Indonesia here we come

September 6, 2017

Pre holiday hair cut. Done.

Pre holiday pizza. Done.

Now on to checking all those things we have forgotten…

Our task this holiday… to see how light we can pack.

Results soon! 

…

… 

And the results are in!

Oh no…… 

After some time and after some moving around of stuff.

59.6 kg (60kg allowance)

Yeeesssss!

So that means and that next time with our total of 40kg weight allowance we will only be 19.6kg over. Result!

We really can’t take any less clothes… No really, it would not be pretty.

And on that note, we shall take our leave.

Long haul complete

September 8, 2017

We have just arrived in Singapore after a smooth and uneventful flight. Several movies were consumed and the 13hrs just disappeared. Now we are sat in Singapore airport where everyone is convinced it is Friday morning, our bodies are suggesting otherwise. Still, the selfie face made it here OK.

Two hours until the next flight, someone give is a nudge when it’s time please.

Zzzzzzzzz…

Unpacked and ready

September 8, 2017

How lovely, when you turn up at the resort and get hugs from the staff. Wonderful to be back. Only us and a nice couple from Oz, Darryl and Diane, who we shall be sharing a boat with.

Quick dip on the infinity pool before we get the stuff sorted…

It is 8.00pm, all kit is deployed, cameras are ready and we are dead on our feet. Dinner done, time to pass out.

Picture of our hut, no. 5 as usual, from the restaurant balcony where we will be eating our four meals a day.

It’s a bit noisy here. Listen to some night noise…

All kit is deployed, cameras are ready and we are dead on our feet. Dinner done, time to pass out.

Diving day One

September 9, 2017

Up for first breakfast at 6.00. Slept well. Asleep shortly after 8.00pm and was surprised when the alarm went off at 5.30.

Saw this little fella on the way to first breakfast.

DIVE 1 – Aw Shucks.

Reef at the top and rubble below. Temperature about 27-28 degrees. Saw black ornate ghost pipefish, cuttlefish, slugs, shrimps and Cardinal fish (Richard’s favourite).

During second breakfast the heavens opened…

DIVE 2 – Hairball 1

Muck Dive

Black sandy slope.

As we went down I spotted a tiny coconut octopus and then another.

Also saw flamboyant cuttlefish and a brown cuttlefish, brown hairy frogfish, Cockatoo fish, crabs, shrimps, shawn the sheep slug.

Oh, forgot, we also saw a seahorse.

A fair bit of current at the end but we were shallow and close to the boat.

Spotted this creature in the garden.

DIVE 3 – House Reef

Just Richard and I on the boat this afternoon A bit of current so we tried to go to one of the TK sites in the bay but the fishermen had their nets out.

We came back and did the house reef. Bit of current, but not much, which the guide apologised for afterwards.

The site is a slope with sand and covered in very low Seaweed or algae.

Clown shrimps in a small purple anemone. Hairy shrimp. Boxer shrimps were out on a bit of old carpet. Tasselled filefish.

Shrimps and crabs on featherstars. A very friendly pufferfish which kept between my camera and me.

No forth dive today. So, a dip in the pool instead and then playing with cameras before dinner. Best food this evening were the coconut and galangal soup and the pineapple fritters.

Diving day Two

September 10, 2017

Rained overnight. Didn’t disturb us. Not sure how Richard made it back to the hut last night, without falling asleep on the 30 second journey from our dining table back. I am sure you are all shocked to learn that he fell asleep at the table whilst he was in mid-sentence… Or not?

There was a birthday in the village next door. A canopy was erected over the ‘main’ road to the resort… Some singing and dancing went on. It is the Indonesia way.

DIVE 4 – Pulau Abadi

Moored up next to a rotting ship. Reef at the top and sand below. Lovely dive with lots of slugs. At the end of the dive, about 6 metres, was a Pinate Batfish which everyone saw but me.

DIVE 5 – JUST JO!!!!

As I missed the Batfish, I was given another tank and sent in again. Yes, one more dive than Richard!!!!

😄(me)

😱 (Richard)

DIVE 6 – Bianca Point

This was the Mandarin fish dive but done during the day.

The first half of the dive was hard work because of the current. We weren’t going against the current but at times staying in one place was hard enough.

In the second half there wasn’t any current as we moved shallower and more into the bay.

It was a good dive and we saw lots.

• Orange hairy frogfish.
• Orange frogfish.
• Mandarin fish.
• Zebra Batfish
• Harlequin shrimp – beautiful!!
• Pipefish
• Slugs of different shapes and sizes.

I have been taking some pictures of the surrounding area. See our flower of the day below.

DIVE 7 – TK

Very enjoyable dive. Just the two of us on the boat.

The site is just black sand. No current. Viz poor, about 8m.

We saw a number of juvenile boxfish from about a centimetre across down to about 3mm. Also saw a juvenile cow fish and a juvenile green puffer fish, both about 1cm in length, and the smallest squid I have ever seen. Just the cutest things.

