MALAYSIA
November 09 - December 03, 2008Salamat Datang
Technically, Singapore is not in Malaysia. It is a sovereign state and an island. I put it in this category because, like most of Malaysia, it is made up of many cultures and countries coming together to profit from the Far East Trade Route. The shipping route runs from China to India on the way to Great Britain, Denmark, and the rest of Europe.
SINGAPORE
November 09 - 18, 2008Since before the 13th Century Singapore has had a widely diversified population. They come from all over the East Asian Trade Route but today it is mainly Chinese. In 1806 and again in 1822 the British navigator, Capt. Daniel Ross surveyed the China Seas and thought the swampy island would make an excellent port. There Stamford Raffles built the British Empire for the East India Trading Company. By the beginning of the 19th Century Singapore became the commercial and transport centre of all of SE Asia and grew into a city. In several phases, Lee Kuan Yew led the port city to independence from British control starting in 1939. After WWII Yew was instrumental in propelling Singapore to its current status as a major player in world commercialism. It joined the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. That proved to be short lived and they gained full independence in 1965.
We arrived at 1:30 pm and entered the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club. We pulled up to the fuel dock and had to wait to be cleared at Customs. You cannot leave the boat till you are cleared so we settled in for several hours and cleaned up the boat. BWR had called this a 5 star hotel and marina but it is not nearly as nice as the one we were at in Nongsa Point. Since DJ only has one more day we were anxious to get out and go exploring. It was not to be. Checking in took forever and we had to change berths twice. The ferry boats have no respect for yatchies and they create huge swells in the marina that rock n' roll the boats. We had dinner at the yacht club and called it a night.The next day we filled it with a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) trip around the city. We visited Little India, Chinatown, and
Clark's Quay.
The MRT was more like an airport shuttle than BART in San Francisco. There were nice seats along the perimeter but the main center was left for standing. Little India was more like Chinatown in San Francisco. Narrow streets with aging buildings, vendors spilling out their wares into the streets, and food items I have never seen before. Everything smelled of curry. Chinatown was the opposite. Very clean, wide streets and new shopping malls filled with the latest of everything. There were whole malls devoted to electronics or clothing. I had fun with the language. There are four official languages but who knows English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil? So there is Singlish.
Can we discuss the price? - Can make cheaper lah?
Do you take credit cards? - Visa can?
Talk rubbish - Tok kok
Wow, so expensive! - wah so ex one meh!
Check out the full moon. Clark's Quay was the hip n' happening place to see and be seen. It is situated on the Singapore River were the Hippo water taxis lazily drifting under bridges that were illuminated with the latest in LED lighting entertainment. Beautiful people wandered all around and you could find any ethnic food you wanted. A Moroccan place would be right next to a Basque restaurant. We had a drink at a Japanese bar right on the river. Then we had dinner at the Laughing Elephant and watched the Ultimate Bungee Trip twang screaming passengers on the ride of their lives.
The next day DJ left at 9 am for the trip to the airport and home. He missed his girlfriend terribly but I hope when he gets back to cold, rainy Seattle he remembers the trip fondly. Bob and I took MRT to the electronic mall and I found out my motherboard is compromised on the laptop. Bob went looking for an external keyboard and I went looking for an underwater camera. We were both successful considering the amount of bartering you have to do. I had to say to one guy "Are you arguing with me?" when he insisted I buy the camera from him because I said I was ready to buy a camera. Every mall has a food court and it is the only cheap food in the city we have found so far on this adventure. They have hawkers for the food vendors! The margaritas were so good and we haven't had any in so long we went back to Clark's Quay for dinner and had a great day.
When it rains it pours and it has been doing that a lot. All over Singapore there is a trench system to handle the water.
Even in front yards there is an irrigation system for moving the water away from the buildings. There is a waterway similar to the LA River and one day I went by and it had a trickle of water in it. 3 hours later it was filled to 12' deep and surging to the harbour.
Bob has been busy researching for a new hot water pump, playing with the autopilot, and tinkering with other problems on the boat so I tagged up with Jenny and we went to Raffles Hotel for High Tea. It had the usual assortment of British fare but true to Singapore style they had a table of Asian foods. Everything was excellent and the grounds were beautiful. We hear the rooms are $5,000 a night. Stamford Raffles founded a settlement in 1819 and protected the trade route for Great Britain from the Indian Ocean to China and established Singapore as a free port. There is a famous folklore story about finding a tiger at the hotel under a billiard table. He had just dined on a patron. Whether it is true or not is left up to your imagination. What is fact though is this is where the "Singapore Sling" was invented. There must be 8 ingredients (3 of them liquor) and you could buy a 4 pack of airline size bottles (just add the booze) for $42.00.
Because it was pouring down rain (in buckets) we lingered in Tiffany, Harrods, and YSL and marveled at the quality which we have not seen much of since Tahiti. We cabbed back to the marina and got together a group and had the Buffet Dinner upstairs in the expensive restaurant. You have to wear long pants so Bob had to dig deep to find his white jeans. A fine group of people and we enjoyed the company.
The next day was the briefing and we discussed which islands were good stopping places on our 5 day trip to Phuket. The biggest part of the briefing was the pirates in the Gulf of Anon. Recently terrorist hijacked a tanker right under the noses of the Allied Nations and are running amok. So we are sticking to Bob's thoughts that they don't care about us peons but we will be cautious and group together like we have all through Indonesia.
We spent several days dealing with our problems on the boat and I walk every day through the West Coast Park. Singaporeans love sports. How much? They even have a collage of sports on their $2 bill. The small children's exercise area had a plush padding for falls but the equipment? Forget monkey bars there are rowing machines, those walkers that costs a fortune in the States that you can shove under your bed, and twisters, stair climbers, and sit up / pull up bars are all included.
There was a bicycle obstacle course that looked like so much fun I wished I had a bike
.
Check this out! A exercise walk that exercised your feet. The first day I got cramps in my feet but I used these torturous feet walkers and had no cramps the rest of the week.
For a large city, Singapore is the cleanest, best laid out city planning, and personable place we have been to date. I keep referencing San Francisco and how much better the city would be if the adopted some of Singapore's ethics. Then reality sets in. How do you get Chinese not to litter? How do you get Hindus, Muslims, and Atheist to live with each other? How do you deal with backward thinking in the busiest port in the world? Only a politician could come up with the idea to fuse this melting pot into a coherent conglomerate. Lee Kuan Yew, after 31 years at the helm, formulated a constitution of paternalistic methods. Basically this means, just like a parent to a child, you do as you are told. No First Amendment. You do what the government tells you to do. I asked a cabbie what he thought of the government and he had no comment. You can be arrested. You can buy gum but can't chew it in public. You can be arrested. You cannot jaywalk, litter, smoke, or graffiti without going to jail and paying a huge fine. It works in a country that has too much diversity. Don't like it? Leave! Life will go on. There isn't poverty in this island nation although there are still upper, middle, and lower classes.
We had all sorts of plans like going to the resort island of Sentosa and taking the cable ride to downtown but the rain…oh, the rain. It would fill our buckets in an afternoon. The one day the sun did shine I spent the whole day washing the cushions in the salon and V berth because they were full of salt from all the sailing since Australia. We would have washed down the exterior of the boat but the anchorage was filthy with oil, debris, and garbage. We will wait once more till we are in crystal clear waters and jump overboard and clean the boat.
We were constantly talking to other yatchies about when they would leave to head for Phuket, Thailand. We were concerned about maintaining safe passage through the freighter/fishing boat tangle of the Straits of Malacca. There are 4 possible stops along the way but not enough time to do them all. It's like herding cats so we have decided to head 90 miles to Port Dickson.
We have observed that if you stay along the edge of the shipping lanes you avoid most of the hassles of freighters and fishing boats. Murphy's Law on our trip held true. It poured for Bob's watch and he was soaking wet. When I came on duty at 3 am it was a sprinkle and stopped by 4:30 am. As we approached the shore of Malaysia it was full of high rise buildings. This is the most populated country for Muslims. We rounded the point and found the anchorage for Admiral Bay. As we were heading in several BWR boats were heading out for new adventure. We still couldn't get moorage with electricity because there are two other rallies settled in for the week.
PORT DICKSON
November 19 - 26, 2008Admiral Marina & Leisure Club is the 2nd most posh marina we have been in to date (Barra de Navidad, Mexico is first). The town of Port Dickson is 5 miles away and we had to cab in to do customs/immigration/port captain. Nice little town and we ran into Cayuco and had lunch,
went to a temple, and taxied back. Bob is in a hurry to leave for Phuket so I couldn't talk him into going to the fabled city of Malacca. During happy hour we ran into several boats that thought Malacca would be so great to explore they were going to do an overnighter. With no electricity at the dock we can't join them because we still can't leave the boat overnight and keep the fridge running. The good news is that they were so convincing that we are sharing a cab with Cayuco and going to do a day tour.
