Friday 5th June 2015
Sorong, we had
heard, was full of garbage.
And yes indeed
rubbish is a big feature.
But it also has
its charms…
There are some
grand houses
right next to not-so-grand
constructions.
The sky looks very
black because we had big storms.
Thunderbolts, lightning, heavy rain. Wonderful!
The 2XS watertanks are filling fast and I am very happily washing everything
in sight. Watch out John - I might plunge him into a bucket of soapy water too!
The people are
delightful, wreathed in smiles, thrilled to see us. We walked up from a laneway leading to the
(horrid slimy slippery rocky) “jetty” where we had left the dinghy and an
entire family leapt out, wanting to be photographed with Pete.
I have done some
copies on my Selphy printer (best toy on the boat, says Pete,) and Pete can get
even more smiles and shrieks of joy when he delivers them this morning. He has to go back to the Jabatan Laut
(Harbour Master) to fill in more forms…The eight or so hours we put in
yesterday were not enough…We have the impression that maybe not many yachts
come here to clear in – they all do it in Sangihe. (We did try but were sent along here.) The officials are all very nice and obliging but…they
don’t really seem to know what they are doing.
We just have to assume that we are now officially cleared in!
Sorong is on the
mainland of PNG, so it actually does
feel more Papuan than Indonesian.
(Obviously it would…) And
everyone wants me to take their photo.
Happy to oblige!
We are anchored in
a fairly busy harbor next to an impressive looking liveaboard dive boat. These boats look very luxurious and
beautiful. But it is very expensive to
spend time on them! We looked them up on
Lonely Planet and it is around $4,500 per person for a seven day trip. This includes all food, unlimited dives, and
comfy accommodation but…nearly $10,000 for two people for a week…And as Pete
says, you would be EXHAUSTED after seven days diving three times a day…(well we
would be…)
John arrives at
lunchtime and then we are OFF, to Batanta, where I hope the hornbills will do
their spectacular evening fly-past. The
next day we will probably head towards Mansuar and Kri islands – they look just
beautiful and inviting… Maybe internet connection, maybe not…
Just a bit more re
the birds in this region… We have never heard such a lot of bird song. It is extraordinary! Many different trilling conversations coming
out of the jungle. But we very rarely
see the singers, hard though we try. On
our one and only afternoon in Batanta, eagle-eyed Pete saw a flash of white, so
we carefully searched through the undergrowth with camera and binoculars. I managed, finally, to zoom in and found…(oh
dear but the damn boat would NOT stay still and it is out of focus but never
mind…)
A cockatooo!!
Apparently PNG was
joined to the Australian mainland only 10,000 years ago and there are many
shared animal and birds. For example –
or so Wikipedia and Lonely Planet tell me – there are bandicoots, wallabies and
– echidnas in Papua! Who knew??
Today’s BirthdayBoy
James
Headlam! Seen here with his father and
with his brother popping his head up in the middle distance.
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