The Indonesian part of the Trans-Oceania is almost over. 4 cycling days before our arrival in Dili / East Timor, from where we will fly out to Darwin / Northern Territory, Australia, the cycling group assembled in Kutang / Timor for an early morning, pre-breakfast group photo.
Per, Bob, Ruth, Dara, Brett, Paul, Dan, John, Stirling, Chris, Hanns, Henry, Daryl
Jacqueline, Shirley, Joachim, Gerald, Cathrine, Nellie, Annegrete, Jodi, Eric
p.s. somehow over night the banner was magically corrected 
Today we arrived in Kupang on Timor, the 7th island of our cycling and island hopping trip and the last Indonesian, before heading to Australia. After a short flight from Ende on Flores and a 8 km taxi drive from the airport into town, we were warmly welcomed at the Sasando International Hotel with music on the traditional Sasando instrument and a very nice banner, honoring our extremely long trip from Medan to Sydney.
Now I have a problem to explain to my employer and followers, why I need a 4 months leave to cycle the gigantic 11km from Medan, a new suburb of Sidney, into the town. 
Lets phrase it different. Good Job Cristiano! My odometer already shows 5300km at not even halftime of the full tour. You proved to be the master of making a probably short and easy trip a giant monster.
Looking forward to find out how you turned the final 6 km from here to Sydney into another long and man-eating 6000km monster stretch. 
No more unnecessary stops for the “Gold’s” while riding. TdA has established a new catering and support system for their family and staff members, to ease their cycling day and make the search for proper Coke Stops obsolete. Every day one of the TdA client cyclists is chosen by a ‘lucky draw’ to go ahead and make sure, there is always cold Coke, fruits and/or ice cream passed to them when they need it. No more wasting energy for them to scan for a stable with fridge and the proper goodies. Like for the ‘pros’ in major cycling events, the food is being passed on to them on-the-fly, so they can continue their high speed chase to sweep the other riders.
However there is a little challenge for the 2. Only one item is handed out at a time. So it is always fun to see them racing to get it first. This time Nellie outperformed her uncle Henry and she run away with the treat without sharing – ‘The Winner takes it All’.
I finally received my 6th Island bracelet, to complete the set of bracelets from each of the islands we have cycled so far – Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa and Flores .
It was hard work; I had to climb 6646m from sea level (Labuan Bajo) to sea level (Ende) to complete my mission! In Ende I eventually went out with Gerald to inspect the top attraction of the town, a small, battery powered, portable carousel with two young kids riding proud their carts. On the way back we stopped at a small shop with all kind of ‘Chinese jewelry’ and lots of wooden statues, batik and other things. There were a few items, that looked nice and different than the Chinese ‘plastic art’. Nobody was in the shop so we called for assistance. Two young girls were obviously attracted
by the strange male voices and came over from the associated house. Very shy they entered the shop to find us two. A few words exchanged and I was ‘engaged’ with Sri, when she
tied the bracelet to my wrist, amusedly watched by her friend Isra. To me it is always a surprise how relaxed and open minded everything is in this country and how easy you make contact and friends. A few words Bahasa Indonesia combined with English and all doors are wide open. After a final group photo Gerald and I were back out into the darkness to return to our hotel.
Our 3 drivers, Dhanu, Sulis and Yudha, who supported us excellent around the clock, since the first day in Sumatra in August, have unfortunately already left us in Ende/East Flores, as we continue to Timor by plane and get a new crew for the 4 days on Timor and Timor-Leste.
You guys were great!!!!
We wished you could have stayed longer with us; preferably until Sydney!We will miss you and your hospitality, your infectious smiles, the encouraging words and cheerful wishes sending us into the tough cycling days or at lunch. Without you the tour would have been not the same. Thanks again / Terima Kasih
All the best to you. Have a safe trip home to Yogya.
Tweet ##transoceaniaThe road architects and engineers did a wonderful job to design and layout the road to Bajawa. It is more like an artwork, than civil engineering that the long stretch of tar paints into the scenic landscape. On 25kms it gradually meanders from sea level along a scenic valley, formed by a giant volcano and its satellites to find it way to Bajawa in 1200m altitude. It is a constant up, no intermediate drops into valleys cut by creeks or rivers, no bridges to cross followed by steep re-climbs. Every corner of the numberless switchbacks revealing a fantastic view – back to the ocean in the south, the giant volcano to the east or the mountains to the west. What a treat, even after a long day in the saddle. Enjoy- and unforgettable. We are soon going to miss the diversity of the Indonesian landscapes!
