. There was a counter with some shampoo and behind that a girl of about 5 sitting watching tv. There were two seats at a bench and no mirror. I asked the girl if her mum was there. she ran out yelling to her brother and sister. The 3 kids ran back in with their mum and looked at us with excitement. I asked the lady if she cut men's hair. 'Tidak". No. She smiled and hid behind her hand. I said ok. We started to walk away and one of the kids yelled out 'Photo. Photo'. Their mum literally ran behind the curtain and out of sight. So we took a photo of the kids and they looked at our camera at the picture of themselves and laughed and giggled. And off we went.

Buffalo

adventurers — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 12:47:00 GMT

Buffalo are highly regarded in Tana Toraja. They are large, beautiful creatures. Some are albino and worth at least $10,000. Buffalo are slaughtered at funerals and the meat shared among the community.

"Hello Mister"

adventurers — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 12:41:00 GMT

We are still coming across people who are surprised to see us Non-Indonesians. They take our photo (while pretending to take their friend's photo) or they come up & ask us to pose for a 'selfie' with them or they yell out on the street "Hello Mister!" Children run up to us and yell "Hello" then run away giggling. Others just stare and stare. One ancient lady today took one look at me and tripped up. I have that effect on people sometimes :-)

Wake Up Call

adventurers — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 12:38:00 GMT

There is no need for an alarm clock here in Indonesia. You either wake up to motorbikes buzzing by, roosters crowing incessantly, sometimes imitating dogs barking and horses neighing or the call to prayer of the mosques at 4am.

Upsize Insects & Bugs

adventurers — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 12:34:00 GMT

There are beautiful butterflies and moths here. They are quite large, about the size of an adult hand. We have also seen rhinocerous beetles about the size of your computer's mouse.

Tana Toraja, Sulawesi, Indonesia

adventurers — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 12:23:00 GMT

Dave and i met a young German couple and travelled with them all day yesterday in a mini van with a driver. We saw the traditional burial sites of the Torajan people who are laid to rest inside caves and carved out rocks. We stood beside human bones & skulls & entered a cave on our own with torches where we came across more bones & skulls. I felt like I'd walked onto the set of an Indiana Jones movie. Babies are 'buried' separately. They are placed inside a hand carved hole in a tree and it is believed that they become the tree. Here, death is a real celebration of a life lived and the people work all their lives to save for the funeral costs.

Photos: Sulawesi

adventurers — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 12:40:00 GMT

Near Drowning

adventurers — Wed, 5 Aug 2015 21:15:00 GMT

Our captain motored to Pink Beach, near Komodo Island, for us to snorkel at 7am. We pulled up beside several other boats and tied up to them. People on the other boats were eating breakfast but mum & I climbed down the ladder and straight into the water. No one else was in the sea yet. We needed to fix our gear - our mask & flippers needed adjusting so we said we'd swim to the beach, fix everything there and then start snorkelling. We were probably half way between the boat and the shore when we were suddenly aware of an Indonesian guy in the water close behind us making funny noises. We thought he was commenting on the coldness of the water & suddenly it dawned on us that he was in trouble, was not a good swimmer and was panicking and needed help. Mum swam to him to help and as she did, in a flash in my head i knew that it was dangerous to go to a drowning person in deep water because that person could end up drowning their rescuer in their panic. The man reached out for mum and was on her back in a second. (mum is 65). I'm thinking Oh my god what can we do? He needed a life ring or something. i looked underwater and could see that they were almost at a big boulder of coral. In a second they would both be able to stand up. I started yelling STAND UP STAND UP STAND UP. But the panicky splashing continued. I was racking my brain for the Bahasa word for stand up and it just didn't come to me. Neither mum nor the guy felt the coral underneath and they went past it into much deeper water. Finally this guy's friend swam up and helped mum and got his friend to stand on another coral outcrop. Thank god my mum was ok. We made it to shore and sat there puffing and panting. The other guy was helped back to his boat by his friend. For a minute there I thought I'd be taking the plane home alone, without my mum.

