ilse & gerhard sind wieder zurück von ihrer tour mit der amira. wir haben die fotos von einem gast bekommen, der scheinbar schon zuhause ist & den auftrag der oldies bekommen hat, uns zu sagen, dass es ihnen gut geht. :) außerdem haben wir von noch von zwei weiteren stationen emails bekommen, dass “eishockey” (= alles okay) bei ihnen ist. am 03. haben bini & ich außerdem folgende sms von ihnen bekommen:

Good News wir sind in Sorong zurück. Der amira Trip ist beendet. Leider haben meine Ohren am schluß nicht mehr mitgemacht und Bauchweh hab ich auch ( 70proz der gäste hat da ein Virus angegriffen mich hat’s am letzten Tag erwischt). Sarahs comp ist Super ich hab einen tollen Film hingekriegt Hd.!
Bad News: Urs hat meine Lampe in Frankfurt bei der sicherheitskontrolleliegengelassen – hoffe er kriegt sie bei der Rückreise
2. Mama hat den Photoapparat absaufen lassen
3. Es gab keine Äpfel an Bord – so kam es nur zu einem Kaiserschmarren
Ilse hat 72 tauchg und taucht Super
Ich hab 70
Jetzt gehts weiter nach wamena
Hoffe es geht euch gut
Gutes neues Jahr. Aber die Grüße habt ihr ja über die Sterne ja bekommen pa u ma
Bussi an omiiiii

letztes weihnachten noch ungewohnt normal, heure wieder gewohnt gestresst. da ilse & gerhard ja mittlerweile auf west papua sind, musste vorgefeiert werden. am 3.12. kam also das christkind zu uns! es gab ein festessen, viel musik von bini, einen christbaum mit lichterkette {kerzen sind oldschool!} & die bescherung. wir haben uns umarmt & frohe weihnachten gewunschen. so als wär es eben der 24.12.. das klappt im paralleluniversum k1 überraschend gut!

jedenfalls habe ich bei der zwergenprinzessin wieder unser weihnachtsmenü gepostet. schaut mal rüber, aber eines vorweg: euch wird das wasser im mund zusammenlaufen! :)

other news:

Hallo Sarah ! Hallo Sabrina!
Hallo Maedels grundsaetzlich geht es uns sehr gut – haben schon 7 Tauchgaenge hinter uns – unser Resort ist ganz in der Naehe des Flugzeuwracks wo wir 2008 tauchtem. Alles funktioniert. bis auf:
Mamas Lampe (die neue schwarze Modell 1500) ist abgesoffen. Unsere Idee ist dass ihr mit Harald aus Wien es so organisierst dass er eine neue Lampe einem Gast der Amira mitgibt. Wer das sein koennte, koenntet ihr bei unserem Reiseveranstalter hinterfragen(habt ihr ja in den Unterlagen). Beim gleichen Modell wuerden wir nur die Lampe mit allen ORingen nicht unbedingt das Ladegeraet brauchen. Waere super fuer Mama – die ganz traurig ist ueber den Vorfall.ich hoffe mein Basecamp schafft das – dann ist Apollo Westpapua wieder Flugklar!!!!!Wir lieben Euch Papa und Mama

homebase wien kann schon einen teilerfolg vermelden. die lampe ist durch die hilfe von maik von aquaventure tauchreisen & harald von subal {an dieser stelle: danke!} unterwegs in die schweiz zu einem weiteren gast des tauchschiffes amira. wenn alles gut geht {zoll! post!} & die kleine lampe bis samstag da angekommen ist, dann haben die oldies hoffentlich wieder licht in raja ampat. also noch ein paar tage daumen drücken, dann fällt der armen mama hoffentlich bald ein riesenstein vom herzen in den ozean.

ilse & ich werden am 07.12. nach west papua aufbrechen. sabrina, sarah und ich waren ja bereits im jänner 2008 in der gleichen gegend. immer wird uns dabei in erinnerung bleiben, wie wir an einer putzerstation die mantas beobachten konnten. dabei gelang uns eine 11 minten(!) lange aufnahme ohne schnitt.

liebe grüße,
gerhard

For the next week we went to Gangga Island. On the tip of a small island near Manado in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, lies Gangga Island Resort & Spa. The resort’s fifteen wooden bungalows are discreetly set on the edge of a long, white sand beach in the shade of coconut trees.

