To Jayapura

Our trip to Jayapura is colored with village life. We visited island after island of the kindest and most gentle people we have met. A surprise, as at first glance the Papuans dark skin, curly mops and incredibly strong bodies cut an intimidating figure. Wherever we sailed, we were greeted by a dugout with cries pointing to the best anchorage and assurances that it “ Dis ini aman” (Here is safe). Our days were filled with laughter.

Here are a few glimpses of some of the incredibly humble, happy and gentle Papuans we met along the way.

 Above left, Rickson, friends and family farewelling us from PP Mamboor.  Above right, Aba and John trying their first Cheroot.

Above left, John with his daughter hitching a ride - wonder how old she is? Above Right, Mathieus, Aba, friends and family. 

Our days in Kapung Warosa were filled with a steady stream of visitors. Children are the same wherever you go, and they all managed to find small scratches to get plasters.

Incredibly poor, most of the children were running around in 4th and 5th hand clothes, if at all and often gender was difficult to decipher with baby boys wearing pink frills. Max and Nadine’s baby clothes were much needed and greatly appreciated!
Max & Nadine are our lovely previous crew from Germany who brought a huge Maori suitcase all the way from Europe of donated childrens clothes that we’ve steadily been distributing for the last few months – it’s been a fantastic idea – wherever we go and one child gets some clothes, steadily all the children are brought out for a treat too – seeing these children wearing nice clothes is a real pleasure.

One of my favourites was P. Wakde where we were befriended by Macolod, we were all taken in by his gentle manner and tales of the islands history. A colourful history too as we discovered when Macolod and his friend Victoria kindly showed us around the island. We found Japanese gun boats riddled with bullet holes. An old overgrown runway used by both the Japanese and then the allies during the war. They even had a single dog tag from an American soldier. The island has plenty of bird life and even spotted cous cous.

We managed to discover WWII wrecks around the island with the help of drawings in the sand. Unfortunately visibility was poor due to recent rain and even waiting the squall to clear didn’t help so we’ve marked the waypoints and saved these for next time!

Saying farewell to Wakde and Macolod was particularly sad. It marks the completion of a great passage we’ve shared with Jean, and brings closer the end of our West Papuan adventure… I hope we come back this way again and see our newfound friends. On the bright side, at least we a travelling on Thyme and not the well loaded Perentis ferry!

Here's a map of our route over West Papua. I think waiting to later in the season (November being the NW transition) has paid off as we've experienced much better weather and less unfavourable current than normal. Let's hope it stays that way for our journey into PNG.

Danger in Cuyo

We arrived in Cuyo for the end of holy week (Easter) and with no motorbikes available for hire, checked out the town. At the church built in 1630, the stilts used in the traditional races were laying out leaving me no option but to impress Amanda with some of my childhood skills. Both hers and Michelle’s attempts didn’t really get off the ground.

After returning to Thyme we witnessed the departure of boats filled with holiday makers. The Navy ship giving free passage for 1,500 holidaying Palwanians loaded for 15hrs. The travellers erected tents, hammocks and various other shelters for the trip back to Puerto Princessa.

I wish we had the camera out to catch to goat that was hoisted up before some late arriving passengers.

The motorbikes came through the next day and we left on a tour around the Island. Michelle made me real nervous with questions like where are the brakes and does it have gears??? A foreign concept to a country where everything is automatic. Slowly the road turned into the runway where Amanda thought she could safely give it a try. This of course means she can now advise me of where I am going wrong.

The road looked less and less like a road finally making us stop to check the map. We were looking for some old ruins that can apparently be found on the north side of the island

Armed with local knowledge we got lost a second time and thinking we were close ventured out on foot.

With the help of some farmers we were directed back to the road and found ourselves back at a resort under construction by an Australian guy. Later we found out they were the ruins and the Australians neighbor from Austria was the one who printed the map as a piss take. Old ruins apparently as they have been under construction for 15 years. (...as they say back in Aussie, What an arsehole!)

