S/V Indian Summer 1

We left Oecusse at dusk and travelled the 90NM to Kupang, Indonesia arriving early afternoon the next day.  Uneventful sail – nice and relaxed overnighter.  We are taking part in the Sail Indonesia rally which left Darwin the day before we did, so the four boats, Indian Summer!, Site, Chaotic Harmony & Osborne Star from East Timor all arrived a couple of days before everyone else.  We contacted customs and quarantine who need to come aboard the boat before we can officially check in on land.   BUT.. this is Indonesia.  Check-in normally should take around 2-4 hours but we were advised that no-one would come aboard that day, but that we were allowed to come ashore and have a drink at Teddy’s Bar – a popular haunt for cruisers.   To cut a long story short, it took three days to clear in and that included about the ten minutes when the customs hall emptied of officials as they all ran out to see a crocodile that was swimming around outside,  but eventually we were free to cruise around the gorgeous islands of Indonesia.  First night in Kupang we  all went out for dinner – $1.50 for a delicious Mee Goreng – loving these prices!  Children in costume came to Teddy’s Bar and we chatted to locals who wanted to improve their English.   Most of us were just waiting around to complete all  the cruising housekeeping stuff – organising  fuel, laundry, sim cards for Indonesia, provisioning etc.  Kupang is a very busy, crowded place but really clean and very welcoming to cruisers.At Teddy’s bar we met many other sailors, some of them have been sailing the world for many years and we are learning from them all aspects of living on board.  Next stop Alor …