Songster has been laid up for the winter of 2001/2002 in Marmaris, Turkey.
We will be returning to Songster on 12th April 2002 to prepare her for the summer.
We are joining the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally at Gocek, Turkey on 10th May making this our final cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean before heading west and wintering Songster in southern Spain 2002/2003.
The next stage will be to get Songster ready for another crossing of the Atlantic, as she has done this twice before.
During this year’s rally we will be visiting the following places:
10th May Gocek, Turkey
12th May Finike, Turkey
14th May Kemer, Turkey
18th May Girne, Northern Cyprus visiting Nicosia and Famagusta
21st May Mersin, Turkey visiting Cappadocia
24th May Yskenderun, Turkey
27th May Lattakia, Syria
31st May Jounieh, Lebanon
4th June Haifa, Israel
6th June Ashkelon, Israel
9th June Port Said, Egypt
13th June Herzlyia, Israel
14th June End of rally and grand finale dinner etc.
After the rally we start the long haul west going up to southern Cyprus, Rhodes, Santorini, and Kithira, round the Peloponnese, Zakinthos, Kefallonia, and Levkas leaving the yacht in Preveza, Greece by the first week of July.
We shall be returning to the UK to 'rest' in the summer sun for two months before returning to Greece with 2 cats for a further two months sailing west visiting Sicily, Sardinia, Majorca, down the east coast of Spain and leaving the Songster near Almeria for the winter. We shall return to the UK for the winter, but will motor down to Spain, for a few weeks, sometime after Christmas 2002 with a car full of spares ready to refit Songster ready for the Atlantic crossing later in 2003.
The adventure across the Atlantic will start from southern Spain in August 2003, visiting Gibraltar, the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands before taking a ‘right turn’ at the end of November to arrive in Barbados in plenty of time for Christmas.
An early start with no time for bed. Left home at 0200 for Gatwick, Jackie drove for the first hour and Brian took over for the remainder of the journey. We decided to go up the M5 and take the M42, M40, M25 route which proved to be very successful and we arrived at Gatwick in 2.5 hours.
The Peugeot 106 we rented from National was packed with four very overweight bags, a heavy rucksack and one laptop computer, complete with masses of paperwork. In spite of this excess weight the car drove brilliantly. Our arrival and handing over of the car was very smooth and we walked the short distance to departures and checked in immediately without queueing. The weight of the bags was excessive but we were not asked to pay anything extra other than a warning to watch the amount we came home with.
Everything went smoothly, we boarded the plane and it was due to leave on time when there suddenly appeared to be a huge queue to take off and we were stacked up along the runway for an hour waiting for our turn. Although the plane was late taking off it more than made up the lost time arriving at Dalaman airport at the planned time.
After reclaiming our baggage, one of the bags happened to be the last but one off the plane, we caught a taxi to Pupa Yat Hotel arriving around 3pmish. The staff were very attentive, possibly because we were the only residents. After a walk around the gardens and small marina we lay on the sun beds which were standing in a lawn of pink flowering clover 6 inches tall.
After a rest we sorted out the luggage putting boat things separately, etc. which we then decided to take to the yacht. I knew Brian would want to go as soon as we could so we caught the Dolmus taking our very large heavy sailing bag. It was impossible for Brian to carry alone so we both struggled with a handle each.
The boatyard was packed with an assortment of boats all propped up with an array of poles. There are two boats in front of us so it looks as if we shall be here for a couple of weeks at least unless they are miraculously cleaned and repaired in the next few days. In spite of this the view from the boat is spectacular across the bay to Marmaris. Brian procured a ladder which has huge spaces between each step, the stop step is broken so it requires a mammoth leg stretch in order to finally get on board. However, this was managed and a hoist made to lift the bag onto the deck. Brian seemed rather disappointed that the boat was dirty and the new spray cover had not been made. However a little bit of elbow grease and the boat will be clean. After a quick look around we left the boatyard and returned via the dolmus to the hotel for a very nice supper. We were in bed for 10pm (8pm British time) and slept soundly until 7.30 next morning.
After a very nice Turkish breakfast we caught the Dolmus to the boat taking a few things in what has become a very useful piece of luggage, the rucksack.
Preparation started in earnest today. We now have running water, although we need to be economical with it, the immersion heater works so we also have hot water. The bow deck has been scrubbed thoroughly along with the cockpit so we can get into the boat and down in the saloon without getting filthy dirty. After a stop for a Turkish lunch at the boatyard café we walked to Yat Marine to have a look and were invited onto to John and Delwyn’s motor boat. We caught up on all the news before leaving to call at the shop to buy water. The shop has changed beyond recognition and is now a very well stock supermarket with absolutely everything you could want although nothing was priced.
We wandered back to Sunmarina, had a rest and then got stuck into more cleaning. We finally left the boat at 5.45 to return to the hotel for a wonderful hot shower and dinner which we shared with two cats. Email is causing a problem as Brian is unable to log on with the phone. He has tried every combination but nothing works so it will be a call to the UK tomorrow to get some help.
Our plan is to get up earlier tomorrow and get to the boat as early as possible. Priority will be to clean all the sea cocks and get the stern cabin shipshape again.
Up at 7.30 today for an early start. Breakfast at 8am and then caught the 8.50 bus to the boat. Things are not going too smoothly. We are not able to make contact via e mail or get onto the web. Brian has been trying since our arrival to get the mobile working with the computer but he just cannot make a connection with Genie. He finally decided to ring Roger for help but he also cannot get hold of them. It seems they have totally become uncontactable in every conceivable way
.
Brian is having problems with other things. He got the immersion heater working yesterday but found today it is not working correctly. He feels he is not getting very far at the moment. However, he does manage to find a decent ladder which we now have tied to the side of the boat and there is no longer the large climb to get onto the deck. Jackie started cleaning the stainless steel, the difference is noticeable and the plan is to continue with this tomorrow along with finishing cleaning the fenders which are hanging on a line in the sun drying. It is fantastic to be able to leave things lying around the yard knowing no one will take anything.
Brian managed to remove all the sea cocks and clean and replace them. Fortunately for him this job went really well so made up for the immersion heater problems.
He plans to repack the stern gland and reroute the cooling water for the fridge. With a bit of luck if things go well he may even be able to start on the pump for the heads. He also hopes to bash out the bend in the propeller.
We are trying to conserve the water we have as there is no drinking water on site. We have found the solar bag shower to fill from the site and hang up to heat tomorrow. This will relive the strain on the water supplies.
We had a meze lunch at the Sunmarina café which was excellent for 5million lira. Unfortunately the evening meal was not up to the same standard. The chips we were served were a disgusting colour and must have been recooked leftovers. We shall eat at Yat Marina tomorrow. Anyway in spite of the poor meal Mandy has volunteered to look at sewing machines and has even offered to take us to the shops which have upholstery materials.
Bad weather is forecast for tomorrow so our plans to continue with the outside cleaning may have to be changed. There is still much to be done inside but the rear cabin is looking more habitable and ready to sleep in when we move back on board possibly next Friday.
We returned to Pupa Yat Hotel on the 9.30pm bus and talked for some considerable time at the bus stop to a Ukranian who had his boat in Yat Marine. We were then joined by an Argentin ian who has been travelling around the world for 9 years. They are all so interesting to talk to.
We arrived back at the hotel to find that our room had not been touched as we had gone off with the key. We were met by a pile of very wet towels in the bathroom which the staff very kindly changed for us.
Slightly later to bed tonight but ready for an early start tomorrow.
Up at 7am. A rather dull day but the reflections on the water are wonderful. The journey by bus to Sunmarina is spectacular as usual in spite of the dreadful road surface which now seems to get worse by the day. The bus this morning was full to the gunwales and we had to stand all the way along with the workers.
Brian is still distressed that he cannot get into Genie and is trying to think of ways of making contact. His task for the day was to fit the new waste water pipe for the fridge. Unfortunately it all went wrong as Jackie decided to haul up all the fenders in one go and put her back out which put paid to all plans for work for the day. Brian was rather cross and almost blew a wobbly but he managed to remain relatively calm and tended the wounded in his normal compassionate style.
After lunch of lentil soup and stuffed courgettes - all for £2 each, Brian set to work and by the end of the day he began to feel he had achieved something. Jackie rested for the best part of the day but managed to potter about doing standing up jobs.
The rain, as predicted, came along with the thunder and lightening and we were confined to the interior of the boat all afternoon The rain did eventually stop and we walked to Yat Marine and had a very nice supper with Tony and Val, friends of Brian's from Devon, who he had not seen since being in Preveza, Greece more than 2 years ago.
Not a frightfully productive day but Brian is making headway and we are anxious to get into Yat Marine as soon as possible where the facilities will be much better.
Eventually returned to the hotel and did the washing before finally retiring to bed.
An early start after a very wet, windy and cold night. Hoped that the old proverb rain before 7 fine by 11 would work. It did almost and when the sun shone it was very hot. There was a very brisk wind and washing we had done at the hotel dried a treat.
Brian had hoped to work on the new outlet pipe for the fridge/freezer but the rain stopped him drilling and it was sometime before he managed to get working on the job. He managed to lose a set of socket spanners into the bilges and at the end of the job he was both extremely dirty and somewhat ragged.
After a poor lunch at the marina cafe we went for a short walk through the field at the back of the boat and then walked back to the beach on the other side of the peninsular. By now the sun was very hot and we had a short rest on the pebbles.
We decided we needed to go to Marmaris to cash some lira so agreed to call at Pineapple restaurant to change the money and then eat elsewhere in town. The change along Marmaris front is outstanding. Gone are all the scruffy bar and restaurant additions and the properties have been taken back to their original state and given a face lift. You are now able to see the charm of the old village as it was. The removal of all the unauthorised buildings along the whole front has been done without any compensation to the owners of the businesses and they have all gone along with it and agreed to abide by the regulation to have the statutory colour for awnings and umbrellas.
It was disappointing to find the Turkish restaurant we had eaten at before was no longer there so we had to opt to eat at another. We had lovely Tukish pitta with the best garlic butter we have tasted. Brian had a steak with mushrooms and Jackie had a chicken schniztel. The food was good but not up to the standard of Yat Marine where we shall go on Wednesday.
After supper we walked to Tansas and had a look round to see what stock they had and then caught the bus back to the hotel and had an early night.
We are now in the water having spent two plus weeks on the hard working our socks off to get the boat ready to go into the water which she did on Tuesday 30th April.
Life on a boat on the hard is not the easiest of ways to live. We spent the first 10 days away in a hotel and then moved on board for the last 8 days. We had to climb a 12 ft ladder to get on and off the boat for everything we did and 3 days before we launched the water tanks ran dry so we had to fill bottles with water for washing up and cooking. Although there were showers etc in the yard these were fed with slightly salty water so it was an absolute pleasure to have a jolly good shower once we arrived at Yat Marina.
Launch day was just perfect bright sunshine, blue sky and a temperature of almost 80F with little wind. The weather seems more settled although the evenings and nights are still cold and we need to wear warm clothes when we go out. On 1st May we had a tremendous storm which interrupted our sessions of hair cutting on the deck. Jackie cut Brian’s first and then let him loose with the scissors on hers when suddenly a sweet South African came rushing to offer her services as Brian looked pretty dangerous. She was frightened he could make a dreadful mess as boats are very small places to live together when things go wrong.
The boat is looking pretty good now that her hull has been cleaned and polished and the bottom scraped and painted. Her stainless steel is gleaming and one can see their face almost in the fibre glass top which has been polished to a bright sheen. Life is becoming more relaxed now that the essentials have almost been completed. We have both been working our butts off and now need to give our hands a little tlc.
Yat marina is a working boatyard and has many very large super yachts here being worked on. Many must be worth several million pounds and have resident crews on board. There were many round the world sailors here with lots of interesting tales to tell. Many to whet our appetites.
We have both been eating well both off and on the boat. The waistlines are expanding unfortunately. How we miss the dishwasher. Brian did not realise just how many utensils Jackie used to cook such sumptuous meals. The galley just does not have sufficient draining board.
Turkey at the moment is very colourful with the beautiful flowers. It is more like Britain in the middle of summer. The geraniums are in full bloom and everything is looking very lush.
Life is good …………………………………………………
It is Monday 16th September and we are currently aboard Songster in a rather smart marina at Portorosa, Sicily. We shall stay here for two days in order to catch up with the laundry which has accrued since we arrived on Sunday 8th September.
We flew back to Preveza in Greece on 8th September arriving early afternoon in brilliant sunshine. We were surprised by the number of large puddles around and heard that the weather had been disastrous for the past 10 days with a tornado and many hours of heavy rain. There was evidence of weather damage on the boat when we climbed the 12ft ladder to board her. The dinghy was in shreds and Brian was left with the dilemma of either repairing it or buying a new one. Situations like this are never expected and when they do they can be very costly. However the plan was that Brian would try repairing first and if unsuccessful he would seek out a replacement. I am happy to say that the repair job was successful so far but we have not yet tested the dinghy with us in it.
We arrived back with four large sailing bags crammed full of spares, tea bags, marmite and peanut butter plus the cockpit cushions I had made. A new vacuum cleaner packed as a parcel was also amongst our luggage. We were way, way over the luggage allowance but the airline girl very kindly agreed not to charge us the extra sum.
The making of the cushions and bimini had been my summer job. But when we arrived home with the very large roll of navy blue canvas and I began to cut out the shapes I found that I had bought 4 metres too short. I could not have measured properly!! Anyway, I managed to make the cushions and the new bimini but a contingency plan has been drawn up for the things I did not make.
We have my brother David crewing for us until 21st September. He also arrived on 8th September and together with Brian helped to prepare the boat to go back in the water in record time. We eventually launched on 11th September with the intention of sailing away to reprovision and then sail onto Paxos for the night. This did not happen as things run a little slower in Greece. The launch was not as early as we had wanted and then the diesel supply did not turn up promptly so we ended up staying tied to the dock for the night and then slipping out quietly early the next morning to sail to Ionica Rocella at the foot of Italy. This took almost 40 hours as we had to motor sail all the way due to the lack of wind. We eventually arrived at the marina in pouring rain. Only 1 hour away the sun had been shining but by the time we had arrived the clouds were black and it was rather cool. Brian is regretting leaving Turkey. The torrential rain continued all night and the boat sprung a few leaks so we had bowls placed in strategic spots catching drips.
On Saturday we provisioned in Ionica Rocella, a small, typically Italian town and then walked back to the marina along the promenade. There is a wonderful beach here but not a soul on it. The tourist trade has now finished for the year and they were busy dismantling bars, cafes etc along the beach. The weather was warm with a slight breeze so was very pleasant. The fine weather unfortunately did not continue and the rain started again in the evening. We had planned to leave early the next morning to Reggio Calabria on the Straits of Messina. It was raining the next morning when we got up but we all made the decision to leave along with our friends on Hula. This was a 70 mile sail so we did not arrive until around 2000 hours in the dark. The marina we had hoped to use was full so we had to use the commercial harbour which had ferries coming and going every few minutes. The swell they created was terrifying as the boat bucked and wrenched at its ropes. We had a particularly bad buck whilst we were having supper on Songster in the cockpit with our friends when everything went flying on the table leaving wine on the smart new cockpit cushions I had just made. Brian wanted to leave this harbour as soon as possible but we did manage to have a good night’s sleep once the ropes had all been changed and Songster was made secure and the ferries stopped for the night.
We have today sailed in beautiful weather, from Reggio Calabria to Portorosa Yacht club where we are now. We have not been to a smart marina since leaving the rally but we shall not make a habit of it as it is rather costly.
We now plan to leave on Wednesday to sail to the Aeolian Islands with a view to seeing the active Stromboli volcano. After this we shall head to Sardinia - port unknown at the moment - to drop off David and to have a rest before embarking on the long sail to either mainland Spain or Majorca.
Hopefully we shall be able have a good look round here tomorrow once the laundry has been done on the boat. I am not sure the yacht club will like the clothes line on the boat but I have to do it somewhere. We accumulate so much washing I only hope there will be launderettes in the Caribbean or Brian will have to fit a superior machine in the boat like others I have seen!!!! The washing machine we have requires a tremendous amount of labour and can be very tiring.
Where we will be next?
As planned we arrived in Sardinia very late on Friday night last week 20th Sept. having had to motor sail all the way - one as there was little or no wind and also to get David to Sardinia in time to meet up with his girlfriend. We moored overnight tied to a fuel dock for which we were charged 25 Euros. The trip from Greece has cost a fortune in fuel - several hundred Euros - mainly because we had a deadline to make.
We sailed to Sardinia via Stromboli and watched the volcano erupt in the dark, which was pretty spectacular.
On Saturday morning we moved into the harbour of Cagliari the capital of Sardinia to drop off David so that he could find transport, and where we still are. The wind and weather have become extremely unstable and we are having more than our fair share of wind at the moment, in fact it is too unstable for us to continue onto Majorca for the time being. However not everything is bad as we are having the most fantastic time here.
On our arrival in the harbour we were greeted by staff who were preparing to hold the Tiscali Regatta. Initially they told us we could moor temporarily and then they asked us if we would like to stay and participate in the regatta. We willingly accepted and moored with a lot of help from them in the wind right outside the regatta village - a rather smart, elegant arrangement of fancy tents. We cannot believe our luck as we are moored here free of charge and have been supplied with electricity and water which have been brought in especially for the regatta. Not only do we have these facilities but we even have purple carpet along the dockside for us to walk onto when getting off the boat.
Wednesday evening we attended the official opening where there was a huge buffet and a rather good jazz band. Television cameras were everywhere. We had already been interviewed and appeared on TV earlier in the week. . The racing started today and there are some very serious sailors here. We shall not be participating in any racing but may go out and watch at the weekend. A lot will depend on the wind as it is too difficult in this weather to moor Songster safely on the dock.
Thursday we went on two sightseeing trips - both free. In the morning we were taken to see the sights of the City and the afternoon to an archaeological site called Nora some 35 kilometres from Cagliari. We returned in time for Brian to go to the skippers briefing but unfortunately he could not understand a word but some sympathetic French woman, who apparently was extremely good looking and elegant, came to his rescue and translated for him. If the wind is kinder tomorrow we shall follow the fleet out into the bay. Today Brian had a more serious job to do - we have a bunged up loo which he had to take to pieces and clear out. This is a job he had been trying to avoid for a couple of days but it had to be done before we can move on. Thank god we have two loos on the boat.
The few days we have had here have helped Brian to catch up on some of the jobs which needed doing. He started on replacing the instrument fascia in the cockpit the other afternoon but the weather overtook him and before he knew it we were in a force 10 gale with the wind and rain blowing into the boat. It was a panic job to get sufficient waterproof covering to keep out the wet. The instrument panel was kept dry but we were soaked. This gale continued for some considerable time with the wind whipping up the water and visibility down to very little. How fortunate we were not at sea. Since then the wind has blown force 6 or 7 constantly gusting 8 or 9. There is no chance of wearing shorts and t shirts now. I had to wear a thermal vest last night to keep warm.
The weather is hopefully going to improve so we are determined to leave Sardinia on Monday and sail towards Spain possibly breaking the journey by stopping in Majorca. It will take two and a half days to get to Palma in Majorca from here where we shall stop possibly overnight before continuing on to mainland Spain. Our aim to get there by the end of September has gone to pot but with a bit of luck we should be there by the end of next week.
However, we have a few more days here to make merry although we are tired of the constant battering from the wind. The hospitality and friendship from the Sardinians is overwhelming.
What a journey this is turning out to be. We thought sailing was for pleasure but by golly it is hard work.
We left Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia on Monday 30th September having had a wonderful week at the Tiscali Regatta. We even raced Songster on the Sunday in high winds with very high speeds. It was exhausting for us both coping with the large amount of sail out and the speed which we were going. Brian was in his element but we both suffered at the end of the day and more or less fell into bed after we had attended the final prize giving supper. This week in Sardinia had turned out to be extremely good and our extended stay was filled to the brim.
On Monday 30th the weather had improved sufficiently for us to make our way to southern Spain via Majorca. This is a 2 day 2 night sail. Unfortunately the wind was on the nose making headway difficult so we sailed to Menorca instead where we arrived in the early hours of the morning of Wednesday 2nd October. We managed to find a sheltered bay a short distance from Mahon where we dropped the anchor and had a well earned sleep. The weather here was atrocious. Wet and very windy. After a good night’s sleep we set off next morning for Ibiza, again this involved an overnight sail and we arrived in Santa Eulalia in brilliant sunshine. What we saw of Ibiza was good. No signs of drugs etc where we were.
Whilst in Ibiza we received an e mail from some American friends we had met last year to say they had just completed their circumnavigation by arriving in Carla Longa 3 miles down the coast. We immediately made contact with them and they sailed their boat up to Santa Eulalia where we all met up for a meal. We have not met many people on this trip so this was very welcome.
On Sunday morning this week we set of from Ibiza for Southern Spain but we are still miles from our destination. It looks as if it will take forever to get there as we have made little progress since Sunday due to the high winds and heavy seas which have made sailing extremely difficult. On Sunday night we had to take the shortest route to the Spanish mainland as we were making little headway. Our speed was down to 1 or 2 miles an hour when low and behold the engine decided to overheat and we had to resort to sailing in the wrong direction. We headed for Calpe where we arrived early morning Monday. After a good sleep and good breakfast we set off once more but the sea was heavy and the wind in the wrong direction so we decided to stop in the marina at Alicante for the night. Alicante looked wonderful at night with the castle on the hillside illuminated. It was such a pity we arrived so late and were so tired that all we could do was go to bed.
This night sailing is a killer. Neither of us can catch up with the lost sleep. It looks as if we shall have to sail as much as possible each day to get to our destination so on Tuesday morning after an early start we headed southwest. The wind is on the nose so making progress is hard going. Then disaster struck
the engine spluttered and then died so it was an emergency to get the sails set and the course changed to take us back into the coast again. We headed for Torrevieja harbour. The wind was so strong we had difficulty in checking our speed even without sails. The problem was going to be when we had to stop and put down the anchor, and hoped to god that it would hold otherwise we would have been blown on to the rocks. In practice it all went to plan and we anchored just outside the harbour. Our pilot books informed us of a swell but did not prepare us for the size of swell. Brian had to put down extra anchors and one of us had to stay on deck all night to check we did not drag as the winds were pretty strong. Neither of us managed to get much sleep whilst the boat was tossed everywhere all evening and night. In spite of this swell, Brian, as usual, managed to get inside the engine whilst at anchor and find the problem and do the necessary repairs. We have a diesel bug now hopefully rectified. (This is a bacteria which multiplies in water in a diesel tank. Some diesel suppliers can have water in their diesel which is then passed on to us and others. The bug clogs up the fuel filters and all the fuel piping).
We only managed 30 miles on Tuesday. Today, Wednesday, we have made even less progress. Gales had been forecast and after much hesitation we did eventually decide to move a further 19 miles down the coast and are now lying at anchor in a bay in a force 8 just round the corner of Cabo de Palos, a cape notorious for its weather. We had hoped to get to Cartagena but the weather closed in before we could get round the cape. It looks as if we shall be at anchor here for a couple of days whilst the gales blow themselves out. At least there is no swell and we are extremely comfortable. We have plenty of food so will have a couple of days at rest before starting out again.
For those of you who asked 'what is a bimini' - well it is the sunshade over the cockpit to keep the sun off our heads. On this trip it has been good at keeping us dry.
Who says sailing is romantic and idyllic. This is bloody hard work!
At last our journey is over for this year and we have finally arrived in Almerimar on the Costa del Sol.
Having written to say we were safely anchored in a bay sheltering from the gales the wind changed direction and we were suddenly in the middle of a force 9 gale with gusts of 10 - (55mph winds) Our safe haven had turned into hell and we had to sit on anchor watch all night to make sure we did not move. Brian had put an additional anchor out to give us more hold and thank god the two anchors worked and we were still in the same place next morning. Once it was daylight we decided to up anchor and run around Cape Palos and make for Cartagena where we stayed for two days in the marina waiting for the winds to calm down.
Sunday morning we left Cartagena on the Costa Blanca for our final passage this year and made the journey to Almerimar. Unfortunately the wind as usual was blowing in the wrong direction and we had to motor or motor sail into the wind throughout the majority of the journey until at 2am Monday morning we hit a very thick wall of fog with visibility down to only a few yards. There was no wind and the sea was very flat. It was extremely dark and without the benefit of white lines and cats eyes it was damn difficult to see what you were doing. Fortunately we have radar which enabled us to pick up other boats so we were able to guide our way very slowly through the mire. The difficulty came a short distance from Almerimar when we became totally surrounded by a fishing fleet which were only visible on the radar, as we tried to pick our way through they changed direction and blocked us. The whole situation was very disorientating particularly after a night when only I managed a short sleep and Brian again had none.
Once we arrived in Almerimar in total gloom we checked into the marina and were told where to go. The problem was that the fog was so dense you could not see the pontoons in front of you. We eventually tied up and sorted ourselves out before going off for a well earned sleep.
The fog never lifted all day and it was extremely cool. Brian was seriously regretting leaving Turkey but today has been a beautiful day so he is feeling a little happier.
Today we have had a day of fun as we are now the owners of two bikes. Having not ridden bicycles for very many years we have had a day of play cycling along the promenade in both directions and around the complex here. Almerimar is rather like Ocean Village at Southampton. There are some fantastic apartments which are built around the moorings. The whole complex is huge and it is very easy to get lost. The bikes will be a godsend getting around to the supermarket and laundry.
We now have the job of closing everything down for the winter. There is much to do as the boat is so encrusted with salt so tomorrow we shall start on the jobs. As yet we have not organised our flights home but this is on the agenda to be done.
We reckon we have done around 3000 miles this year, nearly all against the clock. We have sailed at night on more occasions that I can remember and missed hours of sleep. We have managed to swim only twice in the sea but we have learned to fish successfully which has added a totally new dimension to our early evening entertainment. I have managed to produce meals under extremely difficult circumstances - only had one major disaster when a dish flew out of the oven and landed on the floor spewing the contents everywhere. After some quick thinking I scooped the best bits up and put it back in the oven and it tasted delicious!!!
Since our return in September to Greece the weather has been challenging with very high seas and gale force winds of 55/60 knots. Songster has performed well but has had her problems. The fridge which was so temperamental initially worked well enabling us to store an assortment of food from different countries or areas , but the engine failed us badly on one occasion which caused a good deal of stress.
In spite of the sheer hard work and sleep deprivation we have had a wonderful time meeting up with friends everywhere. Our highlight of this trip was to participate in the Regatta at Cagliari in Sardinia and have 7 consecutive nights of sleep whilst there.
Finally we hope next year once out of the Med we will be able to sail continuously without the engine and using the generator for 2 hours a day to produce enough electricity to run the deepfreeze, the new water maker which is to be fitted and recharge the batteries. Our plan is to go a little slower next year and explore the Canaries before we make our trip across the Atlantic in November 2003.
Well after a well earned rest in lovely weather we returned to the UK yesterday Thursday 14th November.
The 'rest' has involved a good deal of work particularly for Brian who has been busy completing jobs which he had hoped to do earlier in the year but could just never find the time to do them.
Closing down a boat for the winter involves a good deal as everything has to be clean and dry with no trace of salt anywhere. So we have been washing ropes by the dozen which get incredibly dirty and have needed gallons of water to get them finally clean and soft. Each day more would get done and they were hanging around the deck to dry in a sequence which involved chasing the sun.
The sails have been removed and folded up. This involved taking them to the cafe forecourt just a short distance from the boat where we had to give the pavement a jolly good sweep to remove any trace of dirt before we could spread them out to fold. We have been trying to find a company who can launder the sails for us but the cost is expensive so we shall have to take the sails out and try to wash them ourselves which is not an easy task when they are so huge. This is a job we shall do next year when we put them back onto their proper places.
Brian has now fixed the main autopilot, you will remember the temporary one we were using fell to pieces in the cockpit one dark and awful night in terrible seas off Cyprus. We had to take the inners of the main one back to the UK in the summer to be repaired. Unfortunately because of our tight timetable Brian never had the opportunity to put the inners back into the boat until we got to Santa Eulalia in Ibiza. He spent all day almost upside down cursing and swearing trying to get to some very inaccessible places and thought he had got the equipment fixed until we went from Ibiza to Spain and tested it as we left, only to find all we could do was go round and round in circles. So it was back to the temporary trusty autopilot which had seen us through this year. Whilst in Almerimar he fixed the main autopilot and now feels confident it will work superbly. He spent another whole day with the headlinings down and the boat upside down inside chasing around with a hammer trying to get the compass to co-operate with the autopilot. Of course, we have not been anywhere to test this theory and shall have to wait now until next year.
The galley (kitchen) now has some superb lighting so I can actually see what I am cooking. New lights were bought when we first arrived in Turkey in April but again there was no time for this so called five minute job until arriving in Almerimar. The job actually took all day as Brian had to remove all the headlining (ceiling). This was in a completely different area to the autopilot work.
The fridge and freezer which gave an incredible amount of stress to Brian at the beginning of the season worked brilliantly and we were able to store all sorts of goodies in them from all the places we stopped.
However sorting these jobs out has not completed the list as it goes on forever and problems continue to occur. Whilst mooring overnight in Reggio Calabrio harbour in the Messina Straits we had an unfortunate experience with a ferry which left the harbour rather swiftly whilst we were eating our supper with friends in the cockpit. The ferry caused a terrific swell and everything including a bottle of wine fell off the table and Songster bucked rather badly. The damage was not noticed until daylight next day when Brian found the stanchion rails at the stern of the boat had been badly bent with the strain of the ropes and swell. This now meant that the safety gate we have at the stern did not close safely. However after some very strong winching with ropes we managed to make the gate safe once again and reduce the bend in the stanchion.
Another job which had plagued Brian had been the servicing and repair of our smaller generator This is needed to produce 5kw of electricity when we motor at 7 knots. It is coupled to the main engine. The main generator is an Onan which is driven by a 2 cylinder 1 litre engine and produces 6kw. We only use this when we are sailing or at anchor. We only use a generator for approximately 2 hours a day - 1 in the morning and the other in the evening to provide us with sufficient electricity to have permanent hot water, run the deep freeze and fridge, charge the 12volt and 24 volt systems and in due course the water maker which will provide us with 50 to 60 litres of water a day. The generator will burn about 1.25 litres of diesel an hour. We are lucky enough to have more than sufficient electricity to feed all the equipment and a modern day kitchen with microwave, breadmaker and food mixer etc. Songster has been designed and upgraded for a sailing duration of about 3 months - that is storage of food and other essential needs.
In order to work on the generator it had to be winched out of the engine room and lifted onto the deck. Brian did the winching whilst I guided the load. Brian looked as if he was in his element in the cockpit, whilst working on it, with grease up to his elbows and an extremely greasy pair of shorts. The job took all day but he was mighty pleased when he had finished as he thought he may have had to employ somebody to the do the job. This generator, we hope, will not need any more work for some considerable time - 5 -6 years.
The Med which we are just leaving unfortunately requires us to motor 75% of the time and we have spent considerable amounts on fuel. The lowest price has been 25 US cents in Cyprus to just over a euro a litre in Sicily and Sardinia. We dare not count the cost of our trip in fuel it will be frightening. The reason for all the motoring is that there are 3 winds here in the Med - no wind, too much wind or wind on the nose. We have experienced winds of 0 and up to 60 knots. The catabotic winds can go up to 70 - 80 knots but we had been aware of these and were able to take avoiding action.
The sea state, at times, has been smooth enough for you to walk on and also to look into to shave. It has also been rather ferocious with 4 metre seas with a short distance from each peak. The other point is that when heavy seas come the every seventh to 12th wave will come at 30 degrees to the standard pattern. Hence this will throw the boat way off course and you have to look for these because they are normally breakers.
The enjoyable thing is to be 50 to 100 miles off the shore and at twilight to tow a 100 metre fishing line and catch metre long tuna. Our main problem has been trying to land these heavy fish onto the boat. We have been given many bits of advice to get them onto the boat but the best was to pour alcohol down their throats and they would die instantly. Our experience was not that. After pouring half a bottle of Vodka onto a large tuna which was extremely passive it suddenly came alive and jumped off the hook - not a very economic piece of advice. We had been told by a friend that somebody caught a shark and on landing it onto the boat the fish slipped into the saloon and thrashed around smashing the interior to pieces and covering it with blood.
This year we started off in Turkey and sailed to Northern Cyprus before returning to Turkey and sailing on to Syria, Lebanon and Israel. From Haifa, Israel we sailed to Southern Cyprus, Turkey, Kos, Amorgos, Naxos, Nisos, Siros, Poros, Korfos, through the Corinth Canal, Trizonia, Lefkas, Preveza, Italy, Sicily, Vulcano, Stromboli, Sardinia, Menorca, Ibiza and several ports and bays on the Spanish coast before finally arriving at Almerimar on the Costa del Sol. In all we have done around 3500 miles and had a wonderful time.
Although we have completed a good deal of jobs in Almerimar some days are spent mainly talking or reading the Daily Telegraph which is printed in Madrid. We have met a lot of interesting people and have been asked by some New Zealanders who are circumnavigating to continue with them next year. They are very frugal and do not have electricity or hot water. We dare not tell them all the things we have which all need electricity which is produced from the two generators on the boat. They are hoping to visit Gambia before crossing the Atlantic which would mean we would not be able to go across with the Arc as planned. As yet we have not finally decided what we shall do but having met people here who have sailed with the Arc and had an extremely good time our leanings are towards that. We shall make the decision once we return home.
Exercise has played a very important role since arriving in Almerimar. Each day we cycled many miles on our newly acquired stainless steel Dahon folding bikes. This enabled us to explore quite a large area. We cycled out to the salt flats and saw the flamingos. Our cycling takes place at the end of the day before the sun sets and it is a little cooler. They have more than paid for their 75 Euros each. The biggest problem has been maintaining them as we have given them a pounding over ground they were not exactly designed for.
Almerimar is a haven of yachts. 50% of the yachts here are in transit around the Med having either crossed from the States or about to go transatlantic. The other 50% seem to have their roots here with their sky TV and perhaps once a year will take their boat along the coast. The 50% that are in transit are not like yachts in the UK, these have all been modified with wind vanes, generators, advanced communication systems and are generally of a heaver displacement. A good percentage are Dutch and Scandinavian built. In our vicinity we have people from South Africa, Japan, Norway, America, New Zealand and Australia. Like good sailors everyone seems to help one another. There are a very high number of the resident 50% who are trying to earn a quick buck doing jobs on boats. Unfortunately their own boats are not good examples of the work they might do.
Plans for next year have not been finalised yet but we are hoping to leave Malvern in early May to return to Songster, along with Henry and Lily, to go from Almerimar to Gibraltar then to a marina on the mouth of the river to Seville where we shall haul out and survey the hull. We plan to visit Seville perhaps by boat before waiting for a suitable weather pattern to allow us to sail to the Canaries where we shall cruise for a couple of months before setting off at the end of November 2003 for St Lucia. We should arrive in St Lucia just before Christmas where we shall remain until the new year of 2004 before sailing south through the Caribbean islands to Venezuela.
However, we shall be returning to Almerimar in February by car when we shall rent a flat for a month. This will enable us to work on the interior particularly the galley which is being restyled to give me more storage and another sink. We have arranged for the interior to be reupholstered as it has suffered badly this year from salt the bad weather and high seas we have suffered. We had thought of doing it ourselves but now believe the job is a bit bigger than either of wants to do.
Our last few days on Songster have not been without moving moments! Last week I suffered with an extremely bad throat and finally lost my voice much to Brian's amusement. I believe this was caused by excessively overworking and I need to have a holiday! However this recovered thank god. Brian had a nasty experience one night last week - well it was Tuesday night - he was feeling the excesses of the meal we had eaten at the Chinese Restaurant at around 3 am so I duly got him two Alkazelsers in a glass of water. Unfortunately I did not put on any lights, which is normal for me, and there were two bottles on the galley worktop. I chose the wrong bottle as I had given him the Alkazelsers in a glass of evaporated milk. He drank the majority of it before realising what was happening. Needless to say he did not feel too well afterwards. The evaporated milk had been put in the water bottle to take to the alley cats living in the rocks.
However, he lived to tell the tale and on Wednesday night after a very busy day putting everything to bed we finally fitted a large plastic sheet which had been fashioned to fit over the boom and extended down to the bow of the boat. The plastic sheet had been at a boat jumble a couple of weeks earlier for 4 Euros. It was not a large investment so when we started cutting it, and I might add falling out over the way it should be done, we felt it would not be too costly to ditch the idea. However after a lot of effort and some very sore and dirty knees we finally put in all the eyelets needed to be able to tie it to the spinnaker pole and side rails.
Making the holes and putting in the eyelets in the right places needed a great deal of precision but unfortunately I got carried away and used too many leaving us with a huge shortfall. The sourcing of more was difficult but we eventually found a ferreteria (hardware store) who had just two packets. The big problem was asking for them as I could not speak Spanish and he could not speak English. I believe I was the butt of a few friendly jokes in the store from the reaction of other customers. We have to say that the Spaniards have been wonderfully friendly and helpful.
Once the plastic sheeting had been secured well, in the high winds and rain, we finally said our farewells and headed for the local hotel where we rented an apartment for the night and had a jolly good bath. It was good to have such luxury and a huge amount of space which we filled in the short time we were there. All night the rain fell and the wind howled so we felt it was the right time to leave.
One problem Brian encountered on our last day, hours before finally packing the boat up, which caused him some embarrassment and anxiety, was he found after paying part of our mooring fees for the next 7 months, the card was put through for the balance and rejected stating that the account was closed. On receiving a letter on our arrival from Barclays, it was learned they had put a bar on the card and tried to telephone him in Malvern to make sure the transaction was bonafide. As there was not response to the phone they kept the bar on and he had no money. To make matters even worse he found his other cards had expired at the end of October. Eventually it was all sorted and we both left happily.
From the end of November 2002 until February 2003 we worked like mad preparing for our Atlantic Ocean crossing in November 2003.
The first job on our arrival was the fitting of a new gas boiler which I had organised earlier in the year. The fitter was due just days after our arrival so there was little time to spare before the laundry room was turned upside down. The work was soon completed and the new very small sized boiler worked fabulously. The previous boiler was simply huge in size and took up an enormous amount of room which allowed for a change of units and gave extra space.
One just does not realise how much there is to do especially on the personal front.
It was decided that my house would be let initially to see if long term sailing was my cup of tea so agents were called for advice etc before choosing the one I think will be the most appropriate. The house was marketed and I sat back and waited for results. I waited a long time.
Brian felt it would be beneficial for insurance purposes for me to get my RYA Coastal Skipper qualification so the dining room became my study room for around 6 or 7 weeks whilst daily I toiled over the online theory course and much paperwork. In March I took myself off to Gibraltar to do my week’s practical course which I did sharing a relatively small yacht with around 5 others plus the skipper. Somewhat cramped but we had a good time sailing to Tangiers and then on to Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast. I just did not have time to take the theory course but loved doing it, especially the navigation.
Whilst I was dealing with this and other administrative things Brian was working on procuring spares, electronics and building drawers to extend the yacht galley (kitchen) units. These had to be flat packed so that we could transport them by car later to Almerimar.
At the end of February we drove in Brian’s car all the way to Almerimar. We took the ferry from Dover to Calais arriving early morning so that we could have a full day’s driving before stopping. Shortly into the journey the heavens opened and just never stopped all day but we made it to near Toulouse for the night. The car was simply full with a new microwave, vacuum cleaner, new flat packed galley extension, clothing, tools, food mixers etc. etc. just about everything you would need in a home or boat. After a fitful nights sleep, Brian worried about the car being broken into, we set off early for Andorra over the Pyrenees where we drove through roads with snow piled high above the height of the car onto the outskirts of Barcelona where we got thoroughly lost. With the help of a very kind local who showed us the way we managed to find the right road south. Now in Spain we had another worry. Cars are regularly broken into and the contents stolen so Brian was very reluctant to stop at a hotel for the night. Eventually he had to stop after all these hours of driving and we chose a busy well lit car park on the motorway to rest a while. Eventually we arrived in Almerimar in brilliant sunshine mid morning after a journey of 26 hours the majority of it done by Brian. I decided there was no way we were driving back!
The contents of the car spewed out along the dock and everyone wondered where on earth it would all go on the boat. It all eventually got packed away neatly.
The car was extremely useful for the next few weeks but it was decided we should sell it in Almerimar and there was no shortage of buyers amongst the many cruisers there. The buyer agreed to collect us from the airport when we returned with the cats early May.
Now back in Malvern we are finalising everything ready to leave in May. We decided that we would cross the Atlantic with the ARC Rally from Los Palmas to St Lucia which would leave mid November. First we needed to find crew for our transatlantic passage. We decided to approach one of the local public schools, who we knew had a sailing club, to see if there was a Gap year student who would like to crew. Rhona was our first applicant, and we decided to choose her. Her father was a local GP who was a wonderful help in organising our Ocean Drug requirements. Rhona would join us initially in Gibraltar to sail to the Canaries and then return to the UK for a few weeks before joining us across the Atlantic.
It was getting closer to our departure with no sign of impending house tenants and just one week before departure I decided to change agents and immediately had 3 people wanting the house. What a lot of months had been wasted! Tenants moved in more or less as soon as we moved out.
Everything had to be packed and it was decided to store it all in the games room where a false floor was fitted. A removal firm was hired to pack and store everything. I knew that the bulk of my clothes and many pairs of shoes would not be used once I returned so decided to dispose of it all. This was fun selling the many designer clothes and shoes at car boot sales. The rest went to charity.
The cats had every conceivable test and vaccine needed to get their Pet Passports before departure and special flight carrying boxes were bought for them. We had thought previously we would take them back with us to Greece and then return with them from Spain – this was far too difficult and had to be shelved. Only specific airlines could be used and the cost of flying them from Spain to the UK was more than the cost of flying ourselves so it was decided that they stay in the UK until our final departure in May.
No time for bed. After clearing and cleaning the house we managed to sit down at 00.20 to try to sleep for an hour before getting up and getting ourselves ready to leave.
We rested on the two sun beds in the lounge which we were able to quickly push onto the patio before we left. By the time we had washed and changed and cleared out the kitty litter and disposed of its contents and the tray, we were ready to leave with two packed cats at 02.30. The car had been packed with the four extremely heavy sailing bags earlier the previous evening. This left us only the two cat baskets, a rather large parcel, extremely heavy rucksack and a bag full of art materials to load.
At 2.35 am we opened the garage door to find none of the lights would work and Brian realised he had been over zealous by turning off the electric in the games room which also controlled the garage and exterior lights. He then had to return to the house and unlock absolutely everything to be able to get outside to the games room where he had to open up the super lock he had put on before he could get in to turn on the electric. This done he then had to return to the car locking everything up again. We finally left at 02.45.
We had both worked like mad for the past 7 weeks, often not sleeping well, so we started the journey exhausted. Brian drove all the way to Gatwick making the journey in 2.5 hours.
Once at the airport we had to struggle with our exceptionally large amount of luggage into the airport with two trollies. We really needed three. As the bags spread off and over the trolley Brian tried tying them on but it was still a struggle. Once in the airport we had a shock as there was no sign of our plane on the departures board. We had come to the wrong terminal. We now had to find the train to north terminal. At last we were in the right place the flight was listed and we joined the BA queue to check in.
The cats were a hit with everyone admiring them and then the shock when they were weighed. They were treated as excess baggage and cost £136 which I had to pay elsewhere. The checking of the cat papers took more time than checking us in. Once the cats’ papers had been approved our bags were weighed – we were four times over the weight limit and were not charged a penny extra for it.
We were then sent to a waiting area to await an animal handler to take Henry and Lily from us. Everyone seemed extremely pleasant so we were not worried in any way.
Tiredness was now beginning to tell. After a short sit down in the departures lounge we finally boarded the plan and set off.
The flight was simply awful due to the turbulence throughout the whole journey. The pilot kept accelerating and then decelerating. He also went to 39,000 ft to try to get out of the weather but to no avail. This was not a good introduction to flying for the cats.
In spite of the weather the pilot made good time and we arrived slightly early in Almeria. Brian collected the bags off the carousel and the cats were brought to us. They were both very quiet and Lily was hiding under her blanket. The weather in Spain was not quite what we had expected. We had left in gales and had now arrived back in gales.
Paul Rogers had come to the airport to collect us and after loading up the car we finally set off for Almerimar arriving around 1.30 pm.
Our first priority on arrival was to let the cats have some exercise and a drink. They were not happy. Henry made a beeline for something dark and Lily hid behind some cushions in the fore cabin. Neither was interested in food or drink. Lily however soon perked up and adjusted very quickly whilst Henry found a good hidey hole between the sleeping bags in a hammock. Nothing would tempt him out. They were both frightened by all the wind noise in the rigging and because of the very high winds the boat was moving around on the dock a great deal.
Once we were satisfied they were OK we took ourselves to Rincon Teds for some lunch. Soon after ordering the food Brian asked where the large box we had brought was. Blank. We must have left it at the airport – well he just fell apart and maintained he would have to leave the meal and rush to the airport. I was called all the names under the sun for not spotting it was not there. However, luck was on our side – the first bit was that David on the motor boat near us agreed to take Brian back to the airport to collect it and the 2nd bit was a phone call in the restaurant soon after on the mobile from the airport to say we had left a parcel behind. Phew what a piece of luck. Brian then ate his meal had a pint of beer and then set off with David to fetch it. He was now able to relax and managed to have a sleep in David’s car on the way back.
Whilst Brian was out I managed to unpack all the bags and put most of the contents away. This was a major task. Not everything found a home and this will have to be done when lockers etc get cleared out. During this tiredness overcame me and I had to have a doze.
As we had eaten a rather large meal half way through the afternoon neither of us could face a meal again in the evening so after a bowl of cornflakes each and a hot drink we went to bed shortly after ten.
Exhaustion had got the better of us and we both soon fell asleep.
Next day the first task was to withdraw some money from our new boat account which proved a problem. The first attempt resulted in a wrong id no so we had to walk back to the boat to check. The second attempt proved successful and we withdrew 250 Euros towards our first week’s expenses. The plan is to try to live off 100 Euros a week for food – not sure if this will be enough but I shall try.
Lily today is very bright and quite relaxed. She is taking advantage of all the extra cuddles. However, they are both finding it a little cold and huddle up with a blanket over the top of them. They are still finding all the different noises worrying particularly when we walk on the deck. This is terrifying for them.
We both spent much time sorting things out we still have to find homes for a lot of books and papers brought with us this time. We now have the rest of our lives to sort it out so there is no rush as long we can keep the place tidy.
We were able to find time for a break and a short walk along the front in the cold wind and rain – it was wonderful to be able to this again even if the wind and rain blew.
Kept awake by the cats that come to life during the early hours of the morning. Lily decided to get behind the cabin curtains to look out of the window before tunnelling her way into bed. Henry jumped on and off the bed landing with great weight each time.
The wind has died but we now have rain and a very grey sky. At around midday the sun begun to shine and the temperature rose considerably and we ate lunch in the cockpit. The sun became very hot and we changed into shorts displaying our extremely white legs. A few days of this sun and they will soon tan.
A call to Andy at mytraveljournals.com this morning sorted out the payment of our domain and we now have a web site at last. A visit later in the evening to the internet café confirms this and a journal is written up.
Brian spent most of today sorting our books and paperwork. There seems to be so much of it that we shall have to assess what we have and what we need. I sorted out the locker in the heads storing possibly a lifetime’s supply of hair products along with other toiletries.
Much time today has been spent chatting with everyone catching up with the news and this afternoon we visited Gill and Graham on Ali Kat for a cup of tea and to look over their new catamaran.
After a quick cycle ride along the front we returned for supper on board.
Time seems to be flying but that is possibly because we did not get up very early and did not have breakfast until 10.15 a.m. We are still tired and need time to wind down so there is no rush to do anything.
We have now been here 7 days and at last the weather has changed. For the past 3 days it has been glorious and we are beginning to look less white.
The cats are really settling in although Brian worries constantly about them particularly Henry who has only pooed once since we have been here. He is being given liquid paraffin by syringe orally in the hope it will make things move. They simply adore their bed which is on top of a cupboard in the saloon just where I knew they would sleep. At the moment they are using the bottom half of one of their carrying cases which has deep sides and they can hide inside. They are still wary of all the overhead noises particularly footsteps on the deck. They just have not come to terms with all these noises above their heads. They have ventured into the cockpit under supervision and on harnesses but only want to stay a short while and soon wish to jump inside and return to a comfy bed somewhere.
Nighttimes have been interesting as they come to life in the early hours of the night running from end to end of the boat heavily and then jumping on top of us in bed. Last night was the first uninterrupted night’s sleep and they both slept happily at the foot of the bed until we rose this morning.
Today I took myself off for a massage whilst Brian set to work on the galley removing all the tiles and sanding off the residual glue. It was extremely tough and took a great deal of effort and of course made a bit of a mess. Brian attached the vac pipes to the sander so that the dust was automatically sucked up as he sanded – a very good idea which worked well.
Tomorrow the Formica arrives and the galley will be worked on in order to avoid too much distraction and the expense of eating out.
We now have a web site up and running. This afternoon we walked to the internet café to have a look and read the messages which had been posted. So far we have not got round to putting any pictures on but Brian will need to spend some time to see how to load the pictures at a reading size.
The past few days have been spent trying to relax although we have both been extremely tired and irritable. Brian has been having problems with his knee which is causing him some anxious moments but today he feels it seems a little better. Anyway we have the frozen peas ready in the freezer.
In the muddle we have been in, things have been lost which has meant a lot of searching. The latest thing to disappear is a set of bicycle keys. Previously it was a bag of drugs which I knew I had put out of the way but just could not remember where until this morning I suddenly had a brainwave and hey presto found them.
At last the Formica arrives from the wood yard. Brian has been having lots of thoughts how best to do the galley worktop top now that the tiles have been removed the top is rather uneven. He either fills the holes and reduces the sink hole or we buy an additional piece of timber to go over the top.
Whilst visiting Mike and Laura in the afternoon we speak to Ryan on Valkyrie who says he is to hire a car to fetch his dad from the airport and we could use it. We rush off to Roquetas after supper to buy two pieces of suitable ply for the worktop.
We return quite late – the store does not shut until 10 pm and it is 20 km away so make our way back along the dark roads to Almerimar and home to bed.
Work starts in earnest today on the worktop. Brian cuts the ply to the right size and covers up the tack which is now there. We now have no sink or taps.
Later in the morning friends called who we have not seen since Haifa but have kept in touch by e mail. They are on their way to Ireland and stopped off to see us anchoring just outside the marina. After a hell of a lot of talking we eventually all go and have lunch at Rincon Teds before returning to the cockpit and yakking until gone 8 pm. By which time the wind had come up and it was quite cool.
We were both wacked but I managed to summon enough energy to cycle to the wild cats with food and then around the marina for some exercise before returning to sit and read before going to bed.
Not a good day. We got up to find blood on one of the cushions in the fore cabin – looked like a squashed mosquito. Fortunately the mark washed off. Phew!
Brian’s plan was to cut the Formica to size for the worktop but before he got going he left the shed door open and Lily went and had a good look inside. We hadn’t realised she had disappeared but she eventually emerged and I did not think any more of it until I looked forward and saw cat footprints all over the new upholstery. It could only be Lily as she had a very wet foot which smelled oily. Not only had she marked the cushions but she had left a footprint on the new cockpit table which is virgin wood. After much scrubbing with Fairy liquid the cushions appear to be none the worse for wear but the table is well and truly marked for life, rather like new cement is.
After much scrubbing with shampoo of her leg Lily was left to give it a clean herself but by late afternoon it was still looking oily so she had another shampoo.
The piece de resistance was the cutting of the Formica. Much thought had gone into measuring it and deciding how and where best to cut it. The piece of material was 3.5 metres by almost 1.5 so it was huge. We had it unrolled partially in the saloon on the table but eventually took it to the cockpit where we made it into a huge tunnel which Brian then crawled through to cut. It took a little while before he was satisfied with the method of cutting but made a wonderful job of the first piece. We had a big problem as the sheet was damaged in several places around half a metre from one side. We should have complained but that would have taken another month for a new sheet to come so Brian calculated the best way to get the pieces out.
The second piece was cut much quicker now he had mastered the cutting. We were admiring his skills and moving the cut pieces to safety when I slipped and fell on the remaining sheet which was semi rolled – disaster – it shattered into hundreds of pieces and Brian called me all the names under the sun. I just thought it was rather amusing but ended up with a very badly hurting backside. The shock set in later for me but Brian managed to salvage what he could and thankfully we may have just enough to complete the job. We would have had masses over if I had not been so clumsy.
Brian manages during the afternoon to stick the Formica for the worktop onto the plywood top. I kept out of the way under strict supervision for fear of another disaster. The worktop sat on the saloon table weighted down for the next 20 hours which meant we were unable to eat on board. We ate with Kathleen and Mike at the Chinese restaurant ordering a meal for 6 persons which caused a stir for the owner and waitress. However, to their astonishment every bit of the food was consumed and we left without the kitty box we might have asked for. From the Chinese restaurant we moved next door to Noray coffee bar and had coffee with Mike and Laura from Gilana finally turning in for bed at around 1 am.
The weather is still fantastic, in fact it is very hot and we are beginning to look a little browner.
Up early to get going on the galley. Brian spent all morning cutting the Formica round the worktop form. He had cut it almost to size but left a tolerance margin around the outside which had to be trimmed to size.
Finally the time came for the new work top to be lifted into place which needed great care as the ply top had to be made in two pieces. The transformation of the galley was spectacular and we both stood and admired the work. Friends arrived in the middle of the work which was annoying as Brian really wanted to get the job finished. However they finally went and Brian cut the holes for the sinks. They suggested and we stupidly agreed to their cooking a meal and bringing it to us to eat so Brian then had to work against the clock to try to get water in some shape or form connected and of course a waste pipe as well. Anyway after much slogging and cleaning we managed to both shower and hair wash just in time for their arrival along with a rather dry pasta dish and a few bottles of wine for supper. I had promised them strawberries and cream for pud but the supermarket had none so had to settle for a rather expensive Spanish apple pie with cream. We both thought they would never go and they finally left at gone 1 am and after clearing up we eventually got to bed around 2 am.
A job to get up this morning as we are so tired but manage to have a fried breakfast whilst listening to the net. Decide today we have to avoid visitors and to have a decent supper on board alone.
The galley sinks are glued in and we now have running hot and cold water although only one sink with a waste. The hand pump tap now looks better since it has been placed in a more aesthetic position and doesn’t look as if it is in the galley because it needs to be. The extra amount of workspace is substantial even though there are now two sinks. This morning Brian drilled holes in the sinks to take the plug chains before they were finally glued in.
After a very late lunch we relaxed with the Telegraph before going for a cycle ride along to the tower to check for post and then along the beach prom to the west of Almerimar through the village to the other end and returned along the east beach prom.
Soon after supper Brian was then surprised by a friend Ian who appeared. He had last seen him in ~Turkey two years ago when he was to crew for Brian on the EMYR rally.
An earlier night yesterday after having coffee with Michael and Laura off Gilana. We spent yesterday morning at the jumble and the afternoon resting on the bed. Brian had a well earned sleep but was woken by Spanish letting off fire crackers during the afternoon.
Monday morning was beautiful and we were up with the alarm clock – well Brian was. Laura took us to Lidl so it was difficult to get into starting something before we went. By the time we returned to the boat it was so hot that it was difficult to do anything.
During the afternoon Michael and Laura left and we rushed off to say our farewells and see them off towards the Balearics. We hope to be able to leave here in 3 weeks so may be able to meet up with them again there.
Now that we have said goodbye to several boats we hopefully will not have distractions and the work will progress quicker. Brian has been extremely busy and has made a fantastic job of the galley but he needs to finish it off so that I can then get going with the varnish. So far I have done very little apart from clean a little of the stainless steel and plant a few lettuce seeds.
Henry is still not pooing as he should so tonight he had Whiskas for supper. It was a Spanish version which Lily thought delicious. She wolfed it down but Henry was a little more tentative. They are very good during the day sleeping most of the time. They both now spend time sitting or lying on the windowsills in the rear cabin. It is a bit of a problem for Henry as the sills are not very wide and he has to manoeuvre himself into the right position. They both now sleep on the bed with one or the other of us.
The plan was to put on the sails but by the time we had hauled them out of the front heads and had them on deck the wind came up and that was the end of that job for the day. The wind continued all day which was welcome in the severe heat.
Brian worked all day until nearly 7 pm on the galley. Today he cut and glued the shaped side pieces either side of the cooker and on the base of the housing. The base had to be made in two bits because of last week’s disaster but he has made an excellent job of it. The only job outstanding in the galley for Brian is finding the fixing bits for the cooker gimble. Currently they have disappeared – no doubt they will surface whilst we are looking for something else.
I spent the morning cleaning the stainless steel and putting the life rings back. There is only a little more stainless steel to do which I shall finish tomorrow and then I shall start on the fibreglass.
The lettuces are growing well and there are signs of pink leaves now. Could be several weeks though before we can eat them.
It was good today knowing we were not going to have any distractions so we were able to get up and get on with work right from the start of the day.
Not found time to write up the log for several days now. Progress has been made in many directions. The galley is now more or less finished apart from another coat or two of varnish. Brian is now working on deck and today managed to fit the new guard rails he had bought. He took the old ones to the yard to be swaged but the yard manager did not like it that he had bought the fittings from a competitor so set to work and broke the fittings. Anyway we have nice new plastic coated guard rails even though it gave Brian a lot of heartache in managing to get the yard man to cooperate.
Today the high winds have returned and this evening we have a north-easterly blowing. In spite of the winds Brian, with the help of our New Zealand friend Dale, managed to go up the mizzen mast to replace the wind vane which blew off on our way here last year and to refit the radar reflector which fell off on the way from Cartagena narrowly missing our heads. He had great difficulty trying to remove the old brackets and in the end they had to be left in situ in the hope we have the mast down at some time in the future when they will be removed. The new fittings were different to the old ones and new holes had to be drilled in the mast ready for rivets to be put in. The riveting was difficult as several fell into the water and Dale had to supply some which were extra strong giving Brian a difficult job. However, after having another go later this afternoon up the mast Brian successfully completed the task. He now has a sore bottom from sitting in the bosuns chair, a special seat in which we hauled him up the mast along with buckets full of tools and materials.
The cats are now venturing onto the deck, albeit with a harness and lead. Henry loves to sit in the cockpit and watch and listen to everything around us. They are both fascinated by water and are both unsure what it is as they can see reflections in it. Although they spend hours sitting in the windows of the cabin they are not interested in the many ducks which swim past during the day. The majority of their day is spent sleeping, preferably in a spot where the sun is shining although the temperatures have been so high we have had to keep a fan going for them when they have been shut up during the varnishing process.
Our weekly budget is not too thrifty. Each week we have been drawing out 250 Euros - £183. The plan was to try to live on 100 Euros a week but I have not yet managed that. It is difficult perhaps because we do not have a good store of basic foods yet and most of the meals we have had have been quick to do.
With a bit of luck we should be away from Almerimar in a couple of weeks time but there is still much to do. We are now intending to go to a yard a short distance from Alicante so that we can haul out and get a survey done. The charges required by the surveyors for travel is prohibitive so it would seem sensible to travel towards Alicante where one is en route to the Balearics.
Because of the north easterly wind temperatures are somewhat cooler this evening and we are thinking of putting the quilts back on the beds. They were cast off a few nights ago as the heat was sweltering. For the past few nights I have had to sleep with dressing gowns or towels on the bed to keep me warm.
Had an e mail yesterday from GillyB of Ali Kat to say they had had some awful weather and in fact had made a May Day message when they dragged their anchor in a F7 during the night and ran aground on the beach.
We also had an e mail from Richard on Hula telling us of the tidal wave in the Balearics which caused havoc after the Algerian earthquake. A 50’ Beneteau was sunk along with 30 other smaller boats.
Can’t believe it is a week since this journal was last updated.
We now have a deadline of 11th June to leave and a date of 20th June for the survey. We have to be out of the water a few days before hand so that the hull can dry out for water porosity tests – that is to see if there is any osmosis. After the survey we can antifoul so it looks as if we shall be out of the water for almost a week before we head north to the Balearics.
The cats have settled in remarkably well and Henry has for several days been allowed to go up on deck on his own without a lead. He is extremely good and has a little wander then sits downs to watch everything that is going on around him. Lily has been more retiring than him having spent almost all day each day sleeping in her bed. However, today is the first day she has been on deck without a lead. She has her harness on but no lead. She is strictly under supervision as I still do not trust her having caught her with her feet through some rope and on the gunwales looking as if she was about to leap on to the boat next door.
The work has progressed well and today Brian put away the mitre saw into its sailing home. He has made a wonderful job of the galley and the cockpit looks wonderful where he has fitted the splendid new teak table with folding leaves we bought earlier in the year at the London Boat Show and replaced the wood around all the bins. The transformation is unbelievable. I have now managed to complete the cleaning of the stainless steel but already what had been cleaned needs redoing. Today I started on the fibre glass and washed down the front of the cockpit and other bits of fibre glass on the bow end of the yacht. I then attempted to polish it with some new polish in a spray which went everywhere. Brian maintained it would mark the deck so we had to wash and scrub it rapidly.
The companion way and main hatch have all been rubbed down ready for a coat of varnish tonight before we go to bed. As it is our only means of entry and exit we cannot put varnish on during the day, this is a job to do before we go to bed. It has taken 3 whole mornings to rub the wood down and chip off the old varnish. It now takes around 7 coats of varnish to get it well and truly coated
The weather is extremely hot, particularly during the afternoon and early evening. We now have our supper in the cockpit but once the sun has gone it becomes quite chilly. It is daylight here until 10pm.
We decided to purchase a new rib and took delivery of this yesterday. John from Alamar wheeled it on a trolley to the dock and I then rowed it back to the boat whilst Brian walked back. It is now on the davits so we have yet to try it with the engine which is only just about man enough to propel it. We now have to dispose of the old dinghy which could be a problem although we have put an advert in the tower and pushed it on the net. Deciding how much to ask for it was a problem but after some advice from John we have put a price of 250 Euros. Tonight we had a Spaniard come to look at it but it was deflated and we were eating supper. He is to return on Sunday to have a good look.
Brian had a lucky escape yesterday whilst finishing off the sanding of the companion way. I had done all the work but he used the sander to get off the stubborn bits. As we needed to work on the companion way steps we altered the lock and whilst he was standing on the steps sanding the lock worked itself lose with the vibration and the whole lot fell backwards with Brian standing on it with the rotary sander almost cutting off his head. It was all rather fraught at the time but he did not suffer anything serious other than a grazed leg.
More serious though is the fact that he cleaned the locks in hydrochloric acid in pots in the new sink which have left permanent marks. Can’t find a way of removing the stains.
Now that there is a lot of movement in the marina with people departing they are short of coordinators for the net so I did it this morning. A bit of a hassle as some local fishermen have now started using 67 just before the net is due to start so had to change it to 68. Haven’t been asked to do it again so couldn’t have been too good.
We have been eating far too much since we have been here so tonight thought I would get some frozen food with shrimps and other sea food. It was awful even though I tried to improve it with a stock cube and a packet of hollandaise sauce and a pack of huge prawns. A total waste of money. I will stick to my own cooking and recipes in future.
A strange day with overcast skies but extremely humid. A few drops of rain came during the day but nothing materialised. It waited until mid evening when we had a good deal of thunder and lightening and a small amount of rain. It was enough to make us shut the hatches and keep inside.
In spite of the greyness I managed to get a large amount of laundry done and virtually dried. Brian decided it was time to get to grips with the engine but before he can do anything he has to replace the stop cable which was absolutely solid. However before he could start he had to clear out the shed in order to get to the existing cable so everything came out and he replaced it in an orderly fashion. Whether he will be able to find any of it is another matter although he has managed to label some of the containers. Will this tidiness continue?
This morning he noticed a crack in the sole of the new dinghy so we had to get the supplier in to look at it. Tomorrow we have someone coming to do some work to it.
This morning was spent cleaning the bow part of the deck. The teak decking is filthy and as it is brushed with Fairy liquid and water the dirt just pours out and then runs down the side of the hull or the gunwales onto the deck. After much spraying with the hose it looks reasonably clean and we now wait for it to all dry out so that Brian can set to work on it.
The fibreglass around the cockpit exterior has had another polish and the starboard side outer deck has been washed, cleaned and polished. The plan is to do the other side tomorrow.
Brian has started looking at the engine and assessing what spares and parts need to be bought. He is to work on the engine tomorrow.
The varnishing of the companion way and bulkhead last night was a disaster as the varnish did not dry and has been tacky all day which meant every time we went in and out it was touched and when the cats jumped up they left their hairs stuck to it. Decided we used the wrong type of thinners so will not be varnishing tonight.
Henry is getting very adventurous on deck. Lily is now allowed up as she is still looking to jump on to one or other of the boats moored beside us so she is not to be trusted.
The weather is extremely hot and very humid. Brian is managing somehow to work through it all but I am finding it sapping and run out of energy in the afternoon.
Progress is being made towards our leaving Almerimar but it looks as if the weather will be against us as the forecast until Thursday is North Easterly winds F6 and 7 with 1.5 m seas. It doesn’t look as if we shall get away until the weekend, and that is only if the weather and sea calms.
Brian has now repaired the cockpit sole which turned out to be a mammoth job. The decking was fixed to a piece of wood which had rotted totally. Unfortunately the teak had been well glued to the wood which made it difficult to remove. However, after much struggling Brian managed to salvage the teak and stick and glue it on to new marine ply which has then been put back on to the fibre glass trap doors below. He now has to fill the gaps with rubber caulking but this may be a job to do once on the move or in dry dock. I do not think this is something which will happen before we leave.
The major woodworking has now been completed and yesterday we were able to give the cockpit a thorough clean washing away all the sawdust and shavings. We are currently experimenting with the water around the cockpit as we have developed a leak near the portside saloon hatch. It is not coming from the hatch but is running along the roof somewhere so we are using water in different locations and in different volumes to try to discover where it might be coming from.
The new grab rail in front of the cooker has now been fitted and looks good. It is good to be able to hang up the tea towels.
Brian started to look at the engine at the end of last week and finds it has a broken water pump. This has posed a problem as there is nowhere to buy one here so it has been ordered from Madrid but it has not arrived as promised. It should be here by 9am tomorrow.
We now find we need new tractor batteries before we leave so we are being taken by Carole and David into El Ejido on Thursday to get them.
The fibre glass has now been polished on the deck but the cockpit still has to be done. It is surprising just how dirty the cats feet are as they leave dirty paw prints on the fibre glass in the morning after they have walked on the dewy deck. Henry loves his little lawn I have grown in a pot, and licks the moisture off the grass each morning. Both cats are now allowed on deck without their harnesses. I still feel a little uneasy about Lily being there alone but Henry is no problem at all and sits on the bow near to an open hatch watching everyone walk by. He makes sure he sits near to an open hatch ready for a quick escape.
Today I felt I had to start to shop so used the local El Arbol and wheeled two trolley loads along the road to the boat. It was jolly hard work in the heat as the road was so uneven. It would have been wonderful to get to Lidl before we go but think this may not happen.
Last Friday I collected my new glasses at 42.60 Euros from the optician in Copo and left the silver pair to have new lenses put in. Today the new ones costing £83 arrived from Hollands in Malvern. Whilst at Copo I took in 3 t shirts to have them embroidered with Songster on the left hand sleeve. The cost is 7.50 euro for the 3. Have to collect these tomorrow along with the specs.
I have to do the net again tomorrow. It is unfortunate that we are unable, due to interference of generators and neon lighting, to get a weather forecast to give so have to rely on others to produce this.
Sunday we toddled off to the market/jumble with the goods we had to sell. We should have taken a picture of ourselves as we took the old dinghy folded up together with its floorboards and pump, the washing machine, cat litter tray and two wind scoops. The wind scoops and washing machine sold but we still have the dinghy which meant we had to deflate it fold it up and carry it back. We used a bike to carry the washing machine by wedging it between the seat and handlebars whilst the litter tray was strapped on to the back. I felt like a lady from India walking though the marina with the load. Brian had to push the dinghy round on the trolley which is no mean feat as you can only push it for fear of the wheels collapsing if it is pulled and it has rather short handles which mean you have to stoop to push it, which is very backbreaking.
Cant believe nearly two weeks has elapsed since I last wrote this up. Much has happened during that period so I shall try hard to remember.
We are now sitting on the hard in Vasata yard in Santa Pola in the upmarket end of the city. We arrived yesterday around 13.00 after a very heavy journey in a very rough sea and anchored off the yard until this morning when we were lifted shortly after 9 am.
Yesterday’s journey was tortuous and Henry suffered badly from seasickness very early in the journey shortly after we had left Torrevieja harbour. Inside the harbour wall it was flat and calm but on leaving we hit a huge sea and F6 north easterlies which were the direction we were aiming for. The anchorage at Santa Pola had a huge swell so was not that comfortable but we both managed to have a good night’s sleep.
Brian is suffering with his back which is hampering his activities but we managed to swim for a short time yesterday and will do so again this afternoon off the very nice beach next to the yard.
The journey to Santa Pola started last Sunday when we left Almerimar finally to make our way north eastwards to the Balearics for our holiday and to make sure everything works as it should. Westerlies were forecast for the Saturday and Sunday but we were not ready to leave on the Saturday. However the weather was good for us to clear Gata and start northwards, the problem was finding suitable anchorages – there just are none and the marinas do not provide protection from the easterlies which continue to blow. We stopped at Genoves, a large bay which gave shelter from the south. We managed to cook and eat supper before the easterlies started and then blew with vengeance making the anchorage unstable. We had to pull up the anchor and make our way northwards in an effort to find somewhere safe but having looked at a couple of anchorages and even dropping the hook just north of St Jose we decided to continue to night sail and to make for Cartagena. We saw little traffic all night, well Brian didn’t, as he did most of the sailing whilst I slept. We looked for an anchorage just west of Cartagena for lunch but the swell was so huge that we had to give up and continue on to Cartagena marina.
Our stay in Cartagena was cut short, we had planned to stay 2 nights to catch up on sleep but the weather was due to change with strong north easterlies and easterlies coming and we had a deadline to keep so we set off again. We arrived from Cartagena at 11 pm at night which woke others at anchor who thought we might overlay their chains. The harbour was still with no swell so it was very comfortable and attractive. The new dinghy had an airing once the engine had been put on.
Our biggest problem now is that whilst on the hard we do not have a fridge or freezer, in fact even on the water we don’t as it has a problem. Hopefully we shall be able to find someone here in Santa Pola who will be able to help us out but the boat has to be back in the water for the fridge and freezer to work.
Tonight we are having roast lamb with roast potatoes. Still haven’t used the barbecue but hope to once Songster is back in the water and we find an anchorage which is calm.
This morning we cycled into the city to try to find chandlers etc and also get some money. We have got through a fortune this month with a host of rather heavy bills and now we have the surveyor to pay on Monday and the haul out and antifoul fees. Over the next few months we should be able to recoup that.
Brian’s back is OK today so his first job is to tackle the sink waste. We have been having problems with the flow of water from the main sink into the secondary one even though there is a non return valve fitted. It has also been a pain emptying so Brian tried several methods of fitting the wastes this morning. It is not perfect but we are going to try the new arrangement out to see if it is an improvement. At least water does not now seep into the second sink when washing up.
We have been extremely productive today. Although I illegally used the washing machine in the loos here yesterday to do a coloured wash we still have a pile of other things needing washing. However, last night decided to put all the bedding into soak and this morning washed and rinsed it all and hung it out to dry on the line we erected between two sets of stairs. Incredibly the washing dried very quickly and the line was better than the one erected yesterday on the boat which caused high windage and we are only propped up with a couple of props.
Brian cleaned out the chain locker and ground off the rust. All the ropes etc are now soaking in masses of detergent ready to be rinsed tomorrow. The anchor has been dropped and thoroughly sanded with the grinding machine ready for a coat of white hammerite.
Both heads have been thoroughly cleaned and the grids scrubbed, glued and sanded. We now only have the trays to sand and paint. The light in the front heads seems to have gone wonky and this now needs to be sorted out. As one problem is sorted another appears.
The freezer was fully emptied this morning but unfortunately there was a pile of peas and other things all in the bottom which took a great deal of cleaning. It was beginning to pong and there were a number of small flies in there. The wooden fittings have all been bleached and scrubbed along with the grid from the fridge. The fridge still has to be tackled, perhaps a job to be done tomorrow if possible whilst the surveyor is here.
The cats are finding it very hot, in fact it is 22.15 and 85 degrees inside the boat. They like to go up on deck at night but tonight Lily is flat out on the bed by a fan. Last night she climbed into the dinghy for the second time. The first was whilst we were in the water. She had a good nose round and then jumped out back on board. We are frightened she may puncture it with her claws. Henry has been in the cockpit all day in the shade lounging around. He was funny yesterday as he sat in the cockpit swaying as if he was on the water.
We knocked off work at about 6 pm this evening and walked off to the beach for a swim. The beach was packed but we managed to find a small spot to put our bag on and have a swim. We didn’t manage a swim yesterday as we were so tired but did manage a cycle ride all along the beach prom in the evening after supper. It really is quite up market here with some superb apartments. It would seem that the riff raff are at the other end of the resort. After the swim we came back to the yard and showered off under the hose which was hot.
Having no fridge or freezer is difficult for food now. It involves some hard thinking before preparing a meal. We still have our supply of Fray Bentos pies but will try to keep those for a rainy day in the future.
Well tomorrow is survey day and I am sure Brian will be worrying that something will be found to be wrong. He has solved one problem we had whilst sorting out another yesterday. We had a water leak and he just couldn’t find out where it was but whilst giving the bilges a good clean yesterday he came across a leaky pipe which was the cause of the water pump working intermittently and the large amount of water in the bilges. Initially Brian thought there was a diesel leak but was happy eventually it was the water problem causing the full bilges.
Time goes so fast and we are so busy.
The survey on Monday went well. Bertie Mitchell the surveyor is 79 and quite an old salt. He spent most of his time talking so it was a lucrative morning’s work for him at £460. Whilst the survey was being done the men in the yard were removing the rudder to replace the bearing at the bottom. It involved them coming into the cabin so the bed was taken to pieces and everything had to be covered to protect it in order to get to the rudder workings underneath. The job was done and Brian was very satisfied with the work done. The bearing cost 1.20 Euros but the labour cost in excess of 200 Euros.
On Tuesday the hull was given its first coat of antifoul followed on Wednesday by the final coat. Whilst this was being done I cycled to town to use the internet café to update the web site but unfortunately I was unable to download any photos. The café was full of small boys making a terrible din but whilst I was deep in thought typing up a log it did not interfere.
We had by now started swimming off the rocks from the boat yard which was easier than going off to the beach and getting covered in sand. The rocks were covered in dry fine seaweed which had been washed up some time ago so our feet got covered but after hosing ourselves down with the hosepipe we were soon clean and free of salt water after the swim. The heat has been intense with extremely high humidity. I have never seen Brian sweat so much. The perspiration just pours off him, running down his nose and dripping off.
Thursday morning 8 am we were lifted and the pad marks given a coat of antifoul. By 9 am we were in the water and on our way to Alicante where a friend of Bertie Mitchell had arranged for us to have a berth. But having arrived shortly after 11 am and meeting Benny we were still sitting waiting for both an engineer and a berth at 5 pm. After trying to get the girls in the office to help without success we decided to up sticks and go. We had both managed to have a bit of a rest here during the day but the heat and humidity were killing. We left and made our way to Altea arriving at 10 pm just as the Marinero was about to go off duty.
Altea was a very nice marina but full of boats which never moved. We stayed two nights and tried with the help of the girl in the office to find a fridge engineer who we prayed would come to the boat on Wednesday. The only problem is we chose to go to the next port and are not sure of the name so we have to check this on Monday.
We left Altea this morning bound for what we thought was an anchorage we stayed in last year. We thought we had anchored in Calpe but when we got to Calpe it certainly is not where we were so believe it to be Morayra where we shall go tomorrow.
We had a fantastic sail on the way. It was wonderful to be without the engine and just go where the wind took us finally arriving in the shelter of the harbour of Calpe around 3.30 pm. It was rather rolly initially but the wind died and the rolling reduced a little.
The fridge and freezer are causing a lot of anxious moments for Brian. He believes the whole system needs to have new gas but has found that he can get the freezer side to work so that is what we are using as a fridge and hope and pray it works for the next few days whilst we remain at anchor somewhere.
It is now almost impossible for us to get ashore as the dinghy engine packed up this afternoon. Unfortunately Brian hadn’t time to service it before we set out so he hopefully will have time to haul it up into the cockpit tomorrow to take apart and look at it. We now have several days to spare before getting back to the appointed marina to see the fridge engineer.
The weather had become much cloudier and less hot thankfully. Yesterday it was boiling and we started our so called holiday by cycling to the town centre of Altea and having a look round and then setting off to Supermercado for a few things. After supper we walked back to the town and climbed the steep cobbled and stepped streets to the top of the old town and had a drink in a café near the Church, a rather splendid edifice with blue tiled domes. Around the church was a large square surrounded by restaurants and bars where we sat and drank whilst watching guests assembling at a dinner taking place in the square. We think it was something to do with the church choir but not entirely sure.
On our way back to the boat we stopped off at the internet café to try to find a Frigoboat dealer locally without success.
Formentera, Balearics
Sunday 28th June
Not a good night. Brian was up watching the anchor as the wind changed but he was up early and I followed later.
After putting everything away we set sail for Morayra but having put the sails up and sailed out to sea to get the right angle we decided we were on course for Formentera so continued and arrived at 8.55 in the evening. It was the best sail we have ever had. 15 knts of wind gusting 20 coming from the south and south west. We were making almost 8 knots most of the journey.
We anchored in a tranquil spot some distance from our original way point sheltering from the southerly but near to the capital Sabina.
Again another fortnight has gone without writing up the log. We have been having a good time in the Balearics.
For the past three nights, this will be the fourth, we have been at anchor at Las Illetas just 2 km south of Palma the capital of Majorca. It is a beautiful spot but marred by the rather large swell and the huge number of boats which come from the marinas during the day to anchor. The Spanish are not good at placing their boats in anchorages and just do not leave sufficient room for swinging which causes some tense moments at times.
We sailed from Formentera last Tuesday leaving early afternoon. Before we could go anywhere we had to call at Santa Eulalia to collect post, pick up fuel and water. Unfortunately the post had not arrived and then we could not get water until after 7pm so we anchored just outside the harbour and waited for the water pipe to open. Once full of the essentials we set off to find an anchorage for the night but with easterlies there were no anchorages on the east side of the island which would give us any cover for the night so after a very late supper at 10.30 pm we set sail for Majorca sailing overnight to Santa Elmo on the south western tip of Majorca where we knew Mike and Laura on Gilana were. It was a quiet night with little wind so we did not make any records but arrived early morning into a beautiful bay and dropped the hook, said our hellos and went to bed.
Santa Elmo was very Spanish and had signs of being run down or down market. The main street had been pedestrianised and there were some very expensive properties being built on a development 900k Euros plus.
Our few days in Palma have been very enjoyable. On Friday we caught the bus into the city, which was an experience in itself. The bus drove so fast it was a wonder we were not thrown out of our seats or ended up requiring a neck brace each time it stopped. We wondered if it was because we have become used to a much slower pace of life. Once in Palma we walked the short distance to the old station to catch an Edwardian train to Soller a town in the north west of the island. It is situated in a very fertile area and is known for its fruit, particularly, citrus. From the town we caught an old San Franciscan tram down to Soller port and had a look round. It was a beautiful harbour providing good shelter but we had no time to sail up the west coast of the island so this trip had to do. We returned on the tram and then queued for the train back. It was a pleasant trip journeying through the mountains and tunnels. Our timings had been good arriving back at Las Illetas just in time to get a lift back to the boat from the dinghy which is used to ferry customers to Virtual restaurant.
Yesterday we spent the day looking round Palma and had a good lunch of Seranno ham and cheese for lunch down by the port. The quantity was huge so we did not require supper. Today we went to Virtual for lunch and had a splendid paella, the best for years. My paella was followed by home made apricot ice cream and Brian had a huge plate of fresh pineapple, water melon and galia melon. The cost was not cheap 62 Euros but we had eaten in beautiful surroundings with fantastic service and fantastic food.
Tomorrow we are moving on to Port Colom to meet up with Ali Kat before we head back at the end of the week towards Almerimar.
We have to return to Santa Eulalia to collect the post which we hope has now arrived. On the way back we decide to return to Formentera where we had a fab time there anchored in the most beautiful settings on our last visit. It looked like paradise. The second visit was not so pleasant. After our first night, of the second visit, in Sabina bay we had to make a very hasty retreat early morning as we were dragging the anchor in high winds from the north west. It was decided to hit Ibiza on the east coast to try to find some cover. The anchor was dropped in a beautiful spot but we were rather near the rocks so after Brian had managed to repair the outboard by removing what looked like a whole real of fishing line we had picked up in Calpe harbour we were now back in business for getting ashore.
Because of our position so near to the rocks Brian worried so we moved further down the beach and as we were getting into position to drop the hook the French boat near us started waiving their arms. We automatically thought they were warning us about anchoring in this particular spot but they were in fact calling Brian. Brian had met Claude and Anne Marie 6 years ago and sailed with them in Greece. They now had a different boat although still called Zambo.
Neither of the men could believe that they had met up again so we had supper together using the barbecue for the second time. It was not a success this time as we did not have sufficient fire lighters so the coals would not light and I eventually cooked the meal in the oven. The whole evening was a shambles as I had geared myself to cook outside.
The next day we moved up to Ibiza town to moor at Club Nautica where we stayed two nights. The main purpose was to get the fridge and freezer sorted out. Brian believed it needed regassing and Mike of Gilana had offered to give us some but we felt it wise to get an engineer in to check. It did not need regassing and in fact had water in a valve which was easily corrected and cost us 41 Euros plus the two nights in the marina.
Our stay in Ibiza was good. We spent the two evenings in the old town watching the antics of the transvestites, gays etc. getting ready to party. The only drawback was that there was a huge wash from the many ferries and boats using the harbour and there was no nearby supermarket to stock up at. The harbour was active 24 hours a day with huge ships arriving – this was the cause of the huge swell.
After two days we sailed back to Formentera to find shelter from the easterlies which had returned again. We found a beautiful anchorage just south of Ilsa Espalmador along a beautiful stretch of beach which I remember coming to some years ago. Believe it or not Zambo was anchored here so we spent more time with them. On Saturday Richard on Hula arrived, we had not seen Richard since last year but we had recently introduced him to Jan who had come to sail with him. We all had supper on Zambo. Anne Marie cooked a superb piece of pork in her pressure cooker. I am impressed by the pressure cooker, having been brought up on mushy tasteless food cooked in one by my mother when I was growing up.
Well another week has passed since I last wrote this up.
Last Monday we left Las Illetas after a rather rolly night and made our way to Porto Colom calling at Andraitx on the way. We motored around the harbour to have a good look before motoring on across Palma Bay.
When the engine was started that morning there was a strange noise so when we stopped motoring after Cape Saline to sail Brian tried to start it again and nothing happened. He was not pleased. As we had motored for a number of hours the engine was extremely hot and with the very high temperatures in the Balearics it was impossible for him get in the engine room. I sailed the boat on a mizzen and reefed in genoa for a good 45 minutes whilst he tried to fix it. He managed to get the engine going again so we motored the rest of the way to Porto Colom for fear of being stranded.
Once in Porto Colom we tried to find a suitable place to anchor but obviously were not vigilant enough to get out of the channel as we were nearly knocked down by a large fishing boat coming at speed. He waved his fists at us and told us to move. This was difficult as we were now unable to start the motor again and Brian struggled for what seemed ages to try to get it to work. The problem was that the starter motor, a huge piece of machinery, had fallen off its mountings. Although Brian had fixed it earlier the nuts had come lose again. This time he had to hold the motor whilst I started the engine which gave him a huge jolt.
Once the engine was started we decided to blow the cost and head for the marina a short distance away which would give him the space etc to fix the engine once it had cooled.
Next day Brian was up at 5.30 am and started work on the engine at 6 am. He worked solidly until midday on it getting very upset and depressed as he was finding it extremely difficult to do in the small space and heat. The weight of the starter is immense and he was finding it heavy to lift and fix at the same time. However, as usual he managed to repair everything but felt whacked from the tension of it all. So we decide to stay another night in the marina and another on Wednesday.
Porto Colom is a pretty place which has not been spoiled by tourism surprisingly. It is a natural harbour which is very protected. There were many yachts there all fighting for the mooring buoys or anchorage space.
Whilst there we were able to use the bikes which had not been used for a month. It was good to cycle around the village and out to the two points either side of the harbour.
During Wednesday afternoon a terrible swell started to come in and we had a battering in the marina. Gilly and Graham from Ali Kat visited and we sat supping red wine whilst we watched the Fiesta procession of fishermen in the harbour. A late night and not much sleep due to the swell, made us decide to move from the marina and anchor somewhere in the harbour Thursday night which we did. It was very pleasant.
One morning whilst deciding what time to leave to make sure we arrived at Santa Eulalia at a reasonable hour to pick up the post our English neighbour on Nicolette rowed across to give us a picture he had painted of Songster. We were absolutely thrilled to bits.
The past few weeks have flown and we have now left the Balearics after our short but extremely enjoyable holiday.
The plan was to leave Porto Colom, Mallorca last Friday 18th July and make the 330 mile passage to Almerimar in one go but the weather is on the change and southerly/south westerlies are blowing and with an east flowing current it was slow going. So yesterday we headed for Torrevieja harbour where we are now anchored.
As much of sailing is determined by the sea and wind, plans have had to change. In fact we set off from Ibiza town where the last log was written to go to Mallorca but having got out into the open sea there was a strong F5 north easterly blowing with a choppy sea so we turned round and headed for Formentera once more and anchored just south of Isla Espalmador. Although it was still windy we were able to get some protection from the land and stayed there a couple of days.
Here we met up again with our French friends, Claude and Anne Marie on Zambo who were anchored further down the bay near the port of Salina where the most expensive marina in the Balearics is.
Salina has changed considerably since my last visit to the island 15 or 16 years ago. It is all looking very smart and pretty and not run down as I remember it with grey buildings. The whole place has a lovely atmosphere about it. We did a big shop at the supermarket, which was small but very well stocked with items we had not seen elsewhere in Spain. It was a little more expensive than the mainland but we managed to rucksack and carry 158 Euros of food back to the dinghy. This included meat, water and beer and a vast selection of other things. A good deal more than I could have bought at home for the money. This was the first time we had been able to stock up with meat since having the freezer repaired.
It was quite a task getting it all into the dinghy and trying to keep it dry whilst we travelled back through the waves to the boat which we had moved from the anchorage to another nearer the port. Once back at the boat everything had to be wiped dry and packaging removed before stowage. Together with the large dry stores we were now set up for many days.
During the afternoon Richard on Hula arrived after he had called at Santa Eulalia to collect post for us. He was on his way to Almerimar and stopped for a few days anchored close to us. That evening Claude, Anne Marie and Richard came for supper. On Sunday we all ate on Zambo experiencing Anne Marie’s French cuisine which was delightful.
Now that we had some time on our hands we thought it good to do some of the outstanding jobs. The biggest being the recaulking of the deck, something Brian started in Almerimar time ran out and it still has to be done. I sat up on the bow cleaning out the old caulking in a fairly hefty swell for several hours until I started to feel rather seasick so had to give up and since then we have not had the time to do any more.
The laundry had been piling up since Santa Pola so took it to Formentera to be done. At 39 Euros for 3 wash loads and drying, it was not cheap but we had clean sheets and towels. We had to take great care transporting this back in the dinghy to make sure it kept dry.
We set off for Almerimar soon after lunch on Friday last having prepared plenty of food just in case it was difficult to cook down below. This is a journey of 330 nautical miles and should take around 3 days but yesterday we decided to divert to Torrieveja having heard the winds are to change to southerlies and south westerlies which will not blow us in the right direction.
Much of yesterday was spent looking up weather on the computer using the SSB (single side band radio). This morning the winds looked to be light so we set off once more but half an hour out of the harbour in a huge uncomfortable swell we decided to return and wait for the easterlies which may be several days. Whilst in a harbour it is calm and difficult to see what is outside, although the sea was rated as calm and there was no wind the swell rocked the boat so that items in cupboards were moving everywhere. We were not packed sufficiently to cope with this for the next 31 hours.
Henry and Lily are both well but moulting like mad. It is unbelievable they still have fur. In spite of being brushed they are shedding fur everywhere. Henry is finding it more difficult to cope with the different conditions each day but Lily just places herself on the dressing table top bracing herself against the fiddles (these are edges to stop things falling off). Their appetites have not waned and Lily is not slow in asking for food when she is hungry, whatever the sea conditions. Their favourite time is dusk when they spend time on deck and are able to find spots where they cannot be seen. Lily’s fascination with the dinghy has now passed but her interest in Brian’s workshop continues where she manages to get her feet dirty.
A fortnight since the last entry.
We arrived eventually in Almerimar on Wednesday 23rd July having finally left Torrieveja on Tuesday morning expecting to motor all the way in westerlies but had a north easterly which meant we were able to sail a fair way during the day until the evening when it calmed and we had to motor sail and then motor.
Once round Gata the wind changed to a south westerly which made it more difficult to sail but we managed even though we were only going over and over the same ground. Finally the wind strengthened and we motored the final few miles to get to Almerimar at a reasonable time.
Now moored in darsena 3 on the opposite dock to where we were originally. The heat has been diabolical since we have been here. 35C plus with humidity of 82% apart from yesterday and Saturday when there were a north easterly breeze which weakened the humidity. Today it has been a killer.
Work started Monday last week and the deck was finally totally recaulked yesterday. The final jobs were tricky as we had to do the floor of the cockpit which meant we were confined to the saloon which meant we could not get off the boat until the caulking had gone off.
The heat had not helped with the progress of the deck and it took possibly longer than anticipated. Even Brian had to give in to siesta in the afternoon when the heat was very intense. Even at 7 pm you have to be careful of burning in the sun.
Several mornings we got up at 6.30 am but because of the humidity the decks were very wet and we were unable to touch them until they dried. We tried covering them at night which helped but there was still evidence of damp in the wood.
Today has been a bit of a messy day as we have been trying to purchase various pieces of equipment. The main one being the new SSB and Pactor 3 for Sailmail. We have had much discussion over this as Marine Electronics have a special deal for the ARC but the e mail provider is Seawave and we cannot find anything about them. We finally find it is very expensive to buy and to run so decide that Sailmail will be our internet provider with the new SSB which is costing £1400. We have also ordered a new GPS which is slightly more sophisticated than the current main one. This should make sure we are not let down if there is a breakdown.
Because of the heat we have eaten out quite a bit to avoid using the cooker and creating more heat in the boat. Tonight I did cook, roasted peppers stuffed with anchovies with jacket potatoes and spare ribs ready cooked from the supermarket.
Tomorrow is my birthday so we shall be going out again. Our budget seems to have gone through the roof. What with meals out and phone cards we are spending quite a fortune.
Henry went to the vet last Thursday for his booster jab and was greeted by the vet telling him he was too fat. Fortunately she sold Iams so managed to buy over £100 which should keep the cats going awhile. Lets hope they both loose some weight.
My birthday. A bitter disappointment as no post arrives at Almerimar. Can’t think what may have happened to it so there is a dearth of birthday cards. Birthdays are not celebrated in Spain as in England and it is impossible to find a birthday card to send. However, I had several from other boat owners, one from our neighbours Julie and John, which Julie had made using a card design package on her computer that had a picture of a ginger cat on it with a blue collar, could have been Henry.
Well it is now 15th August 10 days since I last wrote this up. We finally left Almerimar on Monday 11th and arrived in Gibraltar around lunchtime on Tuesday 12th. It was a relief to get away from the excessive temperatures. The Rock was shrouded in very grey cloud on our arrival although Spain either side of it was bathed in sunshine. For the next couple of weeks we shall stay in Marina Bay until all our equipment, which has been ordered from the UK, has arrived. From here we shall possibly go out into the bay only a short distance from the marina to anchor. There is a large tide here, something we have become unused to so the boat moves up and down tremendously along the dock which is unfortunately not floating. This means that we have to get off the boat at low tide by climbing up the boarding ladder and then sliding down it at high tide.
Gibraltar is absolutely full by day of day trippers, all British who seem to think they are getting a bargain here. In truth everything apart from alcohol is extremely expensive particularly food. This, of course, may be because we have become used to Spanish prices which are considerably lower than the UK. The only thing cheaper here is fuel at something like 30p a litre for diesel, lower if you can have a large amount.
During our last few days in Almerimar we hired a car and went off to El Ejido to buy batteries and stock up at Lidl and Copo. Our plans to use the car for the full 24 hours did not materialise as the heat was just too hot and we did not manage to get a car with a/c. It had a roof which folded back but the intense heat on ones head was unbearable so we suffered with the windows open.
Lidl was where we did the bulk of the shopping. It appeared on the door as if they accepted Visa but when we went to pay they did not so whilst Brian put the things through the check out I drove off to find a bank and then returned to pay. Not something which would happen in Waitrose or other supermarkets back home.
Our bikes sadly have now gone to new homes. Carol and David of Zalena Zabo bought them from us. We hope they have as much fun on them as we did. They would have been very useful in Gibraltar but felt Almerimar with its large marina there was more chance of selling them and we just could not carry them across the Atlantic.
We left Almerimar Monday with a forecasted North Easterly F5/6 gusting 7 but in actual fact we had no wind and had to motor the whole of the 130 miles. The only wind we had was what we generated. Fortunately we had the current with us for the first part of the journey so made good progress at low revs. This changed later and we had the current against us which reduced our speed to half before the current changed in our favour. The journey at night was magic in the moonlight with the dolphins playing around the bow of the boat. The light was so good that it shone through water so you could see the dolphins playing around beneath the boat. The dolphins stayed with us right through to Gibraltar from where the Dolphin boats go out loaded to the brim with trippers every couple of hours. They are a great money spinner here.
It was good to see a great cloud when we got up on Wednesday but it burned off during the morning and the temperature rose during the afternoon. At night it is much cooler so we are able to sleep better, the only problem is the cats always sleep on my bed and seem to take up more room than a person as they stretch out totally.
Henry had to go to the vet once more in Almerimar. He developed an awful cough and his voice became hoarse. Carol very kindly took me but Henry on his second visit to the vet was not so keen to get out of the carrying basket and the vet had to tip it upside down and shake it to get him out. He stretched all four legs out firmly against the sides and just did not move. The outcome was that he had an anti inflammatory injection, anti biotics and cough medicine. The medicine, which was homeopathic, smelled just like child cough medicine, not quite the taste a cat would normally take to. He hated it. He is now ok but still taking the anti biotics. The cough could have been from hairballs so both cats have been eating Iams hairball for a few days which is working well.
Our Icom SSB arrived yesterday and Brian is busy working out how to install it as there is rather more equipment than we currently have. We are hopeful of selling the existing equipment which will go some way towards the cost of the new one.
The water maker has been a source of worry as it has still not arrived and no one until yesterday knew just where it is. On Wednesday morning we walked to the airport to visit customs to try to find out where it might be but after visiting many carriers no one knew anything and after finally ringing Sunshine the supplier found out there was a serious problem. However, Redwood rang us yesterday to say that they would take delivery of it next Tuesday and deliver to us on Wednesday.
The winds have changed today to southerly. Weather in the Straits has been diabolical for days and we are told there are scores of boats waiting to come into the Med but have not been able to because of the high winds.
Whilst in Gibraltar we hope to go up the Rock and visit St Michaels lower caves which we are told are splendid.
From Torrieveja we travelled overnight to Almerimar where we stayed for three weeks working on Songster. The heat whilst there was tremendous hitting over 40C each day. The temperature at night was in the 30’s so it was difficult to sleep. It is cooler in Gibraltar, in fact extremely cool at night and the duvets have had to be dug out from the bilges.
Whilst in Almerimar the teak deck was recaulked. An extremely dirty and back breaking job. It involved removing the old rubber between each piece of teak and then taping it before rubber was injected into the gap. We still have to sand the deck to finish it off but there are more pressing jobs to do.
During our stay in Almerimar we met up with old friends and on our day of departure we had a big farewell given to us on the daily net – yachties radio.
We have now been in Gibraltar almost two weeks having left Almerimar on Monday 11th August. The wind for the passage was forecasted as a north easterly F5/6 which would have given us a wonderful sail but unfortunately for us there was not a breath of wind and we had to motor or motor sail the whole of the 130 miles for 23 hours. We could have been on a bus.
Our sail over night was spectacular as it was full moon and we had dolphins sailing with the boat most of the night. It was magic to see them through the water in the moonlight.
Earlier in the year we had seen and decided on the water maker that we were to buy. This was ordered and paid for early July but was not delivered until Thursday last. It had caused a great deal of trauma wondering when it would arrive. It is the most magnificent piece of equipment manufactured in stainless steel. Brian feels it should be on show rather than locked away in a locker. It was manufactured in Milan and sent from there to Gibraltar, well that is what we paid for, but in fact it was delivered somewhere in Madrid where it sat for a while before being shipped to Algeceiras, also in Spain, a short distance from Gibraltar. The shock came on Wednesday when we were asked for a further 177 Euros (£130) to cover the extra transportation. We had no choice and had to pay in order to get the equipment released from customs. The installation of this is Brian’s task for the coming week.
Communication is an important part of our life and we had taken a lot of time considering what equipment we should purchase. A new Icom SSB was ordered and this was delivered very promptly to Gibraltar, in fact it was waiting for us on arrival. Regrettably this arrived with an incorrect lead and we are waiting delivery of a replacement. Without this lead the equipment is totally non-functional but Brian fortunately managed to acquire a second hand connector and with a bit of soldering managed to get us up and running. He found trying to hold the wires and solder on a boat which was moving in the swell considerably difficult. He tried many ways of taping up wires to safety poles to try to keep things steady. The equipment came with several large pieces, which needed housing. This meant we had to empty lockers and find new homes for the contents. As a result the inside of the boat looked as if a bomb had dropped for several days.
Time passes extremely quickly when working on a boat. We are very aware that time is ticking away and we shall shortly be taking the first steps of our adventure by crossing from Spain to the Canaries.
So far we have not had time to do the touristy things in Gibraltar just to say we have seen the apes. It is an extremely busy place during the week when thousands of tourists are bussed in from Spain to buy their duty free drink and cigarettes before going on a tour of the Rock. Gibraltar is a bit of an enigma as Gibraltarians, although British and who maintain their first language is English, speak always in Spanish. People smoke everywhere, even whilst shopping in Safeway, which seems very strange after our rigid rules at home. Prices are extremely high in comparison with Spain and as a consequence locals shop in Spain, some also live there. One day last week Pat from a neighbouring yacht, she now lives in Gibraltar, took me to La Linea to shop at Lidl. La Linea is the Spanish town next to Gibraltar. Once across the border it is typically Spanish.
Last week I needed to download information off the web and save it to a CD but the owner of the cybercafé I used did not know how to do it so called in her computer man. The crunch came when I was asked to foot the bill for calling him in to show her how to do it. This person had been living in Gibraltar for many years having come originally from the UK.
There are three marinas in Gibraltar. Marina Bay where we are, Sheppards next door where there are masses of dropouts living in appalling boats – resembles a water village in the east, and Queensway Quay. The first two are situated approximately 100 yards from the main runway of Gibraltar airport and we are able to have a wonderful view of the 4 planes that land here and take off each day. BA and Monarch run scheduled flights. Aircraft taking off and landing appear to be of great interest to everyone here in the marina with people standing in their cockpits or at the end of the docks to watch. There is a set pattern each time a plane is due to arrive so we know from the activity when one is expected. The runway runs parallel with the border into Spain so when the airport is not in use the traffic and pedestrians cross the runway freely, which we have done several times on our way to customs at the airport. The best time to view is the evening take offs into the sunset looking through the masts with the backdrop of the Spanish mountains and a very red sky. Everything is silhouetted.
We finally left Gibraltar on Sunday 14th September having spent almost 5 weeks there. Much of it enforced.
On Friday 5th September mid morning we untied the ropes from the dock and set forth for the fuel dock and customs. The plan was to fill three fuel cans and the main tanks with Gibraltar diesel at 28p a litre and then play around at sailing in the bay before anchoring for the night and setting off to Lanzarote early Saturday morning. Our Friday start was not a good decision. There is a sailing superstition about setting off on a passage on a Friday, something we shall try to avoid in the future. The first problem was the fuel cans, which we had bought second hand earlier in the year from a guy in Almerimar. He had an enormous supply of these plastic cans which, he said had been only used once. They sold like hot cakes and we were only able to buy three. The first can to be filled leaked fuel from the bottom seam weld faster than the pump could fill it. We did not know it had a huge hole. What fuel could be salvaged was put into one of the other cans which also proved to be faulty so the three were jettisoned and we filled the main tanks of Songster.
The second disaster happened once we had fuelled and were ready to leave the dock. The engine would not start. The starter motor had broken. Brian in his usual way tried his best to repair it but nothing would make it go and we had to eventually be towed back to the marina by our American friends Bob and Carol off Star Cruiser. Enquiries were made about a new starter which would have to be shipped out from the UK and we were quoted £850. Unfortunately it was late Friday afternoon by now and we could do nothing so we waited until Monday morning when Brian approached another guy who was able to ship one for £540. The big problem was this was going to take several days hampered by Gibraltar National Day on 10th when nothing happens there. However, on Friday morning 12th September Brian collected the new starter, fitted it and we were ready to go.
We now had a further problem as the winds had become strong and we would not be able to get out of the Med at Tarifa, the narrowest part of the Straits. Gales were blowing and the sea was rough. As planned we rose early on Sunday 14th September and left along with the tide to hopefully sail to Lanzarote.
The sail through the Straits was comfortable with a following wind. We sailed westwards for around 50 miles and then turned southwest towards Lanzarote sailing approximately 60 miles off the Moroccan coast. During the afternoon the sea started to steepen and the winds increased. In a short space of time we were in a 2.5m sea making it very uncomfortable. Both Rhona and I were feeling quite ill, in spite of seasickness pills and patches. Brian had to run the boat and look after us for a good 24 hours.
We sailed with very little Genoa but made good progress and just prayed the sea would settle down. It eventually did but the winds dropped completely and we had to motor for the majority of the passage. At times under sail we were making 1 or 2 knots per hour. One day we sailed with the spinnaker and creamed along but the wind direction changed so we were not able to use it after that sadly.
On Friday morning after 5 days 3 hours and 49 minutes we finally moored in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote. A journey of approximately 620 miles.
It was stunning motor sailing down the coast of Lanzarote early morning. The landscape is just wonderful with the early morning sun. By the time we had reached Calero there was a good F5 north westerly blowing making it difficult to dock. This was what we needed on the way down.
Puerto Calero is a beautiful marina full of real sailors. Yachts are on the move all the time with the majority preparing to cruise the Islands before setting off for the Caribbean or South America.
Our arrival has coincided with the Transat 6.50 Stopover. This is a mini Transat demanding extraordinary dedication and resilience. The race is limited to 70 yachts only but others who are not able to be included join in for the hell of it. Each yacht is sailed by a lone sailor who lives on cold food or pot noodles only. He has a GPS, VHF radio but no other instruments to help him. Each competitor is allowed 3 litres of water per 100 miles and they are doing 4500 miles in total so you can imagine how many bottles they are carrying. The race started in La Rochelle about 12 days before our arrival and the first yachts to arrive here took 9 days. The next leg is to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil, which will be gruelling, it starts on 28th September and will take around 28 days to complete. The youngest sailor is 18 and the oldest 58. There are photos on the web site of some of the yachts. We had a long chat with the sole Israeli entrant who competed last year and is having one more attempt to try to improve on last year’s performance.
These very small racing yachts make our trip with the ARC seem very tame.
Rhona flew home on the Sunday after our arrival to deal with her university entrance for next year. Sadly she was not able to see any of the island before her return. Hopefully she will be able to make up for this when she arrives in Gran Canaria at the beginning of November. It has certainly been very quiet without her. We miss her greatly.
The time on Lanzarote has flown and we have not achieved much as both of us have had a tummy bug. Brian was laid low on Monday all day and I went down Wednesday night and spent Thursday and Friday in another world. Saturday, yesterday, we hired a car and went up into the Timanfayan National Park to view the fantastic volcanoes. Brian was very impressed by what he saw and could not believe the island had not been built like it is it looked as if made by many huge diggers. On our way back we visited the Gran Melia Vulcan 5 star hotel, a short distance from Rubicon marina where we now are. This hotel is just fantastic and has been built on a volcano theme. The décor and colours were stunning. On Sunday (today) we drove to the northwest of the island to visit the two lava tube caves which were stunning. From there we drove to Mirador del Rio where one looks out across to the island of Graciosa a few miles from Lanzarote. It all looked so beautiful in the crystal clear light. We then found our way using a fairly basic map provided by the hire car company down the west side of the island back to the marina passing through the main wine producing area where the vines are grown within low stone circular walls in a large indentation. There is approximately 200mm of rain here a year so the morning dew is preserved by using the small fine black lava on top of the very arid soil.
Last Wednesday we moved south westwards along the east coast to a new marina called Rubicon and were met by our French friends Jean-Yves and Annick with whom we sailed last year to Israel. The marina is all rather smart but is not quite yet finished. There are no facilities here so it is quite a walk to Playa Blanca to shop where the quality of fresh food is not as good as on the mainland. However, whilst we have had a hire car we have visited the local island hypermarket to stock up with fresh fruit and veg.
The water maker we purchased for almost £4,000 is proving to be one big headache. First we had the delivery and transport problems, secondly Brian was not able to purchase the marine plumbing requirements in Gibraltar and had to use domestic semi rigid plastic pipes. Finally the damn thing will not work and is giving Brian quite a headache. Phone calls and e mails are flying between Milan, Gran Canaria, London, Monaco and Southampton in an effort to get something sorted out. The supplier from Gran Canaria assures us he will have it running for us before we leave. We are now just aware how quickly time is passing and not even sure we shall have time to cruise all the islands. However, this morning before we went off sightseeing Brian had another fiddle and thinks he may now have the system working but we will not be able to fully test it until we are out in the open sea where the water is pure. This we hope to do when we move on to Fuerteventura in a couple of day’s time.
Lily has had a second bout of cystitis and had to have two visits by the local vet. Jane, who arrived at the boat with her bag full of needles and examined Lily. Each time was followed by a lengthy chat about living on Lanzarote. Two days later Jane telephoned to check Lily was on the mend, which thankfully she is. Lily, however, is not enjoying taking the tablets prescribed which are quite large and have to be cut up into small manageable sizes. Each evening it is a struggle to get her to swallow them before she can spit them out. We have to do this for 2 weeks.
Henry is just fine, eating as much as he can get. Jane confirmed that neither cat looked slightly distressed by their new lifestyle and that she thought they looked as if they were enjoying every minute of it.
Morning is Henry’s favourite time when he jumps off his bed very loudly onto the creaky floor and then chases around the interior of the boat encouraging Lily to join in. They really do sound like a herd of elephants. Fortunately for us they now do not sleep on our beds. They have their own fluffy bed on top of the dressing table in the cabin and they both sleep curled up in that. When they shared our beds they really did take up so much room that we had little left for ourselves. Maybe it is because it is much cooler at night now and they need one another for warmth.
The daytime temperature here in Lanzarote is around 28/29C. The winds so far have been very light but we are looking forward to some good sailing in the north/north easterly F5 winds. If time allows we shall visit as many of the islands as possible but our plan is to be in Las Palmas at the beginning of November ready to prepare Songster finally for our Transatlantic crossing
Fuerteventura was very disappointing after Lanzarote, which is a simply gorgeous island. Brian could not believe the lava on Lanzarote had been naturally made. After travelling round the island and visiting the Timanfayan park he soon realised it was real and they could not have possibly found sufficient JCB’s to have done such a good job.
It was a beautiful day when we left Lanzarote and sailed the few miles across to Fuerteventura where we had been led to believe there were wonderful anchorages where we could anchor, something we needed to do having paid out considerable sums on marinas so far. The anchorages did not materialise and our first night was spent in a marina at Puerto Castillo, a marina with 8ft high wire mesh all around the few docks which meant we were trapped and unable to get out. The harbour master was determined we would pay for the privilege of being there and charged us 30 Euros for the night. Whilst here we met Lorna and Philip, from New Zealand, off Evergreen who took our ropes and helped us dock. They normally never use a marina but found it impossible to find anywhere safe to anchor and ended up in Castillo.
The next morning we both set off for Gran Tarajal, the second city of Fuerteventura, where we managed to anchor in the bay but there was such a swell all night that none of us managed to sleep and both boats upped anchor early morning and motored into the harbour where we stayed for 5 days and nights – totally free. The habour master was on holiday so we had water and electricity provided at no charge. The sad side of our stay here was the sight of illegal immigrants being brought in by the Guardia Civil with their little wooden boats being towed behind. There is a serious illegal immigration problem in the Canaries but it is worse in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote as they are closest to the African coast. The boats used had been made specifically for the journey and look beautifully made but have very unsuitable wood and a great many nails. The exteriors are painted with a dull black paint to make them difficult to see. However, the Canarian authorities appear to be very vigilant and these boats are spotted both day and night. During our first few days in Gran Tarajal 10 boats were brought in. On our last night a further two were brought in. All the immigrants are young, mainly men with the odd young female. Occasionally there are children without parents and the Spanish authorities take these children into care and look after them until they are 18. As you may imagine the locals are very unhappy with the situation. Along with our New Zealand friends there was a Danish yacht and two British boats in the harbour with whom we have become very friendly. They have now followed us to Las Palmas but are in the anchorage rather than the marina as they are not crossing the Atlantic with the ARC.
Our trip from Fuerteventura to Gran Canaria gave us an example of the huge Atlantic rollers. It was not a pleasant journey with me feeling rather seasick in spite of a wearing a patch for seasickness. The sea was as flat as a pancake when we left Morro Jable, Fuerteventura but two hours into the journey the sea changed and became extremely confused. This is caused by the acceleration zones between each of the islands with the northerly winds funnelling through and the unevenness of the sea bed. The depth of the sea varies considerably and is over 1000 metres and then suddenly it is only 30 metres deep so you can imagine how the sea is so confused when there are so many mountains under the sea.
Our few days in Gran Tarajal were very relaxed and enjoyable. We managed to travel to the south of the island by bus to visit Morro Jable and then north another day to Rosario the capital. Rosario had a pretty harbour but raw sewage spewed out into the harbour making it a rather smelly place. Our visit to Rosario coincided with the celebration of St Rosario and a big party with dancing and large puppets was taking place outside the small cathedral. Free lunch and beer was available for all attending. It was amusing to see the ladies in their ‘finery’ and new shoes.
We are now very firmly tied up to the dock in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria where we have been since Thursday 9th October. Our plan had been to sail here do some boat shopping and then sail onto Tenerife to see that island. As with all sailing, plans get changed and once here we decided not to move having heard the marinas in Santa Cruz, Tenerife were full and it would be difficult to moor. The plan now is to catch the jetfoil from Las Palmas to Santa Cruz and spend a day or two sightseeing if there is time.
Las Palmas is a huge city. The 8th largest city in Spain. It is a retail therapy haven but I have no use for fashionable boots and other winter clothes. I find it strange winter clothes are needed here when the temperature is always very temperate but guess they must have some cold days occasionally. The average seems to be around 26C but the evenings and nights are much cooler. We have had some heavy rain over the past few days, especially Tuesday when we went out with our New Zealand friends to the old part of the city for lunch. Unfortunately we had left some of the hatches open and a good many things on deck which were all sodden, along with ourselves.
There is a very large department store El Corte Ingles, part of a chain similar to John Lewis but with Harrods prices. There is a huge supermarket within the store with a wonderful selection of foods where I plan to go shortly to stock up with goodies. Food is very plentiful with many large supermarkets who all deliver to the yachts. We had not realised that many of the more exotic fruits are grown here so we are able to buy local mangoes and papaya at very reasonable prices. The central fruit and vegetable market is stunning and we have some photos of this. The stalls are piled so high that you have to stand on a box to reach the stall assistants for service. Each stall has many staff dealing with the dozens of customers. This is where we shall be stocking with all the fresh foods for our trip. Can you imagine just how many apples and oranges we shall need for three of us for 3 weeks plus. We need to cater for a minimum of 4 weeks just in case it takes longer than expected.
It is now 4 weeks before we set off on our Transatlantic voyage along with 220 other yachts in the ARC rally. ARC activities start on Monday 10th November when we shall be partying frequently and attending many seminars on safety etc. One is a demonstration of air sea rescue which hopefully will not be needed but it is good to know what to do and another is where we practice getting into a life raft.
On 19th November we are off to a fancy dress party with the theme ‘Fire and Ice’ as it is sponsored by Smirnoff Ice so if anyone has any ideas of what we can dress in they would be very gratefully accepted. Please put the ideas on the web site messages for us.
Although we have been working on Songster for months we never seem to get to the end. We now have a water maker which will produce 60 litres of water an hour by desalinating sea water. This is a piece of equipment which has caused us a few headaches but hopefully it will be worth every penny of its £4,000. We have also bought and Brian has installed a new Single Side Band radio through which we can send e mails whilst in the middle of the ocean. It is a wonderful piece of equipment but tests one’s patience whilst you find an empty frequency. Our previous SSB would not accommodate e mail facility. Brian has also fitted a wonderful new GPS which works out absolutely everything for you and it is fun to programme and play with. Its one big problem is that it does not give your position in large figures so we have the existing GPS to continue to do this for us. Today we have bought a handheld VHF so that we can communicate from the deck rather than down at the Navigation station. It is also something we wanted for our ‘Grab bag’ which is a bag of essentials needed if we have to abandon ship rapidly.
Yachts are arriving daily in Las Palmas and it is beginning to get exciting as we all exchange our tales and give and receive advice. The only down side is that half your day is spent chatting instead of working so everything takes a bit longer. We are pleased we have arrived early as we can see now that it is going to be very busy and the chandlers are likely to run out of goodies when everyone gets here. Many of the others have bought new equipment but find it does not work or they are unable to work out how it works. Many have spent many thousands of pounds preparing their yachts and many have come straight from the UK on a once in a lifetimes adventure. Ages range considerably with young families to very aged experienced yachties who have travelled round the world and are now on their way back to the USA.
Last Thursday I decided to give myself a treat and took myself to the hairdresser to have a few dark streaks put into my now very sun bleached hair. My treat did not turn out as planned. I chose a very artistic Venezuelan hairdresser who said he would add a bit of warmth with two colours – a brown and a red. For those of you who are unfamiliar with hair dye the liquid is very different to the dry colour so I did not worry. It was a bit of a shock when I had the foils removed from my hair and the dye washed off and I was taken back to the mirror to find my hair was now coloured in scarlet and brown. My hair was cut in a very casual fashion, dried and I left the salon 67 Euros worse off and a kiss on both cheeks from the Venezuelan who told me he loved me!!. What a shock when I returned to Songster and looked in the mirror and could see the back of my head. There was a huge chunk lobbed out of my hair and huge chunks of bright scarlet colour. To be honest it was pretty good but not for me, it needed someone a little funkier with the right garb and of course a good deal younger. I returned to the hairdresser to complain and was given rather frosty service whilst he tried to dampen down the red. I was horrified when I looked in the mirror and covered my face with my hands – the Venezuelan almost had a fit as he could see I was still not happy. However, I left the salon – no charge this time – and returned to Songster where I was greeted by a flabbergasted Brian and others in the marina who couldn’t believe what they saw. I now had dark brown hair with huge white roots. After a sleepless night wondering just how I could rectify the problem I took myself off to another hairdresser who tried their best to lighten it for me and try to remove the red which has not totally disappeared. This was another 45 Euros. There are some pictures of the red. It is now very much shorter as the hair had to be tidied and I look now like a tabby cat. It will be a long time before I visit a hairdresser outside the UK again.
Today we have walked miles. We initially walked northwards from the marina to a huge shopping arcade and then went west to the beach on the west side of Las Palmas. This is where all the package holidays to the islands started back in the late 50’s and early 60’s. There is a huge bay with wonderful sand and a promenade several miles long. We walked from one end to the other where there was another huge shopping mall where we visited Carrefour. The walk round the mall just about finished us off and we taxied back to the boat and had a supper made in our new pressure cooker, which we bought so that I could produce casserole type meals to freeze. These meals will be extremely useful in the early stages of our passage when we acclimatise ourselves to the Atlantic waves and get our sea legs.
We have now been in Las Palmas Gran Canaria since 9th October. Our intention had been to sail here do a bit of boat shopping and then sail on to Tenerife and possibly Gomera before returning to Las Palmas. Our shopping extended into more than a bit of boat shopping and we ended up spending thousands more Euros.
Las Palmas is a wonderful city and the marina is only a short distance walk from the centre where everything is available. Facilities for yachtsmen are good so we were able to get sails repaired and purchase all the additional ropes and sheets needed plus more for our voyage.
The yacht chandlers have queues out of the doors with people buying boat bits in readiness for an Atlantic crossing.
Since we have been here the water maker has been up and running and the heads in our cabin has had a nice new loo fitted, by Brian, of course. The other loo was a little iffy and when Brian took it apart to check he bust the pump so we had to have a new loo. I think just about everything has been replaced or repaired on Songster over the past year so hopefully we should have a trouble free crossing – fingers crossed. Thursday we had a service crew from Oyster, the manufacturer of Songster, checking absolutely everything on the boat. They went up the mast and checked the rigging, checked the steering gear, autopilot and inside the engine room making sure everything is OK. This is one of the benefits of owning an Oyster even though Songster is 20 years old. They have given Songster a good seal of approval telling us that Songster is a wonderfully kept yacht. Brian needless to say is walking on air as a result. The only problem was that Rhona spent all morning giving the boat a thorough clean and then everything was turned upside down. The boys kept telling us how wonderful Songster was and that they felt it was a real yacht, well loved and well kept.
Thursday evening we were invited to the Oyster cocktail party which was held on the terrace at the rather smart Hotel Santa Catalina. It was a superb function where we met up with other Oyster owners, the majority of whom had much, much bigger and much more expensive yachts. Afterwards we went off to a private supper party at a Canarian restaurant where we had some good local food. The favourite dish was whole small octopus cooked in a spicy green sauce.
We have over 1,000 Euros of food and drink on board. It is amazing how we have been able to store it. Today, Friday, our fresh fruit and vegetables are arriving, 200 Euros worth. Before it can be stored it all has to be washed and dried to prevent infestation, and, of course, to check everything is perfect before we start. We have wine bottles stored under the floor boards in empty water bottles which have had the top cut offer to give protection to the glass when things start to roll. This tip has been used for storing other glass jars. We hope that we shall not eat and drink it all during our 3 week crossing. The freezer is full and I have prepared and frozen sufficient food for the first week to give ourselves time to get out sea legs before we set forth with Delia Smith. You certainly learn the art of packing when provisioning a boat for an extended period. We also have huge quantities of cat litter and food so Henry and Lily are well catered for.
One of the many jobs we have done here has been securing items to prevent spillage or breakage. The cats litter tray has a simple system installed to prevent the tray moving around whilst they use it. As we shall be sailing with trade winds behind us the boat will rock from side to side which makes it very difficult when trying to cook or make a cup of tea as everything slides around with the movement of the boat. All surfaces will have to be covered with a special type of plastic matting to prevent this happening. The batteries, many of them in Songster, have all had to be lashed down to prevent them falling out in the event of a knock down. Simply everything has to be totally secured so it is either tied, screwed or packed with foam rubber.
The atmosphere here is mixed with excitement, tension and anticipation as everyone prepares for this journey. Many yachts are still repairing or fixing equipment, many still waiting for parts to arrive. It is the first ocean crossing for the majority so we are all eager to gather as much information as possible. The supermarkets are delivering frequently with huge amounts of provisions to everyone.
Each boat is checked thoroughly for safety and we were one of a small number who were signed off as being A1 on the first check which is very satisfying. For those who have not been signed off it is sometimes a costly thing as they have to install additional equipment or make adjustments.
We have attended seminars on provisioning, weather, routeing, medical care whilst at sea, using a sextant, communications, helicopter rescue and yesterday I went to a life raft demonstration and took part along with a very large number of others in a simulated abandon ship. This took place in a swimming pool in the marina in beautiful warm sunshine. I have a fear of jumping into water but after their instruction enjoyed it and successfully backrolled out of the lift raft afterwards – a first for me.
Tonight, Friday, is our penultimate night and everyone is off to party. We shall be eating on board before we go off to a farewell reception hosted by Gran Canaria Tourist Board and attending a grand farewell fiesta with fireworks at midnight. Tomorrow, Saturday, will be our last day so we need to try to relax, if possible, have a good supper, no alcohol and an early night. Tomorrow we begin the seasickness treatment in readiness for the rolling sea we expect to meet when we leave the marina. We shall be up early Sunday morning ready to leave our berth and assemble along with all the other Oysters for a fleet photograph, which will appear in magazines. We seem to have been the source of amusement to other yachties on the pontoon with the level of visitor activity on Songster, along with the many friends we are meeting up with, several photographers have called to photo the cats, Rhona and us. Rhona, our crew, has applied to Oxford University and had her entrance interviews by telephone on the boat this week. We are off to look at www.worldcruising.com web site this afternoon to see if we appear.