Bob badly needs a haircut. How bad? Guess which one is Bob
MALAKA
November 20, 2008It was 25 km to the city of Malacca (spelled differently in English than Malay) and we passed huge palm oil plantations. We took the back streets to see the towns along the way and I was impressed. No potholes, no crumbling sides to the road, no garbage or graffiti, lovely housing, and well fed animals. As soon as we left the cab we ran into Paramour (one of the boats that had spent the night) and he gave us the lowdown on touring the city. We also found out that Malacca was just designated a Historical City by UNESCO. Malacca is famed as the place where the history of Malaysia began. A great honour indeed! I must find out why.
First stop the maritime museum and a replica of Flor de La Mar, a Portuguese galleon sank in the Straits of Melaka on its way to Portugal. She was laden with stolen goods from Melaka. For some reason the Malays find this significant. My guess is because it held indigenous Malays that were going to Portugal to be put on display (in a zoo?...they were in the hold bound in chains.). Paramour was not impressed because he wants to see things; reading signs and looking at models is not his thing. I like to read signs and I found out why there were no antiques. I also found out why it has been designated a world heritage site.
In 1396 an exiled prince from Sumatra named Parameswara showed up with some followers and he thought the small settlement of fisherman would make a great place to have a stop for ships following the Indio-China Trade Route. Fresh water, good soil, and an inviting harbour. He called himself King and they prospered. Trading with ships from India, Arabia, Europe and China they originally began bartering but the king (now the grandson) decided to make his own currency. When the Portuguese got wind of it they sent Alfonzo Albuquerque to see if there was gold. He came and killed everybody, disposed of the King, and said he founded a great stop for shipping trade - pay tax to the King of Portugal (better than gold). He destroyed every building in town including an architectural marvel, the Sultanate Palace (built of a local very hard wood with no nails).
In 1511 he used the remains to build A' Famosa, a fortress, to keep out the menacing Malays and other Europeans. Portugal became greedier and countries started looking for other places to trade. In 1641 the Dutch thought the Portuguese were doing a poor job with their Golden Goose so a bloody war raged and in 12 years declared the city for the Dutch King. They destroyed more buildings and added on to the fortress. It didn't take them long to see that they could fill their coffers by making every ship pay a 8-12% tax on their entire stock - not just what they were trading. Ships now went elsewhere and the Dutch had to attack ships, bring them into port, and make them pay tax. Of course the British would have none of that and, I'm not sure about how they accomplished it, but there was a oil painting showing a large British sailing vessel in the harbour with several small Malay fishing boats and that was it. All of the ships on the Indio-Asian trade routes were going elsewhere. The days of wealth were over. Later I found out that in 1795 the Dutch so hated the French that they gave Malacca to the Brits instead of having to turn it over to the French when the Netherlands was captured during the French Revolution. The Brits thought they could build up the trade again…but they had a hard go of it. They gave it back to the Dutch in 1818 under the Treaty of Vienna but later it was exchanged by the Brits for Bencoleen, Sumatra. In 1808 Britain ordered the fort destroyed and leave no trace for fear it may be rebuilt and used against them when they came back to claim whatever progress had been made. Sir Stamford Raffles (yes, the same guy from Singapore) pleaded to leave one portal and so we have the only structure of the very earliest settlements -
the Portal of Santiago.
There are many museums and they all have a few relics but now you know why there are not an abundance of objects of antiquity to put in any museum.
Enough of that lets go exploring…
and for that we need a trishaw ride!
We saw lots of churches that were not destroyed by some marauding European and the Stadhuys, the 1650 Dutch government building that is still in the original structure and form. There were Dutch graveyards (with some Brits interred there) and What? A Carrefour's grocery store (like the new Safeway's), just like the one we shopped in Tahiti. They were building the huge shopping mall across the street to show that time marches on and there is still commercialism and profits to be made in this city.
Kuala Lumpur
November 22, 2008Well, look who showed up in town. Big Blue and they were looking for adventure. Bob still couldn't leave for Phuket with Mike and Lorraine asking us to join them. We were given a moorage with electricity and were free to do the overnighter and see the city properly. For this adventure we took the train. It was a 1 1/2 hour ride to the capital city of Malaysia. It was clean, the people friendly, and the kids were chatty. First thing was to find a hotel and we did well. Next, we got out the Lonely Planet guide and planned out our 2 days.
They have the largest Chinatown outside of China, an India town, and the main area of government buildings. After dinner we went to our rooms and had a beautiful view of the downtown including the sterling silver view of the Petronas Towers (now the highest twin towers in the world). Next day was a walk-a-thon with lunch in the revolving tower overlooking the whole city.
There was a big green in the middle of town with the largest flagpole and an government building that the Brits built. To remind them of home they installed a "Little Ben".
Walking onward the guidebook told us to look for the largest Pitcher Plant fountain in the world (possibly the only one too). It was pretty ugly and was not in use for so long weeds were growing out of it. We hopped on the train for home and did some provisioning. First time for this…to get to the grocery store you had to pass through the Macy's like store and find the down escalator. There was the food store on the lower level. Bob and Mike found an ice cream shop that had beer and we parked them till Lorraine and I finished with the grocery shopping.
The next day we left for Langkawi. I had planned ahead and we had a great meal for Thanksgiving out to sea.
I had lots to be thankful for because it gave us plenty of leftovers for the next few days. The wind and weather still are not cooperating so we had a rough go of it. How rough was it? Since we had to drive the boat because of no compass it became very exhausting and finally we had to just drift for 3 hours and sleep.
This eagle was 5 stories high and the mascot for the island
LANGKAWI
November 29 - December 3, 2008The passage into Bass Harbour is full of islands and they were very rocky with steep cliffs and covered in vegetation. An eagle was lazily soaring over one of the islands; circling it and looking for updrafts. We hailed the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and had a bit of a go at trying to enter our slip in the strong current. Big Blue was coming in the same day and the dockhand was barely whispering the same thing he told us and Lorraine couldn't hear him either. I yelled "THE CURRENT IS TOO STRONG GIVE THE DOCK A WIDE BERTH!" Sometimes this politeness can cause problems when you can't hear what they are saying.
This island is famous for being the only island that is totally duty-free. Bob and I went for a walk into the town of Kuah and WHOA!! Get me out of here quickly. I bought a pair of strappy black sandals with pearlized hearts for $1.50 US. There was a 2,000 sq.ft. store of chocolate and as I entered I asked myself could it be true..could they have my chocolate that I have not had since Don bought me some from the States to Panama? Yes!!! They had a whole section of US chocolate and a display of Hershey's. Purple Hershey Kisses!!! OMG! Designer clothes, perfume, booze, you name it they had it and cheaper than the USA. That doesn't happen very often at all.
Cayuco was ready for a tour and so we convinced Tony to be our driver and we hired a car. Good choice for driver; bad choice for navigator. We had a very basic map that they give to tourist and Bob had us circling the airport twice and in 15 minutes were so lost we had to pull over and figure out which way was north. Guess he needs GPS and charts. Bob wanted to see the marina that most of the BWR boats went to and I wanted to see a waterfall.
We did both and I found out from a taxi that the 7 Pool Falls was the only one that still had water flowing in it. It is the dry season and the other ones were dried up. The next morning we still had time with the car to go provisioning and we found Pepsi and the biggest prawns I have seen to date. There are these bananas that are the size of your thumb and packed with flavour and I could get as many as I needed. Tony thinks you can judge the economy of a nation by the price of Coke. Panama it was $.50, Tahiti $3.20 and here $.10. Coke and Heineken are brewed everywhere so there is no duty, it's fresh and it's available.
We had a leisurely breakfast and left for Phuket, Thailand at 10 am.
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INDONESIA
October 05 - November 08, 2008Salamat Pagi
Welcome to the Gateway to Asia and the Spice Islands.The exotic part of the trip begins. Indonesia is expansive covering an area of 1,000 miles north to south and 2,500 miles from east to west; all of it along the equator. By area it is the fourth largest country in the world and the largest Muslim population. All of the 17,500 islands vary in terrain and biodiversity from volcanoes to icy glaciers, to lush mountain rain forests to arid wastelands. The Inner Tropical Convergence Zone means that there is no wind at the equator except when you are in a squall. The temperature varies very little from summer to winter but the humidity makes it feel much hotter.
KUPANG
October 06 - 09, 2008The approach into the harbour at Kupang was different than any landfall we have experienced in the past. The coastline was steep rock cliffs coloured orange, green, and an amazing light blue. They towered over the entrance into the harbour contrasting with the vivid blue of the sky. The top of the cliffs formed a flat plain and there were little piles of white sand 6 feet (or a meter?) high dotting the coast. The air smelled of cloves and cinnamon. When we entered the harbour you are confronted with a crumbling colonial waterfront and you climb the very steps Capt. Bligh did when he landed the dinghy after the mutiny on his ship the HMS Bounty.
