From the Logbook..."Lake Day" 3 of 3

Once we acquired all of the data we were interested in, it was time to bring the airplane to the dock, and begin cleaning up and prepping to head home.  Rolling up a kilometer of rope and 10 jugs took a while.

As the fish were drying that the locals had caught, there were a few other things happening to them as well.  Flies are disgusting, but they are still beautiful and intricately designed by our Creator.

There were literally thousands of fish laid out in the sun drying.  Everywhere I looked, there were places set up about 4 feet off of the ground with the peoples income slowly becoming dry and ready to sell at market.

What's a great time together as an MAF crew without a group picture at the end of the day?

What's a great time together as an MAF crew without a goofy group picture?  Apparently, I didn't get the memo.

From the Logbook..."Lake Day" 2 of 3

All in all, we did a lot of flying that day, and performed LOTS of takeoff and landings.  We were interested in "fresh" data for our airplanes in order to continue to operate them safely and with margin.

If you look closely in the above photo, you can see an orange jug just under the wing.  We used 10 jugs at 100 meter intervals to help us determine take off and landing distances as well as abort lengths.  The guys in the boat also measured how long or short the airplane performed certain maneuvers.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, fishing is the livelihood of the villagers where we practiced.  It was fun to see that they were successful.  Not all rivers are healthy enough in Central Kalimantan to catch that amount of fish.

I don't know what species of fish is in the photo above, but from the reaction of my co-workers, it is a prized fish, and very delicious to eat.

From the Logbook..."Lake Day" 1 of 3

This past October we took all of our local staff, an airplane, our little boat, some KFC for lunch, and headed about 10 miles north of PalangkaRaya to do some testing with our airplane in order to gain better data for safer takeoffs and landings.  Inside the boat we had 10 old cooking oil jugs painted orange, a kilometer of rope on the reel on the bow, and just in case...a roll of something else.

The guys in the boat left before I did in the airplane.  Their 45 minute boat ride would take me 6 minutes in the airplane.

When we arrived at our training location, there were about 4 families living on the river bank there.  They made their living from what the caught in the river; dried fish being a large part of that income.

Everyone I met there was doing something with fish.  Gutting them, catching them, drying them, etc.  Everyone was busy.  

This couple allowed us to use their dock and even welcomed all of us into their home to eat lunch.  It was fun to hear their stories and share a lunch together with them.

Finally, Some Time Away. Bali (6 of 6)

Early on in our Bali vacation, we saw many ladies that would make special braids for my girls.  After some negotiating on price, they went at it...quickly turning my girls hair into numerous little braids.  I'm not sure my girls knew what to think at first.

Brooklyn seemed as wide eyed as her sisters during the whole thing.  At least she was wearing her Bronco shirt. Go Broncos!!!

Paige seemed the most at home with the bizarre experience.  Of her 5 years of life, the majority of them up to this point have been in Indonesia.  Things that startle or seem strange to her older sisters don't always appear that way to her.

About 35 minutes after beginning, my girls had a great hair style for vacation.  We never had to worry about combing their hair the rest of our time there, which was wonderful due to the fact that we spend a lot of time in the ocean or the swimming pool.

We went for a hike on the beach afterwards, trying to find some nice seashells.  Bali has a lot to offer, and we only scratched the surface while we were there.

At the end of our trip, before we headed to the airport, we to our girls to the "doctor fish" place.  Basically, you stick your hands and/or feet into the pool and hundreds of little minnow sized fish nibble all of the dead or loose skin off.  It was definitely a unique experience!

Finally, Some Time Away. Bali (5 of 6)

While we were up in the mountain country of Bali, we continued to drive through some very picturesque places.  We finally stopped, and while Rebecca did some shopping, the girls and I went hiking through a nearby rice paddy.

The scene was very beautiful, and very Asian in my opinion.  The farmers we met as we hiked the terraces were very nice, and very surprised to meet some foreigners that could speak their language!

One of the local farmers even had some coconuts that we bought from him in order to drink the juice from.  Hiking around the rice paddies was much better than shopping!

Finally, Some Time Away. Bali (4 of 6)

My girls continued to hike through the creek and find little nooks and crannies that needed exploring.  It was so fun!.

The base of this fig tree was hard to comprehend. Even with my girls sitting on its roots, I couldn't capture the scale of that huge tree with a photo.

Everywhere we turned there were local villagers preparing something for the huge festival that was going to begin only a few days later.

