7th June - Pulau Mansuar - Raja Ampat Dive Lodge sharks and turtles and many fish

Sunday 7^th June 2015

0 degrees 34.418S

130 degrees 36.725E

Mansuar Island

Raja Ampat Dive Lodge mooring

Depth 35.1m

We are once again trusting a mooring…This one is smaller and more modest than the disastrous one in Waisai – surely it will be big and strong underneath, and faithful to its task??

The mooring belongs to Raja Ampat Dive Lodge, a very beautiful Balinese-style resort on Mansuar Island. 

This morning we went for a dive off Kri Island, with Made and Wayan, Balinese dive masters, who were very kind and gentle and trustworthy.  It was absolutely spectacular.  Crystal clear water, many thousands of fish including some very big ones – napoleon wrasse, white tipped sharks, tuna, barracuda.  As usual I did NOT want to go for a dive.  I am not scared of the water or the fish; what I fear is The Gear.  I can never remember which thing to press for up or down (yes of course I really do know, but I get panicked by the whole process and my mind goes blank.)  When it came time to put on our wetsuits I got an acute attack of claustrophobia and just couldn’t pull the wretched thick rubber HOT HOT clingy thing up over my ankles… So I hurled it off and went swimming in my bathers which was much MUCH better.  The water is about 32 degrees – not sure why we need wetsuits in these conditions??

Bird!

There was a very swift current and we were swept along very speedily – no chance of trying to resist!  I held on tightly to Made and enjoyed the ride…

On the way back we stopped for coffee and light refreshments on a small desert island and they said we had time to go for a snorkel.  I thought this was actually even nicer than the dive… Pete and I went out to the edge of the reef where there was a steep drop off and there were THOUSANDS of fish, big and small.  Plus a beautiful turtle, oblivious to our presence, with a white-tipped reef shark cruising along behind it. 

John has been having lots of activity – a few trips in the dinghy; so much better than the old inflatable which sank beneath us in the Kinabatangan River last year…

And he has the odd moment of peace and quiet where he can lie on the deck and read his book.

It is very peaceful here.  This morning we saw the children on their way to school; this afternoon they have just gone past us on the way home, with much cheering and shouting.  What a nice way to go to school!

6th June - Pulau Batanta - Pulau Kri - Raja Ampat (PNG)

Sunday 6^th June 2015

0 degrees 32.875S

130 degrees 40.998E

Pulau Kri

15m depth, coral

John is now with us.  As soon as we got to Pulau Batana – into the warm balmy sea!

He saw the hornbills doing their nightly parade, squawking and flapping across the bay.

And there has been lots of chat

and lots of beer.

We anchored at lunchtime off Pulai Kri.  All very pretty.  John and I had a beautiful swim on the reef, battling against the strong tide one way, and then hitching a ride back the other way, while Pete stayed on board and watched out to see 2XS wasn’t getting swept right onto the reef.  John saw quite a big white-tipped reef shark coming in from the deep to have a look at us; I didn’t see it at all…(They don't bite humans.)

(VERY surprised to find internet connection here – a nice big sturdy tower, off Pulau Mansuar.)

5th June - Sorong (Raja Ampat, PNG)

Friday 5^th 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.