Kupang is what all the guides call a city and is on the one island that is mostly Catholic so ladies don't have to cover themselves completely; you just have to be ultra conservative in your dress. After my stay I found the city to be cheerful, Nelson the Chief of Polisi to be first rate, and no graffiti in sight. We anchored in 30' of water. Very typical of Indonesia there was no breeze and the air was extremely hot and humid. Ellie from Jenny jumped into the water. I still had my chores to do so I watched her with envy till I noticed something long and yellow in the water. It was a water snake about 5' long! I almost could not believe my eyes when all of a sudden a hawk swooped in and took off with the snake gripped firmly in its talons. After our chores and customs check-in were completed we went to Teddy's Bar which was to be our hangout for the remainder of the visit. Lots of yatchies were already there buying up the trinkets and beautifully woven fabrics that the street vendors were displaying. The exchange rate was $10,000 rupiah to $1 US dollar. For $100 US you could be a millionaire!
We immediately signed up for a full day excursion around town. We had 16 boats sign up so we splurged and got an air conditioned bus and Mario, our guide. I like having guides because I ask so many questions.
I thought it was ironic how similar Kupang and El Salvador looked and felt. Monuments to great moments in history, fresh produce markets that fill the pot holes in the street with discarded vegetables, and the smallest people I have ever seen. In all the countries we have visited since we left the U.S.A. school children are always in uniform and bouncing down the street with backpacks (shoes are always optional).
The world really is a small place. We should see more of our similarities and less of our differences.The Flobamora Mall was quite the site. You taxi out of town and large 2 and 3 story buildings start giving away to single story shopping strips. You come to this intersection and on your right…KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken - U.S. born and prospered. This Mall was quoted in a local guide as saying it
"was the cheapest and the most complete shopping center in Kupang
…or even the NTT providence".
It had a food court, kids major play area, and a fitness studio.
Billiards and Karaoke are big time attractions for the Timorese. I could see the mall as a place to hang out for the whole family.At Teddy's Bar we met Alfredo, who at 23 years old was the head of an orphanage. He managed to persuade us to come and meet the children. I took 2 of my packages of paper and coloured pencils, Wendy from Heidenskip took lots of toys, and everyone had a great time. Most of the children were not orphans but handicapped or abandoned. He was using his own money to try and teach them skills so they could be independent. We were impressed by his fortitude and the happy smiles on the kid's faces. Back at Teddy's two lady students so wanted to hang with us to practice their English that they offered to take us to dinner (our treat) with the street roach coaches. We were warned under penalty of gastronomical pain not to do this but what a feast! 12 people had all the food they could eat for $10 US. We were told we ate no dog meat although there are no dogs in the neighbourhood.
"
I went snorkeling with Jenny and saw the best 'coral garden' yet. The colours and textures were varied and plentiful.
Although I did not see as many fish as the divers in our group did, the ones I did see were very vibrant. My favourite one was a frilly white fish with perfect round black polka-dots. At one point, I heard this chirping under water and when I asked Donovan, our guide, what it was he said "Dolphins or Marlins I can't make out the accent. I asked him about the little piles of sand and discovered that the locals sweep it up and sell it to the construction guys for making cement. No building codes so who cares if there is salt in the sand - it's cheaper than fresh water river sand. Hence this is why most buildings all around town are in disrepair.
Piracy is an ongoing problem. Last year there were 16 reported cases; this year there have been 64 to date. Commercial carriers were the targets with not a single case on a private yacht. As we enter this area, 8 nations are having a conference to discuss the problem and a possible solution. With that in mind, the Rally should off-set the threat of piracy and travel in groups. We spent several days discussing where we wanted to go and, as a group, we decided to keep it loosely structured. A nice way of saying you could not get 4 boats to decide on an itinerary; the group's members would change in every anchorage. There are so many interesting islands and anchorages it is hard to decide which islands to visit. We had a one island game plan: Rinca, Home of the Komodo Dragon.
We left Kupang with strong winds and a swift current and entered the Sava Sea. Most of the boats in the Rally had left for other destinations. Our group was compromised of five boats, which left together, a matter of hours apart. We were deflating the dinghy when the other boats had waved goodbye and started on the journey to Rinca. We followed up last with no worries. Gaia is much faster than the other heavier boats and we had passed several of them by the next morning. We goofed around with Paramour de Mer and took pictures of each other. It was comforting to know we were always in sight of one another and GPS kept us informed of everyone's location. As we passed Sava Island you could see its volcano majestically rising up out of the mist. It reminded me of Mt. Fuji in Japan with its perfectly formed cone. Coming through a pass there was a 5 knt current against us. Everyone motored full speed to end up doing 2 knts over the ground. Let go of the wheel and the boat would spin around so fast it would knock you off your feet. The pilot guide says this will be the norm all the way to Bali. We will refer to the tide charts before we begin a sail to a new place. We did not catch any fish. Well, I should say we threw back two small (one meal) tunas. I found out later Amber Jack Tuna are small. Our first one was possibly a keeper but definitely not the second baby tuna.
RINCA - ISLAND OF THE ORA or MONITOR LIZARD SUPREMEO
October 11 - 15, 2008We sailed with the spinnaker up for 2 days and only motored the final 5 hours into the bay at Loh Buaya on the east side of Rinca. We arrived at 7:45 am. We went snorkeling and had a very peaceful day. Happy Hour was on Paramour and we rowed back to Gaia with the almost full moon glistening on the water.
The next day we left for an 11 mile journey around to the northwest side of Rinca and Lehok Uanda Dasami. The Komodo National Park is compromised of 3 larger islands with dragons and several smaller deserted islands. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Only 14 Parks have all 4 qualities to make this impressive list. It is the duty of the world to save our children's future from the ravages of time. This area is the best diving in all of Indonesia. When we arrived two dolphins were playing in the bay and a large manta ray waved at us. We had to anchor around the bend from the entrance to the park to find shallower waters. We anchored in 115' of water and had Happy Hour on Stargazer.
The days are uncomfortably hot and since there is no real town we were spared having to wear lots of clothes. We wanted to get an early start exploring the Park. There were all kinds of boat fees, Park fees, people fees, and some more fees for conservation. With all those 0's the money exchange seems horrendous. After figuring it out it only cost us $100 for both of us to stay 3 days and have a guided 4 hour hike. We immediately ran into some dragons and monkeys hanging out at the ranger station. The only enemy of the dragons are themselves; humans make a tasty treat. These 9' lizards eat once a month so if they are well fed there wasn't much danger. If they looked in your direction you became cautious; if they moved in your direction you stood behind the guide with the stick. Although they have been clocked running 30 kms it was too hot and they stayed in the shelter of the rocks and trees.
We saw wild deer, horses, monkeys, and water buffalos which have been released on the islands to feed the dragons. Someone asked the guide where he lived and he said the other side of Rinca. How do you get there; we don't see any roads? Silly us, by boat of course! There are no domestic animals for obvious reasons and no farming. All supplies have to be shipped in to the two small villages. No one is allowed to immigrate; you must be born on the island. By the time we finished the hike we were exhausted and could not wait to get back to the boat and go snorkeling. Intense heat has a way of doing that to you. Happy Hour was on Shula 3.
We have a week to work our way to Bali and pick up DJ for his adventure with us from Bali to Singapore. We island hopped our way to several great anchorages. This is the first time Bob feels like just showing up in a sheltered cove, going to shore, meeting and talking to the locals, and being thankful for what we have. Every anchorage we would be the last boat to leave port, and if there was wind, would be the first to the next anchorage.
The snorkeling was always grand and I would see new species of coral, sponges, or fish on every trip. Happy Hour was on Neva. Small parhas ( PROW - haws )…local boats they use for everything from fishing to taxi service to moving supplies to the next village, would come up and try selling pearls and trinkets. They didn't seem ready to ask for a handout but the women would point to their tops and look at you; the men would pull on their pants and look at you. They would never say 'No' even when the only clothing I could give to them was a spaghetti strap top (Muslims must cover their shoulders).
This couple lives aboard their parha and cruise from island to island. They even had a cooking fire on the boat!Oh, oh it was our turn to host Happy Hour but we have a problem….we have no bimini or dodger to shelter us from the intense setting sun. I decided to host dessert and after dinner drinks. We had Starbucks coffee and brownies. My mother had given me 'fairy lights' that are solar powered and with the light of the full moon and cool night breeze I had made the best choice.
