Log/pic 24 Australia

So after PNG, I headed to Australia to see the Australian Zoo and hopefully meet this man. As you are aware my hero got killed less than a week earlier by a stingray. I spent a couple days in Cairns and then went to Brisbane (Steve's zoo is about 70 km north). I went to the zoo the next day. Although it was impressive, and I was able to see several animals I had not seen before, it was a very sad atmosphere. There were hundreds of flowers and plants around the outside, brought in by the crocodile hunter's fans, and more were being brought each day. They plan to bury him on the grounds and there was to be a ceramony two days after I was there.
A koala and her baby-this one's for you mom!
This is the dingo that ate that lady's baby.
Two kangaroos (or wallabes-still haven't figured out the difference), caught in the act.
Wombat
Cookaberras
Tazmanian devil

It was nice to just chill in Australia. Brisbane was a nice clean, friendly city but I really enjoyed my hostel, Aussie Way. It was relaxing just talking to fellow travelers with no language barrier or cultural difference.

I couldn't do the Pacific Islands because it was too hard to get to and too expensive. I'm running out of money. Based on my expenditures thus far, I had to adjust my plans and will have to dive the Pacific at a later date. With money running out, I'm heading to South America-via Tahiti and Easter Island of course!

Log/Pic 23 Papua New Guinea

So this is the real new guinea. I was thrilled to be able to witness this.

see website for additional photos

Log/Pic 22 Bogia, Manan & Boisa Islands PNG

So I'm in Madang and I meet this guy Steve from the cultural center. He is going to the area of Bogia, about three hours north of where I am. This couple, Jackie and Gus want to open a little guest house behind this village. They are taking Steve there to show him the area and see if he thinks there is potential for travelers. A guide from the highlands and a Japanese representative, Toeshe, are going too. Steve asks if I want to come along. I cancel my dive and head out.

The ride to the guest house, named Anua Negu, was a trip in itself. We passed many villages that started as care centers for all the people who had to leave a volcanic island after its eruption in 2004. After checking out my room, #1 (I was the first official guest that would ever stay here), I visited the village which separates the guest house from the ocean. We then were off to see what would make this an attraction to a visitor beside the amazing ocean and view of Manan, the volcanic island.

First we visited the village of Malangen to pick up a small boat. All the people were so nice and so curious. This girl was my favorite. In the three times we would visit this village, this was the only time she would not be holding a baby. Notice the village tattoo on her right cheek.
Here is the view of Manan from this village where we picked up our boat. It has been smoking since its eruption one and 1/2 years ago. Once we arrived on this island we walked through the jungle for awhile to get a better view from above. Three men from the village Manan lead us with their machetes clearing the path.
This is a second village on the island we visited and ate bananas cooked in coconut oil.
A third village,Waia, offered us nuts called galig (again prolly wrong spelling).
This young girl is cracking the hard outer shell before we peeled off the skin and ate it.
This bunch, and about 50 more residents of this island, saw us off.
here is me trying some big nut, potato, yam looking thing-I liked it! Im on the small island of Boisa. The island is shaped like a snail or a whale, depending how you look at it. This village is 700 people strong. I estimated 500 were children. The chief not only offered us coconuts, nuts and fish to eat, he gave Jackie a live chicken to take back. The water around this island was a divers/snorkelers dream. On the way back we watched as countless tuna leaped out of the water. We also saw dolphins. We stopped by Hansa Bay, an inlet which houses about 35 plane or ship wrecks from WWll
This is a Japanese plane wreck near the Awar Village. Appearently there are many more around, and used to be even more. See website for more pics.

This was our last stop of our two-day adventure, The village of Awar. This boy swam across the river in the background and got coconuts to quench our thirst. We talked to the people as the group ate some smelly fish and glue-like substance. I took pictures of people chewing beetlenut, which I did finally try. I had some photos of my red lips, gum and teeth, but couldn't get myself to blog any of them. This was a great trip and a hell of an experience. The people of the villages were as friendly as the the people I travelled with. PNG rules!

Log/Pic 21 Vemino & Madang, PNG

So I arrived in Jayapura, Indonesia and went strait to immigration to get a visa for Papua New Guniea (PNG). Signs were posted everywhere and the gentleman stated that it was at least a two day process. 50,000 Rupia (about five bucks), made the process magically take a couple hours. It took about another hour to get a van to the border and about 45 minutes to cross through two Indonesian checkpoints/borders. Then I walked through to a PNG border.

I waited a couple hours to get a ride to the nearest town, Vemino, about 45 minutes away. I met a very kind family who gave me advise, a ride, and showed me where to stay. Later they would spend the weekend showing me their town and the surrounding village. I didn't plan on staying in Vemino, I was heading to Madang where the diving is! But after finding out that I couldn't drive to Madang because there are no roads, we went to the "airport" and I was told there was a flight on Monday.

Before I had a chance to get discouraged, I decided I would make the best of this small town. Abby and Eddie, part of the family I met at the border, would be my PNG representitives. They turned out to be extreamlly nice guys who wanted absolutely nothing from me except friendship. This was very different from what I had experienced for the last four and 1/2 months in Asia. I also discovered that everyone I met from PNG was just like them. The first thing my new friends did was take me to their home to meet their family. I came at a bad time because the entire female extended family was washing. After getting decent, they showed me their pets.

