Out and About in Kupang

After spending the entire day checking in on Wednesday, May 31st, it was a treat for all of us to finally be able to leave the boat, and explore land for a change. The check-in process was laborious to say the least, and Dave was exhausted at the end of the day. He had been ferried from one official to the next, back and forth, our ship’s stamp, which up until this point we had hardly used, being used to stamp a million papers. Two quarantine officials came to the boat, and one of them was almost sea sick, the boat rolling around due to the consistent side on swell, and strong winds we were experiencing. Two customs officials, upon seeing the state of the sea, and the dinghy ride they would have to make, declined to visit the boat, and completed all the paperwork on shore!

Our trusty boat stamp finally got used for the all the paperwork it took to check into Indonesia!

Early on Thursday morning we took the dinghy to shore and left it in the capable hands of Lambert. Before we had even set foot on land, a swarm on local girls came running up, grabbing Benjamin and Gaby by the hand and shouting “Selfie! Selfie!”. They proceeded to take photos in all manner of combinations: with Ben and Gaby together; with Gaby alone, with Ben alone; dabbing (shown below) and posing. We were the attraction, not the other way around! Kupang doesn’t get many tourists, and especially not a lot of westerners, so it was a novelty for them to see the blond hair and pale skin! The kids in particular were treated like rock stars!

Kupang from the water

Ben was popular!

Dabbing on the beach in Kupang

Our guide for the day, Frenky, the same man who had helped check us in the day before, had a car waiting, and off we went to our first stop, the local market. It was a feast for the senses! There were stalls upon stalls of everything imaginable: sacks of different herbs and spices, bright red chillis and mud brown cinnamon. There was an explosion of color with fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs, grains, rice and then stalls with fish, pork, beef and chicken. There was even a stall selling pig’s ears (we declined!). But it was the people that were so fascinating to watch. Little children hid behind their mothers while taking a peek at these strange looking people. Old men and ladies with wrinkled skin and no teeth just watched us with weary eyes. The younger generation jumped out and took photos while we dodged the scooters, pedestrians and men pushing wooden carts alike. It was a melting pot of new and old and definitely one of the highlights for me.

Friendly faces and fruits and veggies!

Eggs galore!

So many grains

Scooters whizzing through the market

A feast for the eyes!

This rooster was in charge of the tomatoes!

After our walk through the market, we got back in the car, and the driver started driving through the city of Kupang. We were in awe of the thousands of scooters whizzing around, everyone overtaking left, right and center, in total disregard for, or more likely simply because of a lack of, any obvious traffic laws! Our driver was constantly on the horn/hooter, “Beep! Beep!” and the replies came, “Beep, Beep, Beep!”. The kids loved hearing the little scooters tooting their high-pitched hooters, “beeeep, beeeep!”. I held on for dear life, and when I asked if there were ever any accidents, Frenky laughed and said “Of course! Everyday! Lots of them!”.

Soon we were on the outskirts of the city, watching how the water trucks pumped thousands of liters of water from a river, which they would later deliver to houses who had water tanks. Timor is one of the driest areas in Indonesia, and water is quite a luxury, especially during the dry season. Soon we noticed little stalls on the side of the road displaying what we soon learned was salt. Each house had it’s own little salt pan in the back yard, and once the salt had dried, they hand wove little baskets from bamboo leaves, and packaged the salt. It looked so pretty, I just had to buy one, and paid Rp 2,000 for one (approximately 15c (US)). 

A bag of salt - how could I resist?

We were soon in Oebelo village and our driver pulled off to the side of the road and we entered a pretty nondescript building. Inside, we found displays of a musical instrument called a Sasando. This is a local instrument that is played, and the sound is similar to a guitar, but somehow more beautiful! We met Dgitron, who is considered to be one of the best Sasando players in Indonesia! He had been invited to play at the Indonesian Embassy in the United States, and his awards were proudly displayed in a cabinet. We were all kitted out in traditional garb…the hat and an ikat scarf, and then were treated to Dgitron playing some music for us. It really was fantastic. The kids were then also invited to try it, and both of them had a pretty good go of it!