There was also a coconut octopus with about five shells. Richard took some pictures. When I went to have a look the octopus was walking away whilst holding all of the shells.

Richard went head to head with a clownfish. It didn’t go well for him. Just goes to prove that you can jump underwater.

Between dives we went for a swim followed by a nap. I woke up at 5.35… We had to be ready for the night dive at 5.45! Within 20 minutes we were in the water.

DIVE 8 – Air Prang

Just the two of us on the boat again for a night dive on black sand.

We saw squid, octopus, pretty slug on some stringy grass.

We also saw long wriggly worms in the water, I batted them away and they exploded!! It really freaked me out.

Followed squid to the surface at the end of the dive where the hot chocolate awaited! ☕☕

Richard has just said how nice it is to get the first four dive day under our belt. My response was ‘oh, that’s right, you only did four dives’.

Ouch!

Anyway, tomorrow is Richard’s day for blogging… Good night x

Diving day Three

September 11, 2017

Breakfast #1 done, we retire to our room for 30mins R&R before diving at 7.30. We rush out the door to find that it’s been put back to 8.00 so 30 mins of poolside sun is enjoyed.

Before long we make the lengthy trek (5m) from the pool to the dive centre and meet up with our antipodean friends ( Daryl and Dianne) and head out on the boat to TK2.

A long and pleasant bimble around outcrops of civilisation including eels, boxer shrimps, cardinal fish, anemone fish, tiger shrimp and lots of other stuff. 93 minutes later (94 for Jo) we surface some distance from our ride home. Nonsix (one of our guides) summons it with a whistle and it is very quickly powering towards us bearing gifts which include hot flannels, dry towels and fresh fruit.

Shortly afterwards we arrive back at base where we consume too much breakfast (hopefully we will have sorted out the food ordering before the end of our trip so that we can eat sensible portions instead of the piles that they currently bring out to us!).

It would seem that someone in the kitchen has a sense of humour this morning, I am sure that I just ordered gougons of fish with eggs and Bacon!

The pool this morning.

OK, 10 mins until the next dive, I am sure my parents said that I had to wait an hour after eating before going for a swim!

Dive on AerPrang (Jo’s 1100th dive) several nice nudies and a wonderpuss and now it’s time for lunch (more food!).

Noisy here after lunch:

The afternoon dive was another much dive on a site that we have not fine before. More critters revealed themselves along with some fish porn!

Back to the jetty for doughnuts and a dip in the pool, a camera service and a quick rest before dinner.

Jo will be adding a short piece momentarily (pun intended).

Well..

After the third dive of the day, Richard and I decided to have a dip in the pool. I was in the pool and as Richard is getting in the pool, I notice a very obvious monkey moment…

Richard has his shorts on back to front and has for the whole dive.

Funny? Yes, but not as funny as what ensued thereafter…

Thinking the best option was for him to do a little swapperoo in the pool whilst no-one was around…

He couldn’t imagine the panic that was brewing. Shorts came off no problem, at which point they seem to obtain a life of their own, rolling up into a tangle, outer shorts and inner short becoming a knot. As time started to pass the tension rose, the panic started…

In a high strangled voice Richard screeched, ‘Jo hide me’, to which my response was to hold my arms wide saying in a loud voice, ‘NOTHING TO SEE HERE FOLKS!’ whilst I pissed myself laughing.

After some more agonising moments, Richard managed to sorted himself out and no-one was any the wiser. Something to keep just between us.

Diving day Four

September 12, 2017

Strange noises in the night. We were woken up about 4.45 by banging and scraping on the outside of the hut. It was so noisy that it was decided that we should investigate… The saying ‘ladies first’ comes to mind. We carefully opened the door and peered out. Nothing, not a thing. Our manoeuvres did stop the noise but we are none the wiser about what the noise came from.

After first breakfast we headed to the dive centre where we were met but this, not so little, Rhinoceros beetle. That is Detmon’s hand, we weren’t brave enough to pick it up.

Then to see it take off… Something like an A380 leaving Heathrow.

DIVE 12 – Aer Bajo 3

Muck – Lovely relaxing dive

Just a gentle slope of black sand.

We saw:

• Coleman Shrimps
• Lots of other shrimps
• Upside down jellyfish with a crab in it
• Large nobbly slug
• Tiny cuttlefish

It looks like a day for critters, on top of the water as well as underneath. Saw this little fella on our veranda.

And a face shot

Not sure but he looks poisonous to me and I should know… Collected caterpillars in the summer of ’76, ended up with hives!

DIVE 13 – Hairball 1

Wonderful dive. Another muck dive on Hairball 1.

We saw so much, some things that we have seen before and somethings we have never seen.

• Mantis shrimps – giving attitude
• Ambon scorpionfish – two tiny ones together
• Banded snake eel – out feeding
• Unusual nudis mating
• Nudis with large hood mouthpiece eating
• Very odd shrimp out eating – we will look up to find out the name.

