At five in the morning, anchored off a tropical island in the Flores Sea, I wake from loud creaking noises coming from the walls of my cabin.
Waves lap against the ship’s ironwood hull, while a steady stream of cool air flows from a small ceiling vent above my feet.
I’m lying under a soft duvet on the top bunk of a double room located in the ship’s bow.
It’s day two of nine on Ombak Putih, a handmade phinisi sailboat cruising the Indonesian islands of Sumbawa and Komodo National Park.
I’m cocooned, yet primed for discovery and adventure.
Komodo National Park, in eastern Indonesia, is where endangered dragons roam.
Apex predators, these giant endemic monitor lizards became known to Western science in the early 1900s, but are locally dubbed ora, buaya darat or land crocodile.
It feels right that an early research expedition to study these reptiles inspired writers of the cult horror, King Kong.
In the movie, the place where Kong resides is a remote mountainous island resembling those surrounding me now.
I arrived at this mooring off Rinca Island by air, land and sea.
To be atop a turquoise ocean at daybreak - as New Zealand greets its first big winter snowfall - boggles my mind.
Last night I stood on deck watching hundreds of flying foxes leave island roosts to cross a flaming sky.
It was like I’d entered the mythical Greek underworld of Hades itself.
Just yesterday I joined this Whale Sharks, Corals and Dragons cruise - a solo midlifer in a tour party of UK, Swiss and US couples and the Wilkinsons, a well-heeled family from London on lawyer dad’s three-month sabbatical.
At sea, we’ve relaxed into barefoot luxury: private air-conditioned cabins with snug en suites, daily snorkelling safaris on uncrowded reefs and round-the-clock service delivered with genuine warmth.
My first visit to Indonesia was in the mid-90s.
I arrived in Medan by ferry, en route to New Zealand from India, stopping first at Lake Toba in North Sumatra and later Mount Bromo in East Java.
The desire to see more of Indonesia’s 17,000-plus islands and make a brief return to solo travelling motivated me to do this trip.
I loved the untethered sensation of wandering alone in my early 20s with only myself to please.
But as an older married woman, would travelling alone cause those same feelings to resurface?
My attraction to solo travel had been fed by a teenage impulse to escape the place in which I grew up and a diet of travel memoirs borrowed from my grandparents’ library.
Like the authors they read, Nana and Granddad loved the world’s colourful yet lesser-known places: the Aussie outback, the Subantarctic islands, the boat-access-only and heritage-rich atolls of the Pacific.
Freedom of movement and the show of character by ordinary people were narrative themes that appealed to us as readers.
In Indonesia with little money, no onward ticket and Bahasa phrases listed in pages torn from an offloaded Lonely Planet guidebook (these were pre-Google days), I remember testing the limits of both in the weeks I was there.
Other guests’ motivations for booking this trip reveal themselves over time.
Andrea, a chief financial officer back home in the UK, recently lost her mum to sudden illness.
The pain is a reminder to make the most of life while you can, she explains one afternoon on deck as wife Kate tenderly squeezes her hand.
For Dwight and Debbie, Arizona retirees, seeing wildlife like Komodo dragons in their natural habitat was a major drawcard.
Yet, as Dwight tears up giving a speech at Melo village on our last morning, it’s the warmth of the Indonesian people that has won him over.
Life at sea offers an endless supply of small pleasures, from the ship’s visual majesty when the sails are set to the smooth feel of its timber decking underfoot and the thrill of nabbing a coveted spot on the seat straddling Ombak Putih’s upward-swinging bow.
A two-hour snorkel with two whale sharks - their slot-machine mouths hoovering up plankton and fishers’ discarded bait scraps - delivers one of the trip’s most memorable mornings.
"Total bucket list experience; I never imagined I’d swim with anything that size," says Jess, a mid-20s travel rep, grinning brightly as we wash off under the ship’s outdoor shower.
She’s on board with boyfriend Ben, a logistics expert, who’s taken to rousing afternoon singalongs with tour leader, Dion, on acoustic guitar.
"To watch them appear out of the deep, right here in the middle of the ocean. At one point, I look over and there’s a whale shark the size of a bus swimming towards me. How amazing was that?"
On this ocean journey I realise I’m rarely on my own.
Nightly, we regroup in the lounge to survey what we’ve seen underwater - turtles, manta rays, clownfish peeping from the wagging fingers of soft coral and gruesome oddities like moray and ribbon eels.
We hike into the jungle one stifling 28-degree morning for the pleasure of ducking our heads under gushing waterfalls and wading in fresh water pools.
There are sunsets. My favourite is shared with Ursula and Matt, a fit adventurous Swiss couple, after walking up a rocky peak.
Women proffer bolts of handwoven fabric for less than the price of a mass-produced T-shirt at home. I buy one for 300 rupiah ($NZ30) and marvel at its vivid colours and flawless construction.
Some nights we dance, raised to our feet by crew strumming guitars and singing Terpesona, a local love song.
At a beach barbecue of crayfish, salad and spicy nasi goreng, I smile watching guests from San Diego, Glenda and Kirk, rip up the sandy dance floor.
In truth, I’m buoyed by the camaraderie of Ombak Putih’s guests and crew.
I love the communal dining, shared excursions and afternoon naps in shady nooks on deck.
I was planning more alone time, but I’ve found a kind of family out here.
"Hello Richard!" enthuses Debbie (of Oregon couple, Debbie and Tom), when I point my video camera in her direction one morning.
"We love your wife," she says in the clip I later share with my husband on WhatsApp.
It seems the perfect snapshot of the easy vibe on board.
"It’s World Oceans Day - so we’ve organised a special activity for everyone," says Dani, the ship’s snorkelling and free-diving guide, on our last full day at sea.
Two village reps from the French non-profit Coral Guardian come aboard to explain how coral gardening is reviving reefs destroyed by bleaching and dynamite fishing.
Later we disembark and follow them to Hatamin Island for a coral propagation lesson on the shore.
Then we put on snorkels, flippers and gloves to plant dozens of coral fragments in an underwater nursery.
It’s not hard to see why people travel from different corners of the world to explore the remote islands and nature-rich waters of Indonesia.
But to do it on a traditional vessel in the company of others offers an experience that extends far beyond sightseeing.
Instead, you’re invited to lean into the rhythm of life at sea and to feel connected as much to one another as to the endless beauty around you.
- The writer was hosted by SeaTrek and Wild Earth Travel.
