[RV Heraclitus SE Asia
voyage: blog
photos]
The past few weeks, we changed our route to visit an
uninhabited island (aka Ko Pulau Island) said to be
"National Geographic, man" by some Americans we met in
Kupang. On the way to Ko Pulau Island we saw a large school
of pilot whales and dolphins, a humpback or other whale
close to shore, a blue starfish and hot water vents nearby
on the same mostly dead reef, a flock of birds feasting on a
dense school of fish, a manta ray, a bonfire on the beach
shared with the kids of Rote (who we swapped roast banannas
and coconuts with), a clean hull and renewed sea-sickness.
At Ko Pulau Island, we saw a long white beach made of small
bead things instead of sand, with surf at either end and
reef in between, a green lagoon with islands being eaten
away at the base, a monkey-head rock, pink coral, reef fish,
sea urchins, various pieces of flotsam washed up on the
beach (flip-flops, a light-bulb, bottles, wood,
burnie-beans, nautilus shells, a seabird egg, a dead seabird
and other crap), sunset over the ocean with golden cirrus in
the sky, turtle nests, tracks and hatchlings scurrying off
into the water, Indonesian fishermen in need of water and
turtle eggs, tidal pools with the occasional crab, ghost
crabs darting towards the water, a pandanus stand, a small
cave surrounded by discarded turtle eggshells, spinifex,
hermit crabs, scrambling lizards, sunburn and other things.
Later in our voyage, we saw a big lone flying fish, land
looming mountainous on starboard, TNI, gratis reef fish,
water buffalo and threatening rain clouds. The next major
stop was a bay on the south side of Sumba, black cliffs to
port and an eroded hillside to starboard. There, we enjoyed
the excellent snorkeling against the cliffs and off the
beach, birds calling from the forest, wasps - shiny blue and
otherwise, meeting roaming cows in the forest, forest fungi
and other sights. We met some fishermen and drove through
the forested slopes toward a nearby city. On the way, we
visited an Indonesian village and saw their traditional
animist temple, ample baby pigs & dogs, tons of kids trying
to get in photos, satellite dishes and graves in front of
houses. Unfortunately, I crashed once we reached the hotel,
missing eating and night life, but I did enjoy the sights
from the windows of the cramped 4WD we were in. We headed
for the 9.8 knot passage of Selat Sape, complete with
eddies, currents, a barracuda and the steep slopes of a
silent volcano. Since there, we saw an increasing number of
interesting and curious Indonesian vessels, fish traps, the
grey shapes of dolphins swimming in the aqua water under the
bow, a floating sandal, a school of mahi-mahi jumping out of
the water, a misty night, numerous schools of feeding fish,
entangled luminescent trails left by dolphins swimming in
the phosphorescent water beneath the bow, flashes of
lightning in the distance, our first rain since Cairns, the
associated storm, Jack the fisherman (a mast hallucination)
and other things. Our next stop was Kalimunjava (north of
Java, Indonesia), more than half way to Phuket. We spent a
week there, watched lightning, collected rain, visited the
local school, dived and snorkelled on the magnificant reef
with some really nice university students (hi Lely, Dudu,
Jaos and others) from Java who were doing a study on the
corals and hiked up the steep slopes of the island. From
there we ambled past Borneo, towards Bintan, near Singapore,
experiencing the first non-calm seas in ages, dolphins in
the storm, floating lines of debris, big barges, container
ships and megatankers, a fancy, shiny yacht, fishing vessels
with 50,000 lights, Rain Drop and it's egg (child of Rain
the gecko), amazing cloudscapes at sunrise, throughout the
day and at sunset on the way. Amazingly, we met the 8 (Infinity, the new
PCRF vessel) one find day in
the South China Sea on their way to Bali. Eddie saw them
from 5 miles away and knew almost straight away it was them.
Michelle came on board and a lone daytime cumi (squid) swam
between us as we parted. Before we arrived at Pulau Bintan
(near Singapore), we saw seasnakes and a palm tree floating
and lots of wind and rain.
We will probably arrive in Thailand by January and I'm
thinking of passing thru Sydney on the way home, so let so
please mail me if you want to meet up.
