DANGA BAY TO BATAM, INDONESIA

Too much time has elapsed between blogs, apologies.  But we have been busy.  Here’s the latest.   

After 2 years in Malaysia we have said ‘selamat tinggal’ to the lovely people we met and the great new friends we have made during that time. 

It's been fabulous, thank you Malaysia

We are currently living as expats on the Indonesian island of Batam.  Here we will be involved in the establishment of a factory and so must move off our beloved Bluestone to a more convenient location (a house) where we will have a little more room to move.

 

BATAM – became a Free Trade Zone in 1989 and is one of the largest islands within the Riau group of islands just south of Singapore.  The island has changed extensively over the past 40 years as industry and seaports have expanded.  The native people of Batam are of Malay origin, but with the rapid growth and development of the area various ethnic groups from all over Indonesia come here in search of jobs and a better life. Traditionally most of the people live in coastal villages, while the "Orang Laut" (sea people) continue to live on boathouses and boats and generally fish for a living.

Now we believe, according to statistics, that Indonesia is not the easiest country in the world in which to establish a business.  They weren’t kidding.  The skipper and crew have discovered talents and resourcefulness beyond anything imaginable in their working careers.  Aren’t we too old for this?

A good dose of patience is a pre-requisite for this undertaking as waiting for weeks for something to be done that was promised within days is becoming the norm for us unsuspecting white people.  Give us strength ! 

Truly, the skipper has done a sterling job despite the language, bureaucracy, customary and business barriers that seem to continuously plague us.  The contingent of staff he has managed to acquire appear to be very good and have some proficiency in English, which actually could serve to make us lazy as we should really be trying harder to learn and practice our Bahasa Indonesian.

The company driver has taken us under his wing and is very protective of “Mr and Madam” which makes us feel very welcome and important.  We don’t actually need protection of any kind as the people of Batam are like so many people we met throughout the Indonesian islands and we are happy and confident blending into the community.

A lovely outlook from our top floor

Bluestone has a new home too.  She is safely tied up at a beautiful Marina – a very flash address.  The crew has had the opportunity to clean out lockers and wash all the winter and wet-weather gear – in between swims in the resort pool – and is looking forward to being able to engage the sewing machine and also do some touch up painting on the decks.  Did I mention the resort has a pool.  Ahhh.

The house we rent is fully furnished and quite comfortable!  So much room, wow.  Christmas was celebrated with a BIG Christmas tree – well bigger than we are used to on the boat.  Of course, a house means more housework.  Ugh.  

Batam’s weather is “unstable” according to our driver and that is quite an understatement.  In the few months we have been here we have experienced beautiful sunny skies edged with soft white clouds (in one direction) and billowing black thundering clouds in the other direction.  The geographical position of the island makes for interesting weather patterns and fabulous rolling storms.  A bit of everything each week – very nice thank you.  The skipper likes to tell people about the “three drop rain warning” before a torrential downpour.  Often the skies will slowly darken, the breeze drops and a few heavy drops of rain will be heard before someone up there upends a bucket of water on unsuspecting persons below and you are drenched.  We know the warning signs now, dark, quiet, few big drops of rain…….head for cover !!

The Delightful Marina

Stay tuned….