A Sasando

Djitron playing

Together with his father, who taught him how to play

We were dressed in traditional garb...the hats were the result of some amusing comments when I posted this picture on Facebook...

Ben and Gabs with their hats and scarves

Gaby has a go

Next to where the Sasandos were displayed, and where Dgitron played, was the workshop, where they hand made the instruments, and where women were hand weaving the traditional ikat cloth. The cloth is made from handspun thread and the dyes are made with bark, roots and leaves. We saw the traditional loom that they used to weave the cloth, making large pieces of cloth with beautiful patterns. 

The cloth being woven on the traditional looms

Some of the beautiful finished products

Our next stop was Lasiana beach, where wooden fishing boats sat high and dry on the sand, as the tide went out. We met Frenky’s wife, who prepared a traditional snack of fried banana (over an open fire), served with cane sugar syrup, chopped nuts and a mild, grated cheese. It was quite delicious, and far more than just a snack! We also had fresh coconut water from big, green coconuts that were chopped open right in front of us!

Frenky's wife gets ready to chop the coconuts

And we get to drink the coconut water!

Our fried banana snack

Wooden fishing boats aground on Lasiana Beach

On we went, now following a different route back through Kupang and the administrative area, where all the government buildings were located. Some were very fancy, especially in comparison to some of the shack-like homes and crumbling buildings we’d seen in and around Kupang. I asked if a government job was a sought-after position, and Frenky said yes, but the only way to get one, was to have connections. So, if your father, uncle or brother had a government job, then you could get one. Frenky, even though he spoke excellent English and was computer literate, could never hope to get one, as he didn’t have the right connections…what a shame.

One of the new, fancy government buildings.  It's inspiration is actually the Sasando musical instrument

Even though we were all quite full from our fried banana “snack”, we stopped for lunch at a traditional Indonesian restaurant. We were served some rice, and then stood at the window, and chose our remaining meal: chicken, beef, omelet, jack fruit and what we thought was spinach, the choice was quite vast. It was all delicious with a slight curry flavor. Indonesians eat mainly with their hands, but we were given a fork and a spoon to deal with our meals! We were surprised to learn that this place was open 24 hours a day!

Ben chooses his meal

The restaurant from the outside

 
On the way to one of our last stops of the day, Oenesa waterfalls, we pulled off to the side of the road, to see a bunch of monkeys frolicking around! Having grown up with monkeys in our backyards in South Africa, it was not a “wow” moment for Dave and I, but the kids loved it, especially the mommy monkeys with the babies hanging on tight to their under bellies and backs. The sad thing was, though, that people feed the monkeys and the litter in the area was really bad. The monkeys have become scavengers and have no fear of people, coming right up to you, to try and get food. There were chip packets on the ground, and the monkeys grabbed them, to rummage for any scraps, and then tossed them aside when they couldn’t find any. 

Learning to beg at a very young age :(

On we went, the road now winding up a mountain, through rice fields and small farms, higher and higher, and eventually turned into a bumpy, rough track. The Oenesa waterfalls were a lovely surprise. Huge, smooth boulders formed three tiers of “steps” over which vast amounts of water flowed! Between each “step” were lovely cool pools of water, before the water carried on over the next tier and then the last, eventually trickling back down into a tame stream. Huge trees and massive palms provided shade, and a rainforest-like environment. It was a public holiday when we went there, so there were quite a few people there, swimming in the pools. Walking down the path, a group of young girls giggled and pointed at Gaby, taking out their phones, but too shy to ask to take a photo. When I saw them, I offered to take a photo for them on their cameras and they eagerly posed with Gaby and then thanked us profusely, “Terimakasi! Terimakasi!”. An older lady was not so shy, and upon exiting her car, saw Gaby, and marched over, pinching her cheek over and over and taking selfie after selfie! The rest of her family saw the opportunity, and more photos were taken with both Ben and Gaby! We were eventually able to escape into the safety of the car, and Ben and Gaby both got a taste of what it must be like to be a celebrity!!

