Category: Life On A Boat

Highlights of Western Indonesia

After beloved Banyuwangi, from the east coast of Java we continued our travels through Western Indonesia. Of course Kalimantan is one of our highlights of Western Indonesia, and there are others! We stopped in cool anchorages and met some amazing people.

Go was in Indonesia for over 5 months, and between our fun visa runs we spent almost 4 months travelling the country. Despite the heat and heavy rains, lack of wind, and pollution, we liked Indonesia. Every person we encountered was friendly and kind, from east to west. In fact, one of our favorite places was also the friendliest.

Highlights of Western Indonesia: Bawean

An isolated island between Java and Kalimantan, Bawean was an oasis of calm and fun. Bawean is 150km north of Surabaya, Java. There is a ferry that sometimes goes between the two and takes about 4 hours. Bawean is a natural stopping off point for sailors heading from Java to Kalimantan, so we followed our nature and anchored there for a couple of nights.

Bawean waterfall, Western Indonesia
The small waterfall near the crater lake in Bawean
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Down Time in Lombok

We arrived in Lombok, Indonesia in late November. After three weeks in Indonesia getting to Lombok, we settled there for a bit and got to know the area. During that time, we went to a festival, visited some satellite islands, and enjoyed some down time in Lombok.

About Lombok

Lombok is an island east of Bali and west of Sumbawa. While its closest neighbor is Bali, Lombok is part of the province of West Nusa Tenggara. 4,607 square kilometers in size, Lombok is surrounded by several islets, a few of which we visited. It has a healthy population of over 4 million very friendly people. We spent most of our down time in Lombok in the northwest quadrant, north of the town of Senggigi, and east of the Gili islands. We also sailed to some islands on the southeast, visited waterfalls, and even rented scooters.

beach in Lombok Indonesia
A Lombok Beach
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Eastern Indonesia Highlights

Indonesia has been an adventure. After two years in New Zealand and Australia, it’s been a fun change visiting a new country where we don’t speak the language. And sprawling Indonesia offers new cultures and languages, or at least dialects, on almost every island. From Darwin, Australia we travelled to Kupang, on the island of Timor. Indonesia is a very big country, and we’ve only visited a small section. While traveling from Timor to Lombok, we encountered amazing animals, met friendly people, and ate delicious food, all part of our Eastern Indonesia highlights.

Our Route in Eastern Indonesia

Unlike our excellent sailing conditions in North and Far North Queensland, we had no wind after Darwin. We motored for the 4 days to Kupang and then for the almost 700 miles from Kupang to Lombok. When the wind wasn’t on our nose, it didn’t last, so we motored the whole way. All of our trips, aside from the first jump upon leaving Kupang, were day trips. We only sailed overnight from Kupang to Sagu Bay because we had no choice, as it was too far to do in daylight.

Calm sea Indonesia
The sea and winds were calm on our “sail” from Darwin to Indonesia
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