Monthly Archives: February 2008

Bali to Singapore Days 3-4

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Continued from yesterday”¦ We neared a couple low, flat islands at 1700 (5:00 pm) on Wednesday. We changed course to get closer to them so we could be in more protected waters. Unfortunately, they were not a suitable place to stop, but at least in the lee of the island it was a little bit calmer. Christi’s nausea instantly went away and she ate a big meal. Eric felt less nauseous and managed to eat some crackers and drink some Pedialyte. We looked on the charts and found a suitable place to anchor off an island called Bawean that was 24 hours away. After an hour of idling, we pressed on, heading for the anchorage. Moving on was hard for Eric. He struggled with going out knowing the sickness would return. But he managed to do it.

Literally, the minute we were out in the big waves, Eric’s sea sickness returned. As the night wore on the wind and seas again got bigger. By Thursday morning the wind was at 34 with gusts up to 40 and the waves were 12 14 feet right on our nose (head seas). Surprisingly, Christi physically felt OK, but Continue reading →

Bali to Singapore Day 1-2

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Our visa expired on Tuesday, so we absolutely had to leave. Monday was one of our typical get ready to go days. Eric changed the transmission oil and oil filter, which he describes as a “messy job”. Lots of oil spills, but easy to contain with oil aborbant pads. We went to the nicest grocery store in town, The Carrefour, to stock up on food. The Carrefour in Tahiti was one of the nicest grocery stores we have ever been to nicer even than Gelson’s. Like the Carrefour in Tahiti, it is inside a new, modern mall. The mall here is much bigger and nicer than the Tahiti one, which set up high expectations for the grocery store. We are disappointed to report this one wasn’t nearly as good. This one has a nice bakery, like the one in Tahiti. But there was no beautiful selection of cheeses and dairy products. The selection of western foods is somewhat limited. The eggs are lying on a table, and you take as many as you want and put them in a plastic bag, like produce, and they ring you up per egg. And, believe it or not, there was even less selection of frozen heat and serve foods here than in Tahiti. Good thing we had stocked up in Australia. It was raining really hard, causing traffic to virtually stop going both directions, so the trip to the grocery store took much longer than planned due to long transit times.

Tuesday morning we were planning to leave at 1100, trying to time it so we were on an outgoing current. Everyone had warned us it would be a very rough ride all the way to Singapore since Continue reading →

Wreck and Wall Dive in Tulamben, Bali

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Continued from yesterday”¦ The water clarity was comparable to Komodo. Our dive instructor said the clarity was awful compared to normal. We saw a lot of new sea life we have never seen before. There was some sort of coral that is a bioluminescent blue. It was stunning to look at. We saw a sting ray with purple spots that was really neat. We saw a lot of trevalli, wrasse, surgeonfish, sweetlips and butterfly fish, just to name a few.

Christi had Continue reading →

Diving the USAT Liberty, Tulamben, Bali

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Yesterday we spent the day doing chores. Eric changed the generator oil and oil filter. Christi cleaned. For dinner, we went into Sanur again. We walked down the street, eyeing the menus at a few restaurants we passed. We settled on a place called Melanie’s Café that had an eclectic menu with a bizarre variety of foods. Eric wanted to eat there because they had a few Mexican dishes on the menu. Christi rolled her eyes, sure that a place that served Indian/Italian/Greek/American/Indonesian/Chinese/Mexican/Japanese was probably going to have terrible Mexican food.

Just like our last Mexican meal in Australia, we ordered fajitas and enchiladas. Much to our surprise, the food was actually pretty good. Granted, our standards are lower these days, but they got all the basics right. The enchiladas had the smallest smattering of enchilada sauce, but there was plenty of salsa on the plate to compensate. The fajita meat didn’t have grilled onions and bell peppers in it, but there were chopped onions on the side, and plenty of salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. Even though the food was not bad, we dreamed of the subtle things that make Mexican food so good, like poblano chiles and cilantro.

Today we went diving. We originally wanted Continue reading →

Whitewater Rafting and Facials at the Spa

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Continued from yesterday”¦ The rapids were just the right size. They were big enough to make it a fun ride, but not so big that we ever worried about falling out or capsizing. We often twisted and turned and were splashed by waves of water coming over the raft. Occasionally, we’d crash into a rock and just bounce off and keep going. Sometimes we would get stuck on top of a rock, but with a little pushing of the paddle, we’d slide right off. Christi marveled at how well the little raft bounced and slid on the rocks, and how easily it rode over the walls of small waves that would sometimes come at us. Much more flexible and forgiving than a kayak.

About halfway through, we stopped for a rest on some rocks next to one of the biggest water falls. There were four ladies there selling cold beverages. Every day these ladies walk down an equally huge staircase at their village, walk three miles inside the rock laden river with coolers full of ice and drinks. Then at the end of the day, they walk the three miles back up the river against the rapid current with their coolers and remaining inventory, then back up that gnarly set of stairs. Wow. We think they win over the guy who climbs the crater lakes mountain every day to sell coffee and blankets.

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The ride was Continue reading →