Subsistence farming.  Some rice fields and crops

The Oenesa waterfalls

Our trip back to the boat included a quick stop at another market where I stocked up on eggs (each one was checked against a light to ensure it was good), potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber and some oranges. We also stopped at a bakery to get some bread. Re-stocked and ready to go, we wearily made our way back to the beach, where Lambert had been looking after our dinghy.

Dave with Lambert, who lives on the beach with his family, and watched our dinghy for us when we went ashore

We had bought diesel from Lambert the day before, and unfortunately it looked really bad. He insisted he had bought it from the Petrol Station, where the diesel is reputedly OK. However, our diesel was as dark as mud, and there was no way we were going to take a chance and put that in our tanks. We still think he got it from drums, where many roadside sellers will get diesel from, and when Dave asked for his money back (we gave back the diesel), we only got Rp600,000 out of the 1 million we gave him. So we lost about $35 on the deal, but decided it was a price worth paying not to mess up our engines. It was unfortunate to leave on a less than happy note, but it was a lesson learnt, and one we should have known, having been warned about bad diesel in Indonesia by many, many people before coming here.

Normally you can't see the diesel through the yellow plastic jerry can

Bad diesel

We left Kupang early the next morning, eager to get out of the rolly anchorage, and to start exploring the rest of this amazing country!

Our view of Kupang

Enjoying the sunset

Hello from Kupang, Indonesia!

Did I wish for more wind in my previous post?  I guess the old saying “be careful what you wish for” holds true…I wished for more wind, and boy, did we get it!!  But let me back track just a little. 

Days 6 & 7 on our trip to Indonesia were beautiful sailing days.  We put our Spinnaker up, and it was downwind sailing all the way.  The seas calmed down as the winds were fairly light, in fact, on the evening of the 6^th night, we actually had to take the Spinnaker down, and we motored through the night as the wind was so light.  But as soon as the sun was up, we put the big blue and yellow sail up again, and we once again had lovely winds the whole day and through the night.  With the wind strength dying down, so did the sea state, and it was almost flat with very little swell, so it really was very nice!

Going into Day 8, which was Tuesday, May 30^th, we checked the weather as usual, and we knew the wind was going to pick up, as we had seen this in all the downloads we had done every day, twice a day.  So we were not surprised to see higher winds forecast, but none of the models predicted anything more than 20 knots.  With stronger winds, we were making better speeds, and we were hoping to make it to Kupang that evening.  The first incident happened, once again, on my watch.  It was relatively early, and Dave was inside dealing with a toilet that had magically blocked overnight (see, we have the same problems on board as on land…everyone loves a blocked toilet!!!!).  The sky was a little overcast, but nothing I didn’t see anything threatening.  All of a sudden, I noticed the wind pick up…from 15 to 18 to 23 knots in a matter of seconds.  I looked behind me, and I just saw this wall of water and dark cloud.  I shouted to Dave to get to the helm.  He’s pretty quick to react and he was up there in seconds….luckily!  It was a matter of a few more seconds before the squall hit us.  The wind rocketed to 29 knots and the wall of water hit us.  Dave shouted for me to get the spinnaker sheet (rope) and he said, “if I say “go”, just let it all out…get ready to dump that sail!”.  He was worried that the power of the wind could tear the sail and our only option would be to let all the rope out, let the sail flap, and take all the power out of it.  Hand steering through the squall, and surfing down the waves, Dave managed to control the boat and sail, and it was not too long before the storm passed over us, and all was back to normal.  Phew!  That was a shock to my system after my dream-like sailing for the last 2 days!!!

