Day 4.5
Continuing on from
Part 1 (Pemuteran) of our trip we started a pretty usual Bali driving experience to get across to Tulamben, overtaking on a bridge before a blind crest. Scooters threading the needle between trucks with what felt like mere millimetres clearance from our van. We pulled up to a store to stretch the legs and have some ice-cream before eventually getting to Tulamben. Liberty Dive Resort. 3 years dive a few of us were here last.
The part two crew were already setup by the pool cold beers ready for our arrival. It's nice to have great friends that know you well! An afternoon of catch-up and swapping stories from our respective part 1s, including that they got to see a Mola Mola! Albeit enduring very cold water (for a tropical location) to do so.
Dinner at the in-house resturant tonight before a very brief nightcap and everyone hitting the hay.
Day 5
Up for a nice breakfast before setting up dive gear again and getting a whiff of damp dive gear. We got it out to air as soon as we got here but after the 3.5 hour car ride in the bag it did developed a slight musk.
Loaded onto the back of a truck and off to our first site, Batu Ringgit. Split into three buddy pairs and as soon as we were under water the guides were head down in the sand looking for life. Stark difference to our previous guide. There didn't seem to be a moment where I wasn't taking a photo or moving onto the next thing to see. I think Alan summed it up best, more macro life seen on this one dive than all 7 of part 1 dives combined.
Hanging around the beach shore in the shade, dropping in for the second dive at the same location. Went a slightly different direction over the black volcanic sand and again the guides were able to find a wide variety of life. Critters half the size of a watermelon seed. The painted frog fish, about the size of the tip of my pinky finger, was a super cool find.
Piled back onto the truck for the drive back to enjoy lunch and recharge for the afternoon dive. Much shorter drive out to site three, barely 2mim down the road to the Wreck Slope site. Magical finds in the black sand, a pregnant shrimp. With eggs not much larger than coarse sand grains. But difficult for me to get a clear shot, still practising with the macro lenses.
I knew I was taking lots of photos today because about 1/2 way though the dive my dive torch batteries gave out. Being deep a lot of the sunlight is filtered out, especially the red spectrum, so a light is essential for good photos. I dive with a second torch but it is a narrow beam with a intense hotspot, which is too bright and overexposes the small stuff. Still it was good to see everything and even find a few of my own to share :)
Back to wash gear, have a shower and laze about the pool until dinner. We went into 'town' (strip of small restaurants along the street) and pulled up at Slice and Brew for dinner. Nice cold beer tower to share and some fantastic, western catered, food. Seemed to be a local bread recipe for the pizza bases which was fantastic.
By the time we got back most were ready for bed, I tried looking through a few photos but didn't get far. When I did lie down I was asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. All this diving is hard work!
Day 6
Much busier time at breakfast this morning, two larger tour groups had come in late yesterday. Luckily we got our orders in before most of them had arrived, but the little dining area gets a bit noisy with a crowd about. We were pretty quick to leave this morning out to Batuniti site for our dives.
Again wonderful stuff to see. Tiny tiny critters. They look pretty big in the pictures but it's impossibly hard to describe just how small they really are and how awesome the guides are for being able to spot them. Even looking at some of the smaller ones, with something to scale them (lake a prayer skewer, slightly smaller than a kebab skewer) or my probe, with mm displayed as a ruler on it, they still look much larger in the photos than what they do in real life. Highlight at the end of the first dive was stumbling across a pregnant Peacock Mantis Shrimp when I was on my safety stop.
Even with the ruler in frame it's hard to describe just how mind bogglingly small some of these critters are, and how hard the guides work to find them for us. They are, beyond a doubt, some of the most fantastic guides I have ever dived with.
Some more equipment drama for others. Alans' boots are starting to falter, there was an issue with Coralie's camera lens and a sandy reg meant Marg was having a difficult time with it. Mostly sorted on the surface interval before we dropped back in. Very quickly Made (Mah-di), our guide, found a small orange Frog Fish who was very keen to make a get away. About the size of the tip of my thumb, but could move surprisingly fast over the sand.