We do hope to be able to send some logs to worldcruising during the journey so do watch the site and follow our progress and look for our logs. For those of you who buy yachtie magazines look carefully to see if we feature. If so please keep the pictures and articles. Whilst here we have not been able to buy Yachting World and Yachting Monthly
Although our stay here in Gran Canaria has been somewhat extended we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Two weekends ago we attended a Womad festival of music and dance very similar to a Glastonbury Festival. There were many bands from different parts of the world including a great number from the UK. It was a huge success and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We have made many friends and met up with others whom we had not seen for a long time.
One Sunday we hired a car and took ourselves off to the mountains travelling across the north of the island before climbing up to the highest part at Tejeda. The mountains are quite spectacular and quite different to Tenerife, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. It is hard to believe that each of the Canary Islands is so different. Lanzarote is our favourite. Gran Canaria will have a special place in our memories as we have been in Las Palmas for so long preparing for our voyage across the big ocean. The Canarians have been extremely good hosts and the island is just beautiful.
Our next journal will be sent from St Lucia where we hope to arrive around 14th December.
Can’t believe we have now been in St Lucia two weeks and Christmas and New year are now over.
Having set off from Las Palmas on Sunday 23rd November in a pleasant breeze we finally arrived 25 days 19 hours and 39 minutes later in St Lucia after a rather unexpectedly long passage.
When planning our crossing earlier in the year we had hoped to arrived in 3 weeks thinking we would be blown along with the trade winds which we had heard so much about. We set off from Las Palmas aiming to take the rhumb line – the shortest distance between two points but after our first weather report when we were warned of 80 mph squalls we cautiously watched the skies and kept our sails reduced for fear of being caught out. Luckily we never experienced any such winds. Our biggest problem was that the winds were too light. The trade winds we had been told about had not set in and did not appear until very much later in our journey. For eight days we bobbed around in mid Atlantic with either no wind or very little. Our worst days mileage was just 32 miles in 24 hours.
During our 6 week stay prior to the start we both worked very hard preparing the boat buying and fitting additional equipment, provisioning and cooking. I prepared a week’s suppers just in case the huge Atlantic rollers prevented us from cooking or we were feeling sea sick. The rollers were kind but we did not get our sea legs for a few days so the prepared food was very welcome. Once I had got used to the motion I was able to cook meals each day serving up fresh produce. Only one dish was repeated in the whole period. We had to eat all our meals out of bowls as you can imagine eating off a plate with the food sliding from side to side can be messy. Eating lamb chops out of bowls in not the easiest of things but we managed beautifully. Cooking was exhausting at times coping with the motion of the boat. Things fell out of cupboards when you opened them and pouring fluid was very difficult as the fluid moved with the motion of the boat. It was funny to watch the tap running when the water flowed in one direction one minute and the opposite the next. The galley on Songster is well placed to cope with heavy seas as it is long and narrow and one is able to wedge oneself.
Surprisingly each day went quite quickly and we soon got into the routine of our nightly watches of 3 hours each which would give us each a period of 6 hours in which to sleep. This did not always happen if we were required to help with sails etc but invariably we were all able to get a good 6 hours each night. It was amazing how we were able to eat supper and then bed down for an hour or two before a watch and then get up again in the middle of the night. We would count the minutes off to a period of sleep whatever time of the day.
We were under the impression that one put up sails in the Canaries and these were not changed other than to tweak them during the crossing. Every sail on Songster was used apart from the storm jib in an effort to try to squeeze every bit of wind out of her. Every combination was used. Some days one combination would work but on another day this combination was no good in similar wind conditions. This was due to the state of the sea which changed constantly.
Twin headsails were used most and Brian and Rhona became very adept at putting them up and poling them out. The disappointing times were when there was no wind and the sails just flapped and there was nothing we could do but take them down and sit it out so on 2 nights we decided a enough was enough and went to bed leaving someone in the cockpit, usually Brian, to keep an eye out.
Early in the journey our main generator decided not to work but fortunately we had a second which worked off the engine. The big disadvantage here was that to run the engine in order to use this 2nd generator for recharging batteries and powering the fridge and freezer we would use more than double the amount of diesel. Because of this we were left with little fuel for motoring so we were unable to motor out of the doldrums. It was also impossible to make use of the engine whilst it ran at high revs as we would speed in an uncontrolled fashion through the huge swell. We did, however, use the motor sparingly and on each occasion after much calculating it had to be shut off at very specific times in order to conserve the fuel we had.
Another headache was the water maker which found it difficult to cope with the huge swell and it kept sucking in great quantities of air. Brian would have to make a refinement but he would not be able to do it until the sea was a little quieter. During our second week the sea calmed and Brian was able to get into the workshop to replumb the system adding an additional pump to keep a constant flow of salt water to it. It now worked very successfully but we were never able to fully stock our tanks even though we made between 60 and 80 litres of water each day. We were using more than we made even though we showered on deck in salt water. The salt water showers came about from the additional pump which produced a flow of salt water onto the deck so each day we took advantage of this and sat in the sun, often with a harness and safety line on, having our daily ablutions. During our first week at sea our daily ablutions were done with a wet wipe or two. It was extremely cold and we smothered ourselves with thermals in an effort to keep ourselves warm. By the end of the first week we had a huge pile of stinking laundry which we would have to carry for a further 3 weeks!
Once the sun began to shine our thick clothing was discarded and bikini bottoms became the norm. This was our garb for the rest of the journey donning slightly thicker clothing at night. We were able to avoid most squalls but all got caught in one just as we were arriving in St Lucia and I had to get out the oilies, which had now been packed away, which we donned over our bikinis.
Our welcome in Rodney Bay was fantastic. Boats came out to greet us as we struggled to get over the finishing line. The finishing line was between a motor yacht and a yellow flag on a buoy – well it looked as if it was on a piece of stick. It took ages to locate the flag and we only saw it once we were very close to it. The position of the finish was awkward and we had to tack to get across it. We all had ago trying to get there but finally I was able to take the wheel and cross the line. Now we had to find our way into the lagoon and get a mooring. As we motored through the channel into the lagoon we were cheered by friends who were waiting for us to arrive, hooters were blowing, and it was all quite emotional. Once we got to the dock we were overwhelmed by the number of friends waiting there. Cecil and Coby friends we had made in Turkey sailed up from Grenada to greet us, Rhona’s parents had flown out for Christmas to celebrate her sister’s 18th birthday were there, along with dozens of others we had made throughout the previous 9 weeks. Cameras flashed and a photo of us appears on the ARC web site which you might like to look up www.worldchallenge.com
We ended up having a big party on the boat and after 25 days and 19 hours I was busy finding snacks for everyone to eat whilst they all drank the bubbly.
It was wonderful to have arrived. Rodney Bay looked so pretty and the locals were so welcoming and friendly we now feel this has become home. I am sure that we shall always regard St Lucia as a very special place.
Our fishing escapades during the crossing were not very successful. Only two fish were caught, a dorado which was delicious and a bonito which did not taste so good. It had a strange green fluid inside it which we have since heard contaminated the fish destroying its flavour. Three lures were lost to very large hungry fish. One was taken soon after we had eaten supper one night. We had forgotten the fishing line was still out and were sitting talking when the alarm on the line, a piece of bungy rubber with a beer can containing a piece of metal inside strapped to it, began to shake like mad. From the action we knew this was a very large fish and panic struck as we wondered how we would land a large fish in the dark. It is a difficult job in daylight so would be impossible in the dark. Fortunately for us it broke free along with the lure and we were left with a rod and line – the fish had been so violent that it pulled the rod from the holder at the back of the boat.
Our stock of lures was reducing so we decided to give fishing a miss for a few days. We had stacks of fresh meat to eat and because of our diminishing fuel supplies there was a possibility the freezer would have to be switched off and the food thrown overboard so there was no urgency to fish.
Our food supplies were so great that I have only had to buy minimal supplies since arriving. The beer stocks have had to be replenished together with butter. I had bought a massive amount of butter in Las Palmas as we had been informed that butter was not plentiful in the Caribbean. This store I had hoped would last some time but unfortunately it all went apart from 2 packs. Contrary to what we were told there are ample supplies of Country Life butter here and simply masses of cheddar cheese.
On our first Friday here we took a minibus with a group of others to the weekly fish fest at Anse Le Raye, a very poor fishing village in a beautiful setting. The main street is closed each Friday and the local fishermen set up stalls cooking fish which they sell. We chose a friendly guy with an enormous smile who took great pride in showing off his cuisine. Brian chose a fish cooked in a spicy saucy and I picked prawn stew with rice and salad – the salad was a cooked mixture of fleshy veg. It tasted extremely good and together with a few beers the whole lot cost just under £10.
The driver who took us to Anse Le Raye has become a firm friend and a few days later I organised a trip down the west side of the island where we visited Castries the capital, the volcano where the sulphur smell is evident miles away and there are huge ponds of boiling mud and gas. Lunch was at a real St Lucian café in Soufriere and then we went on to view the Pitons which are simply enormous, far bigger than I had ever expected. After a drive through a banana plantation and the rain forest we headed for Marigot Bay where we stood on a high hill and looked down on it. We all spent so much time eating ice cream and chatting to the locals here that there was no time to go down to the bay, this is something we shall do in a few weeks.
St Lucia is a poor island with many of the people living in poor accommodation. There are also a large number of simply wonderful homes, costing millions of dollars, owned by St Lucians and Europeans. Everyone is happy with a big smile and cannot do enough for you.
It is rather disappointing that so many Europeans come to ST Lucia but remain within their hotel compound. The majority of hotels here are all inclusive so the guests remain on the premises and do not contribute to the local economy – something the locals are extremely aware of.
The Royal St Lucian Hotel became the focus of one of my days last week – I took myself to the spa for a day of pampering which was simply wonderful. Unfortunately it will not be something I shall be able to do frequently as the prices were rather high. Hopefully I shall be able to find other spas during our travels.
The plan is to sail to Martinique when the wind and sea flatten a little. For several days now we have had very high winds resulting in high seas but it is now time to move on and do a bit more exploring so a journey north to Martinique and Dominica is planned before returning to St Lucia next month to meet up with family who will be on a cruise ship.
Martinique is part of France and extremely French. Much EC money has been used so there are perfect roads and very chic shops. The plan is to provision with cheese and meat whilst there, and I expect a load of other things – may even get my hair cut.
Hopefully you all had a good Christmas. Many thanks to all those who sent us cards and letters. It was wonderful to receive so many on arrival. We spent Christmas day at the Yacht club near the beach. A BBQ had been planned but having spent the morning preparing food to share the heavens opened and we had torrential rain for quite a time and the idea of the bbq was aborted so we headed for the Yacht club. The rain eventually eased off and we walked along the beach but we had a good time at the club with friends.
On New Years Eve 10 of us went to the local steak house where we had a good meal. We have been to the steak house twice now and on each occasion the steak has been simply the best we have ever tasted. Cooking on board has not happened since arriving here and we have eaten most evenings at one or other of the restaurants. The prices surprisingly are not expensive.
The sun in shining, the clouds moving very fast and we are planning to move north tomorrow. Not sure how soon I shall get round to sending another log.
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2004. I hope to see many of you when I return to the UK in June/July to attend Alison and Kevin’s wedding.
Our planned sail to Martinique was halted by strong winds, high seas and Brian’s knee which he hurt. The knee swelled and became extremely painful causing him to have sleepless nights. After some tlc from a friend on another ARC boat the knee has responded well. Graham is a Chinese herbal practitioner and he smothered Brian’s knee with a special brown liquid which, along with Ibuprofen, worked like magic.
Whilst Brian was resting his leg in St Lucia, not sure about his tongue though, I took myself off on an organised trip into the rainforest for a 3 mile trek. The journey took me to the east coast of St Lucia where I could see the Atlantic pounding in against the rugged coastline. It was quite spectacular. On our way to the rainforest we drove through acres and acres of banana plantations where everyone was working hard to harvest the fruit ready to be shipped from Castries to the UK on Thursday. Britain is the only buyer of Windward Island bananas and the contract is due for renegotiation shortly. Each Thursday a boat leaves the island loaded with bananas. The bananas are chopped from their plant and taken to the packing station, which is a wooden shack, where they are washed in a preservative to prevent the stalk rotting and then packed into cardboard crates. Once the bananas have been harvested the trunk is cut down and the new plant which is already growing alongside is allowed to grow. The whole process takes just nine months for the shoot to grow into a tree, flower and produce bananas. Needless to say bananas are a staple diet of the island of St Lucia and they are used in many ways. A delicacy is jacket bananas – green bananas (unripe) cooked in their skins, cut open and eaten with butter and grated cheese.
The walk through the rain forest was fast giving us little time to stand and listen to the forest noises. The trail had previously been the main route people took to get from the east to the west of the island and vice versa. We walked up over 700 steps. The purpose of the trail was to see the elusive St Lucian parrot which we could hear but not see. There is little in the way of wild life here, mongoose, agouti, rats, 3 types of humming birds, a few snakes and other small birds. Birds could be heard but not seen well until we returned to the pergola to have our lunch when they happily came and took food off the tables. They were very small black birds with bright red breasts – bullfinches.
Brian’s leg made a miraculous recovery after the Chinese medicine and we were able to set off for Martinique the next day. The distance between St Lucia and Martinique is around 22 miles. The wind was ENE and we were not able to sail directly to Marin at the south of the island so we sailed as far as we could close hauled and then had to motor the last couple of miles ENE into the bay where we anchored. The crossing was lumpier than we expected and we had not stowed as well as we should have as dozens of bottles of water flowed out of their lockers and flew across the saloon as we travelled at 45 degrees. A lesson learned.
Martinique is very different to St Lucia. The standard of living is very much higher and you can buy anything you need here. The supermarkets are stocked full of French food – not like St Lucia which has to make do with just Cheddar cheese. We could buy Brie, Camembert and a host of other French cheeses and pates. Nobody spoke English either – it is so very French. Marin is the centre for charter boats in the Caribbean and the marina is full so we were unable to find a berth there. Henry and Lily were shortly due for their rabies jabs so felt Martinique might be a more suitable place to get this task undertaken.
So one Tuesday we took them ashore in the dinghy placing their very large travel basket carefully inside so that they would not get wet. They are now so heavy we had to use a halyard (rope) to crane them down from the deck of the boat to avoid dropping them. We used the same system for getting them back on board. Once on shore we were met by Thomas and his taxi who took us the 8 kms to the vet in Marin. Dr Fonder, a French Canadian, thought the cats were wonderful and spent more time than she should have with them as their was a huge queue in the waiting area by the time we left the surgery. Once back at the dock, Brian waited with Henry and Lily whilst I shopped for bread. In the short time he was waiting he was inundated with cat admirers. We are becoming quite well known as being the boat with two Burmese cats.
We had hit one very big problem which we were not sure how to cure – even though we made two expensive calls to the UK to try to sort it out – we were unable to get any cash from the cash machines with any of our cards. We could purchase goods but not get any cash which meant we either had to queue for hours in a bank to withdraw money or just go without ice creams! However, whilst in Martinique we found, after a lot of trying, two machines which worked. Phew!!!
Now that we are anchoring in bays rather than using marinas we found that our 4hp outboard motor was not quite man enough and that we should invest in something larger. An outboard service agent had just the job, a second hand 8hp which he was selling on behalf of someone, this fitted the bill and we agreed to purchase it hoping he would be able to sell the existing motor. With little trying we soon had a purchaser from a nearby French yacht and a deal was struck with them to purchase once we had collected the replacement. Unfortunately when the agent stripped the machine, we were to purchase, to prepare it for us he found it to be beyond repair and would not sell it to us. Needless to say he was not pleased with the vendor for whom he was working – another yachtie who had insisted the machine was in good working order. It was nothing of the sort. Sadly we had to tell our French friends they would not be able to have the existing motor and we still trundle along with it on the back of the dinghy. Still no water skiing for us yet!!!
Progress up the island of Martinique was very slow as we stayed in the Marin area for longer than planned. The area is extremely beautiful around St Annes and one Sunday along with a group of Americans and a couple of other British friends we walked a forest trail and along shorelines to the most beautiful palm fringed beach Anse des Salines. To get there we had to dinghy to the other side of the bay, tie the dinghy to a tree and lock it and then walk. It was fun getting there as we had 6 in a small pram dinghy. The dinghy had previously been fitted with a mast and sail, but where the mast would have been there was a hole right through the hull. With so much weight inside, particularly on the bow, water was rising through the hole very quickly. Someone had to bale like mad otherwise I think we would have had to swim. All I could think of was my camera getting wet, and on that one occasion I had chosen not to put it in a dry bag.
From St Annes we sailed to Trois Islet, along with Dreamcatcher of Jersey. Trois Islet is a tranquil anchorage where the water is extremely shallow. However, we both managed to find sufficient water in which to anchor and spend two nights. Trois Islet was a very convenient spot to catch the ferry to Fort de France the capital of the island and do a bit of sightseeing. Trois Islet itself is a pretty village with many of the houses having lovely fish tail tile roofs. One of the highlights to this trip was to watch an elegant Caribbean lady arrive in a very small Renault van and unload the contents on to the square on the waters edge. Once she had set up her tables and umbrella we could see she had containers of ice cream and baskets of food. Needless to say it did not take us long to try out her wares which were just yummy. We had crevette tarts followed by coconut ice cream which we ate whilst watching the locals. Two small girls were very amused by these 4 white people and kept stroking my arm to feel the texture of the skin.
Our trip to Fort de France proved successful as a visit to one of the chandlers provided us with some additional crockery which matched what we had. Our original melamine crocks are well over 10 years old and we were able to buy exactly the same pattern which is still being manufactured.
From Fort de France we sailed to St Pierre once the capital of Martinique. A massive volcano around 1902 demolished the town killing the majority of the population. There are still many ruins left. Our stay here was very brief as this was the stepping stone for our passage to Dominica.
Our passage to Dominica was mixed with little wind at times then very strong wind and torrential rain. We were absolutely soaked twice in two huge squalls which we just could not avoid and had to get out the oilies as surprisingly it was rather cool. Well it was to us. In spite of the weather and sea we had a good sail and arrived in good time.
Dominica is a very underdeveloped island and has very little tourism. It has little in the way of sandy beaches, other than on the east coast, which is hostile, hence the big hotels have not arrived. There is no international airport but there are flights from the two small airports to other Caribbean islands.
The island is extremely mountainous with a number of active volcanoes which smoulder and belch out sulphur and boiling mud. The rainfall each year is pretty high so there are masses and masses of rain forests to hike through. The hikes in some cases are pretty strenuous, one being the 7 hour hike there and back to the boiling lake in the middle of the island. There are 365 rivers and dozens of huge waterfalls so there is no shortage of water.
We anchored on the south of the island 1 mile from Roseau the capital. Roseau is an interesting town with many brightly coloured buildings and properties with fancy balconies. A lot of the local characters are interesting to watch. Our first trip to the town was on a Saturday when we visited the colourful local weekly market to buy fruit and vegetables. There was just so much to buy – huge avocados, papaya, bananas, grapefruit, oranges etc. etc. The prices are extremely reasonable to us. 5 huge grapefruit cost approximately 25p and a huge bunch of bananas are the same price. Needless to say we travelled back to the boat absolutely loaded.
On Saturdays the town is full of music. Outside every large shop or store is a band playing local music. The musicians have huge smiles on their faces and everyone around is enjoying the atmosphere.
The day after our tour of Roseau we took a tour round the island with Cecil, a tour guide we met in the Tourist information office. We drove through the centre of the island to the Emerald pool where we walked through the rain forest to the pool and waterfall deep in a gorge. It was a very pretty walk and once at the pool, Lucyna, from Dreamcatcher, was the only one brave enough to take a dip. At the car park was a local Jingling band playing folk music. This is only seen and heard on Dominica. It was a trio of accordion, drum and a strange metal object struck by another piece of metal. They played Dominican versions of European dance music. The sound was wonderful.
From the pool we travelled down to the east coast and saw the magical long sandy beaches which would normally be ravaged by the Atlantic pounding in. On the day we visited it was very calm but the beaches were totally deserted. However, there are a few fishing villages along the coast. To the north east of the island is a Carib reservation an area given to the original Caribbeans who sailed here from South America many years before Christopher Columbus discovered the island,. There are around 3000 of them here but only 600 or so pure Carib. It is the poorest area of the island even though they farm and fish like others on the island. The houses are little shacks not much bigger than a garden shed and the families are large. Very few of those we saw wore shoes they have very strong feet and can walk on very uncomfortable ground. The inhabitants look quite different to others on the island as they have very distinct South American facial features particularly around the eyes and they are often lighter in colour. They also usually have very straight hair.
We took a packed lunch with us and ate it under a shelter at a Carib house, where we tasted fresh coconut water and ate the jellied fruit from the shell afterwards. We were also given roasted breadfruit to eat and shown how it was done.
From the reservation – it is called a reservation but there are no barriers or signs – it is a collection of villages, we travelled north and then west to Portsmouth on the west coast. Cecil took us to the Dominican School of Medicine which has 1500 students from all over the world. This is something the islanders are extremely proud of.
Portsmouth was previously the capital of the island but because of its swampy surroundings Roseau became the commercial centre. Portsmouth suffered badly with Hurricane David in 1979 and evidence of this lies right on the beach where there is something like 8 huge wrecked ships all in one area.
Whilst in Portsmouth we went on a rowing boat up the Indian river, a bit of a tourist trap, but it was calm and peaceful and a nice end to our day out before boarding the bus and driving along the west coast back to the Anchorage where we were moored.
On another day we took the local bus, along with all the school children, to Trafalgar falls and walked the trail up to two very large beautiful falls which threw water down huge boulders at a tremendous speed and fed the hydro electric power station further down the gorge. From the trail we were able to clamber over enormous stones many feet high up to the pool at the foot of the falls. Going up we were able to follow others but on our way down they had all gone and we had to carefully clamber down to the trail.
Our affection for Dominica grew daily as we became known to the locals and some of the shops. It’s people are just so friendly and accommodating. Although there are a few who do think in terms of dollars. American ones! On Thursdays the Anchorage hotel, where we were moored, has a ‘Jump up’ as they call it in the Caribbean, so off we went and ate bbqed chicken, flying fish and lots of other local dishes followed by lime meringue pie and chocolate cake. Then the fun began. It was impossible to keep still as the rhythm of the music was hypnotic. In the end we just had to get up with the locals and dance. We did not attempt their ‘grind’, where the girl dances with her back very close to the guy’s front. It all looked extremely seductive!
Our 11 days in Dominica had to come to an end as we have an appointment to make in St Lucia on 14th February when we meet up with my sister in law and her husband, Eileen and John, who are arriving on board Ocean City for one day. It will be great fun to meet them.
Our original plan had been to sail direct from Roseau to Marin, Martinique, some 64 miles away but as usual we meet up with someone and made the journey over two days rather than the overnight sail we had planned. The reason for visiting Marin again was to get the genoa repaired yet again. This is the sail which fell into the sea rather rapidly at 3 am one morning on our crossing. The crossing and further hard sailing in strong winds had taken its toll and it was showing signs of severe wear along the edges. The sail has what is called a sacrificial strip down the outer edges on one side of the sail and along the foot (bottom edge). This is essentially a protective strip but it had become beyond repair and we decided to have it replaced. Unfortunately the sailmakers were not able to do it immediately so we shall return to Marin once we leave St Lucia to collect the sail.
The sail from Marin to St Lucia was fast in high winds and a moderately rough sea. A few miles off the St Lucian coast the winds increased and the seas became larger, as is often usual at the top of all the islands as the Atlantic flows westwards with easterly winds blowing hard. This is exhilarating sailing we have not experienced. We are actually able to sail from one island to another quite unlike the Mediterranean where the wind is usually on the nose when you need to go somewhere.
Our arrival just off Pigeon Island, Rodney Bay was highlighted by the sight of a green yacht flying a New Zealand flag. It was Lorna and Phillip who we had met in Fuerteventura, Canaries back in October and again in Las Palmas. It was a surprise for both of us to meet in such circumstances 50 yards apart battling with the waves and wind.
St Lucia, I have to say, looked even more beautiful than ever, on returning and I felt quite emotional at reliving our arrival back on 18th December 2003.
Rodney Bay has a good marina with many yacht services so we are spending a few days here and taking advantage of having electricity and water on tap. The weather forecast is not good for the next few days either with very high winds and plenty of rain, something we have experienced today, possibly the wettest day we have had so far. I actually had to wear my wellingtons tonight to go to the rubbish bins.
On Saturday we took a trip to Vigie Light house to peep at Queen Mary II who had called at Castries on her inaugural cruise. The ship is too big to dock there, but there were already two other ships there so you can imagine possibly 5,000 people disembarking in 1 day and filling the duty free shops! Unfortunately we had a head on view so were not able to appreciate just how large the ship is, but we have seen it. Perhaps we shall get the opportunity to sail near it soon.
The area around the light house is somewhere we had not been before. We passed the most beautiful golden beaches fringed with palm trees and then climbed, passing some very large expensive homes with beautifully tended gardens. As I said St Lucia becomes even more beautiful by the day and it is very tempting to just stay here. We have made ourselves known at the dentist where we shall call on our regular trips to the island.
We are certainly enjoying ourselves. The weather is hot, the sun shines very soon after the rain stops and we can buy food everywhere. The weight we lost on the crossing has more than been made up for with all the cooking. The sailing is wonderful and we do not have to motor, we have masses of friends everywhere we go and the cats are a great source of amusement to all and sundry. They are both enjoying themselves, are in great health, have fantastically silky coats, have huge appetites and love playing together when they are not sleeping.
Once the winds and sea have subsided we shall make our way along the coast southwards to Marigot Bay where Dr Doolittle was filmed before heading northwards to Guadeloupe.
Our stay in Rodney Bay St Lucia was a little longer than expected due to some dental work I had to have done. After suffering some discomfort for several weeks I thought I should get it checked so took myself off to see Dr Kent Glace the Dentist. After several x rays the problem was apparent I had a rather large hole in my tooth and I needed a root canal filling. Ouch! Dr Kent knew the UK well having trained in Bristol. He had a marvellously up to date surgery and throughout the two hour session of drilling and filling he took no end of x-rays to check. After two hours my mouth was rather tired. The toothache has now subsided.
Our extended stay had given me lots of time to shop, something which comes very naturally to me. I have a passion for Reef sandals and spend hours trying to find them. I believe it is a make that windsurfers buy so they are resistant to salt water and are made in a variety of colours. Unfortunately during the high winds one of a pair of silver Reefs blew off the dock and floated away so I was soon at the Mall looking for replacements.
We had intended sailing to Marigot Bay, supposedly the most beautiful bay on St Lucia, mid week but because of the dental appointments this was delayed until Friday 13th. We had a wonderful 10 mile sail to Marigot where we tied to a buoy. This was a bay we had not been to before – it is well hidden, very small, and very picturesque but plagued by people on the make. Unfortunately I misheard the boat boy thinking he wanted 15 East Caribbean dollars per night, which was fair, but once we had tied up he insisted on 50 a night. Not a great deal but it was more than we expected. We had already agreed to stay two nights and accepted his offer so there was little to do about it but remember next time.
On the Saturday I was up early to be collected by taxi to be taken to Castries the capital to meet sister in law Eileen and brother in law John with their friends Penny and Jim who had arrived for the day on Cunard liner Ocean Village. We all returned to the boat when the heavens opened and we all got rather wet. The day was a disappointment as the beauty of the bay was not apparent with the heavy showers and grey sky all day. The day was also marred by the news that a nearby boat had been boarded during the night and the skipper and his wife attacked with a knife and then robbed. The culprits had swum to their boat climbed on board and then got inside making it difficult for the owners to escape. The robbers then escaped with money and used the yacht’s dinghy to get to the shore leaving the owners stranded. We heard nothing even though the owners were blowing their ship’s horn for assistance. Because of this we were not happy to stay another night so soon after Eileen had left we decided to return to Rodney Bay and spent a couple of nights anchored in the bay off Pigeon Island.
In olden times when Europeans used to entertain themselves by sailing around in wooden boats taking pot shots at one another, Pigeon Island was the base for the British navy in the area. It was ideally situated with Martinique being visible on most days. There used to be a fort, hospital buildings, barracks and storerooms. Today it is conserved by St Lucia National Trust. I had long wanted to explore the area so we dinghied ashore and climbed to the top. It was a wonderful piece of history to view along with the fantastic views of the island. We arrived shortly after a wedding had taken place in the park area surrounding the fort. St Lucia is one of the most favoured Caribbean Islands for weddings and there are several companies organising them here via the web.
From here we returned to Rodney Bay Marina once more for a few nights so that Brian could fit a new alternator he had bought in Martinique. He had been having trouble producing sufficient power to cope with all the equipment we have so felt something larger would do the trick. This was a lengthy job for him and we both had to carefully check that he had wired it correctly to avoid doing damage to the yacht’s engine. It works very efficiently and Brian is very proud of himself that he now is able to use equipment which drained everything from the batteries.
On Thursday 19th February we set forth once more to return to Martinique to collect a sail we had had repaired. It was a good windward passage between the islands. We arrived in St Annes in good time to relax and enjoy the sunset. The next day we planned to catch a bus to Marin a few miles away to collect the sail we were having repaired but got caught up in the children’s carnival which paraded through the village whilst we were waiting for a bus. The bus was nowhere in sight so we decided to dinghy the 2 or 3 miles in to Marin. I had gone out in a dress with a smart straw boater as we had originally planned to catch a bus to Fort de France the capital. It was not quite the gear for dinghying into the wind, needless to say we both got quite wet but it did speed the job up. Going back to Songster was easier as we had the wind behind so it was a relatively dry trip.
On Sunday 21st February, a day later than originally planned we set off from St Annes to sail the 100 odd miles to Les Saintes a group of islands to the south of Guadeloupe owned by France. The journey was broken by a stop in St Pierre at the north of the island where we had planned to have supper but the anchor started to drag onto a lea shore so it was up with the anchor and we were off. The trouble was we were not ready for supper when we left and agreed we would have it on route between Martinique and Dominica. The sea, Atlantic, between the islands is known for being rough and windy and although the winds were very much reduced the sea was extremely lumpy making it impossible to go down below to cook so we had a very poorly presented supper. We reached the southern end of Dominica around midnight and continued up the west coast of the island, avoiding the numerous cruise liners and other traffic which moves at night, until we reached Terre de Bas one of the islands in the Les Saintes group. We anchored in a small bay along with many French boats and some very inquisitive pelicans.
These dozen or so islands resemble Brittany with their rugged terrain. Only a couple of them are inhabited. Terre de Bas is noted for large iguanas so on Tuesday morning we went ashore to look for them. We walked a considerable way over to the north of the island to look at another bay and also down to the dock where the ferry comes in but sadly there was no iguana in sight. Anyway it gave us a chance to look at the island and were surprised to see so many very picturesque houses with wonderful gardens. It was all very beautiful but the inhabitants were not friendly. We were looked upon with great suspicion sadly. Slavery was never part of these islands so the Caribbean people here are later migrants. We watched boys playing in the harbour by the ferry as they threw conch shells into the water and then dived to find them. They certainly were having a wonderful time.
Our biggest problem in Martinique and Les Saintes is that no one speaks English. They only speak French and expect everyone else to do so. There a great many tourists but these are all French.
On our walk we saw again a project funded by the EU. A jetty for the ferry on Terre de Bas is being built and has funding from the EU. I find it quite galling when I see other Caribbean islands struggling when the French islands are receiving money from the EU.
After our trek around Terre de Basse in the morning we returned to the boat for a swim and lunch before moving to the anchorage at Pain De Sucre on Terre de Haut the main island of the group. On entering the anchorage we were greeted by our friends Sue and David on Suerte who had crossed with the ARC, and who were anchored in the bay. After a good cup of tea and a swim we met on Songster for sundowners. There was no sun to see as we had torrential rain on and off from mid afternoon. The rain was so severe that it leaked through our waterproof hood and bimini making everything in the cockpit very wet. The rain lasted on and off all evening and continued with extremely heavy showers throughout the next day making it very difficult to get off the boat and keep dry.
The weather was a serious factor in moving on to Guadelope. We needed to see some sun again and dry out. Alas just as we cleared Les Saintes a huge black cloud appeared and we had to don oilies to try to keep dry. However, around half way the clouds remained over the mountains and the sun was beautifully hot.
Our first sight of Pointe a Pitre, Guadelope was impressive. It reminded us of approaching Poole along to Bournemouth. There are beautiful houses and condominiums flanked by long golden beaches. Our first night on the island was spent at a beautiful anchorage surrounded by mangrove covered reefs and golden beaches lapped by turquoise blue water. It was just paradise.
Our view of Guadelope changed once we moved into the marina the next day for a couple of nights. This was done so that we could go off and visit the interior of the island knowing the boat was safe. So off we sent in our hired car to the left hand side of the butterfly shaped island to Basse Terre. The roads in Guadelope are like motorways and cars travel as if they are in the centre of Paris. Although the island is only around 25 miles long it has massive road structures with more being built all financed by EU money. Initially we drove to the 3rd Carbet Chute, one of three impressive Carbet waterfalls on the island. We walked through rain forest and then a mahogany plantation along very muddy trails. We were impressed by the size of some of the climbing plants clinging to the sides of some of the trees, the types we grow at home in a pot with a moss stick. Some of these plants are hundreds of feet high with leaves the size of umbrellas. The walk was very challenging in places, particularly when we had to climb down vertical rock and mud areas. However the hour long trek was extremely worthwhile. From Carbet we drove up to the Soufriere volcano which was totally shrouded in cloud and consequently pouring with rain. The whole area is very well set up with trail boards and lengths of times of the walks. We were able to drive to within 150m walk to the summit of the volcano which still spews out sulphur from a series of holes along the roadside.
The view from this area was spectacular even though we had to look through cloud. From here we drove north along the coast and took the road back to the eastern coast of the left butterfly wing crossing back to Pointe a Pitre where there were a couple of small cruise liners in the dock. What we now saw of Pointe a Pitre was a little seedy compared with the area around the marina which looks to be inhabited by many white French.
Our plan had to been to leave Guadelope and sail north to Antigua using the challenging navigable river Salee which divides the two parts of the island. There are two bridges across the river which open at 5am each morning so we set off from the marina Sunday morning to sail up to the moorings just below the first bridge to get the best of the buoys in the deepest water. We tied up and sat back and relaxed for the rest of the day watching the wildlife in the mangroves. During the afternoon we were joined by an American boat that were doing a recce of the area but they had bad news for us. The bridge which had been closed for engineering work was not going to open until Wednesday 3rd March, although we had been told it would be open on the Monday morning. Once we had confirmed this news we had to make alternative plans so sailed towards the southern estuary of the river and anchored to plan our passage. After a hurried meal and picnic preparations for Monday it was decided that we would sail overnight to Antigua by sailing down the east coast of the western part of the island and then up the western coast and then cross to Antigua a distance of just under 100 miles – it would have been only 40 if the bridge had been open. At just before 6pm we set off in a flat sea with little wind and made good time until just after 2 am Monday morning when the sea began to become lumpy and gradually worsened to become extremely rough with gale force winds and massive rain storms. We continued for some time making between 1 – 2 knots an hour but in the end after shipping masses of water submarining through the waves we decided to turn back and run with the wind to a small anchorage in the north of Guadelope, Deshaies, and have a good sleep and try to dry out. We were in fact wetter than our previous storm off Cyprus. We heard the bridge still hadn’t opened.
After a day of drying out best we could and a good nights sleep we set off early next morning for English Harbour, Antigua. This crossing proved to be worse than the previous one. Although we started out in a relatively lumpy sea things deteriorated fairly quickly and we had to endure a huge 4 metre sea, 24 to 35 knot winds with gust of 45 knots and as we neared Antigua huge rain squalls which completely wiped everything out so one had to sail using the GPS and radar. It was a very rough and wet crossing. The cats had to be locked down below and the boat completely closed with boards in the main hatch to keep the water out. We were swamped by the waves which broke over our heads. It was a passage we do not want to repeat and were extremely pleased when we finally managed to drop the anchor in Freeman Bay in English Harbour, Antigua.
The highlight of the passage, though, was we saw an enormous whale splash its massive tail twice into the sea. The force with which it moved its tail was quite frightening, particularly as it was about 100 ft from the boat and we were already struggling against the elements with the sea. So far we have not had a chance to identify it but this is a migratory area for whales as they move north. Thankfully it went on its way.
We arrived in English Harbour just as the light was going so were very pleased to see, next morning just how pretty it was. English Harbour is an old working Georgian shipyard where Nelson’s fleet were serviced and repaired. It was so picturesque and we forgot to take pictures. How stupid of us. Next door to English Harbour is Falmouth Harbour, a huge natural harbour, where there were an enormous number of very large yachts. These are so large that their masts have to be illuminated at night with a red light as a warning to aircraft. Brian’s eyes were popping out of his head at the sight of them, particularly some of the classic yachts which we watched sail out. They were simply beautiful.
The day after our arrival, 3rd March, Brian celebrated his 70th birthday. It was a rather low key affair as we were both somewhat tired after the previous days sail. The planned dinner out did not materialise but we had a hastily prepared supper on board with a good bottle of bubbly to drink for the occasion. Brian managed to set the camera up so that we were able to capture the moment on film.
Antigua has a large number of ex pats living there so I was extremely fortunate to manage a game of bridge one evening which I thoroughly enjoyed.
We thought Henry was limping so we called in Dr Carmen Lake, a very lovely vet, who came to the boat. She gave him a very thorough examination but all he could do was simply relax and assume he was having a massage so she was unable to diagnose any problem. He just lapped it up. Both cats had been showing signs of slight constipation so she provided us with a tube of Laxatone, a drug used in the UK also, which they simply love. They lick the cream off a spoon and queue up once the box is produced. It has certainly produced some results!!
The island has a number of old naval buildings and one of them, Shirley Heights Lookout just above Freeman Bay is the home to a Sunday barbeque with steel bands and Reggae music. Although it looks very near it is several miles by road. Fortunately the Antiguan Rum Tot Club had cut a trail through the woods up to it so we took this route admiring the plants and views on our way. The barbecue attracted an enormous crowd of tourists from all over the island and was a very friendly affair. The food was good and the music enjoyable, particularly the Reggae which started later in the evening. The trail was not a route to take in the dark so we taxied back to the dinghy dock and returned to Songster and our hungry furry crew.
We left English Harbour and sailed the short distance to Falmouth Harbour for one night before going on to Jolly Harbour on the west coast of the island. On going into Falmouth we came across a loggerhead turtle swimming past us.
The journey to Jolly harbour, just 12 miles away took us through beautiful blue green water past the most stunning deserted beaches and some tense navigation spots through the reefs. The water is extremely shallow for miles and miles off the shore, this is why the sea is the colour it is. Jolly Harbour was not quite what we expected having seen pictures of it in magazines and pamphlets. It is a manufactured harbour out of an old mangrove swamp with rows of boring houses along the waterfront. Certainly not much imagination had gone into the architecture sadly. Whilst looking around in the dinghy we were suddenly surprised by a huge ray which leaped out of the water.
We had two nights in Jolly Harbour before setting off early evening on Thursday 11th March for St Maarten just under 100 miles away. We had a wonderful sail overnight with Henry and Lily asleep cosily in the cockpit with whoever was on watch, arriving in time to catch the opening of the road bridge into Simpson Bay Lagoon where we are now anchored.
Simpson Bay Lagoon is a huge landlocked lagoon of around 12 square miles. The bottom half is Dutch and top half French. It is a tax free island where one can buy just absolutely anything. The yacht chandlers have simply everything one could possibly want for a boat or ship. Brian’s eyes are bigger than ever now as he sees items which he had to hunt down previously. I can see this is going to be a big shop stop for boat parts. The Dutch capital of Philipsburg was a more colourful version of Gibraltar with simply hundreds of jewellery, electronics, liquor and perfume shops where many cruise passengers were buying frantically believing they had a bargain. We could not see that there was much saving on the electronics but the booze is definitely cheaper. A very large bottle of Gordon’s Gin is about £4.
In spite of the smallness of the island it has an extremely busy international airport with aircraft taking off every few minutes and we are in the direct flight path of this a short distance from the runway.
The weather is certainly very disappointing. We have had enormous rain squalls and the sky is very grey. It doesn’t look as if we shall be moving on from here until the end of the week at least as the seas are getting high again due to the strong trade winds.
Our next planned stop is Anguilla a small island linked with Nevis just a short sail from St Martin. We had planned to go from Antigua to Barbuda but because of weather conditions this plan had to be aborted sadly. We hope a similar fate does not happen. Hopefully we shall be able to visit Barbuda in the future as there is a huge frigate bird colony similar in size to the one in the Galapagos islands.
From Anguilla we shall then make the next big leap to the British Virgin Islands where we shall be hopefully participating in the Oyster Regatta from 5 – 10 April. This will be a very social affair which we are looking forward to very much.
Our departure from Simpson Bay Lagoon, St Maartens on Friday 19th March was spectacular. In order to catch the bridge opening at 9 am we were up early to prepare and pack away anything which would move. At 8.40am we pulled up the anchor and made our way towards the bridge. Above the sky was getting blacker and full of very heavy clouds, heavy rain would be due any minute. We had our oilies ready and donned these just in time as the heavens just emptied and continued for the next hour. Once we had passed through the opened bridge we had to go out into the bay and drop the anchor as it was impossible to see the coast – we had a total wipeout – and to make matters even more uncomfortable the sea was rather lumpy so we were rolling from side to side at a great angle.
Once the rain and sky had cleared we set off, still in our oilies as the boat was so wet, on our way to Anguilla just a short distance from St Maarten – 16 miles.
We were heading for Road Bay the port of entry on the north coast of this beautiful island. We were stunned by the beauty as we motored along the northern coast. There were miles and miles of deserted beaches with the most beautiful coloured sand and turquoise sea which was just like all the pictures we had seen. This really looked like paradise. The sea around St Maarten and Anguilla is very shallow for great distances, hence the reason for the colour of the sea. Along the northern coast of Anguilla we could see the reefs a short distance away with the swaying palm trees and the odd shipwreck.
We arrived in Road Bay shortly after lunch and dropped the hook (anchor) and were immediately greeted by a friendly turtle that came to visit us regularly each day with his friends. Pelicans flew above us suddenly swooping down into the sea to catch fish and frigate birds with white breasts soared above, whilst fish at least 2 ft long swam around the boat in crystal clear water. This is a marine park so there is no fishing allowed so the fish are quite safe.
Anguilla is one of Britain’s Overseas Territories. Unfortunately it appears to be unknown by the majority of us as only 6% of their tourists come from the UK the majority are from the States.
The population is very small but the island boasts two very large supermarkets where you could buy simply anything, including Marmite, parsnips and sprouts. One unfortunately had a lot of out of date cat food – almost a year out of date – but we were told by a local American that this is a regular occurrence. Needless to say I did not buy the cat food.
Whilst in Road Bay we met up again with Lucyna and Roger off Dreamcatcher and their friends Sue and Gary off Moonglade Horizons. Unknown to Brian they had arranged for us to all go out for supper for roast lamb and mint sauce and a big birthday cake for a belated 70th birthday celebration. He was very touched by the whole affair.
We were very lucky to be in Anguilla for their Jazz Festival and sampled some really good jazz along with a superb lunch of prawn scampi (simply huge) cooked in a spicy sauce. This all happened whilst we sat under a large awning kicking our feet in the powdery golden sand. We hired a car and spent the first day exploring the island and its beaches and on the second day we visited art galleries and museums.
Whilst in Anguilla we made a decision not to go any further north this year which would mean we would not make the Oyster Regatta in the BVIs in the first week of April. We both felt extremely tired having had some awful windward passages and the final passage to the BVIs would have to be an overnighter again and the thought of struggling in high seas and wind reminded us that we were here to enjoy ourselves and not stress ourselves.
Our visit to Anguilla came to an end when a rather large northerly swell through the Anegada Passage (the sea between the BVI’s and Anguilla) was forecast which would make the anchorage very uncomfortable so we upped the anchor and had a wonderful sail back to Simpson Bay Lagoon in St Maarten in time to catch the opening of the bridge at 17.30. This trip back was a real bonus as we met up with Americans, Carol and Bob off Starcruiser, a couple we had moored alongside in Turkey 2 years ago. The four of us had met up in Gibraltar and again in Las Palmas last year, but this was the first time we had managed to meet since crossing the Atlantic in spite of several attempts. This would possibly be the last time we would meet up as they are now returning to the States after 5 years cruising to resume work whilst we sail south so a party of 10 of us went to a superb Chinese restaurant for a very good meal, one of the best Chinese we have had.
On Saturday 27th March we set off from Simpson Bay Lagoon catching the 9 am bridge opening and set off in very light winds to the island of Saba. The northerly swell was still forecast but we thought with the light winds we would be able to risk getting to the island. Saba is just 5 square miles in size but rises to 3,000 feet and has no protection whatsoever. Unfortunately a few miles from Saba with a huge swell we realised it would not be safe so changed direction and headed for Statia arriving late afternoon.
Saba and Statia are Dutch islands. Passing down the eastern side of Saba we could see just how steep it was and looked with amazement at the many houses perched on the cliff side. One would have needed an exceptionally good vehicle to negotiate the steepness of the hills.
Statia was once the capital of the Indies back in the 1700s and all along the shoreside of Orange Baaie there were ruins of warehouses and merchants houses. Whilst here we took an island tour with a lovely guy by the name of Josser Daniels. He was 81 but looked more like a 60 year old. He told us of the remarkable history of the island and how in 1939 as a member of the boys brigade he was in attendance when President Roosevelt’s ship visited the island. We met his daughter at the museum which is housed in Admiral Rodney’s home. This house had been beautifully restored. Statia had played a key role in the American War of Independence and Roosevelt acknowledged this 150 years later by presenting the island with a plaque.
The majority of Statia’s population of 1600 are Seventh Day Adventists who regard Saturday as their sabbath. On Sunday morning we watched the ferry from St Kitts arrive along with a huge consignment of food and concrete blocks plus a large number of passengers who had come to shop. Statia is a tax free state and regularly Kittians come to buy food which they maintain is considerably better priced than their own. It looked to us as if they were buying the food the ferry had brought that very same morning from St Kitts. The quantities being bought were simply immense and once outside the supermarket the goods were then packed into special cases which the shoppers had brought over on the ferry. We were told that some shopkeepers come to buy stock for their small shops back in St Kitts.
Statians are very proud of their Queen and we were saddened to hear that Queen Juliana had died during the previous week. The Dutch Royal family regularly visit the Dutch Islands and we had lunch at The Old Gin House where the Dutch Queen stays when she visits the island.
This island has no tourism as such. It only has 3 hotels and these are all extremely small. The biggest attraction on the island is the huge oil refinery which earns megabucks. There were several huge tankers waiting to disgorge crude oil from Venezuela through the sophisticated pipeline linked to enormous red buoys out at sea. The oil is then refined and sold throughout the world providing the locals with many well paid jobs.
Statia was a wonderful surprise. We did not know what to expect and we were thoroughly charmed by its history, neat architecture and orderliness.
Our planned two days were up and the next passage was to St Kitts where we sailed in light winds and a nice flat sea. St Kitts is very green with acres of sugar cane growing everywhere. Sailing down the west side of the island it looked very much like the south coast of England but a little higher. We took a tour round the island with a very mediocre taxi/tour guide. He delighted in pointing out all the police stations so wondered if he had spent time in each of them. The eastern coast was dramatic with the ocean thrashing in across the enormous reefs. The highlight of the day was a trip to Ottleys Plantation House which was just exquisite. All the old plantation houses have been converted into smart hotels and this one was simply beautiful. The grounds had been extremely well planted and tended and the house itself had been painted a dreamy yellow with white verandas. The remains of the church had been made into a swimming pool and the surrounding buildings converted into a smart restaurant where there were masses and masses of cut flowers.
On our journey we stopped to watch harvested sugar cane being loaded onto the many wagons in the sidings waiting for the railway engine to collect to take to the refineries. St Kitts is the only island with a railway, which circumnavigates the island calling at all the plantations and refineries. There is a train which takes tourists on a similar route but we chose to see the island by taxi.
The capital of St Kitts is Basseterre a town with a fine mixture of English and French architecture. It is a great cruise liner stopover with many tax free shops where you can buy Portmeirion pottery etc.
Once back at the boat we moved down the coast a short distance to a deserted bay where we had very large fish swimming around the boat, they were so large we decided we would not like to swim. A pity as we have now got simply gorgeous weather, not quite right for sailing, but it is hot, not a cloud in the sky and little wind.
The next morning we made the short trip across to Charlestown the capital of Nevis. Nevis was wonderful. We took a taxi up to the Golden Rock hotel, once a sugar plantation, ordered lobster sandwiches which we packed in our rucksack, donned our walking boots and hiked up to the water source. It was a gruelling hike, particularly when we had not done any for weeks, but incredibly wonderful. There were wonderful views of Montserrat and St Kitts with Antigua in the distance. Pam the owner of the hotel supplied us with a hike/trail plan and we set forth climbing up to almost 1900 ft – we possibly started at 900ft. After a couple of hours we reached the point where the terrain became extremely dangerous with a sheer drop down a huge ravine from the very narrow track so we managed to perch ourselves on the side of the mountain, eat our fabulously decadent sandwiches and then descended back to the hotel to await our taxi back to the port. One of the reasons for the hike was to see the native wild greenback monkeys but alas there were none in the rainforest but we were lucky enough to see some just outside the hotel in the bushes.
From St Kitts we had planned to sail to Montserrat but decided that as there was no safe anchorage it would be better for us to return to Antigua to take a helicopter trip over the island to view the volcano. The plan was to spend a couple of days in Antigua but the helicopter was so booked up we had to wait several days before we could go but it was worth waiting for. The flight over the sea to Montserrat was breathtaking looking down on the turquoise blue sea littered with coral reefs which we had sailed over. The 26 miles took around 15 minutes. The sight of the volcanic destruction was indescribable. The island appeared to have been well populated with people living in decent sized, well built homes but there were only shells of homes left. Occasionally there would be a building with a white shiny roof but everything else was grey. There were no windows, doors or roofs on the buildings one could see. Others had been totally covered by ash. The only remains of a church were the steeple and castellated edges of a tower. Huge new cliffs had been formed with immense gorges running down them. One pyroclastic flow had travelled down to the sea increasing the beach by enormous proportions but the water was 900ft deep at the edge. Wild donkeys and goats ran around on areas which were now cool but it is impossible for anyone to get near to the volcano because of the heat. The safe zone is quite small in relation to the size of the island but those remaining are very safe in the northern part of the island where it is very green.
Montserrat, like Anguilla, is a British Overseas Territory and much of the rebuilding of the island is being done by the British Government with help from the EU. A new airport is being built with a huge amount of money from the EU.
Once our trip to Montserrat was over it was time to move on having said our goodbyes to all the ARC friends we met up with . We had planned to get to St Lucia by Saturday 10th April to surprise a friend who was having a 60th birthday party. This would mean a long haul, 250 miles, which we would do overnight on the Thursday and Friday. We had a wonderful sail from Jolly Harbour, Antigua to approximately 10 miles from Guadelope when the wind died and the direction changed to southeast – the direction we were heading. Our plans were scuppered so an alternative plan was devised to island hop our way down the chain using the engine until the winds change.
We are certainly learning the hard way, when we travelled north the winds were north easterlies and now we are moving south the have turned to. This is the normal weather pattern so we shall be watching very carefully next year.
From Guadelope we returned to Isles des Saintes to visit Bourg the capital of these small islands. We missed this very pretty place on our first visit. It is very much like being in rural France with the cows and goats in fields along with chickens and dogs roaming around and campers on the beach amongst the palm trees in small tents. This island is so small but what a lot they had packed into it. One of the reasons for visiting these islands was to see the iguanas which we had been led to believe lived in the wild. To ensure we saw at least one before we left we were up at the crack of dawn to walk up to the very large and well maintained Napoleon Fort where there were four in the grounds.
From here we motored to Dominica where we spent a couple of nights before having the barnacles scraped from the bottom of Songster and a wonderful sail at fast speeds to the south of Martinique. After a quick provision and a necessary trip to the hairdresser and beauty salon it was a fast sail back to Rodney Bay, St Lucia.
The weather over the past few weeks has been fantastic with little rain and we have had some wonderful sailing, particularly since the barnacles have been removed. The increase in speed was dramatic once this was done and, of course, the wind was also in the right direction for a change.
Whilst in Rodney Bay we have spent time cleaning up the salt water damage incurred several weeks ago on our treacherous trip from Guadelope to Antigua.
We now intend to cruise down the coast of St Lucia and then it will be all points southwards to Grenada.
A short stop in Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia arriving on Thursday 15th April after a wonderful sail from Martinique, to reprovision before setting off on our way down the west coast to explore.
Before we reprovisioned we spent time cleaning up the salt water shipped when we crossed to Antigua many weeks earlier in a huge sea and huge squalls. It was wonderful to go to the supermarket and find the shelves stocked with Waitrose goodies, ginger biscuits, mint sauce, horseradish sauce, cranberry sauce, tinned foods of all description, Seville marmalade, Waitrose weetabix, bleach etc. Needless to say I went mad. Apparently a huge container had arrived the previous Wednesday and only a small selection of Waitrose goods was on display. We had all been led to believe that our choice of food would be very limited but everything we want is available and if it isn’t one adapts.
Reprovisioned we set off down the coast of St Lucia to Soufriere a small fishing village just before the Pitons. We had visited the village on our tour of the island before Christmas but we now had time to walk around and witness the poverty in the streets. People were lying around on the pavements suffering from either an excess of drink or drugs and many were begging. It was a sad sight to see particularly when there is now a good deal of wealth on the island. The next day we set off to moor on a buoy between the Pitons. These are two huge volcanic conical mountains on the west coast of the island which drop down into the sea and are always included in any pictures or marketing material relating to the island.
Unfortunately our fridge played up whilst here and Brian was unable to fix it so we had to up sticks and sail back to Rodney Bay to find a fridge engineer. Soon after setting out from the mooring under engine a belt broke and we had to hurriedly put up the sails in windless weather in an effort to try to propel ourselves from the rocks. Whilst Brian fixed the belt I kept us moving, even though it was in the wrong direction at times just to get the wind. With the belt repaired we motor sailed back to Rodney Bay as fast as we could to catch the engineer before he finished for the day. He fixed the fridge the next day and things looked good so after we had both had a good massage with Deborah we left once more for the Pitons.
We had a couple of days at the Pitons and visited Colin Tennant’s (Lord Glenconner) Bang restaurant. He once owned all the land between the Pitons but has been selling it off for building sites to those with loads of money. We went to the weekly Wednesday party he holds where there were acrobats and fire eaters and everyone drank too much rum, particularly Brian who woke the next morning with a very thick head.
Finally we left St Lucia for St Vincent some 30 odd miles away and anchored in Wallilabou Bay where the film Pirates of the Caribbean was made. The islanders asked for the set to be left in spite of the film makers agreement to put everything back as it was. A fair amount of the wharf has been washed away in the heavy seas last year but a good deal still remains. It was incredible to see how realistic the stone bridge looked and the stone work on the other buildings. Everything apart from the wharf was built from plywood with a sheet of stone facia stapled to the front. It was genuinely hard to tell it was not real.
St Vincent is the capital of the marijuana growing trade in the Caribbean and much wealth has been created for some with growing and selling. Small motor boats with two enormous outboard engines, 2 x 250 hp, arrive in the middle of the night to collect and distribute somewhere else in the Caribbean. The small boats can go so fast that no one is able to catch them so a small boat may be moored near you at night but whilst one is asleep it quietly slips away and motors like mad to pick up its cargo and deliver it and then return a short while afterwards to the very same spot where you see it when wakening. There are many of these small boats with large engines up and down the chain.
St Vincent is a very mountainous island so you can imagine what the roads are like. Although it is only about 20 miles long you have to drive many more than that to weave your way around the mountains. The population was much larger than we had expected 110,000 with a huge number unemployed – all men. Everywhere we went there were large numbers of men just sitting around doing nothing whilst the women were working like mad. Women, from what we see on each island, are doing rather well. They have jobs and money so are now independent, they are not so interested in all these men who have one ambition – to father as many children as they can. St Vincent has been an agricultural island where the boys have had to work on the land rather than go to school so the level of literacy is not high. Regrettably the agricultural side here as with the majority of other islands is dying. Their main crops had been bananas which were shipped to the UK, their only market, but because of EU rules this is shortly to finish and each island is doing its best to generate tourism to fill the gap.
St Vincent is not an island many yachties visit because there have been boardings and robberies in the past. We felt quite safe but there were a great many boat boys who constantly pester trying to sell one thing or another. Although they lack education they are on the ball for making money for doing very little.
On our last night in St Vincent we bought tuna from one of the local fishermen which we barbecued. At long last we think we have now learned how to light the bbq and get the coals burning well.
From St Vincent we sailed 17 miles to Bequia, the largest island in the Grenadines, This passage is noted for being rather hairy as the Atlantic roars through between the islands. Bequia slopes south westerly so the west flowing current and easterly winds make for an interesting sail. We set off early from Wallilabou in very little wind with only the mizzen up but the wind increased and we were able to put out the genoa. With the wind coming from a north easterly direction, almost behind us, these two sails with an additional staysail would be sufficient. The staysail was taken out of the bag but the wind increased too much for us to fly it and we were pleased we only had two sails up. We had to reef in the genoa substantially as we neared Devil’s Table and the Bequia Blast which hit us at 35 knots.
Bequia is simply beautiful and we anchored in Admiralty Bay in beautiful turquoise water. The properties around the bay are brightly coloured with beautiful gingerbread woodworked lace awnings. There was certainly no lack of money here. Bequia is a mecca for yachts so there were plenty of facilities for reprovisioning etc. There is a population of 3,000 and everyone seems to be related to everyone. There is a very mixed European/Caribbean population with many Scottish descendants living here. The island is still allowed to whale hunt and able to kill four whales a year. This year fortunately they have not caught any. Our taxi driver’s uncle or great grandfather was the original whaler here on the island having originally come from Scotland. The boats used are just over 20ft long with 6 people on board. When a whale is caught the meat is shared amongst all the islanders and we are told it tastes very good rather like beef.
On a tour of the island we visited Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary where Orton King rescues baby turtles found on the beach and nurtures them until they are old enough to survive on their own in the big ocean. The islanders unfortunately still hunt the eggs to consume so he is fighting a very hard battle. He had over 150 Hawksbill and Greenbacks in tanks from a few months to several years, one being an 8 year old pet, which he takes on a tether when he goes diving. He told us he had appeared on Discovery channel so some of you may have seen him.
On our tour of the island our taxi driver Lubin took us to the home of the ex Prime Minister, Lubin’s uncle. He also took us to the village where his family, brothers, aunts, cousins, grandfather etc. etc. lived. The family have run a whaling museum for some years but at the time of our visit it was closed, however, in the village was a large sign with the names of all the whalers who had lost their lives hunting, their surnames were all the same Olivierre. We were a little puzzled how they could all be Scottish with a name like that.
Whilst in St Vincent I had decided that I would learn to scuba dive when I got to Bequia. This would be a huge step for me as I simply hate my face being covered and my ears getting wet. I took the first step by visiting the dive shop and making the appropriate enquiries but first I would have to have a test session to see how I would get on. The suggestion was that I have it there and then – this was just a bit too soon for me – fortunately after being asked a variety of medical questions I was let off and told to come back with a medical certificate. Phew! However, the suggestion was that I started by snorkelling so I bought all the gear and I cannot keep out of the water. Brian is amazed at my confidence when I was so frightened of trying initially. I have been snorkelling through the reefs winding my way through the corals and watching the wonderful assortment of beautifully coloured fish. We wish we had an underwater camera to take some shots. I will now learn to dive in Grenada. On one of our forays into the coral we had a rather large shock – fortunately we had just scrambled back into the dinghy – we turned round and there was a 2metre nurse shark chasing the dinghy and aiming for the outboard engine. When I looked we had a piece of rope hanging down and it was chasing it. As you can imagine we were pretty pleased we were not in the water at the time. We are told nurse sharks are only dangerous if provoked.
Bequia was delightful and we stayed several days longer than planned before heading south to the Tobago Cays. The Tobago Cays have nothing to do with Tobago and are a considerable distance away. They are part of the Grenadines and are managed by St Vincent. These Cays are literally a group of small uninhabited islands surrounded by an enormous area of coral reefs totally exposed to the Atlantic Ocean. It was stunning – just as one had seen in all the pictures and TV programmes golden sand with palm trees and turquoise sea and constant winds of 20 knots blowing. The snorkelling was simply wonderful. It was also a good place to be to conserve funds as there was nowhere to spend money apart from the occasional fish from the boat boys or a loaf of bread. After 5 nights we left as we needed to refuel. Our generator requires diesel to function and we were getting rather low so we set off for Petite Martinique some 8 miles away south of the Cays. Unfortunately due to the swell and current we were not able to anchor off Petite Martinique after we had refuelled but motored across to Petit St Vincent, commonly known as PSV. PSV is a very small island with an incredibly successful hotel where the residents live in small stone cottages dotted around the island. Each cottage has a flag pole where a flag is hoisted if they require room service. Yachties are allowed to walk along the gorgeous beach and whilst we were walking along we saw a golf buggy being driven with a waiter holding a tray at arms length. It is a pretty exclusive and expensive place but rather special and just the place if you want to get away from everything.
From PSV we sailed to Union Island where we had to check out of the Grenadines. A spectacularly beautiful island with wonderful reefs for snorkelling. We took a trip round the island in the back of a pick up and picked a day when it was extraordinarily hot and sunny. There were fields with cattle and gorgeous houses with beautifully stocked gardens. There are many ex pats returning from the UK and USA back to Union Island. Most are building massive houses in wonderful locations. Again we spent several more days than planned as we found the island and its people delightful. Once we had signed out we left for Carriacou about 8 miles south.
We had heard Carriacou was a friendly island but were a little disappointed when we arrived to find the customs etc. not as welcoming as expected apart from a really super guy who displayed a selection of trophies for music and sport in his office. Well Carriacou turned out to be extremely friendly and we stayed for 3 weeks. During this time we had Songster hauled out and her bottom cleaned and painted in the very efficient yard. Whilst Songster was out of the water we rented a small apartment from JP and Severine who run one of the local dive shops. It was situated just above the beach in a beautiful garden with an enormous flamboyan tree with bright yellow flowers. This tree normally has red flowers and is seen on many of the islands. The yellow variety was rather rare – in fact the only one of its type on Carriacou. The snorkelling was pretty good but I needed to go accompanied, having got too confident to just swim along the reef off the beach, which actually was full of wonderful fish, JP took me round to a bay where there was a coral reef known as the gardens. It was wonderful to see all the different types of coral from above – I now need to learn how to dive and see them eye to eye.
Carriacou is known for its boat building skills. There were several traditional wooden boats being repaired in the yard. When I say repaired they were having major repairs with half the hull being replaced. The boat builders skills are extraordinary as they go off to the forests and fell trees, which I believe are known as white cedar. This wood is chosen for its shape and it is then cut with a chain saw into shape and fixed to the boat. There are no plans or jigs it is all done by eye. Brian as you can imagine was totally fascinated and impressed by the work and got to know the men well.
The weather over the past month to 6 weeks has been fairly unstable with large quantities of rain. At this time of the year the islands are usually looking brown but they are all particularly verdant. There is no natural water in the Grenadines so everyone collects rain water from their roofs – as you can imagine their cisterns are all overflowing. Now that we have hit hurricane season every few days a tropical wave passes bringing plenty of rain. It is these tropical waves that turn into hurricanes if the conditions are what they need. The hurricane belt is between latitudes 1240’ and 19 north, however, our insurance company need us to be below 12.
We have now arrived in Grenada where we plan to stay until early August. Our first impression of St Georges the capital is of a Caribbean Dartmouth. It has many old brick and stone buildings with beautiful latticed canopies over the windows. Many of the old buildings have been or are being refurbished.
After a few days in St Georges to sort out mechanical problems and restock we shall sail to the south of the island to Mount Hartman from where Jackie will return to the UK for 3 weeks on 23rd June, whilst Brian remains in Grenada to cat sit and continue with the jobs he has on his list. From what we see and hear it is a very social place so it may be difficult to find the time to complete all the jobs as quickly as planned.
After a hectic 3 week trip to the UK I flew back to Grenada mid July along with my two grandsons Alex and Oliver who stayed on Songster for 2 weeks.
Whilst away in the UK Brian moved the boat from Prickly Bay Marina to Martins Marina in Mount Hartman Bay. Martins Marina is tucked away just over the hill from Prickly Bay but requires a good deal of navigation to get through the reefs safely. Before my return to the UK we had got to know Bert Charles well and he drove us around becoming our personal chauffeur. Brian asked him to crew when he moved the boat but found Bert knew a thing or two about boats and the reefs having previously been a charter skipper with Moorings.
The marina has around 50 boats of varying size and value and there were possibly another 30 anchored in the bay. The bay was totally surrounded by mangroves on two sides but on the third there were exquisite homes, one were told is owned by Oprah Winfrey.
Whilst Alex and Oliver were here we had an extremely busy time touring the island and hiking through the rain forest. On our trip around the island we visited a nutmeg factory, cocoa plantation, chocolate factory and rum distillery.
The nutmeg factory was reminiscent of something from an old film. There were simply hundreds of old type Hessian sacks filled with nutmegs stacked from floor to the roof. Nutmegs are harvested throughout the year so farmers arrive daily with their nuts and we arrived as they queued to receive their payment cheques. The nutmeg grows in a similar fashion to a horse chestnut in a yellow casing which bursts open ejecting the nut which falls to the ground with a bright red lace cover. The lace cover once dried becomes the spice mace. The yellow case in which the nut grows is also harvested and used in the making of nutmeg jam, nutmeg syrup and nutmeg jelly.
We were surprised to find out that mace is used in so many products, particularly cosmetics and toiletries. Nutmeg is also used to produce an oil which has proved good for aches and pains.
After visiting the nutmeg factory our driver, Winston, took us to a local restaurant for lunch. Before getting there we had to find somewhere to park in Grenville, Grenada’s second town, which was extremely busy. Our parking lot was in a rather dubious area where there were a number of strange people and, so I am told by everyone else in the party, a great deal of marijuana being smoked. I still cannot identify the aroma.
Once parked, we made our way to Imagination, a restaurant right on the Atlantic Ocean. Along with all the locals we took a number and waited for it to be called out so that we could make our choice of food. Imagination was seriously busy and there was plenty of helpful advice from everyone telling us what things were and what we should try. We all made our choice and tucked into the grub. Along with a large Coca Cola each and four good meals our food bill came to 32$EC – roughly £6.50 for the four of us. What a bargain and this was one of the favourite meals the boys had.
After lunch we set off again to visit the Grenada Chocolate factory. This was a good deal smaller than Cadbury World. In fact it all happened in a very small house and was run by a delightful Rastafarian who had gone to the States to learn how to make chocolate. This is serious chocolate. Needless to say we all tucked into the samples he gave us and then went on to purchase more.
From the Chocolate factory we then headed to the cocoa plantation, we were not sure if we did this the right way round but it was fascinating to see how that big reddish pod opens to produce a quantity of white sticky beans which are initially left to ferment before being dried in the sun in huge racks which were on tracks so that they could be hauled in and out when the rain threatened. This reminded me of a cricket pitch when a cover is pulled across when it rains. Once the beans were thoroughly dried they were then despatched to the chocolate factory to be roasted, ground and made into chocolate.
As you are all aware rum is a West Indian favourite so we looked forward to the visit to the distillery. Little had changed over the years other than new distillation equipment. The original water wheel still worked powering the cane crusher and the liquid throughout the process was carried along gulleys which resembled rat infested sewers however the end product at 150˚ proof, I was told, was good. Not something we shall make a habit of drinking but we bought a bottle – perhaps we shall use it to wash the paint brushes in!!
Our island tour also covered walks to waterfalls and watching the wild monkeys that conveniently arrived through the trees to see us.
Our trip to the rain forest was much more of an adventure setting off around 9.30ish along with friends Bill and Lorraine off Shardoe to travel to the Anse Etang Reserve where Desmond, our guide, parked the bus and we walked a loop of just under 3 miles. We set off through a farm of bananas, papaya, nutmegs, sugarcane, plantain and many other spices meeting several of the workers on route, one who insisted on having his photo taken with a number of us. He would have looked more at home on the Pirates of the Caribbean set in his red headscarf and holding a very large cutlass. Further on in the walk we came across a guy doing the laundry in a rather dirty looking stream, however the washing looked very clean and the whites glowed – not sure what his secret was.
We walked to the Seven Sisters falls, a difficult hike for two non active lads, but they were incredible climbing up rocks and sliding down hills as we made our way through the forest. On one of the declines Alex slipped from top to bottom tearing his trousers, much to his embarrassment, from the waist to the bottom of the leg. We had to cross several rivers either by wading or using large slippery stepping stones which were very uneven without flat sides. The hike progressively became more difficult beyond the Seven Sisters when we had to climb vertical clay covered cliffs/hills which were extremely wet and slippery. Nature had looked after us though as everywhere we climbed there were strong roots to use as handholds to pull ourselves up or help ourselves down. Paths in places were very narrow with huge ravines below us. At the end of the 5 and a half hours we were pleased to see daylight. We were all thoroughly tired and exceedingly hungry so were very pleased when Desmond went for the minibus whilst we tucked into good old McVities Digestive biscuits, bananas and water. After such a strenuous walk we all thought we would be stiff and sore the next day but there were no aches and pains.
One of our favourite places in Grenada is a restaurant called Aquarium. It is situated on the most picturesque beach and has wonderful food. We ate there several times moving onto the beach for a swim and snorkel after eating. It does resemble the picture postcard settings one sees in the holiday brochures. One of the boys favourite restaurants was the Little Dipper in Woburn where they took me for a farewell supper and also to celebrate my birthday. There we had breadfruit chips with a very hot sauce made from a very secret recipe and Creole food.
We finally said goodbye to them on 27th July after they had said their goodbyes to the many friends they had made, particularly the taxi drivers with whom they regularly played and beat at dominoes. We had a wonderful time together and look forward to their return.
Tuesday 3rd August was a special day for us when we were invited to attend the funeral of George Cumberbatch’s mother. George works in and around the marina providing boat services and a good bus service several times a week. We felt very special having been asked to go along with 7 other yachties, including our nextdoor neighbours Carol and Bill off Hope. George drove us to St Pauls Anglican Church high in the hills above St Georges where we walked past the body cosseted in silk in her coffin. The church was packed to capacity to celebrate the life of 90 year old Agnes who had brought up 8 children whilst working in the cane fields. The singing was amazing and there was no accompaniment. After the service we followed the coffin to the cemetery which was a good walk away whilst jolly hymns poured out of the hearse making the walk become more like a dance. After a short service here we all walked the short distance from the cemetery to the local community hall for ‘Happy Hour’ where we each received a plate of food and a bottle of drink. The hospitality was stunning, we were made to feel very welcome, meeting the very large extended family and in turn we felt very privileged to have been invited.
On Thursday 5th August we celebrated my birthday by dining at the Beach Hotel Restaurant along with Bill and Carol, from Hope, our next door neighbours. This restaurant was situated in beautiful surroundings on the beach. From this night onwards we did not stop until Midnight Tuesday 10th as Carnival in Grenada had begun. A group of us went to the Soca finals on the Friday night. This is typical Caribbean music played at ‘jump ups’ which has grown from Calypso and is extremely popular. The National Stadium was simply packed to capacity and the arena was full of people jumping to the music. The atmosphere was electric with everyone waiving the bandanas we had all been given on entering the stadium. Saturday night was Panorama, the Steel Band finals and Sunday the Calypso finals. Calypso appears to be a dying art and all the songs sung were politically biased. The crowd loved the songs and the lyrics but sadly we were unable to understand as they were sung in their local dialect. At 4.15am Monday morning the alarm rung telling us it was time to get up to go to Jouvert. Jouvert is a procession of people who cover themselves in either diesel oil or coloured paint ‘chipping’ along to the Soca music. We are really still not sure what the procession is in aid of but everyone was having a great time and we ended up covered in poster paint which is firmly embedded in our old clothes. The music was loud and we sat with the locals on a wall by a huge puddle in front of the judges. The puddle was frequently used to jump in and splash those nearby. We believe the groups covered in the oil represented the devil and the custom has something to do with their African roots. We discovered afterwards that they cover their bodies with Vaseline before using the engine oil to make it easier to remove, this involved both male and female. There appeared to be a theme throughout portraying corruption by the Grenadian Prime Minister and jibes and President Bush and Tony Blair. One exhibit was 2 guys in one costume with two heads, one being Bush the other Blair, marked the Siamese twins, two bodies, two heads – only one brain. Even in Grenada they have their own opinion of world politics.
After a breakfast at the Carenage Café we caught our bus back to the Marina for a well earned rest. There were other events organised for the day but these were washed out by Hurricane Charlie which passed nearby. We were grateful for the respite. Tuesday morning we hit the roads again to watch the parade. Soon after the start we were hit by a huge storm and everyone ran for cover. It was remarkable how everyone disappeared so quickly and soon after the rain stopped the sun appeared along with the parade and the crowds. The sun shone brilliantly for the rest of the day highlighting the wonderful colours of the costumes. Tuesday night finished with the parade which was due to be held on Monday evening. This was loud Soca music and revellers waiving coloured lights and banners.
The whole Carnival was a happy event with everyone enjoying themselves and no sign of very drunk people.
After a good nights rest it was time to start preparations for our passage to Trinidad on the Thursday night. After 2 months in Grenada it was time to say our goodbyes to the many friends we had made. We simply loved Grenada and look forward to our return there very soon.
The Caribbean weather has taken an enormous toll on Songster and she now needs some serious work to be done. Trinidad has a huge number of services set up for yachties so on Thursday 12th August around 6pm we set off for an overnight sail to Trinidad along with friends Robert and Sue from Sunday’s Child. Trinidad looked spectacular as we sailed into the Gulf of Paria from the Caribbean. We could see the coast of Venezuela just a few miles away quite clearly. This is not swimming country as the water is a very strange colour. Trinidad is very rich in oil and natural gas so there are oil rigs everywhere. The Orinocco is not too far away from where a great deal of flotsam flows - some of this reached Grenada.
Our first two weeks in Trinidad were spent researching contractors. We finally made our decision on who would do the job and in less than 24 hours we were hauled out of the water onto the land and the work was started.
Since that date work has continued at a very steady pace and Songster now has a nice new shiny hull. The contractor and his men have been simply wonderful throughout whilst we live on board climbing a 12ft ladder.
The next job is to remove the old wooden deck which is to be replaced with a nice new shiny fibreglass job with a nonslip surface. Having a teak deck and a dark blue hull are not good in tropical temperatures as both are great heat attractors so the decision was taken to keep the hull dark blue but to remove the wooden deck which is extremely difficult to walk on without shoes when the sun shines on it. The removal of the deck will possibly be the dustiest part as they sand off the wooden remains and then sand the fibreglass between each layer of paint.
The interior of Songster is not being overlooked as the saloon table is to be restyled with a new top and the rear cabin is to be slightly changed. Brian has had to remove a huge locker which ran the entire length of the saloon in order to get to a very serious problem we had. Once Songster was removed from the water two largish indentations appeared on the starboard side which would need to be looked at. This was the reason for the removal of the locker and the linings of the inside of the hull. Unfortunately the chainplate knees, these are the large pieces of fibreglass fixed to the side of the hull which hold the main shrouds to hold the mast upright, had pulled away from the hull. This had been caused by overtightening of the rigging by Oyster in Las Palmas – Oyster manufactured Songster. However, the problem was fixed by a very competent fibreglasser who left the inside of the boat immaculate.
Our departure from Grenada was well timed as the island initially felt the effects of Hurricane Earl and then, of course, it was totally devastated by Ivan. Since Ivan our lives in Trinidad have been consumed with helping and rescuing both yachties and local Grenadians. The amount of foodstuffs, fuel and other needed items donated has been tremendous. Many boats and yachts have gone to Grenada laden to the gunwales to distribute and help but the stories coming from those who had managed to get to Trinidad is not good with looting and crime taking place.
Life here in Trinidad is wonderful, although it does have a serious crime problem. One is constantly being warned by locals to take care and not to carry vast quantities of cash. Trinidad is a very wealthy island with huge oil and gas resources but sadly the wealth does not seem to be distributed to its residents. The minimum wage here is 8$TT which is equivalent to less than 80p an hour with the maximum being 10$TT. Although much of the food appears reasonably priced for us it is very expensive for someone on such meagre wages. We are trying to teach ourselves that £10 to us is equivalent to £100 to them.
Trinidad is the industrial and commercial centre of the Caribbean with little in the way of tourism. The population is split approximately 40% Indian, 40% African and a small percentage each of Chinese, Syrian and Lebanese. The Indian population are by far the hardest workers and most educated with nearly all the key professional positions held by them. The Chinese are also very industrious and run many of the shops whilst the Syrian and Lebanese are the richest. They control the majority of big businesses – particularly the huge shopping malls and have huge wealth which remains within their community.
Trinidadians are a great mixture of races which in turn have produced a tremendous number of exceptionally handsome people – many are just simply stunning. Eating out as you might imagine from this mixture is wonderful.
So far we have managed two organised trips with a third planned next week. Our first took us on a tour of Port of Spain the capital of the island and then on to the Angostura Bitters factory where every true bottle of Angostura is made. Port of Spain is a very large city with is Oval cricket ground, Whitehall – the parliament buildings and many other British named sites. The second trip was to the Tar lake in the south of the island. On our journey we experienced torrential rain and flooding which meant the lake was flooded when we arrived but our guide walked us across the lake to show us the various stages of the natural production before we waded through 3ft deep water back to our coach – this was water covering the lake.
This we believe is the biggest Tar lake in the world and its biggest customers are Britain and Germany – not surprised by Britain being the largest customer but was surprised that Germany may dig as many holes as Britain in their roads! Nowadays synthetics are added to the tar to make it last longer so production and export of the product has reduced considerably. After the visit to the lake we then travelled on to a bird sanctuary situated in the middle of a huge oil refinery. Here we saw many of the indigenous birds which are being bred and then released into the wild to secure the breed survival.
Many millions of years ago Trinidad was once part of the South American continent so there is a wealth of wildlife particularly birds of brilliant colours. In our spot of the boatyard we have green parrots flying overhead whilst huge vultures soar in the thermals.
Whilst work on the boat and problems in Grenada continue shore trips have been put on the back burner but we soon hope to go to the east of the island to explore the Navira swamp to find the indigenous red howler and capuchin monkeys.
Just to put everyone’s mind at rest we are quite safe and secure in Trinidad. Although we are still in the hurricane period we hopefully will be spared any serious weather problems. Plans after Trinidad have not yet been decided but as the weeks and work progress I am sure something will develop.
Since 7th September 2004 when hurricane Ivan struck Grenada our lives have changed considerably. We feel lucky to have made the decision to leave Grenada when we did. Grenada was a hypnotic island. Its people and its beauty were captivating and we are saddened by the devastation we see on pictures of its current state. Whilst in Grenada we were being advised by locals not to head to Trinidad as crime was rife, we might have also decided to get our refit done in Grenada but we wanted to price the jobs in Trinidad before making a decision. Fortunately for us Trinidad proved to come up with all the goodies and although there is crime like most other places we are quite safe here in Chaguaramas.
Chaguaramas, situated in the northwest corner of the island, was a major American base during the last world war but today is a National Park. Today it is a haven for yachties with 10 marinas and yards along the bay. It is also a major port from where supply vessels are restocked before going off to the many oil rigs in the bay. There is also a huge fishing fleet.
The facilities for yachtsmen are second to none and it is possible to get any type of boat job done here.
Work has progressed well on Songster and we are now on the homeward leg – thank goodness. Her teak decks have been removed after a great deal of sweat by the local guys who have worked on her. Working in temperatures of 95F+ are even jolly hard for them and iced water is kept on tap for them. Teams are used for each task and our contractor project manages the whole thing. Songster’s decks are now shiny oyster white with patches of non skid surface in the important areas where we need to stand to do tasks. The next stage is for the joiner to invade Songster with his crews to fit the new teak decking in the cockpit and the toe rail around the gunwales of the boat. Internally he has to refit our saloon table which has had a face lift and redesign the bed in the stateroom. We now await the arrival of a new mattress along with the reshaped sofas and fitted carpets.
Life has been fairly hard going during all the work as we chose to live on board rather than rent an expensive ill equipped apartment where pets were not allowed. Climbing a 12ft ladder is not new to us having done it in a number of yards but to do it for a few months was a first. The advantage of living on board is that you are there when the men arrive in the morning. By spending time with them we have got to know them and their families and have learned an awful lot about local life in Trinidad. We are on hand if there are any problems which is a great help but the downside is the nightly trip to the loo. However, as you might imagine, it did not take me long to solve the problem as a trip to the restroom is a good cycle ride away. To do this in the middle of the night would involve dressing etc. etc. The answer has been a bucket and an empty 2lt chlorine bottle which is concealed in a large bag each morning for emptying at the loo. Needless to say it is always my job to empty it. We have just prayed we did not fall foul of a stomach bug!!
During all the work we managed to find time to rent a car to visit the north of the island where there are some wonderful beaches. One day we visited Maracas Beach which is famous for its Bake and Shark meals. These are delicious. They are similar to a burger but the bun has been deep fried like a donut then filled with a piece of lightly fried battered fish (supposedly shark) and then filled with as much salad and hot dressing as you can put in. We await the day when we can return for another. From Maracas we drove back through the rain forests which extend for miles and miles. It was all so remote we kept wondering if we were on the right road but around 4 hours later we eventually arrived back at Chaguaramas tired and weary. One Saturday we were up at 4am to go to a swamp area on the east side of the island. It was a wonderful drive at that time of the morning and we stopped off at a beach around 7am to have breakfast which had been prepared by the tour operators wife. The beach extended for miles and miles, but was littered by huge tree trunks which had blown in with a storm the night before. Surprisingly this litter had been brought by the tide from the Orinoco. In Chaguaramas we often get huge amounts of litter coming in with the tide from the Orinoco but for it to flow round to the eastern side of the island is staggering. We arrived at the beach just as a group of people from the New Testament Church of God arrived for a couple of baptisms in the sea. They told us there would be a service lasting around two hours. After a breakfast of delicious spicy sandwiches we drove on to the reserve to pick up a boat which would take us through the swamp to remote islands within to see the red howler monkeys and the white capuchins. Unfortunately in spite of tracking them through the rain forest they remained very firmly in the canopy at a very safe distance where we were unable to get any photos of them. However, we saw a number of interesting birds including large Amazonian parrots which are being bred on the island and then released. After an exhausting morning we then set off in our mini bus to the beach to eat our picnic lunches but not before the men had thrown sufficient pieces of wood at an avocado tree in the forest to supply each one of us with a wild avocado. Each fruit fell like a lead weight completely undamaged. After a few days in the boat these were ready to eat – quite delicious. Avocados are very plentiful. They are quite large with dark green shiny skins and have a huge stone in the middle, far bigger than I have seen previously.
Because of the mix of races here there is a vast array of textiles especially from the east which are simply wonderful. Those of you who have sewn in the past would be amazed at the fabrics here. There is one shop which just sells notions – cottons, buttons, zips etc. etc. It must have several million buttons in stock as I have never seen so many different shapes, sizes and colours. All these shops are filled with shop assistants who look after the dozens of shoppers. Everyone seems to either make their own clothes or have them made. Needless to say, in spite of previous mishaps with clothes being made in foreign countries I have weakened and filled my wardrobe with sundresses, trousers, shirts and dozens of new bikinis. So far Brian has not benefited but hopefully will once he is able to choose some materials.
Well it was budget day here on 9th October. The Prime Minister is also the Finance Minister so he presented the budget. Old Age Pensioners have had a increase from 1000$TT to 1150$TT per month and the minimum working wage has been increased from 8$TT to 9$TT an hour. An OAP here receives just around £114 per month. Prices for us are relatively cheap but for someone on an income of £114 a month it must be hell.
Time passes extremely quickly in Trinidad as there are so many things to do. I have now started playing bridge regularly once a week and each Sunday afternoon play competitive Mexican Train dominoes. In between these two there are trips to supermarkets, shopping trips to malls, visits to the beauty salon and of course trips to the dressmakers. Whilst here we have both visited the local dentist who turned out to be a bit of a butcher. Brian needed urgent treatment for toothache and I chose to have a crown on a tooth which had a root canal filling done by a charming dentist in St Lucia. My treatment has not yet been completed but after the first visit I emerged from the surgery with my tongue badly cut and my face extremely swollen – and that was not the side of the tooth having the treatment. Whilst trying to make moulds of my teeth the dentist chose trays which were made for the biggest mouth in the Caribbean and each time he placed them in my mouth he squeezed my cheeks underneath them. Sadly he also could not get the material he was using to set so I sat with my mouth full of a huge metal tray filled with gunge whilst he pressed very firmly with all his strength under my chin. This he did several times before he was finally happy. It took my face and neck almost 2 weeks to recover by which time I had plucked enough courage to return to the surgery to complain. Hopefully the next and final appointment will be with another dentist in the practice.
Whilst I have been playing Brian has been working hard on Songster. The generator which packed up on our Atlantic crossing was finally condemned and after much deliberation a new one ordered which recently arrived. There was much excitement when we heard it had arrived from Seattle at Trinidad and early one morning Brian was taken by the dealer to customs to retrieve it. Sadly this took all day to do and Brian returned to the boat exhausted after being driven miles to a bonded warehouse to collect a form which then had to be brought back to Chaguaramas to be stamped and signed by the Customs office. Once signed and stamped the form had to be returned to the bonded warehouse where a guy then refused to accept the form as he did not recognise the signature, well after many phone calls he finally left the warehouse with the generator which had to be taken back to the customs office here in Chaguaramas for them to inspect it. Once inspected by them it was then delivered to the yard where a group of workers lifted it off the truck. We had waited a good month for this to arrive so you can imagine the excitement and disappointment for Brian when taking off the wraps to then find the wrong generator had been sent. The dealer has been wonderful and the problem will be rectified.
How time flies. It is now over a year since we cast off our dock lines and set sail across the Atlantic from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria arriving in St Lucia after 2,800 odd miles on 18th December 2003. Unfortunately we are unable to send Christmas cards this year so a message via the web site is our only way of sending a Christmas message.
Since the beginning of 2004 we have sailed to 20 odd islands in the Caribbean before heading to Trinidad mid August for a refit on Songster. Well we only intended to come to Trinidad to have a new deck but have ended up having a refit so Songster will by the beginning of 2005 look very smart once more ready to take off to pastures new in the western Caribbean before we head westwards to the Pacific and beyond.
Whilst I sit typing this we have men sanding the new teak deck in the cockpit. Dust is flying everywhere through every tiny orifice it can find.
Life has been hectic whilst here. Trinidad is the most cultural of all the islands we have been to with a high proportion of highly educated persons. Life is similar to back in Europe with large shopping malls decorated exquisitely at the moment for Christmas. There is an abundance of everything here and a visit to the supermarket is very similar to a trip to Waitrose back home.
We have begun to go to the movies each week to a huge multiplex where the choice of movie is extensive. We are able to buy our popcorn, fries etc and take them in to the film on a tray which is then placed in the requisite hole between the comfy reclining chairs. There have been many concerts for us which has been wonderful and we have been able to celebrate Divali with the Hindus and Thanksgiving with the Americans.
Trinidad is a beautiful island and has many beautiful talented people. We can see how easy it is to become part of the population and remain here.
Life has been pretty hard living on the boat whilst all the work has been going around us but we think it will be worth it at the end of the project. We will be totally watertight once more. Caribbean weather does not do a boat any favours. We have had slow leaks in various places which had caused damage to interior woodwork but now that the teak deck has been removed and the thousands of screw holes sealed damage will be limited.
Work hopefully will be completed in the New Year and we shall ‘splash’ around 6th January. After a couple of weeks in the water to check that all systems are working we shall set sail for Los Testigos, a Venezuelan island around 50 miles off the coast and approx 80 odd miles from Trinidad, and then on to Margarita and Puerto la Cruz. After so much work we need a long rest so will take the rest of 2005 making our way westwards through the Dutch Antilles and other Venezuelan islands before transiting the Panama and crossing the Pacific in 2006. Well that is the plan at the moment but as with all plans that could change once we are afloat!
Henry and Lily have survived unscathed through all the work. Life for them is little different apart from the boat being very stable and there is rather more noise. However, they like to spend as much time on the deck watching what is going on. I am sure they will be very pleased when the huge plastic tunnel covering Songster is removed and they can watch the parrots which fly over us each afternoon.
We have made many yachtie friends here, many of whom will be sailing westwards, so we shall meet up with them somewhere. The world is so small. Only a few weeks ago Tim Hughes walked past and couldn’t believe his eyes at seeing Songster. As an insurance assessor he had flown to Trinidad to look at boats brought from Grenada after hurricane Ivan. Tim had been in charge of a boatyard in Devon which had worked on Songster when Brian first bought her in the mid 90s. Needless to say the two men were inseparable for a couple of days. Only yesterday we had someone call to say he was a friend of Ray and Carol Clarke, our friends who surprised us in Northern Cyprus a couple of years ago. Ray and Carole have a boat identical to Songster.
Sadly we have had to say goodbye to a number of friends who are sailing north up through the islands but we are sure that our paths will cross at some time in the future.
The next few weeks running up to Christmas will be socially very full. However, we are looking forward very much to celebrating it here in Trinidad but will of course miss seeing our families and friends back home.
We would like to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy Christmas and a very prosperous 2005.
The festivities of Christmas are long over and we worked like mad to prepare Songster for relaunching on Thursday 27th January 2005. She now sits proudly in the water at Coral Cove Marina the envy of all around us.
Our Christmas, and the run up to it, was typical of home. Shops and shopping malls were simply beautifully adorned with Christmas trees and decorations reminding us of snow, Santa and reindeers. People shopped and spent huge sums of money on computers, DVD players, TVs and all the paraphernalia kids need today, including vast wardrobes. Fantastic Christmas music was played almost 24 hours a day on local radio – tunes we knew well or tunes which were typically Trinidadian.
Our celebrations started a week before Christmas when we attended the most wonderful concert at the Queens Hall, along with many Trinis, to hear the Lyddians Christmas concert. This choir included a pan orchestra (steel pans), tassa group (Indian drums), Perang group (South American band and singers) Indian dancers and a wonderful male tap dancer. This could have been any show performance from the West End receiving standing ovations throughout. On Christmas Eve we attended a large yachtie pot luck party along with 100 others. Crews Inn, the rather smart resort with a marina, hosted the event in what is called the Village Square, providing us with roast turkey and ham, whilst each yacht provided a dish sufficient to feed 12 people. It was a wonderful evening made even more enjoyable by the Yankee Swap. We had never experienced this type of present giving before. Each boat took along a gift in exchange for a number. The numbers were called out in order and we then had the choice of taking a gift from the pile or choosing a gift which someone previously had chosen, this was allowed to happen up until the third chooser when the gift was then frozen and that chooser was the final owner. Bottles of rum were the most popular gift with each and every one of them changing hands for the maximum number of times. It was great fun with many starting with a bottle of rum but ending up with a bottle of engine oil as their replacement.
Christmas Day was celebrated in similar pot luck style with 16 friends in a bamboo shack with a roof made of palm fronds. A turkey was cooked by one boat, another produced the ham and the rest of us made veggies or puds. I made two Christmas puddings and a huge pot of spiced red cabbage and loads of roast potatoes. The setting was idyllic near a creek but in truth it was in the boat yard just a short distance from boats on chocks having a break from the contractors for a few days.
On Sunday 26th we spent the evening with friends Elsie and Chris sharing their M & S Christmas pudding, pulling our Tom Thumb crackers, wearing silly hats and sharing the extraordinarily funny jokes from the crackers. On Bank Holiday Monday we drove off to the rather smart golf course from where we walked to Edith Falls to see and hear the howler monkeys. Their howls were aggressive and impressive. After this 4km hike we drove off to the beach to join masses of the locals for a dip on the north coast. The water was chilly, possibly because the weather is just so hot, but we soon acclimatised and enjoyed ourselves.
New Year was spent at the Crowne Plaze Hotel, Port of Spain along with Chris and Elsie. A relaxing 3 days and two nights, sleeping in an extremely large comfy bed and luxuriating in a bath for the first time for months was a great treat. The only downer was the weather which suddenly changed and for 21 days from New Year the rain did not stop. In the year we have been in the Caribbean we had not experienced rain quite like this. It was torrential and caused numerous floods and landslides. Fortunately we were quite safe but we lived in wellies and oilies.
The weather changed for the better at the end of January and the trade winds are blowing a coolish breeze, well if you can call it cool. The temperature is 32C + and humidity at almost 100%. It takes a good deal of stamina to spend time in the heat of the midday sun. We have to keep the boat shut up and the air conditioning going 24 hours a day to keep the boat cool. It only takes minutes for the hot air to fill the boat through open hatches.
Soon after New Year the plastic tent had to be removed from the boat as it had almost been demolished by high winds and rain. Once that was removed there was no protection from the rain which made life difficult for the workmen to finish off. However, we finally made our eventual launch date of 27th Jan having postponed it 3 times. Songster really does look wonderful externally and is almost completed down below.
Brian did a wonderful job fitting the new generator which purrs quietly away. The guy who commissioned it gave him a glowing report saying it was the best installation he had ever seen. Brian’s head was so large he had difficulty getting out of his ‘shed’.
The next few weeks will be spent here in the Marina packing everything away into its permanent home before we do major restocking for a trip to Guyana with a group of other boats. Sailboats are unheard of in Guyana with the first four arriving last March. One of these four boats is returning to build a house there and a group of us are accompanying them. This will be very much of a trailblazing exercise which we are thoroughly looking forward to. The plan is to sail along the north coast of Trinidad before turning south down the east coast of the island and on to Guyana where we shall travel 35miles inland up the Essequibo River. This is the second largest river in the world. During the several weeks we shall be staying we will travel to the interior to visit the famous Kaieteur Falls where water falls over 800 ft into a narrow jungle clad gorge.
Carnival time in Trinidad was the first week in February so everyone was partying nightly. We attended two concerts over the weekend which had us jumping, dancing and chipping to the music. We missed the carnival procession but went to the final show where the winners of the various music competitions performed.
It is hard to believe that we have now been back in the water for over 5 weeks and finally untied the mooring lines yesterday 6th March in order to have trials before we leave for Guyana on 10th. There is still a list of jobs to be done many of which seem to take a lot longer than we planned for but we have now got to the stage where many of these can wait until we are in a wonderful anchorage where we will not be distracted nor have dust blowing around. Brian had been frustrated by a job which he anticipated taking 2 hours to do but it took over two days. He just could not work out why the resited water and fuel gauges would not work. After much sweat and tension they now work. I have been trying to splice some braided ropes using printed instructions. It was impossible even after seeking the help of fellow cruisers here. The finished job did not come up to Brian’s approval so the job will have to be done again tomorrow!! The fact that I had also under measured a number of ropes which we have just replaced at great expense did not help either.
As planned we did leave the marina on 6th March. It was an early start in the morning to get the boat cleaned and packed away in time for the departure but like all sailing plans we ran a little late. The engine purred sweetly and we just could not believe we were moving once again after 7 months in Trinidad. We had hoped to motor to a group of small islands but our depth gauge for some reason has decided not to work after all these months of non usage so it is off to find a replacement today. The waters are too shallow to risk moving with out knowing the depth of water that it is an essential part of our kit. So we headed for the pretty anchorage off the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association where we had a peaceful night without air con breathing in fresh warm air.
All the friends we have made here in Trinidad are moving on either westwards or north. Many we will meet up with later in the year but on Thursday 10th March 2005 we shall set sail with a completely new set for our 5 days passage to the Baganara Resort on the banks of the Essequibo River, Guyana, where we shall anchor in front of the hotel.
Lunchtime today we are off to a reception to meet 4 Guyanian Government Ministers, one being the Tourism Minister. Our trip is being feted by the country and it looks as if we shall get a wonderful reception. The six boats involved are already planning sailing up the river complete with dress flags so we shall look a wonderful sight. Baganara is 35 miles inland. The Essequibo is the second biggest river in the world and is 20miles wide at the estuary. In some other places it is 8 miles wide and has white sandy beaches. This is an off the beaten track adventure where sailors do not normally venture – primarily because there are no yachtie facilities, but Guyana is keen to promote the idea as it is well below the Hurricane Belt which we and our insurance companies are all familiar with. We are extremely excited about going and keep our fingers crossed that we are able to get a replacement depth gauge this morning.
On 10th March 2005 after checking out and filling with fuel and water we finally left Trinidad after 7 months. There had been several meetings, some attended by representatives from Guyana, before the flotilla comprising Songster, Mood Indigo, Angel, Tao, Good Time Charlie, Magic Dragon and Mistral set sail for Guyana. Our passage took us along the north coast of Trinidad out into the Atlantic where we would head south east through the many oil fields. The going was tough after so long without sailing. The plan was to hit the tide right as we left in an effort to benefit from some easterly flow but that never seemed to happen and we battled against strong currents and wind until early next morning when we reached the north east point of Trinidad. Our next battle would be to cope with the Guyana current which flows northerly at 4 knots and we were heading south. The passage soon reminded us of our introduction to the Atlantic a few years ago as we were thrown around the interior of the boat and bruises in strange places appeared. Lily and Henry complained bitterly even though they have four feet.
Before the passage I had prepared sufficient meals to cover us for the journey but neither of us felt like eating, our appetites and sea legs failing us. Night two, as we passed the Orinoco delta 50 miles offshore, was reminiscent of going through many washing machine cycles. However the next day there was brilliant sunshine and the sea settled into a more comfortable swell. We continued to motor sail until late afternoon when we thought the wind was sufficient to push us along so the engine was turned off. It was soon evident that with the strong current this would be impossible. The key was turned on the engine but nothing happened – our starter motor had failed. Fortunately the wind increased and we continued towards our destination 180 miles away making good speed and time arriving at a rendezvous point at 01.00 15 miles off shore with the Guyana Coastguard who came to our rescue. On a very dark night in a heavy sea a tow rope was attached to the bow of Songster and we were towed at breakneck speed, with huge search lights blinding us, towards the river mouth and up to Baganara 35 miles up river where we anchored in 5 metres of water for the next 4 weeks. Baganara is just one of the 365 islands in the tidal part of the mighty Essequibo River with its own airstrip and hotel. A couple of hours later the rest of the flotilla arrived, the lead boat carrying a river pilot.
After Trinidad the space, peace, water and dense jungle were intoxicating. We were now anchored in fresh warm brown water, the colour caused by vegetation tanning and there were white sandy beaches along the banks of the river. After a long passage, where I was the flotilla communications officer, we were both very tired and happy to relax and sleep the rest of the day before inching ashore to Baganara for a superb supper cooked by Chef Trevor. The following day would be our introduction to hospitality from Guyana. A reception had been organised where we were received by Government Ministers and other officials in front of TV and press. Our faces and boats covered the pages of the three daily papers. A television film was made of the event and cameras visited Songster. Sadly we never saw the TV coverage.
Our nearest small town, Bartica, was just a 17 minute ride away by fast boat where we visited the following day to provision for essentials. Bartica, a small mining town with a population around 3000, had a number of small grocery stores and a good fresh food market. Although there were a couple of banks ATMs are an unheard of facility, however, it was easy to exchange US$ for Gy$ in several of the general stores in town. There were a number of bars where many of the miners limed when they were not in the interior working. With our regular visits to Bartica we soon became friendly with the various vendors who were keen to look after us. Many locals would come up to us and greet us with a hug or a kiss, an example of the hospitality we received throughout our stay.
It was Bartica where Brian managed to get the starter motor repaired. There was huge excitement when Mark off Magic Dragon came back to report that he had seen a Perkins sign outside a store in town, so Brian hot footed down to Bartica, old starter motor in hand, to find a new one. Brian put the starter motor on the counter and announced it was a Perkins 4236 24v starter motor. The woman in the shop turned round and picked a 2nd hand one off the shelf for which she wanted $600US at which Brian asked if there was any way he could get the broken one looked at. He was told there was a good guy who could repair the old one and he set off by taxi and eventually found his workshop – mud floor, chicken wire walls, corrugated iron roof, knee high in starter motors and alternators. The floor and walls were the same. This guy could mend anything and agreed he could help Brian but not that day, he could however, have it repaired tomorrow. What service and we are in the middle of nowhere. Brian happily left the motor whilst we went off to Georgetown collecting it on out return. To confirm it was now working the guy put the starter motor into a large vice coupled up two 12v batteries and then held a long piece of very hard wood by his foot and pressed like mad to try and stall the motor. He had rebuilt the slip ring for the brushes; this is quite an intricate job. On making further enquiries the British Ministry of Defence had sold the old Bedford QL trucks to Guyana. These trucks have 4 wheel drives with a transverse gear box and very good ground clearance. To make these extremely reliable the MOD had Perkins engines installed initially instead of the original Bedford. The gold mines also use Perkins engines for their generators hence the quantity of spares at the town store. At a cost of $50US for the repair we were more than happy and this starter motor 5 years on is still working
Our first weekend in Guyana was spent in Georgetown the capital where we travelled by fast boat to Bartica to catch the very fast water taxi to Parika some miles down river. The journey from Bartica took around 1hr 20mins. Parika is a busy ferry dock on the river with water taxis arriving from all directions filled with people. It is the water version of a bus terminal. Once in Parika we walked through the many fruit and vegetable stalls to find a maxi (small minibus) to take us to Georgetown a further hour away. In fact we were held up in traffic jams so the journey took considerably longer. Our journey took us to Stabroek Market where we picked up a taxi for a short tour of the city visiting St George’s Cathedral and the museum before being taken to our hotel.
Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, is situated on the east bank of the Demerara River. It is very low lying and to prevent flooding from the Atlantic a sea wall several hundred miles long was built along the coast. The city, built on reclaimed land by the Dutch in the 1700s, is criss-crossed by a number of dams and drainage schemes. It was the non maintenance of these dams and dykes which possibly were the cause of the serious flooding earlier in the year as water was not able to escape to the sea.
Once settled into our hotel and a good brunch we decided to take a walk down to the sea wall and up Main Street. It was in Main Street in broad daylight when we were mugged by two guys who appeared from nowhere. Brian was thrown to the ground, held down by one guy whilst the other struggled to remove the wallet from his pocket. Although an anxious moment they only obtained a very small amount of Gy dollars. If only we had read our Lonely Planet more thoroughly before we ventured out. It specifically mentioned the area we were in as being unsafe. However, a kindly motorist stopped to help and took us back to our hotel where the matter was reported.
The reason for our trip to Georgetown was to attend a jazz weekend where Mood Indigo was to perform along with Trinidadian friend Michael Boothman. The remainder of the weekend was a success and we returned to Baganara Monday morning.
Whilst away from the boat the staff of Baganara looked after the cats coming to the boat twice a day to feed and clean them and at the same time running the boat generator for an hour or so. This was a job they did later in our stay for 5 days – all done as part of their service for yachties.
Our next planned trip was to have been a flight to Kaieteur Falls but excessive rain prevented this happening and we had an impromptu visit to Sunita’s village instead. Sunita is a member of Baganara’s staff. She and several of the staff live at Agatash a short river trip by fast boat. The children of the village soon heard the engine of the Baganara boat arriving and headed excitedly for the river bank to greet us. Once we had been introduced to them all they took us on a visit of the village to meet their families and show us various landmarks including the school which we would return to before our departure from Guyana. The hospitality of this village was inspiring. On arrival a young man quickly climbed a coconut tree and felled sufficient coconuts for each and every one of us. Regrettably the time to leave the village soon came and the children accompanied us back to our river boat clambering all over it before we could finally move on to Parrot Island where we watched the hundreds of parrots fly in noisily to roost for the night.
Our Easter celebrations commenced with a pot luck champagne breakfast on Good Friday aboard Mistral. Easter was a busy weekend at Baganara with every room filled with guests. Prior to a superb moonlit supper for all on the lawn on Saturday everybody was entertained by Country and Western guitarist and singer, Paul from Tao, blues singer Joyce from Mood Indigo and Bob from Good Time Charlie who is a member of a barber’s shop group. An early start on Easter Sunday had us motoring our yachts down to Bartica to attend the annual Power Boat Regatta. Once back at Baganara and anchored safely we were collected by Kit Nascimento and his wife Gemma in their motor cruiser and taken to their cottage further down the river for a splendid barbeque.
Our flight to Kaeiteur Falls was rescheduled for Easter Monday and at 10.50am local time we boarded our 12 seater Cessna and took off from Baganara airstrip for the 45 minute trip across thousands of acres of dense jungle, resembling huge bunches of broccoli, to the Kaeiteur National Park. The falls, in the upper reaches of the Potaro River, spew out over 30,000 gallons of water per second causing mist, spray and wonderful rainbows deep in the gorge. These waters fall 741 feet. The weather was clear and Brian managed to take some wonderful photos of the falls from the plane. The park is home to the very rare Cock of the Rock, a brightly coloured orange bird with big blue eyes and around 17 inches in height. A picture of the bird is here to show you we were lucky enough to see it. Our trip back was smooth in spite of a huge rain storm we had to fly through on landing.
Our next trip was to Marshall Falls which are up the Mazaruni River. Bartica stands proud at the confluence of the Mazaruni and Essequibo rivers. Our boat trip took us past the Mazaruni prison where we were able to take photos. The prison is totally surrounded by jungle or river so it is impossible for anyone to escape easily. As we had arrived at the end of the dry season the rapids on the way were light and we had a comfortable ride but after the rains this would be extremely impressive and exciting to do. We walked through to the Falls under which there is a cave. The sun shining through the trees on to the golden brown water created wonderful reflections which are just too difficult for us to capture in a photograph – we do have good memories of these moments. This was the last night for the entire flotilla, which had now swelled to 8, so we had a party with the staff and Paul, Joyce and Bob entertained us. The next morning Mistral, GTC and Magic Dragoon left but not until after a period of great tension whilst there was a massive search in the brown waters of the Essequibo for the outboard which had fallen into the river the previous night whilst being transferred from Good Time Charlie's dinghy to the deck ready for passage. The motor was eventually found by Dave and Val from Angel who dived into the murky waters. There was great jubilation as the motor was hauled to the surface and back on board. However, it was sad to see these three boats leave. Wild Orchid left several days later.
Angel, Tao and Songster prepared to go into the interior and the following weekend we took off for Georgetown once more. It was planned to have a very early start but we awoke to torrential rain which meant we would get soaked in an open fast boat so a contingency plan was hatched to fly us to Georgetown on the plane which was due in at 8am. This sadly never materialised as the weather was too bad to take off from Georgetown. A short time later Baganara’s covered jet boat took us on the fast one and half hour journey to Parika to pick up a bus to be taken to Evergreen Adventures Office from where we would depart to Arrowpoint Nature Resort. A two hour bus ride took us along the banks of the Demerara river to a boat for a 35 minute journey along the Kamuni and Pokerero Creeks firstly to Santa Mission where we visited the Amerindian settlement to meet the ‘locals’ and admire their crafts. It was only a short ride on to Arrowpoint where we spent the night in gorgeous wood cabins surrounded by hundreds of birds and dense jungle.
Arrowpoint was a purpose built resort. Our supper that night was eaten on the beach around a huge bonfire. Once supper was finished we were off on our night walk through the jungle in search of night life. Equipped with our head torches we headed off in search of spiders’ eyes, birds’ eyes, snakes and any other animal that might be around before meeting up with a boat further along the river bank to go caiman spotting. A huge spotlight was used to light up the river bank and the bright red eyes of the animals. This had been a tiring day so we were pleased to get into our beds ready for an early start the next morning when Brian and I were paddled up the river bird watching. En route we came across young boys paddling dugouts on their way to fish. We came across men casting their nets and hauling fish whilst others casually talked or bathed on the river banks. The light was fantastic and we were able to see a great many birds including toucans, several types of macaws, woodpeckers, corn birds and others. After breakfast Brian was off with the others on a mountain bike ride through the jungle in the rain before returning for a further walk in daylight through the jungle returning to the site where we had seen a nightjar the previous night to find it still sitting on its nest on the forest floor.
After a good lunch, a demonstration of cassava bread making which tasted delicious spread with Flora and a hearty tea we left for Georgetown. By late afternoon it had become cool and our journey down the creek was chilly. We then had a fast trip back to Georgetown for the night ready for a 6am pick up the next morning to Iwokrama 650 kms into the interior.
Iwokrama was established as a living laboratory for tropical forest research and conservation and is in the heart of one of the four last untouched tropical forests of the world – the Guiana Shield of north eastern South America. Iwokrama is home to South America’s largest cat, the Jaguar. There are also a number of large endangered species which include the largest freshwater fish, the Arapaima and the world’s largest otter, river turtle, anteater and caiman. Iwokrama works with local people to ensure they continue to benefit from sustainable forest use. It is also home of the Makushi people.
Our road journey of almost 7 hours took us through dense jungle along wide straight unpaved roads made of clay edged with the natural sandy soil. This road was the main route used between Guyana and Brazil. Several stops were made for refreshment one being at village 58 where I was able to visit the kitchen of the café to look at the vast quantities of delicious looking food being cooked on the wood fires. This village was simply miles from anywhere but there were ample supplies of fresh meat and vegetables, particularly fresh chickens which had been brought in from Brazil. Our journey took us to the banks of the Essequibo once more where we boarded a boat which took us to the Field Station where we were to spend the next two nights. Iwokrama is not a tourist operation but is attracting more visitors as it becomes more widely known. On our first night we were taken caiman spotting again by guides who had eyes like hawks. We saw many and were lucky enough to find a snake on a tree overhanging the riverbank. The river is simply alive with fish and whilst paddling along the river in total darkness a fish jumped out of the water and across the boat right in front of us giving us quite a shock. It landed quite safely the other side of the boat so jumped a good distance. Iwokrama is in the heart of the rainforest so it rained heavily but this did not prevent Brian and the others going on a long hike up Turtle Mountain where they tried to look out at the view. Until recently no one had ever ventured up this mountain, the trail used had not long been cut through the dense jungle. Along the trail was a huge tree growing on top of an enormous rock – there was simply no soil. After lunch in bright hot sunshine we walked to the local Amerindian village where we visited the school and met the head teacher and her pupils who sang their school anthem to us. A brisk walk back to the centre and a boat ride to another part of the river took us to our vehicle which then drove two hours to the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway. The distance was around 35 miles away but on unpaved roads through the jungle this is no short ride. We arrived late afternoon and spent several hours watching birds.
Next morning was an early start for our return to Baganara – fortunately we were able to do a deal with the Iwokrama transport who took us straight to Parika where we were able to pick up a fast river taxi to Bartica from where we were collected by the Baganara boat. Our five days away from the boat comprised a great deal of travel but we had a wonderful time and great fun.
During these five days away from the boat and during the previous period in Georgetown the staff at Baganara had looked after Songster and its two occupants Henry and Lily feeding and cleaning out their loo twice a day. They also turned on the generator at the same time giving power to our fridge and freezer. Henry and Lily became great favourites of the resort staff.
Now back at Baganara we could relax and enjoy the local surroundings by dinghying along the river bank visiting small settlements ensuring we hit the tide at the right moment. One morning in pouring rain we were picked up by the Baganara boat to be taken a short distance to see a sloth which was taking shelter from the rain up a tree. In order to see the animal we had to wade through knee high red mud. We had hoped to see the animal on our walks through the nature trails on the island but like most animals they are always hiding when we visit, although we did see an enormous number of birds including huge yellow headed vultures. Sadly we did not have any bird books for Guyana and for those thinking of visiting we recommend you have the book ‘Birds of Venezuela’.
One more trip to the village to make a specific visit to the local primary school to meet the four teachers and our visit to Guyana would come to an end. It was a wonderful four weeks where the staff of Baganara Resort became good friends; we met such lovely people who just do not know what tourism is. We were able to experience their life as it is.
Checking in an out of Guyana was very simple for us. On arrival Customs and Immigration met us at Baganara and on leaving an Immigration official visited Baganara the day before we left and carried out the duties for both Immigration and Customs. We were extremely grateful to these two Government departments for their co-operation. Our biggest thanks must go to Kit Nascimento. Without Kit our visit to Guyana would have not have happened. He was there whenever we needed him, especially throughout the passage when we had to liaise with the Coastguard. Our thanks also go to Commander John Flores who co-ordinated our rescue at sea for which they would not accept any money or gift. Valerie and Dave from Angel must not be forgotten from our thanks. Throughout the last 180 miles they remained steadfastly close enough should we encounter any further problems.
Finally a very big thank you to Ronald and his Baganara staff, who looked after our safety and travel arrangements throughout our time on the river. We did enjoy our stay with you so much. Your friendship will never be forgotten.
For those who might be interested in visiting Guyana at some time in the future we have included way points for the passage. Based on an average of 6nm an hour Songster planned the passage for the flotilla and we chose to use a more direct route than the one used by an earlier flotilla. The journey was reduced by around 100 miles and one day which meant we were able to sail to the mouth of the river and make our way up to Baganara without having to anchor and wait for the right tide. Our journey from Trinidad to Baganara took just under 4 days. We left Baganara on Wednesday 13th April and arrived in Charlottesville, Tobago 51 hours later. By checking tides we were able to travel down the river and straight out into the Atlantic and onto Tobago the same day.
Passage plan Trinidad to Guyana
Name Latitude Longitude Notes
WP01 10.41.90N 61.40.10W Entrance to Scotland Bay
WP02 10.42.45N 61.40.36W Exit/approach point for Boca de Monas, Trinidad
WP03 10.45.00N 61.40.00W North of Boca
WP04 10.50.00N 61.22.00W Off Chupara Pt
WP05 10.52.80N 60.49.87W N/E of Galera Pt N/E Trinidad
WP06 10.31.00N 60.32.00W Avoiding Emerald Shoals and Darien Wreck
WP07(SL1) 07.15.00N 58.10.00W The “outer marker” waypoint to begin lining up on the entrance to the Essequibo River. Just off 10 fathom line
The above information is given as a guide line and it is the responsibility of each skipper to navigate a safe passage.
The river bed changes constantly and charts are not accurate of the area. As the weather was wet when we left, to avoid problems during complete wipe outs, the three yachts decided to use the services of Baganara’s pilot, Captain Lincoln to guide us to Parika. Lincoln and Ram, the barman, travelled to Parika aboard Songster. Our departure from Baganara was in leaden skies and very heavy rain and by the time we reached Parika there was a very heavy swell in the river making it extremely difficult for Lincoln and Ram to get on to a launch which came alongside. Eventually the two men had to make a leap and Brian then threw their bags to them. All very hairy at the time.
The following are way points provided by Wild Orchid used in navigating the river.
River waypoints tracked by Wild Orchid
Name Latitude
(o N) Longitude
(o W) New Course (Upriver) New Course (Downriver) Remarks
SL1 7o 15.00’ N 58o 10.00’ W 202 (oM) 350 (oM) Outer marker WPT to start lining up for the entrance to the Essequibo River
ESS1 7o 01.40’ N 58o 11.40’ W 238 (oM) 22 (oM) ½ mile south of Essequibo Pile (Fl.6s). The ‘final approach’ waypoint for the river
ESS2 6o 57.00’ N 58o 16.00’ W 258 (oM) 58 (oM) In Ship Channel between Bluejackets & Leguan Banks
ESS3 6o 54.50’ N 58o 20.00’ W 258 (oM) 78 (oM) In Ship Channel west of Middle Ground
S1 6o 51.90’ N 58o 25.50’ W 244 (oM) 78 (oM) Parika Stelling (Stelling = ‘port’ or ‘harbour’
S2 6o 51.45’ N 58o 26.13’ W 244 (oM) 64 (oM) ‘Two Brothers’ is a shallow draft marina and fuelling point. It is a relatively new wharf.
S3 6o 50.00’ N 58o 27.70’ W 235 (oM) 64 (oM) Follow narrow deep channel along the east shore of the river, 50 -100 metres offshore
S4 6o 47.35’ N 58o 30.02’ W 230 (oM) 55 (oM) Keep North end of Fort Island close to the west, (50-100 metres)
S5 6o 45.85’ N 58o 31.26’ W 217 (oM) 50 (oM) Pass between Fort Island and smaller islands to the east
S6 6o 43.00’ N 58o 32.40’ W 222 (oM) 37 (oM) Stay between islands, close to coast at the south end of Baboon Island (50-100 metres)
S7 6o 40.50’ N 58o 33.68’ W 246 (oM) 42 (oM) Close to eastern shore again for deep water and avoid shallows further out
S8 6o 38.70’ N 58o 34.16’ W 193 (oM) 66 (oM) Close to Northern end of Lau Lau islands; about ½ mile north of No. 17 channel mark
S9 6o 36.25’ N 58o 34.65’ W 216 (oM) 13 (oM) Midway between No. 19 channel mark and the eastern shore at Lanaballi
S10 6o 34.20’ N 58o 35.30’ W 182 (oM) 36 (oM) ¼ way across the river from east bank to clear shallows; No. 21 buoy off to the west
S11 6o 32.59’ N 58o 35.05’ W 175 (oM) 2 (oM) Close to eastern shore, northern end of deep water channel
S12 6o 31.22’ N 58o 34.57’ W 195 (oM) 355 (oM) Close to eastern shore in deep water channel, beware shallows to the west
S13 6o 30.42’ N 58o 34.58’ W 223 (oM) 15 (oM) Close to eastern shore at south end of deep water channel, beware shallows to the west
S14 6o 29.37’ N 58o 35.12’ W 188 (oM) 43 (oM) Midway between east shore and Sail Rock Fl Q.R.
S15 6o 27.90’ N 58o 35.08’ W 214 (oM) 8 (oM) ½ mile south of Makauria Island & between Makauria Creek and Green buoy to west
S16 6o 26.66’ N 58o 35.50’ W 256 (oM) 34 (oM) Sandy cliffs on nearby eastern shore, church to the south, shallows to the west
S17 6o 26.30’ N 58o 36.50’ W 233 (oM) 76 (oM) At south west end of Rattlesnake Passage, midway between east shore & islands
S18 6o 25.70’ N 58o 36.70’ W 202 (oM) 53 (oM) Close to No. 31 buoy and Rattlesnake Rock, north of junction of Essequibo & Mazaruni
S19 6o 24.07’ N 58o 37.00’ W 170 (oM) 22 (oM) Off Bartica. Fuel available at two docks with piles, need fender board; 1-7 metres depth
S20 6o 23.25’ N 58o 36.75’ W 170 (oM) 350 (oM) Midway between Lamun Island and the western shore
S21 6o 22.73’ N 58o 36.77’ W TBA (oM) 350 (oM) About 50 metres north of a rock with 2-3 trees
S22 6o 20.20’ N 58o 35.92’ W TBA (oM) TBA (oM) Across the river from the Baganara Resort
S23 6o 20.00’ N 58o 35.57’ W At anchor TBA (oM) Good anchorage in 5-7 metres off the resort. Do not anchor off the end of the runway
Notes: Magnetic Variation taken as 14o to the West in the above table
The course changes going downriver are, naturally, one line out from those going upriver
These waypoints incorporate a few minor changes as a result of the upriver trip; the Magnetic COS’s have not yet been adjusted so some may to be out by only a couple of degrees or less.
As ever, prudent navigators should form their own judgments on the use to which they put this data.
It was good to be back in Trinidad to meet up with friends who were still there. I was able to have some good retail therapy in the shopping malls, although much of the time was spent window shopping. I was able to have some time mending the bashed two nails and generally had a good pamper.
Now back in Trinidad we had access to telephone, fax, internet cafes etc. we were able to catch up on a hell of a lot of administration which needed sorting out. In addition there was the water maker to sort out and a small knock on the side of the boat which would need to be painted.
The paint job was not as difficult as we had expected and the men were able to do the job whilst we stayed in the water on a buoy bobbing up and down in the swell of all the passing commercial boats in Chaguaramas.
We were soon reminded that we were back in Trinidad. The weather is just so hot and humid that ones energy is soon zapped and jobs take longer than planned. The rains came with vengeance and we were told the rainy season had started 3 weeks earlier than normal with tropical waves passing through every few days. A tropical wave is a shallow tropical low pressure system that normally moves east to west. On average the waves occur every five days during the hurricane season. The average for May is usually two but so far we have had 8 with a further 3 on their way. It looks as if this year’s hurricane season could be very active. Fortunately we have wonderful access to weather through our short wave radio and sailmail.
