Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Lake Toba in the middle of Sumatra, Indonesia, is the world's largest volcanic lake. It was formed by a huge eruption 74,000 years ago – the largest-known explosive eruption on Earth in the last 2 million years. The eruption is thought to have been a climate-changing event. The crater it left is one of the world's deepest calderas at 450m. Scientists believe it took at least a century for the lake to fill.
At 100km long by 30km wide, Lake Toba is more than two times the size of Lake TaupÅ, which is itself a supervolcano that was responsible for a further two of the Earth's largest eruptions – the Oruanui eruption 25,500 years ago and then again the Hatepe eruption 1800 years ago.
At the centre of Lake Toba is Samosir Island – about the size of Singapore – and the heart of the Batak culture. It's a traveller's dream with tourist towns like Tuk Tuk offering a hint of Bali but without the crowds ... or waves. The tourists are mostly Indonesian holidaymakers, and they certainly know how to have fun – squealing with delight up and down the shoreline parasailing, jet skiing and riding banana boats and other inflatable oddities behind speedboats.
Tuk Tuk is filled with great restaurants and bars, too. I saw one place where you could buy a Bintang, get a massage, do your laundry, buy magic mushrooms and even rent a scooter. It feels a lot like the Bukit Peninsula, and the lake is so big you often can't see the other side, but I didn't see much swell during my time there.
Travelling away from the surf is great for a change, but it does make you appreciate the coastline and the subtle sea breezes and salty air that tug at your soul along the edge of an ocean or sea.
See you at the beach, Derek
PS Firstly, well done for standing up for New Zealand, and a) crushing David Seymour's ambition to dismantle Te Titiri O Waitangi, and b) for speaking up against Shane Jones's Fisheries Amendment Bill. Both those were cast aside thanks to your voice – the voice of the people. Well, madness comes in threes, it seems – this latest idea from the three muppets at the helm of "New Zealand Inc" has now proposed they sell off some of our conservation lands. There are a lot of "WTFs" to unpack here, but the upshot is that the land that is owned by the New Zealand public, and that is used to escape the cities and explore and recreate in wild places, is on the chopping block. If the current government has its way, it will be carved up for foreign investors to pick over and desecrate. Yes, it's not a nightmare. Your voice is needed again. Our friends at Forest & Bird have made the submission process easy. Public submissions to oppose this bill are open until July 2. You can submit your feedback directly via the Save Conservation Land campaign page.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: