Tag Archives: ferry

Good morning, France! Queuing at the border check point, ferry in the distance

I might give a few years off the tail end of my life if I could ensure that all days work out like this one. To begin with: We did not miss our wake up or run into any sort of issue disembarking the ferry. We woke up at 5am Irish time (6am local) to both my alarm as well as the gentle Irish folk music provided curtesy of Brittany Ferries. We had breakfast, bought just in time to avoid the mad rush and vacated our genius cabin in due time to leave the ship among the first waves. I even had time for a quick shower in our ensuite.

Running around, chomping on a pain au chocolat…what a good life our kids have 🙂

Next up, first destination back on French soil: Boulangerie patisserie – one of the few things open on Sundays in this land of liberty. By the time we had our first baguette in hand we were greeted by a wonderful sunrise over Roscoff’s old harbour. The light of the new day revealed what a quaint and pretty little town Roscoff was. We stuck around for a while, admiring the strange bell-tower, walking out on this seemingly endless pier. We liked it.

Still early in the day on a beach just out of the old town, we sat for a while thinking about what to do and where to go next. We were sorely missing a Lonely Planet guide for Brittany – it has become such a part of our traveling by now. Just something to sharpen the focus and find inspiration. Without such aide, we decided on an ambling “long way” route to a campsite only 140km to the east. We were glad to be able to draw upon the Rustiek Kamperen site again.

Before hitting the campground early for once, there was some road to be travelled. The ride was pretty high up there, following along through more cute villages along the shore as well as the cities of Morlaix and Lannion. The former of which was such a sudden revelation of cool and picturesque that we had to stop for a coffee and a wander. The main feature (for us) was this absolutely enormous railway viaduct crossing the narrow valley right at the point where the estuary was capped off by a small harbour and covered over to make space for the village square. Best of all, there was a path on the first level of arches accessible to cross and take in the views. A perfect surprise.

Just a short while after the baguette from this morning was ritually sacrificed on another of our now almost customary beach-side lunch stops. After lunch, given our early start, I was the only one left to really admire the scenery as snoozing ensued all around me for most of the rest of the way.

Bringing people together for an Indonesian Rice Table. The kids had their own table…mostly

That also meant no additional stops or delays before the campground, though. What a jackpot it was. Le Cheval Rouge was a rural farm renovated and run as a B&B / Glamping site by Dutch couple Chantal & Oliver. It was like it was made for us – very small and intimate, exceptionally kid friendly and without big campervans. Or many other campers at all – most other guests took the chance to stay in big family tents kitted out as glamping sites for families. Just as we were about to set up and enjoy the afternoon, the cherry on top was delivered: Sunday was the day for a communal dinner. Today it was Indonesian Rice Platter. We were just in time to decided to join in. Indonesian food? Mostly vegetarian, as Chantal is vegetarian, too! So many times, yes.

And so, we had, completely by accident, one of the coolest evenings of our European travels. A perfect warm late summer evening, everyone around a long table set out in their garden. Although we were the only non-Dutch guests, everyone was very kind in switching to German or English to accommodate us. Most of the guests were families with young children as well, the kids were playing, and the wine was good. I even got to spend a few minutes at the campfire even though the rest of my family has called it an early night.

Good times!

Leaving the ferry at 7am to see the first light of dawn behind it

Day 30 – To the ferry

Our last day in Ireland had begun. At 4pm the ferry to Roscoff/France would leave the port of Cork with us on it. That was quite the exciting prospect, at least for me. I am always excited when I need to get a specific mode of transport at a specific time. Flo would probably call it anxious. 😛

We got up in the morning on the campsite in Blarney, having decided not to bother the Blarney stone with our kisses. In fact, we didn’t visit Blarney castle at all. After a shower, we drove right back into the city of Cork. Leaving at 4pm, we’d probably have to check in around 2pm…a whole morning to spend in Cork. I mean, Cork is awesome. You can spend way more than a morning there.

Entering the coffee roasters hole in the wall

After parking the car, we actually accidentally went to Other Realms, the local gaming den. Being there was quite cool, even if it was mostly empty tables waiting for people to play at this time in the day. A couple of board games were on display, work in progress miniature painting and the newest D&D books. The lady in the shop even pitched the teen D&D group to Number 3 who is clearly far away from his teens.

