Day 179 Gorontalo to Singapore

A day of many flights. We flew from Gorontalo to Makassar and had to get off the plane only to get straight back on 5mins later. Then we flew to Jakarta where we had a couple of hours. When we went to go through immigration we had forgotten about the departure card which had to be the stamped original we entered the country with. After being put on show for a few minutes he let us through with a caution and a warning it could have been a fine or a jail term. We knew he was bluffing and he just wanted money which we never offered!
From Jakarta we flew to Singapore in a new 737-900ER we sat up the front and after take off the plane turned tightly & for a brief moment we looked at each other thinking the engines had died but they were just very quiet.
In Singapore we checked in to our hotel delighted with our hot water shower, clean western style bathroom & air conditioning!

Day 178 Gorontalo

We arrived in at 5am and luckily the room we booked for tonight was free already so we were able to get in and relax. We had the day in Gorontalo so had a nice lunch at an Italian place and did little else.

Day 177 Togeans to Gorontalo

We had the morning to relax at the resort then got a boat back to Ampana which took about an hour.
The ferry was on time and we made sure we were first on to get talking to the crew for a cabin. We took a cabin for only 250,000IDR this time because there was no A/C and we were not paying a middle man this time. Turned out we didn't need the a/c after a half hour sweat a cool breeze came with the thunderstorm we sailed through, thankfully the sea didn't get big.

Day 176 Togeans

A nice morning today we took a dug out canoe over to another island. It was a decent half hour paddle each way and on the small island we went to there was another resort. They had a very nice beach and the water was a little clearer than at our place but because of the tiny stinging jellyfish we couldn't get out far. We did see a couple of awesome things though a spotted eagle ray, a nudibranch, an eel and some nice clown fish.
Back at the resort the staff thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to get my own coconut from the tree. I did cheat slightly by using a bamboo ladder but it was high and I did cut it open for drinking and enjoyed it!

Day 175 Togeans

After such a cool day yesterday we planned to do very little. We went for a snorkel and the water wasn't very clear but we found an octopus. He was really cool moving over the sand he changed colour a few times while we watched, Rachel loved it!

Day 174 Togeans

After breakfast we & our new Slovenian friends got in to a boat for the day excursion. Firstly we went to a reef named Hotel California which was about an hour out to sea from our resort. It was a little rough & overcast at the time so the photos are not what they could be but it was a funny sight to see a small bamboo building on top of this reef. Under the water there were not huge amounts of fish but it was pretty and we saw a couple of big fish including apparently "something big" following me up from a dive down I did but got scared off when I changed direction. We then motored for an hour to a lagoon full of Jellyfish. The Jellyfish are not stingers so its safe to touch and play with them. The water wasn't very clear and quite green which made for an excellent canvas for photos.
When we had finished with the Jellyfish we got back on the boat only to go one bay round to a very nice beach called Corina. We had lunch there, the boat boy climbed a coconut tree and got us all coconuts. After lunch we did some snorkelling the water was lovely and clear and there were plenty of fish including a couple of big bump head parrot fish.
The beach was ours for the afternoon and we left for the trip back to the resort about 3:30pm.

Day 173 Togeans

We had conditionally arranged a excursion today depending on the weather and since its a bit cloudy we wont be going. They told us the weather at this time of year can be changeable and we did have a lot of rain over night. We tried a snorkel around the resort area, the water wasn't too clear after the rain so we didn't go far.

Day 172 Arrival Togean Islands

We had a smooth trip and got off the ferry in a small village. There were plenty of people about to meet the weekly ferry and a woman approached us with our details, then a guy approached who also claimed he was to bring us to the small island where our resort is located some distance away. They settled their claims with a call to the resort the guy was to take us and we with another couple were on our way in a traditional canoe to the resort. The 'captain'(local who owns boat) fired up 2 motors on the back but it wasn't till a few mins later that I realised this boat has 3 motors and he was fiddling with the 3rd, taking it off its mount holding it out over the water then re-bolting it before starting it.
The trip took an hour round lots of little islands and through beautiful turquoise water with coral below.
At the resort we were greeted and given breakfast before being shown to our bungalow. The room was big, a nice big deck, only a few metres back from the water but the bathroom was outside with shoulder height walls providing not the best amount of privacy.
We settled in by grabbing the snorkels and going for a swim, the visibility wasn't so great since it had rain overnight but there were a few fish there and about a dozen Lion Fish which we got nice and close to.
We spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing.

Day 171 Gorontalo

We had the day in Gorontalo today waiting for the ferry this evening, not much to do in this town. We killed the day with a trip to the new shopping centre and a bit of internet time.
The hotel arranged and purchased a cabin for us (an extra 400,000IDR) on the ferry since it was a 10 hour trip overnight we thought it was well worth it.
The boat was vehicle ferry, big enough to carry a dozen cars down with seats upstairs. The vehicle area had a bit of cargo with any remaining space taken by people who've laid mats for sleeping. Upstairs we discovered the cabins were those of the crew, they sold them generally to tourists and slept on the floor with the locals. It was great for us it had A/C and we managed to get some sleep, I'm sure the crew did too with the bonus of the extra cash.