SUMBAWA
October 16 - 18, 2008When we arrived at Brendi Beach at dawn there was a breaching whale in the harbour. It came almost half way out of the water, turned over on to its back, and slammed into the ocean. Sumbawa is 94% Muslim so we needed to cover our bodies. Even wearing t-shirts would give the women a chance to shake their heads and bow a prayer of silence. Bob never wants to be the first to go to shore so I hailed Shaula3 and we went to shore. We asked permission to leave the dinghy on the beach and instantly we were surrounded by children. We walked down a dusty road looking for the village but all we saw were rows of split-bamboo fences painted in bright colours. This island had more substantial housing with ornamentation and paint than the other islands we have visited so far. The children chattered away and I responded likewise neither one of us knowing what the other was saying. When we were heading back to the boat Neva and Paramour were going in to shore.
I went back to the boat to print pictures I had taken of the children.
Then Bob and I went to shore and more children were out of school so we were surrounded. They loved the pictures and wanted to know what else we had for them. Seems Neva had candy and balloons. Two girls maybe 11 years old were asking for makeup or earrings. Sign language showed them I wasn't wearing any makeup and didn't have earrings on either. The girls were taking turns holding my hand and Bob had the cutest little boy holding his hand. I did bring some clothes and two pairs of shoes. I bartered for two large papayas. I also received some cashew fruit. It is sweet with a slight bite. I tried to roast the cashew nuts but they are full of oil and only managed to stink up the boat. You must have to boil them first or something.
When we were heading back to the shore there was this pony cart and a yellow-fin tuna. Funny how we fished for 3 days with no luck but look what the natives can do.
The next day the flotilla was off again around the island to Latoka. The guidebook said to look up Boric and he would take care of all our needs. We didn't have to look him up he came to all the boats when each of us had finished anchoring. We have various needs (fuel, laundry) but we all agreed on hiring a bemco and going to dinner. At 5 pm it was time to land on the shore and the beach community was there to welcome us.
Kids were laughing and helping us to drag the dinghies onto the beach. Mothers were there with their babies. And all the fathers were cheering and smiling. Harry played his guitar and the whole troop walked with us to the very narrow alleyway. A local offered us his hose to wash the sand off our feet, we went through his yard to the street, and got into a very cramped 6 seater Toyota that had the seats removed and benches installed around the perimeter.
We were all waving and blowing kisses, the kids were chasing the bemco and Harry played his guitar till we were gone around the corner. Ian exclaimed that he felt like Prince Charles and we all practiced the Royalty Wave.
The restaurant had a small parking lot and a front door. When you entered the premises it opened up to fountains, ponds, palm trees, and various huts with thatched roofs. The walkway was lined with torches. We crossed a small concrete bridge, scaled a wooden plank, and were seated, Indonesian style, in an open cabana. Boric helped us read the menu, we ordered food, and they put small bowls of water with flowers floating in them all around the table. Ah-ha! I remember when my Dad drank the water and the waiter wondered where it went so now I am cultured. We ate with forks; Boric ate with his hands. He would grab a small amount of rice and pick up meat or veggies with the same hand and pop it into his mouth. Then he would wash his fingertips in the water and pick up his beer. There were several Manx cats hanging about and Bob wondered how they got there from Isle of Man off the coast of England. This started a conversation about the differences in cat names from England to USA. When we were returning to the dinghies you could see that some homes had a light burning in their interiors and many others had candles. Everyone was on their porches talking and enjoying the cool of the evening.
The next day we took the same bemco and went provisioning. First stop was to an open air market for fresh produce. Cut up chickens and pork were displayed on a table with no refrigeration or protection from flies and people….no thank you. We did get some healthy fruit and vegetables. Boric introduced us to lizard fruit. It is a dark, scaly skinned bulb about the size of a lemon. It tasted like pear but the texture was like garlic; crisp and in cloves.
Next stop was the ATM and a grocery store. The actual town was a bustling, motor scooter congested myriad of homes and businesses. This was quite different than the beach community we had just come from to get here. We toured the town, stopped at a museum, and headed back to the boats. We got settled in and the next morning left for Gilli Air.
There seems to be a lot of man-made debris that we have to avoid or risk hurting our boats. The Indonesian locals have rafts; in Kupang they were 30' sq., in Sumbawa they were 8' with a thatched roof center. These rafts have no lights and the locals use them to fish with nets and lines. How they don't tangle the nets and lines is beyond me. Anyway, Stargazer had just had a run-in with a net and it cost them a lot of rupiahs. Hugh had to dive overboard with his bush knife and cut the netting away from the prop. They got to keep the section of net (it was well paid for) and it had several fish in it. Dinner was served for the next night. We were all made wary of the cost of running over a gill net. And then the next night, before the now waxing full moon had risen, Neva sights a Sumbawa raft…5 miles off shore! No one is aboard the raft; we are in too-deep-of-water-for-the-depth-meter so it is not anchored, so what's the story? Escapee from its mooring? Gill net? Single lines? Losing the prop in a tangled mess? There was vigilance that night and the 5 boats talked frequently. It was a good thing. Gaia was second in line and, in the blackest of nights; Bob spied a tree floating in the water. He radioed Paramour who was 1 mile behind us. Not only did we save her from impending doom but Viv spied a large plank off her port side. Paramour warned, next in line, Shaula 3 of both obstacles. Shaula radioed Stargazer, who was 6 miles behind, Shaula's coordinates so they could remain diligent and avoid both obstacles. The night was full of stars and no wind.
GILI AIR
October 19 - 21, 2008Stargazer was the first to arrive (due to a brilliant navigation plot). Michael from Big Blue had been there for 2 days so was instantly on VHF helping with the arrivals. It was 8 am and we were coming in at low tide so we saw the dry-washed rocky shoal on the starboard side and the shallow reefs on the shore. We anchored on the first try, blew up the dinghy, and headed out for a ride. This place has it own municipal swimming pool! The water was crystal…I repeat…crystal clear. Living, healthy reefs and corals of every texture and colour. Bob saw a huge Parrot Fish (by far the most colourful fish in the seas) and I saw Manta Rays (they have no "stingers"). We couldn't wait to go snorkeling.
This sealife I couldn't decide if it was flora or fauna. If you touched it it would recoil but to look at it it was very fern like. It was my favourite to date. I was in awe of the coral and surprised when I popped my head above water and was only 8' from the shore. We came upon sheer drop-offs where, even snorkeling, you saw massive amounts of sea life. I saw a squid that was large enough to be mistaken for a small octopus. We did all this and it was 10:30 am.
Bob took a nap and I cleaned out the refrigerator. When Bob woke up he noticed a mooring buoy right behind the boat. Wasn't there before so must be detached from its anchor…and look Bob! The rope is so new there is no growth; it is valuable to someone. Tug as we may try it wasn't budging. A Miracle! We tied up to it and were quite pleased with ourselves.
We don't think Gilli Air has any religion (except maybe the vacation god) and so beach wear was the code of the island. We headed to the beach for a walk and were so fascinated by it that we almost walked around the whole island.
It was all resort bars, restaurants, and lounging platforms made of bamboo and colourful fabrics. The sleeping bungalows all had porches, beautiful carved front doors and thatched roofs. The walkway was along the beach and you wove in and out of the small resorts. Ponies decorated with bright tassels were pulling hand-built carts full of tourist. No body was in a hurry and the ponies would clop along lazily up and down the beach. It was the off season so very few people were vacationing. We didn't notice how late it was getting so we stopped for happy hour at the end of the line and watched the sunset from a cushioned platform. The neighbourhood cat was prancing up and down the beach pouncing on tiny crabs.
When we were ready to walk back it was inky black; there was no electricity. Candles would tell you a bar was open and a wood fire with the selection of seafood ready to BBQ would tell you the restaurant was open. When we were almost to the dinghy we bumped into a BWR party and had a delightful dinner at a place called "The Zip" as in zipper. I had chicken cordon bleu and it was perfect. We went to retrieve the dinghy and we were lured back into the bar where we started out the day. Iatero asked us for a recommendation for music, I said Reggae, and he put on Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, remade as reggae!! It was fantastic and Bob and I sang the whole thing. Iatero was laughing as he didn't think we would know the music. The bars don't close till the last person leaves and the sky was getting light as we pushed the dinghy into the water and motored back to Gaia.
\LOMBOK
The next day we took the ferry to Lombok. According to the guides this is suppose to be the un spoilt Bali. We landed in town and had a tour arranged for us from Gili Air. Two Toyota Jeeps meandered through the rainforest and soon we were getting off the jeeps at the top of a mountain and the guides said we were going to see the Mountain Monkeys. Before we got to the location I noticed monkeys in the trees checking us out and screaming forward that we were coming. So much for wild life…they were expecting us.
The whole tribe showed up. The babies were full of energy and the mothers could care less. After all there were peanuts to be had. Mothers always share with the younger ones - not so with the males. We found ourselves not giving any to the males and saving peanuts for the babies. No one threw a tantrum and everyone had their fill of peanuts. Then we followed the same road back to the village and off on another road that went from paved to dirt to two-track. They piled us out of the jeeps and we started walking
.
