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Timor-Leste 2022 – Highlights & History

2022-10-24 / By

Day 1 – Darwin to Dili.

Day one of the trip was all about getting into Timor-Leste and getting ready. Flights on Air North were good, smooth and fast making the trip easy. Arrival into Dili was also easy, in fact, I don’t think I have ever had a better experience arriving into a foreign country. A $30 visa on arrival and three small forms later; immigration, health declaration and customs and we are in.

Checked into our rooms at the Hotel Timor, which are great and picked up our bikes which will get us around the island for the next 9 days.

Tomorrow the fun really starts getting back to Balibo after 21 years.

Day 2 – Back to Balibo

Starting the day finishing up all our prep, the morning in Dili saw some work on the bikes (new back tyre and fork seal), a trip to the shops for some supplies and the purchasing of a local sim card and mobile data plan.

We were then off out of Dili towards Balibo. Departing at 1230 and arriving at the Fort at 1700. Along the way we stopped for drink at Loes, checked out the old Aussie base at Aidabeleten and visited some local salt farms. The roads from Dili to Batoe Gade, were good but rough up the hill to Balibo.

Finally, we are already impressed with the Fort Hotel at Balibo. The staff are welcoming, the food is great, the beer cold and the sunset, among the best

Looking forward to exploring the town tomorrow.

Day 3 – Balibo and Railuli

Staying at the Fort in Balibo for two nights has given us our first chance to catch our breath since arriving in Timor-Leste. It’s been a great base to head down to the border, to the “Red Roofed Schoolhouse” as Ben my travel mate calls it. He reminisces driving his armoured vehicle on the same road over 20 years ago when things were a lot more dicey. An unannounced visit to the village of Railuli was an amazing experience. Over coffee served we tried to converse with the no English speaking locals and with our poor Tetum, it made for quite an amusing exchange.

One of the things I have enjoyed returning to Timor-Leste, but didn’t expect before I arrived, was the smells which have triggered a lot of 20-year-old memories. Every smell I find myself saying to myself “oh, I remember that”. Some I don’t even know what they are, but still remember them. The cooking and the vegetation, riding through remote villages, it’s been great.

After today’s public holiday marking the date of the 1999 referendum, tomorrow we are looking forward to visiting the markets around Balibo and then heading down to Memo and Maliana on the bikes.

Already, this trip is delivering more than we expected.

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Day 4 – Balibo and Maliana

21 years ago, I was standing in Maliana watching the locals rally for their parties in the country’s first elections. Then it was just two years since the referendum to become independent. Today, I am standing in the same place and a man who speaks English says hello and comes over for a chat. He tells me that he is part of the team charged with conducting Timor-Leste’s census. In 2001 Australians drove around in tanks. Now we are riding around on bikes chatting to the locals about the issues of the day. It is quite remarkable to witness.

I find that as we ride around the country often people that speak good English will come over to say hello and ask where we are from. The locals seem generally inquisitive and friendly. I think they also enjoy a good laugh as they listen to us try to speak Tetum.

Day Five of our Timor-Leste experience and we have toured Balibo with Mario from Balibo Trails. Rode down the hill to Tonobibi and then on to Memo. Had a chat with some Timor-Leste Border Police at the old Australian Memo Check Point. Rode into Maliana and spoke to an Australian living and teaching there. Ate chicken on the side of the road before spending the night at a Christian training school. Tomorrow we are headed towards Bobonaro.

Day 5 – Maliana to Suai

While the plan for Day 5 was to finish at Hato Bulico ready to climb Mount Ramelau, after a lunch visit to Bobonaro town centre, we adjusted and headed down to Suai via Mape.

It’s been a big ride today over the mountainous roads from Maliana. The highlight of the day; finding and paying our respects at the memorial of Corporal Stuart “Monsta” Jones, a Cav reconnaissance soldier who died on the 9 August 2000, serving his country and assisting the Timor-Leste people bring the stability we see today to their country.

After Monsta’s memorial, we visited the Marobo hot springs, and Bobonaro town centre before continuing the journey to Suai.

