The Joy of Travel

by Bob Weybrecht

We’ve all heard the old statement that ‘getting there is half the fun’.  While the traveling itself can add excitement and/or stress to a dive trip halfway around the world, I wouldn’t exactly call it fun. Our just completed trip to Indonesia is a prime example. 

The main trip was ten days of diving on the M/V Pelagian at Wakatobi.  Some of us went earlier for a week of diving in Lembeh.   Some stayed later for some diving and touring in Bali.

Anyway, back to the travel.  Departure for early group was scheduled for  October 22nd. Coincidentally, that’s the day Hurricane Wilma was predicted to hit Florida.  During the week preceding the 22nd, we were scrambling to see if we could get out of town sooner.  But, as luck would have it, Wilma took some extra time to clobber the Yucatan Peninsula, and we were able to keep our October 22nd flight. Put up the shutters and head off to the airport. But we weren’t home free yet.  Our first flight was from Ft Lauderdale to New York.  The folks at the Song Airline check-in counter wanted to charge us for our overweight luggage.  Like most US carriers, they have a 50lb limit per bag, with a $25 surcharge for bags weighing 50 to 70lbs. All of our ticketing and associated documentation said we had a 70lb limit, under international rules, and our tickets had been issued by the international airline, Singapore Air.  Well, we went round and round for a while, but they finally tagged the bags without charge. From here on it was just fly, layover, fly, layover, fly, etc. Over 25 hours in economy seating. What fun!

W h e n w e arrived in Monado we were met by a representative from the Kungkungan Bay Resort.  Once we rounded up our luggage, which had miraculously all made it, they loaded us up for a two hour ride to the resort.

While we were enjoying the good life in Monado, Wilma hit Florida. Now the folks in group 2, scheduled to depart on October 27th were beginning to wonder what their fate would be. Hurricane damage, no power, airports closed, what would they do? There were even some thoughts of driving north to find an open airport. However, Ft Lauderdale airport reopened in time and they left their dark, damaged homes and began their trip.  Only one member was not able to go as a result of situations created by the hurricane.  Group 2 arrived in Monado without major incident and enjoyed a few days there.

On Tuesday, November 1st, it was a 3:30 AM wake-up call. We departed KBR at 4:00 AM for the airport, where we joined up with group 2.  As we checked in for our 7:00 AM flight to Bali, we anticipated a lot of grief about the luggage weight, as local limits are 40lbs. But with the added confusion of so many of us, and the need to put special Wakatobi tags on the luggage at check-in, no one was charged extra.

When we arrived in Bali we were met by a Wakatobi representative at the bottom of the stairs (They still use the roll-up stairs, instead of jetways, for domestic flights) and escorted to a private bus to the terminal.  The Wakatobi folks really have it together there. Because of the special tags, they snag all the luggage and take it directly to the charter flight.  They also take over one of the lounges, where we waited until the plane was ready. Refreshments were provided.  Besides those of us bound for the Pelagian, there were about 40 folks headed for the resort. When the plane was ready, it was back on the bus and out to the plane.   The flight to the private air strip at Wakatobi lasted 2.5 hours. It was an hour into the flight before the cabin was comfortably cool.  In addition to the air conditioning, the plane could use a lot of TLC.  Reading lights not working, air vents inoperable, arm rests held on with duct tape, and so forth.

Upon arrival at Wakatobi, we were whisked away in a fleet of local luxury taxi cabs to the top of the stairs leading to the wharf.  Sixty five steps of v a r yi n g h ei g h ts a n d w idths, and no hand rails. We then boarded one of the larger dive boats from the resort and were ferried out to the Pelagian.  The dive boat then took the rest of the folks to the resort.

On the Pelagian we met the two non club members that would be diving with us.  Sherry is from Canada and works in her family’s vegetable processing and packing company. Nancy is from  Illinois and, with her husband, operates a dive shop there. Nancy was an expert on everything and was more than willing to share her expertise, whether asked or not. One day, she said her husband told her he sells more when she’s not there.  She was also the only one to flood her camera housing on the trip.  Twice!!

