Entertainment, Jepara Style

There is very little to do in Jepara.  So little, in fact, that the local population amuse themselves by watching strange people doing strange work on strange boats.  There are no cinemas, no malls, no parks, no nothing.  So why not wander down to the town harbour and watch two twits slaving away under the hot sun?  

Calypso's presence in the harbour is, undoubtedly, a novelty.  It seems that every weekend the good folks of Jepara, with all their kids in tow, traipse down to the harbour and stroll along the odoriferous dead fish-encrusted docks to stand in front of us in the hopes of seeing....what?!  What on earth is so fascinating about watching people work?  I can understand them passing by to look at a yacht; they don't see many (or any) visiting yachts here, but they'll sit or stand there for literally hours watching us.  

We're not sure whether to find all this attention flattering & amusing or just a tad annoying.  However, as they're always so very friendly and polite, we take no offense and enjoy practicing our paltry Bahasa while they show off their limited English.  It's fun.

Merry Christmas from Calypso

                    

                     

2014 was quite a year for us.   It saw us backpacking around Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, an absolutely fabulous experience that took us up and down the length of Vietnam, through the 1000 Island region of southern Laos and over to Siem Reap in Cambodia to the amazing Angkor Wat and many of its surrounding temples.

  

In March, we sailed up to Phuket in Thailand visiting the beautiful karsts in Phang Nga Bay up the eastern coast before returning back to Malaysia.  Next we headed over the South China Sea to Borneo where we rounded the entire northern coastline of Sarawak and Saba before venturing back into Indonesian waters, turning southwest back across the Java Sea to Central Java where we've now stopped to do a refit aboard Calypso and top up the cruising kitty a little.

Christmas will be a little different this year as Indonesia is primarily a Muslim country.  Despite this, there are sufficient Christians to justify a fair display of Christmas decorations and as the government here is very tolerant of all religions, it will be celebrated as a public holiday.  

We, the crew of the good ship Calypso, would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and everything of the best for the forthcoming New Year.

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

Imagination has to come into play when living in a Muslim country at Christmas time.  What does one do when a tree isn't available?  Well, one simply makes a non tree Christmas tree!  Hence the above arrangement is our version for this coming season.  Don't laugh, it's better than nothing.

Despite me saying that there were no trees available, the other day I went into an Ace Hardware shop in Semarang, the town about a two and a half hour drive from here, and lo and behold, saw some of the most beautiful trees and decorations I've ever seen for sale.  Quite spectacular and quite a price - a mere Rp23,000,000 (yes million!).  That translates to about ZAR23,000 or about $2000.  Needless to say, I wasn't tempted to put them on my shopping list but they really were quite spectacular and such an unexpected sight here.

 

10 Years!

December 11th, 2004

We can't believe it but its been ten years since we said our fond farewells and sailed away from Cape Town leaving the beautiful Table Mountain behind us.

Over this time, we have travelled 36,304 nautical miles (65,347 kilometres) visited countless harbours, bays, islands and atolls in 39 countries and met literally hundreds upon hundreds of some of the most amazing people, both local and those who are our cruising counterparts.

Our life has been hectic at times but interlaced with some of the most incredibly idyllic and peaceful anchorages most people only see in those beautiful glossy calendars or coffee table books.  

We have experienced local culture, ceremonies, costumes, dance, music and food, the latter where we've tasted the good, the bad and the unimaginable.  We've been welcomed into homes palatial and humble and cannot start to fathom how we'd ever repay some of this kindness.

We appreciate that this lifestyle is not for everyone but for those following in our wake, we can only promise that life will not be mundane; far from it.  And for anyone who thinks that they'd get bored while cruising, ha, there's no time for that!  Between checking in and investigating our new anchorage, hunting for provisions, fuel and spare parts, tasting the local fare, meeting the local inhabitants,  socialising with other cruising boats and of course, looking after the ever present, on-going boat maintenance and repairs, we so often just simply run out of time.  That old adage, "cruising is just fixing boats in exotic ports" is ever so true.  Definitely no time to feel any lassitude but oh so worth it!