July 17 - Starting our budget boat cruise

July 17 Day 153

                We woke up and had a hearty breakfast at the fancy hotel next door to us.  They had a pool off the restaurant and a skyline of Sydney painted on one wall as well as a very attentive staff.

                We packed up and I headed to the hotel where we were to be picked up right on time.  We waited for about 20 minutes until the desk clerk said there was a call for me and that the shuttle had left without us.  I asserted that we had been on time and the shuttle must have left early.  It was no matter as they sent another driver who was very nice and got us to the dock in about half an hour.

                Once there, we waited for more than an hour in a room with a bunch of other people.  We poke with Artemis, who would be on our boat and was a Swiss Kurd who was also a social worker so lots of overlap with our experience. 

                We paid with a pile of cash that we had been saving up from multiple ATM trips over the last week.  We also had to pay for non-covered items we would want on the boat and so had to figure out how many beers, juices and snacks we would want and pay up front.  The guy collecting the money said he would give us change but never did, part of his "commission" we figured.

                Finally we got going onto the dock to our boat.  It was fairly small, with a closed deck without enough seating for everyone opening onto a small open deck with a ladder to a larger open deck.  On the main floor was the captain's deck with a cooler and cases of water in front of it (we were allotted 6 bottles per person).  Behind this was a cubby for four people to sleep in followed by the kitchen and two washrooms, one western and one squat.  Above this was a large enclosed space strewn with mattresses where most of the 30 passengers would sleep.  We grabbed a spot close to the ladder for easy washroom access and plopped our things there.  Big backpacks went under the main floor and could be accessed if you forgot something, but not easily.

                The first day was mainly about making distance with one spot to jump in the water and swim.  Most people went onto the open deck to hang out and we were really surprised by the large number of smokers among the young travelers, more than half of them puffing away.  People were from all over, German, Dutch, New Zealanders etc.  There were a few people out age but most folks were in their 20s but friendly enough.

                Lunch was served and the food on board was pretty good.  They'd put it on a tablecloth in the covered area and people would serve themselves as best they could.  For the first day we were on open seas and the boat was quite rocky.  One Chinese woman was really sick looking and Meg had to lie down by mid-afternoon.  At dinner I felt better after choking down some food but Meg couldn't eat.  In the early evening they arranged a dropoff for the sick Chinese woman and her friend so they could land and make their way back to Bali.  Meg decided to try toughing out the trip and stayed in bed.  The Chinese women were disappointed but gave us their extra nausea pills as they figured they wouldn't be doing any more boating.

                I went to bed ahead of most people but some were also feeling bad and were reading on their mattresses.  Our spot was just behind the open deck but we couldn't hear anyone because of the drone of the boat's motor.  I put in my earbuds and managed to be rocked to sleep before too long.

Our ship and some of the passengers.

Our luxurious sleeping quarters.

The view was quite stunning.