Our time in Lombok went fast. We arrived on monday 16 in the morning. Checked in and had a cleaning day,.Had a tour around the Island on Tuesday with a fabulous guide where we saw the monkeys up in the forest, visit the market and the biggest Mosque on the island. Had a great lunch by the seaside.
Wednesday me and Karen ( Edgar and Chris had to work on the boats)went for a snorkling tour to the Gili Islands. Such a great day we had. Us two a guide, a snorkel guide and the boat driver. Saw some fantastic life like turtels, blue corals, nemo and amazing statues in the water .
Wednesday evening was prize giving dinner where we got 1 prize in the second group. Will be hard to achieve that when we will sail on the other legs.
Thursday we spent grocery shopping and it took almost the hole day since just going to the first took 1.1/2 hour. In the evening we had dinner at this fantastic restaurant Kokok Pletok at hotel Tugu Lombok. Sending thank you for the tip Clare.
Friday was checking out and when it was done before lunchtime we where not allowed to leave the marina area. It was okay since we were getting help cleaning the hull and stainless steel. In the evening we had a nice barbecue arranged by the restaurant with love music.
After spent 6 weeks on land we were so happy to be sailing again. We have done the half to start our next half of sailing around the world. The first 4 hours we sailed but as sone as we had rounded the island north of Darwin it died. The motor went on .
We kept looking for sea snakes, turtles, dolphins, fishing vessels etc. Fishing vessels we saw some and they are not always easy to spot. Luckily we saw them all in good time to keep away from them. Happy to see some dolphins that did high jumps as well.
The most exciting thing was when we had a special delivery to the boat from Mistral. It appeared that we did not have sea card on our plotter covering Indonesia. Good that Mistral had 2.
Can’t get enough of all these lovely sunset and sunrise so here are some more
We ended up using 101 hours motoring plus the hours from finish line to Medina Marina where we moored. It took us All in all 6 days and happy to arrived in Lombok and looking forward to meet the rest of the fleet.
The checking in went very smooth . All authorities were gathered at the marina.
The World Arc boats are arriving and we get some time to get to know some of them before we start. Very nice to see Andrew and Swade back as the yellow shirts. Last time we saw them was in Galapagos. They are going to be with us all the way to St Lucia. We had a lovely week getting to know the six new boats laying in the Marina unfortunately five was in an other Marina so didn’t speak that much with them but we will get more chances. The World Arc organised a trip to see crocodiles. Finally we saw some crocodiles in the wildness.
One of many great things sailing in a rally is that dealing with authorities is easy for us. We just appear at a certain time and place with our paper and passport without having to book and fix everything by your self. Like going through a passcontrol.This time the boarder controls came down to the marina to check us out of Australia.
The night before start our sunscreens came down and we filled up water.
We were the second boat out of the lock since we needed to go and fill up diesel.
10.30 Thursday 10th we are sailing again! 920 Nm ahead of us to the next at Lombok
Writing this on the boat sailing to Lombok so less pictures this time. Maybe I will attach more when we are in Lombok so depending on when you read it you have less or the usual amount I tend to have. And for you who reads my blog when I have a reminder on instagram and facebook which I not always do, you can get a notification to your email by go in under comment and choose that you like to get updated when new blog is out.
Back in Darwin and the heat. Although it was hot in Singapore as well but there we had air conditioning. Our own on the boat is not broken but needs much more electrical power and we don’t have that cable /glove but the marina had one for us. Don’t understand why we didn’t ask for it earlier, nevertheless now we can have a good night sleep so we have some energy to do things daytime. Although it is hard in this heat. So we decided to leave the boat and go in to the outback . Where it is even hotter but dryer.
We drove for 4 hours and got to Cicadas lodge in Nitmiluk national park. A very nice place where we had our own cabin with the view straight out in the wilderness. The food was really good even tried kangaroo and crocodiles. Yes both were okay. Enjoyed the pool and at sunset the lodge served drinks and canapés.
