Category Archives: Spice Island Hopping

Forth section from Ubut to Dili

Misc, Photos, Sections, Spice Island Hopping, Trans-Oceania

Wedding No.???

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Stopped for another community festival on Lombok. Traditional Lombok drum music and more facebook friends  …

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Misc, Sections, Spice Island Hopping, Trans-Oceania

Leaving Lombok to Sumbawa

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It was a short but beautiful visit to Lombok. The island totally different compared to busy Sumatra, Java and Bali. I am already on the ferry, approaching Sumbawa, island #5, to cycle through in only 2, but very long riding days.

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Sections, Spice Island Hopping, Stage Details

Stage 38: Lombok

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Senggigi to  Maroak
Date: 04-10-2014 Time:

05:02 h

 Σ Time: 217:22 h
Distance: 108 km Σ km: 4337 km Temp: 10/36 °C
Up: 1168 m Σ Up: 53506 m Down: 1159 m
Calories: 2073 kcal Σ kcal: 102269 kcal  
Conditions: All day along the north coast. Very scenic

The coastal road is very scenic. A thousand hidden beaches, all different awake in the morning sun. The evening rain the day before had washed away the dust and all plants where shining even more colorful than before. I was riding ‘sweep’ with Andreas. Only 108km today, thus a relaxed day, at least for me. We did a short offroad trip to the steep cliffs. Passing through a village I heard real good drum music. I stopped and pulled over to the other side of the street and was immediately invited to join the ‘party’. A family was celebrating something, I could not find out what exactly, but the whole village was obviously invited. Vegetables and meat was cooking in large kettles and open fires and men and women were busy preparing more food. Soon Andreas found me and we both spent about half an hour to listen to the drumming and have kopi (coffee) and small talks. 40km into the day and already 3 hours passed. Time to make some speed and cover the remaining distance to lunch. After lunch the colorful ride continued. Red chili was being dried on foils along the road. The final 10 km to camp I took an alternate route that was displayed on my Garmin. Instead of staying on the main road I decided to make a left turn through the village and follow a secondary road along the coast. This road soon turned into a bad dirt and gravel road, but through a very scenic urban area. Some local ‘boys’ on there motorcycles wanted to convince me, that the road does not lead me to where I want, but I insisted to believe my Garmin map and continued through fertile fields, banana plantations and lava rock terraces. Buffalos, cows and goats were already in the stables or still grassing on the fields. Women were returning from work carrying tools and goods on their head, before I arrived in our  basic camp with amazing good food. While we had dinner, to men were busy to rewire the electric installation to get our rooms electrified.

 

stage-38Lombok: Ferry Port to Senggigi

Photos, Rest Day, Sections, Spice Island Hopping, Trans-Oceania

Rain + Rain

First rain after 6 week of burning sun. Today, just after returning from my scuba diving trip, a heavy downpour set in. It washed away the dust of the past months from roads and plants. The island will probably look much different tomorrow, when sun rises again.

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It will be a very scenic stage, all day along the coast. Hidden beaches, white sand and palm trees for miles.

Misc, Photos, Rest Day, Spice Island Hopping, Trans-Oceania

Kidnapped

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At 1am there was a ‘Tsunami Alarm’ and 2 members of the ‘French Legionaires’ evacuated Stirling and me from our room and pulled us into the Senggigi nightlife.

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There is more to report, but local authorities were closely watching us and … [censored] … ;)

update:
7:08am. I wished I had 3 hours more sleep before I got up for my scuba diving trip …

Photos, Sections, Spice Island Hopping, Trans-Oceania

Leaving Bali for Lombok

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It was a short, but wonderful cycling episode on Bali. Now I am already on the ferry to island no.4, Lombok, a 4 hours cruise from here.

Leaving behind the lovely rice terraces of Ubud and heading into new adventures on an islamd I haven’t been before..

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Sections, Spice Island Hopping, Stage Details, Trans-Oceania

Stage 37: Bali / Lombok

Ubud to  Senggigi (Lombok)
Date: 02-10-2014 Time:

02:56 h

 Σ Time: 194:20 h
Distance: 70 km Σ km: 4229 km Temp: 10/36 °C
Up: 300 m Σ Up: 52038 m Down: 454 m
Calories: 1363 kcal Σ kcal: 100196 kcal  
Conditions: Easy cycling. Short stage to the ferry port, and an easy continuation on Lombok, along the coast. Roads are good, narrow but still divided by a line.