Now a dip in the pool followed by lunch. Even have time for lunch to go down before the next dive.

DIVE 14 – Aer Bajo 2

Back to Lembeh Island for this one but a bit further along.

We basic saw same stuff as this morning plus two mimic octopus.

We had heard of a crab that lives in the anus of a sea cucumber… Saw one today. What a place to live.

Great dive.

DIVE 15 – House Reef

Dusk dive

Really nice dive. Was a bit surprised to see drivers from a different resort kicking it up.

Lots of stinging tunicates in the water.

We saw

• Brown hairy frogfish
• Ambon scorpionfish

I spent time taking pictures of very small feather duster worms.

• Bobtail squid
• Squid
• Swimming flat worm
• Shrimps including duck faced shrimp

Excellent dive.

I thought a few lines about Kasawari Dive Resort might be appropriate…

It is wonderful here!

The service is second to none. The staff are so friendly and helpful.

The other two guests, Darrall and Dianne are great. See picture of us below and you will see that Darrall is Richard’s brother from another mother. (I know, two like Richard…)

And the close up shot…

The diving here is so easy. Kasawari has taken a leaf out of SBSAC book, make everything as easy as possible go diving, and going above and beyond.

Even though it has been warm (about 27 degrees) is hasn’t really sunny until today. NICE!! Feeling warm to the core. Oh, yes!!

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Diving day five

September 13, 2017

First dive of the day, Nudi Retreat, that’s where they all hide out apparently.

Disaster was avoided on the way to the dive when Richard found Darrels missing Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo, clear masks all round!

Gorgeous dive with loads of soft corals, nudies and pygmy seahorses (well I did see one!)

It was raining today before the dive the sun had come out by the time we surfaced.

Back to land for breakfast where we combined forces with Darrell and Dianne. Scrambled eggs on toast with freshly whizzed up pineapple juice, yum.

Hany, Chifri, Jo and Angel.

On our way to Bianca Point to find frog fish

.. And frog fish we did find, along with many nudies and shrimps.

Back to dry land for a spot of lunch, glass noodle salad with seafood, pineapple rice with chicken and NasiGoreng, yum.

We met another guest in the dive centre today:

After lunch. Jo and I ventured out once more for a bimble over at TK where frog fish, nudies and shrimp were still in abundance.

A swift dip in the pool (after cake) and we retired to desalinate and recharge etc. After that we retired to the bar to even up the crib score a little before dinner.

Dinner was a modest affair consisting of spring rolls, chicken and cashew nuts. Tom mai soup, sweet & sour pork followed by a cheeky creme caramel (Darrall made me do it and Jo didn’t stop him!).

New guests have just arrived. Swelling the numbers to mahoosive 6 in total, more on them tomorrow when Jo is back at the helm!

Diving day Six

September 14, 2017

It poured this morning! It really poured.

Well prepared here…. Brollies everywhere.

We set out on the dive boat this morning and Adrian, the captain, was in a full set of waterproofs. Not entirely what we expected.

It seems that Richard has been a little out of sorts.

First, he didn’t throw his heart and sole (soul) into his and Darrall’s Bill and Ben impersonation…

Second, he had said that when we recreate the sexy shrimp scene, he doesn’t want to be part of it. Pictures to follow…

Third, we are going to have to change his name to Richard ‘second in the water’ Scales…

Just not himself.

Anyway on to the diving… We have new people on the boat, a couple of Hawaiian ladies.

DIVE 19 – Nudi Falls

Wonderful wonderful dive

The cup coral on the shallow wall was so beautiful

Peacock mantis shrimp

When we came up from the dive… The sun was shining ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

DIVE 20 – Makawidi 2

We were on the way to Nudi Retreat but the current was too strong, so we stopped off at the island out from the resort.

Beautiful corals, no current.

We spent time with a huge cuttlefish. Richard took photos, we haven’t looked at them yet.

Lunch now.

Saw this critter today.

Before the next dive, whilst Richard was entertaining Darrall, Dianne and a large number of staff with amusing anecdotes (don’t know what about, but I am sure he will mention it in his next blog), I was getting ready to go diving. I was putting my arm in my long rash vest only to come into contact with a beetle that had crawled inside it. This one didn’t have horns but it was about an inch and a half long.

ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!

No sympathy from the others as they were crying… Perhaps Richard upset them…?

DIVE 21 –

Muck dive with coral very shallow.

• Shrimps and crabs
• Orange frogfish
• Multi-coloured ornate ghost pipefish

DIVE 22 –

Trying out a dive site that they hadn’t visited.

• White ornate pipefish
• Shrimps and crabs
• Squid
• Beautiful large sea pens with crabs

Shattered! Dinner with Darral and Dianne before heading back to the hut to have a look at today’s photos – 4700 so far… for the holiday, not the day! That might be a bit much, even for us.