Since Edgar is not much of a hiker and I do like to sleep in we decided to take a boat tour on the Kathrine Gorge. What a beautiful place. Would be very interesting to see how it looks when it is the rain season and the river is up to 12 meter deeper. On the sandbanks there are signs saying your are not aloud to go a shore due to the crocodiles are nesting and also sunbading. Sadly we didn’t see them but traces after them. To get between the gorges we had to walk a short walk over the rocks to take the next boat. Would have love to swim in them.
You see the tracks in the sand
Back at Tipperary Marina where Saphir is moored, we start preparing for the next leg checking of our lists. Me and and Edgar have two different ones. Mine is focused on food, cleaning, storing, fixing roof, using sewing machine and Edgar’s is about changing filter,oils,impellers etc. Our engins mount are broken but sadly we couldn’t get new ones before we leave. We have to live with a bit vibrating noice for a while. Edgar was just glad that it was nothing worse with the engine.
Attaching the VelcroWine storage1
I been sewing things using ours and mistrals sail. It is okay to sew in sometimes bit hard when I have many layers but my pfaff 1222 is working fine. The trickiest is to turn the item from inside to outside. I am getting better and better in that to. So in Darwin I have been very productive. I made 3 basket for keeping the lines together when we are sailing, one bag pack that I am not sure about but definitely my handbag which I will use a lot.
As I wrote sewing can be tricky some times. I helped Karen with one of the most hard things I’ve done. Getting windows on the Bimini. Sounds like an easy thing and it could have been but trouble was that we couldn’t get of the solar panels…. And in top of that it is very hot. Luckily we had an suncover to make shade over us. Best thing is to do it with a smile.
We did do other things as well as going in to town for drink and dinner with Karen and Chris. I really need to get better searching for restaurants and bars. Karen had found a really cool gin bar called Charlie that we missed and also a great restaurant Ella that served Sri Lankan food. Extra fun to here since our daughter’s nickname is Ella.
Last but not least me and Karen went to Zen rooftop bar to watch the sunset.
Our Visas needs to renew so we went to Singapore for a few days. Last time we were here was 1995 when Edgar’s parents lived here. Lots have changed since then. One thing is this huge hotel Sandy bay Marina and the area around the hotel. Here we stayed our two first nights. Wow what a fantastic hotel with the coolest rooftop pool I have ever visited. Not that I have visited many rooftop pools though. The view from it is fantastic. Can’t complain about the room and the view either. Talking about the room… the toilet hmm the lid opens when you open the door and the seat is heated and it flushes by its self when you leave the room and close the lid. This time we took advantage of the hotel and its facilities.
Garden by the bay from rooftop Garden by the bay from our roomPaper will do for meLots of lilies and meInside the hotelLooking up from our balcony Night light show at Garden by the bayBuffe with lobster! Jummy Late lunch up in old hoddies
So this Singapore trips involves two more hotel visits. We start with Four Season on Orchard boulevard next to Orchard road where we have been a lot before. This time we are not alone Matti and Sus have arrived and we spend three great days together exploring the city. We take the Big bus around the city and stopes at Little India to have a … which was really nice. First time we had that but both Matti and Sus have had it plenty of times when they been in Singapore. Raffles was also a must on the list to see again. We agreed that the Singapore sling drink has shrunk and also the peanuts. But still good taste. We visited China town. Went down to Boat quay and took a boat tour on the river down to Merlion.