This is Abby's sister holding their pet cuscus (chances are this is the wrong spelling). This is a small baby but huge ones are found in the highlands.

Note the tail. It feels like a snake. It has very long claws on its fingers which feel clammy.

Eddie's pet parrot. He taught it to talk and I think it sings Bob Marley songs.

This is a friendly family in one of the nearby villages. Her teeth are red because she is chewing beetlenut. Almost everyone in PNG does-I'm not exaggerating. They chew a beetlenut or two, take a piece of mustard stick (looks like asperagas), dip it in lime, throw that in your mouth and chew them all. The lime and mustard make it red and give you the dizziness. Most people spit like when your chewing tabacco. It took me a day to realize why the streets were lined with blood-like stains. The real veterans swallow.

When I took this picture the nice lady ran away. I thought she didn't want her photo taken but she went to go get another family member to be in the picture...and then another, and another, and another, until this.

The longer I stayed, the more people joined. This is a pretty modern village as it is close to the town.

Vemino has some awesome coastline. I spent most of Sunday walking it and watching kids play, people fish and spear, and all of them just enjoying life.

Once in Madang, I hit the ocean. Although I could have spent the entire time just looking out at it from any of the places I stayed. The snorkeling was as good as the diving. Above is a school of baracuda.
Lionfish with cool colors in the background. This was actually a stormy day that I went diving.
Around Madang, there were these huge bats known to the locals as "flying fox." They are out during the day and night flying and hanging from the trees. You can see them doing both in this picture.

Log/Pic 20 Gili Islands

see website for additional photos

Log/Pic 19 Indonesia

So I arrived in Bali and stayed a few days in Kuta. It had a nice beach and lots of surfers. Many people wanting to drive me somewhere or sell me everything from hammocks to blowguns. Others offered their services from massaging me, doing my nails, or cleaning my ears-some wanted to do all at the same time! I needed to get away from the constant harassment.

I went to Lovina. I stayed at a home-stay bungalow on the beach for $5 per night-including breafast! It was nice and relaxing looking out at the Bali Sea and the black sand beach. Iwent on outrigger canoes to see dolphins for sunrise and to snorkel. I went diving a couple of days off Menjangan Island on the NW side of Bali.

Next I headed to Tulemben. I spent Three nights listening to the ocean just outside my bungalo and lots of shore dives on the U.S. Liberty shipwreck just off shore.

Then I went to Padang Bay to catch a five-hour ferry to Lombok's Gili Islands. I stayed three nights on Gili T and three nights on Gili Air. I dove off both these islands and also Gili Meno. I saw lots of sharks, turtles and a three and 1/2 foot sea cobra.

Lastly, I took a boat to Lobok, then a motorized buggy to a little airport, then took a flight back to Bali's capital. I had a 12 hour wait to catch a 2:30 am flight to Jayapura, Papua (the farthest eastern Indonesian island). From there I started my journey to Papua New Guinua.

Log/Pic 18 Malaysia

So here I am in Labuk Bay. Malaysia is split in two parts: referred to as either west and east Malaysia, or Malaysia and Borneo Malaysia. West Malaysia is divided into 11 states and Borneo Malaysia is divided into Sabah and Sawawak. Sabah is where I am. This is the northeastern area. I dove off some islands off the coast. We flew to Sandakan admiring the great views on the flight of the coast, the palm oil plantations, and the famous Mt. Kiabalu.

I went to this proboscis monkey sanctuary about an hour away from Sandakan. This place was a wildlife haven. The main attraction of course was these terribly ugly monkeys. I had seen them on Discovery Channel but they were even more ugly in person. This first photo is a closeup of a two-year-old that came right up to us. He seemed to have no fear, but didn't like to be touched. He would later steal a pack of Oreos and scurry up the closest tree and eat them just out of our reach. When he came back down to the platform, his face was covered in crumbs. He would jump from a tree to the building roof, enter through the bathroom window, peek around the corner until the coast was clear, and try to steal more food. An otter standing guard would chase him away.

Twice a day the sanctuary would put out food and the monkeys would begin appearing from the jungles, swinging and jumping from tree to tree. It was amazing to watch and hear them approach.

This is a male. His protrusion is much longer.

Mom and baby heading back to the jungle after feeding.

I spent a long time petting the otter that hung out under the platform. They fed him fish and it would eat the head while three dogs patiently watch. When it was finished, the dogs would eat the fish tails. The otter mad a weird squeaking sound when it was content. It would later chase the dogs around, jump in the stream that flowed in front of the platform, then come back to me for some loving. His soaked body was so slimy.

This dominate male was freaking out when another male from the other group of monkeys across the way started howling and violently went running down the boardwalk.
While taking photos of the monkeys, these birds decided to pay a visit. They would later land on Punda's head and gently try to eat my eye. One bird, the staff said, was called a Jungle Minor.

This monkey was displaying his protrusion(s) for the camera.

I took about 25 photos of them jumping from tree to tree. This is the only one that didn't come out blurry, obstructed, or too dark. This was a terrific, wild place and I definatly got my fill of the long-nosed proboscis monkey.

Tomorrow Punda goes back home and I'm heading to Indonesia. For the next few months my adventures will be pretty much dive related. As I log my dives from Sapi and Gaya Islands in malaysia, my calculations indicate that I have spent three weeks of my life underwater. Maybe I will reach a month before I leave the pacific!