The days pass by easily here and each day we see something different. We are coming to know the people in the different areas though not always by name. In the harbour we watch the fishermen being ferried to and from the fishing platforms that are located near the Makani Kai. They pay their 1,500 rupiah for a ride there and back although we rarely see them returning to shore with fish. We can tell when someone has caught something by the raucous cheering that erupts from that area every once in a while but still they continue to come across in droves, anytime of the day or night. Those that choose not to fish from the platforms wade out into the murky water until they are standing chest height in the water flicking their rods back and forth. They wade out fully clothed and often wearing motorbike helmets to protect them from the sun. The most disconcerting though would have to be the ones in the balaclavas, especially when you walk into the cockpit of the Makani Kai and they are standing not that far away looking particularly menacing. As with most Indonesians though as soon as you wave their faces break into enormous smiles and they madly wave back.

There is also old Ibu in Sanur who walks up and down the streets every day carrying a huge pile of plastic, cardboard and palm fronds that she has collected on her head. She hobbles around with her cane and always stops to say hello in hesitant English. It's hard to guess an Indonesians age but I would put her at somewhere in her seventies and she collects her things and walks the same strip every day.

Then there is Rita in Kuta. We met Rita on Kuta Beach after an afternoon of shopping. Rita runs a makeshift bar on the beach, it basically consists of plastic chairs, coca cola crates as footrests and a big esky from which ice cold Bintang magically appears. She sat down and entertained us with stories of a love triangle she was involved in between a father and son from a European country. The father was married and the son was too young but they both tried to get her into bed. She showed us photos and emails and then told us she was coming to Australia. She had met some people from Western Australia who were going to sponsor her and she was very excited. She kept us very amused for an hour or so regaling us with the stories of her soap opera style love life (the father and son weren't the only ones in the picture), and we promised to go back and see her again.

Last night we were sitting on a large yacht called Catalyst enjoying a beautiful dinner of tuna steaks and salad when the weather suddenly turned bad. The dark clouds racing towards us were certain to mean rain and we had left all the windows on the Makani Kai open. Jay looked out to sea and could see the lights of a fishing boat coming towards the harbour. He said that if the fishing boats were heading in it must be a bad storm and abruptly our night was over. This morning we could see a fishing boat sitting on the reef, it turns out that they weren't heading in to seek shelter but that the Captain had fallen asleep at the wheel and had run up onto the reef. We went out for a closer look, lucky for them there wasn't a big swell. There were several local boats out there trying to help them off but it seemed it would be a waiting game until the tide came in hoping that they didn't get smashed to pieces by waves first. We returned to the boat where a friend, Afa and another local boy were madly trying to finish polishing her before midday. We are meeting friends from Australia and having some land time for a couple of weeks. As we watched a police boat race out of the harbour we were told that they were heading out to the fishing boat to get the fine from the Captain for running on to the reef. Got to love Indonesia!