MerlionLove the fansBig bus tourSomeone is crazy Serving Pecking duckOne Singapore sling is enough Time for dinner at Goodwood ParkBoat tour
Singapore have some cool buildings and the nightlights makes them even better
The building where Edgar’s parents use to live
There is one more hotel and an other new area to stay in. Last but not least although the room was very tiny but the hotel had some really nice benefits like the breakfast in the lounge and five a clock drinks with nibbles. On top of this Anna came to visit us from Kuala Lumpur. Andy had to stay home and work unfortunately. It would have been so nice to see him to. We haven’t meet since they left Riga in 2018. So happy that she could make it to meet us. Me and Anna had a great time. She had been in Singapore a few times so finds her self around very well. We walk down to Garden by the bay and strolled around there and also went up and walked up on the super trees. Fantastic view over the city and the bay. A visit to Raffels and a Singapore sling before we headed back to the hotel and the five a clock drink with nibbles. We ended up at the rooftop bar at the hotel after being out strolling around in the quays. Anna went home the next day after we done some small shopping. Good to have someone that knows where to go. I planned to relax by the pool but it was raining so had to wait for the sun that came back a bit later.
Time to say bye bye to Singapore and Pullman hotel. It has been very nice to been able to try out different hotels in different areas in the same city . I can definitely recommend it.
We have a six hour flight to Sydney that unfortunately ends up being eight hours due to bad weather in Sydney. First time or actually second time I am flying that we need to land and fill up fuel to reach the destination. This time we actually was hovering around for an hour before it was decided that we were going to Canberra to fill up.
We got our rental car and drove true the city out to our family in Warrierwood. We had three great days with the family and managed to see almost all of them. One of my wishes was to see the opera house up close. Have been in Sydney 3 times before and just seen the house in a distance.
After the lunch we took a walk around the house but couldn’t see much of the inside due to performances going on. Nevertheless it was nice to see it and see the tiles on the roof that are from Höganäs in Sweden. Not far from where I am brought up.
Next day me, Dianna and Hanna went for a walk out to Barrenjoey lighthouse at the end of Palm Beach while Edgar, Sue and Ray waited at the restaurant. On our way down I saw a Kokaburra. Check on that! Back at Di and James place some Kakadus came to visit and bird friend Ray gave them some treats. Meet up with Maryanne and Roger the next day for a coffee at Newport.
We say thank you to our lovely Aussie Family that took time to meet up with us. Hope to see you soon again!
We have planned a hall out of Saphir on the 9th of Aug and going back in on the 4 sep to get the hull painted again so we have less things that can grow on the hull which will help us not so lose speed. The growing can actually slow us done up to 1 knot.
Before we start all fixing on the boat me and Karen took a tour in to town to get a few things and look at the town. Had some lunch at waterfront where city meets the water. Here you can swim safe and they even have a pool with waves. We didn’t have time for this this time.
Since the boat is getting up we need to defrost the freezer and the fridge. Lots of ice in the fridge little freeze box.. Nafier the mechanic found why it was making noice in the machine room. The rubber stabiliser under the engine was broken. New ordered and hope to get them before we leave.
Next thing is to repair our heat exchanger . This took other mechanics 20 hours work in the boat and three to times bringing it to their workshop. New is ordered and will hopefully get to us in Mauritius. Let’s hope it will work until then or actually much longer.
Time to haul out Saphir early morning due to the tide. Mornings like this with a beautiful sunrise, puts a smile on my face even though the day didn’t end as we hoped. Sadly or more very annoying, the boat that was getting in to the water had problem so we ended up not getting out of the water.
Back to the marina and trying to cancel our hotel booking since Saphir is not on the hard. It was to late and we had stay at the hotel…. poor us getting air condition, lots of space, specially over our heads and a pool. Although we spent the days at the marina me sewing and Edgar checking the workers. Evenings we enjoyed Darwin trying different restaurants.
Night view Finally Mexican foodBar on the streetPool at the hotelCan’t just listen to a book…
Time flies and time to check out of the hotel, pack again to go visiting our Aussi “family” in Sydney.
We arrive to Horn Island on the 21 of July in the afternoon. We speak with Karen and Chris and decide that we will catch the ferry to Thursday Island next day. Me and Karen take a long walk around the island while the guys finds a pub…. Glad we didn’t plan to stay long here. Not much to see or do. We went back to Horn Island and had dinner at the only restaurant we found at Wongai beach hotel. Funny to call it a beach hotel when you actually can’t be on the beach due to the crocodiles. Before dinner we had a game of pool which we sadly lost.