Dave went back to trying to fix the toilet, and I was back on watch.  I honestly don’t know what happened, because I was pretty vigilant about watching the wind angle, and the only thing I can think of was that a wave caught us from the side, (with the increased wind, the waves and swell were picking up again as well), and this rocked the boat, causing the spinnaker to collapse on one side.  Now, this sail is huge, and when it collapses, there is a lot of cloth flapping around!!  I heard and saw it at the same time, and immediately changed course by 10 degrees, to get directly downwind, but it didn’t help.  The sail kept of flapping and overlapping, itself and I shouted once more for Dave.  This time he didn’t come…and I’m trying to control the boat and this sail!!  I shouted again…”Can you guys hear me?!” and I guess the panic in my voice made Dave dash out once again.  The sail had wrapped itself around itself and to try and now undo it was a nightmare.  I honestly thought we were going to loose it.  Dave sprang into action immediately.  When pulling on the sheet didn’t dislodge it, he shouted for us to turn on both engines.  By this time Benjamin was right beside me and he took control of the engines. 

“Rev them to 30,000 RPM!”,  Dave shouted!  WHAT?!  We never do that!! 

“Do it, NOW!”  was the response when Ben and I didn’t react quickly enough.  We did as we were told.

Ben stayed on the engines, and I went to release the sheet.  By speeding up the boat, we were able to take some of the power out of the sail, and by releasing the rope, there was enough slack for Dave to pull the sock down and douse it, and then untangle it.  For the second time that day, I thought we’d almost lost our spinnaker.  It was all too much for me.  I asked Dave to please take the helm for the next couple of hours…the toilet could wait. 

I kept myself busy cleaning the inside of the boat, our usual routine to get ready for our anticipated visit by customs, immigration and quarantine, whenever we check in to a new country.  I didn’t realize how much the wind, that was not supposed to go above 20 knots, had actually come up.  I started hearing those darn “high wind” alarms and eventually went out to see what was going on.  The scene that greeted me was a little scary.  The water had turned into this churning mass of white caps and the wind speeds were a consistent 28 to 29 knots, gusting to 30 knots.  And yes, we had our spinnaker up (this is a light wind sail)!  The sail was handling it OK, but our auto pilot could not.  Dave was hand steering to keep the boat surfing down waves, doing everything he could to keep the power out of the sail.  We were doing speeds of 10 – 12 knots easily…surfing down waves at 16 knots!!  For those not familiar with sailing (or with our boat)….that’s FAST!!  I had many thoughts going through my head, but my most troublesome was, “how on earth are we going to get this sail down?!”!!!  We talked it through for a while…we would wait for a “lull” in the wind (hoping for 18 – 19 knots) and then do our usual routine of getting the sail down.  That consists of Dave at the bow, pulling the sock down on the sail to douse it, Ben on engines and handling the spinnaker guy (rope), me letting out the spinnaker sheet, and Gaby reading out wind speeds and transferring messages from Dave to me, as he is in front and I’m at the back, and it can be hard to hear him (especially in howling wind!).  But that lull just never came.  We were once again getting close to a point where we had to make a turn, and we had to get the sail down!  Ben and I talked about it…our biggest concern was that the auto pilot could not handle the waves, and it would not be able to surf the waves as Dave could by hand steering, so we would never have that surf during which to douse the sail.  We went to Dave with our plan:  Dave stays on the helm and hand steers (and does Ben’s usual jobs), Ben handles the sheet, Gaby does her thing, and I would go up front to pull down the sock.  We had to try it.  So, everyone, donning their life jackets and clipped on, manned their stations and off I went to the bow.  Dave was so busy issuing instructions, that he almost missed the window when Gaby shouted out “19 knots!”, and Dave said “GO!”  Ben let out the sheet, letting the sail flap (wildly!), Dave surfed a wave and I pulled for all that my life was worth!!!!!  The sock slowly came down.  I remember hearing Gaby shouting “Go Momma,  you’re doing great!!”  So sweet…my little cheerleader!!  Well…we did it!  We got that monster sail down in howling wind and all was safe and sound…what a team!  I was so proud of everyone.  The kids really come together in a crisis and just do whatever needs to be done!!   We turned at the waypoint, which was our last stretch to Kupang.  “We’re coming in hot!”  we shouted to no-one in particular!  By 5:00pm we were anchored and just so relieved to have made it safely!  It took a while for it to sink in that we were actually in Indonesia! 

