One with Nature

Well, my time here in Sorowako is once again quickly drawing to an end. And once again it has been a very rewarding experience. Not a bad way to spend a Thompson winter!

While I spent most of this past weekend working feverishly trying to make sure everything I set out to do is finished by the time I leave I did take some time to enjoy some of the many sights available to those who are inquisitive and/or adventurous enough to explore. As I have done in the past here I did somethings for at least the second time and in doing so became richer for the experience.

On Saturday, while the crew I regularly golf with were off elsewhere, either on leave or working, I still went out and got in 9 holes. I hit the links by myself and my caddie but soon caught up with a group of 5 Indonesians. As usual I am unable to remember their names but still we enjoyed one another's company for several holes. At that point a group of 3 fellow Canadians caught with us so I joined them with the intent of helping the former bunch proceed a bit faster and slow the others down!

One of the new group is Carey, a former resident of Thompson now in Sorowako on contract, after retiring. And of course the other two I have forgotten their names too! A life long affliction I might add and not one brought on by age. As it turns out they had taken a different path through the course and this was their 9th and final hole so we didn't stay together very long. As it turned out Ron and Susan Capstick (pictured here) and originally from Sudbury (Ron being another Inco retiree hired on contract) were just teeing off, so I joined up with them and played holes 2 through 5 again in order to get in my 9.

Ron has taken full advantage of all that Sorowako has to offer including trying to get in a round right after work every day the weather permits. I'm sure he was a reasonable golfer anyway but through much practice he does very well and made me very envious of the way he could hit the ball! And Susan was no slouch either! Regardless of my jealousies I now feel much better prepared for the upcoming golf season back in Canada. Hopefully I won't become too rusty by the time I get to swing a club again.

After the game I showered and then took a drive to Wawandula to pick up a few things at the market. And of course dropped by Diane's Boutique to check things out there too. As it turns out she has expanded into a much nicer shop immediately next door to her previous one that is both brighter and roomer. I swear I am getting worse than Janice when it comes to looking at fabric but the designs and colours are just so amazing its hard not to be impressed.

On the way back to the dorm I saw once again a common sight here, and one I have mentioned previously and that is female passengers on the ubiquitous small motorbike riding "side-saddle". For once I picked up my camera and took a snap to record the sight!

Yesterday I went on a nature hike with one of my other New Zealand friends, Andrew Osborne. We took the same path Richard Jones, one of my other New Zealand friends, and I had taken two week previously when we walked over the hills to Wasapunda. What was different this time is that Andrew and I in effect took some time to "smell the roses" as the focus of the trip was to enjoy the myriad flora and fauna. While many species I have no idea what they are a few I was able to recognise, such as tree ferns, a hold over from prehistoric times as they are well represented in the fossil record going back hundreds of millions of years ago.

The inset life is especially varied with many different butterflies and damsel flies (the more delicate version of dragon flies). It is amazing the variety of colours the latter come in with the orange and yellow ones being the more memorable ones. But that pales in comparison to the variety of colours and patterns one sees in the different butterflies, and we didn't even see many of these really as Sorowako apparently is very famous for its myriad butterflies.

Of primary interest though were the birds. While we saw several small flocks of parakeets they were too speedy to get a good look at but their call is very distinctive. And while I didn't get a good look Andrew did of a kind of Hornbill endemic to the Island of Sulawesi. But I sure could hear him as they make quite a raucous sound. One other species we were able to identify was a "white-eye", about the size of a small thrush with a white ring around each eye. If I ever have the opportunity to come back here I will have to try and remember to bring my binoculars!

Along the way we came across some of the local peasant loggers who carry out illegal logging which in reality is the way it should be done - very selective, taking only the largest mature trees and leaving the rest to grow to full size. Far better than the clear-cutting so prevalent in Canada. It is amazing though what they can do with just a chain-saw! They cut down the tree and then right there proceed to convert it into boards of amazingly uniform thickness! One thing that was very obvious to me, as I have a chain-saw powered saw-mill is that they don't use rip chain as I had been recommended to use but instead use conventional cross-cut chain. It results in much larger cuttings and I would say is also much faster. But most importantly it really doesn't affect the quality of the cut surface! While running through a planer certainly would help it wouldn't be by much!

On our way back we got rained upon a bit but the heavy shower was more to the north of us so we didn't get very wet, but hey, what do you expect when in a "rain forest" area! The walk back was done pretty carefully though as the road was pretty slippery.