Full concentration Full concentration The beach is behind the trees
We have done a sailing plan with three stops before we are I Darwin on the 30th of. July. Until know we have been allowed to go a shore on all Island and land but from now on we have to apply for going a shore since it is the aboriginals land. I missed that and since it should be done 10 days ahead we skipped it. We are aloud to anchor so we will be okay. We had 2 great sailing days with good wind and some waves so a bit rocky. Lovely sunsets. When we anchored at East Arnhem I saw that we had had a lot water in at or kitchen window. All the cooking books was soaked… and totally wet on the shelf … just to dry everything. Not easy went it is very humidity.
Still quite a bit left so just a night sleep and we are of to next anchor place. First we need to go through “hole in the wall “ . Here we need the tide to be with us. We came in a perfect time and enjoy the help from the tide to get through. Very beautiful narrow passage.
We found a nice beautiful bay to anchor at and the sunset was one of the most beautiful I have seen. So colourful compared . Next day is not much wind but from tight anger so our blue water runner comes out. We start we good speed until we get the tide against us and doing only 2.4 kn. Luckily it is turning and we keep sailing in 6-8 kn. The best part is that suddenly we get company by lots of dolphins or what is it? They are huge and their nose is different. Looked it up and think it might been fake orcas anyway what ever they are called they made our day.
On our way in to last anchorage before Darwin we see the second boat since we left Horn Island except from Mistral that we been sailing with. This tells a bit how lonely it is here. The sea is a bit rough as you can see on the fishing boat. We are happy to have what we hope is a very calm bay so we can get some rest before the last leg.
Laying on anchor with only you body boat gives you the best view on the sunset and the sunrise. Her are a few from our nights and also tried to take some photos of the night sky
Sunrise
Early morning to get to Darwin and Tipperary water Marin in high tide. We have a great sailing with some really nice extra speed with the help from the current and also some opposite. We made it in time to get in to lock an in to the marina basin. Very nice to be back in the civilisation, to walk on land, to see Karen and Chris and go out for a dinner. Yes we have been sailing with Karen and Chris but we have not been together since we left Horn Island since we haven’t felt safe to take down the dinghy. So our meetings have been over the whatsup. Great to have Starlink and internet.
1 of Aug and now we have 40 days to prepare the boat, exploring the north part of Australia and make a trip to Singapore to renew our visa.
Strange to be back in a city after 23 years. Lots have changed and can’t say that I remember that much either. Although nice to be in Cairns to relax and explore part of the rainforest and the area. We have booked a day out on the barrier reef to dive and snorkel. But first we have to moor in the Marina. Which is really great placed very close to the city. Lots of restaurants along the quay.
We hired a car for a day together with our friends Chris and Karen and went for drive to find the lake where we swam with small turtels and crocodiles. No luck with finding the lake but we had a great time in the rainforest. We went to ..,,waterfall where we hope to take a dip but it didn’t attract us. Next stop was Kuranda where we went in to wild kuranda. Here we finally saw some crocodiles although this was freshwater so they are not the dangerous ones. We also saw kangaroos in different sizes and one with baby, koalas, wombat and some other smaller ones.
We was told to not miss Palm cove beach which we really enjoyed. A typical vacation village next to the beach. Here I would loved to stay for a night or two.
