Leaving the King George River and farewell to the beautiful Kimberley was a bit of a wrench but new adventures await. Clear balmy weather with light winds meant a leisurely sail north 350nm to Indonesia and Kupang our port of entry. Most of the fleet have cleared in and out and moved off. Our papers were processed quickly, efficiently and with the minimum of extortion. Our tour guide Johnny, was superb.
We spent a couple of days exploring Kupang and getting a bit of culture shock. Interesting markets filled with things we have never seen before but will doubtless try in the coming months. Very friendly people and amzing food. Basic and poor though they are their is an air of satisfaction here.
From Kupang we headed north east up the coast of Timor anchoring off a beach for a night before striking out towards Lewoleba where we hoped to catch up to the rally boats. The sail across the Sawa Sea was made as an over night passage because La Barca at 32 feet cant do 90 miles in a day and we wanted to arrive in daylight. The passage got a bit interesting when weather picked up and we were shooting along amongst fishing fleets in the dark. At one point we lost contact with La Barca and turned round and went back to look for them. Eventually we re located each other and by dawn we were heading up the chanel marvelling at the sight of Ill Boleng, an enormous volcano to port. The bay was full to capacity with Rally boats.
The welcome was amazing. A big Festival for the local island people was in progress and much traditional dancing and singing ensued at the highest decibel rating imaginable. We ate in little back street restaurants and the food was superb and cheap. Indonesia at this end of the island chain is quite dry and scrubby with a constant smoke haze from all the huge volcanos which litter these islands and can be seen towering above the clouds from many miles away.
From Lewoleba we sailed a short distance north to anchor with a small group of boats at Mokku a small sand island for a bit cook up. Not without mishap however and we experienced our first uncharted reef up close. We were not stuck for long and didn't sustain any damage but it was a reminder that the charts here are inaccurate. Adam cooked up a huge seafood spectacular which everyone contributed to and a great feast of friends ensued.
From here we set out to explore the small bays and villages along the north coast of Flores. The reception everywhere we have been has far exceeded our wildest expectations. They all adore Jack and Aimee. The generosity and welcome of these people is humbling and I wonder if we Australians are as nice to their visitors to these people.
Whilst in Flores from Wodong we took a day tour with Tweed and Silver Fern over to Niggela snd Sikka on the south side of the island. Here we visited a church built from teak back in 1899, and a market. It was a bit of a frenzy to see who could sell the most Ikat. (Local Indonesian hand weavings). Competition was hot and we were the prey. There were only the three of us so it was pretty intimidating. Those women are tenacious. We got away with just 2 each!!
Flores has many active volcanoes and some very high mountain country with fabulous scenery and the road, although basic was serviceable.
We love the fresh coconut juice purchased on the roadside and opened fresh for us.