More and more Nudibranch, including one you'd be forgiven for thinking was just a piece of weed. Another small black Frog Fish, with orange spots, and just abundant life in general. Been trying to spot a bit more life myself and was happy to find a few cool little guys, but I have noting on the guides who live and breath these sites.
Back to the resort for lunch, arriving before the tour groups had returned. Was nice to strip off and rinse gear without the area being busy. Hopefully this can be the norm. We had time to order and eat before they made it back from their dives. They were just ordering when we met at 2pm for our arvo dive.
We were all happy with the spot, so returned there for the third dive for today. Once again seeing plenty of life. Soon as you're finished with one thing a guide is ushering you to the next. A cool little Harlequin Shrimp was probably the highlight.
Dinner out again, this time to "Chops and Hops" for another fantastic dinner. I splurged all 260,000 IDR ($21 AUD) for a great rib eye steak with fantastic mushroom sauce and finished off some of Marg's fantastic chicken schnitzel all washed down with a beer tower shared with SNR. A very good night out. Not much room to spare for a night cap with all happy for early to bed.
Day 7
It's been smokey/hazy in the mornings so I haven't been able to get a good shot of Mt Agung. Hopefully it clears up before we leave. Dive staff already thick into their work day as I wander up for breakfast. Setting our gear up, loading tanks onto trucks and seeing to any gear issues.
Busy again at breakfast. But one of the large tour groups geared up for a pre-breakfast dive so at least a little quieter.
Some more equipment drama with moisture in Tracys' camera housing. Difficult to identify where from so rather than risk the camera she dove with just the empty housing to troubleshoot. We dropped in on a site called Agung in search of Pygmy Seahorse's. Fighting mild/moderate (depending on who you ask) current across the slope as we waited a little shallower until the guides become us down deeper to a pair on some fan coral. A nice Ribbon Eel to keep us entertained in the mean time.
There was some fairly slight current, but it was enough to make it more difficult to try capture a better shot. Might have to try again on a different day and hope for better luck. There wasn't as much to see on the remainder compared to other sites but the guides still putting in the effort to try.
Slightly longer surface interval to wait out the current and back in about 50m up the beach. Lots more life, but tiny tiny specks on tiny tiny bits of soft coral swaying in the water are very hard to focus on... Another hairy shrimp jumping about a top of a rock was like playing a game of hide and seek to try photograph it.
Another good lunch then out to Melasti for the third dive in search of 'Shaun the Sheep' nudibranch. Didn't find any... as they look like 1/4 a speck of rice on a green leaf the size of a 20c piece, but we did find lots of cool other critters. Including a purple skeleton shrimp, less than 1mm thick, which I couldn't get a great photo of...
Back for the usual cleaning routine and a few drinks beside the pool before dinner. Down the road again to 'The Tribe' which looked like a very fancy spot, I had a pretty tasty meal but the pork was a little overcooked and the chicken Nelly ordered was dangerously undercooked... which is very much not ideal. So despite taking a while for meals to arrive Nelly took the smart/safe route and sent hers back. Round 2 was faster but the peanut satay here probably isn't as good as the In-house options. More expensive too, guess you're paying for the atmosphere.
Back to the rooms about 830 as some flicked through photos and others made head meet pillows.
Day 8
Off to Bulakan dive site in search of more Shaun the Sheep. Larger rocks here to walk in which were a bit loose and roly under foot. A rope setup to help keep balance. Briefly spotted a bright pink mask strap as I fumbled on the rocks trying to put my fins on, luckily able to grab and return to Marg before it floated off. Despite the rocky (hah, pun) start we were lucky to immediately spot an ornate ghost pipe fish.
