Surfing in Rote

As usual, COVID still impacted out trip and being on a very small and remote island meant that the only place to get a PCR test was at the airport. The pop-up clinic was open by appointment and our swabs were sent over to Kupang on the morning ferry the next day.  It may not be easy, but there is always a way to get it done!

Even though we didn't particularly want to spend 2 hours of our afternoon driving and getting tested, we did enjoy the scenery again.  Lovely homes and beautiful flowers abounded.

A typical shop

Local school

Church

The little clinic at the airport where the sweet ladies were waiting to do our PCR swabs.

An evening soccer game in the village of Nemberala.

We made it back just in time for the most perfect hour of the day - sunset!

Lots more games and relaxation to be had in our last few days!

Matt did plenty of surfing throughout the week and the kids went with him once, but I wasn't interested until we found out that a wave would break in an easy spot for about an hour at mid-tide on our last full day.  It was the perfect family wave! No boats, no hard paddling, no early wake-up!

I even got in on some of the action!

It was a gentle wave perfect for long boards and catching rides together.

We rode all the waves we could until the water level dropped so far that the rocks started appearing. What a perfect morning!

So many happy memories were made in this perfect spot!

But like all things, this amazing week had to come to an end.  We soaked up every minute of our last sunset with our favorite bottle of wine.

We left the resort at 5am and watched the sun bring the morning color to the clouds while we dealt with local traffic on the roads.

We did our quick flight over to Kupang and then had a 4.5 hour layover, which wasn't ideal, but gave us plenty of time to watch the Astros clinch the AL championship and earn their trip to the World Series again!

We went to Rote not really having much idea of what to expect and absolutely fell in love with beauty and the pace of life.  We left refreshed and renewed and huge fans of this little-known slice of heaven. Hope to see you again one day, Rote!

Island Camping

This particular resort was recommended to us by friends and their favorite experience was a campout on a nearby uninhabited island.  We took their advice and planned for a night on a completely deserted island.  Thankfully, we didn't have to rough it too much because a crew of four went with us to take good care of the food and camp for us! The scenery on the way over was very enjoyable.

When we arrived on the island around noon, it did feel pretty big and empty.  I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but the guys jumped right into making camp and all we had to do was explore and enjoy.

And we had no problem enjoying it here!  With the exception of a few fishing boats nearby, there was absolutely no one around and just white sand and blue water as far as we could see.

The guys called us when our lunch was ready - some fresh grilled fish and fresh coconut water.

Our camp was coming together, complete with animal barriers for the lizards and crabs.

We discovered that the island is covered with hermit crabs that appear in huge numbers as the sun goes down.

Alex spent hours collecting crabs and making different obstacle courses for them.

We also walked down the beach and collected some pretty amazing shells.

The crabs picked the remains of our lunch to the bone!

Turns out they also really like coconuts! I think the guys put these out around our camp to attract the crabs away from us overnight and it worked like a charm.

Nothing like a sunset swim when it feels like you're the only people in the entire world!

Sunset was so peaceful and perfect!

Shortly after sunset, the biggest full moon rose in the east.

Moonlight shadows!

Dinner was more freshly caught fish and sambal...delicious!

We did have a few curious visitors but relocated them before bedtime.

Later, it was campfire time on the beach! We do know there are monitor lizards on the island because one ran out of some branches that Alex added to the fire.

The moon was like a spotlight all night. I was grateful because I didn't even need a flashlight to head out into the brush for a bathroom break.  It was incredible to hear the waves from every direction and not another sound in the world. 

In the morning, the beach was nothing but hermit crab tracks, but they had already disappeared for the day.

We took a sunrise walk and enjoyed our private island just a little while longer.

It took a lot of work to make all the meals when nearly everything had to be brought in and we were so grateful for the guys that took such good care of us and camped on the beach with us.

They did some early fishing and already had the day's first catch!

We had a wonderful morning snorkeling and Matt caught a barracuda.  At first I thought we'd need a lot of entertainment to fill our days but we had no problem staying busy and enjoying everything the beach had to offer. I was disappointed when the tides dictated that it was time to go back...I could have stayed on our perfect little island of solitude just a little longer!

Thanks for the memories, Pulau Doo! We'll never forget our night here.