Money, as usual in Trinidad, started to pass through our hands faster than water as we proceeded to get the repairs done and buy parts and spares for our onward journey. The watermaker needed a new membrane – 400$US, the fridge needed to be repaired yet again – a further 125$US, mooring fees, etc. etc. – just too many expenses to remember. Provisioning trips to the supermarkets cost a fortune – I cannot believe Waitrose is this expensive! However, once again we were able to buy good old English butter and good imported fruit and vegetables – can you believe it – fruit and veg are imported from the States.
Once well stocked we would be ready to go once the right weather appeared.
Our last week on the island was spent motoring out to the island of Monos late afternoon to anchor for the night and then back to Chaguaramas in the morning to deal with whatever jobs needed doing. This was good therapy for us in getting our sea legs, manoeuvring with a buoy and getting the anchor down and up. You might be surprised we needed to get our sea legs but after our hair raising passage from Guyana I was beginning to feel somewhat lacking in confidence.
On the Thursday before we finally left Trinidad we took friends Elsie and Chris out for a days sail – well that was the plan – but there was insufficient wind so we motored to the island of Chacachacare around 7 miles off the north west coast of Trinidad. Chacachacare was until 40 years ago a leper colony with the old buildings still standing. We are told the village was abandoned leaving all the patient records but we were unable to visit the buildings, due to time. However, Chris and I dinghied to the old Nuns accommodation which was substantial but ruined by an enormous amount of graffiti. I guess other buildings may have been treated similarly – such a shame when it is part of the history of Trinidad. It was sad we did not have more time to go back to explore this beautiful island.
The day with Chris and Elsie was great fun and great therapy for them as they have had their yacht, Des Anges, in Trinidad for a year having a refit and will not now be able to get it into the water until their return to the island later in the year. We hope to meet up with them somewhere west next year.
Time flies when you are busy and it was hard to believe we had been in Trinidad for almost 4 weeks. We need to move on ……
The passage between Tobago and Trinidad is usually a fast sail with wind and current helping but sadly there was not a breath of wind on Wednesday 27th April, the sea was flat and we had to motor the whole way arriving in Trinidad early afternoon. We anchored for the night in Scotland Bay giving ourselves the chance to hear the howler monkeys which are so active in the steep rain forest that surrounds this small bay. Next morning we were up early to make the final short trip to Chaguaramas once more. It was like going home.
It was a rushed several weeks as we prepared for our passage west where we expect to find it hard to purchase various things.
Our priority was to get the watermaker sorted out and after much examination by Brian and the local watermaker supplier it was found the membrane was shot and we needed to purchase a new one. A new priming pump also had to be bought and fitted to replace the one which had also failed.
Our second job was to arrange for the scrape we had with the boat that collected the Pilot and Ram from Songster, as we left Guyana to be repaired. Fortunately the contractor was able to do the repair whilst we remained in the water. Newton did a fantastic job standing in the dinghy in extremely choppy water firstly preparing the side of the boat and then spraying it. Brian had to fetch the men and bring them to the boat along with their large compressor.
Since the end of January I had been having problems with my back and not long before we left for Guyana Brian found an osteopath who I was able to visit regularly. Rajesh did wonders for my back and coupled with swimming I was ready to set sail west on the allotted day. Medical care in Trinidad is extremely good.
The following days were consumed by getting our laundry up to date, buying loads of spares, catching up with an enormous amount of essential administration and buying food.
Whilst back in Trinidad we went to see the movie Guyana 1838. Having not long returned from Guyana it was a must but although the history of the East Indian Indentured Slaves was interesting the acting was appalling.
We stayed tied to a buoy in Chaguaramas for almost 2 weeks before taking ourselves off to Monos Island, a small island a few miles from Chaguaramas, where we were able to swim. Monos was around a 30 minute motor from Chaguaramas so we motored in each morning carried out the tasks we needed to do and then motored back early afternoon. We did this for many days. It seems strange to say this but it was good to get our sea legs and those of the cats. It was also good practice at tying to a buoy and anchoring.
Back in Trinidad we were able to catch up with friends still there, particularly Elsie and Chris, with whom we spent a wonderful day on the boat at Chacachacare, another island about an hours motor from Chaguaramas. Chacachacare was where a leper colony existed until a cure for leprosy was found some 30 odd years ago. The buildings still stand. However, Chris and I dinghied to inspect the nuns quarters but were disturbed to find they had been badly damaged by graffiti. The island was far bigger than we had expected so we were unable to visit the deserted village, where we are told, everything still lies there just as it was left when the colony ceased. It had certainly been a substantial colony with wonderfully exotic homes for the doctors. Sadly we were unable to return due to lack of time but it was somewhere I would love to return to explore.
The weather was beginning to deteriorate and the rainy season started 3 weeks earlier than usual. Tropical waves were the talk of the weather each day on the radio net. The sky was watched eagerly each day to try to beat the rain. On one particular day we had gone down town where the rain was a light sprinkling on leaving but on arrival back at the dinghy dock we were surprised to see the flooding and torrential rain. We had to take cover for a good hour before we could take the groceries back to the boat – in the meantime the dinghy was filling with gallons of water which would have to be bailed out before we could use it.
Before we could leave Trinidad we had to go turtle watching so one Monday night we set off in a minibus with several others to drive to the far east of the island. We arrived a short distance from our eventual stop and Jesse our driver stopped unannounced and turned all the lights out. This was so we could watch the fireflies in the woods. It looked just like fairyland there were so many. After a short while we continued on the journey to the beach where in pitch darkness we walked with our guide, a local guy, who was so knowledgeable on the life of the turtle. We were so lucky as a turtle had only just arrived a short distance from the mini bus so we carefully set ourselves down on the beach and watched her lay her eggs whilst the guide tagged her in two places. We were able to touch her shell which was soft and felt just like leather – hence the name Leatherback Turtles. Whilst watching this turtle fill in her nest another appeared on the waters edge and heaved herself up the beach only feet away from the first. This one was also tagged and measured once she had dug her hole with her back flippers. Turtles go into a complete trance whilst laying eggs so again we were able to get extremely close and touch her. The speed at which this one dug her nest and layed her eggs was impressive, she was certainly in a hurry.
We watched both these animals, who weighed an estimated 700lbs each, heave themselves down the beach and then disappear into the heavy sea pounding the beach. These two turtles were estimated at a weight of 700lbs each. This is the second time we have seen turtles but I think I could keep doing this night after night. The time just slipped away and we had a long journey back so once we had seen these two creatures we returned to the bus for a picnic around midnight before heading back arriving at the boat in the early hours of the morning.
I went off to the Asa Wright Nature Centre to do a bit of bird watching. This 200 acre nature reserve is 1200 ft above sea level and was formerly a cocoa plantation. The gardens were beautiful and the veranda of the main house where I stayed was just surrounded by birds in and outside. The birds have been fed for a long time so large birds not usually seen in gardens come down to feed on the various fruits etc. put out artistically on the bird tables. Huge lizards and agouti foraged under these tables looking for fallen morsels. Containers with sugar water hung from the eaves of the veranda where humming birds fed – they were all so close you could touch them. The centre is situated in the heart of the rain forest so it was not surprising that the rains fell in abundance whilst there.
Asa Wright is home to the very rare oil bird. It spends the day in dark caves emerging at night to feed on fruit. These birds feed in total darkness and emit a series of clicks and the echoes from these clicks enable them to navigate by sonar. The young grow very slowly and become very fat. This is where the name oil bird originated. The young were caught and killed for their fat which was used for cooking.
I spent the weekend walking through forests in pouring rain watching birds trying to attract mates and trying to detect others I could hear. It was a wonderful trip, something we had both planned to do from the day we arrived in Trinidad last August, but I was the lucky one able to go.
The Sunday before we finally left Trinidad it was Chris’s birthday and the four of us celebrated at Crews Inn Brunch. This was great fun and a great way to say goodbye to Elsie and Chris who we would not now see for some time. They are returning to the States and Europe for a few months and we were scheduled to leave Trinidad on Tuesday 23rd May for Los Testigos.
After checking out of Trinidad one more time we set off for Scotland Bay once more so we could listen to those howler monkeys and relax before our overnight sail to Los Testigos.
After a number of days running around finding spares etc and stocking up with Cheddar cheese we finally said our goodbyes to Trinidad. After 9 and a half months, apart from 7 weeks whilst in Guyana and Tobago, we had lived in Trinidad so the parting was somewhat emotional.
We made many dozens of friends whilst there, the majority yachties but many of these we shall see again in the not too distant future as we head west. Several have continued on their journeys through the Panama Canal and we keep in touch with these on their passage across the Pacific by e mail.
Los Testigos was our first taste of Venezuela and it was paradise. This is a group of small islands lying some 40 miles off the north east coast of Venezuela. Only two of the islands are inhabited and there are somewhere in the region of 150 inhabitants with their only industry being fishing. The landscape is barren and little more than cacti and scrub grow in the arid rocky surface. The only visitors to the islands are yachties and there were not too many of those when we were there.
We are anchored on the top northwest coast off Testigo Pequeno in Playa Real, a real paradise island with white sand, clear turquoise water, the odd palm tree on the beach and the ocean lapping on both sides of a narrow spit. There is a small water covered causeway linking it to the main island Testigo Grande. It really is picture postcard material. There is no tourism of any kind here. Fish is available from the fishermen in exchange for flour and other essential commodities which are only available 40 miles away.
The sail from Trinidad westwards is known for its piracy from the north eastern coast of Venezuela so we headed north for 40 miles towards Grenada before turning west towards Los Testigos. Neither of us had any sleep as we kept a continuous 360˚ watch for fast small boats. This was the first time we had ever travelled at night without navigation lights although we could have easily been seen as it was full moon. Thankfully no one approached us. Our passage was very fast, far quicker than we had planned and we arrived 10 miles off the islands at 4 am. This is not an area to navigate in darkness so as daybreak would be a good 1 and half hours away we decided to turn back for an hour. The current had pushed us along at a cracking speed, hence our early arrival, but on the return we made very little way as the huge current was against us. Once daybreak was up we turned around and made our way to Testigo Grande and up to Playa Real. At daybreak we also threw out the fishing hook and were surprised at the speed with which we caught a smallish skipjack tuna, our first fishing venture for many months. It tasted good.
We spent our time on Los Testigos, swimming, snorkelling, dinghying along the shore to the bottom of Testigo Grande, walking amongst the many cacti, eating and sleeping. It is an excellent introduction to Venezuela.
Yachts are only allowed 3 days on the island so after our 3 days we set off for Isla Margarita.
On Saturday 28th May we were up early for the 48 mile passage to Margarita. Sadly there was no wind and we motored the whole way arriving in Porlamar early afternoon.
Margarita is something different and the tall skyscrapers of Porlamar could be seen many miles off shore. This is something we have not seen for a considerably long time. Unfortunately safety is not good in Margarita so we were unable to dinghy ashore and explore but on Monday we hired a taxi driver, Marco, who took us shopping for a TV, DVD player and an air conditioning unit. Margarita is a tax free island so the hope was that we would save some money. We had met Marco whilst in Trinidad where he was crewing on RX Sunglasses a boat which sailed to Los Testigos the same night as us.
After a tiring day scouring every single electrical shop we returned late afternoon to the boat totally empty handed. We had never seen so many air con units but they were all reconditioned, some without control buttons. The anchorage at Porlamar is a rolly uncomfortable anchorage and at times dangerous when getting from a dinghy onto the boat so we decided that getting an air con unit on the boat would not be a good idea A further trip with Marco on the Wednesday enabled us to purchase a TV and a DVD player and to stock up with good Chilean wine and local beer.
Marco took us on an island tour on the Tuesday. We just could not believe how much like Spain Margarita is, particularly in the villages. It has many wonderful beaches where the Caribbean Sea pounds in creating huge mist clouds along the beach. We drove up the east coast, along the north down to Boco del Rio where we had a superb lunch of panpana and cucho. Panpana is a speciality of this village, it is a locally caught fish with is filleted and then left in salted water for 10 minutes followed by 10 minutes drying in the early morning sun. It is then cooled rapidly but not frozen. It was the best fish we have eaten for months. Cucho is a drink of black sugar and lime juice which was simply delicious.
Whilst with Marco he introduced us to several other drinks which we might never have thought of tasting, one was chicha which is liquidised rice, milk and sugar – a really good energiser after a days shopping. Another drink we had was cocada – coconut water and the jelly from a green coconut liquidised with sugar and ice with cinnamon powder on top. Again this was yummy.
Margarita is Venezuela’s largest island and has a mixture of red mountains and much lowland where little more than scrub and cacti grow. The road system is first rate with long straight flat roads everywhere, apart from in the mountains.
Our plan had been to leave early Thursday morning towards Puerto la Cruz possibly stopping at some of the other offshore islands in the Mochima National Park, but friends arrived and then we were approached by a German, Herbert, who recognised Songster and Brian. They had sailed their boats together through the Messina Straits separating Sicily from Italy back in 1997. This is yatching meeting up with people thousands of miles away. Needless to say after a few drinks we did not get to bed as early as planned nor had we packed everything away so we decided to stay a further day but disaster struck I lost my footing in the cockpit, slipped and banged the top of my tibia badly resulting in a bump the size of a grapefruit. Thankfully we had ice on board and Brian acted as nursemaid whilst I sat back trying to rest the leg ready to set off once more before we realised it would be Friday the next day and we never start a passage on a Friday so the plan would be to leave first light on the Saturday.
It is now almost 2 months since we arrived in Puerto la Cruz in the state of Anzoάtegui, Venezuela. Barcelona is the capital of the state.
Puerto la Cruz is a young city by European standards and attracts a large number of wealthy Venezuelans who have wonderful homes, many of them second homes, built along the canals of the El Morro complex where our marina, Bahia Redonda and many others are situated.
Originally the El Morro area was a huge salt flat which in the early 90s was transformed into an attractive mini Venice with miles of canals being cut and then houses and condos built. There is still much development taking place and it is easy to see the charm and attraction of the area – hence the large number of yachties who arrive here and find it very hard to leave. Many have been here many years.
Venezuela is quite unlike anything we have seen in the Caribbean islands of the West Indies. Reports throughout our travels had led us to believe we were coming to a poor country and where we would be unable to buy basic needs. It is quite the reverse here in Puerto la Cruz. Our arrival in Trinidad was exciting as we found stores with wonderful produce but here we are greeted by even more. There are huge shopping malls with a great deal of choice. The supermarkets are filled to the brim with the most wonderful food and someone like me who loves to cook it is extremely inspiring. Meat plays an important part in the well off locals’ diet, particularly beef. The butchery departments of the supermarkets have huge supplies and one sits on a stool watching the butcher prepare your filet mignon etc. etc. A complete filet, known as lomito, costs around £8 or £9 and you end up with around 16 steaks, locally known as medallions. Any meat they are unable to use for a medallion is converted into what ever you want, we choose to have burgers, which are all then beautifully packed and presented on a tray.
Culture here is high on the agenda so we have attended several concerts of classical music which has been wonderful.
The locals we have come across cannot do enough for you. Taxi drivers accompany us on our travels outside the marina and they watch and protect us from any possible theft or robbery which might take place. Sadly crime is high here as around 70% of the population live below the poverty line. Needless to say after our little foray in Georgetown, Guyana we are taking extreme care.
On our way from Margarita we sailed through the islands of the Mochima National Park which run along the coast to the east of Puerto la Cruz. Regrettably visibility on the day of our sail was not fantastic but what we saw looked stunning with unbelievable rock formations, each island being different. This is an area we will explore in a few months. Our arrival in Puerto la Cruz was a week or so earlier than planned as I had a bad fall on the boat and hurt my knee ending up with a huge haematoma, originally the size of a grapefruit. This happened whilst in Margarita but felt we would prefer to be on the mainland in a marina if treatment was needed. We were up at 4am on Saturday 4th June 2005 to prepare for our 70 mile passage to Puerto la Cruz. Once it was light enough we left the anchorage of Porlamar to head south west for the mainland. There was little wind so we ended up motoring the whole way travelling between the islands along with hundreds of dolphins who entertained us alongside the boat and beyond. In the years we have been sailing together this was the largest number we have seen.
Once in Puerto la Cruz I was able to get the medical attention needed and spend the next 4 weeks visiting consultants and physiotherapists having treatment. Once the leg began to mend I then made preparations to return to the UK for a 4 week period to see family and friends and sort out property problems.
Now back in Venezuela Brian and I are busy making plans for trips overland. Few photos have been taken since our arrival and these will be added to our next journal.
After a four week trip to the UK I returned to Venezuela ready to make preparations for trips overland.
Brian had spent the 4 weeks varnishing and was ready to explore. Our first trip was to Los Altos up in the mountains behind Puerto la Cruz and we travelled to the main bus station to pick up the regular jeep transport to the village. Los Altos is known for its artists who display work at weekends. We chose to visit on a weekday so the village was quiet and we walked along the village street which extends for 5km.
Plans were made for a 4 day trip to Angel falls. Angel Falls are the tallest Waterfalls in the world and were discovered by an American, Jimmy Angel, who flew over them and then decided to explore by landing on top of the falls. Sadly his plane got stuck and he was unable to take off and ended up walking down from the top for help. His plane is displayed at Ciudad Bolivar airport. Angel Falls is situated in the Canaima National Park where there are many Tepuys. These are very old rock formations which are thousands of feet high with plateau type tops. Each tepuy has its own ecoculture and the local Indians have great superstitions about them so no Indian will climb to the top. So on Monday 22nd August 2005 we set off with a backpack apiece to pick up our first means of transport – the taxi to the bus station. The luggage was put in the boot of the car and off we set until Brian asked me if I had everything when I suddenly realised I had left the money belt behind with our money. Panic – we had to return and I had to run all the way from the gate to the boat and back in order for us to get to the bus station in time – PHEW!! All this before we start and the temperature is in the upper 80s.
Traffic was extremely heavy at 8.40am and the next panic was whether we would make the bus before it left. Thankfully we arrived in time to take our booked seats – the last two on the bus. The leather seats of the bus resembled first class aeroplane seats. There was masses of room and one could lie down with your legs and back supported. This is the executive end of transport in Venezuela – the normal bus is rather clapped out and full of holes. The 5 hour journey by bus took us to Ciudad Bolivar on the banks of the very fast flowing Orinoco River. Bolivar is built at the narrowest part of the river and the one and only bridge over the river is a short distance away. This bridge is the largest suspension bridge in South America. Throughout the journey the curtains remained firmly closed on the bus but we understood that the landscape was rather boring so we were not missing anything other than our books which were hastily put in the hold along with our luggage in the rush.
At Bolivar we stayed in a 4* hotel – well a Venezuelan 4 star. Granted they did have a huge swimming pool but as I had only a few days earlier had a few moles etc removed decided it would be silly to test the water. We had been told of an annual fishing festival in Bolivar which was taking place that week so we hired a taxi for a tour of the town and a trip along Paseo Orinoco to investigate. There seemed little activity but all along the river wall were fairly large landing stages for fishermen to stand on. The few people fishing were casting nets in the hope of catching the very special fish which is only caught in the Orinoco during late August. We neither saw the fish or remembered its name.
In the evening we chose to eat at an Italian restaurant a short distance from our hotel. This meal was simply delicious. Ciudad Bolivar is around 275km from Puerto la Cruz and we only passed through one other town on route. There is nothing in between each of these towns only long straight roads with huge pot holes.
On the recommendation of others who had done this trip recently we decided to return to this hotel on Thursday and then catch an early bus back to Puerto la Cruz on Friday.
After a good nights sleep we rose early next morning for our flight to Canaima. We walked across the road to the airport to meet up with Bladimir the tour operator who talked us into staying an extra night in the camp at Canaima rather than at Ciudad Bolivar. He gave us a good deal as a carrot so we agreed.
Our Cessna 206 with 5 passengers and a pilot took off at 8.30am for the hours flight to Canaima another 250km away. Brian sat beside the pilot inspecting the many dials and gauges – many of which did not work. We guessed the pilot had flown the route so many times both he and his plane could do it blindfolded. Canaima has no road links so access is only by plane. The approach into Canaima was spectacular with the waterfalls and rapids flowing into Laguna de Canaima. Once landed and the plane parked we left by jeep for our camp – Churum Vena where we had to wait until 6pm for our room. However we were greeted by a group of British teenagers from Marlow who were travelling with World Challenge. They had paid an exorbitant amount of money to stay in basic conditions eating basic rations and travelling on the cheapest transport for 4 weeks. However, they were super kids and were having a great time.
During the afternoon we were taken along with two guys from the UK down to the lagoon to take a boat ride to the waterfalls. The amount of water rushing down was impressive and we were able to climb the rocks and walk through the back of one of the water falls having a really good massage from the water on the way. This was spectacular. Behind the waterfall was an ecosystem of its own with pretty red flowers and ferns growing.
The plan had been to take off the next day for Angel Falls but we were then told this would not happen as they had nobody else. It is too expensive to take a big narrow boat 100km up river with just two people and all the paraphernalia that goes with it. So we had to wait until Thursday for this to happen. Now we knew why we had been talked into staying an extra day here.
Thursday it was all go and we set off around 8.30am by walking to the port – the river bank above the waterfalls to pick up our dug out. It is literally a dug out but it is huge with a large outboard on the back. These boats are made from one tree which is actually much smaller than you think. The bark is split and fires put under the trunk which is then prised open and the inner axed out. They are extremely heavy and stop dead when the outboard is turned off. We all, by now there are 25 of us, got into one boat which motored for 15minutes before depositing us on the other side of the river. This is an area of many large rapids where it is dangerous to take boats through with people on so we had to walk for 35 minutes and then pick up a boat the other side of the rapids. We were now split into two boats which gave us more room for the 5 hour journey up river 100km into the interior. A stop was made for our picnic lunch where others swam in the natural pool by a waterfall. Our guide, Bladimir, yes another Bladimir – it is a popular name here in Venezuela, swam in his traditional costume made from tree bark. Bladimir is a leader of the village and wore his beaded necklace at all times – I guess this is his chain of office. He has 4 wives and 10 children and planning to have another 10. Not sure if he is to find any more wives! He was a super guy and spoke excellent English. Bladimiar is a Kamaracotos Indian but likes to be known as an indigenous Venezuelan.
Our 5 hour journey took us through many rapids but it was not until our return journey that we realised just how many. Eventually arriving at the base of Angel Falls we left the boat and hiked to the viewing point. This took over an hour and was extremely difficult. I thought I would never make it and my legs turned to jelly because it was so strenuous. This is a fault of the tour that the hike is done at the end of the day. However, we made it to the viewing point, by which time the rest of the group who were all very much younger had walked down to the foot of the falls and were swimming. Was the walk worth it – well we can say we have been and seen the tallest falls in the world but the Kaieteur Falls in Guyana were far more spectacular as we landed near the top of those falls and stood right on the edge. The Kaieteur Falls may not be the highest but they do have the longest single drop. Several feet more than Angel Falls.
The hike was difficult because it was uphill with many roots making placement of your feet difficult. It was a little easier returning and we set off to meet up with our boat which then took us to our overnight camp where we slept in hammocks with mosquito nets and a palm fringed roof over our head but not side walls. Can you imagine 30 odd hammocks hanging side by side with some snoring bodies in them? Many of us did not sleep and rose the next morning very weary eyed to see Angel Falls appear through the cloud in brilliant sunshine. That was spectacular. After breakfast of arepas, cheese and ham we left in our respective dugouts for the return journey which was far more exciting than the trip up. The river is fast flowing and there were many hazards on the way including an area of huge rocks where we had to negotiate narrow channels. We had a guy driving the engine plus another guy on the bow with a paddle plus Bladimir who also helped guide the boat with a paddle through these tight chicanes. Needless to say we were soaked but it was great fun. Our clothes soon dried out on our walk at the big rapids. We arrived back at the port, walked back to the camp with our rucksack with the intention of sorting out our luggage before leaving for our 12noon flight back to Ciudad Bolivar. On arrival at the camp we were told we were expected at the airport for our flight over the falls which we had paid for earlier in the week but had not taken place, again for the same reason, no other takers. However, we were now to do it and hastily threw our rucksacks and other belongings on to the jeep for the short ride to the airport where we strapped ourselves into another Cessna 206 for the 45 minute ride. It was wonderful to see the river and rapids below which we had just been on but sadly the cloud was too low for us to go over the tepuy which is what I had really wanted to do. The pilot took us very close to the sides of the gorge so we were able to see it all very clearly but not the point where the water flows from. The 3 Japanese passengers with us were far more excited by the sight.
It was then back to the airport for the pilot to have a break before he flew us and 3 others back to Ciudad Bolivar where we arrived too late for the bus. However, Bladimir was very good and organised transport for us in a PSV where we had huge arm chair seats. Sadly we slept most of the journey so did not take too much notice of the surroundings but from what we did see we did not miss much.
We arrived back at Songster around 7.30pm, unshowered, no makeup, hair not brushed feeling exhausted to be met by our two cats who looked very happy and healthy having been looked after by a yachtie teenager whilst we were away. Dina had done a good job as we had no cold shoulders and they had beautifully clean eyes and faces. After a quick supper we had an early night.
In spite of the few hiccups we had a wonderful time mainly because of the people we were with. The party comprised a dozen 20/30 something Italians, 6 Venezuelans and a group of smoking Spaniards. We had great fun with the Italians and the Venezuelans introduced us to some new card games. The five days away seemed more like a month – particularly for Brian who had remained on Songster whilst I was in the UK.
After a days rest and a quick shop we set off again on Sunday with our neighbours Carol and Gus to Los Altos to see the artists. This time we opted to travel by taxi but returned by jeep. We walked a different area and visited a couple of potteries and had lunch in a very attractive Posada where we looked at the rooms with a view to perhaps having a couple of days there in the future.
Much planning is happening with a possible trip to Peru but at the moment I am suffering from a respiratory infection and have no voice so am trying to take it easy.
Plans for our Pacific crossing are materialising but we have not yet decided where we shall be for Christmas. We plan to leave Puerto la Cruz early November. As you have probably heard there is great hurricane activity at the moment and it is almost 1 year since Ivan hit Grenada. We do not plan to set sail until the weather is settled.
It is now 1st November 2005 and we are still firmly attached to the dock in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela. The delivery of a new sail and a problem with a new dinghy are delaying us so Brian has decided to return to the UK for his stint at family bonding. It is the first time in two and a half years he has seen his grandchildren and daughter so you can imagine how exited he was to be flying back to see them.
Life did not stop once back from Angel Falls and we were off visiting various places over the next few days until I suddenly became ill with mycoplasma, a form of pneumonia. Sadly living in such closeness as one does in a marina infections are difficult to avoid and there was a good deal of illness at the time. It was unfortunate that just a few of us developed the mycloplasma and I was confined to the boat for a number of weeks feeling somewhat jaded. This spell of inactivity curbed all plans of travelling to Peru, something we had both desperately wanted to do.
Once recovered and given the OK by the Doc we took off on a trip up the Rio Cauro a tributary of the great Orinoco and then travelled overland and overnight up into the Andes. A couple of friends had just returned from a similar trip and were so excited about it that we decided to follow in their footsteps.
So early one Wednesday morning, 4am to be precise, we were taken by taxi 300km to Ciudad Bolivar. The city we had visited some weeks ago to take our flight to the Canaima National Park and Angel Falls.
At Ciudad Bolivar we were collected by jeep along with 3 Irishmen to be driven a further 4 hours and a similar distance into the interior to Trincheras on the banks of the Rio Caoro, a fast flowing, rock strewn tributary of the Orinoco.
The journey was mainly off road on red muddy/sandy roads through rain forest and savannah passing Indian settlements on route. At one bridge we stopped to watch the many children swinging in trees and swimming in the small river below. At around 1.30pm we arrived at Trincheras, an extremely small settlement of stone and iron roofed buildings. Below the settlement appeared the most perfect picture postcard beach with pristine white sand and warm river water lapping its shores. After our journey we were dying to cool off so before having lunch we managed to don our swimming gear and take to the waters. The current was too strong to swim but it was extremely enjoyable. After lunch we all walked down to our dugout which was loaded with all the backpacks and sufficient food to feed the five of us plus the captain/driver of the boat, a cook and our guide Junior.
Our first camp should have been a 6 hour boat trip away but a hasty decision was made to stop at what should have been the last camp shortly before dusk. At each camp all the food and bags had to be taken ashore up difficult terrain at times. En route to the first camp our appetites were whetted when we stopped at a small island where a couple of hammocks were strung and a scruffy old freezer lay on the beach. The cook hastily jumped off and retrieved a very large fish from the non working freezer and then proceeded to write a message in the sand presumably for the fisherman. The fish was then put in one of the several large coolers we were carrying which had large blocks of ice. This ice would last for more than five days.
Our first night was spent in a beautiful spot amongst many rapids at La Coquiza. The beach was wonderfully smooth grey volcanic rock, composed we were told of quartz, as are all the rocks in the river. After a wonderful swim where little fish nipped our legs we sorted out our hammocks and luggage before the light disappeared. Our only source of light here was candle power and once the candles had extinguished we were down to our torches. Our first day’s food had been exciting – quite different to our Canaima trip where we existed on rice and coleslaw with our meat. Rommel the cook was innovative and cooked on the 2 ring gas cooker which was transported each day along with everything else together with a large container of gas. The evening was warm with a beautiful clear sky so we all lay on the warm stone looking for constellations. After a nights sleep we were up early next morning to witness a beautiful sun rise, quite unlike anything we had seen before.
We were now ready for a 6 hour journey in our dug out powered by a large outboard motor to El Playon. Our journey was broken in the morning with a visit to Nechare an important Yekwana tribe settlement on the river. It is here that the village Capitan has trained to perform minor medical practices. In his ‘surgery’ was a small child receiving some form of treatment that obviously hurt. The kid really howled. This ‘doctor’ relies on donations of drugs and has to rely on traditional herbal treatments once the proprietary drugs have been used. Sadly in Venezuela when money is given by Government the recipient only receives a fraction of what was originally provided. The rest is hived off by others in the so called ‘chain’. The Yekwana people are diminutive in stature but extremely strong. The young women were beautiful and each had several small children. Indian women have no choice of husband. A husband is found for them when they are around 10 years old and the man takes her and cares for her from then on. Once she has her first menstruation he is allowed to have sex with her and it goes from there – many, many children. Nachare was no exception and many kids came to see us and accept the toothbrushes and toothpaste we gave to the Capitan. We also distributed fishing hooks and line. Sadly we were unable to take any photos of the many happy people who still live as they have done for thousands of years, although they all seem to have many, many pairs of jeans. In all the villages we visited the amount of laundry done is phenomenal and it is all done on the river bank in slightly brownish water but the whites are brilliant. After a long chat with the Capitan in the big round cool meeting house we left to travel further up river to Playa el Piscardo where we stopped for lunch and a swim. The temperature was extremely hot and it was impossible to walk on the sand without sandals. After a welcome cool down and good lunch we set of for El Playon. Before driving the dug out on to the beach we were taken to the huge rapids where the river divides and then meets up 7 km further on. This part of the river is dangerous and non navigable even for the indigenous Venezuelans. El Playon was set up 15 years ago as a ‘port’. Indians arrive laden at the end of each day and unload their wares which are stored in traditional buildings ready to be carried next day 7kms usually on their heads, to the dug out they have on the river above the rapids. Once the second dug out is loaded they continue on their journey up river. We guess the family is always taken on these trips to help as we saw small children carrying huge weights and without complaining. El Playon had around 15 Yekwana families living there permanently plus a number of other tribes who were ‘employed’ by the Yekwana.
We spent two enjoyable nights at El Playon. Our hammocks were hung in a beautiful round house with the most beautifully made palm roof. The houses are built in such a way that the roof overhangs sufficiently to protect from the rain, which was greatly appreciated. There was the most horrendous thunder storm which illuminated the river and all the surrounding jungle and homes; we were in the midst of the storm. Next day we awoke to a beautiful calm day ready to take a trip to the island between the two river stretches. We were taken by dugout across to the very small beach and climbed over masses of tree trunks brought down by the river and then climbed up a small river over huge slippery boulders. We had hoped to see birds but although we could hear many they were safely hidden from our eyes. The only creature we saw was a yellow and black frog. The other 3 in the group took a 7km walk to the falls where the rivers meet up.
Before dusk Brian and I were taken fishing by the Capitan. Soon after leaving the port we were hailed by a couple of hunters wanting a lift so we picked them up and returned them to El Playon. Armed with a gun they had bagged a large guinea fowl and a wild boar which was hidden in their basket. They were very shy men but we did manage to get a photo of them.
We travelled a short distance down the river and tied up among bushes ready for the fishing. Our luck was in and we managed to catch an unnamed fish, smaller than the one taken from the freezer, but it did taste delicious.
Next morning we set off down river stopping at 2 villages. At the first one we met the village Capitan’s wife who was busy making a type of cassava flour. A diminutive lady in her 60’s with a head of very thick black hair was helped by her daughter in law. Her younger son joined us and took me to visit his wife and new born daughter of 4 days. In 40 degrees C the child was swaddled in clothes including a hat. At all the villages we called the children appeared to be extremely healthy but sadly at this village we witnessed a sad child being carried by a young boy. The small child was extremely thin and looked quite ill but we never found out how old the child was or whose it was. It played on my mind but there was nothing I could do.
We were miles into the interior of Venezuela on a remote river that is visited rarely and at a remote village we turned round and saw some French friends, who we had met in Grenada, walking towards us. They had just arrived and were staying with the locals overnight. This family was taking a 4 week tour with their two children and some friends overland to Brazil and then up to the Andes.
The second village we stopped at was deserted, apart from a few people we saw in the distance. It was decided that everyone had gone hunting as it was a Sunday. It was strange to see that each home, although without furniture or possessions, had its main door very firmly closed and locked with a padlock. We guess these people are extremely private and keep themselves to themselves.
After another stop at Nechare where we watched the women making beaded bracelets we continued to our last camp of the trip. This camp was luxurious – it had a generator to provide lighting – but sadly the previous occupants had used all the fuel and failed to replace it. Shortly before sunset Junior and the driver set off for Nechare to borrow some fuel. It was several hours before they returned by which time it was very dark. However, with the help of our torches Rommel managed to cook a fantastic supper for us all.
We were up on our final morning to bid our farewells to bathing and cleaning our teeth in the river and using pits for loos. Tonight we would sleep in a welcome bed, with air conditioning and an en suite bathroom. The trip back to Trincheras took several hours but once there we were able to swim in the waters before walking up to eat lunch – yes there still was food left in the stores for another meal. The jeep was packed once more and off we set for Ciudad Bolivar for a nice comfy bed and good sleep before the next part of our adventures began.
In Ciudad Bolivar we stayed at a Posada some 5 kilometres out of town. The owner, Peter, is German and has lived in Venezuela a number of years. A keen animal lover he had a couple of monkeys, a deer, boar, parrots and a friendly toucan who remained with us throughout the day we were there. Rested, clean and the laundry done we caught a bus from Ciudad Bolivar to Barinas. This journey of around 14 hours was done overnight travelling overland on roads which were lumpy, bumpy and at times non existent. The bus stopped several times at unnamed towns. The trouble when you are travelling like this to an unknown town is how to know when you are there as there are never any signs. Fortunately for us the lady in the seat in front trained as an English teacher and was very keen to practice her English. Sadly she was unable to get a job using the language in Venezuela and was now an infant school teacher. At Barinas we had to find a bus to Merida – well a small bus/jeep – again luckily someone on the Barinas bus was going in the same direction so we followed her. Bus stations in Venezuela are extremely busy and very confusing. Millions of people travel great distances by bus. Once safely in the jeep we soon left for Merida another 4 hour journey away across the Andes. At the outset the temperature was very warm but as we climbed it got cooler and cooler and when we stopped at the top for drinks it was a quick dash to the rucksacks for our thick fleecy sailing jackets. We were at over 4,000 kms.
Finally we arrived in Merida after almost 20 hours of travelling and were met by Gioia who took us to her home where we stayed. Next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to catch a jeep up to Los Nevados, a remote village in the Andes where we stayed for 2 nights. Usually there is a cable car which takes you to the top where you then take a mule ride to Los Nevados – yes you’ve guessed the journey took 4 hours – everything seems to take 4 hours here. The cable car had a problem so we used the jeep which is the alternative transport. The journey and views were stunning, possibly far more exciting than taking the cable car. In parts the road had disappeared and fallen down the mountains and it was extremely rocky and bumpy. At one point we had to get out of the jeep and walk while the driver waited for men to temporarily repair the road – well move the landslide. After a stunning drive we eventually arrived in Los Nevados and promptly booked into the Bella Vista Posada perched alongside the church on the side of the mountain.
As the name implies the views are just stunning and we sat on the terrace admiring the scenery when we were joined by Dave and Marci from s/y Godiva. They were about to return to Merida having stayed in the village for 1 night.
Los Nevados has been the highlight of our stay in Venezuela. The food we ate was stunning, we had egg soup for lunch on our first day there – a new one for me – not good for anyone on a low cholesterol diet. Every meal we had included a fresh fruit drink, usually moro (blackberry) which was delicious. Meals were huge and varied. These people are totally self sufficient cultivating fields that are almost vertical. Cattle roam the mountains in abundance. The cattle are milked and delicious smoked cheese is made in addition to crème leche which is in between cream and sour cream.
Needless to say, perched on a mountain the streets are extremely steep and our lack of exercise walking up Malvern’s Church Street clearly showed as we puffed and panted a little further each time we ventured out. Thankfully there were mules which we took advantage of on two occasions. Our first mule trip was down to the Rio below which was a fast flowing river over wonderfully light coloured water shaped boulders. The track was rough, extremely steep and zig zagged its way down to a stone bridge and up the other side of the valley to a hacienda (a small farm) where we met the owners, two very elderly people who invited us into their kitchen for water taken from the river. The water was offered to us in a glass which had definitely not seen Fairy Liquid or anything similar for decades but we accepted the drink gratefully and just prayed we would not catch anything. After the water we drank coffee which had been grown, roasted and ground on the farm. This was served in very small tin mugs and tasted delicious. After the welcomes and introductions we were taken to the cooking area, a building outside the house, where a wood fire burned with a large aluminium pot boiling with the traditional sopa. Smoke from the wood fire surrounds you whilst some manages to escape through a small outlet in the roof. Everything is black. Above the fire was a rack with cheese being smoked and it was not long before I asked if I could buy some. The price 3,000 – approximately 75p for a large round of cheese which we are currently storing in the bottom of the fridge. The majority of Venezuelan homes are built like Spanish homes around a courtyard and the farm was no exception. A tour of the house followed and we were taken into one room which was their own special chapel. We felt very privileged to have met this elderly family who had clearly toiled to provide their family with a home and food.
We bade our farewells and headed back down to the river and up the steep mountainside to Los Nevados where Gonzalez our mule owner took us home to meet his wife and family. The cost of our trip which lasted a good 3 – 4 hours was just £5 each. Gonzalez was overcome when we gave him the equivalent of £20. As we left the house we heard the family shout a ‘whoopee’ so hopefully they would be able to purchase something special. Gonzalez was a great chap so we asked if he would take us up the mountain the next day on the mules. I had felt so confident having ridden the horse to the hacienda – Brian had a mule and Gonzalez rode the donkey. Needless to say I thought the arrangement for going up the mountain would be similar but no, to my surprise Brian was given the horse and I was given the donkey!! How my pride was hurt! Surprisingly it was extremely uncomfortable on the donkey as it was so little but the ride was simply stunning as we climbed and then rode across the mountains before returning to Los Nevados. The plants and wild fruits were simply stunning so we gorged on blackberries and a type of passion fruit. Eventually we bade Gonzalez and his family farewell before heading back to our posada to collect our bags and return to Merida.
Back in Merida we met up with Marci and Dave on Godiva. After a day in Merida visiting the city art galleries and attending the ballet in the evening the four of us prepared ourselves for a two day trip into the north eastern mountains travelling up to over 4,200 metre (13,650 ft) to Pico Aguilla. An overnight stay in an old monastery, where we four were the only guests, was uplifting. Log fires were lit for us in the bar and dining room, although I think more liquid fuel was used than wood to get both of them fired. Our rooms were comfortably furnished and we had the luxury of central heating, even though it was skirting heating introduced back in the 60’s or earlier. At least we were able to warm up and dry out after our earlier horse ride to a lake in pouring rain. The rain was so bad that we were unable to see any lake until we were upon it but we clearly enjoyed the race to get there.
The mountains are known for their trout meals, although we understand most trout eaten now are farmed. The trout soup we had one lunchtime was scrummy and was made even better by the addition of the crème leche.
The gardens of the monastery made me feel rather homesick and long to garden. Huge hydrangeas with flower heads of around 12 – 18 inches flowered beside crocosmia, Californian poppies, roses, calendulas, pansies, large white daisies and ‘elephant ears’ as I call the plant – it has pink flowers and large leaves that turn pink in the autumn. It was hard to believe we were in October 3,000 metres or more above sea level and here was a selection of British garden plants.
Next day we started our return to Merida via a different route and stopped off at Victoria lake. This lake is at a high altitude and we walked up through a wood of pine trees before crossing a small dam before walking around the perimeter. The variety of wild flowers and plants was again outstanding. The sun was brilliantly warm as we wandered along admiring the flora and avoiding the fauna – a number of cows and ponies, some wading in the waters foraging at the reeds. A short distance away we visited a condor rescue centre. These birds were certainly much great that we had ever imagined. They have a 9ft wing span and are regarded as babies until they are 7 years old. Sadly there are very few birds living in the mountains as farmers have shot them over the years, there are only 5 condors in the whole of Venezuela living wild. The three we saw had been rescued and it is hoped that two will eventually mate to produce a young bird which will eventually be returned to the wild. Eventually we set off once more on our downward travel visiting small villages where we watched oxen struggle to plough sides of mountains and visited small craft and art centres.
Once back in Merida it was time to pack up once more ready for our return the next day overnight back to Puerto la Cruz and Songster. This journey, somewhat longer, lasted 18 hours with a breakfast stop at 3am in the morning! We eventually arrived back at the boat around 6.30am giving me sufficient time to prepare myself for my normal Wednesday job of presenting the daily marina radio net at 7.45 am.
Our two weeks away seemed like a month. Many hours, I should say days, were spent on buses, covering a few thousand kilometres. We had the most wonderful time and combined with out trip to Angel Falls have managed to see a good cross section of the locals and the country. Venezuelans are very welcoming, polite and hospitable people in spite of their dire political situation. They are making the best of absolutely everything. We shall be very sad to say goodbye to Venezuela when we leave shortly and will watch the political future with interest.
It is Christmas Day 2005 the sun is doing its best to shine from behind the occasional black cloud and the temperature is 29C.
It is now 4 weeks since we left mainland Venezuela and we are now safely moored in Bonaire, the Netherland Antilles, about 100 yards or less from the shore and approximately 80 miles from the Venezuelan coast.
Our passage west began early one Tuesday morning when we crept out of the marina at Bahia Redonda, Puerto la Cruz, without waking anyone for our voyage some 55-60 miles away to Tortuga (Spanish for turtle). It was a disappointing passage with wind on the nose and we motored the whole way using up a good few litres of our extremely cheap fuel from Venezuela – it really only costs pennies a litre. We filled Songster and our additional fuel containers with 558 litres of diesel and 44litres of petrol for £5 – yes that is not a misprint. Five pounds.
Tortuga is a relatively flat barron island with several small islands offshore. With strong trade winds and a north easterly swell we chose to head for Caya Herradura (the horseshoe cay) a small island surrounded by reef with beautifully clear water and pure white sand. This island is home to a few fisherman who live a very lonely life returning to the mainland every several weeks. They were desperate for cigarettes on our arrival and visited us as we anchored. For 60 cigarettes we received a very large grouper which lasted us 3 days and tasted delicious.
Strong 30 knot winds and big seas were forecast over the next few days so we swam, snorkelled and walked and enjoyed ourselves in Caya Herradura along with other yachtie friends we had been with in Puerto la Cruz.
The weather was improving so we decided we would head west to Los Roques 90-100 miles west. The passage had to be planned so we would arrive early morning in bright sunshine so we could see the difficult reefs we would need to negotiate so we left early evening on the Saturday and sailed overnight arriving around 7am the next morning. The passage was wet with heavy squalls and high winds so on arrival we had a pile of wet clothes to dry. Sadly the skies were leaden grey on the Sunday and it was difficult to see our way into Boca de Sebastopol although we had charts and a pilot book we just could not see through the water. However the sun shone briefly allowing us to reorientate ourselves and gave us sufficient time to get to an anchorage before the heavens opened again. We ended up anchoring in 35 knot winds. High winds and seas were forecast within the next few days so we knew we would have to move from this anchorage. It was a wide open space open to the Caribbean with the only protection being the huge reef, dotted with wrecks, which runs for miles up the east coast. We had a couple of nights at this anchorage which was beautiful when the sun shone before moving northwards to find somewhere a little more sheltered. Our first stop was at El Grand Roques the main island and small town. The journey there required me to stand on the bow with Polaroid sunglasses signalling instructions back to Brian to avoid the reefs. A short stop here for coffee and then we moved on to Francisquis to have a look but felt it might not be as sheltered as we needed so off we set to Crasqui an island on the north of the archipelago but suddenly, only a short distance from our destination the heavens opened, the sea became very choppy and there was a huge wipeout so we had to abort this plan and return to Francisquis for the night. Sadly having just left mainland Venezuela where there had been a number of boardings and armed robberies just before we left we did not feel entirely safe in Francisquis and actually went to bed with the boat totally locked up. We need not have worried we were perfectly safe but our time in Venezuela had made us very jumpy. Both Tortuga and Los Roques are Venezuelan. We went to Crasqui the next day. This was simply beautiful with turquoise water which was clear and as the birds glided over the water their under wings turned green from the reflection of the water. Crasqui was about a mile long with pure white sand. Again there were a few fishermen who were keen to sell us lobster at high prices. When leaving a country we try to spend all the currency we have so it was a bit of a shock when I found 50,000bolivars in Brian’s pocket – about $25. In the end it was rather useful as we managed to buy a lobster with it. It tasted good but put up a huge fight when I popped it into the pot of boiling water.
From Crasqui we went to Sarqui which was just a picture postcard. We just marvelled at what we saw. The colour of the water was so blue and clear and we anchored just behind a reef which was full of fish. We only managed one night here and then set off for the Aves and Barlovento. The Aves, Barlovento and Sotovento are also Venezuelan and again are a group of reefs. They are also home to thousands of boobies and other birds. Our arrival in Barlovento late afternoon was greeted by fishermen looking for cigarettes and matches – their desperation did not allow us to even put the anchor down. Fortunately we had bought 200 cigarettes in Trinidad earlier in the year to use on our way for bartering but had no need until now. We were under the impression the fishermen would all want rum so the bilges were filled with bottles of very cheap rum - £1 a bottle – we still have them! In Barlovento in return for the cigarettes we were given two grouper which tasted good even though I cut my finger badly gutting them.
One night in Barlovento was sufficient with all the mosquitoes that visited us even though we had coils, nets and plenty of insect repellent. We saw many red footed boobies and watched the behaviour of the many species of birds as they fished and fought. Our next stop was Sotovento. We had a wonderful leisurely sail there – it was just under 20 miles away – but on our arrival we did not think the anchorage would be good – it was beautiful with a small white island with a couple of palm trees – so we decided on the spur of the moment at around 1pm to move on to Bonaire some 40 odd miles to the west. We knew from the information we had that Bonaire would be easy to enter in the dark, there were no hazards and the moon would shine and so off we set but in order to get there at a reasonable hour we motored using more of this precious diesel. We got to the south of Bonaire as the sun was setting it was looking beautiful and as we rounded the corner by the lighthouse a huge group of flamingo flew over us with their long necks and legs out horizontally from their bodies. They were welcoming us – the camera as usual was not at the ready but as they flew across and into the sun the silhouettes looked unreal.
Approaching shore by night is difficult as there are just so many lights making it difficult to get your bearings but at around 7.30pm with a high powered torch we were able to locate a buoy to tie to. Thankfully for us two kind yachties came to our rescue and took our lines – one of them was Concubine who Brian had sailed with back in the 90s in Italy although we had seen them in Margarita back in May.
Next morning we were anxious to see where we were and just could not believe what we saw. We are surrounded by the cleanest and clearest turquoise water we have seen on our travels. These waters are just full of the most exotic fish – many very large. Bonaire is fairly shallow for about 50ft all around the island and then is shelves drastically many hundreds of feet. Our mooring is just on the edge of this wall so it is easy to snorkel and dive from the boats.
I had always wanted to dive and for many months had said I would learn in Bonaire so this was a priority to sort out. We both agreed to learn, although Brian had had an introduction to it donkeys years ago. It was our Christmas present to one another so last week for 4 days from 9 till 5 we attended a dive school and are now certified PADI scuba divers. The biggest drawback is that our ears and noses are a problem and neither of us can hear or breath and hope the problem clears in a few days so that we can hire some equipment and ask a dive master to take us out. Although we had to do a few dives on the course we really did not have practice which we would like – it is hard learning things at our ages. Brian at almost 72 is extremely proud of himself, particularly as he had to swim 200 metres without fins and snorkel and float for 10 minutes, something I knew he would hate to do.
Our main dive on the course took us down to 45ft – ears popping – where we stayed for 40 minutes or so. It was simply fantastic as fish swam around us and some came up to us. The corals were also wonderful although we have yet to see some of the brightly coloured ones one always sees on TV.
This Christmas is somewhat different to last years – we were in Trinidad – this afternoon a large group of yachties is meeting to have a pot luck Christmas lunch on the shore at the yacht club. This should be fun as we take along a number of foods to share – I have cooked a Christmas casserole made from best fillet steak, oranges, raisins, sherry and a mixture of spices, a couple of home made Christmas puddings and a huge quantity of brandy butter. Tomorrow, Boxing Day, we are all meeting for a dinghy drift. All the dinghies tie to one another and without engines we drift and share drinks and snacks. It is a good way of getting to know others here although there are many less boats than in Trinidad.
Bonaire is just beautiful with its brightly coloured buildings of orange, pink, blue, purple – well every colour you can think of – it resembles Disneyland. Bonaire is very eco aware and there are no signs of plastic bags lying around and the streets are beautifully clean. It is wonderful to also be able to go out at night and walk along the sea front, something we have not done for months and months. It has a very diverse population with many Venezuelans and Columbians amongst the Dutch and Bonaireans. They are all very lovely people and get along well.
After New Year and the big fireworks of Bonaire we will move to Curacao, where the liquor is made. Curacao is bigger than Bonaire and much more commercially aware but also part of the Netherland Antilles. We are told it is also beautiful with brightly coloured architecture.
Our next update will be sent from Curacao but in the meantime we will hope to hire a car to see the diverse island of Bonaire and perhaps manage to dive at one of its 90 dive sites before we leave.
We hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year.
It is now almost four weeks since we arrived in Spanish Waters, Curacao in the Dutch Antilles. Our rigging has thankfully at last been completed and we shall be on the move again.
Curacao is 38 miles long and 3 and a half miles wide approximately and lies north west to south east. It has a population of around 150,000 with 52 different nationalities on the island. The Spanish I learned in Venezuela has come in useful, when I can remember it; I have to dig deep for the right words.
Curacao was once the centre of slave trading. Slaves were brought from Africa to Curacao to recover from their long passages before being sold and moved on to the new worlds. The Hotel Kura Hulanda is situated at the trading site and is one of the top 100 small hotels in the world. At Kura Hulanda a wonderful museum has been set up depicting the lives of the slaves. For anyone coming to Curacao this is a place not to be missed. Not only is the museum fantastic but the Kura Hulanda Hotel is not to be missed. It is a Unesco World Heritage Village which is set within 65 meticulously restored 18th and 19th century Dutch colonial buildings around several fabulous courtyards, fountains, art and cobblestone walkways. Within the setting are several restaurants with very exciting menus. The food was delicious!
Willemstad, the capital, is divided by a huge water inlet where several large cruise liners tie up almost everyday of the week. On two days last week there were over 6,000 passengers embarking each day. The city resembles Amsterdam with brightly coloured buildings along the waterfront, although on one side of the water a great deal of land reclamation has taken place. Each side of the city is usually connected by a pontoon bridge known as the Queen Emma Bridge which opens many times a day to let water traffic through. Unfortunately the bridge is not in situ at the moment and is being given a much needed restoration – thanks to EU money. Thousands of people use this bridge daily to walk from one side to the other but now they pile on to a couple of ferries which work non stop all day.
Bonaire and Curacao are certainly much civilised islands, more so than some of the eastern Caribbean islands. The quality and selection of food is superb but quite a lot more expensive than Venezuela – more like English prices. Everything in the supermarket is imported from either Europe or the states although it is possible to buy Venezuelan fruit and veg from the floating market down town.
Spanish Waters is a 25 minute bus ride from Willemstad but each day a local supermarket provides us yachties with a free bus each morning to go to their store, the chandlers, chemist, hardware stores and bank. This is a well used service.
Distance from stores has not deterred our spending which seems to have gone through the roof as we prepare for our Pacific passage. Last week we had $1000 of new golf cart batteries delivered which Brian is currently fitting up. The trouble is that he decided to move things around and disconnected our watermaker which he has moved where it will be more convenient to use. By buying smaller golf cart batteries we have released valuable storage space which Brian will be able to use to store more of the ‘shed’ items.
Power is always a problem on a boat. Although we have a 5kw generator which we use at least twice a day to power the microwave, vacuum cleaner, food mixers etc. etc. when sailing there are instruments to use such as the autopilot which is fairly greedy with power. To help with this we have bought a wind generator – another $1000 plus – which Brian had hoped to fit before we leave Curacao but this will now be done in Panama.
We had been promising ourselves some nice comfy seats to use in the cockpit so bit the bullet and ordered two in the same colour navy as everything else on the boat. These seats do not have legs and are simply two well padded pieces with ratchet hinges inside allowing you to set them in different positions. They are certainly comfortable but we have not had the opportunity to really test them since the weather has been rather wet since they arrived. The next package to arrive was all the courtesy flags needed for the Pacific islands. Thanks to FEDEX all these packages and parcels have arrived within days of ordering – all from the States. Needless to say we could have possibly bought a new boat with the price we have paid for carriage!!
Our next major purchase was another new sail. After a 2 month delay in supplying our new mizzen whilst in Venezuela we are anxious to make sure any other new sail we order is delivered quickly. This time we are looking for a cruising chute – this is a sail usually made in bright gaudy colours which flies from the bow of the boat when the winds are behind you and light. At the moment we have a very large spinnaker which is extremely difficult for the two of us to handle so we have decided to look for something easier which should make sailing the Pacific more comfortable. This sail is due to arrive in Panama on 15th February.
Sailing with trade winds means that the wind comes from behind and blows you along. The biggest drawback is that the boat rolls precariously from side to side which is damn uncomfortable – particularly when trying to prepare meals. When a locker is opened boxes and packets fall out everywhere. With a cruising chute this hopefully will not be such a problem. The biggest drawback is the expense – another $2000.
Provisioning is going well – in fact too well. It is wonderful to have such choice. Each day there seem to be different things at the supermarket as supplies are flown in daily. Yesterday I managed to find the curry sections and was delighted to see Pataks pastes but sadly there was no lime pickle something I simply adore. Whilst Brian was back in the UK I decided to try pickling some myself but it is a long process. Hopefully in a few months when it is pickled we shall be able to sample it.
Each day I arrive back at the boat with bags of different foods which all have to be packed away – somewhere. Our next provisioning will be in Panama where I am sure I shall be able to spend many hundreds of pounds again on food.
The weather has been diabolical for many weeks now so finding the right weather is important for our next passage to the San Blas Islands. This passage is one of the top 5 worst passages in the world with very high seas and winds so we have to pick the right time and route possibly going hundreds of miles north before turning south west. This is brought about by the fast raising shelf off Columbia where the water gets shallow very, very quickly giving very disturbed seas. The Bay of Biscay is similar where you have the Continental Shelf. A few German friends left a couple of weeks ago and had 6 metre seas which was pretty uncomfortable – we shall aim to avoid that.
Spanish Waters is a natural lagoon of immense size accessed through a narrow channel from the ocean. Around the perimeter there are many inlets with beautiful homes and there are several sailing clubs. It has been interesting watching the many dinghies and windsurfers in action and we had promised ourselves a day’s rental of a sailing dinghy once Brian had completed all his jobs.
The weather has improved and we have to move on to take advantage of the calmer seas and winds so will be heading out of the lagoon tomorrow morning 1st February to head for the San Blas a passage of 800 + miles which will take between 5 and 6 days. Meals have been prepared for the next 5 days and easily snacked food will be to hand should the going get tough and the seasickness remedies do not work!!
Henry and Lily will be have a small dose of Stugeron to help them keep their breakfasts and dinners down.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our time on the Dutch islands and would love to return at some time in the future but by aeroplane.
Watch this space for our next adventure …………………………………………
The San Blas islands are how we perceived the Caribbean to be before crossing the Atlantic. Small deserted islands with palm trees growing at attractive ungainly angles with white sandy beaches and clear azure water. We have travelled a long way to find it.
On 1st February we set sail from Curacao to the San Blas islands. We had never heard of the San Blas islands until we came to the Caribbean and were considering going on to the Pacific. They are a group of some 300 odd islands off the north east coast of Panama. The majority are not inhabited but house hundreds of coconut palms from which the Kuna Indians earn their living.
Our passage here from Curacao was possibly the most horrendous passage we have had together. This particular passage is rated as one of the worst ten in the world. We had huge seas and high winds for 6 days making it impossible to cook so we had to survive on snacks and easily prepared food together with masses of bottled water. A highlight during this awful trip was a huge group of dolphin; it was simply huge, playing in the 20’ swell. They jumped and tossed either young dolphin or big fish into the air at the top of the swell.
The San Blas islands are home to the Kuna Indians, who live as they have done for thousands of years. The women still wear their traditional costume which is a blouse made from a ‘mola’ which is a form of reverse appliqué work, an orange/red head scarf, beads up their arms and legs and in the older women a large ring through their nose. The men surprisingly are dressed like all other men in shorts t shirts and a cap. From photos taken some considerable time ago them men dressed in trousers and wore a panama type hat. Although diminutive in size they are in proportion and the men are extremely strong.
The Kuna homes are built from tightly packed cane topped with a palm frond roof. It is large, very dry and quite cool although a little dark. Most of the houses have dirt floors and little in the way of furniture although several of the houses we have been in have had very large double beds. The majority sleep in hammocks within the house. The amount of clothes everyone has is simply mind blowing. As they do not have wardrobes or chest of drawers the clothes are neatly hung from the rafters of the house. The Kunas prefer to live in settlements on islands rather than the mainland which is 5 or so miles away. The islands are simply packed with houses which come right down to the waters edge with narrow alleyways between the houses. It is all very basic particularly for the islands where there is no water – this is brought in by boat in large containers and in the evenings we saw the children fetching water in buckets. Some houses are lucky enough to have two gas rings to cook with whilst others still use wood for their cooking fires in a separate building. A visit to a bakery on one island was an eye opener – the two very large gas cookers looked as if they had been retrieved from a skip as they were so rusty and had knobs missing. However they cooked good bread.
Coconuts are grown everywhere and no one but Kunas are allowed to touch them. The nuts fall from the trees and are then collected by the coconut caretakers who taken them to be shipped to Columbia where they are bought and used to manufacture a number of items, soap, cosmetics, rope you name it it is probably a by-product of a coconut.
Whilst the men are busy tending their crops or fishing the women are kept busy sewing their molas. It is big business and once a girl gets to 12 she starts to learn how to mola make. It is intricate work and no one wears glasses so they have fantastic eye sight. The workmanship in some of the work is simply wonderful with minute stitching. The master mola makers are usually transvestites who produce exquisite work. We have heard that if a wife produces many boys she consults the medicine man who provides her with a potion to ensure a girl – sadly it is another boy so he is brought up as a girl. This ensures the mola maker and financial maintenance of the family. This happens vice versa and on one island we visited there is a man with a woman’s voice. We have met two transvestites and on visits to villages it is hard to tell the genders of some people even though they may have shorts and a t shirt on. The earrings and face paint make you think.
During my research of the San Blas I had read a considerable amount about Liza Harris, a master mola maker who has an adopted daughter, a niece who was given to Liza a few days after she was born. I was keen to meet Liza so we sailed off to Sidra, the island she lives on to meet her. She came out to the boat soon after our arrival and invited us to her house later in the day. However, before visiting her we had promised to go ashore to meet the extended family of a guy who had brought another transvestite mola maker to the boat the previous day. Jairo was keen for us to see the village so we had a guided tour. Sadly we were unable to take pictures so have nothing but our memories. It was a busy place with many people especially children who were everywhere. Women sat outside their homes sewing their molas and chatting. Living so close to one another I am sure there must be disputes from time to time but everyone seemed to be getting on amicably. Midway through the afternoon a group assembled at a small piece of ground without a building to dance and play their pan pipes. The music appeared repetitive but the dances were all very different and appeared extremely energetic especially for the pan players who danced and played simultaneously.
Late afternoon we went to the house of Liza to view her molas which were of a good quality, however, I felt the molas shown to me the previous day by Vernacio were better. This however did not stop me buying two from Liza.
After Sidra and negotiating the reefs we needed a deserted island and some peace so we set off to Green Island where there were another 15 yachts anchored. What has come as a total surprise to us is how many yachts are here. Everyone appears to like the tranquil deserted islands rather than the inhabited ones. We have found the inhabited islands fascinating and love visiting the locals.
After a couple of days socialising with other yachties we set off for Tigre an island that had been on our itinerary always as we knew they celebrated the anniversary of their 1925 Revolution on 25th February. We knew the anchorage to be tight so needed to get their in plenty of time to get a good spot. The villagers were very welcoming and we met several who were able to speak some English, one a missionary by the name of Morris, told us how his great grandfather had sailed from the island to Great Britain many years ago. He wished he knew where in England he went. Although these islands are small they contain many homes and people and Tigre was no exception – there were simply hundreds of children who all looked to be around the same age but because of their stature this is sometimes difficult to verify. On Friday 24th the yachties were all invited to attend the receiving of the Consul from Taiwan but he did not arrive so nothing happened until late afternoon when the dancers and the pipe players got going. Although the music again was very repetitive the dances were not. Each dance lasted around 20-25 minutes and with the music having no changes we wondered how the dancers knew when to do what, there was little smiling so guessed there was a huge amount of concentration required. After a few minutes they were off again and there were no bar breaks in between. One of the tunes was played by the men on crab claws. On Saturday 25th we were all up early and on shore at 8am where everyone was waiting for us to arrive for the start of the procession through the main street to the Congreso where we yachties were officially greeted by a Kuna who was the representative in Panama. This was where the revolution started back in 1925 when a Panamanian arrived to introduce education to the island but the locals did not want it. The Panamanian came prepared with police who then took over and that was when the fighting began and many locals were rounded up and wounded. The bulk of the re-enactment took place in the main square – a dusty area where huge long bench chairs were brought from the Congreso house for us to sit on. The re-enactment was very violent and the acting by the locals was brilliant but there was no acting the violence, they were really hitting one another with bits of old plastic etc. Children were crying at what they saw and it all became a bit emotional, but it all ended happily when the dancing started. Once the dancing finished a further, unconnected, ceremony commenced. This was a ‘chicha’ festival for a girl of 12 who had just had her first period. This is a traditional ‘party’ where a good week before the party the family make ‘chicha’ which is a quick fermented type of rum. We missed the ceremony of making the ‘chicha’ but managed to watch the start of the ceremony where the young girl with her face all blackened and her parents receive the guests. This is all done in the ‘chicha’ house, to you and us the bar. Men sit one side and the women the other with the ‘saila’ village chiefs in the middle. Women appeared smoking pipes and promptly sat their side of the hut waiting for their tipple. This was clearly a very local custom which we felt was best left for them so we opted to return to the boat for some lunch. However, we returned mid afternoon to witness a very drunk lady who had collapsed being carried out of the hut. This ceremony goes on for 3 days so if they are all drunk after only a couple of hours who knows what they like at the end of 3 days. We upped anchor the next morning so never found out.
After our visit to Tigre we moved to Nargana along with several other yachts. Nargana is not a typical Kuna village and people here have opted to live in concrete block houses. There is a small shop and a bank guarded by security. Sadly along with two other boats we both went sick with a bug of some sort and had to seek help at the local Kuna hospital. Valerie the nurse in charge was fantastic and soon had us back on our feet. The hospital with holes in the ceiling and a toilet with no flushing water was very efficiently run. It was here that Brian spent several hours on a hospital bed having rehydration intravenously. If only I had sought help earlier I may have recovered sooner. However, the three boats’ crews recovered and we set off again but by this time we were a further week behind schedule and had to get ourselves off to Colon to sort out our Panama Canal Transit. So on Tuesday 7th March we set off to Porvenir to check out ready for an early morning start on Wednesday towards Colon.
It was hard going getting away from the San Blas in rough seas and head winds but once through the San Blas channel we turned left and had a wonderful sail to Isla Linton where we anchored for the night ready to make the last 18 miles to Colon.
Our sail on 9th March to Colon was absolutely wonderful just using the genoa. The sun was shining and the wind was around 15 knots and the sea not too confused. How we hope sailing in the Pacific might resemble this day.
It was surprising how few large ships we saw on our travels until we were only a few miles from Colon. Outside the breakwaters of the harbour were many anchored awaiting pilots to enable them to transit. With permission from Cristobal Signal, monitored on VHF channel 12, we entered the huge harbour followed very closely by a large ship. Colon harbour is 3 miles wide and from the breakwater to the canal is around the same distance.
We were now saying goodbye to the Atlantic and Caribbean ready for our next adventures.
It was back in 2002 whilst on the EMYR that we decided we should sail westwards and take Songster our beloved 1979 Oyster 39 back to waters she knew well on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. So late spring 2002 we set off from Haifa, Israel to make our way back across the Med to Almerimar, Spain to winter and make preparations for our passage to the Caribbean. In November 2003 we crossed the Atlantic with the ARC arriving in St Lucia.
We cruised the Caribbean islands as far north as Anguilla before heading south to Grenada and then on to Trinidad for Songster to undergo a major refit. The rains and sun had taken a great toll on her teak decks and it was in Trinidad that the teak was replaced by a beautifully new shiny Oyster white deck with a non skid surface and beautifully shiny new Flag blue topsides.
With the refit complete we took off from Trinidad with a group of friends to Guyana, previously British Guyana. Guyana is little visited by yachts so our small flotilla was given red carpet treatment on arrival at the Baganara Resort 40 odd miles up the Essequibo river. It was on this passage with counter current of up to 4 knots and light winds that the starter motor on the Perkins engine failed 180 miles from the mouth of the river. Knowing we needed to get up a fast flowing river this would prove difficult. Luckily for us I was co-ordinating communications with the Government authorities in Guyana and contact was made with the Coastguards who met us 15 miles off the coast at 1am on the morning of Monday 14th March 2005 and towed us 50 miles to our destination up the mighty Essequibo. Fortunately for us the starter motor was quickly repaired by a local guy who worked out of a chicken wire shack where it was impossible to see either a flat service or chicken wire for the amount of spares and equipment he had. $50 and 36 hours later the starter motor was fixed and back on board Songster. Guyana is little touched by tourism and it was wonderful to meet locals who were so welcoming inviting us into their homes and meeting their large families. We travelled inland extensively but in all the jungle hikes failed to see a jaguar. However, we did manage to see the very rare bright orange Cock of the Rocks bird at the impressive Kaieteur Falls. It was a very sad day 4 weeks later when we said our goodbyes to the villagers and children who lined the banks of the nearby river village and headed out into the Atlantic for a very fast passage north to Tobago. From Tobago we headed back to Trinidad to replenish our stores before heading west to Los Testigos, Margarita and on to Peurto la Cruz, mainland Venezuela for hurricane season.
After travels inland to Angel Falls and across Venezuela to the Andes we finally left with our stores full to the gunwales for the Venezuelan offshore islands of Tortuga, Los Roques, Los Aves and on to the Dutch Antilles of Bonaire where we spent Christmas 2005. It was in Bonaire that we both became certified Padi divers and enjoyed the crystal clear waters of this beautiful natural aquarium in the south west Caribbean. From Bonaire it was a day’s sail onto Curacao where Songster was rerigged ready for the long journey west into the Pacific.
Time was against us. Delays in the delivery of a new sail and the fitting of new rigging meant we were behind schedule. The plan had been to spend Christmas in the San Blas islands off the north eastern coast of Panama to avoid a rough passage across the south western part of the Caribbean. As expected it took several days of waiting to pick the right time to leave Curacao for the San Blas, however, we did not manage to avoid the big seas and winds arriving 8 days later into wonderful calm waters surrounded by many small islands. The San Blas islands are inhabited by the Kuna Indians one of the 5 indigenous tribes of Panama. The Kunas are known for their beautifully stitched ‘molas’ which are made primarily for the fronts and backs of the women’s traditional blouses. Women sit in the doorways of their dimly lit homes constantly sewing. These people still live in their traditionally cane built homes with no mains water or sanitation preferring to live on the small islands in very close proximity to one another rather than on the mainland a mile or two away. These is to be free of bugs. Each day the men would head for the mainland to tend their crops of fruit and vegetables. Transport is by way of a dug out log with a sail made from whatever materials can be found, many are brightly coloured plastic sacks. Their skills as sailors are remarkable, in a dug out without a keel, as we watched them lean out without the safety of harnesses in 20 knot winds and choppy water. The San Blas islands known as the Kuna Yala is a huge area given to the Kuna to manage and use by the Panamanian Government. Each family appears to own a pig that lives in a cane pen on stilts over the ocean.
The main traders are Columbians in their unbelievably overloaded old trading boats. The goodies include sweets, biscuits, shampoo, shower gels and much scanty underwear which the younger women love. All the cargo is unloaded and set out in piles on the small jetties where the villagers assemble to welcome the boat. Nobody is left out as one of the crew walks through the village with a pole which has dozens of bras hanging from it for all to see and buy if they wish. Sadly these boats from time to time deposit parcels of drugs into the sea which the young Kuna boys collect and then trade.
Regrettably whilst in the San Blas we both succumbed to a stomach bug possibly picked up from a local eatery. Luckily for us there was a small hospital with a laboratory on the island of Nargana where we were anchored off. The Panamanian nurse who cared for the Kunas was delightful and quickly had us up on our feet but not until Brian had spent a few hours on the well used hospital bed having IV rehydration. Although this hospital had holes in the roof and toilet facilities, minus running water, were in a bamboo hut on stilts over the ocean the care was remarkable.
Our time in the San Blas was special, these diminutive people, who maintain their traditions, are a delight and live in one of the most beautiful areas of the world we have visited so far. Although English is not spoken there seems to always be someone on hand who at some time in the past worked on the Panama Canal and has knowledge of some English.
On 14th April 2006 as planned we left Balboa Yacht Club, Panama for Las Perlas Islands. We set off in the early morning sun wending our way through the 50 odd commercial ships anchored off waiting to transit north through the Canal. There was no wind, the sea was like glass and we motored across the 30 miles to Isla Contadora. Although we did not go ashore we could see these islands were quite different to the San Blas with very large houses and plenty of large motor boats at Contadora. These were holiday homes of the wealthy Panamanians.
We had just one night in the anchorage giving us time to clean the growth of algae and shells that had grown on the bottom of the hull whilst in Colon and Balboa. Early next morning we set off with our friends David and Mark on Blitz for San Cristobal in the Galapagos. Again there was no wind and the sea was like glass so we motored for some hours until light wind appeared and with great excitement we put up our new cruising chute and flew it. It is bright and colourful and can be seen from afar. Winds increased over the next couple of days and nights so we took our chute down and put up our genoa, main and mizzen and simply flew along with the 2+ knots current in our favour.
The passage to the Galapagos is known for its varying winds and weather so we were loaded with plenty of extra fuel just in case we were becalmed for too long. The route goes threw the doldrums and across the equator. We were never sure when we were really in the doldrums as there might have been little or no wind but there was always a swell in the sea apart from the days early in the journey when the sea was mirror like. Many cruisers had chosen an alternative route going south along the Ecuadorian coast and then turning west when very near the Equator. We had chosen the shortest route via the rhomb line which in our case produced better winds, current and time at sea. As we neared the equator we were surprised how cold it became and we had to done shorts and shirts during the day to keep warm and fleeces and ocean gear during the evenings and at night – it was cold. This is due to the Humboldt current that runs up the west coast of South America and across to the Galapagos – hence the variety of wildlife such as penguins there.
Our arrival had to be scheduled for daylight and we knew we would not make daylight on Saturday 22nd April so from Friday 21st we checked and checked our speed and fuel to ensure we went slow enough to arrive in first light on Sunday 23rd April. As it happened the dangerous currents we had read so much about were not apparent and we could have arrived earlyish the previous evening.
San Cristobal is the most southerly of the 13 or more islands. It is the administrative centre for everything and has a small town with 6,000 human inhabitants. The sea lions living around the rocky coastline must outnumber the humans by many thousands – they are everywhere. Only 4 of the islands are inhabited. The rest are only accessible to those on trips and special permits. Each weekend many charter boats arrive in the harbour of San Cristobal to despatch travellers and pick up more. It would be good to go on one of these tours so see the more desolate spots and wildlife but we are unable to leave Henry and Lily. However, we are off to Santa Cruz for a night and then on to Isabella where we will go to see the Galapagos penguins.
San Cristobal is quite beautiful. The island is 20 miles long and about 1000 metres high at the Volcano which has a fresh water lake inside it supplying water to the town. The island has its own group of giant tortoises, 17 of which have been taken from their wild area to a special reserve where they have set up a good breeding programme. The very first offspring to be born in captivity is just one year old and named Genesis. He was about the size of most tortoises you used to see in Britain. The older ones, and they are very old, are huge but we were not able to photograph them showing the scale. Isabella, we are told had five different species of giant tortoises. Each island’s tortoises are different.
Marine iguanas, that live off special algae in the sea, are found on these islands and nowhere else in the world. These are difficult to spot in the black volcanic rocks that line the shoreline but after time you get to recognise the silhouette and it is possible to get quite close before they move away. We saw many males who were shedding their skin which had been the brightly coloured mating skin. What a pity we had missed that sight.
Frigate birds, blue footed boobies, brown boobies and pelicans fly and fish everywhere. The sea is simply teaming with life.
The highlight here has of course been the two 30ft minke whales that accompanied us down the west coast for a couple of hours on our arrival and the thousands of sea lions. The whales swam so close to the boat diving in front of the bow like dolphins and then underneath. They would twist on to their backs showing us their silvery undersides. I couldn’t keep up with the camera and took many pictures just of sea!!
Sea lions are simply everywhere. I would not like to guess just how many there are but there are thousands and they take up a lot of our time. They play like kids in the water and are darn good at getting on to other people boats. Thankfully it is difficult to get on to Songster so we have had no problem but others have found they easily climb up their swimming platforms and on to the deck. You see sea lions on many of the local boats looking as if they own them. The very whiskery males are much bigger than the females and each senior male has a harem of about 30 females who he protects fiercely. It is wonderful to see how sensuous these animals are with one another, particularly a mother and baby. It is easy to see why these animals were taken from the wild and trained for circuses – they are extremely clever and love to play with a ball or bottle. Blitz had a plastic bucket tied on their boat and a seal managed to pull the rope long enough to remove the bucket from the boat swimming away with it until it sank.
A couple of days after our arrival we took a tour of the island visiting the Giant Tortoises, hunted for marine iguanas in the rocks and walked to the top of the Volcano returning to the tour organisers home for lunch in his garden – well it was a bit like a building site. This we organised through Fernando who also provided us with 120 gallons of diesel and filled our petrol cans. He is a nice helpful guy but does charge a little more than if you take your own cans to get them filled. It suits us for someone to provide the service.
During our stay on San Cristobal a first for the island occurred. The very first large cruise ship, Discovery, arrived for several days. There was great excitement on the island as traders, shop keepers, restaurants and even discos prepared for the onslaught of 350 passengers wanting their services. Sadly they were falsely informed and the cruise ship left leaving the islanders wondering where all the money was they had hopefully been told they would make. Discovery is a British ship and had mainly British and Australian passengers. The ship had sailed to New Zealand, down to the Antarctic and was now making its way back via NZ to Britain stopping at various wonderful places on the way.
On Wednesday 3rd May 2006 we sailed to Santa Cruz, which is the capital of the Galapagos and the centre of tourism, well it could have been anywhere in the world with all the touristy shops and t shirts etc. Not our favourite place but it did give us the opportunity to visit the Darwin Research Station there where they have a hugely successful giant tortoise breeding programme. Here we saw many of the different species of Galapagos tortoises. It is amazing to see how they have all adapted different shells and shapes to cope with their original environments although this was difficult to see in the young. They certainly had a good crop of youngsters from the various island species. They have one tortoise, George, who is well known internationally. He is the last one of his species and when he dies the species will be extinct. He lives with some females from another species but that has not even produced half a George.
On Friday 5th May, yes we made a passage on a Friday and crossed our fingers that all would be well. The first thing to be not quite right was the passage planning and we had to make a few alterations to our route. The area is not well charted and it was apparent there were many more reefs than we had bargained for so a few nips and tucks in the way points we kept well off the coast and made our slow journey motoring to Villamil on Isla Isabella. The sea was flat but with a large swell from the south. The winds were very light but at one time started to pick up so we decided to put up the main when our problems started. Firstly there was a jammed halyard, which Brian did not see and then a sail slide jammed and the sail would not go up or down. There was nothing that could be done without Brian climbing the mast halfway to try to clear it. Thankfully it was not rough and there was no wind so armed with screwdrivers and a hammer Brian climbed the short distance and hammered like hell to clear the jammed slide. Thankfully he managed to clear it, we took the sail down, cleared the rope cock-up and put the sail up again. Sadly the wind was not strong enough to push us along so with the sail up we motored the rest of the way.
Minutes after sorting out the sail our new super duper fishing rod went wild, we had caught a large fish and I could see it leaping in the sea everywhere. Sadly it leapt too much and got off the hook. We are certainly looking forward to eating our first fish.
Isabella is our favourite island. The landscape and topography of the island is quite different to San Cristobal and Santa Cruz. The south coast is very low and consists of many reefs and lagoons all constructed from the natural flow of the lava from the volcano. We have been able to be tourists for a few days and able to take three trips. The first was a boat trip around the reefs and lagoons of the natural harbour of Villamil and a walk across the lava surrounded by hundreds of marine iguanas of all shapes and sizes, including mothers carrying young on their backs. A huge fissure in the lava had created a natural canal where white tipped sharks in huge numbers sunned themselves. The lava was strewn with red crab shells which we had thought were the result of birds eating them but these crabs, known as Sally Lightfoots, shed their shells as they grow. Strangely the young are totally black and run around the volcanic rock on the beaches totally camouflaged but the adults are a brilliant peachy red colour which is very eye catching. Along the mangrove lined beach mother sea lions nursed their young unfazed by our attention. However, on another beach an extremely large male was guarding his females fiercely, these males have 40 wives so they are kept very busy keeping them and their offspring under control. The small Galapagos penguin lives happily here in the lagoon, although resembling a duck whilst in the water, on the rocks you can see they are very much a penguin preening their tuxedos! We had the chance to snorkel on this trip but as has happened on many afternoons the clouds came and visibility was not conducive to snorkelling. This we saved for our trip to the lava tunnels.
After a very fast 45 minute boat ride along the south coast of the island we arrived at a reef and lagoon where access is not easy and the driver had to find the right place and time to cross it. This was Cabo Rosa where we swam under and through small tunnels. The landscape here was quite eerie resembling nothing we had seen anywhere else in the world with large rugged volcanic rock was below and above us. At times it was extremely shallow and the boat driver had to negotiate his way through. On some of the rocks an odd cactus grew but basically is was lacking in any vegetation even in the sea. Once completely inside the lagoon we donned our wetsuits and set off for a snorkel swimming some distance winding our way through. Back on the boats we scoffed our packed lunches and then zoomed off to another lagoon to an area where the turtles would be. Having had some seriously large swells over the past week the sea was rather cloudy but I did manage to see 5 large leatherbacks that swam right under me. Some of the fish in this area were scarily large and I wondered if they might take a nibble. Thankfully they didn’t and I managed to get back to the boat safely not having realised that everyone had already returned and they were waiting for me. The appearance of giant manta rays on the journey to and from Cabo Rosa was amazing. These creatures measuring 3-4 metres across leapt out of the sea and then they just laze on the surface lifting the tips of their wings. There were also many greenback turtles drifting along with the tide.
In October last year Cerro Negra, an active volcano on Isabella erupted and made international news. Early one morning along with 7 other yachties we jumped in the back of Manino’s truck for a 45 mile journey up into the mountains to pick up a pony which would take us to the top of the volcano. We travelled through lush vegetation and on route managed to see many of the Galapagon red vermillion fly catchers, as you may gather a bright red bird. Our two hour horse ride was exciting, uncomfortable and at times very competitive as these animals jostled with one another along the narrow tracks. Our journeys end was staggering as we walked along the top of the crater where we could see whiffs of smoke through the low cloud. This crater is 10km across and has a circumference of something like 25 km. This is what we were told so have not done the maths to see if that could be right. Once off the horses we walked another hour and a bit across lava fields to other craters. The scenery was spectacular with just the odd cactus growing and occasionally a maidenhair fern in a sheltered crevice where there must have been some moisture. This was a wonderful trip although we were all left with very sore legs and buttocks – I actually had to put two plasters on my backside as I had rubbed the skin raw on the uncomfortable saddle.
Isabella has a large breeding programme for its 5 species of giant tortoises and has a centre miles inside the wet lands. As we walked through the scrub and wet areas the flamingos of the island fed in red coloured water. At the centre there are around 100 tortoises of all ages with many active males amongst them as we saw. A tortoise is many years old and a great size before he is sexually mature and it was strange to see these mammoth things mounting the smaller female and grunting like mad. The females as far as we could see were not awfully co-operative.
Before going to the tortoise centre we had taken a taxi along the 7km beach and scrub area to see the ‘wall of tears’, a wall going nowhere and serving no purposes, which had been built by prisoners from mainland Ecuador back in the 40s and late 50s. Many men had died or been shot whilst carrying out the arduous task in the blistering heat of the day in a very arid area. The journey along the edge of the beach was spectacular as the huge waves tumbled in over the reefs.
Food in the Galapagos has been pretty good and we have had some good meals. On San Cristobal we had Galapagos prawn which was the size of a lobster but had a different head. It tasted pretty much like lobster and was delicious. . We now know it is a slipper lobster It is forbidden to catch lobster, slipper lobsters are OK, to preserve stocks but there were local people who risk being caught still taking them from the sea sadly.
For those following us in our wake – we chose not to apply for a cruising permit. This allows you to visit 4 islands but we found that those who had applied waited weeks in San Cristobal for Bolivares the agent to organise. By the time the permits arrived little time was left of the allotted time given by immigration. Some boats had in fact left before the permits arrived sailing on to other islands, like us without problems. This permit is $50 per boat if organised in San Cristobal and $50 per person if done in Santa Cruz with the agent there. We checked in at San Cristobal where all the officials were extremely polite and welcoming. We paid a fee of $30 at Immigration and a further $117 to the Port Captain. The Port Captain charge is based on the weight of each yacht and is the reason why so many people cannot understand why each yacht pays a different charge. This was all explained and shown to us on the computer screen by the Port Captain. An undated Zarpe was given to us and we were told to return when we were leaving to get it stamped. Our Spanish was not sufficient enough to understand quite how long we were given but we later learned that one could stay 30 days, we had only asked for 20 days at Immigration. We checked out of the Galapagos as San Cristobal getting our passports stamped and a Zarpe for the Marquesas. At Santa Cruz, where we spent 2 nights we did not report to the authorities. From Santa Cruz we motored the 49 miles to Isabella, there was no wind. Charts are lacking much detail along this coast so we kept a good distance from the shore. Villamil is a charming anchorage but the area is strewn with reefs and rocks and daylight arrival is essential. Going ashore with a dinghy one needs to virtually skirt the circumference of the bay to avoid the shallow waters where it is easy to loose a prop. There are 3 good bakeries, several internet cafes, a butcher, small market and a number of grocery stores in Villamil where you can buy basics – we even managed to buy a bottle of House of Lords Whisky. Fresh vegetables are dependant on the ferry bringing them from Santa Cruz and do not arrive daily. We had no difficulty in getting items needed for our stores.
Food is plentiful in these islands. Supply boats regularly arrive stocked to the gunwales with goodies. One day in San Cristobal we watched as they unloaded a car and a helicopter – yes a helicopter along with the apples, oranges, mattresses, bags of cement, floor tiles etc. etc. From what we see these people are not short of anything and live an extremely good life. Every single item is removed from the ship into a small boat and taken ashore, apart from the helicopter which flew off. No boats or ships tie to any docks to prevent unwanted creatures landing. This supply boat arrived in Isabella whilst there and unloaded a car along with other goodies. It appeared as if all the young men of the island turned out to help with the unloading, they worked unceasingly from dawn till dusk for two days before the ship left with cattle bred here on the island heading for a slaughterhouse on the mainland. Beef here tastes good as the cattle are fed on avocado pears and guavas. Funny how a luxury in one country is a basic in another!
On San Cristobal there is a municipal market where local ladies and growers bring their wares. Early Wednesday and Saturday mornings are best. Food prices are all somewhat higher than in Panama so best to buy long lasting foods there.
There are many wonderful books on Galapagos but all very expensive so suggest that it might be wise to see what Amazon have if you need to buy any.
To really see the wonders of the Galapagos one needs to go on an organised cruise and there are many of these to choose from. Santa Cruz is the tourist capital where all the offices are but it is possible to organise these from San Cristobal.
This has been a wonderful 3 week period, we shall be sad to leave but we have to make tracks on our next adventure a 3000 mile passage to the Marquesa Islands.
It was apparent from the number of commercial vessels anchored that we were nearing the port of Colon at the northern end of the Panama Canal. Our sail from Isla Linton was simply wonderful with the right winds and sea and beautiful clear blue skies.
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Isla Linton is a small privately owned island a short distance from the shore and we anchored overnight in quiet waters ready to set off early the next morning for Colon. We had hoped to arrive in Colon late morning and check in during the afternoon but a problem with the outboard engine prevented this. Brian spent the afternoon repairing the propeller which had split. To prevent the shaft spinning around without the propeller he had to do an engineering job to prevent this happening. But first we had to unpack the locker which housed the bench drill – it is packed beneath masses of tinned food.
We anchored in an area known as ‘the flats’ off Cristobal a good dinghy ride from the marina at Panama Canal Yacht Club and set off early the next morning to find Rudy, a taxi driver we had been recommended to use to clear us in and organise our transit. He is a super guy and only charged us for the time we were with him. Other taxi drivers charge $50 to do the check in plus the time and there are others who call themselves agents and charge between $300 and $500. It is not necessary to use these, Rudy was extremely efficient and the whole process of visiting the many offices and getting numerous photocopies of paperwork done took around 1¼hours. Rudy was able to supply us with the extra long lines needed for the transit and organise the plastic covered tyres needed as fenders. We also asked Rudy to be a line handler for us on the transit. The 4 x125’ lines are hired at $60 and the tyres are bought at $3 each. We used 10 tyres which are difficult to get shot of at the south side of the Canal. The yacht club charges $1 if you discard them so it is good to find another yachtie transiting in the opposite direction to take them off your hands.
Having checked in early Friday morning we had hoped the ‘admeasurer’ would call to measure Songster promptly. We waited in all day Saturday but there was no sign of him so an early phone call on Sunday to the Panama Canal Authority offices ensured he came on Sunday morning. All boats are measured to assess the charge to be made. We were well under the 50’ so were charged $600 – around £390. In addition to this charge you have to put up a buffer of $850 to cover any damage you might cause to the canal or delays which occur due to engine problems etc. etc. Thankfully we had no problems so were only charged the $600 which was not taken from our account until we had transited. The admeasurer also asks you an enormous number of questions to enable him to fill the numerous forms he had. One of the many questions he needed to know was if we carried any meat and where it was from. Speed is important and you have to confirm you are able to maintain a speed of 8knots which is difficult for some boats. It is a speed we do not do often as Brian likes to take care of his engine. In essence we travelled through the canal at around 5 knots an hour.
Our original transit date was 10th April almost four weeks ahead, it was then moved forward 1 day to 9th. A couple of days later there was a notice on the board at the yacht club announcing spaces on 20th and 21st March so I promptly rang and was given a choice of Sunday or Monday, 19th or 20th. In our state of unreadiness I chose the 20th to give us time to prepare Songster. Songster is really now set up for just two people and we would be carrying a crew of 6 plus a pilot so both loos had to be in working order and sleeping accommodation would be needed. The transit takes two days so everyone apart from the pilot would be sleeping on board. The earlier date meant we had been in Colon just over a week and would be transiting 3 weeks earlier than expected.
A few days before our arrival in Colon our manual bilge pump broke. For those non yachties the bilge pump is an essential part of a boat and is needed to pump water from the inside out. To remedy this Brian had to remove the pump from the front heads which entailed pushing very large wooden bungs into the pipes to prevent water and anything else seeping from them. He then used this pump to replace the bilge pump whilst we tried to find a replacement.
Finding the replacement pump was a headache as the British manufacturer would not speak to us as individuals and we scoured all chandleries in Panama City without success. So we had to bite the bullet and get one Fedexed to us from St Maarten. The pump cost $128 and the Fedex charge was $132. The pump did not arrive before our transit so Brian had to put the loo pump back and made a very temporary repair to the bilge pump which lasted just enough time for us to transit. The new pump arrived a couple of days after the transit but the design had been changed and he had to do a modification job using parts from both the new and old pumps. Thankfully all is now in working order.
Prior to the transit our front loo was packed to the gunwales with huge plastic boxes full of food plus a host of other items so these all had to be stowed elsewhere to make room for everyone. It was all a bit of a rush and we were pleased to be told our transit would be delayed one day so we left on 21st March arriving in the Pacific on 22nd March.
We set off just after 6.30pm on Tuesday evening very soon after our pilot arrived. He was a super guy and normally worked as a Tug Boat Captain. The anchorage was a couple of miles from the canal entrance and we had to be there ready to enter around 7.20pm after a ship which was due to arrive. The canal has 6 locks in total. Three on the north side at Gatun and 3 the other end. The first three are next to one another and rise 85’ spilling out 26 million gallons of water from the Gatun Lake. Sadly it was dark so we were unable to see an awful lot other than many lights. Going up the locks the sail boats enter last and going down the other side they enter first.
Once through the first 3 locks we arrived in the huge Gatun Lake and motored a couple of miles to a large unlit buoy where we tied for the night. We said our farewells to our pilot Adolpho who left us shortly after 10pm. Thankfully we had eaten well earlier so were all ready to get to bed in order to be up at the crack of dawn to continue the transit with our new pilot Francisco.
Francisco arrived soon after 6.30am and we set off across the lake to the Pedro Miguel lock 30 odd miles away. It was a misty morning with greyish skies making it difficult to identify the so called coastline of the surrounding jungle. Howler monkeys were in abundance although we never saw any with the naked eye.
A wait of almost an hour at the Pedro Miguel locks enabled me to cut one of our crew’s hair. A quick zip round afterwards with the vacuum cleaner cleared the decks.
The final lock is the Miraflores where we frantically rang home to get everyone to watch us on the web cam. Sadly we were only seen by John and Jacqui Bidgood but we waved hard to let the world know we were there and just about to enter the Pacific.
At around 2.25 on 22nd March the final lock gates opened spewing a further 26 million gallons of water and we motored out into the Pacific waters of the southern end of the Panama Canal. The waters are grey but this is not surprising with the amount of shipping passing by.
Our crew quickly departed anxious to return to Colon a good 2.5 hours away by bus and we sat back and had a wonderful cup of tea once we had tied to a buoy at the Balboa Yacht Club. Our decision to use Rudy a professional line handler was a very good move. He was able to tell our other line handlers what to do. We had a wonderful crew, David Watson from Blitz, who we had known from our Med days, Mark his crew and Erica, a German lady who had sailed on an Australian boat from the Indian Ocean. Erica then stayed on a couple of days with us. Our mooring buoy is simply yards from the channel in which the huge man made sea giants pass. It is easy to see how they do not see small craft like us at sea, these ships are simply massive. We watch in awe as the gigantic container ships with as many as 1400 containers loaded on their decks pass by. Surprisingly these big ships make little wake in the water but we cannot say this for the fast moving tugs that move up and down the channel with the resultant tsunami that tosses the sailboats around. Fortunately it is quick but it is fairly violent at the time and one needs to be alert if you are doing something intricate.
Large grey pelicans skim elegantly in formation inches from the surface of the sea, we are sure their beaks must touch the water. I am constantly reminded of eating Cornish pasties in Mevagissey by the cry of the terns, something we have not experienced since Gibraltar – that is the terns not the Cornish pasties.
Balboa is a short taxi ride from Panama City which is simply wonderful with its high rises and magnificent shopping. Needless to say money has run through our fingers like water since arriving buying parts and food necessary for the crossing of the Pacific. The new cruising chute we ordered back at the beginning of the year was awaiting our arrival and it was exciting to unpack this huge new green, orange and yellow sail. Fortunately we managed to sell our spinnaker making room for stowage of the new sail.
Panama is an up and coming country. It has miles and miles of coastline on both the Caribbean and Pacific. There are many islands and it is a good cruising area. It is also a good place to live with economical property prices in good locations. The only down side is the amount of traffic in Panama City, it is tremendous and everyone seems to have a large 4x4. Panama City is quite safe, although as in all cities it does have areas that one avoids. The difference between Colon and Panama is unbelievable – it is hard to believe they are in the same country as Colon is so poor and run down.
Now that Brian has sourced all the parts he needs for the jobs to be done we hope to be away from Balboa by mid April at the latest – post permitting. He has repacked the stern gland – this is where the propeller shaft goes through the boat – it is susceptible to leakage and requires special material for sealing it. The wind generator bought back in January is almost complete thanks to some help from David and Mark from Blitz in hauling him up the mizzen mast – this requires still water and a heavy hand on a winch to haul him up – looks like my job to enable him to finish it by putting on the blades once it is wired.
After much searching Brian has a new starter motor which we are taking as a spare just in case we have any problems – almost $1000 – but worth every penny if the existing one fails as happened in Gibraltar back in 2003. It has taken many days to locate an affordable one but thanks to our taxi driver Tony, who knows all the right places to go, Brian has managed to save $1000 – he was quoted $2000 by the local Perkins dealer.
The freezer is stocked with meat and fresh salmon which we hope with some fishing on the way will keep us going several months. We are loaded with cat litter and cat food which weighs a ton and hope we have sufficient to last until New Zealand.
Costs are prohibitive in the French islands with a bag of oranges quoted at $30 so we plan to buy fresh fruit and veg at the local market the day before we leave. With good planning we should be able to keep fruit and veg for 6 weeks plus – we recently ate 6 week old Romaine lettuce. It was still fresh and crisp having been kept in my favourite ‘Lock & lock’ plastic containers – I have found they sell them in Reys supermarket at El Dorado so have bought even more – empty these take up masses of space but full they keep everything fresh for ages.
If time permits we hope to take a trip into the countryside. The rainy season is just starting and plants and trees are beginning to bloom – the main colour is yellow – just like spring back in the UK. We really do like Panama which owes an awful lot to the American influence prior to the handing over of the canal to the Panamanian authorities. It is neat, clean and well maintained but has too much traffic. The total population of the country is just under 3million but I am sure there must be 4 million vehicles alone in Panama City.
Henry and Lily have had all necessary vaccinations for entry to New Zealand and last week had a good dental check up. They both now have super smiles!!
Quarantine accommodation is being arranged in New Zealand where we hope they will only have to stay 30 days. I just need to sort out the import papers.
We had a huge shop one day last week which took ages to stow and now we have to make sure we know where everything is. On our old Acer laptop I had a wonderful database with inventories of food, drugs, spares etc. but the laptop has a broken screen and the keys have given up. Brian has tried to link up the hard drive of this computer with a new one but sadly we are unable to extract the information needed as we do not have the software disk. I am frantically trying to find a way of creating a new database. It is essential to know where everything is – the other day I traced some damp and emptied a locker to find I had 5 large bottles of Hellman’s mayonnaise and two bottles of Nescafe which I did not know I had!!
It will be interesting to see just how much food we have at the end of the trip and how much we buy on the way. I am sure we shall dip into our deep pockets and pay the price for fresh food – we are so used to it that eating canned vegetables will not be the same.
Each day we see other yachties setting off on their passage to the Galapagos – we are not quite ready but we shall be following them hopefully this Thursday 14th April. The plan is to sail to an island in the Las Perlas group and spend Friday giving the boat a good clean. The black grime from ships engines, normal city dirt and the burning of sugar cane has made Songster rather dirty. As you all know we do not start a passage on a Friday so Saturday 16th we shall be off to the Galapagos 800 miles away.
Watch this space for the next news ……………………………………………………………..
Preparations for our Pacific crossing did not compare in any way with those of crossing the Atlantic with the ARC. In Las Palmas we worked and worked up until the time we left and we also had to go on a set date regardless of weather.
Yes, we were working up until he last minute of departure but that was because I had discovered where we had a leak the previous night. This leak in our water system had baffled Brian for weeks.ff
The 8 days we had on Isabella were like a holiday taking trips, walking to the small town to buy provisions and eat.
One by one the boats in the anchorage departed for the Marquesas being replaced by others arriving from other islands before setting off across the Pacific. Everyone got to know everyone. The camaraderie was fantastic, not like anything we have experienced elsewhere. Larry the owner of a 68’ Oyster called Altair and his skipper Nigel, who we had met in Panama, cleaned the barnacles and weed that had grown so quickly in tropical waters from the bottom of Songster to ensure she achieved maximum speed on the crossing. Paul and Suzette, off another boat called Altair helped Brian with the refuelling of our spare diesel cans and bring back 60 gallons of water in 5 gallon bottles. A final trip to Villamil on departure day to buy fresh veggies and fruit and we were ready.
Brian had worked early in the morning at sealing our hot water tank, the source of the leak, and so far the repair had held.
At 2pm on Saturday 13th May 2006 we left Isla Isabella in the Galapagos for Fatu Hiva in the Marquesa Islands approximately 3,000 miles away and a possible month at sea. It was just like setting of on another passage. Any major equipment purchases had been made in Panama or earlier and serious provisioning done in Venezuela, the Netherland Antilles and Panama City.
Soon after leaving we had our first rain for 7 weeks. The two hour shower cleaned the salt of Songster, including her sails. Once away from the south west corner of the island we started to pick up good winds and a 1.5 – 2 knot current. We flew along covering 183 miles in one 24 hour period. This is a record for Songster since Brian bought her back in 1996.
The sailing was exhilarating and exciting, quite unlike sailing we had experienced for years so we looked forward to a good easy crossing. The sails were not touched for a week. I was able to cook meals every day and kept the meals I had prepared and frozen to be eaten should the situation change later.
After about 10 days I developed a pain in my left groin and thigh which I put down to rheumatics and changing weather with rain coming. The weather changed for the worse and we experienced huge swells coming up from the Southern Ocean storms and very uncomfortable seas making it impossible to do anything. Thank goodness I had kept the ready made food as we survived on that and other easy to use canned foods for the rest of our passage. The sailing was exhausting as the weather and sea changed at a whim. We constantly changed sails both day and night to cope with the situation. We had chosen the rhumb line, the shortest route between two points, but remained more northerly until we had hit 110W to ensure we benefited from the winds and current. The sea was more uncomfortable the more southerly we went and on several occasions we headed in a more north westerly direction to find a more comfortable sail. After 21 days 20 hours and 5 minutes we made landfall on Monday 5th June at the most south easterly island in the group of Fatu Hiva in the Bay of Virgins. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful bays in the islands but due to circumstances and weather we did not appreciate its beauty. The weather was also not good and we experienced extremely strong winds coming down from the mountains.
I managed to limp ashore just once to barter with the locals for some fruit. They were certainly very enthusiastic taking everything I took in exchange for grapefruit, mangoes and papayas. They had certainly been doing this for sometime and we as newcomers to this exercise paid heavily for the fruit.
After 3 days here where the pain in my leg was becoming worse it was decided that our friends on Oyster Altair should get me to Nuka Hiva where there was a hospital and they took me overnight very quickly in there much larger boat. Brian followed later with Larry the owner of Altair acting as crew. At Nuka Hiva I was immediately taken to a Dr who cared greatly for my problem before being taken into hospital in the hope they would be able to find the problem and fix it. I spent a week in Nuka Hiva hospital, sharing a room with a local lady who brought her husband and child in to sleep on a mat beside her bed at night. It was a shock when on the first night the husband started to snore loudly but it soon subsided into deep quiet sleep and at 5.15 each morning they all got up and the husband and child left. At meal times the husband arrived to consume whatever was left on his wife’s tray.
This hospital was far better equipped than the one in the San Blas and I had a bathroom with hot water. Chickens clucked all day at the door of the room and insects in their thousands invaded at dusk through the open shuttered windows – no insect nets here. Thankfully I had taken insect repellent ad antihistamine cream. After many tests the two delightful French doctors agreed that they were not able to diagnose the exact problem and I would have to go to Tahiti for further tests. So on Sunday 18th June I flew by helicopter from the hospital to Nuka Hiva airport just 7 or 8 minutes away to catch a flight to Papeete, Tahiti, where I was picked up by ambulance and taken to hospital. It was thought I would be there just 3 days and return to Nuka Hiva where Brian remained with Songster and the cats but at 8.30pm on Tuesday 20th June I was told that I would be paralysed in my left leg within 4 weeks if I did not have surgery to remove a 2cm x 1cm tumour at the root of my femoral nerve inside the left side of my L2 vertebrae. The visiting Professor neurosurgeon from Lille, who broke the news to me, was returning to France within one week but agreed to operate on me the next day. So after a quick phone call to Brian who had made arrangements to meet me the next morning from the plane at 7.30am, it was decided that I should stay and undergo the necessary surgery. Brian remained in Nuka Hiva frantically wondering how he could get Songster to Tahiti a good 700 miles or about 6 – 7 days away on his own and at the same time worrying himself sick about me. Our lack of French in these circumstances has been a great hindrance for us both. However, a kindly Canadian, Keith, who was crewing on another British yacht, Ellida, agreed to extend his stay and help Brian get to Papeete. Brian arrived the morning after I had been released from Hospital. I had checked myself into a very comfortable Sofitel hotel in Maeva Beach where I knew Brian would bring the boat to anchor. The period I had spent on my own in hospital was not a good experience and not one I hope to repeat. However, as yachties began to arrive here in Papeete I had a steady flow of visitors which was wonderful. Friends have been wonderful to us. Brian had sought help over the marine radio, something we do not do usually, but under the circumstances he was desperate to find people who could visit me and then perhaps report back my condition to him. Professional medical yachties have been wonderful from surgeons to physiotherapists so I have had the best possible care on hand. They have given us both confidence of my full recovery.
On Friday last, 7th July, we had written confirmation that the tumour was benign. A great relief.
It is now 14th July, Bastille Day, and I have been back on the boat just 5 days and feel so much better back in my own surroundings and able to eat just what I fancy. Songster is alongside in Taina Marina, a very pleasant place to be, where people stroll past all day so there can be a constant flow of visitors.
It was a pity we did not see the Marquesas or the Tuomotos but we shall make up for that once we are on our way at the islands ahead away from French Polynesia where it is incredibly expensive. From the little we have seen so far of the French islands no one is short of anything. The roads are simply full of new French or German cars with the occasional Japanese vehicle. Traffic is horrendous and you can shop till you drop providing you have a suitably large wallet or credit card limit to do it. Very near to the marina is a huge Carrefour supermarket where you can buy simply everything from France. The cheese counter runs almost the entire length of the store. Wonderful fruit and vegetables from New Zealand and Australia, along with local ones, fill a huge area. Meat mainly from New Zealand is fantastic. It has been wonderful to eat lamb once again after all these years. The lamb, all from NZ, is quite different to that available back home, it is succulent and perhaps less fatty.
Tahiti, in the Society group of islands, is the main island of French Polynesia and has a population of around 170,000. Like the islands in the Marquesas and others in the Society Group, Tahiti is very mountainous so people live on the coast. Flowers are everywhere and women wear brightly coloured flowers behind their ears or beautiful floral coronets on their heads.
The biggest surprise is just how large the locals are. I shared a hospital room here in Papeete with a lady who weighed 175kgs – around 25 stone. Understandably health problems amongst such an overweight population are high. They have huge appetites, easily seen from the huge pieces of meat in the supermarket. There are no small joints or packs with just 2 or three chops in – they are all huge.
Our original plans had been to visit several of the Marquesa islands before sailing to the Tuamoto atolls and then arrive in Papeete to participate in the Heiva celebrations that take place at this time of year around Bastille Day. These celebrations are groups from the various islands who compete in traditional dancing, singing and sporting activities along with a huge arts and craft exhibition. So far we have not managed this but on Friday 21st July, my next goal, we are off to the dance finals which we are thoroughly looking forward to.
We are both now recuperating after what has been a period of hell for both of us thankful that surgery took place here, even though it has all cost an arm and a leg. To have come back to the UK for surgery was just unthinkable with the severe pain and this is a good climate in which to rehabilitate, even though it does rain at times!
The next journal should hopefully let you know we are on our way west towards to New Zealand.
It is now the beginning of September and we have been in French Polynesia since the beginning of June. However, we have not seen a great deal of it due to circumstances.
My health is now back to normal, although still a little stiff in the back and hips and my stamina will increase as we get back out into the open sea. Preparations are now being made to leave Tahiti 3rd/4th September for the nearby island of Moorea which we visited a few weeks ago by ferry.
First we had to get our new generator up and running. Several weeks ago Brian serviced it and it firmly decided not to start afterwards which caused him many sleepless nights. It is very unusual for Brian not to sort an engineering problem out and he eventually called in a professional who was equally puzzled and left us with many dollars in his fist and a generator which still did not work. Several yachties came to give Brian a hand but were all dumbfounded by the problem. Eventually Brian decided to remove the injectors and the injector pump and take it to a firm of diesel engineers for them to test. The result was that we had picked up bad fuel somewhere on our travels and this had scored the bore which is under very high pressure. Any mark on the bore of the pump will reduce the performance of the equipment. Sadly we have had to source a new pump which arrived from the States early last week. This has now been fitted by Brian and our generator is producing power to run everything.
Brian decided it would be prudent to check our fuel supplies so early one morning we vacuumed the tank with a pump and tubing he had built sucking out around 80 litres of sludge. We think this must have come from fuel taken in the Galapagos which came onto the boat in large blue plastic barrels which we were unable to filter. From chatting with numerous people we find there are others with problems so this is not just unique to us. One other problem encountered by others is the fuel in French Polynesia which is of lower sulphur content than we usually use. This is causing many problems with older engines causing seals to rot and leaking of fuel.
On Saturday 2nd September we left Marina Taina, Tahiti for the anchorage where we had hoped to clean the accumulated muck off the sides of the boat but when we went to use the dinghy the outboard decided to play up and Brian spent the next day and a half trying to rectify that problem. During our stay in the marina there had been a number of days when we had very strong winds and on one occasion the dinghy took a battering filling with water from both rain and sea and then the fuel tank capsized within the dinghy so we think water may have entered the fuel system. Thankfully the outboard is now running smoothly and once we have deposited our trash on shore tomorrow, filled with fuel for both the boat and the dinghy we shall be on our way to Moorea.
Over the coming weeks we shall sail from Moorea to Huahine, Raiatea, where we hope to buy more gaz, and Bora Bora before taking off to Suvarov (Suwarrow) in between the North and Southern Cook Islands. From Suvarov we shall head for Western Samoa and then down to Tonga where we shall wait until November for the right weather window to sail to Opua in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.
Henry and Lily have been accepted for import into New Zealand but will have to remain in quarantine for 60 days sadly. This is longer than we had hoped but was due to our inability to obtain the required anti rabies blood testing within the time requirements. However, Tahiti is well set up and we along with several other pet owners have done all the necessary work here. No animals are allowed to leave their boats so one Friday morning Songster became a vets surgery so that Lily and Henry could have blood samples taken. Henry was very easy to deal with and did not require any sedation. He sat on the table with his chin in the air whilst the vets assistant shaved under his chin with a cut throat razor. He looked just like a little old man sitting there. Sadly we did not get a picture of him. Lily is not always so cooperative so she had a small amount of anaesthetic and spent the next hour fast asleep. The blood was then sent off to Australia for testing – so far we have not had the results and this was done over a month ago. It has all cost an arm and a leg as the blood had to be Fedexed from Tahiti to Australia and we had to purchase a special vacuum container to send it in so that the blood kept at the right temperature. The ironic thing was that Fedex or Customs held up the package this end and the blood was 11 days old when it arrived in Australia but there was no problem that it was now not cold!!
Tahiti has been a great place to stay. It was very civilised. My French has improved no end and we have been able to buy anything we wanted but at a price.
However, we still have several thousand miles to go before we reach New Zealand. They are telling us that El Nino conditions are around so we hope and pray that the weather will be kind. So far it has been very hard going for many and I really do not relish any bad seas so soon after getting back into the swing of things.
So we are now off to play once more ………………………………………………………………..
As planned we left the shores of Tahiti on Sunday 3rd September 2006 but a little later than we had hoped. It was a shock to get out into the open sea once more and experience the huge swells and uncomfortable seas again. The passage to Moorea was dull and cloudy with rain falling later in the afternoon just as we approached the north east corner of the island. It seems that whenever we approach a new island the skies cloud and we do not get good light in order to see the reefs etc. Moorea was where the film South Pacific was made.
We rounded the northeast corner and made our way along the north shore of this small island, just to the northwest of Tahiti, looking for the opening into Oponuhu Bay. The rains came and a staggeringly beautiful rainbow drifted up the cliffs. It was quite unlike anything we had seen anywhere in the world as it appeared to cover the land like a coloured cloud.
Once we had made our way through the entrance into Oponuhu and found a suitable spot in relatively shallow waters we put the hook down and relaxed for the next few days. This was a beautiful spot to spend our first few days out at sea before venturing further. Moorea, like Tahiti, is a very mountainous island encircled by a coral reef with huge lagoons behind the reefs. The locals all live on the flat land that extends from the bottom of the mountains out to the ocean. They have large plots of land which appear to be well looked after with an abundance of flowers and shrubs.
After a good supper and quiet restful night’s sleep we were up early the next morning to explore. Our first venture was to find where we were able to swim with and feed the sting rays. We went unprepared as Brian decided this was to be just a recce trip in the dinghy but it was several miles away and once we arrived at the spot we took to the waters and were totally surrounded by these huge fish. The experience was so different and special. These creatures were around 1 metre wide and climbed our bodies poking their heads and noses out of the water up to our faces. They have simply huge mouths on their underside and it was quite easy to see how they could become cartoon characters. A tourist boat came along with several French holidaymakers and the boat captain gave us raw tuna to hold in our closed hands so the fish could smell it but not eat it. The rays became even friendlier. During all this time Brian has remained firmly in the anchored dinghy but curiosity got the better of him and he eventually lowered himself into the water and came amongst the rays. Not far from the rays the sea bed lowered and you could see shark swimming – needless to say I kept well away from those. When the rays are not active they lie on the seabed with sand covering them so they are well camouflaged. I guess these particular rays did not have to do too much fishing for food as the tourists boats come along quite regularly and the rays are always in the same spot of the ocean.
The next day we decided to take a walk several kilometres away to Belvedere a point up in the mountains where you could look down on to Oponuhu Bay and Cooks Bay. We walked 3 kilometres but decided that as this was my first long distance walk we should stop there and return. This was a lovely walk along roads lined with tall neat French like conifers which swayed in the warm breeze. It was hard to believe we were in the middle of the Pacific as it was so like being in France. Cattle roamed fields. We passed a shrimp farm and the local agricultural college which had a retail shop where we sampled the many pineapple jam recipes they made. From here it started to climb steeply and we still had a couple more kilometres to go to the Belvedere look out so we decided we would walk to the old temple ruins a short distance away and that would be the limit for the day. These temples were literally areas of stone and were used up until the 19th century for worship. This was all prior to the arrival of the Missionaries who managed to convert everyone to Christianity and people started to visit the Churches. People on these islands are devoutly religious and on Sundays tend to dress in their mission style clothes – which tend to look very much like white Laura Ashley nightdresses of the 70’s. It was hard to believe that these remote old ruins had been used up until quite recent times and it shows how progress has romped along in the years that have passed.
It was whilst in Moorea that we managed to catch up with friend Roger off Dreamcatcher of Jersey. We had managed to see him briefly a couple of times whilst in Tahiti but now he was actually anchored in the bay on Cool Bananas, a boat he had been crewing on for the past few months. Roger had very kindly collected our mail in Panama and soon after his trip returned to the UK a fistful of post for those without the facility to receive e mails or read our web site.
On 6th September we set off late afternoon to sail to Huahine 80 odd miles away to the north. The passage was horrendously rough with confused seas and we both had terrible seasickness. The winds were pushing us westwards and in the end we decided to go to Raiatea 120 miles away rather than Huahine. We arrived in Raiatea late morning of the next day and found our way through the reef entrance. From pilot books the entrances always sound difficult and we spend time getting things right before we enter but usually the entrance is much bigger than you think and also not as difficult. However, we always err on the side of caution. The lagoon inside the island reef here is simply huge, in fact the reef encompasses two islands, Raiatea and Tahaa. We made our way around the top of Raiatea to find an anchorage but ended up tying to a buoy in relatively deep water outside the Moorings marina.
I had hoped to do some provisioning here but as there is no public transport on this island it proved to be a little difficult. First we needed to get a gas tank filled and found that a boatyard nearby could possibly do it. We walked to the yard but managed to hitch a lift back. We then managed to dinghy with the gas container where it was filled by tipping the larger full container upside down and attaching it to ours somehow. This was to be the last time we would be able to get our French camping gaz bottles filled. The next day we decided to try hitching a lift to the main town. This is something I have never done in my life before but a kindly young mum stopped and picked us up – her young daughter took an instant disliking to us and mum had to drive with her in her arms. The small town had several supermarkets etc. but we were not able to buy too much knowing we had to try to hitch a lift back to the boat several miles away. Armed with the few provisions we bought we were picked up by a kindly French gynaecologist who was sailing on his friends boat. Had we known it would be so easy to get a lift we might have bought more, but that is life. However, armed with bread and some fruit we decided that we needed to move on and next morning we made the short passage of 26 or so miles to Bora Bora. Again the sunlight disappeared on our arrival and Bora Bora did not look to us the jewel that everyone talks about. In fact we did not find it any more attractive than the other islands we had been to. The first night we tied to a buoy outside Bloody Mary’s Restaurant which is known for entertaining the rich and famous. Outside is a huge board with names of those who had visited – it appeared to us that most were dead. On further inspection of photos it was obvious they were trading on their past reputation as brown faded photographs showed pictures of people of several eras ago. However, it was a good meal of freshly cooked local fish. There was no menu and all the fish was displayed on a table and the chef explains how each one can be cooked – you then choose and hey presto the meal arrives. The floors are sand and the toilets are unique. We went with Linda and John off Hawkeye and someone was very keen to take Linda and I into the mens to have a peep at the urinal flush which had a penis handle. This meal fleeced us of a few more French Polynesian Francs and was almost the end of our mammothly expensive time here in French Polynesia. Next morning we hitched a lift to the small town to find a supermarket where we could buy water. Our water maker now has a problem with the bearings on the motor and we need to get a part shipped in from Italy. In case the machine fails totally we need to have plentiful supplies of water so we decided to spend our last francs on 5lt bottles of water. Again we are faced with no public transport so decide that we shall have to use a taxi to return but first we had to find out how much the taxi would be and then how much we have left to spend on water. We managed it well and returned the 2 kilometres for £9 along with plentiful water, a large bag of NZ apples and a few small pieces of change.
The following day we spent preparing for our next passage. Brian prepares the boat whilst I sort provisions and cook easy to dish up meals for the passage. We are about to say goodbye to the French Islands and at the same time thank them for all that they did for me during our rather awful patch. I am fully recovered and have no after effects. Simply amazing – thank you Professor Alouie.
French Polynesia was fun, vibrant, expensive but decadent and just like being in Europe, apart from the wonderfully warm weather and the precise location in the middle of the Pacific.
Cook Islands here we come ……………………………………………………………………………………..
On Monday 11th September at noon we untied the ropes attaching us to the buoy off the Yacht Club at Bora Bora. We had not seen a soul at the yacht club whilst there so cannot confirm if it is open or not.
We were now heading West North West to Suvarov (Suwarrow) 700 plus miles away. This was a slow passage in confused seas with swells coming from both the north east and south east making life pretty uncomfortable. We tried a number of different sail plans but in the end to make life easier and less strenuous we sailed with our genoa poled out. We did this until the winds became so light we decided to fly our chute. Sods law is that by the time you have prepared everything the situation has changed and the winds increased so we reverted back to our genoa. We sailed with this for a good few days until our wretched furling gear jammed and we were unable to take the sail in or out and we ended up having to wrap it round the forestay in a heavy sea. We then decided to motor the rest of the way but thankfully we were just over 24 hours away from our destination.
Suvarov is an atoll with a reef circumference of 50 miles. An atoll is an old volcano surrounded by a reef where the mountains have sunk. The reef then has several small islands on it called motus. It is impossible to see these atolls from any distance and almost impossible if the weather is not good. Just as we arrived off Suvarov the skies darkened and we were surrounded by squalls making it impossible to enter the lagoon. For almost two hours we motored around waiting for the weather to clear so that we could make a safe entry. The entry is narrow with reefs strewing the entrance and the chance of a counter current. Thankfully the rains eventually went and we entered without any current and made our way to the anchorage behind Anchorage Island. This was to be our home for the next week.
Suvarov is in the Cook Island group miles from anywhere and only visited by yachtsmen on their way across the Pacific or the odd fishermen taking shelter. It was here that New Zealander Tom Neale lived alone for several years between 1952 and 1978. Tom wrote about his experiences in his book ‘An island to Oneself’. Suvarov is now a National Park with a warden, John and his wife Veronica and four young sons. The family arrive in May and leave in November, that is if a boat comes from Raratonga, the capital island to collect them. Last year, John and Veronica’s first year there, a boat did not arrive and they hitched a lift on a late passing yachtie’s boat to Penryn from where they caught a plane. This is the first year the children have spent on the island which is just heaven. It reminded me so much of the books I read as a child and the dreams I often had of life on a desert island. This certainly was one of those places. John and Veronica arrived at the beginning of the season with, they hoped, sufficient provisions to last. They have, of course, been helped by the many yachts that have called there this year, many with children, who have had a fantastic time. John was an interesting character who loved to tell us about his country and his fascinating life. He was very keen on the local inhabitants of this atoll, particularly the many birds that had their nesting sites on several of the motos. John took a few of us to one such moto which was simply covered in flimsy birds nests and hundreds of eggs scattered on the stony ground. The flimsy nests, perched on equally flimsy vegetation all had huge, fluffy, ugly frigate bird chicks on them. Each one sat upright and looked as if they had large Adams apples in their necks. At one corner there appeared to be a number of nests with dead young in them which worried John no end but we thought that this may have been caused by severe winds and seas that could have come in that direction causing the parent to abandon the young and the nest. Terns laid eggs everywhere on the ground and it was difficult to see the well camouflaged eggs on the coral grit. Red footed boobies with blue beaks sat in the stubby trees along with brown fluffy baby boobies and tropic birds. The noise from the birds overhead was simply deafening and reminded one of the Alfred Hitchcock film that none of us could remember the name of at the time.
From this moto John then took us to a safe area to snorkel in relatively shallow waters where the coral was spectacularly beautiful – this was a very cloudy day but the visibility was excellent and one was able to see a good distance. This has been by far the best coral I have seen so far. Bonaire has still been the best place for seeing fish.
John’s family lives in a purpose built cyclone shelter house built on very tall stilts right in the middle of the island in a clearing in the jungle type vegetation. Remnants of Tom Neale’s house and garden exist and John is trying to grow various vegetables. Their water is collected off the roofs of the buildings and stored in large underground tanks. They arrived with a supply of fuel but insufficient to keep any power going for the freezer that was there. A small solar panel powers the short wave radio which is their only link with the outside world. This does not always work each day. Cooking is done on wood collected on the island.
Every few days John and his family organised a bbq. Each day they would fish for food but on the bbq days they would fish for the group of yachties there. The yachties would provide the salads etc. to share with everyone. Luckily we were only a small group but there had been as many as 20 yachts there several weeks earlier.
Sadly it was not safe to swim in the lagoon as there were a very large number of sharks present and they regularly loitered around the boats making us all apprehensive. One morning a group of us, along with John’s eldest son, Jeremiah, walked at low tide along the coral causeway from Anchorage island to Whale Island. Jeremiah was fantastically good at spearing brightly coloured parrot fish in the shallow waters. However, we had to be on our guard for sharks which may be hanging around so we had to splash as little as possible to avoid alarming them and making them think we were fish. On Whale island we saw young birds that sat so close to us it was wonderful. These birds have no predators so are very friendly.