I was asked to ‘sweep’ the group onto the ferry, this day, to allow the TdA staff to organize the ferry boarding of the vans. I am usually anyhow at the tail of the cycling group or behind the sweep, after my first photo stop, thus it didn’t make a difference to me.

It was less than 20 km  from Ubud to the port. A nice downhill leaving the rice terraces behind. A few more temples and lots of big statues were seaming the roads. Ferry boarding was quick and easy and the ride to Lombok not too long. On arrival in Lombok   the ‘Hello Mister’ and friendly faces were back again, compared to Bali, where we were hardly recognized. It wasn’t long that I saw a mosque on the other bank of a river, so I decided leave the main road and cross over a bridge. I local man was immediately alerted, indicating to me in voice and gestures that I was taking a wrong turn. ‘Tida apapa’ (no worries) I replied, “I only take a photo and will be back on the right track” and he was happy to see me return after a few minutes. That must also have been the time when the van and the afternoon sweep passed me. Shortly after I heard drum music from a near village. I quickly turned around into a dirt road and saw that boys were using any kind of plastic canisters as instruments. So I got closer and stopped, getting my camera and GoPro ready. The boys stopped their playing and came towards me, as usual. Big smiles, photo session and a few words later I had them perform their drumming for me. The girls here are more shy, they ran away and hide, when I stop. Maybe I should shave again to look less scary. A had a third stop at a plastic recycling facility. Yes, it is not a joke, they do some recycling. Women are sorting the bottles from big sacks by color, then they are carried over to a mill, being washed and shreddered. The fine grained granulate is said to be shipped to Australia – probably to make fleece shirts or alike. I arrived at the hotel in Senggigi as last. Showered, walked into sunset and had an Italian dinner  in a nice beach restaurant. On my way home I decided to check out scuba diving opportunities for the rest day in Senggigi. I was lucky that a PADI dive shop in town was still open, so I was able to charter a dive boat to the Gili islands for the next morning. Before I returned tired to my room. My sleep was short, because of my French friends, who came at 1am to wake me up and drag me into the Senggigi nightlife.

 

stage-37.1Bali: Ubud to Ferry Port

stage-37.2Lombok: Ferry Port to Senggigi

Photos, Spice Island Hopping

4. Spice Island Hopping

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Ubud to Dili  –  October 2 to  October 19

Photos of this section will appear here:

flores
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Many of us have dreamed of taking tramp steamers from one island paradise to another, and leaving the modern world behind. This section of the trans-Oceania odyssey turns that fantasy into reality, as we traverse the Nusa Tenggara region, spinning our wheels from Hindu Bali, across Islamic Lombok and Sumbawa, to Catholic Flores, and finally Timor. En route you can relax on remote pink sand beaches, sup on an endless variety of seafood, snorkel or dive coral reefs teeming with marine life, encounter Komodo Dragon lizards, explore remote villages of beehive houses on West Timor, and kick back on the ferry rides from one island to the next. This section ends in Dili, capital of the newly independent nation of Timor-Leste, from where we will fly across the Timor Sea to Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. We wouldn’t be surprised if a rider or 2 decided to forego their plane ticket and settle permanently on one of these idyllic isles.

Bike the Outback, Great Ocean Road, Info, Java Jive, Opals, Missiles, and Vino, Spice Island Hopping, Sumatra Sutra, Trans-Oceania, Volcanoes & Temples, Wizards of Oz

Itinerary

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Proposed day-by-day trip breakdown: Aug. 18 – Dec. 19, 2014