I would like to say we arrived back safely however this was sadly not the case. Michelle while undertaking a u turn accidently hit the gas and shot off down a bank and into a porch where an 80 year old local was quietly peeling Cashew nuts. A bunch of old ladies waiting for a bus rushed to her aid picking up the gent, his nuts, the porch and the motorbike. Michelle somehow ended up on her feet. We got the bike back on the road and pointed in the right direction we went for lunch. 2 hours later when we passed him again he was sleeping out the front, no doubt all tuckered out after his graze with death. This crash made the skidding by the well and roaring into the undergrowth look relatively harmless.

The good news is the bike was reality unscathed so we celebrated our good fortune back at the wharf over a beer and balut (no Balut for Michele.. yet...).

Cuyo is very popular with Kite boarders between November and March and after talking to the local instructor to get the low down, we are coming back for 2 weeks next year at this time to learn the sport. Can’t wait.

Cruising around El Nido

Surviving New Years Eve celebrations, a trip up the coast by motorbike to see a nearby waterfall sounded like a good idea.

After cooling off we headed back passed a curious local who kept a close eye on Robin.

The hot springs was to be our next stop however we were told the water Buffalo also swim here and the warm water assisted them with there bowel movements. The plan was changed to lunch near the beach. Here Robin almost found a replacement for his size 13 flipper and the chickens were also dining on the sleeping puppies fleas.

The now famous caterpillar was demonstrated to the kids on the beach but their attempts had them landing face first in the sand.

After relaxing over the drink, we packed up the boat and headed out to the islands to where we visited an abandoned church and bbq'd on the beach. The night turned into a bottle of 15-year-old Tanduay and drum beating on Rubicon Star, Amanda wisely heading home with Sloop.

After a painful trip in choppy conditions where we wished we all went home early (except Amanda), we finally anchored. Our anchorage found us in front of a hill in Halsey Harbor. This time it was Pontus who sensibly declined the hill climb. We slashed our way up the first part, Amanda deciding to wait while Robin and I completed the rest of the trip mostly on all fours.

Pontus brought over one of the best tasting Red Horses ever for a cool off once we arrived back at the beach.

Tomorrow we head towards the wrecks in the Calamian Group.

Birds, Tribes and Gaol

Long Island was an old timber town and as a result all the buildings were large timber ones although very run down. We did manage to find a restaurant after following the blue arrows painted on the path. The ½ hour walk needed the arrows. Here the record for the time between ordering and eating was broken at 2 hours 14 mins. A long time, when they don’t serve beer. Trevor got separated in town so we sent out a motorbike to find him. He had stumbled across the code word to get the only alcohol available a home brewed whiskey, which was quite drinkable with coke.

The next day, we were all keen to head up the Humphrey Straight apart from Amanda who wanted to spend time hunting the local Hornbill. After confirming the arrival of a ferry the following morning heading to Neil Island she decided to stay another night and meet us at Neil. We anchored near the ferry crossing and got a rickshaw limo (seats 6) to the local village. Having seen very few westerners we were a highlight for the village getting invited for tea with the school headmaster. Trevor got the code word for whisky however as thyme was short didn’t try the local brew.

Catching the tide the following morning we headed to South Button and had a dive before over nighting at Henry Lawrence Island. We arrived at Neil around lunch to discover the Islands accommodation was booked out. This resulted in Amanda not being at the rendezvous point. I went from place to place on my hired bike eventually finding a very excited manager who claimed the Police came for her. After he calmed down I got him to show me the guest register and her room to make sure we were talking about the same person and made the Police station my next stop. Sure enough there she was waiting for an official to return with her papers. It turns out upon arrival by plane you are issued with travel papers that need to be shown when traveling between Islands and when checking into accommodation. Her papers allowed the boat to travel around but in the fine print said that you couldn’t leave the boat. Of course when he arrived back and wanted to know the boats whereabouts she was able to say anchored out front and things sort of blew over after that.

We were planning on staying a few days until my birthday but the wind had changed the anchorage was uncomfortable so we decide to head over to Port Blair in preparation for our outwards clearance. Sven and Kartja booked a flight to main land India leaving us to explore the local sights. The jail was well worth a look.

The Indians also appeared to have had some trouble with Simon in the past

Clearing out was straight forward, visit the required offices, wait for them if they are not in and meet them 1 hour after agreed for our stamp in their port office or foundations of, then leave. Two ezy.