On the island there were several graves and Nicholas the second son took me on a tour to show and explain them to me. This island is about a quarter of a mile by 300 yards so it is very small but there are a number of wild chickens left over from Toms days. John hopes to try to domesticate these next year and find their eggs. One thing the island is noted for is coconut crabs something we have heard about but never seen and John promised to find one for us. However, it was Nicholas who did this by rummaging through a pile of old coconuts where he found several babies but he did manage to find a youngster which was pretty large. These crabs grow to a huge size and apparently are quite tasty as they feed off coconuts. John does not allow them to be killed and eaten.
This was a wonderful week. Brian loved every minute of it. He would go ashore and chat with John and walk through the island and along the beach. It was all so spectacularly beautiful and was just like the pictures you see in magazines and on the TV. But we are weeks behind schedule and we still have around 2000 miles to go to New Zealand. The weather was not good but we kept an eye on the forecasts and listened to Jeff on the net before making any firm plans to leave. In fact each day we decided to go we decided to delay it 24 hours and then we did eventually leave for the island of Samoa.
Suvarov, Cook Islands to Pago Pago, American Samoa
September 2006
It was hard to break away from Suvarov our remote desert island in the middle of nowhere but we had to do it and on Monday 25th September we finally left for the island of Samoa 500 odd miles away.
This passage turned out to be very slow as there was insufficient wind to fill the sails and we ended up motor sailing a good way using up valuable diesel bought in French Polynesia. As we had used so much fuel and the winds were certainly not favourable we made the decision to head for American Samoa, a shorter passage, and where we knew we could refuel alongside. In Samoa it would have to be done by taking containers to the fuel station and bringing them back to the boat which is a tough task for anyone to do.
The winds increased as we neared the island of Tutuila and its capital Pago Pago, pronounced Pango Pango, and we had to reduce sail to reduce speed to ensure we arrived in daylight. American Samoa gets an awful lot of bad press but we have found the people delightful and the island quite beautiful. It has not been a cheap experience as we had to cough up a $500 bond for the cats on arrival – the quarantine inspectors even tried a bribe – saying I could pay for just one cat, $250, but they would want $60 – out of the $250 a fee of $30 is kept to cover admin so it would cost me $90 rather than $60. As you might guess I did not accept the bribe. Check in and out costs plus harbour dues were also expensive.
Although an American territory the people are very definitely Samoan in every way. No one speaks with an American accent and they have a very strict culture. They are devoutly religious and on Sundays nothing happens, no one is able to work on their boat etc, although the 24hr launderette remains open and is packed. The men still wear the lava lava, a wrap over type skirt, although the younger ones do tend to wear jeans or long shorts. The majority of ladies tend to wear long skirts and have their arms covered – I have tried but it is impossible in the tremendous heat here. The humidity is around 85% with temperatures in the 30sC and it is zapping. On Sundays the ladies and girls wear all white to church. There is good public transport around the island so we have used the strange little buses which have been built onto extended chassis from small pickup type trucks. They resemble toy town buses and everyone drives at toy town speeds, maximum speed here is 25mph. Quite different to French Polynesia where everyone is rushing everywhere. Each family here is huge – 100 or more people – and each family has a traditional family house which is a large covered area, some with beautiful traditional wooden tile roofs. The roof is supported by large poles and has traditional wooden or cane shutters which unroll around it. In some villages there are 8 or 9 of these very large ‘fale’, usually all near to one another.
It appears that everyone works for a US government department and from what we see they have 3 or 4 people doing the work of one person. Everyone seems to have an empty desk apart from a huge Styrofoam container with some fast food in it. From the number of pot noodle cartons around they consume a lot. Not sure if this is what makes them so huge but it is good to be big here and men strive to be with big girth and neck. With this heat it must be difficult for some of them to move and I am sure their health cannot be good carrying so much weight. I visited a shoe store the other day and was astounded at the sizes of the shoes, even the women’s went up to size 12s and 13s. My they have big feet!!
Pago Pago is a natural harbour with extremely good protection. Sadly there is a large tuna cannery working day and night which from time to time spews out noxious smells. The island generator is alongside the cannery so this was not a quiet anchorage. One of the biggest problems with the island is the amount of trash, mainly fast food containers and plastic bottles littering streets, beaches and the harbour waters. This was something we had not seen since Trinidad. There appeared to be plenty of dumpsters so we just could not understand how lax these people were in letting their beautiful island become so untidy.
We took a tour with 4 other yachties on one of the buses around the island. The driver had never been to the far west of the island and warned us beforehand that it might be too steep and the roads bad but to his surprise there was a wonderful tarmac road and the hills were just like the rest of the island. The coastal road has some spectacular views down precipitous valleys to the rocky sea shore. Needless to say the trash problem was not so bad in the way out rural areas – no fast food restaurants here.
Weather here is determined by the South Pacific Convergence zone which hangs around during the winter months – which is our summer – so we have had our fair share of rain and gusty winds. We have been pleased to catch the rain to fill our tanks as the harbour here is not too clean and no one uses their water makers. This has been hard for Brian as we had to buy two 6 gallon plastic water containers which Brian has been taking to the local fuel station to fill with water. Foolishly he totally filled them each time and then found them difficult to lift and carry back via the dinghy and then back on board. Some people have to do this all the time if they do not have water makers – the water ashore is not always potable – or perhaps scarce and we are glad we have a watermaker which takes the strain out of this chore. Sadly the watermaker is not working 100% and needs a new part which we had shipped to Western Samoa from Italy. This we had sent on to us here but sadly it is the wrong part and we shall have to soldier on with the system until we reach New Zealand where we will be able to source the part and receive more easily.
We are definitely the tail enders of the Pacific sailors with few people now in each place. The majority of the yachts here in American Samoa are going north to the more off the beaten track areas where there are no shops, no gas stations, no hypermarkets etc. etc. American Samoa is a good place to restock for those passages but I am at the moment doing the opposite by eating and managing our stores to ensure we arrive in New Zealand with as little as possible wastage. New Zealand is hot on importation of many foods and we are not allowed to take meat in any form, canned, fresh or frozen. This goes for foods with dairy produce in them so we shall have to eat our 6 large jars of Hellman’s mayonnaise rather rapidly.
Our next passage is to the Vava’u group of islands in north Tonga. Here we are inspected on arrival and will have any fruit and veggies taken away so we will have to frantically eat what we have over the next few days passage. This is a 300+ passage and will take us 2-3 days depending on the winds – which at the moment look as if it could be boisterous. We had planned initially to go to Niuatoputapu, more commonly known as New Potatoes amongst the yachties, but the weather is deteriorating over the next few days and we need to get more south.
Tonga here we come ……………………………………………………….
The weather is a very important feature of sailing and finding the right weather with sufficiently good winds and seas for a passage is difficult to find. Sitting so close to the South Pacific Convergence Zone in Samoa makes it difficult as this weather zone sits above the islands for much of the time providing plenty of rain and winds which in turn make rough seas. We knew there would be 3 good days from Sunday 8th October but as we had committed ourselves to a tour of the island we would not be able to leave until Monday 9th.
We packed everything ready to sail and on Monday 9th October 2006 left Pago Pago harbour early afternoon out into the swell of the South Pacific. Initially the winds were extremely light and the sea comfortable. Winds increased slightly giving us 2 beautiful nights and days sailing under the stars and waning moon. Mid afternoon on the Wednesday the skies darkened and within a very short time winds had increased considerably along with the sea and we reefed down our main. The seas were very rough and threw the boat around everywhere, throwing me across the saloon straining muscles in my back and leaving me with a possible cracked rib.
The winds continued to increase and when we hit 50knot gusts we decided it would be prudent to ‘hove to’ a method of stalling the yacht so that we would be able to rest and wait for the weather to improve but just as we manoeuvred into position a gust caught our mainsail and tore it from leach to luff (one side to the other). To prevent further damage we needed to remove this sail quickly but sadly Brian was feeling incredibly seasick in the huge seas. However, he managed, well secured with harness and life line, to get to the mast and take what remained of the sail down. Once Brian had managed to secure everything and was safely back in the cockpit we continued our passage under motor, just around 90 odd miles, to Neiafu the capital of the Vava’u group of islands in north Tonga arriving mid morning on Friday 13th – we had lost a whole day on route. Although we have not crossed the international date line Tonga’s time is in line with Fiji and New Zealand with whom they have a lot of contact. We are now 13 hours ahead of GMT.
Tongans are very friendly people but this is very much a third world country in comparison with the French Polynesian islands. There are some very nice properties here but the majority live in housing more like we saw in the Caribbean with few facilities and little furniture. Each son is given 8 acres of land when they reach 18 by the King who seems to own most of the land. I believe they still have to pay a form of pepper corn rental so the land is not entirely freehold. Families who have lots of sons benefit greatly from the gifts and farm the land until the son needs a home of his own. The people here seem to earn their living off the land or sea and depend greatly on foreign aid from NZ, Britain and the EC. Not sure how they qualify there!
The staple diet here is taro. The large leaves taste a bit like spinach whilst the root is cooked and eaten like potato or bread. It is very heavy and starchy but they love it. The taro leaf is used in all types of recipes, especially for making parcels of food which are then placed in the traditional ‘umu’ underground fire to be cooked. The taro seems to be a vegetable not only common to the Pacific as we saw it through the Caribbean islands too but known by a different name.
There is no shortage of food here on these islands, they are quite self sufficient. This was apparent at a Tongan feast we went to at a nearby beach one evening. We sat cross legged on large woven grass mats under a corrugated roof supported with crooked posts sampling Cava the local drink made from powdered cava root and rain water which is prepared in a large wooden bowl and kept moving constantly by a young woman. This is drunk quickly from coconut shell cups. The taste is difficult to describe but ones mouth and lips respond quickly as they go numb. Cava is drunk by all the men at night over long periods. It is not alcoholic but it relaxes them and numbs the brain – rather like a drug. No one is allowed to drink it under the age of 18.
After the cava sampling we listened to a few locals singing and playing their guitars and banjos before the children appeared to entertain us with their dancing whilst music continued but now we had the addition of some timpanics with a piece of corrugated iron and a thick stick. When the dancing was over huge banana leaves were paraded above our heads down the centre of the building and laid on the floor. Like Tongans we used our hands to tear away at the fish, meat, seafood and suckling piglet. This food was simply fantastic. There were many parcels of taro leaf with shell fish or raw fish with coconut cream. It really was yummy.
The daily fruit and vegetable market is a good meeting place for catching up with both the locals and other yachties so a visit is made there most days. One family has taken us under their wing. We met the family on our first Sunday here when the new King was visiting and a multi faith church service was held where all the locals attended. It was an amazing sight to see everyone including the children in black, the men with their black skirts and shirts the ladies in long black skirts or dresses. On top of their clothing they wore a grass mat wrapped around their waists with a grass skirt on top – this is typical mourning attire but is also worn in respect to the King. We were here during the months mourning period for the late King. This is now over and everyone is back to their brightly coloured clothing or jeans. Many men still were the skirt and it seems that school uniform is the compulsory skirt for boys. Often these are in very bright colours.
Mele, who has 14 children, has a craft stall at the market making baskets and mats whilst her husband works on the land growing taro which they sell. Mele invited us to a feast at her church one Saturday morning. She and her husband came and picked us up from the dock in their pick up and we travelled like all locals sitting on a bench or on the grass mat in the back. The feast was in fact to celebrate the first communion of some of the children. Tables were set out in two lines under a tent like structure and each family had a table on which they placed all their food for their family. It was rather like a Christmas celebration with so much food and it was apparent that some families had a lot more in quality and quantity than others. The tables were covered with a net supported by a hooped cradle to keep insects and prying hands off. Once grace was said it was wonderful to witness the excitement on the children’s faces – it clearly was their day. One family had a huge selection of lobster, crayfish, crabs and other sea food and another had crabs which were offered to us. We declined as we did not want to take food away from their family. Each table had two very small suckling piglets which had very nice crispy skin but no meat on them. No alcohol was in sight and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves particularly the mothers who love to make fools of themselves whilst dancing. Everyone was falling about laughing at them. Of course we could not understand a word of what was going on. This was a village church affair and in no way put on for tourists this was real life. After all the food it was the turn of each family to dance to the live music played on modern instruments with boom boxes. Traditionally people attach money notes to the dancers’ clothing and this is then collected for the church. The dancing could have been anywhere in the world at a disco as people moved their feet to the rhythm. Certainly the music here has a wonderful rhythm.
Sadly the majority of children here have sores on their legs and arms leaving huge scars when they have healed. Not sure if this is a dietary deficiency or a bacterial problem. They rely on traditional plant remedies which clearly are not working so I am taking one of Mele’s married daughters and her 9 month old baby to the pharmacist tomorrow to see if he can give her some medicine for him. These people do not know what a pharmacist is. The New Zealander pharmacist has only been here a few months but he tells me that once they find that modern day remedies work they return to buy more so I am hoping he can help Lupu’s baby.
I met Lupu, Lupu’s Baby, Mele and her youngest daughter Phillipa who was also covered in sores for a visit to the Pharmacist. Lupu’s baby sadly was covered head to foot in sores and clearly found it all very uncomfortable as he cried a lot. The pharmacist told me they were infected insect bites and provided suitable medicine for the children to take. Both mums were given a good talking too and it was found they had four dogs riddled with fleas so I now had 2 children and 4 dogs to treat. The dogs were given powder and Mele was told to bathe the dogs in the ocean before covering them in the powder. Salt water is good for ridding dogs of fleas. They were also told about personal hygiene and how and why to keep their houses clean. These families sleep on grass mats on the floors of their houses at night without any protection from insects – there are no window nets or nets over beds. This was very hard to understand when poor people in South America regard a mosquito net as an essential part of life. At the church feast everybody’s’ table was covered with a cradle and net but it was not something they had not considered using to protect the children when sleeping. Fortunately we had a very large mosquito net I had bought some years ago and had never used so gave it to Mele to protect her family. The family was so grateful for all the things we had done for them and when I went back to finally say goodbye Mele was not at her usual spot in the market but suddenly she appeared in the street calling after me with a bag full of Tongan goodies.
Around October/November the huge humpback whales are preparing to leave the Tongan waters with their offspring for the cooler waters of Antarctica so a must in Tonga is to go out whale watching and if you are lucky swim with them. The weather was not good for this activity for several days after arriving and the whale season was getting towards the end but we did manage to go on a trip with a group of other yachties. The sea was quite rough at the time so we were not able to swim with them although we were lucky enough to see these large creatures breach – jump out of the water. After chasing whales we then went off to one of the several caves in these many islands, Swallow Cave. It has this name but the birds we are told are actually a breed of starling that live inside it. The water inside the cave was crystal clear so we all got into the water and snorkelled outside and along to a further cave. Tongan Islands are all a very similar height and have a ledge then a deep wall down into the sea. There was quite an amazing number of different fish but not as spectacular as Bonaire back in the Caribbean.
There are many islands in the Vavua group and each anchorage has been given a number by the Moorings group who have a number of charter boats in the area. We managed to visit numbers 7, 8 and 16. Number 7 was a favourite for an easy departure anchorage. Number 8 was very attractive and number 16 had a reef we did not visit inhabited by rather large sharks. It also had a wonderful Alice in Wonderland type tree just through the beach which at night illuminated from the bbq fires looked quite eerie. This particular island had at one time had a resort on it but sadly the buildings were all now derelict but the gardens, surprisingly, still produced bananas, pineapples, limes and squash which the yachties had helped themselves to over the previous months.
We finally left Neiafu to make our way south to Nuku’alofa via the Haapai group of islands but actually decided not to stop as we were behind time and made our way direct to Nukualofa where we refuelled ready to take off for Opua New Zealand when the weather was right.
Our stay in Nuku’alofa was short – just two nights – but long enough for us to attend their Remembrance Day service at their Cenotaph. This was quite spectacular as the Army paraded in their best uniforms complete with pith helmets, alongside the Navy in their ceremonial uniforms. The King was represented by his rather large sister who had the biggest grass mat I had ever seen which was arranged in such a way that she had her hanky and papers hidden in it. I think the higher up the social ladder you are the bigger the grass mat. The service was attended by the Prime Minister and various consuls who laid wreaths. It was all rather moving as it was so British. Prior to this service we had attended a service at the King’s church to hear the singing but unknown to us he was out of the Island so we did not see him. However, the singing was wonderful. Tongans are experts at singing.
Getting back to the boat after these services was a problem as we had to rely on a ferry to get us back to the island where Songster was anchored and we missed this by just a few minutes. After a few minutes thankfully it returned and we were soon back on Songster and able to prepare for our departure the next day on our dreaded passage to New Zealand.
This passage is known as one of the worst in the world. Remember we have already done a few of these ‘worst in the worlds’. We felt it prudent to stow the boat slightly differently so we would weather storms better should they occur. Our main sail had been patched up as best as the sailmaker could do and we hoped this sail would make it to New Zealand in one piece. The storm jib was ready on deck along with a main staysail securely tied should we have massive seas.
Food was prepared – I made masses of ginger biscuits, cooked easily reheated main meals to freeze and put snacky foods in easy to get at places. Ginger is good if you are feeling queasy so the biscuits were for snacking when needed. I had cooked fruit cakes and mince pies which were simply delicious. We probably had not had cake on board since our crossing of the Atlantic 3 years ago.
On Monday November 13th soon after lunch we left Nuku’alofa for Opua, New Zealand just over 1000 miles away. Two or three days later Nuku’alofa the capital of Tonga was badly wrecked by arsonists and looters ……………….
New Zealand is now just a few days away ……………………………………………
Potentially the passage to New Zealand from Tonga is one of the worst in the world and many tragedies have occurred over the years due to severe weather conditions. This is our next passage.
Planning and finding the right weather window is a tense time as we found out living with so many Americans, the majority of whom had only sailed from their West Coast and experienced mainly downwind sailing. Some became paranoid which rubbed off on everyone else. As you can imagine the topic of conversation was always weather and routing tactics. Weather reports were obtained several times a day with grib file forecasts obtained for 10 day periods. Grib files are computer generated charts which show the wind direction and speed and barometric pressure at any given point in the area you have asked for. We have used these now for some years but tend to seek up to 72 hours as weather forecasts beyond 3 days are not so accurate. Weather in the Pacific changes rapidly although we have found the grib files to be pretty accurate. In some parts of the world they are the only weather information you can get.
We also obtained weather through sailmail our marine e mail provider. The amount of information available is immense and before setting off from Panama I called up many forecasts in many areas before deciding which ones gave us what we were looking for. As we moved further west we chose the weather information for that particular area.
Along with many others we also decided to use the services of NZ Weather forecaster Bob McDavitt to provide us with weather and routing. He suggested dates when it would be good to leave Tonga and dates when it would not be good to arrive in New Zealand. However he provided us with a route which was impossible for us to sail initially as the wind direction was too tight. Winds forecast during the early part of the passage were fairly accurate but the last few days they were wildly out, confirms our feelings about getting forecasts for 10 days.
Anyway on Bob’s suggestion and Brian’s approval we decided to leave Tonga on a Monday much to everyone’s horror – best to wait another two days was the decision of everyone else around us – but guess what on that Monday a good half a dozen other yachts left who had said wait. Others followed 24 hours later.
It took us several days to get our sea legs again. After the protection of the Tongan islands it takes time to adjust to the swell and motion of the great oceans. The cats had to learn to balance on their four legs again.
We went well prepared for every eventuality. Storm sails were prepared and ready on the deck should we need them. The freezer, fridge and stores were full of easy to prepare and eat meals. We had decided that we would snack frequently to avoid cooking in what might be very uncomfortable seas. I even made cake – something we just never eat. It was delicious along with the many ginger biscuits I also cooked beforehand and had stored everywhere. Ginger is good for seasickness.
It was a glorious day when we set off with 2 reefs in our heavily patched main sail. Earlier we had reinforced the luff where the sailmaker had repaired it to make sure it would last until we arrived in New Zealand. This sail, which was Brian’s pride and joy, now with two huge tears and very rough patches stuck and sewn to it, set beautifully even though the joins on the luff did not meet. The winds were good but not in the right direction for us so we decided to go further west and make for Minerva Reef, a reef miles from anywhere in the middle of the Pacific which at low tide is evident but at high tide is not. A hugely dangerous hazard at sea. This would take us a day or so to get there. The wind direction changed en route and we decided to abhor that plan and turn towards our planned destination of Opua, in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. We had good sailing for the first few days but with so many miles to go did not want to shake out the reefs and cover more miles each day so we plodded along making around 120 miles a day. As we progressed further south the winds began to get lighter and lighter until there was almost nothing and what wind there was was coming from the south south east or south south west, hopeless for the direction we were going in. The winds were too light for us to tack so we put on the engine and on we chugged for the next 4 days or so until we arrived early morning off the coast just as the sky was lightening and sun beginning to rise.
During the passage we had been visited by huge sharks with huge dorsal fins, albatross soured over and around the boat early mornings and gannets visited as we neared the coast. We only saw dolphins once or twice and that was as we neared New Zealand.
Each morning we checked into the radio nets and listened to how others were doing on their passage. There are probably 30 or 40 boats at a time out on this passage at this time of year although you never seem to see any of them at sea. We did not see a soul other than some fishing boats until we made our last approaches and a friend who had left 36 hours after us overtook us. His boat, much newer than ours, is bigger and is therefore faster.
Our passage was not without fraught times. Several days out one afternoon I developed a severe pain in my chest and thinking the worst we contacted the local marine radio station who put us in touch with Wellington Hospital in New Zealand. I rested for much of the journey afterwards and on arrival was taken to a doctor who sent me off for 24 hour surveillance at the local hospital. Thankfully it was nothing serious other than my wretched GERD playing up again. Must have been caused by the tension of the trip together with not eating well for the first few days as we struggled to get our sea legs. Other than the visit to the Dr medical care is free for us Brits in New Zealand. Pity I did not know this back in the summer as I would certainly have flown here for surgery. Anyway I am fighting fit and have no side effects whatsoever from the awful episode back in French Polynesia.
The approach into the Bay of Islands was spectacular and emotional. We were now over halfway round the world. We are now in New Zealand and have actually sailed here on our sailboat. As we sailed further in towards Opua the landscape was wild and beautiful, beautiful homes scattered the coastline, boats of all descriptions were simply everywhere at anchor or on moorings. It reminded us both so much of the south coast, Devon or Cornwall or the Morbihan area of Brittany.
The Bay of Islands is literally an area made up of hundreds of islands and it was soon evident that we did not have the right paper charts for this area and had to rely on our Maxsea computerised navigation system. This was a pain as it meant you could not remain in the cockpit to savour everything, we had to keep popping down to check the computer. However with all the excitement we never actually checked our watches when we eventually tied to the Q dock but it must have been around 9am.
The authorities were very quick to come and check over the boat. Customs came and cleared us in giving a cursory look at what ever they needed to and MAF official Mike Cartwright came to introduce himself and tell us the procedure for offloading Henry and Lily. It was all very pleasant and very professional – no more corrupt officials here thank god.
Mike inspected what food we had and removed items that were not allowed. Knowing this would happen we had disposed or eaten the majority of it. Surprisingly MAF did not take all that I had expected. Canned meat is acceptable, cheese still in its original packaging from France, America and of course New Zealand is also acceptable along with NZ butter. All fruit and veggies had to go and anything we had left was donated to Neptune many miles off the coast. We had a small amount of meat in the freezer and earlier in the passage I thought I might tempt a shark with a nice juicy lamb chop tied to a length of string. So we trailed a frozen chop for a while until I realised the possible problems of getting the string wrapped around the propeller and coping with an angry fish so decide to abhor the plan and just throw the meat overboard. It seemed a good idea at the time.
Once given the all clear by customs and MAF we moved into our berth in Opua Marina and settled ourselves in before Mike returned to pack Henry and Lily up in their special crate to be taken to Auckland. The weather had been freezing for days and these two cats that had become so used to tropical weather spent most of their passage days wrapped up in a duvet so this also had to go with them in the crate. For several weeks now Henry had been looking rather down. His tail is a good indicator of his feelings. It normally remains erect whilst he moves around but he had been moving around with it down and I thought the worst but thankfully after a very thorough check over by the vet in Auckland he was given the all clear with a message back from the vet that if he is as fit as Henry at the same age he will be extremely pleased. They were taken into quarantine and will not be back at the boat for 60 days less the passage time which will be early January. We think Henry needed a holiday from the boat. In fact the cats only stayed in quarantine for 30 days, Mike agreeing that she should return to the boat and remain confined to the boat for the remaining period. Had they decided to hop off the boat the fine would have been pretty hefty. Apart from an adventure by Lily in Venezuela neither had ever attempted to get off the boat but we watched like hawks knowing that this just might be the time when they would.
All in all apart from my scare and poor Brian having to do long watches we had a reasonably good passage without any bad weather. We had one day of very low cloud whilst a front passed over but nothing serious came our way. The secret when planning this passage is to watch for the highs coming off the Australian coast. Weather changes rapidly in this part of the world with highs and lows every few days. The barometer is like a yo yo.
We just cannot tell you how fantastic New Zealand is. Of course, we have only seen a very small part of it at the moment but what we see we simply adore. There are just 4 million people here and I believe there are 3 acres for every person – not sure if there is that much for each sheep though. The countryside is hilly, green and roadside verges have cows parsley, dandelions, clover and other British wild flowers growing on them. We are surrounded by huge open areas of sea, sky and countryside – it is heaven – everything we dream of for a retirement location.
It did not take many hours for us to get wheels and we are now the proud owners of a rather sporty Toyota Curran. This is not a model we have seen or heard of before but we love it. It goes fast, is attractive, is very comfortable and with air conditioning. The majority of cars here are Japanese and are imported when the cars are a few years old. All the handbooks and service books are in Japanese so totally incomprehensible to us. Cars in NZ have to have a WOF, similar to our MOT every 6 months, but it is not a legal requirement to have insurance which is scary. We tend to always be belt and braces so have full comprehensive cover along with the full AA coverage. Yes, it really is the good old AA again. The roads are wonderful and everyone drives fast. Squashed possum and hedgehogs litter the road like badgers, foxes and dogs back in the UK. This is something we have not seen since leaving Europe as there have been vultures or other similar birds to eat the remains. Many islands have not had animals to squash. The possum is considered a terrible nuisance here.
Nearly every yachtie has a car as most intend to stay a few months. This is a big country and there is much to see before leaving. As Brits we are allowed to stay a little longer than say Americans although they can apply with no problem to extend their visitor permits. We hope to be able to stay, subject to Customs and Immigration agreeing, for up to 18 months so if anyone would like to visit New Zealand whilst we are here we would love to see you.
Having a car makes all the difference to our lives as we take off whenever the mood takes us. The nearby town of Kerikeri is beautiful and has a wonderful New World supermarket that is on a par with Waitrose – prices as well I expect. The fruit and vegetables are extremely good but surprisingly meat in the supermarkets is disappointing when so much meat is produced here. There are no signs of those extra extra large joints seen in the Tahitian supermarkets, where it was possible to buy a whole lamb carcass from the freezer and put it in your shopping trolley. Everyone eats sensibly here.
Fish is a big thing here and there is a wonderful selection in the supermarket. Fish and chips in restaurants and take aways are better than in Britain. The fish is cooked to perfection and is always moist. Marinated mussels are our favourite and can be bought reasonably in the supermarkets. Mussels and oysters grow in abundance in the area.
Kerikeri is the Evesham area of New Zealand. There are hundreds of growers of all types of fruit and vegetables. There are wineries, orange groves, apple orchards, kiwi growers – well everything you can thing of that grows. We have had the best ever corn on the cobs. They tasted just like those my dad grew when we were kids.
Locals are wonderfully friendly. I stopped the other day to look at some wood crafts and before I knew it the owner had been to his garden and dug me a bag of potatoes. He then took me to look at his vast garden and show me his pride and joy, his huge computerised observatory which we plan to visit one evening to stargaze.
Others have invited us into their homes or onto their boats. The friendship and hospitality is wonderful.
We have joined the Opua Cruising club where we spend a few evenings each week having a drink and a meal and keeping up to date with what is going on. I plan to join the Paihai Bridge club when it reopens after Christmas hoping to play a couple of times a week.
Brian has been busy since arriving organising the replacement of our new main sail and our hot water cylinder which he had nursed since leaving the Galapagos. This turned out to be a more mammoth job than he thought. The new stainless steel covered tank is larger than the old one but has a smaller capacity. This has meant demolishing part of the locker in the heads where it is stored and now he has to rebuild it all. The next job he plans to do is replace the steering gear. This will involve dismantling the bed and feeding wires up through awkward places to the binnacle. He apparently had been worried about the steering cables before setting off on the passage but did not tell me – thank god. I might have had a bigger pain. However, knowing Brian, he always steers on the side of caution so I am sure there was never any possibility of it breaking. Like the pun?
We have now been in Opua for 3 weeks, have joined the Cruising Club, the New Zealand National Trust, attended a couple of marine promotions, driven a fair number of miles and eaten out a hell of a lot. The food in New Zealand is excellent.
It is hard to believe we have now been in New Zealand three months. Each week flies by so quickly and we still have not seen the country.
However, this will change on 27th February when we head south for four weeks, stopping in Auckland to meet up with my Aunt Marjorie on 28th February who is on a ‘Round the World Cruise’ on Saga Rose.
From Auckland we will travel down to the southern most tip of North Island, the Capital Wellington, to catch the interisland ferry to Picton on South Island. We will travel along the northwest coast into the Abel Tasman Park and then head south down to the glaciers and fiords of the south west where we will stay around 10 days before driving to the southern most point and then up the east coast to the Scottish town of Dunedin and on to Christchurch, a city that resembles Oxford, it even has a river Avon. It will be a couple of days there back to Picton to catch the ferry back to North Island and a long drive back up to Northland and the Bay of Islands. We plan to be away for 4 weeks. During this time Henry and Lily will be staying in their own little chalet overlooking a beautiful garden at Happy Cat Lodge.
Summer here has been a great deal cooler than the tropics of the past few years. Surprisingly we are wearing jeans and fleeces rather than the usual bikini and swimwear. Evenings and nights are extremely cool so our thick Musto snuggies come into use frequently. The weather will become cooler as we drive south.
As I said time passes by extremely quickly. Days fly by and we often ask ourselves just what did we do each day. I am now playing bridge at Paihia Bridge Club twice a week and thoroughly enjoying it. It would be possible to play bridge every day of the week but I just do not have the time. Brian is racing every Wednesday evening, crewing on the local sailmakers boat, and loving it, although a couple of weeks ago he did fall overboard and won the wooden paddle for the week.
The Bay of Islands sailing week was held towards the end of January and I was asked to muster sufficient volunteers to cook and serve breakfasts for 3 days to hundreds of hung over crew and man the bar in the beer tent during the evenings. It was an early start each morning in order to get food cooked and the breakfasts set up. Brian cooked in the order of 1000 sausages, whilst others cooked bacon, eggs, beans, toast etc. During the 3 days we cooked in the region of 500 breakfasts and had good fun whilst doing it. The noise in the kitchen was loud and raucous, not sure if it was as bad as that heard in the Ramsey kitchen though. Whilst others in the evenings worked in the bar I sold Regatta t shirts and Brian enjoyed the beer. On one of the days after Brian had finished his sausage cooking he spent the day out on the water on the committee boat.
It is some weeks since we took off on an organised tour to the most northern tip of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. Locals had advised against driving suggesting we take the trip instead. It was an early start and we were picked up from the Marina to head north stopping at one of the Kauri forests en route. Kauri trees are simply mammoth and hundreds of years old. At one time the northern part of New Zealand was covered in them and many 30,000 to 50,000 years old are now being dug up from old bogs. Piles of this wood lay in fields as we drove by waiting to be collected to be taken to the special Kauri wood yards where the wood is carbon dated before being used to create a special piece complete with carbon dating authenticity. Brian’s pride and joy is a special piece of Kauri purchased during the day.
Cape Reinga is a mystical, inspiring place of great spiritual significance to the Maori. It is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea creating turmoil in the waves.
Captain Cook sighted the north coast back in 1769. European contact in the area came with the whaling and trading ships followed by the missionaries in 1830s that came to convert Maori to Christianity. Later armies of fortune seekers arrived to hunt gum, fossilised resin from the kauri tree which had become highly desirable as the backbone of varnish manufacturing. This industry collapsed during the economic slump of the 30s. The majority of the land now is agricultural with large herds of cattle.
Northland is known as the winterless county with a sub tropical climate and has become a huge horticultural area. Vast areas of kiwi, avocado, oranges, apricots and other fruits and vegetables cover the area.
Planning dates for our overland trip of New Zealand’s south island was helped with the meeting of Jackie’s aunt Marjorie, who is currently circumnavigating the world in style on Saga Rose, in Auckland on 28th February 2007.
It had taken several weeks using the AA, yes we have the Automobile Association in New Zealand, and internet to plan routes and find accommodation to suit all our needs – self catering, comfortable and within our defined budget. I had spent hours pouring over books and web sites making sure we managed to cover everything in the four weeks we would be away.
So on 27th February we set off from Opua to stay the night in our usual accommodation, The City Central Hotel, in Auckland. Next morning we were up early and on our way by foot to meet Marjorie at the cruise liner dock. Weather was rather disappointing, cold and windy. Auckland is a large city and natural countryside is not on the doorstep so we took a train journey, on a travel advisor’s advice, to what we thought was to be a beautiful spot. Sadly the journey could have been through any big city whose properties are covered in graffiti and the venue at the end of the line was not the beautiful spot we had hoped for so we just stayed on the train and returned to the city centre. By this time it was simply pouring down and a good time for a gorgeous sushi lunch at the railway station before having a taxi drive around the city to show Marjorie the sites. The tour completed we were dropped at the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere where we took the rapid lift to the viewing platforms high in the sky. By this time the weather had cleared and the 360˚ view was stunning allowing us to see for miles. We were even lucky enough to see a number of bungy jumpers drop past us – I believe it is a national sport here in New Zealand.
Fortunately Marjorie was sailing next to Wellington, a smaller city, where she would be taking a tour so hopefully she would get a taste of beautiful New Zealand. Anyway we said our goodbyes and made our way back to City Central, had a trip to the cinema to see Notes on a Scandal and prepare ourselves for our long journey next morning to Turangi at the bottom of Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand. This particular area is a huge thermal area so we journeyed off the main highways to Rotorua to see the stunning geysers which covered a huge area. Steam puffed out of the surrounding hillsides as we neared the site. From here we drove south to Taupo and along the shores of Lake Taupo down to Turangi where we stayed the night in a fishing lodge. Turangi and the surrounding area are internationally known for trout fishing so we had salivated all day at the thought of a trout supper. Sadly there was not a trout in sight on the menu. It is forbidden to buy or cook them as they are a sport fish and only those who catch them can eat them. These fish are monsters – a couple of feet or more long and take some catching on a line – patience is the name of the game as we watched men up to their armpits in freezing cold mountain water casting their lines in the hope of success. The fishing lodge was delightful and we felt rather smug that I had found this accommodation on a last minute accommodation site at a reduced price – the accommodation stakes were looking extremely hopeful.
Next morning we set off to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Wellington had a wonderful buzz about it. Although smaller than Auckland in population it had a wonderful array of good shops and the area around the waterside was throbbing with young professionals having coffee and drinks. Our hotel was located opposite the botanical gardens where we walked and caught the cable car down into the city centre. Our hotel sadly was a disaster – filthy, untidy, bed linen with holes etc. etc. A great disappointment after last night. However, we met up with Joan and Rod Pardoe from Malvern, who were holidaying in New Zealand and attending their son’s wedding. Joan was a friend from my NHR days and we had babysat for one another many moons ago. We had a lovely evening together and hopefully we will see them when in the UK in June.
Next morning, a beautiful day, we were up early to make our way to the ferry terminal to catch our interisland ferry to Picton at the top of South Island. It was a cool three hour passage which passed in quick time and before we knew it we were on dry land once more ready to explore.
The planned itinerary was to head west and then drive down the west coast, along the south coast and make our way up the east coast back to Picton for the ferry back to North Island.
The weather was simply glorious when we arrived in Picton and we chose a route off the main highway, Queen Charlotte Drive, a road which wound its way along the coast with stunning views. Our motel was in the Abel Tasman Park so we continued our journey through Nelson and onto Motueka where we stayed a couple of nights. Next morning we set off on a bus through apple orchards, vineyards and huge fields of hops for Kaiteriteri where we boarded a boat which took us on a trip along the coast, stopping to watch seals, Split Apple Rock and other strange rock formations, before dropping us off somewhere miles from anywhere. From there we had to tramp up hill and down dale along the coast for 3 hours before being picked up and taken back to base. It was a fun day and we enjoyed the walk after several days of sitting in a car.
Next morning we were up early. Each time we stop we have to take into our accommodation an overnight bag and all the food we might need for our evening meal and breakfast next morning – it does not sound much but when you cook you need silly little things like kitchen towel, cling film, salt, herbs and spices etc. etc. I had it down to a fine art so it did not become an issue.
Our next port of call was Westport an old port on the west coast the journey to Westport took us through the Buller Gorge, where we walked across a metal suspension bridge and watched people sliding across on a long cable – our first introduction to the supposedly extreme sports of south island. Sand flies were a severe problem here and the car was invaded by them as we opened the doors to get out. Although we had covered ourselves in insect repellent they managed to find spots that did not have any so we scratched our way down south for several days. At Westport we drove out to a seal colony and watched the many mammals at play on the rocks below the viewing point. Thankfully humans just cannot get down the cliffs so these mammals are free to roam and breed successfully. In earlier years these fur seals had been hunted for their skins. Whilst at the colony we managed to see two Weka, an indigenous endangered species of New Zeeland bird that does not fly.
From Westport it was a trip in very wet weather to Hokatika stopping at Punakaiki on the way to view the strange pancake rocks and blow hole. Through a layering-weathering process the limestone looks like layers of thick pancakes. Sadly we did not see the huge blowhole blow – the tide needed to be right and the swell was not from the right direction. The clouds lifted a little during our visit so I was able to take a view photos in a little sunlight.
This area appears remote with few houses dotted along the roads. Accommodation looks very small and extremely dated.
By the time we arrived in Hokatika the sun was shining and the rain had stopped and later once dusk we were able to walk to see the glow worm grotto just across the road from the motel. Our motel was a rather nice log cabin, part of the Best Western Group, near the beach and with a small menagerie. Our next door neighbours were Canadian yachties we had met in Tahiti – small world.
Hokatika is known for its green rocks – not sure where I read it but thought I was going to see green cliffs – no such luck. The green rock is jade and it is a great secret where it is found. Helicopters go into the forests and take huge stones from the rivers but we never knew where they went. Hokatika had a wealth of jade shops and workshops so we spent a very wet morning touring these spending money.
Hokatika is a wild town and known for its Wild Food Festival which is held in March – we were just a few days too early. I had hoped to be able to buy possum pate somewhere but no such luck. However, on the journey south to our next port of call, Franz Josef Glacier, we stopped at a remote cabin/café and bought a possum pie but in the end neither of us would eat it. Possums are a huge problem in New Zealand, there are 60million of them and they are stripping the forests and other agricultural areas bare so the government is trying all methods to get rid of them one being the spraying of poisoned pellets across huge swathes of land. There are poison signs everywhere. It was as a result of seeing so many warning signs that we thought it better not to eat the pie!!!
Our journey to Franz Josef was wet with extremely low cloud so we were not able to appreciate the beauty of the area we were entering. This is a glacier area with many white topped mountains and a huge glacier known as Franz Josef. The village itself is very touristy and offers many trips and sports – there must have been half a dozen companies selling helicopter and plane trips over the glaciers. The queues were immense. We chose to go on a guided tour of the glacier. Togged out with all the special equipment and clothing, woolly hats, gloves etc. etc. we were initially taken by bus to within a couple of kilometres to the base of the glacier. We walked the two kms before putting on crampons, listening to instructions and splitting into three groups – the confident, the less confident and the National Geographics as we were called. The sun eventually shone allowing us to see the beautiful sculptures in the blue ice, but the majority of the time your head is down watching where you place your feet. Sadly the rain only stopped for a short time and we arrived back at base drenched. Undaunted by our trip to Franz Josef in the morning we decided to drive to Fox Glacier to take a look. The village was very pretty and from what we could see less touristy. We were able to drive and then walk along a footpath to the foot of the glacier but did not step foot on it. Later we drove to the other side and walked through the wonderful forests where we were able to look through and see the ice flow. The beautifully coloured mosses hanging from the trees and dripping rain drops shone brightly in the sunshine which bore its way through the trees, it was all so beautiful and dramatic. You could imagine it being a set for a film and almost expected the fairies or something similar to appear.
Our accommodation in Franz Josef was a new experience for us – we stayed at the Youth Hostel. We had a very nice en suite room and could use the communal kitchen for cooking. Sadly the bathroom had a rather unpleasant odour coming from the drains so it was a quick trip to the supermarket for a bottle of bleach. The drains dealt with, I covered the large hole in the middle of the floor with the navy blue bath mat and hoped for the best. Next morning we had to strip our beds and take all towels and bed linen to a central point for laundering – oh dear – the bath mat had a huge white ring underneath.
We met a lovely group of 5 ladies during our 2 nights in Franz Josef, 4 Aussies and 1 Kiwi – they were on the glacier expedition with us – and then we met them unexpectedly elsewhere in the village. We met up with them on several occasions on our travels – all quite by chance.
The sun shone as we left Franz Josef to head for Wanaka, stopping off at the remote Jackson Bay on the way. We had been told if we wanted something wild and remote go to Jackson Bay – it was 50kms off our route and the road was totally straight – can you imagine driving that distance on a straight road – extremely boring. However, Brian stuck it out and we eventually arrived – what a disappointment – it was wild and remote but full of ramshackle buildings which were all for sale and thousands of sand flies. They were so bad that on the 50kms back to the main highway we had to look for a shop that sold fly killer. We were lucky so whilst the spray worked in the car we took ourselves for a walk along Haast beach strewn with huge tree trunks – evidence of the huge seas that attack this side of New Zealand from the Tasman Sea.
The drive to Wanaka was spectacular. It was like driving through a desert of huge golden sand dunes. The lack of rain was very evident. Sadly we only had one night here and it would have been too difficult to alter our plans so we made the most of our time here. We stayed in a lovely motel Fernlodge. The lodge was new – we had a beautiful shared kitchen with every facility you could think of. It was here that we met Irene and John Harrison, sheep farmers, who live on the east coast just north of Christchurch. We had arrived in time to attend the great agricultural show. Our time was short but we decided we had to have a look so off we trotted next morning to look around the outside stalls and make our way into the show ground. How homesick I felt. It reminded me of the Three Counties so much with the beautiful backdrop of hills; those in Wanaka were a little higher. We allowed ourselves an hour but stayed longer. We watched cattle being judged, sheep including Malvern Downs, being judged and sheered. This was all so English – the home industries building with the cakes, embroideries, flowers and vegetables. It was on to the cookery demonstration where I was asked to help make lamb sausages with one of the top chefs!!! Didn’t make TV but Brian managed a photo. We said our sad goodbyes and set off on our long trip to Te Anau deep in Fjiordland.
We checked into our Motel – looked good in the brochures – but what a mess – we had 5 beds in our room – the colours and furniture were terrible – probably 1960’s era. It was here we met up with Richard and Sandra they were our next door neighbours at our Westport motel. They had a lovely room with only one bed so next morning we moved into their room for the next 3 nights. Well we actually moved our bags in the same evening as next morning we had to be up very early to drive 1.5 hours to Milford Sound to take a trip on a boat. Stopping at several spots on the way allowed us to stretch our legs and mingle with the thousands of coach trips packed with tourists – ouch – not what we were looking for. We enjoyed several short walks and enjoyed the scenery. The roadway to Milford is wonderful to drive on – no potholes, wide and goes nowhere other than to Milford Sound. It is possibly around 100 kms in distance. Most roads in New Zealand are of a very high quality. I have thought much as to how these had been financed when there are so few people and the only people benefiting from the tourists money are the tour operators. Having asked a few locals it looked as if it came from their taxes.
At the end of the road was a dingy café where we had a hot drink and cake – coffee and a cake became a regular morning habit. The huge boat terminal and the number of coaches in the car park was evidence of this enormous tourist area. It was all very highly organised and ran like an airport. We were early for our trip so took the opportunity to wander around in the drizzle watching birdlife on the water. At the set time we boarded our small boat and motored down the sound out to the Tasman Sea viewing the many waterfalls on the way. This is an area of great beauty with simply huge vertical cliffs dropping down into the ocean. The water is not clear here and has a strange dark colour. This is due to all the waterfalls and the fresh water lies on top of the salt water below. Seals and dolphins love it here. In all the thousands of miles we have sailed we have never seen as many dolphins as we did on that trip. They jumped, dived and spun giving us a wonderful show. Fortunately our small boat was able to manoeuvre more easily that the bigger ones with hundreds of tourists on them so we were able to stay longer to watch. The west coast of New Zealand is inhospitable and on a relatively calm day as this was when we approached the mouth of the fjord the sea became quite rough. Our boat trip over we made our way back to Te Anau stopping at the Mirror Lakes to watch the Scaup duck. Through our polarising sun glasses we could see these little ducks dive to the bottom of the lake swim under fallen trees and then propel themselves at rapid speed to the top.
Two days later we took a trip to Doubtful sound – this was less touristy although we did have to share a boat with 148 other people. We drove the short way to Manapouri to catch the ferry which would take us on an hours journey across Lake Manapouri to pick up a bus. The bus then took us 2kms underground for a tour of the West Arm Power Station before continuing on the 21km overland journey to Doubtful Sound. This is the only access other than by sea. It is only in recent times that intrepid sailors have entered these waters. Even Captain Cook did not venture in saying he was ‘doubtful’ the winds would blow him back out to sea. Hence the name. Doubtful is simply massive and far more beautiful than Milford. Weather was wet and drizzly on the way with very low cloud but as we neared the sound the clouds lifted slightly and we were able to see the deep waters below. The port at Doubtful was a more relaxed affair but we did board a fairly large tourist catamaran. It was on this trip that we met up quite unexpectedly with Irene and John again and later spent the evening with them at a local hostelry. The day was cool, the first sprinkling of snow had appeared overnight on the mountains, but wrapped in thick layers and jackets complete with scarves, gloves and hats we remained warm and were able to venture on deck with our guide – who was in shorts. These Kiwis are hardy.
Japanese tourists arrive in the thousands in New Zealand and our trip on Doubtful included a group of them. For some reason they thought Brian was someone special and they all wanted their photos take with him – we were not sure if they thought he was the Captain as he had his yellow sailing jacket on – it was all quite amusing. They all had song sheets with them and gave us a singsong – we were told it was the Japanese National Anthem – could not quite understand why they did not know it off by heart though.
After a long day it was back to our motel for a quick change ready to meet up with Irene and John for supper and later prepare ourselves for our long journey the following day.
On Wednesday 14th March we were up early to travel to the southern most point of New Zealand and were surprised to find on opening the curtains the mountains with a thick covering of new snow. In the bright sunshine it looked simply fantastic but the temperature was certainly chilly.
With the boot of the car filled with our bags, food etc. we set off on the scenic route away from the madding crowds towards Invercargill. Our first stop was at Clifdon Suspension Bridge, a must for someone coming from the West Country. It was built in the 1800’s but not nearly as high or as long as Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. We walked in the brilliant sunshine to it through a thick layer of frozen hail before the heavens opened and we had to rush back to the car. This was a journey of mixed weather with hail, sunshine, rain and high winds making for spectacular road conditions and scenery eventually arriving in Invercargill in sunshine. Invercargill, a once very Scottish City, is the most southern large city. We did not stop but drove through to get an idea of the architecture on our way to Bluff where one can take the ferry to Stewart Island. With blustery winds, rough seas and showers this was not on the agenda but we managed to see the island in the distance. Bluff was a rather scruffy town with a huge aluminium smelting works. The underground power station we visited on our way to Doubtful Sound was actually built to provide electricity for this works. The raw product for producing aluminium is actually shipped from Australia to Bluff and the finished product is then shipped back.
After a quick snack sitting in the car watching the sea, wind and rain we continued on our journey to Papatowai in the Catlins area. The Catlins coast is on the south east coast of south island and known for being wild. It certainly lived up to its name as the weather was extremely cold and wet with the winds coming straight from the Antarctic. In spite of a couple of days very wet weather when we got soaked to the skin we had a wonderful time driving to remote spots and then walking to find seals, sea lions and yellow eyed penguins. Even with layers of clothing we were frozen and had to resort for the first time to putting on the electric blanket supplied by the guesthouse. This was reminiscent of 50s England with no central heating and it was darn difficult to get up in the morning.
It was a pity about the weather here as there would have been so much to see and do if we could have kept dry and warm. It was so unspoiled with no sign of any tourism other than a few motels and bed and breakfasts. The area is known for its many deer farms and as you drive along you can tell from the height of the fences what will be behind them. These herds are enormous but we found it very difficult to find venison to buy anywhere. Everything is exported from these shores.
It was now time to move further up the east coast and our next stop would be Dunedin before driving on to Oamaru for the night. Dunedin was a beautiful university city with splendid old buildings and a huge Cadbury’s World where every New Zealander believes Cadbury’s chocolate was first made!!! This city had a wonderful atmosphere with buskers and large statues, one being Robert Burns right outside the cathedral. The weather was simply beautiful so we thoroughly enjoyed our sojourn here and a chance to stock up with some fresh food for our stop in Oamaru which we believed to be a bit remote.
A short distance to the south of Oamaru are the famous Moeraki boulders. These are naturally spherical boulders and are over 60million years old. It was here we met up unexpectedly with a group of 5 ladies we had met on our glacier climb. It was good to see them again and we walked along the beach together to inspect and touch these great stones. After a brief stop here it was back into the car to continue our journey north.
What a shock – Oamaru was just a wonderful place with some of the best historic buildings in New Zeeland showing just how affluent it had once been. The first shipment of frozen lamb from New Zealand to the UK was despatched from Oamaru. Old warehouses had been turned into antique warehouses and art workshops. The huge wool sheds had been turned into cafes and restaurants. It was easy to see just how highly thought of the Bank Manager, the Train Driver and other officials were from their old buildings and houses.
Our time here was a bit of a whirl as we arrived at our motel fairly late and then decided to find the blue penguin colony where we could go to watch these creatures come ashore at dusk. This was sadly a little touristy but we paid up the money and rushed back to the motel to cook supper and dress suitably to go firstly to watch yellow eyed penguin come ashore at a nearby beach before going on to the ‘blue penguin show’. Both these penguins are protected and declining in numbers but the blue penguin is well and truly protected. The colony officials are working hard to boost numbers and have two large colonies – one available for us to see, the other a secret. Sadly other tourists do not seem aware that one just does not talk or make a noise when waiting for these timid little things. As the light disappeared the penguins, quite smallish, scrambled up the beach and hurriedly crossed the stony road to their man made burrows. At the time it was moult time so many stopped at the top of the slope to preen before dashing across the road. We were lucky enough to count 75 return. Earlier in the season it is more common to see in the 200s.
The yellow eyed penguin is much bigger. These we watched from a hide on a remote cliff top. Both these penguins manage to climb very steep cliffs and walk up to 1 km in shore to burrows.
After having a good look round Oamaru and visiting the nearby cheese factory we made our way in the direction of Mount Cook.
We were now in the Otago region of South Island, a large area which sweeps right across the island, including Wanaka where we were a week or so earlier. Our next stop was to be Oamarama which definitely would be remote. Oamarama is situated in the ‘high country’ and well placed for visits to Mt Cook and the surrounding area has wonderful walking and fishing. We had a delightful motel with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains and our planned one night turned into 3. This is a place we would love to visit again. From Oamarama we drove the 95 kms to Mt Cook stopping off to visit a salmon farm and buy a huge piece of smoked salmon. These salmon are grown in bright blue water which runs down from the glaciers. It was fantastic to see the huge blue lakes in land. The blue is caused by residue from the glaciers. Great canals of blue water weave their way through the countryside to feed the many hydroelectric power stations.
Although the day was good, apart from a brief shower at lunchtime, it was impossible to see the great mountains through the clouds but at 4.20pm the sky cleared and there was the most awesome sight of these snow capped mountains and glaciers including Mount Cook. On our way back to Oamarama the views from behind were spectacular so we kept stopping to take photos.
The surrounding area of Oamarama resembled a huge golden desert with massive dunes. This was an area with a need for a great deal of rain. Farms here are massive and the need for irrigation desperate so it was not uncommon to see stainless steel structures extending to a mile spewing out gallons of water at very high pressure to water crops and pasture for stock.
Our journey from Oamarama took us up past Mt Cook and the blue lakes; the day was just perfect weather very hot and with good visibility so there were a few more quick photos of the mountains. We were now travelling on State Highway 8 a route used by many tourist buses from Christchurch to Queenstown. Our destination was Methven a town more commonly associated with skiing during the winter months. En route to the transalpine way we stopped to wander round Fairlie and Geraldine picturesque small towns. Methven as expected was very quiet and we were the only people at the motel.
Next morning we continued our journey on the transalpine way to Christchurch stopping off for our regular morning coffee and cake in Rangiora. This was a very busy well heeled town where we gave our legs a good stretch by walking the whole length of the main street. From here we made our way to our motel in Christchurch arriving rather earlier than the owners expected but it allowed us to leave the car and take the bus into the city to orientate ourselves. We had been told Christchurch resembled Oxford in the UK but apart from a river called Avon with punts it really did not bear any resemblance. Although much bigger than Dunedin we much preferred the atmosphere of Dunedin. Christchurch, the largest city in South Island, boasts St Paul’s Cathedral and has many tourists who arrive from everywhere by aeroplane ready to get on buses etc. to explore all the extreme sports.
The plan was to buy a days bus ticket to take us out to the Banks Peninsula to visit Akaroa, an area known for its French connections, but as usual we got it wrong. It was the wrong bus ticket and we were too late in any case to get the bus so we decided to take the advice of a young girl at the bus station who told us New Brighton would be a good place to visit so off we set on the bus. New Brighton’s only resemblance to the British Brighton was a long pier and a very long beach. The original Victorian pier had long gone and a modern concrete one had been built some years ago. A rather dismal and disappointing place to visit – according to locals we should have visited Sumner – oh well perhaps next time. It was back on the bus to get back to the Cathedral by 2pm stopping en route at a shopping mall for a superb sushi lunch. At the Cathedral we met up with another Jackie and a couple of Ozzie tourists to walk a short distance to each collect a bike for our cycle tour of Christchurch. The ride followed the tram lines through the city along the river bank and through the delightful botanical gardens. Some of the houses along the river bank were stunning. The cycle ride gave us a chance to see more of Christchurch and at the same time plenty of exercise.
After our two nights in Christchurch we were off next day on another scenic route to stay with friends Irene and John, sheep farmers, who we had met in Wanaka and then again on a trip to Doubtful Sound. Irene and John live at Greta Valley around 80kms north of Christchurch in a beautiful traditional New Zealand villa complete with gingerbread adornments. What wonderful hosts they were, we had such fun with them and simply loved the tour of their almost vertical farm land in their 4 x 4 truck. Irene’s birthday was the next morning so off we set for their son’s house for birthday cake and coffee in brilliant sunshine. We do so look forward to meeting up with them again soon.
We had a long drive after leaving Greta Valley to Havelock. Next morning we were due to catch the ferry back to North Island and needed to stay the night as near as possible to Picton the ferry port. Unluckily for us there was not a bed to be found for miles around as the traditional Vineyard Bike race was being held, the nearest place being Havelock with available space. The north of South Island is a huge vine growing area with vines growing far into the distance everywhere. However, we had no time to stop to sample any wine on this occasion.
Next morning it was an early start to drive from Havelock along the very windy but beautiful Queen Charlotte’s drive to Picton to catch the ferry. It was a beautiful day with bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine. Although a little chilly we managed to sit on deck for the 3 hour passage back to Wellington.
Once ashore in Wellington we headed north back to the Fishermans’ Lodge in Turangi, where we had stayed almost 4 weeks previously, Whilst we had been away Mount Ruapehu in the nearby National Park had seen volcanic action with one of the sides collapsing spewing out millions of gallons of water. Apart from fresh layers of snow on the caps there was nothing there for us to see now. Our next stop was Hamilton where we stayed with Bev and Tony, wonderful boat friends we have met in Opua. From Hamilton we headed back to Opua stopping off at friends Paul and Amanda who have decided to emigrate to New Zealand with their two sons Sam and Jo. We had crossed the Atlantic with them back in 2003.
Once back in Opua we collected Henry and Lily from their cattery, returned to Songster to recall the wonderful moments we had had over the previous four weeks.
On Monday May 21st May 2007 we drove to our local airport at Kerikeri for a flight to Auckland. We actually drove to the cattery where we had dropped Lily and Henry off several days earlier whilst we hauled the boat and got ourselves ready to leave New Zealand for 2 months. The cattery looked after our car for two months and drove us to the airport and then collected us 2 months later.
Sadly our flight left late afternoon and darkness fell as we took off so we were not able to see the wonderful countryside below, however this would happen on our return.
We first flew to Auckland where we caught an Air New Zealand flight to Shanghai, China. The journey of around 12 hours was in rather cramped conditions along with many Chinese returning to China or visiting. Arrival in Shanghai was early on the morning of Tuesday 22nd and we hopped off the plane with great excitement, collected our luggage and walked through to the arrival halls just hoping and praying all the work I had done on the internet would work out. There at the roped barriers was a guy with a big sign with our names on and once we made eye contact he had a huge smile. This was Vivaldi who would be our Shanghai guide for the next few days.
The airport was around an hour’s drive from the centre of the city which gave us time to get to know Vivaldi and our driver. The journey was just like driving from any other international airport to the city, high rise blocks, fantastic highways and lots of traffic, even early in the morning. We were dropped off at our hotel, the Clarion Rendezvous Merry, which was delightful, to tuck into a good breakfast and a jolly good rest. We were given the day to rest and catch up with jet lag.
This time alone allowed us to go out in the afternoon to explore the local area and we walked miles along streets that were very narrow to dual carriage ways. Life everywhere was very busy with many people who were all looking happy and very western in their dress. There were also a great many cars, motor cycles and bikes, although not as many bikes as we had expected. These all seemed to be locked up at the cycle racks where there were thousands of them. Surprisingly we never saw anyone riding a nice new mountain bike, in fact we never saw anyone riding a mountain bike on our entire trip and many thousands of them are made in China. Fruit and vegetables were being sold from shops, barrows on the pavements and the odd person sitting on the ground with a few home grown veggies on a sack. There did not seem to be any shortage of food anywhere.
The weather was gorgeous with brilliant summer sunshine and we were pleased to feel warm again.
After a great deal of walking we eventually made our way back to our hotel for a rest before our sumptuous dinner where we sampled goose liver cooked in rice wine.
Wednesday morning saw us up early ready for our very busy day in Shanghai with Vivaldi who collected us and whisked us off to Yu Garden where we walked with the throngs of Chinese tourists through the labyrinth of tiny specialty shops to the Ming dynasty mandarin Suzhou style garden. This was very much the old Shanghai with beautiful buildings built in the traditional style with carvings, paintings and gloriously shaped roofs. The gardens had beautiful scenic courtyards decorated with baroque rockery, pools and flora which are all connected by corridors and passageways.
From here we went to the Jade Buddha Temple which was built in 1882 after Hui Gen, a monk from Putuo Mountain brought back two jade Buddhist statues from Burma. In one of the temple’s grandiose halls there is a sitting jade Buddha statue standing 1.9 meter high of Sakyamuni the founder of Buddhism.
A visit to the Confucius Temple was a much quieter affair, not on the tourist track for some reason and currently undergoing major restoration. To raise money to pay for the work they are sadly selling off antique treasures from the temple. It was here that I was taken with two beautiful jade pigs, supposedly antique and at tourist prices. It seemed auspicious to buy a keepsake that reminded us of our visit in the year of the pig – however, I just could not justify paying the rather excessive price, although they were prepared to bargain and anyway where on earth would I put them on a yacht. So they are still there in the museum awaiting a purchaser.
Walking along the narrow dusty streets here where everyone is very keen to acknowledge or speak with you we came across a pet shop with their own pet Burman cat. This cat was certainly not for anyone’s pot. In fact we got the feeling that the Chinese were very fond of their pets having seen owners walking their pooches frequently and always carrying the essential plastic bag to collect any unmentionables.
During the afternoon we visited the Shanghai museum where Brian and I split up so that we could both see the particular things we each wanted to see. Brian was taken with the exquisite ancient Chinese paintings and me by the wonderful ancient sculptures. This was a wonderfully modern museum with a collection of 120,000 precious works of art.
A visit to a silk factory is compulsory in China. Here we saw huge silk worms munching through mulberry leaves. Although I had seen silk worms elsewhere on my travels none had been quite as large as these. We were then taken into the factory where the silk had been spun and fluffed up to make fillings for pillows and quilts. Of course there was a shop selling silk bed ware but there was nowhere we could put sheets, duvet covers etc in our luggage.
After a sumptuous supper at a local restaurant we were taken to the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe performance which was just stunning. The performers were extremely talented and although it seemed a largish group they all participated in different activities. At times their feats were quite breathtaking and must take years of learning and many hours practising.
With a full day such as this we were pretty exhausted and soon fell into bed on our arrival back at our hotel knowing we would be up early the next day to continue with our visit to Shanghai.
Vivaldi collected us the next morning and had a surprise for us. His mother, a cancer victim and volunteer helper, was going to visit the Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV tower today along with a group of other volunteer workers. We were also scheduled to visit the tower so it was coordinated that we should all go together. We assembled at the bottom of the tower to meet these very excited Chinese who had never met a westerner before. They brought us sweets, fruit and cakes and entertained us with singing and dancing. Our only link with language was Vivaldi who brilliantly translated for us all. They asked us questions about our travels and were genuinely interested and amazed at what we were doing. Some did not know what a sailing yacht was.
The TV Tower is the third tallest TV and radio tower in the world and stands 468 meters high. It certainly gave us a birds eye view of Shanghai City below. Everywhere we looked building work was taking place and Shanghai is now a city of many huge skyscrapers like many other cities in the world. Below the Tower the very busy river Huangpu meandered its way.
It was a very fast descent to the bottom of the tower where we met up with our driver to go off to The Bund. The Bund is the “Wall Street” of Shanghai with its many banks, trading houses, residences, hotels and clubs. Much of the architecture was British inspired and this now sits amongst modern skyscrapers. We walked along the river bank where hawkers were selling touristy items before getting back into the car to go off to Nanjing Road. Nanjing Road is 5.5 kilometres long and passes right through the city centre and crosses 26 busy streets. Nanjing is a mirror reflecting the prosperity and flourishing modern Shanghai. We were not in Shanghai to do shopping so had a quick look bought a few Chinese paint brushes and then made our way to our lunchtime restaurant.
Vivaldi had certainly found us super places to eat and today’s was no exception. Guides normally do not eat with their guests but we insisted throughout the trip that we would include them. It gave us time to get to know these friendly fun people and it certainly gave us lots of pleasure.
I had asked Vivaldi it if was possible to visit a home and within minutes he had organised it so after lunch he took us to his aunt’s home in a suburb of Shanghai. She and her husband lived in a high rise block in one room. In this room they had all their worldly goods and had brought up their one and only child, a son, here. We entered the home from an entrance that was shared with two other families. There was one kitchen and one toilet for these three families to share. The kitchen was immaculately clean. There were three small Belfast type sinks all beautifully white and three two burner gas rings and a plethora of cupboards along the wall above the hobs so everyone had their allotted space. In one of the sinks there were a collection of small turtles which were Vivaldi’s aunts. They all looked very healthy but not sure what she did with them when she need to use the sink. The shared bathroom comprised one loo and a pipe sticking out of the wall to provide a cold water shower.
On the wall of their home was a very large wedding photograph of Vivaldi’s aunt. She looked simply gorgeous in her very western white wedding dress with a very regal train. This must have been 20 odd years ago.
Sadly we were not able to meet Vivaldi’s aunt but she allowed us to use her computer to access e mails.
China is famous for its tea so we could not leave without visiting a tea house. The shops sell many different types of tea along with beautiful china tea sets and pots. We duly sat at the seats whilst we were pampered by the tea maker/seller in performing the tea ceremony. The Chinese love their teas particularly the herbal ones. We found when they are hot and thirsty they go for green tea every time rather than a glass of water. Apparently green tea stops them from getting sunburned. Everywhere we ate as soon as we sat down a pot of very hot green tea was produced.
Our day had not finished and we sped off to the Chinese herbal factory where we both sat in huge reclining chairs for a traditional Chinese foot massage. We sat with our feet in wooden buckets that resembled those used by Heidi on the Swiss mountains whilst the young Chinese reflexology students massaged our feet and calves – my they had strong hands!! We were then introduced to the Chinese Herbal Dr, who owned or managed the business. He gave us a personal consultation – took our pulses on each hand and told us to poke our tongues out. Brian was the first to go and promptly told he had thickening of the arties and a kidney or liver problem – he needed a huge supply of pills which the Dr could supply at a huge cost. I could see Brian believing he was very ill and needed the pills and about to make the decision to buy the things. Brian never takes pills and I knew that if he bought them they would sit in a cupboard doing nothing. The cost was prohibitive – no Chinese would be able to afford them at the price so I managed to dissuade Brian to keep his money in his wallet. I was pronounced fit and healthy!!!!!!
Our three days in Shanghai were hectic and extremely enjoyable but now it was time to return to our hotel to organise our luggage ready to leave early next morning for Suzhou. Vivaldi returned us to our hotel for supper, organised the storage of luggage and a good night’s sleep before setting off early next morning.
We absolutely loved Shanghai and would love to spend more time there, especially with Vivaldi who was such a wonderful fun guy. He was in his early twenties, had impeccable English and resembled an early version of John Lennon with his small round specs and longish hair. We loved listening to his tales of high finance on the Chinese stock exchange where one minute he made a fortune and the next a thundering great loss. This is the main hobby of the more affluent Chinese. He was a fabulous guide and we looked forward to meeting up with him again in our travels.
Tomorrow we are to go by train to Suzhou – pronounced Soodoh
We were now into our fourth day in China and Vivaldi was at our hotel very early to collect us and take us to the railway station. Vivaldi had to travel at least one hour by bus and then a good walk to our hotel so he had started his day around 5am – something he did everyday and of course had to do the same journey at night when he left us.
We boarded the train with dozens of Chinese, just the odd European amongst them and found our allotted ‘soft seats’ for our very fast trip to Suzhou. This train is extremely modern and travels at 200kph. It left on time and soon ate up the 90 odd kms stopping at several stations along the way. Staff on the train were immaculately dressed in uniforms with neat hats etc. They were in fact smarter than the air crews we had on long haul flights. The train was extremely clean and had airline type loos for all to use and had bags pushed into the back of each seat which we thought were for travel sickness. We were wrong. In China people have a habit of spitting and the bags had been provided for this. In fact the government is currently trying to teach Chinese some manners in preparation for receiving visitors to the Olympics – one of the rules is to not spit. So many of the articles we had read prior to arriving in China talked of bad time keeping, simply awful toilets etc. etc. none of this applied to this train – it was immaculate and nobody threw any rubbish on the floor.
We were met in Suzhou by our guide Dave, a rather blobby type Chinese. He was in fact the least effective guide we had. On arrival in Suzhou we had to carry all our luggage a good distance to the car as there were major building works taking place at the station. Poor Brian struggled alone whilst the guide walked ahead – not a good start I thought. However, he did eventually give a hand. Because we would be coming back to this station the next day we thought it wise to buy some wheels for the luggage and Dave promptly took us to buy some – all for around £5 so no big deal.
Suzhou is the silicon city of China with 90% of all electronics in the world having something made here. There are over 500 foreign companies in the area but we did not go near any of the industrial areas. There were magnificent 5* hotels everywhere.
Suzhou was once the capital of the Wu Kingdom and is known for its famous gardens. We were taken to the Lingering Garden which sadly was disappointing after the gardens of Shanghai. It lacked much loving care. It was first built in 1522 and supposed to be one of the four most famous classical gardens in China.
The biggest Chinese silk factory is in Suzhou – the No 1 Silk Factory – where we taken on a tour to see the silk worms etc. Here we saw the spinning of the thread from the cocoons and then the weaving of the beautiful materials. The looms I guess were not the type in the modern factories as these were using the old card system of programming the machine. It was noisy but the end product was simply stunning. Of course with every tourist shop there is a restaurant and this was where we had our lunch that day – just like mass produced food – not so good.
Shopping as usual is difficult for us with such a restrictive space so it was just a few small gifts which would fit into our luggage.
After lunch we were taken off to the Panmen City Gate the oldest city gate in existence in Suzhou city. It used to be one of the eight city gates during the spring and Autumn Annals (770-476 BC). The gate was reconstructed in 1351. It was a beautiful walk in wonderful summer weather down to the river where we got on our own river boat for a trip to the ancient city. This was beautiful with meandering canals between the houses, the Venice of Suzhou.
It was back to our hotel for the night before catching the bullet train back to Shanghai next morning before flying to Guilin.
Day five and we are back in Shanghai where we are met at the station by Vivaldi. He is so pleased to see us both and promptly gets us into the car for the journey to the airport where we are to catch the 10.30 flight to Guilin. As always everything is on time and we arrive in Guilin at 12.45 to be met by our guide John. The airport was a good distance from the city so it was a late lunch at the hotel before we were whisked off to the Reed Flute Caves.
Guilin is in south West China – 2.5 hours away from Shanghai by jet. The countryside here was very different to what we had seen during the previous few days. Our first trip into the country took us to the Reed Flute caves which were massive. This was a very popular tourist site for Chinese and along with many of them we toured these caves. The surrounding area is made up of huge tropical limestone kaarst cones and the caves are concealed in one of these cones. It is a cavernous underground theatre of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave has been called ‘The Art Gallery of Mother Nature’ The authorities had taken much time and trouble to fit fluorescent lights which cast shadows and illuminated shapes of imaginary animals, fruits and objects etc.
John was in his early 40’s and spoke English at a rapid speed. He was a good solid type with a great sense of responsibility. John was an avid chess player and during any free time found somewhere he could play. He was also a Stock Market investor and followed it avidly. He took us to a wonderful local restaurant downtown where we ate cheaply with the locals – the noise was simply deafening as they shouted and laughed with one another. Not once in our travels did we have a meal that resembled Chinese food served in the west.
After supper we drove into the city centre and walked the short distance to the lake shore. Fir Lake and Banyan Lake are all one. In fact there were four lakes which have now been made into one and extend a great distance in the middle of the city. By the time we arrived darkness had fallen and everything was brightly lit in beautiful coloured lights. We had thought a lake trip would be boring after our years at sea but this was not to be. At the start of the journey there were two huge pagodas which were lit from top to bottom. Much thought had gone into the landscaping of the lakes and surrounding area making it extremely attractive at night. As we made our way along the shores locals were out enjoying themselves. Peking Opera was being acted and sung out in several locations, whilst small orchestras with women in brightly coloured evening dresses played violins, cellos and other instruments at other venues. Trees and rocks had beautiful coloured shadows across them. All this was man made and looked completely natural and had all been carried out for the Chinese to enjoy. In the middle of the lake we came across a couple of cormorant fishermen. These two young men were carrying out a profession their forefathers had done for centuries before them. Each had a bamboo raft with a long bamboo pole to punt them along. Both men had a number of cormorants which sat patiently on the raft, each one with a string or rope tied around their necks to stop them swallowing any fish they caught. The birds were sent into the water one at a time and quickly returned jumping onto the raft with a fish protruding from their beaks. They were amazingly large fish and the fisherman quickly released them from the cormorant’s bill into his fishing basket. After a few minutes rest the birds went off again in search of fish. It certainly was a more productive way of fishing that our own on the ocean!! After a fairly hectic day journeying by train, plane and then car we walked all the way back to the hotel along the shores of the lake where a comfortable bed with beautiful linen awaited us. We would be on the move again tomorrow so we would have to be up early.
Next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to drive to the Jinkeng Rice Terraces. These terraces are an amazing piece of engineering going all the way up a mountain to 2400 ft (800m). It is a 66 sq km network of irrigation begun by the ethnic Zhuang in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and finished during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). We arrived at the car park where we were met by ladies in traditional costume, each with a large basket strapped to their backs. Into the baskets went our luggage – ours was only a rucksack each but other people had huge cases which the ladies laid across the top of the baskets and carried up the mountain to the many small hostels and hotels built on the hillsides. Steps took us all the way up, far too many to count, but I took the easy way up and opted for a sedan chair which was rather uncomfortable as your legs were a lot higher than your head as you were carried upwards. The locals almost ran up these steps even with huge loads on their backs.
These people appear to be fairly self sufficient apart from beer and other liquor which is carried up in the traditional way in baskets on their backs. Along the mountain route there are small shops selling dried mushrooms, bags of dead ants and other interesting objects to eat. Ants we are told add a peppery taste to cooked food – not sure if we had any in the food we ate – we did not dare ask.
There were two different tribes living in the area. One tribe lived one side of the mountain and the other tribe on the other side. It was a good 45 minute or more narrow mountainside walk between the villages but the locals did this regularly carrying their wares on their backs. The ladies of the next village never cut their hair once married – well not until it touches the ground. They then cut off a good metre and this is then added to what they have and wrapped around their heads making them look as if they have a big hat on. For a few bucks they love to show you their hair down.
People worked on the rice terraces all day until well after dusk keeping them neat and tidy preparing them to plant out the next batch of rice. These terraces followed the contour of the mountains producing a fantastic picture when looking down and across with the lighting reflecting off them resembling tiger stripes.
We had one night in a hostel on the top floor of the building with fantastic views. Whilst there a storm built up producing a spectacular lightning display which knocked out the primitive electricity supply for a while. Most electrical appliances, i.e. the air conditioning unit etc, did not work in the hotel and we only had to put up with candle light for a while. Ventilation was pretty good with all windows open and screens to keep out unwanted insects.
Next morning the sun shone and along with a couple of ladies to carry out rucksacks, John our guide and our driver we made the trek down to our vehicle to travel back to Guilin. En route we stopped at the bottom of Yao Mountain and took the cable car to the top where a temple had been built during the Tang Dynasty. It is the highest mountain in Guilin and took around half an hour to get to the top on the cable car. Travelling up and from the top we could see the surrounding countryside and the enormous number of limestone karsts simply everywhere. The sun was bright even though there was still environmental fog surrounding everything and we sat in our basket sheltering from the sweltering heat under an umbrella. At the top of the mountain there were a number of stalls selling many touristy items – no one misses a chance to make a few dollars here selling copies of designer gear at ridiculously low prices.
We then made our way to the ancient town of Daxu one of four famous ancient towns in Guangxi province with a history of over 1000 years. Daxu is located on the north bank of the River Li around 29 km from Guilin. Daxu was very different to anywhere else we had been. The streets were lined with very old properties where very elderly residents sat in the doorways watching the world go by. The buildings were constructed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and are famous for their magnificence, refinement and practicality. One lady invited us in to take a look over her house which was still as it was when built. The dark dusty home was full of carved wood and screens, had no inside toilet but there was running water which ran to a very large pot similar to ones we would put on a patio with a very large shrub in. Cooking was done on a wood fire on the floor and the occupants slept in very solid wooden beds with carved screens – no interior sprung mattresses here. The first floor was reached via a wooden ladder. Brian took a look at this whilst I communicated with the lady via John. We thought this lady was rich as she appeared to have a mouthful of gold teeth but when asked about her teeth she told us they were made of either copper or brass – definitely not gold. These people lived as their forefathers had done for years and this was the one place where we saw people dressed in the traditional Mao jackets and men with long thin beards. One gentleman was sitting making a perfect picture pose so out came the camera and I snapped away discreetly – the next thing was he came chasing after us. Thinking he needed to be paid to take his picture I readily got out a few yuang – he did not want paying – he wanted a copy of the photo and gave us a slip of paper with his address on all in Chinese.
The main stone street through Daxu is around 2.3km long and only 2m wide. The streets were clean and each house appeared to have a small garden/courtyard at the back which were very large in comparison with the one room home we had visited in Shanghai. Of course there are possibly many of the extended family living in each of these homes.
It was then back to our Guilin City hotel once more to prepare for the next day and have supper.
We are now on day 8 of our 14 days and taken early to a dock on the banks of the Li River where we picked up a cruise boat to take us 60 kilometres to Yangshuo, a journey of 4 hours, and another hotel. The Li River winds it way through the huge steep limestone karsts and is really quite beautiful but we did not see it at its best through the humidity and pollution. Along the river there were caves and many villages with people going about their daily lives. Fisherman plied their wares up and down the river on bamboo rafts. The biggest surprise though was that this was a tourist’s paradise, well it was for the Chinese. There were a massive number of these river ‘cruise boats’ all filled with well healed tourists mainly from overseas. At the back of the majority of these boats were ‘kitchens’ where all the food was prepared. Small boats would come alongside to deliver various provisions to the kitchens. A few people on our boat decided not to sample the food after seeing these kitchens. We did but the food was more like mass produced food and not up to the standard of the restaurants we had been to.
Families played in the waters, there were duck farms and many water buffalo enjoying the river. Boats passed one another and when approaching one another would indicate which side they would pass by showing a green or red flag – red for port, green for starboard. Our boat would show which side we would pass and those approaching would display the appropriate coloured flag in acknowledgement.
Yangshuo was certainly a tourist attraction. A good kilometre from the boat dock we walked up through narrow streets to the city – well a village to the Chinese – where there were shop after shop of clothes, bags, belts, t shirts, shoe shops, well you name it and it was there. Everyone was a copy!!! It was very difficult to tell they were copies as they were so well made and copied.
At the hotel we got our bearings and then went off for a wonderful foot massage in the ‘Spa’. This is our second Chinese foot massage. We both sat with our feet in wooden buckets initially for the scrub before moving to comfy reclining chairs for the massage and a snooze. We had had little time to let our bodies succumb to such comfort for ages and this was bliss before we set off to the Tai Chi centre which was a good walk away. There we experienced Tai Chi for an hour with a Tai Chi master. An hour of this was more than enough for us in the heat and humidity but we met people there who had come to China from the UK, States and Australia to study Tai Chi at this school – some had been there months and spent many hours each day practising Tai Chi. We walked back to the hotel via a shorter route where we prepared ourselves to find a good local restaurant for supper – we were not disappointed.
Next morning, day 9, we were to go off on cycle rides but I chose to remain in Yangshuo whilst Brian and John sallied forth together into the country. Brian was given a mountain bike with many gears whilst John was given the standard Chinese bike with no gears. Each was given a 1.5 litre bottle of water which was carried in the special holder on the bike. First they had to navigate the town which was no problem for Chinese John but for Brian it was a headache coping with the cars, carts, scooters, bikes and of course the hundreds of locals. Turning left was a bigger headache as they had to get off their bikes and wait for a gap in the vast traffic before hurrying across the road and continuing. Brian congratulated himself on coping with the first major hurdles.
Once they reached the rural areas it was peaceful and beautiful with people passing acknowledging them. After about an hours cycle through the villages of Aishan and Licun they arrived at the side of a river, name not remembered, where there were bamboo rafts with seats on. The bicycles were loaded on to the back of the raft whilst Brian and John sat on the seats and travelled for a good hour down river. The owner/operator of the raft had to punt so the pace was pretty slow. At times their feet got wet as they encountered the rapids. Once at their destination, a very small village, John in a round about way suggested that they took a small side road through the country, this was not part of the organised tour, and Brian was delighted at this suggestion as John wanted to show Brian the real China. For an hour they cycled through farms. People acknowledged them everywhere they went whilst children just froze on the spot with their mouths open at the sight of a European. The heat was extremely hot and John on his standard ungeared Chinese bicycle was feeling the heat – he was bright red in the face and had already drunk all his water – so Brian came to the rescue and when he was not looking topped up John’s bottle from his.
The ride took them through a beautiful area littered with these huge steep limestone karsts finally cycling through a narrow valley on to a road leading back to Yangshuo. On their way back on this road they were stopped by a man with a red flag who told them to stop and stay still. Then there appeared a lot of people waving red flags followed by a large explosion up on a hill. This was a quarry and sometimes rocks fall down on to the road so they treat such things seriously.
After all these hours of cycling Brian ran the gauntlet more confidently through the city back to the hotel where he just could not wait to tell me all about it. A cycle ride he will remember for a very long time as he and John enjoyed themselves immensely.
Well whilst the men were away it gave me some time to myself and allowed me to have a morning of retail therapy. There were shops selling Teva sandals, Columbia wear, etc. etc. just too many to mention. There were several handbag shops with some beautiful items – I bought a very nice Prada handbag, supposedly made in Italy – not quite sure that they would import items made in Italy and then sell them at knock down prices in China. I paid half price for it around £15, but felt afterwards I could have possibly bought it for less. It obviously takes time to get into the right bargaining mode and other frequent visitors told me you offered a maximum of a third of the price – so I will know next time!
Since arriving back in New Zealand we have been told that the majority of goods are not copies and are in fact the real thing. Apparently there are massive overruns and other reasons for excess stocks which are sold off at knock down prices.
After a good lunch in town where John took us to sample fish cooked in beer – the trademark of this restaurant we ambled back to the hotel. It was clearly a very popular place as the walls were simply covered in pieces of paper with Chinese writings on – these were all letters of recommendation.
The afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool and chatting to a Canadian family we had met up in the mountains at Jinkeng and an American working in Hong Kong with his petite Chinese girl friend half his height and age possibly, before being driven back to Guilin and the airport to catch our plane to Xian which left at 7.45pm and arrived at 9.30.
We said our goodbyes to John and thanked him for a wonderful time in Guilin. He was certainly a very experienced guide and knew just where to take us and what to do. He was also very caring – at the time I had a terrible cold and he took me to the Chinese herbalist for medicines, provided me with massive supplies of paper hankies and throat sweets. He was also very conscious of prices charged by places attracting tourists – he knew where to go to buy! His knowledge was wonderful and if you John get a chance to read this – many thanks again for a wonderful time. We hope we meet you again soon.
Sadly there was no time for a meal before we left and we relied on room service around 10.30 – 11 pm in Xian.
On Wednesday 30th May after a very hectic few days in Guilin we arrived at our luxurious hotel in Xian and taken to our room on the Executive floor 22 floors up. The time of arrival was around 10.30pm and we had not eaten and had to resort to room service at that late hour. A lesson learned for our next late arrival which will be tomorrow.
On Thursday we were up at the crack of dawn to pack the few items we had unpacked for the night to be ready to leave with Grace our young guide for our day in Xian. What a day. Grace was a young enthusiastic Chinese girl in her early twenties. Her spoken English was even faster than Johns and we had to get her to slow down to be able to absorb the enormous amount of historic information she gave us.
We were off to see the famous Terracotta Warriors but would be stopping en route at various places to see some wonderful works of art. The first establishment we stopped at was the official makers of replicas of these soldiers. However, along the roadside there appeared to be many other manufacturers with samples of their work on display outside. At the official makers there were warriors of all sizes depending on whether you wanted a mantelpiece object or a patio sized piece and we watched ‘artists’ finishing off before and after firing.
From the pottery we were taken into a furniture workshop where the beauty of the work brought me to tears. Yes, I had to use a hanky to wipe away the tears. I had never seen such beautiful work and it was impossible to keep your hands away from the wood which had the most fantastic finish. Amongst the work were stunning pieces of raised inlaid jade depicting pictures and scenes. The colours and work just took your breath away. What a relief we are living on a boat and just cannot house such pieces as I could have spent a fortune here.
Further on was another embroidery gallery with stunning pictures which looked just as if they had been painted. These were all hand embroidered with very fine silk thread.
We finally reached our destination – the Terracotta Warriors. Our car was parked and we walked a fair distance through a well landscaped area to the three pits that are open to the general public. These pits are actually huge museum halls constructed to house the warriors and each excavation is known by the pit number. Pit number one is by far the biggest – it is huge. I forget just how many football pitches it would house but it was several. It is also the pits that everyone sees pictures of.
These life sized warriors were constructed over 2,200 years ago by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang to protect him in death. Initially huge long pits were dug and then these terracotta figures were placed as if marching into battle complete with horses etc. The men all have different faces and their uniforms and hair/headgear indicate their rank. The bodies of these figures are actually hollow apart from their legs and their heads. The heads are also separate, each one being different.
There are around 8,000 of these warriors, many still to excavate, but hundreds have already been unearthed and repaired. Sadly virtually every figure found was in pieces. Once the pits had been dug and the warriors in place the pits were covered with huge logs and mats to protect them. Sadly an uprising occurred and these pits were torched resulting in the wood burning and collapsing on top of the warriors – you can imagine the result. At various places it is possible to see the black earth where the fires happened.
We walked around this hall using binoculars to see these warriors, particularly the ones in the reconstruction area where many pieces lay waiting for the historians to put together. This is a jigsaw puzzle on a mammoth scale.
The further two halls we visited contained further warriors of higher ranks but were still under excavation.
These warriors, as you may know, were discovered accidentally by some poor farmers whilst digging a well. These poor farmers have not benefited financially from this wonderful find even though the Government is making millions from the millions of visitors that visit each day. We were taken to meet one of the farmers who is at the visitors hall every day to sign the official guide book. We were told he was well looked after and rich, but have since read in newspapers that this poor man has not benefited in any way, even though he spends all his time on the premises. The lunch provided for him looked exceedingly good so perhaps that was a perk of the job!
The presentation of this work of art was to be admired. The Government had gone to enormous lengths to protect these warriors and provided an excellent visitors centre where one was able to watch a 360 degree video of the re-enactment of the times and explain the building of the army.
A short distance from the warriors, a couple of kms, was the mausoleum of the emperor built inside a hill. Some items found here were on display in the warrior museum.
It was good to see the interest shown at this historic site especially when the majority of the visitors were Oriental.
From here we motored back to the city centre for lunch and a walk round the shops. What a beautiful city this was. Xian was once the capital of China and they certainly are very proud of this. The city was clean and very beautiful with flowers in bloom everywhere. Shops were large and had beautifully displayed windows. One such store I wanted to take a photo of, but was soon shown the sign showing no photography. However at least I managed to walk round the store where you could buy every European item of designer wear you wished at similar prices to the UK. These stores are for locals and not for visitors so there are some very rich people able to afford such items.
On our walk around town we visited the ancient Bell Tower, which was originally built in the Yingxiang Temple in 1384 at the intersection of West Street and Guangji Street. In 1582 it was moved to its present pivotal position in the heart of the city at the junction of four main streets extending the east, south, west and north where it was rebuilt and later restored. With its magnificent carved beams and painted rafters this building was truly beautiful.
Having experienced a very late supper last night we were determined it would not happen today so before departing Xian Grace took us to a wonderful restaurant where we sampled a pot meal and the table was all prepared on our arrival. The amount of food was almost off putting and I believed we would never get through it, we did. We each had a small ‘saucepan’ over a lighted flame with boiling soup and on the table were plates of thinly cut raw beef and lamb, fresh chrysanthemum leaves, various lettuces and other leaves together with raw eggs. Grace gave instructions on how we ate our meal, rather like a fondue we had to cook these items ourselves putting the various ingredients into the cooking pot with our chopsticks. It was delicious and the sight of the table on our arrival and the experience of eating some of the strange leaves will remain in our memories for ages.
Tonight we are off to Beijing by train. We arrived at Xian station and with Grace’s help found our ‘de luxe’ compartment ready for our overnight journey to Beijing. This train was spotless and our very own compartment had an airline type bathroom, one armchair and two bunks each with a TV. As per normal the train left on time.
We packed away our luggage, said our fond farewells to Grace and settled into a long journey – 12 hours – initially looking out of the windows to see the surrounding countryside until darkness set in and we hit the pillow.
This was a very hectic and exciting 24 hours. Grace was a very enthusiastic guide and very pleased to show us her city particularly the Terracotta Warriors which were not as we had expected at all. These were a wonderful surprise and a must for all visitors to China.
Beijing here we come …………………………………………………………
August 7th 2007-08-07
We have now been back in New Zealand 3 weeks and are very settled into our new home on terra firma for the next few months. The weather has been glorious during the days with sunshine that radiates through the many windows of the house. Although somewhat cool when we arrived back we promptly lit the wood burning stove and purchased an electric blanket and the house was soon cosy, helped of course by the daytime sunshine.
The Kiwis are made of hardy stuff and many live in shorts and t shirts all year round, just around a week ago children were paddling in the sea and guys were surf boarding. We kept firmly to the woolly sweaters, thick socks and walking boots to make sure we kept warm.
The house we are renting is perched on the top of a hill with around an acre of land, much of which is at 45 degrees and covered in bush, these are manuka bushes, more commonly known elsewhere as tea tree. It is also the food that bees live on to produce the wonderful manuka honey. From the north/north east of the house we have panoramic views over the estuary and surrounding countryside which is constantly changing throughout the day. We watch the tide ebbing and flowing with the many moored yachts moving with the tide. Motor boats move around at various times of the day ferrying people from one side of the shore to the other which in the inlets is quite a distance. Whereas everyone in the northern hemisphere seeks a home facing south, here everyone looks for a house facing north to avoid the Antarctic cool winds from the south, south west and south east.
Spring is not too far away now, although August is supposed to be the worst month of a New Zealand winter with plenty of rain. Yes we are getting the occasional heavy shower but it soon passes and the sun shines again. Since being back there has been constant moonlight from clear skies at night.
As you can imagine Henry and Lily are simply loving it being ashore. After four and a half years they had not forgotten what a cat does when they have freedom in a garden. Initially they were frantic to get out and we had to keep all windows and doors firmly locked. At some doors we had to place chairs in front to stop Lily jumping up to the open the locks. She drove us made for the first 10 days howling and jumping at doors to get out at night and during the day. I am sure she was somewhat freaked out as were we by the repetitive noise of either an insect or small animal that was somewhere in the house. This creature started squeaking/singing around 9pm each night and continued for hours. It was impossible to pinpoint where the noise was coming from exactly as each night it came from a different area.
At last the time came when we thought it would be safe to let the cats out individually under great supervision for very short times. Henry as an old man could be trusted not to run miles but Lily was taken out on a harness and lead to save our sanity. The favourite place to go initially was under the house where we guess many animals or other cats have been so the scents the cats were picking up was truly intriguing to them. Each time they went out they went straight under the house.
It was not long before they decided to explore next door where a three legged aged cat and a young border terrier live. The cats spent hours here and just would not come home so I had to venture next door to rescue them. Surprisingly they had not seen the 3 legged cat that was sitting on the top of the spa pool. Each day they had a little more freedom until they could be relied upon to go out when we get up and come back quite soon for breakfast. They spent more time just sitting on the wooden deck around the house than venturing off into to the bush. Lily just loved to crouch down and watch the hundreds of birds that come each day dreaming that one day she might just catch one. Strange after all these years she had not lost the desire to hunt. Henry just watches with his ears down but knew full well he just was not as clever as Lily.
Houses in New Zealand are little more than wooden sheds, although built in wonderful shapes and sizes. Everything is made of wood here. Older houses have no insulation and no heating so are extremely cold. We are lucky to have a wood burning stove in our living room which is large and open plan. Ceilings are high and when it rains heavily we hear the rain thrashing at the corrugated iron roof. Our rented house is around 3 or 4 years old so should have insulation in the roof but nothing like the thickness we would use in the UK. Houses are built on a wooden base that is knocked onto a wooden frame a foot or so above the ground, depending on the topography. Underneath our house we are able to see all the plumbing etc. none of which is insulated. However between the joists there are pieces of polystyrene to prevent the heat escaping from under our feet. The house has the most amazing uncarpeted floors throughout, not the ideal for British cold feet in the winter nor the best for someone who is not a domestic goddess. However, we have a very nice kitchen complete with dishwasher and a wonderful cooker which I simply love. After using our small four ring gas cooker this one is simply heaven. Food takes half the time to cook and we are having roast potatoes by the score.
We are totally dependant on rain water for our supplies of water which is stored in two 10,000 gallon plastic tanks in the garden. Water is collected off the roofs and filtered into these tanks which is then pumped electrically into the house. Drinking water is put through a filter and tastes just delicious. There are no deciduous leaves to clog up guttering here and the roofs are perfectly clean. This is just like all the Pacific islands we have seen where water is collected into tanks but this is on a more sophisticated system and masses is collected during the winter. Sewage is collected in an extremely sophisticated state of the art sceptic tank which has electric pumps and filters attached to it. In the large cities mains water and sewage are supplied.
We are hoping that whilst in the house the weather will be warm enough for us to bbq on the deck during the evenings, but first we have to wait for the evenings to get lighter. Clocks change here in September so we look forward to that.
Brian has been working daily on Songster whilst I now have a temporary job looking after the local sailmaker’s business; the owners are in England for their daughter’s wedding. It has been hard returning to work after 7 years of retirement but am now thoroughly enjoying the thrill of achieving orders and working with the staff. The biggest drawback of working is that it is all so cold. The building is little more than a factory unit with the only heat coming from a small fan heater so I set off each morning in thick socks and walking boots, thermal long jons and several merino wool layers underneath a thick Musto sailing jacket. When I leave I have to remove the layers as it is warmer outside than in.
I am continuing to play bridge and last weekend played in a top tournament with a lot of the top players. Sadly my partner and I came bottom but that was possibly because I had not played the system we played before, which was a rather stupid thing to do at such a high profile event. I had also not played with my partner on many occasions – another mistake but I was chuffed to be asked to participate.
We keep in touch with many of our fellow cruisers who left New Zealand several months ago. Many have had some serious problems, many caused by the weather which has not been good up in the Pacific Islands. We are extremely pleased we are still here. At the same time we keep in touch with friends who are doing what we did last year and we are excited at seeing these when they arrive later in the year. Some we have not seen for several years.
All in all we are simply loving New Zealand and would love to be able to live here. New Zealand has the cleanest air in the world with no acid rain. The area in which we are living is the winterless north. Although cold to us after several years in the tropics the climate is really very kind. August is equivalent to February in the UK and at the moment we have geraniums in full bloom along with busy lizzies in the garden. Spring is definitely very near with the bulbs in flower and each day more and more blossom appears in the bush and trees.
We just wish some of you could come to visit us here in this wonderful and beautiful country.
It is now months since I managed to update our web site and you must be wondering what we have been up to.
The highlight of 2007, after our trip to South Island, was our trip to China which you can read about here, although I never got round to adding the last bit of the trip to Beijing and the weeks in the UK and California.
Last May we spent time touring China before flying on to the UK where we met up with friends and family, although time was rather short and we had to change our plans due to house problems. Hopefully we will return to the UK later this year from Australia to visit all the family and friends we had to miss last year.
Our time in New Zealand is sadly coming to an end and within the next 10-14 days we will depart these beautiful shores for Fiji where we will cruise the many islands for I guess around 6 weeks before sailing across to Vanuatu where we will probably spend the majority of our time this year. Vanuatu is a group of volcanic islands where the inhabitants have been proved to be the happiest in the world in spite of their lack of modern life. The plan is to go loaded with pre loved clothes to distribute in exchange for fruit which is extremely plentiful.
From Vanuatu we will head for the Loyalty Islands to the east of New Caledonia, a French island, before heading for Australia in October 2008 where we will spend the cyclone season between December and April. In 2009 we will head north through the Great Barrier Reef to Cairns and on to Darwin before sailing up through Indonesia and Malaysia to Thailand where we will be for Christmas 2009. Not so far to come and visit and easier for us to return to the UK.
Well that is the plan at the moment but like all good plans that could change.
As for the past 9 months since returning from our travels we do not seem to have stopped working at one thing or another.
On our return last July, mid winter, we were collected at the local airport by the owner of the Cattery, taken to pick up our car and collect Henry and Lily before driving to Opua and our new home for the next five months. We had rented a beautiful Kiwi house in Oramahoe Road with stunning views out over the river and bay. It was good to be living ashore and the cats loved having a garden, 1 acre of it the majority bush - manuka trees, otherwise known as Tea tree. The house was perched on the top of a hill with gardens dropping at various degrees on three sides.
Winter in New Zealand, well up here in the north, was delightful with clear blue skies and warm sunshine interrupted occasionally by a few days of rain. It was cool and we had to don the merino sweaters, woolly slippers etc. etc. But we survived. Kiwis are hardy people so no one has central heating or double glazing. The house had a log burner which had to heat the entire house so it was off to the local store to buy an electric blanket and thick dressing gowns. Our trusty electric fire, given to us back in 2006 in the Galapagos by a couple of American yachties who were returning to the States, was invaluable even though Henry deflected all heat from it by sitting almost on top of it.
Winter here was just not like any winter we had experienced in the UK, it was just extremely pleasant, although the locals would disagree. To us it was exciting. The light and colours were mesmerizing as we awoke to the breathtaking views peeping through the valley mists.
Many of the days we had all the French windows open during the daytime and I managed to dry washing on a clothes line without the use of a tumble dryer. I even managed to sling my hammock up on the deck when there was time to relax.
Renting a house gave us the opportunity to totally empty the boat in order that work could be done and the boat given a good clean. Well it has taken all those months to get the boat shipshape and we still have not quite finished.
Songster was hauled in May last year and spent 7 months on the hard. On our return from the States Brian worked daily on large engineering projects, working alongside the professionals whilst major work was undertaken. In between he cleaned and painted every nook and cranny inside so that lockers and bilges were beautifully clean for when I returned on board.
In November Songster was put back into the water and we moved back on board along with all our many possessions - it is a nightmare putting everything back in place. This job is still not complete as we have a land based store full of gear which we have to clear and have packed away on the boat by the end of April.
The cats had enjoyed their stay ashore so much that we were reluctant to put them back on board and more recently unsure about taking them to sea again, particularly Henry. Henry for some months had been suffering some pain but neither the vets nor we could just decide where the pain was coming from. Each time he went to the vets he just lay there enjoying all the fuss he was getting, however, a few weeks ago it was decided to give him a thorough X ray and further blood tests where they found he has bad arthritis at the base of his spine where his tail meets. Furthermore he has a spur growing on the inner side of his spine - all arthritis. The vets here have been fantastic and we can now set off happily knowing that he is not suffering any life threatening disease. He has medication to take which is helping tremendously so he is back to his old soppy self and does not appear to be in any stress.
Socially we have been very busy, I have continued playing bridge at the local club twice a week and if I can steel the time socially as well during the day. My bridge friends are delightful and I shall miss them greatly, particularly Doris who I think is the best partner I have ever had. Sadly we did not manage to play often together but we wiped the board when we did. Wednesdays and Fridays had been sailing club race nights, until the clocks went back at the end of March, allowing us both to go off racing on other peoples boats. I had just longed to be able to go out on smaller boats for fun and not have to think about all the gear on board Songster which always has to be packed away securely whenever we go out. This is something I shall be doing in the next week. It is hell being on a boat that is moving from side to side with all the contents rattling. All bottles and jars are put inside empty water or other type of plastic bottles to prevent them touching. When the supply on board is short I go to the recycling centre at the marina to retrieve plastic bottles to use. This has become a very valuable source as I have been busy pickling and making chutney out of fruit we possibly will not come across again.
The stores have been replenished which has been no tall order - the price of food has increased by 28% in the last year. It is now not cheap to live in New Zealand. Fuel has possibly increased by well over 30% since our arrival. However, we will not go hungry nor will the cats with the copious supplies of cat food we have, not to mention the 100lbs plus of cat litter stored under the bed
Working on the boat has taken its toll on both of us, particularly Brian and we now need to go off to play. Brian has worked virtually seven days a week since last July and he needs to stop. The plan is to enjoy the things we have had done on the boat particularly the brand new heads which became a massive job instead of the cosmetic job we thought it would be. Once Brian started to get into the job he found we had had a serious water leak in the past, possibly from the old water tank which he replaced a couple of months ago, and all the wood was rotten and had to be removed. This was a major job and boat builder friend, Ian Wood, whose house we had rented, was called in to rebuild it all with the help of Brian as goafer. The two of them had a wonderful time together even though it was hard dirty work. Although it took a great deal longer than we had anticipated we are thoroughly pleased with the results. We have a lovely new set of cupboards with a moulded vanity unit made just for us, wonderful shower and an electric toilet which is a great plus. No more pumping!
The majority of other work is hidden but it does include an upgraded water maker to replace the other one we bought back in Gibraltar in 2003 which just gave up the ghost.
With days to go before departure we are frantically awaiting items to be shipped from the UK realising at the 11th hour that they were essential pieces of kit to replace before arriving in Australia where they are extremely hot on everything.
The passage to Fiji is around 1200 miles and should take us in the region of 10 days or less depending on the weather. This is yet another one of the most difficult passages in the world as winter approaches it will be extremely cold for the first 400 miles. Sadly the weather pattern has changed over the past few years so it is impossible to know exactly what to expect when out at sea.
We shall make landfall at Savusavu on Vanu Levi Island and cruise the islands from there.
We shall be sad to sail out of New Zealand where we have had the most wonderful time. Kiwis are a very special breed and we love them dearly. With a bit of luck we will be returning in a big silver bird at some time in the future. We have done too many things to bore you with on this site but much of it has been great fun and some hard work as we integrated with the local population.
It is 4 weeks since we set sail from Opua in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand saying goodbye to our many friends who had welcomed and included us in their lives during the previous 18 months.
On Monday 12th May 2008 after weeks and weeks of working on Songster preparing for the passages ahead, we set off fully loaded with copious supplies of food, water, gas, diesel, spares and 100 lbs of cat litter. We were at last ready. It was a frantic week or so beforehand as Brian tackled job after job to leave on this date.
If only we had known what was ahead we might have decided to pay the duty Songster, leave her in New Zealand and complete our circumnavigation in an aeroplane.
Our journey to Savusavu, Fiji, just over 1100 miles would take around 8 – 10 days we hoped. The weather was beautiful as we motor sailed out of the Bay of Islands in very light winds and gently entered the Pacific once more to head from winter temperatures for a warmer climate. It was cold on the Ocean and our trusty British thermals kept us warm for the next 7 days along with a few layers of New Zealand merino Icebreaker sweaters. It was on day four at around 0530 in the morning soon after Brian had come on watch and I was asleep there was a severe judder of the boat and we found we had no steering. Both the autopilot and main steering had broken. The large chain that drives the autopilot had snapped as had one of our steering cables causing those cables to come off their quadrant. Quite which caused the other Brian was not sure. However, Brian was able to stabilise the yacht and get ourselves into a ‘hove to’ position so that he could assess the situation and start on a repair.
All the mechanics for the steering are housed in the master cabin under a very large bed on which we store many things when on passage, including two bikes. This all had to be moved to get access whilst we encountered a fairly boisterous sea which threw Brian and his tools around the cabin whilst he worked.
He was determined we were not going to hand steer to Fiji and he was able to replace the cable with a new spare we carried. However the chain was more of a problem as the spare we carried was not of the correct gauge. After a good night’s sleep Brian came up with a fantastic plan of approach which worked magnificently and took us all the way to Fiji. Not prepared to put these repairs under too much stress we set off after 28 hours at a leisurely pace. Unable to receive our daily weather faxes from New Zealand over the next few days, a NZ problem, we were not aware of what was in store for us.
Mid evening the winds started to increase and the seas rose. With the repairs unproven in severe weather we took the decision to ‘hove to’ once more to wait and watch. This we did for 3 days tucked safely inside Songster whilst a gale blew itself out. At times we wondered if it would ever stop. There was little we could do other than keep our twice daily radio check ins with Des of Opua Offshore Communications who kept telling us the weather would calm down, which it did not. Eventually the winds reduced and the seas calmed to just rough rather than very, very rough and early morning we set off in beautiful sunshine northwards. We had a couple of days in beautiful sailing conditions just using our headsail. Temperatures were now seriously beginning to warm up. At night it was possible to be on watch with just salopettes and no jacket or tee-shirt. Soon after the winds died and we motor sailed the rest of the journey in calm seas dodging squalls. It had been too rough and unsafe until now for us to even think of fishing but now we trawled a line and just as we accelerated to avoid a squall we had a bite. This must have been the biggest fish we have ever caught as soon after it managed to break the strain of our 225lb line and swim off with the lure and line attached to it. Our freezer was already full so we were possibly saved the storage problem and the fish now roams the ocean rather precariously.
We did not fish again until nearer our destination. A friend had advised us that it was always good to arrive with a fish to donate so this we did. We later caught a 1 metre mahi-mahi which we gave to the officials who checked us in. They were extremely pleased but it did not help in any way towards the overtime charge we had to pay arriving on a Sunday.
Our arrival in Fiji was very unspectacular. Hoping for bright sunshine and wonderful views was a no no. We arrived under grey leaden skies, very low cloud, rain and extremely poor visibility. We in fact never saw the shore line and had to use radar and electronic navigation to find our way to Savusavu’s Copra Shed marina.
Our 14 day journey was at an end thankfully.
Savusavu is on the southern coast of Fiji’s second largest island, Vanua Levi. Vanua Levi is on the north eastern side of the mainland Viti Levu and is less touristy than the west side of the country. It is also much wetter with weather being controlled by the SPCZ, South Pacific Convergence Zone which seems to hang over Fiji much of the time during the winter months. Although warm we have seen many cloudy days with a fair amount of drizzle and some very heavy rain in the past couple of days. Temperatures are in the very high 20’s low 30’s constantly with very high humidity.
Our two weeks here has given Brian time to get repairs done to the boat. One of our davits that carry the dinghy had bent and cracked badly. This is a very sturdy stainless steel construction that had taken a bad hit from a huge wave whilst ‘hove to’. Our new furling gear rope had chafed so badly it was held with just a couple of strands. We were extremely lucky this had not broken whilst on passage. The two GPS’s, which mysteriously kept losing satellite communication are now functioning correctly – a problem a number of boats experienced. The galley sink that allowed water to flow up and spew water everywhere inside the boat is now safe. Winter gear has been stowed to make room for the hot weather gear.
We have attended a couple of seminars on village protocol and where and where not to go so we are now ready to take off to explore Fijian culture.
Today Saturday 7th June 2008 we are to leave our marina buoy to motor just 5 miles down the coast to anchor of the Cousteau resort for a night or two before heading east along the coast to Fawn Harbour and Viani Bay where we are told the snorkelling and diving are extremely good.
Now that we are moving once again I hope to be able to write about our travels and experiences.
Sit back and travel with us.
It is 30th July 2008, Independence Day in Vanuatu. The sky is overcast but it is very warm and we are moored in the main harbour of Port Vila, on the island of Efate, the capital of Vanuatu. Until 1980 Vanuatu had been known as the New Hebrides, jointly run by both Britain and France.
We arrived on the island of Tanna at Port Resolution two weeks ago after a four day passage, which was very brisk at the start, from Fiji where we had been for the previous 6 or seven weeks.
Although we enjoyed the eastern side of Fiji the weather was extremely disappointing. An Australian was quick to advise that the Pacific had had its wettest year ever. However, in spite of the rain we were able to visit a few anchorages and more remote villages along the cost but we seemed to be permanently wet and drying out clothes.
Savusavu, our first landfall was delightful. Reminding us very much of the Caribbean with its rich mix of races. The Indian population of Fiji, we believe, slightly exceeds that of the indigenous Fijians. Initially brought there as indentured slaves to work the sugar cane plantations several generations ago their families have flourished and grown. The majority of businesses appear to be owned by Indians who are very proactive. Savusavu is situated on the southern coast of the second largest Fijian island of Vatu Levi.
Fiji is made up of hundreds of islands and coral reefs and is one of the most dangerous areas to navigate in the world. After getting everything repaired or replaced that needed seeing to after our heavy passage up from New Zealand we set off along the coast to Fawn Harbour. Many of these reefs are just below the surface ready to take the bottom off your boat so navigation has to be extremely accurate. Entering Fawn Harbour, our first reef entry was nerve racking with one of us on the wheel whilst the other had to remain down below tracking our every move on the electronic charting system. Thankfully a friend had provided us with their tracks so we were able to follow these. Once inside this natural reefed harbour it was calm and flat but the water was rather cloudy so there was no incentive to swim.
From Fawn we travelled further east to Viani Bay on the south eastern tip of Vatu Levi, again negotiating the entry through the reef and into the bay avoiding the coral bombies on the way. This was our first experience of real life in Fiji. Viani Bay was owned by the Fisher family, a family with history of a British ancestor a generation or so ago. Jack Fisher, his wife Sofi and their daughter Elizabeth were wonderful hosts, along with other members of the family.
Whilst in Savusavu we had made great friends with a young German couple, Holger and Manuela and their delightful 20 month old son Jonathan. Their yacht was called Amorevida and for the next few weeks we travelled together enjoying their company very much.
At Viani Bay Elizabeth Fisher took us all on a walk through the small village to a hill overlooking the beautiful bay from where we could look down and see all the nearby reefs. A treacherous walk through thick mud had us sliding involuntarily on our bottoms back down the hill.
Although a cloudy day Jack took us snorkelling out on the reef. We all got on Amorevida whilst Jack took the helm confidently driving it out through the reef and anchoring almost on top of it. Holger stayed on board whilst Jack accompanied Manuela and me as we snorkelled along the inside of the reef. It was a good feeling to know that someone was watching over you close by in a dinghy. This is something I would never have been able to do without Jack as it would have been a far too dangerous feat for us to achieve.
Eventually the rains cleared sufficiently for us to make our way back to Savusavu once again to prepare to move southwards. This did not turn out to be as easy as we thought. Just 5 miles from Savusavu is the Cousteau Resort built on the edge of a massive reef at the entry of Savusavu Bay. The plan was to drop the anchor here for the night before heading south. But just as we dropped the anchor the winds whipped up to almost 40 knots and we were on a lea shore, the wind was blowing us towards the reef beach. It was a nightmare as Brian struggled to get the anchor up so we could leave. The anchor was caught on a coral bombie – totally unmovable! Whilst I was on the wheel driving the boat as hard as I could against the huge winds and by now huge waves Brian was struggling at the bow of the boat trying desperately with the windlass to wind the anchor in and to remain on board. The windlass could not cope and Brian had to devise another method – he had to attach rope to the anchor chain and then wind it in on a winch. This all took time and a great deal of effort. The light was going fast, there was torrential rain, our water catching pipe was not connected in the cockpit so water just poured in on top of me whilst I tousled with the wheel, sea and wind not able to leave the wheel to turn on navigation instrument lights etc. Eventually the anchor released and Brian managed to pull most of the chain in and we made out way back to the Copra Shed Marina at Savusavu where thankfully many kind yachties were there to help us tie to a buoy. Brian was only then able to pull in the remaining few feet of chain and examine the damaged anchor. It was extremely bent.
There are many more Public Holidays overseas than we have in the UK and once again we had hit a Bank Holiday weekend and had to wait until the following Tuesday before anything could be done to the anchor. Thankfully it was a quick job to straighten it. Brian and David off Runaway Bay took it to the local forge where they banged and bashed it straight.
The following day we were on our way to Makogai, pronounced Makongai. Makogai was once a South Pacific Leper Colony housing up to 5000 sufferers. The colony closed some 30 odd years ago but the ruined buildings still remain. More recently a government fisheries department had been researching the giant clams that live and grew in the waters of this island. Sadly since the coup in December 2006 monies had dried up so the research team had released the remaining clams back into the ocean just days before our arrival. Luckily for us a few still remained on the sea bed just off the beach which we were able to see clearly whilst snorkelling. They were huge.
Some years previously the island had also housed a hybrid sheep rearing station. This was now operating on other islands but evidence of fencing etc. was there to see.
Our plan was to stay in Fiji just a few weeks and move on the Vanuatu where we wanted to spend the majority of our time this year so after a couple of nights on Makogai we had a good overnight motor sail to Suva the capital of Fiji where we had a short stay. We were able to take a taxi trip round the city to visit the Government House, see the Presidents Palace, University of the South Pacific and other points of interest.
With Amorevida we set off along the south coast of Viti Levu in heavy weather which prevented us exploring the island of Beqa, pronounced Benga. Thick cloud over the island and bad light is the last thing needed when navigating reefs. Finding good safe anchorages that are not too difficult to navigate are not close together so we had to motor sail to cover the distances so that we arrived in light good enough to do this. Some of these are not for the faint hearted. Our first stop along the coast was at Vunaniu. There was absolutely nothing there but once through the reef we were in absolutely calm waters where we had a very restful night. Up early next morning we set off for Likuri Harbour the home of the Robinson Crusoe Island Resort – a must place to visit we had been told. Robinson Crusoe Resort was a backpacker type resort with small bures that had very low entrances. There is no water on the island so all water is brought to the island or collected from roofs and then carried by hand to the ‘showers’. The shower is a bucket suspended from the roof with a tap on it.
We had been told of the wonderful show performed at Robinson Crusoe but our plans to travel west prevented us staying to see it. A problem with blockages of our water intake systems from seaweed was also another incentive to move on so after two nights we were on our way round into Nadi Bay where we hoped we would find beautiful sunny weather without rain.
It had not rained now for a couple of days which was wonderful and we headed from Likuri along the coast for around 10 miles to the Navula Passage the main passage through the great reef that travels up the west side of Fiji. Through the reef we made our way to Musket Cove where we had a couple of nights before heading to Lautoka to check in.
Musket Cove is where many yachties head for the season from New Zealand. It is a huge resort island with many tourists and where the prices are many more times what they were round on the east. Our entry here was rather embarrassing. Musket Cove is accessed through many reefs with sticks marking their boundaries and just as we were approaching, whilst looking to see where we should go, we took the wrong side of a stick and landed on a reef. Not good. Whilst people were calling us on the VHF to warn us others were coming in dinghies to help pull us off. Our pride was deeply hurt and we eventually made our way to a mooring buoy. Holger kindly dived to check our keel which now had a chunk removed from it but thankfully no water is leaking in. This is something we will have repaired in Australia.
Our two nights at Musket Cove gave me the opportunity to go snorkelling on two of their organised trips. The first was to the sand bar at low tide – a great place for newbie snorkelers as it was relatively shallow and the number of young fish was enormous. One swam through shoals of small fish that you could touch. The second trip was to the north of the island where the waters were much deeper. The coral and rock formation here had great fissures housing much larger and more interesting fish. The water however was much cooler and without my wet suit I found it impossible to remain in the water for any great time.
Lautoka, around 15 – 20 miles from Musket, is the main port of entry in Nadi Waters and where we had to check in so early Monday morning we set off. Lautoka is the sugar capital of Fiji with the mill quite close to the city anchorage and where with trade winds blowing the thick black soot blows landing on the deck. After checking in we made a quite dash to town to have lunch and shop before returning aboard and moving down to Saweni Bay just 3 or 4 miles away. At Saweni we were able to repay our reef landing debt. A yacht some couple of miles away was calling for help, they had landed up on a reef and could not get off so Holger and Brian set out in their dinghies and pulled the yacht clear. The skipper, originally from the Czech Republic but now living in South Africa was extremely grateful and like us felt extremely embarrassed by the experience.
The laundry was piling up so with Vuda Point marina a short distance away we decided to have a couple of days getting that done and try to catch up with e mails. Our couple of days eventually turned into around 10 as the weather changed. This time it was not rain it was very high winds and huge seas which stopped us going off to the islands to explore.
Eventually time was marching on, reports back from others on the islands was not encouraging so we decided we had to make a move towards our goal of Vanuatu so on Monday 14th July we checked out of Fiji saying our goodbyes to Holger, Manuela and Jonathan and made our way down to Momi Bay, just inside the Navula Passage, ready to set off for Port Resolution on the island of Tanna the next morning.
Up early we set off from our calm anchorage out through the passage into seas that were still huge. It was unpleasant. The cats were sick and within a couple of hours of setting off the big bucket full of clean cat litter had fallen over, the lid had come off spewing cat litter everywhere in the back cabin on the carpet, which the cats then used. I cleaned it up as best as I could, went to fetch tape to seal the lid on, but on returning found the bucket had tipped up again spewing an even bigger mess. I cleaned it up again and quickly sealed it up. It was quite safe after that.
Prior to setting out I had prepared a number of meals so that eating would be easy but neither of us fancied any food. Brian felt queasy for a couple of days. In fact it was so uncomfortable that we decided to forego Tanna and make for Port Vila but thankfully the winds eased and after 36 hours we changed direction and headed towards Tanna. Sadly though we did not make it in 3 days and had to spend a fourth day hanging around to ensure we arrived in early morning light.
Tanna was a delight. If this is Vanuatu we are going to love it.
Port Resolution is a small village on the east side of the island where Captain Cook arrived in his boat Resolution. Arriving on a Saturday meant we were unable to check in until Monday but that was not a problem and we were able to go ashore to meet Stanley and his father, Chief Ronnie, who took us round the village and introduced us to his many family members. These people live as they have done for hundreds of years in houses made from vegetation found in the jungle. Walls of houses are made of woven matting, each village or island having their own design. Roofs are made from palm fronds, they are thick and very waterproof lasting several years. A central cooking house is used to provide meals for all the family whilst their houses are used to sleep in.
Tanna is known for its live volcano Mount Yasur, the most accessible volcano in the world. A trip to this was essential and along with 8 others we set off in the back of a pick up mid afternoon, stopping off to watch men with fantastic bodies and little in the way of clothing dancing, on the hour long journey to within around 300 ft of the rim of the crater. This small distance we walked. This was unlike any other volcano we had seen or visited. We literally stood on the edge of the crater and looked down inside. There were three active vents, one which had a huge fire constantly burning occasionally igniting as if someone from above had dropped a tanker full of fuel onto it. Another that rumbled and grunted and exploded noisily, and another spewing rocks into the air. All three would work independently then all would go at the same time making a huge noise and a terrific firework display. Glowing red rocks the size of cars flew into the air and landed on the side of the caldera rolling back into the inferno. It was a fantastic sight.
The journey back along the jungle track roads embedded with deep gorges carved out by rain was not without excitement. First we came across a cow in our way but the driver managed to drive that up a track, the second was pigs in the way and one was knocked down and injured by the vehicle. Thinking of their bellies the driver and guide told us initially it was a wild pig and they would like to take it. We knew otherwise and they quickly realised telling us to keep it a secret. After finding a large rock the pig was put out of its misery and eventually hauled into the back of the truck with me having to pull it in by its feet. I then sat with it under my legs for the remainder of the journey. Sadly we were never invited to the feast they had from it.
Next morning we were up early to set off in the back of the truck for Lenakel, the main town of Tanna and were we had to check in with Customs, Immigration and Quarantine. The journey took us along the jungle tracks we had taken the night before up and around the volcano and across the lava fields. It was like driving across a desert of black sand. The light and shadows in the early morning sun were very dramatic. We drove through many small villages where masses of people greeted us with waves and shouts. Lenakel was on the western side of the island with a long reef ridden foreshore. No place for yachts to remain safe. It was a wonderful day giving us a good taste of what would be in store for the coming weeks.
With wind forecast to turn north we needed to leave Port Resolution anchorage so Tuesday morning we headed out to Port Vila the capital of Vanuatu where we are now.
Port Vila is quite different to the villages and island of Vanuatu. 80% of the population live traditionally as they have done for years without the trappings of the western world although surprisingly in the past month cell phones have been introduced and everyone wants one. It is strange to see these people in remote circumstances using them. Here in Vila the French influence is very visible. Streets are known as Rues and at the butcher cuts of meat are very French. There is also plenty of French bread. Prices though are much more expensive than Fiji or New Zealand with the exception of beef which is organically home grown and extremely good.
Villagers appear to be very self sufficient growing all their own veggies and fruit of which there is an abundance. The products in the markets are of exceptional quality and reasonably priced. Cattle and pigs are very much part of each village. Chicken is a great luxury here as it is extremely expensive.
This weekend, weather permitting, we will head north up the islands first to Epi to watch traditional sailing canoes racing and then on to Malakula to attend a dance festival and finally to Ambrym to attend a three day traditional Rom dance festival, only performed on Ambrym. Ambrym like Tanna is a live volcanic island – it has two volcanoes. These volcanoes rule the lives of the island inhabitants who believe and perform magic. This we are looking forward to seeing.
Services like internet are only available in places like Port Vila or on the Island of Santo so few and far between. The plan is to be back in Port Vila around 9th September ready to leave for the Loyalty Islands on 13th with the Island Cruising Association Rally.
When we do not have internet it is difficult to remember just where I have got to on our journals. Using three computers all at different times also adds to the confusion of just where we have got to.
However, I believe my last journal was just as we were about to leave Port Vila to travel north to the islands and festivals where we would experience some of the traditional customs this country is known for.
Our first destination would be Lamen Bay in Epi where traditional dug out canoes with sails made from palm fronds would race from the main island to the island of Lamen and then paddle back. This year we had decided we should try to do day hops to avoid overnighters so off we set on Sunday afternoon 3rd August for our first stop in Havannah Harbour on the north west of the island of Efate. A huge deep natural harbour used by the Americans for their Pacific fleet during WWII. We anchored several miles inside in beautiful weather and had a peaceful night before setting off early next morning for the north of the island of Epi.