  • 8 Sections
  • 124 tour days
  • 93 cycling days
  • 71 metric centuries
  • total distance 11042 km
Day Date 2014 Stage Depart Arrive Dist (km)
Section 1: Sumatra Sutra – Medan to Carita
1 Mon, Aug 18 1 Medan Berastagi 57
2 Tue, Aug 19 2 Berastagi Tuk Tuk (Lake Toba) 121
3 Wed, Aug 20 Rest Day – Lake Toba  
4 Thu, Aug 21 3 Tuk Tuk (Lake Toba) Tarutung 158
5 Fri, Aug 22 4 Tarutung Padang Sidempuan 110
6 Sat, Aug 23 5 Padang Sidempuan Kota Nopan 111
7 Sun, Aug 24 6 Kota Nopan Bukittinggi 183
8 Mon, Aug 25 Rest Day – Bukittinggi  
9 Tue, Aug 26 7 Bukittinggi Padang (Bungus Beach) 122
10 Wed, Aug 27 8 Padang (Beach 20k S) Pesisir Selatan 119
11 Thu, Aug 28 9 Pesisir Selatan Mukomuko 141
12 Fri, Aug 29 10 Mukomuko Seblat 143
13 Sat, Aug 30 11 Seblat Bengkulu 127
14 Sun, Aug 31 Rest Day – Benkulu  
15 Mon, Sep 1 12 Bengkulu Manna 141
16 Tue, Sep 2 13 Manna Bintuhan 75
17 Wed, Sep 3 14 Bintuhan Krui 141
18 Thu, Sep 4 15 Krui Gisting 150
19 Fri, Sep 5 16 Gisting Kalianda 142
20 Sat, Sep 6 17 Kalianda Carita 112
21 Sun, Sep 7 Rest Day – Carita  
Section 2: Java Jive – Carita to Yogyakarta
22 Mon, Sep 8 18 Carita Malingping (Bagedur Beach) 90
23 Tue, Sep 9 19 Bagedur Beach Cimaja 85
24 Wed, Sep 10 20 Cimaja Ujung Genteng 79
25 Thu, Sep 11 21 Ujung Genteng Cidaun 118
26 Fri, Sep 12 22 Cidaun Ciwidey 71
27 Sat, Sep 13 23 Ciwidey Cipanas 116
28 Sun, Sep 14 Rest Day – Cipanas  
29 Mon, Sep 15 24 Cipanas Kota Banjar 155
30 Tue, Sep 16 25 Kota Banjar Baturaden 150
31 Wed, Sep 17 26 Baturaden Wonosobo 105
32 Thu, Sep 18 27 Wonosobo Yogyakarta 101
33 Fri, Sep 19 Rest Day – Yogyakarta  
34 Sat, Sep 20 Rest Day – Yogyakarta  
Section 3: Volcanoes & Temples – Yogyakarta to Ubud
35 Sun, Sep 21 28 Yogyakarta Solo 142
36 Mon, Sep 22 29 Solo Sarangan 62
37 Tue, Sep 23 30 Sarangan Tulungagung 126
38 Wed, Sep 24 31 Tulungagung Batu 117
39 Thu, Sep 25 32 Batu Bromo 80
40 Fri, Sep 26 Rest Day – Bromo Tengger Semeru Park  
41 Sat, Sep 27 33 Bromo Bondowoso 157
42 Sun, Sep 28 34 Bondowoso Ketapang 107
43 Mon, Sep 29 35 Ketapang Lovina 82
44 Tue, Sep 30 36 Lovina Ubud 94
45 Wed, Oct 1 Rest Day – Ubud  
Section 4: Spice Island Hopping – Ubud to Dili
46 Thu, Oct 2 37 Ubud Senggigi 69
47 Fri, Oct 3 Rest Day – Senggigi  
48 Sat, Oct 4 38 Senggigi Labuhan Lombok 126
49 Sun, Oct 5 39 Labuhan Lombok Sumbawa Besar 109
50 Mon, Oct 6 40 Sumbawa Besar Soriutu 172
51 Tue, Oct 7 41 Soriutu Sape 128
52 Wed, Oct 8 Travel Sape Labuanbajo 4
53 Thu, Oct 9 Rest Day – Labuanbajo  
54 Fri, Oct 10 42 Labuanbajo Ruteng 126
55 Sat, Oct 11 43 Ruteng Bajawa 135
56 Sun, Oct 12 44 Bajawa Ende 126
57 Mon, Oct 13 Rest Day – Ende / Ferry leaves at 21:00  
58 Tue, Oct 14 Ferry Ende to Kupang  
59 Wed, Oct 15 Rest Day – Kupang  
60 Thu, Oct 16 45 Kupang Soe 108
61 Fri, Oct 17 46 Soe Kefamenanu 85
62 Sat, Oct 18 47 Kefamenanu Atambua 112
63 Sun, Oct 19 48 Atambua Dili 115
