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Ben and Midi on the drop off searching for Crown of Thorns.We managed to get a break from the heat over New Year and were more than happy to get dressed up in jeans and jumpers for early evenings, a luxury not often experienced in Asia. Kinilow was not an obvious choice for a party but the people were so friendly we knew we had a pretty good chance of a gatecrash at some point during the night. This village clings to the side of a road that snakes its way to over 1000m, hence its coolness. There’s a strong smell of Sulphur from the volcano that ominously overlooks, still smoking and active.

The local market was impressive and the specials of the day included dog, bat and snake. We also managed to get ourselves to the top of Mt Mahawu to see pretty much the whole of North Sulawesi spread out before us, including the Lembeh Strait.

On the big night our expectations weren’t high, but we were quite pleased we didn’t have to arrange any taxis or spend an hour at the bar waiting for a drink. To this point we hadn’t even seen anywhere that would even be selling drinks. Sitting on the porch with Tim and Sarah, two Australians we had met previously there was a rumor of fireworks at 12. We made our way to the hill in time to witness a display that put Sydney to shame, admitted by two Australians! A group of locals passed, handed us a bottle of palm wine and we headed to the club, a wooden shack with a packed mud dance floor. After shaking every body’s hand at least twice we danced with each and every one until we were felt our celebrity status had gotten a little out of hand and it was time to head off. We all concluded that had been our best New Year to date.

We have spent the last few weeks working with the North Sulawesi Watersports Association, removing the Crown of Thorns Starfish that devours large areas of coral in days. It’s been a great chance to see the surrounding sites both above and below the surface of the Bunaken Marine Park. At times we have found ourselves surrounded by schools of fish and being at ‘work’ didn’t seem so bad at all. We also got a chance to practice our Indonesian with local divers Midi, Fatley and Samuel.