Harissa Hobart

27/10/2026

Next stop the Banggai islands.

These islands lie just off Luwuk and have recently exploded into popularity, made famous by the picturesque Paisu Pok lake. A crystal-clear, spring-fed freshwater lake famous for its glass-like blue and turquoise waters. It is visually breathtaking.

The small village of Luk Panenteng is home to the lake and some of the clearest seawater lagoons we have ever witnessed. The children of the village are still excited by tourists (or bule) and greet you with big smiles and hellos. Undoubtedly this will change as the tourist numbers continue to rise too quickly for the infrastructure of the village. It is one of the negative consequences of tourism that we see too often. Tourism brings incredible economic growth for these villages but also results in the loss of small village cohesiveness. We feel incredibly lucky to have explored the islands now and still experience it's unique village charm.

There's no luxury accommodation yet. Far from it. Accommodation is very basic, but the people are lovely and the attractions definitely make up for the uncomfortable beds and lack of basic hygiene 🤣 (20 plus people sharing 2 non flushing toilets and 2 showers).

From Peleng island we drove on the scooter down to Banggai Laut island, where we spent a few days exploring.

We visited some beautiful beaches with crystal clear aquamarine waters, snorkeled in a lake amongst stingless jellyfish and spent hours snorkelling the house reef, home to a bevy of sea life including the endangered Banggai Cardinal fish. This fish is famous for its paternal mouthbreeding, meaning the male cardinal fish uses his mouth as a safe nursery to incubate eggs and protect newly hatched fry. The male holds roughly 30 to 75 fertilized eggs in his mouth for about 30 days until they hatch. Once the eggs hatch, the tiny fry stay inside the father's mouth for an additional 5 to 10 days, darting out briefly to feed and rushing back inside at the first sign of danger.

Nonny from our homestay was kind enough to es**rt us on a visit to a Bajau village where we helped with an impromptu English class and sing along on the jetty. The kiddies were so excited to have bule (tourists) visit the village. Soon we had nearly every kiddie in the village joining our walk ❤️, with smiles so big they melted your heart.

The Bajau people (or "Sea Gypsies") are an indigenous maritime ethnic group in Southeast Asia. They have a deep, traditional connection to the ocean, living either in small wooden houseboats or in stilt houses built over shallow coral reefs and coastal waters. They are famous for extreme free-diving capabilities, routinely diving tens of metres deep without equipment and holding their breath for over 13 minutes! Generations of sea-dwelling life have led to a genetic trait that gives them a spleen about 50% larger than average, storing extra oxygen-rich red blood cells.

We finished our island explorations with an 8 hour ferry back to Luwuk and on to our next destination - The Togean Islands.

23/10/2026

It was a long drive to Luwuk, our next stop in Central Sulawesi. After 14 hours in the car, we were happy to arrive, albeit in the dark and a little grumpy (well Ness anyway).

We were expecting Luwuk to be another dry and dusty town, but were pleasantly surprised to find a neat and tidy metropolis perched on a hill and overlooking a crystal blue harbour. The streets are kept clean and the pride of the locals in their town is clearly obvious. The undurpassing friendliness of the Sulawesi people was everywhere and we loved it.

The hilly surrounds are also home to some of the most beautiful waterfalls in Sulawesi. We were lucky to have time to explore 2 of these, in between a spot of beach snorkelling and drinking coconuts whilst enjoying the infamous pisang goreng (fried bananas).

Sometimes the best stops on a road trip are the ones where you have no expectations or knowledge of a place at all. Luwuk proved to be one of those gems and it's a shame that so many people just pass through on their way to the Bangaii island, not even staying a day. Their loss we say.❤️

14/10/2026

Some spots just feel special because of the people you meet there.

Most travelers we bumped into only stayed in Tentena for one night. It was basically a quick stopover on their way from Toraja to central Sulawesi. A few might stick around for two nights to squeeze in a look at the waterfall and the lake.

We got lucky and found a room at Vale Homestay. The family had just opened up a room for rent above their place, right by Lake Poso.
From the minute we got there, the conversation just flowed. We could chat for ages with Anton, who's a teacher at the local school, and his wife, Ivo.
We quickly decided to extend our stay and have Ness's birthday somewhere nice instead of spending it on yet another long car ride.

06/10/2026

25/09/2026

Our next stop in Sulawesi, Rantepao in Tana Toraja. This region in the highlands of South Sulawesi, is famous for its unique focus on death and distinctive traditional architecture.

Tongkonan are the iconic traditional ancestral houses of the Torajan people, featuring massive boat-shaped roofs pointing skyward and intricate wood carvings.

The Toraja people view death not as a final end, but as a gradual and significant transition to the spiritual afterlife known as Puya.
Families keep deceased relatives in the family home for months or even years after biological death.
The person is traditionally considered merely "sick" or asleep, and relatives regularly bring them food, water, and talk to them daily until funds for a proper funeral are gathered.

