Bali to Lombok

Saturday. Rule of fives! Five hour coach trip to Cairns, five hours waiting for my flight, five hours on the plane, then five hours sleep saw me waking up to a rainy day in Hotel Manggar near Kuta in Bali.
The trip from Townsville to Cairns was my first Aussie inter-city coach trip in 40 years - I was expecting a more luxurious, high tech journey. Turns out the Greyhound broke down and was substituted with one that was surely 40 years old! It rattled itself half to bits enroute, and the retro-fitted USB chargers didn’t work. Then Jetstar found a relic AirBus to match! Not the most comfortable journey and no way to charge the phone. Before you judge that complaint, my Arrivals Declaration and all booking details were digital. The battery was at 1% when I showed my Arrivals code at Customs, then died!
Turns out my Hotel was about the same era as the coach and in equivalent condition, but the bed was comfortable and clean, and the staff were just delightful!
Sunday. With only 5 hours to sleep before I had to get ready and pack for my transfer to the Gili Islands I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t wake in time, so set 3 alarms. Turns out this dodgy hotel has a wake-up service. Unfortunately the neighbourhood rosters are set for 4 am and don’t have a snooze function! Phone Alarm not required!
The morning was rainy but the fast ferry (BlueWater) is great and our trip from Serangan, via Gili Trewangan (just departing Gili T right now) to Gili Air was quite comfy despite choppy water.
Dale was waiting at the jetty for me, and our reunion caused at least one lady passenger to smile 😜. Me too 🥰!
With my 47 kgs of luggage (I kid you not- though 30 kgs was boat spares) loaded in his beach cart, we set off up the street to find somewhere for lunch. The streets are atmospheric, dusty and narrow, and although really busy, so quiet! The only scooters are electric so fume-free and silent, and the only other transport are pony powered! Just wonderful and so relaxing compared with every else in Asia!
Lunch and wandering over, we loaded up the inflatable and started out for Thetis across the bay. It was going smoothly until the outboard picked up something in the water and damaged the propeller 😬. The waters here can be a bit dicey with debris.
The remaining 2.6 NM were pretty slow as Dale rowed us rest of the way! I guess these are some of the reasons he remains so fit 😜! He’ll sleep well tonight.Read more