We’ve only been here a day, but that’s a blog post all on its own.  The poverty we’ve seen in such a short time is astounding.  We’ve made friends with Lambert, who lives on the beach, only has one leg, but a heart of gold.  Dave spent the ENTIRE day checking in.  If we had not enlisted the help of a local agent, it would take 2 – 3 days at a minimum for check-in.  The bureaucracy is unbelievable, and to navigate it alone would be an astronomical task.  But we are here, we are happy, we are safe!  And we are all checked in!!  Today’s school was dedicated to learning about the history of this incredibly diverse country of tens of thousands of islands, and about the different cultures and religions; Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Catholics, who currently (but have not always!) live peacefully together.  We constantly hear the call to prayer from the local mosque even though on this island, Muslims are in the minority.  Tomorrow we are taking a tour of Kupang and surrounding area before we head off once again to explore the islands to the north and west.  Our studies today also included learning some basic Bahasa Indonesia words, so with my limited vocabulary, I say to you all, “Selamat Tinggal”  (Goodnight)!

Passage to Kupang: Night 5

If only all nights could be like this. The stars are rolled out like a massive, twinkling carpet on an inky black sky. The soft glow of Darwin's lights, about a 100 miles away, are a smudge on the horizon. Everyone is sleeping . I just saw a shooting star. Seriously. What more could I ask for? Dare I even say it... a little more wind?! We are crawling along, or should I say, wallowing, in 8 - 10 knots of wind, at a whopping 4.4 knots boat speed, our arrival in Kupang, Indonesia just extended by another day. It's night #5.

When we left Thursday Island on Tuesday, May 23rd, we put 2 reefs in our mainsail, anticipating the heavy winds that had been forecast. And it was the right decision. The first 2 days and nights had us dealing with 25-30 knot winds, the high wind alarms frequently going off in the night. The seas were also pretty rough, with big swells and choppy waves rolling across the huge Gulf of Carpentaria. I think everyone was a little miserable, and I for one, was seasick for the first time this entire trip! I don't know where that came from!

It took us 2 days to cross the Gulf of Carpentaria, and once we were able to tuck in behind the Marchibar islands, things definitely improved a little. On day 3 the wind decreased a little, and while we briefly contemplated shaking out a reef, we were glad we didn't, as by late afternoon and into the nights we had strong winds again. Having the reefs in the mainsail reduces the amount of sail area, so there is less strain on the boat when the wind comes up. It is definitely slower, but we figured slow and steady would be the way to go on this trip, considering the distances we have ahead of us.

We've seen surprisingly little on this trip. When we left, we were buzzed by an Australian Border Force aircraft that radioed us for a check-in. We have a sneaky suspicion this might have been arranged by our friendly Border Force officer that checked us out, who was surprised to hear that we had not yet encountered a fly by check up, a very common occurrence in the northern part of Australia, and particularly in the Torres Strait area. This morning we had another encounter, the plane flying so low over us, we thought he might touch the mast! But he had a look, banked to the right and was soon gone again. We were eagerly standing by the radio, ready to have a chat, but no call came. I guess they knew who we were and where we were going!

We encountered a number of ships the first day and night, the Torres Strait being almost a bottle neck in the shipping lanes as they travel from the East to Australia's many ports, New Zealand and beyond. Thereafter, we saw nothing until this evening, when Dave spotted 2 lights in the distance, presumably fishing boats. Also nothing much in the way of sea life... Dave saw a sea snake or eel type thing, we both saw some tuna jumping in the distance, but no friendly dolphins have come to play.