Quick crib update

Richard 3 – Jo 2

Basically too busy to play…

Nighty noodles!!

Diving day Seven

September 15, 2017

The view into Infinity, and beyond!

 

Just to finish off yesterday’s report, the incident that Jo described involving tears developed as follows: Darrall, Dianne and some staff were having a chat and I asked a question that I had on my mind for some time, that being “please could we have some mangustine and rambutan?” – the staff just fell about laughing (smash advert).It turns out that these were well out of season, well I thought everything was in season all the time here. Seems I was mistaken. I went on to mention that the pears that I had eaten from our room had not been replaced, unlike the towels that seem to be replaced if you turn your head for the briefest of moments.Such amusement did my story create (OK, you had to be there) that by the time Jo arrived on scene, the rest of the group were in tears (of laughter), leaving Jo wondering what on earth I had been saying to cause such apparent upset.Anyhow, breakfast #1 completed we head out on the boat to Nudie Retreat 2 to go and give the pygmy seahorses a bit of a grilling and to look at the soft corals. At the end of the dive, a couple of Solar Nudies were seen under the boat, these farm algae on their backs to use as food and they love the sunlight.

 

Back to base for breakfast #2, banana pancakes for me, scrambled eggs for Jo, served up with more fresh pineapple.

 OK, off for a quick lens change as we are off to TK3 to search in the muck for the weird stuff!

… And talking of weird stuff:

Nonsix taught us a new name for that creature which was formerly known as the clown or squat shrimp. He illustrated it with a particular posture and rear end action!

Lunch done, afternoon dive done, we saw nudies and tiny cuttle fish, lovely dive though there was a slight monkey moment when I got close to jumping in without a mask Back for a dip in the pool, afternoon snack was custard doughnuts and the custard wanted to go everywhere, and it did!

Dinner tonight, the last supper with Darrall & Dianne (my brother from another mother apparently), I expect the odd bottle of beer may be consumed.

Diving day Eight

September 15, 2017

Another beautiful morning.

Our last meal with Darrall and Dianne was a hoot! This time it was Richard’s turn to cry. Rocket and tank stories were the order of the night. Hilarious!

😂😂😂😂

On the way back to the hut we had the avoid stepping on this fella..

DIVE 27

Us with the Hawaiian ladies, Incar and Miranda, with Nomsix.

Darrall and Dianne were getting ready to leave.

The dive site was sand with coral in the shallows.

We saw:

• Skeleton shrimps
• Upside down jellyfish
• Small pink frogfish
• Nudis

Darrall took this picture of us as we came back to the resort.

And one of me walking up the ‘catwalk’.

… or so I thought. Actually, looks like I have lumbago!

At breakfast we said goodbye to our new friends… 😢😢 we wish them a safe journey home to Adelaide, Oz.

DIVE 28

Muck dive. Viz came and went during the dive from 12 or so metres down to 5 metres.

Hmmmmm…

We saw lots though…

• More nudis
• Different shrimps
• A Leaf crab
• Octopus

Dip in the pool followed by lunch now, then to be followed by a nap, I am thinking…

Nap done, now off to dive…

DIVE 29 – Kasu Kasu Point

FFS!!!!! Whiteout!!!!

Current when we got in. Current stopped at about 18 metres.

Bimbling around at 24-25 metres, taking photos – all good. Viz about 10 metres. Sudden whiteout! Not able to find Richard and Detmon. Tank banging and strobe lights went on… After what seemed like a very long minute, we found each other.

Back on boat, I found that holding my tongue is not a virtue I possess. Luckily for them, the other guests were not on the boat at that time.

So, I didn’t say anything… YET!!!!

Strange thing…. It turns out that the whiteout seemed to coincide with the other guests finding a blue ringed octopus.

Hmmmmm…

Now where’s that emoticon for f*%£ing furious… 😤😣😠😡

Quick dip in the pool followed by a dusk dive – just us!

DIVE 30 – Makawidi 2

A very excellent dive – just the two of us and Detmon. Adrian as captain.

We saw lots. 😁😁

• Tiny pristine white and brown frogfish
• Octopus about 2 centimetres long that went in to a tiny hole.
• All sorts of shrimps and nudis.

Nice to do a night dive on coral.

Hot chocolate on the boat tonight was the best so far.

Another round of crib has been played and we are up to three games each, as I crushed Richard in my victory. The support and cheering from Mae helped, although Penny backed a three legged horse.

We received a special present today, but more from Richard in tomorrow’s blog.

Diving Day Nine

September 16, 2017

A beautiful morning once again, breakfast #1 done, cameras done, time for a little R&R before we head out for the first dive.

Now then, followers of our ramblings may recall my feeble attempt at describing my fruit based concerns a day or so ago and the distraught humour that it created. Well, Darrell and Dianne pulled a few strings and when their airport taxi returned, I was presented with this:

Rambutan heaven!

