Hey guys
it’s been a while since I last wrote you. In the meantime so much has happened. The expedition ended, there’s a VIP guest visiting me and I had to say goodbye to people who’ve become really good friends. I’ll give you an insight into the last couple of weeks. Get the tissues out folks, it’s full of heartbreaking goodbyes.
The End of Homestay
On Tuesday, April 4th, Simone and I (= Fimona, get used to it) left our lovely homestay family behind. The time to go back to Barry’s had finally come. With a heavy heart and our packed bags, we walked off, never to return.
Priska and Moises had opened their arms and home for us just two weeks before. How time flies. In the beginnen we were having trouble understanding eachother, and didn’t know what to say at the dinnertable. Near the end everybody got so comfortable with one another and we talked about everything our commication would let us. The place really did feel like home. They finally let us help out with the cooking, Sofia asked us to play games and Boi, the puppy, got so attached to his new mommies.
So the first goodbyes were to our family and to our babydog. Before we left, there was a mandatory photo session with the family.
Luckily, goodbyes are never for long. On Saturday we took the family out for some ice cream, to thank them for everything. Oh boy, how they loved it, especially Kalistru, the little boy. We’d never seen him eat by himself, usually someone had to “aeroplane” the food into his mouth. But, that day, he just grabbed a spoon and started shoving ice cream into his face. It was amazing. After the ice cream, the goodbye really was goodbye. We hugged and promised to see eachother soon, and left. Second heartbreaking goodbye that week.
The Diving
The first night we were back at Barry’s, we did a nightdive. More like a morningdive, since we got up at 4:30 AM to go diving at sunrise. It was so worth it! At one point during the dive, everybody turned off their torches and the bioluminescence lit up like fireworks. We also saw some sleeping fish, yes they do sleep, and an octopus.
Like I said, diving at sunrise. When we surfaced, the sun was setting and the opportunity to make a bad-ass jumping picture had to be seized. View the result below.
Next to the nightdive, I spent a lot of time upside-down to collect data. It’s a pretty great feeling to be contributing to aproject like this. Halelujah, I feel so important.
Of course, for our very last dive on the island, we did a fundive. And how fun it was! All we did was be idiots and goof around. In a safe way, naturally, because we’re all very safe. Our bandanas came out one last time and the ocean was our for one last dive. Another goodbye in such a short time. Hearts just kept breaking this week.
The Trip to Adara
Once we were back at Barry’s, our schedule got completely packed. First, there was a nightdive, then a trip to Adara and only 3 days later we would leave the island. SO MUCH TO DO IN SO LITTLE TIME! *walking aroung in circles, panicking*.
On Thurdaymorning Laura, Simone, Dara, Amos and I took off on a hike to the other side of the island. This was our first hike since our traumatizing “running-out-of-water-hike” so we were a little scared. Each carrying at least 3 liters of water, we set off after breakfast, headed towards Mario’s Place.
After about a 45 minute climb and losing about 5 liters of sweat, the hike turned into a really nice walk through villages and high grasses. We climbed over fences – set up to keep pigs in place – and had some lovely coconut-cookie-breaks. Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, we passed by a cave. I looked so impressive and I could just picture some neanderthals living there.
Finally, after 3 hours of hiking, we made it to Mario’s Place. If you ever need a place to relax and get away from everything, Mario’s is the place to be. The balcony looks out over the ocean and the feeling of utter relaxation hit us within seconds. After some time to cool down and rehydrate from all the sweating, , we went out for a snorkel.No, for some freediving. No, for both. Two of the guys came over by boat – they were a little badass than us – so we all swam out together. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves but OH ALL THE FLUFFINESS IN THE WORLD, it was amaze-balls.
After that freedive/snorkel sesh, we were in desperate need of a coconut. The day ended in some great bracelet and anklet making and we just relaxed the crap out of the day.
During dinner, we watched the sunset for the first time in weeks and listened to nostalgic songs. Showing off my superduper amazing new anklet that James made, all of us were happy to have a nice relaxing evening. 
That night, Fimona had some real troubles with their mosquitonet. It was too small for our bed, so after lots of pulling, we finally managed to get it over the bed, only to realise we would have to undo it to get in. Great experience, probably just as great as reading about it.
