Darwin to Kupang West Timor

Safiya
Harvey & Sue Death
Wed 1 Aug 2018 06:56
10:09,56 S 123:34,45 E
Darwin to Kupang, Indonesia





We had two lovely, hectic weeks at home, catching up with everyone and
enjoying the incredible English summer weather - 34 degrees the day we left,
the same temperature as Darwin!


After 17 hours of flying we arrived back in Darwin on July 25th, had a quick
change and headed straight out to Darwin Yacht Club a really smart venue
with sunset views for a farewell meal with the other Oyster owners and crew
who are in Darwin. It was lovely to be reunited with everyone and to hear
what they had all been up to. Next day was spent completing departure
formalities with the Australia Border Force and a huge amount of shopping.
We had heard from friends already cruising in Indonesia that apart from
fruit and veg, fresh food is not available to buy in Kupang so we filled the
fridge and freezer to last a few weeks.


We left the marina at first light with a high tide through the lock and
anchored in the Bay for the day, trying to lose some hours to time our
arrival in Indonesia for first light on the 30th - we had been warned that
Kupang harbour is littered with obstructions so a daylight entry was
strongly advised.


There was not a breath of wind for the majority of the journey and we
motored most of the way. The sea was like glass, ideal for spotting wild
life. We saw a number of turtles drifting past us and a very inquisitive
hammer head shark that circled around the boat!


We arrived in Kupang after two and a half days at sea and anchored in the
bay with seven other Oysters. The clearing in formalities were rumoured to
be very rigorous and time consuming but within two hours of arrival the bio
security boys were on our boat. They had a cursory look in the fridge,
stamped and signed a lot of paperwork and then asked for chocolate! Armed
with a couple of packs of chocolate biscuits and some beers they left the
boat very happy!


The rest of the clearing in procedure was not as straight forward as Harvey
spent a day being shuttled between offices, filling in mountains of
paperwork..........bureaucracy gone mad!


Kupang is a real assault on the senses - very colourful and noisy. Hundreds
of mopeds buzzing around and stalls selling fruit and veg lining the
streets. We took a half day tour and went outside the city, into the
countryside where we saw some traditional crafts.


We set sail later today to start exploring the islands of Indonesia.

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