Overnight ferry

Getting to Wakai

Today, I have to travel to Wakai to catch the big ferry Tuna Tomini to Gorontalo.  My original plan was to catch the public speedboat which takes 1h.  But seeing that some people had trouble with it being full, despite holding (unpaid) bookings, I thought I’d try sharing a private boat (which takes 2h) with other guests heading the same way.

There were four others heading that way:  my dive buddies Marco and Barbara plus an old German couple Reinhardt and Maria.  Unfortunately the boat only takes a maximum of 4 passengers and I’d have to get my own separate boat at IDR500K.  Marco and Barbara kindly agreed to share with me, leaving Reinhardt and Maria to their own boat.

They would end up paying fractionally more to help me out, rather than let me shoulder the cost of a whole boat by myself.

I settled my bill at breakfast and checked out a little before our 1100 departure.  As I left my room I couldn’t help thinking how I generated nearly no rubbish during my stay; only a soap wrapper and a used toothpaste tube.  And as Pokipoki largely uses freshly sourced food, they hardly generate any rubbish too apart from food scraps, fruit skin, bones etc.

Most of the staff farewelled us at the jetty for our 2h journey to Wakai.  While it wasn’t too choppy, the second half saw us intermittently getting some seaspray.  We were pretty salty upon arrival at Wakai.

Getting wet on the way to Wakai ahead of an overnight ferry trip.

Connecting on to the overnight ferry

It was about 5 mins walk in the hot sun to get from our drop-off at one port to the other port where the RORO ferry Tuna Tomini would depart from.  As it was only a little after 1300, ticket sales weren’t yet open when we got there.

We backtracked to get some lunch.  Both places we enquired at had run out of food, including rice.  The second offered to make some fried noodles with chicken which in the end came with rice; strange!  The meal was better than expected but it took a while to prepare.

We were worried about the time and rushed back to find that the Tuna Tomini had just docked and ticket sales had just begun.  There was a queue already in the hot sun.  It didn’t take long for me to get to the front and asked for a Business Class ticket at IDR89K + 2K of port taxes.  But when Marco’s turn came (straight after me), he was asked if he wanted air-con or without.  He chose without and it was slightly cheaper.

I boarded via the cargo deck and made my way upstairs, helping Maria with her luggage.  I found my bunk in the air-conditioned section but despite some AC units running, the room was stuffy compared to the breezy non-AC section.

Telkomsel has 4G signal in Wakai so caught up with messages etc for the first time in five days.  Unfortunately I learnt that my 92 year old mother had a fall and broke her right collarbone.  The pictures of the bruising was awful.

The ferry left at 1700, an hour later than scheduled.  We socialised on the top deck and enjoyed the scenery.  Around 1900 I went downstairs to get my Pop Mie (instant noodles) purchased on land as it was cheaper than on the boat, I was pleased that the AC section of Business Class was now cool and dry.  Having had my doubts, it turned out to be the right choice as it was very windy and muggy later in the night.

To my surprise, hot water for instant noodles is free!  That’s better than many airlines where they will not put water into your own snacks or beverages; only the ones you’ve purchased on board.

I retired around 2000.  I didn’t sleep well; it was choppy for part of the time and I took a sea-sickness pill when going to bed and another around midnight.  We crossed the equator at some time through the night.

I noticed the crew hanging their uniform in Business Class and sleeping  with us.  I later learnt that while they have cabins, they rent them out!  Passengers who privately arrange for these need to buy a basic economy ticket and are led to a “Crew Only” room.