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Today we had nothing to do. No distant place to reach. So, we just relaxed, watched an amazing sunrise, caused laughter at my inability to open a coconut and to tie agar agar onto a rope, were invited for some wonderful meals, and cycled with the Tarakan cycling community. Not bad for a day of doing nothing.

Sunrise

I opened my eyes to see the first light from our sleeping place in an open hut on stilts above the beach. The water was calm, the clouds were incredible and it was getting lighter. The clouds transformed before our eyes, grew and moved, and changed colour to orange – one after the next. On the horizon was a big storm, which moved slowly across the sea, before our eyes.

We had visitors in our hut – a bird trapped inside the mosquito net (so clearly the net could only stop very big mosquitos), and lots of people from the village. They helped us get some coconuts from the trees, and watched on with amusement as I tried to open the coconut with the machete.

As we were leaving, we were invited by a group of women to join them. They were sitting around a pile of seaweed, and were tying it to ropes. The people from the village harvest the seaweed, and dry it in the sun. The women were preparing the next generation of seaweed – these ropes were to be placed in the sea, and will be ready for harvest in 2 weeks.

Harvesting seaweed

Will is staying in a hotel in the town, having some alone time. Clement and I met him for a few hours for lunch before continuing to.. destination unknown. We ended up in a little village half way to the ferry tomorrow, meeting the whole village, being introduced to the cycling community, receiving a new cycling tricot as a gift, and having a lovely meal of smoked fish. We are sleeping in an empty room at the school, all ready to meet the students tomorrow morning and possibly be interviewed by a TV news crew.

Tomorrow is (finally) the boat to Sulawesi!

Clement is a superstar