17 August 2008 Sunday
Today is Indonesian Independence Day. We saw great preparations for it the whole time we were in Ternate. Every street and every little village had masses of bunting and flags raised, and lots of people out painting their fences or the street kerbs. Slightly more patriotic than the thong throwing competition and barbecues we rise to!
Spent last night in a bay off Likupang village, on Sulawesi, arriving here at 2pm after an overnight sail. The coastguard came out in a little wooden double outrigger to inspect our papers, and caused us much confusion by referring repeatedly to Kupang. We have to send paperwork to Kupang? That’s ridiculous! Then we realised the little village we could see across the water was Likupang, so we explained our confusion to them, and they laughed their heads off. Having a little Indonesian is certainly worthwhile. And it’s improving all the time.
Now we’re heading for the tiny island of Siladen, where Patsy and Richard’s mate Bob Hobman is staying. Lothlorien and Serenity 2 have come with us, looking forward to a day of snorkeling and sightseeing.
[but it wasn’t all good – Lothlorien had 2 jerrycans of fuel stolen, and Malaika our big fender while we slept… even though we were anchored a long way offshore! Oh well, swings and roundabouts]
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