Over a bit of flat sand before reaching a steep sandy slope that seemed to continue on forever. Littered with small green leaves inhabited by little specs of white or green. If you zoomed in enough on the specs you could see they were very tiny little critters. We were hopping from one leaf to the next with slight colour variations, or slightly different antenna. The green leaf, taking up 95% of the picture space, is about the size of an Australian 50c coin.
About mid dive we noticed it getting pretty crowded. At least another dozen divers in the water with us. Who must have arrived after we hopped in. Didn't seem to have amazing buoyancy control... or spatial awareness. We headed back and they were quick on our heels. Must have been a short dive for them. Even more seemed to turn up on our surface interval, half of Tulamben it felt like. Just the same lack of spatial awareness on the surface... Just as we were going back in a boat also pulled up. Definitely the busiest site we have dived this trip.
Early in the dive they found a special (pink under the eye) Shaun the Sheep that caused a bit of a stir. Long line of photographers, some less patient that others elbowing their way in. We decided to bow out of the line and went off to find our own stuff to look at. Marg found a cool little seahorse. I had found my own tiny spec a cool black face, pure white 'wool', and started to line up a shot. Got one semi-decent shot before one of the other crowd swam less than 200mm over me and flicked their fin, sending it and anything on any other nearby leaf flying off into the blue... You can tell why they call these 'Shaun the Sheep' though.
About 2/3rds into the dive we came across a frog fish with 2 other divers on it and they were there before us (already well into their photoshoot) and stayed at least 12 more minutes pushing it into different positions and readjusting their cameras. We found quite a few other things to look for before circling back but eventually started getting low on air and had to start making our way to the surface. They overtook us up the slope and were out of the water before us...
Another nice lunch before suiting up once again and heading back to Melasti. Went to the right this time and saw some cool Doto nidibranch which look like a 6 pack of eggs. Some cool shrimp on Nudies and a few frog fish, which are really hard to get a photo of!! We then were joined by a bunch of other divers tumbling down the slope and kicking up the sand... Luckily it wasn't long before we had to ascend anyway.
Music at the resort tonight so we stayed in for dinner to have a listen. Western style music with a few we could sing along too. Decent gaps between songs, but heaps of old classics most would recognise. As we were a bit closer to home bed time was brought forward to. I think most were happy for it.
Day 9
Back out to Batuniti for the morning dives, short jaunt a bit further down the beach this time before dropping in. Lots of nudies, including a few new ones, before we stumbled across a hairy frog fish. Tucked into a Crevase it was a bit difficult to see. Shortly after, about 45min into the dive, I was taking picture of yet another Nudie and I noticed the button of my torch sinking in front of me. Probably not ideal...
Still lit but some corrosive smoke seeping out of the hole, so decided probably best to unstrap it from my wrist mount... Just in case... Didn't get worse and actually stayed lit for a while. Decided to back off the battery housing to manually disconnect, to stop it overheating when we surfaced. Back on top the waves had picked up a bit, crashing into the rocky shore. They're not exactly great surfing waves, but enough to knock you around with a full kit of dive gear on your back.
Dropped back in for the second dive, minus one torch. I have a backup but it's a narrow beam, with a hot spot, so great for signalling and focused use on night dives, or looking into cracks/caves etc but less ideal for photography. With a few setting changes, and having it on the lowest brightness, we'll see how it goes.
A few technical issues this trip with strobes not firing, settings being erroneously changed and difficult to reset. Wider gear issues like a few pairs of boots (Alans pair relatively new) reaching end of life etc. Bound to happen eventually I guess with how much use our gear sees.
With the shore entries, and slightly old holey boots of my own, I've been having to deal with the gravel/sand finding its way in. As there was a bit of current when we first went down removing a fin and boot to shake it all out was a touch more of a challenge than normal. With that sorted I could get to trying to snap a few pics with the narrow beam torch. Some cool subjects to practice on which was nice. Have to hold the light further away makes placement and balance a bit more difficult but I think I managed to get a few ok shots of the painted frog fish. Tiny (juvenile) Harlequin Shrimp are hard to light properly with the white if their shells being easily overexposed.
