Indonesia (28 Feb 2019 – 20 May 2019)

Happiness is meeting your niece for the first time and discovering that you have to lift her cheek and chin chub to gain access her neck. After securing a mooring bouey in Lombok, Indonesia our minds were at ease knowing Arbutus would be safe and secure while we were home for the holidays. We spent a wonderful three weeks in France spending time with Paul’s grandiose family, eating far too much, and gaining 5 kgs each. Next stop, Canada to celebrate my brother’s birthday, New Years, Paul’s birthday, and of course to meet my niece for the first time. Three weeks with my family and friends was far too short and by the time it was time to leave I was in tears. I wiped my tears away because our next stop was Tokyo to visit my cousin Yukari. It was Paul’s first time in Japan and we had a blast visiting the megalopolis with our personal tour guide. Our last stop was back home to Arbutus who was patiently waiting for us in Indonesia. In less than eight weeks we circumnavigated the world by plane…It’s taken us five years and eight months to sail from France to Indonesia. We were happy to find Arbutus as we left her on the mooring buoy. All systems were working normally. Paul started a three week work session and I occupied myself with visits to the market, cooking, canning, walks around the island, and teaching English at the local school on Gili Gede. On the weekends we rented a motorbike from our friend Imi and explored Lombok. Paul’s mom and sister came to visit us in March for two weeks. We met them at the airport in Bali and toured around the island before taking a fast ferry to Lombok. Before heading to the boat we spent a few days in Kuta staying at a lovely guest house with private pool, getting massages, and taking surfing lessons. It’s so amazing that we are able to host our families around the world and have them stay on Arbutus. We took Cendrine and Caroline on a day sail…rather motor cruise due to lack of wind. All the same we had a blast. We anchored in front of Gili Lontar, also known as monkey island because of it’s two permanent residents. Two monkeys!! We anchored in crystal clear water and swam up to the white sand beach. But little did we know that a landfill was waiting for us as we got closer to the vegetation. What a disheartening scene of washed up plastics ranging from water bottles, sandals, food wrappers, and decapitated plastic dolls. Another reminder of the plastic crisis we are creating. The plastic island left a lasting impression on us and so a week later we organized a small clean up. Our Indonesian friend Imi was keen to help us but couldn’t leave his shop for the day. So there was a grand total of three beach cleaners. Paul, myself, and our cruising friend Phillip who also has his boat moored at the marina. Getting advice from the marina staff and locals we decided to burn the trash we collected instead of the other option which was to transport it to Mataram where it would be burned (maybe). We saved the water bottles for Imi who said he would make use of them. Did we make an impact? I think a small one…locals saw tourists cleaning their beaches, I posted our pictures on social media, maybe we saved some marine life from death by plastic… Time to release our lines from the mooring ball and continue on our journey. Destination Kalimantan to see the orangutangs! On the way we anchored in Bangsal, had an overnight sail to Pulau Kangean island, and I got wicked sick…the sickest I’ve ever been in my life. I slept the entire way to Pulau Kangean island. I was incredibly weak with a slight fever and a urinary tract infection!!! I believe I got this infection from the shower water at the marina. The water was brought in by boat transported in huge plastic reservoirs. So Paul worked for five days at Pulau Kangean island while I took antibiotics and recovered. I also got a huge lecture from my sister saying I need to take better care of myself…like see a doctor and go to hospital. After my bought of antibiotics (first time ever taking antibiotics) I was feeling stronger. It was a three night sail to Kalimantan and I don’t remember any of it…because I am writing this blog post now 16 March 2021…opps. I do however remember the orangoutangs!!! This was another moment during our trip where I reminded myself how lucky we are to be living this life. To have the opportunity and means to live how we live and to us for having the audacity to actually make our dreams a reality. “I want to live an extraordinary life”. Have you ever seen an orangoutang close up? It’s a special moment. You see yourself…I mean they are so physically similar to us. Their movements are the same as ours…just at a slower sloth like pace. I was in a trance watching them. The crew for our river cruise was amazing. Young, vibrant, informative, and caring. Caring because our guide accompanied us to the clinic after our cruise was finished. During our last day of our cruise I felt incredibly weak, too weak to walk at one point. Okay so I guess this merited a visit to the hospital. Doc said it wasn’t my UTI again but that my body was just trying to recover from the UTI and antibiotics. He prescribed me some meds and bed rest. I needed the rest because our next stop was Belitung to check out of the country. Two night sail to Belitung. We anchored at Tanjung Kelayang, Belitung and started the long process of clearing out of Indonesia. We spent a total of five lovely months in Indonesia.