Arrived in Bintan
[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 ∞
(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.
Syndicated 2006-12-19 05:59:02 (Updated 2006-12-18 18:59:02) from pabs