Komodo Dragons Part 2

adventurers — Tue, 4 Aug 2015 20:52:00 GMT

Our ranger told us that mother komodos will eat their own babies. So for the first three years of their lives, komodos live in trees for their own safety. Not only from their mothers but also from any other komodo. It is currently mating season, so it is hard to find the dragons. They don't eat at this time, so they are not out looking for food and just remain hidden in the bush. On Komodo island we were lucky enough to see four komodo dragons. Two were young and quite small and ran away very fast. The other two were huge. About two and a half metres long and very muscley. I thought we would be quite a distance away from them because they have a toxic bite. Once bitten, it can take a human up to two years to die from a komodo bite. Mum & I stood about 4 metres away from the largest dragon. Our ranger/guide took my camera and took photos of us with the dragon in the shot (photos coming soon...)

GEtting on and off our boat at the pier was quite difficult. I was so proud of mum with her dodgy hip, clambering & climbing & being yanked up by the arms from helpful boathands. She actually had a fall walking on some rocky ground and i was just so glad that it wasn't right in front of a komodo!

We motored to Lasa Island for a swim. We reached there just before the sun slid behind the tallest mountain. We were so hot and sweaty after our exercise and dragon chasing that we swam at dusk in water near Komodo Village where there are komodos (who swim) and crocodiles just in case the dragons weren't bad enough. I can't believe I did it. I was terrified at the time but so ridiculously hot. As mum & i swam from the boat towards the beach, I saw two large splashes in the water to our left. I must've turned white with fear. Croc? Komodo? There was no point saying anything to mum. She was ahead of me and would make it to shore before I did. But hell, crocs and komodos go on land as well. Aaaaaaah. What to do? Two of the crew from our boat were already on land, so, keep swimming! When we reached the beach, mum & i had a two minute stroll, looked at the sun as it slid behind the mountain and then i said "Right. Let's swim back". I hadn't told her what i'd seen. And so, right on dusk, we got back in the water and swam to the boat. Back safely on the boat, I chose to tell mum what i'd seen.

Komodo Dragons

adventurers — Tue, 4 Aug 2015 19:43:00 GMT

Labuan Bajo, Flores to Komodo Island. The first day of our two day, one night boat trip to see Komodo Dragons. Walking up the pier to get on our boat and four boats across from ours was a half sunk boat, with several men in the water, trying to rescue items off the boat. A bad omen? I'm not too confident on boats to begin with. Eep! Then we were shown to our boat and on the table was a hand of 20 bananas. Any boaty person will know the superstition that boats and bananas don't mix! Anyway, as long as they had life jackets... They did. Three. And there were 6 of us on board. All good. !?

The view was incredible. Many small islands jutting proudly out of the sea. They were arid & mountainous. And two dolphins swam in our wake. We arrived at Rinca Island, part of the Komodo National Park. It was 490,000Rp for the two of us (about $25 each). We saw 3 komodos on our half hour walk. The first one was small, docile and sleepy and probably three years old. It was the size of a regular goanna. The second komodo was much larger and laying in an awkward position between several rocks. We stood only two steps away from it which seemed a bit close considering their toxic bites. the third komodo was a very large, pregnant one. When we stopped to look at her, mum said "Oh look, she's turned her head to look directly at you". At that point the ranger indicated the cord hanging from my camera and said to me 'be careful your camera, she thinks it's food'. So I bunched up the cord in my hand and took a couple of steps backwards. She was big and beautiful with very long claws. Komodos kill and eat their own babies & wouldn't think twice about taking a chomp out of a human seeing as they bring down buffalo easily.

Photos: Komodo Island

adventurers — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 12:38:00 GMT

B & TJ go to Komodo Island. Short time later, TJ tripped and fell but luckily wasn't attacked by komodo.