I have to say that by the time of writing this, the stack does not look quite so imposing!

A very very big thank you to you both for sharing your adventure with us and extra special thanks for the Rambutan, yum.

Off for a spot of diving now, more later.

The first dive of the day Angels Window was spectacular. There is a swim through at around 24 to 27m but the corals on the walls and surrounding rocky outcrops were amazingly colourful.

All back now and breakfast #2 completed. Staying with wife angle (Jo just spotted that it should be wide angle but i shall leave it as it is, should keep her happy for a bit) for the next dive as we plan to visit nudi falls which is named (obviously) because it is the favourite swim spot for the local naturists oh, and there are slugs there…

We were just about to get ready for diving when Jo spotted a huge grasshopper, it hopped off as she was trying to get a picture of it so she took this one instead:

OK, dive #2, Nudi Falls completed, nipped down to 20m to not find a hairy octopus then spent the rest of the dive on the wall near the surface for some wide angle overload.

Now lunch has arrived!

glass noodle and seafood salad with spicy Thai dressing, yum.

More wildlife encounters:

It’s a jungle out there!

Just back from dive #3, Bianca Point (where the Mandarin fish hide). Spent a while with soft corals and bat fish under a wreck then bimbled around to find nudies and several Mandarin fish as well as a couple of orange Frog Fish (no real surprise as they are always in the same place).

Back on dry land for a dip in the pool then off for logging and blogging!

Dinner – when will we start to order less food? Back in the room feeling like a member of Fat B@stard Divers! Can’t get comfortable, I’m sure the portions are getting bigger.🍩🍪🍡🍔🍜🍛🍝🍖🍗🌮🍕🍟

Actually I think what I ordered was well within acceptable limits, it was helping Jo out with one of her banana fritters that sent me way over the limit.

I just found out that rain is forecast for tomorrow, fortunately I pinched back a couple of brollies that mysteriously vanished from our chalet the other day, the culprits will arrive at breakfast tomorrow morning – wet

🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔🌂☔

Jo just reminded me that we played crib before dinner. Previously it was a draw, now we have a leader, and it’s not me! ♠♥♣♦♠♥♣♦♠♥♣♦♠♥♣♦♠♥♣♦

Diving day Ten

September 17, 2017

Some not so good news hear… Yes, to all you grammar police that was meant…

What? WHAT?

Currently battling an outer ear infection. Very sore, but delving into the depths of the emergency kit to see what cocktail of drugs might do the trick. Next job is googling to make sure that the concoction is not going to have to many nasty side effects like my ear dropping off, or something similar…

After the November holiday with Jen and Jo when I was so poorly (Jen was too), I said I would get some Swim Ear… Forgot!

This has now been rectified… Amazon! What a wonder thing. Ordered in bulk and it will be with us for the next holiday.

DIVE 34 – Pulau Abadi

I was going to sit this dive out but the cocktail of drugs was working.

Only Nomsix this morning with Refly as captain.

I had to be very careful of my ears but the dive went ok.

We saw:

• Orange frogfish – smaller than my finger nail
• White and brown frogfish – slightly large than my finger nail
• Some nudis – some large, some small

I am going to sit the next dive out 🙁 with the view of diving this afternoon.

So to cheer me up, here is my flower of the day…

Here is the insect in the flower…

Richard has just said ‘the camera on your phone takes really good pictures’…

Let me think about that… 🤔

My response, ‘yes, it does it all on it’s own!’

A question… On a dive holiday could a monkey moment be awarded to someone whilst not involved in diving?

For instance, let’s supposed, hypothetically, that someone, not feeling wholly well, and dosed up on all sorts of medication, took the long route back to their hut to look at the flowers, and having done so, returned to the hut only to find that the king-size bed had been replaced with two singles…

Oh, let’s hope that that hypothetical person wasn’t spotted going into the wrong hut…

This brief detour was followed by a spot of time travelling…

Richard went off for the dive whilst I settled down to sort some pictures on the computer… It could only be 10 minutes later that Richard came back saying it was time for lunch…

See! Time travel! I think Richard time travels regularly, basically every time he sits down.

Over to Richard for the tale of his dive…

DIVE 35 – Kusu Kusu Point

So, Kusu Kusu Point, the point being to get to the sea bed at 25m and find stuff (and by stuff I mean the blue ringed octopus), then return to the reef and slowly work our way up.

This is actually what happened: I was buddied up with our guide Nomsix, the two Hawaiians following along. I get in, then Nomsix, then one of the Hawaiians, the second one jumps and has an almighty free flow from her octopus that not even our guide could fix.

I think this could take a while so I perch on the mooring line and relax. After a new cylinder and some banging about, all was good, we descended. A long, graceful and slow plummet to 25m and the search begins. Vis was good, no current and after 5 mins, a yellow seahorse is found, I await my turn and when invited to take my shot, I descend on the creature at which point I am enveloped by an almighty $hitstorm. Great!