First thing to do was get a second breakfast at one of the city’s coffee roasters. It was supposed to be have coffee and buy ground coffee for the campground but then the pastries on offer looked delicious and the kids did complain that they don’t drink coffee…

Just around the corner of this tiny cafe under a stairwell was the toy shop where Number 3 had fallen in love with the wooden train set. We spent a couple more minutes there before I managed to lure him away with a visit to the sweets’ shop on the other side of the road. It had a pick’n’mix bar, probably the first proper one the kids have seen. Given that grandma’s bucket of gummy bears was empty once more, we all picked out some of our favourite gummy-things for said bucket.

A bit further was Crawford City Gallery where we’d been yesterday in search of a cafe. Today, we went to actually look at the pictures. Or sculptures as it turned out. The first exhibition was of the Canova Casts. THE Canova had overseen the making of casts after antique statues which were then gifted to the monarch of Great Britain as a thank you for defeating Napoleon in Waterloo. Such strange things exist. The casts were back on display for the bicentennial.

The second exhibition named mEAT & potatoes was a ride through food through the ages as represented in art. It had contemporary art as well as still lifes of earlier times. All in all, our time in the Gallery was well spent.

A glass of milk with a straw – the best thing since sliced bread

From here, we went back to the English market for lunch. The Lonely Planet recommended the Farmgate Cafe for lunch as it used all of the fresh produce on offer in the market. That sounded exactly like something we should try for our last Irish meal. Flo had Irish stew with a non-alcoholic cider, Number 3 opted for the fish chowder (what a brave choice!), while I ordered the grilled goats’ cheese sandwich and a cheese & ham sandwich for the Agent who didn’t want to eat at all. But she happily accepted the kids’ choice of beverage, a glass of milk, which she finished in one go. I think I realized only yesterday that she actually has two new teeth and that this is to blame for her being the worst eater at the moment.

After lunch I got twitchy. Come one people, it was time to get onto the ferry! Flo did his best to slow us down on our way to the car, going on a detour to the only catholic church we’ve been in in Ireland. Alas, in the end, we were all in the car queued up for the passport check and then for boarding. Flo turned into his usual grumpy self because of the wait but it didn’t take much longer than an hour before we were allowed to board. At 3.20pm, we packed our overnight bag (for safety reasons you are not allowed to go back to your car) and checked out our cabin for the crossing. THE. CABIN. WAS. AMAZING.

It felt quite spacious, two of the beds folded down from the ceiling and the couch turned into a bed as well. We had a small table, everything to make tea and coffee and even our own toilet and shower. You might not be able to tell but this is only the second overnight ferry ride in the western world for me.

After storing away our things we went to explore the boat. Battleship might be a more appropriate term as this thing was huge. It even had a small pool on the 9^th deck and there was an entertainer in the bar in the evening.

At exactly 4pm, the ferry left the port. We waved goodbye to Ireland, both of the kids declaring that they want to be back. The rest of the afternoon was rather exhausting for us parents as the kids hadn’t slept on the short ride to the port and all the excitement was a little too much for them. We tried a lot from chilling outside on the deck to having a drink in the bar to playing foosball…nothing kept them happy for long. In the end, we put them to bed early which they seemed to be happy about.

One more drink for Flo and me at the bar while we posted the next blog post and then it was off to bed for me as well. We will leave the ferry tomorrow morning at 7am in Roscoff, still being on Irish time that meant 6am for us. 5 am wake up alarm anyone?

Day 6 – On to Eire

And with that, our time in Scotland had come to an end. If we hadn’t pre-booked our ferry, I’m sure we would’ve stayed for another night. It was just such a lovely campground. The owner was nice, the landscape super pretty and our neighbours easy to chat to, plus they liked having Number 3 around.

We packed everything up with time to spare and headed off to the small town right next to the ferry port. Flo’s plan was to charge the car, spent a little time and then head on to the check-in. The first charger, however, was out of service. By the time we’d gotten to the next one about 3 minutes later, me (and with me Number 3) had gotten nervous about missing the ferry. By unforeseeable happenstance, Flo listened to me and we drove on to the ferry port…where we logically stood in line for a while. 😀 We were by no means the first ones at the port but I got A LOT of shit for our waiting time. Not even a coffee and two muffins made a real difference.

Leaving the campground, we had told the kids about leaving Scotland and continuing to Ireland. The Agent of Entropy said “nochmal Schottland bitte” (Scotland again please) which she always says if she enjoyed something and would like to repeat the experience.

slightly worried, AoE might get blown off her feet

Alas, time continues to go by even when you’re just waiting around and we were allowed to board eventually. The kids were raving with excitement. Everything was big and loud, it was windy outside and there were toys to play with. I think, the Agent of Entropy has found her calling as a being of the wind. She probably feels kinship to it as it also brings a lot of entropy into the world.

