Lombok, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia - January 2020

We stopped for brekky at a resort near Senggigi Beach.

After a day of topical rain as we sailed east from Semarang we docked at Lembar in Lombok this morning under an overcast but dry sky. Lombok is the somewhat quieter and slightly more natural cousin of Bali across the Lombok Strait, although quieter and natural are all a bit subjective in Asia in my experience. Anyway after breakfast we grabbed our towels and snorkelling gear and set off into the traffic on today’s adventure. 

We'd had some fairly ordinary weather yesterday as we sailed east towards Lombok - although you gotta be happy that we were in the tropics as at least it was warm rain!

Ultimately today we were heading for the Gili Trawangan Islands however we had a bit of travel before we got there. There had been a lot or rain in the days prior to us arriving on the island (further to the west in Jakarta flooding had caused numerous fatalities), the rain meant that our little van had to pick it’s way fairly slowly through some small landslides and a bit of flooding. Of course being on a tour things weren’t too hardcore though and after battling our way through the traffic for a little over an hour we arrived at the very popular Senggigi. Jumping out of our van we headed into one of the many resorts lining this stretch of the coast for our second breakfast, enjoyed while gazing across the Lombok Strait towards the 3142 metre cone of Gunung Agung. 

I'm pretty sure that the mountain poking it's head out above the clouds is Gunung Agung on Bali - although that's another Feral fact!

I'm not exactly sure if this is Senggigi Beach or not - let's just say it's close to Senggigi Beach.

We stopped at this partially built resort for a pit stop....

...and while the views were sweet....

....their OH&S left a little to be desired!

After enjoying our nice little interlude in the day we climbed back into our van and headed a little further along the road to Teluk Nare where we jumped on a speed boat for the relatively short journey out to Gili Trawangan. After 15 minutes or so our boat eased up to the sand and we were on Gili Trawangan. Now Sam and I had picked this tour as we hoped to get some good snorkelling in and maybe enjoy a peaceful beach, arriving to find an armada of small boats bobbing just off the beach along with throngs of sunburnt tourists (of which I was one) I was starting to think that our day wasn’t going to turn on as hoped. 

The boats are lined up ready to whisk the punters over to the the Gili Islands.

After making our way south through the punters along the foreshore promanade we arrived at the resort where we were going to base ourselves for the day. With the tide being quite low I wasn’t overly confident in the snorkelling here however our guide said that it was good with plenty of fish. Finding a small piece of sand (most of the beach was crushed coral) we pulled on our snorkelling gear and swam out into a waste land of dead, crushed and bleached coral - with bugger all fish. Quickly loosing interest it wasn’t very long before Sam and I returned to the hotel pool, Sam staying at the resort while I grabbed my gear and set off to see if I could find somewhere half decent to snorkel. 

 

The beach out the front of the resort where we based ourself's on Gili T wasn't overly inspiring.

Leaving Sam I walked 30 minutes north along the bustling promenade until I spied a small sand spit heading out towards deeper water, time to try again. Leaving my clothes under a small tree next to sun baking backpackers in their G Bangers, I once again pulled on my snorkelling gear and headed out, this time hoping to head for some deeper water. Initially this spot was worse than my original spot further south as the visibility was only around half a metre, once I’d reached the deeper water however the visibility improved to around 4 or 5 metres. Not only could I now see something but there was also something to see with a bit of coral about and a reasonable number of tropical fish. Snorkelling here wasn’t easy though as the action was a long way down, to get amongst the coral and fish meant a dive of at least 2 metres and I had to be a bit careful where I resurfaced as there were numerous boats anchored all around me. 

 

After giving up on snorkelling near the resort I went exploring a little. I eventually settled on this spot to the north of the main Gili T tourist strip.

The go here was to swim out to the spot where the boats were anchored in the slightly deeper water.

There were a few coral bommies.

There is actually a reasonable number of fish around here....it's the coral thats looking a little tired.

I managed to get in a bit of half decent snorkelling before grabbing my clothes and heading back down to Sam. Once back at the resort it was time for a late lunch, probably the highlight of the day in hindsight. After a nice swim in the resort pool it was time to start retracing our journey back to the ship. Our journey back broken with a stop at a pottery factory where we could spend a few rupees, although this kind of stuff doesn’t do a lot for me it appears that I’m in the minority there as most of the other punters off the boat seemed enthralled.

 

Eventually I retreated to the resort pool.....

...and rinsed the salt off.

We stopped at a pottery factory on the way back to the ship.

People seem to go crazy for these kind of trinkets - I must of missed that gene!

The Dirt.
Sam and I were on a Princess Cruise on this visit. The tour the today was booked on the ship and was called Senggigi & Gili Trawangan Islands and set us back around $220 each. Needless to say I didn’t think today was worth it. What you need to know though is that the Gili Islands consist of three main islands and the one that we went to today was the most developed of the three. Maybe Gili Meno or Gili Air, the other two islands would provide a more natural setting with better snorkelling. Also we visited on a low tide and apparently the best snorkelling on Gili Trawangan is up on the north west part of the island but it is only accessible at high tide. The beaches on Gili Trawangan consist mostly of broken coral which is very hard on your feet so reef shoes are probably a good move here. The Gili’s come with a big wrap so maybe I didn’t see them at there best, a little more time to explore and I may of found what I was looking for - or maybe I was just looking for something that the average punter isn’t?

