Scot Free II

After quite a lot of planning and a fair amount of sailing we arrived in Darwin safely on the 4th May 2007 to complete this part of our adventure.

We left Kupang, Timor on the 30 April 2007, after filling up with diesel, water, food etc. Before entering Australian waters you must complete arduous and excessively detailed customs and immigration paperwork, all of which must be submitted 96 hours before your arrival in Australia. Thanks to Ian our visas were valid (applied for online from Canada!)

In Kupang we found a brilliant bar called Lavalon Caf�, which was run by a cool Indonesian guy Edwin. This place became our office, but it isn't much to look at - a concrete floor at the end of a small beach, tin roof, three plastic tables and crucially one computer connected to the internet (see photo of David with his ice tea) which Edwin lets us use for free - bless him! This allowed us to get all our documentation together - which led to the Aussie Customs saying we were the first boat to get it all right!

In Kupang we also met Napa Rachman. Well, he found us as we were heaving up Zodie (our faithful dinghy) up the beach. He acted as our agent to check out of Indonesia. Employing an agent to check out (or in) of Indonesia seem to be the way things are done in here, which is understandable as when we were in Bima we dealt with the Indonesian Harbourmaster ourselves and man they took forever.....! Napa saved us many many hours of hot struggle with officialdom, although even he had to wait for the Immigration Official to wake up on a Sunday! When we left Napa asked us to make him a little thank you poster for his visitor book, which I gladly did (see photo).

We set off three days before full moon for a five day journey. The timing of this passage had always been crucial to the whole trip- too early and we would be in Cyclone Season (not funny) - too late and we would have strong SE trade winds on our nose. Every 'expert' we met told us that we were either too early or too late, but we stuck to our guns and timed it just right. The weather forecast for the Timor Sea and Arafura Sea was settled. Off course we had some wind on our nose but managed occasionally good close haul tacks; more importantly didn't get caught in any cyclones!

On the third day out (having not seen a boat for days), right on the edge of Australian territorial waters, we passed an enormous Australian Naval ship; at least 100 meters long with loads of guns on it.

A few hours later a low flying plane flew right above us twice - it was the Australian Customs. We switched on the VHF and immediately got called by the plane for identification. The Customs checked if we made the appropriate legally required customs, immigration (thanks again Ian!) and harbour authority applications that we answered yes (phew) and received a 'Welcome to Australia' greeting! We were in the middle of nowhere and there really are not many boats out there for them to find. They visited us again 24 hours later to check on us when we still had >100 miles to go. That is where the Aussie taxes are going...

At dawn of the 4th May 07, we sighted Charles Point, Australia. Nearing the Darwin Harbour Limit, David had a few exchanges on the VHF with the Darwin Harbour Authority, Customs, Fisheries (for quarantine) and lockmaster. Darwin has up to 8 meter tidal range which makes anchoring for a little boat like Scot Free unattractive, so when they told us to tie up to a holding pontoon in Cullen Bay Wharf for quarantine, we were relieved.
Upon arrival we had swift dealings with the Customs, Immigration (who congratulated us on our efficiency with the emailed documents and visas), quarantine, etc. Then David and I stepped onto Aussie land. It felt good to accomplish our dream.

We will visit the outback for a few days before preparing the boat to be left, and our return home... but more of that in the next instalment. For now we are just really happy being in Australia (although we both miss sailing already!)

ps. If anyone needs to contact us, our Australian mobile is +61 44 8640211

After such a nice trip into the 'interior'of Bali, it took a few days to readjust to life back on board the boat again. We needed to restock provisions, including enough fuel to see us through. We had heard that the supply from Bali Marina was dirty, so we set about finding another source. In retrospect I can understand now why the marina manager got upset when the head office of the state oil company sent a special tanker with 'virgin diesel' to fill up our jerry-cans in the marina carpark. It is amazing what a personal visit to the top guys can do! Cheaper and cleaner fuel makes life a lot easier.

All the time we were in Bali we had been debating our next move. Although our plan had been clear, we had always known there could be a flaw in the plan: although our boat is Australian, by bringing it back into the country, the Aussie customs could view it as an 'import' and charge us loads of duty. Not an attractive proposition. We had been carrying out correspondence with the Customs department for some time.

We balanced things up in our minds, and decided that although we wanted to go to Australia, it made more practical sense to sell the boat back in Langkawi, Malaysia, which meant turning around to get there in time (Bali to Langkawi is more than 1700 miles, Bali to Darwin is less than 1100 miles).

So with great reluctance and some sadness we decided that that was what we should do, and headed out from this special island back the way we had come. And we sailed on like that for a day and a half, but towards sunset on the second day (having gone 150miles northwest) we could both see we were having second thoughts. We looked each other in the eye and after much more debate and head holding, we put dreams before customs and set sail for Australia. Just exactly as we made that choice a big black back of a whale broke the surface about fifty metres away. We took it as agreement. And so... we ARE heading east for Darwin.