We had to walk several hundred meters to a thundering sound that beckoned us forward. And what a view! You could get very close to a cascading waterfall that was perhaps 40 feet high. The air was moist, the plants very green, and the ground was slippery. The noise was deafening and awesome. I went off by myself and filled my head with the sound. After the heat and dust of the islands this was a grateful relief. Give me more! And so they did. We had guides that helped us maneuver around the trails that were not much trails at all and sometimes you had no idea where to walk. You would never get away with this in the USA. Like no handrails…no escalator. We need to be protected from ourselves. There were irrigation locks that fed rice patties for many miles. They looked like they were built 30 years ago but very well maintained. The roar was heard long before we reached the second set of falls.
Several of our group started running and stripping off their clothes and leaping into the broiling pool. It was too cold for me but I needed some relief from the heat. Bob headed straight for the cascades and he found it very refreshing. Bob wasn't the only one taking the abuse. I enjoyed eating bananas and crackers while we waited for them to come out of the torrential waterfall. The walk back to the taxis was uplifting considering the streams we had to forge and the rocks we needed to climb over to get back. Then we were off back to the coast and the ferry dock and took the ferry back to Gili Air. Most yatchies went out to dinner but I prefer my own cooking so I whipped up a BBQ feast on the boat and we got a great nights sleep.
We left at 5:45 am the next morning for the trip to Bali. Once again I did not want to leave because…
I love this place!!!!
BALI
October 21 - 28, 2008Whenever a local would talk to us they would ask us if we were going to Bali. I knew a little about the art and culture but I didn't relate Indonesia with Bali. Here 90% of the population is a branch of Hindu and the tourist industry is king. We pulled into Benoa harbour at Denpasar and there were several paragliders in the air and a swarm of powerboats criss-crossing the waterway. This was a navigational nightmare and we had to stay very diligent with the charts and buoys to avoid the many reefs and shoals at the entrance. We entered the marina at 1:30 pm and the Bali Marina was full. We rafted up to Shula 3 till a suitable mooring could be found. Miss Styx had a small spot next to her and Bob was super at angling the boat into a tight fit. The harbour-master was impressed and started calling Bob "Capt. Bligh". The showers were clean and spacious, the food was good and cheap, and the staff was very helpful. We settled in to wait for DJ to arrive.
Penelope III wanted to go on a tour and we joined them. The towns all have a specialty and we stopped in the batik factory. Then we were off to the art painting area. We decided to skip the stone carving and wood carving towns. I was amazed at the amount of inventory and the cottage industry manufactured right on the street.
Furniture was being carved right by the street (check out the cig hanging out of his mouth). There were statues that had to weigh hundreds and thousands of pounds. How do they transport them? Who buys such large scale art and where do they put it? The mind boggles!
We headed for the volcano and temple. As we exited the taxi we were swarmed by locals trying to sell everything from hand carved Harley-Davidson motorcycles to T-shirts. Jane showed some interest and she was overcome with the amount of people in her face. She fled into the restaurant.
As we enjoyed our Balinese buffet we could relax and enjoy the view of the volcano with the lake in the background. At the Temple we were accosted again and we must rent a sarong to enter.
This Temple looked old and also had some new construction. We learned that all the small kiosk were different deities. Some must be more popular than others judging by the amount of offerings on the altars in front of the kiosk. At one point John was asking Bob, as a veterinarian, could he save it? Bob said "He's at deaths door and, sorry, he couldn't save it". Save what? I asked. John pointed down and there was a smashed monkey. A goner for at least two weeks judging by how many times people must have stepped on it.
On the way back to town Nada, our guide, took the backstreets and we really saw how the locals live.
Massive carved stone and concrete walls surround the compound that includes many buildings and the home's private temple. The front gates were constructed of ordinate metals that included copper, bronze, stainless steel or aluminum. The designs of the walls and gates were endless and ageless. In the 1970's brick was incorporated into the designs or was faced with concrete. We never saw two alike. What were alike were the Temples. The architecture never varied and every home, great and small, has one in the corner of the yard. Most times it is the highest structure in the compound. My impression of Indonesian architecture is bamboo and thatched roofs; ready to fall down in the next monsoon. Bali is unique with a feeling of substance. Nothing is falling down for centuries and some of the temples date back to the 11th century!
The tour ended with a great dinner at a restaurant. The outside was a solid wall but when we entered it was filled with fountains, gardens and soft mood lighting with small private kiosks. Later we stopped at the Marina Bar to talk to the yatchies gathered there for the evening.
We had the next morning to get ready for DJ's arrival. We figured he would have jet-lag after the 18 hour flight but we were wrong. He couldn't sleep the night before he left but made up for it on the plane. I hope he wasn't sleeping on his back as he would have had to apologize about all the noise he makes sawing those logs! We hadn't made any plans so we wandered around the high end area of Katu. This area use to be for the surfers and the waves were fabulous.
We flagged down a taxi and on the way to dinner there were guys selling newspapers during the stop at a red light. He was pressing a British paper up against the window and when DJ said "no" the guy got this wide, very white toothy smile and pulled out the New York Times. We laughed and said "No thank you" and then…very slowly…he pulled out a US Today! How's that for marketing? At the next light the guy asked where we were from and DJ said Germany. Sure enough he pulls out the latest German newspaper.
We had dinner at a seafood restaurant on the beach and watched the sunset. A band of musicians were stopping at the tables. They would ask the diners where they came from and they would play pop tunes in many languages. Bob requested Santana. The lead guitarist was getting into his version and everyone enjoyed the music.
The next day was jam-packed.
The only thing I wanted to do was ride an elephant.
Bob wanted a traditional Balinese dance troupe and DJ wants anything and everything.
Weedie, our guide, picked us up in an air-conditioned bus and he was a wealth of information about all of Bali and the Hindu religion. His English was very good with no accent. This is something I have noticed all through Indonesia. They do not teach English in school but if you are motivated to better your life and your children's future you learn English…and for the Balinese you learn Japanese too. I was shopping in a bazaar and we struck up a deal. Finished the shopkeeper turned to a stunning Japanese lady and spoke Japanese. She must have been very good because the lady understood her completely. People learn languages on the streets and work up the taxi pyramid. A metered taxi got you from point A to point B; English very broken but always willing to talk up a storm. The real money was in being a taxi tour guide. Weedie excelled.
Our first stop was the Elephant Experience. And what an experience it was!
Bob fell in love with Cindy. When I said "Cindy Flynn" the trainer said "no, Cindy Crawford". DJ's cute little miss was Mary. "Mary Macay?" "No, Merry Christmas!" I asked what Cindy was afraid of and the driver said she was afraid of nothing but did not like dogs. Sure enough we ran into a pack of three dogs and Cindy's ears flattened against her head and the dogs went for the ditch. The girls were so darling we fed them a treat basket and they both hugged us.
Then we were off cruising the countryside passing rice paddies in various stages of harvest.
We went through villages and waited for a procession of banners and music in a small settlement. We went past major temples from the 11th century and smaller ones with colourful intricate hand-made banners and lots of fruit offerings. We drove along the cliffs looking at the ocean and through the mountains with lush vegetation and a swirl of flowering bushes and trees.
We ended up at the Monkey Temple which was on a cliff overlooking the most beautiful sunset. We were warned not to have anything shiny on us and sure enough there was this monkey sitting on a roof playing with some unlucky guy's glasses. He had to hire the little kids to chase the monkey and get his glasses back.
Lastly, Weedie took us to The Bali Dance restaurant and show. When we entered the building you crossed a tile floor and then the building opened to the sky and the stage was full of flowering trees. I would love to read the book on the interpretation of the legong dances. The costumes were very intricate and colourful. The movements were choreographed with eye, head, hand, and foot contortions that must have had meaning in a culture I would never have time to understand.
Watching the show the need to celebrate my favourite holiday, Halloweenie, was met. I could not have come up with anything remotely close to the experience. The whole day was 10 hours of pure delight. When we got back to the marina the three of us split the tour fee and we were laughing how we always divide up the monies making sure we are exchanging the exact amount with each other. We quibble over $.60 cents. Yes, but it is $6,000 rp. That is a lot of paper money to be exchanging hands.
We fell into bed and were asleep in minutes.
At 8:15 am we left for Kalimantan (Borneo) and the Tanjung Puting National Park. Bob is so excited. It is only 590 miles to the orangutans. This time the convoy consist of Big Blue, Paramour de Mer, and ourselves. We motored for 24 hours and then got a beam reach for the next 6 hours. DJ is getting his sea legs.
