I've got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts......

This one may not strike a chord for all sorts of cultural and age reasons.... 

Our July/August 2006 trip to Java was anything but relaxing, working for the ISSES and then LCGB for 15 hours a day. We needed a 'steam fix' holiday so went back in September for 2 weeks or so of 'rest and recreation' in the far east of Java. For the first part, we were accompanied by good friend Peter Nettleship whose last gricing trip with me in Java in 1986 ended prematurely in a missionary hospital in Yogya nursing a broken leg from a mishap while riding/photographing a field train at Gondang Baru. This time there were no mishaps and we pumped a lot of money into the local economy notably making the local becak driver population very happy for all sorts of reasons.

The weather was good throughout, unfortunately only the (beyond) Duwet and Gelung lines were in use and I have to say that by September, the sun shines straight along the Duwet to Olean road making photography in this area very difficult. This year, Olean's locomotives are burning coconut husks, maybe the bagasse pile was still too damp or it could be sold for more money than was paid for the equivalent amount of husks:

The fibrous part is extremely combustible, on several occasions a tenderful threatened to ignite as the sparks from the outer shells ignited them as well as our T-shirts.

Has anyone else seen such firing elsewhere? In the last 10 years I have seen these locomotives burn just about everything, bagasse, wood, oil, cane toppings.... With only a couple of solitary and shy Japanese gricers putting in brief appearances during our 10 day visit, by and large we could safely ride the trains without annoying any photographers. Anyone else who has been here knows that the only time the crews fail to smile is when they are having their picture taken....

The idea was not just to have a holiday, we wanted to complete filming for our (Olean) "Sweet Spot" DVD. Others have found that a motorbike makes for easy chasing, I prefer a rather greener and quieter approach,

These days, getting up and down trees is not quite as easy as it was.

"Never work with children or animals" they say and sure enough, the sheep obliged with the perfect photo opportunity as the train bore down on them while my video camera was stranded on the tender....

This year the field trains have been a little thin on the ground despite the excellent season with the horrid blue diesels doing more line work than usual, so it was doubly frustrating when the front wheel of #1 hit the dirt at Duwet one afternoon. Still it was fun watching them put all the other wheels off the rails in turn while using the rerailer. 

One way and another the trains always seemed to get home eventually....

Eventually, we completed our rehabilitation by heading south to Watu Ulo on the south coast, a rocky bay which is home to local fishermen and just about no-one else during the week.

Freshly caught fish is put on ice, brought ashore and consumed in the evening - Rp 20,000 (GBP 1.20 / Euro 1.8 / U$ 2.20) each. The essential accompaniment is in the background (in the cupboard...).

Air China's return flight from Jakarta to Beijing was screwed up by Typhoon Xangsane so they decanted us to Hotel Mulia in Jakarta. It may have 5 stars and probably deserves them, the sumptuous breakfast set the airline back nearly Rp 170,000 for each of us. But I confess we felt extremely uncomfortable in that kind of environment.