TURTLE RESCUE

 

 

Pic courtesy of Gary S/v Sea Turtle

Pic courtesy of Gary S/v Sea Turtle

Pic courtesy of  Hendo

The sea of Cortez has a huge amount of marine life including one of my favourites, turtles. 

Sailing home after having been out at the Islands, we cruised past a green sea turtle that was sitting on the surface, wrapped in something.

We turned the boat around and as we scooted back past, I stood on the step, and leaned into the water trying to free her. At this point we realised she was badly caught in a plastic woven sack. She was breathing, but severely gasping for air.

We put the kayak in the water and I went on over to see how I could help. She had strands from the bag tangled around her neck and front flipper, binding them together. 

She looked sad. I was a tad nervous that she might try and eat me or that I would hurt her, but she was incredibly passive. Using some pliers I cut the strands from her flipper and then from around her neck. Instantly her breathing changed. I thought that she might take off straight away, but she was exhausted from the mornings battle. She let me pat her and we hung out until she got up enough speed to go on her own way.

Unlike any other turtle I have seen before she had a pink flower on her head. She was beautiful. When we found her she was so vulnerable and yet had an abundance of smaller sea life using her for food and protection. A little ecosystem of her own.

There was warm fuzzy's all round and from then on in the the town, I was known as Aimee Wildlife Warrior (I made the last bit up)

 

 

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WHATS IN A NAME?

A name is an important part of a vessel and I was always under the impression that unless you wanted to anger the 'sea gods' and bestow bad luck upon it and yourself, you did not rename your boat. However, after some great research and the realisation that the  previous owners had renamed her Catalpa only a year and a half before she became mine, I figured I can do whatever I want. 

The morning of the hurricane the whole 'what should I name my boat' conversation came up (as it did quite often). At that particular time I must have been hungry because naming the boat tortilla seemed like a brilliant idea to me... Apparently not so brilliant - that only lasted moments.

By mid afternoon, once we had prepped the boat for the hurricane and done all we knew to do, I was laying down, reading a story about a ship that was stolen by pirates and re-named 'The Fancy'. I thought this was an incredible name for a boat and it quickly evolved into 'Fancy Pants'. 

I was beside myself. I had spent ages looking for names and finally I had found one that I loved that had a theme song and everything. Partial love for the name was also due to the fact that every time I would have to be hailed on the radio, or we would enter a port the hailer would have to say 'fancy pants, fancy pants, fancy pants! I had struck Gold!

That night the hurricane happened. 

Two days later, when we were prepping the boat to have it pulled off the mud, we were reflecting on the previous nights misadventures. Talking about how in hindsight we should have done this and in hindsight we should have done that. There were sentences starting over and over again with 'in hindsight'.

After about the 5th time Hendo and I looked at each with a look of astonishment and realisation... an epiphany. Some might say, even similar to that of Isaac Newton when the apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity. Instantly it had become apparent that as much as I loved the name Fancy Pants, the boat wanted... In fact needed to be called Hindsight.

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THREE WEEKS ON

Sunset over Marina Don Jose



Dive Operations on Tobasco II



Fleet of Dinghy's for Gunthers Memorial

 

Getting Sexy Bruce Ink from Manuel

 

Nearly 3 weeks post hurricane Odile and life around the sailing community has started to come back together. The constant hugs and questions of how you are coping are getting few and further between.

A lot of the boats have been pulled off the beaches and the ones too far gone signed over to salvagers. 

The bodies of the three fellow sailors lost at sea were found and memorials have been held in their honour.

We have spent a week diving for the personal items of Paul and Simone on Tobasco II. An honour to be able to help out the family of an amazing couple that I know would have done the same if the circumstances had have been reversed.

Once again, the dolphins are visiting, the sunsets have become beautiful and the gentle rock of the boat at night is soothing to sleep to. All signs that La Paz and the sailing community here is slowly healing. 

 

 

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TRYING TO EMBRACE WINTER

 

Apparently I can't avoid winter, no matter how much I try so I decided this break while visiting mum in country Vic, that instead of loathing winter, I would embrace it. 