We got picked up at the airport and on the way with the car we went to an indonesian fuel station as well. that was quite interesting, because they have the fuel in old 2liter glass coca cola bottels. i think u can imagine how long it takes to fill a tank ;) after this experience we had a 30minutes ride to an harbour where we went on a jetty which brought us to the island. on the jetty we didn’t get the cocktail which our agency had promised us, but we got a bottle of water – which we thankfully drank at once.

the resort is very nice. from the jetty you walk, passing the diving center on the right hand side, to the reception where u get your key, the papers for the dive center to sign and a cocktail. in front of the reception is the bar (with a very weird bartender) and right hand side is the restaurant, which offers european cuisine. i liked it a lot, but gerhard was unsatisfied. he wished for hot spicey indonesian food and got everyday extra chilli and sweet soy sauce. after a while even without asking for it.

the accomodation is very comfortable! with huge and cosy beds, air conditioning, and a patio with a sunbed, a table and a chair. furthermore, each room has its own space on the beach, where u can find two other sunbeds and a windless area.

Unfortunately, sarah and i were sick for almost the whole week so we can’t say that much about the dives, however, we really enjoyed our stay (especially the hbo channel ;)) the staff is really nice and very concerned about the guests. they even brought a doctor to us, gave us medicine and asked quite often we needed anything else.

a negative point was that we didn’t know before that we’d have to pay extra for the new year’s eve dinner, which was another 90 bucks each. so not that cheap! but therefore very delicious!

gangga island resort is certainly a cosy place to sty in north sulawesi. especially for those families or couples with non-divers! we met a lot of people there who didn’t dive but enjoyed their stay as much as we did.

we flew with silk air from singapore to manado in north sulawesi on the 22nd. north sulawesi is in the northern most part of central indonesia. it is just south of the philippines in the north pacific ocean. a crew-member welcomed us at the airport (all bags arrived!) and after meeting all other guests we were transferred in an air-conditioned bus to the boat.

about the boat:

the ship was built in 1988 and is 107 feet long. there is space for 18 passengers who sleep in either “deluxe” staterooms with double and single berths, lavatory, hair dryer and private head and shower or in the “quad” stateroom with four single berths, hair dryer and private head and shower (it’s located on the upper deck).

the main salon is equipped with dvd players incl. some dvds, surround sound music and a digital projector (the captain and his brother show video or photo footage every evening) and also a desk top computer with satellite connection for e-mail.

the dive deck is spacious with a large camera table and plenty of charging ports for 110 or 220 volts. every guest has his individual dive locker with both air and nitrox tanks (extra charge). the hot water showers on the back deck with warm freshly laundry towels to dry of are very comfortable.

about the diving:

from the aggressor website:

the lembeh strait, and islands of bunaken, banka, and talisei are believed to offer the world’s most diverse marine biodiversity. the outer reefs are adorned with colorful soft corals and anthesis. north sulawesi is world-famous for its “muck” dives, or critter dives, where small, colorful creatures dwell on sandy bottoms. despite the term “muck diving,” visibility is very good.

we started at lembeh strait and to be honest we had no idea what to expect. our first dive was in front of a small village and everybody thought “what the hell…?” but in the end it was really interesting and exciting. we saw a coconut octopus which is the funniest little guy we ever saw! watch the last 10 seconds of this video – it’s amazing!

unfortunately we stayed only one day in the bunaken national park and headed back to lembeh after only a couple of dives. actually we liked the sites in front of manado tua and bunaken best. not to forget the turtles at lekuan reef! the pity is that the sites in lembeh strait are full of dirt and waste of the villages, so be prepared for that.

+ =

i also had a little incident with a nemo… at the time of our visit, clownfish layed eggs on any flat surface close to or under the protection of their host anemones. the male parent guarded them and so they were very aggressive! i swam over an anemone, maybe one meter or so above, but this nemo obviously had a problem with that: he stared at my eyes and i stared back at his – like in a western, you know – but i decided to swim away. as i swam by he bit me in my upper arm! very brave of him but actually really unnecessary. :D

about the rest:

in total we really enjoyed our trip with the aggressor fleet but there were unfortunately some points which weren’t that amazing. we made a list of points that we think are important to mention:

• first sabrina and me got sick at the end of our week. we really had a bad ear infection. and also other passengers suffered a lot from ear problems at the end.
• our rooms were next to the engine room and the generator which are really noisy during the night. so if you’re used to quite silent surroundings, you will probably get some sleepless nights.
• the captain has a really special humor and you have to get used to it and especially not takeit serious or even personal. actually he’s – like the rest of the crew – a nice guy!
• the boat is actually old, for example the toilets and the showers (no hot water) in our rooms.
• the dive guides are very experienced.everyone has a smallblackboard with him and writes you the names of the fish immediatley. they know exactly where to find the smalllest, tiniest and most colorful creatures you can imagine.
• the food was also very good. the captain’s brother alan is chef on board and makes everyday a total different buffet. if you’re lucky he makes you the applestrudel he was taught by ilse!
• the local crew members played songs with the guitar at the bathing platform. they even had a special song: podo (who works in the kitchen) changed the lyrics from “hotel california” into “hotel aggressor fleet”.

you can see all our other pictures from the week at the aggressor here.