Saturday 31 January – we get to Pasarwajo to refuel

We left early to take advantage of the calm waters, it was straight forward leaving the atoll and it was definitely a lot less windy than yesterday. The wind picked up by midday so we were pleased to get into the calm waters of the Pasarwajo bay. We had thought we were going to have to go to the main city Baubau to refuel which is a lot further around and out of our way south. I had spotted on the NFL app that at Pasarwajo there is an amazing lady called Andy whose family run an English school, so she speaks excellent English. She has connected with the sailing community and is very active in the Australian ‘Sail Indonesia ‘ Rally that happens every year. She coordinates re fuelling, provisioning and all sorts for them. Rowan contacted her and she was delighted to help us get suitable diesel, they have loads of different grades in Indonesia. She provides a truck to go to the Petrol Station to get the diesel, she books in an appointment, and can rent us extra jerrycans as we need 400 litres.

It took us a while to find a suitable anchoring spot in the bay, we were finally bedded in by early afternoon. We managed to find a spot just outside a very nice looking restaurant, that was recommended on NFL, we booked in for supper with Andy. In the meantime we had to get to the fresh market to get fresh provisions. That was quite a challenge, we managed to tie up on the wall of a fresh water pool that has been abandoned but still full of kids swimming. We tied up and walked to the restaurant next door to book supper and see if we could book a taxi as the market is miles away. The guy laughed when he read Rowan’s Google Translate – there are no taxis here. It was a scramble back over the wall to JeldiJeldi and we dinghied around the bay not sure where we were going to get out. We finally found a little inlet with loads of longboats and a path running out. We tied up to a palm tree and with hand signals confirmed with a young girl that it was fine to leave JeldiJeldi there. We got onto the street and once again felt like celebrities with the effusive greetings and hordes of kids following us. It was still a fairly good walk to the market which was just getting going, they call it a night market as it is opens from 4 to 8pm, to escape the heat. This market was just endless stalls along the back streets. To our absolute joy we found avocados, which we are so pleased with. It was the usual stock up of fruit and veg and a tray of eggs. Such an engaging friendly area, there doesn’t seem to be a town just a coastline of strung together villages with a Mosque every km. We lugged all our purchases back to JeldiJeldi, laden with water melon, pawpaws, pineapples, grapefruit, avocados, 2kgs tomatoes, cucumbers, a pumpkin, pak choi and a tray of 36 eggs. It was a big load to carry in the late afternoon heat, we found our way back to JeldiJeldi and had a moment of panic when we couldn’t see her. We had not been able to lock her onto anything, the cable was too short. Turned out someone had moved her slightly around the corner, I think the tide was going out a bit and they sweetly did not want JeldiJeldi to go on the sharp coral. She was beautifully tied up and clipped onto a long boat next door. We had bought a packet of biscuits for the young girl we had asked to look after the boat …….. we were all very happy!

Quick dash back to PolePole to put everything away and then out for supper, tying JeldiJeldi up to the freshwater pool, the tide had come up a bit which was better but it still meant clambering over a crab covered wall. We got to the restaurant and discovered only the coffee shop was open for some reason, which was disappointing. Andy arrived, a tiny 30 year old, speaking with an American accent. She is amazing, she teaches English but also runs a charity, taking food to the elderly. Turns out she has befriended an American Yachting family and has spent many months with them. To be honest the family sounded a bit bonkers, the dad was called Courage and some of their 8 children’s names that I can remember were Innocent, Integrity, Storm, Sky and Pacific. The Americans seem to finance her charity. Yesterday she took food parcels to 60 poor widows. Andy was delightful, nothing was a problem, she called her brother Nobel (she said like Nobel Prize!) who picked us up in a car and took us to a restaurant. Nobel is a Maths teacher at their family’s school and was not nearly as chatty as Andy. The restaurant was a trendy coffee shop style place that served some food. More people there than we have seen at any restaurant in Indonesia. Sadly the food was not up to much at all, I had my second Avocado smoothy, they serve it with dark chocolate and some sugar, surprisingly really good. Rowan asked for a Bintang, local beer and was laughed at, no alcohol here. We had a very engaging evening with Andy even if the food was seriously underwhelming. Nobel was called to drive us back and with our torch we were pleased to see JeldiJeldi where we left her. Back on PolePole we consoled our appetites with some of our Christmas treats of good chocolate!