Hi all!

Just got a pair of emails from my sister and mother asking if I was allright. Yes, I am. Though it took me a while to figure out what the hell they were talking about. For those of you without an atlas, or those too lazy to look it up online, I'm on the island of Gili Trawangan, off the NW coast of Lombok, between the islands of Bali and Sumbawa, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Lesser Sunda Islands, in the SE of the Indonesian archipelago (see map). Pretty far removed from the Sumatran earthquake... however, thank you for your concern. I don't think that any of us here have received any word of the goings on, not even the locals.

Anyway, I'm just kicking back on the sand between dives, and lounging in a hamock on the veranda of my bungalow, devouring a trio of books. Hard life, but someone's got to do it. The diving isn't amazing, but I love it anyhow. Am giving more serious consideration to the divemaster program, and might even do it here at Manta Dive, if I can extend my visa. But as of now, indications are pointing to Ko Tao in Thailand.

I went on another motorbike ride in the South of Lombok three days ago, and had a blast. This time, I shot down south on the main road to get there as fast as possible, knowing that I would need many hours to negotiate the return route that I had chosen. Rightly so. After turning off at the southern beach town of Kuta, the back roads (if you can call them that) meandered through some of the prettiest countryside I have ever had the privilege to see. Climbing steeply through rolling hills and endless terraces of rice paddies before falling back down into coastal valleys providing ridiculously scenic vistas of the many coves and bays dotting the shore. Petering along on my 125 cc bike, in second gear most of the time, doing my damndest to concentrate on the treacherous road with one eye and hand while waving, smiling and calling out to the villagers and the pursuing children along the way. I think that I may be the only silly white boy that has driven through many of those villages and unmarked roads, thereby generating surprise and mirth wherever I appeared.
It took me nearly five hours to make it back to Senggigi, and I was lucky that my fuel held out until the next station. Had to fight off the rain on the last leg of the route, but didn't mind too much. By that time, I was pretty much back to passable roads, so I made haste to get home.

I took a video with my digital camera of one of the downhill runs in the back country: pretty funny stuff. Me yapping away while holding the camera in front of the bike, one eye on the viewfinder, the other on the road, and one hand on the handlebars. I'm a dummy.
If I can find enough bandwidth in KL, I'll try to post it along with some pics.

OK, that's all for now.
Toodles.