The beaches are lined with very slim, 10' long sailing/motor vessels. There are hundreds of them and the sailing vessels all have different coloured sails. The motor ones appear to be line fishing so we were cautious about snagging their lines on our prop. One motor vessel was on a rhumb line towards us and it made me nervous till he came along side and asked for cigarettes. This happened several times over the next several days. The nights were filled with watching out for fishing, tow boats with barges, and cruise boats. Several times a night we would have to change course to get out of their way. Currents are constantly changing and very strong. There is a lot of debris in the water. DJ thought he would be lulled to sleep with a gently rocking boat but we are tossed about by the currents and with the motor running it is hard to sleep.
KALIMANTAN (BORENO)
October 31 - November 02, 2008The water turned from sapphire blue to a creamy coffee colour when we were still 3 hours from the mouth of the Kumai River. It is very shallow and at 3:30 pm we had timed the tides perfectly for our entrance and anchoring in the river. DJ is so happy to finally have the boat stop and anchor. The island has been divided up into four countries, Indonesia (Kalimantan), Malaysia (Sarawak), Brunei, and Sabah. Kalimantan is Joseph Conrad country, the land of rivers and his romantic stories of Lord Jim, Tom Lingard, Almayer and Heist. It was a much different Borneo back then but they still have plaques all over telling you you are standing where Lord Jim stood.
We had Arain stop by and we set up a trip to visit the orangutans. We are having trouble starting the engine on Gaia so we could not go with the slower boat and do the overnighter; we had to do the extended day tour. He will have Ambo (Rambo without the 'R') pick us up at 7:30 am and we will be taking a speed boat to the jungle. We talked to Happy Wanderer who had been on the tour several days ago and Mary told us a female orangutan was so infatuated with her purse that there was no stopping her from taking it. Her arms were so long the guide couldn't retrieve the bag. I guess she was motioning him to "talk to the hand" as she waved it in front of his face. She knew the sunscreen went on your arms (after she tasted it), the lipstick went on your lips (after tasting it) and the mints popped into your mouth. Bob was laughing so hard I had a hard time hearing Mary on the VHF.
Ambo came by and picked us up and we were off. The Kumai River was muddy brown and the banks of the river were lined with palm bushes.
Later we shot off into the Sekonyer River. It is so named because a Dutch schooner was sunk in the river. The people don't have any love for the Dutch colonization. The water turned cocoa black and the bank's vegetation began to change to grasses and trees. The tropical rain forest would drop its leaves into the water and the tannin would turn the water crystal black. We passed several slower boats with people from our group and they saw swimming monkeys and water snakes. Seems that when a boat is passing by the animals know that the crocodiles are not happy and the crocs hide from the noise of the engine. If you want to cross the river now is the time to do it. We had lunch and began the hike into the forest.
At first we were hiking through fields that were reclaimed farmland.
Then, all of a sudden, it looked like we were entering a tunnel into the rainforest canopy. The air became damp with a fresh earthy smell. Keeping a sharp lookout for the tangled roots in the path we came upon a clearing with a platform. The guides put bananas on the platform and an alpha male showed up and hogged all the bananas. They call him Tom, King of the Park (He's the one at the start of this island adventure).
We ventured to another site and watched the babies and young orangutans have their daily milk. I feel you should not feed the wild animals but we were at the Camp Leakey Preserve for orphaned orangutans. They are children who need a mother for the first 6 years of life. The preserve fills this need.
They have two famous orangutans and we met Princess. Most orangutans ignore humans except when they need help. Princess has learned lots of signs and 'speaks' to the staff often; she loves hanging out at the preserve and view humans as amusement. Bob has often said he wants to hold an orangutan but after seeing these powerful, wild creatures he declined. It is best to look and admire from afar.
On our way back down the river we would see the trees full of proboscis monkeys. The Dayaks (locals) call them Dutch monkeys because of their impressive noses. They would drop 20 feet into the underbrush and you would hear them crashing into the branches.
The next day we caught the 10 o'clock tide and rode out of the river into the shallows of the Java Sea. Everyone knows there was no wind but we haven't much choice. We need to be in Nongsa Point by November 8 if we want to do some exploring before DJ leaves Singapore on the 11th. By nightfall we were in very shallow waters and it was still very muddy from the river. We motored all night. In the 5 days it took us to get to Nongsa Point we had two 6 hour sailing time and one 2 1/2 hour of glorious silent engine. The only saving grace was the moon and the calm night shifts for meditating. The rainy season starts in October so we expect to get rain. It pours down in buckets cooling off the heat and, surprisingly, there is little humidity. These squalls happen frequently and don't last long. We had 3 major ones with the first one coming on so suddenly at dusk that DJ got to really find out what a tether is all about.
As the days progressed the water became crystal sapphire blue and we saw many water snakes, a sea turtle, and some playing porpoises.
DJ was so helpful that I decided to make him a cherry pie. The boat was rocking but I am so use to it that I didn't notice …till I spilled water all over the table and onto my laptop. OOPS! Now some of the keys don't work. It is mildly frustrating so I will have to get it fixed in Singapore. DJ wanted to lose some weight on this trip but Bob loves his 3 meals (and sweets at night) so we stopped twice to swim. The water was very clear and with my mask on I could see no fish. No wonder we can't catch anything!
The excitement during the trip came from the fishing boats and freighters. Navigational lights on the boats were all colours and didn't mean anything so you would not know what you were looking at or how to avoid the nets. This one time I was on watch and this fishing boat was making a rhumb line straight for us and I got a little nervous. Pirates? I asked Bob and DJ to come topside. When the boat came along side us they had big toothy grins and asked for cigarettes! I was really relieved. Later Bob was frustrated because every time he would change course to stay out of the way this one freighter would turn in the same direction we were heading. I thought maybe they were going to ask for cigarettes. On DJ's watch he had a huge freighter come right at us, stop, and do a 180 degree change…in the middle of the sea! The mind boggles!
NONGSA POINT
November 07 - 09, 2008Nongsa Point Marina is on Bantam Island in the Riau Group just south of Singapore. We slowed down to 3 knts so we would be entering the marina at 9 am. Peter from the BWR was there and he had a pilot come out and show us the way to the finger pier. We were given the #1 spot and I told Bob that was because we were the prettiest boat in the marina and they wanted everyone to see us! The marina was being remodeled into a 4 star resort.
It was very tastefully designed. The internet was free so you could not complain about the sllooowww service. In the news the "Bali Bombers" who blasted the beautiful beach (Katu) and killed maybe 170 people (mostly Australians) in 2006 were executed and the news quoted a Muslim that said it is good for the religion to kill the hijad but they should not do it in Bali…go figure.
The marina put on an excellent BBQ for us, we went into the town for shopping and provisioning, and then we were off at 9 am the next day for the 32 mile crossing to Singapore.
The Singapore Straits are full of freighters anchored out waiting to be loaded at the shipping docks so we wove our way into the harbour. The skyline is dense with skyscrapers reaching for the sun. My brother loves Singapore and I am ready to experience it for myself.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
AUSTRALIA - OZ
July 28 - October 2, 2008Hello and Welcome to the Land of OZ, Mate
Australia is, geologically, an ancient continent. U.S. and European land formations date back 2 million years but there are formations in Australia believed to be 140 million years old. Until the Europeans arrived in the 1600's it was an isolated land with isolated flora and fauna. War, migration, and boat technology could not penetrate the Great Barrier Reef, currents, and nasty weather patterns surrounding the 6th largest land mass in the world. This, along with wildly swinging temperatures, fluxuating rainfall, and wind conditions, allowed everything in the country to evolve differently than the rest of the world.
There is debate on whether the flora and fauna is "unique" or just generated different sub species. For instance, the eucalyptus trees, which are also in Africa and Tropical America, have over 600 different varieties that survive only in Australia. Australians believe in evolution and have the Aborigines for proof. Science has given them their own species, Austriod; even though they were thought to migrate over a land bridge from Asia. Others say there was no land bridge and they had to come in boats. If they came by boat the Aborigines have no use for the sea now.
Almost all the 20 million Australians live within 200 miles of the coast. 80% of them live on the east coast as the west coast and the entire interior is arid and not habitable. Australia is rugged and has more venomous snakes, spiders, insects, and man-eating crocodiles, than anywhere in the world. I'm afraid to fish because of all the poisonous fish that look edible inhabiting the Great Barrier Reef.
MACKAY
Over the centuries Australia has been overrun by invasive species and they have a strict system of quarantine checks both on board and under the boat. We have been hearing how quarantine will take away all of our fresh food stocks, canned meats, wood and shell treasures, and other bug infested items since we left Tahiti. This helped to some degree because it gave us plenty of time to use up our meat, grains, eggs, and even honey. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to clean out stuff we haven't used since we left Seattle in September, 2007. The reality of the exercise was that they did take some dried apples from my friend, Jim Gayther's trees and some eggs I didn't have time to use up. That was it. Lots of unfounded fear on the Rally's part; most likely to over inform than to under prepare us. From the customs dock we received a slip in the Mackay Marina. This new marina has restaurants, shops, and services that could rival any place we have stayed at so far on this trip.
