Sun 1st - Fri 6th June (Week 37)

Sun 1st - Left our Kuta hotel at 7:15am and got the shuttle bus back up to Bangsal harbour. Usual mess with what we'd been told and what actually happened. We were told we'd be on the 10am boat to Gili Meno, but when we arrived at 9:30 we were then told it would be 11:30. Complained a bit, so then they said there was a boat leaving shortly, so quickly walked down to the harbour. Watched in amazement as locals proceeded to overload this little wooden boat with box after box of supplies for the island, and then cram 42 people into every available space ! We were perched on the 1.5" boat edge, trying not to fall into the sea, with a bucket of fish at my feet and boxes all around ! Not the most comfortable 30min boat journey we've ever had, but quite amusing ! We were instantly reminded of the Maldives when we arrived - small island, pure white sand, coral all around it, palm trees and pure blue skies. Checked into our lovely cottage (paying a little bit more here - £20 a night, as couldn't find anything decent in our budget), then headed out to check out the island. Its actually bigger than it seems and we spent a few hours walking up the East, North and West sides checking out the views, restaurants and snorkelling gear. As we were walking back, we spotted a baby goat lying down, not moving and appeared headless. It then bleated and kicked its legs, so I went to investigate and discovered the poor thing had got rope and 3 branches somehow wrapped around its neck and was nearly being strangled. I quickly got it free, and had an upsetting few minutes thinking it had broken its neck as it just lay there, but it slowly recovered and staggered up and wobbled off. Cutest little thing ! Had a very late lunch at 4:30 then went to watch a lovely sunset on the NW side of the island. Stupidly forgot to bring a torch with us so had to walk back across the island in the dark !

Mon 2nd - Headed to a snorkelling spot on the SW coast called The Bounty which had a sunken pontoon. Managed to find it by swimming to where all the boats were, but it wasn't overly impressive and a little too deep to dive down to easily. Carried on up the west coast and found some better coral further north, and spotted two turtles which we managed to follow and film for a while. Headed over to the East coast for lunch, then snorkelled off the NE coast for an hour. Not great coral, more of a coral graveyard, but did find 3 turtles eating the coral, completely oblivious to us swimming around them, just happily munching away. Never seen such tame turtles, and was a real pleasure watching them so closely and not scaring them off. Had a lovely evening, watching sunset with cocktails and beers, followed by dinner by candlelight, bonfire, and stars. Really wonderful day, and made us more afraid of going back to the UK in less than 2 months !

Tues 3rd - Another busy day snorkelling, sunbathing and eating ! Went to the NW coast at 10am, drifted with the current towards the south, seeing another 4 turtles along the way. Stopped at a lovely cafe in the north for some sunbathing, more snorkelling (with turtle no. 5) and lunch. Then finished off the day with more snorkelling on the East coast, seeing another 3 turtles, one of which was gigantic, and just munching on the coral, not paying us any attention at all. Its incredible how tame some of them are, and how close you can get, really magical. Went back to the NW for sunset with a beer and chillout music. Really trying to savour every last minute as I know we'll be home before we know it !

Wed 4th - Spent the morning on the NE side snorkelling and sunbathing. Saw 2 turtles, one super tame and was content for me to just swim right next to him, matching his pace, within reaching distance. Amazing. It clouded over at 2pm, so took the opportunity to catch up on wifi and sorting all our GoPro photos and videos from the last few days !

Thurs 5th - Another day spent sunbathing and snorkelling, but we tried 4 locations, and all were poor vis. But on our final swim, we saw 2 turtles, one massive one - probably the same one from Tuesday. The tide had really gone out by 3pm but we gave it a go anyway, only just making it over some very shallow coral, and had a hard time getting back in. We had to time it just right, inbetween the huge waves, and then swim faster than I've ever swam before to get over the long stretch of coral before the big waves pounded us on it ! Not fun ! Watched sunset from one of our favourite bars, with chillout music, cold beer, and a big red sun sinking into the water.

Fri 6th - Final day on Gili Meno - can't believe 6 days have gone so quickly. Too much walking around the island looking for the perfect snorkelling spot ! Its amazing how one day a certain spot can be crystal clear, and the next day terrible. But every time we've been snorkelling, we have always seen at least one turtle, and have been astounded how tame they are and how close you can swim with them. Went to the SE this morning for the best beach on the island - long stretch of pure white soft sand. But the current was incredibly strong and no sooner had we swum out to the coral edge, we were swept down along the island and then had to fight to get back in again ! Spent the afternoon on the NE coast but still not great vis. so mostly sunbathing today to try and complete with the ridiculously brown tourists here ! Spent our final evening at the lovely Dianes Cafe with cocktails, beer and great food - going to miss Meno.