Thursday 9th July 2015
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| Beautiful clear water on Pulau Birie at Papua Paradise |
00 degrees 45.910S
130 degrees 53.570E
Batanta Island
11 metres, beautiful
We left Pulau Doom
early in the morning and by eleven we were anchored very nicely in eleven
metres of azure water off Batanta Island. Bliss for
me! There were giant hornbills flying
overhead, and a beautiful little reef full of colourful fish. I snorkeled along very happy, not knowing
whether to look up in the hope of seeing giant hornbills or down in the
certainty of seeing thousands of fish.
There were lots of different fish, many glorious colours. And just one reef shark, about one metre
long, swimming fast and displaying every evidence of panic and terror at the
sight of – a human!
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| It can all get a bit Lord of the Flies! |
I have often read
how delightful children are, in more remote and undeveloped parts of the
world. They are cheerful, resilient,
kind, co-operative.
They share; they
look after one another; they respect their elders.
Hmmm…I don’t know
if I have never been so idealistic. I
think children are much the same everywhere; they are humans! But yes the children here in the islands
surrounding New Guinea are gorgeous.
They are full of fun, full of curiosity.
But they are not saints! And they
can behave very badly…
Yesterday we
didn’t really want a large crowd but…we got a large crowd…most of them unknown
to us from previous incursions. After a
while I relented and put music on for them – wild rumpus begins!! – and then, eventually, I told Pete I just
HAD to stop ignoring them and make them a container of popcorn. I felt I wasn’t being kind to this lot; I
have been very kind to previous lots.
I selected an
older girl, maybe 14, to pass the bowl
around, and directed the children to go and stand on the deck so none would
gets spilled on the cockpit carpet. Did
they share, carefully and lovingly and considerately?? No!!
They charged at the bowl like piranhas in feeding frenzy. It was not nice! They pushed, shoved, shouted and…scattered
popcorn EVERYWHERE, crushing it underfoot.
Alli n a matter of seconds. I was
appalled and marched up to snatch the bowl away from whichever wildchild was
ransacking it at the time. Pete came out
and shouted very angrily, saying THIS IS A DISGRACE!!!! and other stern
admonitions. They got the message and
all twenty or so f them leapt off into the sea.
I should have kept one or two on board to clean up, but I wanted them
GONE!
Popcorn clings
quite surprisingly. I thought it would
be very easy to sweep it up and flinging it airily into the sea. But it took Pete and me quite a longtime,
crossly sweeping and brushing until most of it was gone. Later in the afternoon some of our children
came creeping sheepishly back… First came our diligent English student, Janus,
VERY apologetic although he hadn’t even been there in the morning.
And then another
little gang of boys… I was peeling shallots on deck and they sat “helping” me,
forming a conveyor belt one would hand
me a new shallot, another would put the peeled one in a bowl, another would
make sure the peel was in the peel container.
And Janus pored over our Lonely Planet Indonesian phrase book as if his
life depended on it.
Eko disappeared
for a while, and suddenly at about 5 there he was, entirely naked and ready to
start sweeping with my dustpan and brush - he had taken on this task a few days
before. I went into our supplies and
found some clothes for him and he was totally delighted. (Yes I know these pants are baggy and
unfashionable but…I couldn’t find any shorts small enough. And he is only six; he doesn’t know about
fashion!)
We had invited Roland
and Miki, newly arrived on their catamaran, South African Dream, for a drink at
five. Our boys weren’t keen to leave,
although we told them it was time for them to go… They hung around in the
periphery of the conversation, smiling happily, but when it started to get
dark, we said they really had to leave.
Nobody seemed to want to take Eko on a canoe, or on a foam kickboard, so I asked one of the
older boys. He indicated that Eko could
swim back to shore, and then he picked
him up and – flung him overboard! Off went Eko, splishy splash, smiling hugely
and he dog-paddled away!
We really liked
Roland and Miki and we persuaded them to stay for dinner – they had been
sailing for four days and nights without stopping and we knew they would be
tired and not really wanting to cook.
With a bit of luck we will meet up with them again somewhere in Raja
Ampat!
00 degrees 41.825S
130 degrees 46.922E
P-P Tapok
13.9m depth
Tiny atoll
At midday, along
our way to Pulau Birie, we saw two yachts out on a reef – Four Friends, and Plum,
neighbours from Pulau Doom. It seemed
like a good idea to go and see what they were looking at. An enormous reef, long, steep and deep! The Four Friend-ers were diving, every
enthusiastically. I got in and swam up
and down and was very impressed by the size of the reef but…it wasn’t my sort
of place. Just long and steep, and yes,
impressive. But no cosy nooks and
crannies, no bommies.
00 degrees 46.903S
130 degrees 44.973E
Pulau Birie
(Near Papua Paradise resort)
7.4m depth
So…we continued to
our original destination, Pulau Birie, off the north coast of Batanata
Island. With just a teensy bit of
difficulty we found a fabulous anchorage.
(Difficulty?? We dropped and
raised the anchor four times…This might not sound very taxing but…every time we
raise the anchor I have to lean my head and left arm into the chain locker with
a pole, knocking the chain down vigorously so it doesn’t get all bunched
up. This is HOT HOT HOT work…And it is a
bit stressful for Captain Pete as well; he has to try to find the perfect place
to drop the anchor while his right-hand person has her left arm in a locker…)
But oh my
goodness, the beauty and splendour of this place! I absolutely love it. We have a lovely little white beach off the
back (or the front, depending which way we are swinging…) of the boat, and a
most delightful cosy reef, full of bommies, nooks and crannies.
Saturday 11th July
To add to the
joy…just a short dinghy ride and tidy walk away is a marvelous resort – Papua
Paradise, aptly named!
Not only is this
place just so very beautiful, but it is also extremely welcoming and
friendly. We went in, cautiously, in the
late afternoon yesterday.
We were very
impressed by how lovely it is, but we were even more impressed with the way the
place is run.
Peter, the manager
(Belgium,) was more than helpful and accommodating. We sat in the cool restaurant looking at
reference books about tropical fish, drinking cold beer, until it was time for
dinner. And dinner was wonderful – a
buffet with lots of choices, all beautifully cooked. Our tummies were very happy! We sat at a big table with a few of the
resort guests and staff, all of whom were – of course – extremely good company.
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| Peter and Peter at sunset |
I could stay here
forever…If you want a holiday in Raja Ampat – this is a great place to be!
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| Our fabulous hornbill neighbours |
It is now midday
and we have come here for lunch and to spend a bit of time in the lovely cool
restaurant area. Lunch…maybe a swim out
the front of the resort, over the gorgeous coral reef. Life is good!
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