49. See the vicious Komodo Dragons

2nd May 2016

After the trip to Africa last year, i had minimal annual leave for an extended holiday. However i wanted to head off overseas to break up my work and tick off country number 50 and make it halfway to my goal of 100 and to tick off a Bucket List item.

Having watching a video of the ferocity and unusual combination of short squat bodies but surprising speed and power, Komodo Dragons had always intrigued me and were a must see in person. I therefore decided to use my limited annual leave to visit one of Australia's closest neighbours and tick off Indonesia from my country list and see these impressive creatures.

Having booked some super cheap flights from Melbourne to Bali ($300 return), i decided to book myself on a tour that incorporated a trip to Komodo and Rinca islands, home of the Komodo dragons, and Kelimutu, 3 multi coloured volcanic lakes on top of a Volcano that change colour throughout the year.

After arriving in Bali and a day to laze around near our hotel in Sanur we met up with our group and the next day we were whisked away to the island of Flores. Flores is a lot more rural than the commercialised island of Bali and after the flight we were driven to our beach side secluded hotel.

 The next day we awoke at 5 am to catch our boat out to the islands of Komodo, then Rinca to see the Komodo Dragons. I was a bit worried having forgot and been unable to buy travel sickness tablets but needn't have worried as the boat barely got above a leisurely pace and the boat moved so little i spent most of the journey asleep on the deck in the sun (most unfortunate as i managed to pick up a decent amount of sunburn).


After about 3 hours on the boat we docked at the otherwise empty Pier and we led onto the island and to our tour guide. Before our tour began we were greeted at the visitor centre by 2 Komodo dragons , a fully grown adult and a Juvenile, with the adult closer and just longing in the sun and the Juvenile in the distance moving further into the undergrowth.

Whilst the fearsome claws let you know this was a fearsome killer, the lack of movement as we stood within 2 metres showed a lazy lizard who spends most of his day baking under shade on the edge of the forest. However we were warned to get no closer to this 3m, 100kg lizard which can reach 20km/hr over short distances.

After the initial encounter we moved along to a watering hole which had a lack of wildlife of any type and walked through the trail loop through the forest and to a viewing point overlooking the bay of the island.

We saw a Komodo dragon lazing near the beach near the end of our tour and we were able to take pictures with the Dragon.

We also saw one last one next to the visitor centre lazing under a Pagoda trying to stay out of the sun.

After a small stop at the stalls selling souvenirs, we got back on the boat and travelled to the second island that the Komodo Dragons call home, Rinca Island.

After a short walk through from the jetty to the visitor centre, we soon came across about 10 lounging near the houses, including some who decided a group hug would be appropriate.

We went on a slightly longer trek around the island and saw a juvenile protecting itself from being eaten by an adult by resting up a tree.

We also saw their nest although no activity at this time of the year and we completed our trek by returning to the visitor centre and being greeted by a full sized adult on the move looking for water and food. Walking in a swaying motion with opposite front and back legs moving at the same time, it headed right for us forcing us to move back and giving us a stare to show who was boss before settling in a for drink in the small pool of water.

We got an added treat as we headed back to the boat with a juvenile dragon looking for a meal by picking off a monkey who had drifted away from the group although the monkey easily moved away from the Komodo dragon.

An amazing experience with loads of Komodo Dragons of various different ages to be seen and mostly the park to ourselves as most people have not decided to venture to Flores to see this memorising and fascinating if fairly ugly creatures. Well worth the trip and highlight of the tour.

18. Attempt 5 Food Challenges - Part 4. Shawcross Pizza Challenge

24th January 2016

Having taken a break from the Food challenges with the last challenge in January 2014, i saw a challenge that took my fancy and was excited for a Pizza challenge. Growing up Pizza was my favourite food and I once managed to polish off 22 slices of pizza and 5 bowls of dessert at Pizza Hut (before they closed their restaurants - maybe because of people like me).

So I felt the 22" Shawcross Pizza challenge was a challenge built for me. However it was the size of 4 large pizzas or 2kg of Pizza with the reward of a completion T Shirt and if you have the fastest time of the month you also win a slab of beer. With the fastest time for this month being 29:50, i figured that was beyond my capabilities and would just try to finish the pizza. and not worry about time.

After arriving and chatting with Em for a while, we were given a menu and told that to do the challenge at least half the pizza had to come from the meat category. I therefore decided on half USA Today (pepperoni, mozzarella and oregano) and half Notorious PIG (Pork Sausage, Bacon, Jalapenos, mozzarella, bbq sauce and onion).

Matt and Em settled on a regular large pizza between them pictured above next to my pizza for scale.

After starting off at a good pace, i settled into a rhythm of small bites and minimal chewing and decided to leave the crusts until the end. I finished the first two slices and was still on track to finish close to the quickest time with about half the pizza to go. However after about half the pizza, i hit a wall and slowed down considerable and with 2 pieces to go i had slowed to glacial place. After an hour i was still going but incredible slowly and was starting to feel queasy. With only 1 slice and 3 crusts to go i had to call it quits and i couldn't keep going.

Unfortunately the 1 slice and crusts was the equivalent of half a large pizza and beyond me at this. So close but so far. Now i have one last food challenge to attempt before ticking another item off my Life list.