Tens days later, it was time to start the return trip. At 8:00 AM they took us from the Pelagian to the resort, so they could begin to prepare the boat for the next trip.  They had already taken all of our luggage the night before so they could send it to Bali on the morning flight out.  They run two complete round trips on each changeover day. At 4:00 AM from Bali to Wakatobi, bringing supplies and luggage for incoming guests. At 8:00 AM from Wakatobi to Bali, taking outgoing guests’ luggage. At 11:30 AM from Bali to Wakatobi, bringing incoming guests and whatever didn’t make the 4:00 AM flight.  The last flight is at 3:00 PM taking outgoing guests to Bali. We just hung around the resort until 1:00 PM, when it was time for the return trip to the airport. As it was low tide, we needed to be ferried out to the large dive boat in smaller boats.  Once we got to the head of the channel, it was back into the smaller boats for the trip to the wharf. There we climbed the 65 steps to the fleet of luxury taxi cabs, and back to the airport. 

Once the plane landed and taxied back to the middle of the runway (there’s no taxiways at the airport as this is the only plane that lands there) we watched the incoming guests deplane, gather their carry on bags, board the fleet of luxury taxi cabs, and be whisked away. Then we waited while they refueled t he plane.  A couple of pick-up trucks with 55 gallon drums of fuel were driven out to the runway.  A portable pump was used to fill the wing tanks.  We then boarded the plane, went through the pre-flight announcements, and the captain fired up the engines.  They roared for a bit, calmed down, roared some more, the usual stuff. Then they shut down and we were asked to get off the plane.

Seems that when they landed and taxied back down to the terminal, the brakes on the left side had become jammed. They plane couldn’t move!  So while some of us milled about and watched, others w e n t back to the shade of the terminal. The 2 mechanics that they carry on the flights (ever hear of that before) got out a jack and jacked up the left side landing gear and started taking things apart. They eventually ended up removing both wheels and prying the disc brake rotors apart with a big screwdriver. It worked and they put everything back together again.  We all got back on and managed to take off for Bali about 2 hours behind schedule. We all wondered if the brakes would work on landing, but that was 2.5 hours away.  In the meantime, our present schedule would put us back in Bali about 15 minutes before our connecting flight was scheduled t o depart. Once again, the Wakatobi organization shone.  The plane called ahead to the reception committee. They had those of us with the tight connection get off the plane first and had a separate van to take us to the terminal.  They had gathered our luggage, which had come in on the morning flight, and carried it over to the international side of the terminal, where it was waiting for us in front of the Singapore Air check-in counter.  They had someone guide us from the arrival terminal to the check-in counter and had made arrangements for them to hold the plane a bit if necessary.

At check-in we couldn’t check our luggage all the way through to Ft Lauderdale.  Seems the Song flight number from NY to Ft Lauderdale had changed and was different from what was on our tickets, but we didn’t know it. Check-in couldn’t access our non-existent flight and there was no time to research the problem, so our luggage was checked to NY. There we would have to clear customs and recheck with Song. Our fear was that we would have to drag all of this luggage (2 x 70lb bags plus carry-on’s each) between terminals, an almost impossible task.  Fortunately we were able to deposit the bags at the recheck counter just outside customs.  They just scribbled FLL and our flight number on the tags. Unfortunately, it was the wrong flight number. When we checked in at the Song counter we explained what had happened and they updated the system with our bags’ scan tag numbers and said not to worry.  Yeah, right!

When we got to Ft Lauderdale, we waited by the carousel for our luggage. When the carousel stopped, we still were waiting, so off to the counter to fill out the lost luggage forms.  They told us that as long as the tags had FLL on them, they would get there… eventually.  As it turned out our bags were delivered to us the next morning.

All in all, from the time they put us off the boat, until we arrived home, we figure we spent 48 hours in traveling home mode.  And though it did have some exciting moments, it did have some stress, I would definitely say it did not qualify as ‘half the fun’ of the trip.

On the other hand, the diving and accommodations were great. Mary is writing a trip report with all the details.  And as we say,

“It’s always an adventure”