TELUNAS TOP TWELVE – best shots

Despite all the interesting learning experiences on offer at Telunas, the kids invariably have one highlight – jumping off the deck. It often makes the best shot too.

While the writers’ camp at Telunas Beach is supposed to be all about words, for me it’s about pictures too.

I’d bought a new camera lens and this was its first outing. It’s an ‘all-in-one’ Tamron 18-270mm, so naturally there are compromises of image quality at both ends of the range, though on the whole I found it did the job. The advantage of the big zoom is that I could get close to people without making them too aware they were in shot, thus getting a little more spontaneity.

And in Indonesia’s lovely Riau Islands, there is always something worth pointing the camera at.

At the Sekupang wharf in Batam, the prows of pancung boats always catch my eye.

Telunas has its own pancungs, and a trip up the river on Sugi Island feels like an Indiana Jones adventure.

This boat has seen better days. It’s full of water now, just there for photogenic purposes.

We usually see wild macaques on our hikes into the Sugi jungle. This is a pet, tethered in a village on an unfortunately short cord.

Rubber tapping on Sugi Island.

I really took this shot hoping to catch the mynah birds nesting in the palm tree. No luck. The silhouette made a decent photo anyway.

Telunas Beach Resort at dusk.

There are no roads and no cars. Only the occasional passing boat breaks the silence.

Telunas Beach is perfect for families and kids – safe and shallow.

When there’s writing to be done, we can make ourselves so relaxed and comfortable it hardly feels like work.

And a new day dawns. Lovely sky!

The writer was the guest of Telunas Beach Resort.