We rose at 6:00 am then headed for breakfast, this was our last meal in Bali and we had it on the beach - The sun was rising, the sea blue and the sand reflecting the morning sky, it doesn't get better than this.

All too soon it was 8:00 o'clock and our driver had arrived to take us to the ferry port at Gilimanuk - We were travelling again.

The ferry port seemed to have more ferries than passengers and there was obvious congestion as incoming boats waited off shore, for outgoing vessels to create berthing space. The process for boarding a vessel was relatively simple but we still needed help with translation from our driver …. the first hint that Java would be more difficult than Bali in terms of the language barrier. The fare was 6000 rupiahs (about 30p) and by 10:00 we had set sail across the 5 kilometre stretch of sea that separated the islands - We looked back over the sea to Bali, with a slightly heavy heart and even heavier bags.

Java was immediately in sight and on a clear, calm and sun filled morning, the 3 volcanoes dominating their coastal skyline, were extremely picturesque and inviting, however the smoke gently blowing from the peaks, intimated a dangerous dark side.

The ferry crossing was fairly quick, only 30 mins but we had to wait an interminable amount of time, queueing for docking positions to clear. Eventually, we landed and made our way on foot to the railway station, fighting through the mass of taxi drivers, tuk-tuk operators and men with bicycle powered wheelbarrows. Aided by our ever reliable "blue dot" and google maps we successfully navigated our own way to the station.

We bought train tickets to our next stop, Probolinggo, which would be our base for visiting Mount Bromo - a live volcano. Our seats were in Executive class and very comfortable with reclining seats and air conditioning, we settled down to our 4.5-hour journey. The time passed quickly, the scenery was stunning, huge rice fields with people in conical straw hats working the land by hand, various other crops and trees - coconut, mango, dragon fruit and banana being the most prevalent. As we passed through the towns and villages, the track was so close to the houses that one could reach out and take food from their tables - This of course saved us money on buying dinner. At one point Dan had fallen asleep and was woken by a phone going off - the ring tone was a cockerel (bringing back bad memories of being woken at 4:00am every morning in Munduk, by a chorus of real cockerels) - Heather managed to restrain Dan from strangling the women who owned the phone.

Probolinggo was a single night stopover, to visit one of the most famous live volcanos on the island, at sunrise (in turns out that the standard day, actually has two 5 o'clocks - who knew?)

When we arrived at Probolinggo, there were no taxis, only groups of "dodgy looking" men with bicycle wheelbarrows, who offered to take us to our "homestay" for about 3 times the standard taxi fare - Worse still, we were convinced they didn't have a clue where we wanted to go.

A group of school children, who were doing a project for their English assignment, approached us and asked us various general questions - one good turn deserves another and one of the girls had a phone - Problem solved. The girl rang our accommodation and they sent a vehicle to pick us up.

The girls had photos taken with us and with cheerful waving from the girls and black looks and gestures from the "scammers" we continued on our way.

Probolinggo was not the most inspiring of towns but our "homestay" was fine. A brief walkaround the town, buying railway tickets for our next leg and snacks for our volcano experience confirmed our decision to only stop one night. Back at the ranch we met two Dutch girls and a couple of mixed origin - he was Dutch and she was Spanish. All six of us agreed to hire a vehicle/driver together and split the cost.

The alarm went off at 2:00am and within half an hour we were all in the "people carrier" and ready to set-off. The drive was about 2 hours long, in pitch black, climbing windy mountain roads …… on the downhill section we were kings but on the uphill, all the 4x4s overtook our struggling vehicle.

When we arrived, there was a 30 mins walk up a very steep climb (still in pitch black) and finally we were at the top, on a viewing platform, with several other volcano watchers - Awaiting the dawn and the amazing spectacle of the sun rising majestically from behind the mountain - A dawning of time moment.

Standing on a mountain top at four in the morning can be surprisingly cold - not everyone understands - we met a girl from Newcastle who was wearing shorts and a bikini top and we were cold with 4 layers of ski-style clothing (southern softies)

The tension on the mountain was palpable as the dawn approached, people cold but excited, cameras being adjusted, the best positions fought over - Then it happened, well it didn't really, clouds swept across the mountain top obscuring the peaks and the emerging sun - disappointing.

Ultimately nature never disappoints, within minutes the daylight forced its way through the clouds and created patterns that were amazing and constantly changing, then strong winds arrived and blew the cloud cover away, exposing the main volcano with its classic triangular profile and sulphuric smoke pumping out of the top ….. Awesome.

The morning still had more to offer, we returned to our vehicle and after a short drive, we transferred to a "Magic Jeep". Our new 4x4 vehicle took us on a journey across the base of the volcano to the edge of "the Sea of Sand". As we walked across the Sea of Sand (actually black volcanic dust) the wind blew the dust, creating a mini sandstorm of black sand. Having braved the first of our tests, we continued to trek up to the volcano itself, although there was an option to hire a horse, we refused and continued our intrepid journey on foot. The final challenge was a set of steps that went to the rim, about 300 in total and very high and steep - Heather's legs were not really long enough to treat them as steps but would not be beaten - she employed climbing techniques that she had honed on her Andes expedition to master the challenge.

As one got closer to the rim the stench of sulphur became almost unbearable but we made it to the rim and looked over. It was truly amazing, we had never looked down the throat of a real live active volcano before and it was incredible, indescribable and totally worth the early morning start. The roar coming from the depths below was deafening, and frightening. We could not stay for very long, the sulphur was stinging our eyes and starting to burn our throats - but what an experience.