Diving and Gili T. (Feb. 27, 28, 2015)

Feb. 27, 2015

Today I got picked up for diving around 8:00 am. I had a simple but decent, breakfast from the hostel before I left. It was an omelette with some tomato, onion and peppers and was included though I didn't realize it came with breakfast. Plain but a good start for a day of diving. I went across the street with all my bags, to meet the dive people and set out for my day. Since I arranged to have them drop me off at one of the islands I want to stay at, as part of the price, I took all bags, which wasn’t many, because my suitcase lives at Reza’s and I only had my backpack. 

Front of hostel in Senggigi

On The Way Hostel welcoming group

View into hostel from front door

We left in the equipment van, to go to the harbour where the boat was parked, for going over to the islands and dive sites. The ride was about 45 minutes or so, and then we arrived. They loaded the stuff onto the boat, and we were off. I was the only diver for the morning dive, which was great because I had two Dive Masters with me. They are usually good on air, so I was thrilled. We descended at the first site, got down to the bottom with a very strong current, were down for about 20 minutes, and then the current switched and we had to swim very hard against it. This happens sometimes, but you don’t want to remain down there when this happens because it wants to take you out further, then you meet up with a down current and can’t swim up, which is very dangerous. I didn’t mind at all that the guides decided to come up, get back onto the boat, and go to another site to try it, where there was less current. So that’s what we did. The first site was called Sharp Point, but we couldn't stay there. I forgot what the second place we went was called.

The second place was a lot better and we had a great rest of the dive. I think all together, we stayed down for over an hour, which was perfect. I saw many colourful fish, and a very large pregnant Puffer Fish. I had seen most of the fish before, but it’s always so interesting to see the coral, the plants and the size of the fish moving around the reef. Each place has its own character so it’s very cool. Oh, I also saw a lovely turtle on this dive. The conditions were great. It was about 20 meters visibility and around 27 degrees celsius water temperature. There were so many colours, textures and shapes to see. This really is a beautiful area for diving. You were right Jo, I definitely needed to visit these islands and go diving.

We stopped for lunch between the first and second dives we were doing. We stopped at the island of Gili Trawangan, which is the island I decided to stay on, after we had eaten here. The diving crew took me to a local Warung on the island for lunch. One that they go to regularly, is very authentic and fresh. I was fine with that, and excited to see what they had to choose from, as it was Nasi Campur. My favourite…..lol.

I had my lunch, and while I was eating, I started chatting with this woman about my age, sitting at the next table. I asked her where she was from, and she said, Guelph, Ontario. I told her I was Canadian as well, and another guy sitting alone at the next table said he was from Montreal. It was really cool and we all chatted while we ate. It turned out that Joanna, the Canadian woman, has lived in Bali for the past 20 years, has two kids and several silver jewellery businesses. One of them is on this island, hence why she was here. Anyway, a long story short, we hit it off, and I said that I hadn’t decided which island to start on. She said that if I got dropped off here, and started on this island, that we could have dinner and wine together, later. She was very interesting so I decided to do just that. I had originally asked the dive guys to drop me off at Gili Air, which is one of the three islands, but smaller. Since Gili T. is the furthest island, then Gili Meno, then Gili Air, I thought it would be fine to go from furthest to closest, for a visit.

When we were finished lunch, I said goodbye to the two Canadians, and got back onto the boat to go for the second dive. This dive was incredible. It was just me and one Dive Master who had the best eye for pointing out underwater life and being able to find it. We saw two large Moray Eels, which were about 2 meters in length and about half a meter thick. They were massive. We also saw two turtles, courting in the water. It was very sweet, and they would swim towards one another, give kisses to each other, then swim away again. It was almost a shy interaction, but wonderful. It must have been mating day, because we also saw two octopi, a male and female, having some kind of physical relations. The boy had one of his long arms, up and underneath the female. After a few minutes, she would move to disengage the arm, and he would move closer and creep his arm back to where it was. It was super intriguing. I didn’t even know they did this kind of thing. I saw a huge Box Fish, the biggest I’ve ever seen, as well as 5 very large Lion Fish, clustered together, which you don’t usually see. It was fantastic and we saw so many things. We stayed down for over an hour again, and had a really nice, relaxed dive. The visibility was a bit less than the first dive, but still really good, and didn’t impede the dive at all. 

