Kiribas, sinking under rising sea levels. Quick, land going cheap.

Things change quickly. I was expecting to meet my Bali visitor at the airport next Tuesday, but unfortunately the Australian Consulate in Bali have refused his visa application. It seems he didn’t supply all the required documentation. Even though he owns a property company, a restaurant and a hotel, they said he hasn’t proved his employment status.

I’ve emailed them and said I’ll verify for him, act as guarantor for him, and I’ll see him back on the plane after his stay, but it did no good. They’re saying he has to resubmit the application with the required information, and that it usually takes 15 working days for a visa to be processed.

He’s got an air ticket for 30 May, returning on 12 June, so I’ve told him to urgently try to change it, preferably for a month later. No reply so far.

That means I’m free to go to Bali in time to meet my lady friend when she gets back from her 8-day cruise. She’s on a small (6 passenger) boat travelling from Bali, east and to the north of Lombok, Sumbawa, Moyo Island, Komodo Island, ending in Flores on Sunday. She’s going to stay on in Flores, she hopes, then fly back to Bali in the following week. We’ll meet up in Sanur. Bagus!!

At first I was a candidate to go on that cruise, but (1) I had my guest arriving, so I would have had to rush back on the 29th or 30th May, and (2) there’s no 240V power on the boat when the sun goes down and the solar panels don’t work. I need 240V at night for my CPAP – can’t do without it. I was willing to go anyway, but after discussion, it was too difficult. Maybe another time on a bigger boat.

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Interesting that a new CPAP is being released by Resmed which is specifically designed for travelling. Yeah! It’s about as big as a 500g tub of margarine and weighs about 700g, complete with humidifier built in. Amazing. But I believe the cost is estimated to be around $2,300!!! That company charges like bank robbers.

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One thing I would have bought if I’d gone on the boat cruise is one of these:

It’s an Olympus TG-4 camera, TG reminding us of Tough Guy. It’s waterproof to 15m, so my friend could take it snorkelling with her, drop proof and crush proof – you can put it in your back pocket and sit on it.

But the main reason I thought of it is this:

GPS. Many times I’ve looked at my photos after a trip and been unable to remember exactly where a shot was taken. On a cruise through islands, where all coastlines look much the same, I’d want this to locate my photos. I’d also take shots each hour or so to trace my trip.

I’m not on that cruise, but I might buy it anyway. Note that a new model for 2017 has just been released, slightly different to this. I doubt it would have reached WA yet, so …

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I’ve finally bought a new hand phone. I decided on the OnePlus-3T after seeing it consistently top the mid-price phone lists. “As good as an expensive phone for half the price. A bit more than half, $600, but anyway. It’s winging its way from Hong Kong, Kogan tells me. I just hope it gets here before my trip. It’ll be a week tomorrow since I ordered it.

PS: at 09:23 this morning it had cleared customs and was in Victoria, according to the tracking info. Bagus. I’ve just received the new SIM card from iiNet. Luckily I realised it uses a nano-SIM, whereas I’ve only got a micro-SIM at the moment.

It’s going to be a rush to try to get all my contacts transferred over before I leave.

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Another rush job is to either fix a latch on my hard sided suitcase (it’s in pieces, busted), or buy a new case. I’ve been using the same case since my Europe trip in 2008, but it sustained damage right from the very first leg and it’s got a bit worse for wear each trip. I suppose nine years is not bad going.