Some Quick Highlights

adventurers — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 10:05:00 GMT

finished work on Friday at 2:30 jump in the heat and headed north of Melbourne that was a sliver of noon in the sky we drove off the smallest mountain in Australia amount which she proof an elevation of 148 Nathanin color color that would housings of starswe slept in haha national Talkwe have hit red dirt country or readynext day we crossed the border into New South Wales traveling north on the Silver City Highway already I had no internet or phone servicewe are leaving civilization behind her eyesyou may have guessed I am usingvoice recognition software it is not very successfulI will ring taught this at some stage so it makes senseso hundreds of black and white and brown feral goatsand an English Road killAmy.set up camp in Silverton and visited Mad Max 2 museumthe Droid is a black ribbon disappearing into the same distanceseveral ostriches by the road this voice system doesn't recognize the beach Australian bird cold and Amyreceived out fast friendly wave phone n on coming Dr off now we are truly in the outbackthat landscape around Broken Hill is much lunch was hot at work. this is ridiculous I am going to stop

Betoota

adventurers — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 18:30:00 GMT

Woke up in the outback pre-dawn to a strange alien language of chattering. We couldn’t decide if it was crickets or birds. I went for a stroll on the rust-red desert sand. Saw a bustard, a flock of budgies and two big red kangaroos having a boxing match. But not a serious one.

We stopped to look around Australia’s smallest town, Betoota in the Diamantina shire of Queensland. The population of the town is zero. For many years the population was just one – Ziegmund (Simon) Remienko, the Betoota publican from 1959 to 1997. That’s right, Australia’s smallest town has one building – a pub- which also had a petrol bowser out front so you could kill two birds with one stone.

We looked around inside the deserted pub. The small bar area has a multitude of empty champagne bottles, lined up neatly on the shelves. The sink has some rather kitsch horse tiles above it and there are six old fashioned single sprung beds on the mozzie-netted verandah. So I guess if you’d had a few too many, back in the day, you could have slept it off before continuing on your journey. I’m very pleased to say there was no graffiti in this abandoned building. It is like a walk-through time capsule. The boys and I decided that we should chuck in our jobs, move in and bring the old pub back to life.

I’ve got a funny feeling we’re not the only ones who have had that thought.

To Wander. To wonder. Encounters.

adventurers — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 18:24:00 GMT

A cacophony of cockatoos started up at dawn in the tree right above us. We’d seen them last night peeping out from their hollows. After a big breakfast, we set off to see some Australian Historical Landmarks – the explorer Wills’ grave – of the Burke and Wills Expedition - and the site where King was found & rescued by Aboriginal people. We also drove to the famous Dig Tree - one of Australia’s national icons.

Heading out of Innamincka, I jumped in Dad’s vehicle and Dan and Dave drove off in front, into a flat land of nothingness. Suddenly, two road signs. One saying Encounter One, the other a few kilometres further on saying Encounter Two. Out here with nothing around for miles and miles we just assumed they must be UFO encounters. They were not marked on maps and I couldn’t find anything on the internet, so what were these signs and what did they mean? (Cue Twilight Zone theme music).

Big blue sky above

Driving on the fine red dust

Brown landscape changing.

In Barcoo Country we travelled for several hours without seeing any other life forms. No wildlife, not even birds. Suddenly a handful of cows which must have belonged to Arrabury Station. They were so far from anywhere and any water or so it seemed. For us semi-city folk, it is hard to understand how someone can own a cattle station of thousands of square kilometres that is unfenced and have cows that just wander. The earth was as flat as a pancake and in every direction you looked there was not even a tree, let alone a dwelling. How far had these cattle come? And from which direction?

We drove over two large fine red sand dunes to reach Haddon Corner, the outback point where two states meet: South Australia and Queensland. The outback night sky treated us to a falling star and satellites moving horizontally in the velvety blackness.

A BIRTHDAY, A REUNION & A MILLION STAR VIEW

adventurers — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 20:53:00 GMT

We drove on the Old Strzelecki Track in outback New South Wales because the Bore Track was closed. We stopped to take a photo of a giant handmade human skeleton made from cow bones. The Old Strzelecki was like the world’s biggest roller coaster. Up and down we went. Repeat.

