Rubbish photos of cool things

I enjoy taking and sharing good photos, so I nearly didn't bother posting these ones because they are so rubbish. But the subject matter is too cool not to mention, so here goes...

Whales

November is prime time for whale migration through the Wetar Strait. On a couple of trips to Oecusse recently I managed to spot some! The second time I had my camera.

Rubbish photo of a whale from 3500 ft

A volcanic eruption

Also on a trip to Oecusse last week, I saw a strange cloud in the distance. This wasn't the usual towering cumulus - it was growing much too quickly for that and had the wrong shape. I realised it must be a volcanic eruption.

It took a few days for a news article to emerge, but here is some more information. The volcano is Lewotolo, about 130 km northwest of Oecusse.

Rubbish photo of a volcanic eruption

Weather or not

Yesterday we were asked to take a charter group to Suai in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon.

Sounds pretty simple, right?

For the morning flight, it was - no cloud, hardly any wind, smooth conditions.

Cloud in the valleys near Aileu

Bobonaro gap, looking north

Mt Ramelau and a cloudless sky

Come the afternoon, however, it was a different story.

I took off from Dili and headed towards Suai on the direct route (the same way I had gone in the morning). However there were rain showers filling the valley, so I headed west towards Maliana in the hope of finding a clear route near the Indonesian border.

Overhead Maliana I could see a gap between the cloud and the terrain and sunshine on the other side. It was like flying through a letterbox...

Bobonaro gap, after flying through the 'letterbox'

On the ground at Suai, with towering cumulus over the main range

I met the passengers at Suai and explained that I might not be able to go back the same way but would do my best.

I attempted to take the low route to Maliana but was blocked by a thundercloud. Then I skirted along the foothills towards the Bobonaro gap and had a look to make sure I definitely couldn't get through. I could see it was clear along the south coast, so continued eastwards, knowing that I could get through the Viqueque gap at 2500 ft.

As we flew over Same the cloud and rain cleared and the entire range west of there was clear, so I climbed to clear the range and picked up my usual Same-Dili route.

The flight took 53 minutes instead of the usual 33, but it saved the passengers a 5-hour drive, and was a very useful adverse weather experience for me.

Afternoon flight: Dili to Suai (orange)
Suai to Dili (red)

Destination: Maliana

Maliana lies to the west of Dili, near the land border with Indonesia. The most direct route, which takes about 20 minutes, requires an altitude of at least 4500 ft. However we can still get there if there is low cloud, by flying around the coast and up the wide river valley, which takes about 30 minutes.

Runway directions: 11/29
Length: 860 m (680 m for take-off 11 and landing 29)
Altitude: 700 ft
Surface: Dirt/Gravel
Slope: 1% down to west
Obstructions: High terrain to east/south-east. People, animals and vehicles frequently on airstrip.

High terrain around Maliana.
The airstrip is next to the green horizontal strip in the centre.

Overhead view of the airstrip

Cristo Rei

Cristo Rei is one of Dili's major landmarks. It is a statue of Jesus gifted to the people of Timor by the Indonesian government. ('Cristo Rei' means 'Christ the King').

Since I had the day off on Thursday, I thought I would pay a visit. Although I'd been to the car park a couple of times, I had never walked the path all the way up to the statue. It was also an opportunity to go for a bike ride somewhere that I was a little bit familiar with.

Typical fishing boat, with Cristo Rei in the distance (left)

Nearly at the car park... Beautiful clear beaches

Cristo Rei statue

View from the statue back to Dili

Fish market a few blocks from my house

Getting creative

About 5-6 weeks ago I gave up on dealing with issues with the water pump at the house I was at, and given there was another MAF house that was vacant, asked if I could move there.

The last 2 weeks there have been water pump issues at the new house too. (Maybe it's me? or maybe it's just Timor...) Thankfully the garden tap is working, so there was no need to go in to work to fill up water containers. But I don't have the strength to carry enough water inside the house to do a load of laundry, for instance.

On Friday I had the day off work so decided to take matters into my own hands. I realised it's not the bucket showers, but not having running water inside the house, that is doing my head in.

From the garden tap...

...through the garden...

...past the back door...

...in the cat flap...

...through the laundry...

...into the kitchen...

...running water in the sink

Cost:
30 m garden hose   $16.50
2x hose connectors  $1.20
Hose sprayer    $3.50
Total            $21.20

A small price to pay for my sanity!

(Postscript: the landlord replaced the water pump the following day, so all the taps, toilet and shower are now working again. But I've left the hose in situ just in case.)

Mt Ramelau

Last weekend I went with Rob and Catharina to Hatobulico, the highest village in Timor-Leste and gateway to Mt Ramelau, the highest mountain. Andy was able to come along as well, since our only aircraft is currently grounded.

Saturday

We left Dili at around 8:30 and stopped in Aileu to visit a vanilla bean farm that Rob had heard about, and to pick up some vegetables from the local markets.

Rob buying potatoes at the market in Aileu

We had lunch at a roadside warung near Maubisse, then just before Flexia (pronounced ‘FLAY-sheeah’) we turned off to follow the road to Hatobulico. 16 km of ‘Timor cobblestones’ - basically a road made of rocks, which makes it hard to drive more than about 10 km/h.

On the Hatobulico road. Mt Ramelau is obscured by cloud in the distance.

‘Timor cobbles’ road (this was a relatively good section)

Hatobulico

Something from lunch had disagreed with me so we had to stop a few times... We finally made it to the guest house and spent the afternoon relaxing.

Sunday 

Rob and Catharina had visited a local church on a couple of previous visits and had been told that there was a revival of some sort happening, so we all went to join in the service. There was a notable spirit of repentance among the people and an emphasis on exalting Jesus. We were made to feel very welcome.

Talking with people outside the church after the service

After church we went for a short drive and walked to the top of one of the hills where there is a cellphone tower and a great lookout over the local area.

Admiring the view from the cellphone tower site. Mt Ramelau still obscured by cloud.

Catharina and I chose to walk back to the guesthouse a different way.

Monday

Since the weather pattern at the moment is that cloud builds up on the mountains in the afternoons, we had an early start for our climb of Mt Ramelau. Many people start the walk at 3:00 am to get to the top in time to see the sunrise, but we didn’t feel the need to do that - a 6:30 start in order to be at the top by around 9:30 was sufficient!

Keen walkers with Mt Ramelau behind

Entrance to the park

The first section has well-formed steps

          

View of the foothills and south coast, looking east

Up, up, up...

View of Kabulaki (mountain on the left) and Ainaro

Nearly at the top

We made it!

Looking back down on Hatobulico, and view to the east

View northwest towards Maliana

Ainaro township and the south coast

A ‘gruta’ (grotto) near the park entrance. Hint: side trips are usually worth exploring!

Departure 

Rob, Catharina and I had taken our bikes and were planning to bike back on Tuesday. However by the end of the walk my knee was starting to pack up, and with a few stressful things anticipated at work this week I decided it was probably best to come back with Andy in the car on Monday afternoon, and use Tuesday to recover!

People visiting grave sites for All Saints & All Souls holidays (the reason for the long weekend)

Typical tropical cloud and weather near Aileu