We've been in Aceh Province for a week now and the people have been wonderful. After leaving the harbour at Sabang we moved to some moorings at Pulau Rubiah. This is where the tourists to the area tend to hang out, the snorkelling there was ok and the locals are working to re-establish the reef which was obviously damaged during the tsunami and due to the usual causes that we have seen throughout Asia. There were a couple of restaurants there to choose from but I can honestly say that we are already missing the food of Thailand, there will be much more cooking done on the boat during this leg of the trip!!

Keen to find some surf we moved on, the next anchorage was Sueng Bay. Yachts had been through here before us and had told us to go and see some people at a restaurant on shore who would help us organise transport into Banda Aceh. We also went in search of the Kepala Desa (the Village Chief) to say hello, this is the polite way of doing things in Indonesia and also ensures that your boat will be safe during your stay. Having found the right restaurant we were escorted by Sol to see the Kepala Desa who was asleep when we arrived. We were quickly ushered into their home and sat cross legged on the floor while his wife served us sweet black tea in wine glasses. We chatted for quite a while making use of our limited Indonesian, many of the Acehnese in the villages do not speak English. The Kepala Desa and his wife happily posed for a photograph with us as we were leaving and then showed us how high the tsunami had been, the wave they said was over 20 metres. The village itself lies against some sheer mountains, there would have been nowhere for them to go. Everywhere we went was in the process of being rebuilt and signs denoting which charities were helping particular villages were placed everywhere. In this villages case Oxfam had been instrumental in their rebuilding. The tsunami's effects are evident everywhere, this village had these wonderful, big, colourful catamaran style fishing boats, before the tsunami there were over 200 of them, now there are around 20, we also didn't see any old people...

The next day Sol took us to Banda Aceh. We met him at the restaurant and waited until he arrived with the car, it was a ute. Luckily there was room in the front with air conditioning for Michelle and I, unfortunately for Jay and Ian they had to get back in the tray. People on the side of the road went out of their way to wave at them as Jay brandished the video camera every which way. All along the roadside was evidence of the tsunami, roads are still being built into the area and beaches were littered with the tops of trees buried deep into the sand. Sol didn't speak any English but would point every so often and say 'Tsunami!' It was a humbling experience, the devastation wreaked on these people is unimaginable. The only other white person we saw was in a white 4WD bearing the symbol of the Red Cross. Banda Aceh is a bustling little city, there were people everywhere and everyone wants to chat. It was a great experience and not at all what I expected. We stopped at a 'bagus rumah makan' (good restaurant) that our driver, Sol, recommended. The meals are basic and Jay was reluctant to eat anything (unlike him) for fear of a tummy bug, although basic I found the meal quite palatable however I think our days of eating out are numbered.

Since leaving Sueng Bay the anchorages have been fairly rolly and we are looking forward to getting to the protected anchorages of the islands. We are currently tucked between the mainland and a small island called Pulau Raya. Jay and Ian finally got their first waves, a fast right hander with no one else around for a hundred miles! We went ashore yesterday and had what we thought may have been our first 'bad' experience in Indo. We went to shore in our tender and went for a walk through the village which was great but when we returned to our tender our bow and stern lines had been stolen along with a torch. Jay and Ian approached some men near where the tender was to ask if they had seen anything but didn't get anywhere, we were really disappointed as our experience so far had been fantastic. We returned to our boats which are anchored in amongst all the fishing platforms, nearing dusk all the local boats began to make their way to their platforms and would you believe one of the fisherman came to the boats with our torch. Turns out some kids had taken it and they were in a lot of trouble, we didn't see our ropes again though. The same man returned this morning and found out that our ropes were stolen as well, he hadn't known and was quite upset about it, he vowed to go back and find the ropes as well. The Acehnese are wonderful people!

Tomorrow we leave for Simeleue.