64 Mon, Oct 20 Flight from Dili to Darwin  
Section 5: Bike the Outback – Darwin to Alice Springs
65 Tue, Oct 21 Rest Day – Darwin  
66 Wed, Oct 22 Rest Day – Darwin  
67 Thu, Oct 23 49 Darwin Adelaide River 108
68 Fri, Oct 24 50 Adelaide River Pine Creek 115
69 Sat, Oct 25 51 Pine Creek Katherine 94
70 Sun, Oct 26 Rest Day – Katherine  
71 Mon, Oct 27 52 Katherine Mataranka 103
72 Tue, Oct 28 53 Mataranka Daly Waters 169
73 Wed, Oct 29 54 Daly Waters Elliott 153
74 Thu, Oct 30 55 Elliott Renner Springs 93
75 Fri, Oct 31 56 Renner Springs Tennant Creek 160
76 Sat, Nov 1 Rest Day – Tennant Creek  
77 Sun, Nov 2 57 Tennant Creek Wauchope 116
78 Mon, Nov 3 58 Wauchope Barrow Creek 100
79 Tue, Nov 4 59 Barrow Creek Aileron 149
80 Wed, Nov 5 60 Aileron Alice Springs 132
81 Thu, Nov 6 Rest Day – Alice Springs  
82 Fri, Nov 7 Rest Day – Alice Springs  
83 Sat, Nov 8 Rest Day – Alice Springs  
Section 6: Opals, Missiles, and Vino – Alice Springs to Adelaide
84 Sun, Nov 9 61 Alice Springs Desert Oaks Rest Area 169
85 Mon, Nov 10 62 Desert Oaks Rest Area Kulgera 108
86 Tue, Nov 11 63 Kulgera Tarcoonyinna Rest Area 126
87 Wed, Nov 12 64 Tarcoonyinna Rest Area Cadney Homestead 135
88 Thu, Nov 13 65 Cadney Homestead Coober Pedy 158
89 Fri, Nov 14 Rest Day – Coober Pedy  
90 Sat, Nov 15 66 Coober Pedy The Twins Rest Area 125
91 Sun, Nov 16 67 The Twins Rest Area Glendambo 125
92 Mon, Nov 17 68 Glendambo Woomera 120
93 Tue, Nov 18 69 Woomera Bookalo Rest Area 117
94 Wed, Nov 19 70 Bookalo Rest Area Port Augusta 62
95 Thu, Nov 20 Rest Day – Port Augusta  
96 Fri, Nov 21 71 Port Augusta Jamestown 128
97 Sat, Nov 22 72 Jamestown Riverton 127
98 Sun, Nov 23 73 Riverton Adelaide 124
99 Mon, Nov 24 Rest Day – Adelaide  
Section 7: Great Ocean Road – Adelaide to Melbourne
100 Tue, Nov 25 74 Adelaide Lake Albert 159
101 Wed, Nov 26 75 Lake Albert Kingston 148
102 Thu, Nov 27 76 Kingston Beachport 89
103 Fri, Nov 28 77 Beachport Nelson 122
104 Sat, Nov 29 78 Nelson Port Fairy 133
105 Sun, Nov 30 Rest Day – Port Fairy  
106 Mon, Dec 1 79 Port Fairy Port Campbell 91
107 Tue, Dec 2 80 Port Campbell Apollo Bay 96
108 Wed, Dec 3 Rest Day – Apollo Bay  
109 Thu, Dec 4 81 Apollo Bay Torquay 92
110 Fri, Dec 5 82 Torquay Melbourne 146
111 Sat, Dec 6 Rest Day – Melbourne  
Section 8: Wizards of Oz – Melbourne to Sydney
112 Sun, Dec 7 83 Melbourne Cowes 90
113 Mon, Dec 8 84 Cowes Inverloch 55
114 Tue, Dec 9 85 Inverloch Yarram 103
115 Wed, Dec 10 86 Yarram Bairnsdale 142
116 Thu, Dec 11 Rest Day – Bairnsdale  
117 Fri, Dec 12 87 Bairnsdale Orbost 95
118 Sat, Dec 13 88 Orbost Delegate 123
119 Sun, Dec 14 89 Delegate Cooma 134
120 Mon, Dec 15 90 Cooma Canberra 110
121 Tue, Dec 16 Rest Day – Canberra  
122 Wed, Dec 17 91 Canberra Nerringa 118
123 Thu, Dec 18 92 Nerringa Bulli Beach 160
124 Fri, Dec 19 93 Bulli Beach Sydney Opera House 115
Finish Sydney  
11042