For us adults, it seemed like another ferry ride, mostly like the one to cross Cook Strait: Waiting time, overpriced bad food in the restaurant, people battling for the comfiest spots. Since this ferry ride though, both kids really want to go back onto a boat, but please for longer next time, okaaaaay?

At 1.30pm we arrived in Belfast. The Agent hadn’t slept on the ferry instead she’d been all over the place and was thus exhausted. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep in the car although we just drove from the port to a charger in the inner city. Flo managed to gently put her in the kids carrier so we could go and explore Belfast a bit. Number 3 still is a city exploring champion. He walked everywhere with us, through the rain, from coffee time until dinner.

We started with a bit of a tour around the quarter that we ended up in. There were murals to look at and little lanes to take. We came across many a pub that looked lovely but it was neither the time nor the circumstances to go into one. Instead, we found our way into “Established coffee” for a coffee time break. By that time, the Agent of Entropy had woken up again and graciously agreed to a chocolate cookie and a babyccino.

Around the corner there was a cathedrale which had a spike coming out of the middle of it. It piqued Flo’s curiosity so we went in. Unfortunately, it was about to close. They let us in for five minutes but we couldn’t figure out why the spike was there and what it meant. Number 3 was happy though as he got to light a candle in the church, something he really wanted to do in Aachen already. I loved it too, as a kid.

From here, we took the “scenic” route to our car, still debating how to proceed with the day. We were toying with a couple of options i.e. having an early dinner in town or setting up camp and then taking the bus back to Belfast for dinner. We decided to go for the first option as both kids seemed to be over a certain threshold already. Unfortunately, Number 3 had listened in to our conversation and demanded a bus ride in the 100% electric, pink double-decker buses which we simply couldn’t work into our plans today. Proving our suspicion that the kids really just needed to go to bed, he had a full-on tantrum. Many words of comfort and a promise of a bus ride in Dublin later, we went to dinner in Yügo. Asian fusion at its best, the plates to share were right up our (and the kids’) alley. I had miso-grilled corn and fried rice, Flo had duck truffle rice, Number 3 opted for blackened salmon and the Agent chose and ate the chicken spring rolls all by herself. As all food was just so good, we decided to order another round with dumpling, kimchi buns and last but not least, milk chocolate ganache as a dessert which my kids ate more of than me.

Round bellies and sleepy eyes shuffled back to the car and we headed for our communal campground, only 15 minutes Belfast city centre. It turned out to be just what we needed with a patch of grass, facilities and a code-operated gate which kept everyone outside who was not camping.

Just when everything was set up and the kids in bed, we realised that there were a washing machine and a dryer set up here to comfortable use. It was just too good to pass on so Flo took it upon himself to manage our laundry while I just went to bed.

P&O goes to Larne, we are heading for the Stena Line Terminal

Day 10 – Along Lake Como

Getting up, there was still a bit of a consideration if we’re really going to leave today. After yesterday’s digger disaster, it would be hard to actually enforce a ban for the whole day. So in the end, we decided to leave ;). But we took our time and Number 3 got his good-bye round at the lake. It wasn’t warm enough to actually go swimming as he’d hope but he walked around a bit and observed the little fish along the shoreline.

They are starting to actually enjoy playing together

With packing, this time fully dried laundry, all our swim gear, two kids who’d rather run around and another diaper accident, we were finally on the road by 11am. Goodbye Camping Ranocchio! You’ve been wonderful!

We only drove a little while back over the pass to the next town on Lake Como where we took the ferry across to Bellagio. This is something the Lonely Planet for Northern Italy suggested as the drive from Bellagio to Como (or the other way around) is supposed to give wonderful views of the lake and towns. The thought of taking Purū Hiko and the kids on the ferry appealed to us…so we did it. Lucky for us, the ferry was only 5 minutes away when we arrived at the terminal. The Agent of Entropy was fast asleep by this point but Number 3 was excited. So, when all cars were in parking position, Number 3 and I went to the railing and looked out. It was much fun but a bit loud and cold for our eldest child. Shortly after, we returned to the car.

