He’s watching me. The fire flickering besides me means I can’t see him in the shadows but I know his eyes are fixed in my direction.

The same man gave us some freshly caught fish, set up his fishing spear to hold the aerial of the sat phone up high so we could get a better signal and lit a fire outside for us. One of the women here swept the leaves away from the sand they are letting us camp on , prepared and cooked the fish and gave us fried bananas. The kindness of the people in Indonesia is humbling and wonderful. I have enjoyed watching the 4 people in this small semidetached wooden hut go about their daily business, skillfully descaling and gutting the fish, the practised ease with which they set up their cooking fire, the tshirt they put over the end of the water pipe to filter out the bits. I love the simplicity of their lives and like learning from the different ways of doing things. So I can’t be surprised that they like looking at us and learning from our methods. But I’d still like to be alone right now. I’ve only got two more days paddling so this is my second to last night and tomorrow is likely to be in a large village so won’t have the peaceful, contented feel to this charming quiet hamlet on the beach. There’s a tree that hangs over the sea that is pulsating silently with fireflies. Hundreds of tiny flashing lights illuminate the tree better than any Christmas lights display. The bushy outline of the branches visible against a black sky. The gentle chatter of insects soothes my ears while the sea lapping on the shore is barely discernable tonight. It’s warm of course, but it’s a comfortable warmth, not sticky and stifling like some evenings. I’d like to sit quietly on one of the beautifully carved wooden benches that compliment this tidy home, feeling the heat from the fire, watching the flicker of fire flies and crunching on the fresh fried fish that was plucked from the sea and plunged straight into the frying pan.

I find myself reflecting on the many positive experiences I’ve enjoyed in indonesia. Yesterday was taken from a book of dream days. In the morning we swam with a young whale shark, watching him feed on tiny fish, close enough to touch although I resisted the temptation. We visited a "bagan", a large wooden platform anchored semi permanently with a small living quarters for 4 men in the middle and fishing nets draped underneath the large criss cross of timbers. They use bright lights to catch fish at night and hand lines with live bait to catch bigger ones. These enterprising boats have learnt to feed the whale sharks so they don’t suck the small fish from their nets with a side effect that they stick around for tourists to see. The fishermen start by pouring water into the sea from a bucket. A whale shark approaches and tiny fish are alternated with the water. The shark sticks it’s mouth above the water and opens wide. We get to watch the feeding up close and study this 4 metre long gentle giant. After a few minutes he moved away swims in a circle them comes back for more.

For lunch we visited an even smaller floating home where 4 other men look after live fish in pens that will be exported to Hong Kong and Singapore. They buy the large fish from local fishermen, and when I first arrived they were injecting them with what may have been vitamins to sustain them as they are shipped to Bali then flown to their final destinations. We asked if we could eat our lunch on their floating platform and started to get out crackers. They said yes then produced a small red coral trout and asked if we’d like that with some rice. Wow and yes please! A slim young man with long hair put on a mask and jumped into one of the pens. He came out with a red stripy lobster with massive spines. This was chopped, fried and served up next to the fish. It was all delicious and I enjoyed talking to Robert and his friends about their work.

Our last stop off the day was a floating mansion, an Australian motor boat that is being delivered to Thailand for it’s owner. The crew of John, Tracey and Jo are taking the scenic route and were also here to see the whale sharks. They invited us to stay overnight and we enjoyed a hot shower, a delicious meal of more lobster washed down with red wine, an air conditioned room and great chats. We even had our clothes washed. As we sat on comfy deck chairs on the front of the boat at sunset with a glass of wine I couldn’t believe the fairy tail day. Swimming with a whale shark, being cooked delicious fresh seafood and a bit of luxury with good company. It doesn’t get much better than that!