We arrived on Monday and on Thursday we hauled out to get the bottom painted and polish the fiberglass sides and top. The yard is so large that management drive scooters to get around. In a month when we arrive in Darwin they will lock you out of the harbour till you prove you do not have any red-lipped mussels growing in the garden attached under your boat. The best way to accomplish that is with this haul-out. Living in the boatyard has all the glamour of camping in a cement parking lot. We can't use any water on board as it may foul the undercoating. We have to climb a ladder 16' in the air to get into Gaia. The bathroom is 100 yds away and the shower is all the way at the other end of the marina.
I asked a local gal, who was shivering in a skimpy sweater, what the deal was about the weather. According to the charts the state of Queensland is tropical rainforest. How come I have pulled out my sleeping bag and heavy clothes? Not unusual for winter but the locals haven't seen it this cold in forever. Tuesday we went back in the water and it was great to get back into a routine. The boat is all shiny clean with the fiberglass polished. I cleaned the dodger to like new appearance.
The town of Mackay is just like being in America. Fast food abounds and the portions are so large its making the population overweight. Men are generally stocky, women shorter, and the kids are very cute. The parks are very clean, no graffiti, and Sunday is a time to picnic with the family. Most of the town is 4 miles down the road but the bus system is great and I find it easy to get around the round-abouts. I took the Mackay Explorer, a free Sunday bus, to explore the town.
There is a great ArtScape area with high design buildings, out door sculpture garden, and Australian art, both contemporary and traditional. The botanical gardens were a delight and you could hear the call of so many different birds. My only regret is that I forgot my camera. Still don't want to rent a car and drive on the left side of the road so if I didn't take a bus Patrick from Canopus would haul us around. The houses are all about 3' above the ground and nothing is higher than two stories…a reminder that cyclones do pass this way occasionally. Sugar cane is the predominant export and there are huge silos of molasses in the commercial part of this port. Sugar cane maybe king but coal is what attracts workers from all over Australia. Huge ore carriers wait off shore to come in and load. We wondered who buys so much CO2 emissions in the world.
Tuesday we said Goodbye to the Rally and left for a 3 day voyage north to Cairns (CANS). We have various routes we can take and various comments about whether you can travel at night. The inside of the Great Barrier Reef is riddled with islands and sunken reefs, shipping lanes, and strong currents. Hopefully, as we travel north towards the equator it will begin to warm up.
THE CORAL COAST
If you are on shore it is "The Coral Coast"; if you are on the seas it is 'The Great Barrier Reef. We have been traveling to Cairns for 2 days and it has never been deeper than 112 ft. with short waves, no rollers, and all new species of fish. There is very little phosphorescence. The wind has been at our back making for a most enjoyable trip. I could get use to this.
CAIRNS
We arrived at midnight and pondered whether to take the chance and enter at night. Imagine our surprise when we saw airport lights: flashing red/green every 100 yds pointing the way. It has a dredged channel for 1.5 miles and we had an open invitation into the marina where we moored for the night. There were lots of lights and an area of mega neon activity…I wondered if it was a disco, kids major amusement park, or something else. The next morning I swear I had a flash back and am at the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. The lobby for the day cruise boats is as large as a train station. This is a tourist Mecca. I thought Sunday would be mostly closed down as in Mackay but not if there are tourists hanging about.
Took the City Bus Tour and found out that Cairns was settled in 1840 on a spit of land sticking up out of the mud and mangroves. They filled it in and the town flourished on the banks of a river with the best harbour in the northeast coast. The hysterical society is very strong and no one is allowed to alter the old ( a relative word as no building is older than 150 years ) buildings in any way…even the inside. So what you have is quaint wood and plaster buildings from the late 1800's with towering new contemporary buildings behind them. For example, the courthouse, built in 1860, has a sign that says it is a Hilton Hotel. You enter the tall columned portico, through a small inner reception area with leather sofas and plasma screened TVs, and into a vast circular room. It is a bar with a huge dome top and lots of walnut wood. It still has the original Blind Liberty statue dominating the center of the room. You walk through the bar, into a perfectly landscaped courtyard, and into the lobby of a huge structure. This is repeated all over town. I love the character of the cobbled streets, raised sidewalks, and high relief ornamentation. The neon light display is a large casino that had no restaurants and only a few bars but plenty of one armed bandits and card tables.
Gold was discovered near town and in 1856 every man was prospecting. The town couldn't keep a postmaster or policeman so the women had to take over. We went on a train tour up into the mountains to the mining town of Kuranda what a treat. Old buildings, lots of history with gold and timber, kangaroos, butterfly, and birds abound. The aboriginal art is intricate and represents animals of the land with every symbol having some sort of meaning to the "dream". We took the Skyrail gondolas back to Casavictoria Lakes through the rainforest where we saw many cockatoos and soaring vistas of gorges, waterfalls, farmed flatlands and lakes.
Then the next night we went to A Night at the Zoo where I petted a koala, held the cutest wombat, and had to fight the kangaroos for a place around the campfire. Great BBQ.
The next day we were getting ready to leave and we couldn't believe our eyes. There was Into the Blue waiting for our slip! All of us are amazed at how many times our paths have crossed since the first time we met in the Tutumotos. Every time I see them we think it will be the last. They are with the ARC Rally and will be going around the South African coastline whereas we will be going to the Red Sea. They should be several ports ahead of us by now but they are lagging behind to dive, snorkel, and go to restaurants. I always return all the brochures that I don't use for recycling but this time I dropped off several of my favourite places to go so they had a head start on exploring Cairns. Most of the time Into the Blue is telling us where the best places are. As we were pulling out of the slip Robert yelled that they would be in Darwin on August 27. We will not leave for the States till September 2 so we made a date to do dinner "for the last time our paths cross".
Cairns is the last place to provision for the remainder of the trip up the Coral Coast. Customs is on constant lookout because if you do not do customs in Cairns the next place is 560 miles to the north at Thursday Island. The reef is very much a barrier. You risk life and limb to cross it anywhere in between Cairns and Thursday Island. If you do then you must have something to hide.
Sam from Into the Blue, always full of knowledge, told us one of the ARC boats dismasted and another shipwrecked on a reef, sunk, and the crew had to be airlifted out. Bob is diligent about charts and we are on constant lookout for rocks, reefs, and current. Several days out of Cairns I kept telling Bob to head more to port and he was saying "No". I went to drive and Bob went to the charts and sure enough we had to head straight for a rock island and let the current pull us to starboard. The water depth is averaging 55' so it is the colour of the Caribbean - a mostly bright green blue. One time the passage between two reefs was only a mile. I was surprised that this was the main shipping lane. Does it bottleneck? I put the radar on long distance to make sure no huge freighter was coming in the opposite direction when we were going through the pass.
The land in the state of Northern Territory is very arid and desolate. We stopped in Flinders Bay for a much needed overnight sleep. The books tell you the rocks may look inviting for hiking but they are as huge as 2 story houses. We passed a small, 200' cargo ship that had fenders over the side. Fishing Trawlers have no place to provision so you just pull up along side and give your order. It gives drive thru convenience stores a whole new meaning.
OOPS! Do I have egg on my face. When we stopped in Margaret Bay for an overnighter we were invited to a prawnboat for a party. The cargo ship boys were there and they were miffed at being called a supply boat. They are a mothership. They pick up the frozen prawns and take them to shore…it's just an added convenience that they also have fuel, water, hoses, and food. We had the ultimate tour (the owners were on shore) and I found out exactly how to fish for prawns using all the gears and nets. We were having so much fun that the mothership had to go get more supplies for the party. Bob thought I was making a mistake taking cookies to a beer party but it's all about timing. As we were leaving I passed out cookies as a Thank You and got lots of smiles.
2 days and an overnighter and we stopped at Possession Island. We are now over the large peninsula called Cape York and leaving the Great Barrier Reef behind. Possession Island is where Capt. Cook declared all the land he stopped at belonged to England. There is a monument on a small hill surrounded by mangroves. Another night and we stopped at Potmuth for a short 2 hour stay waiting for the tide to change so we could enter the two passes to get us to Darwin. Took a much needed shower, had lunch, and were on our way. This trip we have been hailed by a customs boat and 5 times by passing customs airplanes. They always want to know who, where, and when we are going to get to Darwin.
DARWIN
In Darwin we immediately headed for the quarantine dock and we had to tie up to Crisis Mode. Again, this is a J boat that we keep running into since I first mentioned him in the Galapagos. We both had to have the Exotic Marine Pest Clearance dive boys come and coat the boat. We had to wait 14 hours to turn on the engine so we had a great Thai dinner, spent the night and left at 7 am for Tipperary Waters Marina. During some times of the day the tides do not allow you to approach this marina.