We took the narrow and windy road to Como which had great views indeed. The Agent of Entropy fell asleep again, followed shortly thereafter by Number 3. It was a peaceful ride until about 10 minutes out of Como when the Agent woke up and demanded a pit stop with an extra feed. It was getting later and later…

Different Lunch choices…to be fair, we swapped about a quarter…

At 12.45pm we finally parked the car. Somehow, our heads were not in it though, as it took 30 minutes to sort ourselves and the charging for Puru Hiko (which didn’t work in the end). It also included Flo heading back to the car twice because we forgot such essential items as our sunhats, for example. Finally, at 13.15pm we started looking for a place to eat.

The Lonely Planet was not helpful in this instance as the first tiny eatery was already completely booked with customers and the second one was permanently closed by now. Getting hungrier und hungrier, we decided on the next eatery as a quick fix regardless of price. This is how we ended up at Aida right across from the Duomo. The food was good and we were glad to have navigated the hunger crisis before either the kids or I got too annoying.

The city of Como was a bit of a shell-shock for us as it drew crowds even during the pandemic. Yes, people wore masks but still, it was too busy too soon for me. Also, the city is very posh. Probably not quite our turf, to be honest.

We took another stroll to the waterfront, looking for a particular gelateria (Lonely Planet recommendation). Again, it was not our cup of tea so we decided against it and looked for another place down the road. The ice cream we had at last was delicious but by now we were ready to leave Como behind.

Back in the car to drive another hour to our next campground. We chose this one for tonight to be in striking range to Bergamo, our next destination.

Day 107 – Deflated

Actually quite fed up, we left Kuta to head to the ferry in Lembar that would take us over to Bali. Although we left early, we were covered in sweat already. I was still wishing for a pocket waterfall…when we had the following conversation:

“Nina, are all the bags still secured?” – *me checking all of them* “Yeah, all good.” – “Are you wiggling around?” – “Me? Not particularly.” – “Are you sitting further back than usually?” – “Eh, noooo?” *repositioning myself* “Is something wrong?” – “The bike is running weirdly.” – “Stop and have a look?” – “Yeah….”

Rocinante being professionally propped up on a center stand *cough*

Turns out we had a flat rear tire. Yay. Made me like Lombok even more in right that instant. Poor island being judged so harshly. But, actually, we were super lucky: Flo had pulled up right behind a workshop. It took him about one millisecond to consider to get out his tools and start getting the tire out or pay someone $4 and get it done for him. Guess what we ended up doing. 🙂

Despite not having all the Honda-approved tools, the workshop guy had the tire off in no time at all. Maybe enough time for Flo to finish half of his “es campur” (mixed Indonesian ice cream) that we were offered while waiting. Since we couldn’t see anything sticking in the tire, the tube must have a puncture. And we were still carrying the heavy duty inner tube that we got in Darwin despite thinking of ditching it for a million times already. Workshop guy cracked up laughing that we had a spare tube but it made his job even easier. He just changed out the tube and put the tire right back on. Flo had a look

Off came the tire and it took almost no time

for the puncture on the tube but couldn’t see anything. The valve was actually broken, letting air out which led to our flat tire. Which is much harder to repair than a hole in the tube. Suddenly we were glad to have carried that stupid tube for so long.

It cost all of 30.000 Indonesian rupiah and we were back on track. This time we prepared for the ferry even better, buying take away food before getting to the terminal. Everything doubles in price for the ferry.

Luckily, sleeping was possible…

Tickets for us and the bike were about $17. The ferry looked tiny (and slightly untrustworthy as it had rammed something in its past) but it wasn’t very full either. We managed the four hours to Bali alright, laying around and sleeping for most of it. I was very happy to sleep as the 30mins I was awake made me seasick again. Lombok was covered in rain clouds and the sea was on the choppy side.

Arriving in Bali at 4pm or 4.30pm, I was through with this day. So we went to a guest house right in the ferry port town. Which turned out to be a lovely little spot. We were already relieved to see the volcanic mountains and the rain forest that comes with it, but now architecture is different as well. None of the islands so far are resembling Bali in the architecture. And our guest house, despite being on the cheap side, is a little gem. Which also offers the fastest internet connection we had so far.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit like holidays here so went out and had dessert after dinner as well: apple crumble with ice cream. It was authentic and good but I kinda forgot that it will be hot….*face palm*. Flo, smartly, decided for an “Arak attack” instead.