We've now settled into our passage routine. Every evening before sunset, Dave puts on his life jacket and harness and does a thorough inspection of the boat. I marvel at his patience, as he checks every rope, lifeline, pin and shackle. But it's diligence like this that enables us to catch problems before they become disasters. We sleep when we can, taking turns at the helm, just as we do at night. The kids pitch in too, giving us both just a little bit of extra downtime.

The chartplotter tells me we have 436 miles to go, which means we are more than halfway through this 1,100 mile journey. We should arrive in Kupang on the 31st of May. 3 more nights... may they all be as starry, calm and uneventful as this one has been so far... with maybe just a smudge more wind!

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Last Stop: Thursday Island...Farewell Australia!

Our time in Thursday and Horn Islands has gone by quickly and tomorrow we have no choice but to clear out of Australia and be on our way to Indonesia! After arriving on Thursday afternoon (how’s that…we arrived at Thursday Island on a Thursday! Well timed and totally unintentional!!), we watched the sun go down and enjoyed a good night’s sleep!

We had good intentions to go and check out the town on Thursday Island on Friday, May 19th, but admin tasks and the weather got in the way. I spent all day working on our Australian tourist tax refund (making spreadsheets, copying and scanning receipts), the kids did school, and Dave got us all caught up and ahead with finances, paying credit cards, and ensuring our dwindling cruising kitty would see us home! We got a visit from the friendly Customs and Border Control people, whom we had spoken to earlier in the day, and they came to check us out, I guess. They didn’t come aboard, but one poor guy drew the short straw and had to stand in the rain on their boat and talk to us. We got some questions answered and then with a wave they were on their way.

Cool Runnings (way in the distance) anchored off Horn Island at low tide

On Saturday we decided to take the dinghy over the Ellis channel to Thursday Island. Horn and Thursday Islands are not too far apart, but long sand banks between them make it a mile and a half dinghy ride to get from one island to another. We walked around the main street, and unfortunately, most things were closed, it being a Saturday. We still managed to have a lovely lunch of Fish and Chips at the Grand Hotel, and then were thinking of going back to the boat, as there was not a whole lot going on! We walked down to the dinghy dock, and Dave asked a taxi driver how much it would be to take us up to the Green Hill Fort, one of the sights we’d read about. He said it would be $8 for all 4 of us. He also said he couldn’t take us, but he’d radio for another driver. And soon enough, another driver came along, ready to take us up the hill to the fort. We asked him how much for a tour of the whole island, and he said $30, which was a bit better than the $100 another driver had quoted us when we first got there!!

Our greeting as we came ashore on Thursday Island

Gaby with the turtle sculpture...for her friend Mya who loves turtles, and for her friends Julie and Sophie on Nogal..the T-Shirt is for you (from you!)!  We miss you guys!

So we hopped in the van and got a quick tour of this small island. We went to the cemetery where we found many old graves of long forgotten Japanese pearl-shell divers, who came here to seek their fortune, but never made it home. We also saw the grave of our driver’s great, great grandfather, and other Torres Strait islanders. There were Malaysian, Indonesian, and up on the slopes Roman Catholic and Anglican graves. The island is very small, only 3.5 square kilometers, so it didn’t take us long to see it all! 

Graves of the Japanese pearl divers

The grave of our taxi driver's great grandfather

A view of Thursday Island.  Horn Island, where our boat was anchored, is across the channel

The highlight was the trip up to Green Hill Fort, which was built in 1891 – 1893, and is one of the most intact 19th century forts remaining in Australia. Unfortunately the museum that is attached to the fort was closed, but we were still able to view the cannons and enjoy the beautiful views from the top of the hill!

