“I don’t really see this as work; it feels like the right thing to be doing” says Gavin Gallagher speaking at the end of the day from his home in Bali, Indonesia.
The Roscommon native co-owns a company that runs small cruises in traditional Indonesian Pinisi boats in the east of the archipelago.
Despite the island’s land mass being about the size of Co Mayo, from nearby Sanur beach Gallagher can see a plane landing on the runway every five minutes.
Bali’s position as a hub has been key for making his life here. “Almost any place in the world is two flights away. I can fly from here to Dubai, to any place or from Bali to Paris and straight to Africa” says Gallagher who has made Indonesia his home for two decades with his wife and two children.
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Gallagher backpacked in Australia after university, and when he ran out of money ended up getting a job in the oil fields. He stayed in the industry for over 20 years which took him to countries that are rarely on the travel itineraries of most Irish people: Brunei, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Kurdistan. Algeria, Pakistan, China, Russia.
It was love and lifestyle that brought him to settle in the tropical tourist gem. He met Yuyun, who is now his wife, while working for the oil firm in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. “I really wanted to get away from the 9-5, and I love windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing,” he says.
Although the sailing life isn’t an obvious one for the native of a landlocked county, Gallagher grew up with a sense of adventure. “The whole travel bug came from boyscouts, venture scouts and travelling to France and being allowed to travel. Mum and dad would say ‘just go and do it’.”
[ A blissful, 12-day phone-free sailing trip around the Spice IslandsOpens in new window ]
Taking a job doing a “five and five” (five weeks on and five weeks off) in Nigeria meant he could afford to move to Bali and have time to enjoy the volcanic island whose beaches and culture attract more than 16 million tourists annually.
A desire to escape the humdrum morphed into a pretty close manifestation of that, when he joined SeaTrek Sailing Adventures.
The tourist treks go to “very remote areas” which are all part of a biogeographical area called Wallacea. “It’s where the 18th-century Alfred Wallace did research and came up with natural selection at the same time as Darwin,” says Gallagher of the trips into eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea to the east and Sulawese to the west.
“There are 17,000 islands in Indonesia and about 3,000 in the area we sail.”
Because they use small boats, for 12-24 people, they can get to “very remote places where not many other [tourist] boats will actually travel”.
Travelling to places which are only reachable by boat means they meet many people still living in a traditional way. “Some choose not to have power and are basically living in grass huts.”
Growing up on a farm near Boyle, the youngest of nine children, helped Gallagher to appreciate the more traditional way of life and negotiate relations.
“Sometimes I walk around the villages and I see houses that remind me of some of my friend’s grandparents’ houses, a little cottage with a fire. They have a similar feel.
“The main thing when doing this type of travel is to forge relationships with all the small villages you meet,” he says. They are “cognisant of traditions” and that it takes a “long time” to build trust.
Among the items they have brought villagers over the years are water filters, reading glasses (to the delight of older people) and even a dentist friend to examine the teeth of locals.
Environmental conservation has become a key aspect of their work in this once unspoiled region, now experiencing severe plastic and waste pollution, water contamination causing reef damage, loss of habitats and overfishing.
For every issue there are a lot of locals are working to try their best to correct these problems, says Gallagher. His company gives support as they travel around in the form of knowledge and funding for projects such as replanting mangroves and seagrass.
“Wth coral conservation – guests get hands on experience of a morning planting fragments of coral. This means their appreciation [of the problem] is greatly enhanced.” With something like the restoration of coral reefs an NGO may come in and do a study on replating. It can take years to educate the local community and get them onside, he says.
“It’s amazing how when local people see the benefits they really want to take part.” Another big campaign is re-educating people on dealing with rubbish and converting it into diesel.
For Gallagher the conservation work is as much about self-preservation as the other benefits. “If we want to carry on working here for another 30 years we have to help or there won’t be much left to go and see.”
For more details go to SeaTrekBali.com
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