The next day, the rest of the group came of with all of our scuba gear (yes, they came by boat. No, i didn’t live with 6 Hulks). We did two dives along the same wall we went freediving the day before. What a breathtaking place. The photos don’t do justice to how it really was, but they’ll have to do. The rest is just written in my memory.
The Last Days on Atauro Island
As mentioned, a lot of our final days were spent diving. That’s why we all came to Atauro after all. After one of the dives, we spotted some dolphins and went out to look at them. After Jenny’s inspiring words “do you want ot get in and swim with them”, a beam of light hit the boat and everybody was in the water before anyone could say “REALLY?””. Seriously, I’ve never seen 5 people jump overboard that fast. What happened next was probably one of the most mindblowing experiences any one of us has ever had. We held onto a rope behind the boat and got pulled towards the dolphins. They just started swimming aroung and under us. It was SO COOL, it’s hard to put into world how epic it was.
On Sunday, lazy day, a bunch of us went out for pizza in Vila. All 8 of us sqaushed into one little Tuktuk and off we went, on an adventure. To infinity, and beyond. Of course, you have to take into account we were on a small island, so how good can the pizza really be, right? Well, pretty damn good! Fimona shared a pizza, as did all the other duos and we had a hard time finishing what was on the table. THERE WAS SOOOO MUCH PIZZA. Never seen 8 people eat that much food. Ever. In my life.
On our last night, we had some drinks, sat on the beach and played a brutal game of Cards Against Humanity, realizing once more what bad people we all are. Everyone had such big plans but we all ended up going to bed early, dreading the next morning.
On Wednesday the end had finally come and we headed back to Dili. With heavy hearts and tears in our eyes, we said goodbye to one another and all headed our seperate ways. The people who had been my friends, my family, for six weeks, are all of a sudden very far away. And man, I miss them so much.
I raise my glass to Fimona, my friend, my roommate and my homestay sister, throughout this adventure. To Dara, who pulls off bandanas better than anyone I’ve ever met. These ladies made my day, every day. Can’t wait to meet up in Scotland and catch up on bad-ass travel stories. Fimona wants to know what happened to Jara!
Cheers to Papa Gil, for always knowing the right thing to say. To James and Adam, the chessgames they played so intensively and the goofiness and weirdness they spread over all of us. To Ben, Nadia and Chris, for being amazing DM’s when I was being a pain-in-ass-DSD. To Adrian, for his hilarious sense of humor. To Najim, for never being in a bad mood.
A special thanks goes out to the amazing Blue Ventures team: Mima, Amos, Ollie and Nick. Thanks for organising everything and making sure we all have an great time. A last thanks goes out to Laura, Caz and Jenny. They make the expedition happen. Not just ours, but every expedition. You guys do an incredible job and thanks to you, the former mentioned goofballs and I could go on this great adventure.
The VIP Guest
Not all is lost, though. Arriving back in Dili, my crazy big, little brother, Friso, was waiting for me at the diveschool. We’ve been diving together for a couple of days and will be travelling together for the next two weeks.
This goofball gave a warm welcome and a real tight bearhug when I first got back to the mainland. He made all the hard goodbyes a little easier to digest.
The Next Step
To all those “American Pie” fans out there, this is where we raise our glasses and say “to the next step!”, ching and talk about life. Friso and I just got out one of the many beers in our fridge and are doing just that. We’re packing our bags, ready to jump into the future. Drinking our sorrows away is another way to look it. Alcohol may not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk. And, on that note, alcohol doesn’t make me gag just by thinking of it.
The time to leave Timor-Leste has come and it’s just the saddest thing ever, really. Not only have I spent 7 weeks of my life here, but I’ve met some amazing people who I’m gonna miss so much. And the diving, oooooooh how I will miss the beautiful diving. Tomorrow, in the afternoon, we fly out to Singapore and head back to a developped country. My my, how I will miss this place. The people, the food, the language.
Timor-Leste, it’s been a real pleasure. Can’t wait to be back and explore you some more.
Cheers
Fi
Far Away Fi 