Of interest, I have observed since leaving Balibo that there is little to no infrastructure for tourists. Asking a local in Suai who spoke great English after living in Australia for a while, why there so few guest houses or hotels around Suai, his reply was simple, “no one comes here to visit, there is nothing to see apart from the odd crocodile on the beach”.

We ended the day speaking to Timor-Leste Veterans preparing for a local Memorial Day to the victims of the massacre here in Suai on the 6th September 1999.

Tomorrow we head to Hato Bulico.

Day 6 – Suai to Hato Builico

After not much sleep due to the heat and noise we were glad to depart our guest house in Suai. I have been excited all trip about hiking in the mountains around Mount Ramelau, so was happy to be heading towards Hoto Builico.

We started the day with a visit to a Kiwi memorial, that was erected to honour the New Zealanders that served here; followed by a local breakfast on the side of the road at Zumalai. We witnessed some cock fighting around Boltama and enjoyed the drop in temperature as we went from sea level to 2000 meters above by the end of the day.

The riding was also good today with everything from a four-lane freeway to winding mountain roads, rough tracks and foot trails.

Our accommodation in Hato Builico is quiet and comfortable and it will be an early start tomorrow climbing the mountain.

Day 7 – 3rd September 2022 – Mount Ramelau

Leaving the guest house at Hatu-Builico at 0530 I was a little surprised to find it took me until 0700 to get to the end of the road and the camp ground that the locals use when climbing the mountain. Even though my photos don’t show it, the sunrise was good as I walked enjoying the morning.

Once past the campground, you really start to get into the climb. It’s steep in sections but the bonus is the track is great. On the way up I passed many locals coming back down from watching the sunrise. I reached the Open Air Church near the summit by 0920 where I had a rest, hitting the summit just after 1000.

The mountain is great. Apart from climbing up the 1000 meters in elevation in just 6.5 km, I’d consider the hike easy to moderate.

While the mountain is spectacular and I would have enjoyed its company alone immensely, by 1400 it became clear the highlight of the day would be the locals on the hill. The amount of young people at the summit and the “Mother Mary Statue” was surprising. On my way back down I stopped to watch some young men building a traditional house. After I asked to take some photos which they happily obliged, they then brought me coffee and lunch. After the food was finished and cameras put away, they asked me to please spend the night with them on the Mountain.

So, looks like I’m staying and will climb back down to Hatu-Builico and my bike again after sunrise tomorrow.

Day 8 – Sunrise Mount Ramelau and return to Dili.

It was a cold night at 2800 meters above sea level so I was happy for the early start to head back to the summit and take in the most amazing sunrise. Shortly after I arrived the locals started to stream in. All up there was probably well over two hundred people. I was told that was because it was a Sunday. With the intersection of religion and weekend recreation, lots of Timorese pilgrimage there. Surprisingly the numbers didn’t detract from the experience, with me even getting a few requests for “foto mister”.

After the summit sunrise, it was time to make the ride back to Dili.

I stopped on my way back down to have coffee and breakfast with my new friends the builders and talk to the many young adults who wanted to practice their English before getting back to my bike around 10am.

The ride back to Dili was again great. Rough dirt roads slowly changed into reasonable 2 land sealed roads and it wasn’t long before I bumped into Ben also headed in the same direction. We made a quick stop at Wild Timor Coffee (we are returning there to film again Tuesday) and the Dare Memorial Museum.

Back in Dili, we still have a lot more planned for the next few days, but for now, I’m just looking forward to a good hot shower.

Day 9 – Exploring Dili

Today we woke up in the comfort of Hotel Timor again and while we had to change hotels mid-morning due to the HT being booked out; our new two bedroom Villa for $170 USD a night is a great setup. It is basically a house with a kitchen, two ensuited bedrooms and a laundry perfect for cleaning all our gear before returning to Australia.

Bike maintenance, cleaning and repair for two bikes cost a total of $20 USD and now both bikes are ready for two more days riding before we depart.

It was great to speak to a local school back in Tasmania via video call to talk about Timor-Leste today as well as continuing to meet Aussies living in Dili to learn more about the country in our travels. For great food and conversation we highly recommend both the Ha Ha Café and Castaway Bar.

But probably the most interesting thing to happen to us today was our change in plans on our way to Cristo Rei, the statue of Jesus Christ overlooking Dili to take in a sunset, to find the FALINTIL Drag Bike event 2022.