Rambu Solo is a massive, multi-day funeral festival held only after the family saves enough money to honor the deceased's social status properly.
Unfortunately, sacred water buffaloes are sacrificed during the ceremony; their souls are believed to carry the deceased's spirit safely to the afterlife.

In certain parts north of Rantepao they practice the most fascinating practice of all. Every few years, families practice Ma'nene, exhuming the mummified remains of their family members to clean them, groom them, and dress them in fresh clothing.

In certain parts of Toraja they practice different rituals such as Cliff graves and tau-tau. Bodies are eventually placed in carved stone vaults, hanging graves on cliffs, or specialized tree hollows for infants, accompanied by life-sized wooden effigies called tau-tau that watch over the living.

Our homestay arranged for a local guide to take us to a funeral in one of the villages. At first, it felt very intrusive and awkward but our guide then took us to sit in the makeshift kitchen where the ladies of the village cook for the funeral crowds. We felt more at ease when we realised how welcoming they all were. This was more like a gathering or even a celebration. We sat and talked, drinking cups of coffee and meeting the widow. She was not sad at the funeral as her husband had passed almost one year earlier and only now were they burying him.

19/09/2026

Whenever we said to people we are going to travel in Sulawesi - they mostly replied with 'where is that?'

Sitting just east of Borneo and South of the Philippines, Sulawesi is the 7th largest island in the world.
It's K like shape, bad roads and mountainous terrain makes travel extremely long and slow. Not to mention the fuel shortages these days, thanks to the orange clown.

What makes up for the long drives is the genuinely kind people, unique traditions, incredible snorkeling and stunning scenery.
(Unfortunately, Sulawesi is not famous for the vegan cuisine 🤣)

We arrived in Makassar. Stocked up on supplies and headed 5 hours along the south coast to Bira.

Bira is a coastal village located at the southernmost tip of South Sulawesi, famous for its traditional wooden Phinisi boat-building yards and white sand beaches.

A Phinisi yacht is the twin-masted, hand-built sailing vessel.
There are no blueprints. Boatbuilding knowledge passes down within families and through informal apprenticeship — a young person learns a hull’s proportions by working alongside someone who already knows them, not from a drawing.

We went to see the boat yards and got chatting to the 2 young men carving out the doors to one of the bigger boats. They invited us to go up the rickety stairs and check it out.
The hull was astounding inside. The woodwork was incredible. How they manage to join it all by hand and in pretty basic working conditions was very impressive.

During our short trip to Bira we also got to know the amazing crew from Tevana. A restaurant / accommodation / freediving school who invited us on their boat trip to see their reef restoration program.

12/09/2026

We genuinely believe that the vegan food scene in Hoi An / Da Nang stands out as one of the finest we have encountered in all our travels!

This is largely attributable to the region's strong Buddhist heritage, which facilitates the widespread availability of numerous local (and incredibly affordable) plant-based eateries. They even offer vegan versions of all the favourite local dishes! 🍜
In recent years, an influx of tourists and expats has led to the introduction of various Western plant-based options onto menus.

The sheer abundance of veg / vegan restaurants meant we never had to venture outside plant-based establishments, eliminating any concerns about cross-contamination.

The creative drinks! 🍹 The noodle soups! 🍲 The iconic banh mi! 🥖 The tempting desserts! 🍰 And, of course, those truly exceptional tropical fruits! 🍍 We were quite happy not having to cook our own meals for several weeks. 😆

02/09/2026

We were horrified to follow the shocking events that have been unfolding in Nepal these recent days. Nepal has a special place in our heart.

It was only 4 years ago that we stayed for the night in Syafrubesi, a little village on the Trishuli River that was the central river of the flooding disaster. The village was the start and finish point of the Langtang trek and it is hard to fathom that most of this village, including the beautiful family run hotel that we stayed in, has vanished. The hotel was set back from the river, but not far enough to escape the ravaging waters that hurtled down the river canyon.

Our hearts go out to all those who have passed in this tragedy, the families and friends of those affected and to all of the people of Nepal. A nation of the kindest people, who do not deserve this suffering.

We have made a donation of $200 to aid the rescue works. At the moment Paddy Pallin are matching all donations made up to $50,000 so if you haven't donated yet, it's the perfect time.

Link for donation in the comments

28/08/2026

The land of noodle soup 🍲

What better destination for our dental holiday than a country with such an extensive variety of noodle soups ? So easy to eat after having 2 wisdom teeth pulled out 🤣

We knew we had a bit of dental work needed since last year, so we decided to visit our old dentist in Da Nang.
We first met Dr Diep about 6 years ago, during one of our visits to Vietnam, and immediately felt at ease in her clinic. Something about walking barefoot at The dentist just feels right. She was so gentle and lovely that she stayed in our mind since.

2.5 weeks later, plus 8 visits to Dr Diep - our dental journey is coming to an end.
From our very modest calculations - what cost us $1260 here, would have cost over $7000 in Australia 😯

Here is a selection of some of our dentist friendly eats 😆