I had heard that there was a large wreck offshore…

So, early on 9th May, I had a quick breakfast and went to the dive shop near where I was staying. They had space for a last minute addition, and I was soon on the beach at Tulamben, with a small group of fellow wreck divers.

The SS Liberty is a US freighter that was torpedoed in WW2 by the Japanese, when off Lombok. The leaking ship was towed to Bali to be beached, and the cargo saved, but an earthquake later caused the wreck to slip off the beach into deeper water. I was buddied up with a local diver called Ketut, and once under water found the visibility was excellent at 20 metres (65 feet). The shape of the ship was clear, and though it is now fairly well disintegrated, there is still plenty of it. The divemaster led us inside the hull and the boilers which was quite a thrill. Apart from the historical interest, the wreck is a magnet for fish, and there was too much to see during my 35 minutes under water to really take in.

I was quite tired after 35 minutes, but after lunch, a rest, and a bit of snorkelling I decided I was up for a second dive. This was a leisurely investigation of a drop-off, with no hurry, and plenty of time to stop and look at the different corals.

Back at “Paradise Palm Beach” I checked out, jumped on my Honda 100, and then had a beautiful ride southward through the hills.

The ability of the locals to build rice paddies in steep locations was very impressive.

I reached the village of Tirta Gangga, where I checked into a losmen (lodgings) with a great view of the Mount Agung volcano.

I am still suffering from the humidity. The room in this losmen (like all that I have stayed in) doesn’t have a shower as such, but instead, in the bathroom there is an open topped tank of water, and a little bucket, which you use to tip the water over yourself, and (in many cases) also flush the toilet. The system works! – also it has the advantage that if (or when…) the water stops flowing, and there is still water in the tank, then you can still shower, and flush the toilet!

Also staying at the losmen is a German girl called Marlie. She joined me for an evening meal of traditional satay, which is originally an Indonesian dish. It made a nice change from Nasi Goreng (fried rice with meat and vegetables) which I have perhaps been eating a bit too much of…

Marlie, it turns out, was in Lendang Nanka (in Lombok) at the same time as me, but another coincidence popped up when I told her about travelling in Australia. It transpired that Marlie travelled for a short while with Anneliese, the Dutch girl who I met going from Ayers Rock to Coober Pedy in Australia last month.