In the theme of winter, I pulled out my snowgear and got excited enough to peel myself away from the heater and drive two hours each way to spend the day hitting the 'slopes' at Mt Baw Baw. Snowboarding is my only exception to winter and it was actually awesome. The vis was bad, the snow was sludgy and it was drizzling all day but it was fun to be 'shredding'. 

Mt Baw Baw surprised me a little. Firstly I didn't realise the resort only had pommers and T-bars. Initially I found this kind of daunting, but after several runs and no incidences I realised this wasn't a problem. Secondly, Baw Baw is packed with tree runs. All are quite short, but there are heaps of little kickers over soft terrain which allowed me to hit them unnoticeably confident.

The really good thing about having a mountain so close to mums is the recovery from the cold at the end of the day. This meant I got to sit back in my spot in front of the heater, with a hot water bottle, mums pea and ham soup and two very warm, cuddly sausage dogs.

My winter advice... find some sun! If you can't, find your local mountain. 

 

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THE BEST FLIGHTS WEBSITE EVER!

 

Western Sahara, Morocco

 

Great Wall of China, Beijing

I feel like It's only right to share the cheap flight love with the 15 people that read my blog.

 

Now its actually pretty manageable affording to travel as much as I do, simply because I have learnt to manipulate a website www.skyscanner.com to find me the cheapest flights on offer. Maybe everyone already knows this.. but my mind was blown when I learnt about it.

 

Thanks to my sidekick Jordan who has stars in his eyes when it comes to travel, I was shown ways to find the cheapest destinations as well as cheapest times of year to travel.

Its simple. Just a matter of searching a city or country and being as vague or exact as you want. You can simply choose your departure city and destination as everywhere, a country or a specific city.

Dates can be chosen as whole years, months or days.

 

If you are flexible, you then can go through the next year to see what the cheapest dates are. It shows all flights as they are looked at by other people and updated as requested.

 

Sometimes this can be inaccurate but most the time is spot on.. $69 one way flights from Bali to Perth, $780 Perth to dublin return (a rare find), $373 Perth to Ho Chi Minh return and $1490 Melb to Cabo return are just a few of the random fares at low prices I have seen.

 

Even without booking flights, its my favourite website to checkout. Dreaming about all the amazing places I could go. The map function shows even more unusual destinations, making the world your oyster!

 

 

*maybe if all 15 of you read this blog, skyscanner will start paying me for advertising!

 

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TIMOR BIRTHDAY WEEK

Diving up the Coast

Santa Cruz Cemetary, Site of the Massacre in 1991



View of Dili and beaches from Cristo Rei  (Jesus statue)



Pre-Sunset



Birthday Donut (candle and all) at the Backpackers, with good people




It was my Birthday week last break, kind of last minute I decided to go to Timor Leste (East Timor) instead of diving in Komodo as first planned. I was already in Bali and tried to book flights online at around midnight to no avail, so rocked up to the airport with cash the next morning and got the first flight to Dili.
When I first arrived I spoke to lots of different foreigners, I established that time restraints make traveling in East Timor near impossible. Busses will run sporadically if at all and there are many routes where the only reliable transport is with a private driver.

So I spent the week as always, diving, eating and also looking around Dili. I went up the coast about an hour and a half to some really amazing dive sites. The coral is so alive, it reminded me of the start of Finding Nemo - so many vibrant colours. On my birthday I went diving local, looking for the resident dugong. I had no luck seeing George, but saw my first big seahorse (I saw Pygmy seahorses that day before) and had 'fake' clownfish try and chase me away from their babies. These fish seriously thought they were huge and didn't realise actually how small and non-threatening they were.

I spent a lot of the rest of my time looking at the sights and learning about Timor's volatile history. Sounds grim but at the same time it's refreshingly positive at how forgiving and how excited the Timorese are for the future.I discovered early on in the Trip, that they do not have their own beer, but I guess they have better things to do.

 East Timor is not an easy trip, but was a very rewarding one. I will go back, for longer next time.