I watched in keen interest as the Hindu men went through elaborate rituals to offer these prepared gifts to their gods.  Very interesting!

After we left the temple, we found a nice place at the edge of a volcanic crater lake to eat lunch.  The higher elevation was WONDERFUL!  We feel like we have been sweating for the past 3 years living in the swamps of Central Borneo.  The crisp, fall like air was great!

The view in front of us as we ate was awe inspiring as well.  Living on or near the ring of fire these past few years has given us the opportunity to see countless volcanoes, some active, some dormant, like the one in the picture above.  

Finally, Some Time Away. Bali (3 of 6)

The time at the Hindu temple was super colorful.  Above are offerings that were prepared to be given to their idols.

It seemed like a large part of the village turned out to prepare certain things for the upcoming festival.

To be allowed into the temple area, we were all required to wear a skirt.  I was the only one the didn't have appropriate atire, so they gave me a piece of fabric to tie around my waist.

This temple was over 500 years old, and it had carving all over the place into the rock walls.  Such an interesting place!

Our girls are drawn to water like bugs to light.  So, of course they had to get in the nearby stream and wonder around for a while.

Finally, Some Time Away. Bali (2 of 6)

Our hotel had a pool!  We spend countless hours in the water and lounging by the poolside.  When we first arrived in Bali, two or our three girls still needed floaties to swim with.  By the end of the week, we were floatie free.

Almost every night, we took a walk down the beach-walk and watched the sunset.  We were never disappointed.  It was always beautiful!

Surfing is a major attraction in Bali.  I didn't do any of it this time, but if we are fortunate to return in the future, I want to make an effort to give it a try.

Another shot of the sun dipping below the horizon as we walked to dinner one night.

On a visit to a Hindu temple, we saw lots of things going on.  They were preparing for a large yearly festival, the Hindu equivalent to Christmas.  Very interesting.

Finally, Some Time Away. Bali (1 of 6)

Two months away from posting on the blog hasn't meant a lack of activity in our lives...just the opposite.  I've got enough pictures to post almost everyday until the end of the month of December to record our lives over the last few months.  Stay tuned...

In October we finally took our first family vacation in Indonesia.  We were able to take a trip to the island of Bali, and we weren't disappointed.  It was such a great time of refreshing and rest.  We REALLY needed that!

The island of Bali is a beautiful place.  So much different culturally and geographically than where we live in Central Borneo.

The majority religion in Bali is Hinduism and it's influence is evident EVERYWHERE you go.

Mommy and Paigey waiting for their lunch to be brought.  We ate LOTS of good food while in Bali.  It was fun to eat things there that we haven't had for YEARS!

Brooklyn really shined when we were in Bali.  It's so awesome to see the young lady she is growing into!

From the Logbook...Checkout into Tumbang Marikoi

A few days after checking Aaron out into Tumbang Naan (see previous post) I had the opportunity to checkout Isaac into one of our most challenging villages; Tumbang Marikoi.  On top of being our shortest waterway, it can also be busy with lots of boat traffic, as seen in the above photo.

Because Marikoi is so short, we try to squeeze out every foot of available river for takeoff.  Due to this fact, it puts us slightly around a corner making the majority of the river invisible to us in the cockpit.  So, we have a helper stand on a dock and be our eyes for us.  If we receive hand signals like the ones in the above picture, it means the river is unsafe and to wait.  Once the helper determines the river is clear, he will put his hands down at his side and just stand there.

After waiting for a few boats to go by, finally the river was clear and Isaac poured on the coals.  Notice the vapor wisps coming off the tips of the propellers.  It was a VERY humid day, rain showers were in the area and it had rained all night.  But, that rain hadn't made it to the river yet, because we were dealing with slightly low river conditions.

About 17 seconds after pushing in the throttle, the airplane is airborne, just missing some big rocks sticking out of the water.  But you can't relax once you are off of the water, you have to start an almost immediate left turn.  It's a lot of fun!

Landing is fun too!  You essentially reverse to takeoff procedure and fly back into Marikoi around the corner and touchdown just beyond the big rocks.

After Isaac did a few reps by himself, I put some fuel in the wings while Isaac took a small break and took some pictures.  These cute kids were surprised to see that the pilot behind them was taking their picture.

But, most of the time, it is pretty easy to get a laugh and some giggles out of the children where we serve.  It's one of my favorite things to do.  Flying float planes is awesome!