Day 12 - Gurusina, Flores

We sailed overnight across the Savu Sea to the Bajawa Regency at the foot of Gunung Inierie. There is one active volcano in this area which is Ebu Lobo.

Our first trip was to visit Gurusina, home to the Ngada tribe, which is a matrilineal society - females inherit the house and the husband must move into her village or house and leave his own. This area has some really different architecture and rituals, which were explained in our nightly lecture by David and Sue.

This photo shows the village layout with 3 'parasol-like' structures in the centre and three narrow houses behind. These are the male (Ngadhu) and female (Bhaga) shrines respectively. In the male shrines they slaughter buffalo, whereas in the women's shrines they slaughter pigs and chickens.

The thatched roofs of the houses (sa'o) differ and many are decorated with a row of buffalo horns or pigs jaws on the front post. This signifies the number of animals sacrificed by that family for ceremonial purposes such as funerals etc. 

There are two types of house - the Tip house and the Trunk house. Villagers dry coconut and cocoa, and sell candlenut and vanilla pods as well as cinnamon bark. The houses are on terraced levels around the central area where the shrines and megalithic altars are.

Next, we went to the village of Bena which was very similar but had a great view from either end of the village.

We saw women weaving on their front porches with cloths for sale hanging, but many of these were woven in commercial yarns and their bright colours did not appeal to me.

At the very top end of the village we climbed to the top of a small hill where there was a catholic shrine.

The view from the top was spectacular, and the ipad camera does not do it justice.

As we left the village by car, there was another house on the road with a beautiful assortment of naturally dyed yarns waiting to be woven.

After a long hot day, we cooled down with a refreshing swim on a nearby beach, searching for shells on the shoreline, followed by a hot shower and 'arak-attack' cocktails on the upper deck before supper....thinking of what the weather is like in Canberra at the moment.....and only 2 days left of the cruise!

Day 10 - Kupang, East Timor

This photo was taken at 5.30 this morning as we approached the West coast of Timor after sailing overnight from Lamalera in Lambata. We disembarked at the old harbour where Captain Bligh landed in 1789 after the mutiny on the bounty, right out the front of Teddy's Bar. 

We were accompanied by local guide, Tony, for the day. Our first stop for the day was to visit the King of Amorosi.....

We were greeted by the children, some of whom were the King's grandchildren, who took our hands and guided us to the ceremonial welcome by elders, then onwards to the King's house ( I am not sure if that is called a palace in Amorosi)....

Again we were taken through the dyeing and weaving processes. To make  a dark black dye, the women dye firstly with indigo, then Morinda and then lumpur which is a mud, I guess iron-rich. They produce a purple from jati leaves and yellow comes from saffron or the skin of pomegranates and the bark.

These are balls of candlenut mixed with daun uta runa and water ready for pre-mordanting for Morinda dyeing.

This is the Morinda root alongside Loba bark.

Preparing the Morinda and indigo dyestuffs.

After watching the fabric dyeing we went to the papermaking studio where the King's 3rd daughter makes handmade paper from plants. There are 27 plants on the property she can use, but today she demonstrated making paper with the skin of the banana trunk and rumput gaja, a type of elephant grass.

The King of Amorosi, Bapak Robert Koroh, is a well-known printmaker who has had exhibitions at Nomad Gallery and whose work is in the collection of the NGA.

Before returning to the Ombak Putih for lunch we went to the  Museum which was fairly modern and veiwed their collection of textiles on display, again behind glass, so photography was difficult. They also had a lovely collection of baskets and jewellery, tools and ceramics.

This is a detail of an Amarasi weaving using natural dyes ( Morinda and indigo). The decorative motif in this design is called the "Bao naki", often worn by aristocracy.

In the afternoon we had another natural dyeing demonstration which was excellent, and we learnt a bit more about pre-mordanting with the nitas tree, using the skin of the fruits and the leaves, as well as a few other plants.

It was also the first time I saw them adding an alkaline water to the Morinda dye to effect the red colouring.

However some of the most charming things about going into a village is meeting the locals and I have just fallen in love with the young children who are so happy to connect with you, they are so cheeky and adorable!

The weaving was also beautiful and many of us were laden with purchases, wondering how we are going to get them home !

And of course the day ended with another beautiful sunset as we sailed towards Suva, our next destination.