After that, they dropped me off to Gili Trawangan and I checked into the hostel that I had looked at, during our waiting time at lunch. It is called Aquaddiction, which is a hostel and dive center. It was reasonable, and available, so I grabbed it. Nothing special, but clean, with showers, and no bugs.

Once I was checked in, I texted Joanna that I had arrived and was free for dinner. She invited me to come to her apartment to meet her, which was over her shop. The shop was really cute, had clothing, jewellery and a little workshop in the back for silver making classes. Wendy, you would love it. I’ll take a photo of it later if I remember. We chatted, and I used her fast WiFi. Then we went for a walk found a bottle of wine, and went to a beach restaurant to have some munchies with the wine. You can do that here. Oh, I should tell you that there are no motorbikes or cars on the island. Only bicycles and pony drawn carriages for transportation. If the carts are for carrying people, they have a Tuk Tuk type attachment, and if they are for carrying goods, they look like the one below. It’s lovely. You can ride a bike around the island in about an hour.

Only vehicles allowed here

Small streets in Gili Trawangan

The place that we sat to watch the sunset, was lovely. By the time we got there, the sun was almost down, but still lovely.

View from restaurant where we had
our wine and munchies

Selfie of Joanna and me

Photo of us at evening restaurant

Then we decided to go for some barbecued fish from the market. Since Joanna speaks fluent Indonesian, it is really fun to go to wherever she suggests, and watch her strike a deal. She is really good at it! We ended up having a wonderful Red Snapper and some fantastic prawns, all for a dirt cheap price. To finish off, we had this traditional dessert that she raved about. They make it right in front of you, including the cake, and fill it with melted chocolate and peanuts. It’s so fantastic.

Our Red Snapper

The Prawns

The Dessert

After that, we were both tired, as she had just arrived today from Bali, and I had done two dives already today. Joanna also has two kids, and was married to a Balinese guy, but is now divorced. The kids are why she still remains in Bali, but wants to move somewhere else when they are older. She is super interesting and has a ton of different businesses here. She lives in Ubud. 

Feb. 28, 2015

Today I woke up early, around 5 am, to the call for prayer by the nearby Mosque. I didn’t mind though because I wanted to do yoga on the beach. I stayed in bed for a while, then got up and walked to find somewhere quiet and shady to do my yoga. I did find a place, and felt much better after doing the yoga. I find that my body feels more pliable when I practise yoga, and not stiff or sore anymore. It is a lovely paradise with white sand and blue water to look at while practising. Amazing.

Friend on my wall

The terrace of my hostel in Gili T.

View from terrace of hostel

Hostel sign

I'm on the bottom

After I finished, I decided to go to see Joanna and rent a bicycle from her. She was going over to Gili Air today, to investigate the possibility of securing another retail spot for her jewellery shop. I think she’s already got about three or four shops, already, plus she is part owner of a Western School. She wanted to know if I was interested in being a teacher or administrator of the Junior High they intend to open, in about three years. I kept her number, but really don’t know. 

Anyway, I took the bike, with its huge tires, for a spin around the island, and through the little roads in the middle of the island, which is the town where all the locals live. It was really nice and interesting to explore.

Goat on a wire (look closely)
Shall I do the 'Goat'?

Beach art that I passed on bike

Monster bike for riding in sand
though it is still really hard.

I will meet up with Joanna again tonight when she returns. We will probably go for dinner, but I’m going to send this now, as the WiFi seems to be decent and may not be later. I can always add to this post, later….lol.