On the Strzelecki

I can taste the dust so dry

Flat red dirt, big sky.

Roller coaster track

A dead cow desiccated

We just love Outback.

Stopped for an outback birthday picnic. Dave is 44 today. Hip Hip Hooray! So we ate smoked trout sandwiches, drank coffee and sang Ted Egan songs before continuing on our sandy corrugated track. We’ve hardly seen any animal life today, just cows wandering in the unfenced Merty Merty cattle station and three eagles, some snake poo and a few camel footprints.

We met up with Dad (who we hadn't seen since a music festival 18 months ago) at Cooper Creek Innamincka in South Australia and we drank champagne and beer and vodka to celebrate Dave’s birthday in liquid style. Two pelicans on the creek caught two large fish. Dan and Dave tried and didn’t catch any. In front of the camp fire, Dave read out a poem he had written, while a dingo strolled casually passed our camp.

Met Dad at Cooper

A scrawny dingo walked by

Travelling convoy now.

The weather is becoming mild as we head further north, so we went to bed in our tent without using the fly. The stars above were visible through our mesh tent. Who needs a five star hotel when you have a million star view from the comfortable mattress in your tent?

Cameron Corner

adventurers — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 23:53:00 GMT

Sturt National Park is one of the largest national parks in NSW. There is a look out there which is a jump-up (an escarpment). It is similar to a mini grand canyon. Simply lovely. We felt like the only people in the world.

From the national park you reach Cameron Corner. Cameron Corner is the point where three states meet. So you can stand in Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales all at one time. We opened the gate on the famous dingo fence (the longest fence in the world) and drove into South Australia. The permanent population of Cameron Corner is just one dog and two people – the couple who run the store/caravan park/tri-state golf course. (You can play three holes in each of the three states).

The camp dog befriended us and joined us on a walk along the dingo fence. The sand was ultra fine and a deep rust red colour. We found an enormous kangaroo skeleton that would have stood about 7 feet tall.

In the bar area, there’s a permanent sign at one of the tables: Bernie’s Spot. It is for a man who turns up every few months and has a beer and he always sits in the same seat. So I sat in my namesake’s chair and had a beer too, while wondering what sort of a life he leads, to end up way out here in the outback on a regular basis.

While we set up our tents and cooked our meal, the camp dog brought a rock to us and placed it at our feet for us to throw it to him! There were several signs in the camping area saying that if you threw a rock to their dog you would have to donate $20 to the Royal Flying Doctor Service! The poor darling needs a tennis ball! So if you ever travel to Cameron Corner, bring a ball with you to give to the dog. There’s nowhere out there you can buy one and it will save his teeth!

To Stay Put? Or To Travel?

adventurers — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 21:06:00 GMT

When we woke up this morning, there was frost on our food containers and the olive oil was solidified in the glass bottle. We walked through thigh high grass on a track to reach Cobham Lake while drinking our morning coffees. The wide open space with a water view was just lovely. We packed up camp and drove north. Five kilometres away was a grave and headstone which read:

To the memory of Eliza Kennedy who died in 1886. Her charity covereth a multitude of sins.

Apparently Eliza worked at a tavern as a prostitute and died while trying to save the publican’s daughters who were swimming in the lake. Hence the unusual inscription.

Driving off black top

We’re in big red country now

Passed One Tree Station

We stopped in the town of Tibooburra at midday for a beer at the Family Hotel. Dad had told me that Pugh & McCubbin had painted a few murals on the walls inside the pub so we paid a donation to the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) to view them. Melissa the publican, born and bred in the town, said to me “I have never been anywhere. And I mean anywhere. But tomorrow I am going to Darwin for a week to see my daughter.”

In one way I have such admiration for people who stay in one town or village for their whole lives because I feel that they must be so content. I on the other hand have travelled to 28 countries, lived in 37 houses in four countries and I still want to travel and explore more and more and more and I feel that my time is running out before I will get to see all the places that I want to visit.