Relevant Posts.

Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia - December 2022.

The cruise terminal at Lombok was still a work in progress.

We got lucky again with the weather as we sailed away from Lombok this evening.

It's not all buffets, zimmer frames and Corona Virus on a cruise ship....:)

Semarang, Java, Indonesia - December 2019

We got to go on a small train journey today - always a good thing in my books!

It was a grey old day that was dawning as we sailed into Semarang first thing this morning. Semararg is a city of around 1.6 million people in Java, Indonesia and while it looked pretty grey and gritty this morning Sam and I were keen to get off the ship and see what the city had to offer. The good news at Semarang was that we docked at Samudera Wharf so we wouldn’t have to muck around with the ships tenders getting off the boat, meaning that we were off and on our way through the early morning traffic and humidity before 9am this morning. The other good news was that by the time we were off the ship the sun was out. 

The sun was out by the time we got off the ship this morning.

Gedung Batu

With not many great beaches or snorkelling spots within easy reach (to my knowledge, anyway) Sam and I decided to head out on a bit of a cultural tour. Our first stop this morning was Gedung Batu. This spot is a large complex of Indo-Chinese temples a few kilometres out of the city. Jumping off the bus the first thing we noticed was the wall of humidity we walked into, it was seriously hot and humid this morning, I’m normally pretty tolerant to heat and humidity but I was searching out the shade this morning. Gedung Batu is a series of temples that we were able to walk through and check out, their bright red pagoda-styled roofs making for some nice photos in the bright sunshine. 

While the grounds of Gedung Batu are fairly serene we didn't have to look far to see suburbia encroaching.

Gedung Batu

This is actually the cave beneath the temples for which Gedung Batu is named.

Gedung Batu actually translates to Stone Building which relates to a cave under one of the temples. Guarded by two big stone dragons the cave is home to a gilded statue of Sam Po and features a small shrine. Tourists are allowed into temples and the cave so long as they are respectful and remove their shoes, although ladies are who are menstruating are not allowed to enter the temples. The complex was constructed to honour Cheng Ho, a famous Muslin eunuch who led a Chinese fleet of boats to this part of the world back in 15 century. Cheng Ho later became a saint and was named Sam Po - hence the statue in the cave under the temple. 

 

There are a few different temples scattered around the precinct. 

Gedung Batu

The stone murals tell the story of Cheng Ho and his voyage across the seas.

Gedung Batu

After an hour exploring Gedung Batu we jumped back on our air conditioned bus and headed up into the hills. We now climbed from sea level up to around 400 metre above sea level at Ambarawa. The main reason we were visiting Ambarawa today was to check out a railway museum and to take a short steam train journey (yeah it’s not all hardcore walking in my world). The Ambarawa Train Station Museum celebrates 150 years of railway history in the immediate area and was a nice spot for a trainspotter like me to spend awhile, with 22 old steam trains and a variety of other rolling stock and paraphernalia you could spend hours here. 

Next up we visited the train museum at Ambarawa.

Maybe it's because I'm old however whatever the reason I like checking out old trains and train lines.

Here comes our chariot. 

Leaving Ambarawa we headed out across the rice paddies.

The highlight of our visit to the train museum though was a short steam train ride out into the country side. Sitting in the old open sided carriages as we jolted our way at not much more than walking pace through the rice paddys, passing tiny villages and a rural mosque along the way. With things being fairly relaxed when it comes to occupational health and safety over here there was no problem with me standing at the open area at the back of the carriage…and when I got tired of standing I just sat on the steps on the edge of the carriage and took some photos. Being quite a few hundred metres above sea level the humidity and temperature had been a lot more tolerable up here and sitting on the slowly moving train with the breeze blowing through was quite pleasant, although the approaching black clouds looked a little ominous. 

I love travelling in these open sided carriages - although I was hoping our train journey was going to be over by the time that weather arrived.

Sitting on the steps between the carriages it was very apparent that the OH&S regulations are a little more relaxed in Indonesia.

The farm houses and little shops were built on floats.

Jumping off our steam train and straight onto our waiting bus we were whisked off to our next stop, the Tlogo Plantation. After snacking on fried banana we headed out into the plantation to check out the coffee making process, from trees to roasting the beans. I’d done something similar on a walk in Peru years ago where we roasted our own beans and then had them vacuum packed to bring back to Australia, so I had a fair idea about what was going on, the main difference was that over in Peru I was blowing the bellows to keep the heat in the roaster where as over here they had a nice shiny electric model. After witnessing the coffee making process we moved on to anther section of the plantation to check out the rubber making process, once again something that I’ve had a bit to do with over the years. Still watching someone tap and drain a rubber tree is always interesting and this afternoon was no different. 

Tlogo Plantation

Tlogo Plantation, coffee and rubber were the order of the day here.