I wait for it to clear (remember, no current) and move in again to take my shot. Two clicks later another $hitstorm descends and I notice three passing divers, all in hoods and gloves leaving a trail of mass destruction as they passed through. I gave up with the seahorse and decided to follow the group.

You probably know what’s coming next, my group where are they I wonder as I stare out through somewhat reduced visibility. I put both focus touches on and commence a slow circular search, nothing, I widen the search and go round again, keeping an eye on the time with that one minute rule in mind.

Great, here I am at 25m, no seahorse picture, no visibility and no buddy. I decide to head back to the reef and make my ascent to find the boat at which point, voila! There they all are like nothing’s happened! More interestingly, they appear to be taking pictures of a blue ringed octopus. Right, that’s it! I now own this octopus, etiquette and good manners are out of the window as I follow this thing for the next minute with the camera little more than two inches away from it at most, I wasn’t letting this one go.

Finally, I look up and the others are heading back to the reef, I follow and the rest is plain sailing. Not looked at the camera yet, I do hope I have at least one picture in focus!

After another huge lunch…

Jo – A spot by the pool was my reward for blocked ears whilst Richard went for his third dive of the day.

Richard – DIVE 36 – Aer Bajo 3

Diving with Rusly

It started off like any other muck dive, with nothing particularly exciting being seen. Things changed pretty quickly however when the first in the long line of critters showed themselves: mimic octopus, coconut octopus, transparent ornate ghost pipe fish, gobies in a bottle, mantis shrimp and Shawn the sheep slugs. A most epic 80 minute adventure in muck.

Finally, just a quick crib update.

We are currently at 4 – 3. I did notice that Richard didn’t mention crib yesterday, maybe because he lost for the second day in a row. Today, however, he rectified this by beating me easily.

Richard 😝

Me 😭

Diving day Eleven

September 18, 2017

It would appear that there is something that failed to make yesterday’s blog:

A local man was seen repeatedly throwing his cock into the sea and then massaging it vigorously.

It turns out that this standard practice for developing your fighting cock.

We had no idea that chickens could swim though each time it had to swim back it got lower and lower in the water, perhaps not fundamentally as waterproof as ducks might be!

After repeating this exercise 5 or 6 times the cock enjoyed a thorough sports massage though where the ending was happy or not remains unclear.

This morning it is a little overcast and the occasional rain drop has been felt, brightening up now though I was looking forward to a tropical storm 🌨🌩🌫🌨☔🌂🌪⚡

Cameras are ready, divers are ready, let’s go!

Two new guests join the boat today from Japan, nice ladies, they speak little English.

So we went, started the dive, nothing too special for the first part, a few micro box fish and shrimps and the like.

Then we move on to a bit of a reef, lovely, colourful and lots of cardinal fish, some looking after eggs in their mouths.

At about 90 minutes in I see other guides giving the signal to go up, our guide is moving in a different direction, I think he had a better idea of where the boat was. Things then change and we head down to small group of divers. It turns out that they were following a blue ringed octopus, we soon take over and proceed to bathe this thing in flash light.

It was interesting to watch our guide continue to poke at this thing with his finger on order to maintain the display of blue rings. Clearly the tales of certain and near instant death from it’s venom have not made it down this way!

Jo was in for some close up action to the point where she was nearly wearing the thing.

Pictures later….

Breakfast #2 done, time to order lunch, must exercise more self-control when ordering food!

The second dive of the day, dive 38 was a muck dive at Hairball II and we did indeed see a Hairy Frogfish, Ambon Scorpion Fish (equally hairy) as well as a bunch of other stuff such as Ornate Ghost Pipe Fish, Robust Ghost Pipe Fish, nudibranch’s, tiny Cuttlefish and more.

It turns out that I completely missed Jo being attacked by Clown Fish, they are vicious out here! Anyhow, finally she was rescued by Rusely (sounds like Bruce Lee) who helped batter the evil Basstards (sea what I did there? Oh and another 😂😂😂) and lives to tell the tale.

Up for lunch now, what did I order? Tell me I didn’t order a starter too! Only time will tell.

This afternoon I get to dive with the ladies from Japan. Well they can click their cameras in just about every direction, but mostly at the same thing I am trying to take a picture of.

Etiquette and manners obviously don’t translate that well into Japanese!

They also like to hug the bottom though not in a nice way.

That aside, a lovely dive with lots of stuff to see. Back on dry land and it’s afternoon snack time. Hot banana cake with thick chocolate ganache on top, had to have a second piece just to be completely sure.

Two games of crib and Jo has managed a comeback to be one game ahead now. Nothing more to add on that note.

Dinner was a huge success, glass noodle and seafood salad to start then grilled fish in sweet chilli, finished off with pineapple fritters, I do indeed now feel completely finished off.

