We were very excited to get to the next leg of our Indonesian travels. It would be more about staying in one place and chilling, than moving along at something new every day. And did I mention the surfing?

The flight from Ende in Flores to Kupang in Timor is just under an hour. Much better than a couple of days on a ferry. Once we arrived in Kupang, we met the very helpful Mr. Charles who confirmed what we had suspected might happen – that the fast ferry to Rote was cancelled due to high winds. This was the 5^th day in a row they cancelled the ferry. So no surprise when we found that the alternative Wings Air flight was full. Sad faces all round. No one wanted to stay in Kupang for a night. It’s a city of a million people, and no surf.

But today was also the day that Denpasar Airport was closed due to the volcano having a huff and puff. So we took a punt that some passengers wouldn’t get to Kupang to be able to get on the flight to Rote. We hung around in the departure/check in area for a few hours (where there are no seats) waiting to get some standby tickets. Mr. Charles is a local with a LOT of friends. He worked that mobile phone till his ear hurt. And with 10 minutes before take-off, we got 4 tickets to Rote!

From the small airport on Rote to Nemberala Beach is about an hour’s drive. The road is sealed now which has reduced the trip from a 3.5 hours grind on a rocky road. Lucky we haven’t come before then! Suffice to say, this is no easy place to get to. This has probably contributed to the low key, quiet life that Nemberala enjoys.

Above – this is our villa for the next 8 days. Nice to be home.

There are 4 of these villas here (2 rooms in each), with a maximum of 16 guests at any time. It’s spacious and gorgeous, perfect location right on the beach looking out to the surf on the edge of the reef.

Above is the bar, where we watch the surfers, refresh ourselves with a G&T, chat with other guests and finally see the sunset.

Below – this is from the door of our villa at the end of the day. There’s a yoga class happening there on the deck. But I usually opted for a walk on the beach.

And did I mention the pool?

Over the fence they have some extra rooms……..

We settled in to the wonderfully relaxing lifestyle of Nemberala Beach Resort. With so few guests, everything is a communal activity. Drinks, meals, poolside time, watching the surf or actually surfing. The surfers call the boat from the bar and then wander off along the beach a short distance to be ferried out to the edge of the reef. The boat will go back and forth as the surfers want.

Above – some of the crew while we were there: John, Harry, Ferg, with Tiger (from Anglesea), Adriano (from Brazil), Craig (from Anglesea) and Joel from Sunshine Coast.

Actually, the Brazilian had a different name but he surfed a whole lot like Adriano DeSouza that we just called him that. We also met a lovely family from South Africa – Carol, Mike and 17 y.o. Kyle. So the boys had some cool kids to hang with aside from the boring parents. We’re still boring, even if we are paying.

The food was great, and seemed endless. This is sure to be a 3kg holiday. But we enjoyed every meal with the various people we met around the table while we were there. We also ran into some other Jan Juc friends (Annie and Steph) who were staying just along the beach a few doors away.

The sunsets were….. beautiful….there’s no other word. We would gather near the bar, and just enjoy Mother Nature’s evening show.

Let’s switch now to the non-surfing stuff we did. I’m sorry to say that the surf was not very good for the first few days. Poor maybe? Small for sure. Tiny some say. Now that’s a sad thing after all the effort to get here. BUT… we made the most of the time we had.

We did a trip to the southern point of the island, where the high tide surrounds the mangroves and the perfect aqua colours of the sea make a stand-up paddle board a delight.

On this trip we could see how dry Rote is compared to Flores. The annual rainfall is much lower. There’s a natural spring on the island, and this provides water to the town. Rice is only grown in the wet season.

On another small-wave day, we took a couple of boats across to Pancake Island with some other guests. I’m guessing that’s not the real name, but seeing as is looks just like a pancake plonked in the ocean, it works for us. After 45 minutes, and a bumpy ride, we all jumped in for a look.

Not sure why Harry took the spear gun. The coral was good, but the fish were few and far between.

The trip back was even choppier (above) but the grown-ups in our group decided we would go on the nice long fibreglass hulled boat, and the young ‘uns could go back on the tinnie, enjoying the bang of every chop. After all, the grown-ups are paying.

I did a few walks along the beach and through the town.

The standard of living here seems higher than Flores. People take more pride in their homes, and things are more organised. Sort of. For instance, they built a new bank two years ago. But it’s not operating yet. The ATM signs are there…..but no money.

Stone walls are everywhere. All the houses have one, carefully marking out their patch. The workmanship is amazing. Here’s a few…..

Walking around the village was fascinating. It’s nice to look into another culture’s lifestyle. They don’t have the ubiquitous dogs roaming the streets. Here, it’s pigs. Pink pigs, brown pigs, black pigs, spotted pigs. Big pigs and baby pigs.

It’s school holidays here too, so children were always playing games around the town or on the beach.

The houses varied from old and traditional….

…..to every colour in the palette…

A few of us went to the market. There’s really no shops here that sell fresh food. Or anything much actually. It’s mainly chips and chocolate for the ex-pats. So once a week, the locals gather for an exchange of their produce.

I walked out beyond the village one day with some others and we came across a walled garden where one of the families grows the vegetables we had seen at the market. They were watering the small crops from the spring water in a well.

Being on Rote was a great experience. So far from Bali and its’ crazy, frenetic pace. But the trip here was all about the surfing. So I had better share some pics of the surfing life we lived here….

Above – some surfers got up about 4am to surf by moonlight. Go figure.

Above – staying out till the last light, for the last wave.

Better show you one of John, Ferg and Harry….

If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen the family wave that Ferg and Harry shared (above). Unfortunately Harry was a little cocky about dropping in on Ferg….

The swell picked up in the last two days. John was impressed they had kept lunch for him when he came in at 5pm. The waves could have been bigger and better. And the wind could have blown less. A lot less. But we had a ball. We loved the location, the resort. We met some lovely people.

It was the best time.

And then, just like that, it was over.

 

 

Footnote: If you think some of these photos are too good for me to have taken, you’re right! Our resort had a photographer there who took photos of nearly all the surfing. So that wasn’t me bobbing around in the water for hours, it was Claire, a photography student from California, studying in New York. Not surprisingly, she managed to stay out of nearly all our own photos, but it is her silhouette sitting at the bar by the telescope. Thanks Claire.