When a country has time for the arts or sport like this it shows a country moving forward. Looking around and seeing all the families and bike enthusiasts, it was a great reflection; “there certainly wasn’t events like this here 23 years ago and it’s good to see them here now”.

Day 10 – Dili

An early start to get to the Cristo Rei before dawn and the day was packed with exploring from there.

After coffee and breakfast at the Beachside Hotel at Areia Branca Beach we stopped to check out the fruit market and the Church of Saint Anthony of Motael, opposite the Statue of Youth. We then visited the Archives & Museum of East Timorese Resistance. Well put together with great displays and some real Timorese feeling, this is well worth the visit.

Lunch was at the Agora Food Studio, where the food was great and the local Timorese work to practice their English.

The afternoon saw us back off into the hills to return to Wild Timor Coffee, spending more time talking with Jack the local manager about all things Timor and coffee.

From there we made our way to Remexio to explore a battle site that the Australians had fought with the Japanese during WW2.

All up, it was a big day absorbing the island that is Timor-Leste. The culture, customs, places and people that make Timor-Leste so unique and perfectly suited for an adventure travel experience.

Day 11 – Dili

Our last full day in Dili started early again with some photos at the Statua Presidente Nicolau Lobato and the beach before enjoying a morning coffee at Letefoho Specialty Coffee Roaster.

We then used some time to clean gear but with our bags mostly packed by lunch, we headed back out to check out the local Dili driving range and grab some lunch at the well-known Turismo Resort. The afternoon was filled with a last ride around town and the returning of our little KLX150’s that have been so reliable over the last 11 days.

This trip has been an amazing experience on so many levels. I have learnt more about this country in 12 days than I did in 6 months of my army deployment. It’s going to take me a while to go through my photos and videos and share my favourites.

Side Note: After commenting today on my surprise that the only beer you can buy in the whole country is Bintang, I found a supermarket that sells a few Aussie beers, so naturally I had to indulge.

Day 12 – Timor Leste to Australia

After a few cancelled QANTAS flights and an unexpected hotel stay in Adelaide, we made it back to Canberra.

Timor-Leste. What a great adventure experience. The people were welcoming and the vistas, roads and mountains epic. Our only regret from the trip; it should have been longer.

Over the coming weeks we will be creating and sharing some video footage of our time in Timor. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this experience a reality, Young Veterans, Village Bakehouse at Port Fairy, Point Assist, Aquilifer Leadership and our Go Fund Me donors.

After visiting again, I can say with confidence that those Australian service personnel who gave time to Timor-Leste over the last 25 years have helped make a difference for the better.

Morning departure from Dili

When do you give up on Freedom

2022-10-25 / By

September 11, 2021.  Twenty years since the beginning of the Afghanistan war on terror. Twenty years, to the day that I was finishing a six-month deployment to East Timor assisting the Timorese people safely hold their first Constituent Assembly elections and freely vote for representatives for each of the countries thirteen new districts.

The East Timor elections on 30 August 2001 were starting to look like they had been a success and by 11 September 2001 I was spending time cleaning my equipment ready to start my return journey back to Australia. It had been a busy four years after joining the Australian SASR in 1997. With the selection course, a year of training, the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 and now the East Timor deployment, I was looking forward to some leave and time at home with my family.

As I cleaned and packed my gear that night at our base in Balibo I declined a colleague’s offer to watch the news events unfolding in New York. Maybe it was the fact that I had been studying terror attacks for the last 4 years that I didn’t realise gravity of the situation, deciding that night that sleep was my priority given the several days of travel that lay ahead of me. It was not until a few hours later when I woke that I realised the devasting severity of what had just occurred.  

The images of the people jumping to their deaths still hurts me to this day.

(The famous picture taken by Richard Drew of the falling man from the Twin Towers during 9/11 terrorism attack in New York. Photo / AP)

It was not the graphic violence I was witnessing on the live TV coverage as everyday citizens suffered at the hands of evil. It was the understanding of what it would be like to give up your life for no other reason than to take away the pain. And not the pain of natural sickness or disease, but pain deliberately and maliciously inflicted on you simply because you did not believe what someone else believed.