Diving day Twelve

September 19, 2017

So… last full day of diving today. 🙁🙁

I am still battling the sore ear but it would be unfair to leave Richard in the clutches of the Japanese folk… We don’t want any international incidents… Some headlines come to mind..

(Headline were removed in final editing – Sorry)

Did you know that Olympus are bringing out a new range of cameras for the Japanese market?

• Olympus I am Really Sure This must be The Last Shot
• Olympus In Your Face Shot (this can be upgraded with the Kick Up The Shit Extension Kit)
• Olympus You’re Really Getting On My Tits Shot
• Olympus Be Everywhere, Take Everything Shot

With the view of making this blog interactive and whilst we are on the subject of cameras, I thought that a competition might be appropriate…

Some of you have been hear (typo but left it in for effect) but for those of you who haven’t, here is a couple of pictures of the camera room…

Here is our stuff… (stick with me on this, it could prove funny)

You may notice that apart for our stuff it is almost empty… almost…

Just to be sure… Here is a picture of the other side of the room…

Now where do you suppose the Olympus camera charger has been plugged in?

Answers on a postcard…

DIVE 38 – Tanjung Kubur

Great dive on Lembeh Island by the cemetery. Just us and Detmon. The Hawaiians and the Japanese with Nomsix.

We saw lots and took lots of pictures.

• Chromodoris nudi
• Pickachu nudi
• Two large brown stripey nudi.
• Banded sea snake
• Sexy shrimps

One of the Japanese ladies surfaced away from the boat, and the rest of the party. She swum back to the boat on the surface and then went under the boat to the ladder rather than swimming round. In fact she was so close to the bottom of the boat that it reminded us of Jen’s Spiderman impersonation. 🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️

At breakfast, there was no little packets of butter. This has happened twice now and although it really isn’t an issue, Richard was asked by the staff to go to the office to complain. As I was coming back to the hut he went to the office door, I heard him knock and open the door, shortly followed by many young women laughing very loudly. Now, I don’t know what he said, or if indeed he said nothing at all, but from a distance he looked very pleased with himself.

So I’ve considered this and as a newly married bride I think I should try this at home… So every time he walks into a room, I am going to laugh, no not just laugh, but fall about in a fit of the giggles… Let see how that works for him…

He on his way back now, time to try it out…

Hmmm… Think I might need to work on my giggling technique. I doesn’t come naturally, more sinister than charming. I was thinking Tinkerbell but it was more Vincent Price…

Me… 😄😄😄😄

Richard… ☺️😐😕🙁😨😰😱

Anyway, he calmed down enough to come diving with me…

DIVE 39 – Nudi Retreat 1

Beautiful dive site, viz a little murky…

We saw:

• Yellow pygmy seahorse
• Other divers
• More other divers
• Even more other divers

Things we didn’t see:

• Manners
• Diving etiquette
• Nuff said!

DIVE 40 – Aer Prang 2

Us, the Japanese and Hany.

Had a quiet word with Hany before the dive and he did an excellent job of making sure that everyone was catered for. No pushing in, no shit kicked up.

Very enjoyably dive muck dive.

We saw crazy shrimps and beautiful nudis.

DIVE 41 – Jahir 1

Last night dive of the holiday, and what a great one it was…

On the house reef, just the two of us with Hany.

We saw:

• Wonderpus
• Octopus
• Shrimps
• Nudis
• Squid
• Bobtail squid
• Upside down jellyfish

Nice long dive too, 95 minutes.😊😊

I am pleased to say that we both did the four dives today, so looks like my ears are on the mend.

Completely shattered now!

Dinner and bed calling…

Diving day Thirteen

September 20, 2017

Well, here it is, our last diving day of our Indonesian adventure.

Woke up early this morning and have been providing artistic guidance to Jo on the selection of various photos. Over 10,000 in the bag, apparently I can’t keep all of them 😞. Early results looking good, Jo must have a really good computer!

Jo wants to take me to the doctor when we get back to take a look at my trigger finger😷🤒🤕😵

On a related note, Jo’s ears are much better and with the holiday drawing to an end we are reminded of Simon’s Sulawesi Fat Foot. We are pleased to confirm that there are no fat feet here however, we have both been diagnosed with Sulawesi Fat Belly.

🤒🍜🍝🍛🍿🍲🍱🍘🍕🍟🍔🍗🍖🌭🌮🍤🍣🍭🍯🍩🍧☕🍾🍸🍺🍹🍳

Cameras prepped for the last day of dipping, chargers and dive torches are being put away along with anything else that will no longer be needed 😔😖😞😖😔😞

On a more positive note, the next dive is my 1500th, the cake is baked, champagne chilled and the speedos left behind (ooh, see what I did there, cheeky! Ooh there I go again).