The plan had been for this to be a gentle passage with time to spare and relax in Lamen Bay. Plans never seem to work. An early start Monday morning in what seemed calm weather we worked our way through the narrow channel out into the open sea and made our way slowly under motor and sail up the west coast until we hit the top of the island. Between the islands the winds funnel and the seas build up – quite normal occurrences worldwide – but suddenly our autopilot and steering failed again. Brian checked the steering to find the cables had broken once more – these were new cables only fitted on our journey up from New Zealand. Rather than continue with what we had it was felt prudent to return to Port Vila and get everything repaired rather than have to do it at the end of our busy schedule in these beautiful islands. And so we returned that day arriving early afternoon. He found on checking it all over he had left out a spacer when he replaced the cables in New Zealand and this was why the wires had chafed and broken on both occasions. Luckily in our spares we carried extra cables and fittings so he was able to get a rigger in the Port Vila boatyard to make up new cables and Brian fitted them. Now before any passage, long or short he checks the cables. All is OK.
We were a day or so behind schedule but it was my birthday and we were able to celebrate that along with friends at a local restaurant.
Our plan to avoid overnighters had to be aborted and in order to get to Lamen Bay for the canoe racing we had to do one. Sadly I felt so seasick – even before we set off – that I was unable to do any watches and Brian had to stay up all night whilst I wallowed on a bunk feeling like death. Terrorised by the steering problems I think fear must have caused me to feel so bad.
Anyway we arrived in Lamen Bay early Thursday morning after a bit of a washing machine passage. It was a beautiful bay on the northwest corner of Epi Island where there was supposed to be a friendly dugong (sea cow) with whom you could swim. We spent hours looking and watching for it but it never showed its head or tail. Possibly not surprising as there were 30+ yachts in the anchorage.
The Canoe Race had been set up by a great Kiwi couple and the owner of a small ‘resort’ in the Bay. This resort is not the typical resort you would see in a holiday brochure – very basic. The beach was decorated and an arch had been constructed of natural materials and flowers for the contestants to go through. Along the beach canoes were placed with palm fronds beside them and at the appointed time the starter shouted ready, steady go and everyone made their way very slowly to their canoe to start the process of making a sail and tying it on to the canoe. There was no rushing and pushing by anyone which we found amazing. The palm fronds are literally tied together with vines and then strapped again with vines to the canoe. The speed at which these canoes moved was impressive especially when it was compared with a couple of yachties who had dinghies with sails. They just could not keep up with these traditional canoes. Once at Lamen Island, three miles away, the palm sails were removed and the canoes were paddled back to Lamen Bay beach where the guys were greeted by cheering yachties and locals. Each guy had to pull his canoe on to the beach and then go through the finish arch – again it was all done in relaxed style – no rushing or pushing. As each guy arrived and was cheered he walked looking very embarrassed up the short beach.
It was a good morning in beautiful weather where we met up with many old and new friends.
As we had not seen the dugong some Australian friends asked if we would like to go with them on a trip to Lamen Island to snorkel and swim with the mammals there so off we set again in beautiful weather to do just that. Surprisingly the water was very cold but we had a wonderful snorkel on the reef where we saw many fish and corals but sadly no dugongs. After a walk across the island where a couple of hundred people live we returned to the small boat to circumnavigate the island but again no sightings of any dugongs. Very disappointing. The walk through the island was our first experience of village life in Vanuatu. It appeared totally deserted at the time as everyone appears to return to the mainland during the day. The tidiness of the place staggered us. Neat low dry stone walls marked out peoples land. Houses were made out of traditional jungle materials and looked very neat and well kept.
We now looked forward to further exploration of other islands so early next morning we set off to the Maskelynes a group of very small islands on the south of the island of Malekula, one of the bigger islands in the Vanuatu group. These islands looked beautiful on our approach but many were surrounded by reefs which made us look for an anchorage with an easier approach so we headed for the island of Awei. This was an overnight stop before heading on to South West Bay on Malekula. Next morning it appeared everyone left and made their way to South West Bay some 25 miles away. We were all going to celebrations there for the opening of a new ‘yacht club’ in one village and some custom dancing in another.
Sadly it was on our second day here right in the middle of the dancing that our camera failed but thankfully Brian had the old one with him and he was able to record pictures of the guys in their traditional dress dancing. In villages men and women have their own areas, the men’s usually being a very special spot where no one is allowed to enter other than custom chiefs and on this particular day the village had opened this area up for the visitors. It was a beautiful spot with a high tiered waterfall flowing through the jungle down to the beach where majestic palms and other trees grew. The sunlight gave it a very magical setting. The dancing was greeted with the beating of the Tamtam, large tall upright cylindrical drums carved from tree trunks that were permanently erected within this sacred site. The men who dance are headed by the Custom Chief who usually is an elderly man of great distinction. There were no bones through the nose jobs here – think these must be in Papua New Guinea – but a boars tusk is worn around the neck by a chief – some have two fashioned together depending on their seniority. The costumes were made from natural fibres from the jungle and it was here we had our first experience of the nambas – a sheath worn over the man’s penis. Here in West Bay it appeared to be just a leaf neatly wrapped round and secured by a belt made from twigs or bark. I guess tying one of these is very much like tying a tie for these guys. With little else other than proton leaves pushed inside their belts they danced exposing their very muscular bodies. These men are fit. They spend their lives either paddling canoes or digging their gardens. The headdresses they wore were elaborate items all made from natural materials but very much a secret so I was not able to glean too much information on them other than to find they were constructed on a piece of large diameter bamboo around 2.5 ft in length and then split one end so the bamboo splayed out. It was then bound into the right size for the head and natural decoration was then put on to this frame. At the end of the dancing the men assembled in their special area with the Custom Chief standing at the top of the waterfall overlooking them all – very awe inspiring.
Time was moving on – we now had just a short time to get to the north of Ambrym for the Rom dance festival. The Rom dance is only performed on Ambrym. The passage back from South West Bay would be against the prevailing wind so it was an early start to head down the west coast and along the bottom through the Maskelynes and into Port Sandwich. Thankfully the winds were light, the seas calm and we made a good distance. Port Sandwich is another deep natural inlet but it is extremely unsafe to swim here. Some time ago a slaughterhouse operated within the bay and all waste was thrown into the waters. Needless to say the sharks soon made this their home and there are stories of people losing their lives to these creatures. Not a shark in sight on our visit but we were there only for the night before heading next morning across to the island of Ambrym and up to Nebul Harbour right on the north western tip.
Ambrym is a fiercely traditional island known for its two very active volcanoes. Other islanders are fearful of Ambrym and its special magical powers (black). It was whilst in Nebul that we saw so many rainbows, many each day, but mainly because it rained so frequently.
Each day for several days, much of the time in rain, we walked for an hour carrying our deck chairs to the very special sylvan site deep in the jungle to watch the dancing and singing. Ambrym is famous for its wood carvings so most men in the north earn a few modest Vatu from selling items to tourists, although the items are mainly shipped to Port Vila and then sold at vastly inflated prices by agents.
We were soon befriended by one of the local chiefs, Chief Justin, he was also one of the dancers, who accompanied us on our walks and took us to his very simple home and introduced us to his family. Like many of the others they are not slow at asking for things or hinting at things they want. Being a chief is an expensive life as he has to buy his way up the Chief status ladder with pigs. Each stage requires more pigs to be sacrificed.
We are just one week away from departing from Noumea for our last long passage across the Pacific.
Noumea is the capital of New Caledonia just 200 miles west of Vanuatu and just 1000 miles off the north eastern coast of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. It is a French Protectorate and reminds us sorely of the Mediterranean with its beautiful apartments adorned with showering window/terrace boxes. But wow it is expensive – Paris and South of France prices here.
New Caledonia is situated in the Pacific Ocean, south of Melanesia. It’s the third largest island in the Pacific after Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. Surrounded by a 1,600km long coral reef it possesses the largest lagoon in the world. The country consists of the main island Grande Terre, with the Isle of Pines to the south east, the Loyalty Islands to the east the archipelago of Belep to the north west and a myriad of other little islands. A population in the region of 240,000 is made up of around 12 cultural communities, the largest being Melanesians, Europeans, Polynesians, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese. 40% of the population lives in Noumea.
It has a temperate climate and is known as the island of eternal spring – accounts for some of the cool and hot weather we have experienced here. We are still in their cool season which lasts from April to November where temperatures vary between 18 and 25C. The warm season is from December to March where the average temperatures are between 26 and 32C. This is the season for cyclones and tropical depressions – a time when yachties do not want to be around.
Away from Noumea, particularly to the north and east the lands are inhabited by the Kanaks the indigenous population who fiercely guard their old customs.
In 1853 Napoleon III instructed several French explorers to take possession of New Caledonia. It was here that Napoleon then set up prison colonies. There are still many remains of these colonies but sadly we have not had the opportunity to visit any.
Discovery of mineral wealth happened around the same time, particularly nickel, and there was a great nickel rush in 1876 which drew ‘green gold’ prospectors from all over the world. The first smelting factory was created in Noumea with the support of Rothschild’s Bank. Many Asians sailed to the country to work in these mines.
The country possesses more than 20%of the world reserves of nickel and provides nearly 12% of world production. This is an extremely wealthy country where there should be little unemployment but sadly the city has a great number of dropouts who have either drunk too much or taken drugs lying or hanging around the place. These do mainly seem to be non whites sadly and include women amongst them. It appears their favourite place to be is around the local public market where you see them going through the bins removing stale bread etc.
It is four weeks since we left Vanuatu on a calm Friday evening to sail to Ouvea a wonderful atoll in the Loyalty group to the east of Grande Terre. The calm came to an abrupt end when winds of 35 knts almost on the nose arrived around midday on the Saturday making the next 12 to 14 hours extremely unpleasant and many of us had to reassess our route. But in the early hours of Sunday morning the winds abated slightly and we managed to head south westerly once more on our original route. In fact we had the best sail we have had all year for the last 8 or so hours. Earlier the seas had been extremely large and confused throwing water over the decks and seeping through hatches and small holes we did not know we had so we arrived along with others needing to dry out.
It was whilst in New Zealand that we were asked to become special VIP members of the Island Cruising Rally, becoming Commodores for the Opua Region, and it was this section of their Pacific route we decided to join. Along with around 40 yachts we set off at varying times from Port Vila to arrive in Ouvea on the Sunday ready for checking in on Monday morning. Ouvea is not normally a port of entry and the rally had flown the officials in to clear us all which gave us time to explore without having to rush to Noumea to check in.
Ouvea was possibly the most beautiful spot we have been to in the Pacific, a lagoon 25 kms long with pure white powdery sand and crystal clear turquoise waters which were a little cool for us to swim in. The Loyalty Islands, of which Ouvea is one, is inhabited by the Kanaks where they keep up their traditions. Although most like to live in a house made of concrete blocks many still live in their traditional round houses with very tall roofs made from jungle vegetation. The difference between these people and those of Vanuatu is vast – these people have cars, beautifully tarmacced roads, telephones, electricity but no running water. All along the beach were the individual wells of each house where rain water had filtered through the sand although some now are beginning to collect rain water from their tin roofs into huge plastic water tubs. In accordance with tradition we were met by the tribal chief – no plumes of feathers etc – just scruffy shorts and t shirt – where the ICA presented him with a tithe of a few flags, t shirts and the princely sum of 2 x 1,000 Pacific Franc notes. Seemed a small contribution for the price we paid to attend but that I guess that is New Caledonia. The food was the best meal we have experienced from any of the tribal functions we have been to – not sure if it was the French influence but these people had gone to town with their spread. It was scrummy and we all looked for more.
On our third day in Ouvea a huge group of us, around 70, went on an island tour right up to the north. The highlight of the day had been a visit to the soap factory but in usual island reliability no one seemed to have turned up for work that day sadly so we missed out on that. Coconuts are the main stay of all the Pacific Islands where once the copra was collected and shipped away to be used for making soaps, shampoos, cosmetics and a hundred other things. Nowadays it seems not a popular job for the amount received in return sadly. The second highlight of the trip was a visit to a vanilla plantation, thankfully open this time. Hadn’t realised that the vanilla plant is an orchid and the production of vanilla pods is very time consuming as each flower has to be fertilised manually before it will produce the very expensive pod. All in all it takes 9 months for a pod to grow. The plants were growing in semi shade up trees and other trellis like structures and at the end of the visit the inevitable sales table appeared where we tucked into samples of coconut and vanilla jam – absolute bliss. The small jar we bought for around £3.50 did not last long.
The weather was calm with light southerly winds so virtually everyone upped anchor and made their way to other destinations. We chose with a couple of others to head west to the east coast of Grande Terre where we would then sail down within the lagoon and around to Noumea. We had an easy passage but there was no wind and we motored the whole way arriving at Kouaoua early afternoon. Kouaoua apparently has the largest nickel conveyor belt in the world but we chose to anchor away from the town so did not see it. A one night stop and we were on our way next morning to Canala a huge natural inlet with several anchorages providing protection from all winds. The daily winds are fairly predictable on Grande Terre as we soon found out. Winds are almost non existent very early morning then rise considerably late morning before dying out again at night. Canala soon confirmed this and we had to make a hasty move to a calmer spot for the night. Next morning in very calm weather we returned to Canala in order to take the dinghy up through the river to the village to have a walk and nose around. It was here we came across the locals who were either high on drugs or drink early in the morning. This is a remote area miles from the city which initially we thought was just a one off incident. We could not believe the standard of housing and schooling here. Beautiful modern buildings of a very high standard.
After a walk through the village we set off back to Songster to find the wind had come up. We had a wet and windy ride back to the bay where there was a dinghy tied alongside Songster and a couple of friends on board – our anchor was dragging – panic. We hastily got on board unlocked everything and got the motor going to avoid running further back on to rocks. Pete and Robyn off Spiro, Kiwis, were heroes and we were extremely grateful to them. This is our first experience of our anchor dragging anywhere so it was a great shock for Brian. The four boats in the anchorage soon upped anchor and off we went back to Port Mackau the anchorage of the previous evening. Although the winds continued we were not on a lea shore and we had a reasonably quiet night.
The scenery along the east coast is stunning. Huge bald mountains of red rock surround you, where miners have over the years scarred the landscape. In the early morning sun it was so beautiful but no photo would ever capture what we could see with the naked eye. Sadly the anchorages were not good from an anchoring point of view – too much coral which was not mentioned in the pilot books.
At some time during these passages our main computer decided to fail leaving us without electronic navigation and then the GPS antenna failed. The computer was easily solved as we had another computer. The GPS was a major headache and we visioned ourselves sailing using the manual navigation systems we used originally – how we all get used to electronics. Brian in his usual fashion devised a wonderful alternative wiring up an old 15 year hand held GPS to our computer and tracker which restored all our usual systems although a little fragile at times.
Time was pressing on and we needed to get our computer and GPS sorted out and friends we were travelling with Mike and Deidre had a comms problem which they needed to solve so we were both anxious to get to Noumea to sort things out in order to leave for Bundaberg with the Port to Port Rally around 20th October. Getting bits for boats is not always easy and they have to be sourced from somewhere in the world.
An early start from Mackau allowed us to get to Port Bouquet a beautiful area, again with many anchorages where we stayed for several days until the weather was right for us to make the long trek to Noumea. On Monday 29th September at 0500 we, along with four other yachts, in beautiful calm weather set off to motor to Yate some 50 odd miles away. In very light winds we did not have to contend with rough seas and swells. New Caledonia runs from NW to SE so going down either coast requires you to sail into the prevailing winds, it is very uncomfortable and makes for very slow passages. It was the most beautiful day and we all arrived safely lunchtime ish. Well everyone else arrived safe but we managed to get caught on a reef and had to be pushed off by a couple of dinghies. Our pride dented again but we have met many friends who had had similar experiences this year.
Yate again was a natural inlet as are all the others on this coast. However, Yate had a huge fast flowing river – water flowing from the large hydro-electric power station. According to the pilot books there was a village at Yate with a supermarket, post office etc. etc. and a group of us set off ashore to find some fresh provisions – after a great deal of walking, talking to locals and a long trip up the river in dinghies we eventually found the small ‘shopping area’. The supermarket supplies were soon depleted once we arrived and removed the few provisions available.
One night at Yate and we all set off once more to make our final leg along the east coast to the notorious Havannah Pass where you have to transit on an incoming tide. After much calculation and checking we arrived at the appointed time to find we had no beneficial tide and actually had to contend with unforecasted westerly winds and wind over tide. The expected 10 knt an hour we had hoped to sail in did not materialise with us struggling at full throttle to make 2.9 knots. It took for ever and we ended up anchoring very late afternoon, 17.30 in poor light in very deep water in the Bay du Prony. Oh well only one night.
Another 4.30 start to make the final leg to Noumea. Again the tide was important and we needed to be on a flood tide to navigate the Canal du Wodin. We got it right – a simply stunning early morning where the sun highlighted the beauty of these fantastic red mountains and cliffs. We sailed through at 8/9 knots in calm waters with a wonderful current. It was then on to Noumea where we finally arrived late morning to anchor in Baie de l’Ophelinat.
We stayed anchored in the bay for several days before moving into the main marina in Noumea organising the cats’ departure to Australia by air to start their quarantine. I seemed to walk for miles and miles each day between vets, quarantine, carriers and customs. Eventually it was all sorted but we had to move to another marina as there was no longer any room for us in town. This meant we had to return by taxi early one morning with the cats so they could be collected from the town marina. They arrived in Sydney later that day and were taken to their quarantine home out in the wilds where they would remain for 30 days.
Entering Australia by yacht is not easy and we were constantly being reminded of tales of woe so we decided to opt for a safe and easy entry by joining the Port to Port Rally which left Noumea and ended at Bundaberg in Queensland. We along with a few other friends left a few days after the start date as our weather routers had warned us of bad weather, something we wanted to avoid at all costs. Our passage actually lacked wind and we motor sailed the whole distance but it was calm and very enjoyable particularly the very last 50 odd miles inside the Great Barrier Reef to Bundaberg where in brilliant sunshine and glorious winds we had the most wonderful sail.
As expected our entry in Australia was quick and extremely efficient. The authorities were awaiting our arrival and within minutes of tying up were on board checking Songster and taking anything that was not allowed in. This included some extremely large fir cones I had brought from New Zealand all shrink wrapped. Had I not been honest and kept them in their home I would still have them. Regulations are similar to New Zealand so we had eaten all forbidden food or cast it overboard long before arriving in Australian waters.
The rally organisers were simply great and each evening for a week provided beautiful meals at sensible prices knowing that none of us would have fresh food to cook. The Port of Bundaberg is some distance from the town so it was not easy to reprovision. There was a bus service which I used on many occasions and we cycled to a nearby village on our New Zealand bikes. Our new bikes which got little use in hilly New Zealand were now very useful.
Each evening an event was organised and one night there was an auction to raise money for their equivalent of Cancer Research. Many businesses locally had given items to auction such as helicopter rides, holidays, frog racing to name a few. We always knew what was being auctioned but they had a mystery item in a very large box which was given a huge build up. Thinking it would be a small piece of paper in the bottom with perhaps a holiday or hotel stay I bid for it and got carried away. At last I won the prize for a very high price and was called to open the parcel in front of everyone. What a shock I got, it was full of tacky items that were worthless apart from a small bottle of mead supposedly one of several that had been made for a member of a European Royal family, believed to be Danish. What a disappointment, but it showed just how stupidly gullible I am where auctions are concerned. Have not done it since and the items bought, apart from the mead, have long been cast out.
We stayed in Bundaberg until the cat’s quarantine period came to an end. They arrived by plane from Sydney looking good and soon settled back into boat life on board Songster. Earlier in the year a booking had been made at Scarborough Marina a good distance from Bundaberg so early one morning we set off towards the Great Sandy Straits to head south. These Straits go between the mainland and Fraser Island which is the largest sand island in the world I believe. Wild dingoes live here but in spite of hearing them we never saw one, perhaps because of their colour, they are well camouflaged against the sand.
It took several days to transit the Straits with us stopping off at several locations on the way. Eventually we had to leave and getting out of the southern end of the Straits requires a great deal of planning. There is a dangerous sand bar which has to be crossed at the right time of the tide. Each day we watched as the boats assembled and then one by one they made their exits to sail further down the Queensland coast.
From the Sandy Straits we set out for Maloolaba, where we spent a couple of nights, hired a car and managed to visit the late Steve Urwin’s Australia Zoo which was simply magnificent. Brian simply hates zoos and he had to be really persuaded to visit the Glass Mountains in order to do it. It was planned to visit the zoo first before going on to the mountains but he actually found the zoo simply fascinating and we never got to the glass mountains.
Eventually we arrived in Scarborough where the weather was just beautiful. The marina was not quite what we expected, very cramped and with a very unhelpful manager/owner. We were never really sure of his position but by jove he certainly could be difficult. Not to be recommended. This was possibly the worst marina we have come across for management. However, Tracy in the office, was very helpful but worked under difficult circumstances.
In spite of our indifference we stayed here until our departure in April 2008.
Scarborough in fact was an enjoyable place to be although there was nowhere to play bridge. We were however able to cycle miles on the many cycle tracks around the town. Redcliffe not too many miles away had good supermarkets, cinemas and shopping malls and there was excellent public transport into Brisbane which we used regularly to visit Jane, Jackie’s stepdaughter.
Christmas 2008 was spent with a group of friends out at one of the spits surrounding the marina where the local authorities had built beautiful shelters from the searing sun. Everybody provided a dish and a sumptuous meal in beautiful surroundings was enjoyed by all.
Facilities provided by local authorities in Australia is second to none. Along the coast at very regular intervals are areas with many electric bbqs for the public to use. These were always packed and each morning council workers travelled round to clean them all ready for use later in the day. Exercise equipment was also readily available so no need to pay out expensive gym fees here – regrettably we just never got round to making use of them. There was always some good excuse for not doing so.
New Year’s Eve was celebrated at the local boating club near to the marina where we enjoyed a good meal and music intermingled with the results from the gambling machines being called over the tannoy. This is something we cannot come to terms with, the Australians are fanatical gamblers. There are simply hundreds of fruit machines at every bar/club type establishment. People are playing bingo and other games we just could not get our heads around – far too complicated for our simple sailing brains.
Another year is over and we look forward to next stage when we head north up the Great Barrier Reef to Malaysia and Thailand in 2009.
It is mid February 2009 and we are back in Scarborough, Queensland , Australia
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Who would expect us to return to the UK for a holiday in the middle of winter? With our busy schedule the only time we could manage to visit was January/February 2009 during one of the coldest winters on record.
We left Songster in the capable hands of Scarborough Marina and our neighbour Gary and hoped there would be no bad weather whilst away. Songster was stripped of her sun awnings and everything made sound so that there could be no damage done from high winds.
Off we set on 20th January complete with thermals, Ugg boots and thick sailing jackets. Our first flight was from Brisbane to Sydney where we had hoped to do a little shopping in the duty free but our flight had been delayed in Brisbane and our time in Sydney was nil having to use the express service to get to our Heathrow bound plane in time.
The journey would first take us to Singapore where we would disembark in order for refuelling of the aircraft. After a one and a half hour stop over here it was all back on board for the next leg of the journey to Heathrow where we arrived early on the morning of 22nd January. It had been a long tortuous journey but we had made it back home.
The sight of thick haw frosts on the hire cars was something we had not seen for many years – it was cold and we were glad of the possum gloves and scarves we had from New Zealand. We collected our small hire car which had a very small boot so the back seat was covered with a number of bags.
First stop was Brent Cross shopping centre where we stopped to buy handkerchiefs. It seems that the UK is the only place that still uses pure cotton hankies and these were needed in quantities as I had developed an awful nasal drip during the latter part of the journey. This constant nasal drip remained with me during the whole 3 weeks in the UK. Three visits to the Dr who diagnosed a severe allergy to something unknown, masses of antihistamines and then a course of antibiotics just in case, did nothing to stem the rhinitis. Thankfully once back on Aussie soil it went. I think the extremes in climate must have had an effect on my nose. We left Australian temperatures of around 30C and arrived to temperatures just around freezing.
In spite of this we had a wonderful time back home managing to visit everyone we had planned to, although the weather had an adverse affect on our planned itinerary and we had to do a fair amount of juggling around. This sadly meant we were only able to see some people for very short times.
Now back on the boat and just about recovered from the mammoth jet lag we suffered it is full steam ahead preparing for our forthcoming passage up the east coast of Australia through the Great Barrier Reef and up to Cape York and across the top of Australia to Darwin by the end of June. This is around 2000 miles and at an average speed of 5knt an hour you can work out how long it will take.
In Darwin we are going to join Sail Indonesia Rally which leaves on 18th July. We shall spend 3 months in Indonesia before continuing to Malaysia and Thailand where we hope to be for Christmas this year.
Surprisingly on our return from the UK we suffered severe jet lag. Something we had expected on arrival in the UK rather than back here in Australia. For ten days after our arrival here we suffered and never seemed to know when to go to bed or when to get up – we just fell asleep at odd times.
It was a matter of letting the jet lag work its way out so we worked at strange hours on preparing for our visit to Sydney and into the outback.
On arrival in Australia we had devoured many tourists’ books and planned to do so many exciting things but first we found we had chosen the wrong time of the year to arrive to do some of them – the weather is the determining factor and in Australian summers it is just too hot to venture into the outback or northwards. The further north one goes the chance of cyclones increases – that was why we came to Scarborough.
We thought of hiring a camper van for a month and driving thousands of miles – eventually decided that would be rather stupid when we are so unused to driving, and to set off on a thousand mile journeys across deserts would be unwise. The camper van turned out to be quite expensive and then we realised we did not have sufficient time to do it either. The quickest way to see some of Australia is by plane – Australia is simply vast – the scenery is rather monotonous and the roads are extremely straight.
On Tuesday 24th February we set off to fly to Sydney for a few days before flying up to Alice Springs where we would join an organised camping safari into the outback. What a great time we had too.
Sydney was an amazing city and we covered as much as we could in the time we had available. Our hotel was in World Square a stones throw from China Town and an easy walk to the harbour. On our first day we were up early to walk down to the harbour to get our first close up glimpse of the bridge and the opera house. Included in our package deal was a lunchtime cruise around the harbour on our first day so before lunch we managed to pack in an organised bus tour of Sydney which took us over the bridge twice out to the north of Sydney and all points east, south and west. After the lunchtime cruise round the harbour which was fantastic we took another organised trip out to see Bondi Beach, Watson’s Bay and a host of other notable places in the area. We had a great day and then headed straight to China Town where we ate extremely reasonably.
Our next two days would be extremely busy as we had a two day See Sydney pass, the package entitled us to travel on buses, trains, ferries and visit many of the attractions free of charge. First stop was a tour of the Opera House inside – what an amazing place this is. Initially we had decided this would be omitted from our trip but what a mistake that would have been – the construction of this building is fantastic. The history of its design is extremely interesting. It cost many millions more than its original cost of $3m AUD – the final figure was something like $103m AUD. The architect’s plans had originally been rejected but then chosen by an absent member of the selection team from the rejected list. Plans were very scant and it took many years for civil engineers to engineer the construction. The architect sadly never saw the building completed as he had fallen out with the authorities and returned to his native country of Denmark and has since died quite recently. However, his son, also an architect, works very closely with the current management.
A visit to the tower at Centrepoint is a must but one must choose the right time to go. We found early mornings somewhat hazy so left our visit to a little later when we would be able to have a 360° view of the city and harbour. Included in the tower visit was a rather gimmicky Oz Trek which we waited a good time to do. One sat in seats that moved as you travelled in a white water raft or by helicopter across the desert. Sadly a very mediocre experience which left you feeling rather wobbly on your feet. The air conditioning was extremely cool which gave you the wrong impression of the climate of Australia.
Everyone had told us to visit the Aquarium so off we set by foot to see the sharks – for weeks now there have been many shark attacks around the coast so it seemed more sensible to see these massive creatures in a safe haven. They appeared pretty placid here but we certainly would not want to come across them in real life so will be keeping a good lookout when we eventually start sailing again.
Back at the harbour we decided to take a ferry to Manly – there appears to be a Manly at every Australian city on the coast. This half hour ferry trip gave us a chance to see the Queen Mary 2 that had arrived for the day. Manly had two rather lovely beaches, one on the Pacific side that resembled Bondi with its surfing breakers and a long beach with golden sand. There was another beach on the harbour side which was calmer. Having visited these beaches we agree that Britain has similar beaches along the south coast but without the surf and sadly the weather.
Having read many books about the history of Australia and the first settlers we had to make a trip to the Rocks area of Sydney. This is where the first houses and warehouses were built for the men that worked on the waterfront. An interesting tour with a guide who was descended from one of the many convicts transported back in 1788.
Having seen wonderful contemporary art at the Brisbane gallery we felt we must visit Sydney’s Contemporary Art Gallery. Sadly not a patch on Brisbane’s exhibitions so we made a hasty retreat to find some lunch and then catch a ferry up the Parramatta River to see where the first settlers had their very first farm. This river flows out into Sydney Harbour. Sadly by the time we reached Parramatta the tide was so low that the captain of the ferry could not guarantee our return at a later time so we stayed on board and returned back to Circular Square where we spent more time watching the Aborigines playing their didgery doos.
By now we were feeling quite jaded after walking miles over the three days so we hopped on a bus back to our hotel and down to China Town for our final meal.
On Saturday 28th we flew early morning to Alice Springs – a 2 and a half hour flight – rather like flying from John O’Groats to Landsend – just to give you some idea of the distance. Temperatures in Sydney had been a lot cooler than Brisbane – we had wished we had sweaters there in the evenings. Now in Alice Springs the temperatures were up in the 40°Cs and we were surrounded by thousands of flies. We had heard about the flies before we had arrived and had looked at fly nets in Sydney – too expensive there. So after settling into our outback lodge took a trip into town to buy some nets – wise decision – much cheaper here. Many people had said Alice was a dump but we were pleasantly surprised by its many decent buildings and Aboriginal art galleries where there was some fantastic work. Sadly the biggest disappointment was the number of Aborigines just hanging around, many begging. We did not see one gainfully employed. They have been given so much by the state that there appears no reason to work and what money they are given is spent on drink – known as grog here. Licensing laws have been tightened greatly in Northern Territory as we found later when trying to buy a couple of cans of beer. To reduce the amount of physical abuse from drunkenness, of which there is masses, one has to produce personal identity which is then zapped into a machine. For those who have been caught for various crimes in the past their identity is revealed and they are refused alcohol. It apparently is working but evidence of irate Aborigines was very awkward. They were positively rude to the people who run the shops.
Many of the galleries of Aboriginal art are selling dot paintings, something we later found was not a traditional art form for them. This was introduced to them by a British guy some time ago as a good way to paint and make money. I have to admit some of the dot painting was simply wonderful but much of the other rather resembles work done by children at primary school. My research into this has not confirmed what we were told by a local from Alice.
Back at the lodge we swam and cooked a bbq before retiring to pack our rucksacks for an early morning start next day. Along with 17 other Europeans we travelled 6 hours in an all terrain vehicle to Uluru – the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock. First it was off to the camp site to choose our tent, dump our luggage and have a really good lunch. Lauren our driver, guide, cook and general factotum had loaded up our vehicle at 3.30am with sufficient food to feed us for the next 5 days. Our trip lasted just 3 but 5 other people were travelling for 5 days. Our tents were permanently fixed to a wooden floor with two very comfy metal beds at prepared camps. After lunch we set off for the Olgas before heading to Ayers Rock to watch sunset. It had been planned for us to walk through a gorge in the Olgas but with 40+° degrees early afternoon with no shade it would be rather unwise so we walked a short distance with a few others whilst the remainder trudged in the extreme heat and sun. These huge rocks are of a similar construction to Ayers Rock, sandstone, but there are several deep gorges between them.
It was then off to see Ayers Rock where we sat very civilised on small camp stools sipping wine or juice nibbling crackers and salsa. The colours of the rock changed considerably as the sunlight reduced. It was then back to camp where we had a wonderful bbq of thick steaks and sausages all cooked by Brian.
Another early start of 4.30am and we were off to see sunrise at Ayers Rock, along with thousands of other tourists. We later learned that this was low period and only possibly 10% of those they get in high season. Not sure how one would ever get to see the rock then. The sunrise was more impressive than the sunset with the rock getting redder and redder as the sun rose higher. The highlight though was the chance to walk 5km round the rock. Its circumference is 9km but we walked from the North western tip round to the south. Its construction is just amazing and has many large areas of erosion which cast deep shadows. We were very lucky to see a rare Thorny Devil walk right in front of us. This is a small sand coloured lizard with a curly tail and many spiky bits on its back. These are set so that any moisture that collects on the animal runs into little channels to provide the creature with fluid.
At the cultural centre I watched Aboriginal artists working. These people look many years older than they are so it was surprising to find that one of them was really quite young. Neither of them acknowledged me, their culture does not allow them to have eye contact which to us is very strange. Whilst these two ladies sat on the floor doing little a white Australian ran around getting all their materials ready and placing them at their feet. There are small remote areas where Aborigines still live but today they live in a house provided by the State. Sadly the houses do not have long lives and have an average life of between 1 and 12 months. The Aborigines break them up to use as fire wood and each one costs over $400k AUD.
From Uluru we drove hundreds of miles across desert to our next camp at Kings Creek Station. It must have, at some time, been a cattle station but there was no evidence of cattle here today. A number of camels grazed on the scrubby grass, ready to take people on camel safaris across the desert. At the front of the station was a heli pad, well an outback style pad, from where I took a trip of just over an hour at almost sunset right across Kings Canyon out to the middle ranges. This was amazingly beautiful with the low sunlight casting magnificent shadows. We flew along miles and miles of dry river beds which were lined by very tall eucalypts which had very deep roots that managed to find traces of water. Apart from the ranges that lifted as plateaus the area was as flat as a pancake. Sadly no sign of any ‘roos’ but I was very lucky to see a huge herd of wild camel, around 100 in total. The pilot had never done this trip before and was extremely excited about the whole affair so he swooped round getting low to these animals making them nervous and want to run. Camels are not an indigenous animal having been introduced from Asian countries many years ago to transport people across the desert. They bred prolifically and owners turned many into the wild, these animals are the result of this action. Camels are regarded as vermin stripping leaves off the trees that stabilise the sands. Culls are held quite frequently but this group had obviously been very good at being undetected. With all the rains of recent months when the next cull comes these animals should be good for eating. Apparently for some years the animals have been in very poor condition due to the lack of rains.
After sweeping our tent on our hands and knees and packing our bags we set off early next morning before sunrise in order to make as much inroad into our journey or walks before the heat became too bad. Kings Canyon walk is strenuous and takes you across the top of the canyon where there would be no shade. We decided to opt out of this three and a half walk and spend our time down in the canyon itself amongst the rocks and trees hoping to perhaps see some birds and wildlife. Apart from a few budgerigars we saw very little but it was a very pleasant place to be.
As we travelled through the day we could see the weather changing behind us, rare rain was coming to the area and our driver was anxious to make headway as we were to travel miles across an unmade road where there were lots of huge holes and ridges. Thankfully we managed to keep well in front of the rain and made the long bumpy journey safely.
Our adventure was almost at an end and we eventually made the journey back to our outback lodge in Alice Springs in time to watch the rock wallabies come down for food. Next morning we were off to Brisbane via Sydney. We had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had managed to experience the city life and the wild outback and at the same time celebrate Brian’s 75th birthday.
After a great deal of thought and much blubbing we made the decision that we could no longer watch Henry deteriorate and suffer so on Wednesday 15th April 2009 he was put to sleep. This was possibly the hardest decision we have had to make during our circumnavigation.
Several weeks earlier both cats had visited the vet for their annual vaccinations, including their rabies jab. This is the time when the vets give them a good annual check. Henry for some time had suffered kidney disease and was now showing great signs of failing. He was put through many tests and found to be very anaemic and lacking in potassium amongst other things. It was decided to remove his remaining four teeth, the canines, they were loose, and it was thought he may have had an abscess under one. He had also suffered severe arthritis in his spine for some time. Drugs he took for this were not helping his stomach. Sadly he just never recovered and with very great sadness we ended his suffering.
Henry was just an amazing mate, to write this is still hard to do as I sit with tears streaming down my face. He was more than a cat, although dumb by Burmese standards he more than made up for his feline intellect, by becoming humanised. It was impossible to do anything without help of some sort from Henry. He kept us company on long night passages sitting in the cockpit, talking to us, keeping us warm and making sure we just never fell asleep. His interference whilst you read papers, books or attempted to do some navigation using a large paper chart will never be forgotten. He would sit amongst the dirty tools or on the table overseeing every task that was undertaken.
It was just such a pity we never knew how old he was. I was lucky enough to be able to adopt him back in May 1997 after he had been handed to the Burmese Cat Club by a vet in Cambridge. An inquisitive lorry driver had stopped in a lay-by to eat his lunch and noticed a sealed cardboard box between the road and a small river. On investigation he found a very large ginger cat that he took into his cab and with whom he shared his lunch. He then had the foresight to hand him in to a local vet who immediately recognised him as a Burmese. For the first six weeks this cat with no name and with all his sexual genitalia lived with a member of the club who spent hours trying to tame him. He was very aggressive initially. She did a very good job as when I first met him it was love at first sight. Henry was the softest of all cats. You could just about do anything with him. He was easy to give medicine to, pills never a problem. Vets all over the world pricked and prodded him over the years without any problems. He even had x rays without anaesthesia as he would just lie still as he was asked. You could just about do anything with him without any complaint. He did complain though when the going got tough at sea like we all did.
His travels had brought much pleasure not only to us but to those we met on the way. Many islanders who came to the boat had never seen a cat and were really quite frightened by his size.
Yachtie children loved to come to play with him. Until the past year he had been very active jumping and leaping at his nightly exercise routine which Brian undertook with a rod with a length of string attached and a feather, small mouse or similar tied to the end.
He loved yachtie friends visiting making sure he got on their laps or snuggling up close to them for a big cuddle, he never failed to miss out on this.
He was a much travelled cat and had logged up well over 25,000 nautical miles on our yacht which had visited in the region of 60 countries. Not once did he attempt to get off or fall overboard.
His body was cremated so that we can say a final goodbye to him when we scatter his ashes into the ocean as we cross the Equator in a few months time. We will never forget him.
It was just over a week ago that we arrived in Cairns virtually 1000 miles from Scarborough.
On Monday 27th April we finally made our way out of Scarborough Marina where we had spent the last 5 months. It was a very sad time having arrived with two cats and now departing with one, Lily. We were all still grieving for Henry who had sailed so far, but who would not now be continuing with us.
The plan had been to leave at least a week earlier but a couple of problems with our new windows, followed by foul weather forced us to stay longer. However, it was a beautiful morning, wind was a little on the light side so we motorsailed up the coast. The goal was Wide Bay Bar, too far to arrive in daylight, and where we made a very rare arrival at night anchoring well off Rainbow beach in very shallow water. Wide Bay Bar is well known for its difficult navigation and has to be crossed just at the right time. So we were up at 4am the next morning to make the two hour journey to the first set of coordinates ready to commence the crossing which takes a good hour to cover the mileage between the set waypoints given by the coastguards. It was a very flat passage and we made our way up through the Great Sandy Straits with the flood tide to reach Boonlye, the shallowest part and where the two tides from north and south meet. The Great Sandy Straits is a stretch of water that separates Fraser Island from the Australian mainland. It would have been a beautiful area to stop and while away the time but we had a mission to get to Bundaberg.
We made extremely good progress through the Straits and ditched the plan to stop and anchor overnight on the north side. The tides and weather were so wonderful we decided to continue to Bundaberg arriving there during Tuesday evening. Having arrived in Bundy back in October we felt confident about entering the river and anchoring just off the marina in the dark. Entry to the marina happened next morning and within half an hour of tying up Songster was being dismantled internally ready for a new electronic brain for our autopilot to be fitted. If only we had known the consequences of our action we possibly would never have bothered.
The autopilot set up and sea trials completed in the river we were ready to commence our journey north to Cairns. The biggest thing in sailing is the weather and you can always guarantee that when you are ready to leave the weather is never right so we had to wait for a system to pass before we could venture out once more. On Thursday 7th May we left Bundy to make our way overnight to Great Keppel, an island with a reputation for loutish behaviour and excessive drinking etc. at the two resorts on the island. We did not know this at the time of arrival and it has only come to light with a lot of press publicity in the past week. To us it looked like a rather large deserted island.
We have a great distance to cover to get to Darwin so any chance of exploring is out so it was a day to recover and a good night’s sleep before setting off early next morning for Pearl Bay on the mainland. Entrance to the bay, which is extremely shallow in places, was confusing and we took what we thought was the largest and safest entry but found the water to be extremely shallow, however, we managed to gingerly make our way to the anchorage and promptly left 2 days later out of the entrance everyone else used. It was whilst coming into the anchorage that our brand new autopilot decided to stop working. What a blow.
How lucky we were to be following Cool Bananas. Daryl’s help next day in finding the problem was really appreciated by Brian and between them they fixed things and we were off once more on our travels. Our next planned stop was Mid Percy, a very pretty anchorage where Cool Bananas took us ashore to place a named souvenir from Songster in the A frame building on the beach. Mid Percy was extremely beautiful but it was by far the rolliest anchorage so far. We rolled from gunwale to gunwale and were very pleased to up anchor next morning for Refuge Bay, Scawfell. Scawfell was beautiful with flat waters and where Brian had to embark on more autopilot repairs. Luckily for us there was a young Aussie who went spear fishing each afternoon and then shared his catch of coral trout with the yachties in the bay.
Our next passage just 39 nm away would be the first of the Whitsunday Islands, Thomas Island. This was a stunning bay, the sun shone, the sea was blue and the three beaches looked very inviting. This was the first time we had seen the sun for days and we were able to cast off the woollen sweaters and oilies we had been wearing to keep warm. Out came the bikinis and we wallowed in the heat. Next morning sadly the grey skies returned and we were off to Airlie Beach. The autopilot had failed again so we hand steered the whole way.
Airlie Beach is the centre from where everyone makes their way out to the Whitsunday Islands. Full of backpackers it was a bustling small town and where we were able to buy wonderful fresh food from the farmers market.
Again Brian spent much of his time under the bed trying to rectify the autopilot motor. The problem was that each breakdown was different and Brian was beginning to think the old motor was not compatible. He was feeling exhausted from the stress of the problems. Airlie has a great number of charter and commercial boats so we felt confident that we would be able to get the problem sorted and the original installer kept in touch with us constantly to assure Brian and talk the problems through.
By a stroke of luck and after another sleepless night Brian managed to fix a component and within 15 minutes we were on our way again to a nearby anchorage far enough away to test the system but in the right direction. We had decided to give the Whitsunday Islands a miss mainly because they are touristy and full of charter boats. Because of the dully weather they did not appear very appealing either. We chose a very large anchorage on the mainland which was deserted. It was simply wonderful and very calm.
Next morning we set off at the crack of dawn, initially to make a short journey up through the Gloucester Passage to an anchorage just south of Gloucester Island. As we neared the passage it was still very early and we quickly changed our mind to continue on to Cape Upstart 66 miles away. It was a beautiful day with very light winds so we motorsailed most of the way arriving late afternoon in time to see where to anchor. One night here and another early start at 4.30. It was very dark and we followed our tracks out of the anchorage to avoid any shallow waters to make our way to Magnetic Island just off Townsville some 71 miles away. Sadly the autopilot goes yet again on passage and we toss with the idea of going into the marina in Townsville but the agro of navigating through extremely shallow water we decided to continue to Magnetic where Brian yet again worked at fixing the auto pilot. This was a busy anchorage with several fishing boats unloading their prawns and many local yachts anchored. Although we had heard this was a very pretty and interesting island we had to give going ashore a miss yet again. I have to add that getting our dinghy and outboard motor down is not an easy task and putting it all back again ready for a passage takes time as we have to lash everything down to ensure it is safe.
Yet another early start to Orpheus Island in the Palm Islands. We had a wonderfully beautiful passage up. The scenery was stunning and we arrived at Pioneer Bay on the north west side of Orpheus mid afternoon and tied to one of their public mooring buoys. It was a stunning spot and very calm. However that all changed during the night when the winds changed to a strong south westerly and we were now on a lea shore very close to the reef with Songster bucking in the swell that was blowing into the small bay. With plenty of coral heads around it is not a bay to leave in darkness so we waited until good light and then made our way out in the 20 knot winds on the nose to Dunk Island. Within an hour or two the winds died totally and we ended up motor sailing. This was by far the most beautiful scenery we had passed. Hinchingbrook Island on our port side was stunning with the morning light emphasising the landscape. It reminded us very much of the Marquesa Islands in the Pacific. Dunk is one of the Family group of islands and comprises a number of small islands that were stunning; by far the most beautiful we had seen. Many of these small islands had been sold and properties had been constructed on them. Much thought had obviously been given to the architecture as they were extremely well camouflaged.
Dunk was a very pretty place with a resort in the bay. From the sea you do not get an idea of the size and beauty of these islands. Having seen an aerial view of Dunk and the anchorage on a postcard it really was quite beautiful.
From Dunk it was a very long day to make our final destination of Cairns. Again up and off in the dark in very light winds, at times it was questionable whether there was any wind as the sails just flapped. We arrived in Cairns just before dark putting our anchor down in thick mud just opposite the marina. Cairns is situated at the mouth of a very long river, we are told there are waterways going 100km from here inland and if we cared to put our dinghy into the water we could motor up to see the crocs.
What a fantastic place Cairns is. Backpackers abound. This is a young vibrant city where you can shop till you drop and eat, eat and eat. There is every world cuisine you can think of in this very multicultural city.
It is also where, thankfully, we have had the autopilot sorted out. The old motor really did not like the new brains so at great expense Brian has had the motor replaced and with luck we should have no further problems.
Weather permitting we plan to leave Tuesday 2nd June to continue our journey northwards, first to Low Island.
Darwin is still around 1200 miles away and we still have around 500 nm to get to the top of Australia and round Cape York. The plan is to be in Darwin by the end of June.
With a new motor now fitted to the new autopilot and some $4000 lighter we set out from Marlin Marina on 3rd June to the fuel dock to refuel ready for our long passage to Darwin. This involves sailing up through the Great Barrier Reef where unfortunately due to time and weather we did not have time to do it justice. However, we were able to get ashore at a couple of places where we had a good time. The sailing has been some of the best we have ever experienced with Songster making speeds we have seldom seen before.
The plan was to sail overnight to Lizard Island but after almost 2 weeks in a marina felt it would be sensible to day hop. Our first night was spent at Low Islet, a small sand cay with a lighthouse, just 39 odd miles from Cairns. The winds and seas were simply wonderful allowing us to goose wing and make fast speeds.
With just two days to go before we leave Australia we are busily preparing Songster and filling her with masses of provisions to last us a few months.
Darwin has been our home for the past three weeks and what a ball we have had here. After our long passage of just over 2200 miles from Scarborough we arrived to find Darwin a modern bright city with simply masses to do. Just three weeks has not allowed us to do all the things we would like to do but we have had a jolly good taster. In spite of having a good time here our first few days were tinged with sadness as we had to have our adorable cat Lily put to sleep also. Without Henry she just fell apart and became a cat we just did not know nor could understand. Seeing her so distressed was traumatic and after discussion with two vets we made the decision we did. Like Henry we had her cremated and will scatter both their ashes on the Equator when we finally cross it into the Northern Hemisphere in a couple of months.
The first week here was spent cleaning up the boat and catching up on many hours of lost sleep after something like 27 stops on the way up and organising our second week when Jane, Jackie’s stepdaughter would be spending the week with us.
The passage across the top of Australia thankfully was calm but with little wind so we motorsailed virtually the whole way. The Gulf of Carpentaria is known to be extremely uncomfortable due to its shallowness and the meeting of different oceans. The new autopilot and its new motor worked beautifully once it had been sorted in Cairns.
Sailing up the east coast of Australia through the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) was amazing. We just could not remember a time anywhere in the world in the past few years where we had experienced such good sailing. Initially the weather was not so good but we were now in Australian wintertime. As we moved further north the weather improved considerably and it is some weeks since we have seen any rain, in fact we cannot remember when that was. The weather here in Darwin, their dry season currently, is hot; everyday is in the 30s with low humidity. During the wet season, Australia’s summer we are told it is not comfortable and of course it rains considerably with much land flooded producing the wonderful wetlands which we visited last week at Kakadu.
On our way up our favourite stopover was Lizard Island (GBR) where the water was crystal clear and there was wonderful corals and giant clams to explore. The island is miles from anywhere and has a very exclusive resort which we yachties were not welcome at. Some of the worlds best known names holiday there!
We have loved our time in Australia and plan to return at some time in the future by aeroplane. Its vastness is just unimaginable. We have little more than scratched the surface on this 8.5 month visit.
Indonesia is our next adventure and we leave early Saturday morning, 18th July, with the Sail Indonesia Rally to our first port of call Saumlaki in the Tanninbar Islands around 300 miles northeast of Darwin across the Arafura Sea. The rally will take us through Indonesia for three months when we move on to Singapore before joining Sail Malaysia Rally which then takes us up to Langkawi where we will spend Christmas this year.
To make things easier I have set up a blog at www.sailblogs.com/member/songster where you should now look for logs on our travels. This site allows me to send journals frequently from our marine radio as internet is not readily available in Indonesia. However, I shall look up the website whenever I get the opportunity where you can send us messages.
Sit back and enjoy our new adventures.
On 18th July 2009 before first light and the official start of the Sail Indonesia Rally, we set off from Darwin for Saumlaki. Saumlaki is situated on the southeast corner of Yamdena Island in the Maluku province of Indonesia just over 300 miles from the north coast of Australia.
With 130 yachts participating, we felt it prudent to leave before the crowd. The sailing and weather was just stunning and we made good progress during the first day. Winds and seas increased during the second day making it less comfortable but the sailing was still wonderful. We have experienced some of the best sailing we have had for years this year coming up the east coast of Australia and across to Saumlaki.
Prior to departure we had all attended a rally briefing that forewarned of the chaos we were likely to experience on arrival in Indonesia. How right they were, it was actually worse than expected which did not auger well for the forthcoming months of sailing with the rally.
Of the few papers we were given prior to leaving Australia it was evident that information was lacking or incorrect. However, we looked forward to the adventure of travelling with the rally.
Sadly like the majority of others we have gone our separate ways with just a handful of the original 130 sailing to the main destination this year of Bunaken to participate in a sailing festival organised from 12 – 20 August. The distance the rally expects to travel in just 3 months is vast and too quick. We are cruisers preferring to do it leisurely giving ourselves time to enjoy the islands and the culture.
Whilst in Saumlaki the locals did us proud. They looked after us well and a day’s trip to several villages was well organised and thoroughly enjoyable.
Saumlaki is in eastern Indonesia and we decided to travel west. Our first anchorage was just 25 miles away in a wonderful breeze to the island of Selaru. The winds blew fiercely in the anchorage which was fringed by an unfriendly reef so difficult to get ashore. From there we had planned to sail to Romang, a small island to the north west 2 nights and a day away but on the way we heard the anchorage was full and had to venture on a further night to the island of Wetar where we dropped the anchor at the Warm Springs Anchorage on the west side of the island. This is a pretty anchorage where the bullets have shot down the mountains and where we have had several days to catch up on the normal chores. As the name says there is also a hot spring with plenty of hot water where some of the cruisers have managed to catch up with their laundry.
The locals in the very small boat building community here are very friendly and welcoming but very poor and in need of many things. Within a short time of arriving they were at the boat asking for watches, spectacles, food, fishing gear and a host of other things. Once ashore the women were looking for clothes. Sadly they were just not in a position to trade and we felt that having given a watch, a huge hank of rope, scissors and fishing gear we needed to save our give aways for others elsewhere.
Boat building is big business in Indonesia; boats are the only means of travel in the islands. Trees had been felled and cut into planks using a chain saw. The accuracy in the size is amazing seeing it is all done by eye and hand. We watched a couple of men building a small canoe using an old wooden hand plane to smooth the wood perfectly whilst others were burning the tar on the bottom of a larger boat they had beached on a small sand bar.
Everyone loves to have their photo taken and just to see themselves on the small screen of your camera gives them extreme pleasure and they are very grateful to you for doing it. They all seem so practised at posing even in the remotest of places.
The wonderful sailing winds have now died for a few days so it looks as if our next passage to an unknown destination will have to be done using power and sail.
On 5th August, my 68th birthday, we set off from Hot Springs for Lebaleba a bay on the western side of the island of Alor with a town with a market. Well that was the plan but on our first day out we experienced adverse currents of 1.5+ knot and little wind making headway rather slow. The possibility of a late afternoon arrival made us change our destination to the island of Adunara where there was an idyllic anchorage on the north east corner behind some reefs. This was a beautiful spot surrounded by many volcanoes, some venting, but sadly there was an uncomfortable roll and we stayed just 2 nights. We managed to dinghy across the bay to a small Muslim fishing village where we appeared to be greeted by the whole village. The children were wildly excited by our arrival and we were introduced to the head man who took us on a tour. The laughter and squealing from these children was deafening but they were all so happy with huge great smiles.
From the island of Adunara we set off for the island of Flores having planned stops on the way but with north easterlies the anchorages on the north coast were not comfortable. We continued to what we thought would be protected at Wolu Dama but in fact it turned out to be very uncomfortable so after cooking our evening meal and just before the light diminished we set off out to sea to spend the night hove to. It was the most glorious night with flat glassy sea, moonlight, no wind and a handful of fishing boats in the distance. We kept watch on our regular nightly shifts and then continued on our way the next morning to Sea World Resort at Geliting a short distance from the port of Maumere on the island of Flores.
What fun we had here. Sea World Resort is owned by a Catholic Mission and all profits are used to help the community. Every night seemed to be a party night with wonderful local food and dancers entertaining us and their guests.
A couple of days after arrival friends on Neptune II, Gary, Venessa and their two children Elliott and Marina took off early one morning to go on an inland tour up to Mount Kelimutu (1640m) for a couple of days. Once ashore they found their transport to be a very smart people carrier with air conditioning so they called me on the VHF and asked how quickly I could get a bag together and get ashore. At the time I was in the process of just starting to make pineapple fritters for breakfast. I just left everything as it was got my rucksack and literally stuffed a few things in and left. What a wonderful two days I had visiting many different villages, talking to locals, stopping along the roadside to buy spices from villagers who were drying them on the roadside. It appears that every woman learns to weave their traditional ‘ikats’ a continuous piece of cloth, made on a backstrap loom, which they wear as their traditional skirt bandaged round with the top rolled in to hold it firm. This ‘ikat’ is their night attire and bedtime blanket. An extremely versatile piece of clothing. Everywhere we went women were desperate to sell to us which makes it extremely hard when there are 20 or 30 ladies in one place all pleading with you. Eventually I was tempted up in the mountains when we were invited to a house to view some pieces. There was one I liked the colours of but the price they demand is far in excess of what they are worth so I bargained and eventually acquired the piece. Shortly after leaving the lady came rushing after me to tell me not to tell anyone how much I had paid – strange – so I asked if I had paid her too much. She told me in reasonably good English how she had competition in the village and I was to tell, if asked, a lower figure. Not long after this we went into a small café/restaurant for a meal and I was wearing the scarf when a lady came rushing over to me saying it was hers and asking where I had bought it. She was quite agitated and needed to know from whom I had bought and how much I had paid. I did as I had been told and she went away happy thankfully.
Eating out in Indonesia takes a great deal of patience as we found on this trip. Our lunch took a while but we put that down to the place being reasonably well patronised but the eatery at Moni beat the record. We arrived feeling not too hungry after a good lunch but by the time the meal arrived we were all starving. From ordering to the food being put on the table was over one and a half hours. The food was wonderful and extremely reasonable. With our bellies full we retired to our beds at Sao Ria Bungalows ready for a very early start next morning.
The accommodation was not good. Gary and Venessa had booked at the best hotel in the area but it was a building site and extremely grotty so we got the driver to take us to Sao Ria which looked very pretty from the roadside. Perched on the hillside these traditionally built chalets with steps of around 18 inches deep were not easy to access. My room at $7.50 a night complete with a ‘bathroom’ full of slugs was an experience. The bed which was twisted felt as if it had been made of concrete with a very thin layer of so called mattress on top. There was no washbasin in the ‘bathroom’, the only water being in a large square tiled bin where one used a plastic style saucepan to ladle water to flush the loo. It was typically Indonesian style. However, the staff were very friendly and knocked us up early next morning greeting us in reception with hot coffee and banana pancakes all included in the price.
It is best to do long hikes very early morning when the sun is just kissing the surrounding mountains, before the clouds surround them and the sun’s heat is still temperate. So off we set in our taxi to Kelimutu hoping to catch up during the day on the sleep we did not manage to get in the hard beds.
At the car park we were met by a local guy who immediately took us under his wing accompanying us to the top where we viewed the three different coloured lakes. At the time two lakes were turquoise and the third black. With the exception of one of the green lakes the others fluctuate to yellow, orange and red. It was an amazing sight which reminded me a great deal of the quarries in the Malverns although of course a lot higher. Our guide had carried a huge backpack which tested my inquisitiveness but once at the top we soon learned what the contents were. He had a flask of boiling hot water, a bag of Flores floral tea leaves and a jar of local sugar. It was nectar. This guy walked 5kms from where he lived each day then climbed the 1km mountain path many times each day before returning to his village by foot each night. He did not wear shoes or sandals as is the case with most people here.
After a good walk we were in need of breakfast. Moni is just 13 kms away so it was back to the restaurant we had eaten the previous night for toast and tea. Thankfully it did not take so long but the toast was the end crusts from a few loaves. Nothing wasted here.
From here we continued on our journey stopping at the paddy fields built on the sides of the mountains to take a look at their construction. It was just as they were in China. The people here are so industrious, particularly out in the villages and on the land. Rice is their staple diet so tonnes and tonnes of it are eaten each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, often plain with nothing added.
We watched children swim in water courses on the roadside where everything from laundry, bathing, cleaning building materials etc. etc. is done. It is amazing how resourceful everyone is. One boy made a very good job of swimming uphill in the narrow channel, we were very impressed. Not long after we saw him and his brother cleaning their teeth in the same water. There is an endless supply of water flowing from the mountains but few homes have a tap, with many having to collect water from the communal pipe or from a river.
Later we visited an Animist village and met the chief who invited us into the 500 year old traditional meeting house. His daughter, Maria, who spoke excellent English, told us of the history and politics of the area explaining in great detail how each chief was chosen. At the end of the visit we sat on the cane veranda, under the rush roof that almost touched the ground, eating wonderful fruit she produced. These people need so much it is impossible to know where to start to help. Thankfully Venessa came prepared with children’s clothes to give away.
Everyone appears to grow plenty of vegetables and there are animals which presumably are slaughtered to eat but their diet does appear to be mainly rice and vegetables. At this last village Maria told us they ate dog as well as wild boar, buffalo and the occasional chicken. We will certainly be keeping to a vegetarian or fish meal in future!
In spite of all the eating we had been doing we were feeling peckish again and we made our way down the mountains to return to the restaurant we had lunch in yesterday. Marina had fish soup the previous day which was simply delicious so Venessa and I decided to have it today. Everything is made fresh so we stood in the kitchen to watch it being prepared and cooked. Two large fish complete with head and innards were cut into steaks and put into the pot with onion, garlic, ginger and tamarind. It was all fried, water added and hey presto half an hour later we were served the best fish soup we had ever tasted followed by fried noodles and freshly cooked veggies.
On our way once more we came across guys barbecuing fresh fish on thin sticks on the side of the road. The smell was simply wonderful. We had just eaten so no need to buy, just a good place to stop and take photos.
At every village we passed a stand with half filled water bottles. It looked like cold tea but it was in fact the local filling station. Each bottle contained 1 litre of petrol which is bought by the thousands of motor cyclist here on the islands. If you want a taxi you just hop on the back of a bike. No, we have not yet done that. The roads are just too bumpy to feel safe.
As we headed back towards Maumere traffic built up into tremendous jams as children practiced marching for the forthcoming competitions and Independence Day parades. Marching is taken seriously here with all ages and sexes taking part. Everyone is extremely smart. The majority of people here are so poor but their kids are turned out beautifully in the spotless outfits for marching. There are no road safety rules here and these kids marched whilst the thousands of motorcyclists, trucks and buses move closely past them.
These processions were happening everywhere we went and once back in Maumere we were greeted by an even bigger jam with thousands of people lining the streets to watch and enjoy the atmosphere.
Eventually we arrived back at Sea World Resort tired, dirty and extremely full after what had been the most wonderful trip to a remote area of Flores up in the mountains.
Now back on board I have to catch up with my chores.
Labuan Bajo, Flores Island, Indonesia
August/September 2010
After plenty of partying at Sea World we decided we should move on to find somewhere we might be able to swim and snorkel.
At around 6 am on 16th August we left the anchorage at Sea World to head to Labuan Bajo with the intention of doing day hops. It was a stunningly beautiful morning so we were able to see all the fishing buoys and nets picking up the sunlight.
The scenery along the coast of Flores is simply stunning with mountains, mountains and more mountains. Our stop for the night was Nagariyong a pretty rolly anchorage at first but as usual once the nightly calms arrived we faced the shore and had a good night. From here we had planned a further stop next day but we actually had a very good sail and decided to continue overnight and arrived in Labuan Bajo early next morning.
As is normal along the north coast of the chain of islands the wind simply dies at night so our sail did not continue and we had to motor the rest of the way. Our arrival at Labuan Bajo at sunrise was just simply spectacular with the sun just kissing the many surrounding mountains. There are 3 anchorages to choose here but we chose to anchor off the Eco Resort where it is shallow, calm and very good holding in thick mud.
Labuan Bajo is a small dirty and dusty fishing village where there seems to be much building work going on. By Indonesian standards it has probably been going on for years. Rubble strews the main road either side of it through the village. Plastic rubbish is everywhere sadly – a big problem in Indonesia. Even 5 miles out at sea we watch plastic bags, bottles and containers float by.
There are plenty of small shops to poke around in. You just never know what you might find as they sell absolutely everything. Restaurants abound also with good cheap food.
Stocked with fresh fruit, veggies, eggs and our National Park pass for 8 days we took ourselves off to the Ranger Station on the island of Rinca. The area between Flores, Rinca and Komodo is notorious for huge tide flows, eddies and currents so we set off gingerly taking the long route rather than through the small islands. At the time it was spring tides so decided it would be more prudent to do what we did. The passage was just stunning. We passed small islands with pure pristine white sand but whether you would ever get ashore to them was unsure. The approach to the anchorage was beautiful, although we became a little confused and decided to follow the local tourist boats in. This was a very busy anchorage with tour boats arriving and leaving all day long as people came to visit and view the dragons. Komodo Dragons only live in the wild on Rinca and Komodo and the small island off to the south of Rinca. At almost 3 – 4 metres in length they are the biggest monitor lizards in the world. Their diet consists mainly of water buffalo, monkeys, deer and wild boar – and of course the occasional human. It has been known for them to take small children.
It is impossible to walk in the park without a ranger for security reasons so we chose to wait until late afternoon before going ashore when more animals might be visible. We had bought out pass at the Ranger’s office in Labuan Bajo so after a very short presentation by the head ranger we were guided on our walk by Fitu, a trainee ranger on a work experience period of 3 months. He took his job extremely seriously giving us a safety talk before starting. The first dragons we saw were hanging around the small restaurant where they are occasionally thrown a piece of meat. All males, they were totally unconcerned by our presence as they slept in the hot sun. It was only a short distance from there that we found the first of three nesting sites with 3 females guarding over them. The females dig tunnels of around 2 metres deep into which she will lay her eggs sometime in September/October. Once she has deposited her eggs she does not want to know them anymore with the young hatching around 8 or 9 months later. These young then have to dig themselves out of this tunnel and get away fast into the trees before they are eaten by other dragons. It is no life being a young dragon. The survival rate is very small, possibly 10%... The population does not appear to be increasing but it is stable with around 2500 in total on the two islands. The eggs hatch around April and it is almost impossible to spot a youngster up in the trees – they are extremely well camouflaged.
Next morning we were up at the crack of dawn and across at the ranger station for a 6.30am walk. We were told the animals would be more active early morning as they sought the warmth of the sun.
We had not been ashore long before we saw a massive male who then excited us by walking around – well I should say lumbering around. They look so awkward when they move that it is hard to believe they can run at vast speeds when they want to.
After spending time watching him we ventured on our long walk, first to the nests where the females were basking. One was in fact away from her nests so we were able to take a closer look inside. Each female digs a number of tunnels in the same small area to confuse other animals. She then decides which one she will use to lay her eggs in.
After seeing the nests we continued up a dry river bed clambering over huge rocks, the guide felt it would be easier for us rather than climbing a steep hill – not so sure on that as it was pretty arduous. At the top of the river bed was a very large water hole, although somewhat dried out at the moment. This is where the dragons wait for days and days to get their prey. With one meal a month they do not hunt too frequently. Although somewhat dried up there was sufficient mud for a buffalo or two to wallow in.
The walk continued uphill across the mountains from where the view was absolutely stunning. The morning light enhanced the beauty even more with us looking across the many bays below. Komodos are extremely well camouflaged so difficult to see in the terrain; even the guide did not see them until we were virtually on top of them. However, we were very lucky to see several on our walk making their way to sunny spots in order to warm their body temperatures.
From Rinca we sailed across to Komodo island experiencing adverse currents of as much as 4 knots in the straits between the two islands. Initially we anchored in a very quiet bay just north of Pink Beach at Soro Lia. The only noise was from the wild pigs that came down to the shore in the evening and then disappeared into the mangroves to sort out their squabbles.
Not content with seeing a good number of dragons on Rinca we decided to visit the ranger station on Komodo to do a short walk. Being a larger island there is more space for the animals to disappear so we did not see as many as on Rinca but we thoroughly enjoyed the walk through the vegetation which was drastically different to that of Rinca. Here we saw many deer at one of the watering holes and a very thin hungry dragon watching them. We were also lucky enough to see a baby dragon and some exotic looking birds with curly tail feathers and some rare pigeons. Our stay on the mooring buoy at the ranger station was very short lived as the winds picked up and the anchorage became very uncomfortable so we motored back to Soro Lia and met up with friends Di and Alan on Moonfleet who arrived shortly afterwards.
From Soro Lia we headed north to the beautiful island of Gili Lawa Laut on the north east coast of Komodo. A very busy anchorage with plenty of local dive boats but we found room to anchor for a few nights and do plenty of snorkelling. The soft corals here were fantastic and I saw a number of different fish I had not seen elsewhere which was exciting especially when they were quite large. Small turtles swam underneath me.
Eventually we had to return to Labuan Bajo where we were to meet up with Atje Robin the host for the rally stop in Lombok. Atje had come to Labuan Bajo to collect our passports in order for the visas to be extended. With the visa extensions sorted we then left Labuan Bajo for Batu Moncco on the North West tip of Komodo Island ready to start our sail westward to the island of Lombok.
It is a few weeks since we left the Labuan Bajo area for Lombok but this is the first chance I have had of updating things.
We left Batu Moncca on the north west coast of Komodo Island to sail westwards to the island of Lombok where we would attend our 2nd Rally celebrations. Our first stop was Wetar on the NE coast of the island of Sumbawa. Wetar is a boat building village where half a dozen 100ft plus boats were in the process of construction. These boats are made traditionally with everything locked together with handmade wooden pegs. We watched as the boatbuilder shaped a curved piece of wood for the transom with a chain saw. This appears to be their only method of cutting wood. Trees are felled and cut into very accurate sized planks all with a chain saw, although we did see an electric drill used for making the peg holes.
The greeting by the many children on the beach was overwhelming. On this occasion there were many teenagers who were wanting our watches, sunglasses, hats and even my underwear. A young lad with reasonable English approached wanting to show us around the village and boats. Stupidly I had gone ashore wearing a dress which meant it was impossible for me to climb the precarious ladders up the sides of these mammoth boats. Whilst the others looked I was constantly pestered by these very demanding teenagers.
The inhabitants of Wetar had originally lived on a volcanic island 5 miles of shore but back in 1985 after the last eruption they were moved to the mainland where they have a very neat and tidy village. Houses were of a totally different construction to other islands we had been to. Each house built on stilts had walls made of decorated wooden panels with impressive huge concrete steps to the entrance. Outside, each house had a piece of wood hanging with a stick, their door knocker. Each house also had what looked like a round ball/float outside the house. This we later found out was for water and each ball had a small hole plugged with a stick. These people do not have running water to their houses and it is obtained from their many wells.
Just one night here and we moved on to Kilo towards the middle of the north coast of Sumbawa. This looked an interesting village but with hoards of children and young men hanging around the yachts we decided to move on next morning. Kananga was our next stop. Not the best of anchorages as the friends we were travelling with, Lazy Bones and Silke both dragged their anchors during the night which was rather worrying. The three of us thought of leaving in the middle of the night but with the number of small unlit fishing boats and traps around decided it was better to do anchor watch and leave early in the morning which is what we did for the island of Medang. Medang was a beautiful island just north of Moyo Island on NW Sumbawa. Moyo Island, we have heard since from Indonesians, was where Princess Di escaped to twice during her divorce proceedings. In spite of its remoteness the paparazzi found her there.
We had hoped to stay a few days at Medang, where there is a seaweed farm but after the first night it became very rolly so we were up early after night 2 to sail across the Strait to the island of Lombok stopping on the NE point at an extremely rolly anchorage where we had little sleep.
Next morning we made our final passage to Medana Bay where we had decided to stay a while and wait for the rally to arrive.
Well Medana Bay has come and gone and we are now preparing to leave Lovina Beach, Bali this afternoon after just 6 days here.
Lombok was a wonderful island and we had such a good time at Medana Bay. We had got to know the Host Atje Robin and her English husband Peter Cranfield really well and we were lucky enough to be invited to celebrate the end of Ramadan with them and their family and friends at Atje and Peter’s house right on the beach in the village of Monting. This was a wonderful experience as we were invited to open house at the Governor’s official residence and then went on to other houses of government dignitaries on the Sunday morning.
We then returned to the yacht to spend the next week in the bay attending the functions. Sadly I went down with a bug which meant I had to miss some of the fun and we eventually moved off the boat into a resort with a wonderful pool and garden so I could recuperate. Everyone around was either coughing or sneezing and the Indonesians have a terrible habit of spitting so it was no wonder that I went down with a terrible sore throat and chesty cough. The supermarket checkouts like in the UK were stacked with cough and cold remedies. They even had Fishermen’s Friends here.
As soon as I felt better we were back on the boat and heading to Bali where we arrived last Friday 2nd October. Too late for the opening function but we were in time to hand in our passports once again to get our visas extended for a further 30 days. Although we have been in Indonesia almost 3 months we need another visa just to get us to Singapore as we still have around 1000 miles to go. The visas were duly handed to a rally official on Saturday and yesterday, Wednesday we arrived at the Immigration office to have yet further photographs taken and a complete set of finger prints. Luckily for us the processing was done whilst we waited for around an hour. Record time we were told.
Brian has been off colour since arriving in Bali, Bali belly we think so he missed a two day trip I did to Ubud. A fascinating place where it seems all of the craftwork done in Indonesia is sold either in shops or at the market. On the way I visited many temples and this week there were great celebrations for Full Moon so they were all decorated brilliantly. At several of the temples there were processions so that added to the excitement as well.
On the route in and out of Ubud there are many shops/warehouses selling fantastic cane/wooden furniture, baskets and carvings. If only I could buy it and take it home. The amount available is vast and the price simply stupid. As it is we have bought more things in the couple of months in Indonesia than we have bought anywhere else in the world. These items include wood, baskets, Ikat weaving, textiles, shells, puppets and my prize possession some wonderful wooden chickens for my kitchen display back home.
Whilst at Ubud I was able to see Balinese Dancing which was fascinating. The dancers’ faces are totally still with the eyes held wide open in a stare so there are no expressions. Not sure how they managed to do it for so long as each dance lasted around 15 to 20 minutes.
Hawkers at some of the tourist sites are a menace and very aggressive with their selling. At times you just cannot get rid of them but on the whole those around the yachts have taken no for an answer. Sometimes we have had difficulty saying no, particularly when you see the price of things. Yesterday we stocked up on shirts and dresses which we picked up for something like $5US an item.
Time is getting close for our departure. We leave this afternoon at around 1600 local time (8 hours ahead of GMT for a 2 and a half day sail to the island of Karimunjawa around 70 miles off the north coast of Java. The plan is to leave with sufficient light to see the many fish traps off the coast and be able to arrive early morning in good light at Karimunjawa. On 13th October we take off on a high speed ferry to the mainland for a 5 day overland tour of Central Java.
Well all my good intentions of keeping the blog and web site up to date have gone to pot and several months have passed since I last managed to write anything. Internet in Indonesia is just non existent.
It was a good passage to Karimunjawa, a group of islands around 50km off North Java Coast. For a change we actually managed to sail saving valuable fuel.
Our trip to Java was excellent spending time at Borobudur a wonderful ancient Buddhist temple regarded 2nd in the world to Angkor Wat, the temple in Cambodia, Our trip took us to the centre of Indonesian batik in Solo where we visited a factory where ladies painted freehand fabric in brilliant colours. Of course a trip would not be complete without a good look through the batik shops of the area. The trip organised by the rally was just magic and excellent value for money, $300 for 5 days 4 nights, in splendid accommodation with all meals included. There were many highlights during the trip.
Once back on Songster we were off next day towards Belitung, an island off the east Sumatran coast. This was the final rally stop and was just magic. Firstly the anchorage was the most beautiful we had seen in the whole of Indonesia. Secondly the people were just so friendly and kind. The programme organised by the locals was very full so we had a very hectic few days here. I even had the chance to ride on the back of a motorcycle for the first time since my teens when I was taken to the local market and one of the tour guides house to talk to his wife’s English language students. Sadly too short a time as we needed to get to Malaysia by the end of October ready to start Sail Malaysia.
The activities organised in Belitung included some very strange dancing where men went into trances and did frightening things. To this day we cannot understand what sent them loopy, whether it was some form of self hypnosis or just plain acting. The locals called it a phenomenon. Some men took quite a long time before returning to the real world and there was always somebody on hand to check pulses etc.
Whilst there we were taken on a couple of day trips and one included attending a huge kite flying festival. Kite flying is huge in Asia and so are the kites. I had the opportunity to fly a 100 long kite which was extremely high in the sky and needed great strength to hold it. Some of the kites were just enormous and men wore great harnesses to cope with them. Kites are taken very seriously.
It was a two day two night trip from Belitung to Nongsa point, a very nice marina on the north east corner of Batam Island. Here we checked out and made our way across the Singapore Strait up to Puteri Harbour in Johor, right on the tip of SE Malaysia.
The Strait between Singapore and Indonesia is exceptionally busy with huge commercial shipping passing every few minutes so we had to choose the right time to cross the two very wide lanes and then make our way up between Singapore and Malaysia. It was a trip without incident and we arrived safely at Puteri Harbour, a wonderful new marina where we were looked after exceptionally well. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff who ferried us and others around every day for shopping and other things.
We arrived on 29th October and Sail Malaysia started on 30th so we just made it. The first few days were taken up with partying, trips and an exhibition on Malaysia. All very well organised. Since then things have gone down hill a little as the rally is now well ahead of us, in fact it finishes today 12th December in Langkawi an island off the west coast.
From Puteri we made our way up day hopping to Port Dixon’s Admiral Marina where we planned to stay a few days. We in fact stayed just over 3 weeks.
From Admiral we took a taxi to Malacca for a few days. Malacca was an interesting town with an immense amount of Chinese, British, Malay and Portuguese History. A fascinating town where we did not stop for 3 whole days, there was just so much to do and see. It was back to the yacht for a couple of days before we took off for a few days in Kuala Lumpur where suddenly on the 2nd day I began to feel off colour and by the evening obviously had a fever. Next day we continued with sight seeing but I was feeling quite rotten and we decided to return to Admiral. From then I went downhill and was wrongly diagnosed by a local GP with severe dehydration. Sadly I was eventually diagnosed once I went to hospital with Dengue fever and spent the next 4 days there on a drip.
This year in spite of all warnings we had really not come across mosquitoes so had become a little lax in applying insect repellent. If we were stung we just applied antihistamine cream and it all went away so it came as a great shock that I had been bitten by an infected mosquito at sometime during our visit to Malacca. Neither of us knew what the symptoms for Dengue were either so Brian spent much time researching it on the internet after the diagnosis.
Thankfully 3 weeks later I am now on the mend but our engine has been sick. We left Admiral Marina last Saturday along with friends we had not seen since Trinidad, Christmas 2004 towards Langkawi. Our first day out we made good mileage and anchored off Angsar Island just north of Port Klang. Going through the narrow channel of Klang we were passed in the opposite direction by a fast going freighter who caused an enormous wake which went over the bow of Songster, flowed along the deck and then dumped gallons of sea water through the open hatches on to our sofas and carpets. On Sunday our engine decided to give up during the afternoon, a very important item as there is simply no wind to sail anywhere here. In spite of working hard for some time Brian just could not repair the offending part and eventually we gave up and dropped the anchor in very shallow water off the mouth of the Bernam River and prayed that no fisherman would hit us during the night. Our friends were 3 miles ahead of us and agreed to tow us next day.
Monday started in appalling conditions, heavy rain, very pour visibility but Stefan and Lone came to our rescue and took us under tow for around 20 miles before our third mishap occurred. They ran aground on a sandbank taking us with them. We were both hard and fast with a rescue boat unable to budge them so we had to sit it out whilst the tide fully fell and rose again sufficiently for us to be floated off. We were then taken in tow by a local Chinaman who owns a new marina which is under construction. However, he took us to Lumut International Yacht Club where we are now.
The good news is Brian has today fitted the new part and the engine is running. Tomorrow we will have a day off to visit, by ferry, Pangkor Island. Monday, James our Chinese friend is to take us out to visit his new marina and other places and Tuesday we will be on our way once more.
Our aim is to be in Langkawi by 20th December 2009 where we are booked into Rebak Marina for Christmas.
To sum up 2009 there has been sadness and excitement. Sailing up the east coast of Australia was challenging and exciting. We had some of the very best sailing we had had in the world. Sadly it was all against the clock, setting off very early each morning in order to get to an anchorage before good light disappeared in the afternoon. The weather was not always kind so much time was spent under grey skies with us wearing oilies. Although we left Brisbane in late April it was a mammoth task to get to Darwin ready to leave on 18th July. However we managed 3 weeks in Darwin and time to go off exploring Northern Territories with Jane, Jackie’s stepdaughter who lives in Brisbane.
Sailing through Indonesia was virtually non existent. We have used hundreds of litres of fuel, probably thousands, this year as we have motored simply everywhere including up the Malaysian coast as well. There is virtually no wind or it is in the wrong direction.
Sail Indonesia started off in chaos with a very negative presentation in Darwin which tainted the rally from the start, followed by even more chaos on our arrival in Saumlaki where we sat on the yacht for two whole days before being cleared in. The organisation was very bad and we missed all the celebrations there. There were many of us in the same situation. As a result the rally just scattered from there with just 6 yachts going to the second venue. Many made their way to the Banda islands whilst we along with others just went westwards as the rally had done in the past. Although the people are wonderful, Indonesian anchorages are not the best. The majority are deep, very rolly and the water is not clear so there was no chance to swim, although we believe that those who went to Banda and then across to Wakatobi managed to swim and snorkel.
Our first chance to swim was at Komodo on Gilli Laut where there was some good coral but we have seen better elsewhere. It was not until we got to Lombok that we linked up with the rally again and then attended the celebrations in Karimunjawa and Belitung where we had wonderful times.
For those following in our wake the rally is a good way to avoid all the pressing paperwork etc. in Indonesia but we did meet many yachts who did it alone, many of whom stopped off in anchorages and had not checked in. Luckily they were not approached by anyone and then checked in at Bali or just went straight through to Malaysia. The biggest problem is that one has to stop to acquire fuel as there is just so much motoring. Luckily fuel is cheap compared with Europe but we still spent a fortune on it.
With the uncertainty of the Red Sea pirates and our busy year we have decided to remain in Asia for at least one year and do some land travel.
The saddest part of the year was the loss of our two beautiful cats Henry and Lily. We had to have Henry put to sleep back in Brisbane in April just before we were due to leave. He had surgery to hopefully prolong his life but he just did not recover and we had to make the decision to let him go. Lily could just not adjust to being on her own and was so distressed that we had to make the decision to have her put to sleep when we got to Darwin. It was terrible to watch her and we could not console her so after much discussion with the local vet she was put down. It still brings tears to our eyes many months later as they were just so special to us.
We are now looking forward to getting to Langkawi where we are told there are some wonderful anchorages where we can swim and explore, something we have not done at all this year as we have been constantly on the move.
Land travel is easy from here to other parts of Asia and we plan to visit Australia and New Zealand from here. On 1st July 2010 we fly back to the UK for a month’s holiday so look forward to seeing as many people as we can in the UK when we return.
In spite of the few set backs we have had a very good year and look forward to some good sailing in Thailand when we get there.
The month of January is nearly at an end and my New Year’s resolution to keep the blog and web page up to date has not been kept.
We have now been in Rebak Island Resort just a short distance off the coast of Langkawi for almost 6 weeks. It is quite lovely and it will be difficult to leave but eventually we will have to.
Rebak is a small private island of around 360 acres, mostly jungle, with a 5 star Taj Resort on it and a marina which is managed to Taj. The marina itself is a lagoon, which we were told was once a freshwater lake. It is totally hidden from the sea so very well protected.
Back in December 2004 the island was badly hit by the Tsunami and much of the accommodation and marina has since been rebuilt. There is a wonderful swimming pool and just feet away the sea laps the sandy beach. Once the tide recedes unfriendly rocks appear so people tend to use the pool where the water is beautifully clean.
The island has some interesting wildlife in particular the Malaysian Water Monitor, a large creature not unlike the Komodo dragon but smaller. We have seen many of them and only a couple of days ago I disturbed one who panicked and ran across the dock in front of me and then flung itself off and belly flopped into the marina 12 ft below. Each afternoon the hotel deposits a huge pile of raw chicken into a basket in a jungle area where the animals come one by one to eat it. One afternoon I sat very quietly and patiently and saw 6 of them ranging in size from under 1m to well over 2m in length. Like the Komodo dragon they have a forked tongue like snakes.
Monkeys are everywhere and each morning on our daily walk we see them watching us from the trees. Oriental Pied Hornbills chatter away constantly all day, many often watching you from a tree nearby. Butterflies the size of saucers with huge bodies flutter by during the day. There are many birds here and it is possible to see them very close.
This Friday we are off on a jungle trek late afternoon/early evening which will be interesting to compare with our night walks into the Guyana jungles.
Christmas here was simply wonderful although a little expensive. This is the first Christmas ever when I have had Christmas dinner at a hotel. Although we slept on board we ate at the Resort. Christmas Eve a group of us attended the Christmas buffet where one could eat and drink as much as you could before dancing the night away. One of the cruisers, Keith off Baccus was Father Christmas and it was so wonderful to witness the faces of the children there and the waiters who we think believed he was the real Santa as he looked so authentic. Many of the staff are from Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Philippines so to them he is just a mythical figure. They were like children and extremely excited.
On Christmas Day we along with many other cruisers attended a Christmas Brunch where we had traditional roast turkey and a mincemeat pie to die for. The mincemeat pie had been made totally by an Indian girl chef. She was very happy when told how good it was.
After all this our stomachs certainly needed a rest but we were up for it again on New Years Eve when Keith, Susan and ourselves attended the New Year’s Eve bash. Another night where you could excessively eat and drink if you really wanted to followed by some very heavy disco music which was great fun. Everyone who was there came for the same reason – they were going to enjoy themselves. No-one had too much to drink either. There were people there from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, France, Dubai, Columbia, Italy, and India just to name a few of those around us. Everyone joined in the fun and games making it an extremely enjoyable night.
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New Year’s Eve was rather special as the party was on the beach, it was full moon and in the middle of the night there was to be an eclipse which we did not stay up to witness. The moon was a blue moon (2nd full moon of the month) and there was this amazing ring/aura surrounding it some distance away which we have not been able to find out about. Across the water we watched the many fireworks and Thai type lanterns that wafted across the sky. Since the resort is in the flight path of Langkawi airport they are not allowed to have fireworks.
Since the beginning of the new year we have done little jobs on the boat, Brian more so than me as we seemed to go through a period of many things failing over a couple of weeks. Last year the number of breakages was low but it has more than made up for it since arriving here. Brian decided to renew our batteries which were now over 4 years old. The new ones were brought to the boat and lowered down into the saloon where they would be fitted. The first four Brian had just about completed when the shelf above with a further four on gave way creating another big job for Brian. The batteries had to be removed and the offending piece of wood replaced. Some acid had fallen at some time in the past onto the wood and over the years it had rotted through. We now had to find where we could buy suitable wood so we rented a car and found a furniture manufacturer who had just what Brian wanted. What seemed an easy job turned into something that took longer than expected – living here there are plenty of distractions. All is now repaired and all new batteries are installed.
Each week we usually hire a car for a day, mainly to collect some boat part, so apart from finding our way around Kuah and deciding on the right place to buy various things we have not managed yet to see the island – something we intend doing.
Last week we took ourselves off to Penang by plane. The local airlines are extremely cheap so decided to fly rather than take Songster or even the ferry. Langkawi airport is just minutes away from us so extremely convenient and the journey was just 30 minutes to Penang. The main purpose of our trip was to get some health checks done. For a while now Brian has had a painful shoulder due to a fall he had and he wanted it checked out. We had a number of checks done over a period of 2 days but much of the time was spent waiting, waiting, and waiting. Not sure we came away with the results we expected so may well seek further advice elsewhere. However we are both fit and well but need a bit more exercise so each morning we are up with the alarm clock to have an hour’s brisk walk around the island.
Next week we are off to Singapore for a few days. Every three months we have to leave Malaysia and on return are given a further 3 months visa so we decided to take a trip to Singapore to do a little shopping possibly at Marks and Spencer.
We also hope to go out from the marina for a couple of days once we have Songster ship shape again.
There is just so much we would like to do whilst here but it all costs money and takes time so we will have to spread it over a long period. Our intended trip to Australia and New Zealand will not happen before their summer ends but we still intend getting there sometime this year. We are told from April/May onwards the weather is rather wet here so we may look at getting away from it after our return from the UK early
August.
I will try to get some more pictures put on to our web site www.yachtsongster.com
We had the most wonderful trip to Singapore arriving early morning with almost a whole day to explore once we had deposited our luggage at the hotel, a further day to shop and then an early flight back on the third day in time for lunch back on the yacht.
The transport system in Singapore is just amazing. It is fast efficient and very full. It always seems to be peak time and much of our time was spent packed in like sardines. However, it got us to our destinations extremely quickly. Having tested a hotel on our previous visit we decided to return to it in spite of the room being extremely small – we hear all Singapore rooms are small. It was situated very close to the shopping area of Orchard Road where we intended to spend the majority of our time. We opted not to have Chinese breakfasts and decided to find western grub each morning, which we did at the local MRT station. At every MRT station there is a huge shopping mall with a food hall. On our first day we had a wonderfully healthy salad lunch at one so returned there for our first breakfast.
Orchard Road is a shopper’s paradise but before going there we had to visit Sim Lin Square which is a building of many floors devoted to electronics. It is just mind blowing with the choice and quantity of goods for sale. Our prime objective of going was to try to buy a new strap for the camera similar to one we had seen on someone’s binoculars. The strap did not hang around the neck but across the back which is much more comfortable. Sadly after visiting many shops we decided no one had a clue what we really wanted so finally gave up. It was then to Orchard Road for a short shop at one of the several branches of M & S before eating. I had a wonderful Indian meal and Brian chose Chinese – all very cheap.
Next morning we were seriously going to shop so after a good breakfast along with the millions of other commuters we hopped on the MRT for Somerset Road where we knew there was a large M & S in Central Shopping Mall. These malls are huge and it is just one after another. Just imagine a number of Brent Cross Malls one after the other. All the big designer names were there so I took a look into the Jimmy Choo shop where the prices were exorbitant and absolutely nothing to suit me!!!
Fashion in Singapore appears to be aimed at the very young Chinese who wear extremely short skirts reminiscent of the 60s, perhaps even shorter. If only I had been younger I could have spent a fortune as some it was simply stunning.
Marks and Spencers at Central had a small section with their more modern pieces but a lot was the good old staples. Sadly little there to take my fancy apart from t shirts. Although I did not need shoes or sandals I returned with a further 3 pairs I just could not live without!! Not bought in M & S.
Flagging with the purchases, we found a Japanese restaurant where we ate ourselves silly with sushi and sashimi. What a wonderful expensive lunch it was. Dishes of sushi and other goodies move around the restaurant on a conveyor belt to each table and you just take off what you want. At the end of the meal they count up the number of dishes you have.
I had always wanted to go to Singapore Zoo, in particular the Night Safari. Brian had always said he hated zoos so it was great when he finally said he would go, but very reluctantly. Back at the hotel we deposited the purchases and tried to find out how to get to the safari etc. Fortunately the first bus a 130 left from just a short walk across from the Hotel which took us to the bus station where we changed into a 138 which took us to the Night Safari. The journey took us around 1 hr 20 minutes but we saw areas of Singapore we had never seen before so that was a great treat. We passed an area full of garden centres where they were full of kumquat bushes in pots ready for the Chinese to buy for their New Year. Having seen so few Europeans in the time there we were astonished at the hundreds who arrived at the Night Safari which made us wonder if we had done the right thing. With all these people there would be no chance of seeing anything with all the noise so we decided not to take the tram ride until the end of the evening. We walked around the entire park on the paved paths seeing many animals. The star attraction was the wolves that had congregated on a huge outcrop of rock howling their heads off to some others elsewhere. Although we are sure the animals have an enclosure it is impossible to see any walls or fences at night. Each enclosure seemed very large and natural. The animals were not fazed by the night illumination under which they seemed to sit or perform. Many were extremely active particularly some of the smaller felines. At the end of the evening we took the tram trip which we thoroughly enjoyed as we saw animals we could not see on the walks and by this time the place was virtually empty. It was a wonderful night enhanced even further by a bus that returned us to our hotel for a very small sum.
Our Jungle Trek a few days before leaving for Singapore was rather similar to others we had taken from a wildlife point of view although the terrain was much more challenging. We managed to see a number of sleeping flying lemurs before darkness fell but few in flight. Perhaps we will have another go at this in the future when we are not rushed.
Now back at Rebak we are continuing with our early morning walks and afternoon swimming. Today is Thursday so shortly I will be going off to the weekly cookery class. Last Saturday a few of us had a chance to view the kitchens of the resort. It turned out to be more than a viewing as they showed us how to cook stir fried fish and then took us into the restaurant where we ate it along with rice and a chicken curry another chef had cooked especially for us – all with 5 star service and free.
This weekend is Chinese New Year so we will be off celebrating at one or more of the several parties organised – in spite of Malaysia being cheap these are all pretty expensive but the food is wonderful.
After returning from Singapore we hired a car and took some Aussies friends, Karen and Tim, out for the day. Neither of us had been to the cable car. It was a beautiful drive along the coast and up into the hills. The view from the top of the mountain across Langkawi and all its islands was simply stunning. The terrain reminded us of the Limestone Karsts we had seen in China. From the cable car we drove to visit the resort of Datai on the North West corner of the island where we were very impressed by the wonderful woodwork of the buildings. This is a place we hope to visit in a few weeks.
David my brother is visiting us early March so that will be wonderful to see him. Nothing like having a visitor for making you do those jobs you have been putting of for years. Whilst he is here we hope to go off to explore some of Langkawi’s anchorages including the Datai.
All in all we are having a wonderful time here. The relaxation, rest, weather and environment are suiting us well. It will be very difficult to drag ourselves away…………………………………………
Here I am sitting on board Songster in yet another marina, this time in Boat Lagoon, Phuket Island, Thailand where we are having our fridge/freezer system rebuilt and some electronics sorted out. The temperature is in the high 30th and how glad we are to have a portable air con unit on board.
We have been busy since I last wrote hence the delay in getting round to keeping everyone up to date.
Soon after arriving back from Singapore I had to get my passport renewed in order for me to get a visa to go to Thailand. Thailand is very particular about space in ones passport for stamping. All passport renewals for Asia are done in Hong Kong so had to send it there and await its return. The new passport arrived and a couple of days later we were on a flight to Penang for a few days in order to get my visa. On this visit to Penang we managed to do some site seeing.
Penang is well known for its long British traditions. Thankfully this is part of Malaysia that has woken up to Heritage and much of the buildings were either restored or in the process of being restored.
One of our favourite spots was Suffolk House the original home of the first Governor General of Penang. The house, depicted on a hill in many of the paintings in the museum, had been derelict for years. The house in fact was on very flat ground and surrounded by new buildings and the trust that had been set up to rebuild it had done a wonderful job. Our very enthusiastic guide explained the history showing us some of the rooms that they have managed to furnish. This is going to take some time whilst research is done to establish the correct furniture of the times.
We also visited a most wonderful Chinese temple where a huge Buddha on top of a hill is being built. Penang has many temples but we were to only visit a couple, one of which was a Burmese temple where craftsmen were building a new section.
David, Jackie’s brother, arrived early March for a week. After a day’s recuperation at the resort pool we left early in the morning to head north and arrived at The Hole in the Wall on the north eastern side of Langkawi. It was a very pleasant spot and we anchored amongst the mangroves with our first taste of fast tourist boats rocking the boat with their wake. Early next morning we were up to dinghy through the mangroves to see if we could see eagles and brahminy kites feeding. The system of channels through the mangroves goes for miles wending its way through the wonderful limestone cliffs. We were lucky enough to see many birds amongst them a bright orange kingfisher about double the size of the normal ones. It must have been a good hour or more before we located the site where the eagles eat and we were lucky enough to see around 50 kites and eagles dive down for food. A tour boat arrived and churned up the water with its outboard raised and the birds just appeared. We are still not sure if the outboard action attracted the fish or some sort of titbits were thrown into the water. We did not actually see anyone throwing anything in. It was a great spectacle.
Back on board we relaxed, had lunch then set off again to find another anchorage. Motoring through all the small islands was quite wonderful and we eventually made our way to Kuah where a strong westerly wind and swell were blowing in making it somewhat bouncy much to David’s displeasure. However, we told him the wind and swell would die down early evening and as luck would have it, it did. Next morning we returned to one of our favourite spots, possibly because it was our first landfall on Langkawi - the anchorage by the Lake of the Pregnant Virgin. It is quite a beautiful spot but so far we have not yet been ashore to witness the lake. The water was quite beautiful here and David was impressed that he could still swim after years of land life. Eventually we made our way back to Rebak in wonderful winds proving that we still could sail. The was the first good sail since leaving the Great Barrier Reef last year.
What a date to start this log. Just realised it is Friday 13th.
All my New Year intentions have gone to the wind as I just never have time to write up my journals. Suppose not so much has happened that makes it as exciting however I really think it is time to let you know what we have been doing.
Apart from 7 weeks in Thailand Songster has been tied up in the marina at Rebak Island, Langkawi since just before Christmas 2009. In March of this year we sailed north to Phuket where we had work done on Songster. Her fridge/freezer was not working as efficiently as it should so Brian took the plunge and had a complete new system installed. He was most impressed by the work done.
Our cockpit hood and bimini had been made when last in Turkey back in 2002. It had been waterproofed so many times over the years and was beginning to show wear so we had that all replaced. What a good job they made of that. The galley worktops were showing wear so they were replaced and our rear heads shower tray, which had never been finished in New Zealand due to lack of time, was sanded, sanded and sanded then painted. The trouble now is that we do need to do some serious maintenance like varnishing to put the interior back to scratch. This is difficult to get done in humid conditions such as those here in Malaysia.
We returned to Rebak mid May in time to prepare for Jane’s arrival from Brisbane. Jane is Jackie’s stepdaughter. The weather was beautiful whilst she was here and we managed to see most of the island during that time and also take a few local boat trips to some of the more remote places here in Langkawi.
On 31st July we headed to KL for our flight next day to Stansted Airport, UK where we collected our very small but expensive hire car to transport us around the country. We had a wonderful time seeing our family and friends in beautiful weather. The main purpose of the return was Jackie’s aunt’s 90th birthday party in Dorset where all the family assembled. It was great to see everyone again and to see how good Auntie Marjorie looks. The weather was simply fantastic whilst we were in Dorset and we even managed a days sailing with friends Helen and Chris on their Maxi in perfect sailing weather.
Our journey from Rebak had started rather badly. The resort had told us to catch the early ferry so we would be in time for our flight to KL but when we got up the weather was so wonderful with flat calm seas and blue skies we both decided to go for the later ferry. What a mistake that was! With our decision to go later we took our time and then just as the earlier ferry was about to leave the clouds started to build. We were not ready to leave! However, very quickly we managed to get our cases to the ferry security hut where they were in the dry. We had to return to the boat to get other hand luggage but the rains started on the way back, with umbrellas we did not get too damp. We then had to return to the ferry as this was the last one we could catch for the flight. The rains by now were a deluge and we got rather wet, in fact it was so bad the ferry just sat at the dock for the next half an hour where we got wetter from the rain pouring through. By the time we arrived at the airport we were soaked and extremely cold in the air conditioning. We actually had to buy new dry clothing and carry yet another bag on board which contained our wet gear. Eventually at our hotel in KL we found the contents of our cases also sodden and Brian spent the next two hours ironing everything dry. We had tried to travel, well I had, light and my one and only pair of white trousers were now totally ruined from the die of an orange linen top bought in Australia. Oh well a chance to buy more in the UK!
It was a great trip and we are grateful to all our family and friends who hosted us.
Our trip home gave us a chance to pick up spares we had ordered and had sent to various addresses around the country and to spend mega money. We returned back in Malaysia with 3 times the luggage we set out with and had to pay a huge amount of excess baggage. I really slipped up here by not changing our luggage allowance. Well it is easy to be wise after the event!!
On Monday next we are off to Burma for a couple of weeks so hopefully on our return I shall put pen to paper promptly to let everyone know how this went. Before returning to Rebak we are flying off to Borneo for just over a week for some jungle adventures whilst our Indian visa applications are being processed in KL. Once back in Rebak 2nd week of September it will be all hands to the deck to begin preparing Songster for the forthcoming final leg of our circumnavigation back to the Mediterranean early in 2011.
Our preparations will be interrupted however by a two week overland trip to India in October.
We have simply loved Rebak. Each afternoon we spend time at either the beach or pool with our books before swimming and have the daily chin wag with others in the pool. This really is like being on holiday!
However, all good things must come to an end and we now feel that we are ready to move on and will start the journey northwards to Thailand later in the year then head west for the Maldives before heading northwards to Oman and to the Med via the Red Sea.
There is much to do.
The country of Myanmar had always intrigued me since childhood. My father had spent time there during the war and as children we had all leafed through the very large photograph album he had made of his travels then.
So back in June when Air Asia opened up a route to Yangon with promotional priced seats we jumped at the opportunity to go and see things for ourselves.
Well in 2010 it does not look any different in the rural areas. People are dressed the same, albeit they now had t shirts and flip flops rather than bare chests and bare feet but they all still continue to wear the traditional longyi – a sarong.
On 16th August we flew from Langkawi to KL and then on to Yangon International Airport arriving late afternoon. We were lucky enough to qualify for visas on arrival but our well planned intentions of having a hot seat and being the first off the plane for the arrival desk went horribly wrong. Everyone was handed a visa application form on the plane but us and we did not know until everyone rushed forward with their forms and money. We were in fact the last to leave the airport.
After booking the flight I had done an enormous amount of research on internet to see if we could travel alone easily or if it would be better done on an organised tour. We did not fancy tagging on with others so eventually decided to use a local private guide I found on Trip Advisor. He was simply wonderful. He organised simply everything long before our arrival, flights, hotels and other transportation without taking a penny from us. An impossible task to do as there are no ATMs in Myanmar and no one appears to have a bank account, therefore no way of transferring money by internet or getting it on arrival. We just had to turn up with plenty of brand new unmarked $100US bills in order to get the very best rate and pay the guide on arrival.
Myanmar has a population of 52m people, of those 1m are monks and a further 1m are in the military. 600k of the monks are in Mandalay. The economy is agricultural where they are growing huge quantities of rice for both home use and export to places like China and Thailand. Fresh food in the markets was of a fantastic quality – far better than we can get in Langkawi, Malaysia and there was plenty of it, but sadly there is a high instance of malnutrition amongst the rural people.
Ye met us at the airport and took us to our hotel in Yangon, Summit Parkview, which was a short distance from Shwedagon Pagoda. The recently built airport is some 15k from the city centre. Female staff at the airport, not sure if they were military or immigration staff, but they wore uniforms we did not recognise, wore short skirts with short socks and high heeled shoes that were far too big for them. None of them was able to walk properly as they had to walk awkwardly in these overlarge shoes. We wondered if they had to share them with another shift.
Our first impressions of Yangon were of a very clean tidy city. The highways to the city were beautifully landscaped and well cared for.
Yangon was once the capital city until the military regime built a new one in the centre of the country where tourists and locals are definitely not encouraged to visit. However, some we met were going to try. Our itinerary did not include this nor allow time to investigate. The site chosen for Naypyidaw, the new capital, is safe from invasion from the sea etc. To us Yangon remains the capital and evidence of its once past glory remain to be seen. Buildings previously used by government departments now stand empty or look extremely run down and unkempt. However, you can still appreciate the beauty of a once gone British Architectural heritage. The streets were busy; traffic moved it seemed in all directions. 99% of all the vehicles had right hand drives but the traffic actually drives on the right making it extremely difficult for drivers to see when overtaking etc. Well it would for us but the drivers managed to overtake very successfully at some pretty nerve racking locations.
Yangon we found a delight. Our first night Ye took us to a local Burmese restaurant not far from our hotel, ‘Feel’, a privately run business which must have been the most successful and busiest restaurant in the whole of Yangon. What an introduction to their cuisine. There was so much to choose from it was overwhelming. In the end we opted for a small lobster each, a very large prawn dish, vegetables with tofu, a river fish cooked to perfection, dried shrimp with garlic and an assortment of veggies. Everything was cooked in the most fantastic sauces. Of course we overate and suffered later with our full bellies. Who said Myanmar food was bad. $19US for 3 people including the beer – pretty good we thought. It was simply scrummy and we asked if we could eat there again before we departed. Luckily we managed another two visits.
On our first real day in Yangon we needed to change some dollars although our guide had brought us a small sub the previous night to tied us over. With no ATMS and no way of paying our guide before arrival we had to arrive with crisp brand new US dollars. It is best to arrive with $100 so you can get the very best rate of exchange. We often found it confusing as there was dual pricing with some things priced in dollars and Kyats, pronounced chats.
He took us to a small travel agency where the back room was definitely a ‘foreign exchange’ with all the trappings of a bank, counting machines etc. The rate here was 990 Kyats to $1. The official rate through a government owned bank was 400. Not sure how the rates work here for the money changer!
Once our wallets were bulging with Kyats we set off in our own private 20+ year old taxi to visit the city. Our first stop was the centre of the city where the monks revolted back in 2008 and where many died for their fellow countrymen. The area was surrounded by old unkempt colonial buildings. The large town hall still stands but much of the buildings previously occupied by government departments now remain empty and rundown. The guide was very keen not to dally here for fear of being listened to by secret police that obviously are always in the midst. We then walked up through the city. Outside the passport office hundreds of young people hung around waiting, sometimes for days, for their passports or exit papers to be prepared. Some offered their services by completing forms etc and had set up a mobile office under a very large umbrella. Their stationery, pens, glue etc. carefully kept in a plastic basket. It seems everyone can scratch some sort of living here. Alongside the pavement offices were tables with a telephone that worked by wifi link. This is the only form of public telephone we found where people can make phone calls economically. Remarkable in a country with so many sanctions that to us a wifi street telephoned seemed very sophisticated.
A visit to the Strand hotel, Yangon’s oldest and most expensive hotel, took us back to colonial days with its porticoed entrance and formal reception area. Everything inside was very neat and well kept but with the lack of tourists it does no get too many overnighters. The art gallery at the hotel had simply wonderful art which would have been tempting to buy had we not been living on a boat. With restricted cash, knowing we could not go to an ATM also, this was not an option.
From the Strand we continued walking, stopping at times to shelter from the rains. Rain is frequent during the monsoon period which is when we chose to visit. We continued on to the wholesale fruit and vegetable market that was simply huge and very noisy. The trash underfoot at this 24/7 market was amazing but we were assured it was all collected every afternoon. In fact the lack of litter elsewhere is wonderful. Rubbish is something we notice everywhere, particularly in the UK and Malaysia. We were told they are seriously trying to promote recycling and reusing. However later in our trip we did see plenty of terrible trash.
At the market it was possible to buy simply every fruit and vegetable imaginable. All of it, apart from apples from China, had been grown in Myanmar. The amount of cauliflowers for sale was mind blowing. Each fruit or vegetable type had its own area and we passed a huge area piled high with fresh root ginger. This market is not somewhere tourists are normally taken so those with a splattering of English were keen to talk, particularly a man who had adopted a rather handsome feline who had small kittens somewhere under a stall. Typically oriental in shape and size she loved to be cuddled.
Our next visit was to the Royal White Elephants – we simply wondered what these could be. They were real elephants captured in the jungles and are somewhat of a recent legend. They are thought to bring and exude good karma for the present political situation. These three elephants, sadly chained by one foot, rocked to and fro and were housed in a covered shelter with a myriad of keepers. It was forbidden to photograph them but they were actually pinkish with pearl coloured eyes and fair eyelashes and hair. Our thoughts are that they might be albino elephants. Whilst in the country we saw in the newspaper that another one had been caught. All signs of things going right!!!! The white elephants are more intelligent than their grey relatives and can be trained in a matter of days whilst the normal elephant takes 6 weeks. It was now time for more food and Ye took us to ‘Monsoon’ a restaurant in the heart of the city where we had the set businessman’s lunch for $4.5 pp. comprising fish crackers with a sweet and sour sauce followed by seafood with rice pasta. The presentation and taste was superb. Feeling very full Ye picked us up and took us to Scot Market, a huge undercover area filled with small shops/stalls selling simply everything from rubies to rice. From Scot Market we headed to the highlight of the day Shwedagon Pagoda which by now was fully lit highlighting the many tons of gold leaf covering the stupas and buddhas. Unfortunately it poured the whole evening and we skated around on the slippery tiles in our bare feet.
The temple rises 98 m from its base and positively glistens in the sun. It dates back over 2000 years. Shwedagon is rather like Mecca is to Muslims. Every good Buddhist in Myanmar tries to make at least one pilgrimage here in their lifetime. With its many buildings and stupas it was a wonderful sight with all the lights.
It had been a long day and once back at our hotel we chose to eat in the restaurant having a fixed menu meal for $10. Again the meals were simply delicious I had aubergine pate followed by pan fried sea bass, saffron rice and veggies. Brian chose chicken on very large skewers rather than the fish. Both meals were excellent.
At last to bed ready for a very early start next day to catch the 6.30am flight to Bagan.
After what seemed a very short sleep we were up at 04.15 to get everything packed up ready to leave for Bagan on the 6.30am flight. The flight actually took off early and we were given more food for our breakfast. We had already eaten the contents of our packed breakfast supplied by the hotel at the airport.
We arrived in Bagan around one and a half hours later where our driver was waiting. The domestic airport was previously the original international airport until 2007. There were no carousels and porters carried luggage from the plane to an area where everyone huddled hoping to spot their bags. Once we had retrieved our bags we were off but first I had to use the ladies which were in total darkness. The lights only worked in the mens but there were too many men around for me to sneak in there.
Our first visit was to Dhama Rajaka Pagoda, one of very many we would visit in Bagan. Ye had heard there was a festival in a nearby village to celebrate full moon so off we set after visiting Dhama Rajaka to Thiripyit Saya where there were hundreds of people arriving by all means of transport to have a good time. Hawker stalls lined the narrow roads selling all manner of foods including deep fried pigeons (feathers and all). A huge manually operated Ferris wheel dominated the village where guys had to climb the structure and move around to make the wheel move. Needless to say it was extremely slow but the delight on the faces of those on it was wonderful to see. It was here that I was able to take endless picture of the ladies, children and sometime men with their faces covered in thanaka which is traditional make-up. It is actually ground bark from the sandal wood tree mixed with a little water and spread on the face. It was rare to find a female face without it.
Another habit we were to notice more and more as we travelled was betel nut chewing. Everywhere we went were hawker stalls selling the little packages made from a chopped nut wrapped in a special leaf that was coated with limed water (not lime from a fruit). People bought and used it like cigarettes, perhaps having more than they needed. We found it an awful practice as everywhere you went everybody was spitting out the red juice that was produced from the chewing. We have experienced betel chewing in many countries but none had used it as much as here in Myanmar.
The main activity of the festival set beside the temple on the banks of the river was boat racing. Long wooden narrow boats with around 20 oarsmen paddled against the fierce current of the Ayerwaddy river that looked to be around 2 knots. Each boat towed a smaller one with a few oarsmen and 2 huge loudhailers in the bow which projected extremely loud music. The cacophony of sounds from the boats and hundreds of people was simply deafening. Like many events around the world there was the infamous bouncy castle and other side show attractions one would see at showgrounds. Stalls selling cheaply priced kitchen utensils and food containers appeared to be the favourite along with many selling clothes, particularly t shirts. There were also many stalls selling kids toys – cars, aeroplanes and many plastic guns and rifles. A sign the military plays an important role here.
We spent time at the festival watching the families enjoying themselves before moving on to view our next temple.
The temples of Bagan rival the temples of Angkor in Cambodia and are one of the most important archaeological sites in Asia. Situated over a remote and semi arid plain near central Myanmar there are literally thousands of temples stretching as far as the eye can see. They are mostly redbrick and date back a thousand years to the Bagan era. The temples are not spectacular individually but their sheer numbers are overwhelming.
Bagan is underdeveloped, remote and very quiet, it is not even a town. It’s just a loose collection of villages.
Our first visit is to Gyu byaukgyi temple. This particular temple is being looked after by Unesco, one of only a few they have taken on. Sadly over recent years the government has tried to rebuild or repair some of the existing temples and made a very bad job. The brickwork and cement is simply appalling. As a result of this work Unesco refused to take on the entire site, a pity when there are just so many.
It was then on to a Hindu temple before heading for Ananda temple which is one of the finest, best preserved and most revered of all the Bagan temples. It is also the largest with a cross shaped floor plan giving it the interior proportions of a church. This bold whitewashed temple contrasts with the other mostly redbrick versions, with ornate trimmings and fancy spires setting it clearly apart. The spires have been recently covered with gold leaf and glow majestically at sunset. Inside there is a beautiful golden standing Buddha.
It was then onto Gyu byaukgyi temple no 2 at Watt Kyi Inn Village. It is quite small and is the home of some wonderful internal wall decoration which has stood the time apart from a period in the late 1800’s when a German Dr Thoman tried to remove part of it. Research shows that they stuck newspaper onto the mural to protect it when it was cut in the hope the plaster would not break. Some of this extremely browned aged newspaper still remains in place and it was from this that all the facts were found. Some of the pieces stolen are now housed in a museum in Berlin. With a torch the cuts are clearly visible and it is remarkable to see deep very straight lines done in an era without sophisticated power tools.
Visits were made to Htilo Mino temple with beautiful stucco, Thabyenyu temple and Mahuna.
One more temple for the day, Shwezigone Pagoda, sounds and looks like its grander counterpart in Yangon. Being the only local temple totally coated in gold its large bulbous bell shaped stupa is hard to miss. The square based stupa is topped with a fine jewel that can be seen through a telescope, we were not able to locate it whilst there but we were assured it was there.
Early evening, in drizzle, we visited the local lacquer works before visiting Kyan Sit Tha cave where the monks used to meditate. This was an interesting square shaped, flat roofed building with many tunnels and communicating cells which we wandered around with torches.
It was back to our hotel for a good nights sleep after a very long day. Our hotel Thazin Garden was quite beautiful with very traditional teak wood panelling walls. Although dark it was very pleasant and the room boys had decorated the bed beautifully on our last night. A couple of temples were actually in the grounds.
Our second day at Bagan started with a trip to Nyung U village to see the market, something we should have done the previous day but we visited the festival instead. This was a neat tidy market with simply beautiful fruit and veggies. I was taken by an elderly lady who was smoking a corn stalk. She was 79 but was very proud of her smoking prowess. From there we took off to Mount Popa the home of the Nat Spirits. A climb of 750 steps to the top took time. We certainly are not strong in our legs – too much sitting down on our yacht. On the way we encountered poo, wee and everything else from the temple dogs and hundreds of monkeys that inhabit the site. Hawker stalls lined the road at the bottom selling flowers and garlands for the locals to buy to offer to the spirits. I made a terrible mistake of smelling the flowers as they were so fragrant and was promptly told it was very wrong as they would now not be able to be used as offerings. However, we struggled to the top along with the hundreds of local pilgrims who seemed to have no problem. We felt it was rather disappointing at the top with a collection of rather scruffy buildings, best seen, we thought from a distance. However at the bottom we visited the building with all the statues of the Nats people who had once lived and who were now worshipped by their followers.
On the way to Mount Popa we stopped at several places, the first was to see how peanut oil is made. Everyone seemed to cook with peanut oil wherever we went and acres of plants are growing. The peanuts though are somewhat smaller than we are used to. We watched a buffalo circle an old grinding bowl producing the oil, the control the guy had over this animal was amazing, just like a well loved pet. Along the roadside were hundreds of Toddy palm trees all with makeshift ladders strapped to them. These were to enable the locals to climb to collect the palm juice from the stalks of the palm fruit. Twice a day a collection of the juice was made from each tree and then converted into palm sugar sweets. Highly addictive they make you very dehydrated. In the area there were dozens of makeshift buildings made of jungle material but each with a brick built chimney on the outside. Inside fires glowed whilst the juice bubbled away on the heat. Elsewhere the juice was being converted into alcohol. The locals were very hospitable and showed us round taking great care to show how everything was done and then promptly presented us with a gift of palm sugar sweets in a small woven basket.
On our way back to Bagan we visited Dhamayan Gyi and Sulamuni temples.
Early evening, in the most wonderful light we set off for a nearby village to visit the locals and see how they live. On the way we passed many carrying 2 x 20 litre containers on yolks who were either going to collect or had collected water from the local lake. These people as others in the countryside do not have running water. All water is collected from either a local lake or river where it is sometimes not too clean. Once collected they have to boil it before use. Everywhere we went, including this village, people were extremely industrious. People were spinning cotton whilst others were weaving, there was a small lacquer works in a home where I watched a lady weaving with bamboo and horse hair, basket making, small stores where goods were weighed using dud torch batteries as weights. Batteries being used as weights we saw everywhere we went.
The villagers were so pleased to meet us and tried hard to communicate. We met a lady of 79 who looked positively much younger than her years who introduced us to some of her family. The average life span of most people is in the early 60s so it was unusual to see someone so old. Myanmar is full of young people, many very well educated, but with no opportunities to use their skills. The people of this village were well set up with large schools where everyone now has a chance to have free education.
The people of this village were probably quite wealthy in Myanmar terms with their many cows, wooden carts and goats but they still lived a very hard life in comparison with us. However, they all appeared extremely happy although something I have noticed since looking at all my photos is how many people have furrowed brows in other places in Myanmar.
We said our goodbyes to these lovely people and headed to The Queen Ann Restaurant, sounds grand, and it was by Myanmar standards but the meal really did not match up to the price and name. There were around half a dozen diners and many more staff but they did their best to put on a local dance show.
Templed out we returned to our hotel ready for another early start to fly to Mandalay next day. We loved Bagan and it is somewhere any traveller to Myanmar should not miss. It is spectacular and magical.
Up at 5.30am, we are yet again on the move ready to be collected at 6.30 am for our 8am flight to Mandalay. There was great discussion on which side of the plane we should sit – we all got it wrong so didn’t manage to see the wonderful sights of Bagan from the air.
The short flight took 25 minutes, left 10 minutes early and flew at a height of 7.500 ft so we had an excellent view of the Ayerwaddy river and the surrounding countryside. Being monsoon season the river was very high and there were was water everywhere, although there were many other waterways connecting into it.
The city of Mandalay is 48km from the airport so before heading there we visited many places on the way. We were heading to a huge monastery to watch 1000 monks going for their main meal of the day but on the way stopped at a silk weaving factory to watch beautiful girls with faces covered in thanaka weaving beautifully coloured silks into very expensive longyis. Two girls sat at each loom working from what looked very sophisticated instructions with dozens of small spools of silk. It takes several months for this type of work to be finished so one can appreciate why they cost so much. Apparently the lucky Burmese who can afford these will only wear something like this twice in their lifetime – first at their graduation and secondly at their wedding.
We continued on our way to Amanpura to the Maha Ghanda Yone monastery to await the procession of monks with their begging bowls, food they had collected on their rounds earlier. At the allotted time the gong was struck and in silence they assembled in their ruddy coloured robes to process past the massive urns filled with cooked rice that had been provided by a generous family that day. Members of the family served the food and gave other gifts such as a small packet of detergent, bar of soap and a cake. Each monk looked straight ahead unable to look at his donor. This large family must have been pretty wealthy by Myanmar standards to have been able to feed so many. Each day this happens with either a family of business providing the gifts. Amongst the thousands of monks were a very large number of novices. Some children enter the monastery as young as 4 or 5 and stay there for life. Others are boys who by custom have to spend two periods of their young lives as monks. Our guide himself had spent two weeks at the age of ten at a monastery then later at the age of 18 a further month. These people are simply revered but we as outsiders were not quite sure how they really benefited the population.
The meal over they all dispersed in various directions presumably to meditate or tutor the younger members of their community. On leaving we saw a number of young mothers with children hoping for donations of left over food from the monks..
This was quite an amazing and moving visit to know that people are so generous in a country that is so poor.
Ava (Inwa), named by the British, was once the capital of Burma for almost 4 centuries. where we took a ferry across the river and took a horse and cart to an extremely old wooden monastery Bagaya Kyaung which is supported by 267 posts with diameters of around 60cm. Here we saw children and young monks being taught without any supervision. Some of the novices looked very sad and one had tears on his cheeks, one wonders how such young children can be put through this life. Everywhere we saw these young monks or nuns they were chanting and swaying to and fro.
The journey by horse and cart through beautiful countryside was more like being in a rough sea on the very poor road which appeared like a causeway through the massively flooded area. On the way back to the ferry we managed to see the Myanmar version of the leaning tower of Pisa, Nanmyin. It is in fact a leaning watch tower standing 27m high where we climbed to the top to admire the surrounding area and see the surviving swimming pool of the ancient King’s wives.
Our next visit was to one of the most beautiful brick monasteries we had seen. Known as Cinderella monastery an ancient legend has it that a longyi floated by and the king finding it wanted to know who it belonged to. He then set out to find the owner. Although now painted white the building in the brilliant sunshine was simply beautiful with fantastic architecture. Sadly it was just too hot to climb the many steps to do it justice and we opted for a walk around the outside and back through the wonderful arched basement which had housed the monks. Made up of many tunnels that crisscrossed in all directions with communicating cells I had a funny sensation when leaving a very dark area, something that felt like cloth brushed my arm. Was it a ghost? Both Ye and Brian checked it out with torches but nothing could be seen. I had already had a strange sensation at Bagan when I was sure something or someone had walked through our room whilst we were there.
It is simply the most beautiful day with bright blue skies and we head for lunch before returning back across the small river of the Ayerwaddy to Amanpura to drive to a monastery with Buddhist nuns to see their way of life. The girls with their shorn heads were all chanting and learning their scriptures, how they managed to learn anything with the noise was a miracle. They all appeared very happy and showed us their kitchen and stores. All cooking was done on small charcoal fires on the floors with concrete blocks to support the cooking pots. Quite a feat when there were over 100 mouths to feed.
We then drove back to Amanpura to U Bein bridge which was made completely from teak wood in 1849 spanning 2m across a lake. It is considered the longest bridge of its type and was originally built for the king and his entourage to be able to move his kingdom around the area. It was actually a rather risky structure with nothing to stop people falling off into the waters below. It appeared relatively busy whilst there so on a very busy day with many local tourists I would be very reluctant to cross it. From here we made our way into Mandalay and our hotel, Mandalay City, which was tucked away in the centre of the city. It appeared to be a hotel used by many local tour operators, but we saw few foreigners apart from a small group of Spanish.
There was a nice pool and I managed to have a quick dip before heading off to the restaurant for some Western food for a change – burger and chips for Brian and a very nice cheese omelette for myself.
Thankfully the next morning we were able to lie in with an 8.30 start. It was off to the jetty on the banks of the Ayerwaddy to watch life on the riverbank. Much of the area is flooded so dozens of families were living in makeshift accommodation with women cooking scrumptious looking food in woks over charcoal fires laid on the hard mud. We watched a vessel being loaded with sacks of rice, as each man lifted a bag of rice he took a stick from a bucket and then once on board put the stick into another bucket. This was their way of counting the required number of sacks. When the bucket ashore is empty they have loaded the quota.
