20090726 – 20090803 (Banda Islands)

Banda islands are impressive to see from a distance, it’s a group of 10 small islands one of which is a volcano which last erupted in 1988. During my time here I have managed to climb it twice, its 666m high. Both times I left the boat at 6am and both times when I arrived at the top the visibility was coming in and out. There are still active vents, with steam hot enough to get burned. I wanted to take a potato up and put it in some tin foil and lower it into the vent but 6am is too early for that much organising. The walk up to the volcano was arduous and plenty of spiders came out to say gidday the plant life around 400m reminded me a lot of NZ with punga type trees and ferns.

There has been plenty of diving and snorkelling while we have been here anywhere you go there is beautiful coral and amazingly coloured fish (Day trip to Hata Island). We took a day trip out to an outer island in a Jo-Jo from Ai Islands leaky but sturdy boat. It’s roughly 20km from the anchorage but well worth the trip, it’s a picturesque island with amazing undersea drop offs and coral gardens. Stunning, photos never seem to do the places justice. I got a chance to try out my new camera and dive case. Happy Schnapy.

Indonesia is home to a rare mandarin fish which comes out during the dusk to spawn and is only approx 6cm long. Two nights running out we go to dive among the festering sea wall full littered with rubbish to hunt these little fish. First night we saw one, second night must have been something in the water, the randy little things where all over the show. Good looking fish, under water photo competition starts.

This has been the first place where we have tried the local food, over a period of three days Nasi Goreng was consumed by all, so good to have a local feed. One night we went out for dinner and Lydia ordered, plates of food turn up and away we go. At the end of the meal one of the plates was chicken and the English translation is Ghetto chicken, here I am thinking they grow up in the slums with ghetto blasters guns and gang warfare. It just means that they are not farmed and run around locally. Oh and I am in love, Indonesian donuts make my giddy at the knees.

Spent a couple of days looking around the town, looking around a fort built by the Dutch during their occupation, teaching English for half a day at a school and hijacking a local wedding where no one smiled in photos and they made us whiteys dance, I reckon this only happened because that’s what they thought was the right thing to do at a wedding with white faces, it felt too western with white dresses and the bride had white face paint on. Some of the missionaries did some damage through these places.

Oh we went to a primary school and taught English, it consisted of abc to 123, then to farm animals and finishing off with telling the time. Again lots of hand signals. Afterwards we went to a high school, Lydia can speak Indonesian and within no time was trying to be married off to the locals and being asked to come home for cinnamon tea, where was my invite. Basically the teacher was the task master, felt like i was back at school being told what to do. Sit stand, once we left Lydia said that he told them that I am a well known New Zealand sailor and that if they didn’t work hard that they wouldn’t be successful like us. A bum at 28 is something that everyone should aspire too.

By far Banda has been the best stop in Indonesia so far.