For The Love of Travel

Early rising to catch the sunrise at Paotere Harbour, that’s packed with traditional Phinisi sailing ships.  

Fisherman have boats of varying sizes that can haul between a weekly to a monthly supply of fish. There is a nearby port which was established in the 14thC. The price of skip jack at auction is Rp900,000 for 55 kgs, or $1.60 per kg. If the catch is abundant, the price can be reduced by 50%.

My fave fish is the Baronang, or Rabbitfish a.k.a. Streaked Spinefish. That’s the cute litle one to the right. Very tasty to boot.

Our sunset shoot was at Layar Putih Beach located in Tanjung Merdeka village, 6kms from Makassar.  Mother nature gave her all this evening!!! The concrete sails secured in the water serve as a foreground for photos – butt ugly in daytime! Haha!!

Visitors (landscape photographer nuts; wedding photo seekers) provide the village that abuts the water, with a gratuity to be able to park – so its great villagers make a small gain.

I’m gradually developing my skills in using filters and then editing the pics. Rul has been a great teacher and I’ve learnt a lot in a short period of time.

Each of the 2 pics are about 1/2 an hour apart.

The canoe trip back to our car in the early morning was rather lovely, with vegetation and karst reflections in the waterway. 

The afternoon’s adventure took us 65km south of Makassar to Sipinga Rock, via a major road works site that delayed us significantly, with us arriving just as the sun reached the horizon.  Located in Garassikang village, Sipinga has heaps of stone formations, some resembling animal shapes. And caves, in the middle of the rock cluster, were once a hiding place for independence fighters in the war with the Dutch.

It was a great location – facing eastwards, we capture the colour of the rocks – more blue and indigo hues than the equally gorgeous orange/red hues that were disappearing quickly west.

My guide Rul, picked me up for lunch at Coto Nusantara – small bowls of brown soup/gravy arrived with cooked offal and grisly bits served with rice. Mental note to self: must tell my guide, that I only eat seafood!!

Off to hunt a beautiful sunset at Kuri Cadi beach, one hour’s drive from Makassar, with an outlook to the Pabbiring Islands, the last half hour of which was along a potholed rocky road making for a jolty ride! And the rickety bridges. Oh my. Anyway, the sunset was worth it. 

Seafood dinner back in Makassar before we head that night to do some astral photography in Berua village, in Rammang Rammang.

Did Rul mention to me that we would access the village by motorised canoe and held flashlight, that we would be staying the night, sleeping on the floor of the canoe drivers tin hut? No, he bloody did not! Imagine my surprise??? A hard night – literally! Mental note to self: must get Rul to give me precise minute details of next parts of journey!

We were able to get a passable Milky Way shot.