Tibooburra is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘heap of rocks’ and there is a rock heap in the town, well - lovely boulders actually. Explorers Charles Sturt and also Burke and Wills had travelled through the area many moons ago.

We drove the Jump Up Track in Sturt National Park in the far north-west corner of NSW. The track was gibber and there were mesas in the far distance. We were in remote outback country and hadn’t seen any humans or cars for about four hours when our vehicle made a pop and a hissing sound. We all thought a tyre had been pierced by something and we jumped out to take a look. What actually happened was an air filter hose had popped off. Dave put it back on and Dan tightened it with a phillip’s head screwdriver and we were off. No problem! Phew. That could’ve been a lot worse! To stay put or to travel? We almost didn't have the choice. Although Dave purchased a satellite phone before we left Melbourne, so we were always going to be fine.

We hopped back in the car and saw a kangaroo, reclining on the gibber, propped up on his elbow watching us as though a person watching TV. I guess it was a bit of action for him, watching the silly tourists with car issues out here in the back of beyond.

Outback, Emu Roadkill, A Willy Willy & Some Poetry

adventurers — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 21:19:00 GMT

We stocked up in Broken Hill – fuel, food and water – as today we are heading into the real outback and need to be totally self-sufficient (no more pub dinners!) We passed through eastern and central time zones. Our mobile phones changed time automatically even though we have no phone or internet service. How does that work? Timely enough, we drove through Telephone Creek (no water out here) but on the sign, people had glued mobile phones and other telephones. We came across a big lump in the road which turned out to be emu roadkill. Dave dragged it off the road by its feet and received a friendly wave from another driver for his efforts.

Today we drove through gibber country and saw a lot of paddy melons (an invasive plant with fruits the size of grape fruit) and we walked right through the middle of a willy willy*!

We ate spicy tuna and camembert sandwiches at Packsaddle NSW and saw a wedge-tailed eagle being harassed mid-air by two smaller birds.

Before dusk, we drove onto a sandy track and set up camp at Lake Cobham, south of Milparinka. It was lovely to see water in the middle of the outback. While Dan cooked steak and vegetables, Dave watched the setting sun while nursing a beer and I started knitting a stubby cooler in outback-orange while sipping on a vodka with apricot nectar. This is the life!

By the light of the campfire, I read aloud Dorothea Mackellar’s My Country, Dave recited by heart The Man From Snowy River and Dan sang his version of Tom Kruse the Outback Mailman.

And I wrote these haikus:

Small fingernail moon

There’s a white Sparkling star trail

Three fire poets.

Orange burning coals

Can the pilots see the stars?

Milky Way so bright.

*A dust storm that looks like a mini tornado.

Silverton and a Day of Firsts

adventurers — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 23:04:00 GMT

Our first camp breakfast! Making and eating our bacon and egg rolls with cups of coffees, we were yelling out with the pain of the cold in our fingers – and we were wearing gloves! Yep, it’s chilly.

We crossed the Murray River and are now in New South Wales, travelling on the Silver City Highway. We saw hundreds of black, white and brown feral goats jumping about happily by the side of the road and a wandering family of emus.

Emus eat different types of grasses, acacia, casuarina, ladybirds, crickets and beetles. They even eat stones to assist in their digestion. Out here there is already no mobile phone service.

In the middle of the mulga scrub and red dirt, the road is a black ribbon disappearing in the distance. You know you are out of the city when people in cars coming toward you, wave a friendly hello.

The landscape is just like a Pro Hart painting. We drove on our first dirt road today and saw a car bonnet on the road’s edge that looked like it had been picked up by a pair of giant hands, screwed up like a piece of paper and thrown on the ground.

Today we saw our first wedge-tailed eagle, our first big red kangaroo and the first road train of this journey.