I worked most of my adult life for a multi national rubber company so I know a little about this stuff.

It was while watching the white liquid rubber slowly drip out of the tree that the rain that had been threatening for the last couple of hours arrived. Oh boy did it arrive, we were only around 80 metres from our bus but covering that 80 metres meant that we got absolutely soaked this afternoon. Sam had the good sense to bring her umbrella with her but I was just braving out the tropical downpour, by the time I got back to the bus I was able to take my shirt off and ring it out, at least the humidity wasn’t bothering me now! Our journey back down from the highlands to the Semarang was a bit of a white knuckle one this afternoon as the bus dropped down the rain soaked road in the middle of a conga line of unpredictable traffic. Thankfully we all made it back safely and were soon back in dry clothes. Our sail away from Semarang that night was fairly drab as the rain didn’t stop, in fact typing up this post 24 hours and 500 kilometres later the rain still hasn’t dissipated. 

 

Our port at Semarang wasn't the most scenic spot that we've ever visited.

The back end of the day had a bit of a melancholy feel to it.

The Dirt.
We were on a Princess Cruise today, the tour was booked on the ship. The tour was called Tlogo Agro Highland and set us back $180 so it wasn’t cheap, although for that we got entrance to all the sights plus the ubiquitous buffet lunch so I suppose it wasn’t too bad. We were here in the wet season on this visit and the humidity was fairly intense, especially when the sun was out before the rain arrived, although once up on the highlands things were a little more reasonable. If anyone wants to follow in our foot steps then keep in mind that Ambarawa and the Tlogo Plantation are a fair way out of Semarang.

Relevant Posts.
Komodo Island, Komodo National Park, Nusa Tenggara, 2019.

Bali, 2019.

Sailing away from Semarang into the Java Sea.

I actually enjoy checking out these industrial areas and seeing as it's my blog I'm gonna post a photo;)

Mt Maunganui & Rotorua, New Zealand - December 2010

Sunset from our balcony on the ship was a good one.

While Sam and I have travelled reasonably extensively around the South Island of New Zealand, we haven't spent a lot of time on the North Island. This was actually our first visit to Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty. We were on a cruise on this visit and our shipped docked at the Mt Maunganui Wharf in the beautiful sea side town of the same name this morning. Instead of exploring town though, this morning Sam and I headed straight to grab a hire car and motored off to visit the nearby Rotorua, around an hours drive away.

Strap yourself in for some Rotorua thermal action.

The sulphur smell is my lasting memory of this place.

Sam's doing the tourist thing at Rotorua.

Rotorua is famous for its thermal attractions and that indeed was the reason we were here this morning. Heading through town we went straight to the Te Whakarewarewa thermal reserve, there are a couple of commercial operators here and to be honest I can't remember who we went with. What I do remember is wandering around checking out the numerous different bubbling hot springs... well that and the sulphur smell! The big attraction here is the Pohutu spring, this big geyser erupts fairly frequently and when it does it sprays hot water and steam 30 metres into the air, its definitely worth checking out.

This big geyser blasts off fairly frequently.

Rotorua

Rotorua

Rotorua

After spending the morning and early afternoon checking out the various attractions in Rotorua we headed back to Mt Maunganui to drop off the hire car and check things out. I'm thinking that Mt Maunganui is New Zealand's version of Australia's Byron Bay, there are lots of trendy shops, cafés and bars along with a beautiful golden sand surf beach. After some retail therapy and a little promenading, Sam and I somewhat reluctantly made our way back to the ship. I'd really like to get back here one day and stay for a few days (he says around eleven years later, when I haven't even managed to set foot on the North Island again!).

Mt Maunganui

Mt Maunganui front beach.

Heading back to the ship through the suburban streets of Mt Maunganui.

Back on the sanctuary of the ship we had time for a quick shower and change of clothes before heading up on deck for the sail away. This is a particularly photogenic harbour to sail out of with the sun setting over the water to the west of us and Mt Maunganui bathed in a nice soft golden light as we sailed by. After we'd stayed on deck watching the east coast of New Zealand slip away we headed inside to grab some dinner. Returning to our room that night we were treated to one last highlight as the setting sun put on a show to remember, one of the advantages of having our own balcony.

Mt Maunganui from the ship.

The sun setting over the Bay of Plenty.

I'd picked up this sweet shirt in town that afternoon. 

Mt Maunganui

The Dirt.

This cruise was another one with Princess Cruises. Post Covid this cruise company is much maligned however in all our cruises with them Sam and I never had a issue - so much so that we'll be back on board again once the Covid situation settles down a bit. This trip was around a two week cruise that started and finished in Melbourne. For an Aussie then New Zealand is about as close you can get to still being at home whilst being overseas so hiring a car and driving around independently isn't really an issue. Both Rotorua and Mt Maunganui are a little touristy however they are still well worth a visit - I'm thinking that Mt Maunganui for a week in summer but out of the school holidays might be something Sam and I consider when we retire.

Relevant Posts.

Wellington, New Zealand, 2010.

The North Island put on a great show tonight.