Dive on Angels Window complete, nice and bright and better vis than last time. I went wide angle, Jo macro and much disappointment was caused when another dive guide barged in on a picture that she was trying to take, dive guides with cameras, let me think about that for a moment 🤔😠😡

Breakfast #2 under the belt, we head out for dive 2 of the day, our last dive of the trip

😭😢😭😢😭😢😭😢😭😢😨😰😧😭😭😭😰😰😰😰😢😢😢

Hairball II, a dive that lives up to it’s name. Hairy Frog Fish and Ambon Scorpion Fish (also hairy), also seen: loads of leaf fish, robust ghost pipe fish, cuttle fish, shrimp fish, flamboyant cuttle fish as well as a seahorse fish. 95 minutes (96 minutes for Jo) of muck diving excellence to end the trip.

Jo and I took it upon ourselves to draw the dive briefing complete with perfect storm waves and a treasure chest.

Gear broken down, washed off and hanging out to dry, cameras all in pieces, nothing to do now but drink beer, play crib and wait until the next meal (this will not be very long).

More fresh Rambutans delivered to our room today, nice.

Hairy fruit, careful how you swallow them, can leave a bit of a tickle in the throat!

Two games of crib, I drew even – Yippeee!

Then Jo regained her lead 😧😧😧

UPDATE: Apparently I should have used the word “trounced” above.

Just had another monster dinner and to our surprise it seems that the cake really had been baked as this was just presented to me:

Fortunately I was able to share it with the other guests, a problem shared etc.

Coming Home

September 21, 2017

We have eeked the holiday out as long as we can. No packing done yesterday at all, trying to believe that it is not all over. So, up early, as is always the case when on holiday with Richard and having breakfast by 6.00.

Before we leave, I believe that certain things must be admitted… It was me! Any increase of acidification in the Lembeh Strait during our stay, was me. I understand that that I may have added to the destruction of the sea, but if you’ve got to go…

For the whole dive…

So be it.

Actually, I think Richard is partly to blame too!

First breakfast and packing done… Only three hours to spare. Phew! Thank goodness we got up so early, otherwise we really would have been pushing it.

A little sit by the pool before second breakfast…

Well, we made it. Ready to go at 10 o’clock. Some music was laid on, Detmon (one of the guides) on guitar, Chef on the box drum and the security guard on the big double base thing.

After an hour and a half of beep, beep, Beeeeeeep, we made it to the airport. Checked in and now looking at the not vast array of shops.

Well that was kind of creepy… Just spotted a man taking a photo of me.

I know that white folk are quiet rare in this area of the world, so you kind of expect it. Still creepy though.

Even creepier… Just spotted him taking a picture of Richard.

 

And creepiest of all… Here is a picture of him! See I can be creepy too… MWAAAH HA HA HA HA HAAAAA!!!! (Think Vincent Price…again. ) (BTW-that is the correct spelling, googled it!)

Flight to Singapore went smoothly, although I did notice our stalker on the plane. Once we got to Singapore we checked in for the Singapore by night tour. Basically a trip by bus with two stops, one to the Gardens by the bay and the other to see the Merlion…

Gardens by the Bay

Merlion

Such a beautiful city.

Back to the airport for food and sleep, in a comfy bed, I hope. Just hope the alarm works…

Coming Home – Part Deux

September 22, 2017

After a good nights sleep we went straight from T2 to T3 to be at our departure terminal. Having failed to locate “subway” for a breakfast bap (we left a perfectly operational branch of the same establishment back in T2) we ended up at Burger King for a breakfast which was mediocre at best (Jo said ‘disgusting’ so bad she made me eat it)

After that, knowing that we still had a moment to spare we went around the butterfly garden where Jo was immediately attacked by a ferocious looking beast!

See, she’s even sweeter than freshly sliced pineapple 💟

Finally managed to shed the beast!

Now sat, waiting to board, flying in 45 minutes 🛫🛫🛫🛬🛬🛬🚖🚖🚖🍜😴😴😴😴😴😴😴

The flight back from Singapore was smooth and uneventful. The extra legroom we treated ourselves to was lovely, they served Old Speckled Hen in tins and the food was surprising good. The practice of watching six movies back to back made the 12.5 hours fly by (see what I did there?).

We arrived LHR almost an hour early, got our bags and were meet by Ibo (our driver) and whisked away, back home by 5.30 pm. 🚕🚕🚕🚕🚕🚕

Having spent less then 20 minutes in the house we headed out to Selsey to enjoy BBQ feasting 🍔🍗🌭🍲🍝🍜🍛 with friends before finally giving in to the whole sleep / Jet lag thing and were asleep shortly after 9.00pm.😴😴😴

So there I am, 03.30am and wide awake 😱 I give it another 20 minutes but it’s no good, no more sleep for me it would seem. The good news being that I have completed most of the holiday unravelling, got some washing on 👕👙opened my post 📥📩, dealt with all emails 💻 and am now awaiting the awakening of the rest of our party (who seems to have less problem sleeping than I do) 💤💤💤💤