Time for diving again in the Great Barrier Reef. Last time was at Lady Eliott island 12 years ago which is located in the southern part of Barrier reef and outside Cairns was 22 years ago. Unfortunately the weather was not the best, quite windy, a bit wavy and very grey. We went out on to Flynn reef to dive and snorkel. The first dive didn’t work for me. When I jumped in I couldn’t go down. My breathing went bananas and I panicked. Even if our instructor was really relaxed and tried to calm me down it didn’t work so I went up again. Took me a while to calm down and get my breath back. Don’t know but it felt like the wetsuit I was wearing squeeze me and on top I was freezing and also did Karen when she came up. Nevertheless the second dive came and I went in with the rest of the group in a one size bigger wetsuit. Everything worked and it was a great dive although not as colourful as I remembered it. I got the opportunity to do a second dive which I am glad I did. All in all I saw a sleeping white tip shark, bluespotted stingray, boxfish etc
When we came back to the boat we got the best news. Our fourth grandchild had arrived. A baby girl .We are so happy but a bit sad also since we will not see them in a long time. Thank goodness for internet. At least we can facetime.
We sailed up to Port Douglas which was not very far. Took as couple of hours. Not much of wind so mostly the iron genua had to work. We spent 24 hours here. A dinner in the evening at Watergate restaurant. Very lovely place. This time we hade an afternoon start from the marina so there was time for a tour to the beach and a bit strolling in the village.
In front of us we have a night sailing up to Lizard island. The night was really calm and the morning was one of the most gorgeous I have seen.
We continue doing day sailing which gives us on three stops on the way to Townswill. The first stop was Cape upstart where we paddle in to the beach before the sunset. The next was Cape Bowling reminds very much of the tuamotos island in the sense of very low land around us with a few trees growing but the rest not.
Clear night with lists of stars taken with my iphone.
The last stop was Magnetic Island or Maggie island as the locals calls it. Horse shoe bay is a popular anchoring place which I understand not only for the protection but also for the range of restaurants,bars, cafes. The beach is not bad either. We stay here for one night. Me and Karen went in on our paddle boards to check out and have a walk along the beach and check what we can expect when we come back after been in Townswill.
At lunchtime the next day we left Maggie island to get in to Townswill on the high tide. The marina is good and I like it when it is walking distance to the city and restaurants. The marina have also a complementary car for us(as Arlie beach). We book two hours and also Mistral so we got four hours to drive around and get supplies for our boats and some groceries.
We bought new spark plugs for the dinghy engine so now we have a working engine to the dinghy! Mistral also got their dinghy fixed so now we have two dinghy’s that we can go ashore with when we anchor. After dinner we are sitting in our boat and enjoying the lightnings on the mountain wall.
After two days with fixing and enjoying the restaurant in the evening we head out to Maggie island again in the high tide in the morning.Maggie island is more and less around the corner from Townswill.
Me and Karen got a ride in with Edgar to the beach and planed to do a walk on the forest and over to an other beach but the walking path was closed due to maintenance so we ended up take a walk along the beach on the bay. In the evening we went in to have dinner at one of the restaurants. They had a big screen and some smaller once that was showing a Disney film and all children that wanted to look was given headphones. Why don’t all restaurants do this?
The next day Chris drove us in for mine and Karen’s longer walk. We wanted to see koala bears. And we did. They are not easy to spot in the wild since they more or less hide up in the threes and sleep. Lucky us we saw two and some remains from the second WW. Meanwhile Chris showed Edgar how to make different knots and soft shackles.
The next morning we sailed up to Orpheus Island. It was a nice sailing and doing 6-7 knots. On the way we was called up to have a look for a dinghy that someone lost but we didn’t see it. We anchored in the afternoon and had our evening video call to plan our next leg. Since the wind was increasing we decided to stay one more night before we continued. The rain was poring down and strong winds so we couldn’t go ashore or snorkel which would have been nice. This bay is known for huge clamps. During the night we moved quite alot which you can see on the plotter.
The next stop was in Mosby river. We had problem to anchor since it was very shallow where we was allowed to anchor. Twice we got stuck in the mud so on the third time we succeeded. Opposite us was a small harbour where only a pilot boat was moored. After a good night sleep we let anchor early and head up to Cairns.
Sailing with Saphir 