From here we went on to our own private boat, walking very narrow planks suspended across an area of around 25m, as we walked across men holding pieces of bamboo for us to hold walked with us, a mobile rail. Once on board we clambered onto the top deck where there were three cane chairs for us. This vessel was possibly a lot younger than it looked but Brian estimated it at 20-30 years. It was typical of all Myanmar river boats where the skipper lives on board with his family. Soon after setting out the skipper jumped overboard in his longyi as the prop had become fouled. He was back on board in minutes, hosing himself down and kitted out with a dry longyi. Our trip would take us up the Ayerwaddy and across to the other side to the town of Mingun where we visited a gigantic unfinished pagoda. The journey took between 30-45 minutes passing large areas of flooded land and houses on high stilts.
At Mingun we walked in enormous heat to the pagoda. The size was simply enormous and had suffered severe structural damage in an earthquake in 1934. Had it been finished it would have been the largest in the world but if finished the king, at the time, was told that disaster would strike so he stopped the building and it was never completed. However the incomplete temple still stands and can be climbed by using the many steps to the top, in the heat we opted to stay at ground level. Across the road from the pagoda are the two traditional temple entrance lions, now sadly in ruins, but of similar proportions to the pagoda.
A short distance from here is the Mingun Bell, largest hanging bell in Asia. It was quite huge and had been cast on the river banks of the Ayerwaddy.
From here we walked to the Mya Thein Tan Pagoda, known as Universe and Mount Meru Pagoda. A different design to all other Myanmar temples as this one is round. It rises 7 tiers and was quite beautiful. It was just so hot we had to take a bullock cart back to the river. We are really experiencing the wild west feel in all these horse drawn vehicles.
With the south flowing current it did not take long for the boat to get back to the original starting point. On the way back we enjoyed sand roasted peanuts and freshly picked bananas whilst watching small local trading boats sail across the river. Many of the sails are made from monks’ robes. It was back to Mandalay for a wonderful lunch at a typical Burmese food stall.
Of the 1 million monks in Myanmar, 600,000 of them live in Mandalay and they were to be seen simply everywhere.
It was also where we saw vast numbers of vehicles, particularly Jeeps, dating back to WW2. Many had been slightly modified but many were still as built with small headlamps and narrow wheels. They have tried to copy them but of course they are not four wheel drives. Taxis in the city here were small blue 1940s Mazda 600cc trucks dating back to Japanese occupation time and had been left as conscience gifts. A small narrow plank of wood either side of the truck and a makeshift cover was what you got. They were not comfortable for our Western sized butts.
The afternoon sadly did not live up to the morning. A visit to the Royal Palace was a great disappointment. The palace had been taken over by the Japanese during WW2 and the building was bombed by the Allies and burned to the ground. The modern replica is a very poor substitute with its poor museum exhibits.
Gold leaf is a big business in Myanmar, there appears to be no shortage of it, nor money to buy it, as seen at a visit to a gold leaf factory then onto the Golden Buddha that has between 4 and 5 inches covering it – all put there by Buddhist pilgrims.
However, the Golden Palace monastery has no gold visible. This is a beautiful piece of work, constructed like the majority of buildings from Burmese teak with magnificent carvings on every panel. This is how the Royal Palace would have been built originally.
The carving of buddhas is also big business here. I visited a whole area where huge pieces of marble were being carved with electric tools. No one wore face masks or safety footwear. The dust was simply appalling and I was not sure how people did not suffer from lung problems working in such conditions. Each Buddha was carved leaving the head for the specialists to do.
Whilst in Mandalay one has to go the top of Mandalay Hill. Thankfully it now has escalators to reach the top and an elevator to descend. The views of the surrounding flooded land were spectacular and it was only possible to guess where the banks of the Ayerwaddy might have been. Many people have had to move into makeshift homes on the sides of the road because their homes are flooded. This is a common occurrence in the monsoon period. At the top of the hill I met a very friendly local guy who visited several times a week in the hope he could meet people to converse in English. He was an English teacher and was currently working on idioms. He had one I just did not recognise which he used when we parted ‘break a leg’. When I asked him what he meant he said it was the English way of saying goodbye and good luck. I told him otherwise. However we had a very interesting chat.
It was back then to the hotel for a light supper and to meet up with Brian who had remained back at the hotel during the afternoon trying to recover from his cold. Tomorrow is another day of travel and we are off to Puin Oo Lwin.
Up early again to go by car to Pyin U Lwin, Myanmar’s City of Flowers, also known as Maymo, which was once the area the Brits disappeared to when the weather was hot. Everyone told us the weather there would be good but it unfortunately simply poured down on the journey there and again whilst visiting the beautiful National Kandawgyi Gardens. These gardens were modelled on Kew Gardens back in 1915. During a respite in the rain on our way to the Orchid area we were stopped by many locals who seldom see white visitors for photo shoots and for them to practice their English. The gardens are very often used for filming the many Myanmar films that are made as we saw on our journey back to Mandalay by bus a few days later.
The plan had been to visit the butterfly museum but it was closed. The collection of orchids was beautiful but before we could really appreciate them the rains came in a deluge and we had to hastily seek cover at the entrance to the butterfly museum nearby. The rain just did not ease and eventually a very kind member of staff emerged from the museum to ask if we would like to take a look. The two very wet umbrellas we had were left outside the door but on leaving we found one of them had been stolen and it was still pouring. With just one small umbrella between the three of us we just had to wait whilst various members of the staff rushed off in all directions in an effort to find who may have walked off with the umbrella. No luck and in the end the staff loaned us theirs so that we could walk back to our transport. Our transport in Pwin U Lwin was a stagecoach, this is the normal mode of taxi here. Built for people of a smaller stature it was very difficult for us to see out without bending uncomfortably so a little difficult to really appreciate the beauty of the large colonial homes possibly now used by members of the military.
The rain stopped and off we went to visit the house built for the then Prince of Wales in 1908, Candacraig, a large brick and teak house. However his visit did not materialise until the 1930’s and he stayed elsewhere. The house externally was exquisite but internally it was bleak. It is now a government owned hotel where no one seems to stay.
Pyin U Lwin has a huge military presence with the many military academies. Hundreds of smartly dressed Officer cadets walked around the town, it seemed overrun by them.
The entire area seemed to be full of local garden centres with simply masses of potted plants and trees so guess this is where people come to stock their gardens, well those who can afford to. At 3600 ft the climate is well suited for growing many items of fruit and vegetables. We also found it positively chilly and could understand why there were so many hawker stalls selling sweaters.
Only one night here and we were off to Hsi Paw next day
The plan had been to catch the train to Hsi Paw this morning. Our stagecoach collected us from the hotel and took us to the station for the 8.30am train. On arrival at the station we were greeted with the news that the train had been delayed and would not arrive until 10am. We sat down with our books prepared for the wait. Ye decided to go off and find some alternative means of transport and in his absence several locals concerned about us came and spoke to us. Even a member of the military was sent to quiz us on our intentions and we just could not stop him talking. He had very good English and he was keen to tell us all about his family.
It was soon confirmed the train would not appear as it had now been confirmed it had been derailed and needed a crane from Mandalay to lift it.
Ye soon returned with a car, driver and a passenger but before we got on our way we had to collect three huge bundles of flowers which virtually filled the rear of the very old Toyota Corona Estate we were in. It was an extremely tight squeeze to get all the luggage in plus ourselves.
The journey was dry and without incidents thankfully unlike the car we had to Pyin U Lwin where our luggage was simply soaked on arrival. The driver was determined to get to his destination fast so we overtook all manner of trucks and cars on the main Mandalay to China highway. At times it was extremely steep and windy. There was no chance of knowing the speed we were doing as neither the speedometer or fuel gauges worked. The journey took around 4 hours. Had we gone by train it would have been 8 hours so we were truly grateful for the extra time although the temperature here is extremely high.
Hsi Paw is in the north of Shan province. Our hotel/guest house ‘Mr Charles’ is situated just off the main street where we had time to explore during the later part of the afternoon and buy the very best pineapples we have ever eaten. Brian was still suffering from his cold and welcomed these beautiful fruit. Our evening meal was at a newly opened Chinese restaurant that was mediocre after all the other delicious meals we had been having.
From Hsi Paw we would trek the next day to the far off waterfall and other villages. We set off around 9am with Ye and our trekking guide. The walk took us past some interesting places and we made unscheduled stops at a woodworking shop where windows and similar items were being constructed from teak. A short distance further was a rice noodle factory. Very much a cottage industry, long poles with noodles hanging from them appeared in the distance along the roadside. At the factory rice was being poured into a large hopper to be crushed before being made into a paste, part of the process we did not see. We did see the large long strips of prepared paste put out to dry before being cut mechanically into the noodle strands. The whole procedure was very labour intensive with many young lads moving the prepared damp strands on poles. The product when dried thoroughly will be packed and sold in Myanmar.
We walked along the narrow muddy walled tracks that bordered the dozens of paddy fields. Water from the waterfall provides all the irrigation.
People lived as they have done for many years in accommodation made from local vegetation. Walls of houses are mostly woven from bamboo and the houses have roofs often made of bamboo. More and more though seem to have rusty corrugated iron roofs. The trek took us through a cemetery where a grave was being either built or repaired. Little did we know on passing we would get to know the workers better. The heat on the walk was excessive 37-38C and I was finding it tough climbing. The walk flattened out then descended greatly the other side. My thoughts were of the return journey along these narrow tracks in excessive temperatures so a short distance ahead, well we were told it was, but it seemed miles away before we arrived at a house where I stayed and rested while Brian continued with the trekking guide. This house built on stilts with a floor of split bamboo was the home of a 25 year old mother and her husband. Her young son of 18 months was contained in the house by 3 bamboo bars that extended across the 3m width of the house I was invited inside, taking my boots off to climb the angled ladder I scrambled across the barrier praying the floor would withstand my weight. Thankfully it did and I lay back keeping my knees up with my feet firmly placed on the bamboo floor. It is deemed disrespectful to lie with the bottoms of your feet showing. Whilst the lady continued tying up bundles of smallish steamed corn for the market I rested. This family’s income came solely from the growing of corn. Their annual crop of around 1000 lbs yielded around $2500US. The large cobs were dried in the hot sun and when hard are stripped and bagged then sold through a broker for the Chinese popcorn market.
It did not seem long before Brian returned looking exhausted. He had found the terrain hard going and the temperature too high to continue so had returned with the guide to the little house.
After a short rest we started the return journey but bad exhaustion really set in and Brian just could not continue. The trekking guide and I then made it back to the cemetery where the workers had a tractor truck and asked for their help. Whilst I sat in the shade waiting, one of the other workers was keen to practice his limited English asking many questions. The guide and I had left Brian and Ye halfway up a very steep track with hardly any shade. Eventually the tractor returned with a resplendent and relieved Brian sitting with a huge smile under umbrellas held over him by the others on the truck. This tractor had a single cylinder Japanese engine with a belt driven gearbox. The whole engine gear box assembly is mounted on the front axle which moves when the steering wheel is moved. The noise from the open exhaust and exposed engine was deafening. We were all then taken back to the hotel which seemed a great distance away. We certainly looked a sight as we drove through town with the two guides standing holding umbrellas over Brian to shield him from the punishing heat.
On our arrival back at the hotel the staff ran around getting Brian colas to keep his sugar levels up. The kindness was much appreciated as was the help the tractor driver gave. He very reluctantly accepted a financial gift. The hotel took Brian’s extremely dirty clothes and produced them later in the day brilliantly clean.
In retrospect it was madness to go on a trek at this time of the day in such blistering heat. We do not do it in normal life, in fact we do everything to keep out of the sun.
After a good rest we then appeared late afternoon for a stroll around town to visit the pharmacies for cold cures. At one we met a man with good English who was very keen to tell us all about his wife who had recently died and his house which he had made into a shrine for her. He was very keen for us to visit but we really did not have the time and had to politely decline the invitation.
The evening was interesting as firstly an important visitor was expected at the restaurant we were eating at but we did not stay to see who it was. We knew it was someone important from the number of military personnel with large guns and walkie talkies surrounding the premises.
On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the pagoda where a full moon celebration was taking place. We were lucky enough to see the rare Elephant dance where two men dressed in a very lifelike elephant costume fought with the executioner, an unusually tall and thickset member of the Shan tribe who carried a very large knife. This knife would have been used in earlier days when executions were done by chopping heads off. Today people are hanged in Myanmar.
Other activities continued during the evening including the flute dance and finally the deer dance. Very much like the Chinese dragon dance the Shan have a deer dance. I was spellbound by all this live entertainment and being a head taller than everyone else had a great view. This was a very special visit to Hsi Paw and it was a pity we did not have more time but we had an early start next morning so it was back to the hotel to once again pack our bags and get some sleep.
After a well earned rest after our trek yesterday we are up at 4.30 to leave at 5am on the Mandalay express from Hsi Paw. Life starts early in Myanmar with people taking advantage of the cooler hours. The bus collected us from our hotel, Mr Charles, our home of 2 days to take us the short distance to the terminus in the main street. There more passengers arrived along with items to be delivered on the way. Being high above the road we were able to see all the things we had missed on the car journeys. Weather on the way was very mixed with extremely heavy rainfall and flooding up in the mountains interspersed with thick grey cloud and then brilliant sunshine. The first major stop was the bus station at Pyin U Lwin where we ate delicious ‘pudding buns’ washed down with 3 in 1 instant coffee. The distance from Pyin U Lwin to Mandalay is relatively short in comparison and as we descended the view across the Ayerwaddy and Mandalay were spectacular.
When we were not watching the passing views we watched the peaceful films showing on the bus TV, the majority of which had been made at the gardens in Pyin U Lwin.
The 6 hour journey passed quickly and we were back in Mandalay at our hotel mid day giving us time to go off to window shop in the many electrical shops nearby.
Late in the afternoon we set off in a 1947 Mazda truck, just one of the hundreds left by the Japs to repay for their times and control of Myanmar, for a local shopping centre so I could visit a local supermarket to see what was available to buy. What a shock I got, it was far better than anything on offer in Langkawi. However, prices were very high for a population that earns so little but for those able to afford it everything was available such as Skippy peanut butter, NZ canned butter, Heinz tomato ketchup and sandwich spread, Campbell’s soups and Nescafe just to name a few of the vast number of products on offer.
I had been keen to go to see the Moustache Brothers, dissident comedians who perform their political satire nightly in their simple home in Mandalay’s back streets. Brian had been very unkeen to do so and we did not manage to do it on the previous visit – I had another chance I thought. However after a great deal of thought and much persuasion from Brian I never got there.
Officially banned from outdoor performances these three brothers and their family have performed traditional Burmese folk opera for a great many years. Being a lover of live art I was extremely disappointed not to go but felt it wiser to be cautious in a country that is so politically unpredictable.
Instead we ate supper at a Lonely Plant recommended restaurant, nothing special, and then walked the night market before returning to our hotel ready for another early start tomorrow to Inlay Lake.
We are up at 5am the next morning ready to leave the hotel at 5.30 for an 8.45 plane to Hero southeast of Mandalay. The plane then continued on to Yangon with the remaining passengers and any others they collected at Heho. The trip to the Inlay Lake Jetty from the airport is around 45 minutes and we stopped on route to visit an old Monastery constructed of wood in 1884 by Shan tribes just before the 3rd war between Britain and Myanmar, Britain seemed to be often at war with them. The architecture of this was quite different with large open circular windows and great carvings. The monastery is now a school for novices.
From there we moved on to a local umbrella workshop where we watched a man from the Dhanu tribe produce umbrellas. Initially we were shown how the paper covering was made by pounding crushed mulberry tree bark in a pot with water which was left for three years to soften until it became pulp. Finally it was all then spread into a fine meshed square where the water drained and the paper was left to dry in the sun. The finished article was extremely strong and was then used to cover the umbrellas. Natural dies and pieces of flower were added to the mixture before it was poured. The lovely dark russet coloured umbrellas the monks carried fascinated me greatly and here was where some were made so I was lucky enough to buy one from this very skilful man.
Just one more stop before getting into our ferry at Nuang Shwe. Ye had told us that food at our resort in the middle of the lake would be expensive and he said we should buy noodles to prepare in our room, so we did as suggested and bought 4 pots of pot noodles and a quantity of water. However we never used any of the noodles choosing to eat in the hotel whilst there – possibly because there was no way of heating any water in the room.
Armed with our luggage and extra parcels we boarded our fast boat to Skylake Resort about 3 miles away. The resort built in the middle of the lake over the water resembled traditional lake homes. We were greeted on arrival with the local resort band and taken to our room which was far away from the dining room and other facilities. One wondered why they did not pick a room closer when they were so empty. I think we were two of 4 guests staying the night.
With no air conditioning we had to sleep with mozzie nets which the staff fitted round our beds each night. We were extremely grateful for them as the nets were covered with simply hundreds of insects.
Late afternoon two local girls paddled us out in a small local boat to view the floating gardens and down to a village. All the villages are built on the lake although it is hard to believe it actually is a lake with all the vegetation and communities there. Next day we would find out more.
The next very busy day started at a reasonable hour. Inlay has 100 villages with 90,000 living on or around the lake. There are 600,000 living in and around the surrounding area and are mainly made up of Intha, Pa O and Dhanu tribes. The majority who live on the Lake are from the Intha tribe.
First stop of the day was the local market at the south west end of the lake. The journey there took us possibly around 45 – 50 minutes. There is a daily floating market that rotates around the villages but today there was none so we had to go to the fixed market. What an array of colours, smells and sights. We were just swept away with it all and our cameras just did not stop. There are 135 different tribes in Myanmar and many were here. Ye was able to tell from the shapes of their faces and the way they dress just which tribe they were from. The food, vegetables, fruit and fish were displayed neatly on the ground and again the variety and quality was far superior to anything we see here in Langkawi. Food was weighed on makeshift scales using dud batteries as weights. People smoked homemade ‘cigarettes and cheroots’, whilst others chewed and spat betel nut. It was a hive of activity and incredibly difficult to drag ourselves away. We were the only Westerners there and on many occasions our arms were brushed, not sure if the people wanted to feel our skin or to get good luck from us. It was just rare to find anyone here with any form of English. In fact there are so many languages with the many tribes that Ye was also unable to communicate with many of the people.
Inlay Lake is 800m above sea level so the temperature was much more bearable for us. The sky was also overcast allowing us to spend more time in the open air. Ladies and a few men from the Pa O tribe who live way up in the hills were dressed in their traditional clothes of brightly coloured wraps around their heads with their traditional black top and long skirts, evidence that it is cooler where they live. 1 million Pa O live in Shan State and are thought to have descended from Tibet. They are known to be great warriors and have stood up to the government on many occasions and as a result they now have privileges others don’t for having given up some of their tribal rights.
All the produce on sale at this market had been brought from the surrounding villages and at the end of the morning what had not been sold
was taken back. Boats passing the dock were loaded with people returning to their local jetty to then walk further into the hills.
Eventually we managed to drag ourselves from the market but it was a pity we did not go to view the two golden barges housed there. These are the focus of the Phaung Daw U Pagoda festival in October which starts with the September full moon. Sacred Buddha images are ceremoniously paddled around the lake on these barges.
From the market we motored to In Paw Khone where many of the houses had weaving businesses. It was here we watched a lady spinning silk thread made from the stem of the lotus plant. This was very impressive. She broke a short piece of stem in half then pulled the two pieces apart delicately revealing extremely fine strands that she placed on a board. She continued doing this adding the threads to the previous piece then rolling it to make the thread. Eventually it became quite long and later the thread would be woven with silk into beautiful pieces of cloth.
This particular business had a collection of wooden buildings, all built in the middle of the lake on stilts, and with many loud looms all being operated by hand by local ladies.
Winding our way through the many waterways and homes we came across a lady doing her laundry at the bottom of her house steps. She kindly invited us in to meet her elderly blind mother of 87 and the rest of the family which included two young babies. She very kindly produced cups of local tea but we refrained from drinking it knowing the water would have been obtained from the lake. The lake is used for simply everything – it is the laundry room, bathroom and source of water for all uses. Many have sewerage systems so we hope the contamination is not too bad. Even so we decided to be safe.
Having said our goodbyes to this very welcoming family we moved on to Se Khuang to the local blacksmith where we watched them fashion old lorry springs into knives and boat propellers. The team of hammerers was amazing. Whilst one guy held the red hot metal 4 skilful guys hammered in a rhythm to achieve the required effect. It was an amazing feat, How they never managed to hit one another is miraculous. It was rather similar to the guys bashing the gold leaf.
This was a busy blacksmith with many people calling with work to be done. It was also amazing to see how innovative they are using old drums and parts of vehicles to manufacture new parts.
It was then back to Shwe Hin Dhar (means Golden Duck) for lunch overlooking the lake near the market and where we watched the many boats and brightly coloured tribes people returning to their villages.
Our next venue would take an hours journey on the lake but on our way we stopped to see silversmiths at work. It was here we met our first annoying hawkers, women who clung to our boat desperately trying to sell us local craftwork. They just would not take no for an answer and even waited for our departure from the workshops to hassle us again. Our boat moved off very quickly in the rain whilst these ladies clung on to the sides. Eventually I bought a small fish and they left but doubt that it is actually made from silver.
One more stop at the home of some Karen tribes people. These people originally came from the borders of Thailand and Burma and are known for their long necks and the large number of brass rings they have round them. The brass rings were originally introduced by the men to protect the women from being bitten and killed by tigers. The few tribes living on the lake have moved here for a better life and have integrated into the local life well. They seemed a jolly group and some could even speak English explaining just how heavy the rings are – 6kg around the neck and a further 2kg around the legs. Rings are added at various stages of their life starting at around the age of 8 and one of the ladies showed me how she unclipped the lower larger rings so she could sleep. Ye told us that he had heard the rings are taken off at full moon but we have not found anything to substantiate this. We were told that this custom is now being discouraged by the government to enable women to move and work freely.
One lady was weaving the most wonderful piece of cotton which would eventually be used to make their traditional tunic. These tribes with units in Thailand and Myanmar still wear identical traditional clothes. .
It was then on to Inn Dein, our western most lake destination, where we seemed to walk for miles to simply thousands of ruined pagodas that date back to 1045. It is thought that some may be Thai and with others Burmese. The fancy umbrella adornments on the top of each stupa is the give away sign. It was sad to see so many crumbling ruins in such a small area and whilst we clambered over the site we just wondered why the odd one or two had been chosen for some very bad refurbishment, whilst others stood with simply huge trees growing through the middle of them and others leaning precariously in all directions. On the long walk back through a long row of hawkers I watched an armless man painting lacquered boxes with his feet. A short distance away another similar guy was decorating other articles with his feet. Both men we were told we thalidomide victims.
The jumping cat monastery was mentioned in several Myanmar guides so we were keen to get there to see Burmese cats jumping. A bit of a disappointment as we found other Westerners here and a few adult cats and many kittens but none resembled a Burmese cat other than one female who looked exactly like a Brown Tortie. Just two cats were encouraged with a few titbits to jump through a small hoop when sufficient tourists assembled to watch. In spite of the gimmickiness of the venue it was fun to watch the kittens having wonderful fun.
On the way back to our hotel we travelled through the many floating gardens. It is impossible to believe that this is a lake 11miles x 22miles as so much of it is covered with floating vegetation. Water hyacinths grow in abundance and large chunks float by like islands. These are gathered by the local lake living farmers who convert them into island gardens. Long bamboo
rafts are constructed and the hyacinth islands are placed on top along with mud from the lakeside banks and other water weed gathered from the bottom of the lake. The islands are then staked to the bottom of the lake with very long bamboo poles in long lines with narrow channels between, wide enough for their boats to be paddled through, to work on. These gardens are then tended like any other market garden. The area was simply vast with acres and acres of these floating gardens with a variety of crops. Tomatoes were the main one with rows of plants fruiting.
Whilst many of the men were working on these gardens others are fishing using a traditional net in the shape of a large cone which they drop into the water in the hope they catch a fish as it drops. Others use nets and spend hours each day casting and pulling them in without much success. We learned that the majority of the fish in the markets is farmed so guess these fishermen earn very little from their endeavours.
The local fishing boats which are about 7m long are constructed of planked wood with identical bows and sterns. The boats were tapered at each end to about half a metre wide and projected out of the water by half a meter. When the fishermen stood on one end it just touched the water so that the other end lifted out of the water giving it steerage over the greenery on the lake.
The fishermen and others use oars that are about 3 metres long and have a very unique way of sculling – they do it with their feet. They somehow manage to wrap one leg around the paddle and control it whilst managing their nets with their hands.
We had seen and done so much today. What a great day and we were really quite pleased the skies had been so overcast and the little rain in the afternoon had not spoiled our fun in any way. Once back at the hotel we soaked in the shower and prepared for our journey back to Yangon next day.
Our trip is almost at an end. Another early morning in order to catch our water taxi back to Nyang Shwe where our taxi was waiting to drive us back to Heho airport. There was great excitement on the journey as we came across 3 trucks transporting 5 large elephants. This was something of a rarity so along with the locals we stopped to have a good look. Each elephant was well and truly tied in with a huge piece of wood strapped at the back of the truck to make sure they did not fall off. The weight each lorry carried must have exceeded any manufacturer’s recommendations, if there was such a thing when these elderly vehicles were manufactured. The elephants appeared pretty happy with their trunks reaching out to explore. It was evident these were working elephants as they were slim like their carers. Soon after the lorries set off with us following, the elephants were off to their new work area where they will be moving large logs in the hilly jungle.
We continued on our way to Heho airport and caught our flight back to Yangon and Summit Park View hotel once more.
We had such a wonderful meal at ‘Feel’ on our first night we decided to return there alone for lunch and joined the hundreds of local diners to enjoy huge tasty prawns cooked in a delicious sauce with several veggie dishes. We were the only Westerners amongst a sea of oriental faces. Feel is situated a short distance from the hotel so we walked there and back. From the hotel, which was now surrounded by armed military personnel, we caught a taxi to the Dagon Shopping Centre, not the largest in the area but large enough for us to window shop and see what is available. There were fashion shops by the dozen catering for the huge young population of Yangon. Beautiful sandals made in Thailand adorned the displays along with Clarks sandals presumably made in their Chinese factories. In spite of so called world embargoes if you can afford it you can buy anything here. The most expensive items are 20 year old cars at $150,000. Apparently this price has reduced over the past couple of weeks but inflation still continues to rise at an alarming rate.
As predicted the rains came soon after our return to the hotel where we donned some tidier clothes and bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Ye’s wife, Niang Niang. We were now ready to visit the home of our guide and his wife who was celebrating her birthday and to experience her wonderful cooking. A truly fabulous experience which was impressive since she cooked every single sumptuous dish one after the other on her one single gas ring. We also presented Ye with a sling shot which he wanted so he could scare off the errant monkeys when he next visits Mount Popa.
The rains continued all evening and we eventually descended the 7 flights of stairs to find a taxi to take us back to Summit Park View to prepare for our last day, tomorrow.
The sun shone brightly early on our last day as we headed off to the main railway station of Yangon to take a circular train ride around the city. The train without doors or windows was naturally air conditioned. It was dirty, gloomy and quite uncomfortable with a wooden bench seat down each side of the carriage but it served its purpose of moving people around the city economically. When the train stopped only the loco had brakes so the carriages would all shunt into one another before they came to a halt. The track was very uneven and in some places there was a complete reverse camber and much was overgrown across the line. At times you had to keep clear of the windows in order not to be wacked by the overgrown foliage. We believe the train accelerated up to about 10 miles per hour. Along the journey we came upon a huge number of very old British style steam locos rotting in a yard which we thought many British enthusiasts would love to get their hand on. The trash along the side of the tracks was unbelievable and people lived amongst it. We certainly were now seeing the other side of the city. Small hawker stalls where cooking smells wafted through the train greeted us along the way and on several occasions hawkers boarded the train to sell fruit and other foods. We stopped many times for people to get on and off before we, ourselves, eventually got off to walk to a market and have coffee at a local stall. This was not an area normally visited by Westerners and again we were a source of great interest. The occasional English speaker would stop us to converse and we spent so much time chatting that we had to get a couple of trishaws back to the station in order not to miss the train. Little did we know that the train was running very late and we waited for some time before giving up.
Brian had so wanted to get to the Aviation Museum in Yangon so we caught a taxi from the station there. The museum had a large collection of old Myanmar Air force aircraft, amongst them were a Tiger Moth, Proctor, Venom, Spitfire, Hurricane and DC3 Dakota. The remainder of the building housed a museum devoted to the army and navy where there was an old Mark 8 torpedo (British) and many radars and radios. There was also a huge gallery of photos of all the Generals past and present. Brian thoroughly enjoyed the visit mainly because Ye’s father had been a Sergeant in the Myanmar Air force maintaining aircraft and Ye’s knowledge of aircraft past and present was simply unbelievable. Ye’s ambition had been to become a pilot but sadly he failed his medical due to his eyesight.
Time for grub again and Ye’s suggestion of another visit to ‘Feel’ met with great enthusiasm so off we set for our final meal in Myanmar before heading back to the hotel to collect our luggage and make our way to the airport to catch our flight back to KL early evening.
We said our goodbyes and thanks to Ye before entering the departure lounge. He stood with his nose pressed to the window waving us goodbye until we were out of sight.
We feel very privileged that we found Ye and that we were able to visit Myanmar before tourism gets hold of this wonderful country, which we hope will happen and the people will begin to prosper. Ye’s knowledge of the culture, customs and religion of his country is unquestionable. In the short time we had in his country he took us to places seldom or never visited by Westerners to show us all aspects of life.
One day we hope to return.
Once back in KL from Yangon we walked to ‘Tune’ hotel ready for an early start next morning.
We were up early to catch the bus into KL, a one hour journey, to get our Indian Visa Applications submitted at Grandlotus Travel before rushing back to pick up our luggage and head back to the airport for our flight to Kuching in the afternoon..
The visa applications needed five working days and we worked out that if submitted on Monday morning they would be ready for the following Monday. It did not actually work out like that. They needed five working days at least and one of the following days was a Malaysian Bank Holiday and the following week was Hari Raya, the end of Ramadan. Anyway we set off keeping our fingers crossed that we might be lucky.
We arrived in Kuching, Sarawak’s state capital. I had been to Malaysian Borneo 11 or 12 years ago and had always dreamed of going back to Sarawak where I had only spent 3 days. I was amazed at the transformation. Little did I recognise. It is now a stylish, progressive city with many high rises. There were now tidy dual carriageways from the airport with commercial buildings everywhere. I remembered it as being covered in jungle with a pretty poor road system. Progress.
Sarawak was once the former kingdom of British Raja Brooke and much is named after him. Sarawak sprawls along the north west coast of Borneo and comprises vast areas of forest and palm plantations. It is known for its remarkable caves which we planned to visit once we got to Miri.
This decision to go to Sarawak whilst we waited for our visas was a very last minute idea before setting off to Myanmar and I did not do a great deal of research and we sorely missed a guide like Ye. However, the hotel we chose in Kuching was good and well situated not far from the river and the Top Spot seafood eateries where I had eaten when I had last visited. The food was good but on this occasion I chose not to eat the traditional fern they cook having remembered that I was ill afterwards, well I put it down to the fern.
Our taxi driver from the airport was pleasant and offered to transport us around the next day, at a price, when we planned to visit Semengoh Wildlife National Park to see the orang utans. Semengoh is a rehabilitation centre for orang utans that have been rescued, usually from humans who have kept them as pets. I visited the park when last in Sarawak and the park has changed greatly since. No longer were we able to walk deep into the forest to watch these wild animals, now there were definite feeding stations on the periphery where we could watch at a distance whilst the animals fed. Amazingly each and every orang utan faced away from us so it was impossible to get a good picture of their faces. However, we stood and gazed with open mouths whilst they climbed along ropes and through trees. They were all females and many of them had young hanging on to their underbellies and as they approached the feeding station the keeper gave each mother a bottle of milk which she quickly drank sucking so hard that the bottled squeezed flat through lack of air.
The park is huge and not all the animals come for food each day which proves that many have returned to the wild and are fending for themselves.
Whilst coming through Indonesia we had an opportunity to go to Indonesian Borneo to visit the Orang utans but we chose to do a 5 day overland tour of Java instead so Brian had never seen the orang utans. He was not disappointed when he saw them at Semengoh.
It was once we left Semengoh that we realised we had not got the best out of our visit as we failed to realise there were other things to see and do whilst there.
From Semengoh we headed out to a longhouse. Borneo Longhouses are the traditional dwellings of the indigenous people. These communal dwellings are raised above the ground and contain many family ‘apartments’ living under one long roof and with what is called a common veranda where one walks. This longhouse no longer looked like the one I visited all those years ago. The previously jungle clad walls had been replaced with wood or concrete blocks and entrance doors with padlocks replaced the cane blind that covered the entrance previously. Like everything else in Sarawak these homes are now constructed in modern materials with modern appliances inside, sky TV aerials adorn the roofs and vehicles are parked in the newly made car park. However the basic construction is still based on huge bamboo poles to support it and provide the veranda. To see how a traditional longhouse used to look one needs to go to the Cultural centre which I felt would be too touristy for Brian. These two visits were over in one morning so we had the afternoon to explore along the river taking a boat trip in a small local boat which chugged at a speed slower than Songster along jetties where local fishing boats were tied and kids swam noisily in the muddy waters.
The newly built government building on the opposite side of the river simply glowed in the late afternoon sun. This was a magnificent piece of architecture that replaced the rather dowdy turreted building which presumably will be left to decay as much of the older buildings have in Malaysia. There is much history in this part of the world and it was sad to learn that Fort Margherita, built by Charles Brooke in 1879, which once guarded Kuching from approaching pirates, has been left to rot in the sun.
Next morning we decided to visit Bako National Park and our taxi driver took us to Bako jetty 45 minutes away to pick up a local boat and guide. Bako National Park lies between the mouths of the Sarawak and Batang rivers and is an exceptionally beautiful place with rocky headlands, good beaches and forest trails. Bako is also well known for its wildlife which include, long tailed macaques, bearded pigs and the probiscus monkeys.
The journey by boat took around 30 minutes on flat calm seas although we had been prepared for a choppy ride as warned by the guide books. The tide was just high enough for us to reach the small wooden jetty and jump off before it continued on its long journey out to sea. The area is very shallow for miles and the sea disappears for miles so we knew we would have a trek across the beach later in the afternoon for our return ride.
Our guide was a real gummy gem with not a tooth in his head. He knew exactly where and when the probiscus monkeys would appear. They came at low tide to eat the leaves off the mangroves that grew along the coastline so before low tide we walked into the park to the headquarters and not far from there we came across many of the very large bearded wild boar, and a great number of bright green snakes snoozing in the trees. Snakes do not eat often so sometimes stay for weeks in the same position on the same tree which we guess made it easier for the guide to find them for us to see. In the same densely growing area we saw squirrels scampering around and monitor lizards moving slowly whilst macaques sat in the trees quietly watching us. After our picnic lunch of very nice pastries, taken from the breakfast buffet at our hotel, we returned to an area not far from the jetty to sit and wait for any sign of movement in the hillside trees. Our guide was right the trees started to move vigorously and right before our eyes we could see the monkeys with their huge bulbous noses and stomachs peering at us from a distance. Eventually they descended and we, with great excitement, followed their every movement as they moved swiftly along the beach occasionally sitting, like little old men, on stubby tree trunks with their arms and hands on their knees. We moved stealthily along the board walk to a barred area where the animals crossed the river, either by swimming or jumping through the trees, landing extremely noisily on a tin roof. Standing below the noise was deafening as the stampede continued. The roof was hot and the probiscus needed to move fast into the forest to avoid their feet being burned. We were extremely lucky to be with a guide as many backpackers, with huge weights, walked miles on the many tracks in the park without seeing a thing. The extent of our walking was very little and we saw an amazing amount. Just as our guide had told us. What a great day this was but we could see the clouds building. Our boat was called and as expected we walked a great distance, paddling into the sea, to get into it keeping our fingers crossed that the rains would not come until we arrived back at the jetty. Our luck ran out and the rains came just before we arrived back where our taxi driver was waiting to transport us back to the hotel.
This was a wonderful day superbly enhanced with the use of our expert guide and the sighting of many probiscus. It was just a pity that he did not have knowledge of the wonderful birdlife, something we have found amongst many of the local guides not just in Malaysia.
Next morning we were up and off to Miri, an oil rich boom town situated at the north eastern end of Sarawak and where I hoped we would be able to see the tribes with the very long ears and visit some of the huge caves this area is known for. This is where my research failed. These tribes as I found out, once in Miri, live a great distance from the city and it required an overnight stay in a remote area as was the Mulu cave, something we could not do as we were committed to three nights at our hotel, Everly Park City.
Fortunately we ate lunch on our flight so soon after arriving we were able to do a little exploring of the rather sprawled out town and visit the tourist office where we found a guide who would take us to Niah Caves National Park on a day trip. Located in the limestone hills about 3km north of Niah town, the caves contain some of the oldest evidence of human habitation in Southeast Asia.
Kenneth our guide collected us next morning from the hotel and drove us to the park headquarters around 2hours from Miri where we registered and boarded the small ferry to the other side of the river. The actual caves are approximately 3.5 km from the headquarters via a boardwalk through old growth rainforest. As we walked along the sun shone brilliantly through the trees casting shadows onto the wonderful limestone overhangs. We eventually arrived at the Great Cave where we climbed up past the area of excavation and then disappeared down into the gloom at the back of the cave. In the silence it was possible to hear small noises, evidence that people are still living in these great caves, however, these are the men who climb the now fixed flimsy bamboo structures used for collecting swiftlet nests, the main ingredient of birds nest soup. These men risk their lives climbing these structures in poor light to earn a living. Birds nests are a premium price in China but these men are at the very beginning of the chain, it is someone later in the chain who is making a killing.
The cave was simply huge and stunning with the light pouring through breaks in the cave ceiling. As we climbed and descended the many boardwalk steps covered in guano it appeared as if the place was artificially illuminated in places, it was not, all the light was natural and at one spot we watched the rain fall through in brilliant sunshine. The whole area was eerily unreal and we had to keep reminding ourselves that this was a natural wonder, not something constructed for any virtual reality video.
The floor of the cave is littered with guano from the swiftlets and bats, at times it was several feet thick and is regularly collected by locals to be sold on for fertilizer at the supermarket or garden store.
In the great cave ruins of wooden buildings still remain. These at one time were used by the collectors and their families, there had also been a small store at one time selling basic items. It seems now the locals who collect are living deep inside the cave in very dim light bringing their needs with them. They appear at various times during the day with huge head torches and carrying a large bundle of very long bamboos which they fit together rather like drain rods with the end pole having a knife/cutting tool on the end. Once pieced together they lift the very long bamboos to the ceiling of the cave to cut off the nests. Prior to the boardwalk being built making ones way through the jungle with such loads to the cave took many hours.
We did not make the Painted Cave a further half an hour’s walk from the Great Cave, where there is much evidence of human habitation with ancient rock art and small canoe like coffins that show it was once a burial ground. Carbon dating puts the oldest of the relics back 40,000 years go.
This was a great day and Kenneth was a great guide. He in fact was from the Dayak tribe and his mother had very long ear lobes. Kenneth explained that the tradition was not so popular now and that many with such ear lobes are having them cut off to avoid embarrassment. Kenneth had quite normal ears. His parents lived deep in the heart of the Sarawak jungle and he only managed to catch up with them and his many brothers at Christmas time celebrations when they roasted a traditional wild boar caught by his father. Although many of the indigenous tribes were animists many had been converted to Christianity by the missionaries. In spite of his very remote jungle upbringing Kenneth and his siblings had all excelled academically with one being a dentist, another was an accountant and so on. His parents had done everything to make sure they all excelled.
On the way back to our hotel Kenneth took us to the Beverley Hills of Miri. An area where we had never seen such mansions surrounded by ornate walls and sophisticated ornate gates. These properties were bigger than we had seen anywhere on our travels and resembled palaces. Each one was owned by a Chinese Malaysian who had made substantial money from chopping down the rainforests and selling the wood. All these areas are now planted with palm oil palms, they extend as far as one can see. This is another profitable product which Malaysia uses to trade with.
This was a very long day with plenty of walking. We loved it but wished we had time to see more and that the guide had known more about the birds. Perhaps another time.
During our first night at Everly Park I had been bitten by bed bugs during the night and very early morning had to go to reception to ask to be moved to another room. Initially I was not sure if it was bed bugs but having had friends with an infestation whilst they were in Australia and knowing the consequences we searched internet for information and advice. The pictures illustrated exactly what my shoulder, arm and back looked like. As we had been out the previous day there was no time to speak to the management about it but today I decided that they should know the problem and the discomfort from these bites. To be fair they were very good and sent me off to a doctor in town where I jumped the queue feeling extremely guilty. The doctor tried her damndest to tell me they were sand fly bites but I knew what those felt like and these were very different. Eventually she agreed they were bed bug bites and game me medication to help. She actually admitted that another guest from the hotel had sought her advice the previous day. I cannot tell you how uncomfortable these bites were, they itched and itched for over 2 weeks in spite of masses of antihistamines and other ointments long after we left Sarawak.
Eventually we returned to KL where we caught a bus into the city centre to try out the ‘downtown Tune hotel’. We are great fans of Air Asia and they own Tune Hotels as well, this was not such a pleasant experience but we had a couple of nights there dodging the showers. The plan now was to head to Grand Lotus to collect our Indian Vias so off we set off on the morning of Monday 6th September to see how things were progressing and if they would be ready for us to collect. No such luck, we were told in no uncertain terms they needed at least 5 working days and it may be longer as they had to make contact with the UK for references etc. At the time we thought of changing our flights but in the end there was so much doubt we decided to fly back next day, as planned, to Langkawi. Whilst ones visa is being processed you are expected to check regularly via internet which we did and nothing was updated. However, once back on board Songster late in the evening of 7th we decided to have another look and guess what – they now said they were ready on 6th.
We had needed the visas to fly off to Mumbai on 10th October but once back on board recovering from our three and a half weeks away living out of suitcases and sleeping in many different beds we decided we could not face another trip away. There was much to organise for such a trip and when I started the research found it would be much more expensive in India than we had anticipated. That helped the decision, we needed all the time and money we could spare to get ourselves ready for our next sailing adventure, so we decided to abort the trip and just lose the flight money. Fate kicked in – just over a week ago we had an e mail from the airline to tell us the flight had been cancelled and hopefully we will receive all our money back for the 4 flights we had booked. Hooray for Air Asia. As a low cost carrier they are excellent and true to their word. The aircraft have been new on all the many flights we have taken. Air Asia’s terminal at KL LCCT is unbelievably efficient and flights have always been on time. The turn round is very fast with passengers often ready to board whilst those arriving are disembarking. The stewards/stewardesses work extremely hard throughout the flight making sure the plane is kept clean and tidy so there is little to be done on arrival and the plan is soon ready for take off again. Few flights have had empty seats. We know that Richard Branson has a stake in Air Asia and Tony Fernandes the owner of Air Asia was a higher flyer in Virgin Air. No wonder it is so successful.
Watch for our next sailing adventures which should start in November 2010. In the meantime Brian is working like mad rebuilding Songster!!!!!!
It was late Thursday night when we returned to the boat and checked our visas that we found they expired the next day. We thought they expired a day later and we would check out and merrily set sail for Thailand soon after. Unfortunately it did not happen that way.
The new electronics Brian has been fitting were not performing as they should, there were several other jobs that needed doing before setting off so it was decided we would take the ferry to Satun, in Thailand and spend a few days before returning to get a new Malaysian visa.
Hastily I booked ferries there and back and we made plans to pack a few things, book a taxi to the ferry terminal and head off. First we would approach Immigration to see if they could help us. What a great lot they were, the very kind guy in charge of Kuah Ferry Terminal Immigration on Friday said we would have to leave the country as the visas had expired that very day, but that we could return the same day which would save us having to find an hotel.
Yesterday morning we hot footed to the resort ferry to Langkasuka, taxied to the ferry terminal, checked out and caught the ferry to Satun along with our luggage and a lunch from KFC. There was just enough time to check into Thailand pass through Customs turn round and check out and board the next ferry back to Langkawi. We were back on Langkawi by 3.50pm.
The fast ferry took just 1hr 15 minutes each way passing through the many small islands on the eastern side of Langkawi, it was a beautiful day and we were allowed to sit on the top deck with the hair blowing through our hair and the sun beating down on our heads.
Now back at Rebak Marina we are hastily finishing off jobs and hope to set sail in a week to 10days time, this time it all now depends on the receipt of a package from the UK.
Happy New Year everyone.
We would like to say a very big welcome to Rougemont School in Newport, Wales where Brian’s grandson Alex and his school friends are to follow the final leg of our circumnavigation which will end at Port Said for Brian and Cyprus for Jackie. This passage will take us from Thailand to the Maldives, Oman, Yemen, Aden, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt before finally transiting the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
The past few weeks since arriving in Thailand have been extremely busy and stressful as equipment decided to fail. On the passage up from Rebak, Malaysia our outboard was troublesome but finally decided to give up the ghost late one afternoon before Christmas and we had to row for 90 minutes back to Songster. It was exhausting rowing against an incoming tide in the dark trying to find Songster and avoiding mooring buoys and other boats at Au Chalong. We did it and were none the worse for wear other than extremely hungry by the time we returned. On the way back to the dinghy we had bought some fantastic looking cooked pork sausages, something we had not seen for years, so we bought some to eat on our return. It was mighty tempting to eat them on the way back but we resisted and they were like heaven once we did get to eat them.
The anchor windlass decided to die 2 days later whilst we were lifting the anchor at Au Chalong. The motor had given up and it was only new in New Zealand. However as usual Brian does not like to be beaten so he tried to rebuild it but it was beyond him this time and we were lucky enough to find a local who could. In the meantime a new motor was ordered from Scotland and sent to us by the speediest courier service available, but that did not go smoothly as firstly the motor missed the plane – not sure how when it was collected early in the morning and the flight left late at night, then it was sent via Germany where it was held up by severe weather. Eventually it got onto another plane which then developed problems and it was held up again, and then weather again deteriorated and another hold up before it finally arrived and was delivered to Au Chalong Cruising Yacht Club on Christmas Day.
A few days before Christmas with the rebuilt motor on the windlass we upped anchor and moved to Panwa Bali in Chalong Bay where we were to spend Christmas and celebrate with friends but on Christmas morning the generator decided to give up after half an hour as it had sprung a serious water leak. There was nothing Brian could do and so we sort refuge in the nearest marina Royal Phuket where there was a vacant berth. Our Christmas as you might imagine was rather quiet, however, we managed to find an engineer at Boat Lagoon who would repair the outboard motor. Along with his two workers we climbed aboard the sidecar of his motorbike and sped out of the marina and down the dual carriageway to Royal Phuket Marina where they carefully lifted the motor off the back of Songster and carried it to their sidecar, we jumped in and we sped back to Boat Lagoon but this time we went the wrong way up the dual carriageway along the footpath. It was great fun and lovely and cool with the breeze blowing past.
With the Christmas holiday we had to wait a day or two before we could organise anything as the end cap of the heat exchanger had to be ordered from the States. Fortunately we ordered two as Brian managed to rebuild the one that had broken, fitted it, the generator ran for a while before the other end cap developed a leak, so they both failed within hours of one another. The new ones arrived. These were quite different in design to the ones originally fitted on the generator and resembled the end that Brian had modified. Northern Lights had obviously realised the design was not good.
On Thursday last we managed to break out of the marina and head back to Panwa Bali where we joined friends and celebrated Christmas on board Songster with Alan and Di off Moonfleet who we have known a number of years but who we will not see again cruising. Hopefully we will meet up with them in the UK some time this year.
Panwa Bali is a largish anchorage with a very difficult shoreline. When the tide is low it is extremely difficult to get ashore with all the rocks waiting to attack the bottom of your dinghy and your feet when you get out. However, it is quite calm and beautiful giving us shelter from the easterly winds.
We are now on countdown to our departure, possibly this weekend, for the Maldives some 1000+ miles away which is likely to take around 10 days. The forecast is showing very light winds so we are hoping for a little more wind from the east so that we can sail all the way.
The boat is filled with food and provisions for the next few months and hopefully along the way we will be able to purchase fresh local produce from the locals to ensure our diet is totally balanced.
Come sail with us on our blog to experience life at sea.
We have now been anchored here just over two weeks which have possibly been the worst two weeks in our lives. As more and more news and information was received about increased pirate activity in the Indian Ocean we were beginning to wonder if we really should attempt a crossing and return to Turkey this year.
Each afternoon or morning everyone met in the anchorage to share information and talk tactics, each day it got more dire and we began to wonder what we should do. We had telephone conferences with UKMTO who advised us not to go and Marlo sent us daily lists of pirate attacks. Our options were to either return to Thailand and have more boat work done, return to Langkawi, sail to Cochin and spend a year there. We had already got Indian Visas should such a situation arise. We could just ignore it all and sail with the planned TTT convoy and stress ourselves stupid and in addition wear both Songster and ourselves into the ground. The TTT was now talking of heading up the Indian coast to Pakistan and then across to UAE before heading down the coast to Aden and into the Red Sea. Friends had already turned back because of the huge number of fishing boats and unlit merchant vessels at night on this route. This planned passage would be around 3000 miles – almost an Atlantic crossing – and much of it motoring due to light winds. One day last week I got hint of people in Cochin shipping their yachts to the Med and we wasted no time in contacting the company and signing up. So with much relief Songster will be put aboard a vessel that will come to Male here in the Maldives sometime between 15th and 25th March to lift her on to its deck and take her to Marmaris, Turkey where we will join her.
We are not alone in doing this around half a dozen others are doing the same thing and several are joining us from Cochin.
The plan had been to leave the anchorage today to head south towards Male where we have to be by 24th February in order to renew the cruising permit and visas which we are now awaiting. The normal stay in the Maldives is just 72 hours without charge, checking in and out of the same port. To stay longer and move about with your yacht you need a cruising permit which is costing $620 for 30 days and starts on your day of arrival. Unfortunately due to circumstances we have been here already over 2 weeks so the renewal will come slightly quicker than we had hoped for. The distance from here to Male is around 50 miles further than Langkawi was from Phuket so we will do it in day hops. The biggest problem is that none of us expected to be in this situation so are not prepared with charts and pilot books so everyone is pooling information etc.
Uligan is a beautiful spot and we have managed to have some relaxation time over the past couple of days, although Brian is still being called upon for advice on repairing generators, gear boxes etc. etc.
The sea is crystal clear and filled with fish. Each morning around 6.30 we watch the manta rays glide gracefully near the yacht fishing for breakfast, this morning they were accompanied by a school of dolphins. Dolphins here are slightly smaller than others and appear to be very energetic, we have seen some fantastic displays of gymnastics by some. Brian has tried his hand at fishing but unlike the locals he is not successful, however the fish do like the bait, smoked bacon.
We will never see water and fish like this again unless we take an independent trip to the Red Sea at some time in the future. Currently all we want to do is take one day as it comes, get Songster shipped and then decide where we go during the shipping period.
So with a bit of luck we shall depart Uligan Tuesday morning for Kulhudufushi where we will stay a night and hopefully get some internet connection to do further research.
Friends and family have been simply wonderful checking out flights, offering accommodation and most of all they are extremely relieved we are not going to sail across the Indian Ocean and up the Red Sea.
We are absolutely delighted that we will never do another ocean crossing and hopefully no more overnight passages!! Of course once back in Turkey we may change our minds ………………..
We will keep you updated on our travels through the Maldives and back to Turkey.
It is a beautiful morning and just after 0800 we lifted the anchor to set off south to our destination of Nolhivaranfaru just 5 miles north of Kulhudufushi and on the eastern side of the atoll. We knew from the pilot book that the entrance would be very shallow.
Just 28 miles from Uligan we left in very light winds so motor sailed the whole way arriving at around 2pm when the light was good. It was very shalow with plenty of current as we entered the entrance that is now marked with two sticks with the depth getting as low as 0.9m below the keel, perhaps if we had gone further to the east it would have been deeper as friends who arrived a few hours after us did not have such shallow depths and they kept more easterly. On leaving we kept more easterly and the depths were around 4m under the keele.
It was the most beautiful spot anchored in the large lagoon and we regretted staying just the one night however it was disappointing to find there were no fish and the water was rather cloudy, presumably with sand washed in from the nearby sand island. The island had a largish village which we sadly did not visit.
We had a peaceful and restful night.
Our plan is to catch up with Scorpio who is a few islands ahead of us.
05 59.55N 73 13.29E
Wednesday 16th February 2011
After a pleasant night at Nolhivaranfaru we weighed anchor soon after 7.45 to head to Dolhyaddhoo the crescent shaped island in the middle of North Miladhunmadulu Atoll. With a good current we covered the 46 miles in good time arriving soon after 1500.
Dolhyaddhoo from the air shows a circular reef but more than half of it is submerged and we motored slowly across the reef in case there were extreme shallows, thankfully we had plenty of water and it was an easy approach from the west side although there were strong currents.
It was a beautiful day again with very light winds
The pilot book told us that a resort was being built there and due to open in 2009 but on arrival it was clear to see the place was still under construction and would be some time before it would see guests. However it was a very pleasant spot where we might have enjoyed a couple of days. Gilgamesh told us the snorkelling was superb on the outside of the reef which was just a short distance from where we anchored.
Carlo and Luisa had successfully speared a large grouper earlier in the day on the edge of the reef and we were invited to spend the evening with them enjoying a superb Italian fish meal. It was delicious. This is one of the joys of cruising that you experience not only the cuisine of the country you are in but the cuisine of the fellow cruisers country.
We had a great evening with them, they even dinghied us to and fro so that we did not have the hassle of getting our dinghy and outboard set up.
This was an excellent stop over where we anchored in around 13 m of water.
05 32.598N 73 27.784E
Thursday 17th February 2011
Another early start to sail just over 31 miles to the island of Kuredhoo on the next Atoll south. Kuredoo is situated at the top of Faadhippolu Atoll and was around .25 of a mile out on C Map.
Crossing the channel between the two atolls the tide changed and we had a good current with us, however, the currents getting around the north east corner of Kuredhoo were fierce until you got into the shelter of the island.
This was a very pleasant spot if a little noisy. Kuredhoo was the home of an extremely large resort with something like 800 beds, we could not get over the number of people we could see on the nearby beach and sea planes arrived and took off every hour. People were being moved around in great numbers here as tour boats came and went regularly. It was a very busy place but not the place for yachties, friends on Pelikaan warned us that they had been asked for $50US per person to go ashore, so we stayed on board and watched the many boats and planes along with the manta rays that seemed totally oblivious to the boats. The dolphins also gave us a wonderful display just as the sun went down.
It was a beautiful spot but we had now caught up with Scorpio so it would be just another 1 night stop.
05 17.983N 73 29.352E
Friday 18th February 2011
The Maldives, even though we had paid for a cruising permit, is not blessed with many acceptable anchorages and our next stop had to be well placed in order to make a long passage crossing the 30+ mile stretch of water to North Male Atoll. We decided on an early start to the day in case the anchorage was not suitable and we had to make the crossing to the next stop of Gaarafaru Atoll.
The pilot book reported an anchorage at the southern end of Varihura but the authors had not used it so we set off with Scorpio. Just a short distance from Kurehdoo, approximately 18 miles, we worked our way around the western side of the atoll to the east of the islands. Varihura looked simply beautiful from a distance and had a huge extremely shallow lagoon on the eastern side with clear turquoise water.
We made our way down to the southern tip and managed to find a small piece of sand amongst the coral to drop the anchor. Not an ideal anchorage but in the calm conditions we had it was fine.
This was an excellent anchorage for an early start with very deep water just meters away. We were told there was good snorkelling but we did not try.
Again our dinghy remained on board but I did get into the water with the intention of checking the anchor but the currents were too fierce for me.
04 13.312N 73 32.239E
Wednesday 9th March 2011
After 9 days at Velassaru we lifted the anchor at 08.30 and headed out through the gap in the reef marked with a new pole. A few days previously the pole had been knocked down by a passing boat and then replaced with something a little sturdier, somewhat listing it stands at approximately 04 06.692N 73 26.245E. Passing to the south of it we had 1.9m of water under the keel at low water.
Our stay here in the lagoon had been time to relax and regenerate after all the previous weeks tensions. We had internet so were able to keep in touch and wait anxiously for any news on the ship that was due to collect us. The plan was to perhaps prepare the yacht for shipping here and then motor back to Hulemale a little near the time of departure but the days were passing by, our freezer was now empty, we needed some fresh veggies so it was decided to go back to Hulemale anchorage and from there get the laundry done and do a little more research on flights and possible accommodation in Male and Turkey.
The laundry was enormous as I had found a locker full of Brian’s t shirts where several at the bottom of the pile had gone mouldy, it was only the smell that made me look into the locker. A locker known to be normally dry and sweet smelling this was a mystery. I can only think that when we shipped water on the passage from Phuket water seeped into that locker and then soaked upwards. A few of the t shirts had to be discarded but the rest appeared to be OK when they came back from the laundry.
Our water maker has a slight problem, enough to stop me using the washing machine, it is not producing as much per hour so we are managing the water more conservatively at the present time. The water maker needs a new valve and we think we will wait till we get to Turkey where Brian will be able to buy one easily.
Our time in Velassaru has been quite social with the number of yachts there. Most evenings we were being entertained or we had friends on board so it was very pleasant. Friends also took me snorkelling out on the reef with them. Sadly Brian is not keen to swim or snorkel these days and I am rather reluctant to go off on my own for fear of a big fish or being hurt on coral so I am now a reluctant solo snorkeller. The coral on the edge of the small atoll was remarkably good although there were patches of dead coral there was a great deal of rejuvenation. It was at this island I saw Nimo for the first time, Nimo as you may know is a clown fish. I thought they were not as spectacular as other fish I have seen, they were a bit of a disappointment. The big highlight here was the sighting of three Clown Trigger fish. Quite unlike Nimo they are bigger and have huge black spots on their underbelly and are quite beautiful.
The resort on Velassaru appears large but there appeared to be little activity in the area we could see. Each evening, when the weather was calm enough, their local Maldivian boat would take tourists out on a sunset cruise, it was all rather nice as they sat on large leather type beanbags wearing beautiful clothes. Quite unlike us untidy cruisers who wear very little. It is understandable that they do not want us around on their shores, as one friend found when he dinghied close to the jetty and was told in no uncertain words to clear off. One night we watched a wedding taking place on the boat as they sailed close to the yachts.
There are resorts as far as the eye can see on every conceivable small island. The accommodation is built out over the ocean so there is no need for land just a small piece of sand is enough to call it a deserted island and the ability to charge a fortune for going there.
Brian’s birthday was on 3rd of March and I had used my best networking skills to get ourselves invited to the Taj Resort a few miles from Velassaru. The weather was not settled at the time and friends told us the anchorage was not that good so once we found out that the cost of a bbq supper was to be $175 per person plus drinks and taxes we decided very definitely that the weather was not good enough to go there. Phew! Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to find out the prices before we were committed.
With an empty freezer we are now chomping through the stores of packets, bottles and cans. It is amazing what scrumptious meals can be produced with a little imagination and a few fresh items added. We still have good supplies of cheese and bacon so will not go hungry for weeks.
Lets hope we get some good news soon on the shipping.
04 22.612N 73 38.752E
Two days in the airport anchorage at Hulemale is enough when you are killing time. The tourist boat traffic is vast with their dinghies toing and froing at vast speeds at all times of the day and late into the evenings.
We have now ventured north of Male to a small island by the name of Thulusdoo where there is a small Coco Cola factory where the product is made using deslinated water. The process will be the same as we use for producing water on board. With a bit of luck we hope to get invited to view the process of making Coke here.
The island is one of very few that is a resort island and on the way we passed many of them. They all look beautiful but we hate to guess what price they all might be. Some we saw had accommodation built on stilts out over the ocean with no means of getting ashore other than by small boat – guess one would have to pay an absolute fortune for that privilege.
However, Thulusdhoo, is a good stop and we are anchored between two reefs just a short distance from a wreck that is deteriorating under the strong sun’s rays and the movement of the sea. The water Is a beautiful clear blue and we plan once we have completed a few jobs to go ashore to explore.
This morning we received good news that a ship has been nominated to pick us up but the date has been put back to 30th/31st for its arrival in Male so guess it will be a few days into April before we finally fly away towards Istanbul, Turkey.
In the meantime we plan to spend a few days here to explore and enjoy the water before finding somewhere else to hang out. We have almost 3 weeks before the ship arrives so still plenty of time to enjoy the warmth and give Turkey time to warm up.
We now have heard that our ship is due to arrive in Male somewhere around 30th/31st March so we have more waiting time. Our plan is to spend more days here in Thulusdoo and then return to the airport anchorage next week in time to get our cruising permits sorted out. These have incorrect dates on and having had a visit from Customs here in Thulusdoo two days ago we do not want to risk having anything wrong.
Thulusdoo is proving to be an interesting island. Firstly there is the Coca Cola factory where sadly we did not get past the security guard. It was easy to see the bottling lines and their large CO2 plant where the sea water is desalinated to add to whatever the secret recipe of Coca Cola is. Coca Cola, Sprite and other bottled drinks is shipped in vast quantities many times a day from the dock here to Male from where it is distributed to the many islands of the group. They obviously do not produce enough as the shops here have canned Coca Cola produced in UAE.
As usual on each visit ashore we are met by someone who owns a shop and they insist you come to look in the hope you have plenty of dollars to spend or give. Like most tourist shops the goods are cheap and tacky, not our style, and we do not have neither the space nor money. We in fact have plenty of items we would love to get rid of on board having stocked up with ‘giveaways’ for the poor people of Eritrea. There are no poor people here in the Maldives especially this island.
After our visit to a grocery store yesterday morning we were invited to the shopkeeper’s home where we met his extended family. Not quite sure who was who but there appeared to be dozens of people, particularly women and children. Not sure if they have a roster for cooking but the person cooking for the family was extremely busy grating coconut, preparing vegetables and pounding the mixture for chilli chips, their version of tortilla chips. They tasted delicious but were extremely hot. The family was very hospitable and the younger members were able to chat with very good English. School children are now taught all subjects, other than Muslim subjects, in English, it is difficult getting the ear attuned to the dialect but once you have mastered it you can understand everything. Many of the teachers come from India so they speak English like Indians.
This village has a number of shops selling groceries but they do not all have the same products. Needless to say as everything is imported the prices are higher than we are used to.
On our afternoon stroll around the southern side of the island we came across a huge colony of endangered Maldivian mega fruit bats. These bats are huge, they are the biggest we have ever seen and hopefully when we next go ashore in the afternoon I will have my camera to take pictures. Going ashore in the afternoons tends to be rather bouncy as the wind and accompanying chop come up around lunchtime each day. At least there is a jetty that we can tie to even if it takes a bit of effort to get on to it. In the afternoon surf it is too difficult to take the dinghy to the beach.
Two days ago we had an exciting morning, up early at sunrise we cleaned one side of Songster’s hull. Doing it during the day with the heat of the sun is difficult as it dries too quickly and like windows cleaned in bright sunlight, the paintwork goes smeary. Whilst doing this we could see we were surrounded by squid so we hastily got out the fishing rod and our new squid lure. What fun it was as we caught these squid and they then showered us with ink. Amazingly they always aimed it at us and as a result the boat was simply covered, we even found ink on the bed linen later in the day that had dried and was impossible to remove. These creatures contained enormous amounts of ink which they projected at great speed and thrust. We decided the clearing up process was not worth the time catching them so the fishing rod and lure is firmly away and out of site. The squid caught went into a seafood carbonara along with fresh tuna we had bought at the fish market in Male.
This morning Brian was up early to clean the opposite side of the yacht where yesterday we noticed long black streaks of squid ink that had been missed the previous day.
Now we have time to relax we cannot believe how tired we are, so after lunch each day we have a rest, I manage to nod off whilst Brian reads and rests. In around 10 days it will be all hands to the deck as we prepare Songster for shipping packing away sails, clearing the decks and making sure everything is stowed safely for the journey to the Med.
Our stores are going down slowly but we are still managing to eat very good meals from our vast supplies.
At least we are in warm weather, the sea is warm and at the moment no rain. Winds are blowing from the NW. With the transition period approaching, the period between the NE monsoon and the SW monsoon, the weather is likely to become unsettled. The NE monsoon does not seem to have happened this year so not sure what is likely to happen with weather over the coming weeks as the seasons change. We hear it Is cold in Turkey so it is better to be here at the moment.
On 23rd March we decided we had spent enough time at Thulusdoo and should return to Hulemale to start preparing Songster for shipping. We had had an enjoyable time there but it was time for a change so once the sun was high enough to spot the bombies in the lagoon we set off back to Hulemale where we are now.
Time is passing by and we are still here, now been in the Maldives 2 months. The latest news on our ship is that it should be here around 5th April but of course much depends on its current progress from Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, where it is due to dock today and any delays it experiences between there and its arrival here. Once we have some definite dates we can all make arrangements for flights and accommodation both here in Male and in Turkey. Having had a number of days in Thulusdoo with no wind we now have westerlies which have picked up the chop in the anchorage making it at times somewhat lumpy and particularly difficult when going ashore with the dinghy.
Our first job back was to clean the bottom on the dinghy which had about 3 inches of growth, quite a garden. We hauled it up on to the foredeck with a couple of halyards, this is the first time we have done this and we will be doing it when we ship. Needless to say it took us a time to fathom out the best way to do it basically as it is so heavy. However we managed it and set to on the cleaning. By the time we had finished we felt it better to wait until early next morning in the lighter winds and flatter seas to return it to the water. Well that was when we got ourselves into trouble, using the windlass to haul the dinghy upwards, we had done this to lift it out, we had a total jam up and the dinghy would move neither up nor down and was suspended from the top of the mast. Thankfully a great group of guys from other yachts came to our rescue and within a short time someone was up the mast to untie the knot and the dinghy was back in the water. Another friend climbed the mast to release the rope and found the block had totally broken and the halyard jammed so it was all removed and brought down. It was simply wonderful for us to have help and a job that would have taken us all day to fathom out was sorted in less than an hour. Can’t tell you how grateful we were to everyone for their help.
Another purpose of returning was to renew our cruising permit which had expired so we are now legally able to stay until the end of April, but just hope that by then we will have been in Turkey a number of days.
We have also been able to purchase fuel. At Uligan we sold the excess fuel as we knew we would only be able to carry a small quantity on the ship, of course that has all been used so we are now buying more! A huge tanker, well by Songster’s standard, came alongside and tied to us. The sea was pretty choppy, one mooring line broke with the swell, but we both held on Songster’s anchor so we feel pretty safe here.
Since being here in Male we had not found a reasonable supermarket so we set off a couple of days to find Fantasy, a nice clean supermarket with plenty of good imported products, it even had very large packets of Kellogs Corn Flakes and Persil detergent. Not always available eslewhere. However, the prices were a great deal higher than we have been used to over the past couple of years and the shock of a cauliflower for £9 made me soon return it to the shelf. Unfortunately I did not realise how much the avocado was I bought until after I had paid for it – almost £4. I did not read that they were priced for 100g weight. In future I will stick to buying fruit and veggies where the locals shop.
Whilst in Thulusdoo I came across a tailor and asked if he would copy an extremely old sleeveless shirt I had bought in M&S years and years ago, no problem he said and I returned 36 hours late to collect it. Every time I have something made I always say never again, this was no better, he obviously was only used to making shirts for men so it was made with the button holes on the wrong side and a collar like a man’s shirt, all stiff and very high, so much for giving him something to copy from. However he did make a fantastic job of mending a tear in the old shirt. I am sure I shall wear the new shirt and noone will notice it does up on the wrong side.
Yesterday we took a load of laundry in to yet another place here in Hulemale, it seems everyone has a small cottage industry going on at home. From there we then caught the ferry to Male and then picked up another to the airport which is at Hulehule south of Hulemale. The two islands joined by a causeway and previously coral reefs have been reclaimed and are now considerably bigger than Male itself in area. The airport was teeming with people and to celebrate Singapore Airlines introduction of daytime flights there was a local group drumming with a few dancers. The noise was deafening and impossible to hear anyone speak. Whilst at Thulusdoo we heard drumming practices in the evenings, presumably this would have been similar to what we watched yesterday. We ambled around and then walked down to the Hulemale Hotel for a Western lunch of burger and club sandwich at a total cost of $30. This was somewhat dearer than the price we have been paying in Male at Trends for a buffet lunch at around £5 each so we will return to the local food in future.
Despite the boredom of waiting we have kept ourselves busy, most nights we have done something we never do, watch a DVD. A couple of nights ago we managed to watch The Kings Speech which we bought here in Male. A great film. Many cruisers are exchanging DVDs but as we are not avid fans of film we have a very embarrassing selection to offer, all too old or not violent enough. In fact we were loaned a film called Red with Helen Mirren, neither of us could make head or tail of it, everyone was shooting guns, we soon stopped it and returned to our books. Reading has become a favourite leisure activity for us. Brian keeps himself busy, at the moment the watermaker is giving him grief and we have had to buy water. The parts needed are relatively inexpensive but to get them shipped here costs a fortune so we will wait until Turkey where transportation by courier should be simpler and less costly.
We plan to fly from Male to Istanbul, not sure how at the moment and then spend a few days in Istanbul to do the sights before heading south by bus to Marmaris where we are booked into a cheap hotel to await the arrival of Songster. We then plan to return to Yat Marin, the marina we left from back in April 2002 to head to the Middle East.
36 49.16N
28 18. 53E
We have now been in Turkey 4 weeks and life has been rather busy since our arrival on 12th April.
BBC Everest eventually arrived in Male on 9th April and Songster was loaded on Monday 11th April after an extremely extended period of waiting. The last few days in the Maldvies were difficult in the very high temperatures of 40 C without any canvas protection from the sun. Communication between the shipping company and ourselves was non existent so we all waited to be called to be loaded. A load plan was distributed but 24 hours later this was changed and none of us really knew where we stood. We were led to believe that loading would be quick so we all booked flights out of Male only to find the load plan was altered with many having to make changes to their flight plans. It took 4 days to load 16 yachts. Male was not the ideal place for this to happen. It was the first time Sevenstar, the carriers, had used Male as a load port, BBC Everest was on her maiden voyage and none of the crew had loaded a yacht before so the huge tides and currents caused great disruption to the plan. Coupled with the dozens of very fast local boats that made huge wakes it did not make for easy loading.
The first few yachts that were loaded swung from the crane like pendulums making life extremely dangerous for the crew. Thankfully the sea state was fairly calm with light winds when it was our turn so there were no problems for us. The biggest problem was that the ship appeared too small for the number of yachts to be loaded and this information was relayed by those who first loaded to those at the end of the list making many very tense. This was an appalling situation when we had all waited so long and paid so much money for shipping. However we heard later than several yachts were taken off the ship and reloaded in order to make room and assure everyone was carried. One catamaran even sat on top of two ballast containers which would normally be in the hold of the ship – the ship was full to capacity with steel wire it should have offloaded in Egypt. This it was unable to do without removing some of the yachts in order to get into the hold. From other people who have shipped we now hear they experienced similar lengthy waiting times. Unlike airlines and trains ships do not have timetables and are dependant on weather and other prevailing conditions.
We fortunately were able to book our flights very last minute to Istanbul where we had a wonderful 5 days sightseeing. The weather was a shock after the excessive temperatures of the Maldives, in Istanbul the thermometer could hardly reach 6C. Thankfully we had gone with warm clothing but our feet objected miserably to the wearing of shoes and we had to resort to sandals in those temperatures.
Istanbul was extremely busy with tourists and we joined the queues to visit many of the sights there. It is a beautiful city with wonderful history and architecture. We stayed in the heart of the old city at Sultanahmet on the European side and managed to take the public ferry up the Bosphorous stopping on the Asian side for lunch. It was such a pity the day we chose it rained so we could not appreciate the splendour of the beautiful buildings along the waterside. We hope to visit Istanbul again when the weather is a little warmer.
After 5 very busy days in Istanbul we caught the overnight bus to Marmaris arriving early morning in bright sunshine and higher temperatures. We had initially booked into a hotel but on arrival found the room far too small to endure for what we thought would be 3 weeks so took ourselves off to look at an apartment a short distance away into which we moved later in the afternoon. Sun Aparts as it is known is a destination of Thomson holidays and is clearly for the less discerning tourists from the UK. The apartment was large with two bedrooms but was very poorly furnished. We heard that these rooms are constantly trashed during the holiday period with the owners having to refurbish on a regular basis. The whole area was surrounded by bars, restaurants, clubs etc etc. that offered simply everything all in English at English prices, we could not understand how they did not deal in the local currency. Thankfully we were not there during peak times which would normally be horrendously noisy. However, the apartment served us well for the time there.
Songster took just 13 days to arrive from Male, far quicker than we had expected and caught several owners by surprise, a couple only arriving hours before the ships arrival. Her passage had been fast in flat seas and good weather with no sign of pirates on the way. Just around 24 hours before the ships arrival we were given the shock of costs to clear the yachts into Turkey. Thankfully a few of us did research and found an agent who charged a fraction of the Ship’s agent’s charges. Unloading took a great deal less time than loading mainly because the ship was tied to a dock and there were no huge tides and fewer local boats. Getting to the ship on the day of unloading proved difficult. The previous day we had walked in and out of the port without any problems but on Saturday morning we had to join a queue of passengers going to Rhodes on the ferry. Immigration would not let us pass through security and demanded our passports which they wanted to stamp exiting us out of Turkey. When Brian shouted ‘No’ the officer became extremely angry and threw our passports across the room and ordered us out of the building. We were then escorted by the Police out of the building and told to stand in a spot outside. Unfortunately one of the guys was stamped out and then had to have an agent get him stamped back in. However the agent came to our rescue and we eventually got to the ship, boarded Songster to prepare her for lifting back into the water which went very smoothly. As soon as Songster was in the water we made our way to Maramaris Yat Marine where we are now.
What a shock we had. We had left this marina back on 8th May 2002 to start our mammoth journey, at that time we had no intention of circumnavigating, but it is where it has all ended now. Yat Marine is now simply massive. From what was a reasonably small marina with a relatively large yard it is now absolutely massive with over 1000 boats on the hard and over 600 in the water. Initially, having kept in touch with them for months, there was no space for us and we were stuck in a small spot right beside the two travel lifts that worked until midnight each day splashing yachts (launching) that had been wintered here on the hard. The noise and dust was awful. One evening we were in bed asleep when there was a noise at around 11.45pm, Brian immediately thought we were being boarded, only to find they were squeezing another yacht beside us. We are now in a better position but being a working yard the dust is invevitable. The price reflects the conditions and is a great deal cheaper than the other marina here in Marmaris.
Turkey is very different to how we remember it, firstly it is a great deal more expensive and is working in Euros, Dollars, Pounds and Turkish Lire so you have to be very careful when paying for things. The temperature, although cool at night, is far more pleasant than the temperatures of South Asia with their high humidity. The temperatures in the Maldives were excessive and it was impossible to do anything strenuous after around 8.30 am each morning. The best part of the Maldives was flying out and looking down at the Atolls. This was spectacular and simply beautiful. It is such a pity that we cannot say that about the Maldives generally. The Government seeks to keep tourists from the locals so most visitors do not witness the lives of the locals. The rubbish problem is enormous and although an environmental area of great beauty the locals are not aware of maintaining it. They have no regard for the sea and simply toss plastic rubbish into the water. The marine life is huge and wonderful and we were amazed at the hundreds of dolphins that swam and jumped just off Male in the turbulent waters caused by the hundreds of local boats. We watched these creatures performing then when a boat approached they disappeared and after it had passed returned to the surface to continue their tricks. Quite amazing.
Since arriving here in Turkey we see from internet that there have been protests in Male by opposition members over the high prices of food. Male had been ruled by an autocratic president for several decades before elections a couple of years ago. Their young new president is attempting to sort out and control the corruption that occurred previously. Islands are either for or against the president’s party who have a yellow flag. The opposition are blue and paint their buildings that colour. One island is split we are told so half the island is painted yellow, the other half blue and neither speaks.
Turkey is far more relaxed, even though a Muslim country. I have found a source for excellent pork and bacon which we are told comes from the UK.
Whilst at the apartment we hired a car for the day with another couple and drove out to the Datca peninsular. The coastline is simply stunning and we longed to be anchored in some of the beautiful bays but know that in a few weeks time those bays will not resemble what we saw. They will be crammed full with anchored gullets, traditional Turkish boats and visiting yachts. We have not yet made plans as to which direction we will go but we sure hope to find less busy anchorages to stop in.
At the end of next week we are off on a trip to Capadoccia in Central Turkey. Capadoccia is in Central Anatolia and is known for its conical rock outcrops, known as fairy chimneys and its many hidden chapels etc. carved into the rock. We are looking forward to this immensely as we are staying in a cave hotel.
On Friday 20th May we set off from Yat Marin at 06.30 to Travel with a group of other yachties to Cappadocia. The distance was vast so there was a planned overnight stop at Konya the home of the Whilring Dervishes. The Cappadocia Region is located in the centre of the Anatolian Peninsuala with its valleys, canyon, hills and unusual rock formations. A soft tuff layer was formed, 150m in thickness from the volcanic lava. The rivers, flood water running down the hillsides of valleys and strong winds eroded the geological formations consisting of tuff on the plateau formed with tuff layers thus creating bizarre shapes called ‘Fairy Chimneys’
These take on the names of mushroom shaped, pinnacles, capped and conic shaped formations. The prehistoric settled in the areas of Kosk Mound in Nigde, Aksaray Asikli Mound, Nevsehir Civelek Cave and in the south east Kultepe, Janis and Alisar in the environs of Kayseeri. This area with its unusual topographic characteristics was regarded as sacred and called Khepatukha in the Scythian language, meaning ‘the country of the people of the Chief God Hepat.
Following the late Hitite and Persian eras the Cappadocian Kingdom was established in 332 BC. During the Roman era the area served as a shelter for the early escaping Christians. It became a major centre of Christianity famed for its rock cut churches during the Byzantine era. After the Sassanid and Arab invasions the area fell to Seljuk Turks in 1082.
Our first day out took us as far as Konya where we stopped for the night at Ozkaymak Park Otel. The long trip took many hours but with many stops on the way the time flew. Konya is located on the Central Anatolian plateau, very fertile area where cattle, sheep and goats were once raised. The area has a varied history having been under the rules of Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Macedonians, Seleucids, Romans and Byzantines. Konya now is a very modern large city with amazing shopping malls.
The most well known of Konyans is the Mevlana Celaleddini-I Rumi who established the Mevlevi Order of Sufi Philosophy. The Museum of Mevlana is essentially a tomb and a dervish convent housing the coffins of Mevlana and his family. The dome of the dervish convent is covered with beautiful turquoise green tiles. Next morning we visited this museum along with hundreds of Muslim women visitors. These women passed through the many exhibits and copies of Koran, none of which they were able to read as it was all in old Persian. However, they were simply mesmerized by the exhibits many stopping along the way facing walls and praying. The women, we were told, were country women come on a day’s pilgrimage. They dressed traditionally in their head scarves and very baggy trousers which are rather like a long baggy skirt but stitched at the bottom between the legs. I have not got to the bottom of the history of the design but it does not look very practical for the life they lead. At least there is plenty of room in them and the design prevents any wind blowing the material around, particularly when they are bent tending their crops etc.
Whilst there a group of high school students decided they wanted to practice their English with me so I was surrounded by all these girls who wanted me to visit their school some distance away. It was interesting to speak with the English teacher who really was not very fluent in the language. I found this when last back in Turkey when I met an English teacher whose English was not at all good. However, it was fun to communicate with them and pose for many pictures and answer their many questions.
On the way to Konya we stopped for lunch at a town we have long forgotten the name off, being Friday it was a big Mosque day and we were amazed at the number of men pouring into the mosque near the small café we had lunch at. When we came out of the café men were praying on large mats that covered a huge area of the street outside, presumably the overflow area for the mosque. The men were extremely smart in their suits, ties and well polished shoes although we did espy one with a huge hole in his sock whilst he was praying. Guess this is Friday attire – not the holey sock but the suits.
From Konya we continued to Goreme the area of Cappadocia where we stayed. Our accommodation Star Pension was built into a cave and was not as exciting as we all thought it would be. The atmosphere inside the rooms was dark, dank and smelled unhealthy, in fact many of the group developed very bad coughs and chests which were put down to the room conditions. As done many thousands of years ago these rooms are literally caved out of the very soft tufa rock. Our room was huge and had a sitting room, bedroom and extremely large bathroom. The lighting was dim with only one small window in the sitting room to give any light. The area must have been 30 ft into the rock with a ceiling of around 7ft high.
There are simply thousands of cave homes the majority now ruins but a number have been converted into small hotels while others are still being built. In fact right next door to our Pension a new one was being constructed. Huge cutting tools cut and bore into the rock creating large rooms. It was amazing how quickly it could all be done with the right powered equipment.
Star Cave was our base from where we travelled out to visit other areas. A short distance from Goreme stood the natural rock formation of Ortahisar Castle, An outstandingly beautiful rock which we climbed enabling us to see the surrounding vista of Cappadocia and the nearby fairy chimneys and hewn rock dwellings. At the top we were joined by a group of youthful Turks who danced whilst a guy played a traditional Turkish drum. With many tombs dug in the summit it was a precarious site to hang around on, particularly with so many people. Such a site in Europe would have had safety rails etc to prevent anyone falling.
Goreme Open Air Museum is an area of rock carved churches built during the period from the 1st until the 11th century. Here we visited the many churches with their beautiful Christian paintings. It was alarming to see that all faces had been disfigured at some stage although we believe this to be a recent occurrence as reproduction of these paintings in the guide books are complete. The details and colours were spectacular and we were told these paintings had not been restored in any way.
From Goreme we travelled to Zelve where the ruins are spread over three valleys. This valley was inhabited until 1952. Besides monasteries and churches there were houses, a tunnel joining two of the valleys, a mill, a mosque and several dove cotes in the valley. It is not known when the rock dwellings here were first inhabited but it was an important settlement and religious area during the 9th and 13th centuries. This was a fascinating area where there were only a handful of visitors.
The trip took us to many other sites in the area including an ancient pottery where I had hoped to buy a nice pot but the prices were far beyond my pocket – I will have to make do with a local pot off a market stall. However, it was wonderful to and admire some of the best pottery and designs of Turkey here. One of the highlights was a visit to the underground city of Derinkuyu where we descended through low narrow tunnels down to the ninth level. The underground cities provided protection from the marauding enemies and shelter from the ravaging summer heat and winter chills. These cities like the houses were totally constructed by hand with every bit of waste material being brought to the surface to be discarded.
It was planned we should all go to a Turkish night to sample the food and local dancing. There was to be a display of Whirling Dervishes but sadly this was not the real thing, the two men were just part of the dancing group we would see later. Having been to the Mevlana museum we thought we would see the real thing. The dancing was also a disappointment. Only a couple of weeks earlier we had been to the marina summer party in Marmaris where we had the most wonderful supper followed by the most amazing local dancing. The men were as good as any ballet dancers in the UK with their leaps and jumps, not to mention the twirls as well. On our next trip we will be careful not to be sucked into the tourists entertainments.
A number in our group decided to do the early morning hot air balloon flight over the area, we chose not to do this, mainly because the weather was overcast and it was also expensive. The day chosen fortunately was better and the group had a thoroughly good time, however, having found out that 2,000 people meet each morning somewhere around 5.30am to go up in balloons we were jolly pleased not to have been there. We are still finding it difficult to be with huge groups of tourists and prefer to do our own thing, but had we not gone with the group we would not have found all the sites we visited so all in all it was a good trip.
In late September we are going off on another arranged tour to the very east of Turkey near Lake Van to take a trip on the Euphrates and visit Mount Nemrut where there are carved heads similar to that on Easter Island.
It is now back to the task of getting ourselves and Songster ready to move out of the marina and on our way.
After a few days of varnishing Songster’s interior we decided to take ourselves off for the day on a local dolmus to Kayakoy, once known as Levissi, a deserted Greek village with two large churches and a number of chapels about 30 minutes from Fethiye.
For those who may have read Louis de Bernieres book ‘Birds without winds’ Kayakoy is the town on which is novel is based.
Up until 1922 approximately 25,000 people lived here in 2,000 Greek houses built on the hillside, each one built so as not to block the view of others. It was in that year that the British brokered a peace treat as a solution to remaining tensions between the populations. The Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 agreed an exchange of populations based on religion. Some 1.2 millions Greek speaking Christians were sent to Greece whilst 400k Turkish speaking Muslims were displaced from the Macedonian region of Greece resettling in Turkey. Following the treaty many Greeks left voluntarily some to Greece proper whilst others resettled on the small island of Kastelorizon, the eastern most Greek Island just a short distance from the Turkish coast. It is to Kastelorizon we plan to go in the next few days to renew our Turkish visas.
There had been a Christian settlement in this village since the 13th Century but the majority of the properties there were of a later period. After the departure of the Greeks the village was repopulated by Turks returning from Greece to Turkey but the majority built homes in the valley in front of the village where there now is a thriving agricultural community of around 2000 with large houses and the latest equipment.
It was a glorious day and being high the temperatures were very acceptable. We walked and clambered up what were the old narrow streets to the highest point through remains of houses where huge fig trees laden with ripe fruit grew at inaccessible angles, very annoying. Anything that may have been accessible had been consumed by goats or other animals so the thought of picking fresh ripe figs was not an option.
Although the dolmus was full of noisy tourists just a handful got off in the village and walked the heights the majority thinking it would be too difficult and too strenuous preferring to sit in a bar and drink beer or an alternative.
Sadly over the years the hillside buildings have deteriorated due to the elements and a massive earthquake back in 1957. Timbers used on the roofs and doors have long gone, many used by the Turks to help build new homes however it was evident that some of these homes had been quite large and the higher up the hill one went it was clear to see that the more affluent lived in this area. One of the things we were intrigued with were the different types of fireplaces which had been lovingly built into the corners of rooms although little remained there was just enough to appreciate that these were important status symbols.
The two remaining churches were in good condition particularly the lower church Panagia Pirgiottis built in the 17th C. Built with walls at least 1 m thick its murals are in fairly good condition. The pinky/orange exterior walls glowed in the clear sunlit. There were many holes in the inner walls, made for a reason other than joists, one was of great interest as we could hear a group of young fledglings making a huge racket. The hole was far too high for us to investigate but from the rubbish on the ground below it we thought it must be a large bird as there were dead frogs, very large beetles and other small animals, presumable dropped by a parent bird when feeding the young. Having now read Birds without Wings, by Louis de Bernieres, I now realise it was an owls nest. This booked was based on this village and the area around Fethiye.
Beside the lower church was the old bone house – bodies were initially buried but because of lack of space were dug up after a few years and the bones washed with wine and then placed in the bone house. When the Greeks finally left the island many of the bones were gathered up and taken with them but there are still a few remaining as you can see from the picture.
We finally worked our way through the village and down a very steep path stopping to admire the many wild flowers and the remains of the houses where we could see interior walls had been painted a deep cobalt blue. Once down at the lower level there were houses that still had shutters and doors in place so we could imagine how the village once looked. After a great local lunch of village pancakes, a type of large flat wrap filled with fetta cheese, parsley, spinach, onion and tomato we caught the dolmus back to Fethiye. It was a great day out with a gorgeous drive through the pine covered mountains.
On the way back from the dolmus stop we stopped off at the fish market to buy a couple of sea bass that we bbqd for supper which were delicious.
Something we have been tempted to do since arriving in the Fethiye/Kas area has been to paraglide off Babadag Mountain, 1900m high (6000+ ft). Each day we have watched as dozens of gliders make there way down over the mountains and out to sea before landing at various places along the coast. They even landed at Kas Marina.
We were happy to book, possibly with the cheapest, until we were told not all companies were safe so after some research we decided to use Sky Sports, who were by no means the cheapest, but we were told by locals definitely the safest. Each year, we have been told, there are accidents so at our ages we did not want to take any risks. This was to be my 70th birthday present, but we would both do it. My birthday is not until the 5th August but we plan to be out of the Fethiye area early next week, Sunday or Monday.
At 3pm yesterday we were collected by the company's large open sided 4x4 and driven to Olu Deniz, firstly to the office to check in and meet up with 6 others who would be going with us. Our flight was due at 4pm but we were still hanging around in Olu Deniz well after 4. The delay was because we needed to wait for the pilots to land from an earlier flight. Eventually everyone was there including the paragliding parachutes and we all, pilots included, took off in a van for the 35 minute journey to the top of the mountain.
The views from the top were simply spectacular and we were soon out of the van and walking across to the beautifully paved take off area which although appearing flat on the live video screen at the office was actually very raked to make an easy takeoff and possibly to protect the mountain from erosion. After donning our seats, a type of fancier bosuns chair with many more straps and buckles, a crash helmet and then attaching to the pilot we took off. Great emphasis was put on the fact that we should run with the pilot and not sit until we had taken off. In actual fact our feet hardly touched the ground before we were airborne and soaring to just under 1900m. The take off was at 1700m. Jackie's pilot Hasan had obviously talked with Brians, Can, as we literally hung around until Brian had taken off and we then rendevouzed over the mountain.
The views were simply stunning and we soared like birds, at times we just appeared to be hanging there and not moving which was a strange experience. The adrenalin pumping we had expected never happened, possibly because we were not in control. However, Brian was in for a treat, his pilot did some acrobatic tricks which made him feel somewhat seasick. Thankfully, Jackie declined the chance preferring to take the easy option.
The flight lasted around 25 minutes as we slowly made our way out to the ocean and then to the west of Olu Deniz flying more eastwards for the eventual approach across the town and down to the beach front for our very straightforward landing. The last part literally involved gliding down the main street to a very large green mat on the prom. We were told to stand as we landed and amazingly we just came to a steady halt standing up on the green mat. A couple of guys were there to steady things and take off the equipment and we were once more down to earth with our feet firmly on the ground.
Back at the office we now had to cough up the money and pay for the videos and pictures they took and then wait a couple of hours for the transport back to Fethiye. Olu Deniz is definitely not our favourite place - it is simply mass tourism - something we try to avoid but were were there so had to make the most of our time. There was a long white beach with beautiful turquoise water and simply thousands of sun beds and umbrellas. The area back from the beach is grassed and there are no large hotels along it. Accommodation is way back from the beach so there is massive movement of people as they walk to and from the beach or eateries of which there were many. We chose to walk a little and ate at an Italian restaurant, Toscana, where we ate our first fish and chips since Australia and where there was not one Italian in sight. The food was good and the price was right. Eventually we made our way back to the office and journeyed back to Songster arriving back around 9.45pm. A long enjoyable afternoon and we can now tick off paragliding.
We should have been away from Fethiye a few days ago but I have found a dressmaker where I am having material bought previously made up into dresses. Neither of us can communicate lingually but we have a great time using our phrase books and dictionaries. Fingers crossed these should at last be done by 7pm on Saturday and we may get away either very early Sunday or Monday morning to head northwestwards to somewhere on the coast south west of Marmaris.
We have enjoyed being in Fethiye and have had several short periods at Yacht Classic Hotel marina where we stay for 22 lira a night, around £9, which includes water and electricity if we eat at the restaurant. If we do not use the restaurant the charge is 1euro per foot length of the yacht.
Last week we had our friend Lis visiting from the UK. She had not sailed before but simply loved it and we were able to take her off sailing with winds that we would have loved on our ocean crossings. Lets hope we get some help with the wind on our passage out of here on Sunday or Monday.
We have now been back in Turkey 5 months and simply loving it. We have not seen rain for simply months and the weather has been wonderful having seen spring and summer with autumn soon approaching. It seems summer has extended this year with temperatures well into the 30Cs still each day although cooling during the night which helps sleeping.
On Friday last we returned to Marmaris Yat Marina having had 3 months out cruising. We have not been far this summer cruising first eastwards along the coast as far as Kaş, pronounced Kash, where we stayed one week at the very nice new Kaș Marina. The space there allowed us to clean the topsides of Songster well, something we were unable to do at Yat Marine as we were so closely packed.
Our passage to Kaș took us firstly to Ekinçik a large pretty bay surrounded by mountains around 15 miles east of Marmaris where we stayed a few days to explore the small local village and relax after the hectic weeks of preparing and cleaning Songster after years of salt water. This was where we had our first swim in the Med for 9 years and my it was cold after years of swimming in very warm water. We were lucky enough to arrive before the season really started so it was reasonably quiet. It is from here that many small tour boats take tourists up the Dalyan River to the ancient city of Caunos and the many Lycian rock tombs in the nearby cliffs. This is something we had done before so declined the chance to do it again this year. The ruins here are not as spectacular as Ephesus but there are plans to develop the area into archaeological park. Turkey is becoming very keen on preserving the many ancient sites it has, there are simply dozens of them, something that had not happened when last here back in 2001/2002.
From Ekincik we had a wonderful sail to Gocek where we were in for a shock. The once sleepy village of Gocek had turned into a mega yachting paradise with 5 marinas. It was simply packed with yachts and many Turkish gullets leaving a very small area for general mooring. However, we managed to anchor in relatively deep water of 20m and make our way ashore in the dinghy where we found entrepreneurial locals trying to make a buck by charging to park your dinghy, something cruisers just will not do is pay to park the dinghy. The area is now so awash with charter boats whose holidaying skippers are quite happy to pay whatever it is not surprising that the locals will try to make as much money as they can during the summer months. Needless to say we found a spot which was free and very convenient. Gocek had changed considerably and now supported many very good small supermarkets with superb produce etc. The roads were now paved and it had an air of sophistication. Close to the original marina there is a rather smart development of very exclusive houses, all of which had the most beautiful gardens. You have to have serious money to stay in Gocek so after a couple of nights at anchor we made our way south into Gocek Bay to explore and try to find Brian’s favourite spot. It all appeared different, firstly there were many many more yachts, huge motor boats and charter yachts making it difficult to recognise anything so we finally decided to use a marine park buoy at Deep Water Bay where we stayed a couple of days and to where we would return many times during the summer. Deep Water Bay was a largish bay surrounded by very steep cliffs, a smallish beach with a stoney sea urchin approach and something like 17 mooring buoys. We loved it here but never actually discovered the favourite spot of 9/10 years ago.
From Deep Water Bay we took the narrow entrance between the mainland and Domuz island out of Gocek Bay to sail the short distance of around 12 miles to Fethiye. Once the wind came up we had the most wonderful sail across these waters, something we had not been able to do for months. It was exciting and exhilarating and we wished some of our longer passages had given us such sailing. Fethiye had also changed in our absence, there now was a large marina mainly full of charter yachts and closeby a very nice hotel with a good pontoon, Yacht Classic Hotel. We are very fond of Fethiye and stayed many weeks taking trips to various places such as Kayacoy, which I have already written about. Our time was spent anchored off Yacht Classic Hotel with the occasional foray into their pontoon for a little R and R, however it was easy to anchor and leave the dinghy at the hotel which gave us a fair amount of freedom to go off to do things. One afternoon we took the local bus to explore the peninsular that surrounded the anchorage, we could see dolmus, the local transport, driving regularly along the road so hopped on one to see where it went. Unfortunately it did not go as far as we had hoped so hopped off and then waited ages for another to come along to take us further. The drive was great and the destination a surprise – the bus took locals to two beaches which were absolutely packed. Both surrounding wooded areas were simply full of cars and people brewing tea, tea is the national drink of Turkey and we are told they drink far more tea than the Brits. Every family had a contraption for brewing tea which looked rather like an old fashioned urn with a teapot on the top and a fire of charcoal burning underneath. It looked as if every member of the family including granny, granpa, auntie, uncle and numerous cousins were in each party. The older ladies, very traditionally, had their head covered and many had the traditional burkini type swim wear on – it looks more like a pair of pyjamas with a hood or hat. Needless to say the younger and more modern girls are less modest and adopt western attire, brief bikinis and the like. The beach was bordered with their version of a beach hut along the perimeter – these people were having a good time well away from those awful tourists from Europe who do not appear to know how to conduct themselves when in another country. There are times when we are ashamed to admit to being British – even the locals tell us some of the people have beer in their veins rather than blood. It was on a bus trip to the western side of Fethiye that we came across the tourist area, needless to say it was a short fast walk once we got off the bus to find the next bus back to town. Fethiye has the most wonderful weekly market on a Tuesday which extends a few several hundred yards with sections off. The quality and selection of produce is both amazing and competitively priced – a visit here each week became a must.
Fethiye is flat and it is very easy to find your way around. It has a large population of somewhere in the region of 70,000 although strangely for a town of that size does not have fantastically good shopping of a general nature. In spite of that we love Fethiye and came to know it well. The fish market with its surrounding butchers, cheese and chicken shops and many small restaurants are delightful. It was on one of my many visits to the butchers that I found a dressmaker where I had a number of dresses made up from materials bought on our travels – the workmanship is exquisite, pity about the body inside the dresses which I now see is 10kg heavier than it was in NZ. With the beautiful bread and honey here I am not sure how that is going to be shed!
From Fethiye we made sailed many times across to Gocek Bay and back just for the fun of it. The sailing was simply wonderful.
The plan had been to get to Kekova Roads this year but Kaș was as far as we got. From Fethiye we had a great spinnaker sail to Gemeler a most beautiful spot surrounded by huge golden coloured mountains and a small island with many ruins. It was whilst here we watched paragliders in the mountains – little did we know at the time it was something we would do. At Gemeler we tied to a buoy owned by the local restaurant so were expected to eat at their rustic restaurant ashore where food was cooked in a traditional oven. The surroundings in the anchorage were spectacular but sadly the expensive food was a great disappointment. Just one night here before heading on towards Kaș.
Again the sailing was wonderful, our excitement and enthusiasm for Turkey was growing more and more. We arrived in Kaș earlier than planned so anchored for just one night off a hotel at Bayindir Limani before heading for the marina next day. Kaș lies at the foot of extremely steep cliffs, in a crescent shaped bay. The marina is new and we were lucky enough to have the offer of 7 nights here for the price of one. A simply great offer to promote the new marina. We enjoyed our time here but there are few facilities in the way of chandlers etc so not the place for us for the winter. The staff were extremely good and were on hand at soon after 5am to untie our ropes on the morning we left to return to Fethiye.
The Greek Island of Kastelorizon, where we spent a day, lies just 3 miles away from Kaș which like many of the villages along the coast was Greek until 1922 when it was resettled with Turks from the Anatolian plateau and the Balkans. Behind the village on the steep slopes are numerous Lycian rock tombs. There is also a very well preserved Hellenistic theatre and cistern. This is where we went in order to renew our Turkish visas on our return.
Late July a friend will join us in Fethiye so we make the return journey. This time it is not plain sailing with a windward passage and an uncomfortable sea we make the first step to Gemeler making the decision to avoid the previous anchorage. This time we were helped by a local to tie to his mooring buoy, for a price, behind Gemeler Island. This was not as picturesque as the previous spot with many charter and tourists boats along the shore. However we spent a couple of nights here and early one morning decided to take a walk to the top of the island to explore the many Byzantine ruins only to find a guy waiting to collect our entrance fees. Having come with no money we did not do the walk but also felt this was a local taking advantage of what clearly is a historic site with official signs but only a very tatty home made sign with entry prices. Well I guess in a similar situation we would also try to make as much money during the summer months from all the tourists of which there appear to be many who willingly pay up for anything.
We finally arrived back in Fethiye and spent a couple of days at Yacht Classic pontoon preparing for Lis’s arrival. We had a great week with her just sailing between Fethiye and Deep Water Bay, relaxing, swimming and snorkelling. Although there is nothing in the way of sea life to see here in Turkey the water however is very clear.
After Lis’s departure at the end of July and finally collecting my new dresses and stocking up with food we set off once more this time to head westwards but the headwinds, confused seas and the vast growth of barnacles on the bottom of Songster hampered our progress and we had to stop at Ekincik once more, we had hoped to get well west of Marmaris Bay on the first passage. Oh well we were not in any hurry so we had two nights there before setting off again once more into 20knot headwinds. Our next stop was Çiflik a small bay surrounded by local restaurants with jetties and a very large ugly hotel where we believe there were many Russian tourists. The wind howled through this anchorage with a few yachts dragging their anchors, it was also extremely busy with charter yachts coming and going and many people swimming or using pedalos, something we were surprised to see in the high winds and choppy water. We watched anxiously at times when people were blindly pedalling away unaware of the consequences of going too far. Thankfully a rescue boat retrieved one pedalo unable to make its way back against the wind and waves. Tourists swam nearby and one pedalo came nearby telling us he was from Russia. Just one night here was enough with no plans to return ever. From here we made a good passage in light winds to Bozu Buku a large bay with a huge citadel atop the entrance. This was known as Port Apolotheka in ancient times. Like most of Turkey this anchorage had changed. When last there a small restaurant with a rickety pontoon greeted you, we remember well eating very small overcooked fish there years ago. What a change had taken place, there were now three restaurants and the one we had used previously was in the middle and had mooring buoys which a guy kindly helped us tie to. In the evening we ate ashore and had a very good meal, quite unlike what we had had previously. The food this time was good.
It was whilst here we had the most amazing reunion. Late afternoon a catamaran tied to the buoy next to us with the skipper waving furiously at us and calling our boat name. We just did not recognise this guy with a mass of curly hair or the yacht. Eventually the penny dropped and we realised it was Levent off s/y Yol, a Turkish flagged Moody who we had met in the Dutch West Indies back in 2006 and again in Tahiti when he and his wife Ayca visited me in hospital. Sadly Ayca was not with Levent in Bozu Buku but we hope to meet up with her next year here in Marmaris when they return from Canada. We had a wonderful evening together with Levent and his French guests at the restaurant.
The guys who work in these remote restaurants live in some far flung part of Turkey in the winter, in this particular restaurant the workers appeared to come from a village 4 hours walk away. During the summer they live in extremely rough conditions earning as much as they can before leaving around October time. Women had set up a bakery amongst the rocks. The roof had been constructed of material found from the woods and everything was done in this kitchen. Heaven knows where any fresh water came from if it was ever used. The locals say the bread tastes best made with sea water and cooked the traditional way. The ladies also had a lucrative business late afternoons selling textiles, jewellery etc. to arriving yachties, mainly those on charter yacht. No longer do the locals row around in traditional dinghies today they have fibreglass boats with big outboard engines which both women and men drive.
After one night we headed northwestwards to Datca to meet up with Tim and Karen off s/y Raven. More to follow …………………………………….
With our visas due to expire on 4th October, our forthcoming trip to Eastern Anatolia the last week of October and our haul out on 4th October we planned to take a quick trip to Rhodes on 20th September to renew our 90 day visas. I booked the tickets on line back in August so everything was organised.
We returned to the marina around 9th September ready to start on a few boat jobs and prepare for our forthcoming trips. Our return was greeted by the marineros taking us to a superb spot in the marina which we think will be good for the winter so we decided to delay our haul out until next April.
With that sorted we then decided to apply for residency to avoid the 90 day trips by ferry or yacht to a Greek island to renew our visas and the thought of crossing in the winter months was not looked forward to. Others had told us how easy it was to apply so we set the wheels in motion one Monday and the following week we received our little Blue Book showing our residency. This expires on the date of our marina contract next August and means we can come and go out of the country whenever which will make things a great deal easier.
So on 20th September we caught the dolmus to the ferry terminal and joined a huge crowd of people making the day trip to Rhodes. These were mainly tourists but there were a few locals with cases etc obviously intending to stay longer.
The trip of 50 minutes was smooth and we arrived in glorious sunshine under clear blue skies, similar to what we had left back in Turkey. Just 50 miles away Rhodes is a world apart from Marmaris. Everything is priced in euros and a good deal dearer than in Turkey. We wandered around the old city before heading to the Old Hospital of the Crusaders where we spent an hour or two pouring over the exhibits. A beautiful old building it had been rebuilt by the Musolini during the second world war.
It was at Rhodes where I first went to sail with Brian back in 2001 and at the time only had around a day to look around before we sailed to Marmaris, Turkey. It was good to go back but I was pleased to be back on Turkish soil by the end of the day.
We have just returned from a week away touring Eastern Anatolia (Eastern Turkey) with a group of other yachties. The vast, high plateau of Eastern Turkey is dominated by biblical Mount Ararat which rises to a height of 5,165m. The tour covered around 2,500 km by road from Malatya to Kars through the most spectacular mountain scenery we have ever seen. The area lies between the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris previously known as Mespotamia.
It all started back on 24th September when we caught a coach to Izmir airport for a flight to Malatya where we stayed just one night at Hotel M.Palanci. Arriving very late in the evening we were greeted by the helpful and friendly staff and platefuls of delicious dried apricots, Malatya is known for its vast surrounding apricot orchards. This hotel had the best breakfast of our trip with delicious fresh fruit and ample supplies of other Turkish breakfast delicacies.
The planned flight should have been to Adiyaman but due to airport building work we flew to Malatya so next morning we made the journey to Adiyaman first visiting the Karakus Tumulus which was built in 36BC where there were a handful of remaining columns, many of the original columns had been used to build the most magnificent Roman Cendere Bridge. This ancient bridge had been in daily use until the newer bridge nearby had been built around 5 years ago. Its condition was remarkable. The bridge crossed the Cendere river which flowed through an amazing gorge to a flat plain where it joined the Euphrates.
A short distance from the bridge we passed the ancient castle of Kahta which we could see perched on a rocky outcrop but could not stop at sadly. Howevever we continued our journey along the narrow windy road to the ancient Commagene capital of Arsameia where we climbed up narrow tracks to visit the ruins and view the underground entrance which led to Kahta castle just 158m away. The journey by road had been a few miles.
The highlight of the day was the sunset visit to Mount Nemrut which involved a very steep lengthy walk. I chose to go up on a donkey, which was not the most comfortable ride but by far the easiest and quickest. Brian poked fun at me for doing so but he himself had to give up half way on the walk due to altitude so sadly he did not witness the top of the mountain. Feeling somewhat heady we first visited the western terrace where there were many other tourists. Antiochus I ordered the construction of a combined tomb and temple here. The site was to be approached by a ceremonial road and was to incorporate what Antiochus termed ‘the thrones of the gods’. Upon his death he believed his spirit would join that of Zeus-Ahura Mazda in heaven. On the western terrace Antiochus and his fellow gods sit in state although their bodies have tumbled along with the heads. It is from the Eastern terrace that one sees the bodies largely in tact although the heads have fallen. The light and colours on the heads on the western side at sunset was amazing. At the top of the mountains we experienced our first signs of cold weather, it was bitingly cold up here and I regretted not coming with my thick woolly scarf and gloves. The trip down in poor light was daunting although the path had many steps the surface was uneven and needed much concentration to avoid tripping. It was quite gloomy by the time we all arrived back at the coach to drink a well earned hot cup of cay (Turkish tea). We arrived at Bozdogan Hotel, Adiyman after a wonderful day’s drive feeling weary and in need of a good supper. This hotel had the comfiest beds of the trip but not such a good breakfast. The hotel in Malatya had set the breakfast standard, none as good followed sadly.
From Adiyman we travelled to Diyarbakir, best known as the town that, since the 1980’s has been the centre of the Kurdish resistance movement. There had recently been some unrest here but none was apparent during our visit. Our journey there started with a trip by ferry boat across the Euphrates, along with our coach. A furtile area with flat plains and high spectacular gorges which the river passed through. It was interesting to watch the locals at either end. At the arrival point we stopped for a cup of cay (pronounced chy) and spent much time watching the locals, particularly a man with very red hair and a red beard. We were told that he had died them with henna as he probably had a problem in his hair. Although we all gaped and stared he appeared oblivious to our curiosity. It was at this restaurant we came across the most primitive of the loos we would visit. In the East they have not yet converted to western loos so everywhere you went, apart from the hotels, it was a hole in the ground with a small plastic container you filled with water to flush. All rather reminiscent of Malaysia and Indonesia. It takes a bit of getting used to squatting but after a time you become adept at it but a must is to carry loo paper with you, something we seldom saw on our travels.
Shortly after leaving the ferry port the driver spotted a huge tree full of figs so we all gorged ourselves on numerous figs which were delicious. This was a great distraction as we clambered across a wall, into a ditch and up an incline to reach the trees. Once satiated we climbed aboard to continue the journey to Diyarbakir and Kervansaray Hotel where we checked in before exploring the town with our guide Engin. Figs have appeared in huge quantities in our diet this year as they are so plentiful.
Diyarbakir remains the stronghold of Kurdish identity. Walking through the streets you would not think it was the centre stage of pitched battles between rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish army of which there is a huge presence throughout the region. The visit to Ulu Mosque was curtailed by major building works so we could only witness the exterior and photos of the interior. Built in 1091 by Malik Sah an early Seljuk sultan it incorporates an earlier Byzantine church on the site. Rectangular in shape it is more Arab than Ottoman in style. The entrance leads to a huge courtyard which is the highlight of the mosque but sadly we were unable to see it. This mosque was situated in a large area surrounded by cay houses and hundreds of elderly men sitting chatting and drinking cay.
Nearby is the Hasan Pasa Hani, a 16th Century caravanserai which is now occupied by jewellery and antique vendors. Caravanserais were built along the silk route for traders to stay along with their camels. The caravanserai hotel we stayed at and the Hasan Pasa each had 72 rooms and could house 800 camels so you can imagine the size of them, with 2 upper floors and built with a large central courtyard they are large.
The Seyh Mutahhar mosque is famous for its minaret which is interesting as the tower, known as Dort Akayli Minaret (four legged minaret) stands on four slender pillars around 2m high – quite a feat of engineering.
At the end of the day we visited the great walls of Diyarbakir, built of basalt dating from Roman times although the current walls date from early Byzantine times (AD 330- 500). Around 6km in length these walls are said to be second in extent to the Great Wall of China. Access to the length of wall we walked was via some very steep steps to the top where we overlooked poor housing and where women were baking bread in outdoor traditional stone ovens and kids played. The other side housed the city. The sun went down, we descended down steps further along the wall and returned to the thick walls of our Kervansaray Hotel before heading down for supper. Our room consisted of two rooms each with a bed and a small shower/bathroom.
Our trip from Diyarbakir to Van was the longest of our travels but with stops at Malabadi Bridge and a Selckulu Graveyard they helped the time pass very quickly. The Malabadi Bridge is an arch bridge spanning the Batman River near the town of Silvan in southeastern Turkey. It was built between 1146 and 1147 during the Artuk period. It was restored in the late twelfth century, in the beginning of the 20th century and is currently undergoing renovation. It was once the only bridge across the river in this area, and was in continuous use until the 1950s, when a new road bridge was opened upstream.
The span of the bridge crosses perpendicular to the river, but the roadway is at an angle to the river, so there are angular breaks in the east and west approaches. The approaches rise from ground level to meet the central span, which is a pointed arch high over the deepest part of the river. Constructed from coloured solid masonry, the approaches have small arches built into them to let flood-waters through. Two of the piers of the bridge sit in the river; the western support is decorated with two carved figures, one standing and one sitting. The spandrels of the main arch incorporate small rooms for weary travelers. We were told children often jumped from the bridge into the waters below but on our visit no such thing happened.
Later we visited a Selcuklu Graveyard in superb condition with a number of gravestones that stood at precarious angles. It was such a pity the Mauseleum now had a very close backdrop of tower blocks rather than the mountains previously. We were able to descend down inside the dark mausoleum where with the help of our camera flashlights were able to see bats hanging from the ceiling. Needless to say so close to civilisation we were soon surrounded by young children asking our names, where we were from and requesting money.
On to Van along the shores of Lake Van to our hotel for the next two nights, Buyuk Asur Hotel. The hotel situated in the middle of the city was our home for two nights. Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey, located in the far east of the country in Van district. It is a saline and soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the world's largest endorheic lakes (having no outlet). The original outlet from the basin was blocked by an ancient volcanic eruption.
Surrounded by mountains the scenery was spectacular with snow capped mountains mirrored in the blue waters of the lake. The highest peak rises to 4.058m (13,313ft). The lake is 7 times larger than Lake Geneva and is thought to be in the region of 400m deep. It is so alkaline that locals need not use soap for washing and we were told it was good for swimming. Although one of our group did test the water we refrained.
Van was once the centre of the Urartian civilization and the remains of their fortified capital straddle the Rock of Van which is located to the east of the lake. The modern city of Van has been built a few kilometres to the east. Van as many may know is known for its breed of white cat with one blue eye and one amber who enjoy swimming. These cats are rare in Turkey and it is forbidden to export them from Turkey. A small Van Cat breeding centre is attempting to keep numbers up but on researching it found the cats are not kept in good living conditions.
Our first visit in Van was to Cavusteppe Castle 35km south east of Van. An Urartian site with a palace, sacrificial altar and inscriptions. We climbed the rocky hill to the ruins to view the huge storage vessels, partially submerged but clearly visible and huge cisterns under the pathway. Highlight of the trip was the royal Utartian loo, said to be the oldest squat loo ever excavated. Perched on top of the hill it had been carved out of stone. At the entrance to the temple ruins were black basalt blocks polished to a high gloss – all original – and to the left side cuneiform inscriptions appeared. The keeper of the site, an elderly gentleman kindly explained the layout of the site along with a translation of the inscriptions. He clearly was very keen on his subject as his cap had cuneiform symbols and his hobby was carving similar inscriptions on rocks, shells and stones.
From here we travelled back to Van to enjoy lunch on the banks of Lake Van before taking a ferry to Akdamar Island to visit the surviving 10th century Armenian Church of the Holy Cross and ruins of the monastery on it. The short journey by ferry, approximately 3 miles away, took us to this very picturesque island to visit the exquisite church which had remarkably well preserved bas relief carvings on the external walls. The interior contained spectacular murals. The church had the most beautiful conical roof making it one of the most photographed buildings in eastern Anatolia. Needless to say we all took hundreds of photos. The weather and sunlight whilst here were spectacular highlighting the beauty of the small island and its ancient buildings.
Once back at the shore we headed off to Van Castle perched on the top of Van Rock to watch sunset over the lake. This was a substantial climb to the top so we decided to go at our own pace and let the rest go with the guide. Amazingly we eventually caught them up to receive big hugs from some for having made it. The view over the old city and lake were impressive. Below us a city of many thousands once survived but the only remnants now were the grass covered foundations of numerous buildings, the ruins of a couple of mosques and two others that had been restored. The spectacular engineering required for building this castle on the rocks was amazing with huge thick walls constructed in precarious places.
The group explored further on the site and we decided to descend where we were lucky enough to see a Van cat and her kitten at one of the tourist jewelers shops at the bottom. Later in the evening we were taken to a jewellers in Van city where they brought a van cat for us to see, I believe it was the same cat as it had the same black speck on its left ear and a dirty mark on its nose. These cats are really special in Turkey and at one time to encourage increase in numbers owners were paid a monthly sum to keep one. This has long stopped so guess numbers are not increasing substantially.
Our hotel in Van did not have a dining room so we dined on fresh trout in a local restaurant nearby. On our travels we passed many trout farms, a delicacy of the area. They were so delicious that we decided to have them again on our second night but it must have been a different chef, the second time they were overcooked.
Next morning we set off for Dogubeyazit, you try saying that! Just a short distance from the Iranian border the town was full of bazaars with small shops selling many items shipped in from Iran. Sadly we were not here long enough to witness the many Iranian families that cross the border to shop here. Our hotel was interesting and was possibly the poorest we had even though it appeared to be the best option. Once we had been allocated our rooms we assembled on the floor lobby to inspect every room. We all took it in good heart, laughed and accepted that this would be our stop for the night.
However, our journey to Dogubeyazit was extremely enjoyable. First we stopped at Muradiye Waterfall, having seen dozens of waterfalls on our travels they do not excite us but the highlight of the visit was a wedding party that arrived crossing the pedestrian suspension bridge to the small café where we drank cay. The guests sang and danced whilst the bride, especially, remained extremely solemn looking quite unhappy. Dressed in a beautiful flouncy well worn dress and flouncy bonnet which covered her head and hair she wore a red sash around her waist to signify she was still a virgin. The bridegroom was no happier so we guessed it had been an arranged marriage. We were all saddened to see such an unhappy pair of newly weds and felt anxious for her future. Sadly in this part of the world women are not all treated well with many being beaten by their husbands. Women appear to do all the work in the fields and much of the heavy work in addition to producing many children. On several occasions we witnessed women with huge loads whilst the men walked ahead carrying nothing
After lunch we headed for the impressive Ashak Pasa Palace just a short distance to the southeast of Dogubeyazit. Constructed from beautiful honey coloured sandstone by an Ottoman governor in the late 18th Century it contains a variety of building styles including Ottoman, Persian, Armenian, Georgian and Seljuk. It is situated on what was an important caravan route which explains why such an opulent structure was built in this lonely and remote part of the country. Currently under extensive and very expensive restoration it once contained 366 rooms which included a harem, men’s quarters and a small mosque. At various times it has been occupied by Ottoman and Russian troops who sadly showed little regard for its historic importance.
We managed briefly to visit a shop where young women were making knotted carpets. The owner explained how he trained these young girls to become independent and to resist wearing the Muslim scarf if that was their wish. It is either the father or the husband who insist on such things.
Our next visit was to the Noah’s Ark museum situated on the side of Mount Ararat. The journey of what seemed many miles took us through the most amazing scenery where people lived in remote settlements of primitive stone built houses with flat roofs covered in hay and mud. The windy and mountainous road eventually arrived at the Museum which overlooked what is supposedly the remains of Noah’s Ark. Huge in size the measurements, we are told, correspond with those mentioned in the bible. This is a reasonably recent find in terms of antiquities and is still the subject of much exploration with a recent group of Turkish and Chinese Christians having done some work here. The museum has been at the site for many years manned by the same gentleman. Many of us are skeptical about the size and its ability to float notwithstanding the ability of people of the time to build something so huge but guess with time it will be proved it is either Noah’s Ark or something quite different.
From the Museum we could see the Iranian board just a few kilometers away where a vehicle queue of a couple of miles long waited to cross the border to Iran. This is an area of great smuggling although we were not lucky enough to witness any. Vast quantities of illegal items enter Turkey from Iran and are collected by locals on horseback before being distributed throughout Turkey. We were told it would be a good place to buy a carpet before it finally reached the western part of Turkey to be sold at a vastly inflated price. Unfortunately we never had time anywhere to take a look at any.
With the light failing, sunset is more than an hour earlier in this part of Turkey than we have been used to in Marmaris, we headed to Hotel Arara in Dogubeyazit where we ate Pide and local mixed grill brought in from the restaurant we had lunch in a short distance away. Pide is the Turkish form of pizza, a large piece of flat bread in the shape of a long boat filled with an assortment of fillings.
In spite of the quality of the hotel the beds were very comfortable and we all had a good night’s sleep before leaving for our journey to Kars. On arriving in Kars we travelled through streets where Armenian, Georgian and Russian buildings still stood alongside more recently built Turkish properties. Lunch was taken at a local restaurant where the traditional meal was skewed slivers of lamb cooked over charcoal, not the best lamb we had eaten as it was rather fatty and chewy. However it was a nice restaurant with beautiful old photos showing what the city once looked like. Above our table was the most beautiful photo of an old Armenian church complete with Onion style towers, later we would see how it had been transformed into a Mosque by the Turks. What a sad building it now looked as the towers had been removed and two minarets built instead. The architecture now looked dysfunctional.
After lunch we visited Kars castle driving past the engineering campus of the local university along narrow single track winding roads where thankfully we did not come across another vehicle. The climb to the castle was long but thankfully our small bus was able to travel all the way and enter through the gates, something we were told was not normally allowed. Under grey skies and wrapped up for winter we walked the site before heading off to Ani Castle which was once the capital of Armenia. A simply vast site situated on a high grassy plateau where we covered possibly only a third of the area. Standing on the top of a cliff that dropped almost vertically to a huge gorge we stood and looked across the river to Armenia just yards away. Forlornly below us the ruins of a bridge crossing the river stood. On the Armenian side an archaeological dig was taking place to find what also remains of Ani. Turkey and Armenia do not communicate and have no crossings between their countries so the Turks will never know the results.
Ani was once known as ‘the city of a thousand and one churches’ but suffered severe damage in an earthquake in 1319.
The remains of a once Armenian Cathedral still stand almost in tact, but now are the ruins of a mosque whilst the Church of St Gregory a 12 sided rotunda is undergoing restoration. A further circular church had suffered severely in earthquakes with a shambles of columns, bases and tops lying in huge piles within the outer walls which still stand partially.
With the light beginning to fade we hopped back on the bus for our trip back to Kars where we made a stop at a local cheese shop. Kars is known for its special cheeses and honey. Needless to say we all walked from the shop with carrier bags filled to the brim. There were two cheese for us to taste, one a two year old hard cheese with huge holes made from cow’s milk. The whole cheese was huge and weighed many kilos, each kilo we bought made little difference to the shape or size of the whole cheese. The other we tasted was a combined cow and sheep’s milk cheese tasting more like a cheddar. Many of us bought honey in combs, something we are eating kilos of as it tastes so good, particularly Brian who loves it.
Back on board the coach we made our way to our last hotel of the trip. Although externally rather reminiscent of a Soviet building the interior was extremely nice with lovely bedrooms and bathrooms. Food here was also very nice.
Next morning we were all up early to make the short journey to the airport to catch our 2.5 hour flight back to Izmir and a coach trip back to Marmaris.