We put the tiller hard over, made a new passage plan and began (the now much longer trip) to Bima, Sumbawa. By the time we arrived at what is Indonesia's best natural harbour we had done more than 400 miles.

Between Bali and Sumbawa we crossed the Wallace line which divides the flora and fauna of Australasia from that of the tropics. The whole vegetation looks completely different to anything we have seen since Thailand. Gone are the palm trees, broad leaved banana trees and rice fields, and now we have small leaved deciduous trees. The effect is amazing, the islands suddenly look so much more familiar, like the Mediterranean. Which has got us feeling that we are getting closer to our goal of Australia after all.

We have now arrived in Kupang (our last port of call in Indonesia). With one thing and another we have had to scrap stopping at the island of Komodo to see the dragons, but if the locals are anything like those in Bima, I think we are better off!

Australian paperwork is even more arduous than Indonesian, but we think we have it more or less complete. We will take a few days getting ready and looking for the right weather to head off. We expect it to take at least a week to get there, so it will be a while before we post again! We aim to arrive at Darwin between 6th to 10th May, 2007... So Australia here we come!

Having arrived in Bali, we decided to leave Scot Free in the care of the marina and explore the island... We had been on board for more than seventy days and were beginning to fantasise about certain 'norms' of life, like a big white bed and fluffy towels, so we thought we deserved a treat...

First to Kuta - beach, bars and shopping
Kuta is a surfers beach with eye boggling shopping and bars. We splashed out and stayed in Villa de Daun, one of those lush villas with private pools & garden, complementary spa treatment, foot message and rose petal bath. They brought breakfast to our private outdoor dining/kitchen in the morning. The mini bar was complementary (something all hotels should learn to do!) so it got raided pretty quickly. David and I were in seventh heaven. Air-conditioned and hot water - just imagine such luxuries!!
We walked around in something of a daze, enjoying the touristy nonsense. We also saw the site that was bombed on Jalan Legian, adjacent to it was a huge memorial for the victims. It definitely was a somber experience being there. You can tell that the lives of every single Balinese person has been effected by the loss of earnings and security.

Ubud - art and culture
A lot of the Balinese suggested to go to Ubud so we thought we'd have a look. We hired an old Suzuki jeep (international hire-car?) and headed inland. Nearing Ubud, the street was lined with all sorts of art and craft, such as wood carving, painting, art furniture, glass sculptures, batik, galleries, etc - all the things that make Bali so famous. We took our chance on accommodation, not booking before we set off. How lucky we were as we found, off a quite little street of Ubud centre, a Balinese cottage complete with a private front porch and a balcony with a view of a valley of rooftops. It was made of intricately carved volcanic stone, with a bamboo roof. The mahogany door was a work of art in itself (see behind DH in the photo). There is a magic to Ubud where art and creativity oozes everywhere, on roof tiles, garden landscape, lighting, religious decorations and even on the presentation of food on a plate. The climate is cool and slightly damp, giving everything a slight covering of moss, that reminds David of old Scottish villages. This inspired us to buy a couple of sketch books and sketched away - I haven't done this for years, and I'm an architect! We also visited breathtakingly beautiful terraced padi fields filling a valley. We sketched from the opposite side of the valley sitting in a restaurant with seating under a palm roof patio.

Penelokan - volcano and high level lake
We drove on north east to the mountains. (The whole of Bali is in effect a single family of volcanoes that slope down to the sea on all sides). It had been David's dream to see a volcano. We didn't spend much time in the main town Penelokan, as soon as we parked the car we were swamped by sellers who then tailed us around, tugging at our bags and clothes... argh! Again you can feel the desperation caused by the lack of tourists. So we drove down a very steep road into the bottom of this huge crater. The crater is so large that it contains a lake 5km wide by 9km long. There are several villages hanging on to a dangerous existence, including evidence of where some were wiped out in the 1960s. We stayed in a modest cottage right by the lake called Danau Batur. The water in the lake is feed by hot springs, and the locals go there every day for a communal wash. We caused quite a stir by coming to join them at dusk, but we didn't go in. In the middle of this enormous crater, is - well another mountain formed by more recent eruptions. We climbed up to see the three recent craters - 1912, 1964 and 1999 (with a guide) starting at 4am, armed with mere trainers and not a lot of hiking gear. The aim was to catch the sunrise and have breakfast on the peak. After 2 hours of hiking I checked my heart rate - it had never been this high! I had a lot of help from the guide, taking my hand and giving a pull whenever there were big steps up the black volcanic mud. Upon reaching the peak I sat in a hut, trying to catch my breath (and dignity!). Behind us came along a Balinese lady who sold tea to tourist/hikers. With a cheery 'Good Morning!' greeting she walked straight passed us without a pant, having hiked up in FLIP-FLOPS with a full jerry can of water ON HER HEAD. For breakfast our guide cooked eggs and banana from the steam heat expelled from the ground... how cool was that!