Stunning views of the surrounding water and islands

One of the cannons perched on top of the hill

Dave and the kids inspect one of the cannons

Beautiful views across the Torres Straits

When we took the dinghy back across the channel, we decided to make a quick stop at Horn Island as well. Horn Island is one of the largest islands of the Torres Straits, extending over 53 square kilometers, but it only has 900 inhabitants, compared to the 3,500 living on tiny Thursday Island. I was thrilled to find a little book exchange outside the grocery store/café!

If there's a book, she'll read it!  At the little book exchange on Horn Island

Love it!!

Swapping my books!  My intention was to donate my books to get the ones I'd read off the boat, and make space and  get rid of some weight, but I found some I wanted to read, so it turned into a swap!

At about 5:30pm Dave’s phone rang, and even though it was a strange number he didn’t recognize, he thankfully answered it, because it was our friends on “Moby” that we had been planning to meet in Indonesia. They had left New Caledonia 6 days previously, and were about 330 miles off the Australian coast, heading for the Torres Strait, when they hit a submerged object, probably a log of some sort, which broke off their skeg, and subsequently hit their saildrive, damaging the hull. They were not in immediate danger, but were taking on water, and they wanted to know what the closest Australian port was, so they could divert there and get the damage fixed. Unfortunately for them, the closest port was Cairns, 330 miles to their southwest, so they diverted and had to beat into the wind for 2 days to get there!

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting in touch with Australian Search and Rescue to alert them of Moby’s situation, as well as Customs and Border control. Luckily the family had gotten Australian visas before leaving New Caledonia, for their stop in Cocos Keeling later this year, and that was one problem we didn’t have to worry about. We continued to monitor their position and situation well into the night. Our hearts went out to them, and it was a big wake up call for us as well. You just have to be prepared for anything!

We continued to monitor Moby the whole of Sunday, checking-in in the morning and the evening to ensure all was OK, and although Loic said the damage was a little worse than he initially thought, he was confident that they would make it to Cairns OK. Sadly, (and selfishly) this meant we would not be able to cruise Indonesia together, as initially planned, but the main thing was that they were safe.  We are thrilled to be able to able to report that they arrived safely in Cairns this afternoon!

Moby's track.  They have made it safe and sound to Cairns!

This morning (Monday morning), Dave and I were up at 5:30am and took the dinghy over to the dock on Horn Island, where the ship carrying our new batteries was busy offloading her cargo. We located our new batteries and got them onto the dinghy and then onto the big boat. That was my morning workout right there!! (well, that, and taking the old batteries out, and bringing the new batteries down into the battery compartment!!). Dave spent the day fitting the new batteries, as well as installing some new battery-related gadgets that Rosemary had brought over. We were also able to donate our old batteries to two locals, who were glad to have them. There was nothing wrong with them, they just didn’t hold a charge as well as they used to, and we just didn’t feel comfortable having them all the way across the Indian Ocean, but they were perfectly fine for two locals, who were happy to take them…win win!

It was still dark when we came back with our new batteries

Dave in the midst of the new battery install

All buttoned up and ready to go!

So here we are, on the eve of our departure from Australia. It has been our home for the last 6 months…quite a chunk of time! We’ve had an amazing time. We’ve reconnected with so many old friends and made many new ones. We will miss you all so very much. We’ve often said we have more friends in Australia than we do in America! Each and every one of you is welcome any time at all you are in our backyard…please, please, please look us up! On the other hand, we are ready to face our new adventure: new countries, new oceans, new people. We welcome it all! Thank you, Australia, we will miss you!

(PS: As a reminder, we won’t be able to get our email via gmail, which is dthibberd@gmail.com, so please feel free to email us on our iridium go email, which is hibberd@myiridium.net. We love getting messages while at sea, so please don’t be strangers!! We will try and do blog updates while at sea, but they won’t include any pictures, so until we reach Indonesia, wish us a good journey and Bon Voyage!)

As the sun sets on this adventure, a new one awaits on the horizon!