The Republic Day of Turkey is one of the public holidays in Turkey, commemorating the proclamation of the republic in 1923. It lasts 35 hours, starting at 1:00 pm on October 28.
On 29 October 1923, Mustafa Kemal declared that Turkey would be a republic and renamed it as the Republic of Turkey.
Turkey had effectively been a republic from April 23rd, 1920 (the establishment of Grand National Assembly of Turkey) but official recognition of this came only 3 years later. On 29 October 1923, the new name of the nation and its status as a republic was declared. After that, a vote occurred in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and Ataturk was selected as the 1st president of the Republic of Turkey by unanimous vote
Since then, every year October 29th is celebrated as Republic Day in Turkey.
There are usually great parades, carnivals, dancing and fireworks but sadly this year all celebrations have been cancelled in respect to the victims of the huge earthquake that happened near Van last weekend. Similar to Remembrance day in the UK wreaths and plaques were placed around the statue of Ataturk on the waterfront in Marmaris.
Today was a beautiful day with hot sunshine so we walked to town, we have yet to measure the distance but it seems to be getting shorter everytime we walk there. We had watched teenagers practising traditional dancing the other night but sadly we were unable to see them today in their national costume so it seemed a good day to visit Marmaris Castle, something we had never had the opportunity to do before. A beautifully restored site situated in the heart of Old Marmaris allows one to view the huge bay of Marmaris from its ramparts and watch the yachts and other craft on the water. Today is also the start of the annual Marmaris Regatta but there was little evidence of any racing today, this will start in earnest tomorrow and will continue until the end of next week.
After a great chicken donor and a glass of ayrun, a traditional Turkish yoghurt drink, we slowly walked along the front before making our way back to our apartment.
Yesterday, 7th November was the start of a four day Muslim festival here in Turkey known as Kurban Bayram. This festival commemorates the near sacrifice of a young man who was saved by divine intervention. This is the story of the Prophet Abraham and his son Isaac and how the prophet was commanded by God to sacrifice his one and only son. Only at the very last moment did an angel appear with a ram to be sacrificed in the boy’s place. So began the sacrifice of sheep and other similar animals like cattle and camels although we did not see any of those at our foray into the cattle market yesterday.
For the next few days a market is held where a great many huge cattle, sheep and goats are sold ready to be sacrificed for this festival. In essence the animals are actually slaughtered at the Halal slaughterhouse on site and we were lucky enough to be able to chat to many locals and be invited in to watch the ritual. It was all extremely civilised with several vets on hand.
Animals are brought from many areas of Turkey, especially the far eastern parts where there are many Bedouin farmers who gradually work their herds and flocks westwards ready for this festival. The size and quality of the animals was simply superb although some could have done with a good wash down before the deed was done.
In beautiful hot sunny weather we watched local men, some with their families, but mostly men alone or in groups inspecting the animals before negotiating deals with the vendors. A deal was struck on a handshake and in all instances both vendor and buyer showed great pleasure in what was achieved. Some of the gnarled weather beaten faces of these mountain farmers were great subjects for photography but not always easy to snap.
It was rare to see a women doing a deal but we did come across one Marmaris business women doing a deal to buy 3 sheep which she was donating to charity. In all cases the seller once paid either dropped the money on the ground or brushed the ground with it for good luck and prosperity.
Over the years the festival has changed although the same principals exist. Rather like Christmas presents are given and the shops have been full of boxed chocolates etc. and other such gifts. In the days leading up to the holiday people would start preparing the presents they would exchange but this was very different in an age when there were no department stores. New clothes for the occasion had to be made by hand. One had to go to purchase the materials and then give a tailor or seamstress etc. measurements to make them. In view of the time to organise this people were given a half day off the day before the holiday actually started. Women of the household would spend hours cleaning to ensure that everything was sparkling since the holiday was also a time for visiting relatives and friends.
Today in Turkey only banks and government offices seem to enjoy that half day, even yesterday the major Supermarkets and many smaller shops were open. The first day of the festival everybody would put on their new clothes early and the men went off to the mosque to pray. When they came home it would be time to eat and then sacrifice an animal. The person who purchased the animal was entitled, along with his immediate family to one third of the meat. More distant relatives and friends got the second third and the final third went to the poor.
After it would be time to go visiting, first to the oldest living male member of the family on the husband’s side. The second day it was customary to go to the eldest living male member on the wife’s side. This continued with the custom of going to kiss the hand of your employer, a practice reflecting that of the grand vizier. Another custom during the Kurban Bayram was going to visit the family graves. Some might even camp out in the cemetries. It was also a time of revelry and there are accounts of swings and platforms for clowns and musicians and story tellers being set up to beguile the people along the streets of the city. Most importantly the Kurban Bayram was an occasion for people to get together in sharing, peace and giving alms.
In spite of what we had been told by a lot of locals it seems the tradition is as it is said. So many people we came across yesterday were donating much of their meat to charity. One family was to help a poor local village where the population seldom had the luxury of meat. Meat is extremely expensive here in Turkey and we were told the price of animals this year is twice that of last year.
We had been told by locals that with the advent of the freezer families bought the animals and ate what they needed and froze the rest. The tradition had been to give your neighbours and friends a meal and they then would return the kindness but today we are told you only get back the empty dishes. This was not what we felt from what we saw yesterday.
Well we are off to the marina to enjoy our free meal – not sure whether we come under the close family and friends or the poor but we are extremely grateful for the generosity of the owner of Marmaris Yacht Marine.
It is 9pm Saturday evening and we have now had three busy days in Bangkok.
Our 36 hour odd journey was tiring with our losing two nights of sleep but we have recovered sufficiently to walk miles and travel miles on the BTS Bangkok Sky Train, an excellent overhead railway connecting the inner city.
Our first night was very special as we met up with David and Ruth Clayton off Isla. We had sailed with them in the Caribbean and then crossed the Pacific the same year. They were both wonderful friends to me whilst laying in my bed in Papeete Hospital, Tahiti. David and Ruth were in Bangkok for a couple of nights and were due to leave the day after we arrived so we managed to meet and had a wonderful 8 course Japanese meal with them for a staggering price of around £8 per person.
Our mission for the second day was to apply for our Vietnamese visas from the Embassy in Bangkok. The office closed at 11.30am for lunch but we were not discouraged by the short time we had to get there. We managed it by a whisker and were told quite clearly we should have come earlier. It took us less than five minutes to complete the application form, hand over one passport photograph each and pay out 2,700Bahts each allowing the staff to go off to their 2 hour lunch break. We returned as asked, to collect them at 3.30pm all complete. The whole process had taken less than 10 minutes of our time at the Embassy.
During the lunch period we headed off to the Jim Thompson House/Museum a glorious building in the heart of the city on the banks of the canal in a simply fantastic tropical garden. Jim Thompson, an American who was born in Delaware in 1906 was a practicing architect prior to World War II and volunteered for service in the US Army. He never saw action but spent time in Bangkok as a military officer and fell in love with Thailand. Once he left the services he decided to return and live there permanently. Jim was captured by the long neglected cottage industry of hand weaving of silk and he devoted his life to restoring it. He was gifted as a designer and textile colourist and he contributed greatly to the industry’s growth.
His house was constructed by combining six teak buildings which represented the best in traditional Thai architecture. The houses were easily dismantled and rebuilt on the current site. All the traditional religious rituals were followed during the construction of the house and in the spring of 1959 Jim Thompson moved in. The house and his art collection soon were open to the public with the proceeds being donated to Thai charities.
On 25th March 1967 Jim Thompson disappeared while on a visit to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia and since that date there has not been one single clue as to what happened to him. His beautiful home remains as a lasting reminder of his creative ability and his deep love of Thailand.
The house and its contents were simply gorgeous. I had visited the Jim Thompson shop whilst we were in Phuket so it was a joy to be able to visit the one at his home where I bought two beautiful silk cushion covers.
Having had an excellent breakfast at our hotel lunch comprised coffee and a cake so we were ready for our supper later. Friday night we met up with friends Nigel and Alison from s/y Strummer. Nigel and Alison are now living in Bangkok and we last saw them in Uligan in the Maldives last February when they left to return to Thailand and Malaysia rather than risk their lives crossing the Indian Ocean and up the Red Sea. It was good to see them and hear about their new life over a traditional Thai supper at a local eatery prior to moving on to a small bar to people watch.
We finally left them and made our way back to the BTS for our journey back to our hotel. Our hotel, Bangkok Loft Inn is situated just a short walk from the last station on the southern line. It is a beautiful small hotel, number 5 out of 300 odd hotels in Bangkok and won the 2011 Trip Advisor award. We have a gorgeous room with the most comfy beds and pillows plus an amazing breakfast - all for £25 per night. The staff are delightful and part of the deal is to collect us from the airport on our arrival. A truly wonderful deal - we are sure not all our hotels are going to be so good.
This 10 week trip has taken months to research and organise. We just did not want to arrive somewhere and then have to find accommodation, nor did I want to spend hours on the computer doing it whilst away. I have researched everyone of the 19 hotels we are staying at dismissing some because of bad reviews etc. There was one mishap when I booked two hotels in the same city, thankfully that was easily resolved. Having booked with www.agoda.com I was able to cancel one of them without penalty.
Two days before our departure from Marmaris we had a phone call from our airline asking if we had a visa for Thailand, we had expected to get it on arrival. Unless we could provide evidence of an onward flight out of the country we would not be allowed to board the plane in Istanbul. What a blow this meant we had to book the cheapest flight we could find out of Thailand and then hope we may be able to claim the cost back. This is the next project.
Today Saturday has been a day of shopping exploration. Several weeks ago the digital kitchen timer died totally, just cannot remember which country it had been bought in. We spent much time tramping around the supermarkets in Marmaris trying to find a replacement but it appears that no one times the cooking of food with such a contraption in Turkey. My only hope would be Thailand where one can buy fabulous home wares. Brian spent time researching branches of Robinsons, a large department store with branches in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. He located the nearest branch and we walked there this morning but no one knew what we were talking about so we headed back to the hotel to plan for the rest of the day.
The timer was priority today so off we headed to Siam Square to hit the huge department stores and hey presto we found one. This time we opted for the old fashioned mechanical one, the digital one looked far too complicated to use.
The size of these stores is simply massive with one department store running into the next and each have many many floors. On our way to the 5th floor of Paragon centre Brian drooled over the Lamborghinis and Masseratis in the car showroom on the 3rd floor! Not quite sure how they got them all there!
Lunch was in the food hall of Paragon, an enormous place with simply dozens of food stalls. On each stall, rather than have a menu with a picture of each dish there was a very realistic plastic/resin version .
After lunch we headed up the escalators to find the Ipads and Iphones. We feel rather left out when we see everyone with a smart phone or pad. Almost 50% of everyone on the BTS is swiping their screen. Noone talks to one another, there is no eye contact, one wonders if we will lose the power to talk in the future. Certainly one will forget how to communicate on a one to one basis in the future. The Apple store was simply crowded out and later whilst visiting another Apple shop we watched 7 Ipad 2’s being sold. Of course it is possible to buy one below the correct price in the many so called shops in the plaza but at the price there is no guarantee that they are genuine inside. All of the new real ones were in a plastic covered box in a brown cardboard box. The cheaper versions are in a box identical to that used for the real ones but there is no plastic cover or brown cardboard box. The Ipads are tempting but we wonder if we would be able to master using it.
Tomorrow is another day, do we do a trip on the river to see some of the Temples or do we visit one of the very large weekend markets. No doubt once we have dragged ourselves from our beds and eaten our good breakfast we will decide using our great Nancy Chandler map. By the way the weather is wonderfully warm.
What a busy few days we have had. On Sunday we spent the day on the River Chao Phraya buying an all day ticket for 150 Bahts each allowing us unlimited travel (approx £3 each). We caught the Sky Train to Saphan Taksin and walked down to the river to the ferries.
Initially we took the ferry to its most northern destination with a guide pointing out various points of interest on the way. On the way back we first stopped at Tha Wang Lang pier to make our way to the Royal Barge Museum. This involved a walk through a maze on streetside food sellers, where we identified where we would buy lunch, on to the main road where we turned right to head for Phra Pinklao Bridge. It was here we were approached by a security guard and made to wait as a member of the Thai Royal Family was being transported somewhere, we were not sure if it was by land or river. However, after around 20 minutes we were allowed to climb the steps and cross the busy bridge. The other side led us through a labyrinth of narrow canal pathways to the museum where the barges were stored. On these narrow paths we encountered young guys on motor bikes and had to breathe in well to let them pass. It was all to evident to see how these people had suffered during the flooding recently experienced in Bangkok, a muddy water line showed a good metre above the floor with many homes still removing wood and mud from inside.
We returned along these canals, over the bridge and back to the ferry stopping off en route to buy our lunch of Roasted Royal Pork and a type of pancake topped with cream and shredded coconut. In total it all cost just under £3. Back on to the ferry to cross to the other side to head for the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Hundreds of tourists queued to go in, we hesitated at the thought of joining such a queue, but in the end decided we should not come to Bangkok and not see it so we paid up and followed the crowd. The site was huge and even though we carried a site plan we got thoroughly lost and had to ask a guide to show us on the map just where we were. We walked the grounds admiring the beautiful gardens and architecture of the various buildings before moving onto the Chakri Maha Prasat Hall, a building dating back to 1882 consisting of the Central Throne Hall and two wings. This Hall is most notably used for the reception of Foreign Ambassadors on the occasion of the presentation of their credentials. Whilst there an entourage of vehicles approached with one vehicle carrying the flag of a country we did not recognise, there were dozens of palace staff all dressed in dark suits, yellow ties and gold badges so we guess this may have been a similar reception.
The weather was hot and beautifully sunny, we were worn out so made our way back to the ferry and decided to call it a day. The day had flown, we had walked miles but amazingly we did not manage to see more. On our way back we stopped off at LSH Travel to organise a trip to the River Kwai and the Tiger Temple for Tuesday but got talked into doing it Monday.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was dark and the question of dinner had to be decided. We are not in an area with good restaurants, people eat from streetside vendors and decided tonight we would seek out somewhere better. Our hotel recommended Yok Yor Marina, which we had seen on our river travels during the day, sadly the meal was very disappointing and we longed for our pork chops off the street vendor.
Monday morning we were up at 6.15 and quite pleased Brian had managed to get the phone alarm to work as the hotel were 30 minutes late with theirs. We had to be ready for a pick up at 7am but sadly this did not happen until after 8am as the original vehicle broke down and a replacement was sought. The hotel had packed us a breakfast which we ate in the foyer whilst waiting. It was a long day covering many miles. Along with two other very nice couples we drove to the floating market at Danoen Sadinak some130 kms away, which turned out to be a chaotic array of wooden boats paddled around by women in large straw hats. The majority of stalls were full of tourist tack although we did see, but refrained from buying, some very reasonably priced bags made from the same cane as blinds. We still have 9 more weeks to go so do not want to be loaded too early. From the market we headed to Kanchanaburi to have lunch beside the River Kwai. A nice peaceful spot with a reasonable lunch. From there we drove to the Tiger Temple around 25 miles away. We never saw the temple but were greeted on arrival by a gateway more reminiscent of a Disney adventure then followed by a concrete building in the shape of a tiger and cub.
The surrounding lands were full of deer, wild boar and water buffalo We headed to the tiger canyon where there must have been in the region of 15 – 20 tigers all lying on the ground under a simple shade cover. The majority of animals were chained. We each queued with our cameras to be led by the hand to the rear of several sleeping tigers where we knelt down and had our photos taken. It was all done in such a rush that you did not have time to take a good look at them. With that done we hastily moved to the cub pen where we saw just one sleeping cub and then we were on our way. All too rushed to work the place out. There were possibly 2- 3 monks around, the rest being volunteers from Canada, America, Iceland and Australia helped by a few local guys. Are these animals doped to be so calm – the monks say no but articles on the web say otherwise.
From the Tiger Temple we drove back to Kancharanaburi to visit the Burma railway museum which gave graphic details of the terrible suffering thousands of troops experienced at the hands of the Japanese in WWII. We met the manager/curator, a friendly Aussie, whose computer listed every prisoner who had worked on the Burma railway. I had been led to believe my children’s grandfather had been captured in Singapore and made to work on the railway. Although there were three other people with an identical surname none was grandfather. The curator promised to research elsewhere and e mail me the results.
From the museum we walked to the bridge that is an actual replacement of the original bamboo one seen in the film. The original was bombed by the allies after only 21 months of use to stop the Japanese. The original bridge took just 17 months to construct, a huge feat when you consider how many hundreds of miles it is and that many deep cuttings were made. The loss of life was enormous as seen at the war cemetery nearest to the museum, there are several nearby. People died from lack of nutrition and torture. Near to the bridge stood two old steam engines along with one of the original trucks used during the construction. Of narrow gauge, the trucks were capable of being used on land and on tracks and sat on couplings on the rails.
After a very long and successful day out we headed back to Bangkok several hours away in the comfort of a reasonable new Toyota 10 seater minibus.
Once back at the hotel we made a swift turn around and headed back to the pork chop stall a short distance from the hotel. The food was delicious but once up from our seats and on leaving one of those furry four legged friends scampered by. Looks like a normal daily occurrence in Bangkok and nobody worries about them. Certainly there are plenty of wandering dogs and cats who do not keep them under control, but it looks as if they are well fed by the street vendors as in the evenings you see sheets of newspaper on the pavement with a huge pile of rice on each one.
Today had been a day of coughing and spluttering and our guide felt sorry for us by buying us some special Chinese orange peel lozenges to help us on the journey home. We hacked away all night and Tuesday morning decided we should perhaps seek some professional help having tried to self medicate without success. So off we taxied to the Bangkok International Hospital some distance away and were seen by the Chest physician who diagnosed we were both suffering from the same problem – allergic reaction to the city pollutants and this had in turn infected our sinuses and upper respiratory passages. He prescribed various pills and hopefully in a day or two we should be feeling absolutely A1.
After a good lunch at the hospital cafeteria and time listening to the live three piece orchestra we headed back to our hotel to rest before heading out to find a restaurant for supper back in Siam Square.
Wednesday 11th, today, we are resting, having had a bad night coughing, trying to recover ready to move on tomorrow to Chang Mai. We just hope we can cope in the other cities we are to stay in!!
At last I have a few minutes to try and put a blog together. There just has been no time on our travels to do so, even though I manage to put a few notes together each day to remind me of what has happened.
Well on Thursday 12th January we set off by taxi to the airport to catch Air Asia flight to Chiang Mai. I had not been to Chiang Mai for many years and did not recognise a thing once there. Our hotel, The Small Hotel, situated in a very busy road was very disappointing in spite of its rave reviews on Trip Advisor. A boutique hotel with great potential had staff who seemed to be more interested in talking, sleeping or watching tv than encourage guests to take advantage of their attractive bar and cafe.
Our room, painted in orange, yes both the floor and walls were orange with black paintwork was a little overbearing and the only window had frosted glass. There was a balcony to the front of the building accessed through a solid door painted black but the balcony had never seen a broom or water for months so not somewhere to sit and idle the time away. However, we were there to see Chiang Mai not to stay in the room. Our coughs still persisted and we were not feeling on top of the world so perhaps if we had been fit we might have seen the hotel in a better light.
Our first night we found a secluded but expensive restaurant a short distance from the hotel where we had a great meal. It was recommended by Nancy Chandler in her map and guide book of Chiang Mai. The service was not good but the food excellent.
Each morning we took breakfast on the top floor open air restaurant of the hotel where staff were dressed in outdoor clothing to keep warm – it was pretty cool and the breeze tended to blow through the restaurant. After the Bangkok Loft Inn this was a big let down.
Much of our time in Bangkok and Chiang Mai was spent at chemists where we have spent a small fortune whilst away. Boots the Chemist is big in Thailand so we headed there for more cough medicine etc once more.
Next door to the hotel is a beautiful cafe called Siam Celadon, housed in an old Thai house with a beautiful tropical garden where they serve nice meals and sell wonderful china and specialty teas and foods. We returned here several times whilst in Chiang Mai choosing to take the high tea at lunchtime which was a very good deal. Their shop sold simply stunning things and I was sorely tempted by some beautiful green elephant lamps with beautiful silk shades. With simply no chance of carrying such items for the next few weeks I had to say goodbye and leave dreaming of them adorning home.
There are many wats in Chiang Mai, as many as in Bangkok, several being in the street of our hotel so one morning I got up early to peep over the balcony to watch the monks collecting alms from the locals. In their brightly coloured robes they stopped to collect food from people who waited along the side of the road.
Before setting off from Turkey I had organised a few things and one of them was a trip with Paul Collins a white Tuk Tuk driver who does tours. Paul had been born in Chiang Mai and he took us out to the village where he was born and brought up by his American missionary parents before taking us on to Nicci's place an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS. We were not sure what to expect here and were surprisingly shocked to arrive at the most beautiful home with 90+ very healthy and happy children. Not one looked ill and there was no one in their small hospital. The home did not know we were coming so no preparation work was done by them before our arrival. The home was simply immaculate – it was just so clean and tidy. I asked one small girl to show me where she slept and she took me to her room which she shared with 5 other young girls. They had very large pine bunk beds, one child to a bed, where their own personal cuddly toys were arranged on their beds. Each child had a cupboard with all their own clothes, and they had masses each.
The home had been set up some years ago by a Canadian couple who had adopted a very sick Thai child with HIV earlier. With love and affection this child stabilised and is now 18/19 years old. In total they had 6 kids, 3 of their own and 3 adopted plus all the other children at the orphanage. Funding comes from sponsorship and each child had sponsors for clothes, education etc. etc. with some children receiving quite substantial amounts.
There are children from around 1 year old up to 18 so there was a huge age range. Whilst there it was eating time for some of the toddlers who sat in their small chairs tackling their noodles. Everyone sat still and got on with the eating, there was no throwing food or children trying to get out of chairs, they were just so well behaved and enjoying what they were eating.
Having set out expecting to see many very sick children we left feeling extremely happy knowing they were well looked after and living very happy lives attending local schools and apparently not lacking anything. To this day I cannot believe they could keep an establishment with 90 kids so clean and tidy.
A couple of days later we were collected at 7.30 am to go off to Patara Elephant Farm where we spent a day learning to be an elephant mahout. What a fun day this turned out to be. On arrival we were given a lesson on the vocabulary we were to use, none of which we remember today, it seems to be a universal elephant language as we later found the words were the same in Laos. We were given instruction on how to check the animal was healthy, how to clean it, how to climb on to it and what the day consisted.
We donned a mahout top before collecting a large and heavy basket of bananas and sugar cane which we carried to the field prior to being allocated an elephant. Brian was allocated a female who was pregnant so she received special treatment. As we approached the elephants we had to call them individually by their name and they responded by lifting their trunks and calling back. Before feeding we released their one chain, which prevented them from wandering off, fed them before we checked their feet to see if they were sweating. An elephant can only sweat through its toenails so when you next see an elephant look to see if it is damp around that part. A healthy elephant lies down to sleep so we had to check there was dirt on the elephant to prove it had slept. An unhealthy elephant does not lie down for fear of dying. Both of ours had evidence of grit and dust on their bodies so we knew they had slept. We were given brushes made from jungle material which we used to give the animal a good brush down. Mine was able to lie down making it much easier to get to everything but Brian's being unable to lie down meant he had to find a rock to stand on so he could reach the top of his. He led the animal there holding its ear and gave it a good brush. The elephants consumed the brushes at the end. After the brushing we took the animals to the river to give them a further brush with a scrubbing brush and plenty of water. Our buckets were made of closely woven basket each with a strange shaped handle to make it easy to hold and throw water over the elephant. These animals simply love water and were easy to manoeuvre to scrub them, several had babies who tagged along and joined in the fun.
After washing them and getting simply soaked we donned our mahout trousers before climbing onto the back of the elephant, not an easy task for either of us, and setting off on a long trek through the jungle along treacherous terrain to a waterfall. We sat astride the neck with our legs bent like jockeys, our knees rested on the top of the elephant’s ears. There was nothing to hold on to other than a rope that went around the girth of the beast, this was behind us. As we climbed we had to lean forward and as we descended we had to lean back. At the same time we were giving it verbal instructions. At the waterfall we stopped for a picnic lunch on a large rock, the food was great, plenty to eat and drink – one of the baby elephants thought so too and ploughed across the area hoovering up whatever he could with his trunk. There was some very quick action amongst the mahouts and us to remove chicken and bones to prevent those being eaten.
This was a fun day and surprisingly after all the trekking we were none the worse for wear and were able to walk quite normally afterwards.
We were very fortunate to be in Chiang Mai at the same time as the International Horticultural Expo. We caught a tuk tuk to the station where a free bus took us to the show some miles from the centre of Chiang Mai. As seniors we had preferential entry fees, a good start to the day and then took the little train that ran around the site to get an idea of where everything was and what we might like to go back to see. We had a stunning day here, the displays were just magical and there were just a handful of white tourists there. It was full of locals having a fantastic time.
Orchids stole the show for us, the displays were amazingly beautiful and at one spot we wandered through the laboratory propagating orchids.
Tired and hungry we made our way out of the expo stopping many times to admire the sights and to watch the bevy of VIP’s arriving for a very special ceremony which was to be attended by the King’s sister. Just as we approached the exit there was a massive firework display and the locals went mad with excitement.
It was a truly memorable day.
As in all Asian cities the night market is a must to visit. When last in Chiang Mai I had been taken by the number of copied gear but on this occasion was not so bothered about visiting the market knowing I could get possibly better goods in Turkey. However, on our last night we wandered in the direction of the market to find some Western Food and had a good meal at Dukes, huge steaks etc. all imported from Australia. From Dukes we walked through the market which had changed considerably since my last visit. It was now very modern with some stunning items to be bought. With no space in our luggage we returned to the hotel empty handed.
Our next stop is Chiang Rai ………
Before leaving Chiang Mai we had to organise a new pair of sun glasses for Brian. His had been taken off his face by an over zealous elephant whilst we were at Patara, the elephant was so strong the glasses crushed in his trunk. Fortunately the lenses were in tact and we were lucky enough to find an optician very near to our hotel who could fit the lenses into another frame.
With glasses and plenty of medication our next journey would take us to Chiang Rai so on the morning of 18th Jan we set off by taxi to the bus station to catch a bus to Chiang Rai. The taxi driver dropped us at the wrong bus station and we lugged our luggage across the road to the new one and waited along with many others for a bus. The journey was uneventful passing very flat land dotted with paddy fields, teak plantations and jungle like growth. We took a taxi to our hotel, La Luna, located just outside town. This was a very nice hotel with small bungalows in a tropical setting with a very nice swimming pool. The temperature was a lot cooler here than Bangkok and we had coughs so we never tested the water. However we did don swimming costumes to sit in the sun.
After lunch at the hotel we strolled around the gardens in search of the pool in the hope of finding a sun bed but every one was in use so had to settle for a short rest in our room. We did a little exploration outside the hotel and found a lady with a sewing machine a short distance away who shortened my one pair of linen trousers for a silly cheap price. Back in Turkey I usually wear them with a shoe with heels but here in flatties they are dragging in the dirt. I need them for the next few weeks without being too dirty.
Next day we set to work exploring Chiang Rai, I had actually visited here some years ago but there was nothing I remembered or recognised. This was a pleasant town where you could spend an hour or so drinking coffee and reading the newspapers at several small coffee shops. Later we returned to the hotel where we met a delightful Australian couple who had adopted a Chinese child who was now 6 or 7. Both husband and wife worked in the pharmaceutical industry and they recommended that we should try a stronger antibiotic to try to rid ourselves of our terrible chest problems. This we did and each took two courses to ensure we were clear.
I am fascinated by ethn
ic minorities clothes of SE Asia so we went to the Tribal Museum where we watched an excellent film on the various tribes which showed none of them are indigenous. All have came from Myanmar, China or Tibet around 100 years ago. Underneath the museum is the restaurant Cabbages and Comdoms. There is a branch in Bangkok but Brian just simply refused to go there as it was a little way out of the city from our hotel. All profits from the two restaurants go to helping birth control in Thailand – on this occasion he had no choice and we had a good lunch there.
After lunch we walked to the bus station where we caught a bus to the very modern White Temple, a concrete construction adorned with broken pieces of glass and painted brilliant white. It was not our cup of tea, preferring the traditional temple architecture. This temple was more like a Disney fantasy and there were hundreds of Thai tourists at it. Shortly afterwards we walked to the main road to wait for a bus back to Chiang Rai and then back to our hotel to prepare for our departure to Chiang Khong next day. We had a good couple of days here and enjoyed our stay at La Luna Hotel where we ate all our meals in the hotel restaurant – the food was good with large portions.
We are up early to get ourselves sorted and off for breakfast before being taken to the bus station. As the first to arrive we had the front seats which were jolly uncomfortable and Brian moaned the whole journey – must remember next time as our rucksacks take a fair amount of space and these buses are not made for carrying such tings.
Brian was left at the bus station whilst I rushed off to find more antibiotics, yoghurts and water. The bus was very keen to leave on time at 10am but we were amazed to see people still arriving and getting on as the bus moved off. At £1.50 each for 100km it was cheap but it certainly was not comfy and the road at times was extremely rough. The landscape was very flat for the majority of the journey with fields and fields of paddy or peanuts. As we got closer to Chiang Khong the landscape changed considerably, it was now hilly with many rubber and teak plantations, acres and acres of sweetcorn and many mango plantations. We eventually arrived at Chiang Khong 2.5 hours after leaving Chiang Rai, a little later than expected and there was no sign of our hotel transport. They had come earlier not found us so left. A tuk tuk took us to the hotel which was no hassle. The hotel Chiang Khong Teak Garden is delightful, our room is lovely with a comfy bed etc, nice bathroom and a nice balcony but not actually on the banks of the Mekong, that required a few more pounds which we did not feel we needed as we are to spend two days travelling down it and it is just a one night stay in order to get to the border with Laos. We eat lunch in the hotel restaurant which is good although they use Palm oil for cooking which our stomachs do not like.
Once in the room we could see my new 75 Turkish lira wheely case from Marmaris now had two holes in the side – it is not doing too well we have only been going 18/19 days, so after lunch we walked back to the small town in the hope of finding a replacement. Chiang Khong is a small border town with a population of just around 8,000 and as we thought there was not a case in site. We managed to buy a quantity of cord which Brian used to secure the case when we left. Our only hope is to be able to buy one in Luang Prabang when we get there in a couple of days’ time.
Before walking back along the riverside to our hotel we bought a quantity of mangosteens and apples to eat later but after a few hours back at the hotel the mangosteen were simply full of ants and we had them running everywhere – a quick disposal of these took place. The Mekong here is wide and flows fast. Across the other side is Laos and tomorrow we get collected at 8am to go to Laos immigration to get our visas before hopping on a slow boat for 2 days to Luang Prabang.
Our supper was a bit of a disaster as Brian chose a pork chop which looked simply delicious when it arrived but sadly it was very uncooked inside and had to be returned to the kitchen twice before he could eat it.
What a great day. On 22nd January we were up early for a 7am breakfast at the hotel ready to be picked up at 8am with my case now tied with red cord. A tuk tuk transferred us to the ferry port where we checked out of Thailand and met up with others who were going to be on the ferry with us. There were just 11 of us, all Brits apart from one Fin who actually lived in London. Once checked out we boarded a couple of ferries across the Mekong to the Laos port of Huay Xuay to check in and get our Laos Visas. It was all done quickly, one more check at police control and we transported in a couple of tuk tuks with our luggage in a truck to our ferry a couple of kilometres away.
It was a great crowd and the banter started at the beginning. There were two other retired couples, the others were all London professionals 2 of whom now lived in Singapore.
We climbed aboard the ferry and each took four seats a couple so we could watch from both sides of the boat. There was so much going on that none of us noticed what time we actually left the port. Our guide Phat (pronounced Pat) was a delightful guy and the captain and his wife looked after us as we made our way down the Mekong to Pak Beng where we went ashore to stay the night.
It took several hours before we got to the border where both sides of the river were in Laos. A delicious lunch prepared and cooked on the boat by the captain’s wife consisted of fried fish, chicken curry and a veggie mixture was eaten just before we stopped at a local village. There are 49 different ethnic groups in Laos and this particular group lived high on the banks in houses made of jungle material. The villagers were virtually totally self sufficient growing their own crops, fruit and animals. These people, obviously very poor, pounded rice manually in huge pestles or used a foot pedal method. There were many kids all in very dirty clothing with many of them having a very vacant expression. No one appeared happy and it was impossible to get them to smile. The majority would not let us take their picture.
From there we continued our journey to Pak Beng with scenery changing from flat land to mountainous regions covered with thick jungle. Along the rocky banks fishing nets perched precariously from long bamboo poles that had been secured onto a rock. The flow of the water was rapid but we were unable to ascertain the actual speed. Villages and people panning for gold littered the banks and in some areas there were beautiful sandy beaches.
Herds of cattle and buffalo with the occasional goat grazed the shores. As we got nearer to Pak Beng the river changed becoming more like a gorge with towering cliffs. It was clear to see the river was low. Once in Pak Beng we got off the ferry and climbed the steep hill to our hotel, Phetsoukxai. A basic hotel with a wood panelled room with a lousy view. Just one night so no big deal and all included in the price of our ferry ride of around $100 each. There was no time to linger here as we immediately had to meet up with everyone to head off with the guide to walk around the village to get our bearings. Pak Beng is a very busy port with around 500 people living in it and a massive selection of accommodation for those doing the same as us. After a fun supper we eventually made our way back to the hotel in darkness.
An early start next day, we have to leave at 7am. This is our second day on the Mekong. After a cooked breakfast with our first decent bread for 3 weeks we set off once more walking down from our hotel to the dock with our bags back on to the boat. Our hotel in Pak Beng turned out to be better than expected. Reviews on Trip Advisor were not encouraging but we were quite happy with it. Although the room panelled in dark wood, located at the back of the hotel with just enough room for ourselves and our luggage had a comfy enough bed and we slept well.
Each morning mist and cloud lay in the river valley but as the guide predicted minutes after 10am it was gone and each day turned out to be quite beautiful. As we made our way south through many rapids the temperature rose considerably. The river rises considerably during the rainy season and the majority of the now visible rocks are hidden. Our guide showed us the height of the water back in 2008 – probably 20-30m higher than now – impossible to imagine. However, the river levels are now seriously affected by the Chinese dams that have reduced the levels dramatically and at times the levels are too low for boats to travel. Either side of the banks small groups of poor housing stood. Standing on stilts and built of jungle vegetation, these people have little. How they survive is amazing.
Along the river banks opportunists panned for gold. Either side some had tried to grow vegetables such as peanuts, Job’s tear (a root crop that produced a small pea size crop on the root)
The captain’s wife prepared and served another super lunch before we arrived at Pakou Caves. There are two caves here which we approached by a very steep stairway. One cave houses thousands of small buddhas. We started to walk to the second cave but gave up after deciding it was too far. We later heard from those who went that the effort to get there was not worth it so we were pleased we opted out.
A short distance from here we stopped at another ethnic village where the ladies were trying to sell local weaving. To me none of it looked authentic and I believe much of it is imported from China where it is made. There is just too much of the stuff to believe these people in these conditions are able to produce.
Not far from here is our destination Luang Prabang where we arrived around 4.30-5pm We said our goodbyes to everyone before taking our luggage to the top of the steep slope where our car/driver/hotel owner picked us up in his luxurious minibus and took us round town to our hotel which actually was only yards from the port – this cost us an amazing $10. The owner offered us a ground floor room at his new hotel but, we believing he felt us too old to climb stairs, refused the offer, what a mistake. Our hotel Mounglow Riverside turned out to be the most expensive and poorest hotel of our trip in Laos. The room, accessed by a stairway that was more like a ladder, was small, dark and badly equipped. There was no mirror in the room and only a small low table to use the computer on where we had to kneel or crouch. As for the bathroom it was a disgrace. With its own electric shower it was only capable of producing tepid water and you could shower and sit on the loo at the same time. Breakfast was served on the wooden terrace across the road overlooking the Mekong. It was a delightful setting but it appeared every single chair had a problem with its joints – they all wobbled and were quite unsafe. Breakfast was innovative, cooked on the terrace there appeared to be a rotating menu but we only experience two. You had what you were given and there was no more or choice. Hard luck if you did not like it.
Two days later we moved to the sister hotel, the new one, which the owner had acquired 3 months earlier. This was a much nicer hotel although we did not now have a river view. The room was a good size and well fitted out. Breakfast served on the patio was served in an identical way to the previous hotel.
Whilst in Luang Prabang we visited the National Museum. Once the palace of the region’s King it now houses relics of those times as a Monarchy. We were surprised at how much was still there having seen destruction by other communist regimes elsewhere. We attempted to walk up Phoussy Hill to the Wat but climbed the first 100 or so steps, then came to the payment booth and a sign saying 139 more steps – too much for us in the daytime heat so we climbed down. We walked and walked the streets of Luang Prabang admiring some of the beautiful traditional buildings, many of them now expensive hotels.
On our final day we rented bikes – mine without gears cost less than £1 for the day whilst Brian’s which was in better condition cost just over £1. We cycles miles into the country first to the airport then returning and crossing the river on a bridge for cyclists and motor cyclists. Having not ridden bikes for some considerable time keeping on the narrow boards without falling off or wobbling took a great deal of concentration. Lunch comprised packets of crisps and fruit bought from small village stores, although we did find a restaurant on our travels near a bamboo bridge, the prices were far too expensive for us. It was actually full of what looked like a large tour group of Europeans. We sat on a road bridge under the shade of some trees using the bridge rails to sit on and ate our snack. A small child from a nearby house came running out to look at us. Her mother was busy weaving on her loom under a covered area of their very poor house.
After exploring further inland in very hot sunshine we worked our way back to Luang Prabang along the banks of the Mekong to admire all the beautiful buildings. Having had a very economical day we made the mistake of eating at a different restaurant. The food just was not up to the standard of Delilah’s Place. We both chose steak which was tough and twice the price of any meal we had had at Delilah’s. Delilah’s Place is a family run restaurant. The young couple have two kids and one is called Delilah. Mother works by day as an accountant and at night cooks in her restaurant – she is passionate about cooking and it shows in what she produces. Her fished cooked in a banana leaf with sticky rice was to die for. For anyone reading this who may travel to Luang Prabang you must eat at this restaurant, it is located close to the Post Office a short distance from the night market. The food is simply delicious and competitively priced.
Tomorrow we are off by bus to Phonsavan by bus with my new silver case which has 4 wheels, we will see how long this one lasts!
Once safely on our plane to Pakse we could relax . It was a very good flight on a relatively new turbo propped plane. It left a few minutes early and arrived on time. We were met at Pakse airport by our hotel car and taken to our hotel Champasak Palace. This is a wonderful service offered by many of the hotels we stayed at, it is not always free but we prefer to pay them rather than get caught by unscrupulous taxi drivers as we did in Vietnam. This hotel will take us free back to the airport for our next flight to Siem Reap.
The hotel was very welcoming and upgraded us to a very nice room overlooking the river which was large and well fitted out and included a bath – however do not think for one minute we will bath – all too time consuming. We head for breakfast in the garden before walking through town to organise some trips. Pakse and the surrounding area really was a highlight of our Laos trip.
We stopped at several tour agents but they were expensive although the backpackers like them. We moved on to another where the trips appeared more expensive, their office was dirty and dishevelled so we dismissed that one, however on the way we met a lady trying to sell tours for her husband. The tours were a lot less so we gave it some thought but before heading back to her we tried one other tour company who could not instantly give us a price. He also avoided answering certain questions so we quashed that one too. We decided to go back to the lady to see if she could do us a deal for the 3 days we had in Pakse. She telephoned her husband and he came to meet us getting caught and fined for speeding on the way. His English was reasonably good so we struck a deal, he was hundreds of dollars less than the tour agents. He seemed an honest guy, we gave him a deposit and waited for next morning.
Not a good start, up early for a 7.30am pickup, no sign of the driver and he has our money. We need not have worried, there was some confusion over the pick up time and after a quick phone call made by the hotel we found we were half an hour early. We were not disappointed we had the most amazing three days with Somchit.
The first day he took us up to the Bolaven Plateau to visit coffee and tea plantations, ethnic villages and several waterfalls. Our first waterfall was Tad Nyang where we climbed down masses of stairs and then had to wait ages to ascend whilst we waited for a coach load of Thais to come down.
At the plantations we walked through the fields of tea bushes. There are two pickings, first the fresh young leaves and second the older leaves. All are left in the sun to dry before being roasted and broken up into small pieces. It all looked very basic and unmechanised as did the coffee plantations we went to – in fact one very large plantation was supporting 50 family members – they looked pretty poor with each family living in fairly poor conditions. The coffee cherries are brilliantly coloured and are left to dry in the sun before their skins are removed. Much of the beans are then sent to a large mill to be processed. Much of Nescafe’s beans come from here. However we have drunk Nescafe all around the world and in each country it tastes different, depending on the local’s taste.
These coffee and tea farmers worked hard for little return. We understand large companies come in and buy their crop long before it is ready, the farmer borrows money on account from the buyer to live on but never has enough money to reinvest in his farm to improve the crop, his living conditions or make headway. Even the Fair Trade agreements are not what we all think. The farmer is not receiving a fair price for his work and those we saw lived in very substandard conditions.. Back in the 1920’s when the French introduced coffee planting in Laos it was one of the best coffee producers in the world. After the French left and the revolution followed, coffee growing quality has declined. A few people have come to Laos to reintroduce or improve things with some people making mega money – Don coffee is one – the owner , a Vietnamese lady, is building a edifice resembling a French Chateau on the banks of the Mekong in Pakse – the cost must be billions of dollars but we are told she is entitled to beneficial lending rates and other benefits as a minority.
It is hard to believe in this communist country there are so many very wealthy people when so many are possibly surviving on less than $2 a day for a family.
From here we continued to a minority village, Ban Kok Phing Tai, home to the Taku tribe. These people were a prime example of the poverty in Laos. One of something like 50 ethnic tribes in Laos, these people are certainly living on the edge. As animists they believe in spirits and many things are taboo. We had to pay a small fee to visit, the proceeds going towards improving their circumstances. This village of 700 people, who still live as they had done for hundreds of years had just 4 wells, each with a tap to provide water. Women and children struggled with large containers of water tied one each end to a long pole which they carried on their shoulders – we think the weight of these to be something like 80lbs, so not light. There were no men in sight apparently they were out in the rice fields as were many of the women. In real life the women do all the hard work whilst the men look after the children once the rice has been planted – the men do nothing else. In fact they can take many wives and have many children. The women work in the fields, do the laundry in primitive conditions, cook on open fires on the ground and give berth to dozens of kids of which we saw many – all pretty filthy with thick green mucous spewing from their noses. When a woman gives birth she goes into the jungle to a secret place to produce the baby. These people marry at very young ages, our guide had actually married when he was 10 and his wife was 6. He is now 23 with 2 children but expects to father at least another half a dozen up to a maximum of 12 children with his one wife. He lived in one smallish long house with 3 other families. We met his 20 year old sister in law who already had 4 kids. He told us that many of the children were not well cared for by their parents as the women are just too tired after all their hard work . As we walked out of the village a child was pouring water over herself. She gave me the container she was using and I filled it up with water that looked reasonably clean from a dirty container and poured it over her, she really needed soap as she was so filthy but none was in sight. An older lady then brought a smaller child and asked me to pour water over the child and its head. The kid hated the idea of a wash – the water from the well must have been cool as the air temperature was pretty warm. The children shivered like mad but there was nothing to dry them with or wrap around them. On a line nearby hung two absolutely filthy terribly torn eiderdowns either airing or drying, at 1200m above sea level it gets cold at night so these eiderdowns must be pretty essential.
The younger women we saw sat and chatted whilst smoking the traditional bamboo pipe which is made from a large piece of bamboo with a hole drilled 2/3 of the way down where a small bowl is fixed , this is filled with charcoal and tobacco. The bamboo has water at the bottom which you can hear bubble when they smoke it. It’s their version of the hubble bubble pipe smoked in the Middle East. In spite of the snotty nosed kids it was an experience to walk around this village. Many of the older children were returning from school in their school uniforms. Much is being done to improve education in this country with many NGOs obtaining money to build schools. We enjoyed the visit here managing to get our guide whose English was not good to ask the ladies many questions for us.
Lunch was taken at a very smart restaurant/coffee plantation owned by a Laotian who had moved to France earlier in his life. He had now returned with plenty of money and had set up his own coffee brand. The restaurant built near a manmade lake in beautiful gardens was delightful.
On the way back to Pakse we visited several waterfalls which were pretty spectacular. At Tadlo we walked over a very dubious wooden bridge with many broken pieces. Locals crossed it without any worries with trucks and motor bikes. Our driver did not attempt it. He dropped us off and waited at a different location. To actually see Tadlo you had to trek through the jungle – some went by elephant – we walked. Water pounded down whilst brave local lads who had walked there on the other side of the bank threw themselves off into the cool waters below whilst back near the bridge others swam including a few brave tourists. As we were about to leave two local ladies arrived with their fishing nets and climbed up over the large boulders to a point where they would fish. Not sure what they would catch in this fast flowing water.
We arrived back at the hotel exhausted so we decided we would try the hotel dining room but there was not a soul in there so we ventured out to town. A separate room had tables laid so we guessed something was likely to happen. What a shock we got as we walked out of the hotel. A double decker bus arrived full of Thais who were staying the night and having a bit of a party. They certainly had a good time and we just hoped none were staying in rooms near us. Their noise was pretty bad with people calling to their friends on balconies opposite. Thais are as bad as Chinese with noise and have no idea just how loud their voices are. Fortunately the noise all finished at around 10pm and they eventually went to bed but next morning they were up and ready to shout just after sunrise.
Next day we headed to Champasak, once the capital of a Lao Kingdom. It is now a sleepy town with the main road running parallel to the river then turns inland and makes its way to the dramatic mountainside location of Wat Phu Champasak, a Khmer built pre Angkorian temple. Built on the banks high above the Mekong this World Heritage site is currently a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of locals who make the annual full moon celebration each February. The temple itself has many Hindu influences but is a Buddhist temple The actual temple was much more of a ruin than I had expected and if in the UK would most certainly have been closed for safety reasons. We were lucky enough to visit just as the annual Bun Wat Phu Champasak (the full Moon) festival was about to start. This is a three day festival when Buddhist pilgrims come from far and wide to pray and leave offerings. Bands play modern and traditional music, young and old dance together and Thai boxing and cockfights are all part of the entertainment. The whole site is huge and after paying an entrance fee we walked at 8.30-9am in blazing sunshine to the main temple. We were very much at the beginning of the festival with a great deal of preparation going on. However there were plenty of visitors, locals, enjoying the weather and atmosphere whilst many stalls, typical of a country fair in the UK were already installed and ready to sell their wares.
Along with the hundreds of visitors we climbed the very uneven steps to the top taking time to stop and admire the view across the Mekong and of course to take a breather. The atmosphere amongst the local people was friendly and happy. At one stage we stopped to make a wish offering the small posies of flowers we had bought earlier to a Buddha. I wished I would manage to walk to the top, not quite sure what Brian wished for ………………. possibly something shapely with two legs. At each of the temples we had to take shoes/sandals off which is a great nuisance, hence the reason for not going into them. Wearing flip flops is more convenient but not conducive for walking great distances of difficult terrain. Climbing the uneven stairways at Champasak required good footwear although none of the locals wore anything other than flip flops.
At the top we headed to see the elephant, something I certainly was not looking forward to but it turned out to be a very large stone that resembled one and had carvings of an elephant on it. We then went to a stone with a crocodile shape on it. A massive carving we were told it was used to sacrifice women – I plan to substantiate this on my return – not done so yet. However the croc shape was very life like and perhaps it was a prehistoric carving. Another carving was of a snake. From here we walked to the spring where water trickled down through the mountain. Many local kids were filling plastic bottles – not sure if they were selling them. We were told the water had long life powers so we wiped our brows with some and had a bit of a cool off.
The heat and sun were strong so we needed plenty of drinks and there was no shortage of drink sellers thankfully. Eventually we made our way down the steep uneven steps to walk a fair distance back to our vehicle through the many stalls stopping at some to look and talk with the stall holders.
This was just a half day tour so Somchit drove back to Pakse where he showed us a restaurant and we then walked through the town in the searing heat back to our hotel and peace before the buses arrived later.
This particular night many buses arrived. There were three separate parties of Thais in three separate but adjoining function rooms each with their own music and compere so you can imagine the deafening noise from it all. In addition there was a large coach party of Europeans staying who ate at the hotel restaurant as we did that night. Luckily for us the noise had all been finished by 10 pm and we got a good night’s peaceful sleep.
Next day we set off for the 4,000 islands. Known as Si Phan Don, an archipelago of sandbars and rocky islets amidst the green expanse of the Mekong River, it is a great place to visit. A good distance from Pakse we set off relatively early for the couple of hour’s journey. When planning our holiday I had hoped to include this area of Laos in the itinerary as we moved south through Laos into Cambodia. The question of obtaining visas was not so clear and I was having difficulty in finding decent accommodation on the way so we decided to take the easy option and fly from Pakse to Siem Reap and get visas on arrival at the airport. We were actually pleased we did it that way as the accommodation we saw on our day visit was not what we would have been happy with.
The day was a huge success. Initially we visited Khone Phapheng waterfalls which are considered the largest waterfall by volume in South East Asia. Not as dramatic as Tat Somphamit it was pleasant in the brilliant sunshine with many Laotians enjoying their visit.
We then drove the short distance to Ban Nakasang where we got into a ferry which took us through the sandy islands to Don Khon. The boat journey was uncomfortable sitting on just a plank of wood with no back support, so we were pleased we did not go by boat for hours from Pakse to Cambodia. This island is connected by bridge to Don Det. On arrival we walked a short distance to where we hired bikes to cycle around the island for the next hour or so firstly to the impressive Tat Somphamit waterfalls where there were warning signs simply everywhere warning of the dangers of trying to swim or jump into the water. The force of the water and the many eddies and currents make it extremely dangerous. It was pleasing to know that everybody, including tourists, took heed of the notices.
We really are loving having bikes to use. It enables us to cover so much more ground than if we were walking, particularly in the sun and heat which is extremely hot. On the way back from the waterfalls we cycled through narrow jungle paths which took us to a temple where we cycled through the grounds and saw huge Jack fruit growing on a tree. Villagers were relatively shy and kept well out of the way.
Back at the dock our ferry was not in sight so we had a cooling iced tea at the local restaurant that served the Pan’s Guest House, Lonely Planet’s No 1 guest house/hotel in the area and one we might have stayed at. I was fortunate enough to look over the accommodation and was pleased we had not come here to stay, this was endorsed by the state of the kitchen and restaurant loos which had no running water, just the traditional trough of water and a plastic pan to flush. There was no washbasin and tap in sight!
Back on the return ferry we had to share with dozens of noisey Thais who were also heading back. Once back at the port we got off the boat and walked across the large area of sand – the river is very low – and walked through the small village to the minivan for the long journey back to Pakse.
Time was marching on and we had a long journey home to Pakse so we settled into the minibus, I probably fell asleep for a while whilst Brian admired the local scenes as we drove back.
On this day out we watched many children happily at play without toys, it reminded us of our childhood where kids were making cakes out of sand and mud, pretending to have meals and make drinks whilst others played including their dogs in the play. We have found animals in this country to be extremely placid as the kids really do give them some rough treatment with their play – the dog never appears to complain. We watched a couple of children sitting on a dogs back whilst it was sitting – the dog loved it.
We had the most wonderful 3 days with Somchit . He had such a good sense of humour he was a real pleasure to be with.
Apologies for the length of this - if only you could see the book of notes I made during the travels - it is extensive.
After a good breakfast we returned to finalise our packing before setting off to Pakse airport for our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. At the airport we met up with two ladies, one French the other Italian, we had first met them back in Phonsavan, little did we know we would keep meeting up with them in various places.
The flight with Laos airlines was good and we were collected at the airport in Siem Reap by our hotel, La Niche D’Angkor, a smart boutique hotel built almost totally of concrete that had then been polished. . The hotel had been a last minute choice as the original one we had booked had a few recent negative reviews. La Niche D’Angkor turned out to be a good choice with a very nice room and swimming pool.
Tuk tuks waited outside the hotel so next morning we decided to take one at $15 a day for the next few days. Little did we know at the time that the hotel retained $5 of this daily sum. We made up the difference each day by giving our driver, Tek, the extra $5. Still not sure to this day why the hotel retained so much. Tek has a motorbike with an attached tuk tuk trailer – the norm here in Siem Reap. He was a small wiry guy, extremely gentle and kind and we wondered if it was because of our age that he was so overprotective.
Tek first took us to the entrance of Angkor Archaeological Park to buy our 3 day passes at $40 each before driving off to Angkor Wat where the light was not good and there was a haze so we decided to return later in the day. Instead we headed for Angkor Thom a huge ancient city a short distance away , first into Bayon, a city within this city. Amazed by what we saw we spent some time here before continuing on foot to Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King and Tep Pranam.
Angkor Thom is a 3km walled and moated royal city and was the last capital of the Angkorian Empire. Constructed between the late 8th – 11th centuries it houses some of Angkor’s greatest temples.
Bayon, built in the late 12th Century, is typical classical Khmer art and architecture. There are 37 standing towers, most but not all sporting four carved faces oriented toward the cardinal points. Who the faces are is known.
Baphuon, a huge temple-mountain in the heart of Angkor Thom is largely collapsed and where extensive restoration is being undertaken. Phimeanakas, an impressive sandstone pyramid, can be climbed giving a good view from the top.
The drive into and through the park, which is huge, is amazingly beautiful. Set in the original jungle, tall trees with immense girths line the neat and well maintained roadways throughout. At times where a temple has not been restored or maintained trees have grown for many decades through the ruins causing great distortions with their roots and created great subjects for art and photography. Ta Phrom, a temple still in the jungle, and constructed originally as a Buddhist monastery, is a prime example of this. Only partially cleared of jungle overgrowth, it is a sprawling monastic complex with massive fig and silk cotton trees growing from the towers and corridors. By the time we had done all this we were far too tired to tackle Angkor Wat so we returned to the hotel for a rest and a swim.
Supper was eaten at an open air eatery in the middle of town where food was barbecued. The food was good and the eatery was situated by the night market but we were taken aback by the number of street kids hanging around, mainly boys, who came and took the leftovers off plates without even asking. Other children we watched took food then went out of the eatery to give the food to adults. Other kids were trying to sell books or postcards. One boy spoke reasonable English and could recite all the Prime Ministers of the UK going back decades. We were so impressed we gave him money rather than buy something we didn’t need – according to our hotel owner this was wrong – he had probably been taught to recite only that to impress people like us unto giving him money which he then gave to someone else, probably an adult – he maintained he needed the money for his English lessons.
Next day we set out early to get to Angkor Wat before the heat and crowds, we hoped! What an amazing place it was and we managed to find spots in the lower levels away from the groups of tourists to admire the fantastic carvings without any hassle. The tour groups seem to take a regular route and it is possible to see the sheen on the well touched carvings in places. As a World Heritage Site we are amazed it is all so openly accessible. We walked right through the centre to the other side before climbing to the very top up an extremely steep wooden stairway built to protect the real steps which are steep, deep and quite dangerous. We walked around the top through the corridors/cloisters admiring the remaining carvings and decorations before descending down the huge stairway where we found a spot in the shade to sit and people watch. By this time there were simply thousands of tourists, all mainly of Asian origin. The next largest group are French with the Brits a very long way down the list.
We spent a good couple of hours at Angkor Wat before walking back along the grand entrance causeway to find Tek. As usual he was watching for us. He took us for lunch at a nearby restaurant before proceeding to Preah Khan, a temple with many fewer tourists. This temple is being reconstructed from the Great Monuments Fund, but it looked very slow progress. Much of the entire Angkor Wat Park is under reconstruction but there was no evidence of anyone working or of there having been recent work. This temple had good examples of narrow corridors and a few trees that had grown enormous roots and trunks through the ruins.
The Angkor Park is amazingly beautiful, we just cannot tell you in words how beautiful the jungle surrounding these ruins is. It is the original jungle and the authorities in charge of flora are doing a wonderful job preserving some of these magnificent specimens. At the time we wished we could find out more about the trees – just no time to do so.
Next morning we set off for the Roulos Group, 13 km east of Siem Reap and still part of the Angkor Archaeological Park, it is a collection of monuments representing the remains of a pre Angkorian site but many built in a totally different style. Those built of brick reminded us greatly of Bagan in Myanmar and its many brick built temples. The bricks were similar in size and shape to those used by the Romans but this is a different era. These monuments built around 8/900 AD were in 3 nearby sites with Bakong being by far the largest. Bakong like many of the Angkorian Temples is built on a pyramid basis with 4 levels. It stands 15 meters tall and is 650x850m at the outer wall with each of the four corners of the lower 3 levels having a large carved stone elephant. Bakong represents the first application of the temple mountain architectural formula on a grand scale and supposedly set the architectural tone for the next 400 years. This temple displays a very early use of stone rather than brick.
Across the road from the temples were 3 workshops that interested me. Two were where kids as young as 11 were working. The first was a mason’s yard where young boys sat on the ground chipping away at very intricate designs. I immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion thinking it was a sweat shop employing child labour. Next door was a larger group of young boys working on leather puppets. In both cases they all worked without stopping, there was no chit chat but I managed to find one 11 year old who could speak a little English but he was reluctant to answer too many questions and looked to his supervisor to see if it was OK. His supervisor an 18 year old started to explain before an adult appeared. Both these workshops had been set up for poor or orphaned boys to learn a skill. The children work at their craft during the morning and then have school classes in the afternoon. It was good to see a few educational posters around, many with English words, so one supposed that they were getting some education. Having looked around at the facilities and accommodation we felt this was a worthwhile cause and after a donation left happily for the long ride by tuk tuk to Sonle Tap Lake.
The third workshop was for local women who were dyeing and weaving - they had passed the training stage and were now earning a living from their endeavours.
The drive to Tonle Sap lake was long down a dirt road, much of Cambodia is dirt roads, even our hotel is down one. The route took us through many villages where people lived in traditional Khmer houses made from natural materials found in the jungle. The villages and road followed the river that was to eventually lead us to our boat and the lake.
As usual there was someone to take your money and at the end of the road we had to cough up $20 per person to go on a boat – something we were not keen to do. Our tuk tuk driver looked disappointed that he had driven so far and now we didn’t want to go to see the lake. We paid up and how pleased we did. What we saw was like nothing else we had seen in the world.
Many local boats were moored along the muddy banks of the river making it look as if they normally had thousands of tourists but we got on one and sat in rattan chairs and sat back. The river initially was very straight and then it turned and we approached the most amazing villages of Kampong Phluk .
Tonle Sap Lake is a body of water stretching across the northwest section of Cambodia. In the wet season, the lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia swelling to an expansive 12,000 km2. During the dry half of the year, when we were there, the lake shrinks to as small as 2500 km2 draining into the Tonle Sap River which meanders southeast eventually merging with the Mekong River. During the wet season a unique hydrologic phenomenon causes the river to reverse direction filling the lake instead of draining it. The Mekong river, which becomes bloated with snow melt and runoff from the monsoon rains in the wet season, backs up into the Tonle Sap River forcing the waters into Tonle Sap Lake. This inflow expands the surface area and inundates the surrounding forested flood plain and supports an extraordinarily rich and diverse eco system. The area is known for its huge variety of water birds, fish, crocodiles, turtle, monkeys, otters and other wildlife. The lake itself provides fish and irrigation for half the population of Cambodia. The lake is also one of the world’s richest sources of fresh water fish. Experts believe fish migration from the lake help to restock fisheries as far north as China.
The Mekong rises in Tibet and flows for 4,800km with almost 500 km through Cambodia where it can be up to 5km wide before it continues through Vietnam into the South China Sea. With ever spiralling energy needs in Asia and in Cambodia, where only 20% of the population has electricity, its upstream neighbours, including China, have found the need to build hydroelectric dams on the Mekong and its tributaries. Environmentalists, quite rightly, are concerned as they may affect the migratory fish, the rare Irawaddy dolphin and the very life of Tonle Sap Lake.
Kampong Phluk is a cluster of three villages of stilted houses built within the floodplain along the banks of the river north east of the lake. The villages, primarily Khmer have about 3000 inhabitants. During the dry season these stilted houses are very easy to see, perched high up, with endless ladders leading from the muddy river bed to their house verandahs where pots of beautiful plants adorned the entrances. Construction of the platforms was complex but all were made of wood with a wooden or jungle material house atop. Kids played and swam in the muddy waters below where simply everything is done, bathing, laundry, etc. etc. – no Persil whites to be seen here and we actually saw one child crapping over the side of a boat into the water.
However, it was the houses that astounded us. We were also concerned about the large number of cattle around and pigs in bamboo pens on stilts about 1 metre or so off the water – where do these go during the rainy season. Apparently the cattle are all taken to higher ground whilst the pigs are probably eaten. It is obviously a very hard life when you have to take simply everything including all your water up several ladders to your home, as you can imagine transportation is by boat .
The lake itself is home for something like 90,000 people many of them ethnic Vietnamese who live in floating villages. Although we did not see these villages we saw a few floating homes and restaurants.
Although a superb area for bird watching we failed to take our binoculars with us so did not see many of the birds as they were in the distance. Having carried binoculars all the way from Turkey we are not sure why we forget them each time we go out.
Eventually the river opened into the huge lake where we sat a short while in peace with the engine off rolling around on the waves. We then headed back through the remarkable villages taking a further look at their structures, 8-12 metres above the current water level, before heading back to the city with fast buses honking and passing our 110 cc moto tuk tuk.
We arrived back at the hotel with just enough time to shower and dress before heading for supper. Tonight we had planned to eat real food so headed to a French Restaurant where we had a very good meal and where we unexpectedly met our two ladies again.
After three days of tramping around Angkor Wat temples we decided to have a day of rest. The plan had been to visit the museum but we just never got there and spent the next day at the pool. However we had decided to visit ACODO Orphanage’s evening performance of traditional Khmer dancing. What a show, all performed by children at the orphanage. On arrival we were greeted by many excited children who welcomed us and wanted to show us around. A young guy by the name of Chen, who was so professional and well informed, we thought he was a member of the staff, took us around. He was in fact one of the orphans who had come to the home when the orphanage first started back in 2008. He was such a lovely guy and spoke superb English. Chen showed us accounts for food, school and clothing etc. Sadly the home was not of the same standard as Nicci’s Place we had visited in Thailand, but it was evident the children were happy and well cared for.
Children slept in dormitories 2 to a bed. The boys’ dorm had been recently moved as their beds were too heavy for the floor and they now have to go a distance in the middle of the night if they need a bathroom, negotiating on the way a bit of an assault course through rubble and other junk lying around. Kids ranged in age from 1 to 18 years and just one week before our visit a 2 and a half year child weighing just 5kg had been brought to the orphanage by a couple of Australian ladies who had rescued her from a terrible life.
The home was very proud of its farm where it hopes to grow everything the orphanage eats together with some surplus to sell to raise funds. They consumed huge quantities of rice each day so they will need to grow plenty.
The home has a repertoire of Khmer dances which are rotated, each with its own dancers. The night we attended we watched three dances all performed by young children who were actually far better than some professional dancers we had seen earlier in Laos. The enthusiasm was contagious and their timing brilliant. As a dance enthusiast I was thoroughly bowled over by these kids’ ability. Music was performed by the older boys who played traditional instruments whilst other older boys managed the lighting.
The MA for the night was an Australian gentleman of our era who came to the home several times a year to do 6 week stints as a volunteer. The evening was so inspirational and emotional that we donated a few hundred dollars to the home. The home had been set up 4 years earlier by a Cambodian who had suffered hard times as a youngster but now had made it good. He wanted to give back to those disadvantaged what he had received. Check their web site out at www.acodo.org
One of the volunteers we met was a young French girl who was doing a three month spell at the home. Her parents had just arrived to see what she was doing and were thoroughly pleased to see how much she was enjoying herself. Like us they were overwhelmed by what they saw.
At the end of the evening Chen drove us and another couple back to the city in a tuk tuk that had been restored and donated to the home. When we each gave him $1 tip he insisted he would donate it to the orphanage.
If we ever return to Cambodia this is one place we will definitely revisit.
Our final day in Siem Reap Saturday 11th February was celebrated with lunch at Tek’s home along with his wife, daughter and sister in law.
Before leaving we had asked our hotel owner what we should take the family as gifts. Under no circumstances should we give them money so on the way Tek stopped at a good supermarket where we purchased $20+ of chocolates, Coca Cola and crisps. This was a supermarket where the majority of Cambodians could not have afforded to shop. Filled with plenty of great goodies we eyed it all with slavering mouths. This must be where the rich Government employees shop.
Tek drove us miles out into the country, first stopping at the most wonderfully colourful silk factory and shop. How I regretted not carrying my credit card that day as this was the most wonderful shop with quality products in exquisite colours. This was not ‘stuff’ sold in the markets this was real.
Along the way he was stopped by police, at the time we were not sure why but he later told us he did not have a licence to carry passengers and happily paid the $1 fine. It appears he is regularly stopped, pays the fine and then continues on his way. On the occasion we were with him there was no evidence of a pen and piece of paper to take his name, nor a receipt for the fine. We later heard a huge percentage of Cambodian drivers do not have driving licences!
Heading towards his home we stopped off at his in-laws where we picked up a couple of grubby and broken plastic garden chairs. These were piled into the tuk tuk with us. His mother in law, dressed in even grubbier clothes along with her husband ran a battery charging business. Father went out each morning to collect 12volt batteries from homes, brought them to his wooden workshop where they were recharged. Once charged he returned them. This is the only means of electricity for many of the Cambodians.
We continued down rough tracks through villages until we finally reached Tek’s home. A smart affair, by Cambodian standards, built of wood on stilts and owned by his wife’s family. They lived upstairs in one fairly large room where there was one bed, no mattress, for the whole family along with a small Buddhist altar, something that appears in all Cambodians’ homes.
Outside on the small landing stood a wooden table and one wooden chair – the two plastic chairs had been brought for us to sit on. It is normal for families to sit on the floor on a woven mat and this is what the family did. The wooden chair was for Tek as head of the family.
The welcome we were given was wonderful and clearly Tek was very proud to introduce us to his family and vice versa. Although his wife and sister in law spoke no English and Tek’s was very limited we had an amazing time communicating. The gift of chocolates was a great hit and they consumed them all at great speed – we just hoped they were not sick later.
Tek showed me around their home. The ‘kitchen’ – the one ringed gas cooker was housed inside an area below the house where the walls were made of chicken wire, whilst the washing up was done in an area in the garden where the dishes dried in the sun. Tek had no running water at his property and all water is collected from a tap by his wife or sister in law. We never really managed to understand the name of his wife and sister in law so they remained anonymous, including his 5 year old daughter and 10 year son. The son very reluctantly left for his school session whilst we were there but with a handful of chocolates he left with a little more enthusiasm. He donned his grey white crumpled shirt and took off like the wind on his bike.
Lunch was served on the wooden table for us and Tek whilst the rest of the family watched. In fact Tek’s was served separately from ours. Ours was a whole chicken leg in gravy along with a fried fish head and some other parts of the fish. With the lack of proper sanitation we were rather reluctant to eat but we did not want to appear rude so made a polite attempt. What was left on our plates was returned to the pot ready to be served at another meal. This was then returned to the cooking area where it was left uncovered. The food on our arrival though was covered by a large circular plastic holey dome reminiscent of a colander so we prayed it was free from any nasties.
At the end of the meal Tek drove us miles back into the city and our hotel. We had had a great day out and really appreciated his and that of his family’s hospitality. Obviously far from being comfortably off he had made a great effort to entertain us for which we were most grateful.
Tomorrow is another adventure, we are off by bus to Battambang to the Circus.
We were up early on Sunday 12th February ready to be picked up for our bus to Battambang. The minibus picked up other travellers on the way and eventually we arrived at a double decker bus parked close to the bus office where we found our numbered seats already taken. There was no need to worry the bus was collecting everyone to take to the bus station some distance from town where we would all get on our correct buses, some to Phnom Penh and others to Battambang.
Our bus eventually left the bus station and drove back in the exact direction we had come from stopping many times to pick up local passengers. From initially being an empty bus where we had a seat each the bus became overfull with 4 or 5 people to a seat, plus plastic chairs and stools all down the aisle. Eventually we arrived in Battambang just 2.5 hour late where we were greeted by a bevy of tuk tuk drivers looking for a customer. We chose one who turned out to be a star. Mhoney took us to our hotel, the Bungalow, a distance out of town but a great little hotel where a cock crowed continuously the first night. We settled into our room, a bungalow in the garden which cost £15 a night including breakfast for the two of us. It was not the best room we had whilst away but for the money it was fine with a nice comfy bed, hard pillows and simply delightful owners. Mhoney took us back into town to eat at the White Rose restaurant, a very grubby place where the washing up was done on the pavement outside in cold water, as is the norm in Cambodia. However the food tasted good. After lunch Mhoney drove us around town to see the sites – the Governor’s palace, bridge over the Tonle Sap River and various other buildings in beautiful wide tree lined streets.
Our main reason for visiting Battambang was to visit the circus school and luckily for us there was a performance both nights of our visit so we were able to see two different shows. Although we were unable to see the children training we watched young people who had trained at the school from a very young age. They were simply stunning and we were so lucky to have had the opportunity to visit them in their Big Top. The first show we saw comprised people around 20 years old performing traditional circus skills – aerial acts, juggling, acrobatics, clowning, dancing and balancing etc. Their ability was impressive and later we learned that many have had the opportunity to study in Canada and go on to perform with Cirque du Soleil. The second show was just its third performance. Entitled ‘Rouge’ it was a choreographed piece of dance and circus skills re-enacting the Khmer Rouge period. The precision used here with large bamboo poles and balls was amazing; whoever choreographed the piece was very clever. This show is to travel to London and other European cities during the summer of 2012. If you get a chance to see it, do.
Set up in 2002, the circus school is part of Phare Ponleu Selpak an organisation set up to use arts to answer children’s’ psycho social needs. Many of the children had been street children or had come from very disadvantaged families. After each show we ate at the in house training restaurant – it proved not to be a wise decision.
With just two nights here we had to pack in as much as we could so next day Mhoney drove us out to the Bamboo Railway and Phnom Sampeau caves where Pol Pot sent people to die. With its limestone cavities and memories of genocide, this was a sombre reminder of the brutality of Pol Pot.
Pol Pot was ruthless, he eliminated anyone who was professional, wore glasses or had a brain. People were actually thrown into this cave having first been starved and tortured elsewhere. They sustained further injuries from being thrown in and were then left to die.
Thankfully the visit to the railway was a more exciting experience. This single track railway runs for miles through the country down to Phnom Penh but at Battambang the railway is used to transport people and goods on a flat bed of bamboo that is then placed on two bogeys with a small engine the size one would use for a lawnmower. The track snaked through jungle with us travelling at speeds of up to 40 km an hour. With little to hold on to and our bums resting on a traditional grass mat on top of the bamboo we took our life in our hands. I found it exciting with the wind blowing through our hair whilst Brian found it quite terrifying knowing just how unsafe the structure was. When we met a train coming in the opposite direction the one with the least passengers had to get off whilst the two drivers dismantled one by taking the engine off, the flat bed ,then the two sets of bogeys, which was just thrown down into the jungle beside the track. The assembly procedure was started again once the passing train had moved on. This happened many times on our return journey as more tourists arrived to experience the thrill. The distance we travelled was around 15 km down to a small village where young children awaited our arrival to give us a tour of the local brickworks where men were digging and moving huge clods of clay from a nearby area. The children’ level of English and knowledge of the procedures was impressive. People in this village were living very basic lives in poor conditions but they all seemed happy and were making a living from the very many tourists that followed us later by selling drinks and refreshments.
This part of the railway is owned by 35 families who take it in turns to run the show on a daily basis so every 35 days they get a chance to meet the visitors, drive the trains and bank the takings – well probably put it under their bamboo bed!
Next morning we were due to leave by the early bus to Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia but sadly I was feeling rather sick, probably from the meal at the circus school the previous night. I just could not make the early pick up and Brian rushed around to get our seats cancelled. A couple of hours later I thought I could manage the journey by private car so arrangements were made for us to be collected and driven to Phnom Penh but with just minutes to go I was so ill that there was no way I could go anywhere. The hotel was simply fantastic, they cancelled the car without us losing any money for the bus or car, immediately moved our luggage and me to a very nice room in the main house where the owner’s wife tended me during the day to ensure I was OK. We later found out that this lady in her early life had trained as a Dr but Pol Pot had spared her and sent her to the country to nurse. She took my temperature, brought me drinks, fruit and kept feeling my chest and feet. Obviously the feet are a good indication of something!
By next day I was up and running and feeling fine so the car was reordered and off we set to Phnom Penh. Our driver, who was to drive us the previous day, was delightful . Along with his wife they had trained to be teachers but with a salary of just $33 a month each they found it a struggle to survive so they decided he should buy a car with a loan and become a taxi driver. The cost for the approx 4 hour drive to our hotel in Phnom Penh, The Blue Lime Hotel, was $60 for the two of us in a very comfortable car. He would also obtain a customer to drive back so he would make good money.
The hotel in Phnom Penh was set in a side street right in the centre of the city close to the Royal Palace and other sights. Our room on the ground floor right by the entrance to the hotel turned out to be very quiet – there were two doors into the room to provide sound proofing. Like Siem Reap this hotel was a vision in cement with simply everything including the bed base made of cement. One would never have expected such a hotel to be in this location, set behind walls with a very discreet gate entry the hotel opened out with delightful tropical gardens and a swimming pool – the downside was the rats that visited during the evening putting us off using the pool and the sun beds. A good breakfast which included yoghurt and muesli was served close to the pool.
Having had to stay in Battambang an extra night we now only had two nights in Phnom Penh so we had to hit the road running here to make sure we saw what we needed to see. After lunch we found a tuk tuk to take us to the Killing Fields where Pol Pot had killed thousands during his murderous years between 1975-1979. All intellectuals and those who wore glasses were tortured and executed – a total of 25% of the population was killed during that time. At the park we collected our headphones and followed the audio commentary. Remnants of clothing were evident in the soil as was the odd bone, washed to the surface during the rainy season. The park houses a magnificent architectural temple housing the skulls and bones of some 17,000 people executed at the site. This site incidentally is just one of well over 150 where such atrocities were carried out.
Next day we walked to the Royal Palace a short distance from the hotel through litter strewn streets full of people struggling to make a living. We passed people, obviously homeless, sleeping on the street along with families who clean the streets living amongst the rubbish they collected. It was all mind blowing. In the middle of this is the splendour and extravagance of the Royal Palace and temples that house millions of dollars of artefacts made from gold and diamonds. The Palace gardens were attractive but we thought HM The Queen would be very disappointed if Buckingham Palace was as dirty as this place. The toilets were an absolute disgrace for such a place.
The heat by now was intense and we wanted to go to S21, originally a school that had been turned into a prison by Pol Pot, so finally we found a tuk tuk who would do it for a sensible price. The school had been built in the 1960’s as a primary school and was very large and modern for its day. After Pol Pot took over everyone was sent from Phnom Penh to the country whilst some managed to flee. Those he captured were taken to S21 and kept there chained in very small cubicles before being tortured into admissions of guilt for crimes they never did. Many died from lack of food, harsh treatment, whilst some were simply bludgeoned to death there. It was a gruesome site in the middle of the city now surrounded by roads and recent buildings.
We had had enough of Phnom Penh in just 24 hours and wanted to leave. The rubbish, filth and stench in places was simply awful. Cambodia has really got to us. They are too many corrupt Government officials driving around in Range Rovers, Lexus, Toyota Land cruisers, Porsche 4 x 4s and the like whilst the majority struggle to survive. Yards from our hotel in Siem Reap was a mansion more akin to Beverley Hills with gold plated windows and huge chandeliers – this was the house of the Head of Military Police in Siem Reap. Just across the road from this people collected water by bucket from a well. The majority of the population are poor rice farmers. As already mentioned a teacher earns just $33 a month whilst a women in a garment factory does better earning $63 a month but working conditions are suspect as we read of many occasions where women were fainting at work and factories were being closed as a result.
My appetite was improving and I really felt like a Caesar salad for supper so we chose to go to a Trip Advisor recommended restaurant La Petite France, but they did not have Caesar Salad nor my second choice of fish soup that night and I had to opt for onion soup, not the best choice in the circumstances. Brian chose a pork knuckle which turned out to be a very fatty disappointment and the whole meal cost an arm and a leg.
Although the unfairness of Cambodia affected us greatly we were very impressed by all the youngsters wanting to learn and speak English. Many youngsters have jobs to pay to learn English privately. They realise having other languages particularly English can open doors away from the current poverty they endure. Our Siem Reap Hotelier sent his daughter to a school where only English is spoken.
On Friday 17th February we were up very early to catch our bus to Ho Chi Minh City. We were very pleased to be leaving Phnom Penh and looking forward to our journey south across the boarder into Vietnam where we had been told it would be a lot cleaner.
Up early to catch the bus into Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City. The journey started with us leaving in torrential rain which caused serious flooding in many of Phnom Penh’s filthy streets. The rain eventually eased and the sun shone but there were still occasional showers on the way. The distance to HCMC was around 290 km and the bus travelled at approximately 50kms an hour so it took a time. Cambodia is very flat so you can see for miles and miles across paddy fields and at times it was difficult to see the horizon. At Neak Luong the coach boarded a ferry to cross the Mekong before continuing on to the border town of Bavet which resembled Las Vegas with is many elaborate casino’s. Most Cambodians have no money apart from those wealthy corrupt government officials so not sure if the customers come from the Vietnamese side. Getting through Immigration and customs took some time and we had to take all our luggage with us too. Eventually we were all back on board and just over 2 hours later we arrived in HCMC tired and very weary after 8 hours travelling.
Taxi drivers pushed and shoved for business as we got off the bus and we chose one who said he had a metered taxi. He took our luggage and hastily walked to his taxi a short distance away. Once in the car he very quickly told us we needed Vietnamese dong and would not be able to use US dollars in Vietnam. We asked for an ATM but he insisted we changed some dollars and took us to a jewellers where he encouraged us to change as much as possible, he told us we would get a very good rate – 16,000 dong per $1. On the bus journey I actually mentioned to Brian that I had failed to check the exchange rate so we honestly had no idea of the current rate, it was only when he stopped and said our hotel was across the road that I notice the meter had suddenly jumped to an amazingly high figure of 827,000 dong – almost as much as we had changed. I complained bitterly, he took the money from Brian’s hand, then removed the luggage from the boot of the taxi very quickly and gave me a receipt when I asked for his card and name.
Unfortunately he had dropped us off at the wrong hotel, however it was in the same group and we then realised immediately we had been caught in one of the notorious taxi scams of Vietnam. The hotel staff were extremely good to us and called the correct one who came to collect us along with our luggage. The first hotel then made enquiries phoning the number on the receipt etc and later we returned to meet a taxi driver, needless to say not the same one, nor car but he did have a book of identical receipts – each one had the same number as ours. The correct exchange rate should have been somewhere around 21,000 dong per $1 and the taxi fare should have cost no more than 30,000 so we lost a huge sum of money and felt absolute fools that it had happened to us. We just could not believe we had been caught. However we were and had to accept our loss and just get on with our plans. Later we found we could have actually walked to our hotel from the bus stop.
For some days before arriving in HCMC we had agonised over the hotel I had booked. It looked as if it was in the heart of backpacker land, noisy and not quite what we really wanted. However, it came with good Trip Advisor recommendations and I could not find anything better so we decided to stick to our plans and stay there. What a great decision that was, Beautiful Saigon 3 Hotel, was just wonderful. Our room on the top floor at the back of the building looked out across the city. The staff were simply wonderful and we had a great room complete with its own computer and had a fantastic breakfast each morning. The hotel was situated in an interesting narrow street in the middle of the city but not near any noisy bars etc. Each morning we sat and ate breakfast whilst watching daily life – a lady peeled and prepared pineapples across the road, using a large machete type knife she cut the outer off before cutting a spiral into the fruit flesh. There was no running water to wash anything, it was all done on the street – needless to say we refrained from buying any pineapple like this from street sellers. This lady was preparing and then selling to the street sellers. Other ladies walked with prepared foods that they would serve to passers by whilst others tried to sell newspapers, sunglasses and other touristy items. HCMC is full of busy people eking out a living in such ways.
On our first morning in HCMC we had a great breakfast just before there was a power failure of a couple of hours. Climbing to the 6th floor did not excite us so we wandered around the city nearby for a while before returning to find the power was to be off for longer than we thought so we had to climb the stairs to our room with a hotel supplied torch to collect what we would need for the day before descending. We then took a taxi off to the War Museum where we spent a good few hours.
We had not appreciated how terrible things had been for these people during the Vietnam war. Much of the war had been captured in photographs and many photos showed people who had since been born with severe deformities as a result of the use of Agent Orange by the Americans. A group of very disabled were making jewellery and other crafts for sale whilst a guy born with no eyes played magnificently on a keyboard.
The exhibition was very much anti American and we wondered how Americans felt when visiting Vietnam. The war lasted 17 years and surprisingly less people were killed and wounded than in the 2nd WW which lasted 4 years. However, the effects of this war are still felt with the many children who are still born disabled in some way 40 years on.
From the War Museum we walked to the Reunification Palace and took lunch at a beautiful restaurant opposite. Housed in a stunning traditional Indochina building presumably of French origin it was both large and exceptionally busy. The food was very good and we whiled away the time waiting for the palace, which is now a museum, to open. The palace is used on special occasions to entertain foreign dignitaries and much of the interior is as it was left when the communists took over - the furniture of 1960’s era is simply stunning, oozing quality in both design and materials. The palace has undergone a fair amount of strife over its years with a number of presidents lasting just short periods, the bombing during the war and the eventual capture by the communists in 1975.
From the palace we walked back to our hotel passing Hotel de Ville, a beautiful French inspired building but no longer open to the public, it is now the Peoples Committee Building.
We loved Saigon, as the locals refer to it, and spent many days walking miles visiting the many museums and sites. Using our street map we covered miles and whilst looking for the Notre Dame Cathedral we stumbled on Ho Chi Minh City Museum . Housed in a wonderful old building curiosity made us take a further look. So pleased we did. There were few visitors to appreciate the good exhibits and It was obviously the place to have your wedding photographs taken as there were 4 brides and grooms being photographed in all their finery. The outfits were stunning particularly the two in traditional wedding dress. The other two wore traditional Western white dresses with long trains that stylists pulled, tucked etc hairdressers and make up artists along with other professionals titivated the bride and groom pushing and pulling them into poses. Wedding photography is big business in SE Asia with the photos being taken several weeks before the actual wedding.
This museum was full of surprises – we headed to what looked like a coffee shop and found a wonderful restaurant with comfy chairs in mock white leather and great food. Packed with young professionals this was obviously the place to be.
We had planned to visit the Chinese quarter of HCMC which sounded interesting but after reading a number of reviews decided to visit the Bitexco Financial Tower Skydeck instead which turned out to be a great decision. Although a little pricey we qualified for ‘seniors’ admission price and we ascended to the 49th floor in seconds. This building is reminiscent of a giant space rocket with a huge helipad suspended on the side just above the viewing platform. Opened only last year everything was new and clean and with few visitors we had uninterrupted views of the whole city using the huge tv screens attached to cameras to zoom in to identify the many places we had visited whilst in the city. The river looked quite inviting from the top of the building so after leaving we walked to the river bank to watch the huge amounts of water hyacinths floating at great speed with the incoming tide, sadly there was also plenty of rubbish travelling with it.
Once back at the hotel I decided to splash out on a massage at a spa recommended by the hotel – not good – I was picked up by taxi and taken a distance away to a dingey building where I climbed a spiral staircase to an even dingier room filled with the traditional SE Asian divan seats – it is a sort of bed but raised slightly like a sun bed with arms and a foot stool. It was not quite what I am used to and wondered how the hell I could escape. Not knowing exactly where I was I thought I might get into further trouble by leaving and finding my way back to the hotel so stayed and had a foot massage whilst lying back on these very unexciting dull beds in a room with minimal lighting. A foot massage in Vietnam includes both a head and back massage so I had the works. The real reason for going was for a desperately needed pedicure but once there found they could only cut the toenails. Not for me so I refused this service and eventually managed to get away in a taxi paid for by the spa to return to our hotel.
A visit to the Cu Chi tunnels is a must if visiting Saigon. Our trip included a visit to the Cao Dai Great Temple. Born in the 20th Century Cao Daism is a religion that contains elements of Buddhism, Cunfucianism, Taoism, native Vietnamese spiritualism, Christianity and Islam. Cao Dai meaning high tower or palace is a euphemism for God. Apparently there are between 2 and 3 million followers worldwide.
The temple itself was rather reminiscent of a Disney structure built in brightly glazed coloured tiles. Prayers are conducted 4 times a day and we along with hundreds of other tourists arrived to attend the noonday service. Followers dress in white and wear different styled headgear to indicate their status within the church. The ultimate goal of the Cao Dai disciple is to escape the cycle of incarnation. This can only be achieved by refraining from killing, lying, luxurious living, sensuality and stealing. Cao Dai practices include priestly celibacy, vegetarianism and meditative self cultivation.
At each daily ceremony the dignitaries wear there brightly colour ceremonial dress. It was a spectacularly colourful event where we were allowed to take photos from the gallery but photography of people in an around the temple was prohibited sadly. Although we understood none of the ceremony and we did not stay until the end it was an interesting part of our tour.
On to the Cu Chi tunnels. There is little evidence here to indicate the intense fighting, bombing and destruction that occurred in the Cu Chi area during the Vietnamese-American War. You have to visit the underground tunnels to appreciate this. The tunnel network became well known in the 1960’s for its role in facilitating Viet Cong control of an area 30-40km from HCMC. At its height the tunnel system stretched from the South Vietnamese capital to the Cambodian border. In the district of Cu Chi there were more than 250km of tunnels, parts of which were several storeys deep and it was in these tunnels that communication and coordination of the VC took place. Access into the tunnels was through hidden trapdoors too small for either of us to enter although a few younger members of our group did. In certain places tunnels had been upgraded and enlarged for tourists to visit, just a few ventured forth through the longer passages whilst we crawled through a shorter one with others. These tunnels allowed the VC to mount surprise attacks wherever the tunnels went – even within the perimeter of the US military bases at Dong Du – and to disappear suddenly into hidden trapdoors without trace. After ground operations against the tunnels claimed large numbers of US casualties and proved ineffective, the Americans resorted to massive firepower eventually turning Cu Chi’s 420 sq km into the most bombed, shelled, gassed, defoliated and generally devastated area in the history of warfare.
The area has become an area of pilgrimage for Vietnamese school children and communist party members.
The tunnels were built over a period of 25 years that began sometime in the late 1940’s and were the improvised response of a poorly equipped peasant army to its enemy’s high-tech weapons. The tunnels were first built by the Viet Minh during the war against the French and were built for communications between villages and to evade French army sweeps of the area.
Around 1960 the VC’s National Liberation Front insurgency began in earnest and the tunnels were repaired with new extensions excavated. The attacks on Saigon during 1968 were planned and launched from Cu Chi. To deal with the threat posed by VC control of an area so near to the South Vietnamese capital America established a large base camp in Cu Chi district not knowing they had built it right on top of the existing tunnel network. It took some time before they figured out why they kept getting shot at in their tents at night.
US and Australian troops tried many methods to control the area. They launched huge ground operations involving tens of thousands of troops but failed to locate the tunnels so resorted to defoliating rice paddies, jungle was bulldozed and villages evacuated and razed. Chemical defoliants were sprayed aerially and a few months later the tinder dry vegetation was ignited with petrol and napalm. However the intense heat interacted with the wet tropical air in such a way to create cloudbursts that extinguished the fires and the VC remained safe in their tunnels.
Our time in HCMC and the surrounding area along with visits to Laos and Cambodia highlighted the struggles locals had suffered during the periods of war and Pol Pot eras.
We are now off to find areas of Vietnam with a happier story to tell.
On 22nd February we flew to Dalat a city in the central highlands where we had hoped to visit and see minorities. I had booked our hotel YK Home Villa some months ahead which was located a short walk out of town in the French quarter in an area with some interesting lanes with pretty housing. Sadly the hotel advised us not to explore the area for fear of being attacked by local dogs that might bite us.
The hotel like all our others collected us from the airport some 35 kms away and we arrived to a wonderful welcome in air we had not seen since leaving Turkey. The sky was the purest blue and we could see for miles, there was also no air conditioning in the hotel room. Up here in the mountains it is not needed. Our room was large and airy with large windows, which opened but were covered in net curtaining. The down side was that we had come at a time of high pollen and I suffered terribly.
Dalat is quite different to where we have been so far with its beautiful French colonial houses and gardens. Much of the area is cultivated with huge areas of veggies being grown to be despatched the large cities such as Saigon. The area reminded us of the Vale of Evesham although a little hillier at times. It is also a very large wine growing area where the majority of Vietnamese wines come from.
This is the play place of the wealthy Vietnamese who visit during holidays and weekends to avoid the hustle, bustle and heat of the cities and is known as Le Petit Paris, the honeymoon capital and the City of Eternal Spring where daily temperatures are around 15-24C. 80% of the population here are Government employees hence the large beautiful houses and smart cars.
Any chance of seeing minority villages and people in the area was soon dispelled by our hotel when they told us these people have now caught up with the average Vietnamese. They now live in normal houses, have work and plenty of money. We had to rethink our time here. We gave consideration to being taken out on the back of a motorbike, known as an Easy Rider, but decided that might be asking for trouble so decided to explore by walking. In November I had broken my ankle so did not want to court any further accidents.
Our hotel provided us with a street map which we found extremely hard to follow, none of the locals could read a map or give directions to the places we wanted to visit so we simply walked miles and miles up and down hills until we eventually found what we wanted. Unfortunately the sites were disappointing. Eventually we found the Summer Palace, but arrived after it had closed for lunch. Vietnam is very French in that everything stops at 11.30am for lunch and does not reopen until 1.30pm. We crept through the side gate that was open and wandered through the gardens which were rather scruffy. There were a few ponies with gaudy carriages and other kitschy paraphernalia. Not our scene so after walking around decided we would not visit the palace which was a dull boring art deco building with a terrible smell coming from the front entrance.
From here we retraced our steps asking more directions on the way to the Crazy House, a house designed by Hang Nga, who has a PhD in architecture from Moscow and is the daughter of Truong Chinh Ho Chi Minh’s successor, Vietnam’s second president. We guess this helped her get permission to build such a dreadful building which increases in size and shape each year. For a decent sum we could have stayed here but the reviews were not good and we were very thankful we had not chosen it. Aficionados rave over this building and compare it with a Gaudi design. It was not for us, it was more like a Disney show than a hotel, and after a quick walk around the outside and along the lane running alongside where the workmanship was rather crude we very quickly decided it was not for us.
We now had to find our way back to town to visit the manmade Xuan Huong Lake where more kitschy paddle boats lined the shores. Our walk took us along many narrow allies that were hardly marked on the map. Hot and thirsty we eventually got back to town and found a café where we had a pot of hot soup and some coffee and from here we walked back to our hotel trying to take short cuts but actually ended up miles and miles from our destination. Our hotel was not too far from the hospital but no-one could give us the right directions apart from one man who told us to go up some steps, we did not believe him and took another route – he actually was right. We finally made it back to the hotel exhausted having walked 6-7 kms in a very hilly city.
Dalat although quite special was rather disappointing for us and if we returned to Vietnam it is not somewhere we would include in a trip. I blame perhaps insufficient research on my part. It looked as if we should have headed just a little further north of Dalat to see the hill tribes. The plus sides were the good eateries; we loved Long Hoa and Da Quy where we spent a wonderful evening with a Vietnamese family who were visiting for the weekend from Saigon. Both these restaurants get very very busy –the food was good.
Still sniffing we readied ourselves to return to the airport to fly to Danang on the coast.
With a late afternoon flight to Danang we spent our last morning in Dalat visiting the local market. Perched on the side of hills buildings stretched over a fair distance down the valley to the meat, fish and veggie market. In spite of the vast amount of produce here like elsewhere none of it is offered at restaurants. Although many miles from the sea there was an enormous selection of fish, many farmed in the numerous local lakes and valleys.
We eventually made our way back to our hotel where we had lunch of grilled pork and rice – not a vegetable in sight, quite unlike the delicious meals the family cooked for themselves. We had now been away around 7 weeks and longing for some really decent innovative food, we had found good local food at Da Quy and Long Hoa, but now wanted something different.
Danang is some 35kms from Hoi An where we are to stay for the next few nights at Phouoc An Hotel. Our hotel collected us from the airport and drove us through the streets of up market Danang. Our hotel, a typical Chinese/Vietnamese building is a bit over the top with dark furniture, trinkets and dusty carpet in the room. However, it is well situated in Hoi An and we had a delightful little balcony with wonderful foliage around it where we could sit and watch the world go buy beneath us. The hotel although only 2 star was reasonably well equipped with everything you need in the bathroom except bath gel and sufficient towels, however it was very good value for money and each day we received a basketful of fresh fruit. It is late and dark by the time we arrive so we head to the hotel restaurant for supper choosing one of their fixed menus, nothing special and we did not eat there again in the evenings.
Hoi An is quite beautiful. Once a sleepy village, whose trading fortune had long since declined, it has become a huge tourist centre and now has Unesco World Heritage status. It is known for its architecture in the old town which is still remarkably well preserved. Situated on the banks of the Cai River the town has serious flooding problems during the wet season when many of these old buildings are flooded.
We hit town on our first morning by buying a book of tickets at 90K dong each to see 5 old buildings. This we felt was a complete waste of money as it was possible to see equally ancient and interesting buildings free of charge. At the first ancient house we visited with our tickets we were accosted by a girl with her scripted piece maintaining she was a relative of the original owner. The spiel lasted just a couple of minutes before she started her selling script for us to buy some supposedly ancient rubbish. From here we walked the streets to get our bearings. Hoi An is linked to several islands in the river by either bridges or ferry and we watched the hustle and bustle of life on the river bank with all the water traffic. The town itself is made up of simply hundreds of tailors, shoe makers and eateries. Most tourists head to the tailors where they believe they are getting great clothes made for little money to fill their wardrobes back home. It would have been easy to come away with garments that you would never wear back in the UK or elsewhere. Having experienced tailoring on other travels we did not get involved. Much of what we saw looked shoddy and I am convinced you can buy better and cheaper from your local high street store. Shoe makers are another attraction but again it all looked very second class.
However we did find some excellent food here and enjoyed many evening meals at Sunshine a small restaurant across the road from our hotel. Run by a husband and wife the food was good and cooked as you wanted it.
Our hotel had very good bikes to use free so we booked bikes for the next couple of days. The first day we set off to meet up for our Free Bike Tour. Three University Students wanting to improve their English were our volunteer guides for the morning. First we loaded our bikes onto a ferry parking them alongside motorbikes, scooters and other bikes before climbing down into the bowels of the boat along with the other passengers for the 20 minute journey to Cam Kim Island. Our three guides, 2 girls and one boy were simply great fun and we had a morning with lots of laughs and many questions being fired from both sides. Our first stop was the local boat builders where they were building planked double ended craft of about 25 feet. We watched caulking being done on one of the boats by pushing fine wooden strands between the planks and then covering it with special glue – done to make it watertight. Smaller boats were being made from aluminium panels and we watched the seaming being done.
Further along the lanes, where we expected not to see any traffic, we came across the odd van or two. We arrived at a small cottage where a couple of ladies were weaving funeral mats. These were very simple mats made to wrap the dead body in before it is put into a coffin. These ladies worked with great dexterity producing a fairly large mat in just a couple of hours and surprisingly far less complex than other mats these cost more. These ladies were curious about us asking us many questions whilst we asked possibly more of them. Our three students loved the repartee.
At one place there was a lot of noise from drums etc but our guides would not take us to see what was happening. One of the girls was terrified of funerals and she thought that was what it was. Later we visited a house of an 84 year old lady who made rice paper, sadly she had finished making the paper for the day but we were lucky enough to see her cutting it into noodles. Many of these people living on these islands are very lean and wiry, evidence to their poor diet and hard living. Many do not receive enough income to buy themselves much protein food so their diet consists mainly of rice and vegetables which are extremely plentiful. It is very easy to see the better off locals – they are well covered and occasionally plump.
The Free Bicycle Tour is a great idea and is run from a Travel Agency who uses it as a marketing tool to sell other trips and tours. At the end of the session we were asked to complete an assessment form on each of the students with the expectation of a donation to the Travel agent. Our guides were simply great fun, their command of English was very good and they have become FB friends.
We used our tickets to visit just two old sites and gave the rest away. It is very easy to visit many places without the need for tickets nor the nuisance of selling tack. On one of our jaunts through town we visited Ba Le Well and were heard talking by a lady at the end of the lane, she immediately spoke to us and invited us to talk to her English lesson students. She ran a small private English Language school and was very keen for her students to practice what they had been learning for the past 4 years – this turned out to be extremely difficult as everyone was far too shy to try so we ended up doing all the talking – not difficult for us. Eventually we managed to ask them some questions and receive a few replies in English. Needless to say the teacher was rather disappointed at their lack of enthusiasm at this opportunity to practice.
Bicycles were certainly our favourite transport in and around Hoi An. One morning we set off for the coast some 5km to find Cua Da Beach which is part of the coastline that runs all the way up to Danang’s beaches. At the Hoi An end it is relatively undisturbed apart from a few very unfinished large resort complexes that have stood in this state for some time. Some enthusiastic entrepreneurs took on more than they could afford and the buildings are now an eyesore on this glorious coastline which at the time had huge rollers rolling onto the beach. It is only safe to swim along this coast between April and October. Having cycled 5kms we thought we could do more and actually ended up doing 23kms by the end of the day.
We headed north along the beach to a spot with several restaurants but over zealous bicycle park attendants wanted too much for us to park our bikes. Bikes were not allowed beyond a certain point, according to these unofficial guys, but I managed to get through, found a restaurant where we could leave our bikes for free. Brian unfortunately got caught by a guy who was rather aggressive and he just would not let Brian through, there was a lot of shouting and we finally left the area to cycle just 150 yards along a lane where we could access the beach and other restaurants undisturbed. A brisk short walk along the sand and we were back in the saddle heading inland in the hope we might find a suitable place to stop for lunch. Cycling in Vietnam is easy as the land is flat, there are also many small lanes and tracks to explore. At one spot we decided to explore a river bank to see what might be happening in the small village and to our amazement we came across a small factory producing a fish biscuit – well that is what we think it was. 48 ladies sat at low tables each with a pot of ‘fish bits’ which they placed onto large mesh panels, they made the piles into flat ovals around 5 or 6 inches in diameter. The panels when full were then taken outside to dry in the sun for a day or so before being returned to the factory to be removed and packed into boxes to be sold on. The end product was more like a large crispy fish cracker where you could see very small shrimp dried into it. We never managed to find out the name of the product nor did we ever see any for sale anywhere. It looked very appetising but never had the chance to taste it.
Back to the main road we headed west again before turning off to a huge area growing organic vegetables. Through the buildings I espied a guy in a chef’s hat so guessed there might be an eatery we could visit. Located in the middle of this huge cultivated area was a restaurant serving food grown at the farm. An enjoyable hour or two was spent here, the food was delicious and was followed by a foot massage, and of course it was all at a price.
Fully sated we struggled on our bikes to head back to Hoi An having done a full circle. We had the most amazing day and felt very pleased with ourselves that we had managed to cycle so far.
We loved Hoi Ann, particularly late afternoon as the sun died when the beautiful tones on the buildings were emphasised by the low hung sun. It was a photographer’s paradise. Although a little touristy for our liking we did manage to find places and spaces all to ourselves.
Hue, pronounced ‘hwey’ is just a few hours up the coast from Hoi An. Our Hoi An hotel organised our transportation supposedly on the best bus available at a charge of just $5 each. On the morning of our departure we were taken by mini bus to the bus station where we awaited the arrival of our bus. It seemed ages before it arrived and we were then shocked to find it was the sleeping bus that disgorged a great number of tourists who had travelled overnight from somewhere further south.
The journey to Hue was extremely uncomfortable as we had to lie on the beds that had just been vacated. The bus was tacky, dirty and very uncomfortable.
However we arrived and caught a taxi to our hotel, the Camellia, which turned out to be extremely good. We were now moving further north so the weather was not so kind. Our time was also limited with just one and a half days to ‘do’ the city sights and visit the ancient royal tombs.
Hue, a Unesco World Heritage site, was once the capital of the Nguyen emperors, somewhere tourists come to see some of the ancient Vietnam even though none of the buildings are older than 200 years with many of them showing signs of war and neglect – the latter due to communist disapproval of imperial emblems.
Soon after our arrival we headed for a bite to eat, picked up bikes on the way and set off to the citadel along with simply hundreds of bikes, scooters, vans and cars – it was hectic. However, we were feeling pretty confident and made our way to the Citadel inside the walled city. Sadly the rains came and we eventually had to abandon our visit and cycle back in rain to our hotel dodging the traffic on the way. Near to the hotel was a travel agent where we organised a tour to visit the royal tombs the next day.
The city sits on the banks of the Perfume River and much of its population lives within the 2m thick 10km long Citadel walls. Entry into the city is through one of the 10 fortified gates. Inside the Citadel is the Imperial Enclosure, a city within a city, which once housed the Emperor’s residence and other buildings of state. This enclosure suffered severely during the French and American wars and few of its many buildings still survive. Whilst exploring the site we came across the Royal Theatre where a large number of locals were rehearsing for a special event needless to say we stood and watched soaking up the atmosphere but never managed to find out when and where the performance would take place.
Trip Advisor recommended certain restaurants and we chose one which was a gallery. From the outside it looked upmarket but the prices were good and the food and service excellent – we ate here both nights and enjoyed a wonderful evening with friends we made on our trip to the tombs.
Our trip to the tombs was an excellent day out visiting Thien Mu Pagoda, Tombs of Tu Duc, Minh Mang and Khai Dinh.
Tu Duc, set amid frangipani and pine trees was built between 1864 and 1867 for use both before and after the death. The huge expense and the forced labour used in its construction spawned a coup plot that was discovered and suppressed in 1866. Tu Duc who supposedly had the longest reign of any Nguyen monarch from 1848-83 lived a life of imperial luxury. He apparently had 104 wives and many concubines but produced no offspring. It is said that he became sterile after contracting smallpox.
Although this is meant to be a tomb for Tu Duc he supposedly was buried elsewhere and each of the 200 servants who buried the king was beheaded in order for grave robbers to be deterred.
The tomb of Khai Dinh was the most colourful of all the tombs. Most of the grandiose exterior is covered in blackened concrete, while the interior resembled a explosion of colourful mosaic. The mosaic was made from broken china which had bright and colourful decoration and glazes. It really was over the top under the bright lighting.
Our tour had cost us something like $8 for the day and included all entry fees, a great day out for the price.
After a wonderful supper we headed back to our hotel to prepare for our journey next morning to Hanoi by plane.
The Camellia Hotel, Hue was a great hotel. It was such a pity that the weather had not been clearer as the view from our room over the city was spectacular.
The hotel transported us early in the morning to the airport some 25 minutes away to catch our 8am flight to Hanoi where we collected by our hotel driver. Our hotel in Hanoi, The Boss Hotel, was wonderful. The staff was simply great and they had organised a wonderful trip for us to Sapa and Halong Bay. The Boss Hotel was our base for over 2 weeks and we came and went sampling a selection of rooms on each stay, however nothing bettered our first room which came complete with a massaging chair.
The weather was not good and resembled UK weather, damp, grey and quite miserable, so we hung around a while before venturing out into the old city and walked around the large lake. There are simply thousands of tourists around and hundreds of shops looking to take the tourists’ money, much of the stock is cheap junk. Eating in Hanoi was wonderful and on our first night we sampled Green Mango which became a firm favourite – the food, ambience and service were fantastic. We ate here many times.
Next morning the weather was still drizzly so rather than walk around in the damp I took myself off to a very nice spa whilst Brian had time to sit and read. Feeling full of spring after my pedicure and massage and armed with my city street map I managed to navigate my way back by foot to the hotel. Navigating your way through Vietnam is very easy as every business in Vietnam has its address under its name so it is possible very quickly to see which en d of the street you are by the numbering.
Having travelled extensively for the past 8-9 weeks we decided to take it easy as we prepared for our overnight train trip to Sapa. Although we had travelled reasonably light we had managed to acquire a few extra things on our way so we pared down the luggage to those essentials we would need for the next few days.
On a very wet evening we were driven to Hanoi railway station by the hotel staff to climb aboard our Orient Express train – well that is what we thought, the pictures of the cabins looked good on the internet but I had failed to see that it was actually Orient Express 7.
Along with thousands of others we waited packed like sardines in the waiting area for the signal to proceed to the train. Little did we know at the outset that 3 trains per night travel to Lao Cai each pulling something like 16 carriages each packed with tourists. In order not to share with other travellers we paid for the whole compartment, neither of us wanted to share with others unknown to us. Once given the nod to move we waited alongside the carriage in pouring rain waiting for someone to unlock the carriage. Eventually soaked we climbed on board to find our hotel had organised for a beautiful cake and bottle of wine to be placed on the cabin table, it was Brian’s 78th birthday. Unfortunately they had forgotten the glasses, corkscrew and knife to cut the cake so we had these to carry on our arrival.
The journey was long and uncomfortable with lights along the way flashing into the cabin through the thin curtains. We eventually arrived very early morning at Lao Cai right on the border with China in beautiful clear sunshine. Our guide and driver were waiting for us to drive to Bac Ha market where we breakfasted.
After a very interrupted night’s sleep we eventually arrive in Lao Cai after our night on the train. The time was approximately 5.30 and we had been woken by masses of banging and shouting around 30 minutes before arrival.
Getting off the train was equally as chaotic as getting on it. Fortunately our guide Ngoc is waiting for us with the usual piece of paper with our names on and his first question is to ask if we would like breakfast now or later once we get to Bac Ha a distance away. We decide 5.30am is too early for us to breakfast and opt for something to eat in Bac Ha.
We sat back in our vehicle and rested trying to keep our eyes open in order to see our surroundings. Lao Cai is right on the border with China and the two countries are connected here by a bridge which is strictly controlled.
It took just over an hour to get to Bac Ha where we had a skimpy breakfast. No niceties here, just the menu with a few things to choose from and that was it. Whilst we waited for our breakfast we watched dozens of young people working in the kitchen preparing vegetables and meat, all along side one another. Meat looked to be butchered haphazardly whilst others chopped vegetables with great dexterity. I have never yet mastered the art of fast chopping like the chefs without cutting the end off my fingers. These young people were doing it masterly with amazingly crude knives.
Once breakfasted we hit the market at Bac Ha which is renowned for its number of ethnic Hmong people who come from miles around with their wares. Some walk miles and miles with their buffalo to sell whilst others bring fruit and veggies or craft work they have made. The market is held each Sunday and the majority of ladies come in their best outfits – sometimes new, although we have to say some we came across certainly were not in new clothes nor had they washed before coming as the smells were quite terrible.
However the market was simply great. We had come to Sapa to see the minorities and we were not disappointed. There were simply hundreds of people and none of them really bothered us to buy. We had arrived early and were lucky enough to be there before the day tourists arrived in their thousands later in the morning.
We toured the various stalls which are laid out in sections so it was easy to find things. Blacksmiths fashioned items in make shift forges, whilst men could buy new wooden ploughs for their buffalo. Down at the buffalo market men chewed, snorted, spat and chatted whilst poking and inspecting the various beasts before contemplating a deal. There were hundreds of water buffalo for sale along with their offspring - these animals are surprisingly docile and it was easy to get near to them and touch them. Some animals of course will not be bought to work, some will be bought to eat, buffalo meat is a common meat in this part of the world.
The buffalo market was definitely where the men all congregated and there was great excitement when some animals escaped lower down the slope with the men scurrying to catch them. Initially the animals are brought to a lower level then they have to climb a huge mountainous slope to the top where this particular part of the market is held.
Lower down we saw minority women with many pups they had brought to market, the majority of these will be for the table. Dog is seen as a delicacy here, along with cat, but we have not yet come across any cooked – thank goodness. These hill people are pretty poor so any animal is seen as food and much of the wildlife in this part of the world is now non existent due to hunting by locals.
Birds are a common hobby/pet in Asia so it was not surprising to find dozens of men young and old ooing and aahing at the birds, doing all that one does before finally striking a deal. They listen for the song and those with the best song are most prized. I personally hate seeing all these small birds caged and would love to release the lot but sadly there was no way I could afford to buy all these birds to let them fly away. The prices paid were surprisingly high for people who have little money.
Back in the market proper where people had makeshift stalls under tarpaulins there were cauldrons of horse meat stew. These people do not waste anything. I gave a big pot of horse stew a stir and could see all the pipes, tubes, lungs, hearts etc. along with some meat being cooked. Apparently horse stew along with happy juice, a potent alcoholic drink made from corn, is the diet for Sundays at Bac Ha for the men. Many return home pretty drunk and with very sore heads. This may be the reason why we saw so many motor bike accidents that day. We witnessed 5 accidents and are sure 2 were fatal.
The ladies at the market were the stars of the days in their tribal costumes. The colours were simply magical and they were very good at coordinating the colours and patterns. Every thing they wear is patterned but they manage to pull it off as the colours and designs all complement one another.
The weather was simply beautiful whilst here and as the day progressed we shed the winter woollies we had brought. How the local ladies survived in all their gear we are not sure but higher up the mountain it is cooler.
The majority of the locals at this market would have travelled great distances to get there. People would set out perhaps the previous day with their animals and wares to walk 15 – 20km. If they had no sale they had to walk back with them.
It is easy to see where the original ‘backpack’ came from as every lady carried a basket on their back and some carried great weights such as farming equipment for tilling their lands etc.
Finally the time came for us to leave Bac Ha and make our way to Sapa where we stayed the night at Baguette and Chocolate, a recommendation from a friend. On the way back we stopped in Lao Cai again to visit the river dividing Vietnam from China and the bridge. The gap between the two countries is relatively small and it was very easy to see the other side and the difference in architecture and signage. The locals cross but need a visa which is very easy to get.
Whilst in Lao Cai we visited a nearby temple but sadly our guide who was a Roman Catholic could not answer the many questions we had regarding what we saw there. The small temple was packed with praying people but there was not a monk in site even though some strange ceremony was taking place. Outside the temple were a number of beautifully made wired tissue paper models of horses in bright colours which we heard would be burnt later. Inside the temple a young man with plenty of hair performed a strange dance ritual in traditional costume. Two men beside him fiddled with his clothing everytime he kneeled or sat down and at one time he smoked a cigarette. Another young man appeared in a monk like robe although it wasn’t worn like a monks, he also had hair and then recited from a sheet. The only thing we could get from our guide was that this man was rather like a witch doctor. However, we and a handful of other tourists were mesmerized by what we saw.
By the time we got to the hotel it was beginning to get dark and drizzle was in the air. Our day at Bac Ha had been a great day out and we quickly forgot the uncomfortable train journey of the previous night.
Our hotel Baguette and Chocolate looked pretty nice from the outside and once inside the small cafe with its delicious looking cakes our appetites were soon whetted. Sadly the accommodation did not live up to this. Our room at the front of the building on the first floor was rather spartan with a shower cubicle with no curtain or door and a couple of towels, one with a huge hole in the middle. The bed sheet only just covered the mattress and the duvet was rather small for the size of bed – it did not cover the bed. However there was a heater if we needed it along with an electric blanket which we made use of. Thankfully this was just a one night stay so we put up with it. I was rather cross with myself as our Hanoi hotel had put the package together and had initially booked with another hotel. I changed it on the recommendation of a friend, what a mistake.
Next day we were up early to trek through ethnic minority villages. We drove a short distance then set off with dozens of ethnic ladies who pestered us the whole way. We had an idea of what might be instore whilst eating our breakfast – dozens of various tribal ladies hung around outside the hotel ready to accost tourists as they left. A couple of men wearing green pith helmets and holding sticks appeared to control them. Our guide told us they were a nuisance and we should resist buying anything from them as their prices were expensive and the quality not always good. We were followed by so many ladies we lost count – we were told to say no thank you to everything, not to say we would buy later etc, we did as we were told but the ladies were persistent and followed us for miles, some giving up but were quickly replaced by others. At one house we stopped to watch a lady actually working on fabric, she was creating the traditional pattern using candle wax, a type of batik, whilst another was dying fabric with indigo dye produced naturally. Her hands were all stained and one wondered how she ever had them a normal colour – perhaps she didn’t. This was the only place where I was tempted to buy something but sadly the price was too high and I came away empty handed.
One thing we have not got used to here in Vietnam is the peoples need to acquire money from us. The prices for all tourist tack is expensive and they have found ways to squeeze money out of visitors. When you consider the average earnings of these people, their demands are grossly inexplicable. However, whilst tourists continue to pay the prices and give money freely these people will continue to hassle seeing tourists as great cash cows and their answer to acquire an income easily without working hard for it.
Our guide reiterated our need not to spend money with the minorities as the Government is doing much for them. Everyone is provided with free schooling but the minorities choose not to send their children to school preferring the kids to work - many are very young. However we did visit a school at one of the villages where there was to be a dancing competition later in the day, we arrived as the children were taking their lunch. Many had brought lunch of boiled rice in small containers with them although there were a group inside school who were being supplied with a proper meal which comprised a huge quantity of boiled rice and some chicken.
On our first night in Sapa we were accosted by a 40 year old lady who spoke very good English. She told us she had never been to school, could not read nor write but had learned English from tourists. Her vocabulary was vast and she acted as a translator at the pharmacy for me. One just wonders how true the information was she told me. She followed us for miles in the hope she would extract money from us, it really became a nuisance. At one stage we told a lady we had no money and she quickly responded by telling us to get some from the ATM. We felt it very difficult at times to enter into conversation with these ladies for fear of having to pay out money – however their questioning of us never ceased.
After a great day in simply stunning weather, we had to cast off all our clothes as the temperature was pretty high and the sun shone brilliantly all day. Later we were driven back to Lao Cai where we had a meal with many others before leaving on the night train for Hanoi once more.
The journey back was not so bad, we knew the ropes, it was dry so we were not wet on arrival and we soon settled into our bunks for the journey. We managed a fitful night of sleep coping with the erratic air conditioning which one minute had us tearing off our clothes with the heat and the next scrabbling for everything we could find to cope with the arctic temperature. We finally arrived back in Hanoi at something like 4.30 in the morning and returned to our hotel for a shower, rest and breakfast before setting out to Halong Bay.
We loved the trip to Sapa, no regrets at just two days. It was perfect but would have preferred better accommodation.
After our quick trip to Sapa we are now off to Halong Bay for one night and two days. Sadly half of the first day is taken up with travelling. Our driver who does not seem to know how to use gears in a car travels the 93 km at speeds not exceeding 40km – it is deathly and takes us 5 hours to get there.
We are off on a two day cruise in Halong Bay. The weather forecast is not good so before leaving the hotel we decide to downsize our luggage even further and travel with just two small rucksacks. The few clothes we had been carrying for all these weeks for our cruise still clean and unused were packed just in case the sun shone and it warmed up.
Just around an hour into the journey the driver slowed up and we finally stopped on the side of the motorway. We had no idea what was happening – he got out and went off to a roadside eatery. The 6 of us in the mini van then decided to get out to stretch our legs thinking we would soon get back into the van. It was around 45 minutes later we eventually got under way again, it appeared another couple had been left behind and we had to wait for them to come by taxi to join us. This wait along with the driver’s appalling driving made the journey tiresome and wasteful. We eventually arrived at the dock quickly hopped onto a small tender and were taken to our boat. We just could not get over the huge number of boats waiting for tourists – there were people simply everywhere waiting to board. Our boat actually turned out to be very nice and quite luxurious. Again this was organised by our Hanoi hotel. Whilst planning the trip away I found I could not organise a trip to Sapa with guide or the cruise for a cheaper price so we had a great deal. We were given a welcome drink and safety talk before being allotted our very nice cabin and then returning to the dining room for our good lunch of sea food. The group on our allotted table were fabulous people. Two were Swiss whilst the other were British. The boat was already underway, it did not waste any time and we ate our lunch whilst the boat made headway towards to the first stop. Sadly the weather was poor, visually it was not good and the mist obscured the outlines of the limestone karsts that scatter this area of the South China Sea. The sea was grey and at times very brown so we assumed it to be very shallow.
Soon after lunch we dropped anchor and were taken to Surprise Cave where we waited for ages with simply hundreds of tourists. Our guide insisted we waited, which we did, it was a good idea as we finally had the whole cave to ourselves. It was a huge cave with three caverns, our wait and the climb up hundreds of steps was worth the effort. We eventually returned to our tender before heading to a pearl farm where the proud owner showed us in great detail how they implanted the seed into the oyster in the hope a pearl would eventually be produced.
We eventually arrived back at the boat and headed to the bridge where we chatted to the captain and found there were simply no instruments on board. They had no idea where they were, how deep the water was, what speed they were doing, direction etc. etc. the compass was actually upside down. We were amazed and prayed nothing would go wrong.
The evening with our new Swiss and British friends was great fun and we laughed and joked the evening away whilst eating a selection of great food including fresh oysters – well some tried them. Our fun was made even greater during the day with the sight of Costa cruiseliner Atlantica which passed us quite closeby. Much fun was made of this which amused our next table where four matronly Italian ladies sat.
Finally to bed in our cabin where the mattress was slightly softer than normal in Vietnam and we actually had pillows that were squashy for a good nights sleep.
On arrival on the boat we were given, as on all cruises, the daily itinerary and next morning it started at 6.30am with Thai Chi – we gave that a miss but were up for 7am for the light breakfast of pastries, tea or coffee. This was followed by a cookery demonstration of how to make spring rolls. They looked delicious but sadly they were fried in palm oil which I avoid at all costs if possible. Our next activity was a trip to a floating village where the people had lived at sea on pretty ropey looking craft all their lives. Apparently the government has done much to try to get these people to live ashore but they always return to the sea. We visited the floating school, local floating clinic and cruised in the tender around the beautiful karsts.
It was back to the boat to pack and take brunch, pay our bills before heading back. During this time the boat was slowly making its way back to Halong dock where we would get into a tender and go ashore. On the way back we managed to sit on the sun deck of our ship and appreciate the sun that was trying so hard to shine. Early in the morning we found out what all the brown shallow patches were, we watched as our boat discharged its sewage tanks into the sea – just imagine hundreds of boats doing this every day along with all the floating villages. The rubbish floating on the water at times was unbelievable.
It was a great 24 hours which we thoroughly enjoyed. There were 53 people on board including a party of 26 from the UK – they were elderly Indians who had migrated from Africa some years ago to live in the UK. They were lovely people who were keen to share some of the food they had brought with them.
We now had the long tedious mini bus journey back to Hanoi. It was so frustrating that the driver just did not know how to drive using his gears. He was in 4th gear before he had even reached 20km an hour and immediately put it into 5th where it stayed for the rest of the journey. He just had no power to overtake. We arrived back at our hotel in Hanoi late afternoon to be told our room was not ready so they arranged for us to go to a nearby hotel for a few hours to shower and rest. The room we were given had no window and had a very strange smell so we were very pleased when it was time for us to return to the Boss. Sadly the room they gave us was not up to scratch and we bitterly complained. They had looked after us so well and now they had given us a room with no view which had other problems. Just one night in this room and they returned us to the first room we were given, a small suite which was great.
Food has become a bit of an issue and we are now desperate for Western type food. We are finding Vietnamese food uninteresting so we head to Green Mango restaurant again for a good meal. It seems you have to pay to get anything decent so we are now breaking the bank.
Next morning in Hanoi we head to the station to organise our train tickets for our journey to Ninh Binh next morning. Again we were almost diddled by a taxi driver. The taxi driver for the 40,000 dong journey did not want to give us change from a 100,000 note. Initially he gave us just 2,000, when I complained he gave us just 5,000 more. He could not see why we were moaning so we managed to get the 100,000 note from him and give him the correct amount. These taxi drivers are rogues and are obviously doing this daily to tourists who do not check their change. We bught our train tickets then walked back into the city to try to find some china teaspoons we had seen at the Green Mango. Finally we track them down at one of the several markets in the city and make our way back for a late fast food lunch at a Macdonalds look alike.
This evening we decide to eat at Green Tangerine but once we were seated, looked at the menu and counted our money finding we actually did not have sufficient to pay so had to leave and ended up eating a very poor Indian meal. Any Indian would have been embarrassed by what we were served but it was full of locals.
Tomorrow we will experience another Vietnamese railway journey to Ninh Binh.
It is 9th March and our travels are almost at an end with just around a week left we take ourselves off by train to Ninh Binh a city that Lonely Planet describes as ‘a genuine breath of fresh air’. The town itself is not touristy but it does have some extraordinary rural landscapes. The area like most of rural Vietnam is made up of many thousands of paddy fields with the addition of huge limestone karsts similar to what we saw in Halong Bay. If only the weather had been better we could have seen these in their true light but we were not deterred and arranged to go on two trips on our two days there.