We set up camp at Penrose Park, the caravan park in Silverton, outback NSW and checked out the Mad Max 2 Museum. It is owned and run by a husband and wife team who are hard core Mad Max fans. Linda told us a lot of information about the actors and crew and the film premieres they have been invited to. She told us to head to Mundi Mundi Lookout for sunset where there’s a dead straight bit of road that featured in the film. So we had a drink at sunset, a chat with some locals there while we were rugged up with coats and beanies. Then headed to the Silverton Hotel for dinner. We warmed up with chunky pea and ham soup and beer by the fire. Hanging from the ceiling are many signs saying things like: “I’ve got no luck with wives. The first one died and the second one didn’t.”

We all donated money to the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service by taking part in a pub game. Everyone in the pub was involved. We had to all stand in a line and balance a small potato on our head and tip it off our head and make it land in a funnel that was tucked in to the waistband of our jeans. Give it a go if you are ever in Silverton. It raises money for a good cause.

The Smallest Mountain in the World

adventurers — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 23:34:00 GMT

I finished work on Friday at 2:30pm, jumped in the ute with Dave and Dan and headed north for our 4WD adventure from Melbourne to Darwin. My adrenalin was pumping. Seven whole weeks off work. Seven! So exciting!

We drove through Maiden Gully and Marong. At Bridgewater on Loddon, we saw hundreds of enormous mirrors in a field pointing skywards. They are like solar panels but around 1500 times more powerful. It is what is known as photovoltaic technology.

We zoomed past Inglewood, Wedderburn, Buloke and Charleton. At Wycheproof we drove up the smallest mountain in Australia, which is actually the smallest registered mountain in the world – Mt. Wycheproof – with an elevation of 148 metres. It was dark by this time and we had a tiny sliver of moon in the sky to greet us on our summit.

We stopped for fuel and on the other side of the road was a semi-trailer divided into many hundreds of small sections. It was full of South Australian racing pigeons! Don’t they just fly home themselves?

Finally we stopped to set up our tents in mallee country on the edge of Hattah-Kulkyne National Park in north-west Victoria (about 70km south of Mildura). We are already in red dirt country. Loving it!

Photos: Victoria, Australia

adventurers — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 09:57:00 GMT

Photos: New South Wales

adventurers — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 09:45:00 GMT

One more sleep!

adventurers — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 20:12:00 GMT

We leave tomorrow on our seven week adventure. Here's a vague idea of our itinerary:

Melbourne

Ouyen

Broken Hill

Silverton

Cameron's Corner

Innamincka

Birdsville

Boulia

Mt. Isa

Barkly Homestead

Daly Waters

Adelaide River

Litchfield National Park

Darwin

Bali

Flores

Komodo Island

Gili Islands

Sulawesi

Melbourne.

But who needs an itinerary? Not me!

19 more sleeps

adventurers — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 10:42:00 GMT

till we leave on our octopus trip. getting excited...

THE LAST REMAINING PASSENGERS

adventurers — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 20:26:00 GMT

Departure day. Time to head home to Melbourne. At Medan airport, the neon sign said Boarding Gate Opens at 3:15. We were with staff at that time & had to fill out a departure card. Dave couldn’t find his (we received it on the day of our arrival). At 3:15 over the P.A. came an urgent announcement: Would the last remaining passengers for flight MH865 please board now. That meant us! But the gate only just opened so why were they already calling the last remaining passengers?

I told Dave I’d run ahead to secure our places on the plane while he filled in his departure card. (It was inside his passport which he’d already handed over). I was walking really fast, overtaking people who were on travellators. We had to leave through gate 2. I was passing gate 5, gate 4, gate 3 and gate 2! I had to go all the way to gate 1, turn hard right & then head back to gate 2!