As a professional soldier, I am accepting of death. After experiencing my share of Afghanistan’s twenty years of recent war, the only thing I now hope is that when my time comes, I either die of old age with a whiskey in my hand, by accident living life to the fullest or by my own choice for a purpose that is bigger than me.

To be in a situation so hopeless you have no option but to end the immediate suffering is a brutality I struggle to accept. 

Apart from the horror, what was also unknown on the morning of 12th September 2001 in East Timor, is that this day would mark the beginning of the 20 years of war and sacrifice that lay ahead of us.

While some of my close friends would deploy to Afghanistan just weeks later, my first deployment came the following year in 2002. In total, I would deploy to Afghanistan 5 times, some of my friends, up to 8. For what equated to multiple years of our lives and careers, we performed the duties entrusted to us by the Australian Defence Force and our Political Leaders. The epic moments from those deployments would become permanently imprinted in our brains. The sacrifices by our children and families, getting shot at, blown up and losing friends became a part of life. The acceptance of death showed the commitment we made to our country and the pursuit of the values Australia promoted. We believed in these values and still do. Some of us were so committed we stayed for the full 20 years of that fight, both in serving roles and post service to work with Australia’s public servants, keeping them safe as they advanced Australia’s national interest in Afghanistan; all the while with war raging around us.

I stand by the choices of our leaders in undertaking the mission.  Our purpose and intent was moral and just. To fight oppression and help all Afghans to govern themselves free of fear.  

In 2001, before the full US invasion, Richard Carlton of 60 Minutes travelled to North Eastern Afghanistan and asked an Australian citizen fighting for the Northern Alliance “Will Australian troops make an iota of difference here?”

Soberingly accurate even today this is his honest reply:

 “the fight against terrorism, it’s the responsibility of all nations. And I think the Australian Government, our government in a way, should prevent injustices all over the world.”

As the war continued, we built trust with the Afghan people. As a nation, they gave their support and commitment and were willing to stand up and fight oppression with us. We fought and sacrificed alongside them, we became friends, we trusted each other. We were fighting for freedom together.

One of the things that hurts the most today is the feeling we have betrayed that trust. Thousands of allies and their families abandoned because the fight was no longer politically advantageous.

Humanity is not about helping a friend in order to get something in return.

John F Kennedy once said, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

That certainly no longer seems the case under the current US Government. And sadly, it no longer seems to be the case for our country either. 

While our Australian news networks share the voice of the Taliban regarding Australian soldiers committing ‘some of the worst and brutal kind of human rights violations’ our leaders are staying conveniently quiet about the fact that Afghanistan is now run by a government that made it their modus-operandi to attack civilians in order to win their war against us.

124 attacks alone in Kabul since 2017 in the form of car, truck and suicide bombs, surrendering ANA soldiers gunned down in the street, citizens dragged from their cars and homes and shot dead, people hung from Blackhawk helicopters, press being beating in Kabul and former US interpreters having their tongues cut out, while the media has the audacity to report on the “toxic culture” of our own troops.

As to why the country surrendered and fell so fast leading to the current crisis, that is a complicated question with an even more complicated answer. Ultimately the US, Australian and allied soldiers fought bravely but failed due to corruption and regional politics; the two things our militaries were not at liberty to solve.

General Sami Sadat said it well when he wrote in the New York Times that Afghan forces had fought bravely over the past two decades of war and that “we were betrayed by politics and presidents.”

With non-existent logistic, medical and offensive fire support to the Afghan National Army, the majority of Afghan soldiers decided to go home and protect their families.

On August 16 this year as the situation unravelled in Kabul, President Biden declared “American troops cannot and should not be fighting and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.”

The statistics tell a different story.

41 Australian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014.

2,500 American service members with another almost 4,000 US contractors killed over the duration of the conflict.

66,000 Afghan national military and police killed over the last 20 years.

Clearly this was a nation willing to fight.

In my earliest days serving in Australia’s Defence Force, I learned a trademark military saying that in the end just didn’t seem to apply to Afghanistan.

“We don’t work to a time; we work to a standard”.

Equally as powerful as it turns out was the great Afghan catchcry “You may have the watches, we have the time”

The Taliban were clearly playing the long game. They knew from the outset that patience would ultimately become their greatest weapon.

