The moon stood almost full in the sky, peeking through impressive backlit clouds. The surf was thundering a couple of meters away and there is no light but the moon’s. Excitedly, our little party patrolled the beach. We spotted tracks in the sand, but the real goal of this nightly adventure was nowhere to be seen, until finally: A one meter long greenback turtle was spotted, scuttling over the beach. The ranger turned on his torch, we walked up from behind not to disturb it. What a magnificent sight. We are once again humbled and stunned by our trip.  How did we get here?

There are three national parks in the east of Java. One to the north and two to the south. We did not want to go too far out of our way and decided to try the two southern ones, one after the other. The first Alas Purwo national park southeast corner of Java was a bit of a disappointment. After a bone breaking 10 km on the deteriorating access road (our good old friend jagged cobblestone again) we had to learn that admission for foreigners has gone up 600% since the last lonely planet edition from 2013. 300k Rp is too much for us, at least for two parks. Thus, we turned around and headed out to Meru Betiri National Park. We got a recommendation for this one from Andy – deep in it is Sukamade Beach, where sea turtles come to hatch.

On the way we travelled through rural Java. Small towns, fields, orchards and plantations lining our path. Along a nice cool channel we stopped for lunch at a local warung makan. Finally, we get good food at affordable prices again. We get treated like people and not ATMs with legs. The fresh cucumber we got on the side was just the right thing for the heat of the day.t

The Lonely Planet notes that the road is bad, but since the dry season is still going, we thought to give it a shot. The potholes and gravel started 25 km before our goal, but nothing we can’t handle. And we had the whole afternoon to get there. When the road hit the coast and started climbing about 10 km before the beach, we bottomed out for the first time. Letting some air out got us at least to the start of a walking track down to Green Bay, but after two more tries bashing up my catalytic converter we had to call it. Rocinante is just too heavy. We tried though, and she has the scars to show for it.

So after a pause to cool back down (literally), we were debating what to do. A truck passed us earlier, but we forgot to flag it down. Trucks are supposedly the cheapest way to get there. Since it was still relatively early, we decided to get at least a little out of our entrance fee first and do the Green Bay walk. We parked the bike and got changed and soon were on the track. The short track led along and down the jagged cliff to the first secluded beach called Stoney Bay. The entire crescent was filled with smooth round granite boulders from walnut to football size, framed by jagged black cliffs on both ends. A small passage at the other end of that bay led to the highlight of the walk: Green Bay. What a beauty – perfect white sand framed by cliffs, lush green with monkeys playing right behind and around and even the ever present rubbish is kept in check. We spend half an hour or so taking photos, admiring the view and getting home sick for New Zealand (where this would not be an attraction in itself but just another beach, probably without people around). Although we had our togs with us, we did not feel like jumping in today. I guess we are freshwater people 😉

Back at the bike it was decision time. After some unhelpful Q&A with the guardians of the parking spaces (they were probably miffed that we avoided their 2000 rp extortion) the decision was made to go back to the next village, find a bed and get to Sukamade tomorrow. So we thought, but no sooner had we reached the first house when we saw a rugged 4WD with a big sign “Sukamade Tours” in front of what turned out to be a homestay. Everything got a bit hectic then, but the following emerged: A jeep ride would be too expensive for us, but there is a group going tonight. They are full, though. What about a truck? Yes, one is going right now. But not all the way, a 3km walk at the end of it. The jeep could pick us up there for 100k. Still too expensive, we would walk.

In a hurried frenzy we secured our bike, threw our clothes bag on to the 4WD and scrambled what other gear seemed required into the backpack. A minute later, we were bumping along in the back of the lorry, me lying on rice bags and Nina seated on the concrete counterweight (to keep a lightly loaded truck from bouncing too much) between bags of ice and open buckets with Tofu. What a ride! No way could I have done that with Rocinante. All was good until dusk broke and we were nowhere near the place. 3km in the dark? Eww … we should have taken the 4WD. It will work out. I may use my phone to translate and ask the truckies to get us all the way anyway.

Two hours later it turned out that all fretting about nightfall was moot. The driver thought we would be picked up, and when there was no 4WD he decided to bring us all the way to the “resort” anyway. So when we got off, we were exactly where we wanted to be. Even better, it turned out by talking to the group that arrived before us that all the turtle spotting fun would be later on, so we would need to stay only one night!

The group was lovely. They were better off Javanese with their personal and local guides on a tour. We got talking to one lady a bit more who has lived in Rotterdam for a long time and due to her great English got some great insight into the Indonesian culture and language. We even had time to buy some bad Nasi Goreng and be showered with treats from the group. Fresh dragon fruit, sweet treats and homemade tofu. Yum!

And so, by means we could not have imagined 4 hours ago, we found ourselves on said beach, spotting these amazing creatures. The group left in the 4WD to sleep in the homestay instead and we found out that we would be in for two more amazing experiences tomorrow morning …