: Rocinante being professionally propped up on a center stand *cough*

: The inner tube was pulled out first before we communicated that we wanted to have the whole thing swapped out

: Off came the tire and it took almost no time

: In line, waiting for the ferry

: Luckily, sleeping was possible…

: …because we passed some bad weather outside

: The clouds are very pretty though

: First glimpse of Bali

: Such a lovely little place

: Close up of the statue holding the umbrella

: Looks like relaxing to me

: Painted coconuts as decoration

: Our room upstairs

Day 102 – Mehs and Yays

Google is wrong! Well, maybe not in general, but regarding the geolocation of Dalam Loka, a historic sultan’s palace.

Build in the 19th century for the Sultan in Sumbawa

But in order: We managed to do as we set out to and pack up early enough to get on the road before the heat is too unbearable. Nina wanted to see the weaving of traditional cloth, called ikat by the lonely planet, first hand. We have seen woman dying cloth and weaving in mountain villages on Flores, but did not stop to take photos or have a chat. Going into more and more developed parts of Indonesia, this felt like one of the last good chances to do so. But alas, the geolocation demons struck again. The directions in the lonely planet were sketchy at best, the open street maps has the village mentioned in the wrong place and it was Friday early morning in an Islamic part of the country. We did not even find the right village in the end, but the round trip on beautiful back roads through lush green rice paddies was worth it none the less.

With that first failure under our belt, we decided to give the sultan’s palace a go. Google said it is 20 km south in the mountains. It was also a point of interest on the OSM map, so we let the GPS guide the way. Turned out we ended up back in Sumbawa Besar after all – within walking distance of our hotel …

The palace was a nice photo-op but not much more, and we decided that it was time to head east for good. When we came upon the fork in the road, leading either south to some more Sumbawa surfer beaches or east to the ferry to Lombok, the discussion was a short one. Although we met amazing people, we never really warmed to Sumbawa and we went towards the ferry. We are here to enjoy ourselves after all.

nice place for a ferry port …

The ferry was quick, painless and reasonably cheap. The sea was roughest of all ferry rides so far though and poor Rocinante got a good spray of salt water on the way. Well, at least it was quick this time.

On Lombok, the route was pretty clear: North, up the mountain where it is nice and cool. And green, oh such sweet green. I can honestly say, I am over savannahs. Too dry, too hot. And gosh, Lombok delivered. Lush, green rainforest enveloping the beautiful, winding road. Vistas, monkeys. Our spirits sored. Nina got fresh strawberries in a mountain valley! Although, we got more than a little homesick for New Zealand at this point.

The accommodation was good, much better than what we got for that price so far, and the climate really suited us. We booked a guide for tomorrow for a half day track through the surroundings and two waterfalls nearby, since Gundung Rinjani (the big volcano on Lombok) was still closed for all climbers due to its recent activity.

: Build in the 19th century for the Sultan in Sumbawa

: Rice thrashed semi manual. Further east, we saw them do it all manual

: Bales of rice cut by hand ready for thrashing

: horse carts in a town center waiting on customers

: nice place for a ferry port …

: “tied down”

: Looks cool, but actually she was quite sea sick

: The first real bush after Sumbawa!

: like home

: Ok, a little bit of savanna

: just a very nice road

: not the first we see, but the first on camera

: Looking at the road behind us

: have I mentioned we enjoyed the ride

: for some reason. this valley grows strawberries

: Apparently Lombok has its own flavor of islam

: Such luxury …

Day 98 – On to Sumbawa

tucked away behind all the little ones

After our two day holiday from the bike, we were back to business today. Since we had reached the western end of Flores in Labuan Bajo, it was time to hop on the next ferry bringing us to Sape on Sumbawa. The ferry goes every day and was scheduled for 8am this morning.

To make this rather early cut-off, we got up at sunrise which is about 5.30am at the moment. Packing still is rather quick (if you don’t have to put the tent down and store all the sleeping gear) so Flo got Rocinante out of her safe parking spot in the hotel yard to put the panniers back on. The bike didn’t fit through the gate to the yard when it was fully loaded so to manoeuvre it, it had to be without luggage.

At 6.45am, we were on the bike, driving to the ferry terminal. These tickets turned out to be expensive, probably because Flo ended up paying bemo fares for Rocinante which means she was treated like a mini-bus. One of the first on the ferry, we again, selected two empty rows for us and I lay down for another nap. Being scheduled to leave port at 8am, we finally left Labuan Bajo at 9.45am. While the cargo hold was pretty full, there were still many empty seats on the ferry. We had feared that it might be overcrowded with the volcano on Lombok playing up and all flights being cancelled. On the other hand, we trusted that vendors will come on to the ferry to sell us lunch but we were disappointed as they only sold bananas and snacks this time. Flo braved his first “Pop Mie” instant noodles cup while I stuck to oreos and TimTams.