Day 3 - Kelimutu - Maumere

We had a very early start this morning before breakfast, driving up into the Kelimutu National Park to view the three-coloured crater lakes, known as Tip (Tiwu Ata Polo), Tin ( Tiwu Nua Moori Koohi Fah), and Tam (Tiwu Atu Mbupu). These three lakes differ in colour according to the water composition. Tap is an acid saline crater whose colour changes according to the state of water oxygenation; Tip is a cool  acid brine lake which contains minerals and chemicals such as sulphur; and Tam is an acid sulfate crater lake.

The view from the top was breathtaking but you could only take a photo of all three lakes if you were high above in a helicopter as Tam is on the other side from Tip and Tin.

On our way back to the Ecolodge to have breakfast and pack our bags we noticed all the small villages on the way busily cleaning the roadside, slashing grass, sweeping and burning off rubbish, and tying colourful garlands onto makeshift fences along the road.  This was all in preparation for the 'Tour de Flores' which was due to start today from  Maumere.

After a little traffic congestion due to TdeF followers, we finally made it to the harbour and had our first glimpse of the Ombak Putih, or White Wave.

Here we are getting into the first dinghy to get to the boat in the background. Once on board we were shown to our cabins and sat down to a delicious lunch.

View of my cute cabin - all cabins have their own ensuite and are air conditioned. It was threatening to rain when we arrived but miraculously passed us, leaving a wonderful omen for the days to come.

After finding our cabins we had a few hours to unpack, relax and unwind before we got back into the dinghys to head ashore for a short trip to visit the nearby village of Wuring which is home to the local Bugis and Bajao sea gypsies.

They are mostly Muslim, and many of the men were volunteering their time and money to build a new masjid at the end of their village on stilts.

Many of the parents  wanted you to take photos of their babies or toddlers, as did the small children who were were totally charming and cheeky. So while we didn't see more textiles, we did have the opportunity to have a short glimpse of what life was like for these sea-village families.

On board the Ombak Putih we had an informative lecture by David about the history and textiles produced by the Sikka people (the region we are now in) followed by a delicious dinner of nasi campur which included beef rendang, fish, mixed vegetables and salad folowed by fresh fruit.

We were all pretty exhausted so looking forward to our first night sleeping onboard the boat.

Day 1 Bali - Ende

The first day of our pre-cruise trip started at 5am this morning to get to Denpasar airport to catch the 7.20am flight to Ende, on the south coast of Flores. The plane actually has three stops - Labuan Bajo-Ende-Kupang and those travelling onwards get to sit in the plane on the tarmac until new passengers arrive. Our group consists of so far of 11 people from the US, Australia, UK and Taiwan, but we will be joined in the next few days by a couple of others to go on the cruise.

We were met at Ende airport by David and Sue Richardson who have developed this tour with Seatrek in Bali, this being their third trip. Our first stop was  to visit the nearby district of Ndona to visit some Lio weavers. In the photo above, Teresa is quickly tying her warps for ikat. The pattern is in her head and despite her age and agility issues, her fingers were very nimble, so we could see the pattern emerging as bundles of warp threads were bound with strips og Gebung palm leaves.

We were also given a demonstration by several of the women on their natural dyeing processes using Morinda citrifolia and indigo from Indigofera tinctoria which grows wild.

Weaving the ikats was done on backstrap looms and the women bought out many beautiful textiles to show and for sale, similar to the ones they are wearing in the above photos.

Our next stop was to the village of Saga, where we were greeted with drumming and dancing by local school children. 

We were welcomed by Maxi, one of the mosa laki (traditional leaders) of the area and after a delicious lunch in one of the schoolrooms he took us on a tour of the village with historical homes with wonderful architectural details and carvings.

Driving through this lush, mountainous terrain after coming from a wintery Canberra is quite surreal at the moment, as are the intermittent but heavy downpours. 

Wending our way through some fantastic scenery, we reach our final destination for the day, the Kalimutu Eco Lodge. We make this our base for two nights as we explore further the textiles of the south coast of Ende. The view from my room is amazing, looking over misty rice fields, hearing the turbulent river rushing by below, with a stormy grey sky just threatening to soak us again.

We are given a few hours to fest and relax before pre dinner lectures on Ende textiles by David and Sue followed by a delicious dinner complete with a birthday cake for Kate, one of the women on our trip. Most of us are eager to get to bed early to catch up on sleep and ready for an early start tomorrow.