I will struggle with the events surrounding the fall of Kabul for the rest of my life. We didn’t leave because we were defeated by the Taliban, we gave up because in the eyes of our leaders the mission was taking too long.

We did not invade Afghanistan as the Taliban will now tell us through Australian media. We used military force to liberate an oppressed people, to assist Afghanistan to build a country where they could have freedom. The same freedoms we enjoy.

For the last twenty years we fought for justice and convinced the Afghan people to join us in that fight. Then we walked away when it got hard.

What this means for the Afghan people is sadly more suffering. Engaging in an endless fight to protect their tribes and families. Unfortunately, not only have our governments betrayed their trust by walking away, but we have unintentionally rearmed our enemy as we did.

War can be both a thrill and horrible nightmare. It is not black and white; it exists in the grey.  It requires both sacrifice and enduring commitment.

I believed in what I fought for and still do. I am proud of my service and the service of the people I fought alongside. They should be proud of their service too.

If we have the capacity, we should willingly do it again.

Never more true are the words of Australian Defence Force leader, Lt Gen David Morrison (Chief of Army 2011 – 2015 and 2016 Australian on the Year) “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept”. The Taliban standard I cannot accept. As a nation we should not accept it either.

It is time to learn from our mistakes. To let values not politics guide our actions.

Because freedom and humanity will always be worth fighting for.

Courage Circa 1942

2022-10-19 / By

12 months ago in France, I wrote a blog called “Courage circa 1918”. As I recently hiked the Kokoda track I was reminded of this story about Walter Brown and the traits Aussie soldiers on the track had in common with the ANZAC’s in the trenches.

While the Western Front in World War One and the hot jungles of Papua New Guinea were very different places; it was sobering to consider the similarities in the ANZAC’s that fought at each place. At the Isurava Memorial today the four words courage, endurance, mateship, and sacrifice are etched into stone and they absolutely sum up both generations of Diggers. It was these four words and the story of Corporal Charlie McCallum that kept coming back to me as I walked the track.

I first read about Charlie McCallum the night before I started the trek across Kokoda and was privileged to walk the ground he did. Charlie was a magnificent example of not just courage but also endurance, mateship, and sacrifice. His story is worth telling again, as he is a true Australian hero.

VX15241 Corporal Charlie Reginald McCallum
As the battle of Isurava on the Kokoda Track and the fighting with the Japanese intensified on the 29 August 1942, the order was given for the 2/14 Infantry Battalion to withdraw. The Japanese had attacked with such ferocity, 12 Platoon, B Company became overwhelmed and to break contact from the Japanese would have certainly meant taking many casualties.

It was in these frantic moments that a wounded Corporal Charlie McCallum took the initiative and put it all on the line for his mates. Calmly standing his ground, with a Bren gun in his right hand and a Thompson sub-machine gun from a wounded friend in the other, Charlie singlehandedly defended the Platoon position against waves of advancing enemy soldiers while his mates safely withdrew.

I read that in the heat of battle, an extraordinarily calm Charles was changing magazines on the Bren gun while fighting with the Thompson and at one point the enemy got so close that a Japanese soldier pulled a piece of equipment of his belt. When his Platoon retired to safety and he himself fell back; it is said that up to 40 enemy soldiers lay in front of him on the battlefield.

Although recommended for a Victoria Cross for his courage in the face of the enemy, Charles received a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). It is said that this was only because Private Bruce Kingsbury, also from the 2/14 Battalion was awarded a VC for bravery and the higher command did not want to award two in the same battle.

Charlie McCallum’s citation reads:
‘At all times in action, McCallum was admirably calm and steady. On this occasion, his utter disregard for his own safety and his example of devotion to duty and magnificent courage was an inspiration to all our troops in the area. His gallant stand and the number of casualties he alone inflicted checked the enemy’s advance and allowed the withdrawal to proceed unhindered and without loss’.
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It is hard to comprehend the bravery Charlie displayed and inspired in those around him on the Track. It is also clear that the courage Charlie displayed at Isurava was not a single event. On the 8 September 1942, just one week later, at Brigade Hill, Charlie McCallum was killed in action.