All the marinas have locks because they cannot handle the huge changes in tides. This is a posh marina with beautiful homes, restaurants, and stores.
We took a tour to the National Park of Kakadu which is on Aboriginal land.
Saw some way cool rock paintings that are spiritual and uplifting to the "original land owners". I like the customs and attitude of the aboriginals. They believe it is their duty to take care of the earth. Everyone is in charge of taking care of the children. The men and women have very distinct jobs and men/women are not allowed to touch each others punishment stick. The woman aboriginal that was the tour guide did not know what the men carried in their pouches. Women are revered because they are the life givers. If a man has a problem with his wife he goes to her mother and sisters and complains. Likewise the wife will complain to his father and brothers. Neither family wants the person back so they make sure the offender changes their behaviour. Everything stays in the family. If you catch dinner you offer it to the elders and they will take what they want and the rest is for your family. The Australian court system will step down if the elders ask them to and dole out appropriate punishment. This usually involves a spear through the muscle of the thigh or calf. If you kill someone the spear is through the left lung and most likely you will not live to kill again. If you rape then the spear is through the Achilles heel so that when the women see you hobbling about they clear away…you live a lonely life.
We will be here for a month while we fly to the States for our first vacation in a year.
I had another one of those 'destiny' moments. I made airline reservations for Bob and I to go home to the States and ended up with a 17 hour lay-over in Sydney. So I thought …OK…line up a talkative taxi driver, find a hotel for the night, and go on tour of the city. I swear the next day we get an E-mail…
" you don't know us but we are the J-boat dealer in Sydney and we follow your adventures on the website. If you ever find yourself in Sydney you must let us be your tour guide and you must spend the night at our home."
Bingo!!
We had the most delightful time with Ray and Sandra Entwistle. Ray started out racing Flying 18's which require very high energy, athletic men (sorry my lady sailor friends it appears way too crazy for most women) who race these sleek boats through treacherous waters.
The next morning during breakfast at their lovely home I got up close and personal with the wild lorikeets and watched a family of Cockatoos acting silly. Ray escorted us around the city and we went to the north entrance to Sydney Harbour.
Everyone knows the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge but do you know what the enterance to the harbour looks like from sea? The coastline is very steep and jagged sandstone with a 2 mile long entry. You could see the Emerald City just over the next hill and it looked so inviting. Before we knew it we were off to the airport for the 12 hour flight to San Francisco.
Wow!! What a ride my vacation turned out to be. I needed another two weeks. Qantas Airlines filled us full of food, movies, and great service. We needed to sleep off all the extra calories. What other adventure can we get into since we have a week before we leave for Indonesia?
We decided on a trip in our rental car to Litchfield National Park. Once again the countryside was very arid with few trees…till we crested a hill. In the canyons carved out by erosion were rivers of crystal clear water with deep green foliage canopies.
So clear are the cool waters there is not enough nutrients to grow any algae. We went swimming in pools surrounded by vegetation and birds of all colours. It gives community pool a whole new meaning.
The magnetic termite colonies were a treat. Looked like a graveyard of tombstones. They are grass eaters and they were doing a fine job of keeping down the vegetation.
The Cathedral termites built tons of mounds. These are the critters that eat out the interiors of the eucalyptus trees to form the Aboriginal musical instrument called the didgeridoo. We saw a pile of firewood and every piece had some of the interior wood eaten away. It doesn't kill the tree, the termites replenish nutrients back to the impoverished soil, and other animals find refuge from the advancing waters of the summer rains.
Australia is like a fractured mirror. You see reflected the same view but from different angles…all at the same time. If reading the first few paragraphs are not enough the people are very individualistic, rustic, and progressive. We did spend most of our time in the State of Queensland and I have heard the rest of the country finds them 'crazy'. I'll have to come back and spend more time in this vast island/continent especially to the south and Tasmania.
Most of the boats left on October 2nd for Kupang. 9 boats are going directly to Bali. We are entering the Timor Sea. It is a shallow (112 ft.) sea with very little wind or wave problems except for the occasional 'line squall'. We did have some excellent sunny, hot days of 11 knts of wind and virtually no waves. I would have loved to go wakeboarding for miles on one direction. We put up the spinnaker for the 3rd time since leaving Seattle. It was lovely.
Part I of GaiaWorldTour was Seattle, WA to Panama where we signed aboard the Blue Water Rally. I would call this Part the "Getting Acquainted with the World" We had San Francisco, the Tehuanepec fickle weather, slipping through salt marshes, Papagayos, charting rocks we couldn't see, and hiking to volcanoes. We did the Baja HaHa Race to Cabo San Lucas and went white water rafting.
Part II was Galapagos to Australia. This part of the trip has some of the most pristine waters and islands anywhere in the Pacific. Snorkeling, walking on coral beaches, passing atolls with one palm tree and the Tahiti Pearl Regatta. Bob has become more relaxed about decisions and has even let me "do the net report" and talk to the huge cargo ships on VHF. This is "The Paradise Part" of the trip.
Part III is NOW! Indonesia to Suez Canal. Out of my comfort zone and into "The Exotic Part" of the trip. Really different food, customs, and architecture await our astonished eyes. We have learned that common sense has no place here. I wonder how much English will be a hindrance.
I am so looking forward to the next 6 months.
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VANUATU
July 14 - 20, 2008Halo!
Vanuatu (vah-nu-AH-too) means "Land Eternal". The people are mostly Melanesian and have more than 115 distinctly different cultures and languages. Vanuatu is recognized as one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world and every island and sometimes a district has its own culture. Again, this is one of those island nations that the French and British fought over and managed to disrupt to the point of destructive behaviour. With so many influences when the New Hebrides became independent and renamed Vanuatu they had to make up a language that everyone could understand.
Hence, we have Bislama. Mostly a pidgin English that I found was fun to try to interpret. Good Morning "Gudmoning" or Maybe "mebi". Those are easy - now try Excuse Me "Skusmi" or Please "Plis". My favourite restaurant and FREE internet was right on the canal and the name was "Nambawan". It took Susanne from Cheshire (another 'small world' she knows Susanne from Altair in Seattle and were told to look out for us) to tell us the meaning….give up…."Number one" Good one eh?
We arrived at midnight but found it easy to enter the harbour and drop anchor. Next morning we moved closer to the quarantine buoy and hailed customs. We were lucky all they took was the bananas and limes. Paramour had everything from potatoes, tomatoes, to eggs taken from them. We then asked Yachting World for a mooring buoy and got the prime spot right by the clubhouse. Bad news is the clubhouse was a favourite place for night life and the band would rock-n-roll till everyone left. The Waterfront had a great band, a great watering hole, and it was great to see the yatchies group filtering in slowly over the week we were there. Before we found our mooring we found the boaters net and signed up for a dinner at a Thai place up the hill. It was excellent especially the raw fish in coconut milk. Pelle V and Our Island were the only ones from the Rally in port so they came and joined us.
Port Villa on the island of Efate (EH-fah-teh) is the nation's capitol and a bustling deep port. It has a fresh market were the locals come and spend the night hawking their wares; its open 24 hours. OMG!! This is the first port of call where they drive on the right side of the street. Maybe I can drive a car here. It has been 11 months since I have driven a car. All the women wear this brightly coloured "Mother Hubbard" dress. The seamstress is right there on the main street making all the clothes for the islands. They even have a Chinatown - although it isn't much different than the rest of the town. Across a small inlet is Iririki Island where Michener wrote "Bali Hai".
Pelle V spent a whole day researching tour guides to find the best way to fly to Tanna and go see the volcano at Mt. Yasur. It is the most accessible, active volcano in the world and we forked over $400 US apiece for the privilege of seeing it up close and personal. Only problem was…disappointment. The plane never showed up. We did get our money back and to lick our wounds decided to tour the island.
First stop was Hideaway Island. It was very peaceful after the hustle and bustle of the city. They have the distinction of having the first underwater post office and so I just had to send postcards. The coral was magnificent with many textures and colours and the tropical fish were huge! When we landed on the mainland at noon the secondary school was at recess. The kids were swimming in the bay, climbing trees, playing basketball, or eating coconuts. Then we were off for a tour completely around the island. Everyone lives along the coast with no roads leading to the interior of the mountainous tropical rainforest. 80% of the people live in small clan-based villages of less than 50 people and headed by the chief.
Some of these enclaves are so small I was surprised to see them listed on the map. Most villages have a traditional "nakamal" (village clubhouse) where the men gather and drink kava (women frown on women drinking kava and this is good as it tastes like dirty dishwater, your lips go numb, and makes you lethargic). The national dish is Laplap. The women gather laplap leaves which are the main wrapping for all dinner goodies that they thr