No trouble with space this time

We had lovely company for hours on the ferry, meeting Katja, a German backpacker, and Clement, a traveler from Slovenia. They both told us more about a story we heard…a tourist dying while snorkeling at Komodo. At first, it was said through the grapevine (aka news that travelled from boat to boat) that the tourist stayed in the water too long and exhausted herself which lead to her breathing in water and she basically drowned. Katja and Clement said it looked more like a stroke or so in the water. The tourist lady was about 70 years old.

Despite our late start, the ferry arrived in Sape at 3.30ish. So the ride itself was not nearly as long as getting to Flores and passed quicker than we had thought. There was a bit of chaos at the port as everyone tried to leave at the same time and get to their further means of transport on land but we managed to get out fine. We even found an ATM that would let us withdraw about NZ$250. The limit on the ATMs here seems a bit arbitrary and each withdrawal costs us fees at kiwibank.

Better than expected from reading the Lonely Planet

Coming to a new island is always exciting. Sumbawa is less developed in tourism then Flores but, all in all, it seems to fare better. The houses all look bigger, all built out of stone and quite neat. The fuel at the roadside often comes in little pumps with the same brand as the gas station rather than in reused water bottles. However, there are also horse-drawn carts on the road which seems slightly weird. It’s not a tourist attraction but a legitimate way of travelling. Those poor horses must be close to a heart attack in the dense traffic.

Riding out of Sape, we headed for Bima, a town further north. The road was again in very good condition (but most roads are compared to East Timor) and we came through quite a few roadside towns. Now, it is noticeable that the majority of the people here are muslim. Mosques can be seen quite often and some of them are really impressive. The majority of women also wears hijab, most of them in very colourful tones.

We booked into a hotel for the night and it has free wifi, something we haven’t had in ages. On top of the free-ness, it is also quite fast so Flo is in internet heaven at the moment. 🙂

: tucked away behind all the little ones

: Another hour before we leave

: Everything covered. Although the muezzins call was rather uninspired that day

: The harbour entrance … we had time on our hands …

: No trouble with space this time

: This one is currently highly active and the island is evacuated

: Yea, that sewing thread is going to hold her …

: everything got shipped

: Better than expected from reading the Lonely Planet

: no tourist thing, these were for real. We saw one carting concrete …

Day 91 – A question of style

We got of when it was still mostly dark!

The boat was early! We were mentally prepared for a lot, but not really for arriving at 5:30 am, ahead of schedule. Never mind, we got a moderate level of sleep out of this night and were ready to embark onto Flores in the first light of day. After a last brief interlude – before everyone could leave, an ambulance backed onto the ferry and the coffin got heaved into it by the assembled crowd. With a long salute of the ship, the ambulance rode off into dawn, and we close behind.

View over the bay at early morning

I have read about a series of guest houses 100 km to the east offering beach views and much needed tranquility and not too much in terms of sights on our way there. The road offered gorgeous views and was in good repair. That allowed us to arrive at our destination still early in the day at 8:30 am. The first place we went to, Lena House, had a bungalow at the beach available. Tired and exhausted we were more than happy to call it a day and booked ourselves in.

While the room was prepared, we got into a conversation with Andy, a globetrotter character originally from the UK, and his lovely partner from Java, where they currently reside. As we were talking, we discovered that we had an interesting thing in common. A while back I would have been surprised, but NZ and traveling really made us accept that small world encounters are more common than one would think. So it turned out that both of us have hosted Chris Schlatter, a motorcycle traveller from Switzerland, and his partner Francesca at different points of their trip.

Has been alive quite recent

After a lot of lounging and relaxing, we decided to follow a recommendation by them to have dinner at the guesthouse next door. As it turns out they would eventually join us, and later on we were joined by She Ye and Matt. The dinner turned out to be … exciting. No meat was available in the kitchen, so Andy set out on a quest to find us something nice to share. Nina was sorted, with an eggplant curry using the only remaining eggplants. When Andy came back, there was more than one raised eyebrow. He bought meat all right. In his hand on the bike was a feathered, white and very much alive chicken! Turns out he got the directions to the chicken farm and not to any sort of butcher. Well, the bird met its timely end right there behind the kitchen and we got a great shared dinner out of it. We washed it down with some home distilled arak, a sort of palm tree spirit.