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EAST TIMOR - MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Me and My New Besties

Local Praying at a Virgin Mary Statue

Timor Leste flag waving proudly on the street

What an amazing country Timor Leste is, I haven't had this same feeling for a country since I volunteered in Cambodia 10 years ago. From the custom officials at the building they call an international airport to the little old lady that grabbed my hand adoringly and wouldn't let go (no, she didn't ask for money). The people here are sensational. For a country that has so recently seen such hardship, everyone is so upbeat. 

 

There is an odd dynamic here though because it feels like there would be no foreigners around and yet it is full of them. They are mostly Aid, UN and government workers. There are very few foreigners here for tourism and the tourist infrastructure is hard to navigate.

Everything in the shops seem to be from elsewhere. Packaged food and drinks are imported from Europe to Australia and everywhere in between. Possibly part of the reason this country is so expensive.

The currency is in USD, I went to buy a towel from a standard local shop, the price said $18.50. I don't understand how a person living in a bamboo hut can afford to spend $18.50 on a towel. I thought the price might be a mistake, I didn't ask because my tetum is rusty (actually non-existent). Nearly 40% of the population in East Timor live below the intentional poverty line

 

The only big, nice buildings in Dili are government departments or foreign embassies. Lots of the embassies are beach front. They would be prime real estate anywhere else in the world.

 

There is something about this place that has so much charm. I think the most important thing in a country is the people, secondly the food, then the sights. This order only changes when the sights or the food is mind blowing. So far, on first impressions, the people in East Timor absolutely make the place.  

 

I'm off to go and look at a statue of Jesus at sunset!

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BOAT UPDATE NO 1

Sanding the hull still in his work shirt

Half Goo-ed

Jesus

  

The boat is still safe and sound in Mexico on the hard. From the photos and regular updates I get she is looking good. I'm pretty sure Jesus might be working on it so its going to be a pretty well done job!

Poor Hendo, while looking like Jesus and drinking copious amounts of Tequila - but as I have been told, not before knockoff (mine site spec) has been smashing out tons of work on the boat. To date he has replaced the engine mounts, replaced the compost head to a standard marine toilet (anyone that wants to hear about my hate for compost heads - I will make a whole post about it one day), serviced the engine, has had the boomkin stays fabricated and replaced AND the biggest job of all, fixing the blisters on the hull. Along with every other day to day failure that happens with boating life like unexpected dinghy problems while a km out in the harbour, generators exploding and the struggle for supplies in a non-English speaking country.

Still not sure why he's doing it, I'm going with love of the community, the lifestyle and tequila. He now has a mate named Eddie working for him so the work is getting done doubly as fast at the moment. The amount of work involved with the hull is insane, I could fill the next 15 posts with it.

In super brief, It is currently at the point of goo-ing aka epoxy-ing. After the hull was sanded back and all the blisters popped and gauged, the hull then gets goo-ed and sanded again. There are plans for painting soon and dropping her back in the water.

Bit worried I might never see either the boat or Hendo again once she's back in the water. Tracking device might be a good investment!

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CAMP LIFE

Epic Sunsets

Mining Selfie

The only patch of grass at Camp

So I have never really worked on a remote mine site. I have done fly in fly out and lived in remote towns but never been based in a camp for the duration of my shift. 

So far I love it here. Even with the rig moral of mine site life.

It's a whole new experience. After 7 hours of online inductions, a day of inductions in Perth and 2 more days of inductions on site, I was finally allowed to start work, but still had to be passed out to operate forklifts that I have a nationally recognised license to do. 

 

Everyday we walk to the food hall on the same footpaths one behind the other, we get on the bus to go to work, we get off the bus, get breathalysed, do morning stretches and have a pre-shift meeting. It's Almost like a dictatorship minus the dictator, the poverty and the fact we get paid a sh*tload of money.

 

 And.. I am so stoked to be here. I'm really lucky to be working with a top crew of people. Everyone so far has been really friendly (possibly helps being part of the female minority) and the work itself is good. 

 The wildlife from the mice that occupy our workspace to the cows

that wander across the road constantly keep me entertained. Apparently we have a resident bungarrow that I am yet to meet.

At the moment I am on nightshift, It's freezing cold up here at night! Whoever said the Pilbara is hot, lied!

