It's Valentine's Day but I don't really care. Bec is my heavenly valentine, and I love and miss her every day of the year. I've been in Timor-Leste for nearly three weeks now, but I'm gonna have to make a move soon because my time isn't exactly unlimited as I have a lot of travel coming up. Atauro Island is beautiful, and it's certainly worthy of at least a week despite having limited infrastructure. I hadn't really been around the island much so I decided yesterday that I'd be going to Acrema Beach on the northern tip of the island. At Barry's Place they quoted $40 return from there, so I figured it was time to try out my thumb. Within five minutes I was picked up by a few guys in a ute heading to Acrema. The road to Tutuala Beach is bad, but the road to Acrema is like the worst of the worst! The weather was unkind for much of the early part of the day as well, and it was still raining by the time we got to Acrema. I stored my backpack in a hut that's used for drying seaweed, and it was these locals who really helped me in a big way later. After putting on some sunscreen (it later turned out I didn't put on enough because I ended up getting mild sunburn). Mask, snorkel, and fins: check. Into the water I went. The water was shallow, and whilst I saw some fish, the highlight were these starfish.
For nearly an hour I snorkelled and floated out there peacefully; I didn't care if I got rained on, just as long as I didn't get eaten. Sadly there was hardly any coral. Even more than 100 metres away from the shore, the water was shallow enough to walk in, so I took my fins off and waded toward shore. When I got back to shore I realized one of my fins was gone. Damn! Estevao loaned me those fins and I figured I'd likely be paying for a new set of fins. I got back in the water and searched frantically, and in the course of three stretches in the water I couldn't find it. I even thought about flying Juliett to see if I could spot it but the wind was really throwing her around earlier when I snapped a few really awesome photos.
Then, I came up with a clever idea. Three locals were out collecting seaweed and I figured they must know the currents like the back of their hand and would know precisely how to find it. They spoke no English but I showed them that I was missing a fin. One of them looked, and then I looked some more. As I started walking off, I was called back by another local, and it turned out one of them spotted it. Eagle eyes they need for catching fish and collecting seaweed. He quickly got a boat and paddle and was on it like a beam of light. Within a minute, he had the fin in hand. Whew!
For his help, I helped him carry the boat back in and then got a photo with him.
With two fins, I was invited to lunch with the guys who picked me up earlier. Coffee, rice, potato, and the typical Timorese foods would fill me up. They would later give me a lift back to Beloi after they did their work. These guys are scoping out an area to build a small medical centre in Acrema. At Barry's Place I would replace a geocache that went missing for my sixth and possible final find in Timor-Leste. I'm still not 100% sure I'm going to Oecussi but if I do go, it'll be my first time visiting an enclave. After a power nap, I would find out that the weather is turning foul tomorrow, and that a fishing boat was heading back to Dili at approximately 3 AM. The next ferry isn't for a few more days and my aim was to come back today.
Estevao would give me a lift to Vili, at the southeastern end of Atauro, but the boat wasn't leaving for a couple of hours. I did as the locals do and had a rest on a thatched platform. The Timorese sure like to spit, and I often have to watch my feet and my belongings to ensure that errant spit doesn't land on them. At 3:30 AM we all piled into the boat and I was the only foreign face. The captain quoted me $20 but I quietly asked someone onboard how much the fare was and I was told $7. Earlier I was talking about missing a fin but now I was really missing fins because this boat ride was especially rough, and I'm not a good swimmer. There are no lifejackets or any type of safety equipment onboard, and I doubt the captain carried a radio. If this boat were to capsize in the middle of the sea I'd most likely be a statastic. The rain stayed at bay and I only got a touch wet from sea spray. With my phone I was able to check our progress as Dili grew larger and closer. Despite the roughness of the sea, we all arrived safely in Dili at 5:30 AM. With $7 in hand, the captain didn't complain (and I would have just walked off if he did). By then I was buggered, and I just wanted to get to Josh's home and go to sleep. A taxi driver quoted me $8 for a lift but I walked a few hundred metres and got a microlet, and before long I was able to wash off the sea spray and go to sleep, still thinking about yet another time where my travel resourcefulness kicked in...
Talking about fins of all sorts, am I missing any?