A decent view of Mount Agung today. The last few days its been pretty hazy in the mornings as apparently a few places are burning off the excess green waste from the rice farms. Hopefully it's still clear in the morning and I remember to get a picture.
Third dive out to Sidem (Macro Point) which was behind some headlands and slightly calmer. Another steep gravel/sand slope with critters abound. The hunt for this dive was a tiny boxer crab. Some more tiny Harlequin shrimp. The juvenile don't seem as colourful as the larger, but still nice. The adult have much darker pink claws and deeper blues in their shell. After a long dive we returned up the slope and just before our safety stop finally stumbled across a one clawed boxer crab.
The other guides were already on their way up so I quickly swam to catch them and pull them back. Very excited and as soon as I motioned boxer crab they signalled back "What! Where?" and circled back, so we ended up having a ~67 min dive. So it's nice the guides are happy to extend a little if conditions are right for it.
For dinner we decided to follow a sign to the Ocean Villa Dive Resort on the promise of good pizza. Only 200m from our accom but up towards the volcano. About 1/2 way up a little road side corner store asked about our destination and seemed a little surprised... should have been a red flag... We continued on to find a mostly empty resort, without any sign of a restaurant area.
Back down the hill and past the store again with smiles and waves. We decided to keep it simple and head back to slice and brew, having really enjoyed their meals last time. Beer tower didn't hurt either. Discussions around dinner about the dives. It's really good to listen to the others (more experienced than I for underwater photography) talk about camera settings and tips for lights, so that I can improve on what I capture. Though the price tag on some of the equipment is a bit out of my travel budget at the moment... The new torch... and dive boots... probably the next, and only, items on the shopping list. On the way home another restaurant waved and invited us back tomorrow, reviews looked good and atmosphere welcoming, so that's tomorrow night sorted.
Day 10
A few groups leaving today, gear splayed out over the grass catching what little sun they could in the morning to try get the gear as dry as possible before stuffing it back into a bag. That will be us soon. Always busy at the dive area as we head to breakfast. Guides already working hard, setting up gear and coordinating where to send us. Often you see them call their friends at other resorts in the area to see what's around at various sites. They really do work exceptionally hard to ensure we have a good, easy, time diving.
Off a bit further afield to Tukad Sayung. A sea salt farm on the shore at the dive site was pretty interesting to look at. Intricate drying flats and tanks. Saw one getting sea water pumped into it as we geared up for the first dive.
We stumbled in over fairly large stones, and a bit of a breaking swell to eventually start descending. Almost immediately a Diamond Trevally was swimming around just in front of the group. Found some large nudies, similar to the big ones on Curtin (a local dive site near home), but a much different colouring scheme. Soon though the current increased sharply and it was difficult to fin against.
I found a tiny Hairy Squat Lobster hiding on a sponge. Trying against the current to get in a position to take a photo, as soon as I managed it scuttled off into a different groove. Even with SNR guiding my vision through the macro lens I couldn't keep up and eventually accepted the fact that this lobster was very camera shy. We turned tail and let the current take us over a ridge where it was slightly easier then found another much more cooperative one! Not a huge amount of things to see on the rest of the dive, with a lot of focus going to the current and our dive profiles. Exiting was just as interesting over the rocks, with waves crashing into the back of us.
In for dive two and the current had died off, almost completely, making for much easier diving. The guides were back to scratching through the sand looking for the tiniest specs of life. Including a lime green hairy shrimp, that can bounce pretty far, especially after you've just gotten focus on them. Dwik pointed out a bright orange... blob? On a piece of soft coral, which he described as a lady-bug. On a bit of soft coral swaying so I had no hope of getting a good shot. A jet black Ribbon Eel slinking back into his hole.
