Don has been deeply involved with Tom in boat projects, particularly the Spectra water maker. Bette Lee is a tireless workhorse, quietly executing her To Do List with little fuss and muss. I have mostly been providing galley support, and trying to learn some Indonesian. I've not gotten far: "Selamat pagi, Bupak Tom." > "Good morning, respected Mister Tom." Substitute an official's name for Tom, and we are in like flint.
Tuesday we attended the official orientation meeting for Sail Indonesia. It was the most tedious, difficult to process function I think any of us have been to in a long time. Perhaps it is deliberately arranged that way to prepare us all for the inefficiencies of Indonesia.
The chief organizer, whose baby the rally is, was a soft spoken Aussie, who announced he would speak slowly for the non-English speakers, and then proceeded to mumble through his whole presentation, such that fellow Aussies couldn't understand him! He was not helped by the myriad cell phones rings sounding throughout the auditorium, the child babbling at the end of our row, and the awesomely rude group behind us who chatted pretty much through the whole thing despite irritated body language from those in front of them.
However, the gist of his whole presentation was not to expect too much, that nothing will happen when it is supposed to, and that a little bribery is di rigeur, and nothing will happen the same way twice. "Different field, different grasshopper," is the motto. We are hopeful that he keying his commentary to the Aussie newbies who haven't previously experienced third-world reality!
The Aussie organizer was followed by official reps from Aussie customs, Indonesia customs, immigration, and representatives of various islands that want to lure the yachties and their dollars to their villages. Each of these last gentlemen had a fancy power points clearly produced to be presented at whatever tourist event they could get themselves invited to. In fact we heard later, whether true or not, that the chance to show the powerpoint gets them a free flight. The best presentation of the whole long afternoon was the last one promoting the Sail Malaysia Rally (and the various associated sponsoring marinas) because the presenter spoke clearly, with both volume and humor. Afterwards there were more than a few jokes about skipping Indonesia and going straight to Malaysia.
Understand that Sail Indonesia is and always has been a totally volunteer, Internet based event. Its primary reason for existence is to be a facilitator for all the entry permits required, something it does very well, and some Aussies use it year after year for this purpose alone. Secondarily they attempt to coordinate a sensible itinerary around and with various festivals as well as organize local presentations, events and guides to enhance cruisers' experience of Indonesia. If it all doesn't always work out exactly as hoped for...well, that's life!
*****
It has not been all work and no play. Sunday evening we walked the coastal path past the museum, the high school and the botanical gardens to Mindihl Park for its twice weekly market. This was a huge conglomeration of crafts sellers, clothing and Aussie artifact stalls, and food vendors. There was no pretense of being a farmer's market, probably because, much like Florida, the climate and soil is not ideal for garden farming. But there were probably a half-dozen fresh fruit and smoothie booths, many Chinese and Thai foodsellers packing a three course dinner into a medium plastic container, and, Tom's favorite, the Aussie Camp Tucker booth where you could get corn on the cob on a stick, dripping in garlic butter! On the walk back, in the dark after a beautiful sunset, we found huge cane toads lurking by the museum walkway lights waiting for hapless bugs to fly by.
We also went for a sailing tour of the Darwin's nooks and crannies by boat the morning we went to take on fuel. Because of the large tides, several of Darwin's marinas are inside locked basins. They are a good deal for Darwin residents, as they can lock up and down as many times as they want for a monthly dockage fee. For visitors like rally sailors, it is not such a good deal, because they have to pay that same fee to go in and out just once. On the other hand, they have had the convenience of docks (and dockside restaurants) and haven't had the struggle with beaching the dinghy on the tidal beach. Don and I have quite enjoyed be afloat in the anchorage this week, but we are all of us about done with the whole beaching the dinghy deal....especially after several trips with provisions!
Our big excursion was a day trip to the Adelaide River to see Darwin's famous jumping crocs. We drove for an hour out into the bush -- much of which, along the way, is given over to mango orchards. We boarded a nice glass-enclosed excursion boat for an hour or two on the river with a well narrated summary of croc habits while a crew member dangled pig parts from a sort of fishing pole from the upper deck. By such means they coaxed four or five different crocodiles to come after the bait, using their powerful tails to lunge upward for it, as they would in nature to take common food like birds or bats. From behind the glass, it is something to see up close. These are not guys any of us want to see up close sniffing around our dinghies (or ankles) in Fannie Bay!
Tomorrow, we check out and turn the car in. It's a big holiday here, wouldn't you know!
Hopefully all the last little bits will get done. Already we are practicing Indonesian patience when the expensive rally shirts we all ordered didn't show as scheduled this afternoon. Mañana...no wait, that's another hemisphere. Different field, different grasshopper.
Gwen Hamlin
Cafe Getaway
Sent from my iPad
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