I had every intention of writing more frequent blogs this year. With passing time, it gets harder to remember all the small events that happen on a day-to-day basis, and one thing I’ve learnt is that it’s the small stuff that matters. Things like our resident pair of Raja Shelducks hatching a clutch of 8 chicks, the micro-bats that flit past our faces as dusk falls, and the herons that delicately pick their way along the shoreline in the golden evening light. But I look at the calendar and see that we arrived back from Australia 6 weeks ago, so that plan hasn’t exactly worked out. But I’ll keep trying!
Our trip back to Australia in April was necessary for Bruce’s skin cancer removal and thankfully his surgery was a success. So, barring any more suspicious lumps appearing, we plan to stay here now until early 2026. It goes without saying that it was also wonderful to catch up with all our friends and family members and see how much our little granddaughter, Millie, has grown. She’s now 8 months old and the apple of all our eyes. Saying goodbye is always the hardest part….although she did kindly leave us a parting gift of a cold/flu bug that hung on for a week or so after we got back!
Our first challenge when we got back to Sorong was to work out how on earth we were going to get all our goods onto our boat and back to the island. Not only did we have our suitcases, 10 jerry cans of fuel, several boxes of dry foodstuffs and an esky full of frozen food but we also had a new chest fridge/freezer and a new fibreglass dinghy and outboard motor to squeeze on somehow. The staff at the marina are used to our shenanigans but even they were shaking their heads in disbelief! Somehow, we managed to load it on with the help of our friends and off we went, a boat-within-a-boat obscuring our forward vision quite considerably! I wish I’d got a photo of the whole show at the dock, but these images underway give you some idea.
Thankfully the weather was reasonably kind to us on the trip, and Hans and his family (and even our neighbour, David) were there to help us unload at the other end. It probably only took them 15 minutes. What a godsend they are, and how lucky we are to have their help and the use of their muscles!
It’s always a challenge coming back after some time away. The mud wasps had been having a field day in our absence so there was a bit of cleaning up to do, plus all the unpacking and general maintenance. The first item was the main water pump – the impellor had seized – so Bruce quickly got to work to fix that so we had running water again. Meanwhile I was in the bedroom putting up the mosquito net and making the bed when I heard a peculiar loud buzzing sound, like a wasp on steroids. The next minute there was a pop, and flames started coming out of our hanging light fitting. Holy crap! I quickly turned the light switch off and luckily the flames fizzled otherwise we would have had another building burn down. Not great on our first day back. It turns out the wiring to the light fitting had corroded due to the salt air and moisture, building up resistance. We decided to do without the light that night as we were too tired to fix it, but the next day Bruce had to rewire the whole section from the light switch to the hanging light, delicately balancing on the beams above the bed as he did so. He’s a talented man, what can I tell you. We’ll now have to check all the other electrical fittings as there’s a fair chance it’ll be a common problem after nearly three years since the initial wiring was installed.
With that excitement over, we’ve settled back into island life. Many of our plants survived thanks to some watering help from Hans, but the mint and basil didn’t so I’ve planted some more seeds and we’ll start again. Surprisingly, my hydroponic capsicums are still alive and starting to flower, so with a little TLC they should be producing a crop of mini capsicums before too long.
We bought the little dinghy so we could do more local diving on our own without needing to have a driver for the big boat. It means we’ll have to take turns towing the dinghy when we dive while the other one takes photos, but we’re hoping it’ll give us more freedom to get to the local sites whenever the mood takes us. Hans and his family have been so busy with their homestay business that we’ve been finding it hard to get a driver when we needed one, and often we’d organise something and then have to cancel because the weather was no good. So, we’ll see how it goes…
Unfortunately, we’ve encountered a few teething problems – with the 15hp motor on, it’s heavier than we thought, so currently we either have to put fenders underneath it and roll it up the beach, or tie it to the bigger boat on the mooring. Our next plan is to build a trolley with wheels to make our life easier (I hope!). Also, our towing reel broke on our second outing and anchoring the dinghy isn’t an option due to the strong currents, so we’re a bit stuck until we can replace the reel on our next trip to Sorong in a month’s time (unless the marvellous Mr Fix-It can work his magic). To cap off our diving woes, Bruce accidentally flooded his camera (a very terminal event) so he’s now desolate and camera-less until he can order a new one. For the time being, he has to be content being my dive buddy and nudibranch-spotter. It’s incredibly hard to find these teeny-tiny critters, so every dive feels like we’re on a treasure hunt and I’m very grateful for whatever help he can give me. Here’s a few pics of some little beauties we’ve managed to find in the last few weeks. For each one we find, I’m sure there’s another ten we miss!
Typically, this isn’t a great time of year to be here. It’s the low season with lots of wind, rain, and swells, and with the swells comes all the plastic garbage. Again. I despair….
Thankfully, it’s only really bad when the westerly/north-westerly winds blow and as they’re not so frequent this time of year we’ve had a bit of a respite from the trash for the past few weeks.
We both had our birthdays last month so we had some quiet little celebrations, but we did manage to have a special dinner of chilli prawns followed by Aussie steak on both occasions.
We miss everyone back in Australia, but it’s good to be back in our peaceful little part of paradise. The tranquility and feeling more connected to the natural environment is something I love – being aware of the moon and tide phases and being able to look up on clear nights and see a myriad stars reminds us of our time sailing Toucan across the oceans. There’s also the delight of watching baby reef sharks hunting in the shallows, seeing dolphins and turtles from our lounge room as we sip our morning cuppa, and enjoying the ever-present bird songs as we go about our day. It’s a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the crazy world out there, and it”s definitely good for the soul.
