Medana Bay, Lombok – 16^th to 18^th September

The first day in Medana Bay for Jeremy was spent fixing things aboard Astra.  For the rest of the gang, it was a trip to Mataram to do some food shopping.  They hired a taxi for the afternoon to take them along the coastal route to Mataram with a stop-off for lunch at Singiggi.  They purchased a large amount of frozen meat, fruit and vegetables from the big supermarkets in the city.  On their way back to Medana Bay, they took a detour through the Monkey Forest in the mountains along the inland route. 

That first evening was spent ashore with numerous other yachts eating a meal prepared by the local women of the village.  After the meal, a couple of guys from two of the yachts played music with the village band which encouraged the local children to dance around.  Everyone that evening seemed really happy to be in such a wonderful location enjoying each others company. 

Thursday the 17^th was motorbike day to the waterfalls.  We got a local taxi to take us to Bangsal Harbour some 10 minutes drive from Medana Bay and after a great deal of negotiating, we hired 6 motorbikes for the day for our road trip west along the coastal road to the waterfalls.  We then set off on a 2 hour, 65km ride to Sidang Gile Waterfalls at the base of the islands largest volcano.  The ride there was very long, but at the same time we passed through some absolutely stunning scenery.  We drove along the coastal road for a while then into rice paddies and finally into the mountains where we left the bikes at a restaurant at the base of the waterfall walk. 

We hired a local guide and followed the canal irrigation system through the mountains to the first waterfall.  The three boys stood underneath the powerful fall which fell 30 metres from thick green overhanging moss.  This area was absolutely stunning and a great deal cooler than around the coast.  It was then a further 30 minute walk up to the next waterfall crossing the river on numerous occasions.  Sally, Jennifer and the boys went swimming in the pool around the base of the next waterfall in refreshing cool water which ran from a lake further up the mountain.

The motorbike ride back down from the mountains towards Bangsal seemed a great deal quicker than the journey there.  We did a total of 130km on the bikes that day and really enjoyed every minute of it.  Jennifer and the boys got a ferry ride over to Gili Trawangan that evening to meet up with the crew from Layaleeta while Sally and Jeremy enjoyed a much needed evening to themselves on Astra.