RAMBLING BEARS: On the road again. On our own again!

First stop, Sumbawa.

The flight was delayed an hour but we were on our way soon enough. Six bules on the flight, all of us seated at the tail end of the plane.

The runway at Bima airport is flanked on both sides by fish farms and mud flats. Looking down from a height the narrow strip of tar down the middle does not seem wide enough to land planes, even small ones such as ours. However, we landed safely and quickly found ourselves in the midst of the mayhem of the small arrival terminal. No such thing as a baggage carousel, just a small hole in the wall through which all baggage is passed onto a very short conveyor belt. Our baggage claim tickets were immediately released from my grasp as I was firmly assured by a smiling porter that he had everything under control. With the porters jostling for position along the conveyor there certainly was little room for the passengers to get a look in. So, with matters out of our control temporarily, we took our passports into an office where an official marked down our presence on their island. I left Neil in charge while I checked out the plumbing and in my absence he was given the ‘Do you know Schapelle Corby lecture’ – he must have looked dodgy. Back outside the office the porter had things semi under control – he had the surfboards (there were only three board bags on the plane so that was a relatively easy task) and two black bags ready to haul off to our, as yet, invisible driver. “No, we only had one black bag and neither of those are it.” No problems, ours was soon found and once again disappeared out of our sight as the porter whisked bag and surfboards out the door into the waiting throngs. You’ve got to be quick! All appeared to be chaos but we were soon rounded up and escorted to our pre-arranged driver, the baggage already loaded into the car.

Rice fields between Bima and the mountains.

Salt farming.

Salt farming. Fell in love with the little windmills!

The trip from Bima to Hu’u and Lakey Peak is a pretty one. The road passes the fishing farms, salt flats and paddy fields before winding up into the mountains. Dompu afforded us a short break while our driver did a quick grocery shop and we local watched as they got on with their daily business. After Dompu the reasonable road deteriorated greatly as we headed towards our destination. It was under repair but apparently needs to get a lot worse before it gets better. Motor bikes had a better go of it as they could go around the ditches. Not us! We bumped down into them and rolled back up. But there is always someone worse off than yourself. We had just commenced the horror stretch when we rounded a bend and, low and behold, two bules on heavily ladened pushbikes were pumping the pedals in a massive struggle to master the conditions.

Heading home from school.

Strand Bags Subawa style.

Smoko in Dompu.

Chooks for sale - Dompu.

Looking up into the bay from Hu'u.

The Bay from Hu'u

At the Aman Gati we had a semi-detached bungalow that overlooked a central grassed area and once upon a time (two years ago) looked out to sea - but not anymore. Two storeys of eight luxury rooms now blocked the view. Our room, however, was relatively private, comfortable and had a working hot shower – just as well as ‘I’ had neglected to pack the leatherman. During our previous stay at the Aman Gati the Flick Mixer tap handle broke off and, after multiple attempts to have it fixed, decided that the pliers component would do an adequate job of turning on the water.

Our room at the Aman Gati. There's a bear in there!

Accommodation at Aman Gati.

Front gardens at Aman Gati - Neil heading to the shower.

A bit of middle eastern music and getting into the groove!

Local kids frolicking in our pool.

The shoreline between Nunga’s and Pipe, two of the surf breaks, has perhaps a one kilometre strip of surfer accommodation, restaurants, warungs and small stalls. After sampling the wares at all the eateries along the stretch we opted to lunch at ‘ The Lakey Beach Inn’ and dine at ‘Pumas’. Pumas scored the top rating on this trip. The menu was extensive, varied and delicious. The other bonus of eating at Pumas was that you got to eat the same night that you ordered. Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but, the other eating spots were very, very slow.

The break after which the area is named, Lakey Peak is directly out the front. Neil’s preferred break was Periscopes, a three kilometre, beautiful walk away. However, Nungas, is where Neil had the best surf of the trip.