After lunch it was back to Wreck Slope 'slightly left'. Loads of people on the wreck itself again, but we seemed to have a mostly clear site to ourselves. Not long into the dive Made called me over for a cool orange Skeleton Shrimp in a small leaf. They look like a very thin twig to the naked eye... and not much different under microscopic lenses. Lots more Nudibranch and a cool Flat Worm Tracey was kind enough to point out to me :)
There was another pregnant hairy shrimp, eggs smaller than some grains of sand. I think I got some eggs in focus, but not the body. Spent a lot of the dive below 20m and being the third dive was getting close to deco. Made called me down for a Crinoid shrimp on some whip coral but we've seen a few already so wasn't worth dropping a few more meters nearing the end of the dive. Not much to see on the slop up and we were soon back for some arvo snacks and drinks
Out to dinner to the placed we passed last night, unfortunately a netball tournament was being carried out right next door. When it wasn't a very loud, very excited, announcer there was loud music between sets. We had said we would come back, and the food looked good, so we decided to stay. Portion sizes were a little smaller than other places, but it was also cheaper, about $10 for a Pork Cordon Bleu and a beer. Hard to complain about that. Tasted great too.
Day 11
Off to Batu Ringget for our first two dives, only to discover that this particular area had a ceremony today so the site was closed. We decided to head back to Melasti in order to spend some more time with the sheep. Last dives here was when Tracey was diagnosing camera housing issues and didn't have the chance to take many pictures. Fine with me, I loved seeing them! Hopefully it's a bit less busy there this time too.
Wasn't too crowded when we arrived, but a ripping current so we decided to wait a while before heading in. Eventually we head in and I guess it was my turn for camera issues as I noticed a few drips inside the housing. Nothing more seemed to be coming in, but a few drops across the shutter lens stopped me from trying my luck. Some cool Nudi I don't think I've seen this trip, sad I couldn't snap a pic but C'est la vie.
On the surface for some maintenance and checks. Cleaned out the water and borrowed some of Coralie's silicon grease to reseat the main o-ring seal. Seems to be holding in the fresh water tub. Didn't see quite as much on the second dive, a few blue and yellow spiky nudies and a little plain white frog fish.
On the way back we started to hit some current, opposite direction to what we had earlier in the morning. Was a bit of a down current and flowing at a decent rate, making you work to swim against it. A tiny baby Cuttle-fish just as we started our safety stop was entertaining, but hard to photo why trying to keep stationary in the current.
Back to Agung but to the "left side" for our 3rd dive. Probably not the most critters we've seen for our diving here but the guides still found some cool Nudibranch and Hairy Shrimp. Another guide and his diver decided we must have been finding the good stuff and hung close to our group, close enough to bump into us at least a few times... They seemed fairly patient though, waiting for us to take pictures of what out guides found before moving in.
Just as we reached out safety stop Made found a bright, Safety Orange, Mantis Shrimp. Didn't even know they could come in that colouring. Happy to watch him to burn through some air and let my safety stop counter reach zero. Second failure for my camera, the spring on the zoom toggle has come loose. Still able to use manually, so not ideal, but not a critical failure.
Afternoon was a quick shower before heading off to find the 'Blue Cow' statue at the Tauch Terminal resort down the beach. We remember it having a good island bar with comfortable seating, so an afternoon drink there before finding somewhere more suitable (i.e. not fancy resort pricing) up the road for dinner. Bali Reef divers on the main drag had good food and friendly staff. The Wine, however, was atrocious. Not even a full sip before the glass was sent back.
Day 12
Last day of diving so just the double today. Only 2 breakfasts left so a bit of strategy to discuss what to eat when, all the included breakfast have been fantastic, though the bacon and eggs only comes with one small trip, so I've opted for the much more filling Ham and Cheese omelette most mornings. French Toast today. I'll let my heart decide tomorrow.
Trying again for Batu Ringgit, open this time. So we geared up and jumped in. At about 4min in, just heading down the slope I notice more water in the housing. Much more than last time. Still unable to identify the leak I didn't want to risk that much water and told Made I was heading out. He was happy to point me in a direction (not hard, opposite direction of the deep water...) Carefully holding my camera lens down, so water could pool in the front lens port without affecting the camera.