 

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SEA RESCUE

 

 

 

This recent trip to Gili T was to do my Sea Rescue dive course. I got there earlier because of my job change and went up to the dive shop where I have previously stayed. The dive shop section seemed to be closed and the accommodation empty. I stayed however for two nights until they kicked me out because they ran out of water. Luckily I ran into the dive instructor the night before - she was on leave but was due to be back to work in a couple of days.

 

I was a tiny bit down and out, I didn't instantly fall back in love with Gili and I was worried my re-visit was going to be a fail. I felt a little sad and disillusioned that the place I had loved so much the previous time didn't feel the same. We worked out that I could start the theory of my course on the Thursday and start the pool/shore dives on Friday and so was keen to give it a go. I decided to go live it up in a hotel in Senggigi, Lombok for a night at a nice hotel and just chill. Turned out to be a beautiful spot and I met some cool people.

 

After my hotel stay I went back to Gili and it just slipped back into the same awesomeness. I instantly met people, ate some delicious satay and the Gili love was back.

Sea Rescue course was another story though, somehow with a lot of things I do, I don't really pay attention to the reality of what is actually required and get lost in the excitement of the concept. This was one of those things. My instructor was awesome and super patient but I didn't really love the course, didn't really have lots of fun pretending to save drowning people... wasn't really my cup of tea. BUT... Its something great to know, especially with my goals of diving and boating. here's to hoping I never have to use it!

 

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AIMEES GUIDE TO GILI T



Restaurant owners favourite dish

Sunrise instead of Sunset - Just to mix it up
 

Ferry port, Gili Trawangan

I have worked Asian travel so that it is cheaper than staying in Australia for my breaks.

For example Gili T in Indonesia - Perth to Lombok direct with jetstar $210 return. 2 hour taxi to the ferry port $20, half hour ferry $1.30. One nights accommodation between $25-$30. Scuba diving $35 per dive. Not to mention $2 beer and $2 for Mie goreng. Gili T in comparison to Lombok is quite expensive and this is me not being a tight ass and being a 'rich' tourist, if I was keener, I could do it cheaper.
 

Gili Trawangan makes up one of the three gili islands and is a backpacker haven for partying and diving. Surprisingly I have had little to do with the partying on the island because I have always been too keen on the diving.
 

I did my Advanced Open Water dive course here on Gili T about 3 months ago and fell in love with the place and the dive shop. All the diving is quite close to shore so it involves basically no travel time. Having dive sites so close means you can get a dive in, in the morning, come back for lunch, get a quick nap in and be ready for your afternoon dive. Then after your second dive, be back to shore by 3:30 to drink beer and swim in the pool. If you want
to get a night dive in you have to skip the beer

The sunset at the bottom end of the island is the 'thing' to do. There is two bars at the best viewing point that fill up about 45 mins before sunset. Sitting out front of the dive shop you can actually see the hoards of bikes heading past in that direction.

Food on Gili T is pretty amazing with lots of fresh Bbq'd seafood. A great place to sample local Indonesian food is at the night markets, with all sorts of variety from chicken noodle soup to fish in local spices with rice. I learnt from a friend that a good way to get good local food is to ask the waiter what their favourite dish is and order that. I have been doing this for a while now... Sometimes I win, sometimes I really lose.

Another thing that helps make for a unique little spot is that there are no motor vehicles on the island. Locals and tourists use horse and cart and bikes to get around. You can ride/push your bike around the island in about an hour.

 

Really not a hard place to spend my RDO's

 

 

 

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CURRENT - ISH

Karajini National Park, Western Australia

Hendo's leverage tool for changing the engine mounts

Diving Baja

Ok so I have found sailing, found Mexico, found a boat and bought it! Now were up to date...ish.

At current to sustain this lifestyle I am in Australia still working. My mate Hendo on the other hand was smart enough to quit his job and is in Mexico doing some work to my boat (absolute gun). He also has big plans of putting it back in the water and cruising around on it for a while. I am working to get back there.

In the meantime however, I have been lucky enough to have a two week on site, one week off site roster. Allowing me to be homeless and just about travel wherever I want for my week off, saving money by not paying rent and for a car, etc.