Suddenly, all in a blur, a man in uniform is yelling at me, “Mrs” & heading straight for me. I don’t even remember what he yelled apart from “Passport!” He grabbed it out of my hand and said something else which I didn’t catch. I said “My husband!” and I ran a few steps back where I’d come from, poked my head around the glass and yelled “Dave! Run!” The man in uniform also yelled “Dape!” (sic) “Run!” He grabbed Dave’s passport and the 3 of us ran fast through all the people seated in Gate 1 & Gate 2. We threw our bags on the conveyor belt x-ray & walked through the metal detector archway. At which point Dave yelled “He’s got our passports!” So our passports were passed along to us. Then someone else in uniform yelled “Aqua” and pointed to our 2 unopened litre bottles of water. Dave handed over the water & we ran at full speed down 2 long sections of corridor past 9 more staff members waiting there purely for us.

We stepped into the plane, said hello & sorry to the 2 stewards greeting us & they closed the plane door behind us. I was about to squeeze by the person in the aisle seat to get to my allocated seat when a steward directed us to an entire row of seats all to ourselves! At that point I looked up & saw how amazingly empty the plane was. Then everything suddenly made sense! There were only 20 people on the entire plane! That’s why they were calling last remaining passengers at the exact same moment that the boarding gate opened – because it only took a few seconds to board the entire plane! Now we would have to do some extra air time because we would be too early to land! With some nervous giggling, we buckled up and that is how our holiday ended. Indonesia is wild!

SHOPPING & EATING

adventurers — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 20:07:00 GMT

Day 27.

We are in room 632 on the 6^th floor of the Danau Toba International Hotel. Our huge window opens wide. It has no fly screen or security screen. The wall ends at thigh height & that is where the window begins. With the window open, anyone, child or adult, could easily fall out (or be pushed out). It is soooooooo dangerous! However, we have a fabulous view of the swimming pool & the palm trees. We just don’t stand too close to the window…

The buffet breakfast spread was incredible. Croissants, coconut bread rolls, vegetable spring rolls, a green triangle with red sugar inside, tiny glasses of sweet blueberry yoghurt, watermelon, pineapple, noodles, fried rice & hot chips! A lot of Indonesian breakfast foods are actually meals that most westerners would only consider as dinner meals. It was in a lovely dining area with huge windows overlooking the pool. The only problem was, most of the Indonesians were smoking in there. It made us feel quite ill while we were eating.

We spent 3 hours in Gramedia Bookshop with a break in the middle at the adjoining Dunkin Donuts. The lemon tea in there was 100 times sweeter than my jam donut. As a generalization, the Indonesians do love their sweet food. Back in the bookshop, a small group of teenage school boys stalked us relentlessly. It was ridiculous. Are westerners really that fascinating? They watched us constantly. They stood beside us & picked up the book on the shelf next to us, even though they had absolutely no interest in it. It would have been much less painful if they just spoke to us and asked us questions, instead of just staring & peeping their heads over the top of shelves, and from around the corner. Anyway, we bought a lot of books. A lot! So then we had to go bag shopping so we could carry them home in the plane.

In Palladium Mall, we ate a late lunch at the Hypermart café. It was possibly the yummiest meal I ate this trip (apart from every rendang I’ve ever eaten). I had broad, flat spicy noodles & something similar to a vegetarian spring roll but in soft, soft pastry. It was delectable. Poor Dave nearly died on a whole green chili. His face turned tomato red. After he survived that, we were in the Hypermart for a whole hour. Again we were superstars, being the only westerners there with people looking, pointing and taking photos of us.

Sun Plaza seems to be a high end shopping centre. Everything is very expensive. More expensive than I would pay for clothing etc back home in Australia. However, we tried the Hypermart there which still had decent prices & bought a small rectangle cabin bag on wheels (Polo brand) for 300,000Rp = $AUS30. At the DVD store next door we bought the entire season of Breaking Bad. And Dave found a hardware store that had an entire Hello Kitty aisle! There was also a very popular Hello Kitty restaurant. There were no other westerners in this gigantic shopping mall so again, we were the subject of many photos. When we go home we won’t be celebrities anymore & not one person on the street will be taking photos of us. We will be ordinary plain Jane nobodies. How will we cope?

Photos: Sabang Island (Pulau Weh, Weh Island)

adventurers — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 13:02:00 GMT

An island off the tip of Banda Aceh, Sumatra