The trip back to Phuket was mostly uneventful however Amanda suffered from chest pain, and difficulty breathing for the trip. As soon as we arrived I took her to hospital on a motor bike where she was rushed to a doctor, sent for X rays and back to the doctor who kindly told her maybe she pulled a muscle. Ha ha, I told her it was quibblitis. We later found out 2 other people had suffered from the same thing at the same time so maybe whatever it was had cleared up by the time we got to the doctor?

Here's the route we took around the Andaman Islands.

Cruising the Andamans

After a slow start we headed out of the bay managing to hook up a GT on both lines at the same time. I tried to rouse Sven to assist with pulling in a line but it was still hours before he surfaced. Gadfly must have gone through the same school of fish losing two more lures. Feeling sorry for him we passed over another one of our fish. Next stop the Cinque Islands.



Looking for a good snorkeling spot we headed over the reef in the dinghy’s. Our dingy was having engine problems after about a mile we turned back. Seeing us in distress The Gadfly dingy attacked us, throwing buckets of water our way. Sven who had partially recovered tried to fight back. No more fish for them.



As North Cinque was a bit rolly the next morning we headed further to South Cinque.
In this was a very protected bay we spent a few days walking and snorkeling. We also took Thyme on a day trip down to the Sisters with every one on board to save taking 2 boats. My lower injury from the falling branch had ruptured so most of my time was spent standing up. Just to keep things interesting I kicked a toe nail off on the winch… is that three things yet.



From here we traveled back to the land of the Samosa wars hooking up a sailfish on route. Our crew having Internet withdrawal took the bus to town for the day while Trevor and I did an interesting dive on a well-preserved wreck from the early 1900’s.



Deciding not to go all the way into Port Blair we anchored out the front at Ross Island the next day to gather more supplies. Ross Island was the administrative center in the British colonial days and was also used by the Japanese during the war.



While in a Museum in Port Blair I came across an old black and white photo of the church on the Island.


Next stop Neil Island.

Penang

We loved Penang! For us, it was all about eating. Indian, Chinese, Nonya – we went from one eating house to the next.


We also went to every historical building, museum and fort on offer. We are officially touristed out!

Wanting to escape the tourist trap we headed for the national park, taking our lives in our hands once again and braving peak hour traffic on motorbikes. The walk was tough on a full stomach!

With duty free beer calling Simon at Langkawi and near miss with a wandering yacht in the late night squalls, we headed north. Not before picking up a mooring line.

Port Dickson

I managed to trick Simon into anchoring next to a forest. After a bit of arm twisting I led Simon up the jungle path, this time for a bush walk. Luckily there were some Monkeys to entertain him. We also stumbled across Malaysia’s oldest lighthouse.



The next day we ignored the fact that the 5 boats ahead of us were told the marina was full at Port Dickson, sailing right on in and tying up before the staff arrived.

I made the most of the luxurious environment finding myself a lounge beside the pool for the day, before flogging Simon at table tennis.
Sorry Simon, is that you shouting in the background??

The Shining @ Palau Besar

Palau Besar the small island we are anchored off, just out from Malacca town looked like it would provide a good opportunity for a walk. The islands in this group are called the Water Islands possibility because of the high water table.


During our circumnavigation of the Island we found 18th century graves of warriors. The locals come here to worship, burn incense etc. The Island was going to be a resort but after all the construction of hotels someone changed their mind. The stories we got were the power cable to the main land was never run and the idea was canned as the locals became reluctant to come because of the tourists.

After finding an 18-hole golf course we found an abandoned hotel that needed further investigation. It looked a little risky so I sent Amanda in to check if the coast was clear.

For those who have read Stevens Kings book “The Shining” this is the Hotel minus the snow. Its huge, maybe 2,000 rooms, windows and doors bang in the breeze however all the gardens are well kept and the leaves raked.

We wandered about luckily for me not seeing or hearing a soul. It would be a little tricky to explain to Amanda’s parents how she came to be shot during a walk.

Getting a little braver we checked out some of the rooms half expecting to see Redrum written on the walls but they were all empty.

Well almost everything, I did manage to find a hand basin that looked like it might fit in our bathroom.

Anyone looking for a 2,000 room hotel going cheap? I might be able to point you in the right direction.