Over the past 18 months I have been floating between Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Kalgoorlie. And been on trips to China, Mexico (twice), Thailand, Indo (twice), Broome, Kununurra, and briefly Karratha and Karajini. Not a bad effort considering I have had a full time job.

Right now I am in the middle of changing sites with an unexpected 2 weeks leave(paid being debated) in between.

So what do u do when your put on the next plane out of Port Hedland... You book more flights. Too expensive and not enough time to fly to Mexico, so 10 Days diving in the Gili Islands it is!

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BOAT BUYING

 



The Sea Trial



Camaron Cerviche
 



The Ole Volvo



 

 

 The second I got to La Paz I knew I had made the right decision going. I had semi organised to stay on Franks boat but was pretty vague on the details. He knew around when we were arriving and I just kind of figured I would meet him at our local bar. When I arrived he had organised a little welcome back gathering - with some of my favourite people that were still in La Paz, along with some friendly new faces. Instantly I was glad I had made the journey.

 

When your actually in La Paz, time slows down. Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like months. Luckily for me this meant not only could I get in some boat buying time, I also had plenty of time to eat all my favourite foods. Having a weeks worth of time in one day also meant that I could eat more than just 3 meals each day- which is exactly what I need when it comes to cramming all the best taco stands and restaurants into 3 days. 

On day two we went on a sea trial. Luckily for us there was just enough wind for a beautiful day of sailing. She comfortably fit 8 of us and handled perfectly. She is an incredibly sturdy yet forgiving sailboat and I was instantly in love. In love with the boat, in love with ocean and in love with the lifestyle. Only one minor oversight...

I really know very little about sailing!
 

 

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APPARENTLY YOU SHOULD VIEW A YACHT WHEN YOU BUY IT!



 



 

Hendo, Lulu, Frank & Steve at Costa Baja

 

When Frank told me about this boat I was intrigued. A 1978 Rafiki Cutter - the type of boat I had been originally dreaming of. A boat covered in Teak, that I could pretend was my own miniature pirate ship.

 I got as much info as I could from the owner and had friends (Frank included) go and look at it. I was going to make my decision blindly from Australia. - I didn't have the leave and was very uninterested at the thought of going all the way to Mexico just for my rostered week off.

I was at work in the shipping container (makeshift hose-shop) when I told my friend Hendo about the possible purchase. He was pretty adamant that I should at least go over and look at it before I made a decision. I wasn't keen but deemed it do-able to fly over on my one week break. $1500 flights being the decision maker.

Hendo seemed as intrigued by this boat as I was and I think the fact I was randomly heading to Mexico gave him a good excuse to get out of Port Hedland for a week, so off we trotted.

 

Going to Mexico for a week in itself was quite a feat. From Port Hedland to La Paz was nearly 40 hours each way. 4 flights, 4 airport lounges, many cocktails and a 2 hour drive. That left 4 nights/3 full days in Mexico.

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FRANK

 

 

Frank and I briefly met at a backpackers in Ocean Beach, San Diego. Frank was driving down to Mexico in the direction I was heading and as I am always looking for a free ride, I hit him up for a lift in return for some great company! Frank is a young at heart, 60 ish year old semi retired Texan lawyer; always keen for company and a good debate or philosophical discussion on life. I also since learnt that he knows more about 60's and 70's Rock than anyone I have ever met! The morning of our departure another girl from the backpackers Alison, decided to join us as well.

I had only planned on heading about 150kms down the Baja Peninsula, however, after sitting in the car with Frank for a brief period of time we obviously got chatting about where Frank was going. Turns out he had just bought a 32ft downeaster called Island Seeker in La Paz and he was heading down to put it in the water to live on...

Safe to say all the sailing dreams/goals and bucket list priority came flooding back. I made the 1500km journey to La Paz with Frank and Alison and spent 3 months in the town and on the surrounding islands. I also had the privilege of being part of an amazing community of sailors where I inherited my 'La Paz Parents' and a La Paz Family.
 

18 months-ish after returning home - back to work in North Western Australia, doing Fly in Fly out to Port Hedland; I got a Facebook message from Frank saying 'if you still want to buy a boat, then I have found the one for you'

 

 

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