Our hotel , Ngoc An ,was a real family affair located right in the middle of town. Run by a brother and sister with half the family helping this was more like living with them. They were very kind, great fun and were keen to let us have a little taster of the food they actually ate themselves. It was such a pity they did not have that food on their menu. Our room at the front of the building was pretty basic but possibly the best room at the hotel, we had windows and a door leading onto a small balcony where we could watch the events in the street below. It obviously was wedding weekend in Ninh Binh as two doors away there was a fancy Vietnamese wedding tent erected in the road with very loud music blaring out. In the side road beside the makeshift kitchen had been erected – a piece of polythene for the roof and the rest was all done on the pavement or in the gutter. Much of Vietamese food is cooked this way. In the main street of town, which is the main highway through Vietnam from north to south, there were several other wedding tents. Apparently that particular weekend was a good time for a Vietnamese wedding.
Our two trips out were great although the first which we tried to do ourselves with just a car and driver turned out to be vastly more expensive than the organised tour with our own private guide and driver.
The first trip took us to Trang An Grottoes. The main visitor site here is Tam Coc but having read the reviews decided to give this a miss. At weekends hundreds of locals from Hanoi make the journey to Ninh Binh to spend time in the country and on this particular day they had decided to visit Trang An Grottoes at the same time as us. We were the only white visitors so everyone was extremely friendly wanting to take pictures of us, speak with us and shake hands. Their presence in such numbers enhanced our visit. Along with the locals we hopped, well clambered, into our own little boat along with the lady rower and our taxi driver who accompanied us everywhere and for whom we had to pay. The women rowers are extremely fit as the distance is quite long, at times they give their arms a rest and row effortlessly using their feet.
We travelled slowly in a long snake like procession with the many thousands in the cool breeze blowing onto us – we were thankful we had winter clothing but I was very miffed that I had lost one of my New Zealand possum wool gloves on our travels – I now needed them as it was pretty cold. We eventually took off in a different direction to the masses and were taken into a very low cave where we had to duck on many occasions. This grotto is 370 metres long and we had it all to ourselves. There are 15 limestone caves here but we only had time for the one. With the wind behind us the journey back took less time and we hope less effort for the rower.
Back on shore we mingled with many more locals who had now arrived in large buses and as we made our way back to the car park stopped at the bridge over the canal where an area of water had been netted. This area had simply thousands of gold fish in it. As people threw bread into the water the fish were insane making the water look as if it was boiling. It is something we have never experienced before. We think it was just the sheer number of fish that made it so spectacular.
From Ninh Binh we drove to Hoa Lu which once was the capital of Vietnam between 968-1009 AD. The site was chosen to be a distance from China and for protection from the enormous number of limestone karsts in the area. It was a little touristy with decorated bullocks to sit on for photo shoots and many stalls selling local wares including plenty of snack food. We visited the couple of temples here before heading off to have lunch nearby.
Kenh Ga was our next stop. It gets its name apparently from the number of wild chickens that used to live here but it is the riverine way of life that is the main draw here. Our driver stopped at a small house on the side of the riverbank where, once we had climbed down the steep bank, got into a concrete dinghy with a rather dicey bamboo platform which we had to sit on. Again a female rower who rowed for 1.5hours through the many canals and local boats that are still used to transport aggregate etc. from the area. Many of the people have prospered and now live in large concrete houses on the river bank. One wonders if they have mod cons inside as many people were either doing their laundry, washing dishes or other things on the waters edge. We understand the sewerage runs into the river as well so it was not a good idea to test the water temperature with our hands which were kept very firmly on the bamboo mat. Eventually we arrived at a spot where we disembarked thinking our car was nearby, how wrong we were. We now hiked several kms and then climbed to a fantastic cave where we descended into virtual darkness. With a torch and a miserable electric light we were able to appreciate the magnificence of this cave. Being so rural toilets were not found easily and with such flat land around it was impossible to find a personal place but here near the cave was a toilet block – our lady driver and myself were ecstatic until we found the doors locked so we had to go behind the building where it appeared dozens of others had too. Pleasantly relieved we thought it was now just a short distance to the car but no it was several more kms away. It took us quite some time to understand what our non English speaking driver was trying to tell us but what happened was she hopped on a motorbike fetched the car and drove back to pick us up as we walked along the road towards the direction she would come from. We never did work out just how far we walked that day but it was some distance.
It was now time to head back to Ninh Binh and for some stupid reason our driver decided to go between two concrete posts that were barring vehicular entry to a bridge. She succeeded on the journey down but on the way back she scraped the car and got stuck. The vehicle now had a very bad gash on the side. We just could not understand why she took this route when the road was there alongside. Our fear was that we might be asked to pay for the damage so we just kept quiet and once back at the hotel scarpered pretty quickly to our room after we had been greeted with hugs and kisses by the owners. This affection is a first for us in Vietnam – we are not sure if this is usual or that they just liked us a lot.
It was a great day out but it turned out to be far more expensive than had we gone on one of the hotels organised tours with a guide so next day we decided to do it that way.
With little choice of restaurants in Ninh Binh we chose to eat in the hotel restaurant again, the food was OK and we whiled away the evening playing cards in the lobby. It did not take long before members of the family were looking over our shoulders telling us which cards to play and they were very quick to accept the invitation to join in. It was a fun evening with them.
Next morning we set off with driver and guide. The driver was in fact sister’s husband and the guide a friend – a big money earner for the hotel if you do not have to pay for professionals. We wanted to go to Cuc Phoung National Park and the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre.
Established in 1962 this National Park is one of Vietnam’s most important protected areas. Wildlife in the area has declined dramatically due to hunting by locals but the area is supposed to be home to a large variety of animal and plant life. Located some distance from Ninh Binh we drove through interesting countryside to the park where we got out of the car and were told we had a 9km trek up a mountain and over the other side where the car would meet us. We had no idea this was the plan but we took it in our stride and started the climb up thousands of steps – we never found out just how many there were. The walk took us almost 3 hours and the only animals we saw were a coach load of kids descending and a couple of other locals carrying a picnic. The one thing we did see in abundance was litter – all dropped by the kids we assumed as it all looked fresh. Litter is one of my pet hates and I made a point of telling our guide so. He took it on board and collected all the rubbish as we walked depositing it into the many concrete bins put there. From time to time we came upon rest areas where fake tables and chairs that looked like wood but were actually concrete were placed. Behind one of the tables our guide found a large packet/box of custard cakes individually wrapped. We think the couple with the picnic were carrying them - we hoped they were not returning for them as we all tucked into them. They were quite delicious and a real bonus after our rather spartan breakfast. We carefully returned the box with a few cakes inside back to the spot behind the concrete tree and continued on our way to a 1000 year old tree. It seemed that people come as far as the tree then return as the litter problem disappeared from here on.
With so many steps to tackle our eyes were firmly on the ground so if there was anything interesting we never saw it. There were a few interesting fungi which I managed to photograph but the rest was thick jungle. The walk was very steep and at times we stopped to take breathers before ascending a little higher. At one stage the guide told us just 200m to the top when it would flatten out and we would descend – well we did descend only to ascend again. However, we finally made it and our driver was full of praise and excitement at our achievement. Had the walk been on flat terrain it would have been no problem but with so many steps it was not easy. We were very lucky the weather was cool and dry but at times mud was deep and quite treacherous.
Before leaving the park we headed to the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre which is sponsored by a number of world zoos, amongst them Bristol. A huge centre where we were allowed to see only a small number of their inmates, they have over 150 creatures from 15 species - mainly the very endangered langurs of which there are several varieties. It was only possible to visit with a centre guide who was extremely knowledgable. Kept at some distance from the cages we watched these creatures playing in their family groups quite happily. Breeding is their main aim along with rehabilitation of animals to the wild, however this is a serious problems as they are unable to monitor all of those released fearing many will get into the hands of poachers again. Poaching is a serious problem in the park along with illegally kept pets many of whom end up here.
They have a huge fenced off area of jungle where animals are prepared to be released but many do not adapt and wait at the fence each day to be fed by keepers. These animals eventually return to their cosy cage and several meals a day.
The centre is also a big breeder of land and fresh water turtles. Many pens had creatures in but with the cool weather only one was visible. Many we believe were sheltering under stones or vegetation.
A brisk walk back to the car to go for a late lunch – can’t tell you how grateful we were for the custard cakes.
Our next stop was Van Long Nature Reserve some distance away. Time was getting on and the light deteriorating but we managed to get there just in time before darkness really fell. Again it was into a concrete dinghy this time with a man rowing. This reserve is set amid more glorious limestone pinnacles but with the light it was difficult to really appreciate the landscape. On a sunny day it must be magnificent.
The day was at an end and we made our way back to the hotel where we ate supper again and spent the evening talking to a couple of Germans of our era and several younger backpackers who were waiting for the night sleeping bus to arrive.
Next morning we got ourselves organised ready to catch the train back to Hanoi. This trip was more comfy as we actually splashed out £2 each for a soft seat. The journey to Ninh Binh was uncomfortable on the £1 per person hard seats for 93 kms. Sadly we had no options on the way.
Eventually back in Hanoi we wrestled with the many taxis. Having been ripped off once and been diddled change and listened to other peoples tales we are very wary of taxi drivers. However we found an honest guy who returned us to our hotel, Boss, where the staff were waiting for us longing to hear about our trip.
We now have just 3 days in Hanoi before we return to Turkey.
We arrived back in Hanoi from Ninh Binh having had a comfortable train ride on a ‘soft seat’ at an incredible cost of £2 each. The journey took around 2 hours and we arrived back to drizzly warm weather surrounded by hundreds of taxis none of whom we wished to use. Finally after a short wait the right one turned up and we returned to The Boss Hotel once more.
On arrival we were greeted by the staff who were very keen to hear of our travels and by a group of 8 Spanish families with their newly acquired Vietnamese babies. This was a very emotional moment for us, the staff and of course the families as they had waited some time for these babies. Spain and Vietnam have a governmental agreement that allows the adoption of babies from Vietnamese orphanages. All the babies were in very good health, looked extremely bonnie but were not able to stand or walk at the age of 15 months. Each one of them was 15 months old. Clearly an indication that they had possibly been kept in cots or chairs sitting for considerable times. However in the few days we saw them some were trying to stand and even to walk with help.
The hotel had a special arrangement for these families and others who come similarly from Spain to adopt. Each child had a beautiful wooden cot in its room and on one occasion when the families all went off on a one night cruise the hotel transported 8 cots to the boat. It was wonderful to see these happy new parents but we never knew how they coped pushing push chairs around Hanoi city when the majority of pavements were littered with parked scooters and street eateries and of course the traffic was hectic.
On our previous recent visits to Hanoi we had really not done a great deal of sight seeing and used this final trip to sight see. We had visited enough museums elsewhere so felt we could pass on those this time, however, we felt it was prudent not to miss a chance of seeing the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh that has lain in state for the past 40 years.
Early one morning we set off by taxi to the Mausoleum and joined a queue of very noisy young children who were very amused by our joining them. We had been warned that no noise, even coughing, was allowed once inside and wondered how these children would be able to keep quiet long enough to see hUncle Ho as he is fondly known in Vietnam. The queue wound through the grounds for some distance but it moved at a good pace so it was not long before we were at the building. Earlier we had deposited all our bags and cameras at a holding point – security was tight.
Eventually we entered the building housing the body which was very well protected by a military guard of honour in white uniforms. There was a deathly hush as we entered, all the children were silent, but we moved at such a pace it really was impossible to study the body to decide if it really was a body or a waxwork. However we have been there and had a brief view of the man who certainly looked at one point as if he had a slight smile on his face. Each year the mausoleum is shut for a short while whilst Ho Chi Minh’s body is transported to Russia for more embalming treatment. If he is real they certainly have done a very good job as he has been dead since 1969. The mausoleum was inspired by the one for Lenin in Moscow.
Within the complex was the house where Ho Chi Minh had lived whilst he was in power and other governmental buildings. He was a simple man preferring to live in simple accommodation which is what he had.
A short walk from this great park we found a shop with ethnic fabrics which I could not resist a visit to. Having been disappointed at not finding what I wanted whilst up at Sapa this shop had everything I could wish for and more. They actually dismantled garments with minority embroideries in order to sell the pieces. I came away from the shop a very satisfied customer having bought pieces at far better prices than the minority ladies were asking. These pieces I hope to incorporate into cushion covers, along with the many other pieces I have bought in various parts of the world.
Hanoi is a large city so we were not able to see it all but we did a great deal of walking over the few days we had there and managed to see the opera house, other wonderful classic buildings of years ago and enjoy the ambience of the place away from the hustle and bustle of the old city where our hotel was located.
On one of our walks we came across 4 or 5 bridal groups having pictures taken on thepavement outside The Metropole Hotel and in a nearby garden area. Pictures were taken of them in front of garish advertising windows and amongst traffic. Each bride was in a western traditional white dress and the groom in a suit. As I have mentioned previously wedding photography is hot stuff in SE Asia.
On our travels we found an area of the city that concentrated on copy sandals particularly Teva’s which Brian likes and Chacos which I like so we headed out to find the best deal. Prices varied dramatically from shop to shop so we did not buy until we were satisfied we had found the right deal. In many cases if they did not have the size one of the staff would disappear down the road and return with the right size or colour – maybe all these shops work with one another. Armed with our bargain buys and an extra luggage bag we returned to our hotel very happy. It will be interesting to see just how long these fakes last! Bacon was another item on our shopping list – something difficult to find in Turkey. Luckily a nearby supermarket had packs of smoked streaky bacon and packs of ham . Thankfully we had travelled light so a few packs of bacon and ham did not affect our luggage r.
Whilst in Hanoi we continued to eat at our favourite restaurant Green Mango, but each night armed with our street map we always got lost finding our way to it. On our final night we had promised ourselves a meal at Green Tangerine but when getting there and reading the menu we felt we just could not warrant the expense – it was expensive – and returned to Green Mango promising ourselves the Plat du Jour lunch at Green Tangerine the next day, the final day of our time in SE Asia. The lunch was good but the atmosphere was rather reminiscent of sitting and eating a meal in a library – there just was no atmosphere and the owner and staff were rather sombre – quite unlike Green Mango where the staff were delightful and the atmosphere great – the food was also very special.
Our travels had now come to an end and we finally made our way to the airport having said our many farewells at the hotel. Boss Hotel in Hanoi could not have done more for us, they were fantastic and finally we got into their transport for the journey to the airport. There had been talk of a departure tax, no one seemed to be sure of the amount, so we kept a number of dong back to pay for that but on arrival and checking in found there was no departure tax at all for us. We now had to get rid of the dong, not quite enough to buy a bottle of gin, too much to spend on chocolate but guess what enough for me to buy some chocolate and also have a foot massage which I only just managed before Brian came into the salon to yank me out to board the first of our many flights back to Marmaris.
Our first flight was to Bangkok, then we flew to Doha, Qatar where we waited for our flight to Ankara. We arrived in Ankara mid morning to bright sunshine and thick snow – the views from the airport lounge across the nearby mountains were stunning . A couple of hours in Ankara and then we were off to Istanbul where we had a longer wait and chose to go into one of the lounges there where we stuffed ourselves silly with the beautiful food on offer - there was no rice! Finally we left Istanbul for Dalaman, an hours ride from Marmaris where we arrived late in the evening. I had arranged for one of the shuttle transports to collect us at the airport and followed their instructions to go to find the driver whilst the other collected the luggage from the carousel. This turned out to be the most frustrating bit of all our travels.
There was no driver waiting for us and when I returned to the airport terminal building they refused to let me back in to find Brian. A kind guy who had little English gave me a phone to ring the company – neither telephone number worked. Brian had not passed me whilst I was phoning and now I was alone outside the airport building with an empty car park, no Brian and no other passengers in sight. Oh, where could he be. No one knew or could understand my plight. Eventually I remembered Brian had his Turkish phone with him and wondered if he would have switched it on - mine had a problem and would not work. I found a friendly guy who loaned me his phone and hey presto I got hold of Brian who had been taken to the International airport at Dalaman where our luggage had been taken. We had arrived into the domestic terminal. Eventually a taxi driver appeared looking for us – he also had waited at the International terminal – he picked me up and drove to the International terminal where Brian had just struggled from with all the luggage.
We finally arrived back at our apartment in Marmaris somewhere around midnight after 5 flights and an hours taxi ride.
Our 10-11 weeks away had been a huge success, it had all worked like clockwork. We did some amazing things, visited some amazing places and met many wonderful people. To those we met on our travels we would like to thank you for making our travels so very special and wish you all success with everything you do in the future.
Where shall we travel to next winter?
4th June 2014
This the eighth day of our trip to Bulgaria and Romania see us on another bus journey to the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Turnova.
Our time in Istanbul was short and the Topkapi Palace was shut. The need to find Bulgarian money was our prime focus and this took time whilst we to'd and fro'd with conflicting local instructions. Eventually we walked to the bazaar and found a money changer who took a while to come up with the currency before an elderly bent lady in the traditional head scarf appeared with the money. The rate we got was in fact better than we have achieved in Sofia.
The Istanbul hotel was not a success. Booked by one of our Turkish friends the hotel had a good rating on Trip Advisor but looked pretty awful. Thankfully we did not stay here as we were moved into the hotel next door and told their room was much better. Next morning we found the original hotel locked up. There was no one staying there so guess they could not be bothered with just two guests.
The day we left for Sofia was like Friday 13th, nothing went well.. Firstly the transfer booked with the first hotel failed to arrive even after it had been confirmed several times, our arrival was far too early at the bus station and we hung around for a couple of hours in a huge bus station where the loos were absolutely third world and where dozens of Turks ogled me each time I walked to them. I could have been mothers to the majority. I wanted to shout to them my age but politely resisted.
Our bus arrived with two drivers and a hostess all of whom looked as if they had not been to bed - they actually hadn't we found out later. These drivers had driven from Sofia to Istanbul overnight then returned to Sofia the next day with us on board. Our arrival in Sofia was very overdue thanks to cigarette smugglers and a Turkish customs computer failure, not giving the drivers any time before they set off again back to Istanbul. Not sure this complies with EU rules.
Sofia is a wonderful city with plenty of history going back centuries. Only a couple of years ago whilst excavating for the new Metro they uncovered substantial Roman ruins. Even the palaces of the soviet era in the city are magnificent. There are long tree lined boulevards everywhere. Of course not all areas are good and there are an awful lot of empty shops and buildings. But generally it is not the grey monolithic city of concrete we expected.
Our Hotel Favorit was certainly a favourite. We had a wonderful room and the bed was one of the most comfortable ever. The hotel was well situated close to both bus and railway stations in one direction and the Metro in the other. Food in the restaurant was amazingly good. We have had absolutely fabulous food whilst in Sofia at reasonable prices in restaurants with beautiful decor - my kind of scene.
Our forays into the Metro were chaotic initially as the Cyrillic writing is impossible to read and we just could not work out which side of the platform we should wait, then there was the choice of entrance and exit. Quite a nightmare at times. Most of the time we walked to the city centre which was not too far away. We even walked back at night after a concert and never felt threatened.
On our rather long journey from Istanbul we met a very interesting Bulgarian lady and her son. Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean is a professional harpist, having played in many places in the world. A few days later she phoned us to invite us to her home for some Bulgarian food and to see her collection of harps. Like me Anni loved bright colours and her walls were decorated with reds and orange hues with bright red and turquoise furniture. She made us very welcome and we shared stories and photos before tucking into the huge Banitsa she had made for us. Made from many eggs, cheese, yogurt and filo pastry topped with sugar it could be eaten with walnuts, dried apricots, strawberry jam and more yogurt. This is an absolute classic in Bulgaria and to Bulgarians is what quiche is to the French. Generally served at breakfast it was delicious but unlike Brian I could only manage one piece.
During the four whole days in Sofia we visited a few of the museums and churches, there are dozens to visit, had a day trip to Rila Monastery and also ventured to the Socialist Party headquarters where there were a great number of statues from the past along with old propaganda films to watch.
There seems to be mixed feelings about now and then. Everybody had work, an income however small, a roof over their head and no real responsibilities. The socialists still have great power here and from what we hear are corrupt with plenty of Maffia involvement. Those we have met, mainly educated, are grateful for any job they can get but there appears to be a rich middle class who can afford the large fancy vehicles, designer clothes and other designer gear sold here.
Road systems appear poor in relation to other areas of Europe though it looks as if much is being done with new tunnels and the occasional dual carriage way. However the scenery is beautifully green and the roadsides littered with wild flowers seen long ago in the UK.
We are now a short distance from Veliko Turnova where we will be spending the next few days, and cooked in a brand new bus that has a problem with the air conditioning. Our thoughts are that the driver does not know how to operate it or there is a serious problem as there is a great flurry of turning switches and pressing buttons whilst the driver with his mobile phone almost permanently attached to his ear drives us to our destination.
On Wednesday 4th June we travelled the short distance to the bus station in Sofia by taxi. to catch the bus to Veliko Tarnovo Although close to the hotel the pavements were a bit of an assault cause for Brian to haul our suitcase over.
Once the capital of the medieval Bulgarian tsars, Veliko Tarnovo is set amidst an amphitheatre of forested hills dividing by the Yantra River that winds its way around the city. Pride of place is the restored Tsarevets Fortress, citadel of the second Bulgarian Empire, surrounded by scores of churches and other ruins. Our hotel Minotel Rashov was a recommendation from a friend who had visited and its location close to the castle allowed us to watch the nightly sound and light show from our room window. Although basic and clean the hotel needed a bit of an upgrade, particularly in the bathroom, we took the half board option here and food was disappointing after our experience inSofia. There was plenty of food but it was served in a slipshod manner and cooked with no spices.
Our visit to the Fortress was marred by torrential rain and we gave up not far into the citadel having sat under a tree for ages waiting for the rain to stop. Needless to say there were a number of intrepid Japanese in skimpy clothing and footwear who completed a tour with their suitably clad guide.
A good walk into the town of Veliko Turnova passing many closed shops we came across Shtastlivetsa a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet full of Bulgarians and we could not resist a visit. The food here was simply delicious. Using few ingredients they made every dish a banquet and each dish we had tasted delicious. Needless to say we returned here several times.
Veliko is situated in the middle of the country and has a prestigious university which in term time is host to thousands of students. The town was quiet during out stay as term had ended. and the weather was not at its best. Streets were lined with dress and shoe shops just like any UK town, possibly more of them in Veliko though to cater for the influx of young students. However there were a number of old dilapidated buildings here that looked pretty sad.
We had hoped to see some music whilst here but nothing happened. The river runs through a huge gorge splitting the town into segments which are accessed via several bridges. The Art Gallery was located in a remote position which required a great deal of walking to and when we got there found it closed on Thursday, the day we visited. However a very kind member of staff opened the door and allowed us in along with another visitor to view the paintings at the same time keeping a beedy eye on us as we moved around the different galleries.
Bulgaria is certainly alive with culture but on our visit to Veliko there was nothing in the programme apart from a Roma music concert at the art gallery in the evening which we thought we would be able to hear from a high position across the water. We heard nothing and saw nothing.
Veliko perches on the hillside above the banks of the Yantra river with many small alleys and steps to communicate with the different levels. General Genko street is the one to visit so on a day when the rain was teasing us we walked and climbed the different levels visiting the Sarafkina Kashta Museum, once the house of a rich Turkish merchant and moneylender. Built in 1861 it had been lovingly restored and housed displays of antique ceramics, traditional costumes and woodcarvings. It had a wonderful display of old photographs along with other old artifacts.
We were the only visitors here, and possibly the only ones that day and like the art gallery we were suitably watched whilst we wandered around. Entrance doors to museums in Bulgaria are always shut and not very welcoming making it look as if they are closed.
It appeared to us that the museums in Bulgaria were not that busy and wondered if they received sufficient income each day to pay the salaries of those employed. Wherever we went this was the case.
Gen Genko street housed some beautiful properties all built in the traditional style of wood and lathe. Many needed a bit of TLC and possibly awaiting a new owner to rescue them from total decay. There were many estate agents in this town selling properties in the surrounding areas, prices were very cheap but I guess you would have to spend a fortune on them and finding the right builders to do the work would be a bit of a challenge. Sadly, we were told, a number of Brits had bought property early on, spent money on the property then when the house was empty it was burgled by locals and stripped of everything. This was the only evidence we had of illegal behaviour in our journey.
Our stay in Veliko was possibly longer than was needed. Unfortunately the weather was not good whilst here and on Saturday 7th June we caught a bus to Ruse on the banks of the Danube from where we would cross over into Romania.
Ruse was a beautiful city with the most ornate architecture. Its wide boulevards and city square lined with trees were elegant and clean. Our hotel situated right on the Danube banks was in an ideal location several kilometres out of town. We had a room overlooking the river with a huge balcony that had a small garden that flooded when it rained and housed many mossies. The area prior to our arrival had been flooded with the heavy rains experienced in the Balkans, evidence of this clearly seen with huge mounds of soil placed along the roadside to hold some of the water back. Steps down to a small jetty were simply inches thick with mud.
Although the location of the hotel was wonderful the staff were far from efficient and the room badly planned. There was no mirror in the bedroom, only a small mirror in the bathroom where there was no socket to use for a hair drier. I had to dry my hair looking in a small cosmetic compact mirror - far from ideal. It was here that the toilet seat was not attached to the pan, rather difficult if you wobbled. So I left the seat in a silly position and complained to a member of staff. He immediately disappeared and within a minute or two returned to advise the seat had been fixed. When we returned to the room all he had done was place it back in place! When I next saw this guy I complained again and he promptly rushed to the office and retrieved a big tube with a gun attached and glued the seat to the pan. It worked and I was happy but there was evidence of apathy with the staff.
However, we took ourselves off to Ruse city where there is a wonderful Railway museum housing the very first engine to run in Bulgaria. Made in Manchester the engine takes pride of place in the collection and the lady who took the money, opened and closed the door took her tin of money and anything else you could think of, locked the doors and proceeded to take us on a guided tour. The biggest problem was that she spoke Bulgarian, German or Russian and we spoke none of them. We chose German and I was able to pick up a few of the points that she so enthusiastically told us about.
The museum, situated on the banks of the Danube across from the border of Romania, was situated a long walk from town so we decided to take a taxi. We had chosen the day when the workmen had decided to retarmac half a kilometre of the most potholed road I had ever seen which led to the museum. The road was closed and we had to walk this distance across the wet tar afterwards stepping into dust, small stones and dead foliage, you can imagine how our sandals looked. These we had to get clean before we could enter the museum. This museum trip was possibly the highlight for Brian whilst in Bulgaria.
Ruse had an opera house and had Zorba the Greek Ballet on just for one night. Using our street map we rushed there to buy tickets but sadly it was sold out. However, not to be disappointed I knew that tickets are very often returned shortly before the start of a show so after an early supper we walked back to the opera house and managed to get two returned tickets next to one another in the fourth row of the stalls. The stage was low so the seats were brilliant and I was able to see the dancers feet and faces clearly. It was an excellent production and at the end there were at least half a dozen encores. We were not sure where the dancers found the energy to keep going as we found the clapping exhausting
Once the show finished everyone seemed to disappear and the streets were simply empty, this was 9pm on a Saturday night, and we had difficulty finding a taxi to get back to our hotel.
Each day we walked miles in Ruse visiting various museums and houses on the way. At each venue the staff were simply delightful, often staying after closing time to make sure we had adequate time to see everything. A short distance from the hotel we climbed some old iron steps that took us up to what looked like a large manorial park, we later learned that this is Prista a recreational area now used for picnics and the like. It was quiet and peaceful with hedgerows full of wild flowers, quite beautiful.
Ruse was probably our favourite place in Bulgaria. Pavement cafes abound with families enjoying themselves. In Bulgaria there is a cafe chain called Happy which we used in Sofia. There was one in Ruse close to the Opera House and where we ate on several occasions. Their food was absolutely delicious and all cooked fresh to order.
One evening whilst eating the sky darkened and the heavens opened showering everyone with hailstones the size of mothballs. Everyone scurried to safety but we managed to pull our chairs under cover and managed to finish our delicious suppers before rushing inside the restaurant to have a pud.
Ruse was simply beautiful, the architecture - especially the roofs were extraordinary and many buildings were being restored. The people were simply delightful and friendly and everyone appeared to speak some English.
The sad thing about Bulgaria is that their government, run by Socialists, is corrupt. Wages are extremely poor with a teacher earning in the region of 100€ a month and doctors in the region of 500€. Several people we met were anxious to leave to find a better life in the west, some we met were holidaying having moved to Australia, Canada and elsewhere in the Europe. With just 2 million out of a population of 7 million working life is tough financially. Most Bulgarian families have just one child whilst the Romas continue to have very large families. The Romas are a cause for great concern in Bulgaria as there is a huge population of them.
We are pleased to have visited Bulgaria and met some wonderful people whilst there. It has given us an insight into why these people are leaving in huge numbers and hopefully make us more tolerant towards those in the UK and elsewhere. On Wednesday 4th June we travelled the short distance to the bus station in Sofia by taxi. to catch the bus to Veliko Tarnovo Although close to the hotel the pavements were a bit of an assault cause for Brian to haul our suitcase over.
Once the capital of the medieval Bulgarian tsars, Veliko Tarnovo is set amidst an amphitheatre of forested hills dividing by the Yantra River that winds its way around the city. Pride of place is the restored Tsarevets Fortress, citadel of the second Bulgarian Empire, surrounded by scores of churches and other ruins. Our hotel Minotel Rashov was a recommendation from a friend who had visited and its location close to the castle allowed us to watch the nightly sound and light show from our room window. Although basic and clean the hotel needed a bit of an upgrade, particularly in the bathroom, we took the half board option here and food was disappointing after our experience inSofia. There was plenty of food but it was served in a slipshod manner and cooked with no spices.
Our visit to the Fortress was marred by torrential rain and we gave up not far into the citadel having sat under a tree for ages waiting for the rain to stop. Needless to say there were a number of intrepid Japanese in skimpy clothing and footwear who completed a tour with their suitably clad guide.
A good walk into the town of Veliko Turnova passing many closed shops we came across Shtastlivetsa a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet full of Bulgarians and we could not resist a visit. The food here was simply delicious. Using few ingredients they made every dish a banquet and each dish we had tasted delicious. Needless to say we returned here several times.
Veliko is situated in the middle of the country and has a prestigious university which in term time is host to thousands of students. The town was quiet during out stay as term had ended. and the weather was not at its best. Streets were lined with dress and shoe shops just like any UK town, possibly more of them in Veliko though to cater for the influx of young students. However there were a number of old dilapidated buildings here that looked pretty sad.
We had hoped to see some music whilst here but nothing happened. The river runs through a huge gorge splitting the town into segments which are accessed via several bridges. The Art Gallery was located in a remote position which required a great deal of walking to and when we got there found it closed on Thursday, the day we visited. However a very kind member of staff opened the door and allowed us in along with another visitor to view the paintings at the same time keeping a beedy eye on us as we moved around the different galleries.
Bulgaria is certainly alive with culture but on our visit to Veliko there was nothing in the programme apart from a Roma music concert at the art gallery in the evening which we thought we would be able to hear from a high position across the water. We heard nothing and saw nothing.
Veliko perches on the hillside above the banks of the Yantra river with many small alleys and steps to communicate with the different levels. General Genko street is the one to visit so on a day when the rain was teasing us we walked and climbed the different levels visiting the Sarafkina Kashta Museum, once the house of a rich Turkish merchant and moneylender. Built in 1861 it had been lovingly restored and housed displays of antique ceramics, traditional costumes and woodcarvings. It had a wonderful display of old photographs along with other old artifacts.
We were the only visitors here, and possibly the only ones that day and like the art gallery we were suitably watched whilst we wandered around. Entrance doors to museums in Bulgaria are always shut and not very welcoming making it look as if they are closed.
It appeared to us that the museums in Bulgaria were not that busy and wondered if they received sufficient income each day to pay the salaries of those employed. Wherever we went this was the case.
Gen Genko street housed some beautiful properties all built in the traditional style of wood and lathe. Many needed a bit of TLC and possibly awaiting a new owner to rescue them from total decay. There were many estate agents in this town selling properties in the surrounding areas, prices were very cheap but I guess you would have to spend a fortune on them and finding the right builders to do the work would be a bit of a challenge. Sadly, we were told, a number of Brits had bought property early on, spent money on the property then when the house was empty it was burgled by locals and stripped of everything. This was the only evidence we had of illegal behaviour in our journey.
Our stay in Veliko was possibly longer than was needed. Unfortunately the weather was not good whilst here and on Saturday 7th June we caught a bus to Ruse on the banks of the Danube from where we would cross over into Romania.
Ruse was a beautiful city with the most ornate architecture. Its wide boulevards and city square lined with trees were elegant and clean. Our hotel situated right on the Danube banks was in an ideal location several kilometres out of town. We had a room overlooking the river with a huge balcony that had a small garden that flooded when it rained and housed many mossies. The area prior to our arrival had been flooded with the heavy rains experienced in the Balkans, evidence of this clearly seen with huge mounds of soil placed along the roadside to hold some of the water back. Steps down to a small jetty were simply inches thick with mud.
Although the location of the hotel was wonderful the staff were far from efficient and the room badly planned. There was no mirror in the bedroom, only a small mirror in the bathroom where there was no socket to use for a hair drier. I had to dry my hair looking in a small cosmetic compact mirror - far from ideal. It was here that the toilet seat was not attached to the pan, rather difficult if you wobbled. So I left the seat in a silly position and complained to a member of staff. He immediately disappeared and within a minute or two returned to advise the seat had been fixed. When we returned to the room all he had done was place it back in place! When I next saw this guy I complained again and he promptly rushed to the office and retrieved a big tube with a gun attached and glued the seat to the pan. It worked and I was happy but there was evidence of apathy with the staff.
However, we took ourselves off to Ruse city where there is a wonderful Railway museum housing the very first engine to run in Bulgaria. Made in Manchester the engine takes pride of place in the collection and the lady who took the money, opened and closed the door took her tin of money and anything else you could think of, locked the doors and proceeded to take us on a guided tour. The biggest problem was that she spoke Bulgarian, German or Russian and we spoke none of them. We chose German and I was able to pick up a few of the points that she so enthusiastically told us about.
The museum, situated on the banks of the Danube across from the border of Romania, was situated a long walk from town so we decided to take a taxi. We had chosen the day when the workmen had decided to retarmac half a kilometre of the most potholed road I had ever seen which led to the museum. The road was closed and we had to walk this distance across the wet tar afterwards stepping into dust, small stones and dead foliage, you can imagine how our sandals looked. These we had to get clean before we could enter the museum. This museum trip was possibly the highlight for Brian whilst in Bulgaria.
Ruse had an opera house and had Zorba the Greek Ballet on just for one night. Using our street map we rushed there to buy tickets but sadly it was sold out. However, not to be disappointed I knew that tickets are very often returned shortly before the start of a show so after an early supper we walked back to the opera house and managed to get two returned tickets next to one another in the fourth row of the stalls. The stage was low so the seats were brilliant and I was able to see the dancers feet and faces clearly. It was an excellent production and at the end there were at least half a dozen encores. We were not sure where the dancers found the energy to keep going as we found the clapping exhausting
Once the show finished everyone seemed to disappear and the streets were simply empty, this was 9pm on a Saturday night, and we had difficulty finding a taxi to get back to our hotel.
Each day we walked miles in Ruse visiting various museums and houses on the way. At each venue the staff were simply delightful, often staying after closing time to make sure we had adequate time to see everything. A short distance from the hotel we climbed some old iron steps that took us up to what looked like a large manorial park, we later learned that this is Prista a recreational area now used for picnics and the like. It was quiet and peaceful with hedgerows full of wild flowers, quite beautiful.
Ruse was probably our favourite place in Bulgaria. Pavement cafes abound with families enjoying themselves. In Bulgaria there is a cafe chain called Happy which we used in Sofia. There was one in Ruse close to the Opera House and where we ate on several occasions. Their food was absolutely delicious and all cooked fresh to order.
One evening whilst eating the sky darkened and the heavens opened showering everyone with hailstones the size of mothballs. Everyone scurried to safety but we managed to pull our chairs under cover and managed to finish our delicious suppers before rushing inside the restaurant to have a pud.
Ruse was simply beautiful, the architecture - especially the roofs were extraordinary and many buildings were being restored. The people were simply delightful and friendly and everyone appeared to speak some English.
The sad thing about Bulgaria is that their government, run by Socialists, is corrupt. Wages are extremely poor with a teacher earning in the region of 100€ a month and doctors in the region of 500€. Several people we met were anxious to leave to find a better life in the west, some we met were holidaying having moved to Australia, Canada and elsewhere in the Europe. With just 2 million out of a population of 7 million working life is tough financially. Most Bulgarian families have just one child whilst the Romas continue to have very large families. The Romas are a cause for great concern in Bulgaria as there is a huge population of them.
We are pleased to have visited Bulgaria and met some wonderful people whilst there. It has given us an insight into why these people are leaving in huge numbers and hopefully make us more tolerant towards those in the UK and elsewhere.
Today is Saturday 5th December and we are in Hong Kong where it is rather grey with a forecast of heavy rain. Brian is feeling under the weather with a twisted knee, which happened struggling with cases at Dubai on the carpet in the airport and now has a tummy bug presumably picked up here in HK.
Tonight we fly to Sydney arriving at around 8 am tomorrow morning when we will make our own way to City Central by train and then our way to our hotel which is nearby.
Our trip to Dubai was good, really needed a few more days there though to do it justice. We arrived very early Monday morning, too early for us to have a room so we took ourselves off to find the Big Bus for which we had already got a two day pass. It was a good way to spend the day just sitting on a bus or two as we travelled Dubai and the surrounding areas. The only big drawback was we set off at around 11am but did not return to gone 21:00 with the last bit of the trip taking almost four hours in the almost gridlocked rush hour traffic.
The area is impressive with the biggest and tallest building in the world, the most expensive hotels, land space, building costs etc. etc. you get it - everything has to be bigger and better than anywhere else but it was all pristine and under the clear blue skies looked extremely impressive. Dubai boasted of its 60 shopping malls, Dubai Mall being the biggest in the world. We had not come for shopping but we did spend a short time just wandering around them. It was in the malls where we saw the local men in their white dresses and headgear spending on their toys. The whole of Dubai appears to be run by foreigners. In fact there are more foreigners than locals here. Back in the late 60s the population was around 500,000, it now is in the region of 9 million but only around 20% are locals, who in the main hold the well paid government jobs.
Indians are the biggest group here working in high jobs. We met Indians, Pakistanis, Afghanistan’s, Kurdistani’s, Russians, Nepalese, Philippines. The service given by everyone is exceptional and all done with a good smile. Without all these foreign workers Dubai would not be what it is today.
Feeling somewhat more tired on our second day and knowing the bus journey was rather circuitous we first took a taxi to the Museum which had brilliant lifelike exhibits. They way each display had been done was very clever in that films showed people working through windows of houses or other buildings and in other cases pictures were beamed from behind making the person working look very human and natural. From the museum we walked to the creek coping with the many Afghanistani's who ran all the stalls in the fabric market closeby. These guys were as bad if not worse than the Turks in their bazaars at hassling you to buy. At the creek we caught a small water taxi across to the other side where we would catch the busy to continue on the route.
This proved more difficult than we thought as no locals (temporary ones) seemed to know where we could find a Big Bus stop even though we showed them the map. In the end we walked a good distance in lovely warm weather to the area where we could catch a boat for a tour of the harbour. Sods law one left seconds before we got there and we had to wait an hour in an area with no cafes etc or seats. This was the dock area where local traditional boats are plying their wares around the area, India, Pakistan and the other Gulf states. Somewhat shabby and looking quite small these boats were busy being unloaded and loaded by the many poor looking Pakistanis who we were told by the Indian Customs officer earn in the region of £300 per month each. Looking at them they probably live in very substandard accommodation many to a room.
The very kind Indian Customs man offered us their bench which had several deep cushions on it making it a comfy place to sit for half an hour or so. I guessed this was where somebody slept at night or during the day.
All around men, presumably the Pakistanis, were asleep on the many benches and on the floor in the shade.
Eventually it was time for us to catch the boat and we lounged on the top deck on rather grubby cushions.
As part of the Big Bus deal we had booked an evening trip to see the city illuminated at night. Coming back late the previous evening we thought we might have already seen the lights but no we did not see any of the beautiful lights we saw the previous night. However we did see a wonderful 360 degree light and sound show at Wafi. The only drawback was it was based on Christmas and Santa, not what we were expecting at all. Wafi is where Dubai Raffles is located, built like a huge pyramid the area is surrounded by large Egyptian models and statues. During the light show the models were highlighted in different Christmas colours. It was very clever and of course something Brian would have liked to known more about.
Our flight to Hong Kong was overnight the next day so we duly spent the day locally making sure we were ready to be collected at the allotted time for the airport.
Our flight to Hong Kong was not as comfortable as the one to Dubai. The weather was a problem with 75 mph tail winds and a great deal of cloud so it was extremely bumpy. However the flight was only 50% full so I was able to get four seats to myself to have some sleep, but not enough to get out as soon as we got to the hotel. Our hotel in Hong Kong is somewhat out of Kowloon in an area known as To Kwa Wan. It is a very nice hotel and we have an Executive room on the 20th floor and as Harbour Club members we have access to a special lounge and a very nice high tea in the afternoon.
Hong Kong itself is rather disappointing after Dubai. Dubai was all new and clean but the first thing that struck me in Hong Kong was the litter as we drove from the airport. I was told later that youngsters drop their litter in the evening and that the cleaning department had not been out to clean up for the day.
We arrived early at the hotel but they were good enough to let us have a room at 9am after we had had a good breakfast. The flight had not been really long enough for us to get enough sleep so we literally crashed out for a couple of hours before surfacing to explore.
The area is somewhat out of Kowloon city but the hotel runs a very good shuttle service so later we took the bus to town before returning to decide where to eat. Having searched TripAdvisor for something in the area we took the decision to try the buffet in the hotel but at £44 each were somewhat taken aback. We just did not know there was a good restaurant in the hotel with cheaper prices. In the end we decided to splash out on the buffet which was amazing, you could eat as many oysters, large prawns, crabs legs, snails of all description, mussels etc. etc. etc. as you could manage. The place was full to overflowing with people being turned away. We have never seen so many people at a restaurant ever. People were very moderate in what they put on their plates too, a small amount of this and a small amount of that. They may have returned several times but it was all very well mannered. Very encouraging, perhaps the reason why everyone here is slim. We have not seen any overweight people other than Westerners.
Yesterday we took a bus tour, as part of our Emirates deal to Hong Kong Island. There were just four of us plus one child so we had the guide more or less to ourselves and a small bus. We took the cable car up to the Peak, where believe it or not was a large shopping mall. It was then on to Stanley Market which we touched just lightly, I could wee you could spend a fortune here, well I could have but our cases are already overweight before we start. I walked along the front to have a good look at the adjacent bays before we climbed the hill back up to the bus for our return journey to Kowloon.
Hong Kong really is for shoppers, there is little else to do. There is an amazing Cultural Centre with loads of music and ballet on but nothing on our days here. HK has three ballet companies, amazing.
Well this morning as I type this Brian is resting feeling somewhat jaded. I am about to take a walk for some fresh air and find a pharmacy to top up on Immodium.
Australia here we come!
Our flight to Sydney on 5/6th December was not pleasant. Brian rose from his bed to get to the airport and once in the air after we had eaten I began to feel ill and sadly I followed Brian but with the addition of terrible vommitting. I spent 80% of the flight sitting in the toilet, one they quarantined just for me. The crew were fantastic throughout and I eventually left the plane in Qantas pyjamas but not until the plane was quarantined and visited by quarantine staff who interviewed me. Once done the the passengers could leave the plane.
It was a few unpleasant days before we were back on our feet again. Our hotel in Sydney was really good and allowed us to stay extra days to recover. The only hiccup was whilst lying in bed, Brian was asleep and I was reading my iPad there was an almighty explosion and the room was covered in glass. I immediately believed the window had blown in and reported it as that, this was followed by the head of housekeeping, the head of maintenance and the hotel manager visiting along with a few other minions to inspect the damage. It was not the window but the plate glass on the coffee table that had shattered. None of the staff noticed that there was a tray with a number of very cold water bottles lying on it which we think was the cause. The room was cleared very quickly whilst we lay in bed feeling like death. One day we felt well enough to meet up with Sue and Mike (s/y Skiddaddle Again) for a very nice lunch at Mosman Bay, the Northshore area of Sydney. To get there we caught a ferry from Circular Quay to Mosman Wharf where they collected us and took us on a tour of the area.
Well we recovered enough to catch the train out to Katoomba for a few days where we stayed in a wonderful guesthouse called Lurline House. Built in 1910 it was decorated and furnished exquisitely and the service provided by the owner was first class. Breakfast was fantastic, not surprising as Peter the owner was previously a lecturer in hotel management specialising in Food and Beverages.
Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains, reminded us of the U.K. back in the 50/60s with a number of tacky shops selling very dated wares. However there was a great cafe run by 'The Twelve Tribes' who served healthy home prepared foods. I was intrigued from the moment I walked in by the diversity of the staff who came from all corners of the world, however the men all had a common hairstyle and the women all wore the same style trousers similar to those worn by village ladies in Turkey. The men all had their hair tied back to the nape of their neck with a short blunt pony tail. As per norm I talked and asked questions and researched later the answers to questions I did not get to ask. These people lived in a community, they maintained it was not a commune but there were around 50 who lived in Katoomba with a similar number living on their farm in Picton NSW. They had bases in many countries with their HQ in the US. They appear to buy very run down properties for very little then between them they put the building back together again. Yellow Deli the name of the chain of cafes/kitchens they run are fitted out using reclaimed building pieces. The Katoomba cafe was delightful as was the food. We believe the cafes to be their recruiting ground for the lost souls they encourage to join them. No pressure whatsoever was put on us and they spoke freely of their very happy life, however whilst researching them I found more sinister information resulting in children being taken into care in Germany because they were chastised using a type of thin cane. Kids are educated at home and have no contact with the outside world.
The plan had been to walk in the Blue Mountains but we were still lacking energy and enthusiasm so took the hop on hop off bus instead to visit the sites, this was mass tourism at its best. Not only was the ticket expensive the so called Sky Train, scenic railway and cable car were extremely touristy.
It was back to Sydney by train to our hotel where we met up with my cousin Sally, her husband Phil and their two gorgeous children Stella and Hugo who were staying in the same hotel. We had a fun afternoon and evening with them eating the most amazing lamb in a French restaurant at Circular Quay. On the Saturday we had to say farewell to them and took ourselves off to the city to see the Christmas decorations before heading back to Circular Square where we visited the Contemporary Art Gallery to see the Grayson Perry Exhibition. I had never seen any of his work before but had seen him on TV. His work is spectacular. I thought he was a potter but he is into textiles too which were amazing. He makes enormous Chinese/Japanese style pots by coiling them and then uses various mediums to decorate them. Perry is a cross dresser and has this alto ego Claire. Many of the pots were decorated with pictures of Claire along with many sexual subjects. The focus of the exhibition were his large 3 and 5 metre tapestries. Woven traditionally in Belgium these bright modern tapestries had been drawn, painted and then digitally transferred to a mechanical loom for weaving. They were outstanding. His left wing politics were easy to see in all of his works apart from the few items of clothing he had worn as Claire.
It was time to leave Sydney for Adelaide a city we expected to be rather dated. We were wrong this city was beautiful with wonderful buildings and plenty of parks that surrounded the original 1 square mile city. Adelaide has grown considerably since its inception. A great city of culture it was preparing for a huge Carol Concert at the huge outdoor Cultural centre which prevented us cycling fully along the river on our Free Adelaide Bikes, however as usual we managed to cycle plenty of miles on the many cycle routes along the river and in the city. It was extremely hot whilst there so our chances of hiring the bikes again was very limited. They are not hired out if the temperature exceeds 38C and it was well over that on subsequent days.
Kangaroo Island is around 15 km off the coast so we took a very full two day trip there. The journey to the ferry took a couple of hours by coach then it was a 45 minute crossing by ferry to pick up a driver/guide the other end. The kangaroos on the island are quite different to those on the mainland with dark brown woolly coats, they are also much smaller. We saw hundreds of them and on one of the days we went to a sanctuary for kangaroos that had been injured or their mothers had been killed. Having been hand reared we were able to hand feed and cuddle these animals. The coast line around the island is rocky and sheer with the most amazingly blue sea. We visited several beaches with sea lions and rock caves where there was a huge colony of NZ fur seals. We also visited a honey farm and had a talk on how honey is produced and the life cycle of the bee.
Some 30 years ago the bottom fell out of the wool and lamb trade leaving many local farmers broke, but one guy had diversified totally by deciding to produce euclyptus oil. Euclyptus grow naturally here in Australia so he researched the best type to produce the most and best oil and set to by harvesting all this free raw material he needed. There are hundreds of varieties of euclyptus trees. A large pit was dug for the wood fire and a very large cylindrical container made into which he stuffed as much euclyptus leaves and branches as he could, added a quantity of water to it, sealed the top and cooked it. A tube was fitted to the lid and as the greenery boiled away the euclyptus oil was produced in the steam and collected in a 5 litre plastic drum. Since then the business has grown and he supplies euclyptus oil all over Australia and had a shop on site selling many euclyptus products.
We enjoyed our two days and wished we had hired a car but on reflection would not have done all the things we did do and see on our own. On the way back to the ferry we were lucky enough to see more kangaroos crossing the road along with a sole koala who ran across the road and along the verge. We had seen a number of koalas but all had been sleeping in trees, this one was very active. Koalas only eat one type of euclyptus tree and it takes 8 days to digest each meal. We felt this one would need a huge feast to replace the energy it had just used.
It was back on the ferry to the mainland and our hotel in Adelaide for one more day before we headed to Canberra. Our final day in Canberra was spent exploring the city by bus, Adelaide runs a free hop on off bus and with temperatures of 39c+ it seemed more sensible to see it by this means rather than trample on foot. We hopped off at several stops one being the central market which had just masses of amazingly fresh fruit and vegetables. Oh how I miss these markets, we don't have these in or around Malvern back in the UK.
Each time we stopped we found the heat oppressive and headed for AC or some shade. Eventually we headed back to the hotel and a good meal at the local Italian restaurant before catching a taxi to the airport for our flight to Canberra. However, unknown to us our flight was coming from Sydney where they had had a freak hurricane that afternoon causing havoc at the airport, the result was our flight had been delayed first 1.5 hours then eventually three. Our arrival in Canberra was so late that our friend John had to get up from bed to come to fetch us.
We simply loved our stays in both Sydney and Adelaide and would love to return at some time in the future. Once I get some photos downloaded I will put them on the blog.
At last I have managed to finish this blog off, we have been travelling non stop for some days.
Our arrival in Canberra was somewhat later than planned due to exceptionally bad weather in Sydney from where our plane had originated which meant our friend John Sanby had to get up from bed to meet us.
Stupidly we missed out on a voucher towards a meal as Quantas failed to tell us we qualified for one. However we met a delightful Aussie couple who were going on holiday to Hobart with whom we passed away the time.
Once in Canberra we were met by John who arrived at the airport with his car boot full, with a bit of reorganisation we set off to his home with all the luggage. It was a late night before we all got to bed after a good old natter.
We had been told Canberra was a boring city so we were not sure what to expect. It was a beautiful place with simply acres of green parkland everywhere inhabited by many many kangaroos. Canberra has a problem with kangaroo numbers and each year there is a cull to control them. I was intrigued by the number that had collars and an ear tag but on asking a few locals nobody could give me an answer. I noticed that they were all females so did some research. There are many who protest against the cull so the authority responsible is trying to control numbers by darting the females and then injecting them with a contraceptive that lasts 6 years, some of the females had joeys so not sure how successful the scheme is.
We spent hours at the War Memorial, a stunning building with a huge collection of historical militia. Initially we took a volunteer guide but in his enthusiasm to tell us all we needed to know his speech was both fast and quiet which meant we missed half of the commentary so we filtered off to our speed. One needed much more time than we had to appreciate this spectacular exhibition. Another day we took a tour around the new Government House which was first opened back in 1988 to coincide with the 200 year Anniversary of Australia. Spectacular in design and decor we had a great guide, a graduate of political history, who explained in detail the difference between the house of Assemblies and the Senate. The House of Assemblies is similar to the British House of Commons whilst the Senate was more similar to the American system.
Brian was keen to eat seafood and Canberra has served up the best seafood so far, John took us to a fish market where we bought kilos of prawns and bugs, poor mans lobster, mussels, trays of oysters, something I am not so keen on, and flatheads. I was not sure about the oysters having never really enjoyed them in the past, however these we absolutely delicious and I could not get enough. In fact I can't wait to find more.
Early next morning John arranged for us to go ballooning but we would not know for sure if it would happen until very early in the morning. We planned to rise at 04:00 but he said he would wake us if it happened. At 04:50 John woke us, it was a rapid rise as we had to be at the take off site for 05:00, we were a minute or two late. Along with four others we helped with the inflation of the balloon before taking off to float above Canberra passing very low over the Saudi Embassy and others nearby. As we rose above the city we could see the rivers and artificial lakes below. It was a glorious.
Our last day in Canberra was very hot so we went off to the National Museum which had an exhibition on Aboriginal and Torres Straits arts in collaboration with the British Museum. Some of the art was both adventurous and stunning. Of particular interest to me was work carried out by an Aborigine from Northern Territories who carved a number of mediums, one being an old black rubber belt from a mine. Measuring around 2 X 1 meter he had carved an intricate pattern rather like a Lino cut.
We whiled a few hours here before returning to pack our bags for an evening flight to Brisbane.
Our time with John and Jane was fun and we thank them for their wonderful hospitality, they looked after us so well.
After a few days in excessive heat we were pleased to sit in the cool of the airport waiting for our flight.
It was around 9pm when we arrived in Brisbane and we had to make our way to the hire car office taking several wrong ways at the airport before eventually arriving there. The route was locked into the iPad and off we set on the wide open empty roads. Twenty minutes later I felt thirsty and looked for my bag but then realised I had left it behind at the rental car office together with my iPad and iPhone. A quick phone call confirmed the bag was there and next morning we returned to the airport by train to collect it. What an expensive mistake that was as the round trip by train cost £50.
Our home whilst in Australia back in 2008/09 had been Scarborough Marina at Redcliffe so one morning we set out to visit the marina and our friends Leonie and Fletch. We just arrived in time to catch Fletch rushing out of the chandlery door to catch a plane, but time enough for a huge greeting. Amazingly we also caught up with a guy who recognised us. He was a regular Friday night drinking pal of our marina next door neighbour Gary.
G
Christmas was looming with plenty of social events looming. One day we met up with Karen and Tim, s/Y Raven and Karen's sister Sue and her partner Mike for a trip to the Contemporary Art Gallery where there was an exhibition of Asian Art. Much of the work was very innovative and we all became absorbed in various galleries before meeting up for a lovely lunch at the gallery restaurant on Southbank. On Wednesday evening it was out to Karen and Tims for a bbq to see their house and 5 acre garden which Karen is gradually turning into a rain forest. One afternoon Jane and I went to the hairdressers, the most expensive hair appointment I have ever had in my life. For a cut,a few foils and blow dry it was £125. The hair will have to grow a little longer before I get it cut again!
Christmas Eve came and we all descended on Tim's sisters for their annual Christmas get together where we met all the offspring and their little ones. We had all quite forgotten how much noise small children made, it was deafening. Cathy, Tim's sister produced a fabulous supper, preceded by the usual Aussie Christmas custom of prawns served in an enormous bowl covered in ice.
Cathy lived in a delightful house with a magnificent tropical garden a short distance from the Brisbane River and back in 2011 her house had been flooded to above the first floor. There was no evidence of this disaster, but possibly her garden had benefited.
Christmas Day was on us and much of the day was spent relaxing enjoying the amazing food Jane had cooked for us. Jane is a hobby cook and produces amazing food for everyone to enjoy including her work colleagues. We drooled over the very large ham and the well fed Christmas cake - it was smothered in port.
On Sunday after Christmas we left Jane for a couple of days to stay at Tim and Karen's where we spent time birdwatching and looking for turtles and platypus in the Lone Pine River that runs along the bottom of their land. One afternoon whilst walking by the river a large black cloud loomed, a spot of rain was felt but by the time we climbed the garden to the house we were all absolutely soaked through, in fact 65 mm of rain fell that evening.
It was back to Janes for New Years Eve as she had bought us tickets to see Les Miserable as a Christmas present. What a fantastic show this was, I had seen it twice before but realised I had forgotten much of it, however set design had moved on considerably since I last saw it 25 years ago. The stage setting was simply stunning throughout. After the show we walked along Southbank to watch the magnificent fireworks at midnight.
We made a hasty dash to the train after the fireworks to find all trains were free until 04:30 on 1st January. The organization by railway staff was excellent with us being guided into special routes and then into empty carriages. It was a fantastic evening and we finally got to bed around 03:00.
On 2nd Jan we headed to Manly Yacht Club to meet up with Karen and Tim again to go sailing for a couple of days on Raven. The weather the previous week had not been good for sailing so we hoped for some sunshine and warmth. We had a brilliant sail in light winds but it was under greyish skies. In spite of the weather my lips got horribly burnt because I forgot to put protection on them. I am now paying the price.
The grey skies did not put us off going ashore to walk the sand dunes on Moreton Island on Sunday morning before a great sail back to the marina. The dunes extended for miles and we could see North Stradbroke Island to the south of us.
The next day the four of us were off to Rainbow a Beach further north on the Sunshine Coast to stay with Kerry, who we first met in the Maldives crewing for John Sanby. On route we stopped off to have coffee with my cousin Linda, her husband Keith and Linda's daughter Jenny, who lives in Tewantin. Linda and I share the same great grandmother and this was only the third time we had met in 74 years. Back in the 50s Linda had been a £10 pomme emigrating to Australia for a better life.
It was then on to Kerry who had a gorgeous apartment a couple of hundred yards from the beach. The weather was beautiful so we all walked of to the village to look around then returned via the fantastic beach. The weather changed next day and we walked the beaches of Wide Bay Bar and Pelican bay in wet and windy conditions. We had actually anchored off Rainbow beach and Pelican Bay awaiting tides to cross Wide Bay Bar on our passages south and north back in 2008/9. Next morning the weather was stunning so we took off to the village for a cooked breakfast and later managed a swim at Kerry's place.
After a huge lunch of local seafood we set off south to Bidina to visit friends Don and Barbie who we had first met on the Pacific crossing to New Zealand. Don had completed his circumnavigation back around 2007. Now back in his home country he had settled in a marina near Maloolaba where he and Barbie are living. Recently they had purchased a motor yacht which is to become there retirement home once they have refurbished it.
It was great to see them both and whilst Barbie occupied herself the five of us took off on bicycles to explore the area which was great fun before managing a swim in the ocean in the afternoon.
Next morning it was an early start to head south and back to Janes for a well earned rest before we all headed back up to Sandford for a farewell barbecue with Karen's family. We had heard so much about them over the years that we felt we really knew them before we met them. It was a great finale to our wonderful three weeks in and around Brisbane.
Our five busy weeks in Australia have been wonderful, we have no sun tan, we have both had food poisoning at the start and now we both leave with a cold.
It has been wonderful meeting up with Jane who we have not seen since her visit to Rebak back in 2007. We had said our farewells to Tim and Karen a couple of years ago back in Turkey as they planned to ship Raven back to Australia from Italy and it was back in 2008 we had last seen Don and Barbie. We had seen John and Jane more recently back in Netzel marina in Marmaris back in 2014.
We hope that this will not be the last time we meet and somehow we will either get back to Australia or they will visit us on their travels to Europe.
We are now off to NZ for four weeks before returning to Australia on 8th February for a couple more weeks.
Back on 11th January we said our farewells to Brisbane and headed to the airport for the next stage of our trip. This was to be a whistle stop tour of New Zealand and what a great time we had.
The trip got off to an excellent start as we were upgraded to Business Class by Emirates for the four hour journey to Auckland. It was then off to the car hire company to collect our car. On this occasion we had chosen a local company whose prices appeared to be competitive, so along with dozens who had made the same choice we joined the queues to be allocated our vehicle.
Our first stop was Whangaparoa where it now appears we picked up a toll road fine, signage for foreigners was not good and we were not sure how one paid the toll as there were no booths etc.
Friends Paul and Amanda, sailors who accompanied us across the Atlantic in their own yacht live here and we wanted to catch up with them and their two sons, who are now handsome young men. They had chosen to make a new life in New Zealand back in 2003 and now lived in a beautiful home very close to the beach. As very keen competitive sailors their home reflected this in the way they had decorated and furnished it. It was simply delightful. It was great to catch up with them all.
Our bed and breakfast was situated high up so the views over the bay were superb. I just found it strange that the delightful owner put out a tray full of sticky jam jars for breakfast which had only a spoonful of jam in them. However the accommodation was delightful with our room opening onto a beautiful garden.
On our second day here we took a boat trip to Piripiri Island for the day. A small island managed by the New Zealand National trust it was cared for by a team of dedicated volunteers who often spent several days at a time staying there in the lodges, that once were lighthouse keepers homes. The island is known for its abundant birdlife and we were not disappointed. Firstly we were divided into small groups each led by an enthusiastic volunteer before making our way up from the small jetty to the lighthouse. Kevin our volunteer had eagle eyes and managed to see birds in bushes and trees that we could not have seen. First was a Morpork owl asleep in a tree before we came across some beautiful New Zealand large doves. More birds followed as we trekked across the island. We finally reached the lighthouse where there was the inevitable gift shop full of New Zealand made wares and where we could get a well earned cup of tea. From here we made our own way across the island over the top to the other shores clambering over rocks and along beaches until it was time for the ferry to call to pick us all up and return us to Gulf Harbour and our car. It was a wonderful day.
From Whangaparaoa we headed out to the Coromandel Peninsula. On this trip we had planned to visit places we had not been too whilst living in NZ. We had always wanted to visit this area and we were not disappointed. I had made a big mistake by putting a slightly wrong address into Google Maps and we ended up 45 kms from our destination but it was a quirk of fate that we managed to travel up the west side of the peninsula along roads that were simply stunning with the sea lapping the edges of the road. However late afternoon we had to make our way to the east coast across the mountains and heavy rain to Whiting on the west coast. Fortunately by the time we had arrived the sun was shining and we managed a walk from our B and B to the small town to find somewhere to eat and have a good walk around the picturesque harbour and marina. We then walked back along the beach watching families with their children playing cricket and other such games reminding me greatly of times 50 years ago. Across the road from our B and B were small sand dunes that were roped off protecting the dottrells that were breeding there.
Just one night here and we are off to Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. Our B and B on this occasion was on a small housing development where we had a wing of the property. Our hosts were keen travellers and participated in a scheme of house sharing, something I have been interested in for years and it is something I will follow up when we return. They had been to many places around the world swapping their house for another in another country. Here we took ourselves off to walk along the Ohope Peninsula in wonderful weather and where we saw oyster catchers with their young. New Zealand is keen to protect its birds and along the beach many of the areas were cordoned off to protect both the oyster catchers and dotterels.
On our return there was a barbecue waiting for us and we sat down with the hosts and enjoyed supper and a great bottle of wine with them.
Next morning we made another long journey to Napier deciding to go the long way through National Parks away from the traffic. The roads were deserted and we had a wonderful drive on extremely good roads with hardly a vehicle in sight. Napier is on the coast in Hawkes Bay and back in 1931 was razed to the ground by a huge earthquake, the city was subsequently rebuilt in Architecture of the time and is very proud of its Art Deco buildings. We felt somewhat underdressed here as people were very smart, quite unlike the majority of New Zealand. It was in Napier that we had a fantastic meal in a rather arty farty restaurant with great decor. In Napier we stayed in a 1940’s property which the owner had used as the decor theme, although our room was simply gorgeous - exquisite bed linens etc. Next morning we appeared for breakfast to find the table very formally laid with Clarice Cliff china, thankfully we were very careful not to drop anything on the fine table cloth nor dribble our food onto the pure white napkins. Everything was served very precisely and beautifully. Probably the very best and nicest breakfast we had on the whole trip. Brian asked where husband was that morning and told he was at work - he was the local vicar.
From Napier we had another long drive to get to Wellington in order to catch the ferry the next day. Here we chose to stay in a Motel and really missed the company of the Bed and Breakfast owners who had all been so friendly and chatty. However the Motel was OK and for once I was able to produce a supper and how good it was to have some home made food.
We planned to spend a day in Wellington before catching the late afternoon ferry across to South Island. Firstly we met Tracey who we had met back in Opua in 2007 just as she and Mike her husband we about to set out on their adventure on Peregrine. It was good to catch up with her during a coffee break from work. Later we went off to the National Museum which we found somewhat disappointing.
It was then time to take ourselves off to the ferry terminal to await boarding to cross the Cook Straits to South Island. Our arrival in Picton was not good, it was raining cats and dogs, and we got drenched going from the car with our luggage to our B and B. Craig our host was a typical laid back New Zealander whose wife was about to give birth to their first baby any day. However he looked after us very well on his own.
The purpose of our visit to South Island was to catch up with Irene and John Harrison who we had first met in Wanaka back in 2007. Then they stayed in the same guest house and were there to visit an agricultural show in order to buy a new tractor. They suggested we should visit the show which we did, met up with them and said our farewells, however around a week later we were about to board a boat to take us to the power station at Doubtful Sound when they were about to do the very same thing. Needless to say we spent the day with them, met for supper later and several weeks later stayed with them on their sheep farm. We have kept in touch with them since and now were returning to visit again but this time they had retired and downsized from their very large farm to a smaller plot that now housed a small vineyard. It was wonderful to catch up with them again at their new home. They were delightful hosts and took us jet boating up a nearby river the next morning before we headed further south to Christchurch.
The trip south was also to meet up with longtime sailing friends Pete and Kathy Jamieson, who we had first met in Opua just as they also were to embark on an extended life at sea. Over the years we had caught up with them in Malaysia and Turkey. The plan had been to stay on their yacht with them but due to heavy weather they had not managed to get it back to Lyttleton Harbour so we stayed in a very nice B and B very close to the beach just north of Christchurch. Pete and Kathy were living temporarily with their son and his family whilst they waited for their house to be vacated by tenants but we were lucky enough to meet the family when they invited us for supper on our day of arrival. Next day they took us on a fantastic drive of the area showing us the local sights and the sorry state of Christchurch as it is today after two severe earthquakes 5+ years ago. It was a sad site as the city was simply unrecognisable with huge areas of wasteland where buildings had been demolished and huge areas of buildings still standing but boarded up and surrounded by boarding and walling. One wonders if it will ever be rebuilt, although there is some rebuilding of offices. I am sure that with the relocation of so many businesses they will be reluctant to return to the rebuilt city now they have become established elsewhere. We heard that there has recently been a further large earthquake in the city.
We said this was a whistle stop tour so we are back on the road for a return to Picton to the B and B we stayed in previously, there is still no sign of a baby though, ready for the early ferry in the morning. The ferry arrived in Wellington from Picton late morning and we headed up the west coast of New Zealand to Wanganui where we stayed in a huge 10 bedroom house built by the owner. The remarkable thing was that he had also made every stick of furniture in the house from wood from his so called estate of 22 acres. A clever guy he actually was a music professor at the local university and was a trumpet player. He and his wife had moved from the Netherlands to New Zealand 40 years ago. He was a real character and showed us how he had extended the house over the years. It now contained a concert room with a stage etc. etc. The house was more like a castle and the bedrooms suitably furnished but the breakfast was extremely strange, taken in the concert hall there was not a table laid with china or cutlery. It turned out to be a very help yourself affair, all really rather lax and uncomfortable whilst they stood and nattered to you.
Before we left we had a conducted tour of the estate through the woods and down to the lakes with a trip for Brian to the workshop where all the furniture had been made.
From here we travelled north along the coast and then north east towards Hamilton. On the way we came across a road sign directing us to a Lord of the Rings film location so off we took for 17 kms, it seemed like 27 by the time we arrived, only to find the tours had finished for the day. Actually that was quite lucky for us, it meant we did not have to make an excuse not to go as the price was rather hefty. The owners of the land had now opened up a tourist shop selling memorabilia and taking you on vehicle tours all at a hefty price. It was back on to the route again to find our B and B for the night. This was right out in the country in a largish modern house with the most beautiful interior. Just my style so we felt extremely comfortable here. Again we were extremely well looked after by the owner.
After a fantastic breakfast we set off again on a long journey northwards to Warkworth where we stayed in a B and B owned by a couple of ex Brits Nigel and Melanie. Nigel was an electronics and navigation buff so Brian and he got on well and spent hours chatting. Like our Dutch hosts they had a huge plot and owned a couple of dozen cows. In both cases the men seemed to spend more time with their cows than their wives and knew every cow by number or name.
In all our journeys we have stopped on many occasions to explore local spots and eaten in off the beaten track places. We have covered a huge number of kms with many more to go. The next stage of our journey is to Opua where we plan to spend a week without moving.
This will be the subject of our next blog.
On 27th January we finally arrived in Opua where we decided to try AirBnB for accommodation. The usual method of using booking.com did not come up with anything suitable so we tried the alternative only to find that Barbara and Brett who previously kept the village store now did B and B. The accommodation was rather sparse with awful polyester sheets but it served its purpose for the 8 days we were in Opua. The location was fantastic with a huge terrace out from the room with a bbq we could have used. The weather was stunning whilst there and it would have been nice to have had a sun umbrella and a couple of sun loungers to relax on. We really needed some rest.
The welcome we received from everyone was simply amazing, as if we had only been away for a short time rather than almost 8 years. We first went to the marina office where Jane still works, she gave us a rapturous welcome, the good news is that she gave up smoking a couple of years ago. We met up with John and Lynn Martin of the Island Cruising Association, of which we were Commodores when in Opua. John and Lynn now run Sail2Indonesia in conjunction with Raymond Lesmana. Terry from Open Ocean Watermakers immediately recognised us, he now owns several businesses in Opua including an engineering and boat building business.
Massive work is being undertaken to extend the marina by almost as much again. All the current berths are owned so there is no room for visitors, they are hoping to reverse this once the work is completed. The majority of yachts now check in at Opua then continue down to Whangarei which was packed.
The hard had certainly been cleaned up with Ashby's owning just the very far end and their jetty. The biggest changes were with the harbour where the old buildings to the right had been demolished and a new building erected to house a large Burnsco chandlers which had some effect on Caters, who were still there. Glyn and Margaret looked well in spite of some health issues. The other side of the harbour the old building had also been demolished but not replaced. There were some hefty sized vessels, mainly catamarans, in the inner harbour.
On our first night we arranged to met up with Alan and Di off Moonfleet who were staying in Opua at the same time. It was some months since we had last seen them and it was good to catch up with them after completing their circumnavigation back in October/November. Our visit coincided with Race Week which meant The Galley Bistro at Opua Cruising Club was very busy, however our long wait was rewarded with good fish and chips.
There were just so many people to catch up with so next morning we caught the passenger ferry across to Russell to meet up with Anna and Clyff off Concerto who we last saw in Vanuatu back in 2009. We had a great morning and Thai lunch with them. Next on the list were JoAnne and Michael of Destiny who gave us a massive welcome. Michael who had quite recently undergone heart surgery looked the picture of health. We were out to dinners, bbqs, coffees etc etc. our time in Opua just flew, we even managed an evening visit to friends in Whangarei for supper then drove the 1 hour back at some unearthly hour. Our arrival at their house was somewhat undignified as we found ourselves the wrong side of their lane, we hadn't realised you could not drive through and Brian had to reverse down a narrow hill where the road had been newly resurfaced. He used the cars reversing screen which did not show clearly the ditch at the side of the road. He ended up in the ditch with the near side road wheel in the air. Fortunately a neighbour appeared and towed him out and we made our way correctly. Biggest problem - I now was walking in a pair of Espadrilles with an addtional sole of tar and stones. The friends, Deyal and Dylis, we last saw on our arrival in St Lucia back in December 2003 so there was a lot to catch up. Our phone never stopped buzzing whilst in Opua.
Every Sunday whilst living in Opua we visited the fantastic Sunday market in Kerikeri so we had to make a trip there first calling at the avocado farm to buy seconds, what a disappointment there were none and I had to pay $3.5 equivalent to £1.75 for one. This disappointment was followed by another as the Sunday market had shrunk to just a few uninteresting stalls.
Paihia had changed little apart from the number of cruise ships that now call, there were several a day at times swelling the population by thousands. The same shops were there with the same shop assistants, even the Pharmacist, Murray, and his staff recognised me.
It was like being home again in New Zealand, our 8 days were simply packed. We visited friends in beautiful new homes, we discussed house swaps and can't wait to return.
On 3rd February. we made our way across to Opononi on the West Coast of the Far North to stay with friends Chrissie and David with whom we had sailed in Fiji and who visited us in Great Malvern last year. We took the long route via Whangarei to pick up the cap Brian had left behind at friends before heading to Dargeville where we had a good lunch. What great hosts Chrissie and David were were in spite of the weather. This part of New Zealand is inhabited by many Maoris and is remote and wild, the beaches are just simply huge and stunning. David drove us miles, even over to the Kerikeri, so we saw plenty of the countryside. We walked and climbed over rocks in wet weather on stunningly empty beaches. The few days here were wonderful and we look forward to meeting up with them both again soon.
Like all good things everything comes to an end and we had to make our way back to Auckland for our flights to Tasmania. We returned along the coast via Dargeville stopping at the same restaurant for lunch before continuing to our accommodation in the Birkenhead suburb of Auckland. This was an AirBnB and what a fab place it was, quite the opposite of the accommodation in Opua. It was a pity we had so little time here but we were off next day for our flights to Melbourne and on to Hobart.
In four weeks we drove over 2500 miles on roads that were a joy to drive on, apart from getting trapped in a huge traffic jam in Auckland on our way north from Hamilton. New Zealand is still the best country in the world as far as we are concerned.
Thank you New Zealand and all our friends old and new for making this month trip so extra special. Lets hope it will not be too long before we return to see you all again.a
Our week in Tasmania has come to an end and we are now on our way to Melbourne for a few days.
Our week has been hectic whilst we did our whistle stop tour of the island covering over 1500 kilometres.
The journey started on the east coast, having stayed at a hotel close to the airport on our arrival, we arrived late evening, we decided it best to pick up a hire car the next day. Unfortunately the morning did not get off to a good start when the hotel maintained we had booked two rooms and needed to pay for them both. After a great deal of persuasion, a phone call with booking.com the hotel management finally agreed to waive the additional cost then drove us to Hertz to pick up our car.
The drive to Freycincourt Lodge in Coles Bay took us through towns with real British names, the first we stopped at was Swansea, a small town with a supermarket attached to the village store which was a mini department store, you could buy simply anything here, from rat traps to talcum powder to net curtains. Our immediate impressions of Tasmania were a wilderness of petrified forests, trees we have since learned may have been dead for several hundred years. There were simply hundreds of them everywhere. The island was suffering a drought having their last substantial rain back in October 2015 but these trees we could see had been dead for a lot longer. The island was also suffering severe bush fires which we were to see the effect of on our travels.
The east side of the country was brown and rather derelict, evidence of lack of rain. Many had told us how the island resembled Britain and New Zealand but on first impressions we could see no likeness.
On the recommendation of a friend we had booked to stay at Freycinet Lodge, possibly the most expensive accommodation we have ever paid for. Located on the east coast at Coles Bay this was a complex of wooden lodges set amongst bush, where we had hoped to see some wildlife. On entering the large cabin we were greeted by soft music and lighting, it looked stunning at its first appearance. Sadly it was a little disappointing as there was no internet other than in the reception area and the furnishings in the room were rather tired, along with a very badly stained duvet. Here in Australa and New Zealand most places have taken to using a sheet top and bottom of the duvet so you actually are not getting a clean duvet cover each time. The sheets fold/move back so one can see the state of what's hidden. Pity they did not have the sense to put the stain at the bottom of the bed where we would not have seen it. The good thing at Freycinet was the food, it was excellent and we made our way through a couple of dozen oysters before our main dishes and desserts. It was all sumptuous as was the breakfast, it had to be to warrant the cost.
Just one night here, fortunately they only had one night, we would never have been able to afford two, and we set off for Deloraine heading in a northerly direction to visit Nature World at Bechino where they had a number of rescued Tasmanian Devils. We had been taken aback by the amount of road kill on the roads and the Devils are some of the victims. Nature World look after a number of wild animals, many who have been so severely injured they will never be released back. The Devils they had had produced three youngsters. We had a great demonstration on just how strong they were when the keeper fed them with kangaroo tails, there were two females and a male in the very large pen but the keeper was very keen to keep his eyes open just in case he was attacked. Devils jaws are so strong they are capable of chewing through a man’s arm. As it was the two females came first and when the male did eventually appear he was very abruptly seen off by an angry female. The females are the dominant sex until mating time when the male takes over.
Devils like kangaroos and koalas give birth to a minute baby that then climbs into the mothers pouch. On the devil it faces downwards similar to the koala. It was an interesting couple of hours but we had a few hundred kilometres to cover before we got to Deloraine.
It was a delightful drive across country to Deloraine approximately an hour south of the north coast, we avoided the motorways where possible and drove on empty roads. Our destination was Chimney Cottage at Bowerbank Mill. Built in the 1830s this had once been a flour mill but some years ago was converted into several accommodations one being Chimney Cottage. As its name suggests there was an extremely tall chimney with very explicit instructions on how to light the fire, luckily we did not need a fire the weather was warm, in fact it was hot. The cottage was filled to the brim with knick knacks, knitted rugs/blankets and all matter of old fashioned things, it reminded me more of my grandmothers time, but the owner, Anne, was a happy soul with a voice and laugh rather like Dame Edna. She did her best to make our stay very pleasant leaving us home made cookies and sweets and providing a good breakfast. Each day she produced something different from her home made jams to fruit she had gathered from her garden and cooked. She also ran a "Fine Art Gallery" that was filled to the gunwales with knitted clothes and rather old fashioned clothing. To me it was an absolute mess, how anyone found or saw anything I will never know. Anyway I resisted any invitation to revisit to buy.
From Chimney Cottage, where we stayed a few nights, we drove off to the north coast. We had been keen to see platypus which we were told could be seen in the river in Deloraine but when we went there was too much activity with the kids in the river. To make up for this we went to the Platypus house at Beauty Point close to the estuary of the Tamar River. What amazing creatures these are, they are such busy little things. Being nocturnal they were kept in large tanks that imitated dusk, changing to daylight at natural nighttime. We were impressed by the staff who were so knowledgable and enthusiastic about these creatures, our only worry was that the animals were fed every time a tour went through so they could have been fed every half hour throughout the day.
afterwards we went onto George Town where we visited the Old Pilot house and marine museum. Brian was in his element as they had a good collection of artefacts. Run by volunteers we were greeted by a lady who had family in Colwall, Malvern. She told us of a Charlotte Badger who had been tried at Worcester back in the early 1800s for housebreaking, found guilty and sent to Australia. Charlotte was notorious as she had been a pirate and along with crew, whilst the captain was ashore, set sail on the convict ship she had arrived on. They never actually found where she finally ended up but they had all the newspaper cuttings relating to her story.
We stopped at many places during the day so decided we would visit Launceston the next day. Launceston is the second city in Tasmania and was set up primarily for building ships and transporting wood for ship building in the UK. This was a beautiful city with many old buildings. We walked miles here along the waters edge before heading for the gorge where you could take a cable chair across, something we decided not to do.
Eventually we made our way out of the city, sadly coinciding with rush hour, to return back to Deloraine. Next morning we had a long drive to the west coast to Strahan over the mountains on windy forested roads, it was stunning and fun to drive, amazingly this was the main highway to the west, in fact the only road, but it was deserted and we had it to ourselves, occasionally meeting a vehicle, usually on a sharp bend. The start of the journey was murky due to smoke blowing from the many serious bush fires that have been burning for weeks in Tasmania, the latest having been started by lightning. We had planned to visit Cradle Mountain but the visibility was so bad we pressed on stopping instead at Tullah where there was a narrow guage railway that had once been the lifeblood of the early mining prioneers. Manned by a number of volunteers it only ran on certain days and this day was not one of them. Anyway it gave us a chance to stretch our legs, have a coffee nearby and chat to locals.
Strahan was a pretty little place where one could take a trip out to Sarah island where many of the prisoners were held in awful conditions during the transportation time. We had no time for this, this was a whistle stop tour but we did manage to get to see the nightly play "The Ship That Never Was". Performed every day at 5:30 whatever the weather, it poured whilst we were there, we sat in the small packed makeshift auditorium that had a large sail cover over it under blankets to keep us warm, they provided the blankets. It was a great performance that had a great deal of audience participation and lots of laughter.
Finding somewhere to eat that night proved difficult as everywhere was booked, our accommodation, Franklin Manor had recommended a couple of places but they were all fully booked, we finally chose an all you can eat buffet at 42 Degrees, mainly because it had seafood and Brian could quaff oysters till he was full. Like all buffets other than the seafood it was a boring selection of food with people piling their plates with absolutely everything from oysters to curry. We later found this place was in the same group as Freycinet, hence the cost, however the hotel was rather shabby but in a great location.
The next day we had a five hour drive in rain to Hobart on the main highway that wound its way along narrow windy roads around mountains, fortunately we set off reasonably early so avoided much of the traffic that really didn't materialise until late morning when we came across large articulated caravans and motor homes. It must be a nightmare driving these vehicles on these roads and even more annoying if you are following as it is impossible to pass, one relies on the politeness of the slower vehicle to pull over where possible to let others overtake. On the way we came across Tarraleah. Once a working town for hydroelectric pioneers, the estate is now a privately owned holiday village restored to its former glory. It has retained much of the original style of the 1930s. It is a beautiful, award winning tourist destination in the Central Highlands, located in the heart of the Tasmanian wilderness where we stopped and had a good lunch and a wander.
Finally we arrived in Hobart early afternoon and made our way to our b and b, Orana House. How our jaws fell when taken to our room, a bit of a time warp here too, the room was so dark with many pieces of dark furniture, dark curtains and dark brown bed covers and the minutest shower room, I think it must have previously been a wardrobe. However the place was full so no chance to upgrade and we managed well in the cramped space for a couple of nights. The place was run by a very pleasant lady from the Czech Republic whose daughter had decided to study in a Tasmanian University.
Much had been talked of the MONA, museum of Old and New Art, where the most controversial exhibition ever was on show. I had seen mixed reviews on Trip Advisor but in the end we decided to visit and we were not disappointed. The exhibition of work by George and Gilbert, two British artists who I had never heard of was absolutely stunning. Their very clever use of photography and the subjects chosen were controversial with photos of themselves naked and political subjects that were discussed and photographed highlighting the problems in the UK today. Much of this political work was done many years ago but reflected life as it is in the UK today The nude photos were very cleverly done and were nothing like I imagined. We were so taken by the work we bought a signed Show catalogue at some outrageous price and paid for it to be shipped home to the UK.
From the MONA where we spent a morning we set off for Port Arthur some 90 kilometres away, which took an hour and a half to drive along fairly deserted roads. This is the former site of a huge prison during transportation times. We wandered around the site opting to take the late afternoon guided walk and talk but regrettably the heavens opened just as we assembled and the walk was cancelled. Once the rain eased we managed to get to a few of the buildings to look round but we sadly didn't do justice to the long journey there and back. After a good supper in the on site restaurant we set off to return to our b and b in Hobart to prepare for our departure next morning.
Port Arthur is part of the story of the settlement of Australia. It was more a community than a prison being home to both military and free settlers. Convicts worked at farming and industries producing large ranges of resources and materials. It was established as a Penal colony in 1830 using convict labour to produce sawn logs for government projects. From 1833 it was used as a punishment station for repeat offenders from all the Australian Colonies.
Back in the UK the radical Pentonville prison had been built which was the model for Port Arthur. Many men were broken but some left Port Arthure rehabilitated and skilled. The military men and settlers lived lives in stark contract to the convicts with parties, regatta and literary evenings. Convict transportation ended in 1853 and the penal settlement finally closed in 1877 with the small nearby town renamed Carnarvon to removed the hated convict reputation. The whole site has gone through a number of traumatic experiences during its lifetime but now stands proud as a historic site of note.
The colour of the buildings in the rare daylight sunshine was stunning. It was such a pity the day ended so wet and cool.
Once we had returned the car and got ourselves to the airport next morning we took off to spend a few days in Melbourne.
Our visit to Australia is almost at an end but we have just a few more days to spend in Melbourne before we head off to Indonesia.
Our hotel, chosen and booked by me, was set in a pedestrianised area of the city so our taxi was unable to drop us at the doorstep, a big boob on my part. However it was fantastic for getting everywhere in the city.
Melbourne was a great city with a huge spirit and with a population that looked an average age of around 25. Everyone was young and the streets were filled with an amazing selection of street entertainers. Below our bedroom window we could watch and hear a number of different acts during the day and evening.
Like elsewhere we managed to walk miles and miles each day and used the wonderful free transport system throughout the city.
One afternoon we took ourselves out on the tram to the seaside suburb of St Kilda where we sat mesmerised for ages watching the kite surfers in the 25+ knot winds. They came within feet of the beach and carried out many acrobatic tricks as they enjoyed the perfect conditions.
Eventually we walked along the Esplanade before heading into the town to look at some of the old Colonial houses. St Kilda in its heyday must have been quite spectacular with its own large theatre and funfair but today it appeared to us to be rather neglected and run down, the guide books say otherwise.
However we enjoyed the walk and the wonderful sea air before heading back to the city once more. We spent time in the Old Melbourne Gaol, where we were actually taken prisoners and treated to an hour or so as prisoners by a very stern serving policewoman turned guide. She had us in stitches at times but life at the time when the prison was used was hard. We were all given a card with the name of a prisoner on it and when asked had to answer the charges etc. At times this proved rather difficult for the many Chinese tourists who were in our group.
The Gaol originally opened in 1854 and was the scene of more than 100 hangings. The most infamous character on death row had been Ned Kelly who was hanged back in 1880. At the end of the tour we all stood at a cell window to have our photos taken, the guide had told us of a way to get the photo free but we never managed to work it out. However it was a great couple of hours.
Late one afternoon we took ourselves up the Eureka Tower on the Southbank. The view was amazing in wonderful light and extended beyond the Westgate Bridge to the west, the Dandenong Ranges to the east and Port Phillip Bay to the south. Below us we watched the many trains and rowers. We also watched a couple of helicopters fly below us and land at a helipad on the other side of the Yarra River.
Everyone had told us to visit Victoria Market so we duly did. It was an amazing array of fresh food stalls many being fresh fish and shell fish. The oysters looked good so we had a tray each and stood in the market beside the stall consuming them. Other than the food the rest of the market was like all other markets an array of cheap imported products, however we did find two useful items to buy - headwear. Brian bought a cap and I bought my wonderful $10 fake straw hat that I have worn to death ever since on our travels.
Eating in Melbourne was amazing as almost every shop is an eatery of some sort. Having a huge Asian population it is understandable that there should be so many Asian restaurants. We had been recommended to try Greek food as there is a huge Greek population in Melbourne but we found few and the one we ate at was a disappointment. We had both been looking forward to a real Greek Moussaka but it really was rather dry.
It was the Asian food that was such a hit with us. We really enjoyed it.
Melbourne is a wonderful city and we would love to return as some time in the future. It is surrounded by numerous parks, amazing buildings and loads of history.
But it is time for us to move on once more.
Next morning we are up at the crack of dawn to head out for our transport back to the airport. It is 06.50 and we are just minutes from the airport when we received a text message from Jetstar to tells us that our flight had been cancelled. We were not happy bunnies and along with others found the desk where they gave us a couple of options, we chose to catch their next plane out later in the day and promptly took ourselves off to the nearest Airport hotel for the day with the hope our insurers would cover the cost.
Unknown to us a tornado was happening in the Pacific and apparently our new flight was held up because of this and yet again we were delayed a couple more hours.
Our airline Jetstar, we later found out, is in the habit of cancelling flights usually because they are not full. As it turned out our later flight was combined with a Qantas flight that was scheduled to fly later. Jetstar is the budget arm of Quantas and it appeared both flights were light and were combined. We have yet to apply to our insurance company.
Our plans for our Bali arrival were completed wrecked and we had to hastily sort this out. Thankfully the Flight Centre stand at the airport was extremely accommodating. They gave us free reign of their phone so we were able to contact the hotel where we were to stay in Bali to keep them posted and to contact Bali Luggage Store who were to meet us at the airport and look after our main luggage for the duration of our stay in Indonesia. As it happened we eventually arrived in Bali very, very late, then had to drive to Ubud which took far longer than normal due to the excessive traffic and weather, it was raining! However we finally arrived, our luggage was taken away and we arrived at our hotel which was simply gorgeous.
it is now time for us to say our goodbyes to Australasia and head north west to Indonesia to try to retrace some our steps made whilst sailing through the Archipelago.
The morning of our departure from Melbourne did not get off to a good start with our receiving a text message just a few miles from the airport to tell us our flight had been cancelled. As you might imagine there were others in a similar plight to ourselves so there was great confusion once we got into the check in area. Two girls, one who was not particularly helpful, gave us a couple of options, the one we chose being a later flight in the day and many hours to kill. Being a good distance from the city and with masses of luggage we chose to check into the nearest Airport Hotel and chill out for the day.
Before heading there we talked to the Flight Centre who had organised all our flights, they gave us a desk and a telephone to make necessary calls to our hotel in Bali and to the Bali Luggage store who were to collect our luggage. The original plan had been to arrive in Bali mid morning and have the rest of the day to sight see in Ubud where we stayed. Our arrival was in the early hours of the next morning as our later flight was delayed even further due to a storm in the Pacific, which is actually miles away from Bali. At the time we did not know that the plane was coming from Hawaii where the weather was atrocious.
It seems that we were blighted with weather as we arrived in heavy rain which made the long journey from Denpasar to Ubud even longer. Our first impression of our hotel was good but come the morning it was even better. Surrounded by paddy fields and village houses it was simply delightful. We had an enormous room that had doors each end opening on to balconies, one was right over a paddy field whilst the other overlooked the swimming pool and numerous water falls.
Both the hotel and Bali Luggage store were amazing coping with all the uncertainty of our flight.
The sun shone brightly in the morning and everything looked wonderful. I had booked Junjungan Ubud Hotel and Spa through booking.com at an extremely good price and it turned out to be simply excellent. The staff went out of their way to do everything possible to make our stay enjoyable, food was excellent in their restaurant and they even had a shuttle service to run us into Ubud and collect us whenever we needed to return, they provided us with a mobile phone to call them.
We had sailed into the north of Bali back in September 2009 and at the time Brian was not feeling too well so was unable to see any of the island. I spent a few days in Ubud and loved it so was keen for Brian to visit it on this occasion. What a disappointment it was, maybe the rain had something to do with it but the whole place looked so dirty and scruffy that we could not get out of town quickly enough. The only place that was good was the monkey forest that had changed for the better. Rangers now patrolled the whole forest and small booths had been set up where people could buy bunches of bananas to feed the monkeys. The information boards around the forest were well done and very explicit. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit here and spent time speaking with the head ranger and hearing how the monkeys were now looked after very well.
I had remembered a town where there was wonderful art work and a good market selling quality products but apart from the odd one or two and many Ralph Lauren Polo outlets the atmosphere had disappeared. We decided it had become far too touristy for us so we retreated to our village base to relax.
Ubud was supposed to be a short break before we headed to Lombok to meet up with Ace and Peter Cranfield, owners of Medana Bay marina where we spent time back in 2009. Our flight to the new Lombok airport in the south of the island was everything we expected flying with Garuda, clean planes and on time.
The new airport appeared to be miles from anywhere and it took 2 hours plus to get us up to the north west corner of the island. Peter was waiting at the marina to greet us with a huge smile and big hug. It was wonderful to see him and the changes that had been made in the intervening years. Peter has built a budget hotel that sweeps round in a slight arc on the village side priced to cater for visiting Indonesians, this is where we stayed. There is now an on site restaurant, the Sailfish, which served us wonderful food. Each day Sam cooked something special for us so we never had to choose from a menu which I loved. There was much to catch up on and chat about, particularly the new pontoons that Peter had had built which were in a very sad state. He had built them hastily on the promise of a contract from a super yacht that never materialised and then found the steel he had been advised to use had a very high carbon content and has been badly affected by electrolysis so he forever has staff working on repairing and rebuilding them.
He and Brian talked for hours and hours on how it all could be rectified and how replacement docks should be done. Peter has spent so much money on the docks, more than he spent to build his hotel, so there was an air of great disappointment. The good news is that three rallies now call into the marina in addition to around 60 or 70 independent yachts that call during the season. It was good to hear that Roger and Lucy on Katamini have visited several times since 2009.
Ace and Adam were next to arrive and what a welcome we had. Ace has become more and more involved with the local community and Adam is very much involved in the day to day running of everything. Peter took us on a drive to see how the local area had changed. The village now housed many more shops than previously, including some that sold marine items which would be useful for the passing yachtsmen.
Unknown to us there was a Christian, Budhist and Balinese presence in the village each with their own places of worship. At the Buddhist temple we met the one and only monk who was very pleased to chat to us and tell us about the history.
Back in 2009 the villagers had a dream to replant and regrow the coral beds just off the reef and many of us bought coral plants in support. I was keen to see how the coral was growing so early one morning we set off in a canoe with a guy with horizontal teeth to paddle to the area. From the canoe I plopped into the sea and snorkelled to see how it was all growing and coming back to life. It was impossible to see any of the names we had written on the blocks because of the growth. It was very encouraging. The big problem now I was out a good distance from the beach and unable to clamber back into the canoe so I was towed back part of the way whilst Brian paddled and the guy with the teeth swam ahead pulling the canoe. It was a wonderful swim in beautiful warm water that could have been a little clearer had there not been a swell.
The road to Mataram along the coast had seen great changes with many new larger hotels and a great many very nice homes, one being the home of Ace’s sister Ala with whom we had coffee one morning.
Ace and Peter had been invited to a wedding on the evening before we were due to leave in Mataram so we spent our last evening and night in Lombok with them at a very posh Chinese Wedding along with a couple of thousand other people. After the wedding the four of us then headed off to the extremely new and modern shopping mall where we had coffee/tea and more food. It is the first time I have ever shopped at 10:30 to 11:00 at night and was amazed at the number of people and cars there.
It was sad to to say goodbye to the family but we had to return to Bali in order to move further north mid afternoon we set off for the airport once more to our hotel that was no so far from Denpasar airport. This had previously been a palace and the royal family still lived in part of the complex behind a very grandiose door. The rain seemed to follow us and we arrived late evening in a torrential downpour. Our room was beside the swimming pool with no covered area to reach it so we had to make a hasty dash using hotel umbrellas. The biggest problem was that we were not warned the garden was flooded and we had to wade through water up to our ankles, we were so pleased not to be wearing decent footwear.
Next morning the sun shone brightly and there was not a sign of a puddle. The garden looked wonderful and in daylight we were now able to take stock and relax for an hour or so before we headed off to the airport once more to head to Singapore and finally Mumbai. We were approaching the last 3 weeks of our travels that were to be spent travelling in India.
We loved the short stay in Bali and Lombok and have certainly had our appetites whetted to visit again and explore more islands. I had booked our internal flights back in the UK on line but found that had I done them in Indonesia they would have been a fraction of the price we paid. I am itching to return!!
On 28th February we took off from Denpassar Airport Bali for our flight to Mumbai via Singapore. The transfer time at Singapore was tight but we kept our fingers crossed that we would make our connecting flight. In reality it was actually tighter than we could ever imagine as the flight was kept waiting above Singapore for a landing slot and we had just 15 minutes to get to the right gate via the transit train. We were not alone but were possibly the slowest and once we were on board with our seat belts on the plane taxied off. A very close call, too close sadly for our luggage to make it which held us up considerably at Mumbai on arrival whilst numerous forms in triplicate with sheets of carbon paper inside were completed and signed and stamped. The airline was extremely good about it and gave us 20000 rupees each for the inconvenience. We always carry essentials in hand luggage so it was not too much of an inconvenience. The luggage arrived the following evening thankfully as we were to leave early the following day on a flight to Cochin.
Our hotel was well located in a back street and initially didn't look too inviting but it enabled us to explore around the Gate of India from where the British left after Indian Independence on 15th August 1947.
Our day in Mumbai was fascinating with our guide for the day, Cynthia, who was extremely informative. Mumbai was a busy place with many skyscrapers and other modern buildings. One of our stops was at the big Dhobi Wallahs laundry where people had washed laundry for years and there were lines and lines of laundered jeans, saris and other items, much of the work is undertaken by men. These people live and work at the site in second rate accommodation, although not nearly as bad as the largest slum in Asia, where Slum Dog Millionaire was filmed, that we drove past on the raised highway to Crawford Market where we walked through the narrow alleyways admiring all the beautiful coloured clothes and spices.
The Hanging Gardens was our next stop, built above a water reservoir, which provides fresh drinking water to the locals who live nearby. There were a number of varieties of plants and flowers being planted within these gardens by hundreds of staff so we were not able to appreciate the beauty of the place. However there were a number of wonderful green parrots that seemed totally unfazed by those working or walking around. Above us eagles and vultures soared as to the side of the gardens was a Parsi burial site, known as a Tower of Silence where bodies are suspended in water for the vultures to feed on. Well out of sight behind high walls and big trees there was no prying but we were able to see the many eagles, we believe they were some other bird of prey, and vultures with pieces of flesh in their beaks as they brought them down on to the lawns of the garden to eat.
I had been longing for a curry and had resisted earlier on our travels to be able to enjoy a real Indian one, we were not disappointed. Cynthia took us to a restaurant we failed to get the name of, the food was outstanding, and possibly was the very best we ate in India.
Just two nights in Mumbai and one day and we were on our travels again by plane to Cochin. We had flown Jet Airways from Singapore to Mumbai, this time we were flying Spice Jet, both Indian owned they were excellent flights with new planes and exceptionally good crew. After a relatively short flight of four hours we arrived in Cochin and were met by our smiley driver, Manu, and his boss Fen who owned Bodhitree Travels India who had organised our travel in Kerala.
Our hotel, Casino, was one of the very first to be built in Cochin was delightful with a very good swimming pool where we spent our first afternoon either on a sun bed or in the water. The hotel is known for its sea food restaurant where we ate at in the evening. Needless to say as it was sea food it was expensive but possibly a fraction of what it would cost in the UK. As we have found on our travels in India fish is always overlooked so the giant prawns were rather chewy, however the lobster was pretty good.
Cochin was once ruled by the Portugese and the Dutch before the British took control so there was a mixture of architecture. Early morning we picked up our guide, an older guy who spoke English very fast and with an accent our ears found difficult to follow at times. However he took us to many interesting places including Jewish Town as it is now known where there are just 4 Jewish people living. The youngest is in her forties and the oldest in their nineties. The young lady is not married so the chance of their race being increased is nil. On her death the whole area including the synagogue we visited will become a museum. All other Jews had left for Israel years ago.
In the area are dozens of shops manned by dozens of pushy men from Northern India trading on the back of Judiasm. We got the distinct feeling they were not popular.
Fishing here is still done on the river using large Chinese nets that are manned by several men and laid on an incoming tide. This has been done for hundreds of years. The tide was low when we visited and the rubbish was massive along the waters edge, I am sure their only catch would be trash. The guide blamed tourism for the rubbish but with huge blocks of polystyrene it definitely looked like rubbish discarded by the fishermen. Close to the fishermen were a number of ladies selling craft items and it was here I managed to buy some interesting beads.
Kerala is a very Christian State unlike others in India and we visited the very first christian church to be built in Kerala in Old Cochin where they still had the original hanging fabric fans that were operated outside the church by punkah wallahs. Kerala Churches of all denominations are everywhere, simply thousands of them in the state.
Kerala has the highest level of literacy in India well into the 90’s so it was not surprising to see that the majority of schools were Church associated schools. It appeared that everyone attended church on a Sunday in their Sunday best but we were not around on a Sunday to witness this anywhere.
Electrical installations always amaze Brian wherever we travel and what he saw in India made his eyes pop out of his head. The installations looked, in the Western world, very dangerous, as it would have been very easy to put your hands onto live power connections. It seemed nobody worried and nobody gets killed, well not to our knowledge.
As is usual the guide always takes you to a shop where we later found out they get a commission of up to 40% on all sales. The shop we visited in Old Cochin was a women’s co-operative set up by the late Indira Gandhi when she was in power. The volunteer staff were extremely elegant ladies who were all very pleased to see us. Spices are a traditional thing in India and constantly being pushed by guides and shops, and on the way to the Co-operative shop we passed a store for fresh root ginger. It reminded us of the large nutmeg stores in Grenada in the Caribbean.
Late afternoon we were taken to see a traditional Kathakali dance performance arriving in time to watch the transformation from man to dancer. The whole makeup process took an hour and was done in silence with great calmness. Our seats were in the front row beside a couple of young Chinese guys who infuriatingly played on their iPhones the whole time whilst the narrator talked right in front of them. In the end I had to tell the guy beside me he was extremely rude, he closed his phone and spoke to his friend beside him. After a few minutes the friend got up and walk out followed by the guy beside me a short while later. All those in the audience around were amazed at their behaviour. I just could not understand why they were at the show.
Next morning there was a surprise in store, we had been told to be at breakfast for a certain time and on arrival guided to a table for 6. It was Brian’s birthday and the owner of Travel India by Car with Driver, Ramesh and two of his managers we had dealt with Surendra and Vishnu along with Fen who we had met on our arrival in Cochin joined us. What a ball we had with the hotel staff wondering who the hell we were to have such a presence. After a huge feast Brian was presented with a birthday cake which none of us had room for.
After breakfast it was time to head on to Munnar with its sprawling tea plantations. We stopped at Devikolam for a traditional Indian Thali that we were told would not be too hot and spicey. It may not have been for the locals but for our tender taste buds it blew our heads off. After lunch we had a wander through the small town and found some strange looking items on one of the stalls, it turned out to be dried fresh water shell fish. Our driver was not well versed with them so we never really found out what they were but they resembled small dried limpets. After a few more stops we finally arrived at our hotel Clouds Valley in the heart of tea plantations in Munnar. The hotel was basic but we had a very large room with a good view, although immediately in front of us below were a number of buildings either in the state of rebuild or demolition - one never knows in India.
Munnar was a bustling market town with a river running through it. I found it depressing that so much trash is discarded into their waterways that are used for the likes of bathing, laundry and personal use. The surrounding area was just stunning with few European visitors.
Tea plantations in this area were quite different to those we saw last year in Sri Lanka where bushes appeared to grown in rows across the hillsides. In Kerala they appeared to be grown in rows that ran up the hillsides and resembled large boulders from a distance as the pickers were able to get around the whole plant. Everywhere you looked there were plantations.
On our journey to Periyar we were lucky enough to come across ladies bringing their large sacks of picked tea down to a collection point on the side of the road. Each sack weighed in the region of 15 kilos and each lady was expected to fill a huge number of sacks each day. The ladies were jolly and ready for photos as we stopped close to the shelter. They themselves were dressed for protection from the sun with many layers of clothing on top of their saris complete with woolly socks and outer shoes. Their families have been involved with tea picking for generations and are usually from the Tamil Nadu region, the state next to Kerala.
Nowadays they use a modified pair of shears for cutting rather than plucking the top leaves as has always been done. Plantations are huge and there are many of them each one providing accommodation for the families along with medical care etc. The children attend a local school closeby and are seen at the beginning of the day running down from their villages through the plantations to either walk to school or be collected by the school buses. These people live in very modest accommodation, by our standards relatively poor, without the normal luxuries of life but the children were always spotlessly turned out in brilliant white shirts or shorts. They even looked the same on their return from school later in the day.
The journey to Periyar was stunning as we drove over the high hills passing through many plantations and stations as they are called. At one plantation we visited a tea museum, having visited a tea plantation in Sri Lanka and Indonesia we were familiar with the processing but this one had more interaction with a Guide/demonstrator who talked very quickly in English, again with an accent we could not understand. There were a number of Indian Tourists who all understood his jokes, we and the couple of other Europeans there understood nothing.
Periyar is known for its lake and national park where we had hoped to see lots of wild life. Another pretty and largish town where our accommodation Wildernest was located not far from the entrance to the park. The hotel was delightful and we had a duplex, well they called it a duplex room, with wooden stairs that took you to our balcony on a floor above. The decor was fine with a good bathroom but the bed felt like sleeping on boards, the mattress was too thin for our bones. However they looked after us well and we had good breakfasts there. This was almost the only accommodation where there were European guests, here there were many French.
The plan had been to walk to the park to organise a night walk but Brian by this time had developed a terrible cough that prevented him walking too far so we gave up on the idea and chose to take a night time jeep safari into the forest which turned out to be exceptional. Although we did not see any animals we had an amazing time driving a great distance through wonderful countryside to the edge of the National Park where we walked and climbed steep hills in the hope we would see animals, hopefully, tigers. The light faded and we eventually drove through the forest to a clearing where we sat and waited and waited, sounds could be heard but nothing was seen so in the end the driver/guide headed back to our hotel. It was a wonderful few hours and well worth the £15 for the pair of us.
Next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to be driven to the park entrance from where we would walk another couple of kms down to the boats on the lake. This lake had been formed by the construction of the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar River which we visited the previous day. It was a beautiful morning with wonderful light. We along with dozens of others walked to the half a dozen boats waiting, we were given our ticket and told which boat to go to. Ours looked absolutely full so guessed we would just have to sit wherever there was a space, to our utter surprise we had allocated seats and ours were right in the front so we had the best view again.
The disappointment was that we saw no tigers or elephants, but we did see bison and dear and many many birds, among them cormorants sitting on nests on the top of tall posts in the water. We also saw many monkeys on our way to and from the boat. In spite of the lack of animals we had a great time and returned to our hotel for breakfast.
Later in the day we visited a spice plantation where I learned a considerable amount on the growing of spices. It was the first time I had seen Cardamon growing and surprised to learn it is related to the ginger plant. From here we visited a couple of elephants nearby where we had the chance to ride one. Brian was not so keen but once he found it was included in the tour he changed his mind. However once on top we both wished we had declined as we had to sit astride its back, not its neck and it had a very wide girth which our thighs found hard to accommodate.
From Periyar we drove to Alleppey some 4 hours away for our overnight cruise on the Vembanad Lake. The boat built in traditional style with a lot of basketry adorning it had modern facilities, including a very large cockroach that appeared from the drain in the floor of the heads (bathroom). There were thousands of these boats lined up along the dock awaiting clients but we were there during the end of the season so thankfully there were not so many being used, even so it still seemed a great number out on the lake.
Our crew of three looked after us well. The skipper a miserable looking man took us into areas less used by other craft along waterways where the locals were carrying on with their everyday lives. The women were doing laundry along the banks whilst men and women bathed and children played around. At one spot we stopped to go to the local shop, it actually was a fisherman selling seafood, where we bought a bag of very large prawns that the chef cooked for our supper that evening. Along the banks was a 12 year old girl, complete with teeth braces top and bottom hoping we would have some pens for her. I was surprised that people who live in such poor conditions earning as we thought so little could afford to pay for such things. I actually never found out but our driver said they would not be expensive, it is impossible to find out what they really do consider expensive. There are obviously some people who earn considerable sums whilst others get by on a just the equivalent of a £1 or so a day. This girls mother would not have had a washing machine having to do her laundry in the waterways.
Eventually we stopped for the evening in a backwater beside another couple of boats, both owned by the same company. One a much larger one was being upgraded ready for the next season whilst the other had a couple of honeymooners on board. We were surrounded by flotsam and jetsam which we guessed could be a good place for rats, we did not see any thankfully. During the evening before our meal we took a walk to the nearby village stopping to take a look at local homes and the surrounding flat countryside interspersed with stops to talk to locals. One group we met were five young lads, around 25 years old, who were also on a boat. A jolly lot, they were keen to have selfies taken with us whilst telling us they were the new Indians and didn’t believe in arranged marriages. One had already had a love marriage, whilst two others were shortly to be married. They had all been at primary school together and had remained friends, some even going on to the same university together.
The colours of the clothes worn by the ladies were vibrant, some were heavily encrusted with jewels, possibly coloured glass. Even the children were beautifully dressed.
Next morning we were up early enough to watch the sun rise and soak up the calmness of the whole area. As the sun and early morning mist rose we gently slipped our mooring to head back to the dock eating our delicious breakfast on the way. We had to be back in order to drive to Cochin several hours away to catch our flight to Delhi.
We loved Kerala and thank Surendra, Ven and his team at Bodhitree for organising such a wonderfully full itinerary.
Last summer we were thinking of where we might go during some of the winter months and decided to return to India. We booked flights then contacted the Indian travel agent we used previously in Rajhastan who came up with two suggestions - one to go to the Punjab the other to go to Gujurat. We chose the more southerly Gujurat for the warmth.Gujurat is on the north west coast of India with a border with Pakistan. It is one of the smallest states in India but has the longest coastline of 990 miles. The population of India is 1.324 billion (2016), Gujurat’s population is 62.7 million. The UK population is 65.64 million (2016). Gujurat has just 5% of the Indian Population.It is also one of the most industrialised states in the country with many very large industrial areas.Before Partition there were 565 princely states in India, Gujarat had 231 of them. We stayed in many of the palaces on this trip which are now all Heritage Hotels.We left the UK early January this year and flew to Delhi for a couple of days, it was meant to be two but it turned into 3 as we had a mix up with flights, Our driver was waiting for us at the airport at 8 am ready to get going which his planned tour. He was in for a shock we were tired after an overnight flight and needed a rest. We managed to put him off till lunch time and then we were off ……….. We had been to Delhi before so the usual tourist sites were not of interest to us but the Parliament buildings are always a draw because of the beautiful Lutyens architecture. It was a Friday afternoon and everywhere we went there were thousands of people having a good time. There are no gloomy faces here in India, everyone has a smile and there is always somewhere to buy street food - not that we touch it. We felt very lucky to see some pageantry at the Governors House when the Governors body guard put on a show late Sunday afternoon. I had read in one of the daily newspapers of places to visit in Delhi and top of the list was a street walk the Salaam Baalak Trust. The trust looks after street children and takes them in, cleans, feed, clothes and educates them. The number of street children in Delhi is mind boggling. Many of the older children are now training to become tour guides and some have gone on to University to study. Our guide Nazir was around 11 when he arrived, he had been bullied and beaten by his father until he could stand no more. His face was very scarred but not sure if this was the result of the beating. He was a great guy and took us on a walk through the dirty narrow streets of Delhi to their office where three kids had been brought in from families that live on the streets. One child had visual problems and they had sorted that out for him with a pair of glasses. The place was neat and bright with enthusiastic volunteers trying to teach the children. We finally ended up at New Delhi railway station where many of the children sleep and where they had a reception centre. Whilst here a beautifully clothed boy in his school uniform with his large smart school bag was brought in. He looked so sad. I wanted to give him a big hug. He apparently had run away from somewhere in the Punjab but we were unable to find out anything more. Amazingly these children all manage to find their way by train to Delhi. Having been at the station in the morning, later in the afternoon we decided to find our way back to the station via the metro. It was terrifying as we just could not get our bearings right getting on the train and going the wrong way then trying to find the right platform to return. Well we did eventually make it to Delhi station before doing the trip home. Its not something we will tackle again. Our real purpose of visiting India this time was to see wildlife and country life so we flew to the small airport of Bhuj on the west side of the state from where we drove north to the area known as the Kutch, this is the area that runs up to the border with Pakistan and is a marshy salted area, in fact where we were it was hard salt as far as the eye could see and resembled the artic rather than India. The temperatures were pretty artic too! We were met at the airport by Om Veer our driver who came from Rajhastan, he spoke only Hindu so was unable to communicate with anyone in Gujurat as they spoke only Gujurati or English. The whole month was an expedition. We had arrived with a road map of the state, GPS navigation etc. He only had a trifold tourist leaflet with a small map on it and his phone. We had gone to Rann to attend the Rain Utsav music festival but because of the plane mix up had missed a whole day and when we did arrive it was late evening, just time for us to eat and attend the musical entertainment of the evening which was then followed by us all playing housey house outside in freezing cold weather. In the morning we got up at some unearthly hour to walk a good mile away to a viewing area in the dark to watch the sun rise. Because of pollution it was probably an hour after sun rise before we saw it. Everywhere we went we had to go through police checks and show copies of our passports so we had to find an Xerox shop whereever we were, and amazingly however remote we were there was always one somewhere. Our trip took us to the coast where we were feted by local kids who were on a three day trip sleeping on a purpose made sleeping bus, the litter on the beach was awful and I tried to impress upon them the importance of keeping the beaches etc clean, don’t think it made much impression. The distances we travelled were pretty huge and perhaps not well planned as we drove north east from the coast to the eastern side of the Kutch known as Little Kutch - again a marshy salty area. This area is wonderful for wildlife, birds and embroideries. Gujurat is the place to visit for exquisite embroideries and fabrics but sadly wherever we went we were never allowed to take photos so I have none here of the work, but it was exquisite. Much of it including their homes contain mirrors. We visited a couple of textile museums where work from the many tribes people were displayed. They are working hard with locals to show that hand made work is valuable and more exquisite than factory made goods. It was all mouth droppingly beautiful. The area is known for its enormous number of tribes who all wear different clothes and live different lifestyles, there are still a number of nomadic people, however, all of them produce this fantastic work and those in the know, know exactly which tribe makes what. We visited 4 national parks over a great many days, each time having to check in with the police and show our passports, even if we went on 2 safaris in one day. The guides were amazing at spotting things at huge distances. We visited Gir National Park which is the home of the remaining 500 odd free roaming Asiatic Lions in the world, there were no border fences but the park was pretty huge and a main road ran through it, there were also a number of tribal villages within it. Rangers roamed the area and whenever we saw lions there were also rangers within a short distance, you will see them in the pictures. In fact on one trip in the park I needed to spend a penny and the driver allowed me to get out and find a bush so he must have known there was no lion in the vicinity as there were no rangers. we loved seeing the animals close up.
Many of the palaces we stayed in were still inhabited by the Maharana/Maharaja and we were lucky enough to meet the crown prince at Wankaner. He had been educated at boarding school in the south east of the Uk before moving on to Huddersfield to study tourism. Many of the royal families are now quite poor with the Palaces resembling more of a Marigold Hotel type. However Wankaner appeared wealthy and owned a number of palaces one being the main palace that was seriously damaged in an 7.7 earthquake back in 2001. Some work had been done but the main clock tower was still badly damaged, previously a hotel it was now not open for use. The royal family lived in a beautiful palace beside this one. Other Royal families still own many palaces and properties in the state, some with huge collections of vintage cars, planes and bikes.At one hotel Vijay Vilas Palace we wondered what we had arrived at. The place looked as if it was falling down, much of the original furnishing and lighting had long gone, sold by one of the earlier Maharajahs who lost money on betting on horses. From photos in its hay day it looked fantastic. The palace was now owned by the granddaughter of the last Maharaja and she was in her early 70s and quite frail, however she was delightful and could not do enough for us. The place was now being run by her son and daughter in law but she kept telling us money was tight, not surprising when she charged so little for our meals and nothing for doing the laundry and a massage. The massage was done by a lady who laboured in the gardens, her hands were quite rough The food was absolutely fantastic like all food we ate in Gujarat and produced on just a couple of gas rings on the floor. All food we ate was vegetarian. At Jambughoda palace we were given a terrible room, it was within the Royal living quarters of the palace and outside the door a person slept covered with a blanket and the shoes were just kicked off. It was sparse, dirty and very cold, looked out on to rubble so I made a fuss before being asked into the palace courtyard where the Royal family were sitting around a wood fire with blankets round them. The Maharana promptly stood up and asked me what was it we didnt like about the room. I didn’t mince words and told him. He thought as Brits we would like the room where his father and grandfather had slept. We had to stay as the hotel was full but they invited us to stay for drinks and invited us to supper the next day with the family. They also gave us a very nice room the next day. It was Republic day when we arrived and our guess was they overbooked and thought as Brits we wouldn’t complain, he was wrong. Anyway we had 2 great evenings with them. They brought in uncle Harish the next night for supper, he was the youngest brother of the late Maharaja. Frail, elderly and eccentric he thought I could contact Prince Charles to find out what products in his organic vegetarian range he could import without needing a fridge to store it. He had no electricity or running water where he lived and he wore a neru jacket that was well past its sell by date. The family told us how short of cash they were and how difficult it was to maintain the fabric of the palace, it really was in a poor state. We talked about solar power, there’s little of it in India, and other means of energy and maintenance. The running of the palace had now passed to the son and daughter in law, whose son it was asleep outside our room. The son had studied tourism and his wife was a banker, and now the driving force for reform and very much in charge of the finances. This family was so open about their situation we felt very privileged that they had shared so much with us. The prince told me a lovely story about his son as a very small boy, the village children had always come into play with him when he visited and one day he asked why they closed there hands when they met him, he was then told it was because he was a prince. He seemed a typical kid of the 21st century, he liked a hat and either had a phone or I pad with him.In all these palaces the furniture all was of the same era, early 1900s to 1930s.We had gone to Vijay Vilas so we could visit Palitana a huge Jain temple complex on the top of a hill reached by 3500 steps. We never intended walking up and planned to be carried. Research led me to believe it would cost around £5 to £10 each for up and down. As soon as we arrived the touts surrounded us and wanted in excess of £100 each, they never left us alone. We thought we might get a better offer elsewhere so walked on. It was all far too much money for us just to see a temple. Palitana is to Jains what Mecca is to Muslims. Every Jain wants to visit Palitana at least once in their life. So we decided to walk. We were stopped continuously by people who wanted to chat and take pictures of us. There were simply thousands of people each with the necessary walking pole bought for around 1p. We had started out at 7.30 but with all the stopping it would possibly take us a couple of days to get up and down so at step 1350 we turned round and descended, again stopping every few steps. At the bottom, we like everyone else received a blessing and 10 rupees.
We are not avid temple visitors having visited hundreds over the years but we did visit a couple, one in Gondal covered in scaffolding with thousands of people, I thought it was being built, it was actually being prepared for a Hindu festival by volunteers. The woman were there to prepare food for the half a million expected.The other temple was miles from anywhere but one our driver had been told of. This was new, it was begun some years ago but still unfinished. Carving was still being done, the guy we saw had been working along with around 20 others for a few years. We were the very first foreigners to visit so were given an amazing reception and tour of the place. Brian was blessed, we were presented with framed pictures of gods, food and drink before I was whisked into a conference room of well dressed women and asked to sit at the top table. I hadn’t a clue what was going on but later found they were wives of all the first ministers of India.
One morning we set out to find Alang the largest ship breaking area in the world and stumbled upon an area with loads of carts and camels, I needed to explore and found a huge tented village. Before we knew it we were invited in for lunch. Brightly coloured with thousands of well heeled people we were shown around and taken into a beautifully decorated marque where people were sitting cross legged on what looked like trestle tables, I thought neither of us could do that, thankfully they took us to the top table. This was a Jain pilgrimage of 2000 people who would be walking 10 kilometres a day for two weeks to Palitana where we had come from. The food was delicious totally vegetarian and contained no root crops including onions, garlic or aubergines. The total pilgrimage had been financed by just one person. There were 2 tented villages moved alternately to the next venue, 300 people were employed to move and construct and 150 people were employed to do the cooking. It was impressive. After eating we all went out to watch the procession leave preceded by a decorated elephant and lots of noisy bands and floats. The whole experience was wonderful, something we’ll remember for ever. Jains are the people who believe in non violence and abstinence from many worldly things. We did finally find the ship breakers, 15 miles of ships at various stages of breakup. Security tho was huge and we were not allowed to take photos. At high tide these forgotten ships are driven at speed on to the beach and at low tide the workers dismantle. For something like 20 miles before Alang there were huge open sided warehouses selling the salvaged contents of the ships, stainless steel kitchens, generators, beds, China, glass, bed linen, sofas, tables, chairs of all description. The workers lived in what looked like dreadful makeshift accommodation and probably returned to their families infrequently.
Our month was almost up, our final few days were in Ahmedabad the capital of Gujarat, before heading on to Bhavnagar probably the prettiest and most elegant Palace we stayed in but not the friendliest. It apparently was where Joanna Lumley stayed on her TV trip to India.Our Final day before flying to Delhi involved a huge drive to the last day of the Baneshwar Tribal festival, although on the itinerary the driver had no idea where it was. We wasted an hour driving half an hour in the wrong direction but eventually got there and joined the thousands on their long walk to the temple. It was a fun occasion and like all fairs there were stalls along the way and a huge funfair at the end.We finally left and made our way northwards into Rajastan to Udaipur where we caught our flight to Delhi for a short night in a hotel before flying home.It was a wonderful 4 weeks with many highlights one being the stay at 5* Blackbuck Lodge in Velvadar Blackbuck National Park where we had the most amazing 3 days. The entire trip was hectic, educational and awe inspiring.