Taken apart and water tipped out, thankful that holding it vertical seems to have saved the camera. Only a few drops on it and after a chance to dry functioned fine. There were two independent divers, accent sounded French, staying over for a while. They had organised tanks and were getting ready to head in together. They were asking about a specific Nudie, by scientific name. All I could offer them was a blank stare in return. They brought up a picture and I said "Oh, the white noodely one. Yeah we've seen them here"
I was able to bring up a pic on my phone from our earlier dives here and give them a vague direction and depth as they gave their thanks and headed in. Alan surfaced a while later, then the rest of the crew not long after. Several people looked at the housing, but other than the zoom spring broken internally nobody could see any obvious issue. Never mind, last dive I can focus on finding my own critters... Tough to see the finer details without a zoom life se though...
On our way in for the second dive the two French lads were on their way out. Having seen the 'white noodely thing', they seemed happy with my vague directions. In for the 2nd, camera free. A cool Ornate Ghost Pipe Fish, a snot bubble Nudie and a skeleton shrimp. When checking out the snot bubble, waiting for Gary to finish taking a picture and look up, I also found a cute little crab. Slowly shifting across the sand. I have more time to look for things of my own without the camera demanding my attention.
Back at the resort to clean the gear one last time before laying it out in the sun in hopes it dries before our flight tomorrow. An easy lunch and a lazy afternoon. Some off down the road seeking massages, I relaxed with a beer. Not diving in the afternoon sure is hotter though. Even with a breeze and a cold beer I was sweating when outside the air-conditioned room.
At lunch today Tracey spied a lobster special on the board. 1.2 something.. Kilo maybe? That's a big lobster... Coralie enquired about availability. No. 1.2 million Rupee, but on special for tonight, only 900,000. They mistook Coralie's questions for ordering... And mistook Gary for her husband. Later, as we were drying gear they brought a plate with a fresh lobster to Gary's room, "fresh" as in still alive, clicking claws and all. Is this the one you wanted? They asked. At this point it was hard for him to say no (... mostly because he loves the taste of lobster...)
Dinner in tonight, a little for simplicity, a little to ensure Gary gets his Lobster, but also because every Thursday they have traditional Balinese dancing. Still warm when they started at 7pm. Don't know how they weren't dripping with sweat. Beautiful dancing by kids from a near by local school.
Day 13
Travel home day... Always fun... Up early to pack. Early up the breakfast. They weren't quite ready, despite the discussion last night, initiated by them, that we should set off earlier than expected. I enjoyed our last breakfast, adding a little extra bacon.
The reason for the slightly earlier than expected start was that something happened recently with the fuel supply. A Tanker that suffered an anchor and mechanical problem, delaying delivery. So a bit less fuel, and a heck of a lot of panic buyers. Just like our Covid TP situation. With thin roads and scattered fuel stations there were kilometre long lines blocking lanes. Bali traffic is bad enough on a good day. Off by 8am in a mini-bus this time to handle the bigger group. It wasn't long before we hit our first fuel station queue.
The driver, not wanting to miss our flight (in ~6.5 hours time...) decides to drive up the wrong side of the road, around a blind corner. Barely a shock in the eyes of the approaching scooter riders and small cars as they weave around us. Wheels inches from the concrete drain on their left. I can see their faces clearly from the front seat. I'm not sure what horrors my face was showing them...
It seemed like clear sailing at the start... until the first wide truck rounded the bend. Then the second. Then a fuel tanker. Then another truck. Our driver stopped at a slightly wider part of the road on the bend. Inching forward still to within a hairs breath of the car just to my left. That driver reached out to pull in his side mirror, giving our bus another 2 inches more space to creep over. The truck barely slipped past. The second slightly more cautions eventually making it through. The tanker, though, made it half way before stopping. His front left wheel probably riding the edge of the drop into the concrete open box channel. I see people hop out of cars behind us and start guiding him, signalling him to turn away from the drain, closer to us. I'm not sure how he scraped by but he managed. I could even see our driver start to worry, which is not an often sight in drivers here.