3D areal view of the road meandering up the hill to Bajawa at 1200m.
Birds view of the road builders artwork.
Like a giant snake crawling through the dense forest, the roads finds its way up.
revealing fantastic views in the afternoon light of the sinking sun.
Who volunteers to count the switchbacks and corners?
Today my Galaxy S4 Active ‘died’ … it was working in the morning on the ferry, and I could upload all my delayed posts, once G3 internet connection was available on Sumbawa. The phone went into ‘black’ mode somehow during the day, and now does not restart anymore.
Research says, it must be sent to, e.g. JTAG Brick Repair Service, or have it replaced. Until I get a replacement (I probably need to buy one and resolve the warranty issue, once I am home) I can’t provide live updates from the road. 
Tomorrow is a 192km day, with a 4:30 wake up. I have to pack and get ready for some rest …
I used up all my energy to get the phone back to work, with no success, thus I will not be able to post any news of a very exciting cycling day on Sumbawa. We’ll have a 6 hour ferry ride to Flores the day after tomorrow, which hopefully allows me to work on my backlog of updates and photos, via my PC … sorry folks …
Me, and my ‘Angry Bird – Little Joe’, which accompanied me today as a successor of late ‘Sponge Bob’
Later ‘Captain Hook’ arrived at camp to take revenge on the 2 ‘French Bandits’ which kidnapped the nice German guy two nights before in Senggigi. However, the 2 cowards must have heard about their destiny in advance and disappeared from the island minutes before Hook’s arrival. The search for revenge continues …
For my Scuba Diving friends.
All morning the dive tour busses were passing me from all directions. They always seem to be in a hurry to bring the divers from A to B. No relaxed driving on Bali’s touristic corners, minibuses have their own rules, and cyclists are no longer considered coequal road users …
I had to turn into the bumpy road to ride down to the beach and Werner Lau’s Dive Center in Matahari / Northwest Bali.
Unfortunately time was too short to take a dive or have a longer chat. Thus I quickly cooled my face and headed off again to follow the main track.
The provisional Bamboo bridge closed at Noon for 1 hour or someone told them to reject the German rider from crossing over it. So I had to recall 
my Doomsday Ride / Central America skills and find an alternative. Piece of cake, it is just water. Shoes off and into it, shouldn’t be a problem. Half way through the water was running fast and deeper., pushing the bike into my legs and almost causing me to totally lose my stand. But I did not really stumble and fall, and made it halfway dry onto the other side.
Thanks to Bob for shooting the photos.
I’ll add a video here, taken with my GoPro, some time later.
Tweet ##transoceaniaI passed one of the many bridges in 
Java and thought to myself ‘Worth a stop or similar to the others?’ I already had stopped earlier on another bridge, where people were busy building a dam in the river, thus I decided to continue, leave the camera in the bag and use the momentum to start into the climb thereafter. However, on the other end of the bridge I recognized some students on the railing and sitting at the banks of the river. From the edge of my eye I could see, it were all girls and they seem to be doing some training. So I decided to use my breaks and turn around to have a closer look. An I was not disappointed. Already one girl was fixed to a rope and on 
her way over the edge of the bridge. The ‘joy’ was great when the saw me. And soon photos were taken from both sides. All of a sudden the group sitting on the banks under the bridge got loader. They seem to shout something to their instructors. I should soon learn what they demanded: ‘He must do it, too’! And so I was asked, if I want to try it. What chance do I have other than to say ‘Yes’? Although I was already a bit exhausted, late and not fully free of ‘drugs’ I agreed and soon I found myself in an harness and dangling in the rope. A talented young girl took my camera and made the nice shoots shown below in the gallery. A great experience and a lot of fun for all of us. The unforeseen adventure did not end before I was recorded on many of the student’s smartphones. And so I continued my ride my first ‘Abseiling’ tour, after I Bungee-jumped the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zambia.
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