Linus and I were picked up by our shuttle in Sengiggi, and whisked north along the coast to a staging area 200 meters away from the beach where we'd be boarding a small wooden boat to ferry us over to Gili Trawangan.
As we sat around, the "boatman" who would take us the rest of the way was chatting. Among other things, he mentioned mosquito coils. I knew what they were, though never bought them myself, so I had no sense of their regular cost. The boatman said they were not available on the island. I'm all about avoiding malaria and dengue fever, which meant I was about to make yet another foolish mistake.
The Lonely Planet speaks poorly of the port area, and it's a well deserved reputation. The people are very aggressive about picking up your bags and carrying them to the boat without your approval, in search of a tip. In fact, you had to cross a small stream to get to the boat and two guys literally carried Linus over it so he wouldn't get wet. It's not like he wanted them to be doing it either!
Back to the mosquito coils, the quoted price for a box of 10, with lighter, was 95,000 rupiah (about $10). Being that we were in transit, and I was concerned about the hijacking of my stuff as it was, I paid the piper. Supposedly my quoted price was lower than what he asked of the Spanish. The boatman also reassured me that it was the "regular" price.
A 40-minute ride in a long wooden boat with 20-25 people brought us to our island destination, where mosquito coils were available in every shop for the local price of about 30 cents. The screens were so good on the two rooms I had during the stay, I only used one full mosquito coil.
The lesson I learned on this one was to think of products and services in terms of the price locals would have to pay.
Must include photo.
When the heat got to me, I walked around the air-conditioned mall nearby. Surfer's Paradise is akin to Miami in the USA. Tall residential buildings buttress up against beautiful beaches. Several backpackers would later tell me they felt it had no soul. I accepted it for what it was, and enjoyed it. As the day drew on, I checked with two of the hostels in the area regarding available rooms. There were none. Zilch.
Ben is a Couchsurfing city ambassador for Brisbane, which means he tends to host a lot of people and take an active role in fostering a bigger couchsurfing community in his city (and as I learned, all of Queensland). He was a great host - very connected to the local Brisbane music scene having been in many bands. He introduced me to the local community radio station 4zzz (pronounced 4-triple-zed), 102.1 FM. I was immediately blown away by what I was hearing - rap songs with f-bombs everywhere and the n-word (obviously not radio edits). It turns out the station had a 30-year history of shaking things up and they were still going strong. I listened to the station as much as I could during my 2-day stay - soaking up it's free-wheeling style, and great (really great) music selections. The DJ's were silly and fun too.
Aside from listening to lots of local music (and talking about it too), I did a ½ day walk around Brisbane, though the rain put a damper on it. Chris (another couchsurfer staying with Ben) joined me, though he'd already been to the city. We explored the Town Hall, including the free ride to the clock tower, took a ferry across the river, and spent an hour wandering around the (free) Queensland/Brisbane Museum.
Discoveries -
I started the day with a Jetboating ride on the Shotover River which winds through the canyon by the same name. It was fun, though it didn't instill the fear of death in me. The boats are $250,000 each, and can go in water only a few inches deep. It's about as tame an experience as you'll find in Queenstown, though zipping by canyon walls and doing 360's was good fun. Between the in-your-face advertising, and countless stories from other travelers doing crazy activities, I signed up for one I knew would scare me (I hoped). It's like a rite of passage if you come to New Zealand.