And this draws to a close the latest chapter in my adventures in south-east Asia. I begin the journey back to Canada first thing on Friday morning, with Andrew being on the same flight as far as Jakarta so it certainly won't be boring! By the way, his nick name here is "Mr. Bean" yet, as he himself acknowledges, "but Mr. Bean doesn't talk!". A real pleasure to be around! I have met so many fantastic people out this way, whether it be the very affable and adventurous New Zealanders or the many happy and friendly Indonesians! This place will always have a special place in my heart.

Easy Rider

I am beginning to get into quite a regimen here now; up at 4:30 am, shave and shower by 5 and then online for an hour instant messaging with Janice and my mother back in Canada (works out to be about 4 pm the previous day there). At 6 it is off to the canteen for breakfast and then off to work.

For the first couple of weeks I was taking a lunch (usually some fruit as I frequently forgot to place an order for a sandwich the evening before). But this last week I was giving myself a break by driving the 5 or so km back to the dorm for lunch before returning to the EMD office for the afternoon.

And at work I having been satisfied with the progress being made as I have two technical reports almost complete as well as I keep revising and improving a Resource Estimation Manual. Plus I have added several more scripts to the catalogue! As I mentioned last time it is nice to be able to focus with few interruptions, or at least until the novelty wears off. Then I will be searching for interruptions to add some variety to the day!

This past weekend I continued to take advantage of many of the different activities that, back in Canada, are only available for that brief time called summer. Saturday morning is becoming my regular golf day. My good friend Rolando Ancheta is back from a couple of weeks in North America, including a week in New York city. He joined Eugene, Ito and I and we played 18 holes (it was Rolando that got me golfing here in the first place!). Here's a picture of us after the first 9 holes, with left to right me, Rolando, Eugene and Ito. The afternoon I spent working.

Today I went on a motorcycle trip with Richard Jones and another engineer from New Zealand, Leith. Last weekend Richard had asked me about doing a trip by motorbike from Nuha, on the other side of the lake up to the coast, right after we got back from our walk through the mountain pass to Wasapunda. My initial and immediate reply was "no way!", seeing as how, back in Canada, I am not even licensed to drive a motorcycle! But on further reflection my adventurous side was piqued. Then I checked my International Drivers license and saw that I am permitted to drive everything but a bus with more than 8 seats, in addition to the drivers! So I told him, that as long as we didn't try going at high rates of speed, to count me in.

So he arranged to rent two motorcycles from a shop in Sorowako village for 150,000 rupiah each for the day. That works out to just over $16. He also managed to get one of his co-workers, Leith, to join us. There is a fellow Canadian by the name of Jeff who was here who teaches English as a second language to the locals. He is currently away right now while his contract gets renewed but he left his motorcycle with Leith who suggested that rather than go across the lake why not take the old road from Wasapunda to Malilie, on the coast to the south? And that is what we did, or at least attempted to do.

So this morning Richard and I went and picked up our bikes: a pair of Korean 4-strokes, around the 200 cc mark and then drove them back to the dorm to meet up with Leith. Well, we just made it as the bike I rode had just enough gas to get there! Leith managed to drain a litre or so out of the tank of Jeff's bike to get me to a fuel depot where I then spent an additional 30,000 to fill it up. As it took approximately 10 litres that works out to about 3000 rupiah per litre ( about $0.35/l)!

The ride to Wasapunda was uneventful although I was a bit tense at first as, while I have driven 4-wheelers a lot over the years, this was the first time on a motorcycle in about 35 years! We found the road, if you want to call it that, and began our journey. It really isn't much more than a dirt track very similar to many an old logging road back home that has become disused and grown in. Here's a picture of Richard and Leith overlooking the Wasapunda valley. As it turns out Jeff's bike is a road bike not designed for backwoods muddy trails and so the front wheel seized from packed in mud so we had to turn back.

We then drove down to Wawondula, down to Towuti lake and then up a another dirt track which we thought would take us to the first power station on the river flowing out of Towuti Lake. As it turned out it didn't go there at all. While still in better shape than the previous, it ended up again being a muddy track and we had to stop in this isolated village where Leith then proceeded to unstick his front wheel. So once more we turned around and headed back! It was kind of surreal driving down this poor excuse for a road and then coming across a strip of asphalt with houses on both sides!

Well that took all of the morning and into the early afternoon. Leith had to go to work, I had seen enough (and besides, my rear end was awfully sore as the seat on the bike is far from comfortable!), but Richard was determined to see all of the old road to Malilie. So we parted company and went our separate ways.

While a very interesting trip I don't think I will try this again for some time, if at all! Because my bike was really hard to start my right hip is sore and my shin is all bruised. But all in all it was still an excellent adventure!