We were stuck for a few more minutes as the resulting build up of traffic behind the trucks cleared, luckily nothing else large coming through. As soon as there was a gap our driver shot back out into the opposite lane, and continued on. As if it was just another casual Friday drive. The line extended for ages. Not quite kilometres like the news suggested, but long. Past the station was a line of scooters. Interesting how they have organised it so that cars and trucks line up from one direction and scooters from the other. They were packed into the fuel station like sardines, but all seemed to be waiting patiently. Some chatting with each other, others on their phones. There didn't seem to be any aggression, any pushing or trying to cut the line, not that I could really pick out a 'line'. At least no agro that we could see. A credit to them. Especially after seeing people fight over toilet paper...
A few more fuel stations held us up but none as much, or as close to damage, as the first in the hills. As we got closer to Denpasar the lines were slightly more organised but a lot longer. Some with military/police directing traffic. Luckily when we got to the really long lines, we were on a 4 lane road, with a median, and everyone lining up for fuel was doing a great job at keeping left.
It took us close to 2 hours extra but we still managed to arrive about
30min before check in for our flight opened. We went though the first
security gate. I picked my line poorly. Looks like they had someone new
checking the scans and a good 90% of the bags were flagged for the
manual check.
Waiting we saw the security man slowly pull people up. A few people with full water bottles (despite multiple signs, in multiple locations, in multiple languages and with clear pretty pictures) telling them not too. One person even had a kitchen knife... as you do... A lady took over and the bag line started to clear a little quicker. People were still pulled up, but she would check the scan, ask a question then send people away. My turn came and she looked at the screen. "Battery pack?" She pointed at the screen. 'Yep.' "Scuba?" she asked shifting her finger to my camera housing. I nodded. She pushed my bag towards me. "Ok, you go"
From there is was lunch and then waiting for our flight. Eventually we boarded and I took my seat. Aisle, a lady sitting at the window. I kept watch for who was taking the middle seat, knowing it was a mostly full flight, having checked seat availability knowing our row was full. The lady by the window must have noticed, and said not to worry she had booked the middle seat so she had extra space. I wasn't sure if she was serious (or if her travel buddy didn't make it) but the seat stayed empty. Winning.
Over 5 hours later, 16 hours since I woke up this morning, 14 hours since we began travelling) they announcing our landing. 17°c on the ground apparently. Slight change from what we left behind. Immigration was quick. Looks like we were the only flight landed, and the electronic gates are a lot quicker. Though that just meant we had a bit longer for bags. They eventually came out, mostly saying our goodbyes at the baggage claim before heading off to customs. Nothing to declare and waved through.
Trip home wasn't finished yet. My wife had set off to visit family for the weekend so she drove in to catch her flight, using airport parking. Domestic terminal. I walked to the shuttle bus, conflicting information. Stupid Google AI telling me the arrivals ramp on level 4, where it apparently only does drop off. Luckily there were fairly clear signs directing me to level 2, when it loops back to pick people up. fairly deserted here, the occasional taxi going past. about 15min later the bus arrived and drove us over to domestic. I was able to find the car to head home. Finally. One last challenge as I got the exit gates... the number plate scanner couldn't read my plates properly. Great. On the buzzer to the support crew and they were able to check details and manually open remotely thankfully sending me on my way.
No traffic on the drive home, being just past midnight, so at least that was smooth. I dropped my bags had a quick snack and a shower and crashed into my pillow. Travel isn't all just about colourful critters and good views. They do make it worth it though. And I know I'd gladly put myself through it all again.
Thanks again